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Amendment 3, the property tax cut proposal on the November ballot, has sparked intense debate. There are a few facts I found that are interesting, if not troubling.
The Florida Legislature normally takes 30-60 days for proposals, but Gov. Ron DeSantis fast-tracked this through in just two days, with no known financial study conducted.
The proposal fails to explain how cities will recoup the lost revenue from property taxes. The money has to come from somewhere — will it be new taxes and fees? Will it be cuts to services that people need and depend on? No one seems to know.
When questioned, DeSantis suggested taxing billionaires to cover losses. When a conservative, right-wing, MAGA governor starts talking like “evil socialists” Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Zohran Mamdani, I believe something fishy is going on.
By restricting spending strictly to state-defined “core services,” the amendment takes power away from local authorities who understand their unique community needs and gives it to the state. These are all major red flags that should concern everybody, regardless of your position or political affiliation. And because of that, I am voting no.
— Mike Weakley, Orlando
Aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, a sailor’s personal living space may amount to little more than a bunk roughly 6½ feet long and 2½ feet wide, about 16 square feet, plus a small storage area. For perspective, imagine 25 adults living in a two-bedroom apartment sharing bedrooms, a bathroom and common spaces. That begins to approximate the population density aboard a deployed aircraft carrier.
A week under those conditions would drive most of us nuts. Imagine six months. Sailors live and work that way while operating complex machinery, aircraft, weapons and nuclear propulsion systems, where fatigue and mistakes can have serious consequences.
Without a clearly defined objective and exit strategy, President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appear to be using the Lincoln and its crew to bluff and bluster against Iran. But Iran remains at the table, calling the bluff and raising the stakes.
Carrier strike groups are extraordinarily powerful, but they are not invulnerable. Their defense depends on mobility, intelligence, layered protection and keeping hostile forces at a safe distance. A single successful enemy missile strike could be devastating.
I fear for the safety of our military when decisions involving our carrier strike forces are entrusted to people I see as amateurs, like Hegseth, whose judgment and experience does not match the gravity of his command.
— William Higgins, New Smyrna Beach
It has been 21 months since Donald Trump was elected for a second term as president of the United States. I still have trouble getting past the fact that people knew who he was — yet still reelected him.
I always believed he survived on cruelty, chaos and lies, never showing a trace of empathy. He found the dark side of America and used it to divide us. He made cruelty acceptable, sharing his distaste of immigrants, protesters, transgender people, journalists and many elected officials.
In my view, he gave us permission to be cruel — to view someone with a different viewpoint as weak, different or frightened, as the enemy, disregarding that they are human. I don’t believe he invented the ugliness in America, but he found it and realized how powerful resentment can be, and he used it to turn half the country against the other half.
His term can’t end soon enough. My hope is that this esteemed office will one day be inhabited by someone who respects democratic norms and is not a clear and present danger to democracy. Someone who realizes that the presidency is bigger than who they are, that half the country is not the enemy. May it be someone who respects the office and knows that this powerful position does not belong to him — it belongs to the American people.
— Rosemary Blumberg, Plantation
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