CRUISE SHIP BATTLE…..GOVERNMENT OVERREACH

The handwriting is on the wall. The State will win the battle. At this point. Does not mean the war.

The cruise lines, politics, and certain local businessmen have called in the IOUs. To the legislators, dance with us on this issue.

The City will be left with one alternative. Appeal!

The City has already spent a ton of money on the referendum and the fight since. More money will have to be spent. Do the right thing. The City owes the voters that much.

If the cost of an appeal is a concern, think of all the money pissed away when the City makes contract mistakes, overpays someone, etc. Don’t blow it here. Be on the side of the righteous. Those who put you in office.

What galls me is even some of our State representative(s) initially supported the cruise lines, etc. Till some one brought to their attention they did not know what they were talking about.

Another galling aspect is the excuses being given on the floor of both State Houses. The real reason for the battle with the cruise lines is it is not being described properly by the shipping magnates to State representatives.

Let’s not get screwed. This is a battle that must be fought. Regardless of cost.

It will also send a message. Don’t tread on little Key West! The town can be a David when required.

On April 23, 1982, the Florida Keys seceded from the Union. The reason being the Border Patrol having established a road block at Florida City to check the citizenship of everyone leaving Monroe County.

Dennis Wardlow was the primary defector. He had become the Prime Minister of the new naton. Aptly named the Conch Republic.

The Conch Republic seceded the same day it was formed. Surrendered that same day shortly after seceding. Demanded reparations and financial assistance.

Big trees from little acorns grow! The creation of the Conch Republic has become a big deal. Offices, flags, passports, a navy and air force, etc.

Each year a big celebration is had celebrating the event. From my perspective, the best part of the celebration is the War between the Conch Republic and the  U.S.

The Conch Republic fighting from pirate ships. Their crews dressed as pirates. Throwing rotten tomatoes, heads of lettuce, etc. at the U.S. vessels. The vessels being modern ships of today’s U.S. Coast Guard.

Jets from Boca Chica fly over to engage the Conch Republic’s bi-planes. The Conch Republic bombing the Coast Guard vessels with unfurling rolls of toilet paper.

The celebration is a perfect example as to what Key West is all about. How we live and act.

I wish the Pier House would hurry and reopen the Chart Room. I am out in the world again and miss my old hangout.

I met and chatted with many people every night at the Chart Room. About 10 years ago, a tourist who was the Chief of Police of some community in the midwest.

From 1962-1965, I was General Counsel to the Police Conference of New York Inc. Two years out of law school when I got the job. Had an Albany office. I was a registered lobbyist.

One of my primary tasks was getting legislation passed that would protect police officers. It was the beginning. Protections did not exist. Today, police have formal unions representing them. The unions have been successful in getting laws adopted that we did not even think about in the early 1960s. Like qualified immunity, for example.

The Chief and I had an interesting 2 hour discussion in the Chart Room. I was shocked by the stories he was telling me. The black problem. How dangerous it was to be a policeman. Etc.

A different world had developed. The world that exists today. The world which hopefully now is in a state of flux because of the conviction in the Floyd case.

I believe Biden is doing a good job. Fighting the forces of evil so as to make the U.S. a better place to live. Also, to correct many Trump created problems.

I sense a different problem developing, however. Is the U.S. going to spend itself into oblivion? A trillion here, a trillion there. It adds up. Soon the U.S. debt payments per year will exceed the country’s next most expensive budget item.

My sense is Biden hopes/anticipates increasing corporate taxes as one way of paying the bill. The other is to get programs such as infrastructure moving. Increased wages alone will increase tax collections.

Never forget what Biden is facing today as regards money was faced by Franklin Delano Roosevelt when he first took office. The depression at its peak.

He had programs pushed into law. Each required the government to spend heaps of money.

Republicans knocked him constantly. He was going to bankrupt the nation.

Roosevelt succeeded and Biden can too.

The U.S. yesterday lifted its “pause” on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Ok to use. Safe.

The facts support the result. Thus far, nearly 8 million Johnson & Johnson vaccine shots have been given. Are you aware of the number of the number of the 8 million persons who developed blood clots? Fifteen!

As U.S. officials said yesterday, the benefits of the shot far outweigh the risk of a rare blood clot disorder.

The question at the moment is how the public will react to receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. There are 9.5 million doses siting on shelves waiting to be used.

Enjoy your day!

12 comments on “CRUISE SHIP BATTLE…..GOVERNMENT OVERREACH

  1. The Florida Legislature in Tallahaee is completely controlled by Republicans, and topped by a Republican Governor. Republicans just don’t care about democracy or the interests of the the people, fair voting or what’s right.

    It doesn’t matter what the people in Key West want or what they have voted for. They will decide what goes down in Key West. Get used to it.

  2. I’m not an economist, but I’ve been told many times that corporations don’t pay taxes. They absorb the tax increase and raise prices instead. How does Biden plan to avoid this issue since his major new programs all seem to require some level of higher corporate tax rate?

    • Mr. Peabody, your coal company was one of the worst tax avoiders of all times. It seems so inappropriate for you to comment on these matters.

      Nevertheless, it seems that Biden DOES have options that the average libertarian would prefer he not do – that would be doing ANYTHING !

      • Ya just gotta love Lou’s blog. Ask an honest question about current events, which Lou brought up in his narrative, and you get a nonsense reply – something about a big coal company and libertarians…..???? Not even close to an educated response about corporate tax rates.

  3. Lou, I wonder if you now went to the Chart Room and had a two hour chat with a black citizen of that very same small town in the midwest where you met and chatted with the Chief of Police, you would again be shocked by the stories he might tell you. The police problem. How dangerous it is to be a black man. Etc.

  4. Many people were and still are dead serious about the basic Conch Republic concept and it is not a jovial, laughing matter to them.

  5. I remember reading and hearing how Black parents school their kids in the safe ways to behave when interacting with the police. It seems like some of them forgot those lessons.

    • Yes, blacks should just roll over and die when interacting with police.

      YOU don’t seem like a nice person, probably YOUR parents fault?

      • Blacks (and whites) who have outstanding warrants and have just been detained by a police officer should follow instructions and not resist or attempt to flee. Anything else can get you killed.

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