The 166th Week of Pudgy's Pandemic

[JackLuis]

Trump’s economy is collapsing and he may be powerless to stop it: financial analyst

Appearing on MSNBC on Saturday morning, the author of a book on financial instability painted an ugly portrait of the U.S. economy already tumbling into a recession and said it was unlikely Donald Trump would be able to stop the slide.

Speaking with host Ali Velshi, Harvard Professor Ken Rogoff didn’t pull any punches when it came to describing the U.S. economy being buffeted by the coronavirus pandemic.

“So even under the optimistic scenario that this passes in six weeks or two months, I think that alone could give us an impulse big enough to have a steeper, deep dip than we had in 2008,” he added, to which the MSNBC host replied, “Wow.”

Trump declares coronavirus ‘National Day of Prayer’ — and suggests looking to God for ‘protection’

The leader of the free world urged people to pray as he continues to receive harsh criticism for his response to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

“It is my great honor to declare Sunday, March 15th as a National Day of Prayer,” Trump tweeted.

“We are a Country that, throughout our history, has looked to God for protection and strength in times like these,” he argued.
Report Advertisement

“No matter where you may be, I encourage you to turn towards prayer in an act of faith. Together, we will easily PREVAIL!” he predicted.

Oh GOD!

 

[jaF0]

Oh GOD!

Book II


https://i.pinimg.com/236x/6d/92/92/6d929260aded65616ea84142208e2a56--george-burns-john-denver.jpg?nii=t

 

[JackLuis]

Louisiana postpones presidential primary over coronavirus fears

The pandemic has irrevocably altered the face of 2020's US presidential campaign, effectively ending 'retail' politics.

Louisiana on Friday became the first state in the United States to postpone a scheduled presidential primary election because of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

Voters in Louisiana were due to vote on April 4 in both Democratic and Republican primaries to select candidates for the November general election. Secretary of State of Lousiana Kyle Ardoin said the vote will now take place on June 20.

If summer doesn't kill the virus, will the virus kill our democracy? Will the Nov election be Vote By Mail, or just set aside to keep Trumpikins in office?

 

[JackLuis]

Trump’s Authoritarian Blindness Comes Home to Roost

Donald Trump’s position heading into November’s presidential election is surprisingly strong. He remains personally unpopular, of course, but he heads toward reelection with—for now—a strong economy and—for now—no major foreign policy crisis.

Notice that I keep saying “for now.” There’s one glaring weakness that could bring Trump down hard, and we’re seeing it on full display in his reaction to the COVID-19 outbreak.

I am not just talking about the outbreak itself. Rather, I mean the authoritarian blindness that is driving Trump’s erratic public statements on the outbreak—because it indicates a more intractable problem with his way of thinking and making decisions.

Even the conservative Bulwark is Thumping Trump!

 

[Publius1990]

And liberal fucktards like yourself that can’t set aside politics for anything are thrilled with a tanking economy and the thought that this could affect the election. You people are fucking sick and delusional.

 

[KeithD]

And liberal fucktards like yourself that can’t set aside politics for anything are thrilled with a tanking economy and the thought that this could affect the election. You people are fucking sick and delusional.

My, that was delusional. Interesting that you posted to this but not to my "Reset?" thread, which puts "lie' to what you post here.

 

[JackLuis]

Jared Kushner’s ‘haphazard and helter-skelter’ coronavirus response revealed by The Washington Post

The president’s son-in-law and senior advisor was the focus of a hard-hitting Washington Post deep-dive titled, “Infighting, missteps and a son-in-law hungry for action: Inside the Trump administration’s troubled coronavirus response.”

“The economy was grinding to a halt. Stocks were in free fall. Schools were closing. Public events were being canceled. New cases of the novel coronavirus were popping up across the country,” the newspaper reported. “And then, on Wednesday, the day the World Health Organization designated the coronavirus a pandemic, Jared Kushner joined the tumult.”

What is a clusterfuck without a Jared? And how much greater and biggly with one?

 

[JackLuis]

Opportuity-LOST!


If Donald Trump had done the right thing for the country he would have gotten what he craves the most

In 2001, in the wake of a series of anthrax attacks, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) put together a 450-page manual detailing how public officials should communicate to the American people during a crisis like the COVID-19 outbreak. According a report about the manual in The Washington Post, “communication that is delivered early, accurately and credibly is the strongest medicine in the government’s arsenal,” and Donald Trump “is breaking every rule” in the book.

Now, unable to bullshit his way out of the situation, Trump is finally taking the pandemic seriously. But according to The New York Times, “studies of previous epidemics have shown that the longer officials waited to encourage people to distance and protect themselves, the less useful those measures were in saving lives and preventing infections.”

The irony is that if Trump had done the right thing—if he had listened to public health experts and prioritized the interests of the American public over his own narrow political concerns–he would have gotten what he has always craved more than anything else: praise for being a strong leader and respect from people outside of his cult.

Cont-Alt-Delete doesn't work anymore Donnie!

 

[JackLuis]

Norwegian university tells students in US to return home due to ‘poorly developed health services’

In a post on Facebook, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology advised some international students students to return home.

“This applies especially if you are staying in a country with poorly developed health services and infrastructure, for example the USA,” the post said, according to reports.

 

[jomar]

Ouch.

 

[JackLuis]

More Republicans than Democrats will die because of right-wing coronavirus lies: conservative columnist

Appearing on MSNBC’s “AM Joy” on Sunday morning, conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin said the daily drumbeat of misinformation coming from the White House and Fox News that has downplayed the coronavirus pandemic will likely lead to more deaths among Republicans than Democrats.

Speaking with host Joy Reid, after watching a clip of a Trump supporter calling the pandemic a Democratic hoax, the former Republican said that the president’s earlier downplaying of the health threat has put some of his biggest boosters at risk.

Oops!

 

[bodysong]

Federal Reserve slashes interest rates to zero as part of wide-ranging
emergency intervention

March 15, 2020

https://www.washingtonpost.com/busi...ero-part-wide-ranging-emergency-intervention/

The Fed, led by Chairman Jerome H. Powell, effectively cut its benchmark
by a full percentage-point to zero. The Fed also announced it is restarting
the crisis-era program of bond purchases known as “quantitative easing,”
where the central bank buys hundreds of billions of dollars in bonds to
further push down rates and keep markets freely flowing. And the central
bank is giving more generous loans to banks around the country so they
turn around and loan to small businesses and families in need of a lifeline.

In the coming months, the Fed will purchase at least $700 billion
more in bonds as part of its new quantitative easing. The majority
of that, at least $500 billion, will be U.S. Treasury bonds.
The rest will be mortgage-backed securities.

 

[rae121452]

More Republicans than Democrats will die because of right-wing coronavirus lies: conservative columnist



Oops!

i just knew that there had to be a silver lining!

 

[phrodeau]

i just knew that there had to be a silver lining!

Consider also that as urban hospitals fill up, Covid19 patients will need to be moved to rural hospitals.

 

[JackLuis]

Dow Futures drop 840 points as Trump was speaking about coronavirus response

President Donald Trump came into the press briefing room to try and calm an anxious nation panic-buying toilet paper and hand sanitizer. Just before he entered, the Federal Reserve dropped rates again, down to 0.25 percent, which sent Trump into celebrating businesses and the profits they’re scoring as Americans grow more and more fearful about the coronavirus.
Report Advertisement

But the more Trump spoke, the more the Dow Futures dropped. Trump’s press conference just before the market closed on Friday helped him spike the market 1,700 points, but the positives seem to be temporary as the cases of COVID-19 as they expand to over 3,200.

Meanwhile the Russians are buying on the dip?

 

[JackLuis]

Equities plunge as central bank moves fail to ease economy fears

Asian markets tumbled Monday as interest rate cuts and fresh stimulus measures by central banks failed to lift confidence, with analysts warning that the Federal Reserve may have reached the limits of its power to fend off recession as the coronavirus spreads.

The Fed move added to efforts by central banks around the world to combat the outbreak, which observers say will likely cause a global recession.

The scale of the crisis was laid bare by data showing Chinese industrial production for January and February shrank 13.5 percent, the first contraction in around 30 years.

Equity markets continue to be whipsawed by the disease, which has now infected almost 170,000 people and killed more than 6,000 with several countries going into lockdown as Europe becomes the new epicentre of the outbreak.

Fed dropped rate to 0.25% and if they go lower, it'll be Free Money Mondays!

Mesanwhile:


Sale of guns, ammo, survival equipment skyrocket amid coronavirus worries

(USA Features) The sale of guns and ammunition around the country are skyrocketing over fears that the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak could get much worse and impact civil society, reports said on Sunday.In addition, sales of “survival gear” are also way up, according to suppliers who spoke to various media.“People who tell me that they don’t like guns, but they’re here to begrudgingly buy one,” Gabriel Vaughn, owner of Sportsman’s Arms In Petaluma, told the KTVU-TV, the Sacramento Bee reported. “And if it makes somebody feel safe and they’re legal to own one, then sure."

Soundsl like to safe bet is buy 9mm/.45 ACP ammo for financial security!

 

[JackLuis]

Dow falls 2,200 points, trading halted, as rate cut fails to calm markets

Wall Street plunged again Monday, despite emergency action from the Federal Reserve over the weekend to shore up the economy by infusing markets and Main Street with easier access to cash.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank by 2,200 points at the opening bell, with the S&P 500 falling by 7 percent, triggering a circuit breaker that halted all trading on the exchange floor for 15 minutes. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell by around 6 percent. When trading resumed, all three major averages extended their losses.

The chaos came just over 12 hours after the Fed unleashed a series of crisis response measures, slashing rates to almost zero Sunday night, injecting cash into Treasurys, and announcing coordinated efforts with central banks across the world to ensure liquidity as the coronavirus pandemic takes a hold on the global economy.

The seriousness of the situation implied by the Fed’s response to the coronavirus threat triggered global selloffs in stocks, oil futures and even gold, which is usually seen as a “safe haven” investment when stocks tumble.

 

[hogjack]

Which of the Democrats' current policies will save the day?

• Crapping in the streets
• Ukraine board member jobs for everyone!
• Border-less is the new bra-less
• Gender fluidity (without contaminated fluids, of course)
• BleachBit and hammer it to smithereens, hell ya
• Your billionaires suck but mine are really cool!

 

[KeithD]

Which of the Democrats' current policies will save the day?

• Crapping in the streets
• Ukraine board member jobs for everyone!
• Border-less is the new bra-less
• Gender fluidity (without contaminated fluids, of course)
• BleachBit and hammer it to smithereens, hell ya
• Your billionaires suck but mine are really cool!

Getting rid of Trump would work a charm.

 

[jaF0]

Who's digging out all these old ID's lately? This is the third or fourth posting drivel that show to be many years old, but I've never seen post.

 

[hogjack]

Who's digging out all these old ID's lately? This is the third or fourth posting drivel that show to be many years old, but I've never seen post.

Great insight. Not exactly pandemic slaying though.

 

[Fuzzy1975]

Who's digging out all these old ID's lately? This is the third or fourth posting drivel that show to be many years old, but I've never seen post.

An alt, who needed to be dug out from the past, since all his other current version are on ignore. The attention they crave, denied....chuckles

 

[phrodeau]

Who's digging out all these old ID's lately? This is the third or fourth posting drivel that show to be many years old, but I've never seen post.

He's been ordered to telecommute, and his home computer uses Windows 2000.

 

[JackLuis]

Dow temporarily drops below 20,000 for the first time since Trump took office

On Tuesday, after briefly appearing to rise, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped below 20,000 points for the first time since President Donald Trump took office.

As of this hour, the Dow has recovered, moving back above the 20,000 mark, but is still somewhat lower than at the opening bell.

On the day Trump took office, the Dow stood at 19,732 points. It quickly surpassed 20,000 and has not fallen below that number until today. For a while, the performance of the stock market — an indicator of business health and an important part of millions of upper middle class workers’ retirement accounts — was a key selling point Trump used as evidence of the success of his presidency.

 

[JackLuis]

Trump officials blaming each other for pandemic failures as ‘A-team’ brought in to clean up their mess

Faced with weeks of bungling the growing coronavirus pandemic, Donald Trump’s White House has brought in what is being called the “A-team” to coordinate efforts to stem the growing health crisis that has almost brought the country to a standstill.

According to a report at Politico, the White House task force — which has been embroiled in internal fights over how to respond to the crisis — recently brought on board Brett Giroir, an HHS official to be the testing coordinator and Adam Boehler, another former HHS official, along with others who are now working overtime to get the government up to speed after dithering for almost two months.
Report Advertisement

Describing the newcomers, one anonymous official admitted, “This is the A-team of people who get shit done. We’ve got to show the American people that we can deliver on the testing promises” referring to Donald Trump’s off-hand comments that anyone can get tested.

Trump changed his tone on coronavirus after seeing Joe Biden take charge on outbreak

President Donald Trump drew praise for his sober assessment Monday of the coronavirus outbreak — in stark contrast to his tone earlier this month.

Trump previously dismissed the virus as a “hoax” pushed by the media and Democrats to undermine his presidency, but the Associated Press reported that he has come to understand that the outbreak posed a threat to his re-election.

Pilot! Someone acknowledged the RESET!