Overreacting to the rise in Covid-19 cases in California, 52-year-old Gov. Gavin Newsom put down the hammer on more restrictions, driving the already beleaguered state into near bankruptcy. Newson’s only saving grace is the President-elect Joe Biden promised to bailout cities and states currently running massive deficits due to Covid-19 lockdowns. So, while Wall Street set new record highs, you can see the scenario in the not too distant future where the mother of all selloffs takes place when federal budget deficits and the national debt get to intolerable levels. For the moment, Newsom thinks he can run California’s already devastating $54 billion budget deficit into the stratosphere by locking down the state again. Wall Street hopes Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine saves the economy but with extreme restrictions due the subzero temperatures needed to transport the vaccine, there’s really no end in sight to the stubborn virus.
Newsom’s been one of the strictest governors in the U.S. in terms to lockdowns and re-openings, using a color-coded system, county by county, to gradually reopen businesses. But with California tax revenue at depression levels, Newsom has squandered the state’s $20 billion rainy day fund, now watching the California budget fall apart. But unlike other governors, Newsom relies on “science” to make his decisions, often deferring to Bill Gates-funded Univ. of Washington Institute for Health Care Metrics and Evaluation [IHCME] to give him advice. With over $1.1 million Covid-19 cases and about 18,000 deaths, California is only second to Texas in terms of cases and deaths. IHCME predicted March 15 that California would have 25.5 million Covid-19 cases by May 15, prompting Newsom to shut down the states businesses, ordering residents to shelter in place. Six months later with all of Newsom’s shutdowns, there’s no change.
Newsom likes to bark out orders to the rest of the state, knowing the damage he’s doing to small, medium and large businesses, leaving the state on the brink. But Newsom had no problem violating his own rules, attending an indoors birthday party at Wine Country’s chic French Laundry restaurant. While Newsom sheepishly apologized, he excuse himself saying he followed the restaurant’s guideline. Regardless of whether or not Newsom plays by his own rules, the state’s been driven into ruin. Now that Trump’s been defeated, no one’s listening to his coronavirus point man Hoover Institution’s Dr. Scott Atlas who has said repeatedly that the days of lockdowns for Covid-19 have long passed. Unlike Newsom’s “scientific” advisers, Atlas urges vulnerable populations to shelter in place while the rest of the society to go back to businesses as usual with Center for Disease Control’s [CDC} guidelines for social distancing, masks and handwashing.
Newsom say he must pull the “emergency brake” as if that worked the first time. Newsom only accomplished hitting the nation’s largest economy with a wrecking ball, rather than listening to Atlas, urging economies and schools to open up. “The governor and state bureaucrats can color code counties and change rules as they go, but the basics remain the same: We are all free people who can exercise our freedom responsibly,” said Rep. James Gallagher (R-Yuba City). Gallagher rejects Newsom’s attempt to bankrupt large swaths of the population, currently unable to pay their bills, including rent and basic necessities. Newsom’s Health Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly blamed the spike in cases on businesses that reopened to quickly, speculating about the state’s recent spike in Covid-19 cases. Yet the state’s rise in cases mirrors that of other states and parts of Europe that have watched cases rise, no matter how restrictive the lockdowns.
It’s tempting to buy into the logic of “scientists” that don’t take into account the human toll of sheltering in place, including financial insolvency, homelessness and a cascade of self-destructive behaviors, including depression, alcoholism, drug addiction and even suicide. People might feel like these are draconian but ultimately you have to remember what they’re trying to do,” said Eyal Oren, an “epidemiologist” at San Diego State University. “We can’t give everybody a drug right now. We can’t give everybody a vaccine right now,” Atlas urged government officials to let the state’s residents think for themselves, letting vulnerable populations shelter in place while younger healthier adults open up businesses and practice CDC guidelines. Newsom’s repeating again the exact same failed policy that put the state into near insolvency. Newsom looks for Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to bail out the state.
Like President-elect Joe Biden, Newsom has no answer for how to manage the upsurge in Covid-10 cases. Biden talks about a national mask mandate, as if that’s the magic wand. If Covid-19 has taught elected officials anything, it’s that government bureaucrats cannot control the spread of the virus. All government officials can do is follow CDC or World Health Organization [WHO] guidelines for social distancing, masks and good hygiene. Beyond that, it’s up to private citizens to go about their business responsibility without the government throwing roadblocks in their path. With death rates in California under 2%, mainly in vulnerable populations, there’s simply no reason for Newsom to punish able-bodied citizens, ready to roll up their sleaves and go to work. Depriving ordinary citizens of earning a living, Newsom has committed unforgiveable abuse on ordinary people. While he collects his government paycheck, everyday folks are robbed of earning a living.
