To the Editor:
JB Pritzker said on March 20th: "In consulting with these experts, it is clear the most effective strategy available to Illinois is mitigation. That means limiting the increase in cases to ensure our healthcare system has capacity to treat those who become ill. The most aggressive form of this strategy is a stay at home order, which the administration is now implementing."
JB Pritzker on May 10th: “The truth is coronavirus is still out there. It hasn’t gone anywhere. So we all are going to have to change the way we do things until we’re able to eradicate it.”
Mitigate: to lessen in force or intensity; moderate. To make less severe
Eradicate: to remove or destroy utterly; extirpate
The only thing Governor JB Pritzker is utterly destroying is the Illinois economy. He's successfully removing small businesses and jobs across Illinois. He's eradicating individual rights.
This is what I mean by the governor moving the goal posts. The spread has been moderated, PPE is available, testing is up...but now we're shifting to having to eradicate something that everyone acknowledges could take years to eradicate?
Did the General Assembly have a voice in this - heck no. The governor and his allies have turned this into a one man show. They refuse to let the General Assembly meet - the Democrats have super-majorities and will not call us into session. This is the antithesis of how our system of government is supposed to work. The GA is the voice of the people and the Democrats have muzzled the voice of the people.
The governors of NY, OH, CA, FL, NJ, TX, and pretty much every other state in the country are far more transparent and accountable. They share data and the models behind their decision making, they don't do daily publicity stunts that do nothing to inform the public or provide real metrics. And, for those of you that want to pretend that I'm being partisan, note I just mentioned three Democrat governors and three Republican governors.
This isn't a Republican and Democrat thing, this is an autocrat and economic depression thing.
State Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville)