Florida state governor, Ron DeSantis, has had a commendable time so far as Governor of Florida. Lots of things were unexpected, such as his push for medical marijuana, but my main concern about Ron DeSantis and the Republican Party of Florida is their support for the expansion of federal authority, particularly with handling immigration. Republicans here have, essentially, permitted local police forces to act as federal immigration agents in apprehending illegal immigrants. To me that is a sign of the encroachment of one of the biggest governments of all, the United States federal government. Yet, the excuse they make is that securing our borders and deporting illegal immigrants is a matter of national security; I argue that its just a waste of money. Instead of making it easier for immigrants to enter this beautiful and prosperous country, and making the process cheaper and less strenuous on our resources, they would rather push federal responsibilities onto local police forces, wasting our tax dollars as the police patrol the streets for illegals, instead of solving the astounding unsolved murder rates in Florida.
Immigration is one of my biggest concerns and its one of those subjects that can make or break a candidate for me, but another example of where the Republican Party of Florida falters is that they increased the age to own a rifle from 18 to 21. Granted, I am older than 21 years old, so why would I have a problem with this? It's a matter of principle. If an 18 year old is able to serve in the US military, then I believe, they too should be able to own a rifle at that age as well. The fact that Republicans here "love and support the military" so much and yet are willing to restrict them as civilians just baffles me. Why should any military servicemen serve this country, when Florida politicians want to limit their rights? The same argument goes for Chicago, Illinois, and the entire state of California. Why should they serve? I find it odd that Republicans here are willing to give up some of their rights under the Trump administration, but absolutely attacked Barack Obama for simply suggesting the same things.
Speaking about the military, which is a huge example of 'big government'. The US military in-of-itself is a perfect example of where republicans lie to themselves about being the party of small government. Till this day, republicans, not just in the state of Florida, but across the country advocate for an even stronger military, and have been quite hawkish about going to war in the Middle East and starting a larger conflict in South America (Venezuela's conflict is an example of this). Government sponsored wars are not a sign of a small government, not in the slightest, it is in fact the complete opposite. You cannot be the party of small government as you promote nation building and martial law in other countries, its just impossible unless you believe your constituents are ignorant and are going to believe you, and well sadly, they do.
Republicans like to wrap their rhetoric in a red, white and blue paper wrap, with a small american flag attached to it. Yet when you pay attention to their rhetoric about being pro-small government and fiscally responsible, just look at the destruction that was left after the wars... if that doesn't convince you, then look at our federal budget and balance sheet. If republicans were the party of small government, Florida, specifically, wouldn't be in so much debt. I admit, there are some republicans across the country who do advocate for a smaller government, like Justin Amash, and Rand Paul, yet the majority of the Republican party can't carry that label of being fiscally responsible and advocates of smaller governments.
