It’s no secret that Joe Biden has had a rough first year to his presidency – and that the left wants us to all cut the guy a break since he was dealt such a crummy hand. What other president in recent history had his popularity dashed thanks to a global pandemic outside of his control? Perhaps one other comes to mind. Indeed, if it weren’t for the pandemic, Biden probably wouldn’t have become president to begin with.
The real source of the chief executive’s troubles is his own response to the crisis into which he wandered. At every turn, Biden seems to make promises he simply can’t – or, at the very least, shouldn’t – keep. Between the Constitution and the reactions of people today, even among those who put him in office, it would be obvious to just about anyone else that more federal control over individuals isn’t the answer. Ultimately, that’s Biden’s biggest blunder: vowing more COVID relief than he can actually give.
Lockdowns Didn’t Work – So Let’s Try It Again
(Photo by Chris Farber/UNICEF via Getty Images)
Remember the two weeks to flatten the curve? Well, that worked so well that now it seems the Biden administration is toying with the idea of doing it again – but this time, with a twist. Stay-at-home orders were all the rage in early- to mid-2020, and still the virus spread across the nation unchecked, showing no signs that any of the restrictions, from travel limits to social distancing to mask mandates, did any good whatsoever.
Then came the vaccines and the various levels of vaccine passport requirements. First it was no movies or plays or concerts without proof of inoculation. Then it was a federal mandate by executive order that government employees and anyone working for a large enough company to be under the thumb of OSHA get vaccinated. That, of course, has been held up in courts, but it hasn’t stopped many businesses from following the president’s order and instituting vaccine mandates for employees.
Now, the White House thinks it may be time to try this whole travel restriction thing again. But this time, only the unvaccinated will be ostracized. Biden said Tuesday, Dec. 28 that he would consider travel restrictions against the unvaccinated if that’s what his medical team recommends. As for his medical team, Dr. Anthony Fauci clarified that they haven’t yet advised the president to take that measure – but they are considering it. So instead of trying to keep everyone at home, which didn’t stop the spread, those who have had the jab can travel – even though the vaccine has yet to prove entirely effective in stopping infection and transmission.
No Jab, No Job?
Of course, this travel restriction could run up against the same difficulty as the employer vaccine mandate. Despite the fact that federal law allows OSHA to enforce health and safety guidelines on employers doesn’t mean the president and OSHA have free reign to impose any requirement they want simply by declaring it to be a health issue. Biden’s vaccine mandates have been challenged across the land and will soon be heard by the Supreme Court of the United States. At the same time, courts have allowed similar mandates at the employer and even state levels. So what gives?
(Photo by Michael Nigro/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
An employer isn’t restricted by the Constitution as the federal government is. Companies are free to impose rules more or less as they see fit, with some limits, of course. If a company demands workers get a vaccine or lose their jobs, so be it – that is the employer’s right, according to recent court rulings.
But Biden’s plan has been interpreted as an overreach – not only on the federal government’s part in general, but specifically by Joe Biden as president. Rather than using actual laws, passed by Congress, to impose his will on citizens – which, in this case, would still be challenged as potential overreach by the federal government – he used an executive order to direct an executive branch agency to fine companies into compliance. That reminds folks just a little too much of the actions of an angry king across the sea, it seems.
One could easily point to current court rulings on the vaccine mandate and argue that having the TSA prohibit people from flying or riding if they aren’t inoculated is no less an overreach. And what about folks who opt to drive themselves? Can we expect DOT roadblocks soon where vaccine records must be shown in order to travel?
Testing, Testing ….
Then there’s Biden’s plan to buy half a billion rapid antigen tests to then give away to people upon request. Note that this would be charged to the people’s tab, not Biden’s own personal accounts, but it’s also a logistics nightmare that likely wouldn’t move the needle even if it worked without a hitch. As it stands, there are free testing options across the country. Well, they aren’t really free, as the government is handing out tax dollars to pay for it, but they’re still at no immediate cost to the person being swabbed. There are also some – albeit very few, thanks to the rapid increase in demand – tests available for purchase. So where will Biden’s 500 million come from? Here are the options:
- What’s currently being produced, which means fewer tests going to stores and free test sites, where people can get checked as quickly as they can get there and wait in line. With the tests in Biden’s possession, one would have to wait for the government employees to notice and fulfil the online order, then wait for the postal service to make the delivery.
- Resources and facilities will be diverted from other products, which won’t hurt the current market supply so much, but could inflict unimaginable damage on other markets. The question to be answered here is this: What isn’t getting manufactured so that the test kits can?
- Order from overseas, which has become the American way of late, but which has also caused a whole host of other problems. Not least amongst those is the issue of product quality and the safety of the user.
- Some combination of the above, blending both solutions and new problems alike.
Unfortunately, no matter how Biden manages to accomplish this goal, it will only be at great cost to the American people and with a payoff that seems negligible at best – nonexistent at worst.
Just as was the case in previous presidential campaigns, when he seemingly made up irrelevant lies to try and fit in when in fact he had nothing to gain, Joe Biden is once again proving to be his own worst enemy. The problem isn’t Trump. The problem isn’t white supremacy. The problem is that Biden is grasping for straws in a kneejerk reaction to the crisis as he sees it – as he always has. He’s simply trying to do more than he has the power or authority to accomplish, and certainly more than COVID-weary Americans actually want or need.
~ Read more from James Fite.
