3) New York Spends Almost Twice Per Medicaid Enrollee than National Average

Among Medicaid’s many flaws, the program has become a race to the bottom for the states. Thanks to the 90% federal match for non-disabled working-age adults, the states are financially rewarded for wasting money.

You couldn’t come up with a more perverse incentive scheme.

This, no doubt, explains why the costs are spiraling out of control in New York, which spends triple per enrollee what Utah spends, according to the Empire Center.

New York also has rampant home health care fraud in the Medicaid program.

Amazingly, New York is number one in Medicaid spending, but all that "free" money from Uncle Sam isn't making The Empire State any healthier.  

The federal reimbursement formula should be based on how much money each state SAVES, not how much it wastes.

4) Trump Derails California High-Speed Train Boondoggle

This is a HUGE victory for UP and our senior fellow Wendell Cox, who has been the nation’s leading critic of this as much as $135 billion train to nowhere for many years (and with so little of the project completed, it seems likely that costs could still rise considerably). Our report in April (available here) and his articles in The Wall Street Journal have exposed the shocking failure and ballooning costs of the project.

So we were thrilled that the Trump administration has reached the same conclusion, issuing a comprehensive report yesterday.

In a letter to CHSRA CEO, Ian Choudri, the Trump DOT highlighted that its report uncovered a pattern of project delays, mismanagement, waste, and escalating costs, amounting to a "default" on its obligations to federal taxpayers.

"This report exposes a cold, hard truth: CHSRA has no viable path to complete this project on time or on budget. CHSRA is on notice -- If they can't deliver on their end of the deal, it could soon be time for these funds to flow to other projects… that can achieve President Trump's vision of building great, big, beautiful things again," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy. "Our country deserves high-speed rail that makes us proud - not boondoogle trains to nowhere."

In its letter, DOT cribbed from Cox's UP report by noting:

What started as a proposed 800-mile system was first reduced to 500 miles, then became a 171-mile segment, and is now very likely ended as a 119-mile track to nowhere.

5) Low-Tax Red States Are Dominating in Sports Too

Regular HOTLINE readers know that we've been documenting that no-income tax states aren't just dominating economically, but also in the world of sports.

Now, The New York Times has picked up the story, and noted this week that the Florida Panthers are playing in their third straight Stanley Cup final, right after Tampa made three in a row. Why are all the best skaters playing for Florida teams? Here’s The Times explanation:

"Florida takes no state income taxes out of paychecks — a huge talking point when it comes to the Lightning and Panthers' runs. The Vegas Golden Knights, Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators and Seattle Kraken also play in no-state-income-tax states."

The Times story reports that the teams in high tax states now complain that this gives Florida "an unfair advantage" especially against "Canada and high-tax states like California, New York/New Jersey and Minnesota."

The high tax states now want to level the playing field by "addressing this situation" in the collective bargaining agreement.  

Here's a better solution: get the blue states to cut their taxes and lure in superstars in sports and business. If they don’t, the New York Knicks and the Chicago Bulls and the San Francisco 49ers may never win another championship.

6) You Almost Feel Sorry for Her

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