Deep Something

Is your State Rep costing you money?

On paper, Representative Karen Gonzalez Pittman fits South Tampa perfectly. She’s polished, presentable, and active in the community. If you met her at a Palma Ceia mixer, you’d think, “Now, there’s a reasonable person.” But for the wealthy and aspirational residents of District 65, voting for Pittman has become an expensive illusion. You think you’re voting for stability, but you’re actually paying a premium for a representative who consistently prioritizes Tallahassee’s culture war performance art over your bank account.

The most glaring receipt is your property insurance bill. For years, the Republican supermajority, of which Pittman is a loyal member, has promised that if we protected insurance companies from lawsuits, rates would trickle down. Pittman voted for every one of those protections. Yet, while your premiums have doubled, she and her colleagues have spent the legislative session banning books and policing bathrooms rather than fixing the financial crisis that is actually threatening our property values.

There’s a high cost to the “anti-woke” agenda, and South Tampa homeowners are paying it. This is a clear example of Patrimonialism: the state is run for insiders, while regular people get worse service and pay more. It’s time to see what her “nice” image is really costing you.

A recent critique of Laurel Lee’s time as Florida Secretary of State shows her history of voter suppression, but her actions in Congress are an even bigger betrayal. She has voted against jobs and insulin price caps, and taken large corporate donations while her district faces high housing costs. Lee has shown she works for special interests, not FL-15 families.

Last night’s prime-time presidential address was sold as a report to the nation. What it delivered was more like a campaign rally with a White House backdrop.

We were told inflation has been “stopped,” prices are “coming down fast,” the border is “fully secure,” wars have been ended, and the economy is suddenly the hottest in the world. The problem is that many of these claims aren’t true, and others are so exaggerated that they lose all contact with reality. Public data on inflation, jobs, migration, and global conflicts tell a far more complicated story than the one presented on screen.

The speech also leaned heavily into partisan attacks, repeatedly blaming Democrats and President Biden while offering little effort to speak to the country as a whole. Even new announcements, such as a promised cash payment to service members, were floated without any explanation of their legality or funding. Symbolism replaced substance. Confidence stood in for evidence.