President Trump will declare the escalating number of drug deaths from opioids as a “public health emergency” — but not a “national emergency” — in an announcement scheduled for today.
The Congressional Research Service has issued a new report on aspects of the problem, including an overview of opioid abuse, a review of opioid supply, and a survey of federal programs that deal with the issue. See The Opioid Epidemic and Federal Efforts to Address It: Frequently Asked Questions, October 18, 2017.
On the origins of the crisis, see “The Family That Built an Empire of Pain” by Patrick Radden Keefe, The New Yorker, October 30, 2017.
Other new and updated publications from the Congressional Research Service include the following.
Poverty in the United States in 2016: In Brief, October 25, 2017
EPA Proposes to Repeal the Clean Power Plan, CRS Legal Sidebar, October 25, 2017
Civilian Nuclear Waste Disposal, updated October 23, 2017
Gun Control: Silencers under the Hearing Protection Act (H.R. 3668), CRS Insight, October 16, 2017
Tracking Federal Funds: USAspending.gov and Other Data Sources, updated October 24, 2017
Human Trafficking: New Global Estimates of Forced Labor and Modern Slavery, CRS Insight, October 18, 2017
U.S. Withdrawal from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), CRS Insight, October 17, 2017
Overview of “Travel Ban” Litigation and Recent Developments, CRS Legal Sidebar, October 23, 2017
Iran Policy and the European Union, CRS Insight, updated October 18, 2017
States’ Obligations Under Additional Protocols to IAEA Comprehensive Safeguards Agreements, CRS memorandum, October 23, 2017
Americans are paying too much for almost everything, because the United States has long treated its trucking industry as an artifact to be preserved rather than as an opportunity for innovation.
These ideas aim to advance the detailed policy solutions needed to foster public trust and implement fairness in the adoption of AI across diverse domains, from healthcare and government benefits to rural access, education, and worker protections.
The evidence is clear: algorithmic pay-setting is established in app-based work, and payroll/timekeeping failures show how software can produce systemic wage harm at scale
While a few states have taken steps to implement decision-making mechanisms for certain AI systems, too many leaders are simply accepting narratives about AI’s purported public benefit at face value – jumping to the “how” of AI implementation before thoroughly vetting potential systems and deciding whether they are appropriate to use at all.