Pelosi, Trump start talking about the next phase of coronavirus stimulus, need to be talking bigger

The new Daily Kos/Civiqs poll is chock-full of important and astounding information about how the American public is handling the COVID-19 pandemic. In and amongst that data is the suffering, and the reason why Congress still has a lot of work to do to get us through this crisis. Through March 30, one in FIVE Americans who were working before the outbreak say that they have been laid off or furloughed from their position. Nearly 40%—fully 39%—of households have lost income. More than a quarter, 26%, has already been affected by a layoff, furlough, or cut hours and another 15% feel extremely concerned that it will happen to them. Another 28% are moderately or slightly concerned they'll lose income because of the disease and its economic impact.

That's a lot of economic uncertainty that a one-time check for $1,200 isn't likely to allay. The enhanced unemployment benefits that were included in the third coronavirus stimulus bill will help a lot of people, but it won't help everyone including all those people still working but with fewer hours. There's still so much work to be done to get the country through this, and with money practically free to borrow now, yes, Congress should be "tossing money out of helicopters" to answer it, since the Fed is unlikely to do it. Give everyone money, and while you're at it, all the things Speaker Nancy Pelosi is talking about, especially what was in the House bill that didn't make it into the Senate's bill.

In an interview in The New York Times Pelosi "emphasized the need to secure more equipment for health workers on the front lines, known as personal protective equipment, and ventilators for hospitals" and House Democrats would make another "push to bolster pensions and medical leave provisions, and would work to ensure that other aspects of treatment for the coronavirus, beyond the initial test, would be covered by the government." She also talked about more direct aid to families, including "a possible retroactive rollback of the limit on the state and local tax deduction, a change that hurt high earners in states like New York and California." Fine, if that's what it takes to get Republican support, but that's not a sword to die on.

The sword to die on is health care for everyone infected by this disease. It's food security for everyone. It's making sure that the nation's millions of incarcerated people aren't left to die locked up. It's making sure that the gig workers and minimum-wage workers and the undocumented workers who are securing our food supply have the protections they need on the job and in society. It means at least $2 billion to secure this year's elections AND saving the U.S. Postal Service to conduct the necessary vote-by-mail elections.

It means not just postponing student loan payments, but cancelling student loan debts. It needs to have Housing Security, including a moratorium on evictions, a national mortgage and rent holiday, and at least $200 billion to keep housing stable.

It could also have the infrastructure Donald Trump endorsed in a tweet Tuesday: "Two Trillion Dollars, and be focused solely on jobs and rebuilding the once great infrastructure of our Country! Phase 4." Whatever, if that gets Trump on board, as long as it's green, sustainable infrastructure. That, by the way, should include broadband infrastructure—the entire nation needs to have access to reliable, high-speed internet. That's one thing this crisis has demonstrated in spades; the technology gap can cripple communities. Earmarking those trillions now would be great for getting people to work on infrastructure right out of the gate when it's safe for people to be out in the world again.

So yes, Phase 4 or whatever Donald Trump wants to call it, provided he gets Republicans in Congress—who are so far rejecting the notion that more has to be done—on board. They're not going to have much choice, realistically. It's not going to take very long for the pressure to build on them to realize that they haven't done nearly enough to get us out of this thing standing.

Judd Apatow Calls For President Trump And Republicans To Be Prosecuted Because ‘They Are All Murderers’

Hollywood writer and director Judd Apatow, who is known for movies like “40 Year-Old Virgin,” just called for President Donald Trump and all Republicans to be arrested and prosecuted because “they are all murderers” who are responsible for “thousands of [coronavirus] deaths.”

Apatow tweeted this in response to comments that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) made on Tuesday, when he told “The Hugh Hewitt Show” that efforts made by Democrats to impeach Trump distracted everyone from the impending threat of coronavirus.

“It came up while we were tied down in the impeachment trial,” McConnell said, according to The Hill. “And I think it diverted the attention of the government because everything every day was all about impeachment.”

This was enough to “trigger” Apatow, who argued for McConnell and his fellow Republicans to be arrested and prosecuted, although he did not specify exactly for what.

“I think [the Senate Majority Leader] and all of these politicians should be prosecuted when this is done for the lies which cost thousands of deaths,” Apatow wrote. “He knows Trump is a con man who lied to everyone to delay bad news and that led to thousands of additional deaths. They are all murderers.”

This is far from the first time that Apatow has called President Trump a murderer. Last summer, he likened Trump’s skepticism over climate change to him “murdering our children.”

Like many liberals, Apatow has also compared President Trump to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. “He’s a Nazi. He wants no judicial process. He kidnapped children and commits acts of violence for political gain and to support his racist views,” he said back in 2018. “He admires violent dictators. Trump is a Nazi. The debate is over. Soon we will have proof he is a Nazi supported by the Russians.”

There is no limit to what liberals like Apatow will resort to when it comes to bashing Trump. We should be putting any differences aside right now and rallying behind the president while he tries to lead us through this pandemic. But once again, the Left would rather see our country fail than see Trump succeed. As the president himself would say, SAD!

This piece was written by PopZette Staff on March 31, 2020. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

Read more at LifeZette:
What if President Hillary Clinton were dealing with this virus?
Will there be a coup at the Democratic convention?
Lindsey Graham obliterates Nancy Pelosi after she blames Trump for Americans dying from COVID-19

The post Judd Apatow Calls For President Trump And Republicans To Be Prosecuted Because ‘They Are All Murderers’ appeared first on The Political Insider.

Democrats Diverted Nation When Coronavirus Was Beginning

When Democrats whine about an alleged late response of the Trump administration to the coronavirus, they should first look in the mirror.

For when the virus was germinating in Wuhan and the U.S. could have possibly gotten quicker wind of it, the nation was diverted by the unsuccessful Democrat impeachment effort against the president.

If anyone is this responsible for a delayed response, it is the Democrats. GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) made the point Tuesday on a radio show: “He was first, and I think Tom [GOP Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas] was right on the mark. And it came up while we were tied down on the impeachment trial,” he said on The Hugh Hewitt Show. “And I think it diverted the attention of the government, because everything every day was all about impeachment. But Tom figured this out early, and he was absolutely right.”

Former GOP Senate aide John Ashbrook also said Tuesday that the pandemic probably arrived in the U.S. the same day Democrats sent articles of impeachment to the Senate. The same day.

Democrats were playing political games while a silent threat was getting ready to kill thousands of Americans. Not only do they not acknowledge their share of the blame, they try and switch it to the president. Shame is a concept foreign to them, as are logic and natural fabrics.

McConnell mentions Tom Cotton. If two GOP senators have made a name for themselves recently, it is Cotton and Senator John Thune (R-SD). You may hear from them in 2024.

McConnell concluded: “The way I thought it [the economic rescue bill] would work best would be for those of us in the Senate to try to get started on a bipartisan basis, and we were doing really quite well, as you may recall, until the speaker of the House decided to insert herself into the process, which created a couple of days of unnecessary partisan sniping. But we got past that. And in the end, I think the best evidence is that there was not a single vote against it.”

Whether it’s unnecessary sniping or diverting the nation away from a mortal threat, you can always count on Democrats to be, well, Democrats.

This piece was written by PoliZette Staff on March 31, 2020. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

Read more at LifeZette:
What if President Hillary Clinton were dealing with this virus?
Will there be a coup at the Democratic convention?
Lindsey Graham obliterates Nancy Pelosi after she blames Trump for Americans dying from COVID-19

The post Democrats Diverted Nation When Coronavirus Was Beginning appeared first on The Political Insider.

McConnell says Trump impeachment trial ‘diverted the attention’ of the government as coronavirus entered US

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., argued Tuesday the federal government was distracted by the Democratic-led impeachment trial of President Trump when the coronavirus outbreak began.