Weekend Update, February 27

Some quick takes, piping hot

(Bill O'Leary-Pool/Getty Images)

Something to keep your eye on in March and April will be a legacy of Obama-era crisis legislation, wherein when Congress passes deficit-increasing bills, automatic provider-side Medicare cuts are theoretically triggered.

This got ignored a bunch of times under Trump (and even a few times under Obama), with big bipartisan majorities agreeing to waive the cuts. But in theory, Republicans could refuse to vote for waivers after Democrats pass a COVID-19 relief bill, and the waiver is subject to filibuster. I feel pretty confident (call it 90%) that Republicans will just agree to waive the cuts. But if they don’t, that creates a high-pressure situation to change filibuster rules.

Who wants free college?

Something I often hear from younger academics who are frustrated with the political conversation around campus speech stuff is that the “real threat” to free speech and academic freedom comes from right-wing state legislatures. A great example of this trend is…