What we’re reading: Trump rebukes CDC director, Federal Reserve expects interest rates will stay near zero

By Ben Kasper

Published Sep 17, 2020

In this Feb. 29, 2020, file photo President Donald Trump, center, points as he prepares to answer question after speaking about the coronavirus in the press briefing room at the White House in Washington, as Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, Vice President Mike Pence, Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams listen. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Trump rebukes CDC Director Robert Redfield

On Wednesday, President Trump rejected Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield’s scientific conclusions regarding both the advice to wear a mask and the timely access to a COVID-19 vaccine. Trump publicly scorned Redfield and promised the arrival of a vaccine in a few short weeks that could be available “immediately” to the general public, according to the New York Times.

“I think he made a mistake when he said that,” President Trump said. “It’s just incorrect information.”

Redfield told Congress that mask-wearing by the public could bring the coronavirus pandemic under control within just a few months.

Redfield added that vaccines for COVID-19 may not be readily available to the public until mid-2021. Trump went on to denounce scientific evidence that has found wearing masks reduces the transmission of viruses and bacteria between humans.

Rain is finally forecasted for Pacific Northwest

Oregon and Washington will receive rainfall beginning Thursday that will help firefighters with controlling the wildfires spreading north.

California is expected to “remain dry and ripe for wildfires,” as no rain is predicted to make landfall throughout Northern California, according to the New York Post.

Firefighters have been fighting raging fires for weeks in oppressive heat and hazardous air.

The rain will bring safer conditions and lower temperatures for firefighters to continue battling the wildfires.

Red flag warnings, which are cautions of extreme fire danger in a specific area, are still in place from California into Oregon and southern Washington.

On Wednesday, air quality conditions were reported as improving in Oregon and Washington.

A firefighter watches the LNU Lightning Complex Fire spread in the Berryessa Estates neighborhood of Napa County, California, on August 21, 2020. (Noah Berger/AP)

The Fed pledges low interest rates until inflation picks up

The Fed aims to aid the economy and get it back to full strength by leaving interest rates well near zero at least through 2023, according to the New York Times.

The Fed also reinforced its pledge to tolerate slightly higher price gains to offset periods of weak inflation; the last time this occurred was the 2008 recession amid a trade war with China.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee said they plan to hold rates near zero until the job market reaches what it sees as full employment and “inflation has risen to 2% and is on track to exceed 2%.”