truthout--2020-04-20--The US’s Failed Response to the Pandemic Is Rooted in Anti-Blackness

With the speed of lightning , the coronavirus crisis is waking all of the U.S. up to a reality most Black people have known for decades — our country fails the most marginalized .
Our systems were ill-prepared to help everyday people sans pandemic .
Now in the midst of one , the sun is shining down on their cavernous cracks created by deep-seated anti-Blackness .
The reality is we are a country built on a racist house of cards , and the pandemic is showing us how racism — specifically anti-Blackness — impairs our ability to respond , hurting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dehumanization , subjugation and lack of concern for Black people — exists in the makings of our neoliberal economy and almost every facet of U.S. politics .
While most would concede that anti-Blackness existed in our history , many can not see the continuation of anti-Blackness today .
Coronavirus is making it very clear that entrenched inequities have a lot to do with anti-Black racism as data sets continue to show that Black people are contracting and dying from COVID-19 at shockingly high rates .
We shouldn ’ t gloss over this fact @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Black people .
We should continue to advocate for disaggregated data on COVID-19 and dig deep to understand why this is happening .
The answer holds the key to our collective well-being .
There has been a continued effort to deny Black people access to health care , which in turn impacts all people .
For example , there is a shortage of hospitals across the country , particularly in rural communities and the South .
These closures are due in part to the fact that the governments of many of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the passage of the Affordable Care Act , due to anti-Black racism .
Let ’ s also look at the industries and job sectors that have been hit the hardest during the crisis .
The service sector , where 30 percent of Black women are employed , has been macerated by COVID-19 .
We also know domestic and agricultural workers — two sectors that Black women were pushed into historically — are front-line essential workers with little to no protections or benefits like paid leave , retirement benefits or hazard pay .
Now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are mostly immigrant , Latinx and low-income are reeling from the effects of the pandemic by either being one of the 22 million people that have lost their jobs , or are continuing to work under super hazardous conditions .
This is connected to the fact that due to anti-Blackness , domestic and agricultural work has a history of being sidelined in policies that offer worker protection and benefits .
For example , the Social Security Act , passed as part of the New Deal , excluded these two professions at a time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ domestic or agricultural workers .
This legacy lives on as undocumented workers – many of whom are Black — make up a large part of our agricultural workforce now , and have been excluded from federal COVID-19 relief .
Domestic , agricultural and service work – industries heavily dominated by Black and Brown women — continue to be the lowest paid and undervalued , making it so the impact of coronavirus is hitting these workers especially hard .
The reality is , anti-Blackness hurts us all , particularly those who live at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of color and low-income people .
These people are desperately trying to comprehend how they could be worried about putting food on the table and keeping a roof over their heads while living in one of the richest countries in the world .
Make no mistake , they are feeling the impacts of anti-Blackness .
It is because of anti-Blackness that the industries with the largest proportions of Black women are the most precarious at this moment .
It is because of anti-Blackness that we purposefully reduced our welfare system into a paternalistic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , racialized myth of the “ welfare queen , ” cementing the visual of a Black woman as the face of poverty .
U.S. society generally has easily accepted this myth because many fundamentally struggle to believe Black women deserve their concern , care and empathy .
Policy makers have made countless decisions to divest from public assistance programs because they believe that poor people don ’ t deserve help or government intervention — a narrative that stems from anti-Blackness .
These leaders say its people ’ s choices and poor decisions that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ place .
They explain away persistent racial and gender wealth inequality to individual behavior , rather than focusing on systemic racism .
This is how the U.S. collectively reconciles the fact that poverty and homelessness exist in the country — it must be the fault of individuals , not our systems , and therefore there is no reason for government intervention .
Just pull yourself up from your own bootstraps !
So now , when it is increasingly clear that what people need most is a direct , sustained , non-restricted cash benefit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ imagine much more than a single $ 1,200 check as a relief measure .
The U.S. has made profit our god and people expendable because labor is associated with Blackness , a connection ignited by our history of enslaving Black people to do hard labor .
Some of us have deluded ourselves into believing that transformational , systemic change is the boogieman because we associate Black people with the face of poverty and suffering .
It ’ s easier to blame others for their plight rather than take any kind of responsibility for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to hurt not only Black people — which should be enough — but also anyone who ever finds themselves in a place where they are in need .
Now that millions more Americans are experiencing that , we ’ re sitting around wondering : Where is the infrastructure to help us ?
Why is my government ’ s response so deeply inadequate ?
Our ability to respond to a pandemic has been eroded because of anti-Blackness .
The COVID-19 crisis should force the U.S. to take a good long look in the mirror @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we choose to see will lay the foundation for what we choose to build moving forward .
The U.S. was founded on racism , creating an inequitable economy and dysfunctional social safety net .
Moving forward , we must do the exact opposite by centering Black people and other marginalized groups .
Centering Black women in particular is what our North Star should be as we repeatedly call on them to save our democracy , yet invest so little in their well-being and power .
It is time to reveal , reckon and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .

Part of the Series Despair and Disparity: The Uneven Burdens of COVID-19
With the speed of lightning, the coronavirus crisis is waking all of the U.S. up to a reality most Black people have known for decades — our country fails the most marginalized. Our systems were ill-prepared to help everyday people sans pandemic. Now in the midst of one, the sun is shining down on their cavernous cracks created by deep-seated anti-Blackness. The reality is we are a country built on a racist house of cards, and the pandemic is showing us how racism — specifically anti-Blackness — impairs our ability to respond, hurting all of us.
Anti-Blackness — the dehumanization, subjugation and lack of concern for Black people — exists in the makings of our neoliberal economy and almost every facet of U.S. politics. While most would concede that anti-Blackness existed in our history, many cannot see the continuation of anti-Blackness today. Coronavirus is making it very clear that entrenched inequities have a lot to do with anti-Black racism as data sets continue to show that Black people are contracting and dying from COVID-19 at shockingly high rates. We shouldn’t gloss over this fact or chalk it up to individual behavior of Black people. We should continue to advocate for disaggregated data on COVID-19 and dig deep to understand why this is happening. The answer holds the key to our collective well-being.
There has been a continued effort to deny Black people access to health care, which in turn impacts all people. For example, there is a shortage of hospitals across the country, particularly in rural communities and the South. These closures are due in part to the fact that the governments of many of the Confederate states refused to expand Medicare after the passage of the Affordable Care Act, due to anti-Black racism.
Let’s also look at the industries and job sectors that have been hit the hardest during the crisis. The service sector, where 30 percent of Black women are employed, has been macerated by COVID-19. We also know domestic and agricultural workers — two sectors that Black women were pushed into historically — are front-line essential workers with little to no protections or benefits like paid leave, retirement benefits or hazard pay. Now all people working in these professions who are mostly immigrant, Latinx and low-income are reeling from the effects of the pandemic by either being one of the 22 million people that have lost their jobs, or are continuing to work under super hazardous conditions. This is connected to the fact that due to anti-Blackness, domestic and agricultural work has a history of being sidelined in policies that offer worker protection and benefits. For example, the Social Security Act, passed as part of the New Deal, excluded these two professions at a time when 65 percent of Black people were domestic or agricultural workers. This legacy lives on as undocumented workers – many of whom are Black — make up a large part of our agricultural workforce now, and have been excluded from federal COVID-19 relief. Domestic, agricultural and service work – industries heavily dominated by Black and Brown women — continue to be the lowest paid and undervalued, making it so the impact of coronavirus is hitting these workers especially hard.
The reality is, anti-Blackness hurts us all, particularly those who live at the margins of our economy — other communities of color and low-income people. These people are desperately trying to comprehend how they could be worried about putting food on the table and keeping a roof over their heads while living in one of the richest countries in the world. Make no mistake, they are feeling the impacts of anti-Blackness.
It is because of anti-Blackness that the industries with the largest proportions of Black women are the most precarious at this moment. It is because of anti-Blackness that we purposefully reduced our welfare system into a paternalistic, dignity-stripping program due to the false, racialized myth of the “welfare queen,” cementing the visual of a Black woman as the face of poverty. U.S. society generally has easily accepted this myth because many fundamentally struggle to believe Black women deserve their concern, care and empathy.
We are a country built on a racist house of cards, and the pandemic is showing us how racism — specifically anti-Blackness — impairs our ability to respond, hurting all of us.
Policy makers have made countless decisions to divest from public assistance programs because they believe that poor people don’t deserve help or government intervention — a narrative that stems from anti-Blackness. These leaders say its people’s choices and poor decisions that lead them to struggle in the first place. They explain away persistent racial and gender wealth inequality to individual behavior, rather than focusing on systemic racism. This is how the U.S. collectively reconciles the fact that poverty and homelessness exist in the country — it must be the fault of individuals, not our systems, and therefore there is no reason for government intervention. Just pull yourself up from your own bootstraps! So now, when it is increasingly clear that what people need most is a direct, sustained, non-restricted cash benefit, Congress fails to pass or collectively imagine much more than a single $1,200 check as a relief measure.
The U.S. has made profit our god and people expendable because labor is associated with Blackness, a connection ignited by our history of enslaving Black people to do hard labor. Some of us have deluded ourselves into believing that transformational, systemic change is the boogieman because we associate Black people with the face of poverty and suffering. It’s easier to blame others for their plight rather than take any kind of responsibility for it by understanding how anti-Blackness specifically continues to hurt not only Black people — which should be enough — but also anyone who ever finds themselves in a place where they are in need. Now that millions more Americans are experiencing that, we’re sitting around wondering: Where is the infrastructure to help us? Why is my government’s response so deeply inadequate? Our ability to respond to a pandemic has been eroded because of anti-Blackness.
The COVID-19 crisis should force the U.S. to take a good long look in the mirror and do some hard self-reflection. What we choose to see will lay the foundation for what we choose to build moving forward. The U.S. was founded on racism, creating an inequitable economy and dysfunctional social safety net. Moving forward, we must do the exact opposite by centering Black people and other marginalized groups. Centering Black women in particular is what our North Star should be as we repeatedly call on them to save our democracy, yet invest so little in their well-being and power. It is time to reveal, reckon and repair to build something better for everyone.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-04-21--Trump Tweets Plan to Suspend All Immigration to US

President Donald Trump declared in a tweet late Monday night that he intends to sign an executive order “ temporarily ” banning all immigration to the U.S. amid the Covid-19 outbreak , an announcement rights groups condemned as a shameful attempt to scapegoat immigrants that will do nothing to safeguard either Americans ’ health or jobs .
“ In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy , as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens , I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States !
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ provide a timeline for the order or any details as to how it would be implemented .
Charanya Krishnaswami , Americas advocacy director at Amnesty International USA , said in response to Trump ’ s tweet that “ when you ’ re a xenophobe , bans on migration are the only tired , failed , hateful solution you can think of.
” “ Suspending immigration won ’ t make the U.S. — which currently leads among COVID cases worldwide — safe , ” said Krishnaswami .
“ Our policies need to be grounded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The New York Times , citing anonymous people familiar with the president ’ s plan , reported that “ a formal order temporarily barring the provision of new green cards and work visas could come as early as the next few days.
” “ Under such an executive order , the Trump administration would no longer approve any applications from foreigners to live and work in the United States for an undetermined period of time , effectively shutting down the legal immigration system , ” the Times noted .
“ Workers who have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ jobs in the United States would also be denied permission to arrive , though some workers in some industries deemed critical could be exempted from the ban.
” Immigrants make up a significant percentage of the U.S. workforce in a number of industries that are particularly crucial at this moment , from healthcare to agriculture .
Given that immigration to the U.S. has already been sharply curtailed by the Trump administration during the coronavirus crisis , observers said the president ’ s announcement may be little more than an effort to rile up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attacking a vulnerable target .
“ Immigrants are Trump ’ s punching bag , ” said José Alonso Muñoz of United We Dream , “ and honestly it ’ s fucking exhausting.
” The Intercept ’ s Murtaza Hussain tweeted that Trump is “ getting absolutely desperate trying to rally the base by ‘ banning immigration ’ during a period when the entire planet is shut down and almost no one even capable of immigrating.
” “ He ’ s going to have keep upping the ante over the next six months in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ added Hussain .
The Trump administration has not hesitated to use the deadly coronavirus pandemic to advance longstanding right-wing policy goals — from union-busting rules to sweeping regulatory relief for the oil and gas industry — and critics said the president ’ s tweet Monday night represents more of the same .
“ This is Donald Trump and Stephen Miller ’ s dream come true , ” said progressive advocacy group Indivisible , referring to the president ’ s xenophobic senior adviser .
“ And yes , the cruelty is always the point @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or jobs .
This is about this administration ’ s hate for immigrants.
” Thomas Kennedy , a fellow at advocacy group Community Change , tweeted that Trump administration officials are “ exploiting coronavirus to continue their nativist agenda.
” “ This is not going to help stop the spread of the virus , ” said Kennedy , “ and it ’ s going to reaaally hurt the economy .
”

Observers said the president’s announcement is a transparent effort to rile up his base in an election season.
President Donald Trump declared in a tweet late Monday night that he intends to sign an executive order “temporarily” banning all immigration to the U.S. amid the Covid-19 outbreak, an announcement rights groups condemned as a shameful attempt to scapegoat immigrants that will do nothing to safeguard either Americans’ health or jobs.
“In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!” Trump wrote. The president did not provide a timeline for the order or any details as to how it would be implemented.
Charanya Krishnaswami, Americas advocacy director at Amnesty International USA, said in response to Trump’s tweet that “when you’re a xenophobe, bans on migration are the only tired, failed, hateful solution you can think of.”
“Suspending immigration won’t make the U.S. — which currently leads among COVID cases worldwide — safe,” said Krishnaswami. “Our policies need to be grounded in public health, not bigotry.”
The New York Times, citing anonymous people familiar with the president’s plan, reported that “a formal order temporarily barring the provision of new green cards and work visas could come as early as the next few days.”
“Under such an executive order, the Trump administration would no longer approve any applications from foreigners to live and work in the United States for an undetermined period of time, effectively shutting down the legal immigration system,” the Times noted. “Workers who have for years received visas to perform specialized jobs in the United States would also be denied permission to arrive, though some workers in some industries deemed critical could be exempted from the ban.”
Immigrants make up a significant percentage of the U.S. workforce in a number of industries that are particularly crucial at this moment, from healthcare to agriculture.
Immigrants account for 18.2% of healthcare workers and 23.5% of formal and nonformal long-term care sector workers.
27.5% of direct care workers and 30.3% of nursing home housekeeping and maintenance workers are immigrants https://t.co/yg7luO2Q4T https://t.co/RO03hbeWYt — Catherine Rampell (@crampell) April 21, 2020
Given that immigration to the U.S. has already been sharply curtailed by the Trump administration during the coronavirus crisis, observers said the president’s announcement may be little more than an effort to rile up his base in an election season by attacking a vulnerable target.
“Immigrants are Trump’s punching bag,” said José Alonso Muñoz of United We Dream, “and honestly it’s fucking exhausting.”
Xenophobia, racism, and ethnic cleansing have been part of this administration’s agenda since day 1. It’s truly awful that they are using a pandemic to their advantage. All we have is each other. We won’t be stopped! ✊🏽✊🏿✊🏾 — United We Dream (@UNITEDWEDREAM) April 21, 2020
The Intercept’s Murtaza Hussain tweeted that Trump is “getting absolutely desperate trying to rally the base by ‘banning immigration’ during a period when the entire planet is shut down and almost no one even capable of immigrating.”
“He’s going to have keep upping the ante over the next six months in the face of pandemic misery,” added Hussain.
The Trump administration has not hesitated to use the deadly coronavirus pandemic to advance longstanding right-wing policy goals — from union-busting rules to sweeping regulatory relief for the oil and gas industry — and critics said the president’s tweet Monday night represents more of the same.
“This is Donald Trump and Stephen Miller’s dream come true,” said progressive advocacy group Indivisible, referring to the president’s xenophobic senior adviser. “And yes, the cruelty is always the point. This isn’t about coronavirus or jobs. This is about this administration’s hate for immigrants.”
Thomas Kennedy, a fellow at advocacy group Community Change, tweeted that Trump administration officials are “exploiting coronavirus to continue their nativist agenda.”
“This is not going to help stop the spread of the virus,” said Kennedy, “and it’s going to reaaally hurt the economy.”
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.


truthout--2020-04-21--Kentucky Sees Highest Single-Day Increase in COVID-19 Cases Days After Protests

Protests against stay-in-place measures have occurred in a number of states across the nation , in spite of the fact that some health experts are saying such demonstrations could themselves lead to an increase in the spread of COVID-19 .
While it ’ s not possible to directly link the protests with a spike in infections , at least one state where such events have regularly happened is seeing the number of cases of COVID-19 go up .
Last week , hundreds of Kentuckians engaged in protests at the state capitol building in Frankfort , Kentucky .
In one of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ capitol lawn where they were successful in disrupting Gov .
Andy Beshear ’ s press conference on COVID-19 by shouting outside a window where he was speaking .
On Friday , dozens of vehicles returned in a caravan to the state capitol and surrounded the building to further protest against Beshear ’ s stay-in-place mandate .
Participants at that event argued that the order from the Democrat governor was an overreaction to the threat the disease poses .
“ There ’ s just no need for it .
The numbers just don ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Staley said to the Louisville Courier Journal .
Over the weekend , however , the state reported its highest single-day increase in the number of reported cases of the disease .
“ We ’ re still in the midst of the fight , ” Beshear said , as he announced 273 cases had been identified in the Bluegrass State on that day .
Kentucky ’ s seven-day average of cases being identified per day is well over 100 , according to tracking from The New York Times .
There have been 155 COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , with more than 3,000 cases identified in total .
There is no identified correlation between the protesters ’ actions last week and the increase in the number of cases reported on Sunday .
However , the numbers seem to cast doubts on assertions that the state does not need stay-in-place measures to continue .
If some Kentuckians don ’ t appear to be taking the threat of coronavirus seriously , their representation in Washington seems to be more cautious about things .
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell , for example , while @ @ @ @ @ @ @ potential increase in funding for a small business relief package , wore a mask to protect himself from the coronavirus .
Americans , for the most part , are wary of ending stay-in-place orders to supposedly “ reopen ” their economies , and a vast majority are not supportive of the calls for states to do so .
Only 10 percent of Americans , according to a recent Navigator Research poll , say they want to see social distancing measures come to an end , while 86 percent say they want the measures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ extended to some degree .

Protests against stay-in-place measures have occurred in a number of states across the nation, in spite of the fact that some health experts are saying such demonstrations could themselves lead to an increase in the spread of COVID-19.
While it’s not possible to directly link the protests with a spike in infections, at least one state where such events have regularly happened is seeing the number of cases of COVID-19 go up.
Last week, hundreds of Kentuckians engaged in protests at the state capitol building in Frankfort, Kentucky. In one of those protests, participants gathered on the capitol lawn where they were successful in disrupting Gov. Andy Beshear’s press conference on COVID-19 by shouting outside a window where he was speaking.
On Friday, dozens of vehicles returned in a caravan to the state capitol and surrounded the building to further protest against Beshear’s stay-in-place mandate. Participants at that event argued that the order from the Democrat governor was an overreaction to the threat the disease poses.
“There’s just no need for it. The numbers just don’t add up,” protester Jimmie Staley said to the Louisville Courier Journal.
Over the weekend, however, the state reported its highest single-day increase in the number of reported cases of the disease.
“We’re still in the midst of the fight,” Beshear said, as he announced 273 cases had been identified in the Bluegrass State on that day.
Kentucky’s seven-day average of cases being identified per day is well over 100, according to tracking from The New York Times. There have been 155 COVID-19 deaths identified in the state so far, with more than 3,000 cases identified in total.
There is no identified correlation between the protesters’ actions last week and the increase in the number of cases reported on Sunday. However, the numbers seem to cast doubts on assertions that the state does not need stay-in-place measures to continue.
If some Kentuckians don’t appear to be taking the threat of coronavirus seriously, their representation in Washington seems to be more cautious about things. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, for example, while speaking to reporters on Tuesday about a potential increase in funding for a small business relief package, wore a mask to protect himself from the coronavirus.
Americans, for the most part, are wary of ending stay-in-place orders to supposedly “reopen” their economies, and a vast majority are not supportive of the calls for states to do so. Only 10 percent of Americans, according to a recent Navigator Research poll, say they want to see social distancing measures come to an end, while 86 percent say they want the measures to remain in place or even be extended to some degree.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-04-21--In the Face of COVID, Let’s Reorganize Society Around the Needs of the Poor

My mom contracted polio when she was 14 .
She survived and learned to walk again , but my life was deeply affected by that virus .
Today , as our larger society attempts to self-distance and self-isolate , my family has texted about the polio quarantine my mom was put under : how my grandma fearfully checked my aunt ’ s temperature every night because she shared a bedroom with my mom ; how they had to put a sign on the front door of the house that read “ quarantine ” so that no one would visit .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ I learned lessons about epidemics , sickness , disability , and inequality that have forever shaped my world .
From a young age , I saw that all of us should be valued for our intrinsic worth as human beings ; that there is no line between the supposedly deserving and the undeserving ; that we should be loved for who we are , not what we do or how much money we have .
My mom modeled for me what ’ s possible when those most impacted by inequality and injustice dedicate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hurts us all .
She taught me that the dividing line between sickness and wellbeing loses its meaning in a society that doesn ’ t care for everyone .
Here ’ s the simple truth of twenty-first-century America : all of us live in a time and in an economic system that values our lives relative to our ability to produce profits for the rich or in the context of the wealth we possess .
Our wellness is measured by our efficiency and — a particular lesson in the age of the coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all , is seen as an indication of individual limitations or moral failures , rather than as a symptom of a sick society .
About 31 million people are today uninsured in America and 14 states have not even expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act .
The healthcare system is seemingly structured in defiance of the people it should serve , functioning as yet another way to maximize profits at the expense of millions .
In this coronavirus moment , many more Americans are finally awakening to the bitter consequences , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ person does not have access to the resources he or she needs to live decently or , for that matter , survive .
With the spread of a pandemic , the cost to a nation that often treats collective care as , at best , an afterthought should become apparent .
After all , more than 9,000 medical workers , many not adequately protected from the disease , have already contracted it .
For decades , both political parties have pushed the narrative that illness , homelessness , poverty , and inequality are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Even now , as the possibility of a potentially historic depression looms , assurances that the mechanics of our economy are fundamentally strong ( and Covid-19 an unexpected fluke ) remain commonplace .
And yet , while that economy ’ s productivity has indeed increased strikingly since the 1970s , the gains from it have gone to an increasingly small number of people ( and corporations ) , while real wages have stagnated for the majority of workers .
Don ’ t be fooled .
This crisis didn ’ t start with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gas industry , for instance , points to an energy system that was already on the brink and a majority of economists agree that a manufacturing decline had actually begun in August 2019 .
It should no longer be possible to ignore the structural crisis of poverty and inequality that has been eating away at American society over these last decades .
Historic unemployment numbers in recent weeks only reveal how expendable the majority of workers are in a crunch .
This is happening at a moment when it ’ s ever clearer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” tasks in our economy are done by the least well-paid workers .
The ranks of the poor are widening at a startling clip , as many more of us are now experiencing what dire insecurity feels like in an economy built on non-unionized , low-wage work and part-time jobs .
In order to respond to such a crisis and the growing needs of millions , it ’ s important to first acknowledge the deeper history of injustice and pain that brought us all here .
In the last years of his life @ @ @ @ @ @ @ put it well when he said that “ the prescription for the cure rests with an accurate diagnosis of the disease.
” To develop a cure not just for this virus but for a nation with the deepest kind of inequality at its core , what ’ s first needed ( as with any disease ) is an accurate diagnosis .
Today , more than 38 million people officially live below the federal poverty line and , in truth , that figure should have shocked the nation into action before the coronavirus even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ here ’ s the real story anyway : the official measure of poverty , developed in 1964 , doesn ’ t even take into account household expenses like health care , child care , housing , and transportation , not to speak of other costs that have burgeoned in recent decades .
The world has undergone profound economic transformations over the last 66 years and yet this out-of-date measure , based on three times a family ’ s food budget , continues to shape policymaking at every level of government as well as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moral imagination .
Two years ago , the Poor People ’ s Campaign ( which I co-chair alongside Reverend William Barber II ) and the Institute for Policy Studies released an audit of America .
Its centerpiece was a far more realistic assessment of poverty and economic precariousness in this country .
Using the Census Bureau ’ s Supplemental Poverty Measure as a baseline , which , among other things , measures family income after taxes and out-of-pocket expenses for food , clothing , housing , and utilities , there are at least @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or just a $ 400 emergency from that state .
( Of that , there are now untold examples in this pandemic moment . )
As poverty has grown and spread , one of the great political weapons of politicians and the ruling elite over the past decades ( only emphasized in the age of Trump ) has been to minimize , dismiss , and racialize it .
In the 1970s , President Richard Nixon ’ s “ Southern Strategy ” coded it into Republican national politics ; in the 1980s , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ presidency , the fabricated image of “ the welfare queen ” gained symbolic prominence .
In the 1990s , President Bill Clinton ’ s welfare “ reforms ” enshrined such thinking in the arguments of both parties .
Today , given the outright racism and xenophobia that has become the hallmark of Donald Trump ’ s presidency , “ poor ” has become a curse word .
It is , of course , true that , among the 140 million poor people in the U.S. , a disproportionate number are indeed people of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jim Crow , never-ending discrimination , and the mass incarceration of black men in particular , as well as a generational disinvestment in such populations , could have resulted in nothing less .
And yet the reality of poverty stretches deep into every community in this country .
According to that audit of America , the poor or low-income today consist of 24 million blacks , 38 million Latinos , eight million Asian-Americans , two million Native peoples , and 66 million whites .
Those staggering numbers , already a deadweight for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ grotestque underestimate in the coronaviral world we now inhabit and yet none of this should be a surprise .
Although we couldn ’ t have predicted the exact circumstances of this pandemic , social theorists remind us that conditions were ripe for just this kind of economic dislocation .
Over the past 50 years , for instance , rents have risen faster than income in every city .
Before the coronavirus outbreak , there was not a single county in this country where a person making a minimum wage with a family could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ then that , throughout this crisis , there has been a rise in rent strikes , housing takeovers , and calls for moratoriums on evictions .
The quiet fact is that , in the last few decades , unemployment , underemployment , poverty , and homelessness have become ever more deeply and permanently structured into this society .
COVID-19 and the Descent Into Poverty Over the years , one political narrative has been trumpeted by both parties : that we don ’ t have enough to provide for every American .
This scarcity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recent history and yet it falls flat when we look at the 53 % of every federal discretionary dollar that goes to the Pentagon , the trillions of dollars that have been squandered in this country ’ s never-ending war on terror , not to speak of the unprecedented financial gains the wealthiest have made ( even in the midst of the current crisis ) .
Of course , this economic order becomes a genuine moral scandal the moment attention is focused on the three billionaires who possess more wealth than the bottom @ @ @ @ @ @ @ began transferring wealth from the poor to the very rich under the guise of “ trickle-down ” ( but actually gusher-up ) economics , key public institutions , labor unions , and the electoral process have been under attack .
The healthcare system has been further privatized , public housing has been demolished , public water and sanitation systems have been held hostage by emergency managers , and the social safety net has been eviscerated .
In these same years , core government functions have been turned over to the private sector and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ levels of poverty and inequality in this country now outmatch the Gilded Age .
All of this , in turn , laid the groundwork for the rapid spread of death and disease via the Covid-19 pandemic and its disproportionate impact on poor people and people of color .
When the coronavirus first became a national emergency , the Fed materialized $ 1.5 trillion in loans to Wall Street , a form of corporate welfare that may never be paid back .
In the following weeks , the Fed and a congressional bipartisan stimulus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the largest corporations .
Meanwhile , tens of millions of Americans were left out of that CARES Act : 48 % of the workforce did not receive paid sick leave ; 27 million uninsured people and 10 % of the insured who couldn ’ t even afford a doctor ’ s visit have no guarantee of free or reasonably priced medical treatment ; 11 million undocumented immigrants and their five million children will receive no emergency provisions ; 2.3 million of the incarcerated have been left in the petri dish of prison ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ saw no increase in their benefits ; and homeless assistance funds were targeted at only about 500,000 people , although eight to 11 million are homeless or housing insecure .
Such omissions are guaranteed to prove debilitating , even potentially lethal , for many .
They also represent cracks in a dam ready to break in a nation without a guaranteed living wage or universal healthcare as debt mounts , wages stagnate , and the pressures of ecological devastation and climate change intensify .
Recently , news reports have made it far clearer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is hitting hardest .
In New York City , now the global epicenter of the pandemic , for instance , the areas with the highest rates of positive tests overlap almost exactly with neighborhoods where the most “ essential workers ” live — and you undoubtedly won ’ t be surprised to learn that most of them are poor or low-income ones , 79 % of them black or Latino .
The five zip codes with the most coronavirus cases have an average income of under $ 27,000 ; while , in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the average income is $ 118,000 .
Across the Black Belt of the southern states , the poor and black are dying from the coronavirus at an alarming rate .
In many of those states , wages are tied to industries that rely on now interrupted regular household spending .
They also have among the least resources and the most vehement anti-union and wage-suppression laws .
That , in turn , leaves so many Americans all that more vulnerable to the Covid-19 crisis , the end of which is nowhere in sight .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , to decades of divestment in public insitutitions and the entrenchment of extremist agendas in state legislatures .
The Black Belt accounts for nine of the 14 states that have not expanded Medicaid and for 60 % of all rural hospital closures .
Nor are these the only places now feeling the consequences of hospitals being bought up or closed for private profit .
In Philadelphia , for instance , Hahnemann Hospital , which had served that city ’ s poorest patients for more than 170 years , was recently bought and closed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to extract a million dollars a month from the local government to reopen it .
Now , as the coronavirus ravages Philadelphia , Hahnemann ’ s beds sit empty , reminiscent of the notorious shuttering of New Orleans ’ Charity Hospital in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 .
In fact , lessons from the catastrophe of Katrina resonate heavily today , as the poor suffer and die while the rich and their political allies begin to circle the ruins , seeing opportunities to further enhance their power .
After Katrina , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Orleans who had to evacuate were unable to return , while the city became a laboratory for a new onslaught of neoliberal reforms from health care to housing .
One state legislator was overheard telling lobbyists , “ We finally cleaned out public housing in New Orleans .
We couldn ’ t do it , but God did.
” It hardly takes a stretch of the imagination to envision similar braggadocio in the post-coronavirus era .
The dual crises of pandemic and inequality are revealing ever more clearly how the descent into poverty @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the inside out .
In a remarkably brief span of time , these crises have also highlighted our collective interdependence .
One of my earliest memories is of helping my mom walk when I was younger than my youngest child is now .
As we slid down the wintry streets of Milwaukee , Wisconsin , my small hand in hers , she suddenly fell and I went down alongside her .
I had been unable to keep us from crashing to the ground .
And yet , even when I couldn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , I recognized , with the clarity that perhaps only a child can have , how much we as a family ( and , by extension , as a people ) were inescapably bound together — that when one of us falls , so many of us fall .
And that ’ s why , whatever Donald Trump or Jared Kushner or the rest of that crew in Washington and across the country may think , we can no longer tolerate leaving anybody out .
Hasn ’ t the time finally come to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Isn ’ t it time to demand a transformative moral agenda that reaches from the bottom up ?
If the wealthy were to pay a relatively modest amount more in taxes and we shrank our war economy to support the common good , then universal health care , living wages , and a guaranteed income , decent and affordable housing , strong programs for the poor , and even more might finally be within reach .
This crisis is offering us a striking demonstration of how an economy oriented around the whims of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its wake .
A society organized around the needs of the poor , on the other hand , would improve life for all of us — and especially in this Covid-19 moment , exactly this might be possible .

My mom contracted polio when she was 14. She survived and learned to walk again, but my life was deeply affected by that virus. Today, as our larger society attempts to self-distance and self-isolate, my family has texted about the polio quarantine my mom was put under: how my grandma fearfully checked my aunt’s temperature every night because she shared a bedroom with my mom; how they had to put a sign on the front door of the house that read “quarantine” so that no one would visit.
Growing up with a polio survivor, I learned lessons about epidemics, sickness, disability, and inequality that have forever shaped my world. From a young age, I saw that all of us should be valued for our intrinsic worth as human beings; that there is no line between the supposedly deserving and the undeserving; that we should be loved for who we are, not what we do or how much money we have. My mom modeled for me what’s possible when those most impacted by inequality and injustice dedicate their lives to protecting others from what hurts us all. She taught me that the dividing line between sickness and wellbeing loses its meaning in a society that doesn’t care for everyone.
Here’s the simple truth of twenty-first-century America: all of us live in a time and in an economic system that values our lives relative to our ability to produce profits for the rich or in the context of the wealth we possess. Our wellness is measured by our efficiency and — a particular lesson in the age of the coronavirus — our sickness, when considered at all, is seen as an indication of individual limitations or moral failures, rather than as a symptom of a sick society.
About 31 million people are today uninsured in America and 14 states have not even expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. The healthcare system is seemingly structured in defiance of the people it should serve, functioning as yet another way to maximize profits at the expense of millions. In this coronavirus moment, many more Americans are finally awakening to the bitter consequences, the damage, wrought when even a single person does not have access to the resources he or she needs to live decently or, for that matter, survive. With the spread of a pandemic, the cost to a nation that often treats collective care as, at best, an afterthought should become apparent. After all, more than 9,000 medical workers, many not adequately protected from the disease, have already contracted it.
For decades, both political parties have pushed the narrative that illness, homelessness, poverty, and inequality are minor aberrations in an otherwise healthy society. Even now, as the possibility of a potentially historic depression looms, assurances that the mechanics of our economy are fundamentally strong (and Covid-19 an unexpected fluke) remain commonplace. And yet, while that economy’s productivity has indeed increased strikingly since the 1970s, the gains from it have gone to an increasingly small number of people (and corporations), while real wages have stagnated for the majority of workers. Don’t be fooled. This crisis didn’t start with the coronavirus: our collapsing oil and gas industry, for instance, points to an energy system that was already on the brink and a majority of economists agree that a manufacturing decline had actually begun in August 2019.
The Cost of Inequality
It should no longer be possible to ignore the structural crisis of poverty and inequality that has been eating away at American society over these last decades. Historic unemployment numbers in recent weeks only reveal how expendable the majority of workers are in a crunch. This is happening at a moment when it’s ever clearer how many of the most “essential” tasks in our economy are done by the least well-paid workers. The ranks of the poor are widening at a startling clip, as many more of us are now experiencing what dire insecurity feels like in an economy built on non-unionized, low-wage work and part-time jobs.
In order to respond to such a crisis and the growing needs of millions, it’s important to first acknowledge the deeper history of injustice and pain that brought us all here. In the last years of his life, Martin Luther King, Jr., put it well when he said that “the prescription for the cure rests with an accurate diagnosis of the disease.” To develop a cure not just for this virus but for a nation with the deepest kind of inequality at its core, what’s first needed (as with any disease) is an accurate diagnosis.
Today, more than 38 million people officially live below the federal poverty line and, in truth, that figure should have shocked the nation into action before the coronavirus even arrived here. No such luck and here’s the real story anyway: the official measure of poverty, developed in 1964, doesn’t even take into account household expenses like health care, child care, housing, and transportation, not to speak of other costs that have burgeoned in recent decades. The world has undergone profound economic transformations over the last 66 years and yet this out-of-date measure, based on three times a family’s food budget, continues to shape policymaking at every level of government as well as the contours of the American political and moral imagination.
Two years ago, the Poor People’s Campaign (which I co-chair alongside Reverend William Barber II) and the Institute for Policy Studies released an audit of America. Its centerpiece was a far more realistic assessment of poverty and economic precariousness in this country. Using the Census Bureau’s Supplemental Poverty Measure as a baseline, which, among other things, measures family income after taxes and out-of-pocket expenses for food, clothing, housing, and utilities, there are at least 140 million people who are poor — or just a $400 emergency from that state. (Of that, there are now untold examples in this pandemic moment.)
As poverty has grown and spread, one of the great political weapons of politicians and the ruling elite over the past decades (only emphasized in the age of Trump) has been to minimize, dismiss, and racialize it. In the 1970s, President Richard Nixon’s “Southern Strategy” coded it into Republican national politics; in the 1980s, in the years of Ronald Reagan’s presidency, the fabricated image of “the welfare queen” gained symbolic prominence. In the 1990s, President Bill Clinton’s welfare “reforms” enshrined such thinking in the arguments of both parties. Today, given the outright racism and xenophobia that has become the hallmark of Donald Trump’s presidency, “poor” has become a curse word.
It is, of course, true that, among the 140 million poor people in the U.S., a disproportionate number are indeed people of color. The inheritance of slavery, Jim Crow, never-ending discrimination, and the mass incarceration of black men in particular, as well as a generational disinvestment in such populations, could have resulted in nothing less. And yet the reality of poverty stretches deep into every community in this country. According to that audit of America, the poor or low-income today consist of 24 million blacks, 38 million Latinos, eight million Asian-Americans, two million Native peoples, and 66 million whites.
Those staggering numbers, already a deadweight for the nation, are likely to prove a grotestque underestimate in the coronaviral world we now inhabit and yet none of this should be a surprise. Although we couldn’t have predicted the exact circumstances of this pandemic, social theorists remind us that conditions were ripe for just this kind of economic dislocation.
Over the past 50 years, for instance, rents have risen faster than income in every city. Before the coronavirus outbreak, there was not a single county in this country where a person making a minimum wage with a family could afford a two-bedroom apartment. No surprise then that, throughout this crisis, there has been a rise in rent strikes, housing takeovers, and calls for moratoriums on evictions. The quiet fact is that, in the last few decades, unemployment, underemployment, poverty, and homelessness have become ever more deeply and permanently structured into this society.
COVID-19 and the Descent Into Poverty
Over the years, one political narrative has been trumpeted by both parties: that we don’t have enough to provide for every American. This scarcity argument has undergirded every federal budget in recent history and yet it falls flat when we look at the 53% of every federal discretionary dollar that goes to the Pentagon, the trillions of dollars that have been squandered in this country’s never-ending war on terror, not to speak of the unprecedented financial gains the wealthiest have made (even in the midst of the current crisis). Of course, this economic order becomes a genuine moral scandal the moment attention is focused on the three billionaires who possess more wealth than the bottom half of society.
Since the government began transferring wealth from the poor to the very rich under the guise of “trickle-down” (but actually gusher-up) economics, key public institutions, labor unions, and the electoral process have been under attack. The healthcare system has been further privatized, public housing has been demolished, public water and sanitation systems have been held hostage by emergency managers, and the social safety net has been eviscerated.
In these same years, core government functions have been turned over to the private sector and the free market. The result: levels of poverty and inequality in this country now outmatch the Gilded Age. All of this, in turn, laid the groundwork for the rapid spread of death and disease via the Covid-19 pandemic and its disproportionate impact on poor people and people of color.
When the coronavirus first became a national emergency, the Fed materialized $1.5 trillion in loans to Wall Street, a form of corporate welfare that may never be paid back. In the following weeks, the Fed and a congressional bipartisan stimulus package funneled trillions more in bailouts to the largest corporations. Meanwhile, tens of millions of Americans were left out of that CARES Act: 48% of the workforce did not receive paid sick leave; 27 million uninsured people and 10% of the insured who couldn’t even afford a doctor’s visit have no guarantee of free or reasonably priced medical treatment; 11 million undocumented immigrants and their five million children will receive no emergency provisions; 2.3 million of the incarcerated have been left in the petri dish of prison; three million Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients saw no increase in their benefits; and homeless assistance funds were targeted at only about 500,000 people, although eight to 11 million are homeless or housing insecure. Such omissions are guaranteed to prove debilitating, even potentially lethal, for many. They also represent cracks in a dam ready to break in a nation without a guaranteed living wage or universal healthcare as debt mounts, wages stagnate, and the pressures of ecological devastation and climate change intensify.
Recently, news reports have made it far clearer just where (and whom) Covid-19 is hitting hardest. In New York City, now the global epicenter of the pandemic, for instance, the areas with the highest rates of positive tests overlap almost exactly with neighborhoods where the most “essential workers” live — and you undoubtedly won’t be surprised to learn that most of them are poor or low-income ones, 79% of them black or Latino. The five zip codes with the most coronavirus cases have an average income of under $27,000; while, in the five zip codes with the least, the average income is $118,000.
Across the Black Belt of the southern states, the poor and black are dying from the coronavirus at an alarming rate. In many of those states, wages are tied to industries that rely on now interrupted regular household spending. They also have among the least resources and the most vehement anti-union and wage-suppression laws. That, in turn, leaves so many Americans all that more vulnerable to the Covid-19 crisis, the end of which is nowhere in sight. Chalk this up, among other things, to decades of divestment in public insitutitions and the entrenchment of extremist agendas in state legislatures. The Black Belt accounts for nine of the 14 states that have not expanded Medicaid and for 60% of all rural hospital closures.
Nor are these the only places now feeling the consequences of hospitals being bought up or closed for private profit. In Philadelphia, for instance, Hahnemann Hospital, which had served that city’s poorest patients for more than 170 years, was recently bought and closed by a real-estate speculator who then attempted to extract a million dollars a month from the local government to reopen it. Now, as the coronavirus ravages Philadelphia, Hahnemann’s beds sit empty, reminiscent of the notorious shuttering of New Orleans’ Charity Hospital in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
In fact, lessons from the catastrophe of Katrina resonate heavily today, as the poor suffer and die while the rich and their political allies begin to circle the ruins, seeing opportunities to further enhance their power. After Katrina, many poor and black residents of New Orleans who had to evacuate were unable to return, while the city became a laboratory for a new onslaught of neoliberal reforms from health care to housing. One state legislator was overheard telling lobbyists, “We finally cleaned out public housing in New Orleans. We couldn’t do it, but God did.” It hardly takes a stretch of the imagination to envision similar braggadocio in the post-coronavirus era.
Inescapably Bound Together
The dual crises of pandemic and inequality are revealing ever more clearly how the descent into poverty is helping to destroy American society from the inside out. In a remarkably brief span of time, these crises have also highlighted our collective interdependence.
One of my earliest memories is of helping my mom walk when I was younger than my youngest child is now. As we slid down the wintry streets of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, my small hand in hers, she suddenly fell and I went down alongside her. I had been unable to keep us from crashing to the ground.
And yet, even when I couldn’t do what needed to be done alone, I recognized, with the clarity that perhaps only a child can have, how much we as a family (and, by extension, as a people) were inescapably bound together — that when one of us falls, so many of us fall. And that’s why, whatever Donald Trump or Jared Kushner or the rest of that crew in Washington and across the country may think, we can no longer tolerate leaving anybody out.
Hasn’t the time finally come to reject the false narrative of scarcity? Isn’t it time to demand a transformative moral agenda that reaches from the bottom up?
If the wealthy were to pay a relatively modest amount more in taxes and we shrank our war economy to support the common good, then universal health care, living wages, and a guaranteed income, decent and affordable housing, strong programs for the poor, and even more might finally be within reach. This crisis is offering us a striking demonstration of how an economy oriented around the whims of the rich brings death and destruction in its wake.
A society organized around the needs of the poor, on the other hand, would improve life for all of us — and especially in this Covid-19 moment, exactly this might be possible.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
To stay on top of important articles like these, sign up to receive the latest updates from TomDispatch.com here.


truthout--2020-04-21--US Deaths Could Surpass the 60,000 Projected If States Open Now, Experts Warn

Sources close to the coronavirus task force are speaking out against proposals to end stay-in-place orders by several governors across the United States , arguing that such moves are likely to result in higher death counts when all is said and done .
Current projections on the virus predict around 60,000 Americans may die from COVID-19 by August .
Those numbers were revised down from an earlier projection of 100,000 to 240,000 potential deaths in the country , with the newer numbers being praised by the president .
“ We ’ re going toward 50 , I ’ m hearing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Donald Trump said during a press briefing on Monday .
“ One is too many .
I always say it : One is too many .
But we ’ re going toward 50- or 60,000 people .
That ’ s at the lower — as you know , the low number was supposed to be 100,000 people.
” Now , however , with Trump promoting the idea of “ reopening ” the economy by pushing states to end stay-in-place orders meant to minimize the spread of the coronavirus , some who are close @ @ @ @ @ @ @ subject are speaking out against the idea .
“ If some states jump prematurely into opening , we certainly could surpass 60,000 , ” one source said to CNN ’ s Jim Acosta late on Monday .
The source commented on the fact that state governors , including South Carolina ’ s Henry McMaster and Georgia ’ s Brian Kemp , are planning to end stay-in-place measures relatively soon , with the former reopening his state ’ s beaches and several businesses right away .
“ Not good , ” the source said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the coronavirus task force have expressed skepticism on the moves .
On Monday morning , Anthony Fauci , director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases , said that efforts to “ reopen ” the economy wouldn ’ t work , regardless of whether stay-in-place measures were lifted or not .
“ Unless we get the virus under control , the real recovery economically is not going to happen , ” Fauci said , adding that ending stay-in-place orders to help the economy could “ backfire ” on governors as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The model that the White House is relying on , which predicts 60,000 deaths by August , is reliant on some important assumptions .
In that model , it was assumed that states would keep their stay-in-place orders enforced up to that month , and not begin to transition toward a more open economy where gatherings of people would be allowed at businesses and other recreational activities .
Recent polling from NBC News/The Wall Street Journal on the subject finds that most Americans are concerned about states ending stay-in-place orders prematurely , with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 32 percent of Americans are worried economies might open up too slowly .
Another poll , asking the question of whether social distancing should remain or not in a more direct way , found that only 10 percent of Americans want such measures to be curtailed .
Conversely , 86 percent say that social distancing rules should remain in place or even be more stringent .

Sources close to the coronavirus task force are speaking out against proposals to end stay-in-place orders by several governors across the United States, arguing that such moves are likely to result in higher death counts when all is said and done.
Current projections on the virus predict around 60,000 Americans may die from COVID-19 by August. Those numbers were revised down from an earlier projection of 100,000 to 240,000 potential deaths in the country, with the newer numbers being praised by the president.
“We’re going toward 50, I’m hearing, or 60,000 people,” President Donald Trump said during a press briefing on Monday. “One is too many. I always say it: One is too many. But we’re going toward 50- or 60,000 people. That’s at the lower — as you know, the low number was supposed to be 100,000 people.”
Now, however, with Trump promoting the idea of “reopening” the economy by pushing states to end stay-in-place orders meant to minimize the spread of the coronavirus, some who are close to his own task force on the subject are speaking out against the idea.
“If some states jump prematurely into opening, we certainly could surpass 60,000,” one source said to CNN’s Jim Acosta late on Monday.
Source close to Coronavirus task force warns number of deaths in US could surpass recent modeling estimates of approximately 60,000 dead if some states move too quickly in reopening. “If some states jump prematurely into opening we certainly could surpass 60K,”
source said. — Jim Acosta (@Acosta) April 21, 2020
The source commented on the fact that state governors, including South Carolina’s Henry McMaster and Georgia’s Brian Kemp, are planning to end stay-in-place measures relatively soon, with the former reopening his state’s beaches and several businesses right away.
“Not good,” the source said about those proposed actions.
Other members of the coronavirus task force have expressed skepticism on the moves. On Monday morning, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that efforts to “reopen” the economy wouldn’t work, regardless of whether stay-in-place measures were lifted or not.
“Unless we get the virus under control, the real recovery economically is not going to happen,” Fauci said, adding that ending stay-in-place orders to help the economy could “backfire” on governors as it could result in more infections.
The model that the White House is relying on, which predicts 60,000 deaths by August, is reliant on some important assumptions. In that model, it was assumed that states would keep their stay-in-place orders enforced up to that month, and not begin to transition toward a more open economy where gatherings of people would be allowed at businesses and other recreational activities.
Recent polling from NBC News/The Wall Street Journal on the subject finds that most Americans are concerned about states ending stay-in-place orders prematurely, with 58 percent saying as much. Only 32 percent of Americans are worried economies might open up too slowly.
Another poll, asking the question of whether social distancing should remain or not in a more direct way, found that only 10 percent of Americans want such measures to be curtailed. Conversely, 86 percent say that social distancing rules should remain in place or even be more stringent.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-04-21--Trump Supporters Are Brandishing Automatic Weapons at Anti-Shutdown Protests

We get an update from Democracy Now !
co-host Juan González about his mother and wife , who were infected with COVID-19 , and discuss how right-wing Trump supporters are brandishing automatic weapons at protests to demand an end to coronavirus shutdowns and are being egged on by the president .
“ We should make no mistake , that this country is edging closer and closer to neo-fascist authoritarianism , ” says González , expressing concern these actions will become normalized in the lead-up to a bitter national election in November .
This is a rush transcript .
Copy may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
, democracynow.org , The Quarantine Report .
I ’ m Amy Goodman in New York , with my co-host Juan González joining from his home in New Jersey , second only to New York with infections and death from COVID-19 with at least 88,000 cases and nearly 4,500 deaths .
Juan , welcome .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : Thank you , Amy .
And welcome to all of our listeners and viewers across the country and around the world .
AMY GOODMAN : So , Juan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , we spoke on air last Tuesday .
Your mother had just gone into the hospital , 92 years old , in New Jersey , and she tested positive for COVID-19 .
Can you give us an update on your mom and also your wife , Lilia Fernández ?
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : Yes , Amy .
Well , thanks for asking .
Yes , my mother was in the hospital for several days , but , thankfully , she was released late last week and was sent to a rehabilitation center , where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to get her strength back .
But it seems that she ’ s out of danger .
Likewise with my wife Lilia , we had a rough time last week .
She was in really bad shape for several days but now seems to be in the clear .
She ’ s eating well .
She has no fever .
She ’ s still in isolation , and she ’ s going to be in isolation in our house for at least another week to 10 days , but at least the worst @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And luckily , I haven ’ t shown any symptoms until now , so , please , keep your fingers crossed .
And I want to thank all of the fans of Democracy Now !
who tweeted or emailed to us their hopes for the recovery of my family members .
AMY GOODMAN : And very quickly , Juan , I think the things that have happened with your family are so instructive .
When you called the ambulance for Lilia , the ambulance — the EMT heroes are not talked about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and those kind of recommendations , like proning , like laying on your stomach to open up your lungs .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : Right .
Yeah , we did have to call on Thursday the ambulance , because she was really not only incredibly weak — she didn ’ t have a fever — but she was having a lot of trouble breathing , and she was also delirious .
She couldn ’ t recall where she was , what was happening , what had happened the day before .
And so I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 911 .
The ambulance came .
And these EMTs were fantastic .
I mean , they ’ ve been dealing with this , day in and day out .
They took all her vital signs , and they said she was getting enough oxygen .
And the head EMT said , “ Look , I know this all sucks .
You ’ re feeling worse than you ’ ve ever felt in your life .
But I ’ m telling you , if I take you to the hospital right now — I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but if I take you to the hospital , they ’ re likely just to have you there for several hours and send you back home , because there are so many other people that are even more sick.
” So he did give us a bunch of instructions about ways to get through it as best as possible .
And then he said , “ Look , any moment , anytime she gets worse , if it ’ s five minutes from now , half an hour from now , or tomorrow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ll take her to the hospital right away.
” So , I think that they calmed her quite a bit .
They calmed me quite a bit .
And then , within a couple of days , she was doing much better .
AMY GOODMAN : And then , again , with your mother , I mean , this whole issue of testing in this country and the severe lack of access to testing , and yet Trump ’ s push to open the country to , quote , “ liberate ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who had been taking care of , you learned , a COVID-positive cousin and was expressing all the symptoms , you take her even to the emergency room of one of the best hospitals in New Jersey , and they wouldn ’ t test her .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : Right , right .
They said that she — initially , they said she likely had COVID , but they were not going to admit her or even to test her , until I kept pressing them on the issues of the enormous , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her abdomen .
At that point , they took another look , and they said , “ Yes , we ’ re going to admit her , but we have to test her first.
” And when they tested her and she turned out COVID-positive , then they realized that they had initially made a mistake in just trying to send her home .
So , yes , you ’ re not getting admitted — you ’ re not getting tested even at the hospitals , even at the best hospitals , unless @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And so , the testing issue is still a huge issue , as many in the commercial or corporate media have said , and the alternative media , that the testing issue remains primary for dealing with what ’ s going to happen after the country begins to reopen .
AMY GOODMAN : And the fact that they offered your mother hydroxychloroquine , when the studies have not been done yet , when some of the studies that are being done , like one in Brazil , were stopped because of the number @ @ @ @ @ @ @ studies , and yet you were being offered hydroxychloroquine , when lupus patients , who need it , can ’ t get it .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : Well , I wasn ’ t being offered it .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : They were going to be — they were planning to begin to give my mother treatment for her when I asked about it .
And when the doctor said , “ Yes , well , we ’ re giving hydroxychloroquine to all the patients here , ” and I said , “ Is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ research test ?
” And he said , “ Yes , we are conducting research tests , but your mother , being over 90 , would not qualify for that test , but we ’ re routinely giving it.
” And I said , “ Do you have to give it ?
” And he said , “ Well , no , we don ’ t really have to .
If you don ’ t want to , I ’ m perfectly fine with not giving it to her.
” So I said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you .
Don ’ t give it to her .
If she doesn ’ t have a severe case and her life is not threatened right now , I ’ d rather not take the chance.
” And so , the doctor pretty much left it up to me , only when I asked about it , not — because , otherwise , he was just going to administer it to her anyway .
AMY GOODMAN : And finally , Juan , in the midst of all of this , you , as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been working on raising money , doing mutual aid for immigrants in New Jersey .
Talk about that work and the organizations that are desperately now trying to get support to people who will not get money from the stimulus package , who have been hard-working people all of their lives but are losing their jobs now one by one .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : Yeah .
Well , we managed to actually — a week ago , last Sunday , just before my mother went into the hospital and before Lilia got sick @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a bunch of grassroots organizations here in New Brunswick .
Of course , this is a city of 55,000 people , the majority of whom are Latino , and most of them from Mexico , from the Oaxaca state of Mexico .
So there ’ s a large immigrant and large undocumented population here in New Brunswick .
They don ’ t qualify for the stimulus .
So we started a Mutual Aid of New Brunswick GoFundMe page with various groups from the Coalition to Defend Lincoln Annex .
In less than a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 17,000 in donations for cash — direct cash grants to these hard-hit families .
And we ’ ve already managed to put $ 5,000 of that out right away , even before the GoFundMe money has come in , because it takes a while for this stuff to be processed , but other people fronted the money to be able to start the grants out the door to get to these families .
And so , we have been able to already get at least $ 5,000 out the door , and we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the rest of this week .
But , Amy , I wanted to talk about something else which I think is very important .
We ’ re seeing a lot of it now , which is these protests around the country of people demanding an end to the shutdowns that were aimed to stop the spread of the pandemic .
And what troubles me most about this is how right-wing extremists are brandishing automatic weapons , and they ’ ve become regular features of these protests , and with the man in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ form of intimidation .
And obviously , most of them are Trump supporters .
And I ’ d like our viewers and listeners to ask themselves a question : If hundreds of African Americans or Latinos showed up in cities around the country brandishing automatic weapons , what would be the response of the country to this ?
Why is this being almost accepted and normalized now as a method of protest ?
And my fear is that this will become normalized over the next few months as we head toward a bitter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no mistake , that this country is edging closer and closer to neo-fascist authoritarianism .
AMY GOODMAN : And , Juan , you say the issue of it being almost accepted .
It ’ s not almost .
The president , from the bully pulpit of the White House , is encouraging it — right ?
— saying these are his people .
AMY GOODMAN : And he ’ s saying “ liberate ” these states with these protests .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : Right , he ’ s encouraging the protests .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ knowledge , encouraged the armed — the brandishing of weapons .
But he ’ s accepting it and praising these folks as wonderful Americans .
And I don ’ t think we should discount the possibility that this president will declare an election that he loses as a fraud and illegitimate , and attempt to stay in power .
You know , some people may say this is far-fetched .
I hope it is .
But I think that we shouldn ’ t delude ourselves that we are living in extraordinary times in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ GOODMAN : Well , Juan , I am so thankful that you ’ re OK. And all the best to your wife Lilia , Lilia Fernández , an extremely important professor at Rutgers University , very popular , so beloved by her students .
And your mom , all the best , as well as the communities not only in New Jersey and New York , but all over this country .
We are going to continue to look at this issue of mutual aid .

We get an update from Democracy Now! co-host Juan González about his mother and wife, who were infected with COVID-19, and discuss how right-wing Trump supporters are brandishing automatic weapons at protests to demand an end to coronavirus shutdowns and are being egged on by the president. “We should make no mistake, that this country is edging closer and closer to neo-fascist authoritarianism,” says González, expressing concern these actions will become normalized in the lead-up to a bitter national election in November.
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The Quarantine Report. I’m Amy Goodman in New York, with my co-host Juan González joining from his home in New Jersey, second only to New York with infections and death from COVID-19 with at least 88,000 cases and nearly 4,500 deaths. Juan, welcome.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Thank you, Amy. And welcome to all of our listeners and viewers across the country and around the world.
AMY GOODMAN: So, Juan, before we continue with the show, we spoke on air last Tuesday. Your mother had just gone into the hospital, 92 years old, in New Jersey, and she tested positive for COVID-19. Can you give us an update on your mom and also your wife, Lilia Fernández?
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Yes, Amy. Well, thanks for asking. Yes, my mother was in the hospital for several days, but, thankfully, she was released late last week and was sent to a rehabilitation center, where she’s getting some therapy now to get her strength back. But it seems that she’s out of danger.
Likewise with my wife Lilia, we had a rough time last week. She was in really bad shape for several days but now seems to be in the clear. She’s eating well. She has no fever. She’s still in isolation, and she’s going to be in isolation in our house for at least another week to 10 days, but at least the worst appears to be over for our family.
And luckily, I haven’t shown any symptoms until now, so, please, keep your fingers crossed. And I want to thank all of the fans of Democracy Now! who tweeted or emailed to us their hopes for the recovery of my family members.
AMY GOODMAN: And very quickly, Juan, I think the things that have happened with your family are so instructive. When you called the ambulance for Lilia, the ambulance — the EMT heroes are not talked about enough, but who came in, and those kind of recommendations, like proning, like laying on your stomach to open up your lungs.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Right. Yeah, we did have to call on Thursday the ambulance, because she was really not only incredibly weak — she didn’t have a fever — but she was having a lot of trouble breathing, and she was also delirious. She couldn’t recall where she was, what was happening, what had happened the day before. And so I really got quite frightened. I called 911. The ambulance came.
And these EMTs were fantastic. I mean, they’ve been dealing with this, day in and day out. They took all her vital signs, and they said she was getting enough oxygen. And the head EMT said, “Look, I know this all sucks. You’re feeling worse than you’ve ever felt in your life. But I’m telling you, if I take you to the hospital right now — I’m ready to do it, but if I take you to the hospital, they’re likely just to have you there for several hours and send you back home, because there are so many other people that are even more sick.”
So he did give us a bunch of instructions about ways to get through it as best as possible. And then he said, “Look, any moment, anytime she gets worse, if it’s five minutes from now, half an hour from now, or tomorrow, just call us, and we’ll take her to the hospital right away.” So, I think that they calmed her quite a bit. They calmed me quite a bit. And then, within a couple of days, she was doing much better.
AMY GOODMAN: And then, again, with your mother, I mean, this whole issue of testing in this country and the severe lack of access to testing, and yet Trump’s push to open the country to, quote, “liberate” the states. Your 92-year-old mother, who had been taking care of, you learned, a COVID-positive cousin and was expressing all the symptoms, you take her even to the emergency room of one of the best hospitals in New Jersey, and they wouldn’t test her.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Right, right. They said that she — initially, they said she likely had COVID, but they were not going to admit her or even to test her, until I kept pressing them on the issues of the enormous, the unbearable pain that she had in her abdomen. At that point, they took another look, and they said, “Yes, we’re going to admit her, but we have to test her first.” And when they tested her and she turned out COVID-positive, then they realized that they had initially made a mistake in just trying to send her home.
So, yes, you’re not getting admitted — you’re not getting tested even at the hospitals, even at the best hospitals, unless they are planning to admit you. And so, the testing issue is still a huge issue, as many in the commercial or corporate media have said, and the alternative media, that the testing issue remains primary for dealing with what’s going to happen after the country begins to reopen.
AMY GOODMAN: And the fact that they offered your mother hydroxychloroquine, when the studies have not been done yet, when some of the studies that are being done, like one in Brazil, were stopped because of the number of cardiac arrests and deaths in those studies, and yet you were being offered hydroxychloroquine, when lupus patients, who need it, can’t get it.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, I wasn’t being offered it.
AMY GOODMAN: For her.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: They were going to be — they were planning to begin to give my mother treatment for her when I asked about it. And when the doctor said, “Yes, well, we’re giving hydroxychloroquine to all the patients here,” and I said, “Is this part of a test, a research test?” And he said, “Yes, we are conducting research tests, but your mother, being over 90, would not qualify for that test, but we’re routinely giving it.” And I said, “Do you have to give it?” And he said, “Well, no, we don’t really have to. If you don’t want to, I’m perfectly fine with not giving it to her.” So I said, “Well, no, thank you. Don’t give it to her. If she doesn’t have a severe case and her life is not threatened right now, I’d rather not take the chance.” And so, the doctor pretty much left it up to me, only when I asked about it, not — because, otherwise, he was just going to administer it to her anyway.
AMY GOODMAN: And finally, Juan, in the midst of all of this, you, as well as your wife Lilia, have been working on raising money, doing mutual aid for immigrants in New Jersey. Talk about that work and the organizations that are desperately now trying to get support to people who will not get money from the stimulus package, who have been hard-working people all of their lives but are losing their jobs now one by one.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Yeah. Well, we managed to actually — a week ago, last Sunday, just before my mother went into the hospital and before Lilia got sick, we started with — together with a bunch of grassroots organizations here in New Brunswick. Of course, this is a city of 55,000 people, the majority of whom are Latino, and most of them from Mexico, from the Oaxaca state of Mexico. So there’s a large immigrant and large undocumented population here in New Brunswick. They don’t qualify for the stimulus. So we started a Mutual Aid of New Brunswick GoFundMe page with various groups from the Coalition to Defend Lincoln Annex.
In less than a week, we managed to raise $17,000 in donations for cash — direct cash grants to these hard-hit families. And we’ve already managed to put $5,000 of that out right away, even before the GoFundMe money has come in, because it takes a while for this stuff to be processed, but other people fronted the money to be able to start the grants out the door to get to these families. And so, we have been able to already get at least $5,000 out the door, and we’ll be getting more out in the rest of this week.
But, Amy, I wanted to talk about something else which I think is very important. We’re seeing a lot of it now, which is these protests around the country of people demanding an end to the shutdowns that were aimed to stop the spread of the pandemic. And what troubles me most about this is how right-wing extremists are brandishing automatic weapons, and they’ve become regular features of these protests, and with the man in the White House saying nothing to condemn this form of intimidation. And obviously, most of them are Trump supporters.
And I’d like our viewers and listeners to ask themselves a question: If hundreds of African Americans or Latinos showed up in cities around the country brandishing automatic weapons, what would be the response of the country to this? Why is this being almost accepted and normalized now as a method of protest? And my fear is that this will become normalized over the next few months as we head toward a bitter national election. And we should make no mistake, that this country is edging closer and closer to neo-fascist authoritarianism.
AMY GOODMAN: And, Juan, you say the issue of it being almost accepted. It’s not almost. The president, from the bully pulpit of the White House, is encouraging it — right? — saying these are his people.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, he’s encouraging the protests.
AMY GOODMAN: And he’s saying “liberate” these states with these protests.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Right, he’s encouraging the protests. He hasn’t directly, to my knowledge, encouraged the armed — the brandishing of weapons. But he’s accepting it and praising these folks as wonderful Americans. And I don’t think we should discount the possibility that this president will declare an election that he loses as a fraud and illegitimate, and attempt to stay in power. You know, some people may say this is far-fetched. I hope it is. But I think that we shouldn’t delude ourselves that we are living in extraordinary times in the United States right now.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Juan, I am so thankful that you’re OK. And all the best to your wife Lilia, Lilia Fernández, an extremely important professor at Rutgers University, very popular, so beloved by her students. And your mom, all the best, as well as the communities not only in New Jersey and New York, but all over this country. We are going to continue to look at this issue of mutual aid.


truthout--2020-04-21--Trump Reportedly Plans to Extort States Into Reopening by Holding Up Relief

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pushed back on Democratic calls to provide aid to states in the upcoming coronavirus relief bill amid reports that President Donald Trump plans to use the funds to pressure states into reopening .
Congressional leaders and the White House are negotiating a bill that would provide more than $ 300 billion in additional funding for the coronavirus small business relief fund , which ran out of money last week as big corporations used the program ’ s “ confusing ” guidelines to score tens of millions for themselves .
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNN @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expected to include $ 50 billion for another small business program , $ 75 billion for hospitals and $ 25 billion for testing .
The deal has been delayed after Democrats also pushed to include $ 150 billion in funding for states and local governments quickly running out of money as expenses rise while tax revenue plummets .
But McConnell told Senate Republicans during a conference call with Trump and Mnuchin that the aid “ would not be in the package , ” Axios reported .
“ The thinking among some Trump administration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reopening their governments soon and that additional funding could deter them from doing so , ” according to the report .
Politico similarly reported that the White House has been “ holding out because , in part , they believe if Congress keeps cutting checks for state and local governments , they will be disincentivized to open up their economies.
” The delay comes as Trump backs astroturf-style protests , many of them organized or promoted by deep-pocketed groups backing the president , urging states to reopen — against his own administration ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , have been desperately pleading for federal aid as they seek to avert disastrous cuts to education and health care to make up for the dramatic revenue shortfalls .
“ It ’ s important for the feds to support our efforts to fund the stuff we do , ” Massachusetts Gov .
Charlie Baker , a Republican , told CBS News on Sunday .
“ If we ’ re laying off tens of thousands of people at exactly the time when they want to reopen the economy , we ’ re going to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ re trying to create.
” Maryland Gov .
Larry Hogan , the Republican chairman of the National Governors Association , called for $ 500 billion in aid to states in a joint statement with Democratic New York Gov .
Andrew Cuomo .
“ In the absence of unrestricted fiscal support of at least $ 500 billion from the federal government , states will have to confront the prospect of significant reductions to critically important services all across this country , hampering public health , the economic recovery and — in turn — our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work , ” the governors warned .
These are not hypothetical future budget cuts .
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced on Sunday that the city will have to furlough workers .
More than 100 cities in Texas have pleaded for funding to avert similar moves .
Missouri lawmakers are expected to approve steep cuts when they return later this month .
Ohio cities are facing calamitous budget shortfalls .
“ Nearly every American city is seeing a precipitous drop in revenue , ” the United States Conference of Mayors warned on Saturday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will be forced to lay off employees and make cuts that will hurt public safety.
” Rather than give governors , a majority of whom are Republican , the funding they need to avert disaster , the Trump administration and Senate Republicans “ have decided on a strategy of extortion , ” wrote Washington Post columnist Paul Waldman .
“ It ’ ll lead to more infections , more deaths , and a longer recession ?
Too bad .
It ’ s what Trump wants , and that ’ s all that matters.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ accept blame for any consequences though .
The Wall Street Journal reported that the president has “ asked White House aides for economic response plans that would allow him to take credit for successes while offering enough flexibility to assign fault for any failures to others.
” As states face dire financial straits with no end in sight , governors may be forced to acquiesce to Trump ’ s demands just to keep the lights on , only to face blowback if things go south .
“ Faced with the desperation of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ social spending , governors may be forced to risk the health of their citizens and try to gamble that they can restart the economy , ” warned New York Magazine columnist Jonathan Chait .
“ The certainty of an unsolvable fiscal crisis , requiring massive cuts to education and health care , may outweigh the risk of a new outbreak .
If the economy blossoms , Trump gets the credit .
If the recovery sputters because people remain afraid to leave their homes , or if they do leave their homes and thousands @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who made the decisions get the blame .
”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pushed back on Democratic calls to provide aid to states in the upcoming coronavirus relief bill amid reports that President Donald Trump plans to use the funds to pressure states into reopening.
Congressional leaders and the White House are negotiating a bill that would provide more than $300 billion in additional funding for the coronavirus small business relief fund, which ran out of money last week as big corporations used the program’s “confusing” guidelines to score tens of millions for themselves.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNN on Sunday that the deal is also expected to include $50 billion for another small business program, $75 billion for hospitals and $25 billion for testing.
The deal has been delayed after Democrats also pushed to include $150 billion in funding for states and local governments quickly running out of money as expenses rise while tax revenue plummets. But McConnell told Senate Republicans during a conference call with Trump and Mnuchin that the aid “would not be in the package,” Axios reported.
“The thinking among some Trump administration officials is that many states should be reopening their governments soon and that additional funding could deter them from doing so,” according to the report. Politico similarly reported that the White House has been “holding out because, in part, they believe if Congress keeps cutting checks for state and local governments, they will be disincentivized to open up their economies.”
The delay comes as Trump backs astroturf-style protests, many of them organized or promoted by deep-pocketed groups backing the president, urging states to reopen — against his own administration’s guidelines.
Governors, including Republicans, have been desperately pleading for federal aid as they seek to avert disastrous cuts to education and health care to make up for the dramatic revenue shortfalls.
“It’s important for the feds to support our efforts to fund the stuff we do,” Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, told CBS News on Sunday. “If we’re laying off tens of thousands of people at exactly the time when they want to reopen the economy, we’re going to be swimming against the current they’re trying to create.”
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, the Republican chairman of the National Governors Association, called for $500 billion in aid to states in a joint statement with Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
“In the absence of unrestricted fiscal support of at least $500 billion from the federal government, states will have to confront the prospect of significant reductions to critically important services all across this country, hampering public health, the economic recovery and — in turn — our collective effort to get people back to work,” the governors warned.
These are not hypothetical future budget cuts. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced on Sunday that the city will have to furlough workers. More than 100 cities in Texas have pleaded for funding to avert similar moves. Missouri lawmakers are expected to approve steep cuts when they return later this month. Ohio cities are facing calamitous budget shortfalls.
“Nearly every American city is seeing a precipitous drop in revenue,” the United States Conference of Mayors warned on Saturday. “Without federal support, many will be forced to lay off employees and make cuts that will hurt public safety.”
Rather than give governors, a majority of whom are Republican, the funding they need to avert disaster, the Trump administration and Senate Republicans “have decided on a strategy of extortion,” wrote Washington Post columnist Paul Waldman. “It’ll lead to more infections, more deaths, and a longer recession? Too bad. It’s what Trump wants, and that’s all that matters.”
Don’t expect Trump to accept blame for any consequences though. The Wall Street Journal reported that the president has “asked White House aides for economic response plans that would allow him to take credit for successes while offering enough flexibility to assign fault for any failures to others.”
As states face dire financial straits with no end in sight, governors may be forced to acquiesce to Trump’s demands just to keep the lights on, only to face blowback if things go south.
“Faced with the desperation of a disintegrating revenue base and spiraling needs for social spending, governors may be forced to risk the health of their citizens and try to gamble that they can restart the economy,” warned New York Magazine columnist Jonathan Chait. “The certainty of an unsolvable fiscal crisis, requiring massive cuts to education and health care, may outweigh the risk of a new outbreak. If the economy blossoms, Trump gets the credit. If the recovery sputters because people remain afraid to leave their homes, or if they do leave their homes and thousands of them die, then the governors who made the decisions get the blame.”
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