The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released the first quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) advanced estimate and the result is a 4.8% decline in economic activity. [BEA Here]

The revised fourth quarter GDP shows the economy was growing at 2.1 percent prior to the COVID-19 shutdown.  The severity of the change in GDP reflects a severe drop in consumer spending, essentially bringing the economy to a halt in March as the entire nation went into lock-down.  As the BEA explains:

The decline in first quarter GDP was, in part, due to the response to the spread of COVID-19, as governments issued “stay-at-home” orders in March. This led to rapid changes in demand, as businesses and schools switched to remote work or canceled operations, and consumers canceled, restricted, or redirected their spending.

The full economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be quantified in the GDP estimate for the first quarter of 2020 because the impacts are generally embedded in source data and cannot be separately identified. (more)

Digging down into the details the data shows what we all have seen.  There is some specific data that is noteworthy in the tables.

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There is a tremendous amount of information and misinformation surrounding the current status of protein processing within the meat industry. Most of the misinformation comes from many people not understanding the total food supply-chain and how it works.

First, there is no shortage of meat protein products: beef, pork and chicken at the farm level. However, the problems arise within processing, manufacturing and more importantly binding legal contracts and liabilities within the supply-chain. Additionally, there are national and multinational aspects to the protein food supply.

Today President Trump remarked the White House and Dept of Agriculture are drawing up a plan for the president to invoke the defense production act as a tool to cut through some of the liabilities present within the supply-chain dynamic. Let’s use cattle to explain.

Because beef is a “graded” commodity, there are contracts for purchase within the supply chain. USDA Prime, USDA Choice and USDA Select are three well known grades of beef. However, there are eight grades total: prime, choice, select, standard, commercial, utility, cutter and canner.

Within the total food supply there are contracts for exclusive product purchasing in both the commercial and consumer side of the food supply.  Additionally, the commercial side breaks down into ‘food-away-from-home’ (ie. restaurants), and manufactured food.

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Earlier today President Trump and members of the COVID-19 task force met with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at the White House.  DeSantis spoke about the actions Florida has taken to help and support the state’s nursing home population.

The approach to protect the vulnerable population by Florida Governor DeSantis contrasts against the approaches taken in New York and New Jersey which were not so effective. Additionally, DeSantis highlights the use of the national guard to assist in testing and mitigation. [Video Below – Transcript to Follow]

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NOTE: The rude journalist in the oval office is Hunter Walker from Yahoo News who constantly brags to his peers about his resistance efforts.

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The U.S. Department of Justice, Attorney General Bill Barr, has issued a memo (pdf here) citing a needed balance between COVID-19 mitigation efforts and U.S. civil rights under the constitution.  Notably AG Barr identifies both “religious freedom”, and “undue interference with the national economy” within his memo.

[…] “Many policies that would be unthinkable in regular times have become commonplace in recent weeks, and we do not want to unduly interfere with the important efforts of state and local officials to protect the public. But the Constitution is not suspended in times of crisis. We must therefore be vigilant to ensure its protections are preserved, at the same time that the public is protected” (citation)

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Unfortunately, with President Trump effectively communicating the latest information on the federal efforts to mitigate COVID-19, more corporate U.S. resistance media have decided not to carry the live broadcasts from the White House task force briefings.

Today at 5:00pm ET the White House will hold a beating for the media and share the latest mitigation efforts against the coronavirus. The White House is anticipated to deliver new testing guidelines for state and local government. [Livestream Links Below]

White House Livestream Link – RSBN Livestream – CSPAN Livestream Link

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Kevin Hassett, senior advisor to President Trump, says we’re going to see unemployment rates similar to what we saw during the Great Depression, but the White House has a plan for an economic comeback.  As Hasset notes: due to various relief programs the overall worker income is still consistent, but outputs from income are non-existent.

In this interview with CNBC Hassett estimates the current unemployment rate at 16 to 17 percent; & the likely result of the second quarter GDP around -20 to -30 percent. Hassett notes the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) has several challenges as they attempt to quantify economic activity during the shut-down.  However, those are stunning numbers.

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David Mamet had a famous saying that is often cited. Essentially he said: ‘in order for left-wing partisans and ideologues to continue advancing their agenda, they must pretend not to know things.’ CTH calls this “The Mamet Principle.”  No where is that quote more clearly showcased than with two media interviews of Dr. Deborah Birx today.

CNN’s Jake Tapper and NBC’s Chuck Todd both pretend not to know the guidelines and gateways for a phase-one reopening of the U.S. economy. Both pundits fabricate information purposefully and with specific intent.

When the original guidelines were rolled out by the White House COVID-19 task force, the administration was clear to say how the guidelines were created for the state governors to use in coordination with “state and local health officials.”

A key part of the White House guidelines was the “gateway to reopening”; which included a recommendation of a 14-day period where the virus tracking showed diminished spread. However, the guidelines were emphasized to be driven by “local and state health departments.” That’s the part where Tapper and Todd intentionally obfuscate the issue.

The White House guidelines to the state governors were intentionally structured around coordination with county health officials/county health departments. The reasoning was simple, a state with 40 counties may have passed the gateway hurdle in 38 of the 40 counties, but that does NOT mean the entire state has not passed the phase-one gateway.

“The guidance allows each state governor to modify their phased response by county depending on the Virus impact. Some counties may be in phase-one, while other counties may be in phase two or three. The state and local public health officials will be responsible for monitoring the virus impact on an ongoing basis.” (link)

Here’s a specific example. There are 67 counties in the state of Florida. Sixty-five of those counties may have already passed through the phase-one gateway; meaning they show declining infection rates for 14-days, and/or had little impact. Two counties like Dade, and Broward may not have yet passed the gateway guideline. It would be ridiculous for 65 (mostly rural) counties to sit and wait for one or two (mostly urban) counties to achieve the same level of virus containment before re-opening their local economy.

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The word “absurd” doesn’t even begin to describe this ridiculous demand by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio as he publicly says he wants the federal government to replace all of the missing revenue from the COVID-19 economic shut-down.  This is bonkers.

If the federal government was to even consider taking such action it would essentially be promoting all states and cities to remain shut-down forever; because, in the mind of those who live from the government trough, there would be no need to reopen.  The mental disconnect here is incredible. I think the needle on my ‘nope-meter‘ just broke off.

While private citizens, private companies and private workers are forced –by government– to remain locked in their homes; unable to earn a living and on the cusp of financial despair, or face arrest; the NYC Mayor wants the government system and workers to be isolated from any economic impact via a federal bailout.  WATCH:

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Unfortunately, with President Trump effectively communicating the latest information on the federal efforts to mitigate COVID-19, more corporate U.S. resistance media have decided not to carry the live broadcasts from the White House task force briefings.

Today at 5:00pm ET the White House will hold a beating for the media and share the latest mitigation efforts against the coronavirus. [Livestream Links Below]

White House Livestream Link – Fox News Livestream – CSPAN Livestream Link

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Earlier today New York Governor Andrew Cuomo released initial data from 3,000 people tested for COVID-19 antibodies throughout the state.  Interestingly, though not surprisingly, the field tests were conducted on the general public who were visiting retail supermarkets and box stores (WalMart, Target, Costco, etc.).  The resulting data falls directly in line with previous CTH analysis of human interface.

The preliminary New York results show a state-wide infection rate of 13.9 percent within the sample. Which would extend to 2.7 million people state-wide.  With that infection rate, the mortality rate from the infection would drop to 0.5 percent.

The samples show an infection rate in New York City is 21.2 percent. [WATCH]

(VIA CBS) – New York’s first survey of coronavirus antibodies shows that 13.9% of those tested in the state had coronavirus antibodies in their system, meaning they have contracted and recovered from the virus, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Thursday. That suggests that 2.7 million people have been infected statewide.

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