The Trump klan is preparing to permanently move their operation down to south Florida, even as Trump's pandemic spikes out of control. Yesterday the state reported 11,335 new cases and 126 new deaths. Today there were 11,699 new cases, bringing the Sunshine State's total to 1,106,396, fewer only than California and Texas, though on a per capita basis, Florida, with much smaller population than either, is doing worse than California and worse than Texas:
Florida- 51,514 cases per million residents
Texas- 49,046 cases per million residents
California- 38,471 cases per million residents
That doesn't matter to the Trumps. The old man certainly plans too continue with bigger and better grifts. And Jared and Ivanka... which will run for governor of Florida? Yesterday Paul Krugman wrote that House Dems have always been willing to pass a relief bill along the lines of giving the working class the resources to ride out the pandemic and "until a few days ago the Senate appeared to be moving toward a bill that, while much smaller than Democrats wanted, would be better than nothing. The main obstacle seemed to be the determination of Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, to include a poison pill-- a blanket exemption of businesses from any liabilities related to exposing their workers to Covid-19 risks. But observers were hopeful that an agreement could still be reached. Then came the Trump administration intervention-- a proposal from Steven Mnuchin, the treasury secretary, that McConnell quickly endorsed even though it was disastrously wrongheaded... [Trump's] proposal completely eliminated the most important piece of any relief deal-- expanded benefits for the unemployed-- replacing it with one-time $600 checks that would be sent to everyone. For Americans who won’t be able to return to work while the pandemic is still raging, a one-time payment of $600 is grossly inadequate, while for those who haven’t lost their jobs it’s unnecessary. It’s true that people might spend some of the grant, boosting overall demand-- but overall lack of demand isn’t the main problem right now. So what is Mnuchin thinking? We can’t rule out sheer ignorance. It is, sad to say, entirely possible that, nine months into the pandemic slump, administration officials still don’t understand the basic logic of relief. Or they may be in thrall to the thoroughly debunked myth that unemployment benefits actually cause high unemployment. Or maybe this proposal reflects the expiring administration’s special combination of delusion and cynicism. President Trump is still trying, in ever more desperate and destructive ways, to overturn the results of the election. And in his madness he may imagine that he will gain more politically from sending everyone another check with his name on it than from helping those truly in need."
CNN reported today that Jared and Ivanka are closing a deal on Miami's Indian Creek Island (aka, "billionaire bunker") for a 2 acre plot of land on Biscayne Bay that was on the market for $31.8 million. The Kushner's were haggling with owner Julio Iglesias over the price.
There is talk of one of them running for office in Florida, although it would be hard to imagine the male Kushner being elected to anything. CNN reported that Ivanka "has not ruled out a near-future run for office, nor has she publicly denied she has political ambitions of her own. Florida, which President Donald Trump won in 2016 and 2020, provides a potential opportunity for Ivanka Trump, should she choose to enter politics. A source told CNN that "Ivanka definitely has political ambitions, no question about it. She wants to run for something, but that still needs to be figured out."
Although she could primary Rubio in his Senate reelection bid in 2022, constitutionally she would have to wait 7 years before she could run for governor of Florida. One Democratic politician seemed happy at the news, telling me that he is looking forward to all of Ivanka's recipes using Goya products and that it is worth noting that Florida has a Homestead Exemption that protects your primary residence from being seized by creditors. "$30 million is a nice chunk of change to be shielded from whatever legal action is coming their way."
I asked Alan Grayson about how he feels having the Kushner's in his state. "If they want to move to some place that Daddy hasn’t screwed up" he told me this evening, "it’s going to have to be Antarctica." Grayson was a member of the Science, Space and Technology Committee and visited Antarctica in his official capacity; not many others were interested in going.