New Report Focuses on Trump Administrations Intentional Disregard Throughout Its Failed COVID-19 Response – Common Dreams

WASHINGTON - The first duty of governmentis to protect its peopleand it is up to the people to hold that government accountable when it fails.A new report from Common Cause chronicles theTrumpadministrationsfailed response to the COVID-19 pandemicthrough the lens of government accountability andtheabuse of power.Intentional Disregard: Trumps Authoritarianism During the COVID-19 Pandemicexamines the ineffective responseby the White House, and how the administrationis usingthepublic health crisisas a pretext to underminepillars of our democracy includingtransparencyandaccountability.

The Trumpadministrations failed response to the COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented public health crisisleadingto a worsening economic crisis. What is becoming clearereach day isPresident Trumpsintent touse this chaosto create a crisis for our democracy, said Common Cause President Karen Hobert Flynn. The disproportionate impact on Black,Indigenous,Latinx, and Asian communities are not unique to this illness and every economic downturn impactsthese communities hardest. These outcomes are the consequences of political decisions made by people we entrusted with power. What is different this time is the failurescome afterTrumpsAdministration has destabilized long-standing global alliances abroad and underminedour democracy at home, Hobert Flynn added.

We know the government can do better.Other governmentsaround the worldare doing a much better job than our ownhandling this pandemic.Trumps decision to politicize everything, including public health guidance,sets us apart from the world,said Paul Seamus Ryan,Common Cause Vice PresidentforPolicy and Litigation.Novemberselections are the opportunity for Americans to hold government accountable.Trump and his allies are working to suppress votesbyopposingexpandedvote by mail. Common Cause isfightingto ensurethat everyeligible voteris ableto casta ballot safely and securely, Ryan added.

The reports three sections detail the administrations failures on a range of good government issues:

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The report concludes with a series of recommendations Common Causeisworkingto advance tosee our nation through this crisis:

The report was written bySylvia Albert, Keshia Morris Desir, Yosef Getachew, Liz Iacobucci, Beth Rotman, Paul S. Ryan, and Becky Timmons.

ToreadtheIntentional Disregardreport,click here.

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