NY State Developing ‘Trump-Proof’ Plan For Economy

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President Donald Trump has been insistently clamoring to get the economy reopened after Coronavirus-induced social distancing measures, but governors like New York Democrat Andrew Cuomo have been insistent upon prioritizing public safety. Reopening the economy prematurely could spike Coronavirus infections and deaths yet again in the wake of an unfettered virus spread. Now, Reuters is reporting that New York authorities have hired the consulting firm McKinsey to assist in the development of what one involved aide called a “Trump-proof” plan to safely reopen the economy when the time comes. States across the broad New England area are cooperating with New York for a joint approach.

As an aide to Cuomo put it:

‘We think Trump ultimately will blink on this, but if not, we need to push back, and we are reaching out to top experts and other professionals to come up with a bullet-proof plan.’

It’s an aide to New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, also a Democrat, who shared the aim to “Trump-proof” the plan.

Trump has already been publicly belittling those governors who, like Cuomo, have insisted upon prioritizing public safety above pleas from big business to protect their profits. Recently, Trump even claimed that Cuomo would get “no independence” amidst economic reopening, as if Trump forgot that he’s the president of the United States and not, say, King of Prussia. The president of the United States does not have the “total authority” that Trump has claimed.

Thus, Cuomo’s newly hired consultants have been tasked to “develop a science-based plan for the safe economic reopening of the region that can thwart expected pressure from President Donald Trump to move more rapidly,” Reuters reports, based on the anonymous testimony of state-government sources, adding:

‘As part of Cuomo’s effort, McKinsey & Co. is producing models on testing, infections and other key data points that will underpin decisions on how and when to reopen the region’s economy, the sources said.’

Enhanced testing capabilities are one of the crucial needs prior to any widespread economic reopening, because they’d allow authorities to keep a close eye on the virus’s spread and mitigate the potential for any further catastrophe.

Some of the other issues that McKinsey and Cuomo’s team are examining include “supply chain for critical supplies, hospital capacity and virus projections,” according to a company spokesperson. New York, which has suffered over 10,000 reported Coronavirus deaths in New York City alone, has faced dramatically overwhelmed local health facilities — as have other especially hard-hit areas around the country like Michigan, it’s worth noting.

At least five states and counting have suffered more than 1,000 Coronavirus deaths each, and at least a few, like Illinois and California, are only a little bit behind the 1,000 mark. Single-day totals for Coronavirus deaths in the U.S. hit a new high this week, suggesting that any plan to reopen the economy at large across the U.S. isn’t exactly going to kick into motion tomorrow. This week, unemployment numbers across the U.S. also hit staggering highs, with the temporary wipeout of almost as many jobs as were created in the entire time since the Great Recession.