Friday, June 5, 2020
In case you missed our statement earlier this week about the protests sweeping the country in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, we decided to re-share the link. At Triad, we believe every voice needs to be heard, and we believe in the power of diversity and inclusion.
On that somber but important note, we would also like to share the thoughts of Independence Blue Cross CEO Dan Hilferty, which were published by our friends at the Philadelphia Tribune.
And with the echoes of chanting and flash-bang grenades still ringing across America, we have now begun to get the obligatory “what will the riots mean in the November elections?” stories because LORD KNOWS we can’t spend more than one minute fixing a problem in this country before we go wandering off. We Americans have the attention span of a three-year-old on a Count Chocula binge.
Governor Wolf announced on Thursday that he will be seeking some sweeping changes on police policies in Pennsylvania, and red flag laws look like the first step that everyone is falling in line behind.
Wall Street is in full rejoice mode today after the economy added 2.5 million jobs in May, and the unemployment rate fell from a ghastly 14.7% to a slightly-less-ghastly 13.3%. There may be hope after all for the V-shaped recovery that many folks had written off. Nice to see some economic sun after a few long, dark months.
Before y’all start popping champagne corks, please take note of the recent report by the killjoys over at the CBO, who this morning told us all that COVID-19 is expected to trim about $8 trillion from the country’s GDP over the next decade. Thanks, guys and gals. Have a great weekend. Idiots.
The numbers are equally grim in Pennsylvania this morning as revenue estimates fell a whopping $400 million below estimate. This should give you all some idea of why the General Assembly passed a state budget last week and skedaddled outta town before these numbers came out. Not to worry, though. These numbers will be here when you get back.
Pennsylvania had an election on Tuesday, and by most accounts it went smoothly despite new voting machines in a slew of counties, and an avalanche of mail-in ballots. Political nerds (we have some around here, yes) are viewing the results as a Voting in the COVID Era test run on how to target and communicate with voters.
The biggest change caused by a million-and-a-half mail-in ballots is that a whole lot of races were not decided on Tuesday, and some still have not been. Imagine what will happen if, on Nov. 3, there is no clear winner for president and the vote–counting stretches into the following weekend. The president, we assume, would type and send more than a million tweets in that five-day span.
As of this morning, Philadelphia is now yellow. Six minutes after we wrote this sentence, a guy from south Philly walked into our office and said “Who youse callin’ yellow?” and punched us square in the face.
Over on the other side of the state, Allegheny County is now in the green phase, and the yinzers are ecstatic. This will last right up until they find themselves back to the good old days of sitting on the Parkway East for three hours each day, calling other motorists jagoffs. 
The novel coronavirus has accelerated the Turnpike’s schedule for a change that was not expected to occur for another couple of years: a move to all-electronic tolling. The nation’s first toll road announced this week that about 500 toll collectors would be permanently laid off, many of whom had already been sent home when traffic slowed to a trickle.
President Trump this week informed North Carolina that he has no problem at all yanking the GOP National Convention from the City of Charlotte unless that town is open for businesses from soup to nuts. The announcement caused the obligatory round of pandering by other states. Pick us, pick us!
In our We Can’t Make This Up segment this week, we take you to Florida (it has been a week or two since we took you there), where giant, toxic cane toads are taking over. These critters, which can kill a dog if the dog ingests one, are the latest sign that 2020 is trying to kill each and every one of us and is now apparently trying to take our pets, too.
That’s what passes for news around here as there are no longer any red counties left in Pennsylvania. Stay–at–home has been canceled, and now we all wait and pray that the only spikes we see this summer are of the baseball or golf kind. From all your friends at Team Triad, have a great weekend!