IFocus
You are arguing with a Galah
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Where is/can Donald Trump take US (sic)?
- Thread starter basilio
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number of the posts specifically refer to a $25 million funding allocation for the House referenced in a version of the package proposed by House Democrats on March 23.
That House proposal included $25 million for “Salaries and Expenses” for the chamber — which would be “allocated in accordance with a spend plan submitted to the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives by the Chief Administrative Officer and approved by such Committee.”
But the bill never said it was for legislators’ salaries. Nor does the version of the stimulus package being worked out in the Republican-controlled Senate — the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act — which similarly outlines $25 million for the House.
A spokesman for the House Appropriations Committee called the pay-raise claims circulating online “absurd and inaccurate.”
“The funding is to support the House’s capability to telework, including for the purchase of equipment and improvements to the network,” Evan Hollander told us in an email. “It will also provide for reimbursement costs for the staff of the House Child Care Center and covers the costs of the House food service contracts. In addition, it will support the Sergeant-At-Arms on continuity of operations matters.”
He added: “Moreover, Member salaries are funded through the Treasury pursuant to the Constitution and are not funded through appropriations.”
Also, as we said, the $25 million funding for the House is included in the Senate version of the package, according to draft legislation posted March 25 by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The measure — which includes $93 million for the legislative branch collectively, including $10 million for the Republican-controlled Senate — has been agreed to in principle by congressional leaders and the White House.
A document posted by the Senate Appropriations Committee breaking down emergency appropriations in the package describes the $25 million allocated for the House in the same way Hollander does.
It’s important to note, as we’ve explainedbefore, that the 1989 Ethics Reform Act established an automatic adjustment formula to decide annual changes to lawmakers’ salaries.
That automatic adjustment formula is “based on changes in private sector wages and salaries as measured by the Employment Cost Index,” according to the Congressional Research Service. The percentage increase cannot surpass that for federal employees who fall under the “General Schedule” classification. It automatically goes into effect unless Congress statutorily denies it, which it has done every year since 2009.
Democrats had considered in mid-2019 ending that decade-long hiatus and allowing the automatic pay increase to go through, but backed away from the idea following a backlash from within the party.
Editor’s note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Facebook to debunk misinformation shared on social media. Our previous stories can be found here.
number of the posts specifically refer to a $25 million funding allocation for the House referenced in a version of the package proposed by House Democrats on March 23.
That House proposal included $25 million for “Salaries and Expenses” for the chamber — which would be “allocated in accordance with a spend plan submitted to the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives by the Chief Administrative Officer and approved by such Committee.”
But the bill never said it was for legislators’ salaries. Nor does the version of the stimulus package being worked out in the Republican-controlled Senate — the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act — which similarly outlines $25 million for the House.
A spokesman for the House Appropriations Committee called the pay-raise claims circulating online “absurd and inaccurate.”
“The funding is to support the House’s capability to telework, including for the purchase of equipment and improvements to the network,” Evan Hollander told us in an email. “It will also provide for reimbursement costs for the staff of the House Child Care Center and covers the costs of the House food service contracts. In addition, it will support the Sergeant-At-Arms on continuity of operations matters.”
He added: “Moreover, Member salaries are funded through the Treasury pursuant to the Constitution and are not funded through appropriations.”
Also, as we said, the $25 million funding for the House is included in the Senate version of the package, according to draft legislation posted March 25 by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The measure — which includes $93 million for the legislative branch collectively, including $10 million for the Republican-controlled Senate — has been agreed to in principle by congressional leaders and the White House.
A document posted by the Senate Appropriations Committee breaking down emergency appropriations in the package describes the $25 million allocated for the House in the same way Hollander does.
It’s important to note, as we’ve explainedbefore, that the 1989 Ethics Reform Act established an automatic adjustment formula to decide annual changes to lawmakers’ salaries.
That automatic adjustment formula is “based on changes in private sector wages and salaries as measured by the Employment Cost Index,” according to the Congressional Research Service. The percentage increase cannot surpass that for federal employees who fall under the “General Schedule” classification. It automatically goes into effect unless Congress statutorily denies it, which it has done every year since 2009.
Democrats had considered in mid-2019 ending that decade-long hiatus and allowing the automatic pay increase to go through, but backed away from the idea following a backlash from within the party.
Editor’s note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Facebook to debunk misinformation shared on social media. Our previous stories can be found here.
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Medical Expert Who Corrects Trump Is Now a Target of the Far Right
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/28/...tion=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/28/...tion=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage
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Trump decides he can't stop the waves and says 100,000 dead is "good result" (A couple of weeks ago it was all going to "disappear" 
).
Calls for "Unity" then trashes reporters and then insinuates doctors and health workers are black marketing masks.
Trump says keeping US Covid-19 deaths to 100,000 would be a ‘very good job’
Donald Trump has extended America’s national shutdown for a month, bowing to public health experts, and scientific reality, and warning that the worst of the coronavirus pandemic is yet to come.
Speaking in the White House Rose Garden, the US president claimed that, if his administration keeps the death toll to 100,000, it will have done “a very good job” – a startling shift from his optimistic predictions of a few days ago when he said he hoped to restart the economy by Easter.
Trump also undermined his plea for unity by uttering falsehoods, verbally abusing reporters and making incendiary allegations that implied health care workers were stealing masks, without providing evidence.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/l...ed-six-month-lockdown-covid-19-latest-updates
). Calls for "Unity" then trashes reporters and then insinuates doctors and health workers are black marketing masks.
Trump says keeping US Covid-19 deaths to 100,000 would be a ‘very good job’
Donald Trump has extended America’s national shutdown for a month, bowing to public health experts, and scientific reality, and warning that the worst of the coronavirus pandemic is yet to come.
Speaking in the White House Rose Garden, the US president claimed that, if his administration keeps the death toll to 100,000, it will have done “a very good job” – a startling shift from his optimistic predictions of a few days ago when he said he hoped to restart the economy by Easter.
Trump also undermined his plea for unity by uttering falsehoods, verbally abusing reporters and making incendiary allegations that implied health care workers were stealing masks, without providing evidence.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/l...ed-six-month-lockdown-covid-19-latest-updates
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One of the unfolding tragedies of the US health system is that as workers are stood down they lose their health insurance.
So if they have to get treated for COVID 19 they either die and/or go bankrupt .
So if they have to get treated for COVID 19 they either die and/or go bankrupt .
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One of the unfolding tragedies of the US health system is that as workers are stood down they lose their health insurance.
So if they have to get treated for COVID 19 they either die and/or go bankrupt .
Very good point.
As I am no expert on the USA, I will make the assumption that it will be a case of, need hospitalization due the virus, show us the cash or your health insurance policy, if you cannot go home and die.
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From, we don't have a problem then > we have a small issue > issue is under control > if 100,000 people have died, we have done a great job.
What is he going to say when it is 200,000 > ?
My only fear is when is does go > 100,000 and he looses support his only option to create a war with some country - China.
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How do 3 million newly unemployed people get health care?
The uninsured rate is spiking in the middle of a pandemic.
More than 3 million Americans just lost their jobs in the middle of a global pandemic. For those whose jobs offered benefits, that also probably means they’re losing their health insurance, too — exposing yet another way in which the US health system is vulnerable amid a public health emergency.
And what are all of those people supposed to do now, during the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak, when having health coverage is as vital, or more so, than ever?
”With the number of people losing their jobs, there’s little doubt that the number of people uninsured is increasing right now,” Larry Levitt, senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation, told me, “at the exact time when some of them will need health care the most if they become infected and seriously ill.”
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-poli.../coronavirus-us-unemployment-health-insurance
The uninsured rate is spiking in the middle of a pandemic.
More than 3 million Americans just lost their jobs in the middle of a global pandemic. For those whose jobs offered benefits, that also probably means they’re losing their health insurance, too — exposing yet another way in which the US health system is vulnerable amid a public health emergency.
And what are all of those people supposed to do now, during the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak, when having health coverage is as vital, or more so, than ever?
”With the number of people losing their jobs, there’s little doubt that the number of people uninsured is increasing right now,” Larry Levitt, senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation, told me, “at the exact time when some of them will need health care the most if they become infected and seriously ill.”
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-poli.../coronavirus-us-unemployment-health-insurance
I feel like not being able raise Robs blood pressure has left a hole in my life. So I'll leave this here:
What has Trump done since this Chinese Virus started plaguing the world.
On January 29, Trump created a White House Coronavirus Task Force.
On January 31, Trump declared Coronavirus to be a public health emergency and implemented a ban on travel from China to the United States.
On February 5 , the Democrats' held its very first Coronavirus hearing in the House, after the impeachment trial had failed to convict the President.
Shortly after, Trump announced further travel restrictions on certain global hot spots namely Iran, South Korea, and eventually, all of Europe.
Returning from travel-restricted countries, Americans were routed to specific airports, where they could be properly screened and, if necessary, isolated.
In March, the president closed the southern and northern borders of the United States to prevent further virus cases or problems from coming here.
Democrats and their supporters started supporting Communist China's talking point that it was “racist” for anyone to called the Chinese Virus. Joe Biden, described Trump's calling it the Chinese Virus both racist and xenophobic. He also stated that he would not have instituted a travel ban like Trump had and would have left the borders open.
February 29, the FDA issued emergency approval for the development of new Coronavirus tests. To achieve this, Trump instructed the agency to cut bureaucratic red tape.
The Department of Health & Human Services provided money to accelerate the production of diagnostic tests. Trump issued orders allowing the agency to “to immediately waive provisions of applicable laws and regulations to give healthcare providers maximum flexibility to respond to the virus and care for patients.”
On March 16, the National Institutes of Health announced the start of a clinical trial aimed at creating a Coronavirus vaccine.
Joe Biden states. “The Obama-Biden Administration set up the White House National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense,” he boasted, “to prepare for future pandemics like COVID-19"
"Donald Trump eliminated it, and now we're paying the price.” Trump's “draconian cuts,” said Biden, were now costing people their lives.
Former NSC official Tim Morrison responded that Trump streamlined the bloated agency, leaving the bio-defense division untouched. Morrison said Trump created "real accountability in the federal government’s expansive bio-defense system,” but accused Trump's detractors of having “misconstrued or intentionally misrepresented” the facts.
On March 4, HHS announced its plan to purchase 500 million N95 respirators for the Strategic National Stockpile.
A week later, President Trump signed an order to make general-use face masks available to healthcare workers.
On March 17, the Department of Defense announced that it would be providing 5 million additional respirator masks as well as 2,000 specialized ventilators.
Democratic candidate Bloomberg said many Americans would have to “pay a heavy cost” for “the president’s management incompetence.”
On March 5, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) created new billing codes for Coronavirus tests, to accurately track the public health response.
On March 6, Trump signed Congressional legislation securing $8.3 billion for Coronavirus response efforts — money to cover the costs of public lab testing, isolation and quarantine initiatives, the sanitization of public areas, and vaccine research.
That week, Trump declared a national emergency, which freed up an additional $42 billion to fund the cause.
Speaker Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Schumer released a statement declaring that Trump "continues to manufacture needless chaos within his administration, and it is hampering the government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak.”
President Trump met with executives from the banking, health insurance, pharmaceutical, airline, grocery store, and retail store industries, among others to get them to join the war against the virus and help the American people.
On March 10, Trump urged Congress to pass a payroll tax cut.
The same day, the Department of Agriculture announced that it would allow meal-service programs to remain active while schools were closed due to the virus
CMS, after meeting with Trump and V P Pence, announced that Medicare Advantage and Part D plans could waive co-payments for Coronavirus tests and treatment.
According to Democratic candidate Steyer, “Trump’s incompetence” was akin to “a neon sign going like, ‘I stink at my job. Yeah, I am a dummy! Ok?’ by Donald Trump.”
On March 11, The Administration announced that health savings accounts could be used to cover Coronavirus testing and treatment without co-payments.
The same day, Trump directed the Treasury Department to allow Coronavirus-impacted individuals and businesses to defer the payment of taxes that they owed.
Former Virginia Governor Democrat Terry McAuliffe says, “We got a guy in the White House who doesn’t know anything about patriotism, doesn’t know anything about empathy.”
On March 12, Trump tells the Small Business Administration to make available some $50 billion in low-interest disaster loans for businesses impacted by the virus.
That same day, Biden proclaims that by cutting money to the Global Health Security Agenda, the US was not prepared for this pandemic. This was an outright lie. The cuts never happened and in fact, Trump's budget increased an increase for the GHSA.
On March 12, the Administration increased flexibility of unemployment insurance programs, to allow workers to benefit from them.
MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell pronounced “More people are sick in America tonight because Donald Trump is president. More people are dead and dying in America tonight because Donald Trump is president.”
On March 13, Trump authorized HHS existing rules and regulations be waived so that healthcare providers could respond quickly to the crisis with little to no red tape.
The same day, Trump directed the Energy Department to purchase large quantities of crude oil for the National Strategic Reserve.
The same day, Trump directed the Education Department to waive interest payments on student loans held by the federal government.
On March 14, the Administration negotiated legislation to provide tax credits for businesses choosing to give paid leave to their employees.
Four days later, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that it would temporarily suspend foreclosures and evictions affecting families whose mortgages were insured by FHA.
According to Bloomberg, Trump had “failed to prepare for a deadly pandemic — leaving Americans deeply unsettled” as a result.
The Administration has provided every state with increased flexibility to approve the establishment of Coronavirus testing laboratories as well as drive-through testing sites.
On March 14, the Administration announced it was working with Google to develop a website designed to help Americans learn coronavirus prevention procedures - determine whether or not they needed a test - and where they could get one.
Four days later, the Administration launched a partnership with the Ad Council, various media networks, and a number of digital platforms to produce public service announcements about the Coronavirus.
In March, CMS expanded access to telehealth services for Medicare beneficiaries, enabling patients to consult with their doctors remotely while avoiding potential exposure to the virus.
Joe Biden said that the World Health Organization had “offered the testing kits that they have available and to give it to us now,” but Trump “refused them.” This was ANOTHER lie. WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris was quoted as saying “No discussions occurred between WHO and CDC [Centers for Disease Control & Prevention] about WHO providing COVID-19 tests to the United States.”
On March 18, the Administration announced that the U.S. Navy would be deploying two medical ships to help support areas impacted by Coronavirus.
On March 19, Trump signed into law a Congressional bill to not only ensure paid leave benefits to many Americans, but to make free Coronavirus testing available to anyone in need, including the uninsured. The bill also included support for nutrition programs such as the food stamp system.
Democrat Senator Tim Kaine says the president was guilty of“inflammatory China-bashing” and “weeks and weeks of tweeting lies and misinformation about the virus, while the leaders of other nations were taking steps to make sure their populations could be safe."
Former basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar condemned Trump's “failure as a leader” and depicting the president's supporters as nothing more than “cult members” who “mindlessly follow a stern dictatorial father-figure who tells them what to do and think. Like, well, Nazis.”
On March 21, the FDA announced that it had approved a rapid Coronavirus test that would require no training to administer and would yield results in less than an hour.
On March 22, Trump asked multiple car companies to mass produce ventilators to help combat the pandemic.
That same day, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio accused Trump of refusing to “lift a finger to help his hometown” deal with with the coronavirus outbreak. “I can’t be blunt enough, ifthe president doesn’t act, people will die who could have lived otherwise.”
In a March 22 interview, Fox News host Mark Levin said to Dr. Anthony Fauci: “There is this statement by some in the press, some in the opposition party, that the president doesn't follow the science. Is the president following the science?” After replying that in the daily Coronavirus Task Force meetings “we make all of our decisions and recommendations that are based on the science,” Fauci said: “I have never in that room had a situation where I said, scientifically, this is the right thing to do and they said, don't do it. Or [I have never said] scientifically, this is the wrong thing to do, and they did it anyway. Then we get up and we present it to the president. And he asks a lot of questions. That's his nature. He is constantly asking the question, and I never, in the multiple times that I've done that ... He has never overruled me.”
And yet, on that very same day, New York magazine's Jonathan Chait published an article titled “Trump Is Back to Waging War on Science, at the Worst Possible Moment.” The piece concludes with this stinging indictment of the president: “Public-health professionals have had nothing to offer him but facts and science. They never had a chance.”
What has Trump done since this Chinese Virus started plaguing the world.
On January 29, Trump created a White House Coronavirus Task Force.
On January 31, Trump declared Coronavirus to be a public health emergency and implemented a ban on travel from China to the United States.
On February 5 , the Democrats' held its very first Coronavirus hearing in the House, after the impeachment trial had failed to convict the President.
Shortly after, Trump announced further travel restrictions on certain global hot spots namely Iran, South Korea, and eventually, all of Europe.
Returning from travel-restricted countries, Americans were routed to specific airports, where they could be properly screened and, if necessary, isolated.
In March, the president closed the southern and northern borders of the United States to prevent further virus cases or problems from coming here.
Democrats and their supporters started supporting Communist China's talking point that it was “racist” for anyone to called the Chinese Virus. Joe Biden, described Trump's calling it the Chinese Virus both racist and xenophobic. He also stated that he would not have instituted a travel ban like Trump had and would have left the borders open.
February 29, the FDA issued emergency approval for the development of new Coronavirus tests. To achieve this, Trump instructed the agency to cut bureaucratic red tape.
The Department of Health & Human Services provided money to accelerate the production of diagnostic tests. Trump issued orders allowing the agency to “to immediately waive provisions of applicable laws and regulations to give healthcare providers maximum flexibility to respond to the virus and care for patients.”
On March 16, the National Institutes of Health announced the start of a clinical trial aimed at creating a Coronavirus vaccine.
Joe Biden states. “The Obama-Biden Administration set up the White House National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense,” he boasted, “to prepare for future pandemics like COVID-19"
"Donald Trump eliminated it, and now we're paying the price.” Trump's “draconian cuts,” said Biden, were now costing people their lives.
Former NSC official Tim Morrison responded that Trump streamlined the bloated agency, leaving the bio-defense division untouched. Morrison said Trump created "real accountability in the federal government’s expansive bio-defense system,” but accused Trump's detractors of having “misconstrued or intentionally misrepresented” the facts.
On March 4, HHS announced its plan to purchase 500 million N95 respirators for the Strategic National Stockpile.
A week later, President Trump signed an order to make general-use face masks available to healthcare workers.
On March 17, the Department of Defense announced that it would be providing 5 million additional respirator masks as well as 2,000 specialized ventilators.
Democratic candidate Bloomberg said many Americans would have to “pay a heavy cost” for “the president’s management incompetence.”
On March 5, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) created new billing codes for Coronavirus tests, to accurately track the public health response.
On March 6, Trump signed Congressional legislation securing $8.3 billion for Coronavirus response efforts — money to cover the costs of public lab testing, isolation and quarantine initiatives, the sanitization of public areas, and vaccine research.
That week, Trump declared a national emergency, which freed up an additional $42 billion to fund the cause.
Speaker Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Schumer released a statement declaring that Trump "continues to manufacture needless chaos within his administration, and it is hampering the government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak.”
President Trump met with executives from the banking, health insurance, pharmaceutical, airline, grocery store, and retail store industries, among others to get them to join the war against the virus and help the American people.
On March 10, Trump urged Congress to pass a payroll tax cut.
The same day, the Department of Agriculture announced that it would allow meal-service programs to remain active while schools were closed due to the virus
CMS, after meeting with Trump and V P Pence, announced that Medicare Advantage and Part D plans could waive co-payments for Coronavirus tests and treatment.
According to Democratic candidate Steyer, “Trump’s incompetence” was akin to “a neon sign going like, ‘I stink at my job. Yeah, I am a dummy! Ok?’ by Donald Trump.”
On March 11, The Administration announced that health savings accounts could be used to cover Coronavirus testing and treatment without co-payments.
The same day, Trump directed the Treasury Department to allow Coronavirus-impacted individuals and businesses to defer the payment of taxes that they owed.
Former Virginia Governor Democrat Terry McAuliffe says, “We got a guy in the White House who doesn’t know anything about patriotism, doesn’t know anything about empathy.”
On March 12, Trump tells the Small Business Administration to make available some $50 billion in low-interest disaster loans for businesses impacted by the virus.
That same day, Biden proclaims that by cutting money to the Global Health Security Agenda, the US was not prepared for this pandemic. This was an outright lie. The cuts never happened and in fact, Trump's budget increased an increase for the GHSA.
On March 12, the Administration increased flexibility of unemployment insurance programs, to allow workers to benefit from them.
MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell pronounced “More people are sick in America tonight because Donald Trump is president. More people are dead and dying in America tonight because Donald Trump is president.”
On March 13, Trump authorized HHS existing rules and regulations be waived so that healthcare providers could respond quickly to the crisis with little to no red tape.
The same day, Trump directed the Energy Department to purchase large quantities of crude oil for the National Strategic Reserve.
The same day, Trump directed the Education Department to waive interest payments on student loans held by the federal government.
On March 14, the Administration negotiated legislation to provide tax credits for businesses choosing to give paid leave to their employees.
Four days later, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that it would temporarily suspend foreclosures and evictions affecting families whose mortgages were insured by FHA.
According to Bloomberg, Trump had “failed to prepare for a deadly pandemic — leaving Americans deeply unsettled” as a result.
The Administration has provided every state with increased flexibility to approve the establishment of Coronavirus testing laboratories as well as drive-through testing sites.
On March 14, the Administration announced it was working with Google to develop a website designed to help Americans learn coronavirus prevention procedures - determine whether or not they needed a test - and where they could get one.
Four days later, the Administration launched a partnership with the Ad Council, various media networks, and a number of digital platforms to produce public service announcements about the Coronavirus.
In March, CMS expanded access to telehealth services for Medicare beneficiaries, enabling patients to consult with their doctors remotely while avoiding potential exposure to the virus.
Joe Biden said that the World Health Organization had “offered the testing kits that they have available and to give it to us now,” but Trump “refused them.” This was ANOTHER lie. WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris was quoted as saying “No discussions occurred between WHO and CDC [Centers for Disease Control & Prevention] about WHO providing COVID-19 tests to the United States.”
On March 18, the Administration announced that the U.S. Navy would be deploying two medical ships to help support areas impacted by Coronavirus.
On March 19, Trump signed into law a Congressional bill to not only ensure paid leave benefits to many Americans, but to make free Coronavirus testing available to anyone in need, including the uninsured. The bill also included support for nutrition programs such as the food stamp system.
Democrat Senator Tim Kaine says the president was guilty of“inflammatory China-bashing” and “weeks and weeks of tweeting lies and misinformation about the virus, while the leaders of other nations were taking steps to make sure their populations could be safe."
Former basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar condemned Trump's “failure as a leader” and depicting the president's supporters as nothing more than “cult members” who “mindlessly follow a stern dictatorial father-figure who tells them what to do and think. Like, well, Nazis.”
On March 21, the FDA announced that it had approved a rapid Coronavirus test that would require no training to administer and would yield results in less than an hour.
On March 22, Trump asked multiple car companies to mass produce ventilators to help combat the pandemic.
That same day, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio accused Trump of refusing to “lift a finger to help his hometown” deal with with the coronavirus outbreak. “I can’t be blunt enough, ifthe president doesn’t act, people will die who could have lived otherwise.”
In a March 22 interview, Fox News host Mark Levin said to Dr. Anthony Fauci: “There is this statement by some in the press, some in the opposition party, that the president doesn't follow the science. Is the president following the science?” After replying that in the daily Coronavirus Task Force meetings “we make all of our decisions and recommendations that are based on the science,” Fauci said: “I have never in that room had a situation where I said, scientifically, this is the right thing to do and they said, don't do it. Or [I have never said] scientifically, this is the wrong thing to do, and they did it anyway. Then we get up and we present it to the president. And he asks a lot of questions. That's his nature. He is constantly asking the question, and I never, in the multiple times that I've done that ... He has never overruled me.”
And yet, on that very same day, New York magazine's Jonathan Chait published an article titled “Trump Is Back to Waging War on Science, at the Worst Possible Moment.” The piece concludes with this stinging indictment of the president: “Public-health professionals have had nothing to offer him but facts and science. They never had a chance.”
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OMG if only it happened in the U.S.
https://www.couriermail.com.au/news...9157228d8?sv=6eaeab1f29bbe8e8b66b4e3888c173af
From the article:
PRIME Minister Julia Gillard's salary will soar by $90,000 to about $470,000, making her more highly paid than US President Barack Obama and British PM David Cameron.
Only days after the Gillard Government announced plans to slash public spending as part of a savage mini-budget to bring government coffers back into surplus, The Courier-Mail can reveal the base salary for even the most junior parliamentarian will jump from $140,000 to at least $180,000.
What is it about bricks and glass houses.
Don't you just love it.
OMG if only it happened in the U.S.
https://www.couriermail.com.au/news...9157228d8?sv=6eaeab1f29bbe8e8b66b4e3888c173af
From the article:
PRIME Minister Julia Gillard's salary will soar by $90,000 to about $470,000, making her more highly paid than US President Barack Obama and British PM David Cameron.
Only days after the Gillard Government announced plans to slash public spending as part of a savage mini-budget to bring government coffers back into surplus, The Courier-Mail can reveal the base salary for even the most junior parliamentarian will jump from $140,000 to at least $180,000.
What is it about bricks and glass houses.
Don't you just love it.
What makes it even worse for me is the Qantas honcho could probably pay the lot of them out of his salary
How’s Qantas going?
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Be nice to know which particular one eyed publication constructed that particular time line of events and activities.
Believe what you want MoXjo. Just don't pretend that anyone with two eyes respects such a selective and twisted narrative.
Hint. It gave itself away when it described COVID 19 as the Chinese virus.
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This analysis of Donald Trumps approach to the CORVID 19 crisis offers a sense of what should have happened.
It is well worth reading to appreciate how dangerous Donald Trump is as a leader.
The coronavirus is the worst intelligence failure in US history
Micah Zenko
The Trump administration’s unprecedented indifference, even willful neglect, forced a catastrophic strategic surprise on to the American people
Last September, I met the vice-president for risk for a Fortune 100 company in Washington DC. I asked the executive – who previously had a long career as an intelligence analyst – the question you would ask any risk officer: “What are you most worried about?” Without pausing, this person replied, “A highly contagious virus that begins somewhere in China and spreads rapidly.” This vice-president, whose company has offices throughout east Asia, explained the preventive mitigating steps the company had subsequently adopted to counter this potential threat.
Since the novel coronavirus has swept the world, I have often thought about this person’s prescient risk calculus. Most leaders lack the discipline to do routine risk-based horizon scanning, and fewer still develop the requisite contingency plans. Even rarer is the leader who has the foresight to correctly identify the top threat far enough in advance to develop and implement those plans.
Suffice it to say, the Trump administration has cumulatively failed, both in taking seriously the specific, repeated intelligence community warnings about a coronavirus outbreak and in vigorously pursuing the nationwide response initiatives commensurate with the predicted threat. The federal government alone has the resources and authorities to lead the relevant public and private stakeholders to confront the foreseeable harms posed by the virus. Unfortunately, Trump officials made a series of judgments (minimizing the hazards of Covid-19) and decisions (refusing to act with the urgency required) that have needlessly made Americans far less safe.
https://www.theguardian.com/comment...-the-worst-intelligence-failure-in-us-history
Micah Zenko
Micah Zenko is a fellow in the Center for Preventive Action at the Council on Foreign Relations.
It is well worth reading to appreciate how dangerous Donald Trump is as a leader.
The coronavirus is the worst intelligence failure in US history
Micah Zenko
The Trump administration’s unprecedented indifference, even willful neglect, forced a catastrophic strategic surprise on to the American people
Last September, I met the vice-president for risk for a Fortune 100 company in Washington DC. I asked the executive – who previously had a long career as an intelligence analyst – the question you would ask any risk officer: “What are you most worried about?” Without pausing, this person replied, “A highly contagious virus that begins somewhere in China and spreads rapidly.” This vice-president, whose company has offices throughout east Asia, explained the preventive mitigating steps the company had subsequently adopted to counter this potential threat.
Since the novel coronavirus has swept the world, I have often thought about this person’s prescient risk calculus. Most leaders lack the discipline to do routine risk-based horizon scanning, and fewer still develop the requisite contingency plans. Even rarer is the leader who has the foresight to correctly identify the top threat far enough in advance to develop and implement those plans.
Suffice it to say, the Trump administration has cumulatively failed, both in taking seriously the specific, repeated intelligence community warnings about a coronavirus outbreak and in vigorously pursuing the nationwide response initiatives commensurate with the predicted threat. The federal government alone has the resources and authorities to lead the relevant public and private stakeholders to confront the foreseeable harms posed by the virus. Unfortunately, Trump officials made a series of judgments (minimizing the hazards of Covid-19) and decisions (refusing to act with the urgency required) that have needlessly made Americans far less safe.
https://www.theguardian.com/comment...-the-worst-intelligence-failure-in-us-history
Micah Zenko
Micah Zenko is a fellow in the Center for Preventive Action at the Council on Foreign Relations.
So German measles aren't a thing?Be nice to know which particular one eyed publication constructed that particular time line of events and activities.
Believe what you want MoXjo. Just don't pretend that anyone with two eyes respects such a selective and twisted narrative.
Hint. It gave itself away when it described COVID 19 as the Chinese virus.
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There was a kinder reason for that name.
The illness is called German measles because German physicians wrote the first clear description of it in 1760. Rubella vaccines that prevent this illness first became available in 1969.
https://www.health24.com/Medical/Childhood-diseases/Overview/German-measles-Rubella-20120721
It's still German measles. That's not a kinder reason
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That is something that has got really out of control IMO, ridiculous salaries and what makes it worse is when the dickheads wreck a company they walk away with a handout.
IMO the 60% tax bracket should be re introduced, for people earning over a certain amount, it is just taking the piss.
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