Listen to “Trump vs. WHO & the Beauty of Federalism” on Spreaker.
This week, President Trump temporarily defunding the World Health Organization over its failure to confront China over its deceptions or even do any work to confirm the information China was trying to spoon feed to the rest of the world.
On Thursday, President Trump laid out his three-phase plan to restart the U.S. economy. It provides criteria for starting the three phases all the way up to a fully re-engaged society. It also leaves the opening and closing power with governors.
Galen Institute President Grace-Marie Turner weighs in eloquently on both subjects. Turner explains why the WHO must be confronted now and why we cannot wait until after the crisis has largely subsided. She also details what the WHO could do right now to prove it’s more than an apologist for China.
Turner also hails the plan to restart the economy, with special praise for the federalist approach of giving states the flexibility to make their own decisions on reopening.
Although she isn’t expecting any changes in the traditional health policy debates, Turner says this newfound respect for states rights ought to be applied to our health care system as a whole.
“All the things that Washington loves to control by rules and regulations, we’ve seen the health sector actually functions better if we get those out of the way,” said Turner, who says other aspects of the coronavirus response prove her point as well.
“When we have seen good responses to needs, we have seen the private sector stepping up: coming up with tests, producing supplies, turning automobile factories over to be able to produce ventilators. Where we have seen failures, it’s been in central controlled government programs,” added Turner.
Listen to the full podcast to hear where Turner believes the government dropped the ball and more of her analysis on both of these key issues.
