Coronavirus – Page 2 – Powers For the People

#COVID19: Should Grandma ‘Take One for the Team’? (video)

Posted on May 16, 2020February 10, 2023 by Pamela J. Powers

The House Health and Human Services Committee met on Thursday, May 14, to hear testimony from several California experts on opening up Arizona’s economy.

The two primary presenters were scientists whose recent research shows that COVID19 infection in the population could be much more widespread in the population than we had thought and that the virus has been in the US since November 2019, a viewpoint that appears to have little factual evidence behind it. Dr. Jay Bhattacharya (Stanford Health Policy) has developed an antibody test and conducted research on the spread of COVID19 in the community and death rates; his research methods and data have been criticized. Dr. Neeraj Sood (USC Sol Price School of Public Policy) also did research on COVID19 community spread and death rates; his results were released prematurely and without his knowledge. According to these two, people who got the virus very early didn’t know it because most people have mild symptoms.

Using their data, they say that the risk of death for the general population is much lower than previously thought, but the death rate for seniors is still exponentially higher than the rest of the population. The crux of their argument was that we should have stringent procedures in long-term care facilities to keep Grandma and Grandpa safe, and everyone else should get back to school and to work.

#AZ Senate Votes to End Session. What about the House? (video)

Posted on May 11, 2020February 10, 2023 by Pamela J. Powers

I drove to Phoenix last Thursday (May 7) because Speaker Rusty Bowers and President Karen Fann had called the Legislature back for a sine die vote (a vote to end the second session of the 54th Legislature). We have been adjourned and working remotely since March 23.

Unfortunately, I made that trip for nothing. On May 7, after the morning email notice to report for work, House Republicans held a closed-door caucus for several hours (as long as six hours by some reports). At about 8:20 p.m. on May 7, when I was already in Phoenix, Bowers sent a second email saying that the House would not reconvene on Friday (May 8) for the sine die vote. (I drove two hours to a canceled meeting, and Rep. Myron Tsosie drove 5.5 hours from Navajo.)

Senator David Livingston spoke forcefully in favor of opening up Arizona for business ASAP– even though his zip code has been particularly hard hit, by his own omission. He and Senators Eddie Farnsworth (seated), David Farnsworth, and Michelle Ugenti-Rita don’t think Governor Doug Ducey is moving fast enough to open up Arizona for business.

The Republicans are in complete disarray. For the second Friday in a row, Republicans have scheduled a sine die floor session and canceled it because they can’t agree. I would have driven to Phoenix last Thursday (April 30), also, but that was the day of the LD9 town hall. The May 1 Legislative floor vote was called and canceled before I got in the car.

Bowers has a revolt on his hands, obviously. There is a small but vocal group of Arizona representatives and senators who want to buck Governor Doug Ducey’s executive order to stay home and keep businesses closed. Ducey has flip-flopped several times in recent weeks due to pressure from Libertarians (who, regardless of the public health costs, want to open up the state for business, force people back to work, and rescind Ducey’s executive order closing the economy) and Democrats (who are clamoring for more testing, more contact tracing, more transparency in the data, workplace protections, continued shelter in place, and not opening up too soon). The Open Up Arizona Republicans are marching in lock step with ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council). In fact, 11 Arizona Legislators signed an open ALEC letter to President Trump asking him to open up the economy: Senate President Karen Fann, Senators Vince Leach, Rick Gray, David Livingston, and Reps. John Allen, Walter Balckman, Nancy Barto, Ben Toma, Becky Nutt, Frank Carroll, and Leo Biasiucci.

Ducey’s May 4 ‘Open Up #AZ’ Decree Is Risky Business (video)

Posted on May 5, 2020February 10, 2023 by Pamela J. Powers

Did you all see the photos from the Open Up Arizona rally on Friday, May 1 at the Capital? Wow! On two recent Fridays, there have been large public rallies at the Arizona Capital to promote ending the executive order that closed businesses and told people to shelter in place due to the COVID19 outbreak.

The social media promotion for this past weekend encouraged people to rally at Wesley Bolin Plaza on Friday, have a party in the park with friends on Saturday, and “rev it up” by going to church on Sunday.

Many anti-vaccine folks are participating in these rallies because they don’t want the government to require Coronavirus vaccines (which don’t exist). Think about this. What could go wrong? A bunch of people who don’t believe in being vaccinated decide to go to participate in three days of large public events… during a pandemic! You can’t make this stuff up.

Dump Trump. Save & Expand Postal Services (video)

Posted on May 4, 2020February 14, 2023 by Pamela J. Powers

President Trump and Congress have been bailing out businesses with multiple Coronavirus relief packages. One business they haven’t helped is the US Postal Service. In fact, Trump has suggested shutting down the post office and privatizing the services.

I think that is a terrible idea for the American public. The US Postal Service (USPS) is the general public’s most cost-effective and convenient way to send letters and packages to other people in this country. The Postal Service was created by the Founding Fathers because they realized how important it was for us to stay in communication with each other and with the government. President Thomas Jefferson even wanted the newspaper to be delivered free to every person in the US to keep us informed.

Privatization of government services never benefits the people. I can’t think of any instance in which a service was privatized, and the people actually got better service and/or more cost-effective service. With privatization, the service always gets worse, more expensive, and less widespread and universal. It’s costs 55 cents for one first class postage stamp; that is the cost to mail a letter to anyone in the US. To send a Fed Ex letter, it costs $8.50– or $11 if the letter’s destination is more than 601 miles away. Plus, you have to take the letter to Fed Ex to mail it. Privatization is about making money. It’s not about providing quality, low-cost services in a non-discriminatory way, across the entire country equally for everybody. That’s what the Postal Service gives us. If Trump succeeds in privatizing the postal service, thousands of union workers will lose their jobs, costs will skyrocket, convenience will be lost, and people in remote areas will lose mail service or pay ridiculous prices in order to guarantee a profit.

LD9 #COVID19 Town Hall on Testing, Unemployment & the #AZ Budget (video)

Posted on May 3, 2020May 3, 2020 by Pamela J. Powers

The Legislative District 9 Team– Senator Victoria Steele, Rep. Randy Friese, and myself– held our first virtual town hall on Thursday, April 30, 2020. Except for getting hacked at the end [more on that below], it was a great meeting. Many LD9 precinct committee people were on the call. Over the course of the hour, 125 people jumped on the virtual meeting, and for most of the meeting there were close to 90 participants. If you have been to one of our town halls, we’re lucky to get 25 people, so the attendance was amazing, as far as we are concerned. If you were unable to attend online, I broke the town hall into three videos. You can view them below the fold.

Continue reading LD9 #COVID19 Town Hall on Testing, Unemployment & the #AZ Budget (video)

Computer Models Predict Dire #COVID19 Conditions for #AZ Residents & Prisoners (video)

Posted on April 25, 2020February 10, 2023 by Pamela J. Powers

For the politicians and businesses who are in a hurry to open up Arizona’s economy… SOON… the data, the computer models, and the small-government Arizona Way are not on your side.

Arizonans are suffering through a perfect storm of economic, ideological and medical circumstances that are working against us as our state government limply responds to the Coronavirus outbreak. First and most glaring, Arizona’s small-government Republican governors and legislators have been cutting taxes for corporations and the rich and balancing the budget on the backs of the people for decades. This has resulted in:

One of the most volatile state budgets in the country
An over-reliance on high sales taxes at state and local levels
Extremely low corporate taxes
Annual budgets riddled with corporate carveouts and tax giveaways
Economic vulnerability when there are interruptions in retail sales
Wages that are 85% of the national average
Far too many residents holding multiple gig economy jobs
Stingy social safety net programs (TANF, childcare subsidies, pre- and post- natal care, housing assistance)
High poverty
Underfunded public health, public education, and higher education systems
Statewide healthcare provider shortages
Counties declared as healthcare deserts
The worst rate of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in the US
The least transparent state Legislature.

So… even before the novel Coronavirus hit the planet, many Arizonans were living on the edge economically, thanks to the Republican Party’s fixation with small, stingy government, privatization, deregulation, and tax giveaways. Add the state’s slow response to the COVID19 pandemic to the ideological economic mess we were already in, thanks to years of austerity, and it’s obvious why Arizona’s COVID19 cases are still increasing and getting “back to business” isn’t happening soon.