[Discussion] Hope to Remember The Trump Administration Thread as being 'transparent and honest'

Let's follow and discuss what our newest presidential administration gets up to, the good, the bad, the lawsuits, and the many many indictments.

Rat Boy wrote:
DSGamer wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:
Gremlin wrote:

We're gearing up to solve March's problems but we're not prepared to deal with what is likely to happen in June.

The good news is that if the re-open the economy crowd has their way, June's problems are going to look a lot like March's.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/xBmbOcqh.jpg)

If conservatives could be convinced that the best way to fight the coronavirus was through building mecha, then we'd have mecha.

I first read that as "Mecca". It changed...

absolutely nothing; just as true.

Many people have been saying over the last year that the 2020 election will be the most important in our lifetime.

Turns out 2016 was actually the most important in 100 years or so. And we failed the test.

DSGamer wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:
Gremlin wrote:

We're gearing up to solve March's problems but we're not prepared to deal with what is likely to happen in June.

The good news is that if the re-open the economy crowd has their way, June's problems are going to look a lot like March's.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/xBmbOcqh.jpg)

Because the number of people not killed by kaiju intercepted at sea demonstrates the pointlessness of such efforts, a coalition of Southern governors has announced an initiative to Uncancel the Apocalypse.

Phunware, a data firm for Trump campaign, got millions in coronavirus small business help

CBS News wrote:

A digital technology company that specializes in the mass collection of smartphone location data and is working for President Donald Trump's re-election campaign received millions from the federal coronavirus relief fund for small businesses.

The company, Phunware, which now has about 60 employees, was eligible for the low-interest loan through the Paycheck Protection Program, which is aimed at businesses with less than 500 workers. There is no allegation of illegality associated with its loan.

But the size of the loan — $2.85 million — is nearly 14 times the current PPP average of $206,000. Meantime, hundreds of thousands of smaller businesses got nothing, because the nearly $350 billion loan program ran out of money in just two weeks. (Congress is allocating another $310 billion to the PPP loan fund this week.)

The speed of Phunware's loan is notable, too. The publicly traded Texas-based company named a high-profile former Wall Street executive as its corporate board chair on March 30, the day after the PPP program was passed by Congress as part of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act.

The executive is Blythe Masters, who until 2014 had spent most of her financial services career at JPMorgan Chase, the bank that made the PPP loan to Phunware. The company received its loan funds two days after applying.

The f*ck!!??

Here's another WTF loan event

A Lakers representative declined to specify why the organization applied for the loan, which is intended to help small businesses with modest resources, instead referring to the team’s statement about returning the loan.

And it only seems like they developed a conscious when they learned the money was depleted from the fund.

In a statement Monday, the Lakers said once they “found out the funds from the program had been depleted, we repaid the loan so that financial support would be directed to those most in need. The Lakers remain completely committed to supporting both our employees and the community.”
G. Gecko wrote:

The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.

Yes, let's continue to worship at the altar of capitalism and remember, that nothing is more important than moneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoney.

Nothing.

President’s intelligence briefing book repeatedly cited virus threat

Washington Post wrote:

U.S. intelligence agencies issued warnings about the novel coronavirus in more than a dozen classified briefings prepared for President Trump in January and February, months during which he continued to play down the threat, according to current and former U.S. officials.

The repeated warnings were conveyed in issues of the President’s Daily Brief, a sensitive report that is produced before dawn each day and designed to call the president’s attention to the most significant global developments and security threats.

For weeks, the PDB — as the report is known — traced the virus’s spread around the globe, made clear that China was suppressing information about the contagion’s transmissibility and lethal toll, and raised the prospect of dire political and economic consequences.

But the alarms appear to have failed to register with the president, who routinely skips reading the PDB and has at times shown little patience for even the oral summary he takes two or three times per week, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss classified material.

The PDB is put together by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

In February Trump fired the agency's then-acting director Joseph Maguire after learning Maguire allowed one of his analysts to brief the House Intelligence Committee on Russian interference with American elections and as retribution for Maguire testifying to Congress regarding the Ukrainian intelligence whistleblower complaint.

Maguire, who was not a career intelligence official, only had the job since August when Trump all but forced out Dan Coats. Coats had clashed with Trump over Russia, specifically releasing a statement confirming the consensus of the US Intelligence Community assessment that Russia interfered with the 2016 election the day after Trump met with Putin in Helsinki (privately, for two hours, and there's still no official summary of what was discussed) and said that he believed Putin's denial over the assessment of all 16 intelligence organizations in our government.

Maguire was replaced by Richard Grenell, a fierce Trump loyalist, who was a former State Department spokesperson and Fox News contributor and is still the US Ambassador to Germany. Grenell has absolutely no intelligence background. Earlier this month the House Intelligence Committee sent Grenell a letter criticizing Grenell for making sweeping organizational changes to the Office of National Intelligence when he's just an acting director and keeping Congress in the dark about those changes. The consensus is that Grenell is politicizing the Office of National Intelligence and purging anyone who said Russian interfered with US elections or who contradicts Trump.

On April 13th Grenell posted a picture of the Constitution with the caption "signed permission slip to leave your house" to his IG account. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence announced last month they were "reducing staff contact through a variety of options including staggered shifts, flexible schedules and social distancing practices" to help limit the spread of COVID-19. When questioned about the disconnect between his post and efforts his own agency has taken Grenell said it meant he was just a fan of the Constitution.

OG_slinger wrote:

President’s intelligence briefing book ...

It's already been established that Trump doesn't read and prefers ignorance...

JC wrote:

Here's another WTF loan event

A Lakers representative declined to specify why the organization applied for the loan, which is intended to help small businesses with modest resources, instead referring to the team’s statement about returning the loan.

And it only seems like they developed a conscious when they learned the money was depleted from the fund.

In a statement Monday, the Lakers said once they “found out the funds from the program had been depleted, we repaid the loan so that financial support would be directed to those most in need. The Lakers remain completely committed to supporting both our employees and the community.”

Not sure how they thought this would be a good idea.

I think my problem with stimulus regardless of the country is the government will find a way to make it too complex for the people who need it and the professional grifters will be the first ones in.

I've heard anecdotal stories from friends here in Canada of people who legitimately need support being stuck on technicalities vs people who squarely sit in the highest tax bracket getting funds.

How many of you that are still gainfully employed declined/returned the $1200 that turned up in your bank a couple weeks ago?

Was declining it an option? I donated ours to a distributor for the region's food banks.

Well then you're allowed to complain about corporations taking stimulus money that they "don't need".

Frankly, I don't have a lot of sympathy for any complaints about corporations from people who happily banked theirs.

Jonman wrote:

How many of you that are still gainfully employed declined/returned the $1200 that turned up in your bank a couple weeks ago?

Careful with the blanket accusations here.

My wife and I agreed that if we receive a check bearing Donald Trump's name we'll promptly endorse it to the Biden campaign fund.

Jonman wrote:

Well then you're allowed to complain about corporations taking stimulus money that they "don't need".

Frankly, I don't have a lot of sympathy for any complaints about corporations from people who happily banked theirs.

This is a really, truly bizarre and terrible take.

We pay a significant amount of money in taxes every single year. It's our money. Corporations, on the other hand, don't pay sh*t in taxes. So... that's our money, too.

Jonman wrote:

Well then you're allowed to complain about corporations taking stimulus money that they "don't need".

Frankly, I don't have a lot of sympathy for any complaints about corporations from people who happily banked theirs.

I don't remotely understand this perspective.

There are likely lots of individuals like Polypusher who "didn't need the check" who will donate it. My wife and I are very fortunate financially right now. We're not getting a check at all and we're still trying to help people to the tune of at least $1200 per month.

This is a good time to be skeptical of the motives of large businesses, but it doesn't feel like the right time to be skeptical of the motives of your fellow human being.

I personally don't take issue with any person (not a corporate "person") taking money from this corrupt government. Enjoy the pittance. Do something good with it if you want to, or fun otherwise, or save it.

Giving the stimulus to someone like me was something that should not have been done, just like hedge funds, the Lakers and every other company that took the money from small businesses. I'd have preferred the personal payment only go to unemployed and underemployed individuals and they would get more.

I dont think a bureaucracy can possibly do something like this correctly.

All I'm saying is, what the f*ck did you think would happen when you put a giant pot of money out?

Like, why is anyone surprised that the Lakers, whose business isn't operating right now, saw that they were eligible for some of that money, and applied for the loan to hedge against their cratering income?

Isn't that what they're supposed to do? Isn't that the point?

polypusher wrote:

I'd have preferred the personal payment only go to unemployed and underemployed individuals and they would get more.

I dont think a bureaucracy can possibly do something like this correctly.

Actually no one can do it correctly, bureaucracy or not. The economic stimulus check was done with the right approach--just give it to everyone with minimal hoops to jump through. The small business stimulus on the other hand, was a total cluster.

Also possibly worth pointing out: big businesses and rich people have dedicated staffing, and/or high skill levels at navigating bureaucratic obstacles.

Big businesses in particular might be able to throw a whole team of CPAs at that kind of problem, virtually overnight. They'll have current financial statements and profit/loss figures for years just sitting there, ready to go.

Compare that with the Mom and Pop grocery store, and it's no big surprise that they're still trying to figure out the first form when professional money-handlers already have their loans.

Trump to Order U.S. Meat Plants to Stay Open Amid Pandemic

Bloomberg wrote:

President Donald Trump plans to order meat-processing plants to remain open as the nation confronts growing food-supply disruptions from the coronavirus outbreak, a person familiar with the matter said.

Trump plans to use the Defense Production Act to order the companies to stay open as critical infrastructure, and the government will provide additional protective gear for employees as well as guidance, according to the person.

The order sets the stage for a showdown between America’s meat giants, which have been pressing to reopen plants, and some local officials and labor unions who’ve called for closures in a bid to prevent the virus from spreading. The president himself has long agitated for Americans to return to work and restore an economy crippled by social distancing measures.

Trump signaled the executive action at the White House on Tuesday, saying he planned to sign an order aimed at Tyson Foods Inc.’s liability, which had become “a road block” for the company. He didn’t elaborate.

The order, though, will not be limited to Tyson, the person said. It will affect many processing plants supplying beef, chicken, eggs and pork. Shares in Tyson and poultry producer Sanderson Farms Inc. extended gains after the news, while JBS SA, the world’s top meat producer, was little changed.

JBS’s local unit, Tyson and Smithfield Foods Inc. didn’t immediately respond to calls and emails. Cargill Inc. said it couldn’t comment because it doesn’t have the executive order.

The White House decided to make the move amid estimates that as much as 80% of U.S. meat production capacity could shut down. But a union representing plant workers accused the administration of failing to develop meaningful safety requirements that would have helped contain the disruptions.

“We only wish that this administration cared as much about the lives of working people as it does about meat, pork and poultry products,” said Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.

...

Across the country, at least 6,500 meat processing employees have been impacted by the virus, meaning they either tested positive for the disease or had to go into self-quarantine, according to the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, the largest private-sector union. Twenty workers have died.

At least 22 meat plants have closed within the past two months, reducing pork processing capacity by 25% and beef processing capacity by 10%, according to UFCW. Farmers have animals with nowhere to go as a result, and the situation is so dire that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is setting up a center to help growers with “depopulation and disposal methods” for animals.

Experts have warned the U.S. could be just weeks away from fresh meat shortages. While inventories can provide some cushion, stockpiles are limited.

Total American meat supplies in cold-storage facilities are equal to roughly two weeks of production. With most plant shutdowns lasting about 14 days for safety reasons, that further underscores the potential for deficits.

Gotta keep the hamberders flowing.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the purpose of the Trump Bux, but isn't part of the idea that people will keep spending (even if it's later, when things open up more) just to keep the economy going and a few more businesses afloat and thereby jobs preserved? In that sense, it makes a bit less difference if the recipient is still employed, or unemployed (though obviously those people are in far more need of help), as long as the money returns into the economy in the near term.

AUs_TBirD wrote:

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the purpose of the Trump Bux, but isn't part of the idea that people will keep spending (even if it's later, when things open up more) just to keep the economy going and a few more businesses afloat and thereby jobs preserved? In that sense, it makes a bit less difference if the recipient is still employed, or unemployed (though obviously those people are in far more need of help), as long as the money returns into the economy in the near term.

Essentially. I can't personally comment on how it was exactly rolled out and the efficiency.

The usual go to economist strategy for this is the classic 'drop money from helicopters'. Rational is just get it to people as easily and quickly as possible and let them decide where they need to spend it.

If anything as already mentioned it sounds like the small business program was a cluster.

Not terribly surprised. Those plants are typically not staffed by citizens. There is no harm to him as this only positively affects his base. He who controls the hamberders controls the universe.

Jonman wrote:

All I'm saying is, what the f*ck did you think would happen when you put a giant pot of money out?

Like, why is anyone surprised that the Lakers, whose business isn't operating right now, saw that they were eligible for some of that money, and applied for the loan to hedge against their cratering income?

Isn't that what they're supposed to do? Isn't that the point?

It is exactly what they're supposed to do in this f'ed system.

And that's the problem.

Social support for the wealthy/big business. Nothing for my local daycare provider or restaurant.

What is it they say?

"Socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor."

r013nt0 wrote:

What is it they say?

"Socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor."

Is not a poor man entitled to the literal sweat off my brow?

Socialized risk, privatized profits...