Trump campaign currently selling a t-shirt that says: "If you don't like Trump then you probably won't like me."

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https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/1248959090287505415

Emergency relief for hospitals is being divvied up based on their Medicare billings and not how many coronavirus cases they have to handle.

It's likely few hospital systems need the emergency federal grants announced this week to handle the coronavirus crisis as badly as Florida’s Jackson Health does.

Miami, its base of operations, is the worst COVID-19 hot spots in one of the most severely hit states. Even in normal years, the system sometimes barely makes money. At least two of its staff members have died of the virus.

But in a scathing letter to policymakers, system CEO Carlos Migoya said the way Washington has handled the bailout “could jeopardize the very existence” of Jackson, one of the nation’s largest public health systems, and similar hospital groups.

“We are here for you right now,” Migoya, who has tested positive for COVID-19 himself, said in a Thursday letter to Alex Azar, secretary of Health and Human Services. “Please, be here for us right now.”

Migoya and executives at other beleaguered systems are blasting the government’s decision to take a one-size-fits-all approach to distributing the first $30 billion in emergency grants. HHS confirmed Friday it would give hospitals and doctors money according to their historical share of revenue from the Medicare program for seniors—not according to their coronavirus burden.

That method is “woefully insufficient to address the financial challenges facing hospitals at this time, especially those located in ‘hot spot’ areas such as the New York City region,” Kenneth Raske, CEO of the Greater New York Hospital Association, said in a memo to association members.

States such as Minnesota, Nebraska and Montana, which the pandemic has touched relatively lightly, are getting more than $300,000 per reported COVID-19 case in the $30 billion, according to a Kaiser Health News analysis.

On the other hand, New York, the worst-hit state, would receive only $12,000 per case. Florida is getting $132,000 per case. KHN relied on an analysis by staff on the House Ways and Means Committee along with COVID-19 cases tabulated by The New York Times.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/nebraska-getting-dollar300000-in-federal-money-for-each-coronavirus-case-while-ny-gets-dollar12g

Cats are natural-born climbers and most of them enjoy being in high places. Whether it’s a high shelf or the top of the refrigerator, kitties feel really comfortable in the upper half of the room, keeping an eye on the surroundings below them with greater confidence.

Recently, Rob Countu from Windsor, Connecticut, decided to embrace these instincts of his cats and built them two epic towers. The well-crafted structures provide them with both comfort and entertainment, and his little furballs are absolutely loving them.









https://www.boredpanda.com/kitty-towers-racoutu/?cexp_id=27447&cexp_var=1&_f=featured

New York (CNN Business)In late March, Instacart worker Annaliisa Arambula accepted a grocery order that came with a big tip: $55. The store was just down the street, everything the customer wanted was available, and the order seemed to go off without a hitch.

But an hour later, Arambula checked her earnings on the Instacart app and the entire tip was gone, with a message saying the "customer modified the tip post-delivery." She ended up making just $8.95 from Instacart on the order.

"I was flabbergasted. I couldn't believe it," Arambula told CNN Business.

Demand for grocery delivery is surging amid the Covid-19 pandemic, and many customers are struggling to get the items they want or even a time slot for a delivery. Some people are dealing with that by offering big tips, as high as $50 or more, to entice Instacart workers to pick up their orders. But some of those people have turned the tactic into a bait-and-switch, offering up the big tip and then taking it away as soon as the person who risked their health to get them their groceries has made the delivery.

Before accepting a "batch" -- which can consist of one or a few orders from different customers -- workers can see the items requested, the store location, the payment Instacart provides workers for the job, and the tip being offered. Instacart allows customers to change a tip for up to three days. Some workers told CNN Business tips can make up half of their income or more.

"It's very demoralizing," said Arambula, who lives in the Portland, Oregon, area and has worked full-time for Instacart since June 2017. "I don't pretend to be a hero, like a nurse in a hospital ... but I literally am exposing myself [to coronavirus] and when I return home, exposing my own family to the possibility of transmitting this disease. When you know that it's somebody who's just doing it to game the system and to get their order when they want it, it's really frustrating." Arambula's husband is currently unemployed and at high risk for Covid-19 because he has diabetes, so they are relying on her work for Instacart to pay their bills.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/09/tech/instacart-shoppers-tip-baiting/index.html

Last fiscal year, the Trump family took more trips that required Secret Service protection than the Obama family took in seven, according to a budget document released by the Treasury Department. On average, Obama’s family took 133.3 protected trips per year, while the Trump family has taken an average of 1,625 annually. Much of the Trump family’s known travel has been to promote Trump Organization businesses, which President Trump still owns and profits from. Every President and his family deserve Secret Service protection. But the President’s private business should reimburse taxpayers for money spent at Trump’s businesses or in support of them.



While previous presidents have separated themselves from their assets and placed them in a blind trust, President Trump appointed his two adult sons to manage the international businesses that continue to make him hundreds of millions of dollars a year on his behalf. The Trump family’s extremely high number of protected trips can be partially explained by the fact that Eric and Don Jr. have traveled the world promoting Trump-branded businesses throughout the Trump presidency. This explanation does less to settle concerns than to highlight the extent to which the American people are subsidizing the Trump family business. Despite running up a high tab, the Trump Organization has not paid the American people back for the security taxpayers have subsidized when Trump family members travel to support a business that regularly cashes in on the presidency.

Of course the Trump family is entitled to Secret Service protection, and should be protected, but increasing the volume by more than a factor of ten has put a strain on the agency’s budget. So much so, that the Secret Service has had to justify the spike in protective travel costs in its congressional budget requests for the past two years. That appears to be the only reason the number of protected visits has been made public at all. Not only has the frequent travel put a strain on the budget, but a Secret Service agent told VICE News that Trump’s travel has contributed to “burnout.”

The Secret Service 2020 and 2021 budget requests contain explanations of some of the expenses driving costs that necessitate a larger budget. One of these is protective travel. Protective travel spiked massively in 2017 when Trump became president. In the last fiscal two years, the Trump family has taken 3,249 protected trips. In seven years, the Obama family took a total of 933.

https://www.citizensforethics.org/trump-family-travel-12x-obama-family/