Democrats continue to point out that they’ve been able to improve the “rescue” bills as we’re heading toward version 3.5 over the next day or so. I continue to be a skeptic as to whether they’re sufficiently using their “leverage” to gain success in areas they’ll NEVER get republicans to agree unless they’re forced to – and, by that, I believe republicans are FORCED to do these “rescue bills” – which now include our “free market” mavens pumping over $8 TRILLION into a combination of the obvious – which would include a TRILLION and a half toward “Main Street” along with close to $7 TRILLION toward “Wall Street.” Yes, Wall Street is getting the “lion’s share” of the funding and, according to no other expert but ME, it’s time for democrats to take the next “step” – before it’s too late.

There are a couple things which I consider to be non-negotiable: First, of course, is democrats MUST demand the funding necessary to make it possible for “vote by mail” to be in place everywhere that’s possible between now and November – hopefully, sooner – so, the impending primary elections can proceed without another “Wisconsin.” The recent primary in Wisconsin will long be remembered as the ultimate republican attempt to disenfranchise voters. And, of course, their failure to succeed in blocking enough people from voting to where the judge republicans were attempting to protect – LOST – is beside the point that, already, there have been at least 21 (and counting) Covid-19 infections resulting from that election! Sad!

The other DEMAND I believe democrats MUST put into the next “rescue” bill MUST be the funding and restructuring of the United States Postal Service. Postal workers are among the front line workers in the face of the pandemic we’re all enduring and it’s time for democrats to make it clear any attempt from individual 1 and/or the republican party to “privatize” the Postal Service is a non-starter. Now is the time to make that clear. Republicans have been attacking the Postal Service for years – despite it being maybe the longest standing American “tradition” in the entire nation – There’s no question the service has issues – which, like other businesses, have been exacerbated by the coronavirus – but now is the time to make sure republicans understand their attack on the USPS needs to end, and NOW!

For heaven’s sake, in the first “Care’s” bill there was a provision for a $10 BILLION loan to go to the Postal Service intended to keep it afloat until at least March of 2021. Remarkably, I’ve read where the Treasury department (ie Steve Mnuchin) is threatening to withhold that money. Mnuchin has EAGERLY accepted over $6 TRILLION intended for Wall Street bailouts with not the slightest of hesitation – in fact, I’m wondering if all this money is being handed out in the form of loans or ????? – but, the Post Office? nada, nothing, etc. That’s not only unacceptable, but, to me, the idea of allowing the Postal Service to “die” just CAN’T be allowed to happen. That would be un-American! Period!!

In fact, Mnuchin needs to be closely investigated on how he’s allocating all this money he’s been put in charge of. For example, it was specifically put into the first “Care’s Act” that NO funds would be going to individual 1, his organization, his family, or any other member of Congress or the Executive branch. Well, “sure as shootin” today I heard individual 1’s #2 Son Eric is attempting to get his hands on some of this relief funding for our IMPEACHED so-called president’s Hotel located in the U.S. Postal Office building in downtown Washington DC (isn’t that an irony) I would expect that this request would be denied so that individual 1’s organization can draw on some of the BILLIONS they claim they have in order to pay the rent on that building or sell it or lose it – like us ordinary people face with our own property. I distrust Mnuchin every bit as much as I distrust individual 1. And, of course, individual 1 has many more properties where he’s likely looking for some “relief” – it just can’t come from the federal government.

We’ve already seen America’s corporate “elite” finding ways to get their greedy “paws” into the pool of money intended for America’s “small businesses.” Not surprisingly, businesses with “connections” to America’s “too big to fail banks” were quick to pilfer the original $350 BILLION making it look as if it was a weekly allowance for a Middle School student. Now, we’re about to see another $300+ BILLION going into this “small business” rescue fund – with democrats saying the money is intended for those who need it the most – but, the reality is it’s going to be Mnuchin dishing this money out. Can you see why I’m a bit skeptical?

I already know next week is not going to be that good, because no matter how things transpire regarding Covid-19 most of us will still be “sheltering in place.” I’m already preparing myself to find out that individual 1 will find a way to get his hands on the rescue funds and, in addition, I’m concerned that actual “small businesses” will be shut out from the next stage of the bill. The problem is the difference in how republicans (ie Mnuchin) view what is a “small business” and how democrats view what is a “small business.” I picture my brother-in-law’s business in Pittsburgh where he has usually one or two employees – sometimes three. He’s had one employee who’s been working in his business for well over 10 years. Unless he can get some of this rescue money it’s unlikely he’ll be able to re-open his business after the virus passes. (Full disclosure, I’m happy to say, my brother-in-law got his PPP loan/grant! So, I can attest that, at least in this instance the “Care’s Act” is “acting” like it was intended!)

That all being said, I’m still in wonder at how quickly our “free market” republicans turned into almost pure socialists. Of course, that’s an absurd statement because, while they’ve got TRILLIONS to spend for their Wall Street donors the democrats need to “fight like hell” just to get what likely amounts to a small amount of money for ACTUAL “small businesses” and money intended to help struggling hospitals along with a basic amount of money for “testing” – which hopefully will be enough for governors to gain what they need to ramp up their capabilities so they can test enough people to allow the economy to “re-open.” If republicans were “pure socialists” democrats wouldn’t have to fight for money intended to benefit the hospitals and the ramping up of testing. Clearly, they’re more than willing to “socialize” the losses of our Wall Street community during one disaster after another but, I’m predicting, we’ll soon be hearing about their “limits.” The trade-off to get money for “Main Street” has been about 7 to 1 in favor of “Wall Street.”

OK I have to add this: The so-called “Care’s Act 3.5” is about to be passed, (It was signed today, as usual, it’s taking me a few days to finish this post) as I mentioned above, and democrats continue to be pushed around by Moscow Mitch and the republicans. Yes, they believe they’ve made the legislation better and they have, but I’m telling you – no matter how it looks – democrats are running out of opportunities to FORCE the republicans to “do the right thing” in regard to the idea of “bailouts.” I’ve already shared some of what is missing from this bill – and, it’s extremely important – but, there’s virtually NOTHING in this bill for states, there’s clearly not ENOUGH for hospitals and/or testing (which, by the way, ALL experts believe it’s the testing which will allow the “relaxing” of “shelter in place” restrictions), and there’s likely a plethora of other areas where “support” is necessary.

But, for example, think about all the states which are required to “balance their budgets” and have been spending “whatever it takes” to combat this virus while seeing their tax revenues “cratering.” Democrats MUST understand there will become a point in time – especially if it appears individual 1 is going to LOSE in November – when republicans will start viewing these BAILOUTS in the realm of the deficit. The $7 TRILLION, so far, which has gone toward “Wall Street” hasn’t caused McConnell or the republicans to flinch, but, I guarantee you, there will become a point where they’ll be attempting to blame the “deficits” on Joe Biden – and, it will be time for austerity – once again. And, think of all the people funded by our states and local governments who will rely on states receiving a significant BAILOUT. Earth to democrats, don’t fall into the “trap” by waiting. Force the republicans to support our states while you can – while they still need more funding for Wall Street.

I wrote that last paragraph a couple days ago, and sure as the sun comes up in the morning Moscow Mitch made me look like a palm reader. He was quoted as suggesting “blue states” should consider going through bankruptcy as opposed to asking the federal government for “relief.” Well, that one really got under Andrew Cuomo’s “skin” and, rightly, Cuomo pointed out the disparity between what New York provides for the national economy as opposed to Kentucky, Moscow Mitch’s home state. Of course, that disparity his HUGE. And, the state I live in is considered a “blue state” – my governor, Jay Inslee has been called a “snake” by individual 1 for demanding that individual 1 do his job – well, we also put in WAY more than we get back. Washington is the home of Microsoft, Amazon, Boeing (the headquarters have moved), Adobe, and more significant companies I can’t think of and, trust me, the U.S. economy gets much more from them than the Russian Aluminum plant and whatever else (likely non-union) businesses are located in Kentucky.

Even neighboring Oregon, another “blue state” and a “small market” state, is the home of Nike and Intel. Then there’s California and New Jersey and Michigan – these are ALL states that put much more “in” than they “take out” and, if I remember correctly, don’t complain when there’s a natural disaster which affects Kentucky – Moscow Mitch has gone way too far on this one and the proper solution to that problem, just as to his “boss” individual 1, lies in the hands of the voters come this November. I really would hope the GOOD people of Kentucky maybe would have ALSO had enough of Moscow Mitch. “We the people” SHOULD be voting these republicans out of office everywhere we possibly can. The one thing most clear to me as this virus has opened a few “wounds” which were being ignored is that when we go back to “business as usual” it CAN’T be “business as usual.”

Now is the time for Joe Biden to hit the airwaves with proposals on how “we the people” move forward as we come out of this pandemic. Under these circumstances “Silence is NOT golden.” Today, I listened to Mark Cuban on Yahoo finance’s website and, while I’m not necessarily a “fan” of his, I do have to say he’s got the energy necessary to attack the problems we face and, from what I heard, he’s got a lot of good ideas. Plus, he’s MUCH younger than Biden. Maybe, Biden should be enlisting some “consultants” or “advisers” – call them what you will, like Mr. Cuban to begin putting a PLAN in place as to how we move forward – without going backward. There are SO many things which SHOULD have been getting done – but, weren’t because of all the gridlock – and, now’s the time to move forward. Personally, I believe we need the ideas of a younger set of Americans (I’m in the older set) to turn this negative into a positive.

Remember, the Climate Crisis is UPON us and it will be far worse than this Covid-19 pandemic if we continue on individual 1’s path of denial. That ONE issue makes it paramount that individual 1 be given the opportunity to defend himself against the waiting felony charges he’s been avoiding simply because he “won” the previous “election.” Yes, the Russians are still here and Facebook (full disclosure, I don’t do Facebook, so this is second hand) is still allowing gross misinformation of the political nature to be rampant – and, TOO many people use Facebook every day (in my view) – and, “Twitter” obviously cares not about integrity because, well, individual 1 is a regular user.

I don’t know if our IMPEACHED so-called president recommended injecting Lysol to fight Covid-19 on “Twitter” – maybe just during a press briefing – but, the LYING continues to be more astonishing? brazen? ridiculous? absurd? – I really don’t know what word to use, but as I once heard a pro football player responding to an absurdity: “Come on Man!” Of course, individual 1’s response to this latest absurdity (that must be the word) was to suggest he was “just kidding.” When you watch it in real time, you realize his claim he was “just kidding” was, well, just kidding.” He was as serious as he was when he threw our intelligence community “under the bus” while standing next to Vladimir Putin in Helsinki – which he tried to take back the next day with some kind of absurd (there’s that word again) reflection on the difference between “would” and “wouldn’t.”

And, Oh, by the way, last week the Senate Intelligence Committee confirmed our Intelligence Community got it COMPLETELY correct back in 2016 – Of course, we’ve all forgotten about that SHAMEFUL episode of individual 1’s time in office. That’s because the SHAMEFUL acts he’s perpetrated on “we the people” have come fast and furious since the day he took his “oath.” An “oath” which, clearly, means absolutely NOTHING to this deplorable person. The saddest part in all this is that over 40% of Americans continue to believe this thug is telling them the truth. Individual 1 and Moscow Mitch keep giving them right wing judges and that seems to make it all OK. I honestly hope a bunch of his followers don’t go out and get cleaning fluids to inject (presumably in their veins?) or take hydroxychloroquine thinking it will prevent Covid-19, because both of those “prescriptions” coming from our IMPEACHED so-called president demonstrate why doctors need malpractice insurance. Yikes!!!

Final Thought: I was listening to individual 1 the other day and he was saying “I see the light at the end of the tunnel, in fact, it’s a very bright light.” Well, my first thought was that light is a freight train coming the other way! Our IMPEACHED so-called president has supporters (evidently Robert Mercer is one of them) who are instigating and funding the bevy of protests we’ve seen in the past week or so. Of course, these people are protesting AGAINST the very guidelines which were put out by individual 1 only days before the protests began and individual 1, himself, “tweeted” less than 24 hours after putting out the “re-opening” guidelines to “LIBERATE” Michigan, Minnesota, and Virginia adding in his “tweet” aimed at Virginia for the protesters to “protect your 2nd amendment rights.” Honestly, none of that makes a lick of sense, but……….. what else is new?

I wrote about this the other day and individual 1 isn’t even good when he’s attempting to deflect the blame from himself in regard to what lies ahead when he spurs states around the nation to “re-open” too soon. First, he comes out with what, to a degree, seemed almost rational when he put out his “re-opening of the economy strategy.” It was suggested the “re-opening” would be done in three phases – the first of which requires 14 days of consecutive reductions in the numbers of infections followed by two more (somewhat sensible) phases where economic activity is opened gradually based on the DATA. Of course, as I predicted at the time, he wouldn’t be able to stick to his OWN plan for even one day – and, he couldn’t!

The “LIBERATE” Michigan, Minnesota, and Virginia (plus protect your 2nd amendment rights????) “tweets” were out, as I said, within 24 hours of when he publicly announced his “re-opening” strategy. Of course, his re-opening strategy placed the responsibility on governors (with his permission, of course) so that they can be the ones BLAMED when the virus kicks back up. This version of DEFLECTION 101 may have worked had he been able to keep his mouth (and his “Twitter” finger) shut – but, we all know that’s impossible. He’s got to be the one in front of the cameras if anyone is in front of the cameras.

And, like anyone else who’s actually at least trying to deal in FACTS, it continues to astonish me the brazenous of the LYING coming from our IMPEACHED so-called president. Yes, he’s a pathological LIAR, but I keep trying to convince myself he’s not STUPID. However, the evidence is becoming overwhelming otherwise. For example, yesterday, as he was being questioned about how Mike Pense, back in the first week of March claimed we would have 4 MILLION tests available at the end of the next week and then 4 MILLION per week thereafter, yet, just this past week (April 20) was when we FINALLY went over 4 MILLION totally up to this date – individual 1 said, as he was explaining we have the “best testing” in the world and then said, “We’ve done more tests than everyone else (in the world) combined.”

Well, I’ve pointed out I used to teach 6th grade Math so I pulled up “Worldometers.info” which keeps track of EVERY case of Covid-19, every death by Covid-19 and EVERY test in the WORLD and started adding up the tests of the countries around the world – just adding up Italy, Spain, Germany, and France totals MORE than the amount of tests given in the U.S. There were well OVER another 100 countries I didn’t count so this is one of the MOST brazen of his LIES. He just assumes his followers – as he himself has said, “America’s uneducated voters” – aren’t going to “fact check” him – but, in this case, it’s just so easy. So many Americans just don’t care about all the LYING. They’ve become as defensive as our IMPEACHED so-called president as it becomes clearer and clearer those who pointed out he was UNFIT for the job back in 2016 were CORRECT! (And, I wrote all this BEFORE he claimed you might be able to get a UV light internally to stop the virus OR inject cleaning fluids inside your body to fight off the infection! I’m NOT kidding!)

While I’m thinking of it: I’ve been watching what is happening in South Dakota and, I have to say, I’m putting South Dakota’s governor, Kristi Noem, in the same category I’ve placed individual 1 and Steve Mnuchin. I’m just speculating and using common sense logic and, what I’m about to say could be listed in the “you heard it first here” category. So, today, South Dakota has, on the “Worldometer.info” website, a total of 1984 confirmed coronavirus cases which has led to NINE deaths. It also suggests on the website – and, the info comes from the state’s health department – there are 883 “active cases.”

Now, if you’ve been following the national news about outbreaks in meat packaging plants you know there’s a pork processing plant in South Dakota which had to be shut down LAST week, due to an outbreak of Covid-19 running through the plant which, the last I had heard had infected around 800 workers (plus who knows how many of the supervisors?) over the space of the previous week. When you look at the data for EVERY other state in the union, it appears to be IMPOSSIBLE that there would be ONLY 833 “active” cases – when there were 800+ cases reported just last week. And, as it turns out, I’ve been following this outbreak since, well, the “outbreak” and a couple weeks ago South Dakota had just over 200 confirmed cases. So, somehow a whole bunch of people there got this virus and it lasted just about a week. Does that seem fishy to you? And, nine deaths?

Here’s why I’m questioning this. Governor Noem has been one of the most stubborn governors in the union in regard to resisting enacting “stay at home” orders. Of course, South Dakotan’s are able to determine when to stay home and when to just, well, do “business as usual.” Of course, since South Dakota has seen the number of cases “explode” now North Dakota and Nebraska, two neighboring states are following suit. That’s kinda how this virus seems to work. However, my point here is I believe there’s something “fishy” going on with the data coming out of South Dakota – possibly at the order of the governor to make sure she doesn’t keep getting all this negative national attention due to her unwillingness to fight this virus. The total number of cases v the active cases v the deaths – when you compare it to everywhere else – well, leaves me wondering if someone’s not rigging the stats?? Stay tuned!!!