Topics in the News: Vaccinations

Donald Trump on Health Care : Sep 10, 2024
We did a phenomenal job with the pandemic

HARRIS: Donald Trump left us the worst public health epidemic in a century. Donald Trump left us the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War. And what we have done is clean up Donald Trump's mess. I believe very strongly that the American people want a president who understands the importance of bringing us together knowing we have so much more in common than what separates us. And I pledge to you to be a president for all Americans.

TRUMP: Everybody knows what I'm going to do. Cut taxes very substantially. And create a great economy like I did before. We had the greatest economy. We got hit with a pandemic. And the pandemic was, not since 1917 where 100 million people died has there been anything like it? We did a phenomenal job with the pandemic. We handed them over a country where the economy and where the stock market was higher than it was before the pandemic came in. Nobody's ever seen anything like it. We made ventilators for the entire world. We got gowns. We got masks.

Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: ABC News 2024 Presidential debate in Philadelphia

Kamala Harris on Budget & Economy : Aug 21, 2024
FactCheck: no evidence for pandemic price-gouging

Ms Harris wants to pass the first-ever federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries. This may not herald a return to the price controls witnessed under President Richard Nixon in the 1970s, but the intellectual underpinning for such a policy is nonetheless half-baked. A common charge of the left-wing is that companies fuelled inflation during the covid-19 pandemic by taking advantage of shortages to jack up prices--but there was no evidence of higher mark-ups at the aggregate level.

Although Ms Harris's promise to crack down on unfair mergers and acquisitions in the food industry that lead to less competition and higher prices is unobjectionable, in reality it is little more than a restatement of America's existing anti-monopoly policy. The Federal Trade Commission is, for instance, currently embroiled in a legal battle to block the biggest supermarket merger in American history.

Click for Kamala Harris on other issues. Source: The Economist on 2024 Presidential hopefuls

Kamala Harris on Families & Children : Aug 21, 2024
$6,000 child tax credit, expanded from $2,000 per child

Ms Harris's economic strategy involves targeted tax cuts: For low- and middle-income families, she would increase the child tax credit, including $6,000 during a baby's first year of life, up from $2,000 now. And she would expand the reach of the earned income tax credit--an important subsidy for poorer Americans--to those without children. Judged on their own merits, Ms Harris can make a strong case for both of these changes. When the child tax credit was greatly expanded during the pandemic, it led to a nearly 50% reduction in child poverty rates. As Ms Harris puts it, that is an investment in America's future.

These tax cuts would not come in isolation, however. America's budget deficit is running at about 7% of GDP, a level previously associated with wars or recessions, while the national debt is continuing to climb higher. Neither of the candidates has offered any serious proposals about how to clean up the country's fiscal picture, and would in all likelihood make it worse.

Click for Kamala Harris on other issues. Source: The Economist on 2024 Presidential hopefuls

Tim Walz on Health Care : Aug 6, 2024
2020 COVID restrictions resulted in lower death rates

Walz's strategy to deal with the pandemic: spending big--partly thanks to the federal money cannon put into use by Trump--and using emergency powers to expand government authority to keep people whole while keeping them out of indoor spaces. Walz put in place a pause on evictions, made it easier to get unemployment insurance, and expanded support for food banks and homeless shelters to the tune of $100 million.

Republicans increasingly objected to and tried rolling back Walz's emergency powers, and protesters chafed at his stay-at-home orders. But Walz's approach--which combined near-constant public visibility with stubbornly defying political and business pressure to reopen before the vaccine rollout--ultimately paid off: by June 2021, Minnesota had a lower death rate from COVID than any surrounding state, at 136 deaths per 100,000. For Iowa and North Dakota, governed by Trump-emulating anti-restriction Republicans, that figure was 194 and 200, respectively.

Click for Tim Walz on other issues. Source: Jacobin magazine on 2024 Vice Presidential hopefuls

Tim Walz on Health Care : Aug 6, 2024
Shuttered businesses and schools during COVID-19 pandemic

In his first term as governor, Walz faced a Legislature split between a Democratic-led House and a Republican-controlled Senate. But he and lawmakers brokered compromises that made the state's divided government still seem productive.

Bipartisan cooperation became tougher during his second year as he used the governor's emergency power during the COVID-19 pandemic to shutter businesses and close schools. Republicans pushed back and forced out some agency heads. Republicans also remain critical of Walz over what they see as his slow response to sometimes violent unrest that followed the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020.

Things got easier for Walz in his second term, after he defeated Republican Scott Jensen, a physician known nationally as a vaccine skeptic. Democrats gained control of both legislative chambers, clearing the way for a more liberal course in state government, aided by a huge budget surplus.

Click for Tim Walz on other issues. Source: Associated Press on 2024 Vice Presidential hopefuls

Joe Biden on Jobs : Mar 7, 2024
We created 15M jobs in 3 years: a record

Biden said, "Before I came to office, the country was hit by the worst pandemic and the worst economic crisis in the century. Now, our economy is literally the envy of the world. 15 million new jobs in just three years, a record." Is that accurate?

"Biden's number is accurate: the US economy added 12.1 million jobs between Biden's first full month in office, February 2021, and January 2023. That number is indeed higher than the number of jobs added in any previous four-year presidential term. However, it's important to note that Biden took office in an unusual pandemic context that makes meaningful comparison to other periods very difficult."

Adding figures since then, The Guardian wrote on 2/2/24, "The US added 2.7m jobs last year even as the Fed drove interest rates up to a 22-year high." And CNN adds on 3/7/24, "Economists expect that US employers added 200,000 jobs last month". That totals to 15 million jobs.

Click for Joe Biden on other issues. Source: CNN FactCheck on 2024 State of the Union address

Kamala Harris on Corporations : Mar 1, 2024
Pandemic aid: increase loans to small businesses

Today's actions build on historic investment steps the Biden-Harris Administration has already taken to support small businesses, particularly those who are seeking equity and financing investments: [including] reversing the previous Administration's policies and made small business supports more equitable.

When the last Administration gave out pandemic aid to small businesses, they designed it to favor the well-off and the well-connected who had concierge service with big banks, while underserved entrepreneurs like women-, veteran-, and minority-owned small businesses were put at the back of the line or even out the door. Just one month into office, the Biden-Harris Administration changed that, instituting a 14-day period during which only businesses with fewer than 20 employees could apply for relief. Research shows these reforms helped increase loans to small businesses in low to moderate income communities by 62 percent and expanded lending to the smallest businesses by 35 percent.

Click for Kamala Harris on other issues. Source: Vice Presidential 2024 press release: "Small Business"

Chase Oliver on Budget & Economy : Jul 23, 2023
Veto any budget Congress sends that is not balanced

Oliver said he wants to tamp down inflation by returning to pre-?pandemic spending levels, and would veto any budget Congress sends that is not balanced. "And if a government shutdown occurs because of that, well that's less money we're spending," he said. "And that's a bluff that I've got to be willing to call as a Libertarian."

Asked about the impact that would have on American households and the interruption in pay and benefits for millions of Americans, Oliver argued the country has been put into a "no-win situation, because we've been spent into a $32 trillion debt."

"It's like alcoholism," he said. "If you take the bottle out of the alcoholic's hand, they're going to detox…. But, over time, the body will heal itself. We have to balance our budget now and get spending under control. Because, if we don't, it only gets worse … and eventually will have a bad outcome for our economy."

Click for Chase Oliver on other issues. Source: Cedar Rapids Gazette on 2023 Presidential hopefuls

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Health Care : Jul 20, 2023
Would put Dr. Fauci on trial over COVID vaccines

Kennedy argues that reporters, as well as former chief medical advisor Anthony Fauci and other officials, should have at least expressed skepticism earlier on, when it became clear that vaccines did not completely stop the spread of the virus. "I would like to see a trial," Kennedy said of Fauci. He said Fauci had been obligated to use the best data in making decisions and he did not believe that he had done so. Fauci has not been accused of breaking the law by any U.S. enforcement agency. Click for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on other issues. Source: Newsweek on 2023 Presidential hopefuls

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Technology : Jun 14, 2023
Many illnesses caused by vaccines & 5G wireless technology

in the 2000s, he turned his attention to vaccines after being contacted by parents who claimed their children had been injured by them. Kennedy "went down a wormhole," as he put it to his biographer. He reconsidered his son's peanut allergies and his experience as a summer-camp counselor. ("I never saw anybody with autism," he says.)

He joined a struggling nonprofit called the World Mercury Project in 2016 and rebranded it as Children's Health Defense, which became one of the country's largest anti-vaccination advocacy groups. It falsely claims that a variety of childhood illnesses are being caused by the ingredients in vaccines, as well as fluoride, acetaminophen, and 5G wireless technology. Kennedy gave speeches, wrote articles, and produced videos claiming that vaccines were "making our children dumber and giving them injuries." He saw the ensuing criticism from scientists and public-health agencies as confirmation that he was right.

Click for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on other issues. Source: Time magazine "Very Online" on 2023 Presidential hopefulss

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Health Care : Jun 9, 2023
Public option not right thing, unless part of single-payer

Kennedy was asked whether, given the hostility to the pharmaceutical companies he often expresses while talking about vaccines, he'd be willing to support a "public option" for pharmaceuticals. He immediately dismissed this, saying, "Oh, I don't think that's the right thing," and switching the subject to how to insulate regulatory agencies from the industry's influence. He didn't even pause to explain why it wouldn't be the right thing. Apparently, he finds the suggestion too outlandish to consider.

Last month, Kennedy was asked if he would support "universal health care through a Medicare for All program." In his response, Kennedy shifted the goalposts in a more moderate direction, redefining "single-payer" health care to mean something more like the Obama/Biden "public option" proposal. He said, "my highest ambition would be to have a single-payer program where people who want to have private programs can go ahead and do that, but to have a single program that is available to everybody."

Click for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on other issues. Source: Jacobin e-zine on 2023 Presidential hopefuls

Joe Biden on Immigration : May 15, 2023
Let Title 42 expire: more humanitarian asylum policy

Biden has sought to establish a more humanitarian-focused approach to immigration than his predecessors. He supported letting Title 42, a pandemic-era immigration policy that allows the U.S. to return migrants to their home countries without the former asylum process, expire.

In January, Biden announced several new immigration policies, including an increase of the use of expedited removal, the tripling of refugee resettlement from the Western Hemisphere, increasing humanitarian assistance in Mexico and Central America, and a surge in resources to the U.S.-Mexico border.

He has also introduced a policy crackdown last month that could disqualify a vast majority of migrants from being able to seek asylum at the southern border, sparking criticism from some progressives.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has recently knocked Biden's immigration policies: "It's not racist or insensitive to say that we need to close our borders and have an orderly immigration policy," he said.

Click for Joe Biden on other issues. Source: Newsweek magazine on 2023 Presidential hopefuls

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Health Care : May 4, 2023
We will move from a sick care system to a wellness society

We face today a terrible pandemic—not of Covid, but of chronic disease. Autoimmunity, allergies, diabetes, obesity, addiction, anxiety, and depression afflict two-thirds of the population, up from a few percent in our grandparents' time. A Kennedy administration will go beyond making existing modalities available to all, to include low-cost alternative and holistic therapies that have been marginalized in a pharma-dominated system. We will move from a sick care system to a wellness society. Click for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on other issues. Source: 2024 Presidential campaign website kennedy24.com

Larry Elder on Foreign Policy : Apr 30, 2023
Critical to strengthen America's role as the sole superpower

With the aggressive rise of Communist China, strengthening America's role as the sole superpower is critical. This includes investing in our military's readiness while keeping the Pentagon focused on national defense, not left-wing social experimentation; asserting American dominance in the South China Sea and reassuring our Pacific allies; minimizing our reliance on Chinese manufacturing; and punishing China when it unleashes a pandemic and floods America's streets with drugs. Click for Larry Elder on other issues. Source: 2024 Presidential campaign website LarryElder.com

Asa Hutchinson on Families & Children : Apr 23, 2023
Don't want government interfering with parental decisions

And so, we don't want the government telling parents when they can have vaccines for their children and not have vaccines or have to have vaccines for children. We fight for the role of parents. And so, a conservative position, you always are debating and think about, is this the right role of government to interfere with parental decisions? I came down on a limited fashion and said parents have an important role to play here. Click for Asa Hutchinson on other issues. Source: Fox News Sunday on 2023 Presidential hopefuls

Ron DeSantis on Health Care : Mar 7, 2023
Protect free speech and conscience rights of physicians

And, maybe most famously, we rank number one for protections of our citizens against the biomedical security state, from prohibiting "jab or job" mandates to banning vaccine passports to ensuring hospital visitation rights. We defied the experts, we buck the elites, we ignored the chatter, we did it our way, the Florida way. And the result is that we are the number one destination for our fellow Americans who are looking for a better life.

We have rejected the biomedical security state in Florida. Protection from medical authoritarianism should not have an expiration date in the Free State of Florida. We also need to protect the free speech rights and conscience rights of physicians. The medical establishment whiffed an awful lot during COVID and physicians who follow the evidence should not be penalized simply because they buck a stale consensus.

Click for Ron DeSantis on other issues. Source: 2023 State of the State Address to the Florida legislature

Ron DeSantis on Health Care : Mar 7, 2023
Shouldn't have to choose between job and unwanted shot

Florida has provided the strongest protections for medical freedom during the coronavirus pandemic of any state in the country. We have prohibited COVID shot mandates in schools, we have banned vaccine passports and we have protected Floridians from losing their jobs due to their personal decision about whether to take or not take the COVID jab. No Floridians should have to choose between a job they need and a shot they don't want. Click for Ron DeSantis on other issues. Source: 2023 State of the State Address to the Florida legislature

JD Vance on Health Care : Mar 2, 2023
COVID: Clearly Tony Fauci lied to the American people

Clearly Tony Fauci lied under oath, lied to the American people. Not just that, he compelled and persuaded the FBI to censor information about the pandemic as it was unfolding, tried to shut down the functioning First Amendment so that we could not have an open debate about where it came from and what to do about it. It's disgraceful what he did it the question is if we want to say he committed perjury, I'm not optimistic Merrick Garland is going to do the right thing here. Click for JD Vance on other issues. Source: Speech at the 2023 CPAC Conference in Maryland

Tim Walz on Health Care : Nov 3, 2022
COVID: followed the science, on public health measures

Senator Tina Smith described [Walz's gubernatorial] race as a choice between a DFL incumbent "who followed the science" and kept the state's death rate during the COVID-19 pandemic the lowest in the Midwest and a GOP challenger [Scott Jensen] "who has spread misinformation" about the virus.

A Rochester physician and DFL activist [summarized] that the COVID-19 pandemic was the most profound health care crisis the country has faced in a century, and Gov. Walz and his team provided "leadership in uncertain times": "The governor made tough but necessary choices to limit the spread of the disease. We will never know who didn't die because of the Walz administration's efforts--whose parent or whose child (didn't die). That is the challenge of public health."

DFL supporters contrasted Walz's record with the comments by Jensen, who has compared public health measures to limit the spread of the disease as akin to Kristallnacht, when Nazis in Germany torched synagogues and vandalized Jewish homes.

Click for Tim Walz on other issues. Source: Duluth News Tribune on 2022 Minnesota Gubernatorial race

Joe Biden on Crime : Mar 1, 2022
DOJ to name a chief prosecutor for pandemic fraud

The previous Administration not only ballooned the deficit with tax cuts for the very wealthy and corporations, it undermined the watchdogs whose job was to keep pandemic relief funds from being wasted. But in my administration, the watchdogs have been welcomed back. We're going after the criminals who stole billions in relief money meant for small businesses and millions of Americans. And tonight, I'm announcing that the Justice Department will name a chief prosecutor for pandemic fraud. Click for Joe Biden on other issues. Source: 2022 State of the Union address

Joe Biden on Families & Children : Mar 1, 2022
Cut the cost of childcare in half

Cut the cost of child care. Many families pay up to $14,000 a year for child care per child.

Middle-class and working families shouldn't have to pay more than 7% of their income for care of young children. My plan will cut the cost in half for most families and help parents, including millions of women, who left the workforce during the pandemic because they couldn't afford child care, to be able to get back to work.

Click for Joe Biden on other issues. Source: 2022 State of the Union address

Joe Biden on Health Care : Mar 1, 2022
I've ordered more anti-virus pills than anyone in history

First, stay protected with vaccines and treatments. We're also ready with anti-viral treatments. If you get COVID-19, the Pfizer pill reduces your chances of ending up in the hospital by 90%. We've ordered more of these pills than anyone in the world. And Pfizer is working overtime to get us 1 million pills this month and more than double that next month. And we're launching the "Test to Treat" initiative so people can get tested at a pharmacy, and if they're positive, receive antiviral pills on the spot at no cost.
Second--we must prepare for new variants.
Third--we can end the shutdown of schools and businesses. We have the tools we need.
Fourth, we will continue vaccinating the world. We've sent 475 Million vaccine doses to 112 countries, more than any other nation. And we won't stop.

Click for Joe Biden on other issues. Source: 2022 State of the Union address

Ron DeSantis on Health Care : Feb 24, 2022
We reject the biomedical security state, defeated Fauci-ism

In Florida, we reject the biomedical security state which erodes liberty, harms livelihoods and divides our society. We have done things like ban vaccine passports and mandates because it is unacceptable to simply subcontract out Fauciism to big companies. Florida has defeated Fauciism. Freedom has prevailed in the sunshine state. Click for Ron DeSantis on other issues. Source: Speech at the 2022 CPAC Conference in Orlando FL

Doug Burgum on Social Security : Feb 16, 2022
Permanently eliminated state income tax on Social Security

We approved an estimated $211 million in income tax credits, allowing approximately half of North Dakotans get to keep their hard earned money. The people that were working during the pandemic were the people that have income tax to pay, they get to keep their money in their pocket. We also have permanently eliminated the state income tax on Social Security income, saving our seniors nearly $15 million over the next two years. Click for Doug Burgum on other issues. Source: 2022 State of the State Address to North Dakota legislature

Joe Biden on Government Reform : Jan 6, 2022
Former president wants to suppress vote & subvert elections

Here's the truth. The election of 2020 was the greatest demonstration of democracy in the history of this country. More of you voted in that election than have ever voted in all of American history. Over 150 million Americans went to the polls and voted that day in a pandemic. Some at great risk to their lives. They should be applauded, not attacked.

Right now in state after state, new laws are being written. Not to protect the vote, but to deny it. Not only to suppress the vote, but to subvert it, not to strengthen or protect our democracy, but because the former president lost. Instead of looking at election results from 2020 and saying they need new ideas or better ideas to win more votes, the former president and his supporters have decided the only way for them to win is to suppress your vote and subvert our elections.

It's wrong. It's undemocratic, and frankly, it's un-American.

Click for Joe Biden on other issues. Source: Biden Administration: Speech on Anniversary of Jan. 6 Riot

Asa Hutchinson on Health Care : Jan 2, 2022
I oppose any vaccine mandate; need greater public acceptance

In terms of the future and the vaccine, right now I oppose any vaccine mandate because there has to be a greater public acceptance of it, greater experience in terms of our use of it, and we don't know what is down the road. Maybe, maybe not. But whatever decision is made, it should be done at the state and local level in terms of education, in terms of what we need. Click for Asa Hutchinson on other issues. Source: Fox News Sunday 2022 interview of Asa Hutchinson

Donald Trump on Health Care : Dec 24, 2021
Coronavirus vaccine works but some people aren't taking it

During an event in Dallas, Trump confirmed that he had been vaccinated and had gotten a booster shot, attracting boos from some audience members. Trump stated his opposition to vaccine mandates but again touted the shot's efficacy. "The vaccine worked. But some people aren't taking it. The ones that get very sick and go to the hospital are the ones that don't take the vaccine." While Trump didn't acknowledge it, most unvaccinated Americans now belong to or lean toward the GOP. In the most recent CNN poll, Republicans and Republican-leaning independents make up a solid majority of the relatively small bloc of US adults still entirely unvaccinated against Covid.

[Comments and poll in response to H.R.6304, the "Stop Federal Vaccine Mandates for Employees Act," which says "No emergency standard may require any drug or vaccine or other biological product to be administered to any employee." See H.R. 6304 for Congressional response]

Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: WFMZ-TV 69-News: Trump COVID promises vs. actions

Joe Biden on Health Care : Nov 4, 2021
Get more people vaccinated, or prolong coronavirus pandemic

For our country, the choice is simple: get more people vaccinated, or prolong this pandemic and its impact on our country. The virus will not go away by itself: we have to act. Vaccination is the single best pathway out of this pandemic. And while I would have much preferred that requirements not become necessary, too many people remain unvaccinated for us to get out of this pandemic for good. So I instituted requirements--and they are working. They protect our workers and have helped us reduce the number of unvaccinated Americans over the age of 12 from approximately 100 million in late July when I began requirements to just about 60 million today.

Vaccination requirements are good for the economy. They not only increase vaccination rates but they help send people back to work--as many as 5 million American workers. They make our economy more resilient and keep our businesses open. [See H.R. 6304 for Congressional response]

Click for Joe Biden on other issues. Source: Presidential 2024 hopefuls: White House press release

JD Vance on Health Care : Oct 3, 2021
COVID: against vax passports, mask mandates

COVID-19 is undoubtedly a horrible disease that has killed many Americans. But we now know enough about COVID and have developed therapies and vaccines that should allow us to get back to normal. You shouldn't have to "show your papers" to go to a restaurant in our country, and our children--who are not at significant risk from COVID-19--should be able to go to school in person, without masks hiding the faces of their friends and teachers. Click for JD Vance on other issues. Source: 2021 OH Senate campaign website JDVance.com

Ron DeSantis on Abortion : Jul 1, 2021
Anti-choice on abortion; pro-choice on vaccinations

Asked to compare and contrast "The Florida Heartbeat Act" (HB 167), a House bill banning abortions after the fetus develops a heartbeat, with what a reporter called "freedom of choice during the pandemic," DeSantis fumbled and offered an inconclusive answer. "Well, I think the difference is between the right to life is that another life is at stake. Whereas whether you've put something in your body or not, it doesn't affect other people," the Governor asserted. Click for Ron DeSantis on other issues. Source: Florida Politics on 2022 Florida Gubernatorial race

Ron DeSantis on Health Care : Jul 1, 2021
Supports $5000 fines for businesses demanding vaccine proof

DeSantis defended his decision to start issuing $5,000 fines to businesses, schools and government agencies that require people to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination, saying he doesn't want to create two classes of citizens. DeSantis signed a bill earlier this year that banned vaccine passports. "One, I'm vaccinated, I am offended that someone would make me show something just to go to a restaurant or just to live life," DeSantis said. "I don't want a biomedical security state." Click for Ron DeSantis on other issues. Source: News4Jax on 2022 Florida Gubernatorial race

Joe Biden on Budget & Economy : Apr 28, 2021
Trickle down economics has never worked

The American Jobs Plan is a blue collar blueprint to build America. That's what it is. And it recognizes something I've always said, in this chamber and the other. Good guys and women on Wall Street, but Wall Street didn't build this country. The middle class built the country, and unions built the middle class.

20 million Americans lost their job in the pandemic, working and middle class Americans. At the same time, roughly 650 billionaires in America saw their net worth increase by more than $1 trillion, in the same exact period. Let me say that again: 650 people increased their wealth by more than $1 trillion during this pandemic. And they're now worth more than $4 trillion. Trickle down economics has never worked, and it's time to grow the economy from the bottom and the middle out.

Click for Joe Biden on other issues. Source: 2021 State of the Union address

Tim Scott on Principles & Values : Apr 28, 2021
Americans asked for grace and God has supplied it

So many families have lost parents and grandparents too early[due to the coronavirus pandemic]. So many small businesses have gone under. Becoming a Christian transformed my life--but for months, too many churches were shut down.

Original sin is never the end of the story. Not in our souls, and not for our nation. The real story is always redemption. I am standing here because my mom has prayed me through some very tough times. I believe our nation has succeeded the same way. Because generations of Americans, in their own ways, have asked for grace--and God has supplied it.

Click for Tim Scott on other issues. Source: Republican response to the 2021 State of the Union address

Tim Walz on Budget & Economy : Mar 28, 2021
Level playing field for working families, small businesses

My proposed budget aims to level the playing field by supporting working families, helping small businesses stay afloat, and ensuring students catch up on learning. My budget ensures that those who have been hit hardest by the pandemic have the resources they need to get back on their feet. It gives a tax break to more than 300,000 Minnesota families, makes nearly all Paycheck Protection Program loans tax exempt for small businesses, and provides cash payments to over 32,000 Minnesota families. Click for Tim Walz on other issues. Source: 2021 State of the State Address to the Minnesota legislature

Joe Biden on Health Care : Mar 6, 2021
$119 billion to build public confidence in vaccines

PROMISE MADE: (2020 campaign website JoeBiden.com): Plan for the effective, equitable distribution of treatments and vaccines because discovering isn't enough if they get distributed like Trump's testing and PPE fiascos. Invest $25 billion in a vaccine manufacturing and distribution plan that will guarantee it gets to every American, cost-free.

PROMISE KEPT: (CNN 3/6/21): The [stimulus bills] provide $14 billion to research, develop, distribute, administer and strengthen confidence in vaccines. They would also put $47.8 billion toward testing, contact tracing and mitigation, including investing in laboratory capacity, community-based testing sites and mobile testing units. Both chambers would also allocate $7.7 billion to hire 100,000 public health workers to support coronavirus response. The legislation also provide $50 billion to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, with some of the funds going toward expanding vaccination efforts.

Click for Joe Biden on other issues. Source: CNN "Senate stimulus" analysis of 2021 Biden Promises

Joe Biden on Jobs : Mar 6, 2021
Extended unemployment benefits for COVID, to contractors too

PROMISE MADE: (2020 campaign website JoeBiden.com): Biden will provide further immediate relief to working families, small businesses, and communities. Biden will extend COVID crisis unemployment insurance to help those who are out of work.

PROMISE KEPT: (CNN March 6, 2021): The Senate version calls for providing a $300 federal boost to weekly jobless payments and extending two key pandemic unemployment benefits programs through September 6. The agreement would also make the first $10,200 worth of benefits payments tax-free for households with annual incomes less than $150,000.

OnTheIssues ANALYSIS: The extended unemployment benefits under previous legislation was scheduled to end in mid-March [and may get extended again beyond September 6]. The unemployment benefit applies to independent contractors, who are normally ineligible for unemployment.

Click for Joe Biden on other issues. Source: CNN "Senate stimulus" analysis of 2021 Biden Promises

Joe Biden on Foreign Policy : Feb 4, 2021
Meet advancing authoritarianism, including China & Russia

We will repair our alliances and engage with the world once again, not to meet yesterday's challenges, but today's and tomorrow's. American leadership must meet this new moment of advancing authoritarianism, including the growing ambitions of China to rival the United States and the determination of Russia to damage and disrupt our democracy.

We must meet the new moment accelerating global challenges--from the pandemic to the climate crisis to nuclear proliferation--challenging the will only to be solved by nations working together and in common. We can't do it alone. We must start with diplomacy rooted in America's most cherished democratic values: defending freedom, championing opportunity, upholding universal rights, respecting the rule of law, and treating every person with dignity.

That's the grounding wire of our global power. That's our inexhaustible source of strength. That's America's abiding advantage.

Click for Joe Biden on other issues. Source: Manchester Ink Link on 2020 New Hampshire Senate race

Joe Biden on Health Care : Feb 2, 2021
Re-open ACA enrollment; restore ObamaCare to pre-Trump level

PROMISE MADE: (Biden-Sanders debate 3/15/20): Pass the Biden healthcare plan, which takes ObamaCare, restores all the cuts made to it [under Trump]. Subsidize it further.

PROMISE KEPT:(Executive Order on Medicare 1/28/21): It is the policy of my Administration to protect and strengthen Medicaid and the ACA and to make high-quality healthcare accessible and affordable for every American. In light of the exceptional circumstances caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, establish a Special Enrollment Period for uninsured and under-insured Americans to seek coverage through the Federally Facilitated Marketplace.

OnTheIssues ANALYSIS: Biden made his promise at the beginning of the pandemic, and all healthcare policy in 2021 is tied up with the pandemic. Biden has largely restored ObamaCare cuts--by reopening ACA enrollment--and largely subsidized ObamaCare--via pandemic spending and pandemic justification.

Click for Joe Biden on other issues. Source: White House press release on Biden Promises

Asa Hutchinson on Health Care : Jan 3, 2021
COVID: Getting vaccines out is public/private partnership

The private sector is very engaged. The private sector is doing it, both the independent pharmacies as well as the chain pharmacies. The federal government is giving directly to them. All we're doing as a state is telling them where it goes and allocate it. The delivery is directly to the private sector and they're getting it out, but not as fast as we would like. And so it's a partnership. Click for Asa Hutchinson on other issues. Source: CBS Meet the Press on 2022 Arkansas Gubernatorial race

Donald Trump on Education : Oct 22, 2020
Open schools; most teachers are safe in pandemic

TRUMP: We have to open our country. We can't keep this country closed. He'll close down the country if one person in our massive bureaucracy says we should close it down. I want to open the schools. The transmittal rate to the teachers is very small.

BIDEN: By the way, all you teachers out there, "not that many of you are going to die, so don't worry about it. So don't worry about it." Come on!

Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: Third 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Kristen Welker

Donald Trump on Health Care : Oct 22, 2020
We reduced coronavirus from an expected 2.2 million deaths

Q: What about people who say you could have done more on coronavirus?

TRUMP: 2.2 million people were expected to die. We closed up the greatest economy in the world in order to fight this horrible disease that came from China. The mortality rate is down 85%. There was a spike in Florida and it's now gone. There was a very big spike in Arizona. It's now gone. We have a vaccine that's coming. We have Operation Warp Speed, which is the military is going to distribute the vaccine. I had it and I got better.

BIDEN: He did virtually nothing. And then he gets out of the hospital and he talks about, "Oh, don't worry. It's all going to be over soon." Come on. There's not another serious scientist in the world who thinks it's going to be over soon.

TRUMP: I didn't say "over soon." I say we're learning to live with it. We have no choice. We can't lock ourselves up in a basement like Joe does. As the president couldn't do that and go away for a year and a half until it disappears. I can't do that.

Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: Third 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Kristen Welker

Donald Trump on Health Care : Oct 22, 2020
Use military to distribute 100 million vials of vaccine

Q [to BIDEN]: How would you lead the country out of the coronavirus crisis?

BIDEN: If we just wore these masks, we can save a 100,000 lives. The president has no comprehensive plan. I will make sure we have a plan.

Q: [to TRUMP]: You said a vaccine will be coming within weeks. Is that a guarantee?

TRUMP: No, it's not a guarantee, but it will be by the end of the year.

Q: Your own officials say, "It could take well into 2021 at the earliest for enough Americans to get vaccinated." Is your timeline realistic?

TRUMP: No, I think my timeline is going to be more accurate. I don't know that they're counting on the military the way I do, but we have our generals lined up [for distribution] logistics. As soon as we have the vaccine and we expect to have a 100 million vials.

BIDEN: This is the same fellow who told you, "Don't worry, we're going to end this by the summer." We're about to go into a dark winter, and he has no clear plan.

Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: Third 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Kristen Welker

Donald Trump on Health Care : Oct 22, 2020
Need to re-open country during pandemic, to have a country

Q: The CDC has said young people can get sick with COVID-19 and can pass it.

TRUMP: 99.9% of young people recover. We have to recover. We can't close up our nation. We have to open our schools and we can't close up our nation, or you're not going to have a nation.

BIDEN: He says that we're learning to live with it. People are learning to die with it. And you say, "I take no responsibility."

TRUMP: I take full responsibility. It's not my fault that it came here. It's China's fault. They kept it from going into the rest of China for the most part, but they didn't keep it from coming out to the world, including Europe and ourselves. But when I closed, he said, "This is a terrible thing, you're xenophobic." I think [Biden] called me racist even, because I was closing it to China. Now he says I should have closed it earlier.

Q: What do you say to Americans who are fearful that the cost of shutdowns?

BIDEN: What I would say is, I'm going to shut down the virus, not the country.

Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: Third 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Kristen Welker

Joe Biden on Health Care : Oct 22, 2020
A dark winter pandemic: People are learning to die with it

Q: The CDC has said young people can get sick with COVID-19 and can pass it.

TRUMP: 99.9% of young people recover. We have to recover. We can't close up our nation. We have to open our schools and we can't close up our nation, or you're not going to have a nation.

BIDEN: We're about to go into a dark winter, and he has no clear plan. He says that we're learning to live with it. People are learning to die with it. You folks home will have an empty chair at the kitchen table this morning. That man or wife going to bed tonight and reaching over to try to touch, there out of habit, where their wife or husband was, is gone. Learning to live with it. Come on. We're dying with it, because he's never said. See, you said, "It's dangerous." When's the last time? Is it really dangerous still? Are we dangerous. You tell the people it's dangerous now. What should they do about the danger? And you say, "I take no responsibility."

Click for Joe Biden on other issues. Source: Third 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Kristen Welker

Joe Biden on Budget & Economy : Oct 15, 2020
It's a K-shape recovery; only works for the top

BIDEN: When you allow people to get back in the game and have a job, everything moves. Right now, you got the opposite. Last year during this pandemic, the wealthiest billionaires in the nation, made another $700 billion. He talks about a V-shape recovery. It's a K shape recovery. If you're on the top, you're going to do very well. If you're in the middle or the bottom, your income is coming down. You're not getting a raise.

TRUMP: We had the greatest economy in the history of our country last year, including the state of Florida. In Pennsylvania, in North Carolina, in Ohio, every place. We had the greatest economy we ever had. We had to close it down, we saved two million lives. We're opening it up. We have a V-shape and it's coming back. It's coming back very fast.

Click for Joe Biden on other issues. Source: Second 2020 Presidential Debate/ABC Town Hall Philadelphia

Joe Biden on Health Care : Oct 15, 2020
Depending on vaccine, think about making it mandatory

Q: Will you mandate the coronavirus vaccine?

BIDEN: It depends on the state of the nature of the vaccine when it comes out, and how it's being distributed. But I would think that we should be talking about, depending on the continuation of the spread of the virus, we should be thinking about making it mandatory.

Q [to TRUMP]: You have been having rallies despite being exposed?

TRUMP: As President, I have to be out there. I can't be in a basement. I want to see everybody. And I also say to people all the time, it's risky doing it. [But the White House tests everyone regularly].

BIDEN: Before I came up here, I took another test. I've been taking them every day. If I had not passed that test, I didn't want to come here and expose anybody. And I just think it's just decency, to be able to determine whether or not you're clear. I'm less concerned about me, than the people working in the Secret Service and the camera staff.

Click for Joe Biden on other issues. Source: Second 2020 Presidential Debate/ABC Town Hall Philadelphia

Joe Biden on Health Care : Oct 15, 2020
I wanted to keep people in China in early 2020 pandemic

Q: When this country first became aware of COVID-19, what would you8 have done in terms of actual policy?

BIDEN: I suggested that we should be seeking access to the source of the problem. Trump never pushed that.

Q [to TRUMP]: Why did you only put in place a travel ban from China?

TRUMP: I put it in very early. Joe Biden was two months behind me, and he called me xenophobic and racist.

BIDEN: All the way back in the beginning of February, I argued that we should be keeping people in China. There were 44 people on the ground [in China]. All those 44 people came home [as US citizens despite the ban on non-citizens]. In addition to that, I pointed out that I thought in February, I did a piece for USA Today saying, "This is a serious problem." Trump denied it. He said it wasn't. He missed enormous opportunities and kept saying things that weren't true. "It's going to go away by Easter"; "When the summer comes, it's all going to go away like a miracle." He's still saying those things.

Click for Joe Biden on other issues. Source: Second 2020 Presidential Debate/ABC Town Hall Philadelphia

Donald Trump on Immigration : Oct 15, 2020
Cut immigration to protect Americans from infected Mexicans

Because of the pandemic, much changed on the immigration front. Mexico is heavily infected, as you know. And we've made it very, very difficult to come in because of the pandemic, and other reasons, and crime. But we have a very strong border right now, and we have to keep it that way. But we want people to come into our country, but they have to come in through a merit system, and they have to come in legally. What happened is because of the pandemic, we have to be extra cautious. Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: Second 2020 Presidential Debate/NBC Town Hall Miami

Kamala Harris on Abortion : Oct 7, 2020
A woman has the right to choose

HARRIS: There's the issue of choice and I will always fight for a woman's right to make a decision about her own body. It should be her decision and not Donald Trump's. Let's look at what else is before the court. It's the Affordable Care Act literally in the midst of a public health pandemic when 7 million people probably have what will be in the future considered a preexisting condition because you contracted the virus. Donald Trump is in court right now trying to get rid of the Affordable Care Act.

PENCE: I couldn't be more proud to serve as vice president to a president who stands without apology for the sanctity of human life. I'm pro-life. I don't apologize for it, & this is another one of those cases where there's such a dramatic contrast. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris support taxpayer funding of abortion all the way up to the moment of birth. Late term abortion. They want to increase funding to Planned Parenthood of America.

Click for Kamala Harris on other issues. Source: 2020 Vice-Presidential Debate in Utah

Kamala Harris on Foreign Policy : Oct 7, 2020
Trump's China policy has cost American jobs & lives

HARRIS: The Trump administration's approach to China has resulted in the loss of American lives, American jobs. There is a weird obsession that President Trump has with getting rid of whatever accomplishment was achieved by President Obama and Vice President Biden. They created the office responsible for monitoring pandemics. They got rid of it. There was a team of disease experts that President Obama and Vice President Biden dispatched to China to monitor what might happen. They pulled them out.

PENCE: China is to blame for the coronavirus. President Trump stood up to China that had been taking advantage of America for decades in the wake of Joe Biden's cheerleading for China. President Trump made that decision before the end of January to suspend all travel from China. The American people deserve to know Joe Biden opposed President Trump's decision to suspend all travel from China.

Click for Kamala Harris on other issues. Source: 2020 Vice-Presidential Debate in Utah

Mike Pence on Health Care : Oct 7, 2020
We're producing millions of vaccines; ready by end of year

HARRIS: On January 28th, the vice president and the president were informed about the nature of this pandemic. They were informed that it's lethal in consequence, that it is airborne, that it will affect young people, and that it would be contracted because it is airborne. Can you imagine if you knew on January 28th, as opposed to March 13th, what they knew, what you might've done to prepare? They knew, and they covered it up. The president said it was a hoax.

PENCE: Under President Trump's leadership, Operation Warp Speed, we believe we'll have literally tens of millions of doses of a vaccine before the end of this year. The reality is, when you look at the Biden plan, it reads an awful lot like what our task force has been doing every step of the way. I think the American people know that this is a president who has put the health of America first.

Click for Mike Pence on other issues. Source: 2020 Vice-Presidential Debate in Utah

Joe Biden on Health Care : Sep 17, 2020
Add public option to ACA, healthcare is a right

Q: What is your plan to make healthcare affordable, so Americans don't need to drain their savings when care is necessary.

BIDEN: First of all, in the middle of this pandemic, what is the President doing? He's in Federal Court--Federal Court trying to do away with the Affordable Care Act. What I would do is reinstate the Affordable Care Act and add a public option. So would go without being able to be covered for what they need. Healthcare is an absolute right.

Click for Joe Biden on other issues. Source: CNN Town Hall 2020 drive-in with Anderson Cooper

Donald Trump on Budget & Economy : Sep 15, 2020
When stocks go up, everyone does well, not just the wealthy

Q: You talk about a super V [recovery from the pandemic recession]. A lot of people say it's more like a K-shaped recovery. The people at the top who have a lot of stocks are doing pretty well.

TRUMP: They're doing well.

Q: But we've only gotten half the jobs back.

TRUMP: Stocks are owned by everybody. They talk about the stock market is so good, that's 401(k)s. As long as they didn't sell when the market went down, if people held onto their stocks, people that aren't wealthy have done well because of the stock market. I've set records on the stock market even during the pandemic. And that doesn't happen by accident. If Joe Biden ever got this position--and that's a headwind on the stock market-- our stock market would be much higher if it weren't for that [pandemic]. If Joe Biden ever got in, I think you'd have a depression the likes of which we have never seen in this country.

Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: ABC This Week: special edition 2020 Town Hall interview

Donald Trump on Health Care : Sep 15, 2020
COVID-19 is going to disappear; I still say it

Q: You said early in the pandemic hat coronavirus was going to disappear.

TRUMP: It is going to disappear. It's going to disappear, I still say it.

Q: But not if we don't take action, correct?

TRUMP: No, I still say it. It's going to disappear. I want to see people, and you want to see people. I want to see football games. I'm pushing very hard for Big Ten, I want to see Big Ten open. Let them play sports.

Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: ABC This Week: special edition 2020 Town Hall interview

Donald Trump on Health Care : Sep 14, 2020
Set aside pandemic response plans prepared by Bush and Obama

[In 2005,] Pres. George W. Bush's administration created a 381-page plan that would outline the proper responses to possible virus outbreaks. Sections of this plan were implemented by Pres. Obama in 2014 when an Ebola patient was discovered in the U.S.

The plan was passed on to Donald Trump's incoming administration. The office was shut down in 2018 by Pres. Donald Trump, who disbanded the pandemic response team.

On Jan. 28, 2020, Carter Mecher, Senior Medical Advisor for the Department of Veterans Affairs, warned others [about coronavirus] that, "Any way you cut it, this is going to be bad." Mecher was one of the medical advisers who, in 2006, had conceived for George W. Bush a pandemic response strategy of "social distancing." He started to push for immediate social distancing. Ignoring that and other scientists' requests or emphasis on testing, Trump and his administration decided the best strategy would be to keep infected people in China.

Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: Business Insider, YouTube video "Totally Under Control"

Donald Trump on Health Care : Aug 28, 2020
We'll have a safe & effective coronavirus vaccine this year

We are marshalling America's scientific genius to produce a vaccine in RECORD TIME. Under Operation Warp Speed, we have three different vaccines in the final stage of trials right now, years ahead of what has been achieved before. We are producing them in advance, so that hundreds of millions of doses will be quickly available. We will have a safe and effective vaccine this year, and together we will crush the virus. Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: Speech at 2020 Republican National Convention

Mike Pence on Health Care : Aug 26, 2020
A nation of miracles: coronavirus vaccine by end of year

As we speak we're developing a growing number of treatments, including convalescent plasma that are saving lives all across the country. Last week, Joe Biden said "no miracle is coming." What Joe doesn't seem to understand is that America is a nation of miracles and we're on track to have the world's first safe, effective coronavirus vaccine by the end of this year. After all the sacrifice in this year like no other -- all the hardship-- we are finding our way forward again. Click for Mike Pence on other issues. Source: Speech at 2020 Republican National Convention

Kamala Harris on Health Care : Aug 23, 2020
COVID: track racial disparities; get vaccines to neediest

Q: Would you be prepared to shut this country down again [for the coronavirus pandemic]?

BIDEN: I will be prepared to do whatever it takes to save lives because we cannot get the country moving until we control the virus. That is the fundamental flaw of this administration's thinking to begin with. In order to keep the country running and moving and the economy growing, and people employed, you have to fix the virus, you have to deal with the virus. I would shut it down, I would listen to the scientists.

HARRIS: There are different needs based on different communities and that's why we talk about the need to track actually racial disparities -- disparities based on region, geographic region and do that now. So that when we have a vaccine, those communities that are most in need, will get them. That policy and that approach will be guided by the public health experts, unlike what we have seen now which are the politics guiding a public health crisis.

Click for Kamala Harris on other issues. Source: ABC This Week 2020 National Convention David Muir Q&A

Joe Biden on Free Trade : Aug 21, 2020
Won't be at the mercy of other countries to protect our own

Biden has been trying to fortify his message on China, and suggested he would pursue the kind of "decoupling" being pushed by leading Republicans. "We'll make the medical supplies and protective equipment that our country needs," he said, while discussing the pandemic. "We'll make them here in America so we will never again be at the mercy of China or other foreign countries in order to protect our own people." Click for Joe Biden on other issues. Source: D.Brennan/Newsweek on 2020 Democratic National Convention

Joe Biden on Principles & Values : Aug 21, 2020
I believe America ready to face difficult crises

[Excerpts of DNC speech]: "History has delivered us to one of the most difficult moments America has ever faced," he said. "The worst pandemic in over 100 years. The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. The most compelling call for racial justice since the 60s. And the undeniable realities and accelerating threats of climate change. So, the question for us is simple: are we ready? I believe we are." Click for Joe Biden on other issues. Source: D.Strauss/The Guardian on 2020 Dem. National Convention

Joe Biden on Principles & Values : Aug 20, 2020
Four historic crises, all at the same time: a perfect storm

History has delivered us to one of the most difficult moments America has ever faced. Four historic crises. All at the same time. A perfect storm. The worst pandemic in over 100 years. The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. The most compelling call for racial justice since the '60s. And the undeniable realities and accelerating threats of climate change. So, the question for us is simple: Are we ready? I believe we are. We must be.

I will be a Democratic candidate, I will be an American president. I will work as hard for those who didn't support me as I will for those who did. That's the job of a president. To represent all of us, not just our base or our party. This is not a partisan moment. This must be an American moment. America isn't just a collection of clashing interests of red states or blue states. We're so much bigger than that. We're so much better than that.

Click for Joe Biden on other issues. Source: Acceptance speech at 2020 Democratic National Convention

Kamala Harris on Civil Rights : Aug 19, 2020
There is no vaccine for racism--we've got to do the work

As Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic Party's vice presidential nomination she argued that "structural racism" had compounded the coronavirus's consequences for communities of color across America. "This virus has no eyes, and yet it knows exactly how we see each other--and how we treat each other," the California senator said. "And let's be clear--there is no vaccine for racism. We've gotta do the work." Click for Kamala Harris on other issues. Source: Politico.com on 2020 Democratic National Convention

Donald Trump on Government Reform : Aug 13, 2020
Against funding post office due to mail-in ballots

Trump frankly acknowledged that he's starving the U.S. Postal Service of money in order to make it harder to process an expected surge of mail-in ballots. In an interview on Fox Business, Trump noted two funding provisions that Democrats are seeking in a relief package. Without the additional money, he said, the Postal Service won't have the resources to handle a flood of ballots from voters who are seeking to avoid polling places during the coronavirus pandemic.

[In response], "Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said the U.S. Postal Service is suspending operational changes, like removing mail processing equipment and collection boxes, until after the November election," the Wall Street Journal reports. From a statement: "To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded."

Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: A.P. and Wall Street Journal on 2020 Trump Administration

Donald Trump on Government Reform : Aug 13, 2020
Against funding post office due to mail-in ballots

Trump frankly acknowledged that he's starving the Postal Service of money in order to make it harder to process an expected surge of mail-in ballots. Trump noted two funding provisions that Democrats are seeking in a relief package. Without the additional money, he said, the Postal Service won't have the resources to handle a flood of ballots from voters who are seeking to avoid polling places during the coronavirus pandemic. (Aug. 13 AP & WSJ)

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said the Postal Service is suspending operational changes, like removing mail processing equipment and collection boxes, until after the November election. The agency won't change retail hours at post offices across the country or close any mail-sorting facilities. Overtime hours will continue to be approved as needed to process mail.

From a statement: "To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded." (Aug. 18, PoliticalWire)

Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: A.P. and PoliticalWire.com on impeaching Trump

Donald Trump on Education : Jul 19, 2020
We're not going to fund schools if they don't open

Schools have to open [despite the coronavirus pandemic]. Young people have to go to school, and there's problems when you don't go to school, too. And there's going to be a funding problem because we're not going to fund--when they don't open their schools. We're not going to fund them. We're not going to give them money if they're not going to school. If they don't open. Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: Fox News Sunday interview of 2020 presidential hopefuls

Donald Trump on Health Care : Jul 14, 2020
OpEd:COVID non-response because no immediate personal effect

If he'd simply had somebody take the pandemic preparedness manual down from the shelf where it was put after the Obama administration gave it to him. If he'd alerted the appropriate agencies at the first evidence the virus was highly contagious. If he'd invoked the Defense Protection Act of 1950 to being production of PPE, ventilators, and other necessary equipment to prepare the country. If he'd allowed medical and scientific experts to give press conferences during which facts were presented clear and honestly.

Most of those paths would have required no effort on his part. All he would have had to do was make a couple of phone calls, give a speech or two, then delegate everything else.

Why did it take so long for Donald to act? In part, because like my grandfather, he has no imagination. The pandemic didn't have to immediately do with him, and managing the crisis in every moment doesn't help him promote his preferred narrative that no one has ever done a better job than he has.

Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: Too Much and Never Enough, by Mary Trump, p.209

Donald Trump on Health Care : Jul 14, 2020
OpEd: COVID response was to minimize negativity at all costs

On his watch, "Nobody could have predicted" a pandemic that his own Department of Health and Human Services was running simulations for just a few months before COVID-19 struck in Washington State. Why does he do this? Fear.

Donald didn't drag his feet in December 2019, in January, in February, in March because of his narcissism; he did it because of his fear of appearing weak or failing to project the message that everything was "great", "beautiful", and "perfect." The irony is that his failure to face the truth has inevitability led to massive failure anyway. In this case, the lives of potentially hundreds of thousands of people will be lost, and the economy of the richest country in history may be destroyed. Donald will acknowledge none of this, moving the goal posts to hide the evidence and convincing himself in the process that he's done a better job than anybody else could have if only a few hundred thousand die instead of two million.

Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: Too Much and Never Enough, by Mary Trump, p.207-8

Donald Trump on Principles & Values : Jul 14, 2020
OpEd: in Trump family, fear is seen as weakness

On November 9, 2016, my despair was triggered in part by the certainty that Donald's cruelty and incompetence would get people killed. I couldn't have seen that a global pandemic would present itself, allowing him to display his grotesque indifference to the lives of other people.

Donald's initial response to COVID-19 underscores his need to minimize negativity at all cost. Fear--the equivalent of weakness in our family--is as unacceptable to him now as it was when he was three years old. When Donald is in the most trouble, superlatives are no longer enough; both the situation and the reactions to it must be unique, even if absurd or nonsensical. On his watch, "Nobody could have predicted" a pandemic that his own Department of Health and Human Services was running simulations for just a few months before COVID-19 struck in Washington State. Why does he do this? Fear.

Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: Too Much and Never Enough, by Mary Trump, p.207-8

Kanye West on Health Care : Jul 8, 2020
Vaccines are the mark of the beast

On vaccines: "It's so many of our children that are being vaccinated and paralyzed. So when they say the way we're going to fix Covid is with a vaccine, I'm extremely cautious. That's the mark of the beast. They want to put chips inside of us, they want to do all kinds of things, to make it where we can't cross the gates of heaven. I'm sorry when I say they, the humans that have the Devil inside them. And the sad thing is that we all won't make it to heaven." Click for Kanye West on other issues. Source: Forbes Magazine on 2020 presidential hopefuls

Donald Trump on Free Trade : May 6, 2020
Virus proves emphasis on American production

Trump, who has long pushed to boost domestic manufacturing as part of his "America First" ethos, says the coronavirus pandemic proves his point. "Look, there's nothing good about what happened with the plague -- especially the death -- but the one thing is, it said, 'Trump was right,'" Trump said. "These stupid supply chains that are all over the world ... one little piece of the world goes bad, and the whole thing is messed up." Trump did allude to taxes or tariffs on production done overseas. Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: National Public Radio on Trump Administration

Donald Trump on Health Care : May 5, 2020
Administration didn't participate in global vaccine summit

World leaders held an online summit aimed at galvanizing global efforts to develop a coronavirus vaccine. At the end of the three-hour meeting, billions of dollars had been pledged to fund the efforts. Notably absent from the meeting were any officials from the Trump administration in the U.S., the country with the highest confirmed death toll from the new disease by far. Russia also declined to join the meeting. Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: CBS News on Trump Administration

Asa Hutchinson on Health Care : May 5, 2020
Kept state "open for business" during pandemic

We have all kept our states "open for business" and delivered food and other goods Americans need during this pandemic. Like other states, we did have to close pieces of our economies temporarily. To meet this challenge, our states moved quickly to cut red tape and allow private employers to pivot to new business models.

As we move into the next phase of managing the pandemic and consider President Trump's guidelines for "Opening Up America Again," we are applying our propensity for planning to reopen the segments of our economies that temporarily closed. Each of us has identified triggers for when regions of our states and sectors of our economies should reopen, based on metrics tailored to our unique circumstances. We are sharing expertise and best practices on how to safely reopen restaurants, churches, gyms and other businesses while continuing to slow the spread of infection.

Click for Asa Hutchinson on other issues. Source: WaPo OpEd by 5 governors for 2020 Missouri governor race

Asa Hutchinson on Health Care : May 5, 2020
Kept state "open for business" during pandemic

Click for Asa Hutchinson on other issues. Source: WaPo OpEd by 5 governors for 2022 Arkansas governor race

Bernie Sanders on Health Care : Apr 8, 2020
Push for "Medicare for All" in context of coronavirus

Sanders suspended his presidential bid. acknowledging that he no longer had a viable path to the nomination and he vowed to push issues he had campaigned on, including committing to push for "Medicare for All" as the coronavirus leads to massive layoffs.

Sanders said that the ongoing coronavirus pandemic had hastened his decision to suspend his campaign, saying that continuing his presidential bid would only distract from efforts to combat the outbreak and damage it has done to the U.S. economy.

Sanders vowed to push forward with Medicare for All, saying the coronavirus is leading "millions" of laid off Americans to lose their health insurance. "In terms of health care, this current, horrific crisis that we are now in has exposed for all to see how absurd our current employer-based health insurance system is," he said. "We have always believed that health care must be considered as a human right, not an employee benefit, and we are right."

Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues. Source: The Hill on cancellation of 12th Democratic primary debate

Donald Trump on Health Care : Apr 2, 2020
Ended pandemic early-warning program in Wuhan, China

Two months before the novel coronavirus is thought to have begun in Wuhan, China, the Trump administration ended a $200-million pandemic early-warning program. The initiative, called PREDICT, trained and supported staff in 60 foreign laboratories-- including the Wuhan lab that identified COVID-19. The Wuhan lab received USAID funding for equipment, and PREDICT coordinators connected the scientists there with researchers in other countries in order to synchronize tracking of novel viruses. Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: The Los Angeles Times on Trump Administration

Donald Trump on Health Care : Mar 31, 2020
Coronavirus: Won't invoke oft-used Defense Production Act

The Defense Production Act has been invoked hundreds of times by Pres. Trump and his administration to ensure the procurement of vital equipment. Yet as governors plead with the president to use the law to force the production of ventilators and other medical equipment to combat the coronavirus pandemic, he has treated it like a "break the glass" last resort, to be invoked only when all else fails. "You know, we're a country not based on nationalizing our business," Trump said. "Call a person over in Venezuela, ask them how did nationalization of their businesses work out? Not too well."

For the coronavirus pandemic, Trump has elected to rely on the volunteerism of the private sector to obtain additional personal protective equipment, virus test kits and hospital equipment. He and his advisers have argued that using the act has been unnecessary, given the outpouring of support from large and small American companies that are retooling their factories to make masks, ventilators and gloves.

Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: N. Y. Times 2020 analysis of impeaching Trump

Donald Trump on Technology : Mar 31, 2020
$2 trillion for infrastructure as next response to pandemic

President Trump called for a $2 trillion infrastructure bill to serve as 'Phase 4' of the federal government's coronavirus response efforts. 'With interest rates for the United States being at ZERO, this is the time do our decades long awaited Infrastructure Bill.'

'It should be VERY BIG & BOLD, Two Trillion Dollars, and be focused solely on jobs and rebuilding the once great infrastructure of our Country! Phase 4.'

Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: Fox News Sunday analysis of Trump Administration

Joe Biden on Government Reform : Mar 29, 2020
Not sure on all-mail voting, but start planning for it

Q: Do you think we have to conduct an all-mail ballot election come the fall [due to the pandemic]?

BIDEN: We may get there. I don't want to go that far ahead. But that is possible. I think we should be looking to all-mail ballots across the board to begin with because it's an easier way for people to vote. But whether or not that's required across the board in all 50 states and territories, I'm not sure yet. I think we can make that. But we should be beginning to plan that in each of our states.

Click for Joe Biden on other issues. Source: Meet the Press 2020 Presidential race interview

Joe Biden on Budget & Economy : Mar 27, 2020
Under 2009 Recovery Act, we had one place to call

I hope what they do is what we did in another circumstance when we had a $900 billion Recovery Act. We had one place in the White House, in the vice president's office. I put together an entire team, any governor, mayor, anyone could contact immediately, know where it's going, know what the money would be, know how it would get there, etc. There has to be management here. That's really critical. It should begin right now [during the pandemic]. Click for Joe Biden on other issues. Source: CNN S.C. Town Hall amid 2020 primaries

Joe Biden on Homeland Security : Mar 27, 2020
Coronavirus: Use Defense Production Act for needs

All the way back in January, the Intelligence Community indicated that this pandemic was on the horizon. The only thing you really make a mistake is going too slow. Going too fast, meaning providing the kind of help that is needed is not a problem. What happens if we make too many? That's a little like asking in World War I, we may make too many landing craft. We're going to have some leftovers. Get out now what can be gotten out--now, now, now. And yesterday, and last month, and last week.

We should be using the Defense Production Act to do whatever we need to do, whether it's the rapidity with which testing has to take place that you get a result, to actually getting the tests done, to investing in whether or not you have protective gear for our first responder

Click for Joe Biden on other issues. Source: CNN S.C. Town Hall amid 2020 primaries

Joe Biden on Principles & Values : Mar 27, 2020
Coronavirus: Trump should do his job, not personalize it

Q: You can't see your grandkids due to the pandemic, can you?

BIDEN: No. But every single day, I speak to all five of my grandkids either on my phone, or I text with them. Two of them, Beau's children, live a mile as a crow flies from our home. We sit on our back porch and they sit out on the lawn with two chairs there, and we talk about being home from school, and who's driving whom crazy, and so on and so forth, but at least I get to see them.

Q: What should President Trump do differently regarding coronavirus?

When he talks to governors, he says, be careful when you talk to that governor, they're not very good, or calls another governor a snake. This is not personal. It has nothing to do with you, Donald Trump, nothing to do with you. Do your job. Stop personalizing everything. One of the governors I spoke to, when they called and asked for help in terms of masks and other things, the president allegedly told her that, no, you take care of yourself. That's not my responsibility.

Click for Joe Biden on other issues. Source: CNN S.C. Town Hall amid 2020 primaries

Donald Trump on Health Care : Mar 26, 2020
Declined pandemic playbook prepared under Obama

The Trump administration declined to use a nearly 70-page pandemic preparedness playbook created by the National Security Council's health unit during the Obama administration in favor of other preparation materials. The playbook, finalized in 2017 both by top political appointees and career national security officials in the wake of the 2014-15 Ebola crisis, sought to lay the groundwork for a coordinated response to avoid confusion and conflicting messages from federal officials.

A factor limiting the Trump administration's ability to implement the pandemic playbook was that the document never underwent interagency vetting, despite former homeland security adviser Tom Bossert expressing interest in making it a permanent fixture when it came to pandemics. Bossert, who left the administration in 2018, told Politico that he "engaged actively with my outgoing counterpart and took seriously their transition materials and recommendations on pandemic preparedness."

Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: Business Insider/Politico analysis of coronavirus policy

Donald Trump on Energy & Oil : Mar 23, 2020
Pursues "energy dominance" agenda, even during pandemic

During the partial government shutdown that started in December 2018 and became the longest in US history, the fossil fuel-friendly Trump administration plowed ahead with its "energy dominance" agenda. As about 800,000 federal workers went without paychecks, the Interior Department worked to boost oil & gas development in the Alaskan Arctic, processed fossil fuel drilling applications & permits, and even brought back dozens of furloughed employees to ensure offshore drilling activities continued.

Amid a global pandemic Trump and his team have prioritized fossil fuel production. The Interior Department is moving forward with fossil fuel lease sales, as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management offered up 78 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico despite environmental groups' calls to halt the sales. A spokesman for the bureau said the event was "live-streamed with only a handful of BOEM workers," with bids submitted either by mail or at the bureau's New Orleans office.

Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: Mother Jones on Trump Administration

Donald Trump on Health Care : Mar 21, 2020
AdWatch: Trump called coronavirus "their hoax" & "fake news"

[TV ad, "Failed to Act"]

Voiceover: The warnings were there

Headline: Before Virus Outbreak, a Cascade of Warnings Went Unheeded

Voice: Millions of Americans at risk

Text: 10 million Americans were expected to become ill

Voice: But Donald Trump failed to act

Video: Donald Trump smiling for interview

Text: Jan.22: 6 cases

Reporter: "Are you worried about a pandemic at this point?"

Trump: "No, not at all; we have it under control; it's gonna be just fine."

CNN headline 2/25: Top officials are warning that the spread of the coronavirus in the US appears "inevitable."

Text: Feb.26: 257 cases

Reporter: "Do you agree with that assessment?"

Trump: "Well I don't think it's 'inevitable.'"

Politico headline 2/28: On coronavirus fears: President Trump blaming the "fake news"

Trump: "This is their new hoax."

Text: Mar.3: 359 cases; more than 20 deaths

[Note: Trump sued over the use of the word "hoax," noting that it referred to the Democratic response, not the virus]

Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: American Bridge AdWatch on 2020 presidential hopefuls

Donald Trump on Health Care : Mar 17, 2020
Cut pandemic response team in 2018, denied knowing about it

A video has emerged of Trump talking about cutting the US pandemic response team in 2018. Trump said that "some of the people we've cut they haven't been used for many, many years and if we ever need them we can get them very quickly and rather than spending the money".

"I'm a businessperson, I don't like having thousands of people around when you don't need them," he added. In a press conference he denied knowing anything about the cuts in 2018 when questioned.

Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: The Independent (UK) on 2020 Presidential hopefuls

Donald Trump on Health Care : Mar 16, 2020
Unprepared to engage in pandemic transition exercise

Seven days before Donald Trump took office, his aides faced a major test: the rapid, global spread of a dangerous virus. The gathering was held to satisfy a requirement that the outgoing administration "prepare and host interagency emergency preparedness and response exercises." Obama aides say the Trump administration's fumbling of the coronavirus outbreak is partly rooted in how unprepared--and in some cases unwilling--it was to engage in transition exercises at all in late 2016 and early 2017. Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: Politico blog on Trump Administration

Joe Biden on Education : Mar 15, 2020
Provide school lunch even if schools closed for pandemic

[On the coronavirus pandemic]: What do we do to make sure that the economic impact is rendered harmless? We make sure every paycheck is met, that we keep people in their homes, they don't miss their mortgage or rent payments, making sure that they're going to be able to take care of education, and by the way, the education systems are closing down right now, and so there's so many things we have to do.

We have to have the best science in the world telling us what can stay open and what need be closed. Like I said earlier, the idea that we are closing schools, which I understand, but not being able to provide lunches for people who in fact need the school lunch program to get by.

I can understand the decision made to close places where a hundred or 50 people or more gather, but how do you deal with the things that necessarily have to be kept going and what's the way to do that? There should be a national standard for that. It should be coming out of the situation room right now.

Click for Joe Biden on other issues. Source: 11th Democratic primary debate (Biden-Sanders one-on-one)

Bernie Sanders on Health Care : Mar 15, 2020
Cover all costs for coronavirus testing and treatment

Q: What's the most important thing you would do on the coronavirus pandemic?

Bernie Sanders: Well, first thing we have got to do, is to shut this president up right now, because he is undermining the doctors and the scientists who are trying to help the American people. It is unacceptable for him to be blabbering with unfactual information which is confusing the general public. Second of all, make sure that every person in this country finally understands that when they get sick with the coronavirus that all payments will be made, that they don't have to worry about coming up with money for testing. They don't have to worry about coming up with money for treatment. We have to make sure that our hospitals have the ventilators that they need, have the IC units that they need. Right now, we have a lack of medical personnel. Bottom line from an economic point of view, say to the American people, if you lose your job, you will be made whole. You're not going to lose income.

Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues. Source: 11th Democratic primary debate (Biden-Sanders one-on-one)

Joe Biden on Health Care : Mar 15, 2020
We've handled pandemics before, present system not ready

The present system cannot handle the surge that is likely to come, so we should already be sitting down and planning where we're going to put these temporary hospitals. We've been through this before with dealing with the viruses that the H1N1 as well as what happened in Africa. We provided these hospitals dealing with these great pandemics, and were able to do it quickly, but we also have to provide the equipment to protect the first responders, and that's not being done either.

With all due respect to Medicare for all, you have a single-payer system in Italy. It doesn't work there. It has nothing to do with Medicare for all. That would not solve the problem at all. We can take care of that right now by making sure that no one has to pay for treatment, period, because of the crisis. No one has to pay for whatever drugs are needed, period. No one has to pay for hospitalization. period. That is a national emergency, and that's how it's handled.

Click for Joe Biden on other issues. Source: 11th Democratic primary debate (Biden-Sanders one-on-one)

Bernie Sanders on Health Care : Mar 15, 2020
We don't have a healthcare system; only thousands of plans

Let's be honest and understand that this coronavirus pandemic exposes the incredible weakness and dysfunctionality of our current healthcare system. I certainly would do this as president. You don't worry, people of America, about the cost of prescription drugs. Do not worry about the cost of the healthcare that you're going to get, because we are a civilized democratic society. Everybody, rich and poor, middle-class, will get the care they need. The drug companies will not rip us off.

One of the reasons that we are unprepared and have been unprepared is we don't have a system. We got thousands of private insurance plans. That is not a system that is prepared to provide healthcare to all people. In a good year without the epidemic, we're losing up to 60,000 people who die every year because they don't get to a doctor on time. It's clearly this crisis is only making a bad situation worse.

Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues. Source: 11th Democratic primary debate (Biden-Sanders one-on-one)

Joe Biden on Health Care : Mar 15, 2020
Coronavirus national rally: care; testing; hospital capacity

[On the coronavirus pandemic], my heart goes out to those who have already lost someone, or those who are suffering from the virus, and this is bigger than any one of us. This calls for a national rallying to everybody move together. There are three pieces of this.

We have to take care of those who are exposed, or are likely to be exposed to the virus, and that means we have to get the testing kits up & ready. I'd take advantage of the test kits the World Health Organization have available. I would make sure that every state had at least 10 places where they had drive-through testing arrangements.
We have to deal with the economic fallout quickly, and that means making sure that people who lose their job, can't pay their mortgage, are able to pay it.
I would also at this point deal with the need to begin to plan for the need for additional hospital beds. We have that capacity with FEMA: they can set up 100-bed, 500-bed hospitals and tents quickly.

Click for Joe Biden on other issues. Source: 11th Democratic primary debate (Biden-Sanders one-on-one)

Joe Biden on Homeland Security : Mar 15, 2020
We used National Guard for Ebola; use for new pandemic too

I would call out the military. Now. They have the capacity to provide this surge help that hospitals need and that is needed across the nation. I would make sure that they did exactly what they're prepared to do. They did it in the Ebola crisis. They have the capacity to build 500-bed hospitals, and tents that are completely safe and secure, and provide the help to get it done to anybody, this overflow. So it is a national emergency. I would call out the military. Click for Joe Biden on other issues. Source: 11th Democratic primary debate (Biden-Sanders one-on-one)

Joe Biden on Health Care : Feb 25, 2020
Work with China, in China, on coronavirus

Q: What would you do about coronavirus?

BIDEN: What we did with Ebola--I was part of making sure that pandemic did not get to the United States, saved millions of lives. And what we did, we set up, I helped set up that office on pandemic diseases. We increased the budget of the CDC. We increased the NIH budget. And our president today--and he's wiped all that out. [With Ebola], we did it; we stopped it.

Q: So, more funding?

BIDEN: I would immediately restore the funding. [Trump] cut the funding for CDC. He tried to cut the funding for NIH. He cut the funding for the entire effort. And here's the deal. I would be on the phone with China and making it clear, we are going to need to be in your country; you have to be open; you have to be clear; we have to know what's going on; we have to be there with you, and insist on it and insist, insist, insist. I could get that done. No one up here has ever dealt internationally with any of these world leaders. I'm the only one that has.

Click for Joe Biden on other issues. Source: 10th Democratic Primary debate on eve of S.C. primary

Bernie Sanders on Health Care : Feb 6, 2020
More money into research for pandemics like coronavirus

Q: What about the coronavirus epidemic?

SANDERS: Well, for start, I would not do what Trump has done and cut funding for those federal agencies which deal with infectious crises. We would put more money into research to make sure that we are best prepared to what I fear may be happening more and more frequently. And we've got to go to the best experts that we can. But we need a global response to this global crisis.

Q: Is cutting off access with China, is that wise?

SANDERS: I don't think you want to cut off access. I think you want to put up protocols to do our best to make sure that we take a look at anybody who is coming into this country, I suspect. But I don't know you have to stop travel from China.

Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues. Source: CNN N. H. Town Hall on eve of 2020 N. H. primary

Donald Trump on Health Care : Jan 31, 2020
Cut budget, fired entire pandemic response chain of command

In the spring of 2018, the White House pushed to cut funding for Obama-era disease security programs. White House efforts included cutting the global disease-fighting operational budgets of the CDC, NSC, DHS, and HHS. The Trump administration fired the government's entire pandemic response chain of command, including the White House management infrastructure. The global health section of the CDC was so drastically cut that much of its staff was laid off.

[Prior to the Trump Administration], the Obama administration set up a permanent epidemic monitoring and command group inside the White House National Security Council (NSC) and another in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)--both of which followed the scientific and public health leads of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the diplomatic advice of the State Department.

Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: Foreign Policy magazine on Trump Administration

Marianne Williamson on Health Care : Jun 19, 2019
Vaccination should be a choice, like abortion choice

Marianne Williamson leans in to vaccine skepticism in NH: "To me, it's no different than the abortion debate. The US government doesn't tell any citizen, in my book, what they have to do with their body or their child."

[She added an additional tweet that] vaccine mandates are too "draconian" & "Orwellian" [but later rescinded those terms].

Click for Marianne Williamson on other issues. Source: Twitter posting in 2020 Democratic primary

Marianne Williamson on Health Care : Jun 19, 2019
I support vaccines, but I understand the skepticism

After a request for comment [about her Tweet that vaccine mandates were "draconian" & "Orwellian"], Williamson acknowledged making the remarks and said she misspoke.

"I understand that many vaccines are important and save lives," Williamson said. "I also understand some of the skepticism that abounds today about drugs which are rushed to market by Big Pharma. I am sorry that I made comments which sounded as though I question the validity of life-saving vaccines. That is not my feeling and I realize that I misspoke."

When asked about her stance on religious and personal belief exemptions for vaccinations, Williamson replied through a spokeswoman: "I support vaccines. Public safety must be carefully balanced with the right of individuals to make their own decisions."

Williamson has a history of skeptical comments about vaccinations. President Trump has previously proudly embraced the disproved theory that vaccines cause autism.

Click for Marianne Williamson on other issues. Source: Los Angeles Times on 2020 Democratic primary

Donald Trump on Health Care : Oct 9, 2016
Educate public on value of comprehensive vaccinations

Q: Public health officials warn that we need to take more steps to prevent international epidemics from viruses such as Zika. Meanwhile, measles is resurgent due to decreasing vaccination rates. How will your administration support vaccine science?

DONALD TRUMP: We should educate the public on the values of a comprehensive vaccination program. We have been successful with other public service programs and this seems to be of enough importance that we should put resources against this task.

JILL STEIN: Vaccines are a critical part of our public health system. We need universal health care as a right to ensure that everyone has access to critical vaccines. The best way to overcome resistance to vaccination is to acknowledge and address concerns and build trust with hesitant parents. We can do that by removing corporate influence from our regulatory agencies to eliminate apparent conflicts of interest.

Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: ScienceDebate.org: 20 questions for 2016 presidential race

Jill Stein on Health Care : Oct 9, 2016
Vaccines are a foundation to a strong public health system

Q: How will your administration support vaccine science?

STEIN: Vaccines are a critical part of our public health system. Vaccines prevent serious epidemics that would cause harm to many people and that is why they are a foundation to a strong public health system. Polio is an important example. So is H Flu--a bacteria that caused serious illness, including meningitis, in 20,000 children a year in the US, before development of the H flu vaccine. We need universal health care as a right to ensure that everyone has access to critical vaccines. The best way to overcome resistance to vaccination is to acknowledge and address concerns and build trust with hesitant parents. We can do that by removing corporate influence from our regulatory agencies to eliminate apparent conflicts of interest and show skeptics, in this case vaccine-resistant parents, that the motive behind vaccination is protecting their children's health, not increasing profits for pharmaceutical companies.

Click for Jill Stein on other issues. Source: ScienceDebate.org: 20 questions for 2016 presidential race

Jill Stein on Health Care : May 2, 2016
Require vaccines to protect other children

Q: Should the federal government require children to be vaccinated for preventable diseases?

Marc Allan Feldman: No, but require vaccination in order to attend public school
Gary Johnson and Donald Trump: No
John Kasich, Hillary Clinton and Ted Cruz: Yes

Jill Stein and Bernie Sanders: Yes, they are essential to protecting other children who are too young to be vaccinated Click for Jill Stein on other issues. Source: iSideWith analysis of Mandatory Vaccinations

Donald Trump on Health Care : Sep 22, 2015
Stockpile treatments against future pandemics & bioterrorism

A few of Trump's proposals in his 2000 book "The America We Deserve" did show he was both forward-looking and ideologically flexible. Among them was a project to develop and stockpile treatments in anticipation of future pandemics or the release of biological agents by terrorists. Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: Never Enough, by Michael D'Antonio, p.250

Donald Trump on Health Care : Sep 16, 2015
I'm for vaccines, but in smaller quantities to avoid autism

Q [to Carson]: Donald Trump has publicly and repeatedly linked autism to childhood vaccines. Your opinion?

CARSON: There have been numerous studies, and they have not demonstrated that there is any correlation between vaccinations and autism.

Q [to Trump]: As president, you would be in charge of the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health, both of which say you are wrong.

TRUMP: Autism has become an epidemic. It has gotten totally out of control. I am totally in favor of vaccines. But I want smaller doses over a longer period of time. You take this little baby, and you pump--I mean, it looks like it's meant for a horse, not for a child. Just the other day, a 2-year-old child went to have the vaccine, and got a fever; now is autistic. I'm in favor of vaccines, do them over a longer period of time, same amount. And I think you're going to see a big impact on autism.

CARSON: We are probably giving way too many in too short a period of time.

Click for Donald Trump on other issues. Source: 2015 Republican two-tiered primary debate on CNN

Bernie Sanders on Health Care : Sep 5, 2015
Vaccinations work; electing not to vaccinate is dangerous

Q: What does Bernie have to say about vaccines?

A: Bernie believes that vaccinations are safe and effective, and that electing not to vaccinate is dangerous and wrong: "I think obviously vaccinations work. Vaccination has worked for many, many years. I am sensitive to the fact that there are some families who disagree but the difficulty is if I have a kid who is suffering from an illness who is subjected to a kid who walks into a room without vaccines that could kill that child and that's wrong."

Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues. Source: 2016 grassroots campaign website FeelTheBern.org, "Issues"

Chris Christie on Health Care : Feb 2, 2015
Parents have some choice, but kids should be vaccinated

Amid an outbreak of measles, Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) both came under fire for saying it should be up to parents whether to vaccinate their children. Christie said "parents need to have some measure of choice" in deciding whether to vaccinate their children.

The New Jersey governor quickly clarified his position once the issue began grabbing national headlines in the U.S.: "To be clear: The Governor believes vaccines are an important public health protection and with a disease like measles there is no question kids should be vaccinated," Christie's office said in a statement sent to reporters. "At the same time different states require different degrees of vaccination, which is why he was calling for balance in which ones government should mandate."

Paul, however, doubled down on his view that the decision whether to vaccinate one's child is a matter of personal liberty: "The state doesn't own your children," Paul said. "Parents own the children."

Click for Chris Christie on other issues. Source: The Hill 2015 weblog on 2016 presidential hopefuls

Additional quotations related to Vaccinations issues can be found under Health Care. Click here for definitions & background information on Health Care.
*Candidates on Health Care:*
	*2024 Presidential primary contenders:* Gov.Doug Burgum (R-ND) Gov.Chris Christie (R-NJ) Gov.Ron DeSantis (R-FL) Larry Elder (R-CA) Rep.Will Hurd (R-FL) Gov.Nikki Haley (R-SC) Gov.Asa Hutchinson (R-AR) Perry Johnson (R-IL) Mayor Steve Laffey (R-RI) V.P.Mike Pence (R-IN) Rep.Dean Phillips (D-MN) Vivek Ramaswamy (R-) Sen.Tim Scott (R-SC) Secy.Corey Stapleton (R-MT) Mayor Francis Suarez (R-FL) Marianne Williamson (D-CA)	2024 Presidential Nominees: Pres.Joe Biden (Democratic incumbent) V.P.Kamala Harris (Democratic nominee) Chase Oliver (Libertarian Party) Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (Independent) Dr.Jill Stein (Green Party) Pres.Donald Trump (Republican nominee) Sen.JD Vance (Republican V.P. nominee) Gov.Tim Walz (Democratic V.P. nominee) Dr.Cornel West (People's Party) *2024 Presidential primary also-ran's or never-ran's:* Ryan Binkley (R-TX) Howie Hawkins (Green Party) Joe Maldonado (Libertarian Party) Sen.Bernie Sanders (D-VT) Kanye West (Birthday Party)	*Other Topics in the News:* Afghanistan/Taliban Black Lives Matter China Coronavirus Pandemic Energy Independence Gay Rights Global Warming Illegal Immigrants Israel/Palestine North Korea ObamaCare Second Amendment Supreme Court Ukraine/Russia
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Topics in the News: Vaccinations

Donald Trump on Health Care : Sep 10, 2024 We did a phenomenal job with the pandemic

Kamala Harris on Budget & Economy : Aug 21, 2024 FactCheck: no evidence for pandemic price-gouging

Kamala Harris on Families & Children : Aug 21, 2024 $6,000 child tax credit, expanded from $2,000 per child

Tim Walz on Health Care : Aug 6, 2024 2020 COVID restrictions resulted in lower death rates

Tim Walz on Health Care : Aug 6, 2024 Shuttered businesses and schools during COVID-19 pandemic

Joe Biden on Jobs : Mar 7, 2024 We created 15M jobs in 3 years: a record

Kamala Harris on Corporations : Mar 1, 2024 Pandemic aid: increase loans to small businesses

Chase Oliver on Budget & Economy : Jul 23, 2023 Veto any budget Congress sends that is not balanced

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Health Care : Jul 20, 2023 Would put Dr. Fauci on trial over COVID vaccines

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Technology : Jun 14, 2023 Many illnesses caused by vaccines & 5G wireless technology

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Health Care : Jun 9, 2023 Public option not right thing, unless part of single-payer

Joe Biden on Immigration : May 15, 2023 Let Title 42 expire: more humanitarian asylum policy

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Health Care : May 4, 2023 We will move from a sick care system to a wellness society

Larry Elder on Foreign Policy : Apr 30, 2023 Critical to strengthen America's role as the sole superpower

Asa Hutchinson on Families & Children : Apr 23, 2023 Don't want government interfering with parental decisions

Ron DeSantis on Health Care : Mar 7, 2023 Protect free speech and conscience rights of physicians

Ron DeSantis on Health Care : Mar 7, 2023 Shouldn't have to choose between job and unwanted shot

JD Vance on Health Care : Mar 2, 2023 COVID: Clearly Tony Fauci lied to the American people

Tim Walz on Health Care : Nov 3, 2022 COVID: followed the science, on public health measures

Joe Biden on Crime : Mar 1, 2022 DOJ to name a chief prosecutor for pandemic fraud

Joe Biden on Families & Children : Mar 1, 2022 Cut the cost of childcare in half

Joe Biden on Health Care : Mar 1, 2022 I've ordered more anti-virus pills than anyone in history

Ron DeSantis on Health Care : Feb 24, 2022 We reject the biomedical security state, defeated Fauci-ism

Doug Burgum on Social Security : Feb 16, 2022 Permanently eliminated state income tax on Social Security

Joe Biden on Government Reform : Jan 6, 2022 Former president wants to suppress vote & subvert elections

Asa Hutchinson on Health Care : Jan 2, 2022 I oppose any vaccine mandate; need greater public acceptance

Donald Trump on Health Care : Dec 24, 2021 Coronavirus vaccine works but some people aren't taking it

Joe Biden on Health Care : Nov 4, 2021 Get more people vaccinated, or prolong coronavirus pandemic

JD Vance on Health Care : Oct 3, 2021 COVID: against vax passports, mask mandates

Ron DeSantis on Abortion : Jul 1, 2021 Anti-choice on abortion; pro-choice on vaccinations

Ron DeSantis on Health Care : Jul 1, 2021 Supports $5000 fines for businesses demanding vaccine proof

Joe Biden on Budget & Economy : Apr 28, 2021 Trickle down economics has never worked

Tim Scott on Principles & Values : Apr 28, 2021 Americans asked for grace and God has supplied it

Tim Walz on Budget & Economy : Mar 28, 2021 Level playing field for working families, small businesses

Joe Biden on Health Care : Mar 6, 2021 $119 billion to build public confidence in vaccines

Joe Biden on Jobs : Mar 6, 2021 Extended unemployment benefits for COVID, to contractors too

Joe Biden on Foreign Policy : Feb 4, 2021 Meet advancing authoritarianism, including China & Russia

Joe Biden on Health Care : Feb 2, 2021 Re-open ACA enrollment; restore ObamaCare to pre-Trump level

Asa Hutchinson on Health Care : Jan 3, 2021 COVID: Getting vaccines out is public/private partnership

Donald Trump on Education : Oct 22, 2020 Open schools; most teachers are safe in pandemic

Donald Trump on Health Care : Oct 22, 2020 We reduced coronavirus from an expected 2.2 million deaths

Donald Trump on Health Care : Oct 22, 2020 Use military to distribute 100 million vials of vaccine

Donald Trump on Health Care : Oct 22, 2020 Need to re-open country during pandemic, to have a country

Joe Biden on Health Care : Oct 22, 2020 A dark winter pandemic: People are learning to die with it

Joe Biden on Budget & Economy : Oct 15, 2020 It's a K-shape recovery; only works for the top

Joe Biden on Health Care : Oct 15, 2020 Depending on vaccine, think about making it mandatory

Joe Biden on Health Care : Oct 15, 2020 I wanted to keep people in China in early 2020 pandemic

Donald Trump on Immigration : Oct 15, 2020 Cut immigration to protect Americans from infected Mexicans

Kamala Harris on Abortion : Oct 7, 2020 A woman has the right to choose

Kamala Harris on Foreign Policy : Oct 7, 2020 Trump's China policy has cost American jobs & lives

Mike Pence on Health Care : Oct 7, 2020 We're producing millions of vaccines; ready by end of year

Joe Biden on Health Care : Sep 17, 2020 Add public option to ACA, healthcare is a right

Donald Trump on Budget & Economy : Sep 15, 2020 When stocks go up, everyone does well, not just the wealthy

Donald Trump on Health Care : Sep 15, 2020 COVID-19 is going to disappear; I still say it

Donald Trump on Health Care : Sep 14, 2020 Set aside pandemic response plans prepared by Bush and Obama

Donald Trump on Health Care : Aug 28, 2020 We'll have a safe & effective coronavirus vaccine this year

Mike Pence on Health Care : Aug 26, 2020 A nation of miracles: coronavirus vaccine by end of year

Kamala Harris on Health Care : Aug 23, 2020 COVID: track racial disparities; get vaccines to neediest

Joe Biden on Free Trade : Aug 21, 2020 Won't be at the mercy of other countries to protect our own

Joe Biden on Principles & Values : Aug 21, 2020 I believe America ready to face difficult crises

Joe Biden on Principles & Values : Aug 20, 2020 Four historic crises, all at the same time: a perfect storm

Kamala Harris on Civil Rights : Aug 19, 2020 There is no vaccine for racism--we've got to do the work

Donald Trump on Government Reform : Aug 13, 2020 Against funding post office due to mail-in ballots

Donald Trump on Government Reform : Aug 13, 2020 Against funding post office due to mail-in ballots

Donald Trump on Education : Jul 19, 2020 We're not going to fund schools if they don't open

Donald Trump on Health Care : Jul 14, 2020 OpEd:COVID non-response because no immediate personal effect

Donald Trump on Health Care : Jul 14, 2020 OpEd: COVID response was to minimize negativity at all costs

Donald Trump on Principles & Values : Jul 14, 2020 OpEd: in Trump family, fear is seen as weakness

Kanye West on Health Care : Jul 8, 2020 Vaccines are the mark of the beast

Donald Trump on Free Trade : May 6, 2020 Virus proves emphasis on American production

Donald Trump on Health Care : May 5, 2020 Administration didn't participate in global vaccine summit

Asa Hutchinson on Health Care : May 5, 2020 Kept state "open for business" during pandemic

Asa Hutchinson on Health Care : May 5, 2020 Kept state "open for business" during pandemic

Bernie Sanders on Health Care : Apr 8, 2020 Push for "Medicare for All" in context of coronavirus

Donald Trump on Health Care : Apr 2, 2020 Ended pandemic early-warning program in Wuhan, China

Donald Trump on Health Care : Mar 31, 2020 Coronavirus: Won't invoke oft-used Defense Production Act

Donald Trump on Technology : Mar 31, 2020 $2 trillion for infrastructure as next response to pandemic

Joe Biden on Government Reform : Mar 29, 2020 Not sure on all-mail voting, but start planning for it

Joe Biden on Budget & Economy : Mar 27, 2020 Under 2009 Recovery Act, we had one place to call

Donald Trump on Health Care : Sep 10, 2024
We did a phenomenal job with the pandemic

Kamala Harris on Budget & Economy : Aug 21, 2024
FactCheck: no evidence for pandemic price-gouging

Kamala Harris on Families & Children : Aug 21, 2024
$6,000 child tax credit, expanded from $2,000 per child

Tim Walz on Health Care : Aug 6, 2024
2020 COVID restrictions resulted in lower death rates

Tim Walz on Health Care : Aug 6, 2024
Shuttered businesses and schools during COVID-19 pandemic

Joe Biden on Jobs : Mar 7, 2024
We created 15M jobs in 3 years: a record

Kamala Harris on Corporations : Mar 1, 2024
Pandemic aid: increase loans to small businesses

Chase Oliver on Budget & Economy : Jul 23, 2023
Veto any budget Congress sends that is not balanced

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Health Care : Jul 20, 2023
Would put Dr. Fauci on trial over COVID vaccines

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Technology : Jun 14, 2023
Many illnesses caused by vaccines & 5G wireless technology

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Health Care : Jun 9, 2023
Public option not right thing, unless part of single-payer

Joe Biden on Immigration : May 15, 2023
Let Title 42 expire: more humanitarian asylum policy

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Health Care : May 4, 2023
We will move from a sick care system to a wellness society

Larry Elder on Foreign Policy : Apr 30, 2023
Critical to strengthen America's role as the sole superpower

Asa Hutchinson on Families & Children : Apr 23, 2023
Don't want government interfering with parental decisions

Ron DeSantis on Health Care : Mar 7, 2023
Protect free speech and conscience rights of physicians

Ron DeSantis on Health Care : Mar 7, 2023
Shouldn't have to choose between job and unwanted shot

JD Vance on Health Care : Mar 2, 2023
COVID: Clearly Tony Fauci lied to the American people

Tim Walz on Health Care : Nov 3, 2022
COVID: followed the science, on public health measures

Joe Biden on Crime : Mar 1, 2022
DOJ to name a chief prosecutor for pandemic fraud

Joe Biden on Families & Children : Mar 1, 2022
Cut the cost of childcare in half

Joe Biden on Health Care : Mar 1, 2022
I've ordered more anti-virus pills than anyone in history

Ron DeSantis on Health Care : Feb 24, 2022
We reject the biomedical security state, defeated Fauci-ism

Doug Burgum on Social Security : Feb 16, 2022
Permanently eliminated state income tax on Social Security

Joe Biden on Government Reform : Jan 6, 2022
Former president wants to suppress vote & subvert elections

Asa Hutchinson on Health Care : Jan 2, 2022
I oppose any vaccine mandate; need greater public acceptance

Donald Trump on Health Care : Dec 24, 2021
Coronavirus vaccine works but some people aren't taking it

Joe Biden on Health Care : Nov 4, 2021
Get more people vaccinated, or prolong coronavirus pandemic

JD Vance on Health Care : Oct 3, 2021
COVID: against vax passports, mask mandates

Ron DeSantis on Abortion : Jul 1, 2021
Anti-choice on abortion; pro-choice on vaccinations

Ron DeSantis on Health Care : Jul 1, 2021
Supports $5000 fines for businesses demanding vaccine proof

Joe Biden on Budget & Economy : Apr 28, 2021
Trickle down economics has never worked

Tim Scott on Principles & Values : Apr 28, 2021
Americans asked for grace and God has supplied it

Tim Walz on Budget & Economy : Mar 28, 2021
Level playing field for working families, small businesses

Joe Biden on Health Care : Mar 6, 2021
$119 billion to build public confidence in vaccines

Joe Biden on Jobs : Mar 6, 2021
Extended unemployment benefits for COVID, to contractors too

Joe Biden on Foreign Policy : Feb 4, 2021
Meet advancing authoritarianism, including China & Russia

Joe Biden on Health Care : Feb 2, 2021
Re-open ACA enrollment; restore ObamaCare to pre-Trump level

Asa Hutchinson on Health Care : Jan 3, 2021
COVID: Getting vaccines out is public/private partnership

Donald Trump on Education : Oct 22, 2020
Open schools; most teachers are safe in pandemic

Donald Trump on Health Care : Oct 22, 2020
We reduced coronavirus from an expected 2.2 million deaths

Donald Trump on Health Care : Oct 22, 2020
Use military to distribute 100 million vials of vaccine

Donald Trump on Health Care : Oct 22, 2020
Need to re-open country during pandemic, to have a country

Joe Biden on Health Care : Oct 22, 2020
A dark winter pandemic: People are learning to die with it

Joe Biden on Budget & Economy : Oct 15, 2020
It's a K-shape recovery; only works for the top

Joe Biden on Health Care : Oct 15, 2020
Depending on vaccine, think about making it mandatory

Joe Biden on Health Care : Oct 15, 2020
I wanted to keep people in China in early 2020 pandemic

Donald Trump on Immigration : Oct 15, 2020
Cut immigration to protect Americans from infected Mexicans

Kamala Harris on Abortion : Oct 7, 2020
A woman has the right to choose

Kamala Harris on Foreign Policy : Oct 7, 2020
Trump's China policy has cost American jobs & lives

Mike Pence on Health Care : Oct 7, 2020
We're producing millions of vaccines; ready by end of year

Joe Biden on Health Care : Sep 17, 2020
Add public option to ACA, healthcare is a right

Donald Trump on Budget & Economy : Sep 15, 2020
When stocks go up, everyone does well, not just the wealthy

Donald Trump on Health Care : Sep 15, 2020
COVID-19 is going to disappear; I still say it

Donald Trump on Health Care : Sep 14, 2020
Set aside pandemic response plans prepared by Bush and Obama

Donald Trump on Health Care : Aug 28, 2020
We'll have a safe & effective coronavirus vaccine this year

Mike Pence on Health Care : Aug 26, 2020
A nation of miracles: coronavirus vaccine by end of year

Kamala Harris on Health Care : Aug 23, 2020
COVID: track racial disparities; get vaccines to neediest

Joe Biden on Free Trade : Aug 21, 2020
Won't be at the mercy of other countries to protect our own

Joe Biden on Principles & Values : Aug 21, 2020
I believe America ready to face difficult crises

Joe Biden on Principles & Values : Aug 20, 2020
Four historic crises, all at the same time: a perfect storm

Kamala Harris on Civil Rights : Aug 19, 2020
There is no vaccine for racism--we've got to do the work

Donald Trump on Government Reform : Aug 13, 2020
Against funding post office due to mail-in ballots

Donald Trump on Government Reform : Aug 13, 2020
Against funding post office due to mail-in ballots

Donald Trump on Education : Jul 19, 2020
We're not going to fund schools if they don't open

Donald Trump on Health Care : Jul 14, 2020
OpEd:COVID non-response because no immediate personal effect

Donald Trump on Health Care : Jul 14, 2020
OpEd: COVID response was to minimize negativity at all costs

Donald Trump on Principles & Values : Jul 14, 2020
OpEd: in Trump family, fear is seen as weakness

Kanye West on Health Care : Jul 8, 2020
Vaccines are the mark of the beast

Donald Trump on Free Trade : May 6, 2020
Virus proves emphasis on American production

Donald Trump on Health Care : May 5, 2020
Administration didn't participate in global vaccine summit

Asa Hutchinson on Health Care : May 5, 2020
Kept state "open for business" during pandemic

Asa Hutchinson on Health Care : May 5, 2020
Kept state "open for business" during pandemic

Bernie Sanders on Health Care : Apr 8, 2020
Push for "Medicare for All" in context of coronavirus

Donald Trump on Health Care : Apr 2, 2020
Ended pandemic early-warning program in Wuhan, China

Donald Trump on Health Care : Mar 31, 2020
Coronavirus: Won't invoke oft-used Defense Production Act

Donald Trump on Technology : Mar 31, 2020
$2 trillion for infrastructure as next response to pandemic

Joe Biden on Government Reform : Mar 29, 2020
Not sure on all-mail voting, but start planning for it

Joe Biden on Budget & Economy : Mar 27, 2020
Under 2009 Recovery Act, we had one place to call

Joe Biden on Homeland Security : Mar 27, 2020
Coronavirus: Use Defense Production Act for needs