Kevin McCarthy and Donald Trump

The Republican denial of the severity of the coronavirus crisis, borne of a fanatical and irrational devotion to Donald Trump and an equally dangerous fear of become a target of his rage should they contradict him, is driving their policy response. That’s all the way from congressional leaders Sen. Mitch McConnell and Rep. Kevin McCarthy down to the Republican governors and mayors still refusing to shut their areas down, to the conservative evangelical pastors exposing their flocks every Sunday. Not only are they willing to kill a lot of people now—for the duration of the outbreak, they’re willing to destroy the economy and the 99% who keep it running.

“I'm not sure we need a fourth package,” McCarthy told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on Sunday. “And before we go to start drafting a fourth package, I'd like these three packages we just put out … to take care and get this economy moving.” For the recipients of the $500 billion corporate slush fund, that’s great. For the people who can navigate their states’ creaky unemployment systems, a little better. For the people who still have to go to their essential jobs and who don’t have the protective gear they need to be out in public, well, they’ll get that $1,200 check. It might pay their rent for a month. So, yes, there is going to have to be a fourth and probably a fifth and maybe a sixth stimulus package.