memeorandum: In Coronavirus Testing Ramp-Up, U.S. Called Private Sector in Late (Emma Court/Bloomberg)

1:25 PM ET, March 18, 2020

Top Items:

White House coronavirus plan aims to send $2,000 to many Americans, includes $300 billion for small businesses — Talks remain fluid, but discussions with Congress are intensifying as virus fallout worsens — White House officials are working with congressional Republicans …

Discussion: National Review, The Editorial Board and Raw Story

Politico:

Senate to pass coronavirus package as Treasury proposes emergency checks starting April 6 — The Senate is expected to pass a multi-billion dollar emergency aid package on Wednesday to confront the economic impacts of the coronavirus, as the Treasury Department calls for $250 billion in direct payments to Americans starting April 6.

Discussion: NBC News

NBC News:

Senate coronavirus vote delayed after Rand Paul pushes doomed amendment — Mitch McConnell had said he wanted to pass the bill at “warp speed.” — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate would move at “warp speed” to pass coronavirus legislation on Tuesday, but Sen. Rand Paul …

Discussion: The Hill, The Independent and Washington Post

Politico:
Republicans suddenly find a bailout they can back

Discussion: Daily Kos and The Hill

CNN: GOP senators close to agreement among themselves on stimulus package — including sending checks to Americans

Alexi McCammond / Axios:

Bernie Sanders suspends his 2020 campaign Facebook ads — Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign currently has no active Facebook ads, the morning after another disappointing finish in a series of primary contests. — Why it matters: A pause in digital advertising spend on Facebook …

Discussion: IJR, Deadline, New York Post and Twitchy

Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:

The Sanders Campaign Is a Menace to Public Health — Bernie Sanders can't beat Joe Biden. But he can force millions of people to risk being exposed to the coronavirus. — On Tuesday night Bernie Sanders lost three more states, all of them large. In Arizona he was on track to lose by double-digits.

Discussion: Althouse, The Bulwark Podcast, ABC News, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and LGBTQ Nation

New York Times:
Biden Sweeps Three States and Takes Commanding Lead, as Virus Reshapes American Politics

Discussion: New Republic, Outside the Beltway, The Week and Daily Kos

Josh Rogin / Washington Post:

China's coronavirus propaganda campaign is putting lives at risk — The Chinese authorities are engaged in a full-scale effort to rewrite the history of the coronavirus epidemic. Some in the West might be tempted to dismiss the significance of Beijing's propaganda efforts. But they shouldn't.

Discussion: Townhall, Fox News, The Daily Caller, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Politico

Michael Auslin / Real Clear Politics:

Beijing Fears COVID-19 Is Turning Point for China, Globalization — While the world fights the coronavirus pandemic, China is fighting a propaganda war. Beijing's war aim is simple: shift away from China all blame for the outbreak, the botched initial response, and its early spread into the broader world.

Discussion: American Thinker and The American Independent

Quint Forgey / Politico:

Trump's new pandemic drumbeat: ‘Chinese virus’ — President Donald Trump on Wednesday ramped up his reference to “Chinese Virus” to characterize the coronavirus pandemic, disregarding criticism that the refrain is racially loaded and inaccurately depicts the global nature of the disease's threat.

Discussion: Associated Press, The American Independent, Talking Points Memo and The Guardian

New York Times:

Trump Finally Enlists Much of Government in Coronavirus Attack — Hospital ships stayed in port, veterans hospitals awaited orders and requests for help went unanswered, as much of the government remained on the sidelines. — WASHINGTON — The mayor of Seattle wanted “mass tents” …

Discussion: Washington Post, Defense One, Politico, The Week and USNI News

Nihar Kabinittal / ABC News:
Government response updates: Trump promises ‘total victory’ as he invokes measure allowing Pentagon to increase role

Discussion: Politico

Alex Ward / Vox:
Exclusive: Sen. Warren to ask Trump to deploy Army Corps of Engineers for coronavirus help

Discussion: Daily Kos and New York Post

New York Times:

These Places Could Run Out of Hospital Beds as Coronavirus Spreads — Percentage of occupied hospital beds that would need to be emptied or added — A new Harvard analysis shows that many parts of the United States will have far too few hospital beds if the new coronavirus continues …

Discussion: Washington Post, ProPublica, Minnesota Reformer, Mother Jones and globalepidemics.org

Tim Herrera / New York Times:

My Coronavirus Test: 5 Days, a Dozen Calls, Hours of Confusion — The symptoms have been easy to deal with. The health care system has not. — Almost a dozen calls with five health care providers over five hours. Two hours of hold music. Two hours in a hospital.

Discussion: VICE and Gizmodo

New York Times:
Trump Now Claims He Always Knew the Coronavirus Would Be a Pandemic

Discussion: Daily Kos

New York Times: Once Political B-Listers, Governors Lead Nation's Coronavirus Response

CNBC:

Dow plunges 1,000 points as stretch of unprecedented volatility continues because of coronavirus — Stocks set to fall sharply at open following Tuesday's bounce — Stocks tumbled on Wednesday as the markets remained highly volatile with the government response to the coronavirus fallout still unfolding.

Discussion: The Week

Holman W. Jenkins, Jr / Wall Street Journal:

Questioning the Clampdown — Will people lose faith when they find out they are expected to get the virus anyway? — Experts now agree the virus's spread can be slowed but not contained. It will take its place among mostly seasonal respiratory infections.

Discussion: CBS Boston

James Arkin / Politico:

Alabama Senate runoff postponed until July — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced Wednesday the state is postponing primary runoff elections that were scheduled for later this month until July 14 because of concerns about coronavirus, delaying the GOP Senate runoff between former U.S. Attorney …

Discussion: Associated Press and The Hill

Lori Jhons / Office of the Governor of Alabama:
Governor Ivey Announces New Primary Runoff Election Date

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Antonia Farzan / Washington Post:

‘NOT TRUE’: Oprah Winfrey debunks bizarre QAnon conspiracy theory spreading across the Internet — Late Tuesday night, as results trickled in from Democratic primary elections and the number of people infected by the novel coronavirus continued to climb, Oprah Winfrey's name began trending on Twitter.

Discussion: The Sun, Rolling Stone, The Daily Caller, The Daily Beast and The Independent

Nancy LeTourneau / Washington Monthly:
The Coronavirus Is Conspiracy Theory Gold For QAnon

Discussion: Raw Story

Stuart Rothenberg / Roll Call:

Presidential race now leans toward the Democrats — ANALYSIS — More than 14 months ago, I wrote a column in this space suggesting that the 2020 presidential contest was a toss-up, but one that tilted toward the Democrats. I offered caveats about the economy and the Democratic nomination …

Molly Jong-Fast / The Daily Beast:

The Pandemic Is Too Big for Trumpworld to Spin — Last Friday, we got a sign that Fox News changed the party line on the coronavirus. Then suddenly, Trump changed his tune, too. Hmmm... BEAST INSIDE — The Trumpy media from top to bottom is having a rough time of it these days.

Nihar Kabinittal / ABC News:

5.7-magnitude earthquake strikes near Salt Lake City knocking out Utah's coronavirus hotline — The quake was reported shortly after 7 a.m. local time. — A 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck just outside Salt Lake City, Utah, early Wednesday, knocking out the state's coronavirus hotline, according to the governor.

Discussion: Salt Lake Tribune and The Daily Caller

Kurt Bardella / NBC News:

Trump's ‘Chinese Virus’ coronavirus tweets echo his Mexico insults — with similar results — Just as we saw following Trump's rhetoric against Latinos, the violent trickle-down effect is clear. — CBS White House correspondent Weijia Jiang tweeted Tuesday that “this morning …

Discussion: Kaiser Health News, The Week, The American Independent, NB Blog, The Intercept and Redstate

Thomas M. Burton / Wall Street Journal:

Trump Sought to Expand Virus Drug Tests Over FDA Objections — Plan would have expanded use of investigational drugs for coronavirus; FDA officials said plan would pose risks to patients — WASHINGTON—The White House considered issuing an executive order greatly expanding the use …

Discussion: New York Post

Bloomberg:

Hospital Workers Make Masks From Office Supplies Amid U.S. Shortage — 'We're not getting new supplies and our stores are almost depleted.' — Hospital workers in Washington state have been making protective medical gear out of office supplies and other run-of-the-mill materials as they deal …

Discussion: TheBlaze

Jeremy Diamond / CNN:

US and Canada preparing to suspend non-essential travel between the two countries — (CNN)The United States and Canada are preparing to issue a joint statement in the next 24-48 hours to suspend non-essential travel between the two countries, a Trump administration official tells CNN.

Discussion: Associated Press, National Review, CBC News, Bloomberg, The Hill, HuffPost, Politico, VICE, Big League Politics, Kaiser Health News, VTDigger and WBRZ

Stuart Stevens / Washington Post:

Republicans like me built this moment. Then we looked the other way. — Stuart Stevens is a writer and Republican political consultant who has advised a pro-Bill Weld super PAC in the 2020 election. His book about the Republican Party, “It Was All A Lie,” will be published next month.

Sam Brodey / The Daily Beast:

Rand Paul Calls Undocumented Immigrants ‘Non-People’ — NONE FOR YOU — In a Senate floor speech Wednesday, Sen. Rand Paul described undocumented immigrants as not “legitimate” people and “non-people” while making the case that they should not be given access to federal child tax credits.

Robert Brand / Bloomberg:

U.S. Stocks Plunge; Global Debt and Oil Tumble: Markets Wrap — Europe bonds sell off on fiscal risks; Treasuries stabilize — Dollar gains for seventh day; industrial metals, gold decline — Financial markets continued to spasm Wednesday, with U.S. stocks plunging toward levels …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

Emma Goldberg / New York Times:

The Bernie Sanders Revolution Has Moved to Mom's Couch — For some college students who support Mr. Sanders, leaving campus means more time to phone bank, and a captive, if skeptical, audience at home. — With the country in crisis mode, Melat Eskender, 19, has assumed battle position …

Mike Pence / USA Today:

We need the American people's help to fight coronavirus now — The American people have already pulled together in so many ways in response to this virus, just as we've always done during other challenging times. — In the fight against the coronavirus, the Trump administration …

Discussion: NPR and TechCrunch

Ted Anthony / Associated Press:

Analysis: American attitudes make virus response a hard sell — When Americans are summoned to deal with an attack or defy overwhelming odds, the response typically goes something like this: Fight. Hold the line. Stand together. This won't stop us. Keep on living your life. We will prevail.

Greg B. Smith / The City:

FIRST HOMELESS SHELTER RESIDENT TESTS POSITIVE FOR CORONAVIRUS — A resident of a city homeless shelter tested positive for coronavirus — a first-of-its-kind case that sent the woman's dorm roommates into quarantine, officials said Tuesday. — Department of Homeless Services (DHS) …

Discussion: CANNONFIRE

Brent Scher / Washington Free Beacon:

Ilhan Omar Is Her New Husband's Biggest Client, Public Records Show — Firm spokesman says ‘on any given day, eight or more people could be touching her account’ — Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) and new husband Tim Mynett—who is also her campaign consultant—are downplaying the campaign cash …

William Booth / Washington Post:

A chilling scientific paper helped upend U.S. and U.K. coronavirus strategies — LONDON — Immediately after Boris Johnson completed his Monday evening news conference, which saw a somber prime minister encourage his fellow citizens to avoid “all nonessential contact with others,” …

Discussion: The Daily Beast and Raw Story

Daniel Lippman / Politico:

OPM chief Dale Cabaniss abruptly resigns — Dale Cabaniss, the director of the government's Office of Personnel Management, resigned abruptly on Tuesday, effective immediately. — Cabaniss stepped down because of what two people familiar with the matter said was poor treatment …

Discussion: Washington Post and Raw Story