We all have to deal with the Corona virus—if it strikes us!

By SJ Otto

Out side of politics is the possibility that folks as I mite actually die from the Corona virus. I am 65 years of age and that puts me in a difficult category of people who are susceptible to death from this virus. That isn’t easy to accept. In Italy 743 people have died. In China where this sort of thing began, the Corona virus: 81,218 Cases and 3,281 Deaths.

This pandemic has spread all across this country and in such major cites as New York and other cities along the Western Coast people are taking the brunt of this epidemic.

So as someone who is in a high risk category, I have to be very careful. Being dead would put a very clear cut end to my political writing and as an activist. Everyone is being asked to stay at home and stop their activities. For many people this means little. But for people I work with, this is a major problem.

A pandemic like this brings out the worst of us. There are those who buy more toilet paper and paper towels than they can ever use and then try and resell it to those who are in need. The cost is way more than what they paid at the store for these. It is profiteering. That is normal as part of our US capitalist medical system. This is the only place in the industrialized world where making a profit is way more important than the needs of the people. We have a major epidemic and there are plenty of people trying to profit off of other people’s suffering. Such people are the scum of the earth and we need to stop them when ever we can.

This has also put a damper on the US economy. For the Republicans, such as our idiot President Donald Trump, the economy is all they really care about. Everything else is “less than zero” to them. If we had the kinds of deaths they have in Spain and Italy that would not be as big a problem as the fall of the economy. The economy is all the Republicans really care about.

Yes, Trump and his ilk do plan to send money to working people who can’t go to work. They almost have to. The damage to the economy would be more than they could handle if they didn’t send the money.

Here is a liberal point of view on this epidemic:

Sign the Petition to U.S. Congress

Posted By: Common Cause (campaign leader)

When President Trump took office, we demanded that he do what all other modern presidents have: divest from his businesses. That's the only way to avoid the huge conflicts of interest that'd obviously come from running the country and a multi-million dollar business at the same time. 

But Trump refused.

And now, we're facing the prospect of Trump getting millions in bailout money from Congress' upcoming stimulus package -- public money that should be going to help ordinary Americans.

Congress must ensure that any stimulus package prohibits the Trump Organization from receiving a bailout -- and includes adequate transparency and oversight provisions >>

When asked specifically whether he'd accept a bailout, Trump said: "I don't know… I have hotels. Everybody knew I had hotels when I got elected. They knew I was a successful person when I got elected, so it's one of those things."

That's right -- Trump is open to diverting money away from critical needs into his pocket.

Every member of Congress should reject any proposal that would allow Trump to get stimulus money for his businesses. Bailing out Trump's business empire would be a clear-cut violation of our Constitution's Emoluments Clause, which forbids the president from receiving money from the government -- precisely to prevent situations like the one we're in right now.

Trump shouldn't be looking for ways to fatten his wallet during an international crisis. Congress must write into any stimulus package it passes that the American people won't have to bail out the president's hotels.

SIGN THE PETITION