Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Breccia]

McConnell appears to be wavering on holding up future relief funds.

We'll see if that actually happens, but the fact that he's even allowing it as an option is telling.

McConnell's "No to Everything" seemed mostly based on there being no money left, which is a foolish thing to say now that
a) we know there was PPP money left, and
b) he knows that because he saw the account balance when he handed his wife a check from it

We will never know what caused this change of policy. We know Trump is pushing for even more money, probably because he wants to sign these checks too and take credit for Congress' work. Maybe that's part of it, but I no longer believe "what Trump wants" is McConnell's primary motivation. I think he's worried the Senate will flip. I think he's worried about his own election chances. And I think the comment about

I think the people who have been hit the hardest are people who make about $40,000 a year or less. Many of them work in the hospitality industry.

was anything other than admission that COVID-19 remains a major problem and that states that reopened too soon Executus were doing more damage than help.

My opinion on matching funds remains unchanged, however. If McConnell allows the Democratic initiative (it certainly wasn't his) for another stimulus check, he'll only do so if he gets matching funds for things he wants, such as more money for his wife's company.

[Gorsameth]

Really shows his respect for the black community that Kanye feels a need to throw his hat in the ring to make sure they "vote right".

He said Slavery was a choice.

pretty sure he has no respect.

[Breccia]

The Facebook boycott is working. FB is planning to meet the heads of some of the boycotting companies, almost certainly to ask for a list of things they need to do to get their money again.

The program Farmers to Families Food Box, which I think we've talked about on these forums, was intended to fix the broken supply chain and bring food from farmers directly to food banks. It hasn't been working very well. The pledge was to deliver $1.2 billion worth of food, the result was under $800 million. Ivanka (this was her idea, apparently) simply didn't get enough experienced people involved, and deliveries would be late or just never happen.

The stock market is no longer betting on Trump. A Citigroup poll of 140 fund managers released last week found that 62% expect a Biden win, compared to 70% who expected a Trump victory in the same survey in December. If this is true, expect companies to act as if their taxes are going to go up h -- perhaps a period of development and expansion, spending more so their income is less?

Yet another new poll shows that people trust their state and local government on the COVID-19 lethal virus outbreak than Trump. When asked for comment, Trump said

It’s one person coming in from China. We have it under control. It’s going to be just fine

A former CDC head was asked point-blank on live TV if we're seeing an increase caused by doing more testing.

Although it's true we're testing more, we're finding a whole lot more, and so, it is absolutely clear this is a real increase.You don't have to tell the doctors in the emergency rooms who are dealing with tons of patients right now throughout the South and Southeast, Southwest of the U.S. that this is real. It's real.

He also said the US made a mistake re-opening too soon, and that we're "an outlier" because of this.

And adding to my previous post re:McConnell, it should be noted that many economists are asking for exactly this.

The first round of economic impact payments were a lifeline that helped some get by for a few weeks. Even after businesses start to re-open and jobs begin to come back, there will be significant economic fallout, and demand will continue to lag if people don’t have money to spend.

During all this...Trump tweets about NASCAR.

[Thekri]

During all this...Trump tweets about NASCAR.

NASCAR was yesterday. Today he is tweeting about Hydoxy and how the media isn't reporting the falling fatality rate.

The Hydroxy parts is just Trump refusing to admit he is ever wrong on anything. That drug failed tests months ago, and the medical world has moved on. But some extremely questionable group (That ran a Pro-Trump PAC in 2016) put out a non-peer reviewed, non-conclusive test, so Trump tweeted about it three times today. (For the record, Hydroxy is a useful and effective drug. For Malaria. It was used because Covid shares some symptoms with Malaria, but failed to pass the trials.)

The Covid Death rate ones are... bizarre. As usual, they contradict Trumps own claims if they were true, since in order to meet his "99% of cases are completely harmless" and also his "The US has the lowest mortality rate in the world" claims, that would mean the average American has 1.4 cases of Covid right now. Neither claim is remotely true of course, because a person can only have a maximum of one case of Covid-19 at a time. As usual, Trump isn't sourcing anything, because literally no database supports his claim that mortality has plunged "Tenfold" or that the US has the lowest mortality in the world. But such is Trump. Continue to say the blatantly untrue, and his army of supporters will crank out conspiracy videos on YouTube to support the facts he just made up. Then those claims will be picked up by Brietbart and OAN, and get retweeted by Trump, completing the feedback loop.

[Breccia]

Today he is tweeting about Hydoxy

Ugh, is he really? The FDA already issued a warning on the stuff and he's still pushing it?

[Thekri]

Ugh, is he really? The FDA already issued a warning on the stuff and he's still pushing it?

Yep. Pushing it hard today. Claiming he was vindicated on it and such.

[Breccia]

Yep. Pushing it hard today. Claiming he was vindicated on it and such.

Well, you know the drill. Trump supporters, you have 24 hours to find evidence that Trump was vindicated. Failure to find anything is proof that Trump is lying. Failure to even look for anything is proof that you know this, but also admission you're a coward for not looking.

[Felya]

Yep. Pushing it hard today. Claiming he was vindicated on it and such.

Because that girl that died was being treated with it by her parents, after she went to a church party and got sick? What?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...s-coronavirus/

A medical examiner’s report recently made public, however, has raised questions about Carsyn’s case. The Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner found that the immunocompromised teen went to a large church party with roughly 100 other children where she did not wear a mask and social distancing was not enforced. Then, after getting sick, nearly a week passed before she was taken to the hospital, and during that time her parents gave her hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug touted by President Trump that the Food and Drug Administration has issued warnings about, saying usage could cause potentially deadly heart rhythm problems.

Edit: Changed before to after...

[Felya]

The hydroxy tweet was yesterday actually. Today he's only tweeted that our mortality rate is the lowest in the world... which it isn't.

Okay... that’s better... It would have been pretty bad if he did it as a response to the above story.

[Breccia]

The hydroxy tweet was yesterday actually. Today he's only tweeted that our mortality rate is the lowest in the world... which it isn't.

I see no reason why we can't have two 24-hour challenges. Trump supporters, you have 24 hours to find evidence that our mortality rate is the lowest in the world. I'll give you two hints:

[Felya]

I see no reason why we can't have two 24-hour challenges. Trump supporters, you have 24 hours to find evidence that our mortality rate is the lowest in the world. I'll give you two hints:

My goodness... this might be embarrassing... Trump saying it, is proof it’s true in Trump World... you misinterpreted what he meant by “world”... I will think no less of you.

[Benggaul]

Ugh, is he really? The FDA already issued a warning on the stuff and he's still pushing it?

Yep. Pushing it hard today. Claiming he was vindicated on it and such.

Most likely because of this:

Henry Ford Health System Study: Hydroxychloroquine Lowers COVID-19 Death Rate

I find it suspect, honestly, given that several other studies conducted over the past few months have found that it didn't help one way or the other. I don't have time to delve into the study itself, but there are experts on these boards that can do so.

[Thekri]

I see no reason why we can't have two 24-hour challenges. Trump supporters, you have 24 hours to find evidence that our mortality rate is the lowest in the world. I'll give you two hints:

Damn it Britain, why do you always have to spoil our fun? "USA is #2!" just doesn't have the same ring to it.

Joking aside, that is really sad. The UK somehow managed to fuck this up worse then everyone else except maybe China. And considering that literally everybody fucked it up, that is saying something.

[Felya]

Damn it Britain, why do you always have to spoil our fun? "USA is #2!" just doesn't have the same ring to it.

Joking aside, that is really sad. The UK somehow managed to fuck this up worse then everyone else except maybe China. And considering that literally everybody fucked it up, that is saying something.

A good time to remind people that Trump’s original travel ban on Europe, excluded Britain.

The Brazilian president just tested positive...

[Drutt]

The UK somehow managed to fuck this up worse then everyone else except maybe China. And considering that literally everybody fucked it up, that is saying something.

You have to bear in mind the different logistical issues facing the UK versus a country like the US. The UK has approximately 20% of the population of the US, and has a total land area about 50% larger than Wisconsin. On top of that, the vast majority of the UK population live in England (about 85% of the population of the UK). England's land area is about 80% the size of Wisconsin.

Essentially you have very, very high population density. Now, this doesn't mean the UK did a good job; it didn't. BoJo absolutely fluffed his lines and nearly paid the price personally for it. But a tiny island with a very large population significantly magnifies the impact of mistakes when you're talking about a contagious pandemic; it's simply far easier for the virus to spread. Basically, the UK government was playing on hard mode and fluffed their lines, so the impact is worse.

Trump's biggest saving grace has been how widely dispersed across land area the US population is. That has undoubtedly slowed down progression, but even that luck is now running out for him. The bill will come due eventually, as we are starting to see.

[cubby]

I'm not "projecting" when you call Kanye a "black superstar" instead of a "superstar". I find your fixation on race to be tiresome.

Speaking of tiresome...you keep avoiding the question. We're all thoroughly enjoying your keen ability to avoid the issues.

And please stop baiting us into a race discussion - that is a forbidden topic.

[Thekri]

You have to bear in mind the different logistical issues facing the UK versus a country like the US. The UK has approximately 20% of the population of the US, and has a total land area about 50% larger than Wisconsin. On top of that, the vast majority of the UK population live in England (about 85% of the population of the UK). England's land area is about 80% the size of Wisconsin.

Essentially you have very, very high population density. Now, this doesn't mean the UK did a good job; it didn't. BoJo absolutely fluffed his lines and nearly paid the price personally for it. But a tiny island with a very large population significantly magnifies the impact of mistakes when you're talking about a contagious pandemic; it's simply far easier for the virus to spread. Basically, the UK government was playing on hard mode and fluffed their lines, so the impact is worse.

Trump's biggest saving grace has been how widely dispersed across land area the US population is. That has undoubtedly slowed down progression, but even that luck is now running out for him. The bill will come due eventually, as we are starting to see.

Yeah, you are right. I am a bit tongue and cheek about it, but it wasn't intended as harsh toward the UK as it sounded. It really isn't a competition, it is hard for everyone for different reasons. Furthermore, although the UK had a really nasty spike, they did bring it back down and get it under control, something the US never did. Which means that the US is likely to pass the UK for all the worst statistics, it may just take a couple months. And Brazil might end up beating both.

[cubby]

I am just a paint salesman at Home Depot but generally it is just in the breakroom. The most senior guy in my department hates when anyone talks politics in the department so that is nice that I don't deal with it on the floor. One of the most infuriating things though happened to me today. Just got into work and was in the breakroom just relaxing and some of the other people were talking about the Seattle protestor who got ran over by the car and one of them starting laughing about it. Saying how that is what you get for jumping in front of a car and another person was saying what do they expect when they break open windows and surround cars. I broke my rule and just loudly said that the guy drove through a police barrier on a closed section of the freeway and ran that woman over.

It's good that your Department head has that rule - I can't imagine how unbearable it would be without it.

And on the same note, sometimes you have to break the rule - especially when it becomes that intolerable, and they are so uninformed.

[Levelfive]

I figure even if this has already been posted, it's worth a re-post: https://twitter.com/ProjectLincoln/s...57599884935168

Also Bolsonaro tested positive. If only he had thought NOT to get tested, then he still wouldn't have it.

[Rasulis]

Sooooo....yeah. Looks like ICE just told students here on student visas that if their college is going online-only this fall, the students must depart the United States and cannot remain through the fall semester.

I bet this will make a lot of legacy donors from Harvard happy that a bunch of wealthy foreign students decide to just stop attending. /s Chalk up another one on the board of the right wing shooting itself in the foot by virtue of xenophobia.

Not sure why they are so deadest against foreign students. They usually ended up staying in the US and as a whole they contributed a lot to the US economy and technological advancement.

T.Y. Lin, one of the most preeminent structural engineer was a foreign student.

Sundar Pinchai, Google CEO, was a foreign student.

Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO, was a foreign student.

The list just goes on and on.