It looks like the Democrats are going to try to pass the 1.9 trillion stimulus bill regardless whether they get any Republican support.  The few GOP senators who want to participate want a bill of 6 billion.  This is way less than economists think would do any good.  There are some who think that 1.9 trillion is still not enough.  I am no economist so I don't know how much is the right amount.  But given the dire situation of many Americans, I think you have to go big, even if it is not bipartisan like Biden wants.

When Obama took over the recession in 2009, he tried to rally Republican support.  So his bail out and stimulus plans were not as big as he wanted.  It turned out, he got no GOP support anyway.  So it is foolish to think in this post Trump era, we are going to get more bipartisan.  It turned out that the stimulus Obama put in was less than optimal in retrospect.  Despite the outcry of Republicans against the bailouts, they claimed later that the recovery was too slow because not enough was done.   So there will be no satisfying the GOP no matter what.  Even Obamacare, which is very similar to Romneycare in Mass. has been attacked ad nauseum by the Republicans.  So I think Biden and the Democrats should seize the moment and pass what they want instead of waiting for a few Republicans to join them.

I do agree that the minimum wage bill is not included in the stimulus bill.  That bill will not help the dire situation right now and we should pass what is passable right away.  I don't know if $15 is a reasonable goal and whether that is good or bad for most people.  But I don't think it should be a national law to almost double the wage over a few years.  Here in California, the minimum wage is $14 starting this year.  Given the standard of living in California, it is justified.  But that should not be the same in states where the cost of living is much lower.  In fact, I think a study should be done in a few years to compare states with minimum wages higher than $15 vs those who are less and see how it affects the workers, the small business owners and the economy in general.  Then we can see whether higher minimum wages is better or not.

 I received my first dose of the Moderna vaccine yesterday.  So far I just have a sore arm and slight fatigue.  Interestingly, I have soreness on the same spot on the both arms even though I only got the shot on one arm.  The arm that got the shot was more sore but the other one had the same type of pain.

If the Johnson and Johnson vaccine was available and I can choose, I would have chosen Johnson.  The Johnson vaccine uses old technology for which side effects from that type of shots are well known and mild.  There has not been long term side effect from that technology.  The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use new technology so we don't know for sure if there are long term side effects.  Plus, Johnson is a one shot deal and the others are two shots.  From what I heard, the second shot has worse side effects.  But I would recommend that everyone get a vaccine whenever it is possible and not wait.  The quicker we get enough people vaccinated, the quicker we can end the pandemic.  The chances of any bad side effects are small from any of these vaccines.  

The storm across Texas and other parts of the country has affected the vaccine distribution.  In LA my in laws were not able to get their scheduled second shot at Dodger stadium when the shots did not arrive.  I was lucky my appointment in my county was not postponed.  But I am sure the delay in LA was not an isolated incident in the country.

 Ted Cruz is at it again.  He and other GOP leaders in Texas are whining about failure of wind turbines in the cold weather proves that this methods of green energy cannot be trusted in an emergency.  The emergency is that almost a quarter of Texas has lost power since the weekend due to the cold weather.  But wind turbines are only responsible for less than 10% of the energy in Texas.  The fossil fuel sources of energy, particularly those from natural gas, have been failing also due to freezing pipelines.  So it is rather hypocritical to call out wind turbines when the old fossil systems also have failed.

Besides nature, the political system of Texas also should be blamed for leaving millions of Texans without power for several days.  Texas has its own electrical grid so that it would not be under federal regulation.  There are three main grids in the U.S., the Eastern grid, the Western grid and Texas grid.  So even if other states want to, they can't help Texas.  Cruz laughed at California last year when there were power outages here.  He said the government in California could not provide for basic civilization.  For a guy who advocates Hong Kong to secede from China, who advocated for insurrection in the Capitol, it is not surprising that he made such a stupid comment and has to eat his words today.

But regardless the fact that parts of Texas want to secede from the Union or that people like Cruz and Governor Abbott are saying stupid things about energy, we need to help Texas in this dire situation.  Every part of the country can have catastrophes.  From hurricanes in Florida and other southern states, to tornados across the Plains and the Midwest, to heavy snow storms in the North, to earthquakes and wild fires in the West, we face natural disasters frequently.  We have to help each other whenever these disasters hit.  We are always in it together.

 Well, I guess Tom Brady is Superman!  I can point out that K.C. played poorly, not like the team with the best regular season record.  I can point out that K.C. committed stupid penalties on defense.  I can point out that they somehow gave up a touchdown at the half after seeing how Brady did that to GB two weeks ago.  I can point out that TB coaching staff out coached the K.C. staff.  But hey, there must be some reason that Brady has played in 10 Super Bowls and won seven.  This time at age of 43, playing on a different team and system.  There must be some reason that New England did not make the playoff this season and TB wins the championship after not making the playoffs for who knows how many years.

I guess Bill Belichick is a lot smarter when he has Brady, and not the other way around.  But at least Belichick is smart enough not to accept the Medal of Freedom from Trump.  Bruce Arians is a lot smarter this season at 68, the oldest coach to win the Super Bowl.  Given that, maybe Brady can work with others.  Maybe he can help Fauci in the battle against COVID.  After all, Brady is not just the GOAT, but he is really Superman!