The Republican-led Florida Legislature has proposed two pieces of legislation that "denounces Democratic Socialism," but while GOP lawmakers in the House chamber voting overwhelmingly against Socialism (Yeas 79) Democrats stood their ground and defended it by voting against (Nays 39) the measure this week.
The CS/HR 145 "Individual Liberty, Private Property, and Democracy" measure co-sponsored by Reps. Tom Fabricio, Cord Byrd, David Borrero, Bob Rommel, Anthony Sabatini, Spencer Roach, Alex Rizo, Tyler Sirois, Toby Overdorf, Brad Drake, Jason Fischer, Joe Harding, and John Snyder, appears pretty straight forward in that it "Denounces democratic socialism in favor of the true American values of individual liberty, private property, and constitutional democracy."
Interestingly enough, the bill does not name, let alone attack Democrats, rather the bill calls "Democratic Socialism" a "political and economic theory" that contrasts "foundational American values."
Here is an excerpt of the bill Rep. Fabricio first filed:
WHEREAS, all of the citizens of this great nation benefit from limiting the imposition of regulation on industry and supporting capitalism as a means of increasing the strength of our economy, and
WHEREAS, in 2020, the International Monetary Fund reported that the economy of the United States remains the largest in the world at $20.49 trillion, surpassing such competitors as China at $13.4 trillion, Japan at $4.97 trillion, and Germany at $4 45 trillion, and
WHEREAS, in many nations that have relied upon democratic socialism to improve the lives of their citizens, the result has been economic and social chaos, an extraordinarily low standard of living for the vast majority, and the absence of individual liberty for all, NOW, THEREFORE.
During the 2020 presidential election, Florida Democrats bet the house on Democratic Socialism and lost. The losses were so severe that led to the resignation of Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Terrie Rizzo and Executive Director Juan Penalosa. Republicans flipped two congressional seats and a number of municipal and state seats.
Rep. Anna Eskamani (D), who voted against the bill,
tweeted earlier this year after Democrats leadership switched over, "
Past @FlaDems leaders have left us a mess & it’s absolutely shameful."The House bill's companion Senate bill, CS/SR 150) has been filed by Sen. Manny Diaz in the Governmental Oversight and Accountability committee.
—Florida politics, Florida political news
