John Thrasher highlights a very well attended luncheon

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Over 100 people attended our luncheon this afternoon.  It was great to see a room full of energized Republicans, discussing the issues.  Melissa, club President, had to encourage the folks to enter the buffet lines so that we could begin the meeting!
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Sid Lanier led us in the Invocation and Pledge, followed by Lou Galterio doing his wonderful rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.  Melissa pointed out many of the office-holders  and PBC GOP officers in our midst, after which State Committeeman, Peter Feaman teased his topic, Islamic Terrorism,  for tonight’s Right Nights meeting.   Melissa also made some announcements.

Dorothy Harper, Asst. Sec’y and Treasurer also served as our Scholarship Chair.  As such, she did a heartfelt biography of Anne Roberts, after whom our Anne Roberts Memorial Scholarship was named.    Dorothy then introduced our two scholarship winners – Cindy Morris and James Shackelford.  Cindy, a mother of 5 with a 3.6 GPA attends Palm Beach Atlantic University and hopes to graduate this year with a BS in Elementary Education.  James is attending FAU, with a 3.57 GPA.  He spoke to his interest in politics and the FAU online radio show Owls with Issues.  We congratulate both of our scholarship winners!

Anita Mitchell, 2nd VP, introduced our keynote speaker, Florida Senator  and RPOF Chairman John Thrasher.    John thanked many of the PBC GOP leaders in the audience as well as Senate President Jeff Atwater for their leadership this year.   Some key points that John made in his talk:

• RPOF will not be taking sides in the primaries!
• He summarized the legislative session – Florida is having a difficult year with 1.1 million unemployed and a record number of foreclosures.  So the key focus of the lawmakers was to “do no harm to the people and small business”.  They didn’t raise taxes and fees and also kept a focus on education.  Next year will be equally challenging if not more so as stimulus dollars will be fewer next year.
• John also focused on the legislative sessions focus on education.  An amendment will be on the ballot in November modifying the class size amendment from 2002.  He also mentioned that standards in Math and Science were increased.  Also increased were tax credits for businesses that provide scholarships.  And he mentioned Senate Bill 6 – which was vetoed by Governor Crist.
• 2010 Elections – John noted that as he travels the state, passions and concerns by Republicans were palpable.  The day to day assault on capitalism, the rising debt and deficits and the concerns about our countries future has more people involved than ever.  He was happy with the caliber of the candidates and quoted Jeb Bush as saying that ‘we need people who paint in bright colors’ – those with a passion for reform, low taxes and limited government.     Thrasher also predicted the Governor Crist will come in third in the Senate race (and challenged Palm Beach Post-on-Politics reporter, George Bennett to quote him!).  He also said that fund raising for the first quarter of 2010  was going well and that expenses were $1 million less than the prior year.

The talk was followed by a brief Q&A Session.  Francisco Rodriguez asked if John thought the Florida Healthcare Freedom Act was the right thing to do.  John replied positively.  Steve Rosenblum asked about release of the RPOF credit card statements.  Mr. Thrasher said that they had been released 3 weeks ago.  Peter Feaman asked about the Gulf oil spill crisis and the President’s response.  John replied that Obama didn’t create the spill nor would he be able to solve it.  While he feels that our Governor wants the special session to eliminate offshore-drilling off Florida shores, Thrasher feels that our Attorney General needs tools to go after BP and that the state should shore up its Recovery Fund in anticipation of damage to families and industry (eg tourism and fishing) from the impact of the spill.  John Parsons asked about the failure to pass any bill on illegal immigration.  Senator Thrasher wasn’t able to answer why the E-Verify bill was passed overwhelming by the House but not addressed at all by the Senate.  He felt, however, that Arizona had a right to pass its law and that we ought to take a look at doing something similar.

The meeting closed with short candidate talks by Joe Budd (CD19), Steve Rosenblum (FL H 89), Ellyn Bogdanoff (FL S 25), Lizbeth Benacquisto (FL S 27), Sharon Merchant (FL S 27), Carl Domino (FL S 25), Pat Rooney (FL H 83), Mike Lameyer (FL S 27) and Nancy Cardone (FL H 83), followed by raffle results.

Thanks to everyone who made this an exciting, successful luncheon!