Hey, Nikki “Let the Governors Do It” Haley, the US Articles of Confederation Didn't Work. That's Why We Have the Constitution.
April 13th 2020
Nikki Haley (USC Upstate)
By Steven Jonas, MD, MPH
In an Op-Ed Column in The New York Times on April 8, 2020, Ex-Governor/Ex-Ambassador/Future-Republican-Presidential-Candidate-Wanna-Be Nikki Haley had this to say about the discussion over whether the President of the United States should bear the primary responsibility for providing the leadership and the resources to develop and implement a national program to confront and overcome what is fast becoming a national disaster, affecting the whole of the United States, or the individual State Governors should:
“The coronavirus presents enormous national challenges that call for a strong federal response. But we should not lose sight of the essential role that states and governors must play. America is better served when presidents respect the diversity of states instead of dictating uniform solutions. . . .
“[Governors] have complicated and difficult jobs. In this crisis, as in any, some are showing their competence and leadership, while others are revealing their shortcomings. . . . Governors who complain about the Trump administration are, in some cases, attempting to distract from their own failures to plan and execute [emphasis added] . . . .
“Our Constitution has it right: Keep control and decision making close to the people. We are seeing that play out in every state today. We face a painful challenge, but we will get through it. When we do, we will look back and see that governors rose to meet the challenge, and they did it best when Washington did not impose too much on them.”
Memo to Ex-Governor/Ex-Ambassador/Future-Republican-Presidential-Candidate-Wanna-Be Haley. In the 1780s, as the governing principles and procedures for our new nation, our Founding Fathers tried something called the Articles of Confederation. It gave broad powers to each of the 13 ex-colonies, very little to the central government that the ex-colonies desperately needed to get them to work together for the common good of themselves, their citizens, and the new nation. It didn't work. The same Founding Fathers then came up with a new plan. They called it the Constitution.
The Constitution is introduced by a paragraph that is rarely quoted, cited, or made reference to. But in fact, it is the most important component of the document. For it is the Statement of Purpose of the six Articles of design for the government that follow it. (There is Article VII. It is the Ratification Article.) It is a document that for the first time in history laid forth a government structure that was not headed by a King or his/her equivalent, and one that divided the powers of control over the three main functions of a government, executive, legislative, and judicial among three separate, co-equal (on paper at least) governmental branches.
The Preamble begins with the words: "We the People of the United States. . .” [emphasis added]. The COVID-19 pandemic is a national problem. The spread of the virus does not recognize state borders. As has been dealt with in a wide variety of previous writings (including three of my own), President Trump’s response to the pandemic has been found to be extremely lacking (and that is putting it VERY kindly). The history to date (April 12, 2020) of Trump’s denial/ignoring/ignorance (or whatever you want to call it) of what is fast becoming a national disaster has been detailed in an article in The New York Times entitled “He Could Have Seen What Was Coming: Behind Trump’s Failure on the Virus.”
And so, this pandemic is a national problem. It is caused by a virus that does nt recognize state lines. (An as it happens, because of the woeful state of testing, which requires a national solution to be effective, we have only a very loose handle on it.) The problem is of course to be solved with the Governors, and indeed the local governments, of all the 50 states. But, again, because of the nature of the virus, it cannot be solved by each of those governors acting independently and, for example, as has been widely reported (and retailed in The Times article cited above), having to compete financially with other states, and in some cases with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, (which happens right now to have an acting secretary [so what else is new with the Trump Administration]) to obtain very nectary, very basic supplies and equipment.
So, this gives the lie to Ms. Haley’s argument. But indeed, so does the rest of the text of the Preamble, which, to repeat, is the Statement of Purpose for the Constitution: “in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence (sic), promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
Thus, in addition to focusing on the United States (not the 13 separate states), the Preamble prescribes the purpose of the Constitution as:
1. To perfect the Union, that is not to split it up, hither and yon, to suit given purposes at given times.
2. To establish justice, that is for the "people of the United States." Why that might even include making sure that every inhabitant has access to quality health care, especially in a national health emergency.
3. To insure domestic tranquility might cover such matters as dealing with the national public health issues raised by the pandemic in a rational, national (and timely) manner.
4. To provide for the common defence, that is not the uncommon defence as having each state operate on its own in dealing with a highly infectious agent that doesn’t recognize State borders.
5. To promote the general welfare might even include something like, dare I say it, a national health care cost-financing system that covers all citizens, that is actually run by the Federal government.
6. Finally, to secure the blessings of liberty by actually doing the very best job that could have been done, at the national/Federal level to have brought the potential pandemic under control before it could become what it has so tragically become for so many people in terms of their health and their economic status.
Yes, Ms. Haley, the COVID-19 pandemic is, by the nature of the virus, a national problem, not a 50-state problem. Continuing to hide behind “it’s the Governors’ problem” as an excuse for the many mistakes President Trump has made so far, may be good Trumpite “it’s all their fault” politics for the Presidential campaign. (We all know how much Trump likes enemies and how he is trying to set them up one-by-one, starting with the Governors. “China” is next [see Hugh Hewitt, with Rev. Sharpton, April 11, 2020].) But, and speaking here as a career public health physician, who knows how many more the President will make in the future, like, for example, encouraging those Governors who are in his pocket politically to “open up” on or around May 1. If that happens, the disease will very likely be back in pandemic stage by May 15, that is if it has even left it, on Trump’s say-so, by May 1.
I wonder what Ms. Haley would be saying then. Oh I know, just like a good lock-step Trumpite, she would be blaming the Governs once again.
Steven Jonas, MD, MPH, MS is a Professor Emeritus of Preventive Medicine at StonyBrookMedicine (NY) and author/co-author/editor/co-editor of over 35 books. He is an occasional contributor to BuzzFlash (reborn) (after having been along-time contributor to the Original). In addition, he is a “Trusted Author” for Op-Ed News. a contributor to Reader Supported News/Writing for Godot; a contributor to From The G-Man; a Contributor for American Politics to The Planetary Movement; and a Deputy Editor, Politics, and a “Witness to History,” and an occasional contributor for The Greanville Post; He is also a triathlete (36 seasons, 256 multi-sport races).
Dr. Jonas’ latest book is Ending the ‘Drug War’; Solving the Drug Problem: The Public Health Approach, Brewster, NY: Punto Press Publishing, (Brewster, NY, 2016, available on Kindle from Amazon, and also in hardcover from Amazon). His most recent book on US politics is The 15% Solution: How the Republican Religious Right Took Control of the U.S., 1981-2022: A Futuristic Novel (Trepper & Katz Impact Books, Punto Press Publishing, 2013, Brewster, NY), and available on Amazon.
He has a distribution list for his columns. If you would like to be added to it, please send him an email at sjtpj@aol.com.