PrairiePundit

Epoch Times:
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the CCP virus death toll across the United States will be much lower than projected.

Dr. Robert Redfield, the head of the CDC, predicted on Monday that it will be “much, much, much lower” than what some models have shown—coming after tens of millions of Americans followed social distancing guidelines and numerous businesses were closed.

“First, models are only as good as their assumptions. Obviously, there was a lot unknown about this virus,” Redfield remarked to KVOI in Arizona.

Some models assumed only that about 50 percent of Americans would follow social distancing guidelines, he noted. Some models predicted anywhere from 100,000 deaths to more than 2 million deaths in the United States, depending on the mitigation efforts enacted by federal, state, and local officials.

“In fact, what we’re seeing is a large majority of the American public are taking the social distancing recommendations to hear…

Marc Thiessen:
Want to see the damage done by the Democrats’ week-long delay in passing the emergency relief bill? Consider the bill’s most important employment provision, the Paycheck Protection Program — a $350 billion fund to provide small businesses with “forgivable loans” so they can keep the lights on during the lockdown and avoid laying off their workers.

According to a survey published the week after the bill was passed, a quarter of small businesses reported that they had already been forced to temporarily close, and 40 percent of those left said they were on the verge of closing within two weeks. That is more than half of all small businesses in the United States.

This is why it was critical to get these businesses help fast. The desperation for help was evident in the rush for loans Friday, when the Paycheck Protection Program finally came online, a week after President Trump signed the bill into law. On its first day alone, banks approved about 17,500 loans valued at over …

CBS News:
Texas can continue to legally implement its near-total ban on abortion services amid the coronavirus outbreak, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday afternoon. Abortion services in Texas have been unavailable for more than two weeks, driving some patients to seek the procedure in neighboring states or terminate their pregnancy themselves.

Per guidance from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, any abortion "not medically necessary to preserve the life or health" of the patient must be halted as part of the state's directive suspending "non-essential" medical procedures amid the coronavirus pandemic. Doctors who violate the order face "penalties of up to $1,000 or 180 days of jail time."
...
"The bottom line is this: when faced with a society-threatening epidemic, a state may implement emergency measures that curtail constitutional rights so long as the measures have at least some "real or substantial relation" to the p…

The Hill:
President Trump said Tuesday that he would consider placing a hold on funding for the World Health Organization (WHO), expressing grievances with its handling of the novel coronavirus.

“They missed the call. They could have called it months earlier. They would have known, and they should have known, and they probably did know,” Trump told reporters at a White House press briefing, suggesting the WHO failed to sufficiently warn the global community about the virus.

“We’re going to be looking into that very carefully, and we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO,” Trump continued. “We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see. It’s a great thing if it works, but when they call every shot wrong, that’s not good.”

Pressed later by a reporter on whether it was a good idea to put a hold on funding during a global pandemic, the president clarified that he was considering suspending funding to the WHO.

“I’m not going to say I’m going to do it,” Tr…

Jeff Dunetz:
Reporter Who Tap-Danced Around Trump’s Question If She’s Working For Communist China: SHE DOES!

Phoenix TV Controlled By Communist China

...
The President turned the tables and tried to smoke her out. Who are you working for, China?” Trump responded. “Who are you with?”Jeremy Art ✔@cspanJeremy President Trump: "Who are you working for China? Do you work for China? Or are you with a newspaper?" 381 5:37 PM - Apr 6, 2020

Fox News:
U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, fired back at Hillary Clinton on Tuesday, accusing the former U.S. secretary of state of once again using the coronavirus outbreak to score political points against President Trump.

On Monday, Clinton retweeted a Washington Post story that was critical of Trump and said the U.S. was “beset by denial and dysfunction as the coronavirus raged.”

Clinton’s Twitter message quoted from the Post article: “It took 70 days for Trump to treat the coronavirus not as a distant threat or harmless flu strain well under control, but as a lethal force poised to kill tens of thousands of citizens.”

HILLARY CLINTON UNDER FIRE FOR JOKE ABOUT US LEADING IN VIRUS CASES: TRUMP 'DID PROMISE AMERICA FIRST'

Then Clinton added a message for her followers.

“Replace this man in November,” she wrote, referring to the president.



Hillary Clinton
✔@HillaryClinton
“It took 70 days for Trump to treat the coronavirus not as a distant threat or harmless flu strain well unde…

David Ignatius:
Trump’s dismissal of competent officials is an attack on accountability Ignatius was one of the reporters who was used by unethical officials to push the Russian collusion hoax.  He apparently is on the speed dial for many with an agenda against the President.

The intel IG also facilitated and participated in the Ukraine coup attempt impeachment and he richly deserved to be fired.  His conduct and that of others who acted as sources for Ignatius on other coup attempts have tainted the reputation of the bureaucracy and lost the trust of the President.  That is their fault, not Trump's.

The Washington Post has become a conduit for these coup attempts so it is not surprising that it would defend the indefensible conduct of those participating in them.

Washington Post:
An Illinois mayor ordered police to enforce the stay-at-home order. They did — and busted his wife at a bar. That should make for a difficult conversation when she gets home.

NY Times:
Cruise Lines Were Shut Out of the Stimulus. Here’s Why.The hard-hit sector of the travel industry was left out of the $2 trillion stimulus package.
Century-old tax provisions help explain what happened. The Cruise line business model is one that avoids US taxes by registering the ship in tax-friendly countries and those countries don't really have the capacity to bailout them out when hard times hit the business.  They may need to change their business model to survive.

NY Times:
Black Americans Face Alarming Rates of Coronavirus Infection in Some StatesData on race and the coronavirus is too limited to draw sweeping conclusions, experts say, but disparate rates of sickness — and death — have emerged in some places. I think there are underlying health problems that make blacks vulnerable to the virus as well as their living in high-density urban areas and using public transportation.  For example, in New Orleans, there is a high incidence of obesity which leads to diabetes and hypertension or high blood pressure.  Both conditions can be deadly for anyone who gets the virus regardless of race.

If they live in urban areas with public transportation they are also likely to come in contact with people who have the virus and have not exhibited the symptoms.  It is nearly impossible to ride New York subways and keep social distancing and even if you can the virus has a long life on the metal and plastic on the trains.  New Orleans also hosted a large gather…

AP/Fuel Fix:
Iran demanded on Wednesday that U.S. oil production levels must be known before an upcoming OPEC meeting with Russia and others seeking to boost global energy prices.

The meeting of the so-called OPEC+ is scheduled to be held Thursday after officials delayed it following Saudi Arabia criticizing Russia over its comments about the price collapse.

A meeting in March saw OPEC and other nations led by Russia fail to agree to a production cut as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has drastically cut demand for oil. In the time since, prices have collapsed. International benchmark Brent crude traded Wednesday over $34 a barrel as U.S. benchmark West Texas crude traded under $25.

Iranian state television quoted Oil Minister Bijan Zabganeh as saying he discussed the “method of decision-making” for the meeting Thursday with OPEC's president, as well as his Kuwaiti and Russian counterparts.

“Other producers, including the U.S. and Canada, should participate in this topic and ther…