$1.07 Trillion Dollars...

So while we're in the midst of this national crisis, where all the businesses are closed and the planes aren't flying and the ships aren't cruising and the restaurants aren't serving and the kids are all home from school, making it necessary for their parents to stay home with them, away from work, and from their income, pulling out their collective hair, I thought I might pass along a reminder.

(Yes, I know the preceding sentence was grammatically incorrect.  But since I know that, rest assured it's all okay.)

We Americans have a Federalist kind of Government.  As opposed to a direct democracy, like ancient Rome, and current Venezuela, and we know how they turned out, now don't we?  And we have a states-first sort of society.  Our states are sovereign.  They were, they are, and I'm guessing they shall always be.  That means that they call the shots.  They tell the Federal Government what to do, except in those narrow instances in which they've given the Feds explicit authority.

We know that's true because more than 500 of our states, counties, cities and townships have declared themselves "sanctuaries" for illegal alien immigrants, giving the Federal Government the finger in the process.

Think about it:  If the states weren't in charge, wouldn't the Feds swoop in an put an end to this whole "sanctuary" disgrace?

That authority is straightforward:  The states "let" the Federal Government, via the 10th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, a.), protect our borders; b.) mint our money; c.) deliver our mail; and d.) negotiate treaties with other nations.  

You may have noticed that the Federal Government isn't doing a real stellar job at either a., b., c. or d.

On top of the above there have been many more recent "agreements" between the states and the Feds, as indicated  by a whole bunch of Amendments to that self-same Constitution.  Some other stuff like interstate commerce, and income taxes, and making our food safe to eat, and energy production have come along more recently, but the basic concept of states-rights still holds sway.  

And that brings us to our current crisis.  Four months ago the Chinese let loose upon this world a virus that has stopped us in our tracks.  A group of 8 doctors in Wuhan Province, China tried to sound the alarm back in mid-December, 2019, on a new strain of coronavirus they thought highly-comunicative and extremely dangerous.  They were jailed and prevented from doing so.  

In fact, their lead physician, one Li Wenlieng, a 34 year-old opthalmologist, has subsequently died from this virus.  But the word got out.  And so did the virus.  And now China has mounted a full-bore campaign to sidestep their culpability.  And we citizens are hearing through a compliant, left-wing American media (shame be upon them), that not only is Trump a racist for calling a Chinese virus...a Chinese virus, but his Administration isn't doing the necessary testing and sending the masks and the ventilators and all the other stuff that the states are clamoring for.

Except that it's the states that are responsible for maintaining their own stockpiles of masks and ventilators and every other single form of medical care and treatment.  They must find and buy their own, and maintain a stock sufficient for anticipated need.  That's what they're supposed to do.  And only if and when their stock is exhausted may they plea to the Feds for help.     

I think our various governors need to get their collective arms around that last factoid.  

As to tests, this is a new strain of an old virus (SARS, MERS, H1N1 preceded it).  There were no "tests" until just the past couple of weeks.  So it would be kind of hard to supply them.  

I think we should expect our Federal Government to do its job.  But I believe we should also expect the folks who run the states to do their jobs, first!  

That's the Federalist system...

And, oh yeah, on the way out the digital door:  Since a recent CDC report indicates this pandemic could have been reduced by more than 95% if China had just let us know in time, I'd like to pass along a suggestion to our Fearless Leader, "Big Orange."  Tell the Chinese Communists to wad up all those IOU's we've been handing them all these years, totaling a nice, round $1.07 Trillion Dollars, and throw them in the nearest trashcan.  

We. Are. Even...