Rick Roth Updates on Recent Legislative Session
House District 85 Representative Rick Roth, featured at the April lunch, gave us his overview of the recent session in Tallahassee. Agriculture in the state is declining, he said, with subsidized farms in Mexico taking their toll. The big priority to come will be water - having enough clean and available as the population grows from 20 to 30 million. The session was dominate by the impact of Hurricane Irma and the Parkland shootings. The... [Read More...]
Peter Feaman on the Congressional Elections
"Work like it’s up to us; Pray like it’s up to God!" With this exhortation, Peter Feaman gave us his views of the upcoming midterm elections. Peter is the Florida Committeeman on the Republican National Committee and a member of the Rules Committee that presides over the conduct of the national convention and primaries. The RNC is in great fundraising shape this year compared to the Democrats he reports, and is 100% in lockstep with... [Read More...]
Starla Brown at January Lunch
Our first meeting of the new year featured Starla Brown, Grassroots Director, Americans for Prosperity Florida. If you haven't been involved with AFP lately, it was interesting to learn of the variety of their projects, over and above the core mission of getting out the vote. Of particular interest to Starla is free speech on campus. Having just completed an event on this topic at FAU, they are supporting HB909 this session which would... [Read More...]
Dimensional Harmony Highlights December Lunch
Our Christmas lunch was enhanced by the sweet tones of Dimensional Harmony from Boynton Beach High School and their leader Sterling Frederick. The a cappella chorus did a range of traditional Christmas songs, as well as some of their pop favorites, with some excellent solo performances. We also heard from PBCGOP Chairman Michael Barnett with some end of the year remarks as he swore in the club officers for the next year, and Tami Donnally, who... [Read More...]
Congressman Brian Mast Visits our November Veteran’s Event
In our annual salute to veterans, of which there are quite a few among the club members, Army Veteran and Congressman Brian Mast recapped his first year in the House representing CD18. Brian was introduced by Sid Dinerstein, who pointed out that although Brian's seat has been targeted by the national Democrats mainly because of the narrow (R+4) district demographics, with popular State Attorney Dave Aronberg likely sitting it out the seat is... [Read More...]
Property Rights Discussed at October Lunch
At the October lunch, Daniel Peterson, Director of the Center for Property Rights at the James Madison Institute in Orlando gave us his view of the legacy of property rights in the US, and the forces that threaten them today. Contrasting the situation that existed in the Soviet Union, where all property was owned by the state and most people lived in apartments, he described our system dating back to the Puritan colony in New England were they... [Read More...]
Professor James Todd’s Views on the upcoming Supreme Court Term
The Supreme Court begins its next term on Monday, the thirteenth presided over by Chief Justice John Roberts. What can we expect? Our speaker yesterday, PBAU Professor James Todd, who specializes in American governmental institutions and constitutional law, gave us his perspective. Professor Todd listed the three areas that he is watching - the actions of new Justice Neil Gorsuch, a set of interesting cases they are likely to take up, and... [Read More...]
August Lunch Featured County Commissioner Steven Abrams
August speaker Commissioner Steven Abrams gave us a county update, and some musings on the events of the day today at the Airport Holiday Inn. As a term-limited Commissioner with 15 months remaining, he described the difficulty in seeking higher office for any Republican in Palm Beach County. After a successful challenge by the League of Women Voters after the 2012 redistricting, in which coastal and inland districts (aligned with unique and... [Read More...]