Rhode Island needs to pass bills to codify the Voting Right Act into RI law

We are at Code Red for Democracy

On May 21st, 2026, the Rhode Island Voting Rights Act Campaign (RI VRA) hosted a lobby day at the State House to promote the Rhode Island Voting Rights Act (H8334/S3143) and its ten amendments. As group leaders in the campaign, and after experiencing actions and lobbying by over 100 people for the passage of the bill, we invite you to join the urgent Code Red for Democracy call.

As community leaders, we are calling on the Rhode Island General Assembly to pass the RI VRA and all 10 amendments before the session ends in June. There is extreme urgency.

Voting rights are being attacked across the country, both at the state and federal levels. The recent United States Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais gutted the federal Voting Rights Act. Action needs to be taken now. Rhode Islanders cannot afford to have their voting rights put at risk. The way to do this is to pass the Rhode Island Voting Rights Act and its ten amendments before the session ends, and implement the bill immediately upon passage.

“Standing inside the Rhode Island State House alongside Common Cause, The Womxn Project, the RI Coalition of Black Women, The Women’s Fund, Clean Water Action, and members of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta and Zeta Phi Beta sororities, lobbying for the codification of the Voting Rights Act into Rhode Island law, was a surreal and sobering moment — because sixty-one years ago, my grandparents already fought and won this battle,” says Shahidah Ali, the Political Action Committee Chair of the RI Coalition of Black Women.

Yet here we are again.

Judgment of history

Trump posts on social media about himself

Insight into the mind of Donald provided by Donald himself...

Ticks already sending more people to the ER in RI

Rhode Island has a tick expert in its own backyard.

RINewsToday News Team

Tick season is not waiting for summer.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says emergency room visits for tick bites are running higher than normal in many parts of the country. In all U.S. regions except the South Central United States, weekly rates of ER visits for tick bites are the highest for this time of year since 2017.

For Rhode Island, the warning is especially relevant. The state remains a high-risk area for Lyme disease and other tickborne illnesses, with cases typically rising during the warmer months. The Rhode Island Department of Health says most Lyme disease cases are reported during the summer, with a peak in July. Washington County consistently has the highest Lyme disease rate in Rhode Island, with a 2024 rate of 723 cases per 100,000 people.

And Rhode Island has one of the country’s best-known tick resources in its own backyard: the University of Rhode Island’s TickEncounter Resource Center.

Led by Dr. Thomas Mather — URI’s “TickGuy” and one of the nation’s foremost tick experts — TickEncounter provides practical, plain-language guidance on tick identification, tick-bite prevention, and what to do after finding a tick. URI’s TickEncounter site also includes tools and videos to help people understand which ticks are active and how to reduce the risk of tickborne disease.

Mather has long emphasized that conditions matter. Ticks do not like dry weather, while damp, shady, leafy areas create more favorable tick habitat. In a URI summer-prevention update, he said Rhode Islanders can often judge tick risk by looking at yard conditions, including whether lawns and surrounding areas are dry or damp.

Ticks are not the only warm-weather pest concern. The National Pest Management Association is also warning that ticks, mosquitoes, ants and stinging insects become increasingly active as summer approaches. Mosquitoes can breed in small amounts of standing water and may transmit illnesses such as West Nile virus and Zika virus. Stinging insects are also a seasonal risk, especially for people with allergies.

The advice is simple, but important: act early, before pest activity peaks.

What to do now

7,000 Local Food Benefit Cards Available for Eligible Seniors

No home delivery anymore due to Trump allowing funding to lapse

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management’s (DEM) Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP) will distribute nearly 7,000 benefit cards to eligible seniors to purchase fresh, RI Grown fruit and vegetables, as well as local honey. The SFMNP benefit cards preloaded with $50 will be distributed from more than fifty senior centers and locations throughout the state starting June 1, 2026, and are valid through November 30. 

Eligible seniors can apply to participate in the SFMNP through their local senior center or other applicable nutrition program, with sign-up locations listed on the SFMNP webpage at www.dem.ri.gov/sfmnp.

The SFMNP helps eligible seniors access fresh, locally grown food, supports Rhode Island farmers, and keeps food assistance dollars in the state. DEM works closely with the Rhode Island Office of Healthy Aging (OHA) to identify communities in need and ensure an equitable distribution across the state. Due to the end of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, there will be no deliveries of produce boxes to homebound seniors this season. 

To provide RI SFMNP benefit access for homebound eligible participants, DEM encourages eligible homebound individuals to complete the application found on the SFMNP webpage and indicate a selected proxy. The proxy can take the completed application to a SFMNP Distribution Location to obtain a SFMNP benefit card and then shop for produce on the participant’s behalf.

Pope Leo XIV compares AI to the Industrial Revolution – as new alternatives to big AI firms take shape

A very different Pope

Nathan Schneider, University of Colorado Boulder

With the release of his encyclical letter Magnifica Humanitas on May 25, 2026, Pope Leo XIV has signaled that he wants the church to respond to artificial intelligence much as a predecessor, Pope Leo XIII, responded to upheavals during the Industrial Revolution over a century ago.

Since the first act of his papacy – choosing his name – the current pope has repeatedly invoked the earlier Leo’s 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum. 

That document, which waded into the political and economic debates of the time, denounced the excesses of the Gilded Age and pointed toward a more just social order. 

Now, Leo XIV has used his first major statement to the world to present a new Rerum Novarum for the age of AI.

Rerum Novarum was more than just a theological text. It helped reshape economic policy around the rights of workers, serving as a spiritual foundation for European social democracy and the 1930s New Deal programs that still undergird economic life for working Americans today. It also spurred a movement of entrepreneurs to transform the economic system from within.

Understanding its influence is key to seeing the potential of Leo XIV’s encyclical.

Revenue for Rhode Islanders Coalition urge General Assembly to tax the rich

They can afford it and it's the right thing to do

Steve Ahlquist

As the Rhode Island House releases the FY2027 state budget, the Revenue for Rhode Islanders Coalition and more than 50 statewide organizations and businesses¹ are calling on legislative leaders to meet this moment with courage and urgency by including meaningful revenue solutions — including the top one percent surtax proposal — in the final budget. On Thursday, they held a rally outside the Rhode Island State House and then went inside to lobby in both chambers.

“We are here to demand that lawmakers tax the rich,” said emcee Alisha Pina, director of Rhode Island Interfaith Coalition to Reduce Poverty. “We are here today because we know Rhode Island needs more revenue. We are here today because most of us are not thriving; we are struggling paycheck to paycheck. We know that tax fairness and more revenue from the 1% will bring in more money that we all need. Rhode Island can take care of itself, and we do that by doing it together. We know that federal cuts will be on the order of $400 million for fiscal year 2028, so the money found a few weeks ago is not enough. What we need is tax fairness, and tax fairness means taxing the top 1% to bring in more money for all of us and to address the inequities we see every day in education, housing, and healthcare.

“We need money for childcare, the unhoused, RIPTA, and healthcare. Every session, we tell our legislators the same thing: It is your moral obligation to help all of us, not just some of us. To think that the budget that’s going to be announced tomorrow may not include any millionaires or 1% tax ... It’s not fair, logical, or good for Rhode Island. We’re here to demand what we need. Listen to your taxpayers. We’re the ones who elect you, and yet you make decisions that are against what we want. That’s why we’re here today.”

“In April 1978, martyr and Saint Óscar Romero wrote, ‘A church that doesn’t provoke any crisis, a gospel that doesn’t unsettle, a word of God that doesn’t get under anyone’s skin, a word of God that doesn’t touch the real sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed -- what gospel is that?’² The original column was written for an archdiocesan newspaper in response to secular attacks from the Salvadorian oligarchy, corrupt and fraudulent leadership supported by the U.S. government,” said Jeremy Langill, Executive Minister of the Rhode Island State Council of Churches. “Romero had been accused of being a communist, but like many inspired by liberation theology and the reality that the gospels compelled action, he continued to insist that his care and support for the rights of the poor were a matter of faith.

“But Saint Romero is not the only leader who understood the Christian call to action. Karl Barth, arguably the most preeminent Protestant theologian of the 20th century, wrote that the churches have injured the cause of the gospel by the way they have identified the gospel with the badly planned and ineptly guided cause of the West. Bart, too, was responding to claims that he was a crypto-communist because of his consistent critique of the attempt to identify Christian faith post World War II with the economic and political systems of the United States. His commentary was theological. It was grounded in the gospel. It could not be assimilated into market forces that prioritized profits over people.

“Friends, a marginal tax rate on the top 1% is, to speak simply, a no-brainer. It’s a no-brainer because it does not even get close to addressing the deep structural inequities that drive our dystopian and immoral economic reality. It merely addresses a symptom, the excessive accumulation of wealth by a handful of people. As a minister of the gospel of Christ, I already know what Jesus thinks about wealth. The gospels go straight to the heart of the matter: ‘The first shall be last, and the last shall be first.’ (Matthew 20:16) It is a teaching that comes just after the parable of the workers in the vineyard, where the manager paid every employee equally, regardless of the number of hours they worked.

Great new plan

Surrender!

Senate approves Sen. Gu’s shoreline access education bill

Local fake fire districts who block beach access also need "educating" 

The Senate today approved legislation from Sen. Victoria Gu to educate tenants and short-term rental guests about public shoreline access rights.

“This bill expands upon the work we’ve done to codify shoreline access and educate buyers of shoreline property about the public’s right to access the shore,” said Senator Gu (D-Dist. 38, Westerly, Charlestown, South Kingstown). 

“While a lot of people in Rhode Island are aware of the public’s right to access the shoreline, people coming in from other states to rent or book a short-term rental aren’t necessarily aware of them. This is an important consumer protection and education measure to ensure that people renting ocean front real estate understand the public’s right to access the shoreline.”

Senator Gu sponsored a new law in 2024 that requires similar disclosure to buyers of shoreline property. This bill (2026-S 2734A) would extend this disclosure to tenants of shoreline properties, requiring landlords to provide renters with written shoreline access disclosure before the start of tenancy.

The disclosure would include the public’s rights and privileges to the shore up to 10 feet above the recognizable high tide line, requires the landlord to disclose any known rights of way to the tenant and advise the tenant to contact CRMC to find out if any public rights of way or permits are tied to the property.

Health alert for Worden Pond

RIDOH and DEM Recommend Avoiding Contact with Worden Pond

The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) and Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) are advising people to avoid contact with Worden Pond in South Kingstown due to harmful algae blooms (HABs).

All recreation, including swimming, fishing, boating and kayaking, is high risk to health and recommended to be avoided at this location. 

This HAB is caused by blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, which are naturally present in bodies of water. HABs can produce toxins which can be harmful to humans and animals. 

Toxins and/or high cell counts have been detected by the RIDOH State Health Laboratory from water samples collected by DEM at several locations.

Use caution in all areas of Worden Pond as HABs can move locations in ponds and lakes. People should not drink untreated water or eat fish from affected waterbodies. Pet owners should not allow pets to drink or swim in this water. This advisory recommendation remains in effect until further notice.

Skin contact with water containing blue-green algae can cause irritation of the skin, nose, eyes, and throat. Symptoms from ingestion of water can include stomachache, diarrhea, vomiting, and nausea. Less common symptoms can include dizziness, headache, fever, liver damage, and nervous system damage. 

Young children and pets are at higher risk for health effects associated with HABs because they are more likely to swallow water when they are in or around bodies of water. People who have had contact with these ponds and experience those symptoms should contact their healthcare provider.

If you or your pet come into contact with an algal bloom (HAB):

They’re Called ‘Super Pollutants’—And Trump’s EPA Wants to Expose You to More of Them

Remember the cancer-causing "Ozone Hole?" Trump wants to bring it back. 

Brett Wilkins for Common Dreams

In a reversal of his past position and what critics are calling yet another betrayal of his “Make America Healthy Again” campaign pledge, US President Donald Trump announced Thursday that his administration is loosening limits on so-called “super pollutant” hydrofluorocarbons used in air conditioners and refrigerators at the expense of the environment and climate.

Trump and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin spun the move as a measure that will “save American families and businesses more than $2.4 billion” by revising “costly overreaching restrictions” imposed during the Biden administration “limiting the type of refrigerants American businesses and families can use.”

“Today, the Trump EPA is fulfilling President Trump’s promise to lower costs and is fixing every problem we can under the authority Congress gave us,” Zeldin said. “Our actions allow businesses to choose the refrigeration systems that work best for them, saving them billions of dollars. This will be felt directly by American families in lower grocery prices.”

Grocery prices have continued to rise during Trump’s second term, driven by the administration’s erratic trade wars and actual war on Iran. Critics of Thursday’s move argue that it will do little to reduce consumer costs, while increasing pollution and health risks for American families.

RFK Jr. brought chaos to US health system

HHS is in chaos and his MAHA movement looks like a spent force.

Noah Berlatsky

Last week, Trump’s Food and Drug Administration just about tore itself apart in a paroxysm of confusion and chaos.

First, Commissioner Dr. Martin Makary resigned. He was replaced by Kyle Diamantis, a crony of Donald Trump Jr. who has no medical qualifications. Makary was soon followed to the exit by administrator Dr. Tracy Beth Hoeg, an anti-vax crank aligned with the rolling public health disaster that is Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The turmoil at the FDA is a sign of the administration’s deeply unserious and incoherent approach to public health. That is not, obviously, something to celebrate.

Trump’s catastrophically inadequate response to covid helped kill 1.2 million people in the US. In his second term he seems determined to ensure that the US is even more unprepared to face any and every public health crisis than it was in 2020.

At the same time, the instability at US public health agencies underlines the precarity of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, with all its snake-oil, fatphobia, and eugenic woo woo. MAHA never had a solid constituency on the right, and its support appears to have eroded further the longer the nation has stared into Kennedy’s beady, fanatic eyes.

Look what he's done to the White House...Ultimate Fighting cage being erected on White House lawn

South County Rising calendar of PRIDE events

Charlestown voters urged to turn out on Monday to vote on town budget

 

Voter and Election Information   ALL-DAY FINANCIAL REFERENDUM   Monday, June 1, 2026 Polls open: 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. All Charlestown voters will vote at: Charlestown Town Hall, Council Chambers 4540 South County Trail, Charlestown RI 02813 Questions? Call (401) 364-1200 Best, Tim Quillen, CRU Chair Charlestown Residents United | PO Box 412 | Charlestown, RI 02813 US

Seth Magaziner gets $750,000 in federal funding for Wood River Health

Study Finds No Significant Health Effects from Wind Turbine Exposure

King Donald is wrong again

By Bioengineer 

In a groundbreaking study published in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) on May 19, 2026, researchers have shed light on a subject of mounting public interest and controversy: the health impacts of living near wind turbines. 

Opposing the narrative popularized in some media and public discourse that posits wind turbines as a source of significant health problems, the collaborative research involving the University of Pittsburgh, Columbia University, and the University of Augsburg delivers rigorously analyzed, empirical evidence that challenges these claims.

Wind energy is heralded globally as a pivotal element in the transition from fossil fuels toward sustainable energy systems. However, despite the environmental benefits, there remains a persistent public apprehension regarding the potential health effects of turbines, with claims ranging from sleep disturbances and headaches to heightened depression and even increased suicide rates. These assertions have often led to local opposition against turbine installations, complicating the advancement of wind energy projects.

Sen. DiMario, Rep. Fogarty introduce legislation to address loopholes in campaign finance law

Bills need action before General Assembly session ends 

Here is a prime example of the kind of election abuse
this legislation is designed to fight. From the League
of Rhode Island Businesses (LORIB) which set up
40 PACs and is running candidates against nearly
every Democratic woman legislator in South County.

Sen. Alana M. DiMario and Rep. Kathleen A. Fogarty have introduced legislation to close a variety of loopholes in state campaign finance law.

“As elected officials, our constituents expect us to represent their best interests and not the best interests of wealthy donors,” said Senator DiMario (D-Dist. 36, Narragansett, North Kingstown, New Shoreham). 

“Furthermore, our state constitution charges the General Assembly with setting limits on political donations and ensuring that campaign donations and expenditures are clearly and publicly reported. But as with many laws that we pass, we have to keep an eye on them so that they work as intended. This bill seeks to close the gaps between intention and practice in campaign finance by closing loopholes that have become apparent over the years. It’s time for the letter of the law to reflect the spirit of open, fair and transparent campaigning set down in our constitution.”

The bill (2026-S 2720, 2026-H 7450) would strengthen Rhode Island’s campaign finance laws in a variety of ways, including closing a loophole that allows campaigns to receive unlimited donations from vendors if those vendors agree to allow an outstanding invoice for their services to remain unpaid for an indefinite period of time. The bill would set a time limit for unpaid invoices before they must be classified as donations.

“This is critical legislation that closes loopholes surrounding election donations and campaign expenditures,” said Representative Fogarty (D-Dist. 35, South Kingstown). “Our laws are clearly intended to place reasonable limits on the role of money in politics and make sure its influence is transparently reported. But we’ve been falling behind upholding these ideals as donors, candidates and political action committees have found and exploited loopholes since our laws were last updated. By addressing areas where our laws are coming up short, this bill will increase transparency and boost public confidence in the electoral process.”

The bill would also prohibit using multiple political action committees under the control of the same person or group of people to evade the annual $2,000 limit on contributions to a political candidate — a practice already outlawed in federal elections — and strengthen the penalties for illegal straw donations that are similarly used to subvert contribution limits.

It would also clarify the definition of an in-kind contribution, require campaigns to itemize payments to vendors, tighten rules for political action committees to stop them from scamming donors by spending the bulk of their funds on overhead and close a loophole that could allow corporations that are banned from donating to candidates in Rhode Island to evade the ban by donating paid personal services.

Senator DiMario and Representative Fogarty’s legislation was supported in committee by the Rhode Island Board of Elections, the Campaign Legal Center and Common Cause Rhode Island, the latter of which wrote “together these changes will make our campaign finance limits and reporting more effective and reduce the role of money in our politics.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: LORIB has targeted Charlestown state Rep. Tina Spears as well as our state Senator Victoria Gu. The authors of the legislation, Rep. Kathy Fogarty and Sen. Alana DiMario are also targets, as are Rep. Teresa Tanzi, Rep. Carol McEntee, and Sen. Bridgette ValVerde. Many of these challenges take the form of putting up a DINO (Democrat in name only) candidate up against a real Democrat in the September 9 Democratic Primary. That's the case in Charlestown where a pro-gun lawyer specializing in defending clients charged with sex crimes is up against our hard-working state Rep. Tina Spears.    - Will Collette

Introducing TRUMPGroceries

Burn her!

Leave the babies alone!

Respect Wildlife - Don't Touch!

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) asks the public to give baby wildlife some space, especially fawns – the tiny spotted deer that are often mistakenly thought to be “abandoned” when they’re right where Mom left them. 

As tempting as it may be to “rescue” a lone fawn, touching or moving it is putting its survival at risk. 

“In nature, it’s normal for a fawn to be hidden in grass or brush for the first week after birth, as it can’t yet follow its mother,” said Dylan Ferreira, a wildlife biologist in DEM's Division of Fish and Wildlife (DFW). “Sometimes well-intentioned people wrongly assume that a fawn is abandoned and take it home and try to rescue it, but the mother is usually nearby and returns to feed it. If you see a fawn alone, please leave it alone – it does not need help and should not be handled.”

Childhood junk food may rewire the brain for life

Bites back later in life

University College Cork

Childhood junk food may secretly rewire the brain for life — but gut bacteria could help fight back.

Children who regularly eat high-fat, high-sugar foods may experience lasting changes in the brain that continue long after their diets improve, according to a new study from University College Cork (UCC). Researchers also found that beneficial gut bacteria and prebiotic fibers could help reduce some of these long-term effects and support healthier eating behaviors later in life.

Scientists at APC Microbiome, a leading research center based at UCC, discovered that unhealthy diets during early life can alter how the brain controls appetite and feeding. These changes persisted even after the unhealthy diet ended and body weight returned to normal.

Today's children are surrounded by highly processed foods that are heavily marketed and easy to access. Sugary and fatty foods have become common at birthday parties, school events, sports activities, and even as rewards for good behavior. Researchers say this constant exposure may shape food preferences from an early age and encourage eating habits that continue into adulthood.

Childhood Diets and Long-Term Brain Changes

The study, published in Nature Communications, found that early exposure to calorie-dense, nutrient-poor foods can leave lasting effects on feeding behavior. Researchers used a preclinical mouse model and found that animals exposed to a high-fat, high-sugar diet early in life showed persistent changes in eating behavior as adults.

The team linked these behavioral effects to disruptions in the hypothalamus, a brain region responsible for regulating appetite and energy balance.

The research also explored whether targeting the gut microbiome could help counter these effects. Scientists tested a beneficial bacterial strain (Bifidobacterium longum APC1472) along with prebiotic fibers (fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) and galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), naturally present in foods such as onions, garlic, leeks, asparagus and bananas, and widely available in fortified foods and prebiotic supplements).

According to the findings, both approaches showed potential benefits when given throughout life.

Gut Bacteria May Help Restore Healthy Eating Patterns

"Our findings show that what we eat early in life really matters." said Dr. Cristina Cuesta-Martí, first author of the study. "Early dietary exposure may leave hidden, long-term effects on feeding behavior that are not immediately visible through weight alone."

Researchers found that unhealthy diets early in life disrupted brain pathways linked to feeding behavior, with effects continuing into adulthood. The findings suggest this could raise the risk of obesity later in life.

Importantly, scientists found that modifying the gut microbiota helped reduce these long-term effects. The probiotic strain Bifidobacterium longum APC1472 significantly improved feeding behavior while causing only minor changes to the overall microbiome, suggesting a highly targeted effect. Meanwhile, the prebiotic combination (FOS+GOS) produced broader changes across the gut microbiome.

Microbiome Research Opens New Possibilities

"Crucially, our findings show that targeting the gut microbiota can mitigate the long-term effects of an unhealthy early-life diet on later feeding behavior. Supporting the gut microbiota from birth helps maintain healthier food-related behaviors into later life." said Dr. Harriet Schellekens, lead investigator of the study.

Professor John F. Cryan, Vice President for Research & Innovation at UCC and collaborator on the project, said: "Studies like this exemplify how fundamental research can lead to potential innovative solutions for major societal challenges. By revealing how early-life diet shapes brain pathways involved in the regulation of feeding, this work opens new opportunities for microbiota-based interventions."

The UCC-led study involved collaborators from the University of Seville (Spain), University of Gothenburg (Sweden), and Teagasc Food Research Centre (Fermoy, Ireland). Funding came from Research Ireland, a Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship, and a research award from the Biostime Institute for Nutrition & Care.

Journal Reference:

1. Cristina Cuesta-Marti, Eduardo Ponce-España, Friederike Uhlig, Iris Stoltenborg, Luiza A. Wasiewska, Lamiah Kareem, Dara Hedayatpour, Loreto Olavarría-Ramírez, Cristina Rosell-Cardona, Thomaz. F. S. Bastiaanssen, Gabriel. S. S. Tofani, Benjamin Valderrama, Klara Vlckova, Suzanne L. Dickson, Aonghus Lavelle, Catherine Stanton, R. Paul Ross, John F. Cryan, Timothy G. Dinan, Gerard Clarke, Siobhain M. O’Mahony, Harriët Schellekens. Bifidobacterium longum and prebiotic interventions restore early-life high-fat/high-sugar diet-induced alterations in feeding behavior in adult mice. Nature Communications, 2026; 17 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-68968-2

Retirees Are Worried About the Cost of Healthcare – and Who Can Blame Them?

Rising premiums, deductibles, co-pays, supplemental coverage and out of pocket costs hurt

Alicia H. Munnell 

The 10-percent increase in Medicare Part B premiums for 2026 has reignited concerns about how much Social Security and total income people will have after they cover their out-of-pocket (OOP) health spending.  Fortunately, my colleague Matt Rutledge has updated earlier research to answer precisely that question.

Even though retirees ages 65+ have Medicare, they still face considerable costs. In the case of Medicare Part A, which covers inpatient hospital care and is financed primarily by payroll taxes, beneficiaries face cost-sharing. Medicare Part B, which covers physician and outpatient hospital services, and Part D, which covers prescription drugs, are partly financed by premiums and include further cost-sharing. 

Because Medicare’s OOP costs are often substantial, many enrollees buy supplemental coverage, which may include additional premiums. Finally, many services, such as dental, vision, and hearing, are not covered by Medicare.

To identify total out-of-pocket healthcare costs, Matt used the 2018, 2020, and 2022 Health and Retirement Study (HRS). The sample included respondents who were ages 65+ and were receiving both Social Security and Medicare. In terms of expenditures, the HRS captures prescription drugs, special facilities, surgery, and medical visits to doctors, hospitals, and dentists. It also includes self-reported premiums paid for Medicare Part D, Medicare Advantage, and private supplemental plans. Medicare Part B income-related premiums were estimated based on the individual’s income. 

The central finding was the percentage of Social Security left after paying out-of-pocket health costs and how those results changed over the three surveys. As shown in Figure 1, the median percentage remaining in 2022 after medical OOP spending was 71 percent for Social Security benefits and 88 percent for total income. And these percentages were virtually unchanged over the three surveys.

In other words, OOP takes a big chuck of retirees’ resources, and the 10-percent increase in Medicare Part B premium suggests no relief on the horizon.

Corruptonomics

A memo to Democratic candidates on connecting Trump’s lousy economy to his corrupt regime.

Robert Reich

Friends,

Here’s a memo to Democrats as they begin campaigning in earnest for control of the House and Senate in the midterm elections. (Please send to any candidates you care about.)

***

TO: Democratic candidates in the 2026 midterm elections

RE: Connect Trump’s lousy economy to his corrupt regime.

The purpose of this memo is to help you shape your midterm message around the crisis of affordability and Trump Republican corruption. I urge you to present these two issues as aspects of the same underlying problem: The economy is lousy for most Americans because Trump Republicans are enabling super-rich oligarchs to siphon off most of its gains while exerting increasing control over it. Their — and Trump’s — self-dealing is undermining trust and confidence in the U.S. economic system.

1. Republicans in the House and Senate have put oligarchs in charge of America.

House and Senate Republicans have allowed Trump’s war and his tariffs to drive up prices and Trump’s corruption to undermine faith in the economy. They’ve allowed Trump to gild his White House in gold leaf, plan a giant Arc de Trump, throw lavish parties, and build a Billionaire’s Ballroom — at a time when most Americans can’t afford gas or groceries.

They raided Medicaid to pay for Trump’s giant tax cut, whose benefits are going mostly to the rich. Legislative efforts advanced by House Republicans and signed into law have targeted up to $2 trillion in federal health care cuts, forcing millions of Americans off Medicaid rolls to pay for these tax reductions.

They refused to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies. This is causing average premiums to more than double and has already pushed 1.2 million people off coverage because they can’t afford it. Coverage losses are mounting as many who initially selected a plan or who were automatically reenrolled have to drop coverage.

Big Tech oligarchs — centi-billionaires Bezos, Musk, Zuckerberg, Ellison, and other robber barons — paid for Trump’s 2024 election, his inauguration, and his ballroom and are major donors to Senate and House Republicans. They’ve shown up at Trump’s inauguration, White House dinners, and official visits to China.

In return, these oligarchs have been allowed to monopolize and drive up the prices we pay and silence Trump critics. Bezos’s Amazon, for example, won’t allow any seller on the site to post lower prices on any other site, and Bezos won’t allow his Washington Post editorial page to criticize Trump. Larry and David Ellison have bought CBS and sanitized “60 Minutes” of Trump criticism and effectively canceled Stephen Colbert. After buying X (formerly Twitter), Musk turned it into a pro-Trump voice box.

The AI oligarchs have bribed Trump and congressional Republicans to allow unfettered and unregulated growth of AI and its data centers, threatening millions of jobs and posing potential dangers to human life itself.

The crypto oligarchs have bribed Trump and congressional Republicans to allow them to create the world’s largest Ponzi scheme — which is enriching Trump and his family while providing a means for criminals to hide insider trades, child trafficking, and drug deals.

The Big Oil and aerospace oligarchs have bribed congressional Republicans to allow Trump to go to war in Iran, resulting in massive profits for Big Oil — while the rest of us pay $1.50 more per gallon of gas — and giant profits for giant military contractors.

This war spending has also contributed to higher inflation, which the rest of us pay for in higher mortgage rates and higher rates on car loans and education loans. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate has surged to over 6.6 percent, reaching its highest level in nearly nine months, driven by rising Treasury yields, higher oil prices, and broader economic inflation concerns stemming from the war in Iran. The major beneficiaries of these higher rates — who pocket the higher payments we have to make — are the biggest banks and super-rich who make the loans.

Oligarchs have also bribed Trump and congressional Republicans to (1) get no-bid contracts, (2) deregulate Wall Street, (3) roll back environmental safeguards and worker safety, and (4) get massive subsidies for their corporations — all of which have made them even richer while making life for the rest of us more dangerous and more costly.

The art of the deal

From the folks who looted a kids' cancer charity

The brain's night shift: How sleep, waste clearance and dementia may be linked

Maybe it's a bad idea to spend all night shit-posting on social media

By University of Rochester Medical Center

Edited by Sadie Harley, reviewed by Robert Egan

Why are conditions such as chronic stress, depression, cardiovascular disease, fragmented sleep, and aging all associated with a higher risk of dementia? 

In a new review piece in Science, University of Rochester Medicine neuroscientist Maiken Nedergaard, MD, DMSc, proposes that many of these seemingly different conditions may converge on the same biological problem: disruption of a sleep-dependent brain rhythm that helps clear waste from the brain.

The article presents a new way of thinking about sleep, not simply as a period of rest, but as a highly organized biological state that coordinates brain chemistry, blood vessel movement, and cerebrospinal fluid flow to support the brain's nightly cleaning process.

The piece also points to a potential biomarker, heart rate variability, which can already be tracked with consumer wearables, as a simple, noninvasive way to assess sleep-related brain health and identify people at increased risk for cognitive decline.

Scientists uncover cancer-causing chemicals hidden in everyday foods

Moderate your cooking style

Seoul National University of Science & Technology 

More people are paying close attention to what they eat, often tracking calories, exercising daily, and filling their plates with foods that seem naturally healthy, including fruits and vegetables. 

Yet even nutritious foods can carry hidden chemical concerns. Some contaminants can enter food from the environment, while others can form during high heat cooking methods such as heating, smoking, grilling, roasting, and frying.

Among the compounds of concern are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs (hydrophobic organic compounds comprising multiple fused aromatic rings). 

Some PAHs are known for their cancer causing potential, which makes reliable food testing an important part of protecting public health.

EPA Claims ‘Overwhelming Rejection’ of EVs as It Moves to Loosen Air Pollution Rules

Based on false premise, EPA moves to create more smog

By Anika Jane Beamer

This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here.

After eliminating the electric vehicle tax credit, rolling back fuel economy standards and blocking California’s stringent vehicle emissions rules, the Trump administration is now citing slowed electric vehicle growth as its rationale for loosening automobile air pollution standards.

In a rulemaking proposal released Friday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced plans to delay the adoption of Biden-era Tier 4 air pollution standards for passenger cars and trucks and, going forward, to reconsider them.

The agency said that the proposed change is in response to “the overwhelming rejection of Electric Vehicles (EVs) by the American people and manufacturers shifting away from them.” It comes amid debate over environmental regulation and the influence of industry interests in the Trump administration.

Established in April 2024, the Tier 4 Criteria Pollutant Standards represent the most recent batch of vehicle emissions standards adopted under the Clean Air Act. The standards would have required manufacturers to meet fleet-average limits on smog-producing volatile organic compounds, oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and particulate matter tailpipe emissions, with phase-in beginning in 2027.

When the standards were first adopted in 2024, electric vehicles accounted for 8 percent of new light-duty vehicles (cars, vans and trucks weighing less than 8,500 pounds) sold in the United States.

EV growth was projected to continue. But soon after President Donald Trump took office for his second term in January 2025, he initiated a series of deregulatory actions that stunted EV market growth.