Tag: Trump putting re-election before American lives

The Trailer: The resistance to stay-at-home orders rises from the right

Washington Post logoIn this edition: The stay-at-home culture wars start in Michigan, a glance at the first quarter’s fundraising numbers, and three ads that show how women are running in 2020.

You can temporarily take away my speedboat, but you can never take away my freedom. This is The Trailer.

The organizers of Wednesday’s “Operation Gridlock,” a protest of the strict stay-at-home policies ordered by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), had urged protesters “stay in your vehicle[s] and practice safe hygiene.” Most of the protesters did so, circling the state Capitol building in Lansing and leaning on their horns in a caravan that stretched back to the highway. “No carpooling,” the Michigan Conservative Coalition advised in an email, “since gas is cheap!”

But a few dozen protesters took it further, gathering on the Capitol steps to defy the state’s social distancing orders. They gave speeches. They held up signs — “Recall Whitmer,” “Heil Witmer” (sic), “Stop the Tyranny,” and “Trump/Pence.” For a few seconds, they broke into a chant of “lock her up!” Continue reading.

Testing Falls Woefully Short as Trump Seeks an End to Stay-at-Home Orders

New York Times logoFlawed tests, scarce supplies and limited access to screening have hurt the U.S.’s ability to monitor Covid-19, governors and health officials warn.

As President Trump pushes to reopen the economy, most of the country is not conducting nearly enough testing to track the path and penetration of the coronavirus in a way that would allow Americans to safely return to work, public health officials and political leaders say.

Although capacity has improved in recent weeks, supply shortages remain crippling, and many regions are still restricting tests to people who meet specific criteria. Antibody tests, which reveal whether someone has ever been infected with the coronavirus, are just starting to be rolled out, and most have not been vetted by the Food and Drug Administration.

Concerns intensified on Wednesday as Senate Democrats released a $30 billion plan for building up what they called “fast, free testing in every community,” saying they would push to include it in the next pandemic relief package. Business leaders, who participated in the first conference call of Mr. Trump’s advisory council on restarting the economy, warned that it would not rebound until people felt safe to re-emerge, which would require more screening. Continue reading.