‘Excuse me!’ Elizabeth Warren unloads on Bloomberg host after he blames Dems for stalled virus bill

March 23, 2020 By David Edwards


Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) was confronted by Bloomberg host Jonathan Ferro on Monday over the stalled coronavirus relief legislation.

“In this bill, there are checks for everyday Americans,” Ferro told the senator. “The reason this bill hasn’t gone through is because of Democratic senators. Do you want to be the person that stopping people from getting their checks to meet their rent at the end of this month?”

“Excuse me,” Warren shot back. “The reason this bill has not gone through is because of Republicans senators and because of Republican leadership that pretended to negotiate for three days with the Democrats and then at the end of that time basically introduced their own bill.”

“We’ve laid out what our principles are,” she continued. “And that is you can’t give a half a billion dollars to giant industry and not help people at the grassroots.”

“You guys can get this done,” Ferro charged. “The only thing stopping it from happening is yourselves on both sides of the aisle. And there’s no point coming on the TV shows today and saying, ‘It’s the Republicans fault.’ Because you know what’s happening on the other networks, ‘It’s the Democrats fault.’ It’s all of your fault.”

Warren pointed out that she had been pushing the idea of relief checks for Americans “for weeks now.”

“And right now, we don’t have Republicans to negotiate with on those issues,” the senator added. “They’re not there. So, you tell me what you want to do. You want to bring one on this program? That’s fine with me.”

Watch the video below from Bloomberg.

‘Tell me you have a plan’: NYT columnist reveals how Trump’s erratic messaging has destabilized the business community

March 23, 2020 By Sarah K. Burris


Speaking to CNN’s Jake Tapper on Monday, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman explained that President Donald Trump’s greatest failure is in reassuring the nation.

During what has become a daily press conference, an NBC News reporter asked Trump what he says to Americans who are scared. It was the perfect opportunity for Trump to reassure the nation and calm sensitive markets. Instead of knocking the softball out of the park, Trump called it a “nasty question” and attacked the reporter.

Friedman reported on some of the ideas economics experts have devised to restart the economy. One of the key components is calming the nation.

“The beauty of his plan, as I see it, Jake, is that what is missing in the country is any sense that we have — the president went from ‘it is a hoax’, to ‘a war,’ to ‘I don’t want to fight this war,’ I want to get the economy back and people,” he explained. “What business leaders are looking for, not to mention average citizens, is tell me — just tell me you have a plan. If I need to shelter in place for a week, two weeks, whatever it takes, tell me you have a plan and that is what has been missing here.”

He also noted that when it comes to economic advice, no one should be listening to Trump’s top adviser Larry Kudlow, who lied on television saying that the virus was contained while it continued to spread.

“Nobody should be listening to him,” he said of Kudlow. “He was out a few weeks ago telling us that this was contained. So nobody should be listening to him.”

Watch Friedman below:
Embed the video 'Tell me you have a plan'  

Chamber of Commerce ripped for lobbying against Trump using Defense Production Act for coronavirus

March 23, 2020 By Bob Brigham


The U.S. Chamber of Commerce was blasted on Monday for lobbying against President Donald Trump using the Defense Production Act to respond to critical shortages during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Trump allowed himself to use the Act’s extraordinary powers but has apparently not yet used the new authority.

“The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the heads of major corporations have lobbied the administration against using the act,” The New York Times reported Monday.

Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Chris Murphy (D-CN), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) sent a letter (PDF) to the Chamber of Commerce demanding answers.

“This report, if true, is shameful, revealing that the Chamber is actively working against efforts to address the urgent national COVID-19 pandemic, and is placing the short-term desires of its members above the economic and public health needs of hundreds of millions of American families,” they wrote. “You owe the public an explanation for this behavior

“We urge you to cease your lobbying efforts against measures to address the COVID-19 pandemic,” the lawmakers added.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez scorches Susan Collins’s ‘crocodile tears’ after Dems reject McConnell’s slush fund bill

March 23, 2020 By Brad Reed


Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) on Monday dropped the hammer on Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) after she went on an angry rant against Democrats who rejected the Senate GOP’s stimulus bill.

Reacting to Collins calling Democrats “disgraceful” for voting down the stimulus bill on Sunday, Ocasio-Cortez pointed to the Maine senator’s own record to show that she’s not serious about fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

“Susan Collins can keep her crocodile tears,” she wrote. “She voted and fought HARD to strip pandemic prep funding. She helped drive the lack of preparation that we had leading up to this.”


Ocasio-Cortez then pointed to a Daily Beast report about the role that Collins played in 2009 in removing a proposed additional $870 million in funding for pandemic preparations from the economic stimulus package that was passed in response to the Great Recession.

“What’s actually disgraceful is her ‘I’m a Moderate Lady’ dance to cover up brutal policies and votes,” Ocasio-Cortez commented. “She’s defending an utterly corrupt bill to shower public money on friends and donors. Susan Collins is not a moderate. She just plays one on TV.”

Collins voted for the GOP tax scam.
She voted to appoint Kavanaugh.
She’s defending an utterly corrupt bill to shower public money on friends and donors.
Susan Collins is not a moderate. She just plays one on TV.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 23, 2020

Virus puts UK’s milkmen back in vogue

BRING THEM BACK IN CANADA, OUR HOUSE HAS A MILK BOX

READY TO USE.

March 23, 2020 By Agence France-Presse



Britain’s largest milk delivery firm on Monday said it has seen a surge in business because of the coronavirus outbreak, as shoppers shun supermarkets for doorstep deliveries.

Milk & More said it has added 25,000 customers and is recruiting 100 milkmen and women to help deal with the extra demand, after a government call for social distancing measures.

Milkmen and women were once a familiar daily sight on British streets before dawn, delivering pint bottles of fresh milk from crates carried on electric-powered open-sided vans or floats.

Trade association Dairy UK said 89 percent of all milk bought in Britain in 1980 was on the doorstep but many firms closed because of changing consumer habits, and cheaper competition from supermarkets.

In the mid-1990s, just 30 percent of milk was still delivered, falling to 2.8 percent in 2015. Many of the customers are elderly.

Now as COVID-19 spreads, and the government recommends people stay at home to avoid close-contact transmission, Milk & More chief executive Patrick Muller said the service is back in vogue.

“We have been at the heart of the communities in which we serve for decades, but potentially we have never had such an important role as we do now in this current health crisis,” he added.

“The milk has gone berserk,” added milkman Colin Henderson, from Chester-le-Street in northeast England, who has been in the job for 40 years.

“I have got a pile of notes from customers and my round is taking an extra hour every day now. The dairy I work with said it is just manic…

“I just hope that after this is finished that people stay with us.”

Britain’s remaining milk delivery companies have been forced to adapt in recent years, and online orders have replaced rolled-up notes inside used bottles.

Many have diversified by adding grocery items to deliveries, from bread, bacon and eggs to toilet roll and even compost.

© 2020 AFP

Man dies and his wife is under critical condition after ingesting drug touted by Trump as a coronavirus treatment

March 23, 2020 By Sarah K. Burris

President Donald Trump has been touting the anti-malaria drug chloroquine phosphate as a possible solution for the treatment of the coronavirus. It isn’t a cure nor is it a prophylactic for the coronavirus. It also hasn’t been tested and because people are buying it up, scientists are having trouble finding it so they can test it.


HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine. The FDA has moved mountains – Thank You! Hopefully they will BOTH (H works better with A, International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents)…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 21, 2020

While one man says that it helped him, another is dead.

A great early result from a drug that will start tomorrow in New York and other places! #COVIDー19 https://t.co/4F4Qk4WFtK
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2020

“Medical toxicologists and emergency physicians are warning the public against the use of inappropriate medications and household products to prevent or treat COVID-19. In particular, Banner Health experts emphasize that chloroquine, a malaria medication, should not be ingested to treat or prevent this virus,” reported the Banner Health system.

“Given the uncertainty around COVID-19, we understand that people are trying to find new ways to prevent or treat this virus, but self-medicating is not the way to do so,” said Dr. Daniel Brooks, who works at Banner’s Poison and Drug Information Center as medical director. “The last thing that we want right now is to inundate our emergency departments with patients who believe they found a vague and risky solution that could potentially jeopardize their health.”

The man who died was in his 60s and his wife is in critical condition after both of them ingested chloroquine phosphate. The chemical is an additive frequently used to clean fish tanks, though it is unclear if that’s how they obtained it. While they may sound the same, chloroquine is different from hydroxychloroquine as the latter is a less toxic derivative of chloroquine.

There have been numerous chloroquine overdoses in Nigeria the wake of Trump’s comments.

“We are strongly urging the medical community to not prescribe this medication to any non-hospitalized patients,” said Dr. Brooks.
Banner Health experts warn against self-medicating to prevent or treat COVID-19

PHOENIX (March 23, 2020) – Medical toxicologists and emergency physicians are warning the public against the use of inappropriate medications and household products to prevent or treat COVID-19. In particular, Banner Health experts emphasize that chloroquine, a malaria medication, should not be ingested to treat or prevent this virus.

“Given the uncertainty around COVID-19, we understand that people are trying to find new ways to prevent or treat this virus, but self-medicating is not the way to do so,” said Dr. Daniel Brooks, Banner Poison and Drug Information Center medical director. “The last thing that we want right now is to inundate our emergency departments with patients who believe they found a vague and risky solution that could potentially jeopardize their health.”

A man has died and his wife is under critical care after the couple, both in their 60s, ingested chloroquine phosphate, an additive commonly used at aquariums to clean fish tanks. Within thirty minutes of ingestion, the couple experienced immediate effects requiring admittance to a nearby Banner Health hospital.

Most patients who become infected with COVID-19 will only require symptomatic care and self-isolation to prevent the risk of infecting others. Check first with a primary care physician. The routine use of specific treatments, including medications described as ‘anti-COVID-19’, is not recommended for non-hospitalized patients, including the anti-malarial drug chloroquine.

“We are strongly urging the medical community to not prescribe this medication to any non-hospitalized patients,” said Dr. Brooks.

For disinfecting surfaces, the Centers for Diseases and Control Prevention recommends the use of diluted household bleach solutions, alcohol solutions with at least 70% alcohol and common EPA-registered household disinfectants.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND RESOURCES:
Visit Banner’s COVID-19 webpage for more information about COVID-19.
Banner has an online symptom checker for those concerned about their symptoms.

Headquartered in Arizona, Banner Health is one of the largest nonprofit health care systems in the country. The system owns and operates 28 acute-care hospitals, Banner Health Network, Banner – University Medicine, academic and employed physician groups, long-term care centers, outpatient surgery centers and an array of other services; including Banner Urgent Care, family clinics, home care and hospice services, pharmacies and a nursing registry. Banner Health is in six states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada and Wyoming. For more information, visit www.BannerHealth.com.

For further information: Alexis Kramer-Ainza, alexis.kramer-ainza@bannerhealth.com

Trump’s hyping of malaria drug to treat COVID-19 has caused such a shortage that doctors can’t test if it really works: MSNBC

March 23, 2020 By Matthew Chapman


President Donald Trump has touted the drug hydroxycholoroquine, a drug indicated to treat malaria and arthritis, as a possible treatment for the novel coronavirus — a premature claim, since the drug also has a number of dangerous side effects and could be toxic for patients with heart problems.

But as MSNBC’s Chris Hayes noted on Monday, Trump’s remarks have ultimately made it harder for doctors to even verify whether hydroxycholoroquine is an effective treatment for COVID-19 — because some health care institutions have begun hoarding the drug and triggering shortages for medical scientists who are looking to test its efficacy:

The president touting hydroxychloroquine has, predictably, triggered hoarding of the drug to the point that even one hospital I know attempting to administer it as part of a trial is having a hard time getting its hands on the drug.
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) March 23, 2020

Doctors currently have no clinically proven therapeutic treatment for COVID-19, and a vaccine could still be more than a year from entering public use.

Christian journal claims government has forced the Church to worship ‘the false god of saving lives’ 

CHRISTIANITY IS A DEATH CULT

March 23, 2020 By Matthew Chapman


Although a great many governors have made allowances for religious ceremonies to be performed in their coronavirus lockdown orders, many churches, too, have acknowledged in these extraordinary circumstances that their congregants should not be expected to attend public gatherings just for the sake of religious ceremony. Even Pope Francis has suggested Catholics who are at risk should ask God for forgiveness directly rather than go to Confession — a remarkable departure from centuries of Catholic Church doctrine.

But not all those of faith feel this way. In an angry article published in the right-wing Christian Journal First Things, editor R. R. Reno took a different position, suggesting that Christianity does not, in fact, command the faithful to take steps to save lives from COVID-19.

“At the press conference on Friday announcing the New York shutdown, Governor Andrew Cuomo said, ‘I want to be able to say to the people of New York — I did everything we could do. And if everything we do saves just one life, I’ll be happy,'” wrote Reno. “This statement reflects a disastrous sentimentalism. Everything for the sake of physical life? What about justice, beauty, and honor? There are many things more precious than life. And yet we have been whipped into such a frenzy in New York that most family members will forgo visiting sick parents. Clergy won’t visit the sick or console those who mourn. The Eucharist itself is now subordinated to the false god of ‘saving lives.'”

“A number of my friends disagree with me,” wrote Reno. “They support the current measures, insisting that Christians must defend life. But the pro-life cause concerns the battle against killing, not an ill-conceived crusade against human finitude and the dolorous reality of death.”

Indeed, Reno even suggested that fearing the pandemic is a victory for Satan.

“There is a demonic side to the sentimentalism of saving lives at any cost,” wrote Reno. “Satan rules a kingdom in which the ultimate power of death is announced morning, noon, and night. But Satan cannot rule directly. God alone has the power of life and death, and thus Satan can only rule indirectly. He must rely on our fear of death.”

“Fear of death and causing death is pervasive — stoked by a materialistic view of survival at any price and unchecked by Christian leaders who in all likelihood secretly accept the materialist assumptions of our age,” concluded Reno. “As long as we allow fear to reign, it will cause nearly all believers to fail to do as Christ commands in Matthew 25. It already is.”

Trump already impatient with medical experts — and may discourage social distancing to save the economy: report

March 23, 2020 By Bradd Reed

President Donald Trump is already growing impatient with the advice of his administration’s medical experts and is preparing to tell Americans that they should all head back to work in a bid to rescue the economy.

Axios is reporting that “the administration is looking for ways to get people out in the world again to fire up the economy — perhaps much sooner than Dr. Fauci would like” within the next two weeks.

Given the massive damage that the virus is doing to the economy, the president is anxiously looking to put the pandemic in the rear-view mirror in a bid to save his presidency, administration sources tell Axios.



“Senior Trump officials, including the president himself, have only limited patience for keeping the economy shut down,” the publication reports. “At the end of the 15-day period, there will likely be a serious clash between the public health experts — who will almost certainly favor a longer period of nationwide social distancing and quarantining — versus the president and his economic and political aides, who are anxious to restart the economy.”

Nuclear industry effort to exploit coronavirus crisis for backdoor bailout decried as ‘disaster capitalism at its worst’

MITCH MCCONELL IN A SUPER PARTISAN WHINE ATTACKED THE LEFT WING DEMOCRATS FOR TRYING TO GET FUNDING FOR GREEN ENERGY.....

NUCLEAR POWER IS SUPPOSEDLY GREEN ENERGY MITCH DID NOT MENTION

HMMMM
March 23, 2020 By Common Dreams


“The nuclear industry begged for a bailout last fall and is now using coronavirus to try and brazenly grab more cash,” warned Friends of the Earth.

Friends of the Earth on Monday accused the nuclear power industry of exhibiting “disaster capitalism at its worst” after a lobbying group representing it reportedly asked the Trump administration for a 30% percent tax credit amid the coronavirus pandemic and pressed congressional lawmakers to include handouts in stimulus legislation making its way through the House and Senate.

According to E&E News, which focuses on the energy industry, the request came in a letter sent to congressional leaders and White House officials on Friday by Nuclear Energy Institute president and CEO Maria Korsnick.
In addition to other forms of aid—including sick leave for employees and “prioritized access” to testing and masks—the letter requested taxpayer-funded grants in the form of broad tax credits and waivers for existing regulatory fees.

“Our member companies are anticipating—or are already experiencing—severe financial strain as product orders are delayed or canceled, as industrial electricity demand falls, and as workforce availability becomes increasingly constrained,” Krosnick wrote to in a letter sent to lawmakers, Treasury Sectary Steven Mnuchin, and Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council.

In reaction, Friends of the Earth senior policy analyst Lukas Ross called the request a bald effort to exploit the current outbreak and economic downturn to obtain the same kind of financial bailout it has repeatedly sought from the U.S. government in recent years.


“Demanding a $23 billion gift from taxpayers during an unprecedented public health crisis sets a new low bar,” said Lukas Ross, senior policy analyst with Friends of the Earth. “The nuclear industry begged for a bailout last fall and is now using coronavirus to try and brazenly grab more cash.”






Nuclear is the latest industry to use this public health crisis as an opportunity to lobby for billions of dollars in gov’t handouts — an ask they had before the crisis even started.

This is disaster capitalism at its worst.https://t.co/3tpU3hdOyg

— Friends of the Earth (@foe_us) March 23, 2020





The industry proposal, added Ross, “would hurt ratepayers and the climate at a time when immediate need for people must be the first priority. The nuclear lobby should be ashamed. This is disaster capitalism at its worst.”