25 Comments - Grandson of Man - Friday, May 1, 20 @ 10:33 am: Thankfully this poll is in line with others that show strong support for stay at home measures. Many have paid taxes and not asked for much extra in return. We’ve bailed out banks, corporations, farmers, handed out billions in tax cuts, loopholes, etc. It’s time for a People’s bailout, so to speak, and we should be helped by our governments. - Generic Drone - Friday, May 1, 20 @ 10:41 am: Our economy will not last if we close for another 8 weeks. - Oswego Willy - Friday, May 1, 20 @ 10:44 am: === Our economy will not last if we close for another 8 weeks.=== Show your work. Thanks. Also, less snarky, if the Feds are so willing with these programs to save businesses, isn’t better in the long term to help businesses for an extra month to curtail the virus more… versus “taking chances” and opening up too early, infections rise, and more “lockdowns” return? - Grandson of Man - Friday, May 1, 20 @ 10:53 am: Most people understand that the actions that we take or don’t take today have consequences. If we reopen too soon and start exponentially increasing infections, what kind of economy will we have then? We have to walk the line between protecting health and current economic harm. Most are in favor of proceeding in an intelligent and careful manner. - Generic Drone - Friday, May 1, 20 @ 10:56 am: The government will not help everybody. They already left loopholes where people are falling thru the cracks. - Pundent - Friday, May 1, 20 @ 11:11 am: =Our economy will not last if we close for another 8 weeks.= The poll makes clear that the people are putting their health before the economy. The economy won’t come back until our elected officials can implement a plan that allows people to feel safe. Yelling at the clouds won’t change that. - Demoralized - Friday, May 1, 20 @ 11:11 am: ==Our economy will not last if we close for another 8 weeks.== A. We don’t know that. It isn’t going to be pretty (it already isn’t) but to write off the economy without any other analysis than that’s the way you feel is wrong. B. I think the bigger story here is that only 8% say we should open immediately. Those 8%, though, certainly are making their voices heard loud and clear. The other 92% need to shout louder. - Bothanspy - Friday, May 1, 20 @ 11:13 am: ===+- Grandson of Man - Thankfully this poll is in line with others that show strong support for stay at home measures. Many have paid taxes and not asked for much extra in==== Proof positive that Twitter amplifies the voice of a vocal minority to make it appear as though they are the majority - Rich Miller - Friday, May 1, 20 @ 11:13 am: === officials can implement a plan that allows people to feel safe=== Yep. It’s what the president and others do not seem to understand. You can’t just magically flip the switch and expect people to venture forth. Some will, for sure, but most will hang back. - Former Candidate on the Ballot - Friday, May 1, 20 @ 11:14 am: I would be interested to see if respondents answers changed related to the economy if their paycheck was affected. I am currently paying my employees their full time wages for part time work - but it cannot go on forever. - thoughts matter - Friday, May 1, 20 @ 11:19 am: I’m not sure we need to do any further restriction of travel within the US. If people adhere to stay at home orders, then there’s not going to be much unnecessary travel going on. People do need to travel for family, emergency and work reasons. What we should do is inform people who are traveling to a more restrictive state that they have to wear the required masks and do their best adhere to to the stat at home rules in that state. - Pundent - Friday, May 1, 20 @ 11:31 am: =I would be interested to see if respondents answers changed related to the economy if their paycheck was affected.= Commission your own poll. Send it to the people who agree with you. You’ll be very happy with the results. People don’t feel safe. Our government is not doing enough to make people feel safe. People aren’t going to ignore those feelings just to go back to work. Being healthy and alive is more important. Business leaders have been clear. We don’t have enough testing to allow employees and customers to feel safe. The data is overwhelming in that regard. The President puts the blame on the media while ignoring the testing inadequacies. The CEOs disagree and so do their customers and employees. Fix the testing and you’ll fix the economy. - Proud Sucker - Friday, May 1, 20 @ 12:13 pm: ===Business leaders have been clear.=== And, I still believe, the major college and sports leagues are the canaries in this coal mine. They closed before they were asked or compelled. They will not fully resume operations until they are comfortable that their athletes, staff and patrons will be there (and not sue them). - ChicagoVinny - Friday, May 1, 20 @ 12:22 pm: You can’t get a 92% of a group of Americans to agree on pizza toppings, but we’re agreeing with staying at home. That is a movement. - Lynn S. - Friday, May 1, 20 @ 1:06 pm: =Our economy will not last 8 weeks= 1. Um, you’re aware that dead people don’t buy things, right? 2. You’re aware that people that people in the ICU or a post-ICU rehab facility generally aren’t buying consumer goods or many services, right? 3. Can we agree that if a consumer fears bankruptcy due to medical debt, they’re probably going to try to cut back on their spending? Or are you one of those ” ‘Murrica (banned punctuation)” folks, who blames people for having employers who increase their profits by giving their employees inadequate or no health insurance? 4. Given that many of us expect a second wave of Covid-19 in the fall, along with some form of a seasonal flu, you’re aware that a decent chunk of people (like me) are trying to limit purchases of consumer goods, right? Instead, we’re trying to pay off debt and save for the future we see over the next 2 years. I work in a job that is probably 98% dependant on consumer spending (institutional spending is a very small portion of my employer’s business). I’m currently on a voluntary layoff, and I don’t think I will be back to work until August 1. (And there’s about a 30-40% possibility I will be off work until January 2021.) No kids at home and cheap rent, so I’m spending about $30/week in groceries, and filling up my gas tank every 2-3 weeks. I suspect all the overtime I’ve worked in the last 2 years will evaporate when I go back, so I hope my spending stays like this when I go back to work. One of the issues this virus is exposing is the danger of an economy built on 70% consumer spending. I don’t know what a good level of consumer spending is, but I think that long-term, it’s going to have to decline slightly. I suspect that many people in the future will have a different (and possibly lower) standard of living than their baby boom great-grandparents. The economic dislocations and changes in the middle ain’t gonna be pretty, and will be downright brutal for many. - Candy Dogood - Friday, May 1, 20 @ 1:23 pm: Some folks have really made some very bad political calculations. I hope those miscalculations are reflected at the ballot box. ===Our economy will not last if we close for another 8 weeks. === Some people also seem to be unaware that in a market based economy that demand is the driver of that economy. To say that our “economy will not last” is to ignore that in 1 week, 2 weeks, or even 8 weeks that there will still be demand for goods and services. Ordering people back to work isn’t about protecting the economy, it’s about protecting individual wealth and those that are already extremely wealthy whose businesses are not prepared to respond to this pandemic and would rather see others die as a moral hazard than see their profits drop or their business become worthless because they were living quarter to quarter instead of making prudent long term business decisions. - Lynn S. - Friday, May 1, 20 @ 1:25 pm: @ Pundent How are we going to “fix testing”? If I give you a current Covid-19 test, it just tells me whether or not you’re infected at the time I give you the test. It doesn’t tell me if you pick up Covid-19 somewhere that night or the next day. You might be a super spreader with a false sense of security 6 days after that test. If we test daily, who’s going to pay the bills for manpower, supplies, and lab fees? In what other categories will spending decline or be cut entirely to pay those bills? Antibody tests would be best, but they may only be 95-98% confident. They aren’t here yet, and when they get here, we go back to the payment questions. A vaccine? I think we’ll be lucky to see one in 28-24 months. Same cost questions. And if you think I’m going to agree to a vaccine where testing has been skipped, or the manufacturer has blanket liability for bad outcomes, think again. I’m not giving up my health or my life to be your guinea pig. What we are in now is going to be our new “normal” for quite a while. It would be nice if everyone got rational about it, and certain folks quit trying to create divisions amongst our fellow citizens. This virus isn’t Republican or Democrat. It isn’t conservative or liberal. Atheist or religious. Rich or poor; black, white, brown, or any other color. It just is, and it is deadly to many, regardless of the patient’s economic class, political or religious beliefs, or sexual orientation. - Oswego Willy - Friday, May 1, 20 @ 2:06 pm: To the post, After digesting some of these numbers, and reading comments I come at this as I have since the first this stay at home became something; Those ignorant, truly to the definition of that word, to the reality that the opening of this state will only begin when people feel safe, they can rally, yell, scream, Facebook, tweet… but I’m not going anywhere if significance outside honest essential businesses (Restaurant food by carry out only) and ordering all I need online… and when 14 consecutive days of reductions happens, I’ll take pause to next steps. I owe the doctors and nurses and front line folks that respect. All my favorite places, food, entertainment, clothing, I miss. I want to share barstools with friends, eat dinner with family, shop for goods, and enjoy a ball game… … and now the angry tell me to be quiet (as I’m in the majority) and let them open… open… I won’t be there. Are going to convince the majority to come to your business too? Polling says they need to reassured, not berated by a minority forcing things that won’t make my choice difficult. It’s an easy choice. I’m not going to open places right now that aren’t essential. - Pundent - Friday, May 1, 20 @ 3:20 pm: =How are we going to “fix testing”?= We’re going to follow the advice of the scientists and medical professionals. It will be a combination of both serology testing to determine who has antibodies and regular testing of those that don’t. We have no choice. The goal is not to eliminated COVID-19 it’s too mitigate and manage the spread of disease by having far more information that we possess right now. The cost of implementing rigorous testing will be far less than the cost of not doing so. And we’ll supplement the testing with contact tracing. There’s a reason why Pritzker is talking about the three “Ts” it’s what the scientists are recommending. And it’s working in places like Australia. Why do you think that every discussion on the topic always comes back to this singular point? It is the most effective short term measure. Testing and tracing buys us time. The time to get to effective treatment and eventually a vaccine. This problem isn’t going to be solved tomorrow. But it can be made a whole lot more manageable if we follow a plan. And if you don’t agree with this plan then feel free to provide your alternative. - Saul Goodman - Friday, May 1, 20 @ 4:22 pm: I think the last question is the most important. Most of the public in Illinois supports the lockdown right now. But assuming current attitudes hold, that support will whittle down to a minority in about mid-June. (a total of %55 want business to reopen in 4-6 weeks or less) This could change of course, but if I were a Pritzker advisor, I’d make sure the Governor is aware of it, and that his planning accounts for it. - Oswego Willy - Friday, May 1, 20 @ 4:25 pm: === But assuming current attitudes hold, that support will whittle down to a minority in about mid-June. (a total of %55 want business to reopen in 4-6 weeks or less)=== If attitudes hold, how does support whittle down? Also, what are the lottery numbers in 4-6 weeks. - Saul Goodman - Friday, May 1, 20 @ 4:43 pm: “If attitudes hold, how does support whittle down?” Meaning people who are thinking early-to-mid June (”4-6 weeks”) would be the right time to reopen still think that way when June rolls around. I suppose it’s possible some of those people are thinking in terms of a rolling window, so “the right time” will always be a month or so away. But then people can get impatient too and move timing up. This is consistent with other nationwide polling I’ve seen in which people indicated they expect to be out of lockdown in June. - Saul Goodman - Friday, May 1, 20 @ 4:45 pm: “Also, what are the lottery numbers in 4-6 weeks.” I’m not telling. - Oswego Willy - Friday, May 1, 20 @ 4:45 pm: === I suppose it’s possible some of those people are thinking in terms of a rolling window, so “the right time” will always be a month or so away. But then people can get impatient too and move timing up.=== The polling responses to the science seem to also indicate that the science dictating timetables and the White House plan are well received and consistent with “science first” - Oswego Willy - Friday, May 1, 20 @ 4:46 pm: === I’m not telling.=== We both win, stave off others… :) Have a good weekend. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.