Trump heads to Arizona for most extensive trip since start of

coronavirus pandemic

David Jackson & Michael Collins

USA TODAY

5:00 am EDT

"WASHINGTON – Tied to the White House because of the coronavirus, President Donald Trump hits the road Tuesday by heading to Arizona for his most extensive trip since the start of the pandemic.

Trump will visit a Honeywell aerospace facility in Phoenix that is making respirator masks for health care workers on the first in what may be a series of trips designed to highlight efforts to fight the coronavirus.

“We’re going to start to move around," Trump told supporters last week, adding that he also wants to resume reelection campaign rallies as soon as possible.

Arizona figures to be an important part of Trump's campaign strategy. He carried the state in 2016, but recent polls show him in a close contest this year with presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

Trump held a campaign rally in Phoenix on Feb. 19, just before the surge of coronavirus cases."

Moar:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/05/05/donald-trump-heads-arizona-highlight-fight-against-coronavirus/3080925001/

I never bought into that WE ARE SO BROKE crap anyways

ROBERT REICH: TRUMP'S PLAN TO REOPEN THE

ECONOMY IS CONTEMPTIBLE—AND DEADLY

OPINION: ROBERT REICH , NEWSWEEK COLUMNIST AND CHANCELLOR’S PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC POLICY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY

ON 5/5/20 AT 6:00 AM EDT

"Donald Trump is getting nervous. Internal polls show him losing in November unless the economy comes roaring back.

But much of the American economy remains closed because of the pandemic. The number of infections and deaths continue to climb. Almost 3,000 Americans died last Friday alone, the deadliest day since the pandemic began.

So what is Trump's re-election strategy? Reopen the economy anyway. It's a four-step plan.

Step 1: Remove income support, so people have no choice but to return to work.

Trump's Labor Department has decided that furloughed employees "must accept" an employer's offer to return to work and therefore forfeit unemployment benefits, regardless of COVID-19.

Trump's ally, Iowa Republican Governor Kim Reynolds, says employees cannot refuse to return to work for fear of contracting the disease. "That's a voluntary quit," making someone ineligible for benefits.

GOP officials in Oklahoma are even threatening to withhold the $600 per week of extra unemployment benefits Congress has provided workers if an employer wants to hire them. Safety is irrelevant.

"If the employer will contact us…we will cut off their benefits," says Teresa Thomas Keller of the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission.

Forcing people to choose between getting COVID-19 or losing their livelihood is inhumane. It's also nonsensical. Public health still depends on as many workers as possible staying home. That's a big reason why Congress provided the extra benefits."

moar:

https://www.newsweek.com/robert-reich-trumps-plan-reopen-economy-contemptible-deadly-opinion-1501824