DeSantis wants to make it easier to buy guns than to access Florida food programs | Opinion
Food? No, bullets
As highlighted in the Miami Herald’s Feb. 4 online editorial, “DeSantis’ ‘Second Amendment Summer’ is more about his aspirations than Florida’s budget,” the governor has once again chosen ideology over the well-being of Floridians. While nearly 1 in 5 children in Florida don’t have enough to eat during the summer, DeSantis refused $259 million in federal EBT funds that could have fed them.
Apparently, he believes Florida’s existing programs are “working just fine.” Tell that to the parents skipping meals so their kids can eat, or to the families turning to food banks stretched to their limits. But hey, at least, we have tax breaks on guns and ammunition!
Apparently, the best way to fight hunger isn’t by lowering the cost of living but by making it easier to hunt for your dinner. If your grocery bill is too high, just head to the Everglades with your newly tax-free ammo and see if you can bag a gator for the family. It’s frontier justice, Florida-style.
Lest you think DeSantis is stopping at making life more difficult for struggling families, his economic relief plan also includes insignificant changes to home and car insurance, which will barely make a dent in the skyrocketing costs Floridians have endured for years. If you’ve been drowning in rising premiums, don’t worry — he’s tossing you a teaspoon to bail out your sinking ship.
Here’s our plea to the governor: rather than chasing headlines, how about focusing on what Floridians need?
Maybe he could put that energy into meeting the Feb. 15 deadline to apply for Sun Bucks, a summer EBT program, which will feed children, lower grocery bills for families and help fix real economic problems in our state.
Indira Navas,
Kendall
Talk climate
As the Trump administration came into power, many of the executive orders issued have involved cutting spending for clean energy infrastructure and halting further climate measures. And with that, people whose jobs specialize in clean energy lost their livelihoods. Ironically, most of these jobs were situated within Republican districts, the type President Trump was meant to oversee and protect.
We are now at a crossroads. If we choose to stay silent on climate change, then we have little hope for recourse. Actions such as those taken by the administration serve to further instill doubt and worry within the populace.
In spite of that, we must talk to each other about this issue, now more than ever. We must talk to our friends, our family, our significant others, our institutions, our local, state and federal lawmakers about this crisis we are facing. We must speak with our members of Congress and tell them what we truly want and, more importantly, what we need.
Keep talking, keep listening and don’t stop fighting for your future.
Sam Cuchens,
Shalimar
Who’s next?
Last September, Donald Trump maligned and slandered thousands of Haitians living and working legally in the U.S. under TPS. Weeks later, Venezuelan Americans went to the polls and overwhelmingly voted for him.
One cannot help but recall the words of German pastor Martin Niemoller in 1945, following the Holocaust: “…Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out, for I was not a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me.”
Will we also hear the voices of local Republican politicians when INS comes to Miami hunting down members of our local Haitian community?
John Cochrane,
Miami
FIU’s future
Florida International University (FIU), a relatively young public university, is having its moment in the sun. New and stable leadership, a historical clinical partnership with Baptist Health, high quality educational programs, a growing and bustling campus and a steady climb in the rankings. I’m not an alum, but we should all be proud to have a jewel rise and shine like FIU. Kudos also to the FIU Board, administration, faculty and staff — all deserving of recognition. Instead, their reward is Gov. DeSantis using FIU as a playpen for his political friends.
How do you fire FIU’s President Ken Jessell when the university is rolling? Just so the governor can find a home for his lieutenant, who is, by every measure, unqualified for the gig? Where’s the uproar by the public and the media?
This is a slap in the face and an affront to our community and to FIU, specifically.
I recall a time when south Florida would tell Tallahassee, “Don’t mess with us!” I wish the FIU Board and all of south Florida would have told the governor to stay out of our backyard and not mess with a good thing. It probably would have mattered little, as proven by last week’s decision to pick Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez to be FIU’s interim president.
So much for the “meritocracy” everyone aspires to. Shameful. Disgraceful.
Mark Diaz,
South Miami
Only temporary
As President Donald Trump wages war on immigrants, it’s interesting to note that, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, 136 foreign guest workers were hired at Mar-a-Lago in 2023. Since then, the department also reported that Mar-a-Lago requested more foreign guest workers, including 53 waiters and waitresses, seven hotel desk clerks, 17 housekeepers, 24 cooks and five bartenders. I guess they’ll all be deported.
Trump also is attempting to end birthright citizenship.
Can Trump spell hypocrite?
Roger Hammer,
Homestead
Honorable sponges?
Republicans were delighted when Donald Trump won the presidency in November, but now are too frightened of his vindictiveness to cross him regarding Elon Musk, RFK. Jr., Tulsi Gabbard and his executive orders.
As a lifelong Republican, I plead with GOP senators and representatives: get a backbone!
Suzzanne Schultz,
Miami
Sickening cuts
English author George Orwell once wrote, “A fat man eating quails while children are begging for bread is a disgusting sight...”
Likewise, to see the richest man in the world and the richest nation advocate for the abolition of U.S. aid, resulting in the cessation of food, medicine and support to the world’s poorest, is a monumentally disgusting sight.
Even more disgusting is that this is being done to pave the way for future tax cuts to Elon Musk, Donald Trump’s enterprises and the billionaire class.
John Andrew Ise,
Miami Shores
Good questions
Did we elect Donald Trump to be our president or to be our ruler and all-powerful king?
When Congress passes laws and funds things, Trump acts as if he has a line-item veto and can withhold funding and not enforce laws he does not like. Trump seems to believe he is the only person entitled to have power.
He also apparently thinks that because he won the election, Congress, the law, the courts and the people should not stop him from doing whatever he thinks is best.
I pose two questions to U.S. Sens. Rick Scott and Ashley Moody and to U.S. Reps. Brian Mast, Mario Diaz-Balart, Maria Salazar and Carlos Gimenez: do you want to anoint Trump as our all-powerful ruler or do you plan to do something to restore Article I of the U.S. Constitution (Congressional power)? And what will you do to protect us from a developing dictator?
Please respond in writing to the Miami Herald.
Willam Samek,
Miami
Not as popular
When evaluating the impact of President Trump’s flurry of executive orders, let’s not forget that for every American who voted for him (49.8%) there were more (50.2%) who voted for someone else and perhaps, against him.
Leo Bueno,
Coral Gables
Family ties
Reading the Feb. 9 In Depth article, “When your son goes MAGA”, I felt sympathy and anguish for those parents. We raise our children hopefully to have good morals, empathy for all and to stand for our democratic ideals.
None of these are displayed by President Donald Trump and his administration.I am proud and feel fortunate that our children and extended family share these ideals and do not vote for their own personal gains.
Lainey Nacron,
Miami