What's happening in DeSantistan 2.0

fdot can advertise against impaired driving without advertising against the legalization. since the ad doesn't mention the amendment, it is legal to spend the funds is what I have read.

not sure about the abortion issue

courts did slap down the order to stop the ads supporting it and desi cronies who wrote the letter may be personally liable for damages with no QI attached. see last post here. if the letter can be traced back to desi, he would also not have QI and be subject to damages is my limited understanding

Florida is threatening to prosecute TV stations over an abortion rights ad. The FCC chief calls it ‘ | Page 6 | Swamp Gas Forums

 

This disqualifies the guy you quoted from any serious consideration. Whenever I see your username as having posted in a thread, two things are a given:

1. It will be something from Twitter X
2. The source will be hot garbage.

 

infuriating...$50M to buy ads against weed but nothing to feed hungry kids or provide for arts programs....that's just f'd up

DeSantis’ war on ballot measures ignites fury in Florida: ‘This is still a democracy’
The governor and top state officials are unmoved by the criticism of their intervention in the process. “State agencies have the authority and dedicated funding to educate the public on important issues, especially those that impact the health and safety of women and children,” said Bryan Griffin, a spokesperson for DeSantis. “Of course the state is going to educate Floridians on the dangers associated with drug use and ensure truthful information is disseminated regarding laws that protect the health of moms and their kids."
.................................
The governor’s own chief of staff is helping raise money and direct anti-amendment efforts for two political committees while at the same time helping run the administration. The state’s election crimes office created by DeSantis spent weeks investigating allegations of fraud in the petitions used to place the measure on the ballot even though the petitions had been verified by local election officials. The report is being used in a lawsuit to try to block the abortion amendment even if it passes.

The effort is a reminder of how DeSantis has expanded the power of the governor’s office since his election nearly six years ago. He spent hundreds of millions without legislative approval during Covid-19, he ignored deadlines on judicial picks, and suspended two prosecutors after maintaining they had enacted policies at odds with state law. Previously, governors had largely only suspended local officials who had been arrested.

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Smart & Safe Florida, the political committee backing the pot initiative, said it has pulled television records and found that cannabis-related public service announcements paid for by the state have aired 13,000 times so far in the run-up to the election. They put the cost at $50 million. A spokesperson for the governor did not respond to a question about the estimate, although it’s possible the state was able to purchase the ads at a discounted rate.

State Sen. Jason Pizzo, a Democrat from South Florida, sued over the DOT ads, maintaining legislators never gave the agency budgetary authority to purchase the air time. But Circuit Court Judge Angela Dempsey, who was first appointed to the bench by Bush and in recent years has made several favorable rulings for DeSantis, tossed the lawsuit.

 

Beyond (redacted) up. It absolutely should be illegal to spend tax dollars on things like this. And, yes, I would be saying the same thing if the ads promoted passage.

 

I’m sure the people flipping out over COVID public health ads a couple years ago are outraged over this wasteful govt propaganda campaign.

The worst thing about this is they are blowing all that money running ads, so they can continue burning vastly more money on charging and incarcerating people over low level drug crimes.

Fiscally conservative? Nope.
Freedom? Nope.
Pro-life? Nope.

 

I find it irritating that according to reports some 58% of Floridians will vote to pass the amendment so ~ 58% of the tax money used to campaign against the amendment comes from the pro amendment people.

 

this keeps getting worse. they sent LEO out to question amendment supporters...

Judge Extends Block On DeSantis Admin Anti-Abortion Pressure Campaign As State GOPers Turn On Gov

The DeSantis administration has also used state resources to create a state-run website attacking the amendment and has even deployed law enforcement to question supporters of the ballot measure. In September, multiple Florida newspapers reported that plain clothes police officers were showing up at the homes of Florida residents who signed the petition to help get Amendment 4 on the ballot, questioning them about their signatures and claiming to be investigating fraud. Additionally, earlier this month, the administration released a report claiming that FPF had committed “widespread petition fraud” as part of its effort to collect signatures to get the measure on the ballot.

The governor’s office announced a fine against FPF in recent weeks and even tried to get the state legislature to investigate the group. Even the Florida Department of Health’s former General Counsel John Wilson — who was initially listed as a defendant in FPF’s lawsuit, alongside Ladapo — said in a sworn affidavit that he resigned over the ways in which the DeSantis administration directed him to handle the drafting and sending of the cease-and-desist letters to TV stations.

The unabashed use of state resources to go after a political amendment has even some of the most influential state Republicans distancing themselves from DeSantis’ police state-esque project of intimidation. Here’s state Sen. Joe Gruters, the former chair of the Florida Republican Party, speaking to Politico in a piece out this week:

“No matter where you stand on an issue, this is still a democracy, and in a democracy, we do not spend taxpayer dollars in advance of a political issue,” he said. “Tax dollars are meant to be spent on our police, schools, roads and other public programs that make our state great, not for political agendas.”

 

DeSantis looks to keep abortion rights, marijuana measures below 60%

 

What the hell is going on down there?

 

Also, because he's mad he's short and is a choad

 

Anyone else had to look up ‘choad?’

 

Yep.

 

Ron tells it like it is.

 

hung like a can of tuna.

 

I am going to have to give you a D in grammar. You got the apostrophes down, but you’re a little weak on the commas and periods. However, I am giving you an A+ in political science. I was going to give you an A, but choad put you over the top for the A+.

 

Thank you so much. I really needed that to complete my night.