Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.
« Back
12 Comments
  • rjs says:

    you just can’t trust Ohioans with any extra money..

    Ohio study links stimulus checks to record increase in opioid deaths — Economic stimulus checks meant to aid in the recovery of the COVID-19 pandemic contributed significantly to the record surge in Americans who died of opioid overdoses, according to a study by the Ohio Attorney General’s Center for the Future of Forensic Science.

    “The link between pandemic relief money and opioid overdose deaths is now evident,” Attorney General Dave Yost said. “The intent was to help Americans navigate this deadly pandemic, but it also fueled a tidal wave of overdoses.”

    The study, using data from the Ohio Department of Health, found that spikes in opioid-related overdose deaths during the second quarter of 2020 coincided with delivery of federal stimulus checks to the public.

    In the second quarter of 2020, more Ohioans died of opioid overdoses than at any point since 2010.

    well, at least the stimulus had the desired job creation effect:

    Lawrence County Coroner Dr. Benjamin Mack says it’s been in the back of his mind that the overdoses he sees in the county could be linked to the stimulus checks, and this study confirms his suspicions.

    “Last year was by far the busiest year we’ve ever seen as far as overdose deaths in Lawrence County,” he said.

    “We’ve actually had to increase our staffing to help compensate to do each case its right due diligence in doing the investigations and coming up with more information,” Mack said.

    and the coroner is expecting another surge in overdose deaths soon…

    Mack says currently overdose deaths in the county are slightly down, but he’s worried that will change when tax refund checks are sent out.

    • run75441 says:

      RJS

      We are talking about the Republican 2020 trump issued stimulus checks, right? Funny how they can not tie Covid to a cause of death but opioids, etc. definitely was the cause.

    • run75441 says:

      RJS

      Here some detail and a link:

      Opioids Detail

      Interesting graph up also. Shows 2010 and 2020. PBS Graph

      • Fred C. Dobbs says:

        Between March 1, 2020, and January 2, 2021, the US experienced 2,801,439 deaths, 22.9% more than expected, representing 522,368 excess deaths (Table). … The US experienced 4 surge patterns: in New England and the Northeast, excess deaths surged in the spring; in the Southeast and Southwest, in the summer and early winter; in the Plains, Rocky Mountains, and far West, primarily in early winter; and in the Great Lakes, bimodally, in the spring and early winter (Figure). Excess deaths were increasing in all regions at the end of 2020. The 10 states with the highest per capita rate of excess deaths were Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Arizona, Alabama, Louisiana, South Dakota, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Ohio. New York experienced the largest relative increase in all-cause mortality (38.1%). Deaths attributed to COVID-19 accounted for 72.4% of US excess deaths. ,…

        Excess Deaths From COVID-19 and Other Causes in the US, March 1, 2020, to January 2, 2021

    • EMichael says:

      Strange they didn’t cover how many children suddenly got three meals a day due to the stimulus.

  • Fred C. Dobbs says:

    This week in Trump’s World…

    A week of legal setbacks for Trump in Washington, New York

    Boston Globe – Feb 18

    (AP) — Former President Donald Trump faced one legal setback after another this week as a judge ruled he must sit for a deposition in New York to answer questions about his business practices, his accounting firm declared his financial statements unreliable, another judge rejected his efforts to dismiss conspiracy lawsuits and the National Archives confirmed that he took classified information to Florida as he left White House. …

    Here’s a look at the flurry of developments:

    NATIONAL ARCHIVES SAYS TRUMP TOOK CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS TO MAR-A-LAGO

    In a Friday letter, the National Archives and Records Administration confirmed that classified information was found in 15 boxes of White House records that Trump had brought with him to Mar-a-Lago and turned over last month.

    The National Archives “identified items marked as classified national security information within the boxes” and “has been in communication with the Department of Justice,” they wrote in a letter House Committee on Oversight and Reform. …

    JUDGE REFUSES TO TOSS LAWSUITS AGAINST TRUMP OVER JAN. 6 ATTACK

    A federal judge in Washington, D.C., on Friday rejected Trump’s efforts to dismiss conspiracy lawsuits filed by Democratic lawmakers and police officers accusing him of being personally liable for the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.

    U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta said Trump’s words at a rally held before the attack were likely “words of incitement not protected by the First Amendment” and “plausibly” may have led to what happened. …

    JUDGE SAYS TRUMP MUST TESTIFY IN NEW YORK LAWSUIT OVER BUSINESS PRACTICES

    On Thursday, a judge in New York ruled that Trump must answer questions under oath in the state’s civil investigation into his business practices.

    Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Trump and his two eldest children, Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr., to comply with subpoenas issued by New York Attorney General Letitia James and sit for depositions within 21 days. James’s lawyers have said they have uncovered evidence that Trump’s company used “fraudulent or misleading” valuations of his golf courses, skyscrapers and other properties to secure loans and tax benefits. …

    ACCOUNTING FIRM SAYS TRUMP’S FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AREN’T RELIABLE

    In a letter made public in a court filing Monday, the accounting firm that prepared Trump’s annual financial statements said the documents “should no longer be relied upon” after James’ office alleged they regularly misstated the value of Trump’s assets.

    In the letter to the Trump Organization’s lawyer, Mazars USA LLP advised the company to inform anyone who had received the documents not to use them to assess the financial health of the company and the former president. The firm also said it was cutting ties with Trump, its highest-profile client. …

    JUDGE ORDERS EX-TRUMP ORGANIZATION CFO TO SIT FOR DEPOSITION ON INAUGURAL COMMITTEE SPENDING

    In a ruling Thursday, a judge said she would allow Allen Weisselberg, the longtime finance chief at Trump’s company, to sit for a limited deposition as part of a lawsuit brought by the District of Columbia attorney general’s office that accuses Trump’s inaugural committee of grossly overspending at Trump’s Pennsylvania Avenue hotel to enrich the former president’s family. …

    BIDEN ORDERS TRUMP WHITE HOUSE VISITOR LOGS TURNED OVER TO JAN. 6 COMMITTEE

    On Wednesday, President Joe Biden ordered the release of Trump White House visitor logs to the House committee investigating Jan. 6, rejecting Trump’s claims of executive privilege once more.

    The records show appointment information for individuals who were allowed to enter the White House on the day of the insurrection. …

    Attorney General Merrick Garland has said the Justice Department remains committed to “holding all January 6th perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law, whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy.”

      • Fred C. Dobbs says:

        The House Committee on Oversight and Reform cited accounting firm Mazars’ recent announcement that it is dropping the Trump Organization as a client and stating that a decade of the company’s financial statements cannot be relied on as accurate.

        “New information, including that former President Trump may have submitted inaccurate financial information to the federal government to obtain this lease and that he stands to reap millions in profit from selling the lease, reinforce the serious ethical and legal concerns previously raised by the Committee,” the Democratic committee leaders wrote in a letter to the General Services Administration obtained by NBC News.

        The House committee last year disclosed financial filings showing that the Trump International Hotel in D.C. lost more than $70 million from 2016 to 2020. …

        “We request that you consider terminating the Old Post Office Building lease to former President Trump and the Trump Organization under the authority provided in Article 27 of the lease, and end, once-and-for-all, the grave damage this inappropriate lease has done to presidential ethics and integrity in government contracting,” wrote Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., and government operations subcommittee Chair Gerald Connolly, D-Va., in the letter.

        They first noted that GSA had launched a review of the Trump Organization’s plans to sell the lease for $375 million, saying that figure “appears to represent a significant premium over market rates.”

         

        That deal, if approved, would net Trump himself roughly $76 million, Maloney and Connolly wrote. …

         

        • Fred C. Dobbs says:

          Hmmm. Since we are still stuck with our Trump-appointed Postmaster General, what are the odds that the guv’mint is going to take away Trump’s lease on the Old Post Office Building that got turned into a Trump show place hotel.

          • Fred C. Dobbs says:

            (Wikipedia) In 2013, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) leased the property for 60 years to a consortium headed by “DJT Holdings LLC”, a holding company that Donald Trump owns through a revocable trust. Trump developed the property into a luxury hotel, the Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C., which opened in September 2016.