Why Do Democrats Want Lockdowns To Continue? A Bad Economy Is Good For Their Election Chances

By William Teach May 26, 2020 – 4:21 pm

We all know this. Democrats are unintentionally saying it

Surprise?

(Politico) In early April, Jason Furman, a top economist in the Obama administration and now a professor at Harvard, was speaking via Zoom to a large bipartisan group of top officials from both parties. The economy had just been shut down, unemployment was spiking, and some policymakers were predicting an era worse than the Great Depression. The economic carnage seemed likely to doom President Donald Trump’s chances at reelection.

Furman, tapped to give the opening presentation, looked into his screen of poorly lit boxes of frightened wonks and made a startling claim.

“We are about to see the best economic data we’ve seen in the history of this country,” he said.

Furman’s counterintuitive pitch has caused some Democrats, especially Obama alumni, around Washington to panic. “This is my big worry,” said a former Obama White House official who is still close to the former president. Asked about the level of concern among top party officials, he said, “It’s high — high, high, high, high.”

And top policy officials on the Biden campaign are preparing for a fall economic debate that might look very different than the one predicted at the start of the pandemic in March. “They are very much aware of this,” said an informal adviser.

Democrats want a bad economy. Or, at least a tepid economy.

The scenario would be a major long-term problem for any president. But before that reality sets in, Trump could be poised to benefit from the dramatic numbers produced during the partial rebound phase that is likely to coincide with the four months before November.

That realization has many Democrats spooked.

“In absolute terms, the economy will look historically terrible come November,” said Kenneth Baer, a Democratic strategist who worked in a senior role at the Office of Management and Budget under Obama. “But relative to the depths of April, it will be on an upswing — 12 percent unemployment, for example, is better than 20, but historically terrible. On Election Day, we Democrats need voters to ask themselves, ‘Are you better off than you were four years ago?’ Republicans need voters to ask themselves, ‘Are you better off than you were four months ago?’”

Democrats are praying for the economic picture to look poor to gain political power, and they do not care who gets hurt to make it happen.

Read: Why Do Democrats Want Lockdowns To Continue? A Bad Economy Is Good For Their Election Chances »

Posted in Democrats, Economy, Elections | 33 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach May 26, 2020 – 1:00 pm

…are horrible fossil fueled vehicles, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Bunkerville, with a post on the best news you might have missed.

Read: If All You See… »

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After Telling Trump He Has The Power To Do Something About Bat Soup Virus, Liberals Seem Upset About His Call To Open Churches

By William Teach May 26, 2020 – 10:30 am

Remember when all the media folks were telling Trump to use his power to Do Something about COVID19, even when he didn’t actually have that power? Well, now, Vox seems upset

Trump claims he will “override the governors” who closed churches in the pandemic

At a press conference Friday afternoon, President Donald Trump announced he would order churches reopened despite the coronavirus pandemic — something he almost certainly does not have the power to do.

State governors, Trump claimed, need to allow churches to reopen “right now, for this weekend.” He added that “if they don’t do it, I will override the governors.”

State governments, not the White House, have the primary responsibility to decide how their states will react to the pandemic.

Wait, wait, I thought Trump was in charge, that the president was in charge? Isn’t that what outlets like Vox were telling us? Now, suddenly, when it involves churches being forced to stay closed while people can run around willy nilly at Home Depot, Trump doesn’t have the power?

But even assuming churches have a substantial enough impact on interstate commerce that Congress could order them reopened, Trump is not Congress. Trump can invoke existing laws that give the federal executive branch some power to help manage a public health crisis, but those statutes largely permit the federal government to support ongoing state efforts to control a disease, or to quarantine people seeking to enter the country or to cross state lines.

Notably, when reporters asked White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany to identify which provision of federal law permits the president to override a governor’s public health order, McEnany did not do so. Instead, her answer — “the president will strongly encourage every governor to allow churches to reopen” — appeared to concede that Trump only has the power to try to persuade governors to change their policies.

Which is exactly what Trump was trying to say. That he would try and persuade them.

Yet while Trump almost certainly does not have the lawful authority to order churches reopened, he is the head of the Republican Party and his words are likely to shape the views of many GOP partisans — some of whom are sitting judges.

Suddenly, Vox is concerned about judges being partisan. Even when they are following the Constitution.

So, while Trump does not have the lawful authority to order churches reopened, his rhetoric is likely to influence politicians and at least some Republican judges. That means the courts could require churches to reopen long before the virus is under control — potentially leading to new outbreaks like the ones in California and Arkansas.

You know one thing Vox has forgotten about? There are 51 Constitutions. A federal one and one for each state. You know this. Liberals forget about it. And they all include provisions about protecting the right to worship as one sees fit. Even in liberal California.

Governors, particularly the Democrat ones, would have been better served asking religious institutions to be careful, appealing to their better natures, rather than locking them down. Same with the leftist media. Anyhow, it’s amusing that they are losing their minds over Trump wanting churches to reopen and claiming he doesn’t have the power.

Read: After Telling Trump He Has The Power To Do Something About Bat Soup Virus, Liberals Seem Upset About His Call To Open Churches »

Posted in 1st Amendment, Donald Trump, Wonky Media | 5 Comments | Trackback URL

‘Climate Change’ Is Killing Way More People Than Recorded Or Something

By William Teach May 26, 2020 – 8:10 am

I blame card carrying members of the doomsday Cult of Climastrology for refusing to give up their own use of fossil fuels and making their own lives carbon neutral, living like it’s 1499

Experts Warn Climate Change Is Already Killing Way More People Than We Record

People around the world are already dying from the climate crisis, and yet all too often, official death records do not reflect the impact of these large-scale environmental catastrophes.

According to a team of Australian health experts, heat is the most dominant risk posed by climate change in the country. If the world’s emissions remain the same, by 2080 Australian cities could see at least four times the number of deaths from increasing temperatures alone.

“Climate change is a killer, but we don’t acknowledge it on death certificates,” says physician Arnagretta Hunter from the Australian National University.

That’s a potentially serious oversight. In a newly-published correspondence, Hunter and four other public health experts estimate Australia’s mortality records have substantially underreported heat-related deaths – at least 50-fold.

Apparently, people didn’t die from the weather prior to CO2 crossing the 350ppm threshold. Or is since 1978? Or 1999? Or all the way back to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution? Warmists typically just pick and choose their time frame. Anyhow, people die from weather events. Soon, the Warmists will start blaming cold weather related deaths on ‘climate change’.

“If you have an asthma attack and die during heavy smoke exposure from bushfires, the death certificate should include that information,” she adds.

Without those data, we’ll never truly know the scale of what we are dealing with. But while it’s possible to diagnose someone with a heart attack or cancer, it’s much harder to draw links between climate events and human mortality.

The authors of the correspondence compare it to a lightning strike, which might cause a branch to fall on a person and kill them. The thing is, the resulting death certificate might not make any reference to the lightning at all, only the branch.

Wildfires have always happened, and, since a majority of them tend to be set by humans rather than spontaneous combustion from a minor 1.5F increase in global temperatures, yeah, this is just fear-mongering from a doomsday cult.

“Climate change is a concern to many people. But if the effect of extreme temperatures is not recorded, its full impact can never be understood,” the authors argue.

What’s so extreme about 1.5F? Go ahead and set your AC up 2 degrees. While it might not be as comfortable for sleeping as you are used to, do you feel doomed?

“Death certification needs to be modernised, indirect causes should be reported, with all death certification prompting for external factors contributing to death, and these death data must be coupled with large-scale environmental datasets so that impact assessments can be done.”

Well, if we’re going to do that, why not record “dead due to Liberal policies”? “Dead because lived in a Leftist city”? That makes a whole lot more sense than “dead because weather happened that has always happened by now we’re going to blame it on witchcraft”.

Read: ‘Climate Change’ Is Killing Way More People Than Recorded Or Something »

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Does Scientific Data Undermine North Carolina Governor’s Slow Reopening?

By William Teach May 26, 2020 – 7:50 am

There’s a minor brouhaha going on over Trump and Pence threatening to move the RNC convention from Charlotte, NC, over NC’s slow reopening. Breitbart attempts to make the case that the state really should be fully open per the data

Scientific Data Undermine North Carolina Democrat Governor’s Slow Rolled Reopening

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, justified his slow reopening of the state on Monday after President Trump threatened to move the location of the Republican National Convention, currently scheduled to be held in Charlotte from August 24 to August 27, if the governor fails to move more quickly.

“North Carolina is relying on data and science to protect our state’s public health,” Cooper said in a statement made in response to the president’s comments on Monday.

But a look at the science and the data suggest that a complete reopening of the state is in order now. Protesters who gathered in several locations on Monday calling to “ReOpen NC” agreed.

Cooper announced on Wednesday that the state would move to Phase 2 of reopening–which still prohibits bars and gyms from reopening and limits gatherings to ten or fewer–on Friday. Cooper said his Phase 2 “Safer at Home” executive order will remain in effect until at least June 26.

Yeah, the gym thing is annoying, especially when you are talking about small gyms and studios. I can understand the concern about sweat getting everywhere, but, you clean clean clean. It might be a problem in the bigger exercise facilities, but, then, you know who tends to be the healthiest and least likely to get Bat Soup virus? That’s right, people who exercise! I understand keeping bars and nightclubs closed.

The governor conceded that the data for all major criteria for reopening, except for total number of new cases, have either leveled or decreased. The number of new daily cases has increased, but so too has the number of daily tests administered. The percentage of those tested for COVID-19 who are positive declined from 13 percent on April 26, to eight percent on May 20, the day he made his announcement, and current hospitalizations have remained level:

  • North Carolina’s syndromic surveillance trend for COVID-like illness is decreasing.
  • North Carolina’s trajectory in percent of tests returning positive has been decreasing and is starting to level.
  • North Carolina’s trajectory of hospitalizations is level.

From April 29 to May 18, the number of patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 declined from 551 to 487, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCHHS). In the intervening week, it increased back up to 554 as of May 20, when Gov. Cooper made his announcement. (snip)

Gov. Cooper has consistently slow walked the reopening of North Carolina, as Breitbart News reported back on April 29 when the governor refused to move the state to Phase 1 before May 8, even though the guidelines for Phase 1 reopening had been met more than a week earlier.

63% of those who have died in North Carolina from COVID-19 were in nursing homes. I live in one the state’s largest counties, where the capital is located. It was the first county to have a case. I know of a total of three people who had it. A coworkers wife, someone back in the shop, and one customer who claimed she had it and was recovering. That’s it. Not evening hearing the “friend of a friend has it” type meme.

But, really, what does all the data mean? Not much, because people aren’t necessarily ready for a full on reopening. Would you be comfortable in a restaurant at full capacity? How about people being in your personal bubble, which is out to 6 feet now? Shaking hands? Walking through a packed grocery store? Despite Cooper being a Democrat, I’ll give him some props for not going nuts with the restrictions like other Democrat governors. Coronavirus is not going away. It will still be around. There is a serious concern with a resurgence, particularly when we start getting colder weather in the fall/winter. People should continue to keep their distance, wash their hands a lot, and just be careful. What’s the problem with that?

As much as I want to see the state, and the nation, fully reopened, caution is never unwarranted in a pandemic. When I see the webcam showing people being way, way too close down at Carolina Beach and others, well, obviously, that’s their choice, but, they can be putting other people at risk. It’s all a balancing act. And lots and lots of people are not quite ready to make a full reopening, regardless of political party.

Read: Does Scientific Data Undermine North Carolina Governor’s Slow Reopening? »

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Idiot Protests Wearing Face Mask By Wearing Bikini Made Of Face Masks

By William Teach May 25, 2020 – 3:32 pm

People need their social media validation and likes, you know (via Twitchy)

https://twitter.com/nemui_babyy/status/1264387739186688001

I hate wearing the mask. We have to do it at work when we are wandering around the dealership or with a customer. If we are at our desks or outside without a customer, we do not have to wear one. Those blue masks bothered my lips and made me feel like I smoked a whole pack between 9 and 7 from all the CO2 inhaled and stuff coming off the mask. Not allowed to wear a bandana, and cloth aren’t much better. However, if I go to a store that requires one I’ll put it on briefly, or not go. Some people, though, just have to be pains.

Also, speaking of bad protests

Read More »

Read: Idiot Protests Wearing Face Mask By Wearing Bikini Made Of Face Masks »

Posted in Bat Soup Virus, Good Move Slick | 18 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach May 25, 2020 – 1:00 pm

…is a horrible carbon pollution infused beer causing sea rise, you might just be a Warmist

If All You See…

The blog of the day is Blazing Cat Fur, with a post on UK “experts” recommending getting rid of urinals.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 1 Comment | Trackback URL

USA Today Notices All All The Bat Soup Lawsuits, Most Against Democrats

By William Teach May 25, 2020 – 10:30 am

Citizens would probably be a little more accepting of the whole “stay home, relax, let’s get through this” if some elected officials weren’t constantly going overboard and showing their authoritarian sides

‘Draconian’? ‘House arrest’? Coronavirus lockdowns prompt raft of lawsuits against states

Camping in Scarborough, Maine. Gathering for church in Chincoteague, Virginia. Or just grabbing a burger at Poopy’s Pub and Grub in Savanna, Illinois.

Each of these activities became the subject of a federal lawsuit, as residents, businesses and even lawmakers challenged state shutdown orders designed to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus.

The cases test where the lines are safely drawn, as governors balance protecting public health against individual liberties. Governors say strict rules save lives, but critics who are forced to stay home or shutter their businesses called the steps “draconian” or compared them to “house arrest.” The lawsuits come as President Donald Trump has become increasingly vocal in criticism of state restrictions, encouraged protests at state capitols and urged churches to reopen despite restrictions.

Who would have thought that citizens are not just willing to sit around and see their businesses go up in smoke, as well as allowing government to run their lives in contradiction to state and federal constitutions?

More than 1,300 state and federal lawsuits have been filed over COVID-19, including 240 dealing with civil rights, as of Friday, according to Hunton Andrews Kurth, a law firm tracking the cases. USA TODAY reviewed more than 80 lawsuits that often dealt with conditions at prisons and nursing homes, voting rights, and university tuition. USA TODAY focused on legal challenges to restrictions such as stay-at-home orders and business closures, and also whether abortion or church services can be limited during the pandemic, to gauge which orders were being challenged and how states were responding.

The eventual rulings could redefine the balance between state police powers and constitutional rights that advocates contend are too important to sacrifice even temporarily. Abortions are time sensitive. Buyers want guns during times of crisis. And parishioners seek solace at church. Other lawsuits test whether rules go beyond legislative authorities by requiring people to isolate themselves, stay apart in public and wear masks.

For all the liberals who are taking government’s side, they shouldn’t forget that they sued when abortion on demand was considered non-essential. The death cult believes that abortion is a constitutional right.

People were willing to chill for a bit. After a month or so, people were getting antsy, and not happy with the ever more draconian rules and dictates. Heck, look at uber-liberal California: now that the beaches are open they are flocking to them, even with the stay at home order in effect.

Read: USA Today Notices All All The Bat Soup Lawsuits, Most Against Democrats »

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David Attenborough Us Very Concerned Over Coronavirus Knocking ‘Climate Change’ Off The Front Pages

By William Teach May 25, 2020 – 7:11 am

I like Sir David Attendborough’s documentaries: they are very well done. His Blue Planet series was a triumph. Of course, he’s taken lots and lots of fossil fueled trips to make them, even after becoming a card carrying member of the Cult of Climastrology

Climate Crisis ‘Swept Off The Front Pages’ Due To Coronavirus Pandemic, David Attenborough Warns

Veteran presenter Sir David Attenborough has warned the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has caused the climate crisis to be ‘swept off the front pages’ of the news.

The 94-year-old broadcaster, who often uses his platform to shed light on environmental issues, made the comments during his recent appearance on the So Hot Right Now podcast.

According to The Independent, Attenborough said: “The trouble is that right now the climate issue is also seen as being rather in the distant future because we’ve got the virus to think about.

“And so what are the papers full of? The virus. Quite right, that’s what I want to know about, too. But we have to make sure that this issue, which was coming to the boil with the next COP meeting in Glasgow, has suddenly been swept off the front pages.”

In a Bat Soup Virus world, should there really be 10,000+ taking long, fossil fueled trips to gather in Glasglow? Sure, that’s months away, but, the beginning of December, when the weather is turning chilly, is not the best time to keep people from getting viruses, right, and the concern is that Fall will bring a resurgence of COVID-19.

Attenborough does have a point, though. ‘Climate change’ coverage is way, way down. I’ve mentioned before that it has been difficult on some days to find articles of interest. My normal is to write a post on something else, then do a climate post. When I do my search I usually save multiple climate articles to Pocket for use later in day. I often end up deleting articles from Pocket a few days later because I never used them. These days, I sometimes have trouble finding just one. This morning, this was the only article of interest despite 20 pages of a Google news search. Nor is there anything for “climate crisis”. It just goes to show, concern about ‘climate change’ is really more theoretical, rather than a real world concern.

Attenborough isn’t the only environmentalist to warn how the pandemic is affecting our attention on the climate crisis. TV presenter and vegan advocate Chris Packham says the virus ‘could set back’ climate change efforts.

Speaking to the BBC, Packham said: If this turns out to be an enforced break in dealing with these issues and we lose the impetus we have gained, that could set us back years. Climate change isn’t going away.

Coronavirus is real: people feel it. They see it. Even though many nations around the world aren’t having the same hysterical articles in the papers and broadcasts on the TV (read some outlets in Australia and the UK, among others), people are concerned. They have the same issues with closures, restrictions, economic devastation, social distancing, etc and so on. This is real world. The so-called climate crisis is a 1st World issue that people profess to care about when they have nothing better to worry about.

Read: David Attenborough Us Very Concerned Over Coronavirus Knocking ‘Climate Change’ Off The Front Pages »

Posted in Collapsing Science, Global Warming | 1 Comment | Trackback URL

Poll Shows Large Majority Willing To Pay Up To 100% More For Economic Nationalism

By William Teach May 25, 2020 – 6:49 am

This is interesting, however, I’m actually going to take a ‘climate change’ road on it

Poll: Up to 94 Percent of Americans Want Economic Nationalist Overhaul in Wake of Chinese Coronavirus Crisis

Up to 94 percent of American voters say they want an economic nationalist overhaul of the United States’ economy in the wake of the Chinese coronavirus crisis, a survey reveals.

A survey conducted by FTI Consulting finds that American voters overwhelmingly want economic nationalist policies implemented — including more tariffs on foreign imports, mandatory country-of-origin labeling, and a requirement that goods be made in the U.S.

In total, about 66 percent of Americans support increasing tariffs on foreign imports while only 34 percent want more free trade agreements between the U.S. and other countries.

Likewise, 76 percent of Americans said they are willing to pay 5 percent to 100 percent more for U.S.-made products over products made overseas. Just 24 percent said they are not willing to pay more money for U.S.-made products.

The poll shows that Americans are increasingly growing tired of their goods being made in China. Today, about 4-in-10 Americans say they will not buy products imported from China. A plurality of about 34 percent of the 60 percent of Americans who said they will still buy products from China said they will do so but do not like the fact that they are made in China.

Where does the 94% come from?

About 94 percent of Americans said they support requiring labels on each product that indicates all of the countries where the product was designed, manufactured, and assembled and indicates what percentage of the product was made in each country. Only six percent oppose the requirement.

Most labels already have nation of origin. Regardless, the point of implementing tariffs is not to increase the cost of goods here in the U.S., but to sway other nations to remove their tariffs on U.S. goods.

I will say, though, that much like with ‘climate change’ policies, I’m betting this is more of a theoretical issue vs in practice. Meaning that people will say now that they are willing to pay more rather than actually willing to pay more. They might go for 5-10% more. Maybe even up to 20% more, depending on what they are buying, for products made in the U.S. More than that? Doubtful. Are they willing to pay 20% to 100% more for that “domestic” vehicle that is actually made in Mexico or Canada? How about doubling the cost of a new TV or smartphone?

Just remember, what Trump wants is not increased prices, but China and other nations to open their markets for American goods. A level playing field.

Read: Poll Shows Large Majority Willing To Pay Up To 100% More For Economic Nationalism »

Posted in Economy | 4 Comments | Trackback URL
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