Covid-9 has hit the world like a planet-wide tornado, turning everything topsy-turvy and leaving unbelievable destruction in its wake.
The US economy, touted just a month ago by President Trump as the strongest in history, is now, according to some experts, headed for a “light” recession. The US stock market and other markets around the world have plummeted across the board due to uncertainty and fear of what the impact from the coronavirus might be. (Why wait and see, let’s just drive the market into “bear” territory in anticipation of what might happen.)
Trillions of dollars of wealth have been erased by fear, not deaths, not even cases of coronavirus, just fear of what might happen.
It is hard to believe Democrats are anything but happy about the coronavirus and its effect on the US stock market. They have been strategizing for months, and worrying that they could never win back the presidency from Trump if the economy is strong.
Never let a crisis go to waste
The Democrats are following former Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel’s advice. He said, “Never let a crisis go to waste…”
Instead of bringing a bill to the House floor that will help people survive the economic disruption of the coronavirus, the Democrats have filled the bill with Democrat items that Republicans can’t in good conscience, support.
Some are saying that the Democrats even sneaked some abortion funding into the bill.
Even so, either outcome is good for the Democrats and bad for the Republicans, a classic “heads I win, tails you lose” setup. If the Republicans vote yes, the Democrats get what they want and the Republicans are losers.
If the Republicans vote no, the Democrats can say the Republicans don’t care about people. The Republicans should have brought their own bill first so they could turn the tables on the Dems.
Fearmongering
The coronavirus is spreading rapidly and older people and immuno-compromised people are at risk. Precautions should be observed, such as washing hands, staying out of crowded places, etc.
In fact, some states like California are banning non-essential gatherings of more than 250 people and suggesting that smaller gatherings be canceled if non-essential. Keeping your distance, or “social-distancing” will be forever a part of America’s vocabulary.
Having said that, there does seem to be some fearmongering going on, so let’s look at the numbers. At this date:
- 125,000 cases have been reported, with the majority of those contained in China. 4,970 people have died worldwide, according to the WHO
- 1,323 cases have been reported in the US and 39 people have died
- The virus has been reported in 45 states
Bernie Sanders
Speaking of fearmongering, Democrat candidate Bernie Sanders fears that the coronavirus will kill more people than the number of soldiers that died in WWII. The death toll for the virus is less than 5,000 at this date. 20 million soldiers died in WWII. Here is the comparison: 5,000 is .00025 percent of 20 million. Fearmongering much?
Bernie Sanders delivers remarks on coronavirus: “The number of casualties may actually even be higher than what the armed forces experienced in World War II” https://t.co/I5Xclxde50 pic.twitter.com/1BaajtDUmb
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 12, 2020
America at a standstill
- Disneyland and Universal Studios are closed for the rest of March
- The NBA and the NHL have postponed their seasons. Schools are canceling classes.
- There will be no March Madness for the NCAA.
- In MLB, the 2020 Opening Day to be delayed by at least two weeks; Spring Training Games canceled beginning today.
- Broadway shows are canceled at the request of New York governor, Andrew Cuomo
- SXSW and other festivals and concerts are being cancelled all over the country
Many community meetings are being canceled. Governors are issuing executive orders. The Federal Reserve is lowering interest rates. The president is banning travel from Europe.
Hopefully, all of these cancellations will result in diminishing the spread of the coronavirus.