Gatherings of more than 250 people in the Seattle area are prohibited through the end of March, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced. Gatherings of more than 1,000 people will be banned in San Francisco for two weeks, according to the office of San Francisco Mayor London Breed.
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As someone whose job revolves around gatherings larger than 50 (and the larger the better), I’m a lot less concerned about the stock market, or my already pointless 401k, and a lot more concerned about that fact that this will be an excuse to take the last of my tax money (before I become unemployed and homeless) and hand it to the banks and traders who have helped to put us in this position.
If Obama screwed the public in favor of the banks, how do you think effective president McConnell is going to handle this?
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Money, not lives.
That message is being delivered a lot these days.
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Amazingly, Trump managed to get at least four lies in, despite it being a pre-prepared speech:
- That he banned all air travel (doesn’t apply to US citizens or permanent residents and their families)
- That cargo shipments were banned (apparently this was Trump saying “not only” when he should have just said “not,” and then doing his usual thing when he flubs by pretending he meant to say it)
- That health insurance will waive co-pays for covid treatment (this was news to health insurance companies)
- That testing was rapidly expanding (still dead in the water)
All of these were quite serious lies that have caused huge amounts of chaos, panic and financial costs.
e.g. Americans, mistakenly believing they had a day to return to the US, were paying up to 20,000 dollars for a plane ticket. The Trump administration hadn’t informed anyone, including embassies and the State Department of this policy, so none of them could help clear things up.
The whole thing is nonsensical - there’s no evidence infections are coming from Europe, some European countries were randomly exempted from this ban (e.g. UK), despite also having cases… Even if Europe was a source of infections, this ban is months too late.
Well, as they keep saying, it’s a “foreign virus.”
Yeah, he’s been creating too many scapegoats to go out quietly. I imagine he’s more likely to be declaring states of emergency and canceling elections than resign.
I fear that as long as he can convince his voters that it’s all a “deep state” liberal Chinese hoax/conspiracy/bioweapon, he’s still got a chance, even if the conservatives currently shaking hands to “own the libs” start dropping dead.
I can’t imagine that’ll help much. The virus will be getting worse - as will the economic impact. A full recession seems unavoidable right now. (The question is whether the impact will be felt by Trump voters before the election.)
I mean, he managed to sow confusion with false information and omissions, try to scapegoat Europe for the infection, and provided absolutely no plans for limiting the spread of the virus in the US. It was an even worse, more incompetent address than even I was expecting, and I expect Trump to fuck up everything.
I.e. pretty much the opposite of Trump.
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I wanted Warren to give this speech Sunday night but she already dropped out.
ETA At least give a very straightforward non political speech as a candidate stressing what we need to do together to flatten the curve.
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Nobody is taking the bait:
Stock Continue Tumble Even After Fed Steps In
The Fed said it would offer at least $1.5 trillion worth of short-term loans to banks today and tomorrow. -NYT
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He just wants US citizen’s to be able to come home so they can get world class health care when they all start showing symptoms.
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At what point to they acknowledge that this isn’t a liquidity crisis, so interest rates and loans aren’t the solution?
Why not both?
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not that i’m one for celebrity presidents but you’re right. dwayne johnson would’ve done a much better job
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And also this time we will fail to do what’s necessary to prevent the next financial crisis.
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There was nothing random about it. The excluded countries are all, and only, Schengen countries. You know, that example of countries putting nationalism aside in order to work together to solve common problems. Therefore, in addition to the UK, Russia is also exempted … I guess he must have another performance review coming up with the boss?
From a science/medical perspective this travel ban is nonsensical, but as always that is the wrong lens to be using.
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The losses over the past couple of weeks have erased every market gain, and then some, since Trump took office.
He was so happy to trumpet how great the market was doing under his supposed leadership. I wonder if he’s going to take credit for this as well?
(Maybe in some sort of perverse and pathological requirement to undo every positive contribution Obama made, he’s going to also try to revert the market to pre-2009 levels? I wouldn’t put it past him.)
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I heard a CBC discussion of it last night and the reporter asked a doctor whether travel bans like the one Trump imposed would help. And I was super annoyed that they basically took a person who was there to give real facts and brought them into commenting on Trump, especially since Trump is not Canada’s president. I wish the scientist would have said, “Could you please ask your questions in a way that doesn’t bring Donald Trump into this?”
They could have asked, “Could travel bans help?” or “Are there circumstances under which we might see experts recommending travel bans?” You know, talk about something the expert can actually help you with instead of asking them if Trump is an idiot. We all already know Trump is a goddamned idiot.
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I mean … it’s probably possible to parse that question in a scientifically meaningful way^, but it would be way too complex to answer meaningfully and compellingly off the cuff on radio.
^
q1: can travel bans help?
a1: yes, in certain limited circumstances as long as they are enacted properly AND backed up by additional measures inside the cordon
q2: can travel bans like Trump’s help?
a2: rofl. Are you fucking kidding me? This inept moron couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery.
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Perhaps he has properties/financial interests there?
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Sadly, this is the most likely answer.
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The countries exempted from his travel ban just coincidentally happen to have his golf courses in them as well…
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Heathrow airport just got an uptick of flights from Europe with passengers transiting to US flights upon arrival. He said travel from Europe except UK, not travellers from Europe except Brits.
/s (or not)
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I’m guessing they won’t do anything to close that loophole because the whole thing is pointless anyways…
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