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Jose Garcia

(2,552 posts)
Tue Dec 7, 2021, 10:05 PM Dec 2021

Gov. Whitmer says President Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandate a 'problem,' report says

Source: Detroit Free Press

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, in her strongest public remarks to date about President Joe Biden's vaccine mandate for employers, said Monday that the requirement is "a problem" for her and state government, according to a published report.

The Daily News in Greenville reported Whitmer as telling business leaders in Montcalm County that she had the same concerns as some of them that the mandate, if enforced, could lead to workers, including those in state government, walking off the job.

"We’re an employer too, the state of Michigan is," Whitmer was reported as saying. "I know if that mandate happens, we’re going to lose state employees. That’s why I haven’t proposed a mandate at the state level. Some states have. We have not, we’re waiting to see what happens in court."

Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.freep.com/amp/6423638001

31 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Gov. Whitmer says President Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandate a 'problem,' report says (Original Post) Jose Garcia Dec 2021 OP
SMH Ferrets are Cool Dec 2021 #1
You don't know what she's dealing with here. ybbor Dec 2021 #2
I deal with the same in W MI, I called them floaters as they follow the flushed turd, I think going yaesu Dec 2021 #14
Bingo!! Ferrets are Cool Dec 2021 #24
This message was self-deleted by its author Chin music Dec 2021 #21
She needs to do this if she wants to be re-elected next November. I'm still with her. catbyte Dec 2021 #6
Same thing in KS Rebl2 Dec 2021 #12
So? It's all about getting elected...not keeping people safe. Ferrets are Cool Dec 2021 #25
It's a heluva lot better than losing the governorship to a republican. She has done catbyte Dec 2021 #27
So? Trying to save lives will guarantee a loss. You must be a prophet to know these things. Ferrets are Cool Dec 2021 #30
That is not how I read her comments karynnj Dec 2021 #29
We have DownriverDem Dec 2021 #3
Trumpers are making Gov Whitmer oppose the Federal mandate? MichMan Dec 2021 #7
This message was self-deleted by its author Chin music Dec 2021 #19
Michigan is having one of the worst covid outbreaks in the country right now. LisaL Dec 2021 #4
Beto doesn't want Biden in Texas, Whitmer thinks mandated vaccines aren't a good idea, Tester JohnSJ Dec 2021 #5
No, but independents got her elected here and if she alienates them, we're sunk. catbyte Dec 2021 #8
If the independents don't believe in public health and science, then we are already sunk. JohnSJ Dec 2021 #10
2010 syndrome vercetti2021 Dec 2021 #9
No they don't. JohnSJ Dec 2021 #11
This message was self-deleted by its author Chin music Dec 2021 #22
Umm, let them walk, take a few days to train national guard until replacements can be hired yaesu Dec 2021 #13
Exactly. A few months with zero income and no unemployment benefits will set them straight. Lucky Luciano Dec 2021 #15
fuck them, LET THEM WALK Skittles Dec 2021 #16
I see this as a problem: US new cases up 70% since Oct 25 low, highest since Sept 25 progree Dec 2021 #17
Money trumps death. gab13by13 Dec 2021 #18
Which is more important for a politician? christx30 Dec 2021 #20
This message was self-deleted by its author Chin music Dec 2021 #23
Yup - they'll cave in just like the loudmouth cops did in nyc and Chicago. Lucky Luciano Dec 2021 #26
This message was self-deleted by its author Chin music Dec 2021 #28
I support her in this... radicalleft Dec 2021 #31

ybbor

(1,552 posts)
2. You don't know what she's dealing with here.
Tue Dec 7, 2021, 10:12 PM
Dec 2021

She has both the house and senate controlled by Rs. Trump has emboldened all the crazies.

yaesu

(8,020 posts)
14. I deal with the same in W MI, I called them floaters as they follow the flushed turd, I think going
Tue Dec 7, 2021, 11:50 PM
Dec 2021

against Biden will sink her election, not help. Her numbers were just fine when she told the fascists to get fucked, now she looks weak.

Response to ybbor (Reply #2)

catbyte

(34,170 posts)
6. She needs to do this if she wants to be re-elected next November. I'm still with her.
Tue Dec 7, 2021, 11:17 PM
Dec 2021

There are a lot of shitheads about this in Michigan right now.

Rebl2

(13,311 posts)
12. Same thing in KS
Tue Dec 7, 2021, 11:32 PM
Dec 2021

Dem Governor and state house pretty much republicans. KS Governor spoke out against the mandate. She thinks it will help her in her re-election, but I seriously doubt it will.

catbyte

(34,170 posts)
27. It's a heluva lot better than losing the governorship to a republican. She has done
Wed Dec 8, 2021, 12:24 PM
Dec 2021

so much more for us than any gqp governor would have ever done. If you're not in Michigan, you wouldn't understand.

Ferrets are Cool

(21,063 posts)
30. So? Trying to save lives will guarantee a loss. You must be a prophet to know these things.
Wed Dec 8, 2021, 02:51 PM
Dec 2021

I would rather save ONE life than be a governor with that death on my hands. YMMV.

karynnj

(59,475 posts)
29. That is not how I read her comments
Wed Dec 8, 2021, 01:28 PM
Dec 2021

I know mandates result in more vaccinations which mean less hospitalizations and death. However, the state also needs to function and it will be tough if too many employees leave. The NYC experience was that though there were complaints, virtually all police, firemen etc complied. It may not be the same in places like Michigan.

It might be that a position of advocating and providing easy access and incentives for vaccinating, but not mandating, vaccines might be as far as you can go in some red states.

MichMan

(11,789 posts)
7. Trumpers are making Gov Whitmer oppose the Federal mandate?
Tue Dec 7, 2021, 11:17 PM
Dec 2021

She doesn't have to impose her own, she could just support the one currently going through the courts that President Biden issued by not saying anything

Response to MichMan (Reply #7)

LisaL

(44,962 posts)
4. Michigan is having one of the worst covid outbreaks in the country right now.
Tue Dec 7, 2021, 10:22 PM
Dec 2021

But it's a vaccine mandate that's a problem?

"Michigan continues to struggle amid the pandemic, setting a record this week for Covid-19 hospitalizations and leading the nation in per capita case rates, new data reveal."

https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/07/health/michigan-covid-cases-hospitalizations/index.html

JohnSJ

(91,962 posts)
5. Beto doesn't want Biden in Texas, Whitmer thinks mandated vaccines aren't a good idea, Tester
Tue Dec 7, 2021, 11:11 PM
Dec 2021

is against vaccine mandates, add a cup of Manchin and Sinema, and the results of the midterms should not surprise anyone


Does Whitmer believe this will help her with republicans?

JohnSJ

(91,962 posts)
10. If the independents don't believe in public health and science, then we are already sunk.
Tue Dec 7, 2021, 11:26 PM
Dec 2021

I wonder if those independents believe in a woman’s right to choose?

vercetti2021

(10,150 posts)
9. 2010 syndrome
Tue Dec 7, 2021, 11:19 PM
Dec 2021

Democrats ran away from Obama due to the ACA and look at what happened. Instead of running on it. They ran away and lost in mass. No one fucking learns

Response to vercetti2021 (Reply #9)

yaesu

(8,020 posts)
13. Umm, let them walk, take a few days to train national guard until replacements can be hired
Tue Dec 7, 2021, 11:44 PM
Dec 2021

Done & done.

Skittles

(152,964 posts)
16. fuck them, LET THEM WALK
Tue Dec 7, 2021, 11:58 PM
Dec 2021

they are willing to compromise the health of their coworkers and help to spread a virus, ENOUGH ALREADY

START TRAINING THEIR REPLACEMENTS NOW

progree

(10,864 posts)
17. I see this as a problem: US new cases up 70% since Oct 25 low, highest since Sept 25
Wed Dec 8, 2021, 12:05 AM
Dec 2021

Last edited Wed Dec 8, 2021, 03:00 AM - Edit history (4)

reversing nearly 2 1/2 months of progress. (7 day moving average = 7dma)

It's particularly sad because the Monday (Nov 29) that dropped out of the 7 day moving average period was one that was somewhat artificially high because it had some backlogged cases reported from the Thanksgiving weekend. I was hoping that when that Monday dropped off, the 7 day moving average might go down a bit. But no, Monday Dec 6's   7dma was even higher than Mon Nov 29. Maybe Tuesday Nov 30 -- also somewhat swollen with Thanksgiving 4-day weekend backlog (for example, my state, Minnesota reports weekend cases on Tuesday) -- will, when it drops out of the 7dma, bring the 7dma down a bit.

But that's the last of the special circumstances that might help with the 7dma. Unless last Wednesday (Dec 1) also had a significant number of Thanksgiving 4-day weekend cases, which i have no reason to believe it does.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html
(no paywall no quota. The "Last 90 days" button above the graph is extremely helpful. The map is not to be missed)

Top 16 in Daily new cases per capita, 7 day moving average (includes Monday Dec 6 cases)

#1 New Hampshire
#2 Michigan (has been #1 or #2 for about a month)
#3 Minnesota
#4 Rhode Island
#5 Vermont
#6 New Mexico
#7 Wisconsin
#8 Indiana
#9 Massachusetts
#10 Ohio
#11-#16: NoDak, SoDak, Kansas, W.Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania

==========================

As for what states are changing in 7-day new case averages: For one, the South is increasing again. All of the southern states are increasing. All of them.

The only states that are decreasing: Iowa, Washington, Idaho, Maine, Wyoming, Colorado, Hawaii, Alaska, Montana

2 states are flat. The other 39 states are rising. For a 39-9-2 record.

Increasing means the 7 day moving average ending December 6 is higher than the 7 day moving average ending November 22 (which is 14 days prior to Dec 6).

Deaths up 39% from Nov 29 low (they lag increases in cases by a month or a little more).

The world is on fire too -- new cases are up 50% since the October 14 low (7dma).
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/covid-cases.html

christx30

(6,241 posts)
20. Which is more important for a politician?
Wed Dec 8, 2021, 01:25 AM
Dec 2021

Dealing with a crisis? Or keeping the lights on?
“Sorry that basic services your tax dollars pay for will be down for an indeterminate. There’s a large chunk of the state workforce that refuses to get vaccinated.”

Would you want to be governor, and have to explain that to your state? That you can’t keep basic stuff in your state working? Absent a viable alternative, she’s just gonna have to let things be, and hope for the best.
What else can she do if she loses 30-40% of the state workforce? We’re getting into winter. What happens if nearly half of the snowplows stop? Or people running the courthouse? Or state assistance office? What kind of back log would that create?
There are no good answers. Just some that are t as awful as the rest.

Response to christx30 (Reply #20)

Response to Lucky Luciano (Reply #26)

radicalleft

(478 posts)
31. I support her in this...
Wed Dec 8, 2021, 04:37 PM
Dec 2021

She is between a rock and a hard place. The R legislature has and continue to make things tough for her and her team. Coming up on an election year, a mandate at the state level could really backfire among independents. The attack ads would be non stop and full of hate and vitriol.

If we lose state workers going into the winter, it could prove deadly. Until she has the backing of the USSC, she can't really do much.

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