One America News reported yesterday that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed legislation to ban vaccine mandates and to let parents decide whether or not their children should be masked in school.
Here is the video:
This is good news for Florida residents–their freedom is protected.
Yesterday NewsMax reported that Florida is suing several government agencies over vaccine mandates.
The article reports:
Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state of Florida sued President Joe Biden, NASA, and other government agencies over the “unlawful” COVID-19 vaccine mandates that require federal contractors to get vaccinated, and “threaten” the state’s economy.
Biden early last month announced plans to impose vaccine mandates on federal employees and businesses with 100 or more employees. Unvaccinated workers must get tested regularly.
The Republican governor and state Attorney General Ashley Moody filed the lawsuit, first reported by Fox News, against Biden, NASA, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, and officials within the White House Office of Management and Budget, and the Department of Defense over the vaccine mandates.
The lawsuit was filed Thursday morning in U.S. District Court in the middle district of Florida’s Tampa division, Bloomberg News reports.
The article concludes:
“Let’s not have Biden come in and effectively take away — threaten to take away — the jobs of people who have been working hard throughout this entire pandemic,” DeSantis said during a news conference in Fort Myers. “I am offended that a police officer could potentially lose their job.”
The governor last week said he would call together a special session of the Florida legislature to ban COVID-19 vaccine mandates on businesses.
Florida previously sued the Biden administration over its “illegal” catch-and-release policies at the U.S.-Mexico border. The lawsuit says the administration’s policies force Florida to “incur millions of dollars in expenses” as a result of migrants being relocated to the state.
Covid cases and deaths are winding down. Unfortunately the government power grabs that took place during the pandemic are not winding down. We need more governors willing to stand up for Americans and their freedom to earn a living.
A friend of mine posted the following chart on Facebook:
So let’s look at some of the policies of Governor DeSantis and the Florida legislature that resulted in this success:
Florida has outlawed vaccine mandates
Allowing parents to make decisions about masking their children
Florida was also one of the first states to open after the ‘two-week’ shutdown
Florida prioritized vaccinating the vulnerable
Florida set up mobile locations to treat people in the early stages of the coronavirus
Florida made an effort to balance public health and economic needs. Obviously, they did a good job.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has done an amazing job of handling the Covid-19 pandemic in Florida. Despite having a large percentage of elderly in his state, he has managed to balance freedom and safety. He has kept the death rate down without some of the government overreach that is obvious in the federal government and some other states. Gregg Jarrett posted an article today that illustrates Governor DeSantis’ commitment to protecting the freedom of Florida residents.
The article reports:
The Florida Department of Health fined Leon County over $3.5 million last week after it fired 14 workers for refusing to show proof of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
Florida notified the county in a letter sent to Leon County administrator Vincent Long saying that the county had violated state law.
“By way of media reports, Leon County was made aware of a notice from the Florida Department of Health regarding the County’s vaccination requirement,” Long told Fox 4 in response. “There is a genuine disagreement about the applicability of the statute and rule, and the County will enforce its rights using any remedies available at law, if necessary.”
“It is unacceptable that Leon County violated Florida law, infringed on current and former employees’ medical privacy, and fired loyal public servants because of their personal health decisions,” a spokesperson for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said in a statement Tuesday. “Governor DeSantis will continue fighting for Floridians’ rights and the Florida Department of Health will continue to enforce the law.”
In September, DeSantis announced that Florida would protect its citizens after reports that Leon County fired employees for not being vaccinated.
Stay tuned. I am sure this is headed for the courts.
Because he was concerned about the limited supply of monoclonal antibodies, President Biden announced that he was going to ‘redirect’ some of that supply away from the southern states (which happen to be ‘red’ states) to other parts of the country (areas which happen to be ‘blue’ states). I know that the political leanings of the states involved are simply an incredible coincidence, but meanwhile, people will die. Well, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Governor DeSantis of Florida has reacted properly.
The Daily Wire reported the following yesterday:
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said that he was “very, very concerned” with Democrat President Joe Biden’s decision to restrict the distribution of monoclonal antibodies to states amid a surge in demand by states in the South.
“Just last week on September 9th, President Joe Biden said that his administration would be increasing shipments of monoclonal antibodies in September by 50%, and yet on September 13th, HHS announced that it was seizing control of the monoclonal antibody supply and that it would control distribution, and then on September 14th, the announcement was more than 50% of the monoclonal antibodies that had been used in Florida were going to be reduced,” DeSantis said. “So this is a dramatic reduction, and I’d say it’s doubly problematic because what Shane Strum and folks in Tampa General and these other hospital systems that have been doing this, they’re not getting it from the state.”
…DeSantis said that he is going to “work like hell to make sure” that Florida “can overcome the obstacles that HHS and the Biden administration” are imposing on the state, adding that the treatment has saved lives in the state.
“To just kind of pull the rug out from anyone a week after the president himself said they were going to be increasing the distributions by 50%, it’s very, very problematic,” DeSantis said. “What I am doing though, is we’re going to try to cover the bases.”
DeSantis stated that he had a call yesterday with GlaxoSmithKline executives and he thinks that Florida is going to be able to order their new monoclonal antibody directly from the company so he won’t have to deal with Biden’s restriction on the life-saving treatment.
It is disgusting that the Biden administration would play politics with people’s lives. I hope that Governor DeSantis is able to work directly with the company to help save the lives of Florida’s citizens.
Yesterday PJ Media posted an article titled, “How You Can Tell the Delta Surge in Florida Is Waning.” Keep in mind that the political left is attempting to destroy Ron DeSantis before he becomes either a presidential or vice-presidential candidate.
The article reports:
You can almost hear the wailing. If the media wants to keep up the COVID-19 panic porn, they will have to pick on a Democrat governor. Right now, Oregon Governor Kate Brown is seeing a significant surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in her state, just like Hawaii experienced concurrent with the red states in the Southeast. But if the media talks about Hawaii and Oregon, they have to point out that these states enforced some of the strictest restrictions and mask mandates, and cases surged anyway. That can’t happen.
The corporate media prefers to portray Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as incompetent and generally fails spectacularly. They consider him the most dangerous Republican in the mix for 2024 and will do anything to hamper his reelection chances in 2022. So as the Florida surge begins to decline, at least one outlet has taken to doing the media equivalent of “vaguebooking.” This story is like the post you see on Facebook where everyone knows whom a user is talking about, even if the user doesn’t mention a name.
NBC Miami published a story with the headline, “Mentor to Young Men Among 15 MDCPS Staff to Die of COVID in Ten Days.” For reference, the Miami-Dade County Public Schools have 33,179 total full-time staff, which means 0.045% of the staff was affected. I am not providing this statistic to minimize any death. The only person profiled in the report who passed away is a tragic loss for the school and community.
The article also notes:
Between 3,000 and 4,000 high-risk patients are being treated daily in Florida’s 21 infusion centers. That does not include treatment provided in private practice and hospital settings. Hospitalization rates decreased 20% following the implementation of the program in mid-August. As of September 2, 69% of the eligible population received the full vaccine series in Florida and 87% of those over 65 have. Dr. Patrick Lorimer either doesn’t understand the clinical progression of COVID-19 or didn’t read the story.
Patrick Lorimer criticized Governor DeSantis’ handling of the virus in a tweet included in the article. It also needs to be noted that all of the people who were treated and recovered will have some level of immunity. That will slow the spread of the virus.
This is another example of the media skewing facts in order to damage a potential Republican leader. Covid is serious, but if the media has to continue to tell us that this is a pandemic, is it a pandemic?
Yesterday The Epoch Times reported that the Biden administration is threatening legal action against governors who ban school mask mandates.
The article reports:
Governors who ban school mask mandates could face legal action from the federal government, President Joe Biden warned on Aug. 18.
Biden stated that he was directing Education Secretary Miguel Cardona “to take additional steps to protect our children.”
“This includes using his oversight authority and legal action, if appropriate, against governors trying to block and intimidate local school officials and educators,” Biden said in remarks at the White House. “We’re not going to sit by as governors try to block and intimidate educators protecting our children.”
As an example, he said the federal government may use money from the American Rescue Plan to pay an educator who has their salary cut by a governor.
“I am going to say a lot more about children in schools next week that as we head into the school year remember this, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDC, says masks are critical, especially for those not yet vaccinated, like our children under the age of 12,” Biden said. “So let’s put politics aside. Let’s follow the educators and scientists, who know a lot more about how to teach our children and keep them safe than any politician. This administration is always going to take the side of our children.”
Much of the science does not support either masks or vaccinations for children. Also, the federal government constitutionally has no role in education–that is up to the states. (However, we have ignored that for so long, I don’t know if we can get control back to the states.)
The article concludes:
After Biden’s threat, Christina Pushaw, press secretary for DeSantis, told The Epoch Times via email that “the forced-maskers often criticize Governor DeSantis for overruling ‘local control’ to protect parents’ freedom to make health and education decisions for their own children.”
“I doubt they will apply the same principle to this blatant federal overreach,” she said. “CDC bureaucrats and their politicized ‘guidance’—which does not have the force of law—shouldn’t interfere with parents’ rights, which are protected under Florida law. Governor DeSantis will continue to stand up for Florida families and defend our rights, no matter what the Biden administration attempts to do.”
This threat is aimed at Governor DeSantis. The Democrats are desperately looking for a political victory somewhere and are throwing mud against any wall they can find. Governor DeSantis will probably have a place on the Republican presidential ticket in 2024, and the Democrats would like to remove him from the picture before then. They have done similar things with candidates in the past and will continue until people wake up to what they are doing.
There is a new outbreak of the coronavirus. It involves the ‘delta’ variant, and possibly will eventually involve the ‘lambda’ variant. Governor DeSantis of Florida has reacted quickly to the new threat and should serve as an example to other governors.
On Thursday The Epoch Times posted an article about Governor DeSantis’ response to the new outbreak of the coronavirus.
The article reports:
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Aug. 12 that he is launching a Rapid Response Team to dispense monoclonal antibodies to tackle Florida’s rising number of COVID-19 cases and reduce serious symptoms, preventing the potential for hospital overcrowding.
“This is probably the best thing that we can do to reduce the number of people that require hospitalization,” DeSantis said at a news conference in Jacksonville, adding that vaccines were strongly encouraged and were effective at preventing hospitalizations and deaths by at least 70 percent.
“Clear benefits to this early treatment is keeping people out of the hospital and reducing mortality,” he said.
DeSantis noted the experimental monoclonal antibodies developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals were used by President Donald Trump after he contracted the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes COVID-19, in October 2020. Trump recovered in a matter of days.
A study released in April showed Regeneron’s antibody cocktail helped people recover faster after falling ill, and when given in the early stages, could prevent people from becoming sick with the virus.
Monoclonal antibody treatment is not well known, according to the governor, because it received federal emergency use authorization around the same time as the vaccines were being approved, and that the “focus rightfully was on vaccines at the time.” He said he felt that it was important to utilize this treatment alongside vaccines, and it was, in his opinion, “the most effective yet for people who are already infected.”
The monoclonal antibody treatment has the same federal emergency use authorization that the vaccine has. The Governor’s quick reaction to the recent spread of the coronavirus will probably save lives.
Yesterday (updated today) The Epoch Times reported that Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines has put in place a policy that requires passengers to either show proof of vaccination or get Covid testing at their own expense.
The article reports:
The Royal Caribbean cruise line says unvaccinated passengers will have to pay testing fees and be subject to various restrictions for sailings departing from Miami, even as Florida Gov. Ron De Santis has banned companies from requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccinations through an executive order.
The company said in a statement that passengers will be asked for their vaccination documentation at check-in, and anyone age 2 and above who is unvaccinated will be required to go through “multiple COVID-19 tests,” which would be priced at $136 per person. Testing for guests between the ages of 2 and 15 will be complimentary.
The article notes that there will be discrimination against unvaccinated passengers:
“Since the majority of our guests will be vaccinated on Freedom of the Seas, there will be venues and events restricted to vaccinated guests only. We’ll do our best to create opportunities for all guests to enjoy their time with us. Please note, your SeaPass card will be required to access lounges, shows, and dining venues, so keep it handy at all times during your cruise,” the company said.
Some venues will only grant access to vaccinated passengers, where people who have taken the shot won’t be required to wear a mask.
Masks won’t be required for children under the age of 2.
DeSantis’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.
We have treatments for Covid-19 that are effective. A number of studies show that those who have had the disease are as protected (if not more) than those who have had the vaccine. Why isn’t an antibody test as good as a vaccine? What in the world is this about?
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is on the short list for the Republican presidential (or vice-presidential) ticket for 2024. He has done an amazing job in Florida dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. We can expect the press to try very hard to destroy him in the very near future.
Today The Conservative Treehouse posted an article about Governor DeSantis’ latest accomplishment.
The article reports:
The battle over COVID vaccination passports in Florida came down to a reversal by Caribbean Cruise Lines yesterday. After Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation that fined companies $5,000 per incident for requiring COVID vaccination identification Royal Caribbean backed down from the fight.
The Miami Herald reported the following yesterday:
Royal Caribbean International will no longer require any of its cruise passengers to be vaccinated for COVID-19 as it had previously planned to.
In a press release Friday announcing cruises for sale on eight of its ships from U.S. ports this summer, starting with Freedom of the Seas from PortMiami on July 2, the company said it will recommend passengers get the COVID-19 vaccine, but not require it. The announcement is a reversal from previous statements and vaccine protocols the company submitted to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month that said it would require all passengers at least 18 years old and older to be vaccinated.
“Guests are strongly recommended to set sail fully vaccinated, if they are eligible,” the company said in a statement. “Those who are unvaccinated or unable to verify vaccination will be required to undergo testing and follow other protocols, which will be announced at a later date.”
…The recently passed Florida law crafted by the Republican-controlled state Legislature and promoted by Gov. Ron DeSantis bars businesses, schools and government entities across Florida from asking anyone to provide proof of a COVID-19 vaccination. Under the law, which takes effect on July 1, businesses can be fined up to $5,000 per violation.
It is unclear if cruise companies will be allowed to ask passengers if they have been vaccinated as part of the boarding process, even if they don’t require vaccination to board.
The summer cruises announced by Royal Caribbean International Friday are still pending approval from the CDC after each ship successfully completes a test cruise with volunteer passengers.
Please follow the link to The Miami Herald to read the entire article. We need to make sure that we get our freedoms back and our privacy protected. Fighting vaccine passports is one way to do that.
The American Thinker posted an article today about one network’s recent attempts to smear Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Governor DeSantis is a current target because of his state’s relatively successful handing of the coronavirus. He is also viewed as a future candidate for higher office and thus must be destroyed before that happens. The article explains the smear attempt and then explains what actually happened.
First the smear attempt:
…In addition to repeatedly and falsely implying that Florida handled COVID badly and is a hotbed of disease, the media are now attacking DeSantis directly.
Most recently, CBS’s 60 Minutes, openly accused DeSantis of a pay-to-play scheme with Publix, giving the latter the right to distribute vaccinations in exchange for a $100,000 campaign donation. You can see the set-up in the string of three tweets, below, which culminate in ostensible footage of an angry DeSantis baselessly swatting aside Sharyn Alfonsi’s challenging questions:
This is one of the tweets:
If that were the entire story, it would not be a good look. However, there is more to the story.
The article notes:
Well, it turns out that CBS forgot to include a few things when it put together that footage of a contentious exchange between the “brave” Alfonsi and the “evil” Republican governor. In fact, DeSantis carefully explained to the assembled media the decision-making behind choosing Publix to disburse vaccinations:
So, first of all, when we did, the first pharmacies that had it were CVS and Walgreens. And they had a long-term care mission. So they were going to the long term care facilities. They got vaccine in the middle of December, they started going to the long-term care facilities the third week of December to do LTCs. So that was their mission. That was very important. And we trusted them to do that. As we got into January, we wanted to expand the distribution points. So yes, you had the counties, you had some drive through sites, you had hospitals that were doing a lot, but we wanted to get it into communities more. So, we reached out to other retail pharmacies — Publix, Walmart — obviously CVS and Walgreens had to finish that mission. And we said, we’re going to use you as soon as you’re done with that. For the Publix, they were the first one to raise their hand, say they were ready to go. And you know what, we did it on a trial basis. I had three counties. I actually showed up that weekend and talked to seniors across four different Publix. How was the experience? Is this good? Should you think this is a way to go? And it was 100% positive. So, we expanded it, and then folks liked it. And I can tell you, if you look at a place like Palm Beach County, they were kind of struggling at first in terms of the senior numbers.
DeSantis explained too, that at a meeting with the Palm Beach County mayor, administration, and other “folks,” one of the things they calculated was “that 90% of their seniors live within a mile and a half a Publix.” The ultimate calculation, therefore, was what would be easiest for residents:
Please follow the link above to the article to read the rest of the story. As the mid-term elections approach, we can expect to see more character assassination directed at conservative candidates. Many Republican candidates will avoid this because they are part of the uni-party, but look for attacks (mostly baseless) on conservatives during the next year–particularly those who might run for President.
The coronavirus has turned the American economy and the lives of Americans upside down. The disease has become a political weapon to be used to pick winners and losers in the economy and to limit the freedoms of all Americans. Statistics that show that the death rate from the virus is about the same as a bad flu season have been suppressed. I am not saying that the virus is not serious–I have had it and I have lost friends to it–but I am saying that we have overreacted and not necessarily followed the most prudent course. Remember in February when we were only going to lock down for two weeks? Some governors have used the virus as an excuse to punish political enemies or to exercise authority never granted to them by the state or federal Constitution. Others have injected common sense into the equation.
Yesterday The Conservative Treehouse posted an article about how Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is handling the virus.
The article reports:
As many state and regional leaders crush their small business owners under the weight of insufferable and unscientific COVID-19 restrictions, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis goes in the exact opposition direction. Governor DeSantis highlights his concern about the economic and financial impact to businesses and workers in the state.
The Florida Governor holds a press conference at a local restaurant today promising that all small business owners, restaurants and bars in the state will remain open and free to conduct business. COVID-19 will be managed, but we will not destroy families with arbitrary rules and dictates holding no foundation in science. God Bless DeSantis !
Those at risk can self-quarantine. The rest of us don’t have to. We need to take the basic precautions that we would take during the flu season. We know more about the virus than we did last winter–we have some idea of how to treat it. We also have a vaccine that we can give to the vulnerable. It is time to get on with our lives.