More than 100 current and former CEOs are urging Congress to approve another round of small business aid in the next coronavirus relief package or risk exponentially more harm to the economy.
Modifying and extending the small business lifeline Congress approves in the form of the <a href="https://dw-site-dev.dailywire.com/news/ny-small-business-on-alleged-ppp-pacing-issue-we-see-the-money-slipping-away-again">Paycheck Protection Program</a> (PPP) could stave off a potentially “catastrophic” wave of permanent small business closures that could hit as early as Labor Day. Already, many businesses have shut their doors for good after buckling under the strain of the coronavirus and government-mandated shutdowns.
“Small businesses are too critical to our country’s economic strength to let fail. From retailers and restaurants to consulting firms and manufacturers, small business owners are facing a future of potential financial ruin that will make the nation’s current economic downturn last years longer than it must,” the letter says, noting that small business composes 44% of the U.S. economy.
That pressure on Congress is being led by former Starbucks CEO <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-howard-schultz-shreds-aoc-introduces-ryan-saavedra">Howard Schultz</a>, who considered but ultimately decided against making an independent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-starbucks-ceo-howard-schultz-considering-emily-zanotti">run at the presidency</a> in 2020.
The business executives suggest that lawmakers build on the system put in place to distribute PPP funding by reupping the program while providing additional aid for the hardest hit sectors of the economy.
The letter lists several priorities for a new relief package:
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Federally guaranteed loans, at favorable terms, that will enable small businesses to transform and sustain themselves through 2020 and well into 2021. …</li>
<li>Businesses should have flexibility in how loan funds are used.</li>
<li>The hardest-hit businesses should be eligible for at least partial loan forgiveness. Any forgiveness should be limited to small or mid-sized firms that have suffered significant revenue declines and are not publicly traded.</li>
<li>Relief needs to be delivered expeditiously. Building on the existing PPP infrastructure would be one way to quickly stand up a new loan program.</li>
<li>These funds must flow to all small businesses in need, particularly those run by people of color, who have traditionally had less access to capital. …</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
“We cannot stress enough the urgent need to act. Every day that passes without a comprehensive recovery program makes recovery more difficult. By Labor Day, we foresee a wave of permanent closures if the right steps are not take soon,” the letter continues. “Allowing small businesses to fail will turn temporary job losses into permanent ones. By year end, the domino effect of losing jobs – as well as the lost services and lost products that small businesses provide – could be catastrophic.”
Lawmakers in Congress with input from the White House are trying to craft a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-relief-how-the-republican-and-democratic-plans-compare-11595934002">fifth round</a> of coronavirus aid as boosted unemployment benefits are set to expire by the end of the week. Democrats want a bill that would balloon spending by an additional $3.5 trillion while creating a safety net for cities and states that have blown out their own budgets responding to the coronavirus as tax proceeds have dried up.
Republicans on Capitol Hill want a much more restrained yet still pricey $1 trillion in additional spending, reducing the federal boost to unemployment from $600/week to $200/week through September, then reducing it to 70% of a worker&#8217;s lost income when combined with state benefits.
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Closing business

Dozens Of Top Business Leaders Warn Of Impending ‘Catastrophic’ Impact To Small Business

Economy

Howard Schultz

Paycheck Protection Program

A letter sent from activists to businesses and non-profits in the East Market District of downtown Louisville, also referred to as NuLu (New Louisville), made a series of demands related to racial reparations and reportedly threatened consequences if the demands were not met.
New details have come to light after The Daily Wire reported on the story last week after being contacted by local residents who said they were stunned by the letter.
Local ABC News affiliate WHAS11 News <a href="http://archive.is/f8vCr">reported</a> that &#8220;Black Lives Matter protesters&#8221; were the ones who gave the letters out to businesses.
A <a href="https://twitter.com/bloosemore">local reporter</a> <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/471102642/Occupy-Nulu-Demands#from_embed">posted</a> the following five &#8220;repercussions of non-compliance&#8221; that were reportedly included in the letter:
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Reduction in Racial Index Score/bias report to the Better Business Bureau.</li>
<li>Social Media Blast: Notification, via all social media platforms, of non-compliance.</li>
<li>Boycott: Public boycott, coordinated through social media and mail announcements, of your NuLu establishment AND any other business ventures owned by you.</li>
<li>Protest: Visible, media-covered demonstration/sit-in outside your establishment.</li>
<li>Invasive Reclamation: Placement of booths/tables outside your establishment where competing Black proprietors will offer items comparable to those offered by you.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
A copy of the letter that The Daily Wire received was slightly different than the letter obtained by the local reporter, and included three additional demands. The demands <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/louisville-businesses-threatened-cave-to-demands-for-racial-reparations-or-get-bad-online-reviews">stated</a> in the letter included:
<blockquote>
<ol>
<li>Businesses will adequately represent the black population of Louisville by having a minimum of 23% black staff (including management) in front of house positions, and maintain commitment and accountability to increasing that number (accountability roundtable information below).</li>
<li>Retail locations will include a minimum of 23% inventory of black retailers OR make a recurring monthly donation of 1.5% of net sales to black local organizations.</li>
<li>Business owners will require diversity, equity, &amp; inclusion training for their staffs, to be conducted by any one of the black women leaders on the attached list. Training will be conducted thereafter on a bi-annual basis.</li>
<li>Customize your own OR display one of the attached written statements in a viable location within your business to increase awareness and show support for the reparations movement.</li>
<li>Non-profits in NuLu district will submit to a voluntary, external audit of their board of trustees and take necessary steps towards 23% representation on those boards.</li>
<li>Business owners &amp; non-profit leaders will participate in quarterly roundtable discussions to be held accountable for their communities to these demands, and work together towards increased equity.</li>
<li>Maintain adequate black representation in any entertainment and performances booked at your business.</li>
<li>Dress code policies inherently discriminate against black folks, women, and the transgender community. You must eliminate dress code policies that promote profiling towards patrons and employees, including their hair requirements or stipulations, which can disproportionately target black folks.</li>
<li>23% black representation on the board of the NuLu Business Association.</li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
Demands #7 and #8 appeared to have been removed from the letter obtained by the local reporter while Demand #9 appeared in a different place in letter.
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Silent protest against racism

Demand Letter From BLM Activists To Louisville Businesses Lists 5 ‘Repercussions Of Non-Compliance’

Black Lives Matter

The U.S. economy shrank by a nearly 33% annualized rate for the April-June quarter, the worst plunge since record-keeping began in 1947.
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the country&#8217;s gross domestic product (GDP), which keeps track of the output of all goods and services, dropped by 32.9%. The worst drop before this quarter was 10% in 1958.
In the previous quarter, from January through March, the economy contracted by 5% and tens of millions lost their jobs. Numerous states have gone into lockdown to stem the spread of COVID-19, and more than 150,000 Americans have died from the virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. The Dow dropped by more than 500 points on the news.
The report “just highlights how deep and dark the hole is that the economy cratered into in Q2,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, told <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/30/us-gdp-q2-2020-first-reading.html">CNBC</a>. “It’s a very deep and dark hole and we’re coming out of it, but it’s going to take a long time to get out.”
Tim Murtaugh, Trump 2020 communications director, said, &#8220;These economic numbers reflect April through June, when much of the economy was essentially closed down to save millions of American lives. The media is also grabbing onto the annualized number which supposes that the economic conditions will remain the same for an entire year, which it undoubtedly will not.&#8221;
Murtaugh also took a swipe at Joe Biden, saying that he &#8220;oversaw the worst economic recovery since the Great Depression, supported disastrous trade deals, promoted China’s economic advancement, and now promises to raise taxes on more than 80 percent of taxpayers and strangle job creation with the Green New Deal. To be clear, good news for Americans is bad news for Joe Biden, which is a pathetic position to be in for someone running for President of the United States.&#8221;
Still, the news was bad across the board. &#8220;Sharp contractions in personal consumption, exports, inventories, investment and spending by state and local governments converged to bring down GDP, which is the combined tally of all goods and services produced during the period,&#8221; CNBC wrote. &#8220;Personal consumption, which historically has accounted for about two-thirds of all activity in the U.S., subtracted 25% from the Q2 total, with services accounting for nearly all that drop.&#8221;
With millions of Americans staying in their homes and with restaurants, bars, movie theaters, and many businesses closed, consumer spending dropped at an annual rate of 34.6%. Business investment and home purchases also dropped sharply, with investment spending plunging 27% and residential housing plummeting 38.7%.
Andrew Hunter, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said the plunge in GDP “underscores the unprecedented hit to the economy from the pandemic.&#8221;
“We expect it will take years for that damage to be fully recovered,&#8221; he told The <a href="https://apnews.com/c1878e580f5acd2c0305e5236c4e3197">Associated Press</a>.
But not all spending dropped. While state and local government spending slipped at an annual rate of 5.6%, overall government spending increased 2.7%, with federal government spending rising 17.4%.
And personal income rose, powered in part by the $2 trillion stimulus package passed by Congress, which delivered $1,200 payments to millions of Americans. &#8220;Current-dollar personal income rose more than six-fold to $1.39 trillion, while disposable personal income shot up 42.1% to $1.53 trillion,&#8221; CNBC reported.
But throughout the pandemic, more than 40 million people lost their jobs, and the unemployment rate peaked at 14.7%, the highest since the Great Depression. More than 1 million people have applied for unemployment benefits for 19 weeks in a row, and the recovery has been slower than expected, with about a third of the lost jobs having been recovered.
“Bottom line, the numbers of course are alarming but all self inflicted with about half the quarter reflecting almost full shutdown and the other half the slow reopening,” Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at the Bleakley Advisory Group told CNBC. “That said, it does reflect the hole out of which we now need to climb out of as we rebound in Q3 and Q4.”
This article and its title have been revised to clarify that the nearly 33% drop is in terms of an annualized rate.
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Arrow going down and question mark and man stopping it

U.S. Economy Implodes, Shrinking At Record-Breaking 33% Annualized Rate Last Quarter

Coronavirus

Federal lawmakers have approved the expenditure of trillions of dollars in taxpayer cash to shore up the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
With all that money pouring out — a trillion dollars in one-dollar bills stacked up would reach <a href="https://www.ehd.org/science_technology_largenumbers.php#:~:text=The%20height%20of%20a%20stack%20of%201%2C000%2C000%2C000%2C000%20(one%20trillion)%20one,dollar%20bills%20measures%206%2C786%2C616%20miles.">67,866 miles high</a>, more than a quarter of the way to the moon — how to oversee who got what is clearly a problem.
But the feds are apparently watching closely.
On Monday, a Florida man was arrested, with federal prosecutors saying he “fraudulently” obtained $3.9 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, which set aside at least $650 billion to help small businesses. It gets worse: He allegedly used some of the money to buy a Lamborghini sports car for more than $300,000.
David Hines, 29, of Miami, has been charged with bank fraud, making false statements to a financial institution and engaging in transactions in unlawful proceeds, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced in a <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/florida-man-who-used-covid-relief-funds-purchase-lamborghini-sports-car-charged-miami-federal">press release</a> on Monday.
<blockquote>The complaint alleges that Hines sought approximately $13.5 million in PPP loans through applications to an insured financial institution on behalf of different companies.  The complaint alleges that Hines caused to be submitted fraudulent loan applications that made numerous false and misleading statements about the companies’ respective payroll expenses.  The financial institution approved and funded approximately $3.9 million in loans.
The complaint further alleges that within days of receiving the PPP funds, Hines purchased a 2020 Lamborghini Huracan sports car for approximately $318,000, which he registered jointly in his name and the name of one of his companies.  In the days and weeks following the disbursement of PPP funds, the complaint alleges that Hines did not make payroll payments that he claimed on his loan applications.  He did, however, make purchases at luxury retailers and resorts in Miami Beach.</blockquote>
PPP loans are allowed for qualifying small businesses and other organizations, but they must use the loans for payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent and utilities.  &#8220;The PPP allows the interest and principal to be forgiven if businesses spend the proceeds on these expenses within a set time period and use at least a certain percentage of the loan towards payroll expenses,&#8221; the DOJ said.
In his loan applications, Hines said the money would be spent on at least 70 employees with a monthly payroll of $4 million, the DOJ said. But then he allegedly spent thousands of dollars on dating websites, jewelry and clothes, as well as stays at posh hotels in Miami Beach, the complaint said.
Federal investigators linked the sports car to Hines after he was involved in a hit-and-run incident on July 11, <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article244517772.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Miami Herald</a> reported.
&#8220;Miami police impounded his car, and now prosecutors plan to seize it,&#8221; The Herald reported. &#8220;Hines, 29, held over the weekend at the Federal Detention Center, was granted a $100,000 bond by Magistrate Judge John O’Sullivan and will be allowed to stay at his mother’s home with a GPS monitor. His defense attorney, Chad Piotrowski, declined to comment after Monday’s hearing. Hines’ arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 14.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/twitter-facebook-delete-viral-video-promoted-by-trump-on-covid-19-and-hydroxychloroquine">Twitter, Facebook Delete Viral Video Promoted By Trump On COVID-19 And Hydroxychloroquine</a>
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

The Lamborghini Huracan Spyder

Florida Man Charged With Using COVID Stimulus Funds To Buy $300,000 Lamborghini

COVID-19

Florida

Poll after poll has revealed a significant shift occurring in public perception over the last few decades, a shift that has become impossible to ignore in the Era of Trump. As mainstream media figures increasingly embrace activism over journalism, Americans’ trust in the media has crumbled. Formerly unimpeachable outlets are now viewed with deep skepticism — and in this Texas Sen. Ted Cruz sees an opportunity to advance conservatism.
The second-term senator, 2016 Republican presidential candidate, and best-selling author of “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Time-Truth-Reigniting-Promise-America/dp/0062365614">A Time for Truth</a>” spoke candidly about pushing back against the forceful current of the media’s leftist agenda during a June 2019 interview with Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro.
“One of the great virtues of the age of Trump,” Cruz told Shapiro, is that “fake news has been exposed.”  
“Do you remember a few years ago people [would say], ‘Oh the news isn’t biased’? Nobody argues that anymore,” said the senator. The establishment media has become “so plainly unhinged,” he said. “You watch these reporters foaming at the mouth, you watch these networks — they hate Trump so much.” 
While Cruz and Shapiro agree that President Trump falls short on a number of accounts and both have leveled their fair share of criticism against him, the degree to which the mainstream media has targeted Trump has been “revealing,” said Cruz.
The “naked, irrational hatred of the Media Left directed at Trump,” he said, is “revealing of who they are.” 
“They are full-on partisans,” the senator said, promoting a party that is “a throwback to old and failed ideas.” 
“They will put on the hat and they will cheer for whatever leftist Democratic nominee, and they will do everything they can to collate the information and to pitch a propaganda war. For those of us who value freedom, we’ve got to counteract that,” Cruz told Shapiro. 
The big question, the senator stressed, is how to speak truth in the face of such an overwhelming media bombardment — how does one get past the “gatekeepers” and reach voters with the logic of conserative policy and values?
“The media doesn’t want any of those messages to get across,” he said. “And so that means it’s our jobs. And we’ve got to do it in ways that get around the gatekeeper.”
<div id="attachment_130738" style="width: 1370px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-130738" class="wp-image-130738 size-expanded-portrait" src="https://editorial.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Ted-Cruz-Portrait-compressed-1360x2040.jpg" alt="Ted Cruz" width="1360" height="2040" />Photo by Gregory Woodman</div>
This effort, Cruz understands from personal experience, requires persistence because, as he put it, “it is a virtue of politics and the media to get whacked in the head with a stick and keep on going.”
The Texas Senator has often had a target on his back, notably during the 2016 GOP Presidential Election, when he found himself engaged in a two-front battle with both the left-wing media and the man who would go on to win it all, Trump. 
“Did I like what Trump said in the primary? No,” Cruz admitted. “That being said, he’s not the first person to throw attacks at me, and he won’t be the last person.”
But of course political stamina is not enough on its own. A movement has to have a message — and the message of conservatism, Cruz argued, is broadly appealing: “faith, family, patriotism, and hard work.”
That message also has to have practical, political applications. Conservatism, Cruz contends, provides just that, offering limited government solutions to the nation’s biggest problems.
“The tax cuts, and [regulatory] reform is a big, big part of solving the problem,” said Cruz, “and I think beyond that we need structural solutions.”
Among those solutions, Cruz suggested, is implementing term limits. “I’m a passionate advocate for term limits because it structurally changes how Washington works,” said Cruz. 
The senator’s stance on term limits has only strengthened since his time in office. 
He explained to Shapiro, “I used to be a supporter of term limits until I got in the Senate. And now, I&#8217;m a thousand times more a supporter of term limits.” This, Cruz said, is because he has come face-to-face with the uncomfortable fact that politics is “Hollywood for ugly people.”
“I don’t think [the current system] recognizes the reality of the political process today,” Cruz said. “Number one, there are massive advantages with incumbency — incumbency in terms of free media, in terms of money, in terms of infrastructure. Because what I’ve seen, the dominant instinct, Ben, in the Senate, and it’s true in the House also, is risk-aversion.”
He continued, “You know there’s an old joke that politics is Hollywood for ugly people. There’s enormous truth to that. You’ve got old, fat, bald guys who were the unpopular kids in high school, who suddenly get elected to Congress and they go to a cocktail party and they&#8217;re handsome and they’re witty and they tell a joke and everyone laughs. And it becomes like a narcotic. And what happens is incumbent members of Congress, their dominant focus is ‘I must get re-elected no matter what.’”
<div id="attachment_130635" style="width: 1810px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-130635" class="wp-image-130635 size-expanded-landscape" src="https://editorial.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Ted-Cruz-1-1800x1200.jpg" alt="Ted Cruz" width="1800" height="1200" />Photo by Gregory Woodman</div>
The result of limiting terms would be fresh minds and fresh faces who are more “responsive to the people because the elected officials are not just obsessed with staying there for life.”
Senator Cruz also thinks it&#8217;s time to stop the runaway train of entitlements.
Entitlements, particularly Social Security, are in the “no-touch” zone for most leaders in Washington, including Trump during his first four years in office. But for Cruz, addressing these bloated programs is “critical to the solution.”
“I think what politicians in Washington are doing right now is irresponsible, both parties, because they’re allowing Social Security to careen towards insolvency,” said the senator.
Now, as Cruz points out, is an ideal time to make some of these “structural” changes. According to a <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/18/millennials-dont-plan-on-relying-on-social-security-in-retirement.html">2019 poll</a>, only 13% of millennials are expecting to use Social Security for retirement and more than 70% of people of all ages are worried it won’t be there when they need it. 
Cruz’s answer to the looming disaster is a comprehensive, four-step plan that involves adjusting benefits for the upcoming generation but not changing the plan for seniors who are heavily reliant on it. “We need to honor those promises,” said Cruz.
In the end, if conservatives want to see substantive progress, it will take conviction and commitment.
“We need to have the same focus, the same zealotry for freedom that the Left has for government,” said Cruz. “That&#8217;s the fundamental fight.”
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/sunday-special-ep-54-ted-cruz">Watch Cruz’s full interview with Shapiro</a>.

Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz On ‘The Fundamental Fight’

Ben Shapiro

Conservatism

Social Security

Is the United States, at any level of government, trying to get daily life for Americans back to normal as quickly as possible? Because it doesn’t look like it.
Canada, Germany, France, and Britain – comparable, advanced Western nations who were also caught unprepared – have broadly reopened and new daily cases and new daily deaths are trending down.
In the U.S., concern over rising cases* is leading to reinstituting lockdowns (California), rolling back re-openings (Texas), and generally slowing down the crawl towards normalcy.
Our public health more closely resembles Brazil and Mexico than Canada or England, which, sorry Brazil and Mexico, is a red flag.
What’s the big deal, you may be asking. The more cases we have, the closer we are to herd immunity.
But I think aiming for herd immunity is likely the wrong way to think about our current problem. You can read more about that <a href="https://twitter.com/thejaredsichel/status/1283555647858946050?s=20">here</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/tatereeves/status/1282783825219682304">here</a>.
The status quo, though, is also unacceptable. I’ve been severely critical of the lockdowns from the beginning (see <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sichel-how-much-damage-are-the-lockdowns-causing">here</a>, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sichel-either-we-wait-for-a-vaccine-or-we-turn-the-lights-on-now">here</a>, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sichel-before-you-have-an-opinion-on-coronavirus-ask-yourself-these-questions">here</a>). There is no economic or social predictability right now. Open up with tons of restrictions, more infections, lock down again, wait, wait, wait, open up again. And on and on. It’s Groundhog Day governance, and it gets harder and harder to maintain because we become fatigued and resigned.
When lockdowns end, cases rise dramatically – even with social distancing and masks – until there’s another lockdown. It buys time, but not much else.
What if we had a plan that allowed society to be mostly or even entirely normal, that kept new daily case counts very low, that got easier and easier to maintain over time, and would, at worst, require occasional moderate restrictions, but nothing like what we’ve experienced since March?
The <a href="https://medium.com/@yochananrivkin/we-are-failing-at-covid-19-but-we-can-easily-succeed-321814f8bd18">idea</a> I’m going to throw out there is not mine. It’s from a smart friend, and I can’t un-see it.
The only science-y concept you need to know to understand this plan is Rt. That measures how transmissible the virus is in any given area. Rt can go up or down, depending on many factors, one of which is social distancing. When Rt is above 1, the virus spreads quickly. When it’s below 1, it dies quickly.
To illustrate how close we could be to getting rid of COVID-19 in California, and in every state really: if California reduces Rt from its current estimate 1.05 to 0.50, and keeps it around 0.50, the virus could be completely gone by Labor Day. That math also works for Florida and Texas.
That’s less of a reduction in transmissibility than California had from March to April during its first lockdown. So it’s doable.
But for this to work, California, and every state, needs to be able to prevent the virus from spreading again when restrictions are eased.
How?
A voluntary, cash-incentive program that encourages everyone who was recently in close contact with someone who has COVID-19 to get tested right away, and to voluntarily self-quarantine until they receive a negative test result. This would need to include an abundance of test kits and enough lab infrastructure and techs so that results can be processed and communicated quickly, ideally within 24 hours.
The federal government would need to underwrite this – billions of dollars for the cash incentives, for the testing infrastructure, and for a huge public messaging campaign. Billions of dollars is nothing when the economic cost of shutting down every few weeks is trillions of dollars.
And this wouldn’t be a band aid, like Congress’s $2 trillion CARES Act. It could be a solution.
Here’s how one version of this could work: Let’s say I saw a friend yesterday. Today, he tells me that two nights ago he was at a bar, and the bar just posted on Instagram that one of its patrons two nights ago tested positive for COVID-19. My friend says he tested positive, and that he was paid $30 to test, and will be paid $30 for each day he quarantines until a test result comes back negative, and another $10 if I get a test.
I get a test, get paid $30, stay home the next day to wait for results, another $30, test comes back positive, I’m home for two weeks, making $30 a day, and another $10 for every possibly infected contact of mine who gets tested.
How would a local government know if someone who tested positive is self-quarantining? Each city or state could devise its own plan. Maybe set up comfortable quarantine hotels where people could voluntarily live for a couple weeks. Give people the option of downloading an app. Or just trust people to do the right thing.
Would some people scam the system? Of course. The CARES Act will likely pay out billions of dollars in fraudulent claims. There’s always fraud.
But Americans are eager for life to return to normal. Most people who test positive would self-quarantine. Most people would not scam the system. And as positive tests trend down, there would be fewer opportunities for fraud, anyways. Also, this idea doesn’t require 100% compliance to work. As long as enough infected people test early and quarantine early, the virus could quickly die out.
There would need to be tons of PSAs, all over TV, podcasts, internet. Everywhere. Runny nose? Get tested, stay home for a day or two, let your close contacts know, we’ll pay you. We’ll pay them. Something like that.
If enough people who should test and self-quarantine do so early, and if you could sufficiently reduce Rt – maybe with no restrictions, maybe with modest restrictions – maybe the virus goes away and stays away, if you don’t let up.
You don’t have to cut off every infection, not even close. You just have to cut off enough to keep Rt low. And every infection you prevent through voluntary testing, contact-tracing, and self-quarantine – voluntary inconveniences that make you money –  is one less infection you need to cut off through masks, social distancing, and lockdowns – forced restrictions that harm society. And as cases get lower and lower, maintaining this type of program gets easier and easier.
But right now, there are lots of reasons to not get tested even if you probably should. Los Angeles promises free tests to anyone who wants. I know someone who was tested two weeks ago and still has not received the result. And that was after having to wait three days to even schedule a test that was a 30-minute drive away and took two hours to complete.
Meanwhile <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/quarantine.html">CDC guidelines</a> advise anyone who has been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19 to self-quarantine for 14 days, even if they test negative.
Yes, <a href="https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-1495#s1-M201495">false negatives</a> are definitely a thing. So on an individual level, the prudent thing to do, especially if you’re in close contact with someone who’s at-risk, may be to self-quarantine even if you test negative.
But at a societal level, in the real-world, if you want tons of people who should get tested to get tested quickly, make it easy and give them money.
None of this involves coercion or Chinese-style tracer phone apps. It is entirely voluntary, and thus American.
If something like this idea worked in Los Angeles (or anywhere), we could maybe have Dodgers games, concerts, and no masks in 7 or 8 weeks.
And if we kept the system going, the government could spot a possible outbreak before it got too late. Maybe close down large gatherings for a week or two, and then open back up. Nothing nearly as destructive as what has happened since March, and what will continue to happen unless we pivot or get lucky.
Could something like this idea be the quickest path to a full re-opening? Maybe. And it doesn’t violate our basic liberties. The same can’t be said for the diktats issued since March by so many power-drunk and clueless governors and mayors.
What we’re doing now is not working. We have to try something new. As California locks down again, and as more states move in that direction, there’s an opportunity to do something useful with this bought time, there’s an opportunity to take advantage of the fact that daily case counts could be very low within a few weeks – there could be an opportunity to set up a program that would minimize the likelihood of a third lockdown.
And the White House and federal government need to step up. States and cities don’t have the resources to build something like this.
Our leaders owe us a credible plan that could make America look like America again. If they don’t offer one soon, it may not.
***
In the U.S., for the past two weeks, every day there have been between 40,000 and 60,000 new confirmed cases, which, because we catch probably somewhere between 1 out of 3 and 1 out of 5 infections, translates to something like 120,000 – 180,000 infections daily (using the 1 out of 3 ratio). This is far lower than the likely peaks in March and April, which were probably something like 400,000 new infections every day. But still not great.
Disclaimer: Every number referenced in this article except for current and past confirmed cases and deaths is based on current best estimates, and thus subject to change.
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Re-opening Continues Across Densely Populated New York And New Jersey Areas

SICHEL: We Need To Solve COVID. Here’s An American Idea.

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden came out Thursday with a new plan to &#8220;Buy American.&#8221;
President Trump came out Friday and said Biden stole the plan from him.
“He plagiarized from me but he can never pull it off,&#8221; the president told reporters at the White House just before he took off aboard Marine One en route to Florida. &#8220;He likes plagiarizing. It’s a plan that is very radical left but he says the right things because he’s copying what I’ve done. But the difference is he can’t do it, and he knows he’s not doing that.”
Trump also said that while he&#8217;s spent the last three years stripping away federal regulations, Biden would enact new ones.
“He can’t do the same because he’s raising taxes way too much; he’s raising everybody’s taxes. He’s also putting tremendous amounts of regulations back on, and those two things are two primary reasons that I created the greatest economy we’ve ever had and now we’re creating it again,&#8221; Trump said.
Biden on Thursday rolled out a $700 billion economic plan that would spend $400 billion on a federal “Buy American” project, as well as $300 billion on research and development of technologies such as electric vehicles, 5G cellular networks and artificial intelligence. The &#8220;Buy American&#8221; plan would create at least 5 million new jobs in &#8220;manufacturing and innovation,&#8221; according to an outline provided by the campaign, which touted the “largest mobilization of public investments in procurement, infrastructure and [research and development] since the second world war.&#8221;
The former vice president is well aware that Trump&#8217;s major strength is the economy, at least before the coronavirus swept the nation and cost more than 40 million Americans their jobs. Biden&#8217;s plan, dubbed “Build Back Better,” is an effort to hit Trump directly on his strongest issue.
But even <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/09/us/politics/biden-buy-american.html">The New York Times</a> acknowledged that Trump has long pushed the &#8220;Buy American&#8221; idea.
&#8220;In some ways, Mr. Biden was seizing the &#8216;Buy American&#8217; message from Mr. Trump himself, who campaigned on an &#8216;America First&#8217; agenda in 2016 and wrote on Twitter on his Inauguration Day that &#8216;Buy American&#8217; and &#8216;Hire American&#8217; were &#8216;two simple rules&#8217; that would guide his administration,&#8221; the Times wrote Friday.
Biden unveiled his plan while giving a speech at a metalworks factory in Dunmore, PA, not far from his childhood home of Scranton, where he stopped and took a knee in front of his boyhood home.
“I do not buy for one second that the vitality of American manufacturing is a thing of the past,” Biden said in his speech. &#8220;When the federal government spends taxpayers’ money, we should use it to buy American products and support American jobs,” Biden said.
Biden also took aim at Trump.
“Throughout this crisis, Donald Trump has been almost singularly focused on the stock market, the Dow, the Nasdaq – not you, not your families,” he said. “If I am fortunate enough to be elected president, I’ll be laser-focused on working families.”
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Presidential Candidate Joe Biden Delivers Remarks In Pennsylvania

Trump Says Biden Plagiarized His ‘Buy American’ Agenda

Donald Trump

Joe Biden

The coffee and doughnut chain Dunkin&#8217; will be permanently closing 450 stores by the end of 2020.
According to <a href="https://www.today.com/food/dunkin-donuts-closes-all-450-locations-nationwide-t185733">Today Food</a>, the closing Dunkin&#8217; locations will be the ones located inside Speedway gas stations, not free-standing brick and mortar restaurants, and &#8220;follows the termination of the coffee chain&#8217;s partnership with Hess, which was acquired by Speedway in 2014.&#8221;
In a statement, Kate Jaspon, Dunkin&#8217;s chief financial officer, said the closures will help support the chain&#8217;s focus on standalone cafes. The Speedway locations were typically smaller and located mainly on the East Coast.
&#8220;These points of distribution are lower volume units, in total representing less than 0.5% of Dunkin’ U.S. annual systemwide sales in 2019,&#8221; she said.
&#8220;By exiting these sites, we are confident we will be better positioned to serve these trade areas with Dunkin’s newest Next Generation restaurant design that offers a broader menu and modern experience,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;We also remain committed to growing our presence in gas and convenience locations, as well as other non-traditional locations, including airports, universities, travel plazas and military installations.&#8221;
The company underwent significant changes earlier this year when it dropped the famed &#8220;Donuts&#8221; from its title as the company sought to become a more standard coffee shop with donut options.
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&#8220;Since then, the company has undergone some significant initiatives that included <a class=" vilynx_listened" href="https://www.today.com/food/dunkin-s-classic-brewed-coffee-getting-makeover-year-t174052" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">installing new espresso machines</a>, ditching styrofoam and selling most of its coffee beverages in more eco-friendly cups and adding plant-based proteins to its breakfast sandwiches,&#8221; reported Today Food.
Though the company made no mention of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dunkin&#8217; closures follow a pattern of other chain businesses that have either had to close locations, downsize staff, or shutdown permanently due to the frozen economic activity.
Three months after the shutdown, reports surfaced that the pizza and arcade franchise Chuck E. Cheese would soon be filing for bankruptcy to offset the massive losses it has incurred. According to <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/after-news-bankruptcy-whats-next-chuck-e-cheese-1511249">Newsweek, </a>the franchise, owned by CEC Entertainment, is now nearly $1 billion in debt with 527 locations in 47 states.
In May, the popular buffet chain Souplantation, known as Sweet Tomatoes outside of Southern California, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/popular-buffet-chain-souplantation-sweet-tomatoes-closes-permanently-due-to-covid-19">regretfully announced</a> it will be closing all locations permanently due to the pandemic.
“The FDA had previously put out recommendations that included discontinuing self-serve stations, like self-serve beverages in fast food, but they specifically talked about salad bars and buffets,” Garden Fresh CEO John Haywood told the San Diego Tribune. “The regulations are understandable, but unfortunately, it makes it very difficult to reopen. And I’m not sure the health departments are ever going to allow it.
Following Souplantation’s unfortunate announcement, the fast-food chain Steak N Shake <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fast-food-chain-steak-n-shake-closes-10-of-locations-permanently-due-to-shutdowns">announced</a> it would be closing 10% of its locations due to the shutdowns.
In March, the National Restaurant Association <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/national-restaurant-association-11-of-restaurants-could-be-lost-in-pandemic">predicted that 11%</a> of restaurants could be closing permanently. Hudson Riehle, the Association’s senior vice president of research, said the data shows the industry is in “uncharted territory.”
“Association research found that 54% of operators made the switch to all off-premises services; 44% have had to temporarily close down. This is uncharted territory,” said Riehle. “The industry has never experienced anything like this before.”
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Business Signage

Dunkin’ Will Permanently Close 450 Stores

food

Newly released statistics on Thursday showed that the U.S. economy regained 4.8 million jobs in June and that the unemployment rate fell from 13.3% to 11.1% as the country continues to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
“These improvements in the labor market reflected the continued resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed in March and April due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and efforts to contain it,” the Bureau of Labor Statistics <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf">said</a> in a statement. “In June, employment in leisure and hospitality rose sharply. Notable job gains also occurred in retail trade, education and health services, other services, manufacturing, and professional and business services.”
According to the report, black unemployment dropped from 16.8% to 15.4% and Latino unemployment dropped from 17.6% to 14.5%.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Nonfarm payroll employment rises by 4.8 million in June; unemployment rate falls to 11.1% <a href="https://t.co/1Y9cSWJUIB">https://t.co/1Y9cSWJUIB</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JobsReport?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JobsReport</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BLSdata?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BLSdata</a>
&mdash; BLS-Labor Statistics (@BLS_gov) <a href="https://twitter.com/BLS_gov/status/1278667348363423746?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 2, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“We’re in the beginning of a slow recovery,” Marianne Wanamaker, a labor economist at the University of Tennessee, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/june-jobs-report-coronavirus-2020-11593651420">told</a> The Wall Street Journal. “I think the recovery will stall out if we don’t get control of the virus.”
While things are looking up, some economists were quick to caution that the U.S. was not out of woods yet in terms of being in a dire economic environment caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
“The big picture is this is still an emergency,” Lisa Cook, economics professor at Michigan State University, told The Wall Street Journal. “There are small businesses and other businesses that are permanently closing.”
The Labor Department report highlighted the following key statistics:
<blockquote>The unemployment rate declined by 2.2 percentage points to 11.1 percent in June, and the number of unemployed persons fell by 3.2 million to 17.8 million. Although unemployment fell in May and June, the jobless rate and the number of unemployed are up by 7.6 percentage points and 12.0 million, respectively, since February. &#8230;
The number of unemployed persons who were on temporary layoff decreased by 4.8 million in June to 10.6 million, following a decline of 2.7 million in May. The number of permanent job losers continued to rise, increasing by 588,000 to 2.9 million in June. The number of unemployed reentrants to the labor force rose by 711,000 to 2.4 million.
The number of unemployed persons who were jobless less than 5 weeks declined by 1.0 million to 2.8 million in June. Unemployed persons who were jobless 5 to 14 weeks numbered 11.5 million, down by 3.3 million over the month, and accounted for 65.2 percent of the unemployed. By contrast, the number of persons jobless 15 to 26 weeks and the long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) saw over-the-month increases (+825,000 to 1.9 million and +227,000 to 1.4 million, respectively).</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
According to the BLS Report:
Black unemployment went down from 16.8% to 15.4%.
Hispanic unemployment went down from 17.6% to 14.5%.<a href="https://t.co/REn5XkkUrS">https://t.co/REn5XkkUrS</a><a href="https://t.co/RcD6Px3uLT">https://t.co/RcD6Px3uLT</a>
&mdash; Giancarlo Sopo (@GiancarloSopo) <a href="https://twitter.com/GiancarloSopo/status/1278672212136996866?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 2, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
MSNBC&#8217;s Steve Ratter, who used to work in the Obama administration, responded to the jobs report by saying in part, &#8220;There&#8217;s no other way to look at this but as good news and we all of course want good news. Economists have had a particularly difficult time in forecasting numbers, including jobless numbers as we saw last month, they got a bit closer this month, but there were surprises to the upside. Getting the unemployment rate down to 11% is definitely better than any of us expected.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
MSNBC&#39;s Steve Rattner on June&#39;s jobs report: 
&quot;There&#39;s no other way to look at this but as good news&#8230;getting the unemployment rate down to 11% is definitely better than any of us expected.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/DuFWspCHww">pic.twitter.com/DuFWspCHww</a>
&mdash; Francis Brennan (@FrancisBrennan) <a href="https://twitter.com/FrancisBrennan/status/1278670815748337664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 2, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&nbsp;
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers with the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe"> member</a>.

US-POLITICS-TRUMP

Jobs Report Shows U.S. Economy Roaring Back; 4.8 Million Jobs Created In June, Unemployment Rate Falls 2.2%

The Republican National Committee (RNC) launched a new digital ad blitz on Wednesday to highlight one of the signature victories of President Donald Trump&#8217;s first term in office, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade agreement, which goes into effect today.
The USMCA was signed into law earlier this year as a replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
&#8220;As part of its ongoing digital blitz between now and Election Day, the RNC and Trump campaign committees are launching a digital ad buy and using other digital tools, such as texting, to promote the implementation of the USMCA,&#8221; a source at the RNC told The Daily Wire. &#8220;These ads will reach voters in 17 target states and generate hundreds of millions of impressions to spread the word about the benefits of the USMCA, the boost it will give to the economy, and President Trump’s &#8216;Promises Made, Promises Kept&#8217; agenda. This latest blitz is part of a seven figure economy-focused nationwide buy.&#8221;
The ad is set to air in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
The RNC source said that the party is going to be hitting those key states in the run up to the election by contrasting Trump&#8217;s record on fighting for trade deals that advocate for the American worker with the &#8220;failed trade policies that Joe Biden supported.&#8221;
&#8220;As more of his ‘Promises Made, Promises Kept’ agenda, President Trump has righted the wrongs of decades of failed trade deals, helping to ignite the Great American Comeback and creating hundreds of thousands of jobs for American farmers, workers and manufacturers,&#8221; RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement. &#8220;The contrast between the America-First trade policies championed by President Trump and those supported by Joe Biden in his 40-plus years as a career politician in Washington could not be greater. The USMCA is a win for American workers, and a win for this country.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The Republican National Committee (RNC) releases a new digital ad highlighting the Trump administration&#39;s success in securing the USMCA trade deal
The USMCA goes into effect today. <a href="https://t.co/W2jGBbEeGz">pic.twitter.com/W2jGBbEeGz</a>
&mdash; Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealSaavedra/status/1278283780856270849?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives gave Trump a major win last December when they passed the USMCA after passing articles of impeachment against the president. The move came after Democrats had dragged their feet in getting the USMCA passed.
The new trade deal, which was a signature promise that Trump made when he was running for office in 2016, delivered &#8220;stronger protections for workers and the digital economy, expanded markets for American farmers and new rules to encourage auto manufacturing in North America,&#8221; The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/29/business/economy/usmca-trump.html">reported</a>. &#8220;The deal will restore certainty about the direction of the North American economy for the multitude of companies that depend on the rules to carry out their businesses.&#8221;
“Today we are finally ending the NAFTA nightmare and signing into law the brand-new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement,” Trump said during the signing ceremony in January. “For the first time in American history, we have replaced a disastrous trade deal that rewarded outsourcing with a truly fair and reciprocal trade deal that will keep jobs, wealth and growth right here in America.”
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WATCH: RNC Launches New Digital Ad On Key Trump Achievement, USMCA Trade Deal, Which Goes Into Effect Today

2020 Election

Republican National Committee (RNC)

Trump Administration

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is pushing government officials and school administrators to allow students to return to class in the fall despite the coronavirus.
The AAP said in a Monday <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/notable-quotable-american-academy-of-pediatrics-11593469707">statement</a> that the cost to children of keeping them separated from school and their classmates may be worse than the disease and lead to abuse, drug use, and even suicide.
<blockquote>The AAP strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of having students physically present in school. The importance of inperson learning is well-documented, and there is already evidence of the negative impacts on children because of school closures in the spring of 2020. Lengthy time away from school and associated interruption of supportive services often results in social isolation, making it difficult for schools to identify and address important learning deficits as well as child and adolescent physical or sexual abuse, substance use, depression, and suicidal ideation. This, in turn, places children and adolescents at considerable risk of morbidity and, in some cases, mortality.</blockquote>
The child health professionals noted that keeping children from in-class instruction has already had a “substantial impact” on students’ physical health and nutrition, as miss consistent exercise and school meals. As for the threat of the pandemic, the AAP said that the coronavirus is much less dangerous to younger people, and students with healthy immune systems are less likely to spread the disease further, especially if precautions are taken such as wearing face masks in class.
<blockquote>SARS-CoV-2 appears to behave differently in children and adolescents than other common respiratory viruses, such as influenza, on which much of the current guidance regarding school closures is based. Although children and adolescents play a major role in amplifying influenza outbreaks, to date, this does not appear to be the case with SARS-CoV-2. Although many questions remain, the preponderance of evidence indicates that children and adolescents are less likely to be symptomatic and less likely to have severe disease resulting from SARS-CoV-2 infection. In addition, children may be less likely to become infected and to spread infection.</blockquote>
The number of coronavirus cases across states such as California, Florida, and Texas are beginning to rise as states have begun to exit lockdowns, orders that have generally coincided with mass protests that began after Memorial Day across the country. Some states have begun to backtrack on reopening and close down businesses, such as bars, that were recently allowed to restart operations.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/29/us/coronavirus-florida-texas-bars-second-shutdown/index.html">ordered</a> bars again after allowing the businesses to reopen. The governor <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politics/100000007212734/florida-governor-coronavirus.html">said</a> last week that while cases are spiking across the state, fatality rates are not seeing a similar upswing because the new cases are largely in younger people who are less vulnerable to the virus and more likely to socialize as restrictions are relaxed.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fauci-coronavirus-vaccine-unlikely-to-achieve-herd-immunity-because-of-anti-vaxxers">Fauci: Coronavirus Vaccine ‘Unlikely’ To Achieve Herd Immunity Because Of Anti-Vaxxers</a>
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Kindergarten Zoom Class

American Academy of Pediatrics: Get Students Back To School In The Fall

California

Texas

Rolling Stone recently reached out to over a dozen famous names in the music industry to get their take on returning to the stage amid ongoing fears about COVID-19 and got a wide range of responses, including some saying they aren&#8217;t willing to die &#8220;for Trump&#8221; and others speaking candidly about the &#8220;disastrous&#8221; impact on the industry from the lockdowns. The most &#8220;radical&#8221; case for playing shows again, vaccine or no vaccine, was former Van Halen lead singer Sammy Hagar.
In a quote that has created some buzz online, Hagar, 72, said he&#8217;s all in for reopening concerts without a vaccine because if we don&#8217;t save the economy, we are &#8220;going to kill more people in the long run.&#8221;
&#8220;I’ll be comfortable playing a show before there’s a vaccine, if it’s declining and seems to be going away,&#8221; Hagar told <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/veteran-touring-artists-on-life-without-concerts-1015398/">Rolling Stone</a>.
&#8220;I’m going to make a radical statement here,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;This is hard to say without stirring somebody up, but truthfully, I’d rather personally get sick and even die, if that’s what it takes.&#8221;
&#8220;We have to save the world and this country from this economic thing that’s going to kill more people in the long run,&#8221; he explained. &#8220;I would rather see everyone go back to work.&#8221;
&#8220;If some of us have to sacrifice on that, OK,&#8221; he added. &#8220;I will die for my children and my grandchildren to have a life anywhere close to the life that I had in this wonderful country. That’s just the way that I feel about it. I’m not going to go around spreading the disease. But there may be a time where we have to sacrifice. I mean, how many people die on the Earth <a id="auto-tag_earth" href="https://www.rollingstone.com/t/earth/" data-tag="earth"></a>every day? I have no idea.&#8221;
&#8220;I’m sorry to say it, but we all gotta die, man,&#8221; he concluded.
Creedence Clearwater Revival founder John Fogerty, 75, had a far different response, telling Rolling Stone that &#8220;coronavirus is so real and so scary and life-threatening&#8221; and that he&#8217;s &#8220;not dying for Donald Trump&#8221; or the economy.
&#8220;I don’t think any of us will really be ready until after we have a vaccine and people feel safe again,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I’m an older person, and a lot of people my age have died. Maybe some other guy thinks it’s a good idea, but I’m not dying for Donald Trump. I’m not dying for the economy.&#8221;
Crosby, Stills &amp; Nash&#8217;s David Crosby, 78, also spoke with the magazine and got raw about how personally damaging the lockdowns have been.
&#8220;I’m not making any money from anywhere and [my house] is in jeopardy,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I’m not whining about it, though — it’s what we have to do, or we can’t beat the coronavirus. But I don’t think most people know what it’s done to the music business. It’s everyone that I know. They’re completely out of work, and a lot of them don’t make a lot of money.&#8221;
Those believing that all rockers are coasting through the crisis, he suggested, don&#8217;t understand the reality of most of their lives. &#8220;It’s a godd*mn disaster,&#8221; he said. For him personally, as an older musician, taking a year-long break is &#8220;a b*tch,&#8221; he said.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Sammy Hagar

Sammy Hagar: Willing To ‘Personally Get Sick And Even Die’ To Save Economy

Music

Retail sales had an incredible rebound in May, according to economic experts, charging up 17.7% as stores and other businesses reopened following coronavirus-related lockdowns.
The Trump administration has been touting a possible &#8220;v-shaped&#8221; economic recovery for weeks as initial unemployment claims have begun to taper off and Americans leave their homes and re-enter society for the first time following months of pandemic-related isolation. Many key economic indicators are beating expert projections, leading the White House to suggest that the American economy may be swiftly bouncing back from its sudden &#8212; but largely unavoidable &#8212; recession.
&#8220;Retail sales shattered already-lofty expectations for May as consumers freed from the coronavirus-induced lockdowns began shopping again,&#8221; <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/16/us-retail-sales-may-2020.html">CNBC reported Tuesday</a>. &#8220;The 17.7% headline gain including food sales easily topped the record 6.7% from October 2001 — a month after the 9/11 terrorist attacks — and beat the 8% estimate from economists surveyed by Dow Jones.&#8221;
Retail sales were 16.8% higher than they were in April, and consumers, CNBC says, rushed out to purchase clothing, accessories, and sporting goods. According to &#8220;top products&#8221; lists from some of the major big-box retailers, many Americans made a beeline for stores selling items like above-ground pools, as a way of entertaining themselves and their families during a summer where many public pools and parks remain closed over coronavirus concerns.
President Donald Trump was quick to seize on the news.
&#8220;Wow! May retail sales show biggest one-month increase of ALL TIME, up 17.7%. Far bigger than projected. Looks like a BIG DAY FOR THE STOCK MARKET, AND JOBS!&#8221; he tweeted early Tuesday.
Stocks did, in fact, jump Tuesday on the retail news, <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/us-stocks-june-16-2020">per Fox Business</a>, but also over indications that the Trump administration is considering a fourth coronavirus relief package, which could include a $1 trillion infrastructure plan as well as additional one-time payouts to American taxpayers.
&#8220;The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 818 points, or 3.2 percent, in the opening minutes of trading while the S&amp;P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.78 percent and 2.33 percent, respectively,&#8221; Fox Business said Tuesday. &#8220;The president’s proposal would allocate most of the money for projects like roads and bridges, but would also provide funding for 5G wireless infrastructure and rural broadband.&#8221;
Retail stocks appear to be Tuesday&#8217;s biggest winners, with Macy&#8217;s, Nordstrom, Bed Bath &amp; Beyond, and Best Buy all seeing gains.
Experts are hopeful that the economic recovery will be swifter than expected, now that some of the first post-lockdown numbers are emerging. CNBC also reported, last week, that some stock market analysts are now confident that their coronavirus predictions were too dire, and that the economic damage from the virus was less than expected.
“It seems the damage from the nationwide lockdown was not as severe or as lasting as we feared a month ago,” one financial analyst told the network.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

shopping

Retail Sales Jump Nearly 20% In May, Economy Shows Signs Of Resurgence

jobs

CNN host Chris Cuomo was mocked late this week after he attempted to use statistics from the Obama-era to try to make the case to viewers that there was systemic economic racism currently in the economy under President Donald Trump.
Cuomo&#8217;s segment came in response to Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow saying last week that he does not believe that there is widespread systemic racism in the United States.
Cuomo said that it was a &#8220;fact&#8221; that there was systemic racism &#8220;everywhere&#8221; in the U.S., and then proceeded to show graphics from Pew Research Center and other studies that were from 2016, according to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/cnn-chris-cuomo-mocked-obama-era-data-prove-systemic-racism-impacts-trump-era-economy">Fox News</a>.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Misleading viewers, CNN’s Chris Cuomo just blamed President Trump for systemic racism in the economy&#8230; by quoting data that stops in 2016. <a href="https://t.co/yvHNeqTUwV">pic.twitter.com/yvHNeqTUwV</a>
&mdash; TV News HQ (@TVNewsHQ) <a href="https://twitter.com/TVNewsHQ/status/1271344253600436230?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 12, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Professional pollster Frank Luntz blasted Cuomo on Twitter, writing: &#8220;Tonight, @ChrisCuomo criticized Trump’s economy while using data that stops in 2016. This is complete incompetence. Journalistically and editorially.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Tonight, <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisCuomo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChrisCuomo</a> criticized Trump’s economy while using data that stops in 2016.
This is complete incompetence. Journalistically and editorially. <a href="https://t.co/TxVpMTiNBJ">pic.twitter.com/TxVpMTiNBJ</a>
&mdash; Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) <a href="https://twitter.com/FrankLuntz/status/1271263223858163713?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 12, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Trump later responded by quote retweeting Luntz&#8217;s tweet, writing: &#8220;Thank you Frank. Fredo’s ratings are really bad, more than 50% down. A loser!!!&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Thank you Frank. Fredo’s ratings are really bad, more than 50% down. A loser!!! <a href="https://t.co/DGaSYhqJVj">https://t.co/DGaSYhqJVj</a>
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1271772229936779266?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 13, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Cuomo made news last year when he threatened to throw a man down a flight of stairs after the man called him &#8220;Fredo,&#8221; which is a &#8220;reference to the weak-minded brother of Michael Corleone in &#8216;The Godfather&#8217; saga,&#8221; Fox News added.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.
PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT PROVIDED VIA <a href="http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/2006/11/CPT.01.html">CNN</a>:
<blockquote>All right, this isn&#8217;t believing in something like the tooth fairy, all right? It&#8217;s about fact. He is wrong. It&#8217;s not a matter of opinion. It&#8217;s a matter of fact. And it is fact that you see everywhere you look in black and white.
The immediate proof is in the Cabinet. Trump has one Black cabinet member and one Black domestic policy advisor. Kudlow is the President&#8217;s Economic Adviser. So, let&#8217;s start with the economy.
White people make more money than Blacks do. Period! Even if they have the same level of education, even if they&#8217;re in the same jobs.
In fact, that fundamental divide is as wide now as it was the year Dr. King was shot. So much for Trump&#8217;s economy being the &#8220;best ever&#8221; for Black people. Not relatively. And relativity matters.
Black people are not only more likely to be unemployed, they&#8217;re also more likely to be underemployed.
For all Mr. Kudlow&#8217;s talk about the stock market, Blacks don&#8217;t invest nearly as much as Whites. Even when you include 401(k)s, systemic racism extends to government programs as well.
Going back to the New Deal, the Federal Housing program that helped build the suburbs was often off-limits to Blacks. Lending practices, redlining, you know, drawing an area around Black neighborhoods, illegal, but their effects linger.
Blacks are far less likely to own a home than Whites, a gap that&#8217;s only widened since 2004.
And those that do buy a home have to put down more money, the equity cushion it&#8217;s called. And they have to pay for a higher mortgage, meaning what? That even when banks do lend to them, they have tougher terms, even when similarly situated to Whites.
Then, there’s the question of how you get between work and home? The highway system, this may not seem like a big deal, but just think about it in terms of your existence, a marvel of American ingenuity by White America, but its design skipped over Black neighborhoods.
Even if there were as many on-ramps in their communities, many people of color are less likely to own a car because of income and credit challenges. Thus, they&#8217;re more likely [to] depend on public transportation. We invest in buses and trains at a fraction of what we spend on the highway. So again, systemically, they are disserved.
Then there’s the question of what to do with your kids. Black families work more and, as we&#8217;ve seen, earn less. What does that mean? It makes taking care of your kids harder. You don&#8217;t have the time and you don&#8217;t have the money. Childcare, tough decision.
Once they get into the school system, and this is big, because this is all about the roadway to opportunity. The impact of history still hangs over their head.
58 years between Plessy versus Ferguson, separate but equal, and Brown versus the Board of Education, mandating integration, that period wound up influencing how our school system works, more arguably than the 62 years since the Little Rock Nine.
And here&#8217;s the proof for that suggestion. Districts with mostly students of color get $23 billion less in funding than White school districts, despite serving about the same number of kids. Less money means less power, right, less pay for teachers, less access to extra-curriculars, and services and systems, right?
We generally pay for schools with things like property taxes, right? And Black communities can&#8217;t support the kind of tax base that power schools in many White communities. And even when you adjust for poverty, more is still spent on White students. Why? Systemic racism.
Even how we discipline kids in schools is affected by systemic racism. How do we know? A White kid gets in trouble, a fight at school, the results often look like this, trip to the Principal&#8217;s office.
Black kid gets in trouble at school, more likely to be disciplined. How? Suspended. Wind up in juvenile justice. Why? Systemic racism, built into the fabric of the nation, as built in as the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the water we drink. Why? Because they are all worse in places of poverty.
Remember Flint, the faces of that suffering? They still suffer today. The faces are still the same color.
Even how we connect, it doesn&#8217;t matter how much you get paid. If you&#8217;re Black, you got less access to the internet. It&#8217;s quite literally a matter of life and death as well.
Look at the Coronavirus pandemic. Who is getting sick the most? Who&#8217;s dying the most? Who are the largest percentage of essential workers working in the midst of this risk, in our healthcare system? Minorities.
And they&#8217;re less likely to have insurance. They&#8217;re less likely to have access to good care. They have more premature births. They have shorter life expectancy. They check more of the boxes of chronic conditions.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, last year, identified the root cause of health problems, over a lifetime, is racism, not race itself, the disparities caused by racism.
Finally, the Black communities&#8217; ability to change these disparities should be through our democracy. But their voting rights are compromised.
Gerrymandering, okay, voter suppression, this is what Trump should be talking about, but he doesn&#8217;t. Not &#8220;Mysterious Illegals,&#8221; but real legalities like we arguably just saw in Atlanta.
And then, yes, there is policing. I don&#8217;t say &#8220;the police&#8221; because this is about more than people or bad apples. It&#8217;s about the orchard. It&#8217;s about the system.
And again, systemic policies and tactics work against Blacks disproportionately. Cops are more likely to pull over Black drivers, even when you adjust for daytime and nighttime stops that may make it hard to tell who is driving.
People of color are more likely to be searched while stopped, even though Whites are more likely to actually have drugs on them. Our prisons, overcrowded, filled with a disproportionate number of Black faces&#8230;</blockquote>

Chris Cuomo

‘COMPLETE INCOMPETENCE’: CNN’s Chris Cuomo Uses Obama-Era Stats To Attack Trump Economy

Barack Obama

Around 1.5 million people filed first-time unemployment claims last week amid signs that the economy is recovering from a nearly two-month coronavirus-related lockdown.
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/11/economy/unemployment-benefits-coronavirus/index.html">CNN reports</a> that although 1,542,000 individuals filed initial unemployment claims, that&#8217;s the lowest the number has been since the number peaked in the last week of March when more than 6.2 million people filed for assistance. The number has been slowly declining since then, by around 50,000 to 80,000 per week.
In total, though, around 44 million people were left unemployed &#8212; at least temporarily &#8212; thanks to COVID-19, shrinking the U.S. economy by around 6% and driving the unemployment rate to a staggering 20% &#8212; the most since World War II and far surpassing numbers in the Great Recession in 2008.
The number of &#8220;gig workers&#8221; and independent contractors filing for assistance under a temporary expansion of state unemployment programs also declined last week, CNN says. &#8220;Nearly 706,000 people in 42 states filed initial claims for the pandemic unemployment assistance program last week, slightly down from the prior week.&#8221;
Overall, that number is down 1.2 million from a high of nearly 10 million.
The economic recovery is proceeding faster than initially expected, according to financial experts, who had, initially, assumed the U.S. would be mired in the COVID-19 recession for months, if not years. But the elements of a swift upturn seem to have been in place before coronavirus hit.
<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/trump-coronavirus-unemployment-andy-puzder">Fox News&#8217; Andy Pudzer</a> notes that President Donald Trump predicted the recovery back in April.
&#8220;We&#8217;re going to rebuild [the economy] again in honor of all those who perished today,&#8221; the president said at the time, according to Pudzer. &#8220;And I think the stimulus, coupled with this pent-up demand and everybody wanting to get out and go back to work … I think we&#8217;re going to have … a tremendous surge.&#8221;
&#8220;The latest jobs report shows that the U.S. economy added more than 2.5 million jobs in May, confounding analysts who had predicted a loss of between 7.5 and 8.5 million jobs. This means the U.S. economy outperformed expectations by over 10 million jobs in just one month,&#8221; the Pepperdine professor told the network. &#8220;The unemployment rate, meanwhile, fell to 13.3 percent – a full 1.4 percentage point drop, contrary to fears that it could surge to as high as 20 percent.&#8221;
The stock market is also showing promise, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/02/stock-market-futures-open-to-close-news.html">per CNBC</a>.
&#8220;Stocks rose sharply on Wednesday on the back of better-than-expected economic data, which bolstered optimism over the recovery from coronavirus-led shutdowns,&#8221; the network reported. &#8220;The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 527.24 points, or 2.1%, to close at 26,269.89. The S&amp;P 500 gained 1.4% to end the day at 3,122.87 while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.8% to 9,682.91. Wednesday’s gains led the Dow to a three-day winning streak while the S&amp;P 500 notched its first four-day winning streak since early February.&#8221;
That likely means a positive long-term outlook for the economy as workers return to their jobs and individual states return to normal operations.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

NYSE

1.5 Million New People File For Unemployment Amid Signs The Economy Is Bouncing Back

Stock Market

Unemployment

It&#8217;s been a brutal few months since the nation went on &#8220;lockdown&#8221; in response to alarming — and since repeatedly revised down — COVID-19 model predictions. President Trump, who reluctantly supported the extreme &#8220;social distancing&#8221; measures but has since been calling for their rapid roll back, has watched his historically good economy collapse and jobless claims skyrocket at an unprecedented rate. On Friday, the embattled president finally got some good news — news that has stunned the experts.
The unemployment rate for May, predicted by Dow Jones experts to rise to a devastating <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/04/the-may-unemployment-rate-is-expected-to-be-near-20percent-as-millions-more-lost-jobs.html">19.5%</a> from April&#8217;s 14.7%, instead dropped to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/unemployment-rate-shocks-wall-street-drops-to-13-3-biggest-one-month-job-gain-since-1939">13.3%</a>.
Despite the ongoing COVID-19/lockdown crisis, the U.S. economy managed to create more than 2.5 million jobs in May, according to the Labor Department&#8217;s Friday report. That gain, as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/unemployment-rate-shocks-wall-street-drops-to-13-3-biggest-one-month-job-gain-since-1939">The Daily Wire</a> noted, is &#8220;by far the biggest one-month jobs gain in U.S. history since at least 1939.&#8221;
Unsurprisingly, Trump was through the roof about the Labor Department&#8217;s surprising report, posting first a half-joking self-congratulations then blasting out a series of reactions to the &#8220;amazing,&#8221; &#8220;incredible,&#8221; &#8220;stunning&#8221; jobs report before announcing a press conference and taunting his political rival.
&#8220;Really Big Jobs Report,&#8221; Trump tweeted in the first of the tweets Friday morning. &#8220;Great going President Trump (kidding but true)!&#8221;
&#8220;THESE NUMBERS ARE INCREDIBLE!&#8221; Trump added in a follow-up, citing Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo. &#8220;I am so stunned. I’ve never seen numbers like this and I’ve been doing this for 30 years!&#8221; Trump added, citing Treasure Sec. Steve Mnuchin and Bartiromo. &#8220;This is an AMAZING JOBS REPORT!&#8221; the president added, attributing the reaction to Fox Business&#8217;s Edward Lawrence.
The president then enthusiastically announced that he will be &#8220;doing a News Conference at 10:00 A.M. on the Jobs Numbers!&#8221;
&#8220;Congratulations to wonderful Charles Payne on having been so optimistic, and therefore correct. Market up BIG!!!&#8221; Trump wrote in another post.
He then mocked the Democrats and presumptive nominee Joe Biden. &#8220;Oh no, the Dems are worried again. The only one that can kill this comeback is Sleepy Joe Biden!&#8221; wrote Trump.
Trump followed that up with more media reaction: &#8220;It’s a stupendous number. It’s joyous, let’s call it like it is. The Market was right. It’s stunning!&#8221; he wrote citing CNBC&#8217;s &#8220;Mad Money&#8221; host Jim Cramer, adding: &#8220;It is a stunner by any stretch of the imagination!&#8221;
Trump&#8217;s tweets below:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Really Big Jobs Report. Great going President Trump (kidding but true)!
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1268883561651884032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
THESE NUMBERS ARE INCREDIBLE! <a href="https://twitter.com/MariaBartiromo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MariaBartiromo</a>
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1268883807375183873?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I am so stunned. I’ve never seen numbers like this and I’ve been doing this for 30 years! Steve M. <a href="https://twitter.com/MariaBartiromo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MariaBartiromo</a>
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1268885664206073856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This is an AMAZING JOBS REPORT! Edward Lawrence <a href="https://twitter.com/FoxNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FoxNews</a>
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1268886111130189824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I will be doing a News Conference at 10:00 A.M. on the Jobs Numbers! White House.
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1268887468163698698?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Congratulations to wonderful Charles Payne on having been so optimistic, and therefore correct. Market up BIG!!!
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1268888049792036867?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Oh no, the Dems are worried again. The only one that can kill this comeback is Sleepy Joe Biden!
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1268888880264155136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
It’s a stupendous number. It’s joyous, let’s call it like it is. The Market was right. It’s stunning! <a href="https://twitter.com/jimcramer?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jimcramer</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CNBC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CNBC</a>
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1268890135459921921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
It is a stunner by any stretch of the imagination! <a href="https://twitter.com/CNBC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CNBC</a>
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1268890724591964160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/unemployment-rate-shocks-wall-street-drops-to-13-3-biggest-one-month-job-gain-since-1939">The Daily Wire</a> reported, before the widespread state-imposed lockdowns on entire industries in late March, the national unemployment rate was a solid 4.4%. By the end of April, after tens of millions of Americans filed new jobless claims (the worst week saw a record 6.9 million Americans file new claims), the jobless rate was 14.7%, with economists predicting another steep climb in May.
While the Labor Department&#8217;s report Friday brought some very unexpected good news, the previous day the department also revealed that another <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-jobless-numbers-released-lowest-since-crisis-but-total-still-getting-worse">1.8 million</a> Americans had filed new unemployment claims the previous week, bringing the total number of new jobless claims from the start of the crisis to more than 42 million.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Trump Celebrates Stunning Jobs Report With Democrat Taunts, Media Reactions, Half-‘Kidding’ Congratulations, News Conference

The U.S. unemployment rate shocked economists on Wall Street, dropping to 13.3% for the month of May.
Dow Jones experts had <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/04/the-may-unemployment-rate-is-expected-to-be-near-20percent-as-millions-more-lost-jobs.html">predicted</a> the rate would soar to 19.5% with another 8 million jobs lost, but the economists weren&#8217;t even close. The economy actually created more than 2.5 million jobs in May, the Labor Department reported.
The May gain was by far the biggest one-month jobs gain in U.S. history since at least 1939.
&#8220;It is a stunner by any stretch of the imagination!&#8221; President Trump wrote on Twitter. It’s a stupendous number. It’s joyous, let’s call it like it is. The Market was right. It’s stunning!&#8221;
Jobs returned to many sectors, from retail sales to restaurants and bars to clothing stores to dentistry and medical practices. But jobs were lost in government and education, due to ongoing school closures.
Futures on the Dow soared more than 650 points on the good news.
The unemployment rate increased by more than 10% in April, hitting 14.7%. The March jobs report barely caught the initial surge in unemployment, measured then at just 4.4%.
But there was bad news on Thursday, with the Labor Department saying another 1.8 million Americans made first-time claims for unemployment benefits last week, pushing the number of people who have lost their jobs amid the COVID-19 pandemic above 42 million.
Weekly jobless claims totaled 1.877 million; Dow Jones analysts had estimated a job loss of 1.775 million. Last week&#8217;s number was an improvement from the previous week’s jobless claims of 2.126 million.
Continuing claims, which show how many people remain unemployed and drawing benefits, totaled 21.5 million, a gain of 649,000 over the past week, also worse than Dow Jones analysts had expected.
As states have finally begun to reopen, the numbers are expected to continue to recede. The 1.8 million claims last week is the lowest total since the coronavirus crisis began. In fact, the numbers have dropped for eight weeks in a row since the week ending March 25, when first-time claims hit nearly 7 million.
But the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has offered a bleaker picture. The non-partisan government agency said in its May report that the lockdowns will hamper the U.S. economy through next year, inflicting long-term damage to business investment and the labor market.
The office forecast that the nation&#8217;s gross domestic product (GDP) will plunge 38% in the second quarter of the year, which would be the worst drop on record. And by the end of 2020, the CBO said 26 million more Americans will be unemployed at the end of the year, more than triple the number of job losses that occurred during the 2008 financial crisis.
&#8220;The economy is expected to begin recovering during the second half of 2020 as concerns about the pandemic diminish and as state and local governments ease restrictions,&#8221; the CBO&#8217;s May <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/56368">report</a> said in its report. &#8220;The labor market is projected to materially improve after the third quarter—hiring will rebound and furloughs will drop significantly as the degree of social distancing diminishes. To account for the chances of the pandemic persisting or reemerging, CBO projects that social distancing will continue, but to a declining degree. The persistence of social distancing will keep economic activity and labor market conditions suppressed for some time.&#8221;
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Stock market chart

Unemployment Rate Shocks Wall Street, Drops To 13.3% — Biggest One-Month Job Gain Since 1939

Wall Street

First a pandemic lockdown, then race riots in the streets.
The current state of affairs in America has led to record sales of guns.
Small Arms Analytics &amp; Forecasting (SAAF) &#8220;estimates May 2020 U.S. firearms unit sales at 1,726,053 units, a year-over-year increase of 80.2% from May 2019,&#8221; the private research firm said in a <a href="https://smallarmsanalytics.com/v1/pr/2020-06-02.pdf">press release</a>. &#8220;Likely single handgun sales (1,052,723) increased year-over-year by 94.0% whereas single long-gun sales (535,014) increased year-over-year by 66.3%. All other likely background check-related sales (138,316) increased year-over-year by 48.2%. This includes so-called “multiple” sales where the allocation between handguns and long-guns cannot be determined from the data record.&#8221;
The rise in May followed another surge in April, which rose 71.3% over April 2019, with another 1.7 million firearms purchased. March also saw soaring numbers, 2,583,238 firearms sold — 85.3% more than the previous year, according to SAAF data.
&#8220;Yet again, firearms sales have surged in unprecedented ways,&#8221; said SAAF Chief Economist Jurgen Brauer. &#8220;In May 2020, very nearly two handguns were sold for every long-gun, pushing their ratio new record of 1.97. Traditionally, the ratio increases in the first half of the year before dropping off in the second half. Still, the boom in handgun sales has been particularly noticeable in recent months.”
Gun checks have also been soaring. More than 3 million checks were run through the FBI’s national instant check system in May, a record and 32% above from May 2019. The week of April 13-19 was in the 10 highest weeks since the tracking system was set up in November 1998. During that week in April, the FBI conducted 766,739 checks.
&#8220;This shows us there is continued appetite among Americans to be able to provide for their own safety during times of uncertainty,&#8221; said Mark Oliva, a spokesperson for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, whose organization found the numbers rose by 69.1% in April. &#8220;These are buyers who have witnessed their governments empty prisons&#8230; Police departments are stretched beyond capacity in many cases. Law-abiding Americans recognize this and exercising their right to own a gun and defend themselves and their loved ones,&#8221; he told <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/gun-sales-coronavirus-spiked-april">Fox Business</a>.
Dana Loesch, former spokesman for the National Rifle Association, told <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/gun-sales-may-record-coronavirus-riots">Fox Business</a> on Tuesday she was “not at all” surprised to hear the numbers.
“When people see the violence that they see on television – and people understand the difference between peaceful protesters and violent rioters – they see, you know, the sunset and then the fires start, and see the assaults and the looting and the breaking and destruction of private property,” Loesch said. “So they look at this and it unnerves them, especially after we&#8217;ve all been locked up for, like, three months.&#8221;
“This is people&#8217;s livelihoods. For some people, their lives are over when they lose their ability to make ends meet,” she said. “These aren&#8217;t rich corporation heads that are feeling the brunt of this.”
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">member</a>.

Pointed gun

Gun Sales In May Hit Record — Again

Guns

Race

Another 1.8 million Americans made first-time claims for unemployment benefits last week, pushing the number of people who have lost their jobs amid the COVID-19 pandemic above 42 million, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
Weekly jobless claims totaled 1.877 million; Dow Jones analysts had <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/04/weekly-jobless-claims.html">estimated</a> a job loss of 1.775 million. Last week&#8217;s number was an improvement from the previous week’s jobless claims of 2.126 million.
Continuing claims, which show how many people remain unemployed and drawing benefits, totaled 21.5 million, a gain of 649,000 over the past week, also worse than Dow Jones analysts had expected.
As states have finally begun to reopen, the numbers are expected to continue to recede. The 1.8 million claims last week is the lowest total since the coronavirus crisis began. In fact, the numbers have dropped for eight weeks in a row since the week ending March 25, when first-time claims hit nearly 7 million.
But the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has offered a bleaker picture. The non-partisan government agency said in its May report that the lockdowns will hamper the U.S. economy through next year, inflicting long-term damage to business investment and the labor market.
The office forecast that the nation&#8217;s gross domestic product (GDP) will plunge 38% in the second quarter of the year, which would be the worst drop on record. And by the end of 2020, the CBO said 26 million more Americans will be unemployed at the end of the year, more than triple the number of job losses that occurred during the 2008 financial crisis.
&#8220;The economy is expected to begin recovering during the second half of 2020 as concerns about the pandemic diminish and as state and local governments ease restrictions,&#8221; the CBO&#8217;s May <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/56368">report</a> states. &#8220;The labor market is projected to materially improve after the third quarter—hiring will rebound and furloughs will drop significantly as the degree of social distancing diminishes. To account for the chances of the pandemic persisting or reemerging, CBO projects that social distancing will continue, but to a declining degree. The persistence of social distancing will keep economic activity and labor market conditions suppressed for some time.&#8221;
&#8220;Over the 2020–2021 period, economic activity is projected to fall by the greatest amount in the second quarter of 2020, because of the pandemic and the social distancing measures,&#8221; the CBO projects. &#8220;Real GDP — or real output — is projected to pick up during the second half of the year, and labor market conditions are expected to materially improve after the third quarter as concerns about the pandemic diminish and as state and local governments ease stay-at-home orders, bans on public gatherings, and other measures. The recently enacted laws will contribute to the moderate rebound in economic activity by boosting consumer spending and by preserving some connections between workers and employers so that firms can ramp up operations more quickly as the degree of social distancing subsides. Nonetheless, challenges in the economy and in the labor market are expected to persist.&#8221;
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">member</a>.

US quarantine, 100 dollar banknote coronavirus. The concept of pandemic and economic decline

New Jobless Numbers Released, Lowest Since Crisis But Total Still Getting Worse

On Tuesday, Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper officially rejected the Republican Party&#8217;s demand that he pre-authorize a &#8220;full&#8221; Republican National Convention as planned in Charlotte in late August. In response, President Trump announced that his party will now be looking to bring their economy-boosting, job-creating convention to another state.
In a letter sent to Republican leaders on Tuesday, Gov. Cooper said that he, under the advisement of public health officials, could not pre-authorize the party to hold a full, in-person convention, citing the ongoing COVID-19 &#8220;states of emergency&#8221; across the country.
&#8220;With the Nation, the State of North Carolina, and the city of Charlotte still under states of emergency, it&#8217;s important to conduct the RNC convention accordingly,&#8221; Cooper wrote Tuesday in a <a href="https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000172-7625-d3d2-ab7a-77255eb70000">letter</a> to Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.  &#8220;As much as we want the conditions surrounding COVID-19 to be favorable enough for you to hold the Convention you describe in late August, it is very unlikely. Neither public health officials nor I will risk the health and safety of North Carolinians by providing the guarantee you seek.&#8221;
&#8220;The people of North Carolina do not know what the status of COVID-19 will be in August, so planning for a scaled-down convention with fewer people, social distancing and face coverings is a necessity,&#8221; the governor wrote, adding that he would be glad to consider discussing a scaled-down convention.
In response, Trump announced in a three-tweet statement that the governor&#8217;s refusal has forced the Republican Party to &#8220;spend millions of dollars&#8221; somewhere other than Cooper&#8217;s state. The governor&#8217;s decision, he wrote, will end up costing North Carolina jobs and &#8220;hundreds of millions of dollars&#8221; in potential revenues.
&#8220;Had long planned to have the Republican National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, a place I love,&#8221; Trump tweeted Tuesday. &#8220;Now, [NC Gov.] Roy Cooper and his representatives refuse to guarantee that we can have use of the Spectrum Arena &#8212; [s]pend millions of dollars, have everybody arrive, and then tell them they will not be able to gain entry.&#8221;
&#8220;Governor Cooper is still in Shelter-In-Place Mode, and not allowing us to occupy the arena as originally anticipated and promised,&#8221; Trump continued. &#8220;Would have showcased beautiful North Carolina to the World, and brought in hundreds of millions of dollars, and jobs, for the State. Because of [Gov. Cooper], we are now forced to seek another State to host the 2020 Republican National Convention.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Had long planned to have the Republican National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, a place I love. Now, <a href="https://twitter.com/NC_Governor?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NC_Governor</a> Roy Cooper and his representatives refuse to guarantee that we can have use of the Spectrum Arena &#8211; Spend millions of dollars, have everybody arrive, and&#8230;
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1267985989471002626?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
&#8230;millions of dollars, and jobs, for the State. Because of <a href="https://twitter.com/NC_Governor?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NC_Governor</a>, we are now forced to seek another State to host the 2020 Republican National Convention.
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1267985991408799745?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Trump&#8217;s statement followed McDaniel&#8217;s statement earlier in the day that the party would be looking elsewhere to hold its convention if Cooper continued to &#8220;drag his feet,&#8221; explaining that the RNC has &#8220;an obligation to our delegates and nominee to begin visiting the multiple cities and states who have reached out in recent days about hosting an historic event to show that America is open for business.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<a href="https://t.co/sctEXBEjkJ">pic.twitter.com/sctEXBEjkJ</a>
&mdash; Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) <a href="https://twitter.com/GOPChairwoman/status/1267877052096577548?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 2, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In a tweet Tuesday, Cooper wrote, &#8220;We have been committed to a safe RNC convention in North Carolina and it’s unfortunate they never agreed to scale down and make changes to keep people safe. Protecting public health and safety during this pandemic is a priority.&#8221;
McDaniel replied: &#8220;What’s unfortunate is that you still have yet to give guidance on what &#8216;scaled down&#8217; means. Currently, you allow 10 people to gather indoors. Is that what scaled down means? Or is it 100 people? 1,000 people? Total lack of clarity from you.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
What’s unfortunate is that you still have yet to give guidance on what “scaled down” means. Currently, you allow 10 people to gather indoors. Is that what scaled down means? Or is it 100 people? 1,000 people? Total lack of clarity from you. <a href="https://t.co/4ceHrGRGu3">https://t.co/4ceHrGRGu3</a>
&mdash; Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) <a href="https://twitter.com/GOPChairwoman/status/1268005940730699776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

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Gun Sales In May Hit Record — Again

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Economy

Dozens Of Top Business Leaders Warn Of Impending ‘Catastrophic’ Impact To Small Business

Demand Letter From BLM Activists To Louisville Businesses Lists 5 ‘Repercussions Of Non-Compliance’

U.S. Economy Implodes, Shrinking At Record-Breaking 33% Annualized Rate Last Quarter

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Trump Says Biden Plagiarized His ‘Buy American’ Agenda

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Jobs Report Shows U.S. Economy Roaring Back; 4.8 Million Jobs Created In June, Unemployment Rate Falls 2.2%

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Sammy Hagar: Willing To ‘Personally Get Sick And Even Die’ To Save Economy

Retail Sales Jump Nearly 20% In May, Economy Shows Signs Of Resurgence

‘COMPLETE INCOMPETENCE’: CNN’s Chris Cuomo Uses Obama-Era Stats To Attack Trump Economy

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Trump Celebrates Stunning Jobs Report With Democrat Taunts, Media Reactions, Half-‘Kidding’ Congratulations, News Conference

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