Coronavirus

The exact origins of COVID-19, the novel coronavirus, remain unknown. We know only that it began in the Wuhan province in China, but the Chinese Communist party has gone to great lengths to obfuscate the full picture of its initial spread. Journalists should be clamoring for this information. ​But, for a large section of the American media, who have engaged in China apologia over the course of the past few months, challenging China or by proxy the World Health Organization is completely off limits. ​Last week, Sen. Tom Cotton told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo that 'we need to get to the bottom' of where the virus came from.

Joe Biden keeps getting more unconventional. It started when he delivered short speeches and one-word answers like 'yes' or 'no'. Now he and the Democrats are becoming even friskier, declaring that they want to push off their grand jamboree, the big enchilada, the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee to August, a week before Trump holds his own shindig in Florida. Smart move on a number of fronts. For one thing, the original mid-July date simply allowed too much time to elapse between the Democratic and Republican conventions. Trump would have pummeled Biden relentlessly during those weeks. A let-down after Milwaukee would have been inevitable. Trump would have reveled in the build-up to his own convention.

It’s time to take stock of Congress. Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s new financial disclosures indicate that in recent months she hastily divested herself of even more stocks than was previously apparent. A riveting new report from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has the goods: it indicates that even as Loeffler — reputed to be worth about $500 million together with her husband Jeff Sprecher who, incidentally, is the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange — was issuing panegyrics to Trump for his visionary leadership, she was dumping millions, including $18.7 of Intercontinental Exchange stock and investments in T.J. Maxx and Lululemon, in late February and early March. She also invested in a company producing coronavirus protective wear.

The recently passed coronavirus stimulus bill offers $58 billion in aid to the airline industry to survive the massive decrease in travel caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, but workers are already concerned that airlines are taking advantage of taxpayer money while failing to live up to promises to their employees and customers. The Treasury Department on Tuesday issued its guidelines for the $29 billion loan and $29 billion grant programs, reiterating that companies who apply for money must agree not to layoff or furlough their employees until after September 2020. Treasury also required recipients of grant money, which is earmarked for payroll assistance, to only use that money for American workers.

Andrew Cuomo is having a moment. He enjoys ubiquitous coverage. His press conferences attract viewership second only to the president’s. In media quarters, some whisper his name as a possible Democratic nominee should Joe Biden’s limited and lackluster candidacy finally falter. Democrats are understandably nervous about their all-but-official nominee. Biden’s appearances are uneven at best. He mumbles, loses his train of thought, and frequently mispronounces or downright mis-names, people and things in common use. A recent Washington Post/ABC poll found that only 24 percent of Democratic voters are highly enthusiastic about supporting Biden — the lowest number in the poll’s two-decade history.Furthermore, Cuomo has earned a fair share of praise.