Here are some photos of Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin meeting with Congressional Republicans on the Hill yesterday. Mnuchin was there to ease Republican worries about the coronavirus’s impact on the American economy, which doesn’t inspire much confidence because the DOW is doing a basketcase routine this week, diving 2000 points in a day, then rallying 1000 points the next day. Trump was also on the Hill to give some red meat to vulnerable Republicans in an election year: a promise of more tax cuts.
President Trump told GOP senators Tuesday he wants to dramatically reduce the payroll tax through at least the end of the year, a plan that could deliver a massive — but expensive — boost to many businesses and voters as he heads into the November presidential election.
But his proposal was not warmly received by Republicans, and it was also panned by Democrats, leaving policymakers searching for any common ground as the coronavirus’s outbreak continues to take its toll on the economy. One area of consensus, though, could be around the issue of paid sick leave for employees, an idea Democrats support and in which Trump has shown some interest. But in the past the two sides have taken different approaches, and it’s not clear whether agreement can be reached.
“I don’t think any decision whatsoever has been made,” said Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.).
Trump has so far laid out a broad menu of things he wants to do to try to arrest the stock market’s dramatic correction in the past month, but some of the ideas appear not to have been carefully vetted. One senator at Tuesday’s lunch meeting with Trump said the president also floated the idea of allowing Americans to delay filing their tax returns in April, reimbursing people or companies for sick leave and providing aid to the travel industry. But there were not precise plans on how any of these things would work.
The problem? Well, there are too many. But one of the biggest problems this week is that Trump is more concerned about business than people. People are scared and sick. People are dying. And Trump is utterly unprepared to lead in a crisis, especially a medical/health crisis. He’s been contradicting medical professionals, he’s tried to turn the CDC into a Trumpian propaganda machine and there still aren’t enough tests for those who need them, much less treatment beyond “self-quarantining.”
Time Magazine also did a story about how the coronavirus has become THE issue for the election, because it touches on so many other issues: the economy, paid sick leave, health insurance, job security, the safety of the populace and more. It’s also revealed that Trump fails the bare-bones competency test of any leader, which is to provide honest, good-faith information in a time of crisis. Oh well.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
Gormless feck.
British Scot! (Lol had to)
I read its shit yesterday and had the same take. Health crises = tax cuts. He’s a first class idiot. He’s not worried about people, he’s worried about Wall Street.
Scuttling the payroll tax will effectively demolish Soc. Sec./Medicare/Medicaid. And yet, the MAGAts will cheer this, cutting themselves off at the knees.
He does not even pretend to care about people dying, doesn’t it? I will never forget the “economically anxious” mofo who gave him the White House. NEVER.
With all this, and yet, all the schmucks will continue to vote for him again.
THIS. I have been gobsmacked by a few parents on my kids’ college parent FB pages, insisting that the universities want hysteria to bring Trump down. As if anyone wants these massive disruptions across so many campuses. They’re insistently dismissing COVID-19 as no big deal.
Yeah, I work on a college campus. This is an absolutely massive headache for us, faculty are currently undergoing training for teaching classes online, the health center is trying to figure out exactly they can handle (if anything), everything from admissions to financial aid (should students who receive federal work study still receive it if they aren’t on campus), etc, etc, etc. It is a mess! Colleges do NOT want to disrupt campus like this, the fact that parents think that people who are considering their child’s safety above all else are playing some kind of game is really frustrating.
Look, I hate 45 more than most… but this is critical for many of us. I’m in the hospitality industry and we just had to lay off 30% of our staff- as department heads we’re rolling up our sleeves and making beds and. Becoming guests in because we can’t afford to keep the staff that does that. Any financial breaks will just be carried right into our staffing levels which keeps people from losing their jobs.
It’s like 2008 all over again. Hospitality and travel always take the hard, early hits. My little regional airline doesn’t seem to be suffering but I hear a lot from my counterparts at Delta, American, and United every day.
I work in the Financial Services industry. This is HUGE. Obviously there is still the health component and that takes precedent. But please do not down play the economic ramifications. An economic stimulus is one of many things that the Administration needs to be discussing. I am no fan of Trump, and I am not clear that this is the best stimulus plan, but the sooner we deal with the economics of this situation the better. (Simultaneously, we also need to deal with everything else)
runcmc – that is EXACTLY what I thought when I heard this on the news last night. Trump & HIS GOP are chomping at the bit to take away what the American people have worked to put into all of our lives. It’s NOT entitlement to me….it’s MY money that I have paid into for 50 years!! Grrrrrr
Sorry – meant to respond to Christin below.
Their use of “entitlement” is so deceptive. I am truly concerned they will think this is their last chance to sneak it in, as people are distracted by this crisis.
A tax holiday is meaningless to an hourly wage earner if they can’t go to work.
A payroll tax suspension (be it income or SS/Medicare tax) is no great solution. My guess is it’s a future excuse to gut those programs.
Bingo.
He is hands down one of the worst man in office. I refuse to use the P word when it comes to him. He’s clearly incompetent, and doesn’t give a crap about any of us. He only gives a sh*t about his disgusting criminal family.
I agree. That is probably what’s coming down the line. I’m worried that when I retire, there will be no more Social Security. My benefits counselor basically told us all to start putting monies in IRA’s , and savings accounts, because there will be nothing for us when we get older
I truly think that is the GOP ultimate dream -to strip what they call “entitlements” that we’ve paid into for years.
Your counselor has the right idea – to be as self-reliant as possible. Even if it is a few dollars a paycheck, time helps build savings.
From what I have read, any cuts to Social Security would likely be done in a couple of significant phases, starting with people who are currently around age 50. Anyone under 40 should definitely assume Social Security will be a tiny part of the retirement income, if at all. This all assumes the GOP get their way, over the next couple of decades. Word is that they are again trying to sneak in cuts during the next budget cycle.
Him proposing tax cuts to companies is fine, but what about American workers? They will lose wages and/or jobs. They will need more money for childcare, health care and medicine, which the pharma brothers love to gouge us on. The public should be taken care of FIRST, not last based on his proposals. He is only interested in the stock market as that is his so called genius at play that have helped all of the public, but now. He is only interested in saving his ass and the other millionaire asses he has sworn to protect, not the middle or lower class. Plus he wasted 3weeks spouting that the coronavirus was a hoax by the democrats and it was perfectly safe to go to work if you are sick. I think two beetles have a higher IQ than he does. Hell, mix in 10,000 more and they still test higher than he does! Cherry on top; he cut the departments at the CDC that treat and identify deadly viruses like the corona virus at least 2 years ago, possibly longer. But that’s right, it’s OBAMAS fault🤣
It’s blame, deflect, yet take credit for anything positive (even if it was Obama/Biden’s).
He was taking credit for saving the auto industry last night, as he claimed Dems were going to destroy it. Auto industry bailout, anyone?
“Honest good faith inspiration.” Drumpf is not qualified for leadership. He can only qualify as a self-promoter. He alternates between desperation and grandiosity and this morning he’s desperate making promises he’s unable to keep.
Touting himself a leader of any kind — going back decades — is one of the biggest cons he’s ever pulled. He’s literally the worst person we could have elected as POTUS.
Not having any political office experience was a concern, but the bigger problem is an apparent unwillingness to learn. Zero experience plus no willingness and/or ability to learn (or listen to true experts) is a terrible combination in this job.
I am so glad my doctor was able to squeeze me in yesterday. My lungs were burning, I was short of breath and had sinus issues. My sister was stressing out “how do you KNOW you don’t have coronavirus?” Well I never had a fever, my lungs apparently sound great and my chest xrays came back clear, therefore we can cross coronavirus off the list.
I was not concerned that I had coronavirus, but they were able to calmly take care of the situation and the waiting room was full of people with symptoms like mine, but no one actually had Covid-19.
I am missing 2 days of work because of this. My boss and co-worker that I share an office with have newborns, so I’ve been asked to stay away today. Luckily I have PTO time and training I can work on, but a payroll tax cut wouldn’t really help me if I didn’t have those options.
Hope you feel better soon!
I think you had mentioned the burning lungs in one of the posts yesterday or the day before… I was actually wondering how you made out! Glad to hear that it wasn’t anything too serious.
I’m in a satellite office that will be closing down soon (business not covid-19 related), and we’re in a transition phase for a new company that is coming in. We got emails last week from the US office of my current job talking about travel, and what to do if you’re sick. Normally they’ll give you what are essentially demerits for using your sick time, but for the time being they’ve put the normal attendance policy mostly on hold.
I actually have a male coworker who is late 40’s early 50’s who had gone on a European bus trip who’s now self quarantined at home, working remote. He was in Italy a day or two before the risk level had been officially increased and people were being told to not visit unless it’s necessary. So far he’s been fine though without so much as a cold so that’s good. And I’m glad that the company eased up on the attendance policy given that they’ve got quite a few active cases in the state head office is in.
Meghan, did they actually test you for covid-19? I don’t understand how anyone can truly know how widespread the virus is in the U.S. if they aren’t testing.
Hope you feel better soon!
They did not actually test me. I haven’t had any fever, my temp was 98.8 at the appointment. They did a chest xray and listened to my lungs and all was clear. The doctor thinks my lungs burning is from bronchospasms. When I I cough, it is usually because I’ve been short of breath and the cough was at its worst yesterday….probably because I kept having to hold my breath!
I did have aches and pains Monday night into Tuesday, but those seem to mostly have gone away. I get those a lot with a sinus infection and basically right now is allergy and sinus infection season for us.
Glad you’re ok. Take extra care, especially if you’re not 100% right now.
Allergy and sinus problems are not helping for sure. I also had a minor GI infection last week that caused a fever, and I was like uh oh. Not to mention how many people around me are still coughing and sneezing and NOT COVERING and not washing their hands as they should. If anyone in my office gets this, we’re all going down.
Those of us who are not Americans are so worried for you, and not just because of pandemics.
A tax break expressed as a percentage will obviously benefit higher income groups in sheer dollars, and those are the people that (like most citizens of most developed nations) have paid sick leave, health insurance, access to daycare if the schools close, and all in all, a bit of an income safety net if the worst case scenario happens.
We wonder why it’s socialism to bail out individuals, but capitalism to bail out industries. And although the hospitality industry may be hard hit in all this, Trump the hotelier was very quick to say that hotels and airlines would be seeing some government relief – is there enough of a government to ensure that this relief doesn’t all go to Trump Inc?
Thanks for your concern! I forgot that Trump would provide stimulus packages for hotels since he owns so many. Thanks for making that blatantly clear. Say a prayer for us that Trump is not re-elected. xoxo
He looks like holy hell. Like, is good shellacked face about to start falling off in chunks?
I was thinking the same thing, that header photo is … interesting.
Makes me think that even as the world experiences and recovers from this crisis Trump has a campaign to get through. He doesn’t look like he has the stamina for it.
We can hope…
“Stay Calm. It’ll all go away” – says Trump. Except that’s not how viruses work. They spread and need containment.
God, I would feel so much better if Hillary or Obama were in charge.
Rapunzel, I would sell my organs to have Obama back or Hillary in his place in one second if I was given the choice.
I’d even settle for Trump just saying “listen to the experts” and stepping back. He’s actively making it WORSE.
I look to what is happening in Italy, and it is TERRIFYING. They say that we could be there in 9-10 days because of incubation period.
This virus is survivable if the 10-20% that need hospitalization and intensive care get it, but we only have the resources to treat X number of people in ICU (i’ve heard that we have far less than 1 million hospital beds, and about 48K in ICU, which are usually 66% filled in normal times). In Italy, they have more patients that need care than they have resources for. They are having to decide who gets the ventilator, and who doesn’t. Who gets oxygen, and who doesn’t.
Cause what every pandemic needs is a bailing out of the shale industry.
Trump still refuses to cancel his rallies… I hope this bites him in the butt once his followers all end up in the hospital.
He could end up in a hospital too.
Once again, proving how utterly incompetent he is and zero lack of empathy for victims. Anyone who can look at this vile creature and think he is good for our country needs their head examined.
The Guardian is reporting that Trump is pushing harder than ever for his Wall, because migrants. No matter that it’s been patiently pointed out that Mexico has much lower levels of infection and, you know, viruses don’t respect walls.
They’re also reporting that he intends to make deep cuts to Medicare and social security, apparently a longterm goal. What is going to happen to America? Worried for you from across the Pond
Very shallow comment here. Why does Steve Mnuchin always look like he’s wearing a human suit but can’t master the facial expressions?
Because he’s married to Louise??
I’m more and more convinced each day that Ivanka is running the country, illegally, and she is every bit as stupid and even more evil than her father.
Here in MA, where we have our own test kits, the governor has called a state of emergency to get federal monies and to implement certain emergency procedures. All executive branch outside meetings are to be canceled or conducted telephonically, my case work is mostly at state agencies so my whole schedule is about to be revamped. We’re waiting to hear what the courts, which aren’t under the governor’s control, decide to do. Many of the universities are shutting down and switching to online classes after spring break, including Harvard, MIT, and UMASS Boston. We are in mitigation mode, containment failed, thanks to that traitor in the White House.
I am scared to death that I will lose my 82 year old mother to this, this year.
This is my biggest fear. Me? I should be OK even if I contract COVID, but it’s my folks I worry about. They’re both around 80 but, thankfully, in pretty good health overall. But I still worry.
I’m sorry you also have to deal with this.
It feels surreal to expect death of a parent from this.
Mine too. Mine are 70 and in decent health, never smoked, but it’s still so scary.
I fully understand the concerns of the elderly, vulnerable and their families:
I grew up with a mother whose I mmune system was suppressed from strong RA medications. We tried our best to limit her exposure, and were mostly successful. What few colds/viruses she did pick up were always far more harsh on her than what we experienced.
If anything cones out of this, maybe more people will become more aware of how serious a virus can be and adopt good practices. I did not hesitate to tell people that if they / anyone around them were sick, to refrain from visiting (phone calls are fine). You have to put yourself/your loved one in a virtual bubble, if needed. I still won’t handle door knobs, use another person’s pen, etc., due to years of protecting my mother.
My cousin’s 7 year old granddaughter is severely disabled with a compromised immune system. She is constantly in and out of pediatric ICU as it is. Her parents are petrified. They asked their school district if they could have their older kid tutored at home for now because they fear he will bring it home from school.
That is wisely proactive. I can’t see how the school wouldn’t be willing to make that exception.
I’m scared too for my family. My parents are fairly healthy, but both over 70 years old. My mom volunteers at her hospital once a week, but luckily that’s been suspended for now. I live out of state, so I can’t check on them or bring supplies if needed. I urged my mom to stock up on meds and stuff already, which thankfully she has done!
I work part time at a pharmacy and even though we take precautions I’m worried I’ll bring the virus home to Mr. Eggo. He has asthma, so respiratory illnesses always hit him very hard. Even if he gets it and recovers, a hospital stay with a vent, etc will likely bankrupt us.
I have the same exact fear. My mom is mid 80’s with heart arrhythmia and I worry about her every day. She survived the Blitz as a child, and worked as a nurse for most of her life taking care of others. She nursed aids patients even before they called it aids (it was called grid). She’s a selfless, wonderful human being and losing her would break my heart. People act like losing a lot of the senior population to this virus would be no big deal, but for those of us who love our seniors, our parents, grandparents, great grandparents …it’s a big deal.
To all who responded- know that my sympathies are with you and our concern for loved ones is shared.
My only hope after this has been controlled, is that somehow anti-vaxers will realize how children who aren’t protected risk the lives of others. Even with mild illness, they are vectors.
So far it looks like those under 20 are going to be well, by and large (chronic illness not withstanding).
I am furious rn bc a performance complex is hosting a 40k state level basketball tourney here soon. I have railed at the complex, the managing company and the governor. Even calling twice to report fast facts to no avail. I want to pull my hair out and scream:
Min 75M will be infected ( as many as 150M)
Per Up To Date, 14% will have serious illness requiring hospitalization. That’s around 10M people.
We have 1M hospital beds in the entirety of the US.
Of those beds, there are about 100K ICU beds.
There are 65-70K VENTILATORS in the country. With manufacturing and bringing back the dinosaurs, we might get up to 100K vents.
The primary mode of transmission is droplet spread- cough, sneeze, SPEECH ( includes yelling, like at public sporting events).
The CDC recommends *no* non-essential travel. No mass events ( what does this mean? Over 100? Over 250?). The curve must be flattened or our hospitals will be overwhelmed. That means no beds for another types of emergent issues…
Yet my asshole town is still going to fill a complex with 40K ppl, shoulder to shoulder. Oh, yeah, and my village president is a former cosmetologist. In a state that voted for Rump by a slim margin.
What the ever-loving fvck?
It’s beyond my comprehension.
He is the worst human being I have ever seen, and im 73 yrs old, And ive seen quite a few miserable people in my life!!!
Seeing the way those men at the CDC praised Trump on camera and kissed his a** was painful to watch. Then when Trump said the tests were “perfect,” I think I blacked out for a few minutes from rage.
I hate him. What he doesn’t realize is, this virus is going to do far more taking than he realizes. I figure once his supporters start dropping into icu’s and really feel the full impact of this thing maybe it will finally occur to them that he isn’t on their side? For some, it might take a dance with death for that lightbulb to finally turn on over their heads.
Awesome! We can use our new pennies on a roll of toilet paper!