by Meshawn Maddock
Give them credit. At least the Democrats admit they view the deadly coronavirus pandemic as just another opportunity to advance their ideological game plan for America. That doesn’t make it any less nauseating, though.
During a recent “town hall” event for presumptive Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden, twice-failed presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, urged her fellow Democrats to exploit the panic and fear caused by COVID-19 to pursue far-left policy goals that would never stand a chance of being enacted in normal times.
“This is a high-stakes time, because of the pandemic,” she explained, presenting the crisis as an opening to establish the government-controlled “universal health care” system that she has sought since 1993.
“[T]his would be a terrible crisis to waste, as the old saying goes,” Clinton added.
The former Secretary of State isn’t the only Democrat who sees the coronavirus pandemic as a political convenience. President Obama’s former National Security Adviser, Susan Rice, also believes that the Democratic Party should take advantage of the public’s temporary willingness to accept extraordinary measures in the name of public health, calling on liberals to start pushing for remote voting in the upcoming elections.
“This is a moment not only of crisis but inherent in that crisis is opportunity,” Rice said while advocating for national legislation that would make it easier to vote from home — an inherently risky process that is vulnerable to numerous forms of corruption and fraud, and even jeopardizes the sacrosanct principle of the secret ballot.
Sadly, Michigan’s own Governor Gretchen Whitmer is already acting on the cynical advice of her Party’s elders, using COVID-19 as an excuse to propose a massive new entitlement program that would provide “free” college to workers who were deemed essential by the state during the pandemic crisis.
What does this legislation have to do with keeping Michiganders safe and secure today? Absolutely nothing. Even though the policy is being presented as COVID-19 assistance, putting taxpayers on the hook for the future college tuition of essential workers won’t do anything to curb the spread of the deadly disease in our communities.
It’s also unclear where Whitmer plans to get the money to pay for her capricious “thank you” gesture, since she’s still fighting to extend the draconian lockdowns that have put most of the state’s economy on ice and forced more than one million Michiganders to seek unemployment benefits. We all believe in stopping the spread of the virus, but most parts of our vast state have little incidence of the outbreak. Between the economic devastation her policies have wrought and the enormous cost of providing for jobless workers, the Democrats in Michigan would probably have to seek a bailout from Washington and raise taxes dramatically in order to pay for Whitmer’s scheme.
Fortunately, President Trump has presented a clear contrast to the Democrats throughout the coronavirus pandemic, putting political squabbles aside in order to focus on unifying the country, saving American lives, and supporting the U.S. economy.
On numerous occasions, White House negotiators have had to salvage emergency relief legislation after Democrats delayed them over demands for unrelated ideological priorities such as abortion funding.
Fortunately, some Democrat governors have chosen to work with the President rather than against him, and they’re experiencing incredible results.
“In our hour of need, whether it was ventilators, the Army Corps building out capacity, FEMA with our testing sites, and a big part of our ability to reopen as fast as we all want to is to rapidly expand testing and you all literally, in the here and now this week, are helping us in a big way,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy told President Trump during a meeting in the Oval Office.
It’s too bad some governors have chosen to take a different, more partisan path.
Democrats are going to regret being so candid about their desire to exploit the nation’s suffering for their own political gain. The only question is whether Americans will be able to stomach their partisan antics until November.
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Meshawn Maddock was a Michigan delegate for Donald Trump at the 2016 Republican National Convention. She is also the Co-founder of Michigan Trump Republicans and the wife of Michigan State Representative Matt Maddock.
