“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and his former challenger, Benny Gantz, agreed Monday night to establish a unity government, a deal that finally breaks a yearlong political impasse and keeps Mr. Netanyahu in office as he faces trial on corruption charges,” the New York Times reports.
GOP War on Mail-In Ballots May Be Backfiring
Rick Hasen: “There are signs from Wisconsin that Republican efforts to make it harder to vote in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic are backfiring in two ways. First, suppressive efforts are firing up Democrats to come out and vote. As the New York Times reported, Democrats voted in large numbers in a highly contested state Supreme Court race — and a less contested Democratic presidential primary.”
“Second, suppressive efforts are making it harder for some staunch Republican voters and Trump supporters, particularly in rural areas, to cast their ballots.”
Michigan Prefers Whitmer’s Approach Over Trump’s
A new Detroit Regional Chamber poll in Michigan found 57% approved of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s (D) handling of the coronavirus pandemic compared with 37% of respondents who disapproved.
By contrast, 44% of those polled approved of President Trump’s handling of the crisis while 50% disapproved.
Now Trump Is Putting Americans at Risk
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The Economic Data Is About to Get Weird
Neil Irwin: “The United States is experiencing an unfathomable collapse in its economic activity. That much we know. But more so than in even in a normal recession, the tools we have to understand what is happening to the economy are becoming distorted or harder to interpret, for a wide range of reasons.”
“Major economic indicators like the jobless rate rely on surveys of people and businesses, but the Covid-19 crisis is already affecting how many people and businesses respond to them. This could distort results. Bottlenecks in state employment systems are artificially holding down the number of people who can file for unemployment benefits. And for vast numbers of people, it is not obvious how their employment status should be classified.”
Big Majority Say Trump Didn’t Take Virus Seriously
A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that 65% of Americans say President Trump did not take the coronavirus “seriously enough at the beginning.”
That echoes a Pew Research Center survey that showed 65% believe Trump was “too slow to take major steps” to address the situation.
Democracy in One Book or Less
Coming this summer: Democracy in One Book or Less: How It Works, Why It Doesn’t, and Why Fixing It Is Easier Than You Think by David Litt.
“Since 1980, the number of Americans legally barred from voting has more than doubled. Since the 1990s, your odds of living in a competitive Congressional district have fallen by more than half. In the twenty-first century alone, the amount of money spent on Washington lobbying has increased by more than 100 percent. Meanwhile, new rules in Congress make passing new bills nearly impossible, no matter how popular or bipartisan they are.”
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Litt, David (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 397 Pages - 06/16/2020 (Publication Date) - Ecco (Publisher)
Biden Up Big Among Those Who Don’t Like Either
The new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that voters who have a negative opinion of both President Trump and Joe Biden overwhelmingly prefer Biden, 60% to 10%.
Trump’s ‘Testing Czar’ Was Ousted from Previous Job
Before President Trump tapped Adm. Brett Giroir to be the nation’s “coronavirus testing czar,” he was the head of vaccine development at Texas A&M University. And in 2015, he was given the choice of either resigning or being fired from that job because he wasn’t acting like a “team player,” the Washington Post reports.
Fauci Warns Protesters Their Efforts Will Backfire
In an ABC News interview, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned those protesting stay-at-home orders that their efforts would backfire.
Said Fauci: “If you jump the gun, and go into a situation where you have a big spike, you’re going to set yourself back. So as painful as it is to go by the careful guidelines of gradually phasing into a reopening — it’s going to backfire. That’s the problem.”
South Korea Returns to Work
“South Koreans are returning to work and crowding shopping malls, parks, golf courses and some restaurants as South Korea relaxes social distancing rules amid a continued downward trend in coronavirus cases,” Reuters reports.
“South Korea’s ongoing recovery from the first major coronavirus outbreak outside China paints a stark contrast to many other countries where metropolises remain sealed off and sweeping stay-at-home orders are in place.”
The Months of Magical Thinking
“The response to the coronavirus pandemic in the United States and other countries has been hobbled by a host of factors, many involving political and regulatory officials. Resistance to social distancing measures, testing debacles, and longtime failures to prepare for the possibility of a pandemic all played a role,” STAT reports.
“But a subtler, less-recognized factor contributed to the wasting of precious weeks in January and February, when preparations to try to stop the virus should have kicked immediately into high gear.”
“Magical thinking — you could call it denial — hampered the ability of even some of the most seasoned infectious diseases experts to recognize the full threat of what was bearing down on the world.”
Trump Leans Into Antigovernment Message
“First he was the self-described ‘wartime president.’ Then he trumpeted the ‘total’ authority of the federal government. But in the past few days, President Trump has nurtured protests against state-issued stay-at-home orders aimed at curtailing the spread of the coronavirus,” the New York Times reports.
“Hurtling from one position to another is consistent with Mr. Trump’s approach to the presidency over the past three years. Even when external pressures and stresses appear to change the dynamics that the country is facing, Mr. Trump remains unbowed, altering his approach for a day or two, only to return to nursing grievances.”
Trump Still Can’t Explain Lost Month
“When President Trump was asked at Sunday’s White House coronavirus task force briefing why he didn’t warn Americans in February that the virus was spreading and implement social distancing earlier, Trump’s response was to go back to late January, when he issued the travel restrictions on Chinese people coming to the United States,” the Washington Post reports.
“In other words: More than two months into this crisis, Trump doesn’t have an answer for why he didn’t do more in this crucial window to prepare the country for the coronavirus.”
“On Sunday, Trump got defensive when a reporter asked him why his administration had not done more to prepare.”
Trump Revs Up for State-by-State Fight
“President Trump is preparing for a long battle with America’s governors to save himself from the political fallout from coronavirus,” Politico reports.
“Over the next two weeks at the urging of the Trump administration, the map of the U.S. will start to resemble a patchwork quilt, with some states open for business while others remain locked down because of the spread of the virus.”
“Trump has said the onus for reopening states lies with their leaders, but he has simultaneously tried to pressure governors into restarting businesses and relaxing health guidelines as soon as possible.”
The Senate Is In Play
Politico: “Republicans started this election cycle as heavy favorites to keep their Senate majority, with a lineup of elections mostly in red-tinted states and GOP incumbents favored over a slate of relatively unknown and untested challengers. Now, nearly six months out from the election, Democrats are making them sweat.”
“Republicans are still more likely than not to maintain control, but Democrats strengthened their hand with a slate of challengers raising massive sums of money in races that represent the heart of the battle for the majority, putting control of the Senate within reach. Republicans remain modest favorites to keep the Senate, with incumbents holding cash advantages in most competitive races and several offensive targets potentially cushioning their majority.”
Key takeaway: Maine’s Senate race from a “Lean R” to “Toss Up,” opening up a Democratic path to the majority, though Republicans are still favored.
Trump Keeps Raising Money
Politico: “The Republican National Committee raised a record $24 million last month, an early indication that President Trump’s fundraising machine could be able to withstand the economic collapse brought on by the coronavirus.”
“Despite a global pandemic that has shuttered much of the U.S. economy, the RNC’s total represented its best March fundraising performance in history. The figures will be part of a federal campaign finance filing due Monday.”
Confidence Needed Before Life Returns to Normal
Washington Post: “Last week, President Trump released a set of guidelines for beginning to reopen the country amid the coronavirus pandemic. But what Trump says won’t much matter if skittish elected leaders, business owners and customers don’t trust that they will be safe returning to their daily lives — and at the moment, most Americans don’t have that confidence.”
Jacqueline Alemany: “There’s a serious break between Trump’s vision of the post-peak future — as painted in his daily White House press briefings — and the grim reality described by small business owners, restaurateurs, and essential workers on the front lines. Especially as hospitals in some of the cities hit the hardest are still overwhelmed.”