On drug prices, Americans are the real suckers

January 28, 2019

Drugmakers rang in the new year by raising prices on hundreds of products — American prices, that is. Americans focused on the celebrations weren’t paying attention. Allergan led the parade, hiking its prices by 10 percent on more than two dozen drugs. But note this: It didn’t raise the price of Botox, the anti-wrinkle treatment. Why? Because most users of Botox pay for it out of pocket. They can say, “I’m not bearing the extra freight. I think I’ll go another few months with crow’s-feet.” Markets in which buyers and sellers haggle can bring reason to prices. ...

Think before you donate

January 28, 2019

Dear Annie: Would you please remind people to call and ask before they donate items to charity, animal shelters, nursing homes and thrift stores? Years ago, when my husband was in a nursing home, a group of ladies spent many hours knitting beautiful lap blankets for the people in the nursing home. Right after the women left the nursing home, aides put all those lap blankets on a cart and went in each room to ask the visitors whether they would like a blanket to take home. When they came to me and asked, I questioned where they had gotten these beautiful knit blankets from. The aide ...

Weeding out the 2020 presidential candidates

January 27, 2019

How do we determine which governor or senator, celebrity or capitalist has what it takes to become a serious presidential candidate? Not that long ago, legendary New York Times columnist Russell Baker wrote that there was somewhere (almost certainly in the press section) a mysterious authority — whom Baker called the “Great Mentioner” — who made those calls. We would read or hear that Gov. Billy Bigbody had been “mentioned” as a presidential possibility or that people were “mentioning” Sen. Sandy Smith for the national ticket. Rather than wait around hoping to be ...

Underwhelming ring

January 27, 2019

Dear Annie: I am 75 and in a great relationship with a wonderful man of 83. He is a widower after 57 years of marriage. I have been divorced for 30 years after a 26-year marriage. I feel very strongly that I have met the man I could spend the rest of my life with. We have agreed that we are “a couple” committed to each other. We each have our own homes, and marriage is not on the table. I am financially stable, while he is quite well-off. What bothers me is this: For Christmas, he gave me a ring to be worn on my left ring finger to show everyone I am “taken.” Though I love the ...

Why do people like Lindsey Graham come to Congress?

January 26, 2019

WASHINGTON — Back in the day, small rural airports had textile windsocks, simple and empty things that indicated which way the wind was blowing. The ubiquitous Sen. Lindsey Graham has become a political windsock, and as such he — more than the sturdy, substantial elephant — is emblematic of his party today. When in 1994, Graham, a South Carolina Republican, first ran for Congress, he promised to be “one less vote for an agenda that makes you want to throw up.” A quarter of a century later, Graham himself is a gastrointestinal challenge. In the last three years he had a ...

Gratitude needed

January 26, 2019

Dear Annie: We live in Florida, and my sister and brother-in-law are coming today. They will be here for six months and are expecting us to pick them up from the airport later. I also have a brother and sister-in-law, who are coming soon and will also need transportation. They both live nearby, and we check their condos during their six-month absences. We make ourselves available if a repairman is needed, and we pick up their junk mail. All we receive are verbal thank-yous, although both families are well-off. I think a gift card to a restaurant or paying for a dinner or a round of ...