Birx Contradicts Trump, Warns Pandemic Entering ‘Most Deadly Phase’

By Yuval Rosenberg

Birx Contradicts Trump, Warns Pandemic Entering ‘Most Deadly
Phase’

Dr. Deborah Birx, a top White House adviser on the coronavirus
task force, warned Monday that the pandemic is entering its “most
concerning and most deadly phase” and called for “much more
aggressive action” to combat the virus.

“We are entering the most concerning and most deadly phase of
this pandemic,” Birx wrote in a memo Monday to top administration
officials, according to
The Washington Post. “This is not about lockdowns
— it hasn’t been about lockdowns since March or April. It’s about
an aggressive balanced approach that is not being implemented.”

The warning stands in sharp contrast with the repeated
assertions by President Trump that the country is “rounding the
corner” on the pandemic and that media coverage of the virus was
politically motivated and would vanish after the election. The
report warned against the type of rallies the president has been
holding over the final days of the campaign.

More from the Post’s Lena H. Sun and Josh Dawsey:

“Birx’s internal report, shared with top White House and
agency officials, contradicts Trump on numerous points: While the
president holds large campaign events with hundreds of attendees,
most without
masks, she explicitly warns against them. While
the president blames rising cases on more
testing, she says testing is ‘flat or declining’
in many areas where cases are rising. And while Trump says the
country is ‘rounding the turn,’ Birx notes that the country is
entering its most dangerous period yet and will see more than
100,000 new cases a day this week.”

The report also said it was “essential” that officials deliver
“consistent messaging about uniform use of masks, physical
distancing and hand washing with profound limitation on indoor
gatherings especially with family and friends.”

Resisting new restrictions: Yet even as coronavirus cases

surge across the country, many states across the
country are following Trump’s lead and resisting new measures to
slow the spread of the pandemic, The New York Times’s Mike Baker

reports:

“President Trump and his administration have expressed
increasing helplessness at containing the virus, focusing instead
on improvements in survivability and trying to hold the economy
together. … Governors around the country, particularly Republican
ones, are following the president’s lead in resisting new
restrictions against a virus that has powerfully persisted despite
lockdowns in some areas over the spring and summer.
“Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota wrote that ‘there
is no way to stop the virus,’ while Gov. Doug Burgum of
North Dakota said that when it comes to saving lives, ‘it’s not a job
for government, this is a job for everybody.’ In
Tennessee, Gov. Bill Lee told residents that ‘at the end of the
day,
personal responsibility is the only way.’ Gov.
Mike Dunleavy of Alaska said in an interview that rising case
numbers this fall should not cause people to go into hiding.”

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told CNN last month that
“we’re not going to control the pandemic” and emphasized a focus on
treatments and vaccines.

It’s not just governors: The signs of virus fatigue
extend far beyond Republican political leaders. A September

Gallup survey cited by the Times found that
Americans have dialed back on social distancing practices since the
early days of the pandemic, though more than 90% still report
wearing a mask when outside their home.

“Americans are less likely now than at any point since the early
days of the coronavirus pandemic to say they are avoiding events
with large crowds (70%), public places such as stores and
restaurants (53%) and small gatherings (45%),” Gallup said of the
survey.

The percentage of people who told Gallup they always or often
practiced social distancing over the past 24 hours slipped from 92%
in April to 72% in September.

What it means: It’s up to the American public to step up.
“[E]ven if Joe Biden wins the election, he won't take office until
late January, and won't be able to fully staff up and implement his
plans until weeks after that,” writes Jill Filipovic at
CNN. “Unless the Trump administration finally does
what Birx and other public health officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci
are asking -- and given their behavior so far, we have no reason to
believe they will -- we are going to be largely on our own for this
long, deadly winter.”

Read more at
The Washington Post and
The New York Times.

Views of Deficit Depend on Framing: Analysis

A progressive group aligned with the Democratic Party released a

report this week that explores Americans’
attitudes toward the budget deficit and the national debt. Analysts
at Data for Progress found that voter support for deficit spending
can vary depending on how it is framed — an insight that may play a
role in the political and communications battle ahead over
additional government spending on coronavirus relief and, should
Joe Biden win the election, potentially a whole host of new federal
initiatives, from public investment in green energy to increased
support for housing and health care.

In a previous report, researchers found that “when
deficit-spending is anchored to a promise of immediate, material
benefits, voters become receptive to the idea.” In other words,
Americans are more likely to support deficit spending if the money
is used on things that clearly benefit them, such as
infrastructure, health care and schools.

Similarly, telling people that more deficit-fueled
spending is necessary to help people who have lost their jobs due
to the coronavirus produces increased support for the idea, with a
majority expressing support.

In their new report, the analysts used a survey to test
specific messages that frame deficit spending in different ways and
found that most people support such spending if it’s said to pay
for itself through long-term economic growth and to help needy
fellow citizens (“To help Americans in need it’s okay if we
increase the national debt in the short term”).

On the other hand, a message focusing on the hypocrisy of
politicians who complain about the deficit while proving tax breaks
for the rich (“Concern about the national debt is hypocritical.
Whenever politicians need money for a war or a tax break for the
rich, there’s money to be had. We should use deficit spending to
help the working and middle class instead”) was less effective,
with most respondents choosing an anti-deficit message (“The
government needs to balance its books the way a household would. If
our national debt gets too large we all leave an unaffordable
burden of debt to our children”).

Voters are still divided: Not
surprisingly, there is a strong partisan difference in attitudes on
all framing messages, with a majority of Republicans expressing
opposition to deficit spending across different messages (linking
deficit spending to increased economic growth is an exception).
Democrats support all framing messages, though to varying
degrees.

Map of the Day: Always Be Counting

As we prepare for endless barrage of maps, graphs and data
tonight — and quite possibly well into the week — take a look at
what may be the first map used to record election returns, from the
election of 1880. Historian Susan Schulten
says she found the map in the 1883 Statistical
Atlas of the United States. The red and blue make it look
surprisingly familiar. (h/t
Ryan Heath at Politico)

You may not realize just how big today
is. Yes, it’s Election Day, and that's huge. But it’s also

National Sandwich Day — one of those promotional
holidays that’s surely worth celebrating but that, sadly, is
easy to overlook this year. Since we’ve got a little
time before election results start coming in, tell us: What’s your
favorite sandwich?

Send your tips and feedback to yrosenberg@thefiscaltimes.com.
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