President Biden rolled out his plan yesterday to mandate vaccinations to a large segment of the American population since people can’t seem to be able to get out of their ‘it’s all about me’ bubbles and do the right thing for the community. When you listen to some of these anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers, they remind me of children having tantrums. At such times, children can rarely offer a cogent explanation why they are acting in a such an irrational manner but there they are – screaming, yelling, crying and lashing out right in the middle of the aisle at the supermarket. And what do most of us do when that happens? We pick the child up, take them outside and refuse to take them back into the store to go shopping until they learn to behave. Disruptive and selfish children are a nuisance. Disruptive and selfish adults are killing people.
There are six parts to Biden’s plan1:
- All employers with 100 or more employees must require all employees to be vaccinated or submit to regular testing
- Introduce booster shots for those that are eligible for whom a booster shot would be appropriate
- Education – the Federal government will make up the salary of any teacher or administrator; all educators in the federal Head Start program must be vaccinated; all governors will be asked to require vaccinations for all teachers and school staff
- Increased testing
- Expansion of small business loan program
- Improved care for those with COVID
This is on top of the federal mandate that all federal employees be vaccinated or submit to regular testing.
Of course, there was immediate pushback from the Republicans including our own governor, Greg Gianforte. “The Republican said in a Tweet that he is “committed to protecting Montanans’ freedoms and liberties against this gross federal overreach.” Interestingly, Montana is the only state in the union that makes it illegal for private employers to require vaccines as a condition for employment.
Think about that for a minute. Gianforte is saying that it is federal overreach to mandate that businesses require vaccines, however, it is not government overreach for him to tell private businesses that they can’t require vaccines. Does anyone else see the irony here? If Gianforte really believed in ‘freedom’ then he would let a business run their business however they hell they want, including mandating vaccinations for employees. What happened to ‘It’s my business, my right”? How is this different from, “It’s my body, my right?” Once again, the hypocrisy is astounding.
When the Republican legislature here in Montana passed a law stripping the rights of local municipalities to enact gun control laws in their jurisdictions, that is not government overreach? When they passed a law allowing students to carry weapons on college campuses in direct violation of the Montana constitution that gives full responsibility for college campuses to the Board of Regents, that is not government overreach? When they pass laws restricting a woman’s right to control her own reproductive health, that is not government overreach? When they pass laws restricting people’s ability to vote, that is not government overreach?
I guess it’s just government overreach when someone from the opposing political party passes a law in an attempt to curb a pandemic that has killed over 650,000 Americans to date and is currently overwhelming the healthcare systems in many states. I guess I would ask Gianforte and the other Republican governors what they suggest as a solution to this pandemic. It is easy to be against things, but it’s a lot harder to offer realistic and workable solutions. What is their solution? The fact is, they have none!
In those states with low vaccination rates and anti-mask laws, cases are skyrocketing, health systems are overwhelmed, and people are dying. What these governors are doing (or not doing) is clearly not working, so what is their proposed solution? Do nothing and just let people die by the thousands? Until they can offer a solution other than just sit on their hands, talk about freedom and let more and more Americans die each and every day, they should really just shut up about government overreach. They clearly have nothing better to offer.