By Matt Falconer, Candidate for State House District 44
The Orlando Sentinel invited me to an interview/debate with my opponent Eric Eisnaugle. I knew going in they were going to endorse my opponent because of his connections to the “establishment.” What surprised me was when the Sentinel called me a “bomb thrower,” which of course is a completely unfair analogy.
I am a fact thrower.
In the interview, I pointed out 74% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and the reason our economy is not recovering is because public policy benefits special interests and not the average citizen. I stated 9 of 10 Floridians qualify for healthcare subsidies and one in six are on food stamps.
In my closing I stated powerful special interests are corrupting our political system with hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign contributions. Everyone knows this is true. And my opponent, who has accepted money from US Sugar, Teco Energy, Hospital Corporation of America, and Koch Industries, is part of the problem not the solution.
My opponent wants to reduce taxes on these special interests. I want to reduce taxes on the average consumer to allow our free market economy to recover from the bottom up. I want bottom up prosperity versus my opponent’s trickle-down economics.
For the American Dream to survive public policy needs to benefit the average citizen and not special interests. The more money that pours into our political system the further we get from that goal.
You mean the corrupted political system like this?
Falconer was appointed by Republican Rick Scott for Work Force 2012, Appointed by Republican House Speaker Dean Cannon to Florida’s Government Efficiency Task Force.
Falconer is running against a republican, Eisnaugle, who would have been unopposed in this race without your candidacy. Eisnaugle collected $83,304.93 in campaign contributions after the primary, which he would not been able to without an “opponent”. But, with a NPA stooge running against him, he was able to collect.
Eisnaugle stepped down last year when his district was merged with Steve Precourt’s. Precourt resigned in January to seek a job with the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority, triggering a special election in April 2014, which was won by Eisnaugle.
Fassela, the opponent in the Republican primary against Eisnaugle, was bankrolled by Falconer’s LLCs.
Eisnaugle needed an “opponent” in the general election in order to continue accepting contributions. Who comes in: Falconer, filing just before the deadline for candidacy, with contributions from himself and his own LLCs.