Normally — and I reiterate this for those who claim I always point out problems, yet offer no solutions — my first instinct is to get the federal government out of whatever it’s doing. Removing government from every situation the Constitution forbids it from getting into always offers a better way to solve problems. 

Except this time. 

There’s an old George Carlin joke that comes to mind.
It was about being a kid in Catholic schools and trying to play stump the brother or sister in charge. The query was something like if God is all powerful, can he create a rock so big he can’t lift it? Ah, from the wisdom of a child. As a man of faith, I believe God can do both. 

I ask in kind: Can the federal government — and all too many states, counties and cities — create problems so large it can’t solve them? 

This seems to be rule No. 1 for a lot of politicians because not fixing problems while continuing to work on them with laser-like focus is key to re-election. Sadly, rule No. 2 is creating a police state to assure no other entity is allowed to even address the problems, let alone fix them. As a man of little to almost no faith in government, I believe many in government can do neither. But it won’t stop them from trying. Or not trying. It depends on the political wind gauge. 

Let’s take the border. When was the last time you heard about that ongoing disaster? Our mainstream media stopped covering the border crisis the day President Joe Biden put Vice President Kamala Harris in charge. I ask this: Can anyone name one thing Harris has done to even alleviate the pressure on our borders? The question is rhetorical. She hasn’t done a damned thing. You know how I know the situation is bad? The mainstream media hasn’t even taken the liberty to run a puff piece on Harris’ efforts related to the border. And you can forget about seeing a report on the actual situation. Heck, we’re at a point where you aren’t even seeing a report the vice president is alive and well. 

How’s things going for old Mayor Pete and the transportation situation? Name one action he’s taken to address supply chain problems outside of the optics of flying in baby formula from Europe. You can’t. How about the abysmal port and trucking situation? Have we gone one week without thousands of flights delayed or cancelled? Then again, if the potholes still abound in South Bend, what can you expect from a guy who bragged he and his husband were able to get formula while millions suffered or who told Americans going under due to inflation to buy an electric car if they don’t like gas prices? All from a guy who faked riding a bike to work to get votes. 

That brings us to our president and Congress and their latest problem-solving skills. It was just a few short weeks ago Biden was bragging about reducing the “deficit” by the greatest amount in history: $1.3 TRILLION. If I have to go into how reducing a deficit is still overspending while meaning you really, really, really overspent (by TRILLIONS) the year before and a totally-ignorant-of-basic-economics argument, then stop reading now because you don’t understand it or this next point. You do realize the government just passed two bills in the past few weeks that have reduced that “historic deficit reduction” by $1.2 TRILLION. So basically, Biden is saving America the equivalent of printing money equal a rounding error. I mean, it’s only $100 billion, so we’re not talking real money. And let’s not forget this law of economics: You don’t print untold trillions into a recession. Oops, I can’t use that word, so I’ll call it what it is. A depression. 

And that leads to yet another rule and the source of almost all of America’s latest woes. The old rule was: Never introduce a vaccine into a pandemic. (Then again, did they? That’s for another column.)
But the culprit is COVID-19. That’s where everything went even more wrong. In using “emergency powers” to shut down the country, the federal government effectively shut down the world economy.And every exaggerated ill we feel today is the result of it. Each problem above was exacerbated by COVID and the abuse of emergency powers. Why? Because it worked where SARS-1, global warming, Zika, myriad flus and every other emergency has failed in gaining total control. The government succeeded in inserting COVID into everything we do. 

Therefore, the only solution can come from government. Only government won’t undo what it has no intention of undoing.
If you don’t think so, then why is everything an emergency nowadays? Simple. Because that’s where the power is. 

To solve this situation, the government must rescind every law, mandate and regulation resulting from COVID emergency powers. Then rescind emergency powers. 

 Our government has created a problem so large it can’t be solved by government. And it didn’t come from God.

Craig Hall is owner and publisher of the Business Times. Reach him at 424-5133 or publisher@thebusinesstimes.com.