“Whenever you start to think that the federal government under Donald Trump has hit a moral bottom, it finds a new way to shock and horrify.
Over the last few weeks, it has started to appear as though, in addition to abandoning the states to their own devices in a time of national emergency, the federal government has effectively erected a blockade — like that which the Union used to choke off the supply chains of the Confederacy during the Civil War — to prevent delivery of critical medical equipment to states desperately in need.”
—The New York Times Magazine, April 19, 2020, on the problems experienced by states in trying to procure PPEs, frustrating—and unnecessary—roadblocks thrown up by the Trump administration which has threatened to seize shipments already paid for by states.
“Our supply-chain group has worked around the clock to secure gowns, gloves, face masks, goggles, face shields, and N95 respirators. These employees have adapted to a new normal, exploring every lead, no matter how unusual. Deals, some bizarre and convoluted, and many involving large sums of money, have dissolved at the last minute when we were outbid or out-muscled, sometimes by the federal government.”
—Excerpt from a letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine, April 18, 2020. [for those who don’t trust The NYT, the NEJM could hardly be considered fake news. And by the way, we thought price-gouging in times of emergency was illegal.]
Louisiana Voice 
Zoe, what did Obama have to do with the Spanish flu? Also, you spend a lot of time looking for disparaging items (notice I didn’t say facts) on Obama. However, when it comes to Trump, all he has to do is open his mouth. Zoe, do you ever listen to him or read what he has to say?
Cliff, I NEVER said Obama had anything to do with Spanish Flu. Were you able to read, you would not that I referenced back to Spanish Flu forward including Swine Flu and the current Corona19 virus. My comment said there were no quarantines during these epidemics, which is pretty accurate.
One does not have to dig deeply to find issue with Barry Soreto (or is it Barack Hussein Obama). Do you challenge a single disparaging comment as untrue ?
I have a lot of issue with Trump and his comments. I wish he was NOT so transparent and wish he did not hold so many press conferences. I wish he would not let himself get drawn into argument and just ignore a lot of his political enemies (most who were his friend when he was doling out money). His management style does not respond to the bureaucracy of our government, which is fact has become the De Facto government. If what we have seen exposed so far in our Justice Department is as widespread as it looks, we have a bureaucracy that has rum amuck and is being defended by that institution (bureaucratic workers). His biggest problem is he TELLS us what he is thinking while most politicians NEVER tell us what they actually are thinking.
In response to Ms. Zoe’s recent lists of “Firsts” for President Obama, here is a lists of “Tops” for President Trump. I am sure more could be added, but we do have limited space.
Tops in incompetence
Tops in corruption
Tops in telling lies to the American public
Tops in poor leadership
Tops in harming the environment
Tops in cutting taxes for the rich
Tops in reducing the fight against climate change
Tops in poor handling of the coronavirus
Tops in caring only for himself
Tops in greed
Tops in making the worse political appointees in history
Tops in adding to the swamp
Tops in destroying America’s leadership in the world
Tops in losing America’s trust and respect in the world
Tops in kissing up to the world’s dictators
Tops in failing to listen to people who know better than him
Tops in poor gut instinct decisions
Tops in bullying
Tops in helping the fossil fuel industry and corporate America
MAFTA – Make American Free of Trump Again
A further note on this should be that we cannot turn to these Republicans because they have created this Trump President monster and continue aid & abet him…there appears to be open corruption!!
Now CJG, you just KNOW Zoe’s going to respond to that. 🤪
Wow CJG must have double up on his hateful pills this morning. By the way who bow to some one.LOL………………..
You are correct DJ.
The difference in the two lists is that CJ’s list is ALL subjective. CJ simply does not like Trump. The fact is, by every possible measure, things have improved over the past few administrations management of our affairs under Trump. You just do not like his style. I like his results even if I disagree with his style. And so does most of America.
Let us examine a few on your list; Tax cuts for rich. I got a tax cut and I am hardly rich. Do you mean the people who pay more taxes received a bigger tax cut ? They should, they pay a lot more. Have you ever seen a breakdown on where tax dollars come from ?
Harming the environment ? Really.How ?
Helping fossil fuel industry. Thank God. Louisiana needs that or don’t you care about your fellow citizens ?
Adding to the swamp. Really ? The bureaucracy is the swamp. Here in Louisiana as well.
Hurting Climate change? Where is your evidence of that ?
Destroying leadership in the world/ Did you want him to make an apology tour like obama ? Trump has in fact put things into perspective for all; our “allies” are forced to help pay for what we do for them rather than the free ride that has evolved over the years. He has heavily punished Russia and Iran economically with sanctions.
The bulk of the list sounds like you got it from CNN/morning Joe. And CJ, really, is your hope resting on Joe Biden to bring us back to the “good old days” of yesteryear ? That is Edith’s “old white man” . Joe cannot even read the teleprompter, much less put a coherent sentence together. Do you really want to see him on stage with Trump ? And I can’t wait to see who his VP choice will be……Ms Abrams ? Me Harris ? Ms Warren ? C’mon man……maybe even Corn Pop .And DJ, do you really think that is a valid list ? Maybe you can present a more viable list of factual criticism and I can assure you, I will likely agree with some. And CJ forgot, tops in fake bake.
Oh, Ms. Zoe…my list came straight from the “Top” of my head, but I assure you there is ample proof of truth for every one of them. I only wish there was enough space to provide chapter and verse for each of them.
What’s the first thing Trump did when he came into office? He announced the U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate, in which nearly two hundred countries agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Since then, he has:
• Directed his Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to rescind the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, a regulation that would have required states to move away from coal-based power plants. His budgets have repeatedly tried to slash EPA funding by nearly a third.
• Spearheaded a broad reduction in environmental regulation, rolling back nearly eighty separate regulations. These include requirements to reduce methane emissions, factor carbon emissions into federal decision-making, and limit pollutants from fracking.
• Sought to open nearly all U.S. waters and protected lands to oil and gas drilling, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, though many of his executive orders are still being challenged in federal court.
• Sought to weaken industry-wide automobile fuel-efficiency standards implemented under Obama, including by withdrawing a waiver that lets California and other states apply stricter standards.
I won’t list the eighty regulations he wants rolled back. Nor will I list all the administration officials who have been forced to leave due to malfeasance, political embarrassment or the ones who have been convicted of crimes. Nor will I go into the tax cuts for the wealthy and the large corporations. If you want to read about it, google – “How Much Did Trump’s Tax Law Benefit Corporations—And …” from January 6, 2020 Newsweek. That should be enough to make you ill.
I could go on with a huge amount of facts to support my views, but I won’t. However, I will leave you with this tidbit about oil and gas and Louisiana. It was exactly a decade ago today, that the “Deepwater Horizon drilling rig leased by BP was working in the Gulf of Mexico when a surge in pressure and a blowout triggered a fire that killed 11 crew members and unleashed the largest oil spill in U.S. history.” It triggered catastrophic environmental damage to the Louisiana coastline and the fishing industry.
“In 2016, the Obama administration imposed the Well Control Rule, a package of safety measures including backup mechanisms on blowout preventers, regular tests of safety equipment, and independent inspectors so that the public no longer relies on the companies to police themselves.
Since coming into office, however, the Trump administration demonstrated it would roll back those rules by eliminating the need for independent inspectors. That followed the issuance of approximately 1,700 waivers to an industry the administration’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said was bearing “unnecessary burdens.” Read about it from yesterday’s WAPO.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/ten-years-after-gulf-of-mexico-oil-spill-trump-administration-weakens-reforms/2020/04/19/f935ec1c-7ffc-11ea-8013-1b6da0e4a2b7_story.html
And one last thing. The current director of the Bureau of Safety and Environment Enforcement (BSEE) is none other than Scott Angelle. You know, the perennial run for every office in Louisiana and lose guy. The one quoted in the article as referring to the offshore industry as “partners” with the agency.
MAFTA – Make America Free of Trump Again