Day 1176

[matt (Matt Kiser)]

1/ Another 6.6 million Americans filed first-time unemployment claims last week — marking the largest and fastest string of job losses since 1948. More than 17 million new claims have been filed over the last three weeks – or about 10% of the U.S. workforce. Economists estimate that the U.S. unemployment rate is now 13% – the worst level of joblessness the nation has seen since the Great Depression. In February, the unemployment rate was 3.5%. The number of jobs lost in the last three weeks now exceeds the 15 million that it took 18 months during the Great Recession, from 2007 to 2009. (CNBC / Associated Press / Washington Post / New York Times / Politico / CNN / Vox / NBC News / Wall Street Journal)

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This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2020/04/09/day-1176/

[james98188]

Thanks Matt, for all that you do!

Interestingly, the two countries that seem to be doing the best with controlling the virus are China…with their hard lockdown, and South Korea, with an admirable approach of organized and thorough testing, isolating people who test positive, and tracking who may have been exposed to those who tested positive.

But, based on the LAST time the United States experienced a Pandemic, in 1918, it won’t really be done until a vaccine is developed. Back then, that took a full year. In China, when they ended their hard lockdown, not surprisingly, the infection rate started going up again.

[dragonfly9]

Interesting…Governor Gavin Newsom is preparing to call California it’s own “NationState,” in the face of a weak Federal response to the COVID-19 emergency.
Newsom knows that California carries a lot of financial strength and contributes mightily to the Federal budget.

Looks like a good, giant chess move on Newsom’s part…and he’s betting that it’ll put both Republicans and T on notice, that you can not mess with our voting systems, California’s immigrants, LBGT populations, nor dally with people’s health and muck up the delivery of life-saving medical protection.

ALL TBD… Your move T.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-04-09/california-declares-independence-from-trump-s-coronavirus-plans

California this week declared its independence from the federal government’s feeble efforts to fight Covid-19 — and perhaps from a bit more. The consequences for the fight against the pandemic are almost certainly positive. The implications for the brewing civil war between Trumpism and America’s budding 21st-century majority, embodied by California’s multiracial liberal electorate, are less clear.

Speaking on MSNBC, Governor Gavin Newsom said that he would use the bulk purchasing power of California “as a nation-state” to acquire the hospital supplies that the federal government has failed to provide. If all goes according to plan, Newsom said, California might even “export some of those supplies to states in need.”

“Nation-state.” “Export.”

Newsom is accomplishing a few things here, with what can only be a deliberate lack of subtlety. First and foremost, he is trying to relieve the shortage of personal protective equipment — a crisis the White House has proved incapable of remedying. Details are a little fuzzy, but Newsom, according to news reports, has organized multiple suppliers to deliver roughly 200 million masks monthly.

Second, Newsom is kicking sand in the face of President Donald Trump after Newsom’s previous flattery — the coin of the White House realm — failed to produce results. If Trump can’t manage to deliver supplies, there’s no point in Newsom continuing the charade.

Third, and this may be the most enduring effect, Newsom is sending a powerful message to both political parties. So far, the Republican Party’s war on democratic values, institutions and laws has been a largely one-sided affair, with the GOP assaulting and the Democratic Party defending. The lethal ruling this week by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Republican bloc, which required Wisconsin residents to vote in person during a pandemic that shut down polling stations, is a preview of the fall campaign. The GOP intends to restrict vote-by-mail and other legitimate enfranchisement to suppress turnout amid fear, uncertainty and disease.