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CR: COVID-19 --Political Talk


Mrs Whiggins

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2 hours ago, Blotto said:

 

I couldn't remember the exact dates, so I just checked my brokerage accounts, and I started buying a variety of puts on individual stocks as well as the S&P on 1/30 and continued through the 2nd week of Feb . I didn't do it because I was concerned about Coronavirus in the US. I did it because China was shutting down manufacturing and quarantining millions and the markets in the US were at all time highs. There was a huge disconnect and  I was strongly convinced our supply chains would be fucked and the markets would be correcting soon (admittedly not to the extent they eventually did). I didn't need senate intelligence committee briefings to see what was coming. 

Now, the fact that Burr also had access to non-public intelligence  regarding the Coronavirus is where things get cloudy, because I'm not sure how that legally impacts his argument. But to Anastasis' point, there was plenty of publicly available information to suspect the markets were going to go down, and you can bet that will be his defense. Whether that is a legally sound defense, I have no idea as its been years since I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express. 

 

Yeah, and apparently he made as large or larger a trade(s) 14 months ago, so it's not like it's unprecedented.

The prosecution would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the trade was made only on non-public information.

The Stock Act is actually a bit broader than the regular insider trading crime, and it is fairly hard to prove, itself.

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So just to be clear on the timeline, Loeffler started dumping stock after a closed Senators-only meeting with administration officials, the director of the CDC, and Dr. Fauci on Jan 24. On Jan 28, the president at his rally in South Carolina was pushing the narrative that this was a Democratic hoax.

Sen. Kelly Loeffler Dumped Millions in Stock After Coronavirus Briefing https://a.msn.com/r/2/BB11qVrS?m=en-us&referrerID=InAppShare
 

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9 minutes ago, cactusflinthead said:

Of this administration? Yes.

The future remains to be seen

If Warren was on tap for the D nominee I would give this position a fighting chance.  He's not, and won't be. But maybe uncle joe and nancy pelosi will surprise us all and take up strong actions on congressional profiteering from political connections and insider trading. 

 

Come on guys.  Get real. 

Edited by Anastasis
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4 minutes ago, Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand said:

So just to be clear on the timeline, Loeffler started dumping stock after a closed Senators-only meeting with administration officials, the director of the CDC, and Dr. Fauci on Jan 24. On Jan 28, the president at his rally in South Carolina was pushing the narrative that this was a Democratic hoax.

Sen. Kelly Loeffler Dumped Millions in Stock After Coronavirus Briefing https://a.msn.com/r/2/BB11qVrS?m=en-us&referrerID=InAppShare
 

She also bought between $100,000 and $250,000 in Citrix, a technology company that offers teleworking software and which has seen a small bump in its stock price since Loeffler bought in as a result of coronavirus-induced market turmoil.

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4 minutes ago, Snake Diggity said:

Jesus.  It’s fucking simple:

Shut down all air travel for 30 days (announce it now effective 4/1-30)

all cities of 500k+ Shelter in place for 30 days (announce now effective 4/1-30); travel only allowed to get food or medical attention.  All businesses not related to food or healthcare must close.

Crank out the fucking tests.  Everybody gets tested.  Everybody.

On May 1 lift the travel restrictions but for the next 3 months in order to fly you must have passed a test within the last 2 weeks and not have a fever.

Give every poor person $2,000.  Give all businesses a huge tax break if they prove they have as many FT employees on 7/1 and 12/1 as they did on 2/1.

 

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2 minutes ago, Snake Diggity said:

Jesus.  It’s fucking simple:

Shut down all air travel for 30 days (announce it now effective 4/1-30)

all cities of 500k+ Shelter in place for 30 days (announce now effective 4/1-30); travel only allowed to get food or medical attention.  All businesses not related to food or healthcare must close.

Crank out the fucking tests.  Everybody gets tested.  Everybody.

On May 1 lift the travel restrictions but for the next 3 months in order to fly you must have passed a test within the last 2 weeks and not have a fever.

Give every poor person $2,000.  Give all businesses a huge tax break if they prove they have as many FT employees on 7/1 as they did on 2/1.

There are a lot of businesses that support food and healthcare you wouldn’t think of. 
Gas stations, machine shops, packagers, auto repair, bearing suppliers, Random equipment suppliers. 
 

but yes. I agree with you are saying overall. 

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For Burr, apart from whatever tea leaves you read about China, it's the contradictory signaling to the private group versus around a week later in a public op-ed that stands out.  If he told the public in his op-ed as he told the private gathering recorded on tape - that we were facing something severely dangerous and more akin to 1918, one of the deadliest pandemics on record, seems like it would be harder to fault him.  He'd be acting on information he also publicly disclosed.  But that's not what happened.  He used non-public information to inform a stock sale while shortly thereafter messaging to the public the opposite meaning.  fuck that guy.

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31 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Yeah, and apparently he made as large or larger a trade(s) 14 months ago, so it's not like it's unprecedented.

The prosecution would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the trade was made only on non-public information.

The Stock Act is actually a bit broader than the regular insider trading crime, and it is fairly hard to prove, itself.

nothing will come of it also because they're not the only two that prolly did it.  

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18 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

If Warren was on tap for the D nominee I would give this position a fighting chance.  He's not, and won't be. But maybe uncle joe and nancy pelosi will surprise us all and take up strong actions on congressional profiteering from political connections and insider trading. 

 

Come on guys.  Get real. 

I might be inclined to agree, but shit is happening that can't be undone. 401ks are getting hammered at an alarming rate. I don't think they have any idea where it is going to stop. Heads are going to roll. She and he are convenient targets. Profit taking while the rest of us suffer don't fly. Tuckerfuck is pissed. I don't see how they escape unscathed. Quietly pay their 3x fine or whatever it is, take the loss of office and move on. Ok whatever. 

November. A reckoning is coming. 

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34 minutes ago, cactusflinthead said:

 

I've believed this to be true. The GOPs never anticipated an outsider coming in and taking charge of their hate engine. The only mildly satisfying thing about this whole black hole of an administration is the pressure that a grifter like Trump has been able to put on a bunch of self-satisfied dickheads like Mitch in a wringer.

Fear of what Trump can do to them is only part of the equation. The greater fear is Trump's ability to expose the whole criminal organization.

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10 minutes ago, Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand said:

Feb 28 is also the date Eric sent out his "In my opinion, it's a great time to buy stocks or into your 401K..." tweet, just 4 days after the Senators-only meeting with administration officials.

Man if the Trump kids dumped stocks too....

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5 minutes ago, RomaVicta said:

If this story can shoulder its way to the front, it could have significant implications for the GOPs. 

Do you consider front page of the NYT to be "the front?"  If "yes," then here you are:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/us/politics/richard-burr-coronavirus-stocks.html?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage

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25 minutes ago, Bullneck said:

They aren't part of that reporting process but it would be worth knowing.

I would almost understand it more if Trump called the disease a hoax and didn't start mobilizing testing to allow his family time to sell out of the market. At least that makes sense then just living in denial. 

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22 minutes ago, FondrenRoad said:

Marie Antoinette wasn't the only one eating cake either.  

Unlike the French, Americans are willing to lie down and take just about anything from those in authority.  Maybe that will change though if unemployment really does hit 20%. 

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7 minutes ago, Fozzz said:

Unlike the French, Americans are willing to lie down and take just about anything from those in authority.  Maybe that will change though if unemployment really does hit 20%. 

Well, it’s been pretty fucking good in this country for several decades for a large percentage of people and we’ve gotten unbelievably fat, dumb and lazy. That may change a lot sooner than any of us thought it would. 

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7 minutes ago, MidTexHorn said:

Well, it’s been pretty fucking good in this country for several decades for a large percentage of people and we’ve gotten unbelievably fat, dumb and lazy. That may change a lot sooner than any of us thought it would. 

Not really. We had a good run from the end of WWII till the oil shocks of the 70s. Since then up until the financial crisis most people worked harder to maintain their standard of living, and the crisis was awful for this country.  By and large we work harder and receive less in return than the average person in other developed nations. 

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If lines from famous poems were rewritten in the age of the Coronavirus:


Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled. Duh.

- - -

He was my North, my South, my East, and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest.
But when I had a fever, he had no test
Just looked at me and said, Be Best.

- - -

I wandered lonely as a cloud, as the CDC advised.

- - -

Because I could not stop for Death—
He kindly stopped for me—
So I Clorox-wiped the shit out him.

- -

Hope springs eternal in the human breast
Just avoid the face.

- - -

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
Another night of Netflix and Chill.

- - -

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
Better yet, actually be out of my sight.

- - -

At any given moment in the middle of a city
there’s a million epiphanies occurring
Stay inside until they’re done.

- - -

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that shares his Zoom with me
Shall be my brother.

- - -

Do not go gentle into that good night
without first Purelling.

- - -

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
But looking is all you’ll get tonight
To hold her hand would be unwise.

- - -

Because I could not stop for death/He kindly stopped for me.
Fortunately, I remained more than six feet away.

- - -

The ladies men admire, I’ve heard,
Would shudder at a wicked word.
But it’s you touching their stuff they find absurd.

- - -

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won.
Invite me on another cruise, and I swear to god I’ll run.

- - -

I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
I am not coming to your luncheon.

- - -

There’s a stake in your fat black heart
And the villagers never liked you.
They are dancing and stamping on you.
They always knew it was you.
Who coughed in the produce aisle.

- - -

Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?
Still stocking toilet paper? I’ll take a ream.

- - -

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate
Thou looks like thou hasn’t been outside for a week…

- - -

What happens to a dream deferred?
    Does it dry up
    like a raisin in the sun?
We’re gonna find out, because you’re not acting on it until at least May.

- - -

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
Answer that door and I’ll start a slapping.

- - -

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
Alexa, order more plums.

- - -

April is the cruellest month
Unless you count March, which sucks bigly.

- - -

We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—
This debt we pay to human guile;
Donate it to your doctor, they did not stockpile.

- - -

Such wilt thou be to me, who must,
  Like th’ other foot, obliquely run;
Thy firmness makes my circle just,
  And makes me end where I begun.
Jog ’round this kitchen island I must
  I should have bought a Peloton.

- - -

I celebrate myself, and sing myself,
What the fuck else am I gonna do .... I’m by myself?

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10 minutes ago, Fozzz said:

Not really. We had a good run from the end of WWII till the oil shocks of the 70s. Since then up until the financial crisis most people worked harder to maintain their standard of living, and the crisis was awful for this country.  By and large we work harder and receive less in return than the average person in other developed nations. 

IncomeDistribution.jpg

Well 99% of us anyway.

 

 

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Three other senators also sold major holdings around the time Mr. Burr did, according to the disclosure records: Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, who is also a member of the Intelligence Committee; James M. Inhofe, Republican of Oklahoma; and Kelly Loeffler, Republican of Georgia.


Ms. Feinstein and her husband sold $1.5 million to $6 million worth of stock in Allogene Therapeutics, a California-based biotech company, in transactions that took place on Jan. 31 and Feb. 18.

 

A spokesman for Ms. Feinstein said that she played no role in the decision to sell the stock. “All of Senator Feinstein’s assets are in a blind trust,” a spokesman, Tom Mentzer, said in a statement. “She has no involvement in her husband’s financial decisions.”

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23 minutes ago, Blotto said:

IncomeDistribution.jpg

Well 99% of us anyway.

 

 

IMO, these charts are misleadingly optimistic. Although there have been modest increases in income (often obtained through an increase in dual outcome households), that increase hasn’t kept pace with the rapid increase in the cost of living. This is why most Americans today have less than a $1,000 in savings...and that’s following a decade long bull market lol. 

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1 hour ago, Fozzz said:

Not really. We had a good run from the end of WWII till the oil shocks of the 70s. Since then up until the financial crisis most people worked harder to maintain their standard of living, and the crisis was awful for this country.  By and large we work harder and receive less in return than the average person in other developed nations. 

Absolutely agree. 
 

We embraced neoliberal economic policy in the mid-70’s (both major parties). Working harder for less money is neoliberal economic policy with the savings going to the top .01 as profit. We also sold out our manufacturing during that period of time. After 2008, the Fed said we would never have another economic crisis again. 
 

Neoliberal Economic Policy (which favors billionaires and large corporations) deserves to be chucked into the dustbin of failed policies. 
 

and please don’t hate me for the name - that is what it is called. It has nothing to do with Dems and Republicans as they both ascribe to the economic policy. The old policies were FDR social safety nets and strong US manufacturing when America was an economic dynamo. 

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3 hours ago, Fozzz said:

IMO, these charts are misleadingly optimistic. Although there have been modest increases in income (often obtained through an increase in dual outcome households), that increase hasn’t kept pace with the rapid increase in the cost of living. This is why most Americans today have less than a $1,000 in savings...and that’s following a decade long bull market lol. 

And record worker productivity..working harder...producing more..only person getting paid are the c-suites and wall street

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If there is to be any silver lining in this it will be that it forces a national moral reckoning and the political backlash puts Democrats in a position to get some of that big structural change to address all the greed and fucked up incentives that made us so vulnerable to this. 

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  • immamac changed the title to CR: COVID-19 --Political Talk


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