“There was no introspection down in Orlando; no sense that conservatives needed to look an the mirror and ask themselves hard questions about violence, sedition, white supremacy, or cults of personality. … Less than two months after the insurrection at the Capitol, the event was scarcely mentioned. Even after the deaths of a half million Americans during the pandemic, there was no sense that the GOP needed to re-think its values. … In fact, there was remarkably little focus on policy at all — it was all culture war all the time. And, of course, Trump.”
New York Times: “Roughly one year since the first known death by the coronavirus in the United States, an unfathomable toll is nearing — the loss of half a million people. … No other country has counted so many deaths in the pandemic. More Americans have perished from Covid-19 than on the battlefields of World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War combined.”
“We can’t hold back … Trying to be per se fiscally responsible at this point in time with what we’ve got going on in this country. If we actually throw away some money right now, so what?”
— West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R), calling for a big stimulus package in a CNN interview.
“Joe Biden promised he’d bring in a competent, tested team to run the pandemic response, set ambitious vaccination targets and impose strict public health guidelines,” Politico reports. “After a week on the job, Biden’s team is still trying to locate upwards of 20 million vaccine doses that have been sent to states — a mystery that has hampered plans to speed up the national vaccination effort.”
“Particularly when you’re in the situation of almost being in a crisis with the number of cases and hospitalizations and deaths that we have — when you start talking about things that make no sense medically and no sense scientifically, that clearly is not helpful.”
— Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN that the lack of truthfulness from the Trump administration regarding the Covid-19 pandemic “very likely” cost American lives.
“So how will Donald Trump’s presidency be remembered by history? We already know the answer: He oversaw a disastrous response to a global pandemic, because of which more than 400,000 Americans died on his watch. … That’s it. That’s his legacy. And if he gets a second line in the history books it will be this: He incited an insurrection on the U.S. Capitol which led to a second impeachment. … Anyone who tells you that Trump will be remembered for the economic expansion of the first three years of his term is a fool.”
Worker filings for jobless claims jumped to nearly 1 million last week, indicating rising layoffs amid a surge in Covid-19 cases, the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The United States on Tuesday reported a record-high number of 4,327 new Covid-19 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University,” CNN reports. “The latest figures bring the nationwide death toll to 380,670.”
Wall Street Journal reports. “After the sharp contraction in March and April, the labor market quickly snapped back to life, adding a total 9.3 million jobs over the next three months. Since then, job growth has eased each month.”
After a month of quiet, Trump was back,
And the hounds of the GOP were on the attack.
No mention of insurrection
Or pandemic devastation,
Just Nazi runes and GOP cheerleading at good ol’ CPAC.
“I imagine we’ll have a conversation at some point. He can do whatever he wants. Any citizen can do whatever he wants. But I’d tell him it’s better for us that we keep these people and have a majority that can be sustained going forward.”
— ”Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN), the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said that is not helpful to the GOP’s goal of winning back a majority in the House to have former President Trump targeting incumbents in primary races, The Hill reports.
“I don’t think anybody does a better job than mothers in the home, and any bill that makes it easier or more convenient for mothers to come out of the home and let others raise their child, I don’t think that’s a good direction for us to be going.”
— Idaho state Rep. Charlie Shepherd (R) argued against a bill which would use $6 million in federal grants to increase early childhood education, KTVB reports.
“Voters may like a president’s policies in the abstract but still think he isn’t doing a good job or that his policies aren’t that effective if those policies aren’t bipartisan. Think of this as the Mitch McConnell theory. … Put another way: The opposition party can guarantee a lack of bipartisan support — and then criticize the president for lacking bipartisan support.”
“I take them one at a time, if there is someone I think will be good to Missouri, that I can defend to my voters, somebody who I think is going to be good for the job, I’ll vote for them.”
— Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) defended his role as the only US senator to oppose every one of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet nominees, insisting that he evaluates each pick individually, CNN reports.
William Walker, commanding general of the D.C. National Guard, will testify that it took three hours and 19 minutes for the Pentagon to approve a request for National Guard assistance during the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The Trump Hotel in Washington, D.C. has tripled its room rates for tonight — in line with the latest QAnon conspiracy theory that March 4 will mark the second inauguration of Donald Trump, the Washingtonian reports.
“Consumers in the world’s largest economies amassed $2.9 trillion in extra savings during Covid-related lockdowns, a vast cash hoard that creates the potential for a powerful recovery from the pandemic recession,” Bloomberg reports. “Half that total — $1.5 trillion and growing — is in the U.S. alone.”
Although Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) says he doesn’t support a federal minimum wage hike to $15 an hour, a new poll suggests that 63% of West Virginians support raising the minimum wage to that level by 2025.
Vice President Kamala Harris is favorite to win the next presidential election with 22% implied probability, ahead of Joe Biden at 20% and Donald Trump at 14%, according to betting odds from British bookmaker Ladbrokes, Reuters reports.