Trump tariff tantrum targets typical taxpayers—and tomatoes

06-03-19 Trump as tomato 2

June 3, 2019 by David Silverberg

Another day, another tariff and more pocketbook pain for the everyday people who play by the rules and pay their taxes.

This time it’s a 5 percent tariff on all Mexican goods that President Donald Trump is threatening to impose. He announced last Thursday, May 30, that the tariff would go into effect one week from today, on June 10. After that it’s 10 percent on July 1, 15 percent on Aug. 1, 20 percent on Sept. 1 and 25 percent on Oct. 1, after which the 25 percent rate becomes permanent.

The tariffs are intended to force Mexico to stop the movement of Central American migrants to the US border.

As was the case when he last threatened to close the U.S.-Mexican border, Trump may be lashing out at Mexicans and Central American migrants but it’s everyday Americans who will feel the lash.

Prices for everything are going to rise if this latest tariff goes into effect. Tariffs both disrupt international trading relations and serve as an effective tax on the American consumer.

This is the case for Southwest Florida as much as the rest of the country—and indeed, while much of the focus on the tariffs’ impact has been on the states directly adjacent to the southwestern border like California and Texas, Florida has a flourishing trade with the neighbor to the south that stands to take a big hit.

Florida’s trade with Mexico is substantial. In 2018 imports and exports of merchandise were worth $6.8 billion, according to Enterprise Florida, the state’s economic development organization. Top Florida exports to Mexico included civilian aircraft, engines and parts; pleasure boats and yachts; and cars. Top imports from Mexico included cars, trucks and gold. Mexico is the third largest export market for Florida companies after Brazil and Canada.

06-02-19 Florida-Mexico trade trends under NAFTA Also, Mexicans have been investing in Florida real estate, particularly in the southern part of the state, according to the RealWealth Network.

06-02-19 Florida-Mexico trade as of 2017

As with all his tariffs, a chorus of voices, including many who are traditionally conservative, are speaking out against this latest round of unnecessary trade measures.

One of the most surprising critics was Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), a normally staunch conservative and chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee. “Trade policy and border security are separate issues. This is a misuse of presidential tariff authority and counter to congressional intent,” Grassley declared in a May 30 statement. “I support nearly every one of President Trump’s immigration policies, but this is not one of them. I urge the president to consider other options.”

Lawmakers, experts and officials are also worried that Trump’s arbitrary tariff imposition will threaten negotiation of the US Mexico Canada Agreement, the successor to the North American Free Trade Agreement, which Trump trumpeted as a vast improvement to its predecessor.

As with all tariffs, it’s consumers—in Southwest Florida and around the nation—who will suffer as prices rise. From fruits, nuts and vegetables to beer and tequila, to home appliances and cars, the cost of all Mexican imports will rise.

Fun interactive activity: Check the “Made in” labels of home appliances like washers and dryers and see how many are made in Mexico.

“Duties are harmful to the American consumers,” Lance Jungmeyer, president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, told NPR. “It’s a tax on consumers. And that’s the wrong way to go with fruits and vegetables.”

Tomatoes are likely to be the first product that Trump’s tariffs will squeeze in the shopping cart. Florida tomato growers had been pushing for restrictions on Mexican tomatoes for some time, as riper Mexican tomatoes grabbed a larger share of the market. Now the growers may get their wish—but it’s everyday shoppers who will get juiced.

Liberty lives in light

Rep. Kathy Castor introduces Florida Coastal Protection Act to ban offshore oil exploration and drilling

In a 2010 news conference following the Deepwater Horizon disaster and oil spill, Rep. Kathy Castor calls for holding oil companies responsible for environmental damage. (Photo: Office of Rep. Castor)

Jan. 8, 2019 by David Silverberg

Rep. Kathy Castor (D-14-Fla.) has reintroduced the Florida Coastal Protection Act to make permanent the moratorium on offshore oil drilling that is set to expire in 2022. As of this writing, the bill has yet to receive a number or be referred to a committee.

“Here in Florida, we’re keenly aware of the devastating impacts of oil and gas drilling off our shores,” Castor said according to a statement issued by her office. “Our state’s vital natural resources – and our state’s economy – cannot risk the devastation brought by blowouts, nor can it afford the high costs of carbon pollution. We have an obligation to act now to protect our beautiful Florida coastline, our economy and our future.”

State waters begin at the state’s shores and extend to three miles into the Atlantic Ocean and nine miles into the Gulf. The Florida Coastal Protection Act extends the recently approved state moratorium to federal waters.

Castor was joined by Reps. Charlie Crist (D-13-Fla.), Vern Buchanan (R-16-Fla.) and Francis Rooney (R-19-Fla.).

According to Castor’s statement, the moratorium currently in place protects waters up to 235 miles off the west coast of Florida from oil drilling and will expire in June 2022 unless made permanent.

Rooney, who joined Castor in her 2017 effort to pass the same legislation is supporting her again. “The people of Florida are clearly opposed to offshore drilling,” Castor’s statement quoted him saying. “The November 2018 ballot contained a ban on offshore drilling, Amendment 9, which won with over 68 percent in favor. This widespread support is a clear indication that voters are overwhelmingly in support of Florida coastal protection. As Floridians, we are well aware that our livelihood depends on a pristine environment.”

Rooney’s efforts to stop offshore oil exploration and drilling were thwarted in the 115th Congress by Rep. Steve Scalise (R-1-La.), the House Majority Whip and a leading proponent of oil and gas interests.

In addition to Rooney, Rep. Crist stated: “Florida voters spoke clearly in November: no drilling off our coasts. Our job is to be their voice in Washington, sending that same message loud and clear with this bill to block harmful drilling and exploration off of Florida. We cannot afford another disaster devastating our waters, health, and economy.”

Rep. Buchanan stated: “Allowing drilling off of Florida’s pristine coasts would be a colossal mistake. Red tide has already plagued the Sunshine State – it would be imprudent to invite the potential for another catastrophic oil spill that would devastate Florida’s economy and environment. As co-chair of the Florida congressional delegation, I will continue working with colleagues in both parties to protect the state’s beautiful coasts and waters.”

Analysis

Castor introduced the same bill in April 2017, a companion to a measure introduced by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) in the Senate. In the House, the standalone measure remained in committee but became a proposed amendment to the Defense Authorization bill. However, House Republicans would not allow it to come to a vote.

This year Castor is introducing it in a Democratic House and she chairs the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, so it has a much better chance of advancing in the chamber.

Liberty lives in light

SWFL could have an important friend in the new Congress

01-04-19 rep. kathy castor

Rep. Kathy Castor (D-14-Fla.) (center). (Photo: Office of Rep. Kathy Castor)

Jan. 7, 2019 by David Silverberg

So far the most exciting thing to come out of the new Congress specifically for Southwest Florida is the appointment of Rep. Kathy Castor (D-14-Fla.) to head the new House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.

In Castor, the Florida Gulf coast gets a member of Congress in an influential position who is intimately familiar with the region’s environmental needs and challenges. This could be a major asset for the region.

Castor’s commitment

Castor is a six-term representative with a long record of environmental activism. Before being elected to Congress in 2006 she worked as a lawyer doing environmental work and served as a Hillsborough County commissioner, where she also concentrated on environmental issues.

In Congress she did environmental messaging work for the Democrats as co chair of the House Democratic Environmental Message Team. That team put out a report called Trump’s Toxic Team, detailing environmental violations, corruption and abuse by administration officials. In appointing her, House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-12-Calif.) called her “a proven champion for public health and green infrastructure” and “an outstanding leader on the Energy and Commerce Committee and on the House Democratic Environmental Message Team.”

Her district encompasses Tampa and Hillsborough County and has had more than its share of environmental crises. There was the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and its aftermath, as well as red tide during the past summer. Although red tide levels in Hillsborough County didn’t reach the level of those in Lee and Collier counties, it nonetheless presented a problem for the district—so Castor knows red tide and its consequences.

Castor also worked across the aisle with Rep. Francis Rooney (R-19-Fla.) when he joined her last year in attempting to introduce an amendment to the Defense authorization bill that would have made the oil drilling moratorium in the eastern Gulf of Mexico permanent. That effort was quashed by the House Republican leadership, which would not allow it to come to a vote.

The Green New Deal and the new select committee

In Congress, a “select” committee is one with a special purpose whose members are specially selected to sit on it. It can’t pass legislation or issue subpoenas, which makes it a less powerful form of committee than a “standing” committee, which is permanent and does pass legislation. A select committee is also temporary and can be dissolved after its mission is completed.

The Climate Crisis Committee is also less expansive and powerful than the Green New Deal select committee that was sought by environmental activists in Congress like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-14-NY).

The Green New Deal is a sweeping set of proposals to remake society in a more environmentally friendly way. While the concept continues to evolve, it has four basic pillars, according to the US Green Party version of it:

A new economic bill of rights;
A transition from dirty technologies to environmentally friendly ones (to make the United States emission-free in 12 years);
Financial reform;
Democratic reforms like overturning the Citizens United decision.

In an effort to promote a Green New Deal select committee, on Nov. 13 supporters demonstrated outside Rep. Pelosi’s office on Capitol Hill. Among their demands was that members of the committee not have accepted donations from the fossil fuel industry.

Pelosi would not endorse the full Green New Deal program or a select committee specifically devoted to it. Nor would she agree to excluding fossil fuel-accepting members. However, she did agree to revive an environmental select committee, hence the creation of the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.

Even though the new select committee is less powerful and its mandate less sweeping than Green New Deal advocates had hoped, it puts Castor in an outsize position to influence the House leadership and the entire Democratic caucus. This is especially useful when key pieces of legislation and appropriations affecting Southwest Florida come up—and they will, particularly when it comes to environmental matters.

The question is: What is it that Southwest Florida needs from Congress, particularly on environmental issues? Once SWFL has a list of priorities, it can seek Castor’s help in pursuing them.

Commentary

The new Congress’ first priority is to end Trump’s shutdown of the government. It has already passed legislation to do so, which Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said he will not consider.

Presuming a compromise is found and government is functioning again, the new Democratic House has myriad issues to pursue and SWFL could get lost in the shuffle. It should not allow that to happen.

SWFL needs money to make up its economic losses from last year’s red tide crisis. It needs to shore up its infrastructure against climate change and that includes fortifying itself against hurricanes and preparing for sea level rise. It needs to make the eastern Gulf oil drilling moratorium permanent. Along with the rest of South Florida it needs to restore the Everglades and complete the projects already being planned.

Congress should be able to help with all these issues. Fortunately, in Castor, the region should have an influential friend who can help it do it. But SWFL needs to be organized and lobby hard if it’s going make any progress.

(Note: We have reached out to Rep. Castor to get direct comment and learn her plans and priorities. This story will be updated when we get a response.)

Liberty lives in light

The greenwashing of Francis Rooney

1-3-19 Greenwashing Mother Jones

Tom Sawyer greenwashes a fence. (Art: Mother Jones)

315 days since Francis Rooney has appeared in an open, public forum

Jan. 3, 2019, by David Silverberg

Sensing a change in the wind—and the transition to a Democratic House of Representatives—Rep. Francis Rooney (R-19-Fla.) seems to have decided to change tack and espouse environmentalism, a practice derisively known among environmental activists as “greenwashing.”

This represents a complete change of direction from his prior positions denying climate change and staunchly supporting President Donald Trump’s exploitation-driven environmental agenda.

Just how real is Rooney’s conversion? We will see by his actions and voting record in the new, 116th Congress, which takes office today.

The background

While Rooney has expressed concern for restoring the Everglades since his 2016 primary run, his voting record on environmental issues during his first term in office earned him a zero percent rating from the League of Conservation Voters and he consistently voted for measures that were regarded as polluting and environmentally unfriendly.

He vocally supported President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord. At a town hall in Bonita Springs on May 31, 2017, Rooney stated that he did so despite the threat to Southwest Florida from sea level rise.

“We definitely need to learn all we can about why these sea levels are rising. I’m just not sure how much is man-made and how much is not,” he said. “I think that there is very complex issues surrounding global warming. Sea levels have been rising since the ice age.”

Written words don’t convey the dismissiveness of that statement at the time.

He repeated this assertion in subsequent town halls.

At a town hall in North Naples on March 3, 2017, Rooney stated that the Environmental Protection Agency must be “reined in.”

During his primary run in 2016, he refused to sign a Now-or-NeverGlades petition to allow nutrient-heavy water to flow south to The Everglades.

In addition to his positions and votes during his first term in office, his businesses, Rooney Holdings and Manhattan Construction, are heavily invested in fossil fuel and oil-related construction and infrastructure. In his first run for office he was backed by XL Group, the builders of the XL Pipeline, according to OpenSecrets.org.

According to an October 2, 2018 article by RL Miller on the website ClimateHawksVote.com: “Rooney came into Congress in 2017 holding the largest stake in the fossil fuel industry among incoming freshmen, according to E&E News. He sat on the board of two oil companies for the three years immediately prior to his election: Laredo Petroleum (where he still owns stock valued between $500,000 and $1,000,000), and Helmerich & Payne, an oil drilling firm (where his stock holdings are valued at $250,000 to $500,000). Rooney also remains an owner of Manhattan Construction, a $1 billion family-owned business that counts oil and gas drilling as part of its portfolio. According to E&E News, he owned stock in over two dozen more fossil fuel businesses.”

Additionally, during the 2018 red tide/algae bloom crisis in SWFL, Rooney was virtually invisible in taking action or even demonstrating care and concern for the people and businesses affected. He proposed no legislative or other solutions.

Rooney’s environmental record, his seeming indifference to the suffering brought on by the red tide crisis and his pro-Trump positions left him open to criticism and attacks during the 2018 midterm election. Late in the election cycle he joined the Climate Solutions Caucus in Congress, a group regarded by environmental activists as designed to provide environment-friendly cover to members of Congress who need that credential.

Having won his 2018 re-election, Rooney now appears to be attempting to position himself as a “green Republican.”

Rooney is playing up his cosponsorship of the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (House Resolution 7173), which would progressively tax the carbon content of fuels in an effort to hold down emissions. It would be imposed on “producers and importers of the fuels and is equal to the greenhouse gas content of the fuel multiplied by the carbon fee rate.” That fee would start at $15 per ton in 2019 and rise by $10 every year thereafter until carbon emission targets are met. (A summary of the bill is available here.)

The bill was introduced on Nov. 27 by Florida Democrat Rep. Ted Deutch (22nd District) in the very waning days of the congressional session. Deutch, the sponsor, was joined by nine other cosponsors including Rooney. The lateness of the bill’s introduction meant that it had virtually no chance of passage whatsoever. According to Rooney, it will be introduced again in the new Congress.

Rooney’s cosponsorship of HR 7173 is being portrayed in various media—and by Rooney himself—as a major, radical break with conservative Republican orthodoxy, since it proposes a tax, which is anathema to elements of the party, and acknowledges climate change. “I’ll take some heat from our area to do this,” he said.

In an article the Naples Daily News titled “Francis Rooney talks about the GOP and climate change” by reporter Ledyard King that ran on the USA TODAY network, King called Rooney “a vanishing breed on Capitol Hill: a pro-Trump Republican member of Congress who advocates dramatic steps to address human-caused climate change by ending America’s dependence on coal.”

Rooney told King his main focus is to shut down coal-fueled power plants and that’s what HR 7173 primarily does. “There’s no reason to burn coal,” he said.

Also, in a head-spinning turnaround, for the first time Rooney acknowledged that there may indeed be man-made climate change by saying he accepts the results of the Fourth National Climate Assessment on climate change and that Republicans should be less ideological in their opposition to the notion.

“I tell [Republican colleagues] try to look a little more broadly and less ideologically about it. For a lot of Republicans, climate change has become an ideological thing instead of a science-based thing. Let’s look at the science,” he’s quoted as saying.

Coming from Rooney, looking at the science is indeed breaking news.

Analysis

By cosponsoring HR 7173 and going on what amounts to a “green offensive” Rooney appears to be swinging for a political grand slam.

Rooney is putting some daylight between himself and President Donald Trump by breaking with Trump’s dismissal of climate change as a hoax and Trump’s promotion of coal as a fuel. No doubt Rooney hopes this will serve him well in a Democratic House of Representatives where he will be in the minority. This is in contrast to his first term when Rooney served as a vocal Trumpist and voted with Trump 97 percent of the time. Trump was so pleased with Rooney’s defenses of Trump himself and his policies that he singled him out for praise during his rally in Fort Myers on Halloween. “He’s brutal,” Trump said of Rooney. “He gets the job done.”
By breaking with Trump and climate change-denying Republicans, Rooney is shoring up his environmental vulnerabilities that were exposed during the midterm election campaign. After the red tide/algae bloom disaster of the past summer and his non-response, Rooney clearly wants to build an image as a “green Republican,” and that will take some major revisions in his past positions. Also, his polling no doubt showed that environmental concerns were top of mind for Southwest Floridians and he realizes that they’re a way to reach a younger constituency that is “more environmentally sensitive” as he put it.
Rooney’s cosponsorship of HR 7173 and his attacks on coal are particularly interesting. Yes, coal is a very dirty and polluting fuel. But these may not only be disinterested actions aimed at protecting the environment—rather, the taxes proposed in the bill will serve to cripple a fossil fuel that competes with oil and gas, in which Rooney is heavily invested. In his interview Rooney highlighted natural gas as a cleaner fuel but his main focus was on the need to stop the expansion of the coal industry, which Trump favors. Coal burning is not only bad for the environment, it’s bad for oil and gas profits and since there are no coal interests anywhere in Florida that could bite back, opposing coal brings no local negative repercussions and works to Rooney’s personal advantage. It also bears noting that nowhere in his interview did Rooney mention renewable energy sources like solar or wind.

As for the downsides of this new policy flip, there are virtually none: far from taking “some heat from our area” for his new positions, Rooney’s new stance is likely to be largely ignored by the vast majority of Southwest Floridians and accepted at face value by an uncritical media. He may face some chiding from his former companions in the more extreme elements of the Republican congressional caucus in Washington DC, but with them out of power in the House and their influence apparently eroding by the day, there’s not much price to be paid by breaking out of the pack.

Conclusion

Far from being what Ledyard King characterized as “a vanishing breed on Capitol Hill,” Rooney looks to be the first of a new breed of Republicans who realize that buying into the Trumpvironment is bad for one’s political health.

It’s also objectively bad for the natural environment and peoples’ health, habitation and businesses—an indisputable fact that was brought home for Southwest Florida in last year’s environmental disaster.

Rooney is at the cutting edge of what will likely be a growing—not diminishing—number of Republicans who realize that denying climate change, adhering to President Trump’s environmental agenda and rolling back environmental protections is a losing hand, especially in what is going to be a very environmentally active House of Representatives. Their defection from Trumpvironmentalism will be accelerated if Trump is impeached or loses influence in Congress as he’s already doing.

But this trend must be confirmed by actions and votes. Southwest Floridians cannot simply accept Rooney statements at face value. Last term Rooney was aided by general indifference to his actions in Congress and the media’s failure to scrutinize them. In this term his every action, statement and vote must be carefully monitored and evaluated.

It’s not enough to say that you’re green. You have to prove it—and Rooney ain’t there yet.

Liberty lives in light

Trump shutdown began at midnight, SWFL national parks affected

Dec. 22, 2018 by David Silverberg

Updated 4:30 pm

12-22-18 Trump arms crossed

As though to mark the winter solstice, a chill descended on the United States at midnight when President Donald Trump refused to accept any form of compromise with Congress and a quarter of the federal government shut down for lack of funding.

Affected federal departments are Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, State, Transportation and Treasury, which were dependent on passage of a funding bill to maintain operations. Agencies include Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Prisons, Customs and Border Protection, the Internal Revenue Service, and all national parks, forests, preserves and wildlife refuges.

In Southwest Florida, Everglades National Park, J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge, the Panther National Wildlife Refuge and Big Cypress National Preserve are immediately affected.

An announcement on national park websites states that while parks may be accessible to visitors, that access may change without notice. Some may close completely. Some visitor services may be available but there will be no National Park services available such as visitor assistance, tours, restrooms, trash collection, facilities or road maintenance. Private concessionaires may be serving food. Also, National Park websites may not be updated or reflect current conditions.

A full listing of contingency plans for Department of the Interior operations is available on the department’s website, DOI.gov.

Local Department of Homeland Security agencies include the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the US Coast Guard.

Victoria Moreland, Department Director for Communications and Marketing at Florida Southwest International Airport (RSW) and the Lee County Port Authority, informed The Paradise Progressive that RSW operations are unaffected since TSA and Federal Aviation Administration employees are essential personnel and therefore exempt from the shutdown.

The Coast Guard, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, operates a station at Fort Myers Beach. As of 3:00 am, no response had been received regarding its scope of operations.

The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), which operates the Hoover Dike on Lake Okeechobee, announced on its website: “Prudent management requires that the government plan for the possibility of a lapse in appropriations. USACE is working with [Office of Management and Budget] to take appropriate action. This includes reviewing relevant legal requirements and updating our plan for executing an orderly shutdown. Determinations about specific programs are being actively reviewed.”

The extent and duration of other closures will depend on the duration of the impasse with President Trump, who said he was “totally prepared for a very long shutdown.” The longer the shutdown, the greater the likelihood that additional government services, agencies and installations will be affected.

On Dec. 11, in a meeting with Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-12-Calif.) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), President Trump publicly stated that he would assume the blame in the event of a government shutdown: “I will take the mantle of shutting down, and I’m going to shut it down for border security,” he said.

Since then, he has sought to cast the blame on Democrats.

Despite opposition, Coalition of Immokalee Workers celebrates 25 years of action

12-20-18 CIW Education_Session_2_thin-1024x408

A training session conducted by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. (Source: CIW)

Dec. 20, 2018, by David Silverberg

On Friday evening, Dec. 21, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) will celebrate its 25th anniversary.

While CIW has struck agreements for fair pricing, wages and labor practices with retail chains as large as Walmart, McDonald’s, Subway, Sodexo and Whole Foods, it has also faced fierce opposition from opponents. That includes Rep. Francis Rooney, who represents Florida’s 19th Congressional District, which stretches from Cape Coral to Marco Island.

According to its website, the CIW “is a worker-based human rights organization internationally recognized for its achievements in the fields of social responsibility, human trafficking, and gender-based violence at work. Built on a foundation of farmworker community organizing starting in 1993, and reinforced with the creation of a national consumer network since 2000, CIW’s work has steadily grown over more than twenty years… .”

The CIW pursues three programs in particular: The Fair Food Program, a program promoting social responsibility and standards of fair pay; the Anti-Slavery program, which combats exploitative labor practices; and the Campaign for Fair Food, which educates consumers.

Rooney, however, has a different view of CIW. In his view it is a union in all but name that circumvents rules and restrictions governing unions. He opposes all such “worker centers” that engage in what he regards union activities. He specifically denounced CIW in a March 2, 2018 opinion piece titled, “Worker centers: How unions circumvent federal rules” that appeared in the conservative Washington Examiner on March 2, 2018.

“One particularly egregious example is the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, CIW, in Southwest Florida,” wrote Rooney. “The CIW actively engages in secondary boycotts, an activity which is prohibited for unions under the National Labor Relations Act, NLRA. Unions work with the CIW to fund the worker center’s protests, seeking to intimidate companies to increase wages and comply with their other demands. Those who refuse are met with boycotts and other disruptive actions.” He continued:

“The CIW has, for example, organized protests around the country to actively disrupt commerce to try to pressure supermarket and fast food chains to join their Fair Food Program. The group has protested Publix locations in Florida and Trader Joe’s stores in Boston and New York as part of their fight. Further, the CIW launched a disruptive boycott of Wendy’s locations in Florida in response to their refusal to abide by the group’s demands. As a result of this ‘worker center’ loophole, their group gets to act like a union and deploy union tactics and spend union members’ money without abiding by longstanding federal laws.”

To reward Rooney’s stance—or perhaps to inspire him—Publix contributed $8,100 to his 2018 re-election campaign, the second largest contributor after Rooney’s own Rooney Holdings, according to OpenSecrets.org.

During his first term, Rooney worked with Labor Secretary Alex Acosta to oppose worker centers in general.

In a defense of worker centers that appeared on Nov. 20, 2017, in the website On Labor, senior contributor Sharon Block wrote:

“The question that underlies Rep. Rooney’s rhetoric is whether worker centers should be treated as ‘labor organizations’ or not. Although both unions and worker centers provide support for workers’ collective activity in the workplace, there are significant implications for whether those activities meet the definition of a ‘labor organization’ under the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act, a little known but important federal statute that regulates internal democratic processes and public disclosure requirements for unions. Any worker center found to be a ‘labor organization’ would at minimum be required to file with the [Department of Labor’s] Office of Labor Management Standards detailed and burdensome financial disclosure reports and to adopt a formal constitution and by-laws, which must provide for the election of officers – requirements that simply do not reflect the structure and organization of many of today’s worker centers.”

Ultimately, Block wrote, Rooney’s, Acosta’s and others’ opposition to worker centers is “in a way…a backhanded compliment to worker centers.” The “negative attention from Republicans in Congress and others is an implicit acknowledgement of the success that worker centers are having in giving voice to thousands of workers.”

She continued: “Having gone a long way to decimate the traditional labor movement already, it is no wonder that the interests that align with corporations at the expense of workers are now going after the next wave of worker organizations.”

What is The Paradise Progressive?

The Paradise Progressive is an effort to cover, analyze and comment on news affecting the Paradise Coast of Southwest Florida that is overlooked, ignored or avoided by local traditional media. It does this to fulfill the role of a free and independent press in a democratic republic.

As the Washington Post states: “Democracy dies in darkness.” But we say: “Liberty lives in light.” Our goal is to shine a light as best we can to dispel the darkness.

The Paradise Progressive is not affiliated with any political party or organization. It was begun on Dec. 20, 2018. The Paradise Progressive can also be viewed on its Facebook page, which features links to other Florida-related postings, and on its website, ParadiseProgressive.com. Videos related to political activities in Southwest Florida can be seen at The Paradise Progressive YouTube channel.

The Paradise Progressive receives no funding from George Soros. It relies on readers to help defend democracy in Southwest Florida. Donate here!

A government shutdown will affect Southwest Florida

Dec. 17, 2018 by David Silverberg

Ding_Darling_Shutdown cropped 12-18-18

Workers at “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island post a sign during the 2013 government shutdown. (Photo from “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge.)

Should Congress and the White House fail to reach a funding agreement by a Friday deadline, Southwest Florida will feel the impact.

While the potential shutdown is being called “partial” because some government operations will continue to function, its effect will be felt throughout the country and the world. Southwest Florida will be no exception.

The most recent prolonged government shutdown occurred from Oct. 1st to 16th, 2013 during the administration of President Barack Obama. Congressional Republicans were trying to stop funding for the Affordable Care Act by preventing passage of a continuing resolution (CR) that would have funded the government at the previous year’s level.

At that time in SWFL, the government shutdown closed Everglades National Park, J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge and the Panther National Wildlife Refuge. Business was hurt by delays in real estate closings and loan processing and local farms sufffered as issuance of worker visas came to a halt.

The 2013 shutdown also occurred at the tail end of hurricane season, when federal weather forecasting was most critically needed.

In all, the 2013 shutdown was estimated to have cost the US economy $24 billion. The Republican Party received the bulk of the blame for it and sustained the most political damage as a result.

This year the government shut down between Jan. 20th and 23rd as Democrats and Republicans were unable to agree whether to address the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) issue. Ultimately, both houses of Congress passed a CR that funded the government until the next shutdown, which lasted only a matter of hours, from midnight to the early Feb. 9. Then, President Donald Trump signed the continuing resolution, which both funded the government and raised the debt ceiling. It also provided hurricane relief funding for Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico, which had been hit by hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.

Analysis

In Southwest Florida, the full impact of a government shutdown will depend on how long it lasts. A brief shutdown, like the one in February, may pass easily but a prolonged shutdown has the potential to affect crucial government functions. Among those are:

Social Security. While Social Security was safeguarded in the 2018 shutdowns, the possibility always exists that a lengthy shutdown could impact the program on which many Southwest Floridians depend. According to the Social Security Administration, as of December 2017 (the most recent date for which statistics are available) Lee County had 12,863 Social Security recipients and Collier had 4,169.
Disaster relief. People still receiving federal assistance and housing as a result of Hurricane Irma can expect a shutdown of payments and support.
Veterans benefits. A prolonged shutdown could impede veterans’ benefits or affect their healthcare at federal facilities, like the Veterans Administration healthcare center in Lee County.
Coast Guard and maritime security. While national security and military operations are usually safeguarded from government shutdowns, a prolonged shutdown could affect Coast Guard operations and maritime safety, including search and rescue.
National parks, preserves and refuges. As noted above, national installations will be closed as they were in 2013. These closings are likely to be immediate.
Business applications, contract closings and federal paperwork. Businesses having any sort of interaction with the federal government will have their dealings delayed or impeded.
Mail delivery. As it is, Friday is the deadline for mailing packages for receipt by Christmas. While mail delivery hasn’t been impeded before, a lengthy government shutdown could affect mail delivery, not only for the Christmas season but for those customers dependent on medications, checks or money.
Passports and federal documents: There will be no passports issued or federal documents processed during a shutdown.
Civil servants. Federal employees will not get paychecks during a shutdown.

In addition to people and institutions directly affected by a government shutdown, there can be severe secondary impacts. A Social Security shutdown could affect businesses that rely on senior spending as well as those receiving rents and mortgage payments. Mail delays can severely impact businesses as can delays in processing applications and paperwork.

Conclusion

During his on-camera debate with Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-12- Calif.) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Dec. 11, President Donald Trump said he would assume responsibility for any government shutdown.

“I am proud to shut down the government for border security, Chuck, because the people of this country don’t want criminals and people that have lots of problems, and drugs pouring into our country,” said Trump. “So I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down. I’m not going to blame you for it. The last time you shut it down it didn’t work. I will take the mantle of shutting down, and I’m going to shut it down for border security.”

“But we believe you shouldn’t shut it down,” replied Schumer.

The dialogue didn’t go much further than that, at least in public view. But as of this writing, it appears that Trump is determined to get at least $5 billion for his border wall (or “boarder” wall, as he put it) and a shutdown is a real possibility. It’s also not entirely clear that he fully understands just what a government shutdown means, despite having caused two earlier ones—or that he cares about the impact on people and the country.

It will be interesting to see if after a shutdown he can retain the support of Southwest Florida seniors who don’t receive their Social Security payments or their mail.

What do Interior Department changes mean for SWFL?

Dec. 16, 2018 by David Silverberg

On Dec. 15, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced his retirement. His acting replacement is David Bernhardt.

The changeover has implications for SWFL, particularly for offshore oil drilling. Under the Trump administration, the Department of Interior has been consistently uncooperative in protecting SWFL shores.

Whether that situation changes in the future and whether SWFL officials can succeed in changing federal policy will be the question as a new Interior secretary is named and confirmed.

The background

On April 28, 2017, President Donald Trump issued an executive order opening offshore tracts to oil exploration, ending a moratorium enacted by President Barack Obama. Florida was subsequently exempted from the executive order and then put back on in a rapid and often contradictory series of policy changes. The exemption was widely seen as being motivated by the need to keep Florida in the Republican camp and boost Gov. Rick Scott’s senatorial chances.

During this time, Rep. Francis Rooney (R-19) lobbied his fellow Republican lawmakers and the Interior Department to make the moratorium permanent, according to a May 30, 2018 talk that Rooney gave to an invitation-only audience at the Alamo gun range and store in Naples. Rooney primarily used a military argument against oil exploration, saying that oil rigs off the SWFL coast would interfere with naval and Air Force exercises.

“They fly airplanes a hundred feet over the water, supersonic, they launch Polaris missiles, they launch things out there that land at Eglin [Air Force Base], a big forest behind Eglin, all kinds of stuff, so the military is our ally on this,” Rooney said of the Defense Department. “The Department of the Interior is not. They want to ‘drill- baby-drill.’ They are Republicans, right?”

Rooney had hoped that language could be inserted into the 2018 Defense Authorization Bill that would reinstitute the moratorium and he teamed up with Florida’s Rep. Kathy Castor (D-14) to introduce an amendment to that effect. However, on May 23, 2018 Republicans refused to allow the amendment to be considered.

“House Republicans blocked my bipartisan amendment to ban oil drilling off the coast of Florida late last night – meaning they will not allow a vote at all,” said Castor at the time.

During the 115th Congress, Rooney’s efforts against offshore drilling were also repeatedly blocked by fellow Republican Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.-1), the House majority whip, and an advocate for the oil and gas industry.

Analysis: Changes at Interior, the House

Despite Zinke’s resignation, SWFL’s situation does not bode well:

David Bernhardt, who is in line to lead Interior and a potential secretary of the department, is a former fossil fuel lobbyist. After serving as chief counsel for the Interior Department under President George W. Bush, he joined the Washington law/lobbying firm of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, where he represented fossil fuel companies. He gives no indication of being a friend of the environment or opponent of offshore drilling.
There is no indication that Interior’s “drill baby drill” approach has in any way diminished or will diminish in the future.
There is no reason to expect that the newly elected Republican slate of officials will oppose offshore drilling. Gov.-Elect Ron DeSantis won his office due to support from President Donald Trump and can be expected to further Trump’s offshore drilling agenda. With his record of climate change denial and support of the Trump agenda, Sen.-Elect Rick Scott is unlikely to oppose offshore drilling.
Rooney, who was unable to advance an offshore opposition agenda when he was part of the Republican majority in the House will now be in the minority and will likely continue to be opposed by the rest of his Republican colleagues, particularly Scalise, who will now be serving as House Minority Whip.
Lastly, if a more permanent replacement is nominated to replace Zinke he will likely be committed to the president’s agenda of offshore drilling, not just in Florida but along the entire seacoast of the United States.

Conclusion:

On a more hopeful note, the new, Democratic House is likely to be more sympathetic to environmental concerns and may serve as a brake on offshore drilling efforts.

At the same time, citizen activism can provide grassroots opposition to the relentless drive of this administration to open offshore waters to oil exploration and drilling, perhaps slowing or even stopping its progress.