Bits 'n pieces from east, west and beyond
East, west or beyond, sooner or later events elsewhere may have a local impact. A recent sampling:
Annual federal taxes paid, according to Americans for Tax Fairness: an average of $5,400 for a nurse or schoolteacher; $3,400 for firefighters; and $1,150 for childcare workers. President Donald J. Trump paid $750 in 2016 and 2017. According to Forbes, his presidential challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, paid $300,000 in 2019.
A long list of White House staff and Trump associates tested positive for COVID-19, it was determined, after he and his wife learned they were infected last week. The spread of the virus there may have begun as early as Sept. 27 at a mostly mask-free event for the Supreme Court justice nominee. The Biden-Trump debate occurred several days later. Biden, who Trump has taunted for wearing a mask, has tested negative. At the White House, testing for the virus is done with the Abbott ID Now test. The Guardian says the test is known for “a significant percentage of false negatives.”
Before leaving Walter Reed Hospital, Trump went on a motorcade tour, prompting a doctor there to tweet that it will require a 14-day quarantine for all involved, and some may die “for theater. This is insanity.”
Translated: Trump was still infectious.
The physician treating the president has refused to say when Trump last tested negative and why Trump was treated with drugs for only seriously ill COVID-19 patients, but did say after Trump left that the commander-in-chief was “not out of the woods yet.”
As of Oct. 6 there had been more than 210,426 COVID-19 deaths in the U.S, The New York Times reported.
Many have called upon the Presidential Commission on Debates to remedy the out-of-control behavior demonstrated at the first Biden-Trump debate. Many, including a former White House press secretary, are calling for cutting off the mic for interrupting. Robert Gibbs pointed out that all the interruptions rendered the event “… not a debate.” Democracy Now noted that within 90 minutes Trump interrupted Biden at least 128 times during the latter candidate’s allotted time.
As many as 3,000 people have died from smoke from California’s wildfires so far, according to Stanford University. The Mercury News said 31 have died in the 4 million acres that have burnt.
Former presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg helped raise more than $16 million recently to pay the “poll tax” for felons who’ve been prevented from voting in Florida because they were unable to pay off fines, restitution and court fees, The Guardian reported. The money will go to felons owing $1,500 or less, approximately 31,000 people. The 2000 presidential election in Florida was decided by 537 votes. NBC reported that Trump and Biden have been tied in Florida.
Last week’s Trump-Biden debate put fact-checkers into overtime mode, checking both falsehoods and fabrications. A report in the Chicago Tribune paralleled other media reports. Examples: Trump said the sheriff of Oregon’s Multnomah County publicly stated his support for Trump. But the sheriff was quick to tweet that he has never has and never will support Trump.
Trump said drug prices will come down 80 to 90 percent; fact-checkers say there’s no plan that would accomplish that and current administration proposals appear headed for court.
At the debate, Trump said there have been no COVID-19 problems “whatsoever” at his rallies; fact-checkers noted surges in cases after the Tulsa rally. Trump accused Biden of doing a “disastrous” job with the swine flu pandemic of 2009-10, which killed 12,500 people. Fact-checkers said under Trump’s slow response there’ve been over 200,000 COVID-19 deaths.
Trump said Biden wanted borders to remain open during the pandemic, which Trump argued would have killed many more people; fact-checkers stated Biden supported the travel restrictions. Trump also said the military is “all set up” to distribute a COVID-19 vaccine when it’s ready. But the Pentagon has since said that doing so is within the realm of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, not the military.
Trump stated the upcoming election is rigged; fact-checkers pointed out the FBI said at a recent congressional hearing that there’s been no “coordinated national voter fraud effort” by mail or otherwise.
Trump faulted Biden for all the judicial openings left for Trump to fill, but fact-checkers said the openings were there primarily because Republicans refused to take action on proposed nominees while Obama was in office.
Regarding Biden’s debate talk: he said violent crime decreased “17 percent, 15% percent, in our administration.” Fact-checkers said it fell about 10 percent from 2008, and then went up 8 percent between 2014 and 2016.
But Trump portrayed crime as becoming rampant again, whereas an FBI report indicated that violent crime has decreased in the last three years.
Biden said the military used tear gas on peaceful protesters; fact-checkers said it was police, not the military, who used chemical irritants, and not all the protesters were peaceful.
Biden said Trump would be the first president in U.S. history to lose jobs; fact checkers said that distinction remains with Herbert Hoover. Nonetheless, Trump would be the first to lose jobs during his first term since Hoover was in office.
Biden falsely said Trump’s Supreme Court nominee finds the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional while fact-checkers say she’s criticized it but never said it was unconstitutional.
Blast from the past: “… the ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all,” said President John F. Kennedy.