Tag: Trump botched COVID-19 response killed over 318000 Americans

GOP signals no support for relief ‘down payment’

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Senate Democrats are justifying their support for a $900 billion coronavirus relief bill as a “down payment” on a larger relief bill they hope to pass next year.

The dilemma from their perspective is that Republicans are signaling they don’t want to pass another measure to stimulate the economy after President-elect Joe Biden takes office — and the GOP may continue to hold the Senate majority in January.

“I don’t see it that way,” said Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.) when asked about the Democrats’ characterization of the emerging $900 billion deal as a down payment. Continue reading.

The inside story of how Trump’s denial, mismanagement and magical thinking led to the pandemic’s dark winter

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As the number of coronavirus cases ticked upward in mid-November — worse than the frightening days of spring and ahead of an expected surge after families congregated for Thanksgiving — four doctors on President Trump’s task force decided to stage an intervention.

After their warnings had gone largely unheeded for months in the dormant West Wing, Deborah Birx, Anthony S. Fauci, Stephen Hahn and Robert Redfield together sounded new alarms, cautioning of a dark winter to come without dramatic action to slow community spread.

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, among the many Trump aides who were infected with the virus this fall, was taken aback, according to three senior administration officials with knowledge of the discussions. He told the doctors he did not believe their troubling data assessment. And he accused them of outlining problems without prescribing solutions. Continue reading.