Some of the largest expansions of government power and unconstitutional abuses have come during times of pressing crises, not unlike the coronavirus. The government routinely tries to paper over these abuses by saying they are temporary, and that anyone who resists is guilty of making the present crisis worse. It’s the same story over and over again.

This week, both Virginia Governor Ralph Northam (D) and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper (D) announced statewide executive orders for their states regarding policy and practice as our nation deals with the novel coronavirus. Each governor made different calls for their states’ schools, with Virginia closing all K-12 schools for the remainder of the year and North Carolina extending its public school closure through May 15. Both states limited gathering sizes and mandated the closure of nonessential retail businesses.

The Wall Street Journal claims that Bernie Sanders will increase federal taxes to the highest levels since World War II to pay for all of Sanders’ socialist promises:

FreedomWorks is proud to announce that our bill of the month for December 2019 is the Small Business Prosperity Act of 2019, H.R. 4947, introduced by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.). The Small Business Prosperity Act would amend the tax code to make permanent the tax benefits pass-through businesses under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

After repeatedly claiming that the middle class won’t see a tax increase under any of her policy proposals, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released the details on Friday of how she plans to pay for Medicare for All. The proposal can hardly be taken seriously, as Warren is, more likely than not, under-estimating the cost of Medicare for All and over-estimating the tax revenues that her proposals will bring in to the treasury.

Though a far cry from ending capitalism, as protestors on the streets of Washington, D.C. espoused Monday during their attempt to shut down the city in the name of climate change, Congress is eyeing an expansion of market manipulation by further subsidizing electric vehicles.