Jim Greer Spoke GOP Hate in Public School!

Quicknote: Crossposted today's blog on Dkos and made the Rec List. Go Seminoles!

While we have been focused on the sheer stupidity of equating the president talking about the importance of education to "indoctrinating" children with his "socialist agenda", or the fact that W. and Reagan himself interjected conservative trash when speaking to school children, we now know that local-boy turned Florida GOP chair clown Jim Greer has himself had no qualms about interjecting GOP hate speech while addressing school children:

Snippet from Scott Maxwell:

There once was a political operative who loved to tell crowds he had a simple way of explaining to children the difference between Republicans and Democrats.

"Republicans get up and go to work," he would tell his son. "Democrats get up and go down to the mailbox to get their checks."

This man not only talked to his son about Republican values, he went into public-school classrooms and talked about them as well.

That man is Jim Greer — the same Jim Greer who, as chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, just threw a nationwide hissy fit, claiming that the classroom is no place for politics and Barack Obama's "indoctrination."

One Seminole County mother, Barbara Wells, remembers the day Greer spoke to her son's sixth-grade class. "My son said he made some sort of Hillary Clinton joke," she recalled.

But you know what? Wells didn't pitch a fit.

She didn't call up the local TV station to scream about Republican indoctrination.

Instead, she advised her son: "Whatever you are told in life, remember there are two sides to every story."

In fact, Wells didn't even think much about Greer's foray into her son's classroom until she saw him on TV complaining about Obama.

There's no longer any question: Greer is a hypocrite.

Digg-link for this Sentinel story: http://digg.com/politics/Florida_Republican_Chair_politicizes_school_attacks_Obama

TO sum up, in Greer-land:

1. The President of the United States talking to school children about hard work and the importance of staying in school is dangerous and intolerable.

2. GOP chair talking to school children while smearing Democrats and Hillary Clinton, however, is something that every school child needs to hear.

3. Can't understand why more people aren't upset about #1.

What an ass-clown. He has embarrased Seminole County for many years, so the Florida GOP logically decided to promote him. In his short tenure we have him issuing fradulant credit cards and now making an ass of himself for the nation to once again shake its head at what the hell is going with the politicians in my state.

Seminole’s Own Jim Greer Embarrassing Florida—AGAIN

The media has picked up the story of the Florida GOP head going nuts over President Obama’s letter to school principals about a national address on the importance of education. Here is the letter:

Dear Principal:

In a recent interview with student reporter, Damon Weaver, President Obama announced that on September 8 -- the first day of school for many children across America -- he will deliver a national address directly to students on the importance of education. The President will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning. He will also call for a shared responsibility and commitment on the part of students, parents and educators to ensure that every child in every school receives the best education possible so they can compete in the global economy for good jobs and live rewarding and productive lives as American citizens.

The rest is even more generic...stuff about how educaiton is the foundation of our economy, blah, blah, blah. You can read the rest here.

The head of the Florida GOP, from our own county of Seminole no less, was OUTRAGED that this president would dare talk to kids:

As the father of four children, I am absolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama's socialist ideology. The idea that school children across our nation will be forced to watch the President justify his plans for government-run health care, banks, and automobile companies, increasing taxes on those who create jobs, and racking up more debt than any other President, is not only infuriating, but goes against beliefs of the majority of Americans, while bypassing American parents through an invasive abuse of power.

While I support educating our children to respect both the office of the American President and the value of community service, I do not support using our children as tools to spread liberal propaganda. The address scheduled for September 8, 2009, does not allow for healthy debate on the President's agenda, but rather obligates the youngest children in our public school system to agree with our President's initiatives or be ostracized by their teachers and classmates.

What a dumbass. Obama talking about the importance of education is liberal propoganda?

Of course, Jim Greer never complained when President W. blatantly used kids to actually push conservative propoganda. In a crowd of school children, W gave an address during an education ceremony where he injected this nugget:

I also believe that part of the reason why New York City did well is because of the No Child Left Behind Act, which raises standards, insists upon accountability in the schools all across our country. The No Child Left Behind Act is working. I say that because the Nation's Report Card says it's working. Scores are improving, in some instances hitting all-time highs. Children across America are learning. The achievement gap that has long punished underprivileged students is beginning to close. And I'm going to spend a little time talking about that today.

By the way, W was wrong. No Child Left Behind is a disaster.

But at least that was somewhat linked to education. Conservative icon Ronald Reagan gave a lenghty speech to four area middle schools and mentioned nothing about working hard and staying in school. His purpose was to push his infamous radical tax cuts for the wealthy.

Can you get any more indoctrinating than that?

But it’s okay if kids are force-fed debunked radical right-wing propoganda. The outrage from the Florida GOp is if THIS president wants to give a motivating speech about staying in school.

Since election night 2000, the Florida GOP has not stopped embarrassing our state. I guess Jim can be expected to keep the timbers burning.

Post this Viral Status on your Facebook Today

No one should die because they cannot afford healthcare. No one should go broke because they get sick, and no one should be tied to a job because of pre-existing condition. If you agree, please post this as your status for the rest of the day.

For the time remaining, please post this on your Facebook and Twitter if you have an account.

Michael Moore is back: Capitalism-A Love Story

He is my favorite director. His film SiCKO was one of the best films ever made and truly helped inspire a desire for change for our con game of a healthcare system. I really liked F 9/11--he showed the world what was wrong with W long before everyone else figured it out tragically. I did not care for Bowling for Columbine, although he made some very good points in the film.

My point is that his films get better and better. One note of corretion: our system is not Capitalism. It's Capitalism for me and you, it's Socialism for the Big Banks, Auto Company execs, and everyone else who is "too big to fail".

I am expecting a lot from this one:

New Viral Video on Health Care

Bumper Sticker Slogan SMACKDOWNS of Healthcare Reform Opponents!

April 13, 2010: WE DID IT!!! Healthcare Reform (well, insurance reform) was passed this year.

The following can be made into bumper stickers, T-shirts, signs for rallies or for your car or whatever. I want healthcare reform, not copyright credit.

Use any of the slogans here and feel free to make them into items at places like makestickers.com or cafepress or www.bumperactive.com.

Here are the top 10:

1. My Other Car is a Health Insurance Payment
2. My Car Has Better Insurance Than I Do
3. My Death Panel is an HMO
4. Underinsured Baby on Board
5. Hate Socialism? Repeal Medicare!!
6. Sanctity of Life should not end at Birth! Support Healthcare Reform!
7. WWJD: Who Would Jesus Deny? (Healthcare Reform Now!)
8. My single prayer is single payer
9. The Public GOPtion: Don't Get Sick
10. GOP: Rest Uninsured America

Here are the rest. By the way, feel free to contribute your own in the Comments section!!

11. Your Health Care Comes Off your Insurance Company’s Bottom Line
12. It’s OK..Congress Has GREAT Insurance
13. I’d Rather Have a Public Option Than Be Dead Right
14. GOP: We won't let your health come between your insurer & his profits!
15. Democrat: A Republican with a Pre-existing Condition

16. Before Jesus healed the leper...did He check his insurance coverage?
17. Public Option: Putting People Before Profit
18. Democrat: A Republican Who Lost His Health Insurance
19. What's Wrong With Expanding Medicare for Those UNDER 65?
20.
ONLY Industrialized Nation without Universal Healthcare? USA
Spends More Than ANY other Nation on Healthcare? USA
WE'RE NUMBER ONE!!
21. We Can't Fix the Economy Until We Fix Health Care!
22. Healthcare Reform...Your Life Depends On It!
23. Jesus didn’t ask for a co-pay
24. All I Wanted Was Real Health Care Reform, and All I Got Was This Lousy Bumper Sticker
25. GOP: Cancer Happens!
26. Coming to a Hospital Near You: Attack of the Wingnuts Socialized Health Scare
27. Put health back in healthcare
28. Life is a pre-existing condition
29. What value does the insurance company add?
30. Doctors prescribe healthcare, insurance companies proscribe healthcare.

31. USA: Third World Country. No Universal Healthcare.
32. Health Insurance Profits Up 400%
33. Kill Healthcare! 30,000 Lobbyists Can’t Be Wrong!
34. Universal Health Care Is a Family Value
35. GOP: Defending Your Right to Higher Dedutibles
36. America’s Healthcare Is Like Shopping for an Ambulance
37. Government run military = #1 Private Health Care = #37
38. Support the Health Care Bill - Or We'll Focus on Passing Strict Gun Control"
39. "Pass Healthcare - Or the Terrorists Win"
40. Public option not public optional.
41.
POTUS+60 Senators+80seat House majority
No public option in health care means there is NO PUBLIC OPTION IN DEMOCRACY!
42. 1.4 Million Bucks A Day - Keeps Healthcare Away
43. "Letting Americans Die For Profit?"
44. "For Profit Healthcare Makes Me Sick"
45. Health Insurance Premiums: its where 7 of your last 10 raises went

46. Take My High Premiums From My Cold, Dead Hands
47. Have You Teabagged For Your Insurance Agent Today
48. You Die, They Profit, and GOP gets Paid. Reform Healthcare Now!
49. One Nation, Underinsured.
50. Republican Healthcare Reform: Be Rich or Die
51. My Boss Bussed Me to the Town Hall, and I Didn't Even Get on You Tube
52. Health care should be a right...not a privilege
53. Single Payer Is Pro-Life
54. Guns Don't Kill People. Spreadsheets Do. Support Healthcare Reform.
55. Take My High Premiums from my Cold Dead Hands.
56. Healthcare is for people, not for profit!
57. When you get healthcare, there is an insurance executive who gets a smaller bonus.
58. There's always the Emergency Room... and Bankruptcy
59. Healthcare from Womb to Tomb!
60. Private health insurance isn't the solution, it's the problem

61. Teacher says every time a claim is denied an adjuster gets his wings
62. Back Off! I have swine flu and can't get meds!
63. Insurance is the problem, not the solution.
64. Insurance + Illness = Bankruptcy: What's wrong with this picture? FIX HEALTHCARE NOW!!
65. There is something that can make you better, but I can't afford it

The Four Systems of Healthcare

www.electoral-vote.com
discusses the four ways countries can run their health systems. We are primarily #4, but have elements of each:

1. Nationalized medicine (UK)
Government runs hospitals and pays doctors. No one in Congress is proposing this, although we have this for our veterans. The VA runs their own hospitals and pays their own doctors, and no one screams socialism.

2. National health insurance (Canada)
The doctors and hospitals are private, but the government foots the bill. U.S. again has this...in the form of Medicare.


3. Regulated fee-for-service medicine (MA)
Hospitals and doctors are private, and insurance is private. What the government does is set strict ground rules, such as insurance must cover to a basic standard, everyone gets the same price regardless of medical history, etc. Also, companies don't have to offer health care: the competition is between insurance companies. Mitt Romney and the Massachusettes legislature set something like this up for their citizens.

4. Unregulated fee-for-service medicine (US)
Everything is private, and the government doesn't regulate anything. Free-for-all. The majority of our nation operates like this. If someone has a pre-existing condition, no job, low-wage job, whatever...they just don't get insurance. The community pays for their health care with the inevitable trips to the emergency room. Their is no gaurantee of anything but apparently higher premiums.

The author of this article, which attacks both our current system and all the bills currently floating in Congress, has an unorthodox solution. Real reform, it is argued, is bypassing the insurance industry alltogether. I disagree, but the article raises some very strong points many have not considered.

Oppose Govt.-Run Healthcare? Repeal Medicare Now!

I have yet to hear a public official say that he or she is opposed to single-payer, government-run, totally government-controlled healthcare AND that we should get rid of Medicare. Because that is EXACTLY what Medicare is. As long as we are at it, we need to get rid of Social Security, because that is a socialist-style program.

PLEASE don't tell me you oppose government-run, socialist-style programs without first demanding we get rid of Medicare and Social Security. THEN you will have credibility talking about nixing healthcare reform for 46 million people without insurance.

But I have yet to hear any Republican Representative stand up and say that...

Best Comment on Whole Foods Forum

This was posted on DKos by Suburban Blue:

Wingnut Comment:

You're an ignoramus. Look at the facts. Anything the government has involved itself in haS becomes less efficient and more expensive. That's not partisan it's reality. The CBO has twice now substantiated that this trend will only continue if the government gets involved. We need to address the cost of health care but the gov. is not the solution.
Posted by Stump

A wonderful person by the name of MBShopper came back with this whopper:

Once again, for the benefit of the government-can't-get-anything-right flock:

I AM AN AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE SHITHEEL

This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the US Department of Energy. I then took a shower in the clean water provided by the municipal water utility. After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC regulated channels to see what the national weather service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. I watched this while eating my breakfast of US Department of Agriculture inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the Food and Drug Administration.

At the appropriate time as regulated by the US congress and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and tTechnology and the US Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration approved automobile and set out to work on the roads build by the local, state, and federal departments of transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issed by the Federal Reserve Bank. On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the US Postal Service and drop the kids off at the public school.


After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, enjoying another two meals which again do not kill me because of the USDA, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to ny house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and fire marshal's inspection, and which has not been plundered of all it's valuables thanks to the local police department.

I then log on to the internet which was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration and post on freerepublic.com and fox news forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can't do anything right.


The only reason government doesn't work is because conservative Republican administrations defunded and/or patronage staffed them with people with ties to special business interests: to wit the last FDA, Dept of Interior and Agriculture under Bush. No one seems to have a problem with pumping over $500Bil to the Defense Department which last I hear is a socialized entity.

Glenn Beck Rants About How Awful Our Health Care Is

The hypocrisy is so blatant...once again it's up to Jon Stewart to point this out. The past few days Glenn has been screaming how "awesome" our health care is...forgetting that he was equally venemous one year ago about our country having the worst health care in the world...

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Glenn Beck's Operation
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Spinal Tap Performance

This is why there are so few liberal pundits. We get called out on this by our own. A conservative can say something one day and change his position to suit his needs the next... and silence....

Boycott Whole Foods

There was never a shortage of reasons to dislike Whole Foods. There’s already a list here detailing the poor working conditions, shutting out local farms for corporate farms, union-busting, criminal activity, etc.

I only disliked them because I thought it was stupid to pay 10 bucks for a can of beans.

But CEO Bill Mackey is a whole new kind of stupid. He is a right-wing libertarian with strong conservative views who decided to attack his primary clientele...progressives. Even before he launched his tirade yesterday in the WSJ, the dumbass was part of Jon Stossel's hit job on Healthcare Reform two years ago, where he compared people getting chemotherapy to buying wine or steak in his stores.

First off, reaching out to conservatives is probably not the brightest marketing move. You see, conservatives don’t typically hang out at Whole Foods or organic tea shops. They have contempt for the whole hippie, “tree-hugger” meme. Reaching out to them is as pointless as trying to argue the points of social liberalism during the intermission at a tractor-pull.

The majority of WFI’s base are vegetarians and progressive liberals with cash to burn. They are the odd combo of “hippie-yuppies” who make it a point to shop at your store because they believe it is the right thing to do, no matter how much cheaper they can get the food elsewhere and no matter how far away it is.

Well, after today, anyone who still shops there are as stupid as the CEO. They are contributing money to defeat not just a progressive cause but a solution that will stave off a truly huge American crisis. A crisis that will impact most of us, not the super-wealthy like Bob Mackey.

But what about my organic food?

DarkSyde gave a link to locate your nearest organic store: www.organicstorelocator.com

Here’s some other ideas: shop at your local health food co-op, shop at your local farmer’s market, or shop at a competitor like Trader Joe’s—or or even the organic section of your local grocer.

For the love of God, don't shop at Whole Foods. It's inconvenient, it's outrageously expensive, it's crooked, and you would be supporting a company that is dedicated to stop healthcare reform.

Now about the article:
Plenty of conservative rhetoric with absolutely NOTHING to address the out of control healthcare costs which are guaranteed to double by the next decade, which are already bankrupting employers, governments, and forcing millions of Americans to forego insurance.


He addressed none of that. Here's his "ideas":
Enact Tort Reform…
Really? We’ve done that genius under Bush. Did your rates go down? NOPE. The “savings” were never passed on.

Make costs transparent so that consumers understand what health-care treatments cost.
20% of each dollar goes to profit, along with 30 cents for their inefficient buracrucay. Transparent enough for ya?

Remove the legal obstacles that slow the creation of high-deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts (HSAs).
What obstacles? If you are charged twice as much as the treatment costs, how does HAS help anyway?

Repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines.
Meaning any state that requires a minimum standard of coverage is screwed.

Revise tax forms to make it easier for individuals to make a voluntary, tax-deductible donation to help the millions of people who have no insurance
Who would get that, idiot. THE GOVERNMENT? The insurance companies?

We are told by INSURANCE bureaucrats that have an eye only on the bottom line what health care treatments people are eligible for.

Then there’s this slam against nations that provide a minimum level of care to all their citizens (quick note—that’s ALL industrialized countries in the world EXCEPT US!!):
Rather, citizens in these countries are told by government bureaucrats what health-care treatments they are eligible to receive and when they can receive them. All countries with socialized medicine ration health care by forcing their citizens to wait in lines to receive scarce treatments

First of all, we are talking about an OPTION for millions of Americans who can’t afford coverage. You want to keep private, the bill specifically provides for you to do that.

Second, America spends about 15% of its GDP on health care. Most other industrialized countries (all of whom have some form of universal care) spend about 11-12%. According to the WHO, Canada spends a bit over 9% -- and most of the problems within their system come out of the fact that it's chronically underfunded compared to the international average. Our system sucks--Any system that has people spending more and getting less is, by definition, not efficient.

But Mackey manages to get two myths in that short statement:

Myth 1: Rationed care: Don't look now: but America does ration care. And it does it in the most capricious, draconian, and often dishonest way possible. Mostly, the US system rations care by simply eliminating large numbers of people from the system due to an inability to pay. Furthermore, it can lead to financial ruin even if you HAVE health insurance.

Myth 2 Long lines: This line is often thrown out about Canadians. We won’t have anything like the Canadian system…however, this line is a LIE. People I know in Canada would NEVER trade their system for ours. NOT one of them has ever been turned away for needed medical attention or waited in long lines.

Don't spend your hard-earned cash in Whole Foods...spend it at a true organic store that won't fight healthcare reform.

Central Florida Healthcare Townhalls

WE NEED HEALTHCARE REFORM NOW!!

The following is the list of local representatives and townhalls on Healthcare this month. If you support reform, attend. If you have genuine concerns and questions, attend. If you want to just scream at the top of your lungs that Obama is trying to euthanize you, please stay home, watch Glenn Beck, and eat soap.

Democrats:
Sen. Bill Nelson, Orlando-No

Rep. Corrine Brown, Jacksonville-No

Rep. Alan Grayson, Orlando-Yes. Plans town-hall meetings in Winter Garden, south Orange County and Ocala before the end of August but hasn't set dates.

Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, New Smyrna Beach-Yes. Will hold a telephone town-hall meeting before the end of August but hasn't set a date. Constituents will receive an automated phone call asking if they'd like to participate. To make sure your number is on Kosmas' list, call 1-877-956-7627.


Republicans:
Sen. Mel Martinez, Orlando-No

Rep. John Mica, Winter Park-Yes. Will hold a telephone town-hall meeting Aug. 24 at 7 p.m. Constituents will receive an automated phone call asking whether they'd like to participate. To make sure your number is on Mica's list, call his office at 407-657-8080.

Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, Brooksville-Yes. Plans two town-hall meetings Aug. 24, but details haven't been finalized.

Rep. Bill Posey, Rockledge-Maybe. Plans a town-hall meeting before the end of August but hasn't set a date.

Rep. Cliff Stearns, Ocala-No.

Rep. Adam Putnam, Bartow-No.

Nicest Tribute Given to Obama...By Bill O'Reilly (Seriously)

Bill O'Reilly wrote a nice piece in today's PARADE magazine of what Barack Obama can teach America's youth. When he tried to corner Obama early last year and get him to come on his program, he told Obama that he "loved" him... but I thought he was just sucking up so Obama would agree to go on the Factor. (Which he did).

But the love was apparently genuine. Even if O'Reilly and O'bama are on opposite ends of the political spectrum, even Bill has to admit that Obama is one hell of an American story. Take a minute and see what he wrote for today's children and what they can learn from number 44...

What Obama Can Teach America's Kids by Bill O'Reilly

U Caught ME! My Kenyan Birth Certificate.

Very well, I have to admit. The birth certificate I have proving I was born in South Seminole was faked. I wasn't born in Seminole County, I was born in ORANGE County... KENYA.

It's all over the internet.. And these things can't be faked. It's got signatures and everything. Game over...

How To Counter Arguments on HealthCare Reform

Any talk of controlling the deficit or fixing the economy without addressing the current healthcare crisis is futile. Our critics are arguing to keep a broken system, which is not just unsustainable, but is becoming catastrophic. Our costs are practically guaranteed to double over the next decade, which will lead to bankrupt employers and state governments.

This means millions more Americans will go uninsured—which is why premiums go up each year. You are covering the cost of those who can't afford to go to the doctor and end up having to go to the emergency room instead.

Those lucky enough to have insurance will be more vulnerable than ever to arbitrary denials of coverage.

Even right now, no one can argue that the care and cost are uneven, and while we spend more than any other nation on earth on healthcare, we are the only industrialized nation not to provide at least a minimum standard to all our citizens. With all the amount of money we are spending, we rank only 37th in the world for level of care, behind nations such as Cyprus or Columbia.

Bottom line is that we need to fix the problem. We needed to do this decades ago, but we can’t push this off anymore.

As expected, people with agendas to who just want our president to fail, or who profit from this broken system, are feeding outrageous talking points to the wingnut masses to carry out who are either too stupid or too lazy to realize that “Victory” for them means catastrophe for everyone. It's pointless to argue with the wingnut's, but several people who get bombarded with these falsehoods should get them corrected.

Morons, like those who attended the Tampa event in Florida, would not stop screaming that the reform will lead to healthcare for illegals or euthanasia of seniors (our own Ginny-Brown Waite, folks, said that. Don’t blame her, she was paid quite a bit too—see previous post). Even Palin today said they would kill her son. Idiots.

For these rantings, kindly direct them to this website, which puts the kibosh on the stupidity.

However, this category of people is called screaming stupid. These are people who make no attempt to read what the draft actually says unless, as Balam says, it fits their preconceived notions on Obama, the DNP, or evil “librals”.

They will always ignore the explanations given to them not only by professionals trained in interpreting legislation, but also by the people who actually wrote the legislation at issue, preferring instead to buy the interpretation of hyper-partisan nonprofessionals like Sarah, Rush, or glenn. Don’t waste your time.

For those who aren’t screaming stupid, they will argue point by point what is contained in the all-powerful HR 3200. One intelligent dissenter in the previous post contends to have “studied it carefully”--I'll take him at his word that he read all 1,018 pages. Normally, however, they will argue points given to them by their right-wing masters, such as this beauty that has circulated on the internet by the Liberty Counsel. (PAGE 2, Paragraph 3, Stroke 5, says we are all gonna die!!!)

Couple of things,

First, read the bill yourself: here

Second, the bill is a draft. No where near completion.

Third, according to Jennifer Tolbert, an independent health care analyst at the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan foundation that studies health care reform, the claims are “flat-out, blatant lies. It's unbelievable to me how they can claim to reference the legislation and then make claims that are blatantly false."

If you get this email or one like it, guide the good fellow to someone who has actually read the bill and talked with the bill’s authors. These folks went through each claim made by the liberty counsel point by point:


Politifact.com

Linda Bergthold

The president also does a good job of addressing the lunacy and the motivations behind them:




People who care about the truth will appreciate it.

Those who still disagree and want a rationale debate, please, by all means, give it to them.

But those who are angry with you and scream that this is the first step of forced abortions under a liberal Hitler, then you need to deal with them at their level. Have them play with THIS for awhile.

By the Numbers: What the Healthcare Industry Paid for Each Congressman

The Center for Responsive Politics released a list of what each obstructing Congressman was paid by the Healthcare sector. It is spending a total of 1,400,000 PER DAY to destroy the Public Option--the only real chance of reform.

Primarily Republicans are the takers, of course, but several Democrats as well. The Dem leading the charge against it is Max Baucus, who gets millions from them himself. Most Congressmen are bought for under 500,000. This is money the healthcare sector takes from patients to fund the "con game" of our sleazy health care system alive so a select few can get well while another select few can make an obscene amount of money.

The list is as shocking as the statements these so-called representatives make. Hey Thune, if you hate the government paying for health care so much, are you going to drop your generous "socialized medicine" package the taxpayers give you Senators?

Keith Olbermann brought his A game for this one....everyone should watch:

Fox News is still Funny!

Seriously?!

Karl Rove complaining about ABC getting "unprecedented access" to the White House? When Jon Stewart was informed that Karl Rove was getting a job at Fox News while Bush was still in office, he jokingly asked one of their anchors if this means that Fox would finally get close to the White House. Watch this montage about Faux News bragging about "unprecedented access" not but two years ago...

Hometown Democracy: FINALLY, developers get a setback!

Jane Healy from the Orlando Sentinel:

They may see themselves as victims, but local elected officials have no one to blame but themselves for last week's announcement that backers of Florida Hometown Democracy, a proposed constitutional amendment to manage growth, have garnered enough signatures to get it on the 2010 ballot...

Tianamen Square - 20 years later (New Photo of "Tank Man")

I wonder if this still unidentified man knows he is an icon of bravery. Photo by Jeff Widener (Associated Press)

UPDATE: This blog has a new photo that was recently discovered of the same man at ground level. He is the person on the far left of the photo standing in the street---and you can see the tanks coming:

Presidential Pick Hoplessly Unqualified

The president picked someone hopelessly unqualified for the Supreme Court. The nominee, Clarence Thomas, was a mediocre lawyer whose previous jobs included:

• Two civil rights positions, where his primary focus was to undermine the anti-discrimination laws he was supposed to uphold, and where he was so incompetent that Congress had to intervene


• A judge for the Court of Appeals for DC, where he had less than ONE YEAR of very undistinguished service.

And President Bush, laughably, said this was the best qualified candidate in the land.

What an embarrassment Thomas would be on our highest court.

Someone that unqualified might believe that the Establishment Clause (separation of Church and State) means that states could have Established Churches, or that the Commerce Clause means that you can’t regulate anything and therefore legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the sick leave portions of the Family and Medical Leave, the Freedom of Access to Clinics Act, as well as minimum wage and maximum hour laws should all be repealed.

Someone that inexperienced might be afraid to ever ask questions. And an ideologue on the Court might make plain ignorant statements, such as there being
too much focus on rights in this country. Not a good trait if you serve on the freaking Supreme Court.

But at least the nominee, according to George H.W. Bush, has “great empathy”. Such a worthy trait. One might hope that some future president, say in 2008, consider as a qualification someone who has a “quality of empathy” and not be smeared for it. (Hell, Thomas has so much empathy, he gives soda with body hair on it).

Just a small town rant on a person who truly was and still IS unqualified to be on the Supreme Court, and why no one gives a rats a__ about any complaints from the GOP against a really qualified and intelligent nominee like Sotomayor.

Scapegoating Pelosi: R U Kidding?

This is your plan? Really? Deflect your complicity with torture by attacking NANCY freaking PELOSI?

Did Nancy Pelosi ever order torture?

Did she order waterboarding on Gitmo detainees to get a non-existant link between Al Qaeda and Iraq?

Did she write "legal" memos justifying torture?

Did she sign off on them?

Even she did speak out, would it have made one iota of difference to BushCo.?

None of the important points, like the actual torture, upsets the GOP. No, they are upset that the House leader would dare question something that came from the CIA.

That is the real outrage here. Except, of course, when they do it....

Big Surprise: Crist Jumps Ship as Governor

Charlie Crist has been a disaster. Everything he has touched has been an abysmal disgrace. (By the way, I need to add rail to that list of broken promises.)

Our state is in desperate need of leadership since the GOP monopoly has made a mess of things in Tallahassee. But idiot Charlie is no leader. He can't even get people in his own party in line to simply do their job and throw a lifeline to their suffering constituents.

But leading the nation in home foreclosures and job losses is apparently a good enough record for the GOP to declare Crist the new Senate candidate to replace the g-awful Martinez. Never in Florida history has a sitting governor foregone re-election to go to the Senate. But what could Crist do? Our state is sinking, and Charlie isn't going down with the ship. The perpetually tan-man is still pining to be veep and prez one day, and he sure can't do it by actually solving any problems he was elected to solve.

So the answer is clear--move to the Senate. The education, housing, insurance, water, economic crisis becomes someone else's problem to deal with.

In most other states, a governor who fails could not hope to be elected to national office.

But this is Florida....

Well Done Kosmas.

After years of being represented by the G-awful Tom Feeney, the most corrupt representative in Congress, Suzanne Kosmas is rehabilitating the district. From the Orlando Sentinel:

First-term Democrat Suzanne Kosmas of New Smyrna Beach has launched a new bid to double the one-year waiting period [retired Congresspeople "must wait after leaving their seats to lobby their ex-colleagues"]. Her commendable effort deserves enthusiastic support from both parties, which still have plenty to prove when it comes to their sincerity about ethics reform.

For those Seminole residents who are unsure what to make of this, it's called ethics. And we haven't seen this from our representative for a long, long time.

Death of SunRail

Once again, we gave away millions in transportation funds to another state because apparently, I-4 is working out just fine.

13,000 jobs and $300 million are now lost because the legislature killed the SunRail proposal. That money and those jobs are going to another state--one where presumably morons don't run the state legislature.

End it Already!

It's over.

Al Franken won the election recount in January against Norm Coleman.

Then last Tuesday, the 3-judge panel ruled in Al's favor--after millions were spent on legal fees and 7 weeks were spent reviewing ballots by hand.

Not surprisingly, after Coleman hypocritcally asked Al to "save taxpayer's money" and not go forward with the automatic recount back in November, Coleman is showing no signs of ever quitting his appeals.


He is now promising to take his case to the Minnesota Supreme Court. And he is not ruling out an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court or filing a new lawsuit in federal district court. Never mind that he has no chance of winning, for even Coleman said "it's not looking good". As Nate Silver points out:

Of about 150 absentee ballots that, having already been rejected twice by the counties (once on Election Night and then again pursuant to a court order), were triple-checked by the counties for potentially being wrongly rejected, only 1 was determined by county officials to be a valid ballot. At that rate of success, Coleman's 4,800 ballots would turn into a grand total of ... 32 that are actually deemed to have been rejected improperly.

Al won the election in November, He won the recount in January, and he's won the legal ruling. If this continues, he will win every single appeal.

It's over.

End it already. This recount has gone far beyond what is remotely reasonable.

With all of the major legislative items involving the economy, such as the stimulus package and universal health care, Minnesota is flying solo in the Senate. Every other state now has two Senators fighting for their people. But sore loser Coleman ooesn't care about screwing over Minnesotans any more than he cares about the will of the people he was once elected to serve.

It's all about him.


It is obvious the plan is stall. GOP officials have openly made statements about how great it is that the appeals are dragging out the process. John Cornyn even predicted that the appeals could take "years". (He's hoping six).

I say it's time the Democrats start acting like a majority party.

The U.S. Constitution allows each congressional chamber to be the "Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members." Harry Reid--the people of Minnesota have spoken. Don't allow these shenanigans to continue.

Seat Al Franken!!

Another Day in Florida, Another GOP Scam

No surprises. After all, we are the only state in the union with more registered Democrats than rethughlicans yet somehow have a GOP supermajority in both houses of our state legislature.

Some of it is through the art of "organized shakedowns" for political contributions. MOST of it, however, is through gerrymandering--and Florida is the worst in the nation.

But we can't undercount the minor schemes to hold onto power that we've gotten so accustomed to seeing here in Sunshine State, like this one:

Palm Beach Post:

The Green Party has gotten an official go-ahead to investigate five mysterious candidates who ran as Greens without the knowledge or blessing of the party...Some believe the five may have run for office to peel away votes from Democrats.

Right before the cut-off date last June, these mystery candidates suddenly filed to run for the Green Party without the Greens knowing. One of them was Sarah Roman:

...Sarah Roman, a 23-year-old waitress with a net worth of less than $5,000. Meyer wants to know how she was able to afford the $2,000 filing fee to enter the state House race in Pasco County against Republican incumbent Robert Schenck.

Roman collected no money for her campaign other than the $2,000 she loaned herself for the filing fee. The other four candidates likewise raised little or no money for their campaigns, further raising suspicions.

So you have $5,000 net worth, and you blow 40% of your networth on a campaign that you don't even try for? That would raise suspicion in most people. Of course, not surprisingly, the GOP is denying any involvement in the matter.

Of course, that doesn't mean they won't help out the poor woman:

Roman is being represented by Jeff Lucas, a Pasco County attorney and former chairman of the county Republican Party's executive committee. Lucas did not return calls seeking comment.

True, all speculation. Just as this similar incident involving a mystery write-in candidate that occured within my own county of Seminole was pure speculation. No fingerprints, nothing illegal here.

Just another day of Sunshine.

To GOP: Support Obama, Come up with your own plan, or get out of the way!

Paul Begala has a great article on CNN that should be seen by everyone:

I love Alex Castellanos. Heck, somebody has to. Truth is, we've been known to break bread after our CNN gigs. He is engaging and amusing and whip-smart.

But when he said Tuesday night on CNN that President Obama is already looking like a one-term president, he's full of more beans than a burrito at Matt's El Rancho back home in Austin, Texas.

Obama inherited an ungodly mess: a $1.2 trillion deficit, an economy that was careening from recession into depression, a collapse in effective demand, the disintegration of the real estate market and a financial meltdown that spanned the globe and brought multibillion-dollar institutions to their knees. That's not to mention Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea and the Mexican drug war.

If this were "Sesame Street," the announcer would be saying, "This program brought to you by the letters G, O and P." None of the crises the president is addressing were of his creation. All of them were created or worsened by the Republicans who ran the House of Representatives, Senate and White House for years.

And so the American people turned to Obama to bring change -- and change he has brought. He's moving on all fronts: addressing the housing foreclosure crisis, the banking crisis, the unemployment crisis. Did I mention that all of these crises were courtesy of the Republicans who ran this country for years? Good.

Got it so far? The Democrats are cleaning up their awful mess. So what does the GOP do? They attack us for, get this, having TOO MANY IDEAS! Mitch McConnell’s spokesperson announced that the GOP will start attacking the Obama administration for "throwing out too many ideas" on the economy:

Now the Republicans have what we Texans call the chutzpah to criticize Obama for doing too much. Maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't have to be fixing so many problems if the Republicans hadn't created so many problems.

The Republicans are like an arsonist who complains that the fire department is wasting water. Obama is trying to handle an immediate crisis while also laying the foundation for long-term growth. The Republicans are doing neither. They have no plan to stop the loss of jobs or to get capital markets functioning properly -- and they certainly have no plans for health care, education or energy, which are the keys to both long-term economic growth and long-term deficit reduction.

AMEN!

All the energy -- indeed all debate -- is on the progressive side of the aisle. The Obama administration's only intellectual challengers are on the left, where economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and others are offering a vigorous critique and proposing alternative solutions. But where are the Republicans? Doing nothing but complaining. Unless and until they do offer an alternative, they really have no right to whine about the president. For now at least, GOP stands for "Got 0 Plans."

After years of having a president with no ideas, for someone to be taking charge on all fronts with ideas that actually help people--I guess that can be a bit overwhelming for some.

Bill Posey: Central Florida's Latest Embarrassment

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I am so glad with the huge financial crisis here in Florida, not to mention the record foreclosures and the near collapse of our educational system, that our new freshman Congressman, Bill Posey, decided that his first bill should tackle an entirely made-up issue to please the limbaugh nuts:

Barack Obama's birth certificate.

Posey is pushing for a bill, which surprisingly has NO sponsors--even among the wingnuts in Congress, requiring that all potential candidates for the President of the United States show their Birth Certificate in order to run.

Problem is that Obama already produced a Birth Certificate from Hawaii, which by the way, IS a US state. Hawaii has already declared it valid. There is no issue. Yet Posey wants to pass a law to make Obama do what he has already done.

The GOP, not even able to grasp at straws at this point, made up absurd allegations MONTHS ago that Obama was not a natural born citizen.

Even after Obama has actually produced a copy of his Hawaii birth certificate, and even after it was certified by the state of Hawaii, and even after this issue was dismissed by the courts numerous times, the limbaugh wingnuts continued--this time arguing that the certificate was a forgery. Nice.

That's bi-partisanship for ya.

The nonpartisan FactCheck.org even weighed in:

FactCheck.org staffers have now seen, touched, examined and photographed the original birth certificate. We conclude that it meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship. Claims that the document lacks a raised seal or a signature are false. We have posted high-resolution photographs of the document as "supporting documents" to this article. Our conclusion: Obama was born in the U.S.A. just as he has always said.

I learned a long time ago in a statistics class that you can't disprove something--it's called "Enquirer Logic". If someone insists the Loch Ness Monster is real, the burden of proof is on that person to prove it. Even if we were able to somehow drain the Loch in Scotland and send thousands of teams to comb the area, we would be told that Nessie just went into hiding.

It's like arguing with an insane person, which is actually exactly what it is.

I guess since releasing his real birth certificate isn't good enough, the only logical conclusion is for all the governments of every nation to release every birth certficate to prove that Obama wasn't born somewhere else. That'll learn 'em.

But our "honorable" representative, someone who is really old enough to know better, is entertaining these continued calls for the President to produce his so-called "real" certificate. Posey and the GOP are doing this in a desperate attempt to appeal to bigoted and shrinking followers of the right-wing to undermine Obama's legitimate and legal right to serve as our president.

As the Orlando Weekly pointed out, does anyone really believe that this type of attack would occur with a typical caucasian president? Is this the latest iteration of the Southern Strategy--to try to get the hicks to believe he is some foreign-born Muslim bred in the exotic nation of Hawaii with the intent to tranform us into one of them-there Muslim countries?

It's a joke. These people are a joke. And what gets me is that even if their efforts to undermine Obama on this issue somehow worked, like if somehow we had enough Clarence Thomas extremists on the courts, then wouldn't that have undermined their own candidate for president in 2008? McCain was born in the Canal Zone which isn't, and never was, part of the US. It had the same status as Guantanamo. Yet Democrats didn't even think to try to attack someone's legitimacy with this ridiculous nonsense. No, that would be too----republican.

Florida hasn't come too far from being the laughingstock of the nation in 2000. If we keep electing idiots like Posey, then I think I might just move to a foreign nation far, far away.

Maybe Alaska....


PS: If you think Posey should focus on real issues for Florida, and not working for right-wing radio nuts, please drop him a line: fl15bpima@mail.house.gov

Future Trend of Central Florida

The following is a post from fellow Kossack oceanstar17:

First of all I define Greater Orlando as including Lake, Osceola, Orange and Seminole Counties. In addition, because I really can't fit them in any other region, I will also include Brevard, and Indian River counties. In addition it will also include Volusia and Flager counties because all these areas are also considered part of the larger US Census Bureau Combined Statistical Area for the region.

Lake, Orange, Osceola, and Seminole are part of the greater Metropolitan area. Flagler and Volusia include Daytona Beach, FL. Brevard and Indian River counties are part of the Space Coast of FL, where Cape Canaveral is.

The first factor to analyze is the population change over the decade for each of the counties:

Brevard: 536,161 (2007); 476,230 (2000); +59,931; 12.58% increase
Flagler: 88,397 (2007); 49,832 (2000); +38,565; 77.39% increase
Indian River: 131,837 (2007); 112,947 (2000); +18,890; 16.72% increase
Lake: 301,059 (2007); 210,528 (2000); +90,531; 43.00% increase
Orange: 1,066,113 (2007); 896,344 (2000); +169,769; 18.94% increase
Osceola: 255,815 (2007); 172,493 (2000); +83,322; 48.30% increase
Seminole: 409,509 (2007); 365,196 (2000): +44,313; 12.13% increase
Volusia: 500,413 (2007); 443,343 (2000); +57,070; 12.87% increase

Total Population 2000: 2,726,913
Total Population 2007: 3,289,304
Total Population Increase: 562,391
Total Percentage Increase: 20.62%

Overall, looking at these data, it's clear that this area is growing, although the 2008 economic recession might have slowed rate. Of these counties Flagler and Osceola have grown the most, but Orange County (home to Orlando) has added the most people. Overall this area has grown by more than 21% since 2000, indicating that it is likely to play a larger role in statewide elections. So far, of the FL regions that I have looked at (see links in the top part of the post), this area has added the most people.

Before I continue here is some background on the region. Central FL was one of the first parts of the state to trend toward the GOP. Between 1948 and 1996 I don't think that a Democrat carried Orange County, FL. The first Democrat to win it was Gore in 2000. Along with the Space coast area these areas trended to the Republicans starting in the 1950s. They epitomized the Sunbelt Republican trend. Even in 1964, when LBJ carried FL by a 3% margin, this area supported Goldwater. LBJ carried FL by winning Dade County and the Tampa area. Carter didn't carry the area either in 1976, prevailing by winning the Dixiecrat areas that are today in FL-2 and FL-4. So this area used to be heavily Republican.

Its Congressional district spread over FL-3, FL-5, FL-6, FL-7, FL-8, FL-12,, FL-15
, and FL-24. Along with SE FL it seems this is one of the most gerrymandered parts of the states. Districts that have more in common with the Jacksonville and Tampa area reach into the area. The only Democrats who represent districts here are Corrine Brown, Allan Grayson, and Suzanne Kosmas. The rest of the districts all belong to the GOP, largely due to the fact that Brown's district takes in almost every minority precinct from Jacksonville to Orlando. If FL had a more equitable the area would probably send at least one other Democrat to Congress and have maybe another marginal district.

Now let's look at the results between 2004 and 2008 in each of these counties:

Brevard: M: 157,589; O: 127,620; (GOP +29969)
B: 153,068; K:110,309; (GOP +42759)
GOP vote loss between 2004 and 2008: -12790

Flagler: M: 23,951; O: 24,726; (GOP -775)
B: 19,633; K: 18,578 (GOP + 1055)
GOP vote loss between 2004 and 2008: -1830

Indian River: M: 40,176; O: 29,710; (GOP +10466)
B: 36,938; K: 23,956 (GOP +12982)
GOP vote loss between 2004 and 2008: -2516

Lake: M: 82,802; O: 62,948; (GOP +19854)
B: 74,389; K: 48,221 (GOP +26168)
GOP vote loss between 2004 and 2008: -6314

Orange: M: 186,832; O: 273,008 (GOP -86176)
B: 193,354; K: 192,539 (GOP -815)
GOP vote loss between 2004 and 2008: -86991

Osceola: M: 40,086; O: 59,962 (GOP -19876)
B: 43,117; K: 38,633 (GOP +4484)
GOP vote loss between 2004 and 2008: -24360

Seminole: M: 105,070; O: 99,355 (GOP +5715)
B: 108,172; O: 76,971 (GOP +31201)
GOP vote loss between 2004 and 2008: -25486

Volusia: M: 113,938; O: 127,795 (GOP -13857)
B: 111,924; K: 115,519 (GOP -3595)
GOP vote loss between 2004 and 2008: -10262

Total in Region for McCain: 750,444
Total in Region for Obama: 805,124
Difference: GOP -54680

Total in Region for Bush: 740,595
Total in Regionfor Kerry: 624,726
Difference: GOP +115869

Total GOP loss in region between 2004 and 2008: -170549

Overall, though, Central FL trended heavily against the GOP in 2008. What is very interesting here is that Obama gained in the fastest growing counties significantly. What is even worse for the GOP is that Obama significantly ran ahead of Kerry in Orange County. Obama's 86,176 vote margin was crushing. Obama carried Orange with around 59% of the vote! This is a significant swing when Bush the First carried more than 60% of the county's votes in 2008. It is also ominous for the GOP that Obama significantly narrowed the GOP advantage in Seminmole County. Even in heavily Republican Lake County the GOP advantaged significantly narrowed.

The Space Coast seems to be still Republican leaning, though Obama did improve in Brevard County. Indian River County seemed to remain solidly Republican. Democratic prospects there don't seem as bright as they do in the Orlando area.

The Daytona Beach and Flagler Area seem like they are trending toward the Democrats. What is great news for the Democrats is that Flagler and Volusia Counties, with their 77% and 13% growth rates, are adding a significant number of new voters every cycle. If these newcomers continue to trend Democratic then that will help statewide race prospects.

While northern Florida remains a GOP stronghold, even when you factor in Obama's improvement in Duval County and parts of Pensacola, central FL is pulling away from the Republicans. It seems like Obama improved significant in this part of the I-4 corridor. Going forward the Democrats should aggressively work to promote the Party's Brand in Flagler, Volusia, Orange, and Seminole counties.

Non-Political Post: Support WalkAcrossFlorida.com!

University of Central Florida students continue to amaze me with their initiative. Two young Knights have organized The Walk Across Florida, which you may have already heard about seeing the signs along Univeristy and Alafaya.

The point is to raise money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LIVESTRONG), which supports cancer research and treatments that ease the suffering.

If you don't feel up to walking across our great state this coming May from Cocoa Beach to Clearwater Beach, then donate or volunteer. There are plenty of ways to help. This is a worthy cause whatever your political affiliation. Let's help these guys out!!

Go to www.walkacrossflorida.com

FL Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson Apologizes to Rush

It isn't just GOP representatives who have to bow and scrape before Rush. (Or as redstate gleefully remarked yesterday, get "taken behind the woodshed by Limbaugh, de-trousered and birched but good". (To which redstate creepily added. "I personally enjoyed it")

But it's not just republicans any longer apologizing for offending the real leader of the GOP. Now Democrats have gotten into the act. My own Congressman, Alan Grayson (D-FL):

"I’m sorry Limbaugh called for harsh sentences for drug addicts while he was a drug addict. I’m also sorry that he’s bent on seeing America fail. And I’m sorry that Limbaugh is one sorry excuse for a human being."

Nice.

The DCCC has their own website to help you apologize if you want to get into the act as well: http://www.dccc.org/content/sorry

I feel real bad for the rethugs in Congress. Your base worships the Boss Hog of the GOP while the rest of America thinks he's a hypocritical, bigoted blowhard.

So if you are a rethug with a conscience, you have to hold your tongue and wince while he calls for America to fail, makes fun of Parkinson's disease or attacks minorities and women. And if someone asks you what you think of him, you have to dance like crazy. ("No, no no, he's not our leader, he's just... a god" "I think what he says is repugnant, but I just am not allowed to disagree with anything he says...please don't hurt me Rush")

Better to have America hate you than your base. But that is what happens when your base is made up of small-minded nuts.


Am I the only one REALLY enjoying this?

Update: My favorite quote (on a tagline of a fellow Kossack): "When republicans were in charge, dissent was treason. When Democrats are in charge, treason is the ONLY strategy!" --good luck with that

Apologize to Rush Limbaugh Here...

Seriously, this website makes it easy for you to apologize to the new head of the GOP...

http://www.dccc.org/content/sorry

You're welcome.

The Fight for Fair Districts in Florida

After you fill this out, email this to everyone you know: https://www.fairdistrictsflorida.org/freepetitions/

Fair Districts Florida is a nonpartisan and independent organization devoted to ending partisan gerrymandering in Florida. A similar measure was tried before in 2006, but was thrown out by the courts due to a legal challenge. The GOP legislature knew it would come up again and wouln't be able to count on another legal challenge, so in 2006 they threw all their weight behind the 60% amendment. Even with all their money and support, it was the only amendment that, ironically, didn't get 60% of the vote.

But it passed.

We need 60% of the voting public to vote for fair, independent districts. There is no state as bad as gerrymandering than Florida. Even though the majority of Floridians are Democrats, there are pratically no Democrats in the state legislature. The districts are drawn so poorly, that incumbents are re-elected no matter how bad they are.

Newspapers like the Tallahassee Democrat and the St. Pete Times are in favor:

The Florida Supreme Court opened the door last week to greater accountability of elected officials when it approved for the ballot a citizens' initiative to change how political districts are drawn. Now supporters and Florida voters need to make sure this important reform comes to pass.

The current system for drawing legislative and congressional districts is broken. State lawmakers have used the once-a-decade process to draw safe seats for themselves and members of Congress. The result is incumbents are rarely threatened, as evidenced in November when a big shift in voter sentiment translated to little change in the partisan makeup of the Florida Legislature and the state's congressional delegation...


The hope of the amendments' sponsors is if the voters pass the constitutional amendments in November 2010, the changes will be in place for the next redistricting in 2012. Bringing fairness to political districts will make elected officials more accountable and give voters substantially more power over the direction of the state. It can't happen soon enough.

Amen. We deserve better. We deserve fair districts.

www.fairdistrictsflorida.org

This is more important than any other issue or candidate that will be put before voters in 2010. Better legislators translates to better laws and more representative government.

And it starts with fairly drawn districts.

List of Reasons Why Crist Has Failed Us...

I am glad that Crist is not a hair-brained, right-wing wacko that recognizes Obama is our president. Given that other GOP leaders are now questioning whether Obama is even a citizen, it might be tempting to gush over someone who marginally grasps the idea that the overwhelming majority of Americans elected Obama and maybe, JUST MAYBE, the GOP should put hyper-partisanship aside during this unprecendented GOP-inspired crisis for, I don't know, say 2-3 weeks, and let our elected leader try to clean up their mess.

Yes, he's better than most GOPers. That's not saying much. As a Floridian that has had to live under Crist, it is important that people outside this state understand the type of man that Crist is and why he doesn't deserve our support for his inevitable next stepping-stone.

• First of all, let me state in no uncertain terms that Charlie Crist has flopped as governor of Florida. The GOP governor has a supermajority in both houses, and for some reason is still popular with the masses. Yet Charlie hasn't made good on any campaign pledge, and our state now holds the record in home foreclosures and massive job losses.





• So far, the biggest "accomplishment" for Charlie has been passage for his infamous AMENDMENT 1. He campaigned hard across the state for this -- Floridians got a mild property tax cut but it has cost the state billions and induced trauma on the already bleeding services many Floridians depend on.





• Our school systems are suffering tremendously. Florida ranks next to LAST in school funding per pupil. But Crist wants to push for more property tax relief ala Amendment 1.





• While lecturing Florida that is time for everyone to tighten their belts, he went on a "foreign excursion" which cost the taxpayers about a half a million dollars! That's right, he blew that money vacationing in London, Paris, St. Petersburg and Madrid but laughably called it a "trade mission".





• His Lt. Gov, Jeff Kottkamp, flew to and from Fort Myers 248 times on trips that involved picking up or dropping off the lieutenant governor. Fort Myers is where Jeff Kottkamp and his wife own a $1.4 million house. 208 of those flights occurred before July 1, 2008, when it was against the law to use state aircraft for "commuting purposes".
  
  
  
  (By the way, the GOP legislature inserted language in a massive budget bill that no longer makes it illegal for "top officials" to use state aircraft for commuting---nice.)
  
  
  
  There is a movement now to get rid of the Lt. Gov. position, since it has no responsibilities. Although cutting everything from teachers to emergency personnel is on the table, cutting this position and saving the state over a million a year is apparently off the table.





• Crist is trying to tap into the Chiles Fund, a fund that was set up to provide health care to children and seniors, to make up for his and the GOP legislature's bad budget decisions. The Chiles family is furious, saying the state sponsored health programs and other services directed at improving the lives of children and seniors have already been cut from the state budget.





• Crist won the race against Democrat Jim Davis partly because he ran misleading "empty chair" ads saying Jim Davis didn't show up to work enough days. (In reality, Jim Davis had a solid record until the year he was running and campaigning). Charlie said in 2006: "I'll come to work everyday!" Like the hypocrite he is, Charlie took off more personal days last year than he has worked--twice the amount of time Jeb Bush did in the first 19 months of office.





• Crist picks EXTREMISTS for our Supreme Court. He was heavily lobbied to pick Charles Canady and Ricky Polston by members of the Christian right and former Bush staffers. Canady (yes, that one from the Clinton impeachment trial) invented the misleading term "partial-birth", has pushed for legislation to end preferential treatment by race in college admissions and worked to allow federal aid to schools only if they allowed voluntary school prayer.





• Crist kept the tradition of picking cronies for top government slots. The most egregious pick was the six-figure dermatology assistant whom Crist said was the "most qualified" person to head up the Public Employees Relations Commission (PERC), the most important job concerning our public employee's labor relations and union issues. Her husband was coincidentally the wife of Crist's general counsel.





• Crist supported Amendment 2, which enshrined discrimination in our state constitution against not only Gay Marriage, but also domestic partnerships.

He is nowhere near as corrupt and bad for Florida as JEB was, and we are much luckier than other states (like Louisiana). But he is not a friend to anyone but his own ambition, and despite what you may hear, even from misguided Democrats, he has not been good for Florida.

What the new GOP "hip-hop" image will look like...

How do you reach out to minorities after you've insulted, marginalized, and in some cases, villianized them for so long?

You talk in their "language". For example, as you all know from watching McDonald's commercials, African-Americans will only respond to marketing if there is rapping or dancing involved.

Enter Mike Steele. His new public relations campaign will "update" the GOP's image with minorities using an "urban-suburban hip-hop setting". Oh, he promises it will be "off the hook". Unfortunately, what Steele doesn't realize is that the GOP has tried this before. It looked something like this:





MC Rove not fresh enough for ya? Mr. White (real name) tried to jazz up McCain's sagging campaign with this "Cribs" video:




See--talking the language! And not insulting in the least!

Mitt Romney gets it. Mr. "Who let the dogs out!!" with accompanied barking...



If all goes according to plan, this will be the speech at the GOP convention in 2012...




In no time, African-Americans will forget about those silly voter-suppression tactics, Katrina, and the fact that the GOP likes to make fun of them in radio ballads.

A few more targeted spots featuring some R&B and rapping, and our party could be in deep trouble. Next up, Steele will relate to the Hispanics and Arabs still hung up over the GOP's whole "they are destroying our country" meme. (Good Grief! You villianize an ethnic group a couple hundred times and they just NEVER let it go...)

Then the climax. Next election cycle, the GOP will gaurantee the woman vote by putting a woman on the ticket as veep! Any woman will do--no matter how stupid, extremist, or even anti-woman. If they do that, we are so hosed because every woman in this county will just vote for her.

Once that happens, the only ethnic group left for the GOP to win over will be "one-armed midgets" whom Steele just offended. And once he figures out how to relate to them in their language--we will be so screwed.

CristWorld: Cut firefighters/teachers; Keep "political placeholder"

As far as I can tell, Charlie Crist has so far flopped as governor of Florida. The GOP governor has a supermajority in both houses, and for some reason is still popular with the masses. Yet Charlie hasn't made good on any campaign pledge, and our state now holds the record in home foreclosures and massive job losses.

So far, the biggest "accomplishments" for Charlie as been passage for his infamous Amendment 1-- which has cost the state billions and induced trauma on the already bleeding services many Floridians depend on, and his "foreign excursion" which cost the taxpayers about a half a million dollars. That's right, he blew that money vacationing in London, Paris, St. Petersburg and Madrid but laughably called it a "trade mission".

Meanwhile, we are stuck suffering from the worst budget crises in years. Everything to be cut is on the table--with one exception...

If you live in Florida, by now you have heard of the investigation by the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel concerning Lt. Governor Jeff Kottkamp. The Sentinel found that state planes flew to and from Fort Myers 248 times on trips that involved picking up or dropping off the lieutenant governor. Fort Myers is where Jeff Kottkamp and his wife own a $1.4 million house. 208 of those flights occurred before July 1, 2008, when it was against the law to use state aircraft for "commuting purposes".

(The GOP legislature inserted language in a massive budget bill that no longer makes it illegal for "top officials" to use state aircraft for commuting---nice.)


According to the paper, Jeff Kottkamp billed taxpayers $425,000 for 365 flights on state planes during his first two years in office. The majority of those flights involved getting Kottkamp to and from Fort Myers. According to the flight records, state planes flew empty one-way 70 times to pick him up or drop him off in his hometown.

That was last week. This week, the Orlando Sentinel had on its front page how little work the Lt. Governor actually does. For entire months, Kottkamp only had one or two items on his calendar. In fact, that is more than he is supposed to do. The only, and I mean ONLY designated purpose he serves, is to stay alive if something happens to the governor.

Then Scott Maxwell of the Orlando Sentinel tabulated how much he cost: the state pays about $725,000 for the office and staff this year alone. For that, we get seven staffers -- including a chief of staff (salary $120,000), a senior analyst ($62,000), a program analyst ($55,000) a special assistant ($50,000), an executive assistant ($45,000), a scheduler ($32,500) and the L.G. himself ($127,398) -- and office expenses of about $220,000. Throw in about $150,000 a year on security and bodyguards.

We have only had a Lt.Gov. since the sixties, when the post was brought back for some reason. Several other states have figured out it is a sensible thing to cut--especially since that money can go to save jobs that actually make a difference.

Our legislators aren't having any of it. Least of all Empty-Chair Charlie. They would much rather have a do-nothing post who doesn't do anything to earn his salary, while simultaneously wasting hundreds of thousands, than use that money to save police, teachers, and emergency medical personnel who will all face the budget ax this cycle.

This means it will take a citizen initiative, (as usual), to do the real work of the people. If there has ever been a need for Florida netroots--it's now.

Seminole Commissioner Van Der Weide Phone Scandal Still Unresolved

Channel 9 in 2005 did an expose focusing on Seminole County Commissioners' uncontrolled spending. To this day, the citizens of Seminole County have not gotten answers. Although the report also focuses on Randy Morris' questionable expenses, it primarily hammered Dick Van Der Weide for charging our county taxpayers hundreds of dollars for "extra charges", including roaming charges that exceeded the already outrageous cost of a taxpayer-subsidized cell phone.

(Why he couldn't get his own damn phone is beyond me. The Seminole commissioners are the highest-paid such officials in Central Florida. In 2005 they made a $74000 annual salary, and today that has increased to over $80000. With such benefits as health insurance and retirement plans, compensation for Seminole commissioners totals more than $104,196 annually. What recession?)

At least Van Der Wiede was considerate enough to not use taxpayer money to call one of those expensive nasty sex lines, which would have really added up. No, instead, his county cell phone only called a 1-800 sex line: three times in one hour.

Well, Kudos to George Curcio for following up on this. He harmlessly asked the good commissioner if he had followed up on this wasteful spending, which he had promised to do. His response is both disappointing shocking. You can read it on George Curcio's blog. Or you could email Dick Van Der Weide directly at deswine@seminolecountyfl.gov and ask him yourself.

You could also call him at (407) 665-7207, but that is assuming you can get through. He does seem to like using his work phone for things other than county business.

Samson is Our Own Blago, but Florida is Not Illinois..

GOP leader Ray Sansom has only been House Speaker here in Florida since late November. However, his ethical lapses began immediately. Hours after he was sworn in, the Board of Trustees at Northwest Florida State College agreed to hire him to a part-time administration job that paid $110,000 a year.

There were no other applicants for the job and no advertisements. Sansom faxed his application from his office in the state Capitol.

The St. Pete Times noticed something fishy about that:

Soon after news crept out about the job, details began to emerge about a small college that had done unusually well in the annual budget roulette of Tallahassee. Sansom was the House's top budget writer during those years.

In 2008, Sansom accelerated funding for a student services building, taking what had been a $1 million appropriation and turning it into $25.5 million — the largest single appropriation for any college in the state.

This isn't even the first and only scandal--there are plenty of others that clearly show he abused his power to help himself and his buddies. It's just that this one got the most buzz and caused Ray Samson to step down "temporarily".

That's right. Samsom is planning to come back once his "name is cleared". Despite every major newspaper in Florida calling him out and asking him to step down, including his hometown paper, he is still expecting to come back and screaming that he had done nothing wrong.

That does sound familiar.

The difference is that Blago had no defenders in the Illinois legislature and they moved quickly to remove him from power. Gov. Charlie Crist, Senate President Jeff Atwater of North Palm Beach and Florida Republican Party chairman Jim Greer said nothing about Ray Samsom--except to commend him for stepping down yesterday. There also seems to be no plans to choose a new speaker who can serve out his 2-year term.

I can't really blame Samsom. After all, according to the St. Pete Times, this behavior has permeated the Florida legislature:

• Sen. Mike Haridopolos, a Merritt Island Republican slated to become Senate president, earned $38,000 a year from Brevard Community, where he did not have to teach but only produce a book on the Legislature. He has since got himself a $75,000-a-year job at the University of Florida as a part-time lecturer.
  
  
• Former House Speaker Marco Rubio of West Miami took a part-time job at Florida International University for $69,000.
  
  
• And Sen. Evelyn Lynn of Ormond Beach helped create a reading center at Florida State University, and then took a $120,000-a-year job overseeing it, which she gave up once her employment hit the newspapers.

It's just business as usual.

The state GOP should learn from the mistakes of their national party. With complete control of all three branches of government not but two years ago, they quickly devolved into a culture of corruption that has led to the mess we are cleaning today. I remember talk of a "permanent majority" not too long ago--which lasted all of two years.

One would think the state GOP would be trying to avoid a similar fate.

Planned Parenthood Should Sue Florida

First, a little background:

Here in Florida, former governor John Ellis Bush (W's brother), aided by our hapless right-wing legislature, authorized a "Choose Life" license plate. The plate was supposed to "provide for the material needs of pregnant women who are committed to placing their children for adoption." However, it acts as a fund-raising agent for zealots who to run anti-abortion "Crisis Pregnancy Centers", whose sole purpose is to keep women from having abortions, even it is means harrassing and lying to women. (One women's story in a local paper was particularly disturbing).

It is the only instance where state funds are given to religious organzations for distribution.

Fast forward to today:

There are literally over a hundred specialty plates offered in Florida. More than any other state. (Click here to see most of them.) Family Values, Trees, Soccer, you name it... we got a plate for it. Stephen Colbert even supported the "I Believe" plate one lawmaker is pushing hard for:




So no wonder one such group that wants their own plate is the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Despite the fact that Florida hardly played any role in the Civil War, and few would think of Palm Trees and Disney when they hear the term "Confederate Heritage", the group wants that term emblazoned on yet another specialty license plate so they can raise money for cemetaries, scholarships, etc. The have also met all of the requirements: a $60,000 application fee, a marketing strategy and a survey with 30,000 motor-vehicle owners who say they intend to buy the tag.

Despite meeting the requirements, our state legislature refused to sponsor the bill or even bring it up for a vote. So the SCV is now suing the state.

Whether you agree with this group or not is irrelevant. The point of the lawsuit is valid: equal treatment. When a group wants to have a parade, you must meet the requirements set out by the city or county--the government can't deny a permit because they don't like the message. The legislature can't pick and choose which special interest groups deserve to have a license plate (and fund-raising vehicle) and which ones can't because they don't like the message.

The Orlando Sentinel recently ran a column blasting our legislature for this debacle and saying they have no one to blame but themselves for this mess due to their rush to sign off on the ill-conceived "Choose Life" plate (while denying the counter pro-choice plate).

Planned Parenthood needs to watch this case closely. If the confederate group is defeated, their lawyers have suggested they will then move to have the specialty-plate law declared unconstitutional.

My guess is that the legislature will cave and we will soon have ridiculous license plates on pick-ups emblazoned with the stars and bars. If that happens, Planned Parenthood needs to pick up the ball and run with this.

One plate, emblazoned with the words "Reproductive Freedom", going to a fund to replace sexual ignorance with sex education, undoing the damage caused by the CPCs, and offering real family planning which would prevent abortions in the first place.

Godspeed.