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Responding to a deadly virus pandemic:

DEMOCRATS: Unemployment benefits, free testing, paid sick leave, food security.

REPUBLICANS (You can't make this up): Tax break for BUSINESSES. A bail out for Wall Street. A plea to save cruise ship industry. A handout to TRUMP HIMSELF.
A multi-billion dollar coronavirus bill was introduced to the House by Democrats last night.

Republicans want to go on a week-long recess instead.

You heard that right.

politico.com/news/2020/03/1…
Immediate action needed to battle coronavirus pandemic:

1. Free mass testing

2. Cancel all mass-gatherings

3. Telecommute.

4. Expand hospital capacity

5. Bring back all retired health care staff

6. safe-guard nursing homes, prisons, homeless shelters
nytimes.com/2020/03/11/opi…
7. Mobilize national guard to support first-responders

8. Expand Medicaid

9. Mandate paid sick leave

10. Increase production of hospital supplies

11. Shut down public schools

12. Make all quarantined individuals eligible for unemployment insurance
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More from @Mikel_Jollett see all

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Mikel Jollett
@Mikel_Jollett
So everybody understands that the reason we don’t have mass testing in the US is because Trump rejected the available World Health Org tests because he said “the numbers might hurt” his chances of re-election?
Quick, decisive and proper action is vital in a pandemic when the number of dead can double every 4-7 days without containment.

No matter how this plays out, there is no question that Trump’s selfish, ignorant, psychopathic decisions will have killed countless people.
A week ago it was a big mystery why Trump refused the World Health Org tests for COVID-19.

It’s no longer a mystery.
Read 5 tweets
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Mikel Jollett
@Mikel_Jollett
Yes this is Trump’s fault.

The virus was inevitable but *90%* of deaths are avoidable.

▪️He FIRED the entire US pandemic response team

▪️He called the virus a “democratic hoax”

▪️He PREVENTED mass testing bc he thought it might hurt his re-election chances

This is pure evil.
▪️He still has not declared a state of emergency — despite warnings that the virus could kill as many as A MILLION Americans — because he doesn’t want states to use Medicaid funds to test and treat the most vulnerable.

This is akin to a death sentence for thousands of people.
▪️The World Health Org had tests ready for mass use IN JANUARY. Trump REJECTED them bc he thought the increased number of reported cases would hurt his chances of re-election.

The lack of testing has allowed a deadly virus to spread in the US

This is downright psychopathic.
Read 3 tweets
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Mikel Jollett
@Mikel_Jollett
The United States is now the only industrialized country in the world without mass testing for coronavirus.
It’s honestly the most bizarre moment right now in which everyone knows we need mass testing and nobody knows exactly why there are no tests, nobody knows who to ask bc there is no one to ask and no one in charge and no plan and Jesus you just knew this is what Trump would become
One MILLION deaths. That’s what experts are now saying.

A MILLION.

I can’t even wrap my head around it.

And the biggest contributor to the epidemic: Trump stopped testing because he thought the numbers would make HIM look bad.
Read 3 tweets

Related threads

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Megan McArdle
@asymmetricinfo
Yes, I really wish that people would just say "Everyone should give their employees paid sick leave because that's the right thing to do, problem solved!" as if businesses were just huge sacks of money. The most affected businesses are apt to be seeing their revenues collapse.
This is a bad time to begin offering workers a new and very expensive benefit that they are more likely than usual to take.
Now a giant corporation with a nice, sloshy reserve fund can do this--and should! (But also, probably already does). But if your business model is planned around *not* paying those benefits, you may well not have adequate reserves for the expense.
Read 6 tweets
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Amanda Marcotte
@AmandaMarcotte
It’s tempting to put all of the blame for the coronavirus spread on Trump’s incompetence. But normal Republicans are also to blame for spending years hyping an anti-government, anti-common good philosophy. salon.com/2020/03/13/rep…
McConnell would rather let a disease spread than admit that paid sick leave should be a right, instead of something left up to the discretion of your employer. The GOP straight up believes employers are feudal lords who should be able to treat workers however they like.
The reason Trump gutted so much federal infrastructure we need right now isn't because Trump has some unique hatred of the federal government. It's because he's doing what Republicans *always* do when they get power. And it's getting people killed.
Read 4 tweets
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Madhu Pai
@paimadhu
Not only is #Covid_19 directly impacting everyone and causing massive economic losses, it will seriously disrupt routine healthcare delivery for many common conditions that are major killers already. True impact will be revealed in the coming 2-3 years.
Take TB for example. It is already #1 among infectious killers of humanity. Even without COVID, TB kills 1.5M/year. I expect this to jump next year because of drop in coverage of routine TB care and a drop in quality of care (which is not great to begin with).
Here are the myriad ways by with #COVIDー19 can affect TB services (and, by extension, all similar conditions):

1. Healthcare workers falling sick, absent, working from home
2. Diversion of funding
3. Disruption of supply chain (e.g. if generics need materials from China)
Read 11 tweets
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Joseph Kishore for President 2020 #socialism2020
@jkishore
Trump's speech on the #CoronavirusPandemic was a nationalist rant written by his fascistic advisor Stephen Miller. What is required is a globally-coordinated response to a global problem, but this is incompatible with the capitalist nation-state system. wsws.org/en/articles/20…
2. Trump took no responsibility for the inaction and disarray that has characterized his administration’s response to the crisis. Rather, he presented the botched American reaction—viewed around the globe as a disgrace—as the “best anywhere in the world.” #COVID19
3. Trump’s proposed no measures that would slow the spread of the disease. He announced no funding towards expanding hospitals or increasing available resources for testing, or even providing the most basic protective equipment for frontline medical workers. #coronavirus
Read 9 tweets
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LOrion
@LOrion
MAR 3 HAVE YOU #VOTED? DO IT NOW..now on to Live #CoronaVirusUpdates THREAD 1: #FederalReserve made an emergency interest rate cut Tuesday, slashing benchmark US rate by half a percent point... global central banks MUST act to contain #economic fallout from the #coronavirus
MAR 3 #CoronaVirusUpdates THREAD 2: A little late today on SuperTuesday. Remember I am ret. MD and have done threads since JAN22 most from WAPO News but do keep link to #JohnHopkins ARGIS map. tinyurl.com/uvclzl9 THOUGH as we saw yesterday CASES rose faster than it keeps up.
MAR 3 #CoronaVirusUpdates THREAD 3: 10:40 a.m.
#Senators grill @FDA commissioner #StephenHahn over availability of #coronavirus #testkits (about time) predicted earlier in the week, when he said ONEmillion tests would become available within days. eg ONE #KIT can do 2500 #maddow
Read 24 tweets
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ESPWA, Inc.
@HaitiESPWA
OCHA is asking for $216 million to serve the “most vulnerable #Haitians”. We have a plan #UNOCHA. The #Haiti Community Foundation can help you... 1/
loophaiti.com/content/216-mi…
Plan for $216 million for #humanitarian assistance.1st: we mobilize #local & regional #community organizations in the 10 departments & make sure to have an inclusive -non-political, list of those most affected, incl. those who often never get the #Aid.Local staff= lower #costs 2/
Plan 4 $216 million for #humanitarian assist.2: w/our humongous costs savings due 2 local #supplies & no expat consultants #costs- we’ll use local consultants,we’ll set up #agriculture #funds for each Departments 4 supplies, training & l-cost financing. #results: 🔝#production 3/
Read 7 tweets

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#COVID19 #British #Mob #production #NorthKorea #Oran #food #Senators #HouseDemocrats #Security #IA04 #Shanghai #SouthKorea #JohnHopkins #Washington #WagesAreRising #KAG #PopeFrancis #GigWorkers #SSD #WMATA #IA01 #supplies #Iran #community

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