The Commentariat -- April 22, 2020
~~~ Sigh! But see Seth Borenstein's story, linked below.
Afternoon Update:
Uh-Oh. Jessie Hellmann of the Hill: "President Trump said Wednesday that he disagrees 'strongly' with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp's (R) decision to allow bowling alleys, hair salons and other businesses to reopen on Friday. 'I want him to do what he thinks is right, but I disagree with him on what he's doing,' Trump said at a White House press briefing Wednesday. Trump said Kemp's decision violates guidelines the administration issued last week for states to follow before reopening parts of their economies." Trump said he told Kemp he disagrees with Kemp's decision.
** The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Wednesday are here. "The doctor who led the federal agency involved in developing a coronavirus vaccine said on Wednesday that he was removed from his post after he pressed for a rigorous vetting of a coronavirus treatment embraced by President Trump. The doctor said that science, not 'politics and cronyism' must lead the way. Dr. Rick Bright was abruptly dismissed this week as the director of the Department of Health and Human Services' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, and as the deputy assistant secretary for preparedness and response. Instead, he was given a narrower job at the National Institutes of Health. 'I believe this transfer was in response to my insistence that the government invest the billions of dollars allocated by Congress to address the Covid-19 pandemic into safe and scientifically vetted solutions, and not in drugs, vaccines and other technologies that lack scientific merit,' he said in a statement to The Times's Maggie Haberman.... 'Specifically, and contrary to misguided directives, I limited the broad use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, promoted by the administration as a panacea, but which clearly lack scientific merit,' he said.... 'I will request that the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services investigate the manner in which this administration has politicized the work of BARDA and has pressured me and other conscientious scientists to fund companies with political connections and efforts that lack scientific merit,' he said." This is a follow-up to a STAT story linked below.
Allyson Chiu & Teo Armus of the Washington Post: "At least two people who died in early and mid-February had contracted the novel coronavirus, health officials in California said Tuesday, signaling the virus may have spread -- and been fatal — in the United States weeks earlier than previously thought. Tissue samples taken during autopsies of two people who died at home in Santa Clara County, Calif., tested positive for the virus, local health officials said in a statement. The victims died on Feb. 6 and Feb. 17, respectively. Initially, the nation's earliest coronavirus fatality was thought to have occurred on Feb. 29, in Kirkland, Wash., a suburb of Seattle that rapidly became a hot spot.... Additionally, the early deaths could mean covid-19 may have been misdiagnosed in many people early this year, Eric Topol, a geneticist and researcher who directs the Scripps Research Translational Institute, told The Post." The New York Times story is here.
Betsy DeVos Is So Sweet. From the NYT's live updates for today: "The Education Department will prohibit colleges from granting emergency assistance to undocumented students, even those currently under federal protection, according to guidance issued to colleges and universities on Tuesday. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos ordered higher education institutions to distribute more than $6 billion in emergency relief only to students who are eligible for federal financial aid, including U.S. citizens or legal residents. The directive effectively excluded the hundreds of thousands of students who attend college under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals -- or DACA -- program, an Obama-era policy that protects hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children. Mr. Trump has moved to end the program, but that effort is awaiting Supreme Court review."
Zack Beauchamp of Vox: "Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, media critics have warned that the decision from leading Fox News hosts to downplay the outbreak could cost lives. A new study provides statistical evidence that, in the case of Sean Hannity, that's exactly what happened." This is another take on a Daily Beast report linked earlier today.
Larry Elliott of the Guardian: "Donald Trump's botched handling of the Covid-19 crisis has left the US looking like a 'third world' country and on course for a second Great Depression, one of the world's leading economists has warned. In a withering attack on the president, Joseph Stiglitz said millions of people were turning to food banks, turning up for work due to a lack of sick pay and dying because of health inequalities. The Nobel prize-winning economist said: 'The numbers turning to food banks are just enormous and beyond the capacity of them to supply. It is like a third world country. The public social safety net is not working.'"
Lock Him Out! Gabby Orr of Politico: "As his own health officials continue to warn against nonessential travel, Trump has privately urged aides over the past week to start adding official events back to his schedule, including photo ops and site visits that would allow him to ditch Washington for a few hours. The day trips would be similar to those Vice President Mike Pence has made visiting businesses during the viral pandemic, according to three people familiar with the planning.... 'If there was a situation where the president was trying to violate his own guidelines, we would certainly have a conversation about that,' said an aide to Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers."
Coalition of the Witless. Matt Dixon of Politico: "Republican governors across the Southeast are teaming up to reopen the region's economy, even as they lack the testing to know how rapidly the coronavirus is spreading. One health expert called the political decision a 'perfect storm' for the virus to reassert itself. The newly formed coalition includes Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi, a part of the country that has underfunded health systems, as well as high rates of obesity, diabetes and other illnesses that amplify the deadliness of the coronavirus. And unlike their peers in New York, New Jersey and other Northeastern states that have been working cooperatively since last week to restart their economies, the six in the South have lagged on testing and social distancing measures."
Abdi Dahir of the New York Times: "The coronavirus pandemic has brought hunger to millions of people around the world. National lockdowns and social distancing measures are drying up work and incomes, and are likely to disrupt agricultural production and supply routes -- leaving millions to worry how they will get enough to eat. The coronavirus has sometimes been called an equalizer because it has sickened both rich and poor, but when it comes to food, the commonality ends. It is poor people, including large segments of poorer nations, who are now going hungry and facing the prospect of starving.... This hunger crisis, experts say, is global and caused by a multitude of factors linked to the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing interruption of the economic order: the collapse in oil prices; widespread shortages of hard currency from tourism drying up; overseas workers not having earnings to send home; and ongoing problems like climate change, violence, population dislocations and humanitarian disasters." ~~~
~~~ On the Other Hand. Seth Borenstein of the AP: "As people across the globe stay home to stop the spread of the new coronavirus, the air has cleaned up, albeit temporarily. Smog stopped choking New Delhi, one of the most polluted cities in the world, and India's getting views of sights not visible in decades. Nitrogen dioxide pollution in the northeastern United States is down 30%. Rome air pollution levels from mid-March to mid-April were down 49% from a year ago. Stars seem more visible at night. People are also noticing animals in places and at times they don't usually. Coyotes have meandered along downtown Chicago's Michigan Avenue and near San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. A puma roamed the streets of Santiago, Chile. Goats took over a town in Wales. In India, already daring wildlife has become bolder with hungry monkeys entering homes and opening refrigerators to look for food.... Researchers are tracking dramatic drops in traditional air pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxide, smog and tiny particles. These types of pollution kill up to 7 million people a year worldwide, according to Health Effects Institute president Dan Greenbaum."
Tal Axelrod of the Hill: "Former Vice President Joe Biden said he plans to announce the members of a selection committee who will help choose his running mate by May 1 as speculation continues to mount over his vice presidential pick.... Biden added that the committee will likely take until July to narrow the hunt for a vice president down to the top three contenders."
~~~~~~~~~~
Erica Werner & Seung Min Kim of the Washington Post: "The Senate passed a $484 billion deal Tuesday to replenish a small-business loan program that's been overrun by demand and to devote more money to hospitals and coronavirus testing. President Trump said he would sign it into law. The legislation, which came together over days of intense negotiation that followed a bitter partisan standoff, would increase funding for the Paycheck Protection Program by $310 billion. It would also boost a separate small-business emergency grant and loan program by $60 billion, and direct $75 billion to hospitals and $25 billion to a new coronavirus testing program.... Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday for the first time that larger firms would now be blocked from using this program, and Trump called on some big companies that had already obtained taxpayer-backed loans to return the money.... The deal also includes another $60 billion in emergency loans and grants for a separate Small Business Administration program that is also out of money and would allow agricultural companies to qualify for these funds, as sought by some GOP senators. ~~~
~~~ Jordain Carney of the Hill: "The agreement was passed by a voice vote.... Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the only senator who has been infected with the coronavirus, said shortly before its passage that he opposed the funding, but would not block its passage and require his colleagues to come back to Washington for a formal roll call vote.... The House is expected to pass the bill on Thursday morning, with members returning to Washington for a recorded vote." ~~~
~~~ Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump said Tuesday that he is going to ask large businesses and institutions such as Harvard University to return money that they received as part of a coronavirus relief package. 'I'm going to request it,' Trump told reporters at the White House, singling out the Ivy League school. 'Harvard is going to pay back the money. They shouldn't be taking it. I'm not going to mention any other names, but when I saw Harvard -- they have one of the largest endowments anywhere in the country, maybe in the world. They're going to pay back the money,' the president added." Mrs. McC: It's a rare day when Trump is right about something for the right reason, but this may have been that day.
Gee, Nobody Saw This Coming. Jeff Stein & Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "Senior White House and Trump administration officials are planning to launch a sweeping effort in the coming days to repeal or suspend federal regulations affecting businesses, with the expected executive action seen by advisers as a way to boost an economy facing its worst shock in generations, two people familiar with the internal planning said. The White House-driven initiative is expected to center on suspending federal regulations for small businesses and expanding an existing administration program that requires agencies to revoke two regulations for every new one they issue, the two people said. While the plan remains in flux, changes could affect environmental policy, labor policy, workplace safety and health care, among other areas." The Raw Story has a summary story here. Mrs. McC: If Trump can't kill you one way (Covid-19), he'll kill you another (fall into a vat of chocolate). (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Update. Nick Miroff, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump said Tuesday he will halt immigration to the United States for 60 days, a freeze that will block green card recipients from moving to the country but will continue to allow temporary workers on nonimmigrant visas to enter. The president provided a rationale for the unprecedented decision that was primarily economic, arguing that he wants Americans to have access to work as millions of people have lost their jobs amid the coronavirus crisis. Senior White House officials and attorneys met Tuesday to sort out the logistics and legal implications of President Trump's late-night Twitter proclamation that he would stop immigration to the United States, a move that came with little indication of who the U.S. government would bar from entry amid the coronavirus outbreak. Trump said the executive order was still being written as of Tuesday night.... The president also said seasonal farm laborers would not be affected by the measures, and the suspension 'will help to conserve vital medical resources.'... Aides said privately that the president had once more announced a sweeping policy that was not yet ready for implementation, and his administration was trying to piece together an executive order for him to sign that would catch up to his whim." ~~~
~~~ Michael Shear, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump said on Tuesday that he would order a temporary halt in issuing green cards to prevent people from immigrating to the United States, but he backed away from plans to suspend guest worker programs after business groups exploded in anger at the threat of losing access to foreign labor. Mr. Trump, whose administration has faced intense criticism in recent months for his handling of the coronavirus crisis, abruptly sought to change the subject Tuesday night by resuming his assault on immigration.... While numerous numerous studies have concluded that immigration has an overall positive effect on the American work force and wages for workers, Mr. Trump ignored that research on Tuesday, insisting that American citizens who had lost their jobs in recent weeks should not have to compete with foreigners when the economy reopens.... Lawyers at the Justice Department were still studying whether the president had the legal authority to unilaterally suspend the issuance of green cards, an order that caught officials at the Defense Department and the Department of Homeland Security off guard...." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Actually, the dynamic of Trump's turnaround on guest laborers probably is that Trump realized that Eric wouldn't be able to hire cheap foreign labor for some Trump properties. Plus, I'm not sure how "guest workers" are immune from the coronavirus, whereas your average Norwegian would-be immigrant is not. (And does Trump realize his order is barring Scandanavians and other WASPs as well as people from "shithole countries"? His tweet-order seems to present a flaw in his master-race plan.) ~~~
~~~ Update. Mrs. McCrabbie: Turns out Trump's big immigrant ban is a joke. According to John Harwood, who appeared on CNN this morning, the total number of would-be undeserving, job-sucking immigrants Trump has banned from entry onto our golden shores is about 75,000. With at least 22 million Americans out of work because of the pandemic, 75,000 is nothing but a rounding error to mollify Trump's base of xenophobic morons.
~~~ What Conflict of Interest? Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump's signature hotel in the nation's capital wants a break on the terms of its lease. The landlord determining the fate of the request is Mr. Trump's own administration.... In recent weeks, the president's family business has inquired about changing its lease payments.... The Trump Organization owns and operates the luxury hotel, but it is in a federally owned building on Pennsylvania Avenue.... If [the General Services Administration] denies the [Trump Organization's] request, the agency risks running afoul of the president, who appoints its leader; but if it accommodates the Trumps, the agency is likely to draw fire from critics.... The request to the G.S.A. is one of a number of attempts by the Trump Organization to get breathing room from its lenders and other financial partners."
Just Ignore Him. Asawin Suebsaeng, et al., of the Daily Beast: "... the White House's coronavirus response has diverged into two camps: one that defends whatever the president has chosen to care about or watch on TV, and another that actively works to ignore and paper over those excesses. The most recent, glaring example of that wild discrepancy came over the weekend, when Trump began encouraging protests against stay-at-home orders overseen by Democratic governors in several states. The president's messaging took on the language of uprising.... Rather than correct the record or even push back internally, [officials] have tried to proceed as if the president didn't just do what he had so clearly done.... [The task force] is now a team operating on a parallel but separate track: working to ameliorate a public-health crisis despite Trump pushing policies that scientists say could make that task harder." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
"I Didn't Say That": ~~~
Ed O'Keefe of CBS News: "... Democratic governors asked the White House on Monday for help encouraging Americans to adhere to these local guidelines. The request came amid mixed signals from President Trump over who is ultimately responsible for determining when Americans can resume normal activities. Over the past week, Mr. Trump has insisted that only he could order an economic restart, but later told governors 'you're gonna call your own shots' on when and how to reopen and released federal guidelines on how to do so. But over the weekend, he tweeted support for small bands of conservative protesters that rallied in the state capitals of Michigan, Minnesota, Virginia and elsewhere against restrictions put in place by Democratic governors. Vice President Mike Pence said Sunday he would be speaking to all 50 governors on Monday to discuss testing and reopening the states. On the call, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, said her state is using the White House guidelines to implement 'what we think are going to be best practices here in Michigan for the cautious, thoughtful, slow reopening of certain sectors of our economy. As we do that, any help on the national level to reiterate the importance of stay-at-home orders would be helpful,' Whitmer told Pence, according to audio of the meeting obtained by CBS News." Mrs. McC: Good luck with that. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Marissa Lang of the Washington Post: "Registered nurses gathered Tuesday in front of the White House to read the names of health-care workers who have died fighting the coronavirus pandemic. Wearing masks and standing six feet apart, the nurses held up photographs of the deceased as Melody Jones, a member of the National Nurses United union, addressed the news media in an otherwise empty Lafayette Square. The names came from all over the country.... The protest stood in stark contrast to demonstrations in recent days in some parts of the country in which protesters have demanded the reopening of nonessential businesses.... More than 9,000 health-care workers in the United States have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those numbers are believed to be an undercount of infections due to a lack of tests in many areas. The nurses said Tuesday that they wanted to bring their demands for more personal protective equipment directly to President Trump"s doorstep." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: A real president would have gone out into the square to meet these front-line American heroes and/or invited them in to discuss their needs. But Donald Trump is a gutless, careless fake president*.
Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "Attorney General William Barr will consider legal action to force governors to ease social distancing requirements for their states.... [Barr] told talk radio host Hugh Hewitt that extraordinary measures to fight the spread of coronavirus were justified, but Barr argued that at some point they infringed on constitutional rights, reported Bloomberg. 'We have to give businesses more freedom to operate in a way that's reasonably safe,' Barr said. 'To the extent that governors don't and impinge on either civil rights or on the national commerce -- our common market that we have here -- then we'll have to address that.'... 'These are very, very burdensome impingements on liberty, and we adopted them, we have to remember, for the limited purpose of slowing down the spread, that is bending the curve,' Barr said. 'We didn't adopt them as the comprehensive way of dealing with this disease.' The attorney general agreed with Trump's call to reopen businesses in the weeks ahead, and which GOP governors have signaled they're willing to do soon." ~~~
~~~ Pete Williams of NBC News: Barr "called stay-at-home orders 'disturbingly close to house arrest.'" ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I feel so much better knowing Bill Barr is looking out for me.
Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A coronavirus-related policy shift that could have cleared the way for thousands of federal prisoners to be sent home early was abruptly reversed this week, according to friends and family members of inmates. Prison officials indicated earlier this month that inmates who had served less than half their sentences could still be considered for early release to limit the spread of infection behind bars. However, inmates in various prisons who had been put into prerelease quarantine almost two weeks ago were advised Monda by authorities that the policy had changed.... However, shortly after this article was published Tuesday, a Justic Department spokesman suggested yet another course correction and indicated that officials at the Bureau of Prisons were confused or given inaccurate guidance about previous directives from Attorney General William Barr.... The reversal reported by inmates ... on Monday could have dashed the hopes of several well-known prisoners seeking release from federal custody, including former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former Trump personal lawyer Michael Cohen. Neither man has served half his sentence." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The second I read the first sentence of Gerstein's report I thought, "Ah, the Michael Cohen Rule." Trump probably threw a fit when he found out Cohen would get to go home.
Common Dreams, republished in the Raw Story: "Reporting out Monday shed new light on the fact that millions of U.S. citizens are not eligible to receive coronavirus stimulus checks because of who they married. This large group, as the Los Angeles Times reported, is made of American citizens who file taxes jointly with a spouse who uses an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number &-- an identification the IRS issues to workers who don't have a Social Security Number. Those with ITINs include those who are undocumented and those who may be in the legalization process."
Huh. Nicholas Florko of STAT: "Rick Bright, one of the nation's leading vaccine development experts and the director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, is no longer leading the organization, officials told STAT. The shakeup at the agency, known as BARDA, couldn't come at a more inopportune time for the office, which invests in drugs, devices, and other technologies that help address infectious disease outbreaks and which has been at the center of the government's coronavirus pandemic response. Bright, whose departure was confirmed by three industry sources and two current Trump administration sources, will instead move into a narrower role at the National Institutes of Health. Gary Disbrow, Bright's former deputy at BARDA, will serve as the acting director of the office, an HHS spokesperson confirmed to STAT.... None of the sources articulated the reason for Bright's departure, though several mentioned recent chafing between Bright and Bob Kadlec, [a] current HHS assistant secretary...."
Alex Daugherty of the Miami Herald: "Miami Democratic Rep. Donna Shalala, the lone House Democrat on the committee set up to oversee $500 billion in taxpayer money being used for coronavirus-related payouts to large businesses, violated federal law when she failed to disclose stock sales while serving in Congress.... [T]he transactions were not publicly reported as required by the STOCK Act, a 2012 law that ... requires [members of Congress] to report stock sales and purchases within 45 days.... There isn't any evidence that Shalala bought or sold stocks based on inside information." --s ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Arf. My guess is that Shalala isn't a crook; she just accidentally forgot to follow the law. But whatever the reason, it would seem she's not the best person to serve as a watchdog over financial transactions. I realize it's her staff who will do the work, but a 79-year-old probably isn't someone you want to put in charge of poring over the fine print of thousands of financial documents.
Lena Sun of the Washington Post: "Even as states move ahead with plans to reopen their economies, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Tuesday that a second wave of the novel coronavirus will be far more dire because it is likely to coincide with the start of flu season. 'There's a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through,' CDC Director Robert Redfield said in an interview with The Washington Post.... 'We're going to have the flu epidemic and the coronavirus epidemic at the same time,' he said. Having two simultaneous respiratory outbreaks would put unimaginable strain on the health-care system, he said.... In a wide-ranging interview, Redfield said federal and state officials need to use the coming months to prepare for what lies ahead. As stay-at-home orders are lifted, officials need to stress the continued importance of social distancing, he said. They also need to massively scale up their ability to identify the infected through testing and find everyone they interact with through contact tracing." A Raw Story summary report is here.
Marilynn Marchione of the AP: "A malaria drug widely touted by ... Donald Trump for treating the new coronavirus showed no benefit in a large analysis of its use in U.S. veterans hospitals. There were more deaths among those given hydroxychloroquine versus standard care, researchers reported.... Hydroxychloroquine made no difference in the need for a breathing machine, either.... The nationwide study was not a rigorous experiment. But with 368 patients, it's the largest look so far of hydroxychloroquine with or without the antibiotic azithromycin for COVID-19, which has killed more than 171,000 people as of Tuesday. The study was posted on an online site for researchers and has not been reviewed by other scientists.... The NIH and others have more rigorous tests underway." ~~~
~~~ An "MD at a major academic medical center wrote to Josh Marshall of TPM: "It's a retrospective study. That means medication choice was up to the docs.... The patients who got HC or HC + azithro were more likely to have poor oxygenation, have high blood pressure, have anemia, have high levels of inflammation at baseline! Usually, the sicker you start, the worse you do. I'm just saying that this should allow the real clinical trials the space to get done." ~~~
~~~ Tracy Connor & Adam Rawnsley of the Daily Beast: "President Trump was grilled Tuesday about his flogging of an anti-malaria drug as a coronavirus treatment after a government-funded study showed it didn't help veterans and was associated with more deaths. He dodged. 'I don't know of the report,' he said at the daily briefing.... The team [of researchers] acknowledged that patients who got hydroxychlroquine were likely to be among the most critically ill, but even accounting for that, the death rate [of the patients who got hydroxychloroquine] was outsize." ~~~
~~~ It's Over When the Hannity Aria Ends. Justin Baragona of the Daily Beast: "After weeks of incessantly hyping an unproven anti-malarial drug as a potential miracle cure for the coronavirus, Fox News has seemingly ditched its nearly round-the-clock promotion of hydroxychloroquine. Unsurprisingly, the change in tone coincided with President Donald Trump's own retreat from touting the drug, and comes as multiple studies have shown no benefit to COVID-19 patients." ~~~
~~~ MEANWHILE. Joe Palca of NPR: "A panel of experts convened by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases recommends against doctors using a combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin for the treatment of COVID-19 patients because of potential toxicities. 'The combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin was associated with QTc prolongation in patients with COVID-19,' the panel said. QTc prolongation increases the risk of sudden cardiac death. The recommendation against their combined use would seem to fly in the face of comments made by President Trump suggesting the combination might be helpful. On March 21, for example, the president described them in a tweet as having a 'real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine.'... He has repeatedly touted the use of the drugs during televised coronavirus task force briefings.... The expert panel, convened by the NIH Institute that Dr. Anthony Fauci directs, produced a set of guidelines for doctors to use in treating COVID-19 patiens.... For the most part, the guidelines are agnostic about the use of experimental medications.... But occasionally, there are recommendations explicitly against certain therapies."
Jin Wu & Allison McCann of the New York Times: "At least 28,000 more people have died during the coronavirus pandemic over the last month than the official Covid-19 death counts report, a review of mortality data in 11 countries shows -- providing a clearer, if still incomplete, picture of the toll of the crisis. In the last month, far more people died in these countries than in previous years, The New York Times found. The totals include deaths from Covid-19 a well as those from other causes, likely including people who could not be treated as hospitals became overwhelmed.... In Paris, more than twice the usual number of people have died each day, far more than the peak of a bad flu season. In New York City, the number is now four times the normal amount.... The differences are particularly stark in countries that have been slow to acknowledge the scope of the problem." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Annals of "Journalism", Ctd. Watching Hannity Is Dangerous to Your Health. Bob Brigham of RawStory: "Anew [sic] study from the University of Chicago's Becker Friedman Institute for Economics found that 'greater viewership of "Hannity" relative to "Tucker Carlson Tonight" was strongly associated with a greater number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the early stages of the pandemic.'... The researchers commissioned a poll of more than 1,000 Fox News viewers, which found that Carlson's viewers were more likely to change their behavior earlier than Hannity's viewers.... The researchers then compared the death rate in counties that favored either host, finding 'approximately 30% more COVID-19 cases' in areas that preferred Hannity than those that watched Carlson." --s
Delaware. Karl Baker of the Delaware News Journal: "George Gianforcaro, owner of the small, Newark, Delaware-based Indutex USA, said the Federal Emergency Management Agency did not pay him when it took possession of two imported shipments of masks bound for customers across the United States.... He said he does not know where the seized N95 masks are today, or whether they have been distributed to medical facilities or others.... In an emailed statement, FEMA appeared to deny Gianforcaro's charge without addressing the specific claims.... Gianforcaro canceled the remainder of the order.... 'Let's not forget I paid $4 million for this product on March 18,' Gianforcaro said, referring to the million-mask order. 'This is getting very, very expensive. I don't have any money and I don't have any product and there's people that are asking for it.'" --s
Georgia. Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp ... has a bold plan to turn his state into the place to die. Kemp, a Republican and an ally of President Trump, just called for the reopening within days of his state's gyms, fitness centers, bowling alleys, body-art studios, barbers, nail salons, cosmetologists, aestheticians, beauty schools, massage therapists, theaters, private social clubs and dine-in restaurants. He's doing this even though the state ranks near last in testing, even though it's not clear that covid-19 cases are declining there, and even knowing 'we're probably going to have to see our cases continue to go up,' as Kemp himself said.... It has been 88 years since Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis developed the idea of states serving as 'laboratories of democracy.' But even that great thinker probably couldn't have imagined states serving as actual laboratories, experimenting with the spread of infectious diseases in their populations. Now several Republican governors, with Trump's encouragement, are racing to reopen during the pandemic, using their constituents as lab rats to see what happens when you relax virus containment." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Obviously Milbank doesn't care about people like me, who are so bored sitting home that it seems like a great time to fly down to Georgia & get a tattoo.
Michigan. Matt Viser & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's [D] administration on Tuesday abruptly canceled a no-bid contract to help track the spread of the coronavirus in Michigan, a day after announcing the hiring of a state Democratic consultant and a national firm that has worked for prominent Democratic causes. The reversal comes amid complaints that the governor tapped politically connected firms to collect health data on state residents and monitor sensitive medical information.... The Michigan contract, worth nearly $200,000 over the next eight weeks, was signed Monday and allowed the hiring of a subcontractor to help with 'contact tracing,' a process to track residents with the coronavirus and those with whom they have interacted.... The episode illustrates the political and ethical pitfalls involved in the large amounts of money suddenly being spent across the country to curb the coronavirus outbreak and boost the economy."
Texas. Brendan Cole of Newsweek: Texas Lt. Gov. "Dan Patrick [R], who turned 70 this month, faced a social media backlash in March for telling Fox News that many of his generation were willing to 'take a chance' and return to work because an economy that was shut down by the coronavirus would harm future generations. As parts of Texas started to reopen this week following weeks of restrictions, Patrick defended his comments on Monday, telling anchor Tucker Carlson again that the recent economic hardship had left him 'vindicated.'... Comparing the death toll in Texas with its population, he went on to say, 'every life is valuable but 500 people out of 29 million and we're locked down and we're crushing the average worker, we're crushing small business, we're crushing the markets, we're crushing this country.... There are more important things than living, and that's saving this country for my children and my grandchildren and ... for all of us....'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Wisconsin. Republicans Are Dangerous to Your Health. Alison Dirr of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Officials have identified seven people who appear to have contracted COVID-19 through activities related to the April 7 election, Milwaukee Health Commissioner Jeanette Kowalik said Monday. Six of the cases are in voters and one is a poll worker, Kowalik said.... Tuesday will mark the 14th day since the election -- a time frame during which epidemiologists agree symptoms typically appear." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Sapna Maheshwari & Vanessa Friedman of the New York Times: "American department stores, once all-powerful shopping meccas that anchored malls and Main Streets across the country, have been dealt blow after blow in the past decade. J.C. Penney and Sears were upended by hedge funds. Macy's has been closing stores and cutting corporate staff. Barneys New York filed for bankruptcy last year. But nothing compares to the shock the weakened industry has taken from the coronavirus pandemic.... Even as they have worked to transform themselves for e-commerce with apps, websites and in-store exchanges, the outbreak has laid bare how dependent the department stores have remained on their physical outposts.... None of them were in as immediate dire straits as Neiman Marcus, which has both an enormous debt burden ... and a raft of expensive rents in the most high-profile shopping destinations, signed during boom times."
Anna Nicolaou & Alex Barker of the Financial Times: "Walt Disney will stop paying more than 100,000 employees this week, nearly half of its workforce, as the world's biggest entertainment company tries to weather the coronavirus lockdown.... The decision leaves Disney staff reliant on state benefits ... even as the company protects executive bonus schemes ... typically worth $1.5bn. By contrast some big multinationals, including L'Oréal and Total in France, have vowed to forgo state aid in a show of solidarity with taxpayers.... In Orlando, home to more than 70,000 Disney cast members, Florida offers unemployment payments of up to $275 a week for 12 weeks -- among the lowest rates in the US." [Firewalled]--s
** Fiona Harvey of the Guardian: "The world is facing widespread famine 'of biblical proportions' because of the coronavirus pandemic, the chief of the UN's food relief agency has warned, with a short time to act before hundreds of millions starve. More than 30 countries in the developing world could experience widespread famine, and in 10 of those countries there are already more than 1 million people on the brink of starvation, said David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Programme." --s
Martin Matishak & Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "The Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday reaffirmed its support for the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election with the goal of putting Donald Trump in the Oval Office. Tuesday's bipartisan report, from a panel chaired by North Carolina Republican Richard Burr, undercuts Trump's years of efforts to portray allegations of Kremlin assistance to his campaign as a 'hoax,' driven by Democrats and a 'deep state' embedded within the government bureaucracy.... Senators and committee aides examined everything from the sources and methods used for the intelligence-gathering, to the Kremlin's actions itself. The 158-page report is heavily redacted, with dozens of pages blacked out entirely. But its final conclusions were unambiguous." A New York Times report is here.
Presidential Race. Steve M.: Whatever the arc of the coronavirus pandemic, "Trump's numbers won't change much. They never do. A slight majority of the country doesn't trust his leadership, but the minority that thinks he's an amazingly good president still might be enough to win the Electoral College, even if we have a six-figure death toll and an unemployment rate well into the double digits on Election Day. Trump will just keep arguing with reporters, identifying scapegoats (today it's immigrants, tomorrow it will be blue-state governors with ongoing lockdowns), and promising miracles (though he appears to have already moved on from hydroxychloroquine, which was found to be a bust in another study). The base won't abandon him, even though we'll probably never have all the tests we need -- tests for the sick, tests to trace infection patterns, tests for antibodies -- as long as he's president."
Tim Mak of NPR: "The National Rifle Association's legal troubles have cost the powerful gun rights group $100 million, according to a recording of the group's board meeting obtained by NPR. In the January 2020 recording, NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre criticizes ongoing investigations by the New York and Washington, D.C., attorneys general, bemoaning 'th power of weaponized government.' And he told the NRA's board of directors, assembled for the group's winter meeting in January, that the organization has had to make $80 million in cuts to stay afloat.... The NRA announced layoffs and pay cuts in late March, blaming the coronavirus crisis for these measures." Mrs. McC: The head of the shoot-'em-up society has a lot of nerve complaining about "weaponized government." ~~~
~~~ Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "There is no violin small enough.... Normally, I'd support intervention to support the laid off workers, but in this case I'd say thoughts and prayers should be more than sufficient."
Beyond the Beltway
Arizona. Laurie Roberts of the Arizona Republic: "Unless Rep. Shawnna Bolick really is living in a tiny box on Bell Road [in a UPS store], she may be in a heap of trouble. In fact, the first-term legislator could be disqualified for running for reelection this year. If that happens, look for Republicans to break out in a wholesale sweat.... Bolick will have a chance to explain at a hearing before Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott McCoy on April 29.... The loss of one seat would give the parties a 30-30 split in the House, essentially clearing a spot at the table for Democrats when laws are made.... If they take two seats, Democrats would seize control of the House for the first time since 1966." --s
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