Joan McCarter

Joan McCarter https://www.dailykos.com/user/Joan McCarter/rss/index.xml News Community Action Copyright 2005 - Steal what you want Mon, 11 May 2020 14:14:47 +0000 Mon, 11 May 2020 14:14:47 +0000 Daily Kos rss@dailykos.com (Daily Kos) Daily Kos rss@dailykos.com (Daily Kos) Of course chief vulture McConnell would jam a Trump Supreme Court nominee through, Republicans say https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/5/8/1942803/-Of-course-chief-vulture-McConnell-would-jam-a-Trump-Supreme-Court-nominee-through-Republicans-say The Grim Reaper of everything good in Congress, Mitch McConnell, has donned his cloak and picked up his scythe, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/08/republicans-ready-supreme-court-vacancy-243574" title="">slathering</a> over the news that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was hospitalized this week with gallbladder problems. Is there any question that the McConnell Rule established in 2016—no Supreme Court appointments for a president in an election year—would hold true for Donald Trump? Yeah. Right. "We're going to fill" a vacancy, if there is one, said Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 3 Republican leader. "With Justice Scalia […] people might not have thought he was the one, because he wasn't the oldest at the time. You just never know." Texas Sen. John Cornyn at least acknowledged that it would be a phenomenally hypocritical thing to do, but that wouldn't stop him. "If you thought the Kavanaugh hearing was contentious this would probably be that on steroids," he told reporters. "Nevertheless, if the president makes a nomination then it's our responsibility to take it up." Only when it's a Republican president, he did not add. <a href="https://secure.actblue.com/donate/dkendorses2020kysen?refcode=20200508JM2" title="">Let's make it the end of this iteration of the GOP. Please give $1 to our nominee fund to help Democrats end McConnell's career as majority leader!</a> rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) 2020 BarackObama DonaldTrump MerrickGarland MitchMcConnell RuthBaderGinsberg SCOTUS SupremeCourt _1942803 Fri, 08 May 2020 20:12:06 +0000 Doctors enraged at Trump administration's botched, opaque distribution of COVID-19 treatment https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/5/8/1943013/-Doctors-enraged-at-Trump-administration-s-botched-opaque-distribution-of-COVID-19-treatment The experimental anti-viral drug remdesivir has shown such great promise for treating COVID-19 that it received emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration so it could be distributed to hospitals as fast as it can be produced. Then the Trump administration stepped in to start the distribution of the limited amount of it available for patient treatment, as opposed to research, now. Typical of this total corrupt fiasco of an administration, <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2020/05/06/doctors-lambaste-federal-process-for-distributing-covid-19-drug-remdesivir/" title="">no one knows who's deciding where it goes</a> and why it seems to be going to some hospitals and not others. "In my opinion, and I think in the opinion of many of my colleagues, there is a complete lack of transparency about how this decision is being made and who is making it," Daniel Kaul, an infectious disease physician at the University of Michigan told Stat News. His hospital isn't getting any of the treatment. Paul Biddinger, director of Massachusetts General Hospital’s Center for Disaster Medicine, says his center is getting it, but "I legitimately do not have any insight into how hospitals were selected." Most of the rest of Massachusetts hospitals aren't getting any. He said his team has asked the state's Department of Public Health if federal regulations will allow them to give that agency their hospital's allotment so that it can be redistributed to where the need is greatest. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) AlexAzar Coronavirus Covid-19 DonaldTrump MikePence Recommended remdesivir _1943013 Fri, 08 May 2020 19:11:29 +0000 In public comments that weren't 'intended to be made public,' McSally trashes hurting cities https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/5/8/1943607/-McSally-says-next-COVID-bill-shouldn-t-be-cash-cow-for-mismanaged-cities-as-Arizona-cities-suffer As Arizona's cities are <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/arizona/articles/2020-04-18/arizona-cities-retrenching-to-cope-with-coronavirus-outbreak">laying off and furloughing workers</a> because of cratering revenues as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, their Republican senator is telling them to toughen up. She <a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2020/05/07/mcsally-next-coronavirus-bill-cant-cash-cow-mismanaged-cities-covid-19/3090548001/">isn't going to help them</a> by voting for any financial support for state local government, citing that "blue state bailout" bullshit. "I'm just going to be frank with you guys, okay," she said in a virtual town meeting in Arizona. "This is not the time for states and cities—unlike Arizona, unlike Surprise—who have mismanaged their budgets over the course of many decades, for them to use this as an opportunity to see you, as a taxpayer in Arizona, as a cash cow for them in whatever city you want to talk about, whether it's Chicago or New York or whatever." Or Tempe, or Mesa, or Kingman, or Page, or Prescott, Arizona. Or Phoenix, which is a projecting a $26 million shortfall. Is she lumping all those towns in with the "cities that have nothing to do with coronavirus" but failed at budgeting and managing debt, and thus need to be bailed out? "This is not the time for us in Arizona and you in Surprise to be paying for mismanagement in Chicago," McSally continued. "That's what, actually, the left is advocating for right now. What we're advocating for is we provide specific relief." <a href="https://secure.actblue.com/donate/dkendorses2020senate2?refcode=20200508JM1">McSally isn't helping Arizona, and she sure as hell isn't helping the country. Please give $1 to our nominee fund to help Democrats end the Republican majority in the Senate and to boot McSally.</a> rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) 2020 AZ-Sen Coronavirus Covid-19 DonaldTrump MarthMcSally MitchMcConnell Republicans Senate _1943607 Fri, 08 May 2020 16:36:24 +0000 Senate Democrats join Pelosi in calling for direct, ongoing cash payments to (almost) everyone https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/5/8/1943574/-Senate-Democrats-join-Pelosi-in-calling-for-direct-ongoing-cash-payments-to-almost-everyone House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has support in the Senate for her <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/5/7/1943352/-House-Democrats-prepare-another-2-trillion-in-COVID-19-aid-that-could-actually-really-help-people">push to include</a> recurring monthly payments of $2,000 to individual Americans for the duration of the coronavirus crisis. Three Senate Democrats have <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/08/monthly-payments-2000-coronavirus-243670">jumped on board</a> that plan with their own bill. Sens. Kamala Harris, Ed Markey, and Bernie Sanders are releasing the Monthly Economic Crisis Support Act on Friday. Their bill would send $2,000 to every American making less than $120,000, and $4,000 to married couples filing jointly, with $2,000 for each of the first three children in a family. Significantly, it would be retroactive to March, helping to mitigate at least some of the damage done thus far by a botched federal response to the crisis. Harris pointed to that failure, saying that their bill recognizes that they have done not "nearly enough to meet the needs of this historic crisis." Sanders said that "Congress has a responsibility to make sure that every working-class household in America receives a $2,000 emergency payment a month for each family member," and Markey added that the plan is "the most direct and efficient mechanism for delivering economic relief to those most vulnerable." rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) BernieSanders Coronavirus CoronavirusAidReliefandEconomicSecurityAct Covid-19 EdMarkey House KamalaHarris MitchMcConnell NancyPelosi PublicHealth Recommended Senate _1943574 Fri, 08 May 2020 14:36:42 +0000 The COVID-19 small business loan program isn't doing the job. Congress needs another plan https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/5/7/1943440/-The-COVID-19-small-business-loan-program-isn-t-doing-the-job-Congress-needs-another-plan The Paycheck Protection Program, the small business loan program created by Republican Sens. Marco Rubio and Susan Collins as part of the CARES Act, appears to be too bogged down in problems to be worth re-upping for a third round in the next version of legislation. First there were all the problems with the massive, publicly traded corporations that <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/21/1939187/--300-million-in-small-business-COVID-19-emergency-loans-went-to-some-very-big-companies" title="">took the first big bites</a> out of it; the fact that <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/24/1940033/-Black-business-owner-on-COVID-19-small-business-loan-program-We-re-just-screwed" title="">small business owners of color</a> were largely shut out; and the fact that the loans <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/5/7/1943288/-The-first-round-of-small-business-loans-didn-t-go-where-the-need-was-greatest" title="">didn't go to the parts of the country</a> that needed them most. Now it's <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/06/business/small-businesses-loans-ppp-coronavirus.html" title="">becoming clear</a> that the program is so complicated, recipients of the loans could be left with huge debt loads because meeting the requirements for the loans to be forgiven is so stringent. "Virtually every small business borrower believes that this will be forgiven," Paul Merski, a lobbyist for the Independent Community Bankers of America told The New York Times. "They took it out assuming that it would be a grant but it's not—you have to abide by very complex rules and regulations on how this is spent." rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Coronavirus CoronavirusAidReliefandEconomicSecurityAct Covid-19 House MitchMcConnell NancyPelosi PaycheckProtectionProgram PublicHealth Senate _1943440 Thu, 07 May 2020 21:54:50 +0000 Pentagon says COVID-19 infection disqualifies recruits, precedent for insurers in an ACA-free market https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/5/7/1943400/-Pentagon-says-COVID-19-infection-disqualifies-recruits-precedent-for-insurers-in-an-ACA-free-market Here's a harbinger for what's to come should the Trump administration prevail in its efforts to get the Supreme Court to throw out the entirety of the Affordable Care Act: The Pentagon has <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/05/06/coronavirus-survivors-banned-from-joining-the-military/" title="">decided that coronavirus is a preexisting condition</a> and will reject recruits who've recovered from it. "During the medical history interview or examination, a history of COVID-19, confirmed by either a laboratory test or a clinician diagnosis, is permanently disqualifying," a memo from the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Command (MEPCOM) that was <a href="https://twitter.com/Nathaniel_Free/status/1257380066343956486" title="">leaked on social media</a> Thursday states. The Pentagon has confirmed that this will be recruitment policy going forward with numerous outlets, including Military Times. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) AffordableCareAct Coronavirus Covid-19 DepartmentofDefense Pentagon SCOTUS SupremeCourt _1943400 Thu, 07 May 2020 19:14:43 +0000 Pelosi endorses $2,000 every month to everybody in next $2 trillion COVID-19 response bill https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/5/7/1943352/-House-Democrats-prepare-another-2-trillion-in-COVID-19-aid-that-could-actually-really-help-people The elements of CARES 2, the next big coronavirus response bill, are finally emerging from the Democratic Congress, where at least the horrendous scope and urgency of the emergency seems to be recognized even if it's not accompanied by urgency. It is <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/496511-pelosi-seeks-to-wrangle-caucus-behind-next-covid-bill">reportedly aiming at another $2 trillion</a>: "billions of dollars more to expand coronavirus testing, unemployment benefits, small business loans and aid for state and local governments." The encouraging part: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "and other lawmakers voiced support for including in the next package $2,000 in recurring monthly payments for Americans," which might be the single most important thing they could do. Additionally, The Hill reports that Pelosi and team have prioritized vote-by-mail, funding for the U.S. Postal Service, broadband infrastructure, and worker protections. Rep. Maxine Waters says she's ready "to fight till hell freezes over" to include $100 billion in rental assistance and an eviction moratorium, while Reps. Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are arguing for cancellation of rent and mortgage payments for the duration of the pandemic. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Coronavirus CoronavirusAidReliefandEconomicSecurityAct Covid-19 Economy House MitchMcConnell NancyPelosi PaycheckProtectionProgram PublicHealth Senate _1943352 Thu, 07 May 2020 17:00:58 +0000 The chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee seems to be a big blabbermouth, and corrupt to boot https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/5/7/1943311/-The-chair-of-the-Senate-Intelligence-Committee-seems-to-be-a-big-blabbermouth-and-corrupt-to-boot Sen. Richard Burr, Republican of North Carolina and the No. 1 guy in the Senate for hearing sensitive, classified information about the health and safety of the nation, seemingly can't keep a secret. At least not one that has the potential to make him and his buddies a lot richer, which <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/3/19/1929198/-Senate-Intelligence-chair-Burr-cashed-out-0-5-1-5-million-in-stock-just-before-COVID-market-crash">he capitalized on personally</a>, cashing out as much as $1.5 million in stock just before the COVID-19 market crash. He also <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/3/19/1929069/-GOP-Senator-Burr-knew-catastrophe-was-coming-He-exclusively-warned-a-wealthy-slice-of-constituents" title="">warned</a> his wealthy friends in the exclusive Tar Heel Circle about the classified intelligence he'd received on the dire pandemic that was coming. Now Propublica, the outlet that discovered Burr's stock dump, has found another beneficiary of Burr's classified knowledge. On the same day that Burr dumped his stocks, beating the market crash, <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/burr-family-stock" title="">so did his brother-in-law</a>. Gerald Fauth, Burr's relative and also a Trump appointee on the National Mediation Board, sold between $97,000 and $280,000 in shares the same day Burr unloaded his. It could be purely coincidental, of course, but how likely is that? This was on Feb. 13, two weeks before Burr talked to the Tar Heel Circle, and the day before the market crash. Meanwhile, Burr was <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/coronavirus-prevention-steps-the-u-s-government-is-taking-to-protect-you-sen-alexander-and-sen-burr" title="">telling the public</a> that everything was going to be fine. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Coronavirus Corruption Covid-19 GeraldFauth InsiderTrading Recommended RichardBurr SenateIntelligenceCommittee _1943311 Thu, 07 May 2020 14:57:40 +0000 The first round of small business loans didn't go where the need was greatest https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/5/7/1943288/-The-first-round-of-small-business-loans-didn-t-go-where-the-need-was-greatest A couple of weeks ago the geographical distribution of the small business loans in the Paycheck Protection Program under the COVID-19 response bill, the CARES Act, <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/4/17/1938079/-Big-surprise-The-Trump-McConnell-urgent-COVID-19-small-business-loans-were-dumped-into-red-states">raised a lot of eyebrows</a>. It sure seemed on first glance that a disproportionate amount of loan money was going to red states that hadn't been coronavirus outbreak centers. Since then, some of the specific "small" businesses that got the loans—the L.A. Lakers, the Ritz Carlton hotels, major restaurant chains—grabbed the headlines, but the perplexing geographical distribution of funds intrigued a couple of economists at the New York Fed. So they <a href="https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2020/05/where-have-the-paycheck-protection-loans-gone-so-far.html">dug into the data</a> from the first round of loans, trying to answer the question: "Have PPP loans gone to the areas of the country and sectors of the economy hardest hit by COVID-19?" In a nutshell, no. The loans have not gone to the areas hit hardest by the pandemic. They find that "some of the hardest hit areas—such as New York, New Jersey, Michigan, and Pennsylvania—are getting fewer loans than some Mountain and Midwest states on a per-small-business basis." Here's a mind-blowing finding: while less than 20% of New York businesses were approved for the loans, more than 55 percent of small businesses in Nebraska are expecting PPP funding." From the initial reports of the loan program, they found "there is no statistically significant relationship between the severity of the economic impact of COVID-19—measured both in terms of cases and unemployment claims—and the share of small businesses getting PPP loans, after excluding New York and New Jersey." rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Coronavirus CoronavirusAidReliefandEconomicSecurityAct Covid-19 House MitchMcConnell NancyPelosi PaycheckProtectionProgram PublicHealth Senate _1943288 Thu, 07 May 2020 13:06:06 +0000 Health officials privately see waves of new outbreaks resulting from Trump's reopening https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/5/6/1943012/-While-Trump-declares-he-s-solved-every-problem-on-COVID-19-health-officials-raise-new-alarms On May 1, while Donald Trump was crowing to the nation about his great victory over the novel coronavirus and saying he'd "solved every problem," officials in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Health and Human Services (HHS) were on a conference call, sharing their concerns over continuing medical equipment shortages and the danger of states reopening too soon. Politico <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/06/trump-fema-hhs-coronavirus-response-239652">obtained a recording</a> of that grim call. "We've ensured a ventilator for every patient who needs one," Trump said in his mini-rally. "The testing and the masks and all of the things, we've solved every problem. We solved it quickly." So, Trump said, let's reopen. Meanwhile, Daniel Jernigan, director of the Centers for Disease Control's influenza division, opened the conference call by saying that the "numbers of deaths definitely will be high" with the administration's stay-at-home restrictions expiring. "If, at the end of stay-at-home orders, you were to lift everything and go back to normal business, and not have any community mitigation, you would expect to see in the second week in May we begin to increase again in ventilator uses," another unidentified official said. "Which means cases increase, and by early June, we surpass the number of ventilators we currently have." rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Coronavirus Covid-19 DonaldTrump _1943012 Wed, 06 May 2020 15:25:41 +0000 Trump's demands for payroll tax cut blown off by Senate Republicans who have bigger, deadlier plans https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/5/6/1942989/-Trump-s-red-line-on-payroll-tax-cuts-dismissed-by-McConnell-who-has-his-own-destructive-demands Donald Trump might want to <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/5/4/1942505/-Trump-takes-Social-Security-hostage-in-his-latest-COVID-19-stimulus-demand">seize the opportunity</a> provided by the COVID-19 pandemic crisis to destroy Social Security, but it appears Senate Republicans don't want to have that fight right now. That doesn't mean they're not on board with all the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/business/economy/trump-tax-cuts-coronavirus-stimulus.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytpolitics">other tax cuts</a> Trump is eyeing, but even Senate Republicans seem to understand that the payroll tax cut Trump wants is ridiculous. Trump's talking about a slew of new tax cuts for the wealthy. Because of course he is. That includes a cut in the capital gains tax rate and more corporate giveaways, allowing companies to deduct the full costs of investments they made during this crisis—and in perpetuity, if Trump has his way. Also, he wants to expand the deduction for corporate spending on meals and entertainment, which wouldn't benefit Trump resorts at all, I'm sure. What he also wants to do is to suspend the payroll tax for workers, which does pretty much nothing to help anyone. It stops the flow of funds into the Social Security and Medicare system that is now keeping older Americans afloat and is a gift only to the people who need it least right now—the ones who are still getting their paychecks. That's not a fight Senate Republicans <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-demand-for-payroll-tax-cut-is-rebuffed-on-capitol-hill-as-lawmakers-spar-over-next-virus-aid-bill/2020/05/05/7691349e-8eeb-11ea-8df0-ee33c3f5b0d6_story.html" target="_blank">want to get mired in</a> right now. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) ChuckSchumer Coronavirus CoronavirusAidReliefandEconomicSecurityAct Covid-19 Democrats DonaldTrump MitchMcConnell payrolltaxcut _1942989 Wed, 06 May 2020 14:06:10 +0000 Fired vaccine doctor files whistleblower complaint, says administration ignored coronavirus warnings https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/5/5/1942814/-Fired-whistleblower-alleges-dire-warnings-on-mask-shortages-were-ignored-by-Trump-administration Dr. Rick Bright is back in the news. The vaccine researcher says he was <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/4/22/1939520/-Doctor-in-charge-of-U-S-COVID-19-vaccine-says-he-was-fired-for-questioning-Trump-s-favorite-drug">fired from his position</a> in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) because he fought Donald Trump on things like "the broad use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, promoted by the administration as a panacea, but which clearly lack scientific merit." He has now officially <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/whistleblower-alleges-trump-adm-ignored-dire-covid-warnings">filed a whistleblower complaint</a>, charging that the administration ignored dire coronavirus warnings. Bright alleges that the administration was warned in late January of a critical shortage of surgical masks and of the need to start work immediately on a vaccine. He says the White House ignored the warnings. He said that early on in the spread of the virus, he warned about supply chain shortages but got little support from anyone in the administration other than trade adviser Peter Navarro, and ultimately was excluded from meetings on the coronavirus that he was scheduled to attend. Eventually, Bright was fired. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Coronavirus Covid-19 DonaldTrump RickBright Whistleblower _1942814 Tue, 05 May 2020 19:57:17 +0000 Attorney General Barr tries to get Trump to pump the brakes on killing the Affordable Care Act https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/5/5/1942802/-Barr-tries-to-get-Trump-to-pump-the-breaks-on-killing-the-Affordable-Care-Act The opening briefs for California v. Texas, the Affordable Care Act repeal lawsuit before the Supreme Court, begin Wednesday and an interesting wrinkle on the White House side of things has popped up. The Trump administration has advanced the challenge and in fact broadened the argument to say that the entirety of the law, not just some provisions of it, should be thrown out. But now it seems Attorney General William Barr is <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/05/politics/william-barr-obamacare-supreme-court/index.html">having second thoughts</a>. CNN reports that Barr made a "last-minute push" on Monday with White House officials including Vice President Mike Pence and White House counsel Pat Cipollone to persuade them that maybe they shouldn't argue for the entire law being tossed, and to preserve parts of the law. No decision was made in that meeting. Barr's thinking, CNN says, is political. "Barr and other top advisers have argued against the hard-line position for some time, warning it could have major political implications if the comprehensive health care law appears in jeopardy as voters head to the polls in November." Given we're in the middle of a pandemic that shows no signs of abating in the near future, Barr is probably right. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) 2020 AffordableCareAct Coronavirus Covid-19 DonaldTrump Obamacare preexistingconditions Sabotage WilliamBarr _1942802 Tue, 05 May 2020 19:10:00 +0000 Governors rush to curry favor with Trump, reopening against the guidelines provided by Trump https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/5/5/1942768/-Governors-rush-to-curry-favor-with-Trump-reopening-against-the-guidelines-provided-by-Trump Despite the fact that the <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/5/5/1942722/-Americans-who-aren-t-Republicans-still-don-t-want-to-share-space-with-each-other-at-all" title="">majority of us</a> don't want to go to restaurants, hair salons, barbershops, or gyms with bunches of potentially lethal strangers, states are rushing to reopen. Some of them are doing it while their numbers of confirmed cases are on the rise and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-cheers-on-governors-as-they-ignore-white-house-coronovirus-guidelines-in-race-to-reopen/2020/05/04/bedc6116-8e18-11ea-a0bc-4e9ad4866d21_story.html" title="">against the guidelines</a> released by the White House for reopening. And Trump is cheering them on even as they ignore those guidelines. The White House recommendation released last month advised that states wait until there’s a two-week decline in cases before relaxing physical distancing restrictions. Those guidelines also recommend having a robust testing regimen in place for front-line workers prior to reopening anything. Since the White House is doing nothing to ensure that states can actually do that kind of testing, it's not surprising that everyone is ignoring that part of the advice. Especially Trump, for whom the guidelines might as well not exist and for whom reality clearly does not exist. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Coronavirus Covid-19 DonaldTrump Republicans _1942768 Tue, 05 May 2020 17:23:02 +0000 Chief Justice Roberts in the hot seat, asked to launch inquiry into McConnell's court packing scheme https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/5/5/1942748/-Federal-judge-launches-inquiry-into-McConnell-s-court-packing-efforts The chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Judge Sri Srinivasan, has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/04/us/politics/senate-confirmation-justin-walker.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytpolitics">requested an inquiry</a> into whether Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and retired Judge Thomas B. Griffith engineered the latter's retirement so McConnell could install a protégé. Srinivasan has asked Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to assign the inquiry to another circuit. This comes as advocacy group Demand Justice calls for a delay in the confirmation hearing of Judge Justin Walker, a former intern of McConnell's and an extreme partisan who was a <a href="https://twitter.com/cdkang76/status/1257420655773069321">fixture on Fox News</a> defending now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his show-hearings. "Justin Walker's nomination was already controversial, but this emerging investigation means an even darker cloud is hanging over his appointment," Demand Justice founder Brian Fallon said in a statement released following the announcement of the inquiry. Walker's nomination is controversial because he is not just an extreme partisan but is so woefully inexperienced in conducting law that the American Bar Association deemed him unqualified for the job McConnell handed to him last fall, on the district court where he now serves. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Corruption JustinWalker MitchMcConnell Recommended SCOTUS SriSrinivasan SupremeCourt U.S.CourtofAppealsfortheDistrictofColumbiaCircuit _1942748 Tue, 05 May 2020 16:08:53 +0000 Americans who aren't Republicans still don't want to share space with each other, at all https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/5/5/1942722/-Americans-who-aren-t-Republicans-still-don-t-want-to-share-space-with-each-other-at-all The problem for the sizable majority of people who support state lockdowns is that we're all quietly staying in our homes and not attracting TV cameras and headlines. We are, however, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/americans-widely-oppose-reopening-most-businesses-despite-easing-of-restrictions-in-some-states-post-u-md-poll-finds/2020/05/04/495ddc3a-8e36-11ea-9e23-6914ee410a5f_story.html" title="">being polled</a>. Turns out, most of us aren't clamoring to be gathering together again in close quarters. A new Washington Post-University of Maryland poll shows that we "clearly oppose the reopening of restaurants, retail stores and other businesses, even as governors begin to lift restrictions that have kept the economy locked down in an effort to combat the coronavirus pandemic." The Post finds that Americans in "states with looser restrictions report similar levels of discomfort as those in states with stricter rules." The majority of people—56%—are fine with going to the grocery store, an activity that has been allowed in every state during the lockdown because it is essential. But we don't want to go clothes shopping by a 67% majority, and we really don't want to eat in a restaurant: 78%. We are equally uncomfortable being exposed to stranger's sweat as eating with them, also 78%. The only thing people are more fearful of doing is sitting in a movie theater with them, according to 82%. The only thing a plurality of us are okay with, at 41%, is opening up golf courses. There is a partisan gap in this poll, with Republicans and lean-Republicans being significantly more willing to be out infecting people. A third of them would go to a movie, and nearly half want their gun stores and barber shops/salons open. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Coronavirus Covid-19 Polling Republicans _1942722 Tue, 05 May 2020 13:56:20 +0000 McConnell endangers the lives of his colleagues to push through another extremist judge https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/5/4/1942578/-McConnell-endangers-the-lives-of-his-colleagues-to-push-through-another-extremist-judge The Senate is back in session, even though there is no legislative business scheduled and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is doing nothing about the ongoing and worsening coronavirus crisis other than taking <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/29/1941380/-As-McConnell-tries-to-hold-aid-to-states-and-cities-hostage-mass-layoffs-of-public-employees-begin" title="">critical aid to state and local governments hostage</a>. The House is taking the lead on that new bill, and should definitely be ignoring McConnell's ultimatums, and McConnell has ceded it to them. So why did he bring his Senate, nearly half of whom are over 65 years old, and their staff, and the floor staff, and the support staff for the whole institute back against the advice of the attending physician? To shove through a promotion of his protege, Justin Walker. That's the 38-year old Kentuckian who McConnell got onto the district court in Kentucky just last fall, despite the fact that he was <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/10/24/1894816/-Moscow-Mitch-s-most-outstanding-judicial-nominee-ever-rated-unqualified-by-ABA" title="">rated as unqualified</a> by the American Bar Association because he had never even participated in a trial. And now, the most concrete thing on the Senate agenda is putting Walker on the second highest court in the nation. <a href="https://secure.actblue.com/donate/dkendorses2020senate?refcode=20200504JM2" title="">He must be stopped. Please give $1 to our nominee fund to help Democrats and end McConnell's career as majority leader.</a> rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) 2020 BrettKavanaugh DonaldTrump FederalJudiciary JustinWalker MitchMcConnell Republicans Senate _1942578 Mon, 04 May 2020 20:50:45 +0000 New ad reminds Mainers that Susan Collins prioritizes big donor tax cuts, leaves workers behind https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/5/4/1942558/-New-ad-reminds-Mainers-that-Susan-Collins-prioritizes-big-donor-tax-cuts-leaves-workers-behind Sen. Susan Collins is the unhappy target of a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d17WHsLEn_c" title="">hard-hitting ad</a> highlighting her fealty to big corporate donors over Mainers, especially during this pandemic. "The pain we're feeling couldn't be any more personal," the narrator says as a local news anchor intones "The pandemic putting thousands of Mainers out of work." It "doesn't get more local," the narrator continues, as the local news reports "business owners struggling and scared." "But after Susan Collins and Mitch McConnell gave corporations a nearly $100 billion tax break," the narrator continues, "Collins joined McConnell to give them a $500 billion bailout. The corporate donors that gave Collins over $8 million get rewarded. Mainers pay the price." The final message: "Tell Susan Collins, stop putting corporate donors ahead of Maine." rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) 2020 Coronavirus CoronavirusAidReliefandEconomicSecurityAct Covid-19 DonaldTrump Maine ME-Sen MitchMcConnell PayrollProtectionProgram Senate SmallBusinessLoans SusanCollins _1942558 Mon, 04 May 2020 20:05:55 +0000 Trump's multimillionaire buddy relents, decides to give back 'small business' loan money https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/5/4/1942520/-Trump-s-multi-millionaire-buddy-relents-decides-to-give-back-small-business-loan-money As of a week and a half ago, Monty Bennett was <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ashford-monty-bennett-paycheck-protection-program-keeping-small-business-coronavirus-relief-aid/">keeping all the money</a> he got from the Paycheck Protection Program in "small business" loans. Who's Monty Bennett? He's a multimillionaire friend of Trump who owns Ashford Inc., which owns the Ritz Carlton brand among other luxury hotels. Bennett—after being <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1256698438831476737">called out</a> by Joe Biden, who tweeted that he "should return the tens of millions of dollars he received, and we should give it to the small businesses that need it”—heeded the call and has <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/monty-bennett-trump-donor-and-largest-recipient-of-ppp-funds-will-return-money/ar-BB13wilL">said</a> he'll return the money. Ashford Inc. is the parent of two companies, Ashford Hospitality Trust and Braemar Hotels & Resorts, which combined for <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/business/real-estate/2020/04/21/two-publicly-traded-dallas-hotel-reits-receive-46-million-in-small-business-rescue-loans/">$2.2 billion in revenue</a> last year. Bennett's businesses were the <a href="https://popular.info/p/multi-millionaire-trump-donor-is">top recipients</a> of the PPP loans, with a whopping $96.1 million out of a total of $126 million applied for. But don't make the mistake of lamenting his decision to return all that money and thinking that's a lot of hotel workers who aren't going to be able to keep their jobs. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Coronavirus CoronavirusAidReliefandEconomicSecurityAct Corruption Covid-19 DonaldTrump Grift MontyBennett PayrollProtectionProgram RitzCarlton SmallBusinessLoans _1942520 Mon, 04 May 2020 18:07:54 +0000 Trump takes Social Security hostage in his latest COVID-19 stimulus demand https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/5/4/1942505/-Trump-takes-Social-Security-hostage-in-his-latest-COVID-19-stimulus-demand Impeached president Donald Trump has decided to take his own hostage in the next coronavirus stimulus bill: Social Security. "We're not doing anything without a payroll tax cut," he said in a Fox News interview Sunday. That's exactly the kind of policy solution you'd expect from him—it does absolutely nothing to help in the current economic crisis and will do long-term and potentially immense harm to the health of Social Security, while giving a big tax cut to the highest of earners. In addition to creating another big giveaway to the wealthiest people, Trump probably wants to do it because President Barack Obama did it already in response to the great recession of 2008-09. It was problematic then, but at least helpful to a degree. People who had jobs got more money in their paychecks and had the opportunity to spend it, helping to bolster the economy. This isn't that crisis. Laid-off people aren't going to see any benefit because they're not getting paychecks to be taxed! rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) ChuckSchumer Coronavirus CoronavirusAidReliefandEconomicSecurityAct Covid-19 DonaldTrump NancyPelosi payrolltaxcut Recommended SocialSecurity _1942505 Mon, 04 May 2020 16:46:39 +0000 Clarence Thomas breaks the internet in Supreme Court's first-ever teleconference arguments https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/5/4/1942467/-History-made-as-Supreme-Court-holds-first-ever-teleconference-arguments This happened Monday morning: <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-twitter-content='&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCOTUS?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#SCOTUS&lt;/a&gt; Sketch: &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/SCOTUSblog?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;@SCOTUSblog&lt;/a&gt; banner for today&amp;#39;s first ever live audio of Supreme Court teleconference argument. &lt;a href="https://t.co/PNZeSJLZLN"&gt;pic.twitter.com/PNZeSJLZLN&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; Arthur Lien (@Courtartist) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/Courtartist/status/1257296809661272064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 4, 2020&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; '><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCOTUS?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SCOTUS</a> Sketch: <a href="https://twitter.com/SCOTUSblog?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SCOTUSblog</a> banner for today's first ever live audio of Supreme Court teleconference argument. <a href="https://t.co/PNZeSJLZLN">pic.twitter.com/PNZeSJLZLN</a>— Arthur Lien (@Courtartist) <a href="https://twitter.com/Courtartist/status/1257296809661272064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2020</a></blockquote> </div> Except the part about Justice Clarence Thomas listening in on speaker phone. He shocked the entire legal community and <a href="https://twitter.com/mjs_DC/status/1257310776773054464" target="_blank">nearly broke Twitter</a> when he asked questions. Seriously. He <a href="https://apnews.com/b6f1a7b77b2f8d0d6f0d0c416d9f8454" target="_blank">made headlines</a> by actually talking. Anyway, the court is <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-teleconference-hearings-bookingcom/2020/05/03/f5902bd6-8d76-11ea-a9c0-73b93422d691_story.html" target="_blank">catching up</a> on arguments postponed from the past two months, and for the first time is conducting arguments remotely, on a live feed available to the media. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) ClarenceThomas SCOTUS SupremeCourt _1942467 Mon, 04 May 2020 15:14:59 +0000 Senate returns to work in D.C., House still working out plan for conducting business https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/5/4/1942463/-Senate-returns-to-work-in-D-C-House-still-working-out-plan-for-conducting-business The Senate returns to work Monday, despite the fact that the Capitol's attending physician has recommended against it and the fact there aren't <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/30/capitol-physician-senators-coronavirus-testing-226980" title="">enough available tests</a> to screen every senator, much less all the staff. They will restrict testing just to people with potential coronavirus symptoms. About half of the senators are seniors, over 65. The White House, which apparently tests everyone in the vicinity of Donald Trump regularly, offered tests to Congress, but both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell <a href="https://www.wokv.com/blog/jamie-dupree/senate-returns-work-amid-coronavirus-uncertainty/LJLrPVRty9YohBf2XzGYeK/" title="">declined</a> the offer, writing "Congress wants to keep directing resources to the front-line facilities where they can do the most good the most quickly." Democrats are not thrilled. McConnell "would bring 100 senators and many more staff members and reporters into close proximity while Washington itself remains under a stay-at-home order," California Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein said in a statement last week. "There is no way to do this without increased risk," she added, saying coming back was the "wrong example for the country." That could be the new motto for the GOP. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Coronavirus Covid-19 DianneFeinstein House KevinMcCarthy MikeLee MitchMcConnell NancyPelosi PublicHealth Senate _1942463 Mon, 04 May 2020 14:01:56 +0000 COVID-19 exposes effects of years of budget cuts to Social Security, jeopardizing seniors' coverage https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/5/2/1941410/-COVID-19-exposes-effects-of-years-of-budget-cuts-to-Social-Security-jeopardizing-seniors-coverage One of the most beleaguered of government agencies, the Social Security Administration (SSA), is <a href="https://apnews.com/e0f88d0b0f392d0e8fb79365c856beee?utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_medium=AP" title="">struggling in the pandemic</a> to help seniors attempting to enroll in Medicare coverage. That in turn puts seniors' healthcare coverage in jeopardy at absolutely the worst time, and Congress is going to need to help fix it. The issue is primarily for people applying for Medicare "Part B," the outpatient care coverage. The coverage that covers things like the novel coronavirus tests. The Social Security Administration is responsible for making Medicare determinations. After <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/social-security/more-cuts-to-social-security-administration-funding-would-further-degrade" title="">years of cuts</a> to its administrative budget, it was already stretched thin when attempting to provide assistance to applicants and enrollees. It has been <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/7/1762644/-Republicans-can-t-do-away-with-Social-Security-so-they-re-cutting-its-offices" title="">forced to close 10% of its field offices</a> in the past two decades, including all of the more than 500 "contact sites," the locations that assisted remote and rural populations. Then coronavirus hit, and the SSA <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/agency/emergency/" title="">had to close all offices</a>. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Coronavirus Covid-19 Medicaid Medicare MedicarePartB Republicans SocialSecurity _1941410 Sat, 02 May 2020 14:00:07 +0000 As McConnell tries to hold aid to states and cities hostage, mass layoffs of public employees begin https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/29/1941380/-As-McConnell-tries-to-hold-aid-to-states-and-cities-hostage-mass-layoffs-of-public-employees-begin While Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/29/1941315/-McConnell-s-new-red-line-for-state-and-local-government-aid-Let-business-endanger-workers-public" title="">saying he'll block aid to states and cities</a> unless he gets the gift of no liability for companies that endanger their workers and customers, cities and states are <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/04/29/cities-states-layoffs-furloughs-coronavirus/" title="">laying off workers</a>, potentially by the hundreds of thousands—perhaps millions. That means public safety and health, sanitation, utilities, transportation, libraries, and education are all in jeopardy, a review by The Washington Post has found. Police and firefighters are being furloughed and laid off. Revenue to localities and to states has cratered because of the crisis. "Some local governments have already started laying off or furloughing thousands of their workers, and the numbers are likely to grow markedly in the absence of federal aid," the Post's Tony Romm reports. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Coronavirus CoronavirusAidReliefandEconomicSecurityAct Covid-19 House MitchMcConnell NancyPelosi Recommended Senate _1941380 Wed, 29 Apr 2020 20:08:29 +0000 Saving the nation is taking a backseat to McConnell's primary aim: promoting more extremist judges https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/29/1941359/-Saving-the-nation-is-taking-a-backseat-to-McConnell-s-primary-aim-promoting-more-extremist-judges The House of Representatives, on the advice of the Office of the Attending Physician, has <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/4/28/1941044/-House-reverses-course-won-t-return-next-week-It-s-time-they-figure-out-a-plan-for-doing-their-job" title="">delayed returning to D.C.</a> and to resume in-person work, even while the next phase of coronavirus stimulus becomes more urgent. "The House physician's view," Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said, "was that there was a risk to members that was one he would not recommend taking." It's a risk Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has no problem asking his members to take, and it's not to pass critical aid to the nation. No, McConnell is bringing back his senators, and all of the staff and all of the maintenance and cafeteria and security workers they require, to <a href="https://www.axios.com/mcconnell-judges-senate-confirmation-0ead8474-5139-4d3c-9cac-a9d1b06e95a2.html" title="">confirm more extremist judges</a>. He reiterated that last week when he talked to wing-nut radio host Hugh Hewitt, saying he will "leave no vacancies behind" and that the coronavirus "will not prevent us from achieving that goal." His first priority is promoting an unqualified judge, Justin Walker, to the second highest court in the land. He put Walker ahead of the nation last month when he <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/3/16/1927910/-Mitch-McConnell-s-urgent-plea-for-action-not-so-urgent-coronavirus-bill-delayed-for-days" title="">delayed passing emergency stimulus legislation</a> for days so that he could celebrate Walker back home in Kentucky, and he's <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/mcconnell-s-focus-when-senate-comes-back-will-be-judges-n1194776?cid=sm_npd_ms_tw_ma" title="">doing it again</a>. <a href="https://secure.actblue.com/donate/dkendorses2020senate?refcode=20200429JM1" title="">He's a monster. Please give $1 to our nominee fund to help Democrats and end McConnell's career as majority leader.</a> rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) 2020 Coronavirus Covid-19 DonaldTrump FederalJudiciary MitchMcConnell Republicans Senate _1941359 Wed, 29 Apr 2020 18:40:52 +0000 McConnell's new 'red line' for state and local government aid: Let business endanger workers, public https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/29/1941315/-McConnell-s-new-red-line-for-state-and-local-government-aid-Let-business-endanger-workers-public Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has traded his no "blue state bailouts" demand in the next big coronavirus stimulus package—CARES 2 or Phase 4, if <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/11/1936226/-Congress-can-actually-do-stuff-A-coronavirus-stimulus-bills-primer">you're keeping track</a>—for a new <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/495155-mcconnell-draws-red-line-coronavirus-bill-wont-pass-senate-without-liability" title="">"red line"</a>: no liability for companies who force their workers back on the job if those workers become ill or die of COVID-19. Just to be absolutely clear here, McConnell is saying workers and customers of businesses that expose them to coronavirus would have no protection at all—there would be no incentive for those business owners, beyond having any sense of personal responsibility or humanity, to provide a safe workplace or market. And he says that's the only way he'd let the next bill pass in the Senate. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Coronavirus CoronavirusAidReliefandEconomicSecurityAct Covid-19 House MitchMcConnell NancyPelosi PublicHealth Senate _1941315 Wed, 29 Apr 2020 16:44:42 +0000 The backlash over fumbled coronavirus stimulus is starting, and it's all on Trump https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/29/1941278/-What-happens-when-you-hand-an-incompetent-crook-2-2-trillion-in-a-crisis-Larceny-and-chaos After a concerted two decades of Republican efforts to destroy government—to the extent that they put a corrupt, sociopathic clown of a Russian puppet in the White House—it shouldn't come as a surprise that this government is <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/27/backlashpandemic-relief-stumbles-207443">disastrously failing</a> at responding to this crisis. There's not an element of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act that the Trump administration hasn't messed up delivering on, with the possible exception of the tax cuts to the very wealthy. The Small Business Administration has had two terrible rollouts of the Paycheck Protection Program, with the system crashing and overwhelmed within minutes of being launched both times. Except for the very big businesses, the ones whose CEOs can bypass that whole applying online business by just making a call to their personal contact at the very big bank and getting pushed to the front of the line. Some of those very big business were publicly shamed into returning the money, but <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/04/28/small-business-wont-repay-ppp/">plenty of publicly traded big borrowers are refusing to do so</a> even as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin encourages them to. Because he might be the one person in the Trump administration who is bothered by bad press. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) ChuckSchumer Coronavirus CoronavirusAidReliefandEconomicSecurityAct Covid-19 DonaldTrump MitchMcConnell NancyPelosi Republicans StevenMnuchin _1941278 Wed, 29 Apr 2020 14:37:26 +0000 The Mayo Clinic told Pence to wear a goddamned mask in the hospital. He refused https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/28/1941096/-Pence-embodies-GOP-COVID-19-denial-by-refusing-to-wear-a-damn-mask-in-a-damn-hospital Republican coronavirus denial has already gone to ridiculous and dangerous lengths. Now this. Vice President Mike Pence isn’t going to let a little thing like possibly infecting people in a hospital setting by not wearing a mask make him actually wear a mask. Even though it’s the policy of the Mayo Clinic, where he visited Tuesday. Even though the Mayo Clinic made it clear to him that it was their policy. <div class="align-center"> <figure class="image-captioned"><img alt="Screenshot of a deleted tweet from Mayo Clinic stating VP Pence had been told to wear a mask." src="https://images.dailykos.com/images/798356/large/ScreenShot2020-04-28at1.02.18PM.png?1588100722" title="Screenshot of a deleted tweet from Mayo Clinic stating VP Pence had been told to wear a mask."> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> </div> Why the Mayo Clinic deleted that tweet is unclear, except that he’s the fucking vice president of the United States and if the hospital makes him and Trump mad, they’ll probably send the FBI and DHS in and seize all their protective gear and medical equipment to resell it to the highest bidder. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Coronavirus Covid-19 DonaldTrump MikePence _1941096 Tue, 28 Apr 2020 19:16:45 +0000 North Carolina's Tillis won't break with Trump enough to say it's not a good idea to drink bleach https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/28/1941078/-North-Carolina-s-Tillis-won-t-break-with-Trump-enough-to-say-it-s-not-a-good-idea-to-drink-bleach You would be hard pressed to find a bigger Donald Trump sycophant today than North Carolina's Republican Sen. Thom Tillis. The vulnerable senator, up for reelection in 2020, is saying that it's <a href="https://www.wfae.org/post/while-nc-republicans-increasingly-criticize-cooper-tillis-stands-governor#stream/0" title="">probably a good idea</a> for his constituents to stay at home, wear their masks, and social distance, which is a big deal for the guy who once railed against restaurant employees being required to wash their hands after using the restroom. He's still kind of that guy, though, WFAE reports. They say that while "it's been easy for Tillis to support the official recommendations from the White House coronavirus task force," he was more conflicted "when asked about the president's suggestion last week that people might be cured by injecting disinfectant." He didn't answer, but had his campaign say that "people who think they are sick should contact their doctor." <a href="https://secure.actblue.com/donate/dkendorses2020cunningham?refcode=04282020JM1" title="">North Carolina, do yourself a favor. Don't drink bleach, and replace Tillis with Cal Cunningham.</a> rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) 2020 CalCunningham DonaldTrump NC-Sen Recommended Republicans Senate ThomTillis _1941078 Tue, 28 Apr 2020 17:51:54 +0000 House reverses course, won't return next week. It's time they figure out a plan for doing their job https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/28/1941044/-House-reverses-course-won-t-return-next-week-It-s-time-they-figure-out-a-plan-for-doing-their-job On the advice of the House physician, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced this morning, the House <a href="https://twitter.com/heatherscope/status/1255150610610925568" title="">will not return</a> next Monday as planned. "We made a judgment that we will not come back next week but that we hope to come back very soon," he said. "The House doctor, when I talked to him yesterday, was concerned because the numbers in the District of Columbia are going up," Hoyer <a href="https://twitter.com/heatherscope/status/1255155928875315200" title="">continued</a>. "The House physician's view was that there was a risk to members that was one he would not recommend taking." That's following a <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/27/senate-will-return-to-washington-next-week-211758" title="">minor revolt</a> by members last week when Speaker of the House Pelosi and Hoyer announced their May 4 return. It's not only the members who are endangering themselves, it's all the staff—the congressional aides, the Capitol Hill police, the floor staff, the janitorial and cafeteria staff—that make up the miniature city that is the Capitol is when Congress is in session. Not to mention all the airport and airline staff on the trips back and forth to D.C. Not to mention that many members have young families and don't have child care options during quarantine. This is why Pelosi and McConnell should have come up with plans for remote work weeks ago. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Coronavirus Covid-19 House JimMcGovern MitchMcConnell NancyPelosi Procedure Senate StenyHoyer _1941044 Tue, 28 Apr 2020 16:06:07 +0000 McConnell gives Pelosi an ultimatum she needs to ignore: Save the states or save lives https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/28/1941025/-McConnell-gives-Pelosi-an-ultimatum-she-needs-to-ignore-Save-the-states-or-save-lives Sen. Mitch McConnell's game plan for the next big coronavirus stimulus bill became a little clearer Monday. After several days of railing against "blue state bailouts" and saying the states <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/22/1939474/--Let-them-go-bankrupt-McConnell-declares-war-on-blue-states-dismisses-more-COVID-19-aid" title="">should just go bankrupt</a>, drawing the ire of governors and a few of his Republicans senators, he's now saying he'll take the aid to cities and states hostage. Democrats can have it, he says, as long as he gets <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-27/senate-to-reconvene-may-4-to-address-coronavirus-needs" title="">immunity from liability</a> for companies that reopen too soon and make their workers—including healthcare workers—or customers sick. That's something that <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/04/27/1940873/-Team-Trump-mulling-pandemic-liability-shield-if-reopened-businesses-get-workers,-customers-killed" title="">the Trump administration</a> has been kicking around as well. Never mind the people it might kill, just as long as nobody is held responsible for those deaths. "We probably will do another bill. What I'm saying is it won't just be about money," McConnell <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/27/mcconnell-aid-states-coronavirus-212424" title="">said</a>. "The next pandemic coming will be the lawsuit pandemic in the wake of this one. So we need to prevent that now when we have the opportunity to do it." Never mind the body count. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Coronavirus CoronavirusAidReliefandEconomicSecurityAct Covid-19 House MitchMcConnell NancyPelosi PaycheckProtectionProgram PublicHealth Recommended Senate _1941025 Tue, 28 Apr 2020 14:45:55 +0000 Republicans in disarray! Not everyone agrees with McConnell's desire for their states to go bankrupt https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/27/1940859/-Republicans-in-disarray-Not-everyone-agrees-with-McConnell-s-desire-for-their-states-to-go-bankrupt It's worth noting that while House and Senate Democrats and their presidential candidate, <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/27/1940713/-Biden-The-next-stimulus-has-to-be-a-hell-of-a-lot-bigger-He-s-right" title="">Joe Biden</a>, are all in agreement about the need for and elements of the next big coronavirus crisis response bill, Republicans are most definitely not. Particularly when it comes to help for their states. Republican governors <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/24/1940117/-Republican-governor-McConnell-s-let-the-states-go-bankrupt-talk-riduculous-and-dangerous" title="">blasted</a> Sen. Mitch McConnell over his assertion that the states should just go bankrupt rather than getting federal aid. Some of McConnell's senators <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/republicans-trump-coronavirus-spending-deficit-economy/2020/04/25/9013c5ee-8671-11ea-a3eb-e9fc93160703_story.html" title="">don't like that idea</a> any better, or care for his assertion that Congress has done enough for now and should wait and see how bad it gets before committing to more. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Coronavirus CoronavirusAidReliefandEconomicSecurityAct Covid-19 House MitchMcConnell NancyPelosi PaycheckProtectionProgram PublicHealth Recommended Senate _1940859 Mon, 27 Apr 2020 20:19:37 +0000 Pelosi says she's playing hardball now. She needs to. The next COVID-19 stimulus bill has to be huge https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/27/1940845/-Pelosi-needs-to-go-big-very-big-on-CARES-2-the-next-COVID-19-stimulus Last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi <a href="">told</a> Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne that she's not taking a backseat to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell again on coronavirus stimulus. "We'll pass it in the House," she said. "If [the Senate wants] to pass their own bill, we’ll go to conference. If they want to make some contribution that might be an improvement and something we can all agree on, we’ll go to the table." Meanwhile, McConnell seems to be trying to <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/25/1940305/-Kentucky-s-gravy-train-is-now-in-danger-thanks-to-Mitch-McConnell-s-heartless-greed">narrow it down to a fight</a> about funding to state and local governments, a fight Democrats can't be distracted by. Yes, that funding is critical and yes, McConnell is being a total hypocrite given his state is the No. 1 recipient of federal tax dollars. He's also being a troll, with an <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/27/1940749/-Trump-declares-only-the-states-that-like-him-are-America">assist</a> from Trump. He wants to have a fight on these grounds because it distracts from all the other things Democrats have been fighting for: the things they have to dump into a massive, massive bill, the kind of bill Joe Biden is <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/27/1940713/-Biden-The-next-stimulus-has-to-be-a-hell-of-a-lot-bigger-He-s-right">calling for</a>. What should go in that? Everything. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) ChuckSchumer Coronavirus CoronavirusAidReliefandEconomicSecurityAct Covid-19 House MitchMcConnell NancyPelosi PaycheckProtectionProgram peoplesbailout PublicHealth Senate _1940845 Mon, 27 Apr 2020 19:07:58 +0000 Small Business Administration emergency loan program overwhelmed within minutes of relaunch https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/27/1940782/-Small-Business-Administration-emergency-loan-program-overwhelmed-within-minutes-of-relaunch The Small Business Administration (SBA) didn't learn much from its <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/7/1935142/-Small-business-lifeline-tied-up-in-Trump-administration-knots" title="">failings in the first round</a> of small business loans under the Paycheck Protection Program in the CARES Act coronavirus stimulus response. The SBA was <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-27/extra-relief-aid-for-small-business-is-coming-with-same-concerns" title="">completely overwhelmed</a> Monday morning with applications for the second tranche of funding, which was passed last week. Within four minutes of its relaunch, Bloomberg reports the system was down. That's despite informing lenders on Sunday that it "would pace the rate of applications into its E-Tran system, meaning that all lenders should be able to submit at the same rate." The pacing system was supposed to keep any single bank from submitting huge bunches of loans—sometimes numbering in the thousands—all at once. That's a big headache for today. After today the headache is going to be that the money is tapped out again, because this round's $310 billion is going to go fast. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) ChuckSchumer Coronavirus CoronavirusAidReliefandEconomicSecurityAct Covid-19 House MitchMcConnell NancyPelosi PaycheckProtectionProgram PublicHealth Senate SmallBusinessAdministration _1940782 Mon, 27 Apr 2020 17:08:03 +0000 Trump declares only the states that like him are America https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/27/1940749/-Trump-declares-only-the-states-that-like-him-are-America President of just the part of the country that likes him: <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-twitter-content='&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Why should the people and taxpayers of America be bailing out poorly run states (like Illinois, as example) and cities, in all cases Democrat run and managed, when most of the other states are not looking for bailout help? I am open to discussing anything, but just asking?&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1254782650679615492?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;April 27, 2020&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; '><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Why should the people and taxpayers of America be bailing out poorly run states (like Illinois, as example) and cities, in all cases Democrat run and managed, when most of the other states are not looking for bailout help? I am open to discussing anything, but just asking?— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1254782650679615492?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 27, 2020</a></blockquote> </div> Trump is on the McConnell<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/4/25/1940305/-Kentucky-s-gravy-train-is-now-in-danger-thanks-to-Mitch-McConnell-s-heartless-greed" target="_blank" title=""> “blue state bailout” </a>bandwagon, it looks like. What a way to unify the country in the middle of an unprecedented pandemic and economic crisis. He should know about bailouts given his personal financial history, but the truth is the big blue states have been bankrolling the red states for, well, ever. And done so happily, because this is the United States, and for a majority of the country, united is what it’s all about. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) 2020 Coronavirus Covid-19 Crisis DonaldTrump MitchMcConnell Recommended _1940749 Mon, 27 Apr 2020 15:43:26 +0000 Supreme Court issues narrow ruling upholding part of Affordable Care Act, sticking it to Republicans https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/27/1940737/-Supreme-Court-says-government-has-to-pay-up-to-insurers-in-ACA-case For the tea leaf readers, which is a dangerous game when it comes to the Supreme Court, here's some fodder: the court <a href="https://twitter.com/ToddRuger/status/1254772968107868160">ruled against the Trump administration</a> in an Affordable Care Act case Monday. It's not the big ACA case, whether the law can still exist. But it's <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/04/27/business/bc-us-supreme-court-health-care-law.html">still significant</a>, particularly since it was decided 8-1. At issue was the Obamacare "risk corridors" program, a $12 billion financial cushion that would help insurers cover losses they might suffer if they ended up covering too many expensive patients in the ACA marketplaces. A Republican Congress, with <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/30/1753084/-How-Marco-Rubio-s-presidential-posturing-for-2016-could-cost-the-government-more-than-20-billion">Sen. Marco Rubi</a>o—the Florida attention hog—as ringleader, tried to withhold the fund from insurers with policy riders in 2015 and 2017 Health and Human Services spending bills. The court held, in a ruling written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, that the relevant provision of the ACA established a money-mandating obligation, that Congress did not repeal this obligation, and that petitioners can sue the government for damages in the Court of Federal Claims. Basically, the court <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/18-1023_m64o.pdf">said</a> that money has to be paid. "These holdings reflect a principle as old as the Nation itself: The Government should honor its obligations." rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) AffordableCareAct MarcoRubio Obamacare Recommended RiskCorridors SCOTUS SupremeCourt _1940737 Mon, 27 Apr 2020 14:49:18 +0000 Biden calls for massive COVID-19 stimulus to start making big, structural change https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/27/1940713/-Biden-The-next-stimulus-has-to-be-a-hell-of-a-lot-bigger-He-s-right Former Vice President Joe Biden <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/25/joe-biden-green-stimulus-207848" title="">called for a much bigger and greener stimulus bill</a> out of the Democratic House for the next round. That includes layering more and stricter oversight on the Trump administration and making business more accountable for the money they're getting. In an interview with Politico, he also said this is the opportunity for big investments in infrastructure and the green economy. It also requires a massive cash infusion to local government, he said, to prevent "laying off a hell of a lot of teachers and cops and firefighters." Talking about his role in helping craft the too-small $800 billion stimulus after the great recession, Biden said "I wanted to bring in the toughest son-of-a-bitch in the country—I really mean it, I'm not joking—because we wanted to make sure we did it by the numbers with genuine oversight," Biden said. "Right now, there's no oversight. [Trump] made it real clear he doesn't have any damn interest in being checked. The last thing he wants is anyone watching that $500 billion going to corporate America, for God's sake." That's true, although there is some oversight built into the measures passed so far which Trump has worked to undermine. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) ChuckSchumer Coronavirus CoronavirusAidReliefandEconomicSecurityAct Covid-19 House JoeBiden MitchMcConnell NancyPelosi PaycheckProtectionProgram PublicHealth Senate _1940713 Mon, 27 Apr 2020 13:19:46 +0000 Republicans on McConnell's 'let the states go bankrupt' plan: It's 'ridiculous' and 'dangerous' https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/24/1940117/-Republican-governor-McConnell-s-let-the-states-go-bankrupt-talk-riduculous-and-dangerous Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell might not have realized the firestorm he was inviting when he <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mcconnell-blue-state-bailout-coronavirus-cash-reserves-levels-recession-aid-2020-4?op=1">uttered</a> the words "blue state bailout," and said the states would <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/22/1939474/--Let-them-go-bankrupt-McConnell-declares-war-on-blue-states-dismisses-more-COVID-19-aid">just have to declare bankruptcy</a> rather than get any federal assistance. It's not just blue state governors up in arms, either. "That's a ridiculous statement that the states 'should go bankrupt,'" New Hampshire's Republican Gov. Chris Sununu <a href="https://www.wmur.com/article/sununu-slams-fellow-republican-mcconnells-call-for-states-to-go-bankrupt-as-ridiculous-dangerous/32259137">told</a> WMUR Thursday. "Anyone who's saying that in the Senate doesn't know what's going on in the states, doesn't know the pressures that states are under, and the sacrifices we've had to make," he continued. "To say that states should just go bankrupt is a dangerous statement," Sununu said. <a href="https://secure.actblue.com/donate/dkendorses2020senate?refcode=20200424JM1">He's a monster. Please give $1 to our nominee fund to help Democrats and end McConnell's career as majority leader.</a> rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) 2020 Coronavirus CoronavirusAidReliefandEconomicSecurityAct Covid-19 KY-Sen MitchMcConnell Recommended Senate _1940117 Fri, 24 Apr 2020 19:57:33 +0000 Astroturf group FreedomWorks looking for 'someone to give us free cash' in COVID-19 loans https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/24/1940068/-Astroturf-group-FreedomWorks-looking-for-some-to-give-us-free-cash-in-COVID-19-small-business-loan FreedomWorks, one of the astroturf groups created in the previous decade primarily to not let a Black president create anything nice for this country, has been doing its astroturf thing in the past week by encouraging its members to protest Democratic governors trying to save lives. They even have a "#ReopenAmerica Rally Planning Guide" in which they <a href="http://www.freedomworks.org/content/reopenamerica-rally-planning-guide" title="">advise</a> members to: "Maintain proper social distancing; Wear a protective face mask; Follow hygiene and disinfection practices." Or they could, you know, just stay home. While they're making war on Democratic governors, all part of their economic philosophy which includes shutting down government and defaulting on the national debt because deficits, they are also <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/us/politics/coronavirus-bailouts-conservative-liberal.html" title="">applying for that "bail-out" small business loan money</a>. Yes, those sweet, sweet taxpayer funded loans ostensibly intended to keep the people who do the work in America funded for the duration. They've applied for $300,000 because as Adam Brandon, the president of FreedomWorks, says "I would love someone to give us free cash." rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Coronavirus CoronavirusAidReliefandEconomicSecurityAct Covid-19 Freedomworks LibertyCounsel PaycheckProtectionProgram wingnutwelfare _1940068 Fri, 24 Apr 2020 17:54:26 +0000 Black business owner on COVID-19 small business loan program: We're 'just screwed' https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/24/1940033/-Black-business-owner-on-COVID-19-small-business-loan-program-We-re-just-screwed The good news is that public shaming <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ruths-chris-steak-house-paycheck-protection-program-loan-return/" title="">works sometimes</a>; Ruth's Chris Steak House, Shake Shack, Sweetgreen, and <a href="https://seekingalpha.com/news/3564009-big-universities-others-to-return-350m-of-ppp-loans-coronavirus-briefing" title="">well-endowed elite universities</a> are returning the loans they secured under the coronavirus emergency Paycheck Protection Program ostensibly intended for small businesses. The bad news is that Black and brown small business owners <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/04/youre-just-screwed-why-black-owned-businesses-are-struggling-to-get-coronavirus-relief-loans/" title="">are still screwed</a>. Mother Jones interviewed one Black entrepreneur, K.B. Brown, owner of a Minneapolis print shop. Brown and his wife mortgaged their lives and ruined their credit to build this business, which finally turned the corner in 2019. "We were looking at 2020 as a very big year for us," he said, after earning $200,000 in revenue last year. Now? "We're ... scared." His wife is working four days a week in an Amazon warehouse, two of those days are double shifts. He's making masks and volunteering in the community to distribute hand sanitizer. He banks with Wells Fargo, and asked for assistance in securing some of that PPP or other disaster loan funds. He didn't get the assistance, and didn't apply. "For a lot of the SBA stuff and other loans, you have to be 'bankable,'" Brown told MJ reporter Kara Voght. "So if you couldn't get a loan from the bank before, you're just screwed. And many of us are in that position." rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Coronavirus CoronavirusAidReliefandEconomicSecurityAct Covid-19 House MitchMcConnell NancyPelosi PaycheckProtectionProgram PublicHealth Racism Senate WhiteSupremacy _1940033 Fri, 24 Apr 2020 16:00:18 +0000 Luxury hotel chains, including Gordon Sondland's, among those capitalizing on 'small business' loans https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/24/1939841/-Luxury-hotel-chains-including-Gordon-Sondland-s-among-those-capitalizing-on-small-business-loans Remember Gordon Sondland? Of course you do, from back in the before time when the national crisis was impeachment. He’s the now-former ambassador to the European Union, who got that cushy job by being a big donor to Donald Trump's inaugural committee. Trump might have fired him from that sweet gig, but that doesn't mean Sondland's out of the money loop with Republicans at all. Because guess who got some of that <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-23/luxury-hotel-executive-biggest-winner-of-small-business-relief?utm_source=twitter&cmpid%3D=socialflow-twitter-politics&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_content=politics&utm_medium=social">"small business"</a> coronavirus emergency loan money? Provenance Hotels, the hotel chain Sondland owns, got some of that loan money according to a spokeswoman, along with some very wealthy, very connected to Republican lawmaker hoteliers. How much Sondland landed isn't clear, but the company spokesperson <a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2020/04/17/gordon-sondlands-provenance-hotels-lands-paycheck.html?iana=hpmvp_ptl_news_headline">told the Portland Business Journal</a>: "Now that we have been approved for our SBA PPP loan, we hope to bring back a significant portion of those employees and retain them for as long as possible." Let's certainly hope so. Not all business are <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/22/1939502/-The-Paycheck-Protection-part-of-the-COVID-19-small-business-fund-isn-t-protecting-some-paychecks">doing so</a>, figuring the terms of the loans are so good that it doesn't matter if they flout the rules and spend the money on other costs. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Coronavirus CoronavirusAidReliefandEconomicSecurityAct Covid-19 GordonSondland PaycheckProtectionProgram Republicans _1939841 Fri, 24 Apr 2020 14:32:09 +0000 1,900 Veterans Affairs healthcare workers test positive for COVID-19, 20 have died https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/23/1939807/-Veterans-medical-facilities-face-equipment-protective-gear-and-staff-shortages-in-COVID-19-crisis The always underfunded, often chaotic Veterans Affairs (VA) medical system is <a href="https://apnews.com/2e86b87b7e14a56a95518e8fb4127a4b?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_medium=AP&utm_source=Twitter">straining to cope</a> with the novel coronavirus. According to agency documents the AP obtained, so far 1,900 VA healthcare workers have become ill with the novel coronavirus and 20 have died. On top of that, right now 3,600 are in quarantine and can't work. The total VA medical workforce numbers just over 300,000. Nearly 380 veterans in the VA system have died out of more than 5,700 who've been treated in VA hospitals. Like all hospitals, they went into this without the kind of protective gear they needed. They now do what so many doctors and nurses have had to do—keep using the same masks for entire shifts. Heather Espinal is one of the nurses at a VA center in New York. "We thought we were doing everything right, even with reusing these N95 respirators. But we still ended up getting sick," Espinal said. She's recovering now. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Coronavirus Covid-19 DonaldTrump PublicHealth RobertWilkie VeteransAffairs VeteransAffairsMedicalCenters _1939807 Thu, 23 Apr 2020 18:58:44 +0000 Daily Kos screwed up, and we apologize https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/23/1939764/-Daily-Kos-screwed-up-and-we-apologize In the rush of news Wednesday, Daily Kos <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/campaigns/letters/sign-and-send-the-petition-to-the-house-reject-senate-covid-bill-unless-it-puts-people-first" target="_blank" title="">wrote and circulated this petition</a> that erroneously states that the bill the Senate passed Tuesday and the House will vote on Thursday, the Phase 3.5 bill that pumps up the small business loan fund, doesn’t include funding for COVID-19 testing or protective gear for health care workers. We, including me when I checked over the petition before it was finished, messed up. It does include those things and they’re good, important things that will continue to be high priorities as this epidemic continues. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Coronavirus CoronaVirusStimulus Covid-19 DailyKos Recommended _1939764 Thu, 23 Apr 2020 17:31:45 +0000 New House oversight committee into administration's COVID-19 performance gets vote Thursday https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/23/1939751/-New-House-oversight-committee-into-administration-s-COVID-19-performance-gets-vote-Thursday In early April, which is like five years ago in coronavirus time, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/4/2/1933672/-Pelosi-creating-special-committee-to-make-sure-Trump-doesn-t-screw-up-coronavirus-response" title="">announced</a> the House would create a select committee to oversee the Trump administration's COVID-19 response. It would be overseen by Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina and would "examine all aspects of the federal response to the coronavirus and ensure the taxpayers’ dollars are being wisely and efficiently spent." That oversight committee is <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/22/politics/coronavirus-oversight-committee-house/index.html" title="">getting a vote</a> in the House on Thursday. The committee will have subpoena power and have power to investigate how the trillions of dollars being authorized and appropriated are being spent. It will also have the power to probe the administration's preparation—or lack thereof—for the crisis. It will be a special investigatory subcommittee of the Oversight Committee, which Clyburn chairs. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Coronavirus CoronavirusAidReliefandEconomicSecurityAct Covid-19 DonaldTrump House NancyPelosi _1939751 Thu, 23 Apr 2020 16:35:21 +0000 House is in session for a long day of not doing enough to respond to COVID-19 https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/23/1939739/-House-is-in-session-for-a-long-day-of-not-doing-enough-to-respond-to-COVID-19 The House is preparing to pass the <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/11/1936226/-Congress-can-actually-do-stuff-A-coronavirus-stimulus-bills-primer" title="">Phase 3.5</a> coronavirus stimulus bill Thursday along with a bill to create a special House coronavirus committee. It's promising to be a <a href="https://twitter.com/BresPolitico/status/1253314682376552448" title="">prolonged two votes</a>, with members voting in groups of 40 or so and the chamber being cleaned between the votes. The <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/4/21/1939219/-Senate-likely-to-vote-on-interim-COVID-19-package-Tuesday" title="">bill from the Senate</a> has $310 billion more in the Paycheck Protection Program, small business loans that <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/21/1939187/--300-million-in-small-business-COVID-19-emergency-loans-went-to-some-very-big-companies" title="">haven't entirely gone to small business</a> or necessarily <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/22/1939502/-The-Paycheck-Protection-part-of-the-COVID-19-small-business-fund-isn-t-protecting-some-paychecks" title="">protected paychecks</a> so far. This bill does carve out $30 billion of that loan package for smaller federally insured banks and credit unions, those that have assets between $10 and $50 billion, and another $30 billion in loans for lending firms with less than $10 billion in assets to issue. <div> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/campaigns/letters/sign-and-send-the-petition-to-the-house-reject-senate-covid-bill-unless-it-puts-people-first" target="_blank" title="">Sign and send the petition to your House member: NO to the Senate bill which provides no real recovery to struggling Americans. Force #MoscowMitch back to the drawing board.</a> </div> rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Coronavirus CoronavirusAidReliefandEconomicSecurityAct Covid-19 House MitchMcConnell NancyPelosi PaycheckProtectionProgram PublicHealth Senate _1939739 Thu, 23 Apr 2020 15:43:40 +0000 Collins refuses to commit to helping Maine nurses or to condemn extremists trying to 'Reopen Maine' https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/23/1939700/-Collins-has-nice-words-on-twitter-for-Maine-s-nurses-but-won-t-commit-to-helping-them Sen. Susan Collins <a href="https://twitter.com/SenatorCollins/status/1252975353347350529">tweeted</a> Wednesday about her appreciation for Maine nurses, who are "among the many heroes who are working on the front lines in Maine and throughout the country to combat the COVID-19 pandemic." She said that she "spoke with several groups of Maine nurses about what we can do on the federal level to assist their tireless efforts." That's true, the Maine Nurses Union <a href="https://twitter.com/MeNursesUnion/status/1252982111214219264">tweeted</a>, but also said Collins "made no commitments to follow through on the requests we made of her." Which makes her tweet even more self-serving. Meanwhile, the regular far-right crazies in Maine have been doing the "in" thing, rallying to "reopen" Maine. Here's an interesting thing about those far-right crazies, though: They're Republican politicians who <a href="https://nathantbernard.substack.com/p/susan-collins-backed-anti-quarantine">Collins has donated to</a> in the past. One is state Rep. Chris Johansen from the 145th legislative district. According to Maine politics writer Nathan Bernard, Johansen received a max donation from Collins’ Dirigo PAC for his reelection campaign in 2018. And this guy, too: "Larry Lockman, a former State Representative and current candidate for State Senate, received an endorsement from Collins and a max donation from her PAC in 2014." <a href="https://secure.actblue.com/donate/dkendorses2020senate?refcode=20200423JM1">Let's make sure her time is up. Please give $1 to help Democrats in each of these crucial Senate races, but especially the one in Maine!</a> rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) 2020 Coronavirus Covid-19 Maine ME-Sen PublicHealth Senate SusanCollins _1939700 Thu, 23 Apr 2020 14:01:45 +0000 The 'Paycheck Protection' part of the COVID-19 small business fund isn't protecting some paychecks https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/22/1939502/-The-Paycheck-Protection-part-of-the-COVID-19-small-business-fund-isn-t-protecting-some-paychecks That "Paycheck Protection Program" small business loan money that Sen. Mitch McConnell has been so adamant about? The one that some <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/21/1939187/--300-million-in-small-business-COVID-19-emergency-loans-went-to-some-very-big-companies">very big businesses</a> have been exploiting to the tune of tens of millions of dollars? Turns out that for a lot of businesses, it's not going to (checks notes) paycheck protection. The program is supposed to provide an incentive for businesses to keep their employees on the payroll. If they retain or rehire them for eight weeks, the loan is forgivable. But lots of businesses <a href="https://apnews.com/380b07b9292ea7ae4d382f091d99bf10">are taking the money</a> and not rehiring their workers. "Many of the small companies that were able to obtain a loan are having second thoughts about rehiring all their workers and a few plan to return the money," the AP reports, while some say they'll use the portion that's allowed to go to rent and utilities and bring back some of their staff. They don't see the point in keeping these people on payroll when their business are shut down and the staff isn't doing anything. "You're turning the business into a pass through for the federal government," Joe Walsh, who owns Clean Green Maine, a cleaning service in Portland, Maine with 35 employees, told AP. "You're doing very little to actually help the business." Except, of course, saving those 35 employees' jobs for when the business starts up again. And given them the security of a paycheck. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Coronavirus CoronavirusAidReliefandEconomicSecurityAct Covid-19 House MitchMcConnell NancyPelosi PaycheckProtectionProgram PublicHealth Senate _1939502 Wed, 22 Apr 2020 19:12:42 +0000 'Let them go bankrupt': McConnell declares war on blue states, dismisses more COVID-19 aid https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/22/1939474/--Let-them-go-bankrupt-McConnell-declares-war-on-blue-states-dismisses-more-COVID-19-aid Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, having <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/4/21/1939219/-Senate-likely-to-vote-on-interim-COVID-19-package-Tuesday" target="_blank">secured his </a><a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/4/21/1939219/-Senate-likely-to-vote-on-interim-COVID-19-package-Tuesday" target="_blank">goal</a> of getting more "small business" loan money out of his colleagues in the Senate on Tuesday, immediately <a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/huddle/2020/04/22/lawmakers-already-at-odds-over-next-rescue-bill-488995?cid=su_tw_hu">threw cold water</a> on a big Phase 4 bill that would fund all the things the country so desperately needs. That gives House Democrats, and particularly Speaker Nancy Pelosi, one valid response: add all the things the country needs into that bill from the Senate and hand it back to him, with a big red bow. He wants his "small business" money? He'll get it if he approves everything else. Immediately following the bill's Senate passage Tuesday, McConnell pulled out the "deficit" card. "You’ve seen the talk from both sides about acting, but my goal from the beginning of this, given the extraordinary numbers that we’re racking up to the national debt, is that we need to be as cautious as we can be," McConnell told Politico. "We need to see how things are working, see what needs to be corrected, and I do think that the next time we pass a coronavirus rescue bill we need to have everyone here and everyone engaged." That's after May 4. He intends not to act sooner and he intends to drag the entire U.S. Senate back to Washington, whether it's safe for them or not. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) ChuckSchumer Coronavirus CoronavirusAidReliefandEconomicSecurityAct Covid-19 DonaldTrump MitchMcConnell NancyPelosi PublicHealth Recommended Senate _1939474 Wed, 22 Apr 2020 17:37:47 +0000 Trump's bored. That's why he and his lackey Republicans are trying to kill us all https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/22/1939436/-Trump-s-bored-That-s-why-he-and-his-lackey-Republicans-are-trying-to-kill-us-all The "press conferences" Donald Trump conducts every day (and which for some unknown reason the broadcast media feels compelled to force on us) aren't doing the job for him. He needs his brainless zombie crowds egging him on. He has had to pretend he's presidential for weeks on end now during this unprecedented health crisis, and he just can't do it anymore. That is why he wants to "reopen" the nation. He wants to be able to get back on the road in front of his adoring crowds. And to golf. Always with the golf. He's <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/22/trump-rally-coronavirus-200107" title="">harassing his staff</a> to get those events back on his schedule, sources are telling Politico. At a coronavirus briefing this week, he complained that he hasn't "left the White House in months," which in normal people time is six weeks. You can just feel the about-to-have-a-tantrum energy in his early morning <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1252928613743235072" title="">tweet</a>: "States are safely coming back. Our Country is starting to OPEN FOR BUSINESS again. Special care is, and always will be, given to our beloved seniors (except me!). Their lives will be better than ever...WE LOVE YOU ALL!" rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Coronavirus Covid-19 DonaldTrump PublicHealth Recommended _1939436 Wed, 22 Apr 2020 15:56:14 +0000 Georgia's Kemp getting resistance on harebrained scheme to kill his citizens https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/4/22/1939410/-Georgia-s-Kemp-getting-resistance-on-harebrained-scheme-to-kill-his-citizens Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp's (of course he's a Republican) decision to "loosen" his state's shutdown for coronavirus is <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/21/politics/georgia-governor-coronavirus-backlash/index.html">getting significant resistance</a>. That's in part because he consulted no one beyond the tiny, ranting Donald Trump that lives in his brain instead of the state’s mayors or the members of the coronavirus task force he created. Mayors, like Atlanta's Keisha Lance Bottoms, are opposed. Bottoms is considering legal action to protect her city, which is "not out of the woods yet," she told CNN. "I have searched my head and my heart on this and I am at a loss as to what the governor is basing this decision on," she said. "You have to live to fight another day. And you have to be able to be amongst the living to be able to recover." It's kind of hard to argue with staying alive, unless you're a Republican. Athens Mayor Kelly Girtz, a Democrat like Bottoms, told CNN that people have said to him that they are "not going to frequent businesses right now because we don't feel safe. We're not going to return to work." He also said: "I've had a number of hair salon owners approach me over the last day and say we're not opening our doors back up because we care about our employees and we care about our clients." rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) BrianKemp Coronavirus Covid-19 DonaldTrump Georgia PublicHealth Racism _1939410 Wed, 22 Apr 2020 14:22:03 +0000