I thought that I would be writing about the economic stimulus/relief bill but as we near midnight in D.C., no bill has passed. Apparently the GOP bill is not satisfactory to the Democrats. I imagine that the hang up is that the Democrats don't want to see what happened after the last bailout of companies in 2008-2009. After things got better then, the companies that benefited from the bailout immediately gave executives bonuses, the same executives who got them into the mess in the first place.
Also the Democrats are not happy to bailout industries that should have been able to stay liquid except for stock buybacks. Some industries have done well in recent years. Instead of pumping the excess cash they had on hand back to research and development or put into a rainy day reserve, some of these companies bought their own stocks from the financial market. The result of these buybacks is that the stock prices went up because there was less shares in the open market. When there is less supply without less demand, the prices naturally go up. When the price of these stocks go up, the executives earn higher bonuses. Also the stock options these executives get as compensation, also increase in value. But using the cash for buybacks means these companies have little or no reserve. So now they need bailout or they will go out of business. Yes, the virus maybe the dagger, but not having cash reserve is certainly the fault of the leadership of these companies.
So if we are to bailout companies, I think we should only give out loan which they must pay back before they are allowed to give bonuses to higher ups in the companies. Also no stock buybacks until all the loans are repaid. The interest rates should be lowest to small businesses and highest to those who are big. If the Democrats are holding out for some of these rules, I support them. But the GOP will frame it as irresponsible for the Democrats to not vote for relief to the American people.
Rand Paul is tested positive. Hope he has a speedy recovery. But I am disappointed in Paul, who as a doctor, did not do what he very well should have known. After he took the test, he should have isolated himself. Instead he went to the Senate and even went to swim in the Congressional gym! He only went home and quarantined himself after he found out about his positive test. This is very irresponsible for anyone, especially a senator and a physician! And why the hack was the gym open? Gyms in major cities are closed as per government. Why is Congress not following suit? And don't forget many, if not most, Congressmen are elderly. It just shows the arrogance.
Interesting that an antimalarial drug, Chloroquine and an antibiotic Azithromycin are being tested in combination to treat COVID-19. I hope it works but it is a strange combination to me as antibiotics are not supposed to work against viruses. Also the combination to me can cause a big side effect called prolonged qt intervals which means it can lead to dangerous irregular heart beats. But since I am not in research, I will led to experts determine what to try. Hopefully I am wrong and they are right and we find something that would help.
Sunday, March 22, 2020
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Well, the longer it goes, the worse this will be for Democrats because of the Republicans will paint it that Americans will not get relief because of the Democrats. Though, the House is also working on a bill, so my guess is that the negotiations will go until the deadline and something will pass. Then it'll be another set of negotiations between the two bills. At least that's how I think things will happen.
ReplyDeleteFunny thing is that Paul tried to hold up the process last week. Is he actually on the Senate floor voting or does he use a proxy? There are other senators that were tested as positive as well, correct?
I realize that a lot of this is putting a strain on the hospitals. Did China have enough equipment and supplies? I know they built those hospitals to help and I figure if we just open up dorms or whatever infrastructure that's not being used that might work. There might not be any use of building anything new here. But my understanding is that we just don't have the equipment and supplies. Am I correct in this?
Stay safe!
-LBOAYM
Paul and the other 4 GOP senators who are quarantined cannot vote. There is no such thing as a proxy, you have to show up. That is why McCain showed up when he was treated for cancer. So now the GOP majority is 48-47 and you need 60 to move the bill along. So the Democrats have some leverage. But you are right that the longer it goes, more people will turn against the Democrats for obstructing the bill. The House voted a bill last week but it was not as big a scope and that should have passed the senate already. I am not sure if it did but there needs to be a bigger bill since we know that things are worse than two weeks ago. Since Trump has to sign any bill, the GOP's bill is the one that can be enacted now and the GOP thus have more leverage.
ReplyDeleteChina shut down the whole country, at least all the cities. Wuhan obviously did not have enough supplies and healthcare workers so a lot of people died in the beginning. But by shutting not just Wuhan but other cities, it contained the outbreak to one major area. Then China was able to mobilize its resources, including doctors and nurses, to Wuhan and rest of Hubei province. So now you see Chinese propaganda videos where the medical workers, hail as heroes, are triumphantly leaving Wuhan. We are not able contain the whole country, so it will be more widespread in this this country. So we can't send people and supplies to say from Detroit to New York because Detroit will probably get hit. Without isolating the problem to one area, we will not have the supplies and people to control this thing quickly like China.
China also probably produce most of the stuff we need. When the outbreak occurred, China probably stopped sending its supplies to other countries. Since we don't have the reserves we need and can't buy it from China, we are very short. Now that China is doing well, it is sending stuff all over the world as a humanity gesture and good publicity. There is rumor that after some Chinese masks were donated to Italy, they were sold to the U.S. Obviously no confirmation of this from Italy or the U.S.
We can't build a hospital in 10 days like China but we can convert dormitories and hotels into hospitals. Obviously, it would still take time and work to convert. These "hospitals" can be used to take care of the usual patients, leaving the coronavirus and more critical patients in regular hospitals. But that still would not solve the problem of enough equipment for the hospitals and the skilled workers to staff the hospitals.
Trump invoked the war act that allow him to force industries to change their production to medical equipment. This is what happened in World Wars when industries had to make weapons and other things for the nation. He was all swagger when he announced that, calling himself the war time president. But then business leaders warned him not to do it because they don't want the government to tell them what to do. He has backed down since and has not enforce the act. This shows that he is more beholden to the people who helped him get elected than the American people. It also shows that maybe our business leaders are not as patriotic as their predecessors. Wills see if Trump does the right thing eventually but enforcing the act.
The stimulus bill passed, most people will get $1200. Not sure if there is enough deterrence in the bill to prevent businesses from taking the money and give bonuses to executives later as in the last bailout. Apparently a committee is to be set up to monitor the situation. Also Trump and his family's enterprises will not get a bailout. There maybe loopholes but I guess the stimulus has to get started ASAP, so let's see if it works.
ReplyDeleteThings are still getting worse, hitting 1000 deaths today. Cuomo thinks it will be three weeks before it peaks. Hopefully, it will be less but I think it will be at least two weeks before it peaks. Certainly no time to let up at Easter!