One of the fundamental instincts of policymakers during any crisis is to grow government. Government programs expand, agencies assume new powers, and sometimes whole new agencies emerge as policymakers try to prove that they have acted in face of the crisis. The coronavirus pandemic is no different.

This pandemic is a serious public health emergency that demands the attention of federal policymakers. But some high-profile Democrats want to go further, seeing the pandemic as a “tremendous opportunity” to “restructure” government in their image. They use the pandemic to push for single-payer healthcare, mail-in voting, the “Green New Deal,” universal income, and other wish list priorities for today’s left.