Rick Scott is just one of many Republican governors who took their seat by running against those money-grabbers in Washington, despite the fact that Florida residents get back $4.60 for every $1 paid in federal tax. But even the most state-rightest of state-righters comes hurrying to D.C. when there’s a disaster looming. Unfortunately for Scott, his fellow go-it-alone Tea Party pals in the legislature are bottling up funding for Zika.
Florida will experience a "disaster" with the Zika virus if federal authorities don't immediately provide money to help battle the virus, Florida Gov. Rick Scott said Wednesday.
Scott, who had already visited Washington, D.C., in an effort to get Congress to act, sent a strongly worded letter to President Barack Obama asking the federal government to do something. The Republican governor called it "profoundly disappointing" that Congress has not taken "immediate action."
President Obama has been asking Congress to act for the last four months, so hitting him with the “strongly worded letter” might not be all that effective. However, at least Scott seems to recognize that the Republican-dominated Congress is the over-sized turd in this pipeline.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest responded to the letter by saying that "we hope that Republicans in Congress will finally get the message" and approve the $1.9 billion that the president has been seeking. Congress is currently divided over how much money to spend to battle the virus, which can cause grave birth defects and be spread by certain mosquitoes.
Divided is one way to put it. But not divided Republicans against Democrats. The Congress is divided conservative Republicans vs. batshit Conservative Republicans who don’t care how many babies are sacrificed on the altar of their egos.
Florida currently has 162 diagnosed cases of Zika, including 38 pregnant women. And just to add a bit of extra-darkness to an already bleak issue…
Health officials announced Wednesday that a tourist contracted dengue fever in Key West. The mosquitoes that carry dengue also transmit Zika and other viruses.
Dengue is also known as “break-bone fever” for the severity of pain it causes.
The Senate passed a Zika funding bill with $1.1B in funds. However, though the House passed a bill that is supposedly a Zika bill, it’s actually a re-labelled bill that removes restrictions on pesticides—House Republicans are using Zika in an attempt to weaken the EPA. The result is that there are two bills with nothing in common, making the task of any conference committee impossible.