Are Red States Reopening Faster?

GOP Seeks Reopening Our Economy, So Why Are Democrats Dems Promoting Lockdowns?

You are not imagining things.

It's really true that blue states controlled by Democrats are closing their economies, while red state Republican governors are looking to reopen. As of last week, those starting to at least gradually open to a significant degree are: Alaska, Alabama, Texas, Georgia, Wyoming, Iowa, Tennessee, Mississippi, North Dakota Wyoming, Florida and Colorado. All but Colorado have a Republican head of state.

What could explain this dichotomy?

Here are the most likely reasons:

Miming the Liberal Media

Democrats concern themselves with the whims of the media far more than their Republican counterparts. Mainstream outlets have made the decision that they will punish those who open early.

The media seeks simplistic narratives rather than complex explanations. For instance, it’s not difficult to track the number of deaths related to coronavirus and then flash it on the screen daily. Once the state reopens, it’s easy, and tempting, for a media outlet to list the number of new deaths and claim that it is attributable to loosening the lock down.

On the other hand, there are no charts posted as to how many people die as a result of increased suicides or opioid overdoses related to the virus, or the lack of diagnoses for people not seeing their doctors.

Furthermore, elected officials are quite aware that they will not be blamed for a depressed economy that results from a virus, but will be hung out to dry if the death rate rises, even a nominal amount, upon a reopening. If you keep the schools closed, no one can blame you for a child becoming infected or a teacher dying.

Yet, few would link a causal relationship between your lockdown and the enormous negative impact it will have upon the educational development of a child.

That’s why, even if you disagree with them, you have to admire the courage of those governors who are willing to stick their necks out to start reopening their states.

Lockdowns Hurt Trump

Polls show that citizens have been so frightened by the hysterical media coverage that a 58% majority oppose reopening . . . (Though that figure would likely be far different if it was juxtaposed against the option of a graduated opening incorporating social distancing.)

Since there are few political ramifications to remaining shut down, Democratic leaders were more than happy to join forces with a "Resistance" media helping to ensure that President Trump‘s number one advantage for reelection — a thriving economy — was eliminated as a talking point.

Loathing of Business

The left's affiliation with the shutdown jibes with its general contempt for the business community. It’s the Barack Obama mindset, "You didn’t build that!"

There’s a lack of appreciation of the risk and sacrifice that goes into running a business. There’s the remnants of the Marxist philosophy that the world is boiled down to two categories  — the exploited (the worker) and those who exploit (the owners). No need to worry if we cripple the business; the safety net will be there to catch the workers.

Meanwhile, radicals such as Rep. Alexandria Octasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. see the collapse as an opportunity to restructure the nation they loathe. She claimed that the outbreak proved America to be a brutal, barbarian society" while she was promoting further strife by urging the proletariat not to return to work out of protest.

And recall South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn’s quote that Democrats could use the virus as "a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision."

Expansion of the Welfare State 

And, of course, the crisis furthers the ability of leftists to expand the welfare state.

This is not to say the benefits aren’t needed temporarily for the unemployed to survive, but the idea of granting an additional $600 a week — thereby allowing recipients to collect more for sitting home than going to work — was widely advanced by Decmocrats.

When several GOP senators earnestly argued that this windfall would make it harder for businesses to rehire, thereby prolonging the recession, they were shot down by Democrats such as Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy who lambasted those seeking to remove the disincentive " . . . because they think the bill is too good for laid off Americans."

Scientist Wannabes

Leftists identifying with smug elites in academia and leadership classes love to virtue-signal as to how smart they are by attaching their hips to "science."

The argument? The smelly Walmart "deplorables" clutch onto guns and God, while the more "enlightened" left is guided by science. So there’s ample opportunity in this crisis to brandish one’s science connections by insisting that the opening is driven by emotion, while lockdowns are guided by science. They opine as such despite the fact that their "science" was wrong on their mortality models, the use of facemasks, and the number of people infected.

Climate Change

There are even some extremists on the left who are gloating over the economic slowdown because it has, in the short term, led to cleaner air and waterways. By their logic, if we just kept the permanent shut down, we’d all be better off because we have a cleaner planet.

Unfortunately, millions of us would be dead due to the resultant poverty.

But that’s beside the point for these extremists.

Using this standard, we should keep the shutdown in perpetuity because it would likely reduce the number of seasonal flu deaths we see each and every year.

There is a way to keep us safe without collapsing our economy.

It begins by governors having respect for all, not just a select class, of their constituency.

Steve Levy, former New York state assemblyman, Suffolk County executive, and candidate for governor, is now a distinguished political pundit. Levy's commentary has been published in such media outlets as Washington Times, Washington Examiner, New York Post, Albany Times, Long Island Business News, and City & State Magazine. He hosted "The Steve Levy Radio Show" on Long Island News Radio, and is a frequent guest on high profile television and radio outlets. Few on the political scene possess Levy's diverse background. He's been both a legislator and executive, and served on both the state and local levels — as both a Democrat and Republican. Levy published "Bias in the Media," an analysis of his own experience, after switching parties, with the media's leftward slant. Levy is currently Executive Director of the Center for Cost Effective Government, a fiscally conservative think tank. He is also President of Common Sense Strategies, a political consulting firm. To learn more about his past work and upcoming appearances, visit www.stevelevy.info. Read Steve Levy's Reports — More Here.