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Texas governor reopens state then claims Biden is spreading COVID by letting immigrants in US with the virus
March 04, 2021
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) reopened Texas this week "100 percent," he announced. But now the Republican is blaming immigrants for the high cases of COVID-19 in the state.
Texas is experiencing a spike in cases similar to the one they experienced last summer.
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1690ff2ff9b4972018053c5c1c829d28" id="60337"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1366839864218517504"><div style="margin:1em 0">Reminder that Texas is roughly at the same numbers at the first major spike back in the summer:… https://t.co/FkhENIQBfn</div> — James Parham (@James Parham)<a href="https://twitter.com/jamesrparham/statuses/1366839864218517504">1614714992.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>But in a Tweet Wednesday evening, Abbott said that immigrants were spreading COVID-19 in the state because the borders are open. It's unclear why Abbott is calling on Biden to save Texas from COVID when he was the official who decided to reopen the country and dismiss the mask mandate. </p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8fe8f104919d782fb47507e4d678b6c7" id="af657"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1366846908480815106"><div style="margin:1em 0">I just announced Texas is OPEN 100%.
EVERYTHING.
I also ended the statewide mask mandate.</div> — Greg Abbott (@Greg Abbott)<a href="https://twitter.com/GregAbbott_TX/statuses/1366846908480815106">1614716672.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p><br/></p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="eabd7e4345d292a108cdddb6c7db2cb0" id="ca39d"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1367243450140086274"><div style="margin:1em 0">The Biden Administration is recklessly releasing hundreds of illegal immigrants who have COVID into Texas communiti… https://t.co/wFFOejcLME</div> — Greg Abbott (@Greg Abbott)<a href="https://twitter.com/GregAbbott_TX/statuses/1367243450140086274">1614811215.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>President Joe Biden called those reopening their states neanderthals. </p>
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Meatpacking industry outed for fighting feeble COVID safeguards under Trump: documents
March 03, 2021
Documents obtained from the United States Department of Agriculture by the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen and published Wednesday reveal how leading players in the meatpacking industry—one of the hardest-hit by the coronavirus pandemic—fought the minimal efforts imposed by the Trump administration to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in meat processing plants last spring.
As Public Citizen put it, "these docs are utterly damning."
<p>Responding to Public Citizen's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, the USDA handed over <a href="https://mkus3lurbh3lbztg254fzode-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2020-OSEC-04055-F_3rd-interim_Redacted.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">documents</a> (pdf) showing that:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li>In April 2020, officials in the North American Meat Institute protested USDA's decision not to send Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) inspectors who were exposed to Covid-19 into other plants. On April 15, 2020, one NAMI official stated that "we can't start sidelining individuals at FSIS or in the industry because they may have been exposed. We all may have been exposed at this point"; </li><li>Later in April 2020, officials at the National Chicken Council complained to USDA that FSIS was asking too many questions about Covid-19 testing at poultry processing facilities, stating the "questions seem to be unnecessary."</li><li>In May 2020, officials at animal processing giant Tyson Foods complained to USDA that the company had to "spend significant resources... each day when reporting positive team members."</li><li>In March 2020, the Food and Beverage Issue Alliance developed guidance for industry members stating that, unless state or local governments required it, "physical (social) distancing should be a tool but not a requirement."</li><li>Industry officials reported FSIS employees who warned their friends and families about plants with cases of Covid-19, specifically forwarding a personal Facebook post and asking USDA to take disciplinary action against the inspectors.</li></ul><p>Adam Pulver, an attorney at the Public Citizen Litigation Group, said in a statement that "it is heartbreaking to see the callousness of the meatpacking industry, pushing back against basic safety measures that could have saved hundreds of lives and helped contain the Covid-19 pandemic."</p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="fa8fb1444e4ed26d200a49e324e3f9da" id="38879"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1367195319922872325"><div style="margin:1em 0">BREAKING: New docs we uncovered show the meatpacking industry vehemently fought COVID safety measures, arguing that… https://t.co/HTeX4A9anG</div> — Public Citizen (@Public Citizen)<a href="https://twitter.com/Public_Citizen/statuses/1367195319922872325">1614799740.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>"While we knew that meatpacking companies did not take adequate measures to protect their workers and the communities they lived in from the threat of Covid-19, these documents show that the industry actively pushed back against the few steps the Trump administration took to try to ensure the safety of meatpacking workers and federal inspectors," Pulver added.</p><p>As Public Citizen notes, at least 45,000 coronavirus cases and 240 Covid-19 deaths have been linked to U.S. meatpacking facilities.</p><p>In September 2020, Public Citizen and American Oversight <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/15/usda-and-meatpacking-industry-collaborated-undermine-covid-19-response-documents" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">published documents </a>also obtained via FOIA requests that showed how the USDA and the meatpacking industry worked together to downplay and disregard risks to worker health during the pandemic. The documents revealed that a leading meat industry lobby group drafted a proposed executive order that was strikingly similar to a directive issued a week later by then-President Donald Trump to keep meatpacking plants open against the orders of local health officials. </p><p>Last September's revelations were followed by a November scandal involving supervisors at a Tyson Foods plant in Waterloo, Iowa who <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/19/depraved-tyson-food-managers-accused-betting-how-many-their-workers-would-get-covid" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">placed cash bets</a> on how many workers at the facility would contract the coronavirus. More than 1,000 employees—over a third of the plant's workforce—were infected.</p>
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South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) is coming under fire after it was discovered that the businesses of her family members were given $600,000 in COVID-19 funds from a state grant program pushed by her.
The Associated Press reported Wednesday that out of the 126 businesses across South Dakota, only five were given grants of $500,000, including a ranch owned by the Noem family.
<p>The business, which is run by Noem's brothers Rock and Robb Arnold, got the full amount after their sister expanded the amount. </p><p>"The Legislature approved the grant plan in October, but the family businesses benefitted from adjustments the Republican governor made," said the AP. "The plan initially capped grants at $100,000, but later in the month, with plentiful federal funds at their disposal, Noem's administration adjusted the grant cap to $500,000. The governor also later opened up a second round of grant applications to businesses hurt by the pandemic from September to November."<br/></p><p>The report said that there is no evidence that Noem was part of the decision to give the Noem family the funds. </p><p>The Noem family is refusing to answer questions about the grant or provide their financial statements for transparency. </p><p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/businesses-tied-to-noem-family-got-600000-in-virus-grants/2021/03/03/604456d2-7c7d-11eb-8c5e-32e47b42b51b_story.html" target="_blank">Read the full report. </a></p>
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