By Douglas Herz, AMERICAN THINKER
A huge problem is coming soon. Authoritarian blue-state governors and mayors thought they could conduct lockdowns without dire consequences. But all that these fools have done is deferred disaster. That disaster is the reduction in city and state taxes due to the business shutdowns that they ordered.
State and local government officials are starting to hear about this lack of income from their finance teams, and they are mighty concerned. As a result, all across the country, panicked conference calls have been conducted and are probably still going on this weekend.
Specifically, the problem is balancing state and local budgets. Sales taxes from closed businesses are way down, and expenses due to precautions for the coronavirus are way up. There is no way to make these numbers balance. As a result, governments are burning through their reserves, safety funds, slush funds, and rainy day set-asides that they had managed to squirrel away in better times. But within weeks, if not months, the situation will become dire.
What will happen?
The first casualty appears to be our schools. School closures may be blamed on the coronavirus, but the actual reason has more to do with saving money. Next to go will be the consultants, contractors, and temps. After that will come the layoffs and furloughs of nonessential personnel such as secretaries, clerks, and construction and maintenance workers. Social services, housing, public transportation, sanctuary policies, prisons, and medical services may be the next to be affected. Outlandish management salaries and retiree benefits might get be looked at. Finally, what will be left intact will be police, medical, and fire personnel plus essentials such as sewer and water — but bring your own garbage to the dump. Most of these belt-tightening measures will not be popular with the general public, thus the impending disaster for state and local officials.
The reason all this is happening is 99.9% politics and 0.1% science. Our blue city and state officials, in their haste to virtue-signal to the media and to make President Trump look bad with lockdowns and business closures, have merely traded their short-term popularity for long-term disaster. They may kick this can down the road for a brief period of time, but most won’t make it through the next elections.
It’s ironic. At a time when Democrats and radicals in our society are screaming to “defund the police” and attempting to expand government by putting more people on the dole by destroying our economy, most of America is moving in a conservative direction with greater focus on first responders and less government.
A new social media trend could arise: #DefundtheGovernment!
The elite children and gd children are protected!
If teachers do not teach they do not need to be paid! That will save $Billions and no more pensions, also $billions. All the dems organizations and companies that steal $billions from money supposed to go to public schools! Also $billions!
Physicians and nurses continued to work in spite of the risks!
What next elections?
The dems have already decided that there will be NO next elections!
They have already publicly stated that the senate filibuster will be history!
@ Adam Dalgliesh:
“Yet another dishonest way of making the number of COVID-19 cases appear to have risen when they have not, thereby justifying renewed lockdowns. Yet another fraud by this currupt Federal agency.”
Good point, Adam. As an aside, I was tested two days ago for COVID-19, and the test came out negative. At this point in the election cycle, I may very well have a greater chance of developing a stress-related illness, than “the virus”. And even if I DO get COVID-19, a VERY unpleasant proposition, I stand a chance of going through it and ending up in heaven — a far better prospect than going through the election and ending up with “Joe Biden and the MSM Merry-Makers,” and a ruined country and world.
Ted ?
@ Arthur Wellesley:
Art. Give me a break. Sometimes when posting AT articles it double posts and I am not aware of it.
From another article in this issue of American Thinker:
“The White House has finally had it with the incompetence and partisanship of the CDC, and it couldn’t come fast enough for me. It has ordered all data on COVID-19 to be sent directly to the Department of Health and Human Services bypassing the CDC completely.
The latest blunder, and possibly the final straw is the discovery that CDC has been lumping positive tests for Wuhan virus and antibodies into one number:
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and several state health departments have been reporting COVID-19 diagnostic tests and antibody tests as one grand tally, rather than keeping their results separate, The Atlantic reported.”
In other words, they are reporting people who do not have COVID-19, who may have been infected with the virus at some point, and whose immune system resisted it without their getting sick, as having COVID-19! Yet another dishonest way of making the number of COVID-19 cases appear to have risen when they have not, thereby justifying renewed lockdowns. Yet another fraud by this currupt Federal agency.
I agreed the first time. Why print the same text twice?