DeSantis' free-lunch conservativism may be over
By Matthew Yglesias / Bloomberg Opinion
As a member of Congress, Ron DeSantis voted against providing federal financial assistance to New York and New Jersey after Superstorm Sandy. Now, as governor of Florida, hes all for delivering federal money to his state.
A little dose of hypocrisy is nothing new in politics. But DeSantis rise to political stardom since becoming governor has been characterized by an unusual level of indulgence in free-lunch politics. And his ability to position himself as a culture warrior reflects not just political savvy (though he surely has that) but a set of fortuitous circumstances that has allowed him to mostly avoid the hard parts of governing, such as setting priorities and making tradeoffs.
His little adventure sending a charter plane to Texas to take Venezuelan asylum-seekers to Massachusetts is a case in point. It was clever in terms of raising the salience of an issue that is bad for Democrats. And it was very clever in terms of injecting Ron DeSantis into a story that has nothing to do with him.
But most governors would hesitate to incur this level of expense for something that even its admirers concede is just a political stunt. After all, who wants to hear that the state highway through town isnt getting repaved because the governor spent the transportation money on charter flights from San Antonio, Texas, to Marthas Vineyard?
https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comment-desantis-free-lunch-conservativism-may-be-over/
Pacifist Patriot
(24,653 posts)Why isn't the state highway through town getting repaved? Because the governor spent your money on an illegal political stunt.
What DeathSentence spent on an illegal political stunt could have paid for 10,000 Floridians to evacuate from Ian.
Let's get out there how much 12+Million in taxpayer funds could have done for Florida voters!
Baitball Blogger
(46,700 posts)for emergency aid, like a ferry boat to Pine Island. I wondered where that money was coming from.
Yeah, he takes a lot of credit for what probably will be federal assistance.