;)
The Commentariat -- April 29, 2020
Afternoon Update:
From the New York Times' coronavirus live updates Wednesday: "The F.D.A. plans to announce as early as Wednesday an emergency use authorization for remdesivir, an experimental antiviral drug that is being tested in treating patients with Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.... A federal trial has shown that treatment with remdesivir can speed recovery in patients infected with the coronavirus, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on Wednesday. The drug, made by Gilead Sciences, could eventually become the first approved treatment for Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. An emergency authorization by the F.D.A. is not the same as a formal drug approval by the agency. When the federal government declares a public health emergency, the F.D.A. can approve certain drugs or tests to address the emergency if there are no other alternatives." ~~~
~~ "U.S. gross domestic product, the broadest measure of goods and services produced in the economy, fell at a 4.8 percent annual rate in the first quarter of the year, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. That is the first decline since 2014 and the worst quarterly contraction since 2008, when the country was in a deep recession. Things will get much worse. Widespread layoffs and business closings didn't happen until late March, or the very end of the last quarter, in most of the country Economists expect figures from the current quarter, which will capture the effects of the shutdown more fully, to show that G.D.P. contracted at an annual rate of 30 percent or more."
Christina Maxouris of CNN: "A second round of the coronavirus is 'inevitable,' the nation's top infectious disease doctor says, but just how bad it is will depend on the progress the US makes in the coming months. 'If by that time we have put into place all of the countermeasures that you need to address this, we should do reasonably well,' Dr. Anthony Fauci said. 'If we don't do that successfully, we could be in for a bad fall and a bad winter.' If states begin lifting restrictions too early, Fauci says he predicts the country could see a rebound of the virus that would 'get us right back in the same boat that we were a few weeks ago,' adding that the country could see many more deaths than are currently predicted. A second round of the coronavirus is "inevitable," the nation's top infectious disease doctor says, but just how bad it is will depend on the progress the US makes in the coming months....Being able to test for the virus, track cases and isolate every infected American will be key factors in ensuring that second wave isn't as deadly, Fauci says. The US continues to lag behind in testing, according to a new report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The nation has performed 16.4 tests per 1,000 people, according to the report. Spain and Italy, with the second and third highest number of cases after the US, have conducted 22.3 and 29.7 tests per 1,000 people respectively." ~~~
~~~ Trump Determined to Make Fauci's Point a Reality. Brooke Singman of Fox "News": "President Trump on Wednesday said the administration will be 'fading out' the federal social distancing guidelines to curb the spread of coronavirus that are slated to expire Thursday.... The 'fading out' of the White House social distancing guidelines comes as the states across the nation begin Phase One to reopen their economies amid the coronavirus crisis." Mrs. McC Translation: Trump means "fazing out." ~~~
~~~ Erika Edwards of NBC News: "As a handful of states begin to ease stay-at-home restrictions, no state that has opted to reopen has come close to the federally recommended decline in cases over a 14-day period.... Daily case counts continue to rise in many states." ~~~
~~~ Even Trump's Testing Czar Says He Lied. W.J. Hennigan of Time: "... Donald Trump declared Tuesday that the U.S. will be able to carry out five million coronavirus tests per day, but the top official overseeing testing strategy told TIME earlier in the day that goal wasn't feasible given current technology. Admiral Brett Giroir, the assistant secretary of health who is in charge of the government's testing response, said during an interview on Tuesday morning that 'there is absolutely no way on Earth, on this planet or any other planet, that we can do 20 million tests a day, or even five million tests a day.'" ~~~
~~~ As Jonathan Chait points out, "Trump's underlings usually know to steer clear of directly contradicting the boss's lies, but in this case, Time asked Giroir about testing levels in the morning, and then Trump decided to go ahead and lie about it that afternoon."
Rama Venkat of Reuters: "The Trump administration is quietly planning a major undertaking to speed the development of a coronavirus vaccine, with a goal to have 100 million doses ready by year's end, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Called 'Operation Warp Speed,' the project will join private pharmaceutical companies with government agencies and the military in trying to cut the development time for a vaccine by as much as eight months, Bloomberg News said bloom.bg/2YgpC1j."
Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: I've seen a few "Where's Jared?" stories this past week. After all, we heard he was in change of saving us from the coronavirus, and things have not been going well. Or so we thought. ~~~
~~~ "This Is a Great Success Story." Cristina Cabrera of TPM: "Jared Kushner ... praised himself and the rest of the administration on Wednesday morning for its efforts to reopen the U.S. economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kushner's comments came after the nation's death toll from coronavirus surpassed the Vietnam War. 'I think that we've achieved all the different milestones that are needed,' Kushner said during an interview on 'Fox and Friends.' 'So, the government -- federal government -- rose to the challenge and this is a great success story and I think that that's really what needs to be told.'" Hard to say why the White House keeps the boy genius under wraps.
Alex Woodward of The Independent (U.K.): "Dozens of pastors across the Bible Belt have succumbed to coronavirus after churches and televangelists played down the pandemic and actively encouraged churchgoers to flout self-distancing guidelines. As many as 30 church leaders from the nation's largest African American Pentecostal denomination have now been confirmed to have died in the outbreak, as members defied public health warnings to avoid large gatherings to prevent transmitting the virus.... The virus has had a wildly disproportionate impact among black congregations, many of which have relied on group worship." --s
Florida. Kathleen McGrory & Rebecca Woolington of the Tampa Bay Times: "State officials have stopped releasing the list of coronavirus deaths being compiled by Florida's medical examiners, which has at times shown a higher death toll than the state's published count. The list had previously been released in real time by the state Medical Examiners Commission. But earlier this month, after the Tampa Bay Times reported that the medical examiners' death count was 10 percent higher than the figure released by the Florida Department of Health, state officials said the list needed to be reviewed and possibly redacted. They';ve now been withholding it for nine days, without providing any of the information or specifying what they plan to remove. Dr. Stephen Nelson, the chairman of the state Medical Examiners Commission, said the change in policy came after the state health department intervened."
Rick Hasen: "In a major ruling, a 10th Circuit panel (consisting of 2 judges, as a third judge on the panel had passed away), a Tenth Circuit panel has held that a Kansas anti-voting law championed by former Secretary of State Kris Kobach violated both the Constitution's equal protection clause and was preempted by the federal motor-voter law. The law at issue required those who wished to register to vote in Kansas to provide documentary proof of citizenship -- such as a birth certificate or naturalization certificate -- in order to register to vote. Until the ACLU secured a preliminary injunction against this law, about 30,000 people had their voter registrations suspended and were not allowed to vote in Kansas elections.... Kobach had claimed that the amount of noncitizen voting was the tip of the iceberg, but the trial court, after an extensive trial where Kobach was given every chance to prove his case, as no more than 'an icicle, largely created by confusion and administrative error.'"
~~~~~~~~~~
The New York Times' live updates for coronavirus developments Wednesday are here. "It has been 100 days since a 35-year-old man presented to an urgent care clinic in Snohomish County, Wash., with a four-day history of cough and fever and tested positive for the virus.... Since then, more than one million people had tested positive in the United States.... Epidemiologists have estimated that the true number of infections may be about 10 times the known number, and preliminary testing of how many people have antibodies to the virus seems to support that view.... With the United States leading the world in both deaths and infections, the image of the country has taken a beating around the world, and Americans have been forced to re-examine their own self-image. The country has watched the president speak about the pandemic almost every day in ways that were alternately misleading, resentful, insulting, dangerous and, often, sown with self-praise." ~~~
The Washington Post's live updates for coronavirus developments Tuesday are here. "The U.S. and its territories have surpassed 1 million coronavirus cases on Tuesday, according to figures compiled by The Post. The count represents nearly one-third of the world's reported covid-19 cases and includes more than 57,000 deaths since February, though experts call those numbers an underestimation." ~~~
~~~ David Welna of NPR: "In not even three months since the first known U.S. deaths from COVID-19, more lives have now been lost to the coronavirus pandemic on U.S. soil than the 58,220 Americans who died over nearly two decades in Vietnam. Early Tuesday evening ET, the U.S. death toll reached 58,365, according to Johns Hopkins University. While the number of lives lost in the U.S. during the pandemic and the U.S. death toll in that war are roughly the same now, the death rate from the coronavirus in America is considerably higher. It now stands at about 17.6 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. During 1968, the deadliest year for the U.S. in Vietnam, the death toll of 16,899 occurred at about half the pandemic's rate -- 8.5 troops were killed for every 100,000 U.S. residents. The pandemic has also been marked by nationwide death tolls surpassing 2,000 on six days this month. The highest daily toll for Americans fighting in the Vietnam War was on Jan. 31, 1968, when 246 U.S. personnel were killed during the Tet Offensive."
Get Real. Yascha Mounk in the Atlantic: "The miracle of deliverance is not in sight.... Experts estimate that for a population to reach herd immunity, up to 80 percent of it would have to be exposed to the coronavirus. Even if the virus has a fatality rate of a little less than 1 percent, this means that letting it spread through the population of the United States would cause about 2 million deaths.... Plans to brave the virus by going back to normal remain in the realm of the stupid or the sociopathic.... The chances of finding a transformative treatment against COVID-19 that could be deployed very soon have dwindled considerably.... A vaccine is likely at least a year away.... It now seems less likely than ever that the United States will do what is necessary to reopen the economy without causing a second wave of deadly infections.... For all his blustering demands to get the country back to normal, the president is failing to take the steps that are required to reopen the economy without a horrific death toll." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ ON THE OTHER HAND ~~~
~~~ A Ray of Hope. Maybe. Charlie D'Agata of CBS News: "In the global race to find a vaccine, Oxford University just jumped way ahead of the pack. Human testing is already underway, and scientists say they're hopeful a coronavirus vaccine will be widely available by September. Technology the lab had already developed in previous work on inoculations for other viruses, including a close relative of COVID-19, gave it a head start.... The vaccine takes the coronavirus' genetic material and injects it into a common cold virus that has been neutralized so it cannot spread in people. The modified virus will mimic COVID-19, triggering the immune system to fight off the imposter and providing protection against the real thing." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: I sure hope this vaciine works & can be produced quickly and the only big question is "How will Trump take credit for a vaccine developed in the U.K.?"
~~~ Or We Could Pretend We're Kiwis & Had a Competent Leader. Julia Hollingsworth of CNN: "After weeks of lockdown, New Zealand has achieved its ambitious goal of eliminating the coronavirus. But the country isn't celebrating yet. Over the past few days, newly diagnosed infections have been in the single digits. And on Monday, New Zealand reported just one new case.... Monday was the final day of almost five weeks of strict level four lockdown measures, which New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described as 'the strictest constraints placed on New Zealanders in modern history.' On Tuesday, the country eased into a less restrictive lockdown, with 400,000 more New Zealanders heading back to work and 75% of the country's economy operating, according to Ardern. The new level three restrictions also mean that New Zealanders will be able to hold small funerals and buy takeaways." ~~~
~~~ BUT We Have This Guy ~~~
We have tested much more than anybody else times two. We've tested more than every country combined. We inherited a very broken test, a broken system and a broken test, and within a short period of time we were setting records. We have done more than the entire world combined. -- Donald Trump at a White House event Tuesday
Trump has said this over and over, and it has been corrected over and over, for it is demonstrably false.... He has never abandoned the regular application of disinformation as his primary defense against the coronavirus. -- Dana Milbank of the Washington Post
Tara Subramaniam, et al., of CNN: "Trump ... suggested Tuesday that he was correct when he said in February that the US would go down from 15 coronavirus cases to nearly zero -- even though he was wildly inaccurate, since the US now has more than a million cases.... 'It will go down to zero, ultimately,' Trump [said to CNN's Jim Acosta]. Trump's prediction was wrong and contradicted warnings from doctors that the disease would become widespread. He's now saying his prediction was right, because there will eventually come a time without new cases.... He never came close to suggesting that there would be a massive swell in the number of cases, as we've seen in recent weeks. Instead, he said the virus might 'disappear.'... [He also] claimed Tuesday that Dr. Anthony Fauci ... said in late February that the coronavirus was 'no problem.' Fauci didn't say that.... And the President repeated his false claims that he 'inherited' a 'broken test' for the virus, though there was no inherited test for a virus only identified during his presidency. He also said that ... Joe Biden had apologized to him for previous comments about Trump's travel restrictions on China, though there was no apology."
Trump Threatens States. Myah Ward of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Tuesday suggested that state and local bailout money from the federal government could hinge on whether the immigration policies of the individual governments seeking relief align with Trump administration priorities.... Alongside Trump's suggestion that states will have to look at sanctuary city policies, the president said a payroll tax cut would need to be part of any negotiation on a state and local bailout. 'I think there's a big difference with a state that lost money because of covid and a state that's been run very badly for 25 years,' the president said during his meeting with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. 'There's a big difference, in my opinion. And you know, we'd have to talk about things like payroll tax cuts. We'd have to talk about things like sanctuary cities, as an example. I think sanctuary cities is something that has to be brought up where people who are criminals are protected, they are protected from prosecution.'"
Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" Redux. Kevin Drum of Mother Jones: Bloomberg reports that "'... Donald Trump plans to order meat-processing plants to remain open, declaring them critical infrastructure as the nation confronts growing disruptions to the food supply from the coronavirus outbreak, a person familiar with the matter said. Trump plans to use the Defense Production Act to order the companies to stay open during the pandemic, and the government will provide additional protective gear for employees as well as guidance, according to the person.'... His base hears 'meat shortage' and goes cuckoo, so Trump sees a chance to show them whose side he's on. And it's not the side of liberal elites, that's for sure. Nor is it the side of the brown-skinned people who mostly work in packing houses these days. However, I'm sure they'll be mollified by Trump's promise of 'guidance' to their bosses.... Trump is forcing everyone to stay open regardless of whether their meat is safe. And since there's no way to know which packing plant your meat comes from, you might just decide to avoid all meat." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Mind you, the plants that are closed are closed because a lot of their workers got sick with Covid-19. Care for a pork chop? ~~~
~~~ Update. Ana Swanson & David Yaffe-Bellany of the New York Times: "President Trump on Tuesday declared meat processing plants 'critical infrastructure,' in an effort to ensure that facilities around the country remained open as the government tried to prevent looming shortages of pork, chicken and other products as a result of the coronavirus. The action comes as meat plants around the country have turned into coronavirus hot spots, sickening thousands of workers, and after the head of Tyson Foods, one of the country's largest processors, warned that millions of pounds of meat would simply disappear from the supply chain. In an executive order issued late Tuesday, Mr. Trump said recent closures of meat processing facilities 'threaten the continued functioning of the national meat and poultry supply chain, undermining critical infrastructure during the national emergency.'... On Sunday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued guidelines calling for physical distancing and other measures to keep workers safe. But the guidelines are voluntary.... 'Using executive power to force people back on the job without proper protections is wrong and dangerous,' Richard Trumka, the president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., wrote on Twitter, saying he echoed calls by the food workers' union to 'to put worker safety first.'... [Trump's] action ... was taken under the Defense Production Act...." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: As Chris Hayes of MSNBC pointed out, Trump didn't find it necessary to invoke the DPA to produce ventilators to save the lives of Covid-19 victims, or to produce personal protective equipment to protect healthcare workers and all of the rest of us. But hot dogs? Chicken nuggets? By all means. As for the safety of the meat processing personnel themselves? It's up to the plants' owners. ~~~
~~~ Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "Health officials on Virginia's Eastern Shore are increasingly worried that clusters of coronavirus tied to two poultry plants may overwhelm the one local hospital, even as the Trump administration insists such facilities remain open to keep the country fed during the crisis. The chicken plants, one operated by Perdue Farms, the other by Tyson Foods, have continued operating as the number of cases linked to them climbed in the past week, according to health officials."
Last Friday, President Pompous Circumstances announced that he would be giving the commencement speech at West Point, to the surprise of officials at the military academy. ~~~
~~~ Missy Ryan, et al., of the Washington Post: "The decision to hold an in-person graduation June 13 meant that nearly 1,000 graduating cadets would travel back to West Point from their homes, where they have been distance-learning since spring break, and undergo up to three weeks of quarantine at campus barracks and a nearby training site. But uncertainties remained, including how to ensure that the cadets wouldn't sicken one another and how to account for sometimes unreliable test results." Mrs. McC: Since Trump has shown disinterest in the well-being of almost every group of Americans, I suppose it's appropriate that he gets around to threatening the health & safety of military cadets. ~~~
(~~~ To be fair, Trump already has dismissed injuries to combat troops. Barbara Starr of CNN: "Dozens of US military personnel are expected to receive Purple Hearts in recognition of traumatic brain injuries they suffered in a January Iranian missile attack in Iraq, according to three US defense officials. The officials describe the decision as extremely sensitive because of the attention the issue received after ... Donald Trump dismissed the injuries as 'not very serious,' when they were first reported." Trump said of the troops' brain injuries, "... I heard that they had headaches, and a couple of other things....") ~~~
~~~ Waitman Beorn, in a Washington Post opinion piece: "In the past week or so, President Trump ... has cloaked himself in the mantle of commander in chief by announcing that the military's preeminent pilots would perform those fly-bys that he said he 'can't get enough of,' declaring that the graduating class of the U.S. Military Academy would return to it so that he can deliver a commencement address; and calling for a reprise of his 2019 Fourth of July military extravaganza on the Mall.... In all these anticipated events of martial showmanship -- all announced at coronavirus task force briefings ostensibly intended to update the American public on the pandemic -- the common denominator is the president's desire to appropriate the military as a symbol not of the nation but of himself. Trump seeks not to honor those in uniform by displaying them and their weaponry in front of the nation, but to glorify himself by placing the military in the background, regardless of the cost.... The armed forces do not exist to provide photo ops for Trump."
Betsy Klein of CNN: "...Donald Trump on Monday urged the nation's governors [on a teleconference call] to 'seriously consider' reopening schools as part of his push to restart the economy.... According to a CNN tally of school closures, 43 states as well as Washington, DC, have ordered or recommended that schools don't reopen this academic year.... The President, who owns a hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, asked Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, whether he had made a decision on opening his state 'and the Strip, etc., etc., with all your hotels.'... Sisolak said that casino management is 'very concerned about doing it right' and he is working closely with 'our mutual friend Sheldon Adelson' and others." --s ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump told the governors, "It’s not a big subject, young children have done very well in this disaster that we've all gone through." He later said something similar during Monday's relatively sedate Trump Show. Of course schoolchildren come in all ages from about four to late teens, and children of every age have gotten extremely ill from Covid-19. Moreover, it does not seem to have occurred to President Thickhead that very few schoolkids live in bachelor pads: their family members are every age.
Nancy Cook & Meredith McGraw of Politico (April 27): "As one of the few aides Trump implicitly trusts..., [31-year-old Hope Hicks] urged the president to act as a frontman for the coronavirus crisis -- a leader who could offer calming messages, critical health information and important updates on the progress of the White House’s response efforts, instead of delegating those responsibilities to health officials or the vice president." Via safari. Mrs. McC: Apparently Hicks, whose pre-Trumpist professional experience was mostly in the fashion industry working for Ivanka Trump, has not noticed that Donald Trump is a walking, talking disaster.
Everything Trump Does Is Stupid -- and Usually Petty. Matt Stieb of New York: "Despite evidence that COVID-19 may have jumped from bats to humans -- with a possible layover in the immune systems of pangolins -- Politico reports that President Trump is now cutting funding for researchers determining how bat coronaviruses can infect humans because the project is linked to a lab in Wuhan, China. On Friday, the National Institutes of Health told the sponsor of the study for the past five years, EcoHealth Alliance, that all future funding was off the table and that the nonprofit would stop spending the remaining $369,819 from its 2020 grant.... The revocation of just over $3.7 million is a paltry sum for the NIH.... Cutting 0.000094 percent of the budget in an apparent act of political posturing shows that the Trump administration continues to let its incoherent policy toward China obstruct important research that may help us fend off the next pandemic -- even as we're still in the heart of the current one." The Politico report is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
** The Cover-up Is Worse Than the Incompetence. Ryan Goodman & Danielle Schulkin in a New York Times op-ed: "The strongest critics of the Trump administration's handling of the coronavirus pandemic point to its flat-footedness and the consequences of time lost. But the full account looks worse. Over the last five days of February, President Trump and senior officials did something more sinister: They engaged in a cover-up. A look at this window of time gives insight into how several members of the president's team were willing to manipulate Americans even when so many lives were at stake.... Senior officials knew the coronavirus was an extreme threat to Americans. Thanks to information streaming in from U.S. intelligence agencies for months, officials reportedly believed that a 'cataclysmic' disease could infect 100 million Americans and discussed lockdown plans. The warnings were given to Mr. Trump in his daily brief by the intelligence community; in calls from Alex Azar, the secretary of health; and in memos from his economic adviser Peter Navarro. The same day [Feb. 25] that Dr. [Nancy] Messonnier spoke [to reporters about the coming pandemic], the military's National Center for Medical Intelligence raised the warning level inside the government to WATCHCON1, concluding that the coronavirus was imminently likely to develop into a full-blown pandemic.... So the president's top advisers took to the airwaves with a united purpose: to deny the truth." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
** Veep Spits on Mayo Clinic Staff. Briana Bierschbach of the Minneapolis Star Tribune: "Vice President Mike Pence returned to Minnesota Tuesday to highlight Mayo Clinic's coronavirus research and testing efforts, calling them a 'whole of Minnesota approach.' But even as he praised Mayo's efforts to combat COVID-19, Pence ignored the clinic's request that all visitors don face masks to prevent transmission, including Gov. Tim Walz [D(FLP)] and others on the tour. In the face of growing commentary on television and social media, Mayo officials responded with a tweet as the tour was still underway: '"Mayo Clinic had informed @VP of the masking policy prior to his arrival today.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Update. Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Mr. Pence later defended his maskless appearance at the Mayo Clinic to reporters. 'As vice president of the United States, I'm tested for the coronavirus on a regular basis, and everyone who is around me is tested for the coronavirus,' he said.... Mr. Pence did not explain why he chose not to honor the Mayo Clinic's own guidelines for its facility. But public health experts dismissed his argument for skipping a face mask as faulty. Even in coronavirus patients who show symptoms, diagnostic tests may detect the virus only 75 percent of the time, said Dr. Mark Loeb, a microbiologist and infectious disease specialist at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, and it is unclear how sensitive the tests are in asymptomatic cases."
Gone Scapegoat Fishing. Ken Delanian, et al. of NBC News: "The White House has ordered intelligence agencies to comb through communications intercepts, human source reporting, satellite imagery and other data to establish whether China and the World Health Organization initially hid what they knew about the emerging coronavirus pandemic, current and former U.S. officials familiar with the matter told NBC News." --s
Michelle Singletary of the Washington Post: "It's now been 15 days since tens of millions of people were sent stimulus money, and per the law, the IRS began mailing letters to payment recipients. However, what should have been an instructive letter coming from either the Treasury or the IRS reads more like a message that the Trump reelection campaign would send out to voters. 'Just as we have before, America will triumph yet again -- and rise to new heights of greatness,' the letter says. This language is just another way of restating Trump's 2016 campaign slogan, 'Make America Great Again,' or the president's 2020 rallying cry, 'Keep America Great.'... While the envelope reads Treasury Department and the IRS, once it has been opened, the letterhead says, 'The White House.'" Many recipients are angry about the "vanity letter," sometimes because the payment they received seemed to be in the wrong amount and/or because the IRS number the letter advises you to call is not manned by real people.
A Grand Gift from the Fed. Jeff Stein & Peter Whoriskey of the Washington Post: "A Federal Reserve program expected to begin within weeks will provide hundreds of billions in emergency aid to large American corporations without requiring them to save jobs or limit payments to executives and shareholders. Under the program, the central bank will buy up to $500 billion in bonds issued by large companies. The companies will use the influx of cash as a financial lifeline but are required to pay it back with interest. Unlike other portions of the relief for American businesses, however, this aid will be exempt from rules passed by Congress requiring recipients to limit dividends, executive compensation and stock buybacks and does not direct the companies to maintain certain employment levels." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Another Way the Haves Are Profiting from Covid-19. Jessica Silver-Greenberg & Rachel Abrams of the New York Times: "As American companies lay off millions of workers, some appear to be taking advantage of the coronavirus crisis to target workers who are in or hope to join unions, according to interviews with more than two dozen workers, labor activists and employment lawyers." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Tal Axelrod of the Hill: "Axios announced Tuesday it is returning a loan it received through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) as it nears an alternative source of funding. The media outlet noted in a post by CEO Jim VandeHei that it has come under criticism for accepting funds under the PPP and said it was conducting its search for additional capital as the funds came in.... VandeHei said Axios had taken a financial hit during the coronavirus pandemic, pointing to physical events that were scrapped and cancellations by advertisers."
Mike DeBonis & Seung Min Kim of the Washington Post: "House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) said Tuesday the House was abandoning plans to meet next week, less than 24 hours after members were told to prepare to return to Washington on May 4 despite the spreading coronavirus pandemic. Hoyer said the change was made in light of advice from the congressional attending physician and in light of the continued spread of the virus in Washington and its suburbs. 'The numbers in the District of Columbia are going up, not down,' he said.... The decision by House Democratic leaders to stay home stands in stark contrast to the plan from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who said this week the Senate will reconvene on Monday to confirm President Trump's judicial nominees and to start work on a new coronavirus relief bill." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Sarah Ferris, et al., of Politico: "... Steny Hoyer on Tuesday announced that lawmakers won't return to Washington next week, abruptly reversing course after widespread backlash from members in both parties who warned the move would be unsafe." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Marty Johnson of The Hill: "Some states that are reopening parts of their economies have warned employees that they'll lose their unemployment benefits if they refuse to go back to work for their employers, even if they're worried about contracting the coronavirus. 'If you're an employer and you offer to bring your employee back to work and they decide not to, that's a voluntary quit,' Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) said Friday. 'Therefore, they would not be eligible for the unemployment money.'...The only exception for workers getting unemployment after not returning to work is if they are ill with the virus or taking care of a family member who has the deadly disease. The situation is similar for workers in Texas[.]" --s (Related Texas Tribune story linked below.)
Arizona. Alana Goodman of the Washington Free Beacon: "The Mesa City Police Department's homicide division is investigating the death of Gary Lenius, the Arizona man whose wife served him soda mixed with fish tank cleaner in what she claimed was a bid to fend off the coronavirus.... Though ... [reports] suggested the couple mindlessly followed the president's medical advice to disastrous results, friends of Gary Lenius told the Free Beacon they were skeptical he would knowingly ingest fish tank treatment. Rather, they described Lenius as a levelheaded retired engineer and recounted a troubled marital relationship that included a previous domestic assault charge against his wife, of which she was ultimately found not guilty. The Free Beacon also reported that Wanda Lenius was a Democratic donor whose most recent contribution went to a 'pro-science' super PAC." Mrs. McC: Wouldn't hurt to arrest Trump as an accessory before the fact.
Massachusetts. Alanna Richer of the AP: "Nearly 70 residents sickened with the coronavirus have died at a Massachusetts home for aging veterans, as state and federal officials try to figure out what went wrong in the deadliest known outbreak at a long-term care facility in the U.S. While the death toll at the state-run Holyoke Soldiers' Home continues to climb, federal officials are investigating whether residents were denied proper medical care and the state's top prosecutor is deciding whether to bring legal action."
New York. Liam Stack & Michael Gold of the New York Times: New York City "Mayor Bill de Blasio lashed out at Hasidic residents of the Williamsburg section in Brooklyn late Tuesday night after personally overseeing the dispersal of a crowd of hundreds of mourners who had gathered for the funeral of a rabbi who died of the coronavirus. In a series of tweets, Mr. de Blasio denounced the gathering, which th police broke up, and warned 'the Jewish community, and all communities' that any violation of the social-distancing guidelines in place to stop the spread of the virus could lead to a summons or an arrest.... Hasidic groups and leaders reacted to the mayor's warning with outrage.... The Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council said in a tweet that 'people failed to social distance at a funeral the same day that thousands of New Yorkers failed to distance for 45 minutes to watch a [Navy Blue Angels and Air Force Thunderbirds] flyover.'"
Texas. Clare Proctor of the Texas Tribune: "Gov. Greg Abbott's Monday announcement that retail stores, restaurants, movie theaters and malls will be allowed to reopen Friday means many Texas workers now have a difficult decision to make.... Refusing to return after a business reopens means forfeiting unemployment benefits." Mrs. McC: This is another of those rules that puts poorer people more at risk than middle-class workers. It stands to reason that people working in lower-paying jobs are more likely to have to work in close quarters where social-distancing rules are not well-enforced. People in low-paying jobs also may be more likely to need unemployment benefits than do people with incomes high enough to accumulate savings. In addition, what about the kids, who are out of school? The question for many workers may be, "Is child care going to cost more than what I'll lose in unemployment benefits?"
Wisconsin. AP: "More than 50 people who voted in person or worked the polls during Wisconsin's election earlier this month have tested positive for COVID-19 so far. The state Department of Health Services reported the latest figures on Tuesday, three weeks after the April 7 presidential primary and spring election that drew widespread concern because of voters waiting in long lines to cast ballots in Milwaukee. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers tried to move to a mail-order election but was blocked by the Republican Legislature and conservative controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court."
Adam Raymond of New York: "The New York Times responded Monday night to Sean Hannity's demand for an apology and retraction over recent columns concerning his comments on the coronavirus. 'In response to your request for an apology and a retraction, our answer is "no,"' a Times lawyer wrote in a letter to Hannity's lawyer, Charles Harder, who had represented the Trump campaign in a previous lawsuit against the Times.... Earlier on Monday, Hannity and Harder threatened to sue the Times in a letter accusing the paper of 'blatant and outrageous disregard for the truth in mischaracterizing Mr. Hannity's coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.'" Mrs. McC: Hannity is just trying to find a way to wiggle out of his responsibility for persuading his listeners that coronavirus was a hoax that would not endanger Americans' health. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
U.K. William Booth & Karla Adam of the Washington Post: "British Prime Minister Boris Johnson returned to work to find his government under mounting pressure to explain why front-line workers for the National Health Service were donning garbage bags and makeshift masks to protect themselves against the coronavirus during the pandemic. A BBC 'Panorama' special investigation that aired Monday charged that the government had failed to include crucial personal protective equipment, including gowns and face shields, in its pandemic stockpile. The show ... focused on the lack of preparedness that has left health-care workers vulnerable to coronavirus exposure.... In its investigation, the BBC reported that Britain's stockpile, which was created in 2009, did not include vital items in its disaster preparation kit and that the government ignored warnings to purchase missing equipment."
Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Nearly three-dozen search warrants unsealed late Tuesday reveal a web of contacts between longtime Donald Trump confidant Roger Stone, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and other key figures in the long-running probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Stone, who was convicted last year of lying to House investigators during their own Russia probe, was never charged with aiding efforts by Russia. But his contacts with Assange add new details to a relationship that he long denied existed. An AP story is here. ~~~
~~~ Katelyn Polantz, et al., of CNN: "Investigators from former special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation told a judge that Trump political adviser Roger Stone orchestrated hundreds of fake Facebook accounts and bloggers to run a political influence scheme on social media in 2016, according to court documents from the Mueller investigation unsealed on Tuesday."
Presidential Race
Primary Election -- Ohio. The New York Times has Tuesday's primary election results here. WLTW Cincinnati has the results here.
Primary Election -- New York. Andrew Yang Is Being a Dick. Zack Montellaro of Politico: "Andrew Yang, the former presidential candidate, is suing the New York State Board of Elections in federal court after the state election commission effectively canceled the Democratic presidential primary there. Yang, along with seven New Yorkers who filed to serve as Yang delegates to the Democratic National Convention, filed suit on Monday arguing that they should not be removed because they had otherwise met the requirements to be on the ballot."
David Siders & Ally Mutnick of Politico: "Justin Amash, an independent congressman from Michigan, announced Tuesday that he is forming an exploratory committee for president as a Libertarian Party candidate. Amash's prospects, though dim, could nevertheless be significant in a close election between ... Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Third-party candidates who gain even a fraction of the vote in swing states can affect the outcome in a close race.... It is unclear if Amash, who left the Republican Party last year over his outspoken opposition to Trump, would do more damage to Biden or Trump. Before leaving the party, he was the lone Republican who supported impeaching the president.... And on Tuesday, some supporters of Biden were already criticizing Amash." Also too, Akhilleus; see commentary below.
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