Dr. Cindy Banyai hosts an episode of Dr. Cindy Speaks dated February 19, 2026, discussing why she calls Florida the most fascist state in the country and highlighting legislation moving through the Florida Legislature. She says lawmakers will not take up promised property tax reform, arguing cuts would disproportionately benefit wealthy property owners, exclude renters and young people, and create budget shortfalls that would worsen underinvestment in infrastructure, including roads and water systems. She contrasts property tax cuts with her campaign idea of a summer sales tax holiday to help Florida residents when tourism slows. She references Gaslit Nation and Andrea Chalupa, including the film Mr. Jones about Stalin’s genocide in Ukraine, and a discussion about the Nuremberg trials that concluded Nazi leaders were often opportunists driven by ambition rather than a specific mental disorder. She connects this to modern politics, describing opportunism, narcissism, and “win at any cost” incentives in the MAGA era, citing Byron Donalds and tech leaders’ shifts in response to Donald Trump. Banyai urges critical thinking, compassion, and conscientiousness as antidotes to authoritarianism, and then focuses on Florida bills she says consolidate power and favor developers, especially the “Blue Ribbon Projects” bills (SB 354 and HB 299), which she says reduce local control, limit environmental challenges, and curtail public input. She describes developer lobbying influence in southwest Florida, mentioning Ballard Partners and lobbyist Terry Miller’s role in local and state campaigns and a school board lobbying contract. She argues state preemptions have eroded home rule, giving an example involving Key West cruise ship restrictions and a state law preventing municipalities from regulating cruise ship docking. She also cites culture-war legislation such as banning pride flags and a bill she describes as “don’t say gay at work,” affecting recognition of identities and pronoun use. Benet says Florida’s militarization and expansion of policing differentiates it as fascist, citing DeSantis’ creation of specialized forces, an election integrity police force, and Florida’s universal 287(g) cooperation with ICE across all law enforcement and enforcement agencies. She warns about surveillance capabilities, including use of cameras to track protesters, and references Palantir and Peter Thiel moving business headquarters to Miami. She urges viewers to contact legislators about SB 354/HB 299 and HB 991, which she says would require voters to provide citizenship documentation to be re-registered shortly before a primary, and encourages continued voting and speaking out.
00:00 Welcome to Dr. Cindy Speaks (Show Intro)
00:35 Why I Call Florida the Most Fascist State
01:45 Florida Legislature 101: Session, Budget & Redistricting
02:19 Property Tax Reform Fizzles—And Why That Matters
03:27 Infrastructure, Dirty Water & Funding Government Right
05:47 Fascism, Opportunists & Lessons from Nuremberg
09:16 MAGA Politics as Ambition: Tech Bros, Byron Donalds & Power
13:55 Critical Thinking, Empathy & What Healthy Societies Reward
18:55 Developer Giveaways: The “Blue Ribbon Projects” Bills
23:23 Power Consolidation & Preemption: How Tallahassee Overrides Locals
29:28 Culture-War Bills: Pride Flags, Pronouns & “Don’t Say Gay at Work”
30:44 Florida’s Police State: ICE Agreements, Surveillance & Militarism
37:24 What You Can Do: Call Legislators, Protect Voting Rights, Keep Fighting
38:24 Support Independent Media + Final Thanks & Sign-Off
40 min