Tuesday, May 05, 2020

Quick Hits: Volume CCXVIII

- The COVID-19 pandemic has obviously wreaked havoc on the physical and mental well being of people. But there's also no question that the U.S. is spiraling into a economic depression with each passing week of millions of new unemployment claims, consumer confidence abysmally low, etc.

Here in Minnesota, we've gone from a projected budget surplus of $1.5 billion to a deficit of nearly $2.5 billion in a matter of five months. And given that 80% of the state's revenues are garnered from income and sales taxes, the obligatory tax hike demands from the DFL to close a budget gap are a non-starter here.

It would appear the state's only realistic option is to (GASP!!!!) cut spending. It's a shame that it takes a global pandemic for Minnesota state government to wake up to the notion that the state's budget is too bloated.


- A Public Service Announcement: Continuing to harass a private business owner over his religious beliefs doesn't make you "progressive" or "WOKE!" It makes you an a**hole.



via GIPHY


- Speaking of toxic wokeness, New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson basically tells Samaritan's Purse that they don't gotta go home, they just gotta get the hell up outta NYC.

“It is time for Samaritan’s Purse to leave NYC,” he tweeted Friday. “This group, led by the notoriously bigoted, hate-spewing Franklin Graham, came at a time when our city couldn’t in good conscience turn away any offer of help. That time has passed. Their continued presence here is an affront to our values of inclusion, and is painful for all New Yorkers who care deeply about the LGBTQ community.”

With the work that Samaritan's Purse did in NYC, did they ever deny services to citizens based on their sexual orientation? No? Huh. Rather ironic that Johnson cites NYC's "values of inclusion" when it was SP who was far more tolerant of different views (not to mention SP workers putting their lives on the line with their mere presence in the COVID-19 epicenter) than Johnson himself.

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