March 2020 - Page 3 of 29 - Schwartzreport

Sunday, March 29th, 2020

Our ‘Can’t Do’ Society Now has a Coronavirus Death Toll

Helaine Olen , - The Washington Post

Stephan: Here is another view conforming to my own. The big take away from the Coronavirus pandemic is that it has shown America to be a country that is no longer “can do” because it is a society now run on only one social value, profit or, as it is formally known, Neoliberal economics. Every day we see further proof of this. American policies are structured to support rich individuals and the corporations they control. As a result, we have the worst wealth inequality in the developed world, and an appallingly bad healthcare system, amongst the worst education system in the developed world, the largest prison gulag, the highest maternal mortality rate, and on and on. The election in November is the chance Americans have, perhaps their last chance, to go back to the values the Founders espoused, "all men are created equal" and a society whose function is "is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Frankly though, I am not sure a majority of Americans even realize the democratic republic bequeathed to them by their parents, and grandparents is vanishing before their eyes. Millions of Americans no longer seem capable of rational thought, preferring instead the authoritarian fantasies and lies spewed out by Trump and the Trumplicans. As each day reveals Trump's nastiness, incompetence, and personal greed, and the corruption now rife in the Congress, his approval ratings go up. One thing is now certainly clear, we are a "can't do" society as this article describes.

People wait outside an urgent-care facility in Queens, N.Y., on Wednesday. Credit: John Minchillo/AP

In February, as the novel coronavirus began to attract attention from the media, President Trump’s national security adviser, Robert C. O’Brien, went on CBS’s “Face the Nation” to reassure the American public. “We’ve got the greatest medical system in the world,” he said. “We’re taking steps to keep Americans safe and the government is functioning in that direction.”

Shame on us for believing him. As the United States becomes the world’s leader in confirmed coronavirus infections, it’s clear that whatever else our medical system may be, it is most certainly not the best in the world. Hospitals don’t have enough protective masks to safeguard staff members. We’re impossibly behind on testing. New York — currently the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States — is likely short thousands of ventilators. Not hundreds. Thousands.

How could this happen?

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Sunday, March 29th, 2020

One Year of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Spending Would Provide 300,000 ICU Beds, 35,000 Ventilators and Salaries of 75,000 Doctors

MATTHEW IMPELLI, - Newsweek

Stephan: Yet another example demonstrating that American social values are completely out of whack. According to public figures the U.S. has "4,018 nuclear warheads". According to the UN, "An overwhelming majority of the world's cities have fewer than 5 million inhabitants. In 2018, there were 467 cities with between 1 and 5 million inhabitants and an additional 598 cities with between 500,000 and 1 million inhabitants. So basically we have enough warheads to blow up every city on earth. Yet criminal Trump and his administration want more. In my view, this is deeply sick and misguided.

One Year of U.S. Nuclear Weapon Spending Would Provide 300,000 ICU Beds, 35,000 Ventilators and Salaries of 75,000 Doctors
Credit: Bryan R. Smith/Getty

The amount of money spent in one year by the U.S. on nuclear weapons could instead provide 300,000 ICU (intensive care unit) beds, 35,000 ventilators and 75,000 doctors’ salaries, according to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)–a “coalition of non-government organizations promoting adherence to and implementation of the UN [United Nations} nuclear weapon ban treaty.”

In its recent report, the group stated that, according to armscontrol.org, the U.S. spent $35.1 billion on nuclear weapons in 2019. The costs are based on reported averages, but the study noted that the $35.1 billion in nuclear weapons spending would instead pay for “300,000 beds in intensive care units, 35,000 ventilators, and the salaries of 150,000 U.S. nurses and 75,000 U.S. doctors.”

The report comes as the novel coronavirus has globally infected over 492,000 people, according to a tracker provided by Johns Hopkins University.

As the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases […]

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Sunday, March 29th, 2020

In Exchange for Aid, Trump Wants Praise From Governors He Can Use in Campaign Ads

Robert Mackey, - The Intercept

Stephan: Have you noticed? Trump and the Trumplicans are working the Covid-19 crisis not to produce wellbeing, but to restructure the public's perception of the pandemic in such a way that it furthers his chance of being re-elected, and the Trumplicans retaining dominance in the Senate. It is absolutely explicit and blatant, and I think it may be working.

A screenshot from a gauzy new campaign ad for President Donald Trump, featuring praise for his response to the coronavirus pandemic. Credit: Donald J. Trump YouTube channel

As he increasingly tries to shovel blame for the shortage of medical supplies onto the governors of states with densely populated areas that are suffering the most from the coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump was asked on Friday what more he wants them to do. It was, he said, “very simple: I want them to be appreciative.”

Sunday, March 29th, 2020

Medical Expert Who Corrects Trump Is Now a Target of the Far Right

Davey Alba and Sheera Frenkel, - The New York Times

Stephan: Criminal Trump and the Trumplicans don't like facts. They are inconvenient because they reveal the corruption, incompetence, and blatant bias in favor of the rich, and the corporations they control. So what to do about Anthony Fauci, who is a distinguished physician and researcher? Simple answer: His facts don't fit the Trumplican fantasy so they must be discredited. And that is just what is happening.

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci after President Trump referred to the “Deep State Department” at a briefing on March 20.
Credit: Erin Schaff/The New York Times

At a White House briefing on the coronavirus on March 20, President Trump called the State Department the “Deep State Department.” Behind him, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, dropped his head and rubbed his forehead.

Some thought Dr. Fauci was slighting the president, leading to a vitriolic online reaction. On Twitter and Facebook, a post that falsely claimed he was part of a secret cabal who opposed Mr. Trump was soon shared thousands of times, reaching roughly 1.5 million people.

A week later, Dr. Fauci — the administration’s most outspoken advocate of emergency measures to fight the coronavirus outbreak — has become the target of an online conspiracy theory that he is mobilizing to undermine the president.

That fanciful claim has spread across social media, fanned […]

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Saturday, March 28th, 2020

Millions of Americans are about to lose their health insurance in a pandemic

Wendell Potter, President of Business for Medicare for All - The Guardian (U.K.)

Stephan: As I have said repeatedly as we have gone through this pandemic, and I think it is worth saying again, crises stress systems and reveal their fundamental weaknesses and flaws. That said, the big takeaway for me is that there is a second crisis caused by the pandemic, the failure of the illness profit system. This article raises issues that left me very concerned for the wellbeing of my readers. I don't understand how anyone can go through this crisis, look at the data, and the human misery, and not understand that we must implement a system of universal, birthright, single-payer healthcare, whose first priority is wellbeing not profit.

‘A million or more US workers will lose their jobs in April alone. Consider what this means for health care in this country.
Credit: Peter Foley/EPA

The tragic effects of our battle with the novel coronavirus are seemingly endless. But arguably the most mind-blowing is this: the very pandemic that threatens to infect and kill millions is simultaneously causing many to also lose their health coverage at their gravest time of need.

Here’s how: the virus has caused a public health crisis so severe that people have been forced to stay home, causing businesses to shutter and lay off workers. And with roughly half of Americans getting their health insurance from their employer, these layoffs mean not only losing their income but also their medical coverage. In other words, just as our need for medical care skyrockets in the face of a global pandemic, fewer will have health insurance or be able to afford it. According to one recent report, the cost of treatment for Covid-19 can run […]

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