Things have gone from bad to worse! Unemployment figures hit 33 million wiping out the 50-year-low unemployment rate that was under 3.8% before most  governors shut down their states to contain the coronavirus. This figure represents about 20% of the workforce.

This makes even more important the need for governors in the 50 states and four territories to safely open up their economies. At this rate we can expect the April jobs report to be released by the Fed on Friday to be the worst since Franklin Roosevelt was president during WWII.

At 14% to 15% unemployment, that makes the number even worse than the Great Depression. For those that wish to keep their foot on the throat of our economy and the workers, these numbers should be a wake-up call.

While Rome burns, blue state governors fiddle. Some 20 to 21 million jobs were lost in April. If that is true then almost all the job growth since 2008 is gone! Surely local governments, using the associations they belong to , can unify and ask governors to let the workforce go back to work and do so now.

County and city governments across the nation belong to lobby groups that should have already been organized to address recovery with governors. Working with governors is a must. They belong to these groups and use taxpayer dollars to pay for them.

Offending a governor isn’t a good business practice. However, the people that vote for a mayor, county supervisor, county commissioners, aldermen, and other local elected types are looking to them to represent their economic interests, too. So step up and be counted.

As cities and counties warn their own workers of layoffs and furloughs, when will state and federal workers face the same? Local governments rely on sales taxes and other user taxes for almost all their receipts. Sales-tax collection estimates are way down for cities. Reserves are burning while cities and county leaders hang on to their workforce.

Take a look at estimated job losses in the tourism industry. If you aren’t moved to action by these numbers you likely do not have a pulse! Estimates for restaurants and hotels job losses alone are reported to be $8 million. At this rate how do cities that rely so heavily on hotel room taxes and sales taxes keep the local economy shut down?

The coronavirus is a serious threat. Our president and governors sought to flatten the curve. Most offical records show that is a reality. So the question is how flat is flat? Can we sit and wait for a vaccine? We have no guarantees we will have one soon. We wear masks, distance, and can’t go to church, temples, synagogues, concerts and sporting events.

Is there a health risk to unleashing the economy of a great nation and its workforce? Absolutely! What is worse? A death rate of less than 1% or the death of a nation’s entire economy and all the destruction and, yes, death that economic ruin will cause?

Blue states and red states equal one America. Open up the economy and do it now. You have no longer any justification to wreck the lives of so many millions of Americans.

Walk a mile in the shoes of  our first and second generation Americans who built a small business. If governors haven’t already destroyed that business, it is close to buried. So many have had governors turn the American dream into something worse.

Here are five words for our governors that insist on crushing the hopes and dreams of the everyday Americans: Open up the economy now!

Image Sources

  • Sculpture: Pixaby