COVID-19 Discussion

[Cobrajet]

. Even if every single person utilizing government safety net programs was a drug-addicted, single mother, minority, atheist, illegal immigrant freeloaders, all those programs combined total a whopping 8% of federal spending.

Fun Fact #1: The 2020 US Federal budget is $4,839,000,000,000.

Fun Fact #2: That apparently paltry and insignificant 8% you mention winds up being $387,120,000,000.

Hmmm...over three hundred and eight-seven BILLION dollars actually sounds like kind of a lot of money to me?

[dspace9]

Ooh, I forgot MY pithy, super-cool meme!

Very hard to understand who feels what in this thread now. I just don't understand why anyone'd be so fervently against public health care.

Then to add icing to the cake, this thread's divulged into meme-based augment, like we are all sitting at the sandbox, tossing sand at each other, rather than making something concrete and substantive.

If you dont look after your fellow man, nobody's gonna pick you up from a bad spot, either. I don't ask anything of my government either, and bugs me that in Canada people with kids get a giant subsidy every month. and as a single person, I just pay and don't complain. But I'd rather spend money on kids and hospitals, than on military weapons etc. And the Russians are flying by Alaskan fishing boats now anyways. Good luck stopping them.

[Dirk Diggler]

She can keep her shoes. But if her bra had been laying around....va-va-VOOM!

Lol she not my fav Im more of a Jimmy Carter guy but damn, she's banging like ah screen door in ah hurricane. No denying it.

[Dirk Diggler]

Ooh, I forgot MY pithy, super-cool meme!

MEME WAR! lol

[Dirk Diggler]

Since the Way-Back Machine is all gassed up, Dirk, why not go back a little further?

Attachment 20357

Oooooofffff! Cobra strikes hard and fast. Learned that watching the new "Cobra Kai". I can't help it if my leanings are more Miyagi-do. : p

[Dirk Diggler]

For my devout Mirage amigos. This is what happens when the kids are left unsupervised lol. Eggman! Where are youuuuuuuu! : ]

[7milesout]

Very hard to understand who feels what in this thread now. I just don't understand why anyone'd be so fervently against public health care.

I feel everything and every emotion. I'm so emotional. I feel that EVERYTHING should be free. Our government should provide EVERYTHING for us citizens for free. We should lay around in our own filth and have trucks come by every day. And a gobment volunteer can push a cart to my door and give me toilet paper, crack cocaine, meth, heroin, a steak, a hooker selection, and a stack of cash. Whatever I want. There's no need for me or anyone to work or pay for anything. That's just life necessities and our gobment owes it to us.

If anything needs to be paid for, we can just nuke some place and threaten that country with more nukes unless they give us everything. Why should we work? That's 3rd world thinking.

[PityOnU]

Fun Fact #1: The 2020 US Federal budget is $4,839,000,000,000.

Fun Fact #2: That apparently paltry and insignificant 8% you mention winds up being $387,120,000,000.

Hmmm...over three hundred and eight-seven BILLION dollars actually sounds like kind of a lot of money to me?

Yes, those are indeed very large numbers. The United States is actually one of the richest countries in the world. It's federal budget is also small relative to its GDP when compared to some other advanced nations. India does seem to have much more efficient government spending than us, though.

Everyday man on the block - quick maths:

Federal budget toward safety net programs: $387B
United States Population: 328M
Poverty Rate in the United States: 10.5%

So, if the government was distributing all safety net funding to the lazy poor as cash handouts, each dirty peasant would receive $936 per month. Minimum wage in the United States (define that how you will) equates to $1256 per month. So, there seems to remain a significant motivator to get a job. From the statistics collected here, you can also see that neither of these numbers cover even rent (on average).

Those are the facts, here is my one opinion:

Arguing over hypothetical strawmen potentially exploiting the system and unjustly receiving benefits from 0.64% of my income is a mountainous waste of everyone's time. There are other far more significant issues that much more directly impact me (and Joe Everyman) that would much more benefit from time in the public discourse. If you are the type of person to be paranoid about the government controlling you, throwing out the "red herring" of helping the poor is a very cheap way for them to easily distract the populous into biting off each others fingers arguing while they (the gubmint) actually push through impactful, sweeping changes behind the scenes.

Eggman! Where are youuuuuuuu! : ]

Lol, yeah, my bad, everyone. Poked the bear a little too much, it seems. Sorry for the derail.

In any case, seems like those vaccines are finally rolling out. Very much looking forward to things getting back to normal. It will be an uphill battle to relearn how to do office small talk, but it is a challenge I am eager to rise to!

[dspace9]

Why should we work? That's 3rd world thinking.

I like how this thread started about about toilet paper, and has possibly ended on the topic.

I work for a living, but who am I to judge?

Some of the so-called "minimum income guarantee" is actually a nifty idea, and I heard both left wing and right wing parties have toyed with the idea. But if the goberment just started to print cash on masse, then you have an inflation problem.

[Top_Fuel]

...looking forward to things getting back to normal.

Keep your mask handy...it's going to be a while...

Do I still need to wear a mask and physically distance if I have the vaccine?

Yes!

While the vaccines provide protection against COVID-19 disease, they have not been shown to prevent infection, so people who are immunized may still be able to transmit the virus. Additionally, the greater than 94% efficacy in preventing disease was not observed until several weeks after the second dose of the vaccines.

Everyone will still need to wear a mask and practice physical distancing until a large section of the population has developed immunity, which may not be until late 2021. Even then, more data will be needed to see how long immunity lasts. Additional rounds of immunizations may be needed.

Source: COVID-19 FAQ