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Fed Considering Supports for State Governments

March 28, 2020 at 9:47 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Federal Reserve officials are reviewing new ways to support financing for state and local governments, many of which are on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic and will face huge borrowing needs as revenues plunge,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The economic-rescue legislation Congress approved this week asks the Fed to charge headlong into areas it has long considered taboo—supporting lending to businesses, cities and states. The Fed traditionally avoided intervening directly in credit and fiscal policy, preferring to leave such matters to Congress and the White House.”

The Bleak Heart of the World’s Deadliest Outbreak

March 28, 2020 at 9:43 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “The streets of Bergamo are empty. As in all of Italy, people can leave their homes only for food and medicines and work. The factories and shops and schools are closed. There is no more chatting on the corners or in the coffee bars.”

“But what won’t stop are the sirens.”

“While the world’s attention now shifts to its own centers of contagion, the sirens keep sounding. Like the air raid sirens of the Second World War, they are the ambulance sirens that many survivors of this war will remember. They blare louder as they get closer, coming to collect the parents and grandparents, the keepers of Italy’s memory.”

Harvard Business Review: Lessons from Italy’s response to coronavirus.

How a Pandemic Could Undermine Our Union

March 28, 2020 at 9:19 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed an executive order on Thursday that would require travelers from some coronavirus hotspots to self-quarantine… Other states have imposed similar orders,” Vox reports.

“These orders implicate one of the fundamental premises of the union among the 50 states: the right of American citizens to travel among them freely.”

“If states can decide that some US citizens are not welcome within their borders, it may cease to be a union at all. This right to travel is implicit in the notion that citizens are Americans, and not simply Texans or New Yorkers.”

China and Russia Push Disinformation on Virus

March 28, 2020 at 8:40 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“China and Russia have both seized on the novel coronavirus to wage disinformation campaigns that seek to sow doubts about the United States’ handling of the crisis and deflect attention from their own struggles with the pandemic, according to American intelligence officials and diplomats,” the New York Times reports.

“Kremlin-aligned websites aimed at Western audiences have trafficked in conspiracy theories to spread fear in Europe and political division in the United States, the officials said, noting that Russia’s diplomats and state-run news media have arguably been more restrained.”

“China has been more overtly aggressive. It has used a network of government-linked social media accounts to spread discredited, and sometimes contradictory, theories.”

Wall Street Journal: Putin exploits coronavirus to justify centralized Russian power.

Graham Warned Trump He’ll ‘Own’ the Deaths

March 28, 2020 at 8:15 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“When Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called President Trump last Sunday, he delivered a blunt message: If you reopen the nation’s economy too early against the advice of public-health experts, you will own the deaths from the novel coronavirus that follow,” the Washington Post reports.

“Trump’s stalwart ally also warned that the president wouldn’t be the only one held responsible. Graham said the Republican Party itself risks being defined ahead of this fall’s elections as prioritizing commerce and the stock market over the health and safety of the American people.”

“Graham’s private plea illustrates the political calculations underway inside the leadership ranks of the Republican Party as the president balances dual crises as he seeks reelection: the pandemic that is claiming lives and overburdening hospitals, and the resulting economic meltdown that already has left millions jobless, with many facing financial ruin.”

NBC News: White House advisers push Trump to avoid more date-specific timelines.

Biden Mounts Quiet Effort to Win Over Progressives

March 28, 2020 at 8:09 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Joe Biden’s campaign is mounting an aggressive behind-the-scenes effort to address the biggest weakness of his candidacy: A lack of enthusiasm among the liberal base, particularly young voters,” Politico reports.

“Since his landslide victories earlier this month, Biden’s advisers have engaged in talks with a range of top progressive groups, including some that endorsed his chief rival, Bernie Sanders, according to multiple sources familiar with the conversations. The outreach to left-wing organizations and individuals — representing causes from climate change and immigrant rights to gun control and mobilizing underserved black and brown communities — is focused on young activists. Broadly speaking, they viewed Biden as one of the least-inspiring candidates in the sprawling Democratic primary field.”

Bonus Quote of the Day

March 27, 2020 at 10:50 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“There were people doing lap dances. I can’t think of anything more irresponsible at a time like this.”

— Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza, quoted by WPRI, on closing down a strip club for violating “social distancing” orders.

Trump Suggests He Can Gag Inspector General

March 27, 2020 at 10:14 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“When President Trump signed the $2 trillion economic stabilization package to respond to the coronavirus pandemic on Friday, he undercut a crucial safeguard that Democrats insisted upon as a condition of agreeing to include a $500 billion corporate bailout fund,” the New York Times reports.

“In a signing statement released hours after Mr. Trump signed the bill in a televised ceremony in the Oval Office, the president suggested he had the power to decide what information a newly created inspector general intended to monitor the fund could share with Congress.”

Politico: Trump chips away at Congress’ role in coronavirus relief oversight.

Trump Wants to Personally Sign Economic Relief Checks

March 27, 2020 at 9:39 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Wall Street Journal: “Mr. Trump has told people he wants his signature to appear on the direct payment checks that will go out to many Americans in the coming weeks.”

“Normally, a civil servant—the disbursing officer for the payment center—would sign federal checks.”

Trump Admits Personal Grievances Factor in Decisions

March 27, 2020 at 8:24 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump is a commander in chief dealing with a coronavirus outbreak in which many difficult decisions have to be made. And on Friday, he seemed to suggest some of those decisions could be made according to who has run afoul of him personally,” the Washington Post reports.

“Trump disclosed that he has told Vice President Pence, who is leading the coronavirus task force, not to call the governors of Michigan and Washington state because those governors had been critical of Trump and the federal response.”

Said Trump: “When they’re not appreciative to me, they’re not appreciative to the Army Corps, they’re not appreciative to FEMA, it’s not right.”

Biden Leads Trump Nationally

March 27, 2020 at 7:32 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Fox News poll finds Joe Biden is up by 49% to 40% over President Trump, a lead that is outside the poll’s margin of sampling error. 

Another 11% would vote for someone else or are undecided. 

Interesting: Biden’s advantage grows to 25 points, 57% to 32%, in close counties (where Hillary Clinton and Trump were within 10 points in 2016).

U.S. to Stop Collecting Import Tariffs for 3 Months

March 27, 2020 at 7:05 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Trump administration is preparing to suspend collection of import tariffs for three months to give U.S. companies financial relief amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Companies would still be liable for the tariffs at a later date, which hadn’t been determined, another official said. Officials said there would be no formal changes to tariff policy.”

The Next Financial Crisis

March 27, 2020 at 5:31 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The U.S. mortgage finance system could collapse if the Federal Reserve doesn’t step in with emergency loans to offset a coming wave of missed payments from borrowers crippled by the coronavirus pandemic,” Politico reports.

“Congress did not include relief for the mortgage industry in its $2 trillion rescue package — even as lawmakers required mortgage companies to allow homeowners up to a year’s delay in making payments on federally backed loans.”

The People, No

March 27, 2020 at 5:27 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Out in June: The People, No: A Brief History of Anti-Populism by Thomas Frank.

“The real story of populism is an account of enlightenment and liberation; it is the story of American democracy itself, of its ever-widening promise of a decent life for all. Taking us from the tumultuous 1890s, when the radical left-wing Populist Party—the biggest mass movement in American history—fought Gilded Age plutocrats to the reformers’ great triumphs under Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman, Frank reminds us how much we owe to the populist ethos. Frank also shows that elitist groups have reliably detested populism, lashing out at working-class concerns.”

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Jimmy Carter’s Approval Jumped at Start of Crisis Too

March 27, 2020 at 5:02 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

If you’re curious why President Trump’s approval rating has jumped recently — FiveThirtyEight pegs it at 45.8% today, the highest of his presidency — it’s important to remember how presidential approval surges during the early stages of a national crisis.

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Longest Serving Lawmaker Calls It Quits After 64 Years

March 27, 2020 at 4:39 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Wisconsin state Sen. Fred Risser (D), the longest-serving lawmaker in the nation’s history, announced he will retire after the end of his term, the Madison State Journal reports.

“Risser, 92, is also the last World War II veteran remaining in either the state or nation’s legislatures. His time in the Legislature since being elected to the Assembly in 1956 and the Senate in 1962 has spanned 13 different governors, and he says he never missed a legislative roll call.”

Another Lawmaker Tests Positive

March 27, 2020 at 4:38 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) announced that he tested positive for COVID-19, the fifth member of Congress to do so.

“My symptoms are mild, and I will continue serving Pennsylvania’s 16th District from home until I fully recover.”

COVID-19 Projections for Each State

March 27, 2020 at 4:32 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new tool from the University of Washington projects when the coronavirus outbreak will peak in each of the 50 states and how bad it’ll get.

Of course, these are all projections and things could change dramatically, such as when modifications to social distancing measures are made.

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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