Operation Florida

[MarkCrossEA]

As the story goes, when Benjamin Franklin came out of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, a woman in the crowd shouted to him, “Mr. Franklin, what kind of government have you given us?” His reply: “A Republic, madam, if you can keep it!” It’s high time we were about keeping the Republic.

[Omnis]

Plantation FL, wutwut.

[Lord Xar]

can someone tell me the 4 or 5 major concerns of floridians THAT Ron Paul is the best at... ie, illegal immigration, gun rights etc.... what are they for Florida?

[Joe Knows]

can someone tell me the 4 or 5 major concerns of floridians THAT Ron Paul is the best at... ie, illegal immigration, gun rights etc.... what are they for Florida?

The big issues in Florida right now are illegal immigration, (Mel Martinez), High property taxes, high insurance rates, with a real estate bust and a mortgage implosion. Florida is primed for Ron Paul.

[Duckman]

The big issues in Florida right now are illegal immigration, (Mel Martinez), High property taxes, high insurance rates, with a real estate bust and a mortgage implosion. Florida is primed for Ron Paul.

As a Floridian I can tell you the hottest local topics all have to do with housing., like Joe said. To add a little more detail, Florida had a huge run-up in house values across much of the state in the last few years, and many people are paying twice as much in property tax as they did 5 years ago. Meanwhile, because of the 2004 hurricane season (4 hurricanes in FL) and Katrina the following year, alot of insurance companies "left the state" and won't write policies here, and those that still do increased rates significantly so that your insurance rates can be similar in total cost to your (new) property tax bill. Plus, the state itself will insure your property if no private company will through something called "Citizens" insurance, and I read recently that over half the homeowners in the state have no choice but Citizens.

And of course, now the housing market has tanked here people are finding they can't sell their houses. Someone on my street suffered an injury at his job and needs to sell his home because he can't afford it anymore, but he hasn't been able to sell it for about 4-5 months now. A friend of mine moved from a suburban house to a condo in the city and hasn't been able to sell his house in the suburbs, and is dipping into his savings to pay two mortgages, for as long as he can.

[mtmedlin]

Illegal immigration is BIG. There have been several marches and protest by Hispanic groups. I work within the hispanic market (I own a Phone card company that specializes in Hispanic cards). As everyone else has said, taxes. NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND is absolutely hated, so states rights needs to be an issue pushed. We have a test called the FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Achievment Test) and I have never met a teacher that was for it. War in Iraq but thats where it gets weird. Its very mixed. We have several military bases and alot of retired military. You will get different reactions to the message. IT IS SO IMPORTANT that RP stresses that he is not anti military. Sometimes his message is presented this way. He needs to say more then "just walk out". He needs to lay down a time line of how long it will take and how he will ensure that all soldiers get out without being ambushed when were weakest. He also needs to beat the drum on the fact that he is for being in Afghanistan and getting Bin Laden and those that REALLY DID attack us.

[Omnis]

Yeah, the public school system here in Broward is terrible. Joe pretty much hit the nail on the head but I'd be willing to bet that Floridians would foam at the mouth for major tax credits on private education and/or policies that would increase competition and create new institutions in the private education market.

The FCAT is such a waste of time and money, especially for the honors students. My classes were always tied down by it... it's a mystery to me how anyone could fail it. But, anyway, the FCAT is a state issue and not really something that RP could help. Getting rid of the Dept. of Education is a step in the right direction, though.

[thomj76]

I concur that the housing situation, taxes, illegal immigration, impact fees for business, gas taxes by counties, and education are some of the hotter issues in Florida.

The Iraq point used by mtmedlin is right on as well. In the last sign waving we had at the University of Florida, I had a military guy ask me about Ron Paul's stance on the war. I replied that he voted to go into Afghanistan. Concerning Iraq, Ron Paul stressed that this needed to be done according to the Constitution and not necessarily by an expanded War Powers Act. He even made a motion to declare war concerning Iraq.



I found this a few moments ago:

http://www.newnation.org/Archives/NNN-Guest-Column-28.html

If someone can look into this as well, it could be a significant piece of the puzzle to define what is happening in Iraq.


Back to Florida: Be respectful, be informed, be able to communicate effectively. I have found this to be very helpful, and I think that even though someone may "poopoo" your stance initially, it leaves room for them to reconsider. Much more so, than if you shout at them and tell them they are wrong.

We need people to attend the county GOP Executive Committee meetings throughout the state. Find out the specifics on how to get on the committee. Show that support for real Republican ideals can be strong if the party opens its doors to its foundation. (Ok, that last bit was somewhat 'Rah-Rah'), however, there are a lot of people that are concerned with what's going on in our country, and its the message more so than the candidate that will strengthen our land.

Here are some videos that we took at our sign wavings.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=ConstitutionChris

We will try to get more up as we are able.


Respectfully Submitted,

Christopher F. Dillard

[michaelwise]

The real estate bust in Florida is well underway. I'm seeing a lot of half price sales on houses here in SW Florida. This state is in the mists of a major economic catastrophe. This is only the beginning. It won't be long till the commercial property starts getting foreclosed on in mass. Ron Paul should emphasize that the Privately Owned Federal Reserve Bank Corporation is directly responsible for causing the economic booms, and subsequent busts in our economy, which are quite devastating to American families. Ron Paul should call for the federal reserve bank to be abolished, for their gross mismanagement of our economy, and return the printing of our money to the US Treasury.

[thomj76]

Bump...


http://ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=14396

This here is a microcosm, it is...;)

[Matt Collins]

It's funny... most of the Hispanics in Florida are actually Puerto Ricans and Cubans, both of which are legal.

Not only is cost of housing big, but so are population growth, roads, and insurance (specifically home owner's and malpractice).

[IRO-bot]

Puerto Rico is an American providence, they are american citizens. Maybe southern Florida is mostly Cuban's. I can tell you here around the Treasure Cost it is mostly Mexicans. People are sick of it. Sick of losing jobs to cheap illegal workers. Illegal Immigration is HUGE here. Property taxes and Housing insurance are huge as well. I bought my home for 165,000. It's now maybe worth 120,000 if I am lucky. To top it off, my insurance went up over 100%. I pay 2300 in insurance and now I just got a letter saying my taxes are going up 400 bucks this year alone. It sucks and it is hard. My bank account is whiped out every morgage payment. I am barely staying afloat.

I say the best message Ron Paul can bring to us Floridians is...

1. END the welfare for Illegal Imigrants.
2. END the political safety for Cubans.
3. End Birthright citizenship.
4. States rights.
5. Something about helping to lower our outrageous taxes and insurance????


P.S. I can tell you our schools SUCK. My sister's daughter went to 1st grade last year. Her teacher was pregnant and ended being absent the whole year. She had well over 5 substitutes for the whole year. I honestly don't think she learned much. How can you build a trust and bond with a teacher, when they change every other week. Not to mention St. Lucie County is in need of 109 teachers. THEY ARE SHORT THAT MANY!!!! Nobody wants to teach. Don't make enough money to survive here.

[Dary]

Eminent Domain could get some traction too.