Jeff Bartel, chairman and managing director of Hamptons Group, offers his opinion on Mayor Francis Suarez of Miami's handling of the coronavirus.

1. THE VIRUS CRISIS, 3A
2 students test
positive during
Dade schools’
reopening week
BUSINESS, 24A
Private-equity
giant Blackstone
will open tech
office in Miami
BY DAVID SMILEY AND DOUGLAS HANKS
dsmiley@miamiherald.com
dhanks@miamiherald.com
Already in doubt, a debate between President
Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe
Biden scheduled for Oct. 15 in Miami appeared
to fall apart Thursday after the president balked
at organizers’ plans to hold the event virtually
due to concerns about his COVID-19 diagnosis.
Trump, reacting to an announcement from
the Commission on Presidential Debates that
the candidates would participate “from separate
remote locations,” quickly called into Fox News
to reject the possibility of a virtual presidential
debate based only partially out of the Adrienne
Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.
“I’m not going to waste my time on a virtual
debate,” Trump said. “That’s not what debating
is all about. You sit behind a computer and do a
debate. It’s ridiculous. And they cut you off
whenever they want.”
The announcement of a format change —
and Trump’s refusal to go along — threw into
doubt the likelihood of the Miami debate, as
well as another scheduled for Oct. 22 in Nash-
ville, Tennessee. During the afternoon, as
Trump’s campaign argued that both debates
should be pushed back one week, Biden com-
mitted to an Oct. 15 town hall in Philadelphia
hosted by ABC, and his campaign indicated
that the former vice president would not agree
to a later debate.
“We haven’t officially canceled [the Miami
debate] yet,” Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., co-chairman
of the Commission on Presidential Debates,
told CNN on Thursday evening. “We haven’t
heard back yet from the Trump campaign as for
exactly what they’re going to do, although I did
CAMPAIGN 2020
Miami
debate
between
Biden and
Trump looks
unlikely
President Donald Trump rejected a plan to
hold the event virtually due to concerns
about his COVID-19 diagnosis.
SEE DEBATE, 6A
DAVID J. PHILLIP AP
Miami Marlins players watch during the ninth inning of Thursday’s game against the Atlanta Braves in the National League
Division Series in Houston. The Marlins rose from being ‘Bottom-Feeders’ to being one of the great stories in baseball this
year. They found themselves among the final eight teams playing in this pandemic-shortened season. More, 15A
MARLINS’ SURPRISE RUN IS SWEPT AWAY
NL PLAYOFFS | BRAVES 7, MARLINS 0 (BRAVES WIN SERIES 3-0)
VOLUME 118, No. 25
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Storming the state Capitol.
Instigating a civil war. Ab-
ducting a sitting governor
before the presidential elec-
tion.
Those were among the
planned plots described by
federal and state officials in
Michigan on Thursday as
they announced terrorism,
conspiracy and weapons
charges against 13 men. At
least six of them, officials
said, had hatched a detailed
plan to kidnap Gov. Gretch-
en Whitmer, a Democrat,
who has become a focal
point of anti-government
views and anger over coro-
navirus-control measures.
The group that planned
the kidnapping met repeat-
edly over the summer for
firearms training and combat
drills and practiced building
explosives, the FBI said;
SEE WHITMER, 2A
MICHIGAN
BY NICHOLAS
BOGEL-BURROUGHS, SHAILA
DEWAN AND KATHLEEN GRAY
The New York Times
Federal and state officials in Michigan announced
terrorism, conspiracy and weapons charges against 13 men.
At least six of them, officials said, had planned to abduct
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who has become a focal point of
some groups over her coronavirus-control measures.
Michigan Gov.
Gretchen Whitmer
Group plotted to kidnap
Michigan’s governor, FBI says
Miami-Dade County
commissioners on Thurs-
day took a first step toward
allowing civilian aircraft to
use Homestead Air Re-
serve Base — after ad-
dressing concerns from
environmentalists that the
move could clear the way
for a major cargo oper-
ation at a facility bordered
by two national parks.
Commissioners unani-
mously agreed to negotiate
a joint-use agreement with
the Air Force that would
allow what is called a
fixed-base operator to
provide fuel and other
general-aviation services
for small aircraft. But first
they added and approved
an amendment that they
THE ENVIRONMENT
Despite cargo ban, activists
fret about private use of base
BY ADRIANA BRASILEIRO
abrasileiro@miamiherald.com
County commissioners
approved a proposal for a
fixed-base operator for
general-aviation use only
at Homestead Air Reserve
Base after advocates
voiced concerns about
threats to the Everglades
and Biscayne Bay.
SEE HOMESTEAD, 2A
MARSHA HALPER Miami Herald file
Large airplanes like this U.S. Air Force Hercules C-130 can
land at Homestead Air Reserve Base’s long runway.
Attorneys representing
two innocent men killed
during a Wild West-like
shootout between police
and jewel thieves a year
ago blasted law enforce-
ment on Thursday, accus-
ing investigators of with-
holding information —
including ballistic tests
that would show who fired
the fatal shots in a skir-
mish that played out on
live television.
Michael Haggard —
representing the family of
UPS driver Frank Ordoñez,
who was killed after his
truck was hijacked by the
thieves and taken on a
two-county chase — said a
witness in an adjacent
vehicle has told them po-
lice fired the first of what
turned out to be nearly
200 bullets.
“It was absolutely pure
recklessness. There was no
tactical strategy. They
tried to box in two kid-
nappers and used civilians
as human shields. They
went in guns blazing with-
out any regard for human
life,” Haggard said.
He has already filed a
wrongful-death lawsuit on
behalf of Ordoñez’s family
and said he intends to do
the same for the family of
Rick Cutshaw, a 70-year-
old union organizer who
was killed in the crossfire.
Haggard said he believes
Ordoñez, 27, who had
been taken hostage in
Coral Gables by armed
robbers Lamar Alexander
and Ronnie Hill, both 41,
MIRAMAR | UPS TRUCK HIJACKING
Police fired first in shootout,
family attorney says
BY CHARLES RABIN
crabin@miamiherald.com
Almost a year after a police shootout in which four
people were killed, attorneys blasted cops for
withholding evidence and said police fired first.
SEE SHOOTOUT, 2A
PEDRO PORTAL pportal@miamiherald.com
Jasmine Martinez is the
mother of Frank Ordoñez’s
two daughters.
RYAN GARZA Detroit Free Press, file 2020

2. 12A FRIDAY OCTOBER 9 2020
Opinion MIAMIHERALD.COM
FACEBOOK.COM/MIAMIHERALD » TWITTER.COM/MIAMIHERALD
RICK HIRSCH
MANAGING EDITOR
AMINDA MARQUÉS GONZÁLEZ
PUBLISHER / EXECUTIVE EDITOR
JOHN S. KNIGHT (1894-1981)
NANCY ANCRUM
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR
JAMES L. KNIGHT (1909-1991)
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JUST FOR SHOW
I am so tired of all the
posturing by Republicans
and Democrats over the
nomination of Amy Coney
Barrett to the Supreme
Court. The hypocrisy on
both sides is draining.
Why can’t Republicans
just admit that with the
very real possibility of
Trump losing reelection
and the Senate flipping to
the Democrat, it is abso-
lutely essential to get this
conservative judge con-
firmed, and Republicans
will do whatever it takes to
make that happen.
And why can’t Demo-
crats admit that, were the
situation reversed, they
would be doing the exact
same thing.
– Michael Katz,
Miami
MAYOR’S CANDOR
I commend Miami May-
or Francis Suarez for his
forthrightness and courage
to frankly address the CO-
VID-19 health crisis. When
he became one of the first
public officials to contract
the virus in March, he
quarantined and sought
contact tracing before CDC
guidelines were imple-
mented. Suarez candidly
provided his constituents
an update on his symp-
toms.
Weeks later, he sought to
provide short-term emer-
gency assistance to desper-
ate city residents. He took
issue with other leaders,
including the county mayor
and governor, when he
declared it was imprudent
to reopen businesses pre-
maturely.
This week, Suarez sent a
thoughtful, but stern, mes-
sage that President Trump
should not come to Miami
for the debate next week if
he still has COVID-19.
That is a remarkable dis-
play of courage, particular-
ly because of the retribu-
tion he will receive from
the GOP.
Suarez has shown au-
thentic, bold leadership,
doing the right thing for
the people he represents,
regardless of personal
consequences. This stands
in stark contrast to so
many politicians. At least
Miami’s mayor is protect-
ing the health of those who
work, live and visit our city.
– Jeff Bartel,
Miami
THE WINNER
Re the vice presidential
debate: There was only one
person on stage Wednes-
day night who came across
as someone who could be
president. It was Vice Pres-
ident Pence. He reminded
me of Ronald Reagan in his
first term.
– Robert E. Panoff,
Pinecrest
TRUMP’S MISTAKE
The most unforgivable
sin President Trump has
committed was not telling
the country we are in a
terrible pandemic and we
all have to wear masks.
This is the most basic thing
we can do to mitigate this
problem, and he does just
the opposite.
He doesn’t want to dam-
age his macho image by
wearing a mask. He is
content that more than
200,000 people in this
country have already died.
He has said too often that
the virus will just disap-
pear.
How can the president of
the United States, or any
other person, do this?
How can any moral per-
son, Democrat or Repub-
lican, vote for someone like
this?
He is a disgrace to this
country. Something is ter-
ribly wrong here. I only
hope we all wake up and
realize he is a sick man and
should not be president.
– Morey Moss,
Miami
SURFACE TENSION
Re the Oct. 7 story “Wa-
ter bikers roil waters, pad-
dler in calm Miami basin:”
I have personally experi-
enced the safety hazards
that personal watercraft
pose to human powered
boats in the Miami Marine
Stadium basin. And I have
spoken to law enforcement
about it.
Social distancing is far
from the minds of the jet
skiers in the basin and
other gathering destina-
tions. They roar into the
basin in groups, many with
two people riding closely
on one jet ski.
Then, they congregate at
the little beach and party.
No masks, no social dis-
tancing.
Friends in larger boats
might join the group; often
rafting together to create a
better party atmosphere. I
have seen a drone video,
taken in August, showing
just these kinds of danger-
ous COVID-ignoring activ-
ities.
It’s only “fun” to the jet
skiers who blatantly ignore
the safety of regular users.
It’s definitely not healthy
when practiced. It needs to
stop.
– Sunny McLean,
Coconut Grove
LOGICAL CHOICE
The Obama/Biden team
gets credit for pulling our
economy out of the gutter,
creating a working entity.
Then, President Trump
took it from there and
raised it to a new, unimag-
inable level.
Unfortunately, it is now
back in the gutter, and we
have to decide who is bet-
ter at handling the needed
recovery.
Should it be the one who
took a winning game to a
new height, or the one who
has a proven track record
of pulling a losing economy
back from the brink of
disaster?
Logically, the choice
seems to be former Vice
President Joe Biden.
– John B. McCaughan,
Miami Shores
CHOOSING FAVORITES
How is it that German
leader Angela Merkel and
French leader Emmanuel
Macron and many other
leaders of the civilized
world stay safe and
healthy, but populist/rad-
ical leaders like Jair Bolso-
naro of Brazil, Boris John-
son of England, and Presi-
dent Trump get CO-
VID-19?
– Juan A. Galan, Jr.,
Coral Gables
SELECTION SOLUTION
Here’s a possible solu-
tion to selecting Supreme
Court justices.
Why not create a pool of
people qualified to be Su-
preme Court justices that
have been vetted before
they are actually needed?
Each new administration
could initially add some
number to the pool.
When one is needed,
they would be selected by
lottery. This eliminates the
rush to cram one in before
an election.
In addition, these justic-
es could retire at a decent
age without worrying about
being replaced by the nom-
inee of a hostile president.
– Dennis R. Blanchard,
Sarasota
WILLFUL IGNORANCE
President Trump talks
like he caught the virus on
purpose, so he could brag
about it by saying don’t be
afraid of it.
What a poor plan!
– Paul Pelton,
Jupiter
COVID RELIEF
It is shameful how the
government is using the
American people as pawns
just to secure votes. Not
passing a much-needed
second COVID relief bill
because of politics is un-
forgivable.
Does anyone in Wash-
ington realize the state of
our economy? Or the effect
on the well-being of fam-
ilies, small businesses,
mental health and so many
other factors?
The tourism industry, so
vital to our state, is se-
verely damaged, with un-
employment in that sector
sky high.
Sens. Marco Rubio and
Rick Scott deserve much
credit for leading the Set
Sail Safety Act, which will
help the cruise industry
begin sailing. But we need
much more.
Both parties must get to
work, and put the Amer-
ican people first.
– Olga Ramudo,
Coral Gables
President Trump’s latest
proposal to send 33 million
people on Medicare $200
prescription drug gift cards
is a poor substitute for
policies that would actually
lower drug prices. He has
had four years to follow
through on his promises of
affordable medication for
seniors. Not only has the
price of drugs not de-
creased as he keeps
claiming, but they are now
the most expensive in the
healthcare system. Seniors
see this in our growing
out-of-pocket costs every
time we go to the pharma-
cy.
I am fortunate to have
Medicare drug coverage,
but should it lose funding, I
could not afford my medi-
cations. Trump’s gift card
won’t even cover one
month for me or millions
of other seniors, much less
help the sickest people on
Medicare.
Trump promised to low-
er prices by getting the
drug makers to negotiate
prices. He had an opportu-
nity last year to take up the
House-passed Lower Drug
Costs Act (H.R. 3). Senate
Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell refused to take
it up even though it would
have saved seniors billions.
The administration is
backing a lawsuit that
could overturn the Affor-
dable Care Act (ACA) at
the Supreme Court. His
rush to confirm an anti-
ACA justice to the court
will ensure he has enough
extremist justices to finally
accomplish there what he
was unable to do in Con-
gress: take away health
care from 20 million peo-
ple. The ACA strengthened
Medicare and has saved
seniors billions since the
law’s passage.
For all of Trump’s rheto-
ric about taking on Big
Pharma, his actions, such
as the 2017 tax law, have
mostly helped drug corpo-
rations. Election gimmicks
and tax giveaways for Big
Pharma won’t provide
seniors with affordable
drugs, no matter how they
vote. It is time for real
reform.
– Lorenzo Canizeras,
co-chair,
Labor Community Alliance
of South Florida,
Miami
Drug
discount
card mocks
seniors
‘‘PRAYERS FOR MY
HUSBAND WHO
VERY TRAGICALLY
GOT ME NOTHING
FOR OUR
ANNIVERSARY
WHEN I
SPECIFICALLY TOLD
HIM I WANTED
NOTHING FOR OUR
ANNIVERSARY.
@mommajessiec
Twitter
ripping off the middle class.
This promise helped him get
elected. He was right on that
point, too.
But, four years later, Trump
has tax strategies available to
him that are simply not available
to the vast majority of his sup-
porters.
Wage-earning Americans have
taxes garnished directly from
their paychecks.
Someone in Trump’s position,
however, can hire tax lawyers
and accountants to push the
rules right up to the line of fraud.
In 1977, President Jimmy Car-
ter’s federal tax burden for the
previous year was zero, thanks to
a tax credit earned from purchas-
ing equipment for his farm.
Carter voluntarily paid the
Treasury $6,000, equivalent to
15 percent of his income, com-
pared to the 14 percent paid by
the average taxpayer that year.
Maybe that makes him a
chump or maybe that makes him
a patriot.
But just as in 1977 and 2016,
the tax code is still unjust and
irrational and needs to be fixed.
This editorial originally was
published in the Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette.
Why do real estate developers
enjoy such generous tax exemp-
tions?
Why are there provisions on
capital gains that allow them to
pay very little or no federal in-
come taxes?
Further, the IRS is increasingly
unable to do its job as a result of
lack of oversight and support
from Congress.
A report co-written by former
Harvard President and Treasury
Secretary Larry Summers for the
National Bureau of Economic
Research says that $7.5 trillion in
taxes will go uncollected in the
next 10 years because the IRS
simply does not have the means
to enforce the tax law.
During the 2016 campaign,
Trump repeatedly criticized tax
avoidance by the super rich,
saying that he believed rich
Americans should pay more in
taxes on every dollar of addition-
al income.
He was right.
Trump also campaigned on a
promise to stop the wealthy from
T
he New York Times al-
leges that President
Trump paid $750 in
federal income taxes in
2016 and 2017.
Whether or not this is true (the
Times has not made public its
evidence), a tax system that lets
some people — the super rich
and the super poor — pay no
taxes while most Americans pay
a lot in taxes is corrupt and un-
sustainable.
By contrast, in 2016, house-
holds in the middle 20 percent of
the U.S. income distribution
earned roughly $60,000 and
paid $2,200 (both on average) in
federal income taxes, according
to the Congressional Budget
Office.
No one really likes taxes or
paying taxes. But paying one’s
fair share is one of the duties we
all owe our country.
As tycoon Warren Buffett has
said, if his executive assistant
pays a higher rate of taxes than
he does, something is very wrong
— the system is inequitable and
unfair.
And there are specifics in the
tax code that are inexplicable
and incomprehensible, except as
special favors for those who can
afford lobbyists.
Why, for example, does the tax
code, crafted by both Democrats
and Republicans, allow a busi-
ness taxpayer to write off person-
al expenses, such as haircuts and
greens fees, as business deduc-
tions?
Trump
paid $750
in taxes?
Blame
faulty code
GUEST EDITORIAL
AP
President Trump allegedly paid
only $750 in income tax. Why?
Because he could legally do it,
thanks to our tax code.
OPEN MIC