It was an “emergency powers” statute that enabled Governor Cooper to shut down the state of North Carolina for a very prolonged period more than four years ago. It had been passed by the Republican General Assembly; and after learning how bad it was they modified it somewhat over the last couple of years.
But it is still a problem because it should have been repealed completely. No governor should be empowered to suspend Americans’ constitutional rights, even if he or she has the acquiescence of the Council of State.
It turns out that the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons warned in an alert published in its journal 23 years ago that these proposed statutes, moved in response to 9/11, were a major mistake.
The piece reveals it was Republican Tommy Thompson, serving at US HHS Secretary but who had previously been governor of the state of Wisconsin, who was the instigator.
But it turns out that it was a member of the Clinton Task Force on Health Care Reform who originated the idea. (Recall that task force was the Clintons’ vehicle for pushing socialized medicine back during the 1990’s).
AAPS had the foresight and the alertness to identify this as a problem long before most of us knew it existed.
Amazingly prescient.
Yes, it IS amazing, Fred. I’m very proud of the good this organization does.