I must admit abject frustration at the way Trump has approached and is handling the Coronavirus pandemic. His daily “briefings” are nothing more than a Dog and Pony show with him vomiting out platitudes about people and the job they are doing. Not once have I ever heard a scintilla about what he is planning to do and the steps he is taking to gain control over this worsening menace. All he does is ramble on and on about the great and fantastic jobs all “his” people are doing.
At the other end of the spectrum is New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. I have been listening to and look forward to hearing his briefings. He knows what the hell he’s doing and has a handle on everything about what the Coronavirus is doing to his state and is taking positive steps to address the monster all of us are facing. All while keeping his ear to the ground. He knows the number of cases, equipment and supplies at the professionals’ disposal, and how much more will be needed as the crisis grows. If he doesn't know, he knows who to ask.
Not only that, he is cognizant of the fact that local governments will probably not be able to meet their budgets because of the loss of revenues due to the shuttering of businesses and the attendant loss of jobs. Today he outlined a way that these drops in revenue can be addressed. As I understand it, the locals should cut their budgets by a certain percentage, based on anticipated revenue and work toward meeting the new figures. With everyone pulling their respective oars in the same direction, things can work out. If revenues fall short, that would at least give the locals a frame on which to build the succeeding budget.
Would Trump conceive of such a scenario? Not on your life!
Trump is simply passing the buck. It’s not his fault! It should be up to the governors under our federal system to take care of their own states and leave the government out of the distribution business. This is a national crisis which requires a national response. You would not expect the President to have the various governors send out their National Guard units, willy-nilly to another country to fight a war, would you? Of course not! So why then, should governors be expected to compete with each others to obtain critically needed medical equipment and supplies to fight this war?
I haltingly give Trump some credit for asking the auto makers to retool and start making ventilators. They listened and are coming through. Kudos to them! Other manufacturers also heard the call and are making PPEs and other medical necessities as the need for them grows.
However, the way Trump wants to have it done is for the 50 governors make their own purchases for their respective states. This is an absolutely abominable way to address this crisis. We then have each governor bidding against each other for the needed equipment. They then end up driving the prices up to the point that, while New York might be able to afford to stock their larders, Kansas probably cannot. Is this any way to run a country? Again, not on your life!
What I would suggest is for the federal government to purchase as many ventilators as can be produced, distribute them to the areas that need them, then when the need subsides or abates altogether, store them in several warehouses around the country for the next pandemic. This way the costs can be kept under control (zero no-bid contracts), they are readily available when needed and can go to where they’re needed. This is a much more streamlined way to meet the needs of the nation in a national crisis.
Trump, the businessman, has always been friendly to the tool of eminent domain when it (invariably) suits his purposes. Here’s another idea… New York, Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, or wherever should exercise the tool of eminent domain and commandeer his hotels wherever and whenever they are needed to use as either sleeping quarters for medical staffs who are on the front lines of this war or, in the alternative, as Coronavirus treatment centers. True, the stimulus bill prohibits Trump or any of his immediate family members from any benefits arising from the bill, but paying the Trump Corporation a fair and equitable rate, based on non-luxury local rates, would be acceptable in my view. Just compensation is the only metric that should be used in this scenario.
In closing, I cannot help but observe that, of the two men above, there is only one who is acting presidential throughout this whole ordeal. Betcha can’t guess which one I’m referring to. Of course, it’s Andrew Cuomo. His demeanor and grasp of the facts is beyond that of any politician—especially Donald Trump. He doesn’t speak in platitudes and heap praise on his “buddies” or—most importantly—himself. He doesn’t bully anyone nor make anyone have to cow-tow to his point of view. He speaks in everyday language that everyone can understand. He is the kind of person I feel very strongly after watching him over the past few days to be the person who should be leading this country. While my political leanings are to the Progressive end of the spectrum, I am very impressed with Cuomo and would vote for him in a heartbeat over Joe Biden or any other Democrat for that matter. I would not be opposed to his being drafted as the Democratic candidate to oppose Trump come November.
But right now the most important thing is defeating Coronavirus. As Lincoln once said, “Would that this scourge might soon pass”.
