Saturday, May 23, 2020

MIKE PENCE - 'NOBODY WANTS TO REOPEN THIS COUNTRY FOR WALL STREET MORE THAN GOLDMAN SACHS RENT BOY THE ORANGE BABOON TRUMPER

"A more cynical GOP would prioritize Trump’s reelection over denying “ice water” to “people in hell.” Unfortunately for America, actual Republicans put plutocracy before party."

Exclusive — Mike Pence: ‘Nobody Wants to Reopen This Country More than President Donald Trump’
Donald-Trump-Mike-Pence-2-Getty
Sara D. Davis/Getty Images
7:07

NORCROSS, Georgia — Vice President Mike Pence told Breitbart News that he and President Donald Trump are excited to get the United States reopened and moving again as the coronavirus pandemic recedes nationwide.
Backstage after a roundtable with local business leaders here at Waffle House corporate headquarters, where Pence and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp appeared to encourage the continued reopening of the country, Pence told Breitbart News that Georgia’s efforts led by Kemp to reopen aggressively have been successful and are a model for the nation. All 50 states have begun reopening in one way or another, Pence noted in the interview that aired on Breitbart News Saturday on SiriusXM 125 the Patriot Channel, citing Georgia and Florida—where Pence visited earlier in the week with Gov. Ron DeSantis—as examples for the country.
“It would be on April 15, 30 days into the mitigation efforts that we presented to the country—that the president directed the White House Coronavirus Task Force to publish guidelines for opening up America,” Pence said. “We believed because of what the American people were doing and continued to do over that 45 days that we would be in a position for some states and some counties around the country to begin to reopen and put America back to work. Nobody wants to reopen this country more than President Donald Trump. So we equipped governors around the country to be ready for when the 45 Days to Slow the Spread came to an end. Georgia and Florida and other states around the country evaluated the cases in their state, evaluated the data, and have been and have taken steps that are now demonstrating that we can safely and responsibly reopen our economy without putting the people of this country’s health and wellbeing at risk. I think Gov. Kemp also and Gov. DeSantis also recognize that this isn’t a choice between health and a growing economy. It really is a choice between health and health. There are serious health consequences if we were to continue indefinitely the lockdowns that we asked the American people to embrace for 45 days. I must tell you, I know the president is as grateful as I am that as we sit here today, 50 states—all 50 states—have begun the process of reopening their economies. But Georgia is leading the way and demonstrating that you can safely and responsibly reopen your businesses, reopen your restaurants, and put the people of your state back to work, and still, hospitalizations are declining, cases are declining, and, most importantly, fatalities are declining. The people of Georgia are doing it, and I couldn’t be more proud to be here.”
Asked if some Democrat governors, such as Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer and Pennsylvania’s Tom Wolf, are moving fast enough, Pence cited his close relationship with governors and noted that every state is ready to reopen. He also praised the protesters nationwide pushing for a faster reopening of their states.
“When the president tapped me to lead the White House Coronavirus Task Force, he directed me to forge a seamless partnership with governors around the country of both political parties. We’ve done that,” Pence said. “We continue to believe, whether it be on a statewide basis or a regional or county basis, that every state in America is in a position to begin the process of reopening. Fortunately, as of this week, all 50 states have begun that process. What we’re committed to doing, whether it be providing supplies for testing, whether it be providing personal protective equipment not just for healthcare workers, but for businesses that are beginning the process of reopening, we’re absolutely committed to being a full partner with states. But the president and I truly believe we [have] got to get this country open again. There are profound costs that go well beyond the economy to a prolonged shutdown. I’ve always believed this was a freedom-loving country. I’m very heartened to see people across the country letting their voice be heard, letting governors in every state know they want their freedom back. What Georgia is demonstrating is people are prepared to continue practicing the hygiene and social distancing necessary to protect their families and their neighbors and members of their community. We’ll continue to urge every state to look at the president’s guidelines to open up America again and look for ways, whether it be a portion of a state or the entire state, to get the economy moving again.”
Pence, whom Trump appointed to lead the White House Coronavirus Task Force nearly three months ago, told Breitbart News that the country has learned a lot about the coronavirus since the beginning of this whole process as well.
“It’s been a learning process every day,” Pence said. “We knew early on that the coronavirus was several times more contagious than the common flu. But there’s been hopeful developments as well. We’ve seen that because of what the American people have done and the sacrifices they’ve made that, despite the fact we’re dramatically increasing testing, cases are still going down. Positivity rates are declining. Today, more than 40 states are finding that less than ten percent of the people who are tested test positive for the coronavirus—and 22 states, less than five percent of those tested are testing positive. So we’ve learned a great deal about the impact of social distancing.”
Pence also pointed to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) scientific study that demonstrates the half-life of the virus drops off significantly with ultraviolet light, higher heat, and humidity. Such “summer conditions,” which are now here in most of the country, he said, will hopefully stop the spread of the virus even more.
“We also, the Department of Homeland Security, did a study we published a month ago that found that ultraviolet light—sunlight—and humidity, summer conditions, actually have a profound impact on reducing what’s called the half life of the virus and reducing its potential threat,” Pence said. “But, finally, I think what we’ve also learned is that this is primarily conveyed through respiratory habits. It’s the reason social distancing and hygiene continue to be important. The CDC issued guidance reiterating the threat of transmission on hard surfaces is significantly less than conveyed through respiration. So we’re understanding a great deal more about it, but I can tell you what I think we’ve learned the most is the American people will rise to any challenge when called upon to do so—when families that have put loved ones, especially the elderly’s health first, they make great sacrifices — businesses large and small. We heard today from some small businesses before they learned there was going to be any federal assistance went out and a business owner borrowed against his home so he could keep people on the payroll. I’m very proud of the CARES Act and I’m very proud through Paycheck Protection that we found a way to keep people on the payroll of businesses that were shuttered through the 45 Days to Slow the Spread and through the course of this pandemic, but businesses responded with great charity and great generosity, and I think we’ve learned a lot about the virus, but I think we’ve reaffirmed everything we always knew about the goodness and common sense of the American people.”


Coronavirus pandemic spreads across the US South

Hospitals overwhelmed in California and Alabama as national death toll approaches 100,000

Hospitals in Montgomery, Alabama and El Centro, California have been forced to restrict admission of new coronavirus patients after caseloads of COVID-19 spiked during the week. The situation in both cities developed as the number of confirmed cases in the US passed 1.6 million, and the death toll approached 100,000.
Margot Bloch of Takoma Park, Md., stands in Lafayette Park near the White House as she protests President Donald Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic Wednesday, May 20, 2020, in Washington. She is surrounded by "body bags" representing those who have died. (Photo: AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The situation in both cities was summed up by Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed, who said yesterday at a press conference, “Right now, if you are from Montgomery and you need an ICU bed, you are in trouble.” Of the state capital’s four regional hospitals, one is short three ICU beds, two have no available ICU beds, and one has just a single ICU bed remaining. Excess patients are being transferred to Birmingham, a trip for those infected of more than an hour.
Reed also warned that the hospitals are “at a capacity that is not sustainable,” and that, “Our health care system is maxed out.”
In El Centro, the increased caseload came from both sides of the US-Mexico border in the wake of relaxed physical distancing rules enacted two weeks ago. According to the CEO of the El Centro Regional Medical Center, Dr. Adolphe Edward, the surge is largely from US citizens who live in Mexicali, a border town in Mexico with a population of 690,000, who were turned away from Mexican hospitals as a result of rising coronavirus infections there.
More than two dozen patients had to be transferred to hospitals in San Diego and other nearby cities, Reuters reports.
This reality did not stop President Donald Trump from declaring on Friday, “I am identifying houses of worship, churches, synagogues and mosques, as essential places that provide essential services,” and demanding that “governors … allow our churches and places of worship to open right now.”
Trump’s comments follow his remarks Thursday that the country’s reopening will not be stopped even if the pandemic regains the momentum it had in the previous two months. “Whether it’s an ember or a flame, we’re going to put it out. But we’re not closing our country.” This campaign has added fuel to the record rise of the stock market since its collapse in March, at the expense of tens of thousands of lives and tens of millions of livelihoods.
The spike in cases in such divergent areas of the country is another indication that, contrary to official policy, the spread of the coronavirus pandemic is not slowing but increasing. States including Texas, Florida and Louisiana have joined Alabama and California in seeing an increase of new COVID-19 cases in recent days.
Both the 7- and 14-day moving averages of daily case counts in Alabama are increasing and now stand at above 500 new cases per day. The number of new cases in California has stayed above 2,000 for the past four consecutive days. Texas, where the stay-at-home order expired April 30, saw its new case count on May 21 double to 1,856, as compared to the previous day.
The number of new cases in Florida has also begun to rise, with a sharp increase to 1,204 on Thursday. On that day, the number of new cases in Louisiana increased more than four-fold from the day before, to 1,188 new infections. Total deaths in these states also continue to rise, to 537 in Alabama, 3,682 in California, 1,501 in Texas, 2,190 in Florida and 2,668 in Louisiana.
Texas, Florida and Alabama are also among the states predicted to have even more coronavirus infections over the next four weeks, as modeled by the PolicyLab at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Using cellphone data to track mobility in an attempt to forecast the pandemic, the researchers have found that those states are some of the most at risk for an increased pandemic caseload as their economies continue to reopen.
Another state that has seen a sharp rise in cases is Arkansas, where the number of new infections increased by 228 percent over the past 14 days, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases to 5,612. This is largely due to outbreaks among poultry workers across the state, which now includes 136 active cases.
Across the country, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the reopening is driving the spread of the deadly pandemic.
Forcing states to allow religious services to take place will only exacerbate this crisis. Every state now allows some form of public gatherings, including restaurant dining, retail stores, barbershops and salons, beaches and gyms. Some states, such as Louisiana, have even opened movie theaters, museums, zoos and casinos, while Florida has already allowed houses of worship to reopen.
Many of these reopenings are taking place in advance of the Memorial Day weekend. In Wisconsin, the state Supreme Court has allowed bars, clubs, wineries, restaurants and campgrounds to collectively host 158 live music events. While none of these will be in Milwaukee or Madison, due to the large number of cases in those cities, they are expected to draw large crowds, and public health officials are concerned about a resurgence of cases and deaths as a result.
This is particularly concerning in the current pandemic because of the incubation period of the coronavirus. It takes 2-14 days before symptoms appear and even longer before a patient gets tested and possibly hospitalized. “We’re looking at potentially a month or two later that we’re going to see the impact” of the reopening, said former Baltimore health commissioner Leana Wen to the Washington Post. “You have not seen the impact of reopening yet. I think there’s going to be a very significant lag.”


U.S. Census Launches 

Weekly Coronavirus Report: 

47% Jobless, 38% Delayed 

Medical Treatment



OAKLAND, CA - AUGUST 05: John Heckert wipes his eyes as he uses a computer to fill out paperwork for unemployment insurance at Eastbay Works Oakland One-Stop Career Center August 5, 2010 in Oakland, California. U.S. jobless claims unexpectedly rose by 19,000 new claims for the week ending on July …
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
3:36

The U.S. Census Bureau announced this week that each Wednesday it will post online a survey of American households to measure how people are doing during the coronavirus outbreak on a number of issues, including employment, “food security,” and access to health care.
“The survey is intended to provide crucial weekly data to help understand the experiences of American households during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the announcement of the survey said.
The announcement said:
In this initial release, the Household Pulse Survey Interactive Tool provides data for select indicators at national and state levels. National data also are available in table format. We plan subsequent weekly releases through late July, and will include additional estimates for states and the 15 largest metropolitan statistical areas.
For the April 23-May 5 period, invitations to take part in the survey were sent to 1,867,126 households and a total 74,413 responded (63,003 complete interviews and 11,410 partial interviews).
Some of the key findings include:
• Among the population of adults 18 and over, 47 percent either lost employment income or another adult in their household had lost employment income since March 13. Thirty-nine percent of adults expected that they or someone in their household would lose employment income over the next four weeks.
• About ten percent of adults reported that they did not get enough of the food they needed some of the time or often. Another 32 percent report getting enough, but not the kinds of food they needed. On average, households spent $196 a week to buy food at supermarkets, grocery stores, online, and other places to be prepared and eaten at home.
• Adults who responded reported feeling anxious or nervous more than half the days last week or nearly every day 29.7 percent of the time. They reported not being able to stop or control worrying more than half the days last week or nearly every day 22.8 percent of the time.
For measures related to depression, 18.6 percent of adults report feeling down more than half the days or nearly every day last week, and 21.4 percent reported having little interest or pleasure in doing things more than half the days or nearly every day last week.
• 38.7 percent of adults report that over the last four weeks, they delayed getting medical care because of the coronavirus pandemic.
• When asked about the likelihood of being able to pay next month’s rent or mortgage on time, 21.3 precent reported only slight or no confidence in being able to pay next month’s rent or mortgage on time. Another 2.5 percent reported next month’s mortgage is or will be deferred.
• In households with children enrolled in public or private school (K-12), adults spent 13 hours on average on teaching activities during the last seven days.
The Bureau said it partnered with five other federal agencies to develop the Household Pulse Survey, including the Bureau of Labor StatisticsNational Center for Health StatisticsUSDA Economic Research ServiceDepartment for Housing and Urban Development, and the National Center for Education Statistics.
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At the same time, the ruling class has utilized 
the pandemic to organize a transfer 
of trillions of dollars to the financial markets 
through the Federal Reserve. The total assets
on the balance sheet of the US central bank 
rose this week to more than $6.7 trillion, up 
from less than $4 trillion before the pandemic 
hit. Every day, the Fed is spending $80 billion 
to buy up assets from banks and 
corporations to fuel the market rise.

Depression USA

9 May 2020
Yesterday, the US Labor Department released its April unemployment report, revealing a level of joblessness that is without historical precedent. On the same day, the stock market rose sharply, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average finishing up more than 450 points, or nearly two percent. Wall Street continues not only to feast on death, as the toll from the coronavirus continues to grow, but to profit from the mass social misery that the pandemic has produced.
The Labor Department report recorded a drop of employment of 20.5 million people. Not only is this the largest monthly collapse in history, it exceeds the previous record more than 10 times over. The official unemployment rate increased from under 4 percent to 14.7 percent, far above anything seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
As bad as these numbers are, they significantly underestimate the scale of the social dislocation. The April report is based on estimates calculated during the middle of last month, so they do not take into account the millions of people who have lost their jobs over the last three weeks. Some 33.5 million have filed for unemployment claims since the beginning of state and federal lockdowns seven weeks ago.
According to the report, moreover, 6.4 million additional workers have left the labor force entirely and are not counted as unemployed, bringing the labor force participation rate to its lowest level since 1973. Another 11 million workers reported that they were working part time because they could not find full-time work, an increase of 7 million people since before the pandemic.
When all factors are taken into account, something in the area of one third of the work force is out of work.
Mass joblessness is impacting nearly every sector of the working class. Employment in the leisure and hospitality sector was the most extreme, falling by nearly 50 percent, or 7.7 million people. There were 2.1 million job losses in business and professional services, 2.1 million in retail, 1.3 million in manufacturing and 1 million in construction.
Stunningly, amidst an expanding pandemic, there were 1.4 million job cuts in health care. And under conditions of an enormous social crisis, there were 650,000 job cuts in the social assistance sector.
The report notes, moreover, that mass unemployment has impacted workers of all races and genders. The unemployment rate among adult men soared to 13.0 percent, adult women to 15.5 percent, and teenagers to 31.9 percent. The rate was 14.2 percent for whites, 16.7 percent for blacks, 14.5 percent for Asians and 18.9 percent for Hispanics.
While a large number of the job cuts are categorized as “temporary,” a growing proportion are permanent, as corporations begin to implement mass layoffs. Indeed, there were two million permanent job losses in April. This, taken by itself, would be the largest increase in unemployment in post-World War II American history.
Tens of millions of workers live paycheck to paycheck and rely on credit cards and other forms of debt to make up for the difference between their income and their expenses. Household debt rose by 1.1 percent in the quarter ending March 31, to $14.3 trillion, a new record. This does not take into account the piling on of debt by tens of millions of people as the economic crisis intensified in April and into May.
With no savings and no government assistance, workers are turning in record numbers to food banks, which are running out of basic goods. A report by the Hamilton Project earlier this week found that 41 percent of families with children under the age of 12 are experiencing food insecurity—that is, they are unable to afford enough to eat.
The ruling class has no policy to deal with the social catastrophe. On Friday, the Trump administration declared that the jobs that have been destroyed “will be back and they’ll be back soon.” He added that “we’re in no rush” to pass a bill that would provide some assistance. The administration’s top economic advisor, Larry Kudlow, said that talks over further “stimulus” measures are “in a lull right now.”
As for the Democrats, while mouthing phrases about additional aid, they are haggling over minor measures that they know will never be passed by Congress. Both parties display a combination of indifference, bewilderment and reaction in the face of the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. Their proposals in response to this crisis make the US in the era of Herbert Hoover appear almost philanthropic.
Mass social immiseration is, in fact, a deliberate policy, supported by the entire political establishment. It is aimed at creating conditions in which: 1) the ruling class can force a return to work even as the pandemic continues to spread throughout the United States; and 2) workers will be compelled to accept sharp reductions in wages and benefits and an increase in exploitation to pay for the massive handout to the super-rich.
To pressure workers to endanger their lives by returning to work, the majority of the population is being systematically starved of resources. Six weeks after the passage of the CARES Act—the massive boondoggle to the corporations adopted unanimously by the Democrats and the Republicans—the majority of Americans have not received their $1,200 “stimulus” check.
States are going bankrupt and beginning to implement brutal austerity measures. A report from the Economic Policy Institute earlier this month found that 50 percent more people are unemployed than have even been able to file for unemployment benefits—the result of overburdened application systems and onerous restrictions. Millions who have filed for benefits have not received anything.
The approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States are excluded from receiving any benefits. Millions of workers in the “gig economy,” while supposedly able to qualify for federal assistance, face impossible barriers to obtaining it. In the state of Illinois, for example, these workers will be able to start applying only on May 11, and they will not have any possibility of getting assistance for several weeks thereafter.
At the same time, the ruling class has utilized 
the pandemic to organize a transfer 
of trillions of dollars to the financial markets 
through the Federal Reserve. The total assets
on the balance sheet of the US central bank 
rose this week to more than $6.7 trillion, up 
from less than $4 trillion before the pandemic 
hit. Every day, the Fed is spending $80 billion 
to buy up assets from banks and 
corporations to fuel the market rise.
The enrichment of the oligarchy through rising share values is premised on mass impoverishment and an intensification of the exploitation of the working class. The profits and wealth of the corporate-financial elite have been saved at the expense of society.
Two agendas stand opposed to each other. One is the defense of the financial oligarchy, which means both an expansion of the pandemic, with all the horrific consequences this will bring, and a further immiseration of the population. The other agenda is that of the working class, which wants to fight the pandemic, save lives and defend the interests of the vast majority of the population.
The fight against the pandemic is not just a medical question. It is a political struggle to mobilize the working class against the Trump administration, the entire political establishment and the capitalist system it defends.

The GOP Isn’t Cynical Enough to Save Us From a Depression


How Kudlow can they go? Photo: Shutterstock/Shutterstock
More than 30 million Americans have lost their jobs since mid-March. The U.S. unemployment rate is now officially 14.7 percent, the highest it’s been at any time since the Great Depression (and that official rate is almost certainly lower than the actual one). Small businesses all across the country are on the verge of collapse. Absent an expansion in the government’s grant program for such firms, a cascade of bankruptcies will eliminate them — severing functional matches between workers, employers, and commercial spaces in the process — and thus delaying the onset of economic recovery. Meanwhile, states and cities are being forced to deepen the downturn by laying off public workers as exploding public-health costs — and cratering sales and income tax revenues — lay waste to their budgets. Already, just weeks into the labor-market collapse, nearly 23 percent of U.S. households say they cannot afford enough food, according to a new survey from the Brookings Institution. During the Great Recession, that figure never exceeded 16 percent.
If the Republican Party wanted to maximize Donald Trump’s odds of winning election this November, it would be doing everything in its power to pass a fourth coronavirus stimulus package as quickly as possible. Historically, swing voters have consistently turned against incumbent presidents (and their parties down-ballot) when economic growth slows in an election year. And there’s reason to think that Trump may be more vulnerable to worsening economic conditions than most presidents: Throughout his time in office, voters have given Trump’s handling of the economy higher marks than the man himself. Although the president’s approval rating has yet to dip beneath its long-run average, it has declined along with the economy’s performance in recent weeks. Today, both public surveys and (reportedly) the Trump campaign’s own internal polling suggest that Joe Biden is on pace to make Donald Trump a one-term president.
But for Republicans, some things are more important than winning elections — and, apparently, denying government assistance to desperate workers and their underfed children is one of them.
Shortly after the Labor Department unveiled the worst jobs report in multiple generations Friday, Larry Kudlow told reporters that the White House will oppose the passage of any further stimulus legislation this month. Trump’s chief economic adviser argued that it was unclear whether further aid was necessary, as Congress had just made “another big infusion” of relief funds late last month and states were now beginning to reopen their economies.
Trump appeared to echo this message late Friday afternoon, saying of negotiations over the next stimulus package, “We’re in no rush, we’re in no rush.”
There do appear to be some divisions among Republicans, both in the White House and Senate. Although Trump downplayed the need for stimulus Friday, he had described a payroll tax cut and infrastructure package as economic necessities earlier in the week. Recent reports have suggested that the White House favors sending out an additional round of relief checks. On Capitol Hill, meanwhile, a few Republican lawmakers from hard-hit regions have called for substantial fiscal aid to states and more generous wage subsidies for companies.
But the dominant view in Mitch McConnell’s caucus seems to be one of callous complacency. Asked whether he would support another round of cash payments to working-class households, Louisiana Republican John Kennedy told The Hill, “Well, people in hell want ice water too. I mean, everybody has an idea and a bill, usually to spend more money. It’s like a Labor Day mattress sale around here.”
Wisconsin senator Ron Johnson and South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham have also expressed opposition to further cash aid. And McConnell’s top deputies, John Barrasso and John Cornyn, have echoed Kudlow’s line that it’s premature to discuss new relief measures.
It’s possible — perhaps even probable — that this is a negotiating posture. If McConnell can frame the conservative position as “let the economy burn,” then suddenly relief of any kind, no matter how limited or regressively targeted, becomes a concession to Democrats. Nevertheless, this would not be a politically optimal pose to strike. If Republicans want to maximize the U.S. economy’s performance in the second half of this year, they need to keep businesses solvent and consumers financially secure now. Recessions are self-reinforcing. As Roosevelt Institute economist J.W. Mason writes, “once economic units have run through their reserves of liquidity, and/or start changing their beliefs about future income, the fall in spending will continue under its own power, regardless of what started it.”
In the Trump era, many liberals have commented on the GOP’s opportunistic embrace of deficits and expansionary monetary policy. When the unemployment rate was nearly 10 percent — and a Democrat was in the White House — Republicans cried out for balanced budgets and interest rate hikes. Once Donald Trump took the reins of an economy closing in on full employment, the GOP paired a $1.5 trillion tax cut with large increases in federal spending and calls for the Federal Reserve to expand the money supply.
But there are limits to Republicans’ ideological opportunism. The party may prioritize delivering returns to their investors in the billionaire class and military-industrial complex over balancing the federal budget. But the conservative movement’s commitment to increasing the dependence of labor on capital, crushing public-sector unions, and discrediting state-level experiments with social democracy is real and deep. And a significant portion of the party’s lawmakers seem to genuinely believe that recessions are self-correcting phenomena that government intervention will only prolong.
For these reasons, Republicans appear hell-bent on allowing the $600 federal increase in unemployment benefits to expire in July and denying states and municipalities the level of aid necessary for averting steep reductions in public employment, education, and other basic services. From the perspective of a Randian libertarian, COVID-19 looks like a cure for municipal workers’ pensions and blue state pre-kindergarten programs. So why not let the virus accomplish what the “red state model” failed to? After all, more free handouts aren’t actually necessary for ensuring that Trump won’t be campaigning in a depressed economy this fall — coercing workers back to their (epidemiologically hazardous) jobs forthwith will make America grow again. Besides, the S&P 500 is up 30 percent since late March — so how bad can things be?
This reasoning is economically delusional. In practice, state governments did not shut down their economies, their residents did. As Raj Chetty and his team of economists demonstrate in a new paper, in states across the country, economic activity declined before lockdown orders took effect — and has not picked up much in those places where they’ve been lifted. International data lends credence to these findings: Sweden’s economy has suffered at least as badly as its neighbors’, even though it made the aberrant decision to allow its nonessential businesses to remain in operation.


Raj Chetty et al are using private data to track economic activity across the countryhttps://opportunityinsights.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/tracker_paper.pdf 

Conclusion 1: Govt shutdowns didn't shut down the economy; people did. And state "re-openings" haven't re-opened much, either.

Whether the GOP’s stance is politically insane is more ambiguous. If America were a functioning, majoritarian democracy, then the party’s position would surely be untenable. Democrats currently lead Republicans in the congressional generic ballot by eight points. Virtually every poll suggests Biden is on course to win the popular vote by a comfortable margin. But then, if America were a majoritarian democracy, Republicans would not be in power to begin with. The GOP can afford to prioritize its ideological mission over its electoral best interests because America’s electoral institutions structurally overrepresent its predominately white, nonurban coalition. By holding up further stimulus, Republicans are taking a massive political risk and significantly reducing Trump’s odds of reelection. But it remains conceivable that the president will be able to squeak by on the strength of his Electoral College advantage, even as his party actively deepens a historic recession so as to economically disempower the majority of Americans who must work for a living.
A more cynical GOP would prioritize Trump’s reelection over denying “ice water” to “people in hell.” Unfortunately for America, actual Republicans put plutocracy before party.

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