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My Point of View by John Forman

 

Listen carefully — can you hear it? It’s the left cheering for a recession to come! It’s seen as the only hope for them to defeat Donald Trump. Could it turn to a depression so they could bring in full socialism? Have you noticed a pushback against the president’s guideline plan to reopen in stages? They say we are not ready to even talk about reopening the country. They say the president is going too fast. Have they read the plan or just rejected it because it was presented by the president? If they looked at the guidelines which, by the way, were developed in cooperation with business and medical experts, they would see milestones are in place that have to be met before each stage of the restart should be implemented. States need to have plans in place to handle hotspots that may develop after each stage of opening. Elderly and immune-deficient individuals are still told to stay at home until a vaccine is developed.

The left’s emphasis on the negative is one way they cheer on the recession. A recent column claims the Republicans want people to die? I guess that Democrats, who want to keep the country closed for too long, want people to suffer and die due to recession. Statistics show that death rates increase during recessions, suicide rates increase, drug abuse increases, crime increases and spousal abuse increases. Guess who suffers the most during recessions? The lower-income Americans. To some Democrats, their suffering is a small cost to defeat President Trump.

We have had many small tests of hydroxychloroquine that showed it to be an effective treatment for symptoms of COVID-19, and they were all classified anecdotal and not substantiated by science by the press, but one study finds it didn’t work, and headlines say the president was wrong. You have to read the fine print to find out it was a small test and none of the results have been reviewed by anyone but the author — in other words antidotal.

A candidate running for a state House seat in our area cited mortality numbers for the virus as 2.3% based on the number of deaths and number of confirmed by test cases. He even said it could go higher. Every medical expert I have read states there are at least three to five times more cases than what have been confirmed by tests. The mortality rate will be much less than the 2.3%; in fact, some tests in California and New York show 20 to 30 times more cases than reported by test. At 30 times more than reported by test, the mortality rate would be similar to the flu. The mortality rate may well be higher than that of seasonal flu, but remember, we have vaccines for flu and have developed herd immunity over the years. If COVID-19 is seasonal, then with development of a vaccine and some herd immunity, the mortality rate will continue to decrease.The president continues to work to lower these numbers.

People complain about the president and his updates on the fight against the virus but are silent about the lack of work done by Congress. Congress is hunkered down to protect the aged members of the body. Is it maybe time to put mandatory retirement for federal elected and appointed officials at 75 or 80 years of age?

We hear a lot about governors who have not shut down their states totally or are opening up too soon. Interesting that it now includes our Minnesota Gov. Walz, but very little about governors who have taken draconian steps, including First and Second Amendment curtailment.

I would like to thank state Rep. Peggy Bennett and Congressional Rep. Hagedorn for supporting opening up the country as soon as safely possible and for protecting our constitutional rights.

Please read the restart guidelines and the conditions that are recommended to be met before moving to the next stage of reopening. Remember that 85% of the deaths from COVID-19 are in the elderly and immune-deficient individuals with one or two pre-existing conditions, and these groups are still recommended to self-quarantine. Please stay safe and follow guidelines for your area and age.

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