Name: Hicks: It's never a good time to attack nurses, but especially not now
Brand: postandcourier.com
SKU: postandcourier-com-4
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

Hicks: It's never a good time to attack nurses, but especially not now

preview

You are the owner of this article.So, Lindsey Graham thought it would be a good idea to question the work ethic of nurses during a global pandemic.Yes, South Carolina’s senior senator chose the absolute worst way and time to drag the state into the middle of the coronavirus disaster relief debate.Graham led a small group of senators, including our own Tim Scott, who tried to  hold up the $2 trillion pandemic package Wednesday because, they argued, it was too generous to the proletariat.“If you’re a nurse, aide, making $15 or $16 an hour — you’re on the front lines here,” Graham said. “A lot of doctor’s offices are gonna have to roll back because elective surgery is no longer a source of income for a bunch of doctors. So, you’re going to have all these well-trained nurses, they’re going to make $24 an hour on unemployment. You’re literally incentivizing taking people out of the workforce at a time when we need critical infrastructure supply for the workers.”Yeah, that’s not a good look, or take.First, it insinuates some percentage of American health care workers would rather collect unemployment than save lives … on the same day newscasts showed New York City nurses wearing trash bags as protective gear to treat COVID-19 patients. One has since died from the virus.Secondly, that’s not the way unemployment works. If you quit your job, you aren’t eligible for benefits. And most nurses make more than $24 an hour. But Graham is a smart guy, he knows that.Charleston Congressman Joe Cunningham quickly lambasted his colleague for the disingenuous attack on medical professionals. “This is appalling,” Cunningham tweeted. “Not one nurse in our state would abdicate his or her duty at a time like this to make a few more bucks an hour.”Get a weekly recap of South Carolina opinion and analysis from The Post and Courier in your inbox on Monday evenings.That was perfectly fair turnabout. Graham threatened to hold up the aid package two days after he criticized Democrats for doing the exact same thing. Which took real chutzpah.Difference was, the Dems objected to loopholes that could allow corporations to take federal assistance and still lay off employees, a lack of public accounting for disbursements … not to mention an absence of funding for hospitals. Because, health crisis. Oddly enough, Graham didn’t question the work ethic of CEOs, who average a lot more than $24 an hour — like  $8,000 more — or whether they might make a dollar they normally wouldn't. Only regular people.Since this is an election year, perhaps the senator should take note that there are a lot more nurses in South Carolina than CEOs, and they are working pretty hard to save lives. Graham’s mini-revolt was so mind numbingly stupid that President Trump took the opportunity to step in as the voice of reason. He and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told our guys to knock it off.“I don’t think it will create incentives,” Mnuchin said. “Most Americans, what they want, they want to keep their jobs.”Yes. And Trump argued Democrats made the aid package better, defended funding for the Kennedy Center and even had kind words for Sen. Chuck Schumer. Graham should pay attention, because when you drift so far into right field that Trump comes down on the other side, you might’ve gone too far.After the dust settles on this crisis, and more details of the staggering aid package come to light, some people will no doubt come to the conclusion that Congress was far too generous with corporations. Seeing as how they saw far more benefit from the 2017 tax cuts than average Americans, yet used much of that windfall for stock buybacks and dividend payments rather than shoring up their financial health.Those folks may even remember that Graham reportedly lobbied against any coronavirus relief checks at all for working Americans. Which is just as bad as questioning the motives of the true heroes of this pandemic.Graham and Co.’s protest was quickly tamped out and the Senate passed the package unanimously. But no matter what comes next in this crisis, the senator’s stunt will not age well. So, if South Carolina voters decide to boot Lindsey Graham out of office this year, he can probably trace it back to this week.Reach Brian Hicks at .© , Post and Courier, an Evening Post Industries company. All rights reserved.&nbsp;| &nbsp;|{{title}}{{summary}}You don't have any notifications.Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device.Topics

You are the owner of this article.So, Lindsey Graham thought it would be a good idea to question the work ethic of nurses during a global pandemic.Yes, South Carolina’s senior senator chose the absolute worst way and time to drag the state into the middle of the coronavirus disaster relief debate.Graham led a small group of senators, including our own Tim Scott, who tried to  hold up the $2 trillion pandemic package Wednesday because, they argued, it was too generous to the proletariat.“If you’re a nurse, aide, making $15 or $16 an hour — you’re on the front lines here,” Graham said. “A lot...

Hicks: It's never a good time to attack nurses, but especially not now

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS