DL Open Thread: Sat., March 14, 2020

House Passes Major Aid Package To Address Results Of Pandemic. Typhoid Tangerine took no part in the negotiations, leaving them to Mnuchin.  Nancy Pelosi, dealing from a position of strength, got almost everything she had pushed for:

The agreement reached Friday is primarily aimed at expanding the safety net to cope with the potentially catastrophic economic impact of the coronavirus. In addition to ensuring free coronavirus testing, the plan would dramatically increase several benefits, particularly family medical leave and paid sick leave, while also bolstering unemployment insurance; spending on health insurance for the poor; and food programs for children and the elderly.

Read the entire article.  There is a lot of great stuff in this bill. 40 Rethugs voted no.

Asshole Gets Stuck With 17,700 Bottles Of Hand Sanitizer.  I wonder if governments could use ’eminent domain’ statutes to get this stuff to the people who really need it.  Or, of course, this guy could simply donate it.  I think that there should be restrictions on the enabling of these hoarders by Amazon, E-Bay and others. Soulless profiteers.

What We Lost When Trump Closed Pandemic Office.  We lost, um, the ability to anticipate and address pandemics.  Coulda used that expertise, don’tchathink?

Donald Trump 2013: “Leadership: Whatever happens, you’re responsible. If it doesn’t happen, you’re responsible.”  Donald Trump 2020: “I don’t take responsibility at all.”

Yep. Big Pharma Lobbyists Protected Their Clients’ Right To Price-Gouge On Cornavirus Vaccines.  Starring the usual bad guys and the usual good guys.  Cue Leonard Cohen:

Everybody knows the war is over. Everybody knows the good guys lost.

The Coronavirus Is Not The Flu.  Stop Talking Like It Is.  Like everything else with this crisis, the analogy appears to have been designed to enable the President’s happy talk and deliberate obliviousness.

How Perdue Destroys The Lives Of Chicken Farmers.  Delaware lawmakers should read this and then consider how to address the plight of farmers who are under the thumb of Big Chicken. Kinda tough when downstate lawmakers are under the thrall of Big Chicken.

I’ve only scratched the surface.

What do you want to talk about?