Rep. Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, debates during Special Session A of the Legislature as the House considered the compromise budget on June 6, 2015 | Photo Florida State Legislature via Wikimedia Commons
Part XLXI of the “United States 2024 Elections” Series
Freedom-loving Americans must help Floridian opposition leaders end the GOP control of the governorship, State Senate, and State House since 1999. The Republicans also control both state seats in the U.S. Senate. Mr. Trump is now a Floridian resident. As the GOP presidential bet, he is adding insult to injury, to use a cliche. Mr. Trump has also been accused of diverting campaign political donations to stage political events — since 2015 to the present — at his properties in Florida, which should not have been allowed under federal and state election laws.
Perhaps political activists in Florida can raise the issue that, thanks to the GOP leadership, Florida has become the 20th poorest state in the country—yes, despite being the third-biggest state in population.
This columnist stresses the obvious that should prompt Kamala Harris to sign a Covenant with Floridians (as suggested earlier) to make the Sunshine State the epicenter of her Administration’s war against poverty. Then, Mr. Obama’s twin victories in Florida in 2008 and 2012 can be repeated. History repeats itself.
It is also respectfully suggested that after the Harris-Walz slate wins Florida, it must comply with its promise in a proposed “Covenant With the People” that a Floridian may be named the Secretary of Agriculture in its Cabinet. Perhaps a new Administration may consider the former Commissioner of Agriculture of the Sunshine State for said Cabinet position. Then, socioeconomic reforms, especially in the agricultural industry, can be started in Florida in January 2025 and continued during her term as POTUS.
Here are some of the actions that Florida’s Republican state officials have allegedly done in the past that did not benefit taxpayers:
- Encourage Florida’s state-employees pension fund bosses to invest in Russian companies. After the Kremlin invaded Ukraine, Florida’s investment in Russia turned south, and the said pension fund lost reported a minimum of $ 200 million that was invested in Russia. This column mentioned the unwise, if not foolish, decision to invest in Russia and not in its poorest rural counties of Florida. On July 17, 2022, this column published the article, An “American Adventurer“ in Ukraine and Florida’s Pension Fund Loses Millions in Russian Investment.
- Approve the sale of farmland to foreign companies, among them a mainland Chinese company that would devote the purchased land to raising monkeys for medical research. On September 7, 2022, this column featured the article, Is Governor DeSantis Engaged in “Monkey Business”?
- More farmlands and rustic areas of the Sunshine State are being turned into asphalt and concrete jungles. On September 25, 2022, this columnist wrote this op-ed, Turning Florida’s Farms and Rural Areas Into Memorial-Tree Parks.
- Flying in chartered aircraft, asylum seekers and migrants from Texas to New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Mainstream media reported that Taryn M. Fenske, the communications director for Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, said in September 2022 that the two flights were part of a state program to transport undocumented immigrants to so-called sanctuary destinations. In 2022 alone, the Florida Legislature set aside $12 million for the transportation program. What if the amount were invested in public-private partnerships in 12 of the poorest counties, with one million greenbacks, to raise agricultural produce to supplement school lunches and food for the poorest poor?
Quo vadis, Florida voters? For the past 25 years, you have allowed Republican politicians to rule over your land? Your political lords are banning certain books in public libraries and eventually diverting taxpayers’ funds from public schools to private charter schools. Ergo, if you want to end what appears to be political tyranny that contributed to your state being publicized as the 20th-poorest state, then perhaps you may use your right to suffrage this coming election to end your socioeconomic misery.
