From Drafting Doctors to Stealing Equipment, Politicians Violate the Limits of a Free Society
If you're wondering if New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio really means "draft" when he calls for drafting medical personnel from around the U.S. to care for COVID-10 patients in his hard-hit city, the answer is an unequivocal "yes." He really does want to drag doctors and nurses from their jobs elsewhere to assigned positions in New York City.
Bill de Blasio isn't alone as a government official who sees in the crisis an opportunity to go full commissar. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is stealing ventilators from upstate hospitals to give to facilities downstate. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is similarly snatching medical supplies from private firms and facilities to use as he sees fit. And President Donald Trump has invoked the Defense Production Act to force medical equipment manufacturers to abandon customers beyond the borders—and even to sell to only the federal government.
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The same taste for the whip prevails in New Jersey where Murphy authorized officials "to commandeer personal services and/or real or personal property. This includes medical supplies and equipment from private companies and institutions…"
Do private firms and local facilities have that equipment earmarked for their own communities? That won't matter if state officials have different priorities.
If you're wondering if New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio really means "draft" when he calls for drafting medical personnel from around the U.S. to care for COVID-10 patients in his hard-hit city, the answer is an unequivocal "yes." He really does want to drag doctors and nurses from their jobs elsewhere to assigned positions in New York City.
Bill de Blasio isn't alone as a government official who sees in the crisis an opportunity to go full commissar. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is stealing ventilators from upstate hospitals to give to facilities downstate. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is similarly snatching medical supplies from private firms and facilities to use as he sees fit. And President Donald Trump has invoked the Defense Production Act to force medical equipment manufacturers to abandon customers beyond the borders—and even to sell to only the federal government.
[clip]
The same taste for the whip prevails in New Jersey where Murphy authorized officials "to commandeer personal services and/or real or personal property. This includes medical supplies and equipment from private companies and institutions…"
Do private firms and local facilities have that equipment earmarked for their own communities? That won't matter if state officials have different priorities.
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