Will Trump Drag The House Republicans Down With Him?

A few hours after Dr. Trump's latest quack medical advise on Thursday, Good Morning Britain had a smirking Dr. Hilary on to speak to the scientific theories behind Dr. Trump's unique advise. "I've heard some crazy things in my life but this is probably one of the craziest-- to use a disinfectant and inject it into the human body is not only toxic and highly poisonous but would do no good whatsoever. It would cause inflammation of human tissues, and not touch the virus at all, which actually lives in human cells, not on the surface of them. So he is completely and utterly crazy to even suggest this... This is really worrying because in the States, they are heading for a catastrophe. We know that amongst the highest risks for serious consequences of COVID-19 are obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure. And their population is rife with those conditions. They haven't got a proper lockdown; there are people rebelling against even the slightest forms of lockdown. And they're heading fro catastrophe."

Yesterday, the U.S. passed the 50,000 death mark and early next week will pass a million confirmed cases. On average an American state has 2,685 cases per million in the population. But in states were the virus already has a foothold, it is much worse than that:

• New York- 13,690 cases per million
• New Jersey- 11,262 cases per million
• Massachusetts- 6,738 cases per million
• Connecticut- 6,450 cases per million
• Rhode Island- 5,921 cases per million
• Louisiana- 5,519 cases per million
• Michigan- 3,544 cases per million
• Delaware- 3,484 cases per million

And the next states headed right into that catastrophe zone include Pennsylvania, Illinois, Georgia, Maryland and South Dakota.

But speaking of the U.K., they're not doing that great either. Between Thursday and Friday, the U.S. saw 2,949 new cases, while Britain saw 5,386-- and their cases per million, now 2,113, is rapidly approaching the disastrous U.S. levels.

Meanwhile, Trump has some business interests in the British Isles. His company-- which is barred from requesting bailout money from the U.S.-- has requested bailout funds from the U.K. (and from Ireland) for his golf courses in Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire, Scotland and Doonbeg, Ireland.

When the House was back in session yesterday, it voted 212-182 to pass Jim McGovern's resolution establishing a new select committee to investigate how the Trumpist regime is spending the close to $3 trillion Congress has allocated for pandemic relief. Pelosi explained that the committee "will be laser-focused on ensuring that taxpayer money goes to workers paychecks and benefits and it will ensure that the federal response is based on the best possible science and guided by health experts-- and that the money invested is not being exploited by profiteers and price gougers." Every single Republican who showed up voted against it, including the 9 right-wing Republicans who Blue America is targeting this cycle-- Texans Michael McCaul and Roger Williams, Californians Ken Calvert and Doug LaMalfa, as well as Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Donald Bacon (R-NE), Jason Smith (R-MO), Fred Upton (R-MI) and crazy racist Steve King (R-IA).

Both the Texas candidates endorsed by Blue America-- Julie Oliver and Mike Siegel-- were horrified that several Texas Republicans were among the members of Congress refusing to wear masks, thereby endangering their colleagues, and then all voting against accountability for taxpayer money. Mike Siegel noted that "As Trump cronies loot the stimulus fund, McCaul not only looks the other way, he actively opposes oversight. As COVID-19 ravages the Texas 10th-- for example, killing 11 seniors in one nursing home in one tiny rural county-- McCaul won’t lift a finger to reopen rural hospitals or expand Medicaid in Texas. This is a guy who had the audacity to ignore the House Attending Physician and walk through the House without a mask, endangering his colleagues and projecting a terrible example for the nation. He’s a danger to his country and his constituents and must be replaced." That's McCaul yesterday, proudly not wearing a faced mask:

Julie Oliver's district is also partially in Austin, like Mike's, and her opponent, Roger Williams has his own self-serving interests to oppose oversight. "Mom and pop businesses in Texas," Julie told us, "are getting shut out of badly needed economic relief, the rent is due in a week, and people in Texas are hurting-- but Congressional Republicans are enabling the wealthy and the politically connected to make off with hundreds of billions of dollars in bailouts. Those stimulus checks should be going straight into Texas families’ bank accounts-- not to big banks, debt collectors, or the donors to Roger Williams' re-election. We need real oversight."

Kathy Ellis is running for a seat in a sprawling, hard-pressed district in southeast Missouri. She told me that "It's clear why Jason Smith voted against this important resolution: He's not interested in accountability. This is how he's governed for years, taking millions from corporations and corporate interests only to spend taxpayer money on biased political mailers that he brands as constituent updates and pointless road trips throughout the District. He isn't interested in helping working people, and he certainly doesn't want us to be able to see clearly where this money is being spent. His corporate donors wouldn't want it this way."

"Once again," said Indiana progressive Jim Harper, "House Republicans are refusing to follow experts’ advice in order to score a cheap political point. Their stunt will not only endanger their colleagues and congressional staff, but it will also encourage their supporters to do the same. We need leadership in Congress, not conspiracy theories or political gamesmanship."