Isaac Week 7 - THIS BIDEN MANDATE IS TOO DICTATORIAL


    The Biden administration has just used OSHA to mandate that every business with 100 or more employees must police their employees, requiring either a daily negative test, or a vaccination in order for them to be employed at the company. This mandate was put in place as an emergency in order to protect the safety of all employees. 26 states and many private companies with more than 100 employees such as the Daily Wire have recently filed lawsuits against the federal government. The lawsuit cites the fact that it is not up to the federal government, but to the states to create health policy.


         Before mentioning whether or not I think there is legal standing to this mandate, my opinion of the mandate is that I think it is too dictatorial and that it will just create more problems than it hopes to solve. First, I don’t think that the government should be mandating what anyone must put in their body, as many people like to chant, “my body, my choice.” I should be the only person who gets to decide what goes in my body. Second, I don’t think that this mandate will solve anything. This mandate is trying to decrease the fatalities from Covid-19 by forcing people to get vaccinated, or face the risk of losing their job. I think that a lot of people will choose the latter option, as if they aren’t vaccinated by now, they must have a strong reason and a government mandate wouldn’t change their mind. One major problem that this will cause is unemployment. If people refuse to get vaccinated, they will be left without a job, and we might see these newly unemployed people move to other states that are refusing to enforce this mandate, and like described above, are challenging the legality of it in court. 


    This gets into the issue of whether or not I think this mandate is constitutional. I do not think that this mandate is constitutional because of the 9th and 10th amendments which say that powers not explicitly stated in the constitution go to the states, or to the people. The power of the federal government to force a vaccine mandate, or enforce any health policy is not mentioned in the constitution at all which is why I believe this to be unconstitutional, and reserved to the states or the people.


    Update: This mandate has been halted by the 5th circuit federal court in Texas to determine the constitutionality of this, as they determined that it may not be constitutional, but have yet to make the final decision.


What do you think about this mandate? Do you think it will actually save lives? Do you think that it will hurt lives? Do you think that it is constitutional?

Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 9, 2021 at 8:22 PM

    Hi Isaac,
    I actually did not hear about this until reading your blog, and I think it's really interesting. In my gov class we are learning about things that are allowed to be federally mandated, and now I'm seeing it happening. I don't think that it is constitution based on what you said. I don't think that people would go as far as move to a different state because of this mandate, because it is not requiring vaccines but negative tests or vaccines, but I am not in their shoes so maybe they would go as far as moving to another state. I'm not sure it will cause unemployment either, since they have to just provide a negative covid test to work. It is unfair for the people who have to get the negative tests, since they have to go out of their way and probably spend a lot of money just to get into work everyday. Now that I'm thinking about it it might cause people to leave their jobs, but I still can't see that happening at a large scale. I think if it passes it would save lives, because it is like a suuuuuper covid safe plan, but covid is already on the decline so it would just accelerate what is already happening, but that might be a good thing if it ends up saving lives? As you can see I am very indecisive about this.

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  2. Dori BaronNovember 10, 2021 at 6:37 PM

    Hi Isaac! I can definitely see how it's controversial whether or not this mandate is constitutional due to the 9th and 10th amendments, as you mentioned. I currently would agree that everyone should have the freedom to choose whether or not to get a vaccine. However, I think it's important that unvaccinated workers are extra careful then by wearing masks, getting tested, constantly sanitizing, etc. While it is "their body, their choice," their actions also very much affect other people. If unvaccinated people get COVID-19, even if they are young or wouldn't be hospitalized, they can easily infect others who are more vulnerable. The more COVID-19 is spread, the more likely it will mutate, and I think we all can agree that we want this pandemic to be over already.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousNovember 10, 2021 at 7:01 PM

    Hi Isaac. Personally, I am vaccinated and continue to wear my mask because it doesn't really bother me and I know it's best for America as a whole. Although what President Biden is doing, according to your opinion, may technically be unconstitutional and people may not want the vaccine, I really just don't think it's that big of a deal. If there was a medicine proven by science to help stop the spread of a deadly virus, of course I'd get that medicine, and so I did! I don't think this mandate could possibly hurt any lives and at worst, wouldn't protect you against the virus. There's no scientific evidence that anything harmful comes from getting the vaccine, so I really don't get why people wouldn't just eliminate the risk, just as a precaution since there's no downsides to getting it. Everyone has a right to their opinion, but I believe that what president Biden is doing is one of the only ways we can go back to normal, stop this virus from mutating again, and get rid of it altogether.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousNovember 15, 2021 at 6:47 AM

    Hey Isaac!

    I agree with you that the Biden COVID mandate is clearly unconstitutional. It has already been shut down quickly in court, however some companies have already implemented this mandate, which is a sneaky and unjust way to implement this unconstitutional legislation to a certain extent. I will have to respectfully disagree with Ellie that this mandate pushes our country any closer back to normal life, as it in fact does the exact opposite by prolonging mask wearing and constant Covid-19 testing for those unvaccinated.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousDecember 6, 2021 at 9:39 PM

    Hey Isaac. First of all, I think this specific issue and mandate is very case-specific so it is extremely problematic to make generalizations. Second of all, I majorly disagree with your word choice. Using the word "dictatorial" is extremely accusational, and at the end of the day, it's simply not true. Biden's presidency - or any American presidency for that matter - is nowhere even near "dictatorial", and has shown zero tendencies or actions that would even lead someone to believe that. One part that I agree with is where you say that every person has the choice of what goes in your body, so people should respect your decision of not getting vaccinated. You're using your own logic against you, because they are not forcing anyone to get the shot, they all have the option.

    ReplyDelete

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