Big Government

Deep blue California may not seem like a ready source of protest against government lockdowns. But the images of protestors decrying Gov. Gavin Newsom's beach shutdown are something to behold.

With the federal government throwing trillions of dollars in relief payments, bailouts, subsidies, and loans at various sectors of the U.S. economy, oversight and accountability have never been more essential.

That's why this page from the newly-created Pandemic Reponse Accountability Committee is so important.

One benefit of our recent economic upheavals has been the exposure of needless rules and regulations. As governments far and wide have suspended or modified regulations to help spur essential economic activity, we've learned an important lesson: maybe we didn't need those rules and regulations at all.

Some members of Congress believe the best way to help individuals weather the economic storm is to hand out even more -- and bigger -- government checks. And also to make them monthly, for up to a year:

The Congressional Budget Office released a revised economic forecast for the year and the news is downright ugly:

Congress approved nearly $500 billion of additional stimulus last week to assist small businesses and hospitals. But before the ink was even dry on that measure, wrangling on the next one was already well underway:

Activists in a handful of states have organized protests against social distancing and business closure orders. They are demanding people and companies be allowed to get back to work. While still a relatively small movement, it's generated a lot of pushback from those who believe it's too early to re-open anything without a medical all-clear.

The massive federal fiscal response to the eonomic shutdown may not be over yet, as Congress is currently dickering over yet another round of stimulus payments.

State and local governments are clammoring for additional federal assistance as their budgets fall victim to the economic lockdown. While there's a case for helping governments provide emergency services to those who cannot help themselves, there's also a very strong case that state and local governments are poor stewards of the resources they already have.