Plan is. Well, short of ending obamacare. He clearly rails against the costs. The co the costs of meds, the costs of insurance. But his actions this week only push us further away from solutions so lets start there. Last week President Trump delivered what many could be a mortal blow to obamacare by cutting off csrs, costsharing reduction payments to insurers which subsidize coverage for low income americans. This week a bipartisan agreement was reached by senators Lamar Alexander and patty murray who have been working with their committee, the Health Committee for months on this. If that is passed, it would fund those csr payments for two years. Donald trump wasnt quite sure how to respond to that. Obamacare is finished, its dead, its gone. Its no longer you shouldnt even mention it, its gone. There is no such thing as obamacare anymore. It is a shortterm solution so that we dont have this very dangerous little period, including dangerous period for Insurance Companies, by the way, for a period of one year, two years. We will have a very good solution. Were going to see the bipartisan. Lamar alexander is working on it very hard from our side. If something can happen, thats fine. But i wont do anything to enrich the Insurance Companies. Thats a lie. Obamacare is not gone. He said its gone, then there is a good solution, then he said he might support it, then he said hes not going to enrich the Insurance Companies. Thats actually key, because in addition to saving the costsharing reductions, the bipartisan compromise would Fund Obamacare enrollment outreach which has been slashed by the current administration. For republicans the deal gives the states the flexibility to apply for these waivers to alter their Health Care Systems and it also expands eligibility for these catastrophic insurance plans, which are limited under obamacare. So whether you like it or you dont like it, it is actually bipartisan. Its the thing that we know has been missing for so long in this health care discussion. Bipartisanship, which is what america voted for. So this committee is 12 republicans and 12 democrats. Its true bipartisanship. Remember all of the people who said they want to drain the swamp and break the washington gridlock. More Americans Care about having Good Health Care than they care about what the name of the Health Care Program is. So the fact that you got a team, 12 on each side working together, should be a beautiful, beautiful progress solution for the country, yet somehow those who are stuck on a name are stuck in the mud here. Lets talk about what this is. President trumps move to cut these costsharing reductions forces the government to actually spend more money and it ends up raising premiums and insur insuring people. So if you believe that obamacare is broken or he needs to fulfill a promise to ending it, it doe make sense to do something that makes it worse for everybody involved. But if you believe that csrs make Insurance Companies more money, then youd be wrong. Look at this. Right now the Insurance Companies are being enriched. They have been enriched by obamacare like nothing anybody has ever seen before. I am not going to do anything to enrich the Insurance Companies. All right, lets talk about this for a little bit. Lets take the major insurers out there. The Major Health Care insurers. Lets put it up. This is their profit in 2016 as compared to their profit in 2013 without obamacare. So United Health in 2016 versus 2015, up 25 , cigna up 27, wellpoint no increase and hugh man humana is actually down. Thats not the part where they make money. The costsharing reductions are money that goes to subsidize low income people and their out of pocket costs. Instead of being unwieldy and sending reimbursements to everybody, the money goes to the Insurance Companies. So its a pass through to the Insurance Companies. Getting rid of csrs hurts the poorest people. It has zero effect on Insurance Companies. So if you have a beef about Insurance Companies, which a lot of people do and how much money they make and weve talked about it a lot, thats fair and its a separate issue. But when it comes to csrs, Insurance Companies, wheres the beef . This is not the problem. Moving on to President Trumps tax plan, which still needs to be worked out in congress, still needs a lot more details. We know some Broad Strokes already. A simplified tax code, fewer tax brackets, and of course big, big tax cuts that benefit businesses. Well, now there are some ideas in the president s plan that could also benefit the middle class, could. But this week something even boulder was peddled. My council of economic advisers estimates that this change along with a lower business tax rate would likely give the typical American Household around a 4,000 pay raise. Thats money that will be spent in our economy. Sweet. 4,000 bucks, thats a deal. But for facts sake, is it true . President trumps making a big promise to americans under his new tax plan. Thousands of dollars extra in their paychecks every year by drastically slashing Corporate Tax rates. That comes from a new study published by the president s council of economic advisers. The Council Chair says cutting Corporate Tax rates from 35 to 20 will boost wages substantially, depending on where you are on the income ladder, he says the boost will add anywhere between 4,000 to 9,000 a year. But does his math actually add up . For supply side economists on the right, its an article of faith that lower taxes on businesses and the wealthy reap benefits that trickle down to the rest of us. They argue that the extra money that Companies Get to keep increases demand for workers and drives up wages. But history shows us that cutting Corporate Taxes does not guarantee higher wages. Back in the 80s during another antitax drive under president reagan, the Corporate Tax rate was slashed from 46 to 34 , but instead of boosting wages, they actually fell for five straight years by as much as 3,000 in todays metrics. Contrast that with tax increases in 1993 and 2013, neither of which got in the way of growth. The premise flies in the face of earlier conclusions made by the Treasury Department and the congressional budget office. A laundry list of economists call the cea report everything from ridiculous to fatally flawed. Former treasury secretary Lawrence Summers goes one step further, calling the 4,000 figure, quote, absurd on the face of it. Research suggests companies are more likely to pass their tax windfalls to shareholders, not workers. In the end, trumps plan is trickledown economics, plain and simple, which an overwhelming majority of economists just doesnt think it works. They actually tried it in the uk. They cut rates over the last decade from 30 to 19 . Do you know what happened . Wages fell. Wages fell while they were creeping up here. Not enough, but the fact that were going to have a cut this big, assuming youre going to see wages increase, its reckless. Right. You could just actually give the middle class tax cuts to make up for this. Theres a whole concept of running the tax cuts through businesses in order to make it happen doesnt make sense. There are bipartisan agreedupon methods that you can use to have middle class people get greater benefit. You can expand the child tax credit, you can expand the earned income tax credit you could just cut the lower brackets even further. But this is a convoluted idea that may or may not help the middle and lower income level. But it for sure will help shareholders and companies. And guess what happens to shareholders right now. They are kicking it. They dont need any help from you. But thank you very much, mr. President. By the way to this point, the Dow Jones Industrial average crossed 23,000 points for the first time ever. This is an incredible milestone. The dow has gained 26 since donald trump was elected almost a year ago, in case you didnt hear that from me, he tends to remind you of it a lot. An interesting historical side note, 30 years ago this week on black monday, you were too young to remember this, the dow gave up 23 in one trading session. So weve been up 28 26 in almost a year. It lost 23 in one day. Back to todays market, the best reason for all the euphoria is the hope that the president can get something done on taxes to the extent that the treasury secretary, steve mnuchin, seems to think that tax prospects could swing the market for better or for worse. Listen. There is no question that the rally in the stock market has based into it reasonably High Expectations of us getting tax cuts and tax reform done. To the extent we get the tax deal done, the stock market will go up higher. But theres no question in my mind that if we dont get it done, youre going to see a reversal of a significant amount of these gains. Can i point out that Steve Mnuchins own firm where he came from, goldman sachs, said if tax reform doesnt get done, maybe things go down 3 . Not significantly. And it is reckless, it is reckless for the treasury secretary to have this warning like that. You better get this done or youre going to see the stock market is going to have a significant downfall. Can we please point out only 52 of the American Population even owns stocks. So the stock market is not a onetoone reflection on the economy. Right. So President Trump tweeted about how well the market has done and he picked a very interesting graphic. This is it. Showing you from election day, Inauguration Day where the market is. It shows the market was basically doing nothing until donald trump became president. So what we did is we recreated the graph in this tweet. There you go. From 2015 to 2017, it looks like the market didnt gain much and then look what happened on election day and Inauguration Day. But we do what we like to do around here, stephanie, we pulled that graph out to the length that you should see it from, starting from march 9th, 2009, a day i like to remind people of, and that is what the stock market actually looks like. It has been a steady climb, courtesy in large part of central banks. Our central banker, janet yellen, leaving Interest Rates at such low levels, it has not been good for savers, it has been great for companies. Companies can borrow, companies who can operate with greater efficiency. So the fact that the president and the administration continue to point only to tax reform and deregulation as the reason for this stock market boom, thats wrong. There have been low Interest Rates around the world and Global Markets have been doing as well or better than u. S. Markets. Were going to take a break. Coming up, one thing that could help a tax overhaul, senators voting on a budget resolution, six months behind but never too late. More on that. And why are our Prescription Drugs so expensive when so many other countries manage to bring those costs down . What exactly can the president do about it . Well talk about it, next. gasp singsong budget meeting sweet. If you compare last quarter to this quarter. Various mmm. Its no wonder everything seems a little better with the creamy taste of philly, made with fresh milk and real cream. The drug prices have gone through the roof. If you look at the same exact drug by the same exact company, made in the same exact box and sold to someplace else, sometimes its a fraction of what we pay in this country. Welcome back. That of course was President Trump this week, again complaining about what we all know to be true. Americans pay a lot for their medication. Trump promised to take action to bring prices down, but offered no specifics. While there are a lot of reasons why drug costs more in the United States than they do in other countries, theres really no easy fix to this problem. The Prescription Drug prices are out of control. President trump lashed out at the soaring cost of Prescription Drugs in the United States. According to a Consumer Reports survey, hes not wrong. 25 of americans who purchased Prescription Drugs in 2016, 28 million people, said they saw the price of their meds go up by 50 or more from just the year before. Trump also compared our drug prices to other countries. Theyre setting prices in other countries and were not. The Drug Companies frankly are getting away with murder, and we want to bring our prices down to what other countries are paying. Reporter but the u. S. Government doesnt set drug prices. The way our system is set up, it would be nearly impossible to bring prices in line with other countries. Our system is far more fractured. Its every company for themselves. In our country, Drug Companies can set any price that they want and they can raise it by any amount for the most part. Consumers are at the total mercy of drugstores, Drug Companies, wholesalers, pharmacy benefit managers, and theres no mechanism to stop it. The rest of the world operates differently. In countries with universal health systems, governments are often the only large buyers of Prescription Drugs, and that gives them vast powers to negotiate better pricing from Drug Companies. Canada uses regulation to set a maximum price for new drugs, and britain, with just one main insurance provider, can deny coverage for drugs it deems too expensive. Other countries have a more uniform system. They have individual oversight boards. They set prices. They make determinations about what medications the country will cover and pay for. Take a look at the prices charged for a months supply of three top drugs prescribed in 2014. Humira is often prescribed for arthritis and went for 2505 in the u. S. Compared to 1164 in canada and 1,150 in britain. Crestor was sold for 86 in the United States, compared to 32 in canada and 28 in great great britain. Lantus went for 186 in the u. S. , compared to 67 in canada and 64 in great britain. The higher price they charge americans help Fund Research and investment, making the u. S. A leader in bringing new drugs to the global marketplace, but critics say the high costs just make drugs less accessible to people who need them most. When it comes to solving this issue, it may not be an easy fix. Theres no single bullet to fix this problem. It will be a patch work of solutions to help people gain greater access, not spend so much money and still have the medications that they need. Okay. So President Trump looking to set prices. Isnt his entire Administration Mantra the opposite. Deregulation, deregulation, deregulation. Free markets, open markets. Setting prices is the exact opposite of deregulation. The one thing thats kind of interesting here is the degree to which the pharmaceutical industry lobbies. So by the way pull up the numbers, please. Hell be up against that. More than almost double the next closest industry, pharmaceutical and health products. 144 million. Is that over ten years . That is an extraordinary number. Thats this year. The president is saying this in an offhanded way at the white house. Wait until he steps back, sits down and realizes how many lobbyis lobbyists, how much money and how strong against it. If the president wants to take on drug prices, hell have the entire country this will be the most popular thing he ever does, but this is going to be a hard one. Not with lobbyists and big pharma. They have a vested interest. That number you saw, 144 million, that is this year, the first half of 2017. On lobbying. Yeah. Coming up are two things this week that you might have missed but could impact the taxes you pay and the Interest Rates youll get chaurnlrged. And digital democracy. A candidate who says hell vote with his constituents every time. How is he going to do that . Well tell you on the other side. All Money Managers are pretty much the same. But while some push High Commission investment products, Fisher Investments avoids them. Some advisers have hidden and layered fees. Fisher investments never does. And while some advisers are happy to earn commissions from you whether you do well or not, Fisher Investments fees are structured so we do better when you do better. Maybe thats why most of our clients come from other Money Managers. Fisher investments. Clearly better money management. I just drank tons of water all the time, it was never enough. My dentist suggested biotene, my mouth felt more lubricated. I use the biotene rinse and i use the spray. Biotene did make a difference. Eras. Theyre defined by accomplishments. By victories. By those with the resourcefulness, the ingenuity, and the grit to help ensure the next energy to power our dreams, will be american energy. Our recent online sales success seems a little. Strange . Nk na. Ever since we switched to fedex ground business has been great. Theyre affordable and fast. Maybe too affordable and fast. What if. People arent buying these books online, but they are buying them to protect their secrets . . hi bill. If that is your real name. Its william actually. Hmph affordable, fast fedex ground. Welcome back. This is velshi ruhle. With all the news this week, you might have missed this. The senate basdpassed a bona fi budget resolution. They are supposed to adopt a u. S. Budget no later than april 15th. Here we are six months late and only now is the senate sending something to the house. Frankly, this happens most years. But why is this so important . As we discussed earlier, all Congressional Republicans care about now is getting the tax bill through. And because of the senate rules, adopting a budget gives them the ability to get President Trumps tax overhaul through with just 50 votes instead of the normal 60. Easier hurdle. While were talking about tax, we have to talk about Something Else thats being considered by the president. Interest rates. The president is considering who the next fed chair is going to be. Now, obviously the fed chair has an influence on your credit cards, the auto loans you take, basically the rates you pay on everything. According to reporting from politico, the president is leaning toward the guy in the top left here, his name is jerome powell. Hes a fed governor right now, to replace janet yellen as fed chair. Her term ends in january. Now, he is among the finalists you see here, including janet yellen, who could be reappointed. The importance of this, of course, is that janet yellen has been keeping rates low for a long time, which is probably as weve discussed the reason your stock market is doing as well as it is. President trump criticized that low rate policy. Didnt like the low rates when he was running because they looked good for obama. But he loves them now. When he talks about that stock market. So he may be whispering into a potential fed chiefs ear, hey, you keep rates low, helps my stock market and ill give you the job. Which, by the way, is not the way its supposed to work. While he might look at janet yellen and say, wow, the market is doing so well, i love hanging my hat on that, that works for me. He wont like the fact that she worked in part of the last administration. One thing the president loves to do is wipe out anything with obama tied to it and janet yellen has been there for the last two years. Well keep an eye on that for you. Finally heres a new name for you. Camillo casses is running in denver, colorado. If he win, he claims he will only vote in line with what his constituents tell him they want. Hows he going to do it . By using an app he developed called party. Vote. If more than 50 say to vote one way on the app, thats how hes going to enter his vote. Only in the case of a tie will he enter a vote of his own based on his own judgment. Its like American Idol goes to local government. He wants to create a liquid democracy, one that uses technology to give the power to the people he represents. What does it do for my mom . She doesnt use a cell phone. Its kind of interesting. On one hand we like to elect people who are fully baked and have their own ideas on things. The problem with politics these days are you trying to make a colorado joke . Thats not funny. Thats it for us. This is velshi ruhle. Bye. We got a yes what does that mean for purchasing . Purchase. Lets do this. Got it. Book the flights hai si si ya ya ya what does that mean for us . We can get stuff. Whats it mean for shipping . Ship the goods. Youre a go you got the green light. That means go oh, yeah. Start saying yes to your companys best ideas. Were gonna hit our launch date scream thank you goodbye let us help with money and knowhow, so you can get business done. American express open. Lets get the lady of the house back on her feet. So you can get business done. And help her feel more strength and energy in just two weeks. Yaaay the complete balanced nutrition of ensure with 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. Ensure. Always be you. Good day, everyone. Im alex witt here in new york at msnbc World Headquarters where its 1 00 in the east, 10 00 a. M. Out west and now heres whats happening. A farewell to the fallen. Funeral Services Today for Army Sergeant la David Johnson in the wake of controversy, questions and recriminkrirecriminations. We were stunned. I feel sorry for general kelly. He has my sympathy for the loss of his son. But he cant just go on tv and lie on me. If you want to get into a debate with a fourstar marine general, i think that thats something highly inappropriate