Tomorrow, Joe Biden is going to be interviewed on ABC by David Muir. The network released excerpts of the interview in an effort to boost the audience. In one, Joe Biden proves that he can't be president. Biden says that if recommended by scientists, he would "shut down" the country to stop the corona virus.
Think about that. Our economy is still reeling from the first shutdown last spring. That shutdown succeeded in putting tens of millions out of work, in reducing the GDP by roughly 35%, and in pushing millions of small (and large) businesses to close for good. While the economy is coming back now, it is still quite fragile. Whole sectors of the economy are sitting on the knife edge of bankruptcy. Earlier this week, we learned that roughly a quarter of all hotels across the country are in arrears on their mortgages. They need to get back to higher occupancy soon or they will fail. A second shutdown would surely put at least something like half of all hotels out of business. And then there are the airlines. They are in existence right now because of government subsidies to keep them going. A second shutdown will send every one into bankruptcy. How about restaurants? Many are operating with outdoor seating in the Summer. In two months, that will end in much of the nation as cold weather returns. It may be delightful to eat dinner outdoors in a cool summer evening, but not so much during a cold November night. If the restaurants don't get more relief fast, hundreds of thousands more will close for good. How about hair salons, barbershops, nail salons, gyms, massage therapists, and the like. All these personal service industries (and the millions who work in them) will lose their jobs were there a second shutdown.
Let's put it this way. The first shutdown destroyed millions of jobs. Those who worked in the financially weaker businesses got swept away by the disastrous tidal wave of the virus closures. It was a terrible blow to the nation. And here's the kicker -- it didn't get rid of the virus. Indeed, no one -- and that includes the "scientists" -- ever said that a shutdown would get rid of the virus. That first shutdown was supposed to "bend the curve". In other words, that shutdown was supposed to keep America's hospitals from getting overrun with virus cases, and that is just what it did. No one who needed a hospital bed was ever denied one. No one who needed a ventilator was ever denied one. It was rough going in certain hospitals (mostly in the New York City area), but the country got through it. And now, the hospitals are handling things fine. The number of people in hospital is slightly above half of what it was at the max, and we are still near the recent peak of the so-called second wave. We got through that second wave without a wholesale shutdown and THE HOSPITALS WERE FINE.
It's clear that Joe Biden hasn't been listening to the "scientists". If he had, he would know the actual reason for the shutdown was to bend the curve, i.e., to protect the hospitals and not to get rid of the virus. Joe should also understand pretty well that a second shutdown would not just damage our economy but would destroy it. A second shutdown would bring a long term depression to this nation. The hotel, airline, restaurant, personal service, movie, theme park, cruise line, and many other industries just don't have the assets to go through another shutdown without being destroyed. Okay, maybe the Democrats and Joe don't care about those who own these companies. Millions of small business owners would see their life's work wiped away and fall into poverty, but maybe Joe doesn't care. But tens of millions of people employed in these companies would also be wiped out. Whole cities would be pushed into massive poverty. Think of places like Las Vegas or Orlando, cities that depend primarily on tourism. If all the casino, hotel, restaurant, show biz, and personal service employees in Vegas were to lose their jobs, we would see a huge metro area suddenly turn into a massive homeless camp. Nevada doesn't have the resources to support all these people. Now multiply that by a hundred to consider the impact on the USA. A second shutdown would be Armageddon for America. It would be suicide by poor policy. And this is what Joe Biden says he would do if scientists recommended it.
America doesn't need a president who doesn't understand the basic needs of the American people. We don't need a president who won't make hard choices. Biden doesn't seem to understand the economic realities.
And one last note for those of you who are think that a shutdown would "save lives". That not only wrong, it's not even close to correct. Shutdowns do NOT stop the virus. For that we need either herd immunity or a vaccine. Even then, there will still be some cases. A second shutdown, though, WILL CAUSE deaths. If you've missed the figures, you should learn that suicides during the shutdown spiked really high. According to surveys, 25% of all young adults considered suicide during the last four months. During the shutdown, drug and alcohol abuse spiked big time as well. Those sitting at home were unable to refrain from drugs and alcohol; they didn't have to be sober for work, so they used. They were feeling down, and perhaps suicidal, so they used. This is now a long term problem to overcome, and it will lead to countless deaths from overdoses. And let's not forget the families that lost their homes, had too little to eat, had to miss medical treatments, and the like. You can be sure that there will be many tens of thousands who die from that. And this is all just a small taste of what a second shutdown that Joe Biden supports would do.
Basically, Joe Biden just said that he would destroy America if "scientists" told him to do so. Where is his common sense? Where is his understanding of his actions? How could this fool possibly be president?
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