Will The Billionaires Get A Twofer?

Thom plus logo Right wing billionaires behind groups like ALEC and Freedomworks helped organize and fund tea party protests a decade ago, resulting in a healthcare program with no public option. Now they are funding hard-core right wing groups who are demanding governors stop protecting their citizens from the coronavirus. These billionaire funded groups are on the same page as billionaire owned Fox News. But, why?

If governors "rip off the bandage" it will cause hundreds of thousands or even millions of deaths, although those deaths will be most heavily concentrated among communities of color, poor whites and Hispanics, and elderly people. These are the groups that rely heavily on government funded programs like Medicare, food stamps, and housing subsidies - all things that are paid for, in part, by taxes on billionaires.

These billionaires also, in large part, got their riches through economic activity. So it appears this effort may produce a twofer for these right wing billionaires: the "expensive" people die off so it's easier to cut billionaire's taxes, and even if massive numbers of workers get sick and die there will always be more poor people willing to come into the workforce to make more money for the billionaires. Heads they win, tails you lose.

-Thom

Comments

aeutixe's picture
aeutixe 2 years 48 weeks ago
#1

Here in Britain, Murdoch relied on a strategy of loss-leading to undercut the competition.
At one point, he gave away The Sun newspaper for free to destroy the competition.
Same strategy with Sky News ( free on the web) and Fox News in the USA

Legend 2 years 48 weeks ago
#2

Went into town for the first time in about 3 weeks. Traffic seemed almost normal. Lots of business parking lots were empty but Home Depot and Lowes were close to full. Lots of people with masks on, but probably about 50% without. Until they truly cut down on non essential travel and require that all wear masks this will continue to spread. When Trump recommended masks the next words out if his mouth was "I am not going to wear one". Government needs to set an example. Masks should be required.

Willie W's picture
Willie W 2 years 48 weeks ago
#4

They are unwittingly setting up tests for the benefits of social distancing. New cases of infection should cause spikes in infection rates in those cities where protests and relaxed restrictions are taking place. Not hearing much yet. Should be soon. For better or for worse.

Legend 2 years 48 weeks ago
#5

Virus cases have spiked in Wisconsin, after the Republicans mandated the vote and people had to stand in line and enter crowded polling stations. Numerous other articles.

Texas (the second to the lowest in testing) plans to reopen. If you do not test, you do not have statistics. GA is opening essential business's such as massage parlors, Barbers, Tattoo parlors etc. Vegas wants to reopen casinos. Really important stuff.

eatroots's picture
eatroots 2 years 48 weeks ago
#6

About the Coronavirus:

Apparently globally, this disease has been badly attacked.

Thanks to the autopsies performed by the Italians... it was proven to be not pneumonia... but is: Spread intravascular clotting (thrombosis). So the way to fight it is with antibiotics, anti-inflammatory and anticoagulants.

Protocols are being changed here since noon 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

According to valuable information from Italian pathologists, the fans, nor the intensive care unit were never needed.

If this is true for all cases, we are about to solve sooner than anticipated.

Important and novel About Coranovirus:

Worldwide, COVID-19 has been badly attacked for a serious diagnostic error

He has filmed a video of a Mexican family in the United States that claimed they were healed with a home remedy: Three aspirin 500 gr dissolved in lemon juice boiled with honey, is taken hot and the next day, as if nothing had them Past! Well, the scientific information that follows gives you the reason!

This information was disseminated by a research doctor from Italy:

Well thanks to 50 autopsies made to patients deceased by COVID-19, they found that it is NOT NEUMONY, in the strict sense, because the virus does not kill pneumocytes only of its kind but uses an inflammatory storm to create a thrombosis endothelial vascular, with the corresponding diffuse thrombosis the lung is the most affected because it is the most inflamed, but also, produces a heart attack, or stroke, and many other thrombotic diseases, in fact the protocols have left useless antiviral therapies and are have concentrated on inflammatory, and anticoagulants. These therapies should be done immediately, even at home, in which treatment responds very well to patients the later they are done, are less effective. In resuscitation, they are almost useless. If the Chinese had reported it, it would have been invested in home therapy, not intensive care! A DISEMINTRAVASCUAL COAGUALTION (TROMBOSIS). So the way to fight it is with antibiotics, anti-inflammatory and anticoagulants.

An Italian anatomical pathologist reports that Pergamo hospital did a total of 50 autopsies and the Milan 20 sack, so Italian casuistic is the tallest in the world the Chinese have only done 3, it which seems to fully confirm the above information, in a few words success is determined by a disseminated intravascular clotting activated by the virus, then interstitial pneumonia would have nothing to do with this, it would have been just a huge diagnostic error. We double the number of resuscitation sites in ICU, with exorbitant costs, unnecessarily. In retrospect I have to rethink about these chest x-rays that was commented a month ago that was commented as interstitial pneumonia, it could actually be totally consistent with a DICA scattered interstitial clotting.

People go to ICU for widespread venous embolism, usually pulmonary, if this were the case, intubations and resuscitation are useless, if thromboembulism is not solved first. If you vent a lung where blood doesn't come, it's useless, in fact, nine (9) out of ten (10) die. Because the problem is cardiovascular, not respiratory.

It's vein micro thrombosis, not pneumonia, that determine mortality.

Why are the thrombes formed? Because inflammation according to school text induces thrombosis through a complex but well known physiopathological mechanism. So what scientific literature said especially China until mid-March was that anti-inflammatory should not be used. Now the therapy being used in Italy is with Anti-inflammatory and antibiotics as in influences, and the number of hospitalized patients has decreased. Many deaths even 40 years old had a history of fever from 10 to 15 days, which were not properly treated here inflammation destroyed everything and create the ground for the formation of thrombos, because the main problem is not the virus but the immune reaction that destroys the cell where the virus enters. In fact covid19 departments never entered patients with rheumatoid arthritis, because they are with cortisone therapy which is a great deimflammatory. That's the main reason why hospitalizations in Italy are declining and it's becoming a treatable illness at home. By treating her well at home, not only avoids hospitalization but also the risk of thrombosis. ➤ was easy to understand, because the signs of microembulism have faded even in the ecocardio.

This weekend the data was made for 50 patients between those who breathe badly and those who don't and the situation seems very clear.

With this important find, you could return to normal life and open business closed for quarantine, not immediately, but it is time to publish this data, so that the health authorities of each country, do their respective analysis of this information and avoid more useless deaths and vaccine can come later.

In Italy from today the protocols are changing.

According to valuable information from Italian pathologists, fans or ICU are not needed. So we must rethink investments to properly address this disease.

deepspace's picture
deepspace 2 years 48 weeks ago
#7

Whoa! Eatroots, you are passing along extremely dangerous misinformation in the middle of a pandemic! For your own sake, as well as for those around you, please read this latest warning and take it to heart:

"During this coronavirus pandemic, ‘fake news’ is putting lives at risk: UNESCO

Unreliable and false information is spreading around the world to such an extent, that some commentators are now referring to the new avalanche of misinformation that’s accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic as a ‘disinfodemic’."

SueN's picture
SueN 2 years 48 weeks ago
#8

I can't speak to the contents of that post, but perhaps it is related to "A mysterious blood-clotting complication is killing coronavirus patients" https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/04/22/coronavirus-blood-clots/

deepspace's picture
deepspace 2 years 48 weeks ago
#9

Thanks for that, SueN. It explains a lot and fits with the other exciting research they're conducting on overreactive immune systems in some patients (here and here), which is likely a leading contributor to SARS, possibly other organ failures, and eventual death.

Everyone is so anxious, it's understandable that impatience and false hope can cross the line from mere research to a stated fact of medical science and treatment. The immune system and the body's chemistry are infinitely complex, even more so when a weird virus that we know little about is thrown into the mix. I'm confident that the scientists will eventually figure it out though, sooner than later hopefully.

deepspace's picture
deepspace 2 years 48 weeks ago
#10

Legend #2: Sounds pretty much like where I'm at, although more and more are wearing masks, and everyone seems to be taking social distancing seriously other than the usual yahoos in the local opinion pages. Still, a lot of people are out and about.

I'm good for groceries, etc. once a month and go in for POB mail once a week. It's almost like a military operation where you gotta suit up with PPE early in the morning for a quick hit-and-run assault in the local village before the crowds show up. Welcome to Trump's dystopian nightmare.

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