A CALL TO ACTION
On April 9th, three IRCREC members traveled to Tallahassee to speak at the House Public Integrity & Elections Committee on HB7041, an election integrity bill sponsored by state Senator Blaise Ingoglia and House Representative Erin Grall, an opportunity made possible by Defend Florida. Shuna Carpenter, Lamarre Notargiacomo and Karen Osborne each spoke about 30 seconds expressing their support for the passage of this bill into law. The bill did make it out of committee. The REC members traveled to the state’s capital from Longwood riding on a bus with a grassroots group, sponsored by Mike Johnson of Seminole County. It was a long, long day for these activists who believe doing something is the only way to bring about change in Tallahassee and DC. They recommend studying issues and acting through the civic processes available. They set a good example and are an inspiration to us all!
You can see the video here:
RPOF CHAIRMAN JOE GRUTER'S MESSAGE
60 Minutes hit job collapses under the weight of lies.
“The reporting was not just based on bad information — it was intentionally false.”
Palm Beach County Mayor Dave Kerner (D)
Over the past year, we’ve been treated to a steady stream of negative media coverage of Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida Republicans. Pretty much the entire fabricated narrative has disintegrated as the evidence of principled, conservative, freedom-based policies has piled up: Florida has handled Covid and individual liberties better than any state. Our per-million Covid data and low employment numbers are the proof.
So, the smear job attempted by 60 Minutes to further yet another bogus narrative of “pay for play” in vaccines was just another day of media coverage for Governor DeSantis, except for two critical points. There was video evidence undermining the claim and some Florida Democrats stepped up to call bull. They were on the inside and they knew the truth. And it came out that 60 Minutes knew from the beginning the story was not true.
A Newsweek columnist wrote:
“On Sunday, the CBS show 60 Minutes aired a dishonest, convoluted, story about Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. The segment leveled a completely unfounded accusation against Gov. DeSantis, accusing him of choosing the Publix supermarket chain to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine because Publix had contributed $100,000 to his Friends of DeSantis campaign PAC.”
This whole column is worth a read. But a no less surprising source than CNN called the 60 Minutes hoax “a massive gift” to Governor DeSantis.
“The problem is that, in the wake of the "60 Minutes" report, multiple Democratic elected officials have come out to debunk the tie between the donation and Publix distributing the vaccine. Palm Beach County Mayor Dave Kerner, a Democrat, said that the news program had run "intentionally false" information because, he insisted, the producers knew that the county, not the governor, had been the one to request the Publix partnership.
The report — and the backlash — amount to a massive gift to DeSantis as he looks to his reelection race next year...”
When the mainstream media, including CNN, and Florida Democrats call out a “news” story as an embarrassment, malarkey and intentionally false, you know the screw-up is on a Titanic level. And it was a screw-up because the entire narrative of “pay for play” is fiction; 60 Minutes got caught in the big lie.
Read more:
And here:
COVID-19 Update
Floridians have been writing thank-you notes to Governor DeSantis for his successful vaccine rollout. The Governor made Florida the first state in the nation to put Seniors First and prioritize residents 65 and older to receive a vaccine. This decision was part of Governor DeSantis’ data-driven approach to protect our state’s most vulnerable residents, as individuals over the age of 65 represent more than 80% of all COVID-related deaths.
The strategy to put Seniors First has proven highly effective and has protected millions of lives: Nearly 3.5 million seniors over the age of 65 have been vaccinated in Florida, which is roughly 75% percent of Florida’s 65 and older population.
As a result, cases and hospitalizations in those 65 older have drastically reduced. In the 65 and older population, the number of new cases were down by 84% the week of March 21 – March 27, as compared to the week of December 27 – January 2, and hospitalizations were down by 83%.
Since the beginning of the state’s partnership with Publix, grateful Floridians have written to Governor DeSantis, thanking him for the opportunity to receive the vaccine at Publix.
Read more:
Florida Update
Governor DeSantis demanded that the Biden Administration rescind its recent executive action allowing criminal aliens to go free. These dangerous and reckless policies jeopardize the health, security, and wellbeing of Florida communities.
The Governor called on the federal government to return to the rule of law and ensure the transfer of criminal aliens to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities upon completion of their state prison terms. The Governor insisted that ICE continue to detain these criminals, and if found to be in this country illegally, remove them.
“Florida will not sit by and watch idly as the federal government sets criminal aliens free and abdicates its legal obligation to enforce immigration law,” Governor DeSantis said. “That’s why I’m calling on President Biden and ICE to take immediate action to detain and remove these dangerous criminal aliens. Too many lives have been lost because immigration officials failed to do their jobs and too many parents have lost children at the hands of criminal aliens who were irresponsibly set free.”
LEARN THE TRUTH ABOUT VACCINE PASSPORTS
A Tech CEO explains the ramifications of a vaccine passports.
On April 8th, House Representative Andy Biggs of Arizona introduced a bill called the No Vaccine Passports Act to Congress that would ban federal agencies from issuing vaccine passports documenting a person's COVID-19 vaccine status.
In the official text, the bill looks to prohibit federal agencies from issuing "a vaccine passport, vaccine pass, or other standardized documentation for the purpose of certifying the COVID- 19 vaccination status of a citizen of the United States to a third party, or otherwise publish or share any COVID-19 vaccination record of a citizen of the United States, or similar health information."
In a statement issued by Congressman Biggs, he said "I am profoundly disturbed that the Biden Administration would even consider imposing vaccine passports on the American people. My private healthcare decisions—and yours—are nobody else’s business. Vaccine passports will not help our nation recover from COVID-19; instead, they will simply impose more Big Brother surveillance on our society."
Although the Biden Administration has stated that it will not be instituting vaccine passports nationwide, officials in Florida, Texas, Utah, and Idaho have banned the use of vaccine passports in their states. According to Forbes, New York is the first state to institute the passports.
