Tag: Republicans

Why Republicans Are So Afraid of Vote-by-Mail

New York Times logoPublic health officials recommend absentee ballots to keep people safe. But President Trump and his party, without evidence, portray expanded voting measures as ripe for fraud.

President Trump and his Republican allies are launching an aggressive strategy to fight what many of the administration’s own health officials view as one of the most effective ways to make voting safer amid the deadly spread of Covid-19: the expanded use of mail-in ballots.

The scene Tuesday of Wisconsinites in masks and gloves gathering in long lines to vote, after Republicans sued to defeat extended, mail-in ballot deadlines, did not deter the president and top officials in his party. Republican leaders said they were pushing ahead to fight state-level statutes that could expand absentee balloting in Michigan, Minnesota, Arizona and elsewhere. In New Mexico, Republicans are battling an effort to go to a mail-in-only primary, and they vowed on Wednesday to fight a new move to expand postal balloting in Minnesota.

The new political effort is clearly aimed at helping the president’s re-election prospects, as well as bolstering Republicans running further down the ballot. While his advisers tend to see the issue in more nuanced terms, Mr. Trump obviously views the issue in a stark, partisan way: He has complained that under Democratic plans for national expansion of early voting and voting by mail, “you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.” Continue reading.

Right-Wing Media Again Push To Open Economy Despite Death Toll

Between Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, there has been an increased wave of right-wing media figures calling for an end to the economic lockdown in place to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. As they’ve begun to explain rather openly, the cost for jobs and businesses is just too much for what they deem is a low death figure being reported.

Left out of all these discussions is a key detail: The reason that COVID-19 death predictions have been revised down from over 2 million to a (still horrific) figure of up to 240,000 is precisely because of the social distancing and stay-at-home orders. If that regimen were to simply be lifted, then the projected deaths would rise again — especially if the health care system were to become overwhelmed.

But as they miss this point, many of these right-wing media figures seem to think even this reduced level of deaths has come with too high an economic cost. Continue reading.

How Tea Party Budget Mania Left America Vulnerable To Pandemic

Dire shortages of vital medical equipment in the Strategic National Stockpile that are now hampering the coronavirus response trace back to the budget wars of the Obama years, when congressional Republicans elected on the Tea Party wave forced the White House to accept sweeping cuts to federal spending.

Among the victims of those partisan fights was the effort to keep adequate supplies of masks, ventilators, pharmaceuticals and other medical equipment on hand to respond to a public health crisis. Lawmakers in both parties raised the specter of shortchanging future disaster response even as they voted to approve the cuts.

“There are always more needs for financial support from our hardworking taxpayers than we have the ability to pay,” said Denny Rehberg, a retired Republican congressman from Montana who chaired the appropriations subcommittee responsible for overseeing the stockpile in 2011. Rehberg said it would have been impossible to predict a public health crisis requiring a more robust stockpile, just as it would have been to predict the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Continue reading.

Conservatives are determined to ‘own the libs’ during the pandemic — even if it gets people killed: GOP pollster

AlterNet logoRepublican pollster Frank Luntz had some blunt words for right-wing media figures who spent weeks downplaying the threat of COVID-19.

In a New York Times interview, Luntz said that many conservatives were so determined to “own the libs” at all costs that they would play down a frightening public health crisis even if it cost people their lives.

The rest of the Times story is a comprehensive overview of the ways that conservative media figures repeatedly told their fans that the virus was not a big deal, that the media was exaggerating its danger in order to score political points against President Donald Trump, and even that medical experts working for the Trump administration were not to be trusted. Continue reading.

MN GOP Chair Accuses Democrats of “Communist Control” for Social Distancing

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Yesterday, the Chair of the Minnesota Republican Party, Jennifer Carnahan, took to Twitter to allege that “Democrats have turned Coronavirus into an excuse for extreme communist control,” due to social distancing measures implemented in the city of Minneapolis.

The full text of Carnahan’s tweet reads as follows:

“Was it necessary for Minneapolis to close the beaches for the summer in early Apr? Much can unfold, change & transpire between now/then. The Democrats have turned Coronavirus into an excuse for extreme communist control. Wake up people!”

Ken Martin, Chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party issued the following statement in response:

“I am shocked that the Chair of the Minnesota Republican Party would undermine important social distancing measures to score cheap political points. Jennifer Carnahan’s allegation that Democrats are using COVID-19 to push ‘extreme communist control’ is as ignorant as it is dangerous.

“Political leaders from both parties agree that the COVID-19 outbreak is the worst public health crisis our nation has seen in a century. New York City is converting convention centers to field hospitals and the Pentagon is preparing to distribute 100,000 body bags for the people this virus kills. In the midst of so much tragedy, uncertainty, and chaos, it is astonishing that the head of the Minnesota Republican Party felt it was appropriate to launch a hackneyed political attack because Minneapolis city officials are trying to keep Minnesotans safe.

“Giving up swimming in our beautiful Minneapolis beaches this summer is the least we can do to protect the lives of Minnesotans and prevent this scourge from spreading even further. Thousands of people are dying and will die because of the cavalier attitude of people who are putting their own privilege ahead of our community.  I sincerely hope this outbreak comes to a swift end. However, until it does, it is vital that we adhere to strict social distancing guidelines in order to protect ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities.”

 

Fauci given security detail after receiving threats

The Hill logoDr. Anthony Fauci, one of the most visible figures on the White House coronavirus task force, has been given a security detail after receiving threats, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to The Hill.

Fauci did not directly answer when asked by The Hill at Wednesday’s press briefing if he’d been given additional protection, deferring the question to the Department of Health and Human Services inspector general.

A second person familiar with the situation said the additional security was under discussion last month and was likely implemented in recent days. Continue reading.

 

GOP views next few weeks as critical for Trump

The Hill logoPresident Trump’s actions over the next few weeks to contain the coronavirus and stabilize the economy may determine whether voters give him a second term in office.

Only weeks ago, Trump appeared to be in a strong position for reelection.

Despite being impeached by the House, the president’s approval ratings were near their all-time highs and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, which was viewed as a risky bet by many Democrats.

All of a sudden, Trump is presiding over a shaky economy. The pandemic afflicting the country has resulted in a brutal stock market sell-off and raised questions about whether the U.S. will dip into a recession. Continue reading.

Don’t Believe Fox News! COVID-19 Is Far More Dangerous Than Flu

This past Friday, President Donald Trump expressed surprise upon learning that people die from seasonal flu. (In fact, it killed his grandfather.) Fox News figures have similarly downplayed the dangers of coronavirus by comparing it to the deaths that occur from the flu.

The problem with that comparison is coronavirus is much more deadly to those infected than the seasonal flu, and they will spread it to more people because the new disease is also more contagious.

There is also an extra layer of uncertainty, as mortality estimates still vary because of uncertainties about the number of people tested for COVID-19 and the population who might have had mild cases but were never tested. Continue reading.

Librarians could be jailed and fined under a proposed censorship law

A bill pending in Missouri’s legislature takes aim at libraries and librarians who are making “age-inappropriate sexual material” available to children.

The measure, championed by Ben Baker, a Republican lawmaker, calls for establishing review boards who would determine whether materials in libraries contain or promote “nudity, sexuality, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sadomasochistic abuse.” In addition, the boards, which would be comprised of parents, would root out materials lacking “serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.”

Librarians who defy the review boards by buying and lending such materials would be subject to misdemeanor charges, fines upward of US$500, and a potential jail sentence up to one year. Continue reading.

Republicans growing nervous about 2020 economy

The Hill logoRepublicans who have been counting on a roaring economy to power President Trump and GOP congressional candidates on Election Day are growing nervous because of the economic havoc wreaked by the coronavirus.

Earlier this month, GOP senators were riding high after Trump’s acquittal on impeachment charges in the Senate. Now they’re wrestling with predictions of an economic slowdown that could upend the political calculus for 2020.

“There’s a potential to really affect the economy, not only this country negatively, but throughout the world,” said Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), adding that GOP colleagues discussed the potential fallout from the coronavirus at an all-day retreat in Washington on Wednesday. Continue reading.