Monthly Archives: June 2020

The claim: The nations top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, testified to Congress that the death rate for the coronavirus is 10 times that of the seasonal flu, a claim without any scientific basis. Ron Paul, former Texas congressman and candidate for president.

Paul, who is a doctor, made the claim in a column posted on his website. He also called Fauci the chief fearmonger of the Trump Administration.

PolitiFact ruling: False. We wont know for some time what the actual death rate is for people who contract the current coronavirus, COVID-19. But based on figures that are available, its indicated to be at least 10 times higher than the death rate from the flu.

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Discussion: Pauls post was flagged as part of Facebooks efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed.

Fauci is taking the seasonal influenza death rate to be approximately 0.1 percent and the coronavirus to be about 1 percent, said Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Universitys Center for Health Security.

While it is early in the outbreak, there is enough data to say that 1 percent is likely a fairly reasonable approximation with some scientific basis in data.

In some contexts, public health experts have said its too early in the coronavirus outbreak to know exactly what its death rate is.

While the numbers arent all precise, there is a basis for what Fauci said.

Based solely on the numbers, youre more likely to die if you get the 2019 coronavirus than if you get the flu. (Several factors apply, such as age and health.)

A study of 44,672 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in China diagnosed as of Feb. 11, 2020, from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention found a fatality rate of 2.3 percent. Other figures and studies published in early to mid-March by the World Health Organization have placed the fatality rate at 3.4 percent and 3.9 percent.

The flu death rate is much lower.

In its latest weekly report on the 2019-20 flu, for the week ending March 7, 2020, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates there have been 36 million flu illnesses and 22,000 deaths. Thats a rate of 0.06%.

The case fatality ratio dividing reported deaths by reported cases is only a snapshot and the rate can vary considerably during an outbreak, the WHO said.

PolitiFact is a fact-checking project to help you sort out fact from fiction in politics. Truth-O-Meter ratings are determined by a panel of three editors. The burden of proof is on the speaker, and PolitiFact rates statements based on the information known at the time the statement is made

We will not have a clear CFR until the outbreak is over, WHO said in a statement, adding that the CFR can change if it is discovered that there are many more milder cases than originally thought, and can vary by country based demographic factors, such as age.

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Fact check: Ron Paul claims coronavirus deadlier than flu ...

By Dr. Ron PaulFormer CongressmanThe Ron Paul Institutehttp://ronpaulinstitute.org/Just a week or so ago the mainstream media and thousands representing the medical community told us we must throw out the stay-at-home orders and go to the streets to protest the death of George Floyd at the hands of the police. The Covid-19 virus will not bother people who are protesting this injustice, they said. The virus only attacks people leaving their homes to protest the stay-at-home orders.

Now, after thousands of businesses many of them black-owned have been reduced to rubble and innocent people in the inner cities no longer have anywhere to shop for the basic necessities of life, the mainstream media has backed off of its non-stop coverage of the protests. Suddenly last week they all simultaneously embraced a new fear story to terrify the masses: a second wave of coronavirus was among us. It was targeting those states that dared to open up their economies and begin a return to relatively normal lives.

Texas, Florida and California were singled out to scare the rest of the country into thinking that if you dare leave your homes you will catch coronavirus and die. There was a spike in coronavirus cases they claimed. Funny, just a month or so ago they were demanding that we massively increase testing, which would produce just that spike in coronavirus cases they are now using to scare authorities into reinstating the incredibly destructive stay-at-home orders.

In the county here in Texas that includes Houston, the young judge who somehow seized the power to shut down the third largest city in the United States warns us that she may again shut down Harris County to fight this second wave of cases. She even threatened to again pour millions of dollars into a field hospital at a Houston football stadium that did not see a single patient in the first wave of coronavirus. Its hard not to wonder which politically-connected companies are reaping millions in contracts for an obviously un-needed hospital. Thousands of hospital beds in Houston are vacant, while cancer patients have been refused their screenings and desperately needed treatments.

As former Congressman David Stockman points out, the actual coronavirus numbers do not in any way support the media assertion that a second wave of infection is cresting over Texas. Stockman informs us that in Texas the reported infected case rate of 256 per 100,000 is just 10 percent of the real hot spot rate of 2,477 per 100,000 in the five boroughs of New York City; and its mortality rate of 6.2 per 100,000 population is just 3 percent of New York Citys 196 per 100,000 rate.

There are no hot spots in Texas. Its just more media hype.

Its funny that they dont dare mention Georgia, which has also opened its economy and has seen no spike at all.

The same people who were demanding more testing are now screaming that we must shut the economy down again because these tests which are notoriously unreliable are showing more coronavirus cases. This is a disease that 99.9 percent of the people who are infected with survive! But 40 million people out of work and the thousands of lives that will end due to the shutdown are never mentioned.

There is something else going on here, and it is in no way related to public health.

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Is the 'second wave' another coronavirus hoax? - The Highland County Press

Oklahoma saw a 5.1% jump in the number of COVID-19 cases Thursday, with 450 new cases and two additional deaths.

Thursdays numbers, which include the highest daily count since the pandemic began, leaves the state with 9,354 cases overall, with more than 1,100 of those coming since Sunday.

Thursdays numbers, which were delayed from their regular 11 a.m. release time because of reported technical difficulties, continue a sharp upward trend going back to late May.

Tulsa County has 120 additional cases, up more than 6%, and one more death, according to state data.

Concern remains about the potential for President Donald Trumps campaign rally at the BOK Center on Saturday to spread the virus further.

At a news conference Wednesday, Tulsa Health Department Director Bruce Dart said the potential for super spread exists with nearly 20,000 people in an enclosed arena.

Whenever people come together from outside and go back, theres always potential for a super-spreader event, Dart said. And some people, unfortunately, just spread the virus more efficiently than others, which results in super-spreader individuals, and so of course thats a concern.

Thursdays continued spike saw Tulsa Countys seven-day rolling average of new cases rise to 81.9. There are 654 active cases in the county, according to Tulsa Health Department data.

Statewide hospitalization numbers saw an increase in confirmed COVID-19 patients, with 76 of 129 of those in intensive care. Another 82 people remain under investigation for possible COVID-19, with 20 of those in ICU, according to state data.

Throwback Tulsa: Photos of presidents, candidates and other politicians who have visited Oklahoma

Then-Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump at the Mabee Center at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016. IAN MAULE/Tulsa World File

President Barack Obama greets first responders at a fire station in Moore, Okla., on Sunday, May 26, 2013. BRYAN TERRY/The Oklahoman

President George W. Bush makes a joke during his commencement speech as Oklahoma State University president David J. Schmidly (left) and OSU provost Marlene Strathe on May 6, 2006. Tulsa World file

Former President Bill Clinton has been to Oklahoma several times, including his visit to Oklahoma City in 1996. Clinton returned on the 20th anniversary of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 2015. Tulsa World file

Former President George H.W. Bush holds his honorary doctorate in the air and waves to the crowd of graduating seniors at Oklahoma State University May 4, 1990. Former President Bush gave the commencement address and received an honorary doctorate in economics from OSU. Tulsa World file photo

President Ronald Reagan gives thumbs up sign during a speech in Oklahoma City in this June 6, 1985 file photo. According to Tulsa World archives, Reagan visited Oklahoma 19 times during his life.

Dr. John Dugger, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Elk City, welcomes President Jimmy Carter on March 25, 1979. Tulsa World file

Vice-President Richard Nixon makes the only Oklahoma visit of his Presidential campaign on October 15, 1960. Pat Nixon, with flowers, Richard M. Nixon, and GOP Congressman Page Belcher. Tulsa World file

President Lyndon Johnson arrives in Muskogee prior to attending formal dedication ceremonies at the Eufaula Dam in Eufaula, Oklahoma on Sept., 25, 1964. Tulsa World file photo

President John F. Kennedy meets with members of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. President Kennedy was at the Kermac Angus Ranch, Poteau, Oklahoma on October 29, 1961. Photo from John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum

President Franklin D. Roosevelt reviews the 88th Infantry division at Camp Gruber, Oklahoma on April 18, 1943. With the president is Major Gen. John E. Sloan. AP File Photo

Jack Abernathy holds a wolf by the jaw during a five-day hunt with President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt (right) in Oklahoma Territory in 1905.Photo fromLibrary of Congress

Presidential candidate Ralph Nader speaks to students and others during a press conference and campaign stop at OSU-Tulsa on September 19, 2008. Tulsa World File photo

Presidential candidate Joe Lieberman visited Tulsa, Okla. on Monday morning Jan.1 2, 2004 for a breakfast and roundtable discussion at the Doubletree Hotel Downtown. Here, he chats with supporter Iris Chandler, 71, of Tulsa. Tulsa World File photo

Democrat presidential candidate Howard Dean receives a standing ovation after fielding a question during the Democratic Presidential Forum at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Tuesday, August 12, 2003. Tulsa World File photo

Presidential candidate Wesley Clark waves to supporters following his speech during his watch party at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City on Feb 3, 2004. Clark won the Demoractice primary in Oklahoma that year. He announced his withdrawal after finishing third in the February 10 primaries in Tennessee and Virginia. Tulsa World file

Mike Huckabee Visits Tulsa: Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee stopped in Tulsa, Okla. for a brief rally and press conference on Friday afternoon Feb. 1, 2008. Tulsa World File photo

Presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz makes Lucille Tilley laugh after speaking at a rally at Oral Roberts University Dec. 18, 2015. MIKE SIMONS/Tulsa World

Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton visited the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame during a campaign event Dec. 11, 2015. MIKE SIMONS/Tulsa World

Sen. John McCain speaks at the Bank of America building in Tulsa in May of 2007. McCain won the Republican primary for President in 2008. Tulsa World file.

Republican Presidential candidate Gov. Rick Perry of Texas speaks at the Tulsa Press Club August 29, 2011. MIKE SIMONS/Tulsa World

About 900 enthusiastic supporters rallied on the Capitol's south steps to hear and cheer comments by Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul during a brief visit to Oklahoma City on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012. JIM BECKEL/The Oklahoman

Presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson signs books at Barnes and Noble in Tulsa, OK, October 22, 2015. STEPHEN PINGRY/TulsaWorld

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum waves as he walks off the floor after speaking at Oral Roberts University in a town hall style meeting Feb. 9, 2012. MIKE SIMONS/Tulsa World

Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani, left, visits with Steak Stuffers restaurant owner George Van Wyck as he samples some of the restaurant's food during a stop in Tulsa in 2007. Tulsa World file

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks during a press conference on May 23, 2007 at the Summit Club in Tulsa. Tulsa World file

Newt Gingrich arrives to speak to the Oklahoma House of Representatives at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City on Feb. 21, 2012. By Paul Hellstern, The Oklahoman

Former Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin addresses a crowd crowd during Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump's rally at the Mabee Center at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa on Jan. 20, 2016. IAN MAULE/Tulsa World File

Presidential Candidate Beto O'Rourke tours the levee system in Sand Springs, Okla. with Tulsa County Commissioner Karen Keith on June 2, 2019. JOSEPH RUSHMORE for Tulsa World.

Presidential candidate Sen. Cory Booker is emotional as he touches reclaimed bricks from the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre while on a tour of the Greenwood Historic District at Vernon AME Church Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019. MIKE SIMONS/Tulsa World

Democratic presidential candidate and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders talks to a crowd during a rally at Reaves Park in Norman, Oklahoma Sept. 22, 2019 Photo via The Oklahoman

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COVID-19: Oklahoma numbers continue to spike, with 450 new cases, 2 more Oklahomans' deaths announced Thursday - Tulsa World

Find out how to remain completely free and independent of the government with this Stansberry Research short video

It's no secret that COVID-19 has been debilitating in many ways. However, many of us should be asking how one virus has the power to collapse the financial system of the entire U.S. economy.

The biggest problem with the pandemic is that many people followed our government blindly, without asking what was really going on. Many expected a quick fix, and unfortunately the people in charge were happy to meet those demands.

What they do not realize is that, if we print an unlimited amount of dollars, those dollars will lose value over time, and that will cause even greater damage to the American people.It's important to take responsibility for your well being, and pay attention to what your government is doing right now.

When the American people follow those in charge blindly, citizens do not have a say. This is the land of the free, but not for long if the American people become too dependent on our government for their basic needs.

Dr. Ron Paul has laid out the steps for you to take control of your future today. This will make you completely independent of the government, and allow you to truly be free.

Check out this short video with Stansberry Research, free for a short time here.

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Take Control of Your Future in the Wake of COVID-19 - Schaeffers Research

One of the biggest financial players in Republican politics is coming in to help Fort Bend Sheriff Troy Nehls in his primary run-off battle for Congress with just two weeks left before early voting starts.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is committing to help Nehls as he battles Houstons Kathaleen Wall, who has already spent more than $4 million of her own money this year on her campaign for Congress. That is far more than Nehls has been able to spend. According to the latest campaign finance reports with the Federal Election Commission, Nehls has spent less than $400,000 so far.

Nehls won the first round of the primary in March with just over 40 percent of the vote. But because he didnt hit 50 percent in the crowded primary field, he will now face Wall, who finished second with 19 percent, in a runoff on July 14. Early voting starts June 29.

They are battling for the 22nd Congressional District, which includes most of Fort Bend County plus parts of Brazoria and Harris counties. The winner will face Democrat Sri Preston Kulkarni in November.

The race for the 22nd Congressional District is considered one of the most competitive in the nation. Incumbent U.S. Rep. Pete Olson, R-Sugar Land, is retiring from Congress this year. In 2018, Kulkarni came within 5 percentage points of beating Olson, giving Democrats hope they can flip the seat in 2020. The Cook Political Report in Washington, D.C., ranks it as one of 22 toss-up races in November.

WALL BLAMES CHINA FOR COVID-19: China poisoned our people, says campaign ad from Houston candidate for Congress Kathaleen Wall

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce support is more than just an endorsement. The group has long been one of the biggest financial supporters of Republicans in federal races in the nation. In 2018, the group spent more than $7 million helping mostly Republican candidates.

The U.S. Chamber is proud to endorse Troy and looks forward to partnering with him in the future, U.S. Chamber CEO Thomas J. Donohue said in a statement.

Nehls is running on his public service experience, pointing to 30 years in the military and in law enforcement. Wall, meanwhile, has tried to position herself as a better potential ally to President Donald Trump.

Like Donald Trump, Kathaleen Wall is a successful conservative businessperson who wants to make America great again, ads supporting Wall have said.

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Wall, a prominent GOP campaign donor over the last decade, is about to ramp up her television advertising once again. Media tracking data shows Wall has reserved almost $250,000 in ad time on broadcast and cable TV in Houston over the next week.

But Nehls has also been aggressive in aligning himself with Trump.

In Congress, I will stand with President Trump to defeat the socialist Democrats, build the wall, drain the swamp, and deliver on pro-economy and pro- America policies, Nehls says on his campaign website.

Wall has touted endorsements from key elected officials including U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, and Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller. Paul partly grew up in Brazoria County while his father Ron Paul was a congressman. Rand Paul graduated from Brazoswood High School and attended Baylor University.

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U.S. Chamber backs Troy Nehls over Kathaleen Wall in Fort Bend congressional race - Houston Chronicle

Many Americans are surprised to learn that in U.S. presidential elections, the members of the Electoral College do not necessarily have to pick the candidate the voters in their state favored.

Or do they?

This month the Supreme Court will rule on the independent powers of electors, which will determine the meaning of the Electoral College in contemporary American politics.

The constitutional system of presidential selection is a set of uneasy compromises worked out at the very end of the Constitutional Convention in 1787.

The framers could not decide whether the choice of a president should be made by Congress or the states.

They also could not agree whether all states should have equal power in the selection, or if more populous states should have more say.

And they didnt agree whether a states choice should be made by local elites (state legislators) or the masses (all of the voters).

In the end, the Committee on Unfinished Parts created a unique governmental structure that compromised on all of these debates. Unlike many contemporary Americans, the founders were comfortable with such compromises and immediately approved the new mechanism of presidential selection.

A small number of citizens called electors would meet in each state to decide the presidency collectively. Congress would enter the picture only if the electors did not reach a majority decision. The number of electors would equal the number of senators and representatives in Congress, which means that small states had greater power than their population would suggest, but still not as much as big states.

State legislatures could use their discretion about how to choose electors, which could result in elitist or popular forms of democracy in different states. Pennsylvania held a popular election in the very first presidential contest, allowing voters to choose electors aligned with the emerging parties. Some state legislatures appointed electors themselves until the mid-1800s.

As Americans embraced popular democracy in the decades following the founding, most people began to expect a majority vote in the state would determine its choice. In most states, the legislature gives the winning party the duty of choosing electors who typically are party members who have pledged to vote for their partys presidential candidate during a public meeting of the Electoral College in December.

When that happens, the states Electoral College votes go to the winner of the states popular vote. But it is possible for an elector to vote for someone else which is why there is a case before the Supreme Court.

When Donald Trump won enough states in November 2016 to be elected the 45th U.S. president, opponents turned to the Electoral College as a last attempt to alter the elections result. This became known as the Hamilton Electors movement.

Alexander Hamilton was an advocate of elitist democracy who did not trust ordinary people to vote. He also thought highly of the Electoral College. In Federalist 68, he asserted that if the manner of it be not perfect, it is at least excellent.

His reason was that the selection of the president would reflect only the sense of the people, but truly be made by a small number of persons, selected by their fellow-citizens from the general mass.

In Hamiltons view, these electors would hold the necessary information and discernment, while the masses would likely vote for a president with the talents for low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity.

The Hamilton Electors explicit goal in 2016 was to convince enough electors to cast faithless votes against the election results of their state to switch the outcome. Several celebrities, including Martin Sheen, who played the president of the U.S. in The West Wing, urged Republican electors to be an American hero by blocking Donald Trump from winning.

Trumps official tally in the Electoral College was 304 to Hillary Clintons 227. That doesnt add up to 538 the total number of electoral votes because seven electors were unfaithful to their states popular decisions. Two Republican electors went their own ways, casting their ballots for John Kasich and Ron Paul. Five Clinton electors also refused to vote with their states majorities: Three chose former Secretary of State Colin Powell and one each chose Sen. Bernie Sanders and Native American activist Faith Spotted Eagle.

Those seven electors were not enough to change the outcome. But what if they had been?

The outcome in 2020 may be closer than in 2016. If Joe Biden wins a few states that Hillary Clinton did not say Pennsylvania and Arizona but Trump holds on to the rest of his 2016 states, the Electoral College outcome will be remarkably close. By my count, it could be 274 to 264 in the Electoral College. If it is that close, even a small number of faithless electors could change the outcome.

Election Day is always the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, but the day the Electoral College votes is the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December.

If Americans believe on Nov. 3, 2020, that one person has been elected the next president, but find out on Dec. 14 that it is going to be a different person, it is difficult to predict what the public will think or do.

Even before the 2016 election, some states had tried to limit the discretion of electors. Colorado passed a law that allowed faithless electors to be replaced immediately with an alternate, and Washington imposed a US$1,000 fine for electors who voted differently from the public at large. Two faithless electors Michael Baca and Peter Chiafalo challenged the ability of states to restrict their discretion under the Constitution.

The debate at the court is about whether the U.S. still has elements of an elite democracy that cannot be altered by individual states, or if state legislatures can create a popular democracy within their borders by making electors simply registrars of the popular will even though the constitutional text (and Alexander Hamiltons plans) may suggest that electors should make their decisions freely.

What the Hamilton Electors are saying is that the old idea of an occasional block to the popular will is still useful. In their view, the rise of populism has made the old elitism important again.

The supporters of faithless electors are taking a position grounded in the intent of the framers, the usually conservative theory known as originalism.

But that interpretation of originalism runs up against another one: The founders let states decide how to pick electors.

These two originalist positions divide between a higher regard for the original purpose of electors and the original means of selecting and regulating them.

On the other hand, the usual liberal position living constitutionalism is clear. It supports the idea that the U.S. has evolved into a popular democracy regardless of the original intent. Binding electors to the vote of the state is simply the mechanism to achieve the representative elections that most Americans believe the country already has.

If the states win, they will be allowed to set the future rules for how electors may vote. If enough states bind electors, then the election will proceed as the public expects. But if the faithless electors win, the 2020 election results may be unclear far beyond Election Day.

[Youre too busy to read everything. We get it. Thats why weve got a weekly newsletter. Sign up for good Sunday reading. ]

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Supreme Court to decide the future of the Electoral College - The Conversation US

In the past few months, the worlds central banks, above all the US Federal Reserve, have rescued the global economy from complete collapse for the second time in a generation. Wading unto the breach and armed with the knowledge of how close capitalism came to a system failure in 2008, they have fired the big bazookas of monetary policy, pumping trillions of dollars into the worlds giant pool of money, effectively creating wealth out of nothing.

Since 2 March, the Feds total assets have leapt by more than half. Since 2008, its balance sheet has grown to 30% of the size of the US economy. Central bankers seem confident their actions will find public approval. A firefighter has never been criticised for using too much water, the governor of the Bank of Canada said.

This confidence is misplaced. Both left and right have reason to welcome the Feds emergency intervention, but new money flooded into private capital markets will inevitably flow into the deepest pockets. And without strengthening the democratic legitimacy of this policy, and using it for socially transformative ends, the reaction will strengthen those who are antagonistic to the practice of government the populist right.

The stock markets worst fears seem to have been allayed by congressional action and the Feds promised bond-buying spree

In his recent book, the French economist Thomas Piketty observes that central banks have become the only effectively functioning organs of government. He doesnt mean this as a good thing. Monetary activism is financial triage against world economic collapse, but its also an avoidance tactic. It works by bracketing democracy and letting the technocrats take over. To make decisions about justice and distribution, discussions about taxation, policy and budgets are needed.

As the Fed chairman Jerome Powell put it, the central bank has the power to lend but not to tax and spend. It is up to elected officials to make decisions about where we as a society should direct our collective resources. In the last two months, he has all but begged Congress to be more proactive in shaping the direction and volume of the policy.

Progressives have reason to praise central banks for offering evidence that the money printer can go brrr without any clear limit. Economists see no sign of inflation on the horizon. Some have become concerned about inflation in recent weeks, but others worry about the opposite deflation. All the extra liquidity has not managed to translate into meaningful growth.

This makes an active role for the state in hiring people in sustainable jobs in green energy, construction, arts, healthcare, education all the more important. Public spending of the New Deal helped cure the Great Depression in the 1930s, so why not a Green New Deal for this one? Central bankers have emerged as unlikely allies in the fight against climate change. Maybe this latest intervention could finally open them up to the idea of Green QE, (quantitative easing) actively supporting decarbonisation by buying up environmentally friendly bonds.

Republicans, for their part, are relieved that the Fed rescued the economy from meltdown, giving Donald Trump at least a chance of campaigning amid a recovery. Though unemployment is stratospheric and hundreds of Americans are still dying of Covid-19, the stock markets worst fears seem to have been allayed by congressional action and the Feds promised bond-buying spree. But neither side should feel secure under the sheltering hand of unelected power like the central bank.

The politics of money has a way of quickly becoming about other things. Last month, the German constitutional court concluded in a shock ruling that the European Central Bank may have exceeded its mandate in creating so much cheap credit, threatening the monetary response to the crisis. Within days, Viktor Orbn suggested that the Hungarian constitution might trump the decisions of the European Court of Justice in his countrys treatment of refugees.

What kind of political creatures could the money-printing of central banks spawn? We have seen hints in the past. A decade ago, the proactive Fed was a target for the Tea Party movement. Republicans directed the backlash to control of the House in 2010 and eventually over Congress. Opposing President Barack Obama, the Republican party acted as a drag on recovery efforts and robust healthcare reform. The US is paying the price for their efforts with a dysfunctional healthcare system in a pandemic in which the victims have been disproportionately African American.

There are reasons to think the response to the Feds actions from the right might be more extreme this time, not only because the scale of both spending and suffering is greater, but also because the fringe itself has become radicalised.

Central banks have no shortage of enemies in waiting. President Trumps description of the Fed as the enemy is designed to rob it of the very democratic legitimacy it cannot live without. Libertarians who reject all forms of fiat currency unbacked by precious metals, commonly known as gold bugs, have grown in influence over the past years. In the US, the most famous libertarian gold bug is probably Ron Paul, whose demand to End the Fed ran through his 2008 campaign. His son, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas have also voiced support for a gold standard. Returning to currency that is matched by finite gold reserves could act as a lever to lock in austerity, blocking the expansion of credit and state spending that would be necessary to redress inequality.

In Germany, another gold bug, a former precious metals consultant, Peter Boehringer, sits in the Bundestag. His party, the Alternative for Germany, was founded by economics professors in 2013 over the politics of money they rejected the European Central Banks monetary policy and management of the eurozone crisis.

Another erstwhile gold bug now waits in the antechamber of the Fed itself. Until its recent postponement, Congress was scheduled to vote on the nomination of Judy Shelton to the Fed. Citing Ludwig von Mises and his student Friedrich Hayek as her guides, Shelton has called repeatedly in the past for the return to the sound money of a gold standard before converting to Trumps loose monetary policy.

For now, alongside the rumblings of a backlash, the actions of the Fed are receiving broad public approval. Elected officials should take this support as a sign that people do not instinctively reject a role for the government in the working of the market under emergency conditions.

Lawmakers have time to build on this insight to work with central banks to design economies where uncertainty and hardship are diminished, even after coronavirus has passed. Central banks can be accessories to more equal and just societies, but they can never be the architects. Money must be made to serve the people, not the other way around.

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Central banks have pumped money into the economy, but its no substitute for democracy - The Guardian

A ship built during WWII was intentionally sunk to be part of an artificial reef 26 miles off the coast of Cape May.

A granite monument in the farmlands of Kansas has revived a forgotten history for the descendants of one of Lyndhursts favorite sons.

Dedicated Saturday afternoonoutside of Hill City, Kansas just north of small town called Bogue, the oversize tombstone pays tribute to Lt. Paul Capaccio and five other U.S. Army airmen. The six died roughly one mile north on Feb. 2, 1943, when they hit amassive storm in their B-17and crashedinto a pasture.

Capaccio, 25, his fellow crewman and the one passenger were among thousands of airmen to die in training and transport during World War II. Often, they are the forgotten losses from the nations largest collective effort.

Ariana Pelosci, Capaccios 21-year-old great niece from Hamilton, said even in her own familyhisstory had been a bit of a mystery.

The monument created and the research completed by locals in Kansas, unearthed an entire family story that my mom or uncles hadn't heard about, Pelosci said.

RELATED: From opposite worlds, two soldiers forged a friendship and saved each other's lives

Paul Capaccio was a standout athlete at Lyndhurst High School, where a memorial athletic award was named in his honor.(Photo: Courtesy of Ariana Pelosci)

Mike Boss, a 69-year-old artist from Hill City, said the story has long captivated his community. One of the main driving forces behind the monument,Loren Johnson, wasamong those who first arrived at the crash scene nearly 80 years ago, he said.

Boss first heard Capaccio's story in high school. in November 2018 he renewed his interest in the local history andwas determined to honor the six soldiers with a monument.

I had been told that that crash was so bad that they had to pick those guys up in bushel baskets, Boss said. And I just said, OK by God thats it. They deserve more than this.

Details of the plane crash were few, said Shelia Blackford of the Graham County Historical Society. Wartime security tended to tamp reports of deaths during training flights or ferrying. Only a few papers published the wire report of a fiery B-17 crash that killed six soldiers in northwest Kansas. Even the local paper's report was thin.

Since it was a military plane, after the initial notification, our locals were not allowed access nor any more information on the event, she said.

LOCAL: Veteran from Wayne awarded Distinguished Service Medal, 76 years after WWII service

During the first32 months of World War II, the Army Air Forces reported 11,000 aircraft lost in the continental United States. Combat missions overseas accounted for 7,700. In the Navy, more aviation personnel were lost in training and transport than in combat, records show.

From December 1941 through August 1945, there were 52,651 Army Air Forces accidents in the states, half of which came during training flights. The domestic crashes killed 14,903 people, including the 1,757 that died during 284 fatal B-17 crashes, records show.

Capaccios B-17 was delivered from Boeing at the end of September 1942. Military officials registereditnumber 42-5105. B-17s 42-5102, 42-5103 and 42-5107 also wrecked.

Mike Boss (third from left) is seen setting the monument for personnel of the 100th Bomb Group from WWII with Ron Gallaway, Corey Johnson, Bob Saunders, Loren Johnson, Jez Rush near Hill City, Kansas in early 2020.(Photo: Courtesy of Mike Boss)

The news of Capaccios death made the front page of The Record on Feb. 5, 1943. The paper dubbed the 25-year-old Lyndhurst native a grid star for his athletic exploits on the football field and beyond.

While at Lyndhurst High School, Capaccio captained the track and wrestling teams and played football and basketball, The Recordreported. So renowned was Capaccio,the president of the senior class, the school started anathletic awardin his honor following his death.

After high school,Capaccio went on to Bergen Junior College, where he again played multiple sports andgraduated as the school's "most valuable man"in 1939. His next stop was Kutztown State Teachers College. He played football there too. Then, Uncle Sam came calling.

Paul Capaccio of Lyndhurst N.J. is seen in military uniform sometime i the early 1940s.(Photo: Courtesy of Ariana Pelosci)

He was only a couple of years older than me, and he willingly enlisted in this war, Pelosci said.

Capaccio joined the Air Corps in 1941. He made second lieutenant a year later. Just a week before his death, he was promoted to first lieutenant at the base in Capser, Wyoming.

The Feb. 2 flight was expected to take him and his crew on a new mission as members of the 100th Bomb Group, 350 Bomb Squadron based in Sioux City, Iowa, Boss said. From there, Capaccio was to go overseas in three months. He never made it past Bogue.

Military records show Capaccio and the other five men left the Army Air Base in Wyoming at about 1p.m. local time on Feb. 2, 1943. Capaccio piloted the aircraft towards Tinker Army Airfield in Oklahoma City.

The flight was expected to take five hours, but astorm likely pushed Capaccio north, Boss said.

More than four hours into the flight, Boss said the B-17 was roughly 125 to 130 miles north of where itshould have been. It was there where ithit what Boss suspects was the samestorm thatless than two hours earlierforced a fatal crash of a B-24in southern Trego County, Kansas.

"The guy who crashed that planecouldn't get above 20,000 feet of clouds,and that's what Paul flew into," Boss said. "I think he was trying to stay north of the storm and for whatever reason, he flew into it. I supposed he thought one way or another he had to deliver the plane."

Paul Capaccio is seen here as a youth with his brother Benjamin Capaccio.(Photo: Courtesy of Ariana Pelosci)

The Hill City Times reported that an eyewitness, Carl McKisson,saw the plane burst through the fog and into the hillside of a nearby pasture.

The 65,000-pound plane plowed a ditch 5to 6feet deep, 10 feet wide and about 100 feet long, according to the report. A resulting explosion spread the wreckage across more than a dozen acres.

Military officialsinitially identified the likely cause of the crash asice formingon the wings. Amiscommunication between pilot and co-pilot was also suspected.

Still,Boss said in no way should the crash be deemed thefault of the crew. Engine trouble may have been a factor.Moreover,Capaccio had a total instrument flying time of less than 36 hours in 1942, Boss said.

"They weren't trained for this," he said.

An Army Air Forces safety report after the war vowed to make changes to avoid heavy tolls on little trained pilots. However, it noted the accident toll was "the pricewhich had to be paid to achieve the air power required for victory."

Paul Capaccio of Lyndhurst, N.J. died in a plane crash at the age of 25 three months before he was to be sent overseas to combat in WWII.(Photo: Courtesy of Ariana Pelosci)

World War II pushed the Army's pre-Air Force air division to expand from51,165 to 2,372,292 personnel from 1940 to1944. The hurried expansion of theArmy Air Forces "was accepted as part of the cost of the war," according to the report.

The price those six soldiers paidis remembered in Graham County, Boss said, andis deserving of tribute.Pelosci said her family is overjoyed with the honor for "Uncle Paul."

In today's world, where so much is uncertain and where it can be a dark place, having someone do something like this is just amazing and it really brings hope, Pelosci said.

The six pilots killed in the crash on Feb. 2, 1943:

David Zimmer is a local reporter forNorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community,please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email:zimmer@northjersey.comTwitter:@dzimmernews

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