I was watching the local news in the background and I heard a guy talking about 3M and how Florida was getting screwed. I didn't hear the whole report.
Later, I was switching through the channels and I saw the same guy talking to Tucker Carlson (Fox News). Come to find out he is the Federal CDC equivalent at the State level. He is the head of the whole thing and ultimately responsible for the purchases of all the medical stuff for Florida.
Anyway, Carlson asked him if he was getting all the masks and respirators Florida needed. Then the guy went on a roll.
He said he contacted 3M weeks ago. They said they only sell through distributors. He contacted the distributor and ordered several hundred thousand masks since he was told they make about 1 million per week.
He followed up last week on where the masks are. The distributor said he never got any, they are gone. He asked the distributor what happened. He didn't want to answer but finally said, 3M sold them to someone else. What? Yes, someone came with cash and paid a lot more. What? Some state came in and outbid us? And who pays cash? The guy said, foreign countries. They pay whatever you want and they pay cash!
Carlson (and me) nearly fell out of our chairs. The guy said a lot of companies are doing this. It applies to all of these critical items including respirators, gowns, etc. Although most other countries have restrictions on exporting critical items, that doesn't exist in the US. You can just sell to the highest bidder and it is even better if it is all cash. He told the feds what was happening and was told that they will look into it. Isn't that great!
The top brass at 3M (including CEO Roman) should be in prison. Imagine how many lives have been lost due to greed. DISGUSTING.
Rub a Dub