Analysis: Virus pulls American federalism debate into 21st Century

By MICHAEL TACKETT, Associated Press 3/29/2020

WASHINGTON (AP) — A flu pandemic was ravaging the world, killing indiscriminately in almost every country, including more than 600,000 deaths in the United States. The states were in a panic, but there was almost no call for broad federal assistance — at least, not one heeded by the president.

© Provided by Associated Press FILE - In this March 19, 2020, file photo President Donald Trump attends a teleconference with governors at the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Washington. Trump has framed his fight against the pandemic as a war, and himself a wartime president. But rather than fully lever the power of the federal government, he has increasingly put responsibility on the states, reigniting the kind of tension the nation’s founders wrestled with more than two centuries ago. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool, File)

© Provided by Associated Press FILE - This 1924 file photo shows Woodrow Wilson. Wilson was more focused on the end of World War I than a flu virus that was making its way around the globe, ultimately sickening hundreds of thousands of Americans, including him. (AP Photo, File)

Woodrow Wilson did not address the nation on the subject of the pandemic of 1918-19 a single time. He did not call for Congress to act, and he did not summon the nation to unite. He had another battle to fight in trying to bring World War I to a close, even though the flu killed far more people. 

© Provided by Associated Press FILE - In this 1918 file photo made available by the Library of Congress, volunteer nurses from the American Red Cross tend to influenza patients in the Oakland Municipal Auditorium, used as a temporary hospital. Woodrow Wilson did not address the nation on the subject of the pandemic of 1918-19 a single time, he did not call for Congress to act and he did not summon the nation to come together. (Edward A. "Doc" Rogers/Library of Congress via AP, File)

While his posture on the flu seems passive, even reckless, in a modern light, Wilson's approach to war demonstrated an entirely different view of federal power than President Donald Trump's approach to the current pandemic. Wilson fully exploited the authority of the federal government, compelling rationing, propaganda and nationalizing the railroads, all directed at defeating Germany, not the virus.

The country, after all, was already accustomed to 100,000 deaths a year from the flu. There was a limited public health infrastructure. Use of vaccines remained uncommon, and therapies were often primitive. It wasn't that Wilson was restrained about using federal power; he simply had less precedent to lean on, and a much higher priority in the war effort.

Trump has framed his fight against the pandemic as a war, and himself as a wartime president. But rather than fully lever the power of the federal government, he has increasingly put responsibility on the states, reigniting the kind of tension the nation’s founders wrestled with more than two centuries ago.

The feud with states boiled over Thursday when Trump got into a contentious exchange with several governors. States are demanding more sweeping help from the federal government to battle an insidious challenge the founders never knew existed — a global public health crisis. It calls into question how well a system of federalism — where power is legally shared between a national government and the states — can work when the needs are so urgent and the politics so polarized.

© Provided by Associated Press FILE - In this November 1918 photo made available by the Library of Congress, a nurse takes the pulse of a patient in the influenza ward of the Walter Reed hospital in Washington. For President Woodrow Wilson, the pandemic was a case of first impression. The country was accustomed to 100,000 deaths a year from the flu. Widespread use of vaccines were not common. It wasn't that Wilson was restrained about using federal power, he simply had far less precedent to lean on, and a much higher priority in the war effort. (Harris & Ewing/Library of Congress via AP, File)

The virus has seeped into states blue and red, hitting Louisiana as hard as it's hitting California, and there are stark warnings coming from swing states like Michigan, Florida and Pennsylvania, too.

Most presidents before Trump have stipulated to “dealing with problems on a national level with national coordination,” said Jeffrey Engel, director of presidential studies at Southern Methodist University. Trump, he said, “for philosophical and political reasons,” is “taking a narrow view of what is his responsibility.”

“So even though Trump’s sense of federalism has historic precedent, and could be said to be closer to what the founders considered the proper division between states and the federal government — with the former having the lead responsibility for citizens' health and immediate well being — it is entirely out of step with almost every response we’ve seen from presidents facing crises in anyone’s living memory.”

© Provided by Associated Press FILE - In this March 27, 2020, file photo President Donald Trump listens before he signs the coronavirus stimulus relief package in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington. Trump has framed his fight against the pandemic as a war, and himself a wartime president. But rather than fully lever the power of the federal government, he has increasingly put responsibility on the states, reigniting the kind of tension the nation’s founders wrestled with more than two centuries ago. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Still, Trump has in other contexts threatened to use federal power, as he did when he proposed intervention to stem homicides in Chicago, an improvisational foray on which he did not follow through.

When the country was founded, no one could have envisioned the speed and smallness of the world today. Yellow fever could be contained by isolating a city. It would have required nearly half a year to travel from Philadelphia to Wuhan, China, in 1787 instead of the single, air-carried, globalized day that it does now, Engel said.

“Given the speed and danger involved in issues large and small the founders never could have considered, I think the current pandemic requires a unified federal response,” Engel said.

One of the clearest measures of that would be Trump putting the Defense Production Act in full force to compel production of critical supplies. Wilson (during World War I) and Franklin D. Roosevelt (during World War II) did so without a law as the foundation for their action. On Friday, after repeatedly saying that he would spur private production through persuasion, Trump in effect ordered General Motors to make ventilators. “GM,” Trump said, “was wasting time.” But the company was already on that path.

No historical comparison is precise, but Trump and Wilson are the only American presidents to face serious national pandemics. The men were opposites in almost every way.

Wilson, a Southerner, was an intellectual, president of Princeton; Trump, a New Yorker, became president as a novice politician who said he relied on gold-plated instincts. Wilson wrote a book about constitutional government; Trump wrote “The Art of the Deal.” Wilson believed in deploying federal power, and he was also an avowed internationalist; Trump, who arrived in the presidency with limited ideological mooring, has renewed his call for stronger borders and immigration restrictions.

But Trump has also made clear that he believes states should shoulder responsibility. There is no mistaking his approach with Harry S. Truman's “the buck stops here" view of accountability.

“Governor Inslee, that's the state of Washington ... And you know, he's always complaining,” Trump told Fox host Sean Hannity on Thursday. “And your governor of Michigan, I mean, she's not stepping up.I don't know if she knows what's going on. But all she does is sit there and blame the federal government. She doesn't get it done. And we send her a lot.”

Wilson used another approach. “He definitely took a national viewpoint that the federal government was supreme to the states,” said Thomas Knock, a Wilson biographer and scholar. “He and Theodore Roosevelt reinvented the presidency that way."

Wilson pushed for the Federal Reserve, the Federal Trade commission, child labor laws and an eight-hour work day for railroad workers. During the war, he nationalized the railroads. The federal government had never played such an enormous role in the economy.

“He knew the federal government really was supreme over the states and that was the best way to transform American in light of the new industrial age,” Knock said

In his book, Constitutional Government in the United States, Wilson said, “The question of the relation of the states to the federal government is the cardinal question of our constitutional system. At every turn of our national development we have been brought face to face with it, and no definition either of statesmen or of judges has ever quieted or decided it.”

“It cannot, indeed, be settled by the opinion of any one generation, because it is a question of growth, and every successive stage of our political and economic development gives it a new aspect, makes it a new question.”

But when the flu started to sweep through the country in 1918, Wilson — a wartime commander-in-chief — did not see it for the threat it was. In that time, Knock said, there was a common expectation that the flu would kill Americans into the six figures and the pandemic came in waves.

“I don’t think it was much of a priority,” Knock said. “There was no precedent for that kind of public health role at the time.”

There is now. And it is testing the notion of federalism in ways not seen for more than half a century, with conflicts on open display almost daily — and, sometimes, evolutions in real time.

On Friday, Trump, through his seeming directive to GM and his signing of the government's largest relief effort, took a step toward an evolving view — perhaps even a Wilsonian one.

___

Michael Tackett, a deputy Washington bureau chief for The Associated Press, has covered American politics since 1986. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tackettdc

Senator says White House turned down emergency coronavirus funding in early February

Suzanne Smalley AP 3/28/2020

WASHINGTON — Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, says that Trump administration officials declined an offer of early congressional funding assistance that he and other senators made on Feb. 5 during a meeting to discuss the coronavirus.

© Provided by Yahoo! News Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., 

on Capitol Hill. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

The officials, including Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, said they “didn’t need emergency funding, that they would be able to handle it within existing appropriations,” Murphy recalled in an interview with Yahoo News’ “Skullduggery” podcast.

“What an awful, horrible catastrophic mistake that was,” Murphy said.

On Feb. 5, Murphy tweeted: “Just left the Administration briefing on Coronavirus. Bottom line: they aren't taking this seriously enough. Notably, no request for ANY emergency funding, which is a big mistake. Local health systems need supplies, training, screening staff etc. And they need it now.”

Murphy told Yahoo News that the funding he and other congressional leaders wanted to allocate nearly two months ago would have paid for essential preventative measures, including hiring local screening and testing staff, researching a vaccine and treatments and the stockpiling of needed medical supplies.

“The consequences of that in Connecticut is that we're going to test less people today than we tested yesterday,” Murphy told “Skullduggery” hosts Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman. “And that means that there are lots of people who are positive who are not going to know it, who are then going to be in contact with other people, who are going to spread the disease.”

An HHS spokesperson said that a few days before the Feb. 5 meeting, Azar had let Congress know he might need to use his “transfer authority” to fund the response to the virus. The Department was already using an Infectious Disease and Rapid Response Reserve Fund, which the spokesperson said was used to pay for CDC technical assistance, medical screening, and more lab capacity, among other things.

Connecticut is so undersupplied that officials have had to cut back on tests administered even as suspected new infections are surging, Murphy said, calling the forced reduction in testing “an abomination.”

Murphy said Connecticut has been particularly challenged in trying to build up its supply of re-agents, the compounds needed to run coronavirus tests. Re-agents are mostly manufactured abroad, and Murphy said “the whole world is competing” for them now.

The senator said he spent part of Thursday on the phone with a lab official in Connecticut who said he cannot administer enough tests due to the re-agent shortage.

“Had we appropriated money in February to start buying re-agent, we would be in a position to do many more tests today than we are,” Murphy said. ”It was just so clear to us that the administration didn't think this was going to be a problem. We begged them in that meeting to request emergency funding from the Congress and they told us ... that they had everything that they needed on hand, which was false.”

Murphy also criticized the White House’s decision not to take coronavirus test kits offered by the World Health Organization in January, which he said was an especially devastating mistake because that test was ready to go and easily replicable. Murphy said he believes that, as a result of the administration’s testing decisions, only about 20 percent to 30 percent of people who should be tested are able to do so.

“We didn't appropriate the dollars necessary to build out the testing infrastructure,” Murphy said.

The administration’s laissez-faire approach has also contributed to the country’s soaring infection rate, Murphy said, because Trump had resisted calls to invoke the Defense Production Act. The Defense Production Act, or DPA, allows the president to compel private companies to manufacture products deemed necessary for national security.

Download or subscribe on iTunes: “Skullduggery” from Yahoo News

Trump announced Friday that he was finally invoking the DPA to force General Motors to produce badly needed ventilators. But Murphy said the president had dragged his feet in using the DPA because some of his allies pressured him against invoking it.

“The president is getting push back from right-wing ideologues, from those who believe that the private sector can fix any and all problems that confront the nation,” Murphy said.

“The national Chamber of Commerce and other conservative, free-market ideologues inside the White House are arguing for the president to not use the DPA simply because they philosophically disagree with the idea that government should play any role in the management of supplies at a time like this.”

Sabrina Fang, a spokeswoman for the Chamber of Commerce, did not respond to Yahoo News’ requests for comment.

Calling the president’s coronavirus management strategy an “abysmal failure,” Murphy said the lack of federal leadership continues to directly correlate with cities’ and states’ inability to perform enough tests and stop the disease from spreading in the U.S. He said that supply shortages have led to a “‘Lord of the Flies’ environment in which every single state and every single hospital is left to essentially fend for themselves and try to scrounge together as much equipment as they can.”

Asked what he considers to be the most important thing Trump could do to help the country turn the corner in its effort to contain the coronavirus, Murphy said the president should rethink his recent assertion that the country might be able to return to normal by Easter, which falls this year on April 12.

“What I’m most worried about right now is that the president is just going to get sort of tired of these emergency measures,” Murphy said, referring to the social distancing efforts most Americans are now undertaking. “The result will be that people will start coming out of their homes and we will end up with a health care system in absolute, catastrophic failure.”

Murphy also said he is now close to proposing legislation that will bolster coordination between the U.S, and other countries for pandemic preparedness and protection so that next time a virus emerges, leaders are better able to respond.

“There could be another one at our doorstep next spring at the same time that we’re responding to the current virus,” he said.

He also hailed the passage of a $2 trillion stimulus package late Wednesday. The package is meant to boost an economy staggering under the weight of the coronavirus pandemic and includes billions of dollars in tax credits for hard-hit industries and direct cash payments to individuals, among other provisions.

But while he said he was happy the bill would help the economy recover, “until hospitals have what they need in order to continue to respond to this ... our salvation is really in all of our hands.”

“There is no danger of overreacting right now,” Murphy said. “As the number of people infected grows by leaps and bounds every single day, as more hot spots are created all across the country, we need to take drastic measures.”

He said he is gravely worried about the administration’s “mixed messages” to the public about the duration and importance of social distancing.

“Everything in that bill is meaningless,” Murphy said of the stimulus, “unless we are all personally very serious about engaging in the best practices necessary to repel the virus.”

DOCTORS ARE PROLETARIANS TOO
Doctor loses job after criticizing hospital's virus response

“I'm terribly saddened this guy was fired,” Davidson said. “He was an incredible advocate for patients and nurses and doctors. He stuck his neck out — intentionally, knowing the risk — to take care of his coworkers. I have great respect for him.”

By GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — An emergency room doctor who publicly criticized the coronavirus preparations at his hospital in Washington state has lost his job.

© Provided by Associated Press A photo taken Friday, March 27, 2020, in Bellingham, Wash., and provided by Ming Lin hows Dr. Ming Lin, an emergency room doctor at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham. Lin said Friday he was fired after publicly criticizing the hospital’s coronavirus preparations. (Dr. Ming Lin via AP)

Dr. Ming Lin, a ER doctor at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham for the past 17 years, told The Associated Press on Friday night he had been fired.

He said that 20 minutes before his shift Friday he was told it had been covered and that his direct director told him he had been terminated. However, TeamHealth, the national health care staffing company that does hiring for the hospital, insisted in an emailed statement Saturday it had not fired him but would try to find him somewhere else to work.

On Facebook and in media interviews Lin has repeatedly criticized what he saw as a sluggish response to the threat by the hospital's administration. Lin insisted that the hospital was slow to screen visitors, negligent in not testing staff, wrong to rely on a company that was taking 10 days to process COVID-19 test results, and derelict in obtaining protective equipment for staff.



He described taking steps to help the hospital obtain cots and personal protective gear being offered by local companies — efforts that garnered him a loyal local following, but, he said, also brought warnings from superiors to stop speaking out.

St. Joseph's did not immediately return an email seeking comment. A statement from TeamHealth said Lin had not been terminated. It did not immediately respond to questions about why he had been removed from the hospital or whether the hospital requested it.

“We are committed to engaging with him to try to find a path forward,” the statement said. “Now more than ever, we need every available doctor, and we will work with Dr. Lin to find the right location for him.”

Lin scoffed at the notion he hadn't been fired, and said he expected the company might offer him work at a different hospital 30 minutes to an hour away. He said he's not interested.

In an interview earlier this week, Lin said his criticism of the hospital was motivated in part by what he learned as an ER doctor at a hospital near the World Trade Center on 9/11. He said he worked at St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan, and the facility's steady and competent response that day was due to the training and experience it had undertaken after being overwhelmed in the aftermath of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

“I feel so overwhelmed,” Lin said. “We're like a high school basketball team that's about to play an NBA team. The storm is coming, and I don't feel that we're prepared.”

In a statement released March 20, the day after The Seattle Times ran a story about Lin's criticism, the hospital's chief executive, Charles Prosper, insisted that the hospital was taking its preparations seriously. Prosper said the hospital had started restricting nonessential visitors and screening those who did enter for fevers, among other steps.

Prosper told The Bellingham Herald this week that "several" staff members at the hospital have tested positive.

Whatcom County had its first confirmed case by March 10. It has now had 92 confirmed cases and four deaths. At least 27 residents and 18 staff at a skilled nursing facility in Bellingham had tested positive as of Thursday.

Brian Davidson, who has retooled his batting cage and netting company in nearby Everson to make inexpensive cots for temporary medical facilities, credited Lin for helping him get the attention of PeaceHealth St. Joseph's procurement department. But he also said he could see how Lin's efforts might also have complicated the work the department was already doing by inundating it with offers.

“I'm terribly saddened this guy was fired,” Davidson said. “He was an incredible advocate for patients and nurses and doctors. He stuck his neck out — intentionally, knowing the risk — to take care of his coworkers. I have great respect for him.”

Mall giant Taubman Centers to retail tenants: 
You must pay rent during coronavirus closures

LANDLORD IS A GOUGER PROFITEER
AKA AMERICAN LIBERTARIAN

Nathan Bomey, USA TODAY 3/27/2020

One of the nation's largest mall owners instructed its tenants to make their rent payments even though their malls are closed during the coronavirus pandemic.

A letter sent to Taubman Centers tenants nationwide and obtained by USA TODAY shows the company's directive to its tenants to make their payments on time.

"Landlord's obligation to pay its lenders, utility companies, insurance companies and the like, to ensure the safety and security of the building and maintain the appropriate level of operations, remains," Taubman told tenants in the letter. "The rental income that we receive from Tenants is essential in order to meet these obligations. All Tenants will be expected to meet their Lease obligations."

The company said in the letter that it received "numerous inquiries" from tenants regarding potential rent relief.

With 15.8 million square feet of space, Taubman Centers is the 16th-largest mall property owner in the country, according to real estate data source CoStar Group.

Taubman spokesperson Maria Mainville confirmed the authenticity of the letter and defended the company's decision to send it.

Retail shuts down: Taubman Centers temporarily closes malls throughout USA as coronavirus spreads

"We understand that these challenging times are going to be hard for some tenants," Mainville said in an email. "We are attempting to navigate through this situation in the best way we can, while being as flexible as we can with our tenants in light of our ongoing obligations. The tenant memo does not replace our willingness to talk to each tenant about their respective challenges and help them chart an appropriate course for the future."

Taubman's move comes amid a brewing showdown between retail tenants and property landlords throughout the country, both of which face significant economic losses amid widespread shutdowns connected to the impact of COVID-19.

© JOHN HEIDER | hometownlife.com An empty parking lot on March 24, 2020 at Novi's Twelve Oaks Mall attests to the affect the coronavirus is having on the local economy. The mall is closed until further notice to shoppers, however some of the mall's food court businesses are still open for carryout only.

The Cheesecake Factory, which has 294 restaurants in the USA and Canada, said this week that it won't make rent payments due April 1.

"We have very strong, longstanding relationships with our landlords," the Cheesecake Factory said in a statement. "We are certain that with their partnership, we will be able to work together to weather this storm in the appropriate manner."

Alex Victor, partner in the hospitality and restaurant group at law firm Davidoff Hutcher & Citron, said the "force majeure" clause in leases between retailers and landlords typically includes provisions that would suspend rent payments in the event of an "act of God," terrorism or a government shutdown.

He said it's unclear whether a global pandemic qualifies as an event that would suspend payments under most leases.

"Most leases are going to say the requirement to pay rent is absolute and independent of all the other covenants," he said. But tenants "might say, well, because of this whole thing, it’s made it impossible for me to conduct my business."

In Taubman's case, the company has temporarily closed most of its malls through at least March 29.

The company's nearly two dozen properties include the Beverly Center in Los Angeles, the Cherry Creek Shopping Center in Denver, the Dolphin Mall in Miami, Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi, Michigan, and Fair Oaks Mall in Fairfax, Virginia.

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan-based Taubman announced in February that it agreed to sell itself to Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group in a deal likely to close this year.

Simon Property Group – the nation's second-largest mall property owner, according to CoStar – did not respond to a request seeking comment Friday.

Victor, the hospitality group lawyer, said he expects a flurry of lawsuits over missed rental payments due April 1.

"But the courts aren’t even open to address those claims, so it behooves everybody to try to work something out," he said.

In future leases, he said, he expects retail tenants to demand that their contracts release them from paying rent when a pandemic occurs.

"I’m sure, going forward, pandemics are going to be included," he said.

SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE
DC Details How Comic Book Retailers Will Be Supported Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

© Gary Frank/DC

DC has released a statement explaining what the company will do to assist comic book retailers in the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak that has, to all intents and purposes, shut down the comic book industry.

Sent to retailers Saturday afternoon, the statement explains that all DC periodicals and books with in-store dates between March 18 and June 24 will be fully returnable, with the company covering shipping costs. Additionally, DC is "exploring a multi-distributor model" moving forward, " to provide us with the flexibility needed during this crisis to get new content to our readers on an ongoing basis.”

The full statement can be read at the end of this post.

The statement comes at the end of a week where Diamond Comic Distributors announced that it would not be shipping new product to comic book stores in North America for the foreseeable future, essentially closing down the print comic book market. In response, multiple publishers, including Image Comics, Dark Horse Comics and IDW, toldThe Hollywood Reporter that they would not be publishing digitally until print releases were available.

DC’s statement follows statements statements from Image, Marvel and other publishers released before Diamond’s own, offering retailer assistance in the form of returnable releases, increased discounts or reworking release schedules so as to not overwhelm afflicted retailers experiencing reduced foot traffic or enforced closures.

Retailers have other options available to them for aid; Lion Forge’s the Forge Fund and Mad Cave Studios’ crowdfunded retailer support fund are also active. Additionally, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has released a guide to help retailers apply for Coronavirus Distastes Loan Assistance from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The full statement as provided to retailers follows:

To Direct Market Retailers:

First, the entire team here at DC hopes that you, your family and your employees are staying safe and healthy during this very tough and precarious time. We know that you have been waiting for DC to comment on the state-of-affairs and to address any measures we will take to help our community lighten the burden of the disruption to our business, and we’ve been working hard on a long-term, solution-focused plan. Here is how we will help:

Periodicals and books with in-store dates between March 18, 2020 and June 24, 2020 will be fully returnable. We’ll even provide credit for your separate return shipping of these items only.

Additionally, because we anticipate that continued disruption to business operations will create regional volatility, DC is exploring a multi-distributor model to provide us with the flexibility needed during this crisis to get new content to our readers on an ongoing basis. In the short-term, we continue to engage in active conversations with Diamond to help us solve the distribution issues that have arisen and hope to get new product to stores that want or need it as soon as possible. We will provide additional informat1287071ion about how we’ll make that happen in the coming days.

Thanks for your patience with us. DC will continue to monitor the situation, continue to speak with you directly, and continue to support you through the days ahead. You are the lifeblood of this industry.

All best,

The DC Team

Stimulus checks won't go to these taxpayers. That's unjust (opinion)

CALL THEM WHAT THEY ARE UNDOCUMENTED TAXPAYERS

WHO PAY MORE IN TAXES THAN EITHER AMAZON OR JEFF BEZOS

By Tim Breene for CNN Business Perspectives 3/27/2020

Editor’s note: The opinions in this article are the author’s, as published by our content partner, and do not necessarily represent the views of MSN or Microsoft.

In the midst of this economic crisis caused by the coronavirus, there is broad bipartisan support in Congress to provide payments to American taxpayers to offset the economic impact of the coronavirus. Among other components of the nearly-$2 trillion relief package negotiated in the US Senate, the agreement announced Wednesday morning reportedly will include checks of $1,200 to most American adults. These funds are supposed to help those who are out of work to pay for food and lodging and to stimulate the contracting US economy, encouraging people to spend even while they are stuck at home.

Unfortunately, the Senate proposal does not include all taxpayers. Those who file their taxes using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) instead of a Social Security number have been left out, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Omitting these taxpayers will exclude many of the American taxpayers who are most vulnerable in the current crisis: undocumented immigrants.

Failing to aid these workers will be disastrous to them and their families and will have a significant negative impact on the economy.

If the Senate bill is passed without amendment by the House and signed by the president, it will not be the first time that taxpayers who file their taxes with an ITIN will not receive stimulus checks. In 2008, when our country issued similar checks, not only were taxpayers who filed with ITINs excluded -- so were those with a valid Social Security Number who jointly filed a return with a spouse with an ITIN (with a limited exception for military families).

In hindsight, it's clear immigrants suffered disproportionately as a result of the Great Recession. For example, in 2008 alone, Hispanic immigrants' unemployment rate jumped from 5.1% to 8%, a significantly greater increase than among other American workers.

Since 1996, ITINs have been issued by the IRS to individuals ineligible for a Social Security Number -- mostly (though not exclusively) because they are immigrants who are undocumented.

In an effort to encourage these undocumented immigrants to file and pay their taxes, the IRS has long highlighted that it maintains a wall of separation from the Department of Homeland Security, which is responsible for immigration enforcement. "We want your money whether you are here legally or not and whether you earned it legally or not," IRS Commissioner Mark Everson said in 2007. Even in an era of increased rhetoric about immigration enforcement, federal tax law continues to prevent these taxpayers' information from being shared for immigration enforcement purposes. 

Many undocumented immigrants have taken the IRS at its word: By 2015, more than 4 million people annually were using ITINs to pay $4.35 billion in net taxes.

These unauthorized immigrants are concentrated in the industries likely to be most immediately impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Though only about 5% of the US labor force overall is undocumented, they make up 10% or more of those working in the accommodation and food preparation and service sectors. The women and men who clean hotel rooms are either being laid off or are having their hours dramatically reduced. In addition, servers, cooks and dishwashers are all among those likely to be let go due to this crisis. They need economic relief urgently.

From an economic perspective, I know that lower-income people -- including most who would pay their taxes with an ITIN -- are the most likely to quickly spend a stimulus check, precisely because they do not have the financial margin to save. If $2,200 was sent to a single parent with two children who was previously earning $12 per hour, they would likely use the funds to buy groceries, pay a cell phone bill or cover a car, rent or mortgage payment. This is the money which continues to circulate in the US economy.

Unlike those with significantly higher earnings, hourly workers generally are not in a position to simply save those funds for a rainy day -- that rainy day has come and the water is up to their necks.

Undocumented immigrants -- who are contributing taxes yet are generally ineligible for social safety net programs, such as food stamps, subsidized housing or Medicaid -- are among those most at risk of hunger or eviction from their homes in the current crisis. Given that many lack medical insurance, they are also least likely to seek and receive health care if they contract COVID-19. Roughly 5 million US-born children of undocumented immigrants will also bear the weight of these impacts.

I'm not dismissing the reality that these immigrants have violated US immigration law, either by entering the country unlawfully or overstaying a temporary visa. Like other evangelical leaders at World Relief, I have opposed calls for amnesty, arguing instead for a restitution-based immigration reform, that establishes a process by which undocumented immigrants could get right with the law if they pay a penalty for their violation of law.

Were Congress to take up such reforms, our experience at World Relief providing legal services to tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants suggests most would be eager to pay such a fine and make amends. But in the midst of this crisis, congressional action on immigration reform is not likely to happen quickly.

What can happen is that Congress can acknowledge that these undocumented immigrants have complied with IRS requirements to file and pay their taxes utilizing an ITIN. We should be fair to these American taxpayers, among the most vulnerable at all times but more so now. Congress should move quickly to send stimulus checks -- and send them, in particular, to these uniquely vulnerable taxpayers.

---30---

Some U.S. Governors have stepped up during coronavirus, others not so much

Corky Siemaszko

During a recent conference call with America's governors, President Donald Trump was pressed by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to use his authority to ramp up production of badly needed medical equipment to combat the coronavirus.

© Getty Images/AP file Image: Jay Inslee, Andrew Cuomo, Mike DeWine

But when Trump said the federal government was merely the "backup," Inslee, who is a Democrat, let him have it, according to an audio recording of the call obtained by The Associated Press.

"I don't want you to be the backup quarterback, we need you to be Tom Brady here," Inslee said, invoking the name of the football star who also happens to be a Trump friend.

Trump didn't like that one bit.

"They think Tom Brady should be leading the effort," Trump groused at a news conference later Thursday. "That's only fake news, and I like Tom Brady, spoke to him the other day, he's a great guy."

Fake or not, it was yet another example of a governor - frustrated by the Trump Administration - taking charge while Washington is playing catch-up, a panel of experts on leadership told NBC News.

Trump didn't declare a national emergency until March 13, by which point 20 governors - a dozen Democrats and eight Republicans - had already declared emergencies in their states. That includes Trump loyalists like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis who have also taken flak for not moving fast enough.

"Because the federal government was so slow to act, you saw state leaders, both Republicans and Democrats, stepping into that void and taking matters into their own hands," said Asher Hildebrand, a public policy professor at Duke University and former chief of staff to U.S Rep. David Price (D-N.C.).

And some governors like New York's Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, have really risen to the challenge, he said.

"More than any other governor, Cuomo has channelled the nation's yearning for sober, decisive and competent leadership during this time of crisis," Hilderbrand said. "And his blend of cajoling and flattery in dealing with President Trump is a model for the times. Watching his candid yet reassuring briefings, one is struck with feeling that Cuomo has finally found his moment to shine."

Alvin Tillery Jr., a respected political science professor at Northwestern University, said Cuomo and several other governors have performed exceptionally well during this crisis, including Inslee.

"He gets an A+ for raising the national alarm about community spread (in places like nursing homes," Tillery said of the Washington governor. "He has also been a leader in pushing the federal government to assist the states. He has also used the authority of his office to use creative ways to get triage hospitals built in the state."

Also deserving of top grades, in Tillery's estimation, are Democratic governors Gavin Newsom of California, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan 

TRUMP REFUSES TO CALL HER BY HER NAME OR REFER TO HER AS GOVERNOR INSTEAD HIS MISOGYNISTIC REPTILE BRAIN BRANDS HER THAT WOMAN.

Detroit Free Press: Trump OKs Michigan disaster declaration, Whitmer says it's 'a good start' More: Trump to Mike Pence: 'Don't call the woman in Michigan,' aka Gov. Gretchen Whitmer

and Republicans Larry Hogan of Maryland and Mike DeWine of Ohio.

"[DeWine] gets an A+ for decisive action to delay the state's primary," Tillery said of DeWine. "He has also done an excellent job communicating with his constituents about the potential need to have a long period of social distancing in Ohio."

DeWine was also among the first governors to require health screenings to people before they visit places like nursing homes and prisons, added Hildebrand.

Jaime Dominguez, who also teaches at Northwestern and is the founder of the Chicago Democracy Project, agreed with his colleague's assessment.

"All of these governors have demonstrated through public statements and personal interviews that partisan politics will not - and never will - mitigate the state's response to this public health crisis," said Dominguez.

Other Democratic governors like Louisiana's John Bel Edwards have also been working effectively with their legislatures and doing a stellar job of keeping their constituents in the loop, Dominguez said.

Hildebrand also gave a shout out to Roy Cooper, the Democratic governor of his home state, North Carolina.

"With two major hurricanes in the past four years, it feels as if Cooper has been in crisis management mode for his entire first term," Hildebrand said. "Fortunately, this has prepared him well to act decisively, communicate effectively with his citizens, and work cooperatively with his Republican legislature and president during this crisis."

There was mostly agreement among the experts interviewed by NBC News as to which governors have not risen to the occasion.

"On the other end of the spectrum are two governors who placed their partisan allegiances and or anti-intellectualism above the safety and welfare of their constituents," Tillary said.

They are DeSantis and Tate Reeves of Mississippi, who is also a conservative Republican and Trump ally, he said.

Tillary faulted Reeves for signing an executive order that effectively went against the advice of the Mississippi Department of Health by declaring most businesses in the state "essential" and thus exempt from restrictions on public gatherings. He also deemed most religious facilities "essential" just days after the state's top doctors told residents to skip church and avoid weddings and funerals to slow the spread of the virus.

"When the caseload in Mississippi explodes, he will bear the responsibility for it due to this ignominious action," Tillary said.

Parker Briden, Reeve's deputy chief of staff for external affairs, said they've been dealing with a lot of "viral disinformation" about the steps the governor has taken and that they have been working in tandem with state health officials.

"One of the first things the governor did was plead with people to stay out of the churches," Briden said. "However, the governor does not believe we have the right to shut down churches any more than we have the right to shut down the media."

As for DeSantis, "he earns an F for allowing the beaches in Florida to stay open to thousands of tourists from out of state over the past two weeks," Tillary said. "He also compounded this error by supporting President Trump's magical thinking about the possibility of ending social distancing by Easter."

Dominguez ranked Reeves, DeSantis and two other Republican governors at the bottom for failing to be proactive in the face of the crisis, for doing a poor job of executing the state's response, and for being "too concerned about making sure that their messaging aligns with the President's actions and recommendations on curtailing the virus."

"Social distancing has not been a priority," Dominguez said. "They have done a poor job on transparency."

They are Kay Ivey of Alabama, and Greg Abbott in Texas.

Abbott has been criticized for not issuing a statewide stay-at-home order, although it was Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's suggestion that senior citizens would be willing to die for the U.S. to "get back to work" that made headlines.






"With the nation's second-largest population, the highest uninsured rate in the country, and a legislature that doesn't meet at all in even years, Texas is a state in which the governor's role during a time of crisis is indispensable," Hildebrand said. "Yet Abbott has behind the curve in nearly every protective measure - declaring a state of emergency, activating the National Guard, ramping up testing capacity, closing bars and restaurants."

Additionally, Hildebrand said, Abbott "has shifted much of the emergency response to local municipalities."

As for Ivey, as recently as Thursday she was also refusing to issue a statewide stay-at-home order. And it wasn't until Friday that she closed schools until April 6.

"Y'all, we are not Louisiana, we are not New York State, we are not California," Ivey said. "Right now is not the time to order people to shelter in place."

Hildebrand also faulted Oklahoma Gov, Kevin Stitt, a Republican, for his performance.

"Stitt not only resisted calls to close non-essential businesses and places where people congregate, he Tweeted a photo of his family dining in a 'packed' Oklahoma City restaurant as the virus was spreading," he said.

That March 14 tweet has since been taken down.

NBC News has reached out for comment to DeSantis, Ivey, Stitt and Abbott.

The global pandemic has raised the national profiles of some governors like Cuomo, whose daily briefings have at times gotten more attention than Trump's updates. But Amy Liu of the Brookings Institution said there's another way of measuring the effectiveness of the governors' responses.

"Beyond judging governors' performance on cable talk shows or regular press briefings, one way is to evaluate governors on how well they are working with their state legislatures to get something done," said Liu. "In other words, are they passing laws to protect workers are families."

Using that as a benchmark, Liu said, DeSantis and the other Republican governors like Doug Ducey of Arizona and Bill Lee of Tennessee have had some success in helping their states.

Liu buttressed her assertion on research compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures, which listed all the states that have passed, or are about to pass, new COVID-19 legislation.

"What's interesting to note is that nearly every governor, no matter their party, is taking this matter seriously," Liu said. "And what's particularly striking is that the GOP controls the governorships and state legislatures in 21 states and many are stepping up."

Today in History: March 29

1847: US forces take Veracruz in the Mexican–American War
 

 1847: The bombardment of Veracruz by American troops during the Mexican-American War. Original Artist: By Carl Nebel. (Photo by MPI/Getty Images)

During the Mexican-American War, U.S. forces under General Winfield Scott invaded Mexico three miles south of Veracruz with few casualties. The Americans took over the fortified city and its massive fortress, San Juan de Ulua.

1865: Appomattox campaign begins

The final campaign of the Civil War began in Virginia when Union troops under General Ulysses S. Grant moved against the Confederate trenches around Petersburg. General Robert E. Lee’s outnumbered Rebels were soon forced to evacuate the city.

1929: Telephone installed in Oval Office
President Herbert Hoover had a phone installed at his desk in the Oval Office of the White House.

US Capitol building on Capitol Hill in Washington DC which is the seat of the 1961: US ratifies the 23rd amendment
The 23rd Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, thereby providing rights to the residents of Washington, D.C., to vote in presidential elections.


1974: First spacecraft reaches Mercury

Mariner 10, an unmanned U.S. space probe, was the first spacecraft to reach Mercury. Launched on Nov. 3, 1973, Mariner 10 flew by Mercury thrice between 1974 and 1975, taking detailed images of the planet.


2006: Hamas formally takes over the Palestinian government

A new government dominated by Islamist faction Hamas was sworn in by Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas, the day after lawmakers overwhelmingly backed the new cabinet. 

FREE MARKET ECONOMY EXCEPT WHEN STATE CAPITALISM IS NEEDED
2009: White House ousts GM chief

Rick Wagoner, the chairman and chief executive of troubled auto giant General Motors (GM), resigned at the request of the Obama administration. 

THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF MS MAY
2017: UK begins the formal process of Brexit
British Prime Minister, Theresa May, signed the official letter to European Council President, Donald Tusk, invoking Article 50 and the United Kingdom's intention to leave the European Union.

Today In History March 29
GERMANY'S INVASION OF THE RHINELAND APPROVED, WWII ACTUALLY BEGINS 

1936: Hitler claims victory in a referendum
Adolf Hitler received 99% of the votes in a referendum to ratify Germany's illegal re-militarization and reoccupation of the Rhineland.

German occupation of the Rhineland - The National Archives

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk › education › resources › german-occ...

On 7 March 1936 German troops marched into the Rhineland. This action was directly against the Treaty of Versailles which had laid out the terms which the ...

Hitler reoccupies the Rhineland, violating the Treaty of ...

https://www.history.com › this-day-in-history › hitler-reoccupies-the-rhinel...

... 1936 denounced the Locarno Pact and began remilitarizing of the Rhineland. ... In 1939, Hitler invaded Poland, leading to the outbreak of World War II in ...

Rhineland Invasion, March 1936 - Hitler's foreign policy ... - BBC

https://www.bbc.co.uk › bitesize › guides › revision

In 1936, Hitler boldly marched 22,000 German troops into the Rhineland, in a direct contravention of the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler offered France and Britain a 25 ...

Nazis March into the Rhineland - The History Place

https://www.historyplace.com › worldwar2 › triumph › tr-rhine

Below: Saturday, March 7, 1936 - German Army troops cross a bridge over the Rhine River and enter the Rhineland - for the first time since the end of World War ...

Battle of the Rhineland | The Canadian Encyclopedia

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca › article › battle-of-the-rhineland

The Battle of the Rhineland 8 Feb-10 Mar 1945, was fought by the FIRST CANADIAN ARMY (with XXX British Corps under command) and Ninth US Army while ...

Today in History: March 29
AMERICA'S IGNOMINIOUS DEFEAT IN VIET NAM WAR
1971: Lt. William Calley convicted of My Lai murders
1973: US troops withdraw from South Vietnam

 Lt. William Calley arrives at a pre-trial hearing prior to his court martial for his involvement in the My Lai massacre.© Bettmann/Getty Images
1971: Lt. William Calley convicted of My Lai murders
Army Lt. William L. Calley Jr. was convicted of murdering 22 Vietnamese civilians in the My Lai massacre. 

1973: US troops withdraw from South Vietnam
The last U.S. troops withdrew from South Vietnam following the Paris Peace Accords signed by North Vietnamese Foreign Minister Lê Đức Thọ and U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. This ended U.S.’ direct military involvement in the Vietnam War.