January 1, 2021

Coronavirus killed more Florida officers in 2020 than anything else

The virus replaced gunfire, crashes and assaults as the leading cause of death of law enforcement officers. At least 18 died of complications from COVID-19.

In 2020, two Florida law enforcement officers were killed by gunfire. One died in a motorcycle crash. Another died after being injured while running after a suspect.

But at least 18 police officers, correctional officers, sheriff’s deputies and a federal agent in Florida died of complications from the coronavirus in 2020, the Tampa Bay Times found.

That number includes 13 local law enforcement officers listed in an unofficial count kept by the Officer Down Memorial Page, which tracks deaths based on media reports.

It also includes at least five Florida Department of Corrections officers who died from the virus while performing what has become one of the riskiest law enforcement duties during the pandemic: guarding prisons.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2020/12/31/coronavirus-killed-more-florida-officers-in-2020-than-anything-else/

January 1, 2021

Let Josh Hawley put Republicans to the uncomfortable test

Opinion by Ruth Marcus

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) — Yale Law School, Supreme Court clerk, Missouri attorney general and, according to the first line of his Twitter bio, “constitutional lawyer” — surely knows better.

His plan to challenge the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral college victory when Congress convenes for that purpose on Jan. 6 has no basis in the facts or the law. That is putting it too charitably, actually. It is, if anything, anti-constitutional — inconsistent with the Constitution’s vision of the ceremonial role of Congress in ratifying the election results.

It is doomed to fail — except, perhaps, at its scarcely disguised purpose of winning Hawley favor in the eyes of the Trumpian base. Think of it as the first act of Hawley’s all-but-inevitable 2024 presidential campaign. Think of it as what it is: a stunt.

Yet while irresponsible, Hawley’s move is not necessarily a terrible development. It forces a vote that will have the salutary effect of requiring his Republican colleagues to decide — and to put on the record —whether their loyalty is to President Trump or to the Constitution. Better to know than to guess. Better to inflict some accountability rather than to enable dodging.

Put another way: Any vote that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) fervently wishes to avoid is one I’m for. Put every member of the House and Senate on the record, and let them reap the consequences, for good and for ill, in the short term of political fallout and in the long view of history. Those who vote against certifying Biden’s victory can explain it to their grandchildren.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/12/30/let-josh-hawley-put-republicans-uncomfortable-test/

The Washington Post needs to label Hawley and any Republican who follows his lead for what they are: fascists.

January 1, 2021

Josh Hawley's heedless ambition is a threat to the republic

Opinion by Michael Gerson

The announced intention of Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) to object to certification of Joe Biden’s electoral college victory is a particularly bad omen for the GOP’s future. Unlike, say, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) — who has an ideological commitment to public chaos and the humiliation of the U.S. government — Hawley has often tried to offer a constructive vision of conservative populism. As a former clerk to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., Hawley surely possesses a serious understanding of the constitutional order. He is, on personal acquaintance, a talented, knowledgeable, ambitious young man.

The problem with political decadence is not what it does to those who are already disordered. The primary problem is what it does to talented, knowledgeable, ambitious young leaders who can be warped toward a destructive influence.

Ambition is a human trait assumed by the nation’s founders and incorporated into their design of our system, which pits ambition against ambition to check and balance power. By implication, it is a neutral characteristic — a source of mischief or a spur to greatness. Ambition can lead men and women to say things they don’t believe, to the detriment of their character. The worse problem comes when it leads politicians outside the boundaries of democracy, which is where Hawley now finds himself. In the cause of his own advancement, the senator from Missouri is willing to endorse the disenfranchisement of millions of Americans — particularly voters of color — and justify the attempted theft of an election. He is willing to credit malicious lies that will poison our democracy for generations. The fulfillment of Hawley’s intention — the ultimate overturning of the election — would be the collapse of U.S. self-government. The attempt should be a source of shame.

The ultimate responsibility lies with Hawley himself. But his temptation also represents the more general triumph of a dangerous type of politics — the politics of delegitimization. We have seen hints of this over the years. Jerry Falwell Sr. hawked videotapes on television accusing President Bill Clinton of murder. Some on the far left charged President George W. Bush with complicity in the 9/11 attacks. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) objected to the certification of the 2004 presidential election based on conspiratorial lies about vote counting in Ohio. (Boxer’s effort came after John F. Kerry’s gracious concession, which distinguishes it from Hawley’s move.)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/josh-hawleys-heedless-ambition-is-a-threat-to-the-republic/2020/12/31/1d3f8260-4b9c-11eb-a9f4-0e668b9772ba_story.html

January 1, 2021

Hospitals Say They Will Publish Previously Secret Prices

Largest U.S. hospital chains say they will comply with new rules to make public confidentially negotiated prices with health insurers

Major hospital operators say they will comply with new rules to make public their prices for medical procedures starting Friday, exposing previously secret market rates in an industry that accounts for about 6% of the U.S. economy.

The roughly $1.2 trillion hospital sector will begin posting prices publicly in the New Year after losing a legal challenge to overturn new transparency rules that are a centerpiece of the Trump administration’s health-care policy.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said earlier in December the hospital pricing data and other transparency rules put forward by the administration were fundamental to a competitive market.

Hospital pricing is negotiated confidentially between hospitals and the employer groups and insurance companies that pay for care, which has obscured market rates that have helped drive up the cost of health insurance premiums paid by employers and workers. Rising hospital prices accounted for about one-fifth of the nation’s health spending growth in the last half-century, federal data show.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/hospitals-say-they-will-publish-previously-secret-prices-11609442913
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This should prove to be interesting.

January 1, 2021

Meet the Trump saboteur in charge of undermining Biden -- and America

Opinion by Dana Milbank

If, in the new year, pandemic vaccines aren’t available as promised, Americans can’t return to work because economic relief isn’t delivered or an adversary successfully attacks the United States because national security agencies couldn’t pay for new defenses, a hefty share of the blame should be placed on a man you’ve probably never heard of: One Russell Thurlow Vought.

As President Trump’s budget director, he conspicuously failed in his stated goal of controlling the debt. Despite his efforts, the debt increased by $6 trillion on his two-year watch as director of the Office of Management and Budget, the biggest jump in history.

He also has been disastrous in his fiscal forecasts. On Feb. 10, he predicted 2.8 percent growth for the year, saying, “our view is that, at this point, coronavirus is not something that is going to have ripple effects.” A few weeks later, the economy collapsed.

But what Russ Vought is very good at is sabotage. He’s sabotaging national security, the pandemic response and the economic recovery — all to make things more difficult for the incoming Biden administration. That he’s also sabotaging the country seems not to matter to Vought, who has spent nearly two decades as a right-wing bomb thrower.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/12/31/russell-vought-trump-saboteur-undermine-biden-america/