Monday, November 16, 2020

Why Trump Lost

 


In Tweet after Tweet, and in press conference after press conference, Trump pushed the narrative that COVID-19 was not anything to be worried about. The problem with that is that most Americans were watching in horror as the death toll skyrocketed and they were very worried. Had Trump properly managed the COVID-19 response and spoken truthfully about the pandemic he would have won re-election.

Here is a timeline of the Administration's statements and actions as they relate to pandemic response:

May 2018

The Administration disbands the White House pandemic response team.

July 2019

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) epidemiologist embedded in China’s disease control agency left her post, and the Administration decided to eliminate the role.

October 2019

“Currently, there are insufficient funding sources designated for the federal government to use in response to a severe influenza pandemic.” [Crimson Contagion exercise findings]

January 22

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

January 24

Trump praises China’s handling of the coronavirus: “China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!”

January 28

“This will be the biggest national security threat you face in your presidency...This is going to be the roughest thing you face" Trump’s National Security Advisor to Trump

January 30

"The lack of immune protection or an existing cure or vaccine would leave Americans defenseless in the case of a full-blown coronavirus outbreak on US soil,...This lack of protection elevates the risk of the coronavirus evolving into a full-blown pandemic, imperiling the lives of millions of Americans.” [Memo from Trump Trade Advisor Peter Navarro]

February 2

“We pretty much shut it down coming in from China.”

February 7

“It’s also more deadly than even your strenuous flu... This is deadly stuff” [Trump in a private taped interview with Bob Woodward, made public September 9]

February 10

“I think the virus is going to be—it’s going to be fine.”

February 10

“Looks like by April, you know in theory when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away.”

February 24

“The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA… Stock Market starting to look very good to me!”

February 25

“CDC and my Administration are doing a GREAT job of handling Coronavirus.”

February 25

“I think that's a problem that’s going to go away… They have studied it. They know very much. In fact, we’re very close to a vaccine.”

February 26

“The 15 (cases in the US) within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero.”

February 26

“We're going very substantially down, not up.”

February 26

“Well, we're testing everybody that we need to test. And we're finding very little problem. Very little problem.”

February 26

"This is a flu. This is like a flu."

February 27

“It’s going to disappear. One day, it’s like a miracle, it will disappear.”

February 28

“We're ordering a lot of supplies. We're ordering a lot of, uh, elements that frankly we wouldn't be ordering unless it was something like this. But we're ordering a lot of different elements of medical.”

March 2

“You take a solid flu vaccine, you don't think that could have an impact, or much of an impact, on corona?”

March 2

“A lot of things are happening, a lot of very exciting things are happening and they’re happening very rapidly.”

March 4

“Now, and this is just my hunch, and — but based on a lot of conversations with a lot of people that do this. Because a lot people will have this and it's very mild.”

March 4

“If we have thousands or hundreds of thousands of people that get better just by, you know, sitting around and even going to work — some of them go to work, but they get better.”

March 5

“I NEVER said people that are feeling sick should go to work.”

March 5

“The United States… has, as of now, only 129 cases… and 11 deaths. We are working very hard to keep these numbers as low as possible!”

March 6

“I think we’re doing a really good job in this country at keeping it down… a tremendous job at keeping it down.”

March 6

“You have to be calm. It’ll go away.”

March 6

“Anybody right now, and yesterday, anybody that needs a test gets a test. They’re there. And the tests are beautiful…. the tests are all perfect like the letter was perfect. The transcription was perfect. Right? This was not as perfect as that but pretty good.”

March 6

“I like this stuff. I really get it. People are surprised that I understand it… Every one of these doctors said, ‘How do you know so much about this?’ Maybe I have a natural ability. Maybe I should have done that instead of running for president.”

March 6

“I don't need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasn't our fault.”

March 7

“When we get into April, in the warmer weather—that has a very negative effect on that, and that type of a virus.”

March 7

“No, I’m not concerned at all.

March 8

“We have a perfectly coordinated and fine-tuned plan at the White House for our attack on CoronaVirus.”

March 9

During a news conference, White House officials say the U.S. will have tested one million people that week and thereafter would complete 4 million tests per week. By the end of the week, the CDC had only completed a paltry 4,000 tests.

March 9

“This blindsided the world.”

March 10

“Just stay calm. It will go away.”

March 11

“It goes away….It’s going away. We want it to go away with very, very few deaths.”

March 12

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, tells Congress that the country does not have sufficient testing. “The system is not really geared to what we need right now,” he said. “That is a failing. Let’s admit it.”

March 12

"You know, you see what's going on. And so I just wanted that to stop as it pertains to the United States. And that's what we've done. We've stopped it."

March 13

“I don’t take responsibility at all.”

March 13

The Atlantic reported that less than 14,000 tests had been done in the ten weeks since the administration had first been notified of the virus, though Mike Pence had promised the week prior that 1.5 million tests would be available by this time.

March 14

“I’d rate it a ten,” [Trump’s rating of his coronavirus response]

March 15

“Relax”

March 15

“This is a very contagious virus. It’s incredible. But it’s something that we have tremendous control over.”

March 16

“Respirators, ventilators, all of the equipment-try getting it yourselves,”

March 17

“The only thing we haven’t done well is get good press.”

March 17

“I felt like it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.”

March 19

I intended "to always play it down.”  [Trump in a private taped interview with Bob Woodward, made public September 9]

March 20

“I say that you're a terrible reporter, that's what I say. I think it's a very nasty question, and I think it's a very bad signal that you're putting out to the American people." [Response to reporter’s question: "What do you say to Americans who are watching you right now who are scared?"]

March 22

“WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF.”

March 24  

“I'm also hopeful to have Americans working again by that Easter - that beautiful Easter day.”

March 24

“We’ve never closed down the country for the flu,” Trump said. “So you say to yourself, what is this all about?”

March 24

“They have to treat us well, also. They can’t say, ‘Oh, gee, we should get this, we should get that.’”

March 25

“The faster we go back, the better it’s going to be.”

March 26

“Congratulations AMERICA!” [On Senate passage of third relief bill]

March 26

“I don't believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators. You go into major hospitals sometimes, and they’ll have two ventilators. And now all of a sudden they’re saying, ‘Can we order 30,000 ventilators?’”

March 26

“We’ve had a big problem with the young, a woman governor from — you know who I’m talking about — from Michigan,”

March 27

“I love Michigan, one of the reasons we are doing such a GREAT job for them during this horrible Pandemic. Yet your Governor, Gretchen “Half” Whitmer is way in over her head, she doesn’t have a clue. Likes blaming everyone for her own ineptitude!”

March 27

“Mike, don’t call the governor of Washington. You’re wasting your time with him…”

March 27

“I want them to be appreciative. We've done a great job.”

March 27

“We’re doing a great job for the state of Washington and I think the Governor...he’s constantly chirping and I guess complaining would be a nice way of saying it.”

March 29

“Where are the masks going? Are they going out the back door? How do you go from 10,000 to 300,000?”

March 29

“Unfortunately the enemy is death. It's death. A lot of people are dying. So it's very unpleasant.”

March 30

"Stay calm, it will go away. You know it -- you know it is going away, and it will go away, and we're going to have a great victory."

March 30

“I think New York should be fine, based on the numbers that we see, they should have more than enough. I mean, I’m hearing stories that they’re not used or they’re not used right.”

March 30

“I haven’t heard about testing in weeks. We’re testing more than any other nation in the world. We’ve got these great tests...But I haven’t heard about testing being a problem.”

March 30

“We inherited a broken test — the whole thing was broken.”

March 31

“...it’s not the flu. It’s vicious.”

April 1

“They have to treat us well, also. They can’t say, ‘Oh, gee, we should get this, we should get that.’”

April 2

“Massive amounts of medical supplies... are being delivered directly to states...Some have insatiable appetites & are never satisfied (politics?). The complainers should have been stocked up and ready long before this crisis hit.”

April 2

“...the Federal Government is merely a back-up for state governments.”

April 3

“I’m feeling good. I just don’t want to be doing -- somehow sitting in the Oval Office behind that beautiful resolute desk, the great resolute desk, I think wearing a face mask as I greet presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens, I don’t know, somehow I don’t see it for myself. I just don’t. Maybe I’ll change my mind.”

April 5

“FEMA, the military — what they’ve done is a miracle...And you should be thanking them for what they’ve done, not always asking wise-guy questions.”

April 6

“LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL!”

April 6

U.S. death toll passes 10,000

April 7

"So, you know, things are happening. It's a -- it's -- I haven't seen bad. I've not seen bad."

April 7

"You are not going to die from this pill...I really think it's a great thing to try."

April 7

“That was a flu. OK. So you could say that I said it was a flu, or you could say the flu is nothing to -- sneeze at," [Regarding Spanish Flu]

April 8

"I read about it maybe a day, two days ago,...It was a recommendation that he had, I think he told certain people on the staff, but it didn't matter. I didn't see it." [Regarding Peter Navarro’s January warning]

April 9

“I couldn’t have done it any better,” [When asked if his coronavirus response could have been better]

April 11

U.S. death toll passes 20,000

April 13

“But I guess I'm doing OK, because, to the best of my knowledge, I'm the President of the United States, despite the things that are said."

April 14

“Enough!” [When a reporter questioned his claim that his authority as president is “total”]

April 14

“[w]hen somebody’s the president of the United States, the authority is total.”

April 15

U.S. death toll passes 30,000

April 15

As Trump focuses on reopening, a leaked CDC and FEMA report warns of “significant risk of resurgence of the virus” with phased reopening.

April 19

 “Now we’re going toward 50, I’m hearing, or 60,000 people [dead from the coronavirus]”

April 22

“If [coronavirus] comes back though, it won’t be coming back in the form that it was, it will be coming back in smaller doses that we can contain….it’s also possible it doesn’t come back at all.”

April 23

"I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning? As you see, it gets in the lungs, it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that."

April 23

“So, supposing we hit the body with a tremendous, whether its ultraviolet or just very powerful light, and I think you said, that hasn't been checked but you're gonna test it. And then I said, supposing it brought the light inside the body, which you can either do either through the skin or some other way…”

April 23

“You see states are starting to open up now, and it’s very exciting to see,”

April 23

26 million jobless claims

April 24

U.S. death toll passes 50,000

April 26

“The people that know me and know the history of our Country say that I am the hardest working President in history.”

April 27

"I can't imagine why," [Regarding influx in poison control calls about disinfectant]

April 29

“It’s gonna go away, this is going to go away.”

May 3

“Look, we're going to lose anywhere from 75,000, 80,000 to 100,000 people,”

May 5

U.S. death toll passes 70,000

May 5

Consumer debt hits an all-time high

May 5

“Well run States should not be bailing out poorly run States, using CoronaVirus as the excuse!”

May 5

“I always felt 60, 65, 70, as horrible as that is. I mean, you’re talking about filling up Yankee Stadium with death! So I thought it was horrible. But it’s probably going to be somewhat higher than that,”

May 5

“There’ll be more death, that the virus will pass, with or without a vaccine. And I think we’re doing very well on the vaccines but, with or without a vaccine, it’s going to pass, and we’re going to be back to normal,”

May 5

“I don’t want to be Mr. Gloom-and-Doom. It’s a very bad subject,...I’m not looking to tell the American people when nobody really knows what’s happening yet, ‘Oh, this is going to be so tragic.’”

May 6

Brookings reports that children were “experiencing food insecurity to an extent unprecedented in modern times” and “40.9 percent of mothers with children ages 12 and under reported household food insecurity since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.” Republicans block proposals to expand food stamps.

May 6

“Sporadic for you, but not sporadic for a lot of other people.” [In response to a nurse telling him that equipment supply has been “sporadic”]

May 7

33 million jobless claims

May 8

“This is going to go away without a vaccine. It is going to go away.  We are not going to see it again.”

May 9

“This is going to go away without a vaccine.”

May 11

“Coronavirus numbers are looking MUCH better, going down almost everywhere. Big progress being made!”

May 11

“We have met the moment and we have prevailed,”

May 14

“Could be that testing’s, frankly, overrated. Maybe it is overrated.”

May 14

“Don’t forget, we have more cases than anybody in the world. But why? Because we do more testing,”

May 15

“Vaccine or no vaccine, we’re back. And we’re starting the process. In many cases, they don’t have vaccines and a virus or a flu comes and you fight through it.

May 16

“We’ve done a GREAT job on Covid response, making all Governors look good, some fantastic (and that’s OK), but the Lamestream Media doesn’t want to go with that narrative, and the Do Nothing Dems talking point is to say only bad about “Trump”. I made everybody look good, but me!”

May 18

U.S. death toll passes 90,000

May 19

“When we have a lot of cases, I don't look at that as a bad thing, I look at that as, in a certain respect, as being a good thing,...Because it means our testing is much better. I view it as a badge of honor, really, it's a badge of honor.”

May 21

USA Today reports that mortgage delinquencies surged by 1.6 million in April, the largest single-month jump in history.

May 22

38 million jobless claims

May 27

U.S. death toll passes 100,000

May 29

“We will be today terminating our relationship with the World Health Organization”

June 6

U.S death toll passes 110,000

June 6

“Hopefully George is looking down right now and saying this is a great thing that’s happening for our country...This is a great day for him. It’s a great day for everybody. This is a great day for everybody. This is a great, great day in terms of equality.”

June 15

“At some point this stuff goes away and it’s going away.”

June 17

“It’s fading away. It’s going to fade away.”

June 18

“And it is dying out. The numbers are starting to get very good.”

June 20

"Testing is a double-edged sword,...When you do testing to that extent, you're going to find more people, you're going to find more cases, so I said to my people, 'Slow the testing down, please.'"

June 22

U.S death toll passes 120,000

June 23

“Cases are going up in the U.S. because we are testing far more than any other country, and ever expanding. With smaller testing we would show fewer cases!”

June 23

"It's going away,"       

June 25

“The number of ChinaVirus cases goes up, because of GREAT TESTING, while the number of deaths (mortality rate), goes way down. The Fake News doesn’t like telling you that!”

June 25

“Coronavirus deaths are way down. Mortality rate is one of the lowest in the World. Our Economy is roaring back and will NOT be shut down. “Embers” or flare ups will be put out, as necessary!”

June 30

U.S. has just 4% of the global population, but 25% of global coronavirus cases and the second highest death rate per capita.

July 1

“I think we’re going to be very good with the coronavirus.” “I think that, at some point, that’s going to sort of disappear, I hope.”

July 6

U.S. death toll passes 130,000

July 7

"I think we are in a good place." 

July 7

The president predicted that in the next two to four weeks, "I think we're going to be in very good shape."

July 8

“In Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and many other countries, SCHOOLS ARE OPEN WITH NO PROBLEMS. The Dems think it would be bad for them politically if U.S. schools open before the November election, but it is important for the children & families. May cut off funding if not open!”

July 8

“I disagree with @CDCgov on their very tough & expensive guidelines for opening schools. While they want them open, they are asking school [sic] to do very impractical things. I will be meeting with them!!!”

July 18

U.S. death toll passes 140,000

July 19

“I think we have one of the lowest mortality rates in the world”

July 19

“Many of those cases are young people that would heal in a day”

“They have the sniffles, and we put it down as a test”

July 21

"You will never hear this on the Fake News concerning the China Virus, but by comparison to most other countries, who are suffering greatly, we are doing very well - and we have done things that few other countries could have done!”

July 27

"America will develop a vaccine very soon, and we will defeat the virus. We will have it delivered in record time."  

July 28

U.S. death toll passes 150,000

July 28

"He's got this high approval rating. So why don't I have a high approval rating with respect -- and the administration -- with respect to the virus?" (Trump referring to Anthony Fauci)

August 1

“Wrong! We have more cases because we have tested far more than any other country, 60,000,000. If we tested less, there would be less cases,”  (Donald Trump in a retweet of Anthony Fauci saying the U.S. has seen more cases than European countries because it only shut down a fraction of its economy amid the pandemic)

August 3

"I think we are doing very well and I think ... as well as any nation,"

August 3

"They are dying. That's true. And you — it is what it is.”

August 3

“OPEN THE SCHOOLS!!!”

August 3

“Right now I think it’s under control.”

August 3

“You know, there are those that say you can test too much, you do know that.”

August 4

"...we have among the lowest numbers." - White House Press Briefing

August 5

“If you look at children, children are almost - and I would almost say definitely - but almost immune from this disease.” 

August 5

“We’re supplying the world now with ventilators. You go back four months, we didn’t have any” - Fox and Friends

August 5

“It will go away like things go away”

August 6

U.S. death toll passes 160,000

August 12

U.S. reports highest number of COVID-19 deaths in one day since mid-May

August 16

U.S. death toll passes 170,000

August 22

“Many doctors and studies disagree with this!” (Donald Trump in a quote tweet of a Twitter moment stating that the FDA is revoking hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine for COVID-19 treatment, as they are “unlikely to be effective”)

August 22

“The deep state, or whoever, over at the FDA is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines and therapeutics. Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after November 3rd. Must focus on speed, and saving lives!”

August 23

The President claims that ballot drop boxes are a “voter security disaster” and a “big fraud,” “possible for a person to vote multiple times” and that they aren’t “Covid sanitized.”

August 26

U.S. death toll passes 180,000

August 31

"We've done a great job in Covid but we don't get the credit."

August 31

Six million Americans have now been infected by the coronavirus.

September 4

There will be a vaccine “before the end of the year and maybe even before Nov. 1. I think we can probably have it sometime in October.”

September 9

U.S. death toll passes 190,000

September 10

“I really do believe that we are rounding the corner. The vaccines are right there”

September 10

“This is nobody's fault but China.”

September 10

“We've possibly done the best job”

September 10

“We have rounded the final turn”

September 10

“I think that we've probably done the best job of any country”

September 14

Trump, was asked if he is afraid of Coronavirus risk at his rallies: “I’m on a stage, it’s very far away, so I’m not at all concerned.”

September 16

“If you take the blue states out, we’re at a level I don’t think anybody in the world would be at.”

September 16

Reporter: “[The head of the CDC] said that the vaccine for the general public wouldn’t be available until next Summer or maybe even early fall. Are you comfortable with that timeline?” Trump: “I think he made a mistake when he said that. That’s just incorrect information.”

September 19

U.S. death toll passes 200,000

September 21

“Take your hat off to the young because they have a hell of an immune system. But [the virus] affects virtually nobody. It’s an amazing thing. By the way, open your schools everybody, open your schools.”

September 21

"We're rounding the corner," "With or without a vaccine. They hate when I say that but that's the way it is. ... We've done a phenomenal job. Not just a good job, a phenomenal job. Other than public relations, but that's because I have fake news. On public relations, I give myself a D. On the job itself, we take an A+."

September 21

"In some states, thousands of people — nobody young. Below the age of 18, like, nobody. They have a strong immune system, who knows? Take your hat off to the young, because they have a hell of an immune system. But it affects virtually nobody. It’s an amazing thing.”

September 23

"I think we’re rounding the turn very much."

September 28

"And I say, and I’ll say it all the time: We’re rounding the corner.  And, very importantly, vaccines are coming, but we’re rounding the corner regardless.  But vaccines are coming, and they’re coming fast. "

September 29

"Well, so far we have had no problem whatsoever. " (referring to crowds of thousands at rallies)

 

"I don’t wear a mask like him. Every time you see him, he’s got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away from him and he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen."

October 2

Trump and First Lady test positive for Coronavirus. Also, more than a dozen White House staff and aides tested positive.

October 5

U.S. death toll passes 210,000

October 5

“Don’t be afraid of Covid.”

October 6

"Many people every year, sometimes over 100,000, and despite the Vaccine, die from the Flu, Are we going to close down our Country? No, we have learned to live with it, just like we are learning to live with Covid, in most populations far less lethal!!!" - Trump post, taken down by Facebook and Twitter

October 10

"But it’s going to disappear; it is disappearing."

October 11

"...We have done a “phenomenal” job, according to certain governors. Many people agree...And now come the Vaccines & Cures, long ahead of projections!"

October 12

"Under my leadership, we're delivering a safe vaccine and a rapid recovery like nobody can even believe. And if you look at our upward path, no country in the world has recovered the way we've recovered economically or otherwise, not even close."

October 12

“I went through it. Now, they say I'm immune. I can feel—I feel so powerful.”

October 12

“When this first came out, if we didn't do a good job, they predicted 2.2 million people would die, we're 210,000. We shouldn't be at, one, it's China's fault. They allowed this to happen.”

October 15

“Excess mortality, we’re a winner on the excess mortality. And what we’ve done has been amazing. And we have done an amazing job. And it’s rounding the corner and we have the vaccines coming, and we have the therapies coming.”

October 18

[On Biden] "He'll listen to the scientists... If I listened totally to the scientists, we would right now have a country that would be in a massive depression instead — we’re like a rocket ship. Take a look at the numbers."

October 19

U.S. death toll passes 220,000

October 19

"People are saying whatever. Just leave us alone. They’re tired of it. People are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots...Fauci is a nice guy. He’s been here for 500 years."

October 19

"They are getting tired of the pandemic, aren't they? You turn on CNN, that's all they cover. 'Covid, Covid, Pandemic, Covid, Covid.' You know why? They're trying to talk everybody out of voting. People aren't buying it, CNN, you dumb bastards."

October 20

Politico reports that The White House is considering slashing millions of dollars for coronavirus relief, HIV treatment, screenings for newborns and other programs in Democratic-led cities that President Donald Trump has deemed “anarchist jurisdictions.”

October 22

"We are rounding the turn (on coronavirus). We are rounding the corner.”

October 24

“Turn on television: ‘covid, covid, covid, covid, covid.’ A plane goes down, 500 people dead, they don’t talk about it — ‘covid, covid, covid, covid,’ “By the way, on November 4th, you won’t hear about it anymore.”

October 26

"Cases up because we TEST, TEST, TEST. A Fake News Media Conspiracy. Many young people who heal very fast. 99.9%. Corrupt Media conspiracy at all time high. On November 4th., topic will totally change. VOTE!" 

October 26

"We have made tremendous progress with the China Virus, but the Fake News refuses to talk about it this close to the Election. COVID, COVID, COVID is being used by them, in total coordination, in order to change our great early election numbers. Should be an election law violation!"

October 27

"So they brought it down now, immunity, from life to four months. And you know now with them, you can’t watch anything else. You turn on… COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID. Well, we have a spike in cases. You ever notice, they don’t use the word death. They use the word cases, cases. Like, “Barron Trump is a case.” He has sniffles. He was sniffling. One Kleenex, that’s all he needed. One, and he was better. But he’s a case"

October 27

"November 4th. On November 4th, you’ll hear, “It’s getting better. It’s getting better.” You watch. No, no, they’re doing heavy COVID because they want to scare people, and people get it."

October 28

"Covid, Covid, Covid is the unified chant of the Fake News Lamestream Media. They will talk about nothing else until November 4th., when the Election will be (hopefully!) over. Then the talk will be how low the death rate is, plenty of hospital rooms, & many tests of young people."

October 30

"More Testing equals more Cases. We have best testing. Deaths WAY DOWN. Hospitals have great additional capacity! Doing much better than Europe. Therapeutics working!"

October 30

Nine million Americans have now been infected by the coronavirus.

October 30

“Our doctors get more money if someone dies from Covid,” and so “when in doubt choose Covid.”

November 1

U.S. death toll passes 230,000

November 1

“Biden wants to LOCKDOWN our Country, maybe for years. Crazy! There will be NO LOCKDOWNS. The great American Comeback is underway!!!”

November 2

“Joe Biden is promising to delay the vaccine and turn America into a prison state—locking you in your home while letting far-left rioters roam free. The Biden Lockdown will mean no school, no graduations, no weddings, no Thanksgiving, no Christmas, no Fourth of July”

November 2

“We have more Cases because we have more Testing!”

November 9

“If Joe Biden were President, you wouldn’t have the Vaccine for another four years, nor would the @US_FDA have ever approved it so quickly. The bureaucracy would have destroyed millions of lives”

November 10

U.S. death toll passes 240,000

November 11

U.S. hits record 140,000 COVID-19 cases per day

November 11

Texas hits 1 million COVID-19 cases


Monday, October 26, 2020

RUSSIA? IRAN? HOW ABOUT CITIZENS UNITED!

 


Everybody is freaking out over the possibility that the Russians or the Iranians or the Chinese are meddling in our electoral process.

However, this is just a distraction serving to shield our eyes from the HUGE ELEPHANT IN THE POLLING PLACE: U.S. CORPORATIONS.

Based on the legal and constitutional status of corporations as individuals, the Supreme Court ruled that limited liability companies that have filed as corporations or have publicly traded shares can contribute unlimited funds to political action committees and separate segregated funds for the purpose of influencing the elections.

The ability of corporate money to control the message and influence the elections seriously dilutes the concept of "one person, one vote", since a well-crafted and well-funded messaging campaign can literally brainwash voters into changing their vote. This has led the sense that the individual is disenfranchised in the political process which has suppressed voter participation, further magnifying the effect of corporate money in elections.

But wait, it gets worse! U.S. corporations can be legally owned and controlled by foreign individuals and governments, and the board of directors of these corporations does not necessarily need to be made up of U.S. citizens, nor are they obligated to swear an oath to the U.S. Constitution.

The number of U.S. corporations controlled by foreign nationals or foreign governments numbers in the hundreds, including some iconic American brands:

Chicago Stock Exchange (China)
Budweiser (Belgium)
AMC Theaters (China)
Frigidaire (Sweden)
Firestone (Japan)
Purina (Switzerland)
Smithfield Foods (China)
Burger King (Brazil)
GE Appliances (China)
Motorola Mobility (China)
...and many more.

What is stopping the U.S. subsidiaries of these foreign corporations from contributing money to political action committees for the purposes of influencing the outcome of the election? Under current law, NOTHING!

So, forget about Russian Facebook ads and get corporate money out of our elections.

REVERSE CITIZENS UNITED NOW!

Friday, October 9, 2020

Superspreader or Superfaker?

 


Updated 10/29/2020

When the news broke that Hope Hicks, a trusted member of the Trump inner circle since 2014, had tested positive for COVID-19 I knew she was not going to be the only shoe to drop.

To date, at least 36 shoes have dropped, mostly related to a poorly organized Rose Garden ceremony to announce a new Supreme Court pick on September 26 that failed to implement even the most rudimentary COVID-19 precautions.


But, the largest shoe to drop so far is that of the President himself, who reported via Tweet in the wee hours of Friday, October 2 that he and the First Lady had tested positive for COVID-19.

Since the President's Tweet, the news reports related to his diagnosis and treatment have been extremely confusing and conflicting.

For example, the lead physician at Walter Reed tasked with caring for the President, Dr. Sean P. Conley, reported a short time after Trump's arrival to the hospital that he was feeling fine and had not received supplemental oxygen, a press conference that Chief of Staff Mark Meadows was sure to have seen. However, Mr. Meadows announced publicly on Fox News Saturday evening that the President's blood oxygen levels had dropped to 94% (which is statistically still in the range of normal for a fingertip monitor) and he had been given 2 liters of supplemental oxygen (which is virtually nothing at all, equivalent to about 20 seconds of oxygen delivered by a simple mask). Since protocol (and HIPAA laws) dictate that the lead physician in charge of care control the dissemination of information related to the health of the patient, what could have possibly compelled the President's Chief of Staff to go public with this conflicting information? Mr. Meadows had also added that the President was feverish and extremely lethargic.

Dr. Conley continued over the next several days, to provide a stream of reports that only served to confuse the public and health professionals who were watching. It was becoming quite apparent that Dr. Conley was not reporting the facts, but was instead reporting the story that the White House wanted the public to hear. By Sunday afternoon the stories coming out of the White House and the stories coming out of Walter Reed were so conflicted that the White House apparently instructed Dr. Conley to inform the press that he had been lying all along, leaving the White House narrative as the only "honest" version.

So, since it is safe to assume that none of the information coming out of the White House or out of Walter Reed can be trusted, we have to analyze what we DO know to be fact.

  1. The White House announced that the President was mildly symptomatic on Friday, and witnesses reported that the President seemed to be "under the weather" and "tired" on Thursday. The White House subsequently reported that the President was suffering from respiratory insufficiency on Friday when he was administered supplemental oxygen. However, from what we know about the evolution of COVID-19, there is almost always a period of 7-10 days between the onset of first symptoms and the onset of breathing difficulties. Therefore, the President was not symptomatic long enough to develop viral pneumonia.

  2. The President walked to Marine One and climbed the steps unaided. This was only minutes after allegedly receiving supplemental oxygen. Because of the risk of a serious fall, anyone receiving supplemental oxygen should not walk or climb stairs without support. Could the President have been wobbly, but insisted on walking to Marine One unaided for the optics? Yes, that is possible, but he certainly did not look like someone who was having trouble catching his breath or staying upright.

  3. Dr. Conley reported that the President was doing "very well" and required no extraordinary measures after arriving to Walter Reed. Mark Meadows disputed that a few days later. Why did Mark Meadows do that? The answer might be that the President did not contract COVID-19 at all and the White House was concerned that the virtual lack of symptoms and effects from the virus would raise suspicion that the White House was lying. Therefore, Mr. Meadows may have made announcements to give the public the idea that the President was actually suffering from a moderate case of COVID-19.

  4. The President recorded two videos from Walter Reed that were shared publicly. In neither of these videos does the President seem weak or lethargic, nor does he ever stop to catch his breath or show any signs of any respiratory distress, which conflicts with reports that he needed supplemental oxygen on two separate occasions.

  5. The President left Walter Reed for a now famous "joy ride" to wave at supporters, which begs the question, "Was he actively COVID-19 positive at the time?" Because, if he were positive then getting into a sealed off SUV with other people for the purpose of a publicity stunt begs reason. A simpler explanation could be that the President was COVID negative and therefore the joy ride was risk-free.

  6. The President's physicians have not released any test data or any scans that could serve to substantiate the claim of an active viral infection, perhaps because there never was an active infection.

  7. The drug trials of a monoclonal antibody treatment from Eli Lilly similar to the Regeneron treatment that the White House touted as a "cure" and a "miracle" have been stopped because the treament has shown to be ineffective in testing on humans.

  8. After only four days at Walter Reed, the President returned to the White House, ripped off his face covering, and proceeded to shoot staged videos which were later set to music to project the image of a "conquering victor returning from battle", which only serves to fuel the idea that this was all staged.

  9. Two days after returning to the White House the President has resumed his regular schedule, including holding meetings in the Oval Office, in spite of still being in what is typically considered to be the contagious phase of the illness. The White House is announcing that the President is now, miraculously, COVID-free but will not provide evidence of two sequential negative COVID tests that are prerequisite before determining that a patient is free of the virus.
So, while the evidence is circumstantial, it does paint a picture of a White House that invented the narrative that the President had contracted the coronavirus and developed COVID-19.

Why would they opt to do that? I can see several reasons:
  1. The President has been working overtime since the outset of this pandemic in trying to convince the public that COVID-19 is not something we should fear because he does not want the virus to adversely effect economic output and employment. He has opposed mandatory shut-down orders because of the economic impact on businesses and employees. He has opposed mask wearing and social distancing measures because they spread fear. Therefore, the idea that a 74 year old man could get COVID-19 and be over it faster and with fewer symptoms than one might expect from a common cold would play right into that narrative. In fact, in one of the prepared video statements made mere minutes after his return to the White House from Walter Reed, an apparently healthy and vital President is seen saying the following:

    "I just left Walter Reed Medical Center, and it is really something very special: the doctors, the nurses, the first responders. And, I learned so much about Coronavirus. And, one thing that is for certain: don't let it dominate you. Don't be afraid of it. You're gonna beat it. We have the best medical equipment, we have the best medicines, all developed recently. And, you're gonna beat it. I went, I didn't feel so good. And two days ago, I could have left two days ago. Two days ago I felt great, like better than I have in a long time. I said just recently, better than 20 years ago. Don't let it dominate, don't let it take over your lives. Don't let that happen."

  2. The President and the White House have been pushing the narrative that cures for COVID-19 exist, including antivirals, monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies, even malarial drugs and in what was later claimed to be a hoax or a joke, bright lights, ultraviolet lights, and common household disinfectants. If the public believes that cures for COVID-19 exist they are less likely to be afraid of it and more likely to go about business as usual. Therefore, the White House and Dr. Conley made sure to announce that they had thrown the veritable "kitchen sink" at the President's viral infection, yielding nothing short of a "cure", while evidence emerging more recently shows that these "cures" are, in fact, ineffective treatments.

  3. A theme of the campaign has been the notion that Donald Trump is faster, stronger and more energetic than his opponent. What could possibly feed the myth better than beating COVID-19 in record time while making his hospital stay look more like a visit to the spa?
So, what can we conclude from all of this?
  1. The narrative coming out the White House, which from the early stages of the pandemic has been one of minimization and denial, is not going to change in light of recent events. In effect, the White House, in their misguided efforts to keep the economy afloat, are actively driving the infection rate and virtually insuring that things will get much worse before they get better.

  2. The hallmark of the government response to the pandemic has been the dissemination of fake, false and conflicting reports, going back to early CDC claims that the use of face masks could actually do more harm than good, and this latest White House effort indicates that they are prepared to double and triple down on their commitment to say and do whatever best suits their narrative which insures that important future measures, such as convincing the public that any possible vaccine is safe, are doomed to fail.

Sunday, August 9, 2020

Zero Commission Trades = Perfect Fed Revenue Opportunity

 

As self-directed retail investing has grown, so has competition for those trading dollars, leading many discount brokers to offer zero commission trades.

Zero commission trades are not good for the markets as they encourage churn and risky short-term trading strategies that lead to price dislocations and speculative bubbles. Evidence indicates that the rise of low and no-commission trading has coincided with a huge increase in retail trading volumes which has led to equity price bubbles which are putting billions of dollars at risk.

I view this as a perfect opportunity for the Federal Government to enter the fray an start charging a $5 per trade tax.

Not only would such a tax encourage thoughtful and longer-term investing, it would be a revenue win.

$5 per trade is an insignificant cost and not a barrier to entry to the retail investor. It will reduce the number of trades, which is a good thing. It will encourage a more conservative investment strategy, which is a good thing. And, it will raise much needed revenue.

The NYSE trades an average of 3.6 billion shares per day. And, due to the rise in retail trading, the average trade is only 200 shares. If the Feds charge $5 per trade they could raise $90 million dollars per day in taxes, from the NYSE ALONE! The NASDAQ moves approximately 4 billion shares a day, so combined revenue from both sources would be over $180 million per day, or about $3.9 billion per month.

Even if this tax leads to 20% fewer trades, the Feds could still raise over $3 billion per month.

So, if the brokerages are willing to offer zero commission trades, then they have created a perfect opportunity for the Feds to raise revenue and limit some risky behavior.

Thursday, August 6, 2020

Gap Year

See the source image

Due to technological hurdles, and not wanting to put the country's progress in containing SARS-COV2 at risk, Kenya has decided that public schools will not convene for the 2020-2021 academic year.

I believe that this is smart decision and one that other countries should consider, particularly those who are considering remote education for this academic year.

The final months of the 2019-2020 academic year were held remotely and I was offered the opportunity to witness the academic experience from the perspective of my daughters, who are 6 and 9. It was clear to me that they were not learning, or at least not learning adequately to even begin to justify the time spent in front of the computer screen, not to mention the tuition expense.

I have job experience as a classroom teacher to students in the 10-12 year old range, and I can unequivocally state that remote learning for those students would have been a mixed bag, at best. There simply was too much variability in the student's level of focus and the amount of home support available to them to predict good outcomes for many of these students. Are we to leave these students behind while the other half marches onward?

Also, teaching children, particularly younger children, is by necessity a very hands-on and interactive job. The physical presence of a charismatic and energetic instructor provides a focal point which is the beginning of the learning process. The interactions between the students and the instructor, and perhaps even more importantly between the student and his fellow students, are of vital importance. Debate, group problem solving, competition and other group activities are absolutely necessary to achieve real learning.

In the United States most school districts are marching ahead with remote learning without any data to indicate how the students will perform. If standardized testing at the mid-point of the 2020-2021 academic year indicates that it is not working, are we prepared to abandon the experiment or are we going to allow these unprepared students to advance to the next grade?

For all of these reasons, I encourage a debate over the option of taking a gap year, with the plan to reconvene in-person classes when conditions permit.