Why Has Mr. Trump Not Mobilized American Industry to Produce Medical Supplies?

[Sunstone]

Mr. Trump has invoked the Defense Production Act, but he has to date not employed it. Consequently, American manufacturing has not been fully mobilized to produce such supplies as masks, ventilators, gowns, and other equipment needed in the fight against this virus, and currently in short supply. By all accounts, this is exceedingly likely to cost lives.

Some say Mr. Trump is reluctant to implement the Act because he would not then be able to charge the Democrats with being dangerous socialists in the upcoming election.

But what do you think is the reason why he is not making use of the Act?


Personally, I think Mr. Trump has not employed the Act because all five of Mr. Trump's working brain cells are currently fully employed trying to remember what his last golf score was. Thus, he has no room left over to ponder implementing the act in order to save lives.


____________________
And now for some music...

 

[sun rise]

Some minion told him that people would applaud if he did it so he did.

On the other hand, I'm loving the creativity that is exploding. Oh wait, we put masks away and have a gazillion of them. Oh wait, we're a company that sucks and blows, Dyson vacuum, so we can easily build ventilators. Oh wait, you need a part? We can 3D print one for you for pennies rather than the exorbitant cost you're being charged.

The kind of President I want would be celebrating the ingenuity of people and honoring their accomplishments and enabling people's creativity.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Many are already joining in on the mobilization.

Private tech companies mobilize to address shortages for medical supplies, masks and sanitizer – TechCrunch

I would think with larger firms there still has to be some changes made in infrastructure so might take a bit to get the lines active.

 

[Shad]

Some minion told him that people would applaud if he did it so he did.

On the other hand, I'm loving the creativity that is exploding. Oh wait, we put masks away and have a gazillion of them. Oh wait, we're a company that sucks and blows, Dyson vacuum, so we can easily build ventilators. Oh wait, you need a part? We can 3D print one for you for pennies rather than the exorbitant cost you're being charged.

The kind of President I want would be celebrating the ingenuity of people and honoring their accomplishments and enabling people's creativity.

Ford is making ventilators. Your grasp of current actions is shallow.

 

[Lyndon]

actually Trump is not willing to pay for the ventilators;

Trump Administration Pulls Back From $1 Billion Coronavirus Ventilator Deal

 

[Martin]

actually Trump is not willing to pay for the ventilators;

Trump Administration Pulls Back From $1 Billion Coronavirus Ventilator Deal

That's not a good development. I think Trumps false optimism will end up costing a lot of lives.

 

[Valjean]

Ford is making ventilators. Your grasp of current actions is shallow.

Yes -- the kind in the dashboard of trucks and SUVs.
There are plans circulating about various companies making vent components or complete vents, but I don't think anything is in production yet.

The US has become increasingly Libertarian and Neoliberal in recent years. Government is leery of interfering with business enterprises and profit making -- even when they're their being predatory.

Forcing companies to adopt non-profitable, socially beneficial policies smacks of socialism. Forcing them to abandon profitable but parasitic practices -- well, that's just big-government tyranny.
Social welfare is no longer the concern of government. Even when an emergency like the current pandemic forces them to take action, the conservatives are reluctant to pull out all the stops.

 

[stvdv]

Personally, I think Mr. Trump has not employed the Act because all five of Mr. Trump's working brain cells are currently fully employed trying to remember what his last golf score was. Thus, he has no room left over to ponder implementing the act in order to save lives.

I wish it was that innocent.

 

[exchemist]

Mr. Trump has invoked the Defense Production Act, but he has to date not employed it. Consequently, American manufacturing has not been fully mobilized to produce such supplies as masks, ventilators, gowns, and other equipment needed in the fight against this virus, and currently in short supply. By all accounts, this is exceedingly likely to cost lives.

Some say Mr. Trump is reluctant to implement the Act because he would not then be able to charge the Democrats with being dangerous socialists in the upcoming election.

But what do you think is the reason why he is not making use of the Act?


Personally, I think Mr. Trump has not employed the Act because all five of Mr. Trump's working brain cells are currently fully employed trying to remember what his last golf score was. Thus, he has no room left over to ponder implementing the act in order to save lives.


____________________
And now for some music...

I think he has worked out his game plan. As ever, it is focused, first and foremost, on blame. It is to deny any presidential responsibility for the issue and line up the right wing media to blame the mayors and governors of the affected states and cities instead.

He is banking on the Bible Belt and the rural whites to get the virus later, once the peak in the cities is well past, by which time there will be plenty of capacity to treat them. They will be encouraged to feel this scourge is the fault of Democrats, gays, etc. in the evil "cities of the plain" and enabled to view it smugly as retribution. Trump's pointed references to Easter being a beautiful time and to looking forward to packed churches (at the height of the epidemic) are in my opinion an appeal to this demographic and this way of thinking.

So, unlike any other leader in the world (apart perhaps from Bolsonaro), Trump intends not to unify the country in a collective exercise to deal with the virus but use it as a tool to sow further divisions.

 

[Mindmaster]

Mr. Trump has invoked the Defense Production Act, but he has to date not employed it. Consequently, American manufacturing has not been fully mobilized to produce such supplies as masks, ventilators, gowns, and other equipment needed in the fight against this virus, and currently in short supply. By all accounts, this is exceedingly likely to cost lives.

Because, at least as of current anytime he's asked the companies have done it willingly.

I don't remember all the companies, but I know Elon Musk's companies and automakers have totally offered the Trump administration resources to produce items. So, it's being done, but not being mandated. As it stands now, the gear heads in the CDC asked for a certain capacity and private industry volunteered to help. Companies that work with cloth, for example, are also hugely producing masks and other ppe-related items. The heavy industry is mostly working on the ventilator problems.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Personally, I think Mr. Trump has not employed the Act because all five of Mr. Trump's working brain cells are currently fully employed trying to remember what his last golf score was. Thus, he has no room left over to ponder implementing the act in order to save lives.

I wish it was that innocent.

^ this

 

[Sunstone]

Unless and until Mr. Trump mobilizes America's industry to produce and distribute medical supplies, hospitals will be competing with hospitals for the available supplies, states will be competing with states, and the price gouging and profiteering will continue unabated.

There is no substitute for national mobilization.

 

[pearl]

The announcement comes after Gov. Charlie Baker and state Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders urged the deans of the Boston University, Harvard University, Tufts University and the University of Massachusetts medical schools to graduate students early so they could volunteer in area hospitals as the number of COVID-19 patients climbs.

ma med students to fight corona virus - Bing

 

[Revoltingest]

Many are already joining in on the mobilization.

Private tech companies mobilize to address shortages for medical supplies, masks and sanitizer – TechCrunch

I would think with larger firms there still has to be some changes made in infrastructure so might take a bit to get the lines active.

I was wondering about that. If government is getting mobilization cooperation
from companies without government's imposing it, then that would be best.
Commanding it should be resorted to only against laggards or the recalcitrant.

 

[Augustus]

Personally, I think Mr. Trump has not employed the Act because all five of Mr. Trump's working brain cells are currently fully employed trying to remember what his last golf score was. Thus, he has no room left over to ponder implementing the act in order to save lives.

Trump: ‘Let Them Breathe Cake’

Tonight on Sean Hannity’s show, President Trump said (just past the 25:40 point) that people are exaggerating the number of ventilators needed in this crisis. “I don’t believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators,” said the president.

From The New York Times on Thursday:

What is really needed, a number of public health experts and former government officials say, is for Washington to take control of the nation’s existing ventilator supply. Because peak coronavirus infections will hit cities and regions at different times in the coming months, a centralized federal effort could send unused machines to hospitals that need them most.

“This is a national crisis,” said Frank Kendall, who served as under secretary of defense for acquisition and logistics in the Obama administration. “In a time of scarcity, you can’t leave it up to companies and governors to manage it themselves.”

Mr. Kendall said that only the federal government had the authority to take over the allocation of ventilators, both from manufacturers who are in the business of selling devices to the highest bidder, and state leaders unlikely to voluntarily let go of machines they fear they might need in the future.

“As the states become more desperate, someone has to referee the situation,” he said. “The marketplace isn’t set up to do that.”

The United States currently has between 160,000 and 200,000 ventilators, but could need up to a million machines over the course of the outbreak, according to the Society of Critical Care Medicine. In New York, the epicenter of the outbreak in the U.S., hospitals are already on the verge of running out, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said this week.

More:

Mr. Trump’s solution has been to push the private sector to voluntarily address the shortage. In a Twitter post on Sunday, he encouraged the big car companies to jump in to help make ventilators, and General Motors and Ford responded with announcements that they would partner with medical device companies to produce the machines.

But military experts say Mr. Trump could also tap the logistical prowess of the Pentagon and the legion of defense contractors primed to quickly solve complex challenges. The federal government could address problems in the global supply chain that are depriving ventilator companies of the components they need to increase production.

Trump: 'Let Them Breathe Cake' | The American Conservative

 

[Mindmaster]

Unless and until Mr. Trump mobilizes America's industry to produce and distribute medical supplies, hospitals will be competing with hospitals for the available supplies, states will be competing with states, and the price gouging and profiteering will continue unabated.

There is no substitute for national mobilization.

I prefer to keep the government out of it as much as possible because they're not good at these things.

However just an example of what is going on:

Ford says it's ramping up production to combat coronavirus: 'We're going like hell' on masks, ventilators

L’Oréal Is Producing Hand Sanitizer to Combat the Spread of COVID-19

Similar To WWII, Companies Are Repurposing To Fight The Coronavirus

But, let's face it... You'd probably think you were having a wet dream if Trump actually enforced that order. You'all are so looking for making him out to be a dictator or something you're just like totally on the edge of your seats with the suspense, lol.

I'm happy there is no need and that any company that can partner with a ppe or medical machine company to automate or mass produce items is doing everything they can, in many cases without even being asked. That's what's great about America -- private industry solves the problems much more quickly because they're financially advantaged to do so.

 

[Lyndon]

you mean because they make tonnes of money doing it, corporations don't have consciences, they just exist to make money.

 

[pearl]

Trump consistently refers to the pandemic as a 'problem', can't even say the word. He through out the playbook used by previous administrations to cope with the possible occurrence of such a pandemic. He simply chose to ignore all the early intelligence that warned of a real threat of the approaching virus.

 

[Augustus]

you mean because they make tonnes of money doing it, corporations don't have consciences, they just exist to make money.

Some of the people who run corporations do have consciences though and aren't always thinking about the best way to fleece everyone. People who run corporations are just like the rest of us, some are good people, others are not, some will help because they can, others will only help if they get something in return.

Numerous companies worldwide have offered to produce at cost, or even donate machines free of charge. People can actually want to help others without thinking about 'what's in it for me' you know.

 

[RedDragon94]

But what do you think is the reason why he is not making use of the Act?

Maybe he's got a lot on his plate or he's ignorant of the fact that he needed to choose a date. Smh. Or he's Illuminati and he wants to kill off a few peeps. I don't really feel like talking negatively about him cause, well, on second thought I think he's dead wrong to just open everything back up by Easter. I think Fauci needs to actively try to convince him that's a bad idea. But I digress.

Watch, it'll be because he didn't think about it.