Bear Pit: now the sole domicile of politics at LuLa

[Alan Klein]

Could be because Covid is more lethal than flu and also because covid vaccine is more effective than the flu vaccines.

Flu vaccines were around 40% effective compared to 95% for Moderna and Pfizer's.

[faberryman]

Why did Trump and the wife get vaccinated against Covid-19 in January and not tell us?

Does anyone really care whether Trump and his wife got vaccinated?

[digitaldog]

There's been speculation across the board about everything regarding Covid..

And so, so much more from your keyboard. Like his last post.

[digitaldog]

Flu vaccines were around 40% effective compared to 95% for Moderna and Pfizer's.

49-60% according to the CDC, but leave it to this guy to edit the values to force fact checking again:
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/vaccines-work/vaccineeffect.htm

[digitaldog]

Does anyone really care whether Trump and his wife got vaccinated?

Based on the posts following the question, yes.😜
Edit; why did he hide it is the question.

[Alan Klein]

The good news is that the US manufacturing is roaring back. Must be due to Tesla and Apple.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/american-manufacturing-roar-back-morning-brief-110228696.html

If government printing and issuing checks to citizens are pushing purchases, that means it's based on false government stimulus, not production and real work. People sitting home getting money for not working and spending money they haven't earned is false GDP. More money chasing fewer goods means inflation and higher prices reducing the value of everyone's take-home pay, pension, social security, and savings, negatively affecting the elderly' like me, and others on a fixed income. The government has to get back to letting the economy work on its own.

Also, why do we need to print and spend $1.9 trillion if the economy is doing so much better?  Let the economy grow out of Covid on its own.  Enough stimulus has been spent already.  Spend only the money necessary to help people in trouble. If they gave $2000 to every unemployed person from Covid, about ten million, that's only $20 billion, a lot less than $1900 billion. For example, Why do I need another stimulus check?  I haven't lost any income due to Covid.  The same goes for everyone else who's been working.  On the other hand, I could always use another lens.    But then I buy it from Japan, so they and CHina get the money.  SO half the money goes overseas.  We're shooting ourselves in the foot, twice. 

What's going on in Canada where you are?  Are things picking up?  Are you still printing like America?  What about Europe? 

[Alan Klein]

Trump takes a swing at Mitt.

Mitt Romney knocked unconscious, suffers black eye during fall
https://nypost.com/2021/03/01/romney-knocked-unconscious-suffers-black-eye-during-fall/

[faberryman]

Based on the posts following the question, yes.

Two jokey responses by Les and jeremyrh follow by a veritable diarrhea of disinformation on who was for and against the vaccine and why, which drifted off into unrelated subjects including, without limitation, the US's alleged increase in reliance on imported oil, culminating, as it inevitably does, in a diatribe against fiscal stimulus.

Edit; why did he hide it is the question.

Does anybody really care why Trump and Melania hid getting vaccinated?

[digitaldog]

Does anybody really care why Trump and Melania hid getting vaccinated?

Again: Yes. Why we were never told. The justification for the opacity in keeping this a secret. Whom did it serve and whom did it harm? I don’t expect you to provide an answer.

[Robert Roaldi]

If government printing and issuing checks to citizens are pushing purchases, that means it's based on false government stimulus, not production and real work. People sitting home getting money for not working and spending money they haven't earned is false GDP. More money chasing fewer goods means inflation and higher prices reducing the value of everyone's take-home pay, pension, social security, and savings, negatively affecting the elderly' like me, and others on a fixed income. The government has to get back to letting the economy work on its own.

Also, why do we need to print and spend $1.9 trillion if the economy is doing so much better?  Let the economy grow out of Covid on its own.  Enough stimulus has been spent already.  Spend only the money necessary to help people in trouble. If they gave $2000 to every unemployed person from Covid, about ten million, that's only $20 billion, a lot less than $1900 billion. For example, Why do I need another stimulus check?  I haven't lost any income due to Covid.  The same goes for everyone else who's been working.  On the other hand, I could always use another lens.    But then I buy it from Japan, so they and CHina get the money.  SO half the money goes overseas.  We're shooting ourselves in the foot, twice. 

What's going on in Canada where you are?  Are things picking up?  Are you still printing like America?  What about Europe?

Why is fiscal stimulus bad but tax concessions/holidays/whatever for Amazon to relocate to one district over another are a good thing?  Isn't it all the same money?

[jeremyrh]

There seems to be some positive signs that herd immunity could be reached.  Some experts, maybe a minority,  have come around to that based on the huge numbers of people who have already gotten Covid naturally.  Then add in the vaccinations.  Even if it doesn't wipe it out totally,  the number of those still getting the infection could be so low that we could get on with life a lot easier.  Also, herd immunity can be limited to smaller geographic areas, not necessarily a whole country. 

I think there's a lot of debate, but no one really knows for sure.  The arguments seem to fall along political lines like when the vaccine would be developed.  Zika had a herd immunity of around 65%.  IF Covid is the same, then we're actually pretty close, maybe another few months.  Let's be hopeful.

People have debunked this nonsense time and again.  Letting loads of people get the virus is not a solution because new variants will emerge. Maybe only one in a million people will get a new variant, but if you buy the virus enough lottery tickets, eventually it will win the jackpot.

[jeremyrh]

It was so many Democrats who said they wouldn't vaccinate with "Trump's" vaccine, yet they did.  Including Biden and his wife.

Proof, please, of this specific claim regarding Biden.  Or admit that you just made it up.

[jeremyrh]

Why is fiscal stimulus bad but tax concessions/holidays/whatever for Amazon to relocate to one district over another are a good thing?  Isn't it all the same money?

Trump good, Biden bad. You knew that, though.

[TechTalk]

Interestingly, yesterday was one year that the first covid patient was found in the US in NYC, which accounts for why NYC got hit so bad and early

Interestingly, the first U.S. Covid case reported was January 19, 2020 in Snohomish County, Washington. A later study of stored blood samples from December 2019 showed positive test results for Covid in samples from California, Oregon and Washington collected in mid-December. 

[Alan Klein]

Why is fiscal stimulus bad but tax concessions/holidays/whatever for Amazon to relocate to one district over another are a good thing?  Isn't it all the same money?

I would prefer that states don't need to offer tax and other incentives.  Why give up some revenue? But states have to make investments to attract businesses just like an office building owner looking for new commercial tenants.  The fact is there are 50 states competing for a small number of businesses.  NYS is very expensive to do business in.  PLus its taxes are very high.  So companies will move into states that provide better cost advantages.  Of course, NYC being NYC attracts certain businesses regardless of cost.  So there's that.  But in the end, NYS is rupturing companies and people who are leaving the state.  So they offer incentives to bring companies like Amazon in.

But this is different than the Federal government.  Washington competes with no one.  They aren't looking for companies to move here or there.  They provide services but get their money from taxes, borrowing, or printing.  Unlike states who have to live within their budgets, the Federal government can issue as much currency as it wants. 

Fiscal stimulus is bad when it generates money beyond the productive capacity of the country.  That eventual shows up in higher costs which hurts people and businesses.  Also, when the government stimulates, it decides where the money is going.  Even if it came from taxes and not printing, the fact is it decides where that money is being spent when the free markets should decide.  Governments are not prophets.  They can't know what areas make the best investments.  It's influenced by campaign contributions nd politics rather than economic principles and advantages. When it spends money in one area, it's removing private capital investment money from other areas that could be more productive for the country as a whole.  The only area where spending makes sense from an economic area would be infrastructure since a better one increases overall economic activity and lowers cost.  But it shouldn't pick specific companies and industries to feed money to.  That just distorts private decision of the market which is the best selection process. 

[faberryman]

Interestingly, yesterday was one year that the first covid patient was found in the US in NYC, which accounts for why NYC got hit so bad and early, from the tourist trade, I would think.

Interestingly, the first U.S. Covid case reported was January 19, 2020 in Snohomish County, Washington. A later study of stored blood samples from December 2019 showed positive test results for Covid in samples from California, Oregon and Washington collected in mid-December.

But you can't claim your "facts" are any more right than me as we both get them from the media.  So which media is right?  It's like getting doctor opinions.

[digitaldog]

Wrong:

Interestingly, yesterday was one year that the first covid patient was found in the US in NYC, which accounts for why NYC got hit so bad and early, from the tourist trade, I would think. 

Interestingly, the first U.S. Covid case reported was January 19, 2020 in Snohomish County, Washington. A later study of stored blood samples from December 2019 showed positive test results for Covid in samples from California, Oregon and Washington collected in mid-December.

As you've shown again, he's not thinking and his facts are way off.

More untrue facts:

If you disagree with my facts, fine, debate those not the way I present them.

Done above and often.

There you go again with a personal cheap shot.  Why don't you attack the facts I present?

Done above and often.

That and, miracle of all miracles, I actually checked a few facts before I posted.

No, no he doesn't. Seems only one person here believes this false narrative. 
This will fall on his deaf ears, and blind eyes:

[Alan Klein]

Proof, please, of this specific claim regarding Biden.  Or admit that you just made it up.

It's not nice to call people liars.

WILMINGTON, Del. (Reuters) SEPTEMBER 16, 2020 6:13 AM- Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Wednesday rejected President Donald Trump’s charge that he is spreading fear about the safety of a potential coronavirus vaccine, urging Trump to defer to scientists and not rush its rollout.

“Let me be clear: I trust vaccines, I trust scientists, but I don’t trust Donald Trump,” Biden said. “At this moment, the American people can’t either.”

Biden warned against trying to rush out an unfinished vaccine ahead of the Nov. 3 election.

Trump, who has accused Biden and his campaign of stoking doubt among Americans about the efficacy of a vaccine, told reporters at the White House later that Biden should stop promoting “anti-vaccine theories.”

“They’re recklessly endangering lives. You can’t do that,” said Trump, who predicted at least 100 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine could be distributed by the end of 2020.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-biden/democrat-biden-warns-against-rushing-out-coronavirus-vaccine-says-trump-cannot-be-trusted-idUSKBN2671NW

[digitaldog]

It's not nice to call people liars.

This nonsense again.
Alan isn't a liar, he is simply utterly confused between facts and fiction.
Liars are smart enough to known they are lying. Alan doesn't seem up to that task.
You are entitled to have an opinion. I am just letting you know that it is stupid.

[Alan Klein]

Trump good, Biden bad. You knew that, though.

There you go again misstating what I've said and what my positions are. I've said many times that Trump spends like a drunken sailor like democrats. He's not a conservative Republican but rather a populist.  You haven't been reading my posts, apparently.  He too wanted to give $2000 per person like Biden before the senate election in Georgia.  He's steering the Republican party away from their traditional ethos of fiscal responsibility.  In this time of hemorrhaging federal budgets, it's the worse thing we need.  Problem is, every politician wants to buy the vote.  Who wants to vote for people who want to take "free" stuff away from you.