Column criticizing Democratic governors failed to tell the whole truth

Edward Harmon recently wrote an opinion column comparing California Gov. Gavin Newson and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, both Democrats, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican.

He implied that DeSantis should take a victory lap for Florida’s economy, jobs and affordability of housing. Has he not been reading the endless news articles, editorial comments and uproar over the lack of affordable housing here and in the rest of Florida?

There is no affordable housing in Florida. And worse, obtaining or affording homeowners' insurance in most of the state may be impossible. Many folks will go without insurance during the upcoming hurricane season. No bragging rights there.  

Harmon also wrote, “Just 14% of Americans believe we are headed in the right direction.” Might it have something to do with Republican lawmakers unanimously voting against the American Rescue Plan, which saved our national economy and rescued most working-class families and small businesses owners from financial ruin?

Or might it be because our Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, allowing many red states to virtually abolish all abortion, even if a young teenager is raped by a relative or a mother wanting to give birth suffers an unexpected miscarriage and can’t get a doctor to perform a needed procedure to improve her chances of getting pregnant again? Or because the court also eliminated the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate and protect the public from flagrant industrial polluters? Or because it overturned a New York law which kept guns out of public venues, such as Times Square on New Year’s Eve?

Or might it be because the Republicans recently voted against legislation to reduce the cost of insulin, allow Medicare to negotiate on drug prices with Big Pharma and keeping the premiums low for the Affordable Care Act, where workers without employer-provided health insurance can afford to obtain insurance?

When the Democrats introduce virtually any legislation, including steps to reduce inflation, open shipping supply lines or even legislation to incentivize U.S. manufacturing to produce semiconductors here, eliminating our total reliance on China to reduce the cost of automobiles, this too is voted down by the Republicans. Can anyone remember any beneficial legislation introduced by the Republicans in the past two years?

Why are Americans pessimistic? Because one of the two main political parties seems to put their political self-interests above country. They vote against all proposed legislation without offering any of their own. And, when the world watched the Jan. 6 insurrection, based on a proven lie, the Republican Party then and now continues to advance that lie or not condemn it.

Inflation at 9.1%? Why did Harmon fail to mention that the U.S. economy has now regained all jobs lost during the pandemic? In fact, we added 528,000 in July alone! And unemployment in Florida is just 2.8%, as of June. Plus, wages are up, 5.2% over a year ago.

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Inflation is temporary, fueled largely by the robust economy. Because jobs are plentiful, people have money to spend, driving up prices. Demand exceeds supply due to factors beyond President Joe Biden’s control, such as the pandemic, Vladmir Putin’s war and Donald Trump’s sweetheart deal with the Saudi Arabian prince to reduce oil production to give his oil friends/donors record-breaking profits. When available sources of oil production are expanded and we start investing more in renewable energy sources, factories will return to full capacity and prices will drop.

Harmon blames Biden even though Trump told our al-Qaida enemies precisely when the U.S. troops would be pulling out of Afghanistan. It’s a miracle only 13 soldiers died. Why no credit to Biden for finally getting us out of this 20-year military debacle and evacuating thousands, safely? We also know Biden is being handcuffed by federal courts limiting his ability to change some of the Trump southern border policies, adding to immigration problems.

Harmon spotlights Chicago to argue that crime is out of control because of Democrats. But Miami has a Republican mayor and its crime rate is higher than 86% of every other city in Florida. He also failed to mention that eight of the top 10 states with the highest crime, murder and gun shooting rates are red states!

Democrats are not the enemy. We are not God-hating spendthrifts who have no regard for life. Most believe in God, attending church or synagogues or mosques. We merely believe in honest government and equal treatment of all faiths, colors and sexual orientations. Demonizing Democrats with half-truths is dishonest. Tell the whole story next time!

Stuart Floyd lives in Gainesville. 

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This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Stuart Floyd: Demonizing Democrats with half-truths is dishonest