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The Trump administration made it clear yesterday that it is going to propose a big economic stimulus package to boost the economy, which is being hammered by the coronavirus fallout. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is on Capitol Hill discussing the plan with Senate Republicans.

The White House is seeking approximately $850 billion in tax relief and loans to industries most affected by the economic shutdown. While President Trump prefers a payroll-tax “holiday,” the White House signaled it is open to direct cash payments to households ASAP.

Mnuchin told reporters, “We’re looking at sending checks to Americans immediately… [Laid off] Americans need cash now. And the president wants to get cash [out] now.” In addition, he said the administration would defer owed tax payments interest-free and penalty-free for 90 days. 

Here’s the most important thing: The Trump/Pence team worked through the night to develop this stimulus plan. It is committed to getting us through this crisis, and all options are on the table.

Combatting the Coronavirus

Monday the White House released new recommendations for combatting the Chinese coronavirus (COVID-19). Here’s what you need to know:

• Follow the directions of your state and local authorities.

• If you feel sick, stay home. Do not go to work. Contact your medical provider.

• If your children are sick, keep them at home. Contact your medical provider.

• If someone in your household has tested positive for the coronavirus, keep the entire household at home.

• If you are an older American, stay home and away from other people.

• If you are a person with a serious underlying health condition — such as a significant heart or lung problem — stay home and away from other people.

In addition, the White House is also urging Americans to:

• Work from home whenever possible.

• Avoid gatherings of more than 10 people.

• Avoid bars, restaurants and food courts. Use delivery, pickup and drive-thru options when possible.

• Avoid discretionary travel.

• Avoid unnecessary visits to nursing homes and retirement centers.

These guidelines build on the CDC’s recommendations to fight the spread of the virus, and everyone can do their part. Everyone should avoid touching their face, continue washing their hands regularly for at least 20 seconds, and wipe down surfaces — tables, countertops, keyboards, etc. — in the home often.

Even those who are young and healthy are at risk. But most importantly, your activities can increase the risk of spreading the coronavirus to others who are in more danger from it, specifically those over 70 and people with serious preexisting medical problems.

Yesterday, the White House also announced new “telemedicine” options for Medicare recipients, as well as reforms to burdensome HIPAA laws and regulations. And it’s worth repeating that under Trump’s leadership a vaccine for COVID-19 has been approved in record time.

Left-Wing Hate

It would be nice if in a time of crisis we could all come together for the good of the country. Sadly, that’s not happening. 

Many on the left are exploiting this crisis, desperately hoping they can use it to take down Trump. They are lying to you and contributing to the fear and panic that has gripped the country. 

Here are some examples of what I am referring to:

• Speaker liar-Nancy Pelosi tried to hijack an emergency spending bill to subsidize abortions. Only the left can see a piece of time-sensitive and life-saving legislation as an opportunity to kill more unborn babies. Thankfully, the provision was dropped.

• During a conference call with governors, the president encouraged them to try getting respirators and ventilators themselves because it could be quicker while adding that the federal government would support them however it can. But The New York Times only reported the first part of Trump’s remarks, and that’s the part that went viral. (Pun intended.) Dozens of news outlets ran misleading headlines suggesting that Trump had essentially abandoned the states.

• Some so-called “progressives” are hoping Trump and his conservative supporters get sick and die.

• Some leftists like anti-Second Amendment activist David Hogg and Rep. Rashida Tlaib mocked  Christians for praying during this crisis.

• They have pushed political correctness and thrown around accusations of racism.

• They falsely accused the president of dismantling  the White House office of pandemic preparedness.

• They lied and claimed he gutted the budgets of vital health agencies.

• They falsely accused the president of calling the virus a hoax.

I could go on, but you get the point.

Looking Ahead

Since many leftists are obsessed with politicizing this virus, let’s examine how it could play out in the weeks and months ahead. While the stock-market crash and economic uncertainty are not good news, the president still has a strong hand to play. For example:

• We saw how Trump grew the economy during the first three years of his administration. Compare that to the eight years of malaise under scumbag/liar-nObama/loose lips liar-Biden. Who wants to go back to that?!

• Trump can say that he championed border security because we had no idea who was coming into the country and whether they were sick or not. But the left fought him tooth and nail every step of the way. Now Canada, Germany, and several South American countries are sealing their borders.

• Trump can say that he has led the charge against our dependency on communist China, while liberals like Joe Biden were bowing to Beijing. On this point, I am pleased to report that the White House is considering additional steps to secure our vital medical supply chains.

And speaking of loose lips liar-Joe Biden, here’s another headline proving that he’s no moderate:  "loose lips liar-Biden Says He’ll Adopt Plans From commie-Sanders, dinky/liar-Warren.“   ~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/opinion/69302?mailing_id=4929&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4929&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body  

“We need to directly help American workers and families face this uncertain period, and particularly we’re examining policy tools to put money directly and quickly into the hands of American families,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. “We also need to move swiftly and boldly in a major way to help American small businesses survive this disruption and thrive on the other side of it. In particular, we are preparing bold steps to ensure that Main Street can access liquidity and credit during this extraordinary time.”

At the forefront of the package is likely to be an immediate check of at least $1,000 for every adult American (under whatever income level is agreed upon), perhaps followed by a second check in a couple of months. The amount represents about a week’s pay for the typical American worker, but Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin says the amount “may be a little bit bigger than what’s in the press.”

President Donald Trump initially favored a payroll-tax cut, but that would take months to be realized by workers who keep their jobs. He now says, “We want to do something that gets money to them as quickly as possible.”

That will indeed be popular with the millions of Americans who are losing money in real time due to the economic shutdown, which is meant to “flatten the curve” of the viral spread. Perhaps the government checks will even restore the confidence that fuels the stock market.

Still, we’ve tried direct income redistribution twice before and it’s generally ineffective at stimulating the economy. The difference is the previous two times were tax “rebates.” This would just be a direct payment financed by deficit spending. With a national debt of $23.5 trillion and a projected deficit of $1 trillion before spending another  trillion, however, the U.S. can’t afford this ineffectual “stimulus.”

Then again, with a national debt of $23.5 trillion, what’s another $1 trillion among friends?

The real problem is that Democrats are seeding an expectation of Universal Basic Income. “GOP & Democrats are both coming to the same conclusion: Universal Basic Income is going to have to play a role in helping Americans weather this crisis,” declared commie-Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the new face of Democrat economics. Democrats have wanted UBI for years, and they’re not going to let this crisis go to waste. Tulsi Gabbard says she doesn’t want the checks to stop “until COVID-19 no longer presents a public health emergency.” How many trillions of dollars would that end up being? 

Compassion for the American workers and their families suffering through what is bound to be a major economic slowdown, if not a recession, is one thing. Bankrupting the country to implement socialism is another.   

~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/articles/69315?mailing_id=4929&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4929&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body  

A friend tweeted from Ireland (in time for St. Patrick’s Day), blaming President Trump for the major decline in the value of stocks. This same friend credited Barack scumbag/liar-nObama’s economic policies when the Dow Jones Industrial Averages approached 30,000.

This — and more — is part of our political, economic and medical divide with mixed messages coming from supposed professionals, amateurs and people who don’t know what they are talking about.

According to Dictionary.com, “panic” is “a sudden overwhelming fear, with or without cause, that produces hysterical or irrational behavior, and that often spreads quickly through a group of persons or animals.”

Is this panic over the coronavirus that has caused the closing of Broadway shows, sports arenas, church services and many schools with or without cause? Is it justified, or not?

We’ll soon know, but as of Monday, 69 people had died from the disease in the U.S., 27 of them at a senior facility in Seattle, Washington.

Here’s a piece of news that has been buried by major media. An Associated Press headline read, “Most coronavirus patients recover, still anxiety, fear loom.” Gee, I wonder why fear and anxiety are looming? Could the major media, which love promoting fear when it comes to hurricanes, also be promoting fear while mostly ignoring those who recover from the virus?

Last Friday CBS reported on the number of people infected, but waited until the last sentence to say this: “The vast majority of cases are mild, and almost half of those infected have recovered.”

A banner headline in red on The Drudge Report said, “150 million Americans could get infected.” This while medical “experts” tell us how to avoid infection with regular handwashing, avoiding people who appear sick, not gathering with large crowds, etc.

Presidential candidates loose lips liar-Joe Biden and commie-Bernie Sanders aren’t helping to lower anxiety. loose lips liar-Biden delivered a speech last week in Delaware with fewer than his usual rhetorical stumbles. As The Hill reports, loose lips liar-Biden proposed “…making testing free and widely available” and establishing “10 mobile sites and drive-thru facilities per state, in addition to greater transparency from the White House…” commie-Sanders, on the other hand, “has used the outbreak as an opportunity to push his progressive agenda, specifically his ‘Medicare for All’ proposal.” Sanders says his plan would ensure free vaccines and treatment to those infected. The Trump administration has outlined similar actions.

Are we being subjected to doublespeak when on the one hand we are told the coronavirus is nothing to be afraid of, if we take precautions, and on the other we are told to run for the hills? Is this a biblical plague or a manageable ailment? Are we facing the judgment of God, or will this, too, pass like the flu, or a cold, or other ailments from which most of us recover?

If the weather is difficult to accurately predict, why would anyone think forecasts related to a virus might be accurate and trustworthy?

I am no prophet, but just as other challenges have confronted America, we will recover from this one. The stock market will revive (it was up nearly 2,000 points last Friday) because the economy remains strong. Schools that are closed will reopen. Broadway lights will go back on. Sports contests with fans in the seats will resume. Church doors will reopen. Normalcy will return.

Last Friday at the White House, Doug McMillon, the CEO of Walmart, announced that parking lots at some of his stores will be used for drive-in coronavirus testing. And Variety reports that Verily, the life sciences division of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, “is in the ‘early stages of development’ with a test slated to roll out initially in the San Francisco Bay Area. … At some point, Verily said, it may expand the tool more widely.”

CEOs from Target, Walgreen’s and CVS were among those also pledging cooperation. Now if only the politicians would stop fighting each other and instead unify to fight the virus.   ~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/opinion/69257?mailing_id=4927&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4927&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body  

“These are the sorts of things that affect the quality of our life on a daily basis,” Tucker observes. “Does your ice maker actually make ice? Does your iron work? And this is all because of these regulations. Isn’t it strange how much regulations sort of secretly control all the things we use in our life? We don’t even know it. And they’ll never roll it back, so they never face any real pressure. So there’s no way to revert it. Whereas normally, in private enterprise, if you design something that doesn’t quite work right, people stop buying it and that’s the end, so there’s a mechanism that corrects for errors. But when government’s doing it, they don’t seem to have any way to fix it.”

Tucker’s discovery is not limited to a few inconsequential items. In fact, it’s the all-too-common experience of every American. While he grants that these bureaucrats’ regulations may be well intentioned, he argues, “The problem is that the bureaucrats have inordinate power and if they make a mistake, there’s really nothing that can be done about it. We ended up having to spend the rest of our lives working around them and I don’t think that’s a good way to live. We used to have gasoline cans that worked well. And then we created this innovation that just didn’t work nearly as well.”

In this light, we should be crying foul when politicians like New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio call for the federal government to take over private enterprise, as he did recently over coronavirus fears. “People can get tested according to a priority structure, and it’s not enough testing. It’s just as simple as that,” de Blasio argued after he called on the fed to take control of U.S. businesses in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. He continued, “Here’s the reality. This is a war-like situation. We’re in a war-time scenario with a ‘Mar-a-Lago attitude’ being used by the federal government, right? … This is a case for a nationalization, literally a nationalization, of crucial factories and industries that could produce the medical supplies to prepare this country for what we need.”

Calling for a fascist takeover of America’s private industry is a textbook recipe for ushering in tyranny. And “helping people” is always how tyrants justify their demand for greater power. Somehow, it never works out the way they claim.   ~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/articles/69269?mailing_id=4927&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4927&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body 

You may recall our earlier reporting on this destructive rewriting of American history. The 1619 Project was an attempt to recast the American Revolution and the founding of our nation as based on the desire to protect and perpetuate the institution of slavery. It was written mostly by leftist journalists, with a few (anti-)American historians sprinkled in for good measure.

After it was released in August 2019 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the first arrival of slaves in the New World, the 1619 Project was torn apart by legitimate historians for its complete lack of factual reporting and its blatantly agenda-driven view of American history. But respected scholars like Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists James McPherson and Gordon Wood, who were not even consulted on this project, didn’t make a dent with the “righteous” New York Times.

In true leftist fashion, the Times doubled down, insisting that this was a new attempt at historical understanding — that history was not fixed. Comrade Lenin would be proud.

The major issue of concern was that the 1619 Project had bigger plans that included pushing this dreck into our public schools to indoctrinate our children into believing that America was founded on, and still believes in, slavery. Thousands of schools across the country have accepted the 1619 Project as real history, teaching an entire generation of Americans that their country is racist.

The good news is that the continued pushback against the 1619 Project has made an impact, however small. The New York Times issued a correction of the leading article of this farce, written by Nikole Hannah-Jones. Her screed assumed that “all” of the American colonists were drawn to the revolution to protect slavery. The Times now says that only “some” of the colonists were motivated by it.

Not exactly a mea culpa or a complete retraction, but that will never happen. The Times has too much invested in this multimedia project to give up now. But this is an incremental fight. And the truth has just recorded a victory.

This correction demonstrates that the revisionists know their work is complete manure meant to feed an agenda that denigrates the United States. If they admit the premise of their so-called project is not genuine, then what else within that project can still be trusted to be true?  

~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/articles/69270?mailing_id=4927&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4927&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body  

To help everyone stay calm and sane, as well as simply to offer some good perspective amidst the craziness, here are a few things to consider doing.

Perhaps most importantly, check up on friends and family. Use social media for good. Maybe even use that portable computer you’re holding to call loved ones (radical, we know). Make sure that neighbors have what they need. Offer help when you can, especially for seniors who may not be able to venture out to the store for needed supplies. During a period of “social distancing,” we humans are still geared to need community (yes, even you introverts). If you or someone you know is alone, pay special attention to them.

Go outside. Well, as long as it’s not pouring down rain, as it is this morning at our remote headquarters. Cabin fever is real and everyone needs some fresh air — especially kids. Eventually the skies will clear up, right?

Read books. Been too busy with kids’ sports or other public obligations to pick up that book you started on January 1? Settle back down and read it.

Further your education. There are all sorts of online learning opportunities that you can use to continue learning. Teach your kids basic life skills — like deep cleaning. Never stop learning or sharing knowledge.

If all else fails, there’s always Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, etc. With theaters around the country shutting down, NBCUniversal just announced it will release its current theatrical features on demand at home. Other studios, including Disney, will follow suit.

Here’s one you probably didn’t think of, courtesy of Ben Shapiro: “Buy a gift card. Small businesses are getting crushed right now. Many have been shut by local governments, and even the ones that haven’t are being destroyed by Americans following protocol and staying away from crowds. This means that if you have disposable income, you should seriously consider buying a gift card from a local business and using it later — or shopping online from them. It’s essentially an advance for businesses that could certainly use the hand right now.”

As a final and more personal note, if you’re like the staff here in our humble shop, life is incredibly busy even outside our hectic deadlines. Our jobs and deadlines don’t change even if we are working remotely. But as other parts of life slow down, we’re taking time to give thanks to our Creator for the blessings we may have been too busy to notice. We hope you’ll do the same and that you’ll fill the time wisely.  

~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/articles/69283?mailing_id=4927&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4927&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body  

Millennials are the largest generation and the ones most likely to be out and about. Thus, Birx asserted, they are the ones most likely to spread COVID-19. Birx then admonished them: “We’re protecting the Greatest Generation right now, and the children of the Greatest Generation. And [Millennials] need to communicate with each other.”

Also on Monday, Trump released a set of new guidelines for Americans to follow titled “15 Days to Slow the Spread.” The guidelines encourage avoiding gatherings larger than 10 people, as well as staying away from “eating or drinking in restaurants, bars and food courts,” opting instead for “drive through, pickup and delivery options.” Trump noted, “If everyone makes … these critical changes and sacrifices now, we will rally together as one nation and we will defeat the virus.”

Sen. rino-Mitt Romney (R-UT) called for the government to give every American adult $1,000 in an effort to mitigate the growing financial squeeze brought about by the pandemic. He’s the first Republican to propose something akin to former Democrat presidential candidate Andrew Yang’s “Universal Basic Income.” If the goal is to ensure Americans have more money during the COVID-19 crisis, however, a better idea would be enacting what Trump has called for — a temporary payroll-tax cut. That’s not great either, but there are no good options before us.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck scumbag-Schumer on Monday proposed a $750 billion plan that “would boost hospital capacity, expand unemployment insurance, increase Medicaid funding, provide aid to small businesses, and grant immediate forbearance on federal loan payments,” as reported by National Review. “We will need big, bold, urgent federal action to deal with this crisis,” scumbag-Schumer argued. The White House, meanwhile, pitched an $850 billion “stimulus” package.

Unfortunately, it’s almost always the case that politicians use crisis to expand the government’s role in everyone’s lives. Still, Washington politicos aren’t wrong about COVID-19 exacting a serious economic toll across the country. Especially hard hit have been restaurant workers, as Americans have heeded warnings and stayed home. We won’t know for months what the real economic cost will be.   ~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/articles/69282?mailing_id=4927&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4927&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body  

It appears clear that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has not backed off his proxy-war efforts against the U.S. in Iraq and Syria even after the U.S. took out his top terrorist, Gen. Qasem Soleimani. In fact, he seems to be escalating matters.

As Tom Rogan at Washington Examiner notes, “Iran’s escalation also takes another form. Iran is now more resolute in expanding its nuclear program. Again, Iran knows that doing so risks Israeli or U.S. military action. But Khamenei has evidently decided to roll the dice in a last-ditch effort to blackmail America into sanctions relief. The supreme leader’s escalation-reflex is likely exacerbated in an Iranian interest point of view by the Saudi decision this week to boost its oil export scale and send oil prices plummeting. U.S. sanctions have annihilated Iran’s oil economy, so what little Tehran is still able to export is critical to the regime’s finances.”

To top it off, Iran is struggling with the coronavirus outbreak. It’s the typical mindset of tyrannical regimes: The people don’t matter, only the leader’s agenda.   ~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/articles/69232?mailing_id=4925&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4925&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body  

loose lips liar-Joe Biden is not the man who can bring unity. That’s largely because, when it comes to decency, he is very deficient. The media might tell you one thing, but there is plenty of evidence that loosew lips liar-Biden’s lack of decency not only exists but will make unity impossible.

For one thing, the deep divisions on multiple issues that drive the present state of contentious disunity have existed for a long time and have been growing toxic for a long time.

For instance, take gun control.

The fact is, far too many of the solutions proposed by the Democrats running for president involved punishing millions of law-abiding Americans for crimes and acts of madness they did not commit. Parkland, Sandy Hook, Aurora, Sutherland Springs, Las Vegas — all were cited as the justification for massive infringements on the Second Amendment.

On their own, and in conjunction with pro-Second Amendment groups like the National Rifle Association, millions of Patriots objected to that injustice. They made those objections stick through successful grassroots action. Yet that grassroots action against injustice (writing lawmakers, educating their fellow Americans, and even working to defeat anti-Second Amendment officials through the electoral process) has been labeled  “domestic terrorism” by none other than New York’s attorney general.

socialist-Beto O'Rourke once promised, “Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15.” loose lips liar-Joe Biden just hired socialist-Beto’s campaign manager as his own, and he plans to hire socialist-Beto as his “gun-control czar.”

It’s kind of hard to unify a country after stuff like that. It becomes doubly hard when, after that rhetoric, abusive investigations are launched with the intent of silencing certain voices. But yeah, media pundits, tell us again how it’s Second Amendment supporters who are the problem.

loose lips liar-Biden is no stranger to vilification of opponents. There is, of course, the moment he falsely claimed rino-Mitt Romney would put African Americans “back in chains.” It was a vicious slander — saying slavery would come back. But at the time, it looked as if rino-Romney had a chance to beat Barack scumbag/liar-nObama — and he did come within a few hundred thousand votes of flipping that election into an Electoral College win like Donald Trump pulled off four years later.

loose lips liar-Biden also was proud of the grotesque defeat of Robert Bork’s Supreme Court nomination in 1987 and sought to use it to launch his 1988 presidential campaign. Bork’s reputation over a long career of public service? Small price to pay for loose lips liar-Biden’s ambition. Karma struck when loose lips liar-Biden was caught plagiarizing speeches the next year, but that karma didn’t put Bork on the Supreme Court. Nor did that karma halt the vitriolic path we are on today. loose lips liar-Biden’s horrific treatment of Bork became the template for how Democrats treat Republican judicial nominees. Ask Brett Kavanaugh.

But the lack of decency also extends to inaction. Remember when John Lewis smeared rino-John McCain as a racist in 2008? loose lips liar-Biden was silent … and even seemed like he had discarded the friendship. While maybe that smear wasn’t decisive, loose lips liar-Biden said nothing — and even today proclaims his friendship with rino-McCain as he runs for president for the third time.

We’ll leave it to you to judge if his treatment of riho-McCain is that of a true friend. But the actions and inactions in politics probably aren’t the most relevant or dispositive when it comes to loose lips liar-Biden’s lack of decency. Let’s look at how he mistreated someone who was utterly powerless to resist him: Curtis C. Dunn.

In 1972, loose lips liar-Biden’s first wife and daughter were killed in an accident involving a tractor trailer. Anyone who has lost a family member to such an accident can comprehend the pain involved. But loose lips liar-Biden proceeded to falsely paint Dunn as a drunk driver. He reportedly apologized, but what kind of person — in a position of power and influence, no less — would unleash such a dishonest smear in the first place?

And all of this is to say nothing about loose lips liar-Biden’s angry outbursts against voters on the campaign trail. Among other episodes, he’s called a woman a “lying, dog-faced pony soldier” (whatever that means) and nearly picked a fistfight with a guy over banning the “AR-14.”

If America is to somehow bridge the Red-Blue divide that seems likely to tear it apart, it will need leaders who are, when it comes down to it, decent people. loose lips liar-Joe Biden’s actions over the years show he is lacking in that department — and he’s getting worse. To think he can bring about unity with a proven lack of decency is blind partisan foolishness.   ~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/articles/69265?mailing_id=4927&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4927&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body