Published by steveba2103 on July 30, 2020
Unleash Prosperity Hotline
Issue #58
1) Liberals Are Dangerous to Your Health
Democrats’ standard response to our item yesterday on the “Blue State Jobs Depression” is that liberals care more about saving lives, than saving jobs. They care more about health and safety than the stock market and “corporate greed.” You know, their normal sanctimonious tripe that free marketeers are willing to let people die to jack up profits.
We’ve always said that saving lives must be a top policy priority during the coronavirus pandemic. But if the liberal Democrats are so set on protecting the health of their citizens and reducing deaths, why aren’t they doing that?
Our new analysis of the latest coronavirus death rates finds just the opposite. Ten of the 12 states with the highest death rates from coronavirus (as a percent of the state population) are all states with Democratic governors. (The other two are Republicans in very liberal states.)
A blue state resident was twice as likely to die with COVID as a red state resident even though the red states were not heavy-handed in locking down their economies.
But even this chart understates the health and safety risks associated with liberal governance. As we have demonstrated almost daily for months studies are now finding that the negative health effects from the lockdown (suicide, delayed treatments for cancer and heart problems, depression, spousal and child abuse, alcohol and drug overdoses, to name a few) could easily match the saving of lives from lockdowns. We call these “lockdown deaths” and they are far more prevalent in blue states that shut down.
So congratulations to Governors Andrew Cuomo, Gretchen Whitmer, JB Pritzker, and Phil Murphy. You rank last on jobs *and* on health. And to think that you are held up as the superstars of your party!
2) AARP Finally Defends Nursing Home Victims
AARP has been shockingly absent in our crusade to expose and end the outrageous policies that led to mass nursing home COVID deaths in at least seven blue states.
It’s been clear since AARP carried the water for Obamacare, even though seniors despised it, that they function essentially as a political adjunct of the Democratic Party.
But on very rare occasions, the conduct of a Democratic official – such as Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer – makes AARP feel the pressure to side with seniors and not their political pals.
When Whitmer indicated she would stonewall House Republican Steve Scalise’s investigation into her Cuomo-style nursing home disaster, the Michigan director of the AARP wrote: “AARP Michigan strongly supports the move for the state to shed light on what is happening in our 450 long-term care facilities, and to take swift and decisive action to ensure the health and safety of residents and staff.”
Now we just need AARP’s help in exposing fatal incompetence in about six other states.
3) Make Transparency Part of Next Stimulus Bill
Pam LeBlanc of Austin, Texas went to a drive-through clinic for a coronavirus test before a recent group trip. The test was negative and the trip went well.
But now LeBlanc is faced with a $6,400 bill because the test site was outside her insurance network. Another person who went on the paddling trip was tested at the same place, did not use insurance and was charged $199 out-of-pocket on the spot.
Thanks to CTUP co-founder Arthur Laffer, the Trump Administration has already adopted a transparency rule starting in 2021 for hospitals and it was upheld in district court yesterday. Hospitals don’t want to post prices, so they will appeal. Congress should broaden the rule and put it on firmer legal ground. According to research by Laffer and Larry Van Horn, cash prices for a market basket of services were 39 percent less expensive on average than the rates that insurers pay. Requiring hospitals and insurers to post negotiated rates and cash prices can significantly reduce health care costs.
4) Forget Defunding Police; Defund Colleges
A stunning 94 percent of Democratic college students support defunding the police. They responded to an online poll of 1,500 students conducted by the College Fix.
What’s more, 61 percent of Democratic college students polled responded that rioting and looting are legitimate forms of protest. Anyone for a defund the colleges movement?
5) Top Ten Things “Public Health” Got Wrong About The Virus
Michael Fumento, a science writer who has reported on infectious diseases for 35 years (and debunked apocalyptic Anthony Fauci claims just as long) writes “when recurring expert error is coupled with an expectation that the public should mutely maintain an unquestioning faith in the claims of ‘the data and the science’ the result may be a severe erosion in the credibility of public health authorities.” That’s why Fumento argues we need to understand what they got wrong – from mortality rates to ventilators – and improve on it.
Read his top ten list here:
6) Liberals Call The Masters “Racist”
Your humble editors are big fans of golf’s grand slam events and so we’re pleased that this year’s Masters – “a tradition like no other” – has been re-scheduled to be played in November this year. But given that this event is played at Augusta National in Georgia, we wonder whether the Black Lives Matter crowd will object to it being hosted in a former slave state. Will the statues of Bobby Jones be torn down?
And will it still be called “the Masters?” Rob Parker of the woke sports site Deadspin argues no:
“The name ‘The Masters’ must go….When you hear anyone say the Masters, you think of slave masters in the South. There’s nothing else, nothing special. You don’t think of someone mastering the game of golf. When has anyone mastered golf?”
But that is exactly WHY the tournament was aptly named the Masters in 1939 because the winner had to defeat the best golfers in the world and “master” this toughest of courses. Only a crazy leftist would somehow conjure up this fantasy that the name was an attempt to subliminally support white racism. Somebody throw this buffoon into the pond at Amen Corner and get on with the tournament.
7) And speaking of Playing Ball…
At 8:30 last night MLB owners and players finally came to terms on an official deal to start the 2020 season.
The owners capitulated badly to the players union. Players will earn their full prorated salaries despite the fact all or most of the games will be played without fans. Players have agreed to report to training camps by July 1 and play a 60 game season starting with Opening Day slated for July 24. We’ll take it, but it’s a shame it took the players, most of whom have multi-million dollar contracts, this long to come together on a deal to save the game.
8) Cut the Payroll Tax
FreedomWorks, our partner in Save Our Country, has just issued a wonderful video on why we should cut the payroll tax. Please watch it and if you like it, tweet it out to all your friends and colleagues.
9) At the rate school “opening” plans are going…
