The absolute necessity to challenge Governor Newsom

April 30, 2020

OPINION by ANDY CALDWELL

The California economy is on the verge of ruin, and our society is on the verge of collapse, because of the abusive power grab of Governor Gavin Newsom that has been aided and abetted by local officials who are refusing to challenge the governor in a meaningful and timely manner.

How bad is our situation?  Consider the following dire implications of this protracted shutdown on the most vital sectors of our economy which has resulted in the loss of one million U.S. jobs per day:

Small business: One in four businesses are about to close permanently, meaning the jobs and revenue they represent are not coming back for a very long time.

Supply chains: Our food supply, including meat, vegetables, eggs, and the like are going to be in short supply because half of our food is eaten outside the home and most of those outlets have been closed.  This has forced producers to destroy supply, which threatens them financially. Furthermore, due to financial hardships, people are switching to cheap basics, such as beans, flour, rice, etc.

All told, the breakage of the supply chain portends food shortages while also threatening to bankrupt farmers, ranchers, and processors.

Medical sector: The cancellation of so-called “elective” diagnostics and surgeries, in and of itself, presents a larger health risk than did cv19! Sixty-thousand family practices will close or significantly scale back, and 800,000 of their employees will be laid off, and that does not include more than 200 hospitals across the land that are also laying off thousands of staff members and incurring significant losses.

Public safety: The release of dangerous prisoners, including serial child molesters and sexual predators.

Government finances: The federal government is burning through one million dollars a minute with no end in sight. The shutdown is creating a financial death spiral as it relates to the government borrowing money while simultaneously destroying the private sector economy which is the source of its funds.

Moreover, neither the federal nor state governments have the money to cover unemployment claims nor the future demands on social services, including the costs of food and rent for millions of people that are suffering impending financial disaster.

Energy: The glut of fuel supplies due to less economic activity, coupled with the price wars between Saudi Arabia and Iran, have caused energy prices to plummet. What that means is that our energy providers are going to be forced to shut down production and lay off workers creating another future gap in our ability to restart our economy.

The law: This is perhaps the most dangerous and dire threat to our society and our economy.  The governor’s only legitimate power to impose a shutdown depends on a bonafide emergency that creates a compelling government purpose to limit our freedom and liberty, including our ability to make a living.  Even then, the governor’s use of this power must be narrowly construed.

The original and legitimate goal of flattening the curve and creating surge capacity has been met. There is no longer a grave threat to public health and safety that warrants the continued shutdown in light of the fact that our care providers have surge capacity. The governor, therefore, no longer has the legitimate authority to continue to impose a form of martial law on the residents of our state.

Furthermore, no second wave of the coronavirus is coming, based on the experience of other countries, and the damage this shutdown is creating exceeds the damage from the virus, which was never as dangerous as they said it was, in two meaningful ways.

First, we did not lose over two million American lives from the virus as predicted because the virus was never that deadly to begin with. These projections were based on computer models, not the real data from throughout the world. These models were off by orders of magnitude.

Second, the actual number of deaths has been grossly distorted, manipulated and exploited. That is, if somebody had coronavirus, they were deemed to have died from coronavirus, including those people who were in hospice before the outbreak began!

The actual number of deaths in America, including in New York, have been exaggerated as a result of a directive to assign death by “presumption,” by the thousands.

Finally, a significant number of deaths occurred in nursing homes due the fact that several governors, including New York’s Cuomo and California’s Newsom, forced nursing homes to admit coronavirus positive patients with the result of the disease spreading like wildfire in these institutions housing the most vulnerable among us.

These are just a few of the reasons I believe it is time to revolt against Governor Gavin Newsom’s dangerous and illegitimate power grab.

What should local government do?

They should officially declare the emergency is over within the boundaries of their jurisdiction and refuse to enforce any of the restrictions or penalties associated with the governor’s rogue use of his authority.

If they don’t unilaterally do so and do it soon, they are going to bear co-responsibility for one of the greatest disasters in our country’s history.

This is not an easy decision to make, but it is the only choice we have.