Cut to the News
Cut through the clutter to today's top news
May 20, 2020
Good morning
Welcome to today's top news.
Leading the News . . .
Mnuchin, Powell warn of brutal economic damage . . . The United States economy faces irreparable damage from the coronavirus, the nation’s top economic policymakers warned on Tuesday, although they offered differing solutions on how to ease the blow to business that has thrown more than 20 million people out of work. In a joint appearance before the Senate Banking Committee, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and the Fed chair,
Jerome H. Powell, offered a stark assessment of the fragile state of the economy. Mr. Mnuchin, who acknowledged a painful month ahead, suggested that an expeditious reopening of states was the key to preventing irreversible economic devastation. Mr. Powell sounded a more cautious tone, saying that a full recovery would not take hold until the health crisis was resolved and people felt safe resuming normal activity. New York Times
Justice Department warns California over church closings . . . The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday warned California’s governor that his COVID-19 restrictions discriminated against places of worship by preventing them from meeting while businesses and film studios are allowed to carry on working. In a three-page letter to Governor Gavin Newsom, the DOJ said the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution required churches
and other houses of worship be given equal treatment under the law, even when a health emergency has been declared. “Simply put, there is no pandemic exception to the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights,” Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband wrote in the letter. Reuters
Wearing surgical face mask can reduce virus transmission up to 75 percent . . . Researchers have found that wearing surgical masks can significantly reduce the rate of airborne COVID-19 transmission, according to a study released on Sunday. The study, conducted by a team of scientists in Hong Kong, found the rate of non-contact transmission through respiratory droplets or airborne particles dropped by as much as 75 percent when
masks were used. “The findings implied to the world and the public is that the effectiveness of mask-wearing against the coronavirus pandemic is huge,” said Dr. Yuen Kwok-yung, a leading microbiologist from Hong Kong University. Fox News
Seems I remember being told not too long ago not to wear a face mask
Pentagon memo warns of "globally persistent" coronavirus until summer 2021 . . . A leaked Pentagon memo is said to have warned of a 'globally-persistent' coronavirus lasting until the summer of 2021, with no vaccine before then. The unsigned document also details the 'real possibility of a resurgence' of COVID-19 in the coming months. It is said to have been written for Secretary of Defense Mark Esper by assistant secretary of
defense for homeland defense and global security Kenneth Rapuano. Associated Press
National Guard workers to stand down one day before benefits kick in . . . More than 40,000 National Guard members currently helping states test residents for the coronavirus and trace the spread of infections will face a “hard stop” on their deployments on June 24 — just one day shy of many members becoming eligible for key federal benefits, according to a senior FEMA official. The official outlined the Trump administration’s plans on an
interagency call on May 12. The official also acknowledged during the call that the June 24 deadline means that thousands of members who first deployed in late March will find themselves with only 89 days of duty credit, one short of the 90-day threshold for qualifying for early retirement and education benefits under the Post-9/11 GI bill. Politico
US announces indefinte extension of border ban . . . The Trump administration announced Tuesday that it is indefinitely renewing its coronavirus anti-illegal immigration border policy, which allows Border Patrol agents to quickly return most apprehended migrants back across the border. The CDC made the move under the Public Health Act. The CDC had first triggered the act in March and extended it in April, but Tuesday’s move renews the policy
for the foreseeable future. Under the policy, most illegal immigrants caught at the border are processed and returned back across the line within a few hours. Washington Times
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Susan Rice email to herself on Michael Flynn declassified . . . On the day of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, outgoing national security adviser Susan Rice sent herself an email that has since drawn intense scrutiny from Republicans. Republicans have seized on the document as potential evidence that the outgoing president had ordered the FBI to spy on the new administration, as Trump has alleged. And
they have raised questions about the "unusual" nature of Rice memorializing the conversation in an email to herself, suggesting that in warning Comey to proceed "by the book," Obama was implying that top law enforcement officials had done the opposite. Politico
Republicans try to find pro-Trump doctors to demand economy reopen ASAP . . . Republican political operatives are recruiting 'pro-Trump' doctors to go on television to prescribe reviving the U.S. economy as quickly as possible, without waiting to meet safety benchmarks proposed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to slow the spread of the new coronavirus. The plan was discussed in a May 11 conference call with a
senior staffer for the Trump reelection campaign organized by CNP Action, an affiliate of the GOP-aligned Council for National Policy. Associated Press
He asks kindly that you not tell Trump
Obama doesn't want to come to the White House to have his portrait unveiled . . . This will, of course, be pinned blamed on President Trump. But the fact is that Barack Obama has taken to attacking his predecessor in unprecedentedly vitriolic ways, as have Obama’s various hatchet men. Trump has fired back. And now it appears it’s all too much for Obama, who won’t be found in the same room with the president. White House Dossier
Biden urged to pick woman of color . . . The presumptive Democratic nominee vowed in March to pick a woman as his vice presidential running mate. Leaders within crucial factions of the Democratic base – black and Latino voters – say that's not enough for the standard-bearer of a party that touts its diversity and relies on the steadfast support of voters of color to win. They urge
him to choose not just any woman but the first woman of color as a running mate on a major party's ticket. Not only is it long past time to reward the party's most reliable voting bloc, black leaders say, a woman of color makes the most sense strategically to defeat President Donald Trump. USA Today
Sources say Biden may also consider whether someone is qualified to be president, though no final decision has been reached.
Biden pledge to kill Keystone pipeline would cost thousands of jobs . . . Joe Biden will kill the Keystone XL pipeline project if elected, his campaign said Monday, a move that would likely cost thousands of jobs and millions in local tax revenue. That termination would cost tens of thousands of jobs, which would result in billions of dollars in lost wages, according to estimates published last year by the State
Department. Those reductions would in turn cost state and local governments millions in tax revenue, up to 10 percent of annual property tax revenues in 17 counties across three states. Washington Free Beacon
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China vows retaliation over Pompeo message to Taiwan leader . . . China denounced U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo for referring to Taiwan’s leader Tsai Ing-wen as “president,” vowing to “take necessary countermeasures” in response. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said a statement by Pompeo congratulating Tsai on her second term as president “seriously violated” the one-China principle and agreements that
underpinned the establishment of relations between the two sides. “China urges the U.S. side to immediately correct its mistakes,” the ministry said in a statement posted on its website Wednesday. “The Chinese side will take necessary countermeasures." Bloomberg
Anti-China sentiment on the rise . . . Anti-China sentiment is rising in the United States, according to a new poll that reflects the foreign country’s role as the point of origin of the coronavirus and the millions of dollars in negative ads spent by President Donald Trump, former Vice President Joe Biden and their allies as each paints the other as weak on the U.S.-China relationship. Since January, the percentage of U.S. voters who say China is
an “enemy” has risen 11 percentage points to 31 percent, while the percentage of voters who say China is either an ally or friend has fallen 9 points to a combined 23 percent, a new poll shows. The 30 percent who say China is unfriendly but not an enemy has held about constant in the past five months. Politico
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Hungary bans people from legally changing their gender . . . Hungary passed a law Tuesday that prevents people from changing the sex on their birth certificates. In a 134-56 vote, the Parliament voted to define gender on state identity documents as the “sex at birth” on the registered birth certificate. Transgender groups cried foul and claimed the law pushed the country back by a thousand years by preventing
people from receiving official support for changing their gender identity. Hungarian government officials noted that the law “does not affect men’s and women’s right to freely experience and exercise their identities as they wish.” Washington Times
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Johnson & Johnson to stop selling baby powder in US and Canada . . . Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday announced it would stop selling its talc Baby Powder in the United States and Canada, saying demand had dropped in the wake of what it called “misinformation” about the product’s safety amid a barrage of legal challenges. J&J faces more than 19,000 lawsuits from consumers and their survivors claiming its talc
products caused cancer due to contamination with asbestos, a known carcinogen. Many are pending before a U.S. district judge in New Jersey. Reuters
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Plaintiff in Roe v Wade says she was paid to switch sides . . . Norma McCorvey, the woman known as “Jane Roe” in the landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion, said she was lying when she switched to support the anti-abortion movement, saying she had been paid to do so. In a new documentary, made before her death in 2017, McCorvey makes what she calls a deathbed confession. "I took their money and
they took me out in front of the cameras and told me what to say,” she says on camera. “I did it well too. I am a good actress. Of course, I’m not acting now. If a young woman wants to have an abortion, that’s no skin off my ass. That’s why they call it choice,” she added. Reuters
US birthrates fall to record low . . . American women had babies at record-low rates last year and pushed U.S. births down to their smallest total in 35 years, according to federal figures released Wednesday. About 3.75 million babies were born in the U.S. in 2019, down 1% from the prior year. The general fertility rate fell 2% to 58.2 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44, its lowest level since the government began tracking the figure in 1909.
Birthrates have been falling fastest forwomen ages 24 and younger. The data are the latest sign of how American childbearing, which began declining during the 2007-09 recession, never fully rebounded when the economy bounced back. Wall Street Journal
Portion of Michigan could be under nine feet of water after dams collapse . . . Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday declared an emergency for Midland county after two dams breached and on expectations of extreme flooding. The county said two dams, Edenville and Sanford, have collapsed due to heavy rain. "In the next 12 to 15 hours, downtown Midland could be under approximately nine feet of water”, the governor said in a news conference.
About 3,500 homes and 10,000 people have so far been affected by the evacuation notices. Reuters
Owners of CNN, NBC, and others support Fox News against lawsuit . . . Owners of major legacy outlets came together Monday evening and filed an amicus brief in support of Fox News’ motion to dismiss a lawsuit against them by the activist nonprofit group WASHLITE. They argued against WASHLITE’s
claim that “cable programmers do not have First Amendment rights.” WASHLITE filed a lawsuit against Fox News on April 2 over the network’s coverage of the novel coronavirus. The lawsuit requests an injunction to prohibit Fox from “interfering with reasonable and necessary measures to contain the virus by publishing further false and deceptive content.” Daily Caller
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Texas "Go topless jeep weekend" results in 189 arrests . . . Not even the coronavirus pandemic could stop Texas’ annual “Go Topless Jeep Weekend” — a wild party that resulted in nearly 200 arrests and raised eyebrows on social media. A viral local news report about the boozy beach bash in Galveston showed maskless revelers drinking, twerking and driving around in ATVs, as resigned cops admitted it was “impossible” to enforce
social distancing. New York Post
So you've go breasts, and jeeps. I didn't know that was thing.
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Keith
Keith Koffler
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