Good lord is it painful listening to that clown speak. Even though I disagree with much of what Pence stands for he can at least speak in public without sounding like an 8th grader giving an oral book report.

Also, Chinese Virus? Really?

How different could things be right now if we had a reliable test in early Feb and could have started using it right away?

I watched the last part of the news conference and that Fauci is a talented guy. He knows how to say Trump is full of BS without saying Trump is full of BS.

Still my Person of the Year (US version) right now.

Short-term thinking plagues Trump’s coronavirus response - POLITICO

Attention Required! | Cloudflare

Remember to vote against the GOP in every election at every level of government until the end of time.

I could see how, in fifty years or so, you might be tempted.

Don't give in.

I vote for the person as much as the party.

In other words, I didn't consider voting Trump for a second.

Cuomo is doing a much better job than Trump in his news conference.

At this point, they should do the thing where they let Pence and the doctors give the news conferences and just show Trump the news stories saying he's doing a good job and keeping him from feeling like he needs to say or do things.

Yes truly great display of leadership.

Rand Paul, one of eight senators to vote against the corona relief bill has karma bite him in the ass. Of course he got tested without any of the symptoms:


https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/22/polit...rus/index.html

Harvey Weinstein apparently has it too. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

Trump's shot at Romney was gross.

It is the completely unnecessary shit like this that makes him such a horrible human being, among many other things of course.

I'm going to be the devil's advocate here for why I don't think testing Congress folks is a big deal.

A) These are the one hundred men and women that make up one-sixth (half of one third) of our ruling government. A pandemic taking them out would be crippling to the nation.

B ) because of the natural herd nature of Congress, if one asymptomatic carrier spends a week in close proximity, to other Congresscritters, then it will spread VERY rapidly. Close proximity, like, say hammering out a $2 Trillion stimulus.

C) Members of government are generally what's called "rapid spreaders" meaning that they can be the infection point for many many people (especially with the nature of fundraising trips and "pressing the flesh"). Finally, in this specific case,

D) Rand Paul is specifically at risk for COVID-19, as he already has lung capacity issues (due to his previous issues). They would REALLY need to be careful with him, for reasons A-C.

I think this should push toward remote voting, but we'll see if that happens. (Protip: It won't. the lobbyists like having everyone in one place)

I think the issue is that the people who are responsible for the shortage in tests are the one's getting it.

So, he's going off now on how he wasn't thanked for not taking a salary (and at the same time seemed to up that salary to $450k).

He really needs to let Pence handle these and just stay in his bed. Too bad Cuomo isn't in charge nationally.

Almost anyone would be better than Trump, but New York appears to be the biggest potential disaster zone right now. Granted there are things endemic to NYC (large population, tons of visitors in/out, people actually use mass transit & streets are crowded), but I think clearly that is another state that was behind the curve early on. Cailfornia (and the Bay Area) went draconian earlier, Ohio seems to have, Massachusetts & Washington state seem to have had very good responses considering they were at the leading edge.

I'm ok with testing major members of the government, much as I dislike many of them, especially right now.



SI

I don't know what Biden has been up to but they need to find a way to get him in the public view.

Senate Dems showing uncharacteristic spine, rejecting GOP proposal because it does not contain enough job protections.

it needed 60 votes, and with 5 (?) GOP Senators in self-quarantine (or in Rand Paul's case actively being treated), it failed 47-47.

Seems like the Turtle tried to smash it through but didn't read the room too well.

Biden says he will broadcast regular coronavirus briefings | TheHill

I have not seen the details, so I really don't know who has the better argument in terms of what would be a better bill. I'm just surprised that McConnell said "Jump" and the Dems didn't ask "How high?" A real change from how things have been.

A $500 billion slush fund for companies with no oversight seems like a bad idea.

Probably would've been better if they would've introduced their own House bill at the same time. Most Americans will only care about the $1,000 checks, and this looks like the Democrats delaying that.

This is how Politico's reporter tweeted it out: (pretty factual from what I can tell)

Special edition of PLAYBOOK to keep you up to date on where things are stand on Capitol Hill.

IF YOU WERE COUNTING ON WASHINGTON to come together quickly and without drama to combat the coronavirus, you haven’t been reading Playbook, and you’ve probably been ignoring reality.

THE SENATE failed to clear a key procedural hurdle tonight on the massive $1.6-trillion coronavirus package, a major blow to the government's efforts to immediately inject money into the economy during this global health crisis.

SENATE MINORITY LEADER CHUCK SCHUMER (N.Y.) held the entire Democratic caucus against the measure after two days of marathon negotiations. The motion failed, 47-47.

REPUBLICANS are calling the Democrats’ efforts irresponsible -- they blamed Speaker NANCY PELOSI. Democrats say Senate Majority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL (R-Ky.) didn’t accede to their demands.

DEMS: The main issue is a $500bn “slush fund” that is aimed at helping companies that have suffered due to the economic slowdown. Ds say it has little oversight and does not help workers.

They also say MNUCHIN would have too much influence over the disbursement of the money with insufficient oversight.

DEMOCRATS believe they now have tremendous leverage to change the package. Negotiations will continue, of course. But if they don’t make discernable progress before the U.S. stock exchange opens tomorrow, they could be in for a very tumultuous day.

BUT SUNDAY’S VOTE was a blow to McConnell, who had wanted to have final passage on the legislation on Monday. That timetable is in serious jeopardy at this point.

CHOOSE YOUR NEWS: MCCONNELL seemed especially irate at PELOSI, and said she’s the speaker of the House, not the Senate -- suggesting she scuttled the negotiations late in the process.

BUT: SCHUMER and PELOSI called for direct negotiations between congressional leaders early on, and MCCONNELL resisted.

NEW REPORTING: HOUSE Rs have encountered some resistance from lawmakers who do not want to allow the House to UC the Senate, and would prefer a vote of some sort. ONE LAWMAKER can mess this up. GOP LEADERSHIP believes they can soften the opposition.

Giving control of this fund to Mnuchin, who ran a fraudulent bank, seems like a bad idea too.

He's not usually one to do something like this. He has a plan. He always has a(n evil) plan.

SI

So the Dems can point out that the two big sticking points are that they want the companies to commit to not reducing payroll and that they don't want to give this guy access to a half-trillion dollars of taxpayer money with no oversight:



That's a winnable hand if they want to play it . . .

I realize this reporter seems a little over the top, but what gives Democrats the idea they have "tremendous" leverage now? The Republicans proposed a bill that (had other problems with it) but also offered every American $1000 in a time of national uncertainty, and the Democrats voted it down without offering up an alternative of their own. That's an oversimplification, but that's exactly how it will be received by many voters the longer this drags out.

Basically that Trump owns the economy, and that the message that Republicans are screwing over Joe Average to give bailouts to their buddies is a winning one, I guess.

The Dems need to have a competing bill ready by tomorrow morning.

They control one house of Congress, so I don't see why they could not just pass one and make the narrative about the Senate taking that bill up.

Maybe McConnell thought Dems didn't have the guts to vote against it. They should have been working with Pelosi from the start instead of the Senate GOP writing their own bill. Why not just vote on the stimulus checks, unemployment and small business relief in one bill immediately? Save the large corporate bailouts for later.

because then they wouldn't have a hostage to threaten for the corporate bailouts.

That makes sense, but if you are in favor of the corporate bailouts, you want them attached to goodies. I don't know if they would pass on their own.

Can someone explain to me how the Senate gets to start this anyway? I know the House didn't want to be around until there was something for them to vote on, but is it just because Republicans want to craft something Trump would sign and then get it passed or whatever? I know we don't always follow such things but the Constitution does still hold that all spending bills must originate in the people's House.

Basically, this vote was a "we're going to take this bill, throw all the text out, and replace it with this" It somewhat gets around that rule.

Cuomo delayed the shelter-in-place order because of a spat with the Mayor. He just looks better because he's being compared to people who fucked up even worse.

I have no idea what the context of that picture is, but I'm guessing that's not Ernie Johnson in the background.

SI

Trump is up there every day because he can't have his rallies and this is his outlet right now.

Very interesting conversation going on Twitter about how, if self-quarantine continues to disproportionate effects Republican Senators, they can lose control. Could put the 300+ bills being prevented to hit the floor by Moscow Mitch in play. And of course it was Turtle McConnell who denied voting any other way but in person. You know he'd usurp control if the roles were reversed.

There's a good chance the McConnell will lose control of the Senate over the coming hours because of self-quarantines. Rs currently have a 1-vote majority, but more quarantines, disproportionately impacted the Rs, are expected.

— David Segal (@DavidSegalRI) March 22, 2020

And the next step of the turtle's plan is to hold a revote at 9:45 (15 minutes after the markets open, and probably after the first circuit breaker is tripped)

It's gonna suck, here's hoping the D's won't cave.

Trump is going batshit insane and looks like as the economy gets worse he is going to push to try and get back to normal. What a disaster

WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF. AT THE END OF THE 15 DAY PERIOD, WE WILL MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHICH WAY WE WANT TO GO!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2020

dola- he is also going after every media outlet

I watch and listen to the Fake News, CNN, MSDNC, ABC, NBC, CBS, some of FOX (desperately & foolishly pleading to be politically correct), the @nytimes, & the @washingtonpost, and all I see is hatred of me at any cost. Don’t they understand that they are destroying themselves?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2020

The Russian twitter troll farms are certainly getting their overtime this morning. I guess every economic downturn will still have its winners.

He is now retweeting things from his usual trolls such as "flatten the curve, not the economy"

I think the Fauci interview has set him off.

I don't think he understands how an 'economy' works.

The thing is, November is still a while off in our warp-speed media ecosystem. If Trump were willing to take some more short term pain this Spring, then things would probably be better by November. But the more half-assed he handles this now, the more of a chance it really will still be bad come November.

But his brain just cannot think long term enough to understand a difference between today and next month (let alone months from now).

I think Trump has been positioning himself to give all the blame to the states for any of the response issues. Thus the statement that states need to handle getting supplies for themselves, no national pronouncements about quarantine or distancing (which many of his ardent supporters HATE), and general lack of concern.

He's trying to seem like a leader to the national economy, but is not leading any of the response to the disease itself. Not sure how you can have it both ways, but he's trying.

This is going like everything else he has done. His supporters are defending him ardently, claiming he gets a 10/10 and not blaming him or holding him accountable despite mountains of evidence. The rest of us know he is full of shit.

I would say the one difference is FOX News isn't sucking him off quite as much as usual.

'I’m going to keep pushing.' Anthony Fauci tries to make the White House listen to facts of the pandemic | Science | AAAS

Fauci says so much with so little. He is a god damn hero.

Trump must hate him

Talk about the classic definition of demagogue.

Over the last few years, I've had a fair amount of contempt for the decent and smart people who have stayed with the administration and given it credibility so that they could "do good from the inside." I've generally considered them cowards.

But Fauci has gotten me to realize that I was being way too simplistic in my thinking. We really do need smart and decent people on the inside, and thank God we have one right now.

For how long is the question. Fauci isn't exactly being subtle.

I wonder if you polled JUST Trump supporters if they could only hear from one person during this situation, either Fauci or Trump, who they would pick.

Not everyone is looking to gain, personally or politically. We've seen several of them speak up over the past several months.

Yeah, I was painting with too broad of a brush with my criticism.

Can you imagine if Trump tries to replace him? Holy shit...

It's ironic that Republicans might lose votes in the Senate right now due to self-quarantine Republican senators.

Fauci has the most job security of anyone right now. I am looking forward to his memoirs one day.

I think that's being overplayed. The basic idea that they need some Dems to get to 60 and then the House was true before any quarantines.

I think this week is going to be truly insane. Wouldn't at all be surprised at all if we see a meltdown from him that makes everything we've seen to date tame by comparison.

Agreed. This week could be incredible for everything. I'm sort of dreading it, but thankful that I'm home.

I would have agreed with you, but, ummm...

Moscow Mitch currently on the senate floor destroying the dems with claims that include them trying to attach the green new deal to the stimulus bill. I hope that’s not true. You really can’t believe anything anymore.

Hearing the false indignation in his voice disgusts me.

Not sure why the House doesn't just pass a sensible bill and make the discussion about whether the Senate chooses to pass it or not.

Maybe the members are not all there?

He is painting them into a corner. If they pass today he is the hero that got it done. If they don’t he is painting them as the villain.

It isn't like they don't have access to microphones.

The Dems need to grow a spine and not cave. Lives and the American economy are at stake.

This. Arguing piece by piece on GOP territory is a losing game. Pass the bill you want and show the different priorities to the people.

The House decided not to be a part of this at the beginning of the process, and didn't want to be around until there was something to vote on, thereby abdicating to the Senate. I think it should have started in the House as I've said, and frankly that's on Pelosi at least in part. She chose to let McConnell set the agenda, probably out of a desire to not appear partisan in a crisis. But if you're going to play it that way then you need to have a better endgame plan on this bill than the one we're currently seeing. This deadlock is good for nobody.

Didn't the House pass a package last week, only for the Senate to ignore it? What am I missing here?

(I've been a bit sick and rather tired over the past few days, so I haven't paid as much attention as I normally do, so I apologize if I have erred.)

This is what I'm referring to: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...ouse-vote.html

GOP moving quickly to let 'em die:

Reality check:
-Booming economy, gone
-Businesses closing
-Unemployment soaring
-Hysteria & fear rule

Which is worse, the illness or our "fix"?

Americans stand up to challenges. Don't succumb to fear! Trust in God.

Protect yourself and others, and move forward!

— Rep. Jody Hice (@CongressmanHice) March 23, 2020

That was passed by the Senate and signed into law by Trump and was the second relief bill (first being the initial response one) . What's under discussion now is an entirely different bill, the 'third phase'; stimulus via direct payments to individuals and businesses, funding for medical professionals needs, loans etc. to attempt to keep the economy afloat.

ETA: It's cute to see people in official capacities pretending that we could preserve the 'booming' economy in the midst of a pandemic under any circumstance. That bald-faced lie alone should (but won't) be enough to disqualify them from re-election.

So how can there have been two bills passed if the House did nothing?

yeah, Schumer isn't letting McConnell set the debate:

Jake Sherman on Twitter: "SCHUMER: “We Democrats are trying to get things done, not making partisan speech after partisan speech.�

SCHUMER reminds McConnell that Mnuchin and Ueland are in with him — while McConnell is on the floor.

Man, things have gotten rough."

He says they're close, but won't let the bill proceed in this vote until all the i's are dotted and t's crossed.

They've done nothing since the second bill. Nobody's saying they haven't done anything coronavirus-related at all. . They literally left on recess and said they weren't returning until there was something to vote on, even though they should be taking the lead and both parties strongly agreed massive economic stimulus was necessary.

Which is so strange since the hardest hit will be a large part of their base.

Our company told us they have a week to get this done. Sooner the better, after that, it's gonna get really, really sporty.

Delta has been reporting profits in the low billions for years now, where did all that go? Stock buy backs? Bonuses? I know this is a hard hit area, but I'm a bit unclear how a company that built up profits of probably 20-30 billion over the last 5 years is undone like 3 weeks in to a travel bomb. Their revenue was like 46b and expenses around 40b...and they are not going to zero right now since airlines are carrying cargo.

Maybe I just don't understand balance sheets either but most carriers have cut costs by furloughing people and parking planes, so where is all the $$$$?

Assume they had two years worth of profits saved up and they were able to cut costs by a quarter. That's 12b savings, 30b in costs. In other words, they'd run out of money in a few months. And you know they don't have that much, most corporations are constantly putting their money to use in some way. Stock buybacks yes, or investing in some other thing, or bonuses, or whatever they think is best.

This has always been the risk of the way modern economies run. You don't keep up with the Joneses by putting money away and being conservative. You do it by buying on credit, running tight margins, etc. Most of the time it works. Times like this it's asking for disaster. Short-term thinking, relying on credit at every level of the economy - just look at credit cards, consumer car loans averaging over $500/mo. in payments for something that loses half it's value the second you drive it off the lot, etc.

The piper is rounding the bend, and he isn't happy. When you make decisions assuming the future will be like the past, bad things happen eventually.

I guess I was not thinking about profit sharing and re-investment, I thought that would be covered in the expenses (like if an airline bought an oil refinery it would already be reflected in the numbers). Do any of these corporations actually save some of their profits for a rainy day, or just buy stock back and pay bonuses?

Dems have blocked today's vote as well..And Senators are still gathering in groups on the floor. Didn't they learn from Rand Paul?

Just like everyone else, probably even moreso: they're invincible right up until they're not


SI

Delta sold theirs and they lost a lot of money on it.


Like Brian said, it's a very tight industry. If you don't spend what your competitors, both foreign and domestic, spend on any one area you will lose market share. It's all about the investment to maintain market share. That means, safety, reliability, schedule controls, service, efficiency. If you lose in any one of those areas you're going to lose your advantage. Try and do all that, turn a profit, and do things better than your competitors. It's not an industry that lets you be conservative. A company with an increasingly small market share is a company that will go out of business unless it makes some major changes.

The mixed messages from this administration, while not surprising, are completely maddening.

trump puts out that tweet, then a bunch of retweets, basically stating he thinks we need to loosen up.

Meanwhile the Surgeon General is saying this week is going to be much worse and the secretary of defense is telling us about how the field hospitals being set up.

Saw the Pelosi speech. I have no idea why she spoke about ACA concerns and asking Trump to stop the attack on it.

I would have spent the time spelling out why there is a stalemate - talk about the Dems plan, the slush fund, talk about lack of accountability etc. whatever.

Schumer basically said the afternoon vote wasn't going to pass.

And more states are taking action on their own with shelter in place including West Virginia. Wish they'd just do it nationally.

Because Trump insisted during a press conference that he's going to get rid of it and bring in magical health care where everyone gets a pony.

I want a pony

also I have this box of tictacs. So why doesn't everyone just take a tictac. They're good. They taste good It might work. You never know
I like being optimistic. I happen to like tictacs. It could work..

oh but she's so scared to say anything bad...

fighting against tyranny might jeopardize her electibility...

Oh okay. I didn’t see that press conference. Still seem better if the Dems talked about why there was a stalemate, the sticking points etc

The Trump Administration is currently suing to end the ACA. It is going to head to the Supreme Court in the next year. Would be a real inopportune time for a bunch of people to lose their health care.

Congress being Congress. Trying to figure out how to pad their own pockets, one way or another.

-Trump on the 500 billion.

Yeah, no.

Well, the democratic House bill is out:

Sahil Kapur on Twitter: "House Democrats just introduced their $2.5 trillion coronavirus stimulus package.

The 1,404 page bill: https://t.co/yBZCJH8IJH

The one-page summary 👇… https://t.co/SMhyvJsPsE"

No bill will be perfect, and there's a lot of good stuff in there. But IMO

** It's a mistake to assume large corporations will be fine. They're an easy target but having no targeted bailouts to them here according to the summary is a big mistake; they are no less vital to the economy than small businesses.

** I don't see anything specifically mentioned in there relating to ramping-up the needed equipment production, or appropriating buildings to be used for quarantine purposes, etc. It does no good to require PPE of health care facilities if there aren't any PPE to be had. I don't know how much of that is under Trump's purview and how much is Congress's.

** I don't think this is the right time to be worrying about educational institutions. Get through the pandemic first, then concern yourselves with them. If they have to shut down for a year then so be it, we have bigger problems at the moment.