They're Still Having Fun In Merrie Olde England

People helping people - that's what its all about, amirite? This video from the UK should inspire all of us.

Comments

[Melinda]

John Hagel
@jhagel
I love these stories of improvisation in a time of need: 500 patients in northern Italian hospitals are receiving right now respirators, produced by hacked scuba gear bit.ly/3dCz58G

https://twitter.com/jhagel/status/1243539612716470276

[Neo]

Z-Pak Zithromax
Generic drug name: Azithromycin

Azithromycin is an antibiotic that fights bacteria.

Azithromycin is used to treat many different types of infections caused by bacteria, such as respiratory infections, skin infections, ear infections, eye infections, and sexually transmitted diseases.

[Melinda]

MM-

House has rules for voting. They're being invoked. Nothing new or sinister. And it looks like they're going to rush back from early vacation to vote, maybe today, but probably tomorrow. You know, all rushed-like.

[henry]

Because doing their job during an emergency is an unfair burden somehow. They need a pay cut.

[Melinda]

Deeply unfair. Taxing, even.

[henry]

Scammers gotta scam.

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/opinion/states-illinois-need-coronavirus-relief-pensions-and-health-care

Why should the rest of us pay for Illinois’ corruption. Bankrupt the state (and cities within), ban the officials from holding any future position of public authority, and get on with life.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

His climate models are total bunk.
It is a logical fallacy to assume his models of disease are therefore bunk. They are relatively easy to check because worldwide there is broad agreement the R0 has tended to be in the range of 2-3 and the mortality rate has tended to almost everywhere exceed 1%. Given those inputs which have a great deal of real world evidentiary support in country after country his numbers are possible and not unreasonable. Just because we don't have precise numbers doesn't mean we can't have reasonable estimates.

The irony is especially thick to hear people upset with epidemiologists making up these silly numbers about Wuflu when we know darn well that real flu kills X number of people every year and it has this transmissability factor of Y.
Where do they think X and Y come from? They come from epidemiologists making estimates every year based on the closest values they can come up with for R0 and mortalities caused by influenza.

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
·
6m
By empowering the Radical Left Democrats, do nothing Kentucky politician @RepThomasMassie
is making their War on the 2nd Amendment more and more difficult to win (But don’t worry, we will win anyway!). He is a disaster for America, and for the Great State of Kentucky!

[Melinda]

Missed this:

https://www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology/news/2020/03/18/snapshot-combatting-human-trafficking-analytics

Pretty big deal, and note the name.

[henry]

Climate models, politically inspired bunk. Epidemiology models also politically inspired bunk? Not a stretch given he burned out any reason to trust his work. Logic involves trust as well.

[Extraneus]

I take it Massie didn't call Trump ahead of time?

[henry]

Remember, Ig. “Lies, Damn lies, and statistics”

Models are applied statistics. Especially in a political environment.

[MissMarple2]

Melinda,

OK, here are my objections:

1. Why in the HELL with current technology, can they not do texting or e-mail voting in emergencies like this?

2. Air flights are limited, so those forced to fly back will be taking up seats that might be needed by people in emergencies, like going to visit a dying relative.

3. Flying in planes with close quarters might expose members to the virus, when they hadn't been already.

4. A lot of members are over 65, and will be exposed as high-risk victims (and I am not counting those who have had heart attacks, asthma, etc.).

5. What about the people who have to show up on the Hill as security?

6. This sets a bad example for the rest of the country.

[D]

I have not posted for awhile because:
Tired of virus
Common sense has been thrown out the window.
Our Ohio primary is now absentee ballot.
Big government power grab on the federal and local level.
Black’s article is telling wrt the Dems.
Iggy:
The Ferguson article was trash from the get-go-stop digging.
Don’t believe the media, will trust my gut on what is real and what is partisan based and false
Condos near my house, walking distance have a yellow tape around the entrance because mostly elderly live there.
How are they getting food?
Still no cases here in Rocky River.
Of course some areas of the country can open back up.
Common sense tells us it is ok to do this.

[MissMarple2]

New Washington Post poll: Trump job approval 48 percent disapproval 46 percent. Highest approval, lowest disapproval in Trump presidency. Also first time not underwater. https://t.co/ZXTjrV3iv1 pic.twitter.com/YixjqXK1ZB

— Byron York (@ByronYork) March 27, 2020

Details posted at links.
======================================

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
·
2m
Thank you Byron. Many polls are much better than this. If it is the Fake News @washingtonpost, add 10 points!

[Old Lurker]

Was Libby guilty or innocent?

How many layers were there on Obama's Birth Certificate?

What color hats were Sessions and Rosenthal wearing?

What did happen in #2weeks?

[D]

Henry:
I totally agree with all your posts.
Illinois is especially egregious.
Using the virus to get out of state debt their erstwhile politicians inflicted on the state.

[Melinda]

Massie is an MIT grad, so I'm pretty sure he's got a rational reason for this. I'll wait.

[Melinda]

Big drama on the floor this AM:

Chad Pergram
@ChadPergram
Big dustup on the Hse flr. Rep Haley Stevens (D-MI) is ruled out of order by presiding officer Rep Anthony Brown (D-MD), screaming about the coronavirus bill. Wearing latex gloves and shouting.

https://twitter.com/ChadPergram/status/1243543134589652992

[MR- Thinking that the IL Congressional Delegation wouldn't do something self-serving would be the statistical outlier.]

[MissMarple2]

Melinda,

What's his degree in? What committees is he on? Who are his major donors?

I am going looking.

[D]

Massie will lose his House seat if he messes this up just for publicity.

[D]

Mel:
Dems acting like-ssholes.
Tell me something I don’t know.

[Old Lurker]

Can't answer my own questions.

But THIS I do know.

This country, hence the world, is teetering on a knife edge between Individual Liberty vs Slavery to the State. If we fall to the side of Individual Liberty, the world will be a better place year after year. If we fall to the other side, then we are in for one of those historical cycles of civilization not unlike the last one we called The Dark Ages.

Donald Trump, one man with feet of clay (h/t Iggy), cannot control which way we fall, even if he wants to.

Just the way it is.

[Captain Hate]

Which next unelected expert gets to hijack the country?

[MissMarple2]

Committees:

Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure

Committee on Oversight & Government Reform

Degrees (from his biography):

Chairman 2A Caucus, Political Science Denier, Greenest Congressman, MIT '93 Bachelor of Science EE, '96 Master of Science MechE

==================
Big whoop. My ex-husband was an engineering graduate from Rolla. It did not prevent him from being a selfish asshole.

[Momto2]

Momto, so no scrip for chloroquine and a z-pack for the teacher?

I think (hope) that's what she meant by taking some strong medicines. I believe I read somewhere that the Chloroquine can decrease blood pressure which is one of the things she is dealing with at the moment. Whatever she is taking seems to be working. Don't know her exact age but she's over 60. She is a Ph.D., a believer, and one of my favorite people.

Lately, I've gone from not knowing anyone with the virus to knowing 5 personally.

[Jane]

Rep Haley Stevens (D-MI) is ruled out of order

Have no idea what she was screaming about - was distracted by her PINK latex gloves as she never stopped waving her hands.

[jimmyk]

The irony is especially thick to hear people upset with epidemiologists making up these silly numbers about Wuflu when we know darn well that real flu kills X number of people every year and it has this transmissability factor of Y.
Where do they think X and Y come from?

Apples and oranges. Again, the point is that we basically do nothing collectively (other than flu shots) for seasonal flu--first, because it's every damn year, and second because the mortality and hospitalization rates are quite low (roughly 0.1% and 1%). WuFlu is presumably between 5 and 10 times that, and more like once/decade type phenomenon (SARS was 2002, H1N1 2010, MERS 2015 I think). So "do nothing" is not a relevant scenario.

The issue here, for me at least, is over a range of reasonable societal responses, from only isolating the most vulnerable, to total lockdown, what are the costs and benefits? Since the pandemics are all different and the responses all different, there's very little solid data on which to base this. The IC simulations are just wild educated guesses. Transmissibility of seasonal flu can *maybe* give some insight into the irrelevant "do nothing at all" scenario, but not to the real decisions that are being made between total lockdowns and more targeted responses.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--Iggy, my point is that the 510,000 is like "jobs created or saved." A meaningless and unquantifiable counterfactual.--

But your point is wrong because it's nothing like that. Jobs created or saved was not based on real world inputs. They were made up numbers based on nothing but theory.

His numbers at least have the input of a couple of months of how this disease has progressed over many countries, many illnesses and many deaths. Again it inherently cannot give and absolute number, only a range, but that range is not made up by Austin Ghoulsbie, little Timmy Geithner and Jared Bernstein out of thin air.

And again "what was being contemplated" was only being contemplated because epidemiologists took real world numbers and told decision makers, if you don't contemplate doing something here is a range of what will happen.
Can anyone point to a real epidemiologist, not one who got his credentials since January 1st watching CNN or reading wikipedia and I am most definitely in this group, but can anyone name a real trained epidemiologist who has looked at the evidence and concluded this is just the flu or if we did very little it wouldn't have killed a great many people including a great many who didn't have it but couldn't get medical care for what they did have because the healthcare system was drowning?
Seems to me we will never know, because of the nature of the beast, precise numbers for any mitigation effort either or the converse harm and deaths that come from doing too little or too much. That was my point about nobody on earth even having a definitive answer whether to leave even schools open or closed. Fer cryin out loud we range from some people claiming half the world's population has it and doesn't know it to other people saying that even if you aren't in a risk group it's a devastating illness of great pain and near suffocation and it leaves behind all sorts of scar tissue and lasting damage. Here's the basic problem; the veneer of civilization is thin but the veneer of sanity is even thinner. Herds of people think no better than herds of sheep, especially herds of sheep stalked by Wuhan wolves.

Everybody is guessing about what the right course is and unfortunately everybody's guess seems colored by the political, economic, moral and faith assumptions they bring to the question and even more unfortunately the emotions they bring to it, especially fear.
As for me I find it perfectly reasonable for those people who are unlikely to get it, or if they do, unlikely to be harmed by it, to go about their business and their lives. Those who are most susceptible should be isolated until it passes, effective treatments are found or a vaccine developed. It's insane to do either nothing or so little as to effectively be nothing, which a lot of proposals are. It's also insane to shutter the planet for even a month.
The likelihood is that unlike SARS, eventually every person will eventually be exposed to this, possibly over years not weeks or months. It's not going to go extinct like smallpox or SARS by isolation or vaccine any time soon. The object should be to slow its progression enough to let our healthcare system continue to function but also our economy. That seems to be the road Trump is on and the states, so far, seem ready to follow. We'll see if that continues as he takes the common sense approach of ending the great hunkering.

[Another Bob]

Agree Jimmy.

Plus, solid data about flu is abundant and (presumably) trustworthy. Neither of those things are true for COVID-19 today.

[MissMarple2]

So, the Politico guy has multiple sources...

Jake Sherman
@JakeSherman

NEWS — @RepThomasMassie reached out to talk to @realDonaldTrump this morning, per multiple sources. Not clear if they connected — but @RepThomasMassie made the call.
==================================
WHAT sources? Show me the record of the call! I don't believe this reporter for a minute.

[Momto2]

President Trump is really steamed at Massie. In spite of the scurrilous back-stabbing by some other Republicans, I've never heard him call for throwing them out of the party! (or maybe I missed it)

[jimmyk]

Iggy @10:48, I agree 100% (or at least 99%) with your last two paragraphs. I'm not sure we're really fundamentally disagreeing about anything except how to think about these studies. The small disagreement is "eventually every person...." I'm not so sure of that, but 50-60% seems reasonable. Eventually herd immunity kicks in and the remainder are less vulnerable.

[clarice]

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/489815-cnn-to-air-biden-coronavirus-town-hall-friday-night

Some comic relief.

[Extraneus]

China Gives Chilly Response to Request for U.S. Journalists to Remain in Country

China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its website that it welcomed media and reporters from all countries to report in China "in accordance with laws and regulations" but that it did not accept "the arrogance and prejudice" it said was revealed in the letter of the three publishers.

The statement did not directly answer the newspapers' request but suggested Beijing was in no mood to accept it.

"The Chinese people do not welcome reports that are not objective and not fair," said the statement.

"Faced with the escalating political suppression and discriminatory practices of the United States, do you expect China to be merely a ‘silent lamb'"?

The ministry reiterated that the blame for the situation lay with Washington, rather than Beijing, for first restricting the number of Chinese media in the United States.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--Can't speak for anyone else but I'm so sick of talking about and thinking about this stupid bug I've pretty much had it.

Posted by: The Infamous Ignatz | March 26, 2020 at 10:08 PM--

--LOL, with no hint of irony whatsoever, see Socrates' conclusion about the unexamined life.

Posted by: hrtshpdbox | March 27, 2020 at 06:21 AM--

I don't know what your problem is. I offered an apology if I said something in particular that offended you. But if you have a problem with me in general I'm not apologizing for existing or for a problem you have.
I'll just say this; aren't you the guy who pretty much yelled at the rest of us for several months that Senor Yeb was the greatest thing since sliced bread and anyone who supported that big orange boor Trump was an idiot? And didn't you have a screaming hissy fit, pick up your jacks and stomp off in a huff?
So in an attempt to iron things out, so to speak, why don't you go examine your own life and maybe the plank in your own eye while your at it? If you don't like me killfile me, don't sit there taking cheap shots at me because you got your feelings hurt over something of which I'm not even aware.

You are correct about one thing, I keep yapping about this stupid bug. And I think the reason why is because I see the evidence free, feelings based argument that progs use being used by our side more than is usual.
So, since I like serenity, especially the JG Wentworth Serenity Now! version, I'll take St Francis's advice and try to concentrate on those things I can change, accept those things I can't and seek the wisdom to let the sheep, including me, graze where they might.

[Momto2]

:) And by "town" I mean downtown Atlanta!

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--The small disagreement is "eventually every person...." I'm not so sure of that, but 50-60% seems reasonable. Eventually herd immunity kicks in and the remainder are less vulnerable.--

I said exposed not infected. I'm pretty sure over the course of a year close to 100% of the people are exposed to influenza [though I could very well be wrong about that] but obviously a much lower percentage get it.

[GUS]

The stupid c#$t was reading her childish rant. I.q. of about 50.

[henry]

re: Massie

@johnkerry

Breaking news: Congressman Massie has tested positive for being an asshole. He must be quarantined to prevent the spread of his massive stupidity. He's given new meaning to the term #Masshole. (Finally, something the president and I can agree on!)

[Captain Hate]

That's who genius Marie Harf left Fox to go work for and weeks later he shut down.

Ponder for a moment just how stupid one would have to be to go to work on Seth Moulton's presidential campaign.
Posted by: Circa (Insert Year Here) at March 27, 2020 09:51 AM (Boy/L)

And how stupid the network was to take the dumbass back.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--Iggy:
The Ferguson article was trash from the get-go-stop digging.--

Did you read it? If you didn't how do you know it's trash?

[Old Lurker]

When the entire governing class goes crazy about passing this bill and shutting the country down, I smell a rat.

[Stephanie Nene Not Your Normal Granma]

Amen to that Momto2!

[Porchlight]

I'm making powerpoint lectures like a madwoman--the most recent on Kingsley Amis' Lucky Jim--anyone want a copy, let me know.

Catsmeat, I would love to see that one. One of my favorite novels - I know it almost by heart.

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
·
13m
As usual with “this” General Motors, things just never seem to work out. They said they were going to give us 40,000 much needed Ventilators, “very quickly”. Now they are saying it will only be 6000, in late April, and they want top dollar. Always a mess with Mary B. Invoke “P”.

General Motors MUST immediately open their stupidly abandoned Lordstown plant in Ohio, or some other plant, and START MAKING VENTILATORS, NOW!!!!!! FORD, GET GOING ON VENTILATORS, FAST!!!!!! @GeneralMotors
@Ford

[Porchlight]

Iggy, my point is that the 510,000 is like "jobs created or saved." A meaningless and unquantifiable counterfactual. In the realm of what was being actually contemplated, by his own very fuzzy calculations the status quo was more like 170,000. But of course we can't know if that was anything close to accurate because the experiment wasn't run.

This is really beginning to remind me of poll watching in 2016. National polls that had Hillary 12 points ahead, etc. They were always bullshit. But the exact same people who are currently pushing the apocalypse porn said they were FACT. When what the polls and those people were really doing was constructing and pushing a narrative.

Then, after the election, they still wouldn't admit that they were wrong. Rinse and repeat.

[rse]

Now ladies.

Usually it's the fastest way to get to the airport.

[GUS]

BUT BUT BUT PORCH Sir Edmund Hillary Rodham won the popular vote,,,,,,,,,,,,,they were right.....errrr I mean LEFT.

[Stephanie Nene Not Your Normal Granma]

The Communists are seizing US firms with operations in China, using the virus as an excuse, and selling their goods for a profit.

Can anyone confirm this?

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
·
11m
Invoke “P” means Defense Production Act!

[GUS]

Cuomo is on the TEEEEEEVEEEEEEE making a fool of himself.

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
·
10m
We have just purchased many Ventilators from some wonderful companies. Names and numbers will be announced later today!

[MissMarple2]

Darla Shine
@DarlaShine
·
49s
Are the #NYC Airports closed? Who can confirm?

[Captain Hate]

Apparently the MSM has moved on to attacking the fine Dr. Birx because she had the audacity to scold them, gently, for hyping up the panic.

Now that she's been unpersoned they have noticed that the (formerly admired) Dr. Birx is a *gasp* Evangelical Christian. ZOMG, burn the witch!!
Posted by: Lizzy at March 27, 2020 11:39 AM (bDqIh)

[Stephanie Nene Not Your Normal Granma]

Usually it's the fastest way to get to the airport.

Not from here... 285 is faster. :)

I used to just about live in Bhead in the 80s/90s. I think the last time I was there was to eat at the Fish Market for a family gathering and before that the JOM meetup with you, DrJ and Beasts.

[Extraneus]

Another week of this and I'll be able to sport a man bun.

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
·
5m
Will someone please explain to the Fake News New York Times (ALL THE NEWS THAT’S NOT FIT TO PRINT) that the Democrats make it almost impossible for us to fill positions within government. They “maximum” delay even the best candidates, including Judges, leaving little time!

[anonamom]

Momto, so no scrip for chloroquine and a z-pack for the teacher?

Our betters, like MI and NV governors, CEOs running hospital systems, etc. have decreed that patients' lives can't be risked with unproven therapies--but I sure will be risking mine if I turn positive, based on what I've seen so far.

NYU will likely release some data next week.
(My sources will hear about it,anyway.)

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
·
51s
Thousand of Federal Government (delivered) Ventilators found in New York storage. N.Y. must distribute NOW!

[rse]

Hubby is headed there now as I cleaned out my closet and suddenly the garbage pickup wouldn't take garbage bags not in bins. Off to use the dumpster at the closest location to us.

Would be nice if they would tell us what the ever changing rules are before we get things to the curb using previous rules.

[rse]

Also about to make homemade chili powder for the 1st time ever. Good thing I have tins of Hungarian paprika, hot and sweet, as well as smoked paprika. Wasn't aware my chili powder supply was low until I cam back from store. https://www.spendwithpennies.com/homemade-chili-powder/ is recipe if anyone else wants to do the same.

[Stephanie Nene Not Your Normal Granma]

Well, your local government is almost all dems, so unless they can benefit from an annoucement, they really don't think far enough ahead to pop their heads out of their asses for anything that doesn't involve them. I'm sure their pickups aren't affected.

[Buckeye]

Our betters, like MI and NV governors, CEOs running hospital systems, etc. have decreed that patients' lives can't be risked with unproven therapies--but I sure will be risking mine if I turn positive, based on what I've seen so far.

Think I’ll start knockin off drug stores. Gonna be more valuable than cocaine.

[GUS]

How would anyone know or care what religion Dr Birx is???

[Buckeye]

Trump should send the 2 month prophylactic dose of hydroxy to everyone on his campaign mailing list:)

Your move libtards.

[Jane]

https://thefederalist.com/2020/03/27/read-biden-accusers-account-of-his-alleged-sexual-assault/

The victim's account of Biden raping her. Very compelling.

[Narciso]

Lurch doing his toutine at thd chuckle hut, im willing to consider thar ferguson did not feel his recommendations we heeded re h1ni, so he stepped up a degree.

[Narciso]

Massie is usually averse to powet grabs, unless they are congressional usurpationd of executive authority (like the war powers kurfluffle) ot how does one say kangaroo court in turkish.

[Jane]

My niece told me this morning, she is pretty sure her 5 year old had C-virus in early January. They thought he had the flu, took him to the doc and he tested negative. Once C-virus emerged they realized that those were the symptoms. He recovered easily and did not spread it to his parents or 2 siblings.

I bet she is right - which tells us something about when it started and when we actually knew about it.

[Narciso]

He seems to have beem accurate about the extent of ebola infection? Outside subsaharan africa

[Narciso]

Ferguson seems to have been, not massie hes part of the rand paup caucus.

[Narciso]

The possum congress seems to have gone dead armadillo

[Narciso]

Very interesting jane, where was thisn

[Narciso]

Like the Capitol treats the districts

[Narciso]

The mouse is a rat

https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/scott-whitlock/2020/03/27/abc-washpost-fret-over-trumps-strong-corona-polling-will

[GUS]

So Joe Biden is a RAPIST. I just got off the phone with RODHAM, who told me that "we must" believe this victim. Ok.

[Extraneus]

The [alleged] victim's account...

And why does this come out now if it happened in 1993? Why not when he and Barack were running?

Is it because the Dems are having buyer's remorse?

[Gentlejim]

Would it be wrong to shoot IL and NY residents that keep bringing their sick family members to my small town? Asking for a friend.
It’s bad enough our guests from the west are treating this like a fucking holiday.

[Jim Eagle]

Dr. Birx is a retired Army Officer, full bird (O-6) [Colonel].

Her background is on the HIV/AIDS Medical Task Force. She has more credibility with me than the ranters and ravers without any medical knowledge.

DCAA needs to ramp up their audits because I am convinced finding ventilators in a NY warehouse is an outlier to the total boondoggle.

[Old Lurker]

Jane...beginning to hear that a lot. Even my M.D. kids now think the "crud" they shared a month or two ago was this bug. Nasal swabs now are clear so they both "tested negative". Antibody tests on their blood eventually might show another picture.

But when the history is written, I suspect we will find that the number on the bottom of the fraction was a lot bigger than thought at the time, thus the two scare stats (transmissibility and lethality) were much over hyped.

How convenient for those who are benefitting.

And make no mistake, some are. And will.

[Stephanie Nene Not Your Normal Granma]

It actually came out several years ago and she was excoriated then. That she is back and not backing down this time is interesting. It serves several factions agendas, so who is pushing it this time is... curious.

[GUS]

I wonder if he asked the lady to go swimming.

[anonamom]

ig-Government Contagion
Appropriators throw hundreds of billions at the virus—and at everything else.

By Kimberley A. Strassel
March 26, 2020 6:39 pm ETB

The Senate did something good Wednesday night, passing a bill to inject liquidity into a virus-ravaged economy. It also did something dangerous, requiring the public to be on guard.

Members of Congress are pointing out the many parts of society aided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, styled the Cares Act. Checks for American families. Some $377 billion for small business. Help for air carriers and other industries. Money for hospitals.
Missing from their list is an important category, which underlines an inescapable fact: Government mostly “Cares” for government. Bills that hand out money are written by appropriators. And appropriators never miss an opportunity to expand departments, agencies, bureaus and commissions. A rough calculation suggests the single biggest recipient of taxpayer dollars in this legislation—far in excess of $600 billion—is government itself. This legislation may prove the biggest one-day expansion of government power ever.

Some of this money is required. Washington and the states are devoting significant resources to the virus response, and the bill earmarks funds for many specific and warranted purposes. A great deal of cash is going to frontline agencies—the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services. The bill sends money to the Bureau of Prisons, to help control the virus’s spread among inmates; to the IRS for an extended tax-filing season; to the Transportation Security Administration “for cleaning and sanitization at checkpoints.” Are the amounts a bit excessive? No doubt. But let’s not quibble.

More concerning is the extent to which Democrats used the bill to tighten every fiber of the social safety net. Put aside the $260 billion for unemployment benefits, potentially necessary in light of record jobless claims. The bill throws $25 billion more at food stamps and child nutrition; $12 billion at housing; $3.5 billion to states for child care; $32 billion at education; $900 million at low-income heating assistance; $50 million at legal services for the poor and so on. This is a massive expansion of the welfare state, seemingly with no regard to the actual length of this crisis.

There’s also the money appropriators threw at government for no purpose other than the throwing. Every outpost gets dollars, most for nothing more than the general command “to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus.” NASA gets $60 million. Has the virus infected the sun’s corona? The National Archives gets $8 million. Will it put the virus on display? Many departments get cash for research, regardless of their relevance to today’s medical crisis. Perhaps the Energy Department will use its additional $99 million in “science” to gauge how the virus responds in a nuclear reactor.

Then there’s the outright pork. The Forest Service gets $3 million for “forest and rangeland research,” $27 million for “capital improvement and maintenance,” and $7 million for wildfire management. The bill shovels $75 million to the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities, $25 million to the Kennedy Center, an odd $78,000 “payment” to the Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development. A water project in central Utah gets $500,000. Appropriators can sneak a lot into 880 pages.

The bill sends $150 billion to state governments, on top of the dollars for unemployment, health care and education. Some of this money will be used to backstop local governments struggling with virus response, or with the economic consequences of the shutdown. But for all the Democratic demands of oversight on the bill’s business loans, the state dollars have no real strings attached. Should a locality choose to use its dollars to create new nonsensical business regulations, so be it.

Republicans waved much of this through, viewing it as the Democratic price for urgently needed business liquidity. But they should understand the left has every intention of making these spending levels the new normal. Long after this virus has passed, long after the economy is recovering, Democrats will cry foul at any cut. Should they win the presidency or the Senate this fall, the chances of rolling any of this back fall even further.

The bill’s real failure is that it makes no distinctions between temporary and permanent expansion of government. The state has a role in short-term crises, and lawmakers have an obligation to allocate the resources to respond. But Democrats successfully exploited the crisis to expand the power of government overall—perhaps for the long term. That’s especially perverse, given it was government that imposed the restrictions that shut down the economy, necessitating this rescue bill in the first place.

The Trump administration and GOP lawmakers should have been making this distinction all along, and they’d be wise to start reassuring voters immediately of their intent to rationalize the system once the urgent moment passes. Coronavirus has done enough damage. We don’t need it to also become the excuse for a permanent government power grab.

[Melinda]

IF OL and I are both smelling a rat, I'm going to have to buy me some PowerBall tickets....

[Old Lurker]

Strassel "The Trump administration and GOP lawmakers should have been making this distinction all along, and they’d be wise to start reassuring voters immediately of their intent to rationalize the system once the urgent moment passes."

But they did not. Just as they did not charge any coup plotters with any of their crimes.

Other than words, why do we think any of them actually mean to what they promised? And to Kimberly's current point, on this crisis, they are not even muttering the words.

[D]

Ext:
Very interesting question wrt Biden.
Too late Dems, you are stuck with him because of your dumb primary voters.
Trump has the best take on this whole virus situation and also knows the economic cost.
So Dems are racing back to the Capitol.
Why did they leave in the first place?
No one could celebrate StPatrick’s Day and Easter is almost 3 weeks away.

[Old Lurker]

:-) Mel.

The guy at the 7-11 will only take cash.

[Narciso]

They do great marcel marceau, though.

[Jim Eagle]

Much ado about nothing but I have just watched, in the last 5 minutes, 5 squadron's of 20 to 30 Brown Pelican's flying north along the beach and cutting down to the condos to pick up their selective updrafts.

Useually, they come in groups of 3-5 but today there must be a special feeding up at Mainland (Dolphin Experience), to attract so many birds.

[Jim Eagle]

..Mainland..s/b..Marineland...

[D]

The coup plotters for the most part are going to skate free because the theory will be at the time they thought there was a real threat from Russia and they were doing what they thought was right without any bias as all have testified.
It is a load of bull but after reading that article of how rarely they are charged I don’t have much hope for Justice there.
However I want Durham to name names and state who did what and when.
I guess they think losing your job was punishment enough.
I have lowered my expectations regarding any consequences for the treasonous crew. However unless their is significant FZiSA and FBI reform it will happen again.
Maybe as soon as 2020 with spying on Trump’s re-election campaign.

[peter]

Several of my company's employees have tested positive for the C-virus.

[D]

OL
Dairy Queen will only take credit.

[Momto2]

Dr. David Price is an intensive care unit doctor at the Weill Cornell Medical Center, one of the largest hospitals, in New York City. He is spending almost 100% of his time seeing the sickest of the COVID - 19 patients that come to the hospital. This video gives his very unique perspective on the virus.

https://vimeo.com/399733860

[Narciso]

How is the situation in the atlanta area, momto 2

[peter]

i don't know if I would want to be hooked up to a ventilator made at the GM Lordstown plant. That's where they made Chevy Vegas.

[Jim Eagle]

At Amazon they are selling "used" TP. Ewwwww!

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=toilet+paper&rh=p_89%3ACharmin%7CCottonelle%7CGeorgia-Pacific%7CScott%2Cp_n_condition-type%3A6461718011&dc&qid=1585328484&rnid=6461714011&ref=sr_nr_p_n_condition-type_2

Gives "used" a different meaning.

[Neo]

Trump’s biggest political danger as of now, seems to be a possible resurgence of COVID just before the election.

[D]

JIB and Marlene:
The place to get TP is at Target early at 8:00am every morning because the restock it every day.
Publix like our Heinen’s will not have it.