While states such as Alabama and Nebraska are split ideologically on whether to issue stay-at-home orders, these public health measures have bipartisan support in Oregon.
"I think to stop this virus, given we have no treatment or vaccine, we have to go to basic public health protocols," Representative Greg Walden (R-Ore. 2nd District), told Cheddar on Friday. "As painful as it is, especially for us in the Northwest who don't want to be cooped up, it's really important in these times."
So far, these efforts appear to be working. State officials have said that by staying home Oregonians have helped cut the spread of coronavirus by 50 to 70 percent.
Walden attributed the relative success to the state's community-based health system — though some health care professionals within the state still believe it's woefully unprepared.
One challenge facing Oregon that Walden highlighted was the impact of certain state restrictions on financially encumbered rural hospitals.
"Our rural community hospitals are struggling financially right now, in large part because the governor shut down any elective procedures. This is something we're going to have to get our hands around because some of them are losing half their monthly revenue streams."
Some of the current federal support needs to be targeted at helping these hospitals, according to the congressman.
A legislative package to end the government shutdown appears on track. A handful of Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to advance the bill after what's become a deepening disruption of federal programs and services. But hurdles remain. Senators are hopeful they can pass the package as soon as Monday and send it to the House. What’s in and out of the bipartisan deal has drawn criticism and leaves few senators fully satisfied. The legislation includes funding for SNAP food aid and other programs while ensuring backpay for furloughed federal workers. But it fails to fund expiring health care subsidies Democrats have been fighting for, pushing that debate off for a vote next month.
Sabrina Siddiqui, National Politics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins to break down the SNAP funding delays and the human cost of the ongoing shutdown.
Arguments at the Supreme Court have concluded for the day as the justices consider President Donald Trump's sweeping unilateral tariffs in a trillion-dollar test of executive power.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
