Editors Note: This editorial is the third in a series. To read the first editorial on the GOP Healthcare lies, click here. To read the second editorial on GOP Fiscal Responsibility lies, click here.

As I write this, we are under a state-wide order to limit social gatherings to 10 people. Most businesses have employees working from home as much as possible. Restaurants are serving for take-out only. Colleges are teaching all classes online. The CCDP office is closed and we are conducting all business from our homes.

Disasters like Covid-19, are not the fault of Democrats or Republicans. However, how the government responds to these crises is dramatically different, depending on which party is in power.

Bush’s handling of the Hurricane Katrina disaster is widely seen as slow and inept. On the other hand, Obama’s handling of the BP oil spill is remembered as quick and competent.

Democrats believe that the government can do good things. Democrats believe that government can do some things better than the private sector because the government is not tied to the profit motive.

Republicans, on the other hand, believe that the government needs to be reduced as much as possible. Most problems are better solved by the free market. What’s left of government after the downsizing should be utilized to maximize profit for the private sector.

So when things go wrong under Republican administrations, the down-sized government is not prepared to adequately respond to emergencies.

Covid-19 is a perfect example.

First, Trump fired the pandemic team in the Spring of 2018.

Then, when it was clear that pandemic would hit the U.S., Trump wasted valuable time with his usual series of lies. From initially calling it a hoax, to lying that he always knew it was a pandemic.

You can watch an excellent summary of the situation, including all of Trump’s bumbling moves, on the 3/29/20 edition of Last Week Tonight. (Warning: this is an HBO show.)

What’s the result of this series of delays and incompetent moves? Now the U.S. has the most cases of Coronavirus anywhere in the world.   Keep in mind that the U.S. is only 6% of the world population!  Yet, we have the most cases.

Still, some Republican governors are refusing to issue state-wide stay-at-home orders such as Ron DeSantis in Florida and Tate Reeves in Mississippi.

I once heard a quote that said, “People are like teabags. You never know how strong they’ll be ’til you get them in some hot water.”

Well, we’re in some hot water now.  A record three million people filed for unemployment last week. And that was just the first week after most of the stay-at-home orders were implemented around the country.

On March 31, Trump had to finally accept reality and admit the U.S. is in a for a painful few weeks as estimates show the virus could kill between 100,000 and 240,000 people.

When there is a crisis, it better to have someone in charge who believes the government can solve big problems.  You don’t want someone in charge who has to take a break from destroying the government to solve the problem.

When there is a crisis, it’s better to have an administration that believes in science and facts.  More importantly, it’s better to have an administration that will tell you the true science and facts.

Covid-19 has shown that it’s better to have a Democratic administration during a crisis because a Republican administration will try to lie their way out of it.

Ronald Reagan once joked, “The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” In a clear case of Freudian projection, what he really meant was, “The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from a Republican-run government and I’m here to help.”

The World and the US will overcome Covid-19.  But history will show, once again, that a Republican administration was slow and inept in its response.