“Today’s Anniversary of Medicare & Medicaid reminds us to reflect on the critical role these programs have played to protect the healthcare of millions of families. To safeguard our future, we must reject Socialist healthcare schemes.”
— Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), on Twitter.
Thanks guys for advancing this one….
She should donate her Social Security (Socialist) benefits if that’s the way she feels….
Stupid GOP pol of the Day, Sunday 1 August, probably is Jack’s favorite governor, Henry McMaster (R-SC) talking to John Dickerson on CBS’ Face the Nation this morning.
The transcript and video are not yet available at lunchtime.
Gov. & Mrs McMaster have been (apparently) both infected and (presumably later) vaccinated, and encourages other South Carolinians to get vaccinated too.
But he will neither enact nor permit mask mandates indoors, citing the right of every (vaccinated or unvaccinated) Palmetto State patriot and his or her children to spread the highly infectious Delta variant to others [whether or not they choose to be infected].
Politics vs Health………
No match…….
Politics
Bloomberg
Big U.S. employers are reviving mask rules, dropping vaccine mandates and pushing back office reopenings as the virus surge is hampering corporate America’s plans to get back to normal
WTF would u want EVERYONE going back to the office went u save a shitload of money having them work remotely????
My mistake: Gov. McMaster spoke to Dana Perino (sitting in for Christ Wallace) on Fox News Sunday.
He sounded even dumber directly following Dr Francis Collins, director of CDC:
(complete McMaster extract from this transcript:
https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/fox-news-sunday-on-august-1-2021 )
… DANA PERINO: Governor, welcome to “FOX News Sunday.”
I wanted to get your take on what’s going on there in South Carolina. You
have seen a 258 percent increase in the COVID cases, 129 percent in
hospitalizations, and a 17 percent increase in deaths.
What are you telling the citizens of South Carolina about the delta variant
and the risk for the unvaccinated?
GOV. HENRY MCMASTER (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Well, we’ve all been through this
before with — when it started out last year, and we are telling everybody
to get vaccinated if you want to get vaccinated.
Peggy and I have gotten vaccinated. We’ve both had the virus and we’ve
gotten vaccinated.
But we’re not going to have a statewide mask mandate like they have in some
other places. We’ll not require people to get vaccinated.
And I would say, listening to your previous guests and others on this
subject, I think that the tone and the — I think there’s some exaggeration
going on, some hyperbole. Those figures that you just mentioned — yes, the
rates are going up, but they’re way below what they were a year ago from
that — a year ago.
Now the rates are going up, but they’re not nearly as high as they were
last July. The hospital capacity is — had plenty — those rates are not
going up. There’s no danger there.
But we’re urging people to get vaccinated. But I really think we got to
stay calm. We have put the fire out. It’s smoldering in places and could
come back up, but the house is not on fire again. And that’s what a lot of
the epidemiologists and experts are telling the people and it’s frightening
people.
But we’re not going to have a mandatory mask mandate. We’re not going —
we’re not going to allow our schools — we have a law in South Carolina we
passed last year that says that the schools cannot require masks.
This all will be up to the parents whether the children wear masks when
they go to school. That’s the parent decision now.
We have the information. We know the danger involved. Vaccinations are
available all over the state. Testing is available all over the states.
It’s all free.
And we’re going to trust the people to do the right thing. We’re giving
them the right information.
But I believe a lot of our national experts are — are engaging in
frightening hyperbole.
PERINO: Have you been frustrated with the continued poor and confusing
communications, even admittedly for the administration says they know that
it was confusing this week, that the CDC put out? And has that complicated
any of your efforts in getting people either back to work or back in
schools this fall?
MCMASTER: Oh, it has some. We’re not confused here. We know that — what
to do, but the — we have a saying in South Carolina, if you don’t like the
weather, wait a while, it will change in just a few minutes.
And that’s how the advice out of the national experts has been, just back-
and-forth, almost to the point where people have very little confidence in
it.
We like the recommendations. We understand the recommendations. We have a
very fine Department of Health and Environmental Control here in South
Carolina.
But we like to give the information to the people. We don’t require them to
do things. Give them the right information, not exaggeration or hyperbole,
make all the choices available to them and then let them make the decision.
And it’s working.
And I’d point out that if we had followed the advice of the national
experts back when this thing began last year, the whole country would be
closed down. There are still some states, mostly Democratic leadership,
where they still have businesses closed and I think even some churches are
still closed, which I can’t understand due to the First Amendment.
But we didn’t take that course. We — instead of trying to close everything
down we could, we tried to keep everything open that we could.
As a result, our economy is going. Our people are working. They’re
prospering again. While other states are digging out, we’re taking off.
So I think that the exaggeration —
PERINO: Did you —
MCMASTER: — the almost scare tactics of — are not — are not justified,
not wise.
PERINO: I know that you signed that executive order back on May 11th, but
for your state Department of Health, is there any flexibility within the
law if the health experts and say that they get new information that would
allow for them to ratchet up some of the protections of the people, or is
it just a blanket, no masks, we’re not going to do it?
MCMASTER: It’s a blanket no masks, we’re not going to do it, unless the
legislature comes in and passes a new law. This one lasts for one year and
that’s — there’s no exceptions to it. And that’s for schools as well.
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: And then how will you try to — yeah, I wanted to ask you about
schools.
So, I know that in the South, kids will — at least in some counties — go
back and just a couple of weeks. How will you help basically deal with any
tensions between perhaps teachers and parents when it comes to getting back
into the classroom and this mask issue? Or do you think that won’t be a
problem in South Carolina?
MCMASTER: I think there’ll be some on the education side that will be
calling for masks, but that question has already been answered. I gave —
had an executive order when we were still in the state of emergency, that
the parents would decide whether the children would wear masks and then the
legislature followed with that recommendation and said there should be no
masks.
So, we’re going to let the parents decide and — but there is no confusion
among the parents. We have seen what happens when these children are
subjected to requiring masks so they can’t perform, they can’t learn. We’ve
had enough damage to the education system already by virtual learning,
which didn’t work at all. We’re really going to be digging out, all of us
across the country, in these K-12 for years.
But adding more fuel to the fire by requirements which are not necessary is
not a smart thing to do, and we’re not going to do it.
PERINO: I noticed that McKinsey study this week that said some kids that
did remote learning, that they were so far behind over the course of their
lifetime, they are already probably $60,000 behind on what they would earn
in their lifetime. So I take your point on that.
Last question to you: what is your best message or incentives there in
South Carolina to encourage people to get a vaccine?
MCMASTER: Use your common sense. You can go online or go most anyplace and
find out where you can get a vaccination for free. You can find out where
to get testing for free. We have sites all over the state. We have an ample
supply now thanks to President Trump.
And I would urge everyone to make your decision, the one that’s right to
you. Talk to your friends, talk to your — talk to your doctor, talk to
your preacher, talk to whomever you want to.
But we — we’ve had a good experience with the vaccine. We don’t have
people checking into the hospitals that are vaccinated. We know that 99
something percent of those that are coming — that do come in, which is
lower than it was a year ago, of course, are unvaccinated.
So we know the vaccine works, but it’s not for everybody. We’re not going
to make anybody —
PERINO: Got it.
MCMASTER: — do it, but we ask everybody to get the information from good
sources and make your decision.
For Peggy and me, that was the right decision, to get the vaccination.
PERINO: Well, I hope that even though the weather, as you say, changes
every few minutes, that you have a great day today. Thank you, Governor.
Thanks for joining us this morning.
MCMASTER: It’s beautiful. Thank you, ma’am.
PERINO: Yeah, I’m sure it is. Thank you.
Chris Wallace must have been rolling his eyes .
Those were some really tough,probing questions there Dana!
McMaster is known by many of us in S.C. as “Foghorn Leghorn” ( after the Looney Tunes cartoon character)with that stupid exaggerated southern accent that Republicans eat up.Here he is attacking scientists for “hyperbole” as people in S.C. continue to die(hes “pro life you know) .
HankMac gives the words “political hack” new meaning.