Virus economy needs a better strategy

As a commercial litigation attorney, a portion of my practice includes workouts, insolvency and commercial bankruptcy. This week, almost all my time was spent helping smalland medium-sized business clients deal with financial issues related to state and federal virus mitigation strategies. For example, I helped a school photography client navigate a 225-employee layoff — that’s out of 250 total employees. There will be no rapid recovery for that client whenever the restrictions are eased. My client was projected to do $18 million in sales this year.

Another client owns three bars in Alachua County. They have been closed by government action until further notice. I am in negotiations with his various lenders but there is no point for him to keep paying his employees and I have recommended laying them off so that they can at least begin collecting unemployment.

We need to get people back to work soon to keep businesses from making decisions based on uncertainty. Uncertainly is the killer.

There must be other ways to handle this crisis than by strangling the economy to death. Could we just quarantine the at-risk population and get everyone else back to work? Could we provide testing to determine who’s already had the virus, and let those people return to productivity? Could we deliberately expose volunteers who are healthy so they can return to work after recovering?

There are a lot of Floridians who live paycheck to paycheck or have limited savings. It won’t matter to them if the grocery stores are still open if they can’t afford to buy groceries. We need to stop shutting everything down and announce a plan to get the economy back on its feet fast — in spite of social distancing and virus mitigation — to prevent a financial apocalypse.

– Jeff Childers,

Gainesville

DEATH PANELS REDUX

As a senior citizen and an American, I find Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s comments not only absurd, offensive and immoral, but downright hypocritical. I remember the debate over Obamacare and the rampant claims that “death panels” could decide to kill grandma. Now that’s actually what is being suggested in order to keep the economy going. The rationale is that our grandchildren would suffer more from a future of economic hardship than from the loss of loved ones.

However, these same politicians are willing to continue to poison the planet and destroy it, leaving future generations an uninhabitable world simply because they don’t want to pay for drastic measures that might help. It always boils down to money. I don’t believe they care about our grandchildren. They just care about stuffing their own pockets and re-electing President Trump.

– Lillian Andron, North Miami Beach

IT’S JUST BUSINESS

Donald Trump is a product of many of the worst aspects of corporate ethos that, at its core, is to generate profits. There is nothing inherently evil about that. However, corporations of all kinds have a long history of malevolent behavior harmful to many people for the sake of profit. Decades of journalistic exposés and product-liability verdicts are evidence.

Trump may be making a calculation that to ensure reelection and stem his financial losses, the sickness or death of some people in New York and California (bluest of the blue states) is a price he is willing to pay. It sounds depraved, but it is a type of decision corporate entities have made for generations. – L. Gabriel Bach,

Miami

WHO’S PAYING?

This stimulus package deal worked out by the Congress — where is the money coming from? Are they going to borrow from Social Security, like they did 11 years ago? Do they keep forgetting that is our money? We worked many years, making contributions to FICA, so at retirement we could have access to those dollars — our dollars, not theirs.

They should stop looking like heroes with borrowed money; money that is ours.

– Fernando Cuellar,

Weston

SAVAGE CALCULATIONS

We should not be surprised that President

Trump has proposed putting profits before lives. Businesses do it all the time. When insurance companies deny lifesaving treatment and risk onerous lawsuits, it is a cost of doing business. When defective products cause deaths, damages are another cost of doing business.

What makes the administration’s decision so egregious is its steadfast refusal to bolster the capacity of healthcare. Trump knows he and his rich friends can buy all the care they need, and money will decide who will live and who will die, just as it has for the past 40 years.

So let’s go back to work with the following caveat: Access to healthcare going forward will be based on a lottery. When a bed becomes available and 100 sick people need one, it will be awarded at random.

Back in the day, that’s how we decided who went to war.

When the parents and scions of the rich and powerful are just as likely to die as the rest of us, watch how quickly the leopards change their spots.

– Steven M. Urdegar,

Miami

STATE OF DISASTER

As I write this, Florida has almost 1,500 cases of the coronavirus, and New York has about 26,000. I have read at least two articles asking: Will Florida become the epicenter for the coronavirus?

With people fleeing New Jersey and New York for Florida, and a Holland America cruise ship coming into Fort Lauderdale with already sick passengers, what are the odds? Who is in charge and why are these people allowed to travel and bring their germs here? – Jan Tracy,

Cutler Bay

LOAN BARRIERS

There are a several restrictions to the Florida Disaster Bridge Loan and SBA Disaster Loan programs that make it impossible for many small businesses to receive help. Solo entrepreneurs like me do not qualify. We make up a large bulk of small businesses and are heavily affected by this barrier to assistance. Only companies with two or more employees qualify for these loans.

Companies with a previous Florida Bridge loan balance can’t receive a new one. Lots of small businesses are still carrying a heavy debt burden since the last disaster in 2017, and probably took a big hit to their credit score. If a business owner has a low credit score, these loans will be denied.

It seems like hype and great photo ops are the rule of the day again, with the neediest businesses not getting any real help. Most small businesses in Florida have nine or fewer employees. How can we hire more employees and grow when the deck is stacked against us?

Gov. DeSantis and the Florida Legislature need to remove these restrictions for micro-businesses that desperately need help in surviving this crisis.

– Millie Herrera,

Coral Gables

THANKFUL

My wife and I thank the city of Miami and the state of Florida for allowing our cruise ship, the Oceania MS Marina, to dock and disembark all passengers on March 23 at PortMiami. This act of kindness meant that we could subsequently board flights and return to our homes. Homeland Security personnel and all ground staff that we encountered treated us with respect and courtesy.

– Dennis and Daniela Kennedy, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

NONTAXABLE CRUISING

Re the March 24 letter “Cruise line bailout:” Kudos to the writer. It is absolutely true ships from the cruise industry carry foreign flags and are registered in foreign countries for the simple purpose of saving taxes. If they want a bailout from our government, they should abide by the same laws as other big corporations.

While cruise ships bring prosperity to the cities in which they dock, so do companies that don’t have their privileges. Maybe this is the time to change the laws.

– Martha A. Ginory, Kendall

DESANTIS IS WRONG

I listened to Gov. DeSantis try to explain his reasoning for not ordering a complete shut down in Florida. This decision is utterly reckless. How dare he not listen to his constituents? How dare he not do the right thing? Shame on him.

Like many others, he will be judged at election time.

– Michelle Garber, Miami

BIKING RESTRICTIONS

Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber has been one of our most proactive public servants in announcing the “Safer at Home” order for the city, unlike our wishywashy Gov. DeSantis.

However, as a regular exercise biker on the beach’s paved boardwalks, I am puzzled why only pedestrians are now allowed. Doesn’t seem to make much sense for the few outdoor pleasures we have left during this crisis.

– Jeremy Hyne,

Miami Beach