FEATURED INSIGHTS
INSIGHTS
The Unemployment Epidemic
Virginia’s unemployment office has been overwhelmed since the pandemic began, and a recent report from WJLA revealed that the agency is still processing applications from July. New applications peaked in May after federal stimulus benefits ran out…
A Guide to Combat COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories
Many of the vaccine conspiracy theories are fueled by a lack of information about vaccine ingredients. This can be countered through a public awareness campaign explaining how the vaccines are made. The following is a survey of common conspiracies related to COVID-19 and the upcoming vaccines and a science-based refutation of the misinformation…
Virginia’s COVID Strategy: D-
Confusion remains over many elements of the problematic orders. However, business organizations' complaining about new limits is not among those 'problematic' issues, as they had disproportionate influence over the state's public health policy all along. The excessive deference Dr. Ralph Northam gave to business interests sacrificed the lives of hundreds of Virginians. Here are the parts that remain problematic:
COVID Infections Hit New Highs
The United States now regularly reports over 100,000 new coronavirus infections daily, and many states are discussing the possibility of new lockdowns. Greece and Britain have already locked down again, while Italy, France, and Germany announced regional lockdowns for areas suffering from severe COVID outbreaks. The U.S. now faces the uncontrolled community spread, and it has made no serious effort to mitigate the virus going into the winter months.
Our New Reality: Unmitigated COVID Spread
The U.S. will soon report 100,000 new cases of coronavirus daily, with that figure rising as long as states keep schools open. Unless the nation takes collective vigilant action, American families are in store for devastation never before experienced in the United States. The White House coronavirus task force is warning states in the middle and western regions that they require aggressive measures to curb the virus’ spread.
Pre 2020 Election Politics
The Trump Administration did more to erode government credibility and the public trust than any President since Watergate, and these crimes are far more severe. The reality is that every Supreme Court decision made is now illegitimate. Every government bureaucratic order from a Trump appointee is illegitimate and stymied public reforms, and efforts to roll back healthcare and other welfare protections will make violent revolution inevitable.
Vaccines Progress, FDA Approves Useless Treatment
There is good news out of Oxford, which said that the vaccine it developed with Astra Zeneca worked well and triggered a robust immune response in volunteers. Despite the good news, the UK government is warning that a widespread rollout of a coronavirus vaccine is unlikely before Christmas. The government added that the possibility of wider spread use of vaccines isn't going to happen until the spring of next year at the earliest. We would have enough doses and enough understanding of the medical infrastructure to distribute them effectively by that time.
Should Americans Prepare for Civil War?
Donald Trump has set America on a path to bloodshed and catastrophe. According to the FBI, white supremacists and other rightwing extremists are responsible for over two-thirds of the domestic terrorist attacks and plots this year, with over half that violence targeting protestors. By contrast, only a single deadly “far-left” attack occurred in 2020 in Portland, according to the centrist think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies has studied domestic terror attacks since 1994.
Flocking Toward Herd Immunity
Governments are anxious to avoid returning to economically damaging lockdowns and mass quarantines, so getting ready for winter should mean the U.S. works to get COVID infection numbers as low as possible. Instead, it is exploring a dangerous path to herd immunity—unmitigated viral spread that has young, non-disabled workers resuming their daily lives as usual while vulnerable populations continue their isolation
COVID Strategy Guide: Analyzing College Reopening Policies
Absent uniform or scientifically-accurate federal standards, American colleges and universities are charting their own courses to varying degrees of success. Those institutions already face known economic pressures and implemented an array of strategies to mitigate the pandemic.
Every sound reopening strategy has four common elements: Widespread testing and contact tracing; Quarantines and social distancing measures; Transparent communication of data/policy; and Innovation
STRATEGY GUIDE: VACCINE GEOPOLITICS WILL DESTABILIZE
If it was unclear clear that the Cold War is back on, Russia named its vaccine program “Sputnik V.” Clear political messaging from an autocratic oligarchy populated with the former Soviet officials.
COVID STRATEGY GUIDE: Work (and Learn) from Home
Experts believe that the coronavirus will "ping-pong" around the United States, infecting "reopened" communities and decreasing in places as they lockdown. The 18-25 demographic is the least compliant with public health measures, so we assume that students everywhere will flout campus security and rules meant to protect public health. Dormitories also present a challenge as increased housing density can contribute to worse outcomes, as indicated by the viral spread in large cities, nursing homes, and jails.
COVID STRATEGY GUIDE: Two Races - Vaccines & the Election
We have learned that a safe, effective vaccine against COVID-19, the infection caused by the coronavirus, most likely won’t be available for large segments of the world’s population until 2022 at the earliest.
COVID STRATEGY GUIDE: Emerging Crises
The eviction crisis is the severest looming economic issue. It portends an America with a dispossessed populace equal to or higher than that of the Great Depression. With the COVID pandemic threatening to worsen as summer cools into autumn, there is every worry we are facing an economic nightmare of unprecedented proportion — unless we act fast.
Coronavirus Strategy Guide: Schools as a disease vector
The long-delayed CDC guidance on school re-openings is unscientific, dangerous, and wrong. It indicates that President Trump succeeded in politicizing the recommendations of the CDC. This move is in-line with others that undermine the validity of U.S. data, including long-delays in test results. The U.S. is covering up official numbers and guidance, placing it on a clear trajectory for a worst-case scenario, in-line with other authoritarian countries like Brazil.
Transition Virginia Podcast: Pilot
Competitive Commonwealth Fund
Partner Thomas Bowman co-founded the Competitive Commonwealth Fund (CCF) PAC in 2016 after his extensive data analysis showed that Republicans spend 8:1 against Democrats…
LiUNA Mid-Atlantic
Resolute Strategies worked with LiUNA to repeal Right-to-Work in the Commonwealth of Virginia and invigorate the labor movement with a burst of new energy in the South.