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

we've got to pray just to get tax cuts today

When you want the virus to spread. pic.twitter.com/vupvnvrI4U

— Dennis Perrin (@DennisThePerrin) March 14, 2020

Katie Porter literally just did the math and you could guarantee COVID testing and treatment for every American for $420 billion (which would probably do a lot more to strengthen the markets than this). https://t.co/QH317tPT83

— Peter Labuza (@labuzamovies) March 12, 2020

Post from a friend:

An optimist’s take: the institutions have held! The greatest threat of the Trump administration is not the policies it professes (although I personally hate the fact that Mitch McConnell is running the country behind the curtain). No, it’s the existential threat to our democracy and the Orwellian denials of truth and the reliance on conspiracy theories that undermine faith in democracy. Now, absent any leadership from the top, the local and state institutions have acted swiftly and largely in unison (although not perfectly so, how could they?) to slow a global pandemic. Public schools decided to close on their own! Teachers stepped up to learn remote learning techniques. Shopping malls put out lots of sanitizer. The local movie theater is only allowing theaters to fill to 60% capacity. Sports are cancelled. Governors acted. Mayors did, too. Absent national leadership, which everyone knew was coming, everyone else did what was right (mostly) and created a language of social distancing and a persuasive argument to back it up #flattenthecurve I’m heartened. I hope I’m right. I also hope that this has bought the federal government time to make sure service workers and hourly earners don’t sink, because that’s where the federal government is needed most. In the meantime, the institutions have held! No get off your screen and go do a puzzle with your children. One day, I’m told, you’ll miss them.

So President Asshole has apparently been tested and is awaiting results. (Three guests at Mar a Loogie who shared space with him have tested positive so far.) Turd in chief finally concedes maybe shaking hands not so hot an idea right now.

Honest hot take: he might be an stupid asshole, but when he is not trying to bluster or brag or act like a pretend big boy, he sometimes comes off semi-normal.

(however fleetingly)

when he is not trying to bluster or brag or act like a pretend big boy

citation needed

i dunno, the very fact that he acknowledged he shakes hands out of habit and needs to get out of the habit in the name of public safety was out of character for him. he's still a stupid asshole, since that took forever for him to figure out.

Now, absent any leadership from the top, the local and state institutions have acted swiftly and largely in unison (although not perfectly so, how could they?) to slow a global pandemic.

This is what's struck me locally, all the cancellations have been voluntary and guided by local rather than state or federal guidance. Our local leaders (Democrats, Republicans, heads of institutions like universities, school systems, concert venues, etc) have acted quickly and calmly and given a consistent message of "Don't freak out, but take this seriously."

So President Asshole has apparently been tested and is awaiting results.

Apparently he said that before the White House physician sent out a letter stating that he had not been tested, because the physician saw no need. Once again, someone's lying and we have no idea (but a solid suspicion) who. I hope he stays untested, and infects his entire fucking family down to his grandchildren.

Why would Justin Amash vote "present" on last night's relief bill? I don't get that.

xpost i saw the letter posted before his live press conference. yeah, when in doubt assume he is lying, and yeah, I hope he catches it, but if he was lying he could have just said he tested negative and that he is the strongest least viral person ever, not 'we don't have the results yet cuz they take a day or two,' which is accurate.

xpost maybe amash was protesting the lack of anti-abortion provisions in the bill’s language. Seriously, I don’t know why you would ever be a member of the GOP unless that was your reason

Seriously, I don’t know why you would ever be a member of the GOP unless that was your reason

he's not in the GOP anymore but yeah

Independent but i mean tiger never looks a gift horse in the stripes or......uhh...ehh..

welp so...the gillum thing

https://nypost.com/2020/03/14/man-busted-with-andrew-gillum-in-hotel-room-with-meth-was-gay-escort/

https://www.slotsexpert.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/jackpot-slot.jpg

Amash apparently didn't think it went far enough so this was a protest vote. Dems voted for it but many were unhappy with the negotiations:

This is what I’m talking about. https://t.co/Lwws2q8lx8

— Justin Amash (@justinamash) March 14, 2020

Dems presented a much stronger bill. GOP/WH held it hostage for ~two days and chipped it away.

These negotiations were closed door so it is tough to say who demanded what, but Dems presented their original version so the tracked changes shows the result of GOP/WH negotiation.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 14, 2020

ugh. i'm hoping that most of my friends are under the 500-employee range, but that is brutally insufficient.

xp Yesterday i thought “man, the worst thing for everyone is if he gets it and lives. but then of course, in a year he will claim that he DID get and lived, of course, and every gop douche will kiss his ass to get a bit of sun.

Then i saw gbx already posted pt 1 like, days ago.

Lemieux:

Look, I guess that House Democrats could have just keep holding out on this until next week. Maybe Republicans would have caved in growing desperation. On the other hand, this may be the first bill but it is certainly not the last. Each of the bills will by necessity have to expand the safety net so long as Democrats control the House. But each will probably also include some kind of additional compromise with a political party that is completely fine if you die, so long as they don’t have to pay the cost. It’d be nice if this reality was recognized. But no, all the blame just belongs to Democrats.

on the other hand,

Wasn't a bug but a feature https://t.co/860xwqSLGq

— David Dayen (@ddayen) March 15, 2020

i keep thinking i'm misunderstanding what she's saying, but if she's saying what she seems to be saying - mcdonalds and amazon should already be providing paid sick days, so we're not going to provide money for it either - then wtf

well, a different way to put that would be to insist that the corporations suck it up and eat the cost

but they're not required to, right? doesn't the new legislation exempt them from the requirements?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday night celebrated the coronavirus legislation that passed early Saturday as providing paid sick leave to American workers affected by the pandemic.

She neglected to mention the fine print.

In fact, the bill guarantees sick leave only to about 20 percent of workers. Big employers like McDonald’s and Amazon are not required to provide any paid sick leave, while companies with fewer than 50 employees can seek hardship exemptions from the Trump administration.

“If you are sick, stay home,” Vice President Mike Pence said at a news conference on Saturday afternoon. “You’re not going to miss a pay check.”

But that’s simply not true. Sick workers should stay home, but there is no guarantee in the emergency legislation that most of them will get paid.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/opinion/coronavirus-pelosi-sick-leave.html

if it ends up leading to mcdonalds et al feeling socially pressured to pay for sick leave, great i guess, but from where it stands on early sunday morning, it looks like they're being asked, not required to do so. and also, maybe more importantly, who cares if it saves money to exempt the big companies? make it a $100B bill! it's going to end up being way, way more than $100B by the end of this mess

we're putting all of our effort and money into keeping the stock market's erection half-inflated, sorry poors

vmic

German newspaper Welt am Sonntag has reported that US president Donald Trump has sought exclusive rights to a vaccine for the coronavirus which is being developed by a German-based company, CureVac.

The report, which quoted unnamed sources, said Trump had offered large sums of money to German scientists working on the vaccine, and that the Germany government was working to prevent the US procuring it on this basis.

And meanwhile the leaders of the Dems have just e posed themselves to known covid carriers. Lovely.
Political world is filled with hidden and rather obvious dangers. Not sure how you work around that with the current incumbent.
Just hoping it might lead to some of the older members of the Senate no longer being there. But is that pollyannaing?

clip on NPR of Schumer saying bill will be "good for the economy" bcz "people will have money in their pockets"

UNFUCKINGREAL

people will be in the fucking hospital

or in a tent in the parking lot

On the other hand, this may be the first bill but it is certainly not the last. Each of the bills will by necessity have to expand the safety net so long as Democrats control the House. But each will probably also include some kind of additional compromise with a political party that is completely fine if you die, so long as they don’t have to pay the cost. It’d be nice if this reality was recognized. But no, all the blame just belongs to Democrats.

"This may be the first bill but it is certainly not the last" is some depressingly hilarious "you'll get them next time, tiger." That the Republicans will cave NEXT time after the Dems already showed they don't have the stomach for a real fight is wishful thinking.

I'm not sure how far the Dems can keep pushing as the bill gets delayed tbh

Trump is going to own this crisis no matter what. There seems to me there is more wiggle room between a bill that will pass the house with 40 Republicans voting against and one that will pass with minimal Republican support and still get Senate approval and Trump's signature.

I mean, it's obviously the Democrats' fault for not using the only chamber they control to pass a bill that keeps the GOP from inserting exemptions. I do wish Pelosi had said, "This is all these fuckfaces will agree to" in public though.

And I am not suggesting the Dems hold up the bill indefinitely, because it is an important bill that will actually help people, but they have way less to lose on this stuff than Republicans.

And they should let the Republicans know that.

can't violate comity while she's bumping elbows with Mitch xxp

The White House and the Senate each has a sociopath at its head. This was inevitable. And negotiating with sociopaths is one helluva way to sully your soul.

I may not fully blame the Dems but i am depressed at the thought of many friends filing for bankruptcy or becoming homeless over this.

Or... suicide. Only bring up cos one of my friends has me severely worried.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/15/trump-is-increasingly-irrelevant/

isolated too from what i've been hearing

maybe he'll have this read to him

Gov. Andrew Cuomo writes for the New York Times:

Dear Mr. President, The coronavirus pandemic is now upon us, and data from other countries shows us clearly where we are headed. Every country affected by this crisis has handled it on a national basis. The United States has not. State and local governments alone simply do not have the capacity or resources to do what is necessary, and we don’t want a patchwork quilt of policies.

States cannot build more hospitals, acquire ventilators or modify facilities quickly enough. At this point, our best hope is to utilize the Army Corps of Engineers to leverage its expertise, equipment and people power to retrofit and equip existing facilities — like military bases or college dormitories — to serve as temporary medical centers. Then we can designate existing hospital beds for the acutely ill.

We believe the use of active duty Army Corps personnel would not violate federal law because this is a national disaster. Doing so still won’t provide enough intensive care beds, but it is our best hope.

isolated too from what i've been hearing

Is he stalking the halls of the White House, yelling incomprehensibly at interns, potted plants, and wall hangings?

If so, situation normal, carry on.

if cuomo wants to reach the president he probably shouldn't put it in the NYT (or in print. like morbs said, perhaps a video version would be more understandable for trump)

this thread title aged poorly

r/agedlikemilk

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/15/trump-offers-large-sums-for-exclusive-access-to-coronavirus-vaccine

president martin shkreli