Mar 28, 2017

Flashback: McConnell on tax reform and infrastructure

Alayna Treene

J. Scott Applewhite / AP

The Trump administration is looking at concurrently tackling tax reform and infrastructure, as Axios' Jonathan Swan scooped last night. Back in January, National Journal Alex Rogers asked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell what he thought about tying the two together. Quotables:

  • "I'm not interested in doing anything like the stimulus... It's like withdrawing the funds from the bank and lighting a match to it and adding that much to the deficit."
  • "Whatever we do needs to be credibly paid for... the way transportation projects really, actually occur is at the state level. They're the ones who build roads, repair roads and actually spend the gas-tax money..."
  • McConnell's questions: What is the administration going to recommend? How big is it? How do we pay for it? How is it going to be structured?

Go deeper

Axios

World coronavirus updates: Cases to hit 1 million within days, WHO warns

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, and China's Health Ministry. Note: China numbers are for the mainland only and U.S. numbers include repatriated citizens and confirmed plus presumptive cases from the CDC

Novel coronavirus infections are nearing the 1 million mark after a "near exponential growth" that's reached "almost every country," World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday.

The big picture: COVID-19 cases surged past 937,000 and the global death toll exceeded 47,000 by early Thursday, per Johns Hopkins data. Italy has reported more than 13,000 deaths.

Go deeperArrowUpdated 55 mins ago - Health
Axios

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 1:30 a.m. ET: 937,567 — Total deaths: 47,256 — Total recoveries: 194,311 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 1:30 a.m. ET: 216,721 — Total deaths: 5,138 — Total recoveries: 8,672 — Map.
  3. Business updates: Small businesses are bearing the brunt of the coronavirus job crisis.
  4. World updates: Spain’s confirmed cases surpassed 100,000, and the nation saw its biggest daily death toll so far. More than 500 people were reported dead within the last 24 hours in the U.K., per Johns Hopkins.
  5. State updates: Florida and Pennsylvania are the latest states to issue stay-at-home orders — Michigan has more than 9,000 confirmed cases, an increase of 1,200 and 78 new deaths in 24 hours.
  6. Stock market updates: Stocks closed more than 4% lower on Wednesday, continuing a volatile stretch for the stock market amid the coronavirus outbreak.
  7. 1 future thing: Shifts to telemedicine, at-home diagnostics, and drone delivery are all likely lasting consequences from this pandemic.
  8. What should I do? Answers about the virus from Axios experts — What to know about social distancing — Q&A: Minimizing your coronavirus risk.
  9. Other resources: CDC on how to avoid the virus, what to do if you get it.

Subscribe to Mike Allen's Axios AM to follow our coronavirus coverage each morning from your inbox.

Keep ReadingArrowUpdated 1 hour ago - Politics & Policy
Rebecca Falconer, Orion Rummler, Marisa Fernandez

U.S. coronavirus updates: Death toll tops 5,000

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins; Map: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

The novel coronavirus has now killed more than 5,100 people in the United States, as more state governors issued stay-at-home orders Wednesday to curb the spread. Over 216,000 people are now infected and more than 8,500 others have recovered.

The state of play: Trump administration officials are anonymously sounding the alarm that America's emergency stockpile of personal protective equipment is running dangerously low, the Washington Post reports.

Go deeperArrowUpdated 3 hours ago - Health