US House passes abortion rights and access bills; all SWFL reps oppose; Banyai blasts Donalds

*The House side of the US Capitol. (Photo: Architect of the Capitol)*

June 15, 2022 by David Silverberg

The US House of Representatives this afternoon passed a pair of bills ensuring a woman’s right to choose and access to abortion services.

Southwest Florida’s members of Congress opposed both bills along with most other Republicans in Congress.

The first bill was the Women’s Health Protection Act (House Resolution (HR) 8296), which passed by a party-line vote of 219 to 210. It prohibits any restrictions on women’s access to abortion services, essentially codifying the rights and protections contained in Roe vs, Wade.

The second bill was the Ensuring Access to Abortion Act (HR 8297), which passed by a vote of 223 to 205. The bill prohibits interference with a person’s ability to travel to another state to access abortion services. Three Republicans voted with the majority: Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-1-Pa.), Adam Kinzinger (R-16-Ill.) and Fred Upton (R-6-Mich.).

“By passing this legislation, we will preempt and prevent state-level bans and restrictions put forth by extremist, anti-women state legislators,” said House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-12-Calif.) in a floor speech prior to the votes. “We’ll ensure that all Americans enjoy the same fundamental rights to reproductive care – regardless of background or ZIP code. And we offer hope to the American people who treasure our freedoms and who are overwhelmingly with us in our mission to defend them.”

Southwest Florida’s representatives, already on the record opposing women’s choice, were outspoken in their rejection of the bills.

Rep. Byron Donalds and response

“The Women’s Health Protection Act of 2022 is an affront to our system of Checks and Balances and blatantly ignores the Court’s ruling which allows states––not Congress––to enact abortion-related policy,” stated Rep. Byron Donalds (R-19-Fla.) in a tweet just prior to the vote. “I will vote NO on any effort to expand abortion access in America.”

In a more extended statement he called the Democratic Party “the party of abortion on demand and without limits, including the unconscionable practice of infanticide. This ideology is sick, perverse and erodes our nation’s moral compass.”

Cindy Banyai, the Democrat challenging Donalds in the 19th District tweeted: “Thank you Democrats for standing up for women’s rights and access to abortion care. It’s beyond time to codify Roe.”

She also blasted Donalds: “Rep Byron Donalds has made it clear – his religion trumps your health and your right to body autonomy. Donalds is pro-forced birth. And his insinuation that Democrats support infanticide is disgusting and dangerous misinformation.”

Jim Huff, a Republican challenging Donalds in the 19th Congressional District primary, stated in a message to The Paradise Progressive: “Had it been me in office I would have surveyed my district the instant Dobbs was finalized for a better justification to back up these votes. The state forms the local guidance, but the federal government protects the freedom to seek alternatives in other states. For example, certain types of weapons are legal in some states and not in others, yet people have the right to choose where they may live. I have to represent the majority of my district for these hard decisions, not my personal beliefs.”

Steube and Diaz-Balart

Rep. Greg Steube (R-17-Fla.), a long-time opponent of women’s choice, tweeted: “Over 63 million children have been murdered since Roe was decided. That’s not freedom – that’s genocide.” He also made a one-minute speech against the bill in which he denied there had ever been a right to abortion under the US Constitution.

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-25-Fla.) did not issue a statement on any platform in the immediate wake of the vote.

The bills now go to the Senate where they are not expected to gain the 60 votes necessary to overcome a filibuster and be passed into law.

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Alfie Oakes to decide whether to run for state Agriculture Commissioner

*Alfie Oakes on the Tucker Carlson show on April 28. (Image: BitChute)*

May 18, 2022 by David Silverberg

Alfie Oakes, the prominent and outspoken farmer and grocer based in Naples, Fla., known for his extremely conservative political views, will announce in one week whether he is running for state Agriculture Commissioner, he told The Paradise Progressive in an exclusive telephone interview today.

After announcing on April 28 that he was considering a run, Alfie (Francis Alfred Oakes III) told The Paradise Progressive he remains undecided about a bid.

“I likely won’t know for a week,” he said as he weighs his options. “It will be an uphill battle for sure.” In an interview the day before, he acknowledge that “it’s getting really late” to jump in the race.

Oakes is owner of the Seed to Table market and is president of the Citizens Awake Now Political Action Committee, which is backing conservative candidates in Southwest Florida. He is also a Collier County State Republican Committeeman for District 4.

If he ran, Oakes would be up against Wilton Simpson, president of the Florida state Senate, who has been endorsed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and former President Donald Trump and is currently considered the leading contender for the position—but Oakes said he’s a weak candidate.

“He’s a pay-to-play guy,” he said.

In the telephone interview, yesterday, May 17, Oakes acknowledged that “it’s getting really late” to jump into the race. “I don’t know now if I’ll run or sit out this cycle. I haven’t made that determination.”

Oakes met with one of the current candidates for commissioner yesterday but said he had not decided whether to endorse.

Oakes revealed that he was thinking of running for Agriculture Commissioner in an April 28 interview with Fox News personality Tucker Carlson. Oakes was interviewed on the online Tucker Carlson Today show, which streamed on the alternative video platform, BitChute.

At the very end of the hour-long interview—minute 57:40—which chiefly covered Oakes’ commercial history and issues facing the farming business, Carlson asked Oakes about his political plans.

“Alfie Oakes, when you run for office and I hope you will, call and we’ll announce on our show,” said Carlson.

“Well, if I do, I will be blessed to come up here and I am thinking about it. I really thought about making a run for Commissioner or Agriculture for the state of Florida,” he said, adding, “I’ve given it a lot of thought.”

The position of Commissioner of Agriculture is an elected Cabinet position with a four-year term. The commissioner is fourth in line of succession to the governor after the lieutenant governor, attorney general, and chief financial officer.

The Commissioner is charged with supporting and regulating Florida’s agriculture industry, conserving soil and water resources, managing state forests, protecting consumers from unfair trade practices, and ensuring the safety and wholesomeness of food in the marketplace, according to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services website.

The current officeholder is Nicole “Nikki” Fried, who was elected in 2018 and is the only Democrat to hold statewide office. She is currently running for governor.

To date three candidates are seeking the office, according to the state Division of Elections. Ryan Morales, a businessman based in Clermont, is the only Democrat. In addition to Simpson, the other Republican candidates are Richard Earl Olle and James Shaw, a farmer. Another declared candidate, Chuck Napp, dropped out of the race when Simpson entered it.

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Naples City voters reject partisanship in Council election – Updated

Petrunoff, Hutchison, Christman, winners; Dugan defeated, CCCVPAC rebuffed

*The City of Naples flag. (Photo: Author)*

Feb. 2, 2022 by David Silverberg

–11:00 am updated with voter turnout data

City of Naples voters resoundingly kept their municipality and elections non-partisan yesterday.

City Council elections are supposed to be non-partisan, according to the City charter.

Winners in the election for three Council seats all ran as non-partisan candidates. According to the Collier County Supervisor of Elections, with all seven precincts reporting, the three winners in order of their vote totals were: Beth Petrunoff with 23.8 percent of the vote (3,899 votes); Vice Mayor Terry Hutchison with 23 percent (3,763 votes) and Councilman Ray Christman with 21.4 percent (3,496 votes).

John Dugan, a conservative who, along with the Republican Collier County Citizens Values Political Action Committee (CCCVPAC) had targeted Christman for having once been a registered Democrat, was defeated, gaining only 16.9 percent (2,766 votes).

Ian Rudnick, a former Naples police officer, came in last with 14.8 percent (2,426 votes).

Of 16,497 eligible voters, 6,572 or 39.8 percent voted.

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UPDATED: Michael Flynn, QAnon-related show cancelled in Fort Myers, new location concealed

Michael Flynn, center, pledges “Where we go one, we go all,” a QAnon slogan, in a July 4, 2020 video he posted that was reported by CNN. (Image: CNN)

March 3, 2021 by David Silverberg

The dinner and fundraising event featuring Michael Flynn, former national security advisor, and Red Pill Roadshow, a QAnon-promoting traveling production, which was scheduled to come to Fort Myers, Fla., on March 11, has been cancelled in its originally scheduled location.

A new location will be revealed only to ticketholders 12 hours before the event, according to its organizer, The Florida Conservative blog.

Management at the Treehouse Rooftop Lounge, an entertainment venue in the Bell Tower Shops in Fort Myers, where the event was to have taken place, confirmed its cancellation there.

Word of the cancellation was also spread yesterday by an officer of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.

The fate of a “secret” Michael Flynn dinner in Naples scheduled for March 10 remains unclear. (For more on the Fort Myers event, Red Pill Roadshow and background on QAnon, see: “QAnon show, Michael Flynn, coming to Fort Myers.”)

Local television reporter Amelia Fabiano with NBC-2 News interviewed Red Pill Roadshow’s president, Brian Gamble, on Feb. 26, who denied that the production company promotes the QAnon conspiracy theory.

“I’ve never really believed in the Q doctrine, but I believe that Americans should have a right to free speech,” Gamble told Fabiano. “To say we’re a Q event or anything like that – nothing could be further from the truth. We’re a free speech event.”

The new announcement was made the day before some QAnon cultists hold out hope that Trump will somehow take power on March 4, when inaugurations occurred prior to passage of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution in 1937.

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BREAKING NEWS: Southwest Florida congressmen vote against impeachment, excusing Trump of betraying USA

The US House votes to impeach Donald Trump. (Image: US House)

Jan. 13, 2020 by David Silverberg

While the US House of Representatives voted today to impeach President Donald Trump for inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol and the legislative branch of government, Southwest Florida’s congressional representatives voted against impeachment to keep him in office.

Reps. Byron Donalds (R-19-Fla.), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-25-Fla.) and Greg Steube (R-17-Fla.) all voted against impeaching the president and also against having Vice President Mike Pence invoke the 25th Amendment to the Constitution.

As of this writing, none had issued statements explaining their votes. None made statements on the House floor. None addressed Trump’s responsibility for the insurrection.

Today the House passed one article of impeachment in House Resolution (HR) 24, approving it at 4:33 pm by a vote of 232 to 197. Ten Republicans voted to impeach the president, none from Florida. Four Republicans and one Democrat did not vote.

“President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of Government. He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of Government. He thereby betrayed his trust as President, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States,” stated the text of HR 24, after recounting Trump’s attempts to overthrow the results of the 2020 election and his incitement of the mob.

“Wherefore, Donald John Trump, by such conduct, has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national security, democracy, and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law. Donald John Trump thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.”

The article will now be sent to the Senate where, if voted upon, a two-thirds majority can remove the president from office. As of this writing, such a vote seemed doubtful for a variety of procedural and political reasons.

The first measure up for a vote, HR 21, urging Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment, came at 11:24 pm last night and passed by a largely party-line vote of 223 to 205. Only one Republican, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-16-Ill.) voted for it. Well before the vote Pence indicated that he would not invoke the amendment.

While Trump is the first president to be formally impeached twice on two separate occasions and in two different bills, it took three tries for Congress to impeach President Andrew Johnson in 1868. Johnson was ultimately acquitted by a single Senate vote.

Although the Southwest Florida congressional delegation did not address their impeachment votes, Steube did spend time commenting on other matters. He took time today to attack Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-15-Calif.), one of the House impeachment mangers, for comparing Trump to deceased terrorist Osama Bin Laden.

In an interview yesterday with the PBS News Hour, Swalwell stated that Trump himself must be held accountable for the attack, pointing out that while Bin Laden was not in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, “it was widely acknowledged that he was responsible for inspiring the attack on our country and the president, with his words, using the word ‘fight’ and with the speakers he assembled that day who called for ‘trial by combat’ and said ‘we have to take names and kick ass’ that is hate speech that inspired and radicalized people to storm the Capitol,” he said. “And when you read the indictments from the US attorney’s office, they cite that they were called there by the president. They were in the Capitol because the president told them to do so. So we must hold this president accountable. I’m comparing the words of an individual who would incite and radicalize somebody as Osama Bin Laden did to what President Trump did. You don’t actually have to commit the violence yourself but if you call others to violence that itself is a crime.”

Steube stated in a tweet: “Comparing Trump to Bin Laden is an insult to every American we lost on 9/11, their families, and all of our service members who put their lives on the line to protect us from terrorists. Swalwell is the one threatening our national security. Resign.”

Steube has not to date criticized or condemned Trump for his words at the rally preceding the attack on the Capitol.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi brings down the gavel on the impeachment vote. (Image: US House)

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BREAKING NEWS: Scott, Rubio join Senate majority to override Trump defense bill veto

The US Capitol. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Jan. 1, 2021 by David Silverberg

In a major blow to President Donald Trump, the United States Senate voted this afternoon to override his veto of the Department of Defense appropriations bill by a vote of 81 to 13.

Both of Florida’s Republican senators, Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, voted with the majority to override. As of this writing, neither had issued a statement explaining his vote.

Their votes were remarkable given both senators’ past vocal support for the President.

The override was also an indication of Trump’s rapidly eroding clout. He had called for an end to Section 230, a non-defense provision protecting Internet companies from liability for postings on their sites and objected to changing the names of military bases from those honoring Confederate generals. When the bill did not include those measures he vetoed it.

The National Defense Authorization Act (House Resolution 6395) provides $750 billion for US military operations and national defense including a pay raise for servicemembers. It will now go into effect.

The 13 members opposing the override included Democrats like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who had insisted that there not be a vote on the defense bill unless there was also one on providing Americans financially hurt by the pandemic with $2,000. House Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), however, opposed submitting that to a vote and finally proceeded with the override vote separately.

This was the first override of a Trump veto in his presidency.

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BREAKING NEWS: Trump caves, signs pandemic relief bill; SWFL programs saved

President Trump after signing a bill. (Photo:AP)

Dec. 27, 2020 by David Silverberg

Under immense pressure from both congressional Democrats and Republicans, as well 14 to 20 million desperate Americans whose unemployment benefits ran out last night, President Donald Trump relented tonight and signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, which had been passed by Congress last week.

As of this writing, a formal statement from Trump, who spent the Christmas holiday playing golf at his resort in West Palm Beach, Florida, had not been issued.

The 5,593-page bill appropriates money for nearly all the government’s operations next year as well as providing Americans laid off by the pandemic with $600 in benefits. It also pays for purchasing and distributing the COVID vaccine.

After months of negotiations and passage by both houses of Congress, Trump suddenly chose to denounce the bill on Tuesday, Dec. 22, throwing the government into chaos and threatening much-needed relief for Americans unemployed by the pandemic. People who needed unemployment benefits were denied them for a week, since the president missed the deadline for aiding them. His action could have also shut down the government at a critical time.

House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-12-Calif.) issued a statement immediately following the signing: “The signing of the bipartisan, bicameral coronavirus relief legislation is welcome news for the 14 million Americans who just lost the lifeline of unemployment benefits on Christmas Weekend, and for the millions more struggling to stay afloat during this historic pandemic and economic crisis.”

She continued: “Now, the President must immediately call on congressional Republicans to end their obstruction and to join him and Democrats in support of our stand-alone legislation to increase direct payment checks to $2,000, which will be brought to the Floor tomorrow. Every Republican vote against this bill is a vote to deny the financial hardship that families face and to deny the American people the relief they need.”

Trump’s capitulation means that Southwest Florida—in addition to unemployment benefits for Southwest Floridians and vaccine distribution—will get the funding critical to Everglades restoration, agricultural support, and low-income and homeless housing programs. (For a fuller discussion of the benefits to Southwest Florida, see Trump suddenly attacks pandemic relief bill, dealing heavy blow to Southwest Florida.)

Comments from Reps. Francis Rooney (R-19-Fla.) and Mario Diaz-Balart (R-25-Fla.), who both introduced provisions to the bill, were not immediately available after the news broke.

However, yesterday, Dec. 26, Rep.-elect Byron Donalds (R-19-Fla.) went on Fox News to blame the holdup on Pelosi.

Rep.-Elect Byron Donalds on Fox News yesterday. (Image: Fox News)

“It is clear that Nancy Pelosi was playing politics with this bill,” said Donalds. “This is her fault. This is at her feet.” He called the bill “Pelosi’s wish list” and “a disaster” and said “It was awful, unconscionable, it was asinine and it has put everybody in the lurch.”

After Trump suddenly demanded that the $600 payment to individuals be increased to $2,000, Pelosi tried to increase the amount but was blocked by Republicans. A stand-alone bill increasing the amount is expected to be introduced in Congress tomorrow.

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US House passes massive $900B pandemic relief bill; Rooney, Diaz-Balart approved, Steube opposed

Dec. 21, 2020 by David Silverberg

The US House of Representatives tonight passed a massive $900 billion coronavirus relief bill, which will provide $600 to Americans making less than $75,000 per year who have lost jobs in the pandemic.

Passage of the 5,593-page bill, the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021 (House Resolution 133), which originally dealt with US-Mexican relations before it was extensively amended, required two votes. The first passed by 327 votes to 85.

Southwest Florida Reps. Francis Rooney (R-19-Fla.) and Mario Diaz-Balart (R-25-Fla.) both voted for the measure. Rep. Greg Steube (R-17-Fla.) voted against it.

The second portion of the bill passed by a vote of 359 to 53, with Rooney and Diaz-Balart again voting for it and Steube again opposing it.

“I voted NO on tonight’s so-called relief bill,” Steube tweeted. “Instead of addressing the economic suffering of Americans, Democrats have manipulated this process to force their radical agenda on the American people during a time of crisis.” He expanded on his objections in a longer statement.

House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-12-Calif.) said in a floor speech that while there was more work to do to stop the pandemic and help Americans, the bill “will meet the needs of the American people—to crush this virus and to do so in a way that brings us all into the future in a very safe way.”

The gigantic piece of legislation also includes another bill of vital importance to Southwest Florida, the Water Resources Development Act, which governs all the water sources in the region.

The bill included one proposal by Diaz-Balart. It allows citizens who file taxes with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) rather than a Social Security number to receive benefits. Legal Permanent Residents can receive stimulus payments as well. Under previous versions of the Paycheck Protection Program both groups were ineligible for payments. This also applies to ITIN users married to spouses who are ineligible for payments.

“As I have stated before, there is no reason to justify why a US Citizen or Legal Permanent Resident should be excluded from receiving a benefit meant for Americans simply due to the legal status of a spouse,” stated Diaz-Balart. “I am thrilled to see that this provision was taken into consideration in this new COVID relief bill, and I look forward to seeing the great impact this will make in helping the American people.”

In addition to providing paycheck protection and passage of the Water Resources Development Act, the bill, based on a House-Senate bipartisan agreement:

Accelerates vaccine distribution;
Ends surprise medical billing;
Supports small business;
Helps community lenders;
Assists renters;
Strengthens low income housing tax credits;
Supports paid sick leave;
Enhances unemployment insurance benefits;
Provides nutrition assistance for the hungry;
Aids education and child care;
Expands grants for education;
Encourages clean energy;
Helps fund international vaccine efforts.

“We are disappointed that Republicans have refused to recognize the need to honor our heroic frontline workers by supporting robust funding for state and local governments,” stated Pelosi. “State and local governments need much more funding to prevent senseless layoffs and critical service cuts.”

The bill now goes back to the Senate, where it is expected to pass quickly—possibly within hours of the House’s vote—and then be signed by President Donald Trump. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has stated that, once signed, government-issued checks could go out as soon as next week.

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BREAKING NEWS: Anti-masker Byron Donalds tests positive for COVID-19 – UPDATED

President Donald Trump is greeted by Byron Donalds at a conference in October 2019.

Oct. 16, 2020 by David Silverberg

5:50 pm – added comments from Cindy Banyai, corrected date in caption.

Republican congressional candidate Byron Donalds, a fierce opponent of mask mandates who has spoken out against them and ostentatiously refused to wear a mask in public, has tested positive for COVID-19, he announced on his Facebook page today.

Donalds is running in Florida’s 19th Congressional District against Democrat Cindy Banyai.

“Before today’s event with the President, I was give [sic] a COVID-19 quick test, per White House staff protocol, and results were positive,” he wrote. “I proceeded to take a PCR antigen test, and those results have come back positive as well. My wife and oldest son were both tested today and their results are negative. I currently feel fine, but am taking all necessary precautions and will be quarantining at home. We have notified the organizers of the events I have attended in recent days. I look forward to recovering fully and earning the support of voters on November 3rd.”

Donalds was to have attended President Donald Trump’s event in Fort Myers today.

Donalds has repeatedly denigrated mask mandates in debates with Banyai and argued that local governments do not have the authority to impose them. He spoke against them when the Cape Coral City Council and Collier County Commission considered them. After he met unmasked with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Sept. 23, Banyai called on him to quarantine, which he said he didn’t have to do because he had tested negative.

On her Twitter feed, Banyai wished Donalds well: “I wish him and his family well as he recovers,” she tweeted. In another tweet she stated: “This reaffirms that I made the right decision for myself, my family, and #OurCommunity to cancel my participation in the Estero debate last week. That debate was directly after a MAGA event in Collier that may very well become our very own #SWFL super-spreader event.” And she added: “Please, for your health and for the vulnerable in #OurCommunity, continue to social distance, wear masks, and sanitize hands. We care about you.”

This report will be updated as new information becomes available.

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BREAKING NEWS: Banyai, Donalds to meet in WGCU debate

The WGCU studio building on the campus of Florida Gulf Coast University. (Photo: WGCU)

Sept. 11, 2020 by David Silverberg

Public television station WGCU will be hosting a debate between 19th Congressional District candidates Democrat Cindy Banyai and Republican Byron Donalds.

The debate will be held on Monday, Sept. 28 from 8 to 9 pm. It will be televised from the WGCU studios on the campus of Florida Gulf Coast University.

The debate is also being sponsored by the News-Press and Naples Daily News of Gannet’s USA Today Network.

In addition to the television and radio broadcasts on WGCU-TV and WGCU 90.1 FM, the debate will be streamed on WGCU.com, News-press.com and Naplesnews.com.

The debate will be moderated by Julie Glenn, the news director of WGCU Public Media. Questioners will be Amy Bennett Williams of Gannett and John Davis of WGCU.

The debate marks a stark contrast from the congressional race in 2018 when Rep. Francis Rooney (R-19-Fla.) told the League of Women Voters that he had “no availability” for a debate with opposing candidate Democrat David Holden and would have “no future availability” because “everyone knows my positions.”

Despite protests from Holden and his campaign, local media accepted the refusal and no debate or discussion of his record or positions was ever held.

Banyai and Donalds have already held one debate, on Aug. 21 at the Cantina 109 bar and grill in Gulf Coast Town Center.

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