Posted on 05/09/2020 7:15:58 AM PDT by EyesOfTX
Wow. Big, big news today coming out of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. There, the County Board Chairman, Jeff Haste, issued an open letter to the people of the state that he was making the decision to re-open his county in defiance of Democrat Governor Tom Wolfe’s absurd, illogical order extending statewide lockdowns through June 5.
Several things to note here: Dauphin County is home to Harrisburg, the state’s capital city. It is not some rural backwater, but a robust county with roughly 280,000 residents. Haste himself appears to be a Republican, although his bio page does not list a party affiliation. In his letter, Haste carefully lays out a wealth of factual information that Gov. Wolfe would rather the public not know about.
VDO.AI Here is the text of that letter in its entirety:
May 8, 2020
To the People of Pennsylvania:
Enough is enough. It is time to reopen the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and return our state to the people (as prescribed by our Constitution) and not run it as a dictatorship.
When COVID-19 first entered our state, we needed to take quick and decisive action to minimize its impact. The state was closed so that we could flatten the curve and ensure that our health care systems and hospitals were able to function within their resources. Pennsylvanians complied.
COVID-19 was an unknown foe. We had a lot to learn and have since gained a better understanding. Make no mistake, to those with impaired immune systems, certain medical conditions and the elderly, COVID-19 is dangerous and can be deadly. Now our citizens understand what is needed to protect themselves and others. We see how to implement these procedures as we go to the grocery store or big box stores. Our smaller businesses, restaurants, realtors, dentists, doctors and more have seen and learned what needs to be done. Data shows that COVID-19 is a critical issue in confined living areas and with our elderly and immunity-impaired populations. The general population can continue to work and function within the “new normal.” Our businesses and citizens have learned this; however, the governor and his health secretary have not, thus part of the reason for the Wall Street Journal giving our governor a failing grade.
In Dauphin County, our health care systems and hospitals sprang into action and prepared for the worst. Overall, the worst did not come. Some of our facilities had more than 40% of their beds empty, not performing routine procedures. As of this writing, 48% of our 141 ventilators are in use; six (4%) are in use for COVID-19-related cases; 62 (44%) for non-COVID-19 cases; and 73 (52%) are not in use. Clearly, our ventilators are not maxed out.
Let’s put some of the numbers in perspective, since Gov. Wolf and Health Secretary Levine say decisions will be “data-driven.” As of this writing, Pennsylvania has a total of 54,238 cases, or 0.4% of the state’s population. Dauphin County has 764 cases, or 0.274% of our population. Pennsylvania has 3,616 deaths, or 0.028% of the population. Dauphin County has 29 deaths, or 0.0105% of our county’s population.
Here in Dauphin County, 192 (25%) of the 764 cases are in nursing homes, while 24 (65%) of our coronavirus deaths are in nursing homes. If you remove the nursing home cases from the equation, 0.2% of the county’s general population has tested positive. Not 20%, not 2%, but 0.2%.
Since Gov. Wolf closed the state to minimize the 54,238 positive cases, more than 1,793,200 Pennsylvanians have lost their jobs. This decision has ruined the livelihood of millions of hard-working Pennsylvanians in exchange for 0.4% of our population. I have great sympathy for those who have lost loved ones to COVID-19. I also have great concern for the families that now have to struggle with financial concerns, mental health stress, addiction and more because of the shutdown. Again, our governor has pitted groups of Pennsylvanians against one another.
And he has not included county commissioners in this process.
This need not happen — enough is enough. We should focus our efforts on making sure our nursing homes have the supplies, staff, testing and whatever else they need to protect their residents and staff. Our health care systems and hospitals have shown they can handle the pressures of COVID-19 and have capacity to spare.
Allow our businesses and communities to reopen. For centuries, our people and businesses have shown they can adapt to changes to survive and prosper. They cannot, however, do a thing when a dictator and an unelected secretary place them in lockdown.
I trust and have faith in the great people and businesses of Pennsylvania to operate in a manner that protects those of our population in harm’s way and allows our residents to go back to work, enjoy their communities and have a quality of life. I, however, have no faith in Gov. Wolf and Secretary Levine’s ability to do the right thing.
Open the state and return our Commonwealth to the people.
Enough is enough.
Sincerely,
Jeff Haste Chairman Dauphin County Board of Commissioners
[End]
It’s important to note that officials in Lebanon County, PA issued a notice similar to Haste’s, saying they will begin to reopen their county on May 15. In addition, sheriffs in Cumberland and Perry Counties posted notices on Facebook stating that they will make no effort to enforce the Governor’s ongoing orders.
Folks, this kind of action is going to continue to grow all over the country the longer these despotic Democrat governors try to extend the pain being inflicted on their citizens for crass, partisan political reasons. These shutdown orders are patently unconstitutional and simply unprecedented in any medical crisis in our nation’s history. As Mr. Haste points out, we now know that what we really had with this virus was mainly a threat to our senior citizens, and the best approach to containing it would have been to focus quarantine and other protective measures on people above the age of 65 and the nation’s nursing and retirement communities.
What we did instead was an act of national insanity.
So long as all we had to go on was a catastrophically inaccurate statistical model and the pronouncements of Drs. Fauci and Birx, the general public was willing to go along with this abuse in the name of saving lives. But, as more and more information comes to light demonstrating how wrong and counterproductive these statewide, thoughtless stay-at-home and economic shutdown orders have been, more and more freedom-loving Americans are reaching the point that Mr. Haste has obviously reached and telling their abusive governors, mayors and county judges that enough is enough.
I wrote on Wednesday that Shelley Luther was just the canary in these governors’ coal mines. Last night’s action by Chairman Haste shows the fire in that mine has been lit and is beginning to spread. If these Democrats do not relent soon on this obviously coordinated strategy to needlessly drag this pain out in an attempt to impact the November elections, they will end up paying dearly for it at the polls.
If they do not relent and continue to become more and more abusive in their enforcement efforts, the outcome could ultimately be much, much worse than that.
Enough is indeed enough. Stop this madness.
That is all.
New York needs to grow up and do their own work now to re-open... and Cuomo needs to stop requiring baby sitters to feed and change his diapers when he whines and belly aches....he needs to Govern or get out!
Republican officials now find it convenient to stand up against and defy the governor. Where were they when this got started? Where are their constitutional principles? It is easy to jump on the reopening bandwagon when the public is demanding it. I view these officials as weak kneed, unprincipled and not worthy of holding office. Am I being too harsh? Is it unrealistic of me to want Republicans to have a backbone and articulate that when you give up liberty for safety you have neither?
These are the times (two months ago) true leaders are born, and I do not see any.
What are these fascist pricks going to do when the LEO’s of their states refuse to enforce their draconian edicts? I guess they can stand on the state capital steps and scream that they are in charge.
“precautions still need to be taken because a lot is still not known, and it really is the only way to prevent a serious outbreak.”
Are you saying New Yirk City didn’t have a serious outbreak?
Or Boston, Detroit?
Dear Mr. Haste,
Don’t act in haste. (Couldnt resist)
NY needs to sink.
Why should Trump do anything to bail NY out?
Let them pay the price for their decisions at the ballot box.
Agree 100%!
The more the folks rebel against the totalitarian control, the more they vote for Trump.
_____________
Yes. People damn well know that Trump is fully on the side of the American people.
Brain addled Biden is pushing the same old no borders(illegal loving), global bullcrap.
PA is a very divided state, and there is a lot of corruption. "People of Pa" did not vote for this creep. Some did. Others of us are stuck with their stupidity.
“People of PA voted for this creep. Either admit you blew it and boot the guy out, ignore him or shut up.”
Screw you, dumb-ass.
For what it’s worth, the Berks County sheriff put out a similar statement indicating they won’t enforce the lockdown. What remains unclear (at least to me) is whether the PA State Police will try to enforce in these counties or not. And if so what response would occur.
worse 2 years ago the PA GOPeyores didnt do thing ot to support either the Republican Governor or US senate candidate
I highly doubt Wagnor would have been near as bad as Tommie the commie and the trannie tyrant.
Calling people names won't fix your problem. Get out and work to can the creep.
That's insanity....
Yet once again, I beat the drum for Electoral College votes to be awarded by Congressional District. That way the Metro areas doesn't talk for the whole State.
Agreed.
There are 4300 PA State Troopers to cover the state 24/7. That’s not enough cops if the people are willing to stare them down.
If you don’t want to be called a dumb-ass, then don’t be a dumb-ass.
There are too many Democrats in PA so we have a Democrat governor.
So what to you do? You blame the Republicans who voted against him for not doing enough. You are an idiot.
“Trumpie...turn New York on...you can do it!!!”
F New York. They made their bed. Let them lay in it. I don’t care what happens to NY. And No taxpayer $$$!!!
You certainly do take things personally. I would point out that your argument about too many democrats doesn’t hold water. There are, for example, way too many democrats in the state of MA but they voted in a Republican governor. You might spend spend some time figuring out how that could happen. Name calling takes no intelligence. Solving problems does.
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