Some idiot out there still thinks Telsa is a hypergrowth company
Some idiot out there still thinks Telsa is a hypergrowth company
Stanphyl Capital’s letter to investors for the month of March, 2020 discussing that Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) isn’t a hypergrowth company.
Q4 2019 hedge fund letters, conferences and more
Stanphy Capital Remains Short Tesla
We remain short Tesla Inc. (TSLA), which I still consider to be the biggest single stock bubble in this whole bubble market. The core points of our Tesla short thesis are:
- Tesla has no “moat” of any kind; i.e., nothing meaningfully proprietary in terms of electric car technology, while existing automakers—unlike Tesla—have a decades-long “experience moat” of knowing how to mass-produce, distribute and service high-quality cars consistently and profitably, as well as the ability to subsidize losses on electric cars with profits from their conventional cars.
- In 2020 Tesla will again lose money, as it has every year in its 17-year existence.
- Tesla is now a “busted growth story”; revenue growth is flatlining while unit demand for its cars is only being maintained via price cutting.
- Elon Musk is a securities fraud-committing pathological liar.
After keeping his California factory open a week beyond an Alameda County-imposed coronavirus shutdown date (and then partially open even later), thereby exposing thousands of Tesla employees to this potentially deadly disease with the full cooperation of California’s filthy state and local politicians, Elon Musk officially earned the title of “America’s Most Sociopathic CEO.” His public statements and actions regarding COVID-19 have been absolutely vile; he’s truly one of the world’s most despicable human beings. Here’s an abbreviated timeline of his comments, courtesy of Twitter user @evdefender…
Tesla Isn't A Hypergrowth Company
With much of the world now shut down and auto sales at depression-era levels, on the back of my envelope I’d guess Tesla is currently burning around $100 million a week, and considering that its cash balance is likely far below the prettified number presented at the end of Q4 (even with a subsequent $2 billion capital raise), the company will clearly need to raise yet more capital in Q2 or Q3, perhaps into a fiercely unforgiving market.
In January Tesla reported $105 million in earnings for the fourth quarter of 2019 (entirely from the sale of regulatory emissions credits, not from a self-sustaining auto business), which was down 25% from Q4 2018, while revenue was up just 2% and the full-year loss was $862 million. If we compare the second half of 2019 to the second half of 2018, Tesla revenue fell 3% and net income fell 45%, and in Q4 U.S. revenue fell 34%. Yet somewhere out there is a mass of idiots still grotesquely overpaying for this stock because they think it’s a “hypergrowth” company. Liam Denning at Bloomberg did an excellent job of pondering that absurdity.
Additionally, Tesla’s “earnings” are typically inflated by at least $200 million per quarter due its massive ongoing warranty fraud, so in reality the company likely lost money in Q4; here’s an excellent Seeking Alpha article and another one in Fortune explaining some of this.
Yet even with all that fraud, here (courtesy of my friend, Twitter user @Montana_Skeptic) is a great historical chart of Tesla’s earnings track record despite billions of dollars in public subsidies:
And courtesy of Twitter user @TeslaCharts, here’s a chart of Tesla’s revenue “hypergrowth”:
What "Autopilot Will Be Feature Complete" Means
As for the nonsensical Q4 earnings conference call, this quote from Musk about when so-called “Autopilot” will be “feature complete” may have been the highlight:
“feature complete just means like it has some chance of going from your home to work let's say with no interventions. So, that's -- it doesn’t mean the features are working well, but it means it has above zero chance. So I think that's looking like maybe it's going to be a couple of months from now.”
That insane statement prefaces Musk’s desire to recognize approximately $500 million of non-cash (it’s already on the balance sheet) deferred revenue from its fraudulently named “Full Self-Driving” (the capabilities of which offer nothing of the kind), thereby turning a future money-losing quarter (likely Q2 2020) into one showing paper profits. Meanwhile, God only knows how many more people this monstrosity unleashed on public roads will kill, despite February’s NTSB hearing condemning it as dangerous.
For those of you looking for a resumption of growth from Tesla’s upcoming Model Y, demand for that car is reportedly disastrous. This is unsurprising, as it will both massively cannibalize sales of the Model 3 sedan and (later this year and in 2021) face superior competition from the much nicer electric Audi Q4 e-tron, BMW iX3 (in Europe & China), Mercedes EQB, Volvo XC40 and Volkswagen ID.4, while less expensive and available now are the excellent new all-electric Hyundai Kona and Kia Niro, extremely well reviewed small crossovers with an EPA range of 258 miles for the Hyundai and 238 miles for the Kia, at prices of under $30,000 inclusive of the $7500 U.S. tax credit. Meanwhile, the Model 3 will have terrific direct “sedan competition” later this year from Volvo’s beautiful new Polestar 2, the BMW i4 and the premium version of Volkswagen’s ID.3.
And if you think China is the secret to the resumption of Tesla’s growth, let’s put that market in perspective even without the coronavirus problems: prior to a recent 10% VAT exemption Tesla was selling around 30,000 Model 3s a year there, and “the story” is that avoiding the 15% tariff and 10% VAT, plus a $3600 EV incentive will allow it to sell a lot more. However, the rule of thumb for the elasticity of auto pricing is that every 1% price cut results in a sales increase of up to 2.4%. If we assume a 2.4x “elasticity multiplier,” domestically produced Model 3s that are 33% cheaper would result in annual sales of just 54,000 (33% x 2.4 = 79% more than the previous 30,000), meaning Tesla’s new Chinese factory would be a massive money-loser by running at just slightly more than 1/3 of its initial 150,000-unit annual capacity and 1/10th of the capacity it will have two years from now. This guarantees hugely missed growth targets and it is “growth” (or more accurately, the fantasy of growth) that drives Tesla’s stock price. And here’s a great overview of what a dogfight the Chinese EV market has become.
Tesla's Car Sales
Meanwhile, sales of Tesla’s highest-margin cars (the Models S&X) will be down by roughly 50% worldwide this year vs. their 2018 peak, thanks to cannibalization from the less expensive Model 3 and direct high-end competition (especially in Europe and China) from the Audi e-tron, Jaguar I-Pace, Mercedes EQC and Porsche Taycan, with multiple additional electric Audis, Mercedes and Porsches to follow, many at starting prices considerably below those of the high-end Teslas. (See the links below for more details.)
And oh, the joke of a “pickup truck” Tesla introduced in November won’t be any kind of “growth engine” either, especially as if it’s ever built it will enter a dogfight of a market.
Meanwhile, Tesla has the most executive departures I’ve ever seen from any company; here’s the astounding full list of escapees. These people aren’t leaving because things are going great (or even passably) at Tesla; rather, they’re likely leaving because Musk is either an outright crook or the world’s biggest jerk to work for (or both). And in January Aaron Greenspan of @PlainSite published a terrific treatise on the long history of Tesla fraud; please read it!
In May Consumer Reports completely eviscerated the safety of Tesla’s so-called “Autopilot” system; in fact, Teslas have far more pro rata (i.e., relative to the number sold) deadly incidents than other comparable new luxury cars; here’s a link to those that have been made public. Meanwhile Consumer Report’s annual auto reliability survey ranks Tesla 23rd out of 30 brands (and that’s with many stockholder/owners undoubtedly underreporting their problems—the real number is almost certainly much worse), and the number of lawsuits of all types against the company continues to escalate-- there are now over 800 including one proving blatant fraud by Musk in the SolarCity buyout (if you want to be really entertained, read his deposition!).
So here is Tesla’s competition in cars (note: these links are regularly updated)…
Porsche Macan EV to get Taycan platform and tech
Audi e-tron: Electric Has Gone Audi
2020 Audi E-Tron Sportback debuts slick new roofline, a bit more range
AUDI E-TRON GT FIRST DRIVE: LOOK OUT, TESLA (available 2020)
Audi's Q4 e-tron previews entry-level EV for 2021
Audi e-tron compact hatch to lead brand’s electrification plans
Audi TT set to morph into all-electric crossover
THE AWARD-WINNING ALL-ELECTRIC JAGUAR I‑PACE
Jaguar Land Rover to invest £1bn in three new UK-built EVs
Mercedes EQC electric SUV available now in Europe & China and in 2021 in the U.S.
Mercedes EQV Electric Minivan Revealed – Available 2020
Mercedes EQB Small SUV to boost brand's electric line-up
Mercedes EQS will be built in addition to the S-Class on a new dedicated electric platform
Volvo XC40 Recharge, a 408-HP Electric SUV comes in 2020
Volvo confirms electric version of next XC90
Volkswagen unveils the ID.3, its first ‘electric car for the masses’
VW confirms ID4 name for electric crossover
VW Group to launch 70 pure electric cars over the next decade
GM Reveals New Ultium Batteries & a Flexible Global Platform to Rapidly Grow EV Portfolio
GM to Revive Hummer Name on New Electric Pickup Model
Chevrolet Bolt Now Offers 259 Miles of Range
GM's Detroit-Hamtramck plant expected to build electric Escalade, Sierra
GM is transforming Cadillac into an electric brand
258-Mile Hyundai Kona electric is available now for under $40,000
Genesis Electric Luxury SUV Coming in 2022
239-Mile Kia Niro EV is Available Now For Under $40,000
Kia Soul EV’s Range Jumps to 243 Miles
Imagine by Kia will launch as Tesla-fighting halo EV
All-Electric Ford Mustang Mach-E Delivers Power, Style and Freedom for New Generation
Electric Ford F-150 arrives in 2021
Ford to build two European EVs based on VW’s MEB platform
Nissan LEAF e+ with 226-mile range is available now
Nissan Ariya Electric SUV Concept Is Destined for Production
BMW 1 Series Electric Coming As Early As 2021
BMW iX3 electric crossover goes on sale in 2020
BMW reveals i4 Model 3 fighter in near-production form
BMW’s 2021 iNEXT Returns In New Teasers Showing Prototypes Production
Rivian electric pickup truck- funded by Amazon, Ford, Cox & others- is on the way
Renault upgrades Zoe electric car as competition intensifies
Peugeot 208 to electrify Europe's small-car market
Peugeot to offer EV version of new 2008 small crossover
Toyota and Subaru Agree to Jointly Develop BEV-dedicated Platform and BEV SUV
Mazda extends MX name to new MX-30 electric crossover
SEAT will launch 6 electric and hybrid models and develop a new platform for electric vehicles
Opel sees electric Corsa as key EV entry
Opel/Vauxhall will launch electric SUV and van in 2020
Skoda accepting deposits for electric cars
New Citroen C4 Cactus to be first electrified Citroen in 2020
FCA to invest $788M to build new 500 EV in Italy
Maserati to launch electric sports car
Bentley Will Offer Hybrid Versions of Every Car It Makes and Add an EV by 2025
Lucid Motors closes $1 billion deal with Saudi Arabia to fund electric car production
Meet the Canoo, a Subscription-Only EV Pod Coming in 2021
Two new electric cars from Mahindra in India; Global Tesla rival e-car soon
Former Saab factory gets new life building solar-powered Sono Sion electric cars
And in China…
VW ramps up China electric car factories, taking aim at Tesla
SAIC Volkswagen to roll out 3 MEB-based EV models in 2020/2021
JAC-Volkswagen Launch SOL E20X, The 1st EV from the Joint Venture
Audi Q2L e-tron debuts at Auto Shanghai
Audi will build Q4 e-tron in China
FAW-Volkswagen’s Foshan plant said to produce e-tron Sportback
FAW Hongqi starts selling electric SUV with 400km range for $32,000
FAW (Hongqi) to roll out 15 electric models by 2025
China’s BYD launches six new electrified vehicles
Daimler & BYD launch new DENZA electric vehicle for the Chinese market
Geely, Mercedes-Benz launch $780 million JV to make electric smart-branded cars
Mercedes styled Denza X 7-seat electric SUV to hit market
Mercedes ‘makes mark’ with China-built EQC
Daimler and BMW to cooperate on affordable electric car in China
BMW, Great Wall to build new China plant for electric cars
BAIC Goes Electric, & Establishes Itself as a Force in China’s New Energy Vehicle Future
BAIC BJEV, Magna ready to pour RMB2 bln in all-electric PV manufacturing JV
Toyota, BYD will jointly develop electric vehicles for China
Lexus to launch EV in China taking on VW and Tesla
GAC Toyota to ramp up annual capacity by 400,000 NEVs
GAC unveils new NEV offshoot dubbed HYCAN
Chevrolet Menlo Electric Vehicle Launched in China
Buick Rolls Out First Electric Car for China
General Motors’ Chinese Venture to Sink $4.3 Billion Into Electric Vehicles by 2024
Nissan & Dongfeng to invest $9.5 billion in China to boost electric vehicles
PSA to accelerate rollout of electrified vehicles in China
Fiat Chrysler, Foxconn Team Up for Electric Vehicles
Hyundai Motor Transforming Chongqing Factory into Electric Vehicle Plant
Jaguar Land Rover's Chinese arm invests £800m in EV production
Renault reveals series urban e-SUV K-ZE for China
Renault & Brilliance detail electric van lineup for China
Renault forms China electric vehicle venture with JMCG
Honda Debuts New Everus VE-1 All-Electric SUV, But Only For China
Honda to roll out over 20 electric models in China by 2025
Geely launches new electric car brand 'Geometry' – will launch 10 EVs by 2025
Mazda to roll out China-only electric vehicles by 2020
Xpeng Motors sells multiple EV models
China's cute Ora R1 electric hatch offers a huge range for less than US$9,000
JAC Motors releases new product planning, including many NEVs
Seat to make purely electric cars with JAC VW in China
Hozon
EV maker Bordrin skips flash, keeps real-car focus
NEVS launches electric-car output with Saab 9-3 platform in China
CHJ Automotive begins to accept orders of Leading Ideal ONE
Infiniti to launch Chinese-built EV in 2022
Zotye Auto to roll out 10 plus NEV models by 2020
Skywell makes inroads into China’s NEV domain
Continental, Didi sign deal on developing EVs for China
Here’s Tesla’s competition in autonomous driving…
Consumer Reports finds Tesla's Navigate on Autopilot is far less competent than a human driver
Navigant Ranks Tesla Last Among Automakers & Suppliers for Automated Driving
Tesla has a self-driving strategy other companies abandoned years ago
Waymo and Lyft partner to scale self-driving robotaxi service in Phoenix
Jaguar and Waymo announce an electric, fully autonomous car
Renault, Nissan partner with Waymo for self-driving vehicles
Fiat Chrysler partners with Aurora to develop self-driving commercial vans
Hyundai and Kia Invest in Aurora
Aptiv and Hyundai Motor Group complete formation of autonomous driving joint venture
Cadillac Super Cruise™ Sets the Standard for Hands-Free Highway Driving
Honda Joins with Cruise and General Motors to Build New Autonomous Vehicle
SoftBank Vision Fund to Invest $2.25 Billion in GM Cruise
Ford-VW alliance with Argo could redraw self-driving sector
VW taps Baidu's Apollo platform to develop self-driving cars in China
Audi to join Daimler, BMW self-driving tech alliance
Daimler's heavy trucks start self-driving some of the way
SoftBank, Toyota's self-driving car venture adds Mazda, Suzuki, Subaru Corp, Isuzu Daihatsu
Volvo, Nvidia expand autonomous driving collaboration
Continental & NVIDIA Partner to Enable Production of Artificial Intelligence Self-Driving Cars
Intel’s Mobileye has 2 million cars (VW, BMW & Nissan) on roads building HD maps
Nissan gives Japan version of Infiniti Q50 hands-free highway driving
Nissan and Mobileye to generate, share, and utilize vision data for crowdsourced mapping
Magna joins the BMW Group, Intel and Mobileye platform as an Integrator for AVs
Hyundai to start autonomous ride-sharing service in Calif.
Uber unveils next-generation Volvo self-driving car
Pony.ai raises $462 million in Toyota-led funding
Baidu kicks off trial operation of Apollo robotaxi in Changsha
Toyota to join Baidu's open-source self-driving platform
Baidu, WM Motor announce strategic partnership for L3, L4 autonomous driving solutions
Baidu plans to mass produce Level 4 self-driving cars with BAIC by 2021
Volvo, Baidu to co-develop EVs with Level 4 autonomy for China
Didi Chuxing Teams with NVIDIA for Autonomous Driving and Cloud Computing
Geely selects Volvo, Veoneer joint venture as autonomous tech supplier
BMW and Tencent to develop self-driving car technology together
BMW, NavInfo bolster partnership in HD map service for autonomous cars in China
FAW Hongqi readies electric SUV offering Level 4 autonomous driving
Tencent, Changan Auto Announce Autonomous-Vehicle Joint Venture
Huawei steps up ambitions in self-driving vehicles race
BYD partners with Huawei for autonomous driving
Lyft, Magna in Deal to Develop Hardware, Software for Self-Driving Cars
Deutsche Post to Deploy Test Fleet Of Fully Autonomous Delivery Trucks
ZF autonomous EV venture names first customer
Magna’s new MAX4 self-driving platform offers autonomy up to Level 4
Groupe PSA’s safe and intuitive autonomous car tested by the general public
Mitsubishi Electric to Exhibit Autonomous-driving Technologies in New xAUTO Test Vehicle
Apple acquires self-driving startup Drive.ai
Momenta – Building Autonomous Driving Brains
JD.com Delivers on Self-Driving Electric Trucks
NAVYA Unveils First Fully Autonomous Taxi
Fujitsu and HERE to partner on advanced mobility services and autonomous driving
Lucid Chooses Mobileye as Partner for Autonomous Vehicle Technology
First Look Inside Zoox’s Autonomous Taxi
Nuro’s Robot Delivery Vans Are Arriving Before Self-Driving Cars
Here’s where Tesla’s competition will get its battery cells…
Panasonic (making deals with multiple automakers)
Northvolt (backed by VW & BMW)
Toyota accelerates target for EV with solid-state battery to 2020
ProLogium Technology Will Produce First Next Generation Lithium Ceramic Battery For EVs
BMW invests in Solid Power solid-state batteries
Ford invests in Solid Power solid-state batteries
Hyundai Motor developing solid-state EV batteries
Most car makers will use those battery cells to manufacture their own packs. Here are some examples:
Daimler starts building electric car batteries in Tuscaloosa – one of 8 battery factories
GM picks Lordstown site for $2.3 billion battery plant
GM inaugurates battery assembly plant in Shanghai
PSA to assemble batteries for hybrid, electric cars in Slovakia
Honda Partners on General Motors' Next Gen Battery Development
France's Saft plans production of next-gen lithium ion batteries from 2020
Sokon aims to be global provider of battery, electric motor, electric control systems
BMW Group invests 200 million euros in Battery Cell Competence Centre
BMW Brilliance Automotive opens battery factory in Shenyang
Rimac is going to mass produce batteries and electric motors for OEMs
Here’s Tesla’s competition in charging networks…
Electrify America is spending $2 billion building a high-speed U.S. charging network
EVgo is building a U.S. charging network
191 U.S. Porsche dealers are installing 350kw chargers
ChargePoint to equip Daimler dealers with electric car chargers
GM and Bechtel plan to build thousands of electric car charging stations across the US
Ford introduces 12,000 station charging network, teams with Amazon on home installation
Petro-Canada Introduces Coast-to-Coast Canadian Charging Network
Volta is rolling out a free charging network
Ionity has over 150 European 350kw charging stations
E.ON and Virta launch one of the largest intelligent EV charging networks in Europe
Volkswagen plans 36,000 charging points for electric cars throughout Europe
Smatric has over 400 charging points in Austria
Allego has hundreds of chargers in Europe
BP Chargemaster/Polar is building stations across the UK
Instavolt is rolling out a UK charging network
Fastned building 150kw-350kw chargers in Europe
Deutsche Telekom launches installation of charging network for e-cars
Shell starts rollout of ultrafast electric car chargers in Europe
Total to build 1,000 high-powered charging points at 300 European service-stations
Volkswagen, FAW Group, JAC Motors, Star Charge formally announce new EV charging JV
BP, Didi Jump on Electric-Vehicle Charging Bandwagon
Evie rolls out ultrafast charging network in Australia
Evie Networks To Install 42 Ultra-Fast Charging Sites In Australia
And here’s Tesla’s competition in storage batteries…
International
Beloved mall retailer files Chapter 7 bankruptcy, will liquidate
The struggling chain has given up the fight and will close hundreds of stores around the world.
It has been a brutal period for several popular retailers. The fallout from the covid pandemic and a challenging economic environment have pushed numerous chains into bankruptcy with Tuesday Morning, Christmas Tree Shops, and Bed Bath & Beyond all moving from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation.
In all three of those cases, the companies faced clear financial pressures that led to inventory problems and vendors demanding faster, or even upfront payment. That creates a sort of inevitability.
Related: Beloved retailer finds life after bankruptcy, new famous owner
When a retailer faces financial pressure it sets off a cycle where vendors become wary of selling them items. That leads to barren shelves and no ability for the chain to sell its way out of its financial problems.
Once that happens bankruptcy generally becomes the only option. Sometimes that means a Chapter 11 filing which gives the company a chance to negotiate with its creditors. In some cases, deals can be worked out where vendors extend longer terms or even forgive some debts, and banks offer an extension of loan terms.
In other cases, new funding can be secured which assuages vendor concerns or the company might be taken over by its vendors. Sometimes, as was the case with David's Bridal, a new owner steps in, adds new money, and makes deals with creditors in order to give the company a new lease on life.
It's rare that a retailer moves directly into Chapter 7 bankruptcy and decides to liquidate without trying to find a new source of funding.
The Body Shop has bad news for customers
The Body Shop has been in a very public fight for survival. Fears began when the company closed half of its locations in the United Kingdom. That was followed by a bankruptcy-style filing in Canada and an abrupt closure of its U.S. stores on March 4.
"The Canadian subsidiary of the global beauty and cosmetics brand announced it has started restructuring proceedings by filing a Notice of Intention (NOI) to Make a Proposal pursuant to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (Canada). In the same release, the company said that, as of March 1, 2024, The Body Shop US Limited has ceased operations," Chain Store Age reported.
A message on the company's U.S. website shared a simple message that does not appear to be the entire story.
"We're currently undergoing planned maintenance, but don't worry we're due to be back online soon."
That same message is still on the company's website, but a new filing makes it clear that the site is not down for maintenance, it's down for good.
The Body Shop files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy
While the future appeared bleak for The Body Shop, fans of the brand held out hope that a savior would step in. That's not going to be the case.
The Body Shop filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the United States.
"The US arm of the ethical cosmetics group has ceased trading at its 50 outlets. On Saturday (March 9), it filed for Chapter 7 insolvency, under which assets are sold off to clear debts, putting about 400 jobs at risk including those in a distribution center that still holds millions of dollars worth of stock," The Guardian reported.
After its closure in the United States, the survival of the brand remains very much in doubt. About half of the chain's stores in the United Kingdom remain open along with its Australian stores.
The future of those stores remains very much in doubt and the chain has shared that it needs new funding in order for them to continue operating.
The Body Shop did not respond to a request for comment from TheStreet.
bankruptcy pandemic canadaGovernment
Are Voters Recoiling Against Disorder?
Are Voters Recoiling Against Disorder?
Authored by Michael Barone via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
The headlines coming out of the Super…
Authored by Michael Barone via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
The headlines coming out of the Super Tuesday primaries have got it right. Barring cataclysmic changes, Donald Trump and Joe Biden will be the Republican and Democratic nominees for president in 2024.
With Nikki Haley’s withdrawal, there will be no more significantly contested primaries or caucuses—the earliest both parties’ races have been over since something like the current primary-dominated system was put in place in 1972.
The primary results have spotlighted some of both nominees’ weaknesses.
Donald Trump lost high-income, high-educated constituencies, including the entire metro area—aka the Swamp. Many but by no means all Haley votes there were cast by Biden Democrats. Mr. Trump can’t afford to lose too many of the others in target states like Pennsylvania and Michigan.
Majorities and large minorities of voters in overwhelmingly Latino counties in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley and some in Houston voted against Joe Biden, and even more against Senate nominee Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas).
Returns from Hispanic precincts in New Hampshire and Massachusetts show the same thing. Mr. Biden can’t afford to lose too many Latino votes in target states like Arizona and Georgia.
When Mr. Trump rode down that escalator in 2015, commentators assumed he’d repel Latinos. Instead, Latino voters nationally, and especially the closest eyewitnesses of Biden’s open-border policy, have been trending heavily Republican.
High-income liberal Democrats may sport lawn signs proclaiming, “In this house, we believe ... no human is illegal.” The logical consequence of that belief is an open border. But modest-income folks in border counties know that flows of illegal immigrants result in disorder, disease, and crime.
There is plenty of impatience with increased disorder in election returns below the presidential level. Consider Los Angeles County, America’s largest county, with nearly 10 million people, more people than 40 of the 50 states. It voted 71 percent for Mr. Biden in 2020.
Current returns show county District Attorney George Gascon winning only 21 percent of the vote in the nonpartisan primary. He’ll apparently face Republican Nathan Hochman, a critic of his liberal policies, in November.
Gascon, elected after the May 2020 death of counterfeit-passing suspect George Floyd in Minneapolis, is one of many county prosecutors supported by billionaire George Soros. His policies include not charging juveniles as adults, not seeking higher penalties for gang membership or use of firearms, and bringing fewer misdemeanor cases.
The predictable result has been increased car thefts, burglaries, and personal robberies. Some 120 assistant district attorneys have left the office, and there’s a backlog of 10,000 unprosecuted cases.
More than a dozen other Soros-backed and similarly liberal prosecutors have faced strong opposition or have left office.
St. Louis prosecutor Kim Gardner resigned last May amid lawsuits seeking her removal, Milwaukee’s John Chisholm retired in January, and Baltimore’s Marilyn Mosby was defeated in July 2022 and convicted of perjury in September 2023. Last November, Loudoun County, Virginia, voters (62 percent Biden) ousted liberal Buta Biberaj, who declined to prosecute a transgender student for assault, and in June 2022 voters in San Francisco (85 percent Biden) recalled famed radical Chesa Boudin.
Similarly, this Tuesday, voters in San Francisco passed ballot measures strengthening police powers and requiring treatment of drug-addicted welfare recipients.
In retrospect, it appears the Floyd video, appearing after three months of COVID-19 confinement, sparked a frenzied, even crazed reaction, especially among the highly educated and articulate. One fatal incident was seen as proof that America’s “systemic racism” was worse than ever and that police forces should be defunded and perhaps abolished.
2020 was “the year America went crazy,” I wrote in January 2021, a year in which police funding was actually cut by Democrats in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Denver. A year in which young New York Times (NYT) staffers claimed they were endangered by the publication of Sen. Tom Cotton’s (R-Ark.) opinion article advocating calling in military forces if necessary to stop rioting, as had been done in Detroit in 1967 and Los Angeles in 1992. A craven NYT publisher even fired the editorial page editor for running the article.
Evidence of visible and tangible discontent with increasing violence and its consequences—barren and locked shelves in Manhattan chain drugstores, skyrocketing carjackings in Washington, D.C.—is as unmistakable in polls and election results as it is in daily life in large metropolitan areas. Maybe 2024 will turn out to be the year even liberal America stopped acting crazy.
Chaos and disorder work against incumbents, as they did in 1968 when Democrats saw their party’s popular vote fall from 61 percent to 43 percent.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.
Government
Veterans Affairs Kept COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate In Place Without Evidence
Veterans Affairs Kept COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate In Place Without Evidence
Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
The…
Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reviewed no data when deciding in 2023 to keep its COVID-19 vaccine mandate in place.
VA Secretary Denis McDonough said on May 1, 2023, that the end of many other federal mandates “will not impact current policies at the Department of Veterans Affairs.”
He said the mandate was remaining for VA health care personnel “to ensure the safety of veterans and our colleagues.”
Mr. McDonough did not cite any studies or other data. A VA spokesperson declined to provide any data that was reviewed when deciding not to rescind the mandate. The Epoch Times submitted a Freedom of Information Act for “all documents outlining which data was relied upon when establishing the mandate when deciding to keep the mandate in place.”
The agency searched for such data and did not find any.
“The VA does not even attempt to justify its policies with science, because it can’t,” Leslie Manookian, president and founder of the Health Freedom Defense Fund, told The Epoch Times.
“The VA just trusts that the process and cost of challenging its unfounded policies is so onerous, most people are dissuaded from even trying,” she added.
The VA’s mandate remains in place to this day.
The VA’s website claims that vaccines “help protect you from getting severe illness” and “offer good protection against most COVID-19 variants,” pointing in part to observational data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that estimate the vaccines provide poor protection against symptomatic infection and transient shielding against hospitalization.
There have also been increasing concerns among outside scientists about confirmed side effects like heart inflammation—the VA hid a safety signal it detected for the inflammation—and possible side effects such as tinnitus, which shift the benefit-risk calculus.
President Joe Biden imposed a slate of COVID-19 vaccine mandates in 2021. The VA was the first federal agency to implement a mandate.
President Biden rescinded the mandates in May 2023, citing a drop in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. His administration maintains the choice to require vaccines was the right one and saved lives.
“Our administration’s vaccination requirements helped ensure the safety of workers in critical workforces including those in the healthcare and education sectors, protecting themselves and the populations they serve, and strengthening their ability to provide services without disruptions to operations,” the White House said.
Some experts said requiring vaccination meant many younger people were forced to get a vaccine despite the risks potentially outweighing the benefits, leaving fewer doses for older adults.
“By mandating the vaccines to younger people and those with natural immunity from having had COVID, older people in the U.S. and other countries did not have access to them, and many people might have died because of that,” Martin Kulldorff, a professor of medicine on leave from Harvard Medical School, told The Epoch Times previously.
The VA was one of just a handful of agencies to keep its mandate in place following the removal of many federal mandates.
“At this time, the vaccine requirement will remain in effect for VA health care personnel, including VA psychologists, pharmacists, social workers, nursing assistants, physical therapists, respiratory therapists, peer specialists, medical support assistants, engineers, housekeepers, and other clinical, administrative, and infrastructure support employees,” Mr. McDonough wrote to VA employees at the time.
“This also includes VA volunteers and contractors. Effectively, this means that any Veterans Health Administration (VHA) employee, volunteer, or contractor who works in VHA facilities, visits VHA facilities, or provides direct care to those we serve will still be subject to the vaccine requirement at this time,” he said. “We continue to monitor and discuss this requirement, and we will provide more information about the vaccination requirements for VA health care employees soon. As always, we will process requests for vaccination exceptions in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and policies.”
The version of the shots cleared in the fall of 2022, and available through the fall of 2023, did not have any clinical trial data supporting them.
A new version was approved in the fall of 2023 because there were indications that the shots not only offered temporary protection but also that the level of protection was lower than what was observed during earlier stages of the pandemic.
Ms. Manookian, whose group has challenged several of the federal mandates, said that the mandate “illustrates the dangers of the administrative state and how these federal agencies have become a law unto themselves.”
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