Good morning! Here is your news briefing for Friday March 27, 2020.
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AXIOS
Good Friday morning. If you enjoy our conversations … Keep your friends, family, team on the same page: Please invite them to join Axios AM/PM.
- Today’s Smart Brevity™ count: 1,396 words … 5 minutes.
Believing the worst is yet to come, some top advisers to President Trump are struggling to steer him away from Easter as an arbitrary deadline for much of the nation to reopen, Jonathan Swan reports.
- The operating assumption among administration officials involved in the coronavirus planning is that the April 12 mark — 16 days away — will not, in fact, turn out to be the starting gun for businesses across America to reopen.
- But Trump is far from chastened. “I don’t think he feels in any way that his messaging was off,” a top official said. “He feels more convinced than ever that America needs to get back to work.”
One person close to Trump expressed concern about market reaction the day after Easter, if the president allows that to be set up too rigidly as Open Day.
- If the reality is worse than Trump hopes — and large numbers of Americans have to stay isolated — some close to Trump think a false Easter expectation could send markets downward.
Between the lines: The reality is that the administration is unlikely to go from red light to green light.
- More likely it’s a step-by-step process — a “tiered” approach, different guidelines based on geography and other factors, as Trump has been foreshadowing.
- Trump sought yesterday to provide himself more flexibility, given internal expectations that awful data will only mount.
- Dr. Anthony Fauci said on CNN last night that Easter was Trump’s “aspirational projection” to “give people some hope.” But Fauci said Trump is “listening to us when we say we really got to reevaluate it, in real time.”
But weaning Trump from setting a date for millions of Americans to get back to work is a delicate, ongoing process.
- Despite the blowback for imposing an unrealistic and artificial deadline on a virus that knows no deadline, Trump remains impatient.
- On Monday, he faces his first self-imposed deadline — the end of the White House’s “15 days to slow the spread.”
The bottom line: With states including Louisiana and Florida showing increasingly alarming signals, a senior White House official told Swan there’s a sense that a rolling disaster awaits.
A second wave of cities — including Boston, Detroit, New Orleans and Philadelphia — are seeing increases in confirmed coronavirus cases, and could become new hot spots if they’re not able to bring their cases under control soon, Caitlin Owens and Andrew Witherspoon write.
- Why it matters: Whether these cities can prevent their outbreaks from spiraling out of control will be a major test for the U.S.’ ability to contain the virus.
New Orleans in particular is nearing a crisis, with hospitals already becoming overwhelmed and supplies of medical safety gear running low.
- “[T]here is a rising suspicion among medical experts that the crisis may have been accelerated by Mardi Gras … which this year culminated on Feb. 25,” per the N.Y. Times.
- Orleans Parish has had the highest number of deaths per capita of any county in the U.S.
🐦 Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former FDA commissioner under President Trump who has been closely tracking the pandemic, tweeted last night:
- “I’m worried about emerging situations in New Orleans, Dallas, Atlanta, Miami, Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, among others.”
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Americans are looking for an exit ramp away from the extreme social distancing brought on by the coronavirus. But that will require steps we’re not yet prepared for, Caitlin Owens and Bryan Walsh write.
- Responsibly easing off of social distancing will only be possible as the number of new cases levels off, and will depend on extensive testing to avoid another surge in infections.
- “If we let up, we’ll be back to where we were before social distancing,” said Ali Khan of the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
The off-ramp requires fast, widespread testing, which the U.S. still doesn’t have.
- We’re still facing shortages of some supplies needed to make and conduct tests, and it still takes several days — to a week or more — to get results.
What’s next: Syndromic surveillance — testing a random portion of the community — might help the U.S. get a better handle on the true prevalence of COVID-19.
- Seattle has launched such an effort, adapting an existing program that checks for influenza prevalence.
The bottom line: Life won’t go back to normal for a long time. Normalcy will return in doses, and at different paces in different parts of the country.
- “It’s not like a switch that’s going to be flipped,” John Hopkins’ Joshua Sharfstein said.
The front page of today’s New York Times tells a first-ever story in a first-ever way:
- The whole sixth column, usually the lead story, is taken up by the spike of a graphic showing the biggest surge in jobless claims in U.S. history.
- 3.3 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week — almost five times the previous record, set in 1982.
The growing throng of critics who have assailed the Senate’s $2.2 trillion spending bill as avarice, insufficient and disappointing have an alternative, Axios Markets Editor Dion Rabouin writes.
- Enter Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and the Automatic BOOST to Communities Act, a bill so massive, audacious and unparalleled in scope that one of its primary authors asserts: “There is no number that would be meaningful to estimate” its cost.
Details: Tlaib proposes sending a debit card to every single person in the U.S. loaded with $2,000, then reloading that card every month with $1,000 “until one year after the end of the Coronavirus crisis.
- The #MintTheCoin plan proposes to account for the direct payments — a back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests $6.5 trillion is a conservative cost estimate — by having the U.S. Treasury mint a series of “$1 trillion platinum coins.”
Why it matters: There is rising opposition to the idea that government debt is harmful. Tlaib’s bill currently has very limited support in Congress, but that could change.
Closed businesses, home offices and schools amid the coronavirus pandemic has translated into an influx of outdoor recreation in parks, despite states’ advice for people to stay home, Marisa Fernandez and Kim Hart write.
- Why it matters: So many people are visiting city parks to escape the stuck-at-home monotony that the public spaces have become crowded.
- Some people are doing group exercise and playing contact sports.
State of play:
- New York City is banning cars during the daytime on one stretch of street in each borough except Staten Island, to help residents to walk at a safe distance.
- In Washington state, Gov. Jay Inslee closed all state parks under his “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order. (Seattle Times)
- Some Florida beaches in Clearwater and Miami have closed to keep spring breakers away.
- In D.C., police blocked off roads to the Tidal Basin to stem the cherry-blossom frenzy.
Three of the Grand Canyon’s most popular trails — Bright Angel, South Kaibab and North Kaibab — will temporarily close at noon today.
- Yellowstone, Grand Teton and the Great Smoky Mountains are closed, but many national parks remain open.
Spain now has the second highest number of coronavirus deaths after Italy, with China third.
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Humans are root drivers in pandemics like this one, Axios climate and energy columnist Amy Harder writes.
- Buying, selling and consuming wild animals, as was done at the Wuhan, China, market where this novel coronavirus is believed to have originated, is increasingly spreading deadly infectious diseases, experts say.
- Zoonotic diseases — those spread from animals to humans — have “quadrupled in the last 50 years, mostly in tropical regions,” according to a letter 100 wildlife and environmental groups sent Congress this week.
How it works: “We know that tropical diseases tend to have wildlife as reservoirs more than temperate diseases,” said Lee Hannah, a senior scientist in climate change biology at the nonprofit Conservation International.
- Bats and pangolins (scaly anteaters) have especially been linked to this coronavirus and prior ones.
- So when you take animals like that out of the wild and move them into cities, Hannah said, “that’s just crazy.”
That’s what Peter Wehner called this moment from 13 years ago, as Speaker Pelosi celebrated 8-0 yesterday:
President George W. Bush: “Tonight I have the high privilege and distinct honor of my own, as the first president to begin the State of the Union message with these words: “Madam Speaker.”
Spotted in Providence, R.I.
📬 Be safe, be careful. Please tell a friend about Axios AM/PM.
THE WASHINGTON POST MORNING HEADLINES
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THE WASHINGTON TIMES
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THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
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CHICAGO TRIBUNE
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PRO TRUMP NEWS
THE HILL
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ROLL CALL
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Morning Headlines
House leaders hope to pass a $2 trillion stimulus bill by voice vote Friday because of expected low attendance due to coronavirus-related quarantines and travel restrictions. But to do so, they’ll need all members who do show up to not ask for a roll call vote, and that outcome is not guaranteed. Read More…
President Donald Trump is open to the idea of making foreign-flagged cruise ships register in the United States in order to get federal loans to support operations amid coronavirus-related shutdowns. But the president is clearly also concerned about the effect of an industry collapse on local economies that serve as ports of call. Read More…
Coronavirus Special Report: Morning minute 3/27
The House is expected to vote Friday on the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill that the Senate passed unanimously on Wednesday night. It would expand unemployment benefits, provide $1,200 checks to most American adults and throw a lifeline to businesses crippled by the virus. Read More…
Click here to subscribe to Fintech Beat for the latest market and regulatory developmentsin finance and financial technology.
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Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer accidentally crashed a Zoom meeting
With countless virtual meetings happening in the days of self-distancing and widespread work-from-home orders, things are bound to go wrong. So we can’t blame Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer for joining the wrong conference call Thursday afternoon. “I think I’m on the wrong call,” the Missouri Republican admitted about 10 minutes in. Read More…
States seek food stamp flexibility as pandemic limits options
Most food stamp users can’t buy restaurant meals or hot or prepared foods with their benefits, but state officials have begun asking the Agriculture Department for authority to waive some federal restrictions on purchases as they try to provide more options to low-income people grappling with COVID-19. Read More…
Coronavirus relief neglects D.C. — Van Hollen says that’s shameful
Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen said he wouldn’t block more than $2 trillion in coronavirus relief funds before casting his vote on the massive stimulus package. But he did criticize the bill for grouping the District of Columbia with territories when it came to providing funds addressing budget issues associated with the pandemic. Read More…
JCT: Coronavirus aid bill to cut taxes by $591B over 10 years
The financial rescue package the House will take up Friday would save U.S. households and businesses nearly $1 trillion in taxes this year, though companies would have to pay a chunk of that back starting in 2021. During the next decade, the tax provisions of the bill will cost $591 billion, the Joint Committee on Taxation estimates. Read More…
It’s a weird (un) Opening Day, but we have great Nats photos
There is no way around it: Opening Day without baseball thanks to the coronavirus pandemic is a bummer. But baseball will return — eventually. In the meantime, the CQ Roll Call archives are awash with great photos from the early days of the Washington Nationals all the way through the World Series championship parade. Read More…
Wallowing in old games on Opening Day? Here’s an ‘aural treasure’
It was supposed to be Opening Day for Major League Baseball, until it wasn’t. Anyone who’s bummed, know this: Russ Hodges’ call of the 1951 National League tiebreaker between the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers is now an “aural treasure.” Read More…
Going viral: How coronavirus swept the United States
Social distancing and sheltering-in-place may have felt sudden to many Americans, but the coronavirus’ path was hardly so. What began as a strange case of pneumonia in Wuhan, China, on Dec. 30 now grips the entire world as the novel coronavirus pandemic. Read More…
CQ Roll Call is a part of FiscalNote, the leading technology innovator at the intersection of global business and government. Copyright 2020 CQ Roll Call. All rights reserved Privacy | Safely unsubscribe now.
POLITICO PLAYBOOK
POLITICO Playbook: One last hurdle
DRIVING THE DAY
HOW FITTING that the final moments of this weeklong effort to try to squeeze a $2 trillion coronavirus bill through Congress are a complete mess.
REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS were concerned that a lawmaker or two may try to scuttle a voice vote on the legislation and force a full roll-call tally. The GOP is focused on Rep. THOMAS MASSIE (R-Ky.), a libertarian with little concern about his standing with the leadership. He didn’t respond to calls and emails, and neither did his office. Democrats are also concerned they may have a rogue lawmaker or two in their ranks. So rank-and-file Democratic and Republican lawmakers were trying to find a way to get back to D.C. for today after Speaker NANCY PELOSI and other leaders signaled they should return if they could. Two hundred and sixteen is the quorum as of now, but it could drop to 215 if MARK MEADOWS resigns at the beginning of the session. Heather Caygle and Sarah Ferris on the mess
— THE PLAN, via the Steny Hoyer team: “Here’s how we expect [Friday] to go: the House will convene at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business. We will propound a unanimous consent agreement to call up the bill and set up debate. We will go straight into debate, and there will be up to two hours of debate, which will be managed by Mr. Hoyer on the Democratic side. We expect to use most, if not all, of that debate time. We will see if the bill can pass by voice vote or if a Republican forces a recorded vote. Stay tuned for additional guidance.”
— BTW: EVERYONE wants this bill passed today. If they don’t get a quorum and need members back for a vote Saturday, a few people have suggested sending military jets to pick up clusters of lawmakers.
… BUT WE’RE ALMOST THERE. This bill is going to pass, whether it’s today or Saturday. The new rules for people going to the Capitol today
WHAT WE’VE LEARNED: For an accord of this magnitude to come together in such a spectacularly short window requires an almost acrobatic performance by five key people and institutions: Senate Majority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL, PELOSI, Senate Minority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER, House Minority Leader KEVIN MCCARTHY and the White House.
THEY DON’T WORK TOGETHER SEAMLESSLY — and certainly didn’t here. But we did learn a good deal about them, their station in today’s power dynamics and the many layers they have to contend with while performing their daily duties. That last point is important: It’s easy to try to oversimplify a performance as good or bad — and we’re guilty of that probably more than anyone. BUT EACH OF THESE PEOPLE is juggling a multitude of political considerations that complicate or enhance their efforts.
MCCONNELL: The Senate majority leader made a bet early on in this process: He wasn’t going to hold talks with the leadership, but instead would try to build coalitions inside the rank and file to get the bill through. But after a weekend of those talks — and they were fruitful — PELOSI reappeared, and she and SCHUMER had opinions about the bill and what they wanted changed. So when MCCONNELL says that PELOSI returned from San Francisco with her own set of ideas, he was right — and few were actually surprised.
MCCONNELL had to contend with the fact that STEVEN MNUCHIN, the administration’s top negotiator, was forced to deal with CHUCK SCHUMER to craft a deal that could get 60 votes. But MCCONNELL was always in the loop — he never had to quell a revolt in his ranks, and the bill largely mirrored what he envisioned at the front end. Worth noting: MCCONNELL is in cycle and the Senate is up for grabs.
SCHUMER: This was, no doubt, a huge stage for SCHUMER. He was the key to 60 Senate votes, and made sure everyone knew it. It helped to have an ideologically flexible president in the White House who desperately needed a deal.
SCHUMER drives Republicans nuts. He uses the media to his advantage, and he doesn’t play by their rules. He defeated two procedural votes that MCCONNELL put up. He dragged out negotiations on what the GOP considered to be minor points, and then later bragged about all the concessions he got. But he found a groove with President DONALD TRUMP and MNUCHIN, and that could last. SCHUMER is up for reelection in 2022, and everything he does in the Capitol is under a microscope from the left. Tick tock from NYT’s Carl Hulse and Emily Cochrane, which focuses on Schumer
PELOSI: The speaker cut the deal on Phase Two, so she was always going to be less involved when the action shifted to the Senate. But SCHUMER stood strong in her stead, and she was able to sell Phase Three as a victory to the House rank and file. TRUMP’S willingness to spend copious amounts of money in the middle of an election year is helpful, too. Just one problem: The president apparently can’t stomach giving her a call. PELOSI said Thursday that she anticipates taking the lead on the next round of stimulus, so he may want to find her number.
MCCARTHY: The House minority is always a bit of a backwater, so MCCARTHY is at the table, but has a quieter voice than the other leaders. But, as always, he’s a key conduit to the president, and with his new pal MARK MEADOWS as chief of staff, he not only has TRUMP’S ear but also his top aide’s, as well. One thing to keep an eye on: McCarthy seems skeptical of another round of big spending. And in Republicans’ minds, the House is up for grabs, and that’s something that McCarthy is always intently focused on.
THE WHITE HOUSE: There were two Trump officials who made this deal happen: MNUCHIN and ERIC UELAND. Let’s start with MNUCHIN. The Treasury secretary gets mocked relentlessly by Republicans and Democrats alike on Capitol Hill. They say he acts like an investment banker — he labeled his initial offer to the Hill with the header “key terms.” But he works like a banker too. He’s meticulous, thorough and sharp. Many — including us — have doubted him. But he has proven himself as the administration’s main conduit to the Hill, albeit not without UELAND. The White House’s legislative liaison was there the whole time — could you imagine MNUCHIN in a room with SCHUMER without supervision?
NEW … BEN WILLIAMSON, a longtime aide to MARK MEADOWS, will start at the White House Monday as senior adviser to MEADOWS and deputy assistant to the president.
STRIKING NYT FRONT: They used their lead column to graphically depict the 3.3 million jobless claims announced on Thursday, the most in U.S. history. NYT A1
Good Friday morning. WHAT A MONTH this week has been.
WHAT’S ON THE PRESIDENT’S MIND — @realDonaldTrump at 1:12 a.m.: “Just finished a very good conversation with President Xi of China. Discussed in great detail the CoronaVirus that is ravaging large parts of our Planet. China has been through much & has developed a strong understanding of the Virus. We are working closely together. Much respect!”
— ABOUT THAT CALL: “U.S., China Trade Blame for Coronavirus, Hampering Global Economy Rescue,” by WSJ’s Bob Davis and Lingling Wei: “Chinese President Xi Jinping has been on a telephone spree this month, dialing the leaders of coronavirus-battered France, Italy, Spain and Germany with offers of support, including masks and other medical equipment. One phone number he hasn’t tried is Donald Trump’s.
“The two leaders finally spoke by phone on Friday Beijing time, in a call Mr. Trump initiated after earlier in the week indicating plans to speak with Mr. Xi, according to China’s official Xinhua News Agency. The previous time the leaders of the world’s two largest economies had talked was in early February when the virus was ravaging China but not the U.S. The two talked about whether China would still buy as many farm goods as it promised in a trade deal.” WSJ
CHINESE STATE MEDIA … GLOBAL TIMES EDITOR HU XIJIN (@HuXijin_GT): “Don’t you feel embarrassed talking about testing? The US just tested 300,000 people by March 24, while China has tested millions, at least 10 times that of the US or more. Your bragging needs treatment.”
AP: “U.S. cases now most in world, U.S. capital sees more infections,” by Yanan Wang in Toronto: “The United States’ caseload of coronavirus infections surged to the most in the world and its capital reported more infections, as Italy shut most of its industry and masses of Indian day laborers received food rations after a lockdown put them out of work.
“Increases in the number of cases have been expected as testing becomes more available. The U.S. passed China with more than 85,000 cases, and Italy also exceeded 80,000, the three countries together accounting for almost half of the world’s infections from the new virus. …
“Washington, D.C., confirmed 36 new cases Thursday, raising its total to 267. The district is under a state of emergency, its major attractions like the Smithsonian museums and National Zoo closed and White House and Capitol tours cancelled. Police have blocked off streets, bridges and traffic circles to prevent crowds coming to see Washington’s blooming cherry blossom trees.” AP
THEY JUST OK’D A $2 TRILLION BILL … NYT’S DAVID SANGER, MAGGIE HABERMAN and ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS: “After Considering $1 Billion Price Tag for Ventilators, White House Has Second Thoughts”: “The White House had been preparing to reveal on Wednesday a joint venture between General Motors and Ventec Life Systems that would allow for the production of as many as 80,000 desperately needed ventilators to respond to an escalating pandemic when word suddenly came down that the announcement was off.
“The decision to cancel the announcement, government officials say, came after the Federal Emergency Management Agency said it needed more time to assess whether the estimated cost was prohibitive. That price tag was more than $1 billion, with several hundred million dollars to be paid upfront to General Motors to retool a car parts plant in Kokomo, Ind., where the ventilators would be made with Ventec’s technology.”
— LAST NIGHT on “HANNITY,” the president said this: “I don’t believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators. You go into major hospitals sometimes, and they’ll have two ventilators. And now all of a sudden they’re saying, ‘Can we order 30,000 ventilators?”
WSJ: “Global Stocks Rise After U.S. Rally,” by Chong Koh Ping: “Stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region mostly traded higher Friday, following a rally in U.S. markets as the government moved closer to approving the largest economic-relief package in history.
“Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 3.9% higher, taking its weekly gains to more than 15%, its first weekly rise since early February. South Korea’s Kospi Composite also broke a streak of down weeks, adding 9.7% over the last five days. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and the Shanghai Composite Index rose about 1% on Friday, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 5%.”
BEN WHITE: “The mammoth $2 trillion rescue package on the brink of heading to President Donald Trump’s desk would plug some of the massive holes coronavirus is ripping through the American economy.
“But the massive effort — the largest single injection of federal cash into the economy in U.S. history — will do nothing to flip the switch back on for an economy enduring the swiftest paralyzation any major developed nation has ever seen.
“The third phase of the government’s coronavirus response amounts to 10 percent of America’s total economic output for an entire year. But many economists believe it will need to be followed by a fourth phase and possibly more after that. That’s because damage is mounting across the U.S. and around the globe — even beyond the workers laid off and businesses shut down — with longer-lasting consequences that policy makers likely can’t even see yet.” POLITICO
THE QUESTION EVERYONE IS ASKING — “Not all or nothing: Anti-virus lockdowns could lift slowly,” by AP’s Christina Larson and Ricard Alonso-Zaldivar: “Scientists are reluctant to predict exactly when restrictions could be safely loosened, but based on what they’ve observed in China — the first country struck by the new virus — some relief could come approximately six to eight weeks after lockdowns are implemented. That is based on the assumption that cases could peak two or three weeks after lockdowns begin, and gradually decline for the next two or three weeks.
“While we may yearn for a clear timeline for when life will return to normal, scientists say that isn’t exactly the right question. Routines won’t resume exactly as they were for several months, or longer – but that doesn’t mean we’ll all be stuck in total lockdowns until then.” AP
— THE DETAILS: “Trump pushes to open parts of country as governors in hard-hit states warn more needs to be done to combat pandemic,” by WaPo’s Bob Costa, Laura Vozzella, Josh Dawsey and David Nakamura
— THE POLITICS … GABBY ORR: “We don’t want to be tone-deaf’: Trump allies test coronavirus messaging”: “President Donald Trump wants to reopen parts of the U.S. economy hit by the coronavirus outbreak. Allies close to his 2020 campaign operation are raising red flags — warning it could be imprudent to inject more uncertainty into an already unpredictable crisis.
“Those concerns intensified this week when Trump identified Easter Sunday as his target date for relaxing some of the social distancing guidelines his administration has put in place to slow the spread of the virus. The prospect of watching Americans shuffle into ‘packed churches’ on April 12, an image Trump said he hopes to see, has alarmed some of his closest supporters who fear that rushing to end the economic clampdown — without full support from public health experts — could have catastrophic consequences on his bid for reelection.:
TRUMP’S FRIDAY — The president has nothing on his public schedule.
— THE CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE will hold a briefing at 5 p.m.
SUNDAY SO FAR …
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FOX
“Fox News Sunday”: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin … Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan … Thomas Inglesby. Panel: Marc Thiessen, Kristen Soltis Anderson and Juan Williams. Power Player: Joel Osteen.
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CBS
“Face the Nation”: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin … David Heymann … Scott Gottlieb.
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ABC
“This Week”: Panel: Jon Karl, Jennifer Ashton and Tom Bossert.
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CNN
“Inside Politics”: Seung Min Kim, Kaitlan Collins, Dr. Ashish Jah and Dr. Megan Ranney.
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Gray TV
“Full Court Press with Greta Van Susteren”: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) … Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards.
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Sinclair TV
“America This Week with Eric Bolling”: Larry Kudlow … Peter Navarro … Ronna McDaniel … Dr. Dave Campbell … Dr. Todd Dorfman … Sebastian Gorka … Ameshia Cross.
PLAYBOOK READS
RYAN LIZZA: “Inside Joe Biden’s bizarre coronavirus bunker”: “The Biden campaign has been studying the ’18 midterms. No, not the ones two years ago when Democrats took over the House by aggressively recruiting moderates and sweeping swing districts across the country, a precursor to Biden’s own centrist strategy in the Democratic presidential primaries this year.
“They’ve been studying the midterms of 1918, the year of the Spanish flu pandemic when large gatherings were banned in many places and candidates were forced to invent new ways to communicate with voters and run their campaigns. Turnout plummeted that year to 40%, from 50% in the 1914 midterms. ‘We went back and looked at voting in 1918,’ said Anita Dunn, one of Biden’s top advisers, ‘where of course turnout was down, but the election was still held, and Congress was still seated.’
“Dunn was already a bit of a Spanish Flu dilettante. When she worked in the Obama White House, she had studied the 1918 pandemic to help prepare the response to the outbreak of H1N1 in 2009. ‘In 1918, you had the initial wave in the spring that was very severe and receded,’ she said. ‘And then, it came back powerfully when the weather got cold again in September, October, November with actually a bigger wave. There was a false sense of, “OK, it’s over.”’ One big lesson she took away from that history: ‘Nobody knows how this one is going to behave.’” POLITICO
— CNN is hosting a town hall with BIDEN on Friday night. BIDEN will appear from his home in Delaware, and ANDERSON COOPER will moderate.
BETSY WOODRUFF SWAN: “Coronavirus outbreak is reshaping terrorist plots, DOJ says”
SOUNDS FAMILIAR … AP/SAO PAULO: “Brazil’s governors rise up against Bolsonaro’s virus stance”: “Brazil’s governors are defying President Jair Bolsonaro over his call to reopen schools and businesses, dismissing his argument that the “cure” of widespread shutdowns to contain the spread of the new coronavirus is worse than the disease.” AP
ACROSS THE POND — “Merkel’s moment of truth,” by Matthew Karnitschnig in Berlin: “Just when it looked like Angela Merkel was going to ride quietly into the sunset, fate intervened.
“Two weeks ago, the German leader’s biggest worry was finding a successor and a life after politics. Now she finds herself in the center of what many consider the most serious global crisis since World War II.” POLITICO Europe
FROM DANIEL LIPPMAN — VIRGINIA BONEY has been abruptly pushed out of the White House, where she was special assistant to the president for legislative affairs and the NSC’s top legislative affairs staffer, according to two people familiar with the matter. A few sources said that she had a rocky rapport with others in the office — something the White House denied. Boney declined to comment.
A WHITE HOUSE SPOKESPERSON said: “Virginia continues to be a valued staffer who believes in President Trump and will continue to serve him.” A senior administration official also said: “You don’t survive under three national security advisers for three years if you’re not a team player.” Boney moved into a senior adviser role at the Department of Veterans Affairs last week.
MEDIAWATCH — Erica Morrison is now an audio host/producer at POLITICO. She most recently was a reporter covering race and identity for Oregon Public Broadcasting.
PLAYBOOKERS
Send tips to Eli Okun and Garrett Ross at politicoplaybook@politico.com.
DHS ARRIVAL LOUNGE — Joshua Whitehouse is now the White House liaison for DHS. He previously was comms director for Robert Burns’ New Hampshire congressional campaign in 2018. He has worked in advance for the White House and was special assistant at USDA. He’s a former New Hampshire state representative.
TRANSITION — Nick Ryan is now a senior campaign adviser at New Politics. He previously was campaign chief for Andrew Yang’s campaign.
BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Katie Johnson, associate at Jenner & Block. What she’s reading: “I’m reading ‘The Source of Self-Regard’ by Toni Morrison, a collection of her essays and speeches, including her Nobel lecture. She’s always been one of my favorite writers, but I had only ever read her novels. And even though she’s gone, we have this capstone of a glorious life spent teaching us, as she wrote, ‘Danger of losing our humanity must be met with more humanity.’ In this moment where we’re all, literally, forced apart, we need Toni Morrison’s wisdom more than ever.” Playbook Q&A
BIRTHDAYS: Mary Louise Kelly, host of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” who swapped a Jackson Hole ski week for a staycation (h/t husband Nick Boyle) … Brad Rateike, founding principal of Bar Communications, is 39 … Natalie (Buchanan) Joyce, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s deputy COS for member services … Sally Kohn, who’s asking people to donate to ofwemergencyfund.org … Rachel Semmel, comms director at OMB (h/t Mary Vought) … MSNBC correspondent Jacob Soboroff is 37 … Steve Atkiss … Meredith Artley, editor-in-chief and SVP of CNN Digital Worldwide … Frank Sadler … Liz Johnson, comms director for Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) … Kaiser Health News’ Shefali Luthra … Alberto Martinez, EVP for public affairs at Targeted Victory … Whitney Smith, press secretary for Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) (h/t Elizabeth Gregory) … POLITICO’s Stephanie Beasley, Alexandra Glorioso and Kameryn Stanhouse …
… Betsy Martin of the George W. Bush Presidential Center … former Rep. Susan Molinari (R-N.Y.) is 62 … Quentin Ariès … Stefanie Berger (h/t Ryder and Josie) … Jonathan Beam … Niki Christoff, SVP for strategy and government relations at Salesforce … Anne Marie Gunther … Allison Bumgardner … Lane Bailey, CEO of the Advocom Group … Danny Golden, senior partner at Akin Gump … Walt Mossberg is 73 … Lisa Zhang … Alex Aragon, manager of public affairs at the American Gaming Association … Billy Moore … Mara Vandlik … Ilya Aspis … David Mitrani … William Fine … Mark Bergman is 38 … Lauren Dikis … Elizabeth Kaplan … Morgan Manousos … Edelman’s Erin Schwille … Roll Call’s John M. Donnelly … Laura Driscoll … Quentin Aries … J.B. Jennings … Vlad Gutman-Britten … Mac Schneider is 41 … John Pomfret is 61 … Scott Giles … Rachel O’Brien … Julie Hendricks-Atkins … Butch Ekstrom
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The Morning Briefing: Beer Blog Fridays Until the Plague Is Over
This Is How We Do It
For the next few Fridays, we are going to keep things nice and light here at the Morning Briefing. I have the blessing of the Mothership to basically make this a beer blog at the end of the week. The world doesn’t have to be madness. Yes, we all know that beer blogging is my dream, but this is not really about that.
We need a respite from this real problem, and I am glad that I have the skills to provide that.
We need humor and community to get through all of this. If you look around in our virtual universe I think you will see that we are doing better than expected. If you are adamant about making a point to prove me wrong here I will delight in destroying you.
I thought it fitting to begin our plague-induced beer reviews with a brew from Black Plague Brewing.
As I am a fan of IPAs and cleverly named brands I really wanted to like this one.
And so I did.
It is a smooth entry for those of you who are hops-curious and want to try an IPA for the first time. The bitterness associated with IPAs is taken down a notch with this beer. The colder, the better, with this one.
Beware though, even the lightest IPAs are strong.
Because I love you, dear readers. Let me know what beers you would like me to review. I will step outside of my comfort zone for you, but I won’t do crappy domestic swill.
Commenters of the Week
PJM Linktank
Even the Soros trolls are made in China now: How to Spot a ChiCom Twitter Troll
DOJ to Indict Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro for Narco-Terrorism
Confused LA Sheriff Thinks the Governor Just Gave Him the OK To Close Guns Stores Again
Teen Vogue Goes Full Marxist, Wants Destruction of Capitalism in Response to COVID-19
Democrats Are Giddy That We Have a Real Crisis So They Can Change Voting Laws
New York Times Goes Into Full Chinese Propaganda Mode As USA Coronavirus Cases Exceed 80,000
Jobless Claims Last Week QUADRUPLED Previous Record
Wow! Take a Break from Bad News and Watch This ‘Cellphone’ Choir Belt Out an Old-Timey Hymn.
These CEOs Are Giving Up Their Salaries During the Coronavirus Crisis
VIP
The Real Reason the Anti-Trump Media Wants to Stop Airing His Daily Coronavirus Briefings
VIP Gold
In the Name of Mercy for Joe Biden, Just Call the Election Now
Drew Brees Is Done Sitting on the Sidelines Amid Wuhan Coronavirus Outbreak in New Orleans
From the Mothership and Beyond
Mark Cuban Had a Surprise Caller During Fox News Interview
Dr. Birx Pops Media’s Coronavirus Panic Balloon
AOC Upset Noncitizens Won’t Receive Emergency Relief Checks
Um…New Orleans Mayor Blames Trump for Not Shutting Down Mardi Gras over Coronavirus
YouGov Poll Shows Warren as Favorite for VP Pick
Amid Pandemic Meltdown, Space Force Goes Forward With First Mission
Kira: Being Neighborly in the Midst of Global Crisis
Woman With a ‘MeToo’ Claim Against Biden Went to ‘Time’s Up’ Group for Help, But Was Turned Down
The Name ‘Andrew Cuomo’ Keeps Popping Up; Could He Replace Biden? Could He Beat Trump?
EXCLUSIVE: Kaiser San Diego Limiting Nurses’ Use of Masks, Gloves
McCarthy: Pelosi Offered “Outright Lie” About Credit For Coronavirus Relief Bill
Justice Department Jumps Into The Trans Athlete Question
Mexican Protesters Demand Border With US Be Closed
Gallup: Guess Who Comes In Last Place For Their Coronavirus Handling?
Federal Judge Sides With Tribes In Dakota Access Pipeline Lawsuit
SEIU: We Found 39 Million N95 Masks — And They’ll Cost You Five Bucks A Pop
Atlanta Humane Society lets puppies roam aquarium closed due to coronavirus
Coronavirus News: Arts foundations, libraries offer digital classes for kids in NYC
10 Virtual Book Clubs You Can Join Now—And How to Start Your Own
Reduct This
Reductress
✔@Reductress
QUIZ: Is He Hot Or Does He Just Have Your Town’s Entire Supply Of Toilet Paper?: http://ow.ly/ADSE50yVQLD
The Kruiser Kabana
Business Insider
✔@businessinsider
The Fighting Stars are a group of Lamborghini enthusiasts who tour the streets of Tokyo in Lamborghinis
People are weird but not everyone is Charles Manson. Most are, though.
___
PJ Media Associate Editor Stephen Kruiser is the author of “Don’t Let the Hippies Shower” and “Straight Outta Feelings: Political Zen in the Age of Outrage,” both of which address serious subjects in a humorous way. Monday through Friday he edits PJ Media’s “Morning Briefing.”
THE DISPATCH
The Morning Dispatch: Our First Look at What COVID-19 Lockdowns Are Doing to Employment
Plus, is Joe Biden’s coronavirus strategy working?
| The Dispatch Staff | 15 min |
Happy Friday … except it’s not. The Cubs should be 1-0 right now and tied for first place in the National League Central—but this dang virus postponed Opening Day, the most hallowed of all days for Declan. Now it’s personal.
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Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories
- As of Wednesday night, there are now 85,840 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States (a 24.5 percent increase from yesterday) and 1,296 deaths (a 25.7 percent increase from yesterday), according to the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Dashboard, leading to a mortality rate among confirmed cases of 1.5 percent (the true mortality rate is difficult to calculate due to incomplete testing regimens). About 15.5 percent of the 519,338 coronavirus tests conducted in the United States have come back positive, per the COVID Tracking Project, a separate dataset with slightly different topline numbers.
- The United States officially surpassed China—a nation with more than four times the population—as the country with the most confirmed coronavirus cases. Many, however, are treating China’s reporting with a healthy dose of skepticism.
- More than 3.2 million Americans filed new unemployment claims last week, by far the biggest single-week jump in U.S. history.
- A former staffer for Joe Biden has accused him of sexually assaulting her in 1993.
- The author of an Imperial College of London study that helped set the blueprint for many Western countries’ coronavirus response testified Thursday that social distancing efforts are on track to keep U.K. coronavirus cases safely below the country’s ICU capacity.
- Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been indicted in the United States on federal drug trafficking charges. The State Department announced a $15 million reward for information leading to his arrest.
- Coronavirus response is becoming less partisan, according to a new poll from Echelon Insights. Eight in 10 agree that staying home is “essential to slowing the spread of the coronavirus,” and large majorities of both Democrats and Republicans say that local officials locking down their communities over coronavirus fears would not make them less likely to support them in the future.
Harrowing Unemployment Figures
Just 57 days after Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo that the coronavirus “will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America” by forcing companies to rethink their supply chains, the Department of Labor announced weekly unemployment insurance claims data unlike anything anybody has ever seen.
Seasonally adjusted initial claims came in at 3.28 million—the “highest level of seasonally adjusted initial claims in the history of the seasonally adjusted series,” per a Labor Department release. The second highest? 695,000 in October of 1982. Here’s what that looks like, from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, if you can make out that vertical blue line all the way on the right.
Biden In the Basement
Joe Biden is still running for president. But in the age of COVID-19 and shelter-in-place orders across the nation, that’s a lot trickier than it sounds. Despite efforts to ramp up his media appearances from his new basement studio and virtual hangouts with supporters, the Biden team is struggling to break through a media environment that is dominated by the staggering infection numbers coming out of New York and the daily media briefings from the White House. In an interview with Yahoo News, President Obama’s 2008 campaign manager, David Plouffe, said he was “particularly alarmed by the presumptive Democratic nominee’s failure to leverage social media and dazzling visuals while President Trump dominates headlines during the coronavirus pandemic.”
Last week, Biden promised to start holding shadow press conferences “to show how he would handle the crisis and address what he calls the lies and failures of President Trump.” But in his debut briefing on Monday, he made more news in conservative circles when he said, referring to the legislation that was pending in Congress, “We’re gonna have an opportunity, I believe in the next round here, to use the—my green economy—my Green Deal to be able to generate both economic ground and consistent with the kind of infusion of money as we need into the system to keep it going.” On Thursday, he released his three-point economic plan, which included launching “a task force” to oversee the new spending bill and “bring[ing] the leaders of Congress together to build the next deal.” Hardly the types of ideas to garner much attention these days.
Worth Your Time
- We’ve received lots of great reader questions and comments in recent days about the best way to present coronavirus infection data in an informative manner. Declan was a statistics minor in college, but he’s nowhere near as good at this stuff as the folks over at FiveThirtyEight. We recommend you read this piece from Jay Boice to get the most fully informed sense of where we stand and what we can expect to see in the coming days.
- China has taken pains in recent months to wipe away the memory of where the coronavirus came from—partially by a propaganda campaign blaming America for the outbreak, partially by a charm campaign to send or sell medical supplies to other hard-hit countries. This fascinating column in The Economist examines the ways these two strategies intersect and diverge in China’s attempt to increase its own presence on the world stage: “It remains unclear whether China wants to occupy newly vacant positions of global leadership—if that involves accepting multilateral rules and norms that might constrain its actions in the future … Sowing distrust and division abroad is a risky game for China. Another master of disinformation, Russia, can sell its oil and gas even amid global chaos. As a would-be tech superpower that has profited mightily from globalization, China has much to lose from a world which cannot agree on basic facts.”
- When reports of coronavirus first came from China, Texas supermarket chain H-E-B dusted off its pandemic response plan—established in 2005 after H5N1 spread in China—and went to work. Texas Monthly has an article exploring how its protocols are working. (Fairly well, though H-E-B’s president says nobody predicted toilet paper being in such high demand: “That was something we still kind of have a hard time understanding.”)
- Anthony Rizzo—the Chicago Cubs’ first baseman and who Declan wants to be when he grows up—wrote an essay for ESPN about what it’s like to be a baseball player missing one of the most important days of the season: Opening Day. “This is for our parents and grandparents. We want them to be around for a long time,” said Rizzo. “It is tough being away from my parents right now, but I know it is the right thing to do. So we have to stay together and connected in other ways.”
Something Fun
Some people appear to be spending their quarantine time more productively than others.
Toeing the Company Line
- Languishing at home alone with the dogs has its upsides for Jonah: He’s firing out new episodes of The Remnant at a blazing pace. Yesterday’s edition features an entirely coronavirus-free interview with R Street’s Shoshana Weissman, talking occupational licensing, memes, Judaism, and online dating.
- In his new French Press, David has the most concise and devastating rebuttal we’ve seen yet of the argument—put forward by some prominent Republicans in recent days—that “seniors should be willing to ‘take a chance’ with their own lives to put the economy back to work.”
- Intrepid Dispatch fact-checker Alec Dent has taken a look at President Trump’s recent claim that Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York refused to buy 16,000 ventilators in 2015. Read it here.
- On the site today, Scott Ganz looks back at Ford’s efforts to use its assembly line technology to ramp up airframe production during World War II. “By mid-1944, Ford indeed was producing one B-24 per hour as promised. However … [b]y the time that the Willow Run plant was operating at peak capacity, wartime demand for new bombers was already on the decline.”
Reporting by Declan Garvey (@declanpgarvey), Andrew Egger (@EggerDC), Alec Dent (@Alec_Dent), Sarah Isgur (@whignewtons), and Steve Hayes (@stephenfhayes).
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One last thing …  Coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx calmly but expertly dismantled the media for spreading fake news to panic the public during the latest media briefing. Birx made the comments after President Donald Trump spoke about coronavirus on Thursday. “Finally the situation about ventilators, we we were reassured in a … Read more
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ARRA NEWS SERVICE
ARRA News Service (in this message: 16 new items) |
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- Behind Hospital Doors: The Outbreak
- The Logic Of Pottersville
- The Calculated Risk of the Coronavirus
- Sharp & Short, Confronting China, Trump Won’t Defeat Biden In November
- Longest Held Hostage Robert Levinson Dies In Iranian Prison: Family Releases Statement
- Trump’s Strategic Foresight Is Being Put To The Test
- The battle to reopen America will be difficult while coronavirus fears remain
- DOJ Defends Women Against Transgender Scheme
- Sleepwalker . . .
- Draft Mom or Not?
- Arkansas Pastor, Wife, ‘Dozens’ in Church Infected with COVID-19
- The Stimulus Orgy: Hard Case Makes For A Very Bad Law
- Pope Francis Condemns Abortion: “Every Human Life Has Value”
- Trump Compares $2.2 Trillion Coronavirus Aid Bill to FDR’s New Deal in Size, Scope
- The CARES Act Will Rush Assistance To American Workers, Families, Small Businesses, And Health Care Providers
- The Life & Death Question
| Behind Hospital Doors: The Outbreak
Posted: 26 Mar 2020 10:46 PM PDT  by Tony Perkins: Louisianans are a tough bunch. They’ve ridden out hurricanes, bailed out floods, and rebuilt every time. Now, they’re facing a much harsher test: a disaster no one can predict. “It’s like preparing for an invisible hurricane,” one nurse said. “But we don’t know when landfall will be.” What they do know is that no matter how prepared they are, it’s not enough. Not this time. For Governor Jon Bel Edwards (D) it was the one distinction he didn’t want. Louisiana, new research confirms, now has the world’s highest average daily growth rate of the coronavirus — a stunning 65.7 percent in the first 15 days since a diagnosis. Only Washington State and New York have more per capita. At a press conference Wednesday, Edwards did his best to contain the panic, but admitted, “The trajectory of our case growth continues to be very alarming. We have not begun to flatten the curve yet, and that is the number one message that I’m trying to deliver to the state of Louisiana. We have a long way to go.” Realizing that his state, like so many others, would be suffering overwhelming losses, he called on Louisianans to pray and fast. As my home state comes to grips with the news, a lot of people have questions. How did this happen, for starters? How did Louisiana go from an average number of cases to a global hotspot? Dr. Catherine O’Neal, an infectious disease expert and chief medical officer of Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, thinks the answer can probably be traced to an event that’s almost synonymous with New Orleans. “It’s always hard to know exactly how an area gets an influx of cases so quickly,” she explained Wednesday on “Washington Watch.” “We do know that there are certain things that are accelerators, and there are many hypotheses right now that that Mardi Gras was an accelerator. We definitely went through a mass of big social gatherings in Louisiana and also lots of travelers. So people from other countries, people from all of the United States coming to New Orleans, which is where we’re seeing the most cases and then going back to their home states… So I have to believe that Mardi Gras probably played some role in accelerating the case number here.” But even now, as Louisiana starts to be overrun by cases, some people still seem to be dismissive of the threats, the government’s guidance, or the reality of the virus. That’s tragic, Dr. O’Neal agreed, because behind the doors of every hospital are men and women fighting for their lives. “Those of us in Baton Rouge,” she explained, “have been watching with some trepidation — and also preparing our staff and physicians to be ready… Starting last week,” she said, “we [started to see] just a huge increase in patients who are coming in with respiratory distress, needing ventilators for respiratory distress. We’re a couple of weeks behind New Orleans but seeing that same thing that they saw several weeks ago — which is a life-threatening illness in people who should not be presenting such severe disease. It’s disturbing to see,” she admitted. The biggest problem, Dr. O’Neal pointed out, is how the virus attacks. “[It] starts to multiply in the back of your throat, but then it goes down into your lungs and causes a severe pneumonia. When people can’t breathe on their own, we’re left with just a couple of options. Sometimes you can provide oxygen… But many of these patients require time on the ventilator to breathe. And we don’t have enough ventilators to take care of all of the patients that we expect to have if [people] don’t stay home and isolate.” If Americans keep plunging head-first into parties, large crowds, or church services, the result will be deadly. “We are not going to have enough ventilators to treat everybody who’s ill.” As experts know, the virus is devastating. “But it’s not about the virus,” Dr. O’Neal insisted. “It’s about the volume. If we continue to see this increase in volume day after day, we’re going to run out of equipment to take care of patients. If we slow the virus down, then we can treat every patient as we would want to treat them according to our standards of care. But if that volume comes at us too quickly, we’re going to run out of the supplies we need, including the ventilators we need to care for our family members. And then when they get here, we won’t have the tools to help them.” If those aren’t compelling enough reasons to stay home, Dr. O’Neal has another: the health of our doctors and nurses. “Look,” she said, “we all need to go to the grocery store. We all still have to go to the pharmacy.” But otherwise, if you’re out in the community spreading the virus, “you’re putting the only people we have to take care of these patients at risk. “So isolate,” she insisted. “Every bit of distancing counts.” Tony Perkins (@tperkins) is President of the Family Research Council . Article on Tony Perkins’ Washington Update and written with the aid of FRC senior writers. Tags: Tony Perkins, Family Research Center, FRC, Family Research Council, Behind Hospital Doors: The Outbreak To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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| The Logic Of Pottersville
Posted: 26 Mar 2020 10:35 PM PDT
by Dr. Victor Davis Hanson: In director Frank Capra’s 1946 holiday classic movie It’s a Wonderful Life, an initial bank panic sweeps the small town of Bedford Falls. Small passbook account holders rush to George Bailey’s family-owned Bailey Building and Loan to demand the right to cash out all of their deposits — a sudden run that would destroy the lending cooperative and its ability to issue mortgages or preserve the savings accounts of the small town. The villain of the story, Henry F. Potter, who is a cash-laden, though miserly rival banker, played brilliantly by Lionel Barrymore, offers to buy up the depositors’ shares in the Building and Loan — but at a steep 50 percent discount. Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) tries to explain to his panicked cooperative depositors the logic of their frenzy, with the exclamation, “Potter isn’t selling. Potter’s buying! And why? Because we’re panicky, and he’s not.” Capra’s post–Depression era movie, even in its black-and-white morality, reminds us that, in crisis, the majority has limited liquidity and cash. And sooner rather than later they must sell assets — property, stocks, shares, and household goods — to operate their businesses or keep their homes until things pick up. In a real depression, those with the least cash fail first and in great numbers. And the minority who do have cash are always willing to buy, even in a depression, albeit at their price, which is usually steeply discounted. Panic, not logic, eventually takes over the collective mind, as we now see with the downward spiral of the current stock market and the hoarding of goods otherwise in plentiful supply. The stock market descends in part because sellers need liquidity and think they will have less of it tomorrow, while cagey buyers believe they will sell for even less in 24 hours — and stock managers who sell more than buy conclude that there is not yet enough data or conjecture to convince the terrified public that the virus is either manageable or will turn out to be more analogous to 2009 rather than 1918. Remembering the Rush to the Bottom The panic was an abrupt, if belated, reaction to the 1982–83 recession, the tight-money and high-interest policies of the Fed that broke soaring inflation, the clumsy role of an ossified Depression-era federal “Raisin Administrative Committee” that regulated all sales of farmers’ harvests, and the proto–European Union plan to subsidize European and mostly Greek raisin production on the international market. Sun-Maid went “broke.” Or rather, in the euphemisms of depression, its management “recapitalized” the co-op, by expropriating the capital contributions of its members in the revolving fund. The CEO shrugged that, in the logic of cooperatives, members had in years past been “overpaid” by themselves, and now they simply had to forfeit millions of dollars owed to them by “their” own co-op. Half the membership quit and were never paid what in the real world was contractually owed to them. Raisin vineyards fell in price in just a few months from $15,000 an acre to $3,500. Once vaunted varieties of grapes for raisins, such as Thompson seedless, were soon dubbed “Thompson worthless.” Within a year, farmers were pruning off canes, producing no crops, and watering and cultivating just enough to keep their vines alive, and thus diminishing in value capital investments. Suddenly it was more valuable to have open ground that could be left fallow than to maintain expensive permanent vineyards that could not so easily be idled. In a panic cycle, to farm was to lose more money, and to do nothing was to lose less. Idiocy ensued from “experts” who assured us that the new globalization was “good for you in the long run” given that subsidized foreign sales that gobbled up our lost market share would make insolvent American growers “more competitive” and “sort out the wheat from the chaff” and “bankrupt Europe through costly subsidies” and ensure “value to the consumer” — all in the abstract arguable for tomorrow, all in the concrete present irrelevant news for the bankrupt. The vast majority of small farmers who owed money and had a mortgage, and no savings or bank credit line, went broke — at first aghast that anyone would offer them an insulting and measly $8,000–$7,000 an acre for productive marquee vineyards, only within months to sell at $3,500 and be happy it was not $3,000. The logic of the Dutch tulip boom and bust soon spread. In some sense, four decades later, the raisin industry for a variety of outside and self-inflicted reasons never fully recovered. Some of the today’s small agrarian fortunes in central California were made in the early 1980s by those who either had capital at the time or were audacious enough to risk buying foreclosed properties (the panic soon spread to orchards and other crops) that would likely not show a profit for years. Now such farmland sells at $30,000 an acre and up, depending on the crop. Because the raisin crash affected fewer than 10,000 family farmers, no one noticed much that most were wiped out. Although they were not infected with a virus, a few men in our vicinity killed themselves, a number of farmers and their spouses developed severe physical and mental health issues and died, and families split up and broke apart (including my own). We wish to avoid such cycles of panic. Panic is not, as the uninitiated write, good. No, it kills. Reawakening a Comatose Patient The downward spiral soon takes on a psychological logic of its own and can be arrested only by data and proof that it is an unfounded panic and that the cause of the hysteria is either nonexistent, no longer germane, or manageable. The result on a grand national scale is both economic stagnation and a gradual descent into Pottersville. Don’t believe that even salaried elite employees at institutions, universities, nonprofits, etc., will be exempt, given that dividend income from endowments is now in question, assets are declining in value, and philanthropists logically grow scarce. In periods of panic and plagues, there are no good choices, just bad and worse ones — but we have choices, nonetheless. For now, to arrest the spread of the virus, we’ve adopted an understandable sort of blunderbuss chemotherapy strategy. We have risked sickening the entire economy by shut-ins, shelterings, lockdowns, quarantines, social distancing — as the necessary medicine to deny new hosts to the metastasizing hopping and skipping coronavirus. Chemotherapy, to be frank, can often work but nonetheless is designed to kill the cancer weeks or even days before it kills the sickening patient, and its side effects can linger for years. So too with our present antiviral economic policy. Very soon — two or three weeks perhaps, at the most — the U.S. is going to have to resume work while retaining prophylactic policies that do not sicken the already ailing and hopefully recovering economy. Both the virus and a looming severe recession are real. Understanding the Invisible Enemy Hopefully, antibody tests could become available cheaply and in numbers. They could determine those who have recovered with assumed immunity, and who therefore might reenter the most hazardous spots in the workforce. Such data might help to obtain a more realistic number of actual cases of infection and the lethality rate of the virus, as well as reminding us that thousands unknowingly may have already had the virus and either attributed it to the flu or discounted its milder symptoms. Doctors could make better choices if they knew whether respiratory patients had already had the coronavirus. We still are witnessing the number of U.S. cases increase dramatically while the lethality rate nonetheless either stays static or slightly declines daily — for now. This was to be expected, probably because the known positive cases hardly accounted for all those Americans infected, while we have been more or less able to accurately confirm the number of deaths caused by COVID-19. Moreover, those who test positive (in truth, a small minority of those feeling ill or exposed who received a test) probably represent only a portion of those who go unreported as infected, recovered, or who were oblivious that their milder symptoms were in fact caused by the coronavirus and not allergies, a cold, or the flu. So testing will probably reveal that the actual denominator number of all cases is much larger than in past weeks — and it will probably be larger than even testing can approximate. Thus, given that, so far, there seem to be few serious and permanent side effects among the recovered, the death rate is the key, and it will only continue to decline, and one hopes to levels associated with a bad flu year. If we can get hard data out and the lethality rates descend to near flu levels, and once Americans see that well over 99 percent of the population survives the virus, then they will have confidence in the return of the economy, buy and sell stocks on the basis of innate worth and return rather than panicked speculation, and again rehire, run, and expand their businesses. In sum, with the use of new treatment protocols and medicines, wider testing, and the approaching summer, we can get the incidence of infection down to a level that allows most people to work and keep the economy alive. Otherwise, make no mistake, if the present economic somnolence continues, many Americans are going to sicken and die — but from the economic virus in reaction to the coronavirus. Finally, we must be careful that we don’t reach the point of no return on the horizon after which the psychosis of panic and depression will be so entrenched that we will suffer devastating economic recession or worse no matter what. As that date of decision nears, we should be ready to ramp the economy back up, incrementally at first, to be sure, as we go full-bore with testing and while we make what drugs we think are useful widely available at local ERs along with ventilators. We should also prepare for the naysayers and pessimists — mostly those most insulated from the economic shutdown — to cry “denialist” and then accuse officials of “murder” when the case load and deaths from the virus do not immediately disappear. We can confirm who dies from the virus, not always the greater number who will likely die in a depression. Then efforts will focus on getting a vaccination into wide-scale tests by autumn. A rebounding economy will be stimulated by cheap energy prices, historically low interest rates, and a national consensus that multitrillion-dollar industries in pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, strategic materials, and defense-related technologies are being incentivized and goaded into returning to the U.S. The virus in terribly ironic fashion may help “woke” Americans understand that they were hostage to insidious Chinese pressures in ways they never imagined. Trump is trying to square that circle by noting that China is culpable for the virus, while he speaks softly of President Xi, apparently on the assumption that it is stupid in crisis and panic to trash the supplier of vital pharmaceuticals and medical supplies — until you have a certain domestic replacement. The future is bright. But in the panicky darkness of today, we must not lose our way and end up wandering in endless circles before arriving at Pottersville. Tags: McIntosh Enterprises, Victor Davis Hanson, The Logic Of Pottersville To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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| The Calculated Risk of the Coronavirus
Posted: 26 Mar 2020 10:25 PM PDT  by George Friedman: We live in a world filled with risks, some large and some small. When we step off the sidewalk to cross the street as the light turns green, there is a risk the car to our left will suddenly accelerate and kill us. We see it stopped there, we evaluate our desire to cross the street, and we decide the threat is too small to delay us. Overwhelmingly we are right. On rare occasions, someone gets hit and dies. We do not respond to the risk by refusing to cross streets when cars are on the road. The cost of eliminating all risk is too high, and the probability of the risk materializing is too small. It’s a calculated risk, when the risk of doing something or not doing something is understood. Sometimes the calculation takes months. Sometimes it takes seconds. But it is always there, and you are always analyzing it and making decisions accordingly, rightly or wrongly. Risk and reward are at the center of human life. And to be sure, humans are not averse to risk. Many cultivate risk as a gourmand chooses from a menu. There is a pleasure in choosing to confront a risk and an exhilaration in surviving it. My wife loves to scuba dive. We learn the mechanics of diving so that the risks are controlled to the extent they can be. The point is that risk is an integral part of life, even a rare pleasure, not solely a burden that we must live with. Though most of us try to avoid risk, it is everywhere. Life itself is a risk that shares its place with rewards. Every relationship is a risk, for people we meet may carry with them some unknown and even uncontrollable threat. But it is impossible to live our lives alone, because man is a social animal, and even the most reclusive of us must make a decision based on uncertain and poorly glimpsed realities. We cannot eliminate it any more than we can refuse to face it. The best we can do is calculate the risk. Which brings us to the coronavirus. It causes just one disease in a world filled with diseases, some of which are fatal, and any one of which could strike at any moment. Yet we press on. A big difference is that the coronavirus is new, and we fear new risks far more than old ones. It is highly contagious, but for 98 percent of those who contract it, it will cause a week or two of illness. For those of us older than 70 or suffering from other diseases, it is far more deadly. None of my research suggests Hungarian Jews over 70 are exempt from this calculus. Our collective solution to combat the coronavirus is to avoid all human contact. We share no comments on the weather or laughter. There is little commonality among us, save the suspicion that this person in aisle three might cause my death. A disease that has a degree of calculability has caused us to fear not only the stranger but also the friend. And now we must keep our distance from each other, by the command of the state. If this meant that the disease could be eliminated in a certain time, it would be worth it. But the fact that it might subside after we all hide doesn’t mean it won’t reemerge. Quarantine can mitigate but not eliminate the enemy. Our calculation is that we can push off the reckoning by living strange and inhuman lives. Sometimes, when the risk has grown out of proportion in our mind, and the reward seems to be life itself, the finely honed risk-reward ratio loses its bearing. The decision has been made that the disease must be battled at all cost, even if the battle can’t be won; any compromise with the fact that it exists and will not readily go away is considered reckless and dangerous. And so we risk the consequence. With human contact rendered unacceptable, our ability to produce what we need to in order to live declines to the point of potential disaster. We have established a calculation in which the risk from this disease outweighs all other risks, from wreckage to our economy, to the solace of friendship. We might hope that our vast medical-pharmaceutical complex will invent something to at least mitigate the disease. But the ethical foundation of that complex is risk aversion. So a vaccine can’t be produced in less than a year. The consequence is a vast fragmentation of humanity, and the threat of an economic failure not seen in 90 years. The avoidance of risk creates the apparent certainty of disaster. The idea of calculated risk, where the risk of harm is measured against the certainty of harm, is absent. The attempt to shut down New York City is a loss of all proportion. COVID-19 is a nasty disease, but the possibility of being sequestered in a Bronx apartment like the one I grew up in, for as long as it takes, is appalling. And then there is the problem that we don’t know how long “however long it takes” is. But when you don’t know what to do, the most unbearable solutions seem the only reasonable ones. Avoiding the pain of the novel coronavirus demands isolation and economic disaster. There should be a symmetry between the risk and the calculated solution, even if it is merely a temporary respite. Perhaps, until the flawless vaccine is created, the calculated risk must be that we will endure this disease as we have others. The Black Death killed perhaps half of the people in Europe’s cities. HIV killed most it infected. Heart disease and cancer will kill many of us. We live with them by taking calculated risks. Some of us may die from the risks we take. Others will not. But a disease that likely kills less than 2 percent of those infected, the old and rarely the children, demands a different risk-reward ratio. There is a possibility that I will die from it. But there is the certainty that the current measures will create deep hardship for my children and grandchildren by wrecking the economy. For me the calculated risk is this: I probably won’t die, and if I do, I will not have to live with the vision of a shattered country, and the shattered lives of children I both love and must serve. Tags: George Friedman, Geopolitical Futures, Calculated Risk, the Coronavirus To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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| Sharp & Short, Confronting China, Trump Won’t Defeat Biden In November
Posted: 26 Mar 2020 10:14 PM PDT
by Gary Bauer: Sharp And Short A word about the economics of this. The normal way a recession begins is that you see a small increase in jobless claims. Over several months that increase gathers speed. Then profits start falling at companies. Then jobless claims peak and start receding. That process can take a year or longer. This is not that. This is a sudden, horrific jump in claims that may continue for a couple of months. This will be a significant recession. But in my view, there will be a dramatic return to employment just as dramatic as these initial job losses. A final point: Today’s stark numbers should be a warning to all politicians about the severity of this crisis. Our nation is in uncharted territory. We desperately need unity. This is not the time for political games or cheap shots. Meanwhile, the coronavirus relief bill passed the Senate last night 96-to-0. The House is expected to take up the bill Friday. Speaking Of Cheap Shots. . . Referring to the president’s desire to reopen the country, a reporter asked the president, “How many deaths are acceptable?” Well, I want to correct myself — a reporter didn’t ask that question. That’s an ideologue doing the bidding of the political left. That question was an outrageous attack on the president’s character. When liberal governors say, “I am for a woman’s right to choose, and I will not restrict that right in anyway,” no reporter even thinks about asking obvious follow-up questions. For example, has any reporter ever asked the governor of New York, “What if half the babies conceived in New York are aborted? Are you okay with that?” Has any reporter ever asked the governor of Virginia, “How many babies killed moments after they’re born are you willing to accept?” That such questions have never been asked of these left-wing politicians, while every coronavirus death is blamed on Donald Trump, tells you everything about the mindset of the American media. A significant percentage of people masquerading as “reporters” and “journalists” are in fact part of the left-wing juggernaut trying to transform America in ways we must never allow. And this “reporter” isn’t alone. As I noted yesterday, this disgusting smear against the president is the left’s latest theme. Just consider these recent headlines: “Tell Us, Mr. President, How Many Coronavirus Deaths Are Worth It To Save The Economy?” “The Party Of Life Embraces Trump’s Death Cult.” “Donald Trump Is Trying To Figure Out How Many Americans He Needs To Sacrifice To Keep The Economy Going.” The fake news media’s hysteria and hyperbole is incredibly irresponsible. It is fueling panic and paranoia at the worst possible time. But while the left is piling on the president, here’s what you need to know: According to a study by Johns Hopkins University, no country in the world is better prepared to handle a pandemic than the United States of America. That may be little solace to folks in Seattle and New York City right now, but it speaks volumes about the benefits of our free market economy, as well as the difficulties of the challenge we face right now. And in related news, the Army is reaching out to veterans, specifically retired medical professionals, willing to answer the nation’s call to service once again as the coronavirus crisis stretches the capabilities of our medical system. Confronting China Newt is absolutely right, and I have been warning about the dangers of dealing with China for decades. Along with my good friend Dr. James Dobson, I led conservative opposition to granting China preferable trade status during the late 1990s. Confronting the communist regime was a centerpiece of my 2000 presidential campaign. Sadly, Dr. Dobson and I faced tremendous opposition at the time from the GOP establishment and even some prominent Christian leaders. Thankfully, Donald Trump has also made confronting China a centerpiece of his trade and foreign policy agenda, and I am pleased to report that more and more members of Congress in both parties are stepping up now. For example:
Trump Won’t Defeat Biden In November I don’t think Donald Trump will defeat Joe Biden in November because I am increasingly beginning to doubt that Biden will be the Democrat presidential nominee. Anyone who has seen the former vice president attempting to do interviews from his basement this week understands that this man is not capable of governing, let alone undergoing the rigors of a general election campaign. He seems disoriented, uninspiring, confused and clueless. Perhaps because he has the majority of delegates, he will still be nominated. After all, the alternative at this point is Bernie Sanders, and Democrat Party elders are not going to allow that to happen. But I have no doubt that right now left-wing movers and shakers are trying to figure out a way to suspend democracy in the Democrat Party and end up with Andrew Cuomo as their nominee. (Many progressives have been pining for a “President Cuomo” for decades!) President Trump’s handling of the coronavirus has boosted his approval ratings. He’s a natural leader. And Cuomo is inspiring Democrats as they watch his handling of the disaster in New York City. But the coronavirus crisis is politically killing Joe Biden as he “self-quarantines” in his basement. Tags: Gary Bauer, Campaign for Working Families, Sharp & Short, Confronting China, Trump Won’t Defeat Biden In November To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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| Longest Held Hostage Robert Levinson Dies In Iranian Prison: Family Releases Statement
Posted: 26 Mar 2020 09:49 PM PDT  by Sara A. Carter: On March 9, Robert A. “Bob” Levinson had been missing from Kish Island, Iran for 13 years. Levinson was abducted by the Iranian government on March 9, 2007, and was the longest-held hostage in U.S. history, according to the FBI. The Levinson Family has been through years of pain and has hoped for Levinson’s release for more than a decade. They made an official statement Wednesday. “Today with aching hearts we are sharing devastating news, about Robert Levinson, the head of our family,” the statement on Twitter reads. “We recently received information from U.S. officials that has led both them and us to conclude that our wonderful husband and father died in while in Iranian custody. We don’t know when or how he died, only that it was prior to the COVID19 pandemic.” The family extended their “deepest appreciation to President Trump and members of his administration.” Read the Levinson family’s statement below:
Tomorrow, Mr. Levinson will turn 72 years old. Bob served his country for 28 years, including 22 years as an FBI special agent. This anniversary is another opportunity for the leadership of the government of Iran to finally return Bob home to his family. During the past 13 years, the only credible evidence of responsibility in Mr. Levinson’s disappearance has pointed to those working for the government of Iran. The FBI renews its repeated calls to Iran to uphold its prior commitments to cooperate and to share information which could lead to Bob’s return. To date, the leadership of the government of Iran has fallen far short of any such commitments.
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| Trump’s Strategic Foresight Is Being Put To The Test
Posted: 26 Mar 2020 09:07 PM PDT . . . Trump will win or lose on whether he has this foresight.
by Dr. Victor Davis Hanson: The ancient Greeks believed that true leadership in a crisis came down to what they called pronoia — the Greek word for “strategic foresight.” Some statesmen, such as Pericles and Themistocles, had it. Most others, such as the often brilliant and charismatic but impulsive Alcibiades, usually did not. “Foresight” in crisis means sizing up a nation’s assets and debits, then maximizing advantages and minimizing liabilities. The leader with foresight, especially in times of irrational despair, then charts a rational pathway to victory. Such crisis leaders do not fall into panic and depression when the media shout “Catastrophe!” Nor do they preen when the same chorus screams “Genius!” in times of success. The English poet Rudyard Kipling would have defined such a gift as: “If you can keep your head when all about you / Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,” or “If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster / And treat those two impostors just the same.” Some American military leaders — such as Generals George Patton, William Tecumseh Sherman, and Curtis LeMay — sounded as scary in times of peace as they did in times of war. The traits ensuring that peacetime life stays predictable are not always the same as those required to return it to predictability when times turn utterly terrifying. During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln knew the overwhelming advantages of the Union could eventually defeat the South, but only if he could hold the nation together through disasters such as the battles of Bull Run and Chancellorsville, and only once he found brilliant generals such as Sherman and Ulysses S. Grant. In World War II, Winston Churchill proved perhaps the most impressive wartime leader in history. During Britain’s darkest hours of nonstop German bombing of London, he knew that declining British assets were still greater than an ascendant Germany’s advantages. Eventually, despite razor-thin margins of error, these assets would ensure victory. Churchill was assured that Britain had a great navy and Germany did not. Britain would soon have as allies America and Russia, both far stronger than German partners Italy and Japan. Churchill foresaw that the economies of those future allies would be far superior to those of the Axis. And Churchill grasped all this even as defeat loomed and some in his own party were calling for him to negotiate with Adolf Hitler. Franklin D. Roosevelt likewise had foresight. In the nightmarish days after Pearl Harbor, FDR calmly unleashed private enterprise to rearm America at what he knew would be an astonishing rate. Roosevelt promised victory not because he knew it would be quick, but because he calculated that if he just made the right choices, the ensuing advantages of the U.S. would certainly ensure victory. Even in the first bleak days of the war, FDR kept reminding the nation why and how America would win. That confidence was not based on fantasies but on rational calculation and justified optimism. In the present crisis of the coronavirus, what will determine the effectiveness of President Trump’s leadership is not what the media scream today or the polls say tomorrow. The praise of his supporters or the predictable damnation of his enemies won’t matter. Rather, Trump will win or lose on whether he has strategic foresight. If he panics and keeps the country locked down for too long, we will go into depression that will cost more lives than the virus. But if Trump prematurely declares victory and urges Americans to rush back to normal life, he may reboot the virus and reignite another cycle of panic. Instead, Trump will have to possess the confidence to see how the world’s greatest economy, greatest medical talent, greatest military, and greatest energy and food production can all be marshaled in a symphonic fashion. That correct formula could fend off a potentially biblical plague without destroying the largest economy in history. If Trump exhibits such cunning and wisdom, then he can balance the consensus of his medical experts that the virus is existentially dangerous with the warnings of his economic advisers that shutting down a multi-trillion-dollar economy can become even more ruinous — and lethal — for Americans. Like Churchill, Trump must have the right information but also the instincts to determine which expert advice is suspect and which is inspired, and which orthodox recommendation is wrong and which unorthodox alternative is right. Do that, and Trump can defeat the virus, save the economy, and turn a disaster into a collective American victory over both infection and depression. Such foresight can also remind the nation never again to outsource key industries to China, and not to listen to those who always predict catastrophe in bleak times, only to later take credit for others’ victories. Tags: Victor Davis Hanson, To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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| The battle to reopen America will be difficult while coronavirus fears remain
Posted: 26 Mar 2020 08:51 PM PDT  by Rick Manning: Benjamin Franklin is often quoted as saying, “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety,” and this sentiment is particularly pertinent to these times of state lockdowns and social distancing as our nation seeks to stop our medical systems from being overrun by the Chinese virus. And while short-term prudence is wise and even necessary, the battle to reopen the country is going to be difficult, as those who are using fear to shut down our economy are not going to allow capitalism to be restored easily. President Trump’s simple mention of April 12, Easter Sunday, as a date that he is aiming at for life to return to normal for most of the United States was met by collective howls from those who apparently want to be certain that there is no risk from the Chinese virus or apparently any other disease before we can resume life. Let me be clear. It is immoral to deny Americans life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. At some point, in the near future, the mass production of masks by companies like 3M and Haines will ensure that they are not only plentiful in the hospitals but on store shelves, and the human trials on the dosage and efficacy of the Chloroquine and other already approved drugs on the virus will yield effective treatments and production will roll forward here in America. Ford and General Motors will have ramped up the production of sufficient numbers of ventilators that every hospital will have what they need, and as hot spots crop up, those increased needs will be met. This is not a dream, but the reality of what is occurring right now due to the aggressive mobilization of our private sector to defeat the virus. And this reality is taking hold very rapidly. The $2.2 trillion Senate and soon to be House passed bill is designed as a safety net for both the American people and the businesses shuttered and damaged by the health emergency and the need for social distancing. The ideal scenario is for most of that money to not be needed because we have returned to work. As much of the enormous spending spree is for items like food stamps, unemployment and low-interest, forgivable loans to keep small business afloat, the sooner we can get much of our economy back to work, the fewer of those dollars will need to be spent. Unfortunately, Senate Republicans and the Trump administration’s lead negotiator, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin made one critical mistake in the legislation and then refused to amend it last night. That mistake was to make unemployment more profitable than actual work for employees who make less than $12 an hour. The abiding principle of our unemployment and welfare systems is that it should never be profitable to not work, but in one fell swoop, the Senate bill eviscerates that guiding idea. In spite of allowing the left to incentivize government dependency, in states where governors move ahead to turn the economic spigot back on, the demand for labor will be strong as the pent up energy and quite honestly, much of the additional wealth accumulated by a vast majority of employees who remained on payrolls while working from home or maintaining their work schedule will be spent as small business reopens, providing a consumer driven stimulus to nearly starving businesses. But what about those businesses? Americans for Limited Government has around 62 video testimonies from small business leaders begging for the economy to be reopened. Many flatly state that they cannot meet payrolls in two weeks, and that they will go under if the economy is not immediately reopened. Losing these homebuilders, car detailers, community health clinics and tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of small businesses throughout our nation will create a massive hole in our economy, ensuring that double digit unemployment returns for the foreseeable future. It also sets the precedent that the federal and state governments can destroy our free market system when a crisis warrants it and few will object. Don’t think the Green New Deal socialists aren’t watching this health emergency trial run and licking their chops. After all, they believe that the entire fate of the world depends upon shutting down industrialized America, and the example being set today will be used as their precedent for the future, as they seek to institutionalize the primacy of government over the means of production. America needs to get back to work. The President has set Easter as a target date, and let’s hope that our nation’s small businesses can survive until then so we don’t have a Chinese virus hole in our nation’s economy for the decade to come. Tags: Rick Manning, Americans for Limited Government, The battle to reopen America, difficult while, coronavirus fears remain To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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| DOJ Defends Women Against Transgender Scheme
Posted: 26 Mar 2020 08:42 PM PDT
by Bill Donohue: Title IX is a federal law that bars discrimination on the basis of sex; it was written to protect the rights of women. Yet it has been hijacked by left-wing activists pushing transgender politics, one of the consequences of which is to deny women athletes their rights. The Connecticut Interscholastic The Catholic Church, which acknowledges the reality of human nature, and, of course, nature’s God, is unequivocally opposed to what the CIAC is doing. Last year, the Congregation for Catholic Education published a brilliant document, “Male and Female: He Created Them.” It affirmed biblical teachings, as well as common sense. God not only created man and woman, he did so in a manner that recognizes their complementary natures. The Vatican document took aim at gender theory, saying it “denies the difference and reciprocity in nature of a man and a woman and envisages a society without sexual differences, thereby eliminating the anthropological basis of the family.” To put it differently, the sexes do not evolve—they are immutable. As for gender, it refers to socially learned roles, most of which pay homage to that which nature has ordained. Furthermore, there is no such thing as an “Intersex” person: it is a figment of the imagination. No world leader, either secular or religious, has been more vocal in denouncing gender theory than Pope Francis. He has called it “dangerous” and “demonic.” It is dangerous because “it would make everything homogenous, neutral,” and it is demonic because it is “the great enemy of marriage”; it is also part of the “global war against the family.” If transgender athletes want to have their own sports, let them, though there may not be many takers. But for men to lie about their sex and then shove their way into women’s sports is worse than a fiction—it is patently unjust. Worse, many cultural elites support this insanity, such as the CIAC. Feminists who have supported the gay agenda must now decide whose side they are on: Do they stand with women, or with men who pretend they are women? It is perverse to allow biological men to crash women’s sports. It is even more perverse that they can do so by exploiting a federal law written to promote equality between men and women. Fortunately, the Trump administration has come down on the side of women’s equality and common sense. Tags: Bill Donohue, Catholic League, DOJ, Defends Women, Against, Transgender Scheme To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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| Sleepwalker . . .
Posted: 26 Mar 2020 08:31 PM PDT . . . Joe Biden is giving daily briefings in order to bring back confidence in our leadership during the corona crisis.
Tags: AF Branco, editorial cartoon, Joe Bodem, giving daily briefings, in order to bring back, confidence in our leadership, during the corona crisis To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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| Draft Mom or Not?
Posted: 26 Mar 2020 08:24 PM PDT  by Paul Jacob, Contributing Author: “The biggest piece of opposition” to extending draft registration to women, former Nevada Congressman Joe Heck told The New York Times, “was, we are not going to draft our mother and daughters, our sisters and aunts to fight in hand-to-hand combat.” Yet, that seems precisely what the National Commission on Military, National and Public Service, chaired by Heck, called for in its just released report, urging Congress to make our daughters sign up for the military draft and to be equally conscripted in any call-up. Or in a new compulsory military will draftees be able to say, “No thanks, I don’t feel like engaging in hand-to-hand combat”? Today, women comprise nearly 19 percent of 1.2 million active-duty soldiers. They rightly have all combat jobs open to them — the very positions a draft has traditionally been used to fill. So, in the name of equal rights are we forcing mom into a foxhole or not? It seems . . . complicated. “Women bring a whole host of different perspectives, different experiences,” offered Debra Wada, a commission member and former assistant secretary for the Army. Since when does the military conscript people for their “perspective”? “[B]eing drafted does not necessarily mean serving in combat,” The Times paraphrased Wada. “In a time of national crisis, the government could draft people to a variety of positions, from clerical work to cybersecurity.” This doesn’t seem to be about actual equality of service —or equality of risk — at all, but instead about a bigger pool of possible forced labor. “If the threat is to our very existence,” Wada rhetorically inquired, “wouldn’t you want women as part of that group?” Yes! Certainly. Of course. But as volunteers, not as conscripts — and the same for men. This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob. Tags: Paul Jacob, Common Sense, Draft Mom or Not? To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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| Arkansas Pastor, Wife, ‘Dozens’ in Church Infected with COVID-19
Posted: 26 Mar 2020 08:13 PM PDT  by Michael Ruiz: An Arkansas pastor issued a coronavirus warning this week after he, his wife and more than 30 others connected to their church contracted the illness, according to reports. In a long Facebook post, the Rev. Mark Palenske also described nausea, aches and fatigue he suffered along with his wife, Dena. “When something like this [COVID]-19 virus touches the other side of the world, your first inclination is to assume that time and distance are on your side. That false assumption caught up with Dena and I this past week,” he wrote. Palenske also thanked his supporters and medical workers, and urged unity and compassion among his fellow citizens amid the outbreak. “First of all, your prayers for Dena and I, our church, our community and our country are much appreciated,” Palenske wrote. “Secondly, I would love to have you take this medical threat more seriously.” Thirty-four people contracted the virus after attending an event at Palenske’s church earlier this month, Donald Shipp, of First Assemblies of God Church in Greers Ferry, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Monday. Other visitors were still awaiting test results. In his post, Palenske said he initially struggled to get tested for COVID-19 before more than two dozen people linked to the church were found to have the illness. “We were definitely sick, but the testing was not available,” he wrote. “Not for us, and not for dozens in the church.” Palenske said he “pushed the envelope” and eventually found a doctor who had a few commercial tests. The pastor also urged his followers to heed the instructions of health authorities on social distancing and hand-washing. “We were definitely sick, but the testing was not available,” he wrote. “Not for us, and not for dozens in the church.” Palenske said he “pushed the envelope” and eventually found a doctor who had a few commercial tests. The pastor also urged his followers to heed the instructions of health authorities on social distancing and hand-washing. “We must keep the affected population to as a low a number as possible,” he wrote. “Our singular act of stubborn independence can have far-reaching effects on someone else’s life.” Guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) include avoiding close contact with people who are sick, staying home if you are sick except to get medical care, keeping your hands and frequently-used surfaces clean, and covering coughs and sneezes. Palenske also asked his followers to pray for the medical personnel treating people who have contracted the coronavirus. “I remember the two nurses who met us out in the parking lot the day that we were tested,” he said. “Their world changed in a single moment, and they stood tall to the challenge… They are doing their best, not only to help us return to our lives and our families, but to help them return to theirs, as well.” Tags: Arkansas Pastor, Wife, ‘Dozens’ in Church, Infected, COVID-19 To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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| The Stimulus Orgy: Hard Case Makes For A Very Bad Law
Posted: 26 Mar 2020 07:44 PM PDT . . . It’s one of the key principles this erstwhile student absorbed in law school: Hard cases make bad law.  by Bob Maistros: There may never be a better case of bad law being created in a hard case than the $2 trillion stimulus orgy in which members of both parties have just engaged. Of course we don’t want workers to suffer, or businesses large or small to go permanently down for the count, because sensationalist media and Chicken Little leaders have radically overreacted. Oh, wait. You’re still among the Kool-Aid drinkers who don’t think the government, hounded by the media, went too far? Note the words of one Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist described by CNN as “a longtime adviser to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” as to why otherwise healthy people under 70 wouldn’t be given a coronavirus test even if they exhibit symptoms: “If you’re in this group, you’re not in trouble. Whether you have flu or Covid-19 or some other respiratory virus, we anticipate you will do well.” Hmm. Doesn’t exactly sound like a scourge set to slay two to four million Americans, per alarmist projections. Especially given that John Ioannidis, epidemiologist and co-director of the Meta-Research Innovation Center at Stanford (METRICS), has used various extrapolations to get to about 10,000 deaths – a number that would normally have been buried in the “noise of the estimate of deaths of ‘influenza-like illness.’” Two other Stanford professors placed potential mortality at one-tenth that of flu. Yet hey, the damage is done. Markets tanked. Local businesses shuttered. Major corporations on the ropes. Unemployment applications hitting records. So what to do? Bad enough to spread out freshly printed cash like candy even to those who haven’t lost jobs or don’t even have income, creating a temporary economic sugar high with little long-term benefit. But unemployment benefits above 100% for many workers for four months? People getting more money for not working means that production will be slower to resume – dampening real recovery – and employers seeking to do so will have to pay higher wages. How do you get a $15-an-hour wage worker now making $23, as cited by Senator Lindsey Graham, R-SC, to go back to his old level? Plus why shouldn’t employers previously doing the right thing by keeping employees on the payroll simply dump them onto the public dole, despite other provisions in the bill incentivizing retention? How about extending unemployment benefits to independent contractors? It wasn’t 10 minutes ago that gig workers in California were screaming bloody murder at the unintended effects of legislation deeming them employees of enterprises who engaged them. Now they want to be treated the same as actual hired help – a terrible precedent that will further blur a meaningful line. Then there’s the blatant $17 billion giveaway to Boeing, hidden in “plane sight” as benefiting “businesses critical to maintaining national security.” When last seen, the aerospace giant was expending hordes of cash on stock buybacks, resisting regulators and covering up a range of screwups on its deadly 737 Max. Even given the exigencies of the current crisis, is it fair to ask generations of future taxpayers to pony up to cover years of wasting funds and mismanagement? Among its nearly 900 pages of fine print, the bill also meddles in credit reporting; provides massive mortgage forbearance – almost a year – for homeowners, contains a series of complicated tax breaks and delays. It provides for new Medicare payments and in other ways covers for large unreimbursed expenses for hospitals and health care providers. It ups federal cost-sharing in Medicaid and delays previous reforms – precisely the opposite direction the Trump administration was rightly going with this rapidly growing albatross. And speaking of albatrosses, the stimulus bill shovels an additional $1 billion to perennially failing Amtrak, and for good measure, tosses a puzzling $25 million sop to the Kennedy Center. The whole affair reminds one of the old saw about the son who murdered both of his parents and threw himself on the mercy of the court because he was an orphan. Uncle Sam, having already slain the economy and much of our freedoms based on bad information and flawed decision-making, is using our suffering as an excuse to get away with compounding the crime with an orgy of bad law. And what makes the law so bad is not just the many horrific individual provisions. Rather, Big Government is once again using a hard case – a crisis of its own creation (the 2008 mortgage meltdown can also be laid directly at the feds’ feet) – to expand its size, reach and complexity. It’s burrowing in place spending, programs and principles that further cement its role as business, income and health insurer of first, not last, resort and its authority to tell us how to run our lives. Tags: Bob Maistros, The Stimulus Orgy, Hard Case, Makes For, A Very Bad Law To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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| Pope Francis Condemns Abortion: “Every Human Life Has Value”
Posted: 26 Mar 2020 07:28 PM PDT
by Micaiah Bilger: Pope Francis encouraged society to value every human life during his daily message Wednesday from his papal library. Highlighting the 25th anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s “Evangelium vitae,” Pope Francis told his online audience that his message is for all of society, not just Christians, according to Rome Reports. “Every human life, unique and unrepeatable, it has value in itself. It has an inestimable value,” the pope said. “The attacks on the dignity and life of people unfortunately also continue in our era, which is the era of universal human rights. Indeed, we are faced with new threats and a new slavery, and laws don’t always protect the weakest and most vulnerable human life.” He condemned abortion, pointing to a passage in the New Testament that recognizes unborn babies as valuable human beings. He referred to the story of Mary and Elizabeth in which the baby in Elizabeth’s womb “leaped for joy” when Mary came in carrying Jesus in her own womb. Here’s more from the report: [The pope continued:]“We realize this more and more in this period in which the epidemic is taking the lives of many people. Through the intercession of Mary, we pray to the Lord of life to end this threat of death and to re-instill respect for every life in the hearts of all men and women.”Many times, Pope Francis has condemned abortion and urged Christians to protect every human life. In 2018, he caused outrage among abortion activists after comparing abortion to “hiring a hitman” to kill unborn babies. He frequently describes aborted babies as victims of a “throwaway culture” and encourages society to recognize their value. The pope’s message Wednesday comes at a critical time. The coronavirus outbreak is causing fears about medical rationing, especially among the elderly and people with disabilities. Meanwhile, abortion facilities are staying open and using precious medical resources to abort unborn babies in defiance of state health mandates. Now more than ever society needs to be reminded that every human life, born and unborn, young and old, no matter what their abilities, is valuable and should be treated that way. Tags: Micaiah Bilger, Life News, Pope Francis, Condemns Abortion, “Every Human Life Has Value” To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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| Trump Compares $2.2 Trillion Coronavirus Aid Bill to FDR’s New Deal in Size, Scope
Posted: 26 Mar 2020 07:12 PM PDT  by Fred Lucas: President Donald Trump on Wednesday expressed optimism about the prospects for passage of an emergency coronavirus relief bill to bridge the nation’s temporary economic shutdown, as the Senate moved closer to agreement. “Together, this $2.2 trillion legislative package is bigger than anything I believe ever passed in Congress,” Trump told reporters, comparing the massive bill to President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal programs of the 1930s and 1940s. “Perhaps, relatively speaking, if you go back and look during the FDR New Deal days, there was something that if you time-value it [for inflation], it was bigger,” the president said. “But this is certainly, in terms of dollars, far and away the biggest ever, ever done. That’s a tremendous thing, because a lot of this money goes to jobs, jobs, jobs and families, families, families.” Just before midnight, the Senate approved the bill in a unanimous vote of 96-0 after days of deadlock and fierce negotiations between Republicans and Democrats that yielded biting public statements. The package now moves to the House, for what Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has said will be a voice vote, likely Friday, in part because it’s not clear how many House members would return to Washington. The bill includes $350 billion in loans for businesses for job retention purposes as the nation hunkers down during the spread of the contagious new coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19. The package has an additional $300 billion in direct cash payments, or $3,400 for the typical family of four earning less than $99,000 per year, and up to $250 billion in expanded unemployment benefits. Four Republican senators, however, expressed concern that unemployment insurance paying out $600 per week—more than many low-wage jobs pay—would be a disincentive to work. Those GOP senators were Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Rick Scott of Florida, and Ben Sasse of Nebraska. The four senators who missed the vote also are all Republicans, who hold 53 seats in the chamber: Rand Paul of Kentucky, who has tested positive for COVID-19; Utah’s Mike Lee and Mitt Romney, who isolated themselves after contact with Paul; and John Thune of South Dakota, who said he felt ill. “We want to have enhanced unemployment insurance,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters. “This is the only way we could ensure the states could get money out quickly, in a fair way. So, we used $600 across the board. I don’t think it will create incentives [not to work]. Most Americans, what they want, they want to keep their jobs.” Trump is seeking to jump-start and reopen the economy as quickly as possible, but his coronavirus task force is attempting to balance economic and medical concerns. One reporter asked the president whether he was making political calculations regarding his hopes of reopening the economy by Easter Sunday, which is April 12. “I think there are certain people that would like [the economy] not to open so quickly,” Trump replied, saying there are “certain people who would like it to do financially poorly” to hurt him politically. “I think it is very clear that there are people in your profession that write fake news. You do,” Trump told the reporter, then pointed at another reporter and said, “She does.” “Nobody has done the job that we’ve done,” the president added, indicating Vice President Mike Pence and the top public health officials flanking him. “And it’s lucky that you have this group here right now for this problem, or you wouldn’t even have a country left.” As of noon Wednesday, the U.S. had 54,453 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and a total of 737 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. After it appeared that Republicans and Democrats had reached a compromise on a stimulus bill over the weekend, Pelosi put forward a proposal that includes numerous subsidies for the wind and solar energy industries and other liberal causes. The compromise package that headed for Senate passage after 11 p.m. included $25 million for the Kennedy Center, a huge performing arts venue in Washington. When asked about that, Trump said he supported it. “I approved that. It was $35 million, and we actually took off $10 million. I’m a fan of that, although I haven’t spent time there because I’m far too busy,” Trump said, adding: Trump said he spoke “a number of times” with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and that Democrats “had requests also.” ——————- Fred Lucas (@FredLucasWH) is the White House correspondent for The Daily Signal. Tags: IFre Lucas, The Daily Signal, President Trump, compares $2.2 Trillion Coronavirus Bill, to FDR’s New Deal, size, scope To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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| The CARES Act Will Rush Assistance To American Workers, Families, Small Businesses, And Health Care Providers
Posted: 26 Mar 2020 06:54 PM PDT  SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY): “Ten days ago, I laid out four urgent priorities for new Senate legislation to help our nation through this crisis. We had to get direct financial assistance to the American people. Get historic aid to small businesses to keep paychecks flowing. Stabilize key industries to prevent mass layoffs. And, of course, flood more resources into the front-line healthcare battle itself. One week ago, Senate Republicans laid down an initial proposal that tackled each of these emergency missions. Our members put forward bold plans to send cash to households. Stand up historic emergency loans for Main Street. Stabilize key sectors. And put the full might of Congress behind our doctors, nurses, hospitals, healthcare providers, and the race for treatments and vaccines…. The creative policies our chairmen crafted in just a couple days’ time remain the central building blocks of the proposal we will pass today. But Republicans knew the nation had no time for conventional political gamesmanship. So the instant we released our first draft, I created a series of bipartisan working groups. I asked Republicans and Democrats to work together around the clock to make the bill even better. By Sunday, we had an updated proposal that was even stronger and contained even more ideas literally from both sides…. The Senate is going to stand together, act together, and pass this historic relief package.” (Sen. McConnell, Remarks, 3/25/2020)
The CARES Act:
SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY (R-IA), Senate Finance Committee Chairman: “This legislation is the result of bipartisan compromise and significant give-and-take on both sides…. This bill would send a recovery check to most Americans for at least $1,200. A typical family of four would be eligible for $3,400. Seniors, veterans, the unemployed and low-income Americans would be eligible too. This would help workers, families and small businesses absorb some of the financial impact of the coronavirus. We also provide significantly enhanced unemployment insurance and expand eligibility to the self-employed, gig workers and other Americans who aren’t working due to the coronavirus…. The economic and public health crisis we are experiencing as a country is an emergency and Congress must respond in kind. Congress must pass this legislation immediately so it can be signed into law by the president and Americans can see relief.” (U.S. Senate Finance Committee, Press Release, 3/25/2020) The CARES Act:
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), Senate Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee Chairman: “The unprecedented crisis facing our nation’s small businesses and their employees requires an immediate, bold response. I am confident that we have assembled a bipartisan emergency relief package that will get cash to small businesses, and the Americans they employ, that desperately need it during this pandemic…. I look forward to the swift passage of the CARES Act in the Senate, and urge the House to take it up immediately in order to get it to the President for signature.” (Sen. Rubio, Press Release, 3/25/2020) SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): “Every day, I am hearing from small business owners who are anxious about the future of their businesses and how they can continue to pay their employees. The last thing they want to do is to lay off their employees, but they fear they may have no choice. When these businesses suffer, it has a cascading effect on workers, from housekeepers to wait staff to bartenders to fishermen to drivers to retail clerks…. Help is on the horizon that would allow them to weather the current storm…. It is past time that we deliver this urgently needed aid for the employees of small businesses across our nation and get the job done for the American people.” (Sen. Rubio, Press Release, 3/25/2020) The CARES Act:
SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R-AL), Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman: “A crisis of this magnitude demands bold action and considerable resources, and that’s what we’re working to provide for American families, workers, and businesses in this bipartisan package. States and localities facing this head-on are in desperate need of federal support. Delivering these resources and providing relief is our responsibility. I urge my colleagues to unify and support this legislation without reservation. We must get this package to the President’s desk expeditiously. There is no time to waste.” (U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, Press Release, 3/25/2020) The CARES Act:
SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER (R-TN), Senate Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions Committee Chairman: “The government has shut down the economy for the public health, so the Senate is responsible for taking steps to help families, workers and business who have been hurt by the outbreak of COVID-19… This bill will keep payroll checks coming to workers during the crisis, relieve financial burdens on Americans during the crisis, and contain the disease. This legislation fixes and significantly improves the paid leave policies passed by the House of Representatives. Additionally, the bill will help improve our health care capability and provide relief to schools and students who have had their education disrupted. Specifically, the bill would help expand testing, make all COVID-19 tests free, increase hiring of more health care workers, increase supply of personal protective equipment, and speed the development of new vaccines and treatments. The legislation allows students to defer payment on their student loans and to keep their Pell grants.” (U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions Committee, Press Release, 3/25/2020) The CARES Act:
SEN. MIKE CRAPO (R-ID), Senate Banking Committee Chairman: “Small and large businesses are losing access to liquidity, putting them at serious risk of closing down permanently and displacing millions of workers… If businesses go insolvent today, then the economy and the finances of U.S. citizens will suffer long after the coronavirus is contained. We found a way to responsibly inject potentially trillions of dollars back into the market, helping businesses keep their doors open, keep their employees on the payroll and restore as much normalcy at this unprecedented time as possible. This measure, combined with the broader CARES Act, will provide approximately $6 trillion in immediate relief to severely affected industries, helping to stabilize the economy and get Americans through this crisis.” “(U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Press Release, 3/25/2020) Tags: The CARES Act, Will Rush Assistance To, American Workers, Families, Small Businesses, Health Care Providers To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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| The Life & Death Question
Posted: 26 Mar 2020 06:48 PM PDT  by Mario Murillo Ministries: I remember when a wise man of God told me, “Answer the question that wasn’t asked.” Example: when Jesus told His disciples that Jerusalem would be utterly destroyed and not one stone would be left upon another, the disciples reacted by asking Him when this would happen. Instead, of answering that question, He answered the question they should have asked, “Take heed that you be not deceived.” The question they should have asked was, “What is the most important thing we should to be ready?” What question should pastors and the American church be asking right now about the coronavirus? 700 preachers recently participated in a conference-call with Trump and Pence, yet none of them asked the one question they should have asked. The twelve disciples wanted to know the date of the destruction of Jerusalem, so they could make arrangements. That was their deception. And most pastors just want to know the date when they can reopen their church. That is our deception. So, what was the question these preachers should have asked the President? What is that question? That question is, “Why haven’t we repented?” When it comes to repentance, the American church’s message is as garbled and discombobulated as a Joe Biden speech.  Shame on those who dare to invoke 2 Chronicles 7:14, while blatantly violating the conditions of that sacred text! “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” God says, “My people who are called by My name.” But we are ashamed to be called by His name! Modern preaching made us ashamed of being called by His Name! Christian pastors and singers waffled in T.V. interviews about homosexuality, abortion, the existence of hell, and Jesus being the only way to God. Denying Biblical truth is even worse that denying His name. Psalm 138:2 says “…For You have magnified Your word above all Your Name.” Have we humbled ourselves? Many are giddy, many are making light of this pandemic, and others glibly assure us that ‘we will all get through this.’ It is only because the deaths that have occurred have not happened to anyone you personally know and love that you are able to view it from a distance and remain aloof. Because the level of intrusion and financial devastation hasn’t quite struck you personally, you can still act like a spectator. We as believers are not sober. We are not praying for mercy. We are praying prayers that expose our immaturity, ignorance, and arrogance. Have we turned from our wicked ways? Talk about arrogance! Nothing is more arrogant than the way preachers hurdled right over the part about ‘turning from our wicked ways,’ and went straight to asking God to ‘heal our land.’  Social media overflows with singers and preachers who offer advice, devotions, and prophecies that downplay, and even belittle, repentance. Even when we called a big-time fast, the focus was about stopping the virus, not repenting as a nation. We should be fasting with sorrow over the way ‘church incorporated’ has grieved the Holy Spirit. How we abolished soul-winning. How we created low-impact/high-maintenance converts who drain the church’s resources and produce nothing, instead of training warrior-disciples. Keeping people calm is important. Inspiring people to make the best of this is important. Funny, but those who need it the least are the ones who are interceding and repenting the most. They are letting the searchlight of God give them truth in the inward parts. For them there is a new day. Pastors who are in this company of saints will see glory rise upon their ministry. Protection, blessing and healing is reserved for this remnant. I can’t say it any more simply or clearly than Isaiah. “Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds. Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with them, for what their hands have done shall be done to them.” (Isaiah 3:10-11) Tags: Mario Murillo, Ministries, The Life & Death Question To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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Smug CBS Reporter Tries to Ambush Trump at Task Force Briefing; He Swats Her Like a Fly
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From NBC’s Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Carrie Dann and Melissa Holzberg
FIRST READ: The numbers tell the real story of coronavirus in the U.S
Less than a month ago, on Feb. 29, the United States reported its first coronavirus death – plus 22 confirmed cases of the virus.
President Trump remarked that day that the U.S. had fewer cases than the rest of the world. “[W]e’re the No. 1 travel destination anywhere in the world, yet we have far fewer cases of the disease than even countries with much less travel or a much smaller population.”
Eleven days later, on March 11, the U.S. had more than 20 deaths and 1,000 positive cases, per the COVID Tracking Project.
REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
Eighteen days later, on March 18, it was more than 100 deaths and 7,000 cases.
Twenty-four days later, on March 24, the numbers grew to more than 500 deaths and 50,000 cases.
And as of this morning, 27 days after that first U.S. fatality, the numbers are 1,268 deaths and 85,000-plus cases – more confirmed cases than in any other country, including China or Italy.
That’s all in less than a month.
The frightening question is where the country will be next month.
And the month after that.
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DATA DOWNLOAD: The numbers you need to know today
85,968: The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States, per the most recent data from NBC News and health officials. (That’s 17,610 more than yesterday morning.)
1,268: The number of deaths in the United States from the virus so far. (That’s 267 more than yesterday morning).
About 540,000: The number of coronavirus TESTS that have been administered in the United States so far, according to researchers at The COVID Tracking Project. (That’s about 56,000 more than yesterday morning.)
At least 216: That’s the number of House members who must be present in D.C. to vote on the stimulus package today if just one of them nixes a request to pass it by voice vote.
More than 3 million: That’s the number of Americans who filed for unemployment benefits last week, compared with just 282,000 the previous week.
A third: That’s roughly how many Americans say either they or someone in their household has either lost a job or taken a pay cut because of Covid-19, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
650: That’s the number of incidents of racism reported by Asian Americans over the past week.
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How the coronavirus outbreak has changed Americans’ lives
Less than two weeks ago – before cities and states began their lockdowns – our NBC News/WSJ poll found 47 percent of American voters saying they’ve stopped attending large public gatherings; 36 percent saying they’ve canceled travel plans; and 26 percent saying they’ve stopped eating out at restaurants.
Now look at these numbers from the different Washington Post/ABC News poll:
“Roughly 9 in 10 say they are staying home ‘as much as possible’ and are practicing social distancing to lessen the risk of getting the virus. Nearly 9 in 10 say they have stopped going to bars and restaurants. About 6 in 10 say they have stockpiled food and household supplies at home,” the Post writes.
That’s quite a change in behavior.
The Post/ABC poll has Trump’s approval rating increasing slightly to 48 percent. But note this important point: “The rise in Trump’s approval rating, however, is far smaller than some other presidents have experienced in times of national crisis.”
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TWEET OF THE DAY: London Calling
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The House might need to come back to DC to pass the relief bill
While the U.S. House of Representatives intends to vote on and pass the Senate’s $2.2 trillion coronavirus aid package today, the road to get there just got a bit trickier (with some extra traffic).
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer had told their conference that they expected the bill to pass by voice vote – meaning those who couldn’t travel back to D.C. wouldn’t have to worry about the bill not passing (essentially, if they were sick/at high risk, they could stay home).
Now that plan might be up in the air, literally, per NBC’s Capitol Hill team.
Our Hill team reports that House leadership is concerned that at least one Republican will demand a recorded vote on the bill on Friday morning – that means the House needs at least 216 of its members to show up and vote to form a quorum, or half of its membership.
Hoyer wrote in an advisory, “Members are advised that it is possible this measure will not pass by voice vote,” he added, “Members are encouraged to follow the guidance of their local and state health officials, however if they are able and willing to be in Washington D.C. by 10:00 a.m. tomorrow, members are encouraged to do so with caution.”
The bill is ultimately still likely to pass, but if a recorded vote is demanded it won’t be passed until 216 members find their way to D.C. – which could increases the time it takes to get to President Trump’s desk.
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Talking policy with Benjy: What’s really in that $2.2 trillion bill?
The most discussed headline item in the big relief bill might be its onetime $1,200 check for most Americans, but it’s not the policy that most directly addresses the jobs crisis we’re seeing unfold this week, NBC’s Benjy Sarlin reports.
The $2.2 trillion bill’s most immediate aid for the unemployed is a major increase in unemployment benefits — $600 per week on top of typical benefits, which average around $400, for up to four months.
Just as importantly, the bill expands benefits to far more types of workers: For the first time, contractors and gig economy workers like Uber drivers and freelancers will be eligible. People who were forced to quit due to the pandemic, instead of being officially laid off, will also qualify.
“For those workers losing jobs, by far the most important component is the [unemployment insurance],” Arindrajit Dube, a labor economist at UMass Amherst, told NBC News.
For some low-wage workers, it means they might receive more in benefits than their usual wages. Republican Senators tried to pass an amendment to prevent this scenario by capping benefits, but were unsuccessful.
In an effort to keep companies from going under or shedding workers, the bill includes over $350 billion in federal loans to small businesses and additional support if they maintain payrolls. There’s also a $500 billion fund that can be used to back up companies affected by the outbreak. Other features include a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures, allowing students to defer student loan payments without accruing interest, and aid to states to help further weather the crisis.
It’s still a question whether that’s enough to weather the storm — we don’t know what things will look like in four days, let alone four months — but it’s a lot more than just $1,200 checks. That said, definitely read our explainer on whether you qualify for those checks and how much.
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2020 VISION: Team Trump vs. Priorities USA
Begun, the ad wars have – at least between the Trump campaign and the Democratic super PAC Priorities USA, per NBC’s Ben Kamisar.
This week, Priorities launched an ad hammering Trump on the response to coronavirus, splicing together Trump’s comments about the virus over the past few months and laying those comments over a graphic showing the number of cases in America increasing exponentially to argue Trump isn’t meeting the moment.
The Trump campaign is calling on television stations not to run the ad, arguing that the ad took Trump’s comments out of context.
But Priorities is holding firm despite that criticism, and on Thursday, announced an expansion of the ad into Arizona, backed by an initial $600,000 investment.
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THE LID: The disease *is* worse than the cure
Don’t miss the pod from yesterday, when we looked at new polling that shows widespread agreement that the measures taken to slow the virus’s spread have been necessary.
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ICYMI: What ELSE is happening in the world?
The New York Times looks at how both Biden and Trump have older voters as a key bloc of supporters.
Bernie Sanders thinks that this moment will underscore the logic of his big ideas. But is it too late?
Why exactly isn’t Congress already virtual?
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Pelosi urged House members not to do anything to delay the unprecedented economic aid package.
“Any scenario that is realistic will overwhelm the capacity of the healthcare system.”
“Right now we can barely handle the veterans that we have.”
“We need to wait and see before a trend of USD weakness becomes established.”
“No spoke to me about it.”
“Great teamwork by all partners.”MANHATTAN INSTITUTE
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March 27 2020
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“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 200: A Grim Prognosis 
Tens Of Millions Globally… 
19 West 44th Street, Suite 1701, New York, NY, 10036, USA
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