5 ms·

Deaths and cases are both dropping sharply, and since deaths lag cases, the deaths should be expected to continue to drop steadily for a few more weeks. Someth

• xienze 5y ago
  > Something substantial has definitely changed. Yeah, it's called midterm elections are coming up and the Democrats are staring down the barrel of getting absolutely crushed if they continue on with mask and vaccine mandate policies.
  • gdulli 5y ago
    That's nonsense. Mandates are going away because (1) mid-January was the predictable post-holiday travel and gathering spike, (2) several weeks later the numbers were predictably down, and then (3) lawmakers needed several more weeks to feel safe enough about the trend to act on it. Lifting mandates now leaves enough time for another spike (followed by more restrictions) to arise before the elections. By your thinking that timing would be a disaster. Lifting mandates 6-7 months from now would maximize the impact on the election and minimize the risk that restrictions will have to be rolled back before the election. Everything is obviously political, but the conclusion that lifting mandates right now is strategically tied to elections in 8 months is so far from logical that I can't imagine arriving at it, only starting with it. The covid numbers provide a simple, logical explanation.
    • infamouscow 5y ago
      What peer-reviewed research is being used to inform policymakers on this recent shift? And I'm referring to COVID-19 reports, not political ones.
  • criddell 5y ago
    That’s how it should be, no? If constituents want to end a policy then their representative should work to do exactly that.
    • ghaff 5y ago
      To say nothing of the fact that a great deal of behavior is driven by individuals and individual businesses whatever government mandates and recommendations are. There are exceptions like airplanes/airports but in a lot of places, including places that aren't Texas or Florida, people are doing what they want to.
    • dylan604 5y ago
      Lots of constituents don't want to wear a seatbelt. Lots of constituents want to drink before the age of 21. Lots of constituents want to buy alcohol after midnight and on a Sunday before noon. Lots of constituents want lots of things that the reps clearly ignore. Where do you draw the line of "as it should be" and "those damn gov't bastards!!"?
      • ghaff 5y ago
        The evidence probably supports that if the majority of constituents support something that isn't clearly unconstitutional it does tend to happen. See weed legalization in many states which at least in Massachusetts passed in a ballot question with the legislature kicking and screaming through the whole process.
        • r2_pilot 5y ago
          Yet in Mississippi when we had a ballot initiative for medicinal marijuana supported by 2/3rds of everyone, not only did they not pass legislation then (it's tepidly being addressed now, over a year later), but the Mississippi Supreme Court stripped us of our citizen's ballot initiatives because of poorly written legislation in the 90s, which also hasn't been corrected over a year later. But I don't claim to live in a representative democracy these days anyway.
      • deleted 5y ago
  • tinus_hn 5y ago
    If you look around the world, many countries are lifting all measures. And they definitely are not affected by US elections. They are affected by hospitalization, ICU and death numbers that are falling as infections are rising.
    • briandear 5y ago
      They are affected by their own elections though.
      • tinus_hn 5y ago
        Everything is, that’s hardly a conspiracy.
        • tanseydavid 5y ago
          No one in the thread (except for you) has used the word 'conspiracy.'
          • tinus_hn 5y ago
            No, the claim was that mandates were being abandoned not because it was scientifically prudent, but because of a nearing election.
          • bduerst 5y ago
            GP above is clearly claiming an election conspiracy with Democrats in the U.S. Calling out international actions showing similar behavior only makes the claim more conspiratorial.