It is not cognitive dissonance the impossibility of holding two or more contradictory beliefs simultaneously to favor the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill passed by Congress and signed by President Trump while at the same time worrying about what the increasing national debt (nearing $24 trillion and counting) will do to the country.

Are we mortgaging our future for the sake of temporary relief from the economic side effects of the coronavirus pandemic? If our elected representatives and unelected bureaucrats can effectively order the U.S. Treasury to print more money and borrow in continuing excess, what happens when the next crisis hits, or if the current one returns in the fall, as some medical experts believe it might? Where will it end? Is this a precedent that proponents of big government will use to justify even more spending on whatever future projects they choose?

Historically, debt has been a major contributor to the decline of great nations. It is why James Madison warned: If Congress can employ money indefinitely, for the general welfare, they may take the care of religion into their own hands; they may appoint teachers in every state, county, and parish, and pay them out of the public treasury. Were the power of Congress to be established in the latitude contended for, it would subvert the very foundations, and transmute the very nature of the limited government established by the people of America.

We are ignoring the prophetic nature of Madisons statement at our peril. The philosophy of individual freedom is under assault. There are troops in the streets of some American cities and towns. Edicts are handed down by elected and unelected officials and experts on what is allowed and what is not permitted. Churches, as Madison feared, are closed. Most of us seem indifferent, having become intoxicated with the notion that anything government does must be good.

If Madisons warning isnt warning enough, how about this one from 18th-century Scottish lawyer, writer and historian Alexander Fraser Tytler: A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship.

Government is growing ever bigger with no spending cuts, no doing away with any program or agency, no matter how useless or outmoded it has become. Republicans used to consider national debt their issue. They are now joined at the pocketbook with Democrats and can never again argue against debt with any credibility.

While I have seen this quote attributed to Tytler associated with other names, whoever first said it correctly summarized the cycle of the worlds great civilizations: From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to apathy; from apathy to dependence; from dependence back into bondage.

America, you have been warned by the ghosts of the past, but how many are listening and heeding those warnings?

If uncontrolled and unlimited spending continues, we might have to change the nations abbreviation from USA to ATM.

We are making critical coverage of the coronavirus available for free. Please consider subscribing so we can continue to bring you the latest news and information on this developing story.

Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas new book Americas Expiration Date: The Fall of Empires and Superpowers and the Future of the United States (HarperCollins/Zondervan). Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com.

Read the original:

Cal Thomas: The dark hole of debt - Washington Times Herald

It is not cognitive dissonancethe impossibility of holding two or more contradictory beliefs simultaneouslyto favor the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump while worrying about what the increasing national debt (nearing $24 trillion and counting) will do to the country.

Are we mortgaging our future for the sake of temporary relief from the economic side effects of the coronavirus pandemic?

If our elected representatives and unelected bureaucrats can effectively order the U.S. Treasury to print more money and borrow in continuing excess, what happens when the next crisis hits, or if the current one returns in the fall, as some medical experts believe it might? Where will it end?

Is this a precedent that proponents of big government will use to justify even more spending on whatever future projects they choose?

Historically, debt has been a major contributor to the decline of great nations. It is why James Madison warned:

If Congress can employ money indefinitely, for the general welfare, they may take the care of religion into their own hands; they may appoint teachers in every state, county, and parish, and pay them out of the public treasury. Were the power of Congress to be established in the latitude contended for, it would subvert the very foundations, and transmute the very nature of the limited government established by the people of America.

We are ignoring the prophetic nature of Madisons statement at our peril. The philosophy of individual freedom is under assault.

There are troops in the streets of some American cities and towns. Edicts are handed down by elected and unelected officials and experts on what is allowed and what is not permitted. Churches, as Madison feared, are closed.

Most of us seem indifferent, having become intoxicated with the notion that anything government does must be good.

If Madisons warning isnt warning enough, how about this one from 18th-century Scottish lawyer, writer, and historian Alexander Fraser Tytler:

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship.

Government is growing ever bigger with no spending cuts, no doing away with any program or agency, no matter how useless or outmoded it has become. Republicans used to consider national debt their issue. They are now joined at the pocketbook with Democrats and can never again argue against debt with any credibility.

While I have seen this quote attributed to Tytler associated with other names, whoever first said it correctly summarized the cycle of the worlds great civilizations:

From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to apathy; from apathy to dependence; from dependence back into bondage.

America, you have been warned by the ghosts of the past, but how many are listening and heeding those warnings?

If uncontrolled and unlimited spending continues, we might have to change the nations abbreviation from USA to ATM.

(c) 2020 Tribune Content Agency LLC

Continued here:

A Warning From the Dark Hole of Debt - Daily Signal

The far-right, Trump-aligned student activist groupTurning Point USA(TPUSA) is attempting to exploit the coronavirus pandemic to out "radical leftist" professors "corrupting our youth."

On March 22, TPUSA President Charlie Kirk asked "all college students" to record their classes, which had been converted to online formats as a method of coronavirus protection. "Now is the time to document & expose the radicalism that has been infecting our schools. Transparency!" he tweeted.

Kirk maintains that "leftist professors are corrupting our youth" and that college campuses pose a threat to the country by teaching students to hate America.

TPUSA has a history of harassing professors. The group launched a "Professor Watchlist" site in November 2016, which is an attempt to target liberal college and university professors. The project, which purports to expand academic freedom, is in realitya threat to academic freedom, according toThe New York Times. The site has led to harassment and intimidation of higher education faculty, and it parallelsa similar effortto target liberals more broadly by the anti-Muslim hate group theDavid Horowitz Freedom Center.

This time around, a powerful right-wing network that has worked with TPUSA in the past is speaking out against its latest attempt to direct ire at liberal professors. Charles Koch Foundation Vice President of Philanthropy Charlie Ruger said ina statement:

"Inciting harassment against scholars isn't just wrong at a time when many are seeking out new ways to engage their students during a crisis, it's always wrong. Targeting, intimidating, and otherwise attempting to silence academics chills the open exchange of ideas and, in turn, chokes off progress."

"The Koch Foundation's statement against faculty harassment is hypocritical and insincere," Samantha Parsons, director of campaigns for activist group UnKoch My Campus, told the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD). "The Koch network is funding media outlets like Campus Reform and The College Fix, which directly attack scholars that are critical of free-market capitalism and white supremacy. Some of the professors covered by these donor-funded stories have received death threats or been forced to leave their institutions."

Just as Koch has funded outlets such as the Leadership Institute, which runs Campus Reform, and the Student Free Press Association, which publishesThe College Fix, his political funding network has been instrumental in getting TPUSA itself to where it is today. A CMD investigation of federal tax records has found that a number of funders in the Koch donor network, including a charity that the Koch Foundation uses heavily to distribute charitable donations, have provided a large part of TPUSA's revenue since the fiscal year of 2014.

Over one dozen TPUSA funders since FY2014 have also donated to nonprofits at the helm of Koch's political network, such as Americans for Prosperity, Freedom Partners Institute (rebranded in 2017 asCapital Leaders), and theSeminar Network Trust. Many more have contributed to heavily Koch-funded groups such as the Institute for Humane Studies, a free-market economics center at George Mason University that is funded by the Koch Foundation, and the libertarian think tank Cato Institute, which Koch co-founded.

Overall, CMD tracked more than $11.1 million in donations to TPUSA from FY2014 through 2018, which amounts to roughly 43 percent of the organization's revenue from FY2014 to FY2018.

DonorsTrust, a donor-advised fund sponsor that invests and delivers right-wing donors' money to charitable nonprofits of their choosing while keeping their identities hidden from the Internal Revenue Service and the public, gave $610,000 to TPUSA from 2017-18, most of it coming in the latter year. Numerous conservatives use DonorsTrust to score tax breaks and distribute their charitable dollars.

Koch family foundations are some of DonorsTrust's biggest clients. In 2014-15, the Koch's Knowledge and Progress Fund gave $5.3 million to DonorsTrust, and the Charles Koch Foundation has given $980,000 to it since 2014. The connectedDonors Capital Fund, to which Koch family foundations have also contributed large sums, donated $100,000 to TPUSA in 2016.

The biggest TPUSA donor in the Koch network is theEd Uihlein Family Foundation, the foundation of wealthy Uline CEO and GOP megadonor Richard Uihlein, which gave $750,000 to TPUSA from 2014-18. The biggest donation, $250,000, came in 2018.

Other Koch network donors since FY2014 include theDeason Foundation, the charity ofAffiliated Consumer Servicesfounder, billionaireDarwin Deason($510,000; Deason's son, businessmanDoug Deason, is on TPUSA's Advisory Board);Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundationand the connectedBradley Impact Fund($232,500 total from 2014-18, plus an additional$100,000from the Bradley Foundation in 2019, according to its website); theThomas W. Smith Foundation($400,000); and theEinhorn Family Charitable Trust($120,000).

The biggest known donor to TPUSA is the family foundation of Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus. TheMarcus Foundationgave TPUSA $1,573,000 from 2015-18.

Another donor is theTracking Foundation, which donated $800,000 to TPUSA from 2017-18 and was funded by Cerberus Capital Management CEO Stephen A. Feinberg and his wife, Gisela Feinberg. The couple resigned from the board at the end of 2018, according to the nonprofits most recenttax filing. Stephen Feinberg is a GOP megadonor and Trump ally but is not affiliated with the Koch network. The only other grantee of the Tracking Foundation from 2017-18 was the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which received $420,000.

Balance for Freedom, a nonprofit led by digital trading billionaireThomas Peterffy, contributed $302,000 to TPUSA in 2018.

Major donor-advised fund sponsors includingVanguard Charitable($950,000),Schwab Charitable($407,000),Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund($363,000),National Christian Foundation($283,000), andNational Philanthropic Trust($160,000) have all given six-figure amounts to TPUSA since FY2014. As with DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund, donors can contribute to nonprofits anonymously through their donor-advised funds, which are managed by the sponsors for a fee.

Koch-funded groups have collaborated with TPUSA on events over the years. In late 2017, the director of the Center to Protect Free Speech, a project of corporate bill mill theAmerican Legislative Exchange Council(ALEC), took part in a"campus free speech" panelhosted by the conservative Washington Examiner. The director,Shelby Emmett, is now director of free speech initiatives at Koch'sStand Togethernonprofit.

The two groups have some rotating staff. For example, a former Americans for Prosperity field director is now aTPUSA field director, and the former Florida state director at TPUSA is currently grassroots engagement director at Americans for Prosperity.

A photo on the now-deleted Facebook page of TPUSA's University of Minnesota chapter shows its members making get-out-the-vote calls for Koch's premier political nonprofit, Americans for Prosperity.

Koch has for decades funded ideologically right-wing and libertarian economics professors and programs at hundreds of colleges and universities around the country. With George Mason University, a public university in Virginia, as the hub, the Koch Foundation has launched free-market centers, created professorships, and sponsored lecture series that seek to indoctrinate young minds with libertarian economic ideas of low taxes and minimal, if any, regulations.

Some of the Koch Foundation's agreements with universities have allowed foundation officials to have a say in the hiring process and even impact course curricula.

In a recent statement, Ruger says the Charles Koch Foundation is "proud to partner with universities and professors who continue to demonstrate steadfast commitment to expanding students' access to a diversity of ideas."

UnKoch My Campus's Parsons disputes that characterization, pointing out that the Koch network has been pushing legislation to quell students' ability to protest extremist speakers and hate speech on campus.

"The Koch Foundation is also behind a recent wave ofanti-protest billsthat prevent college students from speaking their mind on campuses across the country," said Parsons. "To suggest that the Koch Foundation wants to increase the diversity of ideas on campus completely ignores the ways in which the Koch network itself is leveraging its wealth to lead the charge in intimidating and silencing ideas that do not align with their own agenda."

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Koch Foundation Criticizes Turning Point USA Even as Koch Network Funds the Group - PR Watch

Palo Alto Networks (NYSE: PANW), the global cybersecurity leader, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire CloudGenix, Inc., an industry-leading cloud-delivered SD-WAN provider. Under the terms of the agreement, Palo Alto Networks will pay approximately $420 million in cash to acquire CloudGenix, subject to adjustments. The acquisition is expected to close during Palo Alto Networks fiscal fourth quarter, subject to the satisfaction of regulatory and customary closing conditions.

As applications continue to move from corporate data centers to the cloud and SaaS, and users require secure access to applications from anywhere in the world, organizations are struggling to manage access for the distributed workforce. Current remote access solutions for the branch and retail offices are complex, costly and often insecure. To support the modern workforce, organizations need access to all applications from all locations, delivered via a global network as a service for accelerated access, and with integrated world-class security from the cloud. This is what the industry calls secure access service edge, or SASE.

Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access is the industrys most comprehensive SASE platform, delivering a global cloud network with cloud-delivered security for all users. With the proposed acquisition, Palo Alto Networks will integrate CloudGenixs cloud-managed SD-WAN products to accelerate the intelligent onboarding of remote branches and retail stores into Prisma Access. This combination will extend the breadth of the Prisma Access SASE platform, address network and security transformation requirements, and accelerate the shift from SD-WAN to SASE.

CloudGenix has attracted approximately 250 customers, many of which are in the Fortune 1000 and include companies in healthcare, retail, manufacturing, finance, banking, tech and hospitality. CloudGenix was named a 2020 Gartner Peer Insights Customers Choice for WAN Edge Infrastructure. CloudGenix co-founders, Kumar Ramachandran, Mani Ramasamy and Venkataraman Anand, have agreed to join Palo Alto Networks.

Quotes:

As the enterprise becomes more distributed, customers want agile solutions that just work, and that applies to both security and networking. Upon the close of the transaction, the combined platform will provide customers with a complete SASE offering that is best-in-class, easy to deploy, cloud-managed, and delivered as a service.

Nikesh Arora, chairman and CEO, Palo Alto Networks

CloudGenixs vision has been to revolutionize branch offices through cloud-delivered Autonomous WANs. With CloudGenix, enterprises gain cloud-scale economics for the branch office with the freedom to use any WAN, any cloud, and best-of-breed infrastructure services. We thank our customers for making us an industry leader in enterprise SD-WAN. By joining forces with Palo Alto Networks, we will accelerate our ability to serve customers and partners in their network and security transformation.

Kumar Ramachandran, co-founder and CEO, CloudGenix

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, the global cybersecurity leader, is shaping the cloud-centric future with technology that is transforming the way people and organizations operate. Our mission is to be the cybersecurity partner of choice, protecting our digital way of life. We help address the worlds greatest security challenges with continuous innovation that seizes the latest breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, analytics, automation, and orchestration. By delivering an integrated platform and empowering a growing ecosystem of partners, we are at the forefront of protecting tens of thousands of organizations across clouds, networks, and mobile devices. Our vision is a world where each day is safer and more secure than the one before. For more information, visitwww.paloaltonetworks.com.

Palo Alto Networks, Prisma, and the Palo Alto Networks logo are trademarks of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. in the United States and in jurisdictions throughout the world. All other trademarks, trade names, or service marks used or mentioned herein belong to their respective owners.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based on our managements beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management. Such forward-looking statements include statements regarding our intention to acquire CloudGenix, Inc., expectations regarding the timing of when the acquisition will be completed and our integration efforts after we close the transaction, the expected benefits of the acquisition of CloudGenix to us and to our customers, and the expected impact of the acquisition on our offerings. These forward-looking statements are subject to the safe harbor provisions created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. There are a significant number of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from statements made in this press release, such as risks associated with new product and subscription releases, including our ability to successfully integrate CloudGenix into our product offerings; risks associated with managing our growth; our ability as an organization to successfully integrate CloudGenix and acquire and integrate other companies, products or technologies in a successful manner; the risks associated with new products and subscription and support offerings, including the discovery of software bugs; our ability to attract and retain new customers; delays in the development or release of new subscription offerings, or the failure to timely develop and achieve market acceptance of new products and subscriptions as well as existing products and subscription and support offerings; rapidly evolving technological developments in the market for network security products and subscription and support offerings; length of sales cycles; the coronavirus effect on our supply chain, our ability to ship products, complete the transaction in a timely manner, or execute on integration plans; and general market, political, economic and business conditions. Additional risks and uncertainties are included under the captions Risk Factors and Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, in our quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on February 25, 2020, which is available on our website atinvestors.paloaltonetworks.comand on the SECs website atwww.sec.gov. Additional information will also be set forth in other filings that we make with the SEC from time to time. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to us as of the date hereof, and we do not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements provided to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made or to update the reasons why actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

Disclaimer:The story is in the form of a Press Release and has not been edited or reviewed for language or content. The content is published in the form that it was received by the editors after removing certain personal information such as contact numbers and emails. CXOToday.com is not responsible for the veracity of this content

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Palo Alto Networks Announces Intent to Acquire CloudGenix to Extend the Industry's Most Comprehensive Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform -...

Wrong

Sadly to admit but right is right. I support President Trump on most issues but this time he is wrong, Massie is correct! The pork in this bill is not just feeding favorite and contentious supporters such as PBS and Pelosis theatre in D.C. but it contains many things that are just flat WRONG and I can not support! The money for abortion, Planned Parenthood, the rules changing ballots and who can vote, collect and handle those ballots is anti-American and pro illegal immigrant! Why can Congress not figure out how to pass a clean bill without all the garbage, perks, favors and outright lies? This bill will pass as most representatives will vote without ever reading the bill, that is NOT what they are elected to do! The bill will be challenged and head to the Supreme Court thus more delay to those that truly need the help. Lazy, close minded, partisan and self-aggrandizing representatives are not what the citizens deserve! The Wuhan Virus shall also pass, hopefully with minimal casualties, but the damage to the Country and the economy may be irreversible! I am over 60, have respiratory health issues and am high risk, but I care more about the future of America and my Grandchildren than my personal health threats. This bill should be voted down, a clean bill passed by informed and moral House and Senate Representatives. Anything else is simply a direct violation of the oath of office these people swore they would uphold. What is the larger treat, Wuhan or Washington?

Ken Withey,

Blanchard

The lengthy article that appeared on Page A8 today (Friday, March 27) is just one example of what many people see as a bias in the news media against President Trump.

The headline reads: Even as US coronavirus deaths top 1,000, Trump claims his early action saved lives. The implication is clear: The President is out of touch with the reality of the situation.

The two-deck headline, flush left and right across the top of the page, seems out of place, as if it belongs on an editorial or an opinion piece and not a news article. That is, until you read the text: President Trump has repeatedly overstated the effects of his decisions, has misrepresented federal efforts to fight the spread of the virus and has repeatedly minimized and falsely claimed and overstated and so forth and so on. So the headline does belong with the story.

In fact, however, the piece was not a news article but a commentary, straight from that bastion of liberalism, the Los Angeles Times. It should have been labeled as such. Unless, of course, the Idaho Press considers that fair and balanced reporting.

Roger Neumann,

Nampa

Gratitude

After reading letters which criticize the President and other leaders, I wanted to correct an idea that seems to run wild during times of crisis. A true leader calms the masses, assembles experts who do their best to solve the problem and uses everything possible to help, strongly but calmly. Leaders give encouraging news to all, even those who cant handle the slightest upset to their apple cart.

Ninety nine percent of us could not solve the Covid-19 problem in time to save millions of people. We are witnessing heroic actions from medical, scientific and ordinary citizens. Leaders keep the peace and pass on the latest good news. This is what most Americans expect from them.

Why are so many willing to criticize when they have no solutions to offer? The country is tired of whiners and complainers. Unfortunately, we have a whole segment of society who cant cope without therapy dogs and play-doh.

Cmon people, lets appreciate the hardworking professionals, support the leaders who are trying to get things back to your normal. Dont panic. Be generous, kind and remember you live in the country where everyone in the world would want to come for medical treatment. We have our beautiful Treasure Valley, plenty of water, beautiful skies and hardworking neighbors. By summer we will probably be looking back with gratitude that we made it through.

Nancy Oleksy,

Eagle

Same page

Can someone explain to me why the Redhawk golf course is still open?

It pulled the pins and filled in the cups Thursday and Friday morning it was back in Business? Governors office said this was a MAYOR issue, Mayors office said Governor said golf courses could stay open? The city of Nampa closed its Rec Center and BOTH golf courses. Redhawk is still renting golf carts to golfers, wonder just how sanitary those are. Another course we contacted said ONLY carts owned by the GOLFER will be allowed. The vast majority of golfers today fit into the age bracket of the MOST vulnerable potential patients. Does the owners of this facility REALLY care about the well being of our citizens or is MONEY the motivating factor? We all need to be on the SAME page with this pandemic.

Ronald Green,

Nampa

Spending

Those of you who think that our two major political parties cant agree on anything of substance, take heart. There is one very important issue on which, with rare exception, they agree almost unanimously.

That would be running up debt. When it comes to that, not only do they reach across the aisle, they bear-hug each other. Heck, they even sing koombaya.

Which means the days of severe austerity measures and rioting are not a question of if, but when. And when future generations who are going to feel the brunt of this fiscal irresponsibility ask why we didnt do anything about it, you can tell them because they were too busy arguing about transgendered bathrooms.

But is it really our leaders fault? After all, how many of We the People are demanding they do something about the debt? Compare that to the number of us who are demanding some kind of goodies free health care, free college, massive military spending, corporate bailouts the list is endless.

In our personal lives, we look at $10,000 credit as being the same as $10,000 cash. No, it isnt. If you have $10,000 credit, you aint got bupkis. Youll have to pay it all back, plus interest, some day.

So when the county does buckle and possibly collapse under the weight of its debt, dont be too harsh on our leaders. Theyre only doing what the most vocal of us demanded they do spend, spend, spend.

Phil Bridges, Nampa

Recently, our pastor spoke of an angry atheist who attacked Mother Teresa claiming she was only reaching out to the poor for selfish reasons; she desired only personal attention for her acts of charity.

The lesson of the angry man was not that he was an atheist. Rather, he could be any one of us who chooses to belittle, mock, or attack someone else rather than consider improving themselves.

The current Pandemic provides an opportunity for all of us in these abnormal times for self-reflection.

Families have an opportunity to draw closer. Children, restrained from the physical proximity of friends may find themselves playing games with their parents and actually communicating. Parents cannot respond by stating they do not have time.

Married couples now have the opportunity to recall the joy of marriage given the additional time to consider the meaning of love and the vows they made long ago.

We are removed from the oldnormal, but now enter the abnormal with an opportunity for a new normal.

Hopefully, when the virus completes its carnage, mankind will be able to look back recognizing that through this painful experience a greater good has emerged.

Bob Fontaine,

Eagle

Wind

Wake up Idaho! These wind farms are only coming to Idaho because of complacency. Idahos biggest wind farm planned near Shoshone. Magic Valley Times, Friday, March 20.

Did you know-

Power generated is not stored (like coal and gas) but must be used as it is being made.

In their own words this power is not for Idaho it is going to be sold to the highest bidderto the West. Maybe those folks should unplug and get outdoors instead.

The only thing Idaho gets?

A constant stream of heavy trucks (think oversize loads) tearing up infrastructure, i.e. roads. Sure theyll give money for roads now but 5 years down the road? You pay.

A landscape permanently scarred whether power is being generated or not. You pay.

Idaho prides itself on the preservation of the outdoors. Yet this will kill how many birds? The travel patterns and habits of countless animals will change. You pay.

The noise generated, perhaps not heard by all, nevertheless exists. You pay.

These companies dont make money on the power generated.

They make money from grants and subsidies (Wind Production Tax Credit) and then leave. You pay.

It starts local. Contact the cities, the counties, the state and federal legislators. Keep Idaho green, or youll pay.

Rosanne Smith,

Moyie Springs

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Better

21 day Order

Governor Little,

Your order directly addresses the most basic needs and rights of Idahoans. Nothing is more fundamental to our State and the rights of citizens than our health. Isnt there a document called the Declaration of Independence which leads off by citing three basic unalienable human rights; Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness? Do not, for one minute listen to those who proclaim or announce, their rights rise above your order. Your order is based on the knowledge of science and medical care. Rest assured history will prove you right.

To those of Health Freedom Idaho, the Idaho Freedom Foundation and others who criticize, please remember how you treat the small child roasting marshmallows by the campfire. One, dont let them get too close. Two, let the marshmallow cool before stuffing into their mouths. They will be the better for it.

Charles Gains,

Boise

The truth

Who can we trust? Everything that has been reported to date about the caronavirous seems to be proven false. Its like the flu.

The symptoms are mild. Only the elderly.

Those with underlying conditions. Just wash your hands. No more than 10 people in a room. Those who need tests will get tests.

Theres no need to be afraid. To quote the president, you probably wont die.

Conventional wisdom doesnt seem to hold true either. We have the best medical system in the world. If your sick they will help you. Share and share alike. Were all in this together. The pillars of our society are crumbling before our eyes. The right to assemble. The freedom to choose your religion and the right to practice it. The right to be secure in your person, place and effects and the freedom to go where you please. The freedom of the press, whos search for the truth was so important, that its rights were codified in the first amendment, now simply a mouthpiece of propaganda and lies. We simply cant trust anyone. Test, test, test. Identify, isolate, investigate. Whos sick? Who isnt? Why and why not? Where and when?

These are all things that must be done to stop a pandemic. Yet, the vast majority of people who have symptoms are refused testing. Those with positive tests, isolated at home with family members that are never tested.

Reporting one positive test per household.

The numbers are a lie. The math is invalid.

Whats true and what isnt? Who do we trust?

The Drs. And nurses on the front lines, denying access to their facilities and refusing patients?

The government? The press? Our neighbors?

I keep trying to figure out whos telling the truth. Ive come to the conclusion, no one is.

Erin Hagadorn,

Emmett

Work together

I want to thank the governor for calling the statewide shelter in place order. I think its less confusing for all involved, and will help us pull together as a community to stop the spread of the virus and protect health care workers. I feel more confident going forward with recommendations based on science and prevention. Perhaps the members of Health Freedom Idaho who were protesting the announcement should step up and volunteer on the front lines since they believe that the order is disproportionate. If they feel safe out and about in the community, they might be the perfect folks to help deliver groceries to those of us who are more vulnerable due to age or pre-existing conditions. Or perhaps they could volunteer to help test people at the drive up testing stations? We all need to work together to make this work!

Kari Filson,

Boise

Continue reading here:

Letters to the editor, April 1, 2020 | Opinion - Idaho Press-Tribune

Covid-19: History Has The Bad Habit Of Repeating Itself!

Exactly 100 Years Ago, just as the First World War (WW1)were finally starting to wind down, the deadliest strain ofinfluenza in modern history infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide and killed more than 50 million victims, including an untold number of Africans and some 675,000 Americans. At the time, there were no effective drugs or vaccines to treat this killer flu strain dub The Spanish Flu because Spain was the only country during the war to openly report the virus. It was a neutral country and not involved in the WW1.

For those countries affected, social distancing and quarantine were used to curtail the spread of the pandemics. People were ordered to wear masks, churches, theaters and businesses were shuttered and bodies piled up in makeshift morgues. Some advised their citizens to also avoid shaking hands and to stay indoors, libraries put a halt on lending books and regulations were passed banning spitting. As can be seen below, every available town halls or space were transformed into hospitals and women were conscripted to serve as nurse transporting dead bodies for mass burials.

(1919 pandemic). Women transporting corpses Patients in make-shift hospitals overwhelmed with victims.

Additionally, hospitals in some areas were so overloaded with flu patients that schools, private homes and other buildings had to be converted into makeshift hospitals, some of which were staffed by medical students as there was a shortage of doctors and other health workers caused by the war. In some places there werent enough farm workers to harvest crops. Basic services such as mail delivery and garbage collection were hindered due to flu-stricken workers. By the summer of 1919, the flu pandemic came to an end, as those that were infected either died or developed immunity. Some estimates put the number of deaths as more than 50 million making it the worse pandemic in the history of mankind.

Those protective measures adopted to fight the epidemic 100 years ago, are similar to the harsh restrictive measures employed by many countries including the Gambia to curb the spread of covid-19 as recommended by the WHO. In the realm of infectious diseases, in terms of mortality rates, the 1918-19 epidemic clearly reveals how much more severe the 18th century influenza was relative to coronavirus pandemic and other deadly viruses that emerged during the last century.

So far, a total of 199 countries and territories have been affected with the coronavirus going by the latest provisional data made available as at 17.28 03/30/20 as follows:

Coronavirus Cases- Tuesday, 30th March 2020

Source: Worldometer.info

Gambia is one of the lowest countries with the lowest number of reported cases of 4 with and one death so far.Both United States, Italy and Spain have overtaken China in terms of number of cases. However, both Italy and Spain have reported more deaths than China and USA combined. Many theories have been forwarded for the reasons for this inexplicable circumstances but one thing is certain, taking the right protective measures on time before the virus start spreading could prove effective.

The lessons to be learned from 1918 is for officials response to the spread of the disease must focus on containment and this exactly what the governments are doing. The reason why the 1918 pandemic resulted in so many deaths was that so many people caught the disease in the first place. They were exposed because policymakers failed to stop the spread. Indeed, their actions helped spread the flu more widely. The repatriation of troops to their countries of origin was probably the main culprit.

Having good reliable and timely information is key to disease control. We cannot afford a media blackout or, worse, an active doctoring of the right data for political gains. We can already see the terrible consequences of such policies in Iran. The truth always comes out eventually there is nothing to be gained from hiding it. Indeed, political scientists are already pontificatingon the long-term political impact of media manipulation of coronavirus news in China.

To conclude, one of the most important lessons is that we must prepare for the economic and human consequences of the coronavirus and act to minimize its impact. This pandemic is both a shock to demand and supply. Just as the disease is highly contagious, so too is the economic crisis it causes. Closing down entire businesses and hotels, will no doubt cause a recession. Providing tax relief and lowering of interest rates should be the first of many policies aimed at mitigating the economic impact of COVID-19. New fiscal policy measures must now also come into play. Government spending must be prioritize and resource allocations strategize based on approved revised expenditure framework consistent with sound austerity measures adopted for prudent fiscal management in a state of emergency.

The devastating 1918-19 Spanish Flu killed an estimated 675,000 Americans among a staggering 20 to 50 million people worldwide. When it was all over, cities that dragged their feet or let down their guard paid a heavier price. More than a century later, the most effective step necessary to curb this incurable disease is to be prepare adequately for a well-organized and early responses to slow the spread at least temporarily.

We can always learn important lessons from the past to prepare for future global calamities knowing fully well that history has a bad habit of repeating itself.

We shall overcome this fight Insha Allah!

Written By: M

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Covid-19: History Has The Bad Habit Of Repeating Itself! - Freedom Newspaper

Tom Coburn, an ultraconservative Oklahoma Republican and family physician who in 16 years in Congress crusaded for limited government, using a rule-book technicality to block so many bills that frustrated legislators called him Dr. No, died on Saturday in Tulsa. He was 72.

The cause was cancer, said John Hart, his former communications director. Mr. Coburn had said in 2013 that he was being treated for a recurrence of prostate cancer, and in 2014 he announced that he would retire.

Mr. Coburn was an obstetrician who treated some 15,000 patients and delivered 4,000 babies in a maternal and family practice in Muskogee, Okla., before embarking on his political career three terms in the House of Representatives (1995-2001) and, after a four-year hiatus, two terms in the Senate (2005-15). He retired two years before the end of his second term because of deteriorating health.

A visceral foe of Washington long before such disaffections coalesced into the Tea Party, Mr. Coburn swept into Congress with the class of 1994, when Republicans gained control of the House for the first time in 40 years and installed Newt Gingrich as speaker and his Contract With America agenda to shrink government, cut taxes and promote welfare reforms and business activity.

Mr. Coburn soon set about displeasing everyone, including the constituencies most politicians covet: his own partys activists, donors, leaders and congressional colleagues. He battled with Mr. Gingrich often, charging that he was drifting to the political center and away from his contractual pledges to the nation. He openly vented his disdain for career politicians.

His contempt for them is genuine, bipartisan and in many cases mutual, The New York Times reported years later. He once prescribed a spinal transplant for 70 percent of the Senate, and another time said his colleagues had reproductive organs the size of BBs.

As if separating himself from the pack, Mr. Coburn continued to deliver babies as a member of the House. (He gave up his obstetric moonlighting only after a dispute with ethics officials when he entered the Senate.) But he won grudging respect as a political maverick and was admired by some colleagues as one of the toughest fiscal and social conservatives of his era.

For the sake of smaller government, he voted against nearly all spending bills, particularly pork-barrel allocations for the pet projects of legislators. He opposed gay rights, same-sex marriage, embryonic stem-cell research and abortions except those to save a womans life. He denied that global warming was real. He favored term limits for elected officials and pledged to abide by them himself.

In the House, he supported gun rights and favored the death penalty, even for doctors who performed abortions. He also wrote laws aimed at protecting infants from AIDS and expanding medical care for the elderly. He helped reform welfare and other federal entitlement programs, and led workshops for young staff members on sexually transmitted H.I.V. infections.

He caused a stir in 1997 when he protested NBCs decision to televise, in prime time and without editing, Schindlers List, Steven Spielbergs Oscar-winning Holocaust film. He called it televisions all-time low, with full-frontal nudity, violence and profanity, adding, I cringe when I realize that there were children all across this nation watching this program.

He was heavily criticized, including by the American Jewish Congress, which said: This isnt Melrose Place, Mr. Coburn. This is the Holocaust. He apologized to all those I have offended, but insisted that the film should have been aired later in the evening.

Keeping his campaign pledge to serve no more than three consecutive terms in the House, Mr. Coburn did not run for re-election in 2000. He resumed his medical practice, and in 2002 was appointed by President George W. Bush as a co-chairman of his advisory council on H.I.V. and AIDS, giving him a prominent platform as he prepared to run for the Senate.

Mr. Coburn also wrote a book about his experiences in Congress, Breach of Trust: How Washington Turns Outsiders Into Insiders (2003, with Mr. Hart). In it, he called careerism the central tenet of Congress. Both parties today, he wrote, are ultimately controlled not by ideas, but by the desire to be in control, a posture that creates little motivation for bold change.

In 2004, Mr. Coburn won the Senate seat being vacated by a four-term Oklahoma Republican, Don Nickles. He handily defeated former Representative Brad Carson, a Democrat.

Mr. Coburn continued his conservative fiscal and social voting record, but with far wider public and media attention. He became notorious for using a procedural senatorial privilege, called a hold, with which a single senator could block bills from being voted on by the full Senate.

At first his obstructionist tactics were relatively innocuous. He blocked two 2007 bills honoring the 100th birthday of Rachel Carson and her landmark 1962 book, Silent Spring, which documented the environmental effects of pesticides. Mr. Coburn called the book junk science and the catalyst in the deadly worldwide stigmatization against insecticides, especially DDT.

Later bills blocked by Mr. Coburn included provisions for health care, penalties for child pornography and protections for natural resources. Senate business was dragging to a crawl under the tactical loophole he was exploiting.

In 2008, to expose and embarrass Mr. Coburn, the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, introduced 35 of the most irresistible-sounding bills together as omnibus legislation. It was a benign collection that almost any senator would be ashamed to vote against: a Mothers Act to relieve postpartum depression, a Protect Our Children Act to thwart internet predators, and a shameless measure to commemorate The Star-Spangled Banner.

Tom Coburn put a hold on the package, which was mocked as the Tomnibus bill. He did not back down. Neither did Senate Democrats.

The struggle lasted two years, but came to a head when he put a hold on a bill to fund the disarming of the Lords Resistance Army, a Ugandan terrorist group that had massacred countless civilians and dragooned children into its ranks. After an 11-day round-the-clock protest outside Mr. Coburns office by people outraged that funds to suppress terrorists were being held up, he relented and the bill passed.

Re-elected in 2010, he pledged not to seek a third term. He left the Senate in early 2015 after retiring for health reasons, but continued to write and speak against government waste and profligate spending.

Thomas Allen Coburn was born in Casper, Wyo., on March 14, 1948, to Orin Wesley and Anita (Allen) Coburn. In Muskogee, where the family settled, his father was an optician who founded Coburn Optical Industries, which made ophthalmic equipment and eyeglass lenses. The company was sold to Revlon for $57 million in 1975, although the elder Mr. Coburn continued as president of the subsidiary. Tom Coburn graduated from Central High School in Muskogee in 1966.

In 1968 he married Carolyn Denton, the 1967 Miss Oklahoma. They had three daughters: Callie, Katie and Sarah, the operatic soprano. He is survived by his wife, his daughters and nine grandchildren.

At Oklahoma State University, Mr. Coburn was an honors student and president of the student business council. He graduated in 1970 with a bachelors degree in accounting. From 1970 to 1978, he was the manufacturing manager of the ophthalmic division of Coburn Optical Industries in Colonial Heights, Va.

After the family business was sold, he attended medical school at the University of Oklahoma and received his medical degree with honors in 1983. He interned at St. Anthony Hospital in Oklahoma City, had a residency at the University of Arkansas Health Education Center in Fort Smith and returned to Muskogee to open his family and obstetrics practice.

He was a deacon of the Southern Baptist Church and participated in medical missions to Haiti in 1985 and Iraq in 1992.

His decision to run for Congress in 1994 was a long shot. He narrowly won, becoming the first Republican to represent Oklahomas Second Congressional District in 73 years.

Mr. Coburn had homes in Muskogee and Tulsa. Besides Breach of Trust, he wrote two books: The Debt Bomb: A Bold Plan to Stop Washington From Bankrupting America (2012, with Mr. Hart) and Smashing the DC Monopoly: Using Article V to Restore Freedom and Stop Runaway Government (2017), about a plan for the states to amend the United States Constitution.

While he never drifted from his conservative convictions, Mr. Coburn forged a friendship in Washington that was as unlikely as it was enduring. Arriving in the Senate together in 2005, he and Barack Obama quickly bonded.

Shortly before he retired, Mr. Coburn said of Mr. Obama: I think hes a neat man. You dont have to be the same to be friends. Matter of fact, the interesting friendships are the ones that are divergent.

Jonathan Martin contributed reporting.

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Tom Coburn, the Dr. No of Congress, Is Dead at 72 - The New York Times

Now is the time for Nomvula Mokonyane to shine. Lets hope shes been hitting the gym hard. Because this, right here, is the moment she promised three years ago after the night of the long knives, when her ally, former president Jacob Zuma, sacked most of the cabinet, sparking a ratings downgrade.

"Let the rand fall," said Mokonyane famously in April 2017 after Fitch and S&P downgraded SA to junk status, "we will pick it up."

Yet, when her moment arrived on Friday, after Moodys became the last of the ratings agencies to downgrade SA to junk status, and the rand plummeted to R18 to the dollar (down from R14 in January) there wasnt a peep from the former water & sanitation minister. In fact, the only real reference to Mokonyane in recent weeks was a report by the German-based Water Integrity Network, which detailed how R4bn was lost in "irregular expenditure" during Mokonyanes tenure as minister. Not exactly flattering stuff.

True, Mokonyane doesnt really have a soapbox from which to lift up the rand: last May she withdrew as an ANC MP because of "family responsibilities" (nothing to do with being accused of taking bribes by Angelo Agrizzi). But she is still a member of the ANCs national executive committee, so there is that.

Still, Mokonyanes fighting words were typical of so many politicians in the heady months before Zumas axing: aggressive economic foolhardiness, characterised by a toxic mixture of pig-headed arrogance and startling, wilful fiscal illiteracy.

Many of her ilk faded into the shadows as the economic meltdown became apparent. Others, however, still have no problem pronouncing on the economy, and the ratings agencies, despite being fatally ill-equipped to do so.

Public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, in 2019, tweeted: "God deliver us from these rating agencies and oppressors of the downtrodden for economic freedom in our lifetime."

Mkhwebane, of course, has no idea what shes talking about. Blaming a ratings agency for diagnosing the economy is like blaming a doctor for telling you youve got cancer.

If anything, Moodys deferred the diagnosis until there was no chance it wasnt cancer. The two other agencies, Fitch and S&P, had SA in junk status three years ago.

Other critics piled on this week. The SACP, for example, "denounced" the action by Moodys, saying it was "heartless, insensitive and inconsiderate". The SACP which, lets remind ourselves, is still an alliance partner of the governing party even accused Moodys of wanting to "usurp economic policy formulation from democratically elected governments". The SACP, no doubt, would also accuse the cancer-diagnosing doctor of being part of a "class agenda" and a "neoliberal manoeuvre to impose corporate capture". The National Education, Health & Allied Workers Union, an affiliate of Cosatu, was as clueless, calling Moodys "depraved".

The truth is, this downgrade is already costing us. The fall in the rand makes imports more expensive, and prevents SA from getting the full benefit of the drop in the oil price. At least $2bn in foreign investment (in government bonds) will leave the country, and itll cost the state more to borrow money, which has to be repaid.

But tell that to Danisa Baloyi, the former Black Business Council president and Zuma ally who said in 2017 that a downgrade didnt matter, since "many South Africans dont have billions on the stock exchange".

Luckily, the person speaking the most sense on this issue, who knows all too well whats at stake, is finance minister Tito Mboweni. Its high time that the economic duncerati in the ANC left it to him. After all, theyve had their time to "pick up the rand" and theyve failed.

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EDITORIAL: Heres Mokonyanes chance to lift the rand - Rand Daily Mail

The coronavirus pandemic presents much more than a healthcare crisis: It serves as the latest iteration of the EUs inability to handle its own systemic weaknesses. Thus, the pandemic must be understood as nothing less than a clarion call for pan-European politics, writes Joel Boehme.

Joel Boehme is a board member of Volt Europa, a pro-European, federalist political movement.

We Europeans must step up our game. Moreover, we must do so with a holistic understanding of the Unions reluctance to own uncomfortable competences. Indeed, the legitimacy of our ever closer union will not come from touting Europes fairweather victories, but by ensuring that Europe has the capacity to handle system shocks.

Until now, the EU has had the luxury of driving policies based on building wealth. Matters such as free movement and the euro make for positive, marketable policies.

Theyre geared towards building a richer future, and until the 2010s, they presented feel-good stories of the successful European story. However, our shared prosperity will remain a house of cards if we do not empower Europe to handle transnational threats.

Its important to note that this isnt the first time Europes reluctance to take ownership of crises is made apparent in this last decade. Its the third.

Lets look at two staples of these last ten years the refugee waves and the eurozone crisis.

Free movement has been crucial to Europe reaching historically unprecedented wealth and freedom. Its at the very core of the idea of Europe and should be defended with the devotion it deserves.

However, when free movement collided with the Dublin Regulation in 2015, we saw member states struggle to make sense of the paradoxical division of competences. Case in point; the collapse of the European-Turkish stopgap deal underlines the inability to combine Europeanised borders with national asylum jurisdiction.

Being the guarantor of free movement, Europe must also commit to handling transcontinental refugee waves. If Europe cannot deliver, member states will scramble to secure what they perceive to be their threatened security, and Europeanisation will be put on the backburner.

Had Europe claimed ownership not only of the free movement, but also of the scarier subject of asylum processing, its likely that the subsequent anti-European backlash would have been less substantial.

Similarly, consider the eurozone. Although the common currency had facilitated a flourishing market, when the 2008 crisis hit, the EU was woefully underequipped.

Eurozone interdependence required financial tools the EU simply werent allowed to flex. Hence, this originally external crisis saw the EU descend into petty North vs South blame games, failing to act as one.

With history in mind, lets set our eyes on the current pandemic. The emerging Eurosceptic pitch is as cynical as it is succinct: free movement helped spread the disease. Europe is not helping us to combat the spread of the disease, and Europe is leaving us to clear up the finances mess.

With this, two-penny populists can condemn Europes absence, ignoring that healthcare is currently a vehemently guarded national competence, not a European one.

When comparing past emergencies, two trends emerge.

Firstly, the Eurosceptic hypocrisy is as obvious as it is shameless. Less comfortable to address, however, is the paradoxical mentality of European competences.

Brusselss long-standing tradition of happy-go-lucky integration must be complemented with the bravery to clearly own the European responsibility to regulate crisis-related spillover fields such as a refugee crisis, a financial crisis, or a pandemic.

As Europe will have to face this political struggle head-on, its leaders must take up responsibility. An honest and ambitious pan-European political narrative must emerge.

This is the hour of a European vision. Europeanisation must not regress in the wake of this new crisis. Instead, it must accelerate.

With that in mind, measures such as corona-themed eurobonds are a welcome step, but we need more.

We need shock-proofing across the entire board. We need a shared asylum system, a united fiscal policy and massively expanded contagion prevention.

While this may seem like an ordinary federalist wish list at first, these aims must be treated as key components of making sure that Europe can take the next big challenge in its stride.

Given the tone of the public discourse, convincing the member states will of course be an uphill battle. That said, it is a battle worth fighting, and it is the duty of all passionate Europeans to make sure that it is won.

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Third time's the charm - Europe must shockproof itself - EURACTIV

By RICK BRUNDRETT

Every 10 years, S.C. lawmakers re-exert their authority to draw legislative and congressional district lines based on updated population counts a typically convoluted process aimed at protecting incumbents.

While the 2020 U.S. Census is underway, state lawmakers quietly are planning to initially spend as much as $2 million on the reapportionment process, or the redrawing of district lines.

How those lines are drawn largely controlled by legislative leaders can greatly affect who wins elections, which areas are best represented, and what legislation gets approved.

The 2010 U.S. Census showed that South Carolinas total population grew by more than 15% over the previous decade, resulting in the creation of a seventh U.S. House seat and realignment of legislative districts.

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld partisan gerrymandering, allowing the political party that controls a state legislature to draw voting maps to help its candidates win elections.

In its recently passed, $32.3 billion state budget version for fiscal year 2020-21, the S.C. House appropriated $1 million for its 124-member chamber for reapportionment expenses, and approved an additional $1 million for unspecified operating expenses for the 46-member Senate.

Back in November, neither the House nor Senate would reveal to The Nerve any upcoming spending plans for their respective chambers after missing a legal deadline to file their proposed chamber budgets for fiscal 2021, which starts July 1.

State agencies are required by law to submit their proposed budgets to the governor by Nov. 1. But as The Nerve previously has reported, the Legislature in recent years often has ignored the law when it comes to their own chamber spending plans.

Gov. Henry McMaster in his proposed fiscal 2021 state budget version, which was released in January, recommended appropriating a total of $22.9 million and $15.4 million for the House and Senate chambers, respectively.

The House later proposed adding $1 million each to the House and Senate chamber budgets, though the House version didnt provide specifics on funding for redrawing legislative and congressional district lines. The Legislature approved similar funding for redistricting costs when the last U.S. Census was done, as The Nerve reported then.

The House and Senate, for example, collectively spent thousands of dollars on outside attorneys to defend the chambers in a federal lawsuit alleging racial gerrymandering in the 2011 redistricting plans, state comptroller general records show.

The Nerve recently asked House clerk Charles Reid and Senate clerk Jeff Gossett under the S.C. Freedom of Information Act for documents showing how exactly the proposed additional $1 million for each chamber would be spent.

A House attorney provided only general budget records showing the total requested amount for reapportionment expenses. Gossett didnt provide any records, saying only in a written response: The Senate has no documents specifically regarding the appropriation beyond what is in the (state budget) bill. However, the primary intention of this is to fund reapportionment and other expenses.

House records show that Rep. Bruce Bannister, R-Greenville, proposed the additional $1 million for the House for one time expenses incurred due to reapportionment.

The Nerve last week asked Bannister for records related to his budget request, though no documents were provided by publication of this story. Bannisters proposal was designated in House records as a budget earmark, which typically is a funding request for a program or project that didnt originate with the state agency that would receive the public dollars.

The Nerve earlier this month revealed more than $51 million in earmarks in the Houses state budget version, including, for example, $19 million for a proposed downtown Greenville convention center and $7.5 million to renovate the Sumter Opera House.

Funding for those projects, as well as the proposed $1 million House chamber earmark, would come out of $945.5 million in actual and estimated nonrecurring state revenues, under the Houses state budget version. Whether the overall projected $1.8 billion-plus surplus for next fiscal year will materialize, however, is uncertain because of the states continuing coronavirus response.

Still, the House and Senate chambers have plenty of their own reserves to cover redistricting costs in fiscal 2021. Records show that at the start of this fiscal year, the Senate had $5.2 million in general fund reserves, while the House had a surplus of $23.3 million $666,401 more than its current total chamber budget.

Brundrett is the news editor of The Nerve (www.thenerve.org). Contact him at 803-254-4411 or rick@thenerve.org. Follow him on Twitter @RickBrundrett. Follow The Nerve on Facebook and Twitter @thenervesc.

Nervestories are free to reprint and repost with permission by and credit to The Nerve.

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How S.C. lawmakers increase their odds of staying in power - The Nerve

Armenia has the 34th freest economy in the 2020 Index of Economic Freedom published by the Heritage Foundation.

Armenias economic freedom score is 70, a 2.9 point increase due to a significant spike in the fiscal health score. Armenia is ranked 18th among 45 countries in the Europe region, and its overall score is just above the regional average and well above the world average, the report says.

Economic freedom has remained fairly constant in Armenia during the past 15 years, with the economy vacillating between moderately free and mostly free. GDP growth in the past two years has been especially robust as the economy has rebounded from a 20152016 regional slowdown. The government is pursuing structural reforms, export promotion, and greater foreign investment to boost future economic growth.

According to the report, to attract greater investment and finally break out of its holding pattern to move higher into the mostly free category, Armenia will need to focus more intently on improving judicial effectiveness and government integrity.

As for Armenia's neighbors, Georgia is 12th, Azerbaijan is ranked 44, Turkey is 77th and Iran is 164th.

Singapore tops economic freedom index.

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Heritage Foundation: Armenia needs to improve judicial effectiveness to have freer economy - Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn., March 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --MTS Systems Corporation (NASDAQ: MTSC), a leading global supplier of high-performance test systems, motion simulators and sensors, today announced it has been awarded the largest single order in its 54-year history, valued at over $70 million, to design, manufacture and install two of the world's largest, and most advanced seismic simulation systems at Tianjin University, one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in China.

The project will be part of the new National Facility for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NFEES) on the Tianjin University campus in Tianjin, China. Upon completion, the earthquake simulation facility will be the largest and most powerful of its type, expanding the world's engineering science and technology research capabilities. It will play an important role in ensuring the safety of hydraulic engineering, buildings and bridges, wind energy generation, and offshore infrastructure.

The lab will include two separate test systems, both of which will be the largest of their type in the world. One system will be a six-degree-of-freedom seismic table with a working area of 16 x 20 meters and a 1350-ton specimen mass capacity, allowing for full-scale or near full-scale testing. The other system will consist of two 6 x 6-meter six-degree-of-freedom seismic tables, each capable of handling 150-ton specimens. These 6 x 6-meter tables will be designed to be submersible in up to three meters of water and configured for independent or synchronous testing. One of the underwater tables will be in a fixed location and the other may be positioned at different points along a 57-meter long trench allowing for testing of large specimens that vary in length, such as bridges, tunnels and pier structures. The basin will also employ wave and current generators to create different sea states to help determine the effects of water and waves on structures during an earthquake or tsunami event.

MTS was selected for this project due to a combination of extensive experience and expertise in creating the most advanced seismic simulation systems in the world, and a demonstrated capability to support sophisticated customers and applications in China. The entire project will be performed over the course of four years with scheduled completion in 2023.

"MTS' strong presence in China and proven systems integration expertise will contribute tremendously to the success of this project. As a leader in this market, MTS is one of the few companies in the world that has the demonstrated expertise in large-scale seismic simulation technology, and a proven capability to handle all the elements of a project of this scale, from the high-force motion control to the complex systems integration required for the simulation of earthquakes and tsunami events," states Dr. Jeffrey Graves, MTS President and CEO. "MTS is honored to be working with Tianjin University on this groundbreaking endeavor to better simulate seismic activity, providing information that will help design safer and more sustainable buildings, bridges and renewable energy infrastructure for China's future."

"We look forward to working closely with MTS to build the world's largest, most advanced seismic simulation systems, as essential elements of our National Facility for Earthquake Engineering Simulation. This project is similar in scale to other one-of-a-kind national research projects undertaken by the Chinese government in recent years," says Prof. Zhang Fengbao, Vice President of Tianjin University and Executive Chief Director of NFEES. "When complete, this state-of-the art facility, and its data and results will be shared with researchers from all countries, with a goal of improving the safety and sustainability of critical infrastructure in highly populated areas around the world. Tianjin welcomes all scientists and engineering experts to visit and help to further earthquake engineering simulation research."

About Tianjin UniversityTianjin University is the oldest institution of higher education in the modern history of China. Founded in 1895 as Peiyang University, Tianjin University's 125-year history is the epitome of the progress of modern Chinese higher education, embodying the Chinese people's indomitability through challenging times. During its growth spanning three centuries, the University has been a pioneer in several fields, from the first aero engine in China to the first Chinese hydraulics laboratory.

About MTS Systems CorporationMTS Systems Corporation'stesting and simulation hardware, software and service solutions help customers accelerate and improve their design, development and manufacturing processes and are used for determining the mechanical behavior of materials, products and structures. MTS' high-performance sensors provide measurements of vibration, pressure, position, force and sound in a variety of applications. MTS had 3,500 employees as of September 28, 2019 and revenue of $893 million for the fiscal year ended September 28, 2019. Additional information on MTS can befoundat:http://www.mts.com

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MTS Awarded Seismic Simulation Project Valued At Over $70 Million For China's National Facility For Earthquake Engineering Simulation At Tianjin...

As South Africa heads into a three-week lockdown that will shut down large parts of its already shrinking economy, a possible downgrade of its credit rating to "junk" on Friday could be the least of its problems.

Moodys Investors Service is scheduled to make an announcement at the end of the week and while it could end up taking no action, 19 of 23 economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect a negative ratings move. According to 12 respondents, the country will be cut to junk, while seven expect it to be placed on ratings watch for a downgrade, two expect it to be affirmed at current levels and two expect no statement.

Pessimism has been growing since Moodys in November cut the outlook on South African credit to negative and the February budget failed to show a debt-stabilisation path. The economy has slumped into its second recession in two years, a problem exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, which causes the Covid-19 respiratory disorder that has so far killed more than 17 000 people worldwide.

"The Covid-19 has certainly added to the underlying economic pressures," said Thabi Leoka, an independent economist in Johannesburg. "Debt seems to increase in perpetuity. This is a problem."

On Monday night, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a lockdown that will go into effect at midnight on March 26, halting all activity except essential services. The restrictions are likely to weaken tax collections, increasing the burden on already-strained public finances. Government estimates in February showed the budget deficit as a percentage of GDP would widen to an almost three-decade high in the 12 months through March 2021.

That, and the governments debt burden, could now look even worse. The Treasury will have to reconsider its fiscal framework, Director-General Dondo Mogajane told the South African Broadcasting on Tuesday.

On the growth side, the picture is hardly any better. Moodys almost halved its forecast for 2020s expansion to 0.4% on March 6, when the country had just one confirmed infection. As of Tuesday it had 554, with 302 of those in Gauteng province, the countrys economic hub, according to Health Minister Zweli Mkhize.

"South Africas creditworthiness has deteriorated drastically," said George Herman, chief investment officer of Citadel Investment Services. "The longer the downgrade takes, the more damage it will cause."

But while a downgrade by Moodys would leave South Africa without an investment-grade rating for the first time in 25 years and cause it to be dropped from the FTSE World Government Bond Index, the negative impact on the rand may be muted. Thats because virus-driven fears have already resulted in significant outflows, driving the currency 14% lower against the dollar in the past month.

Given that backdrop, the reality of a long-feared downgrade could even come as a "relief," said Mike Schussler, chief economist at Economists.co.za. Freedom from worries about a downgrade could also free up South African monetary and fiscal policy decision makers to take decision action, he said, at a time when "rules have been dumped to help keep economies alive" globally.

Lumkile Mondi, an economics lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, is the only respondent in the Bloomberg survey who expects the country will still have its investment-grade rating at Moodys at the end of 2020.

"South Africa has been saved by Covid-19, which requires massive investment by the state to save lives," Mondi said. "Covenants and other financial measurements have become secondary."

What Bloombergs Economist Says...

"President Cyril Ramaphosas swift and decisive handling of the crisis will probably stay Moodys hand for now until the extent of damage to the economy is fully understood." - Boingotlo Gasealahwe, Africa economist

The rest is here:

Junk rating this week may be least of SA's problems - Fin24

India has just finished a day of curfew and clapping to practise social distancing and to express gratitude to the millions of health and essential services workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a laudable initiative by the Prime Minister to rally the nation together. The nation is truly at war, as he alluded to, and it can be won only by everyone coming together in this tragedy of the commons.

Also read: Janata Curfew: You created festival-like conditions in an atmosphere of fear and concern, Sanjay Raut tells PM Modi

But just two days before our clapping, the Indian-origin Finance Minister of the United Kingdom unveiled the U.K.s biggest economic recovery package in its history, as an antidote to the crisis; there is no fixed cost to it. The United States is finalising a trillion-dollar economic recovery package, while Germany is going ahead with unlimited government financing for the disruptions due to the outbreak. France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands have all launched a half-a-trillion dollars combined in recovery measures. If this reads like panic, consider this one data point the number of people who lost their jobs, in just the last two weeks in America is the highest ever weekly job losses recorded in its history. These large, developed economies are expected to not merely slow down, but to contract and experience negative growth. The economic devastation will be much more painful and longer than the health impact.

While the rest of the world has sprung into action, India has merely announced the setting up of a task force under the Finance Minister to explore economic recovery options. This lackadaisical approach is unconscionable. Contrary to rhetoric, neither will India be immune to this imminent economic crisis nor will some preternatural force insulate us from this epidemic. It is prudent to swing into action right away to soften the inevitable economic blow.

There are already reports that a third of all restaurants could shut down in the formal sector alone and shed more than 20 lakh jobs, in the coming months. The entire automotive sector is shutting down its factories, putting at risk the incomes of a million people employed in this sector. When people lose their jobs, entire families suffer, consumption drops and overall demand collapses. When businesses close down, then they default on their commercial obligations down the chain and to their financiers. This freezes up credit flow in the economy and halts production. Since this is a global crisis, it is not even possible for India to import and export its way to recovery. Under such painful conditions, India needs a comprehensive recovery package that will first cushion the shock and then help the economy recover.

In my discussions with former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and economists, there was near unanimity that the package should rest on four pillars: providing a safety net for the affected; addressing disruptions in the real economy; unclogging the impending liquidity squeeze in the financial system, and incentivising the external sector of trade and commerce. So here is a broad plan for a COVID-19 Economic Recovery Package for India.

The destruction of jobs, incomes and consumption can be addressed through a direct cash transfer of 3,000 a month, for six months, to the 12 crore, bottom half of all Indian households. This will cost nearly 2.2-lakh crore and reach 60 crore beneficiaries, covering agricultural labourers, farmers, daily wage earners, informal sector workers and others. It is important that this is not just a one-month income boost but, instead, a sustained income stream for at least six months for the millions who have lost their incomes, to provide them a safety net and a sense of confidence. The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM KISAN) programme with a budget of 75,000 crore can be subsumed into this programme.

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) must be expanded and retooled into a public works programme, to build much-needed hospitals, clinics, rural roads and other infrastructure. This can be achieved by integrating MGNREGA with the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana and the roads and bridges programme. These three programmes together have a budget of nearly 1.5 lakh crore. This must be doubled to 3 lakh crore and serve as a true Right to Work scheme for every Indian who needs it.

In addition, the Food Corporation of India is overflowing with excess rice, wheat and unmilled paddy stocks enough excess stock to provide 10kg rice and wheat to every Indian family, free of cost, through the Public Distribution System.

This combination, of a basic income of 3,000 a month, a right to work and food grains, will provide a secure safety net.

COVID-19 testing, treatment, medical equipment and supplies capacity can be expanded through the private sector and be reimbursed directly for patient care. This will need a budget of 1.5- lakh crore for testing and treating at least 20 crore Indians through the private sector. This will help create a large number of jobs in the private health-care sector, with trickle-down benefits.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a 1.5-lakh crore liquidity and credit backstop facility on Monday, which is a very welcome move. Further, the RBI should show regulatory forbearance and also set up a credit guarantee fund for distressed borrowers for credit rollover and deferred loan obligation.

The central bank must also immediately reduce interest rates drastically to spur business activity. A two-year tax holiday and an appropriate incentive scheme must be designed for exports and service sectors that have been devastated (airlines, tourism, hospitality, entertainment, logistics, textiles, leather). This could cost the exchequer between 1-lakh crore and 2-lakh crore.

In sum, the total incremental expenditure for the recovery package will be between 5-lakh crore to 6-lakh crore for FY2021. The next obvious question is: Where is the money for this?

The 5-lakh crore to 6-lakh crore recovery package can be funded largely thorough three sources reallocation of some of the budgeted capital expenditure, expenditure rationalisation, and the oil bonanza.

Given the extraordinary situation the world is facing, it is important to reprioritise our expenditure plan in the near term. The government had budgeted more than 4-lakh crore in capital expenditure for FY2021. This will, unfortunately, have to be reworked and some part of it allocated to the COVID-19 recovery package. For example, there is a budget of 40,000 crore for the revival of the telecom public sector units which can be delayed and the amount reallocated.

Similarly, the budget of nearly 1-lakh crore for national highways, roads and bridges can be rationalised to reallocate this to the recovery package. It is possible to extract a total of 1-lakh crore for the package out of the 4-lakhcrore budgeted capital expenditure for FY2021.

Fifty-four ministries in the Union government of India made a demand for grants and a total of 30-lakh crore has been budgeted as total expenditure for FY2021. Of these, 13 large ministries account for as much of the Budget expenditure as the remaining 41 ministries combined. There is ample scope to rationalise expenditure in these 41 ministries to extract 2-lakh crore for the recovery package.

The blessing in disguise for India is the dramatic fall in global crude oil prices from $40 a barrel to an estimated $20 a barrel which can help save nearly 2-lakh crore; this can be used to fund the recovery package or make up for shortfall of tax revenues.

To be sure, there will be a fiscal implication of this stimulus package and the fiscal deficit will rise driven both by increased expenditure and shortfall of revenues from the slowing economy. But now is not the time for fiscal conservatism.

It is often asked why the States cannot embark on an economic stimulus plan. The States combined incur an expenditure of 40 lakh crore. There can be some sharing of expenditure of the recovery package of 1-2 lakh crore by the States. But after Goods and Services Tax (GST), States do not have the fiscal freedom to raise tax revenues on their own. They are largely dependent on the Centre for their tax revenues through direct taxes and GST.

In summary, India needs an immediate relief package of 5-lakh crore to 6-lakh crore targeted across all sections of society and sectors of the economy. Though daunting, the money for this can be found through detailed analysis and some bold thinking. The global economy is headed for a dark phase and it is our duty to rise to the challenge to secure the future of all Indians.

It is time to think big, bold and radical to pull our economy out of this crisis. This is Indias moment for the equivalent of the New Deal that U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt launched in America after the Great Depression of 1929.

Praveen Chakravarty is a political economist and a senior office-bearer of the Congress party. The article has been written with inputs from former Finance Minister P Chidambaram and other economists and policy experts

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A pandemic, an economic blow and the big fix - The Hindu

This is the view on independent economist Julian Jessop, who said Brexit has afforded the UK more freedom on monetary policy than those remaining in the EU. It comes as some countries in the bloc disagree on how to approach the economic challenges presented by the coronavirus outbreak. Mr Jessop told Express.co.uk: "If the eurozone as a whole is providing a lot of support for an individual country, that means Germany is effectively bailing out Italy, which is great if you are Italian but not if you are German.

"That has always been the problem. If you have a single currency and a single monetary policy, that is only sustainable if you have got a single fiscal policy and banking policy and other things.

"You are either all in or all out. The direction of travel is either that the euro breaks apart or that there is much more closer integration amongst eurozone members.

"This would include common fiscal policies and effectively common governance which is why I think it is good that we are out of it."

However, while Mr Jessop believes the eurozone is flawed, he also argues that leaders in Europe have the "political will" to ensure the currency bloc doesn't split.

He said: "I have been predicting the collapse of the euro for years and it still hasn't happened, so I wouldn't underestimate the political will to keep it together, even if economically it makes no sense at all.

"I think they will probably find some way of keeping it together and patching over the cracks, but fundamentally it is a very weak system economically and politically.

"It wouldn't surprise me if at some point it falls apart [but] in this particular circumstance they will pull out all the stops again to prevent this from happening."

Although the currency will survive the coronavirus pandemic, in Mr Jessop's view, he also highlights that this shows a key positive of Brexit.

READ MORE:Brexit betrayal: Norway treated with goodwill as UK faces pushback

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Brexiteer claims coronavirus could spell end of eurozone but there's a catch - Express.co.uk

As South Africa heads into a three-week lockdown that will shut down large parts of its already shrinking economy, a possible downgrade of its credit rating to junk on Friday could be the least of its problems.

Moodys Investors Service is scheduled to make an announcement at the end of the week and while it could end up taking no action, 19 of 23 economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect a negative ratings move. According to 12 respondents, the country will be cut to junk, while seven expect it to be placed on ratings watch for a downgrade, two expect it to be affirmed at current levels and two expect no statement.

Pessimism has been growing since Moodys in November cut the outlook on South African credit to negative and the February budget failed to show a debt-stabilization path.

The economy has slumped into its second recession in two years, a problem exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, which causes the Covid-19 respiratory disorder that has so far killed more than 17,000 people worldwide.

The Covid-19 has certainly added to the underlying economic pressures, said Thabi Leoka, an independent economist in Johannesburg. Debt seems to increase in perpetuity. This is a problem.

On Monday night, president Cyril Ramaphosa announced a lockdown that will go into effect at midnight on March 26, halting all activity except essential services. The restrictions are likely to weaken tax collections, increasing the burden on already-strained public finances. Government estimates in February showed the budget deficit as a percentage of GDP would widen to an almost three-decade high in the 12 months through March 2021.

That, and the governments debt burden, could now look even worse. The Treasury will have to reconsider its fiscal framework, Director-General Dondo Mogajane told the South African Broadcasting Corp on Tuesday.

On the growth side, the picture is hardly any better. Moodys almost halved its forecast for 2020s expansion to 0.4% on March 6, when the country had just one confirmed infection. As of Tuesday it had 554, with 302 of those in Gauteng province, the countrys economic hub, according to Health Minister Zweli Mkhize.

South Africas creditworthiness has deteriorated drastically, said George Herman, chief investment officer of Citadel Investment Services. The longer the downgrade takes, the more damage it will cause.

But while a downgrade by Moodys would leave South Africa without an investment-grade rating for the first time in 25 years and cause it to be dropped from the FTSE World Government Bond Index, the negative impact on the rand may be muted. Thats because virus-driven fears have already resulted in significant outflows, driving the currency 14% lower against the dollar in the past month.

Given that backdrop, the reality of a long-feared downgrade could even come as a relief, said Mike Schussler, chief economist at Economists.co.za. Freedom from worries about a downgrade could also free up South African monetary and fiscal policy decision makers to take decision action, he said, at a time when rules have been dumped to help keep economies alive globally.

Lumkile Mondi, an economics lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, is the only respondent in the Bloomberg survey who expects the country will still have its investment-grade rating at Moodys at the end of 2020.

South Africa has been saved by Covid-19, which requires massive investment by the state to save lives, Mondi said. Covenants and other financial measurements have become secondary.

What Bloombergs Economist Says

President Cyril Ramaphosas swift and decisive handling of the crisis will probably stay Moodys hand for now until the extent of damage to the economy is fully understood.

Read: Will Moodys skip its ratings decision on South Africa because of the coronavirus?

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Junk rating likely the least of South Africas problems - BusinessTech

ATHENS A Statement of the Hellenic Chapter of Republicans Overseas- Abroad on the occasion of the celebration of the March 25th 2020 Hellenic Independence Day:

The world is in upheaval due to the Chinese virus. Has this ever happened before? Actually it has, SARS, MERS, Spanish Influenza, just to name a few. The world is in panic, and under a new terror attack from an invisible enemy. What do we do? Ignoring the problem wont solve it, nor will trying to play party politics, as Pelosi and her gang are doing, solve it either. These actions will just kill people, kill businesses, kill our Great Nation.

America is the world economic and military leader, though heavily challenged by the Chinese despotic Communist Party and its cronies. We won, with the invaluable participation of our Allies two world wars against oppression, and we steered the free world away from the Cold War. Among those true Allies, Greece was always present and at the forefront of all battles. Now we are trying to avert the new 50 year Cold War caused by the economic and military buildup of the new emerging superpower, China, which sadly has greatly benefited from our frivolous past policies.

We are at a turning point. Choices must be made. Do we do away with the old rusty foreign-serving policies of appeasement to Chinese aggression so favoured by our Democratic opponents, or do we serve the free world with a pro-active and pro-freedom policy as demonstrated by the US leadership over the past three and a half years? Do we make China pay for the economic and humanitarian disaster it caused to us all, or do we keep on hanging on to old policies of accepting Chinese infiltration and corrosion through bribes, donations, and media subversion. Dont forget, China lied, people died.

Now it is the time to stand tall and proud as Americans, but also as citizens of the World, it is a time to stand together in the face of this enemy. We are at war. A war against the Chinese virus, but also against disinformation, lies, fake news and mostly subversive and anti-American practices. We the people must stand in unison against the common enemy, to save our lives, to save our jobs, to save our economies, to save our Great Nations, and to save the free world from the tyranny which is quickly brewing outside, but also inside our borders.

Keep America Great Again. Make Greece Great Again. These are wise phrases, as America must be strong within and outside its borders, and so must Greece. We must guard our borders from enemies within, from those who seek to profit from our demise as the Greatest Nation on earth, either politically, or financially, stealing our industrys secrets, our military hardware, our wealth and well-being, or to impose upon us through short-sighted or straight out traitor politicians, policies which will reduce us to the level of a small regional power. In Greeces case this would mean that there would be actual loss of territory to its adversaries.

We as the Hellenic Chapter of Republicans Overseas, live in a country, member of NATO, a country which has been close to the United States for over 200 years, a true ally, who always has been there when they were called upon, and a nation which, through the Hellenic diaspora, has greatly contributed to the American Dream, either in the economic sector, or the Academic, Public Administration and Military Sectors.

Our second country Greece, is simultaneously being attacked by two enemies. One is the invisible Chinese virus, and the second is the ongoing attack of the Greek borders by its neighbor Turkey.

On the Chinese virus front, Greece is doing very well, as the present Government with the tacit consent of most of the opposition parties, had dealt with the problem speedily, effectively and will brace the brunt of the battle better prepared than many other nations, despite the fact that it has entered this new conflict battered by years of forced austerity and severe cuts to its health system, actions which were forced upon her by the EU and Germany, who have greatly profited from Greeces demise.

Greek PM mr. Mitsotakis, has mustered full public support on his stern handling of the situation, and comes out politically strengthened by his no-nonsense, tough stance during this ongoing war. His choice of associates seems to have also panned out rather well, as contrary to past failures in Greek politics, he has assembled an excellent team of key persons of competence in charge of this difficult situation.

Alas, the economic impact of the Chinese virus to Greek economy will be devastating. As we predict that at least the full month of April and probably half of the month of May will be completely lost, as the lockdown must be preserved to maintain the current level of Public Health protection, the results on the GDP will probably surpass the -5,6% level predicted recently for the current fiscal year. Added to that the fact that the tourist season which supplies approximately 20% of the yearly revenue, will be sliced at least in half, if the best scenario is upheld, things will be very rough for the government in the second half of the fiscal year, as it will not be able to provide sufficient aid to workers and businesses. We really doubt wether the EU will come true on its promise to provide fiscal relief, as we predict that relief will be mostly aimed to Central European countries, under the pretext of supporting manufacturing companies, few of which exist in Greece, as in the past 20 years, under EU directives, Greece has suffered a severe de-industrialization and has relied on tourism which will be crushed this year. Already Germany is flatly refusing to support the subsidies to European nations under the Euro-bond sheme and has clearly indicated that the maximum it would accept is a strict memorandum of compliance to the repayment of debts incurred by Italy, in an effort to curb the rise in power of the current opposition leader mr. Salvini.

Greeks though would be willing to suffer the impending recession were it not for the increasing risk on their Eastern borders. As our EastMed Strategic Studies Institute (operating under the auspices of the Hellenic Chapter of Republicans Overseas) has many times indicated, a further escalation of Greek Turkish hostilities is imminent. Greece is facing a continuing hybrid war from Turkey, which consists in the weaponising of illegal immigrants, wether they have already arrived in Greece and are living in camps or have been dispersed in the Greek territory, or are in the process of being inserted to Greece from the northern Evros region by land or in the Greek island by sea.

Turkey, which is also being dealt a devastating blow by the Chinese virus, is notorious for trying to export its internal problems by instigating, either outblown invasions, or border conflicts. We predicted some weeks ago (on Jan 10thwe predicted the exact date as being between Feb 25 and March 2ond- it happened on Feb 27), that before Greek Easter (April 19) Turkey would instigate a border conflict, or attempt to drill in the Greek Maritime Exclusive Zone. We are reassessing our time frame, as we assume that this action may be delayed, but at any rate come before the month of Ramadan, which starts on Thursday, April 24.

Turkey tested Greek reflexes after its virtual invasion of the Greek borders on February 27thand though it did not achieve its primary target, which was to facilitate the entry of +20.000 illegal migrants (mainly from Afghanistan and Pakistan) in Greece, managed to force the Greek government to accept the re-location of the 40.000 illegal migrants currently residing in Greek islands to the mainland and their dissemination to various locations in the Greek mainland.

Turkeys secondary target is the destabilization of the Greek islands in the Eastern Aegean. Turkey, especially now that it is faced with the Chinese virus pandemic, is certain to put the blame on migrants for the virus and ship them off to Greece, which will probably place them again in the island camps, which in no time will fill up again, leaving the Greek government with the great dilemma of wether to let them stay there and fuel the dissent of the island populations, or move them to the mainland and face the fury of the rest of the population. These migrants, having lived in Turkey, and being subsceptible to ISIS, HAMAS and DAESH influences are an ideal sleeping Turkish weapon, well placed and dispersed in Greek territory, to be used accordingly in the future.

Due to the pressure from key NGO figures, some of which were in very high positions of authority, both in the previous and the present government, and the pressure from Academia, the liberal press, and mainly Germany and E.U. the Greek government has flatly refused to consider the creation of migrant camp in strategically non sensitive sparsely populated areas or islands in Greece, which would solve the problem as well as alleviate public outrage, as well as serious dissent within the ruling party. This situation acts as a political time bomb, which eventually will explode and totally vaporize the current public support for the Greek PM, unless of course Greece decides to tackle the problem and remove all the illegal migrants from both the Greek mainland and East Aegean islands, and completely sever all ties between the NGOs and its migrant problem. Now would be an ideal timing for the Greek government to implement such a measure, as due to the Chinese virus situation, the German led EU is most likely to ignore this development, as it is busy trying to alleviate the humanitarian disaster it is facing from the effects of the pandemia. The recent border warfare in Evros between Greece and Turkey was proof enough that Germany is not prepared to lift a finger in Greeces defense and risk damaging its preferential relations with Turkey.

The third and most important strategic objective of the Turkish State is the cancellation of the 3+1 alliance and the assumption by Turkey of a leading role in the transport and production of energy products in the EastMed region. This already has been set in motion via the Erdogan-Sarage deal, the close cooperation between Hamas and Turkey and the alienation of Greece and Israel which would be accomplished if the Arab MPs manage to control Israeli politics and simultaneously, Greek leftist and internationalist forces manage to resurrect the fading pro-Palestinian doctrine in Greek politics. At a closing thought on Turkey, we are very seriously concerned about the ever increasing proximity of the relations between Turkey and Pakistan, in light of the fact that many Turkish fighter jets are manned by Pakistani pilots but mainly due to the fact that Turkey has expressed its desire to become a nuclear power, a possibility that could come via Pakistan. We are wondering why Greece still elects to permit tens of thousands of Pakistani illegal migrants to remain within its borders and thus subsidize Pakistans economy by pumping millions of euros daily in cash transfers from Greece to Pakistan. Greece is in an ideal position to use their deportation as leverage against any passive or active Pakistani involvement in the EastMed region, even to the extent of cancelling arms sales by Turkey to Pakistan.

It will not be the same world at the end of this pandemic, countries will run heavily into debt, some more, some less, especially those as Greece which have surrendered their fiscal policies to foreign organizations, such as the EU. Countries will be called on to reassess their foreign and domestic policies. Issues, such as outsourcing and de-industrialization will be rethought, as the pandemic showed that globalization cannot serve the peoples of the planet in times of crisis. Critical supplies were not available to citizens, countries such as China, Germany, even Turkey hoard or confiscate supplies and later sell them at exorbitant prices to other countries in need. But mainly, the peoples in all the globe realized that countries in times of crisis need to be partially self-sufficient and maintain strategic supplies of certain materials and raw products. This was a lesson learned, but we really hope is that it will be a lesson remembered.

We sincerely hope that both our Great Nations, America and Greece overcome the Chinese virus with the least damages. It is time for us to forge and cement our Great Alliance, and extend it to countries around us, such as Israel, Cyprus and Egypt and move on with the 3+1 defensive pact which will finally provide stability in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The Chinese Virus taught us that we must forget old preconceptions, the Hamas-engineered attempted invasion of Greek borders shows us that Turkey has forged new alliances in the Eastern Mediterranean, both with its puppet government in Libya, as well as with the terrorist organizations Hamas, DAESH and ISIS from whom it is drawing strategic planning and personnel in its hybrid war against Greece which is far from over.

The ball is now in the Greek governments court, there are steps which we have indicated in the past that must be made, there is no time, and mostly the enemy has been partially revealed.In both attacks against its country, the Greek government has learned that no action equals defeat and traditional greek procrastination and tactics of appeasement lead only to defeat upon defeat.

On this very important date for the Greek People, that of the celebration of the 199thyear since the onset of the Greek revolution against the Ottoman empire, Greece is still fighting for its Independence, this time from other threats, domestic and foreign, from friends and foes.

This is the time for the Washington, Athens, Jerusalem and Nikosia to get even closer, as they are the bastions of Democracy in the Eastern Mediterranean, and this with great haste, as the clouds of conflict are weighing heavily upon the Free World.

Athens, March 24th2020

Jonathan Constantine

Chairman

Hellenic Chapter Republicans Overseas-Abroad

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Statement of the Hellenic Chapter of Republicans Overseas- Abroad on Greek Independence Day - The National Herald

D4 Billion Debt Repayment in the face of a Pandemic

A slowdown in economic activity caused by the Coronavirus outbreak and a sustained closure of the countrys air space & bordersare expected to account to a contraction thisyear.

Recent twitter postings show the International Monetary Fund (IMF) boss, Kristalina Georgieva, interface with various world leaders seeking bailout draws, or just about enough breathing space in debt repayment regime alas focus soon turned closer to home.

In the midst of it all that is Friday night highlight of a hazy rush, a chilled evening breeze soon drew me into focus, although a flash of Coronavirus lurks large in the city. So, what is a man got to do on government imposed isolation observing social distancing?

The issues with Gambias debt trap are extremely complex, evidenced by poorly financed agreements. Try to ask any Gambian on the high street about the debt situation and gauge their reactions: I assure you few will have understood, or aware of the extremeburdens it places on effective governance.

As it stand The country pays a truck load of cash on the principal loan contracted over the past many years under Jammeh, as well as thecurrent administration. Monthly repayments total as much as D500,000,000 ($10,000,000)in interest servicing alone.

While the finance minister would boast that monthly collections at the port outstrip debt repayment regime, these valuable assets could have otherwise used to rebuild the countrys vast crumbling infrastructure, dilapidated public structures, libraries and cleaner streets.The imposed repayment framework signed under clouds of darkness then sold to the population as gold dust is indefensible reprehensible indeed.

The IMF yesterday announced that it will offer up to $50bn in emerging financing for countries stricken by the coronavirus outbreak.In a statement, it says:

The IMF is making available about $50 billion through its rapid-disbursing emergencyfinancing facilities for low income and emerging market countries of which $10 billion is available at zero interest for the poorest members through the Rapid Credit Facility.

I urge the administration to sort access to the latter at zero interest conditional to favourable terms with the current debt portfolio. The cash could be used to shore up the economy protectlocal businesses from collapse, saving jobs. It is understood the administration already has put aside D500 million in Corona Corona fight. That is admirable but is it resolved to explain to parliament (and public) how that extra cash came about? Overnight, I was made aware that former minister of finance, Sidi Sanneh, has written to Mambury Njie, the finance minister, seeking clarity on the origins of the aforesaid figure I hope the ministry possesses the courtesy to respond!

It is worth remembering that former president Jammeh seized power at a time of a strong dalasi, low inflation, low debt economy fromthe fiscally considerate Jawara government.That regime then succeeded in destroying fiscal discipline in place against no-frills spending spree invitation to predatory loan sharks.

President Barrow, to his credit, inherited arigged economy with GDP/Debt ratio of some 107%. But lack of fiscal maturity has seen the administration shoot the deficit cliff wide open to a whopping 120% GDP. The disaster, in my view, was the failure to map out a vision to reshape economic revival post-dictatorship. Then step in Mambury Njie, an appointment Id cheered on account of technocratic baggage. Yes, inflation was brought undercheck, economic growth all but steady. Of late however, the minister has appears to prove his detractors right who protested his appointment. He needs to wean off the Gambia from debt addiction and for parliament to mobilise on debt ceiling legislation, as argued by the economist, Nyang Njie.

I will say this: GDP growth rate projected for 2020 are obsolete therefore needs to be revised. For a start, Gambia is not amanufacturing nation nor an export oriented economy to mitigate balance of paymentdeficit. The country is stuck poor with a sizeable trade imbalance to Senegal, China, India, and every other country it does commerce. That cannot be right, notsustainable either concern the minister of trade has failed to address!!!

The administration should take its case to the IMF & World Bank demand incapable of fulfilling terms of the loan. I recogniseexcellent efforts by the Commonwealth helping the finance ministry to better coordinate the vast expansive cadre of loan sharks. The technical component and skillstransfer will be of tremendous value long term if standards are maintained in line withprocedures.

The financial year 2020, the country will pay in excess of D4 billion in debt repayment. Given the high rate of poverty and unemployment, having that money sustainable and accountable invest incommercial rice value chain, surely, will redress lots of ills in society. While one admitnot versed in economic reading or technicalities of the sort, events on the ground and common sense inform this argument. For God sake here is a country which a river runsthrough it, blessed with fresh water lakes yet successive govts cannot designate all year round mechanised commercial farm ventures. What upset most is see the country reduced to a beggar nation. That, I have a fundamental issue with. The leadership must address the rate of poverty in the country, uphold rule of law and ethics in governance.

Gibril Saine

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D4 Billion Debt Repayment in the face of a Pandemic - Freedom Newspaper

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell both emphasized Thursday that federal aid to big businesses such as airlines planned as part of the administrations proposed stimulus package of $1 trillion or more is not a bailout.

The administrations plan, still subject to negotiations with Congress, calls for $50 billion in loan guarantees for passenger and cargo air carriers as well as $150 billion for other severely distressed sectors of the U.S. economy, such as cruise operators and hotel companies.

The stimulus package would also provide $300 billion for loans, not grants, to small businesses affected by the pandemic.

Were not talking about so-called bailouts for firms that made reckless decisions, McConnell said. None of these firms not corner stores, not pizza parlors, not airlines brought this on themselves. Were not talking about a taxpayer-funded cushion for companies that made mistakes. Were talking about loans which must be repaid.

Mnuchin has struck a similar note. This isnt a bailout, he toldFox Businesson Thursday. We're not going to force things on people, but people who need liquidity, we're going to make sure that the taxpayers are compensated fairly.

The Washington Posts Robert Costa and Philip Rucker report that Mnuchin also sought to ensure that Senate Republicans were careful about the language they used when he met with them on Tuesday:

[T]he secretary pleaded with them not to use the politically charged word bailout in describing the proposed relief for Boeing, one of many large corporations that stands to benefit from the administrations plan. One senator raised a hand and asked if they should instead call them freedom payments, which prompted laughter, according to a person briefed on the closed-door meeting who spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid about the discussion.

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Mnuchin and McConnell Say Cash for Companies Is Not a Bailout - The Fiscal Times

In his letter, Governor Torres reaffirmed the need for collaboration to ensure additional federal assistance that require congressional approval.

As this government utilizes its limited resources to respond to the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19), it is clear that no other community in the United States is affected by a pandemic of this size and magnitude than the people of the CNMI, Governor Torres said.

To respond to both the public health crisis and the unfolding fiscal and economic crisis facing our people, I have unleashed every resource available to the CNMI government to halt the spread of this disease to our people and mitigate the existential threat the loss of financial resources of this size will have on the necessary and essential services of government.

The CNMI government and the people we serve need immediate assistance from the federal government. Historically, the CNMI and the territories of the United States have been treated separately than the states of our nation in apportioning the benefits of federal programs. This has impacted the viability of our economies and resulted in a system that has leveled us with dramatically unequal outcomes. This systemic inequality can be remedied if Congress can recognize the exceptionality of our hardships in this crisis and act with an equally unique response.

Governor Torres then provided an extensive list of recommendations that require necessary action within the U.S. Congress in order to prevent longstanding effects to the Commonwealth:

Settlement Fund

The largest and most concerning obligation of the CNMI is the obligations outlined in the Settlement Agreement with the United States District Court on the CNMIs pension program. The Settlement Fund that was established as a result of this agreement provides for mandatory minimum payments to the fund to ensure continued benefits for the CNMI governments retirees. This year, the $44 million obligation is the largest single item of the Commonwealths budget.

Efforts have been made to safeguard this payment while allowing flexibility within the CNMIs finances for this trying period. Through the constitutionally authorized Pension Obligation Bond vehicle, the shifting of this judgment obligation to a long-term debt service obligation would provide greater levels of resiliency to manage cyclical downturns in the economy or unexpected shocks to our community in the form of natural disasters or, as we see now, global pandemics.

The CNMI however, cannot at this time, offer the financial markets the security necessary to obtain affordable financing options. This is due to the structural deficiencies of our economy that are inherent in a location the size and nature of ours, and the persistent risks of external threats such as typhoons, tourism volatility, and negative ramifications of federal government actions and policy.

In meeting these obligations, Congress can support the alleviation of this large obligation while allowing the CNMI government the opportunity to undertake additional structural reforms. Congressional action should also seek to allow for a federal guarantee to backstop our efforts to obtain financing to support our retirees. A federal guarantee of CNMI pension obligation bonds may give the market greater confidence in lending the necessary resources to the CNMI government so we may prioritize limited funding to supporting other critical public services.

100% federal match for Medicaid funds

Increasing Medicaid funds is a significant lifeline to the majority of our population and enhances the critical access to healthcare services in response to this health crisis. For the CNMI, however, this is both a health crisis and a financial crisis. Increasing the amount available for CNMI Medicaid beneficiaries creates a larger base for which limited local resources are required to match. Even at a reduced local share, increasing the total amount available, while the necessary measure to take, continues to impact the CNMI governments finances, which should equally be of concern to Congress.

I ask that in addition to increased Medicaid funding to the territories, the territories receive these funds at 0% local match for a duration of time so that the population continues to receive the critical health care services they need while recognizing that the economic collapse we currently experience does not impede that access.

100% federal match for FEMA projects

Eliminating the local share for FEMA programs provided in response to Super Typhoon Yutu and Typhoon Mangkhut are necessary to reduce the financial burden on the Commonwealth government, while allowing for economic activity to continue, employment to grow in the related sectors, and for local funds to be appropriated to critical functions of government.

Increase Capital Improvement Program and Technical Assistance Funds to OIA

Allowing for additional funds to be available in the Department of the Interior, Office of Insular Affairs budget for the territories under the Technical Assistance Program and to the CNMI under the CIP program, is a necessary request to gain critical access to finances that would enable the CNMI to navigate the evolving circumstances posed by the Covid-19 outbreak. Further, I reiterate my previous request to increase the CIP appropriation to adjust for inflation.

During this time of financial hardship, I request that you push for a similar allowance given to the American Samoan government to use the CIP allotment to cover some operational expenses of the CNMI government. We wish to obtain the freedom to work with OIA in utilizing these funds to offset recurring obligations of the Commonwealth government.

Forgive federal student loans for taxpayers in the CNMI

What is at the heart of our financial difficulties is a significantly diminished consumer demand due to the collapse of our tourism industry. To increase overall demand, removing the encumbrances on our populations disposable income is of absolute necessity. Congress should provide an avenue for complete student loan forgiveness for all residents of the CNMI and U.S. Territories who have obtained federal financing for education under 20 U.S.C. 1087(a) et seq.

Provide 100% federal cover-over for the Earned Income Tax Credit

The CNMI needs more external resources to reach the hands of our population in order to mitigate the effects of lost income and wages from the collapse of our tourism industry. Congress should quickly allow for a 100% federal cover-over of Earned Income Tax Credit payments made in the upcoming tax filings so that residents can offset the damage caused to individual finances during this crisis. Anything less than 100% would represent a severe burden to an already over-burdened fiscal scenario and threatens the viability of our governments financial stability and should be avoided.

Ensure refundable and nonrefundable credits created in response provide a cover-over of funds to the CNMI Treasury

As the CNMIs representative to Congress, I am asking for your diligence in ensuring that any credit (refundable or nonrefundable) created in response to the Covid-19 outbreak do not negatively impact the CNMIs finances. As you are aware, as a mirror-code jurisdiction, the CNMI adopts the provisions created within the Internal Revenue Code. If a credit is created to mitigate the economic impacts of this crisis, that credit must contain provisions to provide for a federal cover-over of funds from the U.S. Treasury to the CNMI Treasury. A lack of vigilance in this matter could greatly worsen the CNMIs financial position and impact our ability to provide critical services to our people.

Amend U.S. Public Law 115-218

We must be cognizant of the extent to which this crisis has crippled the CNMI economy. Action should be taken in this opportunity to recognize the economic impact the CW-1 program has on our future economic growth opportunities and amend provisions of the Northern Mariana Islands U.S. Workforce Act that will further impede our economic recovery.

I ask that you include a complete elimination of the requirement for CW-1 employees to return to their country of origin for a 30-day period prior to submitting a renewal petition for the third renewal period. This loss of a quarter of our workforce during this period will result in a tremendous reduction in productivity and revenue for employers and will most certainly lead to even greater business closures in the months ahead.

Further, we must recognize the need to eliminate the prohibition on construction workers under the CW-1 program in its entirety as we will require access to construction trades to undertake development and redevelopment projects to rebuild sectors of our economy that were not impacted by Super Typhoon Yutu, but have been impacted by this outbreak.

Additionally, we must recognize the significance of this downturn in the business cycle and allow for the prevailing wage determination to be eliminated for this fiscal year so that businesses can make the necessary personnel adjustments within the private sector to keep the current level of employment steady. Already, due to the effects of this outbreak, unemployment has surged as businesses are forced to close their doors in an effort to halt the spread of this disease. Increasing the cost of labor at this timeframe will destroy opportunities for employees throughout our labor force and result in further delays in our recovery.

Increase federal funding opportunities for the Public School System

The CNMI governments revenues do not provide the adequate levels of funding to support our Public School System. Even after providing 25% of their constitutionally mandated share of general revenues, the current economic conditions are not producing sufficient financial resources to ensure adequate funding for our students. There is no way around this fact.

I ask that we do all we can to increase the amount of funding available to our PSS and provide for greater flexibility in the use of these funds so that our school administrators have the resources to provide the best for our students during these difficult times.

Provide Expediency to the Community Development Block Grants for Disaster Recovery

The CNMI must make every effort to push forward with available federal resources to increase economic activity and stimulate employment within our islands. The CDBG-DR program provides these resources, however, states across the nation have recognized the obstacles created by federal law that slow the release of these funds. To provide expediency for the release of this programs benefits, I request that Congress do the following:

Remove the restriction on the use of these funds for purposes tied directly to covered disasters so these resources can be mobilized in support of recovery from this most recent disaster

Waive NEPA compliance requirements for activities funded by this program

Reduce the standard requirements for Citizen Participation related to the Action Plan

Governor Torres closed his letter with a renewed call for teamwork and collaboration for the greater good of the CNMI during this public health and global economic crisis

This is a disaster of unprecedented proportions for the CNMI. As such, the needs of the community are constantly evolving. Above all, I ask for your cooperation in continuing productive dialogue as it relates to the needs of our people and this government. This administration is doing its utmost to avert a greater disaster if we do not adequately respond to the multitude of issues presenting themselves today.

Theres too much at stake for our people and our islands. However, I am confident that if I can get your support to push these necessary measures in Congress, we will be better positioned to help every individual and family in the Marianas get through these tough and unprecedented times.

Link:

Governor calls for stronger collaboration with Kilili - Marianas Variety