Editor’s note: Contributing columnist, Steve Nicklas, expresses his views and insight on various topics in Marketplace.
When President Joe Biden flounders on decisions, Ron DeSantis gigs him with reciprocal moves. And the Florida governor’s calculated actions are as consistent as the changing tides.
DeSantis routinely counters Biden’s political movements, like the closing of schools or the requiring of masks or the mandating of vaccines. And now DeSantis is digging his heels into the sand.
He is calling a special session of the Florida Legislature for next week. At the session, DeSantis will take his counter measures to a new level. He will ask state lawmakers to:
Limit mandates by school districts on students and employees regarding vaccines and virus mitigation.
Clarify that the state Parents’ Bill of Rights empowers parents – not the government – to decide about masks for their children.
Protect all workers from vaccine mandates.
Review whether the state can override a new federal law requiring workers at large companies to wear masks.
DeSantis has one other trick to pull out of his sleeve. He wants to recruit police officers who have resigned in other states over vaccine mandates or low morale or a lack of support. He even wants to give them a $5,000 bonus. “We are 100% excited about saying that anyone that’s being mistreated will get an environment here where people are going to support you,” DeSantis said during a press conference in Venice.
DeSantis has been outspoken about other Biden entanglements. He chronicles them with jest and frivolity. There has been the botched Afghanistan withdrawal; the worsening border crisis; the escalating crime in cities; the defunding-the-police movements; the massive government giveaways; studying critical race theory in schools; lavish unemployment benefits incentivizing workers against work; rioting and defacing statues.
DeSantis has something to say about every one of these miscues. And Biden has his own reflexive retort. As does the national media, which criticizes DeSantis at every turn and opportunity. But he hardly is backing down; in fact, the critics and naysayers motivate him.
As he often does, DeSantis gets the last laugh. And he’s laughing again. Florida now has the lowest number of Covid-19 cases in the country. Using the measure of new cases per 100,000 residents, Florida leads the nation with only 56 cases over the last seven days. Few other states are even close. If you’re wondering, that’s from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website itself.
And let’s not forget that DeSantis has been labeled reckless and uncaring and dangerous with his pro-liberty approach toward handling the virus. Seems like the national media favors states with restrictive, big-government and anti-business policies. As compared to DeSantis, who believes people can make their own decisions, and government should stay out of the way.
We call it freedom and liberty here. Apparently something in his approach is working, based upon none other than his friends at the CDC. Talking about the virus is like handling a loaded firearm, however. If someone disagrees with you, he might pull the trigger.
And there’s one other foray into the insanity. According to The Wall Street Journal, the Biden administration has considered paying illegal immigrants as much as $450,000 in “damages” incurred while coming to our country. It pertains to children separated from their parents during the immigration process.
DeSantis called this a “slap in the face” to hardworking Americans and to those who immigrated legally to the U.S. Meanwhile, U.S. citizens are battling inflation that shows up through higher gas, electric and grocery bills, squeezing their take-home income.
“I’ve seen a lot in the last 9 or 10 months that I didn’t think I’d ever see, but this takes the cake,” DeSantis said this week. “Whatever we can do in Florida to fight back against it, we will.”
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Steve Nicklas
Steve Nicklas is a financial adviser with a regional brokerage firm who lives and works on Amelia Island. He is also an award-winning columnist. His columns also regularly appear in several weekly newspapers in North Florida, and on his website at SteveNicklasMarketplace.com. He has published a book, “All About Money,” of his favorite columns from the past 20 years. The book is available on Amazon. He can be reached at 904-753-0236 or at [email protected].
