Now here’s a surprise. In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, Sen. Rick Scott speaks up for the little guy.
It’s not often we agree with Scott, but he’s absolutely right in saying that the Trump administration and Congress should oppose any bailout of big business and instead support American workers and small businesses in the wake of the devastating coronavirus pandemic.
“Let me be clear: we should not bail out large corporations that have enjoyed years of growth and prosperity. I won’t support it,” wrote Florida’s junior senator in a Fox Business News op-ed published Wednesday. “The people that need help the most are small businesses, hourly workers, people who rely on tips, and gig economy workers like Uber and Lyft drivers.”
Later in the day, the Senate overwhelmingly approved the House coronavirus response bill, which grants paid sick leave to hourly employees, expands unemployment insurance and pumps more money to state Medicaid budgets. The Senate vote was 90-8. Scott did not vote because he is in self-quarantine out of precaution after being in contact with some who had the coronavirus.
Scott is keeping closer tabs on next stimulus round. The administration, House and Senate leaders late Wednesday night were discussing a staggering $1 trillion “phase three” plan that would include bailouts of those industries hurt by the coronavirus, which Scott opposes. The relief package also will include direct payments to individual Americans.
Scott has his own ideas to end the ominous coronavirus and save the U.S. economy from sinking into a deep recession or even worse, a depression. His action plan makes a lot of sense to us.
He wants Congress to boost federal assistance to state unemployment insurance programs and to change the rules so that those workers temporarily laid off or had their hours reduced get immediate assistance.
He also wants a 60-day moratorium on mortgages, rent, fees and utilities for individuals who earn less than $75,000 a year and small businesses with fewer than less than 250 employees. The money would be paid back over 12 months.
Scott makes a strong case that these actions would be “the most effective, and most fiscally responsible way to get money to the people who need it most.”
Scott, who is rightfully credited with steering Florida through Hurricane Irma in 2017, makes a persuasive argument that “the best economic stimulus is to get a handle on the crisis itself.”
He is pushing hard for a national plan to place mobile coronavirus testing sites in each of the nation’s more than 3,100 counties. That should be a priority so that the country can find the hot spots for the virus outbreak and target its limited public health resources.
Florida and the rest of the nation faces two major challenges: Controlling the spread of the coronavirus in the short-run and helping those most hurt by the economic fallout.
By ending the coronavirus threat, workers in the restaurant, cruise, hotel and airline industries, to name a few, can get back to normal and open their doors again.
But as Scott argues, Congress cannot be handing out billions of dollars in relief to big businesses.
Take, for example, the airline industry. The White House wants to give them at least $50 billion in grants and low-interest loans. That’s outrageous after the airline industry raked in billions of dollars in profits over the past decade and used the cash on stock buybacks to boost their company share prices, according to Bloomberg. That was wrong. So why should the American taxpayer pay for their financial blunder?
The airlines, which have a history of boom-and-bust cycles, should have saved their profits to cope with the next economic downturn.
The cruise industry, though important to South Florida’s economy, is also not deserving of free taxpayer dollars, especially because, as foreign corporations, they have long avoided paying most U.S. income taxes. Carnival, the world’s largest cruise company, earned profits of more than $3 billion in 2019 and 2018, while paying little in income taxes.
Said Scott: “The proposals being debated in Congress right now include giveaways to big corporations, mandates that will shut down small businesses, and policies that I fear won’t help the people that need it most.”
The former Florida governor is taking the right approach in dealing with this unprecedented public health crisis and the devastating impact on our economy. The rest of Congress and the White House should listen to him.
