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The Question:Will you vote for Trump in the upcoming election? Why or why not?Based on Trump’s performance as POTUS, the answer is NO. I did not vote for him in 2016 but I had hoped that once he was in office he would surround himself with people who would give his administration the ability to build on the surplus he inherited. That did not happen and now the people of the US are in the worst pandemic since the Spanish Flu with an estimated 200,000 US Citizens dead by Election Day because the “handbook” and team set up in the previous administration were thrown out and not replaced.That said, before I answered this question, I read through the other posts and ran across this one and wanted to point out the fallacy of the comment:I will vote to end illegal immigration and make legal immigration merit-based and uphold the second amendment and the whole Bill of Rights, as a registered Democrat, who do I have to vote for?If this person is a registered Democrat as claimed, understands what the office of President and the Executive Branch is along with what The President can and can not do even with the use of Executive Orders, and then reviewed Biden’s history based on 30 years in the Senate and 8 years as the Vice President of the United States, they should have been able to support him on November 3, 2020.Addressing these key points:End Illegal ImmigrationFrequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United StatesThe Mexican immigrant population in the United States has declined by half a million people since the beginning of the decade. And in 2018, the United States ceded its status as the world’s top country for resettling refugees, surpassed by Canada.make legal immigration merit-based.FACT CHECK POSTS Illegal Immigration StatisticsThere were 12 million immigrants living in the country illegally as of January 2015, according to the most recent estimate from the Department of Homeland Security. The estimates from two independent groups are similar:The Pew Research Center estimates the number at 10.7 million in 2016, and the Center for Migration Studies says there were 10.8 million people in 2016 living in the U.S. illegally.That would be about 3.3 percent to 3.7 percent of the total U.S. population in 2016 or 2015.All three groups use Census Bureau data on the foreign-born or noncitizens and adjust to subtract the legal immigrant population.DHS estimated that the growth of the illegal immigrant population had slowed considerably, saying the population increased by 470,000 per year from 2000 to 2007, but only by 70,000 per year from 2010 to 2015.CMS found a decline in the undocumented population, and specifically those from Mexico, of about 1 million since 2010. And the Pew Research Center found a peak of 12.2 million in the population in 2007, and a decline since.THE BIDEN PLAN FOR SECURING OUR VALUES AS A NATION OF IMMIGRANTSModernize America’s Immigration SystemAs president, Biden will commit significant political capital to finally deliver legislative immigration reform to ensure that the U.S. remains open and welcoming to people from every part of the world–and to bring hardworking people who have enriched our communities and our country, in some cases for decades, out of the shadows. This is not just of concern to Latino communities, this touches families of every heritage and background. There are approximately 1.7 million undocumented immigrants from Asia in the U.S., as well as hundreds of thousands from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Caribbean. Biden will immediately begin working with Congress to modernize our system, with a priority on keeping families together by providing a roadmap to citizenship for nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants; growing our economy and expanding economic opportunity across the country by improving and increasing opportunities for legal immigration; and preserve the longstanding directive of our immigration system to reunite families and enhance our diversity.Make Legal Immigration Merit-basedImmigrant Visas to USHow Do I Become a US Citizen With a US Visa?Getting a United States citizenship is a long process. If you have a US nonimmigrant visa, then it is very difficult since you are not allowed to apply directly for the citizenship. You must first get a US immigrant visa. Some US nonimmigrant visas are dual intent ones which means that once you fulfill the requirements you can change your status and get the immigrant visa.When you have an immigrant visa, then you must maintain it for 5 years to be allowed to apply for a United States citizenship. For details on how to get a US citizenship, visit the article here.Merit-Based Immigration USAWhat Are the Requirements for the Merit Based Immigration?According to the RAISE Act**, applicants for Merit Based Immigration will have to fulfill certain requirements to qualify for points and be allowed to apply.**The R.A.I.S.E. ACT BILLThese requirements are as follows:Age of the applicant where priority is being given to those who are between 26 and 30 years old;Education of the applicant where priority is being given to those with U.S STEM Degrees;English language proficiency of the applicant based on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) deciles;Any extraordinary achievements of the applicant including winning a Nobel Prize or an Olympic Medal;Whether the applicant has a job offer or not and if yes, the annual salary that the applicant will get;Whether the applicant will invest in the U.S economy by starting and managing a new commercial enterprise;Whether the applicant just got approval for a Family Based Green Card right before the RAISE Act was approved.How Will the Merit Based Immigration Points be Given?Based on the requirements above, you can calculate how many points you would get and whether you qualify for a Merit Based Green Card.This would serve as a U.S Green Card Points Calculator and the points are distributed as explained below.AgeThe age requirement divides groups of people depending on their age and assigns points to them as below.Age —-===============—Points0 to 17 —————————— Not allowed to apply18 to 21 ——————————- 6 points22 to 25 ——————————- 8 points26 to 30 ——————————- 10 points31 to 35 ——————————- 8 points36 to 40 ——————————- 6 points41 to 45 ——————————- 4 points46 to 50 ——————————- 2 points51+ ———————————— 0 pointsEducationThe education points are distributed based on the highest educational degree which the applicant has, whether it is a foreign or a U.S degree.Highest Educational Degree—=========— PointsU.S high school diploma or equivalent ———— 1 pointForeign Bachelor’s Degree ————————— 5 pointsU.S Bachelor’s Degree ——————-———-— 6 pointsForeign Master’s Degree in STEM ——————-7 pointsU.S Master’s Degree in STEM ———————- 8 pointsForeign Professional Degreeor Doctorate Degree in STEM ————————10 pointsU.S Professional Degreeor Doctorate Degree in STEM ————————13 pointsFor those with foreign degrees, the Director of U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Secretary of Education will compile a list of institutions that meet accreditation standards of institutions in the U.S. Only those institutions in the list will be recognized as valid degrees for Merit Based Immigration.English LanguageThe applicant must also prove that they are proficient in English and the better they score on the proficiency tests, the higher their decile ranking. The points are then distributed based on the decile ranking with higher deciles getting more points.English Language Rank in Deciles —-=========—- Point1st through 5th Deciles —————————————— 0 points6th and 7th Deciles ———————————————— 6 points8th Decile —————————————————-——- 10 points9th Decile ————————————————-———- 11 points10th Decile ————————————————-——— 12 pointsExtraordinary AchievementsThe RAISE Act will also give extra points to those who have an extraordinary achievement. The achievements that fall into this category are only a Nobel Laureate or an Olympic Gold Medal winner. The points awarded are very high and those who have one of these achievements will pass the 30 points threshold much easier than those who do not.Achievement——=========================—-PointsNobel Laureate orcomparable recognition in a field of scientific ——————- 25 pointsor social scientific studyOlympic medal or1st place in an international sporting event inwhich the majority of the best athletes in an —-————— 15 pointsOlympic sport were represented in the past8 years before submitting the applicationJob OfferThose who have a valid job offer from a U.S employer will also get more points. If you do not have a job offer, then you will get 0 points, but if you do then the points depend on the compensation that you are getting. The compensation is based on the U.S median household income of the U.S state where you will be working as determined by the U.S Secretary of Labor.Job Offer Compensation——-===============——-PointsAt least 150% of the median household incomein the State in which the applicant will be employed ——— 5 pointsand less than 200% of such median household income.At least 200% of the median household income inthe State in which the applicant will be employed ———— 8 pointsand less than 300% of such median household income.At least 300% of the median household incomein the State in which the applicant will be employed. —-—- 13 pointsInvestment and Management of a New Commercial EnterpriseThe amount of investment that will be made in the U.S economy by opening a new commercial enterprise and the time in which the investor/applicant will manage it will also give points towards a Merit-Based visa.Investment ——-=======================——- PointsInvesting the equivalent of $1,350,000 ina new commercial enterprise in the U.Sand maintain such investment for at least 3 years. ————— 6 pointsPlay an active role in the management of thatcommercial enterprise as the applicant’s primary occupation.Investing the equivalent of $1,800,000 in anew commercial enterprise in the U.S andmaintain such investment for at least 3 years. —————— 12 pointsPlay an active role in the management of thatcommercial enterprise as the applicant’s primary occupation.If you invest in the U.S economy and get the merit based visa, the U.S immigration officials will check up on you continuously to ensure that you are maintaining the investment. If you do not maintain the investment or your management role based on the conditions above, then you will lose the Merit Based visa.Approval of Family-Based VisaA person who was just approved for a Family Based Green Card the day before the RAISE Act is approved will also get some additional points. They will have to apply again but will get 2 points if:They were scheduled to receive an immigrant visaThey did not receive an immigrant visa during the 1 year period beginning on the date of the approval of the RAISE ActSumming the PointsYou must go through all of the criteria and find out how many points you have in each. Then you can continue to sum all the points and see whether you have 30 or more points. If you have less than 30, then you should not apply because your application will not be reviewed. If you have more than 30 points, then you must follow the application procedures below.Getting more than 30 points does not guarantee that you will get the Merit Based Visa for the U.S, but it will only make you eligible for applying.Uphold The Second AmendmentJoe Biden For President 2020: Official Campaign WebsiteIt’s within our grasp to end our gun violence epidemic and respect the Second Amendment, which is limited. As president, Biden will pursue constitutional, common-sense gun safety policies. Biden will:Hold gun manufacturers accountable. In 2005, then-Senator Biden voted against the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, but gun manufacturers successfully lobbied Congress to secure its passage. This law protects these manufacturers from being held civilly liable for their products – a protection granted to no other industry. Biden will prioritize repealing this protection.Get weapons of war off our streets. The bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines that Biden, along with Senator Feinstein, secured in 1994 reduced the lethality of mass shootings. But, in order to secure the passage of the bans, they had to agree to a 10-year sunset provision and when the time came, the Bush Administration failed to extend them. As president, Biden will:Ban the manufacture and sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Federal law prevents hunters from hunting migratory game birds with more than three shells in their shotgun. That means our federal law does more to protect ducks than children. It’s wrong. Joe Biden will enact legislation to once again ban assault weapons. This time, the bans will be designed based on lessons learned from the 1994 bans. For example, the ban on assault weapons will be designed to prevent manufacturers from circumventing the law by making minor changes that don’t limit the weapon’s lethality. While working to pass this legislation, Biden will also use his executive authority to ban the importation of assault weapons.Regulate possession of existing assault weapons under the National Firearms Act. Currently, the National Firearms Act requires individuals possessing machine-guns, silencers, and short-barreled rifles to undergo a background check and register those weapons with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Due to these requirements, such weapons are rarely used in crimes. As president, Biden will pursue legislation to regulate possession of existing assault weapons under the National Firearms Act.Buy back the assault weapons and high-capacity magazines already in our communities. Biden will also institute a program to buy back weapons of war currently on our streets. This will give individuals who now possess assault weapons or high-capacity magazines two options: sell the weapons to the government, or register them under the National Firearms Act.Reduce stockpiling of weapons. In order to reduce the stockpiling of firearms, Biden supports legislation restricting the number of firearms an individual may purchase per month to one.Keep guns out of dangerous hands. The federal background check system (the National Instant Criminal Background Check System) is one of the best tools we have to prevent gun violence, but it’s only effective when it’s used. Biden will enact universal background check legislation and close other loopholes that allow people who should be prohibited from purchasing firearms from making those purchases. Specifically, he will:Require background checks for all gun sales. Today, an estimated 1 in 5 firearms are sold or transferred without a background check. Biden will enact universal background check legislation, requiring a background check for all gun sales with very limited exceptions, such as gifts between close family members. This will close the so-called “gun show and online sales loophole” that the Obama-Biden Administration narrowed, but which cannot be fully closed by executive action alone.Close other loopholes in the federal background check system. In addition to closing the “boyfriend loophole” highlighted below, Biden will:Reinstate the Obama-Biden policy to keep guns out of the hands of certain people unable to manage their affairs for mental reasons, which President Trump reversed. In 2016, the Obama-Biden Administration finalized a rule to make sure the Social Security Administration (SSA) sends to the background check system records that it holds of individuals who are prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms because they have been adjudicated by the SSA as unable to manage their affairs for mental reasons. But one of the first actions Donald Trump took as president was to reverse this rule. President Biden will enact legislation to codify this policy.Close the “hate crime loophole.” Biden will enact legislation prohibiting an individual “who has been convicted of a misdemeanor hate crime, or received an enhanced sentence for a misdemeanor because of hate or bias in its commission” from purchasing or possessing a firearm.Close the “Charleston loophole.” The Charleston loophole allows people to complete a firearms purchase if their background check is not completed within three business days. Biden supports the proposal in the Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2019, which extends the timeline from three to 10 business days. Biden will also direct the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to put on his desk within his first 100 days as president a report detailing the cases in which background checks are not completed within 10 business days and steps the federal government can take to reduce or eliminate this occurrence.Close the “fugitive from justice” loophole created by the Trump Administration. Because of actions by the Trump Administration, records of almost 500,000 fugitives from justice who are prohibited from purchasing firearms were deleted from the background check system. The Biden Administration will restore these records, and enact legislation to make clear that people facing arrest warrants are prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms.End the online sale of firearms and ammunitions. Biden will enact legislation to prohibit all online sales of firearms, ammunition, kits, and gun parts.Create an effective program to ensure individuals who become prohibited from possessing firearms relinquish their weapons. Federal law defines categories of individuals who are prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms, and the federal background check system is an effective tool for ensuring prohibited persons cannot purchase firearms. But we lack any serious tool to ensure that when someone becomes newly prohibited – for example, because they commit a violent crime – they relinquish possession of their firearms. There are some promising models for how this could be enforced. For example, California has a mandatory process for ensuring relinquishment by any individual newly subject to a domestic violence restraining order. As president, Biden will direct the FBI and ATF to outline a model relinquishment process, enact any necessary legislation to ensure relinquishment when individuals newly fall under one of the federal prohibitions, and then provide technical and financial assistance to state and local governments to establish effective relinquishment processes on their own.Incentivize state “extreme risk” laws. Extreme risk laws, also called “red flag” laws, enable family members or law enforcement officials to temporarily remove an individual’s access to firearms when that individual is in crisis and poses a danger to themselves or others. Biden will incentivize the adoption of these laws by giving states funds to implement them. And, he’ll direct the U.S. Department of Justice to issue best practices and offer technical assistance to states interested in enacting an extreme risk law.Give states incentives to set up gun licensing programs. Biden will enact legislation to give states and local governments grants to require individuals to obtain a license prior to purchasing a gun.Adequately fund the background check system. President Obama and Vice President Biden expanded incentives for states to submit records of prohibited persons into the background checks system. As president, Biden will continue to prioritize that funding and ensure that the FBI is adequately funded to accurately and efficiently handle the NICS system.ADDRESSING THE DEADLY COMBINATION OF GUNS AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCEThe statistics tell a devastating and overwhelming story. The likelihood that a woman in a domestic violence situation will be killed increases by a factor of five if a gun is nearby. Half of mass shootings involve an individual shooting a family member or former intimate partner. This deadly connection tragically impacts children as well: 86% of children killed in shootings with four or more victims were involved in domestic or family violence.Biden recognizes that the gun violence and domestic violence epidemics are linked and cannot be solved in isolation. Addressing the interconnectedness of these challenges will be a core focus of Biden’s anti-violence work as president.The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019, which Leader McConnell refuses to bring to the floor for a vote, includes a number of reforms to keep firearms out of the hands of abusers. Senator McConnell should ensure this legislation gets passed long before President Biden would take the oath of office. But if McConnell refuses to act, Biden will enact legislation to close the so-called “boyfriend loophole” and “stalking loophole” by prohibiting all individuals convicted of assault, battery, or stalking from purchasing or possessing firearms, regardless of their connection to the victim. This proposal is modeled after existing laws in California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Nevada, New York, and Pennsylvania. Biden also supports enacting the proposal to prohibit anyone under a temporary restraining order from purchasing or possessing a firearm before their hearing.In addition, President Biden will:Establish a new Task Force on Online Harassment and Abuse to focus on the connection between mass shootings, online harassment, extremism, and violence against women. As President, Joe Biden will convene a national Task Force with federal agencies, state leaders, advocates, law enforcement, and technology experts to study rampant online sexual harassment, stalking, and threats, including revenge porn and deepfakes — and the connection between this harassment, mass shootings, extremism and violence against women. The Task Force will be charged with developing cutting-edge strategies and recommendations for how federal and state governments, social media companies, schools, and other public and private entities can tackle this unique challenge. The Task Force will consider platform accountability, transparent reporting requirements for incidents of harassment and response, and best practices.Expand the use of evidence-based lethality assessments by law enforcement in cases of domestic violence. Lethality assessments, sometimes called “risk” or “danger” assessments, are a proven strategy to help law enforcement officers identify domestic violence survivors who are at high risk of being killed by their abusers. These survivors are then connected with social service programs that can offer services and safety planning. An evaluation of the Lethality Assessment Program (LEP) created by the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence showed promising results. Increased federal funding will incentivize jurisdictions to take advantage of implementing these programs more widely.Make sure firearm owners take on the responsibility of ensuring their weapons are used safely.Put America on the path to ensuring that 100% of firearms sold in America are smart guns. Today, we have the technology to allow only authorized users to fire a gun. For example, existing smart gun technology requires a fingerprint match before use. Biden believes we should work to eventually require that 100% of firearms sold in the U.S. are smart guns. But, right now the NRA and gun manufacturers are bullying firearms dealers who try to sell these guns. Biden will stand up against these bullying tactics and issue a call to action for gun manufacturers, dealers, and other public and private entities to take steps to accelerate our transition to smart guns.Hold adults accountable for giving minors access to firearms. Biden supports legislation holding adults criminally and civilly liable for directly or negligently giving a minor access to a firearm, regardless of whether the minor actually gains possession of the firearm.Require gun owners to safely store their weapons. Biden will pass legislation requiring firearm owners to store weapons safely in their homes.Empower law enforcement to effectively enforce our gun laws.Prioritize prosecution of straw purchasers. “Straw purchasers” buy a firearm on behalf of an individual who cannot pass a background check. Biden will end those loopholes by enacting a law to make all straw purchases a serious federal crime and ensure the U.S. Justice Department has sufficient resources to prioritize their prosecution.Notify law enforcement when a potential firearms purchaser fails a background check. Too often, when prohibited persons attempting to buy a firearm fail a background check, state and local law enforcement is never informed of the attempt. As president, Biden will direct the FBI to set up a process to ensure timely notification of denials to state and local law enforcement, and he’ll support legislation to codify this process. This empowers law enforcement to follow up and ensure prohibited persons do not attempt to acquire firearms through other means.Require firearms owners to report if their weapon is lost or stolen. Responsible gun owners have a responsibility to inform law enforcement if their weapon is lost or stolen. Biden will enact legislation to make this the law of the land.Stop “ghost guns.” One way people who cannot legally obtain a gun may gain access to a weapon is by assembling a one on their own, either by buying a kit of disassembled gun parts or 3D printing a working firearm. Biden will stop the proliferation of these so-called “ghost guns” by passing legislation requiring that purchasers of gun kits or 3D printing code pass a federal background check. Additionally, Biden will ensure that the authority for firearms exports stays with the State Department, and if needed reverse a proposed rule by President Trump. This will ensure the State Department continues to block the code used to 3D print firearms from being made available on the Internet.Reform, fund, and empower the U.S. Justice Department to enforce our gun laws. Biden will direct his Attorney General to deliver to him within his first 100 days a set of recommendations for restructuring the ATF and related Justice Department agencies to most effectively enforce our gun laws. Biden will then work to secure sufficient funds for the Justice Department to effectively enforce our existing gun laws, increase the frequency of inspections of firearms dealers, and repeal riders that get in the way of that work.Direct the ATF to issue an annual report on firearms trafficking.Uphold The Whole Bill of RightsBiden praises rule of law during speech in Las VegasThe longtime Democratic senator from Delaware remembered fondly that Bush, a Republican who died late Friday, fought his own physical ailments to personally meet Biden in Houston, Bush’s hometown, where Biden’s son, Beau Biden, was treated before dying of cancer in 2015.Bush was in a wheelchair, Biden said.“He said, ‘I just came to welcome you to Houston and to tell you how badly I feel about Beau,’” Biden recalled. “How many people today in American politics would do that?”Biden, who turned 76 last month, spent recent weeks stumping for Democratic candidates before the November election and has said he expects to decide by early next year whether he’ll challenge Trump.He instead talked in general terms about abuses of power, “whether it’s an individual or a mob,” and about an “unrelenting attack on civil rights, civil liberties, a free press and an independent court system.”“In other countries, the king is law,” Biden said, quoting Thomas Paine. “In America, the law is king.”

I nearly died during the summer of 2018 by self-harm, addiction and unmanageable manic episodes. I had reached the end of my rope with addiction, and bipolar disorder. My family found me in a hotel room in Las Vegas on a random Monday afternoon that summer, and somehow, they got me to an addiction treatment center which ended up saving my life.As any entrepreneur would do, I quickly wondered, “Who else has this problem, and how big is it?” As it turns out, the problem is catastrophic:1 in 5 U.S. adults experience mental illness each year1 in 25 U.S. adults experience serious mental illness each year1 in 6 U.S. youth aged 6 to 17 experiences a mental health disorder each year300 million people globally suffer from depression and anxiety annually according to the World Health OrganizationDepression is the leading cause of disability worldwideSuicide is the second leading cause of death among people aged 10 to 34No Dedicated Capital for Mental Health StartupsThere is very little dedicated capital for early-stage mental health- and addiction-related startups.There is no shortage of angel investors, but there are only a few digital health funds that invest in mental health startups, but certainly not their main focus. However, many of those heath-focused funds have grown in scale in recent years and can’t focus on seed stage investments.So, I started What If Ventures to fill the funding gap for early-stage mental health startups.The natural question to ask when wondering why this void exists is, “Can the market support a dedicated fund for mental health startups?” In the following paragraphs, and with the data shown below, I believe I’ve found the answer to be “yes.”To arrive at this conclusion, I decided to map the startup investment landscape. I needed to know how many mental health startups are there out there, how many have been funded over time and where the concentrations of ideas, problem sets, capital and startups are today. Before I took the leap, I needed to know if I was diving into a shallow pond or a deep ocean of opportunity.Mapping the Mental Health Startup LandscapeAt first, I imagined the market to be ~100 to ~200 startups if I squinted my eyes. My expectation was the space is rather small, but growing and in order to justify a thesis in this niche I’d need to include anyone and everyone remotely mental health-oriented. This would include the later stage companies that have raised a lot of money in the last couple of years such as Calm, Headspace, Talkspace, Mindstrong, Ginger, Pear Therapeutics, and others.How did I go about mapping the landscape?Anyone can start with a search on CrunchBase, Pitchbook, CapIQ, Google, or other databases, but since this is a nascent market where the business descriptions for two similar businesses often use very different language, relying on database searches would not suffice.For nine months I gathered data, met with founders and traveled the country from coast to coast spending thousands of hours tracking down ideas. I found ideas in the places I least expected, like an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in Bellevue, Washington, or through a connection via someone I met in rehab a year prior.I started to build a network of interested investors, community builders, founders, clinicians, and academics who all echoed the same thing:The time is now for someone to dedicate funding to early-stage mental health founders as stigma and other limiting factors have drastically declined and paved the way for an influx of ideas, talent, and businesses in this space.717 Mental Health Startups So Far (And Counting)During my quest I found 717 mental health startups that have been formed dating back to 1987, with just over $4.5 billion dollars invested.I categorized the startups in this space into seven different “buckets,” or types of businesses. More details on how each category is defined are outlined farther down. The image directly below is a representative sample of the types of companies you will find within each of the categories. It is not meant to be all-inclusive; 700+ logos would have made your head hurt, so, I’ll spare you.The Categories — DefinedBased on my lived experience with the problem set, talking to others who struggle with addiction, and mental illness, and spending time with hundreds of founders in the space, I came up with the following “categories” for most startups in the space (sorted by size based on number of startups in each segment):Mental Wellness Applications (172 startups) — Apps for sleep, meditation, and breathing, educational tools, and games that train you to have better mental health.B2B Tools and Sourcing (134 startups) — Provider search engines, provider tools and back office resources, and B2B/corporate mental health programs and services such as EAP.Measurement and Testing (119 startups) — Assessments, passive and active tracking or measurement of mood or other subjective parameters, mood journaling, screening or triage tools, and remote monitoring.Telehealth (114 startups) — Remote engagement, treatment, or interaction with a clinician. Some telehealth companies appear to be measurement tools or meditation apps, but they are classified here if telehealth is their goal.Non-Tech and Other (68 startups) — Medications, psychedelics, brick and mortar treatment centers and clinics, and just about anything that isn’t primarily a technology-based business (even though some do use technology within their businesses).Digital Therapeutics (62 startups) — A resource that is used in conjunction with medication or behavioral interventions (or in place of either). You can think of digital therapeutics in this industry as a sort of “digital medicine.”Peer to Peer (48 startups) — Fighting isolation, bringing people together to be vulnerable with each other, and creating connection for the purpose of well-being. We believe that the largest number of consumers will receive the most help via peer-to-peer solutions in the long run.My list excludes treatment centers, individual clinics or small groups of clinics not intending to scale, rehab centers, individual practices, and locally focused solutions that don’t appear to be scalable. Also of note, four startups in our database remained un-categorized at the time of writing.The largest category by number of startups, is the Mental Wellness Applications category followed closely by three categories of similar size: B2B Tools and Sourcing, Measurement and Testing, and the Telehealth categories. Next I wanted to find out how funding aligned with these “concentrations.”So I decided to follow the money. Here is how the funding breaks down by the categories mentioned above. It’s not what I expected to say the least.There are some stark contrasts between where founders are focused and where investors are focused. Wellness applications make up the bulk of the startups in the space, but Digital Therapeutics have received the lion’s share of funding to date. This is partially driven by the capital-intensive nature of going through FDA approvals versus building an app. Measurement and Testing is another area where we see very little funding to date, but we see a lot of founders building tools and features. These tools and features are absolutely necessary, but often investors see these as “nice to have” features that should be part of a larger platform, therefore, less funding is available unless these features are part of a product road-map that leads to a platform opportunity.As humans, we have been measuring our physical health for an incredibly long time, but we have never (outside of a few subjective surveys) objectively measured emotional wellness. That is changing now.The Future of This Data-Set + Your FeedbackThis is a first draft (of the database), or a starting point when it comes to mapping the space. I will continually update the database behind this list. The detailed database will be kept private to protect the startups who would prefer to stay in stealth mode.I am publishing a list of startup names, location and website only (in order to keep any sensitive information private) for the 700+ startups in this google spreadsheet. My intent is for this to be an open-source resource for the mental health startup ecosystem. You can find the list here.If you would like to ensure your startup is included on this list, then please fill out this brief google form.As with all first drafts, I welcome feedback, critiques, comments, and input from anyone with an interest in mental health technology and startups. I hope that with the help of our peers in the industry we can continue to build this into a resource that benefits all industry stakeholders.This is meant to be a resource for founders, investors, and those observing from a distance, with the goal of helping quantify our industry and encouraging people to join us in this space.I’m not the first person to try to map this space. Ed Gaussen, former VC at White Star Capital and founder of mental health startup Mantra, did it in 2018, and you can find that work here. That blog post and my conversations with Ed largely drove the decision to pursue making my own data set (Ed also gave this post a quick review before I published it).So What? How Much Funding Is There?Mental health startup funding has increased steadily in recent years. I believe that funding is a “dependent variable” tied to broader industry dynamics resulting from a decrease in stigma, increased public dialogue about mental health, and the immense demand for mental health solutions that is being released into the market as stigma decreases.To give you a sense of how funding has trended lately, the chart below shows how many funding rounds have been completed in recent years. This data is from Rock Health’s Q3 2019 report. Nobody has better data or research reports on funding in the behavioral health space than Rock Health. If you want to dive deep into this data, we recommend you go to their research site here.When I overlaid this data on the chart below that shows how many startups were created in each year, you can see how funding has tracked versus total startups created. Funding really started to pick up in 2013 and 2014 which lagged the uptick in new startup formation which picked up in 2011 and 2012. Of the 717 startups, over half of them were created in the last five years.This data makes it look like there is a drop off in startups created recently, but there’s a bias in this data for companies that show up in databases because of prior funding rounds. Keep in mind, there are countless startups entering incubators, germinating in the minds of great founders, and coming together in places we cannot detect, no matter how many relationships we have in the industry. Many of those will make themselves known once they announce a funding or major partnership (likely a year or two after the initial company formation in many cases). Also, we were unable to identify the origin year of 50 of the startups in the database.Prior to 2006, there were a total of 34 startups in this space, with the earliest one we could find having come to market in 1987. Prior to 2007, there were never more than four startups founded in this space in any one year, with most years having zero to two startups formed.Our primary conclusion from this data is that there is a healthy early stage market forming in this industry, and in a few years, there will be a very robust set of later stage investment opportunities in this space as well. We cover historical funding in the space farther down below. When I adjust for the lack of visibility we have into the market, plus the trends in the data, I think it’s safe to say that around 100 new mental health startups are forming per year right now, and I suspect that to go up, as funding increases and stigma decreases.An anecdote here — I signed up to go through YCombinator’s free ‘Startup School’ program during the summer of 2019. My conclusion from that experience is that there are more founders approaching the mental health than ever before. Many of those startups did not make it onto the list for 2019 because they are just ideas that haven’t even formed into companies yet. Out of respect for their privacy, I’ve not included them for now. Just note that the 2019 number on this chart is significantly understated.Where Should We Invest?The market is substantial and flourishing. Funding has increased in recent years, so this begs the question, “Where do we invest?”Investing in the mental health tech space isn’t just about looking for a contrarian silver lining in all of the data. In our opinion, it’s about framing the customer/patient landscape in a way that makes it clear which customers or patients need the most help and will see the greatest value proposition in the solutions we are building. One way to frame this is around what makes a high “lifetime value” (LTV) customer or patient in the mental health space.We have been using this framework to think about the mental health tech landscape in terms of a spectrum of “customer types.”Everyone exists somewhere on this acuity range of “ill” and “well” whether we like it, or admit it. You can also consider that we are all either proactive or reactive about our mental well-being and, for the most part, there is a strong correlation between wellness and pro-activity.Some people live on the right side of this chart. They are highly engaged and very proactive about meditating, breathing exercises, therapy, and leveraging other resources to improve their emotional well-being. Those people are early adopters of the meditation apps. But, try convincing someone who is living in addiction, and ignoring the obvious signs of mental illness to download a meditation app. It’s probably not going to happen.On the other hand, the far-left side is where you find negative consequences of ignoring mental well-being. These outcomes include death, jail, rehab, or some other sort of loss of freedom due to mental illness or addiction. Think about it this way — the day before I went to rehab, I wasn’t using Calm or Headspace. I’d never heard of them at that point, and it’s likely that many people who were or are in my situation also have not heard of any of these resources.The goal of a tool, product, or company in this industry should be to move people from wherever they are today, toward the right.For some, that means marginal incremental gains, while for others that means lifesaving, life altering changes to their emotional and mental wellness.People who live on the left side of the spectrum are or are about to be, very expensive for their insurance companies, employers, families, and others. The greatest value proposition in the space is stopping someone from sliding to the left and getting them to proactively turn around and move toward the right side. Whoever can do that (meaning companies, or startups) will have the highest LTV opportunity in the space. This is where I intend to invest.Mental Health M&A + Capital MarketsSo, if we invest, will we ever make any money back? Have there been exits in this space? How much capital has been deployed into mental health startups? How can early-stage investors get more comfortable with monetization opportunities?To answer these investor questions, we have summarized a handful of the most recent later stage or larger funding rounds in the mental health tech space in the table below.Early stage companies have proven an ability to raise significant later stage rounds in this space as there is quite a bit of investor demand within larger funds to put money to work in social impact opportunities. As you can see below, there is plenty of liquidity available for companies as they progress in this industry.Mental Health Exits:Yes, there have been exits in the space. We have identified quite a few exits (29 to be exact in the last 10 years). Our list excludes all acquisitions of rehab centers, treatment centers, and other brick and mortar businesses. We also exclude anything that is typically considered broader “digital health” with no mental health specific application.The list of select exits below is representative of what we have seen in the industry in recent years. This is not meant to be a comprehensive list, but it is intended to give you a sense of how these companies are exiting, and who is buying them.There has been a lot of consolidation of the fragmented, and undeserved, addiction treatment and mental health treatment center market in recent years with a keen interest lately from private equity firms. We believe this consolidation will create more large “acquirers” of technology as these platforms look to differentiate with technology, and provide their patients cutting edge treatments in the years to come. In order for these treatment center platforms to achieve maximum LTV, they are going to have to find ways to leverage technology, and post-treatment solutions to keep their former patients healthy, and out of relapse. As the incentives of the insurers and treatment centers align in the coming years, the demand for M&A will increase significantly.Here are some M&A deals from the mental health space that can give a sense of select recent activity:Who Is Acquiring Mental Health Startups?We have seen and expect to continue to see a diverse set of acquirers buying platforms, bolt-on features, and IP in the mental health space at an increasing pace in the coming years. Some of the buyers are the obvious ones such as insurance providers, healthcare providers, etc. However, there are a handful of non-traditional buyers who have made acquisitions in the digital health space recently which gives us reason to believe the same will be true in the mental health sector.One thing to point out here is that insurers are experiencing what we would call “vendor fatigue” in the behavioral health space. As you can see from the data presented, there are a LOT of small behavioral health businesses in a very fragmented market. This market will be consolidated in the coming years, meaning plenty of exit opportunities for the right startups. A lot of that consolidation will be done by what I call “strategic” buyers which are the leading behavioral health companies (some are still “startups”). These companies will be acquiring complementary products to bolt onto their platform in order to fully address the full acuity spectrum for their insurance partners.Healthcare Providers— Pyramid, Acadia, Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), Kaiser Permanente, Insight Telepsychiatry, MDLive, etc.Strategics (non-providers) — Medtronic, Calm, Pear Therapeutics (already active with M&A in early 2020), etc.Non-Healthcare — Amazon, Google, Best Buy, CVS, Walmart, Target, Optum, and othersInsurance Companies — Aetna, Humana, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Anthem, Cigna, etc.You can read more about digital health M&A broadly in recent reports from Rock Health, like this one.Mental Health & Addiction Company ValuationsIt’s often hard to peg a valuation for the acquisition of a startup. Valuations for early stage fund raising rounds are usually derived by considering what others in the space have achieved recently (comps) and assuming a certain percentage of the company that is being sold for the amount of money raised (which implied a valuation).As companies mature (later stage, larger companies, with stabilizing growth and margin) we can expect them to begin to be valued in the ballpark of their public comparables. This doesn’t mean that a strategic acquirer will not come in and greatly over-value the company on a multiple of revenue or cash flow in order to acquire patents, market entry or positioning. That will always be a possibility. But, for planning purposes, we like to look at a handful of publicly traded companies that, while not all pure play comps, do give us a sense of how the market values behavioral health companies.These comps indicate that behavioral health companies can expect to be valued around 1.5x their next 12 months revenue, or 9.1x forward EBITDA. Keep in mind that these companies above are mature, public companies who have lower growth rates, and more established margin profiles than most startups. Higher growth, and of course, higher margins will allow businesses to command much higher multiples than these companies currently trade at. Another note to keep in mind though, is that if a startup plans to be acquired by one of these public companies, then you have to consider whether the deal is accretive (and or meaningful) so the acquirer‘s multiple is relevant.This is just a baseline for valuation and meant to be a tool for founders, and it changes every day.Conclusions on the Mental Health Startup MarketMental health or addiction issues impact just about every human on the planet. Most people who need help are not getting it due to stigma, cost, and access concerns.Stigma is decreasing, leading to a systemic shift in demand for resources. Investing in those resources is our focus and is supported by the data and frameworks presented in this blog.The mental health tech landscape is quite large and is certainly deep enough to alleviate concerns around industry-specific liquidity.There have been enough proof points of both late-stage funding rounds and some early exits to prove that it could be profitable to build or fund a business in this space.There is seemingly endless white space in this market today, and a flood of entrepreneurs looking to enter, not only because of the market size, but because the reduction in stigma has made them more comfortable with solving something so personal.The mental health tech startup ecosystem is still nascent; it is young, and it is the perfect time to be early in a market that could quite possibly be the key to restructuring healthcare is provided and consumed in the decades to come, not just in the United States, but globally.Want to hear more from What If Ventures on Mental Health?Sign up for our newsletter here. We share our thoughts, latest readings, news, and deals via this somewhat weekly newsletter.About What If Ventures — What If Ventures is a mental health focused early stage investment syndicate run by Stephen Hays. What If Ventures closed its first mental health startup investment in January of 2020 and intends to syndicate its investments for the remainder of 2020.About Stephen Hays — Stephen is a West Point trained leader with an MBA from Vanderbilt and nearly 7 years of investment banking experience on Wall Street. Prior to founding What If Ventures, he ran a venture fund that invested in 25 seed deals over 3 years before going to rehab due his personal struggle with addiction and bipolar disorder (His detailed story is here). Stephen found sobriety and wellness and seeks to invest in solutions based on his lived experience with these problems. Stephen is also the host of the Stigma Podcast where he and his guests share their stories of experience, strength and hope with the intent of reducing stigma and encouraging others to share, and get help when needed.Sources — In studying this space, and preparing this report, we relied heavily on the work others have done in the past, our own research and relationships in the industry. Some of the past work that we leveraged included Mental Health and Wellness research from CB Insights, Rock Health research, Ed Gaussen’s 2018 post on the mental health landscape and others..

Trumpf is NOT Great,He's a Bully,A Conman, acrook, one who steals,lies, Adulter,Grabs women by there pussies “Trumpf own words” Trumpf ha sor ever will be great and the people who follow him are either dumb or stupid. And trumpf or pence are not Christians,They claimed to be only at election time. Impeach and Imprison both of them.The Hill's Morning Report - Second whistleblower emerges to challenge Trump’s actions | Republicans: Trump wasn’t ‘serious’ when publicly asking China to investigate Biden | McConnell in campaign ad boasts he’s Trump’s bulwark against removal | Sanders’s heart attack poses new questions for Dem field | Biden allies worry former VP has been too passive with Ukraine response | Business community rattled by Warren labor plan | Supreme Court term begins | Lower-wage federal contractors seek buffer in case of future shutdownInboxxThe Hill <[email protected]> Unsubscribe© Getty ImagesWelcome to The Hill’s Morning Report. Happy Monday! Our newsletter gets you up to speed on the most important developments in politics and policy, plus trends to watch. Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver are the up-early co-creators. Find us @asimendinger and @alweaver22 on Twitter and CLICK HERE to subscribe!President Trump was dealt another blow on Sunday when a second whistleblower announced plans to call into question his dealings with the Ukrainians, potentially fortifying the House Democrats’ impeachment probe.According to ABC News, the second whistleblower is an intelligence official who has first-hand knowledge of some of the allegations outlined by the original whistleblower and is being represented by lawyer Mark Zaid. Zaid’s team is also defending the individual who filed the original complaint in August, which was declassified and publicly released.Over the past week, Trump’s team and allies have worked to try to discredit the first whistleblower, arguing the individual is a “deep state” partisan.As the inquiry climbs to the highest levels of government, some Republican lawmakers have distanced themselves from Trump, while others have publicly defended his actions or waved off arguments that Trump’s remarks calling on China and Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Bidenand his son Hunter Biden were impeachable offenses.When pressed in his home state, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said he didn’t believe Trump was serious when he asked China to get involved and was simply egging on the media. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), former chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, went a step further while appearing on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday."You really think he was serious about thinking that China is going to investigate the Biden family?” Jordan asked host George Stephanopoulos.“Remember, this is the president who's been tougher on China than any other president."The remarks from all corners came after the president admitted to reporters on Friday that he is likely to be impeached in the House even though he is expected to be acquitted after any Senate trial, given the GOP majority and need for 67 votes to convict (The Hill).The Hill: Key Republicans split with Trump on Biden investigation push.The Washington Post: “Out on a limb”: Inside the Republican reckoning over Trump’s possible impeachment.Axios: Trump's private concerns of an impeachment legacy.The Associated Press: Trump allies sought changes at Ukraine utility.The Hill: House Democrat: Impeachment inquiry “likely to stay narrowly focused.”The Hill: Trump's GOP challengers split on impeachment vote.With the focus on the president, Republicans have sought to create new political boogeymen on the left as the impeachment push moves on. As Jordain Carney writes, with the party facing growing headaches, Republicans are trying to shift the focus to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the Bidens and the origins of the Russia probe.Other Republicans have their eyes squarely on the impeachment process. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is perhaps the most important one.In a social media campaign ad, McConnell said he will “block” any Democratic effort to oust Trump, using the blitz to raise funds for his reelection campaign. Speaking to supporters in the video, McConnell emphasized that the Senate GOP is the firewall to thwart any House effort to indict the president through the impeachment process for high crimes and misdemeanors (The Associated Press)."All of you know your Constitution," McConnell, who is up for reelection next year, says in the video. "The way that impeachment stops is with a Senate majority with me as majority leader."Trump’s White House advisers are struggling to contain the fallout from the president’s invitations to foreign governments to investigate one of his political rivals, as Morgan Chalfant and Brett Samuels write. The allegations, corroborations, witness testimony and leaks considered damaging to Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani snaked from the White House to the Cabinet, reaching the departments of State, Energy, and Justice and the CIA.The Hill: Pentagon distances itself from Ukraine controversy.NBC News: Back home, battleground Democrats encounter support — but not hunger — for impeachment.Reuters: Three diplomats are scheduled to testify in the impeachment inquiry this week.The Hill: News from the Sunday shows.LEADING THE DAYPOLITICS: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and his campaign face questions on multiple fronts after the senator suffered a heart attack last week, which the campaign decided not to disclose until three days later and after he had been released from a hospital in Las Vegas to return to Burlington, Vt.The questions surrounding Sanders, who is off the campaign trail and is expected to remain that way in the coming days, take many different forms, including regarding the transparency — or lack thereof — as well as the larger issue of whether the 78-year-old can stand up to the rigors of the presidency in the wake of the health scare.© Getty ImagesThroughout his campaign, Sanders has pitched himself as a picture of health and has kept up an intense public schedule since announcing his 2020 bid. Sanders Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), are septuagenarians, and questions swirl about physical health as well as ageism (The Washington Post).Looking ahead to the campaign schedule, Sanders’s team still expects him to take part in the Oct. 15 Democratic debate, which occurs less than two weeks after Sanders’ hospitalization and surgery. If the debate stage is his next public appearance, his performance will be heavily scrutinized and Warren continues to climb in voter surveys.The Washington Post: Uncertainty takes over the lead in the Democratic presidential race.> Passive Biden: Biden allies are worried that the former vice president is being too passive as Trump readies to deliver a knockout blow with the ongoing mess surrounding Ukraine.As Jonathan Easley and Amie Parnes report, Trump’s campaign is going all-in against Biden, spending millions to meddle in the Democratic primary with the specific aim of taking Biden down. Although Biden has hit back, he has also signaled that he’ll stay the course with an issues-based campaign. Some close allies are warning that this isn’t enough — that Biden faces an existential threat in the attacks from Trump and that he must repurpose his campaign as a one-on-one fight against the president or risk becoming another in Trump’s long list of political casualties.The new worries come as Biden’s campaign faces challenges on multiple fronts, including in polling as Warren has either caught or surpassed him in many national and state surveys. Another concern is on the fundraising side as Biden posted a subpar total in the third fundraising quarter, which fell roughly $10 million behind both Warren and Sanders, while also trailing South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg. The total has been a trouble sign for some allies who worry Biden has begun an irreversible fade.On the Ukraine side, while there is no evidence that Biden did anything wrong, the scandal has become a drag on his campaign. Republicans are firing political missiles at his campaign, hoping it sinks in the process.Additionally, questions are inevitable in the coming weeks about Biden’s health in the wake of Sanders’s heart attack. Since launching his bid, Biden has faced questions about whether he is physically up to snuff, and given that he would be 78 on inauguration day, the questions are likely to continue.The New York Times: Biden faced his biggest challenge, and struggled to form a response.NBC News: Biden said he was prepared for Trump attacks, but now he's struggling to respond.Politico: Trump piles up Florida enemies.© Getty Images> Labor: Warren’s extensive labor plan to raise wages and strengthen the rights of workers has created nervy times for the business community, which is becoming increasingly worried about her candidacy as she continues to rise in the 2020 Democratic primary race.“It’s not an understatement to say that Elizabeth Warren’s plan could eradicate the franchise business model and put 733,000 small business owners out of existence,” said Matt Haller, the International Franchise Association senior vice president of government relations and public affairs.Warren's plan, unveiled Thursday, argues that workers’ wages have “largely stagnated” while corporate profits and worker productivity have risen. The Chamber of Commerce called her plan unconstitutional, echoing the rhetoric used to take aim at her proposed tax on corporations and organizations that spend over $500,000 lobbying the federal government (The Hill).The Associated Press: Warren aims to build appeal in Republican strongholds.Politico Magazine: The rise and fall of Donald Trump’s mini-me.IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKESADMINISTRATION & WHITE HOUSE: Trump on Sunday dramatically shifted U.S. policy toward Kurdish fighters, long backed by the United States as allies, and endorsed Turkey’s plan to use military force to jettison the Kurds, which it views as a terrorist insurgency, near the border in Syria. The president’s decision goes against advice from top officials inside the Pentagon and the State Department and will result in the pullback of 100 to 150 U.S. military personnel deployed to the area. Trump spoke on Sunday to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey about the plan (The New York Times).> Immigration: The administration attracted attention Friday with its announcement that it will begin denying visas on Nov. 3 to people who are unable to pay for health insurance while in the United States (The New York Times). Immigrants rights activists and Democratic lawmakers immediately raised objections to the administration’s new policy (The Hill).> Federal contractors: Activist groups want Congress to adopt legislation to protect federal contractors who earn low wages, seeking to protect them should there be a future government shutdown, during which compensation can be placed on hold for days or even a month, creating dire financial hardships (The Hill).> IRS presidential audits: A whistleblower allegation about possible misconduct in the presidential tax return audit program managed by the IRS and overseen by the Treasury Department has received new attention amid House Democrats' impeachment inquiry into Trump. Some of the president’s critics want congressional leaders to disclose more information and argue it could be crucial to the House majority’s oversight of the White House and the executive branch (The Hill).> E-cigarette regulation: The administration’s recent regulation of flavored vaping products is being met with resistance among some conservative interest groups and Republican lawmakers who complain about executive overreach. But so far, Trump is listening to his advisers who say clearing the market of all flavors except tobacco is the effective way to cut down on an epidemic of youth vaping (The Hill).> Trade: Trump set this month’s tariff deadlines on some imported goods, and now those deadlines are closing in. With a resilient but slowing economy as the backdrop, Trump is staring down a tough two-week sprint in talks with China and the European Union before a new round of costly tariffs kicks in. Senior U.S. and Chinese officials are set to resume trade talks on Oct. 10 and Oct. 11, less than a week before a sharp increase in U.S. tariffs is slated to take effect on Oct. 15. Here’s what to watch (The Hill).OPINIONPresidential race runs front and center in impeachment politics, by Douglas Schoen, opinion contributor, The Hill. https://bit.ly/2oVDuhVNew York state threatens fines to force people to help block immigration enforcement, by Nolan Rappaport, opinion contributor, The Hill. https://bit.ly/2MmdLqPWHERE AND WHENHill.TV’s “Rising” at 9 a.m. ET features Linda Richter, director of policy research and analysis for the Center on Addiction, to react to the Food and Drug Administration and regulation of flavored vaping products; journalist Michael Tracey discusses the impeachment drama; Charles Lehman, staff writer for the Washington Free Beacon, describes falling life expectancy in Missouri and what’s behind it. Find Hill.TV programming at http://thehill.com/hilltv or on YouTube at 10 a.m.The House meets on Tuesday at 1 p.m. for a pro forma session; members are expected to return on Oct. 15 for votes.The Senate convenes Tuesday at noon for a pro forma session.The president has lunch with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Trump participates in a briefing with senior military leaders at 6 p.m. Then he and first lady Melania Trump host a social dinner with senior military leaders and spouses at the White House.Vice President Pence heads to a Tyson Foods facility in Nashville today to advocate for the ratification of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. He’ll also headline a Trump reelection fundraising dinner in Franklin, Tenn.Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will speak at 1 p.m. in Salt Lake City at a premiere screening for the KUED film "Marriner Eccles: Father of the Modern Federal Reserve."ELSEWHERE➔ Supreme Court: As justices get back to work, here are five big cases to watch this term (The New York Times). …The Supreme Court decision on Friday to take up a Louisiana abortion case poses the first big test for Trump's judicial picks for the Supreme Court on the issue of abortion. The case, which will likely be decided next summer, will elevate the abortion debate in the heat of a presidential election (The Hill). … It’s been a year since the Senate confirmed Justice Brett Kavanaugh (The Hill). … Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg last week offered her assessment of current political turmoil in the context of U.S. history — “an aberration,” she said (The Boston Globe).➔ Jimmy Carter: The former president, who recently celebrated his 95th birthday, fell at his home in Plains, Ga., on Sunday and needed several stitches above his brow. His spokesman said in a statement that Carter “feels fine” after receiving medical attention (The Associated Press).➔ North Korea: Pyongyang said talks with the United States fell apart on Saturday, but the Trump administration denied any collapse and seeks to resume talks in two weeks in Stockholm (Reuters). North Korea said Sunday it is unlikely the United States would have anything new to bring to the negotiations in two weeks (Reuters). Five things to know about North Korea’s firing last week of a submarine-launched ballistic missile during yet another provocative test (The Hill).© Getty Images➔ State Watch: The Montana-based National Center for Unwanted Firearms helps interested gun owners around the country find safe disposal of their weapons through sales, donation or destruction. Bruce Seiler co-founded the organization four years ago. “I’m like the Rain Man of guns,” he explained. Show him any gun and he can recite the make, model, gauge, and something interesting or unique about its provenance. After his time in the Secret Service as an ordnance specialist, he worked in weapons sales to law enforcement for the gun manufacturer SigArms. He even owned a gun shop at one point. “We need to get rid of some of these guns,” Seiler said. “There’s no junkyard for guns, so we’re trying to be the junkyard” (The California Sunday Magazine).THE CLOSERAnd finally …The United States showed off the speed and depth of its squad to win three gold medals on the final day of the world track championships on Sunday. U.S. runners won the men’s and women’s 4x400-meter relays, and U.S. women finished first and second in the 100-meter hurdles. The U.S. finished with 14 gold medals — its best result at a world championships in 12 years — in the last major global competition before next year’s Olympics in Tokyo.Allyson Felix won a record 13th world championship gold as part of the relay team, though she only ran in the heats. The United States used Dalilah Muhammad and Sydney McLaughlin, the gold and silver medalists in the 400-meter hurdles, on the relay team.Notably, Nia Ali wrapped herself in the U.S. flag and celebrated a victory lap with her two young children after taking gold in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 12.34, a personal best, beating fellow American Kendra Harrison.© Getty ImagesThe Morning Report is created by journalists Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver. We want to hear from you! Email: [email protected] and [email protected]. We invite you to share The Hill’s reporting and newsletters, and encourage others to SUBSCRIBE!