truthout--2020-12-15--54 Million Americans Are Projected to Be Food Insecure by End of Year

As autumn fades and winter looms , the dire predictions public-health experts made about Covid-19 have , unfortunately , proven all-too-accurate .
On October 27th , 74,379 people were infected in the United States ; less than a month and a half later , on December 9th , that number had soared to 218,677 , while the 2020 total has just surpassed 15 million , a number no other country , not even India , which has a population three times that of the U.S. , has surpassed .
And now , it seems , the third wave of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ late October , the embattled Dr. Anthony Fauci , the nation ’ s leading infectious disease expert , warned that “ we are in for a whole lot of hurt ” and that infections could reach 100,000 a day .
As it happens , he was wildly optimistic .
A little more than a month later , there were more than twice that many .
Is it possible , however , that the current surge is due in part to increased testing , as President Trump and others have regularly claimed ?
Here @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that theory were true , it can ’ t account for the spiraling death toll , which is now more than 300,000 and could hit 450,000 by February , according to Robert Redfield , the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
Nor can it explain the daily Covid-19 hospitalizations , the first round of which peaked at 59,712 on July 23rd , dropped pretty steadily to a low of 28,606 on September 20th , and then started to soar , reaching 106,671 on December 9th .
Though big-picture statistics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ staggering magnitude of our current public-health crisis , what they don ’ t reveal is the searing effects it ’ s had on the lives of millions of Americans , even those who have managed to evade the virus or haven ’ t seen friends or family fall ill or die from Covid-19 .
The pandemic has been especially hard for those on the front lines : doctors , nurses , and other hospital workers who experience battle fatigue and despair while besieged by suffering and deaths , visceral reminders of their own @ @ @ @ @ @ @ precautions — lockdowns , social distancing , limits on festive gatherings — necessary to keep Covid-19 at bay have increased loneliness and social isolation .
Contrary to early expectations , reports of abuse and violence within families haven ’ t actually spiraled , but experts suggest that may be because the victims , confined to their homes alongside their tormentors , are finding it harder to seek help and fear reporting what ’ s happening to them .
As for children , teachers are no longer seeing their pupils in person as regularly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the typical warning signs of mistreatment .
Thankfully , the pandemic has yet to increase this country ’ s already alarming suicide rate , but the same can ’ t be said for levels of stress and depression , both of which have risen noticeably .
School closures and the move to online learning have forced parents , particularly women , to scramble for childcare and to work less , even though many of them were barely getting by while working full-time , or stop working altogether , often a genuine disaster in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who have been laid off or had their work hours reduced have fallen behind on their mortgage and rent payments .
Although various federal and state moratoriums on such payments , as well as on evictions and foreclosures , were enacted , such protections will eventually end .
And the moratoriums don ’ t negate renters ’ or homeowners ’ obligations to settle accounts with their bankers and landlords somewhere down the line ( which for many Americans may , in the end , prove an impossibility ) .
Apart from the illness @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most poignant consequence of Covid-19 has been the way it ’ s increased what ’ s called “ food insecurity ” across the United States .
That ungainly term doesn ’ t refer to the chronic food scarcity and undernourishment , which afflicts more than 800 million people in poor countries , but rather to the disruption of people ’ s typical food-consumption patterns .
The U.S. Department of Agriculture ( USDA ) distinguishes between what it calls low food security ( “ reduced quality , variability , or desirability of diet ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the same ( “ multiple indications of disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake ” ) .
Surveys by the USDA and the Census Bureau show that both variants have risen steeply during the pandemic .
Just before the coronavirus struck , 35 million Americans , 11 million of them children , experienced food insecurity , the lowest figure in two decades .
This year , those numbers are projected to reach 54 million and 18 million respectively .
In 2018 , 4 % of American adults reported that at least some members @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to eat ; by July 2020 , that figure had hit 11 % , according to a study by Northwestern University ’ s Food Research and Action Center , and will only increase as the pandemic worsens .
Income supplements provided by the $ 2.2 trillion CARES Act that Congress passed in March in response to the economic problems created by Covid-19 , increases in the government ’ s Supplementary Nutritional Program ( SNAP ) , and the Pandemic Electronic Benefit ( P-EBT ) , which helps parents whose children no longer get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ made a difference — but not enough to make up for lost or reduced income , lost homes , and other disasters of this moment .
And sadly , any follow-up to the CARES Act , assuming Congress reaches some kind of agreement on its terms before the current legislation expires at the end of December , will almost certainly be far less generous than the original law .
The SNAP increases already excluded the poorest seven million households that were then receiving the maximum amount , and the new increases now under @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one dollar to a four-person family ’ s maximum daily benefit .
P-EBT expired in most states at the end of September , in some as early as July .
That food insecurity has “ skyrocketed , ” as the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities puts it , during the pandemic despite government assistance shouldn ’ t come as a surprise .
Millions of people have lost their jobs .
Some have seen their earnings diminished because of furloughs , wage cuts , freezes , or reduced working hours .
Others have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ given up ( but aren ’ t included in official unemployment statistics ) .
Millions of adults have children who no longer receive those free or subsidized lunches because of the switch , in whole or part , to online teaching .
Worse yet , as pandemic-induced firings , layoffs , and wage cuts have reduced incomes , and so consumer purchasing power , food prices , especially for meat , fish , and eggs , have only risen .
Such costs have increased for other reasons as well .
The pandemic has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Leery consumers , anticipating shortages or seeking to reduce trips to grocery stores to avoid being infected by Covid-19 , have also resorted to panic buying and the stockpiling of food and other necessities .
Who You Are and Where You Live Matters Most Of course , not everyone has been hit with equal force by rising food prices .
Americans high on the income ladder can absorb such extra costs easily enough and , in any case , spend a substantially smaller portion of their income on groceries .
According to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the top fifth of society spent 8 % of their income on food last year ; for the bottom fifth , it was 36 % .
The first group also obviously has a lot more money available to stock up on food than that bottom fifth , so many of whom have also become jobless or seen their paychecks diminish since the pandemic started .
In March , for example , 39 % of those making less than $ 40,000 had already lost their jobs or had their paychecks reduced , but only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 100,000 or more , and that gap continued into the fall .
Not surprisingly , then , the bigger the hit people took from the Covid-19 recession , the more likely they were to experience food insecurity , which is why aggregate statistics on the phenomenon and other societal problems attributable to the pandemic can be misleading .
They tend to mask the reality that its effects have been felt primarily by the most vulnerable , while the others have been touched much more lightly , or not at all .
The variations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ well as income level ( and the three tend to be closely linked ) .
A USDA report classified 19 % of Black households and 16 % of Hispanic households as food insecure in 2019 , compared to 8 % of their white counterparts .
By this summer , food insecurity had increased significantly across the board , afflicting 36 % of Black , 32 % of Hispanic , and 18 % of white households .
While the pandemic has certainly made matters worse , African Americans had the highest rate among those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This was especially true of counties — the U.S. has more than 3,000 of them — in which they were in the majority .
In 2016 , those particular counties accounted for a mere 3 % of the national total , but 96 % of them had “ high food insecurity , ” as the Department of Agriculture defines it , as well as a poverty rate more than twice the national average ( 12.7 % that year ) .
Native Americans have had the worst of it , however , since many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ water and plumbing ( 58 per 1,000 households compared to three per 1,000 for whites ) .
Nearly 75 % of Native Americans must travel more than a mile to reach a supermarket , compared to 40 % of the population as a whole , and the disruption of supply chains has only diminished their food security further relative to other ethnic communities .
Even prior to the pandemic , counties in which they ( or Native Alaskans ) constituted a majority were among those with the highest levels of food insecurity .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ poverty rate in nearly 70 % of Native American-majority counties averaged a whopping 37 % .
In other words , while every group has suffered in this pandemic year , race matters — a lot — when it comes to the degree of suffering .
So does income .
In coronavirus-stricken America , only 1 % of adults with an annual income exceeding $ 100,000 surveyed by the Census Bureau this summer responded that , during the preceding week , their household “ sometimes or often did not have enough to eat.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ making $ 25,000- $ 35,000 and 28 % of those earning less than $ 25,000 .
Finally , food insecurity during the pandemic has varied by location as well .
Ten states ( and the District of Columbia ) had the highest rates , ranging from Mississippi ( 33.5 % ) , which stood atop this group , to Alabama ( 27 % ) , which had the lowest .
In between , in descending order , were Washington , D.C. , Nevada , Louisiana , New York , New Mexico , Florida @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Food Banks and Pantries : On the Front Lines The other day , a close friend described to me the daily scene at a food distribution center in New York City ’ s Harlem neighborhood .
Well before trucks laden with food pulled up early in the morning , he said , the lines had already started forming , hundreds of people waiting patiently in a queue that encircled the block .
And that ’ s just one of many neighborhoods in New York where this is all too typical these days .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ pantry regularly faces a demand so steep that lines can extend for eight blocks .
Try to imagine what the waiting time must be .
All told , 1.5 million people in the city , unable to buy the groceries they need , rely on food pantries , and New York is anything but unusual .
Photographs abound of cars lined up by the hundreds , even thousands , at food pantries in major cities around the country .
Feeding America , a non-profit organization that supports 200 food storage centers and 60,000 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s food banks have provided the equivalent of more than 4.2 billion meals since March , a 50 % increase compared to a year ago and 40 % of the people who come to such pantries are first-time visitors .
A Consumer Reports survey of grocery shoppers found that nearly a fifth of them had turned to a food pantry since the pandemic began ( half of whom hadn ’ t sought such help at all in 2019 ) .
In March , before the first wave of Covid-19 began to peak @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pantries ; by August , that number had climbed to 22 million , even though an additional 6.2 million people had received benefits from SNAP ( the food-stamp program in common parlance ) between March and May alone .
By early July , 37.4 million people had signed up for SNAP compared to 35.7 million for all of last year .
Little wonder , then , that food banks , facing a tsunami of demand , have struggled to stay stocked amid rising prices , shortages , reduced donations from big chain supermarkets @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s also become even harder for them to raise the money they need to operate .
Not a few have buckled under the strain and many have been forced to shut down .
Pantries have also had a hard time mustering volunteers , in part because seniors , particularly vulnerable to the virus , made up a significant segment of such helpers .
Not surprisingly , then , food banks and pantries have battled to function or simply survive in these months , while also having to implement an array of cumbersome @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , staff , and clients infection-free .
Despite their heroic role , such food banks and pantries are the equivalent of the proverbial finger in the dike .
For Covid-induced food insecurity and hunger to decline significantly , the third wave of infections will have to subside and Congress will have to offer more effective aid .
The Trump administration ’ s recent proposal , blessed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell , to provide a one-shot $ 600 check to all adults ( whether they ’ re unemployed or not ) certainly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time , vaccines will have to be produced in sufficient quantities and distributed rapidly .
( We are far from ready on that front . )
All this in a country where striking numbers of people look askance at vaccination — in a December survey only 63 % of Americans said they would be willing to get vaccinated against Covid-19 — and are also drawn to conspiracy mongers whose appeal has grown , thanks in part to social media .
Once the virus is vanquished or at least brought under reasonable control , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , many of the nearly 11 million at-present unemployed people will perhaps have a shot at working again or having their employers end reduced hours and cut wages .
Here ’ s hoping that these various stars align by summer 2021 .
We can then revert to pre-pandemic normalcy , even though that state of affairs was marked by substantial poverty — 34 million people last year — and rising inequality .

As autumn fades and winter looms, the dire predictions public-health experts made about Covid-19 have, unfortunately, proven all-too-accurate. On October 27th, 74,379 people were infected in the United States; less than a month and a half later, on December 9th, that number had soared to 218,677, while the 2020 total has just surpassed 15 million, a number no other country, not even India, which has a population three times that of the U.S., has surpassed.
And now, it seems, the third wave of the virus has arrived. As recently as late October, the embattled Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, warned that “we are in for a whole lot of hurt” and that infections could reach 100,000 a day. As it happens, he was wildly optimistic. A little more than a month later, there were more than twice that many. Is it possible, however, that the current surge is due in part to increased testing, as President Trump and others have regularly claimed? Here’s the problem. Even if that theory were true, it can’t account for the spiraling death toll, which is now more than 300,000 and could hit 450,000 by February, according to Robert Redfield, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nor can it explain the daily Covid-19 hospitalizations, the first round of which peaked at 59,712 on July 23rd, dropped pretty steadily to a low of 28,606 on September 20th, and then started to soar, reaching 106,671 on December 9th.
Though big-picture statistics like these should help us grasp the staggering magnitude of our current public-health crisis, what they don’t reveal is the searing effects it’s had on the lives of millions of Americans, even those who have managed to evade the virus or haven’t seen friends or family fall ill or die from Covid-19. The pandemic has been especially hard for those on the front lines: doctors, nurses, and other hospital workers who experience battle fatigue and despair while besieged by suffering and deaths, visceral reminders of their own vulnerability.
In society at large, precautions — lockdowns, social distancing, limits on festive gatherings — necessary to keep Covid-19 at bay have increased loneliness and social isolation. Contrary to early expectations, reports of abuse and violence within families haven’t actually spiraled, but experts suggest that may be because the victims, confined to their homes alongside their tormentors, are finding it harder to seek help and fear reporting what’s happening to them. As for children, teachers are no longer seeing their pupils in person as regularly and so are less able to spot the typical warning signs of mistreatment.
Thankfully, the pandemic has yet to increase this country’s already alarming suicide rate, but the same can’t be said for levels of stress and depression, both of which have risen noticeably. School closures and the move to online learning have forced parents, particularly women, to scramble for childcare and to work less, even though many of them were barely getting by while working full-time, or stop working altogether, often a genuine disaster in poor families.
Not surprisingly, people who have been laid off or had their work hours reduced have fallen behind on their mortgage and rent payments. Although various federal and state moratoriums on such payments, as well as on evictions and foreclosures, were enacted, such protections will eventually end. And the moratoriums don’t negate renters’ or homeowners’ obligations to settle accounts with their bankers and landlords somewhere down the line (which for many Americans may, in the end, prove an impossibility).
Food and the Pandemic
Apart from the illness and death it causes, perhaps the most poignant consequence of Covid-19 has been the way it’s increased what’s called “food insecurity” across the United States. That ungainly term doesn’t refer to the chronic food scarcity and undernourishment, which afflicts more than 800 million people in poor countries, but rather to the disruption of people’s typical food-consumption patterns. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) distinguishes between what it calls low food security (“reduced quality, variability, or desirability of diet”) and the very low version of the same (“multiple indications of disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake”).
Surveys by the USDA and the Census Bureau show that both variants have risen steeply during the pandemic. Just before the coronavirus struck, 35 million Americans, 11 million of them children, experienced food insecurity, the lowest figure in two decades. This year, those numbers are projected to reach 54 million and 18 million respectively. In 2018, 4% of American adults reported that at least some members of their family did not have enough to eat; by July 2020, that figure had hit 11%, according to a study by Northwestern University’s Food Research and Action Center, and will only increase as the pandemic worsens.
Income supplements provided by the $2.2 trillion CARES Act that Congress passed in March in response to the economic problems created by Covid-19, increases in the government’s Supplementary Nutritional Program (SNAP), and the Pandemic Electronic Benefit (P-EBT), which helps parents whose children no longer get free or subsidized school lunches, have made a difference — but not enough to make up for lost or reduced income, lost homes, and other disasters of this moment. And sadly, any follow-up to the CARES Act, assuming Congress reaches some kind of agreement on its terms before the current legislation expires at the end of December, will almost certainly be far less generous than the original law. The SNAP increases already excluded the poorest seven million households that were then receiving the maximum amount, and the new increases now under discussion in Congress would add less than one dollar to a four-person family’s maximum daily benefit. P-EBT expired in most states at the end of September, in some as early as July.
That food insecurity has “skyrocketed,” as the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities puts it, during the pandemic despite government assistance shouldn’t come as a surprise. Millions of people have lost their jobs. Some have seen their earnings diminished because of furloughs, wage cuts, freezes, or reduced working hours. Others have looked for jobs in vain and finally given up (but aren’t included in official unemployment statistics). Millions of adults have children who no longer receive those free or subsidized lunches because of the switch, in whole or part, to online teaching. Worse yet, as pandemic-induced firings, layoffs, and wage cuts have reduced incomes, and so consumer purchasing power, food prices, especially for meat, fish, and eggs, have only risen. Such costs have increased for other reasons as well. The pandemic has disrupted supply networks, national and international. Leery consumers, anticipating shortages or seeking to reduce trips to grocery stores to avoid being infected by Covid-19, have also resorted to panic buying and the stockpiling of food and other necessities.
Who You Are and Where You Live Matters Most
Of course, not everyone has been hit with equal force by rising food prices. Americans high on the income ladder can absorb such extra costs easily enough and, in any case, spend a substantially smaller portion of their income on groceries. According to the USDA, adults with incomes in the top fifth of society spent 8% of their income on food last year; for the bottom fifth, it was 36%. The first group also obviously has a lot more money available to stock up on food than that bottom fifth, so many of whom have also become jobless or seen their paychecks diminish since the pandemic started. In March, for example, 39% of those making less than $40,000 had already lost their jobs or had their paychecks reduced, but only 13% of those who earned $100,000 or more, and that gap continued into the fall.
Not surprisingly, then, the bigger the hit people took from the Covid-19 recession, the more likely they were to experience food insecurity, which is why aggregate statistics on the phenomenon and other societal problems attributable to the pandemic can be misleading. They tend to mask the reality that its effects have been felt primarily by the most vulnerable, while the others have been touched much more lightly, or not at all.
The variations are rooted in ethnicity and location as well as income level (and the three tend to be closely linked). A USDA report classified 19% of Black households and 16% of Hispanic households as food insecure in 2019, compared to 8% of their white counterparts. By this summer, food insecurity had increased significantly across the board, afflicting 36% of Black, 32% of Hispanic, and 18% of white households. While the pandemic has certainly made matters worse, African Americans had the highest rate among those three groups even before it started. This was especially true of counties — the U.S. has more than 3,000 of them — in which they were in the majority. In 2016, those particular counties accounted for a mere 3% of the national total, but 96% of them had “high food insecurity,” as the Department of Agriculture defines it, as well as a poverty rate more than twice the national average (12.7% that year).
Native Americans have had the worst of it, however, since many of their families lack access to running water and plumbing (58 per 1,000 households compared to three per 1,000 for whites). Nearly 75% of Native Americans must travel more than a mile to reach a supermarket, compared to 40% of the population as a whole, and the disruption of supply chains has only diminished their food security further relative to other ethnic communities. Even prior to the pandemic, counties in which they (or Native Alaskans) constituted a majority were among those with the highest levels of food insecurity. Not coincidentally, in 2016, the poverty rate in nearly 70% of Native American-majority counties averaged a whopping 37%.
In other words, while every group has suffered in this pandemic year, race matters — a lot — when it comes to the degree of suffering.
So does income. In coronavirus-stricken America, only 1% of adults with an annual income exceeding $100,000 surveyed by the Census Bureau this summer responded that, during the preceding week, their household “sometimes or often did not have enough to eat.” Compare that to 16% of those making $25,000-$35,000 and 28% of those earning less than $25,000.
Finally, food insecurity during the pandemic has varied by location as well. Ten states (and the District of Columbia) had the highest rates, ranging from Mississippi (33.5%), which stood atop this group, to Alabama (27%), which had the lowest. In between, in descending order, were Washington, D.C., Nevada, Louisiana, New York, New Mexico, Florida, Tennessee, and North Carolina.
Food Banks and Pantries: On the Front Lines
The other day, a close friend described to me the daily scene at a food distribution center in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood. Well before trucks laden with food pulled up early in the morning, he said, the lines had already started forming, hundreds of people waiting patiently in a queue that encircled the block. And that’s just one of many neighborhoods in New York where this is all too typical these days. In Queens, for instance, one pantry regularly faces a demand so steep that lines can extend for eight blocks. Try to imagine what the waiting time must be. All told, 1.5 million people in the city, unable to buy the groceries they need, rely on food pantries, and New York is anything but unusual. Photographs abound of cars lined up by the hundreds, even thousands, at food pantries in major cities around the country.
Feeding America, a non-profit organization that supports 200 food storage centers and 60,000 pantries nationwide, reports that the country’s food banks have provided the equivalent of more than 4.2 billion meals since March, a 50% increase compared to a year ago and 40% of the people who come to such pantries are first-time visitors. A Consumer Reports survey of grocery shoppers found that nearly a fifth of them had turned to a food pantry since the pandemic began (half of whom hadn’t sought such help at all in 2019). In March, before the first wave of Covid-19 began to peak, 18 million Americans already used food pantries; by August, that number had climbed to 22 million, even though an additional 6.2 million people had received benefits from SNAP (the food-stamp program in common parlance) between March and May alone. By early July, 37.4 million people had signed up for SNAP compared to 35.7 million for all of last year.
Little wonder, then, that food banks, facing a tsunami of demand, have struggled to stay stocked amid rising prices, shortages, reduced donations from big chain supermarkets, and disrupted supply chains. It’s also become even harder for them to raise the money they need to operate. Not a few have buckled under the strain and many have been forced to shut down. Pantries have also had a hard time mustering volunteers, in part because seniors, particularly vulnerable to the virus, made up a significant segment of such helpers. Not surprisingly, then, food banks and pantries have battled to function or simply survive in these months, while also having to implement an array of cumbersome and costly safety measures to keep volunteers, staff, and clients infection-free.
Despite their heroic role, such food banks and pantries are the equivalent of the proverbial finger in the dike. For Covid-induced food insecurity and hunger to decline significantly, the third wave of infections will have to subside and Congress will have to offer more effective aid. The Trump administration’s recent proposal, blessed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, to provide a one-shot $600 check to all adults (whether they’re unemployed or not) certainly isn’t. At the same time, vaccines will have to be produced in sufficient quantities and distributed rapidly. (We are far from ready on that front.) All this in a country where striking numbers of people look askance at vaccination — in a December survey only 63% of Americans said they would be willing to get vaccinated against Covid-19 — and are also drawn to conspiracy mongers whose appeal has grown, thanks in part to social media.
Once the virus is vanquished or at least brought under reasonable control, the economy can be reopened. Then, many of the nearly 11 million at-present unemployed people will perhaps have a shot at working again or having their employers end reduced hours and cut wages.
Here’s hoping that these various stars align by summer 2021. We can then revert to pre-pandemic normalcy, even though that state of affairs was marked by substantial poverty — 34 million people last year — and rising inequality.
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truthout--2020-12-15--DeSantis Sued for Withholding White House Report Slamming His COVID Response

Two Florida newspapers sued Gov .
Ron DeSantis after the Republican withheld a White House Coronavirus Task Force report urging the state to impose stricter coronavirus restrictions amid a large spike in infections in the Sunshine State .
The Orlando Sentinel and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel filed a lawsuit last week accusing the governor of violating the Public Records Act by withholding weekly White House Coronavirus Task Force reports that provide information about the spread of the virus and medical guidance to contain the spread .
“ The state has given us no explanation as to why this crucial health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Anderson , the editor in chief of both newspapers , told the Associated Press .
“ We had no choice but to ask a court to intervene to uphold the public records law.
” The lawsuit came after the Center for Public Integrity obtained a December 6 report urging stricter restrictions during the holidays .
“ Florida has seen stability in new cases , an increase in test positivity , and increasing hospitalizations and deaths , indicating unrelenting community spread and inadequate mitigation , ” said the report from the White House Coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Vice President Mike Pence and Dr. Deborah Birx .
DeSantis has refused to release the reports since the start of December despite weekly requests from the newspapers .
The lawsuit notes that Trump ’ s White House has urged for the reports to be “ widely ” distributed .
“ No public records law exemption exists that would prevent the inspection or copying of the weekly reports requested , ” the lawsuit says , adding that the “ delay in providing the requested reports is unreasonable , unjustified and amounts to an unlawful @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public is entitled to timely access of these reports going forward.
” Some states , including other Republican-led states , publish the weekly reports online , according to the AP .
“ Despite the threat the virus continues to pose to Floridians , [ Desantis and his office ] have engaged in a pattern of concealment and suppression by steadfastly refusing to comply with the Public Records Act and delaying access to weekly White House Coronavirus Task Force reports , ” the lawsuit alleges .
“ The public can not continue to wait @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reports and timely access is critical going forward.
” DeSantis has adamantly pushed back on implementing restrictions to contain the spread in the state , which has reported nearly 20,000 deaths and more than 1.1 million infections .
The governor has issued multiple executive orders limiting cities ’ abilities to enforce mask mandates and close businesses .
“ No one ’ s losing their job because of a government dictate , ” he declared earlier this month .
“ Nobody ’ s losing their livelihood or their business.
” The White House report @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public gatherings and urge mask-wearing .
DeSantis has claimed that the situation will improve once vaccines are available to the public but the White House report noted that there won ’ t be enough vaccines available until “ late spring.
” He even suggested against medical guidelines that a single dose of the two-dose vaccines manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna may be enough , even as he acknowledged that “ I ’ m not sure that Pfizer would agree or FDA would agree.
” DeSantis has frequently come under fire for failing to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s residents and flouting public health guidelines .
The governor , his wife , and their two young children were pictured maskless at a packed high school football game on Friday .
The couple is even planning a holiday reception for state legislators at the governor ’ s mansion on Monday despite medical recommendations , Politico reported .
DeSantis has also been repeatedly accused of concealing or manipulating coronavirus data .
Medical examiners sounded the alarm in the spring after the state stopped publishing real-time data on coronavirus deaths .
Rebekah Jones @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the state ’ s public coronavirus data dashboard , was fired after she alleged she was asked to “ manipulate ” data to back DeSantis ’ push to reopen the state in May , which DeSantis denied .
Jones ’ home was raided by armed police serving a warrant signed by a recent DeSantis-appointee last week after she was accused of improperly accessing the state ’ s internal emergency alert system , which she denied .
The raid prompted another DeSantis appointee to quit in protest , arguing that the raid was politically @ @ @ @ @ @ @ raid , Jones accused DeSantis of trying to “ intimidate ” scientists into silence and alleged the state was still manipulating data .
“ The manipulation is most prevalent in Florida with our statistics and reporting on death and hospitalization , ” she told Salon , claiming that death data still has a “ very long delay ” and ICU bed data is underreported .
She added that the percent positivity rate used in Florida is “ useless ” and is not used by any “ other state in the country.
” Jones @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which his office has repeatedly denied , and claimed police seized “ evidence of corruption ” stored on her computers .
“ This was DeSantis .
He sent the gestapo , ” she tweeted .
“ This is what happens to scientists who do their job honestly .
This is what happens to people who speak truth to power .
”

Two Florida newspapers sued Gov. Ron DeSantis after the Republican withheld a White House Coronavirus Task Force report urging the state to impose stricter coronavirus restrictions amid a large spike in infections in the Sunshine State.
The Orlando Sentinel and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel filed a lawsuit last week accusing the governor of violating the Public Records Act by withholding weekly White House Coronavirus Task Force reports that provide information about the spread of the virus and medical guidance to contain the spread. “The state has given us no explanation as to why this crucial health information should be withheld,” Julie Anderson, the editor in chief of both newspapers, told the Associated Press. “We had no choice but to ask a court to intervene to uphold the public records law.”
The lawsuit came after the Center for Public Integrity obtained a December 6 report urging stricter restrictions during the holidays.
“Florida has seen stability in new cases, an increase in test positivity, and increasing hospitalizations and deaths, indicating unrelenting community spread and inadequate mitigation,” said the report from the White House Coronavirus Task Force, which is headed by Vice President Mike Pence and Dr. Deborah Birx.
DeSantis has refused to release the reports since the start of December despite weekly requests from the newspapers. The lawsuit notes that Trump’s White House has urged for the reports to be “widely” distributed.
“No public records law exemption exists that would prevent the inspection or copying of the weekly reports requested,” the lawsuit says, adding that the “delay in providing the requested reports is unreasonable, unjustified and amounts to an unlawful refusal to provide the records. The public is entitled to timely access of these reports going forward.”
Some states, including other Republican-led states, publish the weekly reports online, according to the AP.
“Despite the threat the virus continues to pose to Floridians, [Desantis and his office] have engaged in a pattern of concealment and suppression by steadfastly refusing to comply with the Public Records Act and delaying access to weekly White House Coronavirus Task Force reports,” the lawsuit alleges. “The public cannot continue to wait for the crucial information contained in these reports and timely access is critical going forward.”
DeSantis has adamantly pushed back on implementing restrictions to contain the spread in the state, which has reported nearly 20,000 deaths and more than 1.1 million infections. The governor has issued multiple executive orders limiting cities’ abilities to enforce mask mandates and close businesses.
“No one’s losing their job because of a government dictate,” he declared earlier this month. “Nobody’s losing their livelihood or their business.”
The White House report urged public health officials to discourage all public gatherings and urge mask-wearing.
DeSantis has claimed that the situation will improve once vaccines are available to the public but the White House report noted that there won’t be enough vaccines available until “late spring.” He even suggested against medical guidelines that a single dose of the two-dose vaccines manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna may be enough, even as he acknowledged that “I’m not sure that Pfizer would agree or FDA would agree.”
DeSantis has frequently come under fire for failing to take stronger steps to protect his state’s residents and flouting public health guidelines. The governor, his wife, and their two young children were pictured maskless at a packed high school football game on Friday. The couple is even planning a holiday reception for state legislators at the governor’s mansion on Monday despite medical recommendations, Politico reported.
DeSantis has also been repeatedly accused of concealing or manipulating coronavirus data.
Medical examiners sounded the alarm in the spring after the state stopped publishing real-time data on coronavirus deaths. Rebekah Jones, a data scientist who helped build the state’s public coronavirus data dashboard, was fired after she alleged she was asked to “manipulate” data to back DeSantis’ push to reopen the state in May, which DeSantis denied. Jones’ home was raided by armed police serving a warrant signed by a recent DeSantis-appointee last week after she was accused of improperly accessing the state’s internal emergency alert system, which she denied. The raid prompted another DeSantis appointee to quit in protest, arguing that the raid was politically driven and “unconscionable.”
After the raid, Jones accused DeSantis of trying to “intimidate” scientists into silence and alleged the state was still manipulating data.
“The manipulation is most prevalent in Florida with our statistics and reporting on death and hospitalization,” she told Salon, claiming that death data still has a “very long delay” and ICU bed data is underreported. She added that the percent positivity rate used in Florida is “useless” and is not used by any “other state in the country.”
Jones blamed DeSantis for ordering the raid, which his office has repeatedly denied, and claimed police seized “evidence of corruption” stored on her computers.
“This was DeSantis. He sent the gestapo,” she tweeted. “This is what happens to scientists who do their job honestly. This is what happens to people who speak truth to power.”
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.
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truthout--2020-12-15--Relief Package Gives Retroactive Immunity to Corporations From COVID Lawsuits

One piece of a bipartisan Covid-19 relief package unveiled late Monday would give corporations sweeping and retroactive immunity from coronavirus-related lawsuits , a top Republican priority that civil rights groups , labor unions , and small business owners have decried as a green light for companies to endanger their employees and customers .
A summary ( pdf ) of the proposed corporate liability protections — which the bipartisan group has attached to much-needed funding for state and local governments — says that employers would not be “ subject to liability under federal employment law in Covid-19 exposure cases or change @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the employer was trying to conform to public health standards and guidance.
” Companies would only be liable in cases of “ gross negligence.
” The protections , according to the summary , would be retroactive to December 2019 and last until “ one year after enactment ” or “ the end of the coronavirus public health emergency ” — whichever comes later .
The proposal would also empower the U.S. attorney general to “ investigate and bring a civil action ” against lawyers for sending “ meritless demand letters ” on behalf @ @ @ @ @ @ @ HuffPost reported late Monday , the summary language “ tracks closely ” with the liability shield proposed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ( R-Ky. ) and Sen. John Cornyn ( R-Texas ) , who have warned of an “ epidemic ” of coronavirus-related lawsuits that has not materialized .
“ The slightly watered-down lawsuit ban would still trump labor laws and stifle OSHA enforcement , ” noted HuffPost ’ s Arthur Delaney .
The bipartisan group has yet to fully reach an agreement on the details of the liability protections , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sens .
Mark Warner ( D-Va. ) , Joe Manchin ( D-W.Va. ) and Jeanne Shaheen ( D-N.H. ) — have reportedly indicated a willingness to accept GOP demands .
Rep. Josh Gottheimer ( D-N.J. ) said Monday that “ some tweaks on liability and worker protection ” are needed to reach a deal .
Debbie Berkowitz , director of the Worker Safety and Health program at the National Employment Law Project , warned during a press call Monday that , if passed , corporate liability protections would “ lead to more illness @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s Andrew Perez , Julia Rock , and David Sirota reported early Tuesday that draft liability legislation circulating on Capitol Hill would “ shield employers and healthcare industry executives from legal consequences when their business decisions injure or kill workers , customers , and patients during the Covid-19 outbreak.
” The draft , according to The Daily Poster , includes a provision that would “ restrict the enforcement of longstanding laws such as the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 , the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and the Civil Rights @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are attempting to comply with governments ’ coronavirus guidance.
” The legislation would also “ shield healthcare executives from lawsuits through language copied word-for-word from a statute passed in New York by Democratic Gov .
Andrew Cuomo amid a spate of Covid deaths in that state ’ s nursing homes.
” Michael Duff , a former National Labor Relations Board official , told The Daily Poster that the draft legislation would have the effect of “ substantially immunizing businesses from risky conduct.
” “ What they want to do in this bill is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gets to a jury , ” said Duff .
“ It means that a judge has the authority to dismiss a case right upfront .
Because there ’ s no way that plaintiffs are going to be able to meet this standard — gross negligence.
” It is unclear whether the liability protections will make their way into any final coronavirus relief package .
McConnell , who has described corporate immunity provisions as his “ red line , ” has proposed dropping both the liability shield and aid to state and local governments @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Steny Hoyer ( D-Md . )
said Democrats may be able to stomach , despite the importance of state and local aid .
In addition to the package with liability protections and state and local aid , the bipartisan group late Monday also released a $ 748 billion bill that includes key priorities such as an extension of emergency unemployment programs , funding for nutrition and rental assistance , and money for vaccine distribution .
Sen. Bernie Sanders ( I-Vt. ) immediately rejected the bipartisan offer as “ totally inadequate ” and urged @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) to do so as well , citing its omission of direct payments to economically desperate Americans .
“ Congress can not go home for the Christmas holidays until we pass legislation which provides a $ 1,200 direct payment to working class adults , $ 2,400 for couples , and a $ 500 payment to their children , ” Sanders said in a statement .
“ This is what Democrats and Republicans did unanimously in March through the CARES Act .
This is what we have to do today .
”

One piece of a bipartisan Covid-19 relief package unveiled late Monday would give corporations sweeping and retroactive immunity from coronavirus-related lawsuits, a top Republican priority that civil rights groups, labor unions, and small business owners have decried as a green light for companies to endanger their employees and customers.
A summary (pdf) of the proposed corporate liability protections — which the bipartisan group has attached to much-needed funding for state and local governments — says that employers would not be “subject to liability under federal employment law in Covid-19 exposure cases or change in working conditions related to Covid-19 if the employer was trying to conform to public health standards and guidance.” Companies would only be liable in cases of “gross negligence.”
The protections, according to the summary, would be retroactive to December 2019 and last until “one year after enactment” or “the end of the coronavirus public health emergency” — whichever comes later. The proposal would also empower the U.S. attorney general to “investigate and bring a civil action” against lawyers for sending “meritless demand letters” on behalf of clients exposed to Covid-19.
As HuffPost reported late Monday, the summary language “tracks closely” with the liability shield proposed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who have warned of an “epidemic” of coronavirus-related lawsuits that has not materialized.
“The slightly watered-down lawsuit ban would still trump labor laws and stifle OSHA enforcement,” noted HuffPost’s Arthur Delaney.
The bipartisan group has yet to fully reach an agreement on the details of the liability protections, but several Democrats involved in the negotiations — Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) — have reportedly indicated a willingness to accept GOP demands.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) said Monday that “some tweaks on liability and worker protection” are needed to reach a deal.
Debbie Berkowitz, director of the Worker Safety and Health program at the National Employment Law Project, warned during a press call Monday that, if passed, corporate liability protections would “lead to more illness and death.”
The Daily Poster’s Andrew Perez, Julia Rock, and David Sirota reported early Tuesday that draft liability legislation circulating on Capitol Hill would “shield employers and healthcare industry executives from legal consequences when their business decisions injure or kill workers, customers, and patients during the Covid-19 outbreak.”
The draft, according to The Daily Poster, includes a provision that would “restrict the enforcement of longstanding laws such as the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when companies say they are attempting to comply with governments’ coronavirus guidance.”
The legislation would also “shield healthcare executives from lawsuits through language copied word-for-word from a statute passed in New York by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo amid a spate of Covid deaths in that state’s nursing homes.”
New tonight at the @dailyposter: We have a copy of the bipartisan corporate immunity legislation circulating on Capitol Hill. It’s absolutely fucking insane. Story w/ @jul1arock and @davidsirota https://t.co/BJwKjLYlPj — Andrew Perez (@andrewperezdc) December 15, 2020
Michael Duff, a former National Labor Relations Board official, told The Daily Poster that the draft legislation would have the effect of “substantially immunizing businesses from risky conduct.”
“What they want to do in this bill is throw every lawsuit out before it conceivably gets to a jury,” said Duff. “It means that a judge has the authority to dismiss a case right upfront. Because there’s no way that plaintiffs are going to be able to meet this standard — gross negligence.”
It is unclear whether the liability protections will make their way into any final coronavirus relief package. McConnell, who has described corporate immunity provisions as his “red line,” has proposed dropping both the liability shield and aid to state and local governments — a suggestion that House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Democrats may be able to stomach, despite the importance of state and local aid.
In addition to the package with liability protections and state and local aid, the bipartisan group late Monday also released a $748 billion bill that includes key priorities such as an extension of emergency unemployment programs, funding for nutrition and rental assistance, and money for vaccine distribution.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) immediately rejected the bipartisan offer as “totally inadequate” and urged Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to do so as well, citing its omission of direct payments to economically desperate Americans.
“Congress cannot go home for the Christmas holidays until we pass legislation which provides a $1,200 direct payment to working class adults, $2,400 for couples, and a $500 payment to their children,” Sanders said in a statement. “This is what Democrats and Republicans did unanimously in March through the CARES Act. This is what we have to do today.”
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--2020-12-15--Stephen Miller: Trump Can Still Win With “Alternate” Electoral College Electors

On Monday , electors across the country participated in the Electoral College , the official mechanism for choosing the next president of the United States .
But while the official voting was taking place , a group of Republicans supportive of President Donald Trump ’ s false claims of election fraud took part in an “ alternate ” version of the Electoral College , which is apparently supported by the White House itself .
Appearing on Fox News on Monday , Trump ’ s senior adviser Stephen Miller explained that the separate group of individuals in a number of states @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would be putting forward their own votes , contradicting President-elect Joe Biden ’ s indisputable victory in states like Wisconsin , Georgia , Pennsylvania and Michigan .
Miller asserted , wrongly , that the move fits with the rules of the U.S. Constitution .
“ The only date in the Constitution is January 20 , ” Miller said on the program .
“ So we have more than enough time to right the wrong of this fraudulent election result and certify Donald Trump as the winner of the election.
” While electors cast @ @ @ @ @ @ @ alternate slate of electors in contested states is going to vote and we ’ re going to send those results up to Congress , ” Miller went on to say .
“ This will ensure that all of our legal remedies remain open .
That means if we win these cases in the courts , that we can direct that the alternate slate of electors be certified.
” Miller ’ s assertions , however , do not comport with the laws or Constitution of the United States .
There is no provision in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ legal code and state electoral processes , that allows for an “ alternate ” slate of electors to be used in the Electoral College to vote for a candidate for president , in the event of a court challenge .
Article II of the U.S. Constitution states that “ Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors , and the day on which they shall give their votes ; which day shall be the same throughout the United States.
” According to U.S. Code , that date has been set to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ second Wednesday in December ” — which , in this year ’ s presidential election , was Monday , December 14 .
Beyond that , well before the January 20 date Miller cited , the certification of the Electoral College votes by Congress occurs on January 6 .
While it ’ s true that the certification can be objected to , rejecting one or multiple electors ’ votes requires approval from both houses of Congress to happen .
Some lawmakers have indicated their intent to object to the official Electoral College tally next @ @ @ @ @ @ @ House of Representatives is controlled by the Democratic Party ( and that Senate control is not yet determined ) , it would be very unlikely that such objections would be effective .
Most election experts have noted that the scheme Miller discussed on Monday morning would not hold up under the current interpretation of U.S. law , nor under state laws where the “ alternate ” votes are happening .
“ They have no authority if they ’ re just saying they ’ re self-appointed , and even if they were appointed by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ late , ” contested elections expert Ned Foley , law professor at Ohio State University , said in an interview with Vice .
“ You ’ d have to get some authority under state law beforehand for these electors to matter.
” None of the “ alternate ” groups of electors received such authority .

Neither the U.S. Constitution, nor federal or state laws, back up Miller’s claims about “alternate” electors.
On Monday, electors across the country participated in the Electoral College, the official mechanism for choosing the next president of the United States. But while the official voting was taking place, a group of Republicans supportive of President Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud took part in an “alternate” version of the Electoral College, which is apparently supported by the White House itself.
Appearing on Fox News on Monday, Trump’s senior adviser Stephen Miller explained that the separate group of individuals in a number of states the president’s campaign has contested would be putting forward their own votes, contradicting President-elect Joe Biden’s indisputable victory in states like Wisconsin, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
Miller asserted, wrongly, that the move fits with the rules of the U.S. Constitution.
“The only date in the Constitution is January 20,” Miller said on the program. “So we have more than enough time to right the wrong of this fraudulent election result and certify Donald Trump as the winner of the election.”
While electors cast their votes for president, “an alternate slate of electors in contested states is going to vote and we’re going to send those results up to Congress,” Miller went on to say. “This will ensure that all of our legal remedies remain open. That means if we win these cases in the courts, that we can direct that the alternate slate of electors be certified.”
Stephen Miller on Fox & Friends says "an alternative" group of electors is also voting today: "As we speak, an alternate slate of electors in the contested states is going to vote and we are going to send those results to Congress."pic.twitter.com/5kIkfsbOFw — Travis Akers (@travisakers) December 14, 2020
Miller’s assertions, however, do not comport with the laws or Constitution of the United States.
There is no provision in the Constitution, nor within the federal legal code and state electoral processes, that allows for an “alternate” slate of electors to be used in the Electoral College to vote for a candidate for president, in the event of a court challenge.
Article II of the U.S. Constitution states that “Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same throughout the United States.” According to U.S. Code, that date has been set to be “on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December” — which, in this year’s presidential election, was Monday, December 14.
Beyond that, well before the January 20 date Miller cited, the certification of the Electoral College votes by Congress occurs on January 6. While it’s true that the certification can be objected to, rejecting one or multiple electors’ votes requires approval from both houses of Congress to happen.
Some lawmakers have indicated their intent to object to the official Electoral College tally next month. However, given that the House of Representatives is controlled by the Democratic Party (and that Senate control is not yet determined), it would be very unlikely that such objections would be effective.
Most election experts have noted that the scheme Miller discussed on Monday morning would not hold up under the current interpretation of U.S. law, nor under state laws where the “alternate” votes are happening.
“They have no authority if they’re just saying they’re self-appointed, and even if they were appointed by the legislature, it’s too late,” contested elections expert Ned Foley, law professor at Ohio State University, said in an interview with Vice. “You’d have to get some authority under state law beforehand for these electors to matter.”
None of the “alternate” groups of electors received such authority.
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--2020-12-16--HHS Aide Pushed Herd Immunity to Trump COVID Officials: “We Want Them Infected”

A number of emails from a former science adviser in the Department of Health and Human Services ( HHS ) showcases how some in the Trump administration have , for several months , pushed for and promoted the idea of so-called natural “ herd immunity.
” Herd immunity is the idea that if a large enough proportion of a community develops antibodies for a particular virus , it significantly reduces the virus ’ s ability to spread .
Typically achieved through vaccinations , the threshold for herd immunity is reached when between 80 and 90 percent of the population has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ immunity can be reached in another , more controversial way : naturally , by allowing a virus to flourish without making attempts to quell its spread .
Doing so , however , typically comes at great human cost , and many health experts have likened the idea to eugenics .
Countries that have attempted to use natural herd immunity to deal with COVID-19 have seen that it failed to work , costing more lives than would have been lost had they implemented other methods like social distancing measures and the wearing of masks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , former HHS science adviser Paul Alexander , who served under HHS assistant secretary for public affairs Michael Caputo up until the end of this past summer , was regularly pressing officials in the Trump administration to accept this controversial idea .
“ There is no other way , we need to establish herd , and it only comes about allowing the non-high risk groups expose themselves to the virus .
PERIOD , ” Alexander wrote to Caputo and six other senior officials in an email on July 4 .
Alexander expressed a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ infected .
“ Infants , kids , teens , young people , young adults , middle aged with no conditions etc .
have zero to little risk … so we use them to develop herd … we want them infected , ” Alexander insisted .
In a second email , sent 20 days later to Caputo , Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn , and eight other officials , Alexander repeated his thoughts on purposely infecting “ kids and young folk ” in order to get “ natural immunity.
” And in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he complained to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) director Robert Redfield about failing to try and infect more young individuals with coronavirus .
“ We essentially took off the battlefield the most potent weapon we had … younger healthy people , children , teens , young people who we needed to fastly [ sic ] infect themselves , spread it around , develop immunity , and help stop the spread , ” Alexander said .
While it ’ s true that children and younger adults are less susceptible to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are not 100 percent safe from it either .
Beyond not being as safe from the virus as Alexander made them out to be , children pose another problem when it comes to coronavirus : they are just as likely to contract it , albeit perhaps without symptoms in most cases , and spread it to others as much as any other age group .
Thus , children can unwittingly endanger people they come in contact with , especially older populations that are at higher risk and those who have compromised immune systems.. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s views on herd immunity “ absolutely did not ” shape strategy within the department on COVID-19 .
However , former CDC chief of staff Kyle McGowan , who left his position in the summer , suggested otherwise , while speaking to Politico on the matter .
“ It was understood that [ Alexander ] spoke for Michael Caputo , who spoke for the White House , McGowan said .
“ That ’ s how they wanted it to be perceived.
” Alexander left his position at HHS in September , following @ @ @ @ @ @ @ department attempted to interfere with a CDC report on coronavirus morbidity .
The alterations were meant to help fit Trump ’ s narratives on the pandemic , and sought to retroactively change reports that the president thought wrongly inflated the risks associated with the virus .
Among the complaints Alexander had with the reports he sought to alter , he wrote in an email that Redfield and the CDC “ tried to report as if once kids get together , there will be spread and this will impact school re-opening.
” The White @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not promoting the concept of natural herd immunity as a means to deal with COVID-19 .
However , the actions of several officials in the administration , as well as those of President Donald Trump himself , seem to suggest otherwise .
In October , for instance , members of the White House promoted a petition that was allegedly signed by thousands of doctors who embraced the idea of herd immunity .
The petition , however , included fake names , many of them based on pranks , like Dr. I.P .
Freely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Johnny Bananas .
Just last week , Trump also appeared to endorse herd immunity when he suggested at a White House vaccine event that millions of Americans getting infected with coronavirus was somehow a good development .
“ I hear we ’ re close to 15 percent , I ’ m hearing that , and that ’ s terrific , that ’ s a very powerful vaccine in itself , ” Trump claimed .
Reaching that threshold came at a tremendous cost , however , as nearly 17 million Americans have contracted the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ still dealing or likely to deal with the long term effects of COVID-19 for quite some time .
As of Wednesday afternoon , 305,934 Americans have died from COVID-19 as well .

So-called “natural” herd immunity has been widely discredited by health experts as an ineffective way to tackle COVID.
A number of emails from a former science adviser in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) showcases how some in the Trump administration have, for several months, pushed for and promoted the idea of so-called natural “herd immunity.”
Herd immunity is the idea that if a large enough proportion of a community develops antibodies for a particular virus, it significantly reduces the virus’s ability to spread. Typically achieved through vaccinations, the threshold for herd immunity is reached when between 80 and 90 percent of the population has been exposed to a virus.
Herd immunity can be reached in another, more controversial way: naturally, by allowing a virus to flourish without making attempts to quell its spread. Doing so, however, typically comes at great human cost, and many health experts have likened the idea to eugenics. Countries that have attempted to use natural herd immunity to deal with COVID-19 have seen that it failed to work, costing more lives than would have been lost had they implemented other methods like social distancing measures and the wearing of masks.
According to emails obtained by Congress, former HHS science adviser Paul Alexander, who served under HHS assistant secretary for public affairs Michael Caputo up until the end of this past summer, was regularly pressing officials in the Trump administration to accept this controversial idea.
“There is no other way, we need to establish herd, and it only comes about allowing the non-high risk groups expose themselves to the virus. PERIOD,” Alexander wrote to Caputo and six other senior officials in an email on July 4.
Alexander expressed a desire to purposely allow children to get infected.
“Infants, kids, teens, young people, young adults, middle aged with no conditions etc. have zero to little risk … so we use them to develop herd … we want them infected,” Alexander insisted.
In a second email, sent 20 days later to Caputo, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn, and eight other officials, Alexander repeated his thoughts on purposely infecting “kids and young folk” in order to get “natural immunity.”
And in an email sent on July 27, he complained to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Robert Redfield about failing to try and infect more young individuals with coronavirus.
“We essentially took off the battlefield the most potent weapon we had … younger healthy people, children, teens, young people who we needed to fastly [sic] infect themselves, spread it around, develop immunity, and help stop the spread,” Alexander said.
While it’s true that children and younger adults are less susceptible to the detrimental effects of coronavirus, they are not 100 percent safe from it either. Beyond not being as safe from the virus as Alexander made them out to be, children pose another problem when it comes to coronavirus: they are just as likely to contract it, albeit perhaps without symptoms in most cases, and spread it to others as much as any other age group. Thus, children can unwittingly endanger people they come in contact with, especially older populations that are at higher risk and those who have compromised immune systems..
A spokesperson from HHS said that Alexander’s views on herd immunity “absolutely did not” shape strategy within the department on COVID-19. However, former CDC chief of staff Kyle McGowan, who left his position in the summer, suggested otherwise, while speaking to Politico on the matter.
“It was understood that [Alexander] spoke for Michael Caputo, who spoke for the White House, McGowan said. “That’s how they wanted it to be perceived.”
Alexander left his position at HHS in September, following reports that he and others in the department attempted to interfere with a CDC report on coronavirus morbidity. The alterations were meant to help fit Trump’s narratives on the pandemic, and sought to retroactively change reports that the president thought wrongly inflated the risks associated with the virus.
Among the complaints Alexander had with the reports he sought to alter, he wrote in an email that Redfield and the CDC “tried to report as if once kids get together, there will be spread and this will impact school re-opening.”
The White House has long claimed that it is not promoting the concept of natural herd immunity as a means to deal with COVID-19. However, the actions of several officials in the administration, as well as those of President Donald Trump himself, seem to suggest otherwise.
In October, for instance, members of the White House promoted a petition that was allegedly signed by thousands of doctors who embraced the idea of herd immunity. The petition, however, included fake names, many of them based on pranks, like Dr. I.P. Freely, Dr. Person Fakename and Dr. Johnny Bananas.
Just last week, Trump also appeared to endorse herd immunity when he suggested at a White House vaccine event that millions of Americans getting infected with coronavirus was somehow a good development.
“I hear we’re close to 15 percent, I’m hearing that, and that’s terrific, that’s a very powerful vaccine in itself,” Trump claimed.
Reaching that threshold came at a tremendous cost, however, as nearly 17 million Americans have contracted the virus so far, many of them still dealing or likely to deal with the long term effects of COVID-19 for quite some time. As of Wednesday afternoon, 305,934 Americans have died from COVID-19 as well.
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--2020-12-16--Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Neighbors Are Trying to Block His Return

For the next 35 days , Donald J. Trump will remain one of the very most powerful men in the world .
At his disposal is the entirety of the U.S. military — Army , Navy , Marines and Air Force — the most expensive high-tech killing machine ever devised .
Within the gears of this war force are specialists — snipers , SEAL teams , missile techs — whose only job is to make people dead before they know they ’ ve had an accident .
The thousands of nuclear weapons coiled in their various lairs — also subject @ @ @ @ @ @ @ entirely for themselves .
The might of the federal government is Trump ’ s to deploy , which he has done at least once , against peaceful protesters for a photo-op outside a church at Lafayette Square .
ICE is practically his private army at the border .
While his relationship with his own government has been dicey at best through these four long years , FBI Director Christopher Wray and whoever is going to warm William Barr ’ s seat at the Justice Department until January 20 will answer the phone if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , CIA and DEA .
Politically , Donald Trump remains a juggernaut within the Republican Party .
More than 71 million people voted for him in November , an astonishing number until you note the 80 million votes given to his opponent , Joe Biden .
Despite all of his lethal failures amid the blizzard of challenges facing the nation , Trump still holds the GOP in a vise grip because of those voters , and specifically because of his core base within that count , who would still turn out to vote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a live puppy on the White House lawn .
For a time anyway , Trump will still be able to bathe himself in the adulation of his maskless followers .
They will fill aircraft hangars , halls and stadiums to hear him vomit his scattershot grievances into the COVID wind , and they will roar , because his grievances and grudges are theirs , because they are his .
Authoritarian systems do not focus on party , policy or moral priorities .
They focus on the person at the apex of the pyramid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their golden calf .
Irony and hypocrisy elude them , as it ever eludes all who cleave to racist nationalism under the bleeding banner of a white Christ .
They love him so .
They will always love him so .
“ Sic transit gloria mundi , ” as they used to say in Rome .
So passes worldly glory .
In 35 days , Donald Trump has some problems to contend with .
Past presidents , upon completion of their terms , have returned to their homes in varying degrees of triumph @ @ @ @ @ @ @ return to San Clemente unharmed by the consequences of his failed presidency .
This president ?
Not so much .
After Trump voiced his intention to live at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida , his would-be neighbors started working diligently to bar the door .
“ Next-door neighbors of Mar-a-Lago , President Trump ’ s private club in Palm Beach , Fla. , that he has called his Winter White House , have a message for the outgoing commander in chief : We don ’ t want you to be our neighbor , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the early 1990s , when Trump was going bankrupt again , he flipped Mar-a-Lago ’ s residency status from a home to a club in order to avoid paying millions in maintenance for the grounds .
There are rules in place regarding use of a private club as a permanent residence , and nearly 30 years later , his Palm Beach neighbors hope to forever end the incredible disruptions that come with having Trump next door .
“ Basically he ’ s playing a dead hand , ” neighbor Glenn Zeitz told @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not going to intimidate or bluff people because we ’ re going to be there.
” But hey , it ’ s not as if this soon-to-be ex-president is without options , right ?
That monument to money laundering known as Trump Tower still stands , but Trump may find it a lonely estate .
The two people closest to him in the world — daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared — are finding that they have earned the unending hate of the Big Apple ’ s hoi polloi .
For now at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in across the river in New Jersey , where the jeers and insults of their former friends can ’ t be heard , mostly .
Trump can look forward to more company than he ’ d like in five weeks .
New York State Attorney General Letitia James isn ’ t waiting for him to depart ( or be thrown out of ) the White House , and has dropped the first of what I expect will be many subpoenas on the Trump Organization , this one seeking documents regarding a shady real @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) .
Also lurking is Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance , who literally has the receipts and is ready to do some big game hunting in his back yard .
And then , of course , there is the debt .
The recent revelations within Trump ’ s tax documents show him more than a billion dollars in the hole , with half of that coming due in the next couple of years .
“ He hasn ’ t turned the White House into his personal ATM machine because he loves money like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wrote back in September .
“ He ’ s doing it to stave off looming financial disaster ; he ’ s looting the Treasury not simply because he can , but because he absolutely has to if he wants to avoid getting pauperized by his own horrid business instincts .
He ’ s using gobs of our cash to plug the gaping holes in his sinking ship.
” There is strong anecdotal evidence to suggest Trump ’ s little Alamo number after the election is all an act to allow him to keep @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voters as are willing to write a check .
If he concedes , the money stops .
This has led to some genuinely hilarious friction within the GOP , specifically regarding the two Senate runoff elections in Georgia .
“ President Donald Trump couldn ’ t make it any clearer : He needs his supporters to fork over cash for the all-important Georgia Senate runoff elections , ” reports Politico .
“ ‘ We MUST defend Georgia from the Dems !
’ he wrote in one recent text message .
‘ I need @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ’ he said in another .
‘ Help us WIN both Senate races in Georgia & STOP Socialist Dems , ’ he pleaded a few days later .
There ’ s just one hitch : Trump ’ s new political machine is pocketing most of the dough — and the campaigns of the Georgia senators competing in the Jan. 5 races aren ’ t getting a cent.
” That , right there , is some bare-knuckled grifting .
When the movers come to clear all things Trump from the building next month @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In a way , however , that move has already begun .
After the states handed in their Electoral College votes earlier this week , nailing down a Biden victory that was never really in question for those who deal in facts , Trump ’ s little matchstick soldiers in Congress began to topple .
Yesterday , no lesser light than Mitch McConnell finally congratulated “ President-elect Biden ” for his victory , eliciting howls of bitter protest from the Oval Office .
This was Mitch claiming the mantle of party leadership from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has the great powers of his office , and retains the snarling devotion of his mob… but the truth of real power is that it resides where people believe it resides .
McConnell , with that one statement , swept Trump ’ s pieces off the board in full view of Congress .
Any Senator who thinks to join in an elector challenge on January 6 just got a memo from the real boss : Nope .
“ My name is Ozymandias , King of Kings ; Look on my Works , ye @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the beloved verse from Shelley ’ s classic poem .
Yet the poem is incomplete without its final following lines : “ Nothing beside remains .
Round the decay of that colossal Wreck , boundless and bare the lone and level sands stretch far away .
”

For the next 35 days, Donald J. Trump will remain one of the very most powerful men in the world. At his disposal is the entirety of the U.S. military — Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force — the most expensive high-tech killing machine ever devised. Within the gears of this war force are specialists — snipers, SEAL teams, missile techs — whose only job is to make people dead before they know they’ve had an accident. The thousands of nuclear weapons coiled in their various lairs — also subject to Trump’s orders — speak entirely for themselves.
The might of the federal government is Trump’s to deploy, which he has done at least once, against peaceful protesters for a photo-op outside a church at Lafayette Square. ICE is practically his private army at the border. While his relationship with his own government has been dicey at best through these four long years, FBI Director Christopher Wray and whoever is going to warm William Barr’s seat at the Justice Department until January 20 will answer the phone if Trump calls, as will the IRS, CIA and DEA.
Politically, Donald Trump remains a juggernaut within the Republican Party. More than 71 million people voted for him in November, an astonishing number until you note the 80 million votes given to his opponent, Joe Biden. Despite all of his lethal failures amid the blizzard of challenges facing the nation, Trump still holds the GOP in a vise grip because of those voters, and specifically because of his core base within that count, who would still turn out to vote for him en masse if he ate a live puppy on the White House lawn.
For a time anyway, Trump will still be able to bathe himself in the adulation of his maskless followers. They will fill aircraft hangars, halls and stadiums to hear him vomit his scattershot grievances into the COVID wind, and they will roar, because his grievances and grudges are theirs, because they are his. Authoritarian systems do not focus on party, policy or moral priorities. They focus on the person at the apex of the pyramid, and in Trump they have found their golden calf. Irony and hypocrisy elude them, as it ever eludes all who cleave to racist nationalism under the bleeding banner of a white Christ. They love him so. They will always love him so.
“Sic transit gloria mundi,” as they used to say in Rome. So passes worldly glory.
In 35 days, Donald Trump has some problems to contend with. Past presidents, upon completion of their terms, have returned to their homes in varying degrees of triumph. Even Richard Nixon was able to return to San Clemente unharmed by the consequences of his failed presidency.
This president? Not so much. After Trump voiced his intention to live at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, his would-be neighbors started working diligently to bar the door. “Next-door neighbors of Mar-a-Lago, President Trump’s private club in Palm Beach, Fla., that he has called his Winter White House, have a message for the outgoing commander in chief: We don’t want you to be our neighbor,” reports The Washington Post.
Back in the early 1990s, when Trump was going bankrupt again, he flipped Mar-a-Lago’s residency status from a home to a club in order to avoid paying millions in maintenance for the grounds. There are rules in place regarding use of a private club as a permanent residence, and nearly 30 years later, his Palm Beach neighbors hope to forever end the incredible disruptions that come with having Trump next door. “Basically he’s playing a dead hand,” neighbor Glenn Zeitz told the Post. “He’s not going to intimidate or bluff people because we’re going to be there.”
When the movers come to clear all things Trump from the building next month, they better count the spoons.
But hey, it’s not as if this soon-to-be ex-president is without options, right? That monument to money laundering known as Trump Tower still stands, but Trump may find it a lonely estate. The two people closest to him in the world — daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared — are finding that they have earned the unending hate of the Big Apple’s hoi polloi. For now at least, the couple is instead bunkering in across the river in New Jersey, where the jeers and insults of their former friends can’t be heard, mostly.
Trump can look forward to more company than he’d like in five weeks. New York State Attorney General Letitia James isn’t waiting for him to depart (or be thrown out of) the White House, and has dropped the first of what I expect will be many subpoenas on the Trump Organization, this one seeking documents regarding a shady real estate deal (I know, shocking). Also lurking is Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, who literally has the receipts and is ready to do some big game hunting in his back yard.
And then, of course, there is the debt.
The recent revelations within Trump’s tax documents show him more than a billion dollars in the hole, with half of that coming due in the next couple of years. “He hasn’t turned the White House into his personal ATM machine because he loves money like any good capitalist does,” I wrote back in September. “He’s doing it to stave off looming financial disaster; he’s looting the Treasury not simply because he can, but because he absolutely has to if he wants to avoid getting pauperized by his own horrid business instincts. He’s using gobs of our cash to plug the gaping holes in his sinking ship.”
There is strong anecdotal evidence to suggest Trump’s little Alamo number after the election is all an act to allow him to keep fleecing as many of those 70 million voters as are willing to write a check. If he concedes, the money stops. This has led to some genuinely hilarious friction within the GOP, specifically regarding the two Senate runoff elections in Georgia.
“President Donald Trump couldn’t make it any clearer: He needs his supporters to fork over cash for the all-important Georgia Senate runoff elections,” reports Politico. “‘We MUST defend Georgia from the Dems!’ he wrote in one recent text message. ‘I need YOU to secure a WIN in Georgia,’ he said in another. ‘Help us WIN both Senate races in Georgia & STOP Socialist Dems,’ he pleaded a few days later. There’s just one hitch: Trump’s new political machine is pocketing most of the dough — and the campaigns of the Georgia senators competing in the Jan. 5 races aren’t getting a cent.”
That, right there, is some bare-knuckled grifting. When the movers come to clear all things Trump from the building next month, they better count the spoons.
In a way, however, that move has already begun. After the states handed in their Electoral College votes earlier this week, nailing down a Biden victory that was never really in question for those who deal in facts, Trump’s little matchstick soldiers in Congress began to topple. Yesterday, no lesser light than Mitch McConnell finally congratulated “President-elect Biden” for his victory, eliciting howls of bitter protest from the Oval Office.
This was Mitch claiming the mantle of party leadership from the slowly fading president. Trump still has the great powers of his office, and retains the snarling devotion of his mob… but the truth of real power is that it resides where people believe it resides. McConnell, with that one statement, swept Trump’s pieces off the board in full view of Congress. Any Senator who thinks to join in an elector challenge on January 6 just got a memo from the real boss: Nope.
“My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!” reads the beloved verse from Shelley’s classic poem. Yet the poem is incomplete without its final following lines: “Nothing beside remains. Round the decay of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare the lone and level sands stretch far away.”
Sic transit gloria mundi.
Soon.
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--2020-12-16--The Biden Inaugural Committee Tells Americans: Don’t Come to DC to Celebrate

The Presidential Inaugural Committee for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is urging Americans not to travel to Washington D.C. this year to see the event in person , due to the continued presence of the coronavirus pandemic .
The Inaugural Committee will produce a ceremony that will instead adhere to “ vigorous health and safety protocols ” to prevent would-be attendees from contracting the virus , the group said on Tuesday .
Biden ’ s and Harris ’ s inaugurations , set to take place on January 20 , will still have some pomp and flair to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the event will be curtailed to a great degree .
“ Our goal is to create an inauguration that keeps people safe , honors the grand traditions of the Presidency , and showcases the Biden-Harris Administration ’ s renewed American vision for an inclusive , equitable , and unified citizenry , ” Inaugural Committee CEO Tony Allen said in a statement .
In a series of tweets , the official Biden Inaugural Committee Twitter account ( @ BidenInaugural ) expounded on the announcement , describing the changes to the ceremony as a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ safety of Americans , while demonstrating the strength and resilience of our country.
” “ While the inauguration will look different , we will continue to honor the inaugural traditions Americans have always known : an official outdoor swearing-in ceremony , community service events , a reimagined parade , and virtual celebrations that bring the country together , ” the Twitter account explained .
More details about the event will be released in the coming weeks , the committee also said .
The precautions for COVID-19 that Biden ’ s inauguration team is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ President Donald Trump ’ s efforts on the virus have looked like over the past year .
His recent actions highlight just how minimal the president ’ s efforts have been : over the past couple of weeks , the president has hosted a number of holiday parties at the White House where social distancing guidelines and mask-wearing to prevent the spread of coronavirus have often been ignored .
Such gatherings at the White House have been widely criticized in the past .
A similar event held at the president ’ s residence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ introduced Amy Coney Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court , was widely believed to have been a “ superspreader ” event that resulted in the virus spreading far and wide across the country , carried by attendees at the event .
Throughout his last year in office , Trump has been seriously misleading Americans about the dangers posed by coronavirus , including about the methods best suited to limit its spread .
In part because of his disinformation campaign on the virus , PolitiFact named “ coronavirus downplay and denial ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Year ” for 2020 .
“ Lies infected America in 2020 .
The very worst were not just damaging , but deadly , ” PolitiFact wrote in its assessment .
While the organization took care to note that the “ infodemic was not the work of a single person , ” PolitiFact also pointed out that it was Trump himself who frequently embraced and spread untrue conspiracy theories about coronavirus , and undermined the work of health workers and experts during the crisis .
In the article detailing the Lie of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ frequent ( and erroneous ) comparisons of coronavirus to the flu , habitually refused to wear a mask in public settings ( at one point decrying facial coverings as a political statement against his presidency ) , and often shared disinformation , such as wrongly alleging that COVID-19 death numbers were inflated .
Additionally , the organization noted how Trump admitted to journalist Bob Woodward earlier this year that he purposely downplayed the severity of COVID-19 while speaking to the public .
Since the start of the pandemic , more than 16.7 million @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and more than 303,963 have died from the virus so far .
At the beginning of the crisis , Trump had said that the spread of coronavirus would probably be limited to 15 cases , and be “ close to zero ” within a matter of days .
By April , when it was clear that it wasn ’ t going to be the case , Trump said that deaths from the virus wouldn ’ t exceed 100,000 .
In addition to the number that have died so far , it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ die from COVID by the time Trump leaves office .

The inauguration will include “virtual celebrations” in order to restrict the spread of coronavirus.
The Presidential Inaugural Committee for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is urging Americans not to travel to Washington D.C. this year to see the event in person, due to the continued presence of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Inaugural Committee will produce a ceremony that will instead adhere to “vigorous health and safety protocols” to prevent would-be attendees from contracting the virus, the group said on Tuesday.
Biden’s and Harris’s inaugurations, set to take place on January 20, will still have some pomp and flair to it, but people’s presence at the event will be curtailed to a great degree.
“Our goal is to create an inauguration that keeps people safe, honors the grand traditions of the Presidency, and showcases the Biden-Harris Administration’s renewed American vision for an inclusive, equitable, and unified citizenry,” Inaugural Committee CEO Tony Allen said in a statement.
In a series of tweets, the official Biden Inaugural Committee Twitter account (@BidenInaugural) expounded on the announcement, describing the changes to the ceremony as a means to “protect the health and safety of Americans, while demonstrating the strength and resilience of our country.”
“While the inauguration will look different, we will continue to honor the inaugural traditions Americans have always known: an official outdoor swearing-in ceremony, community service events, a reimagined parade, and virtual celebrations that bring the country together,” the Twitter account explained.
More details about the event will be released in the coming weeks, the committee also said.
The precautions for COVID-19 that Biden’s inauguration team is taking is a stark departure from what President Donald Trump’s efforts on the virus have looked like over the past year.
His recent actions highlight just how minimal the president’s efforts have been: over the past couple of weeks, the president has hosted a number of holiday parties at the White House where social distancing guidelines and mask-wearing to prevent the spread of coronavirus have often been ignored.
Such gatherings at the White House have been widely criticized in the past. A similar event held at the president’s residence earlier this year, in which he introduced Amy Coney Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court, was widely believed to have been a “superspreader” event that resulted in the virus spreading far and wide across the country, carried by attendees at the event.
Throughout his last year in office, Trump has been seriously misleading Americans about the dangers posed by coronavirus, including about the methods best suited to limit its spread. In part because of his disinformation campaign on the virus, PolitiFact named “coronavirus downplay and denial” the organization’s “Lie of the Year” for 2020.
“Lies infected America in 2020. The very worst were not just damaging, but deadly,” PolitiFact wrote in its assessment.
While the organization took care to note that the “infodemic was not the work of a single person,” PolitiFact also pointed out that it was Trump himself who frequently embraced and spread untrue conspiracy theories about coronavirus, and undermined the work of health workers and experts during the crisis.
In the article detailing the Lie of the Year, PolitiFact showcased how Trump made frequent (and erroneous) comparisons of coronavirus to the flu, habitually refused to wear a mask in public settings (at one point decrying facial coverings as a political statement against his presidency), and often shared disinformation, such as wrongly alleging that COVID-19 death numbers were inflated.
Additionally, the organization noted how Trump admitted to journalist Bob Woodward earlier this year that he purposely downplayed the severity of COVID-19 while speaking to the public.
Since the start of the pandemic, more than 16.7 million Americans have tested positive for COVID-19, and more than 303,963 have died from the virus so far.
At the beginning of the crisis, Trump had said that the spread of coronavirus would probably be limited to 15 cases, and be “close to zero” within a matter of days. By April, when it was clear that it wasn’t going to be the case, Trump said that deaths from the virus wouldn’t exceed 100,000.
In addition to the number that have died so far, it’s estimated that around 80,000 more Americans will die from COVID by the time Trump leaves office.
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.