Kansas Republicans are fighting government overreach, not politicizing coronavirus

The Kansas City Star Editorial Board recently wrote that politics must be set aside in dealing with the coronavirus, but it certainly isn’t practicing what it preaches.

An editorial last week slapped “Kansas and Missouri Republicans” for not mirroring Democratic Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly’s actions. And in another, the board accused Republicans who wanted protections of basic liberties added to the governor’s emergency authority of being “nakedly political.”

The Star’s persistent message of “Democrats good, Republicans bad” serves no purpose — not now or at any other time.

During this time of war against the novel coronavirus, government officials and the media should keep in mind the military’s wartime policy on collateral damage. Great care is taken to avoid unnecessary harm to innocent civilians, balancing the benefit of attacking the enemy against unintended consequences inflicted on those in the crossfire.

In today’s COVID-19 war, the innocent includes hundreds of thousands of people being put out of work by decisions made by the government, some of whom may not have a job to return to if their employer doesn’t survive. Our constitutional republic is also in jeopardy and The Star should be applauding — not criticizing — Kansas state Sen. Caryn Tyson and the other Republicans who voted to exclude the seizure of private property from the governor’s emergency powers.

Those brave senators had good reason to try to reassure constituents that their liberties would be protected, given attempts, as the old saying goes, of elected officials taking opportunities “to do things you think you could not do before.” (In other words, don’t let a serious crisis go to waste.)

New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio is calling for the nationalization of certain industries during this emergency. Sen. Bernie Sanders and others say banning private insurance and imposing universal government-controlled health care for all is an appropriate response to coronavirus. And before a single case of coronavirus had been diagnosed in Champaign, Illinois, Mayor Deborah Frank Feinen signed a declaration to ban the sale of firearms and ammunition because of the crisis.

Interestingly, Tyson says she was quietly thanked by some local government officials for a provision that would have protected local budgets from being usurped by the governor under emergency action. Other senators likely heard similar responses.

By the way, nine Democrats were among the 37 senators who overwhelmingly voted to protect those liberties, but of course they weren’t criticized by The Star.

It’s times like these when we should be especially thankful we live in a constitutional republic rather than a simple democracy, where a simple majority, sometimes fueled by hysteria, rules.

Decisive action must be taken to battle the coronavirus, but we at Kansas Policy Institute encourage state, local and federal officials to balance the merits of preventive measures against the serious and lasting economic or constitutional harms those measures will almost certainly inflict.

We also encourage media and others to refrain from questioning the motives of those who thoughtfully question the wisdom of taking certain actions.

Dave Trabert is CEO of Kansas Policy Institute, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit focused on the protection of constitutional liberties.

This story was originally published March 23, 2020 at 5:00 AM.