I don't necessarily disagree entirely but I do point out this is because of our form of government. Trump you'll recall wanted to open up after 30 days. Some red states ignored him and started opening up earlier. Some blue states are still in partial lockdown. If he had the power to impose a uniform solution, you'd probably be complaining he's an idiot because he's opening up too soon and forcing California to move faster.
Within those limitations we did have a plan to mobilize testing. It basically involved taking away the government monopoly on testing (which caused the absolute disaster in the opening weeks) and privatizing a lot of it. In most areas of the country, we now have plenty of tests (and in fact there are tests just sitting there because not everyone who might be positive is getting tested). There's still some clog up on the back end (but that capacity takes a little longer to build including training people to handle the tests). It's a big country with a lot of people, and while they could have always done better, given the early misstep (which was not a Trump admin error, but a bureaucratic FDA/CDC one, though you can argue the buck should stop with him, but then can't argue we should trust the experts) we've done decently. Where we don't have a uniform policy is on tracing or if we should force people to get tested, but I don't want to go too far off topic.
Federalism is a double edged sword, it means we get to wait longer than other states for soccer to reopen, and a President couldn't order a uniform lockdown or reopen period. It also means individual areas can respond to the situation as needed on the ground. The cons found federalism inconvenient when Trump wanted to open things up and couldn't. The libs found it inconvenient when the federal govt couldn't adopt a national lockdown or test and trace policy. If we don't like it, we'd need to rewrite the US Constitution.
Nice try to clean up the mess. I've posted this before, but I don't believe I've seen your name around during that time, so here it goes in a nutshell. AND remember, HE'S the Commander in Chief leading us in the war against the invisible enemy.
1. Early misstep, FDA/CDC unprepared, cupboards empty, etc. - You know what the first thing all responsible adults in America did when we knew the lockdown was imminent? We all took INVENTORY. How much water do we have; how much food (canned food) do we have; how much cash do we have; how much toilet paper doe we have,? etc. etc. And guess what, if you were low on toilet paper, you got your ass up at 6:00 a.m., waited in line for 3 hours at Costco, AND got your F'n toilet paper! Poor Bunker Boy, he's just a victim.
2. China travel ban in late January - excellent
3. Lockdown until March 16th - Bad. Should have shut down late February or first days of March. Would have saved lives, resources and lots of $$$
4. Testing - how f'n long have we known the importance of testing. WOW, we have enough tests now to test everyone who might be positive. WHOOPEE. By now, with the use of the Federal Production Act, everyone in America should have been tested for antibodies, twice. Maybe there's 20-30 million people with antibodies who can return to work confidently and donate convalescent plasma.
By now, every household should have one of those toaster sized Abbot 5-15 minute tests. Cost 100-200 billion. A fraction of the 9-10 trillion total price tag. That way, America can reopen at 75-85 % instead of 25-25%. Don't take my word, take Harvard's word. You know that school we'd all be bragging about if our kids got in.
https://ethics.harvard.edu/files/center-for-ethics/files/white_paper_6_testing_millions_final.pdf ,
https://www.vox.com/2020/4/13/21215133/coronavirus-testing-covid-19-tests-screening
Constant testing is the only way to safely get back to relative normalcy. You know, kind like the White House, the military, UFC, EPL; NFL are doing it.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-military-army-readiness-coronavirus-60-minutes-2020-04-26/ https://sportstar.thehindu.com/othe...ouza-coronavirus-pandemic/article31549358.ece https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/so...-covid-19-results/ar-BB14GcjW?ocid=spartanntp https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nf...k-for-coronavirus/ar-BB15ci6n?ocid=spartanntp
This misstep by Bunker Boy, is by far, the worst economic decision in the history of the United States. What a f'n disaster. Were in a complete shithole and we have no choice but to wing it as safely as we can. I agree, further lockdown is unsustainable. But what a F'n mess. Three months of lockdown, trillions wasted, 40 million unemployed, countless people depressed, and we're basically in the same F'n place that we started. If I'd of known we'd be in this situation three months ago, I would have opted for herd immunity and not shut down! Because that is essentially where were at now.
And spare me the excuses. I though conservatives hated victimhood? Oh, he was only listening to his experts on the lockdown. The lockdown was ALWAYS only temporary. Enough time to help the health workers and enough time to ramp up testing. AND yes, he should have used the DPA so that we have testing and PPE coming out of our ass! Harvard has been saying that since April and probably a lot earlier than that!