Trump Pushing To Open The Economy Earlier Than You Might Expect

The Daily Wire is reporting that we may be ending the economic shutdown earlier than many anticipated.

According to The Washington Post‘s sources, President Trump has been pushing “behind closed doors” to “reopen much of the country next month,” an effort the Post notes has some health experts sounding the alarm out of fear of a possible “resurgence” of COVID-19.

“Behind closed doors, President Trump — concerned with the sagging economy — has sought a strategy for resuming business activity by May 1, according to people familiar with the discussions,” the Post reported Thursday.

“In phone calls with outside advisers, Trump has even floated trying to reopen much of the country before the end of this month, when the current federal recommendations to avoid social gatherings and work from home expire, the people said,” the Post reports. “Trump regularly looks at unemployment and stock market numbers, complaining that they are hurting his presidency and reelection prospects, the people said.”

We are at a point where many hospitals are sitting near empty.  Hospitalizations, ICU beds, and ventilator usage are far below projections.  Deaths, thankfully, are going to end up far below projections.

This is GOOD NEWS.  So, what do many pundits and experts seem to want to do with this good news?  They want to keep the economy shutdown and even tighten controls on people.  They wish to stay the course, which was based on dire predictions that have proven, for one reason or another, wrong.

I don’t know about you, but I am getting the distinct feeling that Democrats and those who hate President Trump want the economy to stay shut as long as possible.  There seems to be a desire for more unemployment.  All of this, of course, to hurt Donald Trump and his reelection chances.

We have forfeited many freedoms.  There are stories throughout the country where this lockdown has gone too far, with government officials warning against outdoor exercise and police being called on people playing ball with their family in an empty park.  This is America.  We cannot allow this to continue.  Especially when it appears to be unwarranted at this point and yet, only continues to get more and more restrictive.

Will Infections Spike After Reopening?

In an interview with Jim Cramer on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street,” Mnuchin said he could see the country beginning to reopen in May. “I think as soon as the president feels comfortable with the medical issues,” said the Treasury secretary, noting that the Trump administration is doing “everything necessary” to help American businesses be “open for business” and “have the liquidity that they need to operate their business in the interim.”

In its report on Trump’s push to reopen the economy sooner rather than later, the Post stresses that health experts are warning about the potentially “disastrous” consequences of easing restrictions prematurely, “because U.S. leaders have not built up the capacity for alternatives to stay-at-home orders — such as the mass testing, large-scale contact tracing and targeted quarantines that have been used in other countries to suppress the virus.”

Is there a risk of reopening business and then seeing a large spike in infections?  Probably.  But, it is not realistic to keep things closed for 12-18 months.  Many experts believe that, no matter what, most Americans will contract this virus at some point.

Former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson has been sounding the alarm about the effects of the shutdown.  Based on the data, he questions the current course of action.  If you use Twitter, follow him now!  He is a voice of reason and facts.

https://twitter.com/AlexBerenson/status/1248591563350999045?s=20

https://twitter.com/AlexBerenson/status/1248592169381879808?s=20

The bottom line is that we were initially driven to institute social distancing and Stay at Home orders based on models and the data we had at that time. The data and models have changed.   Therefore, we should not leave the same draconian policies in place.  There are devastating costs being wreaked upon society due to the shutdown.  Businesses are shuttered, people are losing their jobs, children are out of schools, and people who have other healthcare needs aside from coronavirus are not getting care.

We need to change course based upon our current data.   Of course, we will still have to change our behaviors even after we reopen and certain pockets of the country (such as New York City) will have to remain closed longer.  But we must reopen as much as possible as soon as possible.