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Warren: Why is the Trump administration seizing Massachusetts orders of ventilators and masks?
By adamg on Tue, 03/31/2020 - 9:25pm
The Globe reports Warren has asked FEMA to explain itself. On Twitter, she adds:
Trump told states they were on their own to purchase medical equipment, so that's what MA tried to do. But then the federal government outbid MA at least 3 times - and reports show two of our orders were seized by federal authorities. This is unacceptable.
MA requested supplies from the Strategic National Stockpile nearly a month ago. Only a fraction ever came. Without Trump’s full & consistent use of the DPA, state officials are still scrambling to find essential equipment but the federal govt has created a logistical black hole.
Health care providers & public health leaders in MA & across the country are doing everything they can to fight this crisis, but the Trump administration continues to fail them. I want FEMA to explain how the federal govt will make sure states like MA receive their supplies.
Yesterday, Gov. Baker - whom the president snickered at over the issue of the feds grabbing Massachusetts orders - said the federal government is shipping 1,000 ventilators to Massachusetts, although he added he won't really believe the state will get them until they show up at a state warehouse.
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Comments
Survey Says....
He's a colossal asshole!
That's no lie!
The American people made a colossal blunder in voting for this son of a bitch.
FWIW
A majority of Americans didn't vote for the dope.
And not just the 3 million he lost to Hillary by
Another 7 million didn't vote for the dope or the crook.
They didn't vote for Hillary either
n/t
And he will win again in November
I am not a huge Bernie fan, but I am not confident people (at least in swing states) are going to want to vote for Biden.
that's part of the reason
He's making sure the states he thinks he can win are getting what they ask for and the ones that he won't he doesn't care about. Not a coincidence. So long as his voters aren't personally affected, they likely will continue to support him - they're already saying what is an acceptable death rate for them because right now, it's just NYC that is critical and who cares about them? Nevermind that's us in around 2 weeks and them soon enough. November is a long way away
Ya the federal
Government has allocated ANYTHING to NY.
See giant Navel ship and dozens of field hospitals.
kind of...
michigan is a critical state for trump’s reelection chances and they similarly have not received their supplies.
it seems that the strategy is to force governors to voice support for trump on record in exchange for supplies, and then to use that support in campaign ads and rallies in the fall.
Also, it's "being
Also, it's "being Presidential" theater. More accurately, "being Boss/Savior" theater.
He can and most likely will portray it on campaign trail as cutting the red tape, taking corrupt and/or inefficient state bureaucracies out of the picture and delivering critical supplies (now that HE is the one calling them critical) directly to the hospitals. He'll have camera crews at the loading docks when the trucks arrive.
I still don't get...
...this whole every state for themselves against the Feds. Crazy way to run a country.
Crazier way to manage a national crisis.
Curious. I’m learning a lot
Curious. I’m learning a lot about which states have ongoing graft that’s crippled their reactions - and citizens foolish enough to risk their neighbors’ safely.
Could you imagine if the NY State response was the single response for the nation? PPE disappearing unaccounted for at exponential levels from hospitals? We’d be pretty badly off in MA.
Seek a legitimate news source
Because none of what you're saying is based on any actual verifiable reality.
It's just the logical conclusion
of State's Rights.
The clarion call of the right wing for 35 years has been shrinking Government down so it can be "drown[ed] in a bathtub" I believe the famous quote was.
So here we are.
State's fighting amongst themselves for life saving equipment while balancing their most desperate requests with the infantile ego of an authoritarian madman hellbent on punishing Blue States for their lack of fealty to Trümplandia.
Aren't you some shade
of a libertarian/Republican? This is your wet dream buddy. Soak it in.....
Return to true Republicanism?
Isn't this what every "true" Republican wants? Smaller government? States rights to run their own affairs? The free-market dictating the value of goods? Less reliance on the big, bad, evil, over-reaching federal government? All those R's who spent years crowing about the importance of states rights are now faced with the reality of having to deal with it in the time of crisis (and now with no $ in their state coffers because they don't have any tax revenue). And who are they turning too? The over-reaching, over-taxing, big bad federal government they love to complain about as everything that is wrong with America.
The incredibly ironic part is that it is a Republican in the White House! So you can't blame Democrats for this one. This is on you Republicans. You wanted a leader who would let the states lead, and now you have one. But what you turned a blind eye too during this whole thing was that you elected an egomaniac who is now picking and choosing who gets to live and die based on whether or not he likes their state political leadership like its an episode of The Apprentice.
But don't worry, if Trump loses in the fall the nationally elected Rs will immediately point back to Covid-19 to show how it was the STATES that led the way and not the federal government. They will absolve themselves of all guilt, insider trading and death of innocent people to show how they were right all along about states rights, all while voting down term limits and continuing to accept Super PAC dollars.
I already know there will be responses about this like "This IS the role of the federal government! To lead us in a crisis! Duh, stupid snowflake." Well, you can't have it both ways anymore as your TEA party/Swamp Drainer compatriots have pushed the political dialogue to the brink of destruction. Maybe back in 2001 or 2005, you could ask for help, but no more. Your divisive tenor and tactics have only exacerbated the issue and broken the federal government. Now here we are and it is up to local leaders because TEA Swampers have done their best to gut the one institution that was supposed to protect us, the federal government. And we are all at risk of dying because of it. You TEA Swampers can't run everything your way except for when times get hard and expect someone else to do it for you. My kids seem to have a better understanding of this than most TEA Swampers. The chickens have come home to roost.
Left wing radicals...
And right wing nut jobs need to learn that there are many shades of gray in the world. Those of us in the middle are smart enough to a) know that and b) not drink whatever flavor of cool aid you are sipping.
I don't think it's that
I don't think it's that radical to consider reforming structural gaps C19 has laid bare.
Universal paid sick leave? Universal health insurance? Universal basic income? Making sure families have enough to eat? I'm sure these some of these seemed "radical" to someone at some point, but it's clear we have great need and require some progress on these fronts.
We need to do better at making sure the most at risk and vulnerable people in this country have the resources to take care of themselves, so that life right now can continue for the rest of us mostly at home. These are people risking exposure to C19 constantly, such as home health workers; everyone in grocery and other retail still open; delivery and restaurant workers.
Stimulus is going to take awhile to get here. In the meantime, suddenly unemployed people are asking for $50 for basics to get by on gofundme and Facebook. There must be a better way.
I'm an essential employee working from home, who now only goes in when required, 1-2x a week or fewer. I'm lucky to have excellent insurance, a generous sick/time off policy, and I'm in no danger of being laid-off/fired, though I suppose I could get furloughed. I must admit a certain anxiety when donning my mask as work requires and going on-site. But I don't mind as much as I remember I'm taken care of by my employer. Why should people working w/ the public full-time deserve to feel any less secure?
I'm pretty far from a Left wing radical
I'm pretty far from a left wing radical (and on this site probably as close to the middle as you can get), I'm just tired of people ignoring how their actions have consequences. The TEA party led a conservative movement based on non-compromise with the Democratic party or in your words living in world with "shades of gray". While I personally agree with you about the world having a variety of shades to it, a lot more people have agreed with the TEA party since 2009. Then they wanted to "drain the swamp". And now we are in this mess thanks to the TEA Swampers desire to dismantle the government by their willingness to elect Trump. These events are connected even if you don't think so.
Even today it is interesting how states that have local and federally elected representatives affiliated with the TEA party still don't have stay-at-home order in place, i.e. Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Iowa, Missouri, and Nebraska. While the two other strongholds, Georgia and Florida, just put it in effect yesterday. Feels like more than a coincidence to me.
p.s. Thankfully you spelled Kool-Aid with a C, so it wasn't that "sweet" of a zing.
Apostrophe dismissed or forgotten.....
Sorry for the distraction.
Meanwhile in Florida
Meanwhile in Florida (source)
And while I'm happy to sorta see this as Florida will be hit the worst, and I do have friends down there. But it's clear this is an supreme asshole move and a red/blue divide.
He's going to put us against each other, and divert supplies elsewhere. He really wants the blue states to fall on their ass, and cater to the states he likes. Like Florida, a state he needs to win.
He is literally playing politics and games with lives. What an asshole... I just can't believe we're here and to this point.
Maine and WV
Aren't exactly blue strongholds though. How do you propose to explain your "red/blue divide" in those contexts that you just cited?
I'm not disagreeing with you - I'm sure there's some version of the red/blue game being played here with medical supplies. It's probably not as serious (or well-organized) as you think though.
Its about the Governor
Remember, we're in an episode of the "Celebrity Pandemic" So its the Governor's against each other.
The ones who sing the praises of Trump get the help, the ones who don't.. don't.
Baker (MA) does not (Baker is a RINO pretty much anyways)
in Maine, Janet Mills is a democrat who beat Trump loving LePage
In WV, Jim Justice is a RINO like Baker. And while he support trump, he's supported democrats before. And I am sure if I dug some more we'd find a 'tweet for everything'
And as far as NH, who has Sununu. I can't stand Sununu, but he has in recent months distanced himself away from Trump. (source)
Floridians knowingly and
Floridians knowingly and deliberately put themselves and others at risk by not following CDC guidelines during a pandemic and now are being rewarded with life saving-medical equipment. In addition, FL gleefully took out-of-state spring breakers' money and then shipped these college students off to their home states by the thousands, many of whom are likely infected, and now are basically telling the rest of the country to F off and stay out of their state. The idiots that crowded the beaches in FL better have self-isolated for 2 weeks!
Part of that
Part of that is just the Florida requested less than other states, relative to population/demographics.
Only part of that though
This is a trolley problem.
A trolley has lost its brakes and is hurtling out of control. You are right by a track switch. If you turn the switch, the trolley will go down one track and kill one set of people. If you don't, it will go on another track and kill a different set of people. This is the classic framing of the Trolley Problem, which is used in ethics classes, law classes, philosophy classes, et cetera. The variations are endless. The two tracks have varying sizes of crowds doomed before the Trolley. And there is the question of the inherent ethical implication of acting or not acting.
The funny thing, is in engineering school, you almost never discuss the trolley problem. Because from the engineer's viewpoint, the ethical failure happened when the trolley lost its brakes. And what's more, time and attention spent on solving the trolley problem is time and attention better spent on preventing it.
We are in a trolley problem, and we have been selected to be run over by the trolley. Our federal government took physical possession of medical gear purchased and paid for by our Commonwealth, and will be distributing that gear elsewhere. This means some doctors and nurses will be protected by these n95 masks and medical gowns, and will come out of this pandemic unscathed, and other doctors and nurses, OUR doctors and nurses, will catch the novel coronavirus, and some of them will die.
What's more, the people who turned the switch and sent the trolley hurtling to us are the same people who could have prevented the problem and did not. Even now, while factories around the world are scarmbling and running in 3 shifts to increase production of medical gear, some of them flying it to the United States, our Federal government has STILL not made full use of the Defense Production Act to ramp it up further.
I'm not going to step forward and say which community should have received this gear, and which doctors and nurses should be protected and which should not. But I'll say this: our government let this pandemic escalate into a trolley problem, and then decided to deal
with it like a trolley problem, sacrificing us in favor of others. This must never be forgotten. It must never be allowed to be forgotten. A monument to this particular moment in our history, the moment when our lives were deemed lesser by the president of the United States, needs to be erected on the Boston COmmon, so future generations will know about this moment.
And I'm posting this here because I know some of you actually have the skills to build a bas relief mold that can be cast with bronze and mounted on one of the retaining walls in the Boston Common. If you have the means, you probably also have the time right now. This needs to be done and the sooner the better, because some of the relevant decision makers could have their decisions changed by the knowledge that their actions are being recorded in this fashion, in real time.
About that
When Trump is faced with the Trolley Problem, he's only concerned about the possible damage to the Trolley.
In the Trolley problem, Trump
In the Trolley problem, Trump is the Trolley. And your statement holds very true.
And how he can profit from
And how he can profit from diverting the trolley
No
Trump is only concerned about how people rate the trolley service compared to past trolley services and potential future trolley services.
Nah
He's already underwater with Deutsche Bank on the overvalued trolley, so he'll just write it off.
Then he'll apply for FEMA funds on property 20 miles outside of wherever the trolley ends up.
Joe Biden needs you
The Trolley problem response was concise easy to understand and right to the point. Unfortunately when Joe Biden responds he sounds like a passenger on the trolley who doesn't know how much the ride costs or which stop he is supposed to get off to reach his destination.
Thank you
Thank you for a brilliant summary of why this is, in the moment, a very real choice, but when viewed on the larger scale is an utterly false choice. Our government let this pandemic escalate into a trolley problem, and then decided to deal with it like a trolley problem. May I quote you?
Go right ahead.
Go right ahead.
The engineers are right
The problem here is that there were no engineers, because the prevailing political philosophy of this country since 1980 has been that market forces, not rational decisions made in the common interest, should be allowed to shape society and the economy. And so we have a woefully inadequate health care system and a globalized economy that could hardly be a more efficient conduit for pathogens like the coronavirus.
When you intentionally elect an internet troll as president
this is what happens.
But *cough* look how *cough* triggered the libs are! *cough*
Totally worth it *cough*