Ron DeSantis is one of the worst Governors in the country and his presidential campaign has been a total disaster. DeSantis is costing Florida taxpayers more money, has destroyed tourism in Florida due to his fascism, has a Malaria problem in his state, and now is hiding behind his wife as she campaigns for him because he has zero personality.
Casey DeSantis ‘mamas’ video labeled ‘desperate effort’ to save husband’s campaignhttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/07/casey-desantis-parents-rights-video-mamas-for-desantisDeSantis’ veto of electric cars bill cost taxpayers $277 million, critics say
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis was more concerned about Iowa corn farmers than Florida taxpayers when he vetoed a popular bill that could have saved the state $277 million by adding electric vehicles to state and local government fleets, a Democratic critic says.
More EVs would mean less of a demand for ethanol, which is processed from corn grown in states such as Iowa, the expected home to the first presidential caucus next year.
It’s another example of DeSantis putting his own political ambitions to be president over the needs of Floridians, said Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando.
“The Iowa caucus voters who are all about ethanol don’t see electric vehicles as something that is economically in their favor,” Eskamani said. “DeSantis is catering to his Iowa voters, not passing policy for Floridians.”
The electric car bill, SB 284, sponsored by Sen. Jason Brodeur, R-Lake Mary, would have required all state and local governments, colleges and universities to buy vehicles based on their lowest lifetime costs. Current law requires such purchases to be based on fuel efficiency.
It ordered the Department of Management Services to make recommendations by July 1, 2024, to state agencies, colleges, universities and local governments about buying electric vehicles and other vehicles powered by renewable fuels.
“It allows us to look at procuring electric vehicles,” Brodeur said. “It doesn’t mean you have to purchase any.”
The governor’s veto last week was perplexing, supporters said. Both the Florida Natural Gas Association and the Sierra Club supported the measure, along with the Advanced Energy United and Electrification Coalition, a group that supports increasing the use of alternative-fuel vehicles.
“It was a common sense, good governance bill. There is nothing in this bill that any person in America should be against,” said former Sen. Jeff Brandes, a Tampa Bay Republican who tried getting similar legislation through last year.
The law could have saved state and local governments $277 million over 15 years by adding more electric vehicles to their fleets, said Michael Weiss, the Florida state lead at Advanced Energy United, a trade association of clean energy companies.
Advanced Energy United and the Electrification Coalition calculated the bill would have saved governments an average of $18,000 per vehicle by switching to an all-electric vehicle fleet, Weiss said. Using the state’s vehicle data provided by the Department of Management Services, they conducted a total cost analysis of the state’s fleet.
“This veto is a baffling decision that will cost Florida taxpayers millions of dollars,” Weiss said. “The Florida Legislature saw the clear economic and taxpayer benefits of a modern and efficient state fleet, but Gov. DeSantis somehow didn’t get the memo.”
It was only a few years ago that DeSantis touted the benefits of electric cars at a news conference announcing the construction of EV charging stations at rest stops along Florida’s Turnpike.
“It’s amazing how much cheaper it is to just charge a vehicle than to fill up a gas tank,” DeSantis said at the time. “And so as technology evolves, we hope that that’ll be reflected in people’s pocketbooks. So we want to make sure we have the infrastructure in place to make that a reality.”
His staff didn’t respond to a request to explain the veto.
The bill passed both chambers of the Legislature with just a single no vote, by Rep. Yvonne Hinson of Gainesville. But it is not likely anyone would even suggest trying to override the veto because of the governor’s immense grip on Tallahassee.
That’s not going to happen,” Eskamani said.
Eskamani said DeSantis also has put personal politics first with culture war laws such as sexual orientation in schools, banning gay-themed books and drag shows, and making it harder for unions to collect dues.
She and other Democrats have pointed out problems such as soaring insurance premiums and a spike in housing costs that go unsolved.
“Not a single part of his agenda that passed is helping Floridians,” she said. “His agenda is tailored to the needs of Republican primary and caucus voters."
© Orlando SentinelExperts panic over Florida tourism as major conventions flee state's 'unfriendly political environment'
Convention organizers are pulling out of Florida, which is devastating knock-on tourism and causing panic over the future of the industry, experts warned in a report Friday.
When asked for a reason why they were scrapping plans, one organizer wrote simply: “Governor DeSantis.”
More than half a dozen planned conventions in Broward County, which encompasses the Fort Lauderdale area, have been scrapped in recent months, according to a list drawn up by the county’s tourism promotion group Visit Lauderdale and reported by the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
“We lost this program due to political climate,” Visit Lauderdale notes on a decision by the Supreme Council of America Inc., Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite Masons to cancel its meeting, planned for August next year. It also canceled 855 hotel rooms.
Thousands of dollars are also being lost by restaurants and attractions by visitors going elsewhere.
“We were so close on this one,” read another note on the cancellation of the 2024 National Family and Community Engagement and Community Schools Conference – it also pulled out of more than 2,000 hotel rooms.
“Group decided to pull out of Florida due to concerns about what the Governor is doing in the education/schools and that he will likely run in 2024. They do not want to lose attendees due to this.”
Stacy Ritter, president of Visit Lauderdale, told the Sun Sentinel, “It’s not directed at South Florida. We’re not doing anything different than we’ve been doing for the last 30 years.
“From an economic standpoint, this is very harmful," she explained. "We saw in 2020 what happens when visitors stay away — people lose their jobs. By not coming here, the residents of our county, whose values align with these organizations, get hurt. Minority, women and LGBTQ+ businesses rely on visitors for their existence. Staying away hurts those very people.”
The American Specialty Toy Retailing Association had planned a 3,000-person conference in 2026 but is instead headed to Milwaukee.
In a note to Visit Lauderdale, it’s spokesperson Beth Miller cited the “unfriendly political environment in Florida.”
“This would otherwise be such a fabulous destination for the group. I sure hope things become less polarizing soon,” she said.
The effect on tourism has been seen across Florida, the Sun Sentinel reported.
Read More Here: https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2023/07/07/unfriendly-political-environment-broward-convention-center-cancellations-blame-florida-as-reason-for-exodus/Florida leaders face 'challenges in filling' critical public health roles as Malaria cases emerge
Weeks after four malaria cases were detected in Florida, state officials are struggling to fill two important public health positions, Rolling Stone reports.
On Thursday, July 6, NBC exclusively reported the vacant roles "are in the Florida Health Department's Bureau of Epidemiology, which plays a key role in monitoring and combating the spread of disease in the state."
NBC also notes Florida Republican Governor Ron "DeSantis' hands-off approach during the height of the Covid pandemic made him a star with conservatives nationally, and he regularly touts his strategy in his 2024 presidential campaign," however, "the approach has also given Florida the reputation of being ground zero for how the division in public health administration is treated."
The Sunshine State, according to Rolling Stone, "hasn't had anyone at the top of the Bureau of Epidemiology since last month, and the surveillance administrator position has been empty since March."
Florida International University an infectious disease expert Dr. Aileen Marty, told NBC News, "These are critical public health functions," adding, "There has, unfortunately, been recent politicization of the use of vaccines and health services for refugees and other immigrants, which may explain the challenges in filling this vital position."
NBC reports:
"Late last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an alert after four cases of malaria, which is spread by mosquitoes, were found in Florida for the first time in two decades. As a result, the Florida Health Department has issued an advisory on mosquito-borne illnesses."The report also notes the CDC "issued an alert for new cases of malaria in Florida just days ago," according to Rolling Stone.
Rolling Stone reports:
"DeSantis is currently presiding over a state lacking a head of its epidemiology bureau at a time when malaria has cropped up within its borders for the first time in two decades. The climate crisis is only going to heighten the risk of infectious disease, which means the nation would probably be wise to avoid installing an anti-science ideologue like DeSantis in the White House."In April, NY Daily News reported top "Florida health administrators disregarded essential COVID-19 findings issued by the" CDC, which University of Florida biostatistics professor Matt Hitchings told Tampa Bay Times was "a grave violation of research integrity," emphasizing, [The vaccine] has done a lot to advance the health of people of Florida and he’s encouraging people to mistrust it."
Read More Here:https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/2-top-public-health-positions-ron-desantis-administration-are-vacant-rcna92120https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/malaria-detected-florida-desantis-public-health-positions-vacant-1234784402/'Contradictory’ campaign: Maggie Haberman says Ron DeSantis’ strategy doesn’t add up
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ flagging presidential campaign hasn’t yet developed a coherent strategy, New York Times senior political correspondent Maggie Haberman said Friday.
“There is a lot about the DeSantis candidacy that is contradictory,” Haberman said during an appearance on “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.”
Haberman noted that DeSantis’ comments during a recent Fox News interview in which the Florida governor acknowledges Republicans need to appeal to centrists, is at odds with his effort to appeal to Donald Trump’s MAGA base.
“At the end of the day people do want to win though and you know, you can't win with just Republicans voters,” DeSantis said in the interview, a portion of which Blitzer played video from during the panel discussion.
“I think we showed in Florida, if you want a big victory, you got to win independent voters, you’ve got to win people who haven't voted for our party in the last several cycles. I've shown I can do that, and I think we can do it nationally.”
Haberman noted several aspects of DeSantis’ campaign that do not appear to be “linear.”
“He deplores pollsters and yet he's quoting polls in that same interview that you talked about,” Haberman said.
“He talks about electability, and yet he's taking positions that are running harder and harder to the right, which helps him in a place like Iowa, but that is not necessarily helpful in a place like New Hampshire, and as you point out, not helpful in places like the suburbs.”
Haberman also noted a video produced by a pro-DeSantis super PAC that’s been widely condemned as homophobic, even by some in his own party.
“His campaign tweeted out a video that the campaign didn't even make that was decried as homophobic pretty broadly and he defended that video even though he had an opportunity not to,” Haberman said.
"There's a wide swath of voters in the general election that could be troubling to so yes, I think he is he is doing things that are not linear, and it's not entirely clear what the point is sometimes day to day.”
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