Rick Scott Even Refuses to Say He'll Stop Selling Guns to Mentally Ill; Soledad Furious

I really hate this man.

Rick Scott, as pointed out by Soledad, is heavily supported by the NRA. The video is painful to watch as our idiot governor REPEATEDLY dodges every one of Soledad's questions on what he supports and refuses to name one damn thing that will change in this Godforsaken state. (She starts getting ticked around 1:15)

YES, that is our governor.

Background checks? Guns to mentally ill? Guns for those with a history of domestic violence? Giant assault rifles and high capacity magazines? Gov. Crome Dome can't take a stand on any of that because some bullshit about letting people mourn. But oh, I'll tell schools they better review their safety policy. (This from the man who in his first year stripped our schools of 1.3 billion. Thanks asshole.)

Soledad was furious, and so was I. I live here.

Why won't Rick Scott say anything about anything?

Because Florida is the NRA's playground. They ALWAYS try their luck with the FLorida legislature before going to other states:

YOu may know us from the Stand Your Ground law made famous by the death of Trayvon Martin. Turns out many killers with a long history of violence use this law to go free.

Thanks NRA.

Earlier this year, Lex Luther and the state legislature pushed a RIDICULOUS bill backed by the NRA to force all local governments to rescind ordinances banning random shooting in populated areas.

Thanks NRA.

It gets worse. My own idiot legislator pushed a bill written by the NRA to make it a crime for a doctor to ask about guns in the house and get fined $5 million for doing so. (A psychiatrist asking Nancy Lanza if she kept her guns would have gotten him in big trouble here).

It was thrown out for being anti-First Amendment (and a lotta stupid, even for us), so asshole Rick Scott spent a lot of taxpayer money to appeal.

Thanks NRA.

As crazy as these bills are, there are always new ones that get considered that don't pass. (Can you imagine? Last year it was the one that would allow firearms outside of clothing on college campuses).

Every single year, one new law gets passed here that the NRA supports or even writes for our inept legislators. We are the experiment. The NRA is the mad scientist.

And Rick Scott is our fucking idiot.

Democrats Blast Rick Scott for Helping Allen West's Quest to Overturn Election

.

Allen West. Worst Congressman ever. Unstable, erratic, extreme, and bigoted. Hates gays, women, is a proud Islamophobe, equated food stamps to slavery, and actually claimed that 80 House Democrats were communists.

How bad was he? In a GOP-gerrymandered district where a right-wing incumbent should have won easily, and where outside groups significantly outspent and smeared his Democratic opponent, Allen West STILL lost!!!

Allen West was too crazy for even Florida Republicans. (And they elected Rick freakin' Scott!)

And let's be clear. Despite Allen West's mad rantings, he did in fact LOSE the election. Under Florida law, a taxpayer-paid recount occurs when a race is within 0.5 percent or closer. Allen West lost by 1,907 votes, which is more than that. Case closed.

If a judge orders a recount anyway, so be it. But he will still lose.

Enter Rick Scott. Aka, Dr. Evil but less comical.

Scott is a close friend of Allen West. They are both teabaggers and often praise each other.

Now, you might have heard a few stories in the national news about Rick Scott pissing on Florida voters. Well, it seems Rick has had a change of heart. Now Scott is suddenly saying, (I shit you not), that he is determined to protect "the voice of the voters".

FL Sec. of State Ken Detzner, (who, again, I need to remind you replaced the previous SoS because he was disgusted with Rick Scott's voter suppression tactics), ordered a team of "auditors" to essentially harrass the St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections.

(The harrassment apparently worked. Gertrude Walker was hospitalized today.)

Detzner's spokesman said the auditors were sent because of concern that "fair elections were conducted in all of the St. Lucie County races, not just the highest profile contests".

Riiiiight. Auditors were sent to this one county because Rick Scott is really concerned about the Soil and Water election results in St. Lucie. Allen West's Congressional race just happens to be one among them.

Not only is this action not justified, but this is a blatant attempt to undermine and pressure the elections chief.

DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz ain't having any of that mess:

"All votes in this election were counted fairly and accurately, and Allen West has lost beyond the mandatory recount range. Having Governor Scott intervene is outrageous and inappropriate. After disenfranchising Florida voters by cutting down early voting days and creating extraordinarily long lines at the polls, Governor Scott is now trying to blatantly overturn an election result he disagreed with and undermine Gertrude Walker, a three-decade veteran of the St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections office. Governor Scott needs to remove himself from this process immediately."

Rep. Alcee Hastings also jumped in:

“It was Governor Scott who cut early voting hours, created long lines during early voting, and imposed unprecedented burdens on county election offices. Despite his repeated efforts to disenfranchise voters, the people of Florida’s 18th district chose Patrick Murphy to represent them in Washington, and by a margin that does not necessitate a recount. “Governor Scott’s efforts to interfere with a local official who has decades of experience and overturn an election conducted in full accordance with the law are a gross misuse of power and an unwarranted intrusion into the electoral process that should cease immediately.”

Florida has a bad reputation. The reason? Republicans, who hate government, completely run our state government. Look at just this past week: we got results from a government study to determine if texting while driving is bad (newsflash: it is), Rick Scott hired a laid-off banker who abused his unemployment compensation to head the agency that doles out uneployment compensation, and we got the results back from the Stand your Ground panel--no changes needed to the law! (The fact that it was made up of people who wrote the bill had no impact, I'm sure). I never have a shortage of material to write about for this series.

I have hope, though. Election day was a great day for me. Florida might finally be saying "Enough!" Election day might even be better in 2014, when Rick Scott can join his buddy Allen West in the unemployment line.

Rick Scott Crosses the Line From Crime to Treason

Yesterday was the glorious vision of Rick Scott and our one-party system: a day actually referred to as "Color-Free Sunday". It is typically the largest African American voting day because black churges organize "Souls to the Polls". But this year, as the former head of the FL GOP admitted, they had to keep nonwhites from voting.

Yesterday we had chaos in South Florida. People who stood in lines for literally over 7 hours on Saturday and didn't make it in were promised they could pick up and vote using absentee ballots from 1-5 pm: only to have the Miami-Dade elections office shut down after less then two hours. Over 180 angry voters, Hispanics, blacks, whites, all screamed "We want to vote!!"

Think about that for a second. In our own country, people were screaming to vote.

I was shocked when I read that. Republicans watchin at the elections office had a different reaction. They had their cars towed!

Welcome to Rick Scott's Florida.

As much as I eviscerate my state, I will tell you that people here are so damned determined to vote despite the best effort from the state GOP to turn our state into a fucking third-world country. Maybe its BECAUSE we live in a virtual dictatorship. But as bad as voting was this weekend in Democratic areas, it will be worse tomorrow: on Election Day, there will be even fewer polling precincts this year than in 2008.

Gov. Voldemort has actually said voting has gone very smoothly here and denies that there has been any problem. His new Secretary of State, Ken Detzner, (the last one resigned in disgust, by the way), said only an actual emergency would allow more early voting hours... which is utter-fucking crap. Because in my own county, a suspicious package was placed at a Democratically-leaning polling district which shut the polling station shut down for four hours. EVEN THEN, Rick Scott said NO--even to make up the damn hours lost by some right-wing whackjob.

A judge had to intervene to extend the hours we were promised only after the state Democratic Party sued.

Senator Bill Nelson in a letter to Rick Scott:

You should be doing everything in your power to make sure everybody has the chance to vote, and that their vote is counted. Instead, Gov. Scott, you are allowing people to be turned away and jeopardizing the credibility of Florida's election.

Former Governor Crist:

The only thing that makes any sense as to why this is happening and being done is voter suppression.

It's one thing to steal and get rich off of Medicare fraud. That's just another day here in Florida. But Amercicans have fought and died for our right to vote. So let's call this what it is. Treason.

Voter suppression is Treason, governor.

And that is something even Florida won't tolerate.

It's not enough to defeat you in 2014, Rick; your traitorous ass needs to be thrown in prison. Or at least exiled to a third-world dictatorship you so obviously envy.

5 Ways a Romney Victory Will Ruin Future Campaigns

Don't get me wrong. I am feeling a lot better about Obama pulling this off. But it is my nature to worry--I thought there was no way Rick Scott could win either.

I am not fearful for myself personnally; I make good scratch and actually would do well under a Romney presidency. I do fear the devastation to the middle class Romney will certainly try to inflict, not to mention the rights he will try to destroy, but at least I am finally confident that our leadership in the Seante will stop him where they can. (Although it will suck that we will have to fight for our basic rights consistently-again).

What I fear about a Romney victory on Nov. 6 will be the devastation to our democracy. There will be 5 takeaways campaign strategists will use for future campaigns:

1. Outright lies will become a legitimate campaign strategy. Journalism, fact checkers, and even facts, will be attacked as partisan if they contradict a politician. I get that lies are part of politics, but in the past, if you were called on it, you were shamed and IT STOPPED! In the new environment? A candidate will literally make things up, and not only will there be no consequence, but there will be reward. As long as there is money to keep pushing the lie, and fake news sources (hello FOx) to ignore or stand by it, we will be bombarded with so many lies in future campaigns that our outrage over Romney's blatant, debunked lies about everything from welfare to Chrysler will be considered quaint.

2. Bigotry, even hate, will be used as just another election tool that can work. Questioning someone's Americanism, religion, patriotism, birth, intelligence, college transcripts, you name it, will become par for the course in a campaign. Especially if the candidate is "foreign" looking. But as disgusting as those tactics are, I promise you that after a Romney victory you will see more-- and worse.

3. Voter suppression tactics will be standardized in modern GOP campaigns. Romney is already training people to lie to voters to supress teh vote on election day. Here in Florida, people are getting phone calls and letters telling them the wrong dates and times, and I'm not even sure that is illegal here. (If it is I can say there are no consequences, because it keeps happening.) Our legislature worked overtime last year to make it as difficult as possible to register and allow voting for likely Democrats--from essentially banning third party registration outfits, shredding absentee ballots for fake "handwriting analysis", purging eligible voters, forcing provisional ballots on students and women, etc. These are tactics that make third-world dictators blush. A Romney victory, however, will mean refighting the Jim Crow laws that we thought we put to bed half a century ago.

4. Its all about money: Candidates will spend more time fighting over a billionaire's favor, not the public. Romney's entire campaign was financed with 32 billionaires. Obama primarily took in small donations and gave him a run for his money. The take-away from a Romney victory will be candidates running to billionaires and their SuperPACs to curry favor for votes.

5. Secrecy will be the new normal. Did we ever see Mitt's tax returns? Does anyone really know how he made his money? Never mind it has been the standard for 4 decades to release 10+ years of taxes. Putting that aside, has anyone EVER figured how what Romney is going to cut to reduce the deficit?? Somehow we are going to keep our popular deductions, the superrich will get a 20% tax break, and our defense budget will rise by 2 trillion. My now discredited Orlando Sentinel endorsement failed to say how in the hell any of that is going to happen... but it doesn't matter. They didn't ask and I guess its too much trouble for them or anyone else in the MSM to try to get answers.

With a Romney victory, you will see an immediate change under GOP campaigns from the national all the way down to the local level. I fear down the line that even non-GOP campaigns will feel they have to respond in kind.

Romney's campaign was the ugliest and slimiest in modern history... and if he is victorious, I fear that soon his campaign will be the standard, not the exception. Even worse, one day, his campaign will be considered "tame".

It doesn't have to be this way. Vote, then get others to vote, then volunteer, then rest. Thank you.

Seminole Democrat 2012 Florida Voter Guide and Endorsements!!

Early Voting starts Saturday, October 27 thru Saturday, November 3, 7am-7pm

For all Floridians: Find your early voting locations by visiting your respective SoE site. You can find your SoE here.
In Seminole County, its at your local library or SoE office.

FOR ALL FLORIDIANS:

• President: Vote Barack Obama/Joe Biden
• Senator: Vote Bill Nelson
• Congress: Vote for the Democrat!! (same for state races)
• Constitutional Amendments: Vote NO on all Amendments--especially 5 and 6!!
  (All amendments were placed by the GOP legislature-not one by citizens. They are all are either misleading, a blatant power grab, or roll back your rights).
• FL Supreme Court: Vote YES to retain all Supreme Court Justices!
  R. Fred Lewis, Barbara J. Pariente, and Peggy A. Quince (The GOP and the Koch Brothers are spending millions attacking them so Rick Scott can pick 3 new right-wing judges. Don't let him!)

Specific to my own Seminole County:

• Congress, District 3: Corrine Brown
• Congress, District 7: Jason Kendall
• State Senate, District 20: Leo Cruz
• State House, District 29: Mike Clelland
• State House, District 30: Karen Castor-Dentel
• State Attorney: Ryan Vescio
• Seminole County Commission District 5: Gail Ellis
• Seminole County Commission District 4: Rick Russi
• Winter Springs Commission District 3: Pam Carroll
• City of Oviedo Councilman, Group III: Stephen Schneck
• Soil and Water Group 1: Tom Johnson

Printable Voter Guide to take to the polls!

Handy Chart to Explain the Different Types of Rape

Thank you GOP...

Obama WON the debate! Take a minute and hit the snap polls!

click HERE for a list of snap polls from CNN, CBS, Yahoo, and the like.... Don't allow the GOP to spin. Let everyone know that this was DEFINTELY Obama's night!!

Still Wondering How Rick Scott Won? You Need to Read This...

Crossposted as a Rec/Resc. diary on DKos



For those of you who don't know Florida, we are solid red in the north (especially the panhandle, which is called "Lower [or Baja] Alabama"), purple in the middle (Tampa thru Daytona) and deep blue in the south--especially Miami-Dade County (ranked one of the most liberal counties in America).

In 2010, during Bobblehead Rick Scott's gubernatorial fight with Alex Sink, he got creamed (expectedly) in Miami-Dade County on early voting and Election Day voting. But then something strange happened: Rick Scott won his seat with 20,745 absentee ballots from none other than Miami-Dade County.

His signature issue, (besides gutting education funding, killing high-speed rail, and anything else that makes Florida suck more), is voter suppression. On the heels of his ban on voting by freed prisoners and his now infamous voter "purge", he supported and signed into law last year a large series of voter suppression initiatives that cut early voting and essentially eliminated voter regisration drives.

All of this done in the name of "in-person voter fraud", of which he could find not one single instance of.

Yet strangely, governor Lex Luther and our GOP-controlled legislature, who claimed to be champions of curbing voter fraud, didn't curb the one election fraud issue that not only exists but is unfortunately very common here: absentee-ballot fraud.

None of this is more true than in Miami-Dade County, where absentee-ballot fraud is utterly rampant:

Absentee vote fraud destroying Miami-Dade elections - Miami Herald A dramatic increase in absentee voting in recent years means that absentee ballots are increasingly, and disproportionately, deciding our elections. But in many cases absentee voting patterns are so far out of sync with the rest of the county’s voting that it is obvious that something is seriously wrong. We have even reportedly seen cases of absentee ballots found in a local mayor’s car.

Five losing candidates in the August primaries have filed lawsuits in Miami-Dade alleging absentee-ballot fraud; and two ballot collectors (called "boleteros") were arrested.

The top boleteros are Republican, and each has teams of volunteers who have access to hundreds of voters. They are technically tasked with offering to help elderly or infirm voters fill out their ballots and ensure they get mailed. Yet in reality, many of them, shall we say, go "above and beyond" their job. There is ample opportunity to sway, bribe, or cajole their voters.... if not outright fill the ballot out for them and forge their signature.

Yes, that has definitely happened, as you can see if you read the whole article. Candidates in Miami-Dade are often contacted by boleteros promising a certain number of votes for a certain amount of money. This is not a new issue. Back in 1997, the Miami mayor’s race was overturned because of more than 5,000 fraudulent absentee ballots.

Boleteros are well-established and very prevalent in the Republican-heavy Cuban community in Miami-Dade. And Rick Scott was not above hiring them.

One of them was a person Rick Scott paid several thousand dollars to: Ms. Emelina Llanes. And much like her boss, Ms. Llanes is very ethically challenged:

But [Police Chief] Bolaños and another city employee told Miami New Times they saw Llanes go door-to-door at a Hialeah public housing building for the elderly during the city’s 2011 mayoral election, collecting ballots from elderly residents: “When she came out, we approached her because we believed she was carrying ballots,” Bolaños says. “She started yelling that she was being violated and that she had chest pains.” The ex-cop says Llanes, who allegedly had the ballots in a bag, ran into an apartment. When two Hialeah Police officers responded to the scene, they found no ballots, and Llanes denied the accusations.

Ms. Llanes is currently charged with illegally collecting ballots, which include a forged one on behalf of an elderly woman whose ballot was filled out even though she is currently unresponsive in an assisted living facility.

It is illegal to go door-to-door to pick up absentee ballots from elderly residents. Also, you also cannot ever be in possesion of more than two absentee ballots at one time. However, boleteros have been spotted with stacks, even bags full.

I grant you, this is circumstantial evidence at best. Sure, it is possible that unlike the seniors who voted in-person, maybe all those absentee ballot users in Miami-Dade overwhelmingly wanted Rick Scott for some reason. And sure, maybe Ms. Llanes and other boleteros in Miami-Dade were particularly honest in Rick Scott's 2010 gubernatorial election. We can't prove it. I get that.

But we could investigate. A task force could be created to get to the bottom of the problem.. something for some reason our leaders don't want to do.

I suppose some citizen journalists could go to these elderly voters and ask if there were any issues with someone collecting their ballots. You would also be able to tell if certain voters were comatose, unresponsive, or senile, which would wave some serious red flags. The only problem is the legislature mandated that if you vote by mail and request an absentee ballot, it must be kept secret. This is the same legislature, mind you, that mandated that if you vote early, your name will listed ONLINE along with when and where you voted! Because, you know, all the rampant problems with early, in-person.... voting?

(Granted, there is a strong argument that the secrecy helps prevent people from being targeted by boleteros from certain campaigns, but I really think its obvious they already know.)

Rick Scott and this legislature KNOW there is a problem with absentee-ballot fraud. The reason they don't care is that it normally benefits their party greatly. Rick Scott, of course, insists that nothing was shady in his election.

After all, stealing money from the elderly's Medicare is one thing, but stealing their vote? That would just be rude.

Romney DID win the debate. But here's 7 things to make you smile...

On DailyKos this morning, I noticed a few Recommended authors posting that Romney lost the first presidential debate for 2012. They even argued that he lost big time. This was behavior I usually spot on conservative blogs or FoxNews, putting yourself in an alternate reality bubble if you don't like the one you're given. I posted my own diatribe, which made it to the top of the REC list. I felt a gutcheck was needed, but also a pickup that is based on reality. Here is essentially what I said:

Democrats differ from Republicans in that they are rooted in reality. We cannot, CANNOT, attack the other side for their fantasy world of no fact checkers and imaginary skewed polls if we are going to make a fantasy that last night was somehow a good night for our President.

It was frustrating. Romney lied, lied, and lied again, and Obama not only let him get away with it, he oftentimes nodded his head in agreement.

Nothing was said last night about 47--the precentage of Americans Romney wrote off AND the ranking of job creation that Romney owned as gov. of MA. Nothing on Bain Capital or Romney's hidden money or affection for China.

Obama was passive, listless, and defensive. Romney came off as the winner. Yes I am angry, BUT... here's 7 things that make me feel better (and hopefully you too):

1. This was a needed wake-up call for POTUS. For those of us who are fans of the president, we know there are two Obamas. One is the overly nice guy who bends over backwards for the opposition, and the other is campaign kickboxer/middle-class champion who beats the hell out of the other guy. After his assessment of this, expect to see the kickboxer in the next debate.

2. Next presidential debate is townhall style. Big advantage for Obama. He can connect to folks. Romney? Not so much. He has this thing about commoners. He always comes across as condescending and awkward-- a unique Romney trait.

3. Any bump won't last more than a week. The veep debate is Oct. 11. Biden has the advantage of being seen as the underdog. That's a good thing in a debate. Biden is one tough SOB and I know he's been itching to ream Paul Ryan and his awful budget.

4. Now Obama gets to be the underdog. Before this debate, the polls showed that most people thought Obama would crush Romney. Lowering expectations right before a debate is something both sides try to do. Now that Romney has established himself as a seasoned debator, Obama gets the advantage.

5. First debates don't matter. George W. got his butt handed to him in the first debate with John Kerry. For those of you old enough to remember, Ronald Reagan was UTTERLY DEMOLISHED in his first debate. Remember how those turned out??

6. Romney sucks and is too far behind. There is nothing Romney can do to erase the epic ton of gaffes that has made him the most unlikable and worst challenger in modern presidential history. He will get a small short-lived and small bump from this, but he can't erase the large deficit in all the battleground states.

7. This is my favorite. SUPERPACS will stop diverting money to downballot races. No doubt snake oil saleman Karl Rove is on the phone asking for millions for Romney that otherwise would have gone to much closer Senate and House races. SuperPac money in the presidential race is wasted (Just read this). This is great news for us.

Finally, bonus. #8.

This should be a wake-up call to all of us. If you were thinking of sitting this election out... DON'T! If you haven't volunteered, canvassed, phone-banked, registered voters, poll watched, etc. DO THAT NOW!! This is not and has never been in the bag for us by any means. Complacency can cost us this election. Obama got that message last night and will step up.... will you?

Help Me Fight 3rd ATTEMPT by Rick Scott to Replace Supreme Court Justices

Crossposted as an Election Diary Rescue on DKOS.

An independent judiciary is to tyrants as sunlight to vampires. €”Martin Dyckman

As you may well know, our Florida state legislature is overwhelmingly Republican (even though our state has more Dems). On top of that, we have the worst, most radical, most tea-party aligned governor in the nation who rightfully has the lowest approval ratings of any governor in modern history.

The only thing that has kept our state from sinking into complete tea party excrement is the Court system. Our Florida supreme court is evenly balanced, and they have been a voice of sanity in this crazy state. And boy have they paid a price. From having their funding cut, to REPEATED legislative attempts to curb their authority, to the current disastrous Amendment 5 on the ballot this year that would give the Legislature direct authority over the courts! (Dear God, people.. VOTE NO ON ALL FLORIDA AMENDMENTS THIS YEAR!!)

But the most cynical and devasting attack would be the removal of three sitting state supreme court justices who have previously ruled against governor egghead. They have CONSISTENTLY, for two years, been the target of the governor and his right-wing ally'€™s wrath: Justices R. Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente and Peggy Quince. If Scott is successful in getting rid of them this election, he will get to replace all of them....

This is why Scott has been hellbent on removing them from the bench. There have been THREE blatant attempts so far to get rid of them:

1. The first came when Tricky Ricky worked with the GOP legislature to divide the court in two branches, and pledged to put these THREE judges (who have been there the longest) on a newly created "criminal division". Almost worked but it fell apart at the end.
2. The second came when Gov Scott attempted to smear these particular justices by ordering state law enforcement to investigate if they used court employees to help prepare election documents. This is common practice among all judges; and they were cleared of any wrong doing. Rick Scott was furious.
3. Now #3. The Florida GOP, in an unprecedented partisan assault, voted last week to formally oppose these three Supreme Court justices during their merit retention this Fall. They said they were "extreme" and cited their disapproval in a nine-year old murder case (yeah, right). Up until last week, there was only a shadowy tea party group, Restore Justice 2012, whose sole purpose has been to push these three justices off the bench. But the FL GOP adds more funds and muscle.And now, the Koch Brothers have gotten into the act.

Those two greedy bastards are spending millions to run attack ads against the justices. Again, unprecedented. Their front group, Americans for Prosperity, released the first of what they said would be series of ads. If you care to see it, look just below. The attack is some garbage about the Supreme Court rejecting a proposed constitutional amendment against Obamacare. (BTW, the three justices were joined by two others in ruling that the non-binding amendment included a misleading summary that made numerous promises such as ensuring €œaccess to health care services without waiting lists.€)



This merit retention system of judges was put in place to keep the state’s high court above politics. The intent was never to try to pack the court with ideologues.

This is so bad that even JEB Bush came out against it. (He's a saint in Florida politics.) Other Republicans have called this out for what it is. The former RPOF chairman said this action should scare Floridians to death. All the newspapers, the other Supreme Court justices, along with 23 former presidents of the state bar, have also all decried this as a power grab. (To which Rick Scott would say, "well duh...")

Please HELP! Destroying the Court will give Scott unlimited power, and my state can't handle much more. This is perhaps the most important statewide election this year, and the GOP is counting on people not being too engaged on this.

This merit retention election will determine whether Scott gets two more years in office... or two decades of his bitter legacy!!

Two PACS have been created to fight this injustice, and they need help: Defend Justice Florida and Democracy at Stake.

Websites for the justices:

voteyesjusticelewis.com

voteyesjusticepariente.com

voteyesjusticequince.com

Finally, here's a sticker for your car. First time I used zazzle. If I get any royalties, I promise it will go to help fight for these folks. (I think it's just a few cents per sticker, but I'll kick in a few bucks as well. The goal here is awareness anyway.)

LINK IS HERE



In a way, Rick Scott IS on the ballot this year. EVERYONE who votes for Obama and Nelson, please vote YES to retain all the FL Supreme Court justices this election!

"Conservative Values" FL State Legislator Linked to Prostitution Ring

Crossposted as an Election Diary Rescue on DKOS.

Every two years it seems to happen. A sactimonious a$$H... GOP legislator here in Florida gets caught with his or her pants down.

Of course you remember the infamous Mark Foley, whose penchant for male pages was largely ignored by his peers and made his chairmanship of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children seem somewhat ironic.

Or, you may not remember Bob Allen, who claimed he was offering the undercover officer money to give him a blowjob because he was fearful of "black guys".

And the lesbian affair/travel scandal from our complete fiasco of a Lt. Governor, Jennifer Carroll.

As of today, we have someone new. The man the Christian Coalition of Florida gave the aptly named "Faith and Families Award" to: right-wing state representative and teabagger darling, Mike Horny Horner of Kissimmee.

Orlando Sentinel:

State Rep. Mike Horner of Kissimmee, a leading Osceola County Republican and a rising star in state GOP circles, abruptly ended his re-election campaign Monday after he was named as a client in a prostitution and racketeering case... "I deeply regret decisions I made that are causing my family unjustifiable pain and embarrassment …," Horner said. "My family still deserves better from me, as do all my friends, supporters and constituents." He did not respond to requests for an interview.

Horner is no ordinary state representative. He was a fast-rising star.

He was named president of the powerful Kissimmee/Osceola Chamber of Commerce, funneled money to Disney (a requirement here), was a massive fundraiser for the state GOP, and thus had the backing of every big name Florida conservative, including JEB, Marco Rubio and NRA president Marian Hammer. They eve n made a video for him, along with other prominent Florida conservatives, extolling his virtues. Such "integrity"! So much "character" this guy has!

(Although I agree he was "in step with conservative values"--meaning he is a complete assh&*e. The guy has a wife and small child at home! The last frame may break your heart.)



And if you can stomach it, more crap:

Conservative values, my ass.

Thankfully, this was a gauranteed seat for the GOP that we can now definitely win.

The Democrat is Eileen Game for state House District 42, a Polk County business woman.



Even though it's a conservative district, with Horner out, a new republican will only have six weeks to put his or her campaign together, raise money, meet voters... and not even have his or her name on the ballot!! Horner's name has to remain because the deadline to change it has long past.

We need more Democrats DESPERATELY in these final two years of the Rick Scott regime.

1. First, Like her on facebook
2. Donate! Just a little bit... a couple bucks. She's raised several grand and matched that with her own contributions. Our money will go farther because all the funds for Horner have, as of today, been wasted!
3. If you are in District 42 (straddles Osceola and Polk) or live in St. Cloud, Lake Wales or Frostproof, please consider volunteering.
4. At the very least, if you are in the district, ask her for a sign!.

Let's take Florida back, one district at a time.

Want to know HOW FAR Florida's governor will go to STOP you from asking a question?

Crossposted on DKos as a Rec diary

A young mother wanted to speak to her governor during his recently completed "listening" tour of public education. This was the start of something bad:

To be considered for meeting the governor, each parent had to fill out a form with a driver's license, Social Security number and date of birth. Similar forms are routinely required from those who attend gatherings with a president of the United States, but contrary to the claims in Tallahassee, they have never been routinely required for a meeting with prior Florida governors.

As appalling as that is, what is happened after the check was even more appalling... .

For almost 20 years this young mother has held a sensitive job as a child care worker and Medicaid provider who screens young children. This type of work requires a flawless background with rigorous background checks. She always passes with flying colors.

This time, all she wanted to do was sit down in the school library at the school her own child attends while her governor "listens" to their concerns.

But she was denied. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement told her she failed her background check.

What's worse is that, to this day, they won't tell her why she was rejected! From the same article:

Gretl Plessinger, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, refused to disclose why La'Tasha Reed Dullivan flunked its background test to attend a session of the governor's education "listening tour.'

Mrs. Dullivan was furious. So she ran a check on herself, forking over the $24 for access to the database.

What did find? Nothing. Nada. Zip.

No trace of criminal history.

Nothing evil--except her party registration. Democrat.

Outrageous! - says the governor's staff. They certaintly don't tell law enforcement to weed out Democrats! (Except when they do).

The FDLE won't say why she "failed" either, despite repeated requests from the press. (Nasty buggers they are. No wonder Scott hates them so.)

The FDLE put out a statement that these background checks are common. This is complete and utter crap. No other governor has ever subjected their citizens to a background check just to talk with them. The Tampa Times investigated and found that not Crist, Chiles, Graham, or even JEB did such a thing. Bush's former Chief of Staff said Bush never asked for a backround check just to meet with her boss; and Charlie Crist was downright disgusted when he was asked, saying "I never did that!''

Scott's people, growing tired of a new scandal every week, are throwing the FDLE under the bus. They are saying they must be going rogue and doing this without their knowledge. Once again, COMPLETE AND UTTER CRAP! You can't pull a stunt like this without the Chief Law Enforcement Officer in the state knowing about it--and in this backwards state, that person is the same freaking guy who gets elected governor. (BTW, Dick Rott used this position as an excuse to order the Sumter Co. Sheriff to remove anyone wearing an anti-Scott T-shirt in a public square last year.)

Running these types of background checks on EVERYONE who is selected to be in an audience with the guber is expensive, offensive and wasteful. FDLE is underfunded and overwhelmed. The limited resources need to go to serious crimes, including dealing with the uptick in murders under the badly-written Stand Your Ground law you may have heard about. Just like public education, which was cut by $1.3 billion in 2011, FDLE succumbed to the Tallahassee Teabag budget ax along with those other government "parasites" in mental health and child protective services.

(And, before I conclude, allow me to quickly remind everyone what a total asshole Rick Scott is: he appointed a monster to head the Department of Children and Families who justified Rick Scott gutting his own agency by $179 million, even though we have an epidemic of child deaths, by saying "I believe in the protective power of prayer and hope".

Seriously dude, F&*K YOU!! And to cap it off, Scott requested a 116% increase for his own office. Ass......hole. OK, I'm done.)

I'm sure the woman didn't miss much. Scott mostly talked during his "listening" tour and the complaints fell on deaf ears. But he could have at least a shred of decency and allowed someone to ask why they are being screwed over before ignoring them.

What I find most ironic is that this squeaky-clean woman couldn't get an audience with a governor with an actual criminal history.

But then again, this is Florida....

Updated Romney Sticker

Great Week for Rick Scott: Got to Screw Over Teachers AND Unemployed

From the My Stupid State series. Crossposted on DKos

TEACHERS:

From the moment on that God-awful day Rick Scott took office, he has been on an unholy crusade to ruin public education.

Despite Florida already ranking near the bottom in education, the bald-headed bastard proposed completely gutting k-12 education by $1.75 billion. But it was MUCH worse than even that: Although he justified the cut by saying we have a huge state deficit, he planned to use that money not to pay down the debt, but to give it all away through massive corporate tax breaks. It was so bad that Rachael Maddow devised the "Rick Scott test" as a metric to measure how bad the other governors were. Thankfully, Rick Scott's GOP legislators bravely rolled over pushed back... and only allowed a $1.3 billion cut, which is still a freaking state record.

With our schools in free-fall, programs cut, teacher take-home pay decimated, and children suffering, even this pathetic and apathetic state gave the legislators an outcry. The shell-shocked legislature restored about 75% of the funding (but not before the requisite bashing of non-political state employees).

Unfortunately for Scott, trying to make teachers destitute, give them unfair higher standards than charter schools, and attempt to drug-test them like criminals, for some reason, had a negative impact on his polls (among other things). After almost two years of refusing to set foot into a public school, he suddenly realized that our children's teachers were much more popular than he was. (Actually, I think he's only slightly ahead of toxic mold, which at least has a reason to screw over people.)

Hence, this week, Gov. BatBoy announced, with much fanfare, a "listening" tour of some of our public schools, closed to the public, of course.

From what I hear in these closed sessions, he brings a giant banner that says "Promise Kept-One Billion for Education". Apparently thinking we are all f-ing idiots that he gutted education by $300 million more than that last year.

The sessions are primarily Rick Scott giving out his talking points, ("listening" means listen to me, dammit), and questions afterwards. Although these sessions are invite-only, his handlers couldn't find hardly any teacher in favor of his asshattery, so he has been getting a mouthful. Rick Scott heard horror stories of trying to teach starving, neglected, and homeless children with few resources... and then condescendingly told them that eveyone asks him for more money. (If the hungry 3-year old was a big corporation, then we'd talk.)

The teachers he has talked with point out he didn't say he would do anything different. Condescending, unhelpful, and an asshat. Mission accomplished.



But just in case you think his contempt is limited to teachers, wait until they get unemployed.

UNEMPLOYED:

Florida is now DEAD LAST in the nation of unemployed workers receiving benefits.

Why?

Early this year a new policy was enacted that requires all new claims to be filed using a convoluted online service:

This might explain why in the first quarter of 2012 more than 60,000 workers were denied benefits for procedural reasons, an increase of more than 200 percent from the year before.

No live person, no phone calls, no letters. Plus, only online documentation of job searches. Next session the legislature is planning on eliminating all notices through the mail as well, so you had better get your email! One lawyer in that article said the process has turned into a game of "gotcha". Make it hard to do, easy to make mistakes, then deny.

The U.S. Department of Labor is currently investigating. (Wait your turn, Labor!)

Florida is the ONLY state in the union that is requiring online only. Every other state has at least a telephone application option for those unable to do it online.

So you are an older, low-wage worker with a family and got thrown out with no notice... very common now in this GOP hellhole.

Naturally, the first thing you are going to want to do is buy a computer and get cable internet service.

Can't afford it? GET A JOB! (Oh right...) You say you worked construction and aren't tech savvy? Well, maybe you shouldn've taken a few courses. It's not like tuition suddenly skyrocketed under this regime.

Online forms not clear? Yeah, no kidding. They are notoriously and (problaby purposefully) confusing. But that just means you have to WANT it baby! We can't afford to pay for people to answer your questions. Learn how to talk to the paperclip guy!

And God help you if you do it wrong. (Seriously, you better pray if you made a mistake.)

Naturally, this is something Rick Scott is very proud of. NOT KIDDING. Check out the new verbiage that just went up this week on the main claims page for the FL Dept. of Econ. Opportunity:



Yes, thanks to our illustrious governor, claims are down!! But not because people are back to work--it's because Gov. Dick Rott is purposefully being an ass to people simply trying to apply for their benefits!

It's called kicking someone when they're down. No wonder Mitt Romney loves the guy!

FL GOP Spends YOUR Money to Fight Latino Resident Citizens from Claiming In-State Tuition!

Crossposted as a Rec'd diary on Dkos

Maybe your state fights for their citizens. Mine fights against our people... and then bills us for it. That is what happens when your state is completely run by the GOP.

The party that is currently screaming fiscal restraint is spending mad taxpayer money defending its hateful ideology. Millions have so far been spent fighting (and losing) to stop healthcare reform, the privatization of prisons, drug testing of welfare recipients, drug testing of all state workers (except legislators and Rick Scott), voter suppression laws, radical gun laws (Docs vs. Glocks), redistricting, and the shifting of pension costs onto state workers.

And this latest expensive failure just happened: Our tax dollars went to defend what the judge correctly described as a "blatantly unconstitutional" policy to deny American citizens the right to in-state tuition unless their parents could prove legal residency.

Naturally, we were the ONLY state that had this ridiculous requirement.

The US District Judge wasted no time shredding this idiotic policy:

The plaintiffs included four high school grads born and raised in Miami, one born in Los Angeles but raised in Palm Beach County. All had been denied in-state tuition. The effect, as Judge Moore noted, was that these young Florida citizens who happened to be children of undocumented immigrants were charged a state college tuition rate triple that paid by fellow state citizens. Judge Moore tossed the policy, telling the state what their lawyers already knew. That the Supreme Court applies “a form of heightened scrutiny when evaluating alleged violations of the Equal Protection Clause that arise from a state’s denial of a benefit to a child or creation of an additional obstacle to a child solely by virtue of the parent’s unlawful or immoral behavior.”

Keep in mind that was a GOP policy that had widespread, legislative GOP support. Nevermind that is was illegal and UNCONSTITUTIONAL. It was brown people we were talking about, so they didn't care. Hispanic Floridians should pay for the sins of thier parents. In this case, the sin being wanting a better life for your family and being exploited by an employer that brought you here. Regardless of that, these children were US CITIZENS and FLORIDA RESIDENTS.

But to the GOP, it's all about the parents.

Sort of like having me go to jail if my Dad was caught bribing a legislator.

Oh wait, that's not illegal in florida anymore. (Seriously, last year legislator bribery was FREAKING LEGALIZED!)

Couple of things before I get off my soapbox:

1. It is telling that the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil-rights organization that normally takes on hate groups like the Klan, is now taking on Rick Scott's GOP regime in Florida.

2. It is also telling that the Courts consistently smack Rick Scott's GOP bullies down (which is why he is hellbent on going after our impartial Courts.)

3. It it telling the lengths the FL GOP will go to in order to hurt minorities. I am willing to bet any amount of money that they would have no trouble with these children if they were working back-breaking labor in our farms and orange groves.

4. It is not just telling, but appalling, that none of the handful of GOP Hispanic legislators supported repeal. Rubio? He was FL House Speaker when this nonsensical bigotry took effect in 2005. One guess as to where he stood on this.

5. Florida doesn't even have an immigration problem that needs solving. Our biggest problem with "illegals" are Europeans who overstay their visa.

6. If you think this legislative bigotry is isolated, think again. Rick Scott and the GOP wanted LEGAL IMMIGRANTS to carry their papers at all times to be checked... and get fined and jailed if they didn't have their papers with them!

7. Still not convinced? That bill I just mentioned for #6? There was an even more radical bill that Rick Scott promised to sign. It was similar to the Arizona law, but included a racial exemption for white people.

The GOP is going to begin a massive "Hispanic outreach" in the weeks prior to this election. Please, keep this in mind when they tout their diversity. Nice rhetoric doesn't make up for being attacked by actual legislation.

Justice Department: Florida dumping disabled kids in nursing homes for adults

Article by Christian Dem in NC. Crossposted to DKos.

Earlier this year, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division got word that Florida officials have been sending sick and disabled children to adult nursing homes. It found the goings-on so egregious that on Tuesday, it sent a "what the hell is going on here?" letter to Tallahassee.

Hundreds of Florida children are spending their formative years in hospital-like institutions, sometimes growing up in the equivalent of hospital rooms with virtually no education or socialization, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division wrote in a 22-page letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi. Bondi’s office is defending the state against a previously filed lawsuit that claims the institutionalization of children violates federal law.

The letter, written by Assistant U.S. Attorney General Thomas E. Perez, is the federal government’s first attempt to weigh in on the controversy. At the end of his letter, Perez outlined a series of steps the state could take to reduce its reliance on nursing home beds for frail children. If state leaders fail to “correct” the practice, Perez wrote, “the Attorney General may initiate a lawsuit” of his own.

Some youngsters remain in nursing homes for much of their lives: “a number” of kids, the report said, have spent a decade or longer institutionalized, including some children who entered the facilities as infants and toddlers.

Read the full letter here. It alleges that disabled children often spend years in nursing homes--at least 50 haven't been home in five years. According to several advocates for disabled children, state officials have sent children to nursing homes even when they are more than capable of living at home with their parents. Perez accuses the state of cutting millions of dollars from programs that support disabled children and turning down federal money that would allow them to stay at home. The state even went as far as to repeal state rules that restrict the number of children that nursing homes can take in, and increased their per diems in order to encourage them to take children in. According to Perez, this is not only a flagrant violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, but also does serious damage to children.

The letter makes for horrifying reading. Civil Rights Division investigators visited nursing homes in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa and St. Pete. In one facility, the kids living there never leave their floor except for medical appointments or community outings. At another, the entrance to an outdoor area is in the smoking section for adult residents.

Some of the stories are absolutely gut-wrenching. For example, one mother wants to bring her five-year-old daughter home from a facility where she's spent three years after being rendered a quadriplegic in a car accident. But she can't because state officials told her she may have to wait as long as 10 years to get home-based care. Another family had to fight for years to bring their son home after he nearly drowned. The doctor prescribed home-health care to deal with his breathing problems, but had to sue the state to get it to provide the necessary care.

State officials claim that Justice ambushed them with the letter, and didn't provide them with an opportunity to comment before it was released. But this seems hard to believe, given how far back this appears to date. This, friends, appears to be "compassionate conservatism" at work.

Romney to "CARPETBOMB" Obama with $100M in Ads Starting Sat.; but why U should feel good

Crossposted as recommended diary on DKos



First the bad news:

Our gleeful friends at RedState and Fox:

Aides said more than a dozen new ads, each tailored to different regions and segments of the electorate, will begin airing Friday, aimed at dramatically shifting the dynamics of a contest that Romney-Ryan aides acknowledge, in terms of the hard realities of the electoral map, have until now favored the Obama-Biden ticket.

"Time is short," said one campaign aide. "We have $100 million we've just raised. If you look at our burn rate to date and our cash on hand, there's not much more we can spend on infrastructure. So we've got to start spending our general election funds in a big way, because you know what the value of that money is on the day after the election? Zero."

Yes, Romney is getting 9-figure donations (no, that is not a typo). He is going to saturate the TV, radio, websites, etc., with expensively researched ads hitting Obama hard. It is nothing to sneeze at. Whereas Obama gets most of his money from small donors, Romney has almost all of his coming from 32 billionaires donating to his campaign and the myriad of SuperPACs.

BUT now the good news:

Sure, I think it will have an effect, but I'm not worried. Here's why.

1. Money means less in a presidential race than other races. People know who Barack Obama is; and by now they know who Mitt Romney is. (My God, they've had how many "re-introductions" of this guy? If they don't like him now, they aren't going to.) The media coverage of the presidential race is unrelenting and saturating. It leads every news story... and Obama seems to know how to set a narrative a lot better than his opponent.

2. There isn't that many swing voters. The margin is a percentage point or so in the swing states. Most people have already made up their minds and according to the polls, aren't likely to change them. Romney will be spending a few thousand on each swing voter to try to swing them back to his camp. But what is going to swing the election isn't the handful of undecideds who decide to vote, it's the get out the vote operation of each camp's base. This is where Obama has the advantage. Besides, undecideds are like everyone else, they ask their friends and colleagues their opinion. This carries a LOT more weight than an ad. (I am always happy to dispel any misinformation by friends on facebook... and the lies they tell are easily disputed.)

3. Their ads have really, really sucked so far. They run welfare ads featuring Clinton (which is telling--Romney NEVER mentions W. But I digress.). The ads are lies, which becomes the story. Then they have to defend them in interviews and come across as liars. (Wait till the debates.) The Crossroads Ads that Karl has spend tens of millions of dollars on so far have all flopped. Even Erick Erickson thinks they suck:

In the meantime, the GOP Super PAC ads continue to be mostly forgettable while the Super PAC’s themselves continue to raid the pockets of GOP multi-millionaires.

So they love to run ads (countering the claims made by GOP guvs) that the economy is in ruins. Yes, that's the narrative, but they never NEVER NEVER mention what they will do differently from Bush, which is why they aren't trusted.

4. Their candidate sucks. Romney. He is really bad. You can spend 10 million propping him up and all it takes is for him to say "I like to fire people", "My wife owns a couple of Cadillacs", or make a 10,000 bet, or go to London, or talk about his wealthy friends, try to joke about layoffs or peasant raincoats and cookies... the list goes on and on... He has made more gaffes in one year than Obama has his entire career. He relates to people as a man who has lived in sheltered priveledge his entire life, and that awkwardness cannot be media-handled. ALSO, the GOP itself sux. You can't hate immigrants, Muslims, gays, brown people, women, etc. and think that a few ads will change that. Todd Akin told the truth about the GOP/Paul Ryan platform, and millions of women became Democrats. Millions and millions of dollars spent reaching out to women... undone in one interview.

5. There are fewer swing states. There are 8-9 swing states: NV, OH, FL, IA, CO, VA, NH and NC. MI and PA are written off Dem. MO is written off red. WI has been pretty solid blue but you can throw that on for #9. THere are only SO MANY ads you can buy. Now if there were 30+ swing states, Romney would defintely have the advantage. But there are only 8-9 this round. Obama can afford to compete in a handful of states. Here's an analogy... let's say you are selling 10 slices of pizza. Obama can only afford 5 slices, and you can afford 100 slices. But there are ONLY 10 slices! Obama will be outspent in the swing states, but he will be able to hit back. Even if its 1-3 ratio or 1-5, it should be enough. (Romney is still not running ads in Pennsylvania, Michigan or Wisconsin, BTW.)

Still need your help:

If someone brings up politics, or if you are on Social Media, don't be afraid to engage. My friend was appalled by Todd Akin, but loved Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney. I had to let her know that it was Paul Ryan who tried to alter the language in the House by inserting the word "forcible"; and supports rapists getting visitation rights. That is the man he is. She is no longer a Romney supporter, and no ad is going to change that.

Historically, the candidate who projects optimism wins the election. After the convention of doom and gloom; America was treated to a convention that lifted spirits and fired up the base. I am hoping those of you inspired will devote a small bit of time, even one lousy weekend, to either canvass or get out the vote. (PS, here in Florida we need pollwatchers. contact your local dem party.) A small effort by you is worth more than a 2 million dollar ad on the TV.

The billionaires have the money, but we have the truth and the passion. So let's make it happen. An Obama victory will be SOOOOOOOO SWEET when the billionaires realize Nov. 7 that Karl Rove pissed away all that money.

Powerful Video at DNC: Ted Kennedy, Romney, Obama

Polls are in: NO CONVENTION BOUNCE! (w/ funny GOP reaction)

Crossposted as a Recommended diary on DailyKos.

Couldn't have happened to a more awful person:

A modest bump in popularity for U.S. presidential hopeful Mitt Romney from this week's Republican Party convention looks to be short-lived, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

Democratic President Barack Obama regained a narrow lead on Saturday by 44 percent to 43 percent over his Republican challenger, former Massachusetts Governor Romney, in the latest daily installment of the four-day rolling poll....

"This wasn't a lightning bolt convention," Ipsos pollster Julia Clark said. "Comparatively speaking, this was a more muted convention in general ... So it doesn't surprise me that (the bump in polls) wasn't a great deal bigger."

Gallup Poll showed no bounce at all.

Analysis on the Gallup Poll from Mr. Nate Silver:

The most sluggish of the tracking polls is from Gallup, which reports its results over a lengthy seven-day window. That means that only about half its interviews occurred after the start of the convention, and a smaller fraction than that will represent people surveyed after Mr. Romney’s acceptance address.

However, the trend so far in the Gallup poll is a bit disappointing for Mr. Romney; the survey still shows Mr. Obama one point ahead. By comparison, the Gallup poll has had a 46-46 tie on average over the past 60 days.

Here is what you need to take away from this.

THIS IS THE PEAK FOR MITT ROMNEY!

After a disastrous summer, August was to be the month of Mitt. First with his veep announcement, and then the convention. The convention has just ended.... which means we had an entire week of unfiltered Mitt Romney propoganda covered by the news media. The Dem convention hasn't started yet, so THIS LABOR WEEKEND should be Mitt at his absolute highest.

And he is still losing....

Hundreds of millions spent by a few billionaires, voter suppression, scare tactics, racism, and nonstop lies. Even with a sluggish economy, the American people know they don't want to go back to the trickle-down, Romney-Hood policies of what made this economy sluggish in the first place.

People do not like or trust Mitt.

He made his extreme fortune forcing companies to take on extreme debt, and having OTHERS try to pay it off... but only after he and his vulture buddies got paid their management "fees". Sort of like his economic plan.... increase the deficit and have the middle class pay a lot more so he and his buddies can pay A LOT less.

And THIS is the man the GOP picked. The man to "solve" our deficit?

What makes this very sweet for me is the fact that conservatives are in extreme denial. Several, like this clown and this one, are not only projecting a RMoney win, but a BIG RMONEY LANDSLIDE! They saw something at the convention no one else saw (like an invisible Obama), but also are bolstered by this University of Colorado "analysis":

A University of Colorado analysis of state-by-state factors leading to the Electoral College selection of every U.S. president since 1980 forecasts that the 2012 winner will be Mitt Romney.

The key is the economy, say political science professors Kenneth Bickers of CU-Boulder and Michael Berry of CU Denver. Their prediction model stresses economic data from the 50 states and the District of Columbia, including both state and national unemployment figures as well as changes in real per capita income, among other factors.

“Based on our forecasting model, it becomes clear that the president is in electoral trouble,” said Bickers, also director of the CU in DC Internship Program.

Using ONLY historical data is a problem, professors. Mitt hasn't led in the electoral college at ANY point in this election. Even McCain led Obama ONE WEEk after the GOP convention. No historical data will match the suck factor that is Romney. Historically, there was never such a disparity in likability, trust and competence.

BUt please, PLEASE, keep believing in your alternate reality fantasy that somehow Mitt will sweep all the states. That would be keeping within your beliefs that the president is an alien, Kenyan, Socialist, Aethist-Muslim who owns a time machine to plant fake birth announcements. Your strong beliefs in the face of facts are what gives snake oil salesmen like Rove the ability to piss billionaire's money down the drain.

Thank you.

One last thing, professors. If you want historical data, I have a better one. The worst pundit in America, the troll who is Dick Morris, (who recently said that Akin was a boon for RMoney), and has made every wrong prediction for every election......(wait for it).... just predicted a landslide for Romney.

Now that's data you can use.

UNBELIEVABLE! RNC Delegates Heckle/Boo Puerto Rico Representative. Lead Chants of "USA!"

This is disgusting.... RNC Delegates, LOTS OF THEM, heckling and booing the Puerto Rican representative. Welcome to today's GOP!

Rick Scott Threatens Firing of Elections Supervisor for the Crime of Encouraging More Voting

Crossposted as a Recommended diary on DailyKos

The Florida Keys elections supervisor is a man named Harry Sawyer. He represents Monroe County, is a lifelong Republican, and has held this seat for 24 years. Rick Scott threatened him a few days ago.

First, let me catch you up.

Florida's new Jim Crow laws cut early voting everywhere in Florida with one exception: the five counties that require federal preclearance due to their history of discrimination under the Voting Rights Act.

Rick Scott and his GOP minions are doing everything they can to limit opportunities to vote. In particular, they specifically ended the decade-long practice of being allowed to vote the Sunday before the election. You can vote the day before AND after, but NOT that Sunday. Why that day? Because that is the day that has the highest turnout for Latinos and African-Americans in this state: 30% of African-Americans voted that day in 2008. Churches organize a "Souls to the Polls" effort to get everyone in their congregations to the polls to vote: especially the thousands without cars or transportation, and those who have to put in long hours during the work week with several minimum-wage jobs to make ends meet. (Getting rid of that Sunday was such a victory for the GOP that I have heard it gleefully referred to as "Color Free Sunday").

Jim Greer, the former FL GOP chairman who was later kicked to the curb, talked openly about GOP strategy sessions to curb minority voting. Greer said the GOP in Florida has essentially given up on garnering minority votes, so it instead decided to limit their participation. This included a DEC 2009 meeting he spoke about in a court deposition:

“I was upset because the political consultants and staff were talking about voter suppression and keeping blacks from voting.”

One could have easily figured this out regardless, with the GOP legislature passing ridiculous laws such as putting a 48-hour deadline on registration forms (that had massive fines attached for each one received late), purging voters (87% minority), and significantly cutting early voting times.

But a federal court has said that the five Florida counties that fall under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, including Sawyer's Monroe County, could NOT limit the times that it has cut in every other county in Florida. The state failed to prove its case that limiting the hours wouldn't hurt minority voters (ya think??).

Rick Scott's voter suppression team, including Secretary of State Ken Detzner, (the last Secretary of State resigned in disgust over Rick Scott's voter suppression BTW), desperate to limit the days, proposed to have the five counties keep the shorter time span of only 8 days of early voting BUT keep the polls open 12 hours a day in those counties. They would accept longer voting hours as long as the days could be curbed, including the Sunday before election day.

Since it is technically the same amount of hours, the Court said they would agree ONLY if the supervisors of elections in each of those 5 counties all agreed. Rick Scott's Secretary of State held a conference call and tried to bully the five supervisors. Four out of five agreed, except for Harry.

He said the old early voting days worked great, and this new ploy would be less effective, disenfranchise minorities, and would also cost Monroe County taxpayers more in overtime pay. On the conference call the Secretary of State even admitted that their ploy would cost a lot more money.

Harry Sawyer was disgusted by the phone call, and said that the attempted suppression was not the legacy he wanted to leave.

The court clearly said that all five supervisors had to agree. Harry Sawyer said NO.

Rick Scott responded exactly how you would expect a criminal to respond. He decided to threaten to fire Harry if he didn't play ball. Scott promised to take "all necessary and appropriate action" to ensure that the days of voting are limited, and if that meant removing an elected Supervisor of Elections, he was prepared to do it.

Ironic. The Teabaggers in this state who claim to masturbate to the Constitution are very silent about practicing our fundamental right to vote. Yet this lone Supervisor of Elections is the only elected GOP official I have seen standing firm and fighting for our fundamental right to vote.

Harry retires this year, so Rick Scott's threat to remove him is pointless. It needs approval by the State Senate, and they don't convene until next year. However, Rick Scott could still cause havoc, such as possibly suspending Harry from his position.

Part of me hopes he does. Rick Scott is just tone deaf enough to make a martyr out of a fellow Repbulican who refuses to disenfranchise the very citizens he is standing up for; a man who is already becoming a national voice against the GOP's mission of voter suppression.

No doubt it would end up in court, as many of Rick Scott's initiatives do (costing us a ton of taxpayer money in the process). But the result oftentimes is Rick Scott getting humiliated. (This is why he is keen on attacking our courts). Usually Rick Scott is given a humble reminder from the bench that Florida is not one of his corrupt corporations where he can play CEO. He works for us, not the other way around.

So go ahead. Make my day, governor.

Last Week's Post Inspires Performance by OLB in WI

My previous post from last week included bumper sticker slogans that I had received from various readers. One of them was an anagram of the phrase "Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan". It was very clever: "MY ULTIMATE AYN RAND PORN".

An activist that goes by the moniker of Noise of Rain represents the Overpass Light Brigade that gained noteriety during the Walker Recall in Wisconsin. They often hold lighted displays over various overpasses throughout the area. Noise of Rain let me know that they planned on doing a performance using the anagram....

CHECK IT OUT!

Winners: Anti-Romney bumper sticker slogans!! (Full List)

Crossposted on DailyKos:


Hattip Ismay and everyone who entered. This is something we do every election. The full list is below:

Some you have heard before, most you haven't. Most are original, others can be found on websites from other progressives.

These slogans can be made into bumper stickers, T-shirts, signs for rallies, tags for blogs or facebook, or WHATEVER YOU WANT TO DO...

If you actually want any of these slogans to be on an item, first Google the slogan to see if someone is already selling what you want. For original slogans, there are several places on the web you can make your own stuff: Places like makestickers.com, bumperactive.com, zazzle.com or cafepress.com.

Please let me know which ones you like, or give new ideas in the comments that I will update and display.





Together We Can Build A Medicare-Free Future!

RepealReplaceRomneyRyan

Pharaoh was a Job Creator, so why did GOD side with a Community Organizer?

Mitt Romney thinks HIS tax history deserves more privacy than YOUR vagina.

ROMNEY/RYAN=VULTURE/VOUCHER 2012



Keep your Mitts off my college kid's Obamacare!

Hey Mitt, Show us your worth certificate!

GOP = Goodluck Old People

Romneys Tax cuts don't trickle down - they just float offshore

Romney: People like him don't care about people like you

Romney: That guy just gives me the Willards


F@ck the truth - Vote Romney/Ryan

Romney: I invented Obamacare before Obamacare was cool

A Danceyhorse in Every Car Elevator!

Mitt for Swiss Banker

Gekko/Galt 2012: Greed Is Good

Romney(R), brought to you by Wall Street

Romney: It's going to be his money soon anyway.

Romney/Ryan: Yes, We cOn.

Obama kills terrorists, Mitt kills jobs

ROMNEY-RYAN: FIRST SEAMUS. THEN GRANDMA. YOU'RE NEXT.




Romney/Ryan: Hand Over Your Medicare!

Tax The Poor For Tax Cuts For The Rich - Vote GOP

Where are the tax returns?

Romney/Ryan=More Tax Breaks for Millionaires

Does Romney vote in the Caymans?

Romney: Kochsucker

Kill Medicare. Vote Mittens/Ryan.

The Buck Stops In Switzerland

Romney: No plan, No tax returns, No way!

ROMNEY/RYAN 2012 - Let 'you people' eat cake!

Photo ID Mitt's tax returns

Help Mitt pay less than 1% in taxes!  Romney 2012.

Restore aristocracy. Romney-Ryan

Strapping granny to the roof of the car

The country is like a car - If you want to go forward, put it in D. If you want to go backwards, put it in R(omney)

Outsource Romney

Prevent truth decay

Mitt got rich helping China spy on dissidents

Romneyhood steals from the middle class and gives to the rich

"I don't care about the very poor"-Mitt Romney

Romney/Bush: Same bad ideas, different spoiled rich kid

I'm from Wall Street and I'm here to help.

Hey Mitt: Corporations aren't people, and dogs aren't luggage!!

Ruh-roh. RomRy? No!

Romney: Doing you doggie style

Mitt: Another mega-millionaire who paid no taxes

We work and pay taxes so Mitt doesn't have to

Mitt's a Twit

Bin Laden is dead, Auto industry is alive

Romney: A guy with that much to hide ought to be invisible

Romney=Bush III
Romney stands for nothing

Guys like this don't help people like us

Believe in greed

Mitt doesn't just happen

If corporations are people, then the Mitt is a serial killer

DON'T make America Mitt's new dog!

Romney's Plan: WE pay higher taxes so HE can pay less

Made his money by outsourcing jobs and raiding pensions

No Medicare; No Pell Grants; but another Tax Cut for the Rich.

Vote Romney-Ryan 2012

Vote Romney: F**k GM

Why should we be taxed more so they can pay even less?

Austerity for you, more breaks for them. RR 2012

Romney-Ryan: Because things can get sooo much worse.

Return to the great days of "W": Vote R-money

Screw "you people". Vote Mitt.


Vote Mitt, because all scary brown people should be asked for their papers.

Tired of presidents with conviction? Vote Mitt.

Ayn Rand: Jesus was "weak" & caring for the poor "immoral". NOW do you understand these guys?

Romney/Ryan supports green policie$ -- for the 1%.











Romney: Putting the CON in eCONomy

Dogs for Obama - we ride inside

I'd rather Romney fail now than later! Vote Obama.

Social Security is an earned benefit NOT an entitlement!

Romney = Citizens United
Obama = United Citizens

Romney: Standing strong for/against everything

Vote for me or I'll cut your hair too.


 
If you think "illegals" are taking our jobs, then why do you support a "pioneer outsourcer" for president?

THEIR tax cuts are more important than YOUR grandmas

RR: We'll tell you our platform on 1/20/2013.
Heh heh.

Romney delivers Medicare to the Caymans

Restoring Royalty to America

We're buying the government. We'll buy you next.

RRx Couponcare

R & R for the 1% - Slavery for the rest

"I Got Mine" is not a national economic plan!

Bain and Pain

Hands Off My Obamacare!

 

Jesus said feed the poor and heal the sick, NOT bleed the poor to feed the rich!

Stop the GOP War on Voting!

Vote GOP: Because blocking EVERY jobs bill to stop our recovery is a winning strategy.

People who can't afford health care should die or go broke trying. Romney 2012.

Romney: Obama is the most "Dangerous" president in America.
U know who else thinks so? Al Qaeda!

Next year, when the IRS asks for your tax returns, just moon them and tell them you've shown them enough.

We PAID $70,000 for WHAT?!?!

China: We Love Romney's Job Creation Plan!

Romney's "job creation" plan

Romney: "Corporations are people"

Name me one GOP president who has cut spending or the deficit...

Lying Sack of Mitt


UPDATED: Some new ones from comments:

Romney Fired Your Dad

Romney: First Republic Steel, then the USA

Paul Ryan:  Romney's mudflap

The wealthy want us poor and powerless
Don't vote against our own self interest.

Yes we Cayman

ROMNEY/RYAN: WE'RE THE WHITE GUYS!

Obamacare vs. Vouchercare

You pay taxes so we don't have to.

Romney/Ryan: Obey Your Superiors!

Romney/Ryan: The Power of Crass Commands You!

Mitt Romney '12: Berlusconi without the sex and alcohol!

Romney '12- Bully for America!

 

Mitt - I usually fake laugh right before I lie

Romney 2012: Because $200 Million Just Isn't Enough.

Romney and Ryan: Inhuman and Inhumane

RomneyHood: Straight Outta Cranbrook

R-money: NOW HE'S COMING FOR YOUR LUNCH MONEY

Romney said he will cut the NEA: I guess ballet is only for horses


Romney: Because Scrooge Was a Rookie.

Run government like a Bain business: Cash out and drive it into bankruptcy

Fifty Shades of White

We whine harder

Mitt Romney has friends who own what you do

Memo to Paul Ryan: Ayn Rand or Jesus, pick one.

My way: No highway

No voting for you!

Mitt the Twit & Lyin' Ryan 2012

R/R: VOTE FOR PROSPERITY. OURS, NOT YOURS.

Romney/Ryan: Only you little people pay taxes

R/R: GOVERNMENT SUCKS, WE'LL PROVE IT!

Romney/Ryan: Because Social Darwinism is Back in Style

MITT ROMNEY The more you know The less you like

Rmoney/Ryan Road To Ruin

Romney: The Great White Dope

Corporations Are My Friends, You People

Obama cares, Romney scares





UPDATED: Hey Girl slogans for the big eared sexpot Paul Ryan:

Hey girl, I hope you're middle class because I'm totally ready to screw you.
xo Paul Ryan

Hey girl, got birth control? Not for long.
xo Paul Ryan

Hey girl, choose me, lose choice.
xo Paul Ryan

Hey Girl You'll love my choices for your body
xoxo Paul Ryan

Hey Girl, lets get rid of Social Security.
xo Paul Ryan

"Hey girl, you don't need Medicare for that hip replacement. You just need one of my hugs."
xo Paul Ryan

Hey girl, you look so cute when you're losing your reproductive rights.
xo Paul Ryan

Hey girl, you know what makes me swoon? Tax cuts for millionaires.
xo Paul Ryan

Hey girl, I know I'm only 42, but my ideas on women's rights are over 500 years old.
xoxo Paul Ryan


Hey girl, I would have voted for the Fair Pay Act, but Lilly Ledbetter? I hardly know her!
xoxo Paul Ryan

Hey girl, don't let the personhood issue get you down. You still get to choose what to make for dinner tonight.
xoxo Paul Ryan

Hey girl, I'm pro-life. But not necessarily yours.
xoxo Paul Ryan

Hey girl, let's get rid of Medicare!
xoxo Paul Ryan

Hey girl, admit it, vouchers are sexy.
xoxo Paul Ryan

Hey girl, I LOVE your body, I just don't trust you with it.
xoxo Paul Ryan

Hey girl, let's get rid of granny so we can be alone.
xoxo Paul Ryan

Hey girl, you're pretty fine but fertilized eggs should have more rights than you.
xoxo Paul Ryan

Hey Girl, I'm the last choice you'll ever be allowed to make.
xoxo Paul Ryan



ONE LAST GIFT: Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan is an anagram for....
"MY ULTIMATE AYN RAND PORN"