Within weeks of being in office, Joe Biden passed a massive stimulus package. The legislation will put money in the pockets of millions of Americans and also aid countless small businesses.
The measure is favored by over 2/3’s of Americans and more than half of the country’s Republicans. GOP lawmakers are now in the unenviable position of having the slam the massively popular bill.
Rick Scott came up with an idiotic plan to show that the stimulus money wasn’t needed in Red States. The Florida senator wrote a letter to Republican governors. He urged:
“By rejecting and returning any unneeded funds, as well as funds unrelated to COVID-19, you would be taking responsible action to avoid wasting scarce tax dollars. After all, every dollar in this package is borrowed.”
The governor of Scott’s own state of Florida, Republican Ron DeSantis, was befuddled by the idea. “It doesn’t make any sense,” he said. “If Florida were to send the money back, [Treasury Secretary Janet] Yellen is going to send it to Illinois, California, New York or New Jersey. I don’t think that would make sense for Floridians — for us to be giving even more money to the blue states that already getting such a big windfall in this bill.”
According to Politico, “DeSantis has called for using the money on everything from $1,000 payments to law enforcement officer, paramedics and firefighters to boosting spending on tourism marketing and transportation projects.”
Todd Neikirk is a New Jersey based politics and technology writer. His work has been featured in psfk.com, foxsports.com and hillreporter.com. He enjoys sports, politics, comic books and spending time at the shore with his family.