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

one minor detail: trump still doesn't have a chief of staff. technically it's mulvaney still (?), and meadows (looooool at choosing him) is still trying to figure out how the role works, or something?

15 days ago I joked that Trump would sign the coronavirus stimulus with a bunch of pens and then hand them out, but I honestly never imagined that was possible in reality pic.twitter.com/uDsWlOjpX5

— Jon Schwarz (@schwarz) March 28, 2020

if I had my druthers, abolishing the Senate.

This would require quite a bit of amending the US Constitution, which in turn would require a dozen or so small states to willingly reduce their national political clout by a substantial amount. Ergo, so not gonna happen.

sure, but all this is IF he had his druthers, that's the point. druthers are hard to come by these days

So there's a druthers shortage too now?

Amazon Prime's working overtime. I'm sending Aimless a bottle of druthers.

Good idea. I'm overstocked on bitters.

flashback to Feb 5:

Just left the Administration briefing on Coronavirus. Bottom line: they aren't taking this seriously enough.

Notably, no request for ANY emergency funding, which is a big mistake. Local health systems need supplies, training, screening staff etc. And they need it now.

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) February 5, 2020

https://news.yahoo.com/senator-says-white-house-turned-down-emergency-coronavirus-funding-in-early-february-003319950.html

Jared Kushner is demanding his tenants keep paying rent - while asking for leniency from his creditors: WaPo reporter (@fawfulfan / Raw Story)https://t.co/JmmXAXjTjEhttps://t.co/T1ot9v0eG1

— memeorandum (@memeorandum) March 28, 2020

well sure

https://www.texastribune.org/2020/03/27/texas-ag-says-gun-stories-are-essential-businesses-during-coronavirus/

if only it was confined to "gun stories"

If he closed gun stores it would prompt mass protests, which in turn would defeat social distancing, which would then spread the virus more rapidly, overload hospitals, and possibly kill innocent people who are not gun nuts.

If only there was a disease that just killed gun nuts

honestly not much different from every other Judge Jeanine clip I've seen

Judge Jeanine missed the first segment of her show tonight because of “technical difficulties” and then hosted the rest of it in this condition pic.twitter.com/KxGGBXUkly

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 29, 2020

she's pretty loose

He's scared, that's certain.

President Trump said Saturday night that he will not impose a quarantine on New York, New Jersey and Connecticut but would instead issue a “strong” travel advisory to be implemented by the governors of the three states.

Mr. Trump made the announcement on Twitter just hours after telling reporters that he was considering a quarantine of the three states in an effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus to Florida and other states.

Navarro is sticking with the US-China trade war and instituting new "Buy American" restrictions even tho it costs American lives. Madness https://t.co/Jiu0SQubH5

— Tobita Chow 周鳶多 (@tobitac) March 29, 2020

NY Post:

The Trump administration has added the firearms industry — gun shops included — to a federal list of critical infrastructure during the ongoing coronavirus emergency.

The new language, added Saturday to the website of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, now deems as critical “Workers supporting the operation of firearm or ammunition product manufacturers, retailers, importers, distributors, and shooting ranges.”

Previously-designated critical industries include energy, food production, emergency services, government offices, transportation and healthcare.

MA received 17% of requested medical supplies from the Trump admin. ME: 5%. CO: 1 day's worth.

FL got everything they requested. + an identical shipment the next week. oh, and a 3rd is on the way.https://t.co/4AmYkn70Jm pic.twitter.com/ZUCGF2NsfX

— Jesse Lehrich (@JesseLehrich) March 29, 2020

incredible

good morning!

This punitive, you-but-not-you parceling out of supplies and equipment will surely be looked back on as Trump's most horrifying and incomprehensible action through all of this, unless something worse is on the way.

until the next one

yeah. it's hard to imagine what could be worse

but it's almost as hard to imagine this justice department *not* leveraging the situation twd its sinister ends

thrasymachus department

A friend in Cuba sent me this. We’re getting clowned on by Cuban whatsapp pic.twitter.com/O39s7AYELP

— Andrés Pertierra (@ASPertierra) March 28, 2020

xp aw c'mon

"until the next one" yes

that whole record

This punitive, you-but-not-you parceling out of supplies and equipment will surely be looked back on as Trump's most horrifying and incomprehensible action through all of this, unless something worse is on the way.

The message being that he's a whiny and petulant toddler, and everything is about him and his tiny ego?

Yeah we knew that already

this is unbelievable

cue the chorus: "blah blah blah, we already knew he was bad, get over it."

i'm still shocked that he is parceling life-saving resources to states that "like" him.

murderous, murderous piece of shit

facing no resistance, apparently, from people in the administration.

i'm still shocked that he is parceling life-saving resources to states that "like" him.

not even the "states" or the people that live in them, just the governor. for example, that woman governor from michigan that isn't showing enough appreciation for what he's done

if he ever gets within shouting distance i will scream my fucking guts out at him

treesh, sorry for unclarity - I don't mean "get over it" but rather "this is who he is and will always be which is why he and his troglodyte "movement" needs to lose and be destroyed forever."

not even the "states" or the people that live in them, just the governor. for example, that woman governor from michigan that isn't showing enough appreciation for what he's done

― Karl Malone, Sunday, March 29, 2020 12:14 PM (one minute ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah. exactly. because a person, whose name he forgets, rubbed him the wrong way somehow, the people who they are serving as governor need to die.

who even thinks of americans as, first and foremost, residents of their states, responsible for what their governors do? it's psychotic.

another very ugly thing about this is that it spurs people to lower themselves to that level.

like in that tweet thread are new yorkers saying we actually deserve more resources than other states because of the federal tax revenue we generate per capita.

how about, resources go where they are needed!

i'm with you - i really do think it's straight up murder. white collar murder, on a mass scale. people in executive positions are often forced to make decisions that really do lead to life and death results. choosing which conflicts to enter, or to ignore. states not expanding medicaid to their most vulnerable citizens, that's another form of it. but even that seems more indirect. the situation now, with trump and some of the dumbfuck governors, really does lead to a very predictable range of deaths, in the short term, and he's choosing to favor the lives of people who live in states where he gets along with the governor. he can't die soon enough

yes. politics is life and death, all the time, so no difference there. this seems unique, still, because 1.) there is no way to spin it and 2.) the reasoning is completely stupid and based on the whims of one person, not the interests of the business class or whatever

evidently someone disagrees

Biden was asked by Chuck Todd if there's blood on Trump's hands. He responded: "I think that's a little too harsh."

— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) March 29, 2020

this fucker needs to go

biden is a ditz

In stimulus news, I am wondering if most people, like with the 2008 stimulus, might be reluctant to spend theirs, and add it to their savings. Nobody could blame most people for doing that, but that's one thing that prevented the 2008 stimulus from being effective.

There's also confusion about how it works. I'm seeing friends basically saying they'll just save it because it's just going to come out of their taxes next year, which of course isn't true. People are seeing the word "advance" as if it means this $1,200 is an 'advance' from their refund next year, so then when they file taxes next year, if their refund was calculated at $2,000, they'll only get $800 since they already got $1,200 the previous year.

When in reality, it's an advance of a one-time refundable tax credit newly created for 2020, so it isn't impacting your tax refund for 2020 or 2019 at all (other than the possibility that you get overpaid this year because your pay in 2018/2019 was drastically lower than it is in 2020, but that part is murky - government hasn't said whether you'd have to pay any portion back yet). You just don't get the credit next year since you got the check already, but your tax refund or liability is what it would have been had there been no stimulus at all.

As for me, I'm going to commission another Police Academy movie with mine.

who even thinks of americans as, first and foremost, residents of their states, responsible for what their governors do? it's psychotic.

― treeship., Sunday, March 29, 2020

This was a thing through the Civil War and, thanks to the Supreme Court, it persisted through the New Deal. It's one of the quiet conservative projects, this revanchism.

it completely missed me until today that the $1200 is minimum wage for one month rounded up.

biden is a ditz

― treeship., Sunday, March 29, 2020 12:31 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

Woah, treesh, don't go being to harsh on the chosen one.

too