Delegation for 9.8.20: Florida tossup — firestorms — travel ban — trade troubles — Snowden

Florida a tossup

As the fall campaign heads into the homestretch, some claim President Donald Trump has gained some momentum after the political conventions. However, polls are still showing Democratic nominee Joe Biden maintaining a small, but consistent edge with the Real Clear Politics average of polls showing him with a seven-point lead nationally.

Battleground state surveys show Biden with a roughly three-point edge that includes a less-than-two-point margin in Florida, a state Trump must win to have any chance for a second term. Two recent Florida polls show different results with Biden holding on to a three-point lead in the Quinnipiac survey, while Trump has a rare three-point lead in a poll conducted by Trafalgar Group.

The Trafalgar survey was basically a poll on the Trump versus Biden horse race, while Quinnipiac was a far more detailed poll that contained numerous questions with a wide range of interesting results within the cross tabs.

Quinnipiac polled likely voters where respondents broke down as 30% Democrat, 30% Republican and 33% independent. Biden led among those independents by 51 to 41%.

There were some eye-catching numbers within the cross tabs in which both sides can take heart. While independents back Biden, a key demographic group vitally important to Democrats narrowly favors Trump.

By a 45 to 43% margin, Latinos say they would support the President. Hillary Clinton carried that group by 27 points in 2016. At the same time, the survey did not pick up any significant increase for Trump among Black voters nationwide that some other surveys are touting.

Biden leads among those aged 65 and over, a highly dependable voting bloc, by 54 to 44%. According to the poll, Florida’s seniors seemed to have soured on Republican leadership in general with one exception.

Job approval ratings for Trump are at minus 10%, while both Sen. Rick Scott and Gov. Ron DeSantis are even or nearly even overall, but among seniors, both are five points underwater. On the other hand, Sen. Marco Rubio is approved by 47% of Floridians with 38% disapproving, including a 49 to 41% approval/disapproval rating among seniors.

By nearly three-to-one, those voting for Biden are doing so because they loathe Trump, while two of every three Trump voters are fully backing the President as opposed to voting against Biden. Two of every three voters surveyed will either vote early or on Election Day at a voting site as opposed to voting by mail.

Voters have negative opinions of both candidates. Trump has a favorability rating of 44%, while 49% view him unfavorably. Biden is viewed favorably by 41% of respondents, but 46% gave him an unfavorable rating.

Both sides have two months to slip in messages of what they will do if elected while at the same time driving up the negatives of the other.

Twin firestorms

Two huge stories that developed into firestorms recently captured the attention of millions of Americans on both sides of the political spectrum and both involved the national leaders of their political parties. Both are the sources of campaign fodder.

The one with the greatest potential for political damage was the story in The Atlantic that quoted unnamed sources accusing Trump of calling fallen World War I soldiers in France “suckers” and “losers” while those who died in Vietnam shared the “suckers” tag. The story claimed the President did not wish to attend a French ceremony honoring the fallen for those reasons and because it would play havoc with his hair.

“I never thought we’d have a President that disparages our troops, but every day @realdonaldtrump makes it more clear that he has no idea what it means to sacrifice for this country,” tweeted West Palm Beach Democrat Lois Frankel.

Coral Gables Democrat Donna Shalala noted her uncles who died in World War II, saying “They were not losers, they were heroes.” Orlando Democrat Val Demings tweeted “When someone shows you who they are, believe them.”

Within hours after the article was published, a liberal veterans’ group launched an ad slamming the President over the controversy. The ad included comments from outraged parents of soldiers killed in action.

Trump furiously denounced the report as false, with former press secretary Sarah Sanders, then-National Security Adviser John Bolton and others present saying the remarks attributed to Trump as the reason for not attending the ceremony were not accurate. Fort Walton Beach Republican Matt Gaetz tweeted “The Atlantic is Fake News. They make things up.”

The other story was far less important and involved House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to a closed San Francisco hair salon to receive what was described as a “blowout.” The security camera video of Pelosi in the salon was provided to Fox News by the salon owner.

Pelosi called it a “setup,” which the owner denied. Republican Rep. Vern Buchanan of Longboat Key weighed in, calling the controversy “HAIR-POCRISY.”

“Put House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the top of the list of politicians who think the rules don’t apply to them,” Buchanan said in an email forwarding an opinion article. “What do you think, should we cut her some slack?”

Briefly speaking

A little more than one week ago, newly-installed Director of National Intelligence (DNI) John Ratcliffe informed Congress that in-person election security briefings would cease due to “unauthorized disclosures and misuse,” otherwise known as leaks. Democrats howled in protest, but at least one senior Republican also said the DNI was not on solid legal ground.

Rubio, the acting chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in-person briefings to his committee would continue, as the House Intelligence Committee chaired by California Democrat Adam Schiff saw a planned briefing canceled.

“It’s my expectation we will (be briefed). I’ve been told that we will,” Rubio told Spectrum News. “We are going to continue to schedule these briefings, as we do on a regular basis throughout the year, and we expect them to come in and to provide us that information and answer our questions in person.”

As the committee that oversees the intelligence community, Rubio added “They can’t tell us they’re not coming in to talk to us.” He added that refusing to talk to Congress “is not what the law says.”

Schiff and Pelosi wrote to Ratcliffe demanding briefings to the House committee be reinstated, as well as briefings to the full House, the latter of which Ratcliffe said was the primary source of the leaking problem. He accused House Democrats of selectively leaking portions of the briefings to push a narrative that Russia is more dangerous than China.

The letter singled out Russia, which concluded with a pledge that if the briefings did not resume, “we will have no choice but to consider the full range of tools available to compel compliance.”

Keep travel ban

Trump often cites his Jan. 31 “travel ban,” which prohibited non-Americans from entering the U.S. from China, as a move that saved countless lives from the ravages of the coronavirus. On June 5, the Department of State issued a ban on Americans traveling to China, something Scott wants to see continued.

While the June 5 ban was centered around COVID-19 quarantines, Scott says the personal safety of Americans for health and non-health reasons means the ban should be continued. In a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the first-term Republican said this is yet another way to “hold China accountable” and recognize the “serious security threat” faced by Americans traveling there.

“The Chinese Communist Party and their puppets continue to silence and intimidate those standing up for democracy and human rights,” Scott wrote. “We know foreigners and journalists working and traveling in China do so at their own risk.”

The current ban is known as a Level 4: Do Not Travel, with the State Department noting the government of the People’s Republican of China (PRC) has “asserted broad authority to prohibit U.S. citizens and citizens of other countries from leaving the PRC by using ‘exit bans,’ sometimes keeping them in the PRC for years.”

Scott says the U.S. is now engaged in a new Cold War with China playing the role once played by the Soviet Union.

“I urge the Department to maintain the Level 4 Do Not Travel Advisory beyond the pandemic, given the ongoing human rights abuses and critical threat to American safety,” he added.

Unfair trade addressed

A significant issue that Florida farmers and advocates felt was not addressed by the new United States, Mexico, Canada Agreement (USMCA) was the plight of vegetable farmers, especially those in Florida, who have been undercut by low-priced goods from Mexico. The Trump administration has announced the process is underway to get a better deal for those producers.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) released a report in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Commerce that will, among other things, facilitate senior level, government-to-government discussions with Mexico over the next 90 days to address U.S. concerns over perishable fruits and vegetables.

“For years, Florida’s fruit and vegetable growers have been harmed by unfair trade practices from Mexico and the administration made a promise to me and the entire Florida congressional delegation earlier this year to thoroughly examine these unreasonable trade practices, and do something about it,” Rubio said in a news release. “Today’s announcement is a first step in delivering on that promise.”

The strategy also calls for providing a mechanism to report unfair subsidies provided to foreign competitors, and whether the imports are utilized to promote criminal activity. The plan comes after public hearings and witness testimony that included members of Congress.

“Florida agriculture is the backbone of our State’s economy, yet our farmers, ranchers, and producers have suffered from Mexico’s trade-distorting practices for far too long,” said Sarasota Republican Greg Steube, who was among those testifying at a recent hearing on the issue.

“Though we still have more progress to make, this is an important first step toward empowering our farmers and prioritizing the dire needs of our agriculture communities.”

Along with Steube and Rubio, among others testifying at the August hearing were Republican Reps. Vern Buchanan, Ted Yoho and Ross Spano, along with Democratic Rep. Darren Soto.

Miami Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell recently wrote to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer urging him to “keep in mind all (emphasis hers) seasonal and perishable products that have been suffering from current trade practices.”

Gaetz: pardon Snowden

A decision from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week declared the government’s practice of collecting metadata of telephone records from millions of Americans was illegal. The practice was first disclosed, illegally, by former national security contractor Edward Snowden, who remains in exile in Russia.

Gaetz is among those who now believe the former National Security Agency (NSA) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) contractor deserves a pardon from the President. Snowden was charged by the Department of Justice under the Espionage Act in 2013.

“As of today, the case has never been stronger that Edward Snowden deserves a pardon from President Trump. I would support a pardon for Edward Snowden,” Gaetz said on his podcast. “If it were not for Snowden, we might not know today that our own government was engaged in an activity that now a federal appellate court has deemed illegal.”

The court held that a warrantless telephone snooping program that secretly collected millions of Americans’ telephone records was in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Snowden’s leaks from seven years ago led to the ruling.

Trump at one point referred to Snowden as a traitor and suggested he should be executed, but recently said he was “going to take a very good look at it.” Gaetz is on opposite sides with Attorney General William Barr, who told The Associated Press he would be “vehemently opposed” to any attempt to pardon.

“Maybe we can make the pardon conditional on Snowden’s willingness to go back to work for our government and help us get the bad guys without violating the rights of American citizens,” Gaetz added. “America First means the rights of American citizens first, and those rights would be vindicated with a pardon of Edward Snowden.”

Snowden perhaps saw some hope that he may be able to return to the U.S. one day.

“I never imagined that I would live to see our courts condemn the NSA’s activities as unlawful and in the same ruling credit me for exposing them. And yet that day has arrived,” he tweeted.

Airport funds coming

As much as $250 billion remains unspent from the coronavirus relief bill known as the CARES Act, which contained $2.2 trillion in appropriated funds from Congress. Recently, transportation grants to communities from the CARES Act have increased, including one for $11 million to the Orlando Sanford International Airport for infrastructure improvements.

Rep. Stephanie Murphy announced the grant designed to “rehabilitate” the airport’s runway and runway lighting system. The facility is in Murphy’s district and located about 30 miles from Orlando International Airport.

“Over the years, Orlando Sanford International Airport has emerged as a key economic driver in Central Florida,” the Winter Park Democrat said in a news release. “I am proud to announce this major investment that will help Seminole County increase economic development and create more jobs during these challenging times.”

According to Murphy, before the COVID-19 pandemic, the airport was the fourth busiest in Florida and the 27th busiest airport in the country. The airport helps generate over 23,000 jobs in the region, with an economic impact of more than $2.6 billion.

“As we emerge from this crisis, I will keep fighting to secure more federal dollars that will help our region remain the top destination it has always been,” she added.

Protection from eviction

Among the numerous financial effects from the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown was the inability for some to pay their rent, leaving them to face eviction. DeSantis protected the affected from eviction through a series of executive orders, with the most recent extension lasting through September 30.

As a way to provide indefinite federal protection from eviction, Demings has introduced the Federal Disaster Housing Stability Act of 2020. The bill would apply an automatic eviction moratorium to all rental properties and a foreclosure moratorium to all federally-backed mortgages in locations under a federal declaration of emergency.

“Disasters happen. But evictions during a disaster don’t need to,” Demings said in a news release. “We should not allow Americans to go homeless due to financial distress during an emergency. An eviction is not a natural disaster. We have the power to ensure that a natural disaster does not mean eviction for American families.”

The bill would also tie federal eviction and foreclosure moratoriums to individual states’ unemployment levels during a declared state of emergency so that their duration continues until economic damage from a disaster has stabilized.

“This legislation would provide stability and certainty for millions of renters and homeowners during future federal emergencies. As families struggle to get through this pandemic, we should have their backs,” Demings concluded.

Joining Demings in co-sponsoring the bill are Democratic Reps. Al Lawson and Frederica Wilson.

More testing needed

As the reopening from COVID-19 lockdowns slowly moves forward, access to testing and having the resources to carry out those tests on a broad scale, remains a concern. In response, Rep. Charlie Crist has announced legislation that seeks to expand testing by repurposing certain facilities as Florida reportedly continues to have issues obtaining tests and enduring extensive wait times for results.

The Coronavirus Testing Capacity Expansion Act would increase and expand the country’s ability to test by recruiting nontraditional resources, such as veterinary and university labs, by making them eligible to conduct testing and incentivizing their participation. Under the legislation, individuals tested would face no additional costs as the labs would be reimbursed directly by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

“At this point in the pandemic, it is clear that widespread testing with a quick turnaround on results is the key to protecting our communities and loved ones from this virus,” Crist said in a news release. “Testing every American who needs a test, and getting them results quickly go hand in hand. It allows for effective contact tracing and lowers barriers for people to go get tested, especially asymptomatic people.”

The legislation comes as Florida reports over 650,000 confirmed cases and nearly 12,000 deaths. The labs currently conducting testing have warned that slow turnaround for test results discourages individuals who may have been exposed to the virus from getting tested. In turn, this potentially slows down contact tracing making lowering infection rates increasingly difficult.

“Using every tool at our disposal to expand testing must be a top priority,” Crist added. “The Coronavirus Testing Capacity Expansion Act is common-sense legislation to increase our lab testing capacity so that smaller, nontraditional labs can join the fight, getting people their results quicker, encouraging everybody to know their status, and limiting the spread of the virus.”

No shutdown looming

With all of the other contentious issues confronting the country, another involves the seemingly annual spectacle of the government running out of money on September 30. If there is any good news coming out of Washington lately, reports of an informal agreement to avoid a government shutdown surfaced late last week.

According to reports, Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin agreed to support temporary spending bills keeping the federal budget machinery running past the end of the fiscal year, now three weeks away.

At the same time, a coronavirus relief bill is still languishing with no deal in sight, prompting two delegation Republicans to take opposing views on whether one will emerge to help 1.1 million unemployed Floridians and others.

“I think we’ll get something done,” Buchanan said. “Frankly, it’s too important not to get something done.”

He pointed to the need to fund measures to ensure school safety, an unemployment supplement at or near the previous amount of $600, and a second round of stimulus checks for all Americans.

Buchanan’s optimism is countered by pessimism coming from Steube, who said “I’m not optimistic there will be another COVID package.” He pointed to the $2 trillion gap between what the House and Senate seek and that the “current political climate” is not conducive to getting a deal.

Buchanan recognized the chasm between Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill but remains undaunted.

“There are some things additionally (Democrats) want that are going to be a more challenging part of this,” Buchanan said. “But I think we get beyond that for the sake of the kids and for the sake of people that got laid off.”

Millions of Floridians are hoping Buchanan’s optimism is well-placed.

Access denied

The latest skirmish in the Democrats’ verbal war with the leadership of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) featured a delegation Democrat being denied access to two processing facilities in Miami-Dade County. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz was denied entry to one site by caution tape and a postal service law enforcement vehicle, while two armed guards prohibited entry at another.

The Weston Democrat said she was responding to information provided by postal union workers that claimed large numbers of mail pieces were going undelivered. She said the refusal to allow entry is part of a cover-up orchestrated by U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.

“If DeJoy thinks he can just throw a bedsheet over what’s going on behind these doors, he is sadly mistaken. It looked like the postmaster had something to hide,” Wasserman Schultz said in a statement. “Without access to these public facilities, the public is blindfolded to the problems or fixes taking place there. DeJoy cannot delay the mail and delay oversight of these facilities.”

Postal service spokeswoman Kim Fuller said the visit was denied because they were “unable to set up the tour on such short notice, but would be happy to accommodate her at another time.” A Wasserman Schultz aide said the short notice was intentional and “we weren’t asking for permission.”

This was not the first time Wasserman Schultz was denied entry into a federal facility. When trying to tour a Homestead facility housing migrant children in 2018 with then-Sen. Bill Nelson, both were not allowed in and were told a two-week notice was required. In 2019, Wasserman Schultz, accompanied by Mucarsel-Powell and Shalala, was again denied entry to the Homestead facility.

On an unrelated matter, the House has reportedly decided to investigate DeJoy for allegations of campaign law violations.

Census PSA flap

September 30 marks the end of counting efforts for the 2020 census. A public outreach effort by Miami-Dade County Mayor and Florida’s 26th Congressional District candidate Carlos Giménez has ended much sooner.

The Florida Democratic Party (FDP) and Mucarsel-Powell, the incumbent, complained that a public service announcement (PSA) funded by the county promoting the census was an “abuse of taxpayer dollars” and unfair publicity. Comcast provided the announcements at a significantly reduced rate and offered Mucarsel-Powell the same rate, but Democrats described the PSAs as de facto campaign ads paid for by taxpayers.

“Instead of fighting for the people of Miami-Dade as they grapple with the worst health and economic crises of our lifetimes, Mayor Giménez is focused on advancing his own political future,” said FDP spokeswoman Alexandra Caffrey. “This is exactly what people hate about Corrupt Carlos’s brand of self-serving politics.”

Comcast ultimately decided to stop running the PSA due to the concerns after it had aired about 7,000 times. The census PSA, which cost about $23,000, also featured County Commissioners Esteban “Steve” Bovo and Audrey Edmonson. Bovo is running to succeed Giménez as County Mayor.

To watch the PSA, click on the image below:

 

The PSAs were also seen in Monroe County, a significant portion of district 26, due to overlapping zones within Comcast’s service areas.

“When we do a buy with Comcast for countywide, they give us all of the zones to be able to reach all of Miami-Dade County,” said Inson Kim, who heads the county’s communication department. “This zone is included in our other countywide campaigns.”

Neither Giménez nor his campaign commented on the decision to place the PSAs or Comcast’s halting of them. According to the Miami Herald, Comcast allowed Mucarsel-Powell to run a two-week ad campaign for $6,000.

On this day

September 8, 1974 — President Gerald Ford stunned the nation when he announced a “full, free and absolute pardon” to former President Richard Nixon. Ford said Nixon and his family “had suffered enough.”

The move brought widespread outrage, flooding the White House switchboard with calls of complaint. White House press secretary Jerald F. terHorst immediately resigned, citing his inability to “credibly defend” the pardon. Handling the negotiations between the Ford and Nixon representatives was Benton Becker, a law partner of former Florida Congressman Bill Cramer.

September 8, 2015 — After increased media attention about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while in office, Clinton apologized. In an interview with David Muir of ABC News, the nation’s former top diplomat called it a “mistake,” adding she was “sorry” and “I take full responsibility.”

Clinton has previously defended her actions since the revelation of the private server and would not apologize, including during a Sept. 7 interview with NBC’s Andrea Mitchell. Despite the apology, the Republican candidates who hope to challenge Clinton, if she is the Democratic nominee, for President in 2016 are likely to keep the issue alive throughout the campaign.