How President Trump handles the fast spreading coronavirus crisis will prove as important to his re-election campaign as Hurricane Sandy was to President Obama’s.
He should stop trying to minimize public concern and should address a joint session of Congress to propose a massive loan, aid, and stimulus package to combat the economic effects of the virus.
Short-term loans and grants should be made available to those infected, to small businesses whose revenues are threatened and to specific industries like airlines to prevent bankruptcies.
The virus will not be around forever.
A vaccine must be coming soon — hopefully with expedited Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. Some experts predict a slowdown when the weather gets warmer. But short term aid is vital now.
Congress won’t dare not to pass Trump’s proposals and partisan opposition from Democrats is unlikely — unless the package is too small. But the kind of truly massive package Trump should propose would go through quickly and easily.
Trump has proven a master at mobilizing Americans to take action and he must do so now.
As much as we enjoy them, the president should curtail his rallies during this period. He can still tweet to his heart’s content.
So as not to react out of proportion to the true threat, we need to bear in mind that regular influenza kills between 20,000 and 50,000 every year in the US. 500,000 need to be hospitalized each year. But thousands will, unfortunately, die and we must hasten research and publicize measure to stop the virus from spreading.
But the economic impact of the virus is likely to be the most widespread of its impacts. And the federal government is uniquely suited to take the kind of action vital to cushioning its effects.
DickMorris is the author of the best-selling book "Armageddon: How Trump Can Beat Hillary," written with Eileen McGann and published by Humanix Books, available at Barnes & Noble and Amazon. to read more of Dick Morris's Reports — Click Here Now!
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.