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My Point of View by John Forman

 

The Democrats in Congress put the brakes on the economic stimulus package in order to add extraneous add-ons that were pet projects of Nancy Pelosi. Hopefully this delay did not cause small companies to fold. The bill for this stimulus package went from a little over $1 trillion dollars to $2 trillion dollars — a bill our grandchildren will pay. The stimulus was needed, but some of the add-ons give truth to the saying by Democrats, “Never let a crisis go to waste.”

The president has done a great job in reacting to this virus. The mobilization of assets in the United States has been nothing short of amazing. Have all the needs been met? Of course not, but the process is in place to meet demands ASAP.

Everybody seems to think this is the worst outbreak anyone can remember, but people have short memories. In 2009-10, the H1N1 virus had 60 million cases and at least 17,000 deaths. President Obama was praised by the media for his handling of this outbreak, but nothing was shut down. What about New York? Their problem is partially caused by European countries not following President Trump’s lead on banning travel from China. Travelers from China just routed their travel through Europe and then to the USA, arriving in our major cities and carrying the virus with them.

The president is being condemned for talking about opening up the country too soon. They talk about the numbers being talked about by the medical community. The president has set Easter as a goal and did not set the date in stone. He is looking at advice from the medical community as one of the inputs in this process. He will also look at improvements in treatments.

Let’s look at some of the numbers. Did anyone ask the medical community if shutting down the country every winter would save some of the 50,000 to 80,000 people who die from the flu every year? Would stronger laws and testing for drivers would help save some of the 36,000 people killed in car accidents? Another number that I think is needed — how many of the elderly and vulnerable people who died from this virus had do not resuscitate medical directives? In 2017 (the last year I could find numbers for) there were $1.45 million people on hospice in the USA. We seem to have set acceptable levels in other causes of death, so why would we keep shutdown in place until no one has the virus? The president also talked about the need for hope in the future of the economy. Did you know there were 47,000 suicides last year? How do you think the news media and Democrats’ constant attacks on the president’s handling of this emergency affects the people with depression? What about the talk that we need to keep everyone in their homes indefinitely?

I believe in the power of prayer, and I think more people are praying than ever. We need to remember our churches need money to pay employees, maintain buildings and continue their outreach to the people in need. I have seen increased signs of stress on our church’s pastor as he tries to balance budgets with needs. He is young but is aging fast under the pressures of these trying times. Remember to give.

John Forman is a member of the Freeborn County Republican Party.