Just in the last several days, extraordinary measures have been taken by federal and state officials as a response to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak.
On the state level, Gov. Kay Ivey has taken steps to prevent the spread in Alabama. Among those were limiting gatherings of more than 25 people, forbidding customers to eat or drink in the dining room of a restaurant, bar or brewery and closing Alabama’s beaches. All of those actions come at a cost to the economy and will result in a decrease in tax revenue for state government coffers.
During an interview with WVNN radio in Huntsville, State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) raised questions about the economic aspects of decisions being made at all levels of government, including the pros and cons of what is being done to the economy and the federal government “throwing money at the problem.”
“Nobody is doing a risk analysis for any of this,” Orr said Friday on “The Dale Jackson Show.”
“You know, you look at the Italian experience, and you look and see that 99-plus percent all had serious health issues — either one or more serious health issues other than coronavirus,” he continued. “So what’s going to happen when people don’t have — these $1,200 checks — I mean, just throwing money at the problem? I think that’s just the politicians’ answer. It takes much longer to start a business back up if it hadn’t gone into total bankruptcy and failure than it does to just shut her down. I think all the politicians are trying to one-up each other and just throw it all into the ditch. I’m down at the bottom end of the totem pole of things, but I’m starting to really question decisions that are being made.”
The Morgan County Republican noted the risks to the vulnerable and suggested appropriate protections could be applied to those without hindering economic activity.
“[T]here is no finish line,” Orr said. “I don’t know that the end game has been thought out. And that’s where we should have started — protecting those in vulnerable situations — the elderly, those that have health conditions — really isolating them. But as far as those that have got bills to pay and work, they may get sick or something but so do every year people get sick with the flu. And people move on.”
“I don’t have the information that a lot of the people up the food chain have, but I sit back, and I watch what is happening to the economy and how the politicians seem to be trying to outrace themselves to implement new restrictions. I’m starting to get real serious questions about how things are operating.”
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly and host of Huntsville’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN.
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