Dec. 13, 2021 - Epoch Times
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| Good evening. | |
| Just yesterday, Joe Biden announced his new plan to get more Americans vaccinated, whether they want to or not. | |
| And what's interesting is that after many, many months of government officials, including Joe Biden himself, saying that they will not issue a federal vaccine mandate, well, it seems like that's exactly what he did, although in a bit of a roundabout way. | |
| That's because included in this plan is an order for the Department of Labor to mandate that all American businesses, who have over 100 employees, must either enforce vaccinations, conduct weekly COVID testing, or face hefty fines. | |
| However, within hours of him making this announcement, governors as well as attorney generals from across 21 different states, they came out in direct opposition to these orders, with some of them saying that legal challenges are already being prepared. | |
| Let's go through it all together. | |
| This is your daily Facts Matter update, and I'm your host, Roman, from the Epoch Times. | |
| And now let's begin today's discussion by talking about vaccine mandates. | |
| As I'm sure you've already heard, last night Joe Biden gave a speech wherein he presented a six-part plan to get more Americans vaccinated. | |
| And at the crux of his speech, after touting all the benefits of the vaccine, he appeared to show a growing frustration with the Americans who have yet to get the shot. | |
| Here are some excerpts from that speech. | |
| Many of us are frustrated with the nearly 80 million Americans who are still not vaccinated, even though the vaccine is safe, effective, and free. | |
| This is not about freedom or personal choice. | |
| It's about protecting yourself and those around you. | |
| The people you work with. | |
| The people you care about. | |
| The people you love. | |
| My message to unvaccinated Americans is this. | |
| What more is there to wait for? | |
| What more do you need to see? | |
| We've made vaccinations free, safe and convenient. | |
| The vaccine has FDA approval. | |
| Over 200 million Americans have gotten at least one shot. | |
| We've been patient, but our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us. | |
| So please, do the right thing. | |
| And as his patience has worn thin, Joe Biden blamed the 80 million unvaccinated Americans for putting everyone else in danger, as well as for crowding up our hospitals. | |
| He then revealed his six-part plan to get more Americans vaccinated, whether they would like to or not. | |
| Let's in fact go through them together. | |
| So first of all, Joe Biden will sign an executive order which will require all federal employees, as well as all federal contractors, to get vaccinated. | |
| Here's in fact what he said on that front during his speech. | |
| Secondly, Joe Biden said that in order to keep schools open, he will work to pass nationwide vaccine mandates for school kids. | |
| Here's what he specifically said on that front during his speech. | |
| Children are four times more likely to be hospitalized in low vaccinated rate states. | |
| Thirdly, he ordered that all federal educators, all educators who are employed by the federal government, must be vaccinated as a mandate. | |
| Here's what he said on this front. | |
| Today, I am authorizing the vaccine mandates of all, over 3,000, federal educators who work at federal Head Start programs. | |
| Furthermore, on this specific point, Joe Biden also said that he will direct the Justice Department to actually go after schools which don't mandate vaccines. | |
| Then the fourth point is that the federal government will increase both their testing and their masking efforts. | |
| Specifically, they will authorize a budget to be spent on at-home testing kits, they will provide free testing to over 10,000 pharmacies, and they will authorize the TSA to double their fines against people who refuse to wear a mask. | |
| And on that last point, here's what Joe Biden added. | |
| If you break the rules, be prepared to pay. | |
| And by the way, show some respect. | |
| The anger you see on television toward flight attendants and others doing their job is wrong. | |
| It's ugly. | |
| Then the fifth point was to expand COVID economic relief. | |
| According to Joe Biden, that was to help small businesses stay afloat. | |
| And then lastly... | |
| The sixth point, and this is the point that has everybody talking, Joe Biden directed the Department of Labor to require all employers in America who have over 100 employees, so basically any company with over 100 employees, they will now have to either require their employees to get vaccinated or to get tested at least once a week. | |
| Let me just repeat that last point. | |
| The Department of Labor is drafting a requirement for all companies with over 100 employees to either enforce vaccination upon their workers to get them tested at least once a week Specifically, Joe Biden said that it will be a $14,000 penalty for every violation. | |
| And by the way, just for your reference, in America, this particular rule, this number six rule, it will apply to over 80 million workers. | |
| And what's really interesting, at least in my view, is that over the last several months, if you've been following the story for, let's say, the last year, then you likely remember that back in December, Joe Biden said this about the vaccine. | |
| I don't think it should be mandatory. | |
| I wouldn't demand it to be mandatory, but I would do everything in my power, just like I don't think masks have to be mandatory nationwide. | |
| I'll do everything in my power as the President of the United States to encourage people to do the right thing. | |
| And Joe Biden was not the only government official who was saying such things. | |
| That's because, likewise, Dr. | |
| Rochelle Walensky, who is the director of the CDC, she wrote this, There will be no nationwide mandate. | |
| I was referring to mandates by private institutions and portions of the federal government. | |
| There will be no federal mandate. | |
| Furthermore, during a recent TV interview, Dr. | |
| Anthony Fauci, he said this, I don't think you'll ever see a mandating of the vaccine, particularly for the general public. | |
| But you would never mandate, at least I wouldn't think you would. | |
| I'd be pretty surprised if you mandated it for any element of the general public. | |
| And then even Kamala Harris, she said this within the last month, Now, of course, in that last quote, Kamala Harris was referring specifically to abortion, but the point is made. | |
| And as you can see, government officials have, for a while now, been saying that they cannot enforce a vaccine mandate. | |
| And now the question before us is a bit of a nuanced one. | |
| It's the question of whether there is a substantive difference between making something quote-unquote mandatory versus creating a condition that is so unreasonably hostile that you just reluctantly consent. | |
| Is there really a difference between the two? | |
| And this latest mandate, which was just announced by Joe Biden, it is just the most recent in a string of such developments. | |
| For instance, there was a Florida doctor who recently announced that she will refuse to treat any patient that has not been vaccinated. | |
| Likewise, over at Rutgers University, they are now banning unvaccinated students from even attending online courses. | |
| However, this most recent mandate by the federal government, which will require all businesses with over 100 employees to enforce vaccinations, well, this is by far the most far-reaching tactic. | |
| And as expected, it came with significant pushback. | |
| In fact, across 21 different states... | |
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| Now, as expected, Joe Biden's new order has met with significant pushback. | |
| In fact, the governors of 19 different states, as well as the attorney generals in two additional states, they have issued concrete statements in defiance of these new vaccine mandates. | |
| And it's worth noting here that before we move forward that the corporate media in this country have taken the nuance out of this debate. | |
| They just make it binary. | |
| Because looking through these statements, looking through the actual statements by these governors and these attorney generals, it doesn't appear that any of them are actually making any statements that can be called anti-vaccine. | |
| Rather, they are making statements that are anti-vaccine mandate. | |
| And that is something that you're seeing across the country and actually across the entire world. | |
| When there are anti-mandate protests over here in America or over in Europe or over in Australia, you actually get a lot of vaccinated people, people who already got the shot, who come out and stand in solidarity with those who are not vaccinated. | |
| Because the question at issue here is that of coercion. | |
| It's the question of mandate. | |
| It's the question of personal liberty and autonomy and whether the government has the authority to, for what they perceive to be a greater good, violate an individual's liberty and personal autonomy. | |
| Which brings us back to these 21 different states. | |
| So, after Joe Biden made that speech last night, the governors in the following states came out in direct opposition to these orders. | |
| These states include Arizona, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming. | |
| Also, they were joined by the attorney generals in both Utah as well as Indiana. | |
| And these statements, they range from just criticizing the mandates all the way to saying that they will be fighting them in court. | |
| And given the size and the scope of these mandates, well, it's almost assured that whatever lawsuits arise from them, and I'm sure many will, they will eventually reach the Supreme Court So, in fact, let's go through some of these statements together. | |
| So, the first one came from the governor of Arkansas, Mr. | |
| Asa Hutchinson, who is also the chairman of the National Governors Association, and he said this in a statement, quote, But the federal government mandates on private businesses are not the right answer. | |
| I have been consistent in freedom of businesses to require their employees to be vaccinated, and I have opposed the government from saying businesses cannot exercise that freedom. | |
| And then, as we mentioned earlier, there were several Republican governors from states like Arizona, Georgia, and South Dakota that either hinted at or announced that they will be seeking legal avenues to resist these mandates. | |
| For instance, here is what a statement from the governor of Arizona said, Likewise, here is what the governor of Georgia said, I will pursue every legal option available to the state of Georgia to stop this blatantly unlawful overreach by the Biden administration. | |
| And then there was Kristi Noem, who is the governor of South Dakota, who said this very succinctly. | |
| Furthermore, there were statements from 15 other governors across the country. | |
| Let's go through some of them together and pull out the highlights. | |
| Over in Alabama, I support the science and encourage folks taking the vaccine. | |
| However, I'm absolutely against a government mandate on the vaccine, which is why I signed the vaccine passport ban into law here in Alabama. | |
| This is not the role of the government. | |
| Then over in Alaska. | |
| This is ridiculous and unenforceable. | |
| If there was ever a case for the 25th Amendment, then Governor Ron DeSantis down in Florida. | |
| I do not believe that people should lose their jobs over this issue, and we will fight that. | |
| If they try to do that through a rule like the Department of Labor, I don't think they have the legal authority to do that. | |
| But we obviously would want to support protections for people who are just trying to earn a living. | |
| Then over in Idaho. | |
| Today's actions from President Biden amount to government overreach. | |
| Government should stay out of decisions involving employers and their employees as much as possible. | |
| Then over in Iowa. | |
| President Biden is taking dangerous and unprecedented steps to insert the federal government even further into our lives while dismissing the ability of Iowans and Americans to make healthcare decisions for themselves. | |
| Then down in Missouri. | |
| Vaccination protects us from serious illness. | |
| Then over in Mississippi. | |
| Because of their employment at a private business. | |
| The vaccine itself is lifesaving, but this unconstitutional move is terrifying. | |
| This is still America, and we still believe in freedom from tyrants. | |
| Then over in Montana, President Biden's vaccination mandate is unlawful and un-American. | |
| We are committed to protecting Montana's freedoms and liberties against this gross federal overreach. | |
| Over in Nebraska, President Biden's announcement is a stunning violation of personal freedom and abuse of the federal government's power. | |
| This plan isn't about public health. | |
| This is about government control and taking away personal liberties. | |
| Then over in North Dakota, President Biden's misguided plan steers our country down a dangerous path. | |
| Away from states' rights and the freedom of private businesses to make their own decisions on vaccinations. | |
| We stand opposed to this blatant federal overreach. | |
| Then over in Oklahoma, it is not the government's role to dictate to private businesses what to do. | |
| Once again, President Biden is demonstrating his complete disregard for individual freedoms and states' rights. | |
| Then down in South Carolina, the American dream has turned into a nightmare under President Biden and the radical Democrats. | |
| They have declared war against capitalism, thumbed their noses at the Constitution, and empowered our enemies abroad. | |
| Rest assured, we will fight them to the gates of hell to protect the liberty and livelihood of every South Carolinian. | |
| Then down in Tennessee. | |
| This is not about freedom is a phrase that should never come out of a U.S. president's mouth. | |
| For a fight that requires working together, a lot of cynical and divisive edicts came out of the White House today. | |
| Pitting the vaccinated against the unvaccinated, businesses against employees, and the federal government against states. | |
| Then down in Texas. | |
| And then lastly, over in Wyoming, If you'd like to read any of these statements for yourself in full, I'll throw them into the description box below this video for you to check out. | |
| And what's honestly interesting to note here is that even if the legal challenges against these vaccine mandates somehow fail, it's not exactly clear whether Joe Biden's plan will ultimately succeed. | |
| That's because, according to a recent poll, it found that 70% of unvaccinated Americans, they would quit their jobs if vaccination became a requirement for employment. | |
| And so, we'll just have to wait and see how this all ultimately plays out. | |
| And frankly, it goes without saying that these legal challenges, how they play out, and whether these states are able to effectively push back against these mandates, well, that'll have reverberations well into the future of our country. | |
| And as the story progresses, we'll keep you abreast of any developments as they're happening. | |
| If you'd like to read about anything that we've discussed thus far in today's episode, I'll throw it all into the description box below this video for you to check out, and all I ask in return is that you take a quick second to smash that like button for the YouTube algorithm. | |
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