Scott L Greer
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scottlgreer.bsky.social
Scott L Greer
@scottlgreer.bsky.social

Political scientist in a public health school. Health policy and politics, especially in Europe. Recent books on EU health policy, federalism and social policy, co-benefits. Ann Arbor, Michigan. Opinions personal. 🚲. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5288-0471 .. more

Political science 31%
Public Health 25%
Pinned
I’ve been writing about the politics and impact of Donald Trump on the US and world, with special attention to Europe and the University of Michigan, and most of it is free to read. This thread, in order, brings it all together. I hope it’s useful as a resource on the different issues.

IIRC median American drive time to hospital is around twenty minutes but the tail of long drives is very long

This piece is really good- on why rural hospitals close, why there are a lot more closures coming, and what happens next (accelerating economic and population decline)

Reposted by Scott L. Greer

“increasing overdose death rates are associated with an increase in Republican votes and a decline in Democratic votes and voter abstention. Additionally, the survey analyses reveal that this relationship is strongest among independents.”

Reposted by Scott L. Greer

“We estimate that from the mid-2000s to 2022, exposure to the opioid epidemic continuously increased the Republican vote share in House, presidential, and gubernatorial elections.”
WOW! Autism Society of America, The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, the Autism Science Foundation, the Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network and Autism Speaks put out a statement denouncing the CDC changing its website on vaccines
autisticadvocacy.org/2025/11/lead...
Leading Autism and Disability Organizations Statement on CDC's Vaccines and Autism Page
As national organizations dedicated to advancing the well-being of autistic individuals and partners across the disability and public health sectors, we are deeply disappointed by the latest update to...
autisticadvocacy.org

Reposted by Scott L. Greer

The notion that the political economy theory behind IRA failed because IRA did not prevent the election of Donald Trump is just an *insane* piece of backcasting. Insane.

Maybe the sheer volume of email grift involving him keeps his profile higher than it ought to be.

Aaand think about what any member might think they can get with the threat of leaving
PUNCHBOWL: “.. GOP members messaged us over the weekend saying that they, too, are considering retiring in the middle of the term. Here’s one particularly exercised senior House Republican:

@punchbowlnews.bsky.social
Sen. Mark Kelly has released a statement.

"If this is meant to intimidate me and other members of Congress from doing our jobs and holding this administration accountable, it won't work. I've given too much to this country to be silenced by bullies..."
I don’t know what the Supreme Court will do, but I am confident that at the District Court level it is still the case that the Pentagon cannot recall a sitting US Senator to active duty in order to court martial him for something he said. Article 1, Section 6, among other constitutional provisions.
i just want to say that i wrote this exactly one year ago.
News coverage of DOGE’s creation earlier this year was practically wall-to-wall — for weeks. “$2 trillion in savings, $5000 dividend checks, an entirely new model of government.” And now that it’s gone, it’s like eh.

@techcrunch.com
techcrunch.com/2025/11/24/d...
DOGE days are over as Trump disbands Elon Musk's team of federal cost-cutters | TechCrunch
DOGE members are reportedly worried that they could face prosecution for some of their activities conducted while under the leadership of Elon Musk.
techcrunch.com
PUNCHBOWL: “.. GOP members messaged us over the weekend saying that they, too, are considering retiring in the middle of the term. Here’s one particularly exercised senior House Republican:

@punchbowlnews.bsky.social

“When presented with data that contradict his arguments, Kennedy regularly claims bad faith on the part of his adversaries—that they’re motivated by profit or professional advancement.”

‘She described young Bobby as a “predator”…His basement, his garage, and his dorm room were the centers of the action where drugs were available, and he enjoyed showing off how he put baby chickens and mice in the blender to feed his hawks,”’

“Kennedy is 71, but with the help of weight lifting, artificial tanning, a careful diet, and testosterone-replacement therapy, he looks more like a comic-book character than a senior citizen, his bronzed face all chiseled angles, his eyes sky blue.”

‘Offit continued: “If he has data showing he’s right, then fucking publish it. He can’t, because he doesn’t have those data.”’
NEW: When RFK Jr. first told Trump that Tylenol might cause autism, the president wanted to tweet out a warning. Kennedy told him not to do that. There was nuance, and the drug companies would push back. “I don’t give a shit about that,” Trump responded. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
The Most Powerful Man in Science
Why is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. so convinced he’s right?
www.theatlantic.com

“Many of the authors and reviewers have been outspoken critics of gender-affirming care, are affiliated with anti-LGBTQ+ groups, and have little-to-no experience providing clinical care for young trans people. Some have been paid to speak… against treating children with gender-affirming care.”
HHS re-released its controversial report on gender dysphoria in children, and this time it named the previously anonymous authors and published a handful of peer review comments after the initial study had been faulted for a lack of transparency. www.statnews.com/2025/11/19/h...
HHS names authors and releases peer review comments for gender dysphoria report
The new report reveals that many of the authors and reviewers have been outspoken critics of gender-affirming care and belong to anti-LGBTQ+ groups
www.statnews.com

Reposted by Scott L. Greer

HHS re-released its controversial report on gender dysphoria in children, and this time it named the previously anonymous authors and published a handful of peer review comments after the initial study had been faulted for a lack of transparency. www.statnews.com/2025/11/19/h...
HHS names authors and releases peer review comments for gender dysphoria report
The new report reveals that many of the authors and reviewers have been outspoken critics of gender-affirming care and belong to anti-LGBTQ+ groups
www.statnews.com
NEW: When RFK Jr. first told Trump that Tylenol might cause autism, the president wanted to tweet out a warning. Kennedy told him not to do that. There was nuance, and the drug companies would push back. “I don’t give a shit about that,” Trump responded. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
The Most Powerful Man in Science
Why is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. so convinced he’s right?
www.theatlantic.com

the problem with this argument is that the judiciary is a branch of a political system and reflects politics. What if the Supreme Court, full of partisan Republicans, arrogates to itself the power to decide who does what and then delegates it to Trump? It's a political game played on a legal field.
pretty obvious shift from following nonpartisan (scientific, medical) authority to following partisan authority. Public health advocates and researchers need to view that as the challenge, rather than rummaging around for the explanation for vaccine hesitancy in this or that community.
Republicans increasingly oppose requiring healthy kids to get MMR vaccines to attend public schools
2016 19%
2019 20%
2023 42%
2025 47%
www.pewresearch.org/science/2025... 🧪

not just here to talk up my employer, but it's the *public* universities overall. The idea of universities as leaders of state economic, cultural, and scientific development goes back to Virginia and had a huge impact on the country that Republicans currently seem to want to reverse.
the economic success of the U.S. is significantly built on the land grant universities and in particular their excellent agricultural science tradition.
Really important to stress that the Crown Jewels of the US higher education system were never the Ivies or elite SLACs (other countries have equivalents of these) but the well-funded, large, cheap, and excellently staffed public state university systems bringing high quality education to the masses.

Mildly interesting. Comparing the people at the National Monuments (one thing, e.g. Devils Tower, Mr Rushmore) with the people at National Parks (multiple things, e.g. Badlands, Wind Cave): far more obvious red-cap conservatives at the Monuments, far more low-key Osprey-Subaru liberals at Parks.
In Sept., the IRS granted tax-exempt status to the Donald Trump Mount Rushmore Memorial Legacy

apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcar...

I wonder if this has to do with asking AI for recipes rather than the whole Nuzzi debacle being more popular than a major national holiday