President Trump is set to declare the opioid epidemic a national public health emergency this week with a speech Thursday, bringing to the fore a long simmering problem linked to poverty in run down Rust Belt cities and social decay in the absence of jobs. Axios writes: The opioid crisis has hit hard in Trump country – rural areas, and economically depressed white communities. For Washington, it's been out of sight, out of mind for too long – and a reminder of the blinders we have in the bubbles, which also delayed recognition of Trump's heartland strength. But focus as the press in general is going to do on social travails, Trump probably should be highlighting that the problem started getting bad right about when President Obama opened the borders to non-enforcement in 2009.  Not only did the unaccompanied children rush in, but so did the drug dealers.  Their wares fueled the opioid epidemic, often rolling in from the Texas Gulf Coast...(Read Full Post)