Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a prospective 2016 presidential candidate and friend of Gov. Rick Scott, will give the keynote speech tonight at the Okaloosa County Republican Executive Committee’s annual Lincoln Day Dinner.
The event, which is open to the public, is from 6-10 p.m. at the Ramada Plaza Beach Resort, 1500 Miracle Strip Parkway, in Fort Walton Beach. Tickets start at $60 per person; $50 for Century Club and students.
There will also be a Chairman’s Reception in the Oasis Room from 5-6 p.m. Tickets are $250 per person and includes a meet-and-greet with Perry.
The dinner will also feature a discussion with “Shakedown Socialism” author Oleg Atbashian, creator of the ThePeoplesCube.com satirical political website.
Atbashian will discuss his time as a propaganda artist in the Soviet Union, his later immigration to the United States and his reaction when hearing similar messages from both the Kremlin and New York’s intellectual circles. He cites Sept. 11, 2001, as a turning point in his life in America.
Perry recently penned an opinion piece for The Federalist, America Needs To Stop Jailing So Many Non-Violent Offenders, outlining his support of the Right on Crime movement that features a series of sentencing reforms for drug offenses. The movement has been embraced in Texas, Mississippi and Georgia, but not so much in Florida. The results, Perry says, have been “extraordinary.”
“We also implemented common-sense policies,” he writes, “such as allowing individuals to earn their way off probation through exemplary conduct and by achieving benchmarks, such as obtaining a degree. We passed legislation allowing nonviolent offenders to earn up to 20 percent of their terms by completing treatment and vocational programs proven to reduce recidivism.”
