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The market and the current administration both benefit from a low count of confirmed cases. The administration has already been criticized for repeatedly attemp

The market and the current administration both benefit from a low count of confirmed cases. The administration has already been criticized for repeatedly attempting to slash the CDC budget[1] and terminating the epidemic response team[2]. Trump also keeps attempting to downplay the severity of the virus so it would not be a good look if the true spread of the disease was widely known. Knowledge of the spread would also probably trigger more panic selling in the markets which the current administration also tries to avoid as much as possible. [1]: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-cut-cdcs-budget-democrats-claim-analysis/story?id=69233170 https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-cut-cdcs-budget-democr... [2]: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/05/10/top-white-house-official-in-charge-of-pandemic-response-exits-abruptly/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/0...

marvin 7y ago
That just doesn’t make sense to me. Uncontained, this disease will grow exponentially until tens of millions are infected at once, and it eventually burns itself out. But by then, the disaster will be obvious and we will have the same result. Only with more casualties. Certainly anyone who had that sort of ulterior motive would understand this.
- jpindar 7y ago
  Making sense is not a priority for this administration.
- hedora 7y ago
  I predict Trump administration will underreport the numbers and use the courts to hold up transparency reports and audits until after the election. They’re already refusing to test people, and I’m guessing they’ll start to blame the flu and/or fake news at some point. They’ll probably somehow exceed my expectations, and come up with even more cynical tactics than this. For instance, I’ve seen users in other forums blame liberal china lovers for bringing the disease to the US. I wonder if they’re paid trolls or not.

marvin 7y ago

That just doesn’t make sense to me. Uncontained, this disease will grow exponentially until tens of millions are infected at once, and it eventually burns itself out. But by then, the disaster will be obvious and we will have the same result. Only with more casualties. Certainly anyone who had that sort of ulterior motive would understand this.

jpindar 7y ago
Making sense is not a priority for this administration.
hedora 7y ago
I predict Trump administration will underreport the numbers and use the courts to hold up transparency reports and audits until after the election. They’re already refusing to test people, and I’m guessing they’ll start to blame the flu and/or fake news at some point. They’ll probably somehow exceed my expectations, and come up with even more cynical tactics than this. For instance, I’ve seen users in other forums blame liberal china lovers for bringing the disease to the US. I wonder if they’re paid trolls or not.