Last week Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos said she was “very seriously” considering withholding funds from schools that don’t open:
Without getting into whether she even has the authority to do that, it’s worth recalling that Trump refused to use the Defense Production Act to mass-produce PPE because he didn’t want to bring down the “heavy hand of government.” Trump is obviously more than willing to bring down the heavy hand of government—when it suits him:
I suspect that the threat to withhold funds is mostly a way to signal what Trump wants districts do to, and to give GOP-led areas cover.
This makes sense to me:
Trump is in a panic. He understands that an unfolding economic crisis in the fall dooms him, so his minions are out there mocking people who want safety measures.
This raises the question: Why does the Trump administration refuse to provide resources so children can return safely to school?
Reason #1: It goes against the GOP philosophy of the purpose of government.
People have pointed out that Trump missed the opportunity to get himself reelected: Had he competently handled the pandemic, he might have redeemed himself for lifetime of crime and three years of enriching himself at the taxpayer’s expense.
The problem is that using the levers of government to provide for the health and safety of the people entirely goes against the GOP philosophy of the purpose of government. That’s the part that fairness-minded people find hard to wrap their minds around.
The GOP believes it is
- tyranny when a government takes steps to save lives, and
- good government when the wealthy get tax breaks.
That’s because the GOP is the party of hierarchy. They don’t believe fairness and equality are possible. For more on that, see this post.
People who believe fairness and equality are possible cannot understand how the GOP can allow for mass death and destruction. They took the GOP at their word when they pretended to care about the death of four Americans in the Benghazi attack. The GOP didn’t really care. They were trying to destroy Hillary Clinton, Obama, and the fairness government that they represented.
Hierarchy people are cynical. They don’t believe fairness and equality are possible. They think it’s all about power and who has it. This is why I constantly warn the left against cynicism. Cynicism (believing good cannot prevail) kills democracy.
Fascinating (and telling) that it’s hard to distinguish sociopathy from the GOP philosophy of government. There’s been a debate: Does Trump deliberately enact fascist strategy, or is he stark raving mad? Maybe there’s overlap: Yes, because yes.
People call me an optimist. I prefer to say that I believe in democracy, and if enough people want democracy to prevail, it will. Because that’s how democracy works.
Reason #2: Using the Federal government to provide for the safety of schools undermines Trump’s narrative that “all is fine / live with it.”
Trump has the crazy (and I mean crazy) idea that if people just normalize the virus, go on with their lives, let it “wash over” the population, lots of people will die but the economy will be strong and he’ll be reelected.
Taking appropriate safety steps and allocating the resources to insure safety undermines the “this is all normal folks! Dying is part of life! Live with it” narrative. If children have to be kept six feet apart and wear masks at all times, it would mean that this is a deadly and highly contagious virus so we can’t just go on with our lives because everything is fine. It would make no sense to send your child to school in such conditions and then spend your weekends at malls, restaurants, and movie theaters.
Pelosi said in the above clip that this isn’t a matter of balancing equities. There is no balance against a child’s life.
Yes, we all know children get the virus, and can bring it home. I am appalled to see people actually beginning sentences with, “Yes, children can die from the virus, but . . .”
(Don’t worry. None of my followers or subscribers. You’re all too humane for such a sentence.)
There’s no harm in keeping schools closed until it’s safe to open them.
Starting on time without safety precautions makes about as much sense as: “A fire is burning in the auditorium, but kids need to be in school!”
Kids really won’t mind starting later. If we can allocate money for airlines, we can allocate money so that schools get the resources they need.
