Trump Relaxes While CoronaVirus Pandemic Spreads, Markets Tank
“The country’s economic foundation is fragile. A single shock could bring it all down. And the Trump Administration’s reckless behavior is increasing the odds of just such a shock.” Senator Elizabeth Warren, July 22, 2019
One thing is for sure as we watch Dear Leader’s house of cards crumble on Monday morning, they don’t have a plan for that. You can rest assured that part of the better-late-than-never response will be tax cuts for corporations.
In one of their worst days in years, the Dow Jones industrial average fell as much as 2,000 points on Monday morning before recovering some of its losses. Last week, the Washington Post reported that White House officials were looking at deferring taxes for the airline, travel, and cruise industries.
President Donald Trump will be presented with other options upon his return from a Florida fundraising trip. On Saturday, he hosted a large party for his son’s significant other at Mar-A-Lago; Sunday he was playing golf with members of the Washington Nationals baseball team.
From the New York Times:
For a president who lives in the moment, rarely planning too far ahead, the coronavirus has proved to be a leadership challenge he was not prepared for either. The outbreak that has rattled the nation does not respond to Mr. Trump’s favorite instruments of power: It cannot be cowed by Twitter posts, it cannot be shot down by drones, it cannot be overcome by party solidarity, it cannot be overpowered by campaign rally chants.
The administration’s response to an international health crisis has been bluster and bullshit. The Physician serving as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development was designated to be the White House point man on Sunday news talk shows. He fumbled his way through, unable to answer simple questions with anything more than platitudes.
More than 30 states as well as the District of Columbia have confirmed cases of the CoronaVirus.
On Wednesday, Vice President Mike Pence promised 1.5 million #coronavirus tests were to be made available. The Atlantic reported Friday that... “fewer than 2,000 had been conducted."
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1237003145743605761?s=20
On the Congressional front, the $8 billion plus CoronaVirus package passed last week included $3.1 billion to develop drugs and vaccines and expand manufacturing, much of which will benefit the drug industry. The drug industry succeeded in blocking language ensuring the medicine would be affordable.
CNN reporting:
“According to estimates from the US Department of Health and Human Services...even with a moderate outbreak, 200,000 people in the United States will need intensive care. The United States has less than 100,000 ICU beds.”
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1237027356314869761?s=20
Politico reports the president will likely use the CoronaVirus pandemic as an excuse to close borders:
“Whether it is the virus that we’re talking about or many other public health threats, the Democrat policy of open borders is a direct threat to the health and well-being of all Americans,” Trump said at a recent rally in South Carolina. “Now, you see it with the coronavirus. You see it. You see it with the coronavirus. You see that. When you have this virus or any other virus or any other problem coming in, it’s not the only thing that comes in through the border.”
Shutting down borders or cutting taxes would not halt the spread of the virus, which is now being spread person-to-person within the U.S. and which scientists are still struggling to understand. The ideas, however, are central to Trump’s popularity with his base heading his 2020 re-election race, and the outbreak gives both the president and his top aides a new space to re-introduce their favorite approaches amid the uncertainty.
Russia and Saudi Arabia are fighting an economic war with oil prices as the weapon of choice.
Meanwhile the “largest oil producing nation on earth,” (U.S.) having gambled on costly (and often unprofitable) fracking to gin up sales can only sit by and watch.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1237024549046288385?s=20
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1237024551294382081?s=20
From NPR:
The oil price war comes amid increasing worries that the coronavirus will hit the global economy hard as factories shut down, travel plans are cancelled and spending grinds to a halt. In Italy's industrial region, 16 million people are under quarantine as the country fights to control the coronavirus outbreak there.
Worldwide, there are more than 110,000 cases of the COVID-19 virus, including more than 7,000 each in South Korea, Italy and Iran, according to a dashboard created by the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering.
Meanwhile, there is “nothing to see here” for consumers of MAGA-leaning media.
I took a quick spin through that world on Sunday. Links are not included; there is simply too much questionable coding and too many unwanted pop ups. If you choose to visit these site, do so in whatever high privacy mode your browser offers, and make sure you anti-virus protection is up to date.
At the Washington Examiner, Paul Bedard’s White House Report Card column came with the headline “Taking Charge of Virus, Buoyed by Big Job Numbers.”
Trump’s appointment of Pence and the promise of a “whole of government” response to the coronavirus problem appears to have a good chance of preventing a widespread epidemic. The manufacture of coronavirus testing kits is accelerating, and the promise of a coronavirus vaccine may be met sooner than expected. The Israelis have said they are weeks away from creating a vaccine. The question is whether they, or U.S. researchers, can speed its development and production in time to stem the tide of the growing global epidemic.
At the San Diego based One America News Network, I had to scroll way down way past the lead story (Troops Deployed to Border In Case of Refugee Rush) for these headlines:
Dr. O’Brien: President Trump Has Acted ‘Very Diligently’ Against Coronavirus
Latest Jobs Report Smashing Records Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
The Washington Free Beacon’s Health Watch featured this headline:
Leading Democratic Candidates Most at Risk of Dying From Coronavirus, According to Science
The Daily Wire says everything’s peachy:
President Trump Fires Back At Media: Coronavirus Response Has Been ‘Perfectly Coordinated’
At Breitbart everything’s always a liberal media conspiracy:
Pollak: Politico Continues Media’s Quest to Blame Trump for Coronavirus
The Federalist there were no stories about the domestic CoronaVirus situation, but there was this:
The Coronavirus Outbreak Has Given Beijing A New Tool To Suppress Dissent
Gateway Pundit was concerned about reporting about a recent conference, where speakers took turns denouncing the CoronaVirus “hoax’:
ACU President Matt Schlapp Confirms He “Had Incidental Contact” with Young CPAC Attendee Who Tested Positive for Coronavirus — Also Welcomed President on Stage
But not to worry…
In Hong Kong People Heading Outside as Warmer Weather and Fears of Coronavirus Decline – Taiwan and US Saved by Early Decisive Actions
And last, but not least there’s TownHall:
Dan Crenshaw Calls Out Democrats For Their Blatant Lies About the Coronavirus
https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1237051034201178112?s=20
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