Role of Government in the Legislative Process
Covid-19 has emerged as a global problem, which, besides leading to numerous deaths, has had a severe impact on the economy and way of life. In such pandemics, the government serves as a natural leader for overall communication and coordination efforts. The government can particularly prevent the spread through the legislative process. Through legislation, the government should establish an emergency paid leave benefits program. Also, the government should suspend education to reduce the spread of the illness. Knowing that food is the major problem, the government should enact policies and programs requiring the provision of food supplies to severely impacted families. Moreover, the government should reduce taxation. This will help families purchase essential supplies. It is vital as it will help reduce the movement of people.
The widespread of Covid-19 indicates that the government has failed to address the issue. The U.S government underestimated the impact of Covid-19. President Trump dismissed coronavirus as few cases that would be addressed with fewer efforts (Sanger, Lipton, Sullivan & Crowley, 2020). Following this announcement, no serious measures were put in place to eradicate the virus. Additionally, Americans lacked essential knowledge of how the virus spreads and preventive measures. For this reason, the rate of spread has been high. The U.S. government has failed in tackling the pandemic because it feels that it can defeat the virus on its own. Undeniably, there is a need for international cooperation.
The government has demonstrated the acknowledgement of ethics by providing financial support to severely affected families. Nonetheless, there are several unethical actions perpetrated by the government. For instance, the government has misled and lied to the Americans about the severity of Covid-19 (Rice, 2020). As a result, the American people are losing trust in the current government.
References
Rice, S. (2020). The government has failed on coronavirus, but there is still time. The New York Times. Retrieved 21 March 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/opinion/corona-virus-trump-susan-rice.html
Sanger, D., Lipton, E., Sullivan, E., & Crowley, M. (2020). Before virus outbreak, a cascade of warnings went unheeded. The New York Times. Retrieved 21 March 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/us/politics/trump-coronavirus-outbreak.html