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Greg Hughes is a former Speaker of the Utah House. His campaign was very good about doing Zoom meetings and answering any and all questions, including the hard ones. Here are my notes, unedited.
Been part-time public servant, legislature. Come as a candidate that there are a lot of challenges and issues and stakeholders to bring together to make decisions.
Goal: Lot of qualified candidates, pandemics, earthquakes. Want to convey that the positions I take a hold, I want to show you measureables, that show how we're doing. When you get specific, you run the risk of challenging the status quo. That's easier said than done. Every candidate owes it to you to be very specific.
COVID-19: Everyone is doing their level best. Health and economics are one and the same. Wherever you are right now, now what? If you don't receive a paycheck, how long can you maintain your household? If you're a business owner, if your doors are shut, are you expected to make payroll? overhead? There is no model that assumes NO business. You can't ask the federal or state government to hold up all the people of the country without business. We are all in this together. We are just trying to hold on for a number of days 15 or 30, so that the spread of this virus does not grow, I get this. The same hand of the state government that has closed businesses, is the same hand that needs to help keep them open. How do we usher all of us into this "pause"? We need to explain to people how it will work for us to stay inside, but when people need to survive, you may see civil disobedience.
Trying to be more succinct.
Get it done! Give me a compelling reasons to vote for you.
Track record of doing difficult things: Obamacare expansion--no conservative version of Obamacare expansion. Support Trump. No signatures/stay with convention.
"Regarding education, I love the direction as far as teacher pay and increasing the flow of money to schools. My concern is teacher training. What is your plan to hold the teacher training at universities accountable to better fit Utah values. As a principal and someone who got his BA, MA, and EdD at a state university I have seen the one-sided training that is trickling into our schools: white privilege, social justice, anti-America."
Connected dots for me. Lots of parents who are concerned about what their kids are learning in schools that differs from Utah values.
Double up on civics education. If we truly have the understanding of this great county is, what is a free market, equal opportunity not equal outcomes. How do you teach in the home the right thing but teachers are teaching other things. The governor has a strong bully pulpit; we shouldn't have kids in that environment. Zero tolerance.
Bull in a china closet: The way to be loved in politics is to not make anyone mad, and you don't make anyone mad if you don't do anything at all. Strong track record. Have found common ground. You can't be elected as Speaker, 63 GOP seats: the GOP seat in West Valley isn't the same as in Kane County. Don't have to retreat from your principles but you can find common ground. "If you want to make everyone happy, don't be a leader. Sell ice cream." --Steve Jobs
Never had a president who has looked to return power to the state like Trump: reduced two national monuments. Will never get credit for that for the little person in Utah.
Prison Relocation: Driving force for this in 2015. Thoughts on why it's the best for Utah.
2004 then-candidate Jon Huntsman said: this is an area that could see economic growth and that was not the place where you would create a prison at this point. The people of Draper didn't really want it moved. Property values haven't been harmed and there's a strong volunteer effort from the people of Draper. New prison design: has pods and correction/classrooms, easier to maintain and better to prepare them for re-entering into society. Want to do it correctly so people don't come back in. The redesign of the prison was a HAVE to HAVE, not a WANT to have. It was going to be redesigned. Had a consultant group that looked at the cost-benefit (MGT American) said that the new revenue derived from those 700 acres could pay for a complete rebuild of the prison in 5 years. If you rebuild on site, it's just one-time money. Democrat candidate wanted to send that money to education. so the political climate was not in favor of just a rebuild on the same site. Moving a prison, need to be near courts, near workforce, near the volunteerism, near families can visit, near hospitals. Have to develop out where there isn't much development or it would have disrupted an existing community.
What part did you play in the failure to override the Governor's veto of permitless/constitutional carry, and as Governor will you sign the next permitless carry bill that is passed by the legislature?
I was on the side that did everything to pass it. Voted for it in 2013. Voted to override the governor's veto. Essence of right to bear arms.
Red flag laws: I've never seen a red flag law that I've ever support. It has an emotional component to it: Do you want people who are stone cold crazy to be able to own and buy guns? The problem is what is missing is any due process: no due process to determine if you are mentally competent. It's a ready, fire, aim kind of law. I don't see the due process that would be absolutely necessary. I think it's by design.
The virus is definitely impacting everyone. It’s a new thing for all of us. What is the process that you use for learning about a complex issue like this so you can come up with a good policy action?
You have to be a sponge and open to every piece of information that you're going to hear. You can't be myopic in the information you're receiving or digesting. We work with a bunch of different levels. You need: medical professionals (overwhelming of health care system), business...you have to make sure you're doing right by all the people who's lives you are disrupting. You can't just listen to the one side. This is why a citizen legislature, you have to get back out into the world, it creates empathy and perspective: how does what you decided impact the people in the state.
Trump impeachment/processes, was there any wrong-doing with the president? If so, how do we ferret out corruption of any party. Thoughts on Sen. Romney's response?
Come from a unique perspective. Impeachment powers are broad. Utah has similar impeachment powers. There's a reason why you've only seen impeachment 3 times in our nation's history. 2 cases that were debated while in the legislature: Not an impeachment, even if they called it that. Any decision to exercise that authority, it needs to start with a full vote of the body. The entire body, House of Representatives VOTE on whether to begin an impeachment because there are so many powers that come with it. During our discussion, there was NEVER an assumption that we would exclude the minority. This would be an abuse of power. You will never have a process that will have integrity if you don't have the entire body. In the Nixon impeachment, the information drove decisions in that process. Never had that information in the Trump process. There was never an initial vote to begin that process. Don't subscribe to a single day of that process. I don't see anything wrong with talking with the President of Ukraine and what the problems with corruption are. Crossing over a consistent policy over administrations isn't a problem. And if it was wrong, we'll never know because the process to investigate was flawed. Biden boasted about this transcript about firing the investigator. If what we think Biden was okay, then Trump was okay. If we think it was wrong, you don't get immunity just because you could be a political rival. SENATE: I don't think there was enough to vote to remove this president from office. When Sen. Romney was a candidate, the commentary and the support for Trump during the delegate process, and then when he was elected, it was a departure from what he said to delegates.
"The people need to know what your constitutional foundation is...do you know the principles of liberty in the constitution and would you uphold them in all of your decisions?The only reliable basis for sound government and just human relations is Natural Law. A free people cannot survive under a republican constitution unless they remain virtuous and morally strong. The most promising method of securing a virtuous and morally stable people is to elect virtuous leaders. Without religion the government of a free people cannot be maintained. All things were created by God, therefore upon Him all mankind are equally dependent, and to Him they are equally responsible. All men are created equal. The proper role of government is to protect equal rights, not provide equal things. Men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. To protect man’s rights, God has revealed certain principles of divine law. The God-given right to govern is vested in the sovereign authority of the whole people."
This is a unique time where we're in a state of emergency, where these very liberties that were meant to protect us, can be taken away under the banner of protecting us. We need to be very careful that we are violating the Freedom of Assembly. We do not want to have government, with a Class B misdemeanor, get rid of this. Some governments have prohibited the sale of firearms. Fine with having the feds help to prop up people because this isn't a free market issue, but the dems in the senate that tired to pass things they couldn't pass under other circumstances, see this as an opportunity to dismantle freedom; they want people to be beholden to the government. I think our liberties are under attack. We want to be safe, but we need to be vigilant. Show me in recorded human history, a government where it lasts forever; where have oppressors and tyrants not surfaced? The strongest ability we have to defend our rights and liberties is in the constitution, the sovereignty is with us, which means we could give it away!
Battle scars: he's a developer, financial interest.
I own more land that I don't own in the state of Utah than anyone you've ever met. I have small developments. If people have contributed to my campaign (developers), does that give them an unfair advantage. There are some people who have donated with the ability to lead and move the needle. In fact, some of the positions I hold has angered people. Non-compete agreements are so abusive, and we're in a right to work state: fought against that. One of his donors was not happy when Greg complained to Congressman McAdams about the impeachment vote, and that was okay.
2014-15: Chair of UTA board, 3 execs had pretty exhorbitant salaries and their financial operations were questionable, and the legislature had to step in and restructure. You were chair of the board, how do we trust that you will use the taxpayer dollars judiciously, given this track record.
I'm proud of my track record: 130 miles of fixed rail along the Wasatch front. More people who own autos still ride mass transit.
On the salaries: we talk about public ed and in government, a pay-for-performance model. Far more inclined to demand outcomes, ready to compensate for those successes. You can't find a transit system in America that did it. The 2015 project was called that because it was to be finished in 2015. It was finished in 2012. It came online early and underbudget: the $300M saved was far greater than the salaries of the executives. I also worked on that change via the legislature (speaker). I learned that being on the board. Couldn't change the format of UTA as a board; it was statutory.
Everyone says they want local control for education, what specifically would you do, in light of the federal ESSA requirements that stipulate one set of standards and one set of state tests? As an example, I have tried to get my kids taught decent math for decades. But the state standards and the tests that test those standards reward the "fuzzy Math" processes. So, most of our schools that once taught traditional math, no longer do.
Margaret Dayton: tried to push back on NCLB. In some rural schools, couldn't get the training for teachers and following federal mandates. This was something politically that the Bush adminsitration didn't want. They said if you get out, we'll take all your federal Title 1 dollars. $300M dollars or something, would disappear from our ed budget and would have been devastating. It taught me how powerful the federal government can be. When we accept federal funds, they dictate everything. The only answer is we have to wean ourselves off the federal dollars; can't do it quickly. What we can't do is accept more of these federal funds. Need to be less dependent.
Thoughts on removing philosophical and religious exemptions for vaccines. We should be making good and informed choices. We have seen some cases like polio, as parents are opting out of the vaccine coming back. The number of vaccines as compared to when we were kids is huge. We need to give information but I don't want to infringe on the right of a parent, but do so with eyes wide open. I would put my weight and my confidence in parents.
What is the government's role in economic development:
GOED, and EDCU (economic dev corp of Utah): help with corporate expansion, maybe not at first, but now, there is so much focus, almost myopic, has been job growth and the median income. I'm not saying that's bad. My worry is that when all you're looking at is jobs: if you are sitting at almost full job growth; where would those companies that want to relocate going to look to take advantage--they're going to look at the most population. The irony to that model is that in the areas that are most populated we can't fit more and more growth. What small county or shrinking county is even in play? The way the current way they are working is only pushing growth in the 4 most populous counties. WE shouldn't be giving tax breaks that way. We need to look at infrastructure (water, reservoirs). We are 3Million + because of the planning. As governor, we will commit to an infrastructure project to the rest of the state; don't pick the winners and losers; we don't incentivize certain sectors or jobs.
I was on a conference call with Jon Huntsman last night and he said that because of coronavirus all candidates should be on the primary ballot. I'd like to know your thoughts on that and signatures vs. convention.
Delegates: your job is to ask me as a candidate and all the other candidates, questions, hard questions, and after all the information, and I think we can agree: these are not 30 second ads, billboards, we are having in real time unscripted questions and answers. This is something that Utah has been well-served. We have to safeguard and watch that our liberties and rights are not taken under a banner of security. One of the most important things is to consider is election law. Election laws should be changed in odd-numbered years, so that you don't change the process in the middle. When you start out, you want a level playing field. Once a process starts, different variables come into play. But if you were to change the rules while an election cycle is underway, and that's not a level playing field. The ability to gather signatures is being impeded because of this pandemic. The proposal is to change the law to let everyone in. If we did that, it would take the delegates 100% out of this election cycle. We do not want to lose this election cycle because of this state of emergency. Never when I signed up did I think my townhall meetings would be looking at a camera, never being one-on-one. It didn't change anything in the law; we, as candidates, just have to be smarter. Everyone had the dual path, there is no barrier to access to the ballot; while they signed up for signatures, they also said they want to make the case to the delegates as well. Down-ticket, there are plenty that have gathered signatures. We're finding work-arounds. Absolutely not! What a loss.
"Lightening round": www.greghughes.com
- What's your stance on abortion? Pro-life, record as a legislator reflects that. Need to be vigilant.
- If you were still speaker, would you have brought up this tax bill? No. Would not tax services, gas or food. Solution is to grow the pie. There is an economic play that will out-pace 49 other states and won't have to worry about dance studios, netflix, etc. Greater and stronger economy and collecting in the ways we already collect it.
- Public lands: can a governor actually impact this? Absolutely. Ability to get infrastructure across those lands is impeded. If land is an engine for funding education in the state? You can't. Conservative members of Congress have never heard: our federal delegation, get everyone on board, but you have to have a governor to push for that transfer. We come to Congress or the US Supreme Court, we are not being treated equally under the law. and that's a process that can be won. The more economic growth and infrastructure across the state, we can compel congress. Nevada did this. Don't want to pave or commercialize it all, but we need to manage it as a state.
- Immigration, refugees: Opposed to illegal immigration. Immigration has to be legal and make sense. We have a pioneering spirit. Illegal has a negative impact on workforce, etc. Governor can lean into this and be a strong voice. Scott Walker leaned into things, strong conservative voice. There is no reason why Utah can't espouse the issues that are right for our state and conservative values.
- Veterans: Worked hard. Deep love for our veterans, aware from my family history. Aware of the sacrifice that is borne on our behalf and their families. Every year, tried to move the needle. Tuition waiver bill: purple heart--no tuition. If Killed in action, spouse and children can go to a state school, no tuition. Not a debt, we the people can ever repay.
If you haven't seen the attacks, the fear, etc, what you learn that fear can be contagious, but so can courage. If you haven't lived through those moments, I don't know if they can answer those questions or can share with you what they would do.
COVID-19: Health and safety side is good. Do we have anything to go back to? This is an essential part of this conversation. At some point, people who can't feed their families will reopen businesses, go back out into society.
Gov. Cuomo: Until recently, as Americans, we've had each other's backs, regardless of party. Tragically, the politics in this time have, sadly, reared its ugly head, political agendas pursued in a time a crisis. Not afraid to call out good leadership regardless of party. Having daily press briefings, NY is the epicenter, looking back where they did the stay at home order, that might not have been the best decision to have made. It takes courage to even question your past decisions. Asking people to return to their homes might have had the opposite effect of actually spreading it to those who are more vulnerable. Terrible impact to the economy. Think the Governor should lead in this moment, without regard to anyone else running (Cox).
$2T relief bill in Congress, right or wrong? If Government is forcing us to close down, then how do we hit that pause button and make payroll and have businesses to come back to. I'm okay with a federal package in a time of pause, as long as it helps employers pay employees, so that you have jobs to come back to. You can't take away your ability to make money and here's a federal website to look for money (aaah). If the federal aid is meant to keep us in this moment of pause, for a brief amount of time to weather this storm, I'm okay. what I'm not okay with is airline industries demanding millions of dollars in direct aid. Learning from friends that these same airlines are not reimbursing people who have existing tickets. This is crony capitalism. We need dollars in our household income. Need to see that everyone is in this together, and not seeing that. If we can keep our businesses stay whole when government has kept us from earning money, then it's appropriate. Would have voted for the bill because otherwise, you have people just going back to work, which isn't going to be a good option. this is different than 2008 crash: bad practices in the economy, this was an economic failure and collapse. Don't want to bail anyone out. This is not that. This has been foisted upon people. The stories of these small businesses that are losing everything, even though they had reserves, and every dime is exhausted in 45 days if things don't change. That's not an economic bad practice. Can't use our free market and our economy. there was the momentum for this senate package to pass this aid. It was delayed because the Dems in the Senate and Pelosi, they Christmas-treed this aid package--social engineering, have govt give money directly and let these businesses fail, so there's no business to go back to and everyone is dependent on the government, all this to promote collectivism.
Standardized testing removed this year: opponent is touting this as a correct direction. What is the purpose of standardized testing and its role in public ed?
You have to measure what you care about, the whole point that will be our emerging workforce, it is a global economy. Are they ready for the workforce and for life? The obligation we have it to prepare the workforce, and it's in our best interest. I do believe if we're not careful that we can make public ed so fuzzy that we never know what they're learning. I think it's reasonable to ask to measure the dollars that are sent, and it's doing the job it's meant to do. That they have a mastery of the curriculum. The question is how? The pendulum swings on this. You can't take an educator and drill and kill on the test, or Computer adaptive test or teachers teaching only to the test. The tail wags the dog. If we let that go and we never make those factors accountable in public ed, how do we know if those dollars are being spent wisely. Very sensitive to where that can be done.
Why you vs your candidates? Attacks from media and liberal interest groups, going to show you not only what I can and would do, but what I have done in the past. I don't think you will find another candidate who can show you previous actions to support the positions you're taking. E.G. Caucus, only one candidate that only went via convention. Words match actions.
Public lands: Huge issue with Bears Ears, getting that reduced, watched you from afar being a huge advocate for public lands. Why is this important, PILT and revenue for education, and what role your would take as governor?
East of the Rockies, state land transferred from federal to state land. West: no federal lands were transferred. 67% of the land of the state is federally controlled. No revenue. East: the property tax from those lands fund public schools. In Utah, we don't have that. That is why Utah created a state income tax because there wasn't land to fund the schools. More students per taxpayer than any other state. The bad news is we can't fund education, and having that land in federal control directly impacts our public schools that creates a deficit. liberal environmentalists try to stop all these infrastructures in these federal lands. Rural counties: 75% or 80%, etc. Grand County: 90% federally controlled. We are penned in: need to say to the US Congress, we are not being treated equally. PILT: they give us some money in place of the taxes we should have received. That PILT payment is "Pennies in Lieu of Trillions". It doesn't even come close to the amount of money they should pay. Greenbelt zone: the amount of federal money that would come to this state if the feds actually paid the cost, we'd have tons of money. Jan. 2016, as Speaker, went back to DC, participated in the Heritage Foundation panel on federal lands. Conservatives across the the country are unaware of. Liberal environmentalist groups want to get paid back for the support of liberal presidents: Utah becomes an ATM for those presidents. Obama tweets a picture of Arches, not related to Bears Ears at all. Committed as Speaker to fight this. Ran the resolution in the House, Senate, Governor: Jan. 2017. Interior Secretary toured it. In less than a year, Pres. Trump reduced Bears Ears and Staircase Escalante: never happened in the past. Antiquities Act has been abused. Would never have thought that the little people of Utah would be able to bring a president to the state to address this issue. The good news is we have the president who is more committed to returning power back to the states. Ask Sen. Lee, he will agree with this. We need this!
You are part of the swamp of SLC but sided against constitutional carry? And AG of TX says that gun sales are essential services.
Not true. We can go back and look at the 2013 bill, voted in favor. Voted FOR constitutional carry. It is the essence of the Right to Bear Arms is not a hunting right, it is the sovereignty of the people. The Right to Bear Arms protects us and our other constitutional rights. Voted to override the governor's veto. The idea that in a state of emergency, the right to buy a gun is non-essential is a bad idea. People are trying to trade safety for our liberties with a false sense of security.
Shelter in place orders?
State health dept and 29 county health departments: director of every single one of those. As governor, the entire state is not experiencing COVID-19 at the same rate. We don't want to have a false sense of security about it. But what I know is that every single county health dept has emergency plans in place. You have county governance as well, and they understand those counties more than the governor would. You have to come up with those strategies. You do it in a collaborative way. What you should try not to do, to have a top-down approach, where the state health dept hands things down across the counties. They might be very important in some parts of the state, where it might not even be an impact. It could also generate a cynicism among the public. Cuomo is questioning out loud and in public his previous order of stay-in-place, rather than a quarantine approach for the medically fragile and older instead. Not include to see us go through a shelter in place order. Don't like orders/laws that try to protect people from themselves. I believe in individual liberty. Right of Assembly is critical. To ban, by penalty of law? that infringes on constitutional liberties. Would you want to ban, even if it's the smartest thing, people going to churches? I think our churches are choosing to do that. and that is correct. But government shouldn't ban it.
Prison relocation: understand the economics. The process pitted cities against cities. Felt like there was a great vacuum of leadership. How would you handle that going forward.
You wouldn't locate those 700 acres where they are today. There is a law that allows government bodies to go into closed meetings for 1) litigation, 2) personnel, 3) real estate transactions. The reason why that's a closed meeting environment is you don't want speculation. If you had a meeting and you had 5 areas you were looking, you don't want people to know this, so the speculation of that land increases. There was a robust debate about whether those prospective cites should become public knowledge. I argued against it for this reason. I thought that every cite we'd talked about wouldn't work. In a spirit of transparency, doing something that the law didn't require, it was decided that it would be made public and it made everyone upset in every jurisdiction. Hired a consulting organization so that we removed ourselves as a body out of it. We had them picking the cites, etc. Not a single lawmaker that ever profited from it. I saw people who were so upset and angry. In an effort to be more transparent, it created anger and concern and speculation in the people. And that wasn't good. Took 5 years of hearings. No other public building that took that amount of time. I think it created unnecessary public angst and concern. Not one he agreed with.
Would be open to multiple tests that can be chosen from for school testing: Iowa, Stanford, etc.
Special Ed scholarship: Backpack funding is where the dollars that states would pay for a student that goes to school, and allow that funding to go wherever the parents want them to go. Maybe another organization would be helpful. Supported Carson-Smith scholarship a few years ago.
Would support reciprocity for constitutional carry? Utah currently allows open carry, even without training. Can't reconcile concealed carry requires training. In the absence of constitutional carry, would support reciprocity. Will err on the side of more liberty. Would you love schools to be able to teach gun safety! The more familiar people are with guns and their safe use, that's such a positive.
So many laws and regulations: Are there any regulations to be removed and what are they?
Cut out the federal funds and those requirements. So much of that that is not allowing us to be free. Need to wean ourselves off of state dollars.
Increasing growth, but we haven't increased our precipitation. What should be our water policy for the future to make sure we have adequate water in this desert state?
29 counties. We've seen the lion's share in 4 counties (Wasatch). This state grows because of the infrastructure. The state has rights in the CO river. If we don't get the water shares that we're entitled to, we lose it. We need to get that water to the state of Utah. The federal lands and the environmental groups have blocked the infrastructure. We are going to have historic investment in this infrastructure.
Veterans and the Military: Purple heart tuition waiver (dependents or spouse if killed or you if you're wounded, tuition waived at Utah Higher ed). Veterans hospitals: only 1 veterans nursing home in the entire state. It was a terrible fight to get in line for the federal dollars, to fund one additional nursing home. We were entitled to 3 more, based on census. You would think this would be easy, but it was one of the hardest political processes. Working specifically with Rob Bishop on the federal side, got one in UT county and one in Washington County.
Homeless vets: vets are the best example of how we were failing them. We saw this anonymity among them. Project Rio Grande. Wanted to know everyone's story. We were able to connect them to the resources, if we know their story and who they are.
April 10,2020
Losing 5-10% per month of unemployment, not including the back-end damage to the GDP.
People will not be able to do what you're asking them to do, if we don't have cash and payroll.
Recent estimates have gone from thousands down to 160 people.
There is a public health impact to the loss of economy.
During the Great Recession and Depression, weren't there more deeply rooted problems before those?
What we have right now, if we're looking at a potential 25% drop in GDP, it would take $6T to plug that hole, and then we have inflation that goes out the window. In a free market, when people make bad economic decisions, there are things that can be traced back. But you can't just turn on a switch and get back on a government imposed shut down.
The Fed has asked us to have a national discussion on how we are going to get back to work now.
Want to be able to have this discussion and the balance. I feel that a lot of people that are pushing the shut down are not matching up to what should have been done. If you are so overwhelmed with the virus, you can't help those other emergencies. But when you shut down the local economy, what is the cost to health and public safety. The very people who I think were unprepared for this pandemic, are the same people who are saying don't try to reopen?
We know some good ways to get out of this safely and we need to do this. It doesn't seem like we are pursuing "perfect" outcomes. Stuck between really bad choices.
Utah is the state that can find the solutions and the smart practices.
Emergency powers: If you cross the state border that if you cross is "encumbered" virtually. It's not physical vs virtual doesn't meant that there's a difference. Need to be paying attention to this. Virtual geo-tracking of every car, I think that's too much. We are trying to weigh safety with liberty. Once we think we need to monitor our state borders, remember there's precedent in everything we do.
This is a constitutional question: It is an executive order that they may not be enforcing; however, an executive order does carry the weight of state law. This is now the new norm. It used to be you could cross into the state without encumbrance, and now you are pinged at a geo-fence. Supposedly it's anonymized. The order doesn't say that it's voluntary. If you are over 18 years old, within 3 hours, you have to fill out the form. Regardless of whether they close the border, they are still searching your phone to get your info and geo-location off your phone. It's not just is the border closed or not, it's how many articles of the constitution are they violating (illegal search and seizure). No debate that they're pinging your phone and searching your phone when you come into the state.
Potential constitutional violations:
- Article 4 section 2: all citizens from all states be treated equally
- Article 1, section 8: congress has the power to regulate commerce betwen states
- 4th amendment
What would Greg do differently:
The difference between order and directive, they have never been more powerful than they are now. A directive is: this is a good information, this is what you should be paying attention to, this is how you should be moving forward, based on the best evidence.
There are acute issues (fires, etc) where emergency powers make sense. The broad powers of a health department issuing orders (Class B if you violate), were written in terms of regional ideas. Were the state of emergency powers written to circumvent unalienable liberties.
What's essential? If your job is feeding your family, that's an essential job.
The national guard and the highway patron were absolutely engaged and it was contemplated that they actually stand by and guard the borders of the state. What are we getting out of it? If it's voluntary, then I need to know what we're getting out of it. The executive order does not say it's voluntary.
I don't think we should have to choose, they are presenting a false choice and it's coming at a dear price.
Small business owner, 150 employees. Hard to make money. I make clothing. last week when the CDC issued the guidelines to have a facemask. I shifted to face masks for $9.99 free shipping. Sold tens of thousands. Yesterday, I was shut down for "exploiting a crisis". I never thought I would agree with any Bernie Sanders said, these big tech companies have to get broken up. What can we do?
What you've described is American Ingenuity. We've asked GM to get into the ventilator business. It's disappointing or disturbing. There is a margin for paying the employees and keeping them employed. You said, I can make payroll and meet a need. To think that that was stopped and your motives were described as profiteering at the time of a crisis, is wrong. I hope people are outraged when they hear this story. Government-mandated market shutdown, if not done with solutions like you're describing, I see no other path than socialism. I think there are some out there who are highly interested in that scenario. "never let a crisis go to waste." Threw up ads and selling thousands and thousands of masks per day, and I got messaged that I was exploiting a crisis. If the tech companies shut you off, it's like shutting off your power, etc.
We've gone from fighting the Democrats on the margins to maintain our liberties, to republicans in our own state removing our liberties without anyone asking questions.
What can people do about this?
The sovereignty is in the people. If we know that the sovereignty is in the people, then, we are the boss. So, as the boss, how do we make sure that the people push back if they don't like the way things are going.
If you don't have a back to work strategy, then you don't have a good public health strategy. If someone thinks we're too heavy on the economic side, I just want someone to walk me through how that is sustainable. I don't think what we're doing this in June, order or no order. Unless someone can tell me how this works and I want it from someone who doesn't get a guaranteed paycheck (most of us), I don't see how it works.
Got to get our voices heard. Call the governor, members of Congress, senators. If the large businesses are getting relief and they aren't parlaying that into their customers or employees, then we can't bear that weight. 1. Airline industries, looking for billions. When people who have purchased tickets are asking for that money back, they are given a credit, not money. FAA told the airlines, you're going to have to start rebating that because people complained. 2. SBA: Bank of America--applications arrived last Friday. there are people who applied over the weekend. On Monday, they were told they were full. You have to apply through another bank. I really worry about the crony capitalism side of this.
We're saying that there's a way to get some people back to work right now.
We have high risk populations that need to continue to stay physically distanced or self-quarantined. But if you've been medically resolved, we have biotech companies that are making them, we need to have antibody tests taken by people so there's an immunity. We have healthy people, long enough to know they are not symptomatic, they don't have it. Take the young people and the medically resolved and send them back to work. Keep distancing, keep washing hands, quit touching eyes etc. Smart hygiene decisions. We have to get tests, in the absence of a treatment, a malaria drug is seeing great results around the world along with Zinc. We have an opportunity as a state to make sure it's available. We don't need to worry about the FDA process, with the supervision of a physician, we should have a right to try state.
Gov. Cuomo said: If I could back out of the quarantine everyone strategy, I'm not convinced it was the best public health strategy. You have to have both (health strategy and economy strategy).
Can you beat Jon Huntsman or Spencer Cox? There's a calculus in politics and it's: I want to be loved. And the way to do that is to not make anyone mad and to do that, you don't do anything. Then we sit as a state and wait for other states, and then we follow along, but the cost to the state as we fail to ask is unbelievable. Today's poll: It's a 3 person race. I'm the only candidate who has surged from November 11 point swing going up. This message is resonating. I'm going to need your support and I need to earn your support to earn that primary. When in that primary, I'm going to be bold and I'm going to tell the truth. We have to do something more, but some candidates are afraid.
When you have a new governor in an open seat (1st time since 1992) in January, the budget shortfalls will be the largest we've ever seen. The decisions awaiting the next governor are:hard, harder, and hardest. There is going to be a temptation to just take the federal money to "just hold people harmless". If we were to succumb to that gravitational pull to take federal money, I've never seen federal money arrive that takes more discretion to the states. it always comes with strings and we will lose control. The next governor is going to have incredibly difficult decisions that will not make people happy, and we're going to stave off the demand for more and more federal funds that we know in the long run will harm this state and these people.
We stopped obamacare expansion under the claim that we pay federal taxes, we should get our fair share.
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