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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION

50 STATES AND DC, CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT

New York Working on Reopening Plan With 5 Other States By Zachary Stieber

https://www.theepochtimes.com/new-york-working-on-reopening-plan-with-5-other-states_3309934.html?utm_source=pushengage&utm_medium=pushnotification&utm_campaign=pushengage

New York officials are working on a reopening plan with five other states, including New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania.

The governors of those four states have already made lockdown announcements, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is hoping to draw them into a plan for reopening the economy as the hardest hit state in the nation starts to see declining hospitalizations and new cases.

Additionally, Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo and Delaware Gov. John Carney will be on a call with Cuomo later April 13, along with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf.

“We’ll be having an announcement this afternoon about reopening,” Cuomo told reporters in Albany.

The plan will start with easing the isolation imposed through harsh measures that have largely restricted people across all six states at home unless they’re designated an essential worker. The next phase will be increasing economic activity, in part by adding new groups to the list of essential workers.

The Thin Façade of Authority Victor Davis Hanson

https://amgreatness.com/2020/04/12/the-thin-facade-of-authority/

As we continue to debate about numerators and denominators in determining the real impact of this virus, one common denominator remains certain about the elites advising, crafting, and developing our response: they aren’t touched by the impact of their decisions.

The virus will teach us many things, but one lesson has already been relearned by the American people: there are two, quite different, types of wisdom.

One, and the most renowned, is a specialization in education that results in titled degrees and presumed authority. That ensuing prestige, in turn, dictates the decisions of most politicians, the media, and public officials—who for the most part share the values and confidence of the credentialed elite.

The other wisdom is not, as commonly caricatured, know-nothingism. Indeed, Americans have always believed in self-improvement and the advantages of higher education, a trust that explained broad public 19th-century support for mandatory elementary and secondary schooling and, during the postwar era, the G.I. Bill.

But the other wisdom also puts a much higher premium on pragmatism and experience, values instilled by fighting nature daily and mixing it up with those who must master the physical world.

The result is the sort of humility that arises when daily drivers test their skills and cunning in a semi-truck barreling along the freeway to make a delivery deadline with a cylinder misfiring up on the high pass, while plagued by worries whether there will be enough deliveries this month to pay the mortgage.

An appreciation of practical knowledge accrues from watching central-heating mechanics come out in the evening to troubleshoot the unit on the roof, battling the roof grade, the ice, and the dark while pitting their own acquired knowledge in a war with the latest computerized wiring board of the new heating exchange unit that proves far more unreliable than the 20-year-old model it replaced.

Humility is key to learning, but it is found more easily from a wealth of diverse existential experiences on the margins. It is less a dividend of the struggle for great success versus greater success still, but one of survival versus utter failure.

NY Times Scapegoats Trump for Coronavirus Spread When history is written by fake news. Joseph Klein

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/04/ny-times-scapegoats-trump-coronavirus-spread-joseph-klein/

The New York Times featured a front-page article this past weekend  with the accusatory headline “He Could Have Seen What Was Coming: Behind Trump’s Failure on the Virus.” The so-called “newspaper of record” has chosen to scapegoat President Trump rather than thoroughly investigate the true malefactors responsible for the pandemic in the first place – Chinese government officials and the World Health Organization (WHO) leaders who did their bidding. In point of fact, many of the more than 101,000 deaths and at least 1.6 million known infections linked to the pandemic to date might have been prevented if Chinese officials, with WHO’s complicity, had not minimized the danger of the virus’s human to human transmission when it could have been effectively contained. China lied, with WHO’s help, to protect China’s public image rather than to protect human life. However, the Times’ weekend article characterized criticisms of the Chinese government’s response to the virus and lack of transparency as mere assertions by “Mr. Trump’s allies and some administration officials.”

The Times article grossly distorted the facts in order to paint President Trump in as bad a light as possible. For example, the article blamed President Trump for ignoring various government officials’ advice during January 2020 as to the virus’s potential danger to Americans’ health. “Throughout January, as Mr. Trump repeatedly played down the seriousness of the virus and focused on other issues, an array of figures inside his government — from top White House advisers to experts deep in the cabinet departments and intelligence agencies — identified the threat, sounded alarms and made clear the need for aggressive action,” according to the Times’ account. The article referred to the World Health Organization only once, mentioning that WHO had declared a world health emergency on January 30th. The article omitted WHO’s continued opposition to imposing travel restrictions, which President Trump did anyway the very next day. This decision alone to restrict travelers from China no doubt saved thousands of lives. The Times article also omitted WHO’s statements in mid-January, which had repeated without any qualifications China’s false claims that there was no clear evidence of the Covid-19 coronavirus’s human-to-human transmission. And, not to be forgotten, the impeachment hoax was in full swing during this time, which distracted the Trump administration from conducting the nation’s business.

Fauci ‘Cautiously Optimistic’ US Can Gradually Reopen Next Month As CCP Outbreak Flattens By Katabella Roberts

https://www.theepochtimes.com/fauci-cautiously-optimistic-us-can-gradually-reopen-next-month-as-ccp-outbreak-flattens_3309359.html

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, has suggested that the United States may begin relaxing stay-at-home orders as early as next month amid the CCP (The Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic.

Fauci told CNN’s “State of the Union” on April 12 that there are signs the outbreak “not only has flattened, it’s starting to turn the corner” and that the country could open “in some ways” in May, noting that there is a “need to try and get back to normal.”

“I think it could probably start at least in some ways maybe next month,” Fauci said. “We are hoping by the end of the month we can look around and say, ‘OK, is there any element here that we can safely and cautiously start pulling back on.’ If so, do it. If not, then just continue to hunker down,” he said.

Fauci’s comments come just days after CCP deaths in the United States surpassed 2,000 on Friday, the highest daily tally to date, with the most significant numbers in and around New York City. Its tally has now overtaken Italy’s with 532,879 confirmed cases and 20,577 deaths attributed to the disease so far.

New York’s Incurable Spenders Coronavirus? Albany spends as usual as it awaits a federal rescue.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-yorks-incurable-spenders-11586717599?mod=opinion_lead_pos4

Gov. Andrew Cuomo says that Congress’s $2.2 trillion coronavirus bill short-changed New York, but then the $177 billion blowout budget he signed recently suggests that Albany doesn’t think it has to practice any spending discipline.

The state budget is $2 billion larger than last year’s despite what Mr. Cuomo says could be a $10 billion hit to revenues this year on top of a $6 billion deficit before the coronavirus. Legislators didn’t even attempt to triage spending or rationalize priorities.

The budget authorizes a $3 billion Restore Mother Nature Bond to “adapt to the intensifying impacts of climate change, and reduce emissions.” It also includes a 7.5% refundable tax credit for green jobs and a 5% investment tax credit for green projects. Expect every New York business to claim it’s “green.”

There are also hundreds of millions of dollars of more pork for upstate New York to make up for Mr. Cuomo’s ban on fracking, which the budget made permanent. The politicians made sure to help themselves too with $100 million in public campaign financing, including up to $375,000 for state Senate candidates and $175,000 for Assembly candidates.

No, the United States Does Not Lead the World in Coronavirus Cases or Deaths By Matt Margolis

https://pjmedia.com/trending/no-the-united-states-does-not-lead-the-world-in-coronavirus-cases-or-deaths/

Last month, the media jumped on the news that the United States had more confirmed cases of the coronavirus than any other nation. That was bogus on two fronts. First, U.S. intelligence agencies believe that China is lying about its true numbers, and reports from inside the country tell of crematoriums working around the clock and people being paid off to keep quiet.

Second, the United States does not lead the world in coronavirus cases per capita—which is the best way to compare how the pandemic is being contained in each country. For much of the pandemic, Italy has been overwhelmed by the coronavirus, but Italy has fewer cases and deaths than the United States. The United States has nearly six times the population of Italy, and when you measure cases and deaths per capita it’s easy to see why Italy was overwhelmed and the United States is not.

Here are the top six countries by confirmed cases (based on the case numbers from the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University as of 9:00 am ET April 12) in descending order (excluding China because their numbers are bogus):

USA (530,006)
Spain (166,019)
Italy (152,271)
France 130,730
Germany (125,452)
The United Kingdom (79,885)

Now, here are the top six countries by confirmed cases per million people (based on population numbers from the CIA World Fact Book) in descending order:

Spain (3319.33)
Italy (2440.14)
France (1926.80)
USA (1593.34)
Germany (1565.03)
United Kingdom (1214.78)

See? When looking at the number of confirmed cases compared to the population, the United States is not number one.

NPR proves true AG Barr’s claim the media is on a ‘jihad’ against hydroxychloroquine By Andrea Widburg

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/04/npr_proves_true_ag_barrs_claim_the_media_is_on_a_jihad_against_hydroxychloroquine.html

One of the main takeaways from the interview Attorney General Bill Barr did with Laura Ingraham was his saying that the Russia hoax would lead to criminal charges and would prove to be “one of the greatest travesties in American history.” Barr, however, didn’t limit himself to the Russia hoax.

In addition, Barr discussed America’s COVID-19 response and, specifically, addressed the media’s disgraceful behavior regarding hydroxychloroquine. As he said, they were temperate in talking about the drug until Trump expressed enthusiasm about it, at which point they went on a “jihad” (emphasis added):

And the politicization of decisions like hydroxychloroquine has been amazing to me. Before the president said anything about it, there was fair and balanced coverage of this very promising drug, and the fact that it had such a long track record, that the risks were pretty well known, and as soon as he said something positive about it, the media’s been on a jihad to discredit the drug, it’s quite strange.

As if to lend credence to Barr’s words, NPR’s Vanessa Romo wrote an article that implies that a Houston doctor – a Republican Houston doctor – is another Dr. Mengele, the monster of Auschwitz, because he’s giving nursing home patients the Z-Pack of Hydroxychloroquine, Azithromycin, and zinc. The jihad starts with the headline, COVID-19 Patients Given Unproven Drug In Texas Nursing Home In ‘Disconcerting’ Move, and then goes on from there:

Concern is mounting after a doctor at a Texas nursing home started giving the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine to dozens of elderly patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and tracking the outcomes in what he’s calling an “observational study.”

House Republicans Request Hearing on ‘Potentially Flawed’ Coronavirus Modeling Platforms By Debra Heine

https://amgreatness.com/2020/04/10/house-republicans-request-hearing-on-potentially-flawed-coronavirus-modeling-platforms/

Roy’s letter was cosigned by Reps. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Thomas Massie (Ky.), Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.), Jody Hice (R-Ga.), James Comer (R-Ky.) and Gregory Steube (R-Fla.).

A group of House Republicans led by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) are calling for a review of the “modeling platforms” the government has been using to make projections on the impacts of the coronavirus during the pandemic.

In a letter to House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), the Republicans urged her to schedule a “formal hearing” to review the “conflicting data” that led to draconian decisions like the stay-at-home orders across the country.

“At the forefront of decisions regarding response efforts lies our ability to understand the breadth and depth of the spread of the illness,” the Republicans wrote.

“To date, there seemingly have been two primary coronavirus modeling platforms—one from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, and one from the Imperial College of London,” the letter continues.

“While widely distributed and used by many thought leaders, these models have exhibited conflicting data over time, as we all as within comparison of the models themselves,” they said. “These models have also undergone multiple wildly varying revisions, and have not seemed to account for real world behavioral changes, even demonstrating assumptions at odds with visible data in real time.”

Do we really want WHO setting U.S. national health policy? By Dave Rybarczyk

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/04/do_we_really_want_who_setting_us_national_health_policy.html

 Legislation proposed by Sens. Romney and Murphy would do just that. It’s more political opportunism on the back of the pandemic. 

Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Mitt Romney (R-UT) have introduced a “Global Health Security Act” creating “a new directorate” ostensibly “empowered to press the preventative levers that can protect the nation.”  More accurately, the bill (not yet assigned a senate number at this writing) requires the U.S. to adopt and implement the World Health Organization’s “Global Health Security Agenda” (GHSA) across the government.  The GHSA includes a detailed set of “International Health Regulations” (IHR) meant to ensure prompt and effective responses to international health incidents.  The Murphy-Romney legislation will embed the IHR into U.S. health policy and ultimately into our lives and homes.

Unfortunately, those International Health Regulations have already failed in the case of COVID-19 (and to be clear, not through any fault or omission of the United States).  The IHR procedures unequivocally and explicitly required China to report immediately the existence of the outbreak and to cooperate fully and transparently in its international investigation (emphasis added):

“Notification is now based on the identification within a State Party’s territory of an ‘event that may constitute a public health emergency of international concern’ (PHEIC). This non-disease specific definition of notifiable events expands the scope of the IHR (2005) to include any novel or evolving risk to international public health…”

New York CCP Virus Death Rate Stabilizing: Cuomo By Tom Ozimek

https://www.theepochtimes.com/new-york-ccp-virus-death-rate-stabilizing-cuomo_3308049.html

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday that deaths from COVID-19 in his state are stabilizing, but at a “horrific rate.”

Speaking at his daily briefing on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, Cuomo said that while there were encouraging signs that the dynamics of the outbreak were slowing, the death toll is stark.

“That is not an all-time high, and you can see that the number is somewhat stabilizing, but it is stabilizing at a horrific rate,” Cuomo said, noting that 783 people died from the virus in the past 24 hours, with the number of deaths ranging between 777 and 799 for each of the previous three days.

“These are just incredible numbers depicting incredible loss and pain,” he said, adding, “we mourn all those who we lost to this vicious virus.”

The pandemic has hit New York City especially hard, with 94,409 confirmed infections and 5,429 deaths, according to an NYC Health tally from April 10.