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Opioid crisis is major midterm issue in areas hard hit by drug deaths

From the bustling streets of Philadelphia to the rural farmlands of Mercer County, nearly every community in Pennsylvania has been rocked by the opioid crisis – and the problem keeps worsening.
In 2016, more than 4,600 Pennsylvanians died as a result of drug abuse. It has affected the lives of thousands more.
Jose Benitez, the executive director of a needle exchange clinic in Philadelphia, struggles to make sure he has enough manpower and resources to treat his growing number of patients. He said three years ago, he treated 4,000 patients. Now, he serves about 15,000, most of whom are battling opioid-related addictions.
“We have mothers, fathers, sister, brothers dying daily,” he said. “It has to stop.”
For Benitez, additional funding and attention to the opioid crisis is a tipping point in the Pennsylvania midterm election. He hopes to see lawmakers who are educated on addiction and can provide innovative solutions.

Additional funding and attention to the opioid crisis is seen as a tipping point for some voters in the Pennsylvania midterm election. They have said they hope to see lawmakers who are educated on addiction and can provide innovative solutions.  (This content is subject to copyright.)

“What we’ve done so far isn’t working,” Benitez said. “In Kensington [Philadelphia], we have more than 600 homeless people, most of them addicted to opioids.  It’s a real public health issue and it’s devastating our communities.”
The opioid problem is emerging as a major issue during the midterm elections, particularly in areas hard hit by the growing crisis.
“This is an issue that voters on the ground care about,” said Jeanne Zaino, a political science professor at Iona College in New Rochelle, N.Y. “Look at the Wisconsin Senate race, for example, where healthcare has been a major issue leading up to the midterm.”
A recent analysis by the Wall Street Journal shows that ads mentioning the opioid crisis have aired more than 50,000 times in congressional and gubernatorial races across 25 states. Just four years ago, at around this time, it had only been mentioned 70 times, the Journal reported.
The Wisconsin Senate race is one of several where candidates have feuded over how to address the opioid epidemic. Democrats in the state have hammered away at Republican candidate Leah Vukmir's legislative health care record, claiming she sides with insurance companies and businesses over ordinary Wisconsinites. Republicans say a government-run system will not only divert treatment but decrease the quality of care for everyone.
It is also a major problem in Pennsylvania’s largest county, Philadelphia, where more than 1,217 drug-related deaths were reported last year.
The Democratic candidate for Congress in Lehigh Valley, Susan Wild, wants to focus on medical care – not criminal prosecutions. Her Republican opponent, Marty Nothstein, thinks the focus should be on public safety. Nothstein believes beefed up border security will help cut off the influx of what he calls replacement drugs – like fentanyl and heroin – that have contributed to fatalities both regionally and nationally.
In northeast Pennsylvania, the opioid crisis has become a political focal point. Incumbent Rep. Tom Marino, R-Cogan Station, was nearly named America's drug czar, under the Trump administration, but withdrew his name after he was accused of weakening laws that favored the pharmaceutical industry.
Marino, a former federal prosecutor, has called the allegations a “hatchet job.” Nonetheless, has been criticized by his Democratic opponent, Marc Friedenberg, who claims Marino is too cozy with drug companies to make a real dent on the opioid crisis.
“Throughout my campaign, this crisis has been one of the most common issues that voters want to talk about,” Friedenberg said in a recent statement. “We need real solutions; we don’t need politicians like Tom Marino who are more interested in cashing checks from Big Pharma than they are in helping Pennsylvanians.”
Friedenberg held an “opioid town hall” last month. This past summer, Marino also held a town hall focusing on the opioid crisis that was co-hosted by celebrity Dr. Phil.
Marino has defended his record, saying as a prosecutor he has dedicated his life to “aggressive and faithful enforcement” of the nation’s laws.
“Given my lifelong devotion to law enforcement, I insist on correcting the record regarding the false accusations and unfair reporting to which I have been subjected," Marino said when the allegations first arose.

The opioid problem is emerging as a major issue during the midterm elections, particularly in areas hard hit by the growing crisis.

Zaino believes the current drug crisis can become the deciding factor in many toss-up races in the northeast. Combating the opioid epidemic is a shared viewpoint, Zaino said, essentially no one opposes it – but candidates do differ on how to address the issue.
“When you remove healthcare coverage from the conversation, the likelihood of someone accessing treatment significantly decreases,” said Democratic Strategist Roger Fisk. “So, Republicans are really at odds with themselves on this issue. You can’t fight the epidemic and cancel coverage at the time.”
Republicans, on the other hand, would like to see a shared effort between the private and public sector as well as emphasizing law enforcement’s role in cutting off the flow of illicit drugs.
“This issue is about making America strong again, the community along with lawmakers have to forge an alliance and work together to repair our communities,” said Republican strategist Chris Prudhome.
Despite the differences, the topic has remained a priority for lawmakers. Last week, Congress approved a rare bipartisan bill to combat the growing health crisis – creating, expanding and reauthorizing drug programs and policies across almost every federal agency.
The bill was sent to the White House just in time for lawmakers to campaign on the issue before the November midterm elections.
“It will be interesting to see how voters in the Northeast, where there are Republicans and Democrats running on this issue with two different viewpoints, vote,” said Zaino, “I think only the exit polls will tell us what Americans want to see happen next.” ​​​​​​

Anger management: Outraged liberal pundits declaring war after Kavanaugh

The left is really, really angry after the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation.
Or perhaps I should say that some liberal pundits are mad as hell. And that's leading them to make some stunning declarations as they try to harness that anger—or maybe just engage in very public group therapy.
Now anger has always been a tool in American politics. It's a way of whipping up your base and energizing your voters. President Trump regularly tries to rouse his most loyal supporters by playing to their grievances and hitting hot-button cultural issues. (Just yesterday, he accused Democrats of "torturing" Kavanaugh and his family through a "hoax" with "fabricated" charges.)
But there was a dramatically different reaction in the left-leaning media establishment when anger on the right began fueling the Tea Party movement after Barack Obama's election. I never particularly liked the "take back our country" rhetoric — take it back from what? — but many mainstream pundits were too quick to dismiss the movement as a bunch of racist yahoos.
Now, in the Trump era, anger is in. It's trending. There's a resistance movement.
There was, to be sure, plenty of ugliness on both sides of the Supreme Court battle. Ariel Dumas, a writer for Stephen Colbert’s "Late Show," tweeted that "no matter what happens, I'm just glad we ruined Brett Kavanaugh's life." (She later expressed regret for her "tone-deaf attempt at sarcasm," but I don't see a hint of humor.)
Anyone flipping through the major papers yesterday would have seen these op-ed headlines:
"Liberals, This Is War" — Charles Blow, New York Times.
"Get Angry, and Get Involved" — David Leonhardt, New York Times.
"We Need to Stay Angry on Kavanaugh" — E.J. Dionne, Washington Post.
I'm sensing a pattern here.
Let's start with Blow, who's already written that he wants to hate Donald Trump. The Kavanaugh confirmation, he says, is part "of a much larger plan by conservatives to fundamentally change the American political structure so that it enshrines and protects white male power even after America's changing demographics and mores move away from that power."
Blow writes that "liberals can get so high-minded that they lose sight of the ground war," and in case folks aren't grabbing their bayonets, says that "Kavanaugh is only one soldier, albeit an important one, in a larger battle. Stop thinking you're in a skirmish, when you're at war."
Leonhardt begins his piece with this declaration: "If you're not angry yet, you should be."
Leaving aside that people don't like to be told how they should feel, he says that after a "brutal, partisan process ... the two new justices have cemented an extremist Republican majority on the Supreme Court. It has already begun acting as a kind of super-legislature, throwing out laws on voting rights, worker rights, consumer rights and political influence buying. Now, the court is poised to do much more to benefit the wealthy and powerful at the expense of most Americans — and the planet. This is not how democracy is supposed to work."
Actually, it's exactly how democracy is supposed to work.
Trump won the election (by fewer popular votes, Leonhardt complains, but that's the system set up by the Constitution). The Senate confirmed his choice (yes, on a razor-thin partisan vote, but that’s also how ObamaCare passed).
"Again, if you’re not angry, you should be, and I realize that many of you already are. The past two weeks, on top of everything that came before, have created a sense of frustration and injustice that I have never seen before from people on the left and in the center. The question now is, What are you going to do with that anger?"
Then he makes the perfectly rational suggestion that they get involved: Turn out in the midterms, prod family and friends, knock on doors. That, too, is how democracy is supposed to work. If you want your side to wield power, you have to win elections.
Dionne is a smart and sophisticated observer, and an old colleague, so I'm surprised by the language he uses: "Conservative forces in the country, led by the Republican Party, have completed a judicial coup, decades in the making."
A coup? I get that conservatives have been targeting the court for decades, and I get that the GOP was ruthless in denying Merrick Garland a vote. But that doesn't rise to even metaphorical coup status.
"After all these outrages, there will be calls for a renewal of civility, as if the problem is that people said nasty things about one other. But the answer to this power grab cannot be passive acceptance in the name of being polite."
Then comes the zinger: E.J. wants to pack the court.
"And there should now be no squeamishness about the urgency of enlarging the Supreme Court if Democrats have the power to do so after the 2020 elections. The current majority on the court was created through illegitimate means. Changing that majority would not constitute politicizing the court because conservatives have already done this without apology."
Sure, he acknowledges that FDR’s court-packing scheme was a disaster, but says the opposition can be overcome with a two-year debate.
Doesn't this sound like changing the rules after losing the game?
The country has just been through a raw and incendiary battle that opened wounds about the treatment of alleged sexual assault. Emotions are still running high. But all this talk of anger and wars and coups seems jarringly out of place for those who usually preach the virtues of rational debate and discourse.

Kathy Griffin defends Stephen Colbert writer who tweeted out against Kavanaugh

Comedian Kathy Griffin on Monday threw in her support behind a writer for CBS’ "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" who ignited controversy over a tweet that said, "Whatever happens, I'm just glad we ruined Brett Kavanaugh's life."
Ariel Dumas' tweet came shortly after news broke that the embattled judge would be confirmed as the next Supreme Court Justice.

Ariel Dumas is a writer for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. (Twitter)

Dumas posted the tweet as the Senate confirmed Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court by a 50-48 vote. The nomination was marked by a bitter fight between Democrats and Republicans after a California psychology professor alleged Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her in the early 1980s. 
Dumas later deleted the tweet and apologized for the post after it was met with backlash.
Dumas wrote that “the complexity of frustration, anger and sadness can’t be accurately conveyed on twitter, and I regret my tone-deaf attempt at sarcasm in the wake of it.”
Reached for further comment by Fox News, CBS said Dumas' apology spoke for itself. The network confirmed that Dumas currently works for Colbert's show.
“@ArielDumas, a comedy writer, being held to a higher standard than the President of the United States. Love you @ArielDumas, f**k the haters,” Griffin tweeted. 
The 57-year-old comedian has tried to establish herself as one of President Donald Trump's most outspoken critics. In May 2017, Griffin unleashed a storm of controversy after posing with a blooded replica of Trump's head in a photoshot. The stunt derailed Griffin's career for nearly a year.
In reaction to Kavanaugh's confirmation on Saturday, Griffin tweeted: "What a terrible day in American history."

President Trump apologizes to Brett Kavanaugh and his family at ceremonial swearing-in as Supreme Court justice

Speaking at a swearing-in ceremony for Associate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in the East Room of the White House Monday evening, President Trump apologized to Kavanaugh and his family "on behalf of our nation" for what he called a desperate Democrat-led campaign of "lies and deception" intent on derailing his confirmation.
"On behalf of our nation, I want to apologize to Brett and the entire Kavanaugh family for the terrible pain and suffering you have been forced to endure," Trump began. "Those who step forward to serve our country deserve a fair and dignified evaluation, not a campaign of political and personal destruction based on lies and deception. What happened to the Kavanaugh family violates every notion of fairness, decency, and due process. In our country, a man or a woman must always be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty."
Trump added that "under historic scrutiny," Kavanaugh had been "proven innocent." A series of uncorroborated and disputed sexual misconduct allegations had threatened to upend Kavanaugh's confirmation, and some top Democrats have floated further investigations and even possibly impeaching Kavanaugh.
To sustained, raucous applause, Trump entered the event Monday night flanked by Kavanaugh and former Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy, who hired Kavanaugh as a law clerk from 1993 to 1994. All sitting Supreme Court justices were in attendance, as well as Kavanaugh's parents, wife, and two daughters.

"You, sir, under historic scrutiny, were proven innocent."
— President Trump to Brett Kavanaugh

Trump thanked top Republicans for spearheading Kavanaugh's confirmation, and particularly praised Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Kavanaugh's elevation to the Supreme Court appeared certain only after Collins delivered a dramatic, point-by-point explanation of her vote for Kavanaugh in a floor speech on Friday afternoon. "We are indebted to Susan Collins for her brave and eloquent speech," Trump said.
The president also led a standing ovation for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., whom he called a "great" leader who has done an "incredible job for the American people." Under McConnell, Republicans have now confirmed 26 federal appellate judges and two Supreme Court justices. (Kavanaugh's rise to the Supreme Court creates a new vacancy on the influential D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, where he had served for 12 years.)
SUSAN COLLINS CRITICIZES ANTI-KAVANAUGH ACTIVISTS FOR 'TRYING TO BUY VOTES'
At the conclusion of Trump's remarks, Kennedy administered the oath to Kavanaugh as his family looked on, and the room again broke out into sustained applause. As Trump noted, it was the first time a Supreme Court justice has ever sworn in his former clerk to take his seat.
Taking the podium as the Supreme Court's newest justice, Kavanaugh acknowledged the partisan rancor that surrounded his confirmation and gripped the nation over the past two months. "I take this office with gratitude and no bitterness," he said.
"All nine of us revere the Constitution," Kavanaugh continued, referring to his new colleagues. "The Supreme Court is an institution of law. It is not a partisan or political institution. The justices do not sit on opposite sides of the aisle. ... The Supreme Court is a team of nine, and I will always be a team player on a team of nine."
At times emotional, Kavanaugh praised his "amazing" and "fearless" friends for standing by him, and said that his focus now is "to be the best justice I can be."
"My goal is to be a great justice, for all Americans, and for all of America," Kavanaugh said. "I will work very hard to achieve that goal. I was not appointed to serve one party or one interest, but one nation."
He vowed to continue to "coach, teach, and tutor" -- a notable promise, given that student backlash at Harvard Law School last week prompted Kavanaugh to withdraw from teaching a planned course there.

"I take this office with gratitude and no bitterness."
— Associate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh

"I am an optimist. I live on the sunrise side of the mountain," Kavanaugh said, echoing a line from his fiery testimony last month before the Senate Judiciary Committee. "I see the day that is coming, not the day that has gone."
KAVANAUGH, WIFE, ACCUSER ALL RECEIVE GRAPHIC DEATH THREATS
The Monday evening oath was entirely ceremonial. Kavanaugh took his official oaths in a private ceremony at the Supreme Court on Saturday, shortly after the Senate voted to confirm him by a narrow 50-48 margin.
The event, a high-spirited flourish after a historically bitter and partisan confirmation battle, was a nationally televised opportunity for Kavanaugh to speak directly to the nation that is increasingly divided along partisan lines. Fox News polls show that GOP enthusiasm is up across the board in the wake of the Kavanaugh showdown, even though political headwinds normally work against the party of incumbent presidents in their first midterm elections.
Kavanaugh, along with his law clerks, has been at the Supreme Court preparing for his first day on the bench Tuesday. The high court is set to hear arguments in two cases about longer prison terms for repeat offenders. (Kavanaugh's four clerks all are women, the first time that has happened.)
WATCH: WHAT'S AHEAD FOR KAVANAUGH'S FIRST SUPREME COURT TERM?
However, the upcoming Supreme Court term is "fairly benign when it comes to hot-button issues," Adam Feldman, a Supreme Court expert who runs the blog Empirical SCOTUS, told Fox News. "This makes me think that the justices were aware of [Justice Anthony] Kennedy's likely departure when they starting granting cases for this term."
On Saturday, Chief Justice John Roberts administered Kavanaugh's constitutional oath and Kennedy administered his judicial oath. Protesters outside banged on the Supreme Court's doors, with some trying to fight their way inside. Capitol Hill police, assisting U.S. Supreme Court police, have arrested hundreds of anti-Kavanaugh protesters in recent days.
VICE PRESIDENT PENCE FACES PROTESTERS INSTEAD OF USING SIDE EXIT AT CAPITOL, TELLS SECURITY DETAIL, 'LET'S DO IT'
The new justice was "caught up in a hoax that was set up by the Democrats," Trump said as he left the White House earlier Monday for a quick trip to Florida. "It was all made up, it was fabricated and it's a disgrace."

"We stood up to the mob."
— Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

The climactic 50-48 roll call vote Saturday on Kavanaugh was the closest vote to confirm a justice since 1881.
Collins, the Maine moderate Trump thanked in his opening remarks Monday, revealed on Sunday that she initially thought Kavanaugh "perhaps needed to withdraw" after she heard Christine Blasey Ford's "very compelling and painful" testimony.
But then, Collins said, "When [Kavanaugh] came back with a forceful denial, the anger and anguish he showed, and then the lack of corroboration, led me back to the fundamental issues to our legal system."
On Sunday, Collins criticized opponents' efforts to fundraise against her vote, calling them nothing more than blatant ploys to buy votes in a future election.
“They are asking me to perform an official act and if I do not do what they want, $2 million plus is going to go to my opponent. I think that if our politics has come to the point where people are trying to buy votes and buy positions, then we are in a very sad place,” Collins told CBS News' "60 Minutes."
DEMS WAGE WAR ON KAVANAUGH: WILL IMPEACHMENT THREATS GO ANYWHERE?
Ultimately, every Democrat voted against Kavanaugh except for Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a deeply red state where Kavanaugh remains highly popular. Manchin is up for re-election this year.
McConnell on Sunday praised his fellow GOP senators, who he said re-established the "presumption of innocence" in confirmation hearings.
"We stood up to the mob," he added.

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Pelosi filing FOIA request for key Kavanaugh documents, prolonging fight

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Sunday she will request that the government make public the FBI's supplemental background report into sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, indicating the Democrats' fight against Kavanaugh is not over.
In a letter to her Democratic colleagues, Pelosi said her Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request also would cover "transcripts of interviews, instructions from the White House, and any communications to the FBI from Senate Republicans regarding the scope of the investigation," production of which she said was "important to set the record straight."
The Senate narrowly confirmed Kavanaugh's appointment to the high court on Saturday, days after the FBI completed its report. In her letter, Pelosi said Kavanaugh's confirmation "has wounded the very soul of justice in our country" and called it a "dark chapter."
Democrats have complained that the bureau was not given time to thoroughly explore the allegations against Kavanaugh, which dated from his days in high school and college in the early 1980s. Kavanaugh repeatedly and emphatically denied the claims against him.
Republicans have argued that the supplemental FBI investigation instigated by wavering GOP senators and ordered by the White House turned up no corroborating witnesses to the claims and that Kavanaugh had sterling credentials for the court.
In the end, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., was the only Democrat to vote for Kavanaugh's confirmation. He expressed empathy for sexual assault victims, but said that after factoring in the FBI report, "I have found Judge Kavanaugh to be a qualified jurist who will follow the Constitution." Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska announced her opposition to Kavanaugh's confirmation but voted "present" Saturday after it became clear the judge would be confirmed.
House Democrats have pledged to investigate Kavanaugh further if they win the majority in November. In her letter, Pelosi told her colleagues to channel their disappointment at Kavanaugh's confirmation toward success at the ballot box next month.
"We must not agonize, we must organize," Pelosi wrote. "People must vote."

Former Obama official calls Susan Collins ‘fake’ feminist

Former Obama White House official Jen Psaki, appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union," derided Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, as a “fake” feminist for her support of Brett Kavanaugh, who was confirmed to the Supreme Court on Saturday amid allegations of sexual assault.
Collins was considered a key swing-vote until she confirmed her support for Kavanaugh during a floor speech on Friday.
"(Collins) struck a nerve to me in what she said and how she voted, because that’s political cowardice,” Psaki said on the Sunday broadcast. “That is somebody who is pretending to be a feminist but that is a fake feminism.”

You can’t say somebody is credible and then completely question their story.
— Jen Psaki 

Kavanaugh was ultimately nominated to the Supreme Court late Saturday by a narrow 50-48 margin, despite allegations that he committed sexual assault against Christine Blasey Ford, a psychology professor, in the early 1980s. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations.
“You can argue Democrats mishandled things, they certainly did,” Psaki added. “But this is about a woman who is accusing someone of sexual assault, something that often many, many women do not come forward to do.”

FILE: Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins is followed by members of the media as she walks to the Capitol before a vote to advance Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court.  (Associated Press)

Collins called Ford credible but said there was not enough evidence to corroborate her claims. Psaki said that people who worry about the accused miss the bigger issue that women face.
“It’s much more likely that women hold back and they don’t put these accusations forward that they don’t. That is the issue in this country, not being falsely accused,” Psaki said. “You can’t say somebody is credible and then completely question their story.”