Tag: pandemic

Infrastructure bill gains new steam as coronavirus worsens

The Hill logoThe coronavirus and its devastating effect on the economy is giving an old idea new traction with leaders in both parties: trillions of dollars in infrastructure spending.

President Trump on Tuesday called for $2 trillion in new public works programs as a national economic lifeline, backing an idea promoted by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) just a day earlier. Rank-and-file lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have quickly joined the chorus, framing infrastructure as a commonsense strategy for creating jobs amid mass layoffs sparked by the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic.

“I think the Speaker’s right that infrastructure would be a good place to start because that’s something that’s the responsibility of the federal government to begin with,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said Tuesday on Fox Business, pointing to a bipartisan highway bill that a Senate committee advanced on a 21-0 vote. Continue reading.

Senate Democrats urge White House to quickly nominate new inspector general for coronavirus programs

Washington Post logoPresident Trump on Friday took a step that could weaken an inspector general’s independence, but Democrats said strong oversight is needed to ensure accountability

Three senior Senate Democrats are asking Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to honor the terms of a new coronavirus law that establishes independent oversight to monitor the Trump administration’s handling of a $500 billion funding program, according to a copy of a letter obtained by The Washington Post.

Shortly after enacting the law on Friday, President Trump took a step to curb the program’s oversight, kicking off a battle between Congress and the White House over how the law would be implemented and scrutinized.

Mnuchin brokered many of the terms of the spending deal with Democrats last week, and in their letter to him they expressed alarm about Trump’s immediate signing statement, which some interpreted as an attempt to weaken the reporting requirements of a new inspector general. The letter, signed by Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), also said Trump must “without delay” nominate the new inspector general to oversee and probe the funding. Continue reading.

Coronavirus recession will hit low-wage workers hardest

The Hill logoA global recession caused by the spreading coronavirus is likely to hammer the lowest-paid workers and the most economically-disadvantaged communities, segments of the workforce that had only just begun benefitting from an uneven economic recovery.

The workers and places most likely to suffer in the near term are those who were left behind during the decadelong recovery from the last recession, and who had only recently begun to make real wage gains.

Governors and local officials around the country have ordered restaurants, gyms, salons and other nonessential businesses to close to stem the spread of the virus that already has infected more than 163,000 Americans. Continue reading.

‘I haven’t heard about testing in weeks’: Leaked audio reveals Trump dismissed governors’ concerns about lack of coronavirus equipment

AlterNet logoIn a conference call with governors on Monday, President Donald Trump dismissed concerns about shortages of coronavirus testing equipment in states across the nation, claiming he “hasn’t heard about testing being a problem” despite loud warnings from local officials and near-constant reporting on the issue by media outlets.

“I haven’t heard about testing in weeks,” the president said, according to leaked audio of the call obtained by CBS News. “We’ve tested more now than any nation in the world. We’ve got these great tests and we come out with another one tomorrow that’s, you know, almost instantaneous testing. But I haven’t heard about testing being a problem.”

Trump’s remarks came after Montana Gov. Steve Bullock said on the call that his state doesn’t “have enough supplies to even do the testing” for coronavirus, which has officially infected more than 163,000 people in the United States. Continue reading.

US surpasses China in official coronavirus deaths

The Hill logoThe United States passed a grim milestone on Tuesday as it surpassed China in the official death count from the coronavirus.

The United States now has 3,415 deaths from the virus, surpassing China’s figure of 3,309, according to a tracker from Johns Hopkins University.

It’s important to note that there are significant doubts about the accuracy of China’s figures.  Continue reading.

House may cancel recesses, extend legislative weeks for days lost to pandemic

‘I would urge you to keep your schedules very flexible,’ Hoyer says in letter to colleagues

As the House loses time in legislative session due to the coronavirus pandemic, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer warned members Tuesday that he may make up for days lost by canceling recesses or extending legislative weeks in the future.

“I would urge you to keep your schedules very flexible,” the Maryland Democrat said in a “Dear Colleague” letter. “In order to make up for time that has been lost, the House may meet during weeks that had previously been scheduled as district work periods, and four-day weeks may become five-day weeks. While we have lost legislative days, we have not reduced the amount of work we have to do.”

Hoyer had announced Monday that the House, which is currently in an extended district work period, would not return before April 20. But the return date remains fluid. Continue reading.

More People In U.S. Killed By Coronavirus Than In 9/11 Attacks

How the outbreak will change life in America is anyone’s guess.

More people in the U.S. have now died of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, than were killed in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

The milestone raises the question of whether the country will mobilize to mend America’s social safety net and health care system the way it mobilized against terrorism after the plane hijackings.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed on 9/11, while the coronavirus death toll rose to 3,173 on Tuesday, according to Johns Hopkins University data.  Continue reading.

Trump’s Racist Immigration Policy May Leave Food To ‘Rot In The Fields’

Early signs show that the systems that get fresh fruit and vegetables to American homes is strained and may experience major failures. The Trump administration is only making matters worse, allowing his racism against Mexicans to inflict damage on American farms that depend on legal labor from south of the border.

In Florida, winter crops are rotting in the fields because the prime products like blemish-free squash, spinach and lettuce—sold to restaurants—lack buyers, according to the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association. It offers members extensive advice on how to stay in business during the pandemic.

“Nearly all of our fruits and vegetables are not automated and you need a strong labor force to handpick those crops,” John Walt Boatright of the Florida Farm Bureau Federation told the Palm Beach Post.  “We are hearing a lot of concerns from the blueberry industry and other labor-intensive crops, and working to find a solution.” Continue reading.

Everyone and everything Trump has blamed for his coronavirus response

Washington Post logo“I don’t take responsibility at all.”

That’s what President Trump said this month when asked whether he takes responsibility for the slow rollout of testing that public health officials say handicapped the country’s ability to protect Americans from the coronavirus.

But Trump’s desire to not take responsibility could also be extrapolated to the coronavirus crisis in general. Trump has thrown blame in nearly a dozen different directions for the virus’s spread and different aspects of the response to it. Continue reading.

Trump’s Virus Defense Is Often an Attack, and the Target Is Often a Woman

New York Times logoNow part of the long list of women the president has insulted: a governor, a reporter, the head of General Motors and, of course, the House speaker.

WASHINGTON — As he confronts a pandemic, President Trump’s attention has also been directed at a more familiar foe: those he feels are challenging him, and particularly women.

“Always a mess with Mary B.,” Mr. Trump tweeted last week, attacking the female chief executive of General Motors, Mary T. Barra, as he accused the company of dragging its feet on producing ventilators. “As usual with ‘this’ General Motors, things just never seem to work out,” he wrote, “this” G.M. apparently referring to the one led by the first female chief executive of an American auto manufacturer.

At least he mentioned Ms. Barra by name. When it came to Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan’s Democratic governor, who delivered her party’s official response to his State of the Union address earlier this year and has been pushing for a national emergency declaration in her state, Mr. Trump did not acknowledge her by name. Continue reading.