Staff Reports
Immigration issue could decide control of Congress
In Washington, an issue that is hot one day, often cools the next, then disappears — at least until another day. That is not the case with the issue surrounding the separation of children from adults crossing the border illegally.
Earlier in the week, the typical political one-upmanship on the issue was running its loud, normal course. Democrats were blasting the “zero tolerance” policy, President Donald Trump, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and the administration.
Recordings and photos of crying children became part of the “conversation” which subsequently morphed into a media feeding frenzy.
“All of God’s children deserve to be treated with compassion,” said Democratic Rep. Charlie Crist of St. Petersburg. “Ripping crying children from their parents fails this fundamental moral test.”
Democrats began heading for the border or regional detention centers for photo ops and statements. Sen. Bill Nelson and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz trekked to a south Florida facility only to be refused admission.
“It is an affront as the senior senator of this state that an agency head would tell me that I do not have entrance to a federally funded facility where the lives and health of children are at stake,” Nelson said. “I think what they’re doing is a cover up for the president.”
By Wednesday, with the frenzy sufficiently whipped up, things became dangerous. Authorities arrested a local Democratic Party activist on charges stemming from threats to kill the children of a South Florida Republican (see “Mast” below). Actor Peter Fonda called for grabbing 12-year-old Barron Trump from his mother’s arms and placing him into a facility with pedophiles.
Fonda later apologized, but not before First Lady Melania Trump got the Secret Service involved. Former CIA Director Michael Hayden, who served in a Republican administration, tweeted about separating children from families with a picture of the Auschwitz Nazi death camp.
Clearly feeling the heat, House Republicans promised a vote on two immigration bills, one of which would specifically outlaw separating children at the border. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer trolled Trump saying legislation was not needed and Trump could end the practice with the stroke of a pen.
Trump signed an executive order ending the separations, saying it “didn’t feel right to me.” But some legal experts believe the order runs contrary to case law and will not withstand a court challenge.
On Thursday, the more conservative “Goodlatte bill” failed. A vote on the moderate bill, which contained funding for a border wall, a DACA fix and ending child separations, was postponed from Thursday to Friday.
Translation: leadership did not have the votes and they may not be able to get them. Politically, the GOP was passing on a chance to force Democrats to vote against ending child separations and helping DREAMers.
In the Senate, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio joined several colleagues to introduce legislation that would, among other things, keep families together during immigration proceedings. A Democratic bill sponsored by Sen. Diane Feinstein of California would end family separations within 100 miles of the border.
With the odds of any legislation emerging at less than 50-50, Republicans will likely return to the hot seat if Trump’s executive order is invalidated. As Yogi Berra was credited with saying, it will be “Déjà vu all over again.”
Rubio joins call to investigate Haiti DEA office
Rubio is joining the call for an investigation into the Drug Enforcement Agency’s office in Haiti. The two-term Republican is joining the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s request to look into reports of whistleblower retaliation.
Both committee chairman, Republican Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, and ranking member Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat, wrote to Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horwitz asking him to begin an investigation after receiving inquiries about the Haiti office. On Tuesday, Rubio wrote to Horowitz also asking him to get involved.
“DEA personnel risk their lives every day to prevent and interdict illicit narcotics, and the crimes that accompany them, from harming Americans,” Rubio wrote. “Any internal improprieties and bad actors that hinder this mission must be dealt with swiftly.”
Rubio, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, also brought up drug trafficking investigations in the letter.
Nelson launches first attack ad
Nelson is now firing back at Gov. Rick Scott’s barrage of negative directed at him. On Thursday, he started a 60-second digital ad entitled “Oil Slick” and dubbing his opponent as “Oil Slick Rick.”
In the ad, Nelson accuses Scott of supporting offshore oil drilling until running for the Senate. It refers to an airport meeting with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke claimed Scott convinced him to take Florida “off the table” for future energy exploration in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico.
To view the ad, click the image below:
“Oil companies have Florida in their sights. Scott supported offshore drilling. Even after the BP Oil Spill,” the ad says before showing a clip of Scott saying, “Offshore drilling is an option.”
As the music returns the ad says, “Now in this election year, ‘Oil Slick’ Rick pretended to be a hero,” the text picks up. “But the media uncovered the real story. It was a political stunt.”
The ad then points to Nelson’s record of writing legislation to block drilling. It concludes with “Bill Nelson puts Florida first, always has, always will.”
Scott agrees to participate in three fall debates
In a sure sign the Senate race between Nelson and Gov. Rick Scott is tight, neither candidate is playing games with debates. This week, Scott accepted invitations to participate in three fall debates in preparation for the November election.
While no dates are set for any of the debates just yet, the network hosts are now known. They will be shown on CNN, Telemundo 51 in Miami, and Jacksonville’s WJXT Channel 4 (co-hosted by the Jacksonville University Public Policy Institute).
Traditionally, when one candidate has a sizeable lead over an opponent, the one leading seems to have scheduling conflicts for multiple debates while the one trailing wants to have as many as he or she can get. Both Nelson and Scott know these present opportunities to reach large sums of undecided voters.
A spokeswoman for Nelson’s campaign said they “look forward to debating Rick Scott many times if he will agree to show up and talk about the issues important to Floridians.” Nelson’s camp expects the incumbent to outshine Scott, who they claim “has spent eight years putting himself and his political career ahead of what’s best for Florida.”
A Scott campaign spokeswoman said the campaign is “curious” to see how Nelson will defend his tenure.
“Bill Nelson continues to be all talk, no action on the issues, but Floridians won’t settle for smoke and mirrors in a debate setting,” said campaign press secretary Lauren Schenone.
Both candidates are reviewing other invitations. The most recent polling shows Scott with a slight lead over the three-term incumbent.
Gaetz grills DOJ Inspector General during committee hearing
The furor around the child separation policy at the border moved last week’s inspector general report on the Hillary Clinton email investigation into secondary status. If Fort Walton Beach Republican Matt Gaetz has his way, that will only be temporary.
Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz was on Capitol Hill this week to answer questions on the report. He appeared before a joint hearing of the House Judiciary Committee and the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee.
Gaetz had an opportunity to question Horowitz about his findings that FBI personnel on the Clinton email probe, then went to the FBI’s Trump/Russia probe, then to the team put together by special counsel Robert Mueller. Gaetz asked if that was unusual.
“From a management matter, having done corruption cases, you wouldn’t put someone who just investigated an individual on one side to go and investigate the other person,” Horowitz responded.
Most of those who were referred to an internal FBI ethics investigator were not named in the report, something on which Gaetz spent a good deal of his time.
“Well, it will be totally unacceptable to my constituents to say that there was a person who went from the Hillary Clinton email investigation, to the Trump/Russia investigation, to the Mueller probe who identified himself and who you identified as the lead FBI lawyer on the Mueller probe, and we don’t get to know who that person is, associating with the resistance and going after the President after this totally botched Hillary Clinton email investigation that you’ve appropriately highlighted.”
Gaetz joined with several other colleagues in a letter seeking the names of those cited in the report.
Dunn applauds new health care rules for small business
Thanks to a new rule recently released by the Trump administration, some small business health plans will be more affordable. Under the policy change, small businesses and the self-employed may group together depending on their industry or location and purchase health insurance.
The rule is based off an executive order Trump signed in October providing alternatives to the Affordable Care Act, which Trump aims to repeal. The effort has the full support of Panama City Republican Rep. Neal Dunn.
“I commend President Trump and his administration for taking concrete steps to lower the cost of health care,” Dunn, a medical doctor, said in a statement. “Expanding health care options and increasing affordability for small businesses will provide much-needed relief to those people who are doing the most to grow our economy.”
One of the main thrusts of the rule is to allow association health plans to be regulated in the same way as large employer policies allowing them freedom from select Obamacare rules.
“Many of our laws, particularly Obamacare, make health care coverage more expensive for small businesses than large companies,” said Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta. “AHPs are about more choice, more access, and more coverage.”
Critics point to fears that for the lower premiums these plans could provide, then the result could translate to fewer benefits. Plans may be made available as soon as September 1.
Soto receives new endorsement in CD 9 race
Orlando Democrat Darren Soto this week received the endorsement of the national Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest LBGTQ civil rights organization. The endorsement fits into Soto’s efforts to strengthen the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.
The group praised Soto’s commitment to LGBTQ issues.
“HRC is proud to endorse Darren Soto for re-election to Congress,” said JoDee Winterhof, the senior vice president of policy and political affairs. “Darren has been a strong ally to the LGBTQ community throughout his career, including standing up to the Trump administration’s hateful anti-LGBTQ policies and pushing for progress to expand civil rights and protections under law.”
Soto is solidifying his progressive bona fides as he faces liberal flamethrower Alan Grayson in the Democratic primary. Earlier this year, Soto was endorsed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, saying he “embodies progressive values.”
“We need Darren Soto in Washington, and we encourage Central Floridians who support LGBTQ rights to support him,” Winterhof added.
The winner looks to face Saint Cloud Republican Wayne Liebnitzky in November.
Bay area trio demand VA improve nursing home care
The Veterans Affairs (VA) nursing home system is under the microscope following the release of a report showing veterans receive lower quality care when compared to the private sector. Included in the report was a five-tier rating system for each of the VA’s 133 nursing homes.
Among the seven facilities in Florida, none achieved a five-star or four-star rating. Only the facility in West Palm Beach achieved three stars, while three achieved the lowest grade of one star.
Two of those facilities include those in St. Petersburg and Tampa. This brought bipartisan reaction from local representatives.
In a letter, Democrats Charlie Crist of St. Petersburg, Kathy Castor of Tampa and Republican Gus Bilirakis of Palm Harbor wrote to acting VA Secretary Peter O’Rourke urging quick action.
“Generations of Tampa Bay area Veterans have come to the C.W. Bill Young and James A. Haley Medical Centers to redeem the promise of world-class, Veteran-specific health care they have earned from professionals who specialize in treating those who served,” they wrote. “Unfortunately, these ratings indicate that much still needs to be done to fulfill that promise. We cannot tolerate subpar quality of care for Veterans who have sacrificed so much.”
Local Democratic Party activist accused of threatening Mast’s children
The overheated rhetoric surrounding the family separation immigration debate took an ominous tone in Florida when a caller threatened to kill the children of Palm City Republican Brian Mast. Although he denied making death threats, Laurence Key of Stuart was arrested on Wednesday for “communicating a threat to kidnap or injure a person.”
“I’m going to find the Congressman’s kids and kill them,” the caller to Mast’s office said. “If you’re going to separate kids at the border, I’m going to kill his kids. Don’t try to find me because you won’t.”
Key told investigators with the Martin County Sheriff and the FBI that he did not threaten to kill Mast’s children, but did say if Mast supports Trump’s immigration policies, Mast should be separated from his children.
Key is active in the Martin County Democratic Party and volunteers for Planned Parenthood, according to a friend.
According to the criminal complaint, Key has telephoned Mast’s Congressional office 478 times. Mast, who lost both legs while serving in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, has been in office less than 18 months.
Key was initially held in the St. Lucie County jail.
Deutch, Ros-Lehtinen agree on U.N. council bias; disagree on U.S. departure
On Tuesday, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, officially announced the U.S. would withdraw from the United Nations human rights council. Haley described the council as a “cesspool of bias” by repeatedly targeting Israel while ignoring atrocities from other countries.
“Regrettably it is now clear that our call for reform was not heeded,” Haley told reporters at the state department. “Human rights abusers continue to serve on, and be elected to, the council.”
Haley pointed to a yearlong effort to foster reform within the council, but to no avail. The U.N.’s top human rights official, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein of Jordan, said: “Given the state of human rights in today’s world, the US should be stepping up, not stepping back.”
Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch of Boca Raton agrees. While blasting the council’s bias, he criticized the U.S. departure.
“The United Nations Human Rights Council ignores some of the most egregious human rights abuses in the world, and its membership includes notorious human rights violators,” Deutch said in a statement. “The Council also wrongly and obsessively focuses on our ally Israel. Unfortunately, none of that will change if we are not at the table to lead the reform efforts.”
Deutch’s counterpart on the House Foreign Relations Committee, Miami Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, agreed with the Trump administration.
“It’s long past due, but (Tuesday’s) decision by the Administration to withdraw the United States from the UN’s Human Rights Council is welcome news,” Ros-Lehtinen said in a statement. “As long as the body’s representation includes countries like Cuba, Venezuela, China, or other governments that actively work against what the Council is supposed to promote and support, and as long as it continues to push an anti-Israel bias and an anti-American agenda, the United States should not legitimize it with our presence.”
Miami Beach finalist for 2020 Democratic Convention
The Democratic National Committee has narrowed its list of potential hosts for the 2020 Democratic National Convention to four cities and Miami Beach is one of them. Their competition was announced as Denver, Milwaukee, and Houston, but Denver subsequently withdrew from consideration.
Should Miami Beach be chosen, it will mark the first time the city will host a national convention since 1972, when it hosted the conventions of both political parties. Democrats chose South Dakota Sen. George McGovern to take on President Richard Nixon.
“I would have to believe that a state-of-the-art convention center along with all of the elements the South Florida community presents” would be selling points for Miami Beach’s bid, said Mayor Dan Gelber. “We’re very excited.”
Miami Beach would not be able to host an event of that size on its own, prompting them to enlist the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County to present a unified bid.
“A city has to figure out how to absorb this kind of event, so you need multiple partners, which is why this isn’t simply Miami Beach,” Gelber said.
On this date in the headlines
June 22, 1989 — In a 5-4 decision, the United States Supreme Court ruled that burning the American flag is a permissible form of free speech. Writing for the majority, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote: “We do not consecrate the flag by punishing its desecration, for in doing so we dilute the freedom that this cherished emblem represents.”
In a dissenting opinion, Chief Justice William Rehnquist wrote that a majority should be permitted to legislate against “profoundly offensive” acts. Justices Anthony Kennedy and Antonin Scalia, both appointees of President Ronald Reagan, sided with the majority to legalize flag burning.
June 22, 2005 — The Senate voted 52-44 to allow the federal government to establish an inventory of resources, including oil and gas, beneath half of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and the entire outer continental shelf. The vote came as a defeat for both of Florida’s Senators, Republican Mel Martinez and Democrat Bill Nelson.
“It’s the first step to drilling,” Nelson said. “It’s the proverbial camel’s nose under the tent.” The Senate was reacting to the price of oil reaching $59 per barrel and concern that gas prices would soar as high as $2.28 per gallon by Labor Day.
