Transportation Secretary Alfred E Newman took center stage today to outline the White House response to the gas crisis as people up and down the East coast are unable to find fuel.  We are so screwed with these professional political idiots, who have never held a real private sector job, in charge of U.S. policy.

Secretary Newman is skilled in the use of parseltongue: ‘We understand the concerns that need to be understood in order to evaluate the concerns that have been expressed.  Our understanding has led to a larger discussion about the concerns and we understand the need to coordinate with our partner agencies toward the common goal of understanding.  Now that we have the analysis to understand the greater concern, we are evaluating the fastest way to express the understanding of the analysis to a more broad network of partners.  As soon as that network understanding is in place, then we will have a better understanding for the American people about their concern‘.. or something.   Yes, these are the words of wisdom from the Secretary of Transportation.

Think I’m kidding… Well, you try:

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The Big Tech ministry of COVID compliance has again removed scientific discussion that runs counter to the approved narrative presented by the ideological community.  In this article we explain why….

…”COVID Compliance is Infrastructure“

Governor Ron DeSantis held a roundtable discussion with panel experts from world-renowned doctors and epidemiologists from Oxford, Stanford and Harvard.  However, the panel debated the efficacy of masks on children and that apparently was considered too contrarian for the Big Tech control agents.

(Via NBC) – […] The video of DeSantis’ roundtable discussion last month at the state Capitol in Tallahassee was removed on Wednesday because it violated the social media platform’s standards, YouTube spokesperson Elena Hernandez said.

[…] “YouTube has clear policies around Covid-19 medical misinformation to support the health and safety of our users,” Hernandez said in a statement. “We removed AIER’s video because it included content that contradicts the consensus of local and global health authorities regarding the efficacy of masks to prevent the spread of Covid-19.”

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This is a specific example that needs to be drilled down quickly so that people with only a cursory interest in politics can understand how it impacts them.  Biden’s $1400 stimulus checks are useless, literally wiped-out, when compared with the increase in gasoline prices already in place as part of the Biden energy policy.

Gas prices have already jumped $1/gal in most areas as a result of Biden killing the oil production energy sector.  Factor in the increased transportation costs for goods and services, including the costs associated with deliveries of home meals, Uber rides, products delivered, airline charges; and the gas price increase hits the family checkbook far beyond the $1400 provided for stimulus.

Add to that charge and the increases in electricity prices, together with the increase in product costs that are based on petroleum (rubber, plastics, containers etc), and you can see how the increased cost of Biden’s ridiculous energy policy hits families even harder.  But wait…. it gets worse…. If that were already not enough of a problem, Biden is now proposing a mileage tax on top of a gasoline tax increase that will hit the middle class much harder. [SEE Video at 01:30]

The middle-class commutes to work much more than all other sectors.  Any increase in gas prices, gasoline taxes or mileage taxes hits the blue-collar worker at a disproportionate rate.  A proposal to install a mileage tax does nothing but add another cost onto the American middle-class.

This is an issue of leftist policy, as the far-left now move to push their climate change agenda and simultaneously push federal infrastructure spending.  Of course, in order to keep advancing their severe leftist agenda, the democrats have to pretend not to know things.

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Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg (aka Alfred E Newman), made a rather stunning statement during an Axios interview today.

When discussing domestic travel and transportation as it related to COVID-19, the transportation secretary said: “there is an active conversation within the CDC now” about requiring COVID tests prior to air travel inside the United States.

This ridiculous position was unfortunately one of the issues CTH predicted might happen.

COVID is not a virus inasmuch as it is an opportunity to achieve social-change goals advocated by the far-left.  Remember, one key element within the Green New Deal was to ban airplanes altogether.

The kindergarten class of tree-shouting, algae-cake-eating, everything must be sustainable and stupid, ie. leftist moonbats, are the ones offering actual policy suggestions.

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For several months the Trump administration has been talking about a “V-Shaped recovery,” meaning the COVID-19 rebound would be as strong as the preceding quarter contraction.  Today the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released the third-quarter economic stats reflecting exactly that, a V-shaped recovery.

The 3rd quarter rebound in GDP growth was 33.1 percent, larger than the 2nd quarter contraction of 31.4 percent.  And keep in mind this is with a major part of the U.S. leisure and hospitality sector remaining severely impacted. [See Table 3, Line 20]

Despite several blue states attempting to stall their economic recovery, overall the economy is rebounding as expected.  Obviously the threat of COVID has been weaponized as an election strategy. It is against the interests of the administration’s political opposition to support a more honest, open and engaged economic recovery.

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The ADP private sector payroll report [link here] reflects continued rapid recovery from the regional COVID-19 shutdowns. The monthly report shows gains of 749,000 jobs, exceeding the expected 650,000 forecast.

One of the key factors is the expiration of the disincentive via the federal COVID unemployment mechanism that provided an additional $600/month beyond normal earnings in the unemployment package. This has been a topic of many coversations in my travels as working-class businesses have been having a hard time getting people to return to work.  (more on that below)

(Reuters) Private payrolls increased by 749,000 jobs this month after rising 481,000 in August, the ADP National Employment Report showed. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast private payrolls would rise by 650,000 in September. Employment gains were spread across all industries and company size.

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Senator Tom Cotton appears with Maria Bartiromo to discuss recent reporting showing cell phone in/around Wuhan China showed road-blocks and/or a containment zone was mysterious set up in October of 2019.  The suspicion is that China knew the virus had escaped the Wuhan bio-lab and was taking effort to contain the spread of the virus.

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These suspicions fall on the heels of additional confirmation that Beijing asked the World Health Organization not to reveal human-to-human transmission of the virus at the same time.

Stay big picture. After three years of Beijing losing the geopolitical confrontation to President Trump…. Think about what you know of the aggressive Communist and zero-sum disposition of China. Keep in mind these new reports from intelligence research are pointing to a biologic release in/around October of 2019.   Now consider this timeline overlay…

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Earlier this evening on Fox News, Tucker Carlson outlined a disconnect between dire national health models that predicted mass deaths and a reality not close to predictions.

[Review IHME Coronavirus Model HERE]

As Carlson notes there are few professionals explaining why there is such a significant difference. Additionally, if we have shut down our economy based on models that were incorrect, well, when are we going to re-open our economy? Lots of questions… and unfortunately no-one seems to be allowed to ask them.

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In the final analysis this crisis is going to come down to a very tribal set of decisions about when to re-engage the operations of U.S. society. Additionally, what changes and rules will be instituted as a result of some areas wanting to re-open, while others demand the continuance of an extended shut-down.

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was under massive pressure to issue a state-wide stay-at-home order.  Most of the pressure was from political opposition and their allied media… However, there was an aspect to the COVID-19 mitigation that Gov. DeSantis wanted/needed; so today he executed an executive order [document pdf here].

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The Florida order requires all senior citizens and individuals with a “significant underlying medical condition” to limit movements & remain at home. All other Floridians must limit any activity outside their home to obtaining or providing essential activities or services.

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As more essential service outlets start to become overwhelmed at the stress upon their food delivery operations; and with more food store employees necessarily absent due to the coronavirus spread; regionally, the food supply chain will becoming more dependent on food bank distribution.

If the virus spread continues at current pace, some regional supermarkets with multiple locations will likely begin targeted shut-downs by retreating and disbursing available healthy (non-infected) employees on a store-by-store basis.  The potential for this issue is most likely to first originate within urban communities; and then outflow.

This reality is starting to become more evident in localized communities, and a distribution center in the greater Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, area gives a great example of what could become increasingly common across the nation.

Approximately 1,500 cars line up to receive essential food products from the Greater Pittsburgh Community Center.  The capacity was anticipated around 1,700 at the beginning of the three hour event. 1,500 cars were in line before it began.  [Video Story]

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