Brian Kim: Skepticism about $50 million EPA grant to study link between Pollution and Covid-19

 

Transcript

00:00
this is your stimulus check and second
stimulus check updates and also your
stimulus package update as of Wednesday
May 13th its stimulus update time let’s
jump right into the heroes Act this bill
is called a health and economic recovery
omnibus solutions Act it’s a mouthful
let’s see in further detail what’s in
this here is act stimulus package that
the Democrats wants so begin yes there
is a second round the stimulus checks
for twelve hundred in the heroes Act
you’ll notice that the majority of the
Republicans are saying that they’re
completely against this however we’re
getting mixed messages because President
Trump himself said I want to see a
payroll tax cut I want to see various
things that we want referring to the
Republicans I want the workers to be
taken care of we’re negotiating with the
Democrats
it looks like President Trump is open to
the second stimulus check as long as
Republican priorities are addressed
personally that sounds like a good
trade-off to me it it’s not even a trade
off this is a situation where everybody
wins people who are working will pay
less payroll taxes with the payroll tax
cut there’ll be you the worker paying
less Social Security Medicare taxes and
people get a second stimulus check it
that sounds like a good deal I don’t see
why that’s so hard
another major point is that the
Democrats want the $600 weekly
unemployment benefit extended from July
31st
to the end of the year to me I think
that would be insane to me that’s
unthinkable but you got to think is it
really if you’ve been following my
videos I’m covering the reopening of
other countries and other economies and
guess what they’re doing in the United
Kingdom the United Kingdom is extending
their furloughed worker program until
the end of October paying those people 3
approximately $3,000 a month
therefore I say don’t rule anything out
I don’t want to give anyone false hope
but these are crazy times and they may
be addressed by crazy measures but if
you do not me I’m all for people being
productive and working but this time I
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mean you seriously got to give people a
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break it’s it’s not the people’s fault
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for being unemployed or underemployed
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and for a lot of people this is the
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first time for a lot of people this is
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the first time that they’re getting
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unemployment benefits so this is all new
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to them to you I mean you complained you
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can blame the government you can play
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blame Kovac 19 but personally in my
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opinion this is just my opinion this
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this is not a time to blame the people
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for being unemployed so it’s not really
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people being lazy or unproductive I mean
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this due to what’s been happening what
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happened I just don’t see I don’t see it
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fair blaming the people for being on
unemployment there’s a lot of good
things in the heroes Act that I totally
agree with such as a ban on the utility
a ban on the utility companies cutting
Off water and electricity during the
crisis but then again there’s a whole
bunch of stupid crap there’s a whole
bunch of stupid spending that I don’t
agree with such as 50 million dollars to
the Environmental Protection Protection
Agency the EPA to fund programs like
examining the prevalence of coronavirus
and high pollution districts what the
hell does that even mean let me repeat
that if you don’t if you didn’t catch
what I said give 50 million dollars to
examine how prevalence coronavirus is in
high pollution districts of course of
course the corona virus is going to be
prevalent in high pollution districts
just like it’s going to be prevalent in
low pollution districts you don’t need
to spend 50 million dollars to figure
that out this is so stupid this is one
good example of something so stupid in
this bill I mean what about
idiots let me give you a crash course on
governments kickbacks and politics 101
the government gives the government
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gives 50 million dollars to the epa to
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investigate how coronavirus is doing in
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polluted areas if I’m a higher-up at the
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EPA
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you know guess what I’m gonna do I’m
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gonna hire my cousin’s company and I’m
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gonna pay my cousin’s company a million
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dollars to do this investigation work
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and he’s got he’s gonna get paid a
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million dollars and he’s gonna he’s
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gonna conclude with his examination
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report yep
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there’s coronavirus there it does exist
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in polluted areas you know that 50
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million dollars would have been better
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spent on something more meaningful like
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on people who actually need the aid all
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right let’s move on to frigging
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frustrated there’s also the mandatory
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masks on Amtrak you’re gonna get a lot
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of people fighting for their freedoms
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and liberties and then you’re gonna have
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people on the other side fighting for
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safe safety and health health and safety
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you’re most likely gonna pick a side or
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you’re gonna be indifferent but I say
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good luck in trying to change the mind
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of the opposition this is gonna be a
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circular circular argument so don’t even
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try changing the opinion of the
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opposition on this matter because it’s
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not gonna work it’s it’s gonna be a
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circular arguments there’s a 25 billion
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of funding for the post office however
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President Trump said he would only
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support this if the post office decided
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to raise their rates honestly I haven’t
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I have not had time to look into this if
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someone could comment I’d appreciate it
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if this were the case and you wanted to
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speculate again please let me know in
06:28
the comments wouldn’t this be the best
06:30
time to purchase forever stamps as like
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an investment and then just resell them
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on eBay or wherever
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you know once they raise rates if you
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could please help me on Kampala I’d
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appreciate that the centerpiece of the
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heroes Act is that aid to state and
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local governments for nearly 1 trillion
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dollars of the 3 trillion dollar
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proposal remember this whole this whole
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Democrat proposal is taking place in the
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House of Representatives the Republicans
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who control the Senate they’re saying
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that would you send us the bill we’re
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going to shut this down immediately
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they’re saying that it stands no chance
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because it doesn’t address the
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priorities of what the Republicans are
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looking for so there’s going to be some
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tense negotiations and as I said before
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there’s gonna be less bipartisan support
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compared testing those package one two
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three and four so they’re saying that
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this is stimulus package for because
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there’s stimulus package 1 2 3 and 3.2
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but honestly this is going to be the
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fifth stimulus package but expect less
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bipartisan support going back to the
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stimulus check the original stimulus
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check for the current stimulus check so
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stimulus check 1 please update your
07:47
information in the web portal today by
07:49
noon otherwise you’re getting a paper
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stimulus check regarding the PPP loan I
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know many of you have been funded with
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SBA PPP loan you’re facing that
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eight-week time crunch I know many of
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you are hoping that the new legislation
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will extend a deadline for you to spend
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that PPP money on qualified expenses
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within that eight week window but just
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to place just to play it safe don’t
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count on it happening
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that’s just my recommendation I know
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today’s videos longer but due to the
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circumstances and all this news coming
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out was a longer video so thanks thanks
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again for joining me today that’s it for
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today and thanks so much please stay
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healthy and safe take care

 

 

Hi Brian,

Your recent video in which you mentioned a $50 EPA million grant to study covid-19 and pollution got me wondering.

So, I did some googling (covid-19+pollution+study) and found that there actually is real scientific research to be done on the link between covid-19 and pollution.

According to a BBC news article, a 2003 study found that for Sars, an earlier coronavirus, victims were 84% more likely to die if they lived in areas with polluted air.

If this pattern carries over to Covid-19, this might explain why covid-19 deaths were higher in New York City than in some more rural areas.

On the one hand, knowing that pollution may exacerbate covid-19 might make us feel bad because it might make covid-19 deaths feel less random.

On the other hand, if it is true, it could be seen as a positive for those who live in less polluted areas and it could affect how we weight covid-19 trade-offs.

The BBC article I mentioned also links to one of the previously published studies for more details.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200427-how-air-pollution-exacerbates-covid-19

I don’t know if that makes you feel any better about the money the government proposes to spend, but I was glad to learn that there was a least a rationale for the study.

 

Mueller-Report Standoff Echoes 1982 Fight Involving Neil Gorsuch’s Mother

Thorny legal questions about relations between Congress and executive branch could be decided by Supreme Court

The standoff between Attorney General William Barr and Congress over access to the full, unredacted report from special counsel Robert Mueller has parallels to a 1982 fight involving the late Anne Gorsuch Burford, then administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

The thorny legal questions about relations between Congress and the executive branch that were in play then and today could end up being decided by a Supreme Court that now features her son, Neil Gorsuch.

Then, like now, a Democratic House of Representatives wanted access to documents that a Republican president said were privileged law-enforcement materials. As a result of the Reagan administration’s refusal to comply with a congressional subpoena, Ms. Burford was cited for contempt, sparking a legal battle that culminated in her resignation.

Mr. Barr, who was a young lawyer in the Reagan administration at the time of the showdown involving Ms. Burford, is also expected to be cited for contempt. House Democratic leaders have scheduled a vote this week on a contempt resolution that would authorize a House lawsuit for access to the full Mueller report on Russian election interference. The Trump administration has said the report is protected by executive privilege. Another House committee is considering a separate contempt effort against Mr. Barr over census documents.

If either measure passes the full House, Mr. Barr will be only the third agency head ever held in contempt of Congress. Ms. Burford was the first, and Eric Holder, who was attorney general under President Barack Obama, was the second.

The Supreme Court has never decided the question of whether a congressional demand for information can overcome an executive-privilege claim by a presidential administration.

The 1982 fight involving Ms. Burford had its roots in the belief among a number of young lawyers in the Reagan administration that the Watergate scandal had weakened the presidency as an institution. Those lawyers wanted a test case to strengthen the executive branch’s hand in fighting back against demands from Congress for information and found one in Ms. Burford.

The Burford fight “was all part of the Reagan plan to retrieve purported lost powers as a result of Watergate and to create this unitary executive theory,” said Morton Rosenberg, a longtime legal analyst for the Congressional Research Service and now a fellow at the nonpartisan Project On Government Oversight.

Ms. Burford wrote in her 1986 memoir “Are You Tough Enough?” that the Reagan administration had first sought to enlist the interior secretary and the attorney general as possible test cases on executive privilege but they refused. Ms. Burford, however, agreed to test the constitutionality of an executive-privilege claim by refusing to hand over documents to Congress.

At issue were congressional subpoenas demanding information on hazardous waste dumps from the EPA. Mr. Reagan ordered Ms. Burford not to comply with the subpoena, citing the doctrine of executive privilege—a legal theory that has been blessed by courts that allows a president to shield some documents from public scrutiny in certain circumstances. In the landmark 1974 case United States v. Nixon, a unanimous Supreme Court said that executive privilege doesn’t protect documents in a criminal inquiry—in that case, Watergate—but has never decided a matter involving Congress.

Mr. Reagan’s executive-privilege claim prompted a fight with Congress that would result in the contempt citation against Ms. Burford. The Justice Department then filed suit on behalf of Ms. Burford to try to stop the subpoenas. Ms. Burford, in her memoir, called the lawsuit “the sloppiest piece of legal work I had seen in twenty years of being a lawyer.” Ultimately, a judge dismissed the case, saying that he could only rule on the issue if Ms. Burford were being criminally prosecuted for her refusal—and encouraged both sides to reach a compromise.

.. One of Justice Gorsuch’s most controversial opinions also stems from a case that involved the EPA under Ms. Burford’s leadership, Mr. Somin noted. The legal theory of “Chevron deference” says that courts should defer to administrative agencies. It stemmed from a 1984 Supreme Court case involving the EPA’s attempts to regulate air pollution.

Though the Supreme Court upheld deference to the EPA which was led by his mother when the case was first brought, Justice Gorsuch has called the decision an “abdication of the judicial duty” and suggested he would vote to overturn the precedent if a similar case came before the Supreme Court.

Pruitt unveils controversial ‘transparency’ rule limiting what research

Apr 24, 2018 – Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt listens to President … Scott Pruitt moved Tuesday to limit what science can be used in writing … The proposed rule would only allow the EPA to consider studies where the …

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/scientists-favor-transparency-but-say-epa-plan-will-limit-it/

Failure to Communicate

Trump has a solid record, but he’s too busy making noise to tout it.

If a tree falls in a noisy circus, does it make a sound? If the Trump administration announces its largest deregulatory effort to date while the president is in the throes of a Twitter rampage, will anybody pay attention?

No, and thereon may hang the balance of Republican congressional control. It’s never clear where Donald Trump gets political advice, if he does at all. What is clear is that this White House is doing an able job of whiffing one of the best political messages in decades, a reality that is demoralizing administration insiders and GOP candidates alike.

.. The Environmental Protection Agency and Transportation Department released a plan—announced on the website of these pages—to ax the Obama administration’s car-emissions standards, saving consumers $500 billion. Dollarwise, it may be the biggest deregulation ever.

.. The Treasury has recommended rescinding the “payday lending” rule, which threatened to cut off the poorest Americans from viable credit.

.. The Internal Revenue Service lifted a political threat to nonprofits by allowing them to shield the names of their donors.

.. The Department of Health and Human Services finalized its rule allowing more non-ObamaCare insurance options to millions of Americans. The Senate sent a $717 billion defense authorization bill to the White House, increasing active-duty strength and providing troops their largest pay raise in nine years. The Senate also confirmed the 24th Trump circuit-court judge.

.. The Labor Department released new numbers showing worker compensation increased 2.8% year over year, the fastest pace in a decade

.. Republicans have long known they don’t get a fair hearing from the press, which is why they shifted to talk radio and other alternative media. Mr. Trump understands that better than most—thus his heavy use of Twitter, live rallies and press conferences.

.. The president is certainly focused on his base, though with an eye to whipping them up with rallies focused primarily on the polarizing issues of trade and immigration. His tweets revolve around the same issues—those and Mr. Mueller—and are often defensive or whiny.

.. If Mr. Trump makes those centrists believe this election is about family separation, Republicans lose. If he refocuses it on voters’ newly thriving prospects, Republicans have a shot.

.. One remarkable aspect of the Trump administration is its productivity. The cabinet set a pace of reform in its openings weeks that has never lagged. If Mr. Trump isn’t going to spend every day embracing, elevating and making this product of his own presidency the dominant discussion, then no one will. The press isn’t going to do it. Democrats sure aren’t. And no other Republican has that megaphone.