As coronavirus surges, GOP lawmakers are moving to limit public health powers

[Nevilledog]

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Tweet text:
Carlos E. Gates
@CarlosEGates1
The GOP in action: limit the powers of our health officials and kill the government response to a growing national and global pandemic. Lives are irrelevant.

If you think Dems and MAGGOTS are the same then you are truly naive.

As coronavirus surges, GOP lawmakers are moving to limit public health powers
Legislatures nationwide have passed measures, some shaped by conservative think tanks and activist groups.
washingtonpost.com
7:43 AM · Jul 26, 2021

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/gop-legislatures-health-laws/2021/07/25/2455940c-db54-11eb-8fb8-aea56b785b00_story.html

*snip*

At least 15 state legislatures have passed or are considering measures to limit the legal authority of public health agencies, according to the Network for Public Health Law, which partnered with the National Association of County and City Health Officials to document the legislative counterpunches. Lawmakers in at least 46 states have introduced hundreds of bills relating to legislative oversight of gubernatorial or executive actions during coronavirus or other emergencies, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The measures, as described by the Network for Public Health Law, include a North Dakota law that prohibits a mask mandate, even during an outbreak of tuberculosis, and a new Montana law that prohibits the use of quarantine to separate people who have probably been infected or exposed but are not yet sick. Many bills are modeled on legislation originally crafted by conservative think tanks and activist groups, according to state lawmakers who introduced them.

Among them is the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which has touted its model legislation aimed at reining in emergency powers so it is more “narrowly tailored to serve a compelling public health or safety purpose.”

In an interview, Jonathon Hauenschild, ALEC’s staff policy expert on the model legislation, said that from early in the pandemic he viewed governors’ use of emergency powers as problematic.

*snip*

[Wounded Bear]

1. K & R...for visibility...this is sick beyond measure...

[CrispyQ]

2. TPTB can't let the People see that democrats are better at governing than repubs are.

Lie, obstruct, even sabotage dem efforts & then accuse dems of not being able to get anything done, all with the help of the media, of course.

The next two elections, the media will totally forget the obstructionist republican state govs & legislatures, & the anti-maskers & anti-vaxxers, all who thwarted the pandemic effort. Instead, they will carry on about how Biden lost control of the pandemic. I hate this fucking system & the gullible & ignorant who can't see out of it.

[Texaswitchy]

3. The goal is to kill as many people as possible.

It is.

[leftstreet]

4. Seems like our overlords are attempting herd immunity

In more countries than the US

France and the UK did the same. Dropped mask/distancing requirements once they'd reached an acceptable (to them) percentage of vaxxed population

who knows

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/23/ministers-letting-young-people-catch-covid-to-prepare-for-winter-sage-adviser-claims

Sage adviser claims ministers trying to get as many as possible infected with Covid

Exclusive: Prof Robert West says rhetoric about caution is ‘a way of putting blame on public’

A scientist advising the government has accused ministers of allowing infections to rip through the younger population in an effort to bolster levels of immunity before the NHS faces winter pressures.

The allegation comes after England’s remaining Covid restrictions were eased on Monday, with nightclubs throwing open their doors for the first time in the pandemic and all rules on social distancing and mask wearing dropped even as infections run high.

(snip)

“What we are seeing is a decision by the government to get as many people infected as possible, as quickly as possible, while using rhetoric about caution as a way of putting the blame on the public for the consequences,” said Prof Robert West, a health psychologist at University College London who participates in Sage’s behavioural science subgroup.

“It looks like the government judges that the damage to health and healthcare services will be worth the political capital it will gain from this approach,” West said, adding that ministers appear to believe the strategy is now sustainable – unlike last year – because of the vaccine rollout.