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The FCC Just Authorized a $3.2 Billion Dollar Program Meant To Bring Low-Income Americans Online

The Federal Communications Commission unanimously voted late Thursday to adopt the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program—a $3.2 billion dollar initiative meant to lower the cost of internet services for the tens of millions of families struggling with connectivity during the ongoing pandemic.

gizmodo.com

The Commission will offer eligible households of up to $50 dollars per month for broadband access, or up to $75 dollars per month if their home is built on designated Tribal lands. Those that qualify will also be getting a one-time discount of up to $100 dollars off a tablet or computer. FCC Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel stated that she expects the Program to be open to eligible recipients “within the next 60 days.”

Per the FCC, the Program is open to households that are already plugged into a pandemic-relief program offered by their broadband provider, or those that are part of the FCC’s Lifeline program. It also includes Pell grant and Medicaid recipients along with those that have “lost jobs and seen their income reduced in the last year.”

The $3.2 billion dollar sum was approved by Congress as part of the $900 billion dollar COVID-19 relief package late December.

Vaccine arrives. Biden clinches. Barr leaves. Pretty good. Pretty pretty pretty good.

—  Preet Bharara@PreetBharara

Meet Biden's coronavirus crisis team tasked with combating surging cases

They'll "consult with state and local officials to determine the public health and economic steps" to control the virus.

www.axios.com|Rebecca Falconer

Why it matters: The U.S. has reported over 100,000 new coronavirus cases every day since last Wednesday, when it first reached the milestone. The seven-day average of deaths from the virus reported by states has risen 36% in the past three weeks, per the COVID Tracking Project.

• Rick Bright, a vaccine expert, who resigned last month from a top Department of Health and Human Services position after alleging he was demoted for political reasons.
• Eric Goosby, an infectious diseases expert who previously served in the Obama and Clinton administrations.
• Luciana Borio, whose previous positions include Food and Drug Administration acting chief scientist.
• Ezekiel Emanuel, an oncologist and adviser to Biden, who is vice provost for global initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania and who previously served in the Obama administration.
• Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.
• Atul Gawande, a prominent doctor, health researcher and writer who served as a senior advisor in the Department of Health and Human Services in the Clinton administration.
• Loyce Pace, president and executive director of the Global Health Council.
• Julie Morita, executive vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and former Chicago commissioner of health.
• Celine Gounder, a clinical assistant professor of medicine and infectious diseases at New York University.
• Robert Rodriguez, a professor of emergency medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine

‘This f---ing virus’: Inside Donald Trump’s 2020 undoing

How Biden prevailed and Trump fell short in an unforgettable election, according to conversations with 75 insiders.

www.politico.com

• Brad Parscale was central to Trump’s 2016 win
• Parscale was Trump’s campaign manager until he was “demoted” aka fired in July 2020
• Parscale tried to commit suicide in Sept.

Brad Parscale was on the phone with President Donald Trump and top White House officials in mid-February when someone on the line asked the campaign manager what worried him the most.

Parscale, speaking from his Arlington, Va. apartment, had just told the president how good his internal poll numbers looked. But now he had an urgent message: The coronavirus was a big problem – and it could cost him reelection.

Trump was perplexed. The economy was strong. The president had built an enormous political infrastructure and was raking in hundreds of millions of dollars.

“Sir, regardless, this is coming. It’s the only thing that could take down your presidency,” Parscale told the president.

Trump snapped.

This account of the 2020 presidential campaign is based on conversations with more than 75 people in and around both campaigns. It is the story of two candidates with completely divergent views on how the nation would respond to a deadly virus outbreak — and acted accordingly, setting up a stark choice for voters.

Mark Meadows tests positive for coronavirus

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has tested positive for the coronavirus, an official familiar with the matter confirmed late Friday.

thehill.com|Brett Samuels

• There were over 100,000 new cases for EACH of THE LAST 3 DAYS   — with at least 121,054 new infections on Thursday.
• Meadows is part of the third wave of infections to infest Trump’s controlled White House. #COVID45

It was not immediately clear when he first tested positive, but he was at Trump campaign headquarters in Arlington, Va., on Tuesday afternoon with dozens of other staffers. He was not wearing a mask.

Meadows was frequently in close proximity to President Trump when the president had his own bout with the virus last month. Several other top aides contracted the virus around the same time as the president, including Stephen Miller, Kayleigh McEnany and Hope Hicks, but Meadows managed to avoid catching it in that time.

Meadows's diagnosis was first reported by Bloomberg News, which said that campaign aide Nick Trainer had also tested positive. The White House is expected to conduct contact tracing for those in the building who had recent contact with Meadows.

• Trump on COVID Testing: 'I don't take responsibility at all'
• Trump on COVID Deaths: "IT IS WHAT IT IS"
• Trump on COVID Response: “NOT MUCH” he'd change

"And what's his closing argument? That people are too focused on Covid. He said this at one of his rallies. Covid, Covid, Covid, he's complaining. He's jealous of Covid's media coverage.

If he had been focused on Covid from the beginning, cases wouldn't be reaching new record highs across the country this week."

"Let me say this: I lived in the White House for a while, You know, it's a controlled environment. You can take some preventive measures in the White House to avoid getting sick. Except, this guy can't seem to do it. He's turned the White House into a hot zone."

• The US's total coronavirus deaths could surpass 511,000 people by the end of February 2021, according to a new University of Washington model.
• Nearly 130,000 of those lives could be saved if 95% of the country wore masks, the model found.

• 'We are not going to control the pandemic”, Trump’s White House chief of staff Mark Meadows