March 15, 2016
It’s presidential primary season! That time every four years when the media focuses on all of the important policy issues facing our county with thorough, unbiased, factual analysis of all of the candidates’ proposals…
OK, we know that’s wishful thinking, especially this campaign season when the debate is about the size of the candidates’ “hands” rather than the size of workers’ paychecks. But on those occasions when the talk does turn to economic policy, CEPR is there – providing research and analysis that is truly fact-based and non-partisan.
And we need your help to continue to inject some economic sanity into the news spin cycle this year.
This is a crucial moment for American politics, when facts get buried under election year rhetoric. For example, there has been a great deal of talk about “free trade” during this election year. CEPR has been busy pointing out that trade deals like the Trans Pacific Partnership, are not about “free trade,” but rather enshrining a pro-business regulatory structure. In fact, since a major goal of the TPP is increasing patent protections on drugs and other forms of intellectual property, it is arguably a protectionist pact, although these protections are designed to redistribute income upward.
We’ve helped the media to call out some of the more outrageous statements. The Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler gave Donald Trump 4 Pinocchios for stating that allowing Medicare to negotiate the cost of prescription drugs would save $300 billion per year (on a program that in 2014 cost a total of $78 billion). Kessler cited a previous CEPR study that showed savings of between $230 billion to $541 billion over 10 years. While pointing out that Trump’s claim for Medicare savings didn’t add up, Kessler quoted CEPR Co-director Dean Baker: “As an economist, I find it utterly absurd that we are paying thousands of dollars for drugs that might sell for $10 or $20 a prescription in a free market.”
And we don’t stop with the US of A: Our monitoring of the electoral crisis in Haiti has been just as hard-hitting.
Won’t you consider making a donation to CEPR to help us to continue to set the record straight? Unlike campaign contributions a donation to CEPR is tax deductible, and we provide great bang for your buck: CEPR consistently ranks number one in press hits per budget dollar of all the major think tanks.
Click here and show your support for CEPR 2016. Let’s make America informed again!
Thanks,
Mark, Dean, CEPR Staff and Dean’s dog Biscuit, who approves this message.
