US coronavirus cases top 10,000 and on the same or worse curve than Italy

[Anonymous]

Lotta progress. Lotta progress.
Many people say we've done a terrific job,
They say it could've been much worse.
Much worse, believe me.

They're saying "Thank God for Trump."
That's what they're saying.

Believe me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Trump's has gotten it completely backwards: where we needed a strong federal response - testing, distribution of resources, contact tracing, etc. - he declared that the states were on their own.

While there's plenty of blame to go around....I was discussing the way state v. federal government systems work in the US to my DD. We are actually one of only a few countries that give a lot of power to state governments.

Back in March/April...when it would have been the most beneficial to issue a FEDERAL MANDATE for a country-wide stay at home order....I ask you...

a) How would you have enforced it? National Guard?
b) Do you really think that states such as WV, Montana, Wyoming, etc. (who at the time had under 20 cases and some had 0) would have agreed to such a federal mandate?

Each state/commonwealth likes to maintain its own control and I'm 100% positive that had Trump issued a federal mandate for a country-wide stay at home order back in March/April, that most if not all states that had little to no cases would have defied any such federal mandate.

I'm no Trump supporter, but you can't blame just one person on the situation the US is in now.

DP. No, a single nationwide stay at home order wouldn't have made sense. A strong trustworthy CDC could have recommended tiered closures, but they didn't.

A federal mask mandate any day between March and today could have and would have saved lives. Telling people not to wear a mask is directly the fault of our federal government and is singularly responsible for so much of this pandemic in this country.

[Anonymous]

DP. No, a single nationwide stay at home order wouldn't have made sense. A strong trustworthy CDC could have recommended tiered closures, but they didn't.

A federal mask mandate any day between March and today could have and would have saved lives. Telling people not to wear a mask is directly the fault of our federal government and is singularly responsible for so much of this pandemic in this country.

Yes - like I said plenty of blame to go around...CDC dropped the ball.

I agree, a federal mask mandate would have been great....but, there were no masks to be found for many folks. My DD waited in line for 5 hours (no exaggeration!) just to get material for DIY masks. I personally would not have waited.
When I went to order masks in March/April most places were sold out or had delivery dates of May/June....and, I still think many states/people would have balked at the mask mandate even had it been issued in March/April.

When going into the office one day, my receptionist didn't have a mask on - (my company had bought masks but delivery was delayed) - I asked her about it and she simply stated she didn't have one and didn't do online shopping via ebay (which is the only way I was able to get masks). I gave her an extra one I had bought. So how would a mask mandate have worked when early on even our first responders were running out of masks. How would it have been enforced?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

DP. No, a single nationwide stay at home order wouldn't have made sense. A strong trustworthy CDC could have recommended tiered closures, but they didn't.

A federal mask mandate any day between March and today could have and would have saved lives. Telling people not to wear a mask is directly the fault of our federal government and is singularly responsible for so much of this pandemic in this country.

Yes - like I said plenty of blame to go around...CDC dropped the ball.

I agree, a federal mask mandate would have been great....but, there were no masks to be found for many folks. My DD waited in line for 5 hours (no exaggeration!) just to get material for DIY masks. I personally would not have waited.
When I went to order masks in March/April most places were sold out or had delivery dates of May/June....and, I still think many states/people would have balked at the mask mandate even had it been issued in March/April.

When going into the office one day, my receptionist didn't have a mask on - (my company had bought masks but delivery was delayed) - I asked her about it and she simply stated she didn't have one and didn't do online shopping via ebay (which is the only way I was able to get masks). I gave her an extra one I had bought. So how would a mask mandate have worked when early on even our first responders were running out of masks. How would it have been enforced?

There is no federal mask mandate today, July 22. Still no mask mandate.

[Anonymous]

There is no federal mask mandate today, July 22. Still no mask mandate.

...because each state was given control over shutting down schools, issuing stay at home orders, etc., including issuing mask mandates.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/21/europe/masks-debate-us-europe-asia-intl/index.html
Yet masks remain a divisive topic in the US. Arkansas on Tuesday joined at least 39 states that now have some kind of mask requirement, but states including Florida and Arizona are leaving it to local officials. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is suing Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms over the city's mask mandate.

...and herein lies the problem...federal gov't is basically leaving each state to govern themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

There is no federal mask mandate today, July 22. Still no mask mandate.

...because each state was given control over shutting down schools, issuing stay at home orders, etc., including issuing mask mandates.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/21/europe/masks-debate-us-europe-asia-intl/index.html
Yet masks remain a divisive topic in the US. Arkansas on Tuesday joined at least 39 states that now have some kind of mask requirement, but states including Florida and Arizona are leaving it to local officials. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is suing Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms over the city's mask mandate.

...and herein lies the problem...federal gov't is basically leaving each state to govern themselves.

Trump couldn't be bothered with a federal plan. It's like DeSantis in Florida - can't be bothered with a statewide plan, so leaves it to each individual community, and look how well that's going. They thought they could escape blame if they shunted responsibility to others.

Pathetic. And deadly. I blame them, and I blame the people who voted for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

There is no federal mask mandate today, July 22. Still no mask mandate.

...because each state was given control over shutting down schools, issuing stay at home orders, etc., including issuing mask mandates.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/21/europe/masks-debate-us-europe-asia-intl/index.html
Yet masks remain a divisive topic in the US. Arkansas on Tuesday joined at least 39 states that now have some kind of mask requirement, but states including Florida and Arizona are leaving it to local officials. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is suing Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms over the city's mask mandate.

...and herein lies the problem...federal gov't is basically leaving each state to govern themselves.

The federal govt. dictating a mask mandate would be unconstitutional. It is up to the states.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Trump's has gotten it completely backwards: where we needed a strong federal response - testing, distribution of resources, contact tracing, etc. - he declared that the states were on their own.

While there's plenty of blame to go around....I was discussing the way state v. federal government systems work in the US to my DD. We are actually one of only a few countries that give a lot of power to state governments.

Back in March/April...when it would have been the most beneficial to issue a FEDERAL MANDATE for a country-wide stay at home order....I ask you...

a) How would you have enforced it? National Guard?
b) Do you really think that states such as WV, Montana, Wyoming, etc. (who at the time had under 20 cases and some had 0) would have agreed to such a federal mandate?

Each state/commonwealth likes to maintain its own control and I'm 100% positive that had Trump issued a federal mandate for a country-wide stay at home order back in March/April, that most if not all states that had little to no cases would have defied any such federal mandate.

I'm no Trump supporter, but you can't blame just one person on the situation the US is in now.

It comes down to leadership. Trump, until yesterday, never expressed the absolute importance of wearing a mask. He has never tied the wearing of the mask to controlling the virus and thus "opening up." From March until yesterday, at every opportunity, he encourage states to open up, despite the numbers, and fomented the anti-mask protests. So, while there has never been a mandatory mask provision in effect, had he taken some of these steps, perhaps the freedom-loving-rugged-individuals would have been more respectful and helped stop spreading the virus.

Instead, we have a national calamity on our hands in terms of the economy and a disaster where public health is concerned.

[Anonymous]

It amazes me that the same people screaming that Trump has no right to send Federal Police to Portland to defend Federal buildings also think he should issue a mandate for the wearing of masks nationwide.

[Anonymous]

The federal govt. dictating a mask mandate would be unconstitutional. It is up to the states.

Which brings me back my original post....how I was explaining the federal v. state government system in the US to my DD.

https://www.lawfareblog.com/can-federal-government-override-state-government-rules-social-distancing-promote-economy
Our constitutional order has a federal structure, meaning that (a) federal powers are supreme, yes, but limited in scope and (b) the state governments are independent entities, not mere subordinate layers under and within the federal government (that is, the federal-state relationship is not similar to the way that counties and cities are subordinate layers under the state governments).

What follows from this? The federal government cannot commandeer the machinery of the state governments (or, by extension, of local governments). That is, the federal government cannot coerce the states into taking actions to suit federal policy preference. See, e.g., New York v. United States and Printz v. United States. And so, the federal government cannot compel state and local officials to promulgate different rules on social distancing and the like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It amazes me that the same people screaming that Trump has no right to send Federal Police to Portland to defend Federal buildings also think he should issue a mandate for the wearing of masks nationwide.

Honey... no.
He should literally be doing the exact opposite of what he has done.
A federal plan for that NATIONAL EMERGENCY of the pandemic
Allow states and localities to handle their specific issues.

[Anonymous]

A federal plan for that NATIONAL EMERGENCY of the pandemic

So here's my question - where is FEMA? Why haven't they been at he forefront of all of this from the very beginning?

IMHO - It should have been FEMA coordinating with CDC front the very beginning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

A federal plan for that NATIONAL EMERGENCY of the pandemic

So here's my question - where is FEMA? Why haven't they been at he forefront of all of this from the very beginning?

IMHO - It should have been FEMA coordinating with CDC front the very beginning.

Great question for president Trump.
He thought Jared Kushner and his Facebook friends were all that was needed.

[Anonymous]

Oh brother. Quite trying to reinvent the wheel. There are national emergency plans that are written for every kind of emergency including one for pandemics. The problem with an having idiot for a President is that he threw all those plans out the window and went with his "gut." So we here on DCUM are sitting around like lost sheep wondering how to create a National Response Plan to get back home. Meanwhile, the experts who spent decades working on the plan are screaming, "It's on page 37!" but nobody can hear because the President is an idiot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh brother. Quite trying to reinvent the wheel. There are national emergency plans that are written for every kind of emergency including one for pandemics. The problem with an having idiot for a President is that he threw all those plans out the window and went with his "gut." So we here on DCUM are sitting around like lost sheep wondering how to create a National Response Plan to get back home. Meanwhile, the experts who spent decades working on the plan are screaming, "It's on page 37!" but nobody can hear because the President is an idiot.

The saddest thing I read this week was a NYMag article about the US response. It quoted a German scientist who said they basically used all the US research and planning docs to formulate their policy.