Month: April 2020

Nothing much to do today. Even the golf course got shut down yesterday, by the Governor, so I can’t go to the driving range and work on my crappy golf swing.

It’s Springtime, so it’s weed-growing season. I pull about 100 per day on our large lot, but there are plenty more…in the same places, it seems…the very next day. It’s a conspiracy I tell ya’. (Probably those damn Chinese Communists at the bottom of this!)

Funny thing is…the property next door, which is vacant (an unsold, finished new home) has virtually no weeds on the property, front and back.

What’s that about?

The new house next door has been completed for several months. It’s a “spec” home that the developer built to complete the subdivision. There are two of them on our cul-de-sac, both “bare bones” units, with no fancy upgrades or landscaping. As the pandemic rolls on, I’m guessing the developer will be marking down the asking price so he can get the Hell out of Dodge.

Hopefully, we will get a good neighbor. Thus far, the rest of our neighbors are good eggs (knock on wood!), but it only takes one dud to ruin things. We know; we had one in Southern California who spoiled our once-friendly cul-de-sac. After ten years of dealing with her bullshit, we moved out of state.

Speaking of neighbors, we had an unusual couple who lived a few houses down the street in Bear Creek. He was a psychologist who also moonlighted as a pastor in the Army National Guard. He wrote articles for the community newsletter that no one could comprehend. He would also walk around the community…skipping backwards! He was a wiry Caucasian man who was married to a big-boned African-American lady. She was a little strange, too. Her two-story house was pure white inside: every room, the walls, the carpet, the furniture, etc. And, there was not a place you could go in that 2,100 s.f., multi-level home where you couldn’t view a television: the house had a least ten of them, even in the bathrooms. She also had her 30-yr-old son living in the house. He was a very dark-skinned, bowling ball of a guy, maybe 5’9’’ tall and 300 pounds thick. He was also a friendly guy, but his Mom seemed ashamed to admit he was hers.

Yeah, they were weird.

We live on a corner here in Mesquite, and have a20′ stone wall behind us, so, basically, we only have one potential neighbor…the unsold home on the north side of our fence. So, we have one chance to get it right. Please, Jesus, no assholes and no weirdos this time!

Speaking of the Lord, I’m noticing that some of our famous televangelist friends are getting a bit itchy, what with “stay at home” quarantines in place all over America. Those collection plates could be barren on Easter Sunday. Lord have mercy!

Not surprisingly, there have been public calls for relaxing the Covid-19 rules so that parishioners can crowd together in the pews this weekend to spread the Good Word (and, the coronavirus!) and open their wallets . Yes, some cowardly state Governors are going to allow it!

I’ve already read a few news articles about clergy who are saying that the Covid-19 pandemic is a divine punishment for society “turning away from God”. That’s the kind of horseshit drivel that emerges every time there is some type of natural disaster or terrorist attack. His Holiness Pat Robertson, the televangelist blowhard who has a regular cable TV show, famously said that AIDS was God’s retribution for America legalizing homosexual behavior.

I also noticed this week that Billy Graham’s son (and Donald Trump honk), Franklin, has hit the airwaves to extort contributions “in this time of need” in the name of Jesus. (I’m guessing that his Gulfstream VI needs a fill-up.) Why doesn’t he just ask God for some “manna” to get him through the crisis?

I’m sure that, when the pandemic mercifully ends, these same hypocritical a-holes and their flocks will say, “Thank God” for sparing so many of us. (Which will beg the question: Why did it take Him so long? Why didn’t he stop the damn thing in Wuhan, China?!)

On a lighter side, Charlie and I are watching a lot of TV, most of it home improvement shows, crime dramas, coronavirus news, and re-runs.

When we turned the television on this morning, the station was playing a “Friends” re-run. I was never a big fan of this series, but Charlie liked it. As we watched it for a few minutes, I realized why I hadn’t liked it much in the first place: the ever-present, overbearing “laugh track”.

That feature is why I don’t like “sit coms” generically. Why is it that the viewing audience needs to be cued that something funny (presumably) has just been said? And, more importantly, why is EVERYTHING so funny? Whoever is running the “laugh track” machine on this particular sit-com has a very sensitive funny bone…pushing the “laugh” button on every bit of dialogue and with every lame pratfall. Is there anything that this employee thinks isn’t funny?

Comedians used to have to work for their laughs. Sometimes, let’s face it, they bomb. I remember a Johnny Carson show when Don Rickles arrived, sat in the “guest” chair, and attempted some lame humor. Of course, Johnny courteously gave Don a giggle or two. Then, Groucho Marx showed up, and Rickles moved to the couch. Marx walked over to the chair where Rickles had been sitting, pantomimed brushing the seat, and sat down. Johnny Carson said, “What was that about?” Groucho said, “I had to clean off the eggshells!” Yeah, he was right, Rickles had laid a few eggs; his routine was as lame as a “hockey puck”.

I believe that the funniest sit-com in the history of television was/still is “Seinfeld”. The producers may have used a “laugh track” to supplement the live studio audience on that series, but the gags were so good that it (the “laugh track”) isn’t that obtrusive. In essence, the viewer has been self-cued to laugh by his own sense of humor. That’s the way it should be.

On a serious note, Charlie and I watched a news conference on the coronavirus a few days ago starring the Governor of Nevada, Steve Sisolak. He was magnificent. Sisolak was poised, well-informed, sincere, and in-charge…pretty much everything President Trump has not been during this pandemic. Anyway, we were very impressed by the guy and proud to be Nevadans.

Superlatives are also in order for California Governor Gavin Newsom. I didn’t know much about him when we lived in that state, but this guy has been super-impressive during the pandemic. He’s young, smart, handsome, sincere and nonplussed about leading the world’s 5th largest economy. Forget Joe Biden: this fellow would kick Trump’s ass if he were running in November. Mark my words: he will be President some day.)

Charlie’s frenetic work routine has finally slowed a bit today. Most of her clients who needed some of that SBA “lifeline” dough have either succeeded, with great effort, in getting their application submitted, or have simply said, “Fuck it, I give up!”

This particular Federal money give-away will have to go down as one of the poorest program roll-outs of all time. I could have designed it better on a restaurant napkin. Shame on whomever was in charge. (I’m guessing Rudy Giuliani.)

Anyway, Charlie is back to doing that last of her clients’ 2019 tax submittals. She’s probably done about thirty or so this year. It’s work, to be sure, but she enjoys the camaraderie with her clients, particularly this year when her social contact with others is limited. And, as a bonus, she’s earned the Manning family some extra income…maybe $10,000.

Good job, Girl!

Well, it’s 1:18 p.m. and sunny outside, so I think I will go back outside and see if there are any more weeds to pick.

See ya’.

The World Trade Organization (WTO), which includes 164 nations, is predicting a very significant downturn in global trade… between 13 percent and 30 percent… this year.

Those are staggering numbers. .

President Trump is pulling out all the stops to get the American economy back on-line by May, despite pushback from epidemiologists who fear that the Covid-19 pandemic will still be active. In fact, those same folks indicate that there is a possibility that the coronavirus will re-emerge late in the year.

If I had to guess, I would predict that our impetuous President will jump the gun, declare the virus defeated, and urge folks to return to work…even if its not safe for them to do so.

Trump’s publicly stated belief is that the U.S. economy will “boom” when the switch is thrown. This is, unfortunately, wishful thinking. A good portion of the economy has taken grievous injuries from this catastrophe and many businesses won’t survive. The same goes for businesses in economies all over the world…that the U.S. relies on in trade. They’re hurting, too, and the WTO estimates are an indication of the damage.

A worldwide deep recession seems to be in the works.

America’s GDP is driven by services, and there will be less demand for those in a recessionary economy because there will be less disposable income. Hospitality services and leisure industries in the U.S. will take a hard hit. Lots of bars, restaurants, hotels, and even theme parks will go bankrupt. People will recreate in less extravagant ways.

Our retail and manufacturing industries rely on hard goods manufactured in other countries. Those foreign producers are hurting already, and the pandemic has just begun for some of them. Plus, there will less demand for expensive hard goods in America, as household budgets tighten. Fashion retailers will suffer the most. Some, like Sears, J.C. Penney, Neiman Marcus, and J.Crew probably will fold this year, to be followed by many of the smaller businesses that populate retail malls. Our frugal population will purchase fewer new cars, and the home building industry will stagnate. Pawn shops will prosper.

Donald Trump will be frustrated as Hell, as “his” economy falters.

For once, something crappy happening on his watch…is not his fault…particularly a pandemic-induced economic collapse. The fact of the matter is…we wouldn’t be any better off if Jesus Christ himself was at the helm. It’s just bad timing, that’s all.

Abe Lincoln and George W. Bush know what you’re feeling, Mr. President.

Unfortunately for us all, the “new normal” American economy is going to be a more petite version of that which we were enjoying a few months ago. Same goes for the economies all over the globe. Belt-tightening time. No more whipped cream atop the chocolate sundae. In fact, no more sundaes, for a while.

Time for tomato soup.

Recession, depression or whatever comes our way, I believe Americans will rise to the challenge, like we always do. And, maybe, we’ll be the better for it in the long run.

BTW, today Bernie Sanders dropped out of the 2020 Democratic primary process, leaving Joe Biden as President Trump’s opponent in the November election.

If I was Biden, I’d have to wonder if this news is a blessing or a curse. With the economy looking so bad, perhaps Biden should run a half-hearted campaign and hope Trump will be stuck trying to make “wine out of water” for four more years?

I can imagine Abe Lincoln receiving the news of his election in 1860: “Congratulations, Mr. President! Oh, by the way, thirteen states just seceded…” Or, President Obama, on his first day in the White House: “Nice to meet you, Sir! First things first: our Nation’s banking system is broken. What do you want us to do?”

No one ever said that the job of President was easy…except Donald Trump.

“Lucky” Bernie Sanders will probably sleep very well tonight.

I’m in my “stay-at-home” foxhole here in Mesquite, Nevada, watching the cactus grow.

I hit some range balls this morning, picked a few weeds, and checked the news on the Web.

Most of it wasn’t good, except that the stock market is recovering a bit. It’s hard to know what’s on traders’ minds, particularly when the news is so bad. They must know something we don’t. Or, they’re wired to be optimistic; after all, they’re salesmen.

Let’s all hope their hunches are correct.

President Trump has done a lot of cheerleading this past week, alluding to “light at the end of the tunnel”, boosting new medicines that promise to “treat” coronavirus, and asserting that “all of the Governors are thrilled with the job the Administration is doing”.

It’s bullshit, of course, but…what do you expect? He’s a salesman, he enjoys lying, and he’s getting his mug on TV each day, which is what makes him happiest.

And, he helped goose the Dow Jones up a bit.

White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham “resigned” yesterday. She held the position for seven months without ever holding a White House press conference. Grisham did, however, make herself a fixture on Fox News, appearing some three dozen times to puff up her boss. Evidently, it wasn’t enough.

The incoming WH Press Secretary, the fourth under President Trump, will be Kayleigh McAnany, who was previously a Trump campaign spokesperson. She is famous for saying, in February, “We will not see diseases like the coronavirus come here” in defense of President Trump’s lack of concern about the approaching public health Tsunami.

The horrific daily coronavirus death toll is, apparently, about to peak in New York, but the infection rate and mortality stats are beginning to mount in Louisiana, Michigan, and Florida. California, the most populous state, and which started the stay-at-home social distancing trend, seems to be suffering less than some other states.

As of today, 420,000 “official” infections and 14,000 “official” deaths in the United States.

That should be a lesson for others, but there are still a bunch of states in the Bible Belt doing business as usual. (They should be mindful of the old sailors’ saying, “Call on God, but row away from the rocks.”)

The “official” Covid-19 infection and mortality statistics in the United States are undoubtedly lower than actual.

As a Nation, we’ve still tested just a fraction of our population ( less than 2 million tests out of 350 million potential victims) for this invisible disease, one which can infect a person with little or no outward symptoms. So, there are probably hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of citizens who have or have had the coronavirus…all of whom are capable of transmitting it to others in the first couple of weeks of infection.

The good news is that most people recover from the virus. The bad news is that we don’t know who those lucky ones are, so we can’t track where they might have acquired the virus and then passed in on to others. And, if they survived the virus, they would have antibodies which would be useful in developing vaccines. Most importantly, if they’ve survived a Covid-19 infection, they would have immunity and would, theoretically, be safe to go back to work. The economy could use that right now.

I read today an article which discussed the mortality rates being attributed to Covid-19.

Lots of people die every day, at home, so they’re not all patients in hospital ICU’s with a confirmed diagnosis. Coroners/morticians are warning that the “official” mortality stats are low, because most of these professionals haven’t had sufficient testing kits to determine if the poor souls coming in died of Covid-19 complications or routine pneumonia, heart failure, or such.

(We will know, after the fact, what the actual mortality from Covid-19 is in America. There is a “normal” mortality percent in a population, within a reasonable margin of error, due to old age and medical issues affecting people. Let’s say that, in an average year, 20 million people die from medical problems and old age. If, in 2020, that number spikes by 3 million, it would be reasonable to assume that the increase is due to the pandemic.

If we did mass testing, and had a large enough sample, epidemiologists could extrapolate the mortality rate for Covid-19. FYI, officials in Italy, which has had 16,000 “official” deaths thus far, expect that the actual number of coronavirus victims is at least twice that number.)   

So, probably more than anything else, for the pandemic and the economy, our #1 national priority right now should be mass testing.

I read another article, last week, which involved the original Covid-19 test kits that were distributed by the CDC. For some reason, they were defective, and about a month was lost before “good ones” were shipped out. And, then, another problem developed: the results of the test had as much as a 40 percent error in determining a “negative” finding. That is, 40 percent of those who were determined to be non-infected were, when later re-tested, actually infected with Covid-19.

Oh, Boy, talk about a cluster fuck! I hope the folks who developed these test kits weren’t paid. (They probably should be taken out and shot.)

I don’t know anyone who has been tested. That includes neighbors in Mesquite, friends from Southern California, or relatives. I’m guessing that the only people who are being tested are those who show up at hospital emergency rooms…because of the lack of testing kits. By that time, of course, they’re sick and have probably infected their spouse and some friends and relatives.

Health providers have been working non-stop for a couple of months now, endangering themselves with inadequate protective gear. It’s criminal. And, some of them, doctors at besieged emergency rooms who have had to “triage” patients (i.e. decide, on the spot, which ones were going to get a ventilator and which ones were not) will likely suffer PTSD after the dust settles on this pandemic.

My heart goes out to them: It was difficult enough making the decision to put down our dog, JayJay. I can’t imagine how gut-wrenching it must be to do the same with a human being.

On another subject, the Federal economic “lifeline” funding program for small businesses is turning into a nightmare for those besieged entrepreneurs.

The SBA is “in charge”, but has punted responsibility to major banks, which are to process the paperwork and distribute the funds. After one day, the network of banks was overwhelmed by the volume of applications, websites went down, application form discrepancies were identified, and tens of thousands of small business owners were frustrated, then annoyed, and then mad. After a few days, many of the banks had run out of money…with just a fraction of the applications processed.

Charlie is helping her clients deal with this cluster fuck, and it’s tough. There’s yelling, crying, and gnashing of teeth, as these desperate business owners try to navigate unfamiliar waters. They are not happy with the Federal government right now.

The news today is that Congress is going to be asked for another $250 billion for this program. And, in my opinion, that will be too little, too late…assuming most of it actually gets to the small business owners who need it.

A similar debacle is occurring with Unemployment claims processing in the various states. Too many claimants are overloading systems designed to process, at max, maybe one tenth of the volume.

Laid-off workers can’t get through on the State websites or by phone to file their claims. I saw a young lady from Las Vegas on TV who has made 50 calls per day for ten days straight to the State unemployment office and hasn’t been able to get through. While being interviewed on TV, she dialed the number and the result was a recording “Experiencing high volume of calls right now; call back later.”

The Feds and the States had better get their acts together quickly or there will be civil unrest. “People gotta eat.”

Ominous, related, news this week:

“GUN SALES HAVE SKYROCKETED LATELY“

In other news, the commanding officer of the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier was unceremoniously fired by the acting Secretary of the Navy, who publicly called him “stupid” and “naïve”) for alerting his superiors and others about a Covid-19 epidemic on his ship. Someone leaked his distress call to the press and, evidently, the SecNav though it was an embarrassment to some Big Shot upstairs, so he made the captain “walk the plank”.

When the Roosevelt docked, and the humiliated patriot/captain disembarked, his assembled crew (of 5,000 sailors) gave him a rousing cheer of support…because he’s had their backs.

It turns out that at least 200 of the crew have already tested positive for Covid-19, with another 2,500 sailors yet to be tested. Oh, and the fired captain of the ship…he’s tested positive, as well.

(UPDATE: After 48 hours of bad press, the acting Secretary of the Navy “resigned” today. He probably got the word from the Big Shot upstairs: “Son, I’ll handle my own public relations stunts. YOU’RE FIRED!”)

Mr. Positivity has devoted a lot of facetime on TV lately promoting a specific drug, which was developed to treat malaria, as some sort of prophylactic medicine for Covid-19. His medical experts have reminded him on numerous occasions, publicly, that there are no studies which confirm the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine as a Covid-19 therapy, but the President, who is not a doctor or medical researcher, just feels good about it in his “gut”.

Like he did about Barack Obama being born in Africa.

Mr. Trump desperately wants to believe that there is a short-cut cure for coronavirus, so…he’s going to promote it, even though it may simply be snake oil.

Of course, if it turns out to be exactly that, he will deny ever having recommending it or even mentioning it in public. He’ll blame the “confusion” on Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Chinese, or maybe Hillary Clinton’s e-mail server. Count on it.

Understandably, there is a frantic race to come up with a vaccine or wonder drug to defeat this invisible enemy. The President will probably authorize all manner of short-cuts in the Federal approval process for those laboratories searching for the cure. I get that; he’s desperate to get this thing over. However, all medicines have side effects, and the reason there are strenuous testing requirements is to make sure that the resultant medicine doesn’t do more harm than good.

Or, do nothing.

Hydroxychloroquine, the President’s presumptive drug of choice for the pandemic, has never been tested as a Covid-19 therapy. Actually, nothing has, because this particular coronavirus is so new. In order to determine if hydroxychloroquine has any noticeable, positive impact on Covid-19 remission, it would have to be tested in a fairly large study against the performance of a placebo. That hasn’t happened.

So, what we have here is some anecdotal evidence (supplied by ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani, it is reported!) that the drug “works”.

That is not science. If someone who is Covid-19 positive takes the drug, and survives, does that mean that it works? No, because at least 95 percent of those infected don’t die…without hydroxychloroquine. What if someone takes the drug prophylactically (i.e. so they won’t become infected)? Well, most people don’t get infected in the first place, so nothing new would be learned without a very extensive survey. So, No, nothing can be learned about taking the pill “just in case”.

And, taking the drug when one may not need to accomplishes two things: (1) Makes the supply of that drug less available to those patients it was developed for; and, (2) Puts the pill-popper at risk from side effects. It would be tragic if someone, after being egged-on by the President of the United States, developed permanent heart problems or vision damage (two known potential side effects) from a drug that he/she didn’t need to take.

Ambulance-chasing lawyers are going to love this.

Prayer is, arguably, as effective as the President’s new wonder drug. Who can prove that it doesn’t help in some way? (Which is why selling God and selling snake oil are so easy. And, probably why Trump is promoting this drug: Who can prove him wrong?)

The President is also providing dubious leadership when it comes to halting the spread of the virus. On the day the President announced his Administration’s position that all Americans should wear facemasks in public to halt the spread of the virus, he publicly noted that he, personally, would not wear one. And, the rest of the Administration officials at the public announcement weren’t wearing them either. And, haven’t since.

“Do as we say, and not as we do.”

Tremendous leadership. Bravo!

Lots of confusing signals and hogwash coming out of D.C. these days.

The hubbub over the President’s “miracle drug” is a metaphor for much of what’s going on now in America. Lots of panicky people, lots of rumors and conspiracy theories, and lots of homemade remedies, both medical and political. We’ve never been through this before, so all of us, politicians and citizens, are winging it, trying to cope as best we can.

There’s a popular rumor circulating (600,000 “views”) that the development of 5G wireless technology caused Covid-19. I think it was started by the same guy who claimed that the Moon landing was faked.

Hollywood script writers couldn’t make this stuff up.

You know that things are dire when President Trump appoints his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to lead a high-level task force.

Mr. Kushner, who has no government (or medical) experience, and who’s claim to fame is that he is the son of a wealthy real estate developer and the husband of Ivanka Trump, seems to be the “expert” that the President always turns to when he needs complicated problems resolved.

Kushner’s latest assignment: heading up the Coronavirus Task Force “Working Group”. Actually, the President publicly assigned Vice President Pence this responsibility a few months ago. Evidently, Pence isn’t cutting it, or the Prez wanted someone with real “chops” on the job.

Son-in-law Kushner is the unpaid “Senior Advisor to the President” who brokered the Middle East Peace Plan, unveiled in January, 2020, which was declared “dead on arrival” by all Palestinian principals except Israel. It was a colossal waste of time, and pissed off the very people it was supposed to bring together.

To use one of the President’s favorite descriptors, the Plan was “perfect”.

Mr. Kushner was publicly dismissive of the coronavirus threat early on, called it a media “exaggeration”, and helped write the March 11, 2020 Presidential Address to the Nation that was universally “panned”. (Yes, that’s the disastrous speech Trump made the night before the Stock Market crashed.)

“Perfect speech, Son!”

Is the United States of America really best served by an Administration that is populated by “acting” officials, relatives of the President, bootlickers, non-experts, and a President who insists on assuming the role of his own Inspector Generals…to root out his own corruption and malfeasance?

It has become pretty apparent, in 2020, that our President prefers lapdogs to watchdogs, and conspiracy kooks to experts.

This is what we’ve come to, “Making America Great Again”.

The Trump Administration is taking 3M to task for not providing more N-95 respirator masks to the American market.

American-based 3M (Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing) is a global supplier of N-95 masks. President Trump signed a Defense Production Act order the other day aimed at 3M prioritizing the U.S. market for its respirator masks during the global Covid-19 pandemic.

At first glance, it sounds like the logical thing to do.

But, 3M said, “Wait a minute! The pandemic is global, every country needs these masks right now, and, if we go this route (i.e. prioritizing the U.S.), we can expect retaliation.”

They have a point. The U.S. population is 330 million, while the world population includes another 5 billion people, all potential 3M customers. Covid-19 knows no boundaries.

Most of the latex surgical gloves, hospital gowns, surgical masks, and other medical Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) currently in high demand in America are produced…in Asia. If producing countries start playing favorites in the global crisis, if they start allowing politics to trump standard business practices and humanitarian motivations, things could get ugly.

Today, the pandemic hot spot is America, so the need for N-95 masks here is high. However, Spain and Italy are also taking an ass-pounding and, in a few weeks, the need could be most severe in India and South Africa, where the pandemic is starting to spike.

If the United States hoards the supply of N-95 masks, it could leave a permanent stain on international relations, at a time when China is sending doctors and Chinese-produced PPE to countries all around the world in a political gesture of good will.

“A friend in need is a friend indeed”, as the saying goes.

The Trump Administration’s “America First” announcement to other nations, in a nutshell, is thus: “Provide us all the medical supply items that we need ASAP, but we’re going not going to reciprocate because we don’t have to.”

If the Stable Genius doesn’t think this through, America’s role as the world’s dominant super-power could be permanently diminished by his selfishness in this once-in-a-generation global crisis.

Who said leadership is easy?

(Well, actually, it was narcissist/candidate Donald Trump in 2016: “I alone can fix this.”)

My wife Charlie is a bookkeeper who’s business clients are coping with the coronavirus pandemic/economic crash in their own ways. Our son Jonathan is also a bookkeeper, helps my wife with her clients, and has some of his own.

They are both trying to help their clients deal with the drama and help in any way they can. One of the things that they’re doing right now is helping the clients fill out SBA (Small Business Administration) forms for their share of the $350 billion in “Lifeline” disaster funding recently approved by Congress.

The SBA forms are easy to fill-out; in fact, they are probably too easy (more to follow on that). The idea is to determine how much temporary funding a business qualifies for.

Evidently, the Lifeline funding is hoping to keep businesses alive for 2-1/2 months while we go through the worst of the pandemic. (Let’s all hope that it’s only that short of duration!)

So, what the SBA is asking is for the business to identify their average payroll, rent, and utilities costs per month, multiply that times 2.5, and the product is the amount that the business may be qualified for through the Lifeline program.

I realize that this Lifeline funding program was quickly thrown together, and I know why: it’s an election year, and the Trump Administration can’t have the economy totally tanking without appearing to help affected businesses and employees. So, the orders from Headquarters were simple: “Start printing money and distributing it throughout America as soon as possible”.

I understand completely.

However, I think this hastily conceived “livesaver” is going to become an anvil around the President’s neck, from a political perspective.

First, going back to the SBA funding application, at no place in the document does it ask if your business is currently impacted negatively by the pandemic. Some businesses are doing fine right now, like one’s that have been identified as “essential” by government. Several of Charlie’s and Jonathan’s bookkeeping clients are doing fine right now, including an urgent care hospital, a veterinary care hospital, a general contractor, and so forth. Others, like a food broker, a church and its pre-school, and a salon, are suffering. Those latter ones need some help, for sure. But, all of these businesses are going to apply for the Federal money…because it’s out there. And, nowhere on the form does it say they can’t apply.

As the saying goes, “It doesn’t hurt to ask!” It’s the SBA’s job to determine if you’re eligible, right?

Secondly, the SBA application form suggests that the business use the average monthly payroll in 2019 as the standard for eligibility, probably because this amount could be verified by some SBA clerk checking the payroll expenses against the applicant’s 2019 tax return. This is going to take time by the SBA just to verify the calculation. And, even when verified, it will not necessarily have anything to do with the number of employees and the payroll cost of the business today…in 2020. Some failing businesses (for reasons other than the pandemic) may have shut down or laid off employees early in 2020 prior to the economic collapse; they will, however, be able to file a claim for Lifeline funds under their 2019 spending history.

What is going to happen, I predict, is that virtually all small businesses in America are going to file claims for the SBA “Lifeline” funds, whether deserving or not, and the volume is going to swamp the SBA. They will not have enough funds (i.e. Congress “only” allocated $350 billion) for starters, so someone will have to decide who really needs the money. And, the bureaucratic effort required to determine this important question will be Herculean, because the application form wasn’t sophisticated enough to ferret out businesses that obviously shouldn’t be considered.

So, I believe that the SBA is going to overwhelmed by this task and that the money needed to keep needy businesses afloat and payrolls paid…is going to be late in arriving. Possibly, too late to help.

President Trump is going to get a black-eye for this hastily-conceived political band-aid, even though the Administration’s intention was good.

I was in the neighborhood park yesterday morning, waiting for Booger to poop, when one of my neighbors, “Tom”, came by with his little pooches for their constitutionals. While we stayed socially distant, we chatted about the goings on in the community.

Then, Tom went off into a soliloquy about the mass of bad information flooding the country produced by the “mainstream media” and that “no one knows what’s true anymore”.

It’s not hard to figure out who this guy has been getting his “facts” from.

President Trump has, for three years, been calling any news story that calls him out for lying “fake news”. Any reporter that asks him a legitimate questions gets derided as “nasty”. Since the Pandemic/Economic Collapse drama has unfolded, Trump has taken to deriding legitimate news outlets, who are reporting facts rather than his falsehoods, as the “Lamestream Media”.

Tom, along with my hiking partners Mac and Lloyd, by brother Terry, my sister Kellie, and a bunch of other acquaintances have been ignoring real news and have, instead, been slurping down the President’s proprietary Trump Bullshit Kool Aid, distributed by his Fox News propaganda arm.

It seems that no matter what the guy does or says or claims, these idiots swallow his pitch…hook, line and sinker. It just goes to show, P.T. Barnum was right when he said, “There’s a sucker born every minute!” Barnum was the greatest salesman of his day, and Trump is his modern counterpart.

Just in the past few days, our leader has become a Born-Again Pandemic Warrior (in his words a “wartime President”), expecting all Americans to forget his earlier “facts” and opinions about the “hoax” (Covid-19), and trust him to rescue us from our bleak situation.

Yeah, I’d like to believe that Donald Trump can be a trusted, responsible leader, but he would have to change quite a bit, from the narcissistic, lying, blowhard who wasted a couple of months diddling around while the coronavirus gathered steam here in America.

His tardiness in addressing this crisis will probably cost 50,000 additional lives in this country: we’re making Italy look good.

Today, I read an opinion piece from the WashPost by Dana Milbank that pretty much encapsulates the rocky road that the Trump has led us down in the past three months. Mr. Milbank has drafted a proposed 3/31/20 “Fireside Chat” to the American people by the President…using Trump’s actual words from the past 90 days of press conferences, Fox News interviews, Tweets, and such.

“My fellow Americans…

The coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. We have it totally under control. I’m not concerned at all. It’s one person coming in from China. We pretty much shut it down. It will all work out well. We’re in great shape. Doesn’t spread widely at all in the United States because of the early actions that myself and my administration took. There’s a chance it won’t spread. It’s something that we have tremendous control over.

Looks like by April, you know, in theory, when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away. One day it’s like a miracle, it will disappear. Just stay calm. It will go away. The Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus. This is their new hoax.

Whatever happens, we’re totally prepared. Totally ready. We’re rated number one for being prepared. We are so prepared like we never have been prepared. Taking early intense action, we have seen dramatically fewer cases of the virus in the United States. We’re very much ahead of everything.

This is a flu. I didn’t know people died from the flu. Here, we’re talking about a much smaller range. It is very mild. Some people will have this at a very light level. Some of them go to work.

The mortality rate is much, much better. In my opinion it’s way, way down. I think it’s substantially below 1 percent. A fraction of 1 percent. I think the numbers are going to get progressively better as we go along. This is just my hunch.

We have very little problem in this country. We only have five people. We only have 11 cases. Out of billions of people, 15 people. They’re getting better, and soon they’re all going to be better, hopefully. We’re going very substantially down, not up.

The United States, because of what I did and what the administration did with China, we have 32 deaths at this point.

To this point, and because we have had a very strong border policy, we have had 40 deaths.

As of this moment, we have 50 deaths. I have a feeling that a lot of the numbers that are being said in some areas are just bigger than they’re going to be.

Frankly, the testing has been going very smooth. The tests are all perfect. Anybody that wants a test can get a test. The tests are beautiful. We have a tremendous testing setup.

I don’t believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators. We are very close to a vaccine. A matter of months. You take a solid flu vaccine, you don’t think that could have an impact? Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine. Based on very strong evidence.

I would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter. No way I’m going to cancel the convention. Stock Market starting to look very good to me!

We’re the ones that gave the great response. I’d rate it a 10. We’ve done a fantastic job. I think they should be appreciative. Gallup just gave us the highest rating. The highest on record.

I like this stuff. I really get it. Maybe I have a natural ability. We think it’s going to have a very good ending. We’re going to win faster than people think. I hope.

This blindsided the world! Who could have ever predicted a thing like this? This was something that nobody has ever thought could happen to this country.

I’ve always known this is a real, this is a pandemic. I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic. I always treated the Chinese Virus very seriously.

If you’re talking about the virus, no, that’s not under control for anyplace in the world. I was talking about what we’re doing is under control, but I’m not talking about the virus. I didn’t say Easter. It was just an aspiration. I am giving consideration to a QUARANTINE.

So you’re talking about 2.2 million deaths. If we could hold that down…between 100,000 and 200,000, and we all together have done a very good job.

START MAKING VENTILATORS, NOW!!!!!! FORD, GET GOING ON VENTILATORS, FAST!!!!!! Invoke “P”. I want our life back again.

It was nobody’s fault. No, just things that happened. I don’t take responsibility at all.

Good night, and God Bless America!”

ANALYSIS:

Tom, Mac, Lloyd, Terry, Kellie: “Yeah, those Lamestream Media are always taking words out of his mouth and making up shit.”

Craig: “No, Trump makes up shit; that’s the problem!”

Trump: Look at my ratings on Facebook!

NEWS FLASH: Last week, the Trump re-election campaign sent a “cease and desist” letter to television broadcast stations across the United States , threatening to sue them if they run an ad produced by Priorities USA, a Democratic super PAC. The ad, “Exponential Threat”, juxtaposes dismissive Trump comments about the Covid-19 crisis with a chart tracking the number of infections throughout the country.

The Trump Re-Election Campaign message to televisions broadcasters was this: You can’t air that commercial because those things that the President said are embarrassing to him.

I’m not making this stuff up, Folks!