Posted on 03/09/2020 7:17:09 AM PDT by Kaslin
With a visibly aged Joe Biden duking it out with socialist Bernie Sanders, there are three very good reasons that President Trump's greatest opponent in November could be the Coronavirus.
Long before the sun rose Thursday, British regional airline Flybe collapsed. Americans probably haven’t heard of it, but when an Englishman flew domestically there was a 40 percent chance it was with Flybe. Its final demise was swift and brutal: Passengers booked to fly as soon as that morning receiving a 2 a.m. text message informing them otherwise. The company employed 2,300 people, and its 1,300 pensioned employees are now “facing financial ruin.”
Flybe had been struggling for years, with investors losing money and a government bailout in the works, but executives say its final cause of death was the spread of Coronavirus, which demolished incoming cash flow.
Some competing airline executives call this an excuse from a failing company, but true or not, Flybe won’t be the only Coronavirus bankruptcy. The disease’s effect on airlines is “almost without precedent,” the CEO of the International Air Transport Association said in a statement predicting between $63 and $113 billion in industry losses. “It has a 9/11-like feel,” Southwest CEO Gary Kelly echoed Thursday. Southwest, he notes, is “97 percent domestic.” American domestic.
That’s just the airlines. And it’s a sign of what U.S. citizens can prepare for in the coming weeks as we watch to see if the virus’s first First-World hosts, Italy and South Korea, are able to grapple with its spread and impact. Time is not an ally.
With a visibly aged Joe Biden duking it out with socialist Bernie Sanders, there are three very good reasons that President Trump’s greatest opponent in November could be the Coronavirus.
First, the ability to handle a possible medical crisis and the hard choices the triage of limited supplies would then force on us will leave a lasting impact with the American public. Second, the economic consequences spreading through U.S. cities and towns will force Republicans in government to choose between saying this is all partisan hype and executing a plan to protect the gains of the last three years. Third, the potential medical scare lends rhetorical energy to a number of Democrat talking points they’re guaranteed to use in the general election.
The voluntary social separation Americans are already moving toward will go a long way toward curbing the continued spread of the virus, hopefully even to the point that the situation can be handled and all forgotten. In the meantime, emergency spending to bulk up medical supplies and prepare personnel is crucial. The $8.3 billion bill the president signed Friday to aid states and research in the fight goes a long way toward that.
It’s reassuring to hear White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow say the government is communicating with the airlines, thinking of the “small businesses that might get hurt by this,” and of the “individuals who might lose paychecks because they had to stay home if they get the virus.” It is not, however, reassuring to hear Kudlow claim during the same interview that the virus “looks relatively contained” and that Americans should simply “avoid” Seattle.
The disease will threaten the existence of many small and medium businesses, and if Republicans are not drafting legislation to help them they are behind. Recession is fatal to reelection, with William McKinley the last president to win in the midst of one — 120 years ago.
Coronavirus is on the loose and spreading by the hour in populations across the country, and we have no idea where the large majority of America’s infected patients contracted the disease. In addition, we know little about the true nature of the virus, and what we do know shows us there is not yet some miraculous First-World technology to protect us.
What will be needed is old fashioned: hospital beds, ventilators, and N95 respirator masks for medical personnel — three things the United States does not have nearly enough of. For example, “we currently have 30 million N95 respirators in the strategic national stockpile,” Health and Human Services Sec. Alex Azar told senators Feb. 24. The department estimates the country will need 300 million. The government does not have a national stockpile of ventilators.
Democrats have already seized on the crisis, much to the public ire of the president, and free health-care-for-all is a campaign call that will be specifically energized by the pandemic. In addition to serious governance and the action necessary to stave off a recession, the president must make the case to reelect the administration responsible for so much economic success.
So what does Trump have in his pocket? First, his hawkish push to bring American manufacturing home from countries like China looks near prophetic in the face of the country’s responsibility for yet another global pandemic as well as the looming medical supply shortages from Chinese producers. Second, his focus on securing the border is empowered– especially when contrasted with increasingly shrill Democratic calls against any enforcement at all. Finally, his quick move to curtail Chinese nationals from traveling to the United States slowed the virus’s move here a great deal despite, for example, the obscene New York Times claim actions targeting the host country are “xenophobic.”
So far he’s stressed the third point but the first two, not so much. Compare this to President Barack Obama’s administration, which never let “a serious crisis go to waste.”
In all of this, the president and his lieutenants will have to be careful. While his base often rejoices in the president skipping the nuances of political correctness, in this case nuance and cool judgement will be central. “Pandemics are difficult to talk about,” former Health and Human Services Sec. Mike Leavitt correctly warns. “Anything said in advance of a pandemic seems alarmist. After a pandemic begins, anything one has said or done is inadequate.”
Coronavirus might prove the administration’s great crisis, and its leadership will prove crucial in staving off worst-case scenarios or dealing with them when they come. Simply downplaying events and assuring the public everything is under control does not suffice. In addition to swift action to curb infection and shore up the economy, now is the time for Trump and his allies to show the public they are up to the job — and deserve it for the next four years.
Flybe?
Did the US airline industry survive TWA disappearing?
The media is truly grasping at straws.
I’m with you. This is all completely insane. I smell RATS.
OBTW, I’m recovering from the flu as I type this and I’m telling you..they have pulled the wool over the American people!!! I bet you they are calling the flu the coronavirus!!!
Agree. Warm weather will solve the coronavirus spreading. The epidemy will be over.
It would be great if President Trump declared martial law over the virus. You would see the deep state/dem/media complex turn on a dime to start insisting that there is no epidemic.
Depending on China for much of our goods has always been a bad thing. I would not be sorry if the industries that moved their manufacturing decide to move elsewhere (and would prefer it be back to the US)
Open borders and no control over who enters our nation is always a bad thing. I would not be sorry if our borders are closed so only those we want can cross into our nation.
The virus is giving exposure of the danger of both of these things that the American people have up to now not been paying much attention to. President Trump has been addressing his concern about both problems since day 1, the Democrats have fought him on both since day 1.
So the American people should vote for the party in favor of outsourcing everything and open borders...why?
I just read a posting by a lib saying Trump can no longer brag about 401’s and the market being good. They are so happy about that. Whenever I would hear Trump speak of the economy and how good it was doing I’d tell my husband, watch they’ll figure out a way to try to sink it, they will never ever have a problem with stooping so low.
Telling the truth is not minimizing the truth.
The fed is doing it’s job by increasing liquidity. There will most likely cut another .25% and the drug firms are coordinating there efforts on a vaccine and more importantly on short term treatment.
All the president needs to do is his very capable best and never lie.
“free health-care-for-all is a campaign call that will be specifically energized by the pandemic”
Well, China has “free health-care-for-all” and that doesn’t seem to be helping them deal with the virus, does it?
Calm down. We all know what is and has been happening.
For example, “we currently have 30 million N95 respirators in the strategic national stockpile,”
—
No individual or government can have a stockpile of everything they might need in case of an emergency. A prudent individual has a stockpile of stuff to get you started with plans on how to get more.
In he years leading up to WWII we had almost nothing in stock to fight a world war but we were able to mobilize and begin production and by the end of the war we were supplying not only our troops but our allies as well.
Once each item is required they will be produced in the quantity needed. It is something the US is good at.
“The fight against this illness is in the nursing homes.”
So the virus is a bioweapon engineered to target Democrat vote harvesting schemes?
Perception is everything. Had Trump NOT preemptive moved on the spread of the virus, and it had assumed proportions approximating that of the current strain of influenza, the power of the virus to change the outcome of the 2020 election may have been a very real thing.
But as it is, the actions of the government are gaining traction, with ramped-up production of the means of testing for the presence of the pathogen, and accelerated efforts to develop an safe and effective vaccination protocol against an outbreak, together with sufficient behavior modification on the part of the general public (wash hands or use hand sanitizer, do not touch face, eyes or mouth with fingers, stay out of limited spaces), and diligent watch for symptoms as they appear, with appropriate self-isolation as needed, the spread of the affliction, even if not stopped altogether, shall be sharply curtailed, just as sanitation has brought many other diseases under control.
As a “pandemic” this outbreak will be much more quickly contained than other instances in the past. No matter what the people running about with their hair on fire may allege.
As of today:
World population: 8 Billion
Coronavirus cases: 109,343
Deaths worldwide: 3817
USA population: 330 Million
Deaths: 21, and they all had underlying health issues
Comrade.
Why are you pounding on a keyboard when you could be fighting this illness at a nursing home?
The true test of your concern is poop on your hands.
Soon, the Democrat Party will be inspecting hands.
Those without poop on their hands will be sent for re-education.
Don’t be haughty, go clean a potty!
“..China has “free health-care-for-all”...”
Yup. Communist Chinese version of “free health care for all” is locking down entire towns and burning them to the ground, inhabitants and all.
Kills the virus. Yup. Kills the Hosts, too, plus a bunch of other folks, but hey, ya gotta break a few eggs, right?
Bernie nods in approval...
” It seems there are dozens of threads on this every day, like it’s the frigging black plague or something.”
This is one of the weakest parts of the GOP: their inability to spotlight crap like this for what it is. You mentioned Russians...that war was fought and they are still winning it. No one has been nailed for it. And they’ve got their message, again, out for the 2020. Just like everything else they dreamed up for the demonizing of anything attached to Trump since 2016.
They’ve lied, slandered and libeled people, threatened some, and tried to ruin the lives of a number of people for political purposes, and they never get into trouble or get prosecuted for the damage they do. They violate laws, are allowed to change rules for their needs, and do things that should have them in jail and no one stops them. And this is why they even have a foothold in our nation, BECAUSE THEY ARE ALLOWED TO WITHOUT RESTRICTION. And they get braver and more obvious all the time.
rwood
The Federalist has moles
Hahahahaha
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