Wuhan Virus Watch: McConnell says there will be 4th coronavirus bill
U.S. coronavirus death projections in doubt as officials question China’s numbers
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says that there will be a fourth coronavirus bill in the continuing efforts to protect Americans and the economy against the pandemic.
McConnell, in an interview with The Associated Press, said that “there will be a next measure.”
“[It] should be more a targeted response to what we got wrong and what we didn’t do enough for — and at the top of the list there would have to be the health care part of it,” he said.
The comments from the GOP leader, who remains in Washington, D.C., during the Senate’s three-week break, are the firmest he has offered yet about the possibility for additional legislation.
Let’s hope it is pork-free and that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi doesn’t derail it at the last minute.
U.S. coronavirus death projections in doubt as officials question China’s numbers
Personally, I have been questioning the accuracy of the models for quite some time. There is good reason.
Questions about the projections come amid reporting that US intelligence agencies informed the White House last week in a report that they believe China undercounted its number of infections and deaths, hindering modeling efforts.
“There’s no way to confirm any of those numbers,” national security adviser Robert O’Brien said Wednesday at a White House briefing.
ave died.…US spy agencies “have concluded that the Chinese government itself does not know the extent of the virus and is as blind as the rest of the world,” the New York Times reports, citing intelligence officials. “Midlevel bureaucrats in the city of Wuhan … and elsewhere in China have been lying about infection rates, testing and death counts, fearful that if they report numbers that are too high they will be punished, lose their position or worse.”
People meeting Trump or Pence must now take rapid coronavirus test
Anyone meeting President Donald Trump or Vice President Mike Pence will now be subjected to rapid COVID-19 tests to prevent the leaders from becoming infected with the virus.
Starting immediately, people expected to be in close approximately with either Trump or Pence will be given a the test to “to evaluate for pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic carriers,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said.
“As the Physician to the President and White House Operations continue to protect the health and safety of the President and Vice President, starting today anyone who is expected to be in close proximity to either of them will be administered a COVID-19 test to evaluate for pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic carriers status to limit inadvertent transmission,” Deere said.
California doctor says coronavirus patient improving with plasma treatment
A California doctor and his patient are seeing the effects of a possible breakthrough coronavirus treatment using plasma, which they decided to try after several other options had failed.
Appearing on “Fox & Friends” with host Brian Kilmeade, St. Joseph Hospital Director Dr. Timothy Byun said Friday that they had tried drugs like hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, and tocilizumab without seeing any improvements in the patient’s condition.
“So, I mean, we really had very little options to consider. We happened to find a plasma from a recovered person who was willing to donate,” he explained. “So, that’s how it all started.”
Paddle boarder chased by boat, arrested in Malibu after flouting coronavirus closures
I would argue the paddle boarder was extreme social distancing.
A paddle boarder was arrested Thursday after ignoring lifeguards’ orders to get out of the ocean near the Malibu Pier despite beach closures amid the coronavirus pandemic, authorities said.
County lifeguards patrolling the shore by boat tried to get the man to come ashore. Despite repeated orders to exit the water, the man continued paddle boarding for at least 30 minutes. Lifeguards eventually flagged down Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies who responded by boat to help, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
Video of the incident taken by bystanders along the shore and later posted to social media shows the man paddling toward the pier while being pursued by lifeguard and sheriff’s boats.
Police Activity at the Malibu Pier – Man engaging in #SocialDistancing armed with paddle. pic.twitter.com/neVrKV8tdO
— Christopher the IT Guy ? (@Spicoli1981) April 4, 2020
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And pay for it how? You can’t outrun your future.
The Bride and I are keeping our outstanding debt low by putting as little on credit cards as we can manage and paying the balances as much as possible, paying ahead on the mortgage, and generally economizing in our daily lives. If it’s necessary, we’re already working on it. If it turns out not to have been necessary, there’s nothing bad and everything good about being ahead in the game.
My question involves how much we’re putting on our children and grandchildren.
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Will Mitch support Sen. Hawley’s proposal to bring critical manufacturing back to the US from Red China?
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/04/03/josh-hawley-proposes-to-rehire-workers-bring-supply-chains-back/
I would support measures that bring companies back from China to the US and hire American workers. And not one penny for the vote by mail fiasco.
I’d like to see it come back, but don’t forget most democrats are more like aoc. They want unions to have as much if not more sayso in corporations large and small with wages way over the what any business would pay along with gold plated benefits.
There was a lot of that driving American companies overseas where the costs were better. And that’s only part of it. PDJT has been cutting rules and regs like mad and that’s another part of the moving equation. So much can be done to make America more attractive to remain if it can get done.
Fourth? Help me out, please. I know about the first gynormous 2.2 TRILLION pork-u-lous bill Trump signed in to law last week – the efficacy we still know NOTHING about.
What the heck were 2 and 3??
Two was passed by the House during the night of March 14/15 and the Senate held its collective nose and passed it on the 17th or 18th.
Three was the behemoth of last week.
In all honesty, when the second bill was being considered there was already an expectation that there would be a fourth bill. But because #3 is so large and most Members of Congress are currently preferring to be elsewhere, the bill writers can take a bit more time writing #4 while keeping the Members who have gone home out of DC in the meantime.
I’m just saying this as a practical matter. If the Attending Physicians tells Pelosi and McConnell to keep Members away, they will, and if #4 gets worked out in such a way it can be passed by voice vote or unanimous consent, it’s likely the Easter recess will keep going past its scheduled end date of April 20.
Forgot to add that this means the first bill was passed in early March; a lot of people just didn’t hear about it.
HOLD THE PHONE till we can see what phase 3 does.
Yeah about that hold the phone thing, expect maligNancy to say watch this as she puts all her socialism (excluding her wealth)wish list into the big basket. Then blame repubs while wondering why she didn’t use more Fixodent.
A pandemic of bad legislation. If they really want to do do something, they should begin patching up the electric grid before the next EMP and Carrington Event. If they don’t, 90%+ of us will die. But they are too dysfunctional to ever plan ahead for anything, no matter how inevitable.
I am a retired electrical engineer. There was an incident a few years ago where a sniper with a high powered rifle took out a key high voltage transformer in CA by shooting it and draining it of its PCB cooling/insulating agent. Just aim for the bottom of the cooling fins. When this happens, the transformer automatically shuts down. Some thought this might be a terrorist test case. This was a published article in some journal I read.
I’ve read there are 50-100 such key transformers in the grid – and if they were all taken out – the grid would fail. I’ve always wondered why our grid is so unprotected and so vulnerable.
Interesting. And those key transformers would not be replaceable for years, if ever, were we to be hit by solar storm or an act of terrorism. In 2012, a huge solar storm just missed earth, by 9 days https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_2012 . Everybody says we got to do something. but nobody does anything. Typical.
no. No no and no again.
The cost to begin to combat the runaway spending pales in comparison to the cost we’re willing to pay to combat this virus. We are willing to trade our great great grandchildren’s futures and well-being for our comfort and luxuries today.
We’ve shown that we are willing to sacrifice in the face of this pandemic, yet we’re unwilling to sacrifice some entitlements in the face of the economic pandemic that’s coming. The government demanded that we suck it up and sacrifice to help combat the virus. We did, albeit reluctantly. We need a leader who’s willing to demand that we suck it up and sacrifice to combat the financial ruin that awaits us.
It’s time to loosen the reins on the economy, not tighten them.
I think this warrants a call to my Senator, let him know how I feel. (202) 224-3121
Unfortunately, both of my Senators are RINOs and my Congressman just quit, so I may as well move to California. I’ll contact them anyway.
Follow the money.
No thank u!
Americans need to put on a mask and get their ass back to work. There are 60,000 deaths in the US every week of every year. We need to tell our governors we will not be held hostage in our own homes any longer!
One pertinent item would be filling and the expanding the strategic petroleum reserve. Currently capacity is about 750 million barrels with about 615 million barrels on hand. So fill the existing storage capacity then select some of the other sites suitable for storage and begin construction on those. Then let contracts for building some refineries capable of refining domestic produced shale oil so that we have the ability to refine the oil.
This would likely more than break even over time based on current and expected low oil prices. Include pipelines and you have a good start to an infrastructure bill that delivers needs not just throwing money away.
Another couple of things could be broadband network upgrade and expansion along with electricity transmission grid upgrade, hardening and modernization. All actually needed and useful not just throwing federal dollars away.
NOW can we stop with the McConnell adulation? Is there any doubt that the Uniparty kabuki theater has never been stronger? McConnell & company are the very same RINOs who have sold us out so many times when we were at the goal line. We fell for it again and again and again and are about to do it one more time. I’m sick.
one of the most effective ways to bring this trainwreck to an end would be for republicans to takeover the house, maintain control of the senate re-elect trump
afterward, would be able to unwind/overturn quite a bit of this expensive, expedient political porkfest
Two years (2017-2019) of House, Senate and President control tell us otherwise. Sadly, GOP fiscal responsibility is wishful thinking.
I see a revival of a national Tea Party Boston style taking place where we tell the government that we cannot survive their lockdown programs. We will have to defy them on a national scale to get this crap repealed. I’m the canary in the coal mine because of my age and health but as a nation, we cannot survive a cure that is worse than the illness. We will be so weak that putting together an army will be a stretch. Our Air force and Navy aren’t much better. Let people who are ill and in the high-risk category sign waivers and allow them to try new vaccines as soon as they can be made. Caution is for the past, not for our present crisis.
I really expect the lockdown to last only 2 or 3 more months, MAX. I think it’s prudent to follow the recommendations for another 2-3 months. What’s key is after this blows over, we must make changes re: China and it’s not back to business as usual.
The trouble seems to be many people are NOT following the guidelines, which will only serve to prolong the agony for all.
If we stay shut down for 2 or 3 more months, how many millions of lives will be destroyed.. and not by the virus?
I often think….. If they had done it right the first time, Congress wouldn’t need 4 bills.