Dave Portnoy’s ‘Barstool Fund’ Raises $20M, Helps More Than 90 Small Businesses

The Barstool Fund, created by Dave Portnoy, has helped raise more than $20 million, helping nearly 100 small businesses hurt during the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns. Portnoy started the Barstool Fund one month ago with his own $500,000 to help small businesses.

The fundraiser has raised $20,119,270 from more than 156,000 donors and has aided 92 small businesses across the country as of Thursday evening.

Earlier in the day, Portnoy announced his fundraising success on Twitter, but stressed that their mission is far from over.

Read More

Fauci: ‘Close the Bars and Keep the Schools Open’

Dr. Anthony Fauci said “close the bars and keep the schools open” during a Sunday interview on ABC’s “This Week With George Stephanopoulos.”

“Martha, that’s a good question. We get asked it all the time. We say it not being facetiously as a sound bite or anything, but you know, close the bars and keep the schools open is what we really say,” Fauci told ABC’s Martha Raddatz.

Fauci was specifically referring to how President-elect Joe Biden’s future administration can have a collective plan to reopen schools. Fauci also specifically referred to New York City schools closing in November.

Read More

Commentary: Michigan Schools Must Reopen

The coronavirus pandemic has affected every community, every household, and every American. Some of the most indirectly affected by the spread of coronavirus are the youngest among us: our children. Our children in the last four months have been suddenly ripped from their classrooms, teachers, and friends in the wake of the pandemic; forced to undertake isolated online instruction, while parents across the nation are bravely filling the void and fulfilled their new roles as “teachers.”

Read More

Commentary: In-Person Schooling Would Be One of the Safest Activities to Reopen

Most students around the country haven’t been to school since March, when large parts of the country began to lock down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, the data increasingly suggests that reopening schools entails the least risks and should be a goal of every level of government.

The early hope was that the closures would be temporary, such as Michigan’s school-closure order that was originally meant to end in April—but that was extended for the rest of the school year.

Read More

Analysis: President Trump Was Correct About the Rapid Economic Rebound Post-Shutdown as Another 630,000 Americans Come Off Unemployment Benefits

Another 630,000 Americans came off continuing unemployment claims the week ending June 27, according to the latest unadjusted data from the U.S. Department of Labor, proving President Donald Trump is right about the economy rapidly recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic state-based shutdowns.

Since the week ending May 9, unadjusted continuing unemployment claims have dropped from 22.8 million to 16.8 million the week ending June 27, a massive turnaround of 6 million Americans who temporarily found themselves on unemployment benefits but then rapidly came off of it on a net basis.

Read More

Whitmer Lifts Michigan Stay-at-Home Order

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer lifted Michigan’s stay-at-home order on Wednesday, moving the entire state to phase four of the MI Safe Start Plan.

Under the new phase, retail will be allowed to open on June 4 and restaurants will be allowed to reopen on June 8, both with capacity limits. Day camps, office work, outdoor pools and in-home services such as housecleaning will also reopen.

Read More

Michigan Launches MI Symptoms to Help Workers Track Symptoms, Prevent Coronavirus Outbreak

Michigan residents will now be able to track their daily symptoms in an online tool to help provide insight on where a new coronavirus outbreak may be next, as well as decide if they should return to work.

The Michigan departments of Health and Human Services and Labor and Economic Opportunity have partnered with the University of Michigan School of Public Health and College of Engineering to create the MI Symptoms Web Application.

Read More

Michigan Gov. Whitmer Refuses to Apologize for Coronavirus Restrictions, Says ‘I’m Not Changing the Way I Run This State’

Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Monday that she will not change the way she runs Michigan during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Michigan governor discussed her coronavirus restrictions and the protests that have erupted against her executive orders during an interview with Fox News.

Read More

Commentary: Trump Soars in Approval as America Begins Reopening, Challenging China

President Donald Trump continues to see his highest approval ratings of his first term in office, hitting 49 percent in the most recent Gallup survey (48 percent disapprove) and 51 percent in the Hill/HarrisX poll (49 percent disapprove) as the Trump administration continues its response to the China-originated COVID-19 pandemic and states begin reopening.

Read More

Commentary: Power-Hungry Democrats Are Using COVID-19 as an Excuse to Pursue Radical Policies

Give them credit. At least the Democrats admit they view the deadly coronavirus pandemic as just another opportunity to advance their ideological game plan for America. That doesn’t make it any less nauseating, though.

During a recent “town hall” event for presumptive Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden, twice-failed presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, urged her fellow Democrats to exploit the panic and fear caused by COVID-19 to pursue far-left policy goals that would never stand a chance of being enacted in normal times. 

Read More

Whitmer Details Plan to Reopen State, Says Michigan Is in Phase Three of Six

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer released her full MI Safe Start Plan this week, detailing when each type of business could open.

The six-part plan is categorized as Uncontrolled Growth, Persistent Spread, Flattening, Improving, Containing and Post-Pandemic. Whitmer said Michigan is phase three of the plan, Flattening.

Read More