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Editorial

Trump’s relationship with Europe is more abusive than allied

Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz have become adept at scrambling to deal with the latest bad news from Washington. Their meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Downing Street on Dec. 8 was so hastily arranged that Mr. Macron needed to be back in Paris by late afternoon to meet Croatia’s prime minister, while Mr. Merz was due on television for an end-of-year Q&A with the German public. But diplomatic improvisation alone cannot fully answer Donald Trump’s structural threat to European security. The U.S. president and his emissaries are trying to bully Mr. ...

Congressman’s health care ‘solution’ not really much of one

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., thinks he has a new idea: no taxes on health care. He has proposed making all out-of-pocket health care expenses tax deductible, saying that would “help people immediately.” But would it? Right now, there are already significant tax breaks on health care. The largest is the exemption of employer-sponsored health insurance from income taxes. That exemption didn’t arise because the government wanted to help people pay for health care. It was an accident. During World War II, wages were capped by the government, but health benefits were not. Many ...

First deadline looms for health insurance marketplace coverage

The Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services is reminding residents that the deadline to purchase Health Insurance Marketplace coverage that would start Jan. 1 is only a few days away on Monday. While Michiganders can enroll until Jan. 15, coverage for plans selected after Dec. 15 will not take effect until Feb. 1, the MDIFS warned. “To ensure that you and your family begin the New Year with high-quality, comprehensive health insurance, enroll in a Marketplace health plan by Dec. 15,” DIFS Director Anita Fox said in a news release. “Even if you are satisfied with ...

Supreme Court is failing its most important job

In early November, a conservative Supreme Court justice showed a clear-eyed understanding of the threat that President Trump poses to the constitutional order. During an oral argument in a case involving tariffs that Mr. Trump unilaterally imposed by claiming emergency powers, Justice Neil Gorsuch suggested that the move could weaken Congress in an enduring way. “What president’s ever going to give that power back?” he asked. Justice Gorsuch’s realism in a case involving a signature policy of Mr. Trump’s second term raises the so far elusive prospect that the court may ...

Trump anti-immigration crusade sweeps up hero to US cause

Even among the many sobering stories of cruelty and injustice arising from the Trump administration’s obsessive anti-immigration crusade, the story of Mohammad Ali Dadfar stands out. An Afghanistan native who risked his life to aid America in its war there, Dadfar was living and working legally in the U.S., raising his family and patiently navigating the complex process of earning asylum here, when immigration officials in October arrested him without explanation. He then spent almost two months in a Missouri jail cell awaiting possible deportation back into the clutches of a Taliban ...

State warns about scam offer targeting veterans

Even for scammers, it’s pretty low to target those who served their country. Yet here we are. Veterans are being warned about a scam amid reports that some Michigan veterans have received fraudulent postcards claiming they are eligible for additional benefits. The scam involves fraudsters using a postcard that seems legitimate to have veterans call a phone number to receive benefits or rewards, only to steal their information, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel advised in a news release. Residents can protect themselves by being cautious when receiving such offers. Nessel ...