$1 trillion COVID-19 aid bill includes significant funds for foreign aid
According to this close look at the new $1 trillion COVID-19 aid bill that Congress is now considering, a significant amount of the money being allocated will go to foreign aid.
Note that the conservative narrative this past weekend was that the Democrats blocked passage of the aid bill because they wanted to stuff it with their own pet political projects. Meanwhile, the Republicans only wanted to get it passed in order to rush aid to Americans because of the government’s panic that has caused an economic crash.
While the Democratic portion of this narrative is true, the Republican part is a lie. The Republicans have their own pet political projects, and they are stuffing the bill with them also. Moreover, that stuffing includes, according to the article, lots of cash to “the salaries and expenses” of many DC government agencies.
The article also notes this:
To put that into perspective, the first COVID-19 legislation exceeds the $1.1 billion appropriated for Zika in 2016, the $5.4 billion for Ebola in 2014, and the $7 billion for swine flu in 2009.
All of those epidemics were actually much larger and more dangerous than the Wuhan flu. None resulted in panic and the establishment of martial law.
I promise you, the only real stimulus in this bill will be aimed at Washington. While the bill might give a free handout exceeding a thousand dollars to poorer Americans (in order to buy votes), most of the money will likely end up raising salaries, increasing staff, and improving the lifestyles of the bureaucracies in DC. Like the Obama stimulus, it will do little to stimulate the economy.
Meanwhile, the imposition of martial law continues, shutting down the American economy while making the pursuit of happiness impossible. I just got back from Costco with my wife. The store was opening two hours early in order to reserve those extra hours for those over sixty years old. We went because the panic has made it impossible to get some goods we need. We got there just before 8 am, when the store was supposed to open, and found a line so long already that would probably take two hours to get into the store. By that time most of what we need would likely be gone. We came home.
The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
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According to this close look at the new $1 trillion COVID-19 aid bill that Congress is now considering, a significant amount of the money being allocated will go to foreign aid.
Note that the conservative narrative this past weekend was that the Democrats blocked passage of the aid bill because they wanted to stuff it with their own pet political projects. Meanwhile, the Republicans only wanted to get it passed in order to rush aid to Americans because of the government’s panic that has caused an economic crash.
While the Democratic portion of this narrative is true, the Republican part is a lie. The Republicans have their own pet political projects, and they are stuffing the bill with them also. Moreover, that stuffing includes, according to the article, lots of cash to “the salaries and expenses” of many DC government agencies.
The article also notes this:
To put that into perspective, the first COVID-19 legislation exceeds the $1.1 billion appropriated for Zika in 2016, the $5.4 billion for Ebola in 2014, and the $7 billion for swine flu in 2009.
All of those epidemics were actually much larger and more dangerous than the Wuhan flu. None resulted in panic and the establishment of martial law.
I promise you, the only real stimulus in this bill will be aimed at Washington. While the bill might give a free handout exceeding a thousand dollars to poorer Americans (in order to buy votes), most of the money will likely end up raising salaries, increasing staff, and improving the lifestyles of the bureaucracies in DC. Like the Obama stimulus, it will do little to stimulate the economy.
Meanwhile, the imposition of martial law continues, shutting down the American economy while making the pursuit of happiness impossible. I just got back from Costco with my wife. The store was opening two hours early in order to reserve those extra hours for those over sixty years old. We went because the panic has made it impossible to get some goods we need. We got there just before 8 am, when the store was supposed to open, and found a line so long already that would probably take two hours to get into the store. By that time most of what we need would likely be gone. We came home.
The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation:
5. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.
The foreign aid is very important. It is the only way the politicians can get kickbacks into foreign banks which the American public can not see.
With the UK in pretty much total lock down, we have escaped many restrictions here in Sweden, so far….. Tomorrow we are implementing a “no mingling at the bar” policy… Get your drinks and sit down. ( I don’t see how that will help… )
There has also been no significant panic buying so far .. but almost everyone here gets paid on the 25th of the month , so tomorrow might be a different matter!
I’m sorry for not keeping up with the discussion, back to work with 10 days of work to catch up on! So tell me if this has been discussed…. The way I see it also is that on its own, Corona is probably not much worse than the regular flu… But running alongside the regular flu, will potentially double the deaths at a time when hospitals are already pushed almost to maximum, and could well overwhelm them, causing the deaths of people who could have otherwise been kept alive… That’s the problem.
Lee S:
So you recovered and are back at work, well done.
And did you indeed have the Corona virus?
@Cotour, thank you! And I still have no idea… Me, the ex, and our kids got tested for strep throat …. That came back negative, so it was not bacterial… But no test for Corona available…. My take on this is it’s that they genuinely have no tests available, or they are scared of testing too many of the public because of the figures so many tests would produce..
Either way, it’s not worth taking time off work for ANY reason… 10 days sick, and 10 extra days work to cram into an already busy week! The social benefits are great here, but it still don’t mean anyone else is gonna do my job while I’m away!!! ( A bit of a joke… But just a bit of one!) ;-)
Last week there was a lot of talk about the lack of testing but with a total 53,000 confirmed cases, we have to have tested well over 100,000 people and the volume will continue to increase while also diversifying the types of tests available. By the end of the year, I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone in the country is tested at least once and again next year.
Our stores have been busy for the past month. Luckily, I keep a well stocked pantry but I’ve been buying a little extra of things I use normally and haven’t had to leave the house much. With everyone rushing to the store, whoever is sick but not showing symptoms, will be in the store.