Hoo, boy, it’s been quite a Monday. Members of the Senate continued to argue over the almost $2 trillion dollar coronavirus relief and stimulus package, with tempers running so high that the senators-- who were actually debating a piece of legislation, which hasn’t happened in a while-- yelled at each other. There are two visions at stake in the struggle. The Senate Republicans, who wrote their bill without input from the Democrats, are focusing on bailing out the corporations whose collapse in this crisis will crater the economy. The Democrats want to focus on the ordinary people hit with unemployment and illness, arguing that by providing funds for workers, as well as supporting hospitals and health care workers, the government will save lives as well as the economy.
It may be that Trump IS working on helping the Republicans’ agenda in Congress.
If he reopens the country, then all the workers now claiming worker’s compensation or sick time pay because their work is unavailable won’t have a legitimate cause for their claims. Everyone will be expected to work as usual. So there will be no need to give the workers any money - it will “make more sense” to shore up corporations so they can continue to churn out profits.
And since the elderly and the health-compromised are actually just a drain on those profits... good riddance.
Five years ago, I was still naive enough - at 63 - that I would not have thought that reasoning possible. I wanted to believe my government was better than that. Now I know better.
Heather - thanks. You’re a spot of reason and even hope in a world gone vicious.
Hi Heather, as always, thank you for your writings and your voice of sanity and expertise in these times. A serious question: Is there anything that can be done to overrule Trump or prevent him from taking actions that will likely endanger many, many people? I was absolutely horrified by his press conference yesterday. He's done so many things that would warrant censure at the least and probably removal from office. But his statements about overriding the medical experts and opening up the economy sooner than later during the coronavirus crisis are just chilling. Yours, Liz Solet
I didn’t think it could get any uglier in Washington (I know, how naive of me), but it looks like it’s going to get much worse. Thank you for keeping us informed.
Your letters are my first stop every day. Thanks so much for your terrific work putting our world in historical perspective! I watched your FB feed the other day. I want to enroll in your classes! Cheers. Bob Lytle
You are definitely on overload with teaching and also adding such excellent commentary to the day's developments. What if anything can be done to stop this president and his advisers from full steam ahead on relaxing stay at home orders? Obviously these folks believe in American exceptionalism rather than the news from Italy. Thanks for the daily briefing!
A friend recently advised me of your newsletter, and I'm glad he did. I've subscribed. Trump really wants control of that $500 billion. On the news tonight, I heard it described as emergency funds for "businesses". I think they specifically avoided using the word "Corporation" because it leaves a bad taste in the public's mouth. They want the public to infer that it's for small businesses. Major looting by Trump and his club is about to kick into overdrive. This is one of those rare moments in history when the people can truly change things. We need a battalion of Edward Snowden's to comb every offshore account and report back.
It's appalling that our president would place profits over people's lives. The economy will recover sooner or later, but death is forever. Lives lost will never be restored. This desire to "reopen" the economy is a stark reminder of 45*'s lack of empathy, compassion, and conscience.
My husband has been following the WHO site in regards to the worldometer record to assess the death rate by calculating the resolved cases versus deaths. The death rate has always been way higher than reported. Now the rest of the world is still reporting that rate clearly calculated...the US is not. It disappeared yesterday just before Trump started blathering about stopping the isolation. The US numbers were horrible...running near 70 percent. Canada by contrast has a rate about 18. South Korea has a rate of around 4. Way higher than Trump claims. it is being suppressed. the case rate and the fatalities have also changed overnight a few times. What Ron is tracking is the confirmed cases that have been deemed resolved recovered versus percentage who died...and you can also project the deaths likely if the trend continues looking for evidence that hospitals are doing better as fewer people die......but we may not be able to trust the numbers as fewer tests are done.y daughter works anesthesia in Texas....hospitals are NOT ready for the tsunami that is coming.
Your essays are the starting point of my day, reinforcing that there is still sanity to be had as I head off to my job in healthcare.
It may be that Trump IS working on helping the Republicans’ agenda in Congress.
If he reopens the country, then all the workers now claiming worker’s compensation or sick time pay because their work is unavailable won’t have a legitimate cause for their claims. Everyone will be expected to work as usual. So there will be no need to give the workers any money - it will “make more sense” to shore up corporations so they can continue to churn out profits.
And since the elderly and the health-compromised are actually just a drain on those profits... good riddance.
Five years ago, I was still naive enough - at 63 - that I would not have thought that reasoning possible. I wanted to believe my government was better than that. Now I know better.
Heather - thanks. You’re a spot of reason and even hope in a world gone vicious.
Hi Heather, as always, thank you for your writings and your voice of sanity and expertise in these times. A serious question: Is there anything that can be done to overrule Trump or prevent him from taking actions that will likely endanger many, many people? I was absolutely horrified by his press conference yesterday. He's done so many things that would warrant censure at the least and probably removal from office. But his statements about overriding the medical experts and opening up the economy sooner than later during the coronavirus crisis are just chilling. Yours, Liz Solet
I didn’t think it could get any uglier in Washington (I know, how naive of me), but it looks like it’s going to get much worse. Thank you for keeping us informed.
Thanks for a remarkably informed summary.
“Hoo boy” is my new go to, heart felt expletive!
Your letters are my first stop every day. Thanks so much for your terrific work putting our world in historical perspective! I watched your FB feed the other day. I want to enroll in your classes! Cheers. Bob Lytle
You are definitely on overload with teaching and also adding such excellent commentary to the day's developments. What if anything can be done to stop this president and his advisers from full steam ahead on relaxing stay at home orders? Obviously these folks believe in American exceptionalism rather than the news from Italy. Thanks for the daily briefing!
A friend recently advised me of your newsletter, and I'm glad he did. I've subscribed. Trump really wants control of that $500 billion. On the news tonight, I heard it described as emergency funds for "businesses". I think they specifically avoided using the word "Corporation" because it leaves a bad taste in the public's mouth. They want the public to infer that it's for small businesses. Major looting by Trump and his club is about to kick into overdrive. This is one of those rare moments in history when the people can truly change things. We need a battalion of Edward Snowden's to comb every offshore account and report back.
It's appalling that our president would place profits over people's lives. The economy will recover sooner or later, but death is forever. Lives lost will never be restored. This desire to "reopen" the economy is a stark reminder of 45*'s lack of empathy, compassion, and conscience.
Sure, let’s put the fox in charge of the hen house — what could possibly go wrong?
Thank you so very much.
Thank you for writing these newsletters. I look forward to reading them every day.
My husband has been following the WHO site in regards to the worldometer record to assess the death rate by calculating the resolved cases versus deaths. The death rate has always been way higher than reported. Now the rest of the world is still reporting that rate clearly calculated...the US is not. It disappeared yesterday just before Trump started blathering about stopping the isolation. The US numbers were horrible...running near 70 percent. Canada by contrast has a rate about 18. South Korea has a rate of around 4. Way higher than Trump claims. it is being suppressed. the case rate and the fatalities have also changed overnight a few times. What Ron is tracking is the confirmed cases that have been deemed resolved recovered versus percentage who died...and you can also project the deaths likely if the trend continues looking for evidence that hospitals are doing better as fewer people die......but we may not be able to trust the numbers as fewer tests are done.y daughter works anesthesia in Texas....hospitals are NOT ready for the tsunami that is coming.
Difficult trade-offs? Lives? Smacks of "collateral damage"!
Where are the comments section on the new posts? I was looking forward to discussions when I subscribed to Substack!