Conservative columnist calls Georgia the best sign that a mass reopening isn’t going to save the economy
22 May 2020
President Donald Trump is desperately clamoring to get the country to have a huge reopening party where everyone starts buying new cars and houses and eating out every night. But that’s not what’s happening.
As conservative Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin explained, all one has to do is look at Georgia to see the grand reopening strategy isn’t working.
Writing in her Friday column, Rubin explained that no matter what Trump or Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) says or does, people are protecting their own lives and putting those lives first before Trump’s stock market.
“Consumer spending is still down in Georgia (15 percent lower than January levels), but that is up from its low point, which was 30 percent lower than in January,” Rubin reported. “In addition, ‘the falloff in job listings in Georgia has been identical to the national decline, down more than 36 percent. Other statistics, like new claims for unemployment insurance, paint an even grimmer picture of the employment situation in Georgia.'”
Quoting Steven Rattner, former “car czar” in the Obama administration, Rubin noted that Georgia’s “decisions about re-openings will be of limited help to a crippled economy until Americans are confident that it is safe to leave their homes.”
Realistically, that means Trump isn’t correct about the economy bouncing back once everything is open again. Hanging all of his hopes on it is only going to end badly for him.
“Trump’s wishful thinking — lift restrictions and a recovery begins — ignores the fears and concerns of Americans (unsurprising for a world-class narcissist). Despite Trump’s partisan, angry efforts to demean state and local officials who instituted stay-at-home measures, the latter are following public opinion and conduct,” Rubin concluded. “Haranguing careful, conscientious mayors and governors (whose approval far exceeds his own) is not going to change that.”