Tufts Politics Professor: A 'Competent President' Would Have Handled Coronavirus Crisis 'An Order Of Magnitude Better' Than Trump - wgbh.org | Canada News Media
After President Donald Trump changed his tone on the severity of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, warning of “a very tough two weeks” ahead, author and politics professor Daniel Drezner said that the president’s own inaction was partly to blame for what is to come.
“There were a number of different decision points in which Trump could have … made this much better to deal with. And the fact is, he didn’t,” Drezner, a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, told Jim Braude on WGBH News’ Greater Boston Wednesday.
“So, the U.S. is now the leading source of coronavirus infection and we’re in for, as he said, a brutal two weeks coming up,” he added.
Researchers from the University of Washington’s Institute of for Health Metrics and Evaluation predict more than 93,000 people will die from the virus nationwide by August 4. The same models, which have been cited by the White House, predict that during the peak of the outbreak, close to 100 people will die every day in Massachusetts.
Drezner said that a different president would have likely made a big difference in the expected surge.
“I’m incredibly angry that a competent president, whether it was a Bill Clinton, a Hillary Clinton or even maybe a Ted Cruz, would have probably handled this an order of magnitude better than Donald Trump,” he added.
Drezner also addressed a recent spike in President Trump’s approval ratings, which were up to 45.8 percent in a Gallup Poll released last week — his highest ratings since taking office.
“Presidents usually experience some sort of bump in terms of their approval rating, regardless of how they handle [a crisis],” Drezner said.
“The thing that stands out about Trump is that his bump has been surprisingly modest,” he added, referring to approval ratings in the 90s for President George W. Bush after the 9/11 attacks and ratings in the 70s for New York Governor Andrew Cuomo as he manages the coronavirus outbreak in his state now.
Drezner also weighed in on the state of misinformation and political polarization in the time of coronavirus, as some Republicans and Democrats disagree on the facts about the epidemic.
“I think there’s grounds for cautious optimism here,” he said. “People might be willing to disregard what the media says, or what Democrats have said, right up until the moment their neighbor, their daughter, or they themselves get sick.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
