Whitmer Violated Her Own COVID Rules By Attending Inauguration In D.C.
I had heard about this on election day from a guy that's spent decades reporting on Michigan politics as objectively as possible without regard to party affiliation. It's ironic that Michigan residents have been kept from partaking in various activities and discouraged from interstate travel at various points only to see the Governor go jet setting off to the inauguration when many politicians from both parties participated virtually instead.
Sadly, this isn't surprising. For those that missed it when it happened, Whitmer's husband called a boat shop about getting the family boat ready for the summer and asked if his status as First Husband would move him up on the waiting list. Whitmer tried to dismiss it as an unfunny joke gone wrong, but most people didn't buy that for a minute.
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Not completely sure how he is going to ramp production up. Media said "use the defense act" like laws are some magic wand that can speed up natural processes.
If the drug factories are already making vaccines as quickly as they can, where is the excess capacity going to come from. Unlike distilleries converting their facilities from making drinkable alcohol to hand sanitizer alcohol, medications of any sort have to be produced in the most particular -- and presumably sterile -- settings. I'd think if the drug companies could churn out more vaccines, they'd already be working on it.
When eviction moratoriums are finally lifted it’s going to be nasty. It’s a ticking time bomb.
New York City has a large number of landlords saying "we won't pay our taxes because we didn't get money for rent."
This will be a shit storm all the way up and down the fucking line.
The worst part is that the longer the moratoriums are extended, the worse things will get when they finally expire. How many people have actually made any effort to address their rent shortfalls while the moratorium is in place and how many still optimistically hope they won't have to pay any of their back rent?
From the landlords' perspective, courts will be flooded with evicition proceedings ot the point that the process will be slower than it already is. As
@Beavis said, this is going to be a big mess.
I'm sure this will surprise no one but I heard from a government-adjacent worker here in the US midwest that they plan to keep their offices closed and employees working from home until at least April.
On one hand, it's not too surprising that there's enough work that can be done virtually. It also raises the question how many workers are actually needed during normal times. However, the biggest concern is what people do when they need government services but there's no in-person assistance available.
If the Feds wanted to give everyone "free money", they could just cut the federal tax rate on paychecks from 22% to 15% or something. Or just remove the 10% tax on the first $9875 annual income and give everyone $987.50 that way.
The first $12400 most people earn is exempt from income tax ($24800 for married filing joint, and $18600 for head of household). If you're saying the tax rates and ranges for taxable income should be tweaked, that's a possibility. Obama, for example, ran on a campaign promise that individuals making $25k or less and couples making $50k or less wouldn't pay income tax, but nothing came of it.
Another thing is that people getting slightly more in each paycheck isn't as dramatic to see as a payment of $1000 or more is. People are too fixated on raw instantaneous numbers and don't look at long-term trends or figures. Look no further than people freaking about COVID case numbers even when the numbers are decreasing over time.
Indeed. Was thinking of that this morning. Now that "they" have President Trump out of office, the ChiCom Flu will go away very soon.
It seems like that's going to be the narrative that gets spun. Early indications are that some of Michigan's restrictions (namely those on restaurants) will be eased if not lifted. Whether restrictions on recreational activities are lifted/eliminated too remains to be seen, but people are starting to get more frustrated with their recreational activities being restricted or forbidden the long those restrictions draw out.
It is safe to assume that any Republican that doesn't toe the line will be cut off from the gravy train. They all understand that.
That already happened in Michigan. The one Republican on the state board of canvassers that didn't buy into the "Vote was fixed" hysteria and voted to certify the final results has already been replaced by state party leaders with someone who held the "right "view of the presidential election and its outcome. Partisan politics suck.
