memeorandum: Wartime Production Law Has Been Used Routinely, but Not With Coronavirus (New York Times)

7:40 PM ET, March 31, 2020

Top Items:

Trump's mixed messages confuse coronavirus response — President Trump praised the “pretty good job we've done” when he predicted in late February that the number of Americans infected by the coronavirus would dwindle to “close to zero” in a couple of days.

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story, Vanity Fair, Slate, New York Times and CNN

Calvin Woodward / Associated Press:

Viral virus briefing: Where science meets all things Trump — WASHINGTON (AP) — For a few moments in the Rose Garden, the coronavirus pandemic is a bucking bronco with President Donald Trump on its back. His arm swings an invisible rope. He seems to be hanging on for dear life.

Discussion: The Hill, Breitbart, IJR and One America News Network

Quint Forgey / Politico:

Fauci: Mask-wearing recommendation under ‘very serious consideration’ — Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, revealed on Tuesday that the White House coronavirus task force is seriously considering guidance that Americans wear masks to help thwart the rapid spread of COVID-19.

Discussion: Associated Press, The Hill, The White House, NPR, Breitbart, Vox and IJR

Washington Examiner:
Trump should cut the drama and pettiness out of his coronavirus response

Discussion: Washington Post and Mediaite

Andrew O'Reilly / Fox News:
White House projects 100K to 240K coronavirus deaths as Trump tells US to prepare for ‘very painful two weeks’

Discussion: The Hill, Political Wire and israpundit.org

Stephen Collinson / CNN:
Trump insists on congratulations while America braces for the worst

Discussion: YouGov

San Francisco Chronicle:

Exclusive: Captain of aircraft carrier with growing coronavirus outbreak pleads for help from Navy — The captain of a nuclear aircraft carrier with more than 100 sailors infected with the coronavirus pleaded Monday with U.S. Navy officials for resources to allow isolation of his entire crew …

Discussion: New York Times, Defense One, Politico, The National Interest, HuffPost, Wall Street Journal, Mother Jones, NPR, Sputnik News, CNN, Raw Story, Daily Kos, Task & Purpose, The Drive, New York Post and Fox News

Washington Post:

From 'It's going to disappear' to ‘WE WILL WIN THIS WAR’ … The Washington Post is providing this story for free so that all readers have access to this important information about the coronavirus. For more free stories, sign up for our daily Coronavirus Updates newsletter.

Discussion: The Philadelphia Inquirer, Florida Politics and Gothamist

David Leonhardt / New York Times:

Not Winning This Fight — This chart shows why. — China and South Korea have flattened their curves. Italy, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands have begun to flatten their curves. — The United States still has not. — More than half of all confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States …

Discussion: The National Interest

Washington Post:
Live updates: More people have died in the U.S. from the coronavirus than in the 9/11 attacks

Discussion: Big League Politics, Balloon Juice, Sputnik News, Deseret News, Scroll.in, Daily Kos, Mother Jones and Outside the Beltway

The Boston Globe:
A president unfit for a pandemic

Discussion: HuffPost and Raw Story

Brian Stelter / CNN:

CNN anchor Chris Cuomo diagnosed with coronavirus; he will continue working from home — New York (CNN Business)CNN anchor Chris Cuomo has been diagnosed with Covid-19, the network said in a memo to employees on Tuesday. — He is feeling well, and will continue to anchor his 9 p.m. program “Cuomo Prime Time” from his home.

Ryan Cooper / The Week:
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is what real coronavirus leadership looks like

Discussion: Townhall, The Nation and New York Times

CNBC:
Cuomo says coronavirus is ‘more dangerous’ than expected as New York cases jump 14% overnight to 75,795

Discussion: The Drive

New York Times:

Wartime Production Law Has Been Used Routinely, but Not With Coronavirus — The Defense Production Act has been invoked hundreds of thousands of times in the Trump years. But with the pandemic, the president sees it as a “break the glass” last resort. — WASHINGTON — Chemicals used to construct military missiles.

Discussion: Raw Story and The Week

Bethany Biron / Business Insider:

Hobby Lobby quietly reopened stores in at least 2 states, defying coronavirus-related shutdowns and prompting police intervention — Hobby Lobby is defying state-mandated lockdowns by quietly reopening stores, including nearly all of its stores in Wisconsin and Ohio.

Discussion: Denver Post

Bloomberg:

Hospitals Tell Doctors They'll Be Fired If They Speak Out About Lack of Gear — ‘It is outrageous,’ Washington nurses organization says — Media guidelines are meant to protect patients' privacy — Hospitals are threatening to fire health-care workers who publicize …

Discussion: Econlib, Raw Story and New York Post

Jim Tankersley / New York Times:

White House Economists Warned in 2019 a Pandemic Could Devastate America — A study published last fall went unheeded. Its lead author now says economic shutdowns to fight the coronavirus could last up to eight months. — WASHINGTON — White House economists published a study last September …

Susannah Luthi / Politico:

Trump rejects Obamacare special enrollment period amid pandemic — The Trump administration has decided against reopening Obamacare enrollment to uninsured Americans during the coronavirus pandemic, defying calls from health insurers and Democrats to create a special sign-up window amid the health crisis.

Discussion: Raw Story

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

McConnell: Impeachment distracted government from coronavirus threat — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday blamed the Democrats' push to impeach President Trump in January for distracting the Trump administration from the threat posed by the coronavirus.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Associated Press, WayneDupree.com, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Steve Gruber, The Root and Los Angeles Times

Burgess Everett / Politico:
McConnell and Pelosi draw coronavirus battle lines

Discussion: Raw Story

Tom Nichols / USA Today:

Why I watch Trump's daily coronavirus briefings (and no, it's not because I'm a masochist) — When the coronavirus crisis is over, many people will claim they didn't know what Trump was saying or doing. I will remember, and I will speak up. — “How can you stand it?”

Discussion: Althouse

Ishaan Tharoor / Washington Post:

Coronavirus kills its first democracy — Sign up for the Today's WorldView newsletter. — You could say that Hungary was already “immunocompromised.” A decade under the nation's illiberal nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orban, has corroded the state's checks and balances …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, New Statesman, Foreign Policy, Financial Times, spiked and Mother Jones, more at Mediagazer »

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

The benefit of the Democrats denouncing Sanders's selfishness — If you are in the search for silver linings, one benefit of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) pointlessly continuing his losing campaign is the freedom for Democrats to denounce him and his anti-party escapades.

Discussion: The Hill

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Kellyanne Conway's ugly deceptions preview the Big Lie to come — The Big Lie that President Trump's campaign will employ to rescue his reelection chances amid his catastrophic mishandling of the biggest U.S. public health emergency in modern times is edging into view.

Discussion: New York Times, Raw Story and POLITICUSUSA

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

Problems in F.B.I. Wiretap Applications Go Beyond Trump Aide Surveillance, Review Finds — The bureau has routinely botched surveillance applications in its national-security investigations, an inspector general said. — WASHINGTON — An inspector general uncovered pervasive problems …

Discussion: Power Line

Washington Post: Problems with FBI surveillance extended far beyond probe of Trump campaign, Justice Dept. inspector general says

Associated Press:

US alcohol consumption surges; companies revamp operations — The outbreak of the coronavirus has dealt a shock to the global economy with unprecedented speed. Following are developments on Tuesday related to the global economy, the work place and the spread of the virus.

Discussion: New York Post and The Daily Caller

Marisa Fernandez / Axios:

FDA authorizes two-minute antibody testing kit to detect coronavirus — The Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency approval Tuesday for a serological testing kit produced by Bodysphere Inc. that can detect a positive or negative result for COVID-19 in two minutes.

Discussion: National Review and Townhall

Sam Whitehead / NPR:

CDC Director On Models For The Months To Come: ‘This Virus Is Going To Be With Us’ — Toggle more options — When infectious pathogens have threatened the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been front and center. During the H1N1 flu of 2009 …

Discussion: KTLA, The Hill, CNN and NBC News

Rong-Gong Lin II / Los Angeles Times:

Social distancing may have helped California slow the virus and avoid New York's fate — For California and Washington, the coronavirus triggers came early. They pushed the two Western states to social distancing measures earlier than the rest of the country.

Discussion: Mother Jones, WSVN-TV and KRON4

CNN:

Pentagon says it still hasn't sent ventilators because HHS hasn't told them where they'd go — Washington (CNN)Despite having committed to transferring 2,000 ventilators in military stocks to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services to fight …

Adrian Vermeule / The Atlantic:

Beyond Originalism — In recent years, allegiance to the constitutional theory known as originalism has become all but mandatory for American legal conservatives. Every justice and almost every judge nominated by recent Republican administrations has pledged adherence to the faith.

Discussion: New York Post and alicublog

Ellen Barry / New York Times:

Days After a Funeral in a Georgia Town, Coronavirus ‘Hit Like a Bomb’ — A mourner came to Albany, Ga., to attend the funeral of a retired janitor. After a pause while the infections incubated, the virus swept through the community. — It was an old-fashioned Southern funeral.

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications

Andy Shain / Post and Courier:

McMaster orders closing of nonessential SC businesses to curb coronavirus outbreak — COVID-19: What you need to know now — COLUMBIA — In his latest move to lower the number of coronavirus cases in South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster announced Tuesday the closing of nonessential businesses.

Lauren Hirsch / CNBC:

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross works from home in Palm Beach as administration battles coronavirus — Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross is at his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, where he is teleworking. — A key figure in President Trump's economic team, Ross has been conspicuously absent …

Anna M. Phillips / Los Angeles Times:

Trump weakens fuel economy standards, rolling back key U.S. effort against climate change — The Trump administration on Tuesday weakened one of the nation's most aggressive efforts to combat climate change, releasing new fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks that handed a victory to the oil and gas industry.

Discussion: Redstate, Vanity Fair, Steve Gruber, PJ Media Home, CNN, NPR, The Guardian, Townhall, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, The Rush Limbaugh Show, The Federalist, The Hill, The Gateway Pundit, Bloomberg, Twitchy, HuffPost and POLITICUSUSA

Paul John Scott / grandforksherald.com:

Rural county on Minnesota's southern border a coronavirus ‘hot spot’ — “If I knew why, believe me, I would be beating the drum a lot louder,” says Martin County sheriff — FAIRMONT, Minn. — Martin County on the state's southern border has more than its share of coronavirus cases.

Discussion: Minnesota Reformer and WCCO | CBS Minnesota

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Republicans Say Impeachment Distracted Trump From Preparing for Coronavirus — President Trump has deflected the blame for his inept response to the coronavirus onto an astonishing number of people and entities: China, the Obama administration, governors, General Motors, hospital thieves, among others.

Discussion: The Mahablog, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story and The Floridian

Matthew Haag / New York Times:

40% of N.Y. Tenants May Not Pay Rent This Month. What Happens Then? — Many unemployed tenants won't be able to pay April rent. There will be a domino effect on landlords, real estate industry officials said. — The true economic toll of all but shutting down New York City to stem …

Discussion: Curbed NY, Gothamist and American Prospect

Aaron Holmes / Business Insider:

‘Alcohol is soooo good’: Trolls are breaking into AA meetings being held on Zoom video calls and harassing recovering alcoholics — Trolls broke into multiple Alcoholics Anonymous meetings being held via Zoom video conference and harassed participants with slurs and mentions of alcohol.

Discussion: WAVY-TV