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This Loan Should Not Have Been Approved

A report from Medium on California. “Jurdon Gold had been a renter almost his entire life. Born Oakland, Gold, like many in the Bay Area, had never lived in a house he or his family owned. That changed in 2015, when he and his wife began looking for a new place to live after their wedding. Originally planning to rent, the couple couldn’t find a place they could afford in the East Bay. As they began looking further afield, and made peace with the idea of commuting, they spotted a townhouse for sale in Vallejo, about 25 miles north of where Gold grew up.”

“The mortgage that far from pricey San Francisco was something they could afford, too. Without ever planning it, the two became homeowners. ‘We kind of fell into it,’ Gold said.”

“The couple’s time in their first home would prove short-lived. Gold’s wife got a postdoc position at Stanford University, diagonally across the San Francisco Bay. To avoid a three-hour commute that involved crossing multiple bridges, the two moved 50 miles south and began renting in Hayward. They quickly found a tenant for their Vallejo home.”

“It was 2019, and Gold was now both a landlord and a renter. Thanks to the insanity of the Bay Area housing market, the rent in his new Hayward home was more than the mortgage payment in the Vallejo townhouse. ‘Our mortgage in Vallejo is $1,440. Our rent out here in Hayward is $2,950. So it’s literally double,’ Gold said.”

“Then came Covid-19, which, less than a year after Gold became landlord, kicked off the most dramatic face-off between landlords and tenants in a generation. Throughout the spring, Gold watched his social media fill up with friends posting the hashtag #CancelRent and encouraging people not to pay their rent, even if they could still afford to. The posts were often accompanied by tirades against landlords.”

“Gold struggled to get his feelings straight. He knew a bad landlord could ruin a person’s life, and what the active threat of eviction felt like. Gold also knew another fact to be true. He and his wife would quickly go bankrupt if their Vallejo tenant were to join the rent strike. ‘We’re living pretty much month to month. We wouldn’t be able to afford our own rent if our tenant stopped paying,’ said Gold.”

“That tension is something Manuel, a young landlord who asked me not to use his real name in order to speak freely from the owners’ perspective, is grappling with. One the one hand he gets the politics of #CancelRent, just as the activists say they are sympathetic toward him. On the other hand, owning property for him feels like a personal accomplishment.”

“Manuel was able to borrow enough money from friends and family to afford to buy his own place in Oakland. Today he sees the home he lives in as his retirement, and a fulfillment of the dream that brought his parents to immigrate. ‘Personally I’m a pretty socialist person, but I also understand these things in a capitalist way,’ he said. He has a mortgage to pay, and one of his roommate-tenants has been getting later and later on rent. Manuel said he’s been okay floating his roommate for now, but he knows he could lose his Oakland home if the roommate doesn’t eventually pay.”

“The one thing that could get small homeowners like Gold and Manuel on board with #CancelRent is the way activists have also pushed for a mortgage cancellation. ‘In that case I’d totally be on board,’ said Manuel.”

From CBS Los Angeles. “This week, both Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties extended their eviction moratoriums for another month through the end of July. While this move provides relief for tenants struggling to pay rent, some mom-and-pop landlords are now struggling to pay their bills. Homeowner Nasario Birrueta and his wife thought they were getting their dream home when they closed on an Apple Valley home back on March 12.”

“‘We put in a bid of $15,000 over their asking price to get the house,’ Birrueta said. The couple also agreed to a 30-day leaseback so the previous owners would have more time to move out. But when it was time for them to move out, the previous owners sent a text saying, due to the shelter-in-place order, they are not moving out. ‘I offered them $5,000 cash if they want to move out by mid-May, but they didn’t respond,’ Birrueta said.”

“Now, more than three months after the Birruetas purchased their new home, they still can’t move in. They say the previous owner only paid one month’s rent and hasn’t paid a dime since. ‘There is a very good chance we may end up losing the house to foreclosure if this continues any longer,’ he said.”

“Mike Shalyapin is one of those small landlords. He owns two duplexes in downtown L.A. and was in the process of evicting one of his tenants when the stay-at-home order went into effect. Now, according to Shalyapin, those tenants have stopped paying rent. ‘I was laid off from my other job, so the only source of income I have right now is from income properties,’ he said.”

“Tenants in California don’t have to prove economic hardship due to COVID-19 and they have 12 months to pay their rent back once the emergency order is lifted. ‘My credit cards are maxed out. I don’t even know how to pay for my mortgage bill next month, and at the same time the city demands property taxes,’ Shalyapin said.”

The Los Angeles Times. “It wasn’t until the work was done that Marcelino and Josefina Rodriguez said they learned the truth. They had been signed up for a roughly $45,000 PACE home improvement loan at nearly 10% interest — even though they said a woman working with the contractor told them their new roof and water heater would be free through a government program.”

“The Rodriguezes contacted the authorities, but the nearly $4,500 annual bill came due anyway — a financial hit for the household of four who scraped by on less than $30,000 each year as garment workers paid by the piece. If they didn’t pay, Marcelino, 67, and Josefina, 64, could lose the Pacoima home they’ve owned since 2001, one that provided them and their sons stability after years of bouncing from rental to rental. So to get by, they started selling food and one of their sons said he exhausted his savings.”

“It was working — until the coronavirus slashed their incomes. ‘I don’t know how we are going to pay,’ Marcelino Rodriguez said in Spanish through a translator. To lose the house ‘would destroy me.'”

“As the economy struggles to recover from coronavirus-induced damage, consumer groups are raising concerns of a coming foreclosure wave stemming from PACE home improvement loans. For years, the industry has been dogged by allegations that some home improvement contractors exploit a loan approval process with weak safeguards to mislead people into financing they can’t afford, by telling them either that work would be free or that it would be less than it ultimately cost.”

“Consumer attorneys say they were seeing PACE-driven foreclosures even before the current crisis and now fear a surge as the recession cuts off economic lifelines for people already living on the edge. ‘Our clients, who were barely holding on financially, are now falling off a cliff,’ said Stephanie Carroll, an attorney with Public Counsel, which is representing the Rodriguezes.”

“Before 2018, PACE loan eligibility was largely based on home equity with no required analysis of whether the applicant had the income to repay the loan — a step mandated for mortgage loans. Contractors could use lender systems to look up exactly how much a homeowner qualified for, allowing them to pitch products that would strip all available equity. Homeowners could then sign up on tablet computers that contractors handed to them and borrowers didn’t always need to speak with lenders to confirm they understood their financing.”

“Complaints were particularly high among seniors and people who didn’t speak English. Some homeowners alleged contractors didn’t show them all the documents and even set up fake email addresses where loan documents would be sent and then forged. Nearly 145,000 loans worth $3.4 billion were outstanding at the end of 2017, before the laws took effect, according to state records. And consumer groups say the rules are still too lax, pointing to allegations of fraud such as those made by the Rodriguezes, who received their loan in 2019.”

“‘Any time you don’t have an ability to repay analysis, there is a greater chance people will be in loans that are unaffordable,’ said Tara Twomey, an attorney with the National Consumer Law Center. ‘What the PACE assessments take away is any cushion or breathing space to handle any setback.'”

“Public Counsel’s Nisha Kashyap, who is representing the Rodriguezes, said PACE lenders are required to verify a homeowner’s income and the fact her clients received a loan suggests something ‘went wrong in the approval process.’ ‘This loan should not have been approved,’ she said.”

“Marcelino and Josefina Rodriguez haven’t received a foreclosure notice but have an underlying mortgage and fear they’ll eventually lose their home. ‘It’s been a year of hell,’ Daniel Rodriguez said. ‘The damage that this stress can cause, that’s what worries me the most.’ Marcelino Rodriguez called what has happened to his family an injustice: ‘They always told me everything was going to be free.'”

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This Post Has 197 Comments

  1. ‘We put in a bid of $15,000 over their asking price to get the house’

    Winner winner, chicken dinner!

    I’m flying back to Arizona later this afternoon. I’ll hopefully have some time to research foreclosure notices at the San Joaquin County courthouse. And with downtime at the airport I may be able to post some more crater.

  2. ‘attorneys say they were seeing PACE-driven foreclosures even before the current crisis and now fear a surge as the recession cuts off economic lifelines for people already living on the edge’

    Before the CCP virus?

    ‘Our clients, who were barely holding on financially, are now falling off a cliff’

    But UHS says they can always sell, for big profits even. Wa happened UHS?

  3. Lik Sis is making bank on the Boeing Stock she snapped up when Uncle Warren dumped it.

    1. Everybody’s a day trader now. Major shoeshine boy moment. I was talking to a neighbor and her friends who were over for her birthday. One of the friends was talking about her stock trading and her Airbnbs. What an economy…

      1. I avoid these investing fads like the plague, as I’ve watched bubbles inflate and collapse repeatedly in the bubble era we’ve enjoyed back to 1987.

      2. One of the friends was talking about her stock trading and her Airbnbs.

        It’s all fun and games until someone gets an eye poked out.

    1. [“Manual”] was able to borrow enough money from friends and family… and one of his roommate-tenants…

      So, he needed family AND friends to afford the down payment, and at least two roommates to afford the mortgage. My guess is that he’s a citizen child of illegals, or DACA, with a low-pay job using the property ladder to take eventually care of his parents. It’s a noble dream, but he’s living on the edge. He might be able to pull this off in anywhere other than California.

      1. ‘Personally I’m a pretty socialist person, but I also understand these things in a capitalist way,’ he said.

        AKA, have your cake and eat it too.

        Of course, he’s hoping to have his mortgage canceled. Socialism is grand, as long as someone else pays for it. What Manuel doesn’t know is that he has ever rising property taxes waiting for him.

  5. What’s driving up Boeing? Is air travel suddenly coming back from the grave?

    Market Snapshot
    Dow scores lift from Boeing early Monday but broader market struggles as global coronavirus cases top 10 million
    Published: June 29, 2020 at 9:53 a.m. ET
    By Mark DeCambre
    Financial markets in the U.S. will be closed on Friday in observance of the Fourth of July holiday
    AP

    The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained early Monday on the back of sharp rally in shares of Boeing, but the broader market was under pressure as data over the weekend highlighted the persistence of coronavirus in hot spots, including Florida, Texas and California, fueling concerns about the economic outlook.

    Financial markets in the U.S. will be closed on Friday in observance of the Fourth of July holiday.

    How are benchmarks performing?

    The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 84 points, or 0.4%, at about 25,106; those for the S&P 500 index pulled back 5 points, or 0.2%, at around 3,003, as the industrial and materials sectors climbed but technology and communication services shares fell.

    Meanwhile, the technology-laden Nasdaq Composite Index retreated 79 points, or 0.9%, to 9,677.

    On Friday, the Dow put the finishing touches on a weekly decline of 3.3%, declining 700-plus points on the day, while the S&P 500 notched a 2.9% weekly decline and the Nasdaq fell 1.9% for the week.

    What’s driving the market?

    Appetite for risk is limited to start the week as coronavirus cases world-wide surpassed 10 million, with more a half-million deaths. A dozen states, including Florida, Texas, California and Arizona — now hot spots in the U.S. — reversed reopening plans and implemented tighter restrictions to prevent a further spread of the viral epidemic, the Wall Street Journal reported.

    Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said that the “window is closing” to manage the resurgence of the epidemic in the U.S., on Sunday during NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

    “We’ve got the tools to do this,” Azar said. “But the window is closing. We have to act, and people as individuals have to act responsibility.”

    An inability to curtail the spread of COVID-19 will prove problematic for economic projections that factor in a sharp, V-shaped rebound of business activities, which been stalled or closed to address the public health crisis.

    The U.S. recorded more than 42,000 new cases Saturday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, marking a second straight daily total over 40,000, even if it represented a decline from Friday’s record 45,255 tally. Florida, Nevada, George and South Carolina reported a surge in new cases on Saturday, Politico reported.
    …

    1. Boeing can begin test flights of the 737 Max, FAA says
      By Clare Duffy, CNN Business
      Updated 5:49 AM ET, Mon June 29, 2020
      The 747 got its groove back

      New York (CNN Business)Boeing has received clearance to begin test flights of its troubled 737 Max jet, a spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration said Sunday. The test flights of could begin as early as Monday.

      The move marks an important step in the process to re-certify the 737 Max, which has been grounded since March 2019, for passenger flights.

      Boeing has said it expects to receive full approval for the plane to fly passengers by the middle of this year. The FAA in a letter to Congress Sunday said it does not yet have a date for when the grounding will be lifted.

      “Flights with FAA test pilots could begin as early as tomorrow, evaluating Boeing’s proposed changes to the automated flight control system on the 737 MAX,” the administration wrote in the letter to lawmakers, which was obtained by CNN. “Testing is expected to take several days, and will include a wide array of flight maneuvers and emergency procedures to enable the agency to assess whether the changes meet FAA certification standards.”
      …

      1. Why are they even bothering at this point? Will customers with grounded jets start flying them anytime soon or … ever?

      2. Even garbage like Carnival was up today. No new money in market so it sloshes anywhere it can with moderately good news.

      1. Turns out the lost capacity from the 737 was NOT A PROBLEM!

        No reason to rush it back now.

    3. “What’s driving up Boeing?”

      Boeing’s engineering and scientific knowledge base is vast and deeply intertwined with aerospace, the defense industry and outer space. Their workers might receive pink slips, but the Jedi will survive and thrive on the job and in retirement.

    4. “What’s driving up Boeing? Is air travel suddenly coming back from the grave?”

      Military contracts are still Boeing’s bread and butter.

  6. “The one thing that could get small homeowners like Gold and Manuel on board with #CancelRent is the way activists have also pushed for a mortgage cancellation. ‘In that case I’d totally be on board,’ said Manuel.”

    Sounds like they would be happiest if free real estate were available to them and their Facebook friends.

    1. Sounds like they would be happiest if free real estate were available to them and their Facebook friends.

      Wouldn’t everyone?

      1. But not everyone believes themselves entitled to it, while simultaneously participating in the market as homeowner, landlord, and renter.

  7. ‘Flying Blind Into a Credit Storm’: Widespread Deferrals Mean Banks Can’t Tell Who’s Creditworthy’

    ‘Bankers are tightening lending standards and looking for new data that can help them figure out who’s risky and who’s not’

    ‘Now, a staggering number of consumers around the U.S. are in deferral or other repayment programs, leading banks to question whether the credit scores and reports they have relied on for decades are reflecting applicants’ true level of risk.’

    ‘Lenders are recording that information on borrowers’ credit reports in different ways. Boxes that were either marked on time or late are being left blank by some lenders. Some are applying codes next to debt accounts that indicate the borrower is in deferment or forbearance. Others are using natural-disaster codes.’

    ‘The Federal Reserve last week said the biggest U.S. banks could be saddled with as much as $700 billion in loan losses in a prolonged downturn.’

    “Without accurate information, their only option is to pull back on credit,” said Michael Abbott, head of banking for North America at consulting firm Accenture PLC. “Banks don’t know who is going to pay and who isn’t. It’s like flying blind into a credit storm.”

    ‘What’s more, lenders can’t tell if a borrower in deferment has fallen on tough times or is simply taking advantage of lenders’ relief options.’

    ‘Forbearance and natural-disaster codes “were really designed for acute types of situations,” said Curt Miller, executive vice president of credit-risk solutions at TransUnion. “If you look at what’s happened, it’s so broad and widespread there’s nothing in the system designed to say 100 million accounts are in this status.”

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/flying-blind-into-a-credit-storm-widespread-deferrals-mean-banks-cant-tell-whos-creditworthy-11593423001

    1. ‘Bankers are tightening lending standards and looking for new data that can help them figure out who’s risky and who’s not’

      Meanwhile, the NAR – the liar of all liars – is reporting May sales to be up 44% over April, and down just slightly from May of last year? “How is this possible” is my first question. With tightening lending standards and 50 million job losses, it does not compute.

      Then I started wondering if the job losses numbers are a lie. Remember the Nigerian scammers who ripped of Washington State for hundreds of millions in bogus unemployment claims? Were those claims counted in the unemployment numbers? If so, they should not have been. I don’t know what’s going on, but many things are not adding up right now.

      1. “Pending Home Sales” is as farcical as their other data.

        Gresham, OR Housing Prices Crater 15% YOY As Portland Slips Deeper Into Mortgage Defaults And Foreclosures

        https://www.zillow.com/southwest-gresham-or/home-values/

        *Select price from dropdown menu on first chart

        As a Portland broker conceded, “If you’re a buyer, the broker is lying to you. I know a liar when I hear one. I’ve been lying my entire life.”

      2. s reporting May sales to be up 44% over April

        I’m seeing $1.2M+ activity in Encinitas and Poway.

  8. RE: Today’s Pending Home Sales (PHS) data
    (+44.3% MOM / -10.4% YOY)

    http://housingbubble.blog/?p=3575
    The Smart And Patient Buyers See What’s Happening
    June 28, 2020 | Ben Jones

    My post:
    red pill economics
    June 28, 2020 at 12:04 pm

    Hi Ben,
    Great posts. Thank you!

    A weekend topic starting with Danielle DiMartino Booth at Bloomberg.

    Mortgage market sends wrong message: Danielle DiMartino Booth
    By BLOOMBERG – June 18, 2020 @ 1:32am

    “The smart and patient buyers see what’s happening. They know to wait until forbearance expires and increasingly tight mortgage lending standards wash out the eager but unqualified. They know that the pent-up demand will be satisfied and that the artificial dearth of supply will become robust, which will pressure prices lower.”

    From The M Report.

    LendingTree’s Chief Economist Tendayi Kapfidze offered insights on home seller anxiety, pointing to the fact that their concern—and their exercising caution—may be wise: “Although it may seem like the housing market has shrugged off COVID-19, as home sales show signs of recovering, it may prove a false dawn. The detrimental impact on jobs and, by extension, wages, will be significant and long-lasting. Demand will soften in the housing market, and sellers will likely need to make some concessions to reach the signing table.”

    1. Obviously your biased source is more biased than my biased source, as attorneys traffic in bias, while I seek objective reality.

      1. Obviously your biased source is more biased than my biased source,

        I bet you didn’t even read the article’s content. You automatically dismissed it after biased Wikipedia citing biased CNN derided Gateway Pundit. Are you really that blind to this information warfare?

        as attorneys traffic in bias

        Likewise derisive and unwarranted.

        while I seek objective reality

        Good luck finding it. I haven’t been able to in the last 4 years.

      2. If you’re counter-narrative, you’re a conspiracy theorist. Wikipedia uses sources pushing the narrative, hides those sources in footnotes where most people won’t look, and perpetuates the narrative. See how that works?!

      3. the article’s content

        Typing any 3 digits followed by “new cases” in a search engine gnerates COVID-19 fear porn.

        2. PB wouldn’t consider OAN from his liberal ivory tower.

          Wikipedia: One America News Network (OANN), also known as One America News (OAN), is a far-right[11] cable channel founded by Robert Herring Sr. and owned by Herring Networks, Inc., launched on July 4, 2013.[16] The network is headquartered in San Diego, California, and operates news bureaus in Washington, D.C. and New York City.

          Its prime time political talk shows have a conservative perspective, and the channel regularly features pro-Donald Trump stories.[17][18] The channel described itself as one of the “greatest supporters” of Trump,[19] and Trump has repeatedly promoted the network.[3] The channel is prominent for promoting falsehoods and conspiracy theories.[26]

    2. The Wikipedia page for Antifa is a whitewashed denial of the fact that they are a domestic terrorist organization.

      Nothing to see here, move along folks.

          4. You don’t need a meeting, uniforms, ideology, or leaders to riot. Anybody can do it, about whatever they feel like rioting about.

            UNLESS they are in thrall of Elon Musk’s satellite mind control beams. Notice no Tesla properties have been damaged. It’s suspicious…

          1. I didn’t realize anyone was being graded on message discipline. I’m going to have to start paying attention.

          2. The entire “cancel culture” is based on message discipline. If someone is not towing the party line exactly, or wrote an “offensive” tweet even 8-9 years ago, they are judged an ist and are being pressured to apologize, or be boycotted, lose celebrity endorsements, or even resign their jobs. And then they wonder they no one is willing to have an honest conversation.

        3. @fjm: I’ve never put anyone on ignore in my 14 years on the HBB but as soon as you used snopes, I went for the ignore button.

  11. San Diego County Reports Record 497 New COVID-19 Cases, One New Death
    — 3:45 p.m., Sunday, June 28, 2020

    San Diego County reported 497 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, the highest daily tally of cases in the county since the pandemic began.

    County officials also reported one death, bringing the total number of deaths to 361.

    Of the 8,301 tests reported on Saturday, 6.1% were positive, officials said. The rolling 14-day positivity rate for San Diego County is 3.9%.

    Of the 13,334 cases reported in the county thus far, 13.1% of those people have been admitted to the hospital and 3.6% ended up in the intensive care unit.
    …

    1. San Diego County reported 497 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, the highest daily tally of cases in the county since the pandemic began.

      Meanwhile, deaths in the US are way, way, way down.

      1. And for those saying “give it time,” it’s been well over a month since the massive Memorial Day crowds. Just how long do we have to wait to see a death spike? My guess is this virus is weakening significantly.

        1. I’ve already listed some reasons for a lower death rate:
          1. More testing is catching mild cases which were always there but weren’t counted before.
          2. The cases are younger and younger people instead of nursing homes.
          3. Sunlight –> Vitamin D is improving the immune system so people are better able to fight it off.
          4. Better treatments etc. I think treatments are a big factor. If the virus were really weakening, then why are Houston and Florida at or near ICU capacity?

          There’s some evidence that the D614G mutation (European strain) is more contagious, but the biochem says that the virulence should be the same. So I’m still waiting for something a little more definitive before declaring any progress.

          1. Donk,

            Leave it to the professionals. Besides, this is the housing bubble blog.

            Bothell, WA Housing Prices Crater 15% YOY As Seattle Economy Tanks On Microsoft And Amazon Lay Offs

            https://www.zillow.com/bothell-wa-98011/home-values/

            *Select price from dropdown menu on first chart

            As one national broker said, “Housing prices are cratering everywhere.”

          2. Could be that summer weather allows the virus to continue proliferating but also is less conducive to developing severe cases that prove fatal.

            Or that deaths lag new cases by a number of weeks. I note that at this point, 5% seems like a fairly stable global percentage of confirmed cases that lead to a fatal outcome.

            As Oxide has pointed out repeatedly, there are many possible explanations for declining death rates, and it is too early to draw conclusions.

          3. I agree with your points but I am concerned that those younger people have parents and grandparents who they are likely to see over the holiday weekend. Hopefully older people will distance themselves from their young relatives.

          4. We had a weekend gathering between my kids and some older relatives. Hopefully the fashion masks we were wearing will protect all of us oldsters if one of the kidz got COVID-19 while engaging in normal social activities during a pandemic.

      2. Meanwhile, deaths in the US are way, way, way down.

        According to the worldometer website, we’ve dropped to 4th place in deaths, and are still dropping. And we probably over count more than anyone else, big time.

    2. I like that the revised death rate keeps revising down. It makes me feel less like I might die soon.

      1. You may find emerging hospital admissions data from Arizona, California, Florida, and Texas less reassuring.

        The Financial Times
        Coronavirus business update 30 days complimentary
        Coronavirus pandemic
        US hospitals buckle under surge of new coronavirus cases
        Intensive care units in parts of Texas and Arizona are operating near full capacity
        Medical workers prepare to intubate a coronavirus patient at the United Memorial Medical Center in Texas
        © REUTERS
        David Crow in New York 12 minutes ago

        A wave of new coronavirus cases in the US is threatening to crush hospital systems in a string of southern and western states, which are struggling to cope with a surge in patient numbers.

        More than 15,000 patients are being treated for coronavirus in hospitals in California, Texas, Florida and Arizona, according to a Financial Times analysis of figures from state health departments. A surge in hospitalisations tends to act as a precursor for a rise in deaths.

        The strain on hospital systems comes at a time when the number of new coronavirus cases is increasing in several US states, primarily those that have quickly reopened their economies.

        Intensive care units are filling up with the sickest patients, who require around-the-clock care and access to respiratory equipment including ventilators, forcing state officials and hospital executives to activate contingency plans to boost capacity.

        In Arizona, health officials reported on Monday that 88 per cent of the state’s ICU beds were occupied. Qaali Hussein, a trauma surgeon and critical care specialist who works in Phoenix, said ICU units at several hospitals in the city were already full and they were refusing to admit patients arriving by ambulance to the emergency room.

        “We’re essentially saying we’ve reached capacity. When we reach that limit, patients who should be in the ICU are held in the [emergency room] and we cannot accept any new patients,” she said.
        …

    3. NYT:

      Coronavirus Jumps the Border, Overwhelming Hospitals in California

      Hospitals are airlifting patients to facilities hundreds of miles away to handle an influx of Americans and U.S. green card holders sickened in Mexico.

      [El Centro Regional Medical Center], which has a 20-bed intensive-care unit, has been overwhelmed with ailing residents of the Imperial Valley, as well as Americans and U.S. green card holders fleeing overcrowded clinics and hospitals in Mexicali, a city of 1.1 million on the other side of the border.

      To alleviate the pressure, hospitals in nearby San Diego and Riverside counties began accepting transfers in April. But the intensifying crisis prompted California last week to activate an extraordinary response, enlisting hospitals as far north as Santa Barbara, San Francisco and Sacramento to accept patients from this remote southeastern corner of the state.

      Last week, a patient was being transferred from the hospital in El Centro every two to three hours, compared to 17 in an entire month before the Covid-19 pandemic, Ms. Cruz said on a recent morning as a helicopter prepared to airlift a patient and five ambulances dropped off patients near a trio of tents erected outside the hospital to triage new arrivals.

      Other parts of the border, including San Diego County, also have been scrambling with a wave of patients from Baja California, the state adjacent to California. Border towns in Arizona are experiencing an increase in infections that health officials believe is tied to people coming in from Sonora state.

  13. Reddit just banned 2,000 sub-Reddits from its platform.

    The soyboi cucks that remain there think that downvoting threads or posts they don’t like are votes that win elections.

    2. The soyboi cucks that remain there think that downvoting threads or posts they don’t like are votes that win elections.

      I think they’ve given up on winning elections to old fashioned way, which is why they are pushing anarchy with everything they’ve got. They’re probably hoping the people will say “I’ll pull the D lever, just make it stop!”

      1. They’re probably hoping the people will say “I’ll pull the D lever, just make it stop!”

        Watch the DNC-led Ds go full “law and order” if they think they can win that way. They’re really the same party as the corporate RINOs, they just pay more lip service to “feeling your pain”. Bernie was the only real hope of change from the left. Now that he’s out of the way the whole machine can focus on eliminating Trump and getting back to business.

    3. … or reddit is concerned about Trump’s threatened negation of Section 230 of the Communications Decency act: https://www.eff.org/issues/cda230

      There is a lot of threatened violence, doxxing and other fun stuff on those forums that reddit would be in pretty deep trouble if they were held responsible for.

  14. From CBS Los Angeles. “This week, both Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties extended their eviction moratoriums for another month through the end of July.”

    – I think that the “extend and pretend” economics at all levels will continue until after the Nov. 3rd Presidential election. For example, the stock “market” isn’t reflecting anything close to actual corp. earnings and Main St. economic reality. We’re in la-la land here. Congress is already talking about another (multi-) trillion $ “stimulus package, since they know that forbearance, deferrals, moratoriums, stimulus 1.0 funds, PPP, etc. will run out before then. The chosen economic indicator by the PTB is the stock indices, but it doesn’t reflect economic reality anymore.

    – None of this is helping the real economy. Since all of this artificial stimulus is being “paid for” with printed $ via Fed/Treas. debt-monetization, it’s all unproductive debt. The more debt that keeps being added only reduces the effectiveness of the stimulus.

    “Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt.” – Herbert Hoover

    – The closest analogy that comes to mind is drug tolerance for a heroin addict. Increasing doses over time needed to achieve the high. Same for financial heroin. Note that there’s a risk in both cases of overdose and death. In the financial sense, unproductive debt leads to lower GDP and debt saturation, where virtually no growth from more (unproductive) debt. That’s why there’s talk of NIRP. The end-game approacheth.

    – Summary: Don’t get too wrapped around the axle about current economic data and conditions. There are now very few economic signals that reflect the true state of affairs. This is as intended. Gov’t./MSM/Fed comprise a centrally-planned, command-and-control economy. This is not inherently different than the former USSR, or any other Socialist system. Recall how that has worked out throughout history. Focus on what’s important: live life, enjoy your family, spend time in prayer and with others of your faith at a safe social distance. Be safe and enjoy your Independence Day holiday weekend.

    ——————-|

    The Matrix, 1999:

    Morpheus: I imagine that right now, you’re feeling a bit like Alice. Hmm? Tumbling down the rabbit hole?

    Neo: You could say that.

    Morpheus: I see it in your eyes. You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he is expecting to wake up. Ironically, that’s not far from the truth. Do you believe in fate, Neo?

    Neo: No.

    Morpheus: Why not?

    Neo: Because I don’t like the idea that I’m not in control of my life.

    Morpheus: I know *exactly* what you mean. Let me tell you why you’re here. You’re here because you know something. What you know you can’t explain, but you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life, that there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I’m talking about?

    Neo: The Matrix.

    Morpheus: Do you want to know what it is?

    Neo: Yes.

    Morpheus: The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work… when you go to church… when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.

    Neo: What truth?

    Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else you were born into bondage. Into a prison that you cannot taste or see or touch. A prison for your mind.

    “This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.” – Morpheus, The Matrix, 1999

    1. “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
      — George Orwell

    2. The Matrix was an interesting bit of Gnosticism wrapped up in tech, though the notion of using people’s bodies as a power supply is nonsensical.

      1. Not if youre an adrenochrome addicted spirit cook/pedo.

        Most of Hollywood and probably 1/2-2/3 of the politicians and judges didnt get to where they are by talent, brains and hard work.

  16. ‘Personally I’m a pretty socialist person, but I also understand these things in a capitalist way,’ he said.

    I’m going to enjoy watching this one get stiffed on his rent.

    1. I bet that renter/roommate is a pretty socialist person too. It’s all fun and games until it’s your ox that gets gored.

    2. Sounds like he can stiff his landlord on his rent, and come out $1500 a month ahead.

  17. “Gold struggled to get his feelings straight.

    In ClownWorld, only those with defective moral compasses “struggle to get their feelings straight.” He just self-identified as a Democrat.

    I will struggle not to laugh as his deadbeat tenant embraces the same collectivist principles that Gold himself holds dear.

  18. “‘We put in a bid of $15,000 over their asking price to get the house,’ Birrueta said. The couple also agreed to a 30-day leaseback so the previous owners would have more time to move out.

    Congratulations on your purchase, Birrueta. You’re an FB already and you don’t even realize it.

  19. Now, according to Shalyapin, those tenants have stopped paying rent. ‘I was laid off from my other job, so the only source of income I have right now is from income properties,’ he said.”

    Sounds like a flawed business model, Mike.

  20. The Los Angeles Times. “It wasn’t until the work was done that Marcelino and Josefina Rodriguez said they learned the truth. They had been signed up for a roughly $45,000 PACE home improvement loan at nearly 10% interest — even though they said a woman working with the contractor told them their new roof and water heater would be free through a government program.”

    These “victims” were quite willing to let taxpayers cover their new roof and water heater. F**k these freeloaders.

    1. Is there even such a program?

      But let there be no mistake, one of the major draws that brings people like them here is the free cheese. The freebie programs are well known back home: Section 8, SNAP, Medicaid, etc. As a friend in Mexico once told me: “If we did that here, no one would work.”

          2. $600/week is not a trivial amount of money.

            Correct. And we’ll see how non-trivial it is if/when it stops.

        2. I’m sure they’ll extend it in some way, and also the forbearance programs. We’re in a fake economy.

          1. Yet housing prices continue cratering regardless…

            Washington DC Housing Prices Crater 19% YOY As Business Relocate Out Of Northern Virginia

            https://www.zillow.com/washington-dc-20036/home-values/

            *Select price from dropdown menu on first chart

            A Northern Virginia broker advised, “Everyone is baling out of DC so don’t be the last one to offload your house because prices are cratering fast.”

          2. I don’t see many menial workers giving up their ~$1000 per week freebie and going back to work for half that amount. This could morph into a UBI, especially if the unthinkable happens in November.

          3. People are getting $48K/yr for sitting home? No wonder nobody wants to go back to work. I don’t see how that could be permanent. Half the workforce would quit, including most of the military and border guard. We’d be overrun by China and Mexico within weeks.

  21. For years, the industry has been dogged by allegations that some home improvement contractors exploit a loan approval process with weak safeguards to mislead people into financing they can’t afford, by telling them either that work would be free or that it would be less than it ultimately cost.”

    Three guesses as to which political party ensured “weak safeguards” would be in place to enable this lucrative racket.

  23. Nearly 145,000 loans worth $3.4 billion were outstanding at the end of 2017, before the laws took effect, according to state records.

    Wha? I thought the tag team of Senators Running Deer and Maxine Waters would put a stop to such predatory lending, given their oversight of the financial sector and self-proclaimed love of the common people.

  24. ‘This loan should not have been approved,’ she said.”

    Senator Running Deer will get right on that.

  25. Marcelino Rodriguez called what has happened to his family an injustice: ‘They always told me everything was going to be free.’”

    Yeah, and you were quite willing to take money involuntarily extracted from taxpayers, Marcelino. So kindly go f**k yourself, freeloader.

  26. I am shocked, shocked! to learn that a globalist quisling in Australia’s Labour Party – Australia’s version of the Democrats – had his office raided in connection with his influence peddling on behalf of Red China. Don’t worry, Bill and Hillary, the DoJ and FBI would never allow that to happen to you.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-53188553

  30. They had been signed up for a roughly $45,000 PACE home improvement loan at nearly 10% interest — even though they said a woman working with the contractor told them their new roof and water heater would be free through a government program.

    $45,000 for a roof and a water heater?

    Para fraude en español, marque dos.

    1. I was looking at a property a 2.5 years ago that had a $89K HERO loan ostensibly for new windows and solar for a 2,453sf ranch home.

      1. Maybe they financed an SUV with it while they were at it?

        We really have become a land of grifters.

    2. “$45,000 for a roof and a water heater?”

      This is a real good deal if this $45,000 turns out to be free. Not such a good deal if it doesn’t.

      This “free” word is the magic selling point. Convince the mark, er customer, that the cost will be borne by the taxpayer and – presto! – a sale is made.

      Once again, dumb ’em down, and profit.

      1. In their case, they were born dumb. No need to dumb ’em down. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were functionally illiterate in both English and Spanish.

  31. Struggling to pay your mortgage? Here’s how to get help

    Diana Olick
    MAY 7 20209:20 AM EDT

    Under the CARES Act, homeowners experiencing financial hardship due to Covid-19 can be granted forbearance on a federally backed mortgage loan.

    About 4 million homeowners have already taken advantage of the government’s mortgage forbearance program.

    https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/07/4-million-homeowners-in-cares-act-mortgage-forbearance-program.html

    I thought the CARES Mortgage Assistance Program was just a forbearance tacked on at the end of the loan but I saw this today.

    Through the Palm Beach County CARES Mortgage Assistance Program, money is available to households who are having trouble paying their mortgage payments, property taxes, homeowners insurance or other payments that may result in foreclosure if delinquent. Financial assistance is being awarded as individual grants to income-eligible households that meet the selection criteria. The money is being distributed on a first-come, first-served basis to applicants August 14. To view the program details to include the qualification minimums and application instructions, please visit the County’s website.

      1. They’re bankrupting the country and destroying the future to prop up a debt bubble.

        They made it clear over a decade ago that no price was too high to save the People Who Matter.

  32. I was talking to a gal yesterday, and she said that instead of bailing out banks the government should just pay everybody’s mortgages, auto loans and student loans off. I was aghast.

    1. This isn’t new. In 2009, liberal darling Jon Stewart suggested that the government should pay off everybody’s mortgage to save the housing market, the arguement being that it would be cheaper than pumping liquidity into the banks, and would save all the CDOs and secondary markets.

      It probably would have been cheaper, but the moral hazard would have been insurmountable.

      1. The moral hazard of bailing out the banks was also insurmountable. But somehow we managed to surmount it anyway. And we’ll do it again. Trillions (and morals) are trivial when People Who Matter are in danger.

    2. We’re on our way. We’ll be up to 10 trillion added to the deficit when this thing is all said and done. Who the heck is driving this bus?

      1. Business News
        June 29, 2020 / 10:27 PM / Updated 2 hours ago
        Powell, Mnuchin enter the lion’s den again to discuss pandemic response
        Lindsay Dunsmuir

        WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday will get another chance to grill the heads of the Federal Reserve and Treasury over the effectiveness of the nearly $3 trillion in emergency aid doled out to stem the economic fallout from the novel coronavirus pandemic.

        The U.S. central bank, with Treasury’s backing, has launched programs to improve the flow of credit as economic activity cratered and millions of jobs were lost, including its new Main Street Lending Program for mostly medium-sized businesses.

        Treasury has been at the forefront of the $660 billion forgivable-loan Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) aimed at keeping small businesses afloat and their employees on payrolls.

        Fed Chair Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are due to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee at 12:30 p.m. EDT (1630 GMT) to discuss how funds were disbursed to households and businesses.

        Lawmakers on the Democratic-controlled panel are likely to question whether those most in need have received support.

        Powell and Mnuchin testified about the coronavirus economic response before the Senate Banking Committee last month.

        TO THE HAVES OR HAVE NOTS?

        In prepared testimony released on Monday, Powell noted that the economic recovery had begun sooner than expected, but that output and employment are still far below pre-crisis levels, with the brunt of the pain borne by women and minorities. And a full recovery, he reiterated, is unlikely until people feel safe about going out and about.

        “The path forward will also depend on the policy actions taken at all levels of government to provide relief and to support the recovery for as long as needed,” he said.
        …

        1. forgivable-loan Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)

          I never did like this phrasing. Just call it free money and be done with it.

        2. Powell, Mnuchin enter the lion’s den again to discuss pandemic response

          “Lion’s den?” Pfffffft. More like the “petting zoo.”

  33. I have not seen a single “deal” on any new or used cars. I have not checked houses lately, but I’m sure it’s the same story.

    1. There was about. 3-4 week window where dealers panicked and were giving cars away for any reasonable offer. But that is long gone. Prices are back to normal.

    2. The automobile Payment Deferral Programs have been extended, and the fed is likely buying these credit company’s bonds to keep the music playing.

    3. I know someone who got about 27% off a new car (Nissan): 36K MSRP -> 26K

      OF course, it depends on what you buy. For fun I looked at the local Toyota dealer’s website. They make a big fuss over letting a Highlander go for a $600 discount (plus $1000) rebate. The Rav4’s have no discount at all, they expect you to pay MSRP minus the $1000 rebate.

      1. I know someone who got about 27% off a new car (Nissan): 36K MSRP -> 26K …
        You mean they actually got it at fair market value due to 1000s of acres of unsold cars just sitting there because half the country isn’t even driving right now. Certainly not buying new cars. Might want to hold off on that party.

    4. Just wait until the repos kick in, when banks have to auction cars for whatever they’ll fetch.

        1. If the Fed pays you to do it you can hold anything off the market. At least so far everyone accepts that the cars will lose value while you hold them, though.

          1. Unless the vehicles are properly mothballed for storage, after several months of non-use the oil-soaked engine and drive-train seals begin to harden, and it becomes a “mechanic’s special.” This is frequently the case with “Grandpa’s car” on Craigslist. Guys who know their way around a car can enjoy a great deal, but for the office types who don’t even own a basic set of hand tools it will be a constant negative cash-flow.

      2. “Just wait until the repos kick in, when banks have to auction cars for whatever they’ll fetch.”

        Just like houses.

    2. What do those fools have against the man who is helping to keep Americans supplied with consumer goods when many people are afraid to leave home?

      1. Oh, sure, nevermind the deplorable working conditions inside the warehouses, the destruction of wages, competition, etc….

          1. Lenin never realized that the problem for the communists is that most of them can’t afford to buy rope.

      1. The Financial Times
        Coronavirus business update 30 days complimentary
        Coronavirus pandemic
        Arizona becomes latest state to roll back reopening plans
        Governor closes bars, gyms and cinemas amid one of US’s biggest spikes in coronavirus cases
        Doug Ducey, Arizona governor: ‘This is the time to act and save as many Arizona lives as possible’
        © AP
        Peter Wells in New York 8 minutes ago

        Arizona has become the latest state to put its economic reopening into reverse, announcing it would immediately close all bars, gyms and cinemas in the face of one of the worst outbreaks of new coronavirus cases in the US.

        The executive order by Doug Ducey, governor, makes Arizona the third state in the US south and west to roll back its decisions to loosen lockdown measures, following Texas and Florida, which shuttered bars last week.

        Mr Ducey said at a news conference in Phoenix that the closures would last for at least a month, expressing confidence that the state could resume its reopening by the end of July.

        “We can pump the breaks in Arizona,” Mr Ducey said. “This is the time to act and save as many Arizona lives as possible.”

        Mr Ducey’s decision, which includes a delay in opening state schools in August, came as infections in Arizona have spiked, with the total number of coronavirus cases doubling to 74,533 over the past two weeks. Mike Pence, vice-president, is due to visit Arizona on Tuesday as part of a fact-finding mission.

        Mr Ducey denied he acted too quickly to reopen the economy amid criticisms from local medical officials that hospitals may soon be overwhelmed by new victims.

        “No decision has been easy since we declared an emergency [in March],” he said. “I have made what I believe in my heart of hearts is the best possible decisions to protect lives in Arizona and protect livelihoods.”
        …

  40. Someone I don’t know got COVID-19 = ignorable case of the flu

    I got COVID-19 = near death experience

    1. Nice twist on Tolstoy:

      All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

      Outside the Box
      There is a ‘right thing’ to do when the market tanks
      Last Updated: June 29, 2020 at 11:27 a.m. ET
      First Published: June 29, 2020 at 11:10 a.m. ET
      By Adam M. Grossman
      Every downturn is different and scary in its own way, writes Adam M. Grossman
      …

      1. The article is long on words and short on counterexamples to the “HODL stocks always” thesis, such as America in 1929 or Japan in 1989.

        There are points in history when buying stocks was a one-way ticket to the poor farm.

        1. There are points in history when buying stocks was a one-way ticket to the poor farm.

          I’m glad to be part of a country that cares so much about me that they’ve made sure that can never happen again.

  42. From Twitter (minus emojis):

    The 7 Deadly Sins Companies Hijack:

    Pride = Facebook, LinkedIn
    Envy = Instagram, TikTok
    Wrath = Twitter, Reddit
    Lust = Tinder, Snap
    Sloth = Uber, DoorDash
    Gluttony = Amazon, Shopify
    Greed = Coinbase, RobinHood

    2. Very true, when taken to extremes and not in moderation.

      Mrs. Chino is a somewhat regular user of Amazon and Facebook, and I have a horrifically out of date profile on LinkedIn (not sure why I even bothered in the first place), but that’s about it here. Not my generation, I guess.

      1. I’m in about the same boat. Been enjoying a few more Facebook posts since COVID-19 lockdown ended society as we knew it, and have become a more frequent Amazon customer since bricks-and-mortar retail ended, but otherwise have largely steered clear of the Seven Deadly Sins of online marketing.

        1. FB marketplace has become pretty useful when you keep it local, so not much need lately to use ebay and ship things to CA.

  44. ‘The consensus-manufacturing, Overton window-shrinking western propaganda apparatus has been in full swing with mass media outlets claiming on literally no basis whatsoever that they have confirmed one another’s “great reporting” on this completely unsubstantiated story.’

    “The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post have confirmed our reporting,” the NYT story’s co-author Charlie Savage tweeted hours ago. “The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post have confirmed our reporting,” the NYT story’s co-author Charlie Savage tweeted hours ago.’

    “We have confirmed the New York Times’ scoop: A Russian military spy unit offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants to attack coalition forces in Afghanistan,” tweeted The Washington Post’s John Hudson.’

    “We matched The New York Times’ great reporting on how US intel has assessed that Russians paid Taliban to target US, coalition forces in Afg which is a pretty stunning development,” tweeted Wall Street Journal’s Gordon Lubold.’

    ‘All three of these men are lying.’

    ‘John Hudson’s claim that the Washington Post article he co-authored “confirmed the New York Times’ scoop” twice uses the words “if confirmed” with regard to his central claim, saying “Russian involvement in operations targeting Americans, if confirmed,” and “The attempt to stoke violence against Americans, if confirmed”. This is of course an acknowledgement that these things have not, in fact, been confirmed.’

    ‘The Wall Street Journal article co-authored by Gordon Lubold cites only anonymous “people”, who we have no reason to believe are different people than NYT’s sources, repeating the same unsubstantiated assertions about an intelligence report. The article cites no evidence that Lubold’s “stunning development” actually occurred beyond “people familiar with the report said” and “a person familiar with it said”.

    ‘The fact that both Hudson and Lubold were lying about having confirmed the New York Times’ reporting means that Savage was also lying when he said they did. When they say the report has been “confirmed”, what they really mean is that it has been agreed upon. All the three of them actually did was use their profoundly influential outlets to uncritically parrot something nameless spooks want the public to believe, which is the same as just publishing a CIA press release free of charge. It is unprincipled stenography for opaque and unaccountable intelligence agencies, and it is disgusting.’

    https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/this-russia-afghanistan-story-is-western-propaganda-at-its-most-vile-abe6084845f2

    1. These monsters do what Realtors do every day. The don’t confirm each others lies, they simply parrot the Daily Lie from headquarters.

    3. This reminds me of the NYT reporter Judith Miller scandal over the Iraq War. Cheney would pay Miller to write some B.S. article in the NYT about what Iraq was doing. Then Cheney would get on TV and point to her article in the NYT and say: “See, Iraq is doing x/y/z, we must attack.” It’s infuriating how these media outlets used to have some integrity, and they are trading on that former integrity to push their agenda. And the stupids still believe it.

    1. My now-unemployed daughter was a member of LA County’s army of gig workers up until the end of March. It’s nice to know she’s now getting back a small part of the fortune in California state income taxes that we have paid over the years since moving here in unemployment checks, as is my unemployed son.

    1. “according to the National Association of Realtors”

      Hold tight to your wallet and call the authorities immediately.

  48. We’re into the COVID-19 pandemic at a comparable point in time to when the 2002-2003 coronavirus (SARS) outbreak was ending.

    By six months into the outbreak in July 2003, there were under 10 thousand confirmed SARS cases and under 1000 deaths worldwide.

    By contrast, COVID-19 has already surpassed 10 million confirmed cases and 500 thousand deaths worldwide. And the daily case count growth rate was still accelerating the last time I checked.

  49. ‘Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best is condemning the latest round of violence that claimed the life of a teenager near the “Capitol Hill Organized Protest” (CHOP) zone early Monday. It was the fourth shooting in or near the CHOP zone in the past 10 days.’

    ‘A 16-year-old boy died from the shooting and a 14-year-old boy is in critical condition at Harborview Medical Center.’

    https://www.king5.com/article/news/community/stand-for-truth/enough-is-enough-seattle-police-chief-condemns-latest-shooting-near-chop-zone-that-killed-teen/281-6c807470-d31d-4ce9-9b3d-963232ecba9b

    1. Was the shooter black or white? And was he a cop?

      These details matter to Democratic racists.

      1. “After the shooting Monday morning, Chief Best asked people to leave the area.”

        Haha, attempting to negotiate.

    3. ‘A 16-year-old boy died from the shooting and a 14-year-old boy is in critical condition

      Sounds like a sentence lifted from an article about south Chicago.

    1. Business must be booming for private security.

      And you just know that the security protecting the People Who Matter aren’t your garden variety rent a cops. They’re probably former military, most likely ex commandos, who are paid handsomely.

      1. And you just know that the security protecting the People Who Matter aren’t your garden variety rent a cops. They’re probably former military, most likely ex commandos, who are paid handsomely.

        Part of the whole “deplorables shouldn’t be allowed to own guns..but our hired security can!” bs

  52. Does it seem like the U.S. COVID-19 policy response is long on helicopter drops of cash and short on ideas for reopening the economy without sparking an explosion of new cases?

    1. There’s no easy way, Bear. Masks, testing, and hydroxychloroquine, but it seems that nobody wants to adhere to one or another of those. By now I’ve given up on contact tracing (too contagious for that) and a vaccine (short-lived antibodies). IMO we’re just going to have to wait for this virus to evolve or run its course like the flu in 1919.

      1. I guess there’s no possible way for us to implement the approaches that other developed countries used to bring their outbreaks under control.

      2. “IMO we’re just going to have to wait for this virus to evolve or run its course like the flu in 1919.”

        I hope and pray for a miracle change of course, as a long slog to herd immunity with hundreds of thousands of additional deaths while reliving the Great Depression doesn’t sound like fun times.

        1. Not sure why this is so difficult to comprehend.

          When you have guys like Fauci lying to the public early on, saying masks don’t work, you can never fully walk that back.

          1. Agreed. I’ve always felt that the country needs a strong military leader type person for a public facing role issuing medical edicts rather than someone who is nearly a dwarf.

          3. “Maybe he just didn’t know.”

            Anthony Stephen Fauci is an American physician and immunologist who has served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984.

  53. The Politicians have ruined this Country with a Welfare State that just produced generations of gang infested areas where they are killing each other. At the same time the Politicians allowed the Globalist Looters to take the jobs and manufacturing . At the same time price fixing monopolies and Ponzi Scheme real estate market and Stock Market is supported.

    This is not a sustainable plan , but all they can do is avoid taking about what the real problems are. Of course the Commies would come on strong when the USA doesn’t even practice capitalism anymore because Big Government has their hands into everything to corrupt it.
    It’s all absurd diversion from having real conversions about what took over this Country, with the Government being the Pawn. That’s why your getting big Corporations supporting the nonsense of BLM. Anything to take the eyes off the FAT CAT Looters.

  54. It appears that the Deep State is also into this One World Order nonsense that no doubt has Commie undertones. The Politicians sold everybody out to a idea that was never voted on. Now it’s the hate America crowd there to polish off any remaining attachment to the USA concepts, just like Mao did in China.

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