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Good morning,
Today, we’re looking at how California is funding an alleged terror-linked group, why residents are leaving Oregon and Washington, and why weight-loss drugs are getting cheaper.
Write to us at editors@city-journal.org with questions or comments. |
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Photo credit: OMAR AL-QATTAA / Contributor / AFP via Getty Images |
Last year, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis designated the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) a terrorist organization. Founded in 1994, CAIR presents itself as a Muslim civil rights group, but it is allegedly connected to the Muslim Brotherhood and its offshoot, Hamas.
As more states move to sideline CAIR, California appears to be welcoming it with open arms. CAIR-CA is the organization’s largest statewide affiliate, getting $41 million through the California Department of Social Services over the past five years. As it turns out, much of that funding comes from the federal government.
“Given California’s track record under Newsom—on whose watch the state has lost billions of dollars to fraud—taxpayers should not hold their breath that state agencies will hold CAIR-CA accountable,” Ryan Thorpe and Christopher F. Rufo write. “But the failures of California state government present an opportunity for the Trump administration.”
Indeed, a DOJ investigation is underway. Read more about CAIR, its history, and why California has rubberstamped millions for the group. |
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Oregon and Washington used to be two of the most popular places to move to. Hundreds of thousands of Americans were relocating to these states a decade ago, drawn to their manageable living costs, moderate taxes, and natural beauty.
Today, however, the states are losing residents. In the first five years of the 2020s, both lost 12,000 people. Oregon, which led the nation in gains from domestic migration in 2016, ranked among the biggest losers by 2023—as did Washington. What happened?
The states moved sharply left. “Government spending surged, taxes and regulations expanded, urban disorder intensified, and personal freedoms narrowed during the Covid lockdowns,” Steven Malanga writes. “Even as Californians continued to head north, Oregon and Washington began losing residents to nearby states and beyond.”
Read more. |
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Over the past three years, prices for the weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Zepbound have fallen by more than 70 percent—even as health care remains expensive. Why? GLP-1 drugs are sold directly to consumers.
“Manufacturers initially followed the standard playbook: maintain high retail prices (paid by almost no one) while offering modest discounts to Medicare and insurers,” David Goldhill writes. “But coverage for weight-loss drugs expanded much less rapidly than usual. As a result, manufacturers had to sell directly to consumers; a majority of weight-loss patients pay for their GLP-1s out of pocket.” That means manufacturers face the same incentive as other companies to reduce prices—or lose customers.
Read more. |
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“There had to be an element of this in the Mamdani vote. ‘Like, I feel like, Communism, when you think about it, can be like, sort of cool. You know what I mean, it would be like we are all, like, sharing.’ Somehow, I hear a bit of this every time AOC opens her mouth.”
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A quarterly magazine of urban affairs, published by the Manhattan Institute, edited by Brian C. Anderson. |
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