Posted on 08/05/2023 8:51:23 AM PDT by Reno89519
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis delivered an economic speech Monday, an event understandably overshadowed by the latest indictment of former president Donald Trump. The speech was a revealing blend of Trumpian and orthodox Republican policies, and DeSantis laid out where he might diverge from both were he to be president.
The speech began with a dark description of the state of the country. America, DeSantis said, is in decline — militarily, culturally and economically. He found many sources to blame. China for one, immigrants another, the elite a third — the latter a group he attacked multiple times as the root cause. The economic speech was a continuation of the overall tone of his presidential campaign.
The populist, us-vs.-them rhetoric reflected Trump’s influence on the Republican Party. Trump likes to pick fights and personalize critiques. He shifts the terms of the political conversation and of GOP policies. DeSantis has adopted this approach as his own as he competes against Trump for the Republican nomination.
The governor attacked a “failed ruling class,” which he said has profited at the expense of the country as a whole and the middle class specifically. “We have to defeat those individuals and institutions that have caused our economic malaise,” he said. “We cannot have policy that kowtows to the largest corporations in Wall Street at the expense of small businesses and average Americans.”
At another point, he said, “The goal of our Declaration of Independence is simple. We the American people win, they lose.”
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
His critiques of the income and wealth gap would find favor with some of those on the left, as when he pointed out that “the bottom half of households have less wealth than they did in 1989 [while] the top 10 percent have added $29 trillion in wealth” and suggested that policies favored by the elite have contributed to that.
... DeSantis added his own contemporary spin on this, arguing that economic lockdowns during the pandemic enlarged the gap between the top 10 percent and the bottom half. “The covid lockdowns and the associated policies represented the largest transfer of wealth from working people, small businesses to large corporations, like Apple and Amazon and Facebook, that we’ve ever seen in the modern history of our country,” he said.
... “The Chinese Communist Party continues to eat this country’s lunch every single day,” he said.
... In terms of China policy, DeSantis has joined with other Republican presidential candidates in calling for far more adversarial approaches on issues such as trade, intellectual property and human rights. [DeSantis pledges to] revoke China’s permanent normal trade relations status.
... large parts of DeSantis’s economic thinking reflect traditional party orthodoxy, what the economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin called “meat and potatoes” solutions long enunciated by Republican candidates.
... As outlined in the speech, these policies would include low taxes, a small regulatory state, controlling spending and bringing down the debt, cutting down the federal bureaucracy, improving the education system, and increasing oil and gas production. “There’s nothing in that that sounds unconventional in any way,” Holtz-Eakin said.
... He favors a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution, ...
... [DeSantis pledges] to produce annual growth in gross domestic product of 3 percent, a target that has proved elusive to policymakers of both parties for most of the past three decades.
Where DeSantis appears to be moving beyond where Trump was as president is in his posture toward big tech, big corporations and the Federal Reserve. Here, he is genuinely hawkish, and in Florida, he has shown already his willingness to use the power of the state to affect corporate behavior.
He picked a fight with the Walt Disney Co. when a Disney executive criticized new Florida legislation that limits discussion of gender and identity issues in elementary schools. He cut the investment firm BlackRock out of managing about $2 billion of state money over ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) investment policies. As president, he said, “We’re going to end the politicization of the economy by kneecapping things like ESG.”
... He also has been vigorous in attacking the Federal Reserve. The Fed, he said, should not be “an economic central planner” or be “indulging in social justice.” Its job is to maintain stable prices “and it has departed from that with what it’s done over the last many years.” But a president’s power over the Fed is limited. DeSantis said he would appoint a Fed chair “who understands “the limited role that it has.”
He also fully rejects any role for the Fed in the development of a digital currency, which he describes as another attempt by the elite to gain power and influence. “Central bank digital currency is a wolf coming as a wolf,” he said. This is an issue of minimal importance to most Americans, one that it is safe to say few know about or understand. For DeSantis, it has become a passion.
... the speech underscored how the Republican Party has evolved under Trump — and where DeSantis would push to accelerate those changes.
Good article on details, picking up from Trump, showing some areas of difference, and even where DeSantis will go that is beyond what Trump talks about or attempted.
For all those false charges that he’s a WEF puppet, the DC political Establishment hates DeSantis much more than anyone here.
DeSantis also delivered remarks at the Lincoln Dinner on Friday, which provided the governor an opportunity to reset his faltering campaign. DeSantis recently cut a third of his campaign staff, and was forced to cancel two fundraising events last weekend due to lack of donor interest. According to FiveThirtyEight’s average of national polls, DeSantis’s support among likely Republican primary voters has dipped by roughly eight points since the beginning of the month.
And? What did he say new or different about the economy, similar or different than Trump? Conservative, whatever? Do you have anything to share on this topic?
I honestly don’t understand the animosity towards DeSantis. I am a Trump guy, but DeSantis seems ok to me too. We need all the conservative allies we can get. Maybe there was stuff he did in Florida that wasn’t conservative, but I am not aware of it.
Yes, it is funny how critics claim DeSantis is a RINO and GOPe and so forth without realizing his plans and actions are clearly not. He sure won’t find encouragement or support from them.
WTH does Ronnie know about economics?
Throwing more money for Ukraine is not good expenditure of American
Tax dollars.
They are just pretending. They know DeSantis is a dullard and they want him because he would be easy to beat.
Ukraine is not part of DeSantis’ economic plan. Besides he’s been critical of the war and our support anyway.
Where’s your proof DeSantis has said he wants to send money to Ukraine? I remember him calling it a territorial dispute that we should not be involved with, and that Europe should be paying for it.
So here we have a semi puff piece from the rats at the WaPo the day after Ron sided with the rats and stabbed us in the back on 20 voter fraud issue. An unforgivable betrayal. This article is his pieces of silver. Ron is dead to me.
And, Trump's polices gave us the lowest unemployment in 50 years without the 40-year high in inflation. He made us energy independent and gave us $2 a gallon gasoline. He know what Trump did worked and he'll do it again.
https://apnews.com/article/ron-desantis-ukraine-republicans-2024-f44acc03f772f393b7f8d452ee26508a
Yep, he did say that originally, but walked that Statement back.
Since then he has been all over the Map.
Trump has been clear.
No more Tax Dollars for Ukraine.
If this is a “semi puff piece” on DeSantis, then it is also one on Trump. The article covered both equally, refreshing really from the Washington Post of recent.
You're not trying very hard.
DeSantis 1) flip-flopped on the Ukraine war and now denies election fraud took place in 2020 after pressure from his donors to do so. 2) He just pandered to the pro-abortion crowd in New Hampshire 3) He has repeatedly lied about Trump. Claiming Trump supported lockdowns is an outrageous lie.
Thanks for that info. I don’t see any actual commitment to funding Ukraine though, in that clarification. He simply clarified that in the territorial dispute, Russia invaded, not Ukraine. Doesn’t equate to sending them funding. And Trump is the one who first started sending them weapons, let’s not forget. Thanks again.
https://politicalwire.com/2023/03/23/desantis-flip-flops-on-ukraine/
Gov. Ron DeSantis reversed his stance on Ukraine, saying he believes Vladimir Putin is “a war criminal” who needs to be held “accountable” for invading the country, the New York Post reports.
He added that Russia is “basically a gas station with a bunch of nuclear weapons.”
He is being funded by the same elites that do not care about the average American, that's why. He will do nothing to destroy the Deep State which is a criminal enterprise. It's destroying this nation while enriching themselves & securing their power within the New World Order/One World Government they believe is the panacea for the world's ills as they recreate the perfect world they believe the Lord, if he even existed, got wrong.
In other words, they see themselves as the true Gods of the earth. They are evil who have promised those still around, that they will have nothing & you will be happy..
But mainly we do not like him because he pretended to be an America first person, but he's not. He will be owned by the donors who supported him, or he will be eliminated if he tries to go against them, just as you see what is happening to Trump.
Which means he will be working for them exclusively, not the people of this nation.
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