COVID Again Rampant in Jax

[BridgeTroll]

I'm still waiting for Biden's mask mandates and vaccination mandates for the general public... double standards?

A bit of a stretch Biden hasn't blocked mask mandates and prevented businesses from checking the vaccine status of those using the businesses space or services.
I do think Biden could be criticized for not being more aggressive.

He could also be criticized for the waves of unvaccinated crossing the southern border... he has an entire arsenal of onerous restrictions he could put in place... but won't.

[vicupstate]

I'm still waiting for Biden's mask mandates and vaccination mandates for the general public... double standards?

Unlike the Governor of a state, he has no such powers. Not to mention the fact that the problem is far worse in FL than the vast majority of states.

I don't mean this critically, but he certainly has some power. Enough federal funding goes to schools and other programs that he could exercise some coercive power to achieve policy goals. I'm glad he isn't, as it really should fall to governors, but he was veep to Mr. I've Got A Pen And A Phone. The option to test the limits of his power is there if he wanted to pursue a more top-down response.

I'm still waiting for Biden's mask mandates and vaccination mandates for the general public... double standards?

Unlike the Governor of a state, he has no such powers. Not to mention the fact that the problem is far worse in FL than the vast majority of states.   

of course the president can mandate... there are plenty of political reasons he hasn't... hmmmm... why ?

The President does NOT have the power to enact mask mandates or vaccine mandates. Not sure where you get the idea that he does. As far as cutting off unrelated funding for other things, that would be legally dubious at best, and subject to stays from the court. Obviously there would be no shortage of entities that would do so.   

[vicupstate]

I'm still waiting for Biden's mask mandates and vaccination mandates for the general public... double standards?

A bit of a stretch Biden hasn't blocked mask mandates and prevented businesses from checking the vaccine status of those using the businesses space or services.
I do think Biden could be criticized for not being more aggressive.

He could also be criticized for the waves of unvaccinated crossing the southern border... he has an entire arsenal of onerous restrictions he could put in place... but won't.

What 'wave of unvaccinated' are you speaking of? That is a debunked RW talking point straight from FOX News. Illegal immigrants are the go-to scapegoat for the GOP on any issue.

https://www.factcheck.org/2021/07/scicheck-viral-claim-gets-bidens-covid-19-travel-and-immigration-policies-wrong/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/07/28/no-real-problem-with-coronavirus-surge-is-not-border/

[BridgeTroll]

Does the Wall street journal count as right wing talking points?  Probably yes in your world but...

https://www.wsj.com/articles/border-covid-illegal-undocumented-immigration-testing-biden-harris-11628023571

[jaxoNOLE]

The President does NOT have the power to enact mask mandates or vaccine mandates. Not sure where you get the idea that he does. As far as cutting off unrelated funding for other things, that would be legally dubious at best, and subject to stays from the court. Obviously there would be no shortage of entities that would do so.

Playing devil's advocate, as I do not endorse executive overreach, but since this is a discussion board...

As far as an actual nationwide mask mandate goes, the odds may be against success, but they aren't zero. People were calling on Trump to issue one in 2020. The Congressional Research Service found the president's authority (via the CDC) to issue such a mandate essentially debatable in scope, but acknowledged some authority exists. The CDC went with a public transit mandate.

Federal funding--the granting and/or withholding thereof--is a time-tested policy tool to coerce certain outcomes. There are huge sums of COVID aid dollars yet to be disbursed. Both Obama and Trump (as well as presidents preceding them) penned many executive orders of questionable constitutionality that, because of our judicial system's precedent of showing deference to executive agency interpretation of statute, survived for a long time in practice before being struck down. Many more remain in force today. Biden signed an EO in April requiring the minimum wage paid at private contractors winning any government contracts to be at least $15 for any work related to the contract. There's leverage there to piecemeal requirements out to various entities.

We have a history (an unfortunate one, IMHO) of expansive, unilateral presidential actions, often justified as responses to supposed "emergencies" (border wall funding, anyone?).  In light of that history, I suspect Biden would have wide latitude in the presence of an actual national emergency to achieve short-term policy goals--even if they were eventually struck down.

But it would be politically risky for him to appear authoritarian, handing down EOs that dictate local matters and slogging through the publicity of court challenges. Trump looked terrible doing it, and even Obama took a few hits. It's OK to admit that Biden is also a political animal, while still acknowledging he's being far more responsible than DeSantis.

Biden wants governors--the people with clear authority--to do the right thing. As another poster mentioned, "I just think expecting people to do the right thing on their own is wishful thinking." Unfortunately, in our case, that seems to extend to our governor. But Biden does not have the political appetite, so far, to intervene.

[Charles Hunter]

The Wall Street Journal is considered right-of-center for reporting, and strong-right for editorials. One source: https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/wall-street-journal/

RIGHT-CENTER BIAS

These media sources are slightly to moderately conservative in bias. They often publish factual information that utilizes loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by using appeal to emotion or stereotypes) to favor conservative causes. These sources are generally trustworthy for information, but may require further investigation. See all Right-Center sources.

    Overall, we rate the Wall Street Journal Right-Center biased due to low biased news reporting combined with a strong right biased editorial stance. We also rate them Mostly Factual in reporting rather than High due to anti-climate, anti-science stances, and occasional misleading editorials.

So, "yes" I consider WSJ as spreading right-wing talking points.

The writer of the editorial, Jason L. Riley, is a member of the Manhattan Institute, a "conservative think-tank", rated as having "right bias" by the same source: https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/manhattan-institute-for-policy-research/

RIGHT BIAS

These media sources are moderately to strongly biased toward conservative causes through story selection and/or political affiliation. They may utilize strong loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by using appeal to emotion or stereotypes), publish misleading reports, and omit information that may damage conservative causes. Some sources in this category may be untrustworthy. See all Right Bias sources.

    Overall, we rate the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research Right Biased based on editorial and policy positions that routinely favor a conservative perspective. We also rate them Mixed for factual reporting due to a lack of transparency with funding, use of poor sources, and a failed fact check.

[BridgeTroll]

Soooo... you didn't read the article... lol. Nevermind... please don't...

[jaxlongtimer]

Soooo... you didn't read the article... lol. Nevermind... please don't...

I tried but it is behind a paywall.  You can only read the first few paragraphs before you hit a paywall.  Why don't you give us a synopsis?

That said, given that most of the unvaccinated are Republicans, why don't members of said party look in the mirror if they are that concerned about the spread of COVID.  Our #1 threat is from within.

Meanwhile, DeSantis just descends ever lower into the political sewers:

DeSantis insisted he is ready to object to any COVID-19 restrictions that would prevent business from operating normally. And he pointed the finger at Biden, saying he is the one who is "helping facilitate" the spread of COVID-19 by not securing the country's Southern border with Mexico. "You have hundreds of thousands of people pouring across every month," DeSantis said. "Not only are they letting them through, they're farming them out all across the country, putting them on planes, putting them on buses. Do you think they're worrying about COVID for that? Of course not." As might be expected, DeSantis didn't provide any evidence to support his allegations that "whatever variants there are around the world, they're coming across that Southern border." The governor had earlier blamed media "hysteria" for concerns over hospital capacity.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/08/desantis-blames-covid-immigrants-florida-hospitals-fill-up.amp

The one "facilitating" the spread of COVID is himself.  When does he start "worrying" about COVID? And, I thought he said Florida is "open for business" so why should immigrants patronizing Florida businesses concern him?  There are no mandates for vaccines or masks so why should immigrants be held to a standard any different than his fellow GOPers?

[Adam White]

Does the Wall street journal count as right wing talking points?  Probably yes in your world but...

https://www.wsj.com/articles/border-covid-illegal-undocumented-immigration-testing-biden-harris-11628023571

The WSJ isn't 'right wing talking points' in the same way the Huffington Post isn't the 'liberal media'.

[Snaketoz]

If you want the real story, you must listen to the "My Pillow" guy.

[jaxlongtimer]

I have lost count of how many lawsuits have been filed due to actions by DeSantis but here is another one regarding his school masks edicts.  The basis of the lawsuit appears to refer to the section of the State constitution I cited above.

Eight Florida attorneys have filed a lawsuit against Gov. Ron DeSantis over his executive order on masks in schools, said Charles Gallagher, an attorney working on the suit.

This is the first legal challenge over the constitutionality of the governor's order on masks, Gallagher said.

The order, issued late last month, directed the state's health and education departments to issue rules preventing the implementation of school mask mandates in an effort to "protect parents' freedom to choose whether their children wear masks."

"They are framing this as a parent choice issue when this is really a public health issue," Gallagher told CNN by phone....

....The plaintiffs in the lawsuit include parents who represent school-aged children from counties all over the state, including Miami-Dade, Orange, Hillsborough, Palm Beach and Alachua.

The lawsuit argues several points, according to Gallagher, including that the Florida Constitution guarantees a safe school environment and gives counties the power to govern themselves. DeSantis' executive order attempts to strip the power away from school districts that are run by elected officials, Gallagher said.

"The Constitution is equal justice under [the] law and therefore we think that we are on the right side of these facts," Gallagher said....

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/06/us/florida-desantis-executive-order-school-masks-first-legal-challenge-constitutionality/index.html

[jaxlongtimer]

DeSantis "fiddles while Rome burns" should be his next campaign slogan as Florida sets daily COVID records and he sticks his head in the sand.

A record-breaking 23,903 new Covid-19 cases were reported in Florida on Friday, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This marks the third time this week that Florida has surpassed its record of new daily Covid-19 cases. The state first reported its highest one-day total on July 31 with 21,683 new cases. Then, on Thursday, at least 22,783 new daily cases were reported, CDC data shows.

"This is real. And it didn't have to be this bad," Nikki Fried, Florida's commissioner of agriculture and consumer services, tweeted Saturday. "We need everyone to do their part — #GetVaccinatedNow & #MaskUp. If not for yourself, for your friends, family, and neighbors. For our kids. For our doctors & nurses. For Florida."

Covid-19 hospitalizations in the state have also increased at record-breaking levels for six consecutive days, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services.

On Saturday, Florida recorded 13,747 hospitalizations related to Covid-19, with at least 2,753 patients in intensive care units statewide, accounting for 43 percent of the intensive care units beds available in the state....

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/florida-breaks-record-new-daily-covid-cases-third-time-week-n1276263

[vicupstate]

Does the Wall street journal count as right wing talking points?  Probably yes in your world but...

https://www.wsj.com/articles/border-covid-illegal-undocumented-immigration-testing-biden-harris-11628023571

Are you aware that Rupert Murdock owns the Wall Street Journal?


As for the larger point, while Biden or any President can certainly mandate certain things that are directly tied to government employees, funding or contracts, it is wholly unprecedented to make a nation-wide public health mandate, usurping those powers from the 50 states. Were he to do so, he would receive def-con resistance from the very same people (DeSantis and the Right) that are making the desire for such a mandate necessary in the first place. That is to say nothing of the fact that the situation is not as urgent in all parts of the country either. NOTHING stands in the way, no court or law, from DeSantis simply backing down from his reactionary, wholly wrong-headed approach to this issue.  He is running to be Trump's heir and if people suffer and die as a consequence, he is okay with that.       

[vicupstate]

Floriduh Man strikes again.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/anti-vaxx-radio-host-and-former-newsmax-anchor-dick-farrel-dies-of-coronavirus?ref=home

An anti-vaccine right-wing radio host in West Palm Beach, Florida died Wednesday from COVID-19 complications. Dick Farrel, 65, used his local talk show and social media to rail against Dr. Anthony Fauci, who he called a "power tripping lying freak," and say that no one should get the coronavirus vaccine. When COVID-19 sent him to the hospital for three weeks, though, he changed his tune, urging friends to get vaccinated, friends told local station WPTV.

[BridgeTroll]

Floriduh Man strikes again.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/anti-vaxx-radio-host-and-former-newsmax-anchor-dick-farrel-dies-of-coronavirus?ref=home

An anti-vaccine right-wing radio host in West Palm Beach, Florida died Wednesday from COVID-19 complications. Dick Farrel, 65, used his local talk show and social media to rail against Dr. Anthony Fauci, who he called a "power tripping lying freak," and say that no one should get the coronavirus vaccine. When COVID-19 sent him to the hospital for three weeks, though, he changed his tune, urging friends to get vaccinated, friends told local station WPTV.

Good.  I have  zero sympathy for unvaccinated adults deaths.