Keep going, Governor

Here’s the thing about Americans: They don’t like to lose. They like to win. They like to compete and be the best at what they do.

They don’t want to have anything to do with and don’t want to be a part of or associated with losers.

But right now, be honest, we all are associated with a Loser and  his teammates.

The U.S. is losing.

Winners hate that. They can’t stand it. And they won’t put up with it. They will not stand idly by as the losing continues and destruction unfolds.

That is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

It’s clear DeSantis hates to lose; doesn’t want to be associated with losers; and, isn’t going to be a wilting wallflower as destructive forces and outsiders horn in on his state with policies, rules and mandates that ruin and destroy Floridians’ lives. He is determined to win and make Florida a winner.

To be sure, there are plenty of Floridians who despise everything DeSantis does. Yes, sometimes he does go too far with government intervention. But the haters and critics say everything he does is grandstanding and politically calculated to win points for a Republican Party presidential run in 2024.

Who knows; maybe that is his strategy. He says it is not.

We don’t care.

What Floridians are witnessing in DeSantis is one of the few governors — perhaps the only governor in America — who has the guts to stand up to Joe Biden and say: “Stay out of our state. We’re not going to let you and your loser policies and unconstitutional mandates destroy Floridians’ lives, their families, their livelihoods and their freedom.”

At least he is standing up for his state and its people and is unafraid to challenge the authoritarian losers in Washington. DeSantis’ states-rights message is: “Don’t tread on us. We can and will take care of ourselves.” Here, here.

Take the vaccine mandate that has prompted thousands of Americans to give up their livelihoods rather than give up their freedom. What DeSantis told Maria Bartiromo on FoxNews Sunday is what winners want from their governors and coaches — fighters who make sense.

“Maria, these people we’ve been hailing as heroes, the nurses,  we’ve said have been heroes this whole time. They’ve been working day in and day out. They couldn’t do their job on Zoom, they had to be there, and they did it with honor and integrity.

“Now you have people who want to kick them out of their job over this shot? Which is basically a personal decision.

“And you’re right, what Biden is doing is unconstitutional. He does not have the authority to do this.

“But what it will do on a practical level in addition to being unconstitutional, in addition to taking away people’s personal choices, is it will wreak havoc in the economy. Because even if a small percentage of these folks end up losing their jobs, or voluntarily walking away, you’re going to have huge disruptions in medical, in logistics, in law enforcement.

“And so in Florida, our policy is very clear … [W]e’re going to say nobody should lose their job based off these injections. It’s a choice you can make, but we want to make sure we’re protecting your jobs and your livelihood...”

Further, DeSantis wants the Legislature to commit to offering $5,000 bonuses for any out-of-state law enforcement officer who wants to relocate to Florida.

“So NYPD, Minneapolis, Seattle, if you’re not being treated well, we’ll treat you better here,” DeSantis told Bartiromo.

DeSantis also is encouraging the ocean shipping companies stuck in California ports to send their cargo ships to Florida ports to alleviate supply-chain bottlenecks. At least he’s offering sensible  solutions.

And while all of DeSantis’ critics like to say his handling of COVID-19 has been dismal, that’s not the case.

Consider: Florida’s population is roughy 21.5 million, third most populous in the country. Its percentage of residents over 65 — the most vulnerable to COVID — is 20%, 4,400,000 million people, second-highest percentage in the nation. You would expect Florida’s death rate to be high for both reasons, and it is. Florida’s COVID death rate ranks Florida ninth in the nation. But it’s not as bad as New York, New Jersey or Massachusetts.

At the same time, 98% of Floridians 65 and over have been fully vaccinated; 78% of the state’s eligible population has been vaccinated.

Now consider this: The effects of not shutting down Florida’s economy the way governors did in New York, Michigan and New Jersey.

Last week, Florida recorded  84,500 new jobs in September, 73,000 in the private sector. Those 84,500 new jobs amounted to 43.5% of the 194,000 new jobs in all of the U.S. — a definitive indicator of the strength of Florida’s economy.

When you compare Florida employment from September 2020 to September 2021, Florida added 742,000 jobs, an 8% increase. In contrast, New York state added 291,200 jobs in the past year, an increase of 3.4%. Michigan added 67,053, a 1.5% increase.

And whenever you speak to a Realtor, no matter where you are in Florida, they all talk about the influx of homebuyers from the major shutdown states.

People are voting with their feet to move to a state where its governor is standing up to the idiocy of Washington.

Compare the actions of the two: Biden and DeSantis. It’s easy to pick the loser and the winner. Keep going, Governor.