The MacIver Institute: Governor Evers Is Wrong To Extend “Safer at Home”
The Permanent Damage That Extending “Safer at Home” Order Will Inflict On Our Families, Friends And Neighbors Is Not Supported By Science Or Common Sense
We Need To Reopen Wisconsin Now
(Madison) – In reaction to the surprise announcement that Governor Tony Evers was extending his shelter-in-place order, known as “Safer at Home”, to May 26, the John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy criticized the governor’s decision and asked Wisconsinites to consider the science and the facts before agreeing to these further restrictions.
On April 16, Gov. Evers issued a press release directing Wisconsin Department of Health Services Acting Secretary Andrea Palm to extend the Safer at Home order from ending on April 24 to ending at 8 a.m., Tuesday, May 26. Emergency Order #28 further restricts our rights and upends the Wisconsin way of life. The new order will force us to remain at home, cause our fellow Wisconsinites significant hardship, shutter an untold number of businesses that are already struggling and cripple Wisconsin’s economy.
Steve Fettig, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy, issued the following statement:
“Governor Evers has not been honest with the people of Wisconsin regarding our COVID-19 response since day one. His model predicting 22,000 infected and up to 1,500 dead by April 8 was built on false data and was used to deliberately scare Wisconsinites and justify the unnecessary, one-size-fits-all, statewide shelter-in-place order. The order was supposedly necessary to stop the spread of COVID-19 and prevent our health care system from being overwhelmed.
“Wisconsin has never experienced a surge because we are not New York City nor northern Italy. While any loss of life is tragic, the COVID-19 curve in Wisconsin has been flat for some time. We have plenty of beds available in our hospitals, and our health care system is managing the treatment and care of the COVID-positive population.
“We must consider the damage our COVID-19 response is doing to our family, friends, and neighbors. Hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites are out of work and countless small businesses have been forced to close. Entire families are seeing their lives ruined.
“Unlike the average person suffering from these misguided edicts, the Governor’s staff and many state bureaucrats are insulated from the same pain that their fellow community members are enduring – struggling to pay basic bills, put food on their tables, and care for their children. Again, while the loss of life to COVID-19 is tragic, the loss of jobs and loss of community has already had a much greater impact on the lives of our families than the disease itself. Wisconsin has never put elected authority ahead of its own people, why are we doing so now?
“Gov. Evers and acting Sec. Palm have made clear that they are all too willing to insult the character and intelligence of Wisconsinites on the basis of projections that have proven false time and time again. They chose to extend an order whose premise was wrong from day one and whose frightening forecasts never come to be. Gov. Evers is making mistake after mistake by not trusting Wisconsinites’ ability and creativity to engage with one another, commune with one another, and help their families, friends, and neighbors in a safe and reasonable manner.
“If Gov. Evers is unwilling to reconsider the extension order, Wisconsinites need to make their voices heard and let the governor know that we will not let this stand. Remember: we grant Gov. Evers the authority under which he operates, not the other way around.
“Anyone who cares about the well-being of their fellow Wisconsinites, anyone who cares about our great state, and anyone who cares about the Wisconsin we leave for our children and our grandchildren needs to speak up now. Gov. Evers’ and acting Sec. Palm’s edicts are destroying our future by putting predictions and guesses ahead of what we know to be the truth. We must fight for our future. We must fight for our Wisconsin.
“The best way to unshackle Wisconsin from this nightmare is for Wisconsinites to take back our rights and to take back our freedom to care for our own families and communities. We need not be afraid of one another in a time of crisis. We need to bind together and help everyone move forward.”
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
More about the Coronavirus Pandemic
- Governors Tony Evers, JB Pritzker, Tim Walz, and Gretchen Whitmer Issue a Joint Statement Concerning Reports that Donald Trump Gave Russian Dictator Putin American COVID-19 Supplies - Gov. Tony Evers - Oct 11th, 2024
- MHD Release: Milwaukee Health Department Launches COVID-19 Wastewater Testing Dashboard - City of Milwaukee Health Department - Jan 23rd, 2024
- Milwaukee County Announces New Policies Related to COVID-19 Pandemic - County Executive David Crowley - May 9th, 2023
- DHS Details End of Emergency COVID-19 Response - Wisconsin Department of Health Services - Apr 26th, 2023
- Milwaukee Health Department Announces Upcoming Changes to COVID-19 Services - City of Milwaukee Health Department - Mar 17th, 2023
- Fitzgerald Applauds Passage of COVID-19 Origin Act - U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald - Mar 10th, 2023
- DHS Expands Free COVID-19 Testing Program - Wisconsin Department of Health Services - Feb 10th, 2023
- MKE County: COVID-19 Hospitalizations Rising - Graham Kilmer - Jan 16th, 2023
- Not Enough Getting Bivalent Booster Shots, State Health Officials Warn - Gaby Vinick - Dec 26th, 2022
- Nearly All Wisconsinites Age 6 Months and Older Now Eligible for Updated COVID-19 Vaccine - Wisconsin Department of Health Services - Dec 15th, 2022
Read more about Coronavirus Pandemic here
Mentioned in This Press Release
Recent Press Releases by MacIver Institute
Gov. Evers’ “Badger Bounce Back” Plan Not A Real Plan
Apr 20th, 2020 by MacIver InstituteWe Don’t Need More Hurdles Governor Evers - We Need To Reopen
Typical, predictable and dead wrong on more points than I can believe possible.
“Wisconsin has never experienced a surge because we are not New York City nor northern Italy. While any loss of life is tragic, the COVID-19 curve in Wisconsin has been flat for some time.”
That says our stay at home restrictions are working.
I will listen to the scientists who warn if we drop restrictions too early this virus will come roaring back. The 1918 pandemic proves this is true.
I prefer digging out of the economic depression caused by this pandemic after the virus is on the wane…across the nation
Our governments will then have to figure out how to restart the economy. Just like FDR had to do in 1932. I know if your organization follows Ayn Rand Libertarianism this will be hard on your group. Sorry.
The MacIver Institute’s comments reflect a very dangerous lack of understanding. COVID-19 is indeed a secret threat because it’s so possible for the infection to be spread by asymptomatic or pre symptomatic people. We need thorough testing and contact tracing to really have a chance at suppressing the risk, as opposed to simply mitigating it.
The Institute’s energy would be better spent trying to convince their Republican allies to appropriate the funding needed for personal protective equipment, a thorough testing and contact tracing regime, and compassionate care and quarantine as appropriate. Only then will a sustainable return to economic activity be possible.
Of course we need to address the economic loss that so many people have experienced. The proposal from Congressman Ryan (Dem-Ohio) at the federal level to provide $2,000 monthly payments to everyone over age 16 is a very meaningful start.
MacIver seems to acknowledge that some places are justified in shutting down (like NYC & Northern Italy), but they think Wisconsin isn’t. But even ignoring their faulty reasoning (Wisconsin has fewer cases BECAUSE it shut down earlier in the curve than NY), how do they propose dealing with Chicago residents flocking to a newly-reopened Wisconsin?
Chicago has its share of covid-deniers, some of whom are asymptotically positive and who would love to dine, shop, or barhop in Wisconsin if Illinois stays closed. Does MacIver propose putting roadblocks on EVERY road crossing the state line? (Just closing I-94 won’t stop them for long!)
Opening up Wisconsin and attracting covid carriers from Chicago (and Minneapolis) just moves out-of-state hotspots into Wisconsin.
I have several sections to which I will respond. First –
“Wisconsin has never put elected authority ahead of its own people, why are we doing so now?”
I think of the workers who died in the struggle for a living wage and the eight hour day whose sacrifice was dishonored by ACT 10; of the shady creation of electoral maps by secret back room computer generated maps; of the disbanding of the non-political elections board; of the dismantling of the state DNR; of elected/or appointed judges who are able to be focused on narrow legal technicalities to disenfranchise voters who choose to stay healthy rather than risk their lives.
“Gov. Evers is making mistake after mistake by not trusting Wisconsinites’ ability and creativity to engage with one another, commune with one another, and help their families, friends, and neighbors in a safe and reasonable manner.”
Do the MacIver folks think that the crowding of parks was a myth and that people were able to be “trusted to engage with each other…in a safe and reasonable manner”?
““If Gov. Evers is unwilling to reconsider the extension order, Wisconsinites need to make their voices heard and let the governor know that we will not let this stand. Remember: we grant Gov. Evers the authority under which he operates, not the other way around.”
So I make my voice heard that we the people grant authority to legislators, judges, and all elected to represent the interests of all the people. And we grant MacIver freedom of speech – unless this is like crying FIRE in a theater, you know endangering people’s lives? -but we do not grant MacIver the authority to decide for the rest of us.
“Anyone who cares about the well-being of their fellow Wisconsinites, anyone who cares about our great state, and anyone who cares about the Wisconsin we leave for our children and our grandchildren needs to speak up now.”
Yes, I speak now for the future that cannot be the past redux. I speak for a future that we must create together now as we once did in the crisis of the Great Depression and in WWII. Yes, we can work together… for change. We need to take this moment to take a long look back at the injustice we have made with our collapsing social, economic, and political, and environmental systems. COVID-19 is removing the veil of comfort hiding our complacency and ofttimes outright meanness of heart. COVID-19 is a rehearsal for the great awakening we need. When we create equitable systems in this time of opportunity we will also have the opportunity to soften the coming collapse of the environmental ecosystem of which we had forgotten we are part, not the controllers as of some machine. These twin challenges are the gift we have of living in this time.
An finally, something I agree with the MacIver folks:
““The best way to unshackle Wisconsin from this nightmare is for Wisconsinites to take back our rights and to take back our freedom to care for our own families and communities. We need not be afraid of one another in a time of crisis. We need to bind together and help everyone move forward.”
Let’s get back to local control. From plastic bag bans to right to vote – the real right to vote – with no picture ID, access to polls before voting day, a National Holiday on Voting Day so all can vote in person and wait in long lines if need be, and a judiciary that supports the public franchise as central to a democracy.
In a “nutshell”, shall we go with profit over people or people over profit? Maybe that is a “chicken and egg” conundrum. Oohhh, too much of mixed metaphors. And too much money mixed in with politics!!!