A few things caught my attention at the daily news conference.
1) There were fewer people on the podium, but they were still packed together.
2) The reporters were all spaced out, which meant there were fewer reporters--Trump seemed pleased. As the questions began, he said he wished he could spread the reporters out even more, even exclude some and he pointed to two reporters in the front rows and said he would kick them out first. Maybe he was joking, but it sure did not sound like it.
3) There was an obvious plant that was there to throw him a softball question about we he still continues to call the virus after a certain country, but he was not pressed.
4. But the most important answer he gave was about bailing out companies. He first said he would not want to see those companies using bailout monies to buy back their stock. A little later, he said he thought if the federal government bails out companies it should have some equity in the company
If Trump refuses to bailout companies without the g'mnt gaining shares, and pays a non-means tested amount to Americans, that would be a good thing I reckon. The downside is that the gmnt has no money because of his tax cuts and spending. OTOH how many times has he floated balloons and then popped them after talking to someone like Lindsay Graham?
You would think they'd be in favor of doubling the amount the fartletter-in-chief suggested, wouldn't you?
That's pretty much Schumer's position. (Haven't found a source for @chrisstiles' claim about Pelosi, but my guess is it's a similar mischaracterization.)
Both of them (see the tail of that article) want to use a means tested system instead (anyone who has been means tested should be able to give an insight as to how much more complex that makes claiming something when you need it)
I'm generally against most means testing for benefits for most of the reasons already cited. However, in this case there are some important mitigating circumstances. First, the U.S. unemployment compensation system already exists, so it's a good way to get money to people who've lost their jobs recently. No need to re-invent the wheel. Second, the number of people in the U.S. who will file a first claim for unemployment this week is going to be about eight times what it was the previous week and about triple the previous record. This seems like an urgent reason to pump some cash into this program specifically. Schumer is right that cutting someone a check for $1,000 isn't going to be sufficient.
Of course the Trump approach to all this seems to be to "keep the numbers up", similar to his reluctance to fully report the extent of COVID-19.
My problem with the current unemployment system is that when I file a claim I am only allowed 13 weeks in a year. I filed in May 2019. I will not be eligible to file again until the middle of May. That is six weeks away. So, the two cash payments will help me get to that time.
The Democrats, though, are pushing to expand the unemployment program. Hoping the Republicans will listen.
My problem with the current unemployment system is that when I file a claim I am only allowed 13 weeks in a year. I filed in May 2019. I will not be eligible to file again until the middle of May. That is six weeks away. So, the two cash payments will help me get to that time.
The Democrats, though, are pushing to expand the unemployment program. Hoping the Republicans will listen.
Democrats were able to force through an extension of unemployment benefits during the last financial crisis. Of course they had the benefit of controlling the presidency and both Houses of Congress in 2009-2011. On the other hand Congressional Republicans are probably more willing to support such an extension when one of their own is in the White House instead of President Kenyan Muslim Usurper.
There are at least 3 German races according to my German course many years ago in univ. Scene of crowded restaurant "may I sit at your table, I can see that you are not Bavarian".
If you choose to travel internationally, your travel plans may be severely disrupted, and you may be forced to remain outside of the United States for an indefinite timeframe.
<snip>
Have a travel plan that does not rely on the U.S. Government for assistance.
I believe that's bureaucratic-speak for "so long suckers, you're on your own!"
Barnabas62Purgatory Host, 8th Day Host, Epiphanies Host
Trump protects his flawed, self serving, world view regardless of evidence, by nasty means. And bears do shit in the woods.
It's happened so often it doesn't surprise me. Bringing out Fake Media and the Deep State in the middle of the worst national and international crisis for a very long time is, sadly, par for the course. He's a very unpleasant apology for a human being.
I heard some of that news conference. It was bad. However, I do disagree with the Guardian's comment that T had an "extraordinary temper tantrum". I don't think it's extraordinary, given his track record, and possibly not even his worst.
Dear God. It's not clear to me whether T is behind this, or Director Jody Olsen. I did a page search, and "trump" isn't there. But, of course, T and/or his henchfolk may be involved behind the scene.
And the volunteers aren't even eligible for unemployment, when they get back to the US. AND, once the Peace Corps gets resurrected, the current volunteers will have to reapply.
President Kennedy must be spinning in his grave. (IIRC, he created the Peace Corps.) Perhaps he could pay a little visit to T and co. in the middle of the night...
Apparently produced by Madonna, this short video is a hoot, and I might need one after watching. The statements about the virus made by Don Trump with calender dates popping up. Illustrates nicely the unstable nonsense from the stable genius. https://twitter.com/Madonna/status/1240675245943656448?s=20
Trump has apparently decided to get serious and has broken out . . . the CAPSLOCK!!!
Donald J. Trump
WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF. AT THE END OF THE 15 DAY PERIOD, WE WILL MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHICH WAY WE WANT TO GO!
22 March 2020
That will teach the virus who's boss!
For context, and using the metric by which Trump himself measures the success of his presidency*, on January 20, 2017 the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 19,824.25 points. At the close of trading on Friday (March 20, 2020) the Dow was at 19,173.98, and that doesn't even take three years of inflation into account. In other words the supposed prosperity Trump brought to the country (or, more accurately, to the country's already wealthy investing class) just swirled down the drain like so much soapy water.
For context, and using the metric by which Trump himself measures the success of his presidency*, on January 20, 2017 the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 19,824.25 points. At the close of trading on Friday (March 20, 2020) the Dow was at 19,173.98, and that doesn't even take three years of inflation into account. In other words the supposed prosperity Trump brought to the country (or, more accurately, to the country's already wealthy investing class) just swirled down the drain like so much soapy water.
Did you type something wrong? Those two numbers are less than $700 apart. Out of $19k that's hardly a plummet.
The plummet was from the peak at 29,551.42 at the close on February 12, 2020 - I think the point is that, even by his own dubious reckoning, Trump has left the economy worse off now than when he started.
For context, and using the metric by which Trump himself measures the success of his presidency*, on January 20, 2017 the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 19,824.25 points. At the close of trading on Friday (March 20, 2020) the Dow was at 19,173.98, and that doesn't even take three years of inflation into account. In other words the supposed prosperity Trump brought to the country (or, more accurately, to the country's already wealthy investing class) just swirled down the drain like so much soapy water.
Did you type something wrong? Those two numbers are less than $700 apart. Out of $19k that's hardly a plummet.
Over a period of slightly more than three years the DJIA is expected to rise unless the U.S. is in a recession. For comparison the Dow closed at 16,064.77 on November 22, 2013. January 20, 2017 is exactly halfway between November 22, 2013 and March 20, 2020, so that represents an equal span of time, so during the last bit of the Obama years (a somewhat anemic recovery) the Dow rose by 3,759.48 points, compared with a fall of 650.27 points over the same amount of time in the Trump administration*. Now equating the stock market with the economy is a fallacy, but it's a fallacy Trump has decided to live by so the analysis is fair.
On another, related subject, can someone explain to Trump that certain phrases should be avoided under current circumstances?
Josh Dawsey
"People are dying to go out to a restaurant. People are dying to go on an airplane," Trump says, calling it a "pent up" demand.
22 March 2020
While literally true, this is probably not the message Trump intended to send.
Barnabas62Purgatory Host, 8th Day Host, Epiphanies Host
Nobody can explain anything to Trump. He is talking about getting America back to work by Easter.
WHO has publicly warned that the US may become the next epicenter, possibly because of what Trump has been saying. I mean the timing of the warning, not that Trump is responsible.
I caught the last part of today's daily briefing. It seemed Trump was more subdued. He read straight from the text with little adlibbing. Yesterday, Dr. Fauci was nowhere to be seen. Today he was directly behind 45 and spoke for a while.
I have a question for American Shipmates. One of my Facebook friends is my father's elderly American cousin. I've not met her, and neither has my father, but we have met mutual family members. She seems like a nice woman.
She is pro-Trump, and this seems to be ramping up. She has posted a poll about Trump's handling of the Coronavirus, which gave three options "Very good" "Great" and "Superb" She had voted "superb" which was clearly the front runner in the poll.
Is this a common viewpoint in America? Age-wise she is high risk and her brother is extremely high risk, as he is in poor health.
Sadly, there is evidence that listening to Trump can kill you.
Trump shouldn't be giving informal medical advice over the air, for sure. However, from what I've seen of his comments, I don't think they could be reasonably interpeted as meaning "Go find a bottle of anything labelled 'chloroquine' and drink it."
Even if it had been the FDA formally approving chloroquine for COVID-19, this couple would probably still be stupid enough to think that that includes the stuff you use to clean your fish-tank.
However, from what I've seen of his comments, I don't think they could be reasonably interpeted as meaning "Go find a bottle of anything labelled 'chloroquine' and drink it."
No, a reasonable person would not. But Trump supporters long ago threw reason out the window when listening to Trump. The widow clearly didn't bother to use reason to parse what Trump was saying
"We saw his press conference. It was on a lot, actually," she said. "Trump kept saying it was basically pretty much a cure."
"We were afraid of getting sick," she told NBC.
We know that Trump did not actually say that. But he engaged in his standard puffery and boasting and lying and, obviously, created the impression that it was a cure--even though, technically, he never said that.
And, of course, reasonable people wouldn't even bother responding to a sham poll that only gives "Very Good" "Great" and "Superb" as a description of Trump's handling of the crisis. And yet, as we see, Trump supporters think that shows how great and wonderful he is. "Reason" is simply not in the building when Trump is the subject.
Barnabas62Purgatory Host, 8th Day Host, Epiphanies Host
It's the cult aspect of Trump support. I have no idea what the attraction is, nor why they can't see him for the narcissist freak he obviously is. Loyalty is a strange thing when it comes to cults. He clearly meets some needs. The question "what do you see in him?" seems a better starting point than trying to reason.
It's the cult aspect of Trump support. I have no idea what the attraction is, nor why they can't see him for the narcissist freak he obviously is. Loyalty is a strange thing when it comes to cults. He clearly meets some needs. The question "what do you see in him?" seems a better starting point than trying to reason.
I have a question for American Shipmates. One of my Facebook friends is my father's elderly American cousin. I've not met her, and neither has my father, but we have met mutual family members. She seems like a nice woman.
answer this question;
She is pro-Trump, and this seems to be ramping up. She has posted a poll about Trump's handling of the Coronavirus, which gave three options "Very good" "Great" and "Superb" She had voted "superb" which was clearly the front runner in the poll.
Is this a common viewpoint in America? Age-wise she is high risk and her brother is extremely high risk, as he is in poor health.
Is this a common viewpoint? It's hard to know. The US is so geographically large, but also in spots so sparsely populated, gauging the "depth" to which a viewpoint has penetrated in various communities isn't so easy. Do bear in mind that Trump's political support among the general populace has pretty much remained below 50% He was elected (to the extent that ordinary voters actually do any "electing" -- remember, we have that dratted electoral college) by a minority of the populace.
I live in an area where Trump supporters are a decided minority--but 15 minutes by car in any direction would take me to a community full of MAGA-hat-wearing supporters. I blame it on our crumbling education system.
It's the cult aspect of Trump support. I have no idea what the attraction is, nor why they can't see him for the narcissist freak he obviously is. Loyalty is a strange thing when it comes to cults. He clearly meets some needs. The question "what do you see in him?" seems a better starting point than trying to reason.
He's pure Id.
That's pretty good. Pre-social and pre-moral. Lord knows how so many people are either so arrested or regressed.
Comments
1) There were fewer people on the podium, but they were still packed together.
2) The reporters were all spaced out, which meant there were fewer reporters--Trump seemed pleased. As the questions began, he said he wished he could spread the reporters out even more, even exclude some and he pointed to two reporters in the front rows and said he would kick them out first. Maybe he was joking, but it sure did not sound like it.
3) There was an obvious plant that was there to throw him a softball question about we he still continues to call the virus after a certain country, but he was not pressed.
4. But the most important answer he gave was about bailing out companies. He first said he would not want to see those companies using bailout monies to buy back their stock. A little later, he said he thought if the federal government bails out companies it should have some equity in the company
Sounds like socialism to me.
I'm generally against most means testing for benefits for most of the reasons already cited. However, in this case there are some important mitigating circumstances. First, the U.S. unemployment compensation system already exists, so it's a good way to get money to people who've lost their jobs recently. No need to re-invent the wheel. Second, the number of people in the U.S. who will file a first claim for unemployment this week is going to be about eight times what it was the previous week and about triple the previous record. This seems like an urgent reason to pump some cash into this program specifically. Schumer is right that cutting someone a check for $1,000 isn't going to be sufficient.
Of course the Trump approach to all this seems to be to "keep the numbers up", similar to his reluctance to fully report the extent of COVID-19.
The Democrats, though, are pushing to expand the unemployment program. Hoping the Republicans will listen.
Democrats were able to force through an extension of unemployment benefits during the last financial crisis. Of course they had the benefit of controlling the presidency and both Houses of Congress in 2009-2011. On the other hand Congressional Republicans are probably more willing to support such an extension when one of their own is in the White House instead of President Kenyan Muslim Usurper.
Back to trump, the twitter had a picture of his notes. He crossed out COVID and put in Chinese. He's dog whistle racism knows no bounds. https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1240721547133927426?s=20
There's that, plus the fact that he'd rather everyone discuss his racism rather than his incompetent response to COVID-19.
But is apparently too busy to worry about Americans abroad being exposed to SARS-CoV-2.
I believe that's bureaucratic-speak for "so long suckers, you're on your own!"
It's happened so often it doesn't surprise me. Bringing out Fake Media and the Deep State in the middle of the worst national and international crisis for a very long time is, sadly, par for the course. He's a very unpleasant apology for a human being.
oh yeah. That was meant to be a soft question allowing him to say something presidential to reassure Americans. I guess he missed that.
But why ? Surely a body of healthy committed volunteers could be really useful at a time like this, delivering food and medicine if nothing else.
I heard some of that news conference. It was bad. However, I do disagree with the Guardian's comment that T had an "extraordinary temper tantrum". I don't think it's extraordinary, given his track record, and possibly not even his worst.
Dear God. It's not clear to me whether T is behind this, or Director Jody Olsen. I did a page search, and "trump" isn't there. But, of course, T and/or his henchfolk may be involved behind the scene.
And the volunteers aren't even eligible for unemployment, when they get back to the US. AND, once the Peace Corps gets resurrected, the current volunteers will have to reapply.
President Kennedy must be spinning in his grave. (IIRC, he created the Peace Corps.) Perhaps he could pay a little visit to T and co. in the middle of the night...
How does he -- or Jody Whatsit -- have the legal authority to shut this program down?
The excuse is "out of the abundance of caution" we do not want to expose you to COVID-19, so we are shutting you down.
I understand the excuse. I'm wondering about legal authority.
https://twitter.com/Madonna/status/1240675245943656448?s=20
That will teach the virus who's boss!
For context, and using the metric by which Trump himself measures the success of his presidency*, on January 20, 2017 the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 19,824.25 points. At the close of trading on Friday (March 20, 2020) the Dow was at 19,173.98, and that doesn't even take three years of inflation into account. In other words the supposed prosperity Trump brought to the country (or, more accurately, to the country's already wealthy investing class) just swirled down the drain like so much soapy water.
For some reason I'm imagining the end of Trading Places.
Did you type something wrong? Those two numbers are less than $700 apart. Out of $19k that's hardly a plummet.
Over a period of slightly more than three years the DJIA is expected to rise unless the U.S. is in a recession. For comparison the Dow closed at 16,064.77 on November 22, 2013. January 20, 2017 is exactly halfway between November 22, 2013 and March 20, 2020, so that represents an equal span of time, so during the last bit of the Obama years (a somewhat anemic recovery) the Dow rose by 3,759.48 points, compared with a fall of 650.27 points over the same amount of time in the Trump administration*. Now equating the stock market with the economy is a fallacy, but it's a fallacy Trump has decided to live by so the analysis is fair.
On another, related subject, can someone explain to Trump that certain phrases should be avoided under current circumstances?
While literally true, this is probably not the message Trump intended to send.
A picture is worth so much. Some people have negative value.
She is pro-Trump, and this seems to be ramping up. She has posted a poll about Trump's handling of the Coronavirus, which gave three options "Very good" "Great" and "Superb" She had voted "superb" which was clearly the front runner in the poll.
Is this a common viewpoint in America? Age-wise she is high risk and her brother is extremely high risk, as he is in poor health.
Trump shouldn't be giving informal medical advice over the air, for sure. However, from what I've seen of his comments, I don't think they could be reasonably interpeted as meaning "Go find a bottle of anything labelled 'chloroquine' and drink it."
Even if it had been the FDA formally approving chloroquine for COVID-19, this couple would probably still be stupid enough to think that that includes the stuff you use to clean your fish-tank.
And, of course, reasonable people wouldn't even bother responding to a sham poll that only gives "Very Good" "Great" and "Superb" as a description of Trump's handling of the crisis. And yet, as we see, Trump supporters think that shows how great and wonderful he is. "Reason" is simply not in the building when Trump is the subject.
He's pure Id.
Is this a common viewpoint? It's hard to know. The US is so geographically large, but also in spots so sparsely populated, gauging the "depth" to which a viewpoint has penetrated in various communities isn't so easy. Do bear in mind that Trump's political support among the general populace has pretty much remained below 50% He was elected (to the extent that ordinary voters actually do any "electing" -- remember, we have that dratted electoral college) by a minority of the populace.
I live in an area where Trump supporters are a decided minority--but 15 minutes by car in any direction would take me to a community full of MAGA-hat-wearing supporters. I blame it on our crumbling education system.
That's pretty good. Pre-social and pre-moral. Lord knows how so many people are either so arrested or regressed.