October 11, 2024 • 39 mins
DEBBIE MUCARSEL-POWELL, a former Democratic congresswoman from Miami, is trying to upset Republican Rick Scott for U.S. Senate. Recent polls show the race tightening to within the margin of error.
As Hurricane Milton's damage is still being assessed, we talk to her about the government's role in disaster response, environmental policy, and much more. Listen as she makes her case for election.
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Episode Transcript
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Announcer (00:00):
The views expressed in the following program are
(00:02):
those of the host and guests,and do not necessarily represent
those of the Key BiscayneIndependent or Miami Fourth
Esaate. Portions werepre-recorded
music (00:11):
and again and again. I think she will
Tony Winton (00:40):
live from Key Biscayne, Florida. This is anti
social, the podcast where wefollow the news, current events,
and we try to be a calmingvoice, even when the news is
full of anxiety and stress, asit has been the last couple of
days. I'm Tony Winton and
Jan Dillow (00:57):
I'm Jan Dillo. Hope everybody made it through the
hurricane Milton with no marksof lingering marks from the from
the storm.
Tony Winton (01:07):
Yeah, I've been following accounts on of on
social media, from my friendswho have, you know, going back
to their homes and finding outwhat's still standing and what's
not this in your stomach. Thathappens when you're unknown,
right? It starts before thestorm, during the storm and and
then you know what happensafterwards? And at last count,
(01:29):
we had about three and a halfmillion people without power.
That's as of today, when we'rerecording the program and a
death toll of five, and somenews sources are reporting
double that in terms of livesthat have been lost. So a
catastrophe for the state,
Jan Dillow (01:44):
even though we got away pretty, pretty easily from
it, though. I mean, also, a lotof us have family members or,
you know, and close friends thatare up north. My mother's up
there, and she, you know, justthe whole it's very scary for
people, especially because itwas in the middle of the night
when all this stuff was goingon, you couldn't see what was
happening.
Tony Winton (02:01):
And indeed, and the way that the storm, you know,
had been tracked for a while,but the intensification to go
from a tropical storm to acategory five at one point with
180 mile per hour winds, one ofthe most powerful systems ever
recorded. Now it eased off abit, thank God, before it hit
the coast, but that kind ofunpredictability, I think, was
(02:24):
adding to everyone's
Jan Dillow (02:27):
anxiety, yeah, and I think everybody was on edge too,
because we were still gettingreports from Holy right? So, so
Tony Winton (02:33):
it's been a it's been a week, right? And on top
of all that, there's been this,and if you've been following the
news about response, the federalgovernment has promised that
President Joe Biden saying, I'vegot your back to both Helene
victims and those now from thisstorm, but it's been injected
into the national politicalcampaign, and that's apt,
(02:54):
because our guest today issomeone who is running for
United States Senate. We have anopen rather a seat this time
around for our Senate, one ofour two senators, and our guest
is Debbie mucarcel Powell, andwelcome to the program anti
social.
Debbie Mucarsel-Powel (03:12):
Thank you so much for having me. It's a
pleasure.
Tony Winton (03:15):
Well, first off, tell us a little bit about what
your information you might haveabout Milton, even just
personally, or what you'rehearing about the level of
damage. We're still in the earlyphases, with the sun really just
coming up this morning. What areyou hearing?
Debbie Mucarsel-Powel (03:31):
Well, let me start by just telling you a
little bit about what I saw lastweek after Helene. Okay, we were
getting ready for Helene when,when Helene, of course,
devastated some of the areas inthe west coast of Florida,
including areas low lying areasin South St Pete, part of
(03:52):
Hillsborough County, part ofPinellas County, where they had
experienced flooding that theyhadn't seen before in decades.
And so I met this family. I wentdown there, and I was walking
through the area, and I met afamily that, within 20 minutes,
they had three feet inside theirhome, and it was something that
they were not expecting. Andthose are the type of stories
(04:14):
that I think we forget. I mean,living here in South Florida, I
think many people still rememberAndrew, we have lived through
some severe storms, severeweather events, like Irma a few
years back, but and Ian, ofcourse, a couple of years ago.
And I just think that many of usassume that we're going to be
(04:36):
okay. The problem that we haveseen with Helene and now with
Milton is that some of theseareas that were impacted by
storm surge and flooding wereareas that have never expected
or seen flooding before. So asenior center, for example, was
evacuated today because they hadseen high levels of flooding,
(04:57):
and these are some of our mostvulnerable. Members of our
community. I have been incontact with many people in the
area, one of them that livesclose to Sarasota, Her home was
fine, but her neighbor's homewas completely flooded. I had a
conversation yesterday,actually, in the afternoon, with
(05:17):
Amy Amy's mom, her home wasaffected by a tornado, and
within seconds that home lostthe roof, some of the walls
collapsed. The glass was broken.
It hurt her mother. Her motherhad to go to the hospital with a
concussion and with some cuts,she's going to be okay. But Amy
was in tears, because this wassomething that, of course, you
(05:38):
know, as we're all preparing foranother hurricane, for a severe
hurricane, we were not expectingall these tornadoes across the
state, which also affectedBroward, Palm Beach, St Lucie.
So what is clear is that theintensification of these weather
systems are getting much faster,much stronger. I remember when I
(06:01):
was in Congress, I went to visitthe College of Engineering,
where they do a lot of researchon hurricanes, and they were
already saying that they had tochange the scales, that a
hurricane five was not going tobe the highest scale that they
would see, and it's exactly whatwe've been what we were seeing
and what we were fearful of withMilton. So I am getting ready.
My team is getting ready to beof assistance to go up to those
(06:25):
affected areas and bringsupplies and help those families
that have lost everything. I'vealso visited animal shelters
where a lot of families thatlost their homes had to
surrender their animals. I willbe posting information. Would
love for people to follow that,because I guarantee you that now
we're going to see so many moreanimals that just are going to
need either foster homes oradoption, just trying to do
(06:48):
whatever we can, my team and Ito be of assistance. The great
thing is, I did receive a callfrom the White House. I received
a call from the Vice President'soffice yesterday and today, and
the FEMA has been on the groundall week. The director of FEMA
is has the national guard downhere making sure that we can
(07:09):
restore power, working withstate officials to do the same
thing. And we have to always bevery grateful that we have some
of the best first respondershere in the state of Florida,
and so the work will continue.
We will rebuild, but we need tobe much smarter on how we're
rebuilding some of thesecommunities. Well, speaking
Jan Dillow (07:29):
about FEMA, there's been a lot of disinformation
that seems to have been or a lotof things that have been coming
out about FEMA with, you know,Republicans say, or certain
Republicans, including Trump,saying that the female FEMA
resources were being wasted, andthat kind of thing that
disinformation. What do youthink is, do you feel that
(07:50):
that's been widely touted inFlorida as well?
Debbie Mucarsel-Powel (07:54):
Yeah, look, it is the most shameful
thing to see people like RickScott who have a loud microphone
sitting in a position of powerspread disinformation about
disaster relief. It isabsolutely affecting people's
requests for relief from FEMA.
They don't truly understandwhether there is funding or not.
And I want to say right here onthis program that FEMA has the
(08:17):
resources that families willneed to rebuild. If you need
assistance, please contact FEMA.
It is your right to do so, andFEMA has the funding to assist
you in anything that you mayneed. We need to make sure that
we're providing accurateinformation. It really does come
in the way of saving lives, ofhelping families that are in
(08:40):
need of help, families that havelost everything. I mean, we have
seen disinformation before.
During the pandemic, we haveseen it from the extreme right
wing members of the RepublicanParty. It is truly shameful for
us to see it from a sittingsenator like Rick Scott. And I
have to say, Florida needs somuch better than Rick Scott.
Tony Winton (09:06):
And I want to I want to point out that we did
invite Senator Scott to come onthe program today. We didn't
even get a response. I wouldlike to follow up, though on the
resiliency question, right? Soyou have this disinformation
about what FEMA is doing? Youhave some members of Congress
suggesting that there's somesort of weather control, that
(09:26):
somehow the Hurricanes are beingsent to Republican leaning
areas, but in terms ofresiliency, you know the Mr.
Scott was the governor of thestate. He went through
hurricanes here. I remember onepoint interviewing him when he
was governor, and he said thathe supported a national
windstorm fund like NationalFlood Insurance. He actually
(09:47):
thought that was a good idea. Idon't know what his position is
now. Well, he's voted againstFEMA, yeah. So, so I guess
looking at it ahead, you knowwhat kind of because we're in a
very vulnerable state, how? Howdo you. Fashion, a consensus to
deal with the insurance risk,really, I guess, is the big
driver where, where these, thesecatastrophic events, are coming
(10:11):
more and more often. How doesthat? How does that work in
terms of policy? First
Debbie Mucarsel-Powel (10:16):
of all, we need people in the Senate, in
the House of Representatives, inthe governor's mansion in
Tallahassee, we need people thatunderstand that we are
experiencing stronger stormsbecause of the impacts of
climate change. Rick Scott, ofcourse, has been in government
for 14 years. Tony, for 14years. He knows, he knows that
(10:39):
if we experience a severe storm,we need to make sure that we
have communities that areprepared, that have the funding
that they need in terms ofbuilding infrastructure that's
going to be more resilient,that's going to be built to
code. We changed the buildingcodes here in South Florida
after Andrew, but that did nothappen in other communities in
Florida, and so that's whyyou're also seeing some of these
(11:01):
homes completely, completelylost because of the storms, and
of course, the severe tornadoes.
We need to make sure that we'reworking with people that are
willing to sit at the table andfind solutions for these issues.
And I can tell you that when Iwas in Congress, I was able to
do that with a couple ofRepublican members, one of them
Brian mast up in the Palm Beacharea. We both care deeply about
(11:23):
water quality, and we were ableto work together on some bills.
I actually brought, I led aneffort to bring $200 million in
Everglades restoration. We I wasin the committee, in the
Transportation andInfrastructure Committee, where
we were overseeing FEMA, andthere was bipartisan support to
make sure that we held FEMAaccountable, that we got rid of
(11:46):
the bureaucracy that sometimesthese federal agencies have,
because we need to make surethat they're responsive to the
needs of these communities. Andthere were Republicans in that
committee, and I that we allagreed on that. I mean, let's
get back to a place where we putpolitics aside and we work and
do the work that people deserveso that we can protect lives, so
(12:06):
that we can protect businessesour economy. I mean the
Tony Winton (12:12):
impact. But if I can pin you down a little bit,
do you think something like anational windstorm plan, sort of
like flood insurance, but thatwould include that is possible
or achievable. What do youthink? Oh,
Debbie Mucarsel-Powel (12:24):
we're we're going to have to have a
federal program, not only forflood that which we have right
now, and we need to expand therisk on that one, the National
Flood Insurance Program, butalso on wind and a disaster
fund. The reality is that we inFlorida have been experiencing
hurricanes, but in other areas,there's flooding, like in Texas
(12:47):
and Louisiana. We're seeingfires in the west coast of our
country. I mean, we are seeingbigger and bigger disasters, and
the cost of inaction is so muchhigher, because eventually we
will have to pay to rebuildthese communities, so we are
going to have to have verydifficult conversations on a
(13:07):
bipartisan basis withRepublicans and Democrats that
are going TO to have to agree tocreate a disaster fund that will
support all these disastersacross the country. So there's a
lot that we can do, Tony, wejust need to have the courage
and have leaders that have thecourage to do the right thing
here.
Jan Dillow (13:26):
Debbie, just to change the subject rather
abruptly, but one of the thingsin Florida that is, you know,
the Democrats are looking at ispossibly helping them in the
elections, is the amendment fourand the abortion issue. Do you
think that that's somethingthat's going to be that you're
going to be able to work with,or, you know, play to your
(13:48):
advantage?
Debbie Mucarsel-Powel (13:51):
Well, it's an issue that is so
personal to me, and I'm sure toyou as well, where a woman
should be able to have thefreedom to choose what happens
to her own body, when and how tostart a family. It should be a
freedom that should not havepoliticians or government
interference whatsoever. Andit's an issue that unites
Floridians, despite of partisanpolitics, I can tell you that
(14:14):
I've spoken to a lot ofRepublicans where this is a top
issue for them, and I do thinkthat amendment four and
protecting a woman's right tochoose will pass, and I am
speaking about it not onlybecause, you know, it's a
political issue right now, whichpeople from the from the right
side of the Republican Partyhave politicized it, but also
(14:36):
because I'm a mom. I have twodaughters, I have a son, and I
do not want my daughters to livein a state or in a country where
they can't have that access tothat health care that is so
central to our livelihood aswomen. Having come from Latin
America, we passed laws to haveaccess to abortion for women
because when we live under theseextreme bans on abortion. Have
(15:00):
higher rates of violence, higherrates of maternal mortality. So
we absolutely should passamendment four and also protect
it at the federal level, awoman's right to choose should
always be protected in thiscountry. Rick
Tony Winton (15:11):
Scott is on the air with ads saying he's a big
supportive IVF,
Debbie Mucarsel-Powel (15:17):
oh, Tony, well, you can never, ever trust
anything that Rick Scott says ordoes I mean. He voted against
access to IVF, not once, buttwice. He has co sponsored a
national abortion ban. He hassaid that he supports the six
week ban for women here, that hewould have signed that bill into
law. He also oversaw the largestMedicare fraud in the history of
(15:40):
this country, Tony. But then hesits with seniors and says that
he wants to protect Medicarewhen he wrote a plan that would
propose eliminating Medicare andSocial Security, I mean, he will
say and do anything to continueto hold on to power. He is now
the wealthiest Senator inWashington, DC. He's been in
office 14 years, profiting fromthe government. That's what he's
(16:02):
been doing, doing nothing tohelp Floridians with the
skyrocketing property insurancerates, doing nothing to bring
businesses to our state thatcould bring good paying jobs,
and also trying to have someoversight on the incredible cost
of living here in Florida, whichis much higher than other
states. Our inflation rates hereare higher. So we need, we need
(16:25):
someone that understands whatpublic service is, not public
profiteering, like Rick Scottdoes, right?
Tony Winton (16:31):
We have limited time, so if it's okay, we're
probably going to hit you with abunch of like grab bag
questions. And I'm sorry if it'sa little bit, but they're all
these big national issues outthere, and I think for our
listeners, they're kind of knowwhere you are one, one thing you
know, Florida is a state thatyou know voted for Barack Obama,
but it, but it nationally seen.
I guess political pundits aresaying it's shifted red. You're
(16:52):
trying to challenge thatassumption. What evidence are
you seeing that that thatFlorida is a place where
Democrats can win statewide.
Debbie Mucarsel-Powel (17:03):
Well, Floridians all over the state,
everywhere I go, have had itwith the extremism. Look, we
have had some extremepoliticians hijack the state
government here for many years,and they've gone too far. And I
think Floridians reallyunderstand that. And so what you
see in the polls, and you cansee that the majority of the
polls in the past few weeks, Iwould say almost all of them,
(17:26):
except for one, one was anoutlier. They all have me within
within three, two, even one hadme within one point. I'm
basically statistically tiedright now with Rick Scott, and
that is because of the people ofFlorida, because people
understand who He is and don'twant to vote for him in office,
and that shows who we are inFlorida. I mean, I have been
(17:47):
saying this for a long time. Wewe are always going to be a
swing state because of ourculture of who we are. We're
very independent. We don't likepeople telling us what to do. We
are resilient. We we do cometogether, especially when we are
hit by storms like that and andwe put partisan politics aside
to elect the right person andthe right candidate. And I think
that when they have informationin front of them, the accurate
(18:09):
information of who's who, manyFloridians will choose the right
candidate. Unfortunately, we'veseen voter suppression tactics.
We've seen the governor haspurged voters off the rolls,
gerrymandered maps as well,which makes it very difficult
for people to choose theirelected officials and not the
other way around. So that's why,also, this race is so important.
(18:33):
We need to have oversight.
Right? These two senators thatwe have right now have done
nothing to conduct oversight tomake sure that we have a true
representative democracy in thestate of Florida. So I can tell
you that people are excited.
They we have been talking mainlyabout the issues Tony and these
issues, like I said, are notpartisan issues. Everyone is
(18:54):
suffering under an insurancecrisis. Everyone is suffering
with an affordability crisis.
They can't pay for their rent.
Whether you're a student in FAMUa senior living in the
panhandle, it's the same story Ihear everywhere. So we are going
to prove all these pundits wrongin November, because I can tell
you we are. Our movement justcontinues to grow. Well,
Jan Dillow (19:18):
one of the things that the Republicans have been
using against the Democrats inmost races is immigration and
the problems that we have at theborder. If you were elected to
the Senate, what would yourposition be on that?
Debbie Mucarsel-Powel (19:34):
Well, first of all, we had a very
strong border bill that came tothe Senate floor, and Rick Scott
voted against it, and it wasendorsed by customs and border
patrol to support to bringfunding for the border, I would
have voted for that bill. Itwasn't a perfect bill, but it
was a first step to protect ourborder. It's a matter of
national security, but at thesame time you know what's going
(19:57):
on at the border is a much more.
Complicated issue that mostpeople realize. We have violence
in Haiti. We have dictatorshipsin Cuba, Venezuela Nicaragua.
People are fleeing thosecountries because they can't
feed their families. They'refleeing political persecution,
and we have to look at our ownhemisphere on what we need to do
(20:18):
in the United States, to supportdemocracy, to support the people
that are fighting for freedomand democracy in these
countries, and to makeinvestments, either through
trade agreements, commerceagreements, so that people can
actually stay in their homecountries, but have a
flourishing economy, an economythat's going to work for them,
(20:39):
an economy that's going to workfor us. I mean, those, those are
things that you never hearanyone talk about, but that's
the reality of the complexity ofthe border. Because you can
build the biggest wall in thesouthern border, people will
find ways to come to UnitedStates if they can't feed their
children, if they're fleeinggang violence, which is actually
happening, and it's growing inthe area. So we really need to
(21:01):
provide ways that we can supportthe hemisphere right here, our
own hemisphere, and at the sametime, provide pathways for legal
status for dreamers. We have 10sof 1000s of dreamers living in
the state of Florida who havebeen here their entire lives,
their nurses, their teachers.
Let's start by giving a legalpathway to our dreamers. There's
(21:24):
a lot like I said that we that Ican talk about on this issue,
but we just have to be able tohave the willingness from both
sides to sit down at the tableand bring solutions to these
issues.
Tony Winton (21:35):
One, one more question before we get to your
closing your closing statement,and that's kind of a more
general threat to democracy. Fora lot of people, this election
feels very different than in theelection before after January,
6. How are you approaching that?
Well, I
Debbie Mucarsel-Powel (21:55):
think Tony of when I was growing up in
Ecuador, where I was born,before my mother decided to
bring my sisters and I here, Iremember, I remember what it
felt like to grow up in acountry where you had military
tanks, where you had curfewwhere you had violence in the
streets. I remember that we'veseen a little bit of that
(22:19):
already before January 6. Duringthe January 6 insurrection,
we've seen a rise in antisemitism. We've seen a rise in
political violence in ourcountry. We continue to see high
rates of gun violence. Thepolitical rhetoric has become
more and more divisive,including these very dangerous
conspiracy theories that thatone side. Let's make that clear.
(22:43):
It's one side that continues tospread conspiracy theories and
disinformation, and that's theright side. I mean, it's the
right wing of the party, of theRepublican Party, the extreme
Mada side of the party, thatcontinues to do that. And a lot
of what they're doing iscreating a scene where they can
(23:03):
actually say that Donald Trumpwon and and somehow fight the
results of the election. RickScott his campaign have yet to
confirm whether they willrecognize the results of the
election. Tony and Jan This isextremely dangerous. This only
(23:24):
happens in countries like inVenezuela. That's what Maduro
did. He did not recognize theresult of that election in
Venezuela. That's what they'redoing right now. Rick Scott
doesn't want to confirm that.
Donald Trump doesn't want toconfirm that we saw in the vice
presidential debate. JD Vancedid not want to confirm that he
would recognize the result of anelection where we know, in this
country, we still have fair andfree elections, but only, only
(23:48):
if we do the right thing andprotect democracy, because if we
lose it now, it may take toolong for us to be able to get it
back.
Tony Winton (23:59):
We are at a time, so So you have one minute, we
call it the closing argument,the the succinct pitch that
you're making to a voter whohasn't made up their mind, or
maybe they have made up theirmind. But what is your your
closing argument? Look,
Debbie Mucarsel-Powel (24:15):
I started working at a minimum wage when I
was 15, and because of theincredible opportunities that
I've received here in thisgreat, great country, I've been
able to have a good job. Ibecame an associate dean at the
medical school here at FIU. Iwas elected to serve in the
United States Congress, and nowI am the Senate nominee running
(24:36):
for US Senate in the state ofFlorida. But unfortunately,
those opportunities are slippingaway too quickly for so many
families living in our state. Iunderstand the struggles that
families are facing because Ihave faced them myself. I know
what it's like to have to count,you know, every dollar and make
sure that you can actually buythe groceries for your family.
(24:57):
I've been there. I know whatthat feels like, and I. I want
everyone in the state tounderstand that I want to go to
Washington, DC, to put youfirst, to put you above any
partisan politics, to make surethat we work for these families
so that they can have thoseopportunities, the opportunities
that I grew up with here, sothat they can send their
children to school and make surethat they're safe in school,
(25:19):
free of gun violence, so that wecan bring investments for
climate resiliency. There's somuch we need to do, but we have
to have someone that is seriousabout doing the work for
Florida, and I hope I can earnpeople support. It's time for
change. After 14 years of RickScott, someone who's done
nothing to make your livesbetter, give me a chance. I'm
going to make it happen,
Tony Winton (25:39):
and your website is Debbie for florida.com thank you
very much. Debbie mukasellePowell, candidate for United
States Senate, for being ourguest, and thank you for making
the time on antisocial and we'llbe back right after this.
Unknown (26:02):
You the bear cut bridge, America bridge,
Tony Winton (26:27):
and we're back on antisocial. I'm Jan Dillo and
I'm Tony Winton. So we have oneof two Senate candidates here.
I'm hoping we'll get the otherone. I really do. I really would
like to have Senator Scott Comeon.
Jan Dillow (26:38):
Look. I love I'm, I mean, I'm kind of new to the
podcast. I'm not brand new, buttalk sit, getting the
opportunity to sit down and talkto the candidates and ask them
these questions and get theiranswers is really, really
important, and I've learned aton from it. Yeah, we
Tony Winton (26:56):
do not do the kind of interview you're going to see
on CNN or Fox or MSNBC, we'retrying to, like, let the
candidates speak about theirpolicy. Couple of follow ups,
really, what are they talkingabout? And we're talking about
hurricanes today. It's going tobe on everybody's mind before
the hurricane. PropertyInsurance huge here in Florida,
(27:16):
being driven by, yeah, not justhurricanes, but sea level rise
and,
Jan Dillow (27:22):
well, I think that's why Milton was so interested. I
mean, such a terrible storm. Andwhat, it wasn't as bad as
everybody thought it was goingto be, in terms of hitting
Tampa, but the fact that it was,what, like a four thread, it was
flooding. And, you know, fromrain storm surge hurricanes, I
(27:43):
mean, you and it came on theheels of another storm, so that
everything was already wet. Imean, there's what it shows is,
as these storms get, you know,bigger and bigger, there it's
more problematic for us. But italso means that, you know, we
thought we were maybe done with,you know, with with Hurricane
issues after Helene, I guessthat we were crossing our
(28:04):
fingers. But, you know, we couldstill have another one. You
know, the hurricane seasondoesn't end until December 1.
Tony Winton (28:09):
No, and I was talking with Brian McNulty,
friend of the program,scientist, meteorologist at the
rosensteel school, right up theroad from Key Biscayne, about
the and he's been posting onsocial media tracking the amount
of heat in the ocean. We'vewritten several stories about
it. He's been a guest on thisprogram to go back and to our
(28:29):
archive on antisocial which, bythe way, is free to everyone,
and he can talk to you aboutwhat he's been doing the amount
of oceanic heat, not just in theGulf of Mexico, but the Atlantic
has been off the charts. Yeah,unprecedented amount of warmth.
And of course, it's bleachescorals, and it might have other
(28:52):
effects on marine life, but it'sin terms of being a fuel source
for tropical systems.
Jan Dillow (28:59):
It's huge. It's huge. It's
Tony Winton (29:01):
like having, being living next to a being a big bag
of dynamite
Jan Dillow (29:06):
that that's a little too grand. Well, I agree with
you, yeah, it is,
Tony Winton (29:11):
that is the the the it's the potential energy. It's
being stored in the ocean thatis there to be exploited by any
kind of puff of wind that comesoff the coast of Africa, or in
this case, off the Mexicancoast, there's a little
disturbance, and all of asudden, boom, it has an if the
other aspects of an environmentare there, there are a number of
(29:34):
check marks. A hurricane has tohave to really spin up. But this
one, the first several days, itwas,
Jan Dillow (29:41):
it was massive. It was like, massive, yeah, really,
really, bad, astonishing, yeah.
And it really had a lot of, Imean, I'm kind of an, I look at
sort of insurance stuff. I
Tony Winton (29:52):
was gonna ask you about that, because you, you and
I have talked about this off theshow, right? So, so you know,
what is. Is the right publicpolicy? Is it to keep you know,
we talk, we can have a nationalwindstorm insurance, like
National Flood Insurance ornational disaster insurance, but
is that really the best publicpolicy? If we are, we are just
(30:14):
adding more dollars.
Jan Dillow (30:16):
Well, what it does.
I mean, the problem with thatis, is what we've been doing is
underwriting risk in areas wherepeople shouldn't be living or
expanding their footprint,right? And so I think that, in
my opinion, you need to look atwhat we are paying for disaster
relief and marry it to what canwe do to not have to pay that
(30:38):
again? I mean, there are placesthat have been flooded three and
four times, and they're stillrebuilding them. I mean, it
becomes, it becomes more andmore a sense of, you know,
people that are wealthy canrebuild, people that aren't will
move. But then you have, youknow, you can't live in a
society where you know you'veonly got wealthy people, because
that's just not society thatwill work. Right? You need
(30:59):
people to do well, differentstuff
Tony Winton (31:04):
over, over history.
There have been many, you know,there have been, there have been
serfs and peasants and the andthe royalty. Yes, there that
that has existed in the past,right?
Jan Dillow (31:13):
But you have to have a place where, you know, be able
to live. And in Florida, that'sthat's becoming more and more
difficult because, you know, ofthe insurance costs. And you
know, we also have to thinkabout what's going on with
citizens, right? Because they'vebeen, they'd be been
depopulating their theirpolicies, but I don't think that
that's necessarily going tothey're going to be able to do
(31:33):
that, you know, as you know. And
Tony Winton (31:36):
also the what are they going to write for? There's
a cap on what you can get apolicy for. They're just not
going to write over a certaindollar amount, right? And if
you're in an area like KeyBiscayne, right?
Jan Dillow (31:45):
And then there are implications for the mortgage
market, because if you can't getinsurance. So there's a lot of
stuff that that, I think thatneeds to be, this needs to be a
broader conversation, becauseit's not just Florida, right,
but Florida is a lot of it. Imean, Florida is a significant
it's
Tony Winton (32:00):
the biggest driver of disaster expenditures?
Exactly?
Jan Dillow (32:03):
Yeah,
Tony Winton (32:04):
and that's a question like, like, here in Key
Biscayne, we've had, we've had,we had other candidates for
village council on the show. Wehave a big redevelopment planned
for the Atlantic coast, right?
And there's a quiet, small,little motel that is going to be
replaced, the developers hope bya very upscale condominium.
Yeah, 15 floors, yeah. Now, interms of the, you know, the
(32:27):
density, is it the same? Theywill argue that it's the same,
but it is yet a anotherstructure, another from now, a
permanent structure on a on avery exposed piece of beach,
right, right? So, how does thatdeal? How does that to your
argument is that something youwant to continue to encourage,
Jan Dillow (32:52):
right, right?
Exactly. And I think what we'vebeen, I mean, we, we clearly
have been subsidizing that.
Because we've clearly beensubsidizing it for the last, I
don't know, 100 years. I don'tknow how long. Well, I guess
not. When did flood insurancestarted? I think in the late
60s, if I'm not mistaken. But Imean, as long as you subsidize,
you know, you subsidize that,then it's, you know, it's just
(33:13):
going to get more and moreexpensive, because to rebuild
that, you know, this, this, ifthat you know, the new build, or
to get into trouble, it would bea lot more expensive than to
rebuild something like thesilver sands. So I don't know
it's, I think it's, you'reeither going to have a, my
opinion, again, you're eithergoing to have a political
discussion about this, wherepeople talk about all the
(33:35):
different factors that are goingon and the cost of it. Because
I'm also very focused on, youknow, like the government debt
issue side of that, but you'regoing to either have to have a
conversation, or the market'sgoing to figure it out, right?
So at some point, the market,you know, because, like I said,
at some point you you know, youcan keep redeveloping these
things, but you're
Tony Winton (33:55):
saying the market will force a retreat, yeah,
because the cost of insuranceand all these other things will
alter the market dynamics tosuch an extent, right? That it's
just people just say, you know,you can only people who are
super wealthy, who can really doeverything on their own, are
going to be able to stay livingon beachfront property, right?
Jan Dillow (34:16):
And that's, you know, the argument for, you
know, doing the resilience stuffat Cuba skiing is that if we can
do more things for resilience,to get rid of the flooding, to,
you know, to accelerate theclearing of the water, that that
would help us with our floodrisk. And in theory, that would
help with our insurance rates.
And in theory, you know, youknow, it's easy to look at like
(34:37):
the cost of, you know, your thepresent value of your insurance
over time, if it's higher thanthe value of your house, is
going to be lower, I wouldthink. But anyway, there's a lot
of issues that have to that, Ithink need to be considered on
this. And it's a reallyimportant thing. I mean, we this
is it needs to be discussed, Ithink, at the highest levels of
the state, not just thegovernor, but, you know. Between
(34:58):
the Democrats and theRepublicans. They need to come
up. There needs to be a seriousdiscussion about this kind of
stuff.
Tony Winton (35:06):
Yeah, I am, given the extent of gridlock that
exists, one is skeptical, as areporter that that can happen.
I'm just watching what'shappening in Key Biscayne, where
there was a campaign to getfunding with a resiliency bond,
and passed overwhelmingly, andnow the first phase of that is
(35:26):
underway, and it's an activeissue in the election. You can
check out our podcasts again forthe candidates to give different
opinions about that. Some peoplebelieve it should be deferred
and and some have argued evenlet it flood, let people raise
their own homes, right? You knowthat, that that's that, to me,
is,
Jan Dillow (35:47):
what is it? I'm like blanking, but that's just saying
that eventually, eventuallywe're all going to have to
leave. I think that's, that'sthat argument managed. What is
it called? Managed? Yeah,
Tony Winton (35:59):
surrender, retreat, yeah, exactly, banded in place.
I don't know whatever term youwant to use, but it's, it's a
that would be issue,essentially, the futility
argument that the that the longterm answer, there's no way
you're going to stop climatechange, and eventually no all,
all that, all the within thereasonable of anyone's lifetime,
(36:19):
right? Think that's going tohappen, and the reasonable
course of action is stop. Youknow, if that's really what you
believe, then why are youspending all this money? But of
course, as a famous economistonce said, in the long run,
we're all dead. Yeah, exactly,yeah. So, so Anyway,
Jan Dillow (36:33):
anyway it's going to be, it's, it's something we're
going to have to live with. Youknow, every it's we're going to
have to live with, or we aren't.
But will there a decision willbe made whether we make it or
it's made for us by marketforces. I think that's what's
going to happen. Well,
Tony Winton (36:47):
we're going to keep bringing you more of these
candidate interviews. We'retrying to set up one more round
of two, two people to be on theshow. No confirmation yet, so I
don't want to announce it, butwe're going to try and bring
them to you as we get closer toelection day, ballots are
already out in the mail. Minealready came and I already
voted.
Jan Dillow (37:05):
I'm good for you, you know, I just want to say a
couple of things too, you know,as Tony mentioned earlier, but I
want to make sure everybodyknows the Annie the antisocial
podcast is free. It's not partof your subscription. Anybody
that wants to to listen to itcan and if you think that you
know what we've discussed, oryou know the people that we have
(37:26):
on our program are somebody thathas said something that you want
to share with others, all youneed to do is share it on your
social or just send a text to afriend and say, did you see Did
you hear this? Because we'reavailable on Apple podcasts.
Tony Winton (37:39):
We're on we're on Apple podcasts who are on
Spotify. We're on every podcastplatform, and all of these
platforms let you, you text itto somebody or share it to
someone, and so you don't need asubscription to listen to
antisocial. And when we put it,we usually write a story based
on the interview of what we didof our guest, and the story is
also free, so we try to make asmuch content as we can on the I
(38:04):
should say this, all the contentis free on the site. Premium.
Being a subscriber means you,you get a little you get a
little more easy access. Buteverything can be free if you
wish, but the podcast always isavailable. Yeah.
Jan Dillow (38:17):
So if you if you like these, or if you want to
hear them again, or you want toshare them with others, please
feel free to do that. You know,it's important for us to get the
news out to everybody, butagain, I'm going to make a plea
that I usually do. But you know,news isn't free, and we do have
bills to pay, so if you like theKey Biscayne independent, please
(38:39):
donate and remember us as we'regetting closer to year end in
your tax planning,
Tony Winton (38:45):
right, we will be launching the annual news match
campaign. So just to give you aheads up, and we would also
appreciate anyone who wants tovolunteer to help fundraise
that's really important. Spreadthe word. Be a social media
maven, reach out to yourfriends. We always count on you
for that part of our fundraisingseason, and that is really just
(39:08):
around the corner. So pleasedrop us a line. You can write
info at kbin dependent.orgThat's our general purpose email
info at kbin dependent.org we'dlove to hear from you as we get
ready to keep bringing you thenews of our community.
Jan Dillow (39:24):
Thanks everybody.
Have a great week.
Tony Winton (39:26):
I'm Tony Winton. Be safe, everyone.
Unknown (39:42):
You you.
The views expressed in the following program are
(00:02):
those of the host and guests,and do not necessarily represent
those of the Key BiscayneIndependent or Miami Fourth
Esaate. Portions werepre-recorded
music (00:11):
and again and again. I think she will
Tony Winton (00:40):
live from Key Biscayne, Florida. This is anti
social, the podcast where wefollow the news, current events,
and we try to be a calmingvoice, even when the news is
full of anxiety and stress, asit has been the last couple of
days. I'm Tony Winton and
Jan Dillow (00:57):
I'm Jan Dillo. Hope everybody made it through the
hurricane Milton with no marksof lingering marks from the from
the storm.
Tony Winton (01:07):
Yeah, I've been following accounts on of on
social media, from my friendswho have, you know, going back
to their homes and finding outwhat's still standing and what's
not this in your stomach. Thathappens when you're unknown,
right? It starts before thestorm, during the storm and and
then you know what happensafterwards? And at last count,
(01:29):
we had about three and a halfmillion people without power.
That's as of today, when we'rerecording the program and a
death toll of five, and somenews sources are reporting
double that in terms of livesthat have been lost. So a
catastrophe for the state,
Jan Dillow (01:44):
even though we got away pretty, pretty easily from
it, though. I mean, also, a lotof us have family members or,
you know, and close friends thatare up north. My mother's up
there, and she, you know, justthe whole it's very scary for
people, especially because itwas in the middle of the night
when all this stuff was goingon, you couldn't see what was
happening.
Tony Winton (02:01):
And indeed, and the way that the storm, you know,
had been tracked for a while,but the intensification to go
from a tropical storm to acategory five at one point with
180 mile per hour winds, one ofthe most powerful systems ever
recorded. Now it eased off abit, thank God, before it hit
the coast, but that kind ofunpredictability, I think, was
(02:24):
adding to everyone's
Jan Dillow (02:27):
anxiety, yeah, and I think everybody was on edge too,
because we were still gettingreports from Holy right? So, so
Tony Winton (02:33):
it's been a it's been a week, right? And on top
of all that, there's been this,and if you've been following the
news about response, the federalgovernment has promised that
President Joe Biden saying, I'vegot your back to both Helene
victims and those now from thisstorm, but it's been injected
into the national politicalcampaign, and that's apt,
(02:54):
because our guest today issomeone who is running for
United States Senate. We have anopen rather a seat this time
around for our Senate, one ofour two senators, and our guest
is Debbie mucarcel Powell, andwelcome to the program anti
social.
Debbie Mucarsel-Powel (03:12):
Thank you so much for having me. It's a
pleasure.
Tony Winton (03:15):
Well, first off, tell us a little bit about what
your information you might haveabout Milton, even just
personally, or what you'rehearing about the level of
damage. We're still in the earlyphases, with the sun really just
coming up this morning. What areyou hearing?
Debbie Mucarsel-Powel (03:31):
Well, let me start by just telling you a
little bit about what I saw lastweek after Helene. Okay, we were
getting ready for Helene when,when Helene, of course,
devastated some of the areas inthe west coast of Florida,
including areas low lying areasin South St Pete, part of
(03:52):
Hillsborough County, part ofPinellas County, where they had
experienced flooding that theyhadn't seen before in decades.
And so I met this family. I wentdown there, and I was walking
through the area, and I met afamily that, within 20 minutes,
they had three feet inside theirhome, and it was something that
they were not expecting. Andthose are the type of stories
(04:14):
that I think we forget. I mean,living here in South Florida, I
think many people still rememberAndrew, we have lived through
some severe storms, severeweather events, like Irma a few
years back, but and Ian, ofcourse, a couple of years ago.
And I just think that many of usassume that we're going to be
(04:36):
okay. The problem that we haveseen with Helene and now with
Milton is that some of theseareas that were impacted by
storm surge and flooding wereareas that have never expected
or seen flooding before. So asenior center, for example, was
evacuated today because they hadseen high levels of flooding,
(04:57):
and these are some of our mostvulnerable. Members of our
community. I have been incontact with many people in the
area, one of them that livesclose to Sarasota, Her home was
fine, but her neighbor's homewas completely flooded. I had a
conversation yesterday,actually, in the afternoon, with
(05:17):
Amy Amy's mom, her home wasaffected by a tornado, and
within seconds that home lostthe roof, some of the walls
collapsed. The glass was broken.
It hurt her mother. Her motherhad to go to the hospital with a
concussion and with some cuts,she's going to be okay. But Amy
was in tears, because this wassomething that, of course, you
(05:38):
know, as we're all preparing foranother hurricane, for a severe
hurricane, we were not expectingall these tornadoes across the
state, which also affectedBroward, Palm Beach, St Lucie.
So what is clear is that theintensification of these weather
systems are getting much faster,much stronger. I remember when I
(06:01):
was in Congress, I went to visitthe College of Engineering,
where they do a lot of researchon hurricanes, and they were
already saying that they had tochange the scales, that a
hurricane five was not going tobe the highest scale that they
would see, and it's exactly whatwe've been what we were seeing
and what we were fearful of withMilton. So I am getting ready.
My team is getting ready to beof assistance to go up to those
(06:25):
affected areas and bringsupplies and help those families
that have lost everything. I'vealso visited animal shelters
where a lot of families thatlost their homes had to
surrender their animals. I willbe posting information. Would
love for people to follow that,because I guarantee you that now
we're going to see so many moreanimals that just are going to
need either foster homes oradoption, just trying to do
(06:48):
whatever we can, my team and Ito be of assistance. The great
thing is, I did receive a callfrom the White House. I received
a call from the Vice President'soffice yesterday and today, and
the FEMA has been on the groundall week. The director of FEMA
is has the national guard downhere making sure that we can
(07:09):
restore power, working withstate officials to do the same
thing. And we have to always bevery grateful that we have some
of the best first respondershere in the state of Florida,
and so the work will continue.
We will rebuild, but we need tobe much smarter on how we're
rebuilding some of thesecommunities. Well, speaking
Jan Dillow (07:29):
about FEMA, there's been a lot of disinformation
that seems to have been or a lotof things that have been coming
out about FEMA with, you know,Republicans say, or certain
Republicans, including Trump,saying that the female FEMA
resources were being wasted, andthat kind of thing that
disinformation. What do youthink is, do you feel that
(07:50):
that's been widely touted inFlorida as well?
Debbie Mucarsel-Powel (07:54):
Yeah, look, it is the most shameful
thing to see people like RickScott who have a loud microphone
sitting in a position of powerspread disinformation about
disaster relief. It isabsolutely affecting people's
requests for relief from FEMA.
They don't truly understandwhether there is funding or not.
And I want to say right here onthis program that FEMA has the
(08:17):
resources that families willneed to rebuild. If you need
assistance, please contact FEMA.
It is your right to do so, andFEMA has the funding to assist
you in anything that you mayneed. We need to make sure that
we're providing accurateinformation. It really does come
in the way of saving lives, ofhelping families that are in
(08:40):
need of help, families that havelost everything. I mean, we have
seen disinformation before.
During the pandemic, we haveseen it from the extreme right
wing members of the RepublicanParty. It is truly shameful for
us to see it from a sittingsenator like Rick Scott. And I
have to say, Florida needs somuch better than Rick Scott.
Tony Winton (09:06):
And I want to I want to point out that we did
invite Senator Scott to come onthe program today. We didn't
even get a response. I wouldlike to follow up, though on the
resiliency question, right? Soyou have this disinformation
about what FEMA is doing? Youhave some members of Congress
suggesting that there's somesort of weather control, that
(09:26):
somehow the Hurricanes are beingsent to Republican leaning
areas, but in terms ofresiliency, you know the Mr.
Scott was the governor of thestate. He went through
hurricanes here. I remember onepoint interviewing him when he
was governor, and he said thathe supported a national
windstorm fund like NationalFlood Insurance. He actually
(09:47):
thought that was a good idea. Idon't know what his position is
now. Well, he's voted againstFEMA, yeah. So, so I guess
looking at it ahead, you knowwhat kind of because we're in a
very vulnerable state, how? Howdo you. Fashion, a consensus to
deal with the insurance risk,really, I guess, is the big
driver where, where these, thesecatastrophic events, are coming
(10:11):
more and more often. How doesthat? How does that work in
terms of policy? First
Debbie Mucarsel-Powel (10:16):
of all, we need people in the Senate, in
the House of Representatives, inthe governor's mansion in
Tallahassee, we need people thatunderstand that we are
experiencing stronger stormsbecause of the impacts of
climate change. Rick Scott, ofcourse, has been in government
for 14 years. Tony, for 14years. He knows, he knows that
(10:39):
if we experience a severe storm,we need to make sure that we
have communities that areprepared, that have the funding
that they need in terms ofbuilding infrastructure that's
going to be more resilient,that's going to be built to
code. We changed the buildingcodes here in South Florida
after Andrew, but that did nothappen in other communities in
Florida, and so that's whyyou're also seeing some of these
(11:01):
homes completely, completelylost because of the storms, and
of course, the severe tornadoes.
We need to make sure that we'reworking with people that are
willing to sit at the table andfind solutions for these issues.
And I can tell you that when Iwas in Congress, I was able to
do that with a couple ofRepublican members, one of them
Brian mast up in the Palm Beacharea. We both care deeply about
(11:23):
water quality, and we were ableto work together on some bills.
I actually brought, I led aneffort to bring $200 million in
Everglades restoration. We I wasin the committee, in the
Transportation andInfrastructure Committee, where
we were overseeing FEMA, andthere was bipartisan support to
make sure that we held FEMAaccountable, that we got rid of
(11:46):
the bureaucracy that sometimesthese federal agencies have,
because we need to make surethat they're responsive to the
needs of these communities. Andthere were Republicans in that
committee, and I that we allagreed on that. I mean, let's
get back to a place where we putpolitics aside and we work and
do the work that people deserveso that we can protect lives, so
(12:06):
that we can protect businessesour economy. I mean the
Tony Winton (12:12):
impact. But if I can pin you down a little bit,
do you think something like anational windstorm plan, sort of
like flood insurance, but thatwould include that is possible
or achievable. What do youthink? Oh,
Debbie Mucarsel-Powel (12:24):
we're we're going to have to have a
federal program, not only forflood that which we have right
now, and we need to expand therisk on that one, the National
Flood Insurance Program, butalso on wind and a disaster
fund. The reality is that we inFlorida have been experiencing
hurricanes, but in other areas,there's flooding, like in Texas
(12:47):
and Louisiana. We're seeingfires in the west coast of our
country. I mean, we are seeingbigger and bigger disasters, and
the cost of inaction is so muchhigher, because eventually we
will have to pay to rebuildthese communities, so we are
going to have to have verydifficult conversations on a
(13:07):
bipartisan basis withRepublicans and Democrats that
are going TO to have to agree tocreate a disaster fund that will
support all these disastersacross the country. So there's a
lot that we can do, Tony, wejust need to have the courage
and have leaders that have thecourage to do the right thing
here.
Jan Dillow (13:26):
Debbie, just to change the subject rather
abruptly, but one of the thingsin Florida that is, you know,
the Democrats are looking at ispossibly helping them in the
elections, is the amendment fourand the abortion issue. Do you
think that that's somethingthat's going to be that you're
going to be able to work with,or, you know, play to your
(13:48):
advantage?
Debbie Mucarsel-Powel (13:51):
Well, it's an issue that is so
personal to me, and I'm sure toyou as well, where a woman
should be able to have thefreedom to choose what happens
to her own body, when and how tostart a family. It should be a
freedom that should not havepoliticians or government
interference whatsoever. Andit's an issue that unites
Floridians, despite of partisanpolitics, I can tell you that
(14:14):
I've spoken to a lot ofRepublicans where this is a top
issue for them, and I do thinkthat amendment four and
protecting a woman's right tochoose will pass, and I am
speaking about it not onlybecause, you know, it's a
political issue right now, whichpeople from the from the right
side of the Republican Partyhave politicized it, but also
(14:36):
because I'm a mom. I have twodaughters, I have a son, and I
do not want my daughters to livein a state or in a country where
they can't have that access tothat health care that is so
central to our livelihood aswomen. Having come from Latin
America, we passed laws to haveaccess to abortion for women
because when we live under theseextreme bans on abortion. Have
(15:00):
higher rates of violence, higherrates of maternal mortality. So
we absolutely should passamendment four and also protect
it at the federal level, awoman's right to choose should
always be protected in thiscountry. Rick
Tony Winton (15:11):
Scott is on the air with ads saying he's a big
supportive IVF,
Debbie Mucarsel-Powel (15:17):
oh, Tony, well, you can never, ever trust
anything that Rick Scott says ordoes I mean. He voted against
access to IVF, not once, buttwice. He has co sponsored a
national abortion ban. He hassaid that he supports the six
week ban for women here, that hewould have signed that bill into
law. He also oversaw the largestMedicare fraud in the history of
(15:40):
this country, Tony. But then hesits with seniors and says that
he wants to protect Medicarewhen he wrote a plan that would
propose eliminating Medicare andSocial Security, I mean, he will
say and do anything to continueto hold on to power. He is now
the wealthiest Senator inWashington, DC. He's been in
office 14 years, profiting fromthe government. That's what he's
(16:02):
been doing, doing nothing tohelp Floridians with the
skyrocketing property insurancerates, doing nothing to bring
businesses to our state thatcould bring good paying jobs,
and also trying to have someoversight on the incredible cost
of living here in Florida, whichis much higher than other
states. Our inflation rates hereare higher. So we need, we need
(16:25):
someone that understands whatpublic service is, not public
profiteering, like Rick Scottdoes, right?
Tony Winton (16:31):
We have limited time, so if it's okay, we're
probably going to hit you with abunch of like grab bag
questions. And I'm sorry if it'sa little bit, but they're all
these big national issues outthere, and I think for our
listeners, they're kind of knowwhere you are one, one thing you
know, Florida is a state thatyou know voted for Barack Obama,
but it, but it nationally seen.
I guess political pundits aresaying it's shifted red. You're
(16:52):
trying to challenge thatassumption. What evidence are
you seeing that that thatFlorida is a place where
Democrats can win statewide.
Debbie Mucarsel-Powel (17:03):
Well, Floridians all over the state,
everywhere I go, have had itwith the extremism. Look, we
have had some extremepoliticians hijack the state
government here for many years,and they've gone too far. And I
think Floridians reallyunderstand that. And so what you
see in the polls, and you cansee that the majority of the
polls in the past few weeks, Iwould say almost all of them,
(17:26):
except for one, one was anoutlier. They all have me within
within three, two, even one hadme within one point. I'm
basically statistically tiedright now with Rick Scott, and
that is because of the people ofFlorida, because people
understand who He is and don'twant to vote for him in office,
and that shows who we are inFlorida. I mean, I have been
(17:47):
saying this for a long time. Wewe are always going to be a
swing state because of ourculture of who we are. We're
very independent. We don't likepeople telling us what to do. We
are resilient. We we do cometogether, especially when we are
hit by storms like that and andwe put partisan politics aside
to elect the right person andthe right candidate. And I think
that when they have informationin front of them, the accurate
(18:09):
information of who's who, manyFloridians will choose the right
candidate. Unfortunately, we'veseen voter suppression tactics.
We've seen the governor haspurged voters off the rolls,
gerrymandered maps as well,which makes it very difficult
for people to choose theirelected officials and not the
other way around. So that's why,also, this race is so important.
(18:33):
We need to have oversight.
Right? These two senators thatwe have right now have done
nothing to conduct oversight tomake sure that we have a true
representative democracy in thestate of Florida. So I can tell
you that people are excited.
They we have been talking mainlyabout the issues Tony and these
issues, like I said, are notpartisan issues. Everyone is
(18:54):
suffering under an insurancecrisis. Everyone is suffering
with an affordability crisis.
They can't pay for their rent.
Whether you're a student in FAMUa senior living in the
panhandle, it's the same story Ihear everywhere. So we are going
to prove all these pundits wrongin November, because I can tell
you we are. Our movement justcontinues to grow. Well,
Jan Dillow (19:18):
one of the things that the Republicans have been
using against the Democrats inmost races is immigration and
the problems that we have at theborder. If you were elected to
the Senate, what would yourposition be on that?
Debbie Mucarsel-Powel (19:34):
Well, first of all, we had a very
strong border bill that came tothe Senate floor, and Rick Scott
voted against it, and it wasendorsed by customs and border
patrol to support to bringfunding for the border, I would
have voted for that bill. Itwasn't a perfect bill, but it
was a first step to protect ourborder. It's a matter of
national security, but at thesame time you know what's going
(19:57):
on at the border is a much more.
Complicated issue that mostpeople realize. We have violence
in Haiti. We have dictatorshipsin Cuba, Venezuela Nicaragua.
People are fleeing thosecountries because they can't
feed their families. They'refleeing political persecution,
and we have to look at our ownhemisphere on what we need to do
(20:18):
in the United States, to supportdemocracy, to support the people
that are fighting for freedomand democracy in these
countries, and to makeinvestments, either through
trade agreements, commerceagreements, so that people can
actually stay in their homecountries, but have a
flourishing economy, an economythat's going to work for them,
(20:39):
an economy that's going to workfor us. I mean, those, those are
things that you never hearanyone talk about, but that's
the reality of the complexity ofthe border. Because you can
build the biggest wall in thesouthern border, people will
find ways to come to UnitedStates if they can't feed their
children, if they're fleeinggang violence, which is actually
happening, and it's growing inthe area. So we really need to
(21:01):
provide ways that we can supportthe hemisphere right here, our
own hemisphere, and at the sametime, provide pathways for legal
status for dreamers. We have 10sof 1000s of dreamers living in
the state of Florida who havebeen here their entire lives,
their nurses, their teachers.
Let's start by giving a legalpathway to our dreamers. There's
(21:24):
a lot like I said that we that Ican talk about on this issue,
but we just have to be able tohave the willingness from both
sides to sit down at the tableand bring solutions to these
issues.
Tony Winton (21:35):
One, one more question before we get to your
closing your closing statement,and that's kind of a more
general threat to democracy. Fora lot of people, this election
feels very different than in theelection before after January,
6. How are you approaching that?
Well, I
Debbie Mucarsel-Powel (21:55):
think Tony of when I was growing up in
Ecuador, where I was born,before my mother decided to
bring my sisters and I here, Iremember, I remember what it
felt like to grow up in acountry where you had military
tanks, where you had curfewwhere you had violence in the
streets. I remember that we'veseen a little bit of that
(22:19):
already before January 6. Duringthe January 6 insurrection,
we've seen a rise in antisemitism. We've seen a rise in
political violence in ourcountry. We continue to see high
rates of gun violence. Thepolitical rhetoric has become
more and more divisive,including these very dangerous
conspiracy theories that thatone side. Let's make that clear.
(22:43):
It's one side that continues tospread conspiracy theories and
disinformation, and that's theright side. I mean, it's the
right wing of the party, of theRepublican Party, the extreme
Mada side of the party, thatcontinues to do that. And a lot
of what they're doing iscreating a scene where they can
(23:03):
actually say that Donald Trumpwon and and somehow fight the
results of the election. RickScott his campaign have yet to
confirm whether they willrecognize the results of the
election. Tony and Jan This isextremely dangerous. This only
(23:24):
happens in countries like inVenezuela. That's what Maduro
did. He did not recognize theresult of that election in
Venezuela. That's what they'redoing right now. Rick Scott
doesn't want to confirm that.
Donald Trump doesn't want toconfirm that we saw in the vice
presidential debate. JD Vancedid not want to confirm that he
would recognize the result of anelection where we know, in this
country, we still have fair andfree elections, but only, only
(23:48):
if we do the right thing andprotect democracy, because if we
lose it now, it may take toolong for us to be able to get it
back.
Tony Winton (23:59):
We are at a time, so So you have one minute, we
call it the closing argument,the the succinct pitch that
you're making to a voter whohasn't made up their mind, or
maybe they have made up theirmind. But what is your your
closing argument? Look,
Debbie Mucarsel-Powel (24:15):
I started working at a minimum wage when I
was 15, and because of theincredible opportunities that
I've received here in thisgreat, great country, I've been
able to have a good job. Ibecame an associate dean at the
medical school here at FIU. Iwas elected to serve in the
United States Congress, and nowI am the Senate nominee running
(24:36):
for US Senate in the state ofFlorida. But unfortunately,
those opportunities are slippingaway too quickly for so many
families living in our state. Iunderstand the struggles that
families are facing because Ihave faced them myself. I know
what it's like to have to count,you know, every dollar and make
sure that you can actually buythe groceries for your family.
(24:57):
I've been there. I know whatthat feels like, and I. I want
everyone in the state tounderstand that I want to go to
Washington, DC, to put youfirst, to put you above any
partisan politics, to make surethat we work for these families
so that they can have thoseopportunities, the opportunities
that I grew up with here, sothat they can send their
children to school and make surethat they're safe in school,
(25:19):
free of gun violence, so that wecan bring investments for
climate resiliency. There's somuch we need to do, but we have
to have someone that is seriousabout doing the work for
Florida, and I hope I can earnpeople support. It's time for
change. After 14 years of RickScott, someone who's done
nothing to make your livesbetter, give me a chance. I'm
going to make it happen,
Tony Winton (25:39):
and your website is Debbie for florida.com thank you
very much. Debbie mukasellePowell, candidate for United
States Senate, for being ourguest, and thank you for making
the time on antisocial and we'llbe back right after this.
Unknown (26:02):
You the bear cut bridge, America bridge,
Tony Winton (26:27):
and we're back on antisocial. I'm Jan Dillo and
I'm Tony Winton. So we have oneof two Senate candidates here.
I'm hoping we'll get the otherone. I really do. I really would
like to have Senator Scott Comeon.
Jan Dillow (26:38):
Look. I love I'm, I mean, I'm kind of new to the
podcast. I'm not brand new, buttalk sit, getting the
opportunity to sit down and talkto the candidates and ask them
these questions and get theiranswers is really, really
important, and I've learned aton from it. Yeah, we
Tony Winton (26:56):
do not do the kind of interview you're going to see
on CNN or Fox or MSNBC, we'retrying to, like, let the
candidates speak about theirpolicy. Couple of follow ups,
really, what are they talkingabout? And we're talking about
hurricanes today. It's going tobe on everybody's mind before
the hurricane. PropertyInsurance huge here in Florida,
(27:16):
being driven by, yeah, not justhurricanes, but sea level rise
and,
Jan Dillow (27:22):
well, I think that's why Milton was so interested. I
mean, such a terrible storm. Andwhat, it wasn't as bad as
everybody thought it was goingto be, in terms of hitting
Tampa, but the fact that it was,what, like a four thread, it was
flooding. And, you know, fromrain storm surge hurricanes, I
(27:43):
mean, you and it came on theheels of another storm, so that
everything was already wet. Imean, there's what it shows is,
as these storms get, you know,bigger and bigger, there it's
more problematic for us. But italso means that, you know, we
thought we were maybe done with,you know, with with Hurricane
issues after Helene, I guessthat we were crossing our
(28:04):
fingers. But, you know, we couldstill have another one. You
know, the hurricane seasondoesn't end until December 1.
Tony Winton (28:09):
No, and I was talking with Brian McNulty,
friend of the program,scientist, meteorologist at the
rosensteel school, right up theroad from Key Biscayne, about
the and he's been posting onsocial media tracking the amount
of heat in the ocean. We'vewritten several stories about
it. He's been a guest on thisprogram to go back and to our
(28:29):
archive on antisocial which, bythe way, is free to everyone,
and he can talk to you aboutwhat he's been doing the amount
of oceanic heat, not just in theGulf of Mexico, but the Atlantic
has been off the charts. Yeah,unprecedented amount of warmth.
And of course, it's bleachescorals, and it might have other
(28:52):
effects on marine life, but it'sin terms of being a fuel source
for tropical systems.
Jan Dillow (28:59):
It's huge. It's huge. It's
Tony Winton (29:01):
like having, being living next to a being a big bag
of dynamite
Jan Dillow (29:06):
that that's a little too grand. Well, I agree with
you, yeah, it is,
Tony Winton (29:11):
that is the the the it's the potential energy. It's
being stored in the ocean thatis there to be exploited by any
kind of puff of wind that comesoff the coast of Africa, or in
this case, off the Mexicancoast, there's a little
disturbance, and all of asudden, boom, it has an if the
other aspects of an environmentare there, there are a number of
(29:34):
check marks. A hurricane has tohave to really spin up. But this
one, the first several days, itwas,
Jan Dillow (29:41):
it was massive. It was like, massive, yeah, really,
really, bad, astonishing, yeah.
And it really had a lot of, Imean, I'm kind of an, I look at
sort of insurance stuff. I
Tony Winton (29:52):
was gonna ask you about that, because you, you and
I have talked about this off theshow, right? So, so you know,
what is. Is the right publicpolicy? Is it to keep you know,
we talk, we can have a nationalwindstorm insurance, like
National Flood Insurance ornational disaster insurance, but
is that really the best publicpolicy? If we are, we are just
(30:14):
adding more dollars.
Jan Dillow (30:16):
Well, what it does.
I mean, the problem with thatis, is what we've been doing is
underwriting risk in areas wherepeople shouldn't be living or
expanding their footprint,right? And so I think that, in
my opinion, you need to look atwhat we are paying for disaster
relief and marry it to what canwe do to not have to pay that
(30:38):
again? I mean, there are placesthat have been flooded three and
four times, and they're stillrebuilding them. I mean, it
becomes, it becomes more andmore a sense of, you know,
people that are wealthy canrebuild, people that aren't will
move. But then you have, youknow, you can't live in a
society where you know you'veonly got wealthy people, because
that's just not society thatwill work. Right? You need
(30:59):
people to do well, differentstuff
Tony Winton (31:04):
over, over history.
There have been many, you know,there have been, there have been
serfs and peasants and the andthe royalty. Yes, there that
that has existed in the past,right?
Jan Dillow (31:13):
But you have to have a place where, you know, be able
to live. And in Florida, that'sthat's becoming more and more
difficult because, you know, ofthe insurance costs. And you
know, we also have to thinkabout what's going on with
citizens, right? Because they'vebeen, they'd be been
depopulating their theirpolicies, but I don't think that
that's necessarily going tothey're going to be able to do
(31:33):
that, you know, as you know. And
Tony Winton (31:36):
also the what are they going to write for? There's
a cap on what you can get apolicy for. They're just not
going to write over a certaindollar amount, right? And if
you're in an area like KeyBiscayne, right?
Jan Dillow (31:45):
And then there are implications for the mortgage
market, because if you can't getinsurance. So there's a lot of
stuff that that, I think thatneeds to be, this needs to be a
broader conversation, becauseit's not just Florida, right,
but Florida is a lot of it. Imean, Florida is a significant
it's
Tony Winton (32:00):
the biggest driver of disaster expenditures?
Exactly?
Jan Dillow (32:03):
Yeah,
Tony Winton (32:04):
and that's a question like, like, here in Key
Biscayne, we've had, we've had,we had other candidates for
village council on the show. Wehave a big redevelopment planned
for the Atlantic coast, right?
And there's a quiet, small,little motel that is going to be
replaced, the developers hope bya very upscale condominium.
Yeah, 15 floors, yeah. Now, interms of the, you know, the
(32:27):
density, is it the same? Theywill argue that it's the same,
but it is yet a anotherstructure, another from now, a
permanent structure on a on avery exposed piece of beach,
right, right? So, how does thatdeal? How does that to your
argument is that something youwant to continue to encourage,
Jan Dillow (32:52):
right, right?
Exactly. And I think what we'vebeen, I mean, we, we clearly
have been subsidizing that.
Because we've clearly beensubsidizing it for the last, I
don't know, 100 years. I don'tknow how long. Well, I guess
not. When did flood insurancestarted? I think in the late
60s, if I'm not mistaken. But Imean, as long as you subsidize,
you know, you subsidize that,then it's, you know, it's just
(33:13):
going to get more and moreexpensive, because to rebuild
that, you know, this, this, ifthat you know, the new build, or
to get into trouble, it would bea lot more expensive than to
rebuild something like thesilver sands. So I don't know
it's, I think it's, you'reeither going to have a, my
opinion, again, you're eithergoing to have a political
discussion about this, wherepeople talk about all the
(33:35):
different factors that are goingon and the cost of it. Because
I'm also very focused on, youknow, like the government debt
issue side of that, but you'regoing to either have to have a
conversation, or the market'sgoing to figure it out, right?
So at some point, the market,you know, because, like I said,
at some point you you know, youcan keep redeveloping these
things, but you're
Tony Winton (33:55):
saying the market will force a retreat, yeah,
because the cost of insuranceand all these other things will
alter the market dynamics tosuch an extent, right? That it's
just people just say, you know,you can only people who are
super wealthy, who can really doeverything on their own, are
going to be able to stay livingon beachfront property, right?
Jan Dillow (34:16):
And that's, you know, the argument for, you
know, doing the resilience stuffat Cuba skiing is that if we can
do more things for resilience,to get rid of the flooding, to,
you know, to accelerate theclearing of the water, that that
would help us with our floodrisk. And in theory, that would
help with our insurance rates.
And in theory, you know, youknow, it's easy to look at like
(34:37):
the cost of, you know, your thepresent value of your insurance
over time, if it's higher thanthe value of your house, is
going to be lower, I wouldthink. But anyway, there's a lot
of issues that have to that, Ithink need to be considered on
this. And it's a reallyimportant thing. I mean, we this
is it needs to be discussed, Ithink, at the highest levels of
the state, not just thegovernor, but, you know. Between
(34:58):
the Democrats and theRepublicans. They need to come
up. There needs to be a seriousdiscussion about this kind of
stuff.
Tony Winton (35:06):
Yeah, I am, given the extent of gridlock that
exists, one is skeptical, as areporter that that can happen.
I'm just watching what'shappening in Key Biscayne, where
there was a campaign to getfunding with a resiliency bond,
and passed overwhelmingly, andnow the first phase of that is
(35:26):
underway, and it's an activeissue in the election. You can
check out our podcasts again forthe candidates to give different
opinions about that. Some peoplebelieve it should be deferred
and and some have argued evenlet it flood, let people raise
their own homes, right? You knowthat, that that's that, to me,
is,
Jan Dillow (35:47):
what is it? I'm like blanking, but that's just saying
that eventually, eventuallywe're all going to have to
leave. I think that's, that'sthat argument managed. What is
it called? Managed? Yeah,
Tony Winton (35:59):
surrender, retreat, yeah, exactly, banded in place.
I don't know whatever term youwant to use, but it's, it's a
that would be issue,essentially, the futility
argument that the that the longterm answer, there's no way
you're going to stop climatechange, and eventually no all,
all that, all the within thereasonable of anyone's lifetime,
(36:19):
right? Think that's going tohappen, and the reasonable
course of action is stop. Youknow, if that's really what you
believe, then why are youspending all this money? But of
course, as a famous economistonce said, in the long run,
we're all dead. Yeah, exactly,yeah. So, so Anyway,
Jan Dillow (36:33):
anyway it's going to be, it's, it's something we're
going to have to live with. Youknow, every it's we're going to
have to live with, or we aren't.
But will there a decision willbe made whether we make it or
it's made for us by marketforces. I think that's what's
going to happen. Well,
Tony Winton (36:47):
we're going to keep bringing you more of these
candidate interviews. We'retrying to set up one more round
of two, two people to be on theshow. No confirmation yet, so I
don't want to announce it, butwe're going to try and bring
them to you as we get closer toelection day, ballots are
already out in the mail. Minealready came and I already
voted.
Jan Dillow (37:05):
I'm good for you, you know, I just want to say a
couple of things too, you know,as Tony mentioned earlier, but I
want to make sure everybodyknows the Annie the antisocial
podcast is free. It's not partof your subscription. Anybody
that wants to to listen to itcan and if you think that you
know what we've discussed, oryou know the people that we have
(37:26):
on our program are somebody thathas said something that you want
to share with others, all youneed to do is share it on your
social or just send a text to afriend and say, did you see Did
you hear this? Because we'reavailable on Apple podcasts.
Tony Winton (37:39):
We're on we're on Apple podcasts who are on
Spotify. We're on every podcastplatform, and all of these
platforms let you, you text itto somebody or share it to
someone, and so you don't need asubscription to listen to
antisocial. And when we put it,we usually write a story based
on the interview of what we didof our guest, and the story is
also free, so we try to make asmuch content as we can on the I
(38:04):
should say this, all the contentis free on the site. Premium.
Being a subscriber means you,you get a little you get a
little more easy access. Buteverything can be free if you
wish, but the podcast always isavailable. Yeah.
Jan Dillow (38:17):
So if you if you like these, or if you want to
hear them again, or you want toshare them with others, please
feel free to do that. You know,it's important for us to get the
news out to everybody, butagain, I'm going to make a plea
that I usually do. But you know,news isn't free, and we do have
bills to pay, so if you like theKey Biscayne independent, please
(38:39):
donate and remember us as we'regetting closer to year end in
your tax planning,
Tony Winton (38:45):
right, we will be launching the annual news match
campaign. So just to give you aheads up, and we would also
appreciate anyone who wants tovolunteer to help fundraise
that's really important. Spreadthe word. Be a social media
maven, reach out to yourfriends. We always count on you
for that part of our fundraisingseason, and that is really just
(39:08):
around the corner. So pleasedrop us a line. You can write
info at kbin dependent.orgThat's our general purpose email
info at kbin dependent.org we'dlove to hear from you as we get
ready to keep bringing you thenews of our community.
Jan Dillow (39:24):
Thanks everybody.
Have a great week.
Tony Winton (39:26):
I'm Tony Winton. Be safe, everyone.
Unknown (39:42):
You you.
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