A company offered Utah officials a coronavirus contact tracing app for free. Your Tuesday morning political 'cheat sheet' from UtahPolicy.com

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Situational awareness - May 12, 2020

Good Tuesday morning from Salt Lake City

TICK TOCK

49 days to the 2020 Utah primary elections (6/30/2020)

175 Days to the 2020 election (11/3/2020)

253 days to inauguration day (01/20/2021)

258 days to the start of the 2021 Utah Legislature (1/25/2021)

Here are the stories you need to pay attention to this morning:

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Today At Utah Policy

OTHER UTAH HEADLINES

Deseret News

Salt Lake Tribune

Other

NATIONAL HEADLINES

Stark warning

Dr. Anthony Fauci plans to testify before a Senate committee on Tuesday that states prematurely reopening their economies will cause "needless suffering and death" [New York Times].

Blockbuster SCOTUS case

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Tuesday from President Trump's lawyers who are seeking to block subpoenas for his personal financial records from Congress and state investigators [Politico].

White House outbreak

The White House is ordering staffers to wear masks at work unless they are sitting at their desks, which is an abrupt reversal after two aides tested positive for coronavirus. However, President Trump said he would not wear a mask [NBC News].

More coronavirus aid

House Democrats are working on a proposal for a massive coronavirus stimulus package that could eclipse the $2 trillion bill passed in late March [CNN].

Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell and President Trump are trying to slow-walk new aid packages, but they're running into pressure to act as the economy continues to worsen [Bloomberg].

Economy

Hope for a quick economic recovery are beginning to fade as economists now predict it could take until next year for a return to pre-pandemic levels [Wall Street Journal].

Boeing's CEO predicts one major airline will go out of business this year as air travel is grinding to a halt [Bloomberg].

Some furloughs are starting to turn into permanent layoffs [Quartz].

Elon Musk says he will reopen his Tesla plant in California in defiance of local restrictions. Musk dared local officials to arrest him [Bloomberg].

Obamagate?

President Trump has accused former President Obama of committing crimes but refused to specify what crimes he was referring to at a press conference Monday [Axios].

Not true

President Trump falsely claimed Monday that the US has "prevailed" over the coronavirus pandemic as the number of deaths crested above 80,000. He also repeated the falsehood that testing is widely available [New York Times].

Virus response

The World Health Organization says the number of coronavirus cases has jumped in countries that have eased their lockdown [CNBC].

Even if researchers are able to develop a vaccine against the coronavirus, there may not be enough available to end the pandemic [Washington Post].

The White House deliberately buried a document from the Centers for Disease Control that offered advice for states that wanted to lift coronavirus restrictions [AP].

A planned visit by Trump to a Pennsylvania factor that produces PPE was scrapped amid health concerns [Washington Post].

Media relations 101

President Trump abruptly ended a press conference on Monday after a testy exchange with two female reporters [CNN].

2020

President Trump is reportedly eyeing a campaign shakeup as polls show him badly trailing Joe Biden in several swing states [Vanity Fair].

Republicans are growing increasingly worried that President Trump's erratic response to the coronavirus crisis could cost them some down-ballot races [PBS].

Democrats are beginning to take steps toward holding a virtual convention in August [New York Times].

BUSINESS HEADLINES

Policy News

More National Headlines

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1932 - The body of the kidnapped son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh was found in a wooded area of Hopewell, N.J.

1937 - Britain's King George VI was crowned at Westminster Abbey.

1949 - The Soviet Union announced an end to the Berlin blockade.

2002 - Former President Jimmy Carter began a visit to Cuba. He was the first president, in or out of office, to visit the island since communists took over in 1959.

Wise Words

"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives."Jackie Robinson

Lighter Side

"That's right - the C.D.C. wrote a plan for safely reopening the economy and the Trump administration covered it up. Basically, they did to the C.D.C. plan what Dr. Fauci does to his face during Trump's briefings.[as Trump]'Oh, that's a good idea, Fauci. I didn't know you could use your hand as a mask. Jared - Jared, get me a patent for hand masks. That way the next time Fauci does it, he'll have to pay me.'"- SETH MEYERS

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