ELEPHANT EARS
by Jeff Mosesso
Some info from this Friday-Sunday weekend events.
Downtown Friday Night Jul 30:
Canceled due to weather however, the Team was ready for a good evening of politickin’. Looking forward to the next event.
Sat & Sun Gun Show Jul 31 - Aug 1:
Disappointingly slow BUT… not unanticipated, folks taking time off for vacations and such. Next show Sept 25-26.
Estimated show attendance by Staff – approximately 1800. Expecting attendances once again to cycle upwards over Fall-Winter 2021 and Spring of 2022. We’ll be ready.
John Archibald and I manned the Republican table Saturday and Sunday.
Barb DeFrino stopped by to help Sunday afternoon (thank you Barb) and Elizabeth Siebert was there both days for ballot access petitions.
Voter Registrations:
2 registrations but sadly, no party changeovers this time. Most stopping by were already registered to vote but, we’ll keep trying. I'll get the 2 completed forms to Frank this week after work.
We passed out REC and Republican Party club information sheets (thanks for the documents emailed earlier Linda and Frank for the boxes of same) and chatted with the folks that stopped by to pick up info and sign ballot access petitions. Interestingly, many stopping by were already aware that Indian River County had become a 2nd Amendment Sanctuary County recently. Good news travels faster than I thought.
Three show attendees have expressed an interest getting more involved with Republican Party activities and would like more info on how to.
I gave them the documents we had and took their contact info. A separate email to Linda with their personal info to follow and please forward to the folks who can contact them and get them involved.
Stopping by the show table from REC to say Hi: (apologies if I missed anyone)
Bill Griffin
Joann Binford and John
Linda Ceilley
Mike Sherwood
Best bumper sticker for sale at the show:
When I die – do NOT let me vote Democrat!
Best story related:
A man stopped by to chat. He was from New Jersey, lives here now 5 years and is a Republican. He recently got a call from a buddy of his from Connecticut.
His buddy stated that ‘he could Not stand it anymore and was moving to Florida”! I promptly encouraged the storyteller to bring his buddy and his family to the next several Gun Shows and Downtown Friday events and look up the Republican Party tables to register to vote. I informed him that “WE have a Fix for That Nonsense in Florida”!
Finally, a Heads Up for Republican Party leaders everywhere:
A politically astute lady and her husband stopped by for some info, both are Republicans. They had moved to Florida from Utah a while back from a nice home a couple of counties away from… Mitt Romney. Asked why they had to move – they had to leave Mitt and the other RINOS in that state!
I note this exchange because of the continuing inputs I receive when talking to fellow Republicans (in and out-of-state) at our events and realize there is a real, deep-felt resentment of what these so-called, small ‘r’ republicans are doing to our Party and to our Republican conservative agenda and goals.
RNC and RPOF Leadership - Please Heed! It is Time we address this cancerous condition or lose party members, elections and a whole lot more. Allow me to quickly contrast the Republican Party’s error in continuing to allow these turncoats to persist in our Party to sabotage our conservative agenda, initiatives, and goals VS. the opposition’s circle the wagons, everyone’s always onboard with their socialist agenda or else! policy and, painting their party’s conscientious objectors and resisters with vitriolic labels to keep them inline and voting ‘correctly’.
A question asked frequently by my best buddy John on this subject: Jeff, do you ever hear of any… DINO’s??? My simple answer is always – No. They do not need DINO's when they have an army of RINO's to undermine our efforts! Our Party’s small 'r’s need to be defunded out of their re-election campaigns by the RNC and RPO’s and subsequently removed from office by our Voters. Food for thought.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeff Mosesso
Precinct 32 Committeeman
(and yes, my preferred personal pronoun is… man)
RPOF CHAIRMAN JOE GRUTERS' MESSAGE
Fighting for Florida Children to Breath Freely
As the Biden Administration, Democrats, the federal government, and the CDC seek once again to force school children to wear masks all day at school, Governor DeSantis, and Florida leadership refuse to cave to such damaging schemes. Governor DeSantis instead convened a roundtable last week to discuss the issue and understand how Florida can effectively stop such detrimental efforts.
The roundtable included doctors, experts, a school administrator, a concerned parent, and a high school student. During the discussion, they all shared their professional or personal insights and experiences about how mask mandates and school closures harm children.
During the past 18 months, Governor DeSantis has been determined to keep Florida open and free by ensuring that parents and students have choices, giving them the ability to make decisions that are best for their families — and not school bureaucrats, unions, or boards with other agendas.
Governor DeSantis opened the roundtable with this opening:
“As many of you know, there's been talk amongst the CDC and the Academy of Pediatrics to force masking on school children — I think the academy even says teachers and school children, regardless of even immune status, even if they've recovered from COVID or even if they have been vaccinated.
“And so, we in Florida, at this point, our school districts have proposed the mask optional. But I think our fear is that seeing some of those rumblings, that there may be an attempt from the federal level or even some of these organizations to try to push for mandatory masking of school children. And so, our view is that this should absolutely not be imposed. It should not be mandated. And I know our Legislature feels strongly about it, such that if, if you started to see a push from the feds or some of these local school districts, I know they're interested in coming in, even in a special session, to be able to provide protections for parents and kids who just want to breathe freely and don't want to be suffering under these masks during the school year.”
Watch the roundtable here:
Read the full transcript here:
Florida Update
Florida has emerged victorious again over the CDC. After Florida appealed to the United States Supreme Court, the Eleventh Circuit Court reversed its earlier decision and sided with the State of Florida against the CDC’s unlawful No-Sail Orders. This means the cruise industry will be able to resume operations without having to follow the CDC’s unlawful and discriminatory rules.
“I’m glad to see the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals reverse its prior decision and free the cruise lines from unlawful CDC mandates, which effectively mothballed the industry for more than a year,” Governor DeSantis said. “The importance of this case extends beyond the cruise industry. From here on out a federal bureau will be on thin legal and constitutional ice if and when it attempts to exercise such sweeping authority that is not explicitly delineated by law.”
Florida's attractive business climate of low taxes and a responsible regulatory environment continues to lure great American companies to the state. Now it is the famed Disney Imagineers and 2,000 high-wage jobs coming from Los Angeles to the Orlando area.
Disney could get an estimated $570 million in tax breaks over 20 years on a project that has a capital investment up to $864 million. That means a lot of jobs in construction over the years and a lot of jobs spinning off from the new Floridians.
Lake Nona is a development about 20 miles from Disney World and the new home for Cisco, General Electric Co. and several other major companies that are also realizing the benefits of Florida’s business climate.
ICYMI
Community Leaders Applaud State Response to Red Tide Bloom in the Tampa Bay Area
Governor DeSantis joined the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to survey the impacts of the red tide bloom affecting Southwest Florida and the Tampa Bay area.
In response to the bloom, Governor DeSantis directed all agencies to take an “all-hands-on-deck” approach to provide resources to assist in cleanup efforts. Here is what community leaders are saying about the state’s response efforts.
Dave Eggers, Chairman, Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners: “I want to thank the Governor for visiting Pinellas County and for allowing the DEP and FWC to fully commit to mitigating the red tide fish kill and for committing over $2 million in cost reimbursements to date with an openness for more as needed. Also, I want to thank the Governor for reconstituting the red tide task force in an effort to provide much more focus on policy and research.”
Ed Montanari, Chairman, St. Petersburg City Council: “I have been so impressed with the strong leadership at all levels of government on the recent red tide bloom. The Governor’s office has been great to work with, along with our Pinellas County partners, along with city leaders. This is how government is supposed to work to solve complex problems.”
ATTORNEY GENERAL ASHLEY MOODY
Last week, we celebrated two years of increasing law enforcement participation in the Bigs in Blue mentorship program. In 2019, we launched an intra-agency partnership with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to encourage officers to mentor young people seeking guidance through the Bigs in Blue program with Big Brothers Big Sisters.
The main mission of Bigs in Blue is to partner children facing adversity with professionally supported, one-to-one mentoring relationships with officers that will have positive impacts on the youths’ lives. This program helps forge bonds between law enforcement officers and youth—in the communities where they serve.
The idea for this intra-agency partnership to increase participation in Bigs in Blue began when I presented a Back the Blue Award to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay in June 2019, where I saw firsthand the impact the Bigs in Blue program has on the lives of those who participate. Now, 400 officers statewide have taken the opportunity to become a local mentor for at-risk children and teens through the program.
Through Bigs in Blue, I know these children’s lives, as well as the officers’, have been changed for the better, forever.
To learn more about this important program, click here.
By mentoring youth, Florida law enforcement officers are making positive impacts on the lives of children and helping us build a Stronger, Safer Florida.
Posey and Other House Members Call on HHS Secretary to Grow National Stockpile of Important Pharmaceuticals
Last week, U.S. Representative Bill Posey and U.S. Representative David Trone (D-MD) along with several of their House colleagues, called on HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra to leverage domestic manufacturing capabilities and new technologies to protect American patients and stave off over-dependence on China and other foreign powers for important pharmaceuticals.
This effort is the latest in a series of initiatives lead by Rep. Posey to reduce our reliance on China for critical goods and products, including his bipartisan Critical Supply Chain Commission Act introduced earlier this year with Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), which establishes a nonpartisan commission to study, identify, and help Congress mitigate supply chain vulnerabilities presented by foreign dependencies.
“The coronavirus pandemic exposed serious vulnerabilities in our critical supply chain of lifesaving medications,” said Rep. Bill Posey. “With a majority of key pharmaceuticals imported to the United Sates from China, a supply disruption of any origin, whether by design or mistake, could put American patients in danger.”
“This is about U.S. national security and the health and safety of our citizens, and we must take serious steps to ramp up American production, grow the national stockpile and put Americans first,” said Rep. Posey.
You can view the letter here
HAPPENINGS
