August 1, 2020 Issue, Page 4 of 8

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Page 4 The Elk City News, Elk City, Oklahoma Saturday, August 1, 2020 Opinion Page After the botched coronavirus “ElkCituNews Serving Western Oklahoma since 1901 testing, how will U.S. distribute Democrats couldn’t 300 million doses of vaccine? stop a third By Daniel L. Liebman swabs and thermal cyclers. Whether these become long- rich and powerful stakehold- Trump Supreme And Nisarg A. Patel, Los Angeles Times Even with these advan- tages, and with a half-year term deficiencies will be a function of preparedness and ers got what they needed while the less well-connect- In Washington and on Court nominee Wall Street, hopes for full of ramp-up time, we are still struggling with test wait coordination. In other words, it is the ed went begging. Before vaccine distribu- social and economic recov- times that exceed a week in political and — production tion begins, the government By Noah Feldman, Bloomberg Opinion ery from the pandemic now many cities. Overall testing constraints that threaten the The news that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is being needs to set clear, compre- hinge on the development of across the country is only capacity of a future vaccine hensive guidelines for who treated for a recurrence of cancer is striking terror in the hearts of liberals. a coronavirus vaccine. With a fraction of what public to quell the virus, regardless receives the earliest avail- As long as she is physically able, the resolute, gutsy several large ongoing clini- health leaders have urged for of how effective the vaccine able doses. It should focus Ginsburg will stay on the Supreme Court until there is a cal trials and more than 165 months. itself may be. A project of on those most at risk, in- Democratic president and a Democratic majority in the vaccine candidates in devel- So far, the federal gov- this scale simply cannot be cluding healthcare workers, Senate. But what if, in the worst-case scenario, Ginsburg’s opment, chances are good ernment has failed to take achieved without a national essential municipal work- health forces her out before President Donald Trump’s that one will eventually the lead in directing and co- strategy. ers, the elderly, people with term in office is over? prove to be effective. ordinating the COVID-19 There has been some ini- Getting to a successful response, frequently abdi- tial progress in this area. chronic illnesses and school Worried liberals have been asking meif there’s anything Senate Democrats can do to prevent Trump from getting a Phase 3 trial - which would cating its responsibilities For example, a $1.2-billion staff in districts that reopen. third Supreme Court pick in his four years in office. show a vaccine’s safety and to state and local officials. agreement was struck in late This approach could mini- Ican’t give them a very comforting answer. If Ginsburg efficacy - would be a scien- States and municipalities May between AstraZeneca mize spread of the virus should leave while Trump is still president, it seems over- tific triumph, but that would have often been left on their and the federal Biomedical among vulnerable popula- whelmingly likely that Trump would nominate a replace- not be the end of the road. A own to procure the medi- tions as vaccine production Advanced Research and De- ment more or less immediately - and that the replacement vaccine is ultimately only as cines, ventilators, personal velopment Authority to sup- ramps up for the remainder would be a staunch conservative. And Senate Majority effective as its distribution protective equipment and port development activities, of the country. Leader Mitch McConnell would likely act quickly to get and use by the population to personnel they need to com- and a $2-billion contract Developing a vaccine at that person confirmed. Once the president nominates a justice, it falls to the establish the herd immunity bat the virus. At times, they was announced last week breakneck speed is a feat needed for society to move have been forced to com- between the federal govern- of science; ensuring that it Senate to confirm the nominee according to its own dis- cretionary timetable. As we all know, McConnell exer- on from this pandemic. pete with one another. When ment and Pfizer/BioNTech reaches the entire popula- cised that discretion on behalf of his caucus by refusing The United States’ largely the federal government has to procure 100 million doses tion will be a feat of logis- to hold hearings for a vote when President Barack Obama uncoordinated and haphaz- stepped in, its allocation of of an as-yet-undeveloped tics. Last week’s promising nominated Merrick Garland to fill Justice Antonin Sca- ard response to COVID-19 ventilators and remdesivir, vaccine by year’s end. results from three separate lia’s vacancy after his sudden death. raises a crucial question: an experimental treatment Some drug companies vaccine candidates are rea- As a result, Trump got to fill that seat. Now, one would Even if we do develop a suc- for COVID-19, has at times have indicated that they son for optimism. But Amer- expect McConnell to go to the opposite extreme and push cessful vaccine, is the gov- appeared to be politically in- would commit to using their ica’s COVID-19 response for a rapid confirmation of Trump’s nominee. ernment even capable of get- fluenced. excess manufacturing ca- has been largely defined by We are accustomed, in our current era, to somewhat ting it to the people in time? Given this record, should pacity to support others, if sluggishness and decentral- lengthy confirmation hearings for Supreme Court justices. The Trump administra- the approved vaccine is not we have confidence that vac- But these are in no way required by the Constitution, ization. We have to address tion has promised that it cine production and immu- one of their own. Nonethe- which merely says the Senate has the power to advise and will make available 300 mil- nization of the entire popu- less, this effort will need a those failings if this country consent on Supreme Court nominees. lion vaccine doses, yet six lation will go any better? quarterback, and the fed- is to succeed in bringing a Formal hearings weren’t even conducted until the nomi- months into this pandemic, No matter how many vac- eral government is the only vaccine from the laboratory nation of Louis Brandeis in 1916. And no nominee ap- we haven’t even performed cines reach the finish line,player with the means and bench to the bedside. peared before the Senate in person until Felix Frankfurter 55 million COVID-19 there will be challenges in mandate to see this endeavor Daniel L. Liebman is a in 1939, who chose to appear to fight anti-immigrant slurs against his character. tests(DL2) (PNA3). And large-scale production, co- through. resident physician at Mas- To give you a sense of how quickly things used to go, the tests that have been per- ordination of global supply We cannot let vaccine ac- sachusetts Eye and Ear and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt nominated then- formed largely used materi- chains, cold storage and dis- cess become a repeat of the Harvard Medical School. Senator Hugo Black on a Friday, He was confirmed just a tribution. These problems free-for-alls and backdoor Nisarg A. Patel is a resident als and tools that most clini- few days later, on Wednesday - despite the fact that over cal labs already had on hand,will very likely lead to ini- dealings that resulted from surgeon at UC San Fran- the weekend, rumors of his membership in the Ku Klux such as __ nasopharyngeal tial production shortages. limited PPE supply, when cisco. Klan were beginning to fly around Washington. (Those Crack down on China - but do it wisely rumors turned out to be accurate, but by the time this was publicly confirmed, Black had been appointed to his life- time position.) If we do see a vacancy on the court in the next few By Stacy Washington the communist dictatorship Trump administration. Stal- need to pour resources into months, Senate Democrats would be sure to pull out ev- The Chinese Communist has a “chokehold” on essen- warts of American industry, education and job training. ery procedural barrier they can dream up. The trouble is Party poses a dire threat to tial drugs, with 80 percent like GE and Ford, helped There’s no question that that, with a Senate majority, McConnell could block any America and the rest of the of the active pharmaceuti- achieve the _ president's maneuver, including a filibuster. The only question would China poses a threat to our free world. Party leader- cal ingredients that make up goal of 100,000 ventila- be whether 51 senators would be prepared to get on board ship actively covered up Americans’ medicines sup- tors in 100 days - the high- public health and national posedly coming from China. est production in history. security. And it’s smart to with a rushed confirmation. The usual handful of “mod- the initial coronavirus out- erate” Republicans would be called on by Democrats to exercise discretion and good judgment. It seems unlikely break - and even persecuted Those claims have been Decoupling from China is decouple our economies. that such begging would succeed. doctors who tried to warn widely debunked. Only 13 still a worthy goal. But we But we can do that with- If any Supreme Court vacancy should occur after the the public. China’s leaders percent of facilities mak- can do so via well-planned out disrupting medical sup- November election, and should Trump lose that vote, the hoarded masks and other ing our active pharmaceuti- industrial policies, _rath- ply chains. Poorly targeted Democrats could argue that to allow him to name a new medical supplies, which cal ingredients come from er than rushed mandates. “Buy American” orders, justice would go against the will of the people. But that resulted in shortages of China. Of the 370 drugs Congress and the admini which force companies and argument would be moral and political, not legal. The personal protective equip- deemed “essential” by pub- tration could start by incen- government agencies to pur- president remains the president until the next president is ment in the United States. lic health experts, only tivizing companies to build chase domestically, would sworn into office. Lame duck senators are still senators in This communist malfea- three rely on ingredients manufacturing facilities in the eyes of the law. sance has cost hundreds of sourced entirely from China. America. Getting a FDA-ap- alienate friendly nations like The only silver lining for worried liberals is that, short thousands of lives. To pre- Simply put, America relies proved factory up and run- Germany, Switzerland and of impeachment, there is no constitutional mechanism vent it from happening again, on China for some medicines ning is no small feat - it of- Canada. If those countries for removing any justice from office without her consent. the Trump administration is = but our supply chain isn’t ten requires up to $2 billion retaliated, it could lead to Whether Ginsburg is able to perform her duties is a mat- trying to economically de- wholly dependent on the and 10 years to complete. ter that the Constitution gives squarely to Ginsburg, and shortages and higher prices couple from China. White Middle Kingdom. There’s Tax credits or a lower for American consumers. her attitude toward quitting seems to mirror that of Justice House officials are consid- no need to overreact with corporate tax rate could Thurgood Marshall. He began to ail during the 12 years The best way to beat China is of the Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush adminis- ering “Buy American” mea- hasty, ill-planned measures. sway firms to make invest- trations and supposedly joked to his law clerks that if he sures that seek to re-shore In fact, America produc- ments here, rather than a steady, well-planned push should happen to die, they should “stuff me, prop me up, medical supply chains. es most of its own medi- abroad. When it comes to to “invest American” - and and keep on voting.” President Trump and his cal supplies at home. U.S. tax support for R&D ex- build up an innovative man- In the past, unwritten norms of behavior guided both aides unquestionably have suppliers satisfy 70 per- penditures, America ranks ufacturing sector that puts political parties. For the most part, the majority party re- the right instincts. But cent of domestic demand near the back of the pack. the communists to shame. spected the prerogatives of the minority party. The most countermeasures must be for medical equipment. More investments in work- Stacy Washington is a deco- prominent example of the Senate’s mutual courtesy play based on facts, not fear- force training would also That’s especially true now rated Air Force Veteran, an was the filibuster. This was not idealism. Both parties were mongering. Otherwise, we that companies are churn- help. China produces over operating on the understanding that they would want to be Emmy nominated TV per- tisk overreacting. To para- ing out PPE, which has been twice as many STEM sonality and the host of the extended this courtesy when they were in the minority. phrase our commander in in unprecedented demand graduates per capita as the That world is now gone, replaced by pure power politics chief, we can’t let the cure worldwide. We’ve seen the United States. If we're se- nationally syndicated ra- in the realm of judicial nomination confirmation. You can be worse than the disease. success of the private-public rious about dominating hi- dio program “Stacy on the guess my takeaway: Pray for the health of RBG - and of Some China hawks claim partnerships set up by the tech manufacturing, we'll Right.” the republic. Noah Feldman is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist and host of the podcast “Deep Background.” He is a profes- sor of law at Harvard University and was a clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter. His books include “The Three Lives of James Madison: Genius, Partisan, Send your letter to the editor to [email protected] President.”