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President Donald Trumpsigned a $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill on Friday, as Washington tries to blunt economic destruction from the pandemic ripping through the United States.

The House earlier passed the stimulus package, believed to be the largest in U.S. history, by voice vote, which simplymeasures if more lawmakers shout for "aye" or "nay" on whether to support it. The chamber scrambled Friday to block an effort to delay its passage.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., tried to force a full yes or no vote on the measure, which could have pushed back its approval by hours. Irritated House members rushed back to Washington in cars and near-empty planes to head off his effort, and some eviscerated him for risking their safety. Trump called Massie a "third rate Grandstander" and said he should be booted out of the Republican Party.

The plan, which includes one-time payments to individuals, strengthened unemployment insurance, additional health-care funding and loans and grants to businesses to deter layoffs, got through the Senate unanimously on Wednesday night. House Speaker Nancy Pelosihad described the bill "as mitigation" of the pandemic's destruction, predicting Congress will draft more plans to aid in "recovery."

U.S. President Donald Trump signs H.R. 748, the CARES Act in the Oval Office of the White House on March 27, 2020 in Washington, DC.

Erin Schaff | Getty Images

"I signed the single biggest economic relief package in American history," Trump said in the Oval Office as his top economic advisors and Republican congressional leaders stood behind him shoulder to shoulder. "This will deliver urgently needed relief to our nation's families, workers and businesses, and that's what this is all about."

While it is unclear how quickly the government will dole out some of the money such as increased unemployment benefits and small business loans, the White House and congressional leaders have said some individuals will receive direct payments of up to $1,200 within three weeks.

Trump signed the bill into law a day after data showed unemployment claims skyrocketed to a record 3.3 million last week, as businesses across the country closed to slow the disease's spread. Hospitals, particularly in ravaged New York, have asked for more resources as they struggle to keep up with a rush of coronavirus patients.

The U.S. now has more than 92,000 coronavirus cases, the most in the world, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. At least 1,380 deaths in the U.S. have been linked to COVID-19.

The moments before the House vote Friday underscored the risks the outbreak poses and the unconventional tactics Congress has deployed to pass recent bills to combat the disease. As representatives were called into the chamber, some fresh off last-second trips back to Washington, leaders urged them to use "proper social distancing practices."

House leaders gathered a majority of members to block Massie from requesting a traditional recorded vote on the legislation. Representatives sat in the gallery usually reserved for the public to increase the distance among them.

Presiding over the chamber, Rep. Anthony Brown, D-Md., moved to pass the legislation by voice vote. Massie then asked for a full tally of "yes" and "no" votes. House leaders wanted to avoid that outcome. It would have forced lawmakers to go to the floor, in groups of 30 to avoid crowding, for a vote that could have delayed passage by hours.

In making his motion, the libertarian Massie said he wanted to ensure "our republic doesn't die by unanimous consent in an empty chamber." He argued the House did not have a quorum, or majority of members, present. Brown determined that it did, and the bill passed overwhelmingly by voice vote.

In an interview with a Kentucky radio station Thursday, Massie signaled he would oppose the bill because of its effect on U.S. national debt,according to the Louisville-based Courier-Journal.

"Not a good deal," Massie tweeted later Thursday morning.

After the vote, the House adjourned until March 31. The Senate does not have another vote scheduled until April 20, though Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the chamber could convene before then if it needs to take more action.

Pelosi gave extended remarks before the vote Friday as she waited for enough members to reach the floor. She joked, "the sooner you come, the shorter my remarks will be."

The California Democrat stressed that "this cannot be our final bill" to respond to the crisis. She has outlined priorities such as bigger direct payments, expanded eligibility for family and medical leave and more grant money for states.

In closing, Pelosi thanked the front line workers who have risked their safety fighting the outbreak.

"Congress must show the same courage, same resilience and same strength to put families and workers first," she said.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., applauded the House's action. But he put the onus on the Trump administration to use the money, including a $500 billion pool for business, state and municipal loans that fueled Democratic concerns, effectively.

"What the Congress cannot do is implement these well-constructed programs, so now it's up to President Trump to execute them quickly, effectively, and in the manner in which they were draftedto help the American people," he said in a statement. "We ensured that the federal government has the resources and tools they need to make it happen, and we will be watching President Trump minute by minute to make sure he and his administration do it right."

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Trump signs $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill as the US tries to prevent economic devastation - CNBC

A public health expert told Salon that President Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic has been abysmal.

"It definitely made it worse," Dr. William Haseltine told Salon when asked about Trump's reluctance to acknowledge the severity of the pandemic in January and February, when news of it first broke from China. "And his reaction was if not the worst in the world amongthe worst in the world. It was dangerous. It was spineless. It was heedless. It was self-serving."

Haseltine is a biologist renowned for his work in confronting the HIV/AIDS epidemic, for fighting anthrax and for advancing our knowledge of the human genome. He is also the founder and former CEO of Human Genome Sciences, and is currently the chair and president of the global health think tank Access Health International.

By his estimate, Trump's performance was very poor and "did, and will" cost lives.

"He should have been warning us it was coming," Haseltine told Salon. "He should have been preparing by stockpiling all the necessary equipment. But even today we're not doing what we should do. Let me put it that way. What we should be doing is contact tracing [identifying people who may have come in contact with infected patients] and having mandatory quarantines for everybody who's been exposed. And quarantining not at home, but in hotel rooms, single occupancy hotel rooms."

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He added, "That's how the Chinese control the epidemic. Anybody who was exposed, was confined to a hotel room for at least 14 days from the time of exposure. And they were served meals by hazmat-clad attendants. They weren't allowed to open their door. And even today, if you come into China from outside, you're required to do this quarantine at home without opening your door for 14 days. If you've come from another city within China to Beijing for example you've got to self-quarantine for 14 days. Even if it's a low-incidence area, you have to self-quarantine."

Haseltine still believes these measures are warranted.

"We've got to do very serious contact tracing, followed by mandatory quarantine for anyone who is exposed," Haseltine explained. "At this point, for example, that would include most of the Senate who encountered Rand Paul [the Republican senator from Kentucky who was diagnosed with COVID-19]. If we were in China, every single senator who had contact with Rand Paul would be in a 14-day single isolation hotel room. That's how they control the virus. And we don't."

Trump has expressed concern that voters might turn against him due to his response to the virus. He tweeted on Wednesday that "the LameStream Media is the dominant force in trying to get me to keep our Country closed as long as possible in the hope that it will be detrimental to my election success." In addition to minimizing the threat for two months, Trump disbanded a National Security Council pandemic panel that experts had praised, advocated major budget cuts to the Centers for Disease Control, misrepresented factors that supposedly could kill the virus and pushed for pseudo-scientific or untested potential cures to the disease. The president has focused on reviving the economy as soon as possible, regardless of the threat to public health, even tweeting that we are at risk of having "the cure be worse than the problem itself."

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Public health experts say Trump is bungling the coronavirus response - Salon

Thursday was the one month anniversary of one of Donald Trump's more memorable miscalculations.

Ignoring the warnings of scientists, health care professionals and his own national security team, Trump assured America that coronavirus would magically disappear.

In the rambling, incoherent demeanor of one performing fellatio on himself, Trump said, When you have 15 people, and a 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that is a pretty good job weve done.

A reasonably intelligent, honest president might have said, We have 15 cases of coronavirus here in America, so we know the virus has crossed our shores. We need to act now to limit its spread.

That's what a reasonably intelligent, honest president might have said. That's what a president who puts the nation's interests before his own might have said.

Our self-obsessed, shameless president said no such thing. His only thoughts were of himself and his reelection prospects.

On March 6, Trump said that he liked his numbers where they were and didn't want to inflate them by bringing ashore two Americans from the cruise ship Grand Princess for treatment.

Donald Trump did not want to bring two Americans off of a cruise ship to be treated by American doctors because he was worried about his numbers.

Take a moment to let that sink in.

Right now it would be great if we only had TWO HUNDRED coronavirus patients. Hell, it'd be great if we only had two hundred coronavirus deaths.

As I write this, we have over 120,000 cases of the virus, more than 2,000 deaths. Would those numbers be lower if Donald Trump had acted sooner, instead of trying to manage them?

We can only speculate, but it's reasonable to conclude that we would be better off if Donald Trump was not in charge.

You can read more about Trump's lies, exaggerations and downplaying a pandemicHERE.

Trump is withholding much needed medical supplies from states like Michigan and New York because he's not feeling the love from those states' governors (Gretchen Whitmer and Mario Cuomo, respectively).

If it seems right to you that the President of the United States (ALL of the United States) requires governors to kiss his ring in exchange for life saving ventilators, please stop reading here and cancel your subscription to this blog.

Much of the damage Donald Trump has inflicted upon America will be calculated and chronicled for generations. The price America is paying in human suffering and death right now will be available in the months to come.

Whether history is rewritten to blame it all on Democrats, Barack Obama and "fake news" may depend on the outcomes of the next couple of elections.

One question that may never be answered is how Trumpsters always find a way to swallow the spin. When he tells them to wipe from their memories what they heard him say last month, they do it, just like the Neuralyzerin Men in Black.

This new, new normal may have a lasting effect beyond gutted 401k's. For many, life will be a heavy burden with nightmares of loss, deprivation and vulnerability.

For some, it will remain a hoax, and they will move forward in the fog of oblivion that has always defined their lives.

For the rest of us, life will go on. Our instincts will redefine our routines and we will reestablish what relationships we can.

But we won't forget. Any of it.

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Tags: Grand Princess, Gretchen Whitmer, Mario Cuomo, Neutralyzer, Ventilators

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Did you celebrate the 1-month anniversary of Donald Trump telling America that coronavirus would magically disappear? - ChicagoNow

KEY POINTS

Donald Trump is reportedly incapable ofcarrying out his role as president because he has a serious mental illness, experts said.

The POTUS has received a slew of criticisms for the way he responded to the coronavirus outbreak. Many felt that Trump downplayed the pandemic. Due to the increasing COVID-19 cases and death tolls from the disease, many questioned Trumps leadership and several went as far as doubting his mental health, with George Conway asking whenthere will be a discussion about Trumps psychological unfitness.

People are dying because of it, and yet we still arent having a frank national discussion about @realDonaldTrumps psychological unfitness for office? Conway wrote on Twitter.

"You do not have to be a qualified physician to KNOW that Trump is mentally ill, @MargaretAnton11 added. How is he allowed at this point to continue killing people because of his incompetence? He is KILLING people. Will someone please explain why he is not being held responsible?

Three years ago, many also attacked Trumps mental health. Psychologist John Gartner even starteda petition to remove Trump from the office due to his mental condition. The professional said that the POTUS is mentally ill.

We, the undersigned mental health professionals (please state your degree), believe in our professional judgment that Donald Trump manifests a serious mental illness that renders him psychologically incapable of competently discharging the duties of President of the United States, he wrote in the petition.

And we respectfully request he be removed from office, according to article 4 of the 25th amendment to the Constitution, which states that the president will be replaced if he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, he continued.

Aside from Gartner, a group of mental health professionals evaluated the POTUS mental health. According to them, Trump is psychologically and mentally both dangerous and incapacitated.

We have been seriously warning about this for some time. The US Congress must act immediately and forcefully without further delay, the World Mental Health Coalition said in a statement obtained byThe Independent.

The group claimed that Trump is consistent with a person who, when his falsely inflated self-image is questioned, or when his emotional need for adulation is thwarted, lashes out in an attempt to restore his sense of potency and command over others.

Just recently, online users are calling the POTUS to get mental health help. Many also said that they wanted him out of office through the 25th amendment.

I totally disagree! Trumps declining #Mentalhealthon display is frightening during this crisis and we [want] to use the #25AmendmentNow, @anntirrell wrote.

US President Donald Trump backtracked on a proposal to place the greater New York region in lockdown after strong pushback from local leaders Photo: GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Sarah Silbiger

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Donald Trump Has Serious Mental Illness, Psychologically Incapable Of Discharging Duties, Experts Claimed - International Business Times

The Washington Post editorial board made a chilling prediction about what would happen if U.S. businesses that have been shuttered amid the coronavirus pandemic were to reopen by Easter, as hoped by President Donald Trump.

The newspapers board in a column titled Why choosing between the elderly and the economy is a phony, barbaric choice warned Friday that many elderly Americans would get sick and die in the ensuing weeks and months maybe hundreds of thousands, very likely millions.

And so would countless other people, it added, echoing a point made by Anthony Fauci (the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) who earlier this week warned young people are not absolutely invulnerable to suffering complications arising from COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

The board imagined a social, political, moral and economic cataclysm in worrying detail:

The quick and certain result of a damn-the-torpedoes approach would be to overwhelm and break the health-care system. Hospitals would fill to overflowing. Those in need of ventilators would be out of luck not only covid-19 patients but also babies, children, tweens and anyone else in respiratory distress. People who suffer strokes, heart attacks, broken bones and gunshot wounds would arrive at hospitals if they were lucky or rich enough to find ambulances to find emergency rooms resembling Grand Central Terminal at rush hour. Doctors, nurses and medical technicians would face extraordinary risks; many would not be spared.

Worldwide, the virus has sickened more than 600,000 people and killed almost 27,500. The U.S. now has the highest number of confirmed cases 104,000. As of Saturday morning, the nationwide death toll stood at 1,700.

The costs of the pandemic-induced shutdown are colossal to the economy, society and the nations collective emotional and mental health, the board concluded.As dangerous as that is, it is more dangerous still to pretend the pandemic can be harnessed by diktat and wishful thinking.

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Washington Post Hits Donald Trump With Chilling Reality Check About Reopening For Easter - HuffPost