OPINION:
A county in California, Alameda, to be exact, is planning to hand out checks in the amount of $1,250 for lower-income residents who test positive for COVID-19 as an incentive to get them to stay home.
Hmm. Let’s see. What could possibly go wrong there?
It’s welfare dressed as coronavirus relief.
It’s basically a sweet juicy carrot that incentivizes residents of the Bay Area’s second most populous county to test, test, test away for the coronavirus — and pray, pray, pray for positives.
And for Democrats bent on destroying President Donald Trump’s chances for a second White House term, it’s sheer genius because it promises to bolster COVID-19 counts at the same time dampen employment numbers. Who wants to seek work when they’re outright paid to stay home?
Under this system — who wants to even get better?
Sickness pays.
“Many county residents who test positive for COVID-19, especially hourly workers, will need assistance in order to isolate, as they cannot afford the loss in wages,” said a social services agency report prepared for the Board of Supervisors and cited by the Los Angeles Times. “We expect many of these individuals in need of assistance will be part of the ’essential’ workforce who are unable to work remotely and thus are at higher risk of contracting COVID-19.”
The estimates for the program are capped at $10 million. But that’s just the pilot version. After that period passes — who knows.
When it’s the taxpayers’ dime, the possibilities are endless.
It’s true that residents who are sickened by the coronavirus ought to stay home and recover.
But it’s not true that every resident who simply tests positive for the coronavirus automatically needs to stay home, self-quarantine and wait for the big check from the government to come in the mail.
This country has faced plenty of other health issues without completely shutting down, and without mandating that everyone at risk of getting sick simply stay at home and isolate. That’s ridiculous. That’s also unsustainable.
But then again, that’s probably what the leftists using the coronavirus as a political dagger are counting on — a quick collapse of economic and societal norms as a means of calling for new political leaders and a new political system.
Like socialism.
Which is basically what this Alameda proposal is.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter by clicking HERE.
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