Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 229 | Save Lives ... and Livelihoods

Episode Date: March 25, 2020

Let's do everything we can to save people's lives, but we'd be foolish to forget about people's livelihoods. We can't lock down indefinitely. We need a plan. Today we discuss the latest on coronavirus and why our leaders desperately need to shift their perspective.

Hey guys, welcome to Relatable. If you are watching this on YouTube, you are seeing that we are in yet another spot. There just aren't a lot of great spots in my house for this. Just, well, there are, but it's just, it's kind of complicated. I won't go into all of that. So thank you for being gracious during this pandemic in which we are all suffering and isolated for the aesthetic of my videos. I really appreciate that. But hopefully it sounded. it okay i know that we're using different microphones but at least at least we're still together right you guys because that's what we need in all of this craziness we need to make sure that we are still coming together and having these important conversations about the things that are going on today

we of course are going to talk about some of the things that are going on with this crazy coronavirus i'm going to give you the updates i am going to talk about this bill that is trying to be passed in Congress, I am going to change my tone and my tune just a little bit. You are going to notice that I have shifted my perspective slightly. I don't disagree with anything that I've said leading up to this, but I have my mindset is a little bit different than what it has been. And there are a few reasons for that that I will list and you will, you will notice that I, I guess I'm just weighing the other side of this whole thing more than I have. And I'll let you know, I'll talk about the media response and we'll talk about China's response and all of that.

So by the end of this, hopefully you feel like you are updated and abreast on everything that is going on. Now, here's a very important question that a lot of you have asked me on Instagram and some people on YouTube if you're watching this. Some people have said, Allie, are you going brunettes? Are you no longer a blonde? I know this is like the hard hitting question that most of you inquisitive people out there have been wondering. And the answer is no.

But the fact of the matter is is that quarantine life has restricted me from getting the highlights that I typically get. And before that, it was just like typical mom busyness, alley procrastination that stopped me for doing that. So before I get another comment or message about my hair being dark, I just wanted to let you guys know the inside. scoop on that very, very important subject. Now we will get in to the pandemic that all of us are in. Okay, like I said, I am changing my tune and my tone just a little bit. That doesn't mean that I'm retracting the things that I've said about this pandemic, but I am going to offer a different angle that I haven't discussed quite as much. So let me back up and tell you, maybe this is your first time listening or watching. And so let me tell you, how.

how I am looking at this whole virus thing, because it is a thing. It encapsulate something that is bigger than the sickness itself. I've been saying since the beginning of this whole thing that we don't need to be flibbing about it, and I stand by that. I don't think that we need to write this off as a hoax. I don't think that we need to say this is just the media ginning up outrage or just the left trying to take Trump down, or this is an election year strategy to try. try to get Joe Biden to win.

Like, I don't think that we need to write it off as that. I don't even think we need to write it off as China or different world powers trying to take down America. Now, the virus is certainly being used by particular powers both in and out of the country to try to take down Trump or hurt America. There's no doubt in my mind that that is actually happening. But my point is that we can't write it off as those things and pretend that we shouldn't be abiding by guidelines and recommendations just because it happens to be being weaponized by people

that we disagree with. People are actually dying. People of all ages are getting infected by it. There does seem to be a proven benefit to intense social distancing. We've seen that in other countries like South Korea, Taiwan. And I do believe that a major way, I've been saying this for a few weeks now. A major way to love your neighbor right now as a Christian is to limit your exposure to the public. That doesn't mean that you don't go to work. If you have to go to work, that doesn't mean that you don't go outside at all. That doesn't mean that you don't serve people who need to be who need to be served and help people who need to be helped. But as long as we can and as much as we can, as much as is feasible, we need to be avoiding the public how and when we can. You can be a,

an asymptomatic carrier and pass it along to people who are themselves vulnerable or who are around other people who are vulnerable. So that means people who are immunocompromised might be elderly people or people with some kind of underlying condition like diabetes, like a lung disease, like heart disease, like cancer. And now we also know that this virus doesn't just spread to those kinds of people, but it also spreads and can kill young people and healthy people and kids. And so we should be careful. I believe that socially distancing is good. I believe governors have a really tough decision to make in the midst of all of this.

And they are trying to do what's best for the health of the public for the most part. Of course, they are politicians. A lot of politicians are thinking about being up for re-election. And that's, I mean, that's a part of living in a democracy that's a good thing. They are beholden to votes. they're beholden to their constituents in that way. And so no one wants to be responsible. No leader wants to be responsible for anyone's death or they don't want to be residing, presiding over a state in which a high number of deaths occurred because then it would fall back on their leadership and

they know that doesn't look good. And so they are all picking very conservative approaches. And by conservative. I don't mean politically conservative. I mean really like medically conservative. They are trying to limit the spread of this virus the only way they know how by limiting any kind of public interaction for the most part. And they are trying to do what health experts have told them is best. And so they're in a tough position. I'm not saying we shouldn't criticize our leaders. I'm just saying I understand that this is probably a very difficult

to be in and a hard balance to strike. This is unprecedented for everyone who is alive right now. Everyone who is alive feels like they are going through the most, maybe the most unique moments in history, in the history that we have been a part of at least. As of right now, as I'm recording this, there are 40,550 confirmed cases in the United States. 1,040 of those have been or are critical. And 400,000,000,000,000,000, are critical. And 4,000,000,000, 99, I think. I think that's the most up-to-date number as I'm recording this. 499 of those cases have resulted in death. So this is still a virus, like I said, that most seriously affects older Americans, though young people are not completely immune to this. They can still be vulnerable. They're young people and children in the ICU. They're young healthy people who have died. It's very rare. I'll say that. That's very rare for that to happen. But it does happen. and so we shouldn't write this off as something that only affects the older generations. According to Dr. Neil Ferguson, he is an epidemiologist who produced a model that shows the worst case scenario for the United States.

The worst case scenario, according to him, I mean, this is just one person and other people have said this as well, but according to him, 2.2 million people in the United States die from this. That would be devastating, obviously, 12,000 people, only 12,000. people in the United States died from swine flu in 2009, though over 60 million people had it, which is kind of crazy. Over 60 million people apparently had swine flu in 2009, but only 12,000 people died from it, which means that the fatality rate was really low. There were only eight confirmed cases of SARS in the United States. The CDC did a really good job of containing that. Back in 2003, only 8,000 cases worldwide and only 700.

174 people died from SARS total. So it is different than these things. We keep trying to compare it to these, but it is different. It's also different than the flu. The flu has about a 0.1% fatality rate right now. This has about a 1% fatality rate and can be higher depending on how old you are and what conditions you have. So experts are saying, coronavirus is more serious and will kill more people. Worst case, as Dr. Ferguson said, 2.2 million.

Best case, according to this doctor. 1.1 million people, which is a lot of people. And this is why states and counties are declaring shelter in place, which looks different for each place, but it essentially means that businesses deemed non-essential are closed. So usually that means grocery stores are open, pharmacies are open, gas stations are open, a lot of banks are open, other places can stay open, but all other business has to be conducted either not at all or conducted virtually. Restaurants can do take out delivery and delivery people can go out but have to maintain a distance of six feet or more between them and other people. How do you enforce that? I'm really not sure. In some places,

that means they have curfews. So people literally have to go inside at like 8 p.m. or whatever the curfew is. This means that many businesses, especially brick and mortar stores, will have to shut down. They cannot stay open. They can't pay their employees because they're not getting any revenue. That's how it works. People are getting laid off left and right. This affects so many sectors of our society that I don't think any of us can probably even imagine because there are just so many different kinds of people and kinds of jobs that we don't think about on an everyday basis. There are kinds of jobs that you are thinking of and know we're affected that I don't and vice versa. If you are, for example, I've just thought about some like random, not random, but I've thought about some

different kind of careers or different kind of roles that people have that are so affected by this. Like if you're a realtor, you're going to be hurting right now. People probably aren't going to be buying and selling their homes, at least not as much until you don't have commission. If you are a nanny, your kids might be out of school so you can't do your job, which means the parents who depend on you to watch their kids aren't going to be able to do their jobs. That might mean that you're not getting paid at all or maybe you're getting paid something, but depending on the kind of job that the parents have, that they're no longer able to do, they might not be able to pay you anymore. So you feel like you're out and you're on your own

trying to take care of your kids now without a job. If you are in retail, your store is closed. You have probably been laid off or if you're the owner of the store, you probably had to lay people off. If you own a restaurant, your business has gone down and you're probably not making up for it with takeout and delivery, which means you've had to lay off waitresses, waiters, probably all of your hosts and hostesses if they haven't become, you know, take out and delivery people. If you are any kind of hourly worker or someone who is going from gig to gig to make money, which a lot of freelancers are, then you are probably really hurting right now because people aren't paying for your services. Everyone is kind of holding on to their money right now,

not knowing if they are going to be the next ones to get laid off. And so they're not paying for anything that they don't have to pay for. If you're a single parent who just got laid off or whose hours had been cut and you have nowhere to go for a job, you are freaking out right now. And if your daycare center is closed, what are you supposed to do even if you do find a job? So there's a lot of things that we have to think about, a lot of people that are being affected in different ways and a lot of ways that maybe we can't even imagine. Now, if you are looking for a job and you either don't have kids or you can find child care, maybe your child. child can stay with someone that you know or there's some kind of rec center that is open near you. I know that there are dangerous to that with this virus going around. But just FYI, CVS is hiring

hundreds of thousands of people right now, Walgreens, Walmart, Amazon, all of these people, all of these organizations, these businesses that are busier than ever are hiring. So if you are desperate for a job, which a lot of people are, look into one of these companies. It might not be the most glamorous job ever, but if it's what you need to do to help your family, a lot of people are going to be in the position of applying for these kinds of jobs there is absolutely no shame in anything like that. These places have high demand. They're some of the only kinds of places that have high demand right now, and they need more help. But all of this that state governments are doing, whether these methods are effective or not, a lot of people are calling them draconian,

which they are in a lot of ways. I mean, it's a lot of government power that we are allowing them to have. I mean, not that we signed off on it or anything, but it's a lot of government power that is being displayed to try to control individuals, habits and behaviors and all of that in order to curb this virus.

But whether these methods are effective or not, they are going to have a huge, a hugely negative impact on our economy that is going to last for months, if not years to come. This will have a significantly negative impact on people's lives. And not in some like intangible way, some way that we, you know, may not really see or that we're not really close to, but in very real ways, ways that could literally be ruinous

for their entire families, for their entire lives, for their well-being for years to come. The prediction that I've seen floating around by experts is that we will actually reach a 30, percent employment rate. I'm pretty sure it was a 25 percent unemployment rate, 30 percent unemployment rate. I think it was a 25 percent unemployment rate during the Great Depression. So we're looking at possibly a great, great depression. At the same time, so just adding to the craziness of all of this, we're talking about shutting businesses down, people losing their jobs, not having school, not having daycare, not having a way to provide for their families, not knowing what the heck they're doing. Adding to the craziness of this, gun stores are having to fight to

stay open and many of them are not. Many of them are being shut down because governors are saying, sorry, this is not essential business. So people that are nervous, they want to protect their families. Maybe you're a single mom and you're at home with your kids all day and you don't live in a great part of town and you're like, you know what? I think I want to protect my family. Well, right now in a place like Pennsylvania, you can't go to a gun store and buy a gun. The state Supreme Court there has ruled that gun stores must close. The 8. ACLU at the same time and other organizations are pushing to have prisoners released from prison. Multiple states have now enacted policies preventing police from arresting criminals for nonviolent crimes to prevent, quote, overcrowding and jails.

So we're already seeing looting. We're already seeing shoplifting as a result of this. Of course, the fear is anarchy. And that's why people are stocking up on guns and ammo. And yet state courts and state governments are saying, sorry, you can't do that. it's not a central business. So that is why people are very on edge right now. And on top of all of that, we're being told by some in the government that there's no end in sight.

Like there's no light at the end of the tunnel. And I think that is what is making people feel very uneasy and very unsteady. Governor Cuomo of New York, which a lot of people have a lot of praise for. And he did give credit to President Trump, and I appreciate that. And again, even though he's a Democrat,

and I think that he is absolutely evil, when it comes to abortion, like, I think that he is in the same position that a lot of people are trying to do what's best for New York. But in one of his press conferences, he said that this could last the shutdown of the state of New York, which is basically a shelter in place state right now. Could last as long as nine months, nine months. California is saying two months, but that they're going to reassess and they'll probably extend it. And that, oh, by the way, they'll probably have to do this again in the fall. Some researchers are saying that we will have to get used to this for 18 months until a vaccine is developed. And then what's going to happen then? Are you going to force people

to get the vaccine? Because some people aren't going to want to do that, but you're going to force people in their homes for 18 months. We are hearing, so far, as I'm recording this, and no concrete reassurances from anyone that, hey, there's an end in sight. Hey, here's what we're going to do. to make sure that Americans get back to work in two weeks. We're going to increase the number of ICU beds. We're going to make sure every person in America has a test. We're going to isolate the sick, the elderly, those with underlying conditions, and everyone else can go back to their lives while still practicing improved hygiene.

Or maybe we're going to re-up the economy and stages. So maybe they could say first we'll let certain types of physicists open and then these and we'll still restrict large gatherings, but we'll slowly build up to where we were before as we equip our hospitals and allow people to gain natural immunity. We're not hearing any of that. And I'm not saying maybe those aren't the best solutions. I certainly don't know that's why I'm not in charge,

but we're not hearing anything close to that. We're not hearing any kind of long-term solution besides panic, besides, okay, well, this is what we have to do. We all have to stay inside and shut everything down. We're hearing from most of our leaders in media you're just going to have to get used to this. And I was on, I was on board. I mean, you guys know who follow me on Instagram and who listened to this podcast.

I was and am on board with some kind of, you know, quarantining policy to where people have to stay inside. I certainly want people to do that voluntarily for everyone to avoid crowds and to socially distance for a limited period of time, for a limited period of time. for a limited period of time. That is what I am uneasy about, this idea that this could extend for months and months without any tangible plan or end in sight.

So when I'm encouraging people to love your neighbor by keeping your distance, I'm thinking, okay, well, we're going to be able to phase this out in a couple weeks, or even four to eight weeks, even 12 weeks, at least we would know, okay, during that time, we've got people working on the things that need to be worked on so everyone can get back to work. We got to hunker down for three months,

however long it's going to be, three months max, in my mind. I don't think people will just, I just don't think people will go past that. But we want to hear, okay, we're going to have to figure it out, and we're going to do this. The government is going to have to offer some kind of relief to people during that three-month period or however long it is, and then we'll all get back on track.

But when we're basically given an indefinite order to isolate ourselves and to shut down the economy, people's very lives, their livelihoods, then that's when people start to ask the question. It's just natural. It's not heartless. It's not callous. That is when we have to start asking the question. Is this worth it?

Is all of this worth it for an indefinite period of time? And let me tell you, and I know this sounds harsh, but unfortunately it's just the awful, tragic question that people are going to have to answer. is shutting down the economy so that 30% possibly of people are out of work and destitute and unable to feed their families and suffer from the very real consequences of joblessness for years to come worth it if dr fergusons the guy that we cited at the beginning worst case scenario model is correct that 2.2 million people die from this that's really bad it is a point seven it's point seven percent of the current united states population that's point seven

percent and look that's devastating of course it's devastating every single one of those lives matters uh no matter how old they are no matter what their underlying conditions were it would be a travesty for 2.2 million people to die from this and any of us we know could be a part of that statistic but we have to think here. We are shutting down the economy, ruining people's lives, taking away people's fundamental freedoms, apparently indefinitely, for a virus that 99% of the country will survive, 99% unless we just have completely off-based numbers. And this is going to end up killing, you know, 100 million people. Well, that's a different story. But it's not. call is to ask that question that's not putting profit over people that's recognizing that people

will also die if they can't work that people will suffer from depression and anxiety and isolation and the inability to get other kinds of health care that they need that doesn't have anything to do with the coronavirus and all that comes with not being able to provide for yourself that depression anxiety, all of that comes with not being able to provide for yourself or your family and losing everything that you have worked for your whole life and being forced into social isolation for months on end. And here's my theory. Americans just won't do it. I just don't think America is like other countries. I think that Americans will say sorry. Like I'm out. They will go back to living their lives. They will defy orders. Americans are not going to sit in their homes

and apartments without some kind of end date on this. Eventually, as crazy as it sounds, Americans, there will be Americans who are more willing to risk death and serious illness than giving up their freedom and their business. I think that's true no matter what side of the aisle that you're on. People who are minimizing that concern, who are saying, I saw someone on Twitter say, oh, boo-hoo, you have to watch Netflix for the next few months.

Yeah, that was like a true, funny thing to say when we were talking, talking about a weekend when we were talking about like a couple weeks or even a month but how do you expect a family of five to survive on watching Netflix and eating bonbons for the next six to 18 months and people are saying well you know the government will help you out they'll take care of you yeah well we'll get into that whole thing in a second that's just absolute madness but even if the freaking bill is passed by congress $1,500. a month plus a few hundred bucks for your kids ain't going to cut it for most people, especially if you live in a part of the country where it's really expensive to live.

And yes, the government is saying people can't be evicted right now, which is good. But we also have to understand those kinds of policies don't just affect the people that aren't being evicted. It might, like I said, that might be necessary for the time being, but it affects other people as well. If you own apartments and your income is coming from rent payments and people stop paying rent and you can't evict them and get another tenant, that means that you don't get paid. And now your family is suffering.

Most people on the left, this is more of a leftist idea, but there are probably plenty of people who maybe believe this on the right, think that people who are on a higher rung of the ladder have to take a hit for the people on the lower rung of the ladder or else they're evil, they're greedy and they are miserly and mean. So if a landlord evict someone, that means that they are heartless and cruel, not that they have a family to take care of and are providing for themselves. Again, I'm not talking about this particular situation. It's probably right to make sure that people can't get evicted.

I think it is right. But this has a negative effect on other people as well. It doesn't just stop the person, the tenant, who is being evicted. And that's true of all of these government handouts that are going to happen. It's going to have some kind of effect on our economy. They might be necessary, but we have to think about the implications of them too. A lot of companies, small businesses in particular, cannot abide by this idea that, well, if you are really compassionate and if you really care about your workers, if you really care about the people you employ, you won't lay anyone off during this hard time. you will keep people on your payroll no matter what. Yeah, that sounds good. And I think that most

companies would do that. And hey, if a company can do that, I think they should do that. Like, if there is any compassion you can spare, if there's any mercy you can have, if you've got any money that you can move around to make sure that you still have people on your payroll, then do it. But I also understand there's a lot of small businesses that can't or else they'll go under. And so instead of going from 15 jobs to four jobs, you'll go from 15 jobs to zero jobs, which absolutely doesn't help anyone. So layoffs are going to happen. That doesn't mean that the people who do the layoffs in every single case are greedy. In some cases, yes. Like I said, any company that can keep the people on its payroll without going under should try as hard as they can to do so. But small businesses

aren't going to be able to do that. And so they need some kind of relief. They need some kind of help. So we all need to have a little bit of perspective and a little bit of empathy for how this is affecting people on all rungs of the latter and realize that the long-term effects of the virus on people's lives financially, relationally, emotionally, emotionally, psychologically, maybe as bad, if not worse, in some ways than the short-term physical effects of the virus itself. The fact is, we can't let doctors make policy. We can't. Doctors are wonderful. I love doctors and I think we should listen to them. We should listen to the experts when it comes to public health, but we can't let them run the country because they don't know anything about economics and economics also affect people's lives. Like they're not the CEO of the country. They are not in charge and they're not in charge for a reason. They're in charge of the part that they're in charge of, but they can't be setting policy because they just don't have their eye on economic and long-term. effects. We should listen to them on the things that we need to listen to them on, but they can't be the only people that Trump listens to. They can't be the only people that our governments listen to because they are always going to pick the most conservative option because that's what doctors do. It's kind of like lawyers in their own way. Like you don't get business advice typically from a lawyer

because they are thinking liability. They're not thinking what's most lucrative or what's necessarily best business-wise, they are thinking, oh, how are we going to avoid getting sued? And doctors are thinking in the same way in medical terms. But we have a bigger scope of life that has to be considered by our leaders than just the medical part of this. It's kind of like, so if you're a mom, especially if you're a mom who's gotten a C-section before, or you know that America has an incredibly high C-section rate, which is just stupid for the end. advanced medical care that we have and for as awesome of a country and a wealthy of a country that we have. We have a way too high maternal mortality rate. Part of that is because of the high C-section

rate. And when I say high C-section rate, I am talking about women who really don't need a C-section. So I'm not talking about high-risk pregnancies. I'm talking about we have a really high C-section rate for low-risk pregnancies. Well, there are a lot of different reasons for that. But one reason is because doctors and in particular doctors in America, which like I said are so wonderful and I'm so thankful for, they tend to lean towards. In a lot of cases, it seems like controlled. So how can I control this outcome? I don't want to be sued. I don't want to be held liable. So if this birth, if this labor is going a little bit too long, there are a lot of doctors who are C-section happy because they know they can control the outcome as much as they can instead of letting

things go and some kind of complication possibly arising. But there are a lot of long-term complications that women who have C-sections go through, that the doctors, it seems like in the moment, who are C-section happy, two C-section happy aren't thinking about. That's just one example and kind of a metaphor for all of this, that doctors so often pick the thing that gives them the most control that they feel like will end with the best or the safest outcome in the moment that is not necessarily best holistically and long term. And I am afraid that could be some of what is happening right now and taking these draconian measures without some kind of end date. We are thinking too much in exclusively medical terms and not in economic terms. in the overall well-being of the country.

So what we need to hear from our leaders right now is not sorry, but this is what we're going to have to do for as long as we need to save lives. I'm sorry, but that's just not going to cut it for much longer. What people need to hear is this is what we're going to do for X amount of weeks. Want to make it 12? Want to make it, I don't know, 16, whatever. That's fine. But give people a light and hope.

to cling to. Here's what we're going to do for two weeks, eight weeks, 18 weeks, whatever, and then say, okay, while people are isolated, here is what we're going to do on the federal level, on the state, and or local level. We're going to make sure each hospital is completely equipped to handle as many severe cases as they need. We're going to partner with the private sector to do this. We are going to continue working on finding medicines that prove effective, whether that's anti-malaria drugs, something else. There has been a drug that President Trump has touted, that of course the media criticized him over,

which is just crazy. Chloroquine, I think, is how you pronounce it. And we will keep you up to date regularly on this. This is what the state official should say. We are going to be working tirelessly behind the scenes on an economic recovery program to ensure that Americans can get back to work as soon as possible. In the meantime, we are going to help out corporations, small businesses, charities, individuals who need it.

This can look a lot of different ways, of course. And we are going to from now on be actively and continually preparing our disaster response to ensure that the next time something like this happens, our hospitals are prepared. Our curve flattening methods are effective and our economy remains functional. This is what we need to hear. We want to hear a plan. We want to hear that you're not going to sacrifice everyone's life. without a thought. And I do believe that Trump knows this. I do. I believe this is in his instincts. He is a businessman. He knows this. He tweeted Sunday in all caps. We cannot let the curse, the cure be worse than

the problem itself. At the end of the 15 day period, we will make a decision as to which way we want to go. And he's correct. And I'm glad he said that. One great thing about Trump being on Twitter and so focused on the media and there are a lot of downsides to those things. But it's that he always has his finger on the pulse. Remember, he is a TV star. He is a producer. So he pays attention to ratings and what people are saying in his audience. And the common theme on conservative Twitter and in conservative media recently has been, yeah, guys, this is bad. Let's take this seriously. But we can't do this forever. We can't do it forever. And when is going, when is someone going to tell us how we are not going to tank the economy for good. And Trump has picked up on that. And he's saying, hey, I hear you,

I see you, and I agree with you that we have to figure this out. And I think that that has been his desire all along, but he understandably doesn't want to be the guy who is blamed for 2.2 million people dying because he didn't do enough. But no one is saying that he can't do more, that the government can't do more. They can't get tests out there, provide hospitals with what they need. Let's protect the vulnerable. But as the CEO of this country, Trump has got to come up with a plan for how we survive, how we come out on the other side, not irreparably damaged. At this point, I don't think platitudes and reassurances that we're going to be okay, like we're going to get through this where Americans were strong is helpful. I want some kind of concrete plan and I know this is a

dynamic situation and it's really hard to do that. But come up with some kind of a template, some kind of outline and say, you know, this might change depending on the strength of the virus and what things look like, but we need some kind of plan to move forward. Because guess what? Guess what? Apparently, there is one side of the aisle, one political party that does not give one rat's heaney about what is happening to American workers and what is happening to our economy and what is happening to you and your family. And I am not trying to politicize this. In fact, I don't want to politicize this. Like, I don't want to make this about, oh, gosh, Democrats are ruining the country. I don't want to because I don't want to feel that kind

of negativity. I don't want you to feel that kind of negativity. That's not my desire. Like, as I talked about on Friday, there were people on both sides of the aisle coming together to say the policies that President Trump is putting forth are good. And I'm like, you know, this is what we need. We need more of this to heal the country. But unfortunately, what's happening right now, at least as I'm recording this on Capitol Hill, doesn't seem to have that same energy that we were talking about on Friday. So here's the headline from the Washington Post. Democrats block key vote on $2 trillion dollar coronavirus bill. This is what the bill would have guaranteed. According to the Washington Post, the legislation aims to flood the economy with money from individuals to small businesses to

large industries amid a wave of layoffs and a sharp contraction to consumer spending. It would direct $1,200 to most adults and $500 to most children. It would also create a $500 billion lending program for businesses, cities and states, and another $350 billion to help small businesses meet payroll costs. There are a lot of other things in there, too, like helping health centers, nursing homes, and hospitals. Democrats blocked the vote on the coronavirus relief bill. claiming that the bill leaned too much in favor of corporations and not in favor of the workers.

Well, you just heard what it guarantees to the workers. And by the way, corporations don't exist without workers. And so if you hurt corporations and they don't exist anymore, workers have no place to work. It's not reality that this leans too much in favor of businesses. This wasn't a perfect bill, but Republicans had made huge compromises to come together with Democrats to make this happen. are using this crisis to reshape the economy, to reshape our structure to fit their liking. The Democratic House Majority Whip said this. This is a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision. So they're explicitly just coming out and saying that this is what we're trying to do,

to take advantage of a crisis, to put things into this bill that have nothing to do with this crisis, to restructure and reconfigure this society as we see fit. Guy Benson, Fox News talked to senior GOP aide who said to a senior GOP aide who said that Pelosi and Chuck Schumer are pushing for these three major things that have nothing to do with pandemic. Number one, unprecedented collective bargaining powers for unions. Number two, increase fuel emissions standards for airlines. Number three, expansion of wind and solar tax credits. According to Senator Linkford of Oklahoma Republican, Chuck Schumer gave Senate Republicans a ten. page list of things he wanted included in the relief bill a week ago, and Republicans accommodated

most of that, 28 items on this list. Most of the things that he demanded, and still Schumer and Democrats are blocking the vote, delaying aid for the American people. We're talking about $2 trillion to the American people that Democrats, for partisan reasons, are blocking. Representative Dan Crenshaw said this on Twitter, I am not one to make hyperbolic statements. But what Senate Democrats have done is truly awful. This bill was negotiated in good faith, been monitoring its progress all week. He's talking about the bill over in the Senate. He's obviously in the House.

It can save our economy. And they killed it out of spite and bitterness. Hold Dems accountable. Nancy Pelosi's version of the House bill is over 1,100 pages long. And it includes things like ensuring corporate board diversity. So the boards of corporations, ensuring that. their ethnic diversity, gender diversity, and pay equity among minorities. That's what in this coronavirus relief bill has nothing to do with that.

Requiring all states to have early voting, requiring same-day voting registration, and requiring airlines to offset their carbon emissions. We're talking about the relief for families and for individuals amid a pandemic. These are the things that Nancy Pelosi is trying to put in this relief bill that have nothing to do with this crisis, things that have to do with her vision and the interest groups that she represents their vision of what America should look like. And don't forget that at one point, just a couple weeks ago, Pelosi was trying to put in language that would force federal tax dollars, our tax dollars, to fund abortion despite the Hyde Amendment. So she's psycho. The bill

is supposed to offer relief to small businesses, some big businesses, individuals, families, hospitals and other groups that needed. It's not supposed to be a liberal wish list. It's not supposed to be any kind of politicians' wish list. And yet that is exactly what Pelosi and Schumer are trying to make this out to be. Author and journalist Andy McCarthy said this on Twitter. So Dems derail Senate bill, right, save the day house bill with all the ideological lard used to derail Senate bill, pass it without negotiation in the House, then argue, GOP Senate is denying death desperately needed financial relief to the American people by not passing a House bill. Yes, that's exactly what they're doing.

That is exactly what their plan is. They are going to turn this on Republicans. The media will help them. When Republicans don't agree with their additions, which have nothing to do for the fifth time with coronavirus, they will say Republicans want people to die. Here is Mitch McConnell on some of this. This is not a juicy political opportunity. This is a national emergency.

Republicans understand that a national crisis calls for urgency and it calls for bipartisanship. It's time for that good faith to be reciprocated. It's time for Democrats to stop playing politics and step up to the plate. And he's right. This is absurd. This is evil. It is wicked. I'm not saying Republicans are perfect, but to use this crisis to try to advance things, issues, policies that have nothing to do with this crisis is wicked. never have Republicans and Democrats not been able to come together in a time of crisis, at least not in recent history. 9-11, the recession, they were able to put down their partisan swords and get it done. And they're not able to right now.

And right now, at this moment, in this particular time, the responsibility rests solely on the Democrats. But Democrats have become so deranged, so loathing of Trump, so controlled by the most extreme ideologues on their side that they cannot do it. Democrats are saying this bill creates a slush fund for big businesses, and that is not true. This bill prohibits funds going to the expense of executive pay and stock buybacks. Any aid given to corporations also benefits the worker because, like I said, if there are no companies, there are no workers. There is no doubt.

Democrats and the left are using this to push their ideology, to hurt the economy as much as possible, to make Trump look like an inept leader, to make Republicans look heartless, to make government programs look like the savior. That doesn't mean this virus isn't real or that it's not serious and that we shouldn't take it seriously, but it is being weaponized by people who hate Donald Trump and quite frankly hate the country at our expense, especially at the expense of people, individuals, families who are poor.

Meanwhile, meanwhile, you've got the media who are carrying water for the Communist Party of China by calling Trump racist for calling it the Chinese virus. They are so fixated on that, obsessed with it. Here's just one of many similar headlines, one for the opinion section of the Washington Post. The U.S. should have led the coronavirus response. Instead, China stepped up.

Written by Dennis Ross, who used to work for Obama. Here's one by the New York Times. It's coronavirus cases dwindling. China turns focus outward. Beijing is mounting a humanitarian, aid blitz and countries struggling with their own outbreaks. In doing so, it's stepping into a role the West once dominated. Yeah, right. Yeah, the heck right. First of all, they're not giving supplies to these countries. They're selling supplies to places like Italy. This whole thing is the

Chinese government's fault. They knew about the virus back in November, which apparently started in the Chinese wet markets, which are filled with wild animals and are the origin of now multiple epidemics. They suppressed that information. The Chinese government did. Then released false information saying the virus wasn't transmissible between humans, which was propaganda that was parroted by the World Health Organization who was in bed with China. Then when the virus started getting out of control, they refused to let health experts from other countries and to help started jailing doctors and jailing citizens who were trying to warn the world about the virus. And now they're blaming the virus on the United States. And they just last week kicked down.

American Journalist trying to report on the virus. And yet the American, the American media is more than happy to defend them if it means somehow hurting Donald Trump. Plus, there is this weird, deeper, deeper, stupid worldview that a lot of Americans on the left have that America is this uniquely bad actor on the world stage in every country is somehow a victim of American imperialism and therefore needs to be coddled. And so they have a desire to see every, other country do better than the United States. I think it's very posh and very sophisticated, intellectual and academic to beat up on the United States and say how awesome other countries are doing even totalitarian governments. This was the attitude in a lot of ways that Obama had,

and it pervaded one side of the aisle via the media, via politicians, via academia, academia, and it's tragic. It has negative effects on people's lives. So this is all, a travesty and it's a lot to take in if after this you're like oh my gosh i'm a little bit stressed out go back and listen to monday's episode listen to friday's episode but as you can tell i'm getting frustrated by our lack of any kind of tangible plan i'm getting frustrated by the partisanship i'm getting frustrated by the anti-americanism the pro chinaism that we are seeing from one side of the political and ideological aisle it's just insane it's insane all you can do though all you can do is take care of your family is to as a Christian all you can do is pray

pray for wisdom pray for humility pray for God to thwart evil and wicked plans pray for his gospel to be spread pray for repentance pray for his for people to come to know him pray for him to be glorified we have to be obedient we have to be joyful we have to take care of those who are around us and we have to as much as we can hold the people in power accountable and pray to God of they do the right thing. I pray to God that they do. I really do. Okay, we'll be back here on Friday, and I will see you guys then.