Saturday News: “Global Coronavirus Infections Top 270,000”; “Call Trump’s News Conferences What They Are: Propaganda”; “Trump is ‘nasty’ in a crisis and ‘terrible’ in his response to it”; “Five sticking points to a $1T coronavirus deal”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, March 21.

• Global Coronavirus Infections Top 270,000
• “Without These Workers, Everything Ceases to Exist”: How Coronavirus Is Coming for Your Produce (“US consulates in Mexico are closed indefinitely, stranding a labor source that American farms rely on”)
• Forget toilet paper, Australians are panic-buying PV (“Byron Bay-based solar retailer Smart Energy says it is seeing an unprecedented surge in sales and inquiries for solar and home energy storage as consumers look to shore themselves up in uncertain times.”)
• U.S.-Mexico border closing to nonessential travel
• World leaders are fighting the virus. And each other. (“Past American presidents rallied the world against common threats. Trump has chosen a different path.”)
• U.S. economy deteriorating faster than anticipated as 80 million Americans are forced to stay at home
• How to Avoid Complete Economic Destruction
• Trump Resists Pressure to Use Wartime Law to Mobilize Industry in Virus Response
• Without Urgent Action, Coronavirus Could Overwhelm U.S., Estimates Say
• Coronavirus testing faces new challenge as key supplies run low
• Why we’re not overreacting to the coronavirus, in one chart (“Italy tried to stem its outbreak, belatedly. We’re on the same course.”)
• There’s a massive leadership gap at the top on coronavirus — but states are stepping in (“Many mayors and governors have responded heroically, but the absence of national leadership is already deadly”)
• We will need a coronavirus commission (“Who knew what, and what did they do about it?”)
• Call Trump’s News Conferences What They Are: Propaganda (“Then contrast them with the leadership shown by Andrew Cuomo, Justin Trudeau and Angela Merkel.”)
• Former intelligence chiefs: Trump’s removal of experts is deeply destructive to our nation’s safety
• Tracking the impact of coronavirus on the US power sector
• Donald Trump’s Cult of Personality Did This (“The autocratic political culture that has propped up the Trump administration has left the nation entirely unprepared for an economic and public-health calamity.”)
• Analysis: Trump will be judged on one thing now — and it won’t be impeachment
• U.S. intelligence reports from January and February warned about a likely pandemic
• Trump is ‘nasty’ in a crisis and ‘terrible’ in his response to it
• This is more than just a health and economic crisis. It’s a democracy crisis. (“We need to guarantee a functional election in November”)
• Trump Shrugged Off Repeated Intelligence Warnings About Coronavirus Pandemic: Report
• Trump attacks reporter after being asked for message to worried Americans (100% unfit to be president.)
• Fact-Checking 5 Trump Administration Claims On The Coronavirus Pandemic
• Coronavirus Could Overwhelm U.S. Without Urgent Action, Estimates Say
• The Real Reason Trump Started Calling the Virus “Chinese” (“The answer is obvious: People familiar with Trump’s limited but effective toolbox will recognize by now that the turn to racism is a sign of Trumpian distress. It means that Trump—who hasn’t been able to hold rallies amid his adoring fans—is feeling not just insecure but trapped. He thought the coronavirus was one more narrative he could control.”)
• Trump’s eruption at an NBC reporter says it all about his alternate reality on coronavirus
• We face a wartime supply shortage. Where is Trump’s wartime response?
• Senate GOP Response to Pandemic, Recession Is Seriously Inadequate
• The Best-Case Outcome for the Coronavirus, and the Worst
• Coal Industry Group Asks Federal Lawmakers to Cut Funding for Black Lung Program, Citing COVID-19 (These people are ghouls.)
• ‘If coronavirus doesn’t get us, starvation will’: A growing number of Americans say they can’t afford to stock up on groceries
• This Is Not a Recession. It’s an Ice Age.(“No one alive has experienced an economic plunge this sudden.”)
• It’s Time For Networks to Stop Televising Trump’s Daily Briefings
• Anti-vaxx politicians under fire as coronavirus spreads (“A candidate for Vermont governor who’s close with Bernie is trying to fend off criticism of his position against mandatory vaccinations.”)
• As Congress debates who gets a check, some experts say: Make it universal
• Any Coronavirus bailout must put workers first: Sen. Elizabeth Warren
• Strangely competent Mike Pence finds his 9/11 moment in coronavirus crisis (Yep, I’d take Pence over Trump in a heartbeat right now!)
• Has the U.S. Surgeon General Caught a Bad Case of Trumpism? (“Dr. Jerome Adams had a sterling reputation owing to the work he did in Indiana. Which has led friends to wonder: What’s going on with him now?”)
• Frank Rich: Trump Lies His Way Through a Pandemic
• U.S. candidate Biden was vastly outspent by Sanders in February
• Bloomberg spent over $900M on presidential campaign
• ’There’s no playbook for this’: Biden trapped in campaign limbo
• Biden plans shadow coronavirus briefings
• A brutal new ad uses Trump’s own words against him
• Five sticking points to a $1T coronavirus deal
• Here’s an economic aid plan better than Mitch McConnell’s (“Far better to use the Federal Reserve’s power to act as a lender of last resort, not only to the financial sector, as in past crises — and as it is already doing now — but to business generally, using the existing commercial banking system as intermediary. Congress’s part would be to provide a large pool of capital to support such loans, which, as former Fed official Kevin Warsh and others have suggested, would charge interest and require collateral to protect taxpayers against inevitable losses.”)
• Coronavirus Live Updates: Senators Near Deal on a $1 Trillion Rescue Plan (“One in five Americans will soon be required to stay indoors as New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Illinois join California in severely restricting residents’ movement.”)
• Senate at impasse on trillion-dollar coronavirus package (“Lawmakers couldn’t come to an agreement on a bipartisan package after 12 hours of talks.”)
• NBC News employee dies after testing positive for coronavirus
• A shadow of itself: 40m Californians wake up to life under lockdown
• Coronavirus in N.Y.: ‘Deluge’ of Cases Begins Hitting Hospitals
• Legendary country singer Kenny Rogers dies at 81
• Is Trump implicated in Richard Burr’s ‘moral crime’?
• They. Sold. Their. Stock. (“They could have made a difference, but they made a profit.”)
• Richard Burr Doesn’t Belong in the Senate. He Might Belong in Prison.
• As We’re Working to “Flatten the Coronavirus Curve,” We Badly Need to Do the Same for the Climate Crisis
• Sen. Warner Pushes DoD to Clarify Personnel Guidance Amid COVID-19 Outbreak
• How Are Political Campaigns, Advocacy Groups Communicating During the Coronavirus Crisis?
• Coronavirus Crisis Updates From Virginia’s Congressional Delegation
• The Politics Hour: March 20, 2020 (“Kaine blames the Trump administration for the U.S.’s delayed response in addressing the pandemic. ‘We lost six-to-eight weeks because of a series of horrible missteps by the administration,’ Kaine said on The Politics Hour.”)
• State health districts will take lead on enforcing governor’s 10-patron limit at restaurants (“Step 1 for enforcers: Ask nicely”)
• Live Video: Gov. Ralph Northam Provides Latest (3/20) Update on the Coronavirus Situation in Virginia
• Friday 6 P.M. Virginia Coronavirus Update by the Northam Administration
• AG Mark Herring: “Trump Administration’s response is discouraging immigrants from accessing critical healthcare and testing for fear of repercussions”
• Columbia University Models How Coronavirus Could Spread with No Action, Some Control Measures, Severe Control Measures
• How Well Is the Northam Admin. Responding to the Coronavirus Crisis?
• Confirmed coronavirus cases up to 114 in Virginia, state says
• The Virginia Hospitals That Are The Most (And Least) Prepared for Coronavirus
• Unemployment claims in Virginia spiked 1,500% this week
• Virginia will cancel SOLs this year because of the coronavirus
• ‘This is hard on people’s morale’: Gov. Northam encourages Virginians to get outside as COVID-19 cases rise
• Arlington National Cemetery continuing military funerals amid COVID-19 spread
• ‘We have community spread going on here in central Virginia’: Virginia cases reach 114; new cases found in Henrico, Richmond
• Walmart hiring more than 4,300 employees in Virginia
• Northam names former Portsmouth police chief to head Parole Board
• BREAKING: GMU Reports Coronavirus Case at Arlington Campus
• The latest: The spread and local impact of COVID-19 in Charlottesville
• Stranded in Peru due to coronavirus, Virginia Beach college student seeks a flight home, some help from her government
• Richmond-area craft breweries and cideries try to survive by offering curbside pickup, deliveries
• Much cooler today as temperatures return closer to normal through the weekend (“Yesterday’s 80s are replaced by 50s during the day today and tomorrow.”)