See The Timeline Of The Murderous Disinformation Trump Spread About The Coronavirus
By Tom McCarthy
The Guardian (4/14/20)
“What a problem. Came out of nowhere.”
That’s how Donald Trump described the coronavirus pandemic in early March, during a televised visit to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For weeks he had been giving Americans the same advice: “We have it totally under control”; “USA in great shape!”; and, of course, “Fake news”.
But privately, Trump was being warned of a “full-blown Covid-19 pandemic” and “1-2 million” American deaths, according to internal emails, memorandums and other recently unearthed evidence documenting internal deliberations.
It turns out that Trump was personally warned, repeatedly, about the growing crisis beginning in mid-January. But he continued to give false assurances to the American public.
Here’s a timeline of the main notifications Trump received and the disinformation he was simultaneously spreading. …
(Commoner Call cartoon by Mark L. Taylor, 2020. Open source and free for non-derivative use with link to www.thecommonercall.org )
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Trump’s 7 Pro-Contagion Reversals Increase The Coronavirus Toll
By Ralph Nader
Nader.com (4/3/20)
Trump ridiculed, then minimized, then delayed the federal government’s response to the coronavirus for weeks. Then finally he wrapped his boastful, confused ego around reality. But Trump is actively pushing programs that will endanger more Americans.
Here’s a brief look at Trump’s pro-contagion activities that leave Americans defenseless in the face of the virus, implemented by his crazed and cruel appointees.
- Trump is pushing hard to weaken safety regulations for nursing homes. Weakening these regulations leaves elderly residents vulnerable to infectious diseases, meaning more people will get sick and die.
- Trump is fanatically trying to end Obamacare in court cases. Twenty million people, at least, will lose health insurance. He has no replacement. As a Yale University study just demonstrated, 65,000 to over 100,000 Americans die every year because they do not have health insurance (see the Yale study here). Trump apparently is okay with many more people losing their lives to further entrench his cruel, corporatist ideology. Many more people will stay sick because they are uninsured and therefore cannot afford diagnosis and treatment.
- Trump is lying about his concern for American workers. Why is OSHA weakening workplace safety protections that keep workers safer? The answer: Trump is a crazed and cruel corporatist.
- Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) henchmen are racing to weaken, revoke, or not enforce environmental safeguards for the air you breathe, the water you drink, and the food you eat. Certain scientifically condemned pesticides, for example, are in your food, but Trump and his EPA lackeys don’t care. These cruel minions are also taking advantage of the coronavirus crisis by signaling to polluters they can open up emission pipes and that the EPA will look the other way. Trump’s EPA is taking actions that mean more people will get sick and more people will die.
- Last month, Food and Drug Agency (FDA) announced that it is suspending inspections of foreign manufacturers importing food, drugs and medical devices into the U.S. through April. This decision is madness! FDA will even suspend inspections of Chinese labs producing large amounts of imported drugs for American patients.This is like telling corporate criminals that the panicked U.S. is unguarded without federal cops on the beat. More unprotected Americans will be at immediate risk of death and disease.
- Just last week, against the advice of even some major auto manufacturers, clenched- jaw Donald rolled back automobile mileage and pollution standards (See here the New York Times op-ed by Daniel F. Becker and James Gerstenzang on August 2, 2018). Trump’s mania knows no bounds! Trump’s compulsive crazy desire to repeal all Obama’s achievements means he is willing to move us backwards, making the future more dangerous and uncertain. The result is more life-destroying pollutants in your lungs, more consumer dollars spent on gasoline for less mileage per gallon, more climate crisis-exacerbating gases.Trump faces enormous opposition, from medical experts, consumer groups, environmental groups, civil rights groups, anti-poverty organizations, and even conservatives that will take him to court. What does he care?
- Stubborn Trump’s embargo of Iran and other severe sanctions on nations wanting to sell medicines and equipment to virus-plagued poorer locations disrupts international efforts to contain the deadly virus.
Almost no reporters are asking Trump about his reckless, anti-safety policies in the midst of a pandemic that is especially dangerous for victims with pre-existing ailments and sicknesses.
Again, Trump is a clear and present danger to the U.S.A. He is misleading, egomaniacal, unstable, confused, and cannot process information to make decisions carried out properly and quickly.
It’s all in plain sight, Trump voters! Do you think he will exempt you and yours from the dangers noted above? His actions will cause cancer, respiratory diseases, exposure to perilous medicines, loss of insurance coverage, and more. This is what happens when the government places the greedy wants of Wall Street over the basic needs of Main Street.
Trump voters face a harsh daily reality where they live, work and raise their families. One hopes they will finally demand a President who empathizes with peoples’ dire straits and embraces the Golden Rule. Instead of a President who betrays us while giving sugarcoated campaign speeches and manipulative flatteries.
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‘Disgusting’: Treasury Delays Delivery Of 70 Million Critically-Needed Covid-19 Stimulus Checks Just To Put Trump’s Name On Them
By Jake Johnson
Common Dreams (4/15/20)
Millions of Americans are in dire need of money to afford groceries, rent, and other necessities amid the coronavirus-induced economic fallout, but the Treasury Department has officially ordered that President Donald Trump’s name appear on the one-time $1,200 stimulus checks set to be mailed to 70 million people, an unprecedented move that could delay delivery of the payments for days.
The decision was finalized late Monday, the Washington Post reported Tuesday night, and it “means that when recipients open the $1,200 paper checks… ‘President Donald J. Trump’ will appear on the left side of the payment.”
“Imagine the kind of sad, egotistical person who would turn this awful crisis into an absurd campaign stunt by demanding their name go into the memo field of a check that was approved by Congress.”
“Trump’s insistence that his name appear on the checks is slowing their delivery,” tweeted former Labor Secretary Robert Reich. “But he wants Americans to be appreciative—even though it was Congress’s idea, it’s taxpayer’s money, and it’s too little, too late.”
Watchdog group Common Cause called the move “a disgusting use of taxpayer dollars to promote the president in an election year.”
According to the Post, Trump privately pressured the Treasury Department to allow him to “formally sign the checks,” but because the president is not an authorized signer of Treasury Department payments, Trump’s name will appear on the memo line.
“The decision to have the paper checks bear Trump’s name, in the works for weeks, according to a Treasury official, was announced early Tuesday to the IRS’ information technology team,” the Post reported. “The team, working from home, is now racing to implement a programming change that two senior IRS officials said will probably lead to a delay in issuing the first batch of paper checks. They are scheduled to be sent Thursday to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service for printing and issuing.” …
- Millions Will Never See Those $1,200 Checks & Others Will Be Cheated Out Of Them — Congress has approved billions of dollars of checks for Americans hard hit by the biggest round of layoffs in U.S. history. But millions of Americans will have to wait months for that money — and millions more may never get the money at all. That’s because the rescue legislation left it to the IRS, an agency gutted by Congress, to organize the complex logistics of delivering the money to those entitled to it. … Read The Rest