As readers of this blog know, we are not big fans of those folks in the American political class. The list of adjectives would be very, very long describing their attributes but the following sort list gives you an idea what we think of them: ineffective, greedy, self serving, ignorant, clueless, wasteful, hateful, hypocritical, and very bad at their jobs.
There are, however, a small number politicians that we would consider good at their jobs, that had vision, had the welfare of the citizens as their top priority, and were smart enough to do some good for their voters.
Those few include JFK for his vision and his handling of the Cuban missile crisis that could have spiraled into a nuclear world war, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, possibly one of the smartest people to serve in Congress over the past century, and Dwight David Eisenhower who made big strides against racism and Jim Crow laws in this country.
To our very short list we would now add our current governor here in Florida, Ron DeSantis. Having had a first hand view of what he accomplished in his first four years as governor, he has been impressive, as the following list highlights:
Economy and budget:
- Help create the largest tax cut in state history while at the same time generating the largest government surplus ever ($21.8 billion).
- Kept the state open during covid to protect jobs and businesses which resulted in a booming state economy and record setting tourism.
- His covid strategies kept the state open, minimized the loss of freedom, and ended up having a very low covid infection rate vs. states that had put in place draconian measures to crack down on its citizens.
- Ensured workers could not lose their jobs because they declined covid shots.
- Secured $100 million for the Hometown Heroes Program for down payment assistance for public servants.
- Florida leads the country in new business formations.
Law enforcement and public protection:
- Banned local government from defunding the police.
- Provided $5,000 bonuses for new police hires who relocate from other states.
- Resisted Biden's catch and release illegal immigration policy.
- Secured bonuses for law enforcement and fire rescue personnel in the state for two years in a row.
- Put a process in place to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary states and cities.
- Formed a government strike force to combat drug smuggling, human trafficking, and the movement of illegal weapons.
- Passed pay increases for law enforcement, correctional officers, and county sheriffs.
- Banned sanctuary cities in the state.
- Increased criminal penalties for trafficking fentanyl.
- Signed into law legislation that enforced tougher penalties on rioting.
Education:
- Secured the largest pay increase for teachers in Florida history.
- Kept schools open much longer during the covid crisis than other states which avoided the large learning deficits other states face because of their school lock downs.
- Banned the teaching of sexual ideology in grades kindergarten through third grade, placing the focus on learning and not sexual ideology.
- Signed the Fairness in Women's Sports Act that prohibits biological males from competing in girls public school athletics.
- Secured record level funding for K-12 public schools.
- Eliminated Common Core in Florida schools, a failed national attempt at standardized learning by the Federal government.
- Strengthened public high school learning emphasis on civics, financial literacy, and money management courses.
- Passed the Parents Bill Of Rights to give parents power to decide what is best for their kids' education.
- Signed bills to increase security and safety at Florida schools.
- Banned tuition increases at state universities.
- Secured two rounds of $1,000 bonuses for every early learning teacher.
Healthcare:
- Expanded Florida's network of resources to support citizens with behavioral and developmental disabilities.
- Sued the Biden administration when it delayed Florida's program to import cheaper prescription drugs from Canada.
- Increased funding to support those suffering from Alzheimer's disease and their families caring for them.
- Prohibited taxpayer dollars to be used for puberty blockers and gender altering surgery.
- Invested almost $1.5 billion to combat the opioid crisis.
- Signed the No Patient left Behind Act to make sure that no one in a hospital or assisted living facility in the state is barred from seeing visitors.
- Put forth an advertising campaign to fight the ever growing fentanyl epidemic.
- Banned vaccine passports and allowed state residents to keep their covid vaccination status private.
Environmental:
- Secured a record $3.3 billion to fund water quality and nature restoration projects in the Everglades.
- Acquired almost 142,000 acres of land to safeguard it from development while protecting the wildlife living on the land.
- Increased environmental regulations to restrict nutrient runoffs into the state's waterways.
- Restored the Red Tide task force and invested $440 million to mitigate Red Tide impacts.
- Appointed the state's first Chief Science officer to ensure environmental policy and laws are evidence based.
- Invested a record $45.6 million to continue to remove invasive pythons from the Everglades (8,000 pythons removed under the program.)
- Secured $50 million to protect manatees and their natural habitats.
- Established the Resilient Florida program to strengthen Florida's infrastructure against weather events.
- Reacted quickly and effectively to address the devastation of Hurricane Ian.
Families:
- Launched the Fatherhood Initiative to encourage responsible and involved fatherhood in the state.
- Extended postpartum care for new and low income moms.
- Among the top ten most populated states, Florida has had the lowest percentage of kids in foster care for over five years.
- Increased the state's Pregnancy Support Services Program to support the needs of expectant mothers.
- Instituted ten state tax holidays to help families combat inflation on life necessities such as diaper and school supplies.
- Protected houses of worship that remained open during the covid pandemic.
Now, most of the above accomplishments come from the Desantis reelection campaign literature. However, from news reports, my own research, and the fact that his opponent never challenged the truth of these claims tells me that most, if not all, of the above accomplishments are real.
More importantly he fulfilled the very basic functions of what any government entity should be doing:
- Protecting the lives and property of its citizens and its families.
- Protecting the freedoms of its citizens.
- Supporting the public health needs of its citizens.
- Ensuring efficient and effective public education processes and results.
DeSantis has done all of the above and then some. One of the few politicians that have produced as promised. Imagine if the rest of the American political class could be as effective.
Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:
Please visit the following sites for freedom:
