FREEDOM WORKS MORNING UPDATE 04/28/2020

1. Congress Should Look to the Harding Administration for a Playbook on Ending Recessions

By FreedomWorks President Adam Brandon Via The Washington Times America’s relationship with the free market is on the rocks as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Economic commentators have already begun calling the current crisis a recession. The government response to this apparent recession has been unprecedented. But there is another, better way to tackle our economic woes. If we take a look back at our history, we can find a model in President Warren Harding’s wildly successful laissez faire approach to tackling the Recession of 1920. We’ve seen countless comparisons in today’s media of the coronavirus to the 1918 Spanish Flu. Not only is it natural to draw such comparisons, but doing so is key to understanding the U.S. response, both then and now. However, the ensuing economic downturn of 1920 seldom appears as more than a footnote. This is especially true when the downturn is overshadowed by World War I, the 1918 pandemic and the ensuing market upswing that followed — the Roaring ‘20s. The fact that the decade itself ends with the United States’ most spectacular stock market collapse will always mean that the 1920 recession is less discussed. READ MORE HERE

2. #ReopenAmerica Spotlight: Walmart, Amazon, Honeybaked Ham

Via FreedomWorks Director of Policy Sarah Anderson Even if judging only by the sheer number of #ReopenAmerica rallies that were held in state capitals across the country last week, it is clear that Americans have been so devastated by government responses to coronavirus that such “cures” are shaping up to be worse than the very virus itself. Whether politicians like it or not, Americans want to reopen society in some way, even though there is still a threat from coronavirus. The question is not whether to reopen, but when and how to reopen to allow our nation to continue on, while living with coronavirus. Thankfully, there is great evidence -- the free market -- which informs us that businesses, if allowed by their government to reopen, will do so smartly. Small businesses especially, which employ nearly half of our nation’s entire workforce, are run by some of the smartest, most capable business owners we have. This is simply because they have to fend for themselves in the market, and that requires business practices that are best for their customers in order to be successful. READ MORE HERE

3. No Child Left Behind by Coronavirus Closures

Via FreedomWorks Foundation Program Coordinator Luke Hogg Now that we are months into quarantine for COVID-19 with no immediate end in sight, school districts across the nation have begun accepting the reality that they won’t be returning this year. As of April 26th, 43 states, along with 4 U.S. Territories, and the District of Columbia, “have ordered or recommended school building closures for the rest of the academic year, affecting approximately 45.1 million public school students.” These sudden and mass closures have forced schools to reevaluate everything. As with other sectors of society, the deregulation that has come to education out of necessity proves that much of the centralized way our government controls education is unnecessary. The best example of this is doubtless the mass abandonment of high-stakes standardized testing that has come as a result of COVID-19. When states decided to close schools for nearly a quarter of the year, one of the first problems that required a solution was grading students. How can teachers and administrators ensure that students are meeting educational standards? More importantly, how can schools ensure that graduating students should be eligible for a diploma? READ MORE HERE

4. The Fauci-Birx Doctrine of Destruction

By Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) & Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) Via Washington Examiner Americans have a funny approach to vacation. It’s well known they’re not very good at it. Even when not working, they’re rarely not working. While Europeans are known to take all of their five weeks+ of vacation per year, Americans tend to forego the fewer weeks allotted to them. They either can’t get enough of their jobs, worry being away from work will set career advancement back, want to work longer in order to advance quicker, or perhaps all three. Needless to say, there’s a reason more and more U.S. companies offer “unlimited vacation” to employees: they know few will avail themselves of the benefit. All of which brings us to the federal government’s non sequitur response to a coronavirus crisis of its own making. Historians will sit back in awe about how intensely foolish our political class was, regardless of Party. To fight a health scare with forced economic desperation brings new meaning to obtuse, but then politicians aided by experts have been wrecking precious lives for millennia. This is what they do. READ MORE HERE

5. We're Paying People Not to Work

Via Breitbart News Federal bailouts for states under the auspices of coronavirus relief legislation are “covering up for the killing of our economy that’s been done by the governors,” said Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY). Massie warned of moral hazard associated with the federal transfer of monies to states operating under various types of economic restrictions such as shelter-in-place and stay-at-home orders. “By sending money into the states, and into the companies, and into the hands of everybody, we are basically covering up for the killing of the economy that’s been done by the governors,” cautioned Massie. Massie continued, “The president and I would like to see these governors open their economies back up — and there’s some discussion about who has the power to control that — but if we keep paying for the shutdown, the governors are going to keep it shut down. It’s almost like we’re doing a blood transfusion for the economy, but we haven’t stopped the bleeding.” READ MORE HERE