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“First of all, what we’re doing is immoral. I know that’s not a phrase they often use in politics, but it’s immoral. Look what he’s doing right — look what this president’s doing right now. Look what people have done before. They’re going to fingerprint food stamp recipients.” — Former vice president Joe Biden, in an interview with Benjamin F. Chavis at a National Newspaper Publishers Association session Feb. 20, 2020. These remarks puzzled us, as we were unaware of any Trump administration proposal to fingerprint food-stamp recipients. Biden raised the issue in the context of denouncing the president’s budget for “cutting a billion dollars out of the — all the social safety net, this outfit, whether it’s Medicare, Medicaid, whether — across the board.” (Kessler, 2/27)

In the past three months, Michael Bloomberg has apologized for a policing program during his mayoral tenure that was deemed unconstitutional and for sexist comments that female employees of his company have said he made. But he isn’t backing down on his past decisions to regulate the health choices of New Yorkers, though he acknowledges he wouldn’t necessarily push for those policies on a national level if he wins the White House. The former New York City mayor prohibited smoking in restaurants and bars, blocked the use of artificial trans fat in restaurants and aggressively pushed for a ban on large sugary drinks, among other public-health measures that were seen by his critics as too far-reaching during his three terms. (Parti, 2/26)

More than 23 million immigrants will be eligible to vote in the 2020 election, making up a historically high 10% of the electorate, according to a new report by the Pew Research Center. The growing number of eligible immigrant voters could play a significant role in picking the Democratic presidential nominee, as 46% of them live in states with primaries or caucuses taking place on or before March 3. Fourteen states will hold voting that day, known as Super Tuesday, on top of the four coming before it. (Lazo, 2/26)

A healthcare industry alliance has quietly launched a six-figure ad campaign in South Carolina that appears aimed at thwarting Bernie Sanders’ momentum ahead of Saturday’s primary election. The Partnership for America’s Healthcare Future (PAHCF), a consortium of pharmaceutical, hospital and health insurance lobbyists, purchased over $200,000 in TV ads to run in Charleston and Columbia media markets Tuesday through Saturday. (Otterbein and King, 2/26)

Democratic presidential front-runner Bernie Sanders is pledging to spend big and fund it all with new taxes, drawing flak from rivals who say his budget numbers don’t add up. But bond investors say they don’t really need to. And more and more economists are inclined to agree. (Holland and McCormick, 2/26)