Why Isn’t our Governor and our Republican representatives in Tallahassee doing the Peoples’ work?
Today we are posting an editorial by Mike Hoagland which we have titled why Isn’t our Governor and our Republican representatives in Tallahassee doing the Peoples’ work? He also questions why are they not working together to do the peoples work? He mentions that candidates need to be vetted. We Submit where they get their money from needs vetting as well! Let us know what you think. We think only campaign finance reform and an educated and interested populace will fix this problem.
MIKE HOAGLAND EDITORIAL
Remember when Ron DeSantis was first elected as our Florida Governor. We were extremely excited and from the beginning he proved us correct with our selection. He was great. He handled every adversity with professional leadership. He has since been reelected by a large margin. Why am I discussing this now? Well, there is a big difference between a first term with the likelihood of reelection and a second term which legislators consider a lame duck period especially in the last two years in office.
Florida republicans have a super majority in the House and Senate. They could even override a governor’s veto. The legislature has undermined the governor when they disagreed with his initiatives. We elected Ron DeSantis for his leadership and judgement. When he proposed his immigration initiative, the legislature balked and forced DeSantis to compromise and adopt their proposal which effectively removed sole authority from the governor when it came to immigration. The Florida House is proposing to reduce the Florida state sales tax by a small percentage. Keep in mind tourists pay sales tax when in Florida. The Governor agrees with the Florida senate that wants to reduce property tax which is paid for by Florida homeowners. This discussion was taking place during the legislative session which just ended. There was no resolution to this but the House does not cooperate with DeSantis on important issues.
Florida has a constitutional requirement to have a balanced budget. Since the House did not deliver on this requirement, they will have to call for a “special session”. This house has not performed well. With a super majority, there are no consequences to their legislative conduct. Could they have addressed some of important issues to voters? Voter integrity issues can’t even make it to a committee for a hearing. All of us have to deal with increases in our automobile and homeowners insurance premiums. Have any of us heard the legislature propose workable solutions? How about curbing attorney fees on auto and homeowner claims? Want to see a drastic reduction in litigation? Cut fees for winners and have the losing party in a claim have to pay the winners legal fees. Premiums will take a dive. Do you think any legislators have the courage to take on the Florida Bar Association?
I am bringing a few of these issues to the forefront because our club attempts to vet candidates that run for office in our precinct. Identifying statesmen versus politicians requires research. Some individuals tell us what we want to hear. All viable candidates will have silver tongues. Once in office and in Tallahassee, we lose track of their actions. They can become corrupted by the power of office. That is why we give endorsements. If the best candidates were always elected, America First solutions would be routine. The Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida release grades for each legislator at the conclusion of each session. Our Florida representatives statewide have performed poorly. Do we even know how our representatives performed? I asked “What is the consequence?”.
