COVID-2019 in America, effect on politics and economy

[DOR]

The COVID Economy, US Q-2 2020 Edition

Real US GDP fell 32.9% from the first quarter to the second, or by 9.5% when measured year-on-year. Both figures are adjusted for inflation and seasonality. In real terms, more than three-quarters (78%) of the $1.92 - $2.15 trillion nominal decline (depending on YoY or QQ measures, respectively) was from depressed private consumption, particularly services (68.6% of the whole).

Capital investment added another third to the fiall, collapsing 17.8% YoY. That's more than 100% because of positive contributions from government spending (up 2.1% from Q-2 2019). Domestic demand, which is the same as GDP except exports are deducted and imports are added to the total, fell 11.9% from a year ago.

Sales of vehicles and auto parts fell 6% from a year earlier (and gasoline by 22.6%), clothing and footwear by 23.1%, household furnishings 17.7%, transportation services by 40.2% and recreational spending by 54.1%. Food service consumed away from home fell 39.7%.

A 4.9% surge in food prices helped keep the private consumption deflator – a broad inflation measures favored by the Fed – in positive territory, by 0.6%. Prices for recreational goods fell 5.2%, clothes and shoes 7.3%, and gas 28.7%. If food and energy are excluded (i.e., “core” price changes), the overall deflator fell 16.0% from April-June 2019.

Thanks to depressed earnings, massive government spending and postponed tax collection the federal budget deficit in the first six months of 2020 totaled $2.39 trillion, up 457.6% from a year earlier. Revenues fell 20.9% while spending rose 69.5%.

[astralis]

connected to the reference of "info warfare" on the other thread, literally minutes after the numbers were released, Trump issued his tweet calling for a delay of the Presidential election.

[TopHatter]

connected to the reference of "info warfare" on the other thread, literally minutes after the numbers were released, Trump issued his tweet calling for a delay of the Presidential election.

Yep, typical Trumpian distraction. The GOP at least denied he could do it. Shocking that they would so directly contradict Trump.

[astralis]

https://www.businessinsider.com/kush...-report-2020-7

Kushner's coronavirus team shied away from a national strategy, believing that the virus was hitting Democratic states hardest and that they could blame governors, report says

Mia Jankowicz 2 hours ago

Members of Jared Kushner's coronavirus task force considered a national-scale testing plan early in the US's coronavirus outbreak.

However, according to a new Vanity Fair report, the plan never came to be, partly because the task force thought it would be better politically to hold off.

The logic, a source told Vanity Fair, was that the virus would hit Democratic-voting areas hardest and that the damage could be blamed on governors instead.

In March and early April, Kushner, a senior White House adviser, led a task force, parallel to the White House's official efforts, to devise a plan to accelerate coronavirus testing and supply chains nationwide.

Ultimately, that was abandoned, and President Donald Trump shifted much of the responsibility for controlling outbreaks to individual states.

A public-health expert who was in regular contact with Kushner's team told Vanity Fair's Katherine Eban that political reasoning may have influenced the decision.

"The political folks believed that because it was going to be relegated to Democratic states, that they could blame those governors, and that would be an effective political strategy," the unnamed expert said.

The expert also said the final call would have been Kushner's. "It was very clear that Jared was ultimately the decision maker as to what [plan] was going to come out," they said.

It's not the first time the Trump administration has been accused of using politicized reasoning in its pandemic response.

[TopHatter]

Members of Jared Kushner's coronavirus task force considered a national-scale testing plan early in the US's coronavirus outbreak.

However, according to a new Vanity Fair report, the plan never came to be, partly because the task force thought it would be better politically to hold off.

The logic, a source told Vanity Fair, was that the virus would hit Democratic-voting areas hardest and that the damage could be blamed on governors instead.

It's not the first time the Trump administration has been accused of using politicized reasoning in its pandemic response.

That's TDS. The real TDS.

They've got blood on their hands. There is simply no excuse or explanation for it.

[TopHatter]

Florida, Mississippi report record increases in COVID-19 deaths

(Reuters) - Florida reported a record increase in new COVID-19 deaths for a fourth day in a row on Friday, with 257 fatalities, according to the state health department.

In numerical terms, the loss of life is roughly equivalent to the number of passengers on a single-aisle airplane.

Mississippi also reported a record increase in deaths on Friday, with fatalities rising by 52. That was a record rise for the state for the second day in a row.

Overall in the United States, deaths have increased by nearly 25,000 in July to 153,000 total lives lost since the pandemic started.

Florida also reported 9,007 new cases, bringing its total infections to over 470,000, the second highest in the country behind California. Florida's total death toll rose to nearly 7,000, the eighth highest in the nation, according to a Reuters tally.

Florida is among at least 18 states that saw cases more than double in July.

Florida had over 311,000 new cases in July, more than triple the 96,000 new cases it reported in June. The state also recorded over 3,400 deaths in July compared with about 1,000 the prior month.

Florida reported record one-day increases in cases three times during the month, with the highest on July 12, at 15,300 new cases in a single day.

Nationally, deaths are rising at their fastest rate since early June and one person in the United States died about every minute from COVID-19 on Wednesday, the day with the largest increase in deaths so far this week.

COVID-19 deaths have risen for three weeks in a row, while the number of new cases week-over-week recently fell for the first time since June.
_____________

Probably a bunch of suicides made up to look like COVID. Gotta get those federal dollars, right surfgun?

[TopHatter]

Trump’s Coronavirus Testing Czar: Time to ‘Move On’ From Hydroxychloroquine

Assistant Secretary for Health Adm. Brett Giroir pushed back against President Donald Trump’s obsession with unproven anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine on Sunday, stating unequivocally that he “can’t recommend” the drug as a coronavirus treatment and that it’s time to “move on” from it.

Over the past week, the president and his allies have renewed their embrace of the controversial medication after a fringe group of doctors touted it as a coronavirus “cure” in a viral video. Trump continued to endorse the video even after finding out that Dr. Stella Immanuel, one of the most outspoken members of the group, claimed that “alien DNA” was in medicine and some female medical problems are caused by demon sex.

Giroir, however, refused to back the president’s support for hydroxychloroquine during a Meet the Press interview while pointing to a plethora of studies that show the drug is largely ineffective in treating COVID-19.

“Look, I know you’re not a political person, but the president continues to advocate for hydroxychloroquine,” NBC News anchor Chuck Todd asked on Sunday. “Is that a danger to public health?”

The coronavirus testing czar noted that the anti-malarial drug at first “looked very promising” as a coronavirus treatment before explaining that a number of randomized clinical trials since then have now revealed there “is no benefit.”

“At this point in time, we don’t recommend that as a treatment and there’s no evidence to show that it is,” he added.

Todd, meanwhile, wondered aloud if Giroir was “concerned” that the administration’s “mixed messaging” on the drug is “going to continue to sort of create this fog” about the drug’s efficacy.

“So hydroxychloroquine needs to be prescribed by a physician,” the HHS official replied. “There may be circumstances, and I don’t know what they are, where a physician may prescribe it for an individual.”

“But I think most physicians and prescribers are evidence-based and they’re not influenced by whatever’s on Twitter or anything else and the evidence just doesn’t show that hydroxychloroquine is effective right now,” he continued. “I think we need to move on from that and talk about what is effective.”

Giroir went on to say that the most effective methods of stemming the spread of the virus are social distancing, mask-wearing, and hand-washing while touting advances in therapeutics and potential vaccines.
__________________


Man that was an incredible display of political tap-dancing (after the bolded part). Gotta be a regular Fred Astaire to keep your job in the Trump "Administration".

[Double Edge]

Crap study. Not randomized. Patients who got hydroxychloroquine also more likely got steroids which appear to help Covid patients on it's own. This was an observational study which are used to decide which ideas to test in randomized studies. Flies against everything else out there.

Randomised isn't a standard that has been imposed either by the FDA or the scientific community.

Randomised isn't the be all and end all that Fauci makes it out to be but just one part of the evaluation.

No hatchet job here like happened at CNN, they let him talk. He quotes the following essay

Evidence for Health Decision Making — Beyond Randomized, Controlled Trials | NEJM | Aug 03 2017

Just because they may have used steriods in the Ford study does not disqualify the test.

HCQ is being tested in addition with other drugs.

I suggest, that since you are not a doctor, that you seriously need to take a course in what a randomized study is and and in how to read studies to locate any weak points. You are out of your league here.

So i find one that makes the point.

The Key to Defeating COVID-19 Already Exists. We Need to Start Using It | Newsweek (op-ed) | Jul 23 2020

Article for the bandwidth challenged

The man has to quote large scale studies from abroad because they cannot be conducted in his own country (!)

The left would rather kill America than have Trump re-elected...

[Double Edge]

No, so says America’s Frontline Doctors. And "Dr." Stella Immmanuel And Donald Trump. And Donald Trump Jr. And all of the rest of the right-wing lunatics currently poisoning this country.

When studies show it can save lives why is there resistance ? I don't get this

How many more Americans need to die before they change their mind

Without a cure or vaccine, we should be trying everything that can help not putting restrictions in the way.

They didn't double- and triple-down on their mistake, refusing to believe they were wrong or that they could be wrong.

Your FDA isn't allowing it to be prescribed. Revoked emergency use.

How can you possibly get RCT's in sufficient numbers in the US now ? Cannot. It's been killed by your front line doctors.

They came to that conclusion on the basis of flawed tests.

That is the problem.

This isn't doubling or more down its challenging the decision.

The point that went sailing over your head is that the Lancet retracted the study.

Lesser known publications retract studies as well.

A two hundred year old medical journal should be doing better due diligence don't you think.

[Double Edge]

The hydroxychloroquine debacle: Playing doctor on social media platforms | The Hill (op-ed) | Jul 29 2020

The conservative Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) has in recent days sued the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services, presenting evidence as to why those agencies should stop preventing the use of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). Today, in all but four states, use of the drug is restricted.

According to the AAPS’s general counsel, “The mortality rate from COVID-19 in countries that allow access to HCQ is only one-tenth the mortality rate in countries where there is interference with this medication, such as the United States.”

Prescribing hydroxychloroquine should not be a political battle, which, unhappily, is what it has become. It should be strictly a medical and scientific issue, to be resolved by experts, not by politicians, pundits or social media monitors; yet, again unhappily, the latter seem to be the ones making the decisions at the moment.

It is possible that social media sites, under scrutiny for alleged monopolistic behavior and other abuses of their power and imagining a possible Democratic victory in the fall, are attempting to appease leftwing critics by removing the testimonials promoting hydroxychloroquine — just as they recently began “fact-checking” the president, to much applause from the left.

Yet, social media firms are not physicians; they should not be deciding what information about COVID-19 is shared with the public. Otherwise, it may be sick Americans who pay the ultimate price, and who may one day hold them accountable.

[Albany Rifles]

Well the VA stopped using it because it was found to be either ineffective or harmful.

Much has been learned and there are better therapies being used.

HCQ may work in a few cases but it has been proven to unreliable in the majority of cases.

And BTW, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) also believes that that HIV doesn't cause AIDS, abortion causes breast cancer and that vaccines causes autism.

Sounds like the group in white lab coats up on Capitol Hill a week or so ago.

For science I'll stick with organizations that have scientists, kinda like the FDA, CDC and other science backed organizations such as these guys....

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...301082292.html

[DOR]

Shh. Keep it quiet, will you?
Don't tell the whack-job, right wing-nuts that The Trumpet's favorite cocktail -- Clorox and hydroxychloroquine, really, really twisted -- does a body no good.
It's our best hope for culling the herd.

[Officer of Engineers]

Shh. Keep it quiet, will you?
Don't tell the whack-job, right wing-nuts that The Trumpet's favorite cocktail -- Clorox and hydroxychloroquine, really, really twisted -- does a body no good.
It's our best hope for culling the herd.

Problem: They'll pour bleach down their children's throats. Like FLG setting kids on fire in Tienamen Square to prove "Chi" can cure all.

[tbm3fan]

The hydroxychloroquine debacle: Playing doctor on social media platforms | The Hill (op-ed) | Jul 29 2020

You really do like ducks don't you making you part of the problem.

[Bigfella]

Well the VA stopped using it because it was found to be either ineffective or harmful.

Much has been learned and there are better therapies being used.

HCQ may work in a few cases but it has been proven to unreliable in the majority of cases.

And BTW, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) also believes that that HIV doesn't cause AIDS, abortion causes breast cancer and that vaccines causes autism.

Sounds like the group in white lab coats up on Capitol Hill a week or so ago.

For science I'll stick with organizations that have scientists, kinda like the FDA, CDC and other science backed organizations such as these guys....

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...301082292.html

I'm looking forward to DE quoting Dr Nick from the Simpsons. He's a doctor....sort of. About as credible as the AAPS and more entertaining.