Times Like This Don't Call For Self-Serving Politicians Like Trump Or Biden. There Is Someone Who Could Help Though

It's bad in New York right now-- at least in part because of Andrew Cuomo's reactionary stance on healthcare. (Gee, if you watched Rachel Maddow, a thorough imbecile on anything out than Putin-Gate, you would have thought Cuomo is a national hero who should be the Democratic nominee, but... she lives in Boston so... yeah.) Anyway, Cuomo is a skillful politician with a knack for doing what American politicians must be able to do to survive-- making himself look good on TV. He's actually a pile of crap-- a better pile of crap than Trump... but that kind of pile of crap... even if he, as Ross Barkan wrote a few days ago, comes across as "calm, coherent, and blunt, in a strangely reassuring way... But the same Cuomo who is racing to expand New York’s hospital capacity and crying out for more federal resources is quietly trying to slash Medicaid funding in the state, enraging doctors and nurses, and elected officials of his own party. The same Cuomo who holds press briefings at a major New York City convention center, now the home of a temporary 1,000-bed hospital, presided over a decade of hospital closures and consolidations, prioritizing cost savings over keeping popular health care institutions open. It’s the same Democratic governor-- every liberal pundit’s tried-and-true Trump antidote-- who is doing damage to his state’s health care system at the worst possible moment, in the eyes of the critics who follow him most closely. 'Andrew Cuomo has repeatedly stated, over and over again, that New York has excess capacity of hospital beds, that it’s too expensive and not needed and we need to reduce spending. He said this over and over again throughout his entire tenure,' said Sean Petty, a pediatric nurse at a public hospital in the Bronx and a high-ranking member of the state’s politically active nurses’ union. 'If this budget goes through in April, next year’s health and hospitals budget is going to be devastating.' What’s striking to Petty and other health care experts is how Cuomo has not backed off his plan to cut Medicaid, despite the horrific Covid-19 outbreak. Earlier this year, Cuomo empaneled what is called a Medicaid Redesign Team to slash Medicaid spending in New York after a $6 billion budget shortfall, driven largely by rising Medicaid costs, became evident in late 2019."

That's the politician-made New York mess. In his Washington Post column yesterday, Greg Sargent made it clear that the politician-made mess in the red states is going to be worse... much worse. Right Paul?

"What's coming," wrote Sargent, "is a kind of perfect storm," according to experts he spoke with: "Soaring unemployment risks pushing huge numbers of people into the ranks of the uninsured. Many of those people will probably seek Medicaid coverage, further straining state budgets," presuming they're in states offering much of anything at all-- which many red states that refused to extend Medicaid coverage as part of the Affordable Care Act do not. "And into that combustible mix," continued Sargent, "a coming wave of coronavirus cases, and you have what health economist Austin Frakt described to me as a 'looming catastrophe.' This may be felt with great intensity in the south. That's because in that region, there is a developing situation that could prove very distressing in coming weeks. On one hand, there hasn't been enough social distancing in these places. On the other, many of those states have not opted into the Medicaid expansion, which could make the health care crisis far more acute."

Frakt told Sargent what he sees headed for the old slave holding states "a lot more hardship, health problems and death. People who have lost their jobs and have nowhere else to turn, they'll have great difficulty affording the care they need" without Medicaid.

The twin crises we're facing-- an all-consuming pandemic emergency combined with a slide into a horrific economic downturn-- are revealing with unique force just how exposed and vulnerable individuals have been left by our failure to invest sufficiently in public health and a robust welfare state. A lot more than any of us can bear.

The other day, in a post called Fear The walking Dumb, John Pavlovitz wrote that "the reckless defiance to stay at home orders is a political statement" and described the Trumpists still spreading the contagion despite the warnings of scientists and experts they hate: "They simply cannot acknowledge how dire the situation is, because to do so would mean finally having to admit that this was never a 'Democratic hoax,' as their beloved president had said-- and so in a partisan, Fox News-induced stupor, they play golf and hang out with friends and share food to Make America Great and own the Libs.

Some are choosing to make a showy religious declaration; calling upon God to deliver them as though from the encroaching Egyptians at the water’s edge-- not bothering to consider that God could have given them doctors and scientists and trained experts, who are telling them that the greatest exodus from harm and captivity, is to simply stay home.

Others are a victim of their own nationalistic fervor and Don’t Tread on Me mythology. Their desire for personal freedom at any cost is making them defiant in their unconscientious objection. They are more interested in not feeling restricted-- than they are in making a small, temporary personal sacrifice for the greater good. They would rather be “free” than responsible with people around them.

Some are afflicted with garden variety selfishness. They simply don’t care, because they feel themselves immune and invincible, and so they give no thought to people for whom a diagnosis would most likely be a death sentence: the immunocompromised or the elderly or those with lung ailments. They don’t consider the strain on the already taxed healthcare system or the cost to businesses that are more likely not to survive with each passing day or the schools that can’t open and the millions of students whose educations are being further detoured the longer this goes on. They don’t stop to reckon with the ripples of their actions and so they shop and workout and don’t wash their hands, because they see no reason not to.

Pavlovitz wrote that he doesn't "want to be afraid of the people I share this world with. That’s a pretty lousy way to go through life. I just wish more of them saw beyond themselves and considered the way their lives rub up against other people’s, especially when life and death literally reside in their choices. I wish they’d stop helping this virus and start helping one another. I wish they would stay home and end this nightmare. That would be a story worth living in."

In an e-mail to his supporters yesterday, Bernie acknowledged that the country is facing its worst crisis in modern history-- a combination, as Sargent noted, of a "pandemic that could lead to the death of hundreds of thousands of Americans and infect millions of others, and an economic downturn that could be worse than the Great Depression of the 1930s... In this unprecedented moment in modern American history, it is imperative that we respond in an unprecedented way. And that means that Congress must pass, in the very near future, the boldest piece of legislation ever written in modern history. There are many, many issues that must be addressed in our response to this pandemic, and working together, we will make sure they are addressed. He then outlined 6 core provisions that must be included in the next legislation Congress passes to support working people in our country.

1. Addressing the Employment Crisis and Providing Immediate Financial Relief

There is little doubt in my mind that we are facing an economic crisis that could be even worse than the Great Depression. The St. Louis Federal Reserve has projected that 47 million more people may become unemployed by the end of June, with unemployment reaching 32 percent. In my view, we must make sure that every worker in America continues to receive their paycheck during this crisis and we must provide immediate financial relief to everyone in this country.

An important precedent for that approach was taken in the recent stimulus package in which grants were provided to the airlines for the sole purpose of maintaining the paychecks and benefits of some 2 million workers in that industry through September 30. We must expand that program to cover every worker in America and we must make it retroactive to the beginning of this crisis. This is not a radical idea. Other countries, such as the UK, Norway, Denmark, France, and others have all come up with similar approaches to sustain their economy and prevent workers from losing their jobs.

Our primary goal during this crisis must be to prevent the disintegration of the American economy. It will be much easier and less expensive to prevent the collapse of the economy than trying to put it back together after it collapses.

To do this, we must also begin monthly payments of $2,000 for every man, woman, and child in our country, and guarantee paid family leave throughout this crisis so that people who are sick do not face the choice of infecting others or losing their job.

2. We Must Guarantee Health Care to All

Let’s be clear: we were facing a catastrophic health care crisis before the pandemic, and now that crisis has become much, much worse. Already, 87 million people are uninsured or underinsured. Layoffs will mean tens of millions of people more will lose their current insurance-- which will result in countless deaths and bankruptcies. Already in the last two weeks, an estimated 3.5 million people have lost their employer-sponsored insurance.

And as the pandemic grows, we are seeing more and more reports of people who have delayed treatment due to concerns about cost. In this pandemic, uninsurance will lead to deaths and more COVID-19 transmissions.

Therefore, during this crisis, Medicare must be empowered to pay all of the deductibles, co-payments and out-of-pocket healthcare expenses for the uninsured and the underinsured. No one in America who is sick, regardless of immigration status, should be afraid to seek the medical treatment they need during this national pandemic. Let me be clear: I am not proposing that we pass Medicare for All in this moment. That fight continues into the future. But, for the moment, we must act boldly to make sure everyone can get the health care they need in the coming months.

3. Use the Defense Production Act to Produce the Equipment and Testing We Need

Unbelievably, in the United States right now, doctors and nurses are unnecessarily putting their lives on the line treating people suffering from the coronavirus because they lack personal protective equipment like masks, gloves, and surgical gowns. The CDC has directed health professionals to use homemade gear like bandanas or scarves and some workers at the VA are being told to re-use one surgical mask for a week at a time. HHS estimated that our country needs 3.5 billion masks in response to this crisis.

President Trump has utilized the Defense Production Act thousands of times for the military and for enforcement of his immigration policies, yet he has resisted using its power to save lives during the pandemic. That is unacceptable. We must immediately and forcefully use the Defense Production Act to direct the production of all of the personal protective equipment, ventilators and other medical supplies needed.

We must also utilize this power to produce antibody tests so we can begin figuring out who has already contracted the virus and has developed some immunity to COVID-19.

In addition, OSHA must adopt a strong emergency standard to protect health care workers, patients, and the public during this crisis. We must crack down aggressively on price gougers and hoarders, and use any means necessary to secure supplies.

4. Make Sure No One Goes Hungry

Even before this crisis hit, one in every seven kids in America was going hungry and nearly 5.5 million seniors in our country struggled with hunger. Already in this crisis we see lines at food banks and growing concern that our most vulnerable communities and those recently unemployed may struggle to feed their families.

As communities face record levels of food insecurity, we must increase SNAP benefits, expand the WIC program for pregnant mothers, infants, and children, double funding for the Emergency Food Program (TEFAP) to ensure food banks have food to distribute, and expand Meals on Wheels and School Meals programs. When necessary, we must also develop new approaches to deliver food to vulnerable populations — including door-to-door drop offs.

5. Provide Emergency Aid to States and Cities

Even as state and local employees like police officers, firefighters and paramedics work on the front lines of this pandemic, states and cities that pay their salaries are facing enormous budgetary pressures.

Congress must provide $600 billion in direct fiscal aid to states and cities to ensure they have the personnel and funding necessary to respond to this crisis. In addition, the Federal Reserve must establish programs to provide direct fiscal support and budgetary relief to states and municipalities.

6. Suspend Monthly Payments

Even before this crisis, half of the people in our country were living paycheck to paycheck. In America today, over 18 million families are paying more than 50 percent of their income on housing. Now, with growing unemployment, families are facing financial ruin if we do not act quickly and boldly.

That’s why we must suspend monthly expenses like rent, mortgages, medical debt and consumer debt collection for 4 months. We must cancel all student loan payments for the duration of this crisis, and place an immediate moratorium on evictions, foreclosures, and utility shut-offs.

Brothers and sisters: In this unprecedented moment in our history it is easy to feel like we are alone, and that everyone must fend for themselves. But that would be a mistake and a terrible tragedy. Now, more than any other moment in our lives, we must remember that we are all in this together-- that when one of us gets sick, many more may get sick. And when my neighbor loses their job, I may lose my job as well.

You waiting for Trump or the walking corpse the Democratic Party establishment wants to run against him to offer some operable ideas? Don't hold your breath-- or you could be turning blue long before there is any light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel. Please contribute to Bernie's campaign by clicking on the Blue America thermometer on the right. Bernie ended his e-mail by reminding us that "we cannot wait until our economy collapses to act. It will be far easier and less expensive to act now, in a very bold way, than to try to rebuild our country later. If we work together and unite behind these basic principles of economic and health justice, I am confident that we will not only get through this unprecedented crisis together but that we will lay the groundwork for a better and more just America in the future."

As for Trump... well, at least we have this:

Jared by Chip Proser