I’ve pointed out here many times I usually check the stock market each morning despite the fact I have no direct interest in any stocks. When I’m “there,” meaning on the site of “yahoo.com” not much surprises me. So, this morning when I read an article focused on how Joe Biden’s economic plans would “take 25%” off the market valuations I was able to just take another example of Americans who care more about Wall Street than Main Street in stride. I can’t give exact examples from the article because I went back to the site as I started writing, which was about 2 hours after I read the article, and, apparently, they’ve pulled it down. Basically, the argument was by increasing taxes on corporations and increasing the minimum wage to $15 the corporate bottom lines would be negatively affected. I can’t remember the details, but the article just reaffirmed the reasons why I almost detest the people investing on Wall Street.

It’s as if they have no idea the seriousness of the pandemic which is, essentially, engulfing America due to the ineptness of the person they, via inference, would prefer making the economic decisions from the “White House.” Whoever wrote that article was concerned with an increase in regulations which, supposedly, would affect their ability to make money investing in corporations which have little to no interest in workers and community. I’ve been writing about this very issue for years – that the focus on shareholders at the expense of workers has been what is turning America closer and closer to third world status.

I listened to Biden lay out his “Build Back Better” plan (I think that’s what he called it) and it was hard to argue with his objectives. Of course, those on Wall Street can’t “see the forest for the trees” so it should be no surprise they would see an investment in America’s infrastructure, her people, and the health care industry, to name a few of the topics of his plan, as money not spent for their direct interest. What they fail to see is, in my view, the value of the long term health of the nation. They don’t seem to understand that, without the $7 TRILLION the Fed has pumped into Wall Street to keep the market “propped up” during this pandemic the recent upswing would NOT have happened. As I’ve said before, while adding I’m no economist, it appears to me there are many corporations in America which are surviving off government “largess.” (They’ll all be complaining about the deficit once Biden is in office – guaranteed!)

The reality, it seems, is we would be in an economic depression without all the money being funneled in various directions by the government. And, as I’ve said, I don’t think the republicans understand what the democrats have done for them. For example, from my standpoint, all that money the Fed has used to buy “toxic securities” keeping corporations “afloat” would be far less valuable without the PPP program pushed by democrats and, more importantly, the increased unemployment benefits for the OVER 40,000,000 Americans who’ve applied for unemployment benefits in the previous 3+ months.

The $600 per week going to those on unemployment is going right back into the economy in a myriad number of ways. For example, people are paying rents (good for them AND their landlords), people are paying the car payments, people can buy food for their families, they can pay their other monthly obligations whereas, without that money this country WOULD likely be in an economic depression. Of course, that money runs out at the end of July and republicans claim it won’t be renewed, despite the HEROES Act passed by the House which would continue to help the economy avoid total disaster. The republicans in the Senate decided this isn’t that important and they went on vacation at the beginning of July until almost the end of July. Yikes!

It’s almost as if they can’t act unless we’re in a disaster. Well, we’re IN a disaster, it’s just not as noticeable due to what I just pointed out. Of course, I certainly have not seen the statistics on how this coronavirus has affected hospitals and our health care system in general – but, keep in mind, before the virus hit, there were about 30 MILLION Americans without health insurance, MILLIONS more with insufficient health insurance, and even MORE MILLIONS who’ve lost their health insurance because, well, they’ve lost their jobs. And, to top it off, republicans are in the courts trying to end “Obamacare” which would add another 20 – 30 MILLION more Americans to the uninsured list. And, Covid-19 doesn’t check to see if you’re insured before it hits you!

Some who get the virus are in the hospital on ventilators for weeks if not months. How do you think an average working American will pay for that? A few years ago I had a surgery on one of my feet which was in a surgery center (not a hospital) and I was in and out of the facility in about four or five hours. The bill my insurance company got was approaching $30,000. Of course, the insurance companies have contracts with their “preferred providers” and they pay only a percentage of that amount, but for those without insurance, well, sorry! You’re screwed! And, picture a few weeks being intubated with round the clock service by three or four nurses and a couple doctors. I have to wonder, who’s paying for all these people in ICU’s around the nation? Kind of makes Bernie Sanders look like a prophet, doesn’t it?

And, I could go on and on about the issues created by individual 1, the present occupant of the “White House,” but, to me, his being AWOL when it comes to Covid-19 is cause by itself to reject him come November. In fact, when you combine that FACT with another FACT – that the Russians have put “bounties” on the heads of American troops in Afghanistan, and he’s doing NOTHING about it, to me that is grounds for IMPEACHMENT number two. Give the republicans in the Senate a “do-over” on whether or not to remove individual 1 from office. How many times does our “commander in chief” have to make decisions to the benefit of Vladimir Putin and the Russians before reality sinks in to “we the people?” There’s something “there there” and, hopefully, at some point we’ll find out. (Pee tape?)

The Covid-19 crisis is going to continue getting worse due to the lack of a national plan to stop it and, it may be too late at this point. I’ve been listening to the scientists and they’ve been correct! Surprise, surprise! While New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut were fighting the focal point of the initial outbreak there were republican “leaders” around the country kind of “poo pooing” the virus and suggesting it’s just another “flu.” (Of course, they’re not the ones in the hospitals fighting to save people’s lives) Many of these governors are in the South and the Rust belt. I remember saying, they were going to be eating a bunch of their words – which, I now believe, may be impossible.

Take Ron DeSantis, for example. I’m not sure if his issue is STUPIDITY or he’s just so “connected” to individual 1 that his decision making is focused on avoiding the mean “tweet” coming from our IMPEACHED so-called president. So, Florida is up to MORE than 10,000 NEW cases of Covid-19 every day and DeSantis is doing nothing, essentially, to stop the spread in his state. I’ve pointed out he’s one of my leading candidates for governors who are LYING about the statistics of how many people in his state are DYING from the virus, but it’s getting so bad I don’t think he’ll be able to continue avoiding the reality. What do I mean?

Well, Florida is the home of MILLIONS of older, retired Americans who are traditionally strong right wing republicans. Many live in retirement centers and, I believe, it’s easy to “tweak” the statistics of why people are dying by, for example, saying a patient died of pneumonia instead of Covid-19. Therefore a STUPID policy doesn’t look so bad. Today, DeSantis was proclaiming schools would be open in the fall because, “if we can do Walmart and Home Depot we can do schools.” These republicans are going to give STUPID a new name! Which means, I guess, I’m suggesting DeSantis is too STUPID to even remember the words he should be “eating” right now! And, naturally, there’s the governors of Georgia, Texas, and Arizona at the top of this list of a group of republican governors who are going to have “blood on their hands” when this is all over.

Of course, when it comes to getting kids back into classrooms, I spent the last 22 years of my career as a Middle School teacher and I’m at the front of the line of those claiming it’s imperative to get students back there. I’ve read the statistics of the number of High School students who simply chose nothing as opposed to digitally learning this past spring and it was alarming. These kids are our future. They NEED to be in the classroom. But, simply saying so isn’t a plan. This is something which SHOULD be important to every American and it’s an issue which requires creative thinking and a significant investment. The kids need to be safe and so do all the adults in the buildings. And, simply comparing this to Walmart and Home Depot being open is, well, (I wanted to say STUPID again, but I’ll say instead) LUDICROUS!

The CDC put out guidelines which individual 1 rejected and suggested and then said he would make the guidelines for them. Well, finally, I saw an “inkling” of backbone yesterday when the director of the CDC said they weren’t changing their guidelines. VP Pense suggested the CDC guidelines would be too expensive. What’s the old saying, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” Individual 1, Pense, Betsy DeVoss, and many more associated with this administration are, seemingly, CLUELESS when it comes to solving serious problems. It appears their answer to these problems is to IGNORE them! To me, that’s a bad plan! This virus MUST be mitigated before it’s safe to reopen the schools, clear and simple! (Which means another “stay at home order” followed by a real targeted “re-opening”)

It’s barely past noon out West today, July 10, and, according to “Worldometer.info” there have ALREADY been over 52,000 NEW cases of Covid-19 reported just today. The previous two days the number has surpassed 60,000 EACH day and today appears headed for even worse (12 states haven’t reported including a couple “biggies.” Almost EVERY state in the Union is experiencing an increase in cases and many are experiencing what is called a “spike” in cases where the graph is going up exponentially. Those who believe this is just another “flu” get their information from places like Fox “news,” Facebook, Breitbart, or other right wing outlets.

I believe the INACTION of our IMPEACHED so-called president will make it impossible for the schools to open in the fall in MOST states safely because this virus will continue to intensify and, if their plan is “herd immunity” it will take a year or two to reach that point. I hate to inform our IMPEACHED so-called president that “this virus is NOT going to magically disappear.” (And, drinking bleach is NOT a solution!) After writing the above I left for a few hours and when I returned the total NEW Covid-19 confirmed cases for today was OVER 71,000! Clearly, this is all going in the wrong direction.

As Anthony Fauci said a couple weeks ago, “If we don’t deal with this virus we’ll be at 100,000 cases a day before too long.” Well, I’m guessing, at the rate we’re going, that point in time will be in early August, right when individual 1, DeSantis, DeVoss, and the others in their cult will be pushing to get our kids back into school. I have three grandchildren and I don’t believe any of them will be going to school under these circumstances – if our leaders want the kids back in school then they’re going to have to make the hard decisions necessary to make that possible! I believe my governor might, but the effect of those governors who are going to simply try to wish this virus away is a problem for ALL of us! I don’t do social media, but if I did I’d be pushing for something like #Stay at Home AGAIN! I don’t believe there’s any other solution! (And, it may be too late for that)

Final Thought: Aside from the number of Covid-19 cases I saw when I returned the most recent deflection from the reality our IMPEACHED so-called president is AWOL from the “war” he proclaimed on this virus was his COMMUTING the sentence of Roger Stone – before he served a single day! Of course, if we really haven’t devolved to 3rd world status commuting Stone’s sentence SHOULD lead to IMPEACHMENT #2! We all know this won’t be happening because, once again, we’re hearing NOTHING coming from the republicans on this egregious act of judicial malfeasance! Just try to picture in your mind had President Obama done this to someone who was BRAGGING he had the “goods” on the one issuing the commutation. And, Stone, essentially, said, publicly, that was the situation. He could have “ratted” on our IMPEACHED so-called president to “get a better deal,” but he stayed loyal. (How many times do you think he reminded individual 1 of what he COULD say to the authorities on his first day in jail?)

I’ve been suggesting for at least a couple years now individual 1 appears to me to be a mafia boss. Well, if his actions in using this pardon power – a powerful “toy” in his hands – to keep someone who wouldn’t look out of place in a movie on organized crime out of jail – doesn’t get that point across to you then, well, you’re likely part of the cult! Individual 1 and William Barr are turning our Justice Department into a political weapon and, if they succeed, that will be the end of America as we’ve all known it. (I’m talking mainly about us old people, but also our children who simply believe turning this nation into a fascist regime is just not possible – we’re seeing how it IS possible in “real time.”)

The American people STILL have the right to vote – as of this writing – and, it is incumbent on “we the people” to correct this abomination come November 3rd, PERIOD, full stop! We MUST band together to remove individual 1 and his sycophants – and, they MUST be identified so that they don’t reappear down the road without consequence for their sycophancy – and that means as MANY Senate and House republicans as possible MUST be voted out in November – to a retirement of SHAME. They’re saying NOTHING as all of this is transpiring – which is the SAME as condoning it! (Just as they did during the IMPEACHMENT trial) Again, picture what they’d be doing had Obama done anything like this! Right now it should be clear we’re ALL fighting for “equal justice under the law.” And, that, of course, would include individual 1 and all these cronies! More simply put, we’re FIGHTING for our system of Justice which is the foundation of this nation – that’s where a TYRANT would to to undermine EVERYTHING we’ve stood for! Yikes!