This article, an international view, sure paints a grim picture of our fearless leader in chief to the south!

For your reading pleasure.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/12/us-global-reputation-rock-bottom-donald-trump-coronavirus

When asked about his role in dismantling the NSA Pandemic Office, the Peach President of the United States finally said something true. His reply: "I don't take any responsibility at all". Truer words have never been spoken by this poor excuse for a human being. The Democrats should include this admission in their campaign ads from now until November.

Conventional governmental fiscal policy is to stay the course on taxes and interest rates whenever possible to promote stability. Raise taxes only when needed for programs, cut taxes when possible or when a crisis requires more money in the pockets of business and consumers. Raise interest rates when the economy threatens to overheat, cut them when confidence disappears.

in 2017 Trump cut taxes for the expressed purpose of boosting the economy into 4% growth. The cuts will pay for themselves he said. They didn't and the US Federal Debt exploded while growth stalled out at far less than the target rate. Trump also hectored the Federal Reserve into reversing planned interest rate hikes and even making a slight cut in order to boost what was already well performing economy.

These two actions left the US with very little room to act when the Covid - 19 crisis shattered world economic confidence and sent the global economy to the edge of a cliff. The US federal reserve rate has been cut to 1.25%, leaving virtually no room for further lowering borrowing costs. The record high US debt load has left even Republicans balking at Trump's proposed payroll tax cut and other spending to inject liquidity into markets. In short, Trump failed to understand that using the tools he had to pursue political goals meant he didn't have them when needed to protect against real threats.

This failure to understand the value of maneuvering room explains much of Trump's horrible business record. A man who managed to bankrupt his casinos knows nothing about contingencies. His short sightedness is now in the White House and costing the USA, and the world far more than would otherwise have been necessary. Let's hope the loss is just measured in money. 

 

Media of all types are the first draft of history. With the exception of Fox News' routine of ignoring anything negative towards Trump media reports on his handling of the COVID-19 crisis are that he is not doing his job.

What is the President's Job in a medical crisis? There is only one task required of POTUS. Reassure the nation that competent people are in place and doing the best they can to keep everyone alive. What is Trump doing? 1) Calling the illness a hoax 2) Accusing the Democrats of scaremongering to hurt his re-election campaign 3) Undermining his own experts' public statements about the seriousness of the outbreak 4) Providing overoptimistic estimates of the availability of a vaccine 5) Claimed that warm weather will make it go away 6) Suggesting that some people will get better by going to work 7) Blaming his predecessor for restricting the production of test kits for a virus that did not exist until almost 3 years after Trump took office.

This collection of pronouncements is called gaslighting, a term that means to deny what is obvious in an effort to confuse someone into doubting their own eyes. It is Trump's go to practice for anything as he attempts to define truth itself.

There are still some competent people left in this administration and within state and local governments. Their efforts will be what gets Americans through this. I'm betting they are all wishing Trump would just go golfing and keep his nonsense out of their way. I certainly do.

 

It is said that anyone can sail the ship when the seas are calm. Meaning the most competent sailors are identified by the storms they have sailed through. A less frequently heard test is whether a sailor can avoid storms if at all possible. But I digress. 

Ever since his inauguration pundits have fretted about what would happen when Trump is confronted with a real crisis. We have avoided a serious crisis since January 2017. Less serious challenges that have caught our attention have been mostly of Trump's own making. Intangible damage to the US' international reputation, constitution and norms of governance aside the US has been muddling through at least for now.

The three years he has been in power have provided ample evidence for concern about Trump's management of a real crisis. His shaky relationship with the truth has rendered him an incredible (i.e. not at all credible) source for reassurance when it is needed most. His preference for loyalty over competence has created a government run by inexperienced yes-people intent only on implementing the President's agenda - an incoherent mix of anti-government opportunism focused only on his re-election.

The COVID 19 virus aka Coronavirus presents a potential crisis that will have far reaching effects. Beyond its lethality, the virus has the potential to badly damage the global economy. I'm not just talking about the stock market. Disruption of global trade and manufacturing will soon lead to shortages of all sorts of goods thanks to industry's adoption of "just in time" inventory management. That practice kept costs low but eliminated the capacity to keep operating when supplies are interrupted. This is what caused last week's stock market crash. Business as we know it may shut down for an unforeseeable length of time. It is the fear of this, more than the reality of it, which will do the most damage. The US health system, recently badly damaged by Republican failure to replace the Affordable Care Act even as they effectively destroyed it, may be heavily taxed by people who are both ill with COVID-19 and afraid they might be.

The Peach President has proven himself a master at stoking fear and anger toward others. His self created challenges have been spun so that he may claim that he won. But this time he needs to calm peoples' fear, he needs to display competence - not just his own but that of his Cabinet. His legacy of lies and preference for lackeys does not inspire confidence.

Trump's supporters like to crow, without evidence, that he is the "Best President Ever". Events of the next few months may provide an objective basis for history to make that call.