Congress Will Vote on COVID-19 Relief Bill Almost Half of What Democrats Asked Before Election
Ronald Reagan once said: “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are ‘I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.'”
Congress will vote Monday night on a COVID-19 relief bill worth $900 billion along with a $1.4 trillion spending bill to cover the remainder of the 2021 Fiscal Year.
The Democrats wanted a $2.2 trillion COVID-19 relief bill before the election, but Republicans offered $900 billion. The left only agreed to that amount after their guy won the presidential election.
That amount is around 41% less than the amount the Democrats wanted to begin with. So once again we see that the Democrats don’t care about the American people.
Then again, if any politician truly cared about us they wouldn’t have lockdowns and people can open up their businesses.
From The Wall Street Journal:
The emerging agreement is expected to provide a $600 direct check to many Americans, $300 a week in enhanced federal unemployment benefits, and aid for schools, vaccine distribution and small businesses.
“President Trump has pushed hard for months to send Americans badly needed financial relief,” White House spokesman Ben Williamson said. “We look forward to Congress sending a bill to his desk imminently for signature.”
Negotiators on Sunday had been finalizing details for the rest of the bill after settling a disagreement on the Federal Reserve’s emergency lending powers earlier in the weekend. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) on Sunday afternoon said all outstanding issues were settled.
“At long last we have the bipartisan breakthrough the country has needed,” Mr. McConnell said on the Senate floor. “Now we need to promptly finalize text, avoid any last-minute obstacles and cooperate to move this legislation through both chambers.”
The amount decreases “for individuals with more than $75,000 in income and $150,000 for couples.”
Also in the bill:
- $15 billion for airline payroll support
- $280 billion toward Paycheck Protection Program
- Theater and small venue owners eligible for $15 billion in grants
- $82 billion for schools
- $10 billion toward child care.
- $25 billion in rental assistance
- Extension on evictions
- $13 billion for food-stamp and child nutrition benefits
- Add $30 billion for vaccine, testing, and tracing
- $1.8 billion in tax credits for any business that has paid leave
I have a better idea. Open up the economy! Open up the country! Nah, gotta get people used to being on the government payroll. That freedom is so overrated.
The House Rules Committee will vote on the bill before it hits the House floor. The Senate will get it after the House and then hand it to the White House.
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Comments
On one hand, I don’t disagree that covids is a serious problem confronting, not just the USA, but the entire word and it requires a serious response. On the other hand, I wonder if this is not over-kill. What will they do if we have a real emergency?
COVID is a serious health problem? By what measure? A single county in Colorado had 40% of the reported deaths as being due to GUNSHOT WOUNDS. Get it? Lies, lies and more lies. By any accurate measure, COVID is not a significant epidemiological event. What is significant are the “responses” to the virus which have crippled the Global economy and are destroying Western Civilization.
You make some good points. Especially about a real emergency, I’m not saying in the sense that Covid is not serious I’m saying from the point of view that it could be a lot worse and the response has been well poor. Given globalisation the risk of pandemics is much higher. Its the reason the asiatic countries and the middle east have done much better they have been through this before and learnt the lessons. Still a problem for them but overall they have avoided the worst of the lockdowns relative to Europe and the USA. The best solution is to contain the virus very quickly and contact trace with appropriate social measures for the short term. The quicker the response the more likely the virus can’t spread therefore avoiding lockdowns.
You still are viewing the covid virus as the serious health problem that the media and public health officials have hyped it to be. The reality is, it is not a significant event. We have had pandemics before, some worse than covid and we have never, NEVER, shutdown the Global economy to combat it. So, why this time? What was different? The hyped disease was used as a political weapon to harm the populace and stifle the rising populist movement around the world. You have to understand, the reaction to covid had absolutely nothing to do with combating the virus and everything to do with combating popular policies. After all, the lockdowns have done nothing to stop the virus and everything to cripple the world economy.
Well I’d say the last serious pandemic was the spanish influenza which really predates modern medicine and therefore isn’t really comparable. In terms of seriousness its roughly 3x more deadly than the flue, has killed circa 300k people. What evidence do you have that the virus has been used as a political weapon? In the USA it’s been clear that the restrictions have been under the moniker of a public health emergency so in terms of curtailing freedoms that’s the one and only overriding factor. Take that away and there is no argument anymore. The irony is this if the virus had been dealt with much more quickly and with much better restrictions the reality is the lockdowns and restrictions would be for shorter periods of time. The response from the USA has been pretty poor. Its been uncoordinated and a total mess.
Well, let’s take a look at the “public health” responses, shall we?
First, we have a novel virus which initially made an impact within the very old population with existing serious medical conditions. So, do we quarantine the potential victims within the at risk population? No. initially, nearly the entire public health community treated this virus as the flu. Only the media began ramping up the narrative that this was another bubonic plague.
Then, suddenly, without explanation, the public health and political classes did a 180 and decided this virus was apocalyptic and stringent measures had to be taken to stop it. But, masks were useless and, at least in NY, symptomatic covid patients could be housed in close proximity to other at-risk people. Sound public health judgement there.
Suddenly, the winds of public health expertise change again. Now, after herding the population into grocery stores, without masks, for weeks, they suddenly decide that lock-downs are the way to go. The lock-downs were sold as temporary measures to slow the spread of the virus and relieve pressure on medical facilities and personnel.
But, the lock-downs never ended. When the hospitalization rate dropped, they continued. Why? Finally, when the damage to the economy became so severe that people in many locales were on the verge of revolt, restrictions were relaxed. But, the remaining restrictions were still destroying such portions of the economy as transportation, hospitality and service.
Then, there was a “spike”. Though the spike was mostly attributed to positive tests for exposure, rather than symptomatic cases, and coincided with expanded covid testing, this was used as an excuse to reinstate strict lock-downs in many places.
Following the post spike lock-downs, several states opened again. The result? The spikes continued in those places where the lock-down continued and tapered off in those where the economy was opened again.
And during all of this, every single treatment which showed promise of being effective was denied, poo-pooed and laughed at, by the media and the establishment. Nothing could save the world, but a vaccine. Until then the lock-downs must continue and the to hell with the global economy. Then, the evil Trump struck again. There is a vaccine waiting in the wings. In fact, three vaccines. These were denied, poo-pooed and laughed at. Now, as demand for the vaccines increases within the captive population, the powers-that-be seek to use them to drive a political wedge into the populace by denying them to the at-risk population and doling them out based upon race. And, as evidence continues to mount that the number of actual cases and fatalities from covid is only a fraction of those being reported, the media, public health officials and politicians stick their fingers into their ears and sing la-la-la-la. And, finally, the people who should know what the truth is, regarding covid, the epidemiologists, public health officials and politicians routinely see no need to follow the draconian restrictions placed upon the rest of the populace. What do they know that the rest of us do not?
So, as it appears, at this point that covid is not the apocalyptic disease that it has been touted to be why is the establishment political class still actively destroying the global economy? This is the question. We can be generous and accept the fact that the professional class was blindsided by a novel virus, initially. But, at this point, they are either incompetent boobs or have another agenda. And, that is something which should be of concern to people whose livelihoods are being destroyed and their lives ruined. To obtain evidence to answer these questions, we used to rely upon the journalistic media. However, today those journalists are uninterested in these obvious questions. So, we have to rely upon deduction, Watson.
Given the above facts, why do these destructive restrictions still exists? Who do they harm? Who is immune from harm caused by these restrictions? Why did virtually every nation in the world adopt untested means of “controlling” a virus which was never significantly more dangerous than many other such viruses? Why would any, not to mention every, nation on Earth choose to destroy its economy to slow the spread of a rather mundane disease? If the disease was so devastating, why would the PTB fight against treatment and vaccines? Any answers? How about; why is the populace, specifically the working class, starving while the upper class is making money hand over fist during this period? Now, put on your deerstalker, grab your pipe and sit back and ponder the possible answers to those questions. Have fun.
Christmas is Cancelled!!!!!!!!!!
NSFW
https://youtu.be/SM9Pfba4Kqw
@mac45 -this site really doesn’t cope well with replies ha!
There is a lot of detail to unpack in your response. As such I’ve copied and pasted below with answers in between.
First, we have a novel virus which initially made an impact within the very old population with existing serious medical conditions. So, do we quarantine the potential victims within the at risk population? No. initially, nearly the entire public health community treated this virus as the flu. Only the media began ramping up the narrative that this was another bubonic plague.
When you say the entire public health community I think you mean the Trump administration. Which has had a history of downplaying the pandemic. I’m not clear that anyone has compared the pandemic to the bubonic plague. As for quarantining the elderly, well that may have been a sensible policy but the fact is the Trump administration hasn’t had a covid policy. The state by state response has largely been either ideological or an attempt at lockdown.
Then, suddenly, without explanation, the public health and political classes did a 180 and decided this virus was apocalyptic and stringent measures had to be taken to stop it. But, masks were useless and, at least in NY, symptomatic covid patients could be housed in close proximity to other at-risk people. Sound public health judgement there.
Suddenly? Do you mean there was an ever increasing infection and consequently death rate? The evidence is strongly suggestive that masks work.
Suddenly, the winds of public health expertise change again. Now, after herding the population into grocery stores, without masks, for weeks, they suddenly decide that lock-downs are the way to go. The lock-downs were sold as temporary measures to slow the spread of the virus and relieve pressure on medical facilities and personnel.
Correct. The difficulty is this enforcement. If you have sporadic lockdowns with poor rates of compliance when the messaging has been heavily mixed what do you expect? No one has sold you a silver bullet only a plausible method of countering. One of the reasons the virus is so alarming was the lack of vaccine.
But, the lock-downs never ended. When the hospitalization rate dropped, they continued. Why? Finally, when the damage to the economy became so severe that people in many locales were on the verge of revolt, restrictions were relaxed. But, the remaining restrictions were still destroying such portions of the economy as transportation, hospitality and service.
Because a dropped viral rate when the incubation is circa 2 weeks makes it hard to eliminate. And the proof is in the resurgence. If the lockdowns had continued longer with better compliance then perhaps the USA would be in a better position today.
Then, there was a “spike”. Though the spike was mostly attributed to positive tests for exposure, rather than symptomatic cases, and coincided with expanded covid testing, this was used as an excuse to reinstate strict lock-downs in many places.
So you are saying that having better quality information led to a policy response? What would you have done instead?
Following the post spike lock-downs, several states opened again. The result? The spikes continued in those places where the lock-down continued and tapered off in those where the economy was opened again.
Again poor compliance, state by state the response has been different that makes it doubly hard. Transmission can easily occur between states.
And during all of this, every single treatment which showed promise of being effective was denied, poo-pooed and laughed at, by the media and the establishment. Nothing could save the world, but a vaccine. Until then the lock-downs must continue and the to hell with the global economy. Then, the evil Trump struck again. There is a vaccine waiting in the wings. In fact, three vaccines. These were denied, poo-pooed and laughed at. Now, as demand for the vaccines increases within the captive population, the powers-that-be seek to use them to drive a political wedge into the populace by denying them to the at-risk population and doling them out based upon race. And, as evidence continues to mount that the number of actual cases and fatalities from covid is only a fraction of those being reported, the media, public health officials and politicians stick their fingers into their ears and sing la-la-la-la. And, finally, the people who should know what the truth is, regarding covid, the epidemiologists, public health officials and politicians routinely see no need to follow the draconian restrictions placed upon the rest of the populace. What do they know that the rest of us do not?
Well if you talking about hydroxychloroquine then yes the data is very poor. There have been small studies which had some indication of efficy then this has been followed up with larger studies disproving them. If you are talking about ivermectin then that’s an usual case. The evidence is still scant but promising so it would be analagous to a treatment without FDA approval. Again I have to question your point about transmission and death rate figures. The reality is the overwhelming proportion of deaths attributed to covid are from covid. The cases cited previously have related to an extremely small number of incidents. If you can provide evidence to the contrary then please do. The experience and consequently the death rate of the USA is comparable to the UK, Germany, France etc.
So, as it appears, at this point that covid is not the apocalyptic disease that it has been touted to be why is the establishment political class still actively destroying the global economy? This is the question. We can be generous and accept the fact that the professional class was blindsided by a novel virus, initially. But, at this point, they are either incompetent boobs or have another agenda. And, that is something which should be of concern to people whose livelihoods are being destroyed and their lives ruined. To obtain evidence to answer these questions, we used to rely upon the journalistic media. However, today those journalists are uninterested in these obvious questions. So, we have to rely upon deduction, Watson.
Well I’m inclined to say incompetent boobs. The evidence for that is pretty overwhelming. The two cases I’m familiar with are the USA and the UK. In the USA’s case poor federal response, slow, poor messaging , inability to admit there is a problem, bad leadership, and inadequate testing. In the UK case slow, and weak response as well as the herd immunity debacle.
Given the above facts, why do these destructive restrictions still exists? Who do they harm? Who is immune from harm caused by these restrictions? Why did virtually every nation in the world adopt untested means of “controlling” a virus which was never significantly more dangerous than many other such viruses? Why would any, not to mention every, nation on Earth choose to destroy its economy to slow the spread of a rather mundane disease? If the disease was so devastating, why would the PTB fight against treatment and vaccines? Any answers? How about; why is the populace, specifically the working class, starving while the upper class is making money hand over fist during this period? Now, put on your deerstalker, grab your pipe and sit back and ponder the possible answers to those questions. Have fun.
This is the most interesting part of your answer you are correct the rich have made a lot of money. There are lots of reasons for this. The main one is this , they don’t need an office. Investments still get made , professional work still gets done, reports are still written. The pandemic doesn’t really impact the professions in the same way. I’ve mentioned in previous posts that actually the economic and the public health policies should be aligned. The sooner the virus is contained the sooner the economy can reopen. Therefore have strict measures contact tracing and testing, vaccine etc. The public health policy benefits from a ruthless policy. Deal with the virus then open the economy. Half measures have been proven not to work. And the consequence repeat the same solutions with less good will and less understanding. Hopefully the vaccine will be what’s needed to resolve the situation.
On with the debate.
“When you say the entire public health community I think you mean the Trump administration. Which has had a history of downplaying the pandemic. I’m not clear that anyone has compared the pandemic to the bubonic plague. As for quarantining the elderly, well that may have been a sensible policy but the fact is the Trump administration hasn’t had a covid policy. The state by state response has largely been either ideological or an attempt at lockdown.”
The Trump administration took the first public health measures, with the travel bans. At that time, the Covid outbreak in Washington state was being handled as an isolated incident involving two nursing homes and there was a small outbreak on a cruise ship. public health officials and politicians were treating this as the flu. The media was just starting to warm up their Chicken Little hype, at that point. Also, the Trump Administration DID have an infectious disease plan. It had been in place since the 1990s. See, administrations come and go. So, they rely upon the permanent bureaucracy to handle the daily housekeeping involved in running the government. The DOD has plans for virtually every type of armed conflict imaginable in its files. The same is true with FEMA, in the case of natural disasters. And, it is like that throughout the government. When Trump took office, no one told him that the Obama administration had depleted the national stockpiles of PPE equipment during SARS. So, until the he told the NIH of to release PPE to the states, he had no idea that the shelves were bare.
“Suddenly? Do you mean there was an ever increasing infection and consequently death rate? The evidence is strongly suggestive that masks work.”
No. I mean that the medical establishment lied to the American people and told them that masks would not work and were unnecessary, for the general public. And, they let this stand for months. Then, suddenly, then were demanding that everyone wear masks, especially in public. Why? Because stocks of PPE, for medical personnel were low and they chose to sacrifice members of the public to protect medical personnel. Did symptomatic cases of the virus increase? Of course. This happens with all such diseases. Was this increase related to such areas as grocery stores, where people had been congregating for several weeks without masks? No evidence has ever surfaced to suggest that to be the case. If it had, then we should have seen a huge number of grocery store employees infected. This did not happen.
“Correct. The difficulty is this enforcement. If you have sporadic lockdowns with poor rates of compliance when the messaging has been heavily mixed what do you expect? No one has sold you a silver bullet only a plausible method of countering. One of the reasons the virus is so alarming was the lack of vaccine.”
There was no difficulty in enforcing the lock-downs. At the time, the populace was being very compliant. The lock-downs were supposed to slow, not stop, the spread of the disease to protect against medical facilities being overwhelmed with cases. Did it work? It is hard to say. But, the lock-downs were only supposed to be of short duration. Now, that there is little to no danger of medical facilities being overwhelmed, they should all be gone. But, they are not, are they? The lack of compliance only came up when they continued after the mask and social distancing mandates came into being. If people are wearing masks, which suddenly had gone from useless to essential, why the need for social distancing and lock-downs? As for the lack of a vaccine, please. We got long without vaccine for many strains of influenza and things such as measles for decades and there was very little problem. The problem with COVID was the ridiculous, over-the-top hype of the “dangers” by the media, public health officials and politicians.
“Because a dropped viral rate when the incubation is circa 2 weeks makes it hard to eliminate. And the proof is in the resurgence. If the lockdowns had continued longer with better compliance then perhaps the USA would be in a better position today.”
This would be reasonable, if true. However, the one thing which always gets left out of that equation, is the actual rate of symptomatic cases of covid. As testing, for exposure to covid, ramped up, a startling data point became apparent. 75% of those who tested positive for exposure had no symptoms, either before the test, at the time of the test or subsequent to the test. But, because they tested positive for exposure, they were counted as asymptomatic covid cases. The same was done for deaths. Almost all deaths, involving a person who tested positive for covid exposure within 30 days of his demise was classified as a covid related death, even if he was asymptomatic, or if the attending physician felt that the novel covid virus was involved.
“So you are saying that having better quality information led to a policy response? What would you have done instead?”
Increased quantity, perhaps. But, better quality? Not likely. Two things happened, prior to these spikes. The first was that, along with the general relaxation of lock-down restrictions in many places, medical facilities began opening back up for necessary, non-covid related treatments. This required clearance for covid exposure. If one tested positive for covid exposure and had a preexisting co-morbity condition, they were generally admitted as a covid patient, with or without significant symptoms. The second thng was that there was a significant increase in the volume of testing for exposure to the virus. Again, I have stress that a positive test for exposure was considered an active covid case, for reporting purposes. Then there were the reports, some verified, of positive test results for people who had never had the test performed. How could that happen? The point is that the classification and reporting criteria for covid was garbage. And if you increase the garbage in it merely increases the garbage out. So, exactly how much of a spike in real covid cases did we have?
“Again poor compliance, state by state the response has been different that makes it doubly hard. Transmission can easily occur between states.”
I;m sorry, but this is total BS. If lock-downs worked then we would have seen Florida case numbers easily outstrip NY cases. With the local population locked down, there would be extremely limited interaction between local residents and tourists, so there should not be a significant increase in cases in the locked down area. But, just the reverse happened. NY cases spiked 2-3 times higher than Florida. So, compliance is obviously NOT and issue.
“Well if you talking about hydroxychloroquine then yes the data is very poor. There have been small studies which had some indication of efficy then this has been followed up with larger studies disproving them. If you are talking about ivermectin then that’s an usual case. The evidence is still scant but promising so it would be analagous to a treatment without FDA approval. Again I have to question your point about transmission and death rate figures. The reality is the overwhelming proportion of deaths attributed to covid are from covid. The cases cited previously have related to an extremely small number of incidents. If you can provide evidence to the contrary then please do. The experience and consequently the death rate of the USA is comparable to the UK, Germany, France etc.”
None of the therapeutic treatments were by any significant measure harmful. Yet, the leadership of the medical community did everything within their power to dissuade the use of these treatments against a disease which was being touted as being tremendously deadly. Kind of counter intuitive, that. As to actual infection and death rates, the problem there is the standards for classification. Even Dr. Brix commented, publicly, that the standards for attributing a death to covid were extremely liberal. That is how we get trauma patients ending up being listed as covid related deaths when they had no symptoms of the disease. This places us in the old garbage in, garbage out position. How accurate are these statistics? We are basing severe public policy decisions on data whose accuracy we are totally unsure of. Could the death rate from covid be as high as reported? Well, we already know from official CDC statistics that they are not. The CDC lists 8000 cases classified as covid related which do not have any of the symptoms associated with the disease [these include trauma cases]. And, that is just the ones that they will admit to. And, how many cases which exhibit symptoms, which covid shares with a dozen other diseases, are actually related to a covid infection? Almost all pulmonary and heart disorders are being classified as covid. Influenza cases fell into the cellar. The CDC has been forced to revise their flu deaths upwards, through estimation, to maintain any credibility. So, the data is extremely suspect.
“Well I’m inclined to say incompetent boobs. The evidence for that is pretty overwhelming. The two cases I’m familiar with are the USA and the UK. In the USA’s case poor federal response, slow, poor messaging , inability to admit there is a problem, bad leadership, and inadequate testing. In the UK case slow, and weak response as well as the herd immunity debacle.”
First, the federal response was both fast and positive. The breakdown was at thee state and local level among public health officials and politicians. The federal government has limited jurisdiction in a pubic health emergency. It was not the federal government which sent symptomatic covid infectees back to nursing homes. It was not the federal government which failed to maintain the primary stockpiles of PPE. It was the federal government which forced the production of ventilators. As for testing, most of the testing done is used to potentially corroborate a symptomatic case. However, in the case of testing in the US and the UK, positive tests for exposure without symptoms are being classified as active covid infections, whether such infections actually exists or not.
“This is the most interesting part of your answer you are correct the rich have made a lot of money. There are lots of reasons for this. The main one is this , they don’t need an office. Investments still get made , professional work still gets done, reports are still written. The pandemic doesn’t really impact the professions in the same way. I’ve mentioned in previous posts that actually the economic and the public health policies should be aligned. The sooner the virus is contained the sooner the economy can reopen. Therefore have strict measures contact tracing and testing, vaccine etc. The public health policy benefits from a ruthless policy. Deal with the virus then open the economy. Half measures have been proven not to work. And the consequence repeat the same solutions with less good will and less understanding. Hopefully the vaccine will be what’s needed to resolve the situation.”
The rich make a lot of their money from investments. These investments depend investment markets. These investment markets supposedly depend upon commerce in goods and services for their value. However if this were actually true, we would have seen the stock market tank along with the rest of the economy. But, this did not happen. The stock market dropped about 10%, initially, then bounced back to record highs. Again, while the global trade market was in severe depression. Investors make their money on market fluctuations. They buy low and sell high. And, the markets fluctuate based upon traffic and third party valuation of stocks and bonds. Historically we have seen that it is fairly easy to manipulate markets by simply buy or selling significant amounts of stocks and bonds. Looks like some serious market manipulation was taking place. And, again, who benefits from this most? The indigent? Blue collar workers? Or the investment class?
So, once again. Add up the suspicious characteristics of the covid response and you get a picture of a concerted effort to make the disease seem to be far more dangerous than it is, which then was used to justify economy destroying responses to control it. And, the only reasonable explanations for the leaders f the world to deatroy their own economies is insanity, gross stupidity or a coordinated action. Who would benefit from the actions taken? That is still unknown. But, it is generally a good idea to look at those who benefit or are, at least, least effected.
When we can’t trust the politicians, and can’t trust the media, can’t read the New England Journal of Medicine or the Lancet, and can’t believe most “studies” and speeches by “experts” what can we do?
Read the data. The raw data. It might take some extra brain power and someone who knows excel, but when you read the raw data you can see for yourself how artificial this crisis really is.
New York City has over 30,000 hospital beds and an incredible ER visit capacity. It’s all free for most people, too. Yet with 9 million people we’ve got 500 ER visits per day, about 120 (mostly old sick folk) get admitted and 20 don’t make it home. This is far below ‘regular’ flu, below bee stings in the summertime.
So dig deep into your local websites, analyze the stuff yourself. Realize the data can easily be manipulated (just look at LA County) to promote fear and panic. Speak out! This is mostly nonsense!
Yep, starve the people until you get what you want then throw them a bone. Right out of the Louis the XVI playbook. But, it gets worse.
Almost totally ignored, by the media, is the fact that the Congress also passed a $1.4 TRILLION omnibus spending bill. No media reports on exactly what is in this bill. It skimmed right under the radar, except for reports that Trump was unlikely to sign it. Business as usual in the Swamp, as they anticipate the exist of DJT.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1251932
Some detail on what’s in it. First decent link I came across
I guarantee you that the NYC bailout isn’t the only sleaze money McConnell agreed to. CA is expert at converting “covid relief” money into slush money to be spent however they choose (whatever is left after most is stolen anyway).
With McConnell, yo can be sure that the rest of the bailouts will soon be coming early next year.
He is a real pig – pork him. LOL
They don’t need to be expert. All money is fungible. More coronavirus cash from the feds means less general fund money spent on coronavirus. That’s why, in every state, targeted taxes put before voters are lies.
It is important to remember that 99.5% of everyone who gets the virus survives it. C-19 is more serious than the common cold or common flu types (A, B, and C), but it is not the Bubonic Plague or Ebola Virus. Medical science personnel had a learning curve and lies from the Chinese and unnecessary political sparring (the battle with Trump over Hydroxychloroquine, CDC screw-ups with testing, etc.) made it more complicated. But the healthcare sector got beyond mistakes like excessive intubating and is doing fairly well in treating it. Moreover, there are serious questions about the veracity of the efficacy of the PCR and other tests, the data on the number of active and past cases, and the number of deaths proximately caused by C-19. In the true, overall context, is allowing destruction of the economy and lives necessary in the name of a medical emergency?
It is disappointing but not surprising that not one single Republican is staking out the alternative ground in this matter. The alternative ground is for Congress to use its constitutional powers under Section 5 of the 14th Amendment, the Interstate Commerce Clause, and the Necessary and Proper Clause, among others, to pass legislation reining in the tyranny of petty office being waged by cities, counties, and states across the country against business owners, citizens, their property, and their livelihoods in the name of an “emergency”. For instance, Congress could prohibit shutting down religious services and create favorable statutory remedies and fee recovery in federal courts for takings of property in the name of the “health emergency”. That would provide an authentic form of relief that going about another trillion in the hole with borrowed money will not.
If government is allowed to curtail rights, break laws, and violate the constitution in the name of an “emergency”, then the government will invent and emergency to give politicians the chance to break the law with impunity. Eliminate the moral hazard, this mess has gone on for about 12 months and mask mandates and lockdowns have demonstrably not worked. Protecting the vulnerable, using common sense, pursuing knowledge of treatments/therapies, and developing safe vaccines are the only measures that will work without destroying the economy and fundamental rights.
It’s ironic actually, the economic case and public health case for lockdowns and strict social distancing etc is in synch. Having half measures is not as effective and therefore the restrictions last a lot longer. On the other hand of you have strict measures and control the virus very quickly then the economy can open up more quickly. You then also have a fighting chance of having contact tracing to contain outbreaks. There is no perfect solution until vaccination at high population levels but there are tried and tested means of doing better than the response so far.
You make a critical (and IMO wrong) assumption: that the virus needs to be controlled.
As I recall, this is practically the exact same bill the Republicans put forward about four months ago, and Pelosi sat on.
It’s a 6,000+ page bill. The amount is the same but who knows how the details compare. I suspect they split the bill into “covid relief”, budget extension bill and next year spending. It’s all in the details and I maintain that McConnell and Pelosi cut a deal early this year. The new kabuki theater.
Is this the same bill that outlaws voted ID?
That’s going to make nice confetti send it back to the president when it’s 10 pages long
well at least THIS bill contains wordings about hwo we are supposed to deal with choosing the dali lama…
15 million for democracy programs and 10 million in gender programs to…..pakistan.
yay now we have money to investigate the 1908 springfield race riots. been holding my breath over this one.
My money is on “systemic abuses.”
The money all goes to unions and special interest. It is no wonder the GOP is going the way of Fox News.
Wow! $600!
I’m set for LIFE!
So, I put in for the CARES money last time.
Well, I had to get my taxes finished to be eligible…
And it was first come, first served.
So the money had just run out when I got the application in.
Well, it didn’t help that my Mayor ( Now resigned in disgrace )
Grabbed up 22.5 Million out of the kitty.. for purchasing homeless shelters that will cost millions annually to support… through property taxes beat me to it.
And, as he couldn’t use Covid money in that manner… He did it with the Firemans’ Retirement fund. Then, it was ok to take Covid money and re-imburse that fund…
So, Thanks… This was just nickles and dimes at the local level.
On the National level… oh my.
This whole Covid thing is the biggest fiasco of all time.
Hollywood gets a big subsidy. Seriously.
Pork here, get your pork here
Christmas is Cancelled
NSFW
https://youtu.be/SM9Pfba4Kqw
“The left only agreed to that amount after their guy [stole] the presidential election.”
I found a typo in your column. Fixed it for you. You’re welcome.
Now that the details are emerging making it clear that this was yet another mislabeled boondoggle spending bill rewarding all of the special interests, I am hoping Trump vetoes it. As usual, no one read the bill before voting for it.
The Swamp lives on bigger and more corrupt than ever!