Government shutdown backfiring on Republicans; Floridians oppose lifting childhood vaccine mandates; beware of property tax reform propaganda
News and views for Florida's Left Coast. Read on and be the smartest person in the room--or the Zoom
The Trump Shutdown appears to be backfiring on Republicans. At least so far.
That intel comes from a snap poll conducted by The Washington Post, one of two surveys we’ll discuss today. The other focuses on the cost of living, vaccines, and data being used by Gov. Ron DeSantis to support his crusade to eliminate Florida property taxes.
First, the shutdown results:
The newspaper asked more than a thousand respondents this question:
Who do you think is mainly responsible for the federal government partially shutting down?
Forty-seven percent of the people said the blame lies with President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress. Thirty percent blamed Democrats. And twenty-three percent were unsure.
Of those blaming Trump and his handmaidens in Congress, respondents cited:
… a refusal to compromise, the party’s control of the presidency and Congress, and Trump’s actions.
When those blaming Democrats were asked why, some respondents:
… echoed false claims by Trump and Republicans that Democratic lawmakers are trying to force the government to offer full health care benefits to people who are in the country illegally.
I found this especially interesting: People who identified as politically independent were more than twice as likely to blame Trump and congressional Republicans.
Today is Day 2 of the partial shutdown.
The issue dividing the parties is fairly straightforward: Democrats do not want millions of Americans to lose their health insurance because of provisions built into the Big Bloated Budget Bill pushed through earlier by Republicans and signed by Trump.
Democrats insist that Affordable Care Act subsidies and Medicaid cuts be restored.
Republicans counter they won’t negotiate on that unless Democrats first approve the budget plan already passed by the House of Representatives.
Essentially, the Republicans are saying: We’ll talk, but first do what we want. Then trust us.
Hahahahahahahaha.
The Senate is expected to vote again on Friday on both the House bill and Democrats’ counterproposal restoring health care cuts.
According to Punchbowl News:
If Democrats block the GOP’s stopgap funding measure again on Friday, (Senate Majority Leader John) Thune will send senators home for the weekend and then force another vote Monday. That means no Saturday votes as originally planned.
Punchbowl News also notes that Trump’s aggressive moves targeting infrastructure and energy projects in blue states are backfiring. Democrats are digging in deeper. In fact, Democrats who are uncomfortable with the shutdown might find their backbones stiffened by Trump’s acts of retribution.
Meanwhile in Florida:
DeSantis is on a tear to win legislative support for what he calls his top priority, property tax reform and an eventual constitutional amendment to eliminate residential property taxes altogether.
His chief financial officer, Blaise Ingoglia, is roaming the state on behalf of Florida’s Department of Governmental Efficiency (yes, that’s right, a mini DOGE) conducting drive-by audits of government spending, all to make the case that property taxes are being wasted.
But are they really? One way to find out would be to do a thoughtful study conducted by state economists to get real data. In fact, such a study was in the budget, but DeSantis vetoed it saying it was unnecessary.
Why let facts get in the way, right?
Meanwhile, bolstering the property tax reform initiative is a poll of 1,200 Floridians conducted by the conservative James Madison Institute, showing that 60 percent of Floridians want property tax reform.
Which is an unsurprising result. So much depends on how you ask the question. Most of us would agree we’d love lower taxes. But what if the questions were this:
Would you support eliminating property taxes if it meant a substantial increase in sales taxes and a reduction of fire and police protection to pay for it?
I’m confident the answer would be far less enthusiastic. Which is why relying on polls such as this are so flimsy.
There was one interesting wrinkle, however, regarding vaccinations:
A majority of poll respondents oppose DeSantis on eliminating vaccine mandates for school children.
Florida voters favor maintaining robust vaccine policies for public schools, with 62 percent opposing a state proposal to eliminate all vaccine requirements —such as for measles, polio, and chickenpox. Just 29 percent support the change.
As for the economy, no surprise there:
Forty-one percent of registered voters responding to the poll cited cost of living as their top issue. Their top concern: Sixty-three percent cited the rising price of groceries.
Housing costs also made the list with 44 percent of voters polled citing that as a major concern.
Of course, taxes are a part of housing costs. But here’s an important point to bear in mind as this property tax debate continues:
The people who pay the most in residential property taxes are people living in the most expensive houses. Said another way, the major beneficiaries of property tax reform will be the wealthy.
It’s true that property taxes are embedded in other housing costs, though just not as visible. If you rent, for instance, part of what you’re paying will go to cover the owner’s taxes.
But do you believe that if the property tax were eliminated, your rent would go down?
Hahahahahahaha.
What do you think? Share your views by clicking on the COMMENTS link at the end of this newsletter. Thanks!
Watching the Tropics
The National Hurricane Center is monitoring two possible tropical developments, one off Florida’s coast and another in the Atlantic north of South America, both depicted by the yellow blobs on the threat map above. The system off Florida’s southeastern coast is expected to move over the peninsula and into the Gulf of Mexico over the weekend, and forecasters are giving it a 10 percent chance of developing into a tropical event. Both will bear monitoring over the next several days. Hurricane Imelda is continuing her eastward track across the Atlantic and poses no threat to North America.
Today is …
Name Your Car Day. Why? Why not? As I noted in my Monthly Memo yesterday, I’ve never, personally, done this. I’ve always unimaginatively called mine, My Car. Dull, right? But several readers jumped in with clever, sometimes hilarious monikers for their rides including:
Bobby Oila: My first car, an AMC Gremlin, was named Esmeralda. I loved that car because it fit me and everything else was too big.
Stuart Reininger: Seeing that you asked, my decrepit Model A Ford pickup was named Eileen due to a broken spring that gave her a distinct list to Port. This also caused her to veer off to the left very quickly—-a reflection of my politics, naturally.
Emily Fletty: I did name my last two cars. Previous one was Stephanie. Current is Astrid as she is Swedish.
Quote for the day
“Polling only works in a country without a depressed, frightened populace. Where the public trusts authorities enough to tell them the truth without fear of retribution.”
— Rick Perlstein
Florida factual
Seven out of ten of America’s most visited theme parks are in Florida, and Walt Disney World Resort, which opened in 1971, is the planet’s most visited and biggest recreational resort.
The Strange Files
A Pasco County man was recently arrested and charged with animal cruelty after killing, cooking and eating two of his pet peacocks. He told sheriff’s deputies he was annoyed with a neighbor who refused to stop feeding them, so he killed them “out of spite.” Weirdly, it is not illegal to eat peacocks in Florida, but, apparently, it is illegal to kill them inhumanely.
More online
Thank you for reading the Tropic Press newsletter. You also have access to the Tropic Press website for additional and previous posts, copies of the Monthly Memo, an archive of posts from our advice columnist, Miss Mingo, occasional guest commentaries, and information about The Strange Files series of mysterious adventures and other books.
J.C. Bruce, journalist and author, is the founder of Tropic Press. He holds dual citizenship in the United States of America and his native Florida. When he’s not blogging, he’s in training for the Florida Man Underwater Ping Pong Championships. Forward this email to your friends. They will love you for it.
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Thanks for providing important factual information about our crazy state. And especially for spicing it up with humor!
My neighbor had a name for his car “Start Damn It”😜