July 19, 2020

Trump Wants to Block Money For COVID-19 Testing

Meg Mclaughlin/Dispatch Argus via ZUMA

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Trump administration pushing to block new money for testing, tracing and CDC in upcoming coronavirus relief bill

The Trump administration is trying to block billions of dollars for states to conduct testing and contact tracing in the upcoming coronavirus relief bill, people involved in the talks said Saturday.

….One person involved in the talks said Senate Republicans were seeking to allocate $25 billion for states to conduct testing and contact tracing, but that certain administration officials want to zero out the testing and tracing money entirely….Trump and other White House officials have been pushing for states to own more of the responsibility for testing and have objected to creating national standards, at times seeking to minimize the federal government’s role.

This is . . . what? Insanity? At a time when cases are rising, deaths are rising, and people are waiting up to a week to get testing results back, it flatly makes no sense. I can’t even think of anything to say about this. It’s beyond words.

POSTSCRIPT: Does this have something to do with Trump’s apparent belief that if we don’t test, we’ll have fewer cases? Are White House aides not even willing or able to push back against craziness of this magnitude anymore?

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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