Place of Hope CEO Highlights our December Lunch

Befitting the time of year when people think about those less fortunate, our December guest represented the needs of those children in the foster care system in Palm Beach County, and an example of meeting a need that government has not managed well.

Place of Hope CEO Charles Bender talked about breaking the cycle of dependency among neglected or abused children by providing a nurturing, family-based environment. While the government has the overall responsibility for those that find themselves in the foster-care system, it is non-governmnental organizations like Place of Hope that provide the personal touch that can make a difference in a child’s life.

It was Jeb Bush as Governor who advanced the concept of “commuity based care” and groups like Place of Hope move the ball by providing alternatives to the “family first” policies of DCF. “Family first”, which gives priority to keeping family units together can cause problems for the children when the family unit is dysfunctional in some way. Moving foster kids into family structured group or individual homes where positive values can be taught is a viable alternative that Place of Hope provides.

For more information about Place of Hope, please visit their website.

In other business, we heard from candidates Beverly Hires (CD18), Henry Colon (CD21), and Pat Rooney (FH85).

Some pictures from the event:

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Place of Hope Executive Director Charles Bender at December Meeting

Please join us for a presentation by Chares Bender, CEO of Palm Beach County’s own Place of Hope, a community-based child-care agency for abused and neglected children. With his extensive background in government and private initiatives, he will share insights with us about how the private sector can work effectively in dealing with social issues, and partner with government programs where appropriate to address the needs of low-income individuals and families, the homeless and at-risk/dependent children and youth.

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Charles is the Founding Executive Director of Place of Hope, a faith-based and state-licensed family-style residential child-caring agency for abused and neglected children, located in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He earned his B.A. degree in Sociology from Florida Atlantic University and also studied at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida.

Charles came to Place of Hope in 1999 following many years of work with various housing, social, and human services organizations throughout Palm Beach County. He has participated in numerous community committees, task forces, special initiatives, and boards. He has been a team member of several other local leading organizations including: Palm Beach County Housing and Community Development, Adopt-A-Family of the Palm Beaches, Inc., the City of Delray Beach Community Development Division. The majority of Charles’ work has involved low-income individuals and families, homeless and substance abusing populations, and at-risk/dependent children and youth. Prior to spearheading implementation of Place of Hope, Charles was a primary volunteer in the multi-year visioning and development processes while still a “vision” of Christ Fellowship (founding church).

Charles has significant experience developing and administering social programs and low-income housing initiatives, executing growth plans, implementing federal, state, and local funding programs, building organizational capacity and community coalitions, enhancing service delivery systems, raising capital and annual operating funds, and managing overall non-profit operations.

Ted Cruz Featured at Lincoln Day Dinner

We are quickly approaching this year’s Lincoln Day Dinner, which will take place on February 21 at Mar-a-Lago. We will be treated to a special appearance by United States Senator Ted Cruz, and will also be joined by many other Republican elected officials. This is the Palm Beach County GOP’s largest fundraiser of the year and it is sure to be a great event!

There are some very important races this upcoming election season and we need your help to make sure good Republicans go to Tallahassee and Washington DC to fight for the principles in which we so deeply believe. Will you please consider sitting with the Republican Club of the Palm Beaches to support both our Club and our Party? You can always buy your tickets by calling the Republican Headquarters directly, but we hope you will consider RSVP’ing through our Club instead so we can all sit together and show our support as a Club.

If you are interested in joining us, please RSVP to Sue Varey at svarey@bellsouth.net or by calling (561) 855-0749.

This year,the Honoree at the dinner will be RCPB Leader Fran Hancock, who has served the county party for 24 years as our State Committeewoman. Please consider purchasing an advertisement in the Tribute Journal this year to show your support for Fran. Click HERE for instructions. Please note that the deadline for ads is February 7.

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Meg’s Take on Will Weatherford

The guest speaker at the October 30, 2013 meeting of the Republican Club of the Pam Beaches was the Hon. Will Weatherford, Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives.

Speaker Weatherford started his remarks by noting that we are all less free today as individuals than we were four years ago, and in four years from now we will be even less free than we are today. He saw Florida as a pocket of economic freedom and prosperity that will draw more people to move here in the future. Along with Texas, Florida is coming back faster than the rest of the nation with unemployment coming down. Another good sign is that the graduation rate from Florida high schools has increased and in 2013 it is estimated that 360,000 people will be moving to Florida and forbes rated it as one of the best places to do business. This is not an accident. Instead reflects that the decisions we are making and policies we adopt do matter.

Challenges we face include the following:

1. Education. We must continue to raise the bar and create choice and opportunity for kids to be the drivers of the economy in Florida. There will be a bill in the next legislative session that will make sure that Florida is not part of a national curriculum.

2. Health Care. Some think expanding Medicaid is the answer, but that is a broken system and creates two classes of people. Under Obamacare,if you make over a certain threshold you get coverage from an exchange, but if you are really poor your only option is Medicaid. Florida will be offering a free market alternative.

3. Water. We need to protect our natural resources and be concerned about the quality, consumption and infrastructure of our springs and rivers.

4. Unemployment for our youth. If you are under 30 today, unemployment is almost double what it is for other age groups. If you are African-American and under 30, unemployment is 23%. This exists in part because of the disconnect between the education being provided and what the business community wants. He worries because we are leaving that generation with a $17 Trillion deficit. These young people are forced to sacrifice like earlier generations to make more opportunities for the next generation while bailing out the generation that came before them. We have a moral obligation to talk about what to do for the future of our kids.

5. Lack of upward mobility today. If someone today is in the bottom quartile, they have almost no change of moving up. Government has created haves and have-nots, keeping people down and in poverty. Government has created generational poverty by providing more entitlements and giving more things. Redistribution of wealth is not the answer. We need to provide knowledge and opportunity. A vibrant educational system that gives parents a choice is necessary. If you can’t read by the 3rd grade, you will fail in like. This is a human and civil right. We need to stop attaching free enterprise and instead embrace it. Around the world since 1990, one billion people have come out of poverty. Since 1970 80% of the poverty in the world has been eliminated. The number one cause of this has been the free enterprise system.

If you want to see the difference between a government centric society and a free enterprise society, look at the nighttime pictures of the Korean peninsula. Above the 45th parallel it is darkness and below it is filled with light. We need to believe in our cause.

House Speaker Will Weatherford at October Lunch

The October lunch featured Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford. A Wesley Chapel resident, representing District 61 in Pasco County since 2006, Will is currently the youngest Speaker in America at 33.

Warmly introduced by District 85 Representative Pat Rooney who said he ran again last year “to serve under Will Weatherford as Speaker”, Speaker Weatherford returned the compliment, describing Rooney as “soft spoken, but one who has a lot to say when he speaks”.

He began his remarks referring to the government shutdown, which he said, “however you felt about it, at least it pointed out that there are 800,000 federal employees that are non-essential.”

In Florida, the GOP gets things done. In the country, we are less free than we were four years ago, but people are voting with their feet – leaving the high tax states with their high unemployment and moving to Texas and Florida and others. FL unemployment is 7% and falling, the HS graduation rate is the highest its ever been, the economy is expanding, and the population has grown by 316,000 people.

Of the three major issues facing Florida today and in the future he listed:

1. Education – the major generator of economic growth – today’s unemployment picture is the inverse of what is should be as younger workers aged 20-30 are less likely to find and keep a job than those over 30 – in large part because of problems in our education system. He is not a supporter of Common Core and predicted that the Florida Legislature will not adopt a national curriculum, but will work to set higher standards.

2. Healthcare – next year’s session will not expand medicaid in the state – it is a program that doesn’t work – instead they will seek free market alternatives.

3. Water infrastructure – there will be focus on the problems of pollution from runoff in the Indian River lagoon and elsewhere, and the security of our water supplies.

Addressing more global issues that he sees as new opportunities for the Republican Party, he cited youth unemployment, particularly what the Obama economics has done to minorities (23% of black youth are unemployed). The younger generations will be asked to bail out their predecessors and the $17 Trillion national debt, while at the same time sacrificing to make lives for themselves.

He spoke of “generational poverty” – that it is caused by government, not capitalism. The fix for it, he said, is not redistribution of wealth, but redistribution of knowledge and opportunity. We need better schools by offering parents a choice of where to send their children. Using the view of the Korean peninsula from space (the south glows brightly, the north is dark), he ended with the thought that the party should endeavor to make Florida shine as bright as anywhere.

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In other business, VP Anita Mitchell said her goodbyes as she is expected to emerge as the next PBC Party Chair.

Carol Hurst reported that her nominating committee has defined a slate of candidates for the November 6 club election. These include Rick Kozell to return as President, Meg Shannon as VP and Secretary, and Bette Anne Starkey as Treasurer.

Candidates present included Ellen Andel, Alan Schlesinger and Ilya Katz who are competing for Patrick Murphy’s CD18 seat, and Henry Colon to challenge Ted Deutch in CD21. Ellen Andel’s campaign got a boost this week when former Congressman Allen West came out to support her along with 7 sitting Republican Congresswomen from around the country.

Some pictures from Fred and Delia

Colonel Arthur DeRuve on November 6

The Republican Club of the Palm Beaches is honored to be joined on November 6 by Colonel Arthur DeRuve for a Veterans’ Day Tribute to our troops.

Colonel DeRuve was commissioned as a second lieutenant and served for two years with the 2nd Armored Division as a Cold War soldier in Germany. He continued to serve in the Army’s active reserve for an additional 28 years, including 11 years as a military liaison officer for West Point. He is a graduate of the Army’s Artillery & Guided Missile School, the Command & General Staff College, and the Army War College.

WHEN: Wednesday, November 6, 2013

WHERE: Bear Lakes Country Club, 1901 Village Boulevard, WPB 33409

TIME: 11:30 (Doors Open) Noon (Program Begins)

COST: $20 Members / $25 Guests

RSVP: 561.832.0695 | info@gopclubpb.org |

Call or e-mail by Noon, November 4.
We expect exceptional turnout!

BEAR LAKES COUNTRY CLUB
1901 Village Blvd.
West Palm Beach, FL 33409
(Valet Parking)

Members / $20 Guests / $25
(Join/Renew your membership through December 2013)
Pay at the door | RSVP “No-Shows” will be invoiced.

Please respect Club rules:
Cell Phones Silenced
Business Casual Attire
Please No Jeans

October Lunch Features House Speaker Will Weatherford

Speaker of The Florida House of Representatives, Will Weatherford, will be the star luncheon speaker at The Republican Club of the Palm Beaches.

Governor Rick Scott Reception

Join us at Bear Lakes Country Club for a reception with Governor Rick Scott.

Reasons for Optimism – The “Defending the American Dream” Summit

This past weekend in Orlando, Americans for Prosperity Foundation hosted a conference for grassroots activists from around the nation.

With informative breakout sessions in the mornings to highlight successes on the state and local levels, and “big tent” events in the afternoon with national conservative leaders, there was something for everyone, including ample free time to “network”.

The “malaise” that affected many of us locally after the bitter results of the 2012 Presidential election has been pretty widespread, and organizers from many locations reported falling attendance at many of their events. Hopefully, that is now starting to change. Although we are still licking our wounds, conferences like this one demonstrate that there is still life in the conservative grassroots, we have leaders in the movement that “get it” and have the fortitude to take it to the President – to lead the fight against the train wreck that is Obamacare, the endless debt and deficits, the administration that cares little for the rule of law, the separation of powers, or the role of the states in our constitutional republic.

“It’s amazing what is possible in America“, said Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, when people are free – free to make their own choices, free from the suffocating regulations of intrusive government. He talked about education as the key for the jobs of tomorrow, and the success they have had in his state in shutting down failing schools and greatly expanding the charter school system which has done a lot to improve the lot of minority children. Last week, unfortunately, Obama’s Justice Department has decided to sue Louisiana to roll back these reforms and return students to their failing schools. Judging by his fiery critique of the President and his policies, it is clear he will stand up against our rogue Attorney General and fight to retain the success they achieved.

Our own Senator Marco Rubio declared “There is nothing wrong with America – but there is something wrong with this President“. The good news, he said, is that “we still have time to save the American Dream“, by reforming the tax code and eliminating regulations. “We don’t need Common Core”, he said, and he will not vote for any budget that funds Obamacare or to increase the debt ceiling without a balanced budget amendment and specific cuts.

Unfortunately for Senator Rubio, there is still a lot of anger in the movement about his role in passing the “gang of eight” Senate immigration bill. In the hall were members of Flimen with pink shirts that said “Pink Slip Rubio”, and throughout his speech you could hear sporadic calls for “No Amnesty”. Although he avoided this issue in the speech, he did address it in a smaller group that met with him prior to the session. In a hotel suite with about 40 supporters, after answering some questions about Syria, Obamacare and other issues for which he was among friends, someone in the back asked “what about immigration”. A hush fell across the room at this point and he had no choice but to address it with a somewhat lengthy justification that amounted to “the status quo is unacceptable so we have to do something“. To me it sounded like doubling down. Not good.

Then Arthur Brooks, President of American Enterprise Institute, succinctly summed up the Obama message: “Rich people have your stuff and I’m going to get it back for you.” This shouldn’t have worked as envy is not American, but unfortunately all our side had to say to his supporters was “You’re a moocher” – no wonder we lost. The words “fairness” and “compassion” have been kidnapped by the left and we should take them back and own them, because progressive ideology is neither fair nor compassionate. As a humorous and memorable side comment illustrating our difference in values, he recalled a bumper sticker seen in San Francisco – “Your body may be a temple but mine is an amusement park”.

Next up was Governor Rick Scott, gearing up his re-election bid with a positive jobs message. Recalling his 2010 pledge to create “700,000 jobs in 7 years”, he reported us as on-track, with the likelihood of 900,000 jobs created by 2018. Scott is still popular with the Florida grassroots, although his support for Medicaid expansion had a lot of heads scratching. We do still remember that he declined to create a state Obamacare exchange, though. A few hecklers in the audience periodically shouted “No Common Core”, reflecting dissatisfaction with the direction that our education system has taken over the last few years. Scott talked about his activities as a booster of the state’s business climate and his good-natured rivalry with Texas and Governor Rick Perry who was the last major speaker of the day.

A 2012 Presidential candidate until his campaign faltered early in the primary process, he is possibly gearing up for another run in 2016. Well known as a jobs governor, the record of the Texas economy on his watch has been very impressive. As he makes the rounds of the states selling the Texas miracle, he has gained the ire of many blue state governors who do not appreciate his pointing out the shortcomings of their performance or the failings of the Progressive economics.

On another theme, “All roads lead back to the states“, said Perry. One size fits all federal programs (like Obamacare) are anathema to the founding principles of this country. A favorite target of the Obama administration, whose ideology sees the power in the states to be a roadblock to their big government agenda, Texas is now being sued by Eric Holder and the Justice Department as they try to end-run the Supreme Court and re-impose Voting Rights Act restrictions that require federal permission for such things as Voter ID laws.

On the final day of the conference, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, another possible 2016 presidential candidate and clearly the favorite of the gathering gave us reasons for optimism. With the success of Ron Paul’s filibuster on drones, and the failure of gun control initiatives after Sandy Hook, the President was forced to “listen to the people”, he said. On Syria, with Obama now going to Congress for authorization, on immigration, on common core, – the people are making their voices heard and throwing a wrench into the Obama agenda. His job as a Senator, he says, is to restore economic growth as the lack of growth is related to all of our other problems. Tax Reform (“Abolish the IRS“), and regulatory reform (“Repeal Obamacare – every single word“) are the key. He sees Obamacare as the greatest job killer of all time and sees de-funding it in the upcoming budget process as the key. In answer to skeptics that see that tactic as a political liability for Republicans, he says “You lose 100% of the fights you surrender at the outset.” Standing ovations were frequent for this speech.

All in all, the speakers reminded us that conservatism is not “in trouble” as the mainstream media may have you believe, but resurgent and full of fire. With his agenda in tatters, the Obama team sees winning back the House and holding the Senate next year as their only chance to have a legacy of anything but failure. Any thought of compromise or even dealing with a Republican House is not is the President’s wheelhouse. Although 2014 will be a harder slog than 2010 when we took them by surprise, at the end of this conference it was clear that we have depth, we have tools and we have a maturity that comes from adversity and learning from the losses of 2012. Thanks to AFP and organizations like them, the conservative grassroots will have help and structure that will amplify our effectiveness going forward.

Defending the American Dream Summit

Americans for Prosperity is hosting this meeting in Orlando next month, featuring Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. Many local activists are attending.

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