Better in their words…

“Fifteen days to slow the spread turned into one year of lost liberty,” Jordan said before asking Fauci: “What metrics, what measures, what has to happen before Americans get more freedoms?”

After Fauci told him that precautions to prevent spreading the virus can be lifted after the nation vaccinates as many people as soon as it can and infections decrease, Jordan again demanded “What measure, what standard, what objective outcome, do we have to reach before… Americans get their liberty and freedoms back?” He declared “First Amendment rights,” and rights to attend church, petition one’s government, freedom of the press and freedom of speech have “all been assaulted.”

“I don’t look at this as a liberty thing,” Fauci replied… Jordan interjected, “That’s obvious.”

Dr. Fauci’s refusal to consider the larger societal impact of his Covid advice is an ongoing national tragedy. As politicians were following his advice and locking down last spring, Dr. Fauci described the impact on Americans as “inconvenient.” Millions of lost jobs and more than $4 trillion in federal debt later—amid abundant evidence that lockdowns didn’t work—he’s still urging restrictions on normal life. Last year he also acknowledged that he did no cost-benefit analysis and really had no idea what the consequences were for students: “I don’t have a good explanation, or solution to the problem of what happens when you close schools, and it triggers a cascade of events that could have some harmful circumstances.”

Dr. Fauci’s defenders might argue that he was simply doing his best to apply his expertise on infectious disease and that it’s not his job to notice the economic and non-Covid health problems resulting from his policies.

But there is no excuse for today’s refusal to share his expert opinion on the appropriate Covid measurement to determine when normal life can resume. Dr. Fauci spent several minutes fencing with Rep. Jordan and saying liberty could be restored when the level of infection is “low enough.” But the government doctor repeatedly refused to put a number on it.

It’s impossible to believe that Dr. Fauci hasn’t thought about this question and formed an opinion. He may be able to dodge accountability for all the non-Covid destruction. But he owes the public a straight answer to the most important question at the center of his area of expertise.

How many patients in America would tolerate this behavior from their own physicians?

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Non-Doctors Can Also Impose Health Measures Without Transparency

Pennsylvanians may have had it with arbitrary and expensive lockdown rules imposed by their state government. The Commonwealth Foundation’s Nathan Benefield writes at RealClearPolitics:

The movement to limit a governor’s emergency powers is particularly evident in Pennsylvania, where lawmakers have pursued a year-long effort to restore checks and balances. Last summer, in addition to favoring numerous bills to reopen the economy, the legislature voted – with a bipartisan majority – to end Democratic governor Tom Wolf’s emergency declaration. The state Supreme Court, however, ruled that the governor could veto this resolution, and he did – a ruling that set the bar for overturning an emergency declaration even higher than the votes necessary for impeachment.

The Pennsylvania General Assembly’s efforts to restrict Wolf’s emergency declaration – renewed four times – has reached its endgame in the form of two constitutional amendments in a statewide voter referendum. In the May primary, Pennsylvania voters will decide whether the governor’s emergency declarations should be limited to 21 days, with legislative agreement required to extend them.

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