Since Pandemic Began Florida Billionaires’ Net Worth Increased By $17 Billion

Meanwhile State & Local Government Services Face Deep Cuts as Congress Prioritizes Confirmation of Anti-ACA Supreme Court Justice Over Passing an Overdue Coronavirus Financial Aid Package

If you’ve lost your job over the last few months, lost your healthcare or both, because you received your healthcare from your employer, it might not be comforting to know that there are actually a group of people that have made out like bandits during the pandemic – Florida’s billionaires.

If you read last week that there were 770,000 of our neighbors still looking for work and another 260,000 who had given up looking for work, the knowledge that Florida’s 59 billionaires have increased their wealth by over $17 billion since March might not be helpful.

If you’ve seen news of Florida’s budget deficit reaching $2.7 billion, which may require more massive cuts to public education, healthcare and other public services next year, it’s possible that you might not appreciate the $135 billion tax cut that the country’s ultra wealthy received in the COVID relief package passed in March.

If, over the last few weeks, you heard the news that Florida’s daily coronavirus cases were rising again and are now higher than at any point in the last few months, it might bother you to hear that the Republicans in control of the United States Senate haven’t allowed a vote on two comprehensive COVID-19 relief packages passed by the House of Representatives.

If you’ve noticed that Black and Latino families have been disproportionately devastated by this pandemic and recession, it might disgust you to know that last week the Republicans in the US Senate pushed a proposal that did not include funding for Medicaid, rental assistance or food for hungry families, but did include legal liability protections for companies that might have put their workers or customers at risk.

If you’re worried about the more than 8 million Americans who’ve acquired COVID, recovered and now have a pre-existing condition, it might anger you to hear that, on Monday, those same Senators rammed through the confirmation of a Supreme Court justice widely expected to support the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and its protections for people with pre-existing conditions. .

If you’ve read to this point, you might be enraged at the actions of President Trump, Rick Scott, Marco Rubio and the rest of the Senate Republicans.

And I can’t argue with that.