dailysignal--2020-03-24--Trump Signs Executive Order to Prevent Price Gouging During Coronavirus Crisis

The federal government will crack down on hoarding and price gouging schemes amid the coronavirus pandemic , President Donald Trump said Monday , flanked by Attorney General William Barr .
The president signed Section 4512 of the Defense Production Act to prevent hoarding of personal protective equipment .
“ We have some people hoarding , ” Trump said in the briefing room Monday evening .
“ We want to prevent price gouging and critical resources are going to be protected in every form.
” Trump authorized Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar to designate essential health supplies—such as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gouging .
This will prevent the purchasing of certain items in high volumes .
HHS has not yet made any designation .
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham announced the president had signed the order before the press briefing .
Barr followed the president at the podium to talk about how the Justice Department would enforce the order .
“ We have started to see some evidence of potential hoarding and price gouging , ” Barr said .
“ So , earlier today , the president signed a second executive order providing the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the supply of those necessary health and medical resources.
” Barr was careful to stress what the enforcement would not affect .
“ If you have a big supply of toilet paper in your house , this is not something you have to worry about , ” Barr said .
“ But if you are sitting on a warehouse with masks , surgical masks , you will be hearing a knock on your door.
” Also during the press briefing , Trump continuously stressed , “ The cure can ’ t be worse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the need to soften restrictions on the economy .
He didn ’ t give a timeline , but said it would be weeks , not months before the economy restarted .
“ Let ’ s go to work .
Our country wasn ’ t built to be shut down , ” Trump said .
Trump , who the left attacked for calling the coronavirus the “ Chinese virus , ” said he was concerned that some people had “ nasty ” things to say to Asian Americans .
The coronavirus originated in Wuhan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ very important that we totally protect our Asian American community in the United States and all around the world , ” Trump said .
“ They ’ re amazing people and the spreading of the virus is not their fault in any way , shape , or form.
” Regarding the Senate economic stimulus bill that was held up , Trump said that Congress should “ join together to pass the Senate bill as written and avoid playing any more partisan games .
”

The federal government will crack down on hoarding and price gouging schemes amid the coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump said Monday, flanked by Attorney General William Barr.
The president signed Section 4512 of the Defense Production Act to prevent hoarding of personal protective equipment.
“We have some people hoarding,” Trump said in the briefing room Monday evening. “We want to prevent price gouging and critical resources are going to be protected in every form.”
Trump authorized Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar to designate essential health supplies—such as masks—as “scarce” to prevent price gouging. This will prevent the purchasing of certain items in high volumes. HHS has not yet made any designation.
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham announced the president had signed the order before the press briefing.
President @realDonaldTrump just signed an EO to prevent hoarding & price gouging of supplies needed in our war against the #Coronavirus. This sends a strong message – we will not let those hoarding vital supplies & price gougers to harm the health of America in this hour of need. pic.twitter.com/eksxQOVKNM — Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) March 23, 2020
Barr followed the president at the podium to talk about how the Justice Department would enforce the order.
“We have started to see some evidence of potential hoarding and price gouging,” Barr said. “So, earlier today, the president signed a second executive order providing the authority to address … hoarding that threatens the supply of those necessary health and medical resources.”
Barr was careful to stress what the enforcement would not affect.
“If you have a big supply of toilet paper in your house, this is not something you have to worry about,” Barr said. “But if you are sitting on a warehouse with masks, surgical masks, you will be hearing a knock on your door.”
Also during the press briefing, Trump continuously stressed, “The cure can’t be worse than the problem,” and indicated the need to soften restrictions on the economy. He didn’t give a timeline, but said it would be weeks, not months before the economy restarted.
“Let’s go to work. Our country wasn’t built to be shut down,” Trump said.
Trump, who the left attacked for calling the coronavirus the “Chinese virus,” said he was concerned that some people had “nasty” things to say to Asian Americans. The coronavirus originated in Wuhan, China.
“It’s very important that we totally protect our Asian American community in the United States and all around the world,” Trump said. “They’re amazing people and the spreading of the virus is not their fault in any way, shape, or form.”
Regarding the Senate economic stimulus bill that was held up, Trump said that Congress should “join together to pass the Senate bill as written and avoid playing any more partisan games.”


dailysignal--2020-03-23--Senate Democrats Again Block Coronavirus Stimulus Bill Over Desired Additions

The final shape of the Senate ’ s bill to limit the economic fallout of the coronavirus remains in doubt as Democrats , for the second straight day , blocked passage of the aid package because they want to spend more .
While President Donald Trump waited to sign some sort of “ stimulus ” bill into law , Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed to include provisions of Democrats ’ Green New Deal proposal as well as other wish-list items .
Shortly after noon Monday , Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell , R-Ky. , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on tax credits for solar and wind energy initiatives and on tougher fuel emission standards .
“ Democrats won ’ t let us fund hospitals and save small businesses unless they get the dust off the Green New Deal , ” McConnell said , adding in an apparent dig at Schumer , D-N.Y. : The “ stimulus ” legislation , which requires the votes of 60 senators to advance , mustered only votes of 49-46 Monday .
Republicans hold 53 seats in the Senate , but at least three GOP senators apparently won @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rand Paul of Kentucky tested positive for coronavirus and Mike Lee and Mitt Romney , both of Utah , have self-quarantined because of close contact with Paul .
Two other Senate Republicans , Cory Gardner of Colorado and Rick Scott of Florida , also reportedly self-quarantined because of potential exposure to the coronavirus .
Pelosi , D-Calif. , said Sunday that House Democrats would come up with their own bill .
“ It ’ s on the Senate side because that ’ s their deadline for a vote , ” Pelosi said of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ll be introducing our own bill , and hopefully it will be compatible.
” Pelosi unveiled a coronavirus stimulus package Monday that she said includes calling on Trump “ to abandon his lawsuit seeking to strike down the Affordable Care Act.
” The House speaker ’ s attempt to use the stimulus package to secure liberals ’ own priorities frustrated Republicans , many of whom took to Twitter to voice their perspectives .
Rep. Mark Walker , R-N.C. , chairman of the Republican Study Committee , tweeted before the Senate vote that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , had said the coronavirus package is “ a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision.
” Rep. French Hill , R-Ark.
, tweeted : “ Republicans & Democrats in the Senate negotiated a bipartisan deal which includes $ 75 billion for hospitals & $ 186 billion for state & local governments .
@ SpeakerPelosi & @ SenSchumer need to stop blocking critically needed funding that will provide relief & keep Americans WORKING.
” “ Let ’ s be clear about what ’ s happening right now , ” House Minority @ @ @ @ @ @ @ late Sunday night .
“ We had a bipartisan deal to deliver critical relief to hardworking families until Nancy Pelosi blew it up so she could play politics.
” “ Enough already !
” Scalise said in the tweet .
“ We ’ re in the middle of a national emergency .
Drop the partisan demands.
” Sen. Mike Braun , R-Ind.
, tweeted Monday : “ There was no need for this to be delayed–sadly @ SpeakerPelosi and @ SenSchumer hijacked the bipartisan negotiations .
We ’ re covering small business & @ @ @ @ @ @ @ loans – not bailouts or grants – so they can pay their employees .
This is urgent.
” The Senate ’ s aid package , released Thursday by Republicans , would cost about $ 2 trillion and give monetary relief to airlines and other industries slammed by the COVID-19 pandemic , as well as send checks to many Americans .
Among other provisions , couples who make up to $ 150,000 a year would get checks for $ 2,400 in the mail and individuals earning up to $ 75,000 would get checks for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ C. James said in a formal statement Sunday that the Senate legislation in its current form was economically irresponsible .
“ Like everyone , we are deeply concerned for our families , our neighbors , our friends , and the businesses we depend on .
We also are concerned by many of the provisions in the CARES Act , ” James said , adding : The Daily Signal is the multimedia news organization of The Heritage Foundation .

The final shape of the Senate’s bill to limit the economic fallout of the coronavirus remains in doubt as Democrats, for the second straight day, blocked passage of the aid package because they want to spend more.
While President Donald Trump waited to sign some sort of “stimulus” bill into law, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed to include provisions of Democrats’ Green New Deal proposal as well as other wish-list items.
Shortly after noon Monday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had harsh words for Democrats’ insistence on tax credits for solar and wind energy initiatives and on tougher fuel emission standards.
“Democrats won’t let us fund hospitals and save small businesses unless they get the dust off the Green New Deal,” McConnell said, adding in an apparent dig at Schumer, D-N.Y.:
I’d like to see Senate Democrats tell NYC doctors and nurses, who are literally overrun as we speak, that they’re filibustering hospital funding and more masks because they want to argue with the airlines over their carbon footprint.
The “stimulus” legislation, which requires the votes of 60 senators to advance, mustered only votes of 49-46 Monday.
Republicans hold 53 seats in the Senate, but at least three GOP senators apparently won’t be able to vote: Rand Paul of Kentucky tested positive for coronavirus and Mike Lee and Mitt Romney, both of Utah, have self-quarantined because of close contact with Paul.
Two other Senate Republicans, Cory Gardner of Colorado and Rick Scott of Florida, also reportedly self-quarantined because of potential exposure to the coronavirus.
Pelosi, D-Calif., said Sunday that House Democrats would come up with their own bill.
“It’s on the Senate side because that’s their deadline for a vote,” Pelosi said of Monday’s action. “We’ll be introducing our own bill, and hopefully it will be compatible.”
Pelosi unveiled a coronavirus stimulus package Monday that she said includes calling on Trump “to abandon his lawsuit seeking to strike down the Affordable Care Act.”
The House speaker’s attempt to use the stimulus package to secure liberals’ own priorities frustrated Republicans, many of whom took to Twitter to voice their perspectives.
Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., chairman of the Republican Study Committee, tweeted before the Senate vote that House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., had said the coronavirus package is “a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision.”
People are scared. People are hurting. Jobs are being lost. Retirements are being destroyed.
Yet DC Democrats just killed legislation they helped write to lift up US families and small businesses. Why? Partisan bombs and gamesmanship.
Everyone needs to get over themselves. pic.twitter.com/JgLstZ9LD9 — Rep. Mark Walker (@RepMarkWalker) March 23, 2020
Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., tweeted: “Republicans & Democrats in the Senate negotiated a bipartisan deal which includes $75 billion for hospitals & $186 billion for state & local governments. @SpeakerPelosi & @SenSchumer need to stop blocking critically needed funding that will provide relief & keep Americans WORKING.”
“Let’s be clear about what’s happening right now,” House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., tweeted late Sunday night. “We had a bipartisan deal to deliver critical relief to hardworking families until Nancy Pelosi blew it up so she could play politics.”
“Enough already!” Scalise said in the tweet. “We’re in the middle of a national emergency. Drop the partisan demands.”
Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., tweeted Monday: “There was no need for this to be delayed–sadly @SpeakerPelosi and @SenSchumer hijacked the bipartisan negotiations. We’re covering small business & workers with liquidity & larger businesses with loans – not bailouts or grants – so they can pay their employees. This is urgent.”
The Senate’s aid package, released Thursday by Republicans, would cost about $2 trillion and give monetary relief to airlines and other industries slammed by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as send checks to many Americans.
Among other provisions, couples who make up to $150,000 a year would get checks for $2,400 in the mail and individuals earning up to $75,000 would get checks for $1,200.
Heritage Foundation President Kay C. James said in a formal statement Sunday that the Senate legislation in its current form was economically irresponsible.
“Like everyone, we are deeply concerned for our families, our neighbors, our friends, and the businesses we depend on. We also are concerned by many of the provisions in the CARES Act,” James said, adding:
Legislation to keep workers connected to employers, provide stability for businesses caught in this uncertainty, and mitigate the overall economic effects of this crisis is necessary. To best accomplish these goals, legislation must be targeted, temporary, and directed exclusively at the coronavirus. This bill does not pass those tests. Generous bailouts for businesses and extremely broad federal assistance programs won’t best help those hit hardest or get our economy back up and running when the time comes. They’ll do what Washington programs often do: hurt the American people through unintended consequences while enriching a select few.
The Daily Signal is the multimedia news organization of The Heritage Foundation.


dailysignal--2020-03-20--Politicizing Pandemic? Left-Wing Groups Target White House Response to Coronavirus

Several liberal groups have launched an aggressive advertising effort attacking the Trump administration ’ s response to the coronavirus pandemic .
At least two entities financed through the left-wing organization Arabella Advisors have launched campaigns politicizing the pandemic , according to the conservative watchdog group Americans for Public Trust .
“ This is a dark-money organization that is taking advantage of a crisis , ” former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt , outside counsel for Americans for Public Trust , told The Daily Signal , referring to Arabella Advisors .
“ It should be quite offensive to the American public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are staying home and millions of Americans could lose their jobs , ” Laxalt said .
Laxalt said that it ’ s not clear how much has been spent to attack President Donald Trump over his measures to fight COVID-19 , the disease caused by the new coronavirus .
An ABC News/Ipsos poll this week found Trump had a 55 % approval rating for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic , with 43 % disapproving .
Arabella Advisors describes itself as a philanthropic consulting firm that manages its own nonprofits for “ fiscal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ initiatives .
Two of Arabella Advisors ’ nonprofits devoted primarily to progressive political causes are the New Venture Fund and the Sixteen Thirty Fund .
Pacronym , a political action committee , launched a $ 5 million ad campaign targeting the Trump administration ’ s response to COVID-19 .
Pacronym is associated with the liberal nonprofit Acronym , which is financed by the New Venture Fund , a major Arabella Advisors-sponsored program .
In 2018 , the New Venture Fund reportedly gave at least $ 250,000 to Acronym .
Acronym ’ s founder @ @ @ @ @ @ @ part of President Barack Obama ’ s 2012 reelection campaign .
Acronym also was involved in the technology problems last month that crippled the results of the Iowa Democratic caucuses .
Arabella Advisors sponsors the Sixteen Thirty Fund , which gave $ 200,000 in 2018 to American Bridge , a nonprofit run by David Brock , a conservative journalist-turned-liberal activist .
American Bridge launched an ad campaign in Michigan , Wisconsin , and Pennsylvania attacking “ Trump ’ s incompetence ” in responding to the coronavirus , The Washington Post reported .
Another @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Protect Our Care , has run ads attacking the response to the virus by Sen. Steven Daines , R-Mont .
Arabella , Pacronym , and American Bridge did not respond to inquiries from The Daily Signal on Thursday and Friday .
As of Friday afternoon , the United States has 15,219 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 201 deaths resulting from the coronavirus , according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
On Twitter , Arabella Advisors projected a far more mainstream approach to the coronavirus : Neither the Sixteen Thirty Fund @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Twitter accounts .
Laxalt , a Republican who lost a race for Nevada governor in 2018 and was that state ’ s attorney general from 2015 to 2019 , said he understands that everything gets politicized today .
But , he argued , COVID-19 presents an extraordinary circumstance .
“ Maybe in eight weeks , maybe even in four weeks , this would be acceptable , ” Laxalt said .
“ Now , it ’ s out of step at a time when the American public needs to unify .
”

Several liberal groups have launched an aggressive advertising effort attacking the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
At least two entities financed through the left-wing organization Arabella Advisors have launched campaigns politicizing the pandemic, according to the conservative watchdog group Americans for Public Trust.
“This is a dark-money organization that is taking advantage of a crisis,” former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, outside counsel for Americans for Public Trust, told The Daily Signal, referring to Arabella Advisors.
“It should be quite offensive to the American public at a time when millions of Americans are staying home and millions of Americans could lose their jobs,” Laxalt said.
Laxalt said that it’s not clear how much has been spent to attack President Donald Trump over his measures to fight COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
An ABC News/Ipsos poll this week found Trump had a 55% approval rating for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, with 43% disapproving.
JUST IN: 55% of Americans approve of Pres. Trump's management of the coronavirus crisis, compared to 43% who disapprove, according to new @ABC News/Ipsos poll. https://t.co/oNg6ZipDN2 pic.twitter.com/yVcGO0CpbD — ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) March 20, 2020
Arabella Advisors describes itself as a philanthropic consulting firm that manages its own nonprofits for “fiscal sponsorship and project incubation” of other initiatives.
Two of Arabella Advisors’ nonprofits devoted primarily to progressive political causes are the New Venture Fund and the Sixteen Thirty Fund.
Pacronym, a political action committee, launched a $5 million ad campaign targeting the Trump administration’s response to COVID-19.
Pacronym is associated with the liberal nonprofit Acronym, which is financed by the New Venture Fund, a major Arabella Advisors-sponsored program.
When asked how he would rate his response to the coronavirus crisis, Trump gave himself a 10.
His actions have been a national disaster. pic.twitter.com/SjkRt0gasB — PACRONYM (@PACRONYM) March 20, 2020
In 2018, the New Venture Fund reportedly gave at least $250,000 to Acronym.
Acronym’s founder and CEO, Tara McGowan, was part of President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign. Acronym also was involved in the technology problems last month that crippled the results of the Iowa Democratic caucuses.
Arabella Advisors sponsors the Sixteen Thirty Fund, which gave $200,000 in 2018 to American Bridge, a nonprofit run by David Brock, a conservative journalist-turned-liberal activist.
American Bridge launched an ad campaign in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania attacking “Trump’s incompetence” in responding to the coronavirus, The Washington Post reported.
.@realDonaldTrump blames China, he blames the media, but the truth is: we’re weeks behind on testing for #COVID19 because he FAILED to take this #CoronavirusPandemic seriously. https://t.co/tjgo9lxm3h — American Bridge (@American_Bridge) March 19, 2020
Another Sixteen Thirty Fund group, known as Protect Our Care, has run ads attacking the response to the virus by Sen. Steven Daines, R-Mont.
Arabella, Pacronym, and American Bridge did not respond to inquiries from The Daily Signal on Thursday and Friday.
As of Friday afternoon, the United States has 15,219 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 201 deaths resulting from the coronavirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
On Twitter, Arabella Advisors projected a far more mainstream approach to the coronavirus:
#COVID19impinv thoughts: Flexibility is key – Rapid response to direct needs now from #philanthropy. Iterative adjustment to loan repayment schedules as we learn more about the economy in #shortterm. Continued commitment to funding innovation in different sectors #longterm — Arabella Advisors (@arabellaadvisor) March 19, 2020
Neither the Sixteen Thirty Fund nor the New Venture Fund has active Twitter accounts.
Laxalt, a Republican who lost a race for Nevada governor in 2018 and was that state’s attorney general from 2015 to 2019, said he understands that everything gets politicized today. But, he argued, COVID-19 presents an extraordinary circumstance.
“Maybe in eight weeks, maybe even in four weeks, this would be acceptable,” Laxalt said. “Now, it’s out of step at a time when the American public needs to unify.”


dailysignal--2020-03-20--What Conservatives Think of Senate’s Coronavirus Aid Package

The Senate ’ s new coronavirus aid package is a mixed bag , according to a new report from The Heritage Foundation .
“ Any action that Congress takes should be targeted , temporary , and linked directly to the coronavirus epidemic in order to address the source of the economic shock while limiting any political abuse that can develop in a moment of crisis , ” states the report ’ s summary .
“ Unfortunately , the Senate ’ s coronavirus bill , the Coronavirus Aid , Relief , and Economic Security ( CARES ) Act , misses this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ industries that will exceed $ 200 billion.
” The Heritage Foundation ’ s report is titled “ The Senate ’ s Coronavirus Bill : Bailouts , Missed Opportunities , and Positive Reforms.
” The Senate ’ s aid package , which was released by Republicans Thursday and could be voted on as soon as this weekend , would cost up to $ 1 trillion .
It would give monetary relief to airlines and other industries impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic , as well as send checks to many Americans .
Among other provisions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 150,000 a year would get checks for $ 2,400 in the mail and individuals earning up to $ 75,000 would get checks for $ 1,200 , The Daily Signal ’ s Fred Lucas reported .
Individuals who make over $ 99,000 a year and couples making over $ 198,000 would not receive any federal assistance under the current legislation .
The Heritage report , authored by eight researchers focusing on health care and economics , states : The CARES Act would allocate $ 208 billion in loans and loan guarantees for three entities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ carriers , $ 8 billion for cargo air carriers , and $ 150 billion for other businesses .
“ A bailout of this magnitude of large firms and with so few taxpayer protections is unwarranted , ” the Heritage report states , adding : Instead , Heritage researchers write that businesses should first explore obtaining economic support from the private sector before turning to the federal government .
“ For instance , the firms should be required to demonstrate that they can not obtain credit from private sources on commercially reasonable terms , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for what is deemed commercially reasonable , ” the report recommends .
Sen. Mike Lee , R-Utah , said in a formal statement Thursday that any legislation must recognize that “ Americans are all in this epidemic together , ” adding : Sen. Marco Rubio , R-Fla. , said in a written statement that “ the economic uncertainty and potential global impact we are facing due to the coronavirus pandemic are unprecedented.
” Rubio urged passage of the proposed Keeping Workers Paid and Employed Act , which he introduced along with Sens .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Alexander , R-Tenn .
This bill is part of the larger Senate aid package for the coronavirus .
“ America ’ s more than 30 million small businesses—and the 59.9 million individuals they employ—today face the prospect of going bankrupt , ” Rubio added .
“ They face this threat due to no fault of their own , but because of a global pandemic that takes human lives and grinds productivity to a halt .
The Keeping Workers Paid and Employed Act is the best path forward to help businesses and their employees @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , vice president of legislative affairs at FreedomWorks , said his organization is reviewing the package and expects it to further evolve as negotiations continue .
In a statement provided to The Daily Signal , Pye wrote : Thomas A. Schatz , president of Citizens Against Government Waste , wrote in a blog post on the organization ’ s website that “ Washington needs to use every available resource to rescue the American people.
” But , he said , that does not mean a blank check to implement programs such as “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ debt .
“ Liquidity is the key to rescuing the nation from the worst potential economic impact of the coronavirus , ” Schatz said .
“ If the airlines can ’ t fly , they can ’ t pay bills .
If individuals can ’ t pay rent or buy food , they need help from the government .
This does not mean that fiscal responsibility should be completely abandoned .
The funds must be used as intended for only as long as necessary .
”

The Senate’s new coronavirus aid package is a mixed bag, according to a new report from The Heritage Foundation.
“Any action that Congress takes should be targeted, temporary, and linked directly to the coronavirus epidemic in order to address the source of the economic shock while limiting any political abuse that can develop in a moment of crisis,” states the report’s summary.
“Unfortunately, the Senate’s coronavirus bill, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, misses this mark by including special benefits to specific industries that will exceed $200 billion.”
The Heritage Foundation’s report is titled “The Senate’s Coronavirus Bill: Bailouts, Missed Opportunities, and Positive Reforms.”
The Senate’s aid package, which was released by Republicans Thursday and could be voted on as soon as this weekend, would cost up to $1 trillion. It would give monetary relief to airlines and other industries impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as send checks to many Americans.
Among other provisions, couples who make up to $150,000 a year would get checks for $2,400 in the mail and individuals earning up to $75,000 would get checks for $1,200, The Daily Signal’s Fred Lucas reported.
Individuals who make over $99,000 a year and couples making over $198,000 would not receive any federal assistance under the current legislation.
The Heritage report, authored by eight researchers focusing on health care and economics, states:
Broad-based relief is not a well-targeted prescription for this crisis. … Government supports should be targeted toward keeping people employed and supporting those who do lose their jobs due to the coronavirus crisis.
The CARES Act would allocate $208 billion in loans and loan guarantees for three entities: $50 billion for passenger air carriers, $8 billion for cargo air carriers, and $150 billion for other businesses.
“A bailout of this magnitude of large firms and with so few taxpayer protections is unwarranted,” the Heritage report states, adding:
Furthermore, turning the Treasury Department into a large investment bank with almost unlimited discretion is a recipe for cronyism, favoritism, poor results, and taxpayer losses. At the very least, firms should be able to secure loans only in amounts that are demonstrated to be directly related to their crisis-related losses.
Instead, Heritage researchers write that businesses should first explore obtaining economic support from the private sector before turning to the federal government.
“For instance, the firms should be required to demonstrate that they cannot obtain credit from private sources on commercially reasonable terms, and the legislation should establish detailed criteria for what is deemed commercially reasonable,” the report recommends.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said in a formal statement Thursday that any legislation must recognize that “Americans are all in this epidemic together,” adding:
That means fighting for broad-based action to help all Americans through the social and economic disruptions this emergency is creating. Americans are all in this epidemic together. So the federal response—from loan guarantees to tax reforms to regulatory relief to direct aid to families—should be as inclusive as possible, rather than carved out only for select special interests.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said in a written statement that “the economic uncertainty and potential global impact we are facing due to the coronavirus pandemic are unprecedented.”
Rubio urged passage of the proposed Keeping Workers Paid and Employed Act, which he introduced along with Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn. This bill is part of the larger Senate aid package for the coronavirus.
“America’s more than 30 million small businesses—and the 59.9 million individuals they employ—today face the prospect of going bankrupt,” Rubio added. “They face this threat due to no fault of their own, but because of a global pandemic that takes human lives and grinds productivity to a halt. The Keeping Workers Paid and Employed Act is the best path forward to help businesses and their employees endure this catastrophic disruption.”
Jason Pye, vice president of legislative affairs at FreedomWorks, said his organization is reviewing the package and expects it to further evolve as negotiations continue. In a statement provided to The Daily Signal, Pye wrote:
In addition to the impact of COVID-19 [on] public health, we remain concerned about the budget deficit. According to the most recent [Congressional Budget Office] baseline, as of March 6, the deficit is projected to be $1.073 trillion. That projection didn’t include the Phase II package [of COVID-19 relief]. It also doesn’t include Phase III, which will reach $1 trillion, or any future action related to it. Such a large deficit could prolong the recovery.
Thomas A. Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste, wrote in a blog post on the organization’s website that “Washington needs to use every available resource to rescue the American people.” But, he said, that does not mean a blank check to implement programs such as “Medicare for All” or forgiving student debt.
“Liquidity is the key to rescuing the nation from the worst potential economic impact of the coronavirus,” Schatz said. “If the airlines can’t fly, they can’t pay bills. If individuals can’t pay rent or buy food, they need help from the government. This does not mean that fiscal responsibility should be completely abandoned. The funds must be used as intended for only as long as necessary.”


dailysignal--2020-03-20--Media Rhetoric on ‘Wuhan Virus’ Echoes Chinese Propaganda

Media rhetoric surrounding what to call the coronavirus echoed the Chinese government ’ s aggressive propaganda campaign designed to absolve the communist regime of wrongdoing .
Both China and members of the establishment media have focused on President Donald Trump ’ s habit of referring to the virus as a “ Chinese virus ” or the “ Wuhan virus , ” which both the communist regime and media members have said is racist .
The media outcry belies the fact that establishment outlets have also referred to the coronavirus , formally named COVID-19 , as “ the Chinese virus ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ New York Times , for example , has used both terms in reference to the virus , but is now painting Trump using the same language as problematic .
Even Chinese state media initially referred to the virus as the “ Wuhan coronavirus.
” But that hasn ’ t stopped both establishment media sources and the Chinese regime from now declaring the terms to be out-of-bounds .
MSNBC anchor John Heilemann said on air Wednesday that Trump ’ s use of the term “ Chinese virus ” is “ nakedly racist and obviously @ @ @ @ @ @ @ writer Jill Filipovic argued Wednesday that using the term “ Chinese virus ” was “ xenophobic racism , ” and compared it to scapegoating European Jews for the Black Death .
The rush to label the terms as “ racist ” comes as the Chinese government has amped up propaganda worldwide in an attempt to eschew taking responsibility for the global pandemic .
The oppressive regime has denounced “ racist ” attempts to link the virus—which originated in China—to China , while at the same time falsely accusing America of bringing the virus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ apparatus is also spinning a false narrative in which China bought the world time by acting swiftly against the virus .
“ Many media outlets have criticized the White House for squandering the precious time China has bought the world to fight against the virus , ” claimed a Tuesday article in Xinhua News , a state-run Chinese outlet .
In reality , China robbed the world of time to fight the virus by engaging in a cover-up .
One study estimated that China could have prevented up to 95 % of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ concealed and then downplayed the virus ’ existence .
Xinhua ’ s article claimed the term “ Chinese virus ” was an attempt by the U.S. to “ scapegoat ” China—a message that NBC News correspondent Richard Engel echoed on air the following day .
“ If you look at what happened during the Middle Ages , there was lots and lots of scapegoating against an ethnic group or a religious group whenever there were pandemics that affected society and frightened a lot of people , and China certainly feels that that is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it the ‘ Wuhan flu ’ or the ‘ Wuhan virus ’ or the ‘ China virus , ’ ” Engel said on NBC sister network MSNBC .
“ This is a virus that came from the territory of China but came from bats , ” Engel continued .
“ This is a bat virus , not a China virus.
” American politicians “ even went so far by employing racist language to label the pathogen behind the disease the ‘ Chinese virus ’ ; or ‘ Wuhan virus , ’ although its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nationalities , ” Xinhua asserted on Tuesday .
Two days later , on Thursday , the propaganda outlet claimed vindication by pointing to Democratic politicians like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and New York Rep. Lois Frankel , who condemned Trump ’ s use of the phrase “ Chinese virus.
” NBC News , The New York Times , and Filipovic didn ’ t return requests for comment .
Some journalists have rejected the establishment media ’ s rush to denounce terms like “ Chinese virus ” and “ Wuhan virus.
” “ Those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are themselves inadvertently collapsing the distinctions between an authoritarian regime and those who live under it .
Too many also seem comfortable drawing moral equivalencies between the Chinese regime and Donald Trump , ” noted The Atlantic writer Shadi Hamid .
“ This attitude is hard to take seriously .
Trump didn ’ t block the media from reporting on the coronavirus ; he did not disappear his critics .
The nature of a regime matters .
And this is why I , for one , am glad to live in a democracy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of unprecedented crisis , ” Hamid added .
“ It ’ s actually very important we continue to refer to COVID19 as the Wuhan Virus , ” HillTV host Saagar Enjeti said .
“ The Chinese government is working overtime to blame the CIA and anyone else for their failings , ” he continued .
“ The name should indicate exactly where it came from so they can ’ t gaslight future generations.
” Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ opportunities for this original content , email [ email protected ] .

Media rhetoric surrounding what to call the coronavirus echoed the Chinese government’s aggressive propaganda campaign designed to absolve the communist regime of wrongdoing.
Both China and members of the establishment media have focused on President Donald Trump’s habit of referring to the virus as a “Chinese virus” or the “Wuhan virus,” which both the communist regime and media members have said is racist.
The media outcry belies the fact that establishment outlets have also referred to the coronavirus, formally named COVID-19, as “the Chinese virus” and “the Wuhan virus.” The New York Times, for example, has used both terms in reference to the virus, but is now painting Trump using the same language as problematic.
This is brutal pic.twitter.com/bHTRnr2ypG — Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) March 12, 2020
Even Chinese state media initially referred to the virus as the “Wuhan coronavirus.”
But that hasn’t stopped both establishment media sources and the Chinese regime from now declaring the terms to be out-of-bounds.
MSNBC anchor John Heilemann said on air Wednesday that Trump’s use of the term “Chinese virus” is “nakedly racist and obviously racist and blatantly racist.”
CNN opinion writer Jill Filipovic argued Wednesday that using the term “Chinese virus” was “xenophobic racism,” and compared it to scapegoating European Jews for the Black Death.
The rush to label the terms as “racist” comes as the Chinese government has amped up propaganda worldwide in an attempt to eschew taking responsibility for the global pandemic.
The oppressive regime has denounced “racist” attempts to link the virus—which originated in China—to China, while at the same time falsely accusing America of bringing the virus to China.
China’s propaganda apparatus is also spinning a false narrative in which China bought the world time by acting swiftly against the virus.
“Many media outlets have criticized the White House for squandering the precious time China has bought the world to fight against the virus,” claimed a Tuesday article in Xinhua News, a state-run Chinese outlet.
In reality, China robbed the world of time to fight the virus by engaging in a cover-up. One study estimated that China could have prevented up to 95% of the global outbreak if it hadn’t concealed and then downplayed the virus’ existence.
Xinhua’s article claimed the term “Chinese virus” was an attempt by the U.S. to “scapegoat” China—a message that NBC News correspondent Richard Engel echoed on air the following day.
“If you look at what happened during the Middle Ages, there was lots and lots of scapegoating against an ethnic group or a religious group whenever there were pandemics that affected society and frightened a lot of people, and China certainly feels that that is what is happening now with people calling it the ‘Wuhan flu’ or the ‘Wuhan virus’ or the ‘China virus,’” Engel said on NBC sister network MSNBC.
“This is a virus that came from the territory of China but came from bats,” Engel continued. “This is a bat virus, not a China virus.”
Medical, media professionals say “NO” to racism & stigma in fighting #coronavirus:
-CDC chief: “Chinese virus” inaccurate, racist
-BBC reporter: Blame Canadian iceberg for Titanic’s fall
-The Economist editor: Xenphobia &scapegoating
-AFP reporter: Need solidarity more than ever pic.twitter.com/u70L7M3mYX — China Xinhua News (@XHNews) March 18, 2020
Racism is not the right tool to cover your own incompetence pic.twitter.com/LmGDyPsULt — China Xinhua News (@XHNews) March 17, 2020
American politicians “even went so far by employing racist language to label the pathogen behind the disease the ‘Chinese virus’; or ‘Wuhan virus,’ although its origin remains undetermined and viruses have no nationalities,” Xinhua asserted on Tuesday.
Two days later, on Thursday, the propaganda outlet claimed vindication by pointing to Democratic politicians like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and New York Rep. Lois Frankel, who condemned Trump’s use of the phrase “Chinese virus.”
NBC News, The New York Times, and Filipovic didn’t return requests for comment.
Some journalists have rejected the establishment media’s rush to denounce terms like “Chinese virus” and “Wuhan virus.”
“Those American critics who raise the racism canard are themselves inadvertently collapsing the distinctions between an authoritarian regime and those who live under it. Too many also seem comfortable drawing moral equivalencies between the Chinese regime and Donald Trump,” noted The Atlantic writer Shadi Hamid.
“This attitude is hard to take seriously. Trump didn’t block the media from reporting on the coronavirus; he did not disappear his critics. The nature of a regime matters. And this is why I, for one, am glad to live in a democracy, however flawed, in this time of unprecedented crisis,” Hamid added.
“It’s actually very important we continue to refer to COVID19 as the Wuhan Virus,” HillTV host Saagar Enjeti said.
“The Chinese government is working overtime to blame the CIA and anyone else for their failings,” he continued. “The name should indicate exactly where it came from so they can’t gaslight future generations.”
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities for this original content, email licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.


dailysignal--2020-03-18--Trump Picks Acting Budget Chief Russ Vought as OMB Director

President Donald Trump will nominate his acting budget director , Russ Vought , to serve as permanent director of the Office of Management and Budget .
Trump announced Wednesday that he intends to nominate Vought , who was a fiscal conservative long before joining the administration .
The move comes in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and skyrocketing levels of federal spending to stem both the health and economic crises arising from it .
Vought has been acting budget director since the confirmed OMB chief , Mick Mulvaney , became acting White House chief of staff in January 2019 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. ambassador to Northern Ireland .
Vought , 43 , was vice president of Heritage Action for America , the lobbying arm of The Heritage Foundation , before joining the Trump administration .
“ Russ is and will always be part of the Heritage family .
We are proud of him and grateful to the president for nominating a staunch conservative like Russ , ” Heritage Foundation President Kay C. James said in a statement , adding : While a Capitol Hill staffer , Russ served as an example to countless young conservatives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Congress to stick to their principles .
At Heritage Action , he pioneered new forms of grassroots activism , and connected and inspired tens of thousands of the conservative movement ’ s best and brightest activists .
Since joining OMB , Russ has overseen the delivery of four of the most conservative presidential budgets to date .
He has been an integral part of an administration that has fought fearlessly for life and liberty .
The Daily Signal is the multimedia news organization of The Heritage Foundation .
The Office of Management and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ president ’ s annual budget proposal and overseeing fiscal policy in the executive branch .
Vought also was involved in much of the Trump administration ’ s aggressive deregulation efforts .
Vought officially became deputy OMB director in March 2018 .
He began his career on Capitol Hill as a legislative assistant to then-Sen. Phil Gramm , R-Texas .
He was also the budget chief of the Republican Study Committee—the largest conference of House conservatives—under its chairman at the time , then-Rep. Jeb Hensarling , R-Texas .
Vought was policy director for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the time , then-Rep. Mike Pence , R-Ind.
, from 2009 through 2011 .
Pence , of course , is now vice president .
Vought made news in June 2017 when Sen. Bernie Sanders , I-Vt. , attacked him for his Christian faith at a Senate Budget Committee hearing on his confirmation as deputy director of OMB .
Sanders brought up an article that Vought wrote about Christianity and Islam , which the senator characterized as “ Islamaphobic.
” After an exchange that veered into a theological discussion between Vought and Sanders unrelated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : “ This nominee is really not someone who this country is supposed to be about.
” After the interaction , more than 50,000 people signed an online petition from the Family Research Council calling on Sanders to apologize .
He did not do so .
For a time , Sen. John Cornyn , R-Texas , placed a hold on Vought ’ s confirmation as a way to gain more federal disaster relief for Texas after Hurricane Harvey struck in the late summer of 2017 .
The Senate confirmed him as deputy OMB @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pence , as vice president , who cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate to confirm Vought .

President Donald Trump will nominate his acting budget director, Russ Vought, to serve as permanent director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Trump announced Wednesday that he intends to nominate Vought, who was a fiscal conservative long before joining the administration.
The move comes in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and skyrocketing levels of federal spending to stem both the health and economic crises arising from it.
Vought has been acting budget director since the confirmed OMB chief, Mick Mulvaney, became acting White House chief of staff in January 2019. Trump recently nominated Mulvaney to become U.S. ambassador to Northern Ireland.
Vought, 43, was vice president of Heritage Action for America, the lobbying arm of The Heritage Foundation, before joining the Trump administration.
“Russ is and will always be part of the Heritage family. We are proud of him and grateful to the president for nominating a staunch conservative like Russ,” Heritage Foundation President Kay C. James said in a statement, adding:
While a Capitol Hill staffer, Russ served as an example to countless young conservatives on how to best advise members of Congress to stick to their principles. At Heritage Action, he pioneered new forms of grassroots activism, and connected and inspired tens of thousands of the conservative movement’s best and brightest activists. Since joining OMB, Russ has overseen the delivery of four of the most conservative presidential budgets to date. He has been an integral part of an administration that has fought fearlessly for life and liberty.
The Daily Signal is the multimedia news organization of The Heritage Foundation.
The Office of Management and Budget is in charge of writing the president’s annual budget proposal and overseeing fiscal policy in the executive branch.
Vought also was involved in much of the Trump administration’s aggressive deregulation efforts.
Vought officially became deputy OMB director in March 2018. He began his career on Capitol Hill as a legislative assistant to then-Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas.
He was also the budget chief of the Republican Study Committee—the largest conference of House conservatives—under its chairman at the time, then-Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas.
Vought was policy director for the House Republican Conference under its chairman at the time, then-Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., from 2009 through 2011. Pence, of course, is now vice president.
Vought made news in June 2017 when Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., attacked him for his Christian faith at a Senate Budget Committee hearing on his confirmation as deputy director of OMB. Sanders brought up an article that Vought wrote about Christianity and Islam, which the senator characterized as “Islamaphobic.”
After an exchange that veered into a theological discussion between Vought and Sanders unrelated to the federal budget, Sanders said: “This nominee is really not someone who this country is supposed to be about.”
After the interaction, more than 50,000 people signed an online petition from the Family Research Council calling on Sanders to apologize. He did not do so.
For a time, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, placed a hold on Vought’s confirmation as a way to gain more federal disaster relief for Texas after Hurricane Harvey struck in the late summer of 2017.
The Senate confirmed him as deputy OMB director in February 2018. It was Pence, as vice president, who cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate to confirm Vought.


dailysignal--2020-03-16--Boomer, Meet Millennial: Examining the News Through a Multigenerational Lens

It ’ s no secret that different generations view current events with different perspectives .
Sometimes these differences lead to strife , but pollster John Zogby and his son , Jeremy , have chosen to take advantage of their generational perspective gap .
With their podcast , “ The Zogby Report , ” they discuss the news through the lens of a baby boomer and a millennial .
In today ’ s episode of The Daily Signal Podcast , the Zogbys share why they decided to start the show and some of today ’ s most pressing topics , including @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Listen to the podcast or read the lightly edited transcript below .
Robert Bluey : We are joined on The Daily Signal Podcast today by John Zogby and Jeremy Zogby .
John is the founder and senior partner at John Zogby Strategies and Jeremy is a partner there as well .
Gentlemen , welcome to the show .
John Zogby : Great to be with you , a fellow Upstate New Yorker .
Bluey : That ’ s right and I do want to get to that in just a few moments @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new podcast , “ The Zogby Report.
” I have enjoyed listening to it and I want to delve in a little bit later to understand why you started it and share with our listeners .
But first , I think it ’ s really important for us , given the work that you do , to start our conversation today [ by talking ] about the dramatically changing world in which we live .
We have a president who took an unorthodox path to the White House and has upended the way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ strong , maybe despite some of these fluctuations in the stock market .
And yet half of America says we ’ re headed down the wrong track .
Given your vast experience in polling , what do you make of this moment we ’ re in ?
John Zogby : Well , it ’ s tech-driven and you know what we have is not only constantly changing technologies that are changing the way we think , react , behave , but they ’ re more and more being introduced by , for , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ under 35-40 years of age .
The younger you get , the more tech savvy , and they think differently .
They behave differently and they have to do so in real time , and at the same time—I ’ m obviously not part of that age cohort—have to carry most of us into that same world .
It ’ s disruptive .
The most dangerous words in our language , we ’ re going to continue to do things the way we ’ ve always done them .
So we ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ change and we ’ re all in it together and I would only end and pass the torch to Jeremy by saying that renders a lot of our institutions that are locked into some of the old ways of doing things as , if not obsolete , then in dire need of disruption .
Jer , you want to pick that up ?
Jeremy Zogby : Yeah , I mean , you look at 2020—and by the way , the overview of the technological aspect of it all is spot on .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ m looking , we ’ re closely tracking this , and America in so many regards—maybe the world too , not just America , but we ’ ll stick to the United States—is at a crossroads .
We ’ re at a crossroads and in the sense of , can we go more of the route of nationalists ?
You see this playing out—look at Brexit .
Or do we remain in a system that ’ s more of international order or cooperation with international order ?
So we ’ re at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ another crossroads in terms of age where we ’ re still ruled by baby boomers , but probably not for much longer .
So who ’ s going to pick up the torch ?
Is it going to be millennials , is it going to be Gen X ?
When is that going to happen ?
What are the changes that are going to come from that ?
And then we could go on with other ways that we ’ re at a crossroads .
And another one I would say , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as to what level a capitalist economy or do we go down the road of democratic socialist ?
So it is unbelievably fascinating .
Bluey : Jeremy , I ’ m glad you brought that up because in listening to the podcast and seeing some of the things that you ’ ve written , I know that socialism has come up and certainly in polls we ’ ve seen , particularly , I think , among young people , more of a desire to move in that direction .
What do you make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Zogby : … My dad can attest to this more so because he ’ s been a historian for much longer than I have .
But starting in the late 1800s when German immigrants were coming over , that ’ s when the seed started to get planted in this country .
Then after the turn of the century , we had a bonafide Socialist Party .
Eugene Debs actually got a million votes while he was in prison .
And then socialism kind of weaved itself into the progressive movement .
So @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I shouldn ’ t say always , we ’ ve long had that backdrop .
I think with millennials who more and more were traveling abroad and probably a popular destination among them was going to Western Europe , they started to say , “ Hey , look at Denmark , look at Sweden .
Look at the aspects that they have .
Look at large swaths of Western Europe that have it .
Maybe we should have it too.
” So I think to them , too many of them , I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ logical extension .
Bluey : When I think of socialism , it ’ s countries like Venezuela , Cuba , the Soviet Union , which , of course , is the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics .
Those are the things that come to mind .
You mentioned some of those Scandinavian countries .
It ’ s interesting , The Heritage Foundation publishes annually an Index of Economic Freedom and some of those countries actually enjoy more economic freedom than the United States .
So , you know , quite different perspective from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s say .
But John , just to get you in here , just supporters of socialism or democratic socialism make a different connection with it , and what are they viewing when we hear the term socialism ?
John Zogby : We ’ re attracting , basically , people who are under 30 .
Just remember that people under 30 , for that matter , people under 40 have no recollection of the wall coming down or the fall of the Soviet Union .
Those are in the realm of ancient @ @ @ @ @ @ @ So very less likely to associate socialism with something that was historic .
On a positive side , I think what they ’ re doing is they ’ re saying , “ Capitalism we get , we get entrepreneurship , we get opportunity.
” But these are now young people who had lived , at least much of their adult lives , after the Great Recession .
When student debt was compiling , when we began to talk in earnest about a gig economy , meaning something less than permanent , each job @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expectations for high goals , and then income inequality , very important .
That steady growth of income inequality , even if it ’ s just the perception of income inequality , that ’ s what drives young people to say , “ Hey , look , what we have isn ’ t working .
Let ’ s try something different.
” And then I think you add to that that hard to use … word “ charisma ” and “ Bernie Sanders ” in the same sentence .
But Bernie has a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is unchanged and very authentic in many ways , whether you like him or not .
What you see is what you get .
And I think that ’ s kind of the perfect storm for why socialism is back in the debate here .
Bluey : As you both noted , we find ourselves in a situation where we are deeply polarized—to the point that some families have stopped talking about politics or maybe … have stopped talking all together .
Is this a temporary phase that you see us going through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ re going to live the rest of our lives ?
John Zogby : Well , let me take a crack at that and then I want to hear what Jeremy has to say .
I do believe it ’ s temporary .
This is a rough period that we ’ re going through .
It ’ s a period of creative destruction for reasons that we talked about earlier , but the replacement takes a little time and we live in a world that doesn ’ t understand taking a little time .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ there is a crisis at 9 o ’ clock in the morning on CNN , if it ’ s not resolved by lunchtime , it ’ s a global crisis and unresolvable .
So , yeah , I think the lag between the disruption or even falling apart of traditional institutions and finding replacements is probably a very short-term thing except that we ’ re also very impatient .
Jeremy Zogby : I guess I would add to that dynamic that … it ’ s been so contentious , right ?
Especially since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have exacerbated the problem by pushing an ideological agenda .
So I think that you can only go so far before the people just tune out because we had that ability just to take that remote control and hit the power button and tune into something else .
What I see happening is—look at the medium of podcasts that ’ s exploding .
I mean , your everyday person is doing a podcast , is doing a YouTube channel , and they ’ re huge and there ’ s just so much .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ podcasts is there ’ s so much depth and space to explore with it , as opposed to a radio program and television where you have only a limited amount of time and , at this point , there ’ s still regulations .
… In the podcast world … it ’ s a Wild West aspect .
What I ’ m getting at is that if this boils over and continues to have all of this tension and all of this loud barking , I just see more and more people in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can explore new ideas , and they ’ re actually doing it right now .
Bluey : I ’ ve listened to your weekly podcast , which debuted in January , and I have enjoyed it for that reason .
I think you both do an excellent job of analyzing the current political trends and provide more substance than you get from other sources , as you indicated , Jeremy .
So tell us more about the podcast and why you started “ The Zogby Report ” and why our audience should listen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ go first and then , dad , obviously , your take on it too .
We had talked about it when we formed Zogby Strategies .
And by the way , my brother Ben , our middle brother , is a partner from the get-go .
We were getting calls from people , and some pretty interesting people .
They were saying , “ You guys got to do a podcast , ” and we just didn ’ t know how to do it .
Then , it wasn ’ t a New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kind of turned out to be one because we started seriously talking about it after the new year .
It really just came down to , “ All right , let ’ s stop talking about doing it and let ’ s finally do it.
” So Ryan Miller , our producer and your former schoolmate , we reached out to him because we knew he had all the capabilities .
He said , “ Come on down.
” And we did .
We did one test run .
We all looked at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We ’ ve got to get that out.
” So the backdrop to it though was , obviously , I ’ m the millennial , my dad ’ s the boomer , two different generations , two different worldviews , but we ’ re tired of all the animosity .
We ’ re tired of the ideological animosity .
And now there ’ s an ageism thing , “ OK , boomer.
” So we wanted to to show people , look , we don ’ t agree on things , we have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the day , we work together and we respect each other and this is how you do it .
This is how you talk about controversial things , contentious things .
But at the end of the day , there ’ s still love and respect and we hope that radiates and that ’ s why people should listen to it .
John Zogby : I totally agree and I would only add to that that here ’ s an opportunity for us to do what we do best and to showcase @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ours is based on data , a lot of it data that we generate ourselves or watch other data and … make that data digestible .
At the same time , as Jeremy points out , you can make it digestible without yelling about it , which is , I think , very important .
Way , way , way too much noise that ’ s out there .
We like the reviews that we ’ re getting from people because what it is , basically , is a discourse between father and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unscripted and unrehearsed .
We have normally been in different cities and when we ’ re home we ’ re in different places and just before the podcast begins , I may say to Jeremy , “ What are we talking about today ?
” And we just start talking about it and that ’ s it .
And I like the spontaneity of it as well .
Bluey : You both have a deep knowledge of polling and have been quite successful at it .
John , in your case , for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Americans ?
What are you trying to convey to them through the podcast as they read and hear about polling ?
What do they need to know ?
John Zogby : They need to know that polling is really deep , that it ’ s so much more than who ’ s ahead today or a prediction who ’ s going to win in November .
In fact , those are the least intriguing aspects of polling .
Polling reveals to us not only fleeting opinions and attitudes , I think more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Americans have .
What do they associate with candidates ?
What do they associate with policies ?
What pushes their buttons ?
What makes them vote the way they do or behave the way they do ?
I think that that is so much more revealing and something that is unique for us to provide than , say , the usual talking heads on television who will just say , “ Oh , I don ’ t think the American people will ever put up with it , ” without understanding that they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and let them find out .
Let them [ tell ] you whether they ’ ll put up with it rather than sitting at the Mayflower , having breakfast with a few of your colleagues , and just speculating on what the American people think without actually polling real people .
Bluey : I couldn ’ t miss an opportunity to ask you about our mutual connection , which is Utica , New York .
I was born there and raised there .
You decided to run your business from this special place @ @ @ @ @ @ @ listeners why and what it is that you most love about Utica .
John Zogby : OK.
I ’ m going to do the “ OK , boomer ” part first and then Jeremy can pick up from there .
First of all , the ethnic tradition is wonderful .
You know , that means , mainly , Europe ; north , south , east , and west of Europe ; but also a strong tradition from the Middle East as well .
We all have restaurants and institutions .
But then of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years or so , a strong welcoming tradition and some good institutions have brought in about 20,000-22,000 refugees and their children who are mainly born here .
So this beautiful city now is colored by the presence of Bosnians and Ukrainians , Libyans , Iraqis , Bhutanese , Karen from Burma , refugees really from everywhere .
All of the [ refugees ] now are employed , are in the public school district that speaks 46 languages , and have their own unique stores and restaurants .
They ’ ve saved a city @ @ @ @ @ @ @ opportunity for the native-born to see a rebirth in a city that had undergone some difficult times .
Jeremy Zogby : I would add to that—and I can ’ t claim the original coining of this phrase , this comes from my dad—I used to ask my dad , “ Hey , our cousins are in D.C. Why didn ’ t we move to New York City ?
Why didn ’ t we move there ?
Why didn ’ t I grow up in D.C. ?
” I learned later on that , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ community and wanted to stay there and be close to family , but my dad used it to his advantage in terms of his perspective .
He said , “ This is real America.
” D.C. is a wonderful place [ and ] San Francisco , Chicago , Boston , New York are classic cities , but you get a real perspective of what real America is like when you live in a small town or a small city .
And here ’ s a small city of 60,000 people with almost every @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s what I love about it .
I would add one other thing [ about ] the old neighborhood .
I grew up at the tail end of the Old World and a lot of places have just transitioned fully … going into the 21st century .
Come to Utica , and you still have the remnants of the old neighborhood , of families occupying a two-family household with grandparents upstairs , kids downstairs , and then aunts and uncles next door , and I love that .
Bluey : And politically it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ districts .
President [ Donald ] Trump won in 2016 , a Democratic member of Congress took the congressional seat in 2018 , there aren ’ t many places like that left in America today .
So a big shout out to Utica , New York , and my hometown and school , New York Mills , where Ryan Miller , as you mentioned earlier , is from .
It ’ s truly great to visit every year .
Having lived half my life there and half my life in D.C. , I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coming back for the Boilermaker every summer and running it with my father and really appreciate you making sure that you represent Utica so well .
John Zogby : Thanks for this opportunity .
And your listeners ought to know that New York Mills is famous [ because ] every fourth house has a famous golf pro that comes from there .
There are actual PGA [ winners ] over the years who had been from New York Mills .
So that little tiny community of , what , a couple of thousand @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there .
Bluey : It is truly special .
John and Jeremy , I want to thank you for taking the time to speak to The Daily Signal .
I wish you the best with “ The Zogby Report ” [ and I ] encourage our audience to check it out on Apple Podcasts or wherever you may listen to your podcast .
Thanks so much .
John Zogby : Hey , thank you .
Good to talk to you , Rob .
Jeremy Zogby : Thank you .

It’s no secret that different generations view current events with different perspectives. Sometimes these differences lead to strife, but pollster John Zogby and his son, Jeremy, have chosen to take advantage of their generational perspective gap.
With their podcast, “The Zogby Report,” they discuss the news through the lens of a baby boomer and a millennial. In today’s episode of The Daily Signal Podcast, the Zogbys share why they decided to start the show and some of today’s most pressing topics, including America’s growing fascination with socialism. Listen to the podcast or read the lightly edited transcript below.
Robert Bluey: We are joined on The Daily Signal Podcast today by John Zogby and Jeremy Zogby. John is the founder and senior partner at John Zogby Strategies and Jeremy is a partner there as well. Gentlemen, welcome to the show.
John Zogby: Great to be with you, a fellow Upstate New Yorker.
Bluey: That’s right and I do want to get to that in just a few moments.
You are the co-hosts of a new podcast, “The Zogby Report.” I have enjoyed listening to it and I want to delve in a little bit later to understand why you started it and share with our listeners.
But first, I think it’s really important for us, given the work that you do, to start our conversation today [by talking] about the dramatically changing world in which we live.
We have a president who took an unorthodox path to the White House and has upended the way business is done. The economy is strong, maybe despite some of these fluctuations in the stock market. And yet half of America says we’re headed down the wrong track.
Given your vast experience in polling, what do you make of this moment we’re in?
John Zogby: Well, it’s tech-driven and you know what we have is not only constantly changing technologies that are changing the way we think, react, behave, but they’re more and more being introduced by, for, and among younger people. People particularly under 35-40 years of age.
The younger you get, the more tech savvy, and they think differently. They behave differently and they have to do so in real time, and at the same time—I’m obviously not part of that age cohort—have to carry most of us into that same world.
It’s disruptive. The most dangerous words in our language, we’re going to continue to do things the way we’ve always done them.
So we’re in the midst of this huge global change and we’re all in it together and I would only end and pass the torch to Jeremy by saying that renders a lot of our institutions that are locked into some of the old ways of doing things as, if not obsolete, then in dire need of disruption.
Jer, you want to pick that up?
Jeremy Zogby: Yeah, I mean, you look at 2020—and by the way, the overview of the technological aspect of it all is spot on. But here we are in 2020 and I’m looking, we’re closely tracking this, and America in so many regards—maybe the world too, not just America, but we’ll stick to the United States—is at a crossroads.
We’re at a crossroads and in the sense of, can we go more of the route of nationalists? You see this playing out—look at Brexit. Or do we remain in a system that’s more of international order or cooperation with international order? So we’re at that crossroads.
We’re at another crossroads in terms of age where we’re still ruled by baby boomers, but probably not for much longer.
So who’s going to pick up the torch? Is it going to be millennials, is it going to be Gen X? When is that going to happen? What are the changes that are going to come from that? And then we could go on with other ways that we’re at a crossroads.
And another one I would say, the most obvious is, do we maintain as to what level a capitalist economy or do we go down the road of democratic socialist? So it is unbelievably fascinating.
Bluey: Jeremy, I’m glad you brought that up because in listening to the podcast and seeing some of the things that you’ve written, I know that socialism has come up and certainly in polls we’ve seen, particularly, I think, among young people, more of a desire to move in that direction. What do you make of American support for socialism?
Jeremy Zogby: … My dad can attest to this more so because he’s been a historian for much longer than I have. But starting in the late 1800s when German immigrants were coming over, that’s when the seed started to get planted in this country.
Then after the turn of the century, we had a bonafide Socialist Party. Eugene Debs actually got a million votes while he was in prison. And then socialism kind of weaved itself into the progressive movement.
So we’ve always had that, I shouldn’t say always, we’ve long had that backdrop.
I think with millennials who more and more were traveling abroad and probably a popular destination among them was going to Western Europe, they started to say, “Hey, look at Denmark, look at Sweden. Look at the aspects that they have. Look at large swaths of Western Europe that have it. Maybe we should have it too.”
So I think to them, too many of them, I should say, it’s a logical extension.
Bluey: When I think of socialism, it’s countries like Venezuela, Cuba, the Soviet Union, which, of course, is the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Those are the things that come to mind.
You mentioned some of those Scandinavian countries. It’s interesting, The Heritage Foundation publishes annually an Index of Economic Freedom and some of those countries actually enjoy more economic freedom than the United States.
So, you know, quite different perspective from a Cuba vs. a Denmark, let’s say.
But John, just to get you in here, just supporters of socialism or democratic socialism make a different connection with it, and what are they viewing when we hear the term socialism?
John Zogby: We’re attracting, basically, people who are under 30. Just remember that people under 30, for that matter, people under 40 have no recollection of the wall coming down or the fall of the Soviet Union. Those are in the realm of ancient history, really, to them. So very less likely to associate socialism with something that was historic.
On a positive side, I think what they’re doing is they’re saying, “Capitalism we get, we get entrepreneurship, we get opportunity.” But these are now young people who had lived, at least much of their adult lives, after the Great Recession.
When student debt was compiling, when we began to talk in earnest about a gig economy, meaning something less than permanent, each job they moved into, of not meeting expectations for high goals, and then income inequality, very important.
That steady growth of income inequality, even if it’s just the perception of income inequality, that’s what drives young people to say, “Hey, look, what we have isn’t working. Let’s try something different.”
And then I think you add to that that hard to use … word “charisma” and “Bernie Sanders” in the same sentence.
But Bernie has a very direct message, a message that is unchanged and very authentic in many ways, whether you like him or not. What you see is what you get. And I think that’s kind of the perfect storm for why socialism is back in the debate here.
Bluey: As you both noted, we find ourselves in a situation where we are deeply polarized—to the point that some families have stopped talking about politics or maybe … have stopped talking all together.
Is this a temporary phase that you see us going through or is this maybe how we’re going to live the rest of our lives?
John Zogby: Well, let me take a crack at that and then I want to hear what Jeremy has to say. I do believe it’s temporary.
This is a rough period that we’re going through. It’s a period of creative destruction for reasons that we talked about earlier, but the replacement takes a little time and we live in a world that doesn’t understand taking a little time. We live in a world where if there is a crisis at 9 o’clock in the morning on CNN, if it’s not resolved by lunchtime, it’s a global crisis and unresolvable.
So, yeah, I think the lag between the disruption or even falling apart of traditional institutions and finding replacements is probably a very short-term thing except that we’re also very impatient.
Jeremy Zogby: I guess I would add to that dynamic that … it’s been so contentious, right? Especially since 2016. And certain forms of media have exacerbated the problem by pushing an ideological agenda.
So I think that you can only go so far before the people just tune out because we had that ability just to take that remote control and hit the power button and tune into something else.
What I see happening is—look at the medium of podcasts that’s exploding. I mean, your everyday person is doing a podcast, is doing a YouTube channel, and they’re huge and there’s just so much.
The thing that’s amazing about podcasts is there’s so much depth and space to explore with it, as opposed to a radio program and television where you have only a limited amount of time and, at this point, there’s still regulations. … In the podcast world … it’s a Wild West aspect.
What I’m getting at is that if this boils over and continues to have all of this tension and all of this loud barking, I just see more and more people in droves going to another medium where they can explore new ideas, and they’re actually doing it right now.
Bluey: I’ve listened to your weekly podcast, which debuted in January, and I have enjoyed it for that reason. I think you both do an excellent job of analyzing the current political trends and provide more substance than you get from other sources, as you indicated, Jeremy.
So tell us more about the podcast and why you started “The Zogby Report” and why our audience should listen.
Jeremy Zogby: I’ll go first and then, dad, obviously, your take on it too. We had talked about it when we formed Zogby Strategies. And by the way, my brother Ben, our middle brother, is a partner from the get-go.
We were getting calls from people, and some pretty interesting people. They were saying, “You guys got to do a podcast,” and we just didn’t know how to do it. Then, it wasn’t a New Year’s resolution, but it kind of turned out to be one because we started seriously talking about it after the new year.
It really just came down to, “All right, let’s stop talking about doing it and let’s finally do it.”
So Ryan Miller, our producer and your former schoolmate, we reached out to him because we knew he had all the capabilities. He said, “Come on down.” And we did. We did one test run. We all looked at each other and we said, “We’ve got to get that out.”
So the backdrop to it though was, obviously, I’m the millennial, my dad’s the boomer, two different generations, two different worldviews, but we’re tired of all the animosity. We’re tired of the ideological animosity. And now there’s an ageism thing, “OK, boomer.”
So we wanted to to show people, look, we don’t agree on things, we have different views, but at the end of the day, we work together and we respect each other and this is how you do it. This is how you talk about controversial things, contentious things. But at the end of the day, there’s still love and respect and we hope that radiates and that’s why people should listen to it.
John Zogby: I totally agree and I would only add to that that here’s an opportunity for us to do what we do best and to showcase it.
We do analysis, but ours is based on data, a lot of it data that we generate ourselves or watch other data and … make that data digestible. At the same time, as Jeremy points out, you can make it digestible without yelling about it, which is, I think, very important. Way, way, way too much noise that’s out there.
We like the reviews that we’re getting from people because what it is, basically, is a discourse between father and son that, honestly, is totally unscripted and unrehearsed.
We have normally been in different cities and when we’re home we’re in different places and just before the podcast begins, I may say to Jeremy, “What are we talking about today?” And we just start talking about it and that’s it. And I like the spontaneity of it as well.
Bluey: You both have a deep knowledge of polling and have been quite successful at it. John, in your case, for 35 years. What is your advice to Americans? What are you trying to convey to them through the podcast as they read and hear about polling? What do they need to know?
John Zogby: They need to know that polling is really deep, that it’s so much more than who’s ahead today or a prediction who’s going to win in November. In fact, those are the least intriguing aspects of polling.
Polling reveals to us not only fleeting opinions and attitudes, I think more importantly, what are the values that Americans have. What do they associate with candidates? What do they associate with policies? What pushes their buttons? What makes them vote the way they do or behave the way they do?
I think that that is so much more revealing and something that is unique for us to provide than, say, the usual talking heads on television who will just say, “Oh, I don’t think the American people will ever put up with it,” without understanding that they ought to just ask the American people and let them find out.
Let them [tell] you whether they’ll put up with it rather than sitting at the Mayflower, having breakfast with a few of your colleagues, and just speculating on what the American people think without actually polling real people.
Bluey: I couldn’t miss an opportunity to ask you about our mutual connection, which is Utica, New York. I was born there and raised there. You decided to run your business from this special place in Upstate New York. Tell our listeners why and what it is that you most love about Utica.
John Zogby: OK. I’m going to do the “OK, boomer” part first and then Jeremy can pick up from there.
First of all, the ethnic tradition is wonderful. You know, that means, mainly, Europe; north, south, east, and west of Europe; but also a strong tradition from the Middle East as well.
We all have restaurants and institutions. But then of late, say in the last 30 years or so, a strong welcoming tradition and some good institutions have brought in about 20,000-22,000 refugees and their children who are mainly born here. So this beautiful city now is colored by the presence of Bosnians and Ukrainians, Libyans, Iraqis, Bhutanese, Karen from Burma, refugees really from everywhere.
All of the [refugees] now are employed, are in the public school district that speaks 46 languages, and have their own unique stores and restaurants. They’ve saved a city, basically, and provided a wonderful opportunity for the native-born to see a rebirth in a city that had undergone some difficult times.
Jeremy Zogby: I would add to that—and I can’t claim the original coining of this phrase, this comes from my dad—I used to ask my dad, “Hey, our cousins are in D.C. Why didn’t we move to New York City? Why didn’t we move there? Why didn’t I grow up in D.C.?”
I learned later on that, not only did my dad love his community and wanted to stay there and be close to family, but my dad used it to his advantage in terms of his perspective.
He said, “This is real America.” D.C. is a wonderful place [and] San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, New York are classic cities, but you get a real perspective of what real America is like when you live in a small town or a small city. And here’s a small city of 60,000 people with almost every nation … living here.”
That’s what I love about it.
I would add one other thing [about] the old neighborhood. I grew up at the tail end of the Old World and a lot of places have just transitioned fully … going into the 21st century. Come to Utica, and you still have the remnants of the old neighborhood, of families occupying a two-family household with grandparents upstairs, kids downstairs, and then aunts and uncles next door, and I love that.
Bluey: And politically it truly is one of those rare battleground districts. President [Donald] Trump won in 2016, a Democratic member of Congress took the congressional seat in 2018, there aren’t many places like that left in America today.
So a big shout out to Utica, New York, and my hometown and school, New York Mills, where Ryan Miller, as you mentioned earlier, is from. It’s truly great to visit every year.
Having lived half my life there and half my life in D.C., I truly do miss it. I enjoy coming back for the Boilermaker every summer and running it with my father and really appreciate you making sure that you represent Utica so well.
John Zogby: Thanks for this opportunity. And your listeners ought to know that New York Mills is famous [because] every fourth house has a famous golf pro that comes from there. There are actual PGA [winners] over the years who had been from New York Mills. So that little tiny community of, what, a couple of thousand people? There are some mean golfers there.
Bluey: It is truly special. John and Jeremy, I want to thank you for taking the time to speak to The Daily Signal. I wish you the best with “The Zogby Report” [and I] encourage our audience to check it out on Apple Podcasts or wherever you may listen to your podcast. Thanks so much.
John Zogby: Hey, thank you. Good to talk to you, Rob.
Jeremy Zogby: Thank you.


dailysignal--2020-04-16--Trump Set to Lay Out Plan for Reopening America

President Donald Trump intends to announce guidelines Thursday for states to “ reopen ” as the nation makes progress against the coronavirus pandemic .
“ The data suggests that nationwide we have passed the peak on new [ COVID-19 ] cases .
Hopefully , that will continue , ” Trump said Wednesday evening in the Rose Garden at the White House .
“ These encouraging developments have put us in a very strong position to finalize guidelines for states on reopening the country , which we ’ ll be announcing tomorrow.
” Trump also threatened to use his “ constitutional @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Congress so that he could make recess appointments because Senate Democrats continue to block dozens of his nominations , some of which he said are important in the fight against COVID-19 .
Article II , Section 3 of the Constitution grants the president the power , “ on extraordinary occasions , ” to “ convene both Houses , or either of them , and in case of disagreement between them , with respect to the time of adjournment , he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper.
” Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ task force will brief governors Thursday on the guidelines to reopen the country , then announce them to the public .
The president said the change won ’ t happen all at once , since each state is different .
“ We ’ ll be opening up states , some much sooner than others , ” Trump said .
“ We think some of the states can actually open up before the deadline of May 1 , and I think that will be a very exciting time indeed .
Governors are looking forward @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to get going.
” Trump spoke to industry leaders and CEOs earlier Wednesday in a conference call to get feedback on reopening the nation ’ s economy , among them Heritage Foundation President Kay C. James .
Trump announced Tuesday that James is among influential leaders named to 17 “ Great American Economic Revival ” groups that he would consult on getting the country back to work .
“ I am grateful to work with President Trump alongside economists , scholars , and industry leaders on the Great American Economic Revival , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ We are committed to developing plans to get Americans back to work as soon as it ’ s safe to do so and helping the nation recover from COVID-19.
” James , named by the president to the “ thought leaders ” group , continued : The Daily Signal is the multimedia news organization of The Heritage Foundation .
Trump administration officials note that while there are coronavirus hot spots in the Northeast and former hot spots on the West Coast , 25 states have fewer than 2,500 confirmed cases of COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The U.S. has seen 605,390 cases of COVID-19 and 24,582 related deaths , according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , although Vice President Mike Pence put the death toll at over 27,000 Wednesday evening .
Responding to reporters ’ questions , Trump again said that the federal government has the authority to require individual states to reopen .
But , he said , he prefers not to take that route .
“ If we ’ re not happy , we ’ ll take very strong action against a state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ If we ’ re not happy with the job a governor is doing , we ’ ll let them know about it .
As you know , we have very strong action we can take , including a close-down .
But we don ’ t want to do that .
We ’ re working with the governors.
” Pence , a former Indiana governor as well as congressman , has been the president ’ s point man in communicating with governors .
The vice president , who also chairs the White @ @ @ @ @ @ @ noted that 3.3 million tests for COVID-19 have been administered , yielding 619,000 positive results .
Still , Pence noted , 24 % of all counties in the United States have zero confirmed cases of the contagious disease caused by the new coronavirus that originated in Wuhan , China .
“ Sadly , we mourn the loss of more than 27,000 of our countrymen , ” Pence said .
“ Despite the heartbreaking losses , we are getting there , America.
” Rhode Island is getting hard hit by COVID-19 cases that originate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even as those cities are seeing a decline , said Dr. Deborah Birx , response coordinator for the task force .
Birx said things are looking up , but offered a sober warning .
“ I will just remind the American people again , this is a highly contagious virus .
Social gatherings , coming together , there is always a chance that an asymptomatic person can spread the virus unknowingly , ” Birx said , adding :

President Donald Trump intends to announce guidelines Thursday for states to “reopen” as the nation makes progress against the coronavirus pandemic.
“The data suggests that nationwide we have passed the peak on new [COVID-19] cases. Hopefully, that will continue,” Trump said Wednesday evening in the Rose Garden at the White House. “These encouraging developments have put us in a very strong position to finalize guidelines for states on reopening the country, which we’ll be announcing tomorrow.”
Trump also threatened to use his “constitutional authority” to adjourn both houses of Congress so that he could make recess appointments because Senate Democrats continue to block dozens of his nominations, some of which he said are important in the fight against COVID-19.
Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution grants the president the power, “on extraordinary occasions,” to “convene both Houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper.”
Trump said he and the White House coronavirus task force will brief governors Thursday on the guidelines to reopen the country, then announce them to the public.
The president said the change won’t happen all at once, since each state is different.
“We’ll be opening up states, some much sooner than others,” Trump said. “We think some of the states can actually open up before the deadline of May 1, and I think that will be a very exciting time indeed. Governors are looking forward, they are chomping at the bit to get going.”
Trump spoke to industry leaders and CEOs earlier Wednesday in a conference call to get feedback on reopening the nation’s economy, among them Heritage Foundation President Kay C. James.
Trump announced Tuesday that James is among influential leaders named to 17 “Great American Economic Revival” groups that he would consult on getting the country back to work.
“I am grateful to work with President Trump alongside economists, scholars, and industry leaders on the Great American Economic Revival,” James said in a prepared statement. “We are committed to developing plans to get Americans back to work as soon as it’s safe to do so and helping the nation recover from COVID-19.”
James, named by the president to the “thought leaders” group, continued:
“Heritage recently formed the National Coronavirus Recovery Commission, bringing together experts in medicine, economics, business, government, disaster relief, and education to develop recommendations to save both the lives and livelihoods of Americans from this pandemic and provide our nation’s leaders with a road map to reopen America when the time comes to do so safely. I am excited to bring those recommendations to the president’s Great American Economic Revival team.”
The Daily Signal is the multimedia news organization of The Heritage Foundation.
Trump administration officials note that while there are coronavirus hot spots in the Northeast and former hot spots on the West Coast, 25 states have fewer than 2,500 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and nine states have fewer than 1,000.
The U.S. has seen 605,390 cases of COVID-19 and 24,582 related deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, although Vice President Mike Pence put the death toll at over 27,000 Wednesday evening.
Responding to reporters’ questions, Trump again said that the federal government has the authority to require individual states to reopen. But, he said, he prefers not to take that route.
“If we’re not happy, we’ll take very strong action against a state or a governor,” Trump said. “If we’re not happy with the job a governor is doing, we’ll let them know about it. As you know, we have very strong action we can take, including a close-down. But we don’t want to do that. We’re working with the governors.”
Pence, a former Indiana governor as well as congressman, has been the president’s point man in communicating with governors.
The vice president, who also chairs the White House’s coronavirus task force, noted that 3.3 million tests for COVID-19 have been administered, yielding 619,000 positive results.
Still, Pence noted, 24% of all counties in the United States have zero confirmed cases of the contagious disease caused by the new coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, China.
“Sadly, we mourn the loss of more than 27,000 of our countrymen,” Pence said. “Despite the heartbreaking losses, we are getting there, America.”
Rhode Island is getting hard hit by COVID-19 cases that originate in New York City and Boston, even as those cities are seeing a decline, said Dr. Deborah Birx, response coordinator for the task force.
Birx said things are looking up, but offered a sober warning.
“I will just remind the American people again, this is a highly contagious virus. Social gatherings, coming together, there is always a chance that an asymptomatic person can spread the virus unknowingly,” Birx said, adding: