COVID-19 (f/k/a "the Coronavirus")

[Hards Alumni]

At about 3pm today, in a coordinated move, 5 midwest governors announced mask mandates.

Illinois
Indiana
Ohio
Michigan
Minnesota

Nice move, following the science.

Democrat, Republican, and Purple states.  Wisconsin on the sideline as usual with its pants around its ankles.

[Uncle Rico]

Democrat, Republican, and Purple states.  Wisconsin on the sideline as usual with its pants around its ankles.

The minute Evers moves to make this declaration, the Republicans take it to court.  On Wisconsin!

[GooooMarquette]

A hidden silver lining of the pandemic...and the very real possibility that kids might still be at home in the fall?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/21/parenting/risky-play.html?action=click&module=Editors%20Picks&pgtype=Homepage

Peter Gray, an evolutionary psychologist and researcher at Boston College who has studied how children educate themselves through play and exploration, argues that opportunities for children to play outside with other children have decreased over the last 60 years, leading to rising rates of anxiety and depression among children and adolescents.

--------------

The article reads like most of my free time growing up in the 60s and 70s. Somehow most of us survived. I know changes in the world led to the 'new' parenting style, but it's nice to see another change in the world bring back some of the 'old' parenting style.

Maybe the post-COVID world will leave us somewhere in the middle. And regardless, maybe the pandemic's effects on kids isn't as universally bad as we all originally assumed.

[GooooMarquette]

The minute Evers moves to make this declaration, the Republicans take it to court.  On Wisconsin!

Maybe you're right...but I hope it's a tougher sell (and it would certainly be a bad look) after Trump's comments yesterday.

Glad to see MN part of the group. We have had pretty decent compliance here in Rochester, but I have still seen a few careless idiots wandering around maskless in grocery stores. Hopefully this will put an end to that.

[Uncle Rico]

Maybe you're right...but I hope it's a tougher sell (and it would certainly be a bad look) after Trump's comments yesterday.

Glad to see MN part of the group. We have had pretty decent compliance here in Rochester, but I have still seen a few careless idiots wandering around maskless in grocery stores. Hopefully this will put an end to that.

Any cessation of authority to Evers simply won't be allowed.  A plague of locusts could swarm upon the farms of Wisconsin and we'd still be in court figuring out the best way to fight them after the damage was done

[Jockey]

Democrat, Republican, and Purple states.  Wisconsin on the sideline as usual with its pants around its ankles.

Yes you are right - but you also know why even though you didn't mention it.
See Rico's post).

[Jockey]

Toronto has no place to play baseball this year.

Canada won't allow it and now Pennsylvania has said no.

[Hards Alumni]

Yes you are right - but you also know why even though you didn't mention it.
See Rico's post).

Because Evers is a political loser who is afraid to call the Republican's bluff?  Because that is exactly how I view him.  Weak.

[Jockey]

Because Evers is a political loser who is afraid to call the Republican's bluff?  Because that is exactly how I view him.  Weak.

100% wrong. His power was removed before he became gov. and the supreme court made sure he didn't interfere with republicans running the state.

What would "calling their bluff" amount to? We already know. He could issue a mask mandate today and by tomorrow republicans would file suit. The outcome is pre-determined by the way the state is gerrymandered.

[Hards Alumni]

100% wrong. His power was removed before he became gov. and the supreme court made sure he didn't interfere with republicans running the state.

What would "calling their bluff" amount to? We already know. He could issue a mask mandate today and by tomorrow republicans would file suit. The outcome is pre-determined by the way the state is gerrymandered.

I voted for him, but the man is a coward.  Make the GOP file suit.

[Galway Eagle]

I voted for him, but the man is a coward.  Make the GOP file suit.

+1 at least let the personal rights dumba$$es bury themselves as people start dying

[Jockey]

I voted for him, but the man is a coward.  Make the GOP file suit.

You do realize he did that already?

Your comment is asking him to be trump-like. The court already ruled against his power to do this - you are asking him to disregard the law.

I say no. We all know already that Republicans have blood on their hands.

I certainly understand your frustration and if there wasn't already a Supreme Court ruling and he refused to issue a mask order, I would be with you 1,000%.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Toronto has no place to play baseball this year.

Canada won't allow it and now Pennsylvania has said no.

I understand they have a setup to play in the AAA park in Buffalo.  But like most people the players don't want to go ito Buffalo.

[Hards Alumni]

You do realize he did that already?

Your comment is asking him to be trump-like. The court already ruled against his power to do this - you are asking him to disregard the law.

I say no. We all know already that Republicans have blood on their hands.

I certainly understand your frustration and if there wasn't already a Supreme Court ruling and he refused to issue a mask order, I would be with you 1,000%.

You may know it, but the average Joe needs to be beaten over the head with it.  Weekly.  Or they forget.  This is why the 'smart' Democrats lose ALL THE FREAKING TIME.

Call a presser on Friday, and announce the statewide mask mandate.  Let the GOP fight it.  This is a much NARROWER mandate.  Which is exactly what the SC said would have to happen.  He isn't shutting down anything for an emergency.  This is a separate issue, and if the GOP wants to fight it, you let them.  And then when they do, you announce it every week at your Friday press conference. 

Again, this is why I see Tony Evers and his admin as a bunch of feckless cowards.  He's the captain of this rudderless ship and he will be blamed by voters.  Mark my words.

Politics isn't won or lost in a court of law, but in a court of opinion.  You SHOW the public that you tried.  And that you tried EVERY WEEK.

[Jockey]

72% of Americans want mandatory face masks - with enforcible penalties.

[Jockey]

You may know it, but the average Joe needs to be beaten over the head with it.  Weekly.  Or they forget.  This is why the 'smart' Democrats lose ALL THE FREAKING TIME.

Call a presser on Friday, and announce the statewide mask mandate.  Let the GOP fight it.  This is a much NARROWER mandate.  Which is exactly what the SC said would have to happen.  He isn't shutting down anything for an emergency.  This is a separate issue, and if the GOP wants to fight it, you let them.  And then when they do, you announce it every week at your Friday press conference. 

Again, this is why I see Tony Evers and his admin as a bunch of feckless cowards.  He's the captain of this rudderless ship and he will be blamed by voters.  Mark my words.

Politics isn't won or lost in a court of law, but in a court of opinion.  You SHOW the public that you tried.  And that you tried EVERY WEEK.

I don't mean to argue with you, as viscerally I agree. Completely.

But the court has ruled and as a fairly far left Dem, I don't want Democrats ignoring the law. That is what republicans do.

[Hards Alumni]

I don't mean to argue with you, as viscerally I agree. Completely.

But the court has ruled and as a fairly far left Dem, I don't want Democrats ignoring the law. That is what republicans do.

They struck down the shut down order.  Not every executive order.

[MU82]

Earlier in the thread, there was discussion of the economic impact of COVID on hospitals. Now, another problem looms; an accelerated timeline to the insolvency of Medicare Part A (hospital payments).

Another problem on the health horizon: Medicare is running out of money

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/07/21/npr-another-problem-on-the-health-horizon-medicare-is-running-out-of-money

With record numbers of Americans out of work, fewer payroll taxes are rolling in to fund Medicare spending, the number of beneficiaries is rising, and Congress dipped into Medicare's reserves to help fund the COVID-19 relief efforts this spring.
...

In April, Medicare's trustees reported that the Part A trust fund, which pays for hospital and other inpatient care, would start to run out of money in 2026. That is the same as the projection in 2019. But the trustees cautioned at the time that their projections did not include the impact of COVID-19 on the trust fund.

"Given the uncertainty associated with these impacts, the Trustees believe that it is not possible to adjust the estimates accurately at this time," said the report.

So Shulkin, now a senior fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania, did his own projections in early July. Given even a conservative estimate of how many workers and businesses would not be contributing payroll taxes that finance Part A spending, he said, the trust fund could become insolvent as early as 2022 or 2023.

"I think this is something that needs more immediate attention," he said.

Others who make projections agree the insolvency date is getting closer, maybe not as close as 2022.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan group of budget experts focused on fiscal policy, estimates that the pandemic will cause the Part A trust fund to be unable to pay all of its bills starting in late 2023 or early 2024. "But we're still very close," said Marc Goldwein, the group's senior vice president.

-----------------

I don't know what the long-term picture will look like, but it is clear that COVID will dramatically impact how healthcare is provided and paid for in the US.

My own opinion is that the country still isn't ready for an all-out switch to the single-payer system demanded by the far left. Instead, we will move back to a strengthened version of the ACA, with a guarantee of Medicare for anyone who falls through the cracks. And inevitably, we will need to improve the reimbursement methodologies used by Medicare (moving from fee for service to outcome-oriented payments). Too many details to even fathom at the moment, but COVID will inevitably accelerate the shakeup that has been brewing.

Trump is insisting that suspension of SS and Medicare taxes Be part of the next stimulus.

[MU82]

As I have said here numerous times, cruelty IS the point.

Thankfully, Mnuchin said this morning that the payroll tax cut is now off the table because it was standing in the way of stimulus negotiations.

The last thing we need to do now is weaken these already struggling plans that millions and millions and millions of Americans rely upon.

[tower912]

State of Florida had more new cases last week than the entire continent of Europe.    Including Sweden.

[Pakuni]

State of Florida had more new cases last week than the entire continent of Europe.    Including Sweden.

Does this mean Ron DeSantis won't be getting his apology?

[tower912]

I confess skepticism.   

[shoothoops]

Stephen Miller's Grandmother died of COVID-19. Her son, Miller's Uncle, shows Death Certificate cause of death, blames Trump Administration. White House denies she died of COVID-19.


https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/07/stephen-millers-grandmother-died-of-covid-19-her-son-blames-the-trump-administration/

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Stephen Miller's Grandmother died of COVID-19. Her son, Miller's Uncle, shows Death Certificate cause of death, blames Trump Administration. White House denies she died of COVID-19.


https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/07/stephen-millers-grandmother-died-of-covid-19-her-son-blames-the-trump-administration/

I mean, this really can't be what the White House said right?  I mean, I guess I should know better, but that is a bad, bad look:

"This is categorically false, and a disgusting use of so-called journalism when the family deserves privacy to mourn the loss of a loved one. His grandmother did not pass away from COVID. She was diagnosed with COVID in March and passed away in July so that timeline does not add up at all. His grandmother died peacefully in her sleep from old age. I would hope that you would choose not to go down this road."

[Jockey]

I mean, this really can't be what the White House said right?  I mean, I guess I should know better, but that is a bad, bad look:

"This is categorically false, and a disgusting use of so-called journalism when the family deserves privacy to mourn the loss of a loved one. His grandmother did not pass away from COVID. She was diagnosed with COVID in March and passed away in July so that timeline does not add up at all. His grandmother died peacefully in her sleep from old age. I would hope that you would choose not to go down this road."

You're still surprised by something the WH said?

Shame on you for your willful ignorance.