Texas progressives: Coronavirus, week 5

As with the previous four weeks, this corner of the Texas Progressives is splitting the weekly Roundup of news and opinion into two parts. This is the coronavirus half. The usual interesting stuff will come later in the week.

And for April 7 week, here. Ditto for Week 6. Here's Week 7, and Week 8.

Sadly, the "interesting" part on coronavirus news is that CONFIRMED deaths in the U.S. passed 20,000 last week. Worldometer is again a great resource link. Globally, throwing out city-state sized places, Spain leads the world in cases per capita and is narrowly ahead of Italy now in deaths per capita. The US per-capita death rate is 20 percent higher than the Iran that wingnuts love to mock.


Texas

It may not be quite as bad as Florida, but the Texas Workforce Commission's current situation on unemployment filing also sucks.

Special education students, and their parents, are being especially hit by school closures.

Rural counties are likely facing more cases than limited data shows or than Gov. Strangeabbott and Death Panels Danny Goeb would like to admit.

Get your art fix online. The Observer has the details.

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins and Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson are squaring off more and more on coronavirus issues, with John Wiley Price, frustrated that Jenkins has long ceased to be his puppet, pouring fuel on the flames when he can.  Jim Schutze weighs in with a piece on Johnson's general cluelessness.

The Texas Signal worries about the rise of anti-Asian racism.

The Lunch Tray deconstructs stress eating and "anxiety baking".

Jose Benavides documents how he got tested for coronavirus.


National

The virus, with fatalities, is already hitting rural areas. And not just chic ski resort rural areas. The NYT has the details.

Contra one hope held previously by some scientists, but pushed by wingnuts, it appears like that that COVID is unlike seasonal flu in another way: It appears UNlikely to substantially weaken in warm weather. That's the National Academy of Sciences weighing in.

Kelsey Atherton writes about how the Trump Administration's dysfunctional response brings us closer to the cyberpunk world of movies and stories like "Blade Runner," and how this could become a vicious circle.

National Review, in the wake of the Wisconsin debacle, supports nationwide no-restrictions voting by mail.

Fauci, trying not to be or look like too much of a Trump toady, has been making the rounds of the news channels. In a livestreamed interview, he said that he thinks we ought to permanently get away from hand-shaking, even post-COVID. That said, though speaking on his own, and though noting a number of problems in the government that may have exacerbated its spread, he refused to use the word T-R-U-M-P.

Parts of rural Virginia are turning on Trump.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has long played up his Trumpian ties and background connections. Now, it appears that, because of his Trumpian-like response to coronavirus, his popularity is caving, just as Trump's is stagnant at best, contra normal crisis politics and rallying around the president.

We don't need legends of Rousselian noble savage American Indians (or any other New Agey shit) possibly undercutting coronavirus treatment.

With Trump-Kushner grifting, to riff on Eisenhower, is it too early to talk about the coronavirus-industrial complex?

Much of Georgia has been a black hole of COVID stats. The AJC has the details.


Global

Ugly Chinese nationalism now includes attacking Taiwan, complete with Chinese Twitterbots.

It started in Belgium and has, sadly, gone "viral": the totally false bullshit that 5G wireless caused this. Shock me that RFK Jr. is peddling this.

8.6 percent and 2012

First, even allowing for more people dropping out of the work force, the unemployment numbers are good. And, while I know government economists are spinmeisters, nonetheless, the background news about rising sales in many areas is true, I know.

Meanwhile, this has big import for 2012. If unemployment is down to 8.5 percent in mid-summer, especially if some of the teachers and such get hired back, comparing the two mainstream parties, I give Obama more than a 50 percent chance even against Romney and well over that against other GOP candidates.

The lower unemployment rate could have short-term negatives, though. The GOP is likely to push even harder against another extension of long-term unemployment benefits. But, at the same time, more people back to work, paying taxes, etc., will slowly cut the deficit again.

If the projected 2013 deficit gets below $1 trillion by midsummer 2012, then Obama's really in the gravy, if the unemployment scenario I listed above holds true.

Long-term unemployed 99ers, without help, set record

Behind the smiley faces of falling unemployment rates in most states is this ugly reality: the long-term unemployed, those unemployed more than 99 weeks and therefore ineligible for further extended unemployment benefits, is now at 2 million.

People unemployed more than 6 months is nearly half the total. People unemployed more than a year is nearly one-third the total.

And, as the story notes, there's people who land jobs, only to lose them again in just weeks or a couple of months, often through no fault of their own. Since they got a full-time job, no matter how short, it broke the "streak" so they don't count as 99ers.

Add in the social-Darwinist job ads that say "no unemployed need apply," sounding vulgarly reflective of the 1840s "no Irish need apply," and it's clear that we have a long ways to go before we should be smiling too much.

Mitt Romney — buy your own damned unemployment insurance

Or, in a euphemism alert, Mitt Romney supports voluntary unemployment benefits.

In a Facebook status update recently, I listed "voluntary healthcare benefits" as one of the most ugly of many recent euphemisms on SpammedIn, I mean LinkedIn.

Looks like the Mittster's got that spirit:

The system is also not designed for a flexible economy like ours in which some employees move from job to job for short periods, and are therefore ineligible for unemployment compensation when they are faced with a protracted spell without work.
To remedy such problems we need a very different model, perhaps establishing individual unemployment savings accounts over which employees would exercise direct control when they lose their jobs, or putting in place financial incentives for employers to hire and train the long-term unemployed.

Now I agree that the economy doesn't help workers. But, "flexible"? Euphemism No. 1. No. 2, and bigger, is wanting to privatize unemployment bennies as part of the "ownership economy.

Oy.

The GOP was first on national healthcare

No, seriously, even though there’s a bit of a trick to it.

The first major politician to advocate for a national healthcare system? Theodore Roosevelt.

Of course, when he tried to wrestle back GOP leadership from his disappointing hand-picked successor, William Howard Taft, Taft turned to the GOP old guard bosses to deny him the 1912 nomination.

TR possibly also was the first major-party top-level politician, and certainly the first Republican one, to advocate for a social security system and unemployment insurance.

He also supported a minimum wage law well before it was established at the federal level, and seemed to want one high enough to at least approach modern “living wage” territory. He favored about 80-90 percent of what Britain’s Fabian socialists wanted.

That said, he never could get reconciled to the GOP old guard after his failed 1912 “Bull Moose” progressive run. (And, hated Robert LaFollette for stabbing him in the back during his GOP showdown at the convention.)

One of our two great GOP presidents.

Tricky Ricky Perry has to borrow $1.5 Billion

That’s the latest pricetag for his cheap-ass anti-stimulus stinginess on unemployment compensation funds.

Kay Bailey Cheerleader will have fun with this issue, especially if GOP suburban areas such as Collin County continue to struggle.

Rick Perry has TX unemployed on hook after stimulus rejection

And, I’m unemployed myself right now. Texas’ fucktard governor, Rick Perry, who didn’t want federal stimulus money earlier this year because it would require changes in the state’s unemployment benefits system, now has a huge clusterfuck on his hands and – and on the wallets of unemployed Texans, notably those who ran out of benefits this week and were expected extensions.

Result? Gov. Helmethair will have to borrow more than $600 million from the U.S. Department of Labor.

And, he claims, “no big deal.”

Perry told reporters today that the borrowing is routine. The state borrowed from the federal government in 2003 during the last economic downturn, he said.

Perry said accepting the $556 million (in stimulus money) would have required looser eligibility rules, burdening employers for many years to come.

Hey, how’s that Texas economic miracle, you idiot?

And, this does not include any addition to the worry factor for people affected. So what if payments will be backdated when the federal loan money arrives? What if people need money now?

Rick Perry REALLY hates the unemployed

He’s officially refusing to accept the part of Obama’s stimulus that covers extended unemployment benefits.

I hope Congress addresses this by making clear it’s all-or-nothing on the money.
u

THIS is why Obama is right on unemployment

Southern anti-labor GOP governors, like Texas’ very own Gov. Helmethair, Rick Perry, have been dead-set opposed against accepting part of President Barack Obama’s stimulus package money, because it might force them to change their labyrinthine, punitive unemployment compensation laws

The New York Times, then, in a story on unemployed executives slipping down the pay scale on new jobs, reports on its jump page that Arizona is even worse than Texas ! Imagine $240 a week as your maximum unemployment benefit.

House Dems call and raise Bush on unemployment

House Democrats got their 2/3 margin today to expand unemployment benefits. What’s more, they called President Bush’s bluff in his comments Wednesday about only extending benefits to high-unemployment states.

In today’s House vote, they agreed to extend benefits to 39 weeks nationwide, with further extension beyond that to high-unemployment states.

And, 49 GOPers crossed the aisle. Because of Democratic pressure back home.

After Wednesday’s vote, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sent news releases to the home districts of 20 potentially vulnerable Republicans.

Somehow, I can’t see Harry Reid ever doing that in the Senate.

And, that comes the day after 24 Republicans crossed the aisle to support sending Dennis Kucinich’s articles of impeachment to House Judiciary.

Much as I don’t like Nancy Pelosi for ruling impeachment off the table, she continues to show she’ll play hardball in other ways and areas.

Senate GOP wants Bush to take on unemployment

You can tell this is an election year in which Republicans are running scared. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has a number of add-ons for the upcoming Iraq war funding bill, including things such as a 13-week extension in unemployment benefits.

The GOP doesn’t like these things, but in an election year in which Republicans are vulnerable in several Senate seats and running from behind, the Senate GOP is ready to try pulling the wool over the public’s eyes.

They’ll let Reid get his amendments, without the threat of filibuster, then led Bush veto the omnibus bill.

They’ll then vote to uphold Bush’s veto, while trying to blame him for the whole problem.

How, how well the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee can explain this to the public is the key issue.