Part One:
Our regular check in with the Voice of Texas, the dean of the Austin Press Corps, the editor of the Quorum Report, Scott Braddock
In Texas, small businesses will likely not reopen. The loans promised in the bailout bill seem inaccessible, and the money is running out.
Trump is pulling out of WHO, at a time when the organization is most needed. What is most needed before any recovery can take place is testing on a large scale, and contact tracing. In the US no federal resources have been allocated for universal testing.
In Texas, county officials have been pretty responsive, but the governor has been inconsistent, and compliance with stay home orders/suggestions has not been universal. People are protesting staying home, when they should be protesting the lack of testing. Trump brings up big numbers out of context, citing ‘hundreds of thousands’ when he should be talking about millions, as in the case of masks being made available.
Social distancing is a problem for low-income people, because of their living circumstances, and the kinds of work that they do. It appears to be a strategy for the priviledged only. Announcements that are ‘window dressing’ are killing people. They are inconsistent, and do not present good information.
The city of Austin has begun to require face covering. This is being implemented in other cities, at local initiatives.
A court in Texas has ruled that Texas can vote by mail, though it is likely to be challenged. The Republicans do not want it, because they are afraid that this will give Democrats an advantage.
– A judge in Austin rules that Texans should be able to vote by mail if they fear getting sick with COVID-19. You can expect an appeal by the State of Texas
https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/15/835515753/texas-judge-set-to-order-state-to-allow-all-voters-to-request-mail-in-ballots
– President Trump’s economic revival task force is loaded with Texans
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2020/04/16/trump-taps-cornyn-cruz-and-cuellar-for-new-task-force-on-when-and-how-to-reopen-us-economy/?fbclid=IwAR1Vnxv9q3-7cFfyGUodg8iJQmSJIT-EJHkp4Z94PQN_bD6xrZw48fFxApU
– Gov. Greg Abbott is being super secret about his Friday announcement on reopening the Texas economy
https://www.click2houston.com/news/texas/2020/04/16/report-abbott-will-reveal-plan-to-reopen-texas-amid-coronavirus-pandemic-friday/
https://www.texastribune.org/2020/04/15/what-will-texas-reopen-and-when/
– Texas has paid $400 million in unemployment benefits since lockdowns, but can the state sustain it?
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/coronavirus-live-update-case-us-2020-death-numbers-15201833.php#
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/Oil-gas-industry-sheds-more-than-6-000-jobs-in-15203587.php
– Oil prices are still through the floor, but the Texas energy sector appears to reject the idea of state intervention in production
https://www.texastribune.org/2020/04/15/texas-oil-production-cuts-not-happening-yet-railroad-commission/
Part Two:
We speak with Bill Curry, two-time candidate for Governor of Conn., advisor to Bill Clinton, op-ed writer Salon.com
We discuss Trump’s announcement of his ‘reopen taskforce’ which consists of business people. He has backed off from his assertion that he is all-powerful, and can direct governors. Now, he is attempting to delegate to governors what they had a right to do in any case. But, we see this as a way for him to claim credit for what governors will do, if it works, and a way to avoid responsibility if it doesn’t work. That seems to be a pattern: claim credit for others’ work, and thus brand it as his. He is not offering substantial federal help.
Trump’s totalitarian streak hits overdrive. President Trump has often claimed extremely broad powers, but Monday he said they were absolute — and he even got back-up from Vice President Pence.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/04/14/trumps-totalitarian-streak-hits-overdrive/
An End to Totalitarianism Fixating on whether Trump’s response to COVID-19 is totalitarian makes it difficult to have a nuanced discussion about the role government should play in times of crisis. http://bostonreview.net/politics/samuel-clowes-huneke-end-totalitarianism
The WHO Shouldn’t Be a Plaything for Great Powers
Trump’s defunding ploy will only make the organization’s problems worse. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/04/why-world-health-organization-failed/610063/
Bill Gates hikes coronavirus contribution after bashing Trump for defunding WHO The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledged $100 million in February and committed another $150 million Wednesday. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/16/bill-gates-coronavirus-contribution-trump-who-189984
With a view to the election this fall, Sanders has endorsed Biden, although some people thought this was too soon.
“SOME FEEL IT WAS WAY TOO SOON”: AFTER SANDERS’S BIDEN ENDORSEMENT, “PARTY UNITY” IS STILL A LONG WAY AWAY
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/04/bernie-sanders-joe-biden-endorsement-progressives-2020-election
The campaigns will be very different from previous campaigns, since they will be in the Internet space, rather than face to face.
Biden Is Losing the Internet. Does That Matter? The coronavirus has forced the Democrats’ presumptive presidential nominee into an all-digital campaign, and he’s struggling to break through.
AOC says she is ‘having conversations with Biden’s team’ over policy
https://nypost.com/2020/04/16/aoc-says-she-is-having-conversations-with-bidens-team-over-policy/
Biden’s candidacy is seen as likely to bring in even Republican voters, who can tolerate him, as opposed to another, more farther-left candidate from the Democratic party. This may give Democrats a chance, and also a chance to retake the Senate.
Trump stole the idea of economic populism and political reform from HRC, which was part of her defeat. She did not reach out to those parts of the Democratic party enough in 2016. Biden is seen as someone who will listen to the more progressive wing of the Democratic Party, and has already begun negotiations with some of its representatives.
The pandemic has brought into focus those issues, and they could be the deciding factors in 2010. We cannot ignore that changes in the economy and politics are necessary. Particularly in health care, it has emphasized how flawed our current system is. Once Democrats are united, the current injustices and inefficiencies must be cured. The Republican party must be transformed away from Trump. There are currently nine Senate races that are competitive, and these must be won by Democrats, and make it possible. With mail voting, and possibly online voting, it may happen.
aside:
How Trump’s antiquated vision of how business works led to disaster
View at Medium.com
Trump does not see or understand business as most modern Americans do. His world is not the world of Apple and Google and Silicon Valley executives harnessing technology and innovation to change the world. As far as Trump is concerned, that is all new-age touchy feely stuff, invented by nerds with pocket protectors sitting next to a giant, room-filling ancient IBM computer in a back office somewhere. For all intents and purposes for Trump, the technology business might as well be alchemy practiced by weirdo wizards.
For Trump, real business resembles something out of a 1950s-60s era parody of the extremely white and straight businessman who is very busy at business, all the time. Trump does not look at “Mad Men” as an antiquated time capsule of how business was once done in America. He looks at that world and sees paradise.
