you really cant believe this nonsense but it is where we are headed.
Shutdown is killing the economy — and is also no good for our health
How many millions of businesses are we willing to allow to go bankrupt? How many tens of millions of workers are we willing to place in the unemployment lines — 30 million? 50 million? 100 million? What makes this calculation difficult is that we don't know if the virus will kill 10,000, 100,000 or even 1 million Americans. To some it seems cold hearted, even cruel, to assess the costs versus the risks of policy actions when lives are at risk.
But guess what? Government officials make these decisions all of the time. Most regulations are approved based on the costs to the economy versus lives saved. If the only goal of the government is to minimize deaths, then the first step would be to stop people from driving cars and abolish swimming pools, amusement parks and bacon. Of course, we don't do these things because, for example, we have decided as a society that the benefits to 320 million Americans of having reliable speedy transportation far outweigh the deaths on the highway.
This is why President Trump and the nation's governors and mayors need to acknowledge that the lockdown of the economy carries health risks too. You can’t crush the economy without exacting a high degree of human misery and even deaths — and not counting the dollar loss of wealth and income.
this is what the gop and trump believe.
but get this:
Politicians jockeying for tests find proximity to Trump is the fastest route
Late last month, Mick Mulvaney, who was still the acting White House chief of staff at the time, told a crowd of conservative activists that the media was exaggerating the threat posed by covid-19 because “they think this will bring down the president, that’s what this is all about. . . . It’s not a death sentence, it’s not the same as the Ebola crisis.”
But unbeknownst to attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Mulvaney had already received a coronavirus test, at the recommendation of the White House physician. The test, which has not been reported until now, was followed by a second this month after a niece with whom Mulvaney shares an apartment was around members of a Brazilian delegation who later tested positive for the virus.
Mulvaney is one of three President Trump confidants to get a coronavirus test while exhibiting no symptoms of the disease. And on Sunday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) announced he tested positive despite being asymptomatic, refusing to disclose how he was able to get tested in Washington on March 16.
The easy access Paul and other high-ranking politicians have gotten to coronavirus tests highlights the extent to which members of America’s elite continue to have greater access to medical care during the pandemic, even as federal officials emphasize that testing should be reserved for health care providers and people who are seriously ill.
www.washingtonpost.com/...