The Opioid Epidemic Is Devastating. It’s Also Really Expensive.
The opioid epidemic, which each year claims more lives than the entirety of American deaths in the Vietnam War, is also a growing financial burden. According to a new report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers, the epidemic cost the nation $504 billion in 2015—about 2.8 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product.…
Ben Carson’s Controversial Confidant Wants to Buy Washington Newspaper
Armstrong Williams speaks at the annual DC Influencers Brunch at a downtown Washington restaurant in 2016.Sipa/AP Armstrong Williams, the conservative businessman, TV talk-show host, and longtime confidant of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, is trying to buy Washington City Paper, the alternative weekly newspaper covering the nation’s capital. According to a current City…
Charlie Rose Suspended From CBS News After Sexual Harassment Allegations
Charlie RoseMark Lennihan/AP Update 6:10 p.m. EST: Charlie Rose has been suspended from his hosting duties on “CBS This Morning,” and PBS says it will immediately halt distribution of Rose’s program in response to the Washington Post report, according to the Associated Press. “PBS was shocked to learn today of these deeply disturbing allegations,” PBS said in a statement. “PBS…
Surprise! The Senate Tax Bill Kills the Middle Class, But It’s Great For the Rich
A few days ago the Joint Committee on Taxation released its analysis of the Senate tax bill, which I wrote about here. My conclusion was that the bill was “batshit crazy,” but Republicans cried foul. The JCT analysis included the effects of eliminating Obamacare’s individual mandate, and while that seems fair to me, it didn’t…
This Isn’t Over Yet. The Keystone Pipeline Can Still Be Stopped.
Oliver Contreras/ZUMA The Nebraska Public Service Commission removed a major regulatory roadblock to the construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline on Monday. Though that might seem like the final judgement in the nine-year battle waged by the US environmental movement against it, nothing about the fate of the once-dead, then-revived pipeline has ever been certain. Even though the commission…
Flashbacks, Nightmares, Panic Attacks—Las Vegas Survivors Describe the Emotional Toll
Darla Christensen and her son Royce at a candlelit vigil on October 3, 2017.Al Kamalizad/Mother Jones When the bullets started flying on that October evening, some hit Las Vegas’ Route 91 concert stage so close to Royce Christenson that shards of aluminum landed in his hair. He saw a man go down, and the man…