Pentagon Pushes Back on Joe Biden’s Horrible Coronavirus Plan; Senate GOP Crafting New Massive Coronavirus Package at ‘Warp Speed’
By U.S. News. The Pentagon on Monday pushed back against an idea former Vice President Joe Biden proposed at a Democratic presidential debate Sunday night for how the military could support federal efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
“I would call out the military now,” Biden said at the debate in Washington, D.C., against Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. “They have the ability to provide this surge that hospitals need. … They have the capacity to build 500 hospital beds and tents that are completely safe and secure. It’s a national emergency, and I would call out the military.”
Military officials, however, said during a briefing Monday afternoon about the coronavirus – which causes a disease known as COVID-19 – that the rapid-response medical capabilities currently at their disposal might not provide much help.
“The challenge is, they’re designed to take care of trauma patients and combat casualties,” Air Force Brig. Gen. Paul Friedrichs, the surgeon for the Pentagon’s Joint Staff, said during a press briefing. “We don’t have a lot of 500-bed hospitals designed for contagious disease outbreaks.” (Read more from “Pentagon Pushes Back on Joe Biden’s Horrible Coronavirus Plan” HERE)
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Senate GOP Crafting New Massive Coronavirus Package at ‘Warp Speed’
By Politico. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate will work at “warp speed” to craft a massive new stimulus package to help Americans deal with the economic fallout from the coronavirus crisis, vowing that senators “will not leave” Washington until it’s done.
And Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) said Tuesday there is a “high level of interest” among Republicans for a Trump administration proposal to send as many as two $1,000 checks directly to individual Americans to help respond to the economic slowdown, a move that could cost an estimated $500 billion, according to GOP sources.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin made a pitch for the initiative at a lunch with Senate Republicans on Tuesday, part of an $800 billion-plus package being floated by the White House that also includes as much as $250 billion in emergency loans for smalls businesses being hit by the economic slowdown.
Under the Mnuchin plan, direct payments — on a means-tested basis — could be sent to American via the IRS as early as next month, although even that may not be as fast as some in Congress want. (Read more from “Senate GOP Crafting New Massive Coronavirus Package at ‘Warp Speed'” HERE)
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