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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhile Americans shelter in place, Trump plans his summer getaway
While Americans shelter in place, Trump plans his summer getaway
Justin Rohrlich 3 hrs ago
As nearly half of all Americans cancel their summer plans to help stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, US president Donald Trump will be escaping to New Jersey.
According to federal spending data, the Secret Service has ordered bullet-resistant glass and party tents to be used in Bedminsterhome to the 535-acre Trump National Golf Club, which some close to the president have referred to as the summer White House.
Taxpayers are footing a $42,350 payment to a party rental company in Jackson, New Jersey, as well as a $9,600 bill for ballistic glass installation and removal, awarded to a small business in Westbury, New York. The tent rental is projected to be slightly less expensive than one the Secret Service rented in 2018 for the holiday season at Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm beach, which cost taxpayers $54,000. The Secret Service uses the tents primarily as screening areas for vehicles and visitors.
Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is telling people across the US that they should only travel outside their local area if its for essential reasons, such as providing medical or home care to others, or for a job considered an essential service. The US presidency is, no doubt, considered an essential service, but one that can just as wellif not far betterbe performed from the White House as opposed to a privately-owned golf club in New Jersey, a state particularly hard-hit by coronavirus.
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/while-americans-shelter-in-place-trump-plans-his-summer-getaway/ar-BB13Accx
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(43,373 posts)WASHINGTON A highly toxic Teflon chemical has been detected in the drinking water sources serving President Trump and other members of the Trump National Golf Course in Bedminster, N.J., ?_ga=2.53615848.1737778336.1588630592-369330222.1588630592" target="_blank">according to a new analysis of water utility tests by the Environmental Working Group and first reported on by Politico. The most notorious perfluorinated chemical, perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, was detected on three separate occasions between January and September of this year.
The levels of PFOA detected by an independent laboratory on behalf of the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection, or DEP, were at 3.5 and 3.6 parts per trillion, or ppt; more than three times higher than the 1 ppt that EWG scientists and other independent experts believe is safe for human health. There is no legal limit for PFAS chemicals under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, or SDWA.
PFOA and other perfluorinated chemicals called PFAS are some of the most persistent environmental contaminants in the world. PFOA does not break down and as a result is now in the blood of nearly every American, including newborns. DuPont began using the chemical in the early 1950s in the manufacture of Teflon, the nonstick compound used cookware and other products. It is linked to testicular and kidney cancer in people, along with a host of other serious health problems.
Trumps golf course, which the president likes to call the Summer White House, is located on 600 rolling acres in the prestigious New Jersey countryside, in Somerset County. It includes 36 holes, an expansive pool complex, tennis courts and other high-end amenities, and bills itself as one of the most sought after private clubs in the country. Press reports have indicated the price of a membership to be as much as $300,000.
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