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Trump threatens to take US out of WHO entirely and stop all funding:
In a letter to WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Trump alleged that "the repeated missteps by you and your organization in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world" and that the WHO must "demonstrate independence from China."
"[I]f the World Health Organization does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the World Health Organization permanent and reconsider our membership in the organization," Trump wrote. "I cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organization that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving America's interests."
Trump posted the letter on Twitter, writing, "It is self-explanatory!"
Trump has repeatedly denied any responsibility for COVID-19 spreading in America and said on April 14 that the US would temporarily halt funding the WHO until his administration completed a review of the group's response to the coronavirus pandemic. Trump's letter yesterday said that "review has confirmed many of the serious concerns I raised last month and identified others that the World Health Organization should have addressed, especially the World Health Organization's alarming lack of independence from the People's Republic of China."
[...] Trump's letter then lists a series of claims, the first being that the WHO "consistently ignored credible reports of the virus spreading in Wuhan in early December 2019 or even earlier, including reports from the Lancet medical journal."
The Lancet quickly issued a response explaining that Trump is wrong. "This statement is factually incorrect," The Lancet said. "The Lancet published no report in December, 2019, referring to a virus or outbreak in Wuhan or anywhere else in China." The Lancet's first reports on the topic were published on January 24, 2020 the statement said.
[...] Trump's letter yesterday said, "Throughout this crisis, the World Health Organization has been curiously insistent on praising China for its alleged 'transparency.'" Trump's letter did not mention that Trump himself praised China for its "transparency" on January 24 or that Trump repeatedly praised China for its coronavirus response throughout February.
[...] Health experts say Trump's travel ban had little effect on the pandemic's spread. Trump continued to downplay the virus's severity by comparing it to the flu as late as March 24, nearly two months after the WHO declared a global health emergency. Trump has also fought state governors over their cautious approaches to reopening the economy.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 21 2020, @03:36PM (5 children)
It helps if you can delay that point until your late 20s after getting an MBA and interning at the Best Companies. Not a dig at Trump, but anyone under the illusion that they "made it" on their own.
(Score: 0, Troll) by khallow on Thursday May 21 2020, @05:38PM (4 children)
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 21 2020, @05:56PM (1 child)
Hey dumbass, maybe wages should keep up with inflation then. Very few spend more than they earn, and most often the ones who do rack up some credit card debt are stupid kids or desperate people with emergencies they have to pay for.
You are so totally disconnected from the large number of Americans who can barely save any money at all even when being thrifty. The simple fact is that most jobs don't pay well enough for people to save much, and those who do are easily screwed over by unforeseen expenses. Funny how you Trumpers think liberals are the ones who don't understand Joe Sixpack while boiling societal problems down to sound bites that let you ignore the problems and blame the victims.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday May 21 2020, @06:06PM
What makes you think they don't? I bet you're from the US [factcheck.org], right? That graph shows wages growing faster than inflation for the past 25 years in the US.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 21 2020, @09:10PM (1 child)
Average rent in the US: US$14,05 [cbsnews.com]
Monthly income at a minimum wage job in US:
Lowest minimum wage: US$7.25/hour*40 hours*4.5 weeks=US$1,305.00
Highest minimum wage: US15.00/hour*40 hours*4.5 weeks=US$2,700.00
Subtract 6.25% for Social Security
Subtract anywhere from 0-15% for local/state/federal withholding (depends on state/locality/number of dependents)
Lowest minimum wage: US$7.25/hour*40 hours*4.5 weeks, less 6.25%=US$1,1223.44
Lowest minimum wage: US$7.25/hour*40 hours*4.5 weeks, less 10%=US$1,174.50
Lowest minimum wage: US$7.25/hour*40 hours*4.5 weeks, less 20%=US$1,044.00
Highest minimum wage: US15.00/hour*40 hours*4.5 weeks less 6.25%=US$2,531.25
Highest minimum wage: US15.00/hour*40 hours*4.5 weeks less 10%=US$2,430.00
Highest minimum wage: US15.00/hour*40 hours*4.5 weeks less 20%=US$2,160.00
Of course, many folks don't get 40 hours a week. Also, that's *just* rent. That doesn't include food (who needs to eat?) or electricity (candles are cheaper than electricity, right? Actually, no. Besides, who needs light after dark?) or phone/internet or clothes or cleaning supplies or transportation (whether that's maintenance/insurance/etc on a car or public transportation) or school supplies for household members, etc., etc., etc.
Given that many folks don't make enough to cover even the *average* rent, let alone food, clothing, transportation, etc. It's pretty clear that "spend less than you earn" is often impossible.
(Score: 0, Troll) by khallow on Friday May 22 2020, @01:05AM
Then they aren't going to live somewhere with average rent. Not that hard. And you can always get roommates.