Charles Fain Lehman has written an assessment for the Washington Free Beacon of the policy divide among congressional Republicans on how best to confront the economic dimension of the coronavirus outbreak. He argues that the debate maps at least partly onto pre-existing political struggles within the Republican Party, pitting those open to greater government intervention,

During today’s meeting of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, the liberal majority voted to issue a statement expressing “grave concern” regarding “growing anti-Asian racism and xenophobia” related to the coronavirus pandemic. Of course, my conservative colleague Gail Heriot and I oppose expressions of racism, if any, related to the pandemic or otherwise. But we

Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks next to Michael J. Ryan, Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, during a news conference on the coronavirus in Geneva, Switzerland, January 29, 2020. (Denis Balibouse/Reuters) A tweet from the World Health Organization, January 14: “Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities

A medical worker wearing a protective mask and glasses at the Oglio Po hospital in Cremona, Italy, March 19, 2020 (Flavio Lo Scalzo/Reuters) Last updated March 19, 5 P.M. EST As the coronavirus pandemic grips the world, observers are closely tracking the trajectory of confirmed cases to forecast its spread in the coming months. In

New York governor Andrew Cuomo (Brendan McDermid/Reuters) Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said he would help with New York City mayor Bill de Blasio’s plea for ventilators to deal with the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, as New York governor Andrew Cuomo warned that the state could hit “a peak in about five or six weeks”

A Target customer reacts to empty toilet paper and paper towel shelves at a Target store in San Rafael, CA. March 13, 2020 (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) An epidemic is like a storm in more than the metaphorical sense Blizzards apparently cause Americans to desire French toast — why else run to the store for milk,

(Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) Congress has not yet gone far enough. Direct payments to families, a major tax cut, and easing the burden of rent payments are the necessary next steps. The Senate has just passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which is Phase Two of Congress’s efforts to protect Americans from the coronavirus. I expressed my

(James Lawler Duggan/Reuters) There is a frenzy of rule-making right now. Obviously, some of it is important as it may help calm American workers, business owners, and investors. But we should always remember that even in normal times, the government makes a lot of bad decisions. Emergencies and the resulting panic will not improve the

Joe Biden during a campaign event at Saint Augustine’s University in Raleigh, N.C., February 29, 2020 (Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters) A few days back, former vice president Joe Biden and Vermont senator Bernie Sanders engaged in their first one-on-one presidential-primary debate. On several occasions during the debate, Sanders criticized Biden’s voting record from his decades as a

A customer picks up some of the last toilet paper at a store in Dayton, Ohio, March 13, 2020. (Kyle Grillot/Reuters) Denying that a thing is worth what another person is willing to pay for it is like denying gravity. You, sir! You whose shopping cart squeals beneath the weight of half a dozen 48-packs

Commuters wait to board a Northern Line tube at Clapham North underground station during rush hour in London, England, March 17, 2020. (Hannah McKay/Reuters) The contrast with other countries is baffling. It is absolutely baffling. Last Tuesday, with lockdowns spreading throughout the world as the extent of the threat posed by COVID-19 became clear, videos

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy takes part in a summit in New York City, October 17, 2019. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters) Happy Saint Patrick’s Day . . . for once, it’s okay to be drinking alone. A confusing primary election day begins in three states, but not Ohio; some thoughts on just how we should manage the

A passenger boards his Delta Airlines flight at the airport in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2018. (Mike Blake/Reuters) In defense of everyone’s least favorite measure of last resort With COVID-19 spreading through the U.S., businesses have faced mounting struggles as consumers stay home and cut back on spending. The airline industry has been the

U.S. women’s national soccer team player Megan Rapinoe holds the FIFA Women’s World Cup trophy as the team arrives at Newark International Airport in Newark, N.J., July 8, 2019. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters) The U.S. women’s national soccer team sues, alleging pay discrimination that doesn’t exist. If you thought this week could not get any worse —

Guatemalan migrants deported from the U.S. arrive at an immigration area at La Aurora International airport, Guatemala City, Guatemala, March 12, 2020. (Luis Echeverria/Reuters) Pressed on his immigration record as vice president, Joe Biden pledged Sunday that “no one will be deported at all” during his first 100 days in office, and that subsequent deportations

Italy experienced the most deaths in a 24-hour period of any country during the pandemic, including China: The coronavirus continued its assault on Italy, the hardest hit country outside of China, with officials on Sunday reporting the number of deaths rose to 1,809 — a 25 percent increase over the day before and the largest

File photo: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks during a news conference in New York, September 14, 2018. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters) New York governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, on Sunday called on President Trump to mobilize the Army Corps of Engineers to help fight the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak. Cuomo indicated that New York does not have

Try this thought experiment. Envision the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, as a living, breathing enemy — which, of course, is exactly what it is. But imagine for a moment that we are in real war with a cognizant, thinking, and clever enemy whose sole reason to live is to hurt, maim, or kill as

Anthony Fauci discusses the coronavirus outbreak with the media outside the White House, March 12, 2020. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) In congressional testimony this week, Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the top medical experts in the Trump administration, said that the new coronavirus “is ten times more lethal than the seasonal flu.” On his radio show Wednesday,

Try this thought experiment. Envision the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, as a living, breathing enemy — which, of course, is exactly what it is. But imagine for a moment that we are in real war with a cognizant, thinking, and clever enemy whose sole reason to live is to hurt, maim, or kill as

Try this thought experiment. Envision the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, as a living, breathing enemy — which, of course, is exactly what it is. But imagine for a moment that we are in real war with a cognizant, thinking, and clever enemy whose sole reason to live is to hurt, maim, or kill as

FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. (Mary F. Calvert/Reuters) When we first started The McCarthy Report, I wondered if our podcast would have run its course once the Mueller investigation and the always hovering threat of impeachment finally wound down. Well, they’re unwound, yet it seems like Rich and I have as full a plate of

Federal Reserve Building in Washington, D.C. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters) Suspend the payroll tax. The Federal Reserve might still have to cut interest rates to zero. Brian Riedl has a nice piece in this publication articulating the case against fiscal stimulus. It provides a solid rundown of what I think are the strongest contemporary arguments that tax

Chelsea Manning outside the U.S. federal courthouse in Alexandria, Va., March 8, 2019 (Ford Fischer/News2Share/Reuters) A federal judge on Thursday ordered the release of Chelsea Manning, who leaked classified military information to Wikileaks. Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst, was jailed last year for refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating Wikileaks founder Julian

Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters) Today the Fed announced a $1.5 trillion liquidity provision to the interbank lending market — primarily in the form of “repurchase agreements.” The interbank lending market comprises the federal-funds market (in which the Fed actively participates on a daily basis) and the repurchase-agreement (or “repo”) market (in which

Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a community event at Sun City MacDonald Ranch in Henderson, Nev., February 14, 2020. (Gage Skidmore) Former vice president Joe Biden accused the White House of a “colossal” misstep over a lack of available coronavirus testing, and urged that the country dramatically increase its screening capacity. “The administration’s

Betty Gilpin in The Hunt (Universal Pictures) The Hunt’s gallery of condescending liberals and ignorant rednecks is pretty much guaranteed to irritate everyone. ‘The Most Dangerous Game” gets the InfoWars treatment in The Hunt, a horror-satire that was postponed from its fall release date after a trailer, which showed Davos elites hunting “Deplorables” for blood

President Donald Trump speaks about the response to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic during an address to the nation from the Oval Office, March 11, 2020. (Doug Mills/Pool via Reuters) President Trump announced sweeping new travel restrictions in an address to the nation Wednesday, instituting a 30-day travel ban from Europe to the U.S. in an

(Image via IMDb) As the preserved corpse of the Bernie Sanders campaign gets prepped for its inevitable journey back to its spiritual home in Red Square, it’s yet another period of mourning for crushed idealism in the Democratic Party. Hollywood has been scripting this story for nearly 50 years, via two of its paradigmatic liberal

A person wearing a protective suit and mask checks the temperature of people departing from the ferry port of Molo Beverello in Naples after Italy orders a countrywide lockdown to try and contain a coronavirus outbreak, March 10, 2020. (Ciro De Luca/Reuters) Italy had 62 coronavirus cases on February 22, and two-and-half weeks later it