US Politics, March 2020 — There’s a very good chance you’re not going to die.

^^Cosign

This was the guy holding up the relief package because he didn’t want “non-people” to get any money

so is someone else ghostwriting that post for him or is the illness causing him to become Bob Dole

rand paul? more like grand fall.

Maybe he got it from his neighbor's fist.

(not kink-shaming btw)

ok lol

Sometimes people need to suffer themselves before they can feel any sympathy for others. It might be useful if Senator Paul had to suffer a bit. It might make him less insufferable.

"He was not aware of any direct contact with any infected person."

Rand Paul is so libertarian he doesn't believe in community transmission. He willed his own infection into being.

Isn't self-isolation and social distancing the ideal for any Objectivist asshole?

xpost it was the invisible hand of the virus

simply could not give less of a fuck what happens to Ron Paul (top 5 most hated senators for me), but I think KY can and would do even worse given the chance

fuck, RAND

Rand Paul is so libertarian he doesn't believe in community transmission. He willed his own infection into being.

― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra)

lol

fuck, RAND

Not sure what that comma’s doing there, but I agree.

Meanwhile, let's see how sausage is made:

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/22/coronavirus-stimulus-congress-141360

Awkward

The Coronavirus Hoaxhttps://t.co/BUai4gGt2d pic.twitter.com/qJ1f04jZm8

— Ron Paul (@RonPaul) March 16, 2020

New low: "Romney's in isolation? Gee, that's too bad."

Which is a good illustration of why I'm not a big fan of picking and choosing whom you're okay with getting sick.

the rand paul thing is going to be pretty important, beyond the irony of his dad's stupidity (an irony i know deeply - my dad is also a fucking idiot)

apparently a number of other senators are quarantining in response. there was a senate lunch on friday, for one. and rand paul was swimming in the senate pool just this morning (and he just found out he had it this morning). romney and lee are already quarantined, and the rest are trying to figure out what to do

is the stimulus vote going to have enough senators? can they "remote" vote?

Just did some googling and the Spanish flu (which was much worse than this, for lots of reason) took out three or four congressmen.

the Spanish flu (which was much worse than this, for lots of reason)

"this" is just getting started

Covid-19's fatality rate won't come close to the 1918 influenza (>2.5%). And the 1918 influenza targeted young adults with similar or greater alacrity than the elderly.

The 1918 H1N1 pandemic very strongly provoked the immune system, which meant young people died from their own immune responses, often within a day or two. SARS-CoV-2's big trick seems to be that it only modestly provokes immune response until its quite well advanced. This spares most younger people, who don't overrespond to small scale infections with full blown ARDS before they develop antibodies. But it also means that its period of covert infectiousness prior to symptoms is longer than with most respiratory infectious diseases.

holy shit. I had no clue Rand Paul was Ron Paul's/
Also no hope on him becoming a better person through this. He was a doctor. He didn't develop empathy through that so he's basically a lost cause. (also he didn't finish his undergrad and got into Duke med through his dad! thx wiki).

So since congresspeople are old not young it should be worse on them this time, no?

50 million people died of (or more accurately, during) the Spanish flu, 675,000 in the U.S. alone. Estimates for the 1958 "Asian" flu were about 2 million worldwide, 70,000 in the U.S.. 1968 flu killed around a million globally, 100,000 in the U.S.. Globally, we are currently at around 15,000 deaths for this, with some countries apparently already slowing down, to some extent. I hope it stays that relatively low and slow, and with the stricter measures being imposed around the globe, however belatedly, maybe it will, but who knows.

you might not like it but thats his right as an american https://t.co/tiwz4rykCC

— br⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️seph (@on3ness) March 22, 2020

is the stimulus vote going to have enough senators? can they "remote" vote?

― Karl Malone, Sunday, March 22, 2020 6:46 PM bookmarkflaglink

they can't because Mitch has stood in the way. now that he may lose his senate majority for the vote, I have a feeling they might change course.

lol those Dem sellouts.

McConnell didn’t even come close to getting Manchin. https://t.co/bw75twRY7y

— Adam Jentleson 🎈 (@AJentleson) March 23, 2020

we have to cherish these opportunities: fuck yeah joe machin!!

*manchin

Lol @ mcconnell fucking this up

Even if it passed the senate it was gonna die in the House

Manchin knows which side his bread is buttered on and it isn't Wall Street, airlines etc.

Big Business vs The People is the least of it. this proposal effectively turns Treasury into the Spoils and Favors department.

drain the swamp; build the spoils and favors department on the new land

Manchin knows which side his bread is buttered on and it isn't Wall Street, airlines etc.

lol puhlezze

TOP INDUSTRIES 2013 - 2018
Securities & Investment
$858,441

https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/summary?cid=N00032838&cycle=2018

There's such a thing as getting buttered on both sides. On this one it's just clearly a bridge too far.

that's what, 25% of his total fundraising? Less?

fwiw I don't think campaign contributions explain very much about voting patterns tbh.

Blah blah blah https://t.co/zkJ1fsKMGc

— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) March 23, 2020

yeesh

xp why then does Goldman Sachs e.g. contribute to these campaigns? Because they don't get the votes they want? I don't even know why I'm asking this

me neither

I just think the calculus in a vote is more often quite a bit more complex than "donor X gave me money to vote Y, therefore I vote Y". I'm not saying that doesn't happen (it definitely does, especially when you get into the specific details of legislation) but it's not always an accurate explanation - there are often competing priorities, pressure coming from different directions, constituent service concerns, polling numbers, pressures from within (and outside) the caucus and leadership, relationships with other legislators, favors owed or being incurred, etc. It's a lot of factors.

Too bad Cornyn wasn't hanging with Rand today.

it's also too bad he didn't fall into a wood chipper

The eulogy for john cornyn

John Cornyn was the senior senator from Texas, holding many key positions in GOP leadership including...eh. Bla bla bla. He’s dead now.

Man I'm so glad I don't use Twitter anymore. What an unpleasant arena

w/ that said

The UK is paying everyone 80% of their wages through this crisis. Denmark is paying 75%. Remember that when you get your $1200 check.

— Hamilton Nolan (@hamiltonnolan) March 22, 2020

Freelancers aren't currently getting 80% of their wages yet.

Freelancers don't get jack shit in the UK scheme as far as I can tell?

Everyone who's already been laid off in the UK, and everyone who will get laid off, is at the mercy of the benefits system

I’d like that to be the amount taken in before we offset against expenses, thanks - plus a minimum income floor to protect those of us waiting to be paid for the work we’ve done this year. And for it to have nothing whatsoever to do with Universal Credit.

That tweet otm. Netherlands paying 90%, plus a topping up to minimum wage for all freelancers and sole entrepeneurs, if needed. Doling out checks seems like such a dumb idea if it's not backed by a more rigorous safety net.

xp