Giving every American adult $1000 a month for say five months would cost about $2 trillion dollars by the time the virus crisis crests — how much we spent on Afghanistan. Mitt Romney thinks it a good idea at least as a one timer.
Worried about deficit? I always point out that the words of the “big bill we are leaving our grandchildren” sound a lot more ominous than what the simple numbers show. I usually point out that even if we left a deficit of a trillion dollars a year for 40 years (time enough four our grandchildren to start paying taxes) that would add up to $40 trillion — out of the thousand trillion we will produce by then — partly eaten by inflation at that.
We could pay down the $2 trillion a year to coast over the virus crisis over only four years if we rescind the latest Republican tax breaks for the rich. Just to get it all in perspective.
CORRECTION up above:
200 million American adults X $1000 a month X 5 months = $1 trillion, not $2 trillion. In the right perspective it sounds like small change — considering the gravity of the need (like keeping the economy from crashing into deflation).
Stuart Staniford: “In any given country, there are only two ways this virus ends. Either it spreads everywhere, completely overwhelms the health system, and culls 5-10% of the human population (and leaves some additional number with permanent lung damage). Or it gets contained – all the cases get tracked down, isolated, and the epidemic is stopped.”
It occurs to me that as the epidemic rolls along there will be an ever enlarging pool of people that have put it behind them — gotten over it — who can return to normal occupations.
* * * * * *
On MSNBC just now I saw Pulitzer Prize winner Laurie Garret give by far the most intelligent thinking I have seen on what we should have done and should do now.
dennis, no doubt that there are thoughtful & intelligent people who understand what we’ve done wrong and what needs to be done instead…the problem is for each of those, there are dozens out here in flyover country cleaning out the local gun shops, preparing to do battle to protect their hoards of toilet paper…so i question how much good $1000 a month in each of those hands will do if all they’re going to do when they get that check is run down to the gunshop and buy another AR-15..
“It looks like Uncle Joe has won all three primaries today in the landslide fashion predicted by the polls. So that’s that. If it was just barely not a done deal yesterday, it is today. November is going to be Biden vs. Trump and nobody should waste a single penny or a single neuron that isn’t directed toward winning that battle.”
Can’t stop the campaign based on what may happen. On the other hand is the election is postponed, Trump and Pence have to step aside.
“WASHINGTON —
Voters are unnerved. Confusion is growing throughout the country as the coronavirus outbreak moves states to postpone primaries and change voting procedures in the midst of a presidential election year. It is all leading to a lot of speculation — sometimes uninformed — about what could happen in November if this virus is still spreading.
Are there any guarantees the election will actually happen if congregating in public places, like polling stations, is still a risk come fall? Can voters be confident President Trump can’t exploit this crisis to avoid facing them if he fears defeat?
The short answer is yes. While government officials have the authority to reschedule voting for the parties’ primaries, that flexibility does not exist for the general election. It is all but certain to happen as planned. The question is whether states reeling from the pandemic will be prepared to accommodate everyone who wants to cast ballots.
Can Trump use the national emergency to delay the election?
No. The president does not have that power. Legal scholars are widely in agreement on this point, as are both Republican and Democratic election officials. The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service reached the same conclusion when it investigated the question in the aftermath of 9/11.
Under the U.S. Constitution, Trump and Vice President Mike Pence cannot stay in office past their four-year terms without being reelected. If the election does not happen for any reason, constitutional rules of succession kick in. ”
“t was already past time for Sen. Bernie Sanders to drop out of the race for president, but now he can say he’s doing it to save hundreds, possibly thousands, of lives.
Two dozen Democratic primaries remain before the July convention (if there is an actual convention). Each of them will violate the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines against gatherings of more than 10 people in a confined public space. If Sanders withdraws, rendering those primaries moot, he will prevent the coronavirus from spreading across thousands of precinct stations and their surrounding neighborhoods nationwide.
Sanders could thus turn an admission of defeat into a noble stance of self-sacrifice for the health of the nation.
It would be one thing if Sanders still had a plausible path to the nomination. But Joe Biden’s margin of delegates is all but insurmountably wide, and the primaries that remain—in such states as Pennsylvania, Delaware, Ohio, Maryland, New York, and New Jersey—will only widen that lead.
Dropping out now, instead of waiting to suffer the calamity of more double-digit losses, would also allow Sanders to retain some dignity—and, more to the point, political leverage. In exchange for his early concession, he could ask for a half-hour of prime time at the convention (again, if there is one), a few planks on the party platform, a Cabinet slot if he wants one, or an important committee chairmanship if the Democrats retake the Senate.
Biden’s recent endorsement of Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s plan for a new bankruptcy law (which goes against the one that he helped pass several years ago) was a sign of his pliability. It’s also one of several gestures that he’s been making to bring the party’s left wing back into its orbit. If Sanders moves quickly, he could make it more likely that he, and not Warren, would be treated as the leader and arbiter for that wing.
The contest for the Democratic nomination is essentially over. Sanders can growl and scowl and keep talking about things that Biden voted for or against 25 years ago, and thus delay—possibly block—the unification of the party, accomplishing nothing except boosting the chances of Donald Trump’s reelection and endangering public health. Or he can smile, stand side by side with Biden, and emerge as a powerful mensch. ”
Giving every American adult $1000 a month for say five months would cost about $2 trillion dollars by the time the virus crisis crests — how much we spent on Afghanistan. Mitt Romney thinks it a good idea at least as a one timer.
David McWilliams, my favorite Irish international banker says similar would be a good idea for Ireland.
http://www.davidmcwilliams.ie/why-central-bank-must-give-everyone-free-money-right-now/?utm_source=Website+Subscribers&utm_campaign=4abac5f6b4-22112012_COPY_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_861a00f27d-4abac5f6b4-266201441
Worried about deficit? I always point out that the words of the “big bill we are leaving our grandchildren” sound a lot more ominous than what the simple numbers show. I usually point out that even if we left a deficit of a trillion dollars a year for 40 years (time enough four our grandchildren to start paying taxes) that would add up to $40 trillion — out of the thousand trillion we will produce by then — partly eaten by inflation at that.
We could pay down the $2 trillion a year to coast over the virus crisis over only four years if we rescind the latest Republican tax breaks for the rich. Just to get it all in perspective.
CORRECTION up above:
200 million American adults X $1000 a month X 5 months = $1 trillion, not $2 trillion. In the right perspective it sounds like small change — considering the gravity of the need (like keeping the economy from crashing into deflation).
Stuart Staniford: “In any given country, there are only two ways this virus ends. Either it spreads everywhere, completely overwhelms the health system, and culls 5-10% of the human population (and leaves some additional number with permanent lung damage). Or it gets contained – all the cases get tracked down, isolated, and the epidemic is stopped.”
graphs: Containing Covid-19 (Or Not)
it’s probably worth pondering how it will end in this country…
It occurs to me that as the epidemic rolls along there will be an ever enlarging pool of people that have put it behind them — gotten over it — who can return to normal occupations.
* * * * * *
On MSNBC just now I saw Pulitzer Prize winner Laurie Garret give by far the most intelligent thinking I have seen on what we should have done and should do now.
Trump Has Sabotaged America’s Coronavirus Response
Note the date — Jan 31, 2020
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/
Why people who can telecommute or already work from home (for example programmers) should get a check?
Would not it be better to extent the unemployment insurance on part time workers and prolong to a year ?
dennis, no doubt that there are thoughtful & intelligent people who understand what we’ve done wrong and what needs to be done instead…the problem is for each of those, there are dozens out here in flyover country cleaning out the local gun shops, preparing to do battle to protect their hoards of toilet paper…so i question how much good $1000 a month in each of those hands will do if all they’re going to do when they get that check is run down to the gunshop and buy another AR-15..
Yep.
“It looks like Uncle Joe has won all three primaries today in the landslide fashion predicted by the polls. So that’s that. If it was just barely not a done deal yesterday, it is today. November is going to be Biden vs. Trump and nobody should waste a single penny or a single neuron that isn’t directed toward winning that battle.”
https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2020/03/its-biden-vs-trump/
unless the November election is suspended due to the national emergency, EMichael
Can’t stop the campaign based on what may happen. On the other hand is the election is postponed, Trump and Pence have to step aside.
“WASHINGTON —
Voters are unnerved. Confusion is growing throughout the country as the coronavirus outbreak moves states to postpone primaries and change voting procedures in the midst of a presidential election year. It is all leading to a lot of speculation — sometimes uninformed — about what could happen in November if this virus is still spreading.
Are there any guarantees the election will actually happen if congregating in public places, like polling stations, is still a risk come fall? Can voters be confident President Trump can’t exploit this crisis to avoid facing them if he fears defeat?
The short answer is yes. While government officials have the authority to reschedule voting for the parties’ primaries, that flexibility does not exist for the general election. It is all but certain to happen as planned. The question is whether states reeling from the pandemic will be prepared to accommodate everyone who wants to cast ballots.
Can Trump use the national emergency to delay the election?
No. The president does not have that power. Legal scholars are widely in agreement on this point, as are both Republican and Democratic election officials. The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service reached the same conclusion when it investigated the question in the aftermath of 9/11.
Under the U.S. Constitution, Trump and Vice President Mike Pence cannot stay in office past their four-year terms without being reelected. If the election does not happen for any reason, constitutional rules of succession kick in. ”
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-03-17/no-trump-cant-postpone-the-november-election-but-thats-the-first-question
Course, this Supreme Court is capable of anything. Looks to me that Pelosi would take the job.
It’s time for Bernie to make a deal.
“t was already past time for Sen. Bernie Sanders to drop out of the race for president, but now he can say he’s doing it to save hundreds, possibly thousands, of lives.
Two dozen Democratic primaries remain before the July convention (if there is an actual convention). Each of them will violate the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines against gatherings of more than 10 people in a confined public space. If Sanders withdraws, rendering those primaries moot, he will prevent the coronavirus from spreading across thousands of precinct stations and their surrounding neighborhoods nationwide.
Sanders could thus turn an admission of defeat into a noble stance of self-sacrifice for the health of the nation.
It would be one thing if Sanders still had a plausible path to the nomination. But Joe Biden’s margin of delegates is all but insurmountably wide, and the primaries that remain—in such states as Pennsylvania, Delaware, Ohio, Maryland, New York, and New Jersey—will only widen that lead.
Dropping out now, instead of waiting to suffer the calamity of more double-digit losses, would also allow Sanders to retain some dignity—and, more to the point, political leverage. In exchange for his early concession, he could ask for a half-hour of prime time at the convention (again, if there is one), a few planks on the party platform, a Cabinet slot if he wants one, or an important committee chairmanship if the Democrats retake the Senate.
Biden’s recent endorsement of Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s plan for a new bankruptcy law (which goes against the one that he helped pass several years ago) was a sign of his pliability. It’s also one of several gestures that he’s been making to bring the party’s left wing back into its orbit. If Sanders moves quickly, he could make it more likely that he, and not Warren, would be treated as the leader and arbiter for that wing.
The contest for the Democratic nomination is essentially over. Sanders can growl and scowl and keep talking about things that Biden voted for or against 25 years ago, and thus delay—possibly block—the unification of the party, accomplishing nothing except boosting the chances of Donald Trump’s reelection and endangering public health. Or he can smile, stand side by side with Biden, and emerge as a powerful mensch. ”
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/03/sanders-drop-out-primary-coronavirus.html