Unnecessarily Long Lockdowns Could Hurt Democratic Governors | Eastern North Carolina Now

Publisher's note: The author of this post is Mitch Kokai for the John Locke Foundation.

    Thomas Lifson of the American Thinker ponders political implications for Democratic governors who delay reopening of their states' economies.

• Some of the most populous states in the country - blue states dominated by Democrats - plan to continue the economic carnage of full lockdowns for a long, long time. Gavin Newsom of California promises no return to normal until a vaccine is developed, which could be never, or two years if the average length of development timetable applies. In the meantime, small businesses will be wiped out, middle class savings exhausted, and huge numbers of their citizens will be driven into poverty and dependence on government handouts.
• Apparently, the political theory is that poor people support Democrats at the polls, so impoverishing most people means permanent majorities keeping them in power.
• Meanwhile some red states like South Dakota and Wyoming never locked down their entire states, while others are now reopening step-by-step. Overseas, Sweden never locked down, and now Germany is planning to return its society and economy to normal in a methodical fashion, including reopening schools and other counties like Australia are also loosening up, step by step.
• In the nearly half year between now and the time the country goes to the polls, blue state voters are going to wonder why they should be imprisoned at home, their children out of schools, and their finances impoverished while elsewhere in the country it is still the land of the free. Already, there have been protests in Michigan and elsewhere, demanding loosening of restrictions, and more are planned in Blue states like New Jersey. ...
• ... My guess is that as this process continues further, blue states will reconsider. Maybe they will do so in time for economic redemption, but if not, they are in for big trouble at the polls.

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