Fear of Covid is alive and well, except among politicians

Fear of Covid still lives. I have friends and relatives still getting the shot. Plus, many younger parents have developed a fear of useful, life-saving vaccines.

What stays with me is my bewilderment of how that pandemic and its results seem to have been forgotten by both political parties and all the institutions that were affected--particularly education and religion.

 
Donald Trump pushed too hard for a vaccine so he could be a hero, in my opinion, and he was at the starting gate of the closings and flinging money at us with CARES ( Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act), which corrupted and compromised every aspect of our culture. Fear of Covid put Biden in the White House (in my opinion) after he had previously castigated Trump's vaccine effort and promised he had a plan to stop the spread (he didn't; no one did). The people fell for that after being terrorized by the media which hated Trump with constant fake rates and numbers.

 
Then CARES + Biden turned out to extend the closing of our economy with a crippling mandate which hardly touched the rich and powerful Democrats and got Republicans fired or cancelled. Covid cases soared so that by the end of 2021 the rate was higher than under Trump even with the vaccine. Biden buddies destroyed the economic gains made under Trump in his first term, but I think Trump moved too quickly with a science he didn't understand, then his advisors were blacklisted under Biden.

 
Both presidents fell for Dr. Fauci and his gain of function lies allowed him celebrity status. Both presidents ignored years of research on the mental health effects of locking people up and fell for the masking and distancing lies. IMO, the old folks should have stayed home and the kids should have been in school.

We're still paying for this, particularly the children who lost about 2 years of learning. Something like it but different could happen again. Where are the lessons learned?

BTW, do you know that Peter Daszak (who got the grant money from Fauci for the gain of function research in Wuhan) has a new gig on global health and is seeking donations? https://naturehealthglobal.org/nhg-signs-5-year-contract.../

The Epstein files--what happened to the list of clients?

I'm not going to get in a froth about the Epstein files. When Trump stood up after being shot, he said fight, fight, fight. I don't know what that means to you, but I think he meant fight for the country. If Republicans allow the enemy to get them sidetracked, then they might as well quit now. He has his eye on preserving the United States, an idea or promise that over half the country can't even comprehend.

There are lots of strange things in politics. Some are still questioning all the theories about the deaths of JFK and RFK and MLKjr. I'm still questioning why both parties ignore the years 2020-24 and all we citizens suffered as victims of BOTH parties with the Covid epidemic. Trump gave us CARES ( Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act or the CARES Act) a clearly inflationary "benefit" to save jobs and lives and he also pushed for the vaccine (untested and unproven still). He thought he was right to do so, to save the country. He also paraded Dr. Fauci before us on TV for many weeks to explain the ever changing research and rules. The Democrats who first maligned Trump for attempting to get a vaccine out quickly, then ignored their own lies, shut the country down and deified Fauci! Yet today, neither party will even speak like it was important (individuals yes, but not the party), nor will Pres. Trump, nor former Pres. Biden.

 
Democrats get the faints when discussing an "insurrection" that wasn't yet ignore what's going on in our blue cities and social media today with riots and deaths. Mysterious deaths occurred in Minnesota and Walz goes mute. The hypocrisy is so thick it is gagging intelligent people so they can't speak or don't know who to support.

 
I never thought I'd see anti-Semitism raging on our elite campuses either, and certainly not Jewish legislators and celebrities keeping quiet about it. I never thought I'd see Democrats running a professing Communist to manage our premier city.

 
I never thought in our sex saturated national culture people would tolerate the genital mutilation and body damaging medical experiments on children which would make Dr. Kinsey blush. We've sunk that low and I can find several such clinics right here in Columbus--so I should be alarmed about teenagers being lured to a life of excitement with celebrities? Compare that to what--sex trafficking with our open borders?

So yes, I should stop being surprised or asking for all the answers. There are no answers for evil, duplicity, envy, greed, hatred, obsessions, and mental illness.

Why do governments create inflation? Milton and Rose Friedman

"Inflation is a disease, a dangerous and sometimes fatal disease, a disease that if not checked in time can destroy a society (long list of examples Russia and German after WWI, China after WWII, Brazil in 1954, Chile in 1973, Argentina 1976)  

"No government is willing to accept responsibility for producing inflation, even in less virulent degree.  Government officials always find some excuse--greedy businessmen, grasping trade unions, spendthrift consumers, Arab sheikhs, bad weather, or anything else that seems even remotely plausible. . . none of the alleged culprits possesses a printing press on which it can turn out those pieces of paper we carry in our pockets; none can legally authorize a bookkeeper to make entries on ledgers that are the equivalent of those pieces of paper."

"The more basic question is, why do modern governments increase the quantity of money too rapidly?  Why do they produce inflation when they understand its potential for harm?

From "Free to choose: a personal statement," by Milton and Rose Friedman,  p. 253-254, pb, 1990

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CARES_Act  The CARES act under President Trump

https://www.whitehouse.gov/american-rescue-plan/  is our best example of a government creating inflation.

https://www.ncsl.org/ncsl-in-dc/publications-and-resources/american-rescue-plan-act-of-2021.aspx

https://www.investopedia.com/american-rescue-plan-definition-5095694

Cato Institute refuses the PPP loan

We probably receive 4-5 funding appeals a day. Today it was Cato Institute--haven't heard from them before, and not sure when we were ever a donor, although I use their research from time to time on my blog.

 
GUESS WHAT CHURCHES! Cato Institute said NO to the CARES Act loan (in April 2020), Paycheck Protection Plan.

 
Why? CATO as a libertarian think tank qualified, but is wholly funded by private donations, the "overwhelming majority of which come from individuals who will suffer material losses from the pandemic." To take the loan would undermine its mission and belief that the scope and power of government should be limited.

 
Wow. I wish pastors and church boards thought that way. That by taking money from the government (us) they would be undermining their mission to spread the gospel of Jesus. By taking the PPP loans they would be supporting the lockdown and denying responsibility to be self-reliant and fiscally responsible. The Cato letter (by Peter Goettler and Robert A. Levy) continues, even when government interventions are well-intentioned, "they often carry consequence worse than the problems they're intended to address, including disincentives to innovate, favors to special interests, anticompetitive barriers to entry, overlapping and confusing laws, and abuses of public power." True. True. And true.
My church is member supported. It didn't need the PPP loan. And neither did yours. Most of my FBF are members of Christian churches. Have you asked your pastor or church treasurer about the PPP loan and were you so unfaithful in your giving that they didn't trust you to do the right thing?

  https://www.federalpay.org/paycheck-protection-program Limit your search by your ZIP code and "religious organization." You'll be shocked. I was.

Some American households may have received $60-70,000 in pandemic relief

 Who would consider going back to work?  In some states the figure is as high as $100,000.

The unemployment insurance benefits paired existing state-level weekly aid with a federal payment ranging from $600/week under the CARES Act to $300 per week under the American Rescue Plan Act. The aid was also extended to workers who usually do not qualify for unemployment benefits, including gig economy workers and independent contractors. Unemployed workers could continue to claim unemployment insurance benefits past the usual 26-week window during the pandemic.

Take, for example, a married household with two young children living in Georgia with a single earner who made $60,000 in 2019. Imagine the single earner lost her job on April 1, 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, the family would have been eligible for $365 per week from the state of Georgia in unemployment benefits up to 26 weeks and $4,000 in Child Tax Credit, for a total of $13,490.

Read further: https://taxfoundation.org/total-covid-relief-unemployment-insurance/?

Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) look up data

 You can check data for PPP by state, ZIP, type of organization.

Under open government transparency guidelines, information on recipients of the $595B in forgivable government loans issued through the 2020 Paycheck Protection Program by the US Small Business Administration (SBA) are a matter of public record. FederalPay.org has created a powerful search tool that allows public access to the PPP loan database.  Therefore, you'll see ads on this site.

This is the link for information about churches and non-profits, national: SBA Paycheck Protection Program - Religious Organizations - FederalPay

There are a total of 96,557 businesses in the Religious Organizations industry across the country that received PPP loans. They received an average of $80,452 per loan. Some are $10,000,000 like Diocese of Covington, KY, and Lutheran Social Services of Tampa, FL.

My church, UALC, received $667,000 for 107 employees.

When will schools be opened to serve all children?

All over the country, schools are open, and have been open for months--some all year. Here in Upper Arlington schools opened for all on March 1.  A friend in a Cincinnati suburb says theirs have been open since August.  Science?  Hardly.  Some private schools attended by the movers and shakers' children, never closed. (Their teachers are not unionized.) That's a pretty big laboratory to test for super spreaders or whether teachers are in danger. Hasn't happened. 

This disease has an extremely low infection fatality rate, and it's almost non-existent for the young. CDC reports that about 80% of the fatalities were overweight or obese. Teachers' unions are the problem, not science. They are holding back the primarily poor and minority schools in Democrat controlled states and municipalities. Their cause is political. They want more money--the other allocations provided in CARES didn't meet their lust for power. Those children will be facing the future 2-4 years behind in skills and social development, yet still expected to compete (or whatever you're allowed to call it then without being a racist). The Left will find a way to blame Trump for this "disparity" since the virus was brought into the country by travelers from China during his administration. Unless the archives of government are digitally manipulated, those children and their parents should know the truth some day.

Covid: CDC study finds about 78% of people hospitalized were overweight or obese (cnbc.com)

As many schools stay closed, Catholic schools remain open - and are in high demand | KOMO (komonews.com)

After return to in-person learning, nearly 500 Upper Arlington students quarantined | NBC4 WCMH-TV (nbc4i.com)  [one student exposed others)

Parents file lawsuit over Upper Arlington Schools’ reopening plan | NBC4 WCMH-TV (nbc4i.com)

Would you get a job?

 "Full summary of what the unemployed and low income workers get.

 Family of four: $5600+$3,400 from CARES Act+$2400 from December bill. Total cash $11,400. 

Then they get $300 a week x 4=$1200 per month for each parent through September which will get extended to December =$21,600 (9 months) for both together. 

Plus average state unemployment another $300 a week each = another $21,600 by December. 

Child care credit $7,200 each child under 6- $6,000 over 6. Let’s say $13,200. 

Dependent care child care tax credit $4000 per kid if the parents are working, so 2 kids $8000 tax CREDIT, not deduction. 

If on Obamacare, zero premium payments if unemployed. 15% added value to food stamps. $27 billion to give to people who have not paid their rent and utilities. On top of $25 billion in December for the same use. And cancellation of at least $10,000 student loan.

So $11,400 + $21,600 + $21,600 + $13,200 = $67,800. Plus 2 kids $8000 kid tax credit, plus rent subsidy paid, plus utilities bills paid, plus free medical insurance plus food stamps. 

And they expect these people to go seek a job? Don’t you feel great supporting all those lazy people. And they will try to make these credits and subsidies permanent. You wonder why the Democrats win elections in poor counties and cities. 

These numbers come from the Wall Street Journal."

Investment letter