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 From Wallpaper Cave

Biden and Harris Introduce New Members of the COVID 19 Response Team and Warn Vaccine Distribution Needs to be Accelerated

 President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris have introduced nine new members of the incoming Administration's COVID 19 response team.

They also warned that the current Trump Administration's efforts to distribute vaccinations have fallen short and more work will need to be done in order to fulfill the Biden/Harris's teams goal to have 100 million vaccines administered by the first 100 days of the new administration.

New Members of the COVID 19 response team

The nine new members of the COVID 19 response team are:

• Sonya Bernstein, COVID Senior Policy Advisor.
• Bechara Choucair, Vaccinations Coordinator.
• Eduardo Cisneros, COVID Intergovernmental Affairs Director.
• Clarke Humphrey, COVID Digital Director.
• Carole Johnson, Testing Coordinator.
• Tim Manning, Supply Coordinator.
• Osaremen Okolo, COVID Policy Advisor.
• Courtney Rowe, Director of Strategic Communications and Engagement.
• Cyrus Shahpar, COVID Data Director.

Please click here to access the biographies of the new team COVID 19 team members.

Commenting on the new members of the COVID 19 response group, President-Elect Biden stated:

“This accomplished and experienced team will work to get the pandemic under control so that the American people can get back to their lives and to their loved ones. To recover from this pandemic, we must take aggressive action to manufacture, distribute, and administer vaccines, testing, and personal protective equipment in an equitable way. These individuals are deeply qualified and will restore public trust in the pandemic response by leading with facts, science, and integrity.”

Vice President-Elect Harris wrote:

“Containing the coronavirus pandemic is one of the defining challenges of our time. This outstanding team will help us defeat this challenge by helping us get this virus under control, responsibly reopen our economy, and safely reopen our schools. I look forward to working closely with these dedicated public servants to save lives, contain this pandemic, and build better preparedness for future pandemics and other public health threats.”

Incoming White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain relayed:

“To contain the COVID-19 pandemic, we must implement an aggressive response to slow the spread of the virus, protect frontline workers, and ensure the safe and efficient delivery of treatments and vaccines. This team is deeply qualified to help lead our White House efforts to protect the American people from the virus.”

Improving the Distribution of Coronavirus Vaccines to the American People.

Earlier in the day, President-Elect Biden spoke to the American People and warned that more work will need to be done in order to achieve distributing 100 million vaccines to the American People in the first 100 days of the new Administration.

While expressing optimism for the long term prospects of the American People and the National Economy, Mr. Biden warned:

"The next few weeks and months are going to be a very tough period of time for our nation — may be the toughest of the entire pandemic.

I know that’s hard to hear. But it’s the truth.

So, we need to steel our spines for what’s ahead.

We need to follow even more closely the recommendations to slow the spread of the virus.

And each of us needs to do what we can to protect ourselves, our families, and our fellow Americans.

We are going to get through this.

Brighter days are coming.

But it’s going to take all the grit and determination we have as Americans to get it done.

So today, I want to clear about five things every American should know about our efforts to contain COVID-19 and where the vaccine stands today."

These five things are:

• The Pandemic is "going to get worse before it gets better."
• "The Trump administration’s plan to distribute vaccines is falling behind, far behind."
• "The Biden-Harris Administration will spare no effort to make sure people are getting vaccinated." But it may take longer to accomplish.
• "I will move Heaven and Earth to get us going in the right direction." That includes a national effort, coordinated with state and local governments and the full use of the National Defense Production Act, to increase the amount of distributions. It also includes setting up vaccination sites and prioritizing vulnerable communities.
• "While the pandemic rages on and as we increase the supply, distribution, and administration of the vaccine, we must remain vigilant." That includes continuing preventive measures such as wearing masks and social distancing, fully funding the vaccination distribution, more testing and protective gear, and safely reopening schools.

Mr. Biden finished by stating:

"And let me also say this to the American people: we can save 60,000-100,000 lives in the weeks and months ahead if we step up together.

Wear a mask. Stay socially distanced. Wash our hands. Avoid large indoor gatherings.

I know that these are often not easy asks.

You’re already making tremendous sacrifices every single day.

It’s hard on your lives, on your livelihoods, and on your kids and families.

It’s not small what’s being asked of you.

But we are in it together.

And the actions we take now will help us contain the pandemic and get us back to our lives and loved ones.

So, to the American people, I know there’s a lot that we have to do.

But I want you to know there’s also so much we can do.

We are the United States of America.

We’ve been through hard times before as a nation, and we’ll come through this as well.

I promise you. We will.

May God bless you all.

May God protect our troops."

It is very refreshing that the country will soon have a President that will be upfront, as honest as possible with the people, and not blow sunshine up people's butts just so he can look good.

 

 

 

 

Moscow Mitch does not Care About You

 In the first volume of his memoir "A Promised Land," former President Barack Obama recounted a story about Mitch McConnell now President-Elect Joe Biden told him about passing a bill the then Delaware Senator championed. According to Biden, the Political Prince of Darkness-Enemy of the People-Obstructionist in Chief Moscow Mitch looked at his friend, the future Vice President and President, and said:

“You must be under the mistaken impression that I care."

At least the heartless bastard is honest. That makes it more surprising that the people of Kentucky, among the largest recipients of federal aid, continually elect this enemy of the people.

The Senate's most skilled Machiavellian in recent memory showed the American People again that he does not care about them when he voiced an objection to letting the Senate vote right away on the House bill to increase the amount of direct payments to Americans in the latest COVID relief legislation from $600 to $2000.

If Democrats had substituted the words tax cuts for the rich instead of direct payments, would McConnell have changed his mind?

In his defense, McConnell has attempted to link these direct payments to separate measures to repeal liability protection for Big Tech companies (Section 230) that Trump wanted out of the Defense bill and an investigation into elections fraud.

It is ironic that it was a little over a week ago that McConnell wanted liability protection for American businesses that were sued for exposing customers to the Coronavirus.

He is also using Trump's baseless claims of election fraud as a long term scheme to help keep Republican voters in line for the Georgia Senate runoff elections and the 2022 midterms.

To his credit, Bernie Sanders said he would hold up the vote to override the Trump veto of the Defense Appropriations Bill until McConnell holds a vote on the direct payments.

Other Democrats should join Sanders because fighting back is all McConnell understands. The two Georgia Democratic Senate Candidates, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff should frame the election as a choice between McConnell obstructionism or moving the country and the people forward. President-Elect Joe Biden should probably look at all the ways Trump diverted funds from other programs, aided by a Supreme Court ruling,  to his border wall (and Republicans hardly did not say anything about) as a way to shift monies to vital areas like aid to state and local governments as a way to get around McConnell's likely obstruction in the Senate if he retains the title of Majority Leader (or Majority Obstructionist.)

Hopefully, Joe Biden, who continually states he can work with McConnell and other Republicans, is under no illusions about what he faces with the legislative grim reaper.

Furthermore, Democrats should not take for granted that the people are aware that Republicans do not serve their best interests.

If the people were aware, Republicans would not have won the 1994, 2002, 2010, 2014 midterms and made legislative gains in the House in 2020.

Democrats need to make the people aware every day that the likes of Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy in the House (who missed the votes yesterday in a display of leadership cowardice,) are the true enemies of the people who do not care about their interests.

They and their supporters in the activist community need to do it again and again until the people are aware.

They can not stop fighting for every cause and every vote.

Because no one else will.

Definitely not Mitch McConnell who has shown again today that he does not care about the people.

 

 

President-Elect Biden Complains about Trump Transition Obstruction and Warns the People that Undoing Trumpism will Take Time

In a brief address to the American People, President-Elect Joe Biden, accompanied by Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris complained about the Trump Administrations' obstruction in the transition process and warned the American People that it will take time to undo the damage wrought by Trumpism the last four years.

The President-Elect started his address saluting the efforts of law enforcement who acted fast and saved lives before a suicide bomber unleashed an explosive in an RV in Nashville on Christmas Day. Mr. Biden said:

"I want to thank the police officers who worked quickly to evacuate the area before the explosion occurred, and all the firefighters and first responders who jumped into action early on Christmas morning.

Their bravery and cool-headedness likely saved lives and prevented a worse outcome — and we are all grateful for that.

And I know the hearts of all Americans are with the people of Nashville as they rebuild and recover from this traumatic event."

It should be noted that Mr. Trump has not made any personal public comments on what has happened in Nashville. Apparently, he has not even contacted the Nashville Mayor. Is playing golf that much more important. He can personally tweet on his wife not appearing on a fashion magazine cover but no concern for the people of Nashville.

Mr. Biden then pivoted to the obstruction his transition team is encountering with Trump Administration team members, especially those at the Defense Department.

The President-Elect further described the potential difficulties his Administration would deal with on January 20, 2021, warning that:

"And the truth is: many of the agencies that are critical to our security have incurred enormous damage.

They’ve been hollowed out.

In personnel. In capacity. In morale.

In policy processes that have atrophied or been sidelined.

In the disrepair of our alliances.

In our absence from key institutions that matter to the welfare of the American people.

In a general disengagement from the world.

And all of it makes it harder for our government to protect the American people and to defend our vital interests in a world where threats are constantly evolving and our adversaries are constantly adapting."

Pledging that he and Vice President-Elect Harris would "rebuild the full set of our instruments of foreign policy and national security," Mr. Biden said that they would focus on reconstructing American diplomacy and leadership in the following areas:

• Climate Change.
• Strengthening health care systems while combatting COVID 19.
• Forging coalitions to confront China.
• Modernizing defense priorities like more attention to better-combatting cyberwarfare like what Russia did when they hacked into several government systems. Mr. Trump has not taken this matter seriously either.
• Undoing the chaos and poor choices Trump and his minions have done on immigration at the Southern Border.

The President-Elect emphasized, especially on the Southern Border issue, that it will take time to undo what Donald Trump and his people had four years to damage, saying:

"We were briefed on the steps needed to clean up the humanitarian disaster that the Trump Administration has systematically created on our southern border.

We will institute a humane and orderly response.

That means rebuilding the capacity we need to safely and quickly process asylum seekers without creating a near-term crisis in the midst of a deadly pandemic.

These are hard issues.

And the current administration has made them much harder by working to erode our capacity.

It’s going to take time to rebuild it.

And we’re going to work purposefully and diligently to responsibly roll back Trump’s restrictions starting on day one.

But it’s not as simple as throwing a switch to turn everything back on — especially amid a pandemic.

We will have to have a process to ensure everyone’s health and safety, including the safety of asylum seekers hoping for a new start in the United States free from violence and persecution.

Of course, an essential part of this will be managing the safe, equitable, and efficient distribution of vaccines to as many Americans as possible — as quickly as possible."

Mr. Biden then complimented the career public servants working the departments in the Executive Branch and expressed his pleasure that he will be working with them again.

He closed by stating:

"We’ve overcome incredible challenges as a nation. And we will do so again.

We’ll do it by coming together.

By uniting after a year of pain and loss to heal, to rebuild, and to reclaim America’s place in the world.

This is the work that lies ahead of us, and I know we are up to the task.

We will champion liberty and democracy once more.

We will reclaim our credibility to lead the free world.

And we will, once again, lead not just by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.

May God bless you all.

May God protect our troops."

Walking away, the President-Elect, in response to a reporter's question, said he supports the House Resolution to increase the direct payment to Americans in the stimulus bill from $600 to $2000.

It is sad that the only person acting like the President is the person that does not have the job yet.

 

 

  

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