Gutless robed wonders do their thing

SCOTUS helps extend the pandemic

On Thursday, the conservative wing of the Supreme Court blocked Pres. Joe Biden’s vaccine and testing mandate that was aimed at businesses with more than 100 employees — or 80+ million people.

The mandate, which took effect just a few days ago, was fought by business groups and certain red states (hello, Missouri). At the same time, SCOTUS upheld the president’s mandate for vaccines for most health care workers, also fought by some of those same organizations (hello again, Missouri).

In an unsigned opinion, the court said:

Although Congress has indisputably given OSHA the power to regulate occupational dangers, it has not given that agency the power to regulate public health more broadly. Requiring the vaccination of 84 million Americans, selected simply because they work for employers with more than 100 employees, certainly falls in the latter category.

In response, U.S. Secretary of Labor Martin J. Walsh said:

OSHA promulgated the ETS [Emergency Temporary Standards] under clear authority established by Congress to protect workers facing grave danger in the workplace, and COVID is without doubt such a danger. The emergency temporary standard is based on science and data that show the effectiveness of vaccines against the spread of coronavirus and the grave danger faced by unvaccinated workers. The commonsense standards established in the ETS remain critical, especially during the current surge, where unvaccinated people are 15-20 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than vaccinated people. OSHA will be evaluating all options to ensure workers are protected from this deadly virus.

We urge all employers to require workers to get vaccinated or tested weekly to most effectively fight this deadly virus in the workplace. Employers are responsible for the safety of their workers on the job, and OSHA has comprehensive COVID-19 guidance to help them uphold their obligation. 

Just 63% of the country is fully vaccinated, and at this point, “vaccine hesitancy” is just a fancy substitute for “complete moron.” Here are a few vaccines that are required by law. We know precisely how important are vaccinations, and what will stop the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the GOP is churning out nonsense about the president’s “failure” regarding the pandemic.

I. Can’t. Even.