Wellington Chapter Meeting with State Attorney Candidates
Join us for a candidates forum with Dave Aronberg, Robert S. Gershman and Dina Keever. Learn their qualifications and why they want to be your next State Attorney. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Dinner price is $15, includes full meal, coffee, tea, tax, and gratuity, and is from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The meeting starts promptly at 7:00 p.m. BE THERE!
| DATE: | Monday, September 10, 2012 |
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| TIME: | Doors open 5:30pm. Buffet at 6pm. Meeting starts at 7pm, $15 per person (tax and gratuity included) |
| PLACE: | Binks Forest Golf Club, 400 Binks Forest Drive, Wellington, FL 33414, Click HERE for Directions |
Candidate Biographies
Dave Aronberg
Dave Aronberg was born in 1971 in Miami and grew up in North Miami. He attended Harvard College and Harvard Law School, receiving his Law degree in 1996.
As an attorney for a large South Florida law firm, Dave was involved with then Insurance Commissioner Bill Nelson, investigating European Insurance companies that refused to honor World War II-era policies sold to victims of the Holocaust. In 1999, he became a Florida Assistant Attorney General for economic crimes, investigating Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of the prescription drug Oxycontin, for its marketing practices and led the State’s lawsuit against “Miss Cleo,” the “Jamaican Shango Shaman Psychic,” who had become an international celebrity. In 2000, Dave served as a White House Fellow and later served in two presidential administrations as a Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Treasury for international money laundering.
Elected to the 5-county Florida Senate District 27 in 2002, with 69% against Republican Frank Mann, he was re-elected with little opposition by 86% in 2004 and 71% in 2008, and served until term-limited in 2010. As a Senator he worked to secure federal funding for Everglades restoration, worked on consumer protection legislation and restrictions on the diversion of perscription drugs.
In 2009, he ran for Attorney General, losing the Democrat primary to Dan Gelber with slightly under 41% of the vote, but going on to work for the winner in the race, Pam Bondi, as Special Prosecutor for Prescription Drug Trafficking, where he worked against pill mills.
Robert Gershman
Robert Gershman was born in 1966 and lives in Boca Raton. He received a BA in Accounting from George Washington University in 1988 and a law degree from Nova Southeastern Law School in 1991. In his final year, he interned at the PBC State Attorney’s office and was then hired by then SA David Bludworth as a full time prosecutor, and he served as assistant State Attorney under both Bludworth and Barry Krischer.
During his tenure, he prosecuted all types of crimes, up to and including death penalty cases, and served as a division chief, managing high profile cases. Upon leaving the State Attorney’s office, he entered private practice in criminal defense litigation, and has managed his practice for the last 15 years. He is one of a small group of attorneys certified under Florida State Statute to serve as lead trial counsel in death penalty cases, and has contributed many hours in pro bono work in the community.
Robert is running as a Non Party Affiliate because he believes the Office of Palm Beach County State Attorney should be fair and independant, without favoritism to any person or entity. As the next State Attorney for Palm Beach County, Robert intends to enforce the law, end corruption, prevent crime, and be an effective voice for the victims of crime. As the highest ranking law enforcement officer for Palm Beach County, he will represent the residents of Palm Beach County with zeal and integrity and will focus his efforts on ensuring justice for all.
Dina Keever
Dina Keever was born in Danville, Illinois in 1962. After graduating from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in Journalism, she worked in advertising at the St. Petersburg Times prior to earning a law degree at Florida State University where she was editor-in-chief of the Law Review.
After law school she served as a law clerk for Peter T. Fay of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Miami, then as a prosecutor in the US Attorney’s office in Miami, where whe worked on drug trafficking cases and later in Philadelphia where she prosecuted corruption, fraud, immigration, narcotics and violent crimes.
Dina has prosecuted over 250 federal cases and has extensive courtroom experience. She has written over forty federal appellate briefs and successfully argued numerous appeals in the United States Courts of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the Third Circuit. Dina has received awards from both the Drug Enforcement Administration and the United States Customs Service for her courtroom contributions to federal law enforcement.
In 2009, Dina joined other former federal prosecutors at the law firm Lewis Tein, P.L., as of Counsel. Dina took an indefinite leave of absence from Lewis Tein on April 20, 2012, in order to concentrate full-time on her campaign for Palm Beach County State Attorney. If elected, Dina will be the first female to serve as State Attorney in Palm Beach County.
August 2012 Wellington Chapter Meeting
- PBC Property Appraiser Gary Nikolits informs about November ballot initiatives
- Marion Frank discusses SCOTUS impact related to Affordable Care Act
The monthly gatherings of the Wellington Chapter of the Palm Beach County Tea Party are known for their educational value. Every month speakers are carefully selected to inform and educate our members and guests about a variety of local and national civic issues as they relate to our core values of fiscal responsibility, limited government, and free markets. Keeping with that tradition, the August meeting was no different.
The August meeting was kicked off by Gina Rascati, one of the Willington Chapter organizers. As always, Gina started off by generously acknowledging the efforts of our dedicated volunteers. Several candidates who are currently running for both local and Federal offices were in attendance. Upon a brief introductions they all were greeted with enthusiasm. The Chapter senior and founding members followed, one by one, with brief leadership updates on the overall state of the National Tea Party as well as the state of affairs in our local Chapter. The key underlying message was that the Tea Party movement is as strong as ever but we must maintain the momentum in order to win back our Country in November. Our success will very much depend on the grass roots support of our volunteers. This November, the Tea Party throughout the United States has undertaken the monumental responsibility of poll watching to ensure that a fair election process is conducted in accordance with procedure. On Election Day, we intend to have the maximum degree of coverage by our volunteer poll watchers all across Palm Beach County. A great number of people already signed up but there is always need for more. Attorney-led poll watcher training session will be scheduled prior to the election in October of 2012. More information will be provided in the weeks to come.
Our main speaker for the evening was Gary Nikolits, the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser. He delivered a highly informative, non partisan presentation in his capacity as the longest serving Elected Constitutional Officer in Palm Beach County. After a brief explanation of the process employed by his office to calculate individual assessed value of every property throughout the County, Mr. Nikolits went on to explain the current ballot initiatives relating to property taxes that Palm Beach County voters will be deciding in November. The first of several amendments, Amendment 2 provides a property tax discount to disabled military veterans with no residency requirement at the time of service.
Amendment 4 consists of three parts. Part 1 seeks to repeal the existing recapture rule that requires the assessed value of each property to be increased by a fixed amount every year even if the market value of the property drops provided that the market value remains greater than its assessed value. Part 2 seeks to reduce the existing cap on assessed property value increases for non-homesteaded properties from 10 to 5%. And last but not least, Part 3 seeks to provide a tax exemption to first time home buyers of up to $140,000 dollars in addition to the existing $50,000 dollar homestead exemption. This is a 5-year benefit that would only be extended to homebuyers who have not owned a property in the County during the last 3 years. The benefit will be gradually decreased at a rate of 20% per year.
Amendment 9 seeks to provide additional tax exemptions on the homesteaded property of surviving spouse of military veteran or first responders that die in the line of duty. This is intended to be a lifetime benefit as long as the surviving spouse does not re-marry. The first responder benefit will be retroactive, while the military benefit will be available only going forward effective January 1st 2013.
Amendment 10, seeks to increase the tangible personal property tax exemption from $25,000 dollars to $50,000 dollars. The tangible personal property tax includes furniture and fixtures owned by small business in Palm Beach County.
Amendment 11 seeks to provide an additional tax exemption to low income seniors who maintain a long term full time residence on their property.
Mr. Nikolits concluded by reminding the audience that exemptions and tax breaks for any particular group do not come without the sacrifice by the rest of tax payers who shoulder the burden of filling the resulting revenue gaps. Additional information and resources may be found on the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s website at www.co.palm-beach.fl.us/papa/
Marion Frank, the National Co-Chair of Docs 4 Patient Care Alliance, was our second speaker of the evening delivering an update on the implications of the Affordable Care Act post the recent SCOTUS decision to uphold the Law as Constitutional under the Congressional taxing power. “The Law, as it’s written, still stands with billions of dollars going towards implementing it…” passionately explained Marion in her opening remarks. At the request of the ranking republican members of the Ways & Means Committee, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) made attempts to determine the cost of implementing this Law to date. The results of the study were simply inconclusive given the massive nature and scope of this entitlement expansion masqueraded as reform.
Chief Justice Roberts, Jr. wrote; “It is not our Job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices.” Given our current course, it’s painfully clear that November may be the last chance for us to change direction as a Country.
The “mandate” has now officially become a tax, and a burden of any tax payer who may choose not to purchase, regardless of the reason, a health insurance policy starting in January of 2014. Any tax payer who unlike the nearly 50% of Americans that pay no taxes, will be subject to automatic withholding by the IRS if they are due a refund. And with over 16,000 new IRS agents on the beat, redistribution of wealth is becoming our new reality. The new Healthcare Law has many unintended consequences that are likely to have adverse impact. Experts are predicting a doctor shortage over the next several years because of the growing projections in new patient demand for care. The new Law has absolutely no provisions to encourage adding new doctors in order to meet the projected demand levels. Provisions do exist, however, to add nurse practitioners and physician’s assistants to cover the projected shortfall of doctors. At the same time, starting in August of 2012, the State of Florida has began to limit the number of nurse practitioner and physician’s assistant wellness visits for Medicaid patients to a maximum of two per month. These cost-cutting tactics amount to nothing other than rationing of care, despite the promises. Rules have also been enacted to revise the drug formulary for Medicaid patients by drastically reducing list of covered medications. Such changes encourage an environment where it becomes much more burdensome for physicians to willingly accept new Medicaid patients. Reimbursement rates of 17 cents on the dollar also help promote a future where Medicaid patients are likely to have difficulties finding the medical care that they need. At the same time, nearly 19% of employers are planning to drop healthcare coverage for their employees. Furthermore, a new medical device tax that’s built into the Law is expected to drastically impact the medical device industry which mostly consists of small business that are not likely to survive the additional squeeze on already low profit margins. Marion concluded by listing a number of practical options that can serve as great low cost alternatives to the Affordable Care Act that can be implemented immediately. Everyone is encouraged to visit the Docs 4 Patient Care web site for additional information at docs4patientcare.org/
PBC Tea Party and SF 912 jointly host Candidate Roundup
As elections approach, there are many venues in which to see and hear the candidates. Many of these, such as the network of political clubs of both parties, have rules that don’t allow non-party members to speak, even in non-partisan elections like Sheriff or Supervisor of Elections.
District 82 Candidate Forum with Senate Candidate Dave Weldon
Last evening’s joint event with Palm Beach County Tea Party and South Florida 912, kicked off with a visit by Senate candidate Dave Weldon.
Boca Chapter and SF 912 Present: The Pre-Primary Candidate Forum Roundup!
The Boca Raton Chapter of the Palm Beach County Tea Party, in conjunction with the SF912, present the “Pre-Primary Candidate Forum“, for Tuesday, August 7th at 7:00pm. NOTE: Due to the high number of candidates who wish to speak to our audience, we will likely begin EARLIER than 7:00!!! It will be held at the Boca Greens Country Club (Map HERE), and the doors will be open at 5:30pm for a cash bar, and dinner will follow from 6pm to 7pm (as usual, the cost is $15, which includes tax and gratuity). We will have this event in lieu of our normal “Dinner/Speaker” meeting, which we normally have on first Tuesday of the month. Our leadership has concluded that we would like to provide this type of event as a service to both the candidates, as well as the citizens in our county who wish to be better prepared when it comes time to vote- whatever their party of political “stripe”. This is a great opportunity for everyone involved to get to understand more of what the candidates stand for before their big Primary Election vote on August 14th.
The format will be simple: Each candidate will be allowed 5 minutes at the podium and microphone after he/she is introduced. We want each candidate to address the top two or three issues that they want to meet head-on if elected, an how they would be accountable to one or more of the Tea Party’s 3 tenets: Fiscal Responsibility, Free Markets, or Limited Government, and how they will be manifested in your approach towards the office. We ask that each candidate be very specific towards that, so that it’s not just some generic “stump speech”. We will have a volunteer timer, who will hold up cards letting each candidate know when they have 1:00 and :30 seconds remaining. A bell will ring to stop anyone who goes over time allotted.
As of August 6th, the officially confirmed candidate speakers will be: Joe Talley, Cleamond Walker, Susan Bucher, Fran Hancock, Jody Lane, Mike Lameyer, Cindy Tindell, Margherita Downey, Melanie Peterson, Gary Nikolits, Lisa Epstein, Timothy McCarthy, Sharon Bock, James Martz, Tom Thayer, Peter Evans, Peter Feaman, and Robert Weinroth.
This event will be provided in a safe and fair environment which our leadership ensure will be the model of civility. It is not a “Debate”– it is a “Forum”. There will be no mud-slinging, and the candidates are asked to confine their time at the podium to address what their platform is, NOT to attack their opponents.
Due to the number of candidates who wish to address our group, it is EXTREMELY UNLIKELY that there will be time left for a Q&A with the candidates. Assuming there is, the microphone will be tightly controlled by our leadership to avoid any questions designed with nothing more than malicious intent towards any of the candidates, determined at the sole discretion of SF 912/PBCTP personnel.
Jupiter-Palm Beach Gardens Chapter Meeting Is District 82 Florida House Candidate Forum …And US Senate Candidate Dr. Dave Weldon!
The next Jupiter- Palm Beach Gardens Chapter Meeting will be Monday, August 6, 2012 at Abacoa Golf Club, Jupiter and will be a Candidate Forum for the District 82 Florida House Seat. The Forum is jointly sponsored by our South Florida 912 friends and those candidates confirmed to attend include: Carl J. Domino (REP), Mary Lynn Magar (REP), Jonathan W. Milton (REP), Jonathan “Jon” W. Pasqualone (REP) and Calvin D. Turnquest (REP).
Doors will open at 5:00 with dinner buffet at 5:30, Dr. Dave Weldon speaking at 6pm and the Candidate Forum beginning at 7:00 PM. Be there, it will be an interesting and very timely meeting!
Mr. Brian Mudd of WJNO has accepted our invitation to moderate the Candidate Forum and South Florida 912 will assist in time keeping of responses. Questions are being developed relative to our Tea Party / SFL912 precepts of Fiscal Responsibility, Limited Government and Free Markets and more specifically – how the candidate’s presence in the Florida House can make a difference for genuine Constitutional Governance; first in Florida, then serving as an example to other States on a national scale.
And now, we get to meet Dr. Dave Weldon, US Senate candidate and hear from him between dinner and our Florida District 82 House Candidate Forum! Dr. Weldon is a practicing physician in Melbourne, Fl and was US Representative from 1994 to 2008. This will make it a near sweep on hearing personally from each of our Senate primary candidates. (See the Voters’ Guide on the Senate Race.) This promises to be a packed and very informative evening, hope to see you there.
August Meeting for Wellington Chapter- Be There!
Did you know that in November you will be voting on changes to the homestead exemption and allowing tax increase caps on commercial property? Want to know how Amendment 4 will effect you, your homestead and your business? Elected Constitutional Officer, Palm Beach County Property Appraiser, Gary Nikolits, will give us an informative, interactive, educational presentation on Monday, August 13th at Bink’s Forest Country Club. In addition, Marion Frank will also present a follow-up to the Supreme Court’s decision on Obamacare.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Buffet is served from 6-7 and is only $15.00 all inclusive. Come enjoy the company of some great patriots, help support the club and enjoy a delicious meal, get informed and get ready to make a difference in November. Click on the RSVP below so we can ensure we have enough seating.
- As always, volunteers are needed to sign in guests and sell raffle tickets and t-shirts. Please call Gina Rascati at 561-798-5498 if you can help.
Pictures from Independence Day Meet-ups
We had three exciting Independence Day Meet-ups on July 4th. As you can see from the attached pictures, they were huge successes! Our members were cordial and caused no problems, as usual. Just clean, organized fun and festivity for all. Plus, we bought food at the food courts and shopped in the malls afterward!
Unfortunately, we were told by the Town Center Mall in Boca Raton and the Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens that we are now on a list and no longer welcome! Please post your thoughts on this posting!
Click for RayCadwell’s pictures from Boca
PBCTP and SF912 Jointly Host State Senate Forum
Full Video
by Boris Balaban
On July 10, the Palm Beach County Tea Party and South Florida 912 jointly sponsored a candidate forum for the State Senate Republican primary candidates in district 25 and 34. (click for district description.) Moderated by local radio personality Joyce Kaufman, the three candidates were asked ten questions of state-wide interest. Unlike our similar forum for the County Commission, the candidates were not given the questions to ponder in advance. The result was answers with less depth, but it did differentiate the candidates on their familiarity and grasp of the issues. Below you will find a summary of the event, with the questions, their answers, and a link to a video of that section of the forum.
 Melanie Peterson District 25 |
 Geoff Sommers District 25 |
 Mike Lameyer District 34 |
| Click on the candidate’s picture for a short Bio | ||
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With three candidates participating, it was easy to lose sight of the fact that Melanie Peterson and Geoff Sommers are direct competitors and Mike Lameyer is in a different race against incumbent Senator Ellyn Bogdanoff who was unable to attend the event because of scheduling conflicts. So let’s first stipulate that Mike did a solid job. His answers were on point and he demonstrated a good grasp of the issues. Senator Bogdanoff is an excellent debater and a policy insider, but one could imagine Mike holding his own in a one-on-one if she had been able to attend. He had many facts and figures at his fingertips, and showed his passion for hot-button issues like e-Verify. The experience he gained in his 2010 run for S27 was evident in his confidence and command of the facts. Some notable answers were in prison privatization (“send them back to road patrol”) and FRS reform (“state workers should pay their own way”).
In the S25 contest, it will be an uphill battle for either of the contenders to best Joe Abruzzo in this D+12 district. Joe is an experienced legislator, with support on both sides of the aisle. It will take polish and depth to compete effectively.
On that basis, this was Melanie Peterson’s night to shine. She answered the questions directly with no attempt at deflection, and drew from her experience to add depth and real context to the answers. On the gambling question, she related her time managing Indian gaming as part of a family business to the more subtle aspects of the issue like crime and security. On the Energy bill question, she jumped from crony capitalism to a discussion of incentives for all businesses, not just those favored by certain legislators. And then she hit a home run by deflecting what was a zinger by Geoff Sommers on her support for a wind farm in the Glades (“where there is no wind”), by pointing out that it was a private sector project, with private funding and she would always be in favor of businesses coming to the Glades to spend money, even if the project was a risk to the private investors.
Geoff Sommers did a credible job. On most of the issues he had similar positions to the other two – supporting the Governor on fighting Obamacare, against crony capitalism, and supporting school choice. One interesting answer was that gambling should be expanded within the framework of existing licenses. Geoff, who has less campaigning experience than the other two, came across earnest and sincere, and he held his own. He gave conservative answers to the questions, which pleased the audience, and would likely represent us well if elected.
The event at Boca Greens Country Club was well attended, and quite a few other candidates joined us, including: Cesar Henao (Congressional district 21 Independent), Joe Talley (County Sheriff), Fran Hancock and Cindy Tindell (State Committeewoman), and James O’Hara (State House district 81).
| Question 1: Governor Scott has reacted to the loopholes introduced by the Supreme Court decision to announce that the state will not participate in the Medicaid expansion estimated to cost the state close to $2B a year, or implement the exchanges. He will need the Legislature behind him to win this fight – how will you approach this issue if you are elected, and how should the Governor counter the drumbeat to accept the “free” federal funding associated with Obamacare? | |
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Melanie Peterson: I stand with the Governor, willing to go door to door to convince other legislators why it is the best for Florida, it is an egregious attack on our civil liberties Geoff Sommers: Of course I stand with the Governor, medicaid expansion would go from $3M in 2012 to $5M in 2016, support free market in insurance. Mike Lameyer: Agree with the Governor – taxpayer would be on the hook for over $1B just in the first year, need to educate the public on just how expensive this legislation is. |
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| Question 2: In the 2011 session, the Governor proposed raising the amount that participants in the state pension system pay to 5% from 0, ending cost of living adjustments of 3% / year, raising the retirement age, and reducing the rate that benefits accumulate. Under great pressure from the unions, the legislature passed a watered-down bill which only requires 3% contributions and minimizes other changes. The system is still not 100% funded, and is a long term problem for the state, and union lawsuits may rollback even these modest changes. What would you propose to put the Florida Retirement System on a sustainable path? | |
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Melanie Peterson: $300M was added this year to the pension fund, $120M for actuarial funding, disappointed that 3% contribution was rejected by the Supreme Court, would like to resurface that in some way, appreciates public service of employees but they should not get better benefits than private sector. (Editors Note – Actually, only a circuit court invalidated the 3% contribution, the Supreme court will take it up in September) Geoff Sommers: Supports private accounts, state workers should not be paid more than private sector, retirements should not be paid by taxpayers, private accounts only way consistent with free markets. Mike Lameyer: State workers should pay for their own pensions like in the private sector, we were misled, state pension system is broke, taxpayers should not have the responsiblity to pay for 100% of someone elses retirement. |
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| Question 3: The Governor and Senate Leaders proposed a major privatization of the Florida prison system this year, expecting long term savings, but the bill was defeated in the Senate 21-17 as several Republicans voted against it. The concept is likely to return in the next session – how will you approach the issue? | |
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Melanie Peterson: Crime is now at an all time low, no excuse not to defund our prisons and privatize what we can – behind this issue 100% Geoff Sommers: State should privatize anything the private sector can do better than government. Mike Lameyer: Support the Governor, those working in the prisons can go back to road patrol where many came from, also should privatize anything that can be done cheaper and more efficiently by private industry. |
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| Question 4: HB7117 became law earlier this year, giving state tax credits to green energy companies. Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam pushed the bill, saying it was a step toward “smart, long-term energy policy”, but the Heartland Institute and Americans for Prosperity called it a “crony energy bill”, which has the government picking winners and losers. The entire Palm Beach delegation except for Joe Negron voted for this bill. What would you have done? | |
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Melanie Peterson: We should be promoting energy independence here in Florida, but shouldn’t single out single industry for tax incentives – have them for all industries Geoff Sommers: My opponent supported a wind turbine project in the Glades (where there is no wind) -that’s crony capitalism.Melanie responds: Proud of that resolution – its private land, private enterprise, company investing $350M in the western county where we have 40% poverty levels, don’t care if they lose their money because there is no wind, they are making the investment. Mike Lameyer: Studies say if we fully exploited our natural resources in Florida it wold create 250K high paying jobs in the first 24 months, should not pick winners and losers like Obama did with Solyndra. |
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| Question 5: SB1550, the “vouchers for all” plan for education savings accounts sponsored by Senator Joe Negron, would provide a pot of public school money that parents could use to pay for private schools, homeschooling, or pre-paid college plans. It died in committee this year but may return in a future session. Would you support this or a similar bill? | |
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Melanie Peterson: Education system is broken, keep trying the same ideas, supports vouchers, charter schools are successful because they are privately administered – should we privatize our department of education? Try localizing our school systems because like politics, education is local. Geoff Sommers: Parents should have the choice of how to educate their children, supports charter schools, we should not change the bar when schools are failing but fix the schools. Mike Lameyer: Only way to correct education in the state is with a voucher program – let every parent send a child to the school of their choice, better than passing or failing teachers and students based on once a year test. |
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| Question 6: In the last session, a bill to expand casino gambling in the state was defeated in committee. Some would say it would have been the “largest gambling expansion in Florida history” and bring in the wrong kind of tourism. Others saw it as a way to expand convention business in South Florida and elsewhere, competing with Orlando, whose legislators strongly opposed the move. How did you view the proposal and how would you approach it if it comes back in a future session? | |
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Melanie Peterson: Managed casino operation for family business, providing equipment to Indian casinos, they do it well and pay taxes on their operations even though they don’t have to, they handle crime better on reservation land because they have different laws, would support if constituents want it. Geoff Sommers: Opposed to gambling personally, but don’t like the way current law favors one group over another – not good for business, could expand gambling in a moderate way through existing licenses. Mike Lameyer: Against gambling personally, but should be local issue. Nationwide, gambling is also associated with higher levels of all types of crime, every job a casino creates, loses 1.8 in the surounding community, make sure constituents educated on all aspects before voting on gambling. |
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| Question 7: Do you support e-Verify? Yes or No. | |
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Melanie Peterson: Against illegal immigration, but we can’t put Florida at a disadvantage compared to other states, rather have guest worker program after closing our borders, push federal government to do its job, stop providing state benefits to illegals Geoff Sommers: If e-Verify is the option given to us by the federal government, then we must use it. Mike Lameyer: Federal immigration code allows local law enforcement to ask for status, e-Verify works, without it will spend $5M to support illegals each year, need proof of citizenship for food stamps, housing or medicare. |
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| Question 8: American’s for Prosperity, in their “Five for Florida” program, proposes eliminating the corporate income tax and all targeted tax credits and exemptions to get government out of the business of picking winners and losers in the marketplace. Is this a workable approach? Would you make any exceptions to the plan? | |
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Melanie Peterson: Agree, and need to hold down spending, support amendment 4 (Smart cap), need to eliminate waste Geoff Sommers: It is a workable approach, have signed the pledge, corporate tax is about $2B out of $70B budget – can make up by attracting new businesses, Mike Lameyer: Auto companies have come to US states with favorable tax climates and Florida wasn’t in the discussion, would change that |
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| Question 9: The Governor vetoed $143M in this year’s $70M budget of projects that he said did not benefit the state as a whole or weren’t worth the money. They included a Bay of Pigs museum in Miami, the Florida Aquarium in Tampa and other projects favored by local legislators. Was this appropriate? Shouldn’t a legislator be able to spend state money on favored projects in their district? | |
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Melanie Peterson: Some of these projects are ridiculous, shouldn’t be asking the legislature for that kind of money when people are suffering, Geoff Sommers: Cut fraud waste and abuse, not the time for “bringing home the bacon”, lower taxes and send back to the people Mike Lameyer: Government shouldn’t be taking your or my tax dollars and giving it to others for any reason, no more government financing of private industry – they can stand on their own. |
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| Question 10: Citizens Insurance, once the insurer of last resort for those in coastal communities, has greatly expanded inland and is now the largest home insurer in the state, crowding out private insurance. Since Citizen’s liabilities fall back on the taxpayer in a catastrophic claim event like a major hurricane, the Governor would like to reduce its size and exposure. What is the proper role for Citizen’s in the state and what should be its future? | |
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Melanie Peterson: Last year Citizens paid $2.4B in litigation alone, main problem is our risk mitigation model, rate modeling is ridiculous – most of claims are in the north part of state but highest premiums are in south, companies are undercapitalized, need tort reform to reduce litigation. Geoff Sommers: Support the de-population of Citizens, bring back private insurance by encouraging them to write policies, get the state off the hook for a catastrophic event. Mike Lameyer: Citizens was bad idea when began, now and in the future, companies should be made to provide full range of insurance to operate, Citizens is example of what happens when government takes over industry |
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Some pictures from the event.
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Radical Evolution: Transformations from the Left, Monday July 9
As the Political Rhetoric Heats Up; Two Young American Patriots Tour Florida to Transform the Debate
Monday July 9th is the South Florida stop on the “Radical Evolution: Transformations from the Left” Tour at Palm Aire Country Club 3701 Oaks Clubhouse Dr Pompano Beach, FL. Doors open at 6:00pm! Appetizers and cash bar available.
Here is a unique opportunity to meet two of the most famous people who once bought into the false narrative of the Left, rose through the ranks as “community organizers” and finally came to the conclusion that they were on the wrong side! Come hear the stunning transformation.
Their names are only household words in select circles; Anita Moncrief is called “the ACORN Whistleblower” and Brandon Darby is the “FBI Informant who helped defuse a firebomb plot at the ‘08 Republican National Convention.”
Well known or not, Moncrief and Darby are best described as true patriots. Both are former embedded Leftists who are now dedicating themselves to conservative values and principles. Reviled, slandered, sued and threatened by the members of their former party, Darby and Moncrief have very powerful stories to tell about the people who are involved in politics behind the scene. Darby and Moncrief will be detailing the incidents that transformed their political views with the story of what really happened at the last Republican convention, voter fraud at ACORN and the surprising story of who and what were behind the so-called Occupy movement.
Brandon Darby and Anita Moncrief may seem unlikely heroes, but every time I hear either of them speak, the room is electrified so the Radical Evolution Tour; Transformations for the Left is designed to educate Floridians about the false narrative of the radical left and to mobilize citizens by arming them with the facts and the truth.” You’ll want to bring a friend or especially a young person to this. Please share this exciting event with your local membership.
To registrar for one of these free events click here: http://radicalevolution.eventbrite.com/
And please if you haven’t do so please ask your membership to endorse the Five for Florida plan at www.FiveForFlorida.com
