(Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images In a bitterly divided Washington, D.C., few pieces of legislation have gotten passed as quickly or enjoyed as strong support as the $8.3 billion “Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act,” cobbled together in just 12 days and signed into law last Friday. But as taxpayers know too well, speedily enacted bipartisan proposals are usually far from perfect.

In the throes of the 2008 financial crisis, Obama’s former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel famously quipped, “you never let a serious crisis go to waste.” Now, 12 years later and in the midst of a different kind of crisis, lawmakers are singing a similar tune as they ram a coronavirus “stimulus” package down the throats of American taxpayers. On Wednesday, March 11, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Cali.) and other top Democrats introduced a no-holds-barred legislative package creating a new federal sick leave program and ramping up unemployment insurance. Democrats mistakenly believe that the strong hand of government can keep the coronavirus at bay, when in reality, only a robust private response can keep patients safe and the economy afloat. As hundreds of thousands of patients worldwide fight COVID-19, half-baked policy prescriptions at taxpayer expense are certainly not what the doctor ordered.