Murkowski meets with McConnell. The horse-trading begins. "Vote with us and you'll get $Bxxx for your state. Vote against, and Alaska gets nothing as long as R's hold the Senate. And you might as well go along because he'll be acquitted anyway." Money for votes--the untold story,

Do you have a written directive ordering food and water to be withheld if you're terminally ill and no longer able to decide for yourself? A continuing care community might ignore it, forcing you to eat. bit.ly/2tjVHZa

Did you get your insurer's pre-approval for expensive tests or procedures? Turns out, their word isn't necessarily good. After you get the procedures, the insurer might change its mind and not pay. bit.ly/2OK3d71

Important read. Thomas Friedman explains how to slow down the spread of the virus while, at the same time, freeing people to get back to work. nyti.ms/3abm5EB

Note to those taking chloroquine-- try Forsythia instead. bit.ly/2JdoTFs

Trump says, without evidence, that anti-malarial drugs will cure Covid-19. Now -- because he's never wrong -- he's pushing government scientists to try to prove him right. politi.co/2QN85JJ

China isn't the only country that may be undercounting its coronavirus cases. A dear friend died of Covid-19 in a Florida hospital last week. Officially, she was recorded as having died of "natural causes."

Trump pretends that using the Defense Production Act for building ventilators is like "nationalizing" business. Bad. But he has used it 1000s of times for defense dept needs. Just not for public health. nyti.ms/2QWNqCY

Trump's Labor Dept writes rules that limit, even eliminate, promised payments to unemployed workers and small businesses while the billions for big business are dispensed without oversight. wapo.st/3eirI6H. It's the new populism.

It bears repeating: The bailout law includes a new tax break for large real estate developers. 82% of the benefit goes to people with incomes over $1M, including Trumpkins. Why aren't we screaming for Congress to reverse this? bloom.bg/3br3l4y

Danger! Trump is seizing political control of the Federal Thrift Plan, the lowest-cost, best run retirement savings plan in the country. It invests via index funds. If the Trumpies can force investment changes, expect high-cost Wall St to worm its way in. wapo.st/2WlaBKu

No surprise: More than half of Federal Covid dollars go to hospitals treating Medicare patients. Clinics serving mainly low-income Medicaid patients are being left out. bit.ly/3bNTsO4

Republicans are going with "herd immunity." Normally, it means vaccinating enough people so that a disease cannot spread. Here, it means letting the virus run until it infects most of the population-- "merely' sickening most of us and killing the rest.

Pre-Trump, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was going after unconscionable payday lending at 250-500% interest. Trump canceled the effort. Now, the lenders are freely cheating people jobless because of the virus. Go Trump. on.wsj.com/303LvBX

You should be afraid. The troops that Trump readied to enter Washington DC had been issued bayonets and live ammunition. bloom.bg/2UCBsAa

The population of the 5 largest European countries roughly equals that the of US. Last week, they collectively reported 19,000 Covid deaths. The US reported 143,000. bit.ly/2CdE4hM

Greedy Wall Streeters will finally get access to workers' retirement funds. Trump will let 401(k)s etc invest in high-risk high-cost private equity deals. More chance of loss for you, certain billion$$$ for them.bit.ly/2ALQvkj

Bad stuff everywhere you look. Trump's Labor Dept is planning new regs for pension funds to discourage them from making socially conscious (ESG) investments. politi.co/3i6PIez

Trump ended ongoing investigations of big banks that discriminate against borrowers of color. Evidence was strong but it was shelved. Message: Go ahead and discriminate, folks. Fine with us We all know white people make better customers, amirite? bit.ly/2Zoernp

Massive US failure in saving lives and restarting the economy, compared with other developed countries. We look like (are) boobs.