Amid coronavirus stimulus push, Kentucky Republican manages to anger everyone from Donald Trump to John Kerry — here’s how

Published: March 27, 2020 at 5:09 p.m. ET
By Victor Reklaitis
Rep. Thomas Massie accused of endangering fellow lawmakers

John Kerry, the former secretary of state and longtime Senate Democrat, quipped Friday that he “finally” agreed on something with President Donald Trump — that Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky was way out of line.

“Congressman Massie has tested positive for being an asshole,” tweeted Kerry, his party’s presidential nominee in 2004 and the owner of numerous Vietnam combat medals. “He’s given new meaning to the term #Masshole. (Finally, something the president and I can agree on!)”

Massie, who, in addition to his surname’s overlap, might qualify for that unflattering nickname for people from Massachusetts by virtue of having attended MIT, drew flak from across the political spectrum after saying he would call for a roll-call vote in the House for a $2 trillion stimulus package, potentially delaying passage of the measure.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had been counting on a relatively quick voice vote with “strong bipartisan” support, but Massie tweeted Friday that he planned to force House members to “vote on it by pushing ‘yes’ or ‘no’ or ‘present,’” as opposed to a voice vote or the unanimous consent that Pelosi aimed for earlier this week.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/amid-coronavirus-stimulus-push-kentucky-republican-manages-to-anger-everyone-from-donald-trump-to-john-kerry-heres-how-2020-03-27?mod=home-page

Diana Stancy Correll


Medal of Honor recipient Bennie Adkins has been hospitalized due to COVID-19, the Bennie Adkins Foundation announced Thursday evening.

Adkins, 86, is critically ill, the foundation reports.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has hit home,” the Foundation said in a Facebook post. “Bennie has been hospitalized and is critically ill with COVID-19 respiratory failure. We ask for your thoughts and prayers.”

Adkins, a retired command sergeant major, earned the Medal of Honor in September 2014 for his service during the Vietnam War. He was first drafted into the Army in 1956 and went on to serve with the Special Forces for 13 years and complete three tours in Vietnam.

While he was assigned to the Army’s Detachment A-102, 5th Special Forces, 1st Special Forces during his second tour in Vietnam, then-Sgt. 1st Class Adkins was involved in 38 hours of close-combat fighting near Camp "A Shau” on March 9, 1966.

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/coronavirus/2020/03/27/beloved-medal-of-honor-recipient-bennie-adkins-critically-ill-and-hospitalized-with-covid-19/

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Source: Reuters

BUSINESS NEWS MARCH 26, 2020 / 6:34 PM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO

(Reuters) - Credit ratings agency S&P on Thursday lowered Mexico’s sovereign credit rating to BBB from BBB+ due to an expected economic hit from the coronavirus pandemic and a plunge in oil prices, piling pressure on the government to lift the struggling economy.

“The pronounced COVID-19 and oil price shocks, in our view, exacerbate Mexico’s already modest growth,” S&P said in a statement.

Mexico’s economy is already in recession and the coronavirus crisis and falling crude prices have battered the outlook.

S&P said it expected Mexican gross domestic product (GDP) to decline between 2% to 2.5% in 2020 and then rebound in 2021 by a little over 2%.


Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-rating-s-p/sp-downgrades-mexico-sovereign-rating-on-coronavirus-fears-idUSKBN21D3R8?il=0

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hold on.............................

The longest-serving legislator in the United States is finally going to call it quits.
By Associated Press, Wire Service Content March 26, 2020, at 6:29 p.m.

BY TODD RICHMOND, Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin state Sen. Fred Risser, the longest-serving legislator in the nation's history, said Thursday that he plans to retire.

Risser, 92, announced that he won't seek re-election this fall. The Democrat has represented Madison in the Wisconsin Legislature for 64 years. He's the last World War II veteran remaining in any of the state legislatures and Congress, according to his office.

Born in 1927, Risser was first elected to the Wisconsin Assembly in 1956 and moved to the Senate in 1962. He served as Senate president 15 times over 25 years and worked with 13 different governors.

Risser has said one of his greatest legislative accomplishments was crafting a bill in 2009 that banned smoking in all workplaces. Two years later he was one of 14 minority Democrats in the Senate who fled the state in a futile attempt to prevent a vote on then-Republican Gov. Scott Walker's contentious plan to strip public workers of their union rights.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/wisconsin/articles/2020-03-26/longest-serving-legislator-wont-seek-re-election

By Tierney Sneed
|
March 26, 2020 1:28 p.m.

We’re only at just the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, and already primary care providers are warning that their medical practices might not survive the pandemic.


The issue is not just treating the coronavirus itself, though primary care providers are facing the same challenges plaguing hospitals, with a lack of testing, equipment shortfalls and a need to keep their staff virus-free.

But the overall shift away from in-person interactions has overnight turned the landscape for health care on its head, scrambling the financial model for medical practices that Americans rely on for routine and minor medical issues.

Those providers are now warning that, without a major influx in cash or a change to how business is done, they might need to close their practices in weeks, not even months.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/primary-care-doctors-coronavirus-financial-challenges

We are so screwed...........................

Source: Military Times

By: Aaron Mehta   9 hours ago

WASHINGTON — The $2 trillion economic stimulus package passed by the Senate late Wednesday includes provisions limiting stock dividends for companies that accept governmental loans — but avoids the more restrictive language that was included in the House version of the legislation.

The Senate language, which is expected to be adopted by the House and signed into law by President Donald Trump, also contains $10.5 billion in funding for the Department of Defense to combat the fallout from the new coronavirus pandemic.

No dividends or other capital distributions of stock can occur until 12 months after the loan has been paid back to the federal government, a restriction sought by good-government groups that worry the money given to industry could be primarily used to bolster shareholder value.

In addition, until Sept. 30, any business that takes loan money from the government will have to maintain its employment levels at what they were on March 24 of this year “to the extent practicable.” If cuts are needed to survive, a company can reduce employment levels by no more than 10 percent until the end of September.

Read more: https://www.defensenews.com/news/pentagon-congress/2020/03/26/industry-dodges-restrictive-house-measures-in-senate-bailout-bill/

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However, one senior defense industry lobbyist, speaking on condition of anonymity, called the attempted ban on lobbying “clearly unconstitutional,” adding: “It’s ironic that the very people that Congress reaches out to when they need expertise or information are the ones they want to throw overboard when it’s politically expedient”

By Dan Desai Martin -March 26, 2020 12:37 PM

On Feb. 26, Donald Trump told Americans that the number of coronavirus infections would soon be zero. A month later, there are at least 68,534 cases.

On Feb. 26, Donald Trump said there were only 15 confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States, and he predicted the number would soon be zero.

"Because of all we've done, the risk to the American people remains very low," Trump said. "When you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero. That's a pretty good job we've done."

At the time, Trump was mistaken about the number of U.S. cases. There were 60 confirmed cases, not 15.

And despite his promises, since that day, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases has increased by 114,123%. (The number of cases has increased by 456,793% from the 15 confirmed cases Trump claimed there were.)

https://americanindependent.com/donald-trump-coronavirus-infections-increase-close-zero-confirmed-cases-covid-19/

Maybe the orange hair fatnixon and the GOP fascist libertarian governors can get all stand behind him and listen to his rant about it being a hoax, like the latest governor in Missouri ..................saying it will hurt the rural folks in his state...............

By Dan Desai Martin -March 26, 2020 2:34 PM

Gov. Mike Parson ignored the advice of the Missouri State Medical Association, which called for stay-at-home orders to stop the spread of the virus.

Gov. Mike Parson (R-MO) has so far rejected the advice of medical professionals as the coronavirus pandemic grew in his state, and now he is claiming no responsibility for the harm his decisions may be causing.

On Monday, the Missouri State Medical Association called on Parson to issue a stay-at-home order to help slow the spread of the coronavirus in the state.

"If things progress as is, COVID-19 patients will deplete the state's available hospital beds, ventilators, and precious personal protection equipment," the group's letter to Parson stated. "Any additional time without a 'shelter-in-place' requirement wastes crucial health care resources, including manpower."

On Wednesday, Kansas City public radio station KCUR reported that Parson rejected that advice, saying such an order would hurt the economies of rural communities in the state.

https://americanindependent.com/mike-parson-coronavirus-missouri-governor-gop-covid-19/

So you think the rural communities are not vulnerable.................did you ask the fatnixon with orange hair in the white houseif it was still a hoax.....................are you that stupid.............do you have any any empathy dude..................

Source: Reuters

BUSINESS NEWS MARCH 26, 2020 / 6:08 AM / UPDATED 16 MINUTES AGO

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. lender Capital One Financial Corp got a waiver from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) after plunging oil prices increased the bank’s derivatives exposure above a key regulatory threshold, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter.

On Friday, the CFTC said it would temporarily exempt a U.S. bank from a requirement to register as a “Major Swap Participant” even though its growing energy swaps exposure would technically require it to do so by the end of the next quarter.

The CFTC did not name the bank on Friday, but the two sources told Reuters it was Virginia-based Capital One, which is best known for its retail lending and credit card business.

The regulator and Capital One declined to comment on the identity of the bank on Wednesday. A spokesman for the CFTC said it issued the waiver to protect the bank and its energy clients from undue disruption, given the unprecedented market conditions over the past month amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Editing by Michelle Price and Sonya Hepinstall



Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-capitalone-cftc-ex/exclusive-capital-one-got-cftc-waiver-after-oil-price-plunge-increased-swap-exposure-sources-idUSKBN21D1BC?il=0

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Call me a charlatan or an idiot, didn't the taxpayers go through this once before