Saving the Economy During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Published: March 30, 2020, 6:38 p.m.

The guest host for today's show is Brad Bannon. Brad runs Bannon Communications Research, a polling, message development and media firm which helps labor unions, progressive issue groups and Democratic candidates win public affairs and political campaigns. His new show, 'Deadline D.C. with Brad Bannon,' airs every Monday from 3-4pm ET.

Brad is first joined by Dr. Robert Shapiro is Chairman of Sonecon, an economic advisory firm, and a Senior Fellow of the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University.  He is an internationally-known economist who has advised, among others, President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, Jr., British Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and then U.S. Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.  He was Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs in the Clinton Administration. His Twitter handle is @RobShapiro.

Dr. Shapiro explains "how the future shape of the economic crisis driven by the federal government’s inadequate response to the coronavirus pandemic is coming into focus."  He outlined this point, as well as some possible solutions, in his most recent Sonecon blog, titled "A Long-Term Plan to Save the Economy From Coronavirus" (link here: https://www.sonecon.com/the-shape-of-the-economic-crisis-and-what-can-really-be-done-about-it/)  The piece also appeared in the March 26th edition of 'Washington Monthly.'

During the second half of the show, Brad leads a political round-table with Anisha Singh and Mark Grimaldi.  The roundtable discuss the following questions:

1. How would you rate the handling of the Coronavirus crisis by President Trump and Senate Republicans?

2. What does this moment mean for our elections, and how do we protect democracy?

3. How well have Governors like Andrew Cuomo, Gavin Newsom, Jay Inslee and Gretchen Whitmer filled the leadership void left open by Trump during the crisis?
Anisha is the Director of Judiciary and Democracy Affairs at the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Her Twitter handle is @Anisha_S113.

Mark Grimaldi, or 'Marky Mark' as Leslie Marshall calls him, is the Executive Producer of this show.  In addition to being the Executive Producer for the Leslie Marshall show for 14 years, for the past 12 years Mark has been a progressive political activist and campaign volunteer of President Obama's (2008 and 2012), Senator Bernie Sanders' (2016), and Secretary Hillary Clinton's (2016).  Mark is also involved in campaign finance reform efforts around the country, and philanthropic efforts for Cancer research.  His Twitter handle is @MarkJGrimaldi.

Brad writes a column every Sunday on the 2020 Presidential race for 'The Hill.'  He's on the National Journal's panel of political insiders and is a national political analyst for WGN TV and Radio in Chicago and KNX Radio in Los Angeles.
You can read Brad's columns at www.MuckRack.com/Brad-Bannon. His Twitter handle is @BradBannon.

(Image Credit: AP/Pelex)