Pence task force freezes coronavirus aid amid backlash

[demmiblue]

Source: Politico

Last week, a Trump administration official working to secure much-needed protective gear for doctors and nurses in the United States had a startling encounter with counterparts in Thailand.

The official asked the Thais for help—only to be informed by the puzzled voices on the other side of the line that a U.S. shipment of the same supplies, the second of two so far, was already on its way to Bangkok.

Trump aides were alarmed when they learned of the exchange, and immediately put the shipment on hold while they ordered a review of U.S. aid procedures. Crossed wires would only confuse our allies, they worried, or worse—offend them. And Americans confronting a surging death toll and shortages of medical equipment back home would likely be outraged.

Vice President Mike Pence soon realized another step was needed: After a phone call asking a foreign leader’s help with key supplies, he ordered his staff to make sure the review process wasn’t holding up coronavirus-related aid to countries that were assisting the United States.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/31/pence-task-force-coronavirus-aid-157806

---

Link to tweet

[SheltieLover]

1. K&R

[Leghorn21]

2. Well isn't this just perfect

Just. fkn. PERFECT.

[Baitball Blogger]

3. HA, ha, ha. So it isn't woo, is it?

Bwhahahahahaha. Someone was shipping supplies abroad.

[Zoonart]

7. My tin foil hat theory...

Wasn't Jared supposed to be involved? What if we have been shipping supplies from our pandemic readiness stockpile to China and now to Bangkok, so that it can then be sold back to the USA and the Trumps have some kind of grift going on here and the money from the resale goes into their pockets?

Just tin foil mind you....

BTW... full disclosure... I write horror fiction so my mind naturally goes there... still.

[Baitball Blogger]

8. Right now half of the anti-woo team on DU are probably considering your theory.

[Zoonart]

12. HAHA...

that makes me smile. Is that wrong?

[Ferrets are Cool]

19. I put NOTHING past these grifters. nt

[iluvtennis]

38. ++++ agree. nt

[NBachers]

33. They've got it going both ways: Someone's pocketing money from Thailand when it's shipped there;

someone's pocketing money when our taxes are spent bringing it back in from Thailand at a higher price.

[wnylib]

35. And then to cover his tracks, Trump

floats the conspiracy theory at a presser that "someone' in NY is filching supplies. He also questions on Hannity whether the states really need the amount of supplies that they are requesting.

It's a given that if there is a crooked way to make money out of a crisis, the Trump crime family will be involved.

[Zoonart]

39. Right?

[PatSeg]

36. Aha!!!

That makes perfect sense to me!!! You are brilliant!!!

[Warpy]

44. That's neither woo nor tinfoil hat conspiracy theory

because that's exactly the sort of bullshit Republicans have done forever to launder aid into kickbacks and other sources of hard cash.

We also shipped to China, which made NO sense as that is where much PPE is being manufactured these days.

These bastards would kill us all for a quarter.

[Harker]

46. Horror...

or whorer?

[DENVERPOPS]

47. Versus Republicans/Trump

That write "horror reality" and do it.......Their minds don't "go" there, they live there......

[Progressive Jones]

55. Maybe not so tinfoil. I wouldn't put it past these jamokes. They're like a low level

street crew of wiseguys operating on a Worldwide level.
They've stumbled into the biggest scores of their lives,
and they'll screw it up. More people will die, eventually.
All of the blood will be on the Trump crew's hands.

[Zoonart]

61. Yep.

BTW are you perhaps from New Jersey? I think Jamokes is a her
Jersyism, my dad used to use that term all the time.

[Progressive Jones]

63. Chicago, born and raised. "Jamoke" is very much a part of

the language here. I don't know where it came from.

I grew up in a predominantly Italian neighborhood,
and life was very much like the vibe you might get from a film like "Goodfellas", or "Casino".
As a matter of fact, the character played by Joe Pesci in "Casino" was based on a real life gangster from my neighborhood.

I guess I always assumed "jamoke" was an "Italian" thing. ( LOL. I don't even know if that's how you spell it! )

Stay Healthy! Stay Alive!

[Zoonart]

64. Ha ha.... well

that is interesting to know. Born and bred in North Jersey as was Dad.... though Dutch/Irish, I'm guessing Dad worked with plenty of Italians and we were one town over from another town (which I will not name), that was a know bedroom community for the NY mob.

Thanks for checking in Jones.
Be safe out there.

[Igel]

28. Yes and no.

USAID was sending aid, but apparently not from US territory. I suspect that the USAID top folk aren't long for this administration. It'll come across as valuing the lives of people outside the US over those inside.

That would be Ms. Calvaresi Barr. https://oig.usaid.gov/node/167

I'm going to say she's toast. Moreover, "deep state" will be something muttered more than once.

The other shipment, so decried as US federal aid by Waters, was private. She objected to private citizens helping others. Presumably that means the stuff should have been confiscated? Personally I think she didn't know the origin of the stuff and assumed the worst and opted to say, "Look how bad Trump is." Otherwise it might look like we value the lives of people outside the US over those inside.

Yeah, if I were Barr I think I'd be packing up some of the more fragile things in my office.

[Baitball Blogger]

32. I'm hoping this story gets a thorough screening on tomorrow's news.

If for no other reason to show exactly what the federal government was doing at the same time that it was turning its back on the needs of the 50 states.

[hkp11]

59. pompeo declared shipment in feb 7th to china

State dept helped with shipping 17.4 tons of medical equipment:
https://www.state.gov/the-united-states-announces-assistance-to-combat-the-novel-coronavirus/?fbclid=IwAR1ChU6SO5otXavlXjpqZopXbf_DWseOt3tXakhcd9ugOzIsYKNQUingC-k


"This week the State Department has facilitated the transportation of nearly 17.8 tons of donated medical supplies to the Chinese people, including masks, gowns, gauze, respirators, and other vital materials. These donations are a testament to the generosity of the American people."

so how much medical equipment will be available here in the US??? if they send to China, Thailand, etc, how much will we keep here for us???

[Haggis for Breakfast]

4. I swear to god, this administration could fuck up a wet dream.

[Baitball Blogger]

10. LOL!

[erronis]

15. Stormy would agree with that.

Too many metaphors to post here.

Still remember eating haggis for breakfast with some clotted cream and eggs and jam and biscuits.... Years and llves ago.

[mwooldri]

17. Sod the haggis.

But the clotted cream, jam and scones (similar to the Southern US "biscuits" but sweet and often with fruit like raisins baked in) - that to me is definitely delish. With a cup or many of tea.

[erronis]

18. Yup - and really good black tea. My go to is a strong cup of Irish Breakfast, double the spoonfuls.

And I think the butter we ate was not as tasteless as US butter - it was bordering on rancid - like a good cheese.

[FailureToCommunicate]

20. Ha! Once you've had Cornish pasties for breakfast, you'll never go back to...just scones.

(But I might have been starving, and still hungover from pints of Kent hard cider at the time.)

[mwooldri]

43. Cornish Pasties are oh my god delish....

I'd do them for breakfast and lunch.

Scones are sweet and can be had after the pasties. They typically call tea, scones and clotted cream a "cream tea".

[Grasswire2]

54. somebody here on DU years and years ago posted their family pasties recipe. nt

[Haggis for Breakfast]

26. Darjeeling or Earl Gray ?

[mwooldri]

45. Neither. PG or Yorkshire.

Both are brands, both are blended black tea, somewhat similar to Twining's English Breakfast. Usually served with milk and often some sweetener (usually sugar).

Ps like your name Haggis, but can't stand the food substance any day of the week. But a good donner kebab. Or as mentioned further up a Cornish Pasty...

[Haggis for Breakfast]

49. Well, Mum's family is Scottish and Haggis IS the national dish.

My tea of choice is Prince of Wales, dark and robust.

[paleotn]

23. Did i quick google search on the word incompetence....

Every single hit was the Donnie administration. Seems they've cornered the market on fubar.

[PatSeg]

37. Oh my god!

I have to borrow that!

[sheshe2]

5. I am going to facepalm so hard I will be out for a week.

[tblue37]

6. K&R for visibility. nt

[NoRoadUntravelled]

9. Something eerily similar happened in February. Too early to say it's a pattern?

https://www.state.gov/the-united-states-announces-assistance-to-combat-the-novel-coronavirus/

[Baitball Blogger]

11. Ah, there you are finally. A link to a reliable source.

So this is where Auntie Maxine pulled the 18 tons of medical supplies number.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

13. When Auntie Maxie speaks, she's usually right.

[FailureToCommunicate]

24. My reaction of "Un-F-ing believable!" is becoming so commonplace, my wife says, "Sorry...

dear, did you say something"?

[Dan]

14. Wow, Capitalism and Incompetence

Of the Trump administration is going to kill us.

So sad, the hollowing out of the deep state, leaving only the incompetents in charge, combined with corporate greed - should we laugh or cry?

[erronis]

16. The gangstas that couldn't shoot straight can still destroy this country.

This is according to somebody's playbook.

We need to find out whose.

[SunSeeker]

21. Too late for the 17.8 tons of PPE your boneheaded administration donated to China on Feb. 7.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/29/opinions/coronavirus-personal-protective-equipment-obeidallah/index.html

[Lonestarblue]

22. I saw this article from Forbes posted on Daily Kos today. It's mind blowing.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2020/03/30/i-spent-a-day-in-the-coronavirus-driven-feeding-frenzy-of-n95-mask-sellers-and-buyers-and-this-is-what-i-learned/#6a0904156d44


The Forbes reporter spent a day with a broker selling masks and potential buyers. Here’s the mind-blowing part.

“The buyers—from state government purchasing departments and hospital systems representing facilities throughout the Northeast, Midwest and California—expressed desperation for masks to protect their healthcare workers, but in the end not a single deal was completed with any of these groups, and millions of masks were earmarked to leave the country, purchased by foreign buyers.”

And this next paragraph is infuriating.

“By the end of the day, roughly 280 million masks from warehouses around the U.S. had been purchased by foreign buyers and were earmarked to leave the country, according to the broker — and that was in one day.

To his knowledge none of the masks had been purchased by buyers in the U.S.”

No US states got masks made here in the US, even at the inflated prices the market is now charging. Other countries have put blocks on exports of medical supplies. Trump has not. Trump has talked about the free market doing the job of addressing shortages. I think this is deliberate. Wealthy stockholders get more money when states are not only bidding against one another but also the rest of the world. This is why Trump ordered states to buy their own supplies—to drive up prices and make more money for manufacturers. The whole article is worth reading.

[paleotn]

25. When the idiot in chief surrounds himself with other idiots

this is what you get. Fucked up beyond all recognition.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

27. FUBAR !!!!

[Merlot]

30. "Fucked up" implies it was incompetence. I'd go with malice

Companies gotta make profits, and if it's at the expense of US citizens, well so be it.

[RobinA]

57. I Firmly Believe

that you can't beat stupid. In order to believe that this was deliberate you'd have to believe that these morons even understand the mega convoluted federal system for doing these things. I'd rather put my money on the many unfilled government positions and the appointment of the totally inexperienced in many top positions as largely the cause of these Keystone Kop incidents. They have no idea what they are doing, so this is what you get. Can other countries, countries that understand their own systems, benefit from our idiocy, take advantage? Sure. But believing that Trump & Co. can negotiate the back alleys and underground tunnels of doing business in a Fed environment? Doubtful.

[NoRoadUntravelled]

29. Here's a Shipment from Russia. Same Deal?

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-russia-usa/putin-sending-medical-supplies-to-help-us-fight-coronavirus-ifx-idUSKBN21I37W

[SunSeeker]

52. It's a Russian PR scam. They did thd same thing to Italy and the supplies were worthless.

When the much-anticipated Russian delivery arrived, however, the Italians discovered that the vast majority of the supplies were useless for coronavirus treatment. It was like a plot out of Occupied, the hit Norwegian television series about a mysterious takeover of Norway.

“Of those Russian supplies, 80 percent were completely useless or of little use to Italy. In other words, the delivery was more like a pretext,” an Italian government official told the leading newspaper La Stampa. According to the official, the Russian delivery contained, for example, equipment for bacteriological disinfection and a field laboratory for chemical-biological sterilization—not the ventilators and personal protective equipment so desperately needed by the Italians.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/30/russia-china-coronavirus-geopolitics/

[NoRoadUntravelled]

62. Thanks for this.

I hadn't seen this one.

[TryLogic]

31. Keep an eye on Trump. A national emergency near election time would be useful for him.

In the mean time, a daily briefing for an extended period of time would be useful for him.

He will do anything to get reelected.

[niyad]

42. Did you catch the news about barr's power grab?

[marble falls]

34. There is nothing like good leadership, and the WH is nothing like good leadership.

[underpants]

51. I'm stealing that

[marble falls]

53. I came up with that about music, There's nothing like good music and Adele ain't nothing ...

like good music.

[niyad]

40. Let's see: desperately-needed supplies shipped to Thailand. Nobody in charge seems to know about it.

Grifter in chief whines about medical staff "hoarding or worse". We KNOW that liar in chief projects onto others that which he does. I wonder how. Much he was going to make on that deal???

[ancianita]

41. Racketeering bites them in the ass. Yeah, theirs is evil dumbfuckery. But they? They. Are. EVIL.

[2naSalit]

48. I guess they

pay cash, you know, like the saudis do.

[progree]

50. Oh, I know. The admin wasn't keeping track because they were distracted by the impeachment

Last edited Wed Apr 1, 2020, 09:10 AM - Edit history (2)

trial.

Adding [sarcasm] after reply #60 posted.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142460490

McConnell: Impeachment 'diverted attention' from coronavirus
Source: Houston Chronicle

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's impeachment trial distracted the federal government from the coronavirus as it reached the United States in January, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday, despite warnings at the time from public health experts and members of Congress about the spread of the deadly virus.

The outbreak "came up while we were tied down on the impeachment trial. And I think it diverted the attention of the government, because everything every day was all about impeachment,'' McConnell told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.

.==============================================.

From the OP:

"Crossed wires would only confuse our allies, they worried, or worse—offend them."

Really? Someone, anyone in the current administration worried about offending our friends and allies? Such a person/people are not a good fit for this administration at all.

[hkp11]

60. not true

Drumpf was busy doing rallies and golfing:


www.democraticunderground.com/…

—January 9th - rally
January 13th - test available. CDC should have been sourcing sampling supplies and distributing to states, CDC should have been working to source supplies and mass produce the test while developing distribution network, FDA should have used emergency use (EUA) authority to give labs across the country the go ahead to produce and distribute that test, or their own.
—January 14th - rally
—January 18th - golf
—January 19th golf
—January 28th - rally
—January 30th -rally
-- February 1 - golf

19 of the most critical early days lost while he was MIA for 7 of them (and a lot more time than that planning his adulation fix dates)

_____________________

As virus silently circulates, with CDC's flawed (apparently distributed without quality control) is "fixed" followed by such limited distribution it was effectively useless.

—February 10th - rally
—February 15th - golf
—February 19th - rally
—February 20th - rally
—February 21st - rally
—February 28th - rally
—March 7th - golf
—March 8th - golf

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213199039

[robbedvoter]

56. It's almost as if...they were going through the back door

I think NY doctors and nurses had something to do with it

[Sloumeau]

58. These numbskulls don't have a clue. nt