As #RyanCooper writes for *#TheAmericanProspect*, Merck's argument is that the "fair market" value of its drugs can only be discovered if its single largest customer - Medicare - simply pays whatever Merck demands of it:

https://prospect.org/health/2023-06-08-merck-negotiating-drug-prices-unconstitutional/

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But writing for #TheAmericanProspect, #RyanCooper argues that this could still be sound tactics:

https://prospect.org/economy/2023-05-25-democrats-fear-supreme-court/

If Biden does something about the debt default, and the Supremes block it, then the default is *their* fault. What's more, it's a mess they absolutely do *not* want to get into, like deciding which of the US's creditors will and won't get paid when they sue over the default.

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But the Child Tax Credit has been systematically sabotaged, by Intuit lobbyists, who successfully added layer after layer of red tape - needless complexity that makes it nearly impossible to claim the credit without expert help - from the likes of Intuit:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/29/three-times-is-enemy-action/#ctc

It worked. As #RyanCooper writes in *#TheAmericanProspect*: "between 13 and 22 percent of EITC benefits are gulped down by tax prep companies":

https://prospect.org/economy/2023-05-17-irs-takes-welcome-step-20th-century/

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