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| © Provided by Washington Examiner |
By Naomi Lim, Washington Examiner
Candidates and lawmakers alike are using the novel coronavirus as political cover to pursue their different policy agendas under the guise of a pandemic response.
Republicans have skewered presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for repeatedly describing the COVID-19 outbreak as an "opportunity."
The two-term vice president and 36-year Delaware senator told CNN last week the virus could be leverage to “fundamentally change the science relating to global warming." Earlier, during a March virtual town hall, he suggested federal government negotiations over an economic stimulus package were a chance to push for investments in green jobs and infrastructure.
GOP candidates are also guilty of seizing on the disease as an excuse to advocate for conservative ideas.
Jeff Sessions, the former Trump administration attorney general turned 2020 Republican Alabama Senate candidate, told Fox News last week an employment-based immigration moratorium would be "no doubt ... in the interest of the United States." He argued the respite would help prioritize the record number of people who lost their jobs when businesses were shuttered and millions were ordered to stay home to stop the spread.
George Mason University's Jeremy Mayer said there was no shortage of opportunistic public officials and those seeking office during the coronavirus pandemic. He pointed to Republicans on Capitol Hill calling for "a huge tax benefit" as part of the main $2.2 trillion economic relief bill.
"On the left, many see the COVID-19 crisis as a chance to radically expand workers’ rights, boost the minimum wage, push for 'Medicare for all,' and other long-desired reforms," he said.
"Democrats are also working to make voting easier for November. They wanted to do it before the virus, but this crisis provides a great platform for their efforts," Mayer said.
Indeed, Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator and former 2020 Democratic White House hopeful, is asserting how the emergence of the disease underscores the need for better healthcare and insurance coverage.
Universal basic income, a proposal championed by Andrew Yang during this cycle's Democratic presidential primary, is gaining traction after once being "summarily dismissed" for its price tag, according to the University of Akron's David Cohen.
"A number of members of Congress are now actively pushing UBI, and the chorus will grow louder as the economic conditions for the unemployed grows more desperate," he said.
Cohen agreed healthcare reforms, such as "Medicare for all," would be reconsidered, as would climate change action.
"If Congress and the president can spend trillions of dollars on a whim, the argument against future programs being too costly becomes more difficult to make," he said.
Drake University's Renee Cramer noted abortion access was additionally being restricted in a slew of states.
Although not an official candidate, critics of Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, for instance, have slammed the rumored 2020 vice presidential contender for deeming abortions "life-sustaining" healthcare for women. Whitmer, a co-chair of Joe Biden's White House campaign, has discouraged elective surgeries in her state to alleviate pressure on the healthcare system and conserve medical supplies.
For Catholic University of America professor Matthew Green, capitalizing on a national crisis isn't a new phenomenon. In fact, there's a long tradition, he said, attributing the trend to at least two important reasons.
"First, in a time of crisis, policymakers are tempted to frame bills as emergency measures that will somehow help resolve the crisis, making them more likely to pass. Second, because people are focused entirely on the crisis at hand, they are less likely to notice controversial legislation that works its way through the legislative process," Green told the Washington Examiner.
The Bush administration expanded executive power after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, invading Iraq, increasing surveillance, and adopting enhanced interrogation tactics while rolling out tax cuts. Former President Barack Obama, President George W. Bush's successor, made similar moves, listing the Trump Environment Protection Agency's decision to relax fuel economy and mercury regulations as a more contemporary example.
"Amid the Great Recession, [Obama] pushed for a variety of major initiatives, like Obamacare, that did not have much to do with immediate economic recovery," Green said.
"Not long after Obama was elected, then-chief of staff Rahm Emanuel famously said that 'you never want a serious crisis to go to waste' because 'it's an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before," Green said.
See more at Washington Examiner
Candidates and lawmakers alike are using the novel coronavirus as political cover to pursue their different policy agendas under the guise of a pandemic response.
Republicans have skewered presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for repeatedly describing the COVID-19 outbreak as an "opportunity."
The two-term vice president and 36-year Delaware senator told CNN last week the virus could be leverage to “fundamentally change the science relating to global warming." Earlier, during a March virtual town hall, he suggested federal government negotiations over an economic stimulus package were a chance to push for investments in green jobs and infrastructure.
GOP candidates are also guilty of seizing on the disease as an excuse to advocate for conservative ideas.
Jeff Sessions, the former Trump administration attorney general turned 2020 Republican Alabama Senate candidate, told Fox News last week an employment-based immigration moratorium would be "no doubt ... in the interest of the United States." He argued the respite would help prioritize the record number of people who lost their jobs when businesses were shuttered and millions were ordered to stay home to stop the spread.
George Mason University's Jeremy Mayer said there was no shortage of opportunistic public officials and those seeking office during the coronavirus pandemic. He pointed to Republicans on Capitol Hill calling for "a huge tax benefit" as part of the main $2.2 trillion economic relief bill.
"On the left, many see the COVID-19 crisis as a chance to radically expand workers’ rights, boost the minimum wage, push for 'Medicare for all,' and other long-desired reforms," he said.
"Democrats are also working to make voting easier for November. They wanted to do it before the virus, but this crisis provides a great platform for their efforts," Mayer said.
Indeed, Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator and former 2020 Democratic White House hopeful, is asserting how the emergence of the disease underscores the need for better healthcare and insurance coverage.
Universal basic income, a proposal championed by Andrew Yang during this cycle's Democratic presidential primary, is gaining traction after once being "summarily dismissed" for its price tag, according to the University of Akron's David Cohen.
"A number of members of Congress are now actively pushing UBI, and the chorus will grow louder as the economic conditions for the unemployed grows more desperate," he said.
Cohen agreed healthcare reforms, such as "Medicare for all," would be reconsidered, as would climate change action.
"If Congress and the president can spend trillions of dollars on a whim, the argument against future programs being too costly becomes more difficult to make," he said.
Drake University's Renee Cramer noted abortion access was additionally being restricted in a slew of states.
Although not an official candidate, critics of Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, for instance, have slammed the rumored 2020 vice presidential contender for deeming abortions "life-sustaining" healthcare for women. Whitmer, a co-chair of Joe Biden's White House campaign, has discouraged elective surgeries in her state to alleviate pressure on the healthcare system and conserve medical supplies.
For Catholic University of America professor Matthew Green, capitalizing on a national crisis isn't a new phenomenon. In fact, there's a long tradition, he said, attributing the trend to at least two important reasons.
"First, in a time of crisis, policymakers are tempted to frame bills as emergency measures that will somehow help resolve the crisis, making them more likely to pass. Second, because people are focused entirely on the crisis at hand, they are less likely to notice controversial legislation that works its way through the legislative process," Green told the Washington Examiner.
The Bush administration expanded executive power after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, invading Iraq, increasing surveillance, and adopting enhanced interrogation tactics while rolling out tax cuts. Former President Barack Obama, President George W. Bush's successor, made similar moves, listing the Trump Environment Protection Agency's decision to relax fuel economy and mercury regulations as a more contemporary example.
"Amid the Great Recession, [Obama] pushed for a variety of major initiatives, like Obamacare, that did not have much to do with immediate economic recovery," Green said.
"Not long after Obama was elected, then-chief of staff Rahm Emanuel famously said that 'you never want a serious crisis to go to waste' because 'it's an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before," Green said.
See more at Washington Examiner
