‘Defending the American Dream’ In Florida

Sections: Local, State, Law-Order
From: Volume 2, Issue 2

Florida Speaker of the House Marco Rubio speaks at the Americans for Prosperity summit, where he won the Defending the American Dream award.

ORLANDO — Over 400 people packed into the overflowing ballroom at the Florida hotel. The ‘Defending the American Dream Summit,’ hosted by the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, focused mostly on reducing the tax-burden being imposed by State and local governments, though the Federal government’s spending habits did not escape notice.

Governor Mike Huckabee, House Speaker Marco Rubio, Congressman Tom Feeney, GOPAC Chairman Michael Steele, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, former Massachusetts Governor Paul Cellucci, and other legislators addressed the members, just three days before the critically important Florida Republican presidential primary.

In addition to the lineup of speakers, hundreds of participants received grassroots training from leading state and national experts in the field.

They also heard from a distinguished group of panelists on a Taxpayer Protection Amendment for Florida that, among other things, ties revenue and spending increases to inflation and population growth. It would also mandate that excess revenues be refunded or credited to tax-payers.

The amendment, introduced to the finance and taxation committee on Feb. 11, is drawing support from a broad coalition of individuals and organizations throughout Florida.

Many of the speakers endorsed their favorite Presidential candidates during speeches about the importance of reducing governmental influence in the economy. Marco Rubio, the speaker of the Florida House, told storiesof Cuba.

Hundreds of conservative activists listen to a panel discuss the Taxpayer Protection Amendment which could offer Floridians a chance for true tax reform.

“The teachers would tell the kids to pray to God for ice-cream, and obviously no ice-cream appeared,” the popular Florida representative explained. “Then they were supposed to ask Castro, and they got their ice-cream.”

Rubio also spoke about the high tax burden in Florida and the importance of the right to keep and bear arms. He received the AFP’s ‘Defending the American Dream’ award.

Tom Feeney, a U.S. representative from Florida, also spoke at the event, despite his involvement in a vote fraud scandal after a former associate testified in the House that Feeney had requested a computer program that would flip the count on voting machines.

In discussing the economy with The Liberty Sentinel after the speech, Feeney said a “stimulus package” would be necessary to help avoid or dampen a recession. He said attacking the Federal Reserve wouldn’t be productive because they are just “gamblers who sometimes make mistakes.” But, The Federal Reserve has come under increasing scrutiny since CNBC’s Jim ‘Mad-Money’ Cramer told viewers that the Fed should be investigated and that this secretive body was at least partially responsible for many of our most serious economic woes, including the current problems.

Huckabee stopped by and gave a brief speech about the ‘Fair-Tax’ proposal to create a national sales tax in place of the Federal income tax. A large chunk of the audience cheered at the prospect of abolishing the IRS.

Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, also spoke. He called leftists “parasites” and said tax-payers should stop them from creating an even bigger government.

The Florida event was the first of 20 Summits in states across the country this year following the success of the national Defending the American Dream Summit, which attracted over 1,600 members from 35 states around the nation to D.C. in October 2007.