National Review Online Contributing Editor Rob Long is in for Jim today. Rob and Greg relish FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr’s Twitter demolishing a Chinese officials boast of a free Chinese society by listing numerous regime critics and whistleblowers he would like to see “undisappeared.” They also unload on Obamacare figure Ezekiel Emanuel for suggesting that we can’t go back to normal until we have a vaccine 12-18 months from now, with Rob pointing out Emanuel is now making the exact opposite argument he made a decade ago. And they discuss the bizarre politicizing of hydroxychloroquine, with some media seeming eager for the drug not to work just so they can say President Trump was wrong.
How Long Can We Afford to Keep the Economy Shuttered?
Listen to “How Long Can We Afford to Keep the Economy Shuttered?” on Spreaker.
On Thursday, the Labor Department announced 6.6 million people filed for first-time unemployment last week. In the past three weeks, more than 16 million Americans lost their jobs.
How much longer can our economy afford to be locked down? How fast can it get up and running once it is restarted? And what policies will be most helpful?
Dr. Gary Wolfram teaches political economy at Hillsdale College. He addresses these questions, explains why strong government action is needed in a crisis like this, and why suggestions by Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel and others that we need to ban large gatherings for 12-18 months is simply unrealistic.
Jobs Nightmare Worsens, End of the Handshake? China’s Gutter Oil
Listen to “Jobs Nightmare Worsens, End of the Handshake? China’s Gutter Oil” on Spreaker.
Join Jim and Greg as they discuss the gut-wrenching loss of another 6.6 million jobs over the past week but also note an economic silver lining. They also react to Dr. Fauci suggesting people permanently stop shaking hands and then muse about what should replace it. And they lose their appetites as they discuss another way China is a breeding ground for illnesses.
Bernie Bites the Dust, Health Privacy vs. Public Good, Chafee Flops Again
Listen to “Bernie Bites the Dust, Health Privacy vs. Public Good, Chafee Flops Again” on Spreaker.
Join Jim and Greg as they celebrate the end of the Bernie Sanders campaign, knowing an avowed socialist will not be president. They also weigh in on the thorny debate over how much our private health data ought to be available to the government as it navigates the COVID-19 crisis. And after forgetting Lincoln Chafee was running for president as a Libertarian, Jim and Greg comment on his second straight campaign implosion.
Better Looking Models, Why Is Wisconsin Voting? NBC Parrots China
Listen to “Better Looking Models, Why Is Wisconsin Voting? NBC Parrots China” on Spreaker.
Join Jim and Greg as they welcome far lower COVID-19 death projections than we were seeing just days ago but hope they still go much lower. They also wonder why Wisconsin is still holding elections in the midst of a stay-at-home order and fear Republicans will get blamed for any rise in cases linked to voting lines. And they hammer NBC for reporting China’s bogus numbers on COVID cases and deaths as if they are accepted facts.
Iran’s Horrific Coronavirus Response
Listen to “Iran’s Horrific Coronavirus Response” on Spreaker.
Iran was one of the first nations afflicted with Coronavirus after it moved on from China, but the Iranian regime’s callous indifference and calculated cruelty towards its own people could result in much bigger consequences than the virus might inflict.
Alireza Jafarzadeh is deputy director of the National Council of Resistance of Iran. He says the response to the virus has been nothing short of appalling.
According to Jafarzadeh, the regime denied the virus existed in the country for three weeks and kept flights to and from China at a robust pace. He says the mullahs and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps are stockpiling vital medical supplies. Instead of distributing them to the medical professionals or the public, they are giving preference to proxy groups in other countries and selling other materials to the highest bidders.
He says there is no urgency in helping the public, only on how to maximize profits from the crisis.
“This is a regime that intervenes in the most personal aspects of the life of the citizen. You can’t even have a party in your own home,” said Jafarzadeh. “Yet, when there is a crisis this big, the regime is nowhere to be found.”
Listen to Jafarzadeh’s full discussion with Radio America’s Greg Corombos as he explains why sanctions relief is not necessary to help the people of Iran and why the demand for regime change will be greater than ever once this crisis is over.
Calm from the Queen, Flattening the Curve, Close the Grocery Stores?
Listen to “Calm from the Queen, Flattening the Curve, Close the Grocery Stores?” on Spreaker.
Join Jim and Greg as they appreciate the calm exuded by Queen Elizabeth II and and try to wrap their minds around the fact that her first national broadcast came 80 years ago. They also cheer evidence that the number of Coronavirus cases is flattening in New York and California, and getting a bit flatter throughout the U.S. – even if the number of deaths haven’t yet done the same. And they react to a White House reporter asking President Trump why he hasn’t closed anything, including grocery stores.
Hospitals Getting Ready, DC’s COVID Peak in July? Absurd Social Distancing
Listen to “Hospitals Getting Ready, DC’s COVID Peak in July? Absurd Social Distancing” on Spreaker.
Hey, we made it to Friday! Join Jim and Greg as they applaud cities and states for gearing up for the worst of coronavirus before it hits. They also cringe as Washington, D.C., officials claim the COVID-19 peak may not come there until late June or early July. And they call for a common sense review as sheriff’s officials in southern California arrest a man for defying state orders by paddle boarding in the ocean by himself.
The Economy: How Bad Will It Get & How Do We Turn It Around?
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On Thursday, the Department of Labor reported more than 6.6 million people filed new jobless claims over the past week. Combined with the nearly 3.3 million from last week, more than 10 million people since our economy largely shut down due to the coronavirus.
With the nation effectively on pause at least through April, what will the economic toll be over the next few weeks and how quickly can those losses be reversed once we’re past the crisis?
Brian Wesbury is chief economist at First Trust Advisors and is a former chief economist for the Joint Economic of Congress. He explains where he thinks our economy is headed, how strong the relief bill from Congress is and what the big economic lessons ought to be from this crisis.
Props to the Patriots, 6.6 Million More Out of Work, Clueless Kemp
Listen to “Props to the Patriots, 6.6 Million More Out of Work, Clueless Kemp” on Spreaker.
The coronavirus crisis has gotten to the point where Jim Geraghty is saying nice things about the New England Patriots and owner Robert Kraft after Kraft dispatched the team plane to China to pick up 1.2 million N95 masks. Jim and Greg also tackle the brutal loss of 6.6 million more jobs in the past week and wonder how soon we’ll have no choice but to reopen various sectors or regions of our economy. And they throw their hands up as Georgia GOP Gov. Brian Kemp says he only realized this week that COVID-19 could be spread by people before they start feeling sick.