TheFrontPageCover
~ Featuring ~
Debating a COVID-19 Aid Package
Thomas Gallatin
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U.S. Auto Industry Shuts Down
Amid Coronavirus Struggle
by sundance
{ theconservativetreehouse.com } ~ This is a big sector hit to the U.S. economy. All of the major U.S. auto manufacturers have agreed to shut down all production facilities, through March 30th... in the latest thunder-shock to the economy. Ford Motor Co., General Motors and Fiat-Chrysler will close their plants due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Ford said in a statement Wednesday that its U.S., Canadian and Mexican manufacturing facilities will be halted after Thursday evening’s shifts through March 30 to “thoroughly clean and sanitize the company’s plants.” “UAW and Ford leaders will work together in the coming weeks on plant restart plans as well as exploring additional protocols and procedures for helping prevent the spread of the virus,” reads the statement from Ford. General Motors also released a statement explaining the shutdown will be until at least March 30. “GM and the UAW have always put the health and safety of the people entering GM plants first, and we have agreed to a systematic, orderly suspension of production to aid in fighting COVID-19/coronavirus,” said GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra... https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/03/18/u-s-auto-industry-shuts-down-amid-coronavirus-struggle/ .
The Media Disconnect – White House Press
Pool Focused on Political Correctness While
Million of Americans Suffer Economic Impacts
by sundance
{ theconservativetreehouse.com } ~ The entire nation is being impacted by a multitude of consequences from coronavirus; millions of Americans concerned about lost work, lost wages and possibly lost jobs... the largest economy in the world at a near standstill; trillions of wealth lost and rippling economic consequences yet to be properly quantified;…. and yet the White House press pool is worried about calling COVID-19 the “Chinese coronavirus”? Amid all of the seemingly unending and insufferable nonsense from American journalists, this is, yet again, reaching an all time high of stupidity. https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/03/18/the-media-disconnect-white-house-press-pool-focused-on-political-correctness-while-million-of-americans-suffer-economic-impacts/.
Netanyahu rival Gantz chosen
to form new Israeli government
By JOSEF FEDERMAN
{ apnews.com } ~ Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz will be given the first opportunity to form a new government after an inconclusive national election this month, the country’s president said Sunday... raising questions about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political future. The decision by President Reuven Rivlin was announced by his office after he consulted with leaders of all of the parties elected to parliament. He will formally designate Gantz with the task on Monday and give him a month to cobble together a governing coalition. The political wrangling comes at a sensitive time. Netanyahu has been leading the country as it confronts a growing coronavirus threat, with over 200 cases diagnosed and the number quickly rising. Netanyahu also faces serious legal troubles as he prepares to go on trial to face corruption charges. Netanyahu’s Likud emerged as the largest party in the March 2 election, Israel’s third in under a year. But with his smaller religious and nationalist allies, he received the support of only 58 lawmakers during Sunday’s consultations, leaving his right-wing bloc three seats short of the required majority in parliament. Gantz’s Blue and White received the support of parties representing 61 seats, a slim majority. However, those parties are also divided, and it is not clear whether Gantz will succeed in putting together a coalition. One lawmaker refused to endorse either side. Given the likelihood of continued deadlock, Rivlin late Sunday summoned both Netanyahu and Gantz to an emergency meeting, where the men pledged to explore a unity government.In a joint statement, both parties thanked Rivlin and said their leaders “agreed for the respective negotiation teams to meet soon.” Rivlin had earlier called for a power-sharing unity government to lead the country through its many crises. Israel has gone through three inconclusive elections in the past year, leaving it with a caretaker government as it confronts a host of challenges, including the coronavirus battle. If the two rivals cannot reach a unity deal, the country could find itself in a fourth consecutive election campaign. “Anyone who has watched the news in recent days understands that this is a time of trial, and that these are not regular consultations,” Rivlin said earlier Sunday. “We must now deal with forming a government as soon as possible ... at this complex time... https://apnews.com/63f367ec108720d910b436d2ff1e45c7 .
Trump announces he is invoking Defense
Production Act to fight coronavirus
By Adam Shaw
{ foxnews.com } ~ President Trump on Wednesday announced that he is invoking the Defense Production Act as part of the administration’s efforts to tackle the coronavirus pandemic... "It can do a lot of good things if we need it," he said at a White House press conference. "We'll have it all completed, signing it in just a little while." The act ensures the private sector can ramp-up manufacturing and distribution of emergency medical supplies and equipment. The move gives the White House the authority to increase production of masks, ventilators and respirators, as well as expand hospital capacity to combat the coronavirus. He made the announcement at a press conference along members of the coronavirus pandemic task force. The U.S. has largely shuttered many aspects of daily life in order to stem the rapid onset of the virus, echoing efforts across the globe. As of Wednesday morning, there were 6,519 cases and 114 deaths in the United States. On Wednesday, Trump also announced that the Housing Department is suspending all foreclosures and evictions until the end of April. Earlier in the day he had announced that the U.S. and Canada had agreed to temporarily close their shared border to non-essential traffic. Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading the taskforce, announced that Health and Human Services are suspending a regulation that prevents medical professionals from practicing medicine across state lines. He also called on the nation to postpone all elective medical procedures. Asking if he saw the nation on a wartime footing he said he did and described himself as "essentally a wartime president."... https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-announces-he-is-invoking-defense-production-act-to-fight-coronavirus .
Trump announces US, Canada closing border to
'non-essential traffic' amid coronavirus fears
By Adam Shaw
{ foxnews.com } ~ President Trump on Wednesday announced that the U.S. and Canada are temporarily closing their shared border to non-essential traffic as part of the effort to tackle the coronavirus pandemic... "We will be, by mutual consent, temporarily closing our Northern Border with Canada to non-essential traffic," Trump tweeted. "Trade will not be affected. Details to follow!" As of Wednesday morning, there were 6,519 cases and 114 deaths in the United States. Canada, meanwhile, has recorded 598 cases of coronavirus and has so far had eight fatalities nationwide. The move comes as countries across the globe shut down their borders in order to combat the virus that has brought daily life to a standstill. Trump on Saturday added the U.K. and Ireland to a 30-day European travel ban, while Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday previously had closed Canada's borders to all foreign nationals except U.S. citizens and permanent residents. Trudeau said the exemption for Americans at the time was due to “the level of integration of our two economies." Canada relies on the U.S. for 75 percent of its exports. Much of Canada’s food supply comes from or via the U.S., and 98 percent of its oil exports go to the U.S. About 18 percent of American exports go to Canada. Trudeau is currently in self-quarantine after his wife Sophie tested positive for the virus. Future plans for the southern U.S. border remain in development. Fox News learned Tuesday that the Department of Homeland Security is considering a plan that would turn away asylum seekers and anyone who has crossed the southern border illegally. The idea is currently being developed by DHS staff, but there is still more work to do before it's presented to Trump for a final decision. “President Trump is 100 percent committed to protecting the American people from coronavirus and all options are in the table," a DHS spokesperson told Fox News..
Turkish Government Responsible for Torture, Arbitrary Killings, and Disappearances
by Aykan Erdemir & Philip Kowalski
{ fdd.org } ~ In its annual human rights report, released on March 11, the State Department documents egregious violations by the Turkish government, including arbitrary killings, suspicious deaths of persons in custody, forced disappearances, and torture... Along with similar findings in last year’s report, the latest assessment shows that systematic violations of human rights continue with impunity under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Turkish Foreign Ministry dismissed the new report, which covers the 2019 calendar year, as a “politically motivated” product of “unfounded accusations based on ambiguous sources.” Ankara similarly dismissed the findings of last year’s report as “unfounded allegations, dubious information and biased interpretations.” The abuses committed under Erdogan highlight the enormous gulf between Turkey’s constitutional provisions for the protection of human rights and the grim reality on the ground. Although Article 17 of the Turkish Constitution bans torture, the State Department found that in May 2019 alone, as many as 100 persons – including former members of the Turkish Foreign Ministry – were tortured or otherwise mistreated while in police custody. According to the testimonies of victims interviewed by the Ankara Bar Association, “authorities blindfolded them and made them kneel, dragged them across a room, hit them on the head and body with a baton, and threatened that unless they ‘talked,’ batons would be inserted into their rectums.” The report also shows that the backsliding in Turkey’s democracy and human rights continues to affect Kurdish citizens disproportionally. Since the abortive 2016 coup that led Erdogan to declare a state of emergency, at least 4,920 members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) have been imprisoned on baseless charges related to terrorism and political speech, including former HDP co-chair and former presidential candidate Selahattin Demirtas, seven lawmakers, and 48 mayors. Ankara lifted the state of emergency in 2018, but Ankara continues to persecute pro-Kurdish politicians. As of December 2019, the Interior Ministry has suspended 28 HDP mayors in Kurdish-majority provinces, replacing them with government-appointed “trustees.” The Turkish government’s reliance on arbitrary detention, show trials, and pretrial detention as a form of summary punishment continues to draw criticism at home and abroad. Since 2016, the Turkish government has detained 540,000 persons suspected of involvement in the coup, with 30,000 convicted and 70,000 currently awaiting trial. These politicized detentions and prosecutions constitute a de facto purge of Erdogan’s political opponents, both real and imagined. In response to growing criticism of this breakdown in the rule of law and due process, the Turkish government introduced a Judicial Reform Strategy last May and passed judicial reform legislation in October. The International Commission of Jurists declared the measures to be insufficient, warning that “any judicial reform will be meaningless if implemented in the context of a judiciary which has been taken control of by the executive,” alluding to Erdogan’s iron grip on Turkey’s courts. During remarks previewing the State Department’s new report, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo named China, Cuba, Iran, and Venezuela as among the worst violators but chose not to highlight Turkey’s abuses. This represents a missed opportunity to raise awareness about how a NATO member state’s persistent abuses are undermining the shared values on which the alliance rests. Washington should condemn Ankara for its egregious human rights violations and start issuing Global Magnitsky sanctions against the architects and perpetrators of arbitrary killings, forced disappearances, or systematic torture in Turkey..
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Debating a COVID-19 Aid Package
Thomas Gallatin As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread, it has become evident that the virus holds the most danger for the elderly and those with underlying health conditions. In light of this, President Donald Trump’s COVID-19 task force yesterday called on Millennials in particular, those least likely to suffer significant negative health effects from the virus, to do their part in helping to stop its spreading. Speaking at a press conference, White House coronavirus task-force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx called Millennials the “core group that will stop the virus.” She added, “They are the group that communicates successfully independent of picking up a phone. They intuitively know how to contact each [other] without being in a large social gatherings.”
Millennials are the largest generation and the ones most likely to be out and about. Thus, Birx asserted, they are the ones most likely to spread COVID-19. Birx then admonished them: “We’re protecting the Greatest Generation right now, and the children of the Greatest Generation. And [Millennials] need to communicate with each other.”
Also on Monday, Trump released a set of new guidelines for Americans to follow titled “15 Days to Slow the Spread.” The guidelines encourage avoiding gatherings larger than 10 people, as well as staying away from “eating or drinking in restaurants, bars and food courts,” opting instead for “drive through, pickup and delivery options.” Trump noted, “If everyone makes … these critical changes and sacrifices now, we will rally together as one nation and we will defeat the virus.”
Sen. rino-Mitt Romney (R-UT) called for the government to give every American adult $1,000 in an effort to mitigate the growing financial squeeze brought about by the pandemic. He’s the first Republican to propose something akin to former Democrat presidential candidate Andrew Yang’s “Universal Basic Income.” If the goal is to ensure Americans have more money during the COVID-19 crisis, however, a better idea would be enacting what Trump has called for — a temporary payroll-tax cut. That’s not great either, but there are no good options before us.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck scumbag-Schumer on Monday proposed a $750 billion plan that “would boost hospital capacity, expand unemployment insurance, increase Medicaid funding, provide aid to small businesses, and grant immediate forbearance on federal loan payments,” as reported by National Review. “We will need big, bold, urgent federal action to deal with this crisis,” scumbag-Schumer argued. The White House, meanwhile, pitched an $850 billion “stimulus” package.
Unfortunately, it’s almost always the case that politicians use crisis to expand the government’s role in everyone’s lives. Still, Washington politicos aren’t wrong about COVID-19 exacting a serious economic toll across the country. Especially hard hit have been restaurant workers, as Americans have heeded warnings and stayed home. We won’t know for months what the real economic cost will be. ~The Patriot Post
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