Free Republic

Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida has given the public some clarity on his veto last week of $32 million in arts and culture grants from next year’s state budget. According to a story published in the Tampa Bay Times, DeSantis said the cause was Orlando International Fringe Theater Festival, which he characterized as being overtly “sexual” and therefore an inappropriate recipient of state funds. While it’s unclear if the Orlando festival was slated to receive any money from the grants, the state of Florida awards money for cultural projects based on a ranked list. The Fringe Festival was ranked toward...

Today, Vote No On 4 Florida formally launched its multilingual campaign to defeat Amendment 4 on the upcoming November ballot with the unveiling of new websites in both English and Spanish and the rollout of its first campaign video entitled “Not What it Seems” which exposes the deceptive nature and extreme ramifications of Amendment 4. The 2-minute video reveals that while other amendments provide clear definitions, the 34-word Amendment 4 fails to define any of its terms, including crucial words like “viability,” “healthcare provider,” and “patient’s health,” leaving voters in the dark about its true impact. “Amedment 4 was deceptively...

Members of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet should consider invoking the 25th Amendment to remove the president, two sitting U.S. senators suggested. They said Biden’s performance in the first presidential debate against former President Donald Trump raised questions about his ability to perform his office. “We’ve definitely entered 25th Amendment territory,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, wrote on X. ... Members of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet should consider invoking the 25th Amendment to remove the president, two sitting U.S. senators suggested. They said Biden’s performance in the first presidential debate against former President Donald Trump raised questions about his ability to perform...

Muhammad Musri, president of American Islam and Chairman of the Board of the Islamic Society of Central Florida discussed in his June 21, 2024 Friday sermon plans to buy up abandoned churches and turn them into mosques. He said that Muslims are turning churches into mosques in order to serve the same community, because one day they will become Muslims. Musri said that 100 years ago Christians invaded Islamic countries and built missionary schools destroying mosques and Islamic schools. He added that now the Muslims are "returning the favor" by converting churches into mosques and turning the local schools into...

Detectives with the Broward Sheriff’s Office Special Victims Unit shared a video showing a man leaving a 3-year-old on a sidewalk after he carjacked the child’s mother. The Broward County Sheriff’s Office said it received a call reporting a stolen vehicle in Oakland Park around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. Investigators said a mother and her 3-year-old daughter were involved in a crash with another vehicle. When the mother exited her car to exchange information with the other driver, deputies said an unknown man jumped into her car and began to drive away with the woman’s daughter inside. Investigators said the mother...

Good news! We recently reached a favorable settlement for our clients at Heartbeat of Miami, a faith-based ministry that provides life-affirming services and support to women and couples facing unplanned pregnancies in Hialeah, Florida. While we cannot publicly discuss the specifics of the settlement quite yet, the vandals associated with Jane’s Revenge who sought to injure, intimidate and interfere with access to Heartbeat of Miami, and several Florida pregnancy resource centers, will be held to account. Last year, First Liberty and volunteer attorneys from Lawson Huck Gonzalez filed a federal lawsuit seeking to hold accountable the individuals who defaced and...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is warning that abortion proponents in the state are preparing to smuggle a radical ballot measure across the finish line in November. “Because all of the Southeast has various forms of pro-life legislation, Florida would become the abortion mecca of this region—and maybe one of the abortion meccas of the entire world, because it would be one of the most liberal abortion regimes anywhere in the world,” the Republican governor warned during a Zoom call Thursday with hundreds of pastors and faith leaders. “This amendment is written maybe more liberal than New York and California, but...

Florida has joined 22 other states in extending its infant surrender law to allow a 30-day surrender period up from seven days of age. Additional amendments to the law include a provision for the mom to call 911 for a direct surrender to responders, provided she remains with the baby until their arrival. Governor Ron DeSantis’ signature means HB 775 takes effect on July 1, 2024. The anonymous surrender granted by the law provides parents immunity from criminal prosecution if there are no indications of abuse or neglect. The extension to 30 days is vital to situations where premature infants...

Gov. Ron DeSantis vowed the Sunshine State won’t abide by potential bureaucratic restrictions on Second Amendment rights after the U.S. surgeon general declared firearm violence a “public health crisis.” The Biden administration’s surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, said guns “[pose] a serious threat to the health and well-being of our country.” The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ webpage for the advisory does not list any new legal action taken on restrictions, but DeSantis warned that similar advisories were issued at the start of the coronavirus pandemic – preceding lockdowns and other government mandates. “During COVID, unelected bureaucrats used...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida public school employee who faces firing because she allowed her transgender daughter to play girls high school volleyball assailed those who outed her child, saying Tuesday that the ensuing investigation destroyed the girl’s life. Jessica Norton said her daughter was thriving at Monarch High School in suburban Fort Lauderdale before an anonymous tipster notified a Broward County school board member in November that the 16-year-old was playing on the girls varsity volleyball team in apparent violation of state law. The 2021 Fairness in Women’s Sports Act bars students who were born male from...

The FBI purchased glossy cover sheets to use in photos of authorities’ unprecedented raid of former President Donald Trump.The FBI purchased glossy cover sheets to use in photos of authorities’ unprecedented raid of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.On Tuesday, journalist Julie Kelly posted court documents on X showing Special Counsel Jack Smith “admitted the FBI added cover sheets to alleged classified documents found at MAL and took photos for evidence.”“This confirms my report from last month that the FBI doctored evidence to produce stunt photos of classified documents at [Mar-a-Lago],” Kelly said.Now see if you notice the slight shift...

Joe Biden’s campaign chairwoman, Jen O’Malley Dillon, has already conceded Florida’s 30 electoral votes to former President Donald Trump. During a podcast interview with the far-left Puck, O’Malley Dillon was asked if the campaign considered Florida a legitimate battleground state His Fraudulency would contest in the coming months. Her answer was a flat, “No.” Heilemann: And you’re saying you see North Carolina also as a battleground state? O'Malley-Dillon: Yes. Heilemann: Florida? O'Malley-Dillon: No.https://t.co/lfxbxyXSJy — Nick Field (@nick_field90) June 24, 2024 It gets even better… Biden’s “ground organizing staff” in Florida heard the news and is now completely demoralized.

The Congressional Budget Office has underestimated Medicaid spending by billions of dollars every year for some time now and a new law that reduced illegal immigration in Florida may explain why. Since 2000, the CBO has underestimated an average of $15 billion a year of Medicaid spending, while often overestimating Social Security and Medicare spending. The latest CBO budget outlook bumped up Medicaid spending estimates yet again, this time by another $50 billion over the next 10 years. But judging by its recent performance, the new projections will still be too low. Something in the Medicaid program is adding tens...

Republicans' top pick to be Donald Trump's vice presidential candidate, according to a new poll by The Economist/YouGov. DeSantis, who was initially considered Trump's top contender for the candidacy but quickly dropped out from the primaries after a sweeping defeat in Iowa, has said he is not interested in the position. However, over four in ten respondents who identify as Republicans chose him as their preferred pick, while 40% of independents who lean toward the GOP giving the same answer. The poll showed that Florida Senator Marco Rubio followed suit with 27% of respondents choosing him as the potential VP....

Gov. DeSantis signs Florida ban on balloon releases

Abortion is expected to be on the ballot in Arizona and Florida in November, but the issue is not shaping up to be the boost President Biden needs to win the two states, according to a new poll. Voters in both states overwhelmingly support abortion access but are still favoring former President Donald Trump over Biden 52% to 47% in Arizona and 54% to 45% in Florida, per a CBS/YouGov survey. Democrats have typically been able to pummel Republicans over the hot-button issue. In Florida in April, the state’s supreme court upheld a six-week abortion ban that went into effect...

Florida governor Ron DeSantis slashed more than $32m in art and culture grants from next year’s state budget, effectively eliminating most of the state’s financial resources available for the arts. The legislature had already approved the funds in the form of two grants: $26m for one that supports cultural and museum programming, and $6m for another for building projects. The cuts are a small part of the nearly $1bn in line items that DeSantis vetoed before signing the budget last week, but art and cultural institutions across Florida say losing those grants will pose an immense challenge. “It’s a huge...

Governor Ron DeSantis’ crackdown on illegal immigrants seems to be paying off in more ways than one, according to a recent report. The governor’s multi-pronged effort to reduce illegal immigration in Florida has resulted in a significant reduction in the number of taxpayer dollars going to fund healthcare for those residing in the country illegally. The governor signed a law last year requiring hospitals that accept Medicaid to ask patients about their legal immigration status when they seek treatment. The legislation does not compel patients to answer the question, but immigrant rights groups argued that it would discourage them from...

A judge in Florida is starting to take apart the secrecy operation that Ron DeSantis and his DC Bush clan constructed during their block Trump operation. DeSantis moved from Congress to the Florida Governor position in 2018; the intent was always to run for President in 2024 and take apart the Trump constructs returning the Republican apparatus to traditional corporate controls. Part of their lengthy approach was to import some of the Washington DC silo/secrecy functions and overlay them into Florida state politics. Arguably, Florida had the strongest public record transparency laws in the country, known collectively as “the sunshine...

James O'Keefe released his latest undercover report yesterday, this one featuring a senior VP at Disney who spilled the beans on the company's DEI hiring practices. Michael Giordano went on a date arranged though an online service and got a lot more than he bargained for. His date was working for O'Keefe and prompted him with questions about what DEI looks like behind the scenes. Giordana said he'd personally applied for many jobs during his 11 years at the company and has seen more diverse candidates with less experience get the promotions. He says one of his friends in HR...