FL: House passes proposed amendment to immediately phase out property taxes

Source: Florida Phoenix

“The Florida House of Representatives approved a joint resolution on Thursday to put in motion a possible constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would completely end non-school property taxes for homesteaded properties beginning on Jan. 1, 2027. The final vote was 80-30, with all Republicans supporting the proposal and all Democrats opposing it. The chances of Floridians actually voting on the amendment are long, however. The Florida Senate has yet to propose any bill during this legislative session addressing property taxes. Joint resolutions can only be placed on the ballot if they are approved by a three-fifths majority in both the House and Senate. It does not need the approval of the governor. Republican Sen. Ed Hooper, the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Wednesday night that his chamber will introduce its own measure, although ‘it won’t be as generous.'” [editor’s note: Letting people keep their own money instead of stealing that money isn’t “generosity” – TLK] (02/19/26)

https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/02/19/florida-house-passes-proposed-amendment-to-immediately-phase-out-property-taxes/

Thomas L. Knapp

The Capitalism “Stranger Things” Runs On — But Pretends Not to Like

Source: The Daily Economy
by Kimberlee Josephson

“When Jonathan declares his artistic ambitions are anti-capitalist, it clashes with everything the show has relied on for five seasons. The finale demonstrates better jobs, bigger dreams, and individual agency rely on voluntary exchange.” (02/19/26)

https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/the-capitalism-stranger-things-runs-on-but-pretends-not-to-like/

Thomas L. Knapp

Everyone’s Favorite Slopulist Scapegoat

Source: The Bulwark
by Catherine Rampell

“For MAGA Republicans, the root cause of every problem is immigrants. Populist Democrats, by contrast, prefer to scapegoat billionaires and Big Business. But lately, President Donald Trump has started to bogart Democrats’ favorite villains, too, by casting them as the baddies conspiring to increase housing costs. There’s now bipartisan (and yet wrong) agreement that Wall Street’s ‘institutional investors’ are to blame for high home prices, and Congress appears on the verge of making the problem worse.” (02/19/26)

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/everyones-favorite-slopulist-scapegoat-institutional-housing-investors

Thomas L. Knapp

Trump Promised to Drain the Swamp; Turns Out He’s Best Friends With the Swamp Monster

Source: OtherWords
by Sonali Kolhatkar

“Attorney General Pam Bondi’s contentious House hearing about the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein files offered a clear message to the nation: Sex trafficking of women and minors is perfectly acceptable as long as wealthy white men do it. Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced late sex trafficker, fixer, and political networker, was found to have ties to huge number of the world’s elites on both sides of the political aisle—including Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Ehud Barak, Bill Gates, Steve Bannon, Larry Summers, Bill Clinton, and of course, Donald Trump. For years, Trump’s conservative backers have attacked LGBTQ+ people, drag queens, immigrants, and others, claiming a desire to protect women and children from rapists and groomers. Trump even boasted that ‘whether the women liked it or not,’ he would ‘protect’ them from migrants, whom he slandered as ‘monsters’ who ‘kidnap and kill our children’.” (02/19/26)

https://otherwords.org/the-epstein-class-they-are-the-elites-they-pretend-to-hate/

Steve Trinward