Trump VS COVID-19 Threat

[Loren Pechtel]

I think any additional cash handouts should be targeted to those who lose their jobs or lose days/hours from work during the pandemic. Giving cash to hundreds of millions of employed people who live paycheck to paycheck (and this happens all up and down the pay scale) just incentivizes them to go out and spend. Notice I used the word "out" there.
Additional money should be in the form of a temporary and substantial immediate increase in unemployment benefits and any requirement to look for work should be held in abeyance. Lost earnings due to low customer traffic and the like can be verified after the fact and accounted for when filing taxes. Lost earnings during to the pandemic would have to be reflected in their pay history or the money could be recouped from any tax return or treated like any other debt to the government.

Some of my good recommendations:

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine will expand the state’s unemployment insurance system to immediately cover workers who are displaced, even temporarily, by the coronavirus crisis, he announced Sunday.

The state will waive the typical waiting period required to qualify, and also will waive a requirement that people who get jobless benefits seek work. The changes will be made through an executive order from DeWine coming tomorrow.

The emergency measure also will apply to workers who aren’t offered paid leave through work, or who are under quarantine by their job or a health-care professional.

I've been impressed that DeWine hasn't been a worse governor.

Exactly what I have said we should be doing. It shouldn't be aid to everyone, it should be aid to those hit the hardest. I'm 100% remote, I can continue to work for several weeks even if the plant were to shut down--I'll only be hurt if the company goes under. Give the money to those who need it.

 

[TV and credit cards]

I think any additional cash handouts should be targeted to those who lose their jobs or lose days/hours from work during the pandemic. Giving cash to hundreds of millions of employed people who live paycheck to paycheck (and this happens all up and down the pay scale) just incentivizes them to go out and spend. Notice I used the word "out" there.
Additional money should be in the form of a temporary and substantial immediate increase in unemployment benefits and any requirement to look for work should be held in abeyance. Lost earnings due to low customer traffic and the like can be verified after the fact and accounted for when filing taxes. Lost earnings during to the pandemic would have to be reflected in their pay history or the money could be recouped from any tax return or treated like any other debt to the government.

Some of my good recommendations:

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine will expand the state’s unemployment insurance system to immediately cover workers who are displaced, even temporarily, by the coronavirus crisis, he announced Sunday.

The state will waive the typical waiting period required to qualify, and also will waive a requirement that people who get jobless benefits seek work. The changes will be made through an executive order from DeWine coming tomorrow.

The emergency measure also will apply to workers who aren’t offered paid leave through work, or who are under quarantine by their job or a health-care professional.

I've been impressed that DeWine hasn't been a worse governor.

Exactly what I have said we should be doing. It shouldn't be aid to everyone, it should be aid to those hit the hardest. I'm 100% remote, I can continue to work for several weeks even if the plant were to shut down--I'll only be hurt if the company goes under. Give the money to those who need it.

If they want to hand out bonus checks to employed people, give it to those low wage workers who are busting their butts providing these necessities to the grocery stores, especially those in constant close contact with these hoards of shoppers.

 

[lpetrich]

This is sick. Rep. Louie Gohmert delays House coronavirus relief bill from moving to Senate - "The House was expected to make technical corrections to the bipartisan measure, passed by the House early Saturday, on Monday, but Gohmert is insisting on reading them." - thus needing a floor vote on them, and that will require reconvening the House. Its members are off in their districts this week.

Brian Schatz on Twitter: "Just want to add that it’s Republicans in both the House and the Senate that are holding things up. I thought about not saying this given the gravity of the situation, but people need to know. https://t.co/DnoPiAWIJ0" / Twitter - he's D-HI Senator
noting
Kasie Hunt on Twitter: "CONGRESS (TEMPORARILY?) PARALYZED
— House still finalizing technical corrections to coronavirus bill
— @replouiegohmert currently holding it up anyway, insisting bill be read on the floor, which would require House returning
— Senate fighting about other issues" / Twitter

 

[lpetrich]

Rep. Nydia Velazquez on Twitter: "Last week, @Ayanna Pressley, @AOC & @RashidaTlaib & I penned a letter to the Director of the Fed. Bureau of Prisons asking for a plan to prevent an outbreak. Prisoners are especially susceptible to #COVID19 due to poor sanitation and close proximity. https://t.co/gC15seYos8" / Twitter
noting
Opinion | An Epicenter of the Pandemic Will Be Jails and Prisons, if Inaction Continues - The New York Times - "The conditions inside, which are inhumane, are now a threat to any American with a jail in their county — that’s everyone."

The American criminal legal system holds almost 2.3 million people in prisons, jails, detention centers and psychiatric hospitals. And they do not live under quarantine: jails experience a daily influx of correctional staff, vendors, health care workers, educators and visitors — all of whom carry viral conditions at the prison back to their homes and communities and return the next day packing the germs from back home. How will we prevent incarcerated people and those who work in these institutions from becoming ill and spreading the virus?

Right-wingers are likely to respond with "Let them die."

 

[Elixir]

 

[lpetrich]

Italy reports 3,590 more coronavirus cases, its biggest one-day increase | TheHill

Italy recorded 3,590 cases and 398 deaths in a 24-hour period, Italy’s Civil Protection chief, Angelo Borrelli, announced Sunday, The Associated Press reported. In total, the country has confirmed more than 24,700 cases and more than 1,800 deaths.

The country, which has been on lockdown since last week, reports that almost 2,000 people have recovered from the coronavirus in the nation.

Newsom signs executive order halting foreclosures, utility shutoffs | TheHill

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed an executive order Monday night halting foreclosures and evictions in the state while also directing the state utilities commission to monitor efforts by companies to prevent utility shutoffs.

An order issued by the governor's office Monday night temporarily suspended all state and local laws restricting local governments from halting evictions and directs the state's Department of Business Oversight and Housing agency to collaborate on efforts to help Californians avoid foreclosure.

 

[lpetrich]

Ohio governor announces polls will be closed Tuesday over coronavirus - CNNPolitics - however, elections will still be held this day in Arizona, Florida, and Illinois.

They seem to be talking about moving the election to June 2 and allowing absentee ballots before then.


jamie on Twitter: "Quarantine day 6. https://t.co/er652Oy3Ki" / Twitter - yum yum yum.


Sara Nelson on Twitter: "We have told Congress that any stimulus funds for the aviation industry must come with strict rules: continued paychecks for every worker and NO stock buy backs, dividends, executive bonuses, broken contracts, or interference with organizing. #coronavirus https://t.co/WoYhe0lnY4" / Twitter - COVID-19 Airline Relief Starts with Workers
AFA President Sara Nelson lays out a workers-first stimulus package to rescue the aviation industry, shore up our economy and protect our future

San Francisco Bay Area counties issue shelter-in-place order

Officials in six San Francisco Bay Area counties issued a sweeping shelter-in-place mandate Monday affecting nearly 7 million people, ordering residents to avoid any unnecessary travel by any method and only leave their homes for food, medicine and exercise.

The order says residents must stay inside and venture out only for necessities for three weeks starting Tuesday in a desperate attempt by officials to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

...
If affects the counties of San Francisco, Marin, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Alameda and Contra Costa, as well as the city of Berkeley.

...
The order tells people to work from home unless they provide essential services such as public safety, sanitation and medical services. Pharmacies and banks will remain open. Restaurants will be open only for take-out, Breed said.

...
Freeways normally jammed with rush hour drivers flowed freely. Long lines persisted at some grocery stores despite despite officials saying there’s no need to hoard supplies.

Those six counties surround the southern lobe of San Francisco Bay and the southern part of its northern lobe. The city of San Francisco occupies all of San Francisco County, San Jose is in Santa Clara County, and Oakland and Berkeley in Alameda County.

 

[lpetrich]

Coronavirus in NYC: De Blasio says shelter-in-place edict is possible

Mayor Bill de Blasio may soon order New Yorkers to only leave their homes for food, medicine and exercise — a major escalation of the Big Apple’s coronavirus containment plan.

De Blasio was asked on CNN Tuesday morning if he had any plans for a shelter-in-place edict similar to the one in San Francisco.

“We’re absolutely considering that,” de Blasio said. “We’re going to look at all other options, but it could get to that for sure for the whole country.”

President Donald Trump finally takes the coronavirus emergency seriously - CNNPolitics

The President offered Americans something they have rarely seen from him in his latest and most somber press conference yet on the coronavirus pandemic on Monday.

He dispensed unimpeachable information based on fact. He called for national unity and seemed like he meant to help forge it. And he ditched his normal habit of hyping the best possible outcome to a situation with improbable superlatives -- instead communicating the gravity of a fast-worsening crisis.

"It's bad. It's bad," Trump said as he unveiled a 15-day plan to try to flatten the curve of new infections to alleviate a feared surge of sick patients that could overwhelm the health system.

"Each and every one of us has a critical role to play in stopping the spread and transmission of the virus," Trump said, summoning national resolve as he plunges deeper into a crisis that will now define his term and possibly his reelection hopes.

Seems like his closest advisers confronted him with "Stop acting like some megalomaniac who is out of touch with reality, and start acting more like Winston Churchill."

 

[lpetrich]

Jeffrey Stein on Twitter: "Among Schumer's demands:
-- Beef up unemployment insurance
-- $ for schools
-- $ for transportation
-- More Medicaid funding
-- Other health care $
-- Halt evictions/foreclosures
-- Loan assistance https://t.co/cWQYqhIOxF" / Twitter
That's Senator Chuck Schumer, D-NY.

Trump administration seeks roughly $850 billion stimulus package for coronavirus economic fallout - The Washington Post

The $850 billion package would come in addition to another roughly $100 billion package that aims to provide paid sick leave for impacted workers, though the details of that legislation remain very fluid as it moves through Congress.

But there is emerging tension between the White House’s approach and the bills Democrats are trying to advance. White House officials are leaning hard into the idea of tax cuts and industry assistance, while Democrats have said their proposals are focused more on helping workers, health care providers, schools, and senior citizens.

...
A growing number of conservatives are also voicing concerns about the administration’s proposed payroll tax cut, with two lawmakers — Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) — calling for the federal government to instead send checks to Americans across the country. The idea of direct cash payments has also gained traction in liberal circles, with former Obama administration economist Jason Furman lobbying congressional Democrats to adopt similar proposals

 

[lpetrich]

Thom Hartmann on Twitter: "1/ Dear airlines, hotel chains, banks, and other industries..." / Twitter

1/ Dear airlines, hotel chains, banks, and other industries who are begging Donald Trump and Congress for bail outs. Get in the fucking line. Most of you didn’t even pay taxes last year. The front of the line this time needs to be people with medical and student debt...

2/ people who have lost their jobs, people who are homeless, and people working on the gig economy. Everybody else: get in the fucking line. In 2008, the Bush administration was able to find over $20 trillion to bail out the banks and insurance companies; last year Trump found...

3/ one and a-half trillion to cut taxes to the billionaire class and America’s largest corporations. It’s not gonna happen again if we have anything to say about it. They can all get in the fucking line behind the rest of us human beings here.

How long will social distancing for coronavirus last in the United States? - The Washington Post

It depends on when U.S. cases finally reach their peak

In recent days, the rapidly increasing number of confirmed U.S. cases has begun to resemble the beginning exponential curves of other countries such as Italy. While the novel coronavirus that causes the respiratory infection covid-19 continues to spread in Italy, new daily cases in other countries like China and South Korea are finally tapering off — a sign that they have passed the peak of their immediate crises.

...
It took China roughly two months from the beginning of its outbreak — and a month from the time the gravity of the situation was understood — for the country to reach its peak. And it took South Korea roughly half a month.

But the US has had far too little testing -- South Korea has done much more.

Even after the peak, we may need drastic actions to keep the virus at bay

Two and half months after the virus emerged, China has partially lifted its draconian lockdowns in many areas. Schools have started reopening, and authorities have taken down the makeshift hospitals built in Wuhan at the height of the outbreak.

But new cases continue popping up. ...

The risk of new outbreaks still looms. ...

"It depends on unknown characteristics of the virus" - like whether it will spread less in summer months, like the flu. I think that this would be from summer weather placing less stress on people's respiratory systems than winter weather. So what slows down the flu may also slow down COVID-19.

There is also the question of what immunity one gets if one recovers from the disease.

"Much also depends on how much we’re willing to do, for how long" - "In Britain, for example, leaders last week said they were holding off on social distancing, large-gathering bans and school closures, in part out of fear that citizens would quickly get tired of it."

 

[lpetrich]

How the coronavirus epidemic could end: lessons from SARS, Ebola, H1N1 and other diseases - The Washington Post
Here are some scenarios:

Health officials control coronavirus through strict public health measures

When severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) hit Asia in 2002, it was pretty scary — with a fatality rate of about 10 percent and no drugs shown to be effective against it. (The current coronavirus by comparison has a fatality rate that has been estimated ranging from less than 1 to 3.4 percent.) But within months, SARS was brought under control, and for the most part stamped out, by international cooperation and strict, old-school public health measures such as isolation, quarantine and contact tracing.

But COVID-19's weaker symptoms mean that it can spread more easily.

Coronavirus hits less developed countries, and things get worse before they get better

One of the grim lessons from the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa is how an epidemic can grow when it hits countries with weak health infrastructures.

...
Compared to the coronavirus, Ebola was less contagious and transmitted mainly by bodily fluids. The coronavirus can be transmitted in coughed and sneezed respiratory droplets that linger on surfaces. And yet Ebola infected more than 28,000 people and caused more than 11,000 deaths. Ebola is more lethal, and shortages of staff and supplies, poverty, delays by leaders and distrust of government exacerbated the outbreak.

The new coronavirus spreads so widely, it becomes a fact of life

This is in essence what happened with the 2009 H1N1 outbreak, also called swine flu. It spread quickly, eventually to an estimated 11 to 21 percent of the global population. The WHO declared it a pandemic, and there was widespread fear.

...
H1N1 is a particularly good parallel, epidemiologists say, because while it had a lower fatality rate than SARS or MERS, it was deadlier because of how infectious and widespread it became.

Not to be alarmist, but another possible parallel might be the 1918 Spanish flu, which had a 2.5 percent fatality rate, eerily close to what’s estimated for the coronavirus.

CDC calls Spanish flu “the deadliest pandemic flu virus in human history,” because it infected roughly one third of the world’s population and killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide. Spanish flu was deadly to young and old, while coronavirus has proven to be most lethal to the elderly and left young people relatively unscathed.

But we have things that we didn't have back then, like antibiotics to fight secondary infections.

A few more key things will affect the coronavirus endgame

If the coronavirus does indeed become ubiquitous like H1N1, it will be crucial to develop a vaccine.

Also where it originated from.

Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they spread from animals to humans. Experts believe SARS spread from bats to civet cats to humans. The deadly Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in 2012 was probably transmitted from bats to camels to humans. With the coronavirus, no one knows what animals caused the current outbreak. And it’s a mystery scientists will need to solve to prevent it from repeating in the future.

One prime suspect is an endangered creature called the pangolin that looks like a cross between an anteater and an armadillo and whose scales are trafficked illegally.

Some notable flu strains have hopped hosts from domestic ducks and domestic pigs.

 

[lpetrich]

What the U.S. can learn from extreme coronavirus lockdowns in China and Italy - The Washington Post

Striking a balance with measures that are effective but not inordinate is critical, according to public health researchers who warn that extreme policies such as mandatory regionwide quarantines could run into ethical, legal and logistical problems or even backfire.

Instead, ramping up testing capacity, quickly isolating sick or suspected patients, and introducing policies that limit public gatherings or require working from home have proved effective in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea.

As to officials' behavior,

“It means our leaders being as truthful and honest as possible, including admitting mistakes and things we simply don’t know,” said Wilbur Chen, an infectious-disease physician at the University of Maryland. “The solution is not as simple as announcing a lockdown, because the second you do that here, you’re going to have people panicking and jumping into their cars, which is the exact opposite of what you’re trying to achieve.”

Italian officials have gone to rather extreme lengths.

Italy also plans to clamp down on commercial activity to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The government announced on Wednesday that only essential businesses, such as farms, pharmacies and supermarkets, would be allowed to operate; most others would be forced to close. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte did not specify when the measure would go into effect.

Scott Santens on Twitter: "As of today, the following members of Congress have endorsed #EmergencyUBI:
@TulsiGabbard
@AOC
@SenatorRomney
@RepKatiePorter
@Ilhan
@RepAdamSchiff
@repblumenauer
Please reply with more endorsers in Congress as they endorse and I'll add them to this thread." / Twitter

 

[lpetrich]

I checked on HRes 897 at congress.gov - still no cosponsors listed there.

John Roberts on Twitter: ".@FoxNews has learned that @realDonaldTrump will ask Congress for more than $800 billion in economic stimulus: $500 bil in payroll tax cut, $250 bil in Small Business Association loans, $58 billion for the airlines, and a smattering of other items." / Twitter
noting
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "This is unacceptable.
Trump is using this public health crisis as an opportunity to push tax cuts and corporate bailouts.
This is an emergency. We need to help vulnerable people & small biz now w/ paid leave, extended unemployment, UBI, Medicaid expansion,&mortgage suspensions. https://t.co/kOAK3sTFdK" / Twitter

then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Expanding small biz loans is an acceptable consideration- but we must avoid allowing this crisis to put millions of people in insurmountable debt.
Checks to people are good and I applaud the proposal, but it’s not enough. But we need payment suspensions to get people through." / Twitter

Andrew Cuomo denies NYC quarantine rumors as coronavirus spikes

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday tried to assure reporters that there are no plans to quarantine New York City amid the coronavirus outbreak — as he announced the number of cases statewide spiked 432 overnight to 1,374.

Trump administration seeks roughly $850 billion stimulus package for coronavirus economic fallout - The Washington Post


What's been happening at where you live? I'll do Eugene, Oregon:

Springfield declares emergency for COVID-19 outbreak, Eugene, Lane County expected to follow - News - The Register-Guard - Eugene, OR

Price gouging spikes in wake of coronavirus

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

How does a payroll tax cut address anything?!

 

[Horatio Parker]

How does a payroll tax cut address anything?!

Gives working people more money.

 

[hurtinbuckaroo]

How does a payroll tax cut address anything?!

Gives working people more money.

The people who need money are the ones who lost a job.

 

[lpetrich]

David Plouffe on Twitter: "This is right. I think Dems should put forward exactly what they think is fair and will work and largely make the GOP accept it. Enormous leverage because of Trump’s obsession with re-election. Unlike GOP in 2009, let’s be responsible and help but be responsible about that help. https://t.co/EJaxt64uDn" / Twitter
noting
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "96% of airline profits over the last decade went to buying up their own stocks to juice the price - not raising wages or other investments.
If there is so much as a DIME of corporate bailout money in the next relief package, it should include a reinstated ban on stock buybacks." / Twitter
noting
Why do the airlines need a bailout? - "They made a fortune over the past decade. Now they’re demanding $50 billion to stay in business."

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

How does a payroll tax cut address anything?!

Gives working people more money.

To spend how exactly? We don't need a stimulus package!

We need a package that ensure businesses don't default because everyone is stuck indoors and there is greatly reduced demand (not because of lack of money) and depressed revenue generation (fewer billable hours).

 

[Elixir]

We need a package that ensure businesses don't default because everyone is stuck indoors and there is greatly reduced demand (not because of lack of money) and depressed revenue generation (fewer billable hours).

Stuck indoors? I guess, if you're in a city.
If the gov took the promised $850b "stimulus" and immediately gave every man woman and child in the Country $2500 it would help keep small businesses weather closures and offset depressed revenue generation as well as contributing to the inevitable increase in demand that will occur once activity is no longer (as) restricted.

More likely though, they'll mail out a few hundred bucks to "the neediest" and contract the rest out to their partners in crime.

 

[blastula]

https://twitter.com/RobertMaguire_/status/1239961023639142400

Jan 22:

Reporter: "Are there worries about a pandemic at this point?"
Trump: "No. Not at all."

Feb 26:

Trump: "We're going down, not up. We're going substantially down."

March 7:

Trump: "I'm not concerned at all"

Today:

Trump: "I've always known this is a real...pandemic