COVID Update July 15: With a handful of days left, the Senate has to act on a number of priorities.
Which ones should they choose?
Spoiler alert. Every one of them. 1/
Which ones should they choose?
Spoiler alert. Every one of them. 1/
Let me state my assumptions:
1. We are in a genuine crisis. If you don’t agree, save time reading the rest of this & just go ahead & leave a comment about how this is just the flu & we’re all fearmongers cooking data out to get the president (I even wrote it for you). 2/
1. We are in a genuine crisis. If you don’t agree, save time reading the rest of this & just go ahead & leave a comment about how this is just the flu & we’re all fearmongers cooking data out to get the president (I even wrote it for you). 2/
2. What started out as a health crisis & jobs crisis has also become a poverty crisis, is spilling over to a housing crisis, may crush small businesses & employment, is a mental health crisis & may take years for people to recover from. 3/
3. Our safety net was too thin to begin with & has not worked well for enough people. The anti safety net people it turns out are usually anti safety net “for others.”
Our county was founded on the premise of the many being one. 4/
Our county was founded on the premise of the many being one. 4/
4. The funds necessary to invest in public health— testing, contact tracing, isolation— have been WILDLY insufficient.
If you cared only about the economy & not a bit about public health, you would still spend our last $ to solve the public health crisis. 5/
If you cared only about the economy & not a bit about public health, you would still spend our last $ to solve the public health crisis. 5/
5. We built up debt doing the wrong things: giving raises to wealthy people, estates & corporations & in Iraq w nothing to show for it. That should not fool us in to not spending what it takes when we need it. 6/
6. We have 0% interest rate & low inflation risk. We are more at risk from deflation & depression right now.
@Scaramucci says it far more eloquently here. Very clear. 7/
Smarturl.it/intheBubble
@Scaramucci says it far more eloquently here. Very clear. 7/
Smarturl.it/intheBubble
Normally, I would have limited tolerance for the usual argument over “big government” vs “small” but not now.
Not during a crisis. Congress is facing the Great Depression, WWII & the 1918 flu.
You don’t underspend. You get out of it with as many intact as possible. 8/
Not during a crisis. Congress is facing the Great Depression, WWII & the 1918 flu.
You don’t underspend. You get out of it with as many intact as possible. 8/
If you can’t recognize dire urgent situations when they happen, get out of government. 9/
If we hadn’t been underspending on Medicaid, public health resources & mental & primary health care, we wouldn’t be in this position.
Yes, if you can afford it you will need to pay greater taxes down the road. But you will have a country you deserve. 10/
Yes, if you can afford it you will need to pay greater taxes down the road. But you will have a country you deserve. 10/
But let’s keep it simple. We are watching what happens when a country devolves to an “individual response” vs a “collective response” to a pandemic.
It does not work. So Congress must step up. No choice. 11/
It does not work. So Congress must step up. No choice. 11/
So what should we do?
Protect people from eviction?
Make sure people who have lost their jobs are getting income?
Make sure the states have the resources?
Invest in contact tracing & testing?
Yes, yes, yes, yes 13/
Protect people from eviction?
Make sure people who have lost their jobs are getting income?
Make sure the states have the resources?
Invest in contact tracing & testing?
Yes, yes, yes, yes 13/
Create more Medicaid coverage?
Expand mental health?
Create a reserve workforce of young people to help communities?
Transform payment to care providers?
Help small business/bars?
Prevent food lines?
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, also yes 14/
Expand mental health?
Create a reserve workforce of young people to help communities?
Transform payment to care providers?
Help small business/bars?
Prevent food lines?
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, also yes 14/
We have the largest food lines on record, border towns with soaring death rates, potential for millions of homeless families, a mental health crisis & very few resources tackling these problems.
Just because you can’t see or it’s easier not to see doesn’t mean it’s not real. 15/
Just because you can’t see or it’s easier not to see doesn’t mean it’s not real. 15/
Bernie Sanders (along with Doug Jones & others want to protect people’s paychecks which all keep the economy moving.
The money needs to be there & not with “billionaires.”
Listen here. Smarturl.it/inthebubble 16/
The money needs to be there & not with “billionaires.”
Listen here. Smarturl.it/inthebubble 16/
Yes I quoted Mooch and Bernie on the same thread. You thought impossible! Listen to them both.
Mooch says we can afford it. Bernie says we can’t afford not to. 17/
Mooch says we can afford it. Bernie says we can’t afford not to. 17/
We want to open schools? The economy? We need to invest in the contact tracing & isolation capabilities. @ScottGottliebMD & I led a proposal to do that.
It passed in the House already. 18/
npr.org/2020/04/27/845…
It passed in the House already. 18/
npr.org/2020/04/27/845…
Tomorrow morning @USofCare will release a proposal that will be sent to every Member of Congress, outlining priorities in these critical areas. 19/
Normally to get you need to give. If the Republicans only want 2 things, the Democrats have to pick the 2 things they want the most & no more.
This is a false economy with Americans on an austerity diet delivered by an indifferent Congress. 20/
This is a false economy with Americans on an austerity diet delivered by an indifferent Congress. 20/
.@zackcooperYale articulated quite clearly why traditional compromise is not called for here. 21/
If you add an inadequate Congressional response on top of a president who refuses to see the problem, then the people we pay to serve us will have failed at the moment of greatest need. 22/
Certain leaders rise to the moment. And the rarest of them are the ones who persuade their colleagues to depart from business as usual.
Congress goes home August 1. They need to go big before they go home. 23/
Congress goes home August 1. They need to go big before they go home. 23/
It’s a rare national moment. So many are on the precipice & in fear. Let Americans know the country has their backs & show people the Congress can pull together to get it done. Plan B isn’t pretty. /end
