The Biden administration (was: The NEW 2020 Election Thread)

[pilferk]

Trump and Melania have Covid-19.

Wear a mask, wash your hands, stay socially distant.

[jarmo]

Boris, Bolsonaro and Trump. Now they've all had/have it.





/jarmo

[pilferk]

The White House continues to violate CDC directives by allowing people who have had recent contact with the President to continue to have contact with other government officials.

To be clear, a negative test does NOT MATTER if you are in the incubation period of known contact with an infected person.  CDC says you should quarantine for at LEAST 10 days after contact.  A negative test 5 days after your last contact can help reduce that time.

Not the day after. Not 2 days after.  FIVE DAYS.

And yet....you have people who have had recent contact with the President, Hicks, Romney, etc who are out acting as surrogates for the White House or engaging in "regular business" because they tested negative this morning.

So. Stupid.

[PermissionToLand]

I agree WalMart made everybody look bad but they took those profits and opened a store in almost every town.  There's profits and then there's what the corporation does with profits.  If I want them to "go green" they need profits to make those changes.  And while I love going green, that shit ain't cheap.

The economic illiteracy displayed here is staggering.

Profits are what's left AFTER reinvestment.

I also like how you treat Walmart as if they spent all their revenues on growth and didn't derive a profit for all those years. No, they were growing AND making billions in profits at the same time. And now that they are in every town and have no room to grow, doesn't your defense of them fall apart?

So if we go with corporations are making record profits why does the government get it in taxes?  Why can't the government force them to increase employee benefits, lower prices, "go green"?

The government doesn't get all of it, first of all. It gets some in taxes because it made their profits possible by building roads and bridges for their trucks and customers and employees to drive on, police to keep their property safe from domestic threats, a military to keep it safe from foreign threats, providing a common currency to do business in, laws that prevent other companies from competing unfairly and driving them out of business, and on and on.

The govt could do any of those things if we wanted it to. But you have a massive portion of the country who would scream bloody murder because it's intervention in the market. It's certainly more efficient to just raise the tax rate than adding all of the administrative resources that would be necessary to enforce an increase in compensation across the board.

Go in the grocery store.  Go in Home Depot if you want to see price increases.  Go out to dinner.  The last thing I'm doing after being out of work or having my income reduced is spend.  I'm catching up the bills.  I'm worried about my tax bill at the end of the year when I've been drawing unemployment.  I'm cutting cost wherever I can.  Never imagine something like this could have happened in the first place and I'm stashing money away in case this sort of thing comes around again.

Of course I've been to the grocery store. That was my point; I have not seen price increases. And the data bears this out; the CPI inflation rate has not even fully recovered from its dip in May due to the lockdown (see Chart 2):

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/CPI.pdf

[PermissionToLand]

And yet....you have people who have had recent contact with the President, Hicks, Romney, etc who are out acting as surrogates for the White House or engaging in "regular business" because they tested negative this morning.

So. Stupid.

Wait, isn't Hicks the one who gave it to Trump? Holy shit, these people can't even be trusted with their own health and they're responsible for the entire country? A group of grade schoolers could be more responsible...

[pilferk]

The govt could do any of those things if we wanted it to. But you have a massive portion of the country who would scream bloody murder because it's intervention in the market. It's certainly more efficient to just raise the tax rate than adding all of the administrative resources that would be necessary to enforce an increase in compensation across the board.

To be clear, what is being proposed (the government "making" businesses do all those things) IS ACTUALLY SOCIALISM.  Thats precisely the type of intervention Repubs absolutely, positively, DO NOT WANT.  And most centrist democrats feel similarly.  It is direct government control over the market, both supply and demand side.  It is direct control over businesses.  If you think single payor health care is bad, imagine laws "forcing" businesses to do business a certain way (like offering benefits and price fixing)? Repubs would crap themselves.  

Now, if you give them TAX BREAKS for doing those things....you're not exerting direct control  You are, instead, letting the business make a decision based on the benefit to themselves.  That adjusting the tax code is one of the things Biden has proposed for pretty much everything but price fixing that you mentioned.

And if you want the government to take even rudimentary actions that are close to the controls initially suggested....you would want to vote Dem across the board....and far left Dem to boot.  That kind of regulation will never, ever, ever, ever be introduced by Republicans. Ever.

Of course I've been to the grocery store. That was my point; I have not seen price increases. And the data bears this out; the CPI inflation rate has not even fully recovered from its dip in May due to the lockdown (see Chart 2):

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/CPI.pdf

Exactly this.  CPI shows that prices have been remarkably stable and we haven't even gotten back to what they were pre-pandemic.  There's anecdote and there is data.  Data shows inflation has not markedly increased, and that goods and services are not increasing in price beyond what they were prepandemic.  You've seen specific commodity raises and dips (beef, for example, in spring...which was right back down by summer), but no real remarkable across the board spikes.

You have seen some restaurant increases based on operating costs at reduced capacity.  But they've been small....and lets face it: Those are recreational costs, not actual costs of living.  And even so, it's been a blip, not a mountain.

[pilferk]

Wait, isn't Hicks the one who gave it to Trump? Holy shit, these people can't even be trusted with their own health and they're responsible for the entire country? A group of grade schoolers could be more responsible...

So...we don't know.  I think that's the general suspicion, but nobody knows for sure.  They could have BOTH been exposed by a third party.  The Senator for Utah had contact with the White House not long ago, and he tested positive too. They were both symptomatic within about 48 hours of each other....which means infection probably took place sometime within the 5 to 10 days prior. Since there doesn't seem to be a lot of mask wearing going on right now...I think it's hard to establish exactly who is patient zero. You contact trace and see what turns up. We won't know the results of that for days, if ever.

Hicks was the canary in the coal mine which is causing all these people to be tested..  But she may, or may not, be the originator of the infection.

[cineater]

I agree WalMart made everybody look bad but they took those profits and opened a store in almost every town.  There's profits and then there's what the corporation does with profits.  If I want them to "go green" they need profits to make those changes.  And while I love going green, that shit ain't cheap.

The economic illiteracy displayed here is staggering.

I was trying to understand, talk about it, learn from people and share ideas.  Thank you, I'll take the highway.

[PermissionToLand]

The govt could do any of those things if we wanted it to. But you have a massive portion of the country who would scream bloody murder because it's intervention in the market. It's certainly more efficient to just raise the tax rate than adding all of the administrative resources that would be necessary to enforce an increase in compensation across the board.

To be clear, what is being proposed (the government "making" businesses do all those things) IS ACTUALLY SOCIALISM.  Thats precisely the type of intervention Repubs absolutely, positively, DO NOT WANT.  And most centrist democrats feel similarly.  It is direct government control over the market, both supply and demand side.  It is direct control over businesses.  If you think single payor health care is bad, imagine laws "forcing" businesses to do business a certain way (like offering benefits and price fixing)? Repubs would crap themselves.  

You mean Social Democracy. Socialism is purely an economic system of cooperative ownership of enterprises, it actually doesn't prescribe anything in regard to the political system. I would say most Socialists tend to favor a political system similar to Social Democracy, but you also have Libertarian Socialists who want a smaller state. I sometimes call myself the latter, but only because I do not see increased intervention and legislation as inherently antithetical to individual liberty; in many cases, it protects the individual.

[PermissionToLand]

Just saying, Herman Cain looked a hell of a lot more healthy than Trump, and was the exact same age at 74.

[pilferk]

The govt could do any of those things if we wanted it to. But you have a massive portion of the country who would scream bloody murder because it's intervention in the market. It's certainly more efficient to just raise the tax rate than adding all of the administrative resources that would be necessary to enforce an increase in compensation across the board.

To be clear, what is being proposed (the government "making" businesses do all those things) IS ACTUALLY SOCIALISM.  Thats precisely the type of intervention Repubs absolutely, positively, DO NOT WANT.  And most centrist democrats feel similarly.  It is direct government control over the market, both supply and demand side.  It is direct control over businesses.  If you think single payor health care is bad, imagine laws "forcing" businesses to do business a certain way (like offering benefits and price fixing)? Repubs would crap themselves.  

You mean Social Democracy. Socialism is purely an economic system of cooperative ownership of enterprises, it actually doesn't prescribe anything in regard to the political system. I would say most Socialists tend to favor a political system similar to Social Democracy, but you also have Libertarian Socialists who want a smaller state. I sometimes call myself the latter, but only because I do not see increased intervention and legislation as inherently antithetical to individual liberty; in many cases, it protects the individual.

Yeah, we're splitting hairs a little bit. Yes, it's probably still Social Democracy...but it leans even further left than, say, Bernie's flavor of Social Democracy.  As soon as the government gets involved with setting the kinds of things being discussed, ESPECIALLY price fixing, you are getting REALLY close to "cooperative ownership".  You're right..you're not QUITE there. But you're walking the razors edge.

[tim_m]

President Trump admitted to Walter Reed. WH sources his condition is way worse then the first lady and they're very concerned and has the classic covid-19 symptoms.

[pilferk]

President Trump admitted to Walter Reed. WH sources his condition is way worse then the first lady and they're very concerned and has the classic covid-19 symptoms.

The next 72 hours or so are going to be critical.

Watching the 20 second video, and his walk to Marine One, his color was terrible (no jokes, here), his shoulders slumped, and he was pretty low energy in that video.  He sounded congested, too. WH says he's running a low grade fever.

We'll see what happens over the next few days. Hopefully he has a relatively easy time and recovers quickly.

[tim_m]

President Trump admitted to Walter Reed. WH sources his condition is way worse then the first lady and they're very concerned and has the classic covid-19 symptoms.

The next 72 hours or so are going to be critical.

Watching the 20 second video, and his walk to Marine One, his color was terrible (no jokes, here), his shoulders slumped, and he was pretty low energy in that video.  He sounded congested, too. WH says he's running a low grade fever.

We'll see what happens over the next few days. Hopefully he has a relatively easy time and recovers quickly.

I hope so, i don't like him as a person or president but i do not wish this on him or anyone. Just the simple fact he allowed himself to be air lifted to Walter Reed by Marine One scares the hell out of me. Even when he went for that mysterious reason last year he drove.

[tim_m]

It is starting to look like the outbreak started at Trumps SCOTUS announcement. Am i the only one seeing the irony in this?

[tim_m]

Now we have 2 senators, 5 members of the press, the president, the first lady, kellyanne conway, the head of the R NC, the head of Notre Dame and Trump's campaign manager.

[jarmo]

It is starting to look like the outbreak started at Trumps SCOTUS announcement. Am i the only one seeing the irony in this?

Pre-existing conditions?




/jarmo

[COMAMOTIVE]

President Trump admitted to Walter Reed. WH sources his condition is way worse then the first lady and they're very concerned and has the classic covid-19 symptoms.

The next 72 hours or so are going to be critical.

Watching the 20 second video, and his walk to Marine One, his color was terrible (no jokes, here), his shoulders slumped, and he was pretty low energy in that video.  He sounded congested, too. WH says he's running a low grade fever.

We'll see what happens over the next few days. Hopefully he has a relatively easy time and recovers quickly.

I hope so, i don't like him as a person or president but i do not wish this on him or anyone. Just the simple fact he allowed himself to be air lifted to Walter Reed by Marine One scares the hell out of me. Even when he went for that mysterious reason last year he drove.

Assume Pence is locked in a bunker and guarded with an army right now.
As previous poster suggested, while Trump may be - shall we say - quite energetic for a man of his advancing years and is not a drinker/smoker type - the combo of age and obesity in him is worrisome.

Have a bad feeling here as well - but hoping for the best.

[jarmo]

Chris Christie, who helped Trump to prepare for the debate, has also tested positive.





/jarmo

[pilferk]

President Trump admitted to Walter Reed. WH sources his condition is way worse then the first lady and they're very concerned and has the classic covid-19 symptoms.

The next 72 hours or so are going to be critical.

Watching the 20 second video, and his walk to Marine One, his color was terrible (no jokes, here), his shoulders slumped, and he was pretty low energy in that video.  He sounded congested, too. WH says he's running a low grade fever.

We'll see what happens over the next few days. Hopefully he has a relatively easy time and recovers quickly.

I hope so, i don't like him as a person or president but i do not wish this on him or anyone. Just the simple fact he allowed himself to be air lifted to Walter Reed by Marine One scares the hell out of me. Even when he went for that mysterious reason last year he drove.

Assume Pence is locked in a bunker and guarded with an army right now.
As previous poster suggested, while Trump may be - shall we say - quite energetic for a man of his advancing years and is not a drinker/smoker type - the combo of age and obesity in him is worrisome.

Have a bad feeling here as well - but hoping for the best.

ORIGINALLY, they said Pence was going to keep his travel schedule.  I am assuming that changed when the President went to Walter Reed...but I've not heard any updates that confirm that.

But yeah, that's what I would think they would do at this point.