OMG! Today I drove to Costco to see if I could get in without standing in a line of people which reaches around the side of the building (And, it’s a big building) and, well, not so much. The lady I talked to who was collecting the shopping carts said the people start lining up at 7:00 and, on average, it takes 10 minutes to get into the building. I figured, even if I was willing to stand in that line (because it’s definitely NOT “social distancing”) my son would be very mad at me, so I just came home. I keep telling people my goal in life right now is to find toilet paper before I die! On my way, as usual, I had my XM radio tuned to MSNBC and on came individual 1 at another press briefing. Evidently he’s his own press secretary. Once again, he claimed he knew this would be a pandemic before most everybody else “All you had to do was look at the other countries.” Doesn’t that make you wonder?????
Well, I would think even our IMPEACHED so-called president would be embarrassed to say this in public. Yes, most of his cult won’t pick up on the reality of what he just said. If, on the RARE occasion he MIGHT be telling the TRUTH (and, based on reports I’ve read lately he may be) that means all of his INACTION at the beginning of this crisis makes him look all the worse. If he really was informed this would be a worldwide pandemic why was he claiming it was a “democrat HOAX” in front of his unsuspecting supporters at rallies. Why was he claiming there weren’t any cases here so no need to worry and, after the first case showed up (in my state of Washington) why did he say “we’ve got maybe 15 cases which soon will be maybe 1 or zero?” He’s continued with his remarkable incompetence really up until today.
Today, again I was in my car and listening to MSNBC and they again connected to one of individual 1’s press briefings (apparently he’s his own press secretary – he needs to be the center of everything) and he started out by calling this (again) the “Chinese flu” – a totally RACIST trope – and then after it was pointed out Rand Paul has tested positive for covid-19 and Mitt Romney was self quarantining because he was in the gym with Senator Paul this morning – our IMPEACHED so-called president responded “Mitt Romney is in quarantine? (and sarcastically) that’s too bad.” This IMPEACHED so-called president is, well…….. DEPLORABLE!
Sadly his cult followers – who are encouraged by Fox “news” and people like Rush Limbaugh – continue to believe he’s telling the truth. As he and Mike Pense work to convince Americans they are “doing a great job” they’re, surprise surprise, “way behind the curve.” Sadly, based on what I’m seeing from Italy on the one hand and photos of all the Americans who are willfully refusing to follow the “social distancing” guidelines we are headed for “Italy” or maybe even worse. Obviously, we’re a much larger nation than Italy and I can see the possibility that once a place where I live feels like we’ve gotten past this, there will be many states in the heartland (mainly where individual 1’s cult is predominant) who will be making it worse for the rest of us because it won’t be serious to them until THEIR hospitals are over run.
I was telling my son the other day I purchased a thermometer which has an app connecting it to a research facility showing where pockets of “increased temperatures” show up a couple weeks before certain diseases show themselves. (That’s my understanding) Well, at the time, there were multiple reports of crowded beaches in Florida at the same time this app was suggesting Florida was, well, “in the red.” (My quotes, the red color on the map suggested Florida was experiencing a lot of elevated temperatures compared to the rest of the nation)
Well, I’ve watched as the reports of confirmed cases of Covid-19 have shown up and, it appears to me, Florida is beginning to “catch up” to places like where I live in Washington state that had the earliest outbreaks of the virus. And, of course, something close to 20% of Florida’s residences are elderly retired persons – many of them not taking this seriously – and, it appears to me, Florida may be the next state which is begging for federal support to keep their hospital system from being overrun. As I’ve said, its in the interest of all Americans to participate in the social distancing – in my household we don’t go anywhere unless it’s to the store for needed supplies (I still haven’t managed to find toilet paper). The FACT Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, is refusing to require a “shelter in place” policy will make this much worse for all of us.
It’s true individual 1 seems to be increasing his understanding of the gravity of this pandemic, but there are certain things you can just count on with him and his republican sycophants in the Senate. I went to bed last night thinking, based on reports I had read, maybe a miracle would happen and the Senate would produce an actual bipartisan bill which would be acceptable to democrats who understand the importance of ANY “rescue” bill working from the bottom up. True to form when Senators reconvened today, there were agreed upon provisions missing from the proposed bill Moscow Mitch wanted a preliminary vote on PLUS republicans had added the MOTHER of all “slush funds” to the bill, almost without restrictions!
At a time like this republicans doing this seems even more disgusting than normal. Their proposal is for a $500 BILLION “slush fund” which would be at the control of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin AND individual 1 – with no strings attached. They could funnel this money to whatever business they would choose (including the individual 1 organization) in any way they choose with no “strings attached.” I don’t know why I’m not surprised – in fact, I actually predicted they would do something along these lines – but, at this point in time, this is almost unbelievable. And, of course, republicans will blame democrats for why this bill isn’t going to get passed. They say they’re still working on it, but I keep thinking, Thank God for the 2018 election!
Nancy Pelosi has said the House will simply come up with their own bill – they’re not going to wait around for the Senate and they’re certainly is NO WAY they would agree to any bill that provides money to corporations in dire straits partly because they’ve used their profits to buy back stock over the past few years in record numbers making more money for their executives and their shareholders at the expense of their workers. I’ll be very disappointed if democrats allow republicans to get away with taxpayer funds going to corporations with out those “strings.” If you remember the TARP bailouts, that didn’t go over well with “we the people” – except that, back then, much of the anger was directed at the wrong people. True to form republicans succeeded in BLAMING democrats for THEIR bailout! They’ll likely find a way to do this again!
I do have to say, however, if democrats allow republicans to get away with anything which is NOT consumer, worker, or what I call “the least of these” friendly then “we the people” are in more trouble than I thought. Individual 1’s first impulse was to attack Social Security by dropping the payroll tax for the rest of the year – an idea which would have been hardly a “drop in the bucket” for what is needed, but it just makes clear where his thinking is and the rest of the “conservatives” in Congress – who would willingly have gone for that except for democratic opposition. Raiding the Social Security trust fund is not the solution to this problem.
I started this post about a week ago and, well, I just can’t keep up with all the “stuff” individual 1 says and or does, but I’m still going to publish it, I’m just not sure when. I will add this, we now know the bill I referred to above has been passed and signed into law. Democrats managed to FORCE republicans to agree to some things they NEVER would accept in a circumstance where they KNOW “we the people” are watching and EXPECT a bill to be passed. Many of individual 1’s own supporters won’t realize the benefit they get from this bill is because the democrats FORCED provisions into the bill which will put more money in the hands of those who are most likely to spend it – the WORKERS who’ve lost their jobs because of the pandemic and the small businesses which employ many of them.
Democrats also put restrictions on the $500 BILLION “slush fund” with an inspector general and an oversight committee (which is going to include Katie Porter – yeah!) who will be directed to “oversee” the dispersal of these funds based on the restrictions attached to them. For example, NO stock buybacks from any company which chooses to take out one of the loans. Also, there’s a restriction to blocking an increase in executive compensation until the loan has been repaid. Finally, NO money is to be dispersed to anyone inside the government, including individual 1’s businesses or that of anyone in his family. That caused many to relax as this was being passed.
Well, I don’t know why I’m not surprised, but individual 1 announced at the signing ceremony that he would ignore the restrictions on the money. Knowing Katie Porter this could get interesting very fast. My guess is individual 1 has every intention of getting his “mitts” on a few MILLION dollars of this money. Stay tuned, this should get interesting!!!
Final Thought: I just can’t get it out of my head that the INCOMPETENT response coming from individual 1 continued until he realized what was going to happen to the Stock Market which he was planning on bragging about in order to convince Americans to give him another four years to do DAMAGE to our government and, by extension, our nation. I’ve said many times the strong Stock Market was the one thing he had inherited in his life which he hadn’t destroyed. Well, no more! And, it’s highly unlikely he’ll face re-election without the market being somewhere well below what he was intending. As I’ve said, it feels to me we’re looking a “depression” right in the “eyes.”
For example, the DOW is already below where it was the day he took the oath of office and it’s poised to drop significantly again tomorrow. Sadly, as I’ve said, individual 1 just “can’t help himself, and he’s already busy blaming China for this disaster. It’s true it originated in China, but individual 1’s refusal to act when he should have – likely because he didn’t want to “spook” the markets (more of his “short termism”) – has made this virus MUCH more dangerous in America than it should have been.
Individual 1’s most sensible advisers are the ones who tell him to “shut up.” He just can’t do it! He keeps LYING, obfuscating, spreading misinformation, and encouraging his cult to, well, only believe him – everyone else are the LIARS! I just experienced that with a neighbor who I care deeply for – it’s just hard for me everytime I listen to someone who’s “bought the coolaid.” The reality, though, is all the LIES are on video feeds. We’re already seeing what is going to be a mass amount of political ads which are going to attempt exposing the TRUTH about what he has actually done to make this worse. I guess it depends on how bad it gets as to whether his cult members start to “splinter” off. Of course, many of them are older white Americans – like me (well I’m older, white, American – but, obviously, not a member of his cult) – and they are the most susceptible to this virus in its most extreme form.
Predictably, the republican effort to provide relief to “we the people,” so far, has been aimed more at the corporations than at “we the people.” I’ve said pretty much since I’ve been writing here our focus should be on the “least among us” – and, from what I’ve heard so far, the proposal coming from Moscow Mitch does the opposite. I want to say, surprise, surprise. Here’s the thing, I have no doubt individual 1 is still more focused on some kind of miraculous rebound from the stock market than he is on “the least of these.” – In my view, the exact WRONG approach – but, I can guess he goes to bed at night dreaming of being able to brag about some kind of incredible rebound on the market. Does that even make sense with reports of 2 MILLION new applications of unemployment insurance this past week. (And, my son still hasn’t applied :o) (FYI – it ended up being 3.28 MILLION applications for unemployment benefits)
Honestly, I believe had individual 1 chosen me as his “senior adviser” instead of his son-in-law Jared Kushner, he’d have a much better chance of being re-elected in 2020. Of course, that would never happen, but I’m JUST SAYIN………………….
Oh yes: It’s Sunday evening and on my trip to Costco I discovered seniors (over 60 and handicapped – I qualify on both fronts) are allowed in for one hour prior to their actual opening on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I’m bound and determined to get toilet paper this coming Tuesday. (Didn’t happen, there’s a lot of seniors where I live who belong to Costco)
Today, I witnessed an example of how many people in this country are just amazing. I got a call from Fred Meyer (Our local Kroger Supermarket) that one of my “automated prescriptions” was available. I went to pick it up and when I was checking out I mentioned to the lady at the self checkout, facetiously, that my goal in life was to find some toilet paper before I die. She said, wait a minute, went into the customer service section right next to where I was checking out and came back with four rolls of toilet paper immediately scanning it and putting it in my basket (While I was there I made another purchase). She told me one of the Fred Meyer workers found it stashed somewhere in the wrong section and they were saving it for one of them. They are unable to purchase toilet paper themselves. I have to say, I was overwhelmed. I had four rolls of toilet paper, success!
Well, if I’m able to get a package of “bath tissue” at Costco this coming Tuesday I’m taking those four rolls back to Fred Meyer and that Customer Service Center and I’m giving it to them with the caveat they give it to the person working there who needs it the most. I watch all these people working at Fred Meyer, Costco, Winco, Walmart, and other places (most of which I’m prohibited by my family to visit) and I consider them the unsung heroes of this crisis. Yes, my daughter and all the other medical personnel who are running “toward” this pandemic are heroes, but we can’t forget all these people who are going to work every day in the supermarkets and other grocery stores still open – risking exposure to the virus every day – often at minimum wages and no health insurance!
By the way, while it’s on my mind: Today individual 1 was reminded he’s part of a court proceeding trying to overturn the Affordable Care Act while this pandemic is ongoing and he didn’t seem too worried. True to form, he blamed it on someone in Texas – HIS Justice Department incredibly joined the lawsuit! He responded today, quite STUPIDLY, I have to add, if they’re successful he guarantees republicans will support “pre-existing conditions.” I thought, “what does that mean?” He has no idea, again, what he’s talking about. First of all about 30 MILLION, at least would lose coverage. And, secondly, he can’t “wish” coverage for pre-existing conditions. The good news, with democrats controlling the House, if they succeed in this court case it likely will just accelerate some kind of version of Medicare for all. The democrats in the House will not be allowing Moscow Mitch to define whatever the response would be! I’m going to try being positive here: It’s an interesting time to be alive!
Every day makes Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren look more and more prescient while our IMPEACHED so-called president is creating campaign ads for Joe Biden. It’s very unlikely when it’s time to cast the votes in the final primaries that Sanders would be able to pass Mr. Biden. I sincerely hope they both stay healthy and I hope Sanders gracefully exits the race. At the same time, Biden should commit to pushing much of what Sanders has been criticized as a “pipe dream” which we can’t afford. Well, at some point in time, “we the people” will be considered more valuable than Wall Street.
The $5 TRILLION Congress just passed for Wall Street – on top of a couple TRILLION the “Fed” had already used there – was passed in a short matter of days. That’s enough money to fix our crumbling infrastructure, cancel ALL outstanding student debt and make state colleges and universities tuition free, PLUS enough to create a “Medicare for All” health care system – at least to get it “off the ground.” That $5 TRILLION is, simply put, pure socialism! Now , that’s not what Bernie Sanders and Senator Warren are proposing – pure socialism – but “democratic socialism” is affordable in this country – period, full stop!
It won’t be long and we’ll be listening to all the “free market” hypocrites telling us why we can’t do the things which would make life better for Middle Class America. Hopefully, this pandemic will help us realize that’s not true! We not only can do these things, but we can also begin the process of repaying the national debt by expecting the wealthiest among us to pay more in taxes – one way or the other. America’s taxpayers have been getting “pilfered” for years by the “top 1%” and this $5 TRILLION is just another example of “we the people” socializing “capitalism.”
I”ll say it again, most of this post was written about four postings ago – over about a week. The Covid-19 pandemic, in just a matter of about 5 or 6 days has DOUBLED. Those deceased is well more than DOUBLE. Congress passed the above mentioned “rescue” package which does have benefits for “we the people” – with the idea it may stop the precipitous drop of the Stock Market – that remains to be seen. The reality we all face is grim. Finally, individual 1 just keeps doing the same stuff over and over again – LYING from the press secretary’s podium – until his administration came along almost a mortal sin – and, continuing to FAIL to show the leadership which is so desperately needed at this point in time. He’s in campaign mode at that podium and virtually all his misstatements will eventually come back to haunt him – that’s my prediction! He had the opportunity to show compassion, understanding, foresight, and the courage to be transparent and honest with the American people and he’s literally “blown” it! Sad!!!