The people of Florida elected a line-up of demagogues who decry “socialism” and use the term as a scare tactic, a “dog whistle.” The fear that they allude to is that the federal government will take money from their constituents, in the form of taxes, and give it to others, in the form of social safety net spending. They call this spending “handouts” and fabricate a list of ills that result from the handouts.
Now these same elected officials are requesting massive government spending (a “handout”) to assist in the recovery from Hurricane Ian. It is a perfectly acceptable request.
