Rich Get Richer, We Starve

Our country is on life support thanks to the incompetency of the jester in the White House and the dunces that make up his administration. We are faced with a deadly virus of which we’ve not seen since the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic and the ensuing economic collapse, both here and internationally. Trump says he couldn’t have known that the virus would reach our shores yet he did. Reports are saying he was informed in January, giving him plenty of time to activate a plan of action. But since he disbanded the National Security Council unit focused on pandemic preparedness, there was no one in charge to take the helm. Trump’s team was briefed on what to do should the U.S face a pandemic, but apparently no one was listening. Trump refused help from the World Health Organization. He did nothing so he, his family members and other Republicans could benefit from the ensuing crisis. Rather than listen to the experts, Trump chose to listen to and take direction from his son-in-law Jared Kushner. Jared convinced Trump to call the virus a stunt and hoax to give Jared’s brother, Joshua, time to get his Oscar Health Insurance geared toward locating coronavirus testing sites up and going. The company sold 10 percent of its company for $375 million to Alphabet, the parent company of Google, despite the lives that would be lost in the process. Our elected officials in Washington, D.C., were given briefing on the virus weeks before its expected arrival date and the potential devastation in lives, to our pathetic healthcare system and the economy. So far four U.S. Senators have been identified as having sold off their stocks after this briefing, knowing full well the ensuing panic caused by an incompetent head of state would do to the stability of the market. Those making millions in dumping their stocks in violation of The Stock Act were Richard Burr of North Carolina, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Kelly Loeffler of Georgia (her husband Jeffrey Sprecher is chair of the New York Stock Exchange and CEO of International Exchange) and James Inhofe of Oklahoma. Trump and his family also dumped their stocks proving once again that money is more important to Trump and Republicans than people’s lives. Is it any wonder why the Senate voted not to impeach Trump? And now Trump himself is trying to enrich himself again from taxpayers by using a “stimulus package” which is sounding more like “bailouts.” There is talk of bailing “small businesses” out. Before anything can be worked out, huge corporations are at Trump’s door begging for money. The thing to remember is that Trump gave these same corporations/people a tax break that he said they would use for their employees, but instead the companies bought back their stocks, gave huge bonus to shareholders and CEOs. Boeing is asking for a $60 billion bailout claiming an existential threat and the money is needed for “stabilizing measures.” The company does not make ventilators, face masks, hand sanitizer, respirators, or other medical necessities, but it is rumored Boeing was in trouble long before the virus came to town. And like the other corporations, Boeing doesn’t pay taxes. On top of all this, the Trump administration had pumped trillions of dollars into Stock Exchange to keep it flush, but it sucked it in and kept on failing. The airlines, Boeing, casinos, cruise lines, hotels and other non-essential companies are at Trump’s door with their hands out. Trump owns hotels and golf courses and needs airlines for people to get to his hotels and golf courses. Sheldon Adelson, who owns the Sands casino in Las Vegas, gave millions to Trump’s campaign, Trump in turn gave Adelson’s wife the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Do you think Trump will turn down the out stretched hand of Adelson now? Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi tweeted: “@SenSchumer & I are beginning to review Senator McConnell’s proposal and on first reading, it is not at all pro-worker and instead puts corporations way ahead of workers.” To the Republicans, the wealthy come first. Trump, during a press conference, said as much when he said, it may be “the story of life” that the well-connected get testing first. Or for that matter money. While Trump toys with who should get financial assistance and who doesn’t, there are those advocating for sanity. Pondering if the virus wasn’t a byproduct of climate change, David Wallace-Wells asked Trump indirectly, to use this time wisely, use the federal money on innovation, experimentation and allow for a local customization of climate change projects. By now people should be able to see the trend. The wealthy take care of the wealthy and we starve as the rest of us are left to fight over the crumbs. What this country needs to stay viable is a good universal basic income of $1,500 to $2,000 a month, universal healthcare and free education up to a bachelor’s degree and a minimum wage of at least $15 an hour. We would have gotten closer to getting this if unions supported Bernie Sanders and the young people gotten out to vote. Some people were scared off of Sanders because of the smear campaign against socialism and some suspicious activity by the DNC, which is controlled by corporate Democrats. Sanders is trying to get us back to the days of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who, as president, pulled this country out of the Great Depression and created the Middle Class. There are still primaries to be held and that gives us a chance to put Sanders in the lead for delegates needed to be the Democratic nominee, in poll after poll, Sanders beats Trump whereas Biden doesn’t. This is the time in history for all to rethink how we want our country to be and to bring about change for the good of the workers, the back bone of this country, and the have nothings. Remember, in all adversity there is a window of opportunity and this is our window. Let’s make the best of this adversity for all humans of our country and the world. And wash your hands. Take precautions people, please.