Tag: Trump botched COVID-19 response

After months of favor, Birx raises Trump’s ire with grim coronavirus assessment

Washington Post logoPresident Trump further disparaged his senior health advisers on Monday even as the pandemic deepened its hold on the nation, as the White House’s top coronavirus coordinator, Deborah Birx, joined Anthony S. Fauci and other scientists on the receiving end of the president’s ire.

Birx — who built a career leading public health efforts against HIV/AIDS — quickly garnered Trump’s favor earlier this year for publicly championing the administration’s coronavirus response, becoming a prominent figure both inside and outside the White House.

But she soon lost support within swaths of the scientific and medical community for seeming to minimize the virus and to enable Trump’s overly rosy view of the pandemic. This past weekend, Birx lost the backing of the nation’s top Democrat, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), who privately called Birx “the worst” and publicly said she had no confidence in her. Continue reading.

Millionaire Treasury secretary uses debunked GOP talking point to justify slashing $600 unemployment insurance

AlterNet logoTreasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Sunday recycled a debunked right-wing talking point to justify the GOP’s proposal to cut by more than half the $600-per-week federal boost in unemployment benefits that expired at the end of last week, depriving around 30 million Americans of a key economic lifeline as joblessness remains at historic levels.

In an appearance on ABC‘s “This Week,” Mnuchin claimed “there’s no question” that the $600 weekly boost in unemployment insurance (UI) created a disincentive to work.

When host Martha Raddatz pointed to a recent Yale study that found “no evidence that more generous benefits disincentivized work,” Mnuchin responded, “I went to Yale, I agree on certain things, I don’t always agree.” Continue reading.

States could see years of money woes, job losses from the COVID-19 recession

As Congress struggled last week to reach a deal on the latest coronavirus relief package, alarms were again being raised that the lack of federal aid could mean years of service cutbacks, layoffs and employee furloughs for state and local governments across the country.

Georgia, which has avoided mass furloughs, has fared better than many other states. Nationally, about 1.5 million college, school and other government workers were laid off or furloughed during the early months of the COVID-19 recession, eclipsing the declines during the Great Recession, according to U.S. Department of Labor figures.

Without federal assistance to fill holes in state and local budgets, some analysts have said spending cuts and tax increases that communities may need to continue providing services could delay the country’s recovery. Continue reading.

Loudmouthed Bully’ Jim Jordan slammed for mounting ‘stunningly lunkheaded’ attack on Dr. Fauci

AlterNet logoU.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) played to the cameras Friday morning as he bullied, belittled, and attacked Dr. Anthony Fauci during a House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee hearing on the coronavirus crisis.

Jordan tried to politicize the immunologist and public health official’s testimony – and tried get Fauci, who has served for decades as the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), to say that the federal government should shut down the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests under the guise of combatting the pandemic.

Do protests increase the spread of the virus?” Jordan pointedly asked. Continue reading.

Birx says U.S. has entered a ‘new phase’ of pandemic as cases, deaths rise

NOTE:  This article is being provided free of charge by The Washington Post.

Washington Post logoDeborah Birx, the physician overseeing the White House coronavirus response, warned Sunday that the United States had entered a “new phase” of the pandemic and urged people to take extreme health precautions as infections and deaths rise sharply nationwide.

“I want to be very clear: What we’re seeing today is different from March and April,” Birx told CNN’s “State of the Union,” noting that cases are increasing in rural and urban areas. “It is extraordinarily widespread.”

Birx did not rule out an estimate from former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb that virus deaths could top 300,000 by the end of the year, saying “anything is possible.” Such an outcome would be far less likely, Birx said, if people practiced social distancing and avoided large gatherings. Continue reading.

Trump gets an education in the art of reversal

The president’s backdown in fighting with schools about their reopening marked the latest in a long line of failed red lines for Trump.

President Donald Trump has strong views on just about everything. Until he doesn’t.

He ordered states to reopen in the spring, only to extend national social distancing guidelines. He insisted he would have the Republican convention at full size, only to scrap much of the event. He suggested the election should be delayed, only to reverse course and declare it should actually be held early

And, in recent weeks as parents, teachers and local officials debated how to teach America’s 50 million public school students this fall, he threatened to withhold federal aid from districts that failed to offer in-person learning. But instead of fighting the many districts that defied him, he scaled back his combative rhetoric and toned down his demands. Continue reading.

Experts fear political pressure on COVID-19 vaccine

The Hill logoPublic health experts are raising red flags that the Trump administration could exert political pressure on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve a COVID-19 vaccine before one is ready.

President Trump, searching for a political win just over three months from the election, has latched onto the push for developing a vaccine in record time and promoted it in a number of recent appearances.

Trump spoke optimistically of the prospects for a vaccine during a visit to a biotech facility in North Carolina on Monday, despite experts cautioning one may not be widely available for another year. Continue reading.

How Trump and the radical Republicans are pushing America’s economy over a cliff

AlterNet logoDonald Trump & Co. have thrown the already rapidly collapsing America off an economic cliff. Over the next few weeks, they will pound the wreckage, even set it afire, unless they get a lucrative new favor for Corporate America.

The Trumpians are actively ruining our economy because, in a perverse way, they share the belief of the Black Lives Matter protesters that the American justice system can’t be trusted. Both Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) cruel recalcitrance on coronavirus relief and the Black Lives Matter demands are about accountability in the courts.

I’ll explain that troubling nexus, but first, let’s understand the awful reality that Trump and Radical Republicans in the Senate have created and why it can only make our economic disaster worse. Continue reading.

Stimulus impasse threatens both economy and Trump

The Hill logoBungled negotiations over the next stimulus package and a resurgence of coronavirus infections are threatening the U.S. economic recovery, creating problems for President Trump as he charts the path forward for his reelection campaign. 

The White House and Congress remain far from a deal negotiations over the next stimulus package, even as expanded unemployment benefits and a federal moratorium on evictions expire, though the two sides touted progress following an unusual weekend meeting.

The White House has sought to blame Democrats for the failure to reach a short-term deal to extend the employment benefits and pause evictions, but Republicans waited weeks to begin formal negotiations and have yet to come together on a package themselves. Continue reading.

Alienated by Trump, Suburban Voters Sour on G.O.P. in Battle for the House

New York Times logoHouse Republicans are on the defensive in suburban strongholds as voters reject President Trump’s handling of the coronavirus.

BALLWIN, Mo. — For Heather Vaughn, a substitute teacher and graduate student, the decision last month to place the black sign with colorful lettering in her front yard — the one that said, “Black Lives Matter” and “Science is Real” — felt like an act of courage.

In previous years, such a placard might have drawn unwanted attention in her suburban, tree-lined neighborhood, where expansive homes with manicured gardens had been decked out with blue ribbons and signs of support for the police. But now it is one of three on her block that reflect support for nationwide protests against police brutality and a growing sense of unease with President Trump’s handling of the coronavirus.

A self-described independent, Ms. Vaughn, 41, had supported Representative Ann Wagner, her Republican congresswoman, in past years, but more recently soured on her. This year, given her frustration and anger with Mr. Trump, Ms. Vaughn is confident she will not vote for Ms. Wagner and is wrestling with whether she in good conscience can vote again for any of the local Republicans down the ballot whom she would normally back. Continue reading.