Sunday, January 17, 2021

Oops! Trump/GOP shorts Wisconsin and US on vaccines. So Vos/Assembly GOP blames...Evers?

While the impeachment and fallout from the Capitol Riot of 1/6 rightfully were the biggest headlines of last week, there was another disaster led from this Administration last week. It turns out the Trump Admin lied about how many vaccines were available.
Both the coronavirus vaccines currently authorized in the U.S. require two doses to be fully effective. So when distribution of first doses began, the Trump administration held back matching second doses to make sure recipients would be fully protected against COVID-19. Amid a massive demand for more doses, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced earlier this week that the department would begin doling out those reserved doses to more people, saying increased production speed would make up for the soon-to-be-depleted reserve.

But as officials soon learned, the federal government had stopped stockpiling second dose vaccines weeks ago, they tell the Post. Both first and second doses were instead taken right off the manufacturing line. That meant Azar's announcement reportedly released a stockpile that didn't exist. The U.S. had already reached its maximum distribution capacity, and new doses distributors were expecting next week weren't coming, the Post reports.

HHS spokesperson Michael Pratt confirmed in an email to the Post that the last of the reserve had been taken out for shipment this weekend. He didn't acknowledge Azar's comments, but said Operation Warp Speed had "always intended to transition from holding second doses in reserve as manufacturing stabilizes and we gained confidence in the ability for a consistent flow of vaccines." he also said states had only ordered 75 percent of the vaccines available to them.
Well, given that the vaccines ARE GONE, I guess it's a good thing that states didn't order more, eh?

As you'd imagine, governors that were left in the dark about the lack of vaccines were not pleased.

Evers said when he and other governors spoke with Pence and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar earlier this week, Pence and Azar gave the impression that they'd be shipping states vaccine doses that had been stockpiled.

"I guess they may have been telling the truth, because it's zero," Evers said.

Evers said it led the governors on the call to believe that the country would be in good shape to provide second doses of the vaccine that the federal government previously said it would hold back to ensure proper supply.....

Also on Friday, Evers — along with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz — sent Azar a letter urging him to allow states to directly purchase doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

"It has become abundantly clear that not only has the Trump administration botched the rollout of the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine, but also that the American people have been misled about these delays," they said.
And that's not the only screw-up that TrumpWorld has caused, which has delayed the vaccine out to Americans. Like many other states, Wisconsin is intending to use local pharmacies to vaccinate people living in assisted living centers and similar large-resident settings. But Trump Admin policy and the convoluted program that is part of it is getting in the way. So you're telling me that a centralized, government-directed distribution program works better than the fragmented mess that we have today? I'm shocked, SHOCKED!

Which makes lines like these from Wisconsin Republicans to be all the more craven BS. Hey Robbin', seems like the problem is that there is no plan from DC on how many of these vaccines will go out, who should get them, and the places they should be able to get them at. But God Forbid, a Republican ever hold another GOP responsible for the messes they cause.

This is what happens when you put a Swampy drug company exec in charge of the nation's public health, and would anyone be surprised to find out that Azar and TrumpWorld are being cut in on some kind of deal with vaccine distribution that directs big $$$ to some company they are associated with? Me neither.

Meanwhile, the economy continues to falter with few Americans vaccinated, and COVID cases and casualties continuing to rise. That's also true in Wisconsin, where 128 more people were reported dead due to COVID, setting another new one-day record in the state. And we continue to have more than 2,000 new cases a day in the state 10 months after the first cases were reported here.

But instead of trying to step up and have a role in stopping the spread of the virus and getting more people vaccinated, Robbin' Vos and Jim Steineke and the rest of the Assembly Republicans want to stop new measures that Evers and the Wisconsin Senate have agreed to. This is all talk-radio-based GARBAGE that has nothing to do with funding and supporting the effort to get Wisconsinites vaccinated, and has nothing to do with giving economic relief to the many Wisconsinites struggling through the COVID Winter. And for what? So Wisconsin continues to struggle with COVID for much of 2021 and citizens get even moree angry and frustrated?

Sadly, I think that is their goal. Because Assembly GOPs care more about trying to lay the blame on Evers and gain politically instead of make things better for all Wisconsinites (which getting people vaccinated would certainly do). And that fact needs to be called out and hammered into the heads of people throughout the state - Republicans don't care how much you get hurt, as long as they think they can gain from it.

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Saturday, January 16, 2021

Biden stimulus - go big, get it done, and hammer anyone that tries to get in the way

No, we're not at the Inauguration yet, and there are serious issues in our politics to clean up. But just as immediate is the need to stabilize an economy that is heading down as COVID cases hit their worst levels yet. And Biden put out a plan for stimulus/stabilization with hopes that this can get into law in the next 2 weeks. Now let's go into more detail on what CNBC says is in Biden's plan.
Direct payments of $1,400 to most Americans, bringing the total relief to $2,000, including December’s $600 payments.

Increasing the federal, per-week unemployment benefit to $400 and extending it through the end of September

Increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour

Extending the eviction and foreclosure moratoriums until the end of September

$350 billion in state and local government aid

$170 billion for K-12 schools and institutions of higher education

$50 billion toward Covid-19 testing

$20 billion toward a national vaccine program in partnership with states, localities and tribes

Making the Child Tax Credit fully refundable for the year and increasing the credit to $3,000 per child ($3,600 for a child under age 6).
That's what in it. But every bit of a debate will be HOW those stimulus measures might be passed through Congress. While Democrats will run both houses after January 20, the margins will be tight, which has its own challenges if weak-hearted Dems and there is also the arcane debate rules of the Senate where this already-unrepresentative chamber requires 60 of 100 votes to end debate and go to a final vote on most issues.

However, there is an exception to that 60-vote rule in the Senate, and that's through a process called budget reconcilation. Laura Davison gave a good rundown of how budget reconciliation works in the Washington Post today.
It’s a procedure created by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 that allows for expedited consideration of legislation related to spending, taxing and the federal debt limit. First, the House and Senate must agree to a budget resolution, which contains instructions to specific committees in each chamber and usually includes a deficit impact. Bills advanced under reconciliation then need only a simple majority vote to win approval in the 100-seat Senate, rather than the 60-vote supermajority required to pass most measures. There are limits on what qualifies for reconciliation and on how many bills can be deemed as reconciliation each year.
So what could be passed with only 50 votes in the Senate? Here's what Davison says would likely be part of that group.
Proposed stimulus payments of up to $1,400 per person, an extension and expansion of unemployment benefits and an expansion of several tax credits -- including those for children, dependent care and paid leave -- would in all likelihood pass muster as legitimate elements in a budget reconciliation bill. Proposed new spending on vaccines, virus testing, state and local aid, schools and child care might be acceptable, depending on how they’re crafted. Usually, reconciliation bills are aimed at curbing deficits, not expanding them, but there’s no reason the process can’t be used for additional funding, said Gordon Gray, a former Senate Budget Committee aide.
On the flip side, what are the policy items that might need 60 votes, or some kind of rule change that adjusts what budget reconciliation can be used for.
Harder to justify as appropriate parts of a reconciliation bill are Biden proposals to mandate that employers provide paid leave for employees during the pandemic and to ask the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to create a new Covid-19 protection standard for frontline workers. The bill likely could approve funding for those measures but couldn’t create the programs if there isn’t a direct budget connection. In the past, lawmakers have been able to work around that requirement by portraying program language as the terms and conditions attached to the money. So while funding for rental assistance would likely be fine, a proposed moratorium on evictions would require some justification. There is a heated debate in particular over whether raising the federal minimum wage can be done via reconciliation.
The Senate's parliamentarian (Elizabeth MacDonough, who has had the job since 2012) can rule whether something is/is not fiscal, but she can overruled by the Chair that is presiding over the Senate (which often might be VP Kamala Harris, due to the Senate's 50-50 tie). And I would hope VP Harris is willing to step up and step on toes in order to make sure key parts of the stimulus are able to get through.

With that in mind, this should be a stimulus that goes on 3 tracks.

1. Fiscal items that should pass quickly - items such as the 1,400-$2,000 checks (I'd do it in 2 installments over 2 months, but I bet they won't), higher unemployment payments, a higher Child Tax Credit, and possibly even targeting aid to certain hard-hit sectors of the economy (like the bipartisan RESTAURANTS Act). You also could have the eviction moratorium done in the form of added funding to agencies at the state and local levels, so there is a fiscal element included.

Get those provisions in fast, and make GOPs try to turn down these overwhelmingly popular items that Americans have voted for. I bet enough of them won't.

2. The funding for COVID vaccines, ramping up distribution efforts, and the funding for schools should be a separate bill. Targeted state/local aids related to these efforts is also a way to do it. This is also something every Senator should be behind, and if they aren't, they need to be called out forcefully and in numerous ways (press conferences, ads, etc).

This is a messaging war, and messaging that "GOPs don't want us to go all out to recover from COVID" should be damaging all corners of the GOP. That should allow these aids to go through quickly, and cause certainty for the next school year.

3. The items that GOPs may cry crocodile tears about are the ones that will likely need the 50 votes of budget reconciliation. This is direct cash to state/local governments (as we saw in the CARES Act), increasing the minimum wage, and infrastructure such as roads and broadband. There is a talk of a general "jobs bill" that Biden would roll out next month, and that seems to be the right time for those items.

There is little question that our economy is in a dangerous place right now, and that a lot of American people and businesses are still on the edge, 10 months after the COVID World set in. In the last week, we have seen new unemployment claims rise back to where they were last Summer.
And consumer spending is declining again, making an already-bad situation in retail even worse.
We are going to have to pump the gas to avoid a double-dip recession taking hold before most Americans are vaccinated. So going big on stimulus early is going to be critical for Biden, and if GOPs try to obstruct it, it has to be called out fiercely and often. Especialy now that we know the Trump Administration lied about how many doses were out there, which puts us even more behind where we need to be.

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Friday, January 15, 2021

Empty stores and a slowdown in retail as 2020 ends

It doesn’t look like it was a very strong Holiday shopping season, according to the retail sales report that came out on Friday.
Retail sales fell 0.7% in December from the month prior. Economists surveyed by Refinitiv expected sales to be flat. The Commerce Department also revised November's data lower from a 1.1% decline to a 1.4% drop.

America's economic recovery took a hit in the final months of 2020, and the retail sector hasn't been spared. Rising Covid-19 infections and renewed lockdown measures, as well as job losses, have weighed on consumer spending and were a drag on retail sales. The economy shed 140,000 jobs in December, the first decline since April.
And outside of a big month in autos and auto parts (up 1.9%) and higher prices at the gas pump inflating sales at gas stations (+6.6%), retail sales had a December decline of 2.1%. Ugly month, and another indication that the economy was in big trouble as 2020 ended.

Put it together, and retail sales took quite a hit for the last 2 months of the year, especially once you take out auto and gas station sales.

The retail sales report also gives the preliminary year-long totals for 2020, and it tells a lot in how our consumer tastes and needs changed in the COVID world. What’s funny is that if you slept through 2020 (lucky you!), woke up today, and saw these overall numbers, you’d think we had an unremarkable, slow-growth year with a bit of a pickup in Q4.
But there is a LOT of variance within those overall figures. To no surprise, the COVID World was a big boost for the Amazon.com-type businesses, and for places that sold groceries, home improvements, and other items that were geared toward a population that became more homebound in 2020.
On the other hand, mall-like stores suffered huge losses, as did other places that relied on Americans getting out and spending money on experience outside of their homes.
What’s odd about the declines in November and December is that there were seasonally-adjusted drops in sectors that had done well for most of 2020 (Non-store retailers -5.8% Dec, -1.6% Nov, Sporting goods/hobby/bookstores -0.8% Dec, -1.7% Nov) and ones that had already taken big hits (Department stores -3.8% Dec, -7.6% Nov, Bars/restaurants -4.5% Dec, -3.6% Nov).

Now, maybe some of that reflects the fact that there wasn’t nearly the increase in sales in November and December that we see in a Non-COVID Holiday shopping season, and maybe it’s simply that people spread out those type of visits over the course of the year. But the year-long declines in several areas are big red flags, and with mass vaccination still several months away, it’s going to be a significant struggle in many areas of the retail economy for quite a while.

And we know that COVID infections aren’t subsiding in much of the country, so the change in shopping habits that explains these disparate outcomes doesn’t seem likely to adjust back by much for the first half of 2021 (if not permanently). This means more aid is going to be needed to these industries and to out-of-work Americans that are getting hammered in the COVID World if we don’t want to see even worse disruptions that can bleed over into the parts of the retail economy that have gone unscathed and/or thrived.

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Thursday, January 14, 2021

Unemployment jumping in January, driving Biden to go big on stimulus

We knew the jobs market deterioriated at the end of 2020 as the COVID pandemic worsened, capped off by a drop of 140,000 jobs in Friday's jobs report for December.

But it looks like it's getting worse in January, particularly after today's report on weekly unemployment claims.
First-time claims for unemployment insurance jumped to 965,000 last week amid signs of a slowdown in hiring due to pandemic restrictions, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The total was worse than Wall Street estimates of 800,000 and above the previous week’s total of 784,000....

.....The total was the highest since the week of Aug. 22, when just over 1 million claims were filed.

Continuing claims also were higher, rising 199,000 to 5.27 million. That figure runs a week behind the weekly claims total and increased for the first time since late November.
The one-week jump is startling, but it underscores that new unemployment claims stopped declining in early November, and have been mostly on the rise over the last 5 weeks.
The continuing claims data lags by a week, and continuing numbers from the PUA program and long-term unemployment programs are two weeks behind, which means that you can only go through the last week of December if you want to look at all of the programs together. And up until the last week of 2020, total claims across those programs were declining.
But that December 26 date is important, because that was original ending date of both the PUA program and the PEUC program that let the Feds pay for unemployment benefits between 27-39 weeks. These programs were extended by the COVID/stimulus deal that passed Congress right before Christmas, but President Trump delayed signing that bill until Dec. 27, which meant that there was confusion over whether these programs would be renewed.

This seems to have led many to not file their claims in these programs at the end of December, and pushed some to go onto the Extended Benefits program that pays for benefits after the expiration of PEUC benefits. The total amount of Amercians that received unemployment benefits beyond the 26 week mark went up by 50,000 in the last week of 2020. But the number of people on PEUC (in gray) went down by 325,000, and the number of people on Extended Benefits (in yellow) went up by 375,000.
Now PEUC is back in place, allowing recipients to get benefits for an additional 11 weeks under the new stimulus bill, along with a $300-a-week boost for all benefits. That means we should expect a jump in PEUC, PUA and continuing claims in the upcoming reports, as people re-enroll in those programs, and more newly unemployed people join them.

This slowdown in the jobs market is undoubtably a big reason behind President-elect Biden's announcement of a $1.9 trillion stimulus package which includes a $400-a-week supplement to unemployment benefits. He knows that the already-large jobs hole is getting larger, and it will take significant help to reverse the declining trends that is threatening to cause a double-dip recession in early 2021. Yes, controlling COVID and getting people vaccinated will go a long way toward stopping that slide as well. But demand has to be kept up in the months that it'll take for most Americans to be able to get their shots, and plugging those gaps now means that it won't take as long for things to get back towards normal after enough people get the vaccine.
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Wednesday, January 13, 2021

The vaccine is finally getting to Wisconsin. But do GOPs really want to help?

Despite the COVID-19 vaccine being available for more than a month, the US continues to see more COVID infections in the first 2 weeks of 2021. In addition, outgoing President Trump has been much more concerned with trying to overturn an election and stir up angry right-wingers instead of dealing with a pandemic that is at its worst levels yet.

Trump (back when he had a Twitter account) even said that the Feds had no role in admistering the vaccine, saying it was up to the states to oversee who got the vaccine and where they got it. This has left Wisconsin to fend for itself as it tries to figure out how many doses it is getting, where the doses are going, and who will get them. And it does not seem to have gone smoothly.
The state is 10th lowest out of 12 states in the Midwest in getting a first dose of the vaccine to its residents on a per capita basis, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And Wisconsin is 10th lowest in terms of how much vaccine has been distributed, per capita. At 1,150 doses given per 100,000 residents in Wisconsin — or about 1.2% of the population — only Michigan and Kansas ranked lower for the rate at which its population was being vaccinated.... "It’s chaos," Kalpana Kumar, a Pewaukee-based private practice medical doctor, said in an interview. "I haven't received any communication." Kumar, who has been practicing medicine for three decades, said she doesn't know how to get doses of the vaccine. Nobody from the state Department of Health Services or her local health department contacted her about when she and her staff would receive the shots, she said.
The Journal-Sentinel story goes on to quote DHS officials as saying they were in the dark from the Feds as to how many vaccines are going to be available, and then have logistical challenges in getting it to the pharmacies and facilities to give the shots to the people.

It does seem like the Feds have finally recognized they need to give more guidance to states, as we found out in recent days that more doses are heading our way. And given that cases have started to go back up, it's become even more urgent to get those shots into people.
More than 187,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been allocated across Wisconsin since last week, while new reports of infections are averaging at around 2,800 cases per day, according to the latest data published by the state Department of Health Services.

DHS reported 2,790 new cases of the disease Tuesday, bringing the average for the past seven days to 2,827 daily cases. One week ago, the average was 2,400.....

According to the DHS, 607,650 doses of the vaccine has been allocated across Wisconsin as of Tuesday, an increase of 187,450 from the last update. Currently, 163,371 doses of the vaccines have been administered while 373,100 have been shipped. Of the two vaccines approved for use, 104,806 doses of the Pfizer vaccine have been administered while 58,564 doses are the Moderna vaccine.

A graph showing the daily number of vaccinations across the state saw a steady increase in doses administered over the first full week of 2021. Preliminary data shows a decrease in the number of vaccinations since Jan. 8.
For the first 2 days of this week, preliminary numbers indicate around 10,000 Wisconsinites got the vaccine each day, which is below what was being put out at the end of last week.
Along with increase of doses coming from DC, we finally got some kind of guidelines at the state level this week.
Those 70 and older would be eligible for shots under a plan given preliminary approval by the State Disaster Medical Advisory Committee (SDMAC) vaccine subcommittee. Federal officials with the Trump administration would like to see slightly younger people get vaccinated next, suggesting states lower the cutoff age to 65.

"I think everyone's moving in that direction. COVID-19 is most lethal for those over the age of 60," said LeadingAge Wisconsin President John Sauer, who noted 90 percent of coronavirus deaths in Wisconsin are people that age or older.

The pace of vaccinations depends on how effectively the state distributes doses and the amount allocated by the federal government, which currently falls short of what Wisconsin needs said Gov. Tony Evers. In a statement issued Monday, Evers called for a larger share of the nation’s vaccine supply.

Both the Trump administration and President-elect Joe Biden have said they intend to increase the amount of vaccines to states by no longer setting aside doses in case manufacturing doesn't keep up with demand.
But it is still unclear which Wisconsinites are set to get the vaccine and how soon that may happen, and Republicans in this state are quickly blaming Governor Evers for that lack of clarity. Now, are Robbin' and Shrimpy Steineke going to actually pass a bill to fund distribution or come up with a plan of their pwn? OF COURSE NOT! Have Robbin' and Shrimpy demanded that the White House ghive more direction or take over distribution of the vaccine? OF COURSE NOT!

The same meme was given out by former Congressman/former Paul Ryan coffee boy Bryan Steil. That guy didn't have a word to say about the disgraceful speech and actions of the President and other Republicans who inspired a riot in DC (and he voted against impeachment today), but was more than willing to dump blame on Evers for the lack of Wisconsinites being vaccinated. The GOP strategy is obvious here - do as little as possible, deflect any responsibility away from Trump and the WisGOP Legislature being MIA on the issue, and hope Evers and Biden take hits in public opinion as the COVID World continues to drag on in 2021. Republicans don't want government to be well-functioning and a force that helps the public, and it's definitely not in their interest to have it work well when Democrats are in charge.

The incentives that GOPs have on COVID isn't something that necessarily involves a return to normal, especially given that today's GOP is so craven that they value power over making government work for the people. So watch for GOPs to try to spend more time searching for shortcomings in the vaccination effort over trying to come with ideas and plans to get the vaccine out to people, because they want to make the public frustrated enough to throw out Democrats in 2022.

This means that the Biden Administration needs to hit the ground running, centralize distribution of the vaccine, and come up with a clear, nationwide framework that lets everyone know who is at the front of the line, who is not, and how long it will be until each group will be receiving the vaccine. None of that exists right now at the Federal level, and there is little idea how much of the vaccine is coming or where it is coming from. Which makes it very hard for states like Wisconsin to be able to formulate a strategy on how to adminster the vaccine, because the target keeps moving.

That's a roadblock that Biden and Evers need to make voters aware of, and be seen overcoming. I'd argue that whether them and other Dems beat COVID and are given credit for doing so is going to be crucial into seeing whether they will maintain or even increase power, or lose it.
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Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Hey GOPs - you want unity? Then give the boot to riot-enablers like Trump and RoJo

Few have understood our screwed-up timeline better than Charlie Pierce in Esquire. And he's summed up the fascist-enabling GOPs on the Hill perfectly in the fallout from last week's Capitol Riot.

The first example is Pierce's writing from yesterday in a column titled "I'm Not Listening to Any Calls for 'Unity' From the People Who Fueled This."
The gall. The sheer, unmitigated, steel-belted, gold-plated gall it takes for these people to make this argument, not a week after five people died in the worst battle in the U.S. Capitol since the Royal Marines blew town, can only be attributed to politicians who are confident that the forces of unreason and violence have their backs. And Republican conservatives have been playing footsie with those forces for decades.

In the West, you had congresscritters who spoke to armed militia groups, and far too many allegedly respectable conservatives lined up behind gun-totin’ deadbeat Cliven Bundy and his deadbeat offspring. In the South, Republican politicians genuflected before the Council of Conservative Citizens, the modern manifestation of the White Citizens Councils, which were themselves the respectable front organizations for the domestic terrorism of the Klan. Consider the sheepshanks into which Republican politicians have tied themselves defending the Confederate battle flag, the one that was paraded around the Capitol last week, and opposing the efforts to remove memorials to that previous exercise in violent sedition. This was all to keep the angry base sufficiently mollified to be used to political advantage. They grabbed the wolf by the ears and now they can't let go. All the president* did was to remove the controls and release the whirlwind. If these people are afraid for their political lives, good. They should be.

So, no, I’m not listening to calls for “unity” from these people, and I’m hoping that Democratic politicians do not give in to this subtle coercion. (“Nice Congress you have here. Be a shame if anything happened to it. Again.”) I am looking for investigations, arrests, trials, and buses on their way to various federal facilities. Were I in Congress, there are a number of people I would vote to expel. And I want televised hearings with no executive sessions. We need to look at ourselves in the mirror of these most remarkable events. We need to accept what we see.
Right on. These scumbags decided to spread lies about our fairly-decided election, and has given winks and nods to racism and conspiracy theories for years because they felt it was winning politics.

It is not up to Democrats to soften their opposition to a President who encouraged a group of MAGAts to storm the Capitol and overturn the election, which resulted in 5 people dying and hundreds of members of Congress being endangered.

Instead, it is up to Republicans to say it is unacceptable for a President to act this way. And if they don't find it unacceptable, then that is a statement in itself.

"If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice."

Along the same lines, Pierce followed up today with a column that was titled: "Republicans Have Decided It's Democrats' Job to Wrestle Their Monster Back Into the Lab." In this article, Pierce lambastes the GOP "Leader" in the House, Kevin McCarthy, who voted against certifying the electoral votes of two states, continues to claim that Dems are the divisive ones because they dare to take action against Trump after the attempted coup, and is offering up the following "deal" for Speaker Pelosi.
So, in return for not prying the nuclear codes out of the grasping, tiny hands of a dangerous lunatic, McCarthy offers: 1) a toothless censure resolution, and 2) that notorious Beltway black hole, The Special Bipartisan Commission, which will be tasked to "promote confidence in future federal elections," and this in response to the bullshit "irregularities" that McCarthy and his party tried to use to overturn the election, and that were the proximate cause of the riot in the first place. Right. The country lets sedition go unpunished and, in return, we get a memo. Thanks, Kevin, but I don't need your magic beans.

This proposal is saturated with flop sweat. The Republicans are caught between the upper and nether millstones. They're trying not to get tagged with the responsibility for the riots and deaths at the Capitol while, at the same time, they're trying not to draw the ire of those who committed these crimes. (Believe this: Republican officeholders are more terrified of the crazies than Democratic politicians are.) Meanwhile, a whole brigade of American corporations is cutting off the money spigot to any Republican who enabled the violence by refusing to accept the results of the election. The supercollider doesn't accelerate fast enough to spin the Republicans out of this mess.
And there are more dominoes likely to fall after Trump is gone, as we find out more about who knew about the plot to overturn the election, who gave assistance to (or at least failed to resist) the coup attempt, and which members of Congress looked the other way.

One member of Congress that is most guilty of failing to act against the insurrection (and helping to fan the flames of the rioters through prior statements) is the Chair of the Senate's Homeland Security Committee - Wisconsin's own Ron Johnson. Johnson was all set to object to the electoral votes of certain states on 1/6, going along with every BS theory that stirred up the rioters, despite admitting last month that Joe Biden won the election. But when it became time to have his vote registered, the (mo)Ron ducked and ran. And where did RonJon get some of his "information" about election issues? Likely from a foreigner who just got sanctioned for lying.
President Donald Trump's administration slapped sanctions on seven Ukrainian officials Monday for trying to undermine President-elect Joe Biden's candidacy, including a former diplomat who met with U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson in 2019.

Johnson, a Republican from Oshkosh, repeatedly cited information provided by Ukrainian official Andriy Telizhenko as he tried to discredit the Democratic nominee.

Monday's sanctions against Telizhenko and others prompted Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon to say Johnson's investigation of Biden was "based on Russian disinformation."

"The Senate was used to give credibility to foreign disinformation for the sole purpose of boosting Donald Trump's campaign, and that can't happen again," Wyden said in a statement.
Many Republicans deserve to be facing inquisitions for their roles in the Capitol Chaos of last week, and the Trump Era in general. But few are more worthy of sanction and possible expulsion for their actions in this disgraceful era than Russian Ronnie Johnson.

And if you believe in democracy and fairness, you cannot unify with GOP crooks like Russian Ron. They will not play fair, and there is no depth they will plumb to obtain and hold onto power.
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Monday, January 11, 2021

Senate GOP COVID bill at least has a chance of dealing with reality. And reality is needed

After the GOPs that run the Assembly passed a COVID-related bill last week that has zero chance of becoming law, the Senate Republicans responded today. And it looks like the Senate GOPs got rid of some of the garbage that made the Assembly bill an obvious no-go.
The new Senate bill shares many aspects of the legislation passed by the Assembly, including a provision that would protect businesses, local governments and schools from coronavirus related lawsuits.

But they removed two elements that could make their bill somewhat more appealing to Evers.

They took out a provision that would require local elected officials to vote to continue any emergency order issued by local health officials after two days. Also removed was a provision that would require a two-thirds vote of a school board to approve a plan to implement virtual instruction and require the board to vote every 14 days to keep it in place.

Evers has said any provisions that take power away from local officials navigating the pandemic is a problem for him.

So this Senate GOP bill at least gives an impression of being crafted with the idea of becoming signed, unlike the Assembly GOP's garbage. And people didn't have to increase their risk of catching the virus to give their opinion on the Senate bill. That doesn't there aren't some RW absurdities left in the bill. Along with the provision trying to allow employers to be taken off the hook for liability if their workers get sick, I noticed some of the people testifying included anti-vax types who wanted to keep an Assembly provision preventing employers from requiring workers to get the vaccine, or to be vaccinated before they start a new job.

Amid the discussion of these bills, it does seem that COVID infections are rising back up in the early days of 2021. Last week had the most positive tests in the last 3 weeks, and the percentage of people whose tests ended up positive over that 7-day stretch was at its highest level yet.
Deaths also rose in the first full week of 2021, back to a pace of more than 40 a day in Wisconsin.
This week will continue to have us see the fallout of Holiday season travels and meetings, and we'll see if cases continue to trend up. We also will see college students return to campus soon, and it appears that UW-Madison and other institutions are going to crank up their testing, including new saliva tests.

This means we'll get a fuller picture of whether COVID is going to surge back to the high levels we saw in November and the first half of December, and it may increase the urgency for the GOP Legislature to pass a realistic bill to deal with COVID instead of trying to play partisan games that get nothing done. It still appears to be months before a critical mass of Wisconsinites will be vaccinated against COVID, so there is still a strong need to mitigate and limit the damage, even if it is far too many for too many.
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