In their typical clueless fashion, White House officials want to shift daily briefings to “good news” economic stories. (“Trump’s aides are aiming to move the president onto more familiar — and safer, they hope — ground: talking up the economy, in tighter controlled settings,” reports Time magazine.) Trump’s impulse, to meet with titans of industry, may not sit well with voters who see millions in bailouts going to big corporations while they are plagued by unemployment, bankruptcies and lost health-care coverage. Once more, Trump seems to believe that if he spins hard enough, he can change reality.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) threatens to make matters worse. He objects to further relief for state and local governments, preferring that they go the bankruptcy route (which is currently not allowed under federal law). The Post reports that bankruptcy would deepen the recession:

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State and local governments employ 13 percent of the U.S. workforce, making them a significant economic sector. “If you want to send the country into an extended depression, sending state and local governments into bankruptcy is a great way to do it,” said a local government budget expert, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

McConnell’s suggestion that states have mismanaged their finances is rich coming from the leader who passed a tax cut that cost about $2 trillion (and certainly did not “pay for itself,” as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin claimed it would) and rang up almost a trillion-dollar deficit even before the pandemic hit. In fact, local budget officials report that “Virginia, Maryland and the District also have Triple-A bond ratings. Additionally, states, unlike Congress, are required to balance their budgets.” Bankruptcy is a tool for shaving off obligations — slicing payments to contractors, voiding collective bargaining obligations, cutting salaries and benefits and squeezing public services. This is the opposite of what we want to happen.

We want to keep state and local employees (especially first responders) on payroll (and maybe even receiving bonuses); pay local contractors so they can keep their own workers employed; maintain or increase funding for hospitals and public transportation (which need to be disinfected and adapt to social distancing as best as they are able); and provide additional services needed in an economic and health emergency (e.g., beds for the homeless, shelters for victims of domestic violence, mental health services, technology investments for distance learning).

We are staring at the worst economy since the Great Depression. Trump’s “solution” — as it is for everything — is to convince Americans to disregard in their own life experiences, cast realistic economic coverage as “fake news” or an attack by the media and blame immigrants for job losses. (Blocking immigration of course cuts off a supply of entrepreneurs, skilled workers and others who can help revive the economy.) Meanwhile, McConnell wants states and localities to lay off employees or cut wages (the inevitable result of bankruptcy). All in all, it’s an approach that might keep Republicans out of the White House for a good long time.

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