You're listening to DraftKings Network. Commissioner Koval, would you lead.

Us in the.

Pledge of Allegiance, please? You don't.

Know it? Endorsed by the Dems of Miami, Dadewell are obviously comfy with more of the same freaking bozoes. B-o-z-o, bozoes. She's completely unqualified for this gig. Yeah, she's just DLP in a fancy wig. Oh, that's Kovo. Please don't vote for Kovo. No, don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't even know.

You know what? I don't know. I have no idea. I don't know. I don't even know.

Well, we're not the world's most intelligent folk, but you got to use your head and you must be informed at. She's a voter. Voter, voter, voter. She's ignored the corruption inside City Hall. Yeah, her silence helped it turn into a free for all. Thanks to Covo. Please don't vote for Covo. It's a vote for Carollio. He's the guy who beat his wife.

I have hit women.

I.

Have no idea. I don't know. I don't even know.

Well, she serves as a special interest in the lobbyists, and she doesn't know the pledge of allegiance. She's a dirty liar and she's all veneer. She's there for Christian over to public here. When it comes to commissioner for district two, I'm not asking you politely, I am telling you don't vote Kovo. Please don't vote for Kovo. Don't vote for Kovo. I have.

No idea.

Miami Commissioner, Sabina Covo, and her campaign consultant did not respond to multiple requests for an interview on.

Today's show. Wow, I wonder why.

Well, she is the incumbent. She was elected in February in a special election, where she won with 29 % of the vote. Now she needs 51 % of the vote and she is flailing, that's why. She doesn't want to come to any place that's going to ask her tough questions. Let me explain this a little bit, break it down why this is important. It feels, I know, a little bit provincial, but the city of Miami is the largest municipality in Miami-Dade County, about 500,000 people. It's divided only into five districts, so there's five commissioners. I think it has the least representation based on population of any city, major or small, in the entire country. District Two, who she represents, generates over 70% of the revenue of the entire city. That means that they spread the rest of it around to the welfare queens, Joe Caroyo, and Alex Diaz-La Portia, and Manny Reyes. It's basically socialism, Roy. But here's the thing. This coastal district, which includes and Bricol and downtown and Edgewater, they are basically paying for 70% of the chicanery, buffoonery, and fuckery that is plaguing the city. Sabina Kovo has, over the last nine months, when you consider what has happened in Miami, the arrest of a sitting commissioner, the $63.5 million corruption judgment against another commissioner, the sentencing of the mayor's former comms director for molesting a teenage boy in City Hall.

He's now serving federal prison time and a registered sex offender. The mayor himself being investigated by the FBI for alleged bribery. What has she done about it? She's just sat there silently and been complicit in all of it. She is, once again, being endorsed by the Miami-Dade Democrats. I think this sends a message of treachery to Democrats nationwide that this is going to be a scary election season coming up next year. I think that it's time to miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Because if you keep endorsing mediocre and corrupt candidates, basically going against your own philosophy and ideology and mandate... I've been to Democrats since 2018 now in the state of Florida, and it sucks, Roy. If you look at some of the negative ads that Sabina Cove own or campaign are putting out, I'm holding them up now like we're playing poker here. The Trumpian, Every accusation is a confession that Republicans have adopted. That's exactly what she's doing here. I mean, she is accusing her opponents of engaging in the corruption and silence and complicity and special interest money that she is actually taking part in. She is, in fact, the candidate of the Special Interest, the corrupt commissioners, the Miami mafia, she is the chosen candidate of that Miami mafia.

Of course, which we've talked about last week, her campaign consultant is a registered foreign agent of Qatar, which has been Hamas headquarters for the last several years, and the location from which they launched the terrorist attacks against Israel on October seventh. If this is who the Democrats are going to ally themselves with. They're going to have some serious problems going into 2024. The number one target of Sabina Kovo's negative ad campaign, I call it a negative ad campaign. She hasn't got negative. She's just lying, is what it seems, is her challenger, Damian Pardo. Damian, I'm holding up no less than four by my count, negative flyers here attacking you. That amounts to thousands of dollars. I know she's got a lot of money, and some of it squirreled away in various political committees and mystery PCs and things, but that's a lot of money going after you. She also has enough money to poll, which means that they probably know something that at least I don't, which is that you're a real threat to her re-election campaign here. I'd like to start there. Are you flattered that they're punching down at you?

Absolutely flattered. It's great. Obviously, we're doing very well with this amount of negative activity is headed our way. Absolutely.

Now, I want to take a moment, though. Some of it is hilarious, almost Biblical-looking. She's got you here in front of a painting of burning books, accusing you of staying silent on corruption, which is pretty funny. Deceptive Damian Pardo, she calls you, Pay for Play Pardo. Would you like to react to some of these accusations here?

Yeah, absolutely. Listen, first of all, I couldn't be further from the truth, but I see a lot of it as pure projection on their part, because if there's ever been pay-to-play, it's Sabina Koval. She's on the payroll of a developer. Her contributions from developers are in the 200,000 range. Lobbists are in the 40,000 range. She's 90% of the time voting with Dias La Portilla and Corroyal, and they're fundraising links between all three. I feel like the entire thing is just projection on their part, and she stayed silent. At that press conference, the moment the Coroyal verdict came down, I was the only candidate that went on and called for his resignation and removal. Same with Dias La Portilla. I issued a statement district-wide immediately. She just sat on the desk and didn't say a word during all of that. In fact, she's supposed to be the investigative journalist, right? The one who was put there to help root out corruption. All she's done is actually just fit right in.

I want to run that clip from the presser because she's accused you in flyer after flyer about being silent on corruption. Meanwhile, she has served as commissioner during the most corrupt period in the history of Miami since 1997, by my estimation. Meanwhile, a few months ago there was this press conference not only outside City Hall, but directly outside the office of Joe Correa. This is what you said there.

I'm here to tell you we can do better in the city of Miami. We are currently spending millions of dollars defending his illegal actions, and now we're exposed to over a $60 million verdict. Instead of using community resources for petty and ego-driven initiatives, the city of Miami deserves representation that cares about its people and the problems they struggle with on a daily basis. Today is a day for good people who are afraid to speak up, to speak up. And it's a day for city government to get back to basics and to serving its residents. Let's be clear. What we're saying here in no uncertain terms is that we want Joe Coroyo to resign or to be removed from public office.

If that's silence, I'd like you to keep up the quiet. To be clear, this was immediately following the $63.5 million corruption verdict against Joe Coroyo for weaponizing city government and violating the constitutional rights of business owners in Little Havana and Coyote Joe. I know a neighborhood that means a lot to you and in your life and career here in Miami. But don't they stop, Sabina Kovo? Where was she hiding inside City Hall with her BFF Joe Caroyo? Where was she?

Listen, never said a word. If you actually watched those commission meetings and you watch even the budget hearings, you see a camaraderie between Covo and Correa the entire time. That isn't what district Two residents and voters were looking for when they elected Sabina Covo. That's for sure.

As you mentioned earlier, her voting record on the days over the last nine months, where she has been early, deafeningly silent on this matter of corruption during FBI investigations, arrests of her fellow commissioners, multimillion dollar lawsuits against not only the commissioners, but the city itself. You've got a district here who is paying most of these criminal defense and civil defense fees as well. What is your message to the people of district Two? If you had 30 seconds right now, what would you tell the people of district Two that really distinguishes you from the pack here?

It's been the same from day one. I'm someone who has spoken out from the very beginning, over 35 years as a public servant and a financial professional, and we must root out corruption. I don't think people understand the linkage between corruption and a lot of our daily problems that start with overdevelopment, traffic, flooding. We've got to deal with that. We've got to stop play-to-pay, otherwise, we're never going to progress as a city. I'm committed to doing that and empowering our residents to do better.

I'd say if this is silence and deception, keep it up because it seems like a pretty good message. Damian Porto, is running for City of Miami, district Two. Thanks for being here.

Thank you for having me.

Joining us next from the district Two, City of Miami, race is somebody who's new to the negative campaigning here on the part of the Covo campaign. Eddie Leal, who ran a pretty close second to Sabina Covo during the February special election, where she only won with 29% of the vote. Eddie Leal came in second with about 22% of the vote. Eddie, did not appear in her TV commercial where she took shots at your challengeers, Damian Pardo and James Torres. But here you are in her latest flyer being called the Defender of Slumords who put low-income residents at risk. I'd like to start off by allowing you to respond to that accusation?

This is a rerun of the past attack that I faced in the past election, and I do appreciate the opportunity to address it. I'll address it again. This attack is knowingly false and by its nature defamatory, I actually defended the owner of the property, or one of the owners that was trying to obtain ownership, control in order to actually make their repairs. The person that we were fighting was a disbarred attorney that now is disbarred. To make the accusation that I was or that my client was involved in any of that is completely even against the facts of the own article that they cite to. Number two, I think you would agree with me that it's disheartening that community leaders actually studied this issue. Mel Mindhardt reviewed it and wrote to the sponsors and said, Leo, the accusation that you've launched against him has no merits. There are no facts to support this. And he asked to be withdrawn. They never did. And this is just the same pattern practice. Earlier this year, I called attention to a park in the Bricol area that was given away to developers. And I was called by her campaign a liar.

None of it was addressed in terms of the facts and in terms of the substance. So II tell the elected officials and I tell our residents like, Is that the elected commissioner that you want? I certainly don't, because this is another rerun of another attack that had no basis then and it has no basis now. And if you actually read the article that is referring to it, there's none there. It's just not factually correct.

Eddie Leal on the front of this flyer that contains the attack against you and James Torres and Damian Pardo on the back, it says that Sabina Kovo is the only candidate with a comprehensive plan to fight corruption and clean up City Hall, which is news to me because she's been there for the last nine months, during which we've seen an extraordinary amount of buffoonery and illegality, and finally, once and for all, some accountability for a change. But you actually worked inside City Hall. You were the, I think your title was, Special Counsel to Mayor Francis Suarez. You were there during an equally, let's say, shady period. What is your plan for combating corruption?

It's very simple. We start with Sunshine is the best as the best as the best. The first thing that I'm going to do as your commissioner is that we'll have a discussion item on the agenda that we will publicly discuss how much we've incurred defending and prosecuting cases that nobody wants to continue. I referred to the $65 million judgment against Caroyu, the redistricting appeal, and the challenges that they've launched against Gablela in order to not have him run in the district one race. Many of the things are money that the taxpayers are incurring, myself included, that we should at least provide an accounting, and that's something that the commissioner at a minimum can do. Number two is if you try to issue a records request to the city of Miami, you're likely going to get a nice price tag associated with that records request. They're going to tell you, Oh, we're happy to give you the documents, but it's going to cost you seven, eight grand for us to review the documents. I will enact the legislation or ask for legislation to be enacted for this process to be removed because who has that amount of money in order for you to actually obtain any of the documents?

It's done in a way to prevent access to documents that should be otherwise publicly available. Last but not least, I've said it multiple times in many of the forums that I've attended, we need to make sure that we have more commissioners. We only have five commissioners to represent. In each commissioner, more than 100,000 people or close to 100,000 people, that is, compared to any other city of any size, not proportional to one commissioner to represent that many people. I think it's time for us to revisit that. It requires a charter amendment and the voters to be able to vote on a charter amendment through a petition process. I think how we start and how we initiate is in concrete steps. Everybody talks about corruption and what can be done. Those are knowing ways that you can start inside on day one. You pointed out that for nine months, she hasn't done any of this, and she could have certainly done a portion of this right there, and none of this happened, none of it. So it's very disappointing. That's one of the reasons that I'm running, because there are steps that can be taken to start a cleaning house, and none of them have been taken.

Obviously, now they're telling you that they're going to do all sorts of things if you give them the vote. The definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again, and that's what's happening here. Voting for her is to get the same result. Don't expect any changes. None of that are going to happen.

I feel like that every week I do this show. What is the definition of insanity? Eddie Leal is running for City of Miami Commissioner, district Two. Very important position. Good luck to you, sir.

Thank you.

Finally, running for district Two in the City of Miami is James Torres, also the target of Sabina Kovo's latest negative flyer, along with Damian Pardo and Eddie Leal. James, you and Damian Pardo take up about half of Sabina Kovo's TV ad, where the first half is about her and the second half is about how terrible you guys are. It must be very flattering to be taking up that real estate in a very expensive TV ad. Now, unfortunately, we could not find the ad online, which is weird because Sabina Kovo's ad from the February campaign during the special election, that's all over the internet. She seems to be not as proud of this one. So talk to me. Are you flattered that you are living, especially with the cost of living in this town, rent-free in Sabina Kovo's head?

I think it's great but who's paying for it is the bigger question. It's the billboard companies that are funding her pack, which is an interesting tidbit because when you see these commercials is, Can you get a different message? I think she's disenfranchising the voters of the district, to be quite honest with you.

There is a pretty frantic attempt, big money attempt to put LED billboards all over downtown and Brickel, almost like a Times Square situation. I know the neighbors are not happy about it, particularly with the, what I imagine is the light pollution entering into everybody's apartments and places of business. It seems that she killed that, though, at least temporarily. Is that right? That effort?

She killed it temporarily, and let's be honest, I was at the forefront of it where I showed up to the P. Zab and also City Hall with over 2,000 signatures on a petition. But the real one that really started getting the ball rolling was myself and Manolo Reyes as Sabina Koval stood silent and didn't say anything until the pressure was on. In all intended purposes, she received the money, thought about it, and now it's dead for now. We know how that works, Billy. We know how things work when things are, quote-unquote, dead.

Well, especially when you have an election coming up, and then since it was unanimously voted down, any of the commissioners who voted against it are allowed within the next six months by law to bring it back up again. I have no doubt this thing will be resuscitated and will pass at least three to two, if not four to one, when it is reintroduced. This was really just to save her for this election, I'm thinking, to give her some legislative victory so she can claim that, Look, I'm helping my constituents, and then the special interests ultimately win in the long run. Am I right?

You're absolutely right. But here's the caveat to that. She's not going to win. I'm going to be at the forefront of this. I have been front and center for the community because at the end of the day, she's spending money hand over fist of special interest to have this legislative win. But her time is measured and she's not going to be there, Billy. At the end of the day, she's not, and that's a fact.

She's clearly concerned about you and Damian Pardo and Eddie Leal, her TV ad, as evidence by the mailer. I do want to give you an opportunity, however, to respond to the allegation in this negative mailer, which says that James Torres faced multiple criminal charges, including for endangerment of a minor. It quotes here from a Miami Herald story.

Listen, I've been at the forefront of that question. I think you were present last year. I was very honest and transparent. We're talking about something that occurred 30 years ago, which is really no, they are there. This was a divorce scenario that happened. It was addressed, no charges were given. At the end of the day, I walked out paying $185 for Wendell Tintin in the state of Arizona. She wants to make it an issue because she's grabbing at straws, and the voters are, quite frankly, tired of it. Everyone that I speak to is like, James, we already know this was due to a divorce and nothing happened. The worst thing that happened is you paid a $185 fine. Christian Overett and her are just grabbing that straws because she knows we're a threat. She knows we're and we're not that because we're not going to be tied into the machine of the corruption of other commissioners that are funding her campaign, Billy. That's a fact.

You mean her campaign is being funded by Joe Carrollio, by Alex Diaz-Libertia, by all the special interests and attorneys and lobbyists who support them? I guess that's what you're getting at. Yeah.

It's not what I'm getting at. It's a fact. Look at the campaign reports, look at the PAC reports. Let us also not forget, Eddie Leal, who's now trying to separate himself from being the mayor's attorney and saying elected official. He was his wingman. That's why she's probably attacking him. Voters also need to know that as well. You also have Damian Pardo that's been attacked on it. But the interesting thing about that piece, Billy, is that Pardo was also going with Caroyo for his festival in Cahe Ocho. You have to kiss the ring to get any money from Joe Caroyo. So why isn't that being brought up in a way that it.

Should have? Well, that's how it works in The Godfather. It says here that Sabina Kovo was the only candidate with a comprehensive plan to fight corruption and clean up City Hall. We only have about 30 seconds, but what do you plan to do about corruption in City Hall?

I plan to raise my hand and make the community whole by telling everybody that we have always been at the forefront of fighting corruption. I will make sure that when this bill is due of this $63 million lawsuit, we're not going to pay for it. That's how we're going to start sending a clear message to everybody else. People laugh when I turn around and say, Vicky Mendez, you're going to take a vacation. I can't force her to take a vacation, but it's going to put her on notice as well as anybody else. I want to ask, if you're going to be giving us information, we're going to have clear protective on whistleblowers. We're going to help you. Be front and center. Tell us what's going on. Be our eyes and ears. You deserve it, Billy. Your kids deserve it, and I deserve it, and the voters of district Two.

James Torres is running for City of Miami, Commission district Two. Good luck to you, sir.

Thank you very much. Have a great day. Thanks for the time today. Billy?

Roy?

What's going on at Ron DeSantis?

We are back to Fear in Florida, man, on the campaign trail. I was right in the middle of a fucking reptile zoo and somebody was giving booze.

To these.

Goddamn things. Bunch of drugs.

It's been another banner week on the DeSantis campaign. Desantis is still a distant second place to the former President, Donald Trump. Trump said about 58% he's polling. Desantis is about 12%, but Nikki Haley now is within striking distance. I mean, within the margin of error at about 11%, she's up. She is right behind DeSantis, and DeSantis is getting all the headlines that he deserves right now. Big New York time story, how Ron DeSantis lost the Internet. It's a really interesting deep dive into what they're calling the meme wars and how DeSantis employs this troll army on social media that have just been failing left and right. The Trump campaign and their troll army has just been absolutely kicking their asses all over the internet. Oh, that's BS. No, totally BS. This perennial online campaign that Ron DeSantis has been running was a failure from the get-go. You remember on the website formerly known as Twitter is how he launched his campaign with that just glitch-ridden interview with Elon Musk, which was just an absolute mess. Do you honestly believe that's credible? What else? In the headlines, DeSantis touted his Israel rescue flights, then left Americans stranded in Cyprus.

Of course he did. Of course he did. The only flights that really work out is when he's trying to deport people to Martha's Vineyard from Texas for whatever reason. But the head of this nonprofit project, Dynamo, that is working and partnering with the state to get Israelis out of the war-torn areas, basically said, We'll take you to the United States, and instead left them in Cyprus for days with absolutely no information, no communication. I mean, because Florida? Most recently, top ally of Ron DeSantis has bashed his response to anti-Semitism and the neo-Nazis marching in the state, and he has now switched his endorsement to Donald Trump. He's a state representative. Randy Fein, really, he headed the, I think, Jews for DeSantis initiative when DeSantis first ran for office. This guy talking about Randy Fein reminds me of that famous clickhole headline, Heartbreaking colon, the worst person you know, just made a great point. That's what this reminds me of because Randy Fine has been lockstep side by side with DeSantis on the front lines of the idiotic culture wars that have basically helped to not only define his ownership in Florida, but helped derail his presidential dreams as well.

The laws targeting LGBTQ+ people is unconstitutional bill to ban drag and pride events. Another one of his worst hits was the insanely unconstitutional anti-protest bill that granted civil immunity to drivers who run over protesters with their car. Randy Fein introduced the law targeting Disney World that even Trump called stupid, going after one of the state's single largest employers and revenue generators. Fein openly admitted in a quote that is now featured evidence in a major Federal First Amendment lawsuit against our state that they passed that law to target one company, Disney, out of political revenge. It's like when the worst people in the world turn on each other and you're just like, Let them eat each other alive.

You're goddamn right, Meatball.

A crucial part of our democracy is the peaceful transfer of power. Some people think that Trump's actions on January sixth and beyond violated the key principles of America and the Constitution set forth by our founding fathers. Do you believe that Trump violated the peaceful transfer of power? A key principle that of American democracy that we must uphold.

Are you in high school? Yeah. Where do you go to school? You go around here?

Vermont by I live in New Hampshire.

Okay, so you're from Vermont. Well, thank you for the question. Here's what I know. If this election is about Biden's failures and our vision for the future, we are going to win. If it's about relitigating things that happened two, three years ago, we're going to lose. That was 15-year-old Quinn Mitchell, a high school student and aspiring journalist from New Hampshire, America's longtime first primary state. Over the past two elections, Quinn has gone to more than 85 political events, met over 35 presidential candidates, and asked tough questions of the likes of Chris Christy, Beto O'Rourke, and even Joe Biden. Our producer, Matt Sullivan, has taken to calling him.

Little.

Billy Corbyn because he's basically known for annoying, thinskin politicians. That was a clip from just this past June when Quinn went to a DeSantis event in the town of Hollis, New Hampshire, and asked the Florida governor a very good question. Quinn DeSantis has gotten a reputation for being let me be diplomatic, awkward, in his interactions with the public on the campaign trail. For a young man who's now encountered over 35 White House hopefuls, how did you find his bedside manner and his response to your question, initially?

I just don't think how he's on the trail and how he's conducting himself in New Hampshire is going to play for him, because often you'll find his never back down officials, they like to control the environment, they don't want any spontaneous encounters, they don't really like any hard questions. It's just something that's not going to play in New Hampshire. A state where retail politics really matters, and that question of mine you just played, his answer, I don't think it's going to play because he's trying to draw this fine line of not condemning what happened on January sixth. It's just extremely hypocritical because he's saying that we shouldn't relitigate things that happened two or three years ago when his whole talk was relitigating things, when it came to Florida and COVID and the economy. It's just something that's not going to play in New Hampshire. We're a state that really values retail politics.

You really seem to have dodged the question, and it resulted in a brutal Daily Beast headline. Ron DeSantis is afraid of questions from a 15-year-old. I love it. Anyway, I really do. If there's a side-by-side here of you and I in this interview, just so you know, this is like a before and after image right now. I want you to know that this is how it ends up, Quinn. This is how you end up. I just want you to know. I'm just kidding. I think this kid's got a much better shot than I ever have. I want to be him when I grow up. Little Billy Corbin. But this was not your last encounter, though. To be clear, never back down. This is the pack that is basically running DeSantis's campaign and vice versa. This seems to be one of the greatest lines between, or the bluriest line, between a pack and a campaign that I've ever seen. They're not even really pretending to be independent entities at all. But to be clear, you have encountered these people and you have not backed down. So what happened next year in your odyssey with DeSantis through New Hampshire?

You mean the events that followed that June 27th at home?

Yeah, I think you've encountered them every month since then, haven't you?

Oh, yeah. I knew I wanted to encounter him because I wanted to ask the questions that matter. Usually at a DeSantis event, there's going to be a quote question five times. It just gets repetitive and it's not enlightening for voters. I want to ask those questions that he's not getting asked, but it's on a lot of people's minds. Right after that event, I went to a July fourth parade because I in part wanted to apologize because my goal at this event is to never make a candidate look stupid. In that event, he did look stupid in the eyes of some. I want them to give an answer that would enlighten some people. What shocked me is that he was struggling to answer to that in 30 seconds, and that really is a question. His advisors should have been preparing him for months. I approached the governor two times. The first two times the July fourth parade, I was physically blocked by staffers from never back down. We can talk about their little unnatural connection later. I have a whole lot to say about that. The third time I approached him, I approached him. I was like, Governor, I'm not kid to ask you that question.

Sorry for any trouble. Got you in. He said, Oh, I know who you are. And then I was tugged from behind. I was physically surrounded, physically detained, not allowed to move forward at the parade, all for asking a question on January sixth. Then a month later, this is my monthly DeSantis event, I'm probably not going to be going to any others after these. But in the August event, I wanted to ask them a question and raise my hand. I didn't get asked the question, but when I tried to go up to them afterwards, I was again physically blocked. My mom actually wanted to go see a family friend, and she was actually physically blocked because they thought she was going to see DeSantis. It's really bizarre to me because they're just so controlling of the environment. I literally learned the staffer had been taking photos of me and posting on Snapchat with the caption, Gotarget. I can't believe they're communicating Snapchat, first of all. But it's bizarre to me, and this unnatural connection and control his pack has over the campaign. It's unnatural and voters are noticing it too. It's just not something that's going to play for him.

In a state in New Hampshire where we vet our candidates well and we really notice them.

I got to bounce, but before we do, I do have one last question for you because people accuse you. You're a smart, savvy, young person, and they say, Oh, he's being manipulated by adults or his parents are writing his questions for him. How do you respond to that?

To describe that relationship in 2019, I asked a question to then-Vice President Joe Biden, and on the way over, my dad was like, You should ask a question about what is his dog's names? I was like, Dad, no, that's a stupid question. I never asked that. Then I went up to Vice President Biden, I asked the question. He was like, Do you believe that Trump should have impeachment trust? Biden was a bit shocked and he answered it. The next day, Laura Ingram, on the Ingram angle was on and she was like, This kid has a plan obviously set up by his liberal parents. He doesn't have the intellectual capability to ask such a question. The ironic thing being my dad encouraged me to ask questions about dogs. That describes my relationship, but I do owe a lot to my mom for driving me to all these. I'm 50, I can't drive, man. I owe a lot to her for that.

Laura Ingram does have the intellectual capability to have a television show, so I don't know why she's actually.

Saying that. I don't think she would debate Quinn Mitchell. I'll tell you that right now. Quinn Mitchell, the future governor of New Hampshire. Thank you so much. Keep up the great work.

We appreciate you. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me on. Don't forget.

To drunk dial the Because Miami complaint line 786505 9842. That's 786505 9842. Call now because I know you're drinking and driving while you listen to this podcast. Roy, what are the issues on this week's Wheel of Despare?

Okay. Are you okay?

Every.

Week we.

Do this will despair a bit, and every week I leave the studio depressed.

Feeling despair, would you say? Yes. So it's working.

Yes, it is absolutely working. We have arresting homeless people.

Oh, Jesus. I already feel it. I already feel it.

Yeah. Insurance.

Okay.

Bulldozers. Okay. And don't say jail.

Jail. I just said it. Oh, now what?

Well, now we're in trouble. We're in.

Trouble now. Shall we spin the wheel?

Insurance.

Insurance.

Headline in Newsweek, Oh.

Wow, Newsweek.

Florida residents flee state, I wish, as insurance premiums skyrocket up to 900%.

That's a lot.

Yes. According to the US Census Bureau, nearly 300,000 people left Florida in 2022. It's about 23,000 people every month relocating mostly to Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Texas, because people cannot afford to live here anymore. We are not only the inflation capital of the United States, while inflation is coming down in all 49 states, it is coming up and sky high in the great free state of Florida. We are the most expensive healthcare state in the union. We spend the least on education and teacher salaries. We're basically at the top of all the bad lists and on the bottom of all the good lists that you want to be high on. I'd want to be high to still live here. I'm sure.

Everybody else does.

But yes, insurance. People cannot afford to insure their homes. A lot of people are basically just taking the chance now. They're going uninsured. The problem is if you want to buy a house or you want to get a mortgage, I should say, and you're not paying all cash, you need to have insurance. It will absolutely more than double your monthly expenses on housing. If you got a mortgage payment of $3,000 a month on your house, you will be paying at leastcost at least $3,000 a month in insurance on that same house.

That's a lot.

It's a lot, Roy.

Trust me, as a homeowner, that is something that I really.

Don't want to think of. You're feeling that despair, Roy? You're feeling that-You're.

Feeling what? -you're feeling underwater. I'm feeling underwater right before we actually go underwater.

Let's spin that wheel.

They're out here arresting homeless people.

Something.

About the tada after that one. Really? Really just... Can you do it again, please, for me?

They're out here arresting homeless people.

People listening on the podcast are missing my jazz hands right now, which just adds insult to injury to insult to injury.

Tadda.

The headline this week, Roy, is Miami Beach Commission votes to allow the arrest of homeless people who sleep outside and decline shelter. The city previously had a ban on outdoor sleeping, but that ordinance required police to give someone a warning before they made an arrest. The new ordinance says that warning and fuck you, homeless people. We are going to criminalize you for sleeping outside on the earth. There's a lot of reasons, Roy, that people would decline a shelter. Shelters can be dangerous. People cannot bring some of their personal effects and their items. A lot of people have their entire, all of their worldly possessions in a shopping cart or a bag that might not be allowed into the shelter. They might not have access to certain medicine or work or things that means by which they make money on the street. There's all kinds of reasons. But now on a highly controversial split vote of 4-3 at the Miami Beach Commission, now we're going to basically turn people who are down on their luck, who may be dealing with mental illness or addiction, or just can't afford the insurance required to live in their homes because it's going to double their rent or double their mortgage payment or more.

Now they're going to be criminals is basically what we're going to do. I think we learned from Jim DeFiti on last week's show that putting people that don't belong in prison into prison is not helpful to anyone. It's not helpful to our system, and it's certainly not helpful for them. Feeling it, Roy?

Yeah, definitely is disparate. Not feeling too great.

Let's spin the wheel.

Four-dozers. Four-dozers.

In the city of Miami, we talked about this actually earlier this year lastyou're on the show, they are absolutely demolition happy at the city. I mean, they will just come and take your home or your business and they will knock that shit down for nothing. They will beg forgiveness, not ask permission. In fact, they won't even beg forgiveness. They will not beg forgiveness, nor will they ask permission. They will just steal your property and knock it the.

Fuck down. Imanent domain-type situation?

Not even. Basically, they're saying like, Oh, look, you've been cited here by the code inspector for your window having a crack in it or something not being just right in your home. They're now calling all of those issues in the aftermath of the Champlain Towers tragedy. They're calling all those. Those are all life safety issues. This is an unsafe structure. We're going to knock your house down because you didn't repair your door.

Basically worse than any HOA that you've ever seen.

The city of Miami is a racketeering organization, Roy, in case we didn't stop Miami mafia, man. It is an HOA. I mean, it's... Yes. You're right, you make a... You're goddamn right, Meatball. You make a very good point. But here's the even more screwed up thing. What's happening is, Roy, is people who buy a house that the previous owners may have had the violations or may have done some illegal construction or may have screwed up and you didn't even know about it and may have had no way of knowing about it because they didn't pull a permit and you didn't know about this refurbishing or construction or whatever, you're now responsible. You have homeowners now. Their property has accrued so many violations and late fees and all this stuff from a previous owner or previous owners. It could be from years or even decades ago, but now the city is saying like, Oh, yeah, even though you bought your house 20 years ago and you didn't know about any of this shit, we're going to come bulldoze your house. A woman who bought a very modest single-family home in the city of Miami was told at one point by the city of Miami that to bring her home up to code, her lovely home, it would cost her $6.5 million.

That's.

A lot. A home that she bought like 20 years ago. That's perfectly fine. She's been living in. There's been no issues, no problems because of code violation before. The city does not want to help her. That's the thing, too. She devotes all of her time to dealing with issues. She can't go out and make a living and spend time with her family and enjoy her life. She's got to just deal with the city 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You're feeling it, Roy? You're feeling it?

Yeah, this is a...

You live in Broward. What do.

You get her? Oh, yeah, that's true. I feel better now.

Are we done with the wheel? Are we done? Or do we have to do more? Let's do one more. Let's do one more. Let's do one more. Unomas.

Sure, if.

You say so. Don't Say Jail.

Hey. Happy story. All's well that ends well. Are we sure about this? We are. This is a happy ending. The former Florida lawmaker who sponsored the Don't Say Gay bill has just been sentenced to prison for COVID-19 relief fraud.

Oh, man. That's excellent news.

Thirty-six-year-old Republican Representative Joe Harding, he resigned in December after he was charged with fraudulently obtaining more than $150,000 from the small business administration in pandemic aid loans. He pled guilty in March to wire fraud, money laundering, and making false statements. Now he has been sentenced to four months, four months, that's all, in federal prison. I think he's got another five years of probation after he gets out of federal prison.

Two.

America, sure. I think that's worthy of another Tadda, though. I mean.

Four months, yes, sure, fine. Still, if it was me, it would be 20 years, probably.

To leave the Wheel of Despair on a note of despair, just think about it. If you're homeless in Miami Beach, you could get exactly the same sentence just for sleeping outside in the city of Miami Beach.

That is true.

Roy? Billy? Thank you for coping with another week of The Wheel of Desper.

I need a drink.

I think maybe we need to put that segment on hiatus.

From my.

Own mental health? I think we need to shelve that bit for a bit is what I think. This week's Miami moment, we leave where we began in a perfect circle here, this cycle of corruption and violence that we live in here in the city of Miami. This is Miami Commissioner, Sabina Kovo, at the September 29th, 40th anniversary fundraiser for Care Resource. This is an LGBTQ+ centric nonprofit healthcare organization. It started out as an HIV and AIDS organization back in the 1980s. She attended, apparently, to make some proclamation. What you will see now is a small sampling of her most coherent moments from a rambling and incoherent eight-minute statement. Cocaine's COVO.

We cannot have a situation right now within our state. We are not the same. We are not allowed to have situations within our state. We're not equal. We're trying to actually show the community about, it's not about being different. It's about being diverse, happy, paid for happiness. Happiness means that we are all the same. We don't need to use the words. We don't need to use any type of different word because people say, Oh, because, Oh, there's hate. There're using this word. There's haze. No, no. We are the Happiness Office in City of Miami, which is district two. My second father was part of what happened here. He was part of the way that this has been handled. He wants privacy. I acknowledge his privacy and I love him to death. I am your advocate. I'm going to continue being your advocate. You would never have my back.