File Photo By Vandana Ravikumar/Cronkite News
Column By Mike Bibb
President Biden’s recent admission he thought extending a renter’s eviction moratorium enacted by the Centers for Disease Control is probably unlawful but was willing to do it anyway knowing the legal disputes would provide additional time for the government to disburse rent subsidies.
This is what most folks would call “gaming the system.”
Let’s be realistic, after over a year of not paying rent, what percentage of tenants could afford to pay back payments, even with government assistance?
The CARES Act was a nationwide eviction delay authorization law implemented by Congress on March 27, 2020, and ended July 24, 2020. A four-month program designed to prohibit landlords from evicting delinquent renters because of COVID-19 financial disruptions.
In September 2020, the CDC issued its own delayed renter eviction program and extended it several times since. The Supreme Court ruled the CDC couldn’t continue to do this and ordered the moratorium to cease July 31, 2021.
Apparently, Joe is willing to see how far he can push the CDC moratorium, regardless of what the Supreme Court says.
Three questions immediately become apparent: Does a president have the authority to ignore a Supreme Court decision; Does the CDC have the constitutional prerogative to enact its own moratoriums affecting millions of renters and private property owners; Who elected members of the CDC to suddenly have legislative authority?
Last time I checked, only Congress was lawfully assigned to have this responsibility. Of course, that was during the time the Constitution actually meant what it said. Now, it’s a daily interpretation by one judge or another. Who knows?
Currently, if an owner of a rental property is restrained from collecting rent or evicting on his managed property, then he is obviously prohibited from collecting funds he may need to repay outstanding loans or mortgages on the property.
The tenant lives rent-free while the landlord is continuing to be responsible for the repayment of bank loans, maintenance, utilities, property taxes, and insurance.
The majority of rental properties are owned by individuals and small businesses, not large corporations. They cannot afford months of financial losses mandated by a government health agency whose “Simon says” rules fluctuate daily.
It doesn’t take a Harvard-trained economist to figure paying expenses, without receiving income, could eventually bankrupt an owner.
However, President Joe isn’t Harvard educated, so maybe this financial conundrum is above his ability to comprehend. He graduated 76th in his class of 85 from Syracuse University College of Law in 1968. Probably not a high enough ranking to attract a prominent law firm.
Nevertheless, he was smart enough to figure out a career in politics might eventually lead to greater things. Maybe even the presidency. After three tries, and 50 years later, he finally moved into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Being a government employee most of his life, he probably assumes monthly checks are automatically given to every breathing citizen in the country.
Unfortunately, real life is a little different. Just because Joe gets a check doesn’t mean everyone else does. Strange as it may seem, most people actually have to labor for a living and pay taxes on those earnings.
I know, a ridiculous concept in today’s Washington woke mindset. Who needs to work when all government has to do is print more money and enact multi-trillion-dollar spending deficits?
The ignorance and arrogance are staggering. Comparing water to sand, our governing authorities are as much out of touch with reality as Emperor Nero when Rome was burning.
To Nero’s credit, at least he knew how to fiddle. I’m not sure Joe has similar talents, other than once allegedly tussling with some neighborhood character called Corn Pop.
Given Joe’s propensity to plagiarize and fabricate yarns, sufficient doubt remains the Corn Pop tale actually happened.
Then, there’s the colossal fracture on our southern border. In the last six months, over a million illegal migrants have poured into our county, bringing poverty, limited skills, drugs, mayhem, and disease, including COVID and its variants.
No one knows where all these people are going. They could be anywhere from the Atlantic to the Pacific coasts.
A million people equal about a seventh of the population of Arizona, and more than some states. Estimates of over two million illegal immigrants will be reached by January. These are on top of the already 11-14 million illegals currently residing within the U.S.
In the meantime, Joe is strongly advising American citizens to get vaccinated and resume wearing facemasks, even if already vaxxed. The CDC is hinting a replay of previous lockdowns is a distinct possibility.
We’ve already been through this madness, but it looks like Joe isn’t a quick learner, and doesn’t appear to know what else to do. He seems to repeat the same tired excuses the CDC dreams up – whether facts, science, and common sense show otherwise.
If we’re going to shut down the economy and hide from every virus that comes along, then we’ll never return to normalcy. We will have voluntarily succumbed to fear and imagined threats of impending doom.
A contemporary rendition of the Chicken Little panic “The sky is falling.”
However, there’s no such concern for unlawful, unvaccinated foreigners — they can come on in whenever they wish. All the rest of us have to do is make sure we meekly continue to pay for this foolishness.
It’s becoming increasingly apparent the Biden-Harris Administration doesn’t have a care in the world about any of the calamities unfolding on the Texas/Mexico border or anywhere else. If he and Kamala were actually concerned and provided responsible leadership, things wouldn’t be in such a mess.
He’s never visited the area or talked to the millions of people who live there. He dispatched VP Harris to El Paso for a few hours last month, but that was more a staged publicity stunt and photo op than a serious discussion of the issues.
As much as I’m saddened to say, Joe has displayed a wanton disregard for the peace and safety of our society while at the same time holding hands with various political and social groups who seek to work against our best interests.
I cannot recall a previous president who has tilted so far left in his first half-year in office than Joe Biden. Campaigning as an “uniter and healer,” his actions reflect an opposite course of action.
He either isn’t cognitively capable of realizing what he is doing, or he’s purposely contributing to the problem. There can’t be any in-between.
Joe might not be the smartest president to reside in the White House, but unless he, his advisers, and Congress wake up and begin throttling down this runaway train, our society and economy are heading right off the track.
The opinion expressed in this editorial is that of the author.
Editorial Note: On Friday, a federal judge allowed the Biden administration’s revised moratorium to remain in place for now but advised that status could change.
