The Commentariat -- March 20, 2020
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Brett Samuels of the Hill: "An official working for Vice President Mike Pence has tested positive for the coronavirus, his office announced Friday. 'This evening we were notified that a member of the Office of the Vice President tested positive for the Coronavirus,' Pence's press secretary, Katie Miller,said in a statement. 'Neither President Trump nor Vice President Pence had close contact with the individual. Further contact tracing is being conducted in accordance with CDC guidelines.'"
Fred Imbert & Pippa Stevens of CNBC: "Stocks attempted to rally on Friday, but failed, concluding one of the most volatile weeks on Wall Street ever as investors grapple with mounting fears over the coronavirus' economic blow. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 913.21 points lower, or more than 4%, at 19,173.98 after rallying more than 400 points earlier in the day. The S&P 500 slid 4.3% to 2,304.92. The Nasdaq Composite closed 3.8% lower at 6,879.52 after jumping more than 2%. The Dow dropped more than 17% for the week, its biggest one-week fall since October 2008, when it slid 18.2%. The S&P 500 lost more than 13% week to date after dropping another 11.5% last week. The Nasdaq fell 12.6%. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq also had their worst weekly performances since the financial crisis in 2008. The 30-stock Dow is now 35.2% below its all-time high level from February, while the S&P 500 is 32.1% below its high." ~~~
~~~ From Friday's New York Times coronavirus updates: "Friday's drop [in market values] meant that the Dow Jones industrial average closed below where it stood on the day before Mr. Trump was inaugurated, erasing the so-called 'Trump bump' that the president has cited as evidence of the success of his presidency. The S&P 500 isn't far from that mark as well....
"New York's governor told the state's residents to stay indoors and ordered nonessential businesses to keep workers home. The Federal Reserve moved to backstop some municipal money market funds, and the U.S. is extending the tax filing deadline to July 15."
Donald Trump held another press briefing, where everybody huddled together behind the podium. He & that dick Mike Pompeo both referred to the "Chinese virus." "During the hourlong briefing, Mr. Trump grew increasingly confrontational with reporters who asked him to detail his message to Americans who were shaken by their lives being upended and scared at the spread of the virus. 'It is a bad signal that you are putting out to the American people,' he admonished a reporter from NBC who asked what the president would say to frightened citizens. 'You want to get back to reporting instead of sensationalism. Let's see if it works. I happen to feel good about it....'... Mr. Trump signaled Friday that the federal government was mobilizing industry to provide urgently needed resources to help halt the spread of the virus, but he did not specify what steps he had taken.... Deborah Birx, who is leading the administration's coronavirus response, detailed a 'concerning trend' from Italy: the mortality rate in males is twice as high as females in every age group affected by the virus."
~~~ Real-Time Fact-Checking. "The Answer Is No." Anthony Fauci responds to Trump's claim, made again Friday -- after having been corrected Thursday -- that an anti-malaria drug is "very effective" at mitigating Covid-19 symptoms: ~~~
~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post has a full rundown & analysis of the exchange between the NBC reporter -- Peter Alexander -- and Donald Trump, with a Tony Fauci cameo: "... the exchange epitomized just how out of tune Trump is with actual developments and his top health officials." In a tweet, Alexander has a shorter version: "I offered both Pres Trump and VP Pence an opportunity to reassure Americans. Simple question: 'What do you say to Americans who are scared?' Trump, to me: 'I say, you're a terrible reporter.' Pence, an hour later: 'Don't be afraid. Be vigilant'." ~~~
~~~ Erik Ortiz of NBC News: "A longtime employee of NBC News died Thursday after testing positive for the coronavirus, NBC News Chairman Andy Lack said in an email to staff members. Larry Edgeworth, 61, who worked in an equipment room at NBC News' 30 Rockefeller Plaza headquarters in New York, also suffered from other health issues, according to his wife, Crystal.... Edgeworth previously spent 25 years at NBC News working as an audio technician, during which he was well-known to many network correspondents with whom he traveled around the world." Mrs. McC: NBC News' Katy Tur gave an on-air eulogy for Edgeworth, who she said often worked as her soundman. I'm guessing he worked with Peter Alexander, too.
Abigail Abrams of Time: "Danni Askini started feeling chest pain, shortness of breath and a migraine all at once on a Saturday in late February.... Askini was given a final test on the seventh day of her illness, and once doctors helped manage her flu and pneumonia symptoms, they again sent her home to recover. She waited another three days for a lab to process her test, and at last she had a diagnosis: COVID-19. A few days later, Askini got the bills for her testing and treatment: $34,927.43.... Public health experts predict that tens of thousands and possibly millions of people across the United States will likely need to be hospitalized for COVID-19 in the foreseeable future.And Congress has yet to address the problem. On March 18, it passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which covers testing costs going forward, but it doesn't do anything to address the cost of treatment." --s
Kansas. The Kansas City Star: "The chairman of the Riley County Commissioners [Republican Marvin Rodriguez] suggested this week that the global coronavirus pandemic is not a problem locally because unlike in Italy, there are not a lot of Chinese people living in central Kansas, according to two other officials who attended the meeting Wednesday night.... But, does he understand why it's dangerous to Asian Americans to talk like that, and that there has been an increase in reported attacks? 'Well, they say it came out of China,' he answered, 'and I'm not putting it past the Chinese government in communist China.... Normally, this kind of thing spreads slowly,' he answered, so 'I put two and two together. I've been around a long time, girl.'" --s
Dareh Gregorian of NBC News on Sen. Richard Burr's amazing financial dealings. (Related stories linked below.) "Disclosure records reviewed by NBC News show that three other senators sold major holdings around the same time, including Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., and James Inhofe, R-Okla. Asked about the stock sales Friday..., Donald Trump singled out Feinstein, a Democrat, and then said he knew all the senators involved and 'I find them to be honorable people.' Feinstein and her husband shed up to $6 million worth of stock in Allogene Therapeutics, a biotech company, between the end of January and Feb. 18, disclosure records show. A Feinstein spokesman told NBC News on Friday that she 'did not sell any stock. The transactions you're referencing were made by her spouse. All of Senator Feinstein's assets are in a blind trust, as they have been since she came to the Senate. She has no involvement in any of her husband's financial decisions.'" ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Kiss of death: Donald Trump calls you an honorable person.
** Taylor Telford & Thomas Heath of the Washington Post (from the live market updates): "Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced Friday that the administration has moved the IRS deadline for filing taxes from April 15 to July 15 due to the disruption caused by the coronavirus. The new deadline will give millions of taxpayers more time to fill out their tax forms as coronavirus upends daily life across the country. Mnuchin made the announcement on twitter, citing President Trump's directive." Mrs. McC: This is a big deal for Mrs. Procrastinator here.
Reid Epstein, et al., of the New York Times: "Michael R. Bloomberg is abandoning plans to form a new super PAC for the presidential race and pay his field organizers through November, instead opting to give $18 million to the Democratic National Committee for the party's battleground states program.... The Bloomberg memo said new D.N.C. staffing would be 'drawing in part from our own incredibly experienced and talented organizing staff.'" Mrs. McC: I hope so, because we know for sure the DNC doesn't know WTF it's doing. ~~~
~~~ An AP story is here.
~~~~~~~~~~
Donald Trump Has Turned the U.S. into a Shithole Country. (Sorry about the language; it's Donald Trump's language.)
The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments for today are here. The Washington Post's live updates are here. Access to both is free.
The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments for Thursday are here. "The State Department recommended on Thursday that American citizens abroad either return home or stay in place as the new coronavirus pandemic grows. The department raised its global travel advisory to level four, the top-tier warning, usually reserved for nations with war zones or beset by serious disruptions....
"Italy passed a grim milestone on Thursday: Deaths linked to the virus there had soared to 3,405, exceeding the toll in China, where the virus first broke out.... Italy is increasingly turning to its military for help. Cemeteries in the northern city of Bergamo are so overwhelmed that troops were called in to transport bodies elsewhere to be cremated." As Chris Hayes of MSNBC pointed out, the epicenter of the outbreak is in Northern Italy, the richest part of the country, & a region that has a higher hospital-bed-per-capita ratio than the U.S....
"The Trump administration is asking state labor officials to delay releasing the precise number of unemployment claims they are fielding, an indication of how uneasy policymakers are about further roiling a stock market already plunging in response to the coronavirus outbreak. In an email sent Wednesday, the Labor Department instructed state officials to only 'provide information using generalities to describe claims levels (very high, large increase)' until the department releases the total number of national claims next Thursday. The email ... noted that the reports were monitored closely by financial markets and should therefore remain embargoed." ~~~
~~~ Quoctrung Bui & Justin Wolfers of the New York Times: "Numbers released on Thursday by the Labor Department -- as well as a preliminary analysis of even more recent data -- provide the first hard confirmation that the new coronavirus is bringing the United States economy to a shuddering halt. The government reported that the number of initial unemployment claims rose to 281,000 last week, a sharp rise from 211,000 the previous week. This rise in initial claims of 70,000 is larger than any week-to-week movement that occurred during (or since) the 2008 financial crisis. But even these numbers understate the economy's free fall, as they reflect the state of the economy last week. Based on preliminary news reports this week from 15 states, it's already clear that initial claims will skyrocket next week, most likely to levels never seen before."
Paul Campos in LG&$: "The first cases of COVID-19 were officially identified in the USA and the Republic of Korea on the same day (January 20th...). In the ROK, the epidemic appears to be ending, at least for the present. In the USA, it's just getting started. The primary explanation for these catastrophically different outcomes is that the government of the ROK immediately mobilized to stop the virus, while Donald Trump spent weeks -- the most critical possible weeks -- claiming that concern about the virus was a Democrat hoax." ~~~
~~~ Grady McGregor of Fortune: "South Korea has the highest rate of coronavirus testing in the world.... In late February and early March, South Korea reported the highest number of confirmed cases outside China, but in recent weeks the number of new cases has steadily declined, in part, because authorities have a grasp of who has the disease and who doesn't." ~~~
~~~ New York Times Editors: "A string of failures at the White House, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration have led to intractable delays in making diagnostic tests for coronavirus widely available in the United States.... Every region that has managed to get a coronavirus outbreak under control has succeeded thanks to a combination of social distancing and aggressive efforts to test as many people as possible.... Epidemiological testing -- where the contacts of infected people are identified, tested in turn and isolated as needed -- is the only way to fully break the chains of transmission, says Adhanom Ghebreyesus Tedros, head of the W.H.O.... American officials have not absorbed that lesson.... The federal government's mind-boggling failure has bred an apathy that's as virulent as any microbe." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: IOW, "sheltering in place" without being tested makes some kind of sense only if you live alone.
Nobody in their wildest dreams would think we need tens of thousands of ventilators. -- Donald Trump, press briefing Thursday
Uh, nobody but CDC scientists, who predicted the ventilator shortage in 2015. 2015. Those CDC researchers are wild dreamers, aren't they? Mrs. Bea McCrabbie
Nobody knew there would be a pandemic or epidemic of this proportion. Nobody has ever seen anything like this before. -- Donald Trump, press briefing Thursday ~~~
~~~ Actually, Your Own DHHS Knew. David Sanger, et al., of the New York Times: A simulation of a respiratory virus by the Department of Health & Human Services in 2019 produced "sobering results -- contained in a draft report dated October 2019 that has not previously been reported -- drove home just how underfunded, underprepared and uncoordinated the federal government would be for a life-or-death battle with a virus for which no treatment existed.... Many of the potentially deadly consequences of a failure to address the shortcomings are now playing out in all-too-real fashion across the country. And it was hardly the first warning for the nation's leaders. Three times over the past four years the U.S. government, across two administrations, had grappled in depth with what a pandemic would look like, identifying likely shortcomings and in some cases recommending specific action." Thanks to Patrick for the link. ~~~
(~~~ AND Sen. Richard Burr Knew, Too. NPR, ProPublica & Mother Jones stories linked below.) ~~~
(~~~ In fact, Quite a Few Senators Knew. Related stories linked below.) ~~~
~~~ Ignorant, Surly President Gives Another Briefing. Washington Post liveblog: President Trump incorrectly said in a Thursday news briefing that chloroquine, a malaria drug, has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to fight the novel coronavirus and that there were plans to 'make that drug available almost immediately.' But after Trump spoke, FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn clarified that chloroquine would first need to be tested for use on the virus.... Trump had called the drug a possible 'game changer.'" (Also linked yesterday.) As Anthony Fauci said on CNN Thursday night, there is only anecdotal evidence that chloroquine works to reduce flu symptoms. Mrs. McC: Trump's performance was a great example of snake-oil-salesmanship, though. ~~~
~~~ Ladies & Gentlemen, Fix Bandanas! Mrs. McCrabbie: Yesterday I first addressed the lagtime between the moment Trump signed the Defense Procurement Act & hospitals actually got supplies because of it. Well, it's worse than I thought:
~~~ Matt Perez of Forbes: "President Trump faced questions Thursday around his reticence to use the Defense Production Act to compel companies to produce healthcare items to combat the coronavirus, a day after he said he'd be invoking its powers. Trump faced criticism early Thursday from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who in a statement called on the president to use the Defense Production Act to address supply shortages, saying, 'There is not a day to lose.' Addressing his reluctance, Trump said the federal government is 'not a shipping clerk' and that 'governor's are supposed to be doing it,' later saying, 'Nobody's heard the number of masks ordered.'... When asked about gloves, respirators and other equipment outside surgical masks that are being requested by state governments, he said, 'For years they bought them and now they're coming to the federal government.'
"Asked about the production of n95 masks -- and reports that a shortage has led some healthcare workers to use bandannas -- Vice President Mike Pence said a stockpile of 35 million masks produced by 3M were now available to use after a legislation change Wednesday night, which apparently addressed a liability issue that companies could face, according to Trump.... 300 million. That's how many masks could be needed for healthcare workers versus the current stockpile of 30 million, as testified to Congress by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar at the end of February." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Meagan Vazquez of CNN: According to the order Trump signed, he would use the Defense Procurement Act "to obtain 'health and medical resources needed to respond to the spread of COVID-19, including personal protective equipment and ventilators.'" BUT THEN, "The President stressed later Wednesday that he would only use the powers granted under the Defense Production Act 'in a worst case scenario.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ As former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said on MSNBC, after Trump made the announcement of the order, "he probably heard from some of his friends in industry" who urged him to walk it back. ~~~
~~~ Note to Generalissimo Donaldo: "We Are at War with No Ammo." Andrew Jacobs, et al., of the New York Times: "With coronavirus cases soaring, doctors, nurses and other front-line medical workers across the United States are confronting a dire shortage of masks, surgical gowns and eye gear to protect them from the virus.... [At his press briefing Thursday,] the president ... said there were no immediate plans to address medical equipment shortages by activating the Defense Production Act.... 'We hope we are not going to need it,' he said. The president's optimistic statements contrasted starkly with the situation on the ground, particularly in Washington and New York, the states with the largest number of coronavirus cases. Earlier this week, administrators informed doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering in Manhattan that they were down to one-week's supply of respirator masks.... Rebecca Bartles ... [of] the Providence St. Joseph hospital chain based in Washington, said it was only a matter of days before some of the system's 51 hospitals and 800 clinics run out of personal protective equipment -- a situation that imperils the nation's ability to respond to a pandemic still in its early stages. 'We're on mile one of a marathon,' she said, adding, 'what does mile 25 look like?'... 'We are at war with no ammo,' said a surgeon in Fresno, Calif...." ~~~
~~~ When Your Doctor Looks Like a Wild West Bandit. Carolyn Johnson, et al., of the Washington Post: "As the federal government scrambles to rapidly boost the nation's capacity to test for the novel coronavirus, cutting red tape and leaning on the speed and technology of the private sector, new delays are developing because of a shortage of raw materials and vital items: chemical solutions, swabs and even face masks for health-care workers. This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention attempted to address the mask shortage by recommending the use of bandannas, if necessary. 'In settings where face masks are not available, [health-care providers] might use homemade masks (e.g., bandana, scarf) for care of patients with COVID-19 as a last resort,' the CDC said, referring to the disease caused by the virus. 'Caution should be exercised when considering this option.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Thanks to Akhilleus & Hattie. (See yesterday's Comments.)I view it as a, in a sense, a wartime President. We had the best economy we've ever had. And then, one day, you have to close it down in order to defeat this enemy. -- Donald Trump, Wednesday ~~~
~~~ Brian Bennett & Tessa Berenson of Time: "Trump's rhetorical shift to saying the country is at war reflects a strategy to blunt criticism and push blame onto a foreign power. By positioning the virus as an enemy, Trump can go on the attack at a moment when he's on the defensive about the sluggish government response to the virus so far. And by assigning blame to a foreign menace, Trump is attempting to justify why the tanking economy isn't his fault after spending much of his presidency crowing about and tying his own reelection bid to a booming economy.... 'He realized if he's painted in 2020 as a recession President who had a Herbert Hoover-like impulse to not act, then he was due to not be re-elected,' says Douglas Brinkley, an expert in U.S. political history at Rice University.... Instead, Brinkley says, 'he's trying to be FDR' -- Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the President who led the nation out of the Great Depression and through World War II."
Close-up of Trump's notes for his Thursday presser. Photo by the Washington Post. NOT Photoshopped.~~~ Trump Finds Prepared Remarks Too Racist-Neutral. Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "President Trump took direct aim at China on Thursday for allowing the spread of the coronavirus.... The president dug in on his use of the term 'Chinese virus' to describe the novel coronavirus that was first detected in Wuhan, China, late last year and did not rule out directing economic retaliation toward Beijing.... Asked whether he is considering 'repercussions for China' or a realignment of the supply system in which some American manufacturers rely on Chinese labor or raw materials, Trump suggested he was open to the idea. 'I don't want to comment on that right now,' Trump said.... A Washington Post photographer captured an image of a printed copy of Trump's remarks that had the word 'corona,' a medical term for a family of viruses, crossed out and the word 'Chinese' put in its place with a black marker.... After appearing sobered by the scale of the crisis earlier in the week, Trump on Thursday bitterly attacked reporters and news organizations he said had failed to accurately report his accomplishments in confronting the virus." Emphasis added.
Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "It can become tedious to dwell on the fact that the president is a dangerous and ignorant narcissist who has utterly failed as an executive, leaving state governments on their own to confront a generational cataclysm. But no one should ever forget it. Soon even if the pandemic is still raging, there will be an election, and the public will be asked to render a verdict on Trump's leadership. Being clear that people are suffering and dying needlessly because the president can't do his job isn't looking backward. It's the only way to move forward."
Lena Sun of the Washington Post: "... the country's leading public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, appears to be on the sidelines, with its messages increasingly disrupted or overtaken by the White House.... The CDC, which has come under fire because of protracted delays in the rollout of agency-developed test kits, has not conducted its own telephone briefings for reporters in more than a week. Recent CDC recommendations on school closures and mass gatherings were overtaken by different guidelines issued by the coronavirus task force, creating confusion, experts and officials said."
Aaron Davis & Erin Cox of the Washington Post: "... after interviewing ... by phone [a coronavirus patient who had attended CPAC alongside Donald Trump and other top officials, Maryland] state health officials there announced March 7 that they would monitor only a handful of people, including the [man]'s immediate family members, for signs of the infection. Officials warned no CPAC attendees that they were particularly at risk, according to statements and interviews.... The handling of the potential exposure at CPAC, where Trump's then-chief of staff played down the threat of the virus, is a powerful example of the lack of urgency and poor coordination among agencies that has characterized the early U.S. response. The approach stands in stark contrast to aggressive actions taken by some countries that slowed the spread of the virus in its early days. In Singapore, for instance, public health officials not only interviewed the sick but also obtained patients' travel itineraries and used security camera footage to track their movements to help identify every person possible with whom they had incidental contact." After the man's CPAC contacts became public knowledge, "officials said public health workers had begun to locate and notify conference attendees.... In truth, no such effort was undertaken.... Political operatives who organized the conference undertook the responsibility themselves...."
Brett Samuels of the Hill: "This summer's Group of Seven (G-7) summit has been scrapped due to concerns over the coronavirus, the White House confirmed Thursday. World leaders will instead convene via videoconference. The annual summit was scheduled to take place from June 10-12 at the Camp David retreat.... The White House announced in October that the summit would be held at the Trump Organization's Doral property in Florida, triggering swift backlash from lawmakers and ethics experts who decried it as a conflict of interest given the president has not put his family company in a blind trust. President Trump gave into pressure a few days later, announcing that the summit would no longer take place at Doral."
Jeff Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) released a massive economic stimulus bill Thursday to fight the coronavirus's fallout, even as opposition emerged from some key Republicans to one of the central elements of the plan -- direct cash payments to many Americans.... The legislation would provide checks of $1,200 per adult for many families, as well as $500 for every child in those families. The size of the checks would diminish for those earning more than $75,000 and phase out completely for those earning more than $99,000. The poorest families, those with no federal income tax liability, would see smaller benefits, though the minimum would be set at $600.... About 22 million people earning under $40,000 a year would see no benefit under the GOP plan.... Democrats were working on their own proposals, which shun corporate loan programs being included by Republicans -- such as $50 billion for airlines -- suggesting that there will be difficulty in reaching bipartisan agreement." The Hill's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Well, I won't get a nickel under Mitch's plan, but I won't say whether that because I make too much money or too little. But I will say that it makes zero sense to discriminate against people who earn less than $40K/year since these are the very people who would put the money right back into the economy. ~~~
~~~ Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday defended the Senate Republicans coming up with a proposed $1 trillion economic stimulus plan to battle the coronavirus without any input from Democrats, saying bipartisan negotiations were skipped in favor of speed.... House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, in a joint statement, declared the proposal -- as written -- a nonstarter." ~~~
~~~ Caitlin Emma & Jennifer Scholtes of Politico: "The $1 trillion proposal Senate Republicans unveiled Thursday night represents one of the most dramatic bailouts in American history, picking winners and losers.... Airlines, financial markets, small businesses and hospitals would all get a boost under the nearly 250-page bill.... The bill would provide the battered [airline] industry with $58 billion in loans and loan guarantees, plus a holiday from paying fuel tax.... Those loans would come with some strings, including limits on compensation for executives. But Democrats had sought additional restrictions, like rules against stock buybacks.... A pot of $300 billion would be devoted to pumping cash to small businesses in the form of 'loans' employers wouldn't have to pay back as long as they maintain their payrolls during the emergency."
Tim Mak of NPR: "The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee warned a small group of well-connected constituents three weeks ago to prepare for dire economic and societal effects of the coronavirus, according to a secret recording obtained by NPR. The remarks from U.S. Sen. Richard Burr were more stark than any he had delivered in more public forums. On Feb. 27, when the United States had 15 confirmed cases of COVID-19, President Trump was tamping down fears and suggesting that the virus could be seasonal. 'It's going to disappear. One day, it's like a miracle. It will disappear,' the president said then.... On that same day, Burr attended a luncheon held at a social club called the Capitol Hill Club. And he delivered a much more alarming message. 'There's one thing that I can tell you about this: It is much more aggressive in its transmission than anything that we have seen in recent history,' he said, according to a secret recording of the remarks obtained by NPR. 'It is probably more akin to the 1918 pandemic.'... One public health expert told NPR that early warnings about a coming health crisis and its effects could have made a difference just a few weeks ago." ~~~
No matter the outbreak or threat, Congress and the federal government have been vigilant in identifying gaps in its readiness efforts and improving its response capabilities. -- Richard Burr, in a February 7 Fox "News" opinion piece, co-authored by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.)
~~~ BUT Burr Had 1.72 Million Reasons to Keep Mum. Robert Faturechi & Derek Willis of ProPublica: "Soon after he offered public assurances that the government was ready to battle the coronavirus, the powerful chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Richard Burr, sold off a significant percentage of his stocks, unloading between $628,000 and $1.72 million of his holdings on Feb. 13 in 33 separate transactions. As the head of the intelligence committee, Burr, a North Carolina Republican, has access to the government's most highly classified information about threats to America's security. His committee was receiving daily coronavirus briefings around this time, according to a Reuters story. A week after Burr's sales, the stock market began a sharp decline and has lost about 30% since.... Burr was one of just three senators who in 2012 opposed the bill that explicitly barred lawmakers and their staff from using nonpublic information for trades and required regular disclosure of those trades." ~~~
~~~ Russ Choma of Mother Jones: "Craig Holman, a government ethics expert for watchdog group Public Citizen, says that Burr's trades may have violated the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012. 'This has every appearance of insider trading and an egregious violation of the STOCK Act by Sen. Burr,' Holman says. Holman adds that the information that Burr was sharing with the constituents in the late February meeting included information that was not publicly available." ~~~
~~~ From the Daily Beast story linked immediately below: "Burr lashed out at National Public Radio on Thursday over its report revealing those private comments in a series of tweets that did not mention his stock trades."
~~~ Lachlan Markay, et al., of the Daily Beast: "The Senate's newest member sold off seven figures' worth of stock holdings in the days and weeks after a private, all-senators meeting on the novel coronavirus that subsequently hammered U.S. equities. Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) reported the first sale of stock jointly owned by her and her husband on Jan. 24, the very day that her committee, the Senate Health Committee, hosted a private, all-senators briefing from administration officials, including the CDC director and Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on the coronavirus.... It was the first of 29 stock transactions that Loeffler and her husband made through mid-February, all but two of which were sales.... Late Thursday night," Loeffler tweeted, '... Investment decisions are made by multiple third-party advisors without my or my husband's knowledge or involvement. 'As confirmed in the periodic transaction report to Senate Ethics, I was informed of these purchases and sales on February 16, 2020 -- three weeks after they were made.'... In the weeks after her spate of stock trades, Loeffler sought to downplay the public health and financial threats posed by the coronavirus.... The 15 stocks that Loeffler reported selling have lost more than a third of their value, on average, since she reported offloading them.... When Loeffler assumed office she immediately became the wealthiest member of Congress. The Atlanta businesswoman, whose husband is the chairman and CEO of the New York Stock Exchange, is worth an estimated $500 million." ~~~
~~~ Tia Mitchell of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Georgia's two U.S. senators bought and sold stocks during the same time they were receiving briefings on the coronavirus outbreak, leading to questions about whether they used inside information to guide their financial dealings. U.S. Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler both were wealthy before they arrived on Capitol Hill, but there is new scrutiny surrounding financial decisions they and other members have made during the coronavirus pandemic.... Perdue in nearly 100 transactions bought and sold in equal amounts, although exact figures cannot be determined.... A spokeswoman for Perdue said that ... he ... uses third-party money managers.... Perdue's sales fall anywhere between $148,050 to $995,000 and his purchases are in the range of $141,043 to $890,000.... Both senators have praised ... Donald Trump' handling of the coronavirus pandemic even as Democrats accused the White House of being slow to act and downplaying, at least initially, the severity of its spread. On Jan. 24, the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee -- Loeffler is a member -- and the Foreign Relations Committee -- Perdue is a member -- held a briefing on coronavirus that was open to the entire Senate." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Based on the AJC story, it would appear Perdue's trading was less virus-strategic than Burr's or Loeffler's. ~~~
~~~ Bob Brigham of RawStory: "The GOP Senate Caucus faced a massive scandal on Thursday after multiple GOP senators revealed in public filings that they had sold large stock holdings after private briefings on the coronavirus scandal. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) have all be implicated in the scandal. Now conservative Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe has also been caught up, after reporting he sold in late February." --s ~~~
~~~ Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "Following the president's lead, Republican lawmakers, activists and officials have adopted the president's language about the virus while avoiding any discussion of his response to the outbreak. Senator John Cornyn of Texas told reporters that 'China is to blame because' of 'the culture where people eat bats and snakes and dogs and things like that.' Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader of the House, called the disease 'Chinese coronavirus.' And on Twitter, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa wondered what all the commotion was about: 'I don't understand why China gets upset bc we refer to the virus that originated there the "Chinese virus" Spain never got upset when we referred to the Spanish flu in 1918&1919,' he wrote, in his typically hurried style.... The public needs to know that the Republican Party is culpable for the present crisis, just as it was culpable for the Great Recession, even if it did not originate either. It needs to know that in the face of a deadly pandemic, some Republican lawmakers appear to have looked to profit rather than to prepare. It needs to understand that the deadly incompetence of Republican governance is a feature, not a bug." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Yo, Chuck, there's a high probability that the "Spanish flu" did not originate in Spain. Indeed, there's some evidence the first cases cropped up in Kansas & U.S. military troops carried it to Europe.
Igor Derysch of Salon: "The Trump administration has used the public health crisis to impose new restrictions at the Southern border. The U.S. Embassy in Mexico announced Monday that 'all U.S. consulates in Mexico will suspend routine immigrant and nonimmigrant visa services starting March 18, 2020, and until further notice.'... The restrictions come as stores across the U.S. have been stripped bare by individuals stockpiling food as states and cities urge residents to stay inside as much as possible. The latest move could devastate farms that grow fruits and vegetables and rely on seasonal guest workers for their operations.... Dave Puglia, the president of the Western Growers Association, told Reuters that the restrictions will inevitably result in less food in the U.S. supply.... Puglia predicted that the supply of broccoli, cauliflower, celery, leafy greens, melons and radishes would be the hardest hit." --s
Fred Imbert & Thomas Franck of CNBC (@ ca. 10:20 am ET): "Stocks closed higher Thursday, erasing steep losses from earlier in the day as strong gains in big-tech shares led to a sharp turnaround. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 188.27 points, or nearly 1% to 20,087.19. The S&P 500 was up 0.5% at 2,409.39 while the Nasdaq Composite outperformed with a 2.3% surge to 7,150.58. Shares of Netflix and Facebook rose 5.3% and 4.2%, respectively. Amazon gained 2.8%. Earlier in the session, the Dow was down 721 points, or more than 3%. The S&P 500 briefly fell more than 3% as well." This is an update of a story linked earlier in the day. (Also linked yesterday.)
Faith Karimi & Sarah Moon of CNN: "The nation's most populous state is ordering its nearly 40 million residents to stay home to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. California Gov. Gavin Newsom's order marks the first statewide mandatory restrictions issued in the United States to help combat the outbreak.... The order will not be enforced by law enforcement, he added.... It goes into effect Thursday at midnight and includes exemptions for essential services such as public safety and medical care.... Under the order, essential services such as gas stations, pharmacies, grocery stores, farmers markets, food banks, convenience stores and delivery restaurants will remain open. So will banks, local government offices that provide services and law enforcement agencies."
Jeremy White of Politico: "More than half of California's population could contract coronavirus in the next eight weeks if the state isn't effective in curbing its spread, Gov. Gavin Newsom predicted Thursday in a letter to ... Donald Trump. That 56 percent rate of infection means that roughly 22.4 million Californians would come down with the virus. But a spokesperson for Newsom clarified that dramatic figure does not account for the types of aggressive 'mitigation efforts' that jurisdictions around California have adopted."
Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Hoax Porridge in the Pot Nine Days Old. J.M. Reiger of the Washington Post: “Sean Hannity denied calling coronavirus a hoax nine days after he called coronavirus a hoax. On Wednesday, Fox host Sean Hannity pushed back on criticism of his early coronavirus coverage. 'This program has always taken the coronavirus seriously and we’ve never called the virus a hoax,' Hannity said [Wednesday] night. But nine days earlier, Hannity did just that. 'They're scaring the living hell out of people and I see it again as like, "Oh, let's bludgeon Trump with this new hoax."'"
Forty Years of Service, No Gold Watch. Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "The acting director of the National Counterterrorism Center was removed Wednesday in what insiders fear is a purge by the Trump administration of career professionals at an organization set up after 9/11 to protect the nation from further attacks, according to two former U.S. officials. Russell E. Travers, a highly regarded intelligence professional with more than 40 years of government service, told colleagues he was fired by acting director of national intelligence Richard Grenell.... Travers, who took up the acting position last August, had been resistant to pressure to make personnel cuts at the center.... Also removed at the NCTC was Travers's acting deputy, Peter W. Hall, who is returning to the National Security Agency, the former officials said. The surprise move came hours after President Trump announced his intent to nominate Pentagon Special Operations and counterterrorism official Christopher Miller to head the center."
Presidential Race
Quint Forgey of Politico: "Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard announced Thursday that she would end her presidential campaign, formally winnowing the 2020 Democratic field to a two-man race between former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders." She endorsed Biden.
Christina Wilkie of CNBC: "In just over a month, three pillars underpinning [Trump's] argument for reelection have all collapsed: The strong economy Trump planned to run on; the ['socialist'] Sanders campaign Trump had planned to run against; and the 'us vs. them' approach to Washington and the federal government, on which Trump has built his political brand. On Wednesday, the Dow fell below the level it closed at on Jan. 19, 2017, the day before Trump took office promising to 'make America wealthy again.'... Meanwhile..., Democratic primary voters ... are poised to nominate an experienced moderate, Biden, to run against Trump in the fall.... By spearheading a massive handout of federal money through big government programs, Trump undermines one of the central tenets of Trumpism: his belief that the federal government is a corrupt, bloated and broken institution, at that the 'unelected bureaucrats' who fill its ranks are not to be trusted."
Anthony Adragna of Politico: "Nikki Haley has resigned from Boeing's board of directors over the company's pursuit of federal assistance in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the company disclosed Thursday.... 'I cannot support a move to lean on the federal government for a stimulus or bailout that prioritizes our company over others and relies on taxpayers to guarantee our financial position,' Haley wrote in a resignation letter included in the filing." Mrs. McC: You might wonder why I placed the link to this news item about Madam Ambassador Ambitious under "Presidential Race." There is a reason.
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