NY Gov. Moves to Fire Unvaccinated Healthcare Workers, Announces Even More Autocratic Actions

(AP Photo/Richard Drew)

We reported yesterday that Democratic New York Governor Kathy Hochul was going to fire nurses and other state healthcare workers if they were not vaccinated, and, in an effort to coerce them even further, she said that she would even deny them unemployment benefits.

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Hochul said that she would invoke a state of emergency to be able to call in the National Guard to replace the fired workers which might run into the thousands.

Today, she made good on that threat. “We’ll be nation-leading,” she called it. That’s one word for it. I can think of a lot of other terms to call it but my mother didn’t like me to use those words when I was growing up.

From WIVB 4:

“We are taking all the steps preemptively in anticipation of what I call a preventable staffing shortage,” said Governor Kathy Hochul who is signing an executive order that will allow her to deploy medically trained National Guard members, retired health care workers, recent grads, and those licensed in other states and countries to step in over the health care worker vaccine mandate.

She’s also working with the federal government to try to “expedite visa requests” for medical workers as well.

New York State Public Employees Federation President Wayne Spence says while he hopes the Governor’s plan is sufficient, he doesn’t think it will be. “I don’t think there’s enough people to go around to plug the holes because a lot of nurses have left New York State as of last year,” Spence said.

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So let’s just step back a minute and look at what she is doing. She’s firing potentially thousands of people who just last year Democrats all lauded as “healthcare heroes.” And she’s doing it during a pandemic when they need every hand on deck, they claim. But rather than keep the experienced folks in their own jobs, she’s going to have them tossed out on their ears because they refuse to go along with her autocratic rules and replace them with new people, even bringing in people from other countries and “expediting” visas to do so. Bringing in folks who may not even be licensed in New York or the United States? Bringing back people who may no longer be capable or even people whose licenses may have lapsed? She’s even acknowledging that some might not be currently licensed in the state. In the name of “health.” How twisted and insane is that? How many people is she going to endanger by this action? How many medical treatments might she disrupt with this action? I’m not even sure it’s possible to replace all the people to whom it may apply, at least not with reasonably competent people.

On top of it, if that wasn’t all autocratic enough, Hochul thinks she is a Supreme Court Justice in her own mind, as well. She claimed that no one has any legitimate religious exemption to getting the vaccine. Thousands were suing her claiming a religious exemption.

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“There are not legitimate religious exemptions because the leaders of all the organized religions have said there’s no legitimate reason,” Hochul claimed. She then claimed they were going to win in court on that in a few days. She even claims “your coworkers want you to do this, don’t make the burden heavier on them, as well,” trying to use peer pressure. Seriously? That isn’t up to her or frankly up to whatever religious leaders she’s referring to. It’s up to the individual’s personal religious belief. So she’s not only the dictator telling you what to do, she’s the court and your religious arbiter as well.

As we noted earlier, she even had the nerve to tell people that God wanted them vaccinated and if they were unvaccinated they weren’t listening to Him, as though she spoke for the Almighty.

“I need you to be my apostles, I need you to go out and talk about it and say, we owe this to each other,” she told people at a Christian church. “We love each other. Jesus taught us to love one another. And how do you show that love, but to care about each other enough to say, please get vaccinated because I love you. I want you to live.” How better to show you love them than to fire them, right? She really is going full bore to try to catch up to Gov. Andrew Cuomo in dictatorial approach and horrible policies.

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She’s also not exactly telling the truth about the situation with those alleging religious exemptions. At last check, a judge had extended temporary restraining order on vaccine requirement for NYS health care workers who were claiming a religious exemption until Oct. 12. So she hasn’t won so far and that’s not going to be decided for a couple of weeks yet.

“This is so unnecessary,” Hochul ranted. Yes, she’s right. It is. She never should have done this. She can’t allow you to have your own mind and defy the state. You must obey or Big Brother (or in this case, Big Sister) will come down on you.

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