Corruption: Trump Cuts COVID-19 Funding to All States Except Texas and Florida

Trump plays favorites with governors that are loyal to him by rewarding them with our taxpayer dollars.  The rot of corruption is endless.

Trump agreed to continue paying for the full cost of National Guard troops deployed to help with the coronavirus response in just two states -- Texas and Florida -- after their Republican governors appealed directly to him.

Other states will now have to pay a quarter of the cost of National Guard deployments in their states, despite their governors also requesting the federal government continue to foot the entire bill. A White House official said Trump made an exception for Texas and Florida because their governors -- who enjoy close relationships with Trump -- made "special, direct cases to the President."

The OFFICIAL White House explanation is that the Governors of Texas and Florida got special treatment BECAUSE they paid symbolic obeisance to Trump.  WHAT? 

While Texas and Florida both have a large number of coronavirus cases -- more than 466,000 and 502,000, respectively -- other states with large numbers of cases, like California and Arizona, will only see three-quarters of the costs covered by the federal government.

"With American lives at risk, the President is continuing to manipulate our nation's pandemic response to benefit his own political fortunes," said Noam Lee, executive director of the Democratic Governors Association, in a statement. "The National Guard deployments are the latest development in the partisan games the President has played with states seeking critical supplies and aid."

Prioritizing pandemic aid to states that are critical for his re-election.  This is the exact type of corruption -- the use of government resources to aid his reelection -- that led to IMPEACHMENT.

Trump's emphasis on a direct appeal from governors to secure full funding for the National Guard deployments is just the latest example of Trump and his aides requesting governors ask the President directly for help and -- in some cases -- make a public show of thanking him for coronavirus assistance.

Texas and Florida, however, were the only two states that remain in the status quo with 100% of costs covered by the federal government.

 

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/06/politics/trump-national-guard-coronavirus-texas-florida/index.html

Date: 
Tuesday, August 18, 2020