Florida - Saving the Rich from Extinction, Tossing a Nickel to the Poor

Last week, the Florida House rejected the Senate's proposal to expand Medicaid.  They did not, however, ignore the healthcare issue completely.  Realizing how important good healthcare is, they again voted a great health insurance deal for themselves and other state politicians.  High-level employees, like Governor Rick Scott (R), Attorney General Pam Bondi (R), legislative staff and other management level state employees will be able to purchase an individual plan for as low as $8.34/month or $30/month for a family plan.

Not wanting to appear to be too greedy, legislators voted a rate of  $50/month for individual coverage or $180 for family coverage for members of the legislature and low-level state employees.

what eye thynk:  According to one source, the Florida House is home to 40 multi-millionaires.  Sure hope they can afford that $50 payment.

The only conclusion I can draw from this healthcare travesty is that the Florida legislature is okay with allowing poor people to sicken and die; but the lives of state politicians must be protected so they can continue to do the good work of serving the wealthy.

To see how their work for the rich is continuing apace, we need only look at the budget passed by both the House and the Senate this week.  The legislature gifted uber-wealthy yacht owners with a special tax break just for them:  yacht repairs/refittings costing more than $1 million will have their tax bill capped at $60,000.

I'll sleep better knowing that the richest of the rich will not be in danger of having to sip inferior champagne because they were forced to pay the full tax bill on their yacht refitting costs.

In an effort to show they are also thinking of the little guy in Florida, the new budget includes a tax cut on cell phone and cable service.  The savings will amount to approximately $20/year on a $100 monthly cell phone bill.  That's a whopping $1.66/month in savings. An entire nickel every day of the year!  I'm sure the average Florida citizen is already busy dreaming of how to spend this windfall.

Representative Matt Gaetz (R) called this the "crown jewel" of the tax-cut package.  Incidentally, Matt is the son of Florida Senate President Don Gaetz (R) whose financial disclosure documents list his personal wealth as $26.2 million.  Guess that means Don is in a position to loan Matt 50 bucks to pay for his healthcare if the need arises. 

Sleep well, Floridians.