Be bold. Be big. We are in a war.
Those are all words used by our president to describe the fight the United States is in against COVID-19, and the response from our government that is needed to win and come out stronger on the other side.
News flash: I agree with every word.
I reserve the right, however, to disagree on the details, the execution and the plan to fight and win this war.
We in Las Vegas have a front-row seat to the cause and effects of this health care emergency. We are in the middle — thanks to the leadership of Gov. Steve Sisolak and in contrast to that of some other locals in positions of responsibility — of a total economic and physical shutdown.
That means —in just a few words — that almost everyone in town is effectively out of work. Some workers are still being paid by responsible employers who have the financial ability to do so, some are just being helped as best their employers can afford. And many workers are just laid off and hurting so very badly.
Small businesses across the valley have been shut down and many will stay shuttered long after this crisis is resolved because they just can’t afford to hang on. Other businesses may get help from the federal government as part of the economic packages trying to work their way through Congress as we speak. And their employees will get some economic help, we are told.
I suspect that what is happening in Las Vegas is and will be happening all over America. And that means that when this virus runs its course and people start to come out of their homes and places of social isolation and return to work, it is far from certain that they will have their jobs and their businesses when it is time to return.
And that brings us to the question: What is to be done, and is whatever we are doing big enough, bold enough and enough to win this war?
From everything I read and hear and surmise, the answer is “probably not.”
And that brings me back to an idea I have been hearing about from a few senators lately as they discuss the potential of a Marshall Plan for hospitals. I think it is just the beginning of a good idea.
The Marshall Plan was a very big, hugely bold and completely out-of-the-box reaction to the end of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War between the former USSR (think Russia today) and the United States.
It was created by Secretary of State George C. Marshall and was designed to rebuild a war-torn Western Europe with $15 billion (a lot of taxpayer money back then) — including West Germany which, if you remember your history, was part of the Third Reich that caused the whole thing in the first place.
Needless to say, the reaction at home was “it’s too big, too bold, waste of money, why should we help them” and various other responses that in a vision-impaired political vacuum would have ruled the day. President Harry Truman, however, saw the wisdom of Marshall’s plan and allowed the bucks to stop in Europe, where they would do the most good.
History has proven over and over again that it may have been the single biggest and best thing the United States has done for world peace and prosperity since we won the war and saved the world from Hitler.
And so it is time to think once again in such big and bold terms. It is time for another Marshall Plan. But, because it will happen on President Donald Trump’s watch — if he is smart enough to embrace the idea — we should call it the Trump Plan. Or, because we are in a war, we can call it a name I am certain our president will love —the Marshall Trump Plan.
Simply put, it will cost far more than the $1 trillion Congress is mulling over. We have to make sure every working man and woman is made and kept whole during whatever time it takes to win this war.
We have to make sure every business — small , medium and large — that is affected by the shutdowns and loss of business are made whole. That doesn’t mean we pay profits to anyone, just make them whole.
People and the people with whom they do business — those who buy our goods and use our services, landlords to whom we pay rent, and the millions of folks who were doing their jobs faithfully before this mess came to our land — must be assured that when all this is over and it is safe to come out and resume our lives, we will be able to pick up those lives as if we just took a long timeout.
The details are important, and there are important people in government who can figure that part out. What we as a country have to grapple with is the cost.
That could be upwards of $5 trillion dollars, which would add to our $21 trillion national debt. So what? No one has cared about the first $21 trillion, so what’s a few more dollars when the result can be that financial markets will settle down, an entire country out of work will know there will be work and very little pain to endure until that time comes, and a citizenry that can focus only on beating this coronavirus war.
That’s how a nation like ours should react in a time of great stress. We have done it before and it proved worthy of America and that for which we stand.
There is no reason why we shouldn’t heed Trump’s own words. Now is the time to go big and go bold. Now is the time for the bucks to stop in the homes of every American.
Anything less will not serve the people and save this country the heartache it does not deserve.
Brian Greenspun is editor, publisher and owner of the Sun.