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Failed Democrat Presidential primary candidate, and current Mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio demands that the military come in and rescue his city. He laments that NYC is unprepared for the coming onslaught of Coronavirus infections. de Blasio blames Trump for the lack of resources, while expecting an overextended military to fix problems he should be prepared to handle.
He tells CNN’s Anderson Cooper,
“I am trying to help New Yorkers recognize that it is going to get a lot worse before it gets better,” says New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio, calling on Pres. Trump to deploy the US military to set up hospitals in New York City. https://t.co/XyQLEGi8oN pic.twitter.com/eWxanEx9D2
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) March 19, 2020
NYC has a police force of over 36,000 officers, and 19,000 civilian employees. The largest in the nation. Well equipped and funded to protect “America’s City” in the post 9/11 world. The city comptroller reports a growing tax pot, with personal income tax revenue rising by $153.1 million dollars to approximately $3.0 billion dollars for Q4 2019. A recent press release states that,
In the private sector, the largest employment gains in the City were in healthcare and social assistance, with a gain of 12,600 new jobs, of which more than half (7,200 jobs) were in home healthcare services., likely driven by the Medicaid Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program.”
This same press release outlines “Freight NYC” highlighting,
Today, the de Blasio Administration, federal, state and local elected officials, and industry experts unveiled Freight NYC, a $100 million plan to overhaul the city’s aging freight distribution systems through strategic investments to modernize our maritime and rail assets and create new distribution facilities, with the ultimate goals of creating nearly 5,000 good-paying jobs for New Yorkers and a more sustainable and resilient supply chain network.”
So tell me, why does a city with this much growth, income, and planning need an overtasked military to fix it? Did they accomplish their lofty goals of “Freight NYC” and increase supply chain distribution? Did it even occur to them that this could be an issue?
Five years ago in 2015, according to “the New York Times” (NYT), the state and city of New York was aware of a ventilator shortage. In fact, the NYT reports,
Of particular worry is a shortage of ventilators. In New York, a state task force in 2015 released detailed guidelines for deciding who would and would not get one during an influenza pandemic.”
The article further reports the current state of NYC readiness to handle the Coronavirus,
“We are not prepared to deal with a rapid and severe surge of patients — we’re just not,” said Dr. Christopher M. Tedeschi, a longtime emergency physician and assistant professor at the Columbia University Medical Center. “We’re sort of planning for what’s going on right now, and we’re trying to make up for lost time, but I’m not sure we’re planning for a month from now, or even two weeks from now.”
A highly funded, staffed, and large city isn’t ready for the Coronavirus outbreak. Of course they aren’t. It’s an impossibility to have resourcing available for every potential emergency. Priorities are set, and in well run institutions they are met. But like my husband tells me, “You can have anything you want, but you can’t have everything you want.” New York hospital systems decided that they had the appropriate level of equipment to meet their needs. Maybe the state and city lacked a “well-run” system to implement a plan for the shortfall. Or, it just wasn’t a priority and took a backseat to other demands.
But now it’s an emergency, therefore the military must be forced to fix their failure!
“Hey, we should pull resources from the military to make up for our shortfalls!”, said by most liberal politicians.
If you’re Bill de Blasio, this makes sense. The military is a block to be moved around the country as needed. He completely disregards the fact that most military families are treated in Military Treatment Facilities (MTF’s) staffed by both civilian and military providers. These same MTF’s treat active duty and retirees. Reallocating staff to support NYC, removes them from their primary position.
But go ahead. Bill de Blasio says,
“I want their medical teams, which are first rate, I want their logistical support, I want their ability to get stuff from factories all over the country where they’re needed most,” he added. “The only force in America that can do it effectively and quickly is the United States military, and they are being sidelined right now by Donald Trump when he should be calling them to the front. This is the front right now.”
We have no storage closet holding our military personnel, whereby they are removed like Toy Solders on a rainy day. If anything, the military is woefully short of medical staff to meet even its own demand. There’s a reason the predominant treatment plan is “Vitamin M” and hydrate. Possible broken arm? “Vitamin M.” Headache for 6 months? “Vitamin M!” (for those unaware, Vitamin M is Motrin. The military med version of a “kiss for the boo-boo from mom.”) Ask almost any family member, Veteran, or Active Duty and let them tell you about their experience with military medicine. They range from horrifying negligence to off the chart amazing. The problem is, you have no control over what you get.
As for “logistics and procurement”…. Oh man. I can tell Bill’s military experience has been limited to VIP glad-handling “dog and pony shows.” He’s never been behind the curtain and seen just how bad the military is with logistics and procurement. If you know, you know. If you don’t, go find a veteran and ask them….
Mayor de Blasio is okay taking away the medical care from those who have no other treatment options. His city needs them, and obviously those who use the MTF for treatment can just wait their turn. After all, they’re used to putting their own needs second to the demands of witless politicians. Pack up the Toy Solders, relocate them away from their own families That’s standard right…? 20 years of war… multiple deployments…. fractured families… Ahh, they’ll adapt. Military families are “Resilient.”
I wonder if he’d change his mind when he finds out that most military medical can’t be sued for malpractice? “Feres Doctrine” my friend. Recently scaled back, but still a nightmare of a process. Foresight seems to be lacking, so he’s probably okay with the risk.
For a group of politicians who have such low esteem for Trump, they seem to hold him to high expectations. Seriously, all we hear from the left is how inept Trump is at, well… everything. Yet these same people fail to prepare for the expected outcome of his inadequacy. What does this say about their ability to govern, and how they set priorities?
Trump recently suggested that individual states reach out directly to private industry. It was portrayed as abandoning state and local governments to fend for themselves. Victory Girls disagrees. Frankly, it’s brilliant. State’s rights and responsibilities. For those in the back, “it’s not the job of the federal government to govern each state….” We are the “United States” not the “Federal States”, and each state should engage private industry. Especially in times of crisis. They should share “best practices” with other states and have 50 different conversations about the same subject. The federal government is slow, to the point of meditative when it comes to procurement and distribution.
But in “Bill’s World” it seems slow and inept is par for the course. May as well use the opportunity to fob his failings on Trump.
Featured Image: US Navy via Picryl Image Credit: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Dana D. Legg License: Public Domain Image Cropped Right: 400×400
GWB says: No kisses on my boo-boo! You might infect me!
The military does have surge capacity – the Reserve/Guard. Of course, those belong first to the states, so….. (And, those medical resources are already at work as civilians in their respective locales.)
As to supply chain…. The military supply chain is actually leagues better than it used to be. Getting supplies from the rear to the front lines actually works as well as anything in the military – maybe better. It’s buying the supplies in the first place where most of the problem occurs. It’s procurement, not supply that ends up being the problem.
Which goes back to Trump telling the states to make their own deals and set up their own supply lines – the feds always take longer than the states do (except some states). And that’s before you take into account the extra layers to get it received by the feds, then parceled out to the states, and all the accompanying bean-counting.
BTW, Front Page Magazine has a great article on why you can’t just make hand sanitizer and sell it. You’ll never guess where the roadblock lies…….
NC says: GWB, totally NOT surprised at the FDA. The prison labor in NYC… not surprised there either. I am happy that distilleries are crafting hand sanitizer. Even if they can’t call it as such.
Logistics has gotten better on the Military side. Those unsung logisticians are so pleased with themselves. But yes, procurement is painfully slow. The contract process is archaic and the funding process (NAF, AF, etc) complicates it further. Now if this new edict from on high can speed up the process, that’s awesome.
I still feel as though reallocating resources away from already deprived areas (I mean, let’s be honest about base locations…. Lejenue, Cherry Point, Beaufort, Parris Island… all remote small towns) to meet demand in a city. What makes the inhabitants of NYC more worthy of scarce resources than someone in Pensacola? Especially when NYC has an immense tax base to fund their contingency plans. I hope this passes without too much upheaval. But it’s a slippery slope in so many ways.
GWB says: While I wholeheartedly agree on the “worthiness” issue, I will say that someplace like NYC is likely to suffer more, being packed cheek-to-jowl, than someplace like the civilian area around Pensacola. But, yeah, that’s their issue, not that of the folks in Pensacola or Poughkeepsie..
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