capitalism and the virus:https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/03/12/i-did-math-katie-porter-gets-trump-cdc-head-commit-making-coronavirus-testing-free?cd-origin=rss&utm_term=AO&utm_campaign=Daily%20Newsletter&utm_content=email&utm_source=Daily%20Newsletter&utm_medium=Email
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Common Dreams site

‘I Did the Math’: Katie Porter Gets Trump CDC Head to Commit to Making Coronavirus Testing Free

“We live in a world where 33% of Americans put off medical treatment last year, and we have $1,133 expense just for testing for the coronavirus.”
by
Eoin Higgins, staff writer

Democratic firebrand Rep. Katie Porter on Thursday extracted a commitment from Centers for Disease Control director Dr. Robert Redfield to use his authority under federal regulations to waive the cost of coronavirus testing for all Americans.

“I did the math,” said Porter, holding up a whiteboard on which she wrote the associated costs to the total $1,331 bill.

“We live in a world where 40% of Americans can’t even afford a $400 unexpected expense,” said Porter. “We live in a world where 33% of Americans put off medical treatment last year, and we have $1,133 expense just for testing for the coronavirus.”

Noting that the prohibitive expense of the test could discourage poorer Americans from getting tested, Porter demanded Redfield use his legal authority under the Code of Federal Regulations to waive the cost.

After a back and forth in which Porter called Redfield’s attempts to avoid committing to covering the cost “not good enough,” the California Democrat finally got Redfield to commit to using his authority under 82 CFR 6975 to waive the costs of testing.

Watch the full exchange:…

Progressives praised the California Democrat’s latest standoff with a Trump administration official and noted that Porter and Redfield’s exchange had real-world, positive consequences for the country.

“Representative Katie Porter just got CDC director Robert Redfield to commit to making coronavirus testing free for anyone regardless of insurance,” tweeted the Atlantic’s James Hamblin. “That’s big.”

Crooked Media’s Priyanka Aribindi simply stated her admiration.

“Katie Porter is fucking phenomenal,” said Aribindi.

Zooey wrote:

People are pissed now. And I think you absolutely WILL see a decrease in Leftist turnout for Biden this time….

….
….This is because the DNC would rather lose to Trump than win with Sanders. THEY are to blame for this. The media will blame the Left. And THIS time they will at least most likely have evidence that supports that. And when the DNC actually BELIEVES that the Left cost them the election, maybe THEN it will start to do something about it.

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Well, ok, but we (leftists) have been down this road over and over and over. None of this is new, as you know.

So, what…exactly…should…leftist VOTERS do with their VOTES. (I am not asking about what they should be doing with the other 364 days of the year…)

I am basically asking, why shouldnt all the leftists get together and say “fuck the democrats” lets vote for the Green Party. And keep voting Green UNTIL the Dems give us SOMETHING. Some crumbs. Some Policies. SOMETHING.

I know it would mean Reps would be elected. I get that. But it would also mean, eventually the Dems would HAVE to come to the table with SOMETHING.
Unlike now.

The argument I always here is (as you know) Trump is just TOO Awful to consider, blah blah blah.

Problem with that is i heard the same thing about Bush. Its always the same argument.

How long do leftists play a LOSING game? Same Old Sorry ASS Lesser-Evil Game.

I think its worth playing — ONLY IF — the left actually gets SOMETHING> Thats how coalitions work in Europe.

w
v

waterfield wrote:

<

You know WV-I consider you an internet friend. You may not feel the same. I can’t help that. In any event you just called Joe Biden a “murderous imperialist”. You also called him a “shitbag”.In another post above you called him a “mass murderer”. That type of vitriol is precisely why many cannot take seriously the supporters of Sanders and are in fact put off by it. It certainly does not do anything for the advancement of the ideas expressed by Sanders. What’s also concerning is that over the years your attacks have almost always been against democrats. I have not read a negative word from you about Trump-the worst President in the hx of this nation. Every post of yours contains the word “corporatocracy” but not one word about Trump who is doing insurmountable damage to our judicial system-an arena we both work in. Nothing about how he is dismantling medicaid -a health safety net for the poor. Nothing about his desire to get rid of medicare. Nothing about his racist and mysogynistic views. Simply put, nothing about the man who has disdain for the less fortunate. Corporations will always be here but the evils of corporatocracy will only enlarge with this man should he have another 4 years of executive decisions. Anyway, I wish your arrows could sometimes be pointed in another direction.
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Good post. Glad to hear you think of me as an internet-friend. Good to know.

As for me, i think of you as an internet-friend too.

But of course you are a friend with FUNDAMENTAL political differences.
So, it makes it hard when we talk politix. People all over the country are challenged by friend or family ‘civil wars’ over politics these days.
We cant always agree. Ah well.

As for me not slamming Trump. BillyT has mentioned that too. I dunno what to tell ya — I feel like i slam Trump and the Reps plenty. I have said I agree with Chomsky — “The Republican Party is an existential threat to all life on the planet.” Thats what Chomsky said. I agree with it. I’ve said that.
Its just a ‘given’ to me. Its like saying the Bengals are dysfunctional. Just a given.

Our ‘fundamental difference’ is NOT on the murderous, biosphere-killing, anti-science, anti-poor, racist, sexist, greedy, hypocritical, lying, willfully-ignorant, SHIT-BAG-Republithugs.

Our differences are on the Democrats. We agree on the Rep-Thugs.

Fwiw, and i KNOW you dont agree with this — but this is WHY i use the term ‘murderer’ to describe Biden. And Clinton. And Obama. I mean the word, literally.
Lets say, the FBI or CIA showed up in a police captain’s office in your town, and said, “We have solid information, that a terrorist/murderer is living/meeting in the house next to Waterfield’s house. And lets say, the Captain of the police looked at the ‘evidence’ and without a trial, simply ‘decided’ to send a police drone-bomb into the house next to yours. Now the captain did indeed ‘try to avoid civilian casualties’ by sending the drone bomb in at night, on a Sunday, etc.
But the bomb took out many rooms in the building in question plus part of your house. ‘Innocent’ lives were torn apart. Body parts everywhere. The captain didnt really keep track or report to the press how many people were killed. “Collateral damage” was kept to a ‘minimum’ is what the captain reported to the Press. And the Press really wasnt interested in who was killed or how many. Only that a “murderer” was “eliminated” in this Just and Holy American “War On Murderers.”

Now. Would that be ok with you? If American Police acted that way?
No, it would not. You’d call it murder, yes?

But Biden/Obama did that regularly. ONLY difference is, the murdered people were not Americans living in America. They were human beings living in other countries. Mainly brown people, living in the middle east.
So…that…makes it…not murder? Why?

I agree with Chomsky. Every modern president has been a mass murderer. Doesnt have to be that way. It…doesnt.
I know you see it totally differently.

wv
PS — Jimmy Dore suggests on youtube that Progressives/Bernie should extract some sort of deal from Biden in return for supporting him. Unlike last time when progressives just gave their support over to Hillary. I dunno why in the world progressives would trust Biden, but I do wonder if Bernie will try and work out some sort of agreement with Biden.

Zooey wrote:

I dunno. I dunno anything anymore.

…..Bernie Sanders is a rare man in politics, and he is the kind of politician literally everybody says they ideally want: honest and dependable. The fact that this man – who has spent his entire life fighting on behalf of poor and marginalized people – has been smeared for 4 years by the Democrat establishment as a sexist threat to democracy, tells you everything you need to know about how much the Democrat party actually cares about ordinary people.

=======================

You really think Biden is a lesser candidate than Hillary? I dont agree on that. From what I’ve heard (on Fox news 🙂 ) Hillary’s ‘negatives’ are WAY higher than Bidens. Biden is just this ‘bland’ drab, boring, typical Dem. Like John Kerry, Al Gore, Dukakis.

BUT, he worked with/for OBAMA. And he doesnt have the big negatives Hillary had.
Centrists, conservative-professional-moderate-Reps, and Dems are not gonna care that he’s senile. They dont care. They just want the National-Security-Ship-Of-State to run smoothly. A senile President can do that just fine. (Think Radar and Colonel Blake)

It all comes down to Progressives. If they hold their noses and vote for that lowlife CIA-loving, pro-corporate, imperialist, murderous, shitbag – Joe Biden will be the next President.

And btw, I jus wanna make it clear that i TOTALLY respect the view that progressives should or will vote for the lesser evil, and thus vote for the murderous imperialist Joe Biden. Its a perfectly reasonable decision. Chomsky has talked endlessly about it over the years. I’ve done it myself in the past.

For me personally, though, there came a time i just decided i wont do it anymore.
Its got nothing to do with WV being a Red-State or any other ‘calculation’ like that. Its hard to explain. Its a conscience thing. Coupled with a recognition of what the system is. Frankly I may not even vote at all the rest of my life. I havent decided on that. I lean toward voting Green, but i may not vote anymore.
…my vote has moved to Thailand, perhaps 🙂

PS — this virus could put the nation in a bad mood. Not good for Trump.

w
v

Its interesting to me that Tulsi got so few votes. Add it to the list of things that ‘say a lot about Amerika.’

I mean, she’s an anti-imperialist, conservative, Veteran who favors Medicare for All, the Green New Deal and staying out of foreign wars.
Yeah, who would want to vote for her.

w
v