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| Unleash Prosperity Hotline Issue #24 By Stephen Moore 1) Texas Governor Abbott Goes for an A Under pressure from legislators, local officials, and a lot of regular Texans who really want haircuts (and maybe disappointed that he got a B on our report card?) Governor Greg Abbott announced salons and barbers will open this Friday May 8 — ten days earlier than his scheduled May 18 open. Gyms are still slated for May 18 at 25% capacity. He also clarified that restaurants, which opened last Friday at 25% capacity can have unlimited outdoor seating provided the tables are spaced six feet apart.https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/coronavirus/gov-greg-abbott-to-provide-update-on-covid-19-response-in-texas/2363752/ 2) While Illinois governor aims for an FGovernor JB Pritzker made clear yesterday his lockdown is still a vise grip. “No part of the state will move to the next phase of reopening, ‘recovery,’ which allows most businesses to reopen with some limits, until May 29 at the earliest.”https://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/coronavirus/six-weeks-into-stay-at-home-order-illinois-governor-announces-phased-reopening-plan/article_67613b8f-b335-5094-861e-4ab986853914.htmlWe agree with this sign holder from the most recent Illinois protest.  3) In Jersey Even Democrats Are Getting RestlessNew Jersey Governor Phil Murphy’s lockdown took some flak from one of his state’s leading Democrats yesterday. State Senate President Stephen Sweeney told New Jersey Advance that Murphy should open car dealerships, construction firms, and elective surgeries sooner rather than later.“We’ve got to open by Memorial Day as many businesses as we can safely,” Sweeney said. Ya think?https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2020/05/sweeney-urges-murphy-to-open-more-nj-businesses-by-memorial-day.html 4) Lockdown Undoes 10 Years of Job GainsStunning chart from the WSJ showing their forecast for the jobs number expected on Friday taking us back to 2010.  https://www.wsj.com/articles/april-jobs-report-likely-to-show-highest-unemployment-rate-on-record-11588514401 5) Professor Lockdown Resigns In DisgraceNeil Ferguson is the British academic who created the infamous Imperial College model that warned Boris Johnson that without an immediate lockdown the Coronavirus would cause 500,000 deaths and swamp the National Health Service. His absurd prediction of 2 million deaths in the U.S. inspired the national lockdown that has cost the economy trillions of dollars. Johan Giesecke, the former chief scientist for the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention, has called Ferguson’s model “the most influential scientific paper” in memory.https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/03/28/neil-ferguson-scientist-convinced-boris-johnson-uk-coronavirus-lockdown-criticised/So it’s not surprising British media is making a great deal about Ferguson’s resignation from the government’s virus advisory board yesterday after revelations he had violated lockdown rules he had championed so that he could conduct an affair with a married woman. Ferguson admits he made an “error of judgement” – but we’re not sure which error he was talking about. The Sun’s headline says it all: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/05/05/exclusive-government-scientist-neil-ferguson-resigns-breaking/Ferguson has been wrong so often that some of his fellow modelers call him “The Master of Disaster.” Ferguson was behind the disputed research that sparked the mass culling of eleven million sheep and cattle during the 2001 outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. He also predicted that up to 150,000 people could die. In 2002, Ferguson predicted that up to 50,000 people would likely die from exposure to BSE (mad cow disease) in beef. In the UK, there were only 177 deaths from BSE.In 2005, Ferguson predicted that up to 150 million people could be killed from bird flu. In the end, only 282 people died worldwide from the disease between 2003 and 2009.In 2009, a government estimate, based on Ferguson’s advice, said a ‘reasonable worst-case scenario’ was that the swine flu would lead to 65,000 British deaths. In the end, swine flu killed 457 people in the UK.Last March, Ferguson admitted that his Imperial College model of the Covid-19 disease was based on undocumented, 13-year-old computer code, that was intended to be used for a feared influenza pandemic, rather than a coronavirus. Ferguson declined to release his original code so other scientists could check his results. He only released a heavily revised set of code last week, after a six week delay.So the REAL scandal is: Why did anyone ever listen to this guy? 6) China Remains UnrepentantWhile China continues to deny any errors in the spread of the Coronavirus, it’s going on the offensive by peddling misinformation and in blasting the Western response.U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo has been declared “the public enemy of humanity” on Chinese media. The Chinese ambassador to Australia made noises about a boycott of that country’s goods after it demanded an independent inquiry into the outbreak. Global Times, a newspaper run by the Chinese Communist Party, then compared Australia to “gum stuck to the bottom of China’s shoe: Sometimes you have to find a rock and scrape it off.”https://www.yahoo.com/news/put-mask-shut-chinas-undiplomatic-182915843.html 7) New York catches up on nursing home deathsYesterday New York adjusted its count of nursing home deaths by about 1,700 to a new total of 4,968 (including 2,539 presumed cases). That is a big number, but it’s only 25% of New York deaths. That a huge outlier compared to Pennsylvania at 67%, New Jersey 50%, Massachusetts 60%, and Connecticut 58%.Is New York doing a better job protecting nursing homes? We doubt it. Here’s a clue to what’s going on in New York:”Exactly how many nursing home residents have died remains uncertain despite the state’s latest disclosure, as the list doesn’t include nursing home residents who were transferred to hospitals before dying.”https://www.foxnews.com/us/new-york-1700-undisclosed-coronavirus-deaths-nursing-homes 8) Just Say No“Top House Democrats on Monday signaled they are forging ahead with the next sweeping coronavirus relief package, aiming to increase the pressure on GOP leaders who have rejected Democratic priorities in previous aid bills.On a private call with members Monday afternoon, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her deputies sketched the outline of a trillion-dollar-plus package that would deliver aid to state and local governments — some on the brink of public service cuts — while shoring up safety-net programs for the nation’s most vulnerable.https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/04/democrats-house-coronavirus-relief-2346889) The Media in One Awful NYT Letter to the Editor (read to the end)  10) Anti-Hero Of The DayMichigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer lashed out on CNN this past Sunday, claiming protests against her “depicted some of the worst racism and awful parts of our history.” She cited a few Confederate flags and Nazi swastikas that were displayed at a protest against her orders locking down the state. Protest organizers have also rightfully condemned the displays. There were thousands of good-hearted and patriotic Americans who were protesting Whitmer’s heavy-handed shutdown of the state. https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/495853-whitmer-says-michigan-protests-depicted-some-of-the-worst-racism-and 11) Heroes Of The Day – “Tyranny… to order people to be imprisoned for going to work.”Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, who earned an “F” grade in our ratings this week got spanked by the Wisc. Supreme Court. The court by a 5-2 vote ruled that he and his health secretary Andrea Palm went beyond their authority in extending the state’s closure of small businesses until May 26.This “I’ll direct your attention to another time in history, in the Korematsu decision, where the court said the need for action is great and time is short, and that justified ‘assembling together and placing under guard all those of Japanese ancestry’ in assembly centers during World War II,” said Justice Annette Ziegler, referring to a 1944 Supreme Court decision justifying internment camps.Justice Rebecca Bradley then added, “Isn’t it the very definition of tyranny for one person to order people to be imprisoned for going to work among other ordinarily lawful activities?”https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/05/05/wisconsin-state-supreme-court-hears-gop-lawmakers-challenge-stay-at-home-order/ 12) Why A Payroll Tax Cut Will Boost Economic GrowthCTUP Co-Founder Steve Forbes on why suspending the payroll tax will drive critical economic growth, let Americans take home bigger paychecks and provide businesses with the stimulus relief they desperately need. https://youtu.be/VQHV-HDV4tQ |
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