American Politics thread: No Nazis Allowed
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Now people are using Covid-19 to justify any bullshit they do? Yare yare…
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Eh, morality aside let's be realistic.
Trump gets away with everything.
We can't assume that a massive economic and healthcare disaster is going to be enough to convince his cultists to turn on him.
That means nothing good can be assumed to have come from this, and everyone who dies will just be a tragic waste (just like in every other plague).
Now, if he does lose in November, you're not going to turn to your friend who just lost his grandparents to Coronavirus and tell him that it was all OK because we finally got Trump out.
So yeah as tempting as it is to pray for disasters in the vain hope that they'll solve our problems… please don't.
You're making the mistake of assuming Trump won because of his cultists. Trump won because a bunch of middle of the road people leaned in his direction in strategic places.
And his approval rating is as good as it is because of lots more middle of the road people whose political awareness is "Ah yeah that guy seems like a douche but the economy is good so whateves, he must be doing something right." -
@Monkey:
You're making the mistake of assuming Trump won because of his cultists. Trump won because a bunch of middle of the road people leaned in his direction in strategic places.
And his approval rating is as good as it is because of lots more middle of the road people whose political awareness is "Ah yeah that guy seems like a douche but the economy is good so whateves, he must be doing something right."You summed up my mother pretty well with that last sentence, lol. Though I think she also supports trumpy to spite me.
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@Monkey:
You're making the mistake of assuming Trump won because of his cultists. Trump won because a bunch of middle of the road people leaned in his direction in strategic places.
And his approval rating is as good as it is because of lots more middle of the road people whose political awareness is "Ah yeah that guy seems like a douche but the economy is good so whateves, he must be doing something right."I'm aware that things were like that in 2016, but having spent a large amount of time talking to conservatives over the last four years, I saw things change very rapidly.
Both polls and anecdotal evidence indicate that the vast majority of Republicans and a confusingly large number of independents support him blindly or near-blindly and believe that he's done almost nothing wrong. They really believe in Trump Derangement Syndrome, mistaking the rage and fear the comes naturally from years of blatant presidential gaslighting and watching fascism smash through our standards of behavior and most valuable government institutions for mass media brainwashing.Every single conservative I talk to online or off has adopted the narrative that the impeachment was just a stupid political ploy and Trump is completely innocent, and they refuse to absorb or care about any and all evidence to the contrary, no matter how damning. Whenever Trump speaks they subconsciously reinterpret whatever damning thing he said as the complete opposite, and try to use it as evidence of liberal bullying and bigotry.
I could go on and on, but the general point is that you're wrong about there being much of a swing vote this time around because they've long since either joined the cult or become anti-Trump.
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I'm aware that things were like that in 2016, but having spent a large amount of time talking to conservatives over the last four years, I saw things change very rapidly.
Both polls and anecdotal evidence indicate that the vast majority of Republicans and a confusingly large number of independents support him blindly or near-blindly and believe that he's done almost nothing wrong. They really believe in Trump Derangement Syndrome, mistaking the rage and fear the comes naturally from years of blatant presidential gaslighting and watching fascism smash through our standards of behavior and most valuable government institutions for mass media brainwashing.Vaguely pointing at polls that exist is not establishing your point, especially as regards independents.
I think your actually more basing this on your anecdotal experiences and I really don't care at all about those.
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Biden wins Missouri and Mississippi; looks like he won the African-American vote by seventy points in Mississippi and close to fifty in Missouri.
Sanders is getting around 22% of the AA vote in Missouri after getting about a third of it last time so yet another state with a worse performance than last time.
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I think Bernie is actually the one hurt by the people who believe the system is rigged against him. They don't bother showing up this time around because they feel that it just won't matter in the end. And that's a shame because now we're stuck with dementia joe and the tangerine trashbag.
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Who knew a campaign based around telling everyone that the system is rigged so why bother and you'd better support our candidate or else we'll let the fascist win, fuck working together or coalitions we don't need 'em and also fuck minorities because focussing on your issues is "idpol" and is bad and all your problems will be fixed by helping the economically frustrated cis white guys would fail.
I say all this as someone who desperately wanted a progressive agenda and was ready to vote Bernie in the primary (and probably still will) despite being shouted down every 5 minutes.
"Hey, I don't think embracing this Joe Rogan endorsement is a good look. He's transphobic as all hell and barely one step down from a reactionary Alt-Right voicebox."
"QUIET WOKESCOLD IDPOL CENTRIST BITCH!!"
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Michigan is looking like a massive blowout as a bunch of places Bernie won last time have swing heavily to Biden. He's already close to a ten point lead statewide even without Flint and Detroit.
Complicating things since 2009.
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Black Grandma Brigade is having none of this malarkey.
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I'm going to try not the follow the election tonight to avoid that anxiety, but I'm not looking forward to tomorrow.
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God, I'm already seeing such bad takes such as "It's rigged by the DNC" and "the media has brainwashed people". And of course them claiming they'll not vote now.
Come on. He's not my choice, but he's been demolished tonight. And by large margins. And support for a single payer system is STILL the most popular. It's not that they don't want the things Sanders wants, but it's certain that a large percentage of voters don't believe he is the one who can pull it off.
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Come on. He's not my choice, but he's been demolished tonight. And by large margins. And support for a single payer system is STILL the most popular. It's not that they don't want the things Sanders wants, but it's certain that a large percentage of voters don't believe he is the one who can pull it off.
I wager that most americans think the America Bernie's dream off could be write by Rod Serling as one Twilight Zone episode.
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I'm worried seeing so many people complain about conspiracy theorists and Bernie-twitter fans on social media. I just assume they're looks and trolls, and ignore them. Should Biden be the nominee, that's hardly the issue now, and I can only hope we move past it this time considering it already happened last election.
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Well time will be Frantic Joe vs an orange trashbagman.
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I'm worried seeing so many people complain about conspiracy theorists and Bernie-twitter fans on social media. I just assume they're looks and trolls, and ignore them. Should Biden be the nominee, that's hardly the issue now, and I can only hope we move past it this time considering it already happened last election.
People never stopped complaining about Bernie Bros.
I think it is still possible to reunite the party but it'll take years and require significant concessions to the progressive wing by the Biden administration.
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Idaho is being called for Biden as well.
That townhall in Flint that Bernie had to make his pitch to African-Americans didn't really work; he lost that district by an even larger margin than in 2016.
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Bernie needs to drop out. Forget this primary and start supporting downballot progressives. It's the most important thing he can do from now on.
What is Biden's plan on taking back the rust belt? That is my biggest concern. -
It's mind boggling how this can even be a talking point anymore after 4 years of Trump.
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So I suppose Bernie is going to throw it all in the debate next sunday.
But with his opponent easily going with; Bernie your policies are the reason my cats can't afford Whiskas.
He's done for.
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It's mind boggling how this can even be a talking point anymore after 4 years of Trump.
It´s mind boggling how people actually bought this.
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It´s mind boggling how people actually bought this.
Buy what? Only looked at the first 5 seconds to see what it's all about.
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As an actual adult who is having his retirement savings wiped out by this second market crash in a decade, yes, you're kind of a monster.
This doesn't matter unless you're planning on retiring within a few months. Even ten years from now the market would have regained these losses, and then some.
It's fine to want things to damage Trump, for which there are literally hundreds of personal scandals and illegal things he's done that only affect him and criminals. You can cheer for those things to catch up to him.
The thing is that the economy is the one thing that Trump has hitched his wagon to and the one thing that fuels his re-election hopes. Most people don't care about his unparliamentary behaviour or the numerous scandals. It's all brushed under the rug as him being a maverick and being unconventional. All they care about is that unemployment has been historically low (including among African Americans and Latinos), real wages are rising, inflation is under control, taxes are low and interest rates are low. The moment the bottom falls off the economy and people start getting laid off, he's in serious trouble. And a lot of the folks that came over to him from Obama in 2012 are the most vulnerable in the event of a downturn. They will absolutely hammer him if the economy tanks.
its not good to be happy about things that ruin millions of lives, destroy markets, and kill people.
With all of what I said, amen to that.
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This doesn't matter unless you're planning on retiring within a few months. Even ten years from now the market would have regained these losses, and then some.
.Yes, because losing a huge chunk of savings in a week that already took a decade to build back up after the last market crash a decade ago, is made okay by the fact I'll have made some of it back eventually. So by the time I'm ready to retire it might be back to where it is now, as opposed to where it is now plus growth and interest.
Just as long as the market doesn't crash and burn it again in 2031 next time a republican takes office and once again wipe out all the gains for the third time.
And just because I have time to wait… what about everyone that IS of age to retire soon who can't afford years to let it rise back up?
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The moment the bottom falls off the economy and people start getting laid off, he's in serious trouble. And a lot of the folks that came over to him from Obama in 2012 are the most vulnerable in the event of a downturn. They will absolutely hammer him if the economy tanks.
Have you considered that it might be a conspiracy spearheaded by George Soros and Obamer. I mean they created the corona hoax to scare people away from voting for a good christian guy who cares about the working man, and vote for a godless communist who'd let other men bang your wife. There is ample precedence that they'd crash the economy before they'd let Donny make America great again.
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This post is deleted!
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Biden is likely now ahead in Washington.
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Yes, because losing a huge chunk of savings in a week that already took a decade to build back up after the last market crash a decade ago, is made okay by the fact I'll have made some of it back eventually. So by the time I'm ready to retire it might be back to where it is now, as opposed to where it is now plus growth and interest.
Don’t want to belabour this too much, but a recession does not completely wipe out the gains made by a bull run. On a long enough timescale, the stock market has recovered, always. It has grown at least 5% year on year over any period of ten years. Including the Great Depression.
Of course, past performance does not guarantee future returns, but this is from data over a hundred years.
Just as long as the market doesn't crash and burn it again in 2031 next time a republican takes office and once again wipe out all the gains for the third time.
It's a little disengenuous to blame the current drop on the Republican administration.
And just because I have time to wait… what about everyone that IS of age to retire soon who can't afford years to let it rise back up?
If they've been invested in the market for any sufficient amount of time (>10 years), their investments are doing more than fine, even taking the current drop into account. Anyone invested in the market for less than that expecting a bumper return was timing the market, and that rarely works out well.
Have you considered that it might be a conspiracy spearheaded by George Soros and Obamer. I mean they created the corona hoax to scare people away from voting for a good christian guy who cares about the working man, and vote for a godless communist who'd let other men bang your wife. There is ample precedence that they'd crash the economy before they'd let Donny make America great again.
I missed you wolfwoof.
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While you can’t blame Trump’s administration for the stock market’s current problems.
You can blame Trump for his pointless tariffs on China and Mexico
You can blame Trump (and Republicans) for giving Rich People and Tax Breaks they didn’t need.
You can blame Trump for cutting money from the CDC for no good reason.
You can blame Trump for his lackluster response regarding the outbreak and accusing the democrats of using this “hoax” to try and make him look bad.I've often wondered about that myself; seems like being supported by people who only want you there so the world can end in fire (with you going to Hell in the process) would be somewhat off-putting
3DS Friend Code 0044-2806-5284
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Weird, I thought Trump’s corona proposals were “to the left” of what Democrats wanted. Oh well!
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I'm going to specifically talk about the economy at large. Not how these things might have affected you or a friend of yours.
You can blame Trump for his pointless tariffs on China and Mexico
If the initial trade deal with China is anything to go by, the tariffs were a measured success. He got a commitment to buy more American stuff than ever before (although Coronavirus might put a spanner in that) and even got concessions on the IP theft front, perhaps the biggest issue Western companies doing business in China faced.
The tariffs on Mexico got them to agree to the new NAFTA pretty hastily. The new NAFTA contains minimum wage and other worker protections that Mexico must ensure for workers in the auto sector. This is a win for workers in Mexico. This is also a win for Trump because this means that auto manufacturers would be less inclined to move production to Mexico since costs would be comparable, keeping those manufacturing jobs in the US.
You can blame Trump (and Republicans) for giving Rich People and Tax Breaks they didn’t need.
First, the tax breaks were for EVERYONE. The rich got a disproportionate amount of them, but all income brackets saw their taxes go down. Second, the corporation tax cut resulted in companies buying back their own stocks and pushing their prices up (perhaps not what Trump and co were intending), boosting the stock market and pumping up Robby's retirement portfolio.
You can blame Trump for cutting money from the CDC for no good reason.
You can blame Trump for his lackluster response regarding the outbreak and accusing the democrats of using this “hoax” to try and make him look bad.This has very little to do with the initial stock market drop off, which was responding to figures around the slow down in Chinese manufacturing and the sudden outbreak in Italy and Europe. Even the current drop has more to do with the large scale quarantines than with the botched response in the US.
Take an economics class or two.
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While you can’t blame Trump’s administration for the stock market’s current problems.
You can blame Trump for his pointless tariffs on China and Mexico
You can blame Trump (and Republicans) for giving Rich People and Tax Breaks they didn’t need.
You can blame Trump for cutting money from the CDC for no good reason.
You can blame Trump for his lackluster response regarding the outbreak and accusing the democrats of using this “hoax” to try and make him look bad.You can also blame him for his shitty speech last night that dunked the market in real time lol.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
This has very little to do with the initial stock market drop off, which was responding to figures around the slow down in Chinese manufacturing and the sudden outbreak in Italy and Europe. Even the current drop has more to do with the large scale quarantines than with the botched response in the US.
Take an economics class or two.
Considering there is no tiny man working in the middle of the stock market, who went "hmm yes it is exactly these factors that caused me to pull the Number Down lever" maybe you shouldn't express these as absolutes that only a big brained blowhard who went to economy college would know.
You're not even wrong about those factors mattering tremendously, you're right. But you're presenting them like a fraudulent asshole. Probably because you are a fraudulent asshole.
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@Monkey:
Considering there is no tiny man working in the middle of the stock market, who went "hmm yes it is exactly these factors that caused me to pull the Number Down lever" maybe you shouldn't express these as absolutes that only a big brained blowhard who went to economy college would know.
There are a lot of people getting paid a lot of money to try and pinpoint these factors. There's a competitive advantage to knowing exactly what affects the market and how. Hell, there are machine learning models that analyse dear leader's tweets and react in real time. So yeah, not as much of a smoke and mirrors show as you're portraying it to be. And certainly not amenable to armchair historians saying "lol, orange man bad, market down".
@Monkey:
You're not even wrong about those factors mattering tremendously, you're right. But you're presenting them like a fraudulent asshole. Probably because you are a fraudulent asshole.
Take your ad hominem and shove it up your ass.
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Just here for my daily announcement of: Fuck the racist-in-chief, Trump.
Check out my podcast for conversations about Greatness in anime, sports, music, and whatever else we can think of.
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If the initial trade deal with China is anything to go by, the tariffs were a measured success.
The tariffs served no purpose other than illustrating Trump's weird and petty grudge against China. And had a handful of negative impacts on the economy,consumers, and farmers (a number of whom supported Trump and who loss millions of dollars because of him).
The tariffs on Mexico got them to agree to the new NAFTA pretty hastily.
I vaguely remember someone mentioning that Trump came up with the idea to try and punish mexico for it's migrant problem and actually believing this would galvanize them into giving him his money for his wall needless to say that was a failure. And much like his tariffs on China it was equally stupid.
The new NAFTA contains minimum wage and other worker protections that Mexico must ensure for workers in the auto sector. This is a win for workers in Mexico. This is also a win for Trump because this means that auto manufacturers would be less inclined to move production to Mexico since costs would be comparable, keeping those manufacturing jobs in the US.
And yet.
First, the tax breaks were for EVERYONE.
That's what they were billed as except everyone did not benefit them and even a blind man can tell you they were in fact for the rich.
The rich got a disproportionate amount of them, but all income brackets saw their taxes go down. Second, the corporation tax cut resulted in companies buying back their own stocks and pushing their prices up (perhaps not what Trump and co were intending), boosting the stock market and pumping up Robby's retirement portfolio.
Well…..
Take an economics class or two.
Nah I'm good maybe you should stop weirdly ignoring Trump's stupidity especially when it comes to the economy the economy that's seen him take credit for gains that happened because of Obama while predictably not taking credit for the negatives he himself is responsible for.
@Monkey:
You can also blame him for his shitty speech last night that dunked the market in real time lol.
The one where he supposedly said "Oh Fuck" on a hot mic?
Just here for my daily announcement of: Fuck the racist-in-chief, Trump.
What did the ass- erm guy do now?
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The tariffs served no purpose other than illustrating Trump's weird and petty grudge against China.
Did you completely miss the trade deal the two parties signed late last year and what the terms of that deal were?
And had a handful of negative impacts on the economy,consumers, and farmers (a number of whom supported Trump and who loss millions of dollars because of him).
This is covered by the "measured" in "measured success".
First, if China keeps up its end of the trade deal, they'd be buying more American goods than at any point in history. This is a markedly bigger win than a year of hurt.
Second, it gets them to make concessions on the rampant IP theft going on there. This is also a big deal.
Third, supply chains had started diversifying by moving manufacturing to South East Asia. Over the longer term, this is also a win (albeit a smaller one) since this keeps the world less at the mercy of China and what happens there (as the current manufacturing slowdown is showing).
Fourth, FWIW, the tariffs had a huge impact on the Chinese economy, much larger than what it did on the American one. The tariffs caught them in the middle of an existing manufacturing slump and intensified its effects. Chinese exports globally were hit hard. This is what brought them to the negotiating table.
I vaguely remember someone mentioning that Trump came up with the idea to try and punish mexico for it's migrant problem and actually believing this would galvanize them into giving him his money for his wall needless to say that was a failure. And much like his tariffs on China it was equally stupid.
It was not a failure. Mexico agreed to house people seeking asylum until the US asylum court could get to their cases. The also agreed to have stricter border control on their southern border. These are policy wins for the president.
The broader point that fear-mongering around migrants is asinine and stupid is perfectly valid of course.
And yet.
The new NAFTA hasn't even been implemented yet. This is a long-term trade deal whose effect will be seen in years from now, not today. Again, I am not being snarky here, but please take an economics class.
That's what they were billed as except everyone did not benefit them and even a blind man can tell you they were in fact for the rich.
I don't know what to tell you. Take a look at this article where it delineates the tax brackets and the marginal tax rates for them. Also take a look at this report from the Tax Foundation which estimated that the bottom quintile projected to get a 0.8% increase in take-home income in 2018. The 20-80 percentiles got a 1.7% increase in take home income. For completeness, the last quintile gets a 1.9% boost in take-home income.
Again, the overwhelming majority of the actual cuts are going to the rich, but that's because they pay more taxes to begin with.
Well…..
Of course, as far as the overall impact on the economy goes, the tax cuts did not deliver the outlandish claims that Trump and the Republican Party were promising. An overwhelming majority of economists were saying this when the bill was introduced. However, the stock market did boom after the tax cuts and this was largely driven by the stock buy-backs a lot of companies issued with their tax savings. Your NPR article alludes to this.
Nah I'm good maybe you should stop weirdly ignoring Trump's stupidity especially when it comes to the economy the economy that's seen him take credit for gains that happened because of Obama while predictably not taking credit for the negatives he himself is responsible for.
I'm not ignoring anything. Trump's policies are misguided at best. His administration is a danger for democracy and the rule of law and is doing long term damage to sacred institutions of a functioning government. His policies have also been instrumental in continuing and juicing up the longest stock market bull run in history. Obama deserves a chunk of the credit, and as much as it pains me to say this, so does Trump.
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The most Trump thing of all is when he just abruptly closed the borders. Like not even a heads up, just shooting from the hip style decision making. Then he goes right ahead and contradicts what he just made Pence say like a day earlier. Who runs a country like this? He makes guys like Duterte seem like a stable plan ahead type of guys by comparison
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Fourth, FWIW, the tariffs had a huge impact on the Chinese economy, much larger than what it did on the American one. The tariffs caught them in the middle of an existing manufacturing slump and intensified its effects. Chinese exports globally were hit hard. This is what brought them to the negotiating table.
This is not true, China's losses from it are actually insignificant, Chinese foreign trade actually increased last year. This is because only about 18% China’s GDP is composed of exports. The US has an even lower figure - 11.2%. For comparison, most large economies are above 50, and European countries are generally above 70. In other words, the US and China have the two most isolated major economies in the world. The total Sino-American trade volume is in the hundreds of billions. Both economies exceed 20 trillion dollars.
The whole “war” is an attempt to gain support with minimal repercussions. Both governments are pandering to nationalists, then, when the public demands conciliation, make a show of negotiation before ultimately scuttling them. It’s no surprise that Trump started this conflict just ahead of an election year. It’s an attempt to grab headlines and shore up his nationalist base. Rest assured that if there was any real economic danger, neither Trump nor any other politician would have started the “war”.Edit: This is evident in how moderate both sides have been. Both have "nuclear options" if they really wanted to shut down their enemies. The US could fabricate a Tonkin-style crisis then impose a blockade of China outside the range of most Chinese anti-ship missiles - mostly policing the Strait of Malacca. China, meanwhile, could cut off US firms from access to REM, crashing the American tech sector within months, or sell off its US bonds. The fact that this war has been confined to soybeans and consumer goods tariffs shows that it's more of a skirmish to entertain the public.
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–the longest stock market bull run in history. Obama deserves a chunk of the credit, and as much as it pains me to say this, so does Trump.
I'm no expert, but I was under the impression that it's a terrible thing. The stock buybacks don't create value at all, it's fake. It artificially inflates values and just creates a bubble which has now burst spectacularily. Yes, partly for other reasons, but this bursting of the bubble has been made worse because of it, aside from it being one of the causes.
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I'm no expert, but I was under the impression that it's a terrible thing. The stock buybacks don't create value at all, it's fake. It artificially inflates values and just creates a bubble which has now burst spectacularily. Yes, partly for other reasons, but this bursting of the bubble has been made worse because of it, aside it being one of the causes.
It's not as black and white as that. There are economists who take the stance that a buyback is corporate indulgence and signs of a bubble. Other economists think that stock buybacks indicate corporate confidence in themselves and the economy at large. YMMV. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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There are a lot of people getting paid a lot of money to try and pinpoint these factors. There's a competitive advantage to knowing exactly what affects the market and how. Hell, there are machine learning models that analyse dear leader's tweets and react in real time. So yeah, not as much of a smoke and mirrors show as you're portraying it to be.
And yet it remains a soft science all the same, with massive factors coming down to unpredictable human elements.
Let me just say an economist who doesn't acknowledge this? Is the last person to listen to about how things work. -
@Monkey:
And yet it remains a soft science all the same, with massive factors coming down to unpredictable human elements.
Let me just say an economist who doesn't acknowledge this? Is the last person to listen to about how things work.economics isn't about predicting the stock market, also economics has more rigor than many hard sciences. it makes medicine look like a joke.
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Dick measuring majors never ends up well
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I'm not ignoring anything. Trump's policies are misguided at best. His administration is a danger for democracy and the rule of law and is doing long term damage to sacred institutions of a functioning government. His policies have also been instrumental in continuing and juicing up the longest stock market bull run in history. Obama deserves a chunk of the credit, and as much as it pains me to say this, so does Trump.
He also deserves the blame for a couple of the times it's dipped and when/if the economy craters because of it.
Did you completely miss the trade deal the two parties signed late last year and what the terms of that deal were?
Does it really matter considering the present circumstances. And as already mentioned a lot of money was pissed away because of this idiocy?
It was not a failure. Mexico agreed to house people seeking asylum until the US asylum court could get to their cases. The also agreed to have stricter border control on their southern border. These are policy wins for the president.
Shitty policy that ultimately doesn't address the issue of immigration reform which Republicans for years have sent mixed signals nor washes away Trump's and his administration ugly rhetoric on immigrants that preceded and has followed that but okay.
Again, the overwhelming majority of the actual cuts are going to the rich, but that's because they pay more taxes to begin with.
So much more that Trump and Republicans wanted to lower the rate for them for what it was under Obama.
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Just here for my daily announcement of: Fuck the racist-in-chief, Trump.
Here you go:
https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2020/03/12/day-1148/
Day 1148: Canceled.
1/ Trump banned foreign visitors from most of Europe for 30-days in an effort to curb the growing COVID-19 pandemic. Trump blamed European and Chinese travelers for bringing the “foreign virus” to the U.S., while accusing the European Union of “[failing] to take the same precautions” the U.S. had implemented to contain the coronavirus outbreak. The ban, which begins Friday at midnight, does not apply to the United Kingdom or to U.S. citizens, and there are waivers under multiple circumstances. Reading from a prepared script, Trump incorrectly described his own policy, saying that the travel restrictions would impact a “tremendous amount” of trade and cargo. The White House later clarified that the ban would not include cargo. Trump urged Americans to heed the CDC’s guidelines for Americans to protect themselves and others from the spread of the virus – instructions he has repeatedly contradicted, ignored, or downplayed over the last few weeks – and claimed the government was moving “very quickly” to fix a chronic shortage of coronavirus test kits. Trump, however, provided no specifics about how many Americans would be able to be tested, and when and where those tests could occur. (Washington Post / New York Times / Politico / CNN / ABC News / The Intercept)
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/11/trump-oval-office-coronavirus-address-126121
The U.S. did not coordinate or notify the European Union before Trump announced the travel restrictions. The European Union also condemned Trump’s decision to ban travelers from most of Europe visiting the U.S., saying “The coronavirus is a global crisis, not limited to any continent and it requires cooperation rather than unilateral action.” (NBC News / Politico / Reuters / Al Jazeera)
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-eu-reaction-idUSKBN20Z0F7
Trump’s European travel restrictions exempt nations where his three golf courses are located. Trump has two properties in the United Kingdom – Trump Turnberry and Trump International Golf Links in Scotland – plus another resort in Doonbeg, Ireland. (Politico / Business Insider)
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/12/trump-coronavirus-travel-europe-resorts-126808
Trump suggested that it’s a “possibility” he could impose travel restrictions within the U.S. if certain areas get “too hot.” Trump also defended his restrictions on travel from Europe, saying that he didn’t consult with E.U. leaders because he had to “move quickly.” (NBC News / Politico)
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/12/mike-pence-trump-europe-travel-ban-details-126904
EXPLAINED: Trump’s travel ban. (Politico)
https://www.politico.eu/article/coronavirus-donald-trump-europe-travel-ban-explained/
2/ The CDC tested 77 total people for coronavirus on Monday and Tuesday. The total number of people tested for the coronavirus in the U.S. by the CDC as of Wednesday morning was 1,784. Meanwhile, 7,617 people have been tested by state laboratories. The U.S. has 1,300 confirmed cases, with 38 deaths. Lawmakers, meanwhile, are “frustrated” with the CDC’s “struggle to give a really strong answer” about why the U.S. hasn’t been able to duplicate the testing being used in other countries like South Korea. (Yahoo News / CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/12/politics/congress-outrage-testing-covid-19/index.html
3/ Trump met with a Brazilian official at Mar-a-Lago who later tested positive for coronavirus. Fabio Wajngarten, communications secretary to Jair Bolsonaro, accompanied the Brazilian president on the visit to Florida and dined with Trump and other U.S. official on Saturday. The White House said Trump will not be tested for the coronavirus because “Both the president and vice president had almost no interactions with the individual who tested positive.” Sen. Rick Scott and Sen. Lindsey Graham, however, decided to self-quarantine due to possible contact with Wajngarten. Two days ago, Bolsonaro said the danger posed by coronavirus “is not all the mainstream media makes it out to be.” Trump, meanwhile, told reporters: “Let’s put it this way: I’m not concerned.” (NPR / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / CNN / The Guardian)
A Senate staffer tested positive for COVID-19. Sen. Maria Cantwell’s office announced that the staffer has been placed in isolation and that the office will be closed for the rest of the week to undergo cleaning. The case marks the first known incident of a congressional staffer contracting the virus. (The Hill)
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/487162-senate-staffer-tests-positive-for-coronavirus
Satellite images show new sections of graveyards in Iran the size of a football field near where coronavirus infections emerged. While Iran’s government has not released an official death toll for Qom, the spiritual center of Iran’s ruling Shiite clerics, Iranian authorities began digging a pair of trenches for victims days after the government disclosed the initial outbreak. Iran’s Health Ministry officially said that 429 people have died from COVID-19 in the country. (Washington Post)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/iran-coronavirus-outbreak-graves/
4/ Trump is expected to sign a limited federal disaster declaration to cover small business loans, paychecks for hourly workers, and delay tax bills in an effort to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Trump, however, is reportedly concerned that going further would undermine his narrative that the coronavirus is similar to the seasonal flu and further hurt the markets. (CNN / Politico / Politico)
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/12/politics/trump-disaster-declaration/
Mike Pence said people are using “irresponsible rhetoric” to downplay the seriousness of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak. On Monday, Trump said the “fake news media and their partner, the Democrat Party, is doing everything to inflame the coronavirus situation.” (NBC News)
Trump attacked Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi nine hours after calling on lawmakers to “put politics aside [and] stop the partisanship.” (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/12/us/politics/trump-coronavirus.html
5/ The Trump administration and House Democrats are negotiating a bipartisan deal on an economic coronavirus relief package, which would provide food security assistance, paid sick leave, free coronavirus testing, and unemployment benefits for people affected by the spread of the pandemic. The House hopes to vote on the package Thursday and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would cancel next week’s recess to advance “bipartisan legislation to continue combating the coronavirus and keep our economy strong.” Trump, however, objected to what he called Democratic “goodies” in the bill – specifically an increase in federal funding for Medicaid and changes to what that White House said could provide money for abortions. Republicans are opposed to the paid sick leave proposal, complaining that Democrats are using the pandemic to accomplish long-held domestic priorities, which McConnell called an “ideological wish list.” (Washington Post / Politico / Bloomberg / New York Times / New York Times / Reuters)
6/ The S&P 500 and Dow both had their worst day since the 1987 Black Monday market crash. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also joined the Dow in bear market territory — a decline of 20% from the most recent highs. Trading was halted twice after triggering thresholds in premarket trading and immediately after the opening bell. Trump, meanwhile, predicted that the markets are “going to all bounce back and it’s going to bounce back very big.” (Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal / CNBC / NBC News / New York Times / Washington Post)
Trump – in an explosive tirade – reportedly pressured Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to encourage the Federal Reserve to do more to stimulate the economy. Trump complained that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is damaging his presidency and should never have been appointed. Mnuchin encouraged Trump to nominate Powell in 2017. (Washington Post)
The Federal Reserve said it would inject more than $1.5 trillion of temporary liquidity into the financial system. The action is not intended to stimulate the economy, but ensure proper functioning of the market for Treasuries, which influences all other credit markets. (Wall Street Journal / Politico / CNBC)
7/ The Pentagon is waiting on Trump to decide how to respond to an attack in Iraq that killed two U.S. troops. Iranian-backed militia groups fired about 30 rockets in Iraq, with about 12 to 18 hitting a base north of Baghdad. (Washington Post)
Canceled.
Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered Californians to cancel or postpone gatherings of 250 or more people statewide through the end of March. California now has 198 confirmed coronavirus case. (The Mercury News / Los Angeles Times)
Gov. Andrew Cuomo banned gatherings of 500 or more people across New York state. New York now has 328 confirmed cases of the coronavirus. (New York Times / CNBC)
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency, saying large venues like Barclays Center and Madison Square Garden will likely be closed for months. (CNBC)
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/12/new-york-city-declares-state-of-emergency.html
All Broadway theaters in New York City are closed. The Broadway League announced that the ban will be in effect until Sunday, April 12. (Time Out / Variety)
Schools in Ohio are closed for at least three weeks. Gov. Mike DeWine said the “extended spring break” will begin Monday. (Cleveland.com)
Washington State closed all K-12 schools, public and private, in the Seattle metro area until April 24. Across the King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties, nearly 563,600 students attend public or charter schools. Roughly 216,700 of them qualify for subsidized meals. (Seattle Times)
Maryland closed all public schools through March 27 and banned gatherings of more than 250 people. (NBC Washington)
France closed all schools and universities until further notice. (Washington Post)
Disneyland is closed until the end of the month. Its the fourth time in history that Disneyland has fully suspended operations. The park previously closed following the Sept. 11 attacks, the morning after JFK’s assassination, and the Northridge earthquake. (Variety)
https://variety.com/2020/biz/news/disney-theme-park-closed-coronavirus-1203531795/
The NBA suspended its season “until further notice” after two Utah Jazz players tested positive for the coronavirus. Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell both tested positive. (ESPN / Bleacher Report)
The NCAA canceled the March Madness basketball tournaments. The ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, Pac-12, American, Atlantic 10, Conference USA, MAC, America East, Big Sky, and WAC also all canceled their conference basketball tournaments. Kansas and Duke banned all athletic travel indefinitely. (CNBC / ESPN / Washington Post)
The NHL suspended its season with 189 games and three and a half weeks remaining in the regular season. (ESPN)
https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/28891430/sources-nhl-suspending-play-immediately-due-virus
MLS suspended its season for 30 days and the U.S. Soccer Federation canceled scheduled friendlies. (ESPN)
MLB suspended the remainder of spring training. MLB was scheduled to open its season on March 26, with all 30 teams in action. (ESPN)
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/28892315/sources-mlb-expected-suspend-operations
The PGA Tour will continue to play but fans will not be allowed to attend the events through April 5. (Bleacher Report)
The NFL said it has “no plans to move the start of the league year,” which starts March 18. (ESPN)
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/28891831/nfl-not-delaying-start-league-year-coronavirus
Waldorf: You know Statler, after watching the last one thousand episodes of One Piece, I think I've come to a conclusion.
Statler: No you haven't.
Both: DOHOHOHOHOHO!
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4/ Trump is expected to sign a limited federal disaster declaration to cover small business loans, paychecks for hourly workers, and delay tax bills in an effort to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Trump, however, is reportedly concerned that going further would undermine his narrative that the coronavirus is similar to the seasonal flu and further hurt the markets. (CNN / Politico / Politico)
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/12/politics/trump-disaster-declaration/
Mike Pence said people are using “irresponsible rhetoric” to downplay the seriousness of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak. On Monday, Trump said the “fake news media and their partner, the Democrat Party, is doing everything to inflame the coronavirus situation.” (NBC News)
Trump attacked Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi nine hours after calling on lawmakers to “put politics aside [and] stop the partisanship.” (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/12/us/politics/trump-coronavirus.html
FUCKING. STUPID. TWIT.
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FUCKING. STUPID. TWIT.
Sometimes, with stories of him asking for bipartisanship then cursing out Democrats, I have to wonder if Trump is just a hypocrite or is he basically this one guy from a meme:
!
What's also frustrating is that during this pandemic a lot of reporters are asking questions related to public safety, and Trump is just brushing it off with his "fake news" taunts. It's massively frustrating cause these are really, really important questions, and the media bashing isn't helping here. It's just a weak escape from a hard question, and I hate it.
For reference, David Pakman has a clip of it starting at 0:50
