masks and social distancing should be followed, but not punished by law

what are you on about?

you haven't answered my question.

The state shouldn't also set different standards for how businesses operate, if a Big Box Retailer can operate with no limits on how many occupants can be inside, while closing a smaller retailer across the street arbitrarily

i agree, should be same rules for all. strip joints shouldn't be open if religious institutions are closed. Or maybe they should, what do i know.

I mean look at workers in the meat packing industry during this pandemic, following the laxest of procedures, while smaller restaurants are being forced to shutdown or slapped with nonsense fines despite following all the city's ordinances.

People view it as a way to squeeze money out of people who barely have enough to support themselves or employees while the big dogs can operate as freely as they want with no repercussions.

And I don't blame people for having that view

especially when the vast majority of relief money goes directly to them, and nothing in the form of extending unemployment benefits, no stimulus checks or mortgage freezes for people that didn't sign up with HUD prior to becoming a home owner.

I understand why the restaurants have to be shutdown, the science shows the correlation between restaurants & the spread. But with closure, i expect the Government to step in and financially support businesses. they can bailout big corporations, airlines etc why not small businesses.

The stimulus package has been a complete joke.

If there is a science for restaurants, then why was the French Laundry allowed to operate and host Gav Newsom's friends with no social distancing or mask mandates?

You can't blame people for questioning the science if there's unequal application of the law that follows it.

Hypocrisy.

Not to mention, you can't force someone to close down without giving them some form of monetary compensation for the owners and their employees.

We haven’t done any better here in England. We have the new variant spreading like wildfire.

That's hostage taking of the highest order

That's the problem.

Churchill, do you have a good stimulus package? i hear it's average.

Then in that case, they should be allowed to operate under virtue of being denied any reasonable compensation for having to close down. You can't force someone to stop making a living without picking up the tab.

i agree. The Government has to step in.

and yet they've proven they won't. We're just going to see pork bill after pork bill.

The only hope at this point is to get vaccines rolling out as quickly as possible

and even then I'd be skeptical of these "logical" leaders to divest themselves of any power once the pandemic blows over

It’s not the same as the U.S. we don’t get stimulus cheques. Only financial support. 80% of wages. Same for businesses. Sufficient to some extent. Some always fall through the gap!

@Churchill, you just advanced to level 4!

When someone like Rand Paul tells you that $600 is a slap in the face to common Americans, you know you done f'ed up.

i wouldn't keep my hopes up. Vaccine roll out will take time & convincing everyone to take it is a mammoth task.

i agree. The pork bill is hard to stomach.

I don't understand why Trump didn't push them sooner.

a number of reasons, but one being because Pelosi blocked most forms of relief in congress and determined to do so until after the election because she "didn't want to give Trump a win"

he could have fired off a few tweets rather he decided to go on about election fraud.

She only did a 180 on her stance until he called for $2000 checks during Christmas week.

Trumps used the coivid bill, he's politicized it all. and so have the dems to be fair.

Not to mention the added downside of printing so much money that the actual amount given has significantly less value compared to how much buying power it had 10 months ago.

very true. The dollar is not worth the same it used to be. the cost of war.

A smartphone I wanted to buy back in May at $700 jumped up in price to $850 USD when I checked again back in September

Everything is up. Plus trade wars POTUS has taken on...too many simultaneously.

we can blame one side or the other as much as we want, but we eventually become apologists for those we support.

It's a big club and you ain't in it.

It's why I respect someone like Rob who's taken a career in criminal defense to ensure people are treated fairly before the state. God knows we need more people like him.