A.G. Gancarski
As the policy debates and political wrangling of coronavirus relief spending continues, so too does the war of words between Rick Scott and Andrew Cuomo.
On Thursday afternoon, the Florida Senator appealed to the President to help.
The latest salvo was a letter from Scott and other Republican Senators to Pres. Donald Trump, a native New Yorker who has since become an official resident of the Sunshine State.
In it, the Senators urged that federal coronavirus relief money shouldn’t be used to bail out “bad decisions” made by New York and other states.
The appeal to the President continues an ongoing contretemps between Scott and Cuomo.
Scott began Thursday morning, complaining of an “attack” from the New York Governor.
Cuomo, in a Wednesday briefing, vigorously countered Scott’s complaints about the federal government “bailing out” New York.
Ahead of Cuomo’s Thursday press conference, Scott went on the offensive.
“Yesterday, Governor Cuomo used his daily briefing as an opportunity to attack me to distract from the fact that he wants his state bailed out by Florida taxpayers,” Scott said.
Scott continued to depict polar contrasts between Florida and New York, saying relief money was just going to go toward legacy costs imposed by a historically expansive government.
“Florida has made the tough choices that New York has refused to make for decades and can get through this crisis without a bailout,” Scott said. “Floridians shouldn’t have to backfill New York’s state budget and pension fund. American families make responsible budgetary decisions every day. Florida’s done it for years. It’s time for New York to do the same.”
However, Florida is poised to benefit from federal coronavirus relief money to such a degree that many of the most powerful Republicans in the state are still cool on the idea of a Special Session to take into account recent declines in revenue and upticks in spending.
As well, Florida is relying on federal pandemic unemployment assistance money to augment its unemployment insurance system. Even though Florida pays a whole $275 for 12 consecutive weeks to applicants deemed eligible, some say that’s not enough to ease the pain.
Scott urged reporters to ask Cuomo why New York’s budget is so high and why its pension is underfunded. But those questions were not a priority of the media Thursday.
At the event the day before, Cuomo singled Scott and Florida out for excoriation 24 hours before, with Cuomo contending that the Sunshine State, not the Empire State, is the real taker in the federal scheme.
“New York state bails you out every year,” Cuomo thundered. “We bail them out every year … $29 million more every year into the federal pot that we don’t get back.”
“Senator Scott, Florida, you’re going to bail us out? You take out $30 billion more every year than you pay in. How dare they? How dare they when those are the facts? How long are you going to play the American people and assume they’re stupid? They are not. And they can add. And they know facts.”
15 comments
Frankie M.
April 30, 2020 at 1:18 pm
Rick Scott can’t bail out New York. He can’t even bail out his own state. He has an unemployment system that his administration designed to fail. What’s good for Wall Street is not good for Main Street.
Mark Anderson
May 1, 2020 at 12:39 pm
He puts people through hell that don’t deserve it and intentionally made the system to fail. He never did his job and he’s a major a hole who spends money to squeak in every time he runs. He also took the fifth several dozen times when the hospitals he managed had to pay a huge fine. Such a prick, when people in Miami elderly home died after a hurricane knocked out power they called him like he said everyone should and not the people who they should have called and the elderly died in the heat. He’s a super a hole. He uses anyone to get publicity and
votes just ask the Puerto Ricans near Orlando. Undoubtly he wants to run for President after his twitterness.
NO MORE REPUBLICANS !!!
April 30, 2020 at 1:22 pm
Aside from being one really quirky dude, Chromedome Scott is a felonious fraud – and, apparently, the Republicans who elected him in Florida three times are just as stupid as the Republicans who elected Donnie Dimwit and his Tumpolini crime family. New Yorkers would have chewed Scott up and then spit him out – and wouldn’t vote for him to be a ticket-taker on the subway!
Plenty of stupid Republicans in Florida – who elected Scott to the governorship twice and then to the Senate – and are now unemployed because of the coronavirus – are finding it IMPOSSIBLE to get unemployment compensation – because Scott made it so while he was governor. On top of that – Florida has the lowest unemployment benefits in the nation overall – accepts and pays the fewest applicants – and pays the lowest average amount – a tribute to Shouldabenafelon Scott and the stupid Republicans who support him.
Cuomo shouldn’t waste his time or his breath on this dog. Like Trump, Scott is irredeemable. Just trash.
Stand Up For America
April 30, 2020 at 2:56 pm
Imagine being in a place like China, Venezuela, Cuba, Russia, North Korea…or EVEN WORSE, living under those who think like the person who calls him/her self NO MORE REPUBLICANS.
Frankie M.
April 30, 2020 at 3:41 pm
Where do I sign up?
Lil Ricky has to run to the teacher aka trump to get help from the class bully aka cuomo.
Trump: Did Cuomo hurt your feelings Ricky because he called you out on your b.s? Poor lil baby…Let me make tweet out something random
Ricy: Why shouldn’t I turn to Trump? He’s even more allergic to the truth than I am…lol
Sonja Fitch
April 30, 2020 at 3:59 pm
Omg what a looooooser tricky Ricky. Is. Screwed the sick out of insurance coverage and destroyed the unemployment system. Stfu tricky Ricky you just jealous!
Mark Anderson
April 30, 2020 at 4:00 pm
Golly wally, little rickie will be drinking the fifth again on this one.
Mary Ellen E Belding
April 30, 2020 at 4:07 pm
Andrew Cuomo is a manipulative thief who has not only stolen financially from New Yorkers, Cuomo has has extorted the life, liberty & pursuit of happiness from the lives of the people. If you want to be ruled by a Tyrant Dictator, and taxed to a pauper, join New York State of corruption the Cuomo way.
Tjb
April 30, 2020 at 5:02 pm
Can you clarify how Cuomo has extorted the life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness from the lives of people?
TruthTeller
April 30, 2020 at 10:38 pm
Cuomo is a leader, Trump and his florida pals are losers. YOU pay them to cheat you, rob you blind.
Stephen Asher
May 1, 2020 at 10:40 am
👍
factFinder
April 30, 2020 at 10:42 pm
If you want to be ruled by a Tyrant Dictator, and taxed to a pauper, join the Republican party
P Schicchi
April 30, 2020 at 11:09 pm
Senator Rick Scott, aka, Governor Voldermort, was the most incompetent governor in Florida’s history. He spent $75 million dollars to make a new unemployment system that made it almost impossible to qualify for help. Then he bragged that he returned 7 million unemployment dollars to the federal government. That was one of the cruelest thing that he did to his fellow Floridians. Also, he denied Medicaid dollars from the ACA healthcare plan, and made it impossible for 800,000 Floridians to afford ACA premiums.
He stole millions of dollars from my Medicare and Medicaid dollars when he was a CEO of a Texan Hospital. He paid a fine and walked away from doing any jail time for his crimes.
CML
April 30, 2020 at 11:12 pm
Funny thing, I now live in Florida but I am originally from one of the state’s that Moscow Mitch and Tricky Ricky hate and want to punish: New Jersey. I am also a retiree living on a NJ teacher’s pension (pretty modest as pensions go) that McConnell and Scott want so desperately to be ripped up in state bankruptcy proceedings. Let me tell you, yes, the NJ pension is way underfunded but it is underfunded because a REPUBLICAN governor, Christine Whitman, stopped paying the state’s share into the public pension systems back in the 1990’s. Her reason–she wanted to give tax cuts to the rich without blowing up the budget. Once those payments were removed from the budget, it made it impossible for subsequent governors to pay the state’s share (let alone make up the missing payments) without making massive budget cuts–so they didn’t. Then the Great Recession hit. In 2009, Republican Chris Christie ran on fixing the pensions (paying into them) and got a lot of teacher support. But once elected, it was a different story and instead of the governor authorizing payments, the pension system was stripped of a pretty meager COLA and now there is a permanent freeze on our benefits. So if our pension goes under (and it might as it is only 38% funded–the worst-funded in the nation) it is because of Republican tax cut policies and Republican mismanagement. Meanwhile, when employed as an educator, I paid over 7% of my salary into the system, every year.
Julie Carroll
May 2, 2020 at 11:33 am
Rick Scott has done nothing for me and my fellow Floridians. He goes out of his way to hurt hardworking taxpaying people at every turn while getting incredibly wealthy from fraud. He also supports any legislation that supports incredibly wealthy people. He then attacks others to distract from the fact that he’s a fraudulent, amoral asshole. I’m proud to say I have voted against this prick for every one of his Florida elections, but like a slimy rat, he narrowly squeaks through to win probably by voter fraud. He has ruined Florida and will ruin our great country if he ever becomes president!
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