OT: COVID-19 thread #2

[PlayerUp]

It's not like Trump doesn't have a history of holding funds.

It’s so fittingly awesome that this sentence is part of your defense.

It wasn't a defense.

[PlayerUp]

I do agree that China should be donating more to WHO than they currently are. There's no reason they should pay so much less than what the US contributes.

US $452m
China $42m

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/04/09/donald-trump-u-s-spent-452-million-on-who-in-2019-against-chinas-42-million/

Pretty sad how the US forks up the bills on so many things while other countries pay so little.

[DuckIII]

It's not like Trump doesn't have a history of holding funds.

It’s so fittingly awesome that this sentence is part of your defense.

It wasn't a defense.

Okay guy.

[DuckIII]

I do agree that China should be donating more to WHO than they currently are. There's no reason they should pay so much less than what the US contributes.

US $452m
China $42m

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/04/09/donald-trump-u-s-spent-452-million-on-who-in-2019-against-chinas-42-million/

Pretty sad how the US forks up the bills on so many things while other countries pay so little.

Interestingly, the WHO budget is comprised of two portions. An assessed (I.e. mandatory contribution) and a voluntary portion. In the last two years under Trump, when it was not politically expedient for him to scapegoat them, approximately 70% of the US contribution was voluntary and totaling nearly $660 million.

Amazingly, the second biggest contributor isn’t even a nation. It’s the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation an just over $500 million.

So while I agree that China should be contributing significantly more than they do, two things jump out at me.

1. Trump has been making massive contributions voluntarily for years with full knowledge of the small amounts China contributes.

2. How credible is it that the WHO is in China’s pocket considering they about $50 million while America and a private American foundation gave well over $1 billion?

[TheSuzerain]

Why are you making it seem like Trump was voluntarily making these payments? The President doesn't have that power.

The Congress/House controls the purse.

[Dresden]

I do agree that China should be donating more to WHO than they currently are. There's no reason they should pay so much less than what the US contributes.

US $452m
China $42m

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/04/09/donald-trump-u-s-spent-452-million-on-who-in-2019-against-chinas-42-million/

Pretty sad how the US forks up the bills on so many things while other countries pay so little.

I agree that is sad. On other things, like funding the UN, I believe it is done on the basis of a country's % of world GDP, which seems fair. But China's GDP is not that much below ours now, so they should be paying an equivalent amount to the WHO.

[DuckIII]

Why are you making it seem like Trump was voluntarily making these payments? The President doesn't have that power.

The Congress/House controls the purse.

So he’s not freezing contributions because he has no control over it? Good. I think that’s much better for the world and for the U.S.

[TheSuzerain]

Why are you making it seem like Trump was voluntarily making these payments? The President doesn't have that power.

The Congress/House controls the purse.

So he’s not freezing contributions?

He's going to try under the guise of 'review'. But that doesn't change the fact that the payments are borne out of Congress.

[Dresden]

Dresden, the “corruption” angle is that there is a theory WHO is in the back pocket of China and helped them downplay the coronavirus at the early stages.

You can run a simple thought experiment on this- if the real cause is rooting out corruption, could you imagine Trump freezing subsidies to the agricultural industry, the medicare system, or the military contractors?

Of course not- even though corruption and incompetence is rampant. Because it would piss off a lot of voters and donors. But blaming a faceless international humanitarian organization- that plays right to the sweet spot of a certain constituency.

[Dresden]

On another note, Abbot Labs is about to begin large scale production of an anti-body test. They predict being able to produce 20 million tests by June. That's a healthy start. Still not enough- at that rate it will be a few years before everyone will be able to get one. But hopefully they aren't the only ones doing this, or they can expand production.

We still badly need more tests to find out if someone currently has the virus.

[DuckIII]

Why are you making it seem like Trump was voluntarily making these payments? The President doesn't have that power.

The Congress/House controls the purse.

So he’s not freezing contributions?

He's going to try under the guise of 'review'. But that doesn't change the fact that the payments are borne out of Congress.

Then it’s completely irrelevant to my point. He’s only just now doing it when he needs a scapegoat. He could have done this any time prior had he legitimately believed there was an issue with the size of US contributions to WHO relative to WHO’s treatment of the US.

It’s a purely political step to create a narrative for his campaign, and innocent people in regions with underdeveloped healthcare systems will suffer until more responsible nations fill the gap Trump left for selfish political gain. It’s repugnant.

[Dresden]

Kudos to the Gates Foundation, too. I'd like to see some of the other gazillionaires follow their lead.

[DuckIII]

Dresden, the “corruption” angle is that there is a theory WHO is in the back pocket of China and helped them downplay the coronavirus at the early stages.

You can run a simple thought experiment on this- if the real cause is rooting out corruption, could you imagine Trump freezing subsidies to the agricultural industry, the medicare system, or the military contractors?

Of course not- even though corruption and incompetence is rampant. Because it would piss off a lot of voters and donors. But blaming a faceless international humanitarian organization- that plays right to the sweet spot of a certain constituency.

Especially when linking it to the China boogeyman. I did not say it was a credible theory, just that the theory exists. Indeed to me the theory makes no sense at all.

[League Circles]

Lol, I think most of us already flew through Tiger king, Ozark, and lots of other recent programs.

What else is a good watch on Netflix's that might not be as new, but is also worth watching?

I watched "Mud" last night, and that was pretty good.

You can't do better than Gomorrah on Netflix.

[moorhosj]

Pretty sad how the US forks up the bills on so many things while other countries pay so little.

The US did create most of those institutions in the first place. We used to call it soft power.

Meanwhile, Trump thought China was doing a great job on COVID-19. He even commended them on their transparency. What caused him to change his mind? Political expediency?

“China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus,” he tweeted Jan. 24. “The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!”

https://time.com/5821007/trump-halts-payments-world-health-organization-coronavirus/

[AKfanatic]

I do agree that China should be donating more to WHO than they currently are. There's no reason they should pay so much less than what the US contributes.

US $452m
China $42m

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/04/09/donald-trump-u-s-spent-452-million-on-who-in-2019-against-chinas-42-million/

Pretty sad how the US forks up the bills on so many things while other countries pay so little.

The US “forks up” money as a means of gaining influence and power. It has nothing to do with countries paying their “fair” share.

Publications pushing such narratives do so as a means of riling up a nationalist base.

It’s no different than the “Countries need to pay for our military bases (protection)” narrative. It’s based on willful ignorance of facts. It ignores that those instillations aren’t exactly located in other countries for their protection so much as they’re located in those countries to give the US a strategic presence allowing them to flex their military muscle on others door steps and apply military/diplomatic pressure on adversaries.

Historically, world powers have attempted to keep/gain their power by using money and military pressure to gain world favor. It’s a fairly simple concept that “news” outlets like Brietbart purposely ignore/distort.

[moorhosj]

Don't try reasoning with these leftists. Somehow, on Real GM, it's okay for them to **** on your views. You're not allowed to share your opinions if you're not a liberal. However, the mods will allow them to turn every conversation anti-Trump. This place is becoming worse than Reddit.

While you guys are doing the real work of flaming leftists on the internet, countries like Iran, China and Russia are already capitalizing on this mistake. Cutting funding in the middle of a pandemic reinforces every bad thing those countries say about the US and kneecaps any future claim of authority.

Just ask the liberals at the Heritage Foundation https://www.dailysignal.com/2020/04/14/now-is-not-yet-the-time-to-cut-funding-to-the-world-health-organization/:

“The US has taken pains to counter Chinese disinformation and focus the world on the fact that Chinese actions and inactions facilitated the spread of COVID-19 and impeded the international response, leading to enormous loss of life and economic hardship,” Heritage senior research fellow Brett Schaefer wrote. “Those efforts will be immediately overshadowed by an announcement that the US is cutting funding to the WHO even as other nations, both developed and developing, are expressing anger toward China for its role in the COVID-19 pandemic.”

[Dresden]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trumps-deadly-search-scapegoat-190620046.html

Trump's Deadly Search for a Scapegoat

...

The WHO is bureaucratic, frustrating, timid — and indispensable. No other organization can fill its international role overseeing the fight against disease. It has battled an outbreak of Ebola since last year in Congo, and that’s one reason we haven’t had Ebola cases in the United States.

Every day, the WHO saves lives. It has promoted safe childbirth, and the number of women dying in childbirth has been cut almost in half over 25 years. It fights female genital mutilation and helps women with obstetric fistula. It is struggling to eliminate cervical cancer. It is part of the campaign against polio.

Normally, an American president is a leader in global health, and Democrats and Republicans have often cooperated on a humanitarian agenda. President George W. Bush started a program against HIV/AIDS called PEPFAR that has saved 17 million lives. President Barack Obama helped lead the global effort to end the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014-16.

In contrast, Trump has provided zero global leadership against the coronavirus, and he is now trying to crush the one organization providing such leadership....

[Dresden]

I post that article above not to bash Trump, but to point out what an important institution the WHO is, and what a colossal mistake holding up funding to it will be. People who are dismissing it as corrupt or biased or non-essential should also take a good hard look at what they will be eliminating if they decide to cripple it.

[Chi town]

Mods, Can we keep the discussion on the virus and not politics?

I know I have personally failed here by brining up the president's actions/inactions etc. too. It'd be refreshing to talk about the actual spread, treatments, recoveries, etc.