Let's connect some dots demonstrating how Trump is prioritizing the war in Gaza and a wider conflict with Iran over the welfare—and constitutional rights—of everyday Americans.
His administration reached its strict 60-day statutory deadline under the War Powers Resolution on May 1 seeking congressional authorization for his escalating Middle East war. Instead of respecting the law, Trump is utilizing his private, billionaire-backed Board of Peace to coordinate multi-billion-dollar foreign operations in Gaza over his high-rise real estate dream, actively bypassing standard Congressional oversight and the U.S. Constitution. The costs are staggering, and the benefits are profoundly one-sided.
Netanyahu has been handed $21.7 billion in taxpayer money since this conflict began, alongside a fresh $10 billion U.S. pledge directly tied to the Board of Peace's frameworks. Yet, Israel has explicitly refused to contribute a single dime to rebuilding Gaza. Instead, the deal allows Israel to keep permanent security control, offload the entire multi-billion-dollar cleanup bill to taxpayers, and use the board's diplomatic cover to draw the U.S. into a direct conflict with Iran—now estimated to cost American taxpayers and additional $25 and $51 billion alone.
While that money flows seamlessly into foreign entanglements via private boards, domestic safety nets are being aggressively dismantled. SNAP, Medicaid, WIC, and school meals have been gutted, leaving 13 million American children to face hunger. Furthermore, those safety-net cuts are projected to kill over 1 million American jobs as local consumer spending dries up—all while the wealthiest corporations enjoy record tax breaks.
Congress nearly passed a resolution to rein in these unauthorized war powers, failing by a single vote in the House and a 50–49 margin in the Senate. It is time for our local representatives to stand up for the law and the American people....... Anyone else feeling a sense of nausea?
When local officials tell us our water supply is secure after this major drought, they are telling the truth. Your tap isn’t going to run dry. But there is a big catch we aren’t talking about enough.
Our water is only stable right now because utilities are pushing the system to its absolute limit. They are draining our backup reservoirs and pumping heavily from local rivers and underground aquifers. It is a temporary fix that keeps our water running, but it damages our local environment and risks pulling salt water into our fresh drinking wells. That is the real reason we are facing strict watering bans and hefty fines. The system is stressed, and we are completely relying on summer rains to bail us out.
We can trust that our water is safe for today, but relying on the weather while thousands of new people move to Florida every week isn't a real plan. Each of us needs to focus now on real, everyday conservation before the next dry spell hits.
Mr. Kruse, please don’t mistake the public’s disappointment and even anger for “passion.” The BOCC and Mr. Bishop seem to be the only ones trying to focus on “personal wins” as you attempt to gaslight your constituents into thinking THIS debacle is what is best for the dogs. That you’ve been onsite for photo ops is sweet but only more gaslighting. When will you take 2 hours out of your day to shadow one of the exceptional volunteers? Anyone comparing the current state of Bishop to Palmetto can clearly see the dogs were better off at Palmetto. Dogs never should have been moved before the facility at Bishop was safe and secure. That sir would have been in the best interest of the dogs. Instead, as with the trailers versus a functional kennel building, I guess we’re all supposed to believe that Charlie Bishop knows what’s best for the dogs?
You make statements but leave so many unanswered questions. You say the trailers are “hurricane/storm rated.” Rated to what level?
This shelter should be a place of safety for dogs, staff and volunteers during any storm including hurricanes. Instead, staff and volunteers are not allowed to go from trailer to trailer until at least a half hour after a simple storm has passed. Rainy season has yet to begin. If the kennels were under one roof, like most every other municipal shelter in the country, staff and volunteers could safely interact with the dogs in bad weather. In FL, bad weather even includes sunny days when it’s too hot to have dogs outside. As it stands, the volunteers are not allowed access to the dogs from the interior of the trailers for safety reasons. A functional shelter would allow for safe volunteer access to the dogs in any weather. That would be in the best interest of the dogs.
You speak of taking a state senator from Maryland out to Bishop for an unbiased opinion. Please name the senator and ask them to share, in full, their un-biased opinion with the public.
It’s widely known that one gets what they pay for. We’re also finding out that we get what we voted for. A measly $2M was spent on these trailers. They are neither safe nor functional which would have been in the best interest of the dogs. The county is now tossing good tax dollars after bad trying to temporarily band-aid something that will never be truly safe and functional. Now you want to speak of fiscal responsibility? Instead, you’re trying to pivot the conversation from this failed facility to a new one on Lena Road. Why was Bishop never meant to be permanent? Exactly what does that mean and why was the money even spent in the first place here? BOCC’s fiscal irresponsibility has been clearly demonstrated at Bishop. Why should the taxpayers trust BOCC will be fiscally responsible out east?
You ask for solutions instead of complaints. Perhaps there is still time to pivot and have the adoption/administration building still under construction modified to house kennels. That would be in the best interest of the dogs. Adoptions and administration could be set up in the trailers you are so proud of. Remaining trailers could be used for overflow.
Had BOCC focused on transparency by sharing the trailer park plans with the public ahead of time, I contend there wouldn’t have been tax dollars “wasted.” Instead, plans were drawn and the sitework was done without any animal professional or community input. Then, the trailers suddenly appeared out of nowhere. So many community members, whose tax dollars pay your salary and benefits I might add, thought the trailers were just temporary housing while a truly functional facility was being built. Talk about a bait and switch! There has been nothing transparent about any of this. There has been no accountability either. Only more bait and switch, gaslighting and politician-speak saying nothing.
As a Manatee County resident and taxpayer, I stand by my statement that if an equal quality playground was provided to residents, the commissioners would be run out of town. The public wouldn't stand for the waste and this should be no different. I'm not attempting to equate dogs and children with my statement. This should be viewed as something of concern for everyone in Manatee County. I DO expect fiscal responsibility and accountability from elected officials charged with making the financial decisions in the best interest of the taxpayers and community members they are supposed to serve. What was dumped at the new Bishop Trailer Park & Tent City is NOT functional or safe and probably never will be.
State legislators disliked New College before 2023 so starved it of funding. Then suddenly in 2023, they loved it and funded it. The state tried to buy 34 acres of Sarasota Bradenton Airport (SRQ) land near the passenger terminal. The Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority promoted that sale of airport land. Carlos Beruff is the longest serving airport authority board member. Fortunately, the Federal Aviation Administration stopped the sale of airport land to protect the airport’s long term land needs. State politicians have been trying to get the newly appointed FAA administrator in Washington to overturn that rejection for over a year.
State government officials then tried to get Ringling Museum land for New College but public outrage stopped them. Now they are trying to get USF-SM land and buildings for New College. There is public outrage over this too, but the New College makeover and expansion is at risk of failure so politicians are proceeding despite strong local opposition.
This all started when Governor DeSantis and several Florida politicians chose to expand a college that did not have land to expand upon. That big mistake could have been avoided if they had first checked the land situation. Being politicians, they will not admit their mistake. Instead, they will try to take land and facilities from other perfectly good institutions (SRQ airport, Ringling Museums, now USF-SM) to cover their mistake. Shameful behavior by many in our one party state government.
BTW, USF-SM students are local residents and many graduates are employed at local businesses, New College’s are not.
Maybe “Ron,” should call his good friend, “Don,” and ask for our money back? Ron should know that Don has a very lengthy history of stiffing contractors who work for him. Jim Tierney
— Have not been to a Publix since they announced allowing open carry. Will return to my formerly-routine grocery store only when that is reversed. Open carry in a grocery store seems like an invitation to a tragedy I'd rather avoid. Am becoming familiar with other grocery stores now and developing new habits... plenty of options without that concern.
The generator deal smells bad for so many reasons. As mentioned, this area is almost entirely fed by underground power lines - so at the end of the rental contract, the generator will likely only have been used a few hours for maintenance. Yet, after paying $12 million, the county will own nothing. Another stink is that the county provided no comparison costs - no cost for purchasing a generator, no discussion on whether we need a full or just emergency power, no cost for repairing the existing generator...nothing. Not even a estimate for Claude or Gemini. (I did ask Gemini and received a detailed reply. Even the highest power size was around $6million) And why should we be fattening FPL's bottom line after they just received a United States record high $7.2 billion rate increase? I'm sure there are many respected, licensed area firms that could do this work, and we'd own the generator. Finally, How in the hell could a $12 million controversial contract have been slipped onto the consent agenda? Where it almost sneaked through without any debate? How many more examples of poor judgment by this Administrator does this board need to see? It is getting comical.
You can see the frustration of county residents during public comment regarding the lack of concern for citizens. This administration is not currently meeting the needs of its residents, nor are they willing to place those concerns on the agenda. Instead, they quietly sweep them under the rug.
How in the heck can they approve a $12 million operational expense (there is zero capital investment, this is pure rental) without any comparison? The Observer article reported that taxes are also added -I assume that means sales tax. All they gave us is "probably $9 millio." Probably? Are you kidding me? That's how we are making $12 million decisions? With Probably? So I asked Gemini to estimate a cost for buying and installing a generator for a 100K sq ft building. The cost in 2026 dollars is $450-700 per kw including both the unit and professional installation. I'll split the difference and use a cost of $600 per kw. Next, we look at level of power needed in an outage. Full Building power (All HVAC, all lighting, elevators, servers and all computers) would require 550kw - 800kw. x $600 per kw = Total cost $330K - $480K. Even at the highest level estimate of $700 per KW and the highest level of full power - 800kw, the total estimated cost for the unit and professional installation is $560K.- LESS THAN HALF THE COST TO RENT!!! Plus, buying the generator would be a capital expense that can be depreciated over time. Owning the generator is important because there is a high chance that it will never ever be used, FPL is almost fully underground in this area. No trees to take out power lines. It would take a catastrophic storm to cause an outage. The only overhead poles are part of the main feeders - which FPL has spent $billions hardening over the last decade. These feeders are the first priority of FPL in a catastrophic storm. This bldg did not lose power in the 2024 storms Milton and Debby. I can almost guarantee this bldg did not lose power in the stronger storms Ian and Michael. FPL can provide the history (if the county asks) but I bet this building hasn't had an outage in 20 years. (I worked for FPL for 37 years)..This deal SMELLS so bad on the face of it. Without any bids, without any comparisons This deal stinks of incompetent management - which should surprise nobody.
Wow - what an example of talking out of 2 sides of your mouth - way to go Don Gaetz! how can you sponsor a bill and then talk about its unconstitutionality? This is who we have running Florida! NO concern for us voters out here - only loyalty to leadership from the governor’s office to the Whitehouse!
"we need legislation to reverse that trend, not make it worse" — and the only way to get such legislation is to change the legislators. Vote to make that change after working to support and elect candidates who will act for the benefit of the voters.
Yes — “The question is why Governor DeSantis and Florida Republicans think they can blatantly ignore the Florida Constitution and the instructions of their own voters.” since there was bipartisan agreement to the amendment to the state constitution. Seems like a desperate audition of some sort at the expense of the voters, eh?
Sadly, home rule is dead already. It died in the era of Rick Scott. The carcass is just being picked over by the vultures. Ironically, one can remember Republicans shouting to the rooftops about "protecting home rule" which was a convenient way for them to oppose any other party's attempts at legislating or governing. Now that they have achieved one party rule as reported here recently there is no need for pretense any more. There is only one rule and that is money and power in the hands of the few. Soon I will dutifully throw my vote away in a futile attempt to provide a basis for balance and negotiation but it is a candle in the wind.
Another Republican convicted - evidently for doing absolutely nothing! No signs of corruption and eye winking here. I can hear the protestations "oh my, I knew nothing about this horrible situation". If we can't be perfect can we at least expect better?
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