Ron DeSantis has a whole new scandal on his hands

| 3:50 pm EDT July 31, 2021
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a corrupt Republican, is trying to curry favor with a swath of Floridians while spending taxpayer money to do so. Florida taxpayers are unnecessarily footing the $3.6 million bill from Fidelity for distributing bonuses made possible by congressional Democrats. DeSantis is having his state mail out $1000 checks, embellished with his logo, to educators, police officers, and first responders. The checks will feature the governor’s logo in an effort to mislead the recipients into thinking DeSantis is behind the funding of these payouts.

The money is actually made possible solely by congressional Democrats, as no Republicans voted for the bill that finances these bonuses. There are ways in which Florida could distribute the funds at no cost to taxpayers, but DeSantis insists on having his logo imprinted on physical checks. The United States Department of Education has informed DeSantis and Florida that their method of disbursement is in violation of the federal agency’s rules, but the state is ignoring this guidance. DeSantis wants to take sole credit for the payments, all while dunning taxpayers for the disbursements and ignoring the fact that Democrats alone are responsible for making the bonuses possible. This calls to mind what Speaker Pelosi has said of the GOP: “They vote no and take the dough.”

The Former Guy made a similar move when he insisted that federal stimulus checks sent out during his term bear his name. DeSantis’ ploy shows that he has no qualms with wrongfully spending his constituents’ tax dollars for the money’s distribution, just as he has no qualms with trying to gain favor with certain voters by misleading them about the funds’ true provenance. Let’s hope the recipients know that Democrats are making their bonuses possible, and let’s hope that Floridians realize that DeSantis is leaving them with an avoidable bill.