Good morning! Here is your news briefing for Tuesday March 10, 2020
THE DAILY SIGNAL
Mar 10, 2020
Good morning from Washington, where President Trump tries to find a better balance between caution and calm as the coronavirus spreads. Fred Lucas reports. A Supreme Court ruling forbidding unions from imposing fees on nonunion public employees hasn’t gotten through to some labor leaders, Kevin Mooney finds. A Texas congressman joins the podcast to talk border security. Plus: government paid leave doesn’t meet needs, Ukraine braces for the coronavirus, and Massachusetts isn’t all in for legalized pot. On this date in 1959, Tibetans unsuccessfully revolt against occupation forces of communist China by surrounding the summer palace of the Dalai Lama.
The Fairness Center estimates that in more than 70% of Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts, public school teachers who opted out of joining the union were required to pay fair share fees to teachers unions to cover collective bargaining costs.
“If we don’t start carrying these deportations out of these criminals and these people that have already had their day in court, we will continue the green light, the welcome sign to come in,” says Rep. Brian Babin.
Driving privilege cards must be renewed on an annual basis, and the cards would explicitly state that they can’t be used for voting or obtaining federal benefits.
Liberals have used the coronavirus to point to why the U.S. needs a government-paid family leave program (such as the FAMILY Act), so that employees can take time off from their jobs without losing much-needed paychecks.
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THE EPOCH TIMES
Shen Yun Performing Arts is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company. Get your tickets for the 2020 season today.
“When men are full of envy they disparage everything, whether it be good or bad.”TACITUS
Good morning,
The Dow Jones dropped nearly 2,000 points on Monday in response to fear over the coronavirus outbreak and a steep decline in oil prices.
Oil prices had dropped nearly 20 percent after Saudi Arabia cut prices in response to Moscow’s refusal to lower production amid shrinking demand.
Donald Trump Jr.., son of President Donald Trump, said he’d release his tax returns if Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, does the same. Trump Jr. also challenged Biden’s son to a debate on “who profited” off of their father’s public service. Read more
The Trump administration is taking the unusual step this week of appearing in a state court to defend the religious freedom of Catholic schools. Read more
Princeton University will move all lectures, seminars, and precepts online on March 23 and is encouraging students to stay home after spring break. Read more
SpaceX successfully launched another load of station supplies for NASA late on March 6 and nailed its 50th successful rocket landing. Read more
The FBI has failed in its duties to identify and stop homegrown violent extremists in the United States, the Justice Department inspector general said in a report released last week. Read more
Chinese authorities are ramping up propaganda that portrays their efforts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus in a positive light. Read more
Shen Yun takes you on an extraordinary journey through China’s 5,000 years of divinely inspired civilization. Exquisite beauty from the heavens, profound wisdom from dynasties past, timeless legends and ethnic traditions all spring to life through classical Chinese dance, enchanting live orchestral music, authentic costumes, and patented interactive backdrops. It is an immersive experience that will uplift your spirit and transport you to a magical world. It’s 5,000 years of civilization reborn!
The Problem With Health Care Price Transparency: We Don’t Have Cost Transparency
By Michael Williams$2.4 million. $1.5 million. $2.28 million. These are the amounts of money the health system where I work, teach, and receive health care spent purchasing a PET scanner, a CT scanner, and a three-month supply of pembrolizumab, a drug that treats a variety of solid-organ cancers. Read more
Why Socialism Will Never Die and Plague Humanity Forever
By Chris TalgoJoseph Schumpeter, one of the brightest economists of the 20th century, allegedly said socialism will never die because it has three constituencies who will forever advocate for it. It appears Schumpeter’s analysis has come true so far… Read more
The Michael Kors Phenomenon
By Valentin Schmid
(August 5, 2014)When everything is said and done, one thing will stand as a historic fact: Michael Kors ruled the streets of New York with his handbags for a few years in the early teens of the 21st century—and was a darling of Wall Street. Read more
Governments and international bodies can no longer turn a blind eye to one of the “worst atrocities committed” in modern times, experts said—as the world’s first independent legal analysis of evidence regarding forced organ harvesting in China concluded that the grisly practice has continued unabated.
Michigan, Washington, Missouri, Mississippi, Idaho, and North Dakota. Polling is spotty (FiveThirtyEight). Biden could win all six (Daily Caller). What Bernie will need to do to mount a comeback (FiveThirtyEight). Byron York looks at history to explain why Biden has very little chance of becoming president (Washington Examiner).
2.
Italy Cracking Down as Coronavirus Rages
Italy is stopping most travel and public gatherings as the country struggles with a high death rate (NY Times). This chart shows how the virus is targeting the elderly in Italy (Twitter). Prisoners rioted, with several now dead, over jail visits stopped due to the virus (NY Post). Meanwhile, a quick look at the differences and similarities between the cold, flu and coronavirus (Twitter). Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the coronavirus was created in a lab as a chemical weapon (Washington Examiner).
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3.
Sanders: DNC Got Klobuchar and Buttigieg to Drop Out and Help Biden
Camp Klobuchar and Buttigieg are claiming this is an outrage (Red State). A look at the collapse of Bernie Sanders (National Review).
4.
Biden: Healthcare is a Right
And yet he says he’d veto Medicare for All because we can’t afford it.
Fumento: Coronavirus Will Peak Then Fall Sooner Than You Think
He explains “Farr’s Law. First formulated in 1840 and ignored in every epidemic hysteria since, the law states that epidemics tend to rise and fall in a roughly symmetrical pattern or bell-shaped curve. AIDS, SARS, Ebola — they all followed that pattern. So does seasonal flu each year” (NY Post). According to John Fund, “Fumento has often been one of the few who gets big health stories right” (Twitter). More people are worried about getting the flu than coronavirus (Fox Business). And movie audiences were still turning out over the weekend (ABC News).
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6.
Several Media People Fall for Fake Trump Tweet
From the story: MSNBC host Joe Scarborough was one of several media figures who fell for an infamous fake tweet showing President Trump calling for the punishment of a sitting president if the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,000 points.
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Breaking overnight (the advisory from DOH was sent at 1:03 a.m.) — The Florida Department of Health has announced a new positive case of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Florida. A 69-year old female in Broward County has tested positive for COVID-19. The individual is isolated and will remain isolated until cleared by public health officials.
With more than 120,000 votes cast, just eight contenders remain in Florida Politics’ annual March Madness-inspired competition to determine the “best” lobbyist in the state.
The signature match of Round 3 was the battle between Justin Thames and Josh Aubuchon. Thames, who represents the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants, eked out a narrow win over the Holland & Knight lobbyist, earning himself a spot in the Elite Eight.
TallyMadness 2020 is down to the Elite Eight.
The round also continued the trend of women faring well against the male competition — Rubin Turnbull’s Amy Bisceglia, Florida School Boards Association lobbyist BillieAnn Gay, Pittman Law Group’s Jasmyne Henderson and Lewis Longman & Walker’s Natalie Kato all advanced.
GrayRobinson lobbyist Jessica Love was the exception to the rule, falling short in her match against Nick Matthews of Becker & Poliakoff.
In all, nine women made the Sweet Sixteen, and six are advancing to the next round. Also among them are Rutledge Ecenia’s Corinne Mixon and Metz Husband & Daughton’s Alli Liby-Schoonover.
Coming off embargo at 8 a.m. — A new Florida Atlantic University poll gauged voters’ feelings about the government’s handling of the novel coronavirus crisis, as well as approval ratings for U.S. President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis. Researchers from FIU’s Business and Economics Polling Initiative asked 1,216 registered Florida voters several questions, including about the Republican and Democratic presidential primaries, potential matchups in the general election and voters’ most important issues. Here’s the link for when the story is live.
Today’s Sunrise
Coronavirus fears are overshadowing the closing days of the 2020 Legislative Session. Gov. DeSantis meets with reporters to share the latest stats and talk about the state’s efforts to contain the virus, and the House Speaker says they need to prepare the state budget with a COVID-19 recession in mind.
Also, on today’s Sunrise.
— Five House members are in self-quarantine after learning that a person at the conference they all attended tested positive for the virus. Strap in, this story will be with us for a while.
— Two Tampa lawmakers are calling for a complete overhaul of the medical care provided in state prisons, and they’re wondering what happens when coronavirus is found behind bars.
— The Senate votes to create a task force to track down abandoned African American cemeteries covered by development.
— Florida Democrats are targeting Trump with a new PAC called Organizing Together 2020. Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried is chairing the group.
— POLITICO Florida reporter Arek Sarkissian talks about the inside story on the demise of the Airbnb bill.
— The latest on Florida Man, who can now get a free surgical mask from a Tampa strip club.
—@MKraju: Asked [Nancy] Pelosi if she thinks Trump should be tested after his interactions with Doug Collins and Matt Gaetz. Pelosi: “Tested for what?” me: coronavirus Pelosi: “Oh, I thought he should be tested for a long time now.” And she walked off
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—@RepJoseOliva: A special thanks to Dr @CaryPigmanand all the medical professionals who place themselves at risk to protect us. As well as @kionnemcghee@CordByrd @ByronDonalds @AnthonySabatini And @RepThadAltman for professionalism and selfless sacrifice for their colleagues
—@AnthonySabatini: Currently quarantined just off the House floor, awaiting COVID-19 test — can someone please send me a bottle of Bordeaux in the meantime?
—@RaheemKassam: I have now spoken to a number of people who were in/around the green room at CPAC when the attendee with coronavirus was there. People are apoplectic about how they have not been better informed of what happened. The attendee was there for much of Thursday at LEAST … The reason I am tweeting this: I have been flu-sick unwell for the past week, and now I am finding out there are people I was in direct contact with who were in direct contact with the infected.
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—@MDixon55: The Florida Legislature, where a chair getting through 50 bill agendas is considered “art.”
—@Shawn_R_Frost: It makes my heart so full to see legislators from the far left to the far right standing in debate for children today. When we go from Al Jacquet to Susan Valdes, to @RepThadAltman to @ByronDonalds we know that we are standing for the moral imperative of the day.
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Days until
Last day of 2020 Session (maybe) — 3; 11th Democratic debate in Phoenix — 5; Florida’s presidential primary — 7; Super Tuesday III — 7; “After Truth: Disinformation and the Cost of Fake News” premieres on HBO — 9; MLB Opening Day — 16; Quibi launches — 27; Easter — 33; First quarter campaign reports due — 36; Florida TaxWatch Spring Board Meeting begins — 36; TaxWatch Principal Leadership Awards — 37; Last day of federal candidate qualifying — 41; NFL Draft — 44; Mother’s Day — 61; Florida Chamber Summit on Prosperity and Economic Opportunity — 66; Last day of state candidate qualifying — 90; “Top Gun: Maverick” premieres — 108; Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee begins — 124; Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” premieres — 128; 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo start (maybe) — 136; Florida primaries for 2020 state legislative/congressional races — 161; Republican National Convention begins in Charlotte — 167; First presidential debate in Indiana — 203; First vice presidential debate at the University of Utah — 211; Second presidential debate scheduled at the University of Michigan — 219; Third presidential debate at Belmont — 226; 2020 General Election — 238; “No Time to Die” premieres (now) — 260.
Top story
“Governor declares state of emergency” via Bobby Caina Calvan of The Associated Press — Facing a growing public health crisis, Desantis declared a state of emergency to better marshal resources and get outside help against a new strain of coronavirus that has killed two people in his state. In announcing the move, the governor again appealed for calm. At a news conference Monday afternoon at the state Capitol, the governor urged Floridians to take common-sense precautions and stressed that normally healthy individuals remain at low risk of contracting the virus. He specifically cautioned the elderly and those with underlying health conditions not to go on cruise ships and long-haul flights, and to avoid large gatherings.
Ron DeSantis declares a state of emergency for COVID-19.
“Another Princess cruise ship kept at sea pending virus tests” via Kelli Kennedy and Freida Frisaro of The Associated Press — Thousands of passengers on an additional Princess Cruises ship are being kept on board while crew members get tested for COVID-19. The Caribbean Princess, on a 10-day trip to the Panama Canal, was scheduled to dock in Grand Cayman on Monday. But the Çalifornia-based cruise line said it would keep passengers and crew from disembarking, and instead will pick up test kits after notifying the CDC that two crew members had transferred from a Princess ship in California where a guest had tested positive for COVID-19. These crew members being tested are currently “asymptomatic” and are remaining alone in their rooms “out of an abundance of caution” as the ship returns to Fort Lauderdale, the company statement said.
“White House considers cruise ship shutdown amid coronavirus concerns” via Dan Diamond of POLITICO — The White House is awaiting a cruise-ship industry proposal on preventing coronavirus before deciding whether to actively discourage Americans from boarding the vessels to prevent the further spread of the disease. “We are expecting a proposal tomorrow,” Vice President Mike Pence said at a press conference on Monday night, listing policies discussed with the industry, like adding screening, formalizing evacuation protocols and taking other steps to protect elderly Americans who are perceived to be at highest risk in the outbreak. “We made it very clear that we need cruise lines to be safer.” Earlier on Monday, POLITICO reported that HHS Secretary Alex Azar and other health officialshad urged a broader crackdown on Americans’ use of cruise ships, three people with knowledge of the conversations said.
Dateline: Tally
“State prepares to boost online education” via the News Service of Florida — Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran said the state is boosting its online school capabilities to prepare for the potential impact of the novel coronavirus. In coordination with the Florida Virtual School, Corcoran said the state is prepared to train an additional 10,000 teachers in the next 15 to 20 days to conduct online classes. The virtual school could be able to handle a total of 400,000 full-time students, a significant uptick from the current 40,000-student capacity, he said. “We don’t think that is going to be necessary, and I think we are doing a great job with our superintendents and creating that containment if a child is sick,” Corcoran told reporters.
“DEP Secretary Noah Valenstein adds Chief Resilience Office duties to his portfolio” via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics — Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Valenstein will take on the responsibilities of Chief Resilience Officer, while continue to hold his current position within the administration. “Secretary Valenstein will continue to prioritize coastal resilience in Florida and prepare for the effects of sea-level rise,” said DEP press secretary Weesam Khoury. The move to put Valenstein in the dual roles comes weeks after Julia Nesheiwat, the state’s first Chief Resilience Officer, was tapped to serve as Trump’s homeland security adviser.
“Lawmakers briefly self-isolated after possible coronavirus exposure” via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics — Coronavirus fears officially shut down business in the House as five members self-isolated and agreed to be tested for COVID-19. None met federal guidelines that would prompt such testing. Concerns initially rose because three members of the House — Reps. Sabatini, Byrd and Altman — attended the Conservative Political Action Conference. None had direct contact with an attendee later diagnosed with the coronavirus. But after initially saying they would not self-quarantine, the lawmakers agreed to isolate themselves and await test results. House leaders also realized two other lawmakers, Rep.Donalds and House Democratic Leader McGhee, attended the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference, where three attendees later tested positive for the coronavirus.
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Budget notes
“Bill Galvano calls for at least $200M more in budget to address COVID-19” via Florida Politics — Galvano says lawmakers will have to rethink the Legislature’s budget, possibly including at least an additional $200 million to address concerns from the new coronavirus. … “Right now, the cruise industry’s in really bad condition. Things are dubious nationally, you saw what happened with the market this morning, so I think we really have to think about what dollars we’re spending and on a recurring basis,” the Bradenton Republican said.
“In-state tourism marketing campaign money not yet settled” via Scott Powers of Florida Politics — Florida tourism advocates are battling again for promotional money, only this time it has nothing to do with VISIT FLORIDA. And in this case, the House is supporting money to promote Florida’s tourism and leisure sector — hoping the Senate budget leaders will come around. The fate of a proposed $1 million appropriation to support in-state marketing of restaurant and lodging industry, used since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010 to shore up distressed regions, is in the hands of budget conference chairs. The appropriation, initially sponsored by Rep. Holly Raschein, is funded in the House budget proposal, but not in the Senate proposal.
“House, Senate at odds over Super Bowl LV security funding for Tampa” via Janelle Irwin Taylor of Florida Politics — The Senate wants $1 million to fund security infrastructure and transportation for Super Bowl LV in Tampa next year. The House is not ready to kickoff that fundraising request. The Senate included in its budget offer in the Transportation, Tourism and Economic Development Appropriations committee a $1 million offer, which the House has not matched. The funding would be appropriated to the Department of Economic Opportunity to “contract with any county hosting a signature event.” In this case, it would be Hillsborough County for next year’s Super Bowl.
“TBARTA to receive full funding at $1.5M” via Janelle Irwin Taylor of Florida Politics — The Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority is poised to receive full-funding in the upcoming budget. The Senate budget offer includes a $1.5 million appropriation to the agency, the full amount requested. Rep. Jackie Toledo filed HB 2483 along with an appropriations request for the funding. It will pay nearly $300,000 salary and benefits package for TBARTA Executive Director David Green and more than $987,000 for additional staff salaries and benefits including technical support, financial administration and oversight, grants management and administration, marketing and public relations, project management, and human resources administration. Another $213,214 would go to expenses for rent and utilities, phone and internet and more.
Legislation
What a scene this was — “Legislative effort to raise teacher pay breaks down over collection bargaining differences” via Sarah Mueller of Florida Politics — House Republicans attempted to solidify their position on distribution by amending HB 7103 to say raises should be distributed to mainly classroom staff, not to other school personnel that the Senate included in their approach. But House Democrats objected to language that said school districts must submit their distribution plans to the Department of Education for approval and that while school districts are “not precluded” from bargaining over wages, DOE had to approve of the allocations. This new language, Deomcrats argue, allows Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran to have more power in collective bargaining with teacher unions. … Republicans made a strategic error by trying to pass the amendment on third reading, which required a two-thirds vote. That allowed Democrats to tank the amendment. House Speaker Jose Olivasays there was a misunderstanding about the power it would give the Commissioner. He argues it was relatively the same language that had broad support previously. Democratic Rep. Shevrin Jones disputes that assertion. He says the previous language was from HB 5101, which does not include any mention of getting approval from DOE.
…House Democrats and Republicans negotiated during a recess for about two hours Monday night, but say they couldn’t reach a deal. That’s when the House Speaker started temporarily postponed bills sponsored by Democrats after the stalemate. They could be brought back up if Oliva allows them to. He says it was to send a message. “We still believe that the language is neither offensive nor in any material way changes the bill for teacher pay,” he said. “Then all of teacher pay was put at risk because of that. So yes, actions have consequences.”
“Senate approves scaled-back version of Governor’s E-Verify proposal” via John Kennedy of the Gannett Capital Bureau — DeSantis wanted all Florida employers to have to use the federal E-Verify database to check an applicant’s legal status. But the Senate proposal includes a lesser option that had been demanded by the House. The measure was approved 22-18 in a party-line vote in the Republican-controlled Senate. “What we’re asking employers to do in this bill is simply follow federal law,” said Sen. Tom Lee, sponsor of the measure (SB 664). “I don’t perceive this to be over-burdensome.” But DeSantis and lawmakers have drawn heavy pushback from the agriculture, tourism and construction industries worried about the new requirement’s impact on a workforce that often relies on undocumented workers. The House has been cool to the idea all along.
When it comes to E-Verify, Tom Lee just wants employers to follow federal law.
“House OKs $200 million voucher expansion, says schools can still ban LGBTQ students” via Annie Martin and Leslie Postal of the Orlando Sentinel — The Florida House voted to expand the state’s voucher programs Monday, making students from some middle-income families eligible for scholarships to pay private school tuition. The bill expanding the Family Empowerment Scholarship Program million passed 81 to 39, with eight Democrats joining the Republican majority in voting for it. If signed into law, more than 46,600 students could receive the scholarships next year up from about 18,000 this year. The additional 28,000 vouchers would cost the state about $200 million. Though touted as a way to help youngsters from low-income families, some of the Family Empowerment scholarships could be open to students from families of four earning up to $81,000 a year.
“Senate OKs college athlete compensation bill, sends to House” via Jeff Schweers of the Tallahassee Democrat — A bill to allow college athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness passed the Florida Senate and is on its way to the House for final approval. “This is long overdue,” said Sen. Rob Bradley, noting that Florida’s bill follows in the steps of the California Assembly. “Florida has now stepped up and made a bold statement as well,” he added. “I think we send a clear message to the NCAA, the Big 10 and other conferences that we’re serious when it comes to doing the right thing for our student-athletes.” With little discussion, the Senate approved the bill (SB 646) by Sen. Debbie Mayfield by a vote of 37-2.
More legislation
What Kathy Mears is reading — “Foster care bill increases accountability but still leaves Tampa Bay area short” via Chris O’Donnell of the Tampa Bay Times — Foster care agencies could face financial penalties for performing badly and lose state contracts for repeated failures under a new law championed by Gov. DeSantis and first lady Casey DeSantis. The measure directs the Florida Department of Children and Families to develop benchmarks for foster care agencies while setting standards for child protective investigators and attorneys who work for the state. But the bill is vague on what those targets are, and some provisions — like awarding agencies a letter grade — have been removed from the latest version. That may signal that lawmakers are unwilling to tackle funding formulas that allocate less money to agencies serving more children, including those in the Tampa Bay area. The agencies complain that the playing field should be level before they are measured against other regions. “Oversight and accountability are welcome if you give us enough resources to do the job well,” said Chris Card, chief of community care for Eckerd Connects, which runs foster care in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties. “You can’t compare us unless you fund us the same way.”
“Statewide water quality bill poised to pass, amid mixed feelings” via Laura Cassels of the Florida Phoenix — Florida lawmakers are poised to adopt water-pollution cleanup legislation described as a historic advance or a weak measure. The sponsor, Sen. Debbie Mayfield, aimed to put in place recommendations of the state’s Blue-Green Algae Task Force, calling for reductions in pollution sources such as poorly maintained sewer systems, septic tanks, stormwater runoff, and agricultural runoff. The task force was created to determine why toxic algae blooms are choking lagoons, canals and other waterways in Florida. Critics said Mayfield’s effort, which began last year, was stripped of its strongest provisions, such as cutting the flow of agricultural pollution into south Florida waterways.
“House passes shark fin ban — renamed after Kristin Jacobs — with carveout for domestic fishermen” via AG Gancarski of Florida Politics — The House passed the Senate version of a bill (SB 680), which outlaws the import and export of fins to or from Florida. However, one amendment was added, meaning the Senate will have to vote anew on the reconfigured bill. Rep. Jacobs, in what may be some of her final remarks on the House floor, noted that a lot of traffic has moved through Miami due to that and other illicit trades. “There’s no end to finding a black market for all kinds of things,” Jacobs noted, adding that shark carcasses have been used to traffic cocaine. Rep. Toby Overdorf offered an amendment with a significant carveout on the bill, banning imported shark fins while protecting those with domestic shipping licenses.
Toby Overdorf provided a significant carve-out to Kristin Jacob’s shark finning ban.
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“Jet fuel contamination and engine failure prevention bill looks for final Senate push” via Renzo Downey of Florida Politics — A bill (HB 569) by Rep. Overdorf calls on public airports to implement potentially lifesaving measures to keep ground vehicle emission-reducing fluid away from jet fuel additives and under lock and key. Incidents, mostly in Opa-locka and Punta Gorda, at three airports across the country have grounded thirty planes since November 2017. “We’re keeping (the fluid) outside of the areas of operation for aircraft,” said Overdorf. “It sounds simple, but usually the simple stuff are the things that save lives.” At Opa-locka in August 2018, more than a dozen planes were affected when airport servicers mistakenly loaded diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) into jets’ anti-icing systems instead of fuel system icing inhibitor.
“Senate bill creates task force on abandoned African American cemeteries” via Lawrence Mower of the Tampa Bay Times — Spurred by reporting in the Tampa Bay Times, the Florida Senate unanimously passed a bill that would create a task force to investigate abandoned African American cemeteries. Senate Bill 220 would still have to pass the Florida House, which did not give a similar bill a hearing this legislative session. If it passes the House, the bill would require a task force to investigate abandoned African American cemeteries around the state and submit a report by March 1, 2021, with recommendations for placing markers and memorials at the sites. “A good community does not run from its history,” Sen. Janet Cruz, a Tampa Democrat, said. “Our state should not run from its history, either.”
Senate OKs housing discrimination bill — The Senate voted unanimously for a bill that would allow people to file housing discrimination lawsuits sooner, Matt Dixon of POLITICO Florida reports. SB 374 would let suits to go forward even if a complainant has not filed a case with the Florida Commission on Ethics, or if their complaint to the commission is pending. The bill would block lawsuits in cases where both parties signed on to a conciliation agreement put forward by the commission.
“’Never again’: House passes Holocaust education legislation” via AG Gancarski of Florida Politics — Brevard Republican Rep. Randy Fine‘s bill (HB 1213) would require the Florida Department of Education to give schools curriculum standards for teaching the subject in K-12 schools. It also mandates that every school district and charter school also teach students about the state’s policy against anti-Semitism. The department would have to create a process for schools to annually certify and provide evidence of compliance with the Holocaust instructional requirements. They may contract with the Florida Holocaust Museum and other state or nationally recognized organizations to develop the curriculum and instructional material.
“Tallahassee delegation rejoices as lawmakers agree to raise for state workers” via James Call of the Tallahassee Democrat — “If you had told me a year ago today that we would be talking about a substantial pay raise for state employees and teachers, I would not have believed it,” said Sen. Bill Montford. “I would not have thought that possible.” The Republican-majority Legislature will include a pay raise for state workers in the budget proposal it sends to DeSantis. Lawmakers, however, still need to close a $1.5 billion gap in their proposed spending plans this week to close out the 2020 legislative session. But one bargaining chip that has been removed from the table is a 3% salary increase for the 90,000 people employed by the state.
The presentation outlines the symbiotic relationship between CorneaGen, a for-profit company, and not-for-profit eye bank SightLife.
CorneaGen is looking to make a buck.
“Sightlife’s primary customer is CorneaGen, so … we want to equip CorneaGen to be successful,” one slide reads.
The motivation? Pumping the company’s valuation ahead of a potential initial public offering.
“Sightlife is a major equity holder of CorneaGen. CorneaGen serves SightLife by growing business and profitability to increase the value of SightLife’s equity, achieving an initial public offering (IPO) so SightLife can liquidate its equity and be provided cash to achieve its mission,” the presentation continues.
The plan — using a nonprofit front to pump the value of a for-profit company — is essentially a workaround to federal laws against companies buying or selling organs.
The business model could cause a dip in organ donors, who aren’t keen on providing a for-profit company with free inventory.
Rep. Dan Daley has a bill (HB 563) ready for a floor vote that would end the practice. Companion legislation in the Senate, SB 798 by Sen. Darryl Rouson, is also prepped for a vote.
Today in Capitol
The Revenue Estimating Conference will meet to analyze the financial impact of legislation, 8:30 a.m., Room 117, Knott Building.
The Senate will hold a floor session, 10 a.m., Senate Chambers.
The House will hold a floor session, 10:30 a.m., House Chambers.
The Senate Special Order Calendar Group will meet 15 minutes after the floor session adjourns, Room 401, Senate Office Building.
Govs. Club buffet menu
Hot and sour soup; mixed garden salad with dressings; Oriental Asian cabbage salad; chilled soba noodle salad; deli board, lettuce, tomatoes, cheeses and breads; cashew chicken; beef and broccoli; Chinese BBQ pork butt; house fried rice; stir fry vegetables; braised Napa cabbage; Almond Joy tartlets for dessert.
News by the numbers
Coronavirus
“Trump says he will seek payroll tax cut, relief for hourly workers as part of coronavirus economic package” via Jeff Stein and Erica Werner of The Washington Post — He said he would ask Congress to cut payroll taxes and provide relief to hourly workers suffering from the economic fallout of the coronavirus. His comments came after senior aides presented him with a list of options they thought could help deal with the economic problems caused by the outbreak. Trump also said he was seeking to assist the airline industry, hotels, and the cruise industry, which are all suffering as Americans rapidly cancel travel plans. It was unclear, based on Trump’s comments, whether he would ask Congress to help these industries or if he thought he could do it on his own.
“Trump administration clashes with airline officials over coronavirus” via Kylie Atwood, Gregory Wallace, Manu Raju and Nicole Gaouette of CNN — In a series of contentious conversations, agency officials and aviation executives have clashed over the administration’s demand that airlines collect new kinds of data from passengers to help officials track potential virus carriers. Airlines say they can’t meet that demand right away — a claim some administration officials say they don’t believe, the calls have deteriorated so badly that agency officials have issued threats, spat expletives and accused airline executives of lying. It is an “epic battle,” said one source familiar with the talks. On one call, an administration official pointed to potential fines if the airlines didn’t comply, according to two sources.
Mike Pence talks coronavirus in Florida.
“Florida reverses self-isolation advice for global travelers” via Sonja Isger of the Palm Beach Post — Hours after the Florida Department of Health issued a statement advising anyone returning from a trip abroad to self-isolate for 14-days to curb the spread of the latest and deadly strain of coronavirus, officials issued a correction. In an updated statement Monday afternoon, department officials directed all travelers to follow the more discerning advice from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC mandates a 14-day self-isolation period for anyone coming into the United States from the four countries where the disease is widespread and sustained — China, Iran, Italy and South Korea. And those fresh from cruises or elsewhere with sustained virus transmission should monitor health and limit interactions with others for 14 days.
“McDonald’s, Grainger cancel Orlando conferences over coronavirus” via Marco Santana of the Orlando Sentinel — Two more events have pulled out of the Orange County Convention Center over fears of coronavirus, including the franchisee convention for the fast-food giant McDonald’s, which was expected to draw 15,000. The industrial supply company Grainger had canceled its conference. The cancellations strike another blow to the tourism industry and city officials, who have been trying to calm fears of the coronavirus’ economic impact on Orlando. McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski released a video saying he had requested input from managing directors and franchisees: “The magic of our worldwide convention always happens when we come together from more than 100 countries for four days in Orlando. But this year, we know that our customers and our communities need us.”
“Coronavirus Florida: U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan urges state health officials to improve communication efforts” via Zac Anderson of USA TODAY — “I want to start with the state health department, their top person; I’m going to express my concern because I think the way they’re doing it now, there’s got to be a better way,” Buchanan said during a news conference in Bradenton when he was asked whether DeSantis is properly communicating coronavirus information. “People want answers, and … you know right now they have most of the answers.” U.S. Sen Rick Scott also is pressing for additional information from state health officials, sending a letter to the DOH offices in Lee County and Santa Rosa County — and three federal agencies — with questions about two individuals who died in Florida after contracting the virus.
“Matt Gaetz made fun of coronavirus. Now he’s in self-isolation.” via Steve Contorno of the Tampa Bay Times — U.S. Rep. Gaetz wore a gas mask on the House floor last week as Congress passed an $8 billion coronavirus relief package, in a stunt widely interpreted as the Panhandle Republicans latest attempt at trolling liberals and the media. Gaetz may get more use out of that mask. On Monday, he was put into self-isolation after discovering he came into contact 11 days ago with someone who tested positive for the virus. Gaetz met the patient just outside Washington, D.C. in Maryland at the Conservative Political Action Conference, the annual right-wing confab, his office confirmed in a tweet. He is not experiencing symptoms, and will remain quarantined for several more days.
Matt Gaetz’s gas mask stunt is now a bit ironic. Image via Reuters.
“Seattle’s Patient Zero spread coronavirus despite Ebola-style lockdown” via Peter Robison, Dina Bass and Robert Langreth — Patient Zero in the U.S. appeared to do everything right. He arrived Jan. 19 at an urgent-care clinic north of Seattle after returning four days earlier from a visit with family in Wuhan, China. The 35-year-old had seen a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention alert about the virus. The clinic drew blood and called state and county health officials, who hustled the sample onto an overnight flight to the CDC lab in Atlanta. The test came back positive that afternoon, the first confirmed case in the U.S. County health officials located more than 60 people who’d come in contact with him, and none developed the virus. By Feb. 21, he was deemed fully recovered. Somehow, someone was missed.
“Huge Florida cruise industry battens down the hatches as coronavirus buffets business” via Scott Powers of Florida Politics — In Florida, at least 14 cruise lines operate at least 63 ships out of five ports. Five of the cruise lines, Carnival Corp., Royal Caribbean Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, MSC Cruises (USA), and Disney Cruise Line, are headquartered in Florida. Last year they carried more than 7.5 million people on cruise vacations. That made Florida the embarkation origin of 59% of all passengers who cruised from American ports. In the past weeks, the world watched as first Princess Cruises’ Diamond Princess in Japan, and then the Grand Princess in California became symbols of the new coronavirus outbreak. Another cruise ship was briefly denied permission to come into port at Fort Lauderdale over the weekend.
“Passengers board cruise ships at Port Canaveral despite coronavirus warning by State Department” via Chabeli Carrazana of the Orlando Sentinel — The 4,000-passenger Dream, as well as the 2,974-passenger Carnival Liberty and Royal Caribbean International’s 4,000-passenger Mariner of the Seas, are scheduled to leave the port on short itineraries to the Bahamas, where there are currently no confirmed cases of coronavirus. The Bahamas is enacting stricter border protections, however, and denying entry to travelers who have visited China, South Korea, Iran or Italy within 20 days of arrival, including those visiting via cruise ship. “Right now, everything is status quo,” said Steve Linden, a spokesman for the port, who added that Port Canaveral is not expecting any cruise lines to start canceling sailings yet.
More corona
“’I think we’ll be OK’: Cruise passengers undeterred by U.S. warnings about coronavirus” via Alex Harris and Taylor Dolvin of the Miami Herald — Crowds of passengers — one wearing a tank top declaring “this week I don’t give a ship” — flocked to the Carnival Sensation. The form they had to fill out declaring recent travel to coronavirus-infected countries was a speed bump between them and a five-day cruise through the Caribbean. Anna Smith, an 83-year-old from Greenville, South Carolina, said nothing was going to stop her from attending her godson’s wedding with 70 other friends and family members in the Cayman Islands this week, not even a warning issued Sunday by the U.S. State Department to stay away from cruises. “It doesn’t bother me,” she said. “I trust in God that I’ll be safe.”
“Florida theme parks keep eye on virus as spring break nears” Mike Schneider and Tamara Lush of The Associated Press — As Florida’s busy spring break season kicked off this month, coronavirus czar Pence addressed something that’s been on the mind of tens of thousands of families preparing to travel to theme parks: Is it safe? Over the weekend, Pence stressed it is safe for healthy Americans to travel, noting “one of our favorite places to go when my children were young and even before my children came was in Orlando.” “Whether it be Disney World, whether it be other destination, whether it be cruise ships … those most at risk are seniors with serious or chronic underlying health conditions.” “Otherwise Americans can confidently travel in this country,” Pence said at a meeting with cruise industry officials in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday.
“DOH ‘investigating and isolating’ people who came in contact with Santa Rosa coronavirus case” via Annie Blanks of the Pensacola News Journal — The Florida Department of Health in Santa Rosa County has been “investigating and isolating” people who came into contact with the county’s first coronavirus case, a 71-year-old man who passed away late last week, Administrator Sandra Park-O’Hara told Santa Rosa County Commissioners. Those being self-quarantined are located across the Panhandle, not just in Santa Rosa County, O’Hara said. “We have been still investigating and isolating people that have been into contact with our case, and we get new information every day,” O’Hara said at the commission meeting. “Someone new says, ‘I’ve been around this person,’ so it’s ongoing.”
“Coronavirus buying frenzy prompts Publix to limit purchases of soaps and other goods” via Romy Ellenbogen of the Tampa Bay Times — Publix limited the purchase of certain health and cleaning related items amid a coronavirus-induced buying frenzy. The limits apply to all Publix locations and will continue until further notice, Brous said. The buying frenzy, which began around when Florida’s first positive coronavirus cases were announced, also pushed the State Attorney’s Office to monitor price gouging. The office was reaching out to retailers to make sure Floridians could afford needed health products and said they would pursue important complaints they received.
A few containers of disinfecting wipes remain on the shelves at a Publix supermarket in Miami Shores. Image via AP.
“A coronavirus quarantine in America could be a giant legal mess” via Polly Price of The Atlantic — As a legal matter, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized a seemingly unlimited local power to quarantine as early as 1824. It reaffirmed this power in 1900, noting that “from an early day the power of the States to enact and enforce quarantine laws for the safety and the protection of the health of their inhabitants … is beyond question.” But the average American may be surprised to learn who holds the authority to order such public-health measures. Except at the nation’s borders, the federal government, with the expertise of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is not in charge. America’s defense against epidemics is divided among 2,684 state, local, and tribal public health departments.
“When everyone stays home: Empty public spaces during coronavirus” via Alan Taylor of The Atlantic — In cities and regions hard-hit by the coronavirus crisis, quarantine measures and self-isolation efforts have left many public spaces deserted. Classrooms, plazas, malls, sports venues, cafes, houses of worship, and tourist destinations appear eerily empty as people stay home, cancel plans, and await further news. Photo editor Taylor put together aphoto essay of large parts of the world on pause.
Sunshine State primary
Voters are voting — According to the Florida Division of Elections, as of Monday evening, Supervisors of Elections have 1,104,077 Republican vote-by-mail ballots; 589,199 have returned, 438,112 are outstanding, and 3,222 are unsent. There have been 73,544 early in-person votes cast. As for Democrats, Supervisors have a total of 1,272,375 vote-by-mail ballots; 122,801 have returned 682,825 are outstanding, and 5,248 are unsent. There have been 122,801 early in-person votes cast. Those classified as “other,” 247,745 vote-by-mail ballots, 14,599 have returned, 34,215 are outstanding, and 198,065 are unsent. There have been 866 early in-person votes cast.
“Joe Biden announces Tampa rally this week as campaign shifts to Florida” via Steve Contorno of the Tampa Bay Times — The get-out-the-vote event is Biden’s first event in the Sunshine State since last fall and his first public appearance in the Tampa Bay area as a presidential candidate. Biden, though, is very familiar with the area. He came to Tampa in 2018 to campaign for Florida’s Democratic nominee for governor, Andrew Gillum, in the days leading up to the midterm election.
Joe Biden has been to Tampa before, to campaign for Andrew Gillum. Image via AP.
“Andrew Gillum mum on Democratic presidential endorsement as he focuses on early voting” via Byron Dobson of the Tallahassee Democrat — Gillum on Monday implored a crowd of about 70 cheering young Democrats at Florida State to vote early in the presidential primary and to urge others to do so. Gillum, who lost by 30,000 votes in 2018 to DeSantis, said he isn’t prepared to make an endorsement for a Democratic presidential candidate, as he focuses on his Florida Forward initiative to increase voter registration in Florida. “From the very beginning, we talked about making Florida ready for whomever the Democratic nominee is,” Gillum said, following a noon rally at FSU’s Westcott Plaza.
“Debbie Mucarsel-Powell latest Florida backer of Biden’s presidential bid” via Ryan Nicol of Florida Politics — That means all but one of Florida’s Democratic congressional delegation has now endorsed Biden. U.S. Rep. Donna Shalala has not yet endorsed a candidate in the contest. “Joe Biden will deliver on the priorities that South Florida cares deeply about,” Mucarsel-Powell said. “I know Joe Biden will deliver the results we need, not only on gun violence, but on health care, the environment and foreign policy, because that’s what he’s been doing his whole life.”
All eyes on Michigan tonight
“Bernie Sanders won Michigan in 2016. Tuesday’s primary looks much tougher.” via Jonathan Martin and Astead Herndon of The New York Times — AsBiden now attempts to leverage his Super Tuesday success and build momentum, Sanders may face even longer odds in Michigan. The state that Sanders last week called “very, very important” suddenly looks forbidding for him. Biden, despite having a thin operation in Michigan, appears likely to do well with black Democrats and college-educated white voters, two groups that handed him decisive margins in Virginia, North Carolina and several other states on Super Tuesday. And the exit polling and voting trends in some of those states indicate that Sanders has declined in strength with working-class white voters, who, uneasy with Hillary Clinton in 2016, delivered him landslide wins across much of central and northern Michigan that year.
“Michigan was once Sanders’ resurrection. Now it could be his burial.” via Tim Alberta of POLITICO Magazine — Sanders’ team has long trumpeted his Michigan triumph as evidence of his ability to assemble a unique coalition. But a closer look at that contest, taken in the context of this year’s primary results, suggests that Sanders’ own weaknesses are about to be exposed. And that, in turn, means winning Michigan will be far more difficult. Not only do party insiders expect turnout will spike among groups unfavorable to him — blacks and suburbanites — but he now faces an opponent in Biden who comes into the state with a head of steam, who benefits from Democrats’ desire to coalesce behind an alternative to Trump, and who will compete for independents and working-class whites in a way Hillary Clinton never did.
“Bad news for Sanders in a pair of Michigan polls” via Aaron Blake of The Washington Post — Both an EPIC-MRA poll and a Monmouth University poll showed former Vice President Biden building a double-digit lead on Sanders. Biden led 51 to 27 percent in the previous survey and 51 to 36 percent in the latter. The problem for Sanders lies in the cross tabs. In 2016, the biggest reason for the polling miss was that pollsters badly underestimated a surge in the youth vote. In 2020, pollsters have that recent primary to model the electorate and adjust accordingly. Even if they still get the electorate somewhat wrong, it’s hard to see how Sanders could pull off another massive upset. Sanders is underperforming his 2016 numbers pretty much across the board.
“Sanders sharpens his pitch to women, as moms in Michigan vacillate between him and Biden” via James Hohmann of The Washington Post — The independent Senator from Vermont unveiled a “reproductive health care and justice for all” plan. He’s attacking the former vice president for supporting the Hyde Amendment, which banned Medicaid funds from being used to cover abortions, until reversing himself under pressure last year. He’s reading aloud a quote from the 1970s in which Biden said that Roe v. Wade “went too far.” “Women have a right to control their own bodies, not the government,” Sanders said during an outdoor rally here on a sunny Sunday afternoon. “Here is my promise to you: I will never nominate anyone to the Supreme Court or the federal bench who is not 100 percent pro-Roe v. Wade. … We’re in this together.”
More 2020
“Trump swoops into Seminole County for private fundraiser” via Steven Lemongello of the Orlando Sentinel — Trump went to a private fundraiser and roundtable outside Longwood on Monday, his only event of the day in Central Florida after a health conference he planned to attend was canceled because of coronavirus fears. But he flew back from Sanford with U.S. Rep. Gaetz, who announced later in the day he was “self-isolating” due to his exposure to a coronavirus patient. The $100,000-per-couple fundraiser for Trump’s re-election campaign, held at a private home near the Alaqua Country Club, was listed as being hosted by Diane and Bob Dello Russo. Air Force One touched down at Orlando Sanford International Airport just after 10:30 a.m., according to the White House pool.
“Cory Booker endorses Biden” via Quint Forgey of POLITICO — “The answer to hatred & division is to reignite our spirit of common purpose,” Booker wrote on Twitter. “@JoeBiden won’t only win — he’ll show there’s more that unites us than divides us. He’ll restore honor to the Oval Office and tackle our most pressing challenges. That’s why I’m proud to endorse Joe.” Elaborating on his endorsement in an interview, Booker said that “it became very clear to me that Joe Biden is the right person” to defeat Trump in November.
Cory Booker enthusiastically endorses Joe Biden.
“Major gun safety groups endorse Biden’s presidential bid” via Alexandra Jaffe of The Associated Press — Everytown for Gun Safety and Brady announced they are backing the former Vice President. Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund plans to spend $60 million on electoral activities this cycle, some of which will go toward trying to elect Biden. An Everytown spokesman said the group typically airs advertisements and engages in grassroots organizing for the candidates it endorses, though it’s unclear when the group will begin to spend on Biden’s behalf. The group, which was co-founded by billionaire former New York Mayor Bloomberg, also boasts 6 million supporters and more than 375,000 grassroots donors, numbers that could help boost attention and support for Biden’s presidential bid nationwide.
“Democrats’ Arizona debate will have ‘more Purell than you’ve ever seen,’ Tom Perez says” via David Smiley of the Miami Herald — At first, Perez shook hands. But with novel coronavirus cases surfacing in Broward County, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee quickly switched to elbow bumps in Oakland Park Monday as he greeted field workers preparing to fan out and register voters in Florida’s bluest county for the general election. In Doral a few hours later, former Secretary of State John Kerry, campaigning for former Vice President Biden ahead of Florida’s March 17 primary, avoided contact as much as possible in a cramped restaurant space. “I’d shake everybody’s hand …” he said, instead thrusting his elbows side to side in the air and swiveling his hips. “It’s a new dance.”
“Democrats eye a vice-presidential consolation prize for women” via Lisa Lerer and Reid Epstein of The New York Times — The selection of a female vice president, particularly one of color, would offer a fitting coda to a presidential primary where racial and gender representation has taken second place to concerns about defeating Trump. Even when the female candidates were still in the race, people at town hall meetings and campaign rallies often suggested Elizabeth Warren or Kamala Harris as possible No. 2s on a ticket, as a way of providing a dose of history-making enthusiasm without what many voters viewed as the risk of having a woman lead the ticket. They’re unlikely to face much opposition from the candidates: Both Biden and Sanders say they are considering multiple women for the position.
“Democrats launch major Florida organizing effort” via Marc Caputo of POLITICO — Organizing Together 2020, a battleground-state initiative, announced its leadership team and plans to put more than 100 paid staff on the ground in 30 of the state’s 67 counties. Chaired by the only statewide elected Democrat — Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried — Organizing Together 2020 is one of four groups independently operating in Florida, including the Democratic Party, the For Our Future super PAC and billionaire Bloomberg’s political committee which is being converted from the remnants of his just-ended presidential campaign. “It’s all hands on deck to beat Donald Trump,” said Ashley Walker, Organizing Together’s lead consultant in the state, who helped lead President Barack Obama’s successful elections in Florida.
Statewide
Ashley Moody warns against spring break scams — Attorney General Moody issued a Consumer Alert with tips for Floridians to avoid common scams during spring break travel. One common spring break scam involves placing fake vacation home rental listings. If the deal seems too good to be true, it usually is, Moody said. Rental car companies also advertise low prices but add hidden fees. To avoid being the victim of such scams, visitors should only book accommodations through legitimate, recognize rental agencies or hotels and consider making purchases with a credit card or via PayPal, which are easier to dispute fraudulent charges.
“Florida lobster got a break on China tariffs. Then came coronavirus” via Patricia Cohen of The New York Times — Ethan Wallace had been waiting 18 months for China — the world’s largest importer of live lobster — to lift its crushing retaliatory tariffs on American seafood that had whittled down his profits. This week, that moment came: Beijing started allowing Chinese businesses to apply for tariff exemptions. But for Wallace, it no longer mattered. No one in China is buying. The coronavirus outbreak meant the Lunar New Year banquets and wedding parties that feature a fresh lobster on every plate, a symbol of good fortune, were canceled. “Boom! Coronavirus,” said Wallace. Although the season continues through the end of March, he and his crew that day took home more lobster traps than pounds of lobster from the Gulf of Mexico.
D.C. matters
“In crisis, Trump team sees a chance to achieve long-sought goals” via Nancy Cook of POLITICO — Trump and his team are talking up the opportunity to finally achieve stricter border security, wider tax cuts and reduced reliance on Chinese manufacturing amid the spread of the coronavirus throughout the U.S. Some officials see it as a narrow opening to offset the political damage from the coronavirus outbreak and deliver — or at least, talk about — some of the president’s long-standing promises. “Whether it is the virus that we’re talking about or many other public health threats, the Democrat policy of open borders is a direct threat to the health and well-being of all Americans,” Trump said at a recent rally in South Carolina.
“Amid Florida fight, Debbie Wasserman Schultz proposes a tax on bottled spring water” via Alex Daugherty of the Miami Herald — Schultz announced Tuesday morning that she’s filing a bill that would levy a five cents per gallon tax on water that is extracted from springs or groundwater sources. Wasserman Schultz’s bill, called the Save Our Springs Act, was introduced amid a fight between environmentalists and the family that owns Ginnie Springs, a popular recreational facility with crystal-clear spring water near Gainesville.
The trail
“Alcee Hastings endorses Shevrin Jones in SD 35” via Ryan Nicol of Florida Politics — Hastings backed Jones over his four Democratic opponents. Jones, who currently represents House District 101, is competing in a packed field to replace term-limited Sen. Oscar Braynon II. “I’m proud to support Shevrin Jones because he has a proven track record of taking on the tough fights in the Florida House and will continue that work as the next Senator for District 35,” Hastings said. “From creating economic opportunity and championing public education, to his commitment to justice and working to make quality, affordable health care for all a reality, Shevrin walks the walk on the issues important to Florida.”
Alcee Hastings is backing Shevrin Jones for Senate District 35.
“Cris Dosev lays another egg in HD 2 fundraising” via Florida Politics — Dosev signed up to challenge Republican Rep. Alex Andrade in House District 2 a couple of months ago. He’s done little since. New campaign finance reports show Dosev, a Pensacola Republican, has reported $0 in fundraising since entering the race. Andrade had nearly $100,000 in the bank heading into the 2020 Legislative Session. The freshman lawmaker has another $15,000 or so stashed in an affiliated political committee, Constituent Priorities. Dosev’s lack of hustle comes as his opportunity to eat into Andrade’s lead wanes — sitting lawmakers are barred from raising money during Session.
Local
“Darden Restaurants rolls out paid sick leave and increases sanitation as coronavirus concerns grow” via Austin Fuller of the Orlando Sentinel — Darden Restaurants spokesman Rich Jeffers said the company has been working on the sick leave policy for some time, but the current environment accelerated the plan. “The development of paid sick time is not in response to COVID-19,” he said. Hourly employees who were not covered by a policy before will accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, Jeffers said. Current employees will have a starting balance of sick time based on their most recent 26 weeks of work and can use it immediately. New hires will begin accruing sick time upon starting and can use it after 90 days of employment. The pay rate will be based on the employee’s 13-week average.
“UF will start moving classes online because of coronavirus” via Josh Fiallo of the Tampa Bay Times — The University of Florida wants to move classes online and reduce the time students and professors spend in classrooms due to the coronavirus outbreak. The university sent a letter to its professors, asking them to start making the switch immediately, if possible. Professors are not yet required to switch classes to online-only. A UF spokesman said in an email, however, said that there is a ‘strong probability’ that will become required before the spring semester ends on May 1. Their professors will tell students whether their classes are moving online. In an email, the university said it would hold in-person courses during the coming summer session.
The University of Florida is considering more online courses.
“2 Sarasota students removed from school and being monitored” via Ryan McKinnon of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune — Two students in Sarasota County schools have had contact with a patient who tested positive for coronavirus and have been excluded from school activities, according to a message that went out to parents and community members. “Out of an abundance of caution, and for the safety of our thousands of families and students in Sarasota County, we wanted to share that two students in our district have been excluded from school by the Department of Health (DOH),” the notice from the district stated. “The DOH has excluded these students due to their contact with an individual who has since tested positive for COVID-19 (coronavirus).”
“Tampa strip club offers face masks to customers to fight spread of coronavirus” via Daniel Figueroa of the Tampa Bay Times — Déjà Vu Showgirls Tampa announced it would be giving away 10,000 face masks to its customers throughout March. Déjà Vu Services, Inc., announced a similar giveaway at Little Darlings, a sister location in Las Vegas. There, the company said it would give away 50,000 bottles of hand sanitizer, which health officials have said is more effective in fighting the spread of a virus. “An opportunity to help with the coronavirus scare strikes a special emotional chord with us,” Mark Figueroa, Déjà Vu’s general manager, said. “One of my close friends recently tested positive. While she’s likely to be just fine, I know many others will have a different fate, so we wanted to do something helpful.”
More local
“City Council investigative committee to hear testimony from retired, current JEA executives” via Christopher Hong of the Florida Times-Union — A special Jacksonville City Council committee that is investigating JEA’s failed and controversial attempt to sell itself to a private owner will hear testimony Monday evening from a retired JEA executive, as well as a sitting member of the utility’s senior leadership team. The committee will meet at 5 p.m., taking up a light agenda that includes testimony from Mike Brost, a former vice president who retired in Dec. 2018, and Steve McInall, JEA’s vice president of energy and water. The committee will also receive an update from JEA on its enormous records request, which will serve as a foundation for the committee’s investigation into how JEA’s failed sales effort began and ultimately ended up costing ratepayers more than $10 million.
What Buddy Dyer is reading — “Orlando’s I-4 traffic mess is ‘poster child’ for nation’s overwhelmed highways, says top U.S. rep” via Kevin Spear of the Orlando Sentinel — The overwhelmed stretch of Interstate 4 through the Orlando region is “a poster child for what’s wrong” with the nation’s highways, the chair of the U.S. House transportation committee told Central Florida officials at a meeting Monday. U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, an Oregon Democrat, is crafting a giant infrastructure bill that local authorities hope will provide substantial funding for revamping 20 miles of I-4 east of Orlando and 20 miles west of the city through the theme-park area. That work is being done in phases, and there is no overall completion deadline.
“School officials criticized after 7-year-old handcuffed” via The Associated Press — A school security officer handcuffed a 7-year-old Florida boy with special needs who acted out in class and had him taken to a mental health facility, a decision the boy’s mother is criticizing and school officials are defending. It’s the second time in weeks that Florida school officials have been criticized for restraining a young child for having an emotional meltdown at school. Tyeisha Harmon of Clearwater told reporters her son acted out in class last Wednesday at Belcher Elementary School, but he has emotional issues and is supposed to have a structured environment. She said he recently changed classrooms, and that triggered him. What exactly happened in the classroom isn’t known.
Tyeisha Harmon is questioning why a school resource officer handcuffed her 7-year-old son after he had a meltdown in school. Image via WFTS.
“Commissioners OK measure that could allow tourism tax money to be used for road projects” via Dave Berman of FLORIDA TODAY — A proposal to steer money from Brevard County’s tax on hotel rooms so it can be used for road and bridge repairs and environmental projects have gained traction. County commissioners voted 4-1 to back such a measure, introduced by Chair Bryan Lober, which is the first step in a long process that could redirect the use of the Tourist Development Tax. The measure commissioners approved directs county staff and the advisory Brevard County Tourist Development Council to consider using any Tourist Development Tax revenue above the $16.6 million budgeted for the current fiscal year for one of two purposes.
Mark Puente on the hunt — “Pinellas board member appointed son-in-law to top HR job, didn’t disclose conflict” via Mark Puente of the Tampa Bay Times — A member of the Pinellas County Personnel Board voted in a public meeting to appoint his son-in-law to be the interim director of the county’s Human Resources Department. A transcript of the public meeting shows that Paul Rogers never told the board about his relationship with HR administrator Jack Loring. Senior Assistant County Attorney Carl Brody told Rogers that Florida law prohibits public officials from voting in matters involving relatives. “A public official may not appoint, employ, promote Or advance … a relative …” Brody told Rogers. Rogers said he planned to resign from the board immediately. He blamed Brody for the issue with his “step son-in-law.”
What Jason Fischer is reading — “Google tracked his bike ride past a burglarized home. That made him a suspect” via Jon Schuppe of NBC News — The email arrived in January, startling Zachary McCoy. It was from Google’s legal investigations support team, writing to let him know that local police had demanded information related to his Google account. In the notice from Google was a case number. McCoy searched for it on the Gainesville Police Department’s website and found an investigation report on the burglary of an elderly woman’s home 10 months earlier. An avid biker, McCoy used an exercise-tracking app, RunKeeper, to record his rides, which fed his movements to Google. He looked up his route on the day of the burglary and saw that he had passed the victim’s house three times within an hour, part of his frequent loops through his neighborhood.
Top opinion
“As the coronavirus burns, Trump scores a perfect Nero” via Dana Milbank of The Washington Post — As global markets plunged on Monday and the virus continued its inexorable spread, Trump continued comparing the virus to the “common Flu,” during which “nothing is shut down.” He praised the “great job” the administration is doing against the virus. This came a day after Trump invited comparisons to Roman Emperor Nero when he retweeted a fanciful image of him playing a violin with the words “nothing can stop what’s coming.” While Trump fiddled, a former Trump-appointee was on TV telling the truth about the coronavirus crisis. Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” called for urgent, “broad mitigation strategies” that over the next two weeks would “change the complexion in this country.”
Opinions
“Anne Rawley: Legislators are trying to quash the will of the people. Don’t let them” via Florida Politics — Senate Bill 1794 (and its companion bill HB 7037) would make the ability of Florida citizens to unite to propose changes to our constitution significantly harder and much more expensive. If the bill passes, only those with large amounts of money will likely be able to successfully place proposed changes to our state constitution on the ballot. This is exactly what we don’t need — more government by megacorporations and billionaires. It could cost anyone advancing a petition project as much as $3 million more just in signature verification alone. All the successful petition campaigns mentioned above were necessary because lawmakers were out of touch with most Floridians — and they still are.
“High school student-athletes have the right to pray” via Bobby and Tommy Bowden in the Tallahassee Democrat — Prayer and football have always gone together, at least in our coaching careers. And it’s time our lawmakers recognized that freedom for high school student-athletes as well. In our coaching days, it was typical for us to join in family prayers on recruiting trips. Those same parents who were leading those prayers expected us, as coaches, to see to it that their boys behaved themselves at college. “Behaving” meant they were to continue to go to church, make good decisions and pray. We always made room for that because we knew it was not only important for the families who trusted us with their sons, but because it is always right to respect religious speech.
Instagram of the day
Aloe
“Baby Yoda toys likely delayed due to coronavirus” via Ryan Parker of The Hollywood Reporter — Fans clamoring for toys of The Child, aka Baby Yoda from the popular Disney+ series The Mandalorian, will likely have to wait even longer now. Hasbro admitted in an SEC filing it was experiencing coronavirus-related production difficulties in China. “The occurrence of these types of events can result, and in the case of the coronavirus has resulted in, disruptions and damage to our business, caused by both the negative impact to our ability to design, develop, manufacture and ship product (the supply side impact) and the negative impact on consumer purchasing behavior (the demand side impact),” the filing states. Baby Yoda toys were set to arrive in stores this spring; some preorders were setting records.
Baby Yoda toys are being held up because of coronavirus.
“Shanghai Disney starts phased reopening after closing for coronavirus; masks required” via Dewayne Bevil of the Orlando Sentinel — Safety procedures have been instituted, including that masks will be required throughout guests’ visits. The first step includes the relaunch of operations for select shopping, dining and recreational experiences in the resort’s Disneytown, Wishing Star Park and Shanghai Disneyland Hotel areas. “Every guest entering Shanghai Disney Resort will be required to undergo temperature screening procedures upon their arrival, will need to present their Health QR Code when entering dining venues, and will be required to wear a mask during their entire visit,” the Shanghai Disney site says. “Guests will also be reminded to maintain respectful social distances at all times while in stores, queues and restaurants.” The theme-park section of the resort remains off-limits.
What Wayne Bertsch is reading — “A first: Leonard Hamilton, Florida State ACC tourney’s top seed” via Aaron Beard of The Associated Press — Florida State has accomplished several milestones in Hamilton’s nearly two decades with the Seminoles, from winning an Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament to getting within a game of the Final Four two seasons ago. Yet his fourth-ranked Seminoles have never been in the position they are this week: entering the league tournament as the No. 1 seed after winning their first ACC regular-season championship. The five-day tournament opens Tuesday in Greensboro, North Carolina, with two first-round games. The Seminoles, No. 10 Duke, No. 15 Louisville and No. 17 Virginia have byes into Thursday’s quarterfinals, with FSU trying to add a second title to its lone championship in 2012.
Happy birthday
Celebrating today are Sen. Doug Broxson, friend and lobbyist Shawn Foster, and POLITICO Florida’s Arek Sarkissian.
“American troops have begun leaving Afghanistan for the initial troop withdrawal required in the U.S.-Taliban peace agreement, the U.S. military confirmed Monday, amid political chaos in Kabul that threatens the deal.” AP News
“International Criminal Court judges authorized a far-reaching investigation [last] Thursday of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed by Afghan government forces, the Taliban, American troops and U.S. foreign intelligence operatives. The appellate ruling marked the first time the court’s prosecutor has been cleared to investigate U.S. forces.” AP News
From the Left
The left is generally skeptical of the terms of the agreement and supportive of the ICC.
“[The agreement] is unlikely to achieve the U.S.’s single most important goal of its nearly 20-year effort in Afghanistan: to deny safe haven to al-Qaeda… The Taliban promise not to let any group use Afghanistan to threaten the United States, not to cooperate with or host any such group, and to ‘send a clear message’ that such groups ‘have no place in Afghanistan.’ The agreement contains no details and no means of enforcement or verification for the Taliban’s commitments…
“How many al-Qaeda members are required for the U.S. to consider the Taliban in breach of their obligations? Just one? 100? Or 1,000? What constitutes the ‘use’ of Afghanistan for terrorist activity? Is anyone associated with al-Qaeda forever barred from entry? Will the United States share its terrorist watch list with the Taliban for them to enforce at their borders?… A good test of the agreement is to ask: What exactly do the Taliban have to do to fail at their obligation to deny safe haven to al-Qaeda? Under what conditions would the United States halt or reverse its withdrawal? The agreement does not say.” Paul Miller, Lawfare Blog
“Under President Trump, the United States is widely seen to be committed to withdrawing from Afghanistan under almost any circumstances. There are no indications of what ‘conditions’ might slow or halt an American drawdown of troops short of a major attack by Al Qaeda launched with clear Taliban support. Not sustained violence against Afghan forces, nor smaller-scale terrorist attacks, nor continued Islamic State operations seem likely to prompt the United States to reverse course. The Taliban know this and so does the Afghan government, reducing nearly to nil America’s influence over events in Afghanistan…
“In committing to the Taliban to end the American military presence and drop sanctions, the United States… sacrificed its remaining leverage to help the government in intra-Afghan negotiations achieve critical shared objectives, like protecting democratic gains and preserving the rights of women. Given that intra-Afghan talks will take many months, if not years, to yield any progress, the United States is likely to withdraw before any deal is done, abandoning Afghanistan to the Taliban wolves.” Susan E. Rice, New York Times
Some, however, note that “Post-9/11 efforts to limit the transnational flow of resources and known terrorists have inhibited the ability of terrorists to strike out, and can continue to do so without a military presence in Afghanistan…
“Critics of withdrawal are right that a withdrawal wouldn’t mean that US interests in Afghanistan or the region vanish; they don’t. However, they are wrong that military interventions are the best, or only, tool to pursue these interests. Diplomatic, policing, and intelligence cooperation with countries that border Afghanistan can help to contain terrorist groups and inhibit their ability to travel beyond the region. Additionally, the US military presence itself is one of the biggest inhibitors to peace in Afghanistan, as the widely unpopular Taliban rely on the fight against a foreign occupation as their primary source of legitimacy.” Adam Wunische, The Nation
Regarding the ICC, “The majority of Americans (56 percent) support the ICC and actually believe the United States should become a member. This number grows to 65 percent when Americans are told about how the court is a vehicle for promoting democratic values… ordinary citizens are more concerned about the ICC’s fairness and competence — and less concerned about whether U.S. personnel may be investigated. If Bensouda and her team can demonstrate impartiality and effectiveness in their work, they are likely to enjoy the trust and support of the U.S. public. In turn, this support might put pressure on policymakers to comply with the ICC investigation in the weeks, months and very likely years to come.” Kelebogile Zvobgo, Washington Post
From the Right
The right is generally supportive of the troop withdrawal and critical of the ICC.
“The sunk cost fallacy has been a highly effective lubricant of the U.S. foreign policy machinery… Every dollar spent and every American life lost on the battlefield is used as justification to maintain a status quo that is simply not working. To quit now is spun as a tragedy. But how logical is it to honor tragedy with more tragedy?… those counseling a reversal of full troop withdrawal from Afghanistan are merely worsening the pain… It’s time to embrace the reality staring us in the face — the sooner Afghanistan is left to the Afghans, the better off the U.S. will be.” Daniel DePetris, Washington Examiner“While most of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 received training in Afghanistan, much of their planning and preparation took place in the United States and Germany, including flight training… Terrorists are also highly mobile and not beholden to any particular territory. For example, both Taliban-friendly groups like al-Qaeda and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)-friendly militants operate just over the border in northwest Pakistan. It’s in this sector of Pakistan, a supposed ally, where the United States has long waged a shadow war against these groups…
“The Taliban [themselves] do not want to see American troops on Afghan soil ever again and are more concerned with seizing power in Kabul than they are attacking the United States. This certainly does not prevent terrorists from taking refuge in Afghanistan, of course. The ability to deny terrorists safe haven and prevent attacks is in large part outside the Taliban’s control, since there exists territory they do not control and the movement is quite fractured. But as long as the United States maintains an ‘I’ll be back’ posture, demonstrated with cruise missile strikes on Afghanistan in 1998 and the air/sea/special operations effort in the early part of Operation Enduring Freedom, the Taliban will do all it can to prevent an American return.” Edward Chang, The Federalist
Some, however, posit that “the deal looks worse than a simple withdrawal. America can leave all on its own without also agreeing to seek the release of Taliban prisoners. It can leave all on its own without promising to ease sanctions. So why agree to the additional concessions? America is making these concrete concessions in exchange for unenforceable promises from an untrustworthy enemy…
“The American military in Afghanistan has not failed in its ultimate objective since 9/11. It has kept America safe from any terrible repeat of that dreadful day… A war-weary American public should resist the Trump administration’s retreat. It should not tolerate any agreement that reinforces and strengthens the Taliban. There are things that are worse than ‘endless war,’ and if we doubt that truth, there is a memorial in downtown Manhattan that should remind us that mortal threats can emerge even from the farthest reaches of the earth.” David French, Time
Regarding the ICC, “[It] came into force in 2002 with a mandate to investigate genocide and other crimes against humanity when a country is unwilling or unable to do so. But once created the institution took on a life and agenda of its own, focusing disproportionately on the U.S. and Israel. The court has produced few convictions, but dictators use it as a tool to prosecute opponents while remaining unscathed themselves…
“Americans who believe in international institutions often lament that their countrymen don’t appreciate the value of global cooperation. They’d have more credibility with more Americans if they called out anti-American outfits like the International Criminal Court… [This investigation is] a disgraceful example of moral and legal equivalence that equates Islamist insurgents who have killed thousands of Afghan civilians with the U.S., which ousted al Qaeda from Afghanistan, liberated millions of women, and has sacrificed much to rebuild the country.” Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal
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⚡ Breaking: The U.S. began withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, the military said today, taking a step forward on the peace deal with the Taliban.
Today’s Smart Brevity™ count:1,100 words … 4½ minutes.
🎤 D.C. readers: You’re invited … Today at 8 a.m., please join White House editor Margaret Talev and me in downtown D.C. (14th and L) for an Axios News Shapers event on cybersecurity.
Coronavirus is already the most serious threat to the U.S. economy since the financial crisis, and the dominoes are aligned for a severe recession that could erase much of the 11-year recovery, Axios’ Dion Rabouin and Dan Primack write.
Why it matters: We have an economic haystack awaiting a match.
One big difference between 2020 and 2008 is breadth:
The financial crisis began with financial services companies and insurers, which meant bailouts and structural fixes could be aimed at Wall Street. But this crisis is hitting the entire economy with a single blow, from the Fortune 500 to mom-and-pop businesses.
The U.S. economy has been something of a ticking time bomb for some time.
Growth has declined over the last two years despite higher government spending and a $23.4 trillion national debt.
The labor market has boomed, but many of the jobs added have been hourly service-industry positions that offer limited health insurance.
Fox Business simulcast on Fox News yesterday leading into the market close.
President Trumpsaid late yesterday that he would work with Senate Republicans on a “very substantial” payroll tax cut and relief for hourly workers.
But such measures — if they can be enacted — could still be insufficient to fend off a recession.
Consumer spending has held up the economy for the last year, even as the U.S.-China trade war gutted the manufacturing industry and businesses broadly cut back on investments.
Many companies chose to hoard their tax-cut savings in cash, or use it to buy back their own stock.
At the same time, corporate America is more heavily indebted than ever before, due to years of record-low interest rates and increased borrowing.
Threat level: Government also increasingly looks broken. The dysfunction in Washington is dimming hopes for major fiscal stimulus that economists say would be needed to offset the outbreak’s negative impact.
📊 Similar finding in a Quinnipiac University poll out yesterday: Democrats and Republicans have polarized views on both the danger the coronavirus poses and how the Trump administration is handling the outbreak, Axios’ Ursula Perano writes.
43% of respondents approve of President Trump’s response to the coronavirus, while 49% disapprove. (83% of Democrats disapprove; 87% of Republicans approve.)
68% of Democrats said that they are “very or somewhat concerned” about the virus, compared to just 35% of Republicans.
Federal regulators are cracking down on scams advertising unproven coronavirus treatments, but those frauds are likely to continue, Axios’ Bob Herman and Marisa Fernandez write.
The FDA and FTC issued warning letters yesterday for seven fraudulent products.
Major retailers and some online marketplaces have already removed more than three dozen listings — for products including teas, essential oils, tincture and colloidal silver — that falsely claimed to help treat or prevent coronavirus infection.
Flashback: Scammers have run this con many times before.
Zika: Wristbands, patches and stickers falsely claimed they could repel the mosquito-borne virus.
Ebola: Before there was a vaccine, the FDA warned against online pitches that marketed snake venom, vitamin C, Nano Silver and herbs as cures.
SARS: Promotions for air purifiers, cleaning supplies and even prevention kits were pulled off several websites in 2003.
Reality check: No drugs have been approved to treat this strain of coronavirus.
Mail-in primary ballots for Washington state await counting in King County, which has had the country’s highest number of coronavirus deaths. Photo: John Moore/Getty Images
Today’s “Super Tuesday 2.0” primaries in six states are a real-time test of how coronavirus could alter presidential voting — especially in Washington, the state with the largest number of U.S. deaths to date, Axios’ Alexi McCammond writes.
Washington is a vote-by-mail state. Voters have been asked to use water — not their own saliva — to seal their ballot envelope.
The big picture: Michigan and Washington — the two states with the largest number of delegates in today’s contests — represent two important tests of whether Bernie Sanders can regain momentum with Democrats as Joe Biden leads the race toward the nomination.
Missouri, Mississippi, Idaho and North Dakota also vote today.
As the virus spreads, many states and U.S. territories have yet to hold Democratic primaries, with contests running through June.
Facebook has added two new members to its board: Nancy Killefer, a former government official and longtime McKinsey executive, and Tracey T. Travis, the chief financial executive of The Estee Lauder Companies.
Why it matters, from Axios’ Kia Kokalitcheva: The additions double the number of women Facebook directors and make the board 40% female.
Despite significant progress, women still hold just 20% of board seats globally in publicly traded companies.
Dr. Roxana Sauer demonstrates a drive-through nasal swab at a clinic in Gross-Gerau, Germany. Photo: Alex Grimm/Getty Images
🇮🇹 All of Italy is on lockdown, affecting 60 million people: The government ordered everyone to stay put except for work and emergencies, banned public gatherings and suspended sporting events, including soccer matches. (Reuters)
🇨🇳 Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Wuhan, the center of the global outbreak, as parts of his country return to normalcy.
Why it matters: That’s a sign of the diminishing threat the illness presents in China as it spreads west. (AP)
🇺🇸 Retiring Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), the incoming White House chief of staff, is the latest conservative lawmaker to self-quarantine after coming into contact with someone at CPAC who tested positive.
Self-isolation on Capitol Hill. Photo: Padmananda Rama/AP
“Business lobbies are pushing a range of proposals such as extending unemployment insurance, broadening business entertainment tax breaks and offering tax credits to employers of quarantined workers, according to representatives interviewed by Bloomberg News.”
“The White House is hosting a parade of industry executives this week. On Monday, the National Retail Federation, the International Franchise Association, and the American Hotel and Lodging Association, among others, met with White House officials.”
“Democratic leaders in Congress have said they want to see paid sick leave and warned that any package should give priority to workers’ needs over corporate interests. They have also called for enhanced unemployment insurance.”
8. The government’s advice
Vice President Pence tweeted these four info cards:
9. Astronomy’s continuing harassment problem
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Astronomy is still dealing with its own #MeToo reckoning, Axios’ Miriam Kramer and Alison Snyder write.
In one study, 74% of female physics majors reported experiencing sexual harassment.
And 40% of women of color in astronomy and planetary science reported feeling unsafe in their workplace.
Why it matters: Harassment, bias and discrimination lead to the underrepresentation of women — and particularly women of color, women with disabilities and LGBTQ+ women — in the sciences.
Ariana Grande at the Grammys in January. Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Ariana Grande was the most tweeted about woman in the past year, topping Hillary Clinton and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, writes Axios’ Marisa Fernandez, via data reported by Twitter.
In the past three years, of 125 million tweets about feminism and equality, 3 million specifically mentioned “intersectionality,” where race, gender and ethnicity meet.
The visit signaled the Chinese leader’s expanding effort to portray the country’s containment measures as successful, as domestic infection numbers drop.
Rep. Mark Meadows is among the congressional leaders balancing the need to do the people’s business and the risk of operating what could be a giant petri dish in the Capitol.
The former vice president is showing a trait that’s rarely described him before — brevity. The campaign won’t comment, but the seismic shift minimizes the chance for verbal blunders that could ricochet around the Internet.
The best places to eat (Tiger Burger for a “Kimcheese” burger and plant-based food at Little Bird) and things to do from an expert, plus two neighborhoods you should stay in.
By The Way | A Post Travel Destination ● By Rebekah White ● Read more »
Toluse Olorunnipa on how the coronavirus is testing President Trump’s leadership. Susannah George and Missy Ryan on how Afghanistan’s instability could affect peace talks. And remembering an English village that self-quarantined during the plague.
Post Reports | Listen Now ● By The Washington Post ● Read more »
While President Trump plays down the threat from a novel coronavirus that has killed 26 people in the United States, fears are mounting among key allies that this could turn out to be the sort of unanticipated black swan event that derails his reelection.
A threatened influx of Syrian refugees would force Europe to cope with a population that is poorer, more bewildered by years of war, and more prone to radicalism than the wave of refugees that swamped western Europe five years ago and incited a political backlash.
This round of primaries for the Democratic presidential nomination is the time voters will decide between two remaining 2020 top-tier candidates, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders.
Sen. Bernie Sanders is facing several losses in Tuesday’s Democratic primaries, including in the state of Missouri, where voters appear on a track to overwhelmingly support front-runner Joe Biden.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is telling staff members at its Washington, D.C., headquarters to work from home over concerns that an employee may have coronavirus.
DETROIT — Kamala Harris returned to the 2020 campaign trail in support of former political rival Joe Biden, warning Republicans that Democrats will make their voices heard in November.
DETROIT — Joe Biden’s Detroit rally on the eve of the March 10 round of primaries descended into temporary chaos when it was disrupted by multiple protests at once.
President Trump’s soon-to-be chief of staff has entered a self-quarantine after he may have come into contact with someone infected with coronavirus, despite his testing negative for the illness.
Exactly 13 years after Robert Levinson was abducted in Iran, a federal judge found the Iranian government responsible for kidnapping and torturing the former FBI agent who, if he is still alive, is the longest-held American hostage.
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Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued a statewide disaster proclamation, making Illinois the 14th state to declare an emergency in response to the outbreak of the respiratory virus, according to the governor’s office. The proclamation will allow Illinois to tap additional state and federal resources to combat the spread of the new virus and better coordinate its response.
Throughout his 2020 presidential campaign, Bernie Sanders has been careful not to overemphasize the significance of any one state in his second quest for a political revolution, often saying winning each one is as important as the next. But as the Vermont senator recently concluded a campaign blitz through Michigan, he cast that talk aside.
With just a week before Election Day, Bill Conway released a new campaign commercial attacking Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx over the ongoing Jussie Smollett case, this time using her own words against her. The new 30-second ad uses audio from a recent interview Foxx had with the Chicago Reader’s Ben Joravsky on his podcast. It zeroes in on Foxx’s derogatory characterization of the case she offered during the interview.
Five proposed marijuana dispensaries in Chicago received approval Friday from the Zoning Board of Appeals, including two in the bustling River North neighborhood. All the sites still need approval from the state, although with city approval in hand, marijuana companies may start working on the spaces.
When it comes to ramen, I want a bowl so transfixing I’m content to ignore everything and everyone else, the Tribune food writer Nick Kindelsperger, writes. I’m happy to report that it’s here. Actually, they’re here. And I can’t decide which place I like better.
Welcome to The Hill’s Morning Report. Monday is over. Today is Tuesday. We get you up to speed on the most important developments in politics and policy, plus trends to watch. Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver are the daily co-creators, so find us @asimendinger and @alweaver22 on Twitter and recommend the Morning Report to your friends. CLICK HERE to subscribe!
President Trump and members of his coronavirus task force reassured Americans on Monday that the rapid spread of COVID-19 will require help for families and industry sectors hit hardest by the contagion. The president urged Congress and the private sector to consider temporary payroll tax relief, small business lending and help for targeted business sectors harmed because of the coronavirus. The president mentioned airlines, cruise ships and the hotel industry during brief remarks in the White House briefing room following a meeting with members of his Cabinet and the government’s top public health experts.
“The main thing is that we’re taking care of the American people,” Trump said.
The New York Times: The president, who has for weeks played down the coronavirus threat and played up the stock market, now faces one of the worst crises since he was sworn in: “There’s panic.”
The Hill: Democrats balk at Trump’s payroll tax cut proposal because it would not help families without paychecks, the unemployed or workers in the gig economy.
The Washington Post: Trump’s proposals were quickly brushed aside by House, Senate Democrats, who are working on their own plan for possible release this week.
The president’s brief appearance followed a record-setting day of fear-fueled meltdown in the financial markets and the astonishing decision by the Italian government to lock down a nation of 60 million people — a decision tantamount to forfeiting an economy while halting public movement in a last-ditch effort to slow a contagion that has killed 463 people there. Italy surpassed South Korea as the country with the largest number of confirmed coronavirus cases outside China.
The death toll from COVID-19 worldwide this morning is 4,026, and confirmed cases number at least 114,544 in at least 110 countries, according to the latest information.
There have been 22 deaths in the United States and 755 confirmed cases following weeks of efforts to ramp up limited testing. It took just 12 or 13 weeks for the highly contagious virus, which first appeared in China in late November or early December, to alter nearly every avenue of social and economic life around the globe.
The president’s apparent endorsement of macro as well as targeted proposed fiscal stimulus measures on Monday was an about-face for the White House and Treasury Department, signaling a new resignation that the spread of COVID-19 as well as immense public fear may be driving an otherwise healthy economy into a deep ditch.
Some analysts have urged the administration to lift Trump’s tariffs in an effort to ease supply chain problems in the United States, but the president made no reference to his continued efforts to pressure China, European countries and other nations using tariffs on imported goods.
Trump, accompanied by Vice President Pence, who leads the task force, said the administration will meet with lawmakers today to discuss what he described as “very major” and “very dramatic” proposals that could possibly get through Congress swiftly. Lawmakers and Trump already enacted $8.3 billion for federal response to the coronavirus, including to fund research to develop a vaccine.
On Friday, White House national economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the administration was weighing ideas to help the vast majority of American workers who have no paid sick leave and to help hourly wage workers who would forfeit paychecks if they stay home for any reason because of the virus.
Kudlow said during an interview with Bloomberg News last week that the administration opposed a payroll tax holiday because it was expensive for the government and too sweeping across a broad spectrum of workers. Kudlow said Trump also preferred executive action over collaboration with Congress. Four days later, much has changed.
The Hill: Securities and Exchange Commission becomes the first federal agency to tell employees to stay home amid the coronavirus outbreak.
While both parties in Congress say they are willing to take additional legislative action in response to the pathogen, how they do it remains the big question. Senate Republicans are expected to meet with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Kudlow at a closed-door lunch, with potential tax relief proposals on the agenda.
“The president is committed that whatever support we need to provide to the U.S. economy, we will use all our tools, working very closely with the regulators,” Mnuchin said Monday at the White House.
“The president is 100 percent committed that we will provide whatever tools we need, that the economy will be in very good shape a year from now,” the secretary continued. “This is not like the financial crisis where we don’t know the end in sight. This is about providing proper tools and liquidity to get through the next few months.”
The Hill: Anxiety over coronavirus grows on Capitol Hill.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) reiterated a Democratic plan in a letter to colleagues and rattled off a list of actions they will seek to include in any future legislation. Among those priorities are paid sick leave, enhanced unemployment insurance, expansion of food stamps and free testing for the virus.
House Democrats are slated to hear from the House Sergeant at Arms, the attending physician and the chief administrative officer on Tuesday morning to discuss safeguards for lawmakers. Pelosi also insisted to reporters that the Capitol will not be shut down, saying there’s “no reason to do so” at this time (Politico).
The Speaker’s remarks came as news emerged that three more members of Congress are self-quarantining: Reps. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), Julia Brownley (D-Calif.) and Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.).
Collins and Gaetz are both under scrutiny as they each had interactions with the president in recent days. Collins joined the president on Friday when the president visited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta and was spotted shaking his hand.
Gaetz, who was spotted on the House floor last week mockingly wearing a gas mask, had contact with the individual who attended the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and subsequently tested positive for the virus. The Florida lawmaker found out he had contact with the person on Monday while aboard Air Force One.
The White House announced late Monday that Trump has not been tested for the virus. Pence told reporters he had not been tested, either. Both have traveled extensively in the past few weeks and met with large groups (The Hill).
Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), the incoming White House chief of staff, announced that while he tested negative for COVID-19, he has quarantined himself after potentially coming into contact with the CPAC attendee (The Hill).
The Washington Post: “Forget about rope lines”: Secret Service faces unique challenge of protecting Trump from coronavirus exposure.
The administration is meeting with Wall Street firms and banks on Wednesday to talk about trying to counter the economic hit and public anxiety (The Washington Post).
Pence said the public today can find basic self-help ideas, focused on enhanced safety at home, work and school, by going online at Coronavirus.gov.
The government today is releasing new proposals for cruise lines to deal with infections, a problem experienced by vacationers in Asia and aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship, which docked in Oakland on Monday with 21 cases of COVID-19 infection aboard. The bulk of the passengers are to be transferred to four U.S. military bases for temporary quarantine and others will be flown home to Canada and the United Kingdom aboard chartered planes, if they’re from those countries.
At least 2.1 million COVID-19 tests are now available, will be shipped or are waiting to be ordered, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said. But the government is currently unable to say how many people in the United States have been tested for the coronavirus because the federal and private-sector systems that record test results are not integrated.
“By the end of this week, [we] expect to be able to be producing up to 4 million tests per week in the United States. And that is on top of what the private commercial entities … are getting out, [resulting in] a very much more seamless patient experience,” Azar said.
Politico: “There are going to be cases”: Coronavirus gets real for an aging Senate.
Reuters: Stocks savaged, Italy on lockdown, prisons in uproar as coronavirus spreads.
The Hill: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.): “This is not a time for fear.”
The Washington Post: Known coronavirus infections in D.C., Maryland and Virginia climb to 16 as Washington’s mayor asks hundreds of D.C. churchgoers to voluntarily stay home in case they contracted the virus from a pastor.
Science magazine: Research, commentary and updates about COVID-19.
COVID-19 & ECONOMY: Staggering Wall Street losses on Monday, including a 7.8 percent freefall in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, raised new fears that a recession is on the horizon, or perhaps already arrived. The drop was so sharp that it triggered the first automatic halt in trading in more than two decades as stocks took their worst one-day beating since the financial crisis of 2008 (The Associated Press).
Reuters: Oil prices tumbled by as much as a third after Saudi Arabia launched a price war with Russia, sending investors already spooked by the coronavirus outbreak fleeing for the safety of bonds and the Japanese yen.
The Hill: Coronavirus, oil prices drive market meltdown.
CNBC: The Federal Reserve moved Monday to inject liquidity into banks to guard against short-term market pressure. But analysts predict the central bank will have to act more assertively, perhaps this week.
The Wall Street Journal: Investors rushed into the least-risky harbors they could find, signaling fears that the U.S. economy is slipping into a storm from which it will be hard to escape.
The New York Times: Around the world, fears of coronavirus transmission mean cancellations of events, gatherings and entertainment plans.
Santa Clara County announced Tuesday night that gatherings of more than 1,000 people have been banned, putting in the status of three San Jose Sharks hockey games in doubt, along with the NCAA women’s basketball tournament at Stanford University and one Major League Soccer match. The ban goes into effect at midnight tonight (ESPN).
Yahoo! Sports: NBA and MLB join NHL in closing locker rooms to media amid coronavirus fears.
COVID-19 & INTERNATIONAL: Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte expanded a regional lockdown to include his entire country on Monday, ordering the extraordinary action to try to stem the spread of the coronavirus outbreak beyond Europe’s epicenter in Northern Italy.
The order applies to roughly 60 million Italians as they are now unable to move around, with exceptions for travel to work and emergencies. It also bans public gatherings of all kinds, including sporting events. Serie A soccer matches have been suspended until April 3.
“The whole of Italy will become a protected zone,” Conte said in an address to the nation. “We all must give something up for the good of Italy. We have to do it now.”
The New York Times: Italy expands restrictions to cover the entire country. Beginning today, permission is necessary for Italians to move around the country for reasons of work, health or extenuating circumstances.
The Associated Press: President Xi Jinping of China today visited Wuhan, the virus epicenter in Hubei Province. In mainland China, almost three-fourths of its more than 80,000 patients have recovered.
The World Health Organization on Monday said the global threat of a COVID-19 pandemic — a designation the organization has been reluctant to use — is “very real” (CNBC). WHO said on Monday that people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while severe cases may last three to six weeks and require hospitalization.
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the nation will quarantine all individuals entering the country from overseas for 14 days. Netanyahu’s call comes ahead of an intense travel period for many in the country as Easter and Passover are about a month away.
Ireland also canceled St. Patrick’s Day parades across the country in a bid to staunch the virus’s spread. The annual parade in Dublin usually attracts close to 1 million people (The Associated Press).
The Associated Press: Paris’s Saint-Germain-Borussia Dortmund game to be played without fans because of the virus.
POLITICS: Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will face off in six contests tonight with 352 delegates up for grabs as the Vermont senator looks to reverse his fortunes following an underwhelming Super Tuesday performance.
Headlining tonight’s slate of primaries (and one caucus) is Michigan, a key battleground state where Sanders defeated Hillary Clinton four years ago in an upset. Since Super Tuesday, Sanders has maintained that Michigan and its 125 delegates are his top priority.
However, he is facing a steeper climb this time around as he attempts to blunt Biden’s momentum after the former VP won 10 of 14 states last Tuesday, including surprise wins in Texas and Massachusetts in the wake of a series of key endorsements. According to two polls released Monday, Biden leads Sanders by 24 points and 15 points, respectively.
Those endorsements continued to roll out on Monday as Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) announced his support for the former vice president, adding to the count of former 2020 rivals to back his bid. His endorsement came a day after Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) threw her support behind Biden. The two Democratic senators appeared on the stump alongside Biden at a campaign rally on Monday night in Detroit.
Outside of Michigan, the other states that will hold contests tonight are Washington (89 delegates), Missouri (68), Mississippi (36), Idaho (20) and North Dakota (14).
As Jonathan Easley writes, Biden leads Sanders by roughly 90 delegates. While it’s not an insurmountable difference for Sanders to overcome, the proportional allocation will make it difficult for him to come back from if he falls too far behind. Adding to the problems, the map is favorable for the former vice president in the coming weeks as Florida and Georgia will vote on March 17 and March 24, respectively. Sanders will have the chance to make his case before those contests on Sunday in the next Democratic debate in Phoenix.
The Hill: DNC says “no plans to cancel” debate amid coronavirus fears.
Niall Stanage: The Memo: What happened to Bernie Sanders?
With the Democratic primary now a race between Biden and Sanders, Democratic donors are coming off the bench to boost the former vice president, according to The Hill’s Amie Parnes.
In interviews, donors and fundraisers said their support of Biden will give him a major advantage over Sanders, who raised more than $46 million in February, an impressive haul. But Biden’s campaign announced they’ve raised $22 million since their big win on Super Tuesday and donors expect him to have his best quarter yet.
“It’s going to be day and night,” one fundraiser predicted. “Everyone always said Biden’s a poor fundraiser but they ain’t seen nothing yet.”
The Hill: Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) calls on 2020 candidates to stop holding big public events amid coronavirus fears.
The Washington Post: The new Biden: Shorter speeches (and less time for gaffes).
The Hill: Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D) announces run for Senate seat.
OPINION
Government alone cannot protect us from epidemics, by Brock Long, opinion contributor, The Hill. https://bit.ly/2IwPsFh
That 2008 economic feeling, by Desmond Lachman, opinion contributor, The Hill. https://bit.ly/2vQkt4c
WHERE AND WHEN
The House meets at 10 a.m.
The Senate convenes at 10 a.m. and will resume consideration of the American Energy Innovation Act.
The president will present the Presidential Medal of Freedom to former Army Gen. Jack Keane, 77, who is a Fox News analyst at 4:30 p.m. Keane is a recipient of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, five Legions of Merit and other awards (Fox News). Trump will hold a news conference about the coronavirus and proposed new responses with Congress.
Vice President Pence will discuss with lawmakers possible new legislative and executive responses to address the U.S. spread of COVID-19 and lead a meeting of the president’s task force focused on the public health emergency.
Catch The Hill’s Campaign Report newsletter, with the latest from The Hill’s politics team. Sign up to receive evening updates, polling data and insights about the 2020 elections.
➔ Tech: Twitter reached an investment deal with Silver Lake and Elliott Management that will keep company CEO Jack Dorsey in place, the company announced on Monday. Twitter lags behind Facebook and Google when comparing user growth and advertising revenue, which concerns Twitter investors. Dorsey left and then in 2015 returned to Twitter after starting payments company Square, which commands half his time. His role at Twitter going forward has been the subject of recent conjecture (The Associated Press).
➔ Supreme Court: Justices agreed on Monday to hear a Mississippi case that turns on whether it is a violation of the Constitution to sentence juvenile offenders to life in prison without parole absent a determination that a defendant is incapable of rehabilitation (The Hill).
➔ Costly traffic: Commuters worldwide who sit in snarls of traffic lose billions of dollars a year. The congestion costs Washington, D.C., drivers an estimated $1,761 annually while they eat up an average of 124 hours each year stuck in traffic jams, according to a new report (The Washington Post).
➔ Patient cured of HIV speaks: A man known to be cured of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, has been identified for a year as the “London patient.” He’s only the second person to have been infected and then freed from the virus, following the case of the “Berlin patient” in 2007. Now he’s speaking out. Adam Castillejo, who contracted HIV when he was 23, is 40, and his medical odyssey is filled with twists and innovation. “I want to be an ambassador of hope” (The New York Times).
THE CLOSER
And finally … It’s been a dispute in music and the courts for years, and it may have come closer this week to a conclusion. Did Led Zeppelin’s 1971 mega-hit “Stairway to Heaven” violate the copyright of the 1968 song “Taurus”? A federal appeals court on Monday restored a jury verdict that found “Stairway to Heaven” was not stolen. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco handed the major win to guitarist Jimmy Page and singer Robert Plant and dealt a blow to the estate of Randy Wolfe of the band Spirit (The Associated Press).
“And it’s whispered that soon, If we all call the tune
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Eight House Republicans working on President Donald Trump’s impeachment defense gathered in the vice president’s suite to watch the trial, taking notes and feeding suggested arguments to the president’s counsel. While team members recalled some details of their experience, others had already faded a few weeks after the trial ended. Read More…
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The U.K. is seeking help from U.S. state officials to prepare for Britain’s entry into the growing American market for new financial technologies. For the British, the meetings represented an effort to help U.K. fintechs navigate the complicated U.S. regulatory landscape, in which companies must be approved by each state in which they do business. Read More…
Members of Congress have the opportunity every year to lobby for issues pertinent to their districts and constituencies. It may look like earmarking, but it’s not — this niche congressional process is called Member Day. Watch as CQ Roll Call’s Niels Lesniewski explains this obscure annual process. Read More…
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POLITICO PLAYBOOK
POLITICO Playbook: The next coronavirus fight: A Washington squabble
Presented by
DRIVING THE DAY
IF THE UNCERTAINTY OF THE CORONAVIRUS weren’t enough. If it weren’t enough that the Securities and Exchange Commission is asking people to work from home. If it weren’t enough that five members of Congress are sequestering themselves, along with the president’s new chief of staff. If it weren’t enough that the market was down nearly 8% Monday.
WHAT THE PUBLIC IS NOW ABOUT TO SEE is Washington bickering over what legislation is needed to help right the economy and stop the further spread of this pandemic.
HERE ARE THE FAULT LINES:PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP and the White House are focused squarely on pushing Congress to cut or suspend the payroll tax — something BARACKOBAMA did in 2011 and 2012 to try to juice the economy. Truth be told, it was difficult nine years ago to pass a payroll tax holiday — Republicans and some Democrats resisted — and it seems like it would be a struggle this time around, too. Democrats said Monday they don’t believe a tax cut would ease a rocky economy. TRUMP also said Monday he wanted legislation to protect hourly wage earners “so that they can be in a position where they’re not going to ever miss a paycheck” — something Democrats can probably find their way to getting behind, depending on the details.
DEMOCRATS, meanwhile, are readying legislation that would provide free coronavirus tests, bolster unemployment insurance, ensure students out of school who receive free lunch continue to get food and institute paid leave for people who are sick.
WHEN PELOSI WAS ASKED Monday night about the payroll tax cut — again, the centerpiece of the White House’s plan — she seemed cool to the proposal.
“WE’RE ALWAYS WILLING TO DISCUSS SOMETHING THAT IS evidence- and science-based, that addresses the needs of families first as we go forward, because that is what needs to be done,” PELOSI said. “This is very serious, and I don’t know how seriously it was taken at first by the administration in terms of decisions that were made about tests and about turning down tests that were proven to be worthy.
“The list is a long one about not filling the positions that they vacated at the National Security Council that addressed this kind of a challenge in terms of epidemics and the rest. So, again, we have to see what it is.”
HERE’S WHAT TO LOOK FOR TODAY: THE PRESIDENT is scheduled to meet with Senate Republicans, and Treasury Secretary STEVEN MNUCHIN and National Economic Council Director LARRY KUDLOW are scheduled to go up to Capitol Hill.
THERE ARE MANY IMPORTANT OPEN QUESTIONS on the payroll tax cut. Employers and employees both pay a 6.2% payroll tax. Will the TRUMP administration propose a cut of the tax rate, or a complete holiday? Will they cut the tax for employers and employees, or just employees? Not only are Democrats waiting to hear what the president is proposing, so are Republicans. There are no details quite yet about what the president is proposing, and senior White House and Capitol Hill officials told us Monday evening that the administration is looking to gauge support before releasing anything publicly.
OF COURSE, THE POLITICS OF THIS can get quite tricky for Democrats in a campaign season. TRUMP said he would speak publicly this afternoon to discuss the tax cut, and, if past is precedent, he’s sure to beat Democrats over the head rhetorically if they oppose the very sort of tax cut they once supported when their president was in the White House.
THE CALENDAR is not Congress’ friend right now. Both chambers are on recess next week, then there are two weeks in session before a two-week Easter recess in mid-April. Democrats hope to move a bill this week.
ALSO … WAPO: “Members of Trump’s coronavirus task force have also discussed declaring a national emergency, which would involve invoking the 1988 Stafford Act to enable the Federal Emergency Management Agency to take disaster-level action, officials said, but those discussions remain preliminary.”
Good Tuesday morning. POLITICO has a new coronavirus newsletter, which you’ll be receiving. Check it out
NYT EDITORIAL BOARD: “An effective public health response necessarily requires limits on economic activity; an effective fiscal policy response can offset the damage. One clear and critical example is the need for universal paid sick leave. …
“Huge spending on public health is also sensible under the circumstances. The federal government should pick up the tab for state and local spending on the crisis response — including on staffing health facilities, testing for the coronavirus and equipment to keep workers safe — and it should encourage public health officials to pull out all the stops.
“One item that’s not on this list, however, is a broad-based tax cut, Washington’s preferred cure for all economic ailments. Mr. Trump said Monday that his administration planned to propose a reduction in the federal payroll tax, which is paid by a broader range of workers than the income tax. But there is good reason to worry about the public-health effects of encouraging people to go out and spend more money. The government needs to focus on limiting the spread of the virus by encouraging sick leaves, quarantines and other measures that can be described as taxes on economic activity. It makes little sense to enact a countervailing tax cut.”
ROLLER COASTER!: “Stocks Revive After Dow’s Worst Day in 12 Years,”by WSJ’s Xie Yu: “International markets regained ground after Monday’s bruising selloff, with American stock futures gaining 2.6%, as investors welcomed the prospect of new U.S. tax cuts and other measures to counter the economic pain caused by the coronavirus.”
— NYT: “Investors Creep Back After Worst Market Rout in Years”: “Investors in the Asia-Pacific region crept back into the markets on Tuesday, one day after the coronavirus and a battle among the world’s biggest oil producers shook the global financial scene. Many of the markets in the Asia-Pacific region were trading modestly higher by midday on Tuesday.
“Australian shares led the way, ending 3.1 percent higher. Markets in mainland China and Hong Kong were about 2 percent higher. Tokyo, which began the day in the red, ended higher as well. Futures markets indicated that Wall Street and Europe would follow the trend.”
THE PRESIDENT’S RESPONSE — “Trump’s life during coronavirus: Business as usual,” by Anita Kumar: “Before President Donald Trump took photos with about 100 VIP donors at his south Florida Mar-a-Lago resort Sunday afternoon, staffers gave them a squirt of hand sanitizer and a form to list recent international travel. That was the exception.
“As the coronavirus quickly spreads across the U.S., schools are closing, employees are working remotely and major conferences are being canceled. But for the White House and Trump, changes have been limited — and inconsistent. Visitors to the White House have had to start disclosing which countries they’ve traveled to in the past 30 days. Employees have been receiving emails about washing their hands. And the building itself is being cleaned more often.
“But Trump, an admitted germaphobe who regularly uses Purell, has continued shaking hands. He’s posed for photos with — and sometimes touching — others. And he’s kept headlining massive events, including his Make America Great Again rallies, and has vowed that those will continue. The Trump campaign is expected to announce on Tuesday his latest rally, according to a person familiar with the schedule.” POLITICO
THE CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE will hold a press briefing at 5:30 p.m. in the James S. Brady briefing room. Also today: CDC chief Robert Redfield testifies before the House Oversight Committee, at 2 p.m.
REMEMBERING TOMMY JACOMO … WAPO: “The Palm restaurant in Washington has become one of the city’s most venerable preserves of the power lunch, where lobbyists, politicos and the media elite gather to gnaw on steak and lobster and guzzle gossip and martinis.
“The high priest of this ‘cholesterol temple,’ as journalist Maureen Dowd once described the Palm, was Tommy Jacomo, who presided as manager and later executive director almost from the day it opened in 1972 until his retirement in 2016. … Mr. Jacomo, 75, died March 6 at his home in St. Augustine, Fla. The cause was lung disease, said his wife, Kim Jacomo.”
SCOOPLET — The staff at Edelman’s Washington office has been told to work from home for the next week because an Edelman D.C. employee had contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus, two people familiar with the matter told our colleague Daniel Lippman.
RUSSELL DUBNER, CEO of Edelman U.S., said in a statement: “We can confirm that an employee in our Washington, D.C. office had direct physical contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 (the person is not an Edelman colleague). The employee is now self-quarantined.
“As a precaution and given the guidance of local authorities and experts, we are instructing our staff there to work from home through the end of the week while we perform a deep cleaning of the office.” An Edelman spokesman declined to comment on who the employee was and who they had contact with.
IT’S MINI-TUESDAY: Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota and Washington state vote tonight. … “How to watch Mini-Tuesday like a pro,”by Maya King
NATASHA KORECKI in Detroit: “Protests erupt at Biden’s raucous Detroit rally”: “Protests at a raucous Joe Biden rally Monday night grew unruly at times, including one prolonged scuffle that knocked a senior Biden aide to the floor of a high school gymnasium. More than 2,000 people filled the gymnasium on the eve of a pivotal primary in the state that will award the largest delegate prize Tuesday.
“For Biden it was a star-spangled night, with a roaring, energized crowd after two major rivals — Sens. Cory Booker and Kamala Harris — formally threw their backing behind the former vice president.
“But at two points, shouts and demonstrations within the crowd interrupted Biden’s remarks. After Biden took the stage, protesters unfurled banners, one that read: ‘NATO killed our jobs.’ Looking into the crowd, Biden started, ‘Are you a Donald Trump …?’ Then as a member of the crowd tried to tear away the banner, Biden said, ‘That’s OK, let him go. This is not a Trump rally. Let him go, let him go. The Bernie Bros are here. Let him go.’
“Minutes later, a larger group of pro-Green New Deal demonstrators began shouting over Biden’s remarks and waving signs. But as staff members tried moving the group along. Biden senior aide Symone Sanders was hit on the head with an iPad and knocked down. Video of the incident shows her popping right back up; she was reportedly doing fine afterward. Last week, on Super Tuesday, Sanders charged on stage as a protester approached Biden and his wife, Jill, as he spoke in Los Angeles.” POLITICO
— WAPO: “The new Biden: Shorter speeches (and less time for gaffes),”by Cleve Wootson in Kansas City, Mo.: “As Joe Biden cradles a delegate lead through the handful of primary states that will vote Tuesday, he has unleashed a rarely used weapon in what has become a two-man battle for the Democratic presidential nomination:
“Brevity. Biden’s event in St. Louis, framed by the Gateway Arch, clocked in at around seven minutes Saturday. A short time later, at a windswept event in Kansas City, people were streaming for their cars after Biden wrapped up in 12 minutes. His longest speech of the weekend, in the gym of Tougaloo College in Jackson, Miss., didn’t quite make 15 minutes.
“It is a seismic shift for Biden, 77, who in five decades of political office and three White House runs has never had a reputation for breviloquence. It’s a habit perhaps nurtured in the Senate, which prides itself on limitless debate and has a special term — filibuster — for talking endlessly.”
FOR YOUR RADAR — “House leaders near deal to renew federal surveillance powers,” by Melanie Zanona, Kyle Cheney and Heather Caygle: “House leaders are closing in on a bipartisan deal to renew a set of federal surveillance powers expiring this weekend, but no final agreement has been reached, according to lawmakers and aides of both parties.
“Republican lawmakers left a Monday night meeting in the office of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) with Attorney General William Barr and expressed optimism about reaching a bipartisan solution before the March 15 deadline, though they cautioned they were still negotiating. And senior aides in both parties say they’re even hoping to pass a bill later this week — before the programs expire March 15 and Congress is scheduled to leave for a weeklong recess.” POLITICO
TRUMP’S TUESDAY — The president will award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to retired Army Gen. Jack Keane at 4:30 p.m. in the East Room.
PLAYBOOK READS
ALEX ISENSTADT: “Clinton vet warns Biden: Don’t let Trump define you as senile”: “President Donald Trump stood before about 500 of the Republican Party’s biggest patrons at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Friday and raised a topic few in the audience expected: Joe Biden’s mental capacity.
“Trump walked the donors through a list of Biden’s recent verbal stumbles, such as his recent declaration that he was running for Senate and his assertion that 150 million Americans had been killed by gun violence since 2007. Trump questioned whether the former vice president had the mental stamina to sustain the rigors of a general election campaign.
“Then, the president appeared to give donors permission to leak his remarks about Biden to the media. ‘I would hope you not repeat that,’ Trump said sarcastically, according to an attendee.” POLITICO
LETTER FROM MILAN … GRETA PRIVITERA: “In Lombardy, the wealthy region at the heart of Italy’s coronavirus outbreak, a shortage of beds and medical supplies is forcing doctors to make increasingly difficult choices.
“As the number of infected keeps rising — the number of reported cases in Italy topped 7,900 Monday, more than 70 percent of them in Lombardy — hospitals are scrambling to increase the number of beds available in intensive-care units. Some have closed entire wards to dedicate them to severe coronavirus cases. Others have transformed operating rooms into intensive-care units. Doctors are working grueling shifts to cover for colleagues who fall ill.
“With no clear sign of when the epidemic will spike, anesthesiologists and doctors are being called on to make increasingly tough calls on who gets access to beds and respirators when there are not enough to go around.” POLITICO Europe … More on Italy’s lockdown
VALLEY TALK — “Twitter strikes deal with activist investor to keep Jack Dorsey as CEO,” by NBC’s Jason Abbruzzese and Claire Atkinson: “Twitter has struck a deal to keep Jack Dorsey as CEO, after an activist hedge fund [led by GOP megadonor Paul Singer] recently agitated for leadership change at the company.
“The deal will include a $2 billion share buyback program and give the hedge fund, Elliott Management, a seat on Twitter’s board of directors, according to a press release.
“Elliott, which has invested in and advocated for changes at many major companies, had recently pushed for changes at the company. Last week, Dorsey said he was re-evaluating his plans to spend more time in Africa, though he cited the new coronavirus outbreak as the reason.”
— THE VERGE’S CASEY NEWTON: “The fight some of us expected between Elliott and Twitter did not materialize. Instead, Twitter folded like a card table.” The Interface
MEDIAWATCH — TUCKER CARLSON, one of the president’s close allies, had this to say on his Fox News show Monday night: “People you trust, people you probably voted for, have spent weeks minimizing what is clearly a very serious problem … ‘It’s just partisan politics,’ they say. ‘Calm down. In the end this was just like the flu and people die from that every year. Coronavirus will pass.’
“They may not know any better. … Maybe they’re just not paying attention, or maybe they believe they’re serving some higher cause by shading reality. … And there’s an election coming up. Best not to say anything that might help the other side. We get it. But they’re wrong … It’s definitely not just the flu.” (h/t CNN’s Oliver Darcy)
IN MEMORIAM — Former Rep. Jack Buechner (R-Mo.) has died at age 79, according to FMC, the Association of Former Members of Congress. Buechner was president of FMC from 2004 to 2006. He served in the House from 1987 to 1991, representing Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District.
TRANSITION — Jake Sticka has resumed his role as VP for client strategy at Rising Tide Interactive. He previously was on leave to serve as digital director and paid media adviser for Amy Klobuchar’s campaign.
ENGAGED — Lachlan Markay, a reporter for The Daily Beast, and Anna Massoglia, a researcher at the Center for Responsive Politics, got engaged on a gondola in City Park, New Orleans. They met in late 2016. Pic… Another pic
BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: John Murray, partner at Monument Advocacy. How he thinks the Trump presidency is going: “It’s lived up to the roller-coaster ride everyone expected. As a communicator, I appreciate how he owns the message every day, but I wish he’d take some days off.” Playbook Q&A
BIRTHDAYS: Jim Sciutto, co-anchor of “CNN Newsroom” and chief national security correspondent … Jon Haber, president and founder of Cascade Strategy (h/ts Randy White and Margaret Kimbrell) … Randy White … Sarah Coppersmith (h/ts Jon Haber) … Cari Lutkins, deputy COS for operations at the U.S. Mission to the U.N. … POLITICO’s Brad Dayspring, Jane Norman, Arek Sarkissian, Nicole Adams and Olivia Dunn … Matt Jessee, policy adviser at Bryan Cave Strategies … Bill Nichols … Ron Elving, senior editor/correspondent on NPR’s Washington desk … Adam Bodily … CNBC’s David Faber is 56 … Harper Garfinkle … Wayne Firestone … Julie Balter …
… Vernon Loeb, executive editor at InsideClimate News … Alyse Nelson,president and CEO of Vital Voices … Jean Cornell … Stuart Spencer … Adam Weinstein … Alina Cho, contributor for “CBS Sunday Morning” and editor at large at Ballantine Bantam Dell … David Lau … Matt Morrison, executive director of Working America … Colin Coletti … Kevin McKeon … Wei Soo … Murong Yang … Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter, is 46 … Tyler Fisher … Nicole Guillemard … NYT’s Danny Hakim is 49 … Ed Hooper … Carrie Filipetti … Christie Roberts … Chris Corcoran … Josh Johnson … CNN’s Mike Callahan … Alex Treadway … Cary Hatch … Victor Pickard … Simeon Talley … Britain’s Prince Edward is 56
By Caffeinated Thoughts on Mar 09, 2020 06:32 pm
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed a disaster proclamation following the confirmation of five additional COVID-19 cases activating Iowa’s emergency action plan. Read in browser »
By Caffeinated Thoughts on Mar 09, 2020 05:49 pm
David Young, Republican candidate for Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District for the U.S. House of Representatives, submitted over 7600 nominating petition signatures. Read in browser »
By Shane Vander Hart on Mar 09, 2020 10:39 am
Shane Vander Hart: Diseases are often named for the regions they originate in. Calling COVID-19 the ‘Wuhan Virus’ is not racist. Read in browser »
Launched in 2006, Caffeinated Thoughts reports news and shares commentary about culture, current events, faith and state and national politics from a Christian and conservative point of view.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is using public fears about the coronavirus as a fundraising tool for his 2020 presidential campaign. Sanders sent out a campaign email to supporters Monday asking them to sign a petition demanding the government guarantee that a potential coronavirus vaccine will be free of charge. The …
President Donald Trump will receive his daily briefing and present the Presidential Medal of Freedom to General Jack Keane. Keep up with Trump on Our President’s Schedule Page. President Trump’s Itinerary for 3/10/20 – note: this page will be updated during the day if events warrant Keep up with Trump …
Vice President Mike Pence and members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force hold a briefing to update the media and the nation on recent developments. The briefing is set to start at 6:00 p.m. EST. Content created by Conservative Daily News and some content syndicated through CDN is available for …
President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign suggested Monday that more than 15,000 people who attended the president’s rallies this year were Democrats and independents. Roughly 16% of attendees at a North Charleston, South Carolina rally were black people, 28% of the audience didn’t vote in 2016, and nearly 40% of them …
President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign pushed back Monday against Twitter’s decision to call out the team for deceptively editing a video of former Vice President Joe Biden. White House social media director Dan Scavino thrashed Twitter early Monday morning for labelling the video an example of “manipulated media.” Scavino and …
A Washington, D.C., priest has been diagnosed with the coronavirus after attending church services attended by more than 500 people. All services at Christ Church, Georgetown have been suspended. “I can now confirm that I am the individual who tested positive for the Coronavirus,” Rev. Timothy Cole said in a …
Denver Councilwoman Candi CdeBaca, a Socialist/Communist made national news recently when she retweeted #solidarity with a tweeter who wrote: “For the record, if I do get the coronavirus, I’m attending every MAGA rally I can.” In response to a fire storm of protests, CdeBaca claimed she was being “sarcastic.” It’s …
“Only thing we have to fear is fear itself” FDR 1933 As I write this the Dow futures are down 1,200 points. Oil is down over 20 percent. Gold is way up—no wait, it’s going sideways and silver back down under $17. So much for safe havens. Precious metals are …
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com Sen. Bernie Sanders recently released a video in which he is seen embracing former President Barack Obama. While many viewed the video as disingenuous and/or a desperate effort to win over black voters, it still raised an interesting legal question. Given that Obama served two terms, …
Perhaps this idea has been floated out there by someone else already, but I haven’t seen it. This will come as no surprise to most of you, but I don’t read a lot of other writers’ stuff. Yes, I’m arrogant. I’m also fun, which is why we are all here every weekday morning. So this theory is new to me.
As I said in yesterday’s Briefing, I — and many others — believe that the mainstream media is whipping up the coronavirus hysteria for the sole purpose of damaging President Trump and throwing the election to the paste-eating slow boy Joe Biden.
I also truly believe that whipping up an unnecessary panic over the Wuhan flu is the only chance der Bidengaffer has of winning the election.
In the hours after I wrote that, the media seemed to turn up the hysterical volume on the coverage to eleven, and my mind began to wander about how all of this is going to play out.
With all the stars aligning behind Crazy Joe the Wonder Veep despite his inability to string together any number of words that form a sentence, I began to wonder how a Biden presidency played out in the heads of Democrats.
My new theory: it doesn’t.
They don’t really want this declining, drooling idiot to be president for four years. Four months, maybe.
The reason that the Democrats are actively cheering for their fellow citizens to become ill and have that illness tank the economy so even more of their fellow citizens become broke is that they are desperate to just grab the Oval Office first.
Because they’re awful, Biden is the least worst of the vehicles to get them there.
Here is where my conspiracy freak thing comes in.
I think they’d prefer to get the elderly white man into the White House with one of their preferred diversity candidates as his vice president. Once in, they can suddenly become aware of his cognitive decline and begin publicly expressing concerns about his health, all dutifully abetted by their flying monkeys in the media.
We’ve just been through over three years of the Democrats constantly questioning the mental competence of a Republican president and not being able to make it stick enough to get him out of office. Their chances of making it stick if they are doing the same with one of their own would most certainly be greater.
So…they get the village idiot elected and they balance out the White Patriarchy aspect by having Elizabeth Warren or Kamala Harris on the ticket with him. Then they manage to depose said idiot with a real version of the internal coup that they have longed for in the Trump administration and — YAHTZEE! — one of their unelectable shrews ascends to the throne.
Change my mind.
RIP Late Night Television
Yeah, yeah, I know it’s been dead for years, but I keep hoping that someone on late night television will stop the unsettling fanboi nonsense with Democratic politicians. All of the late night shows are cesspools of leftist clichés. They spent eight years doing the same Sarah Palin joke while the Lightbringer was in office. Now they have a nightly diaper-filling over ORANGE MAN BAD.
In the leftist fever-dream, this wet sock has some sort of entertainment value.
This is why I post so many old Carson clips here, to remember how truly great late night television once was.
Grandpa Stalin Endorsed by Actual Communists
The Intercept
✔@theintercept
Sanders is “best suited to deliver on the change that many people in the Warren campaign were committed to,” @WorkingFamilies National Director Maurice Mitchell said. https://interc.pt/3aCSiEA
Working Families Party Endorses Bernie Sanders for President
Sanders is “best suited to deliver on the change that many people in the Warren campaign were committed to,” WFP National Director Maurice Mitchell said.
Elizabeth Warren Leaves Brutal 1-Star Review For Ancestry.com
U.S.—Senator and presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren left a brutal 1-star review for Ancestry.com on a popular consumer review site, sources confirmed Tuesday.Internet users noticed a particula…
Far and away the greatest sitcom finale ever. Sure, he had to have two successful shows to pull it off, but that couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.
Still waiting to hear back from Club Med Wuhan to see if they’re ever going to rebook my trip.
The Morning Dispatch: The Economic and Medical Impact of COVID-19
The Dispatch Staff
13 min
Happy Tuesday! If you pick up on some frustration in the tone of today’s newsletter, Declan is still seething over how Peter’s mom treated Madison on The Bachelor last night. If Madi doesn’t win the whole thing, we’re canceling tomorrow’s TMD. [Editor’s Note: We’re not. Nobody else here cares about The Bachelor.]
Just a reminder, you’re getting this version of the newsletter as a non-paying member. To get the full version, plus the ability to comment on our stories, join now.
Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories
Six states go to the polls in the Democratic primary, and Joe Biden can build a near-insurmountable delegate lead over Bernie Sanders with a strong showing.
Four more members of Congress are self-quarantining after discovering they interacted last week with citizens who later tested positive for COVID-19. Rep. Doug Collins, Rep. Matt Gaetz, and Rep. Mark Meadows—who has tested negative—believe they came in contact with a carrier at CPAC, while Rep. Julia Brownley did not announce how she encountered the disease.
Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana announced he will run for GOP Sen. Steve Daines’ seat this November. Bullock, who is highly popular in the state, previously sought the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination before dropping out in December.
Despite pledging publicly to cooperate fully, Prince Andrew has “completely shut the door” on U.S. prosecutors investigating the case of the late Jeffrey Epstein, a U.S. attorney said Monday. Epstein reportedly killed himself last year while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
A health care business with ties to Joe Biden’s brother James was raided by the FBI in late January.
A Tennessee hospital has announced it will not charge medical fees for patients affected by the tornadoes that killed 24 in the Nashville area last week.
Speaking to reporters at a coronavirus task force briefing on Monday night, President Trump said his administration plans to discuss with congressional leaders measures the federal government can take to mitigate the economic fallout of the COVID-19 outbreak. Some items the White House will bring to the table: A payroll tax cut, cash assistance to hourly wage earners, loans for small businesses struggling with liquidity, and relief for the airline, hotel, and cruise industries. Trump reiterated that he didn’t want American workers and businesses to “get penalized for something that’s not their fault.”
The president’s comments came after the markets closed on another day of financial turmoil. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had its worst day since the 2008 financial crisis on Monday, dropping 7.8 percent. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield briefly hit an all-time low of 0.318 percent in overnight trading. Oil prices fell more than 24 percent, with some markers registering their biggest intraday losses since 1991.
But perhaps of even greater economic significance are the continued institutional closures and cancellations sweeping across the country: Small businesses reeling after expected revenues vanished, parents scrambling to find childcare for their kids after schools were shuttered, service or gig economy workers forced to choose between safeguarding their health and paying the bills.
And that’s where fiscal stimulus efforts come in.
When an economy lags, governments often put together stimulus packages—typically containing tax cuts, federal spending, and other various incentives—in an effort to emulate consumer demand and jumpstart commercial activity. The United States passed two such packages in 2008 and 2009 in attempts to stave off the worst of the most recent financial crisis: The $152 billion Economic Stimulus Act was signed into law by President George W. Bush in February 2008; President Barack Obama approved the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the Recovery Act) a year later in February 2009.
It’s worth remembering that the markets are in turmoil not only because of how the disease has already affected the global economy—trade disruptions, lower demand for oil, the damage to the travel industry—but because of uncertainty of how it will affect areas that are just starting to see cases. The health of millions of people is at stake. We also talked to medical experts about why the coronavirus is more worrisome than a simple seasonal flu, and what factors will determine whether the next few months will be just a period of national turbulence or a full-blown disaster:
Why is it that, as Trump says, “life & the economy go on” despite tens of thousands of annual flu deaths? Primarily because the seasonal flu is, well, seasonal. Hospitals and medical centers know roughly how much of it to expect each year, and they’re able to plan accordingly. Many people die, yes but that’s rarely due to a lack of sufficient medical resources or care.
A sudden epidemic of something like the coronavirus, by contrast, is impossible to plan for. At any given time, especially during flu season, most hospitals are already operating near their peak capacity for diseased patients. Operating under the assumption that a mass outbreak is always right around the corner just isn’t economically feasible in many places.
The rest of Andrew’s piece is available on the website here.
Worth Your Time
As the novel coronavirus has spread, it’s inevitably drawn comparisons to other heavyweight pathogens humanity has battled in recent years: bird flu, swine flu, SARS, MERS, ebola, zika. But there’s another—hopefully too fatalistic—comparison that can be made: The Spanish flu, which swept across the world in 1918, killing between 20 and 40 million people. If you’re not sick of the subject by now, it’s worth taking a few minutes to read this definitive 1997 New Yorker piece on the subject by Malcolm Gladwell. Apart from being a fascinating read, it’s a great motivator to keep washing your hands!
Before his sudden Super Tuesday collapse, Mike Bloomberg’s campaign was making headlines for the plum salaries it was paying staffers. Turns out that the Bloomberg influencers-in-residence had a pretty sweet gig too: Kaleigh Rogers of FiveThirtyEight interviewed an 18-year-old who got paid $83 a day by the campaign, regardless of how long he worked or if he even worked at all. The kid says he worked about 10 hours a week sending texts and making phone calls, and found the job a great way to supplement his minimum-wage tutoring work. One stand-out quote: “I actually did work but I think I could have, honestly, done no work and still gotten paid for this campaign…They had no way of tracking. There was no enforcement system.”
The latest Advisory Opinions podcast is out. Sarah and David preview today’s primaries and discuss coronavirus, the Trump campaign’s lawsuits against news outlets, and the execution of Nathaniel Woods.
You know the math is bad, but you might not know how bad. If you missed it yesterday, be sure to read Brian Riedl’s piece for the site detailing just how far the nation is from being able to pay for Bernie Sanders’s proposed $97 trillion legislative agenda.
Today, several incredibly important states will have their primaries, including Michigan, Washington, Missouri, Mississippi, Idaho, and North Dakota. Though only 352 delegates are up for grabs, the tight race between Bernie and Biden renders the day a key turning point for both campaigns.
More than likely, tonight will solidify Biden’s place as the presumptive nominee, even if he will not yet have enough to clinch the nomination.
“Biden will not land all 352 delegates in this week’s contests, and even if he did, it still wouldn’t land him the 1,991 required to fend off a contested convention in Milwaukee. Another round of blowout Biden wins, however, particularly in Michigan, where Sanders pulled off an upset four years ago and which flipped to Trump in the general, would cast further doubts about Sanders’ ability to clinch the nomination and propel Biden to the top of the ticket as the former vice president continues to surge.”
Cruz in Quarantine
After an attendee of the conservative conference CPAC tested positive for coronavirus, concerns arose surrounding both how many influential politicians were in attendance at the event and how many people from across the country were at the events. In reaction to the potential exposure, Senator Ted Cruz decided to self-quarantine at his home in Texas, in order to protect his constituents, staff, and fellow senators. Following in his steps, Representatives Paul Gosar and Doug Collins also put themselves in self-quarantine. While none are currently experiencing symptoms, the 14-day incubation renders the politicians cautious.
This Week in Entertainment Emily Jashinsky interviews a contestant cut from Netflix’s smash hit reality program “Love is Blind”
John Daniel Davidson explores videogame adaptations becoming respected with HBO’s upcoming ‘Last of Us’
Libby Emmons extols the virtue of Lego Masters, entertainment truly fun for the whole family
Paulina Enck rages against the ceaseless alterations to remove any moral ambiguity from ‘Star Wars’
Paulina Enck is an intern at the Federalist and current student at Georgetown University in the School of Foreign Service. Follow her on Twitter at @itspaulinaenck
Note: By using some of the links above, Bright may be compensated through the Amazon Affiliate program and Magic Links. However, none of this content is sponsored and all opinions are our own.
Mar 10, 2020 01:00 am
New Jersey Democrats are reviving an effort to force President Donald Trump to release his tax returns or be denied a spot on the state’s 2020 ballot. Read More…
Mar 10, 2020 01:00 am
Liberal women are destroying the public square — which is a Culture of Insult with rules — and replacing it with a Culture of Complaint where #BelieveAllWomen are always right, just like they are in the home. Read More…
Mar 10, 2020 01:00 am
The next time someone speaks about peace with reference to the Middle East, be sure to ask them to explain exactly what they mean. Read More…
Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple founder Steve Jobs, said she doesn’t intend to pass on her massive amounts of wealth to her children because it would be unfair, and it’s not right for individuals to be so rich, according to the New Yo … Read more
By Thomas Brejcha
Even those who disagree with David Daleiden and his techniques but care about how the legal actions against him could define press freedom need to follow this case. Full article
By Margot Cleveland
An extreme Kansas Supreme Court abortion decision prompted pro-lifers to introduce the Value Them Both Amendment, which so-called pro-life Democratic legislators have failed to support. Full article
By Madeline Osburn
The highest-ranking Republican woman in the House won her toughest primary in 20 years by abandoning her pro-choice positions for pro-life votes. Full article
By Kylee Zempel
The feminist idea of toxic masculinity has confused men into thinking women want weak-willed, easily-swayed, emotion-driven men. We don’t. Full article
By Christopher Jacobs
In a Monday townhall, Sanders suggested a single-payer health-care system with ‘free’ care would ameliorate Americans’ concerns. Full article
By Joshua Lawson
If President Trump loses, the GOP can work with Biden and mitigate the damage. A Sanders presidency, however, would be a greater threat to liberty. Full article
By Jeff Ditzler
While most primary coverage focuses on whether Biden can sweep Mississippi or whether Sanders can repeat his surprise victory in Michigan, the most decisive Tuesday win for Biden could be on the West Coast. Full article
By Nicole Fisher
Schools and universities around the world have been forced to rethink the ways students and learning should move forward in the wake of coronavirus. Full article
By Todd Bensman
‘A lot of people started to see a lot of people going to the U.S. starting to build big houses, and we wanted the same,’ says Francisco Santizo, who sent a 20-year-old son to the United States. Full article
By Titus Techera
We need heroes who will face death fearlessly and keep their eyes on eternity. In Max von Sydow’s roles as an aged oracle, that is what he did. Full article
By William Newton
‘Raphael and His Circle,’ which opened recently at the National Gallery of Art, brings together works from the museum’s collections of prints and drawings by the master and his associates. Full article
By Tristan Justice
Team Trump is demanding Twitter apply its new standards on ‘manipulated media’ to the Biden campaign after one of its videos was tagged as misleading. Full article
By Chrissy Clark
During a Fox News town hall, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said he would not close the southern border to prevent the spread of the Wuhan virus. Full article
By Chrissy Clark
The University of Chicago asked students to participate in a digital initiate called “I vote because.” One student was singled out for her conservative beliefs. Full article
By The Federalist Staff
Spectator USA Editor Melissa Chen joins Ben Domenech to discuss the coronavirus and the misinformation surrounding the outbreak. Full article
By Tristan Justice
The survival of Bernie Sanders’ campaign hinges on a path to 1,991 delegates, but as Joe Biden widens his lead, the mountain for Sanders gets steeper to climb. Full article
By Chrissy Clark
The Bernie Sanders campaign accused Joe Biden of pushing the DNC and CNN for a seated debate format in the upcoming Democratic debates on March 15. Full article
By Tristan Justice
Colorado and Montana are prime targets for Democrats this fall hoping to oust who they see as vulnerable Republican incumbents. Full article
By David Marcus
In the wake of the Wuhan Virus New York’s governor has been acting kind of strange. Full article
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The coronavirus isn’t nearly as bad as mainstream media is playing it out to be. Yes, there are many more people infected than we currently know and that number, whatever it really is, will surely rise. That’s the nature of diseases like this. It’s why despite a nation with a majority of people who get the flu shot, we still have tens of thousands of deaths a year from it.
One thing that is so concerning about the coronavirus is that it apparently spreads very easily. Even incidental contact may yield infection as best as we can tell right now, making it unofficially highly contagious. Considering it started abroad, one would think the Democrats, who are hammering the administration’s response to the outbreak, would take this as a cue that perhaps we need to get control of our immigration process. The concept of open borders would establish an easy way for diseases like the coronavirus to spread wider and more rapidly.
The wall being built along the southern border, to the consternation of Democrats in DC and activist progressive judges everywhere, should be considered an easy way to take more control of traffic to and from our nation. It establishes choke points through which we can screen people, whether for disease, contraband, or criminal status. Why aren’t Democrats embracing it now that they’re seemingly obsessed with the coronavirus?
Yesterday during a Fox News town hall, Senator Bernie Sanders was asked if he would close the borders to stop the spread of the coronavirus. He said no. If you think this is a unique perspective to the Democratic Socialist, think again. Despite a clear need to protect our borders for multiple reasons, including the Democrats’ new pet project with pretending to want to stop the coronavirus, a total of ZERO have called to rethink their opposition to the wall. President Trump was sure to mention the wall on Twitter this morning.
If the coronavirus spreads throughout South American, Central America, and Mexico, there will be a surge of illegal immigrants who don’t care if they’re caught or not as long as they can have access to our healthcare system. Contrary to popular belief among Democrats, we still have the best healthcare system in the world. If you have the coronavirus, the place you want to be treated is here.
The coronavirus and the potential for future pandemics are just the most timely reasons Democrats need to reverse their opposition to the wall. There are too many reasons to list, but stopping future outbreaks should be a bipartisan goal. It’s not.
American Conservative Movement
Join fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. We have two priorities until election day: Stopping Democrats and supporting strong conservative candidates. We currently have 7500+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.
One of the advantages of being in chat rooms with other conservative journalists is getting to see the shifting perspectives as new information comes forward. One particular Twitter group I’m in with four prominent and a dozen or so budding conservative journalists is interesting as they’re all quite a bit more informed than I am about the state of the presidential race. My specialty is foreign affairs, so while I could name off the top of my head every member of both the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, campaign news isn’t part of my purview.
I get everything I need to know from my Twitter groups and from reading my colleagues here at NOQ Report, and I’ve noticed a trend in both. Many astute Trump-supporting pundits are warming to the prospect of a Joe Biden nomination. No, none of them are considering voting for him, but general consensus for months has been that Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren would be the easiest candidates for President Trump to defeat because their far-left policy proposals make them too distasteful to Independents. The more we learn about Biden, the more these Republican political gurus are realizing he’s actually the easiest to defeat in November.
An article I shared with them from our Editor-In-Chief sparked a day-long conversation (actually, it’s still happening) in the Twitter group about the simplicity of attacking Biden for his obvious senility. He may have early-stage dementia, and that’s an interesting prospect for a presidential campaign. The funny part is my EIC has always hoped for a Sanders nomination because he wants the conversation about Marxism to be front-and-center in a presidential race. He believes the complexities of the radical progressive message must be hashed out to the general public and a presidential race is the only way to truly quash socialism before it becomes even more popular.
My Twitter group looks at it from the opposite perspective. They see the simplicity of attacking Joe Biden as a benefit. Why work so hard to debunk complicated proposals like Medicare-for-All or the Green New Deal when we can simply say, “Biden doesn’t always know where he is and when he does know, he has trouble forming the words to describe his surroundings.”
Biden’s campaign has taken great pains to keep him out of the public eye. While Sanders was bouncing around between Sunday shows trying to get as much airtime as possible, Biden held exactly zero interviews. While Sanders has to rush to keep his message to voters under an hour, Biden’s campaign has kept the former Vice President on stage for an average of seven minutes at his rallies. At his rallies.
Now that Joe Biden is the frontrunner, he’s being hidden away by his campaign. Every time he speaks, he says something that reveals his diminishing cognitive abilities. Republicans now realize the “moderate” is the easiest man for President Trump to beat.
American Conservative Movement
Join fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. We have two priorities until election day: Stopping Democrats and supporting strong conservative candidates. We currently have 7500+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.
There’s a dangerous narrative the left is trying to sell us.
Sanctuary policies represent the ultimate virtue-signaling paradigm for Democrats as they attempt to perpetuate their sway over immigrants, both legal and illegal, by saying flowery phrases like “everyone is welcome here” or “no families should be separated over racism.” But hidden beneath their narrative of unity and protection lies a reality that is much uglier. It’s a truth that they know, but they do everything they can to keep it out of the news. Out of sight. Out of mind.
The truth is this: Sanctuary jurisdictions are dangerous for multiple reasons, the most obvious being local law enforcement’s participation, whether forced or embraced, in the practice of rapidly releasing criminal illegal aliens back to the streets. They protect criminal illegal aliens from being apprehended and deported by federal law enforcement agencies, most notably ICE.
The alleged premise behind this practice is often echoed by mainstream media in an attempt to run cover for Democrats and their policies. Simply stated, the idea is that sanctuary jurisdictions enable those in Latino communities more freedom to work with local law enforcement. Proponents of sanctuary policies say that by protecting criminal illegal aliens from deportation, the Latino community will reward them with more cooperation. Since they do not have to fear deportation at the hands of local law enforcement, they will supposedly be more willing to report crimes or even snitch on those who commit crimes within their community.
This is a smokescreen. It’s completely false. There have been literally zero studies that back this claim and numerous examples of criminal illegal aliens returned to the street to continue committing their crimes. In many cases, they up the ante and pursue more hideous activities than before. They graduate, so to speak, after realizing they’ve burned their “Get of Jail Free” card.
There’s the case of Christopher Puente in Chicago who was shielded from ICE deportation before allegedly sexually assaulting a three-year-old girl. Both the police and Mayor Lori Lightfoot blamed ICE for not catching him despite the fact that he was in Chicago PD custody when they ignored an ICE detainer.
We can look to the heinous example of Reeaz Khan in New York City. Upon release from the NYPD who also ignored an ICE detainer, Khan proceeded to rape and murder a 92-year-old woman. He claimed he was going to help her when he tripped and accidentally raped her as a result.
“Graduation” following arrest and release happens because sanctuary jurisdiction law enforcement inadvertently give them the impression they no longer have anything to lose. Their protection normally runs out after the first arrest; it’s simply bad and unavoidable press to continue releasing criminals after they’ve already been released to commit their crimes again. This is why child rapists like Francisco Barraza-Porras don’t appear for their court hearings. He’s now free thanks to Boulder, Colorado’s sanctuary policy. Sadly, law enforcement cannot locate him and has turned to the community for assistance. It’s a sanctuary city, after all, so surely the grateful community will meet the call and turn him in, right? A week after he was supposed to appear in court, he has not been found and nobody in the community has stepped forward with information.
Even if they’re deported, these sanctuary jurisdictions encourage them to return by offering them the safe haven they desire. It’s a criminal’s dream to have areas where their freedom is more important to politicians and law enforcement than the safety of American citizens. When the criminals are given preferential treatment over their victims, why wouldn’t they want to take their chances coming back across the border?
But the real culprit in all of this is mainstream media. They, more than politicians or law enforcement, are tasked with keeping people informed about the truth. Our media is fully aware that sanctuary jurisdictions are not working as planned, but with the vast majority of mainstream media journalists running cover for Democrats, they willfully hide the truth about sanctuary jurisdictions. To tell the truth would be to alert the general public that sanctuary policies do not work and put communities at greater risk.
The biggest way they run cover for Democrats is by ignoring relevant facts. In the case above regarding Francisco Barraza-Porras, dozens of local and national news outlets covered the case. But only one, the Daily Caller, even mentioned that Barraza-Porras is an illegal immigrant who was in police custody when they ignored the detainer request from ICE. It’s important to Democrats that stories like his are not presented fully to the public because we, the people, would start asking too many questions. Why was he being protected? Why didn’t local law enforcement allow a child rapist to be deported? Why did they choose instead to release him back into the community so he could continue committing his evil crimes against children?
These are questions that mainstream media should ask. They won’t because they already know the answer. It’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” when it comes to reporting about crimes in which there’s a potential the criminal is an illegal alien. Their lies by omission are designed to keep the people in the dark about what sanctuary policies really do.
I watched a video by Vox that supposedly detailed what sanctuary jurisdictions did. I won’t link to it because it’s radical progressive propaganda. They pretended to be fair and mentioned some of the pros and cons of sanctuary jurisdictions. The pros were many, including the aforementioned unproven theory that harnessing community cooperation with law enforcement increases in sanctuary cities. The cons? They talked about the additional costs of having to catch the same person twice. That’s it. No mention of increased danger to citizens or accelerated actions by criminal illegal aliens after being released. Vox simply didn’t want to even acknowledge the biggest problem of them all.
This is just another reason why we need donations to help us get the truth out to the people.
Sanctuary policies increase risks to citizens by putting the freedom of illegal immigrants over the safety of their victims. Mainstream media is complicit, covering for sanctuary policies by ignoring the facts. Their allegiance to Democrats supersedes the truth.
Sanctuary policies increase risks to citizens by putting the freedom of illegal immigrants over the safety of their victims.
Media is complicit, covering for sanctuary policies by ignoring the facts.
Join fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. We have two priorities until election day: Stopping Democrats and supporting strong conservative candidates. We currently have 7500+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.
We here at NOQ Report have the distinct honor and privilege of bringing you this fourth installment in a series of articles on the joint interests of Japan and the United States in the strategic Western Pacific Ocean by a scholar and expert with over three decades of service to Pacific Island Countries. Dr. Rieko Hayakawa has the ear of the administration of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and is highly respected by the United States Indo-Pacific Command based here on Oahu.
Today she explains historically and in consideration of current political and strategic realities why the Presidency of the Republic of Palau must be on all of our radars. She tells us which of the candidates for next November’s election in Palau would best bring stability to this crucial region to offset Chinese incursions into our own respective maritime domains. Palau is 805 miles from the U.S. Commonwealth of Guam and 1,972 miles from Tokyo.
ANALYSIS BY DR. RIEKO HAYAKAWA
Learning from History
In November 2020, there will be another Presidential election in the Pacific at the same time as the national election in the United States. The Republic of Palau is a former territory and now a Freely Associated State of the USA.
How many Americans know about this election, or I should ask how many people even know about this tiny island state with just above 20,000 population which is strategically located in the 2nd Island Chain of the Chinese Communist Party [CCP]? Who in North America knows where the Micronesian Region of the Western Pacific Ocean is and why its security is important to the United States?
Palau 2020 Presidential Election has 4 Candidates:
Surangel S. Whipps Jr. (Former Palauan Senator and businessman)
Raynold B. Oilouch (Current Vice President and Minister of Justice)
Alan Seid (Businessman)
Johnson Toribiong (Former President and businessman)
It is said that in fact the election is mostly between Whipps Jr. and Oilouch. Whipps Jr. ran in a former election against Remengesau Jr., but lost by just about 200 votes.
Oilouch as successor of current Palau President Thomas Esang “Tommy” Remengesau Jr. would take over and continue current policy and administration.
Bloody Politics in Paradise
Again, not many people, neither American nor Japanese, know about the bloody history of the past Presidents of Palau. The 1st President Haruo Remeliik was assassinated in 1985. The 4th President Lazarus Salii committed suicide in 1988.
The truth is still in the bush, but there were movements, incentives and undercurrents of anti-nuclear, communism, drugs and corruption. Robie also pointed out possible Japanese Yakuza involvement.
In 1985, Chairman of Toyota-Shoji Company was killed in front of a TV camera. He had collected US$2 billion in a Ponzi scheme from elderly people. This company had many projects in Palau, including airport and resort hotel construction in Airai State.
Some official documents reveal a connection of Yohei Sasakawa, who is a honorary citizen of Palau, with this company.
China Just Copying U.S. and Japan?
This January, Palau law-enforcement arrested about 200 Chinese cyber-criminals. Local news said that there are 1,000 criminals still hiding in Palau. They came to Palau in the last year under arrangements with President Remengesau.
He made a 99-year land lease for a Casino & Resort Hotel in Angaur State. Angaur is the place for the radar site of the United States Indo-Pacific Command [Indo-PACOM] which is a critical security facility in the Western Pacific Region.
But what Chinese criminals are doing in Palau seems similar to what U.S. and Japan have done to Palau in the 1980s and ’90s. I would like to remind the people of both the United States and Japan about the murder of a young American lawyer on Yap Island who tried to protect human rights of women and children in that island state of the Federated States of Micronesia [FSM], which occurred in October 2019. Yap, which is just 280 miles from Palau, is being targeted by a huge Chinese development company for the last decade and is also located on the 2nd Island Chain for the CCP.
Whose Matter is the 2020 Presidential Election in Palau?
Of course, the Palau Presidential Election is their own sovereignty matter. We cannot and should not interfere. However, at least we should know what has happened and what is now happening in this tiny island state, because their politics are connected to our world and regional security.
The United States, Japan and Australia are the primary counterbalances to Chinese hegemony and aggression from both CCP and criminal triads in Palau and throughout the entire Micronesian Region of the western Pacific Ocean.
Whipps Jr. is the strongest candidate who focuses more on people, especially youth. This is in contrast to the current Remengesau administration who focus more on the ocean and maritime environment, rather than on people.
STAY TUNED
NOQ Report will be your eyes and ears as we continue to monitor the Indo-Pacific Region and help keep both American and Japanese policy makers apprised. Please let your elected officials know that you recommend they bookmark us for breaking news and timely updates as you already have.
The United States, Japan and Australia are the primary counterbalances to Chinese hegemony and aggression from both CCP and criminal triads in Palau and throughout the entire Micronesian Region of the western Pacific Ocean. @riekohayakawa@DavidWareHawaiihttps://t.co/K2gxrHId3t
Join fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. We have two priorities until election day: Stopping Democrats and supporting strong conservative candidates. We currently have 7500+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.
Senator Bernie Sanders is so desperate to rejuvenate his plummeting nomination chances that he went on Fox News to do a Town Hall. But even a simple question, one that is at the heart of the news cycle today, found the 78-year-old socialist torn for a split second before going to his default open borders rhetoric.
Town Hall moderator Bret Baier asked, “If you had to would you close down the borders?” He was referring to the coronavirus pandemic as the cause for the move. President Trump imposed travel bans at the beginning of last month despite objections from the Chinese, Democrats, and the World Health Organization. All three now consider it an appropriate move.
Dangerous:
Bernie Sanders said that he would NOT close down the border if it become unsafe during a Sanders administration
Sanders considered the question for just enough time to be a noticeable pause. Then, he recovered with his standard anti-Trump stump speech. “No. I mean, what you don’t want to do right now… we have a president who has propagated xenophobic, anti-immigrant sentiment from before he was elected.”
What the President’s perspectives on immigration have to do with closing down the border during an emergency is unknown. These are two completely different circumstances. The President’s desire to build a wall and slow down illegal immigration is one issue. Dealing with the coronavirus is completely different. But Sanders doesn’t make a distinction, which seems to be the general case regarding his entire ideological set. There are no exceptions, not compromises, and no decisions based on relevant data. All Sanders know is he likes open borders and that means open borders at all times.
President Trump’s reaction to the coronavirus has been spot-on so far, which rankles the Democrats greatly. They have turned to manufacturing a false crisis to drive down stock markets and scare people into stocking up on toilet paper. But this will pass even though they’re missing the opportunity to show bipartisanship.
Joe Biden may be a senileManchurian Candidate for the Deep State and the Swamp, but we would hope he wouldn’t intentionally put people’s lives at risk by sticking with a failed ideology despite the facts. Bernie Sanders holds ideals over American lives.
Joe Biden may be a senile Manchurian Candidate for the Deep State and the Swamp, but we would hope he wouldn’t intentionally put people’s lives at risk by sticking with a failed ideology despite the facts.
Join fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. We have two priorities until election day: Stopping Democrats and supporting strong conservative candidates. We currently have 7500+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.
Following 9/11, the two parties came together to fight for Americans against our common foe. The same thing happened in 2008 when both John McCain and Barack Obama paused their presidential campaigns to work together and stop the financial meltdown that threatened the global economy. Throughout our history as a nation, opposing political sides joined forces to stop major threats to the nation. Those days are gone.
Today, we’re irredeemably polarized politically. Neither side does anything that cannot score them political points, cause damage to the other side, or both. We can blame both sides for this, but let’s be clear about how it started. Democrats are suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome. They will continue to suffer from this until 2024. It has dominated their thoughts for four years and it will continue to dominate their thoughts for another four years.
Some would argue that President Trump and the Republicans have done the same thing in isolating themselves from the Democrats, but I would counter by noting that the President pushed for bipartisanship from the beginning, only changing tunes against working with Democrats over the last year or so since they made it clear they were unwilling to do anything that could possibly benefit him in any way.
Lest we forget, he tried on multiple occasions to reach across the aisle and put deals together for the sake of America. From embracing Chuck Schumer’s stance on trade with China to banning bump stocks to criminal justice reform to embracing the Democrats’ infrastructure plan, the President used to try to work with them. Heck, one of the reasons I was skeptical of his presidency in the beginning was because I thought he was doing too much to reach across the aisle.
Today, that’s impossible, and it’s currently hurting the President in light of the coronavirus outbreak. But that political pain is temporary and in many ways it’s setting him up for election day gold as prospects of an economic rebound are already taking shape. When the coronavirus is contained and the stock market skyrockets back upward, Democrats are going to realize they made a terrible mistake by not embracing bipartisanship to tackle the coronavirus.
This is actually a tremendous opportunity for Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer to stand side-by-side with President Trump and declare that Washington DC as a whole is working together to stop this problem, overblown as it may be. President Trump would embrace the gesture instantly and the American people would cheer. But they can’t. Pelosi, Schumer, and the rest of their ilk are too dominated in thought and feelings by Trump Derangement Syndrome that the concept of pausing their various coup attempts is a nonstarter.
The First‘s Jesse Kelly and The Blaze‘s Steve Burguiere discussed the lack of bipartisanship, bias in mainstream media, and the Democrats’ desire to harm President Trump superseding doing anything that would actually help America.
The coronavirus represents a huge potential win for Democrats if they’d work to unify DC in the fight against it. But it’s not good enough for them or America to win if President Trump isn’t hurt by it as well. Their foolishness is their downfall.
The coronavirus represents a huge potential win for Democrats if they’d work to unify DC.
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Twitter is panicking about the market crash. Many in mainstream media are screaming doom and gloom ahead. But investors on Wall Street and business owners around the country are seeing real opportunity on the horizon. Why? Because they realize the panic-driven market crash is a temporary setback that will reverse shortly and take the economy on the ride of our lifetimes.
Economic policies usually drive conditions on Wall Street, which is why we have been on such a sustained growth trend for so long. It started following the crash of 2008 when there was really no place to go but up. It was managed through the Obama administration thanks in large part to Republicans taking control of the House in 2010 and the Senate in 2014. But once President Trump took office and Capitol Hill passed tax reform less than a year later, the good economic times were destined.
All good things come an end, which is why financial prognosticators have been anticipating an economic downturn for two years. But it didn’t come. The economy continued to grow. The jobs market flourished. Wall Street didn’t quite understand why the downturn never came, but they were clever enough to keep riding despite efforts by mainstream media to turn things around for the worse.
Then, the coronavirus happened. In recent weeks it has sparked panic by consumers as well as investors. At least, that’s what we’re being told. But both narratives are manufactured for effect. The panic by consumers who are clearing shelves of toilet paper isn’t actually a coronavirus panic but a panic… panic. In other words, most people who are stocking up on toilet paper are doing so because other people are stocking up on toilet paper. They are less concerned about the coronavirus killing off masses of people and more concerned that masses of people are going to take all of the toilet paper.
As for investors panicking, this is also a false narrative. They’re not panicking, they’re taking a long-overdue breather while anticipating the money they’re going to make when the rebound starts. Think of it like a big crash at a NASCAR race. The coronavirus is the crash and investors are all pulling into the pit stops. But when the green flag flies, which should happen very soon, they’ll zoom out of the economic pit stop with full tanks of gas, new tires, and windshields cleared.
Investors are licking their chops as they see the coming market boom. They’re planning their purchases and preparing to ride the wave that will start before the coronavirus scare subsides. With toilet paper selling out, is it time to buy Procter & Gamble?
Investors are licking their chops as they see the coming market boom. They’re planning their purchases and preparing to ride the wave that will start before the coronavirus scare subsides.
Join fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. We have two priorities until election day: Stopping Democrats and supporting strong conservative candidates. We currently have 7500+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.
When Congressman John Lewis assumed office in 1987, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had not even been born. The civil rights leader is extremely popular in Georgia’s 5th congressional district with a track record of progressive voting and a reputation of being among President Trump’s biggest nemeses.
But the 80-year-old Congressman has stiff competition emerging in the form of Angela Stanton-King. The activist is now a candidate for Lewis’ seat following a pardon from the President. That’s actually old news in the coronavirus news cycle, but what’s new is our analysis of the race. It’s not hopeless. In fact, it’s far from it.
Despite Democrats having a stranglehold on the district, which includes Atlanta, for nearly five decades, this years’s race has some intriguing elements that could combine as a perfect storm for Stanton-King to win it. Lewis is, for the first time, facing a primary opponent. Barrington Martin is running against him from the left. The proponent of Universal Basic Income, a la Andrew Yang, is adamantly opposed to Joe Biden for President. He supports Bernie Sanders now that Yang has left the race and has been pushing for Sanders to embrace UBI on his platform.
Martin’s presence in the race isn’t seen as a major challenge to Lewis whose popularity and name recognition are among the highest in the nation for a Congressman. But there are concerns that Lewis’ age and his recent diagnosis of pancreatic cancer could prompt voters to consider the much-younger Martin in the primary. Like Ocasio-Cortez, Martin had not been born before Lewis took office.
The young progressive poses two problems for Lewis. The primary may force Lewis to spend campaign dollars before the general election if Martin gets traction. But more importantly, Martin will certainly highlight Lewis as part of the Democratic Establishment, signaling to many radical progressive voters in the area that he, like Biden, is actually an enemy to the movement encapsulated by Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez, and the Justice Democrats. As our EIC noted before, the Justice Democrats may quietly oppose Establishment Democrats across the nation.
This could create a small opening for Stanton-King. A small opening is all she needs. She is far from an Establishment Republican, embracing populist principles prominent in President Trump’s platform. She is a strong defender of life and has been one of the most effective people we’ve seen at delivering the pro-life message, particularly to the Black community that is targeted by organizations like Planned Parenthood.
Her staunch support for the military and belief in President Trump’s populist perspectives on criminal justice reform help to make her a very different Republican candidate than anything the 5th district has ever seen. But the real asset she has going for her is passion. She is an inspiring figure who can rally support from those who are sick of the DC status quo that has hurt the people of Atlanta for decades. Lewis represents that status quo while Martin, if he should win the nomination for the Democrats, represents a radical element that may be too far to the left for many 5th district voters.
She is very active on Twitter, but thus far has not been verified. This needs to change.
FYI @twitter@verified: @theangiestanton is a candidate for Congress in Georgia’s 5th District. Her account needs to be verified like her competitor, @repjohnlewis. Let’s play fair, shall we?
If the national GOP can ignore the voting history of Georgia’s 5th district and realize the potential Angela Stanton-King has of winning the seat, she has a good chance of making some new history of her own. We proudly endorse her candidacy.
If the @GOP can ignore the voting history of Georgia’s 5th district and realize the potential @theangiestanton has of winning the seat, she has a good chance of making some new history of her own.
Join fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. We have two priorities until election day: Stopping Democrats and supporting strong conservative candidates. We currently have 7500+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.
Toilet paper is suddenly a premium commodity in the United States. Bottled water purchases are being limited at grocery stores. The stock market is crashing. Millions of Americans are panicking. Why? Because the coronavirus blindsided us, right? No. It’s because mainstream media finally found a card they could play against President Trump that is actually sticking, for now.
Ironically, the card they discovered was out of his control. No action by President Trump could have prevented the Wuhan virus from spreading to the United States. He established a travel ban as soon as information out of China started looking dire, and lest we forget, he was lambasted for it by Democrats, mainstream media, and even the World Health Organization (WHO). But that hasn’t stopped them from sparking the unhinged panic surrounding the coronavirus because they believe this is the disaster that might actually take him down.
The Wuhan virus is not nearly as big of a deal as it’s being portrayed by the media. As the President Tweeted, it’s not at the same scale that the flu has become in recent years.
So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!
Americans will eventually realize this disease isn’t the existential danger it’s being portrayed as by mainstream media. It’s a major outbreak that is rightly labeled as a pandemic, but there are facts about it that simply aren’t making it out to the public. The average age of death in the United States caused by the coronavirus is 80. There are likely tens of thousands of people infected in the United States who either haven’t become truly sick or haven’t had symptoms at all. This may seem devastatingly bad—the disease is likely spreading much more rapidly than we can confirm—but it also means irrational fears over getting it are overblown.
The American Media burned down Ferguson, Missouri over a lie. The American Media told everyone Trump was a Russian agent for three years.
Older Americans should be extremely careful. That is certain. Those who come in contact with the elderly should be equally cautious as they do not want to be the cause of infection for the vulnerable. But the notion that everyone’s lives must change and the time has come for apocalyptic responses is ludicrous. Be careful. Wash your hands. Avoid contact. Otherwise, day-to-day life should be unchanged.
That’s not the message coming from the media. They’re stoking this panic. They revel at the crashing stock market and they’re licking their chops at the idea of pinning this on President Trump. This has been called “Trump’s Katrina” and “Trump’s Chernobyl.” They’ve called it the “Trumpvirus.” They’re labeling it any way they can to pin the blame on the President. Not only is it not his fault, but he and the administration are making all the right moves to mitigate damage and bring this “crisis” to a conclusion.
The media is driving this panic. The Washington Post seriously has a piece out today blaming coronavirus on Trump and they call it Trump’s Chernobyl. They’re comparing a virus that began in CHINA and spread literally all over the world to Chernobyl. You can’t make this stuff up. pic.twitter.com/po5MfvP4p1
People are scared, but that will pass. Even as mainstream media rings the alarm bells as loudly as they can, they’re unable to sustain it forever. People are gullible, but we’re not perpetually stupid. We will only suspend disbelief in what our lying eyes are telling us for so long.
When Americans wake up and realize the threat of the coronavirus is nowhere near the levels portrayed by mainstream media’s propaganda, we’ll chalk it up as another manufactured crisis. Americans will only be fooled for so long.
When Americans wake up and realize the threat of the #coronavirus is nowhere near the levels portrayed by mainstream media’s propaganda, we’ll chalk it up as another manufactured crisis.
Join fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. We have two priorities until election day: Stopping Democrats and supporting strong conservative candidates. We currently have 7500+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.
There’s a scene in the original Beauty and the Beast Disney cartoon when Maurice is going through the forest on his trusted horse, Philippe. When they come to a crossroad, Maurice wants to go in one direction that looks dark and dangerous, but Philippe decides to go down the brighter path. Maurice insists and pulls Philippe down the dark path. When Maurice realizes they’re lost, he says, “This can’t be right. Where have you taken us, Philippe?”
If we compare this scenario to the current stock market crash gripping Wall Street, mainstream media is the foolish Maurice and President Trump is the wiser Philippe. The President called for calm, but mainstream media prompted panic. The President went on television and said the coronavirus doesn’t have as high of a mortality rate as is being reported, and that turned out to be true. But just like Maurice, mainstream media took America down the dark path with incessant, biased coverage and fearmongering. And just like Maurice, they’re questioning why President Trump caused the problem.
He didn’t. In fact, the entire problem is completely manufactured. Much of the economy, from consumer spending to jobs, is based in part on public perception. When people trust the economy, it goes up. When they’re concerned, it goes down. But nothing is more fickle and based on public perception as the stock market. Right now, the public perception is being driven by unhinged mainstream media that’s panicking over a virus that has caused 22 deaths in the United States but barely said a word about tens of thousands of deaths caused every year by the flu.
There’s a silver lining to all of this. As the market dips lower, the recovery that will certainly come when coronavirus fears subside will be epic. The markets will skyrocket and everything will be back to normal (or better than normal) very soon. We haven’t reached bottom yet; the panic that has been prompted by 22 deaths is only going to grow when the death toll reaches triple- and possibly even quadruple-digits. But it will subside as viruses always do. When it does, the economy will rebound.
Through that rebound, which should dominate most of the summer going into election crunch time in the fall, President Trump will have another major victory on his reelection resume. It may take longer for the world economy to get back on its feet, but that will happen eventually as well. As it sits, this manufactured stock market crash could backfire completely on Democrats and mainstream media. There’s always a chance it won’t, that the coronavirus will last longer than expected or infect more people than hoped, but standard timetables tell us it should clear up this summer.
Mainstream media is taking a great risk by harming the economy now. The rebound from the panic they’re prompting will benefit President Trump’s reelection chances and reinforce the notion that only an act of God can slow the flourishing economy.
American Conservative Movement
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AMERICAN SPECTATOR
NBC
From NBC’s Chuck Todd, Mark Murray and Carrie Dann
FIRST READ: Sanders defied the odds in Michigan four years ago. But a replay may be much harder now.
Four years ago, Bernie Sanders shocked the political world and defied the public polling by winning the Michigan primary – even though he was unable to change the overall delegate math.
Scott Morgan / Reuters
But here are three reasons why Sanders winning Michigan tonight on this Above-Average Tuesday (with a total of 365 pledges delegates up for grabs) would be an even bigger surprise than it was in 2016.
One, Joe Biden’s bounce after winning South Carolina and most of the Super Tuesday states has been enormous. A national CNN poll released Monday found Biden leading Sanders by 16 points (after Sanders was ahead by 3 points in January). And a national Quinnipiac poll had Biden ahead by 19 points (after Sanders led in February).
If you’re leading nationally by double digits, chances are you’re ahead in Michigan, too.
Two, the coronavirus story that’s been dominating the news has probably helped Biden more than Sanders. That same CNN poll shows that Democratic voters – by a 42-point margin – believe Biden would better handle a major crisis than Sanders would.
And three, Sanders has been underperforming among white working-class voters in the north. “Overall, Mr. Biden defeated Mr. Sanders by 10 points, 38 percent to 28 percent, in counties across Maine, Minnesota and Massachusetts where white voters made up at least 80 percent of the electorate and where college graduates represented less than 40 percent of the electorate,” the New York Times’ Nate Cohn writes.
That seems to suggest that part of Sanders’ success in 2016 was because he was running against Hillary Clinton.
Outside of Michigan, Sanders might even have a bigger problem tonight: Idaho and Washington state have replaced their caucuses with primaries.
And to show you how that could change the delegate math, Sanders won 72 percent in Washington’s caucuses four years ago. But when the state party held a primary that same year – which didn’t count for the delegates sent to the convention – Clinton actually edged Sanders in that contest (when a lot more voters were participating).
Two weeks ago, Joe Biden was making his final stand in South Carolina, and it worked for him – better than anyone could have imagined.
Today, Sanders is making his own final stand in Michigan.
But he’s making it on much more unfavorable turf.
DATA DOWNLOAD: And the number of the day is … 77
Seventy-seven.
That’s Joe Biden’s delegate lead over Bernie Sanders heading into tonight’s contests.
Biden has been allocated 652 delegates, according to the NBC News Decision Desk, while Sanders has 575.
That doesn’t include 143 delegates that have NOT been allocated from contests that have already taken place.
Of those 143, 63 are from California, while 80 are from other Super Tuesday States.
Trump’s looking at stimulus measures to boost the economy
“President Donald Trump said Monday that he is looking at a possible payroll tax cut, along with other measures, to help American workers and boost the economy, which has been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak,” per NBC News.
“He said he’d announce the ‘dramatic’ details of the proposed relief Tuesday. ‘They will be major,’ Trump said at a briefing on coronavirus response with members of the coronavirus task force.”
TWEET OF THE DAY: When fighting cavities isn’t enough
2020 VISION: Everything you need to know about today’s Above-Average Tuesday contests
Six states today are holding their nominating contests – plus we get the totals from Democrats Abroad – awarding a total of 365 pledged delegates.
Here are the different contests by final poll-closing time:
8:00 pm ET: Mississippi primary (36 pledged delegates up for grabs) 8:00 pm ET: Missouri primary (68 pledged delegates) 8:00 pm ET: North Dakota caucuses (14) 9:00 pm ET: Michigan primary (125) 11:00 pm ET: Idaho primary (20) 11:00 pm ET: Washington primary (89) Later today/tonight: Democrats Abroad (13)
On the campaign trail today: Joe Biden holds his Election Night event in Cleveland… So does Bernie Sanders.
Dispatches from NBC’s campaign embeds: NBC’s Marianna Sotomayor reports on last night’s Biden rally in Detroit, where the former vice president was joined on the stage by new endorsers Kamala Harris and Cory Booker. “Look I view myself as a bridge not as anything else. There’s an entire generation of leaders you saw stand behind me. They are the future of this country,” Biden said, referring to Harris and Booker.
And speaking of endorsements, Bernie Sanders told a Fox News audience at a town hall that he and Elizabeth Warren are still talking, NBC’s Gary Grumbach flags:
BRET BAIER: You said it would be nice to have Elizabeth Warren’s support. Have you asked for it?
SANDERS: I have asked for it? Elizabeth and I talk. We have talked for 20 years. We talk on a regular basis. How is that for a political answer.
MARTHA MacCallum: Did you ask for her support?
SANDERS: We talk on a regular basis. What’s your next question?
THE LID: Going viral
Don’t miss the pod from yesterday, when we looked at how the coronavirus could upend some assumptions about the 2020 landscape.
“The Trump administration reportedly is considering using powers established by national disaster legislation to pay hospitals and doctors for treating uninsured patients with the coronavirus.”
By Chris Pope The Hill
March 9, 2020
“A close reading of the 2020-2022 Thrive spending plan and ‘Progress Report’ makes clear that the administration will continue to send money to ineffective programs, while giving short shrift to ones that reduce homelessness, arrests and incarceration of the seriously mentally ill.”
By DJ Jaffe New York Post
March 9, 2020
Adapted from City Journal
The Manhattan Institute hosted its Spring 2020 meeting of the Shadow Open Market Committee last week, held in the memory of distinguished economist and SOMC member Marvin Goodfriend. During the meeting, panelists discussed the implications of Marvin’s research for the Fed’s current policy deliberations.
“[Canada and the United States] impose similarly elevated educational constraints on entry into the medical profession.”
By Chris Pope Economics21
March 9, 2020
“Risks and returns notwithstanding, local pension funds investing in local projects won’t necessarily help the community.”
By Allison Schrager Economics21
March 10, 2020
Rafael Mangual joins Kay Hymowitz to discuss evidence suggesting that children are often better off when criminal parents are imprisoned—the subject of Mangual’s story, “Fathers, Families, and Incarceration,” from the Winter 2020 Issue of City Journal.
CIVIL SOCIETY AWARDS
Nominations are open for the Manhattan Institute’s 2020 Civil Society Awards. This fall, four winners will each receive a $25,000 award for their efforts to keep our social fabric from fraying, assist those who need it most, and help people change the course of their lives. Nominate an outstanding nonprofit by March 20, 2020. Learn more at civilsocietyawards.com.
Manhattan Institute is a think tank whose mission is to develop and disseminate new ideas that foster greater economic choice and individual responsibility.
52 Vanderbilt Ave. New York, NY 10017
(212) 599-7000
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REALCLEARPOLITICS
03/10/2020
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Carl Cannon’s Morning Note
Pence and Public Health; Sanders’ ‘Clunker’ Vote; Denver Duo
By Carl M. Cannon on Mar 10, 2020 08:51 am
Good morning. It’s Tuesday, March 10, 2020. Democrats in six states make their final decision today — some have voted already — and the biggest prize is Michigan. Four years ago, Hillary Clinton was upended there by Bernie Sanders, only to have it happen to her again in the general election.
The polling in Michigan wasn’t great in 2016, but the pollsters tell us they’ve tightened up their models, so we shall see. On this very day four years ago, Republicans held their 12th debate, a face-off viewed as the last chance for Marco Rubio and John Kasich to alter the trajectories in their home states, Florida and Ohio, respectively. They couldn’t flip the narrative.
Ted Cruz was in that debate, too. Today’s he’s self-quarantined in Texas, proving you never know what’s around the corner in politics — or in life. You certainly don’t have to tell that to anyone in the White House. Or to medical professionals.
This morning, the health care worker I’m thinking about is a 26-year-old woman who was working in the Denver health department in the spring of 1916. This Colorado public employee, who I’ve written about previously, was minding her own business when fate suddenly intervened. To quickly reassure you: This wasn’t a bad thing that was about to happen at Denver’s City Hall. The United States had not yet entered World War I, and the influenza pandemic that would sweep the world was still two years away.
What happened to Agnes Hubbard on her birthday, 104 years ago today, was a great gift, although she didn’t realize it at first (and she would rethink that conclusion from time to time over the ensuing four-and-a-half decades). What transpired was that a client in line asked for her hand in marriage. He was serious about it, too. The encounter between the lovely Miss Hubbard and a strapping Denver newspaperman named Gene Fowler was the beginning of a long love story.
I’ll have more on that in moment. First, I’d point you to RealClearPolitics’ front page, which presents our poll averages, videos, breaking news stories, and aggregated opinion pieces spanning the political spectrum. We also offer original material from our own reporters, columnists, and contributors, including the following:
* * *
Will Sanders’ “Clunkers” Vote Hurt Him in Michigan? As primary voterss head to the polls, Phil Wegmann looks back at the candidate’s votes on the 2009 auto bailout bills.
Pence and Coronavirus: Science, Faith and History Come to the Fore. Phil also examines the vice president’s 2015 response as Indiana governor to an HIV crisis in his state.
Greg Kelly: U.S. Hostage of Japanese Justice. The former Nissan executive awaits trial in the island nation’s notoriously undemocratic courts, write Sens. Lamar Alexander, Marsha Blackburn and Roger Wicker.
An Outsider’s Call to America: Let Freedom Ring! Part 7 of our Women’s History Month series spotlights Bette Bao Lord’s congressional testimony urging promotion of U.S. values throughout the world.
Puerto Rico Statehood Wouldn’t Boost Democrats. In RealClearPolicy, Jerry Rogers argues that the commonwealth would likely be a purple state rather than a deep-blue one, as Republicans often assume.
Stop Russia From Sparking Another Bosnian War. In RealClearWorld, Ivana Stradner and Max Frost warn that the West needs to prevent Vladimir Putin’s efforts to destabilize the region.
Shale’s Low Prices Will Have U.S. Natural Gas Breaking Records Again. Jude Clemente explains in RealClearEnergy.
Three Useless Theories of Consciousness. Ross Pomeroy vents in RealClearScience.
* * *
As it happened, Gene Fowler had turned 26 two days before Agnes Hubbard did. He didn’t exactly know her, but I believe that his instant attraction owed itself, at least in part, to a singular twist of fate: She bore an uncanny physical resemblance to Fowler’s mother, who had died when he was a boy.
This factor would seem to explain the bold approach taken by our young Lochinvar. Like the knight-errant in Sir Walter Scott’s poem, Fowler felt he had no time to lose in pursuing his intended. Dispensing with small talk, or even courtship, our hero got in line at the health department office staffed by Miss Hubbard.
When it came his turn, the red-haired Colorado beauty asked him what he needed.
“My name is Gene Fowler,” he replied. “I want you to be my wife and the mother of my children. Pick your church.”
Although she apparently had met Fowler previously, for some reason Agnes Hubbard did not immediately accept this offer. It seems she was engaged to a local doctor. But that other relationship wasn’t true love, and she soon relented to Fowler’s entreaties — to the great benefit of American letters.
Gene Fowler and Agnes Hubbard married on July 19, 1916 in Red Rocks, a mountain park outside Denver. The wedding party was small, but that wasn’t because Fowler wasn’t popular. Among his pals in those days were Buffalo Bill Cody, Damon Runyon, and Jack Dempsey, future heavyweight champion of the world — along with everybody who was anybody in Denver newspapering. It was Runyon, who had previously decamped from Denver for New York, who would convince William Randolph Hearst to send for Fowler. In New York, the young man would emerge as a star, write biographies of Mayor Jimmy Walker and stage luminary John Barrymore, along with widely read autobiographical tales of life in Colorado.
Fowler and Barrymore had first bonded over their love of dogs. The famed actor was taken with the writer’s description of a pug he’d befriended as a boy. (The story entailed the dog’s nasty disposition, a mean uncle who killed said dog, Fowler’s hatred for the uncle, Fowler’s grandmother’s admonition that Jesus forgave even the Romans who nailed him to the cross — and young Gene’s rejoinder: “Jesus never had a dog.”)
In New York, Fowler’s circle included Walter Winchell, Grantland Rice, Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur (the latter two being former Chicago newspapermen who co-authored “The Front Page” and who met Fowler for the first time while bailing him out of jail), as well as MacArthur’s wife, famed actress Helen Hayes.
In time, Fowler would move to Los Angeles, befriend Red Skelton, Jimmy Durante, W.C. Fields, George Putnam, and ZaSu Pitts — all luminaries in a now bygone era. In California, as he had in New York, Fowler earned a reputation as one of the greatest writers of his era. A talent that first showed itself in newsrooms and migrated to the pages of books now manifested itself in screenplays.
It might also be said that his other reputation — as a raconteur, adult beverage enthusiast, and ardent Lothario — didn’t completely evaporate after his marriage to the blue-eyed Colorado woman who looked like his mother. His drinking bouts with Barrymore and Fields were the stuff of legend. There were whispered rumors that when Hearst editors sent Fowler to cover the young queen of Romania during her train tour of the U.S. that Gene did more than interview her. He also apparently had a friendship with a certain glamorous film actress that seemed from the outside to be more than platonic.
Agnes stuck with him throughout, raising the children Fowler had foretold of that day in the Denver health department: two sons, Gene Jr. and Will Fowler, and a daughter, Jane. Agnes also took a turn of her own in the limelight, appearing on “The Red Skelton Hour” in 1951.
But Agnes was more than a loyal wife. She was also the linchpin to the brilliant and colorful career that followed. In “The Young Man From Denver,” the loving but honest biography Will Fowler wrote about his father, the author notes that when Fowler initially visited New York City at Runyon’s invitation, he wasn’t sure he could make it in the Hearst empire or in that imposing metropolis. He returned to Colorado to think about it.
Agnes met him at the train station and they stayed up all night talking about his fear of failure. Or, rather, they stayed up while she imbued her husband with her own steadfast confidence in him.
“We’ll go to this city, and together we’ll lick whatever you’re afraid of,” she said. And they did.
Perhaps because of his mother’s early death and his father’s 30-year walkabout in the Rocky Mountains, Fowler had a lifelong morbid streak. This continued well past middle age, when he’d settled down, found religion, and established himself as a famous writer and successful family man. He got it in mind that he wanted to go out in style and would tell friends that he was working on an exit line that would be truly memorable.
One day, by their backyard swimming pool, he suffered a heart attack. His wife must have been curious about that line as well as distraught. But when Fowler let loose his well-planned farewell — “Agnes, don’t let the undertaker cheat you” — she must have also been disappointed.
Fortunately, Gene Fowler did not die that day and, consequently, did not depart this mortal coil on such an obviously unworthy departure speech. He lived some years later and on his last day on Earth, July 2, 1960, he put the finishing touches on a novel called “Skyline,” before driving to the Southern California homes of his three children.
In his loving book about his dad, Will Fowler recalled that he and his 70-year-old father listened to Beethoven’s 5th Symphony when Gene said quietly, “I think this might be the day.” But then some granddaughters came in from the pool and climbed up on their beloved granddad.
In a delighted mood he called Agnes. “Mother, I have a wonderful lap full of girls.”
“That’s not surprising,” she said.
He smiled, and said, “I’m coming home.”
He did so, then went out on the patio for a nap. He never woke up. When a doctor and a friend arrived, it was the once-young City Hall worker from Denver who had the great last line.
“Come on in, boys.” Agnes told them. “Gene just left.”
On Tuesday, March 10th, the Center will host a live-streamed panel discussion with PJ Media Senior Editor, Tyler O’Neil on his new book, Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Joining Tyler on the panel will be Lt. Gen. William G. “Jerry” Boykin, vice president of the Family Research Council (FRC). Moderating the discussion will be Kyle Shideler, the Center’s Director and Senior Analyst for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism. The panel will take place from 10 to 11 a.m. EST.
The mother of San Bernardino terrorist who herself had ties to an Islamist group has pled guilty to attempting to cover up her son’s role in the terror attack which killed 14 people. Rafia Sultana Shareef, mother of San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook is expected to face no more than 18 months in prison according to a Department of Justice press release.
The narrative increasingly circulating in this hyper-partisan election season is that the coronavirus outbreak is President Trump’s fault. Sen. Bernie Sanders actually presided over an event yesterday in Michigan on the eve of today’s primary there to promote that meme.
Interestingly, one of the most important actions Mr. Trump took to mitigate the pandemic’s spread here was the restriction on travel from countries in which the Wuhan Flu has been present. Unfortunately, that order’s effectiveness has been undermined by our inability to secure the nation’s borders. Who bears principal responsibility for insisting over the past three years that particularly our southern border must remain porous? The answer is, of course, congressional Democrats like Sen. Sanders.
Can anyone honestly say under present circumstances that they prefer gaping holes in our ability to monitor and control who enters our country over having “The Wall”?
This is Frank Gaffney.
ROBERT CHARLES, Former Assistant Secretary of State at the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs in the Bush Administration, Author of Eagles and Evergreens:
Problems with voter turnout in the US during the primaries
How will the coronavirus impact the upcoming US presidential election?
GORDON CHANG, The Daily Beast contributor, Author of The Coming Collapse of China and Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes on the World, Latest book: Losing South Korea (2019):
The current state of coronavirus inside China
Will coronavirus go away in the summer?
How is the CCP reacting to the spread of the virus?
KEVIN FREEMAN, Senior Fellow at the Center for Security Policy, Host of Economic War Room on TheBlaze TV, Author of “Game Plan” and “Secret Weapon”:
Economic impacts of the coronavirus
Potential problems of socialism in the United States
DAN GALLINGTON, Senior Policy and Program Advisor, George C. Marshall Institute, Served in senior national security policy positions in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Department of Justice, and as bipartisan general counsel for the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence:
Analyzing the comments of Adm. Charles A. Richard about the US nuclear deterrent
Does the US still have a nuclear triad?
Should the US enter into an arms control agreement with China?
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On the menu today: how the coronavirus is both more deadly and more contagious than the seasonal flu, wondering about the track record of “old warhorse” presidential candidates, and Mike Bloomberg breaks some more promises.
Why We Fear the Coronavirus More Than the Seasonal Flu
“There have only been [insert current number here] coronavirus cases, way fewer cases and deaths than the flu!”
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the coronavirus primarily spreads when someone coughs or sneezes and the droplets get on someone else. The secondary way of spreading is by touching contaminated surfaces or objects.
“Makes an original and compelling case for nationalism . . . A fascinating, erudite—and much-needed—defense of a hallowed idea unfairly under current attack.” — Victor Davis Hanson
VOTERS ARE VOTING: Six states are holding presidential primaries. Polls closing at 8 p.m.: Mississippi (36 delegates), Missouri (68), North Dakota (14). Polls closing at 9 p.m.: Michigan (125). Polls closing at 11 p.m.: Idaho (20), Washington (89). Results can be found by clicking on each state.
MICHIGAN: A Monmouth poll (March 5-8; 411 LVs; +/- 4.8) found former Vice President Joe Biden at 51%, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) at 36%, and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) at 1%. (release)
TX SEN: Community organizer Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez (D) endorsed state Sen. Royce West (D) in the primary runoff against 2018 TX-31 nominee MJ Hegar (D), arguing that West is the best choice to “build a multiracial coalition that speaks to the diversity of this state.” (Texas Tribune)
MT SEN: Helena Mayor Wilmot Collins (D) dropped out of the race Monday and endorsed Gov. Steve Bullock (D), calling him “a fierce advocate for the values we hold dear, like health care, public land, public education, equal rights for women, the values that were the core of my campaign.” (release) End Citizens United endorsed Bullock on Monday. (release) Collins’ decision follows public health expert Cora Neumann‘s (D) decision to withdraw and endorse the governor.
AL SEN: A Cygnal poll (March 6-8; 645 LVs; +/– 3.9%) found former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville (R) led former Attorney General Jeff Sessions (R), 52%-40%. Of those polled, 45% said they believed President Trump was opposed to Sessions. (release) “A planned debate” between Tuberville and Sessions “is off, after” Tuberville on Monday “decided not to participate.” (WKRG)
VT GOV: Attorney Patrick Winburn (D) “launched his campaign for governor last week with a $100,000 infusion of his own cash. Winburn … said Monday” he’s spent roughly $75,000 so far, the bulk of which has gone toward TV ads, with about $10,000 spent on social media ads. (VT Digger)
TX-02: Veteran Elisa Cardnell (D) dropped out of the Democratic primary runoff, saying after taking “a hard look at the numbers,” that she did “not have the resources and clear path to reach a majority in the runoff” against former Beto O’Rourke campaign advisor Sima Ladjevardian (D). This clears the path for Ladjevardian to face Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R) in November. (release)
One area to pay close attention to tonight: Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It was Sanders’ strongest region in 2016, when he narrowly lost the state to Hillary Clinton, and he won its largest county, Marquette, by 26 points. Sanders’ argument that he alone can win back Obama-Trump voters took a hit on Super Tuesday, and the Upper Peninsula is a great test case: it’s distant from major cities, heavily-unionized, and swung 16 points toward the GOP between the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections. If Sanders isn’t matching his 2016 margins there, it will be a long night for him. — Alex Clearfield
Last week, many of the narratives that Bernie Sanders relied on fell apart, among them, that he had diversified his coalition enough to compete with Joe Biden for voters of color, that turning out new voters would boost his candidacy, and that ground game would sway voters more than the support of key party figures. As results roll in this evening, one more will be put to the test: the theory that polls undercount Sanders’ supporters. Most recent polls have found him trailing significantly in every state voting today, including by as much as 41 points in Michigan. He’s even been down Washington, a state he won by almost 50 points in 2016. Those numbers, while bad signs for Sanders, present him with an opportunity to prove traditional political thinkers wrong, and he’ll need to. — Mini Racker
Fresh Brewed Buzz
Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s (D) “shuttered presidential campaign is dismissing staffers across the country and inviting them to reapply for jobs on his new independent committee —despite extending guarantees of being paid through the November election when they were hired. The consolation prize: They get to keep their Bloomberg-issued iPhones and MacBooks.” (Politico)
Actress Rosario Dawson announced that she voted for Sanders the same day her boyfriend, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), endorsed Biden. (NBC News)
“If I was against every candidate who showed racial insensitivities, I’d be against a lot of people.” — Booker, after being asked about endorsing Biden after criticizing his views on race. (NPR)
“First Lady Melania Trump has cancelled a California fundraiser she was to hold next week, the White House confirmed. White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham … said the decision was due to a ‘scheduling conflict.’ … Los Angeles County, where the event was to be held, has declared a state of emergency over the outbreak.” (Politico)
Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-CA 15) and Rick Crawford (R-AR 01) “are reintroducing a 2013 bill that would enable members of Congress to virtually participate in committee hearings and vote remotely on suspension bills from their home districts amid the coronavirus outbreak.” (Axios)
Incoming White House “Chief of Staff Mark Meadows was advised that he ‘may have come in contact’” with a “CPAC attendee” who tested positive for COVID-19. He “tested negative for COVID-19 [but] is self-quarantining himself.” (The Hill)
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R) “has canceled an overseas trade mission because of concerns about the coronavirus. The Republican had been set to leave Thursday for Greece, Israel, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, but he opted out of the trip as the virus has spread.” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
Trump presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to General Jack Keane at 4:30 p.m.
Swizzle Challenge
Former Vice President Henry Wilson was once a cobbler.
Sam Kaplan won yesterday’s challenge. Here’s his challenge: While Trump’s cabinet has had a lot of turnover, some members of Franklin Delano Roosevelt‘s cabinet stuck around for his whole presidency. Which individuals were members of his cabinet for the entire 12+ years that FDR was president and what were their positions in the cabinet?
“Been thinking about life and mortality today. I’d rather die gloriously in battle than from a virus. In a way it doesn’t matter. But it kinda does.” — Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ 04). (Twitter)
Chaser…
“Are you pondering what I’m pondering?” — The Brain
“I think so, Brain, but how do we get the Spice Girls into the paella?” — Pinky (Pinky and the Brain)
“Blue-Collar Joe Biden” toured an auto plant in Michigan on Tuesday morning. He ended up screaming at a worker about guns. Joe Biden: Wait, wait,… Read more…
Because of the ‘fake news” media black-out regarding Roger Stone’s vindictive prosecution by Robert Mueller and the DOJ ,few Americans understand how and why this long-time Trump political advisor and loyalist was convicted Read more…
It’s Super Tuesday Part 2 today– Democrat voters will choose between the wild-eyed communist or the obvious dementia sufferer. Joe Biden is not quite sure… Read more…
As The Gateway Pundit reported earlier today. The mortality rate for 83% of the affected countries is below 1%. The disease hits the elderly the… Read more…
According to the most recent data at Worldometer tracking website, the coronavirus mortality rates for individuals catching the virus are declining at a rate closer… Read more…
Standing at 7-feet tall, Matt “The Blueprint” Morgan spent over a dozen years as a professional wrestler, feuding and facing off with the legends like… Read more…
Kevin Morenski, a defense attorney with degrees from Florida State University and Columbia School of Law, issued a statement late Tuesday night after Florida Governor… Read more…
California’s Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom is not a fan of Trump. However, he recently praised President Trump’s response to the Coronavirus. Newsom said that Trump… Read more…
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On Monday, as Congress returned to the Capitol with a rapidly growing roster of members exposed to the coronavirus, leaders and high-ranking officials could not agree on who has the ultimate authority to change security and health protocols on the Hill, where thousands of lawmakers, staffers and visitors interact every day. Read More…
Only five people running for Senate this year have raised more money than Sen. Martha McSally. That would normally make the Arizona Republican’s 2020 election prospects seem rosy, except for one thing — her opponent, Democrat Mark Kelly, is No. 1. Read More…
OPINION — Nothing is more important than Washington’s responsibility to protect as many Americans as possible during what may turn into the gravest public health emergency since the influenza epidemic of a century ago. That is why now is the time for GOP leaders of Congress to stage an intervention in the Oval Office. Read More…
Top economic policymakers from both sides of the aisle batted around options to stanch the bleeding Monday amid the worst one-day rout in two major U.S. stock market indexes since 2008 and increased chatter about a potential recession later this year. Read More…
Offensive lineman Sam Young spent a week on the Hill through the NFL Players Association’s externship program, which gives football pros a chance to explore other careers during the offseason, including at startups, in sports media and on Capitol Hill. That made freshman Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, a former NFL wide receiver his “boss.” Read More…
The U.K. is seeking help from U.S. state officials to prepare for Britain’s entry into the growing American market for new financial technologies. For the British, the meetings represented an effort to help U.K. fintechs navigate the complicated U.S. regulatory landscape, in which companies must be approved by each state in which they do business. Read More…
Members of Congress have the opportunity every year to lobby for issues pertinent to their districts and constituencies. It may look like earmarking, but it’s not — this niche congressional process is called Member Day. Watch as CQ Roll Call’s Niels Lesniewski explains this obscure annual process. Read More…
ANALYSIS — What’s the reality of the Thom Tillis-Cal Cunningham Senate race in North Carolina, one of the premier Senate races in the country? It’s a Toss-up, and a top Democratic target, as it has been for months. Read More…
“Viruses like COVID-19 spread rapidly, but the development of vaccines and treatments to stop them moves slowly.”
The biggest showdown between Biden and Sanders will take place in Michigan.
“I believe in Joe.”
“As of today, we believe that markets have gone from being overly complacent to overly pessimistic.”
Putin is required by the constitution to step down in 2024 when his fourth presidential term ends.
“We’ll be discussing a possible payroll tax cut or relief, substantial relief.”
March 10 2020
On the menu today: how the coronavirus is both more deadly and more contagious than the seasonal flu, wondering about the track record of “old warhorse” presidential candidates, and Mike Bloomberg breaks some more promises.
“Makes an original and compelling case for nationalism . . . A fascinating, erudite—and much-needed—defense of a hallowed idea unfairly under current attack.” — Victor Davis Hanson
Episode 289: Long Range by… 
Saudi Arabia Increases… 
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