Facing the Future with Resolve and Faith
by Stephen Frank
The news has not been good. The nation has a 14.7% unemployment rate, and over 30 million people have lost their jobs in the past seven weeks. California faces a $53 billion deficit when it had planned on a $8 billion surplus. We still do not know if schools will reopen and under what conditions. Entertainment, we are realizing, in the near future, will not be very entertaining with physical distancing, masks and temperatures being taken just to get in the door.
Grim.
Yet, the American spirit is historically “can-do.” Seventy-five years ago, we defeated fascism and Nazism. We came out of the Great Depression. Medical miracles, like ending polio, came from our nation. Through thick and thin, Americans have continued to create new technologies and supply food and energy for the world. In the depth of despair and horror, Americans are able to find their resolve.
To get to that point, we have to admit we have a problem. Some are short-term, like shelter in place; some are long term, like the economic devastation of a community and State. It is always easier to solve problems by listing them and then finding solutions, one by one.
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29-11 NIV).
In the short term, the challenge is between local government, business and the State. The Governor needs to give “permission” for businesses to resume operation. Yet, Counties like Moduc, Orange, Sutter and Yuba have declared, under guidelines, they are relaxing restrictions.
It took protests started by surfers to reopen the beaches. Hairdressers and barbers are opening up, under the threat of losing their State-issued licenses. The Alcohol Beverage Control Board issued a statement that any bar or restaurant that sells alcohol without the permission of the Governor will lose its license. Yet in the Central Valley, these establishments are beginning to put out the welcome mat anyway.
Once this pandemic started, the Legislature went on “recess,” and the Governor was working furiously. According to a document from Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, the Governor issued 37 Executive Orders and changed 172 State laws. None of this was done with a single legislative hearing or a vote in the Assembly or State Senate. Actions such as these make the legislature irrelevant.
To humans belong the plans of the heart, but from the LORD comes the proper answer of the tongue. All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the LORD. Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and He will establish your plans. The LORD works out everything to its proper end—even the wicked for a day of disaster (Proverbs 16:1-4 NIV).
What Gov. Newsom has done is done. Now is the time to return to the Rule of Law. Some are going to court to contest actions taken by the Governor. By listing the Orders and Laws changed, legislators, such as Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, bring attention to the problem of a Governor who has acted by accumulated power, not distributed power.
An action plan to return government to the people needs to be developed and promoted. This can be nonpartisan—every segment of society has been affected by these decisions. For instance, the Governor changed the rules of Workers Compensation, making it easier for folks to get it, though the law says changes can only be made by the Legislature. Who gets hurt the most? The minority and women who own small businesses that could see their Workers-Comp mandated payments go up by a third, making it difficult for these firms to re-open. In all, it takes about $11.2 billion a year from businesses and transfers it to a government program.
Government, one way or another, is being reformed. Instead of complaining, we need an action plan. All of this happens upon a foundation of Faith, the Faith to do the right thing, to be a leader. Have Faith in your beliefs and principles—you have them because the LORD led you to them.
Stephen Frank is Senior Contributing Editor of California Political Review. Read California news that is incisive, hard-hitting, and solution-oriented with a free subscription to Steve’s daily emails at http://eepurl.com/UAspv
NOTE: Blogs published on the Judeo-Christian Caucus website are the opinions of their authors and not necessarily those of the Judeo-Christian Caucus.
