'How did things end up like this?' America's newly unemployed grapple with coronavirus fallout

[bristolboy]

And in the spirit of transparency that has so defined the Trump administration...

"Job losses have become so sensitive that the Trump administration is asking state labor officials to delay releasing the precise number of unemployment claims.

In an email sent Wednesday and shared with The New York Times, the Labor Department instructed state officials to do nothing more than “provide information using generalities to describe claims levels (very high, large increase)” until the department releases the total number of national claims next Thursday.

The message noted that the data was “monitored closely by policymakers and financial markets to determine appropriate actions in light of fast-changing economic conditions” and should be closely held until the Labor Department’s report."

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/business/economy/coronavirus-employers-unemployment.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage

[bristolboy]

There has been some concern on the part of progressive posters that Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats would be outflanked by Senate Republicans as regards cash disbursements to citizens. Fear no more! The Senate version not only favors corporations and business but gives very little to the poor including the working poor:

"Americans with little-to-no tax liability (aka, poor folks) will only receive a minimum payment of $600, unless they earned less than $2,500, in which case they get zilch. Low-wage workers who don’t have a federal tax return for 2018 or 2019—adults generally aren’t required to file one they earn less than the standard deduction—also won’t qualify for the early rebate."

https://slate.com/business/2020/03/the-republican-plan-to-mail-checks-to-everyone-still-found-a-way-to-screw-the-poor.html

[zydeco]

8 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

There has been some concern on the part of progressive posters that Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats would be outflanked by Senate Republicans as regards cash disbursements to citizens. Fear no more! The Senate version not only favors corporations and business but gives very little to the poor including the working poor:

"Americans with little-to-no tax liability (aka, poor folks) will only receive a minimum payment of $600, unless they earned less than $2,500, in which case they get zilch. Low-wage workers who don’t have a federal tax return for 2018 or 2019—adults generally aren’t required to file one they earn less than the standard deduction—also won’t qualify for the early rebate."

https://slate.com/business/2020/03/the-republican-plan-to-mail-checks-to-everyone-still-found-a-way-to-screw-the-poor.html

Well, if this doesn't make the peasants go and grab their pitchforks, nothing will. It's time to charge the castle or resign themselves to 21st century serfdom. Wait, maybe if Mitch and Donnie offer free Netflix and Amazon Prime all we be forgiven.

[Eric Loh]

17 minutes ago, zydeco said:

Well, if this doesn't make the peasants go and grab their pitchforks, nothing will. It's time to charge the castle or resign themselves to 21st century serfdom. Wait, maybe if Mitch and Donnie offer free Netflix and Amazon Prime all we be forgiven.

Don’t think so but if Mitch and Donny offered their portraits to be stamped on, perhaps they can forgive. 

[bristolboy]

On some thread a poster commented that he assumed that now that there was an economic crisis, the Trump administration would relent in its campaign to make getting food stamps more difficult. I thought he was being naive at the time. Sure enough:

Trump Administration Moving Forward With April 1 Plan to Kick 700,000 Off Food Stamps Despite Coronavirus Crisis

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/03/trump-administration-food-stamp-cuts-coronavirus

[Onrai]

8 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

This assertion that people commute over an hour to work no less than 3 jobs for minimum wage is a myth. A waitress in a busy restaurant or a bartender can make between $200 - $500 a day. Who is poor?

I don’t know what community in the States you are referring to but it sure doesn’t work that way in the San Francisco Bay Area. Rent can easily be $2700/mo. + car payment+ Car insurance + groceries+ state sales taxes+++ and you have people living farther and farther from where they work to find something reasonably priced. Normal for people to commute an hour each way + to save a little on rent. Probably less than 10% of the waiters/bartenders in the service industry make average $200+ a shift. The sum of expenses, less health care costs, leaves the vast majority of people in the service sector with a slim margin of error. 

[Jingthing]

3 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

On some thread a poster commented that he assumed that now that there was an economic crisis, the Trump administration would relent in its campaign to make getting food stamps more difficult. I thought he was being naive at the time. Sure enough:

Trump Administration Moving Forward With April 1 Plan to Kick 700,000 Off Food Stamps Despite Coronavirus Crisis

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/03/trump-administration-food-stamp-cuts-coronavirus

Let them eat cake. 

[sletraveler]

9 hours ago, Nyezhov said:

You are supposed to say thank you when some one gives you money

 

The lowest income earners are only slated for 600 dollars.  Brought to you by the republicon oligarchy.

[bristolboy]

9 hours ago, Nyezhov said:

$500 a day? I met a banquet server here on vacation that works 6 months a year and makes $60K. 

And why should we believe your anecdotal evidence? Was it peer-reviewed in the Journal of Anecdotal Reports? And even if it were true, what would that prove?

Edited March 20, 2020 by bristolboy

[bristolboy]

9 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

 

This assertion that people commute over an hour to work no less than 3 jobs for minimum wage is a myth. A waitress in a busy restaurant or a bartender can make between $200 - $500 a day. Who is poor?

" A waitress in a busy restaurant or a bartender can make between $200 - $500 a day." The salient question is what a waitress or bartender can earn, it's what they actually do earn on average.

 

How Much Do Waiters Really Earn in Tips?

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/02/how-much-do-waiters-really-earn-in-tips/385515/

The takeaway: The average median wage for waiters was about $13 per hour including wages & tips.

Edited March 20, 2020 by bristolboy

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, bristolboy said:

There has been some concern on the part of progressive posters that Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats would be outflanked by Senate Republicans as regards cash disbursements to citizens. Fear no more! The Senate version not only favors corporations and business but gives very little to the poor including the working poor:

"Americans with little-to-no tax liability (aka, poor folks) will only receive a minimum payment of $600, unless they earned less than $2,500, in which case they get zilch. Low-wage workers who don’t have a federal tax return for 2018 or 2019—adults generally aren’t required to file one they earn less than the standard deduction—also won’t qualify for the early rebate."

https://slate.com/business/2020/03/the-republican-plan-to-mail-checks-to-everyone-still-found-a-way-to-screw-the-poor.html

 

I saw no mention in that article on whether they're basing the income threshholds on EARNED income or total income. In other words, for retired U.S. folks who often have no EARNED income (but instead SS, pensions, IRAs, CDs, etc.), where are they going to end up?

 

[soalbundy]

9 hours ago, Tug said:

It’s our taxes and it has to be payed for ..........

yeah but MAGA and covfefe will help in the end. Jesus! ! what a country to live in, 3 part time jobs just to survive, IT specialists living in their cars and stacks of homeless on the streets, Why the border wall, who wants that life?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Quote

An early analysis showed the vast majority of middle class people would receive the cash payment, but the percentage doing so falls dramatically toward the bottom of the income distribution. About 22 million people earning under $40,000 a year would see no benefit under the GOP plan, according to an initial analysis by Ernie Tedeschi, a former Obama administration economist.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/19/trump-coronavirus-economic-plan-stimulus/

 

Quote

Limiting the payment amount for those without federal tax liability was a change from the original White House proposal, and caught some Republicans off-guard, provoking criticism. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) tweeted: “Relief to families in this emergency shouldn’t be regressive. Lower income families shouldn’t be penalized.”

 

[Traubert]

It's a shame, it really is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Honest. ????

 

 

[moe666]

Thats what happens when you have a incompatent running the government. the clown had months to get ahead of this thing. In 2019 the people resposible ran a senario that out lined almost the current situation, what was done to prepare nothing.

[lannarebirth]

1 hour ago, bristolboy said:

There has been some concern on the part of progressive posters that Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats would be outflanked by Senate Republicans as regards cash disbursements to citizens. Fear no more! The Senate version not only favors corporations and business but gives very little to the poor including the working poor:

"Americans with little-to-no tax liability (aka, poor folks) will only receive a minimum payment of $600, unless they earned less than $2,500, in which case they get zilch. Low-wage workers who don’t have a federal tax return for 2018 or 2019—adults generally aren’t required to file one they earn less than the standard deduction—also won’t qualify for the early rebate."

https://slate.com/business/2020/03/the-republican-plan-to-mail-checks-to-everyone-still-found-a-way-to-screw-the-poor.html

 

Paying a livable emergency stipend would have been far cheaper than the ramifications for not having done so.

[metisdead]

A troll post using a trolling representation of Trump's name has been removed. 

[bristolboy]

42 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

 

Paying a livable emergency stipend would have been far cheaper than the ramifications for not having done so.

Don't you mean "Paying a livable emergency stipend would be far cheaper than the ramifications for not doing so."?

It can still be done.

[ChaiyaTH]

I know of many projects putting on hold or worse, investors pulling back due to this. Gonna cause a lot of shortage in gigs and projects for freelancers.

[DrTuner]

Things ended up like that because Chinese thought it's ok to mess with bats.

[lannarebirth]

53 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

Don't you mean "Paying a livable emergency stipend would be far cheaper than the ramifications for not doing so."?

It can still be done.

Yes.

[Nyezhov]

11 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Just think, if Trump plays his cards right he could get his Wall finished.

You're getting a Giro? How did a obscenely wealthy bloated plutocrat like you manage that?

I like the obscenely bloated adjectives. Very nice. Hmmmmmmm Lets use it in a sentence!

 

Hmmmmmm...OK.....

 

So Doc, hows my ticker?

Well, Yezh, you are pretty healthy for a guy that is obscenely bloated. Do they put a trough in front of you?

[Nyezhov]

5 hours ago, sletraveler said:

 

The lowest income earners are only slated for 600 dollars.  Brought to you by the republicon oligarchy.

well thats $600 you didnt have before. Say thanks.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I'm watching Trump live on TV again today.  He tells us, we're in a "war", but we're going to win. And meanwhile, everything is great!  The federal government response to the CV is great! The federal government is great! The major U.S. companies are great!!!

 

And then he actually woke up, and saw what's actually going on in America. 

 

Meanwhile, thanks to Trump and Pence, the U.S. CDC is officially Missing in Action!

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/03/19/cdc-top-us-public-health-agency-is-sidelined-during-coronavirus-pandemic/

 

 

Quote

 

As the United States enters a critical phase in fighting the coronavirus pandemic, the country’s leading public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, appears to be on the sidelines, with its messages increasingly disrupted or overtaken by the White House.
 

Neither CDC Director Robert Redfield nor Anne Schuchat — the principal deputy director who has played key roles in the agency’s emergency responses stretching back two decades, including the 2009 influenza pandemic — have appeared on the podium during White House briefings by the coronavirus task force for more than a week.

...

The CDC, which has come under fire because of protracted delays in the rollout of agency-developed test kits, has not conducted its own telephone briefings for reporters in more than a week. Recent CDC recommendations on school closures and mass gatherings were overtaken by different guidelines issued by the coronavirus task force, creating confusion, experts and officials said.

 

 

Edited March 20, 2020 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[wabothai]

15 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

 

Three part time jobs = one job. I drive for Uber, do 10 hours a week for Amazon delivery and sell weed. On Friday night I bounce from 10 - 2 for my friends nightclub. So I have 4 jobs technically.

 

Just before people accuse me I don't do any of that. So don't rag on about me being involved with illegal activities, although it is legal here.

 

I remember Warren saying people work three jobs for minimum wage and commute 3 hours to do it. It's a bunch of nonsense. Lot's of young people still live at home and are opportunistic about their "three jobs". 

 

Every job that has been cut will be back when the threat is over. It's not like a bunch of highly skilled workers have been put to rest. The tricky part is to stay in your mom's basement and not be a super spreader.

looks like the only thing left for you now is to sell weed.

[wabothai]

14 hours ago, Nyezhov said:

$500 a day? I met a banquet server here on vacation that works 6 months a year and makes $60K. 

Untill covid19 hits and then there is nothing but a savingsaccount.

[wabothai]

10 hours ago, riclag said:

How did things end up like this ! First off, its unprecedented!

 

Congress and Trump are doing their best,in my estimation , with the latter using every tool in the shed ,as would any other POTUS  !

 

The MSM on the other hand are another story ! The corporate owners ,who are the media, just can't get around anything that begins with T and ends with P!

 

 

Do you mean a pink 'tulip'?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

 

Quote

 

Critical supplies shortage hampers hospitals, health providers

Hospitals and health care providers don’t have enough of the critical supplies needed to protect doctors and nurses from the coronavirus, and governors say the Trump administration isn’t doing enough to help. 
 

Lawmakers in New Jersey, Washington state and Maryland say they have only received a fraction of the protective equipment they requested from a national stockpile of medical supplies managed by the federal government.
 

Meanwhile, nurses, doctors and other health care workers all around the country are being told to ration the gear that protects them from the virus, raising questions about the risk posed to those on the front lines of the pandemic. 

 

 

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/488050-critical-supplies-shortage-hampers-hospitals-health-providers

 

And meanwhile in the Republican Senate, 

 

Quote

 

U.S. Senators Sold Stock After Coronavirus Briefings in January

Four U.S. senators sold stock after receiving sensitive briefings in late January about the emerging threat of the coronavirus, sparking concerns that they put safeguarding their private finances before their duty to protect public health.

Senators Richard Burr, a Republican from North Carolina, and Kelly Loeffler, a Republican from Georgia, both completed their sales at a time when the Trump administration and GOP leaders were downplaying the potential damage the virus might cause in the U.S. and before drastic stock-market plunges set off by the pandemic.

...

Two other members of the Intelligence Committee, Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California, and Senator James Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican, also sold stock after the briefings, according to financial records.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/us-senators-sold-stock-after-coronavirus-briefings-in-january/

Edited March 20, 2020 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[bristolboy]

30 minutes ago, wabothai said:

Untill covid19 hits and then there is nothing but a savingsaccount.

Beware the convenient and unconfirmable anecdote. 

[wabothai]

3 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

Beware the convenient and unconfirmable anecdote. 

Beware of the closure of restaurants, clubs and banquetfacilities, really a reminder for Nyezhov

Edited March 20, 2020 by wabothai