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coronavirus

Monday Market Plunge, Montana Senate Showdown, CPAC’s Coronavirus Caper

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Listen to “Monday Market Plunge, Montana Senate Showdown, CPAC’s Coronavirus Caper” on Spreaker.

There’s not a lot of good news Monday, so let’s just tackle the bad stuff on Three Martini Lunch.  Join Jim and Greg as they react to the massive Wall Street sell-off as investors are spooked by coronavirus, oil prices, and the bond market, and once again they call out irresponsible figures either whipping up panic or openly cheering for the virus to spell Donald Trump’s political doom.  They also wince a bit as Montana Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock launches a challenge to GOP Sen. Steve Daines, adding another race where Republicans will have to work hard to keep a seat.  And they react to the news that a CPAC attendee has tested positive for coronavirus, prompting Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Paul Gosar to self-quarantine themselves after interacting with that person.

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The Economy: Another Jump in Jobs, Coronavirus Impact Looms

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The U.S. economy keeps humming along, boosted on Friday by much stronger February job growth than expected, but with the markets in turmoil over the coronavirus, what will the economic impact be in the weeks and months to come?

On Friday, the Labor Department released the February jobs report, showing 273,000 new hires, nearly 100,000 more than Wall Street analysts anticipated.  Hiring was strong across most sectors and the unemployment rate once again dipped to a roughly 50-year low of 3.5 percent.

What is driving this continued hiring and economic growth?  Supporters of President Trump or his policies point to tax cuts and regulatory reductions as spurring business owners to add personnel or expand operations, but how exactly do those policies do that?

Heritage Foundation economist Joel Griffith shares those answers with Radio America’s Greg Corombos.  Griffith also explains why the markets are wildly fluctuating in response to the coronavoirus threat, which policies make the most sense in response, and why the Federal Reserve was wrong to institute an unscheduled interest rate cut this week.

Listen here for the full podcast.

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Fantastic Jobs Report, Media & Coronavirus, MSNBC’s Really Bad Math

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Listen to “Fantastic Jobs Report, Media & Coronavirus, MSNBC’s Really Bad Math” on Spreaker.

Join us for some end of the week fun on the Friday Three Martini Lunch. Today, Jim and Greg cheer a really strong February jobs report and are hopeful the strong economy can ward off any coronavirus-related slump. Speaking of which, they also vent about the media’s inability to cover the coronavirus story in a non-hysterical manner, which may be helping to fuel the Wall Street volatility. And they get a lot of laughs from MSNBC anchor Brian Williams and New York Times Editorial Board member Mara Gay concluding that Mike Bloomberg spent enough money in his failed campaign to give each person in America a million dollars.

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Warren Persists No Longer, Schumer’s SCOTUS Meltdown, March Madness Germophobes

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Listen to “Warren Persists No Longer, Schumer’s SCOTUS Meltdown, March Madness Germophobes” on Spreaker.

The Three Martini Lunch has you covered as the presidential race narrows yet again. Join Jim and Greg as they react to Elizabeth Warren dropping out of the 2020 field and chronicling how this top-tier candidate turned into an electoral dud. They also dissect Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s bizarre threats against Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday and his pathetic response to the rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts. And they sigh as the coronavirus panic leads the National College Players Association to suggest the NCAA play its March Madness games with no audiences in the arenas.

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Coronavirus: ‘We Seem To Be In A Panic Phase’

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Listen to “Coronavirus: ‘We Seem To Be In A Panic Phase'” on Spreaker.

Coronavirus is making its way around the world.  It has government officials in the U.S. warning there might be disruptions in school calendars and work schedules due to its highly contagious nature.  Markets around the world spent most of the week in panic mode, as investors lost trillions in value in the U.S. alone.

But is coronavirus, or COVID-19, really a menace that could kill thousands of Americans?  Is the media egregiously overhyping the threat?  Or is the truth somewhere in the middle?

Dr. Roger Klein has advised a wide variety of government agencies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the Department of Health and Human Services.  Also a former medical director of molecular oncology at the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Klein is now with the Regulatory Transparency Project’s FDA and Health Working Group.

In this interview with Radio America’s Greg Corombos, Dr. Klein walks us through how well the government has prepared for this threat, whether the media reports are responsible or hyperbolic, and he explains why China’s response to COVID-19 seems so inadequate.

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What Should We Expect from Our Government on Coronavirus?

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Listen to “What Should We Expect from Our Government on Coronavirus?” on Spreaker.

Coronavirus fears have the markets badly spooked and some Americans wondering how it may impact their daily lives in the weeks to come.

But as the Trump administration prepares to deal with the issue, what can we reasonably expect our government to do in a situation like this and what is beyond its control? How aggressive should it be in pressing China for accurate data? How tough is it for the feds to keep tabs on what 50 state government are doing? And how much responsibility lies with us as citizens?

Galen Institute President Grace-Marie Turner addresses all of these questions with Greg Corombos and she also flatly rejects media suggestions that coronavirus is proof that we need government-run health care. In fact, she says it proves just the opposite.

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Dem Hopefuls Won’t Quit, Coronavirus Turns Political, Trump’s Carolina Calculation

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Listen to “Dem Hopefuls Won’t Quit, Coronavirus Turns Political, Trump’s Carolina Calculation” on Spreaker.

It’s an all-crazy Thursday on the Three Martini Lunch! Join Jim and Greg as they get a kick out of Democratic presidential hopefuls already explaining why they’re going to keep running regardless of how badly they do in South Carolina and on Super Tuesday. They also shake their heads as the mainstream media all suddenly make the coronavirus a political issue to hammer the Trump administration. And they wince as the Trump campaign urges South Carolina Republicans to cross over and support Bernie Sanders in Saturday’s Democratic primary.

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Weinstein Headed to Prison, Coronavirus Chaos, Fight Night in Carolina

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Listen to “Weinstein Headed to Prison, Coronavirus Chaos, Fight Night in Carolina” on Spreaker.

Join Jim and Greg as they tackle a wide variety of martinis today.  First, they are gratified to see a sexual predator like Harvey Weinstein headed to prison for rape and sexual assault although they’re disappointed to see him acquitted on the most serious charges.  They also cringe as the spread of coronavirus in South Korea, China, and Italy send global markets sharply lower.  And they shake their heads as they walk through all the massive tax hikes Bernie Sanders wants to inflict in order to pay for has laundry list of new entitlement programs. And they preview what should be a feisty debate among the Democrats in South Carolina tonight.

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‘The Severity Is Much Greater Than China Is Reporting’

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Listen to “‘The Severity Is Much Greater Than China Is Reporting'” on Spreaker.

The Chinese government is reporting more than 1,000 deaths related to coronavirus but China expert Gordon Chang says it’s clear from how officials are reacting with mass quarantines and other tactics that the problem is much worse than reported.

“The severity is much greater than China is officially reporting,” said Chang. “There are stories that Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus, is cremating hundreds of bodies a day. That doesn’t fit very easily with a death toll of a thousand.”

But why what does China have to gain by lying about the severity? Chang says it’s all about control.

“Xi Xinping, the Chinese ruler, is much more interested in controlling the narrative than he is in ending the epidemic,” said Chang.

Chang discusses the impact that the mass quarantines are having on the Chinese economy and what the U.S. posture should be as this plays out.

In addition, Chang reacts to the news that the U.S. is indicting four Chinese military officials for the massive 2017 Equifax hack that compromised the information of more than 145 million people.

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Mayor Pete Faces the Heat, China Charged with Equifax Hack, Biden’s Nonstop Blunders

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Listen to “Mayor Pete Faces the Heat, China Charged with Equifax Hack, Biden’s Nonstop Blunders” on Spreaker.

Prepare for another busy political week by starting with Monday’s Three Martini Lunch. Join Jim and Greg as they enjoy watching Pete Buttigieg flail for an answer after ABC’s Linsey Davis calls him out for black people being four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than whites while Buttigieg was mayor of South Bend. They also hammer the Chinese government after the Justice Department indicts four Chinese military figures for the 2017 Equifax hack that compromised the information of more than 145 million people. And they react to more bizarre statements from Joe Biden over this past weekend and wonder whether his campaign is just stumbling right now or whether it’s on the brink of imploding.

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