Beltway Insider: Trump’s Drug Crisis; Mueller/Russia; JFK Papers; Brexit Chief/Sex Scandal; Spain/Catalonia; Somalia

President Trump determined to find the pulp of the American people and legislators presented this week his findings in a presidential memorandum which addresses one of the most widely known secrets in our society currently: the Opioid Epidemic.

  

According to Gallup, President Trump job approval, over the past week, decreased by one percentage points to 35% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness as President increased two percentage points to 60%.

Trump's Drug Crisis

President Donald Trump galvanized his cabinet this week as he declared the Opioid Crisis a national public health emergency under federal law, which allows him the authority to revamp restrictive laws enacted in the 1970's to combat this new epidemic.

"This crisis of drug use, addiction, and overdose deaths in many years, it's just been so long in the making.  Addressing it will require all of our effort and it will require us to confront the crisis in all of its very real complexity. Last year, we lost at least 64,000 Americans to overdoses.  That's 175 lost American lives per day.  That's seven lost lives per hour in our country.  Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of unintentional death in the United States by far," Trump said.

A Presidential commission convened just after the Trump's historic and stunning victory nearly one year ago put, one time Vice-Presidential hopeful, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in charge of researching, crafting and determining potential solutions. The President has indicated he is expecting the final report later this week.

Working Across Government

The president detailed specific agencies, across government, that will work in tandem with his team to aggressively fight the epidemic on all fronts.

Public Services Announcements, PSA's, initiated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has launched a campaign geared to create awareness of Opioids and the Opioid family. Working with prescription providers, CVS/Caremark has indicated they will agree to limit first time opioid prescriptions, no matter the medically requested levels, to a seven day supply.

"The FDA is now requiring drug companies that manufacture prescription opioids to provide more training to prescribers and to help prevent abuse and addiction, and has requested that one especially high-risk opioid be withdrawn from the market immediately.  We are requiring that a specific opioid, which is truly evil, be taken off the market immediately," President Trump said. 

Importing Death

Opioids are not only manufactured in the United States legally through pharmaceutical companies for medical purposes, they also have a large Black Market draw, much like Cocaine in the 1970's, and are shipped in with the main supply coming from China and Southeast Asia.

The shipments of cheap and deadly fentanyl, a synthetic opioid manufactured in China is nearly 5o times stronger than heroin.

"The U.S. Postal Service and the Department of Homeland Security are strengthening the inspection of packages coming into our country and the Department of Justice has indicated major Chinese drug traffickers for distributing," the President said.


Beltway Insider: Trump’s Tax Tricks; JFK Papers; Conspiracy Revisited; Japan; Spain; Hurricane Relief


Presidential Action – A Timeline

DRUG ADDICTION AND OPIOIDS ARE RAVAGING AMERICA: Hundreds of thousands of Americans have lost their lives to drug abuse, and it will only get worse unless action is taken. 

• In 2016, more than two million Americans had an addiction to prescription or illicit opioids.

o Since 2000, over 300,000 Americans have died from overdoses involving opioids.

• Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of injury death in the United States, outnumbering both traffic crashes and gun-related deaths.

• In 2015, there were 52,404 drug overdose deaths — 33,091 of those deaths, almost two-thirds, involved the use of opioids. 

o According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics, the national age-adjusted rate of opioid overdose deaths in 2015 was 10.4 deaths per 100,000 Americans.

• The situation has only gotten worse, with drug overdose deaths in 2016 expected to exceed 64,000.

o This represents a rate of 175 deaths a day.

o This exceeds the number of Americans killed during the Vietnam War.

o The rise in overdose deaths is largely due to the proliferation of illicitly made fentanyl, a highly potent synthetic opioid, and fentanyl analogs.

• In 2016, more than 11.5 million Americans ages 12 and older reported misuse of prescription opioids in the past year, and nearly 950,000 Americans reported heroin use in the past year.

• In 2014, the number of babies born drug-dependent had increased by 500 percent since 2000, and children being placed in foster care due in part to parental drug abuse is going up — now it is almost a third of all child removals.

• In March 2017, President Trump established the President's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, with the following stated mission: "to study the scope and effectiveness of the Federal response to drug addiction and the opioid crisis and to make recommendations to the President

• Since President Trump took office, more than $1 billion in funding has been allocated or spent directly addressing the drug addiction and opioid crisis.

o Since April, more than $800 million has been distributed for prevention, treatment, first responders, prescription drug monitoring programs, recovery and other care in communities, inpatient settings, and correctional systems.

o Since the President took office, $254 million in funding for high-risk communities, law enforcement, and first responder coordination and work has been awarded.

• The CDC has launched the Prescription Awareness Campaign, a multimedia awareness campaign featuring the real-life stories of people who have lost loved ones to prescription opioid overdose and people in recovery.

• The Food and Drug Administration is imposing new requirements on the manufacturers of prescription opioids to help reverse the overprescribing that has fueled the crisis.

• The Department of Justice's Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit is targeting individuals that are contributing to the prescription opioid epidemic, has netted the largest-ever health care fraud takedown, secured the first-ever indictments against Chinese fentanyl manufacturers, and seized AlphaBay, the largest criminal marketplace on the Internet and a major source of fentanyl and heroin.

• The State Department has secured a binding UN agreement making it harder for criminals to access fentanyl precursors ANPP and NPP.

• The National Institutes of Health has initiated discussions with the pharmaceutical industry to establish a partnership to investigate non-addictive pain relievers and new addiction and overdose treatments, as well as a potential vaccine for addiction.

• The Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, National Institutes of Health, and Department of Health and Human Services are collaborating on a six-year, $81 million joint research partnership focusing on nondrug approaches to managing pain in order to address the needs of service members and veterans.

President Trump finished his presentation on the Opioid crisis by signing a Presidential Memorandum which can be seen here

Mueller's Russian Collusion Probe Produces First Set of Charges

On Friday it was disclosed that a federal grand jury had approved the first set of charges stemming from. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the Russian/Trump connection or collusion with a foreign government for the purpose of circumventing and influencing the Presidential Election of 2016.

The charges have remained sealed.

Trump Stops At Full JFK Release

Stepping back from a full release President Donald Trump did not allow  complete release of all the remaining previously unseen documents surrounding the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, while riding in a motorcade in Dallas Texas, November 22, 1963.

"President Donald J. Trump took action to ensure release of the remaining President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records. Accordingly, the National Archives and Records Administration will make approximately 2,800 records available in full for public access today. The remaining records will be released with agency-proposed redactions on a rolling basis in the coming weeks. The President has demanded unprecedented transparency from the agencies and directed them to minimize redactions without delay. The National Archives will therefore release more records, with redactions only in the rarest of circumstances, by the deadline of April 26, 2018,"said White House Presidential Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

President Trump also signed a Presidential Memorandum surrounding the release of documents relating to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy which can be seen here.

Spain: Catalonia Declares Independence; Showdown with Madrid Certain; Pro Spain Rally Draws 300K

In a week that witnessed an unprecedented unilateral vote of independence from Spain by Catalonia Government, led by former President Carles Puigdemont, opposition to independence held a successful peace rally attended by nearly 300K resident who desire to remain with Spain.

The former president, who is still trying to rallying citizens to rebel, has been stripped of his power and is still trying to defy Madrid and Prime Minister Rajoy by calling on citizens to untie against the authority.

Coup or Independece

Inwhat could be described as an attemptedcoup,Catalonia, the coastal province in Spain which is home to the bustling modern seaside city of Barcelona and scene of the recent terror attack has officially has been stripped of its autonomous rule.

The breakaway by the Catalonia government, who has continued the effort to the point of calling for election, much like, Russia President Vladmir Putin did upon seizing the Crimean Peninsula in February 2012. The Catalonia government is attempting to separate itself and become a self-governing nation.

The push for independence is not a whim or recent response to concern from Madrid's ruling party, Catalonia has been preparing for autonomy for some time.

The push back, of course, exceedingly more severe than a simple war of words, came when "The Parliament of Catalonia unilaterally declared independence from Spain on 27 October 2017. The Senate of Spain voted the same day on instituting direct rule, via Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution. Carles Puigdemont was dismissed and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dissolved the Parliament of Catalonia and called a snap regional election for 21 December 2017. The following day, Spain's Prime Minister Rajoy conferred on Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría the duties of President of the Generalitat," according to Wikipedia.


Op/Ed: Is it Really Our Job to Save the Addict?


According to the Spanish Constitution Article 155 states:

"That if a regional government "doesn't comply with the obligations of the Constitution or other laws it imposes, or acts in a way that seriously undermines the interests of Spain", the national government can ask the Senate to vote on the use of the measure. The Constitution states that an absolute majority must approve the article's use. If this happens, the national government may adopt the "necessary methods" to force a regional government to comply in order to protect "said interests," Aljazerra.com reports.

Civil War

With Spain trying to avoiding a civil war or for that matter any use of military force the next eight weeks will prove a challenge to Catalonia separatists who have decided independence is their right and Madrid, King Felipe and Prime Minister Rajoy who will not allow Catalonia to form its own government.

No reports have surfaced indicating President Carles Puigdemont has been put under house arrest or any type of criminal proceedings addressing his effort to break away from Spain. He has been encouraged to run in the general election scheduled on December 21, 2017.

No formal plan by Rojoy and Madrid has been released indicating what if any actions will be taken to address the coup attempt through the communication system and as Spain still remains one nation, all federal employees are still employed by Spain.

With King Felipe and the European Union solidly recognizing the need to stop the forward motion of the Catalonian leaders, Prime Minister Rajoy is now faced with disciplining a wayward child and has to make the determination the extent of the boundaries in order to stop the continued actions.

Catalonia's desire for independence may end after a cooling down period and it may continue with compromise by Madrid and King or it may result in a total strip of power in Catalonia and imposed military rule until new leaders can be elected to rule the State of Catalonia under the authority of a regional entity within the sovereign.

Brexit Chief Outed for Sending Assistant on Sex Toy Errand

The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for International Trade Mark Garnier, who has been a Member of Parliament since 2010, is now under investigation by members of Cabinet Office for allegedly sexually harassing his assistant by forcing her to purchase sex toys on his behalf.

It was also reported un the BBC that he called her "sugar tits." He has not denied the allegation but has questioned whether sending her to purchase the sex toys were actually constitutes as sexual harassment.

"Mr. Garnier's former secretary, Caroline Edmondson, told the Mail on Sunday he had given her money to buy two vibrators at a Soho sex shop. Ms. Edmondson, who has since left to work for another MP, was quoted as saying that on another occasion in a bar, in front of witnesses, he told her: "You are going nowhere, sugar tits." The Mail reported that Mr. Garnier had admitted the claims, saying: "I'm not going to deny it, because I'm not going to be dishonest. I'm going to have to take it on the chin," the BBC reports.

Mogadishu, Somalia: Fourth Car Bomb in Two Weeks Kills Dozens

In a city still reeling from the deadliest car bomb in history just two weeks ago, twin car bombs detonated minutes apart outside the Nasa Hablod Two Hotel, near the Somalia Presidential Palace, killing at least 27 and injured nearly 40.  

A gun battle erupted immediately following the blast as terrorists inside the hotel began firing on first responders. Two of the attackers were killed and three were apprehended.

"The victims included former member of the Somali Parliament Abdinasir Garane, southwest region minister Madoobe Nuunow and a police official, according to Mohamed and Major Ahmed Ibrahim," CNN reports.

Update on the October 14, 2017 blast: 277 killed; 300 injured; 40 airlifted to Turkey for medical treatment. Qatar's Embassy was damaged, and the embassy charge d'affaires injured. The terrorist group, Al-Shabaab, a branch of al Qaeda, have claimed responsibility.

For more information on President Donald Trump: www.whitehouse.gov

Sources: Whitehouse.gov, Wikipedia.com, 

Haute Tease