the cure may ultimately be more deadly than the disease. The engine of our economy is small business. Business owners are having their American Dream shattered by these extended shutdowns. The Federal Reserve is spending a million dollars a minute from our children’s future to prop up business revenue.

The entire economy is at risk. We are losing jobs to the tune of nearly 1 million every day. Since mid-March, some 33 million people have filed claims for unemployment.

This creates an immense human toll, the other side of the equation that is not being appropriately considered. The unprecedented economic revitalization during the first three years of the Trump administration is seriously threatened. The U.S. economy will struggle to recover for months or even years.

Unemployment causes stress, health problems, and suicides. According to RestartNOW!, there are counties where the number of suicide deaths resulting from the shutdown have exceeded the number of COVID-19 cases, never mind COVID deaths.

Many hospitals are laying staff off because there are so many open beds. At the same time, people with critical need for surgeries and other procedures are staying home because their treatments are considered “elective.”

A friend recently suffered heart failure and went to the hospital to receive a stint. He was sent home because it was not COVID-19 related. He said to me, “So Jim, I sit at home waiting to die, while abortion clinics are open for business and marijuana dispensaries are considered ‘essential services.’ This is insane!”