Top Three Takeaways – May 14th, 2021
- The Problem is the CDC. The Problem is not Florida. The only thing missing from Governor DeSantis’s direct response regarding the standoff with the feds over the cruise industry is...any questions? Earlier in the week I mentioned interest groups were lobbying the governor for a potential exemption to Florida’s ban on vaccine passports. It’s now been made clear that will not be forthcoming. The governor not only issued that statement in response to a reporter’s question on Thursday, he elaborated, extensively. Quoting DeSantis: We’re challenging the authority of the CDC to be involved to this extent. Oh, by the way, if you’re sunbathing you have to make sure they’re wearing a mask while they’re sunbathing. That is an absolute farce. All of that came after he stated the CDC, not Florida is the problem. The CDC is currently standing by their directive that if at least 95% of cruise ship’s passengers prove they’ve been vaccinated, cruises can commence in July. Carnival has specifically said their goal is begin sailing again in July. If this is going to happen out of Florida’s ports something significant is going to have to give. Governor DeSantis is hoping it will be the state’s case challenging the CDC’s authority to issue the edict they’ve issued. DeSantis is standing tall on principal but it’s not without risk if July rolls around and the reason cruises aren’t sailing from Florida’s ports are due to the vaccine passport ban. In the meantime, bonus points to the gov for saying what many have been thinking about the CDC, for awhile. And a good laugh.
- Now we negotiate with terrorists? Remember when Reagan won the cold war by paying off the Russians and caving to their demands? Yeah, I don’t either. Add the Colonial Pipeline to the ever-increasing list Biden’s blunders. On back of the reports that the likely Russian hackers were paid $4-$5 million in cryptocurrency to release the ransomware attack...President Biden had this to say when asked if he knew the ransom was being paid. “No Comment”. Well, none’s needed now mister president. But it is consistent with your border policy and stance on Israel.
- One for the road. If you’ve been taking your booze to go during the pandemic, you’ll be able to continue to booze on the go after it. I’d actually forgotten about DeSantis’s executive order enabling alcohol to go from bars and restaurants during the pandemic, until I did a double take heading down to Key West last weekend. It’s not unusual to find colorful signs with lively messages at roadside businesses throughout the keys. It was a first for me to see the drive-through kiosks for booze. You can now consider those fixtures as Governor DeSantis singed the “to-go” bill into law yesterday. Under the new law, alcohol to go will be able to be sold in secure containers stored in areas of a vehicle not accessible to the driver. Participating businesses will need to derive at least half of their revenue from food. Cheers! When you get home of course...
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