As governments around the nation and the world struggle to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, lots of proposals have emerged. In his press conference Friday, President Trump brought together corporations to handle the crisis via private industry. Other politicians have suggested much more draconian uses of governmental power. Many Americans have begun to succumb to the siren call of the government doing something, perfectly willing to surrender their civil liberties out of fear of the unknown. The furthest-left of America’s politicians have responded, demanding that this crisis lead to state seizure of several industries. This harkens back to Rahm Emmanuel’s famous directive when he served as Barack Obama’s chief of staff: Never let a good crisis go to waste.
Here now are the top eight most totalitarian socialist proposals to use the coronavirus crisis to seize the means of production for the state, destroy the Bill of Rights, kill capitalism, and remove personal liberties from every American. And one friendly reminder that socialism always leads to communism and totalitarianism—because it has to.
1. AOC jumped in front of the coronavirus parade to demand, once again, the use of government force to make businesses pay workers who get sick, or who took out student loans, or who had business before the court. Because all of that will stop the virus
This is not the time for half measures.
We need to take dramatic action now to stave off the worst public health & economic affects.
That includes making moves on paid leave, debt relief, waiving work req’s, guaranteeing healthcare, UBI, detention relief(pretrial, elderly, imm)
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 12, 2020
What we should seriously start to consider now for the medium & long term (bc it will take time) is New Deal-style policy.
We need a mix of policies to help put a lot of people to work. Climate transition, edu expansion w/ apprenticeships & colleges, M4A.
These are jobs bills.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 16, 2020
We need real paid sick leave,
right now,
for every worker,
no exceptions.— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 14, 2020
2. A federal court in Washington unilaterally suspended the Fifth-Amendment right to due process, and Sixth-Amendment guarantee of a speedy trial
Fed Court denies Due Process & Habeus Corpus for ALL bc #covid2019 hysteria!
"the needs of the court outweigh the Rights of the accused"
Contact this judge NOW
Judge Ricardo S. Martinez
Chambers: (206) 370-8880
[email protected] #LibertyFirst@realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/mp4kgLrjnb— KrisAnne Hall, JD 💎 (@KrisAnneHall) March 10, 2020
3. Raise your hand if you ever thought the Third Amendment would ever get overturned
According to the Palm Springs Desert Desert Sun,
The state of California is empowered to take over hotels, motels, and medical facilities in order to quarantine, isolate or treat coronavirus patients, per a multi-pronged executive order released by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday.
Ok, California hasn’t quartered troops yet, but taking over privately owned facilities by the force of an executive order to house other citizens certainly qualifies as overreach.
4. Champaign, Illinois, Mayor violates the entire Bill of Rights, gives herself power to ban sale of guns, ammunition, gasoline, alcohol, utilities
Let’s count how many parts of the Constitution Mayor Deborah Frank Feinen proposes to violate:
Champaign Mayor Deborah Frank Feinen has issued an executive order declaring an emergency in the city.
City officials said the emergency is related to the COVID-19, which is anticipated to cause an impact on the health of community members. Champaign Municipal Code allows the mayor to declare an emergency for a limited time.
Included in the executive order are ordinances that would give the city extraordinary powers to the Mayor.
- Violating parts of the Open Meetings Act
- Ban sale of firearms and ammunition
- Ban sale of any alcohol
- Closing of all bars, taverns, liquor stores, etc
- Ban sale or giving away of gasoline or other liquid flammable or combustible products in any container other than a gasoline tank permanently fixed to a motor vehicle
- Direct the shutoff of power, water, gas, etc
- Take possession of private property and obtain full title to same
- Prohibit or restrict ingress and egress to and from the City
Of course, the city issued a subsequent statement that they had not yet implemented any of these measures. They were just thinking about it. Such a relief.
5. As PJ Media’s Tyler O’Neil reports, supposed Republican Senator Mitt Romney just proposed a universal basic income
CNN Congressional Respondent Phil Mattingly shared Romney’s entire proposal sheet, which also includes grants to impacted small businesses, Pell Grant alterations for students and loan deferments for graduates, and more. Romney, who ran as a fiscal conservative in 2012, appears to have endorsed massive government intervention in the economy to fight the coronavirus.
6. As I wrote last week, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont was one of several governors who ordered all nursing and convalescent homes closed to visitors, and ordered all patients not to leave
This order made patients in these facilities prisoners, with no due process:
The previous executive order allowed the Director of Public Health to halt all visits to such facilities, and ordered that any resident who left could not return. Connecticut residents raised the obvious question – doesn’t that violate the 1st, 5th, and 14th Amendments to the Constitution? It’s one thing for the facilities themselves to issue such rules, or for the individual residents to choose to observe these limitations on their own movement – it’s quite another for the government to decree it. Someone who has not tested positive has had their right to movement and assembly removed by the force of government without due process.
7. New York, Washington, and New Jersey governors trample civil liberties
Again from Tyler O’Neil:
While some of these policies make sense, a threat like the coronavirus does not suspend Americans’ constitutional rights. National Review‘s David Harsanyi pointed out a dangerous threat to free speech coming out of Newark, N.J. That city is reportedly cracking down on “coronavirus disinformation,” warning that any “false reporting” — which includes misleading “allegations” on social media — will lead to criminal prosecution.
While some of these policies make sense, a threat like the coronavirus does not suspend Americans’ constitutional rights. National Review‘s David Harsanyi pointed out a dangerous threat to free speech coming out of Newark, N.J. That city is reportedly cracking down on “coronavirus disinformation,” warning that any “false reporting” — which includes misleading “allegations” on social media — will lead to criminal prosecution.
Besides the ridiculous impracticality of such a policy — will Newark subpoena the IP addresses of random accounts on Twitter to see if they live in the city limits? — it is likely unconstitutional. Such policies raise important questions about the limits of government power to restrict citizens’ rights during an emergency.
Gov. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) has aimed to “ban” gatherings of over 250 people in the Seattle area. Of course, it makes sense for the government to warn citizens about the health risks of large gatherings. But, as Harsanyi noted, Inslee’s policy might violate citizens’ rights to free speech and free assembly.
8. New York City Mayor de Blasio quotes directly from The Communist Manifesto, calling for the nationalization of industry and factories
.@NYCMayor on the Coronavirus: “This is a case for a nationalization of crucial factories and industries' pic.twitter.com/HkTyziuJZg
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) March 14, 2020
Can we please put a moratorium on politicians using a health crisis to destroy our personal liberties? Wait, we already did that, when we ratified the Constitution.
Jeff Reynolds is the author of the book, “Behind the Curtain: Inside the Network of Progressive Billionaires and Their Campaign to Undermine Democracy,” available now at www.WhoOwnsTheDems.com. Jeff hosts a podcast at anchor.fm/BehindTheCurtain. You can follow him on Twitter @ChargerJeff.
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