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welcome to reality trivia
reality is the state of things as they actually exist
jan 27, 2020
Real News Today
*Influence of Wall Street Donors Has Exploded in Decade Since “Citizens United”
(Capitalism)
*J&J chief testifies he did not read all documents related to asbestos in talc
(Corporate Criminals)
*NBA TEAMS FOUND A FITTING WAY TO HONOR KOBE
(Real People)
(for previous day's articles see "what's inside" below)
comment/tweet of the day
Charles P. Pierce✔
@CharlesPPierce
The entire Trump defense team is pitching a story made up by Russian intelligence services. This is truly remarkable.
2:14 PM - Jan 27, 2020
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Full Frontal✔
@FullFrontalSamB
It’s smart of John Bolton to hide evidence in a place where the president will never be able to find it - a book.
9:38 AM - Jan 27, 2020
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KOBE BRYANT: “A potus whose name alone creates division and anger. Whose words inspire dissension and hatred can’t possibly “Make America Great Again.”
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lex: the wacky chicken-hawk john bolton exposed the lie of putin's bitch and now his REPUBLICAN collaborators are scattering like the cockroaches they are.
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After Bolton and Parnas revelations, GOP faces massive blowback on impeachment
With new information about Trump's massive lies leaking daily, Republican senators are finally feeling the heat
HEATHER DIGBY PARTON - salon
JANUARY 27, 2020 2:25PM (UTC)
The impeachment trial of President Donald J. Trump continues this week, with the president's defense team making the case for his acquittal followed by questions from senators. The president's lawyers opened their presentation on Saturday with a mere two hours of arguments.
It's clear they are anxious to get this over with so that the Republicans can bring the "vindicated" Trump into the House chamber like a conquering hero on Feb. 4 for the State of the Union address. They certainly don't want him to deliver it in the middle of his impeachment trial. If the incontinence Trump has displayed on his Twitter feed over the last few days is any indication, there's a good chance he'll leap off the dais and try to strangle House manager Adam Schiff with his bare hands.
He came perilously close to an outright threat on Sunday morning:
Donald J. Trump✔
@realDonaldTrump
Shifty Adam Schiff is a CORRUPT POLITICIAN, and probably a very sick man. He has not paid the price, yet, for what he has done to our Country!
5:20 AM - Jan 26, 2020
He didn't say, "He's going to go through some things," but you know he was thinking it.
Throughout the weekend the whole country listened to audio of the president having dinner and intimate conversation with Lev Parnas, the indicted co-conspirator of Ruy Giuliani — immediately followed by footage of the president insisting over and over again that he doesn't know the man. That conversation included a discussion of former Ukraine ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, with Trump saying, "Get rid of her, take her out," as if he were Sonny Corleone giving the order to Luca Brazzi.
There was no word from the delicate GOP Victorians who got the vapors during the trial last week about this bullying, mobster talk from the president. Perhaps they all went to a spa retreat to calm their overwrought nerves and didn't hear any of it.
They were present on Saturday morning when White House counsel Pat Cipollone began his presentation with a twist, claiming the Democrats were trying to meddle with the 2020 election. "They're here to perpetrate the most massive interference in an election in American history," he said. You have to give them credit for gall, if nothing else. They are defending the president who eagerly welcomed Russian interference in the 2016 election and extorted it from a different country for 2020 by claiming that using the constitutional remedy of impeachment for such acts is actually preemptively stealing the next election. I don't think they can even hear what they are saying anymore.
Reporting throughout the weekend suggested that despite the president's anemic defense, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the White House have been able to keep Republicans on board, leading to a quick end to the trial, possibly as early as Friday.
Nonetheless, there has still been some jockeying back and forth over the question of witnesses. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri is said to be preparing subpoenas for former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson and the unnamed whistleblower, threatening a possible circus that has the timorous vulnerable senators up for re-election this year in a tizzy. Cipollone complained during his Saturday presentation that Schiff didn't appear before the House Judiciary Committee, hinting that he might be called to testify as well.
Trump is said to be happy with the trial so far, and even thinks he can get a few Democrats to vote for acquittal. He's particularly focused on Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Doug Jones of Alabama, both of whom have been saying they have an open mind. But it's pretty obvious that both Manchin and Jones are dangling this possibility in order to hear witnesses, which they've both demanded from the beginning.
That seemed increasingly unlikely as the weekend wore on. From what we could tell, with the exception of Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, who said he was "very likely" to vote for witnesses, the GOP Senate caucus seemed to be firm in its desire to end the process as quickly as possible.
Then came Sunday night and this New York Times bombshell:
President Trump told his national security adviser in August that he wanted to continue freezing $391 million in security assistance to Ukraine until officials there helped with investigations into Democrats including the Bidens, according to an unpublished manuscript by the former adviser, John R. Bolton. …
Over dozens of pages, Mr. Bolton described how the Ukraine affair unfolded over several months until he departed the White House in September. He described not only the president's private disparagement of Ukraine but also new details about senior cabinet officials who have publicly tried to sidestep involvement.
We don't know how this manuscript came into the New York Times' hands, but the paper claims that Bolton shared drafts with close associates and delivered one to the White House to determine whether it contains classified information as is usual practice. While the motive behind leaking it is unclear, it stands to reason that Bolton may have feared that the White House would withhold the book on national security grounds after hearing the president say this in Davos last week:
The problem with John is that it's a national security problem. You know, you can't have somebody who's at national security — and, if you think about it, John, he knows some of my thoughts. He knows what I think about leaders. What happens if he reveals what I think about a certain leader, and it's not very positive, and then I have to deal on behalf of the country? It's going to be very hard.
That sounds very much like a rationale Trump's lawyers were testing out to keep Bolton's book from seeing the light of day.
And speaking of the lawyers — and Mitch McConnell too, for that matter — they all knew what Bolton would say since the manuscript was turned over to the White House at the end of December. Yet they went before the American people and lied repeatedly as recently as Saturday. There doesn't seem to be any accountability for anyone in this administration, so I doubt there will be penalties. But these lawyers are shockingly unethical.
So, by the way, is John Bolton. All this drama could have been avoided if he had simply volunteered to speak before the House under oath. Perhaps he's more of a Trumpist that he likes to think.
We don't know whether any of this will make a difference. Donald Trump has strong-armed senators into covering up for his crimes altogether, rather than allowing them to simply say that what he did was wrong, but he hadn't committed an impeachable offense. He won't stand for anyone saying he isn't perfect. So they must all agree to be his accomplices.
Those senators may have been tossing and turning on Sunday night, however. In just the last three days, recordings have come to light that show Trump has been lying about knowing Parnas and Fruman, and now Bolton's book testifying to Trump's personal involvement has been leaked. Every day there's something new. They have to be wondering how much more they will be forced to answer for next November
It's clear they are anxious to get this over with so that the Republicans can bring the "vindicated" Trump into the House chamber like a conquering hero on Feb. 4 for the State of the Union address. They certainly don't want him to deliver it in the middle of his impeachment trial. If the incontinence Trump has displayed on his Twitter feed over the last few days is any indication, there's a good chance he'll leap off the dais and try to strangle House manager Adam Schiff with his bare hands.
He came perilously close to an outright threat on Sunday morning:
Donald J. Trump✔
@realDonaldTrump
Shifty Adam Schiff is a CORRUPT POLITICIAN, and probably a very sick man. He has not paid the price, yet, for what he has done to our Country!
5:20 AM - Jan 26, 2020
He didn't say, "He's going to go through some things," but you know he was thinking it.
Throughout the weekend the whole country listened to audio of the president having dinner and intimate conversation with Lev Parnas, the indicted co-conspirator of Ruy Giuliani — immediately followed by footage of the president insisting over and over again that he doesn't know the man. That conversation included a discussion of former Ukraine ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, with Trump saying, "Get rid of her, take her out," as if he were Sonny Corleone giving the order to Luca Brazzi.
There was no word from the delicate GOP Victorians who got the vapors during the trial last week about this bullying, mobster talk from the president. Perhaps they all went to a spa retreat to calm their overwrought nerves and didn't hear any of it.
They were present on Saturday morning when White House counsel Pat Cipollone began his presentation with a twist, claiming the Democrats were trying to meddle with the 2020 election. "They're here to perpetrate the most massive interference in an election in American history," he said. You have to give them credit for gall, if nothing else. They are defending the president who eagerly welcomed Russian interference in the 2016 election and extorted it from a different country for 2020 by claiming that using the constitutional remedy of impeachment for such acts is actually preemptively stealing the next election. I don't think they can even hear what they are saying anymore.
Reporting throughout the weekend suggested that despite the president's anemic defense, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the White House have been able to keep Republicans on board, leading to a quick end to the trial, possibly as early as Friday.
Nonetheless, there has still been some jockeying back and forth over the question of witnesses. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri is said to be preparing subpoenas for former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson and the unnamed whistleblower, threatening a possible circus that has the timorous vulnerable senators up for re-election this year in a tizzy. Cipollone complained during his Saturday presentation that Schiff didn't appear before the House Judiciary Committee, hinting that he might be called to testify as well.
Trump is said to be happy with the trial so far, and even thinks he can get a few Democrats to vote for acquittal. He's particularly focused on Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Doug Jones of Alabama, both of whom have been saying they have an open mind. But it's pretty obvious that both Manchin and Jones are dangling this possibility in order to hear witnesses, which they've both demanded from the beginning.
That seemed increasingly unlikely as the weekend wore on. From what we could tell, with the exception of Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, who said he was "very likely" to vote for witnesses, the GOP Senate caucus seemed to be firm in its desire to end the process as quickly as possible.
Then came Sunday night and this New York Times bombshell:
President Trump told his national security adviser in August that he wanted to continue freezing $391 million in security assistance to Ukraine until officials there helped with investigations into Democrats including the Bidens, according to an unpublished manuscript by the former adviser, John R. Bolton. …
Over dozens of pages, Mr. Bolton described how the Ukraine affair unfolded over several months until he departed the White House in September. He described not only the president's private disparagement of Ukraine but also new details about senior cabinet officials who have publicly tried to sidestep involvement.
We don't know how this manuscript came into the New York Times' hands, but the paper claims that Bolton shared drafts with close associates and delivered one to the White House to determine whether it contains classified information as is usual practice. While the motive behind leaking it is unclear, it stands to reason that Bolton may have feared that the White House would withhold the book on national security grounds after hearing the president say this in Davos last week:
The problem with John is that it's a national security problem. You know, you can't have somebody who's at national security — and, if you think about it, John, he knows some of my thoughts. He knows what I think about leaders. What happens if he reveals what I think about a certain leader, and it's not very positive, and then I have to deal on behalf of the country? It's going to be very hard.
That sounds very much like a rationale Trump's lawyers were testing out to keep Bolton's book from seeing the light of day.
And speaking of the lawyers — and Mitch McConnell too, for that matter — they all knew what Bolton would say since the manuscript was turned over to the White House at the end of December. Yet they went before the American people and lied repeatedly as recently as Saturday. There doesn't seem to be any accountability for anyone in this administration, so I doubt there will be penalties. But these lawyers are shockingly unethical.
So, by the way, is John Bolton. All this drama could have been avoided if he had simply volunteered to speak before the House under oath. Perhaps he's more of a Trumpist that he likes to think.
We don't know whether any of this will make a difference. Donald Trump has strong-armed senators into covering up for his crimes altogether, rather than allowing them to simply say that what he did was wrong, but he hadn't committed an impeachable offense. He won't stand for anyone saying he isn't perfect. So they must all agree to be his accomplices.
Those senators may have been tossing and turning on Sunday night, however. In just the last three days, recordings have come to light that show Trump has been lying about knowing Parnas and Fruman, and now Bolton's book testifying to Trump's personal involvement has been leaked. Every day there's something new. They have to be wondering how much more they will be forced to answer for next November
Trump Now Says He’ll Save Social Security From His Own Plans To Gut It
Seniors Will Pay for His Recklessness
By Terry H. Schwadron, DCReport Opinion Editor
1/27/2020
It used to be said that cutting Social Security was politics’ third rail, a fatal taking of positions.
If that’s still true, you wouldn’t know it from the emerging attention Social Security cuts is getting.
Indeed, look at Trump’s handling of Social Security. You may find real flaws in the armor of a Best-of-All-Time economy cloak that Trump tries to wear.
Even as Trump rivals Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden mix it up over whether Biden did or did not say something supportive about a Republican plan in 2008 by then-Rep. Paul D. Ryan for spending reductions, here comes Donald Trump. He promises he is open to revamping entitlement programs toward December.
End of the year? You mean just after the first week of November when we are all supposed to troop to the polls to re-elect Trump?
As usual, Trump just put the statement out there with no details, with no factual underpinning and with assertions that tackling entitlement spending is “the easiest of all things.” For sure, we voters should be aware that Legislative Trump is definitely putting Medicare and Social Security cuts on the auction block.
Blame the Democrats
Within days, Trump somehow was trying to turn his statements into a defense of Social Security against incursions by Democrats. Confused?
Just in case you didn’t have enough other reasons to want to reconsider your vote for November, this issue comes packed with dynamite.
Actually, maybe it is good for Trump to toss this red meat out there early. After all, it is a real issue. It perfectly captures both the Trump case and the Republican case in the elections.
Unpaid-for Tax Cuts
Let’s review: Trump and a compliant Republican Congress passed enormous unpaid-for tax cuts in 2018 that were promised to help the middle class but that actually has helped only corporations and the wealthiest in our country. He and they also vastly increased military spending, even while preaching that we should be ending longtime military commitments.
At the same time, the general economic strengthening that began years before Trump has continued on his watch, and unemployment rates have plummeted to all-time lows as wage increases have lagged. And the country’s deficit is up about 16% over Trump’s first day because no one is paying for the tax cuts and military increases.
Until now.
Now, it appears, Trump is going to ask seniors and the near-seniors to pay for the difference through reductions in long-promised benefits.
If we lived in France, we’d all be donning yellow shirts and shutting down the subways and highways.
More Seniors Receiving Benefits
For years, we’ve recognized that a decline in working adults would face issues paying for an increasing number of seniors, who, through the courtesy of medicines, generally are living longer. Already, Social Security pays benefits to 70 million seniors.
Speaking with CNBC from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump said tackling entitlement spending is easy. “At the right time, we will take a look at that. You know, that’s actually the easiest of all things, if you look,” Trump said. He later added when asked about entitlements: “Well, we’re going — we’re going to look. We also have assets that we’ve never had. I mean, we’ve never had growth like this.”
Of course, this prompted a White House spokesman to issue a statement to walk the idea back. In the statement, the president is not pushing “benefit cuts” but rather that the administration would be aiming to eliminate things such as “waste” and “fraud” in the programs.
“President Trump is keeping his commitment to the most vulnerable Americans especially those who depend on Medicare and Social Security,” the statement said. “His budgets have proposed more savings to mandatory programs than any President in history, including lowering drug costs, eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse, and getting people off welfare and back to work.”
Um. I get Social Security, as do most people I know, or they are counting on it as they look ahead. I’m not sure where the fraud is hiding. We spend the monthly benefit on things like rent, food and medical care.
Already Cutting
As a 2016 presidential candidate, Trump promised not to cut Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security, a position typically more in line with Democrats than other Republicans. As president, his budget proposals as president have called for slight reductions in Medicare and bigger changes to Medicaid spending. He is also seeking curbs to Social Security disability programs, but he has not pursued changes to seniors’ Social Security benefits.
Trump’s recent remarks have appeared to dismiss the importance of the budget deficit, which has grown to about $1 trillion a year under his administration. The government is projected to spend $950 billion on Social Security benefits for older Americans and $150 billion in Social Security disability payments this year, and another $850 billion on Medicare program, which is primarily health care for seniors. Social Security benefits are funded through payroll taxes.
Recent efforts to address rising costs in Social Security and Medicare have been met with stiff, bipartisan resistance. With a Democratic House, it is unlikely to see approval for such proposals, but it may well become a campaign refrain.
Indeed, Trump promised to cut taxes again in a second term, only worsening all of these issues.
If Trump says it is good, look again before accepting it.
If that’s still true, you wouldn’t know it from the emerging attention Social Security cuts is getting.
Indeed, look at Trump’s handling of Social Security. You may find real flaws in the armor of a Best-of-All-Time economy cloak that Trump tries to wear.
Even as Trump rivals Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden mix it up over whether Biden did or did not say something supportive about a Republican plan in 2008 by then-Rep. Paul D. Ryan for spending reductions, here comes Donald Trump. He promises he is open to revamping entitlement programs toward December.
End of the year? You mean just after the first week of November when we are all supposed to troop to the polls to re-elect Trump?
As usual, Trump just put the statement out there with no details, with no factual underpinning and with assertions that tackling entitlement spending is “the easiest of all things.” For sure, we voters should be aware that Legislative Trump is definitely putting Medicare and Social Security cuts on the auction block.
Blame the Democrats
Within days, Trump somehow was trying to turn his statements into a defense of Social Security against incursions by Democrats. Confused?
Just in case you didn’t have enough other reasons to want to reconsider your vote for November, this issue comes packed with dynamite.
Actually, maybe it is good for Trump to toss this red meat out there early. After all, it is a real issue. It perfectly captures both the Trump case and the Republican case in the elections.
Unpaid-for Tax Cuts
Let’s review: Trump and a compliant Republican Congress passed enormous unpaid-for tax cuts in 2018 that were promised to help the middle class but that actually has helped only corporations and the wealthiest in our country. He and they also vastly increased military spending, even while preaching that we should be ending longtime military commitments.
At the same time, the general economic strengthening that began years before Trump has continued on his watch, and unemployment rates have plummeted to all-time lows as wage increases have lagged. And the country’s deficit is up about 16% over Trump’s first day because no one is paying for the tax cuts and military increases.
Until now.
Now, it appears, Trump is going to ask seniors and the near-seniors to pay for the difference through reductions in long-promised benefits.
If we lived in France, we’d all be donning yellow shirts and shutting down the subways and highways.
More Seniors Receiving Benefits
For years, we’ve recognized that a decline in working adults would face issues paying for an increasing number of seniors, who, through the courtesy of medicines, generally are living longer. Already, Social Security pays benefits to 70 million seniors.
Speaking with CNBC from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump said tackling entitlement spending is easy. “At the right time, we will take a look at that. You know, that’s actually the easiest of all things, if you look,” Trump said. He later added when asked about entitlements: “Well, we’re going — we’re going to look. We also have assets that we’ve never had. I mean, we’ve never had growth like this.”
Of course, this prompted a White House spokesman to issue a statement to walk the idea back. In the statement, the president is not pushing “benefit cuts” but rather that the administration would be aiming to eliminate things such as “waste” and “fraud” in the programs.
“President Trump is keeping his commitment to the most vulnerable Americans especially those who depend on Medicare and Social Security,” the statement said. “His budgets have proposed more savings to mandatory programs than any President in history, including lowering drug costs, eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse, and getting people off welfare and back to work.”
Um. I get Social Security, as do most people I know, or they are counting on it as they look ahead. I’m not sure where the fraud is hiding. We spend the monthly benefit on things like rent, food and medical care.
Already Cutting
As a 2016 presidential candidate, Trump promised not to cut Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security, a position typically more in line with Democrats than other Republicans. As president, his budget proposals as president have called for slight reductions in Medicare and bigger changes to Medicaid spending. He is also seeking curbs to Social Security disability programs, but he has not pursued changes to seniors’ Social Security benefits.
Trump’s recent remarks have appeared to dismiss the importance of the budget deficit, which has grown to about $1 trillion a year under his administration. The government is projected to spend $950 billion on Social Security benefits for older Americans and $150 billion in Social Security disability payments this year, and another $850 billion on Medicare program, which is primarily health care for seniors. Social Security benefits are funded through payroll taxes.
Recent efforts to address rising costs in Social Security and Medicare have been met with stiff, bipartisan resistance. With a Democratic House, it is unlikely to see approval for such proposals, but it may well become a campaign refrain.
Indeed, Trump promised to cut taxes again in a second term, only worsening all of these issues.
If Trump says it is good, look again before accepting it.
The biggest political party in America you’ve never heard of
January 27, 2020
By Robert Reich- Commentary - raw story
If I asked you to name the biggest political party in the United States, what would be your answer? You probably have two guesses that come to mind: the Democratic party or the Republican party.Well, it’s neither.
It’s the party of Non-Voters.
Let’s look at the last presidential election: 100 million Americans who were eligible to vote in 2016 DID NOT vote. That’s a bigger number than the number who voted either for Donald Trump or for Hillary Clinton. In Michigan, for example, where the contest came down to roughly 10,000 votes, it’s plausible to say that non-voters were the ones who decided the election.
Non-voters — those Americans eligible to vote but don’t — are in effect America’s biggest political party. Unless we work to reverse this trend, they could decide the next election.
So who are these missing voters? They are Americans who are most affected by decades of a broken political system, economic inequality, and laws designed to make it harder to vote. They are people of color, young people, and people with lower incomes.
At the same time, these missing voters tend to be more progressive than most voters. For example, non-voters are more likely to support higher taxes to pay for government services, a higher minimum wage, a federal jobs guarantee, and other progressive priorities.
There are also seven million young people of color who weren’t old enough to vote in 2016 but will be 18 by the 2020 election. These voters will also be critical to mobilize.
All of which means that voter turnout will determine our future. These non-voters are potential voters, and recent elections with record turnout show that we’re headed in the right direction.
The key question is how to get even more of them to the polls. Four steps:
1. Make it easier to vote, not harder. Some states have enacted laws to suppress the votes of people of color and young people, such as requiring an ID, reducing the number of polling places in Democratic districts, and purging voter rolls. These tactics must be ended. The Voting Rights Act, which for decades kept some of the worst practices in check until major provisions were struck down by the Supreme Court, must be restored.
And we need to make it easier to vote by making Election Day a federal holiday; enacting Automatic Voter Registration, for example when people turn 18; and voting by mail.
2. Mobilize young voters. They’re a huge potential voting block. In the 2018 midterm elections, 36 percent of voters aged 18 to 29 cast ballots, shattering turnout records from the past quarter-century and contributing to major Democratic victories across the country
3. Inspire enthusiasm and grassroots energy around big ideas and bold policies, not milquetoast, consultant-driven half-measures. Look at Stacey Abrams’s campaign in 2018. Even though she didn’t win, Abrams ran a bold campaign and worked to turn out Democratic voters that had largely been ignored in the red state of Georgia. As a result, Abrams garnered more votes — 1.9 million — than any other Democrat running for any office in the history of the state, including Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Jimmy Carter.
4. Personally encourage others to vote. Make sure they know how to register, and when and where to vote. Tell them to be a voter.
Rebuilding America starts with the simple act of voting. If we can activate even a fraction of those 100 million non-voters, we can restore American democracy and make our economy and our democracy work for the many rather than the few.
This is why it’s so important for you to vote – and urge everyone you know to vote, too.
It’s the party of Non-Voters.
Let’s look at the last presidential election: 100 million Americans who were eligible to vote in 2016 DID NOT vote. That’s a bigger number than the number who voted either for Donald Trump or for Hillary Clinton. In Michigan, for example, where the contest came down to roughly 10,000 votes, it’s plausible to say that non-voters were the ones who decided the election.
Non-voters — those Americans eligible to vote but don’t — are in effect America’s biggest political party. Unless we work to reverse this trend, they could decide the next election.
So who are these missing voters? They are Americans who are most affected by decades of a broken political system, economic inequality, and laws designed to make it harder to vote. They are people of color, young people, and people with lower incomes.
At the same time, these missing voters tend to be more progressive than most voters. For example, non-voters are more likely to support higher taxes to pay for government services, a higher minimum wage, a federal jobs guarantee, and other progressive priorities.
There are also seven million young people of color who weren’t old enough to vote in 2016 but will be 18 by the 2020 election. These voters will also be critical to mobilize.
All of which means that voter turnout will determine our future. These non-voters are potential voters, and recent elections with record turnout show that we’re headed in the right direction.
The key question is how to get even more of them to the polls. Four steps:
1. Make it easier to vote, not harder. Some states have enacted laws to suppress the votes of people of color and young people, such as requiring an ID, reducing the number of polling places in Democratic districts, and purging voter rolls. These tactics must be ended. The Voting Rights Act, which for decades kept some of the worst practices in check until major provisions were struck down by the Supreme Court, must be restored.
And we need to make it easier to vote by making Election Day a federal holiday; enacting Automatic Voter Registration, for example when people turn 18; and voting by mail.
2. Mobilize young voters. They’re a huge potential voting block. In the 2018 midterm elections, 36 percent of voters aged 18 to 29 cast ballots, shattering turnout records from the past quarter-century and contributing to major Democratic victories across the country
3. Inspire enthusiasm and grassroots energy around big ideas and bold policies, not milquetoast, consultant-driven half-measures. Look at Stacey Abrams’s campaign in 2018. Even though she didn’t win, Abrams ran a bold campaign and worked to turn out Democratic voters that had largely been ignored in the red state of Georgia. As a result, Abrams garnered more votes — 1.9 million — than any other Democrat running for any office in the history of the state, including Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Jimmy Carter.
4. Personally encourage others to vote. Make sure they know how to register, and when and where to vote. Tell them to be a voter.
Rebuilding America starts with the simple act of voting. If we can activate even a fraction of those 100 million non-voters, we can restore American democracy and make our economy and our democracy work for the many rather than the few.
This is why it’s so important for you to vote – and urge everyone you know to vote, too.
Supreme Court Gives Go-Ahead To Trump ‘Public Charge’ Immigration Curb
The policy has been criticized as a “wealth test” that would disproportionately keep out non-white immigrants.
huff post
01/27/2020 01:37 pm ET
WASHINGTON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court gave the go-ahead on Monday for one of President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration policies, allowing his administration to implement a rule denying legal permanent residency to certain immigrants deemed likely to require government assistance in the future.
The justices, on a 5-4 vote, granted the administration’s request to lift a lower court’s injunction that had blocked the so-called public charge policy, which has been criticized by immigrant rights advocates as a “wealth test” that would disproportionately keep out non-white immigrants.
The court’s five conservative justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts, carried the day. The court’s four liberal justices said they would have denied the administration’s request to put the injunction on hold. The action was announced even as Roberts sat as the presiding officer in Trump’s impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate.
Lawsuits aiming to block the policy were filed against the administration by the states of New York, Connecticut and Vermont as well as by New York City and several nonprofit organizations.
In imposing an injunction blocking implementation of the rule, U.S. District Judge George Daniels in Manhattan on Oct. 11 called the policy “repugnant to the American Dream” and a “policy of exclusion in search of a justification.”
The administration had asked the high court to let the rule go into effect even before the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules on Trump’s appeal of Daniels’ injunction against the rule. The 2nd Circuit is considering the matter on an expedited basis, with legal papers to be submitted by Feb. 14 and arguments to be held soon afterward.
The justices, on a 5-4 vote, granted the administration’s request to lift a lower court’s injunction that had blocked the so-called public charge policy, which has been criticized by immigrant rights advocates as a “wealth test” that would disproportionately keep out non-white immigrants.
The court’s five conservative justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts, carried the day. The court’s four liberal justices said they would have denied the administration’s request to put the injunction on hold. The action was announced even as Roberts sat as the presiding officer in Trump’s impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate.
Lawsuits aiming to block the policy were filed against the administration by the states of New York, Connecticut and Vermont as well as by New York City and several nonprofit organizations.
In imposing an injunction blocking implementation of the rule, U.S. District Judge George Daniels in Manhattan on Oct. 11 called the policy “repugnant to the American Dream” and a “policy of exclusion in search of a justification.”
The administration had asked the high court to let the rule go into effect even before the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules on Trump’s appeal of Daniels’ injunction against the rule. The 2nd Circuit is considering the matter on an expedited basis, with legal papers to be submitted by Feb. 14 and arguments to be held soon afterward.
justice in america!!!
Wrongfully Convicted Man Blocked from Receiving $2.5M In Compensation After Serving 43 Years Behind Bars
By Tanasia Kenney - atlanta black star
January 27, 2020
A Florida man wrongfully convicted of murder is on yet another quest for justice.
It was less than a year ago that Clifford Williams and his nephew, Nathan Meyers, were cleared in the 1976 murder of a Jacksonville woman and the attempted murder of her roommate. The two men would spend 43 years in prison before the state attorney’s office confirmed their innocence.
“I just wanted to get out and be with my … kids,” Williams, who also spent five years on death row, told reporters after his release last March. “There wasn’t nobody but them.”
Under Florida Law, those who’ve been wrongfully convicted and can prove it are eligible to receive up to $50,000 for every year they were imprisoned. It excludes people like Williams, however, who have prior convictions.
The 77-year-old headed to Tallahassee this week to fight for compensation local lawmakers say is owed to him by the state — $2.5 million to be exact. According to First Coast News, House and Senate Democrats, along with William’s lawyers and The Innocence Project of Florida are now working to authorize a “claims” bill that would compensate the elderly man for his time served.
Williams was present at the House Civil Justice Subcommittee hearing on Wednesday where his bill received unanimous approval from the panel – and an apology from committee Chair Bob Rommel (R-Naples).
“I want to apologize on behalf of the state of Florida,” Rommel told him. “We can never give back your time.”
The chairman promised to “work hard” to get the measure passed and said he hoped the compensation would provide some comfort to the wrongfully imprisoned man.
A separate measure would also remove the so-called “clean hands” rule that restricts “automatic” compensation for wrongfully incarcerated people with prior felony convictions, Creative Loafing reported.
“How many dollars can replace the pain, the grief, and the torment that he endured, being an innocent man behind bars?” said Jacksonville Rep. Kimberly Daniels, who sponsored Williams’ proposal. “How much can you give a man for taking away 43 years of his life?”
While many saw the bill’s approval as a huge step in the right direction, lawmakers said there’s still a long road ahead. Claim bills can take several years before they’re passed.
Still, Williams said he remains hopeful.
“I just trusted God for those 43 years,” he said. “We can’t rush him.”
It was less than a year ago that Clifford Williams and his nephew, Nathan Meyers, were cleared in the 1976 murder of a Jacksonville woman and the attempted murder of her roommate. The two men would spend 43 years in prison before the state attorney’s office confirmed their innocence.
“I just wanted to get out and be with my … kids,” Williams, who also spent five years on death row, told reporters after his release last March. “There wasn’t nobody but them.”
Under Florida Law, those who’ve been wrongfully convicted and can prove it are eligible to receive up to $50,000 for every year they were imprisoned. It excludes people like Williams, however, who have prior convictions.
The 77-year-old headed to Tallahassee this week to fight for compensation local lawmakers say is owed to him by the state — $2.5 million to be exact. According to First Coast News, House and Senate Democrats, along with William’s lawyers and The Innocence Project of Florida are now working to authorize a “claims” bill that would compensate the elderly man for his time served.
Williams was present at the House Civil Justice Subcommittee hearing on Wednesday where his bill received unanimous approval from the panel – and an apology from committee Chair Bob Rommel (R-Naples).
“I want to apologize on behalf of the state of Florida,” Rommel told him. “We can never give back your time.”
The chairman promised to “work hard” to get the measure passed and said he hoped the compensation would provide some comfort to the wrongfully imprisoned man.
A separate measure would also remove the so-called “clean hands” rule that restricts “automatic” compensation for wrongfully incarcerated people with prior felony convictions, Creative Loafing reported.
“How many dollars can replace the pain, the grief, and the torment that he endured, being an innocent man behind bars?” said Jacksonville Rep. Kimberly Daniels, who sponsored Williams’ proposal. “How much can you give a man for taking away 43 years of his life?”
While many saw the bill’s approval as a huge step in the right direction, lawmakers said there’s still a long road ahead. Claim bills can take several years before they’re passed.
Still, Williams said he remains hopeful.
“I just trusted God for those 43 years,” he said. “We can’t rush him.”
Bites from Real News
*1/27/2020*
*sellout exposed: ‘Extremely Disappointing’: New analysis offers scathing critique of top Democrat’s CLEAN Future Act
...Based on these points, the analysis concludes that “this framework should really be called the Dirty Future Act. In every way possible, Pallone’s proposal fails to address the climate crisis, which is extremely disappointing considering the congressman considers himself to be an environmental leader.”
*JOE BIDEN SUPPORTED “EXCEPTIONALLY, EXCEPTIONALLY TOUGH TREATMENT” FOR JUVENILE “PREDATORS”
...Days before President Bill Clinton’s second inauguration, Biden said he wanted youth crime legislation modeled after his controversial 1994 crime bill. (Sanders did vote for the 1994 bill, which enjoyed wide support at the time, but has since expressed regret for supporting “a terrible bill.”) The punitive legislation, which passed Congress and was signed into law by Clinton, helped create an era of mass incarceration that disproportionately hurt black and brown Americans.
*Homeless Moms Reach Agreement to Buy Oakland Home They Were Evicted From
Two mothers and their children recently booted from a vacant California home for living there illegally are now in talks to buy the property.
*THE RISE OF SMART CAMERA NETWORKS, AND WHY WE SHOULD BAN THEM
..Private businesses and homes are starting to plug their cameras into police networks, and rapid advances in artificial intelligence are investing closed-circuit television, or CCTV, networks with the power for total public surveillance. In the not-so-distant future, police forces, stores, and city administrators hope to film your every move — and interpret it using video analytics.
*Big Oil Wants to Dump More Wastewater Into Rivers. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
For more than six months, twin brothers Ronald and Donald Schweitzer have watched large amounts of salty wastewater bubble up from the ground in their wheat field. The “saltwater purge” has killed three trees and several acres of crops on their northwest Oklahoma farm.
*Bank founded by Tom Steyer has long record of lawsuits against low-income borrowers
Beneficial State Bank — which Steyer co-founded with his wife, Kat Taylor, and served as board chairman until joining the presidential race in July 2019 — has filed lawsuits and won court judgments against 1,800 borrowers who fell behind on their payments over the past three-and-a-half years, out of more than 22,000 total loans, according to court records and data provided by bank executives.
*‘I was risking my life’ Why one in four US women return to work two weeks after childbirth
US is one of only three of most developed countries not to offer statutory paid maternity leave, according to an analysis
*Maternity leaveUS policy is worst on list of the world's richest countries
*Global Groundwater Is Threatened by Unsustainable Practices Amid Climate Crisis
Already, about one-third of the world’s freshwater is derived from aquifers locked away beneath our feet, and they serve more than 2 billion people, though rates of use differ drastically from country to country.
*Trump Tied Ukraine Aid to Inquiries He Sought, Bolton Book Says
WASHINGTON — President Trump told his national security adviser in August that he wanted to continue freezing $391 million in security assistance to Ukraine until officials there helped with investigations into Democrats including the Bidens, according to an unpublished manuscript by the former adviser, John R. Bolton. (New York Times)
*Are Trump and his circle manipulating the markets for personal gain? Here's the evidence
Investigative reporter William Cohan: Trump may have killed Gen. Soleimani to make millions in the markets
CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
*JOE BIDEN LIED ABOUT HIS RECORD ON SOCIAL SECURITY
OVER THE PAST few weeks, former Vice President Joe Biden has been making an effort to recast his record on Social Security as one of a champion who defended the program from assaults, rather than one who consistently argued that it ought to be cut.
*Why your zodiac sign is probably wrong
...The practice of astrology, which predicts one’s fate and fortune based on the positions of the Sun, Moon, stars and planets, dates back to ancient times.
* What are 2019’s tax brackets, and who gets audited the most?
*How to File Your State and Federal Taxes for Free in 2020
Veterans group demands Trump apologize for shrugging off soldiers’ brain injuries as “headaches”
“I heard that they had headaches . . . It's not very serious," Trump said after 34 soldiers suffered brain injuries
IGOR DERYSH - salon
JANUARY 27, 2020 4:50PM (UTC)
President Donald Trump came under heavy criticism from a prominent veterans' group after he minimized the injuries suffered by American soldiers wounded in Iran's attack on Iraqi military bases housing American service members.
Trump initially claimed that no one was wounded in the Jan. 8 missile strike on multiple Iraqi bases, which came in response to the drone strike that killed top Iranian military official Qassem Soleimani.
"The American people should be extremely grateful and happy no Americans were harmed in last night's attack by the Iranian regime," Trump said in a statement after the strike. "We suffered no casualties, all of our soldiers are safe, and only minimal damage was sustained at our military bases."
But the Pentagon told reporters on Friday that 34 American troops suffered traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in the attack.
About half of the injured troops have returned to duty, while eight were sent back to the U.S. for treatment and nine are still undergoing evaluation in Germany, according to Politico. Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman told reporters that the department would review how it tracks and reports injuries following discrepancies about how many troops were wounded in the strike.
"What we saw was a number of people who were initially screened for concussion-like symptoms … saw their conditions improve rapidly, and then others -- we saw their conditions didn't improve," Hoffman said. "Some got worse, and some had severe enough symptoms that they were transported on for further treatment."
But Trump dismissed those injuries while speaking to reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week.
"I heard that they had headaches and a couple of other things," Trump said two days before the Pentagon reported the injuries. "But I would say, and I can report it is not very serious. Not very serious … I've seen people with no legs and with no arms. I've seen people that were horribly, horribly injured in that area -- that war . . . I don't consider that to be bad injuries."
Veterans of Foreign Wars, a prominent veterans group with more than 1.1 million members, called on the president to apologize for his comments.
"TBI is a serious injury and one that cannot be taken lightly. TBI is known to cause depression, memory loss, severe headaches, dizziness and fatigue — all injuries that come with both short- and long-term effects," VFW National Commander William "Doc" Schmitz said in a statement. "The VFW expects an apology from the president to our servicemen and women for his misguided remarks, and we ask that he and the White House join with us in our efforts to educate Americans of the dangers TBI has on these heroes as they protect our great nation in these trying times. Our warriors require our full support more than ever in this challenging environment."
Trump's Democratic rivals skewered the president for belittling the injuries suffered by troops wounded in the attack.
"A traumatic brain injury is life-threatening -- not just at the time, but for the rest of your life. It can completely debilitate somebody who has served this country," former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a Navy Reserve veteran who served in Afghanistan, told CBS News. "For the president to belittle that kind of sacrifice -- for the president who avoided serving, because he said bone spurs made it impossible for him to be able to do his part -- to turn around and demean the experience of soldiers in harm's way who were injured . . . is one more example of why Donald Trump has no business anywhere near the Situation Room."
Former Vice President Joe Biden also slammed Trump's comments, saying the hundreds of thousands of troops who have suffered brain injuries since the Afghanistan and Iraq wars began deserve "decency" from their commander-in-chief.
"There's 300,000 people come back with post-traumatic stress from these wars. Twenty-one present and former military committing suicide a week in the United States of America," Biden said during a town hall Saturday in New Hampshirey. "We only have one truly sacred obligation: to protect those we send to war, care for them when they come home and care for their families. And it requires the one thing — they don't ask for anything. Just a little respect. Just to be treated with a little bit of decency."
Trump initially claimed that no one was wounded in the Jan. 8 missile strike on multiple Iraqi bases, which came in response to the drone strike that killed top Iranian military official Qassem Soleimani.
"The American people should be extremely grateful and happy no Americans were harmed in last night's attack by the Iranian regime," Trump said in a statement after the strike. "We suffered no casualties, all of our soldiers are safe, and only minimal damage was sustained at our military bases."
But the Pentagon told reporters on Friday that 34 American troops suffered traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in the attack.
About half of the injured troops have returned to duty, while eight were sent back to the U.S. for treatment and nine are still undergoing evaluation in Germany, according to Politico. Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman told reporters that the department would review how it tracks and reports injuries following discrepancies about how many troops were wounded in the strike.
"What we saw was a number of people who were initially screened for concussion-like symptoms … saw their conditions improve rapidly, and then others -- we saw their conditions didn't improve," Hoffman said. "Some got worse, and some had severe enough symptoms that they were transported on for further treatment."
But Trump dismissed those injuries while speaking to reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week.
"I heard that they had headaches and a couple of other things," Trump said two days before the Pentagon reported the injuries. "But I would say, and I can report it is not very serious. Not very serious … I've seen people with no legs and with no arms. I've seen people that were horribly, horribly injured in that area -- that war . . . I don't consider that to be bad injuries."
Veterans of Foreign Wars, a prominent veterans group with more than 1.1 million members, called on the president to apologize for his comments.
"TBI is a serious injury and one that cannot be taken lightly. TBI is known to cause depression, memory loss, severe headaches, dizziness and fatigue — all injuries that come with both short- and long-term effects," VFW National Commander William "Doc" Schmitz said in a statement. "The VFW expects an apology from the president to our servicemen and women for his misguided remarks, and we ask that he and the White House join with us in our efforts to educate Americans of the dangers TBI has on these heroes as they protect our great nation in these trying times. Our warriors require our full support more than ever in this challenging environment."
Trump's Democratic rivals skewered the president for belittling the injuries suffered by troops wounded in the attack.
"A traumatic brain injury is life-threatening -- not just at the time, but for the rest of your life. It can completely debilitate somebody who has served this country," former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a Navy Reserve veteran who served in Afghanistan, told CBS News. "For the president to belittle that kind of sacrifice -- for the president who avoided serving, because he said bone spurs made it impossible for him to be able to do his part -- to turn around and demean the experience of soldiers in harm's way who were injured . . . is one more example of why Donald Trump has no business anywhere near the Situation Room."
Former Vice President Joe Biden also slammed Trump's comments, saying the hundreds of thousands of troops who have suffered brain injuries since the Afghanistan and Iraq wars began deserve "decency" from their commander-in-chief.
"There's 300,000 people come back with post-traumatic stress from these wars. Twenty-one present and former military committing suicide a week in the United States of America," Biden said during a town hall Saturday in New Hampshirey. "We only have one truly sacred obligation: to protect those we send to war, care for them when they come home and care for their families. And it requires the one thing — they don't ask for anything. Just a little respect. Just to be treated with a little bit of decency."
Susan Tompor: Latest tax scam holds your info for ransom. Here's how to spot it and other fraud
2020/1/27 11:43 (EST)
©Detroit Free Press
Most of us find it nerve-racking enough that we’re forced to focus on gathering our piles of paperwork to fill out our tax returns.
Now adding to our stress, we must watch out for tax season scam artists, too. The crooks are everywhere from the gym parking lot to the latest emails and text messages.
A new trend: Expect an increase in ransomware attacks in 2020 on tax preparers where time-sensitive files may be frozen and only thawed when tax preparers pay a ransom to the hackers, according to Adam Levin, founder of CyberScout, which offers identity theft protection and data security.
Levin said sometimes a ransom is paid, the files are released and the hackers still use data that has been stolen to file false tax returns.
Fraudsters want your Social Security number and other key personal information in order to file fake tax returns as early as they can in the season to claim inflated tax refunds.
So, the con artists will be busy long before the April 15 tax deadline.
The crooks want to e-file tax returns before you do because they know that the Internal Revenue Service system will reject a tax return when the IRS has already received another return using the same Social Security number. The IRS will first process e-filed tax returns on Jan. 27.
One huge red flag for ID theft: You discover that you can’t e-file your tax return because of an issue relating to a duplicate Social Security number. (The IRS will also reject an e-filed return for basic errors, such as if you misspelled the name the IRS has on file, but you would be able to resubmit an e-file in many cases if the issue is properly corrected.)
If you discover that a fraudulent tax return has been filed with your Social Security number, you must first file IRS Form 14039 to alert the IRS that you’re a victim of ID theft.
In 2018, the 649,000 confirmed fraudulent returns attempted to claim $3.1 billion in refunds, according to the IRS.
The IRS said it stopped 597,000 tax returns filed by identity thieves claiming $6 billion dollars in 2017 tax refunds. As part of a Security Summit Initiative, the IRS is working with representatives of state tax agencies, tax preparation firms, payroll processors and others to combat tax refund fraud that hinges on stolen personal information.
The crooks get a leg up by stealing key information to make their fake returns look more legitimate. Much financial information is already out there after major data breaches such as those at Equifax, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and Anthem. But cybercriminals are still actively seeking Social Security numbers and other data, too, with tricks as common as a phishing email that targets tax professionals, retirees or business owners.
Here’s a rundown on some of the latest scams:
They’re calling, again, about your Social Security account
Crooks are claiming that there is a problem with your Social Security account. Some may tell you that your Social Security number has been suspended. It’s another attempt to scare you into returning a robocall.
Many demand action now. Some want you to “verify” your financial information, such as your Social Security account and banking information. Others might demand money on a gift card or Bitcoin.
In January, the Inspector General of Social Security warned that telephone scammers may take the next step by sending phony documents by email to convince potential victims that they must comply with the fraudster’s demands. The attachments may involve letters that appear to be from Social Security or the Social Security Office of the Inspector General. But retirees and others shouldn’t be fooled by official-looking letterhead and government jargon.
A new online system was announced in November to report Social Security scams online at oig.ssa.gov.
Never provide sensitive information — or authenticate yourself — to someone who contacts you out of the blue, Levin said. Don’t trust caller ID.
Business owners, does that IRS notice seem weird?
ID thieves are increasingly showing sophisticated knowledge of the tax code and even aiming to file fraudulent tax returns relating to a business or partnership, according to the IRS.
Business owners are warned that one sign of trouble is that the company may fail to receive routine correspondence from the IRS because the thief has changed the address for the business. Or you might receive an IRS notice that doesn’t seem to make sense based on your business or tax situation.
Tax preparation software for business-related returns now requests more information to protect the tax filer, including the name and Social Security number of the company executive authorized to sign the corporate tax return.
Sophisticated phishing scams are targeting payroll offices, too, and requesting W-2 information. Scammers might pose as the CEO or vice president of the company’s payroll organization trick someone with access to data into disclosing sensitive information for the entire workforce.
“This scam has emerged as one of the most dangerous phishing emails in the tax community,” according to H&R Block’s Tax Institute.
The W-2 scam has hit all types of organizations — big corporations, small businesses, public schools, universities, hospitals, tribal governments and charities.
“Never click on a link or open an attachment without independent confirmation of the sender,” Levin warns.
Cybercrooks are engaging in social engineering to make some emails seem more legitimate. Some may reach out to you directly by name to sound like your boss, such as: “Dear Chris: You really messed up this time. See attached.”
Or you might receive a text, robocall or email that’s supposedly from the security department of your bank or the board of elections to “confirm your information on file.” A text may even say your account has been frozen because of suspicious activity and ask you to click on a link and enter your USER ID in order to resolve the issue.
Don’t be fooled. Contact your bank directly if you’re concerned.
Levin warned that some of the malware-laden links may include authentic looking graphics, excellent grammar and no misspellings.
“Often the only way to tell something is amiss is by looking at the URL — but even that can be misleading,” Levin said.
Is your tax preparer about to get scammed?
Andy Phillips, director of H&R Block’s Tax Institute, said fraudsters have really narrowed their focus on tax preparers, not only to steal client data but also to get their hands on information from the professional, such as e-service passwords.
“If a fraudster is able to hack into a tax preparer’s network, they may be able to steal personal information of all clients that have filed with that preparer,” Phillips said.
Some fraudsters, he said, have even found ways to change refund account information to ensure that the fraudster gets the tax refund.
No, the IRS isn’t emailing you a tax transcript
ID thieves are crafting phishing emails to trick users into giving up passwords and other information, perhaps by even impersonating your tax provider. And they’re sending attachments hoping that you’ll be duped into downloading malware.
One scam involves emails that pretend to be from the “IRS Online.” The scam email carries an attachment labeled “Tax Account Transcript” or something similar, and the subject line uses some variation of the phrase “tax transcript.”
Phillips, of H&R Block, said other examples of imposter IRS emails include phrases such as “Automatic Income Tax Reminder” or “Electronic Tax Return Reminder.”
The pitch might look more legitimate because of links that show an IRS-like website and details pretending to be about a taxpayer’s income tax refund or e-filed return. Some emails contain a “temporary password” to access the files.
“But when taxpayers try to access these, it turns out to be a malicious file,” Phillips said.
You can forward malicious emails to phishing@irs.gov.
ID thieves still steal purses and wallets
Crooks can go the old-fashioned route by breaking into unlocked cars in a subdivision or lockers at the local gym to steal personal ID information too, such as a Social Security card or an old Medicare card that includes your Social Security number in your wallet.
It should go without saying but you need to make sure that you don’t leave tax returns on the kitchen table or sitting on the front seat of you car where crooks could access that information too. ——--
Now adding to our stress, we must watch out for tax season scam artists, too. The crooks are everywhere from the gym parking lot to the latest emails and text messages.
A new trend: Expect an increase in ransomware attacks in 2020 on tax preparers where time-sensitive files may be frozen and only thawed when tax preparers pay a ransom to the hackers, according to Adam Levin, founder of CyberScout, which offers identity theft protection and data security.
Levin said sometimes a ransom is paid, the files are released and the hackers still use data that has been stolen to file false tax returns.
Fraudsters want your Social Security number and other key personal information in order to file fake tax returns as early as they can in the season to claim inflated tax refunds.
So, the con artists will be busy long before the April 15 tax deadline.
The crooks want to e-file tax returns before you do because they know that the Internal Revenue Service system will reject a tax return when the IRS has already received another return using the same Social Security number. The IRS will first process e-filed tax returns on Jan. 27.
One huge red flag for ID theft: You discover that you can’t e-file your tax return because of an issue relating to a duplicate Social Security number. (The IRS will also reject an e-filed return for basic errors, such as if you misspelled the name the IRS has on file, but you would be able to resubmit an e-file in many cases if the issue is properly corrected.)
If you discover that a fraudulent tax return has been filed with your Social Security number, you must first file IRS Form 14039 to alert the IRS that you’re a victim of ID theft.
In 2018, the 649,000 confirmed fraudulent returns attempted to claim $3.1 billion in refunds, according to the IRS.
The IRS said it stopped 597,000 tax returns filed by identity thieves claiming $6 billion dollars in 2017 tax refunds. As part of a Security Summit Initiative, the IRS is working with representatives of state tax agencies, tax preparation firms, payroll processors and others to combat tax refund fraud that hinges on stolen personal information.
The crooks get a leg up by stealing key information to make their fake returns look more legitimate. Much financial information is already out there after major data breaches such as those at Equifax, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and Anthem. But cybercriminals are still actively seeking Social Security numbers and other data, too, with tricks as common as a phishing email that targets tax professionals, retirees or business owners.
Here’s a rundown on some of the latest scams:
They’re calling, again, about your Social Security account
Crooks are claiming that there is a problem with your Social Security account. Some may tell you that your Social Security number has been suspended. It’s another attempt to scare you into returning a robocall.
Many demand action now. Some want you to “verify” your financial information, such as your Social Security account and banking information. Others might demand money on a gift card or Bitcoin.
In January, the Inspector General of Social Security warned that telephone scammers may take the next step by sending phony documents by email to convince potential victims that they must comply with the fraudster’s demands. The attachments may involve letters that appear to be from Social Security or the Social Security Office of the Inspector General. But retirees and others shouldn’t be fooled by official-looking letterhead and government jargon.
A new online system was announced in November to report Social Security scams online at oig.ssa.gov.
Never provide sensitive information — or authenticate yourself — to someone who contacts you out of the blue, Levin said. Don’t trust caller ID.
Business owners, does that IRS notice seem weird?
ID thieves are increasingly showing sophisticated knowledge of the tax code and even aiming to file fraudulent tax returns relating to a business or partnership, according to the IRS.
Business owners are warned that one sign of trouble is that the company may fail to receive routine correspondence from the IRS because the thief has changed the address for the business. Or you might receive an IRS notice that doesn’t seem to make sense based on your business or tax situation.
Tax preparation software for business-related returns now requests more information to protect the tax filer, including the name and Social Security number of the company executive authorized to sign the corporate tax return.
Sophisticated phishing scams are targeting payroll offices, too, and requesting W-2 information. Scammers might pose as the CEO or vice president of the company’s payroll organization trick someone with access to data into disclosing sensitive information for the entire workforce.
“This scam has emerged as one of the most dangerous phishing emails in the tax community,” according to H&R Block’s Tax Institute.
The W-2 scam has hit all types of organizations — big corporations, small businesses, public schools, universities, hospitals, tribal governments and charities.
“Never click on a link or open an attachment without independent confirmation of the sender,” Levin warns.
Cybercrooks are engaging in social engineering to make some emails seem more legitimate. Some may reach out to you directly by name to sound like your boss, such as: “Dear Chris: You really messed up this time. See attached.”
Or you might receive a text, robocall or email that’s supposedly from the security department of your bank or the board of elections to “confirm your information on file.” A text may even say your account has been frozen because of suspicious activity and ask you to click on a link and enter your USER ID in order to resolve the issue.
Don’t be fooled. Contact your bank directly if you’re concerned.
Levin warned that some of the malware-laden links may include authentic looking graphics, excellent grammar and no misspellings.
“Often the only way to tell something is amiss is by looking at the URL — but even that can be misleading,” Levin said.
Is your tax preparer about to get scammed?
Andy Phillips, director of H&R Block’s Tax Institute, said fraudsters have really narrowed their focus on tax preparers, not only to steal client data but also to get their hands on information from the professional, such as e-service passwords.
“If a fraudster is able to hack into a tax preparer’s network, they may be able to steal personal information of all clients that have filed with that preparer,” Phillips said.
Some fraudsters, he said, have even found ways to change refund account information to ensure that the fraudster gets the tax refund.
No, the IRS isn’t emailing you a tax transcript
ID thieves are crafting phishing emails to trick users into giving up passwords and other information, perhaps by even impersonating your tax provider. And they’re sending attachments hoping that you’ll be duped into downloading malware.
One scam involves emails that pretend to be from the “IRS Online.” The scam email carries an attachment labeled “Tax Account Transcript” or something similar, and the subject line uses some variation of the phrase “tax transcript.”
Phillips, of H&R Block, said other examples of imposter IRS emails include phrases such as “Automatic Income Tax Reminder” or “Electronic Tax Return Reminder.”
The pitch might look more legitimate because of links that show an IRS-like website and details pretending to be about a taxpayer’s income tax refund or e-filed return. Some emails contain a “temporary password” to access the files.
“But when taxpayers try to access these, it turns out to be a malicious file,” Phillips said.
You can forward malicious emails to phishing@irs.gov.
ID thieves still steal purses and wallets
Crooks can go the old-fashioned route by breaking into unlocked cars in a subdivision or lockers at the local gym to steal personal ID information too, such as a Social Security card or an old Medicare card that includes your Social Security number in your wallet.
It should go without saying but you need to make sure that you don’t leave tax returns on the kitchen table or sitting on the front seat of you car where crooks could access that information too. ——--
US feds, states could join forces on Google probes: report
January 27, 2020
By Agence France-Presse - raw story
The US Justice Department and state attorneys general are meeting this week for talks on their concurrent investigations into possible anti-competitive practices by Google, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
The Journal said the talks could eventually lead to the two groups joining forces as their investigations progress.
The Justice Department and the state attorneys general have not so far shared investigative materials from their respective probes, but officials said that could change.
At least seven state attorneys general have been invited to the meeting, according to the Journal, which cited people familiar with the matter.
A focus of the probes is Google’s dominant position in the online advertising market, the report said.
Another subject of scrutiny, it said, is possible anti-competitive behavior by Google in its Android operating system.
The meeting is likely to include discussions of those issues as well as the scope of the investigations and how the work might be divided among them, the Journal said.
Neither the Justice Department nor the state attorneys general commented on the report, nor did Google.
Google dominates the US market for online advertising with a 36 percent share, compared to 19 percent for Facebook.
Facebook is under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission’s consumer protection bureau, which is looking into the impact on competition of the company’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.
The House Judiciary, meanwhile, is examining the practices of Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon.
The Journal said the talks could eventually lead to the two groups joining forces as their investigations progress.
The Justice Department and the state attorneys general have not so far shared investigative materials from their respective probes, but officials said that could change.
At least seven state attorneys general have been invited to the meeting, according to the Journal, which cited people familiar with the matter.
A focus of the probes is Google’s dominant position in the online advertising market, the report said.
Another subject of scrutiny, it said, is possible anti-competitive behavior by Google in its Android operating system.
The meeting is likely to include discussions of those issues as well as the scope of the investigations and how the work might be divided among them, the Journal said.
Neither the Justice Department nor the state attorneys general commented on the report, nor did Google.
Google dominates the US market for online advertising with a 36 percent share, compared to 19 percent for Facebook.
Facebook is under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission’s consumer protection bureau, which is looking into the impact on competition of the company’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.
The House Judiciary, meanwhile, is examining the practices of Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon.
Prince Andrew Hasn’t Responded to FBI Interview Requests in Epstein Case: U.S. Attorney
Emma Tucker
Updated Jan. 27, 2020 4:46PM ET
DAILY BEAST CHEAT SHEET
Federal prosecutors and the FBI are trying to interview Prince Andrew about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, but he has not responded to their requests, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said Monday during a press conference outside Epstein’s Manhattan home. The Duke of York, who was a friend of Epstein’s, previously said he was willing to help law enforcement agencies in their ongoing investigation. “Of course, I am willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations, if required,” his statement said. But Berman said that the prince has provided “zero cooperation.” He stepped away from his Royal Family duties in November after he came under intense scrutiny over his ties to Epstein, as well as accusations that he had sex with a teenage girl, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who says she was trafficked by Epstein. The disgraced financier killed himself in his Manhattan jail cell last summer.
Coronavirus Deaths Hit 81 in China—and a Baby Has It
Tracy Connor - Executive Editor
Updated Jan. 27, 2020 8:04AM ET
daily beast cheat sheet
The death toll in China from the new coronavirus has hit 81. The thousands of those now confirmed infected include a 9-month-old baby. The virus has kept spreading despite extraordinary efforts to contain it, including Hong Kong banning visitors from Wuhan, where the outbreak originated, Reuters reported. On Monday morning, Beijing announced that the official end of the Lunar New Year holiday would be pushed back to Thursday from Sunday to “reduce mass gatherings” and “block the spread of the epidemic,” a statement from its cabinet states. Financial regulators said they were shutting down stock trading in Shanghai and Shenzhen as part of the extended holiday, a move last seen during the 2003 SARS epidemic. According to The New York Times, officials announced 15 more deaths Sunday, including an 88-year-old man in Shanghai, which the newspaper noted would stoke fears that government efforts to contain the virus are not working. More than 2,700 people in China are afflicted. In the United States, there have been five confirmed cases.
Sandy Hook Conspiracy Theorist Who Doxxed Victims’ Families Arrested
Julia Arciga - Reporter
Published Jan. 27, 2020 4:22PM ET
DAILY BEAST CHEAT SHEET
A Sandy Hook hoaxer and ex-InfoWars contributor who doxxed the families of the 2012 mass shooting was arrested in Florida early Monday morning for unlawful possession of personal identification, The New York Times reports. Wolfgang Halbig spread misinformation about the shooting, which killed 20 first graders and six educators in Newtown, Connecticut, for years. Using Alex Jones’ program InfoWars as a platform, the 73-year-old was able to raise tens of thousands of dollars by convincing people that the mass shooting that a government hoax to take away Americans’ firearms. After Leonard Pozner—the father of a 6-year-old shooting victim—attempted to stop Halbig from targeting others affected by the tragedy, Halbig allegedly released a 100-page credit report on Pozner that included his address and personal data. Halbig also taunted the parents of other Sandy Hook victims, sending them pictures of individuals who he claims are their children “all grown up.”
According to the arrest affidavit, Pozner filed a complaint against Halbig after he repeatedly distributed Pozner’s Social Security number and other personal information to law enforcement agencies and news stations. “We are gratified that prolific Sandy Hook hoaxer and serial harasser of the families of victims, Wolfgang Halbig, has been arrested,” Pozner told the Times. Halbig was released after posting $5,000 bail and is set to appear in court next month. He faces up to one year in prison.
According to the arrest affidavit, Pozner filed a complaint against Halbig after he repeatedly distributed Pozner’s Social Security number and other personal information to law enforcement agencies and news stations. “We are gratified that prolific Sandy Hook hoaxer and serial harasser of the families of victims, Wolfgang Halbig, has been arrested,” Pozner told the Times. Halbig was released after posting $5,000 bail and is set to appear in court next month. He faces up to one year in prison.
*What's Inside*
jan 24 - jan 26
✔HEDGE FUND BILLIONAIRES AND FORMER GOP MEGADONORS POWER NEW DEMOCRATIC SUPER PAC(SELLOUTS)
*DNC’S TOM PEREZ UNDER FIRE FOR CONVENTION COMMITTEE PICKS
(DEMO POLITICS)
*PRESIDENT’S LEGAL TEAM DELIVERS BLISTERING DEFENSE OF WANTING TO F_ _ K YOUR OWN DAUGHTER(FUNNIES)
*WOMAN UNPOPULAR ENOUGH TO LOSE WINNABLE ELECTION TO LITERAL GARBAGE SAYS SANDERS IS UNPOPULAR(FUNNIES)
*‘CRUELTY IS THE POINT’: TRUMP TAKES AIM AT MEDICAID WITH PLAN THAT COULD HARM MILLIONS
(TRUMP)
*ANIMAL WELFARE PUT AT RISK ON OLD AND ‘INFERIOR’ CONVERTED CAR CARRIERS AND CARGO SHIPS THAT ARE NOT BUILT TO TRANSPORT LIVESTOCK(WORLD)
*ACTIVISTS PLAN BOYCOTT OF US COMPANIES BACKING INDIA’S ANTI-MUSLIM POLICIES
(WORLD)
✔RACE TO EXPLOIT THE WORLD’S SEABED SET TO WREAK HAVOC ON MARINE LIFE
(EARTH)
*"DO I DO RESEARCH OR PAY RENT?" GRAD STUDENTS IN SANTA CRUZ START A WILDCAT STRIKE
(SLAVERY 21ST CENTURY)
*GETTING TOUGH ON CORPORATE KILLING
(CORPORATE CRIMINALS)
*REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS PERSONALLY MADE MILLIONS FROM THEIR GIANT TAX CUT: REPORT
(CORRUPTION)
*ANDREW NAPOLITANO: IMPEACHED TRUMP SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM OFFICE
(WORTHLESS MEDIA)
✔MORE THAN HALF OF HOMELESS FAMILIES ARE BLACK, GOVERNMENT REPORT SAYS
(RACE MATTERS)
*‘NEVER CUT YOUR LOCKS’: HOUSTON TEXANS’ DEANDRE HOPKINS SUPPORTS TEEN WHO WAS TOLD TO CUT HIS HAIR OR SKIP GRADUATION(RACE MATTERS)
*WOMEN PERFORM 12.5 BILLION HOURS OF UNPAID LABOR EVERY DAY
(WORLD)
*HOW THE ANTI-CHOICE MOVEMENT'S LIES LAID THE FOUNDATION FOR DONALD TRUMP'S BIG COVER-UP(RIGHTS)
*AFTER OUR REPORTING, CONNECTICUT OFFICIALS ARE TAKING ON HOUSING SEGREGATION
(AMERICA)
*CALIFORNIA’S NEW GIG ECONOMY LAW IS STRENGTHENING A STRIPPER-LED LABOR MOVEMENT
(SLAVERY 21ST CENTURY)
*REPUBLICAN BELIEVE THE UNITED STATES IS SO WEAK THAT IT COULDN'T HANDLE REMOVING TRUMP FROM OFFICE BY THE RUDE PUNDIT(COMMENTARY)
*late news of interest*
op - ed: Overdose Deaths Among People Over 55 Increased 17-Fold Between 1999 and 2017
BY Robyn McGee, Truthout
PUBLISHED January 23, 2020
My brother William struggled with drugs and alcohol addiction much of his life. So, I was shocked but not surprised when he was found dead in his apartment, just a few months before he was about to turn 70. The only boy among six sisters, William died alone in a hoard of wadded up papers, tons of cigarette butts, and calcified Thanksgiving turkey sitting atop his rusted and mildewed stove. Pieces of his beloved computer equipment were scattered among traces of crystal meth and marijuana.
A divorced U.S. Navy Vietnam vet and retired Teamster, William was part of the 17 percent of men and women over age 60 with substance abuse issues to alcohol, illegal drugs and prescription drugs, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. William had survived a stroke, partial paralysis and an apartment fire. The battle with his drugs of choice — alcohol and opioids — left him powerless, and his family in confusion and denial.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s 2017 article, “Opioid Overdose Deaths by Age Group,” reported overdose deaths for people 55 and older was just 518 in 1999. In 2017, however, that number had soared to 8,877 and continues to rise.
At a time when the average senior could be retired and dealing with the usual illnesses associated with age — cardiovascular disease, cancer, hypertension, osteoarthritis, diabetes, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease — the quiet scourge of addiction and sudden deaths is flying under the radar. For baby boomers, drug misuse can be related to other health issues, in addition to being a problem in and of itself.
Some seniors who overdose are like my brother, dying after a lifetime of abusing drugs. Others acquire their addiction later in life. In fact, according to the World Health Organization’s recent analysis, among people 65 and up, the condition is often underestimated and under-diagnosed, which can prevent seniors from getting the help they need to treat addiction. Elders may feel shame and embarrassment because they are unable to control their drinking and drug use. For some, their college days of using alcohol and drugs recreationally has given way to full-on dependence.
The elderly can become addicted in later life for many reasons. According to Addiction Center, some triggers are retirement, death of a loved one, loss of income or financial burdens, forced placement in a nursing home, insomnia, family conflicts and declining mental health, memory loss and major surgeries. Others turn to drugs and alcohol after what they perceive as a failed life, having unrealized expectations and the feeling of invisibility in a world full of youth and vigor. The most commonly used substances among seniors are alcohol, opioids, prescription drugs, marijuana and cocaine.
Many recovery professionals believe drug abuse and alcoholism is genetic, a family disease. My brother was an alcoholic with addiction issues, even though there was never any alcohol or illicit drugs in our childhood. I believe William became addicted during his time in the Navy. He described how he spent endless days and nights on the ship during the Vietnam War.
When my mother died in 2017, at age 90, my brother fell into a deep depression and self-imposed isolation. His neighbors described him as being “nice, sometimes grouchy” with “strange people” who would come to visit him. I went through his cellphone to see if there was anyone we could tell about his death. What I found were a number of text messages that talked about “buying narcos” from people whose numbers had since been disconnected.
It is estimated that 10,000 baby boomers retire daily. If the current trend continues, substance abuse deaths could quadruple. More research and studies are needed to find strategies and treatments to help senior citizens struggling with alcohol and drugs.
Moreover, it’s my belief that public policy should play a more progressive role in the treatment of addiction.
Criminalizing a behavioral disease only creates more people with addiction and more prisoners. Despite the fact that 33 states have decriminalized marijuana, penalties for use and possession of opioids and other narcotics are reflective of the longstanding criminal legal practice of locking up chronic drug abusers.
According to a 2016 U.S. Department of Justice report, 1,288,466 people were serving sentences in state prisons, of whom 190,100 (14.75 percent of the total) had as their most serious offence a drug charge and a total of 45,300 were jailed for drug possession alone. In comparison, there are just over 13,500 substance abuse rehab facilities in the entire United States.
A nonjudgmental, compassionate approach to mental health and addiction treatment would go a long way to address substance abuse among the elderly. In addition, the availability of age-specific 12-step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and other group therapies can be especially helpful for older adults, although these programs are certainly not for everyone.
Original Medicare, the government-sponsored health insurance for adults 65 and over, offers coverage for in-patient drug rehabilitation, as does the Affordable Care Act. Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is effective in treating opioid addiction, and while MAT is more available today than it was a decade ago, barriers to access remain. Medications to treat alcohol and opioid addiction need to be more accessible and affordable.
Currently, the cost of Food and Drug Administration-approved drug treatment prescriptions are covered at least partially by some insurance companies. For example, Antabuse — a drug which creates a negative reaction to alcohol — can run around $80 for a 30-day supply. Also relatively inexpensive are Naltrexone, a so-called “opiate antagonist” that blocks opioid receptors, and Campral, which can reduce symptoms of long-lasting withdrawal and could be more effective in patients with severe addiction.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of families lose brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, loved ones like William, to substance abuse and addiction. A societal commitment to improving treatment and prevention of drug dependence for those who have reached old age will remove the stigma of addiction and encourage those who struggle to seek help.
RELATED: US pharma boss gets 5 years jail time for fueling opioid crisis
John Kapoor, the founder of US drug maker Insys, was sentenced to five and a half years in prison on Thursday for helping fuel America’s deadly opioid crisis.
A divorced U.S. Navy Vietnam vet and retired Teamster, William was part of the 17 percent of men and women over age 60 with substance abuse issues to alcohol, illegal drugs and prescription drugs, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. William had survived a stroke, partial paralysis and an apartment fire. The battle with his drugs of choice — alcohol and opioids — left him powerless, and his family in confusion and denial.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s 2017 article, “Opioid Overdose Deaths by Age Group,” reported overdose deaths for people 55 and older was just 518 in 1999. In 2017, however, that number had soared to 8,877 and continues to rise.
At a time when the average senior could be retired and dealing with the usual illnesses associated with age — cardiovascular disease, cancer, hypertension, osteoarthritis, diabetes, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease — the quiet scourge of addiction and sudden deaths is flying under the radar. For baby boomers, drug misuse can be related to other health issues, in addition to being a problem in and of itself.
Some seniors who overdose are like my brother, dying after a lifetime of abusing drugs. Others acquire their addiction later in life. In fact, according to the World Health Organization’s recent analysis, among people 65 and up, the condition is often underestimated and under-diagnosed, which can prevent seniors from getting the help they need to treat addiction. Elders may feel shame and embarrassment because they are unable to control their drinking and drug use. For some, their college days of using alcohol and drugs recreationally has given way to full-on dependence.
The elderly can become addicted in later life for many reasons. According to Addiction Center, some triggers are retirement, death of a loved one, loss of income or financial burdens, forced placement in a nursing home, insomnia, family conflicts and declining mental health, memory loss and major surgeries. Others turn to drugs and alcohol after what they perceive as a failed life, having unrealized expectations and the feeling of invisibility in a world full of youth and vigor. The most commonly used substances among seniors are alcohol, opioids, prescription drugs, marijuana and cocaine.
Many recovery professionals believe drug abuse and alcoholism is genetic, a family disease. My brother was an alcoholic with addiction issues, even though there was never any alcohol or illicit drugs in our childhood. I believe William became addicted during his time in the Navy. He described how he spent endless days and nights on the ship during the Vietnam War.
When my mother died in 2017, at age 90, my brother fell into a deep depression and self-imposed isolation. His neighbors described him as being “nice, sometimes grouchy” with “strange people” who would come to visit him. I went through his cellphone to see if there was anyone we could tell about his death. What I found were a number of text messages that talked about “buying narcos” from people whose numbers had since been disconnected.
It is estimated that 10,000 baby boomers retire daily. If the current trend continues, substance abuse deaths could quadruple. More research and studies are needed to find strategies and treatments to help senior citizens struggling with alcohol and drugs.
Moreover, it’s my belief that public policy should play a more progressive role in the treatment of addiction.
Criminalizing a behavioral disease only creates more people with addiction and more prisoners. Despite the fact that 33 states have decriminalized marijuana, penalties for use and possession of opioids and other narcotics are reflective of the longstanding criminal legal practice of locking up chronic drug abusers.
According to a 2016 U.S. Department of Justice report, 1,288,466 people were serving sentences in state prisons, of whom 190,100 (14.75 percent of the total) had as their most serious offence a drug charge and a total of 45,300 were jailed for drug possession alone. In comparison, there are just over 13,500 substance abuse rehab facilities in the entire United States.
A nonjudgmental, compassionate approach to mental health and addiction treatment would go a long way to address substance abuse among the elderly. In addition, the availability of age-specific 12-step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and other group therapies can be especially helpful for older adults, although these programs are certainly not for everyone.
Original Medicare, the government-sponsored health insurance for adults 65 and over, offers coverage for in-patient drug rehabilitation, as does the Affordable Care Act. Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is effective in treating opioid addiction, and while MAT is more available today than it was a decade ago, barriers to access remain. Medications to treat alcohol and opioid addiction need to be more accessible and affordable.
Currently, the cost of Food and Drug Administration-approved drug treatment prescriptions are covered at least partially by some insurance companies. For example, Antabuse — a drug which creates a negative reaction to alcohol — can run around $80 for a 30-day supply. Also relatively inexpensive are Naltrexone, a so-called “opiate antagonist” that blocks opioid receptors, and Campral, which can reduce symptoms of long-lasting withdrawal and could be more effective in patients with severe addiction.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of families lose brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, loved ones like William, to substance abuse and addiction. A societal commitment to improving treatment and prevention of drug dependence for those who have reached old age will remove the stigma of addiction and encourage those who struggle to seek help.
RELATED: US pharma boss gets 5 years jail time for fueling opioid crisis
John Kapoor, the founder of US drug maker Insys, was sentenced to five and a half years in prison on Thursday for helping fuel America’s deadly opioid crisis.
