truthout--2020-04-27--Amazon Algorithm Is Manipulating Suppliers Into Favoring It Over Other Retailers

During the second week of March , as the stock market and many U.S. businesses slumped , Peter Spenuzza ’ s company , Rise Bar , enjoyed an unexpected boost .
Amazon , where the protein bars are sold , suggested Spenuzza keep 18,000 packages in its warehouses , up from the usual 4,000 , based on soaring demand for almond honey and other flavors .
Demand on Amazon , which is still close to that peak , poses a dilemma for Spenuzza .
Rise Bars are also sold in grocery chains nationally .
Although his Irvine , California , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ capacity , he didn ’ t have enough bars to send both to Amazon and to all the brick-and-mortar retailers who also have increased their orders .
One week in March , when he ran out of stock on Amazon , its algorithm demoted his product listings in Amazon ’ s search results and removed his sponsored ads .
Rise Bar plummeted from 2,000 to 8,000 in Amazon ’ s “ best seller ” ranking in the grocery category , allowing competitors to leapfrog him .
The brand ’ s weekly Amazon sales @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Spenuzza decided to regularly send the e-commerce giant the “ lion ’ s share ” of his inventory and ship whatever is left to everyone else , he said .
“ I ’ ve done as much as possible to filter all of our in-demand items to Amazon , ” he said .
He ’ s not alone .
At a time when much of the retail sector is collapsing , Amazon is strengthening its competitive position in ways that could outlast the pandemic — and that could raise antitrust concerns .
Increasingly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Amazon , while competing retailers take the leftovers , consultants and brand executives told ProPublica .
“ Amazon has the power to bury sellers and suppliers if they don ’ t comply , ” said Sally Hubbard , director of enforcement strategy at Open Markets Institute , a think tank that has been critical of Amazon and other big tech companies .
“ It might be automated through an algorithm , but it ’ s still the wrath of the monopolist that they are afraid of .
… Amazon is able to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ inventory by leveraging its monopoly power.
” As locked-down shoppers have flocked to buy food , medicine , cleaning supplies and personal care products on Amazon , the retailer has in turn upped its suggested inventory levels for many manufacturers that sell their products on its platform .
It has also expanded purchases of certain essential products that it sells directly to shoppers , often buying two or three times as much as it did before the pandemic , executives said .
The heightened demand has forced both third-party sellers on Amazon ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ difficult decisions over where to send inventory , consultants said .
Often , like Rise Bar , they ’ re favoring Amazon ahead of other retailers .
Third-party sellers like Spenuzza don ’ t have to keep as much merchandise in stock as Amazon recommends .
But if they run out on Amazon , where “ best seller ” status and a listing ’ s position in search results are linked to availability , the impact on sales could be devastating .
This pattern makes it harder for Amazon competitors , such as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ open during the pandemic , to keep coveted items in stock .
“ Everybody in retail realizes there ’ s limited access to certain stuff , so you better get there first , ” said James Thomson , the former business head of an Amazon team that recruits third-party sellers and now a consultant to brands working with the company .
“ The difference is that Amazon can afford to pony up the cash all at once and say , ‘ Back up the trucks , we ’ ll take it all.
’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Amazon a “ cardinal sin.
” An Amazon spokesperson said that the company is a relatively small player in the retail market , competing with “ all the other online and brick and mortar stores , ” and that Amazon is not responsible for suppliers prioritizing it over other customers .
The algorithm is designed “ to feature items we believe customers will want to purchase , and that includes items that are in-stock , ” the spokesperson said .
“ We are working to help our selling partners during this challenging @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the impact of different demand patterns we are seeing in light of COVID-19.
” “ Retail is a competitive industry with many choices for both customers and suppliers , ” the spokesperson added .
“ Suppliers make their own business decisions , not Amazon.
” In an April 16 letter to shareholders , CEO Jeff Bezos said the “ demand we are seeing for essential products has been and remains high ” and acknowledged it has created “ major challenges for our suppliers and delivery network.
” The company has waived fees typically @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fulfill purchase orders .
Amazon is facing at least one European antitrust investigation and two in the U.S .
The House Judiciary Committee last June announced an investigation into possible anti-competitive conduct by large tech companies including Amazon .
In addition , the Federal Trade Commission has been looking into possible anti-competitive practices at Amazon for at least nine months , examining among other things the power the company exerts over its suppliers , according to media reports .
The House investigation is ongoing , according to a spokesman for the chairman of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , while the FTC declined to comment .
The Amazon spokesperson declined to comment specifically on the investigations .
“ We face intense competition in every segment in which we operate , and we love that competition because it makes us serve customers better , ” the spokesperson said .
To build an antitrust case against Amazon , the government would need to prove that the company has substantial market power that was gained or maintained through improper conduct , said William Kovacic , director of the Competition Law Center at George Washington @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Federal Trade Commission .
Sellers favoring Amazon over other retailers could be a sign of market power , he said .
“ That everybody does just what you want and puts you first out of fear that if they fall out of favor with you , they ’ re in real trouble — that could be taken as proof of your market power , ” Kovacic said .
“ How people regard you , how they react to you , how they respond to your wishes is an indication of whether @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a key issue in these cases .
If people say , ‘ We don ’ t dare alienate them , ’ that is a part of that proof .
You have market power with respect to retailing and distribution because everyone knows if they disappoint you there will be a heavy price to pay .
… The crisis reinforces the position of significance that they had before.
” One advantage that Amazon has long enjoyed over some competitors is that it can afford to make little profit on retail in the short @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Hubbard said .
Unlike most traditional retailers , Amazon can rely on revenue from other parts of its business empire , such as cloud computing .
It has a history of pricing below cost to exclude competitors , a practice known as predatory pricing , said Hubbard , a former New York state assistant attorney general for antitrust issues .
To be sure , even Amazon doesn ’ t always have enough toilet paper and disinfecting wipes .
And traditional retailers also have ways of penalizing suppliers who don ’ t fulfill @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can reassign the shelf space reserved for one supplier ’ s merchandise to a competitor .
Retailers including Walmart , Target and Costco also sell merchandise online , but those retailers ’ e-commerce sites account for a small proportion of their overall sales , so suppliers may be less concerned about running out of stock on those sites .
Aside from the stick of the algorithm , Amazon offers several carrots to brands , including a massive customer audience and high levels of customer trust , said Steve Yates , chief executive of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ platform .
“ There ’ s good reason to say , ‘ If I have limited amount of inventory and where am I going to put it that is going to be most effective , ’ that Amazon is that place , ” Yates said .
Amazon represents less than 4 % of the U.S. retail market , and the same percentage of the grocery segment , according to the company spokesperson .
Its 2018 retail sales were less than one-third of Walmart ’ s , according to data published by the National @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for nearly 40 % of U.S. online sales , as against less than 5 % for Walmart , according to eMarketer .
Both e-commerce ’ s proportion of overall retail sales , and Amazon ’ s slice of e-commerce , are expected to increase because of consumer shifts online during the pandemic , according to the market research firm .
While U.S. retail sales decreased by 8.7 % in March , the worst monthly decline on record , sales at Amazon have been booming .
In response to customer demand , the company @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to hire 75,000 more .
For the week ending April 12 , customer spending on Amazon grew about 44 % compared to the same period last year , according to Facteus , a company that analyzes consumer transaction data .
Spending at Walmart was flat over the same period , although it did experience a spike in mid-March , according to Facteus .
Fahim Naim , a former Amazon category manager who now runs a consulting firm advising consumer brands working with the company , said large requests for high-priority goods have pushed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Amazon and other retailers .
One supplements brand deliberated last month about whether to send its in-demand inventory to Costco or to Amazon , both of which it considered important to its business .
In the end , the brand drastically reduced supplies to Costco , Naim said .
Naim declined to identify the company because it did not want to upset Costco .
Similarly , clients that sell deodorant , feminine care items and beauty and sexual wellness products have asked Naim whether they should sideline big-box retailers — even ones where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to maintain high levels of inventory at Amazon , he said .
He typically advises to favor Amazon .
Going out of stock on Amazon harms a brand ’ s rankings , such as “ best seller , ” which directly correlate to sales and are “ difficult to recover , ” he said .
Brands may give Amazon 80 % of inventory “ so they can at least have something left over ” for big-box retailers such as Walmart , Target and Costco , he said .
Spokesmen for Costco and Target @ @ @ @ @ @ @ respond to a request for comment .
“ It ’ s a tough decision , ” Naim said .
“ But you ’ re almost pinned against the wall in that you have to allocate at least a sufficient amount to Amazon to avoid going out of stock because the consequences of going out of stock on Amazon are often greater than the consequences of going out of stock elsewhere .
Amazon is so powerful right now , and there are so many customers on it .
The impact of not being on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in some of those stores.
” Another Naim client , Ramon van Meer , CEO of Las Vegas-based Alpha Paw , hasn ’ t been able to obtain new supply of his company ’ s popular dog training pads even as demand on Amazon for them has risen .
China has diverted some of the raw material used to manufacture the pads to making protective face masks , van Meer said .
Down to a 6- to 8-week supply of pads , van Meer has put on hold plans to expand to brick-and-mortar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ designated for sales on his own website to Amazon .
He ’ s also suspended advertising on Facebook and Instagram to dampen demand until he can find a manufacturer in a different country .
“ The worst thing that can happen for an Amazon seller is to go out of stock , ” van Meer said .
“ I ’ m really holding as much inventory as possible for Amazon .
I ’ d rather be out of stock on my own store than be out of stock on Amazon.
” Some suppliers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their other customers .
Beginning the first week of March , Amazon began sending purchase orders to Italy-based Corman of up to three times the normal amount for its Organyc brand feminine care products , said James Ebel , the company ’ s global vice president of marketing .
In addition to Amazon , which sells Organyc ’ s products directly to customers , Corman also supplies pharmacies such as CVS and Walgreens .
Corman , which had already planned for U.S. growth , was able to increase production to keep up with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ On Amazon , there has been a remarkable change in terms of our volume , ” Ebel said .
“ The migration of consumers to the platform is going to have a long-term impact.
” Amazon typically recommends that Fairy Tales Hair Care , based in New Jersey , keep a 30-day supply of its bestselling children ’ s shampoo .
That recommendation is now up to 90 days , CEO Risa Barash said .
Even so , the brand has enough inventory for Amazon and traditional retailers like the Wegmans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Barash said .
Eric Heller , a former Amazon senior manager , said some household-name brands he advises are shifting inventory from brick-and-mortar retailers to Amazon .
Beyond a desire to prevent going out of stock , they view supplying Amazon as “ altruistic ” since consumers are wary of leaving their homes , Heller said .
Hubbard , of Open Markets Institute , acknowledged the value of online shopping during the pandemic .
“ It doesn ’ t have to be evil for it to be anti-competitive , ” she said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ but still be engaging in conduct that is distorting the competitive marketplace.
” Even as Amazon has increased its stock of high-priority merchandise , it has reduced purchases of some items it deems nonessential .
“ Exploding Kittens , ” a popular card game made by one of Naim ’ s clients , went out of stock when Amazon temporarily stopped ordering it , Naim said .
Amazon also extended delivery times for some of his other clients ’ products .
Slower delivery correlates to lower sales because customers generally don ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ order .
Amazon has also differentiated delivery times for nonessential items in a way that some of its critics regard as potentially anti-competitive .
It placed shipping delays of several weeks on nonessential items sold by some third-party merchants on its platform .
But it promised delivery within days of nearly identical products that it sells under its AmazonBasics private label .
While Amazon said its private label products are only about 1 % of total sales , consultants said that AmazonBasics has taken market share from competitors in products such as batteries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that products including an in-stock backpack , a wireless mouse , a digital alarm clock and a set of wine glasses offered by third-party sellers all showed a delayed delivery of three weeks .
( Items may arrive faster than the stated delivery date . )
Amazon ’ s own , similarly priced versions of those products were available in several days , though some AmazonBasics products , such as a coffee maker , were also delayed .
A review this past week indicated that this gap had been eliminated and delivery times @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our logistics network to meet increased demand resulting from COVID-19 were not designed to advantage Amazon brands , retail vendors or sellers , ” the Amazon spokesperson said .
“ They have been based on how to best serve customers during the outbreak while helping ensure the health and safety of our employees.
” Kovacic , the former FTC chairman , said if he were Amazon ’ s general counsel , “ I ’ d be begging ” for the company to avoid the appearance of self-preference — a key area of government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unintentional .
“ They should not want to be doing anything at the moment that reinforces those concerns.
” Other Amazon decisions during the pandemic have highlighted the risk to sellers of relying on the company .
Under its Fulfillment by Amazon program , the retail giant for a fee packs and ships third-party sellers ’ goods from its warehouses to their customers , as well as providing customer service .
But on March 17 , it told these merchants that its warehouses would temporarily stop accepting shipments of products it deemed nonessential @ @ @ @ @ @ @ monthlong shipping delays on nonessential items already in warehouses , many sellers were left scrambling to fill customer orders themselves , said Tim Hughes , chief operating officer of a consulting firm that helps brands manage their Amazon accounts .
In addition , sellers whose nonessential products were already stored in Amazon ’ s warehouses have been temporarily unable to retrieve their merchandise as the company has prioritized fulfilling customer orders .
“ A lot of these people send all their inventory to Amazon , so there ’ s nothing they can do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is , in effect , “ held hostage ” until Amazon employees fetch it from the warehouse and return it to sellers , said Hughes , who worked in product management at Amazon .
To prioritize products such as household staples and medical supplies , Amazon has “ temporarily paused removal operations ” in some of its warehouses , the spokesperson acknowledged .
“ We know this is a change for our selling partners .
… We are working to increase capacity.
” Spenuzza , the Rise Bar CEO , has sold his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Last month , he and consultant Rachel Johnson Greer , who advises him on his Amazon business , discussed whether to fulfill a large order from Costco , she said .
Greer , a former Amazon senior program manager , warned him that being out of stock on Amazon would cause the algorithm to send Rise Bar listings further down on the search results pages , resulting in fewer potential customers seeing — and buying — his products there .
“ If you go out of stock on Amazon , you can have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ If I fulfill this order for Costco , I might drop in my rank from Amazon and I might not be able to get it back .
… Amazon is a single point of failure for a lot of these folks.
” Spenuzza filled Costco ’ s order for one week , and also sent stock to Amazon , he said .
But it took more than a week for Amazon to move the packages into its warehouse , and by the time the inventory was entered into the system , most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of stock .
“ Amazon was so overwhelmed that they needed to prioritize the highest selling essential items , ” he said .
During a late-March trip to a grocery store in Long Beach , Spenuzza noticed that shelves usually stocked with dozens of types of bars now looked “ half-empty , ” he said .
He knew that stores would be grateful for any bars he shipped to them , he said .
But he couldn ’ t spare the product .
That week , he sent about three-fourths of his protein @ @ @ @ @ @ @ % in January .

During the second week of March, as the stock market and many U.S. businesses slumped, Peter Spenuzza’s company, Rise Bar, enjoyed an unexpected boost. Amazon, where the protein bars are sold, suggested Spenuzza keep 18,000 packages in its warehouses, up from the usual 4,000, based on soaring demand for almond honey and other flavors.
Demand on Amazon, which is still close to that peak, poses a dilemma for Spenuzza. Rise Bars are also sold in grocery chains nationally. Although his Irvine, California, plant has been running at full production capacity, he didn’t have enough bars to send both to Amazon and to all the brick-and-mortar retailers who also have increased their orders. One week in March, when he ran out of stock on Amazon, its algorithm demoted his product listings in Amazon’s search results and removed his sponsored ads. Rise Bar plummeted from 2,000 to 8,000 in Amazon’s “best seller” ranking in the grocery category, allowing competitors to leapfrog him.
The brand’s weekly Amazon sales dipped by 25%. Dismayed, Spenuzza decided to regularly send the e-commerce giant the “lion’s share” of his inventory and ship whatever is left to everyone else, he said.
“I’ve done as much as possible to filter all of our in-demand items to Amazon,” he said.
He’s not alone. At a time when much of the retail sector is collapsing, Amazon is strengthening its competitive position in ways that could outlast the pandemic — and that could raise antitrust concerns. Increasingly, manufacturers of in-demand products are catering to Amazon, while competing retailers take the leftovers, consultants and brand executives told ProPublica.
“Amazon has the power to bury sellers and suppliers if they don’t comply,” said Sally Hubbard, director of enforcement strategy at Open Markets Institute, a think tank that has been critical of Amazon and other big tech companies. “It might be automated through an algorithm, but it’s still the wrath of the monopolist that they are afraid of. … Amazon is able to cut off its competitors’ access to inventory by leveraging its monopoly power.”
As locked-down shoppers have flocked to buy food, medicine, cleaning supplies and personal care products on Amazon, the retailer has in turn upped its suggested inventory levels for many manufacturers that sell their products on its platform. It has also expanded purchases of certain essential products that it sells directly to shoppers, often buying two or three times as much as it did before the pandemic, executives said.
The heightened demand has forced both third-party sellers on Amazon’s platform and its direct suppliers into difficult decisions over where to send inventory, consultants said. Often, like Rise Bar, they’re favoring Amazon ahead of other retailers. Third-party sellers like Spenuzza don’t have to keep as much merchandise in stock as Amazon recommends. But if they run out on Amazon, where “best seller” status and a listing’s position in search results are linked to availability, the impact on sales could be devastating.
This pattern makes it harder for Amazon competitors, such as grocery and discount chains that have remained open during the pandemic, to keep coveted items in stock. “Everybody in retail realizes there’s limited access to certain stuff, so you better get there first,” said James Thomson, the former business head of an Amazon team that recruits third-party sellers and now a consultant to brands working with the company. “The difference is that Amazon can afford to pony up the cash all at once and say, ‘Back up the trucks, we’ll take it all.’” Thomson called going out of stock on Amazon a “cardinal sin.”
An Amazon spokesperson said that the company is a relatively small player in the retail market, competing with “all the other online and brick and mortar stores,” and that Amazon is not responsible for suppliers prioritizing it over other customers. The algorithm is designed “to feature items we believe customers will want to purchase, and that includes items that are in-stock,” the spokesperson said. “We are working to help our selling partners during this challenging time and evaluating several ideas to mitigate the impact of different demand patterns we are seeing in light of COVID-19.”
“Retail is a competitive industry with many choices for both customers and suppliers,” the spokesperson added. “Suppliers make their own business decisions, not Amazon.”
In an April 16 letter to shareholders, CEO Jeff Bezos said the “demand we are seeing for essential products has been and remains high” and acknowledged it has created “major challenges for our suppliers and delivery network.” The company has waived fees typically imposed on suppliers who can’t fulfill purchase orders.
Amazon is facing at least one European antitrust investigation and two in the U.S. The House Judiciary Committee last June announced an investigation into possible anti-competitive conduct by large tech companies including Amazon. In addition, the Federal Trade Commission has been looking into possible anti-competitive practices at Amazon for at least nine months, examining among other things the power the company exerts over its suppliers, according to media reports. The House investigation is ongoing, according to a spokesman for the chairman of the Judiciary committee’s antitrust subcommittee, while the FTC declined to comment.
The Amazon spokesperson declined to comment specifically on the investigations. “We face intense competition in every segment in which we operate, and we love that competition because it makes us serve customers better,” the spokesperson said.
To build an antitrust case against Amazon, the government would need to prove that the company has substantial market power that was gained or maintained through improper conduct, said William Kovacic, director of the Competition Law Center at George Washington University Law School and a former chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. Sellers favoring Amazon over other retailers could be a sign of market power, he said.
“That everybody does just what you want and puts you first out of fear that if they fall out of favor with you, they’re in real trouble — that could be taken as proof of your market power,” Kovacic said. “How people regard you, how they react to you, how they respond to your wishes is an indication of whether you have market power, and that is a key issue in these cases. If people say, ‘We don’t dare alienate them,’ that is a part of that proof. You have market power with respect to retailing and distribution because everyone knows if they disappoint you there will be a heavy price to pay. … The crisis reinforces the position of significance that they had before.”
One advantage that Amazon has long enjoyed over some competitors is that it can afford to make little profit on retail in the short term to boost market share and traffic, Hubbard said. Unlike most traditional retailers, Amazon can rely on revenue from other parts of its business empire, such as cloud computing. It has a history of pricing below cost to exclude competitors, a practice known as predatory pricing, said Hubbard, a former New York state assistant attorney general for antitrust issues.
To be sure, even Amazon doesn’t always have enough toilet paper and disinfecting wipes. And traditional retailers also have ways of penalizing suppliers who don’t fulfill purchase orders. For example, they can reassign the shelf space reserved for one supplier’s merchandise to a competitor. Retailers including Walmart, Target and Costco also sell merchandise online, but those retailers’ e-commerce sites account for a small proportion of their overall sales, so suppliers may be less concerned about running out of stock on those sites.
Aside from the stick of the algorithm, Amazon offers several carrots to brands, including a massive customer audience and high levels of customer trust, said Steve Yates, chief executive of a firm that advises sellers on the platform. “There’s good reason to say, ‘If I have limited amount of inventory and where am I going to put it that is going to be most effective,’ that Amazon is that place,” Yates said.
Amazon represents less than 4% of the U.S. retail market, and the same percentage of the grocery segment, according to the company spokesperson. Its 2018 retail sales were less than one-third of Walmart’s, according to data published by the National Retail Federation. However, Amazon accounts for nearly 40% of U.S. online sales, as against less than 5% for Walmart, according to eMarketer. Both e-commerce’s proportion of overall retail sales, and Amazon’s slice of e-commerce, are expected to increase because of consumer shifts online during the pandemic, according to the market research firm.
While U.S. retail sales decreased by 8.7% in March, the worst monthly decline on record, sales at Amazon have been booming. In response to customer demand, the company has hired 100,000 workers, with plans to hire 75,000 more. For the week ending April 12, customer spending on Amazon grew about 44% compared to the same period last year, according to Facteus, a company that analyzes consumer transaction data. Spending at Walmart was flat over the same period, although it did experience a spike in mid-March, according to Facteus.
Fahim Naim, a former Amazon category manager who now runs a consulting firm advising consumer brands working with the company, said large requests for high-priority goods have pushed some of his clients to choose between Amazon and other retailers. One supplements brand deliberated last month about whether to send its in-demand inventory to Costco or to Amazon, both of which it considered important to its business. In the end, the brand drastically reduced supplies to Costco, Naim said. Naim declined to identify the company because it did not want to upset Costco.
Similarly, clients that sell deodorant, feminine care items and beauty and sexual wellness products have asked Naim whether they should sideline big-box retailers — even ones where sales have been strong — in order to maintain high levels of inventory at Amazon, he said. He typically advises to favor Amazon.
Going out of stock on Amazon harms a brand’s rankings, such as “best seller,” which directly correlate to sales and are “difficult to recover,” he said. Brands may give Amazon 80% of inventory “so they can at least have something left over” for big-box retailers such as Walmart, Target and Costco, he said. Spokesmen for Costco and Target declined to comment. Walmart did not respond to a request for comment.
“It’s a tough decision,” Naim said. “But you’re almost pinned against the wall in that you have to allocate at least a sufficient amount to Amazon to avoid going out of stock because the consequences of going out of stock on Amazon are often greater than the consequences of going out of stock elsewhere. Amazon is so powerful right now, and there are so many customers on it. The impact of not being on Amazon is probably greater than not being in some of those stores.”
Another Naim client, Ramon van Meer, CEO of Las Vegas-based Alpha Paw, hasn’t been able to obtain new supply of his company’s popular dog training pads even as demand on Amazon for them has risen. China has diverted some of the raw material used to manufacture the pads to making protective face masks, van Meer said. Down to a 6- to 8-week supply of pads, van Meer has put on hold plans to expand to brick-and-mortar stores, and he will reassign inventory designated for sales on his own website to Amazon. He’s also suspended advertising on Facebook and Instagram to dampen demand until he can find a manufacturer in a different country.
“The worst thing that can happen for an Amazon seller is to go out of stock,” van Meer said. “I’m really holding as much inventory as possible for Amazon. I’d rather be out of stock on my own store than be out of stock on Amazon.”
Some suppliers have enough inventory to accommodate Amazon and their other customers. Beginning the first week of March, Amazon began sending purchase orders to Italy-based Corman of up to three times the normal amount for its Organyc brand feminine care products, said James Ebel, the company’s global vice president of marketing. In addition to Amazon, which sells Organyc’s products directly to customers, Corman also supplies pharmacies such as CVS and Walgreens. Corman, which had already planned for U.S. growth, was able to increase production to keep up with demand from both Amazon and traditional retailers.
“On Amazon, there has been a remarkable change in terms of our volume,” Ebel said. “The migration of consumers to the platform is going to have a long-term impact.”
Amazon typically recommends that Fairy Tales Hair Care, based in New Jersey, keep a 30-day supply of its bestselling children’s shampoo. That recommendation is now up to 90 days, CEO Risa Barash said. Even so, the brand has enough inventory for Amazon and traditional retailers like the Wegmans, Meijer and H-E-B grocery chains, Barash said.
Eric Heller, a former Amazon senior manager, said some household-name brands he advises are shifting inventory from brick-and-mortar retailers to Amazon. Beyond a desire to prevent going out of stock, they view supplying Amazon as “altruistic” since consumers are wary of leaving their homes, Heller said.
Hubbard, of Open Markets Institute, acknowledged the value of online shopping during the pandemic. “It doesn’t have to be evil for it to be anti-competitive,” she said. “You can create something of value but still be engaging in conduct that is distorting the competitive marketplace.”
Even as Amazon has increased its stock of high-priority merchandise, it has reduced purchases of some items it deems nonessential. “Exploding Kittens,” a popular card game made by one of Naim’s clients, went out of stock when Amazon temporarily stopped ordering it, Naim said. Amazon also extended delivery times for some of his other clients’ products. Slower delivery correlates to lower sales because customers generally don’t want to wait weeks to receive an order.
Amazon has also differentiated delivery times for nonessential items in a way that some of its critics regard as potentially anti-competitive. It placed shipping delays of several weeks on nonessential items sold by some third-party merchants on its platform. But it promised delivery within days of nearly identical products that it sells under its AmazonBasics private label. While Amazon said its private label products are only about 1% of total sales, consultants said that AmazonBasics has taken market share from competitors in products such as batteries.
In late March, ProPublica found that products including an in-stock backpack, a wireless mouse, a digital alarm clock and a set of wine glasses offered by third-party sellers all showed a delayed delivery of three weeks. (Items may arrive faster than the stated delivery date.) Amazon’s own, similarly priced versions of those products were available in several days, though some AmazonBasics products, such as a coffee maker, were also delayed. A review this past week indicated that this gap had been eliminated and delivery times were similar.
“The changes to our logistics network to meet increased demand resulting from COVID-19 were not designed to advantage Amazon brands, retail vendors or sellers,” the Amazon spokesperson said. “They have been based on how to best serve customers during the outbreak while helping ensure the health and safety of our employees.”
Kovacic, the former FTC chairman, said if he were Amazon’s general counsel, “I’d be begging” for the company to avoid the appearance of self-preference — a key area of government inquiry, he said — even if unintentional. “They should not want to be doing anything at the moment that reinforces those concerns.”
Other Amazon decisions during the pandemic have highlighted the risk to sellers of relying on the company. Under its Fulfillment by Amazon program, the retail giant for a fee packs and ships third-party sellers’ goods from its warehouses to their customers, as well as providing customer service. But on March 17, it told these merchants that its warehouses would temporarily stop accepting shipments of products it deemed nonessential. Combined with Amazon’s nearly monthlong shipping delays on nonessential items already in warehouses, many sellers were left scrambling to fill customer orders themselves, said Tim Hughes, chief operating officer of a consulting firm that helps brands manage their Amazon accounts. In addition, sellers whose nonessential products were already stored in Amazon’s warehouses have been temporarily unable to retrieve their merchandise as the company has prioritized fulfilling customer orders.
“A lot of these people send all their inventory to Amazon, so there’s nothing they can do,” Hughes said. The merchandise is, in effect, “held hostage” until Amazon employees fetch it from the warehouse and return it to sellers, said Hughes, who worked in product management at Amazon.
To prioritize products such as household staples and medical supplies, Amazon has “temporarily paused removal operations” in some of its warehouses, the spokesperson acknowledged. “We know this is a change for our selling partners. … We are working to increase capacity.”
Spenuzza, the Rise Bar CEO, has sold his product on Amazon for nine years. Last month, he and consultant Rachel Johnson Greer, who advises him on his Amazon business, discussed whether to fulfill a large order from Costco, she said. Greer, a former Amazon senior program manager, warned him that being out of stock on Amazon would cause the algorithm to send Rise Bar listings further down on the search results pages, resulting in fewer potential customers seeing — and buying — his products there.
“If you go out of stock on Amazon, you can have major problems,” Greer said. “If I fulfill this order for Costco, I might drop in my rank from Amazon and I might not be able to get it back. … Amazon is a single point of failure for a lot of these folks.”
Spenuzza filled Costco’s order for one week, and also sent stock to Amazon, he said. But it took more than a week for Amazon to move the packages into its warehouse, and by the time the inventory was entered into the system, most of the Rise Bar flavors were out of stock. “Amazon was so overwhelmed that they needed to prioritize the highest selling essential items,” he said.
During a late-March trip to a grocery store in Long Beach, Spenuzza noticed that shelves usually stocked with dozens of types of bars now looked “half-empty,” he said. He knew that stores would be grateful for any bars he shipped to them, he said. But he couldn’t spare the product. That week, he sent about three-fourths of his protein bars to Amazon, up from 45% in January.
Ava Kofman contributed reporting.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.


truthout--2020-04-27--USDA Under Fire for Allowing Millions of Pounds of Produce to Rot

With food insecurity on the rise across the U.S. as the coronavirus pandemic continues to drive unprecedented job losses and economic disruption , the U.S. Department of Agriculture is facing backlash from lawmakers , farmers , and advocacy groups for its failure to act with urgency as millions of pounds of produce rot in fields across the nation .
“ While other federal agencies quickly adapted their programs to the coronavirus crisis , the Agriculture Department took more than a month to make its first significant move to buy up surplus fruits and vegetables — despite repeated entreaties , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ USDA ’ s belated response came “ as food banks across the country scramble to meet a massive surge in demand.
” On April 17 , as Common Dreams reported , Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue unveiled the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program , a $ 19 billion plan purportedly aimed at providing relief to farmers and making “ mass purchases of dairy , meat , and agricultural produce to get that food to the people in need.
” But critics say the federal agency ’ s plan doesn ’ t come anywhere close to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which has fueled calls for a fundamental overhaul of the U.S. food system .
“ This thing is a joke , ” Tony DiMare , owner of the Florida-based produce distribution company DiMare Fresh , told Politico of the USDA ’ s plan , which includes $ 3 billion to purchase and distribute surplus produce .
“ DiMare ’ s company… has donated over a million pounds of tomatoes to food banks in his area , ” Politico reported , “ but he still had to leave some 10 million pounds in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s commissioner of agriculture in Florida , told Politico that she asked Perdue a month ago to take action to prevent mass waste of produce but received no response .
“ Unfortunately , USDA didn ’ t move until [ last week ] , ” Fried said .
As early as March 23 , a coalition of produce industry groups wrote a letter ( pdf ) to Perdue warning that “ there is at least $ 1 billion of perishable commodities without a dedicated destinationas a result of the unanticipated closure of foodservice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ schools , and universities.
” “ There is no reason these high-quality , nutritious , farmer-grown products should be left in facilities to rot when there are so many American families who are suddenly faced with food insecurity , ” the letter stated .
Politico reported that federal officials “ predicted it would take the better part of a month ” before surplus food is packed and shipped to food banks , which are facing shortages and going millions of dollars over budget as they attempt to meet skyrocketing demand .
By the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and running , Politico noted , “ it will be too late for many produce growers who saw a huge drop in demand right at the peak of their season.
” As New York magazine ’ s Matt Stieb wrote Sunday , “ Two of the enduring images of COVID-19 ’ s economic impact contradict each other : As miles-long lines back up at food banks throughout the country… ripe fruits and vegetables are being buried in their fields , with farmers losing out on half of their usual markets with restaurants , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Though the apparent simplicity of solving one crisis with the other — providing the food insecure with unsellable product , rather than dumping milk into manure pits — is frustrated by practical issues , the Department of Agriculture only emerged with a solution on April 17 , ” Steib wrote .
Amid federal inaction , Ryan Cranney , a farmer in the small town of Oakley , Idaho , decided to give away millions of potatoes that he is currently unable to sell .
“ We saw people [ come ] from as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is an eight-hour drive from here , ” Cranney said in a recent interview .
“ If we as a country have more understanding of our food chain and where our food comes from and really what that means to farmers and the distribution system , maybe we ’ ll be able to change things where we ’ re not quite as vulnerable going forward.
” Feeding America , the largest food bank operator in the U.S. , warned in a report last week that the coronavirus crisis could lead to an all-time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ families struggle to cope with the devastating economic fallout .
The report found that “ the number of food insecure children could escalate to 18 million because of the COVID-19 pandemic .
The highest total ever reported by USDA in the 25 years that it has been measuring food insecurity was 17.2 million in 2009 at the height of the Great Recession.
” Claire Babineaux-Fontenot , CEO of Feeding America , said in a statement that the findings should “ mobilize everyone from our elected officials to the public at large to provide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ through this crisis.
” “ This pandemic has brought the plight of so many millions of our neighbors to the forefront , ” said Babineaux-Fontenot .
“ Every car waiting in a distribution line is a family seeking food and encouragement .
We will not stop being there for them and ask that if you can support us in our mission , please give what you can .
”

This comes as food insecurity surges across the U.S.
With food insecurity on the rise across the U.S. as the coronavirus pandemic continues to drive unprecedented job losses and economic disruption, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is facing backlash from lawmakers, farmers, and advocacy groups for its failure to act with urgency as millions of pounds of produce rot in fields across the nation.
“While other federal agencies quickly adapted their programs to the coronavirus crisis, the Agriculture Department took more than a month to make its first significant move to buy up surplus fruits and vegetables — despite repeated entreaties,” Politico reported Sunday, noting that the USDA’s belated response came “as food banks across the country scramble to meet a massive surge in demand.”
On April 17, as Common Dreams reported, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue unveiled the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, a $19 billion plan purportedly aimed at providing relief to farmers and making “mass purchases of dairy, meat, and agricultural produce to get that food to the people in need.”
But critics say the federal agency’s plan doesn’t come anywhere close to matching the scale of the crisis, which has fueled calls for a fundamental overhaul of the U.S. food system.
“This thing is a joke,” Tony DiMare, owner of the Florida-based produce distribution company DiMare Fresh, told Politico of the USDA’s plan, which includes $3 billion to purchase and distribute surplus produce.
“DiMare’s company… has donated over a million pounds of tomatoes to food banks in his area,” Politico reported, “but he still had to leave some 10 million pounds in the field.”
Nikki Fried, Florida’s commissioner of agriculture in Florida, told Politico that she asked Perdue a month ago to take action to prevent mass waste of produce but received no response. “Unfortunately, USDA didn’t move until [last week],” Fried said.
As early as March 23, a coalition of produce industry groups wrote a letter (pdf) to Perdue warning that “there is at least $1 billion of perishable commodities without a dedicated destinationas a result of the unanticipated closure of foodservice establishments, including restaurants, hotels, schools, and universities.”
“There is no reason these high-quality, nutritious, farmer-grown products should be left in facilities to rot when there are so many American families who are suddenly faced with food insecurity,” the letter stated.
Politico reported that federal officials “predicted it would take the better part of a month” before surplus food is packed and shipped to food banks, which are facing shortages and going millions of dollars over budget as they attempt to meet skyrocketing demand.
By the time USDA’s program is up and running, Politico noted, “it will be too late for many produce growers who saw a huge drop in demand right at the peak of their season.”
As New York magazine’s Matt Stieb wrote Sunday, “Two of the enduring images of COVID-19’s economic impact contradict each other: As miles-long lines back up at food banks throughout the country… ripe fruits and vegetables are being buried in their fields, with farmers losing out on half of their usual markets with restaurants, schools, and hotels closed.”
“Though the apparent simplicity of solving one crisis with the other — providing the food insecure with unsellable product, rather than dumping milk into manure pits — is frustrated by practical issues, the Department of Agriculture only emerged with a solution on April 17,” Steib wrote.
Amid federal inaction, Ryan Cranney, a farmer in the small town of Oakley, Idaho, decided to give away millions of potatoes that he is currently unable to sell.
“We saw people [come] from as far away as Las Vegas, which is an eight-hour drive from here,” Cranney said in a recent interview. “If we as a country have more understanding of our food chain and where our food comes from and really what that means to farmers and the distribution system, maybe we’ll be able to change things where we’re not quite as vulnerable going forward.”
Feeding America, the largest food bank operator in the U.S., warned in a report last week that the coronavirus crisis could lead to an all-time high in child hunger as millions of families struggle to cope with the devastating economic fallout.
The report found that “the number of food insecure children could escalate to 18 million because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The highest total ever reported by USDA in the 25 years that it has been measuring food insecurity was 17.2 million in 2009 at the height of the Great Recession.”
Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America, said in a statement that the findings should “mobilize everyone from our elected officials to the public at large to provide all the resources families need to get through this crisis.”
“This pandemic has brought the plight of so many millions of our neighbors to the forefront,” said Babineaux-Fontenot. “Every car waiting in a distribution line is a family seeking food and encouragement. We will not stop being there for them and ask that if you can support us in our mission, please give what you can.”
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.


truthout--2020-04-27--COVID Deaths in US Will Soon Surpass Number of Americans Killed in Vietnam War

Before the weekend comes , the number of known deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S. will surpass roughly 58,000 .
This is the same number of Americans who died during the Vietnam War .
It took five presidents — Eisenhower , Kennedy , Johnson , Nixon and Ford — and more than 20 years to amass that body count overseas .
Donald Trump needed just four months to knock on the door of that grim milestone right here at home , and then he mused on national television about whether injections of disinfectant into the human body could be used @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to poison control centers concerning exposure to Lysol and bleach to double in New York City .
“ There ’ s a 9/11 happening in America every single day right now , ” writes Umair Haque for Medium .
These are staggering concepts to encompass .
One day there ’ s a story about a fast-moving virus in China , then Washington State , then Boston and New York , and with the suddenness of a blindside car accident , we ’ re stuck at home like bugs in a bottle making Vietnam @ @ @ @ @ @ @ level of context for what has happened to us .
A long list of experts , including Trump hostage Anthony Fauci and Robert Redfield , director of the Centers for Disease Control , warn that this really is only just beginning , and it will get worse .
Rosy White House predictions about getting back to normal by Memorial Day must be ignored as vigorously as remarks on injecting disinfectants .
The experts I trust , the ones who haven ’ t been wrong yet and are not trapped within Trump ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contending with COVID-19 for the long remainder of 2020 , and probably beyond .
I am still laboring to accept this .
The stark winter landscape of New Hampshire is slowly , ever so slowly giving way to one of the greatest shows on Earth : springtime in New England .
The temperate rainforest blanketing the region is reviving itself in a riot of emerald greens and yellows , with the rest of the spectrum soon to follow once the wildflowers pop .
How can this be ?
How can these two phenomena @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emergence of a long-awaited spring — be happening simultaneously ?
This is the point in the school year when I would be signing my daughter up for summer camp , but that ’ s out .
The future stands before us as a blank canvas , as close as our four walls and as distant as maybe .
The situation will get worse in a galloping hurry if the stay-at-home orders are lifted and people fail to observe the strictures of social distancing , yet that is exactly what is happening .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out of the ordinary was happening even as the death toll there rises by the day .
Many members of Black communities in Georgia , which nationally have suffered the consequences of COVID-19 far more severely than other sectors of the populace , are outraged and terrified .
In southern California , an early-season heat wave had people flocking to the beaches in Orange County over the weekend .
According to the Associated Press , there were some 40,000 people packed onto Newport Beach alone .
Gov .
Gavin Newsom is considering closing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ three weekends , but I suspect the situation will come to require a sterner , longer closure of the shorelines .
In Wisconsin , around 2,000 protesters stood shoulder-to-shoulder on the steps of the Capitol building , many without masks , demanding the state lift its stay-at-home order .
Tennessee , Oklahoma , Nevada , Texas , Mississippi and Colorado are among the states that already have or will soon “ re-open ” their economies to as close an approximation of business-as-usual as they can arrange .
Hair salons , tattoo parlors , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ course , the gun stores will fling wide their doors to an infected population , the virus will find new hosts , and the pandemic will go on , and on .
“ The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Tennessee was 9,667 as of Sunday , according to the latest figures released by the Tennessee Department of Health , ” reports The Tennessean .
“ That ’ s up a jump of 478 new cases , the highest number of new cases recorded in one day so far in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of 5.2 percent from Saturday ’ s totals.
” There is no doubt that the economy is in a Depression-level death spiral .
Millions of workers and small businesses face complete financial ruin , if they have not arrived there already .
Money from Congress to help offset the pain got snatched up by larger , healthier companies who saw free money and scooped it up .
Even so , many prominent business leaders are deeply wary of opening the country back up too soon and risking a new spike in infections , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be concerned , because that is almost certainly what is about to happen .
COVID-19 has already begun its long burn through the rural areas of the country , and the infection rate will continue to accelerate with the lifting of these stay-at-home orders .
As that happens , these rural areas are going to run headlong into a critical shortage of hospitals capable of treating COVID patients .
Some people will have to drive for hours to find medical care , because so many local rural hospitals have been closed .
Not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I said last week , this is only the middle of the beginning .
For many , this next slice of time will be the hardest part to cope with .
Five weeks of this strange new world is wearing on people just as the weather is getting nice .
Kids are beginning to get brittle with bored , scared frustration .
Managing mental health has become a struggle for many , and there has been a notable spike in instances of domestic violence across the country .
All this , and it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thing .
There are more to come , and likely soon .
Now would be the perfect moment for some rousing pep talk , but I haven ’ t got one in me this morning .
My grandparents got “ Nothing to fear but fear itself ” from their president when calamity struck that generation .
We get “ And then I see the disinfectant , where it knocks it out in a minute ” from ours , along with no national testing regimen and a lot of happy talk about how this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It won ’ t be .
This isn ’ t a pep talk , but a profound warning : Do not listen to Donald Trump under any circumstances .
If you live in a state with a governor who is bent on lifting the strictures that will contain this thing until a vaccine is secured next year , do not listen to them , either .
Listen to your own good sense and stay home if you can .
Stay well .
Stay safe .
The party when this is over will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ever seen .
We all have to wait for our invitation , however , for as long as it takes to print them .
Be here for that , please .
The time has come to accept the present as the way it has to be , and find ways to cope as best we can .
I ’ m not there yet , either , but I ’ m working on it .
In the meantime , keep the bleach in the cupboard , your head down , and your chin up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the party .
We will all have some stories to tell .

Part of the Series Despair and Disparity: The Uneven Burdens of COVID-19
Before the weekend comes, the number of known deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S. will surpass roughly 58,000. This is the same number of Americans who died during the Vietnam War. It took five presidents — Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Ford — and more than 20 years to amass that body count overseas.
Donald Trump needed just four months to knock on the door of that grim milestone right here at home, and then he mused on national television about whether injections of disinfectant into the human body could be used to treat COVID-19, immediately leading calls to poison control centers concerning exposure to Lysol and bleach to double in New York City.
“There’s a 9/11 happening in America every single day right now,” writes Umair Haque for Medium. These are staggering concepts to encompass. One day there’s a story about a fast-moving virus in China, then Washington State, then Boston and New York, and with the suddenness of a blindside car accident, we’re stuck at home like bugs in a bottle making Vietnam and September 11 comparisons to provide some level of context for what has happened to us.
A long list of experts, including Trump hostage Anthony Fauci and Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control, warn that this really is only just beginning, and it will get worse. Rosy White House predictions about getting back to normal by Memorial Day must be ignored as vigorously as remarks on injecting disinfectants. The experts I trust, the ones who haven’t been wrong yet and are not trapped within Trump’s erratic orbit, say we will be contending with COVID-19 for the long remainder of 2020, and probably beyond.
I am still laboring to accept this. The stark winter landscape of New Hampshire is slowly, ever so slowly giving way to one of the greatest shows on Earth: springtime in New England. The temperate rainforest blanketing the region is reviving itself in a riot of emerald greens and yellows, with the rest of the spectrum soon to follow once the wildflowers pop.
How can this be? How can these two phenomena — the COVID-19 emergency orders and the emergence of a long-awaited spring — be happening simultaneously? This is the point in the school year when I would be signing my daughter up for summer camp, but that’s out. The future stands before us as a blank canvas, as close as our four walls and as distant as maybe.
The situation will get worse in a galloping hurry if the stay-at-home orders are lifted and people fail to observe the strictures of social distancing, yet that is exactly what is happening. In Georgia, you’d think nothing out of the ordinary was happening even as the death toll there rises by the day. Many members of Black communities in Georgia, which nationally have suffered the consequences of COVID-19 far more severely than other sectors of the populace, are outraged and terrified.
In southern California, an early-season heat wave had people flocking to the beaches in Orange County over the weekend. According to the Associated Press, there were some 40,000 people packed onto Newport Beach alone. Gov. Gavin Newsom is considering closing all public California beaches for the next three weekends, but I suspect the situation will come to require a sterner, longer closure of the shorelines. In Wisconsin, around 2,000 protesters stood shoulder-to-shoulder on the steps of the Capitol building, many without masks, demanding the state lift its stay-at-home order.
COVID-19 has already begun its long burn through the rural areas of the country, and the infection rate will continue to accelerate with the lifting of these stay-at-home orders.
Tennessee, Oklahoma, Nevada, Texas, Mississippi and Colorado are among the states that already have or will soon “re-open” their economies to as close an approximation of business-as-usual as they can arrange. Hair salons, tattoo parlors, movie theaters, some restaurants and of course, the gun stores will fling wide their doors to an infected population, the virus will find new hosts, and the pandemic will go on, and on.
“The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Tennessee was 9,667 as of Sunday, according to the latest figures released by the Tennessee Department of Health,” reports The Tennessean. “That’s up a jump of 478 new cases, the highest number of new cases recorded in one day so far in the state. It’s an increase of 5.2 percent from Saturday’s totals.”
There is no doubt that the economy is in a Depression-level death spiral. Millions of workers and small businesses face complete financial ruin, if they have not arrived there already. Money from Congress to help offset the pain got snatched up by larger, healthier companies who saw free money and scooped it up. Even so, many prominent business leaders are deeply wary of opening the country back up too soon and risking a new spike in infections, and they are all too correct to be concerned, because that is almost certainly what is about to happen.
COVID-19 has already begun its long burn through the rural areas of the country, and the infection rate will continue to accelerate with the lifting of these stay-at-home orders. As that happens, these rural areas are going to run headlong into a critical shortage of hospitals capable of treating COVID patients. Some people will have to drive for hours to find medical care, because so many local rural hospitals have been closed. Not profitable enough, you see.
As I said last week, this is only the middle of the beginning. For many, this next slice of time will be the hardest part to cope with. Five weeks of this strange new world is wearing on people just as the weather is getting nice. Kids are beginning to get brittle with bored, scared frustration. Managing mental health has become a struggle for many, and there has been a notable spike in instances of domestic violence across the country. All this, and it is only the first wave of this thing. There are more to come, and likely soon.
Now would be the perfect moment for some rousing pep talk, but I haven’t got one in me this morning. My grandparents got “Nothing to fear but fear itself” from their president when calamity struck that generation. We get “And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute” from ours, along with no national testing regimen and a lot of happy talk about how this will all be over any day now.
Listen to your own good sense and stay home if you can.
It won’t be. This isn’t a pep talk, but a profound warning: Do not listen to Donald Trump under any circumstances. If you live in a state with a governor who is bent on lifting the strictures that will contain this thing until a vaccine is secured next year, do not listen to them, either. Listen to your own good sense and stay home if you can. Stay well. Stay safe.
The party when this is over will be the biggest thing the planet has ever seen. We all have to wait for our invitation, however, for as long as it takes to print them. Be here for that, please. The time has come to accept the present as the way it has to be, and find ways to cope as best we can. I’m not there yet, either, but I’m working on it. In the meantime, keep the bleach in the cupboard, your head down, and your chin up. I’ll see you at the party. We will all have some stories to tell.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-04-27--Trump Lavished Himself With Praise for COVID Response 600 Times as 55,000 Died

Most of the American public may not be happy with President Donald Trump ’ s actions when it comes to how he ’ s handled the coronavirus pandemic so far , but there ’ s at least one person who has given him consistent , glowing praise from the start of the crisis : Trump himself .
According to numbers compiled by The New York Times , Trump has given congratulatory remarks to himself around 600 times .
He has credited others as taking positive action on the coronavirus pandemic about 360 times , and blamed others for what he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ times , the analysis found .
From March 9 to April 17 , when the Times ’ s analysis begins and ends , Trump has made , on average , about 15 self-congratulatory remarks about his response to the pandemic per day .
Looked at another way , as of Monday at noon , there have been roughly 56,000 deaths in the U.S. from the disease so far — meaning that the president has made one positive statement about his job performance on the matter for about every 93 Americans who have died @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gave himself kudos for taking “ action ” by closing travel from China , in which he said he acted quickly on the issue ( “ We were way ahead of schedule , ” Trump said on April 14 ) .
However , his administration still allowed tens of thousands of travelers into the country from China , possibly rendering his “ action ” moot .
Additionally , screening procedures for those travelers were not consistent , reporting from Axios has observed .
Trump also failed to do much of anything else in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , beyond those travel restrictions — but in Trump ’ s mind , according to interviews at the time , his administration had “ shut it down ” ( referring to the spread of the virus ) .
In response to criticism about his failure to heed medical experts ’ advice on the pandemic , Trump accused those who dared to note his slow response of engaging in a “ new hoax ” against him .
Trump ’ s inaction appears likely to have cost Americans ’ lives , however .
A pair @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many as 37,000 deaths from COVID-19 could have been prevented if the president had instituted stay-at-home measures just a week earlier .
If Trump is giving himself positive reviews about handling the disease , it ’ s not a sentiment that is shared by the American people .
Polling across the board finds that the public is not happy with how the president has reacted to the crisis so far , with many saying that he ’ s been slow to act .
According to a recent Economist/YouGov poll , just 45 percent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic , while 51 percent say they disapprove .
When asked what type of speed he acted with , registered voters again suggested he didn ’ t respond in a timely manner , with 54 percent saying he waited too long to act on the issue , while only 37 percent said he behaved in an appropriately timed manner .

Most of the American public may not be happy with President Donald Trump’s actions when it comes to how he’s handled the coronavirus pandemic so far, but there’s at least one person who has given him consistent, glowing praise from the start of the crisis: Trump himself.
According to numbers compiled by The New York Times, Trump has given congratulatory remarks to himself around 600 times. He has credited others as taking positive action on the coronavirus pandemic about 360 times, and blamed others for what he said was a poor response about 110 times, the analysis found.
From March 9 to April 17, when the Times’s analysis begins and ends, Trump has made, on average, about 15 self-congratulatory remarks about his response to the pandemic per day. Looked at another way, as of Monday at noon, there have been roughly 56,000 deaths in the U.S. from the disease so far — meaning that the president has made one positive statement about his job performance on the matter for about every 93 Americans who have died from COVID-19.
For example, Trump gave himself kudos for taking “action” by closing travel from China, in which he said he acted quickly on the issue (“We were way ahead of schedule,” Trump said on April 14).
However, his administration still allowed tens of thousands of travelers into the country from China, possibly rendering his “action” moot. Additionally, screening procedures for those travelers were not consistent, reporting from Axios has observed.
Trump also failed to do much of anything else in response to the coronavirus before March 9, beyond those travel restrictions — but in Trump’s mind, according to interviews at the time, his administration had “shut it down” (referring to the spread of the virus). In response to criticism about his failure to heed medical experts’ advice on the pandemic, Trump accused those who dared to note his slow response of engaging in a “new hoax” against him.
Trump’s inaction appears likely to have cost Americans’ lives, however. A pair of epidemiologist researchers have concluded that as many as 37,000 deaths from COVID-19 could have been prevented if the president had instituted stay-at-home measures just a week earlier.
If Trump is giving himself positive reviews about handling the disease, it’s not a sentiment that is shared by the American people. Polling across the board finds that the public is not happy with how the president has reacted to the crisis so far, with many saying that he’s been slow to act.
According to a recent Economist/YouGov poll, just 45 percent of registered voters approve of Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, while 51 percent say they disapprove.
When asked what type of speed he acted with, registered voters again suggested he didn’t respond in a timely manner, with 54 percent saying he waited too long to act on the issue, while only 37 percent said he behaved in an appropriately timed manner.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.