April 16, 2020

"After privately suggesting to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that he be allowed to formally sign the checks, Trump settled for having his name printed in the memo section..."

"... according to administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. The placement of Trump’s name on the stimulus checks was taken out of the hands of the IRS early in the process, according to two government officials. The plan has been closely held within the IRS, and Commissioner Charles Rettig has not discussed it on his daily calls with his top executives, senior agency officials said. When the decision came down from the Treasury Department late Monday that the first batch of paper checks would include 'Donald J. Trump' on the memo line, it was announced to just five senior IRS officials. The IRS, already tasked with quickly disbursing hundreds of billions of dollars in payments to Americans, is now rushing to prepare checks that bear Trump’s name.... While several senior Trump administration officials said they did not know where Trump got the idea for putting his name on the stimulus checks, many said they were not surprised by the move. Trump has long exhibited a desire for featuring his signature prominently on objects, including newspaper clippings, stock market charts and even Bibles."

From "Trump denied he wanted his name on stimulus checks. Here’s how it happened" (WaPo).

ADDED: Maybe I didn't spend enough time reading this article, but I still don't know "how it happened." Also what is the "it"? Is it that the name ended up on the checks or that Trump really did want his name on the checks and caused it to happen?

282 comments:

1 – 200 of 282   Newer›   Newest»
Michael said...

So what.

Limited blogger said...

who cares?

BillieBob Thorton said...

Impeach 45!!

Francisco D said...

"... according to administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

WaPo has a seat at the table?

Seriously?

madAsHell said...

Here's how it happened

Really?? The WaPo knows what happened? No, they don't. This fucking reporter never lifted a finger. They pulled the story out of their ass.

This is fodder for fat chicks with hideous tattoos.....but I repeat myself. No one will talk to them, so they need this stuff to be even marginally interesting.

iowan2 said...

And Ex Chief of the CIA is the subject of grand jury testimony. Because he was spying on President Trumps political campaign, AND President Trumps administration.

Sure let's talk about this. Who cares the CIA is spying on US citizens in the United States.

wendybar said...

AND?????

Drago said...

Sham-peachment III is failing to launch so its time to throw everything else at the wall to see what sticks.

I fully expect a revisit of how Trump improperly fed the Japanese goldfish and the number of diet cokes and scoops of ice cream he gets at meals.

wendybar said...

THIS is why we are f*cked as a nation.

Ken B said...

I stopped reading at “unnamed”. So sick of this kind of reporting.

Jerry said...

WaPo making stuff up as usual.

It'd take maybe ten minutes to create a graphic of the signature, and that includes emailing to your laptop or desktop the picture you took with a cell phone and using the Windows 'snipping tool' to get it isolated JUST right.

Because checks aren't 'printed' as such - they're high-speed printed graphics on special paper. Swap out the current signature area with something else - and print away.

FFS, do they not understand how printing tech works these days? Or are our journalist class ignorant as all hell? (Or both - I'll accept that premise.)

What's next - they figure electronic deposits will be delayed because Trump needs to sign every one of those?

Todd said...

I would be curious to know how many of these disbursements are via check and how many via ACH.

mockturtle said...

He had wanted his signature on them. And why not?

stevew said...

"Trump has long exhibited a desire for featuring his signature prominently on objects, including newspaper clippings, stock market charts and even Bibles."

No mention of his name on buildings? What kind of crap reporting is this?

traditionalguy said...

The shame of it all.. Bad Orange Man is still President and Bezos is not.

rcocean said...

Just to repeat the obvious.

The WaPo and NYt are sworn enemies of Trump. They have written one article after another that attacks Trump or shown him in a bad light, and when based on anonymous sources have been shown to be WRONG. AGAIN and AGAIN.

So, why waste my time reading an article giving us the "inside scoop" when its NOT giving us the inside scoop, but just wants to make Trump look bad.

Clyde said...

People with Trump Derangement Syndrome are welcome to pull a Pelosi and tear them to shreds rather than cashing them.

rcocean said...

Trump has to constantly toot his own horn, because no one else will. Unlike Biden, Hillary, and Obama he doesn't have the MSM giving him constant 24/7 unpaid PR. And the R's in Congress - especially the Senate - are do-nothings. Many, like Romney, are closet enemies.

So, its just Trump, he has to tweet and blow his own Trump-et.

BillieBob Thorton said...

Why aren't the WP and NYT investigating allegations that Shumer is skimming from the SBA?

hombre said...

Does any sane person really believe that Trump suggested he should “formally sign” millions of checks?

Wapo’s ghosts reach new heights of absurdity. Either they made it up or Trump has had them on again.

gilbar said...

Isn't About time?
To TOTALLY discount "anonymous" "unsubstantiated" "unverified" reports, for the fictions they are?

You're not willing to say WHO you are, You're not willing to give ANY evidence=> You're a Liar

Paddy O said...

"Trump has long exhibited a desire for featuring his signature prominently on objects"

This was a staple of David Letterman, Dave Barry, and others jokes about Trump in the 1980s.

Bay Area Guy said...

The money is more important than who signs the checks.......

hombre said...

Didn’t this story echo an accusation made by Crazy Joe? So WaPo as well as NYT colludes with Biden campaign.

Freeman Hunt said...

They're trying to make this into a big story, but do people really care? Saying it will take days to change a template makes the people doing the changing sound grossly incompetent. It isn't believable.

mikee said...

Althouse, stop falling for distractions that are meant solely to promote the concept of Orange Man Bad. Early this week, it was a made-up story about Fauci getting fired, now its this.

C'mon! Keep your eyes on reality, not the ginned-up sensationalism!

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

WaPo makes it's money by marketing Orange Mad Bad porn to their customers. It's their business model.

Tom T. said...

I don't recall this level of coverage at the WaPo over Pelosi's impeachment pens.

iowan2 said...

Did I mention I'm sick of the reporting the Democrats are force feeding the Nation?

(stop using the words "press" or "media". They are nothing but Democrats) (Oh, and the scribes are in charge of the Politicians, not the other way around. How else could the politicians abandon DC in the midst of all of this? Because the scribes are in charge, Pelosi etal are waiting at home for orders)

Josephbleau said...

When I was a young Mine Superintendent my boss had the payroll checks placed in an envelope each week and I had to personally hand them out to every employee. Seemed kind of silly and feudal but it let everyone know who to listen to.

Douglas B. Levene said...

"Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?"

Wince said...

A national "Trump Stamp".

Arashi said...

The checks are printed by a machine. The machine can print/sign whatever it is programmed to print/sign. As it has always been. The President never actually 'signs' each check.

Geebus - but the msm is so totally ignorant, one wonders how they manage to get out of bed and out of the bedroom these days. Do they put on pants before they 'write' their daily hate about DJT? Or just phone it all in with only a shirt on and nothing from the waist on down? Maroons.

narciso said...

I pointed out last night, how MSNBC was not showing the ventilators being made at gm, because narrative,

Todd said...

Jerry said...

FFS, do they not understand how printing tech works these days? Or are our journalist class ignorant as all hell? (Or both - I'll accept that premise.)

4/16/20, 10:29 AM


Lord, don't you people know ANYTHING? These checks are scribed by hand by IRS monks in dimly light alcoves by candle light using quills.

So of course a change like this will affect "production" for weeks if not months!

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

still cant help thinking he meant his ex-wife when he said

"A big, fat, beautiful Czech, with my name on it!"

Drago said...

Good news everybody!

Hunter Biden remains on the board of the ChiCom company that got what they wanted from Slow Joe!

I guess Hunter simply "forgot" that he pledged to leave that company.......

.....maybe what Joe has is contagious.

Inga said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fernandinande said...

The checks are printed by a machine.

So it's not like in "The Jerk" where he personally signs a million checks for $1.09 each?

Inga said...

Trump claimed to know nothing about how his name ended up being put on the checks, when asked about it at the press conference yesterday.

Fernandinande said...

9,987,652 checks for $1.09

tim maguire said...

Much ado about nothing. I don't like those "your tax dollars at work" signs at road construction sites or "Now Entering Everytown, Jackson Smith, Mayor" either, but there they are and there they'll stay.

The media is pretending this is some big protocol breach. Apparently all the other never happened times the government distributed vast numbers of stimulus checks to regular Americans, the president didn't put his name on it.

heyboom said...

Isn't it amazing how deep the media can dive into the irrelevant and trivial stories, but somehow are completely clueless covering the really important stuff?

Achilles said...

ADDED: Maybe I didn't spend enough time reading this article, but I still don't know "how it happened." Also what is the "it"? Is it that the name ended up on the checks or that Trump really did want his name on the checks and caused it to happen?

You ask the right questions Ann.

But the tyrants know they can count on people like you.

Because you don't think for yourself and you live in a bubble.

wendybar said...

WHEN are they going to report on Hunter Biden still working for China?? Is that not news worthy because his last name isn't Trump???

Levi Starks said...

Remind me again about Nancy’s commemorative impeachment pens.
You know, back when Coronavirus was spreading in China.

Jersey Fled said...

Inga said:

Trump claimed to know nothing about how his name ended up being put on the checks, when asked about it at the press conference yesterday.

And maybe that's true. The WAPO story was based entirely on anonymous administration figures.

After 3 years of Russia-gate we should all know how reliable they are.

narciso said...

what I find interesting are these checks, that's have left off the money for the dependents, is that the rogue irs cell in cincinatti,

J. Farmer said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
J. Farmer said...

@tim maguire:

Apparently all the other never happened times the government distributed vast numbers of stimulus checks to regular Americans, the president didn't put his name on it.

The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 did, and to a smaller extent the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 did as well.

Michael K said...

More "anonymous sources."

n.n said...

Fill in the missing links through inference. Go wild.

Kevin said...

Also what is the "it"?

The badness.

All the right kind of people can see it without it being expressly stated.

It's how you know you're the right kind of people these days.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Limited blogger said...
who cares?


Trump did, sadly.

FullMoon said...

Weird. I read that the whole Trump family will sign the checks "With our Love" etc and that the checks will have a picture of the family in the oval office.

Idea being that many people will save the check as a souvenir instead of cashing it.

BUMBLE BEE said...

In Michigan...

The Internal Revenue Service announced Wednesday it would send stimulus payments to Supplemental Security Income recipients, less than two weeks after Michigan Sens. Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow called on federal officials to do so.

I didn't include the picture of these 2 do nothings that accompanied this Detroit News article

J. Farmer said...

Trump did, sadly.

This is one of those classic partisan non-issues. One side can express faux outrage and the other mild support or indifference. Switch the president doing it, and the responses invert.

BUMBLE BEE said...

These 2 didn't explain the Pelosi hold up details, unexpectedly.

Leland said...

I understand why this is news. In the era of coronavirus, no sports, no recently released sports, and after hundreds of hours covering the same topic; a politician putting their name on something is a big news.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Peters up against a black Apache Helicopter pilot/combat vet this fall. Business owner too.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

J. Farmer said...
This is one of those classic partisan non-issues.


Not really. It is a real issue that a president decided it was a good use of his and his minions time to put his name on a check at a time of a national crisis that has the potential to undermine the financial stability of this country for generations, if not permanently.

wendybar said...

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...
Limited blogger said...
who cares?

Trump did, sadly.

4/16/20, 11:53 AM

How do you actually know?? Because WAPO said so???

Maillard Reactionary said...

Truly, a matter of great national import. Let us ponder this carefully.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

It's jut a happy coincident that the deplorables are financially wrecked.

Amazon and Walmart are good.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

I for one, trust "anonymous" sources. deep within...

Don't you?

J. Farmer said...

@Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan:

Not really. It is a real issue that a president decided it was a good use of his and his minions time to put his name on a check at a time of a national crisis that has the potential to undermine the financial stability of this country for generations, if not permanently.

Look, I think the name thing is tacky and egomaniacal, but that's not exactly a hot take on Trump's personality. As best I can tell, the practical effect will be pretty much nil.

Francisco D said...

As best I can tell, the practical effect will be pretty much nil.

Adam Schiff begs to disagree.

House Impeachment inquiry III will start soon.

Readering said...

He knew enough to deny knowledge. Zdx

Michael K said...

It is a real issue that a president decided it was a good use of his and his minions time to put his name on a check at a time of a national crisis

Is that what the ChiCom briefing paper said this morning?

You really are getting pitiful. I'm trying to remember when you last said something that was not pure TDS.

narciso said...

its just terribly trite writing

n.n said...

JournoListic style guides including close association, anonymous sources, quotes that do not quote, and missing links infilled with brown matter. 16 trimesters of witch hunts and warlock tials... it's over. #HateLovesAbortion

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Michael K ... pitiful ... ChiCom

Althouse has requested that you refrain from personal attacks.

Nonapod said...

Not sure if narciso has put this one up in his normal stream of links yet, but Sources believe coronavirus outbreak originated in Wuhan lab as part of China's efforts to compete with US

wild chicken said...

Seems to be strictly a Fox story so far.

CNN and MSNBC oblivious.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Can Comic Books Survive the Coronavirus Era?
A key distributor has halted deliveries and shops are shuttered, putting the entire industry in jeopardy: “A lot of people are going to lose their livelihoods.”


When the bat-shit crazy two trillion dollar bailout was being debated my objection was that no one had any real experience with this kind of economic event and that we would almost certainly be wasting inconceivably vast amounts of money that we don't have. I would guess that no one predicted a problem for comic books. There will be thousands of damaged industries, the impact on which no one truly understands at the moment. Unemployment checks should have been paid and the rest of the money saved until we understand where the major problems lie.

J. Farmer said...

@Nonapod:

Not sure if narciso has put this one up in his normal stream of links yet, but Sources believe coronavirus outbreak originated in Wuhan lab as part of China's efforts to compete with US

China's duplicity and attempts to cover up the outbreak seems almost undeniable at this point. We can't evaluate the sources' claims about the virus as of yet, but the fact that bats were not sold at the wet market is not indicative of anything. The animal-origin hypothesis is that an intermediate animal was involved in the transmission to humans, not directly from bats. Pangolins have been suggested as a possible culprit.

MadisonMan said...

This falls so far into "Who the heck cares?" territory for me. Unless the word "Trump" throws you off your bike and into a ditch, I just don't see why this matters.

Birkel said...

ARTICLE SUMMARY:

Orange Man Bad.

dreams said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
narciso said...

hot take off the griddle

Josephbleau said...

My town spends a lot of money putting up well lit signs all over the place cheerfully telling you who the Mayor is, so there is more than one political ego around to be fed.

dreams said...

I'm so looking forward to the Nov. election, the projecting dumb-ass democrats are going to experience a little bit of reality, not that they will learn anything from it. I do think that there will be some young people who will learn and will amnesia that embarrassing part of their lives when they were running their ignorant mouths on Facebook. But not the dumb-asses, they never learn.

Nonapod said...

The animal-origin hypothesis is that an intermediate animal was involved in the transmission to humans, not directly from bats.

AFAIK the zoonotic intermediary idea is still just one possibility. It's true that they found a virus with some very high percentage of genetic similarity to SARS-Cov-2 in pangolins, but they haven't confirmed, disproven, or ruled out anything with regards to possible transmission vectors. And at any rate, intermediary or no, it doesn't obviate the possibility of a careless lab worker being the first human host.

Jersey Fled said...

Seems to be strictly a Fox story so far.

I heard it on Salem Radio.

tim maguire said...

J. Farmer said...
@tim maguire:

Apparently all the other never happened times the government distributed vast numbers of stimulus checks to regular Americans, the president didn't put his name on it.

The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 did, and to a smaller extent the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 did as well.


I don't recall getting my checks so I went and looked it up. Turns out I didn't, because those checks were supplemental checks to people already getting some qualified government benefit.

So I'll stand by my "never happened" claim.

Jim Gust said...

Who the bleep cares about this nonsense? My firm has a PPP application pending, don't know if we made it in before the well ran dry. Why can't Congress get its act together and provide enough funding for a program they already approved?

This is madness.

The Gipper Lives said...

Our National Disgrace Congress vs. Your Constitution:
Article II, Section 3
The President may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper…
Constitutional? Check.
Extraordinary Occasion? Check.
Disagreement Between Them on Time of Adjournment? Check.

We have jobs but can’t do them.

They have jobs but WON’T do them--while they still get all their benefits and all their pay.

By refusing to give up-or-down votes on President's nominees, they have robbed the President of his team, kept mutinous Obama scum in their jobs and robbed you of the government you voted for.

By playing dirty games with Adjournment, they have prevented the President from making recess appointments of those nominees.

“The Senate’s practice of gaveling into so-called pro forma sessions where no one is even there has prevented me from using the Constitutional authority that we’re given under the recess provisions. The Senate should either fulfill its duty and vote on my nominees, or it should formally adjourn so that I can make recess appointments. We have a tremendous number of people that have to come into government and now more so than ever before because of the virus. If the House will not agree to that adjournment, I will exercise my constitutional authority to adjourn both chambers of Congress. The current practice of leaving town while conducting phony pro-forma sessions is a dereliction of duty that the American people cannot afford during this crisis. It is a scam that they do. Perhaps it’s never been done before. Nobody’s even sure if it has. But we’re going to do it.

They've been warned, and they're being warned right now.

If they don’t approve it, then we’re going to go this route. And we’ll probably be challenged in court, and we’ll see who wins.”

The Framers did not pointlessly include this provision so McConnell and Pelosi could amend it out of the Constitution with their little pro forma parlor trick.

Furthermore, McConnell believes he has edited the Appointments Clause; he makes the appointments with the Advise and coerced Consent of the President. This allows him to keep Deep State stumblebums like Chris Wray in place to hide the crimes of the Uni-Party.
Screw them, Mr. President. Adjourn them. Nobody will miss them, anyway. They suck. Good riddance. Scumbags and criminals, the lot of them..

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Ruth’s Chris Steak House Gets $20 Million From Coronavirus Aid Program

Bat-shit crazy.

Nonapod said...

... and at any rate (via the WaPo) there were most definitely safety concerns raised by the State Dept back in 2018 with regards to the Wuhan Virus Lab.

J. Farmer said...

@tim maguire:

I don't recall getting my checks so I went and looked it up. Turns out I didn't, because those checks were supplemental checks to people already getting some qualified government benefit.

So I'll stand by my "never happened" claim.


That was the “lesser extent” I referred to regarding the 2009 bill. It wasn’t true of the Economic Stimulus Act.

“ The government hopes the measure, which will send most Americans tax rebate checks by May, will either prevent a recession or make one relatively brief.”
- Bush signs stimulus bill; rebate checks expected in May

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Sources believe coronavirus outbreak originated in Wuhan lab

There are labs all over the world working on corona viruses. There are almost certainly people right now working on SARS-CoV-2 within easy walking distance of Althouse's domicile, and within an easy drive for anyone working in a city with a research university, about 50-100 cities in the US. So, the existence of a viral lab in Wuhan, a city of 11 million people, is not unexpected. It could be the source of the infection, but a lot of other potential sources would have to be excluded to be sure.

wild chicken said...

I didn't get my stimuluscheck either because the IRS doesn't recognize filers neither owe nor get a refund.

Programming 101.

Nonapod said...

There are labs all over the world working on corona viruses.

Perhaps. But there's only one lab of that sort in the area where the first covid-19 cases started appearing, and that one happens to have been noted by the State Department to have some safety issues well before the outbreak.

Again, not saying it's totally for sure the source. But there's certainly a lot of circumstantial evidence that's piling up here.

dreams said...

"Why can't Congress get its act together and provide enough funding for a program they already approved?"

Have you ever heard of democrats, a democrat controlled Congress?

Michael said...

ARM

Yep, fuck the employees of Ruth’s Chris.

You don’t know this, of course, but 75% of that must go to pay staff with the balance to debt service or stupid items like purchasing supplies and steaks.

Todd said...

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said... [hush]​[hide comment]
J. Farmer said...
This is one of those classic partisan non-issues.

Not really. It is a real issue that a president decided it was a good use of his and his minions time to put his name on a check at a time of a national crisis that has the potential to undermine the financial stability of this country for generations, if not permanently.

4/16/20, 12:03 PM


That was FUN!

Now do Nancy P. holding up the expansion of PPP cause there isn't enough giveaways to her friends and her supported social causes in it!

Michael said...

ARM

BTW I just spoke with President Trump and he agreed he would sign your check last. Right after Chuck's, Inga’s and Ritmo’s.

JAORE said...

Unnamed sources close (really, really close) to the situation stated Trump was going to personally sign every check, have the banks send out an e-mail to all direct deposit customers that says "Your Trump bucks are here!". Further he has arranged for Kanye to hand deliver all checks in minority neighborhoods.

Unfortunately the plan was thwarted when the President determined it would cut into his time to eat that second scoop of ice cream.

That Orange Man is a bad mutha fu.... HUSH YO MOUTH!

wild chicken said...

We heard over a month ago that the virus came from a lab animal stupidly disposed of at a nearby wet market.

narciso said...

it was being conducted under an nih study through the Wuhan institute of virology, one of whose colleagues is a facebook fact checker, as sharyl atkisson found out,

Drago said...

ARM: "There are labs all over the world working on corona viruses."

Well, we certainly know that one lab in Wuhan China in particular was, don't we? Or are you going to continue to pretend the ChiCom's and their WHO lapdogs are completely innocent?

J. Farmer said...

If there is any upside to this mess, it will be that it spurs decoupling from China, though I am (shockingly) not optimistic. We’ve become an exceptionally decadent civilization.

Drago said...

Farmer: "China's duplicity and attempts to cover up the outbreak seems almost undeniable at this point."

According to ARM, this is no truth to that assertion at all.

Trump's military concocted this virus, inflicted it upon the brave and courageous People's Paradise of China, then Trump framed the WHO all in order to murder Americans and declare a National Emergency in order to cancel the November election.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Josephbleau said...
When I was a young Mine Superintendent...
When I was working the line @ GM the old timers told me that the union had corporate deduct union dues via paycheck. Back in the day the committee man had to listen to the complaints of the members when they were manually collecting dues.

BUMBLE BEE said...

BTW, my committee man was functionally illiterate. Made life interesting.

J. Farmer said...

@Drago:

Trump's military concocted this virus, inflicted it upon the brave and courageous People's Paradise of China, then Trump framed the WHO all in order to murder Americans and declare a National Emergency in order to cancel the November election.

Ha. But what about chemtrails?

Yancey Ward said...

Impeach!!!!

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Nonapod said...
not saying it's totally for sure the source


Not saying for certain it isn't the source. As an apparently natural product of evolution there are, however, multiple potential sources.

Drago said...

Farmer: "Ha. But what about chemtrails?"

Ah ha!

So, uh, tell me. What have you heard?

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Drago ... completely innocent?

No one is completely innocent. Not even your beloved ChiComs.

Drago said...

ARM: "Not saying for certain it isn't the source. As an apparently natural product of evolution there are, however, multiple potential sources."

Not gonna be easy walking back months of straight ChiCom party line propaganda.....

Drago said...

ARM can't even bring himself to admit that the ChiCom equipment shipped all over the world that he spent weeks bragging about as part of the ChiCom Generosity campaign was defective and had to be kicked back to China.

J. Farmer said...

@Drago:

So, uh, tell me. What have you heard?

Lots. But so far all they've convinced me of is how much I miss goofy Dennis Kucinich in Congress.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

TrumpBux?
MagaBucks?
DJ T-Bills?
DonnyDollars?

Drago said...

Farmer: "Lots. But so far all they've convinced me of is how much I miss goofy Dennis Kucinich in Congress."

So, you think the..aliens...were involved as well, eh?

J. Farmer said...

So, you think the..aliens...were involved as well, eh?

Well, Fire in the Sky, was a pretty good movie.

cubanbob said...

ARM you can always donate your check back to the government. And the payroll of Ruth Cris is better spent on their staff than on a substantial portion of civil servants salaries and benefits.

Static Ping said...

Stories in the Washington Post based on anonymous sources are not worth discussing. The track record is poor.

cubanbob said...

The issue isn't China working on corona viruses. The issue is their sloppiness and negligence followed by their mendacity.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Again, the money should go to legitimate unemployment benefits, not be channeled through companies that take a cut, the size of which will be difficult if not impossible to determine. It is begging for corruption. If the companies don't have substantial cash reserves they aren't making it anyway, so good money after bad. Not going to be a lot of demand for restaurant services for some time to come.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

ubanbob said...
The issue isn't China working on corona viruses. The issue is their sloppiness and negligence followed by their mendacity.


I agree, and I am not actually discounting the possibility. Just more difficult to prove than you seem to imagine, given the apparently natural source of the virus.

Michael K said...

It could be the source of the infection, but a lot of other potential sources would have to be excluded to be sure.

Well, I guess ARM's CHiCom supervisor decided to ease up the bullshit. Still no useful comments by ARM.

Drago said...

ARM:"Again, the money should go to legitimate unemployment benefits, not be channeled through companies that take a cut, the size of which will be difficult if not impossible to determine.

Make sure you tell Nancy and Schumer.

iowan2 said...

If there is any upside to this mess, it will be that it spurs decoupling from China, though I am (shockingly) not optimistic. We’ve become an exceptionally decadent civilization.

4/16/20, 1:31 PM


Is that you President Trump?

Drago said...

Michael K: "Well, I guess ARM's CHiCom supervisor decided to ease up the bullshit. Still no useful comments by ARM."

He needs to regain some semblance of credibility after that months long episode of parroting every Beijing/WHO talking point, even long after the Europeans and the Taiwanese and the Australians were screaming to the heavens about the defective gear, total BS "data" coming out of China and the WHO's horrendous sucking up to their Beijing masters by the Ethiopian Marxist Tedros.

iowan2 said...

There are labs all over the world working on corona viruses. There are almost certainly people right now working on SARS-CoV-2 within easy walking distance of Althouse's domicile, and within an easy drive for anyone working in a city with a research university, about 50-100 cities in the US. So, the existence of a viral lab in Wuhan, a city of 11 million people, is not unexpected. It could be the source of the infection, but a lot of other potential sources would have to be excluded to be sure.

Wow, that's dense thinking.

You don't start with labs doing virus work and try to identify a problem.

You start with the problem and search for the source. Unless you are trying to say this virus started in a lab in Madison WS. If so, say it, and explain your facts. Like how it got from Madison to Wuhu

J. Farmer said...

@iowan2:

Is that you President Trump?

I am not exactly sure what that's supposed to mean. The administration has not been pursuing decoupling (though happily that may change), and the recent "phase one" deal that was signed actually moves us in the opposite direction.

Grandpa Lee said...

“Unnamed sources”.?...
Thanks for sharing this “important, critical news”

Grandpa Lee said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Drago said...

It is becoming ever more clear that the ChiCom's knew their incompetence was the cause of this pandemic and so they, along with their WHO lap dogs, launched a campaign to cover it up and, when that failed, attempted to use their allies in the west to blame Trump.

This heavy handed tactic was so transparent, so clumsy, so haphazard that it is amazing that it took off at all....

...but remember, the ChiCom's have just finished watching the democrats/LLR's spend 4 years using an obviously hoax dossier to attempt to frame the President of the United States....followed by an obvious hoax frame up over a phone call to try and remove the President of the United States from office.

So, really, the question is not why did the ChiCom's think they could get away with this. The question is, given the astonishing mendacity and anti-democratic impulses of the American democrats/left and LLR allies, why didn't the ChiCom's try something like this sooner?

They could have avoided the trade deal renegotiations, Trump getting the Asian nations to increase defense spending, Trump reorienting the US military strategy and doctrines towards a conflict in the Pacific (vs endless ME wars), etc etc etc.

Robert Cook said...

"He had wanted his signature on them. And why not?"

Why?

Of course, we know why he wanted his name on the checks:

1. It serves to feed his infantile, insatiable ego.

2. As a promoter before anything else, (being a promoter long ago superseded real estate development as his primary activity), he wants his name, his brand, on anything he can attach it to, (as with the many buildings he had nothing to do with developing, but to which he has licensed use of his name). It promotes his brand. The less than perspicacious among the electorate may assume the Donald gave them the money himself.

Drago said...

Farmer: "The administration has not been pursuing decoupling (though happily that may change),"

False.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Michael K said...bullshit

Althouse has specifically requested that you refrain from personal attacks. Why do you fail to respect this request?

Drago said...

Cookie: "Of course, we know why he wanted his name on the checks:"

Marxist mind readers are usually the most entertaining. Even more so than when they opine upon markets.

Robert Cook said...

"Trump claimed to know nothing about how his name ended up being put on the checks, when asked about it at the press conference yesterday."


HAHAHAHA!

He's never at a loss for a transparent lie.

Drago said...

Cookie: "He's never at a loss for a transparent lie."

See?

J. Farmer said...

@Drago:

False.

How does the phase one trade deal move us towards decoupling?

Drago said...

Mueller really missed the boat by not bringing Cookie onto his staff for Grand Jury Mind Reading seances.

Can you imagine the information Mueller and his team of rabid democrat dogs could have uncovered?

Missed opportunities. They must haunt our Robert.....

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Iowan2 ... dense thinking.

Obviously people have an interest in understanding viruses. A lab in Wuhan studying coronaviruses, by itself, tells you nothing. And, one more time, I am not discounting the possibility of a leak from the lab, just recognizing that it requires excluding a lot of other potential sources. In general the corona viruses have not been that dangerous. Even now work on SARS-CoV-2 only requires a BSL 3 lab, in the US at least. These labs are everywhere.

Robert Cook said...

"This is one of those classic partisan non-issues. One side can express faux outrage and the other mild support or indifference. Switch the president doing it, and the responses invert."

Well, no. I think any president who would want his signature placed on checks in this manner would be showing insufferable egotism and grandiosity. But then, most of them are grandiose egotists.

bagoh20 said...

Why do we keep asking what happened in government when we never got an answer the last 8,693 times we asked before?

J. Farmer said...

@Robert Cook:

Well, no. I think any president who would want his signature placed on checks in this manner would be showing insufferable egotism and grandiosity. But then, most of them are grandiose egotists.

Well, I would not consider you a partisan. Despite our divergent political opinions, we are similar in not having a home in either of the major political parties.

Robert Cook said...

"If there is any upside to this mess, it will be that it spurs decoupling from China, though I am (shockingly) not optimistic. We’ve become an exceptionally decadent civilization."

Well, we are in our "Fall of Rome" stage of decadence and decline. The only way we're going is down.

bagoh20 said...

" I think any president who would want his signature placed on checks in this manner would be showing insufferable egotism and grandiosity. But then, most of them are grandiose egotists."

So what you're saying is it was very Presidential. Yea, I guess so.

That makes me wonder something: Is there anybody famous who is actually humble? I mean beside me.

Paco Wové said...

Like most WaPo stories, this one falls into the fanservice category.

bagoh20 said...

It all started with George Washington insisting on being on the one dollar bill. I heard that he wanted it to say George Washington is #1, but that got shot down by Martha.

Nonapod said...

And, one more time, I am not discounting the possibility of a leak from the lab, just recognizing that it requires excluding a lot of other potential sources

Let's say you have a man who is well known for being violent. He's found standing in a room over the body of his obviously stabbed to death wife and he's holding a knife and is covered with blood. It's true to say that you don't know for an absolute fact that he stabbed his wife to death. Someone else could have murdered her. Or she could have fallen on the knife multiple times.

iowan2 said...

I am not discounting the possibility of a leak from the lab, just recognizing that it requires excluding a lot of other potential sources.

I only exclude other sources because of geography.

In the medical field, they say "when you here hoof beats, don't think zebras"

Advice?

Stop digging

bagoh20 said...

" Despite our divergent political opinions, we are similar in not having a home in either of the major political parties."

Don't take it personal. Despite all their talk of "big tents", they all practice social distancing even without a virus.

Drago said...

Farmer: "How does the phase one trade deal move us towards decoupling?"

It's also the tariffs, as every company CEO has been screaming about for several years now, though I know how invested you are in particular narratives being the only ones that matter.

The tariffs are the key along with the pressure to remove Chinese theft/acquisition of US technology for the "privilege" of producing goods there.

Companies Say They're Ready to Move Supply Chains From China
Oct, 2018
"A common theme is that they are ready to relocate supply chains if the cost of importing Chinese goods becomes prohibitive.

U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a 10 percent tariff on $200 billion of Chinese imports in September -- following an earlier round of tariffs on $50 billion of goods -- and promised to raise the duty to 25 percent in January. He’s also threatened to expand the levy to all products imported from China -- an amount that totaled $531 billion in the 12 months through August, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Commerce."

TEXT
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/05/business/china-trade-trump-jobs-decoupling.html
One Trump Victory: Companies Rethink China
April 2019

Trump Is Playing a Long Game With China
Aug, 2019
"For example, the president’s recent delay gives American companies that are in the process of transitioning their manufacturing out of China more time to complete that transition. Big tech companies are already taking their manufacturing out of China. Retailers are pulling out as well."

President Trump ordered US firms to ditch China, but many already have and more are on the way
Sep 2019

Most importantly, in my role I work directly with COO's of several large industrial firms that have big time supply chain nodes across the globe. One of these midwest firms in particular had just opened up several significant new manufacturing operations in China and have already conducted the due diligence and preliminary planning for moving those facilities if Trump is reelected. It took them over a year to complete this analysis and prep work.

If Trump is not reelected, then the assumption across the board is that everything will basically go back to business as usual with the expectation being China will renege on the latest deals since they expect the US will let them get away with it.

MadisonMan said...

Let's Keep the State on lock-down 'til everyone can get tested!

We can test 7500 people per day! But the State People are working *hard* to increase that number.

I'm sorry to all you Small Businesses out there. Evers appreciates your sacrifices I'm sure.

J. Farmer said...

@Robert Cook:

Well, we are in our "Fall of Rome" stage of decadence and decline. The only way we're going is down.

Yes, I think that is probably true. Our political culture is not well equipped to manage relative decline.

Drago said...

Paco Wové: "Like most WaPo stories, this one falls into the fanservice category."

Worked like a charm on Cookie.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

iowan2 said...
Advice?


No thanks. You seem to be struggling with the basic logic of the situation. An evolved virus evolved somewhere in the natural world. The natural world is a big place.

bagoh20 said...

" "He's never at a loss for a transparent lie."

Another reason why I say Trump is the most transparent President in our lifetime. Even his lies are open and honest. Since we know they all lie, isn't that much better?

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

J. Farmer said...
Our political culture is not well equipped to manage relative decline.


While I think both of you are most likely correct, renewal is not impossible. It does, however, involve Trump losing the next election and then Biden suddenly dying. The first is now quite likely, and the next not unlikely. Subsequent steps are less certain.

narciso said...

from the last shamarama steele wasn't tipping his cooperation with deripaska, who was manaforts business partner,

bagoh20 said...

"Trump Is Playing a Long Game With China"

I hope so, becuase that's the only game they play, but our political system doesn't work that way, while their's is designed for it. We absolutley need to play it for at least 4 more years.

Drago said...

ARM: "An evolved virus evolved somewhere in the natural world. The natural world is a big place."

Yep.

Who knows where? I mean, it could have been anywhere really. It's just as likely to have evolved out of Chile, or Peru, or Israel, or Russia, or Europe, or certainly we shouldn't put it past Trump to have ginned it up.

Drago said...

I mean, why would anyone assume this virus came out of China, much less a particular region in China?

According to ARM, that's just wrong-headed thinking right there.

Why, I'll bet WHO head and Ethiopian marxist Tedros is working up a letter explaining that the virus origin location is just too darn hard to narrow down.

What's important now is advancing the democrats Sham-peachment III effort.

J. Farmer said...

@Drago:

It's also the tariffs, as every company CEO has been screaming about for several years now, though I know how invested you are in particular narratives being the only ones that matter.

The tariffs are the key along with the pressure to remove Chinese theft/acquisition of US technology for the "privilege" of producing goods there.


Tariffs have definitely helped spur moves in supply chains, but there are a number of other reasons for this, as well. For one, labor and land costs in China are going up, and the size of China's labor force is shrinking. European companies have likewise been looking to move supply chains.

But moving out of China is only one part of the equation. Where are they moving? To places like Vietnam and Thailand and Malaysia and Bangladesh and Indonesia and India and Mexico. This does not help US manufacturing.

bagoh20 said...

Even the Chinese say it started in Wuhan, but they can do that, because they have others out there making the alternative case for them. If they said it started somewhere else, nobody would believe it. Which is also why they say it started in China, so we won't believe it. Verrwee trwicky.

J. Farmer said...

@ARM:

While I think both of you are most likely correct, renewal is not impossible. It does, however, involve Trump losing the next election and then Biden suddenly dying. The first is now quite likely, and the next not unlikely. Subsequent steps are less certain.

Now that's where we part ways. If a Trump reelection would be bad, a DNC victory would be an unmitigated catastrophe.

bagoh20 said...

"This does not help US manufacturing."

Actually it does, because it gives them options for their supply chain if one nation becomes problematic. More importantly, it does not help China in their quest to exceed and eventually control the U.S. (you and me). We have been building a Frankenstein monster in China for decades now, and anything we can do to slow it down is in our interests.

veni vidi vici said...

Incumbent president's name printed on stimulus checks issued by his administration? Oh, the humanity...

In other news, dog bites man.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

bagoh20 said...
Actually it does, because it gives them options for their supply chain if one nation becomes problematic. More importantly, it does not help China in their quest to exceed and eventually control the U.S. (you and me). We have been building a Frankenstein monster in China for decades now, and anything we can do to slow it down is in our interests.


Pretty much anyone who has every invested any thought in this issue agrees. It is implementation that is the problem.

Drago said...

Farmer: "But moving out of China is only one part of the equation. Where are they moving? To places like Vietnam and Thailand and Malaysia and Bangladesh and Indonesia and India and Mexico. This does not help US manufacturing."

This is a good question. For most firms, as I understand it, and specifically for those firms in which I have professional dealings, its a mixed bag.

In almost every case that I am involved with personally and those cases that I receive info on second hand (but its pretty solid, CEO's/COO's talking to other CEO's/COO's) significant production will be moved back to the US along with the moving of other manufacturing to nations such as the ones you listed. But again, in just about every case, important manufacturing returned to the US.

One interesting aspect of all this that is often not touched upon is an emerging understanding that even though China is an economy of 1.4 billion people or so, the concentration of wealth that exists in commie authoritarian regimes means there is not, for the foreseeable future, as much of a broad market for many industrial goods as there would be in a free western society.

Plus, and its a big one, the tariff equalization and demands on China to open their markets means that products manufactured outside of China will be more competitive in the future.

The usual negative response to that is no way will products manufactured outside of China get a competitive look from Chinese buyers, but not everyone believes that anymore. Besides, if the imbalance gets too great, whammo! More tariffs to make the trade more equal.

Final thought: it is this very squeezing of China and its revenues that will make it difficult for the ChiCom's to continue their massive spending spree across all dimensions of their military/strategic rockets/tactical rockets programs.

So that's a benefit all by itself.

Of course, none of that is going to make ARM feel better, so that's another win.

veni vidi vici said...

Every story about Trump signing the checks that go to every American reinforces the message that Trump made those checks happen.

For all their supposed cleverness with agitation and propaganda, the media understands nothing.

FullMoon said...

"He had wanted his signature on them. And why not?"

Why?

Of course, we know why he wanted his name on the checks:

To troll leftist idiots, and to make normal people smile, duh.

Seems to have worked fairly well, as usual.

J. Farmer said...

@bagoh20:

Actually it does, because it gives them options for their supply chain if one nation becomes problematic. More importantly, it does not help China in their quest to exceed and eventually control the U.S. (you and me). We have been building a Frankenstein monster in China for decades now, and anything we can do to slow it down is in our interests.

My issue with supply chains in China is not the strategic problems it causes for US companies. It's the fact that jobs that were once here moved there. It's the effect on US workers. Moving from China to Thailand does not address that problem.

I do agree that US-China policy has been wrongheaded for a long time, but their ability to "control" us will always be very limited. We have the wealth and power to effectively balance China, but we will have to make some tough decisions regarding global commitments down the road, I imagine.

Drago said...

veni vidi vici: "Every story about Trump signing the checks that go to every American reinforces the message that Trump made those checks happen.

For all their supposed cleverness with agitation and propaganda, the media understands nothing."

Funny contrast: After the dems passed their hoax stimulus bill in 2009 which essentially just transferred massive amounts of cash to state employees and their retirement funds, much of which was kicked back to the dems as campaign contributions (part of the institutional democrat money laundering operation at a grand scale), the few dollars that remained that were actually spent on road projects included VP Joe Biden's name on the signs....but the road construction projects usually occur in heavy summer traffic and the projects slowed cross-country driving to a crawl....with Joe's name on it.

Unfortunately, Joe can't remember what he ate for breakfast so it's not quite as funny as it could be.

Drago said...

Farmer: "My issue with supply chains in China is not the strategic problems it causes for US companies. It's the fact that jobs that were once here moved there. It's the effect on US workers. Moving from China to Thailand does not address that problem."

Already addressed above.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

It all started with George Washington insisting on being on the one dollar bill. I heard that he wanted it to say George Washington is #1, but that got shot down by Martha.

Needed! lol - thank you.

Freaking ego-maniac Washington. sheesh

Earnest Prole said...

This sort of thing is as common as dirt in American politics.

J. Farmer said...

@Drago:

Plus, and its a big one, the tariff equalization and demands on China to open their markets means that products manufactured outside of China will be more competitive in the future.

China liberalizing their economy has been the white whale of trade negotiations, for sure. That is reportedly being left to the next round of negotiations. I don't see the much ballyhooed commitment for China to buy $200 billion over baseline of certain products anything to be excited about. It will merely increase dependence of exporters.

narciso said...

ah yes, the solon of Scranton, was the caretaker of the stimulus, re the wider point, I've pointed to the words of Chao Haotian, dinosaur of the politburo, and his assymetrical warfare notions toward the us, it may not have been intentional at first, but it has been weaponized against the west, and near enemies like japan, partial proxies like Australia,

J. Farmer said...

@Drago:

Unfortunately, Joe can't remember what he ate for breakfast so it's not quite as funny as it could be.

Obama learned on the job that there was no such thing as a "shovel ready project."

Fernandinande said...

As best I can tell, the practical effect will be pretty much nil.

If Trump signs each check with a different pen, they'll have a few million collectors' items to sell on eBay and pay off the debt.

Known Unknown said...

Ruth's Chris has 6,102 employees. $20 million divided up suggests each employee gets $3,277.21

Quelle Horror!

Sheridan said...

Trump's name on the stimulus checks doesn't seem like a big deal to me. But if he invokes "jus primae noctis" well, that's another story altogether!!

Michael said...

ARM
Probably a waste of time but I will try and pull you out of the stupid hole. Or give you a rope. The PPP program provides loans to businesses of 500 or less employees. Ruth Chris outlets each qualify. The collapse of their business is a result of government action not their business practices or capital reserves. 75% of the borrowed funds must go to pay staff with the balance to be used for debt service or supplies, taxes and insurance.
Every restaurant in America qualifies including those like Ruths Chris you consider de classe.

Robert Cook said...

"My issue with supply chains in China is not the strategic problems it causes for US companies. It's the fact that jobs that were once here moved there. It's the effect on US workers. Moving from China to Thailand does not address that problem."

The corporate entities making use of foreign manufacturing must bring it all back home and provide Americans with good jobs with good wages, benefits, and job security.

Alas...this will never happen.

J. Farmer said...

@Fernandistein:

If Trump signs each check with a different pen, they'll have a few million collectors' items to sell on eBay and pay off the debt.

Yeah, both sides are pretty good at ginning up faux outage over nothing issues. The souvenir pen issue apparently goes back to FDR, who was the first to do it. LBJ supposedly used 75 pens to sign the Civil Rights Act. Although unlike the last two presidents, George W. Bush apparently never used multiple pens to sign.

Drago said...

Farmer: "Obama learned on the job that there was no such thing as a "shovel ready project."

Did he even know what a shovel was?

Jon Ericson said...

Appearances by the spirits of Gus Hall, Noam Chomsky and Eddie Haskell, but no Pee Wee. What gives?

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Michael ... a waste of time
The collapse of their business is a result of government action not their business practices or capital reserves.


This is nonsense, of course. Most people wouldn't be going to their restaurants on their own volition, certainly not enough to keep the business viable. The funding method is inherently prone to corruption. Most of these businesses need to go bankrupt. The ones that have a viable business model in the business environment that emerges after the plague will reemerge. To be clear, I don't think this is a wonderful thing, it is what needs to happen. There is no good reason for the government to be involved here. These are not essential industries.

de classe

You are chasing your own tail here, I eat at McDonalds and the local Chinese restaurant regularly. I have an iron stomach.

J. Farmer said...

@Drago:

Did he even know what a shovel was?

Now here's a really contrarian take: in away, we actually dodged a bullet by having Obama. A GOP Inc president would in all probability would have given us the disaster of "comprehensive immigration reform." Fortunately, Republican obstructionism towards Obama helped stop it. After Romney's 2012 defeat, the so called RNC autopsy advocated supporting the reform as a suck up to Hispanic voters. Sean Hannity claimed to have "evolved" on the issue and supported a pathway to citizenship.

Trump's 2016 campaign was successful in jettisoning that godawful idea.

Michael said...

ARM

I figured you for smarter than that. You think the same I gather for the hotel and airline businesses. You are frankly a cretin.

Todd said...

Robert Cook said...

The corporate entities making use of foreign manufacturing must bring it all back home and provide Americans with good jobs with good wages, benefits, and job security.

4/16/20, 3:46 PM


What a pile of horse crap. More Cook "low on sense and high on loose words" babble. What pray tell is a "good job" or "good wages" or "job security"? These are just like "affordable housing" or "living wage". All bullsh@t words used by "progressives" to cry for more and more without expending any effort.

You know what a "good job" really is? It is the job you currently have and do until you get the next job that you want more and hopefully pays better.

You know what "good wages" are? Those are the wages that are "good enough" for you to keep doing the current job you are doing until you find and earn a better job.

"Job Security" is doing the best you can every day to continue to earn still being in that position by the company that hired you to do it until they find someone willing to do it the same or better for less.

That is all called life.

Some people are so steeped in leftist/communist/socialist crap that they can not even think straight any longer. Grow up.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

3:26 - Earnest Prole

yea. The current governor - Polis - places his photo all over the State's web-pages. That's a new thing. I've been going to Co REvenue online for many years and I do not recall the photo of the current governor on there. Ever. Now it's all stamped with Polis-face.
Polis also wants to change the Colorado Flag. We love our flag, as it is!, and he wants to single-highhandedly change it.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Michael ... frankly a cretin

Government shouldn't be propping up restaurants. On what fucking planet does that make sense? Even if we returned to normal circumstances this wouldn't make any sense, but we aren't returning to normal circumstances. Best case scenario is half the existing restaurants remain viable. Why the fuck is government giving money to non-viable businesses? It is a corrupt perversion of the role of government.



Michael said...

ARM

Sallie forth tonight and enjoy your favorite restaurant. Oh, you cant? Why not? Are you allowed out? Who closed your favorite restaurant? Or was their business model flawed? Will it be flawed with half the govt mandated social distancing rules When they are allowed to reopen? Will their mortgage payments be cut proportionately? Taxes?

Drago said...

ARM: "Government shouldn't be propping up restaurants. On what fucking planet does that make sense?"

Unbelievable.

Government to Restaurant: Shut down. You are no longer allowed to make any money.

Restaurant: Can I get some cash to tide me over until the emergency is over?

ARM: Get lost loser.

Drago said...

Farmer: "Sean Hannity claimed to have "evolved" on the issue and supported a pathway to citizenship."

I'm familiar with this particular assertion, and you cut off about 2/3's of the rest of what he said he would have to have before going along with the pathway.

You don't do yourself any favors by truncating arguments like that.

J. Farmer said...

@BleachBit-and-Hammers:

Whereabouts in Colorado do you live? My sister and her family live in Castle Pines, and I was aghast when she sent me photos of snow recently.

Drago said...

ARM: "Most of these businesses need to go bankrupt. The ones that have a viable business model in the business environment that emerges after the plague will reemerge."

Its as if I'm listening to Hillary explain away as irrelevant why so many businesses under her 1400 page, written in secret health care plan would go bankrupt back in the 90's: "“I can’t be responsible for every undercapitalized entrepreneur in America."

Hillary's "crack team" was no better as they informed small businesses that if they couldn't pay the price of providing all Fed Govt mandated benefits for 100% of their employees they should, literally, "toss in the towel".

This crew also told Doctors that if they didn't like asking for DC approval for x-rays and other routine services they "could quit and become architects".

Lefties gonna lefty. Every single time.

Meanwhile, ARM remains utterly flummoxed at where the ChiCom Wuhan Lab Bat Flu came from. Let's hope he figures it out soon before someone mistakes him for the presumptive democrat nominee for President.

Drago said...

Farmer: "Whereabouts in Colorado do you live? My sister and her family live in Castle Pines, and I was aghast when she sent me photos of snow recently."

I live 30 minutes from Castle Pines and the snow just now let up a bit.

Drago said...

Next Riddle for ARM to try and solve: Who's buried in Grant's Tomb?

Tom said...

I’ve have perfectly threaded the needle of not being eligible for unemployment (even though I paid into it), 2018 earnings were too high for a stimulus check, and, even through I applied within minutes of it opening, my business won’t get the payroll protection program loan because the fund is already out of money. My clients’ businesses got crushed so even if the unlock order comes, I’m faced with starting up a business I ran successfully for 8 years without clients or capital.

Boy, I’m glad I payed all those taxes.

I complied with the order and stayed home. All of the consultants who worked for me did the same. Now we’re fucked.

Drago said...

Dare I posit this query for ARM? How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

«Oldest ‹Older   1 – 200 of 282   Newer› Newest»