FLORIDA - SENATOR RICK SCOTT : Americans Deserve Better Than Democrats’ $2 Trillion Spending Disaster

 

In Case You Missed It! Sen. Rick Scott: Americans Deserve Better Than Democrats’ $2 Trillion Spending Disaster

In 2020, Congress took bipartisan action to provide the resources needed to get our nation re-opened and help individuals and small businesses recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Last Saturday, Senate Democrats passed a massive, un-targeted $2 trillion “COVID” spending bill with zero Republican support. The U.S. House of Representatives is now expected to vote on this wasteful and bloated bill this week. This 600-page, $2 trillion spending bill devotes less than 10% of its funding to actually fighting COVID, and will raise our national debt from $28 trillion to $30 trillion. Even worse, the American people are completely in the dark about how much of the nearly $1 trillion has been unspent from the previous package. The devastating impacts of this spending package hurt America’s poorest families the most, and the Biden Administration has no plan to address the fallout. Congress must do better. That’s why Senator Scott has taken several steps to provide transparency to the American people, whose money and financial stability is on the table. Senator Scott will keep working to make sure Congress is helping those truly in need, while remaining accountable to the hardworking taxpayers. Learn more about how Senator Scott is fighting to provide targeted relief to American families below.

The Democrats’ $1.9 trillion spending package is an untargeted shell filled with liberal wishes: Another $1.9 trillion in spending will raise the national debt to nearly $30 trillion, which will raise inflation and hurt our nation’s poorest families the most. Less than one percent of the bill is dedicated to vaccine-related activities and programs - the thing most critical to beating this pandemic. $350 billion goes to bailout wasteful, liberal states for their decades of excess, even though budgets and revenues are up. Congress has already allocated roughly $400 billion for state and local governments to handle this crisis. $40 billion goes to colleges – regardless of whether they are open or have demonstrated a need for relief. Congress already allocated $37 billion to colleges in previous relief bills. More than a third of all spending in the Democrats’ bill, including more than 90 percent of the K-12 school funding, would not be spent this fiscal year.

Sen. Rick Scott: Americans Deserve Better Than Democrats’ $2 Trillion Spending Disaster Last week, Senator Rick Scott released the below statement as the Senate begins consideration of the Democrats’ massive $1.9 trillion partisan spending package – which received bipartisan opposition in the House and didn’t get a single Republican vote. Senator Scott wants targeted relief to those individuals and small businesses impacted by the pandemic, but President Biden’s proposal is filled with progressive pipe dreams and wasteful spending that will ultimately hurt American families. Senator Rick Scott said, “For nearly a year, my focus has been on finding bipartisan solutions that provide targeted relief and deal directly with the economic and health impact of COVID-19. I talk to Floridians every day whose families or businesses have been hurt by this pandemic. They need and deserve relief and that’s what we should be doing – but that’s not what the Democrats want. They can’t help themselves but try to use this crisis to pass their liberal priorities that would have no chance standing on their own. "The waste in the Democrats’ bill is blatant and obvious. Think about this – less than 10 percent of the Democrats’ massive spending bill actually goes toward fighting COVID-19 and just one percent is dedicated to vaccine programs and initiatives. That is crazy. Even more shameful is that the rest is full of wasteful, unrelated nonsense that falls woefully short of the targeted relief American families need. Let’s not forget that Congress just approved a $900 billion COVID relief bill – much of which remains unspent. As Democrats prioritize their progressive pipe dreams over the needs of American families, I’ll keep working to make sure we are helping those truly in need, while remaining accountable to the hardworking taxpayers whose money and financial stability is on the table." Read more HERE.

Sen. Rick Scott Calls for Explanation on Drastic Changes to Unemployment Rates Last week, Senator Rick Scott sent a letter to Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner William Beach requesting information on why current and historic unemployment statistics, dating back to 1976, were recently recalculated with no explanation. This critical data may be used in a formula to determine how much federal funding goes to state and local governments in the next COVID-19 spending package currently before Congress. In his letter, Senator Scott makes clear that the Bureau must immediately explain this decision and be transparent and accountable to the American people. Read the Senator’s letter HERE.

Sen. Rick Scott Leads Colleagues in Resolution Calling on Biden to Provide Information on Unspent COVID Relief Funds Last week, as Congress considered House Democrats’ massive $1.9 trillion spending package filled with liberal priorities, Senator Rick Scott introduced a resolution on the Senate floor calling on President Biden to inform the Senate of how much unspent funds are leftover from the previous COVID spending bills. Before Congress approves any additional funding, members need all available information to make the best decision about how to get targeted relief to American families and businesses in need. See more in Senator Scott’s speech on the Senate floor HERE or below.

Sen. Rick Scott: Democrats Don’t Want Americans to Know What’s In Massive “COVID” Spending Bill Last week, as Senate Democrats pushed forward with President Biden’s wasteful, untargeted 600-page, $2 trillion “COVID” spending bill, Senator Rick Scott released the following statement supporting its full reading on the Senate floor. Senator Rick Scott said, “Of course Democrats are complaining that Republicans want to read the bill. They don’t want anyone to know what’s actually in it. Democrats even blocked my resolution yesterday which simply requested information from the Biden Administration on the nearly $1 trillion in unspent COVID money from previous packages. They don’t support transparency at all. I suppose it makes sense – I would be ashamed too if I was trying to mislead the American people and rush a bill that devotes less than 10 percent of its funding to actually fighting COVID-19. For them, the more Americans are kept in the dark, the better. "I fully support the reading of this bill in its entirety on the Senate floor, and I thank Senator Ron Johnson for his efforts. Members of Congress have an obligation to read every bill they vote on. That’s why I introduced legislation this week requiring members to do just that, but a $2 trillion wasteful spending package that will rack up our already unthinkable national debt isn’t the answer. We can and must do better." Read more HERE.

Sen. Rick Scott: I’ll Never Stop Fighting Against Washington’s Dysfunction On Saturday, Senator Rick Scott released the following statement after Senate Democrats voted to pass their massive and wasteful $1.9 trillion “COVID” spending package, of which less than 10% actually goes to help fight COVID. Senator Rick Scott said, “Washington is completely dysfunctional. I’ve said all along that I want targeted relief for families and businesses suffering from the pandemic. That’s why Republicans just spent the entire night trying to work with Senate Democrats to get something done that will actually help Floridians and Americans across our nation who are still struggling due to COVID-19. But that’s not what the Democrats wanted. This was never about helping the American people. Instead, they’re using trillions of American taxpayer dollars, under the guise of COVID relief, to fund their liberal priorities and pay back their blue state Governor pals. They really should be ashamed of this political theater. "Our nation is $28 trillion in debt. With the passage of this bill, Senate Democrats have increased the debt to $30 trillion, knowing that they and President Biden have no plan to address it or its devastating consequences for American families. At this rate and the direction Democrats are taking us, there is no way our nation will ever be able to pay off this unsustainable debt without significant change. It’s time to get serious about what this means for our nation moving forward. I will never stop fighting to ensure accountability to American taxpayers and get Washington’s insane spending under control." Read more HERE.

Sen. Rick Scott Urges Florida Congressional Delegation to Vote Against Wasteful $1.9 Trillion “COVID” Spending Bill Yesterday, Senator Rick Scott sent a letter to the Florida Congressional Delegation urging them to vote against President Biden’s massive and wasteful $1.9 trillion “COVID” spending package which now heads back to the U.S. House of Representatives following its completely partisan passage in the Senate last week. The $1.9 trillion spending package dedicates less than 10% of its funding to actually fight COVID-19 and raises the federal debt to $30 trillion. Read the Senator’s letter HERE.