We can all agree that our nation has entered uncharted waters over this Covid 19 virus, and Congress is already planning to go even deeper into those waters.

Last week our federal government appropriated 2.2 Trillion dollars, that it does not have, to provide financial relief to businesses, workers, citizens, hospitals, medical providers, first responders, and  other questionable beneficiaries like the Kennedy Center ($25 million), et. al.,  in the HOPE that doing so will save lives.

But what is it and the shutdown of our economy doing to our national survival?

Before anyone knows for sure how effective this huge allocation of money (Phase III) will be, Congress plans on supplementing Phase III with another few hundred billion dollars and spending another couple of trillion dollars that we do not have in Phase IV.

What is likely to make these spending packages even more costly and damaging to our economy is the intent of progressive Democrats, led by Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, to pack the Phase IV relief package with more of what Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana rightly calls “spending porn.” No spending whatsoever should be included in any of these spending bills that is unrelated to alleviating the traumas caused by Covid 19.

There is every good reason for every American to be fearful about the ultimate human and economic costs of this pandemic. However, as a nation, we need to guard against allowing our emotions to make the death count our only focus.

We have another priority of equal if not greater importance. We need to save our economy from spiraling into a total catastrophic collapse from which it might never fully recover, while taking every reasonable measure to minimize loss of life.

Certainly, many lives will be lost due to this virus. However, many additional lives will also be lost if we, as President Trump has said, make the cure worse than the disease itself.

More perspective and less politics and emotion are required as we fight to defeat this virus. As of the morning of April 14,  Covid 19 is blamed for 23,500 deaths in the U.S. No doubt there will be many more before it is over.

The 2009 H1N1 epidemic took 12,469 American lives. According to the CDC, 35,200 Americans died during the 2018-2019 flu season. In the U.S. we lose an average of 8,000 every day … more than 2.5 million annually. 

We Americans alone abort more than 600,000 babies every year — 56 million worldwide annually. Now, how is it possible that we can so easily tolerate such outrageous loss of innocent life and yet justify the slaughter by claiming we are only protecting a woman’s right to choose? Really? Perspective!

Undoubtedly, Covid 19 virus is threatening our lives and our way of life and we need to employ every available resource to defeat it.

I hope our elected “leaders” know what they are doing. Our national debt is already more than 23 trillion dollars. I wish I could be more confident that they do — but with progressive leaders like Sen. Schumer and Speaker Pelosi and our own state’s progressive representatives in Congress eager to coerce Republicans in the senate and our President to accept an even greater spree of unrelated spending porn, I have my doubts. 

Our economy must not be shut down beyond a point of no return. Our President has a terribly difficult decision to make and he must make it soon. I do not envy him.

Peter Hewett
Bristol