Maryland governor orders National Guard to protect 500,000 coronavirus tests at a secret location after they were flown in from South Korea amid fears federal government will try to CONFISCATE them
- Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said he had concerns the federal government would interfere and confiscate a shipment of 500,000 coronavirus tests
- The governor and his wife negotiated the purchase from South Korea
- He said the National Guard and state police formed 'Fort Knox' around the airport when the delivery landed on April 18
- They are now being guarded in an undisclosed location
- Hogan wanted to avoid the risk of the tests having to cross over state lines and organized the first Korean Air plane to land at Baltimore-Washington Airport
- He referred to claims the federal government seized a delivery of N95 masks bound for Massachusetts in March
That guy is a kook! The "confiscation" of supplies was a mandated redirect to areas hit harder so they could overcome their issues. This is how it works in a triage situation. You can't have states hoarding supplies they don't need. In any case, Maryland wasted effort and money is this stunt. The test kits aren't even complete and guess who is supplying the swaps needed for those kits? The DoD! Another area of concern is the fact that Maryland activated the Guard prior to Trump's Title 32 order. This means all pay and benefits come from the state. The Governor refused to convert to Title 32 which would have increased the pay and benefits of the Guardsmen (nearly double pay with BAH and Tricare medical). Title 32 allows for Federal funding but control is still left with the states unlike Title 10 which federalizes the Guard. Ultimately, this Governor is just trying to stick his chest out but has crushed the morale of the troops, cut off federal subsidizing, and interrupted his state's COVID supply chain. FYI, if the United States military (federal government) wanted to seize those incoming supplies from Maryland, it lawfully and physically could have. Once again, just a stunt.
i bet that won’t stop him from taking money from the Feds.
The fact that you consider The Daily Mail as a credible news source says a lot about you. They're a tabloid. Not in the same sense as the National Enquirer, but the NE on steroids. They talk out of both sides of their mouth more than politicians.
(05-01-2020, 10:38 AM)americus 2.0 Wrote: [ -> ]The fact that you consider The Daily Mail as a credible news source says a lot about you. They're a tabloid. Not in the same sense as the National Enquirer, but the NE on steroids. They talk out of both sides of their mouth more than politicians.
Here's another source to the same story:
https://ijr.org/hogan-reveals-maryland-g...uzdtLZk00E
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Trump say it was up to the states to get their own supplies and do their own testing?
(05-02-2020, 06:44 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: [ -> ]Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Trump say it was up to the states to get their own supplies and do their own testing?
Yes...they are to be aware of how they will respond and what supplies would be necessary IAW the states response plan. When the Federal Government declares a nationwide emergency, certain monies and supplies can trickle to the hardest-hit areas. Did this governor put in a request with the Feds? Is this a misappropriation of troops? Was this done outside of official channels and protocols? When is it okay for a Governor to use their foreign spouse to communicate with a nation's Embassy? Furthermore, why buy a lot of old testing kits when onsight testing would be more accurate, cost-effective, and take a few hours at most? Like I said before, this is just a stunt and lame attempt at chest-puffing. The Feds own the border, airspace, airport operations authorities, and all processes in-between. The shipping manifest and travel had to pre-approved. LOL