The Cares Act was supposed to help everyday Americans through the lock-down. But when you look back on 2020, the Extreme Rich, Millionaires, and Billionaires received the bigger slice of the Cares Act pie. 

An estimated $257.95 billion went to millionaires and billionaires who did not need the money. $10 million, the max amount a small business can receive went to a local NC company, The Budd Group. If that name is not familiar, that is my former congressional opponent Rep. Ted Budd’s family business.  Soon afterwards, Ted Budd was looking to buy an airplane to fly between D.C. and his family's private airstrip. Coincidence? 

Also, since the pandemic –  Target & Lowe’s have doubled their profits.  Walmart & Amazon - Jeff Bezos is $117 billion richer. 

Regular folks, like you and I, received $293.37 billion of the Cares Act stimulus. That is our $1,200 check.  If that $257.95 billion could have combined with the $293.73 it would have boosted our stimulus checks to $2,400 or more. 

Corporations made out big time with more tax breaks. There is always a tax break in the fine print somewhere. The Cares Act increased the deductible level of corporate debt from 30% to 50%. 

Corporations can now receive refunds of 35% of their losses going back several years. What does this do? It reduces the tax revenue, allowing corporations to pay less in taxes while millions of Americans are paying more. 

Our tax dollars are not coming back to us, it is being redistributed to the rich and corporations. This is the wealth redistribution Republicans warned us about. 

This pandemic has grotesquely inflamed income inequality. Before the Covid19 pandemic hit our nation and forced 1000’s of businesses to shutter forever, it created 52 new billionaires for a total of 659. 

In contrast, it sent millions to the unemployment lines, food bank lines, and homeless shelters.  

Those billionaires have a combined wealth of 4 Trillion dollars and 10 of those hold more than 1 Trillion. 10 people. It is simply wrong. I keep saying we live in #Two Americas. The #extremerich and everybody else. This pandemic has accelerated the divide. We need to stop electing millionaires to represent the public in Washington D.C. Do you honestly think they listen to our concerns? Do you think, they understand our struggles from pay-check to pay-check?

They use the power of the people to deny us the help we need. The Republicans through Sen. Mitch McConnell could not even give us a $2,000 check.

The last time I checked almost 800,000 people filed for unemployment this last week.  In some states like NC that's $300 a week.  Who can live on little money?  As voters, we need to pay attention to income inequality and what our leaders are doing to us.  Cause it looks like they are doing everything for themselves and corporations.

Sources:
NBC Business News – Wall Street minted 56 new billionaires since the pandemic began… by Martha C. White
ProPublica – The CARES Act sent you a $1,200 Check but Gave Millionaires and Billionaires Far More. by Allan Sloan

Today is Wednesday and this morning I awoke from a dream that I was back home in Spencer, NC.  My late Grandmother, Clelia Eakins Myers, would wake me at 6am to get ready for school at North Rowan High. 

Wednesdays before Thanksgiving would be a half day.  Because in uptown Spencer the Thanksgiving parade would be marching down main street at noon.  Cars would park on the side of the road days in advance to secure their viewing spot; like people waiting in line for that next iPhone.

You would see so many people line the streets before the parade would start.  In those days, there was always a crisp chill in the air.  You could smell the aroma of popcorn popping and to break that chill, there was always some freshly brewed Hot-Chocolate - one of my favorites.

There were so many people standing, sitting in lawn chairs, back of their pickups on top of their cars waiting for all the bands, floats and mini-go karts in formation performing go-kart tricks as the parade passed by. Then the grand finale: Here comes Santa Claus finishing up the spectacular events.  It was a sight to see and those memories fill my heart to this day.  Then it was off back home to prepare for the next day.

Later that evening, several of my cousins, friends and family would assemble in the basement for what would always be pizza night, watching TV and sports.  Fun times.

I was always my Grandmothers helper in the kitchen on Thanksgiving Day.  From placing the Turkey in the oven, helping with deviled eggs, turkey dressing and pumpkin pie.  It was a feast to behold and so much to do.  But everything was always perfect and ready on-time.

Prior to the consumption of all that food, family, cousins, and neighborhood friends would always meet up for a quick game or two of football.  We called it the Turkey Bowl.  Those were some fantastic games moving that pigskin up and down the front yard.

Then we would cram into my Grandmother’s home, set up tables, chairs and eat to our hearts’ content.  Of course, there would be a thanksgiving parade or football game in the background on our TV.  No, we didn’t have cable TV – we had rabbit ears and I was the one who knew just how to tweak them for the best reception.

Reality of today:  Many of my elders, my Grandmother and family have moved across that rainbow bridge.  Many have families of their own and are creating those memories for their children to remember one day.  I guess just like me.

But with reality of today, my heart hurts for so many families and friends who will have so many empty chairs and less plates to pile on that extra slice of turkey and gravy.  There will be happiness and sorrow for so many that honestly could have been avoided. 

We see the numbers spiking.  North Carolina is #11 on the COVID19 fatality list.  This ranking is because people are ideologically divided, refusing to wear a mask or accept the recommendations of medical experts.  Here are the numbers right now:  The USA has 12,969,067 cases – you might as well call it 13 million.  266,146 friends, family, loved ones are dead.  Our medical infrastructure is at a breaking point.  
Infections have reached 171,000 a day.  1,500 or more are dying each day. My god that’s a death every minute. People are not heeding the warnings and are traveling during this COVID19 Turkey Holiday. Have a Thanksgiving gathering and you'll have a Covid19 Christmas.  I mean how selfish we have become?  Or are we?

You may not like my response, but all the BLAME and the loss of life is on Trump and Republicans who went along with his foolishness, his lies and dishonesty. I’m not talking just at the Federal level, but state leaders here in North Carolina as well. 

Leadership failed us.  It failed our nation.  It failed to protect us, it failed to unite us, and it failed to prevent so much tragedy that we all know was completely preventable, and every denier who refused to wear a mask because of some idea that their freedoms were being infringed upon are responsible too.

This post was positive about the memories I had growing up.  But those who failed to do the right thing have created memories of sorrow, empty seats at the Thanksgiving table this year and for years to come.  Please people, wear a damn mask and do the right thing.  Christmas is a few weeks away and we all deserve to live safely with one another. It’s not much to ask. There’s a vaccine around the corner. So wear a mask, socially distance, wash your hands and don’t spend time indoors with people that you don’t know or trust. Do it for your loved ones. Do it for our nurses and first responders and do it for yourself.

Almost 3 in 5 children are going hungry in NC. Senate Republicans like Sen. Mitch McConnell have refused to act and pass the #HeroesAct. Even though I did not win my race, I'm still fighting for people in our state and district.

I started my Instant Impact Program and with my limited campaign resources I have help to feed people during #COVID19.  Will you support my Instant Impact Program and make a donation today?  So far with your support we have provided over 45,000 meals.

The 2nd Harvest Food Bank in Winston Salem is a wonderful organization. I just made a donation of $250. It will provide up to 1,750 meals and make an Instant Impact on so many #NC lives. Plz click the link right now and help me feed more.

https://secure.qgiv.com/event/crvfd/team/871566/

Friends--
If you only read one article today, let this one be it.  I hear stories like this all the time.  And, it saddens me to think that this is the country we live in: the wealthiest nation on Earth, yet we have so many shortcomings when it comes to basic humanity.

This is why I’m running for Congress.

A friend of mine—and I’m calling him Bob to protect his identity—told me his #kitchenTableStory about his granddaughter Susan.  Susan is four years old, cute as a button and the love of his life.  

She has autism and asthma.  Susan and her mom are both on Medicaid to cover the medical expenses from the autism and severe asthma.  Were it not for Medicaid, the family would not be able to get the medical attention Susan needs almost on a daily basis.  

Susan’s mom, Jennifer, works as a bartender and waitress, but only part-time because they do not qualify and can’t afford the special needs childcare that Susan would have to have.  
Money is tight.  Very tight.  So, the mom and daughter live with my friend Bob.  It keeps a roof over their heads and food on the kitchen table.  

However, a few months ago, the family found out that Susan qualifies for Social Security Supplemental Income.   After going through the mounds of paperwork and delays, Jennifer got the first check.  
They opened a bank account to help pay for Susan’s future medical and educational needs.  And, then it happened.

Jennifer was responsible.  She didn’t blow the SSI.  She saved knowing that Susan would need it a little at a time.  Jennifer received a letter from Medicaid notifying her that her daughter no longer qualifies for Medicaid and that it would be canceled within a week.  

All of this because of an SSI payment.  

Friends—this is one of many stories told around kitchen tables across my district and beyond.  We need to fix this.  Can you imagine the stress Jennifer feels?  How would you feel if this were your daughter?  Your son?  Your grandchild?  

My campaign is not about ‘pie-in-the-sky’ dreams.  It’s about real people who deserve better from their government.   It’s about real issues that face each and every one of us.  It’s about how we must live paycheck to paycheck—hoping and praying nothing breaks or needs to be replaced because we don’t have the money to fix a leak.  

It's about a Medicare/Medicaid system so eat up with bureaucratic ineptitude that we take money from a four-year-old and deny her and her family the healthcare they need.

This is why we fight.  Because there are more Susan’s, Jennifer’s, and Bob’s than we care to admit.  

And, this is why we must win.   

Please support my campaign with a donation to help us win. <<<Click Here>>

#KitchenTableStory

My wife & I just renewed our 2020 health insurance. It’s now over $1000 a month for our family of five. Over 12k a year or a monthly mortgage payment. A 10% increase compared to this years 80/20 plan. This is not sustainable.

It doesn't include the deductible you have to meet. It doesn't include the 20% we'll have to pay for any medical costs. Again, this is not sustainable for Americans.

District 13, I want to know your healthcare story. Please visit our website and tell us your story.  Whether it's Health Care, Student Loan Debt or any thing that we need to know about.

It is important to know your #KitchenTableStory. Together, we can work to fix out of control healthcare and prescription drug costs.

But it's going to take all of us.

Thank you - Scott Huffman

Tell us your story here.

My opponent,  the current Republican incumbent in North Carolina’s 8th District, got on Twitter yesterday to crow about his work to “lower prescription drug prices” for his constituents here in the 8th District, linking up a little clip of him boldly proclaiming such on the House floor recently. We all can certainly agree with him that “#drugprices are too high.” Surely his words seem innocuous enough on the surface, I mean, raise your hand if you want to save Grandma (or heck, yourself) some much needed cash at the pharmacy? Who likes “improving transparency?” And can I get a chorus of “boos” for “threaten[ing] innovation?”

Don’t be fooled, y’all, it’s not like he really means any of this stuff about wanting to help the little folks on the ground. Once a lobbyist, always a lobbyist. If he was seriously concerned about finding the cracks in the system where y’all, YOU, HIS CONSTITUENTS are falling through, wouldn’t he actually bother to hold some town halls in some of these little towns across this district to listen to your real everyday concerns? The point is, this man was elected in 2012 and it’s 2019 and in all this time, he’s only ever managed to stage a couple of scripted dog & pony shows with some hand-picked insiders they gave slick-sounding titles to like “job creator” on their “Hello My Name Is” stickers.

He ain’t listening to the diabetic who just lost their job at Cap Yarns in Oakboro to the Trump Tariffs and they’re wondering if they can ration their insulin enough to still keep their rent paid this week. I still don’t think my opponent has even noticed that a town of 2,000 people lost an employer who provided 129 jobs in that community- or that this loss was a direct casualty of these boneheaded tariffs.

One of the key phrases you are going to be hearing from this campaign we are building here in the 8th district, is that Insulin should not cost more than rent. It is a moral obscenity of the gravest consequence that a medicine so vital as insulin, whose very inventor gave up his patent for a dollar because he believed so ardently in the public health necessity of keeping his discovery affordable for all who need it, is being profiteered off of right now. You can certainly say the same for epi-pens and a whole host of other directly life-saving drugs. Repeat: this is a moral obscenity.

It sure is interesting to see my opponent grandstanding on this issue, suddenly, though. After all, earlier this year, he had an opportunity to vote to meaningfully lower prescription drug prices, but oh no, Mr. Hudson fell in line with his Republican cohorts and voted against that bill. Their complaint (and by extension, his too) was that the bill strengthened protections for patients too much. Apparently, the only people who deserve to have healthcare that doesn’t totally bankrupt them and everyone around them, are people who have lived perfectly lucky, mistake-free lives of health-conscious innocence- so I guess that’s about 5 people nationwide. The rest of us better hurry up and get well or hurry up and die before we run up a bill that’s more than our entire family combined could pay off in a lifetime.

My opponent doesn’t really want to lower prescription drug costs. He doesn’t care about lowering healthcare costs either, or he’d be looking at a lot more than just how to best punish people with pre-existing conditions for his solutions. This system is sick, it is cruel, it is inhumane, and most of all, it is grossly inefficient. To quote one very persistent lady we all admire here on Team Huffman, our healthcare system still requires Big Structural Change in order for us to truly achieve the vision of American excellence we all were taught to demand of ourselves and our institutions, growing up.

We need to get at the root of what’s driving the high costs of healthcare, and allowing wild price fluctuations and gross profiteering  (a fancy word for price gouging!) of directly life-saving drugs, especially those that should be priced low as a public health good like insulin and epi pens, must end. And yes, the protections of Obamacare don’t need to be repealed or stifled, they need to be expanded! I won’t say that the ACA is some perfect law that never needs amending, that would be foolishly naïve about even the best-written laws, but those ACA protections have done a lot of good.

Right now, Obamacare is the reason we have 26-year-olds dying from insulin rationing instead of 18-year-olds. If Hudson had his way, and the ACA were repealed as he and his party have long wanted to do, we’d be seeing parents buying coffins instead of dorm supplies for their insulin-dependent diabetic children. All the same, we shouldn’t be seeing young adults in their 20’s dying from easily preventable deaths or going bankrupt to stay alive, either. Or at any age. This is a moral obscenity.

My opponent had his chance to support bipartisan healthcare reform to lower prescription drug prices by voting for the Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act in May of this year, and he blew it. Don’t fall for his weasel words now. Remember, once a lobbyist, always a lobbyist.

We will be fighting for you.  Please invest in this campaign to defeat the lobbyist who represents Corporate PAC Interests. <<<Click Here>>>

This week, the little town of Oakboro, NC, located in Stanly County in the 8th district where I’m running for Congress, got walloped with a huge economic disaster, and nobody seems to be talking about it in the media beyond the local Stanly County paper. Cap Yarns, LLC, is shuttering their Oakboro factory and consolidating operations with their headquarters operation in Clover, SC. 
 
129 jobs in Oakboro, a town with under 2,000 people and under 800 households, just went POOF, largely due to Donald Trump’s trade war with China. This facility was obviously a major local employer, and the spillover effects are going to fall like dominoes on the heads of a lot of good, hardworking people in this little town and the surrounding areas. 
 
It’s not fair. It’s not right. I mean, can you imagine how devastating it would be if this happened in your town? There’s not a single household in a community that tiny, who won’t feel the sting of this at least a little bit. I am beside myself at the thought of all the families whose lives are going to suddenly begin unraveling after they lose one or both breadwinner jobs.
 
I sure didn’t hear about this from current 8th district incumbent Richard Hudson, though. I don’t think he knows or cares that 129 of his constituents got a pink slip today. He’s too busy affixing his lips to the derrière of the Orange One, so he can keep getting VIP seats to the Trump hate rallies, I guess. Frankly, I’m not even sure he knows Oakboro is in his district. 
 
I found out about this a while back, because my own business is going to feel the ripple effects from this too. You see, in my private citizen life, when I’m not out campaigning, I have a small IT business, and Cap Yarns in Oakboro is one of my clients and I’m going to feel this too.  My family is going to feel this along with those 129 families.    
 
Thanks again, #TrumpTariffs !
 
In case y’all haven’t heard, yesterday, the Trump Regime said Americans were “loaded up with money” from his tax scam and Mike Pence said the average America income has  “increased by $5,000.”
 
I wonder if Americans, in Oakboro, NC, know about this? I’m also wondering how many of them ended up with a surprise tax bill this spring instead of a refund? 
 
Mike Pence doesn’t want to talk about that, though, and neither does the incumbent in Congress who’s supposed to be watching out for them. There’s a small handful of fat cats living it up thanks to that Republican Tax Scam, but that’s about it. The rest of us are struggling to pay Santa Claus 10% more for Christmas this year, thanks to the #TrumpTariffs. 
 
It’s just another example of Trump’s #cookedbookseconomy and what Pence is claiming is probably some rhetorical sleight of hand from the “taxable” income amounts increasing - because of all the deductions they took away from regular middle class people. Is he bragging about effectively jacking up taxes on people?
 
But know this, everyone: when I get to Washington, I plan to remember my constituents in the teeny-tiny town of Oakboro, and that they need a hand up after this economic catastrophe. Maybe the current Republican incumbent has forgotten Oakboro, but I won’t forget. 

Please consider a contribution to my campaign so we can work on this and many issues facing our District.  Click here to donate and stand with Scott.

This regime- because to call it just another “administration” pretends a civility it hasn’t earned- is full of so many shameful sins, it’s easy to forget one horrible act after another.

After all, this regime has brought us to an era of caged babies ripped from the arms of their parents, and they’ve caged the parents too. I’m still struggling to get my head around how we ended up with a for-profit gulag system in 21st century America.

But this past week, in Greenville, the current occupant of the People’s House left an indelible stain on our state. History will record in infamy the thirteen seconds of hateful, racist chanting that it appears Mr. Trump’s campaign may have led and engineered. Clearly, he wanted to test the limits to which he could push the racist envelope in Dixie.

I’m beyond saddened to see how some of my fellow citizens of this great state were so easily swayed by the charms of this rabid demagogue. It has weighed heavily on my heart this week as I searched for the words to address this tawdry spectacle. I pray that they all become reacquainted with the most central commandment that Christ gave: to love thy neighbor.

I’ve heard this “go back where you came from” racism as a Southerner, over the years, but until recently, it was something that was becoming less and less common. Even the proverbial bigoted cousin you only see every other Thanksgiving was less vocal about his disdain for everyone not like himself, because even he knew that nonsense wasn’t acceptable anymore.

Until Trump made racism fashionable again.

Leadership always sets the tone, and while tax cuts to the rich might never trickle down to the rest of us, the tone at the top always trickles down to the streets. We have already seen how Trump’s tacit, winking approval of bigoted bullying translates into an epidemic of hate crimes and random xenophobic harassment of people who were just trying to pay for gas or buy their groceries like anybody else.

Maybe this rally will be lost in the swirling vortex of Trumpian chaos. It’s possible that North Carolina may be forgotten as the stage for this racist chant. You know they’ll have their plants in the crowd to get it started again in the next rally.

I hope we don't see this Trumpian chaos in Charlotte during the 2020 Republican National Convention.

But North Carolina shouldn’t forget. I know we are better than this, North Carolina. We are better than this. We will be better than this. North Carolina is a leader in so much that is good, that we have to be better than this.

What happened to working together for the common good? Why can’t we seem to just come to any agreement to make this union more perfect, anymore?

My opponent in the 8th, the current Republican incumbent, was smiling, clapping and cheering on this spectacle from the VIP section. Apparently, the Republican VIPs at this hate rally are only concerned with representing a very narrow, white slice of their constituents, but I plan to work hard for ALL of my constituents, not just a select few.

That is what I am offering through my run for Congress over in North Carolina’s 8th district: a new path forward out of these dark ages we’re currently living through.

America’s survival depends on a future where we may not always agree on everything, but that doesn’t stop us from working together to make life better for all of us. It feels to me like my opponent has forgotten that’s the whole point of going to Washington. It will be an uphill battle to take our country back to decency, humility and respect, but I’m willing to fight for it and I hope y’all are too.

Please support my campaign for Congress. Make a donation today.
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This morning, I was enjoying my coffee and watching one of my favorite TV shows on the Discovery Science Channel: “How It’s Made.”

One of the episodes was about refurbishing a huge machine. It was big as a bus, with all kinds of hydraulics, electronics, and huge moving parts.

According to the narrator, it had taken several months to overhaul this massive machine. This piece of equipment was a “continuous miner.” This machine is used to mine underground and only needs to be operated by one man. It's used to mine coal.

At that moment, I thought about all those coal mining jobs lost to automation. Then I was angry all over again about the false promises Trump made that those coal jobs would return.

Those jobs did not return. They will not return. Automation is taking those jobs and many more. Coal has been a dying industry for decades, and the entire coal industry has less jobs than Whole Foods has employees, to give you some perspective.

It’s a cruel joke to pretend to coal miners that they don’t need to do anything but vote Republican and the good paychecks their parents and grandparents made (thanks to the tireless work of unions to get them fair pay for dangerous work) will continue to provide for them today, or even next year.

This same phenomenon holds true here in the 8th district with the death of the factory jobs that have moved overseas because CEOs wanted to cash in on selling out America. I’m sure y’all remember the golden parachutes at Pillowtex that gave soft landings to their executives but left the rest of their employees’ families here nothing but the hard reality of being outsourced.

We can’t just sit around and play pretend when people’s livelihoods are at stake. The old platitudes about bootstraps are meaningless when you have a mortgage to make and you need a living wage job to make it.

What can we do to create jobs? Not just McJobs that pay wages nobody can realistically live on, but living wage jobs a person can raise a family on?

One thing that seems pretty obvious to me: We need to re-train our work force. Let’s provide greater incentives and grants to business to hire and *retrain* workers to prepare for 21st century jobs. There is a much bigger future for clean energy jobs in solar, wind, and micro-hydroelectric power generation. Also, absurd Trump lies about “windmill cancer” to the contrary aside, these clean energy jobs won’t give the workers black lung disease like coal mining jobs do.

However, businesses can't create those jobs when 25 to 30٪ tariffs are applied. Many clean energy projects in #NC were either scaled back or put on indefinite hold when Trump announced this latest arbitrary blow to rig the markets in favor of the craven coal barons writing him checks.

Where was our current Representative? Nowhere, silent as usual that #workingclass jobs were affected in this district he doesn’t even live in.

Moving away from fossil fuel coal jobs to clean energy jobs is great for the environment & planet. Plus, it ensures we have a viable future to leave to our children.

We can’t afford to prop up dying, toxic industries by screwing the future. Fossil fuels are a 19th century solution to 21st century problems and we can’t remain competitive with our global rivals by insisting on remaining 200 years behind the times.

Let’s embrace the future with open arms and open eyes.

Please support my campaign for Congress. Make a donation today.
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"If you don't like it you can leave."

People say this a lot on the internet, and it’s usually when they’re defending horrible injustices happening in our country. I actually find the statement very telling of those who make it.

They ignore the issues that are affecting their fellow Americans, whether it's racism, immigration, LGBTQ rights, poverty etc. If it’s not personally affecting them, they don’t care. 

Let's face it, people can be dangerously selfish. We’ve even got detailed political ideologies dedicated to enshrining this exact kind of selfishness. It’s a sad irony that often this selfish worldview is to their own detriment.
 
But where would America be if every generation before us would have said, I have mine, screw you?
 
We have independence because the founding generation of the Revolution fought to make sure we’d never have to kneel to kings again.
 
We held this country together in the civil war, despite the rending forces of this same selfishness that said it was ok to hold fellow humans in lifelong bondage.
 
We survived the Great Depression because we said “enough” to the runaway excesses of casino capitalism and stabilized the economy with the New Deal, which modernized our infrastructure and lifted millions of Americans out of desperation into dignity.
 
We defeated the Axis Powers in WW2 because everyone sacrificed something so we wouldn’t be ground under the cruel boot of fascism.
 
Our history is full of examples of how our nation was preserved and made greater, not by selfishness but by the generosity of spirit of Americans who didn’t like the status quo but didn’t just “leave,” as that tired cliché would recommend. They stayed and fought for a better and more fair America. 
 
I don’t like the status quo. But I’m not leaving. 
 
I’m sticking around to fight for America and the promise of the American Dream, that conscientious hard work can pay off here, for the person working, not the corporate billionaire heirs and heiresses who won the birth lottery.
 
I believe we are stronger together, and that everybody does better when EVERYBODY does better. “If you don’t like it, leave” is a cop out and this nation didn’t get anywhere by copping out. 

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