PLAYPEN: Covid-19 Everything Political

[Alan Klein]

While some Canadians die while waiting for a surgery, many Americans die from unnecessary surgeries.

https://sweeneylawfirm.com/content/unnecessary-surgeries

I think that's true although I hope in my case of bypass it was required.  Certainly I feel better, breathe better, and have no heart pains.  But doctors prescribe a lot of testing such as for MRI's that aren't required.  Because government picks up the cost for many Americans, there's no financial incentive for a patient not to do them.  Meanwhile government in many states don't allow competition from private health insurance raising costs and don't do anything about tort reform - doctors pay a lot for liability insurance so they order tests to protect themselves rather than their patients.  They don't want to get sued for malpractice.  Government again is driving costs higher and pushes more medical procedures than necessary.  The whole thing is perverse.  True free markets would eliminate a lot of unnecessary procedures that drive higher costs. 

[LesPalenik]

I think that's true although I hope in my case of bypass it was required.  Certainly I feel better, breathe better, and have no heart pains.  But doctors prescribe a lot of testing such as for MRI's that aren't required.  Because government picks up the cost for many Americans, there's no financial incentive for a patient not to do them.  Meanwhile government in many states don't allow competition from private health insurance raising costs and don't do anything about tort reform - doctors pay a lot for liability insurance so they order tests to protect themselves rather than their patients.  They don't want to get sued for malpractice.  Government again is driving costs higher and pushes more medical procedures than necessary.  The whole thing is perverse.  True free markets would eliminate a lot of unnecessary procedures that drive higher costs.

An extra MRI or CT scan won't kill you, but a bypass or event stent operation may.

[Alan Klein]

An extra MRI or CT scan won't kill you, but a bypass or event stent operation may.

A lot of unnecessary procedures might not be done if it cost you something out of pocket. 

[LesPalenik]

A lot of unnecessary procedures might not be done if it cost you something out of pocket.

Sometimes. But many people blindly follow doctor's recommendations regardless of the costs whether it is a just a pill prescription or actual surgery.

[kers]

An extra MRI or CT scan won't kill you, but a bypass or event stent operation may.

What is wrong with an extra bypass... ? sounds extra safe

[Alan Klein]

Sometimes. But many people blindly follow doctor's recommendations regardless of the costs whether it is a just a pill prescription or actual surgery.

That's true to a certain degree.  But for many a lot of the reason is because it doesn't cost them anything or much.  My wife won't feel well about something and tells me she's going to make an appt with her doctor to get a CT scan or MRI.  She looks at it as insurance that she's well.   If we had to pay let's say $800 for it, she wouldn't do that. But now Medicare pays for it so she doesn't care.  Me, I figure you're only looking for trouble with too many tests with false positives that need followup.  Plus today, you're taking a risk with getting Covid just going to the doctor.   

[Robert Roaldi]

This could be a case study in dysfunctional governance, https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/03/white-house-coronavirus-price-gouging-348434, regarding a philosophical paralysis about how to handle Covid hoarding and price gouging.

[Alan Klein]

This could be a case study in dysfunctional governance, https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/03/white-house-coronavirus-price-gouging-348434, regarding a philosophical paralysis about how to handle Covid hoarding and price gouging.

Nothing dysfunctional at all.  The article described a debate between government intervention vs. free markets.  It's a rational debate that goes on every time there's a crisis. 

I lean on the free market side.  While I found and still find some items hard to get, I was able to procure KN-95 masks at higher than pre-Covid coists.  That's to be expected.  But while people want government to force prices down, that would be counter productive as they always are in these type situations.  By allowing the price to be market set, suddenly a lot of other manufacturers started to produce the product to get in on the explosive market.  That created quick replacements and lowered costs in a few weeks.  Had the government forced prices to remain low, no one would bother manufacturing extras.  There would have been far fewer masks available to buy. 

[Alan Klein]

U.S. Coronavirus Cases Are Rising Sharply, but Deaths Are Still Down

In general, experts see three broad reasons for the downward trend in the rate of coronavirus deaths: testing, treatment and a shift in whom the virus is infecting. The relative contribution of these factors is not yet clear. And because death reports can lag diagnoses by weeks, the current rise in coronavirus cases could still portend increases in mortality in the days to come.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/03/health/coronavirus-mortality-testing.html

[hogloff]

U.S. Coronavirus Cases Are Rising Sharply, but Deaths Are Still Down

In general, experts see three broad reasons for the downward trend in the rate of coronavirus deaths: testing, treatment and a shift in whom the virus is infecting. The relative contribution of these factors is not yet clear. And because death reports can lag diagnoses by weeks, the current rise in coronavirus cases could still portend increases in mortality in the days to come.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/03/health/coronavirus-mortality-testing.html

I read an interesting article by a doctor who has treated many Covid patients. He basically says people seem to track deaths caused by Covid...but many of the one that don't die have very damaged lungs and will affect their lives going forward and most likely contribute to an earlier death. He says many of the young that are strong enough to survive Covid will be damaged for their remaining ( shortened ) lives.

Maybe this message needs to get out to the young crowd out there. Yes, vast majority of the Covid deaths are seniors...but that's not the entire story.

[BobShaw]

America doesn't have a monopoly on incompetent governance.

Absolutely true.
Any government looks great with full employment and continual growth.
How well they handle a crisis is the test.
Our Prime Minister in Australia was widely criticised for his handling of the bush fire crisis, even though he really did not have much say in state issues.
Now due to the pandemic he seems very popular and may even win an election held yesterday for a vacant seat.
I saw on the news this morning that DT says the Covid Crisis is over or at least under control.
400 dead per million now. Good luck.

[faberryman]

With new cases exploding across the US at 50,000+ per day, dear leader claims in his July 4th address that 99% are totally harmless. Tough to square that with a fatality rate of 4.6% as estimated by Johns Hopkins. It is just gaslighting the likes of which you would expect from a regime like that of North Korea. The national bird is no longer the eagle; it's the ostrich.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/05/politics/donald-trump-july-4-coronavirus/index.html

Meanwhile Trump is whining that he is not being given enough credit for a strong recovery. The administration claims that they "created" five million new jobs last month. Folks, those are not new jobs. It is just some workers going back to their old jobs. Twenty million workers still haven't been called back to work and the eviction moratorium is about to expire.

Trump's strategy is to pump up his base of supporters who drive pick-up trucks with confederate flag license plates and gun racks in a frightening return to the glory days of George Wallace. Is now really the time for creating a garden of American heroes?

[KLaban]

With new cases exploding across the US at 50,000+ per day, dear leader claims in his July 4th address that 99% are harmless. Tough to square that with a fatality rate of 4.6% as estimated by Johns Hopkins. It is just gaslighting the likes of which you would expect from North Korea. The national bird is no longer the eagle; it's the ostrich.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/05/politics/donald-trump-july-4-coronavirus/index.html

Meanwhile Trump is whining that he is not being credit for a strong recovery. The administration claims that they "created" five million new jobs last month. Folks, those are not new jobs. It is just some workers going back to their old jobs. Twenty million workers still haven't been called back to work and the eviction prohibition is about to expire.

Contender for The Line of the month.

[LesPalenik]

With new cases exploding across the US at 50,000+ per day, dear leader claims in his July 4th address that 99% are harmless. Tough to square that with a fatality rate of 4.6% as estimated by Johns Hopkins. It is just gaslighting the likes of which you would expect from North Korea. The national bird is no longer the eagle; it's the ostrich.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/05/politics/donald-trump-july-4-coronavirus/index.html

Meanwhile Trump is whining that he is not being credit for a strong recovery. The administration claims that they "created" five million new jobs last month. Folks, those are not new jobs. It is just some workers going back to their old jobs. Twenty million workers still haven't been called back to work and the eviction prohibition is about to expire.

This is the "Newspeak".

[Alan Klein]

With new cases exploding across the US at 50,000+ per day, dear leader claims in his July 4th address that 99% are harmless. Tough to square that with a fatality rate of 4.6% as estimated by Johns Hopkins. It is just gaslighting the likes of which you would expect from a regime like that of North Korea. The national bird is no longer the eagle; it's the ostrich.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/05/politics/donald-trump-july-4-coronavirus/index.html

Meanwhile Trump is whining that he is not being given enough credit for a strong recovery. The administration claims that they "created" five million new jobs last month. Folks, those are not new jobs. It is just some workers going back to their old jobs. Twenty million workers still haven't been called back to work and the eviction prohibition is about to expire.

Trump's strategy is to pump up his base of supporters who drive pick-up trucks with confederate flag license plates and gun racks in a frightening return to the glory days of George Wallace. Is now really the time for creating a garden of American heroes?

I agree these are old jobs coming back.  But since you blamed him for the loss of these jobs in the first place and for pushing to get people back to work despite the virus spread, you have to give him credit for getting those jobs back.  You can't have it both ways.  Does anyone see Biden recovering the economy?

Frankly, I think we're in for very hard times regardless.  We've built up so much debt even before the virus.  Now we've added even more debt that is inconceivable.  The fake stock market is a bubble being blown up by the Fed and our dollar won't be worth squat due to inflation.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Trump's strategy is to pump up his base of supporters who drive pick-up trucks with confederate flag license plates and gun racks in a frightening return to the glory days of George Wallace.

Are those the same folks as these?

Diesel Ford Pickup Truck Drifts Lanes To Coal Roll A Tesla: Video
https://insideevs.com/news/366953/video-ford-truck-diesel-coal-roll-tesla/

This time it's a Ford pickup truck that seems to purposely do some coal-rolling on a Tesla.

Do note, that that's not only dangerous and stupid, but it also pollutes the air, which affects the immune system that's supposed to give us a better chance of fighting the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

I agree these are old jobs coming back.  But since you blamed him for the loss of these jobs in the first place and for pushing to get people back to work despite the virus spread, you have to give him credit for getting those jobs back.

Pray tell, what did he actually do to achieve that?

Does anyone see Biden recovering the economy?

Since when is he in charge of cleaning up Trump's mess?

[Alan Klein]

Are those the same folks as these?

Diesel Ford Pickup Truck Drifts Lanes To Coal Roll A Tesla: Video
https://insideevs.com/news/366953/video-ford-truck-diesel-coal-roll-tesla/
Do note, that that's not only dangerous and stupid, but it also pollutes the air, which affects the immune system that's supposed to give us a better chance of fighting the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

I never heard of such a thing.  In any case, the movie proved nothing.  Probably was texting and moved into the other lane and then moved back out again when he noticed.  Why would someone deliberately screw up their engine for this effect?  You have to lose power when accelerating just when you need it.  Only German diesel cars did stuff like this. 

[Alan Klein]

Pray tell, what did he actually do to achieve that?

Since when is he in charge of cleaning up Trump's mess?

If Biden plans on being president, he has to take over the country the way past presidents left it.  That's the job.  If Trump gets the economy to improve by the election, Americans will have to weigh whether they want to change horses midstream especially if the economy is improving by then. 

[LesPalenik]

If Biden plans on being president, he has to take over the country the way past presidents left it.  That's the job.  If Trump gets the economy to improve by the election, Americans will have to weigh whether they want to change horses midstream especially if the economy is improving by then.

And some will think "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't" and will vote for the devil.