One thing is for sure, if the Wuhan Chinese virus doesn’t bankrupt the country, the government will.
I understand Americans are worried, or should I say, scared to death by the Wuhan Chinese virus, but I believe this has been caused by bad federal government management, the media, and government overreach at the state and local levels.
State governors in California, New York, and now Illinois, have enacted “Shelter in Place” policies. These de facto “lockdowns” are going to destroy private businesses in those states and force thousands of hard working Americans out of the workforce with no real relieve in sight.
This policy is not only detrimental to the moral and financial well being of the citizens, but it clearly violates the United States Constitution. Reading the Constitution I can come up with several amendments that have been disregarded by these governors.
We can start with the 1st Amendment and our right to freedom of assembly. They have been ordered not to gather in public places. Their actions could also apply to the 4th Amendment and our rights against unreasonable searches and seizures. These citizens have been seized and ordered to stay in their homes without a proper warrant or probable cause. They have been told to stay home regardless if they have contracted the virus or not.
I also believe the 5th, 9th, and the 14th Amendment have also been violated by these actions. The 14th Amendment is an important one because it guarantees the citizens due process and equal protection under the law. How are these citizens been afforded due process when they have been ordered to stay home without a trial? How are these citizens been afforded equal protection under the law when other states have not adopted same restrictive measures under the same set of circumstances?
What these governors have done is clearly and action of government overreach and should be challenged in Federal Court on constitutional grounds.
Recently the President signed into law H.R. 6074, Corona virus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act 2020 and H.R. 6201, Families First Corona Virus Response Act.
I am going to give you the rundown on how much this is going to cost the country and how much it will be adding to the federal deficit. The language on these legislations is tedious and boring, so I’m going to make it easy for you by giving you figures and not mumbo-jumbo.
H.R. 6074- Corona virus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act 2020
Federal Drug and Food Administration- $61,000,000. This amount is for salary and expenses of employees.
Small Business Administration- $20,000,000. This is to be use for the Disaster Loan Program account.
Department of Health and Human Services- $2,200,000,000. Yes, Billions, with a capital B.
National Institute of Health- $836,000,000
Public Health Services or PHS- $3,100,000,000. These are the folks in the Blue Battle Dress Uniforms you see behind the President during his press conferences.
The State Department
Administration of Foreign Affairs, Diplomatic Programs- $264,000,000 to cover COVID-19 expenses.
U.S. Agency for International Development, Office of the Inspector General. $1,000,000. This one smells like someone slipped some Pork Barrel spending and got away with it.
The White House
Bilateral Economic Assistance. These are funds appropriated for the President of the United States.
Global health programs- $435,000,000
International Disaster Assistance to combat COVID-19- $300,000,000
Economic Support Fund- $250,000,000. This is to cover additional expenses for COVID-19.
Now it is time for the math folks. H.R. 6074, Corona virus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act 2020 is going to cost the American tax payer a grand total of:
$7, 467,000,000.00 billion dollars. Are you feeling sick yet?
H.R. 6201- Families First Corona Virus Response Act
Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Services (WIC and SNAP Programs) – $500,000,000
Department of Defense- $82,000,000. For SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19 related items. What happened to the 700 plus billion dollars in defense appropriations?
Department of the Treasury. Internal Revenue Service- $15,000,000
Department of Health and Human Services. Indian Health Services. $64,000,000
Administration for Community Services. Aging and Disabilities Services program- $250,000,000
Office of the Secretary. Public Health Services or P.H.S. – $1,000,000,000
Department of Veterans Affairs- $30,000,000
Medical Community Care- $30,000,000
H.R. 6201, Families First Corona Virus Response Act is going to cost American tax payers:
$1,917,000,000.00 billion dollars.
Currently the Senate is working on a third piece of Stimulus legislation that nobody knows exactly what entails. They are talking about forgivable loans, bailing out the airlines and cruise industries, and I am sure a bunch of other fiscal nonsense.
One of the interesting things floating around is the suggestion of government taking a piece of those businesses. That would be the equivalent of nationalizing private businesses; the same thing socialist governments have done in places like Venezuela.
So far, we have added $9,384,000,000.00 billion dollars to the national debt that’s already at over 23 trillion dollars with a federal spending of 4 trillion and a budget deficit of over 1 trillion dollars. In the 1980’s the Federal debt to GDP ratio was a little over 34% in 2020 is over 108%.
This is unsustainable my friends. The government response to the Wuhan Chinese virus has been like a monkey throwing feces at a wall and hoping a piece will stick.
It will take decades for the United States to come out of this upcoming recession. I admire President Trump’s enthusiasm, but one doesn’t have to be an economist to know that a Stock Market who doesn’t trust the government will have a hard time convincing its investors to invest. We continue to throw money at problems without resolving the problems.
What happened here? How we arrived at this point? I wonder.
In 2009, we faced the H1N1 virus, and it took the Obama administration 6 months and over 1000 dead Americans to declare a National Emergency. We didn’t shutdown our society over it. I remember flying all over the world as a Federal Air Marshal, and I survived.
Not even after 9/11 we had this type of chaos in our country. I ask again, what happened?
The government has never been an answer, but mostly a problem. Only the private sector and the American people will be able to free this country from the dungeon the government has locked us in.