No wonder he's working overtime on purging voters. He's going to need a lot of suppression to keep the masses from the polls next year.
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Please Help Me Stop Rick Scott's New Voter Purge!
Last year, Rick Scott initially targeted about 180,000 voters, many with Latino-sounding last names, before elections supervisors identified mistakes. The list was reduced to 85 after all the errors were found, and exactly one case of voter fraud.
But Scott, desperate to keep Florida red no matter how it looked, attempted to re-start the purge just a few weeks before the November election, costing the state thousands of taxpayer dollars in legal battles. But he could not turn up any more non-citizens.
Elections Supervisors were outraged:
"It was sloppy, it was slapdash and it was inaccurate," said Polk County Supervisor of Elections Lori Edwards to the Tampa Bay Times. "They were sending us names of people to remove because they were born in Puerto Rico. It was disgusting."
But last year an Hispanic civil rights group and several citizens were able to successfully sue under the Voting Rights Act. This year they won’t be able to.
The purge was the central strategy of Scott’s multi-faceted attack on voting, including harsh penalties for registering people to vote, eliminating early voting, “color-free” Sunday, vote caging, and other despicable assaults.
Scott and his GOP allies successfully discourgaged over 200,000 Floridians from voting, and forced minority voters to wait in lines twice as long.
The Florida GOP EVEN ADMITTED it was all about voter suppression.
Thanks to the US Supreme Courts gutting of the Voting Rights Act, Scott is in full Voldemort mode and wasted no time.
This assault is a priority for the Democratic Governor's Association: Take a moment and add your name to stand against the Florida voter purge:
In Rick Scott's Florida, it is easy to vote GOP, but hard to vote Democrat. We need to register as many people as we can. Please get involved:
League of Women Voters: http://thefloridavoter.org/join
Rock the Vote: http://www.rockthevote.com/volunteers/
Florida Dems: http://www.floridadems.org/crmapi/volunteer
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Rick Scott Turns Florida into Pollution Paradise
According to the National Resource Defense Council, Florida is now the 2nd most polluted state in the union (thanks Ohio) under Governor Pollution.
It wasn't always this way. Florida used to be a beacon for the environmental movement. Before the dark years of Republican leadership, Florida made headlines for rejecting the massive flood-control projects of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; restoring the Kissimmee River; and spending billions to save the precious Everglades. Hell, as early as three years ago Crist came up with a plan to curb greenhouse gas emissions and established commissions to combat pollution.
But under the brief and horrible regime of Governor Sick Rott, the commissions were eliminated, agencies charged with protection were slashed or abolished, activists were pursued, budgets of the water-management districts gutted, and anti-environmental legislation that actually CREATED pollution were enacted into law.
Scott has done more to pollute lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands, and the drinking water supply in Florida than any governor in history. In three short years we became the second most polluted state in the US.
But Scott won’t rest until we are #1.
The bastard signed several bills that took effect just this month, which include the following:
SB 444: Allows a large increase in “wastewater discharge” into waterways. Because that's just what everyone wants...
SB 682: Removes regulations on hazardous wastes and combustible fossil fuel disposal. (Paint? Oil? Insulation? Now you can just dump it. Our drinking water is a small price to pay for construction companies that have to worry about wasting time with proper disposal.)
HB 999: Flip the numbers on this one upside down to get its true intentions:
- Cuts the fees, regulation, and permit requirements on commercial development of wetlands, marinas, etc. - Ends transparency to environmental permits - Denies individual rights to sue for pollution-related damages from spills - Oh, and now we can have “fracking”! (We'll be #1 by next year!)
That’s just for 2013. The damages he has done since he’s taken over, including the destruction of our natural springs, is unforgivable. It will cost billions if not trillions to undo the environmental damage that Rick Scott has cost us.
But don’t we have a Florida Department of Environmental Protection, SemDem? Can they do nothing?
Yes. They can do nothing. It’s what they are good at. The leader is Jeff Littlejohn, who is the son of Florida Chamber of Commerce lobbyist Chuck Littlejohn. (He was the one responsible for changing the way wetland credits were calculated.)
The little Littlejohn was not put into his post by Rick Scott at the DEP because of any love for the environment. In fact, he has a penchant for firing people in the agency who fucking do their jobs.
Florida’s top state wetlands expert was suspended when she refused to issue a permit on a controversial project by the Highlands Ranch Mitigation Bank (formed in 2008 by the Carlyle Group, remember those guys?):
The problem, according to a May 9 memo from Department of Environmental Protection wetlands expert Connie Bersok, is that the owners want the DEP to give them lots of wetland credits for land that isn't wet.
After being told by Deputy Secretary Jeff Littlejohn to ignore the rules she had followed on other permits, Bersok wrote, "I hereby state my objection to the intended agency action and refusal to recommend this permit for issuance."
.....The application that led to Bersok's suspension came from the Highlands Ranch Mitigation Bank, which has repeatedly tussled with permitting officials.
"They're scrappy, these guys," said Glenn Lowe, who lost his job with the St. Johns River Water Management District after he refused to give Highlands Ranch what its owners wanted. Former water district executive director Kirby Green said Lowe and other employees lost their jobs because Gov. Rick Scott's pro-business administration didn't like the way they treated Highlands Ranch.
When questioned about suspending someone for refusing to break state law and give wetlands credits for DRY LAND, Rick Scott was understandably furious--at the wetlands expert for not caving!
The same guy, Littlejohn, earlier this year fired several DEP lawyers for winning their cases:
Lawyer Chris Byrd had just won a court victory on behalf of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. After a four-day trial, a jury had ruled that a Marion County couple had illegally filled in wetlands by an aquatic preserve along the Rainbow River. Instead of celebrating, the DEP attorney felt worried."As soon as the verdict came back, I had a sinking feeling," he said. "I thought, 'When (Florida Department of Environmental Protection Deputy Secretary) Jeff Littlejohn hears about this, I'm probably going to lose my job.' "
Sure enough, Littlejohn met with the defendants and listened to their complaints about Byrd. Five months after his win, Byrd was one of four DEP lawyers ousted from their jobs.
The four attorneys were stellar employees—one having won a case before the US Supreme Court. And that was the problem.
According to the article, before Rick Scott’s minions took over, the DEP actually went after people who filled in wetlands. Now, the approach is to grant them an “after-the-fact permit” if they get caught. I. Kid. You. Not.
Human-worm Rick Scott does not give a damn about Florida or any of its citizens. He is all about enriching his corporate masters, including the billionaire energy giants Charles and David Koch who pushed for these lax regulations and tax exemptions. Once he is ousted next year, I have no doubt he will flee the cesspool he helped create. I can only pray for those who remain to clean up his mess.
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Rick Perry's Texas: Her body was more regulated than the roller coaster she died on....
Terrible tragedy in Texas today. A woman died falling from a roller coaster in Texas. My heart goes out to the family. Unfortunately, this is not the first time Six Flags in Texas has had a fatality. Won't be the last.
Rick Perry, the anti-regulation asshat who thought it was just peachy to put an explosive fertilizer plant right next to a school and playground, is silent on today’s tragedy.
To be clear, there is no federal oversight of theme parks. The industry is very powerful and convinced Congress they can police themselves, which they do along with being allowed to withhold information on all but the most serious injuries.
But states are allowed to impose their own inspections. Almost all of them do. Only a handful: Utah, Alabama, South Dakota and Mississippi, still don't. Texas used to be among those but relented under public pressure (back when they cared about the public) and agreed to inspect rides once a year under the TDI, the Texas Department of Insurance.
Not all rides, mind you. Go-karts, bounce houses, sure. But high-speed racing machines? Nope. Even though they have killed.
Safety is not a priority for regulation in Texas. Freedom and stuff.
But if you are a poor woman in Texas? Texas legislators are all over you.
Unless you have lived under a rock, you heard that Texas just passed a law that will force dozens of clinics to close. These poor women rely on these clinics for mammograms, STD tests or cancer screenings; but they will be shut out because of legislators want them shut down over 3% of their services. And what of reproductive freedom? Forget it. The new regulations, which were opposed by every doctor group including the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, now force the procedure to take much longer and add medically unnecessary doctor visits.
These draconian measures will not end abortion, but it will force women who are now in some cases 900 miles from an abortion clinic or are too poor to afford one to turn to the black market abortion-inducing pills at flea markets.
Oh, and you now have 20 weeks. No medical reason, just another arbitrary regulation just to make it harder for you. If a girl is raped and held hostage like the ones in Cleveland, she would be forced to give birth now under Texas law.
And if you have any question of the stupidity of the priorities of these legislators, look no further than the day the vote was held. Women were forced to hand over feminine products because they might have caused a “disruption”… (can’t think of any other reason a woman would have one.) But firearms? Those were allowed in.
The one thing I can promise you is there will be no examination, much less any state legislation, concerning the inadequate inspections of theme park and carnival rides in Texas. Just as there was no calls in the state legislature for zoning even after the tragic deaths in West, TX. You see, the GOP Texas conservatives don’t care about life, don’t care about safety, and sure as hell don’t care about helping poor folks.
They care about controlling sex.
That is what gets special sessions in Texas. That is what gets regulated in Texas.
Apparently the only thing they want to regulate.
Rick Perry, the anti-regulation asshat who thought it was just peachy to put an explosive fertilizer plant right next to a school and playground, is silent on today’s tragedy.
To be clear, there is no federal oversight of theme parks. The industry is very powerful and convinced Congress they can police themselves, which they do along with being allowed to withhold information on all but the most serious injuries.
But states are allowed to impose their own inspections. Almost all of them do. Only a handful: Utah, Alabama, South Dakota and Mississippi, still don't. Texas used to be among those but relented under public pressure (back when they cared about the public) and agreed to inspect rides once a year under the TDI, the Texas Department of Insurance.
Not all rides, mind you. Go-karts, bounce houses, sure. But high-speed racing machines? Nope. Even though they have killed.
Safety is not a priority for regulation in Texas. Freedom and stuff.
But if you are a poor woman in Texas? Texas legislators are all over you.
Unless you have lived under a rock, you heard that Texas just passed a law that will force dozens of clinics to close. These poor women rely on these clinics for mammograms, STD tests or cancer screenings; but they will be shut out because of legislators want them shut down over 3% of their services. And what of reproductive freedom? Forget it. The new regulations, which were opposed by every doctor group including the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, now force the procedure to take much longer and add medically unnecessary doctor visits.
These draconian measures will not end abortion, but it will force women who are now in some cases 900 miles from an abortion clinic or are too poor to afford one to turn to the black market abortion-inducing pills at flea markets.
Oh, and you now have 20 weeks. No medical reason, just another arbitrary regulation just to make it harder for you. If a girl is raped and held hostage like the ones in Cleveland, she would be forced to give birth now under Texas law.
And if you have any question of the stupidity of the priorities of these legislators, look no further than the day the vote was held. Women were forced to hand over feminine products because they might have caused a “disruption”… (can’t think of any other reason a woman would have one.) But firearms? Those were allowed in.
The one thing I can promise you is there will be no examination, much less any state legislation, concerning the inadequate inspections of theme park and carnival rides in Texas. Just as there was no calls in the state legislature for zoning even after the tragic deaths in West, TX. You see, the GOP Texas conservatives don’t care about life, don’t care about safety, and sure as hell don’t care about helping poor folks.
They care about controlling sex.
That is what gets special sessions in Texas. That is what gets regulated in Texas.
Apparently the only thing they want to regulate.
Tuesday, February 05, 2013
Rick Scott Spends 500K Just to Piss Off Women
For those few left in this state who will admit to voting for Rick Scott, one justification was "yeah, he's a crook, but at least he's got bizzzzness savvy".
Let me dissuade you of any remaining hint of competence.
I give you Rick Scott, who along with his "Enterprise Florida", paid $205,000 for a new logo/brand to lure companies to the Sunshine State.
TA-DA!!
Rick Scott then proceeded to spend $380,000 on an advertising blitz to promote this piece of $*&+.
Yet besides the obvious question of "Why the hell did this cost so damn much", there were other, bigger problems with the logo.
Namely that the logo's super clever orange necktie isn't exactly appealing to women executives. This is particularly offensive since Florida ranks 4th in the nation for woman-owned businesses and outpaces the national average by nearly 50 percent.
More than one columnist has suggested adding to the tagline: "Florida is the perfect climate for business... if you're a man.
The chief marketing officer for Enterprise Florida vigorously defended this logo, saying "the agency would never intentionally do anything to set out to offend women."
(I'm no marketing guru like these guys, but I'm pretty sure if a rollout of a campaign has to include the words "would never intentionally do anything to offend"--is probably an indication it wasn't the best choice.)
OH.. and this being the Scott administration, you know this gets a lot worse.
The winning company? The ONLY FREAKING OUT-OF-STATE firm that bid!:
Wow. The only thing that would make that smart even worse IS THIS:
You read that right. A woman-owned business, right here in Florida, lost out to a Tennessee company which significantly overbid them.
But to be fair, if you really want a sexist logo, you never let dames do it.
Despite being offensive to local businesses and women, what's even worse is that it just plain sux. Don't take my word: the former global brand designer for Procter & Gamble said it isn't even effective:
Rick Scott and Enterprise Florida may be fine with it despite the blowback, but at least the good ole boys at the firm got the message and decided to include some women in their release of the video.
And by women, I mean in the background. Sometimes. And just their legs.... (look. real. hard.)
Let me dissuade you of any remaining hint of competence.
I give you Rick Scott, who along with his "Enterprise Florida", paid $205,000 for a new logo/brand to lure companies to the Sunshine State.
TA-DA!!
Rick Scott then proceeded to spend $380,000 on an advertising blitz to promote this piece of $*&+.
Yet besides the obvious question of "Why the hell did this cost so damn much", there were other, bigger problems with the logo.
Namely that the logo's super clever orange necktie isn't exactly appealing to women executives. This is particularly offensive since Florida ranks 4th in the nation for woman-owned businesses and outpaces the national average by nearly 50 percent.
More than one columnist has suggested adding to the tagline: "Florida is the perfect climate for business... if you're a man.
The chief marketing officer for Enterprise Florida vigorously defended this logo, saying "the agency would never intentionally do anything to set out to offend women."
(I'm no marketing guru like these guys, but I'm pretty sure if a rollout of a campaign has to include the words "would never intentionally do anything to offend"--is probably an indication it wasn't the best choice.)
OH.. and this being the Scott administration, you know this gets a lot worse.
The winning company? The ONLY FREAKING OUT-OF-STATE firm that bid!:
Huffington Post
Despite a mission to "facilitate job growth for Florida’s businesses and citizens," Enterprise Florida paid Nashville, Tennessee firm North Star Destination Strategies $205,000...The only bid from out of state
Wow. The only thing that would make that smart even worse IS THIS:
North Star's pitch was $76,000 higher than Tampa’s woman-owned ChappellRoberts, the next closest competitor, reports Biz Journals.
You read that right. A woman-owned business, right here in Florida, lost out to a Tennessee company which significantly overbid them.
But to be fair, if you really want a sexist logo, you never let dames do it.
Despite being offensive to local businesses and women, what's even worse is that it just plain sux. Don't take my word: the former global brand designer for Procter & Gamble said it isn't even effective:
NBC News
"A generic brand statement as a tagline is a throw away, particularly when it is a blatant overstatement. In my opinion, 'The Perfect Climate For Business' provides no relevant point of difference for CEOs to associate with Florida," he wrote. "Positioning Florida as the perfect business climate is puffery."
Plus, it's just plain outdated in an age when many businesses — particularly in steamy Florida — are "rejecting ties as required dress code," he wrote.
Rick Scott and Enterprise Florida may be fine with it despite the blowback, but at least the good ole boys at the firm got the message and decided to include some women in their release of the video.
And by women, I mean in the background. Sometimes. And just their legs.... (look. real. hard.)
Rove declares War on the Tea Party
After his infamous meltdown on election night, you'd think Rove would have the good sense to lay low. But no, I present his latest failure scheme: The Conservative Victory Project!
Ohhhh. The Tea Party seemed like such a good idea back in 2010. Beck, Palin and other charismatic idiots stoked the flames... scary black man, brown people wanting dignity, socialism, gubmit comin' to take my guns, illegitimate birthdays, et al. Oh, how they hated Obama. Failed right-wing radicals combined with paranoid gun nuts and racist hate groups to form the NEW conservative and the NEW proud face of the GOP: the Tea Party patriot.
Republicans not only loved this idea, they bankrolled it. Hell, up until last October Karl Rove, the Koch brothers, and hate groups like the Family Research Council all banded together with the Teabaggers to fight Obama and his Democratic hordes.
The Tea Party allowed the GOP to pander to the lowest common denominators: racism, bigotry, paranoia and hate--but without sullying the Establishment GOP. It was perfectly OK if Beck said Obama hates "white culture", but you didn't hear Boehner or Cantor saying that.. it was just implied. The Tea Party outright called Obama a Kenyan , but asshats like Boehner and Cantor would just say they "take him at his word". (wink, wink.)
The GOP establishment had their useful idiots, and the right wing media conmen who stoked their hate raked in millions. It was win - win.
Until it wasn't.
Hate and bigotry are the devil's tools. The GOP in their lust for power played with those... but there is a problem in selling out your soul for short-term power.
The Tea Party has taken on a life of its own. They don't just hate Democrats anymore, they hate Establishment Republicans with just as much fervor. Anyone who is not "pure" ofhate heart gets primaried, and either:
1. Goes down in defeat for what should have been a GOP victory, and/or,
2. Brings national embarrassment for the GOP brand. (See West, Walsh, Bachmann, Akin, etc.)
Republican moneymen bankrolled this movement, and Fox News dedicated countless hours hyping it all up. But now the movement is costing them precious votes--and power.
So the establishment is desperately trying to put the genie back in the bottle.
Erickson begs his sycophants to calm the fuck down. Rupert Murdock tells Fox News to stop supporting them. But its too late.
Enter Karl Rove. The so-called "genius". His solution? What else. More money...
Yes. Another SuperPAC conning Republican donors out of their money. Because that worked so well three months ago.
Tons of crappy attack ads won't work. (And if Karl is running things, you know they are crap.) Who are you running them for? Your base? I thought Karl was the one always talking about energizing the base. How is it going to work with him now attacking the base?
I don't now how this is going to play out, but its not going to be pretty. And for once, just once, I am glad to be of the party that is not the hot mess.
The effort would put a new twist on the Republican-vs.-Republican warfare that has consumed the party’s primary races in recent years. In effect, the establishment is taking steps to fight back against Tea Party groups and other conservative organizations that have wielded significant influence in backing candidates who ultimately lost seats to Democrats in the general election....
The Conservative Victory Project, which is backed by Karl Rove and his allies who built American Crossroads into the largest Republican super PAC of the 2012 election cycle, will start by intensely vetting prospective contenders for Congressional races to try to weed out candidates who are seen as too flawed to win general elections.
Ohhhh. The Tea Party seemed like such a good idea back in 2010. Beck, Palin and other charismatic idiots stoked the flames... scary black man, brown people wanting dignity, socialism, gubmit comin' to take my guns, illegitimate birthdays, et al. Oh, how they hated Obama. Failed right-wing radicals combined with paranoid gun nuts and racist hate groups to form the NEW conservative and the NEW proud face of the GOP: the Tea Party patriot.
Republicans not only loved this idea, they bankrolled it. Hell, up until last October Karl Rove, the Koch brothers, and hate groups like the Family Research Council all banded together with the Teabaggers to fight Obama and his Democratic hordes.
The Tea Party allowed the GOP to pander to the lowest common denominators: racism, bigotry, paranoia and hate--but without sullying the Establishment GOP. It was perfectly OK if Beck said Obama hates "white culture", but you didn't hear Boehner or Cantor saying that.. it was just implied. The Tea Party outright called Obama a Kenyan , but asshats like Boehner and Cantor would just say they "take him at his word". (wink, wink.)
The GOP establishment had their useful idiots, and the right wing media conmen who stoked their hate raked in millions. It was win - win.
Until it wasn't.
Hate and bigotry are the devil's tools. The GOP in their lust for power played with those... but there is a problem in selling out your soul for short-term power.
The Tea Party has taken on a life of its own. They don't just hate Democrats anymore, they hate Establishment Republicans with just as much fervor. Anyone who is not "pure" of
1. Goes down in defeat for what should have been a GOP victory, and/or,
2. Brings national embarrassment for the GOP brand. (See West, Walsh, Bachmann, Akin, etc.)
Republican moneymen bankrolled this movement, and Fox News dedicated countless hours hyping it all up. But now the movement is costing them precious votes--and power.
So the establishment is desperately trying to put the genie back in the bottle.
Erickson begs his sycophants to calm the fuck down. Rupert Murdock tells Fox News to stop supporting them. But its too late.
Enter Karl Rove. The so-called "genius". His solution? What else. More money...
The biggest donors in the Republican Party are financing [this] new group...
Yes. Another SuperPAC conning Republican donors out of their money. Because that worked so well three months ago.
Tons of crappy attack ads won't work. (And if Karl is running things, you know they are crap.) Who are you running them for? Your base? I thought Karl was the one always talking about energizing the base. How is it going to work with him now attacking the base?
I don't now how this is going to play out, but its not going to be pretty. And for once, just once, I am glad to be of the party that is not the hot mess.
6:20 AM PT: See Lefty Coaster's Rec diary on the issue: http://www.dailykos.com/...
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Rick Scott claims he "didn't have anything to do" with voter suppression law that he signed!
In 2011, the worst election law in modern history since the Jim Crow era was passed right here in Florida.
Getting fined thousands of dollars for turning in voter registration forms late. Early voting cut (which led to lines as long as 9 fucking hours in South Florida). Provisional ballots for women who changed their names or college students (in other words, likely Democrats). Voter caging. Forbidding video to catch said caging, and so on and so on.
It was disgusting and rushed through the State Legislature. Floridians called on Governor Scott to veto the bill.
Scott told the critics to go fuck themselves:
And it did head to Court. And Rick Scott used OUR taxpayer money to vigorously defend this monstrosity. His administration spent more than $500,000 in legal fees to defend these anti-voting measures.
Oh yeah... and we later learned from the former state GOP chairman Jim Greer that whole purpose of the law was in fact to discourage minority voters.
So Scott got the law he wanted. Only, for 2012, it backfired. Big time.
People were willing to stand in lines until the wee hours of the morning. Elections officials in South Florida were so overwhelmed they shut down leaving people screaming "LET US VOTE"! (That still gets me that that happened right here in America.)
But ass-head Rick Scott STILL wouldn't allow one fucking hour of extension despite the pleas from election officials--prompting Dems to file an emergency lawsuit to circumvent him.
My point here is that this WAS Rick Scott's law. He called for it. He signed it. He defended it. And even when it was clear that it was hurting Florida citizens, he STILL fought for it. After the election, he said the law was "the right thing to do!"
Until last week. Suddenly realizing that he has to win re-election to continue to be governor, and simultaneously thinking we are all fucking idiots, he tried something new.
NO, he didn't apologize and promise to make it all right. He now claims he had absolutely nothing to do with his signature law.
Scott met with a group of black legislators last week. (At least he managed to not insult them this time.) They were furious with him for many reasons, but mostly for his infamous voter suppression law. Scott, being the masterful diplomat (snark), responded:
Getting fined thousands of dollars for turning in voter registration forms late. Early voting cut (which led to lines as long as 9 fucking hours in South Florida). Provisional ballots for women who changed their names or college students (in other words, likely Democrats). Voter caging. Forbidding video to catch said caging, and so on and so on.
It was disgusting and rushed through the State Legislature. Floridians called on Governor Scott to veto the bill.
Scott told the critics to go fuck themselves:
Ignoring the objections of critics, Gov. Rick Scott signed into law on Thursday a contentious elections bill almost certainly headed to court.
And it did head to Court. And Rick Scott used OUR taxpayer money to vigorously defend this monstrosity. His administration spent more than $500,000 in legal fees to defend these anti-voting measures.
Oh yeah... and we later learned from the former state GOP chairman Jim Greer that whole purpose of the law was in fact to discourage minority voters.
So Scott got the law he wanted. Only, for 2012, it backfired. Big time.
People were willing to stand in lines until the wee hours of the morning. Elections officials in South Florida were so overwhelmed they shut down leaving people screaming "LET US VOTE"! (That still gets me that that happened right here in America.)
But ass-head Rick Scott STILL wouldn't allow one fucking hour of extension despite the pleas from election officials--prompting Dems to file an emergency lawsuit to circumvent him.
My point here is that this WAS Rick Scott's law. He called for it. He signed it. He defended it. And even when it was clear that it was hurting Florida citizens, he STILL fought for it. After the election, he said the law was "the right thing to do!"
Until last week. Suddenly realizing that he has to win re-election to continue to be governor, and simultaneously thinking we are all fucking idiots, he tried something new.
NO, he didn't apologize and promise to make it all right. He now claims he had absolutely nothing to do with his signature law.
Scott met with a group of black legislators last week. (At least he managed to not insult them this time.) They were furious with him for many reasons, but mostly for his infamous voter suppression law. Scott, being the masterful diplomat (snark), responded:
Scott agreed with black lawmakers that the 2011 election law contributed to the chaos at the polls in November, including long lines all over the state and up to seven-hour waits in Miami-Dade. But Scott, who is seeking re-election in 2014, said it was largely a decision of the Legislature. "It was not my bill," Scott said. "We've got to make changes, I agree. … The Legislature passed it. I didn't have anything to do with passing it."Yeah. He said that. He had nothing to do with passing it. I'm still trying to comprehend why stories like this don't make waves. Try to imagine Obama telling a group of Republicans that he agrees with them that the Affordable Care Act is really bad and that he had absolutely nothing to do with passing it. Would he still have any credibility left as a politician? How is it that Rick Scott gets away with this crap!? So OK. Scott was just a helpless bystander to this travesty. Nothing could have been done. Got it. So naturally, he is going to push to reverse it - right? Nope. He steadfastly REFUSES to restore the number of days for early voting. In fact, he is now proposing a scheme to give "flexibility" to elections supervisors, meaning they would be allowed to limit early voting to EVEN LESS time than we have now! During the meeting he wouldn't even agree to revisit his harshest restrictions in the nation regarding the voting rights of citizens who have already served their time in prison:
Once you're out as a felon, you should spend time making sure you're doing the right thing before you get those rights back.Scott went on to say that restricting their voting rights is somehow why Florida's crime rate has dropped. So everything is good, except for when everything isn't, and Rick Scott is blameless regardless. I guess I should be happy for some measure of progress. At least he didn't blame Obama this time.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Mental Health/School Safety Funding CUT to Pay for Gun Maker Tax Subsidies (Thanks Rick)
The rest of the nation may be looking for ways to stop gun violence. Here in Florida, our GOP overlords pride themselves in doing the opposite.
Florida now ranks 49th in mental health care funding, mostly due to multi-million dollar line-item cuts last year that targeted the mentally ill. (For cripes sakes, even though we are the fourth largest state, Mississippi now spends three times as much in mental health than we do!)
But we rank #1 in gun ownership! Yay us!
I have mentioned in previous posts how the NRA writes legislation and gets an average of one new gun-friendly law passed every year. The laws get wackier and wackier as it gets easier and easier to buy weapons; but it has gotten damn near impossible to get any help obtaining mental health care in Florida.
Well done, Rick Scott:
Our Central Florida Recovery House and Mental Health Center were cut by $1.6 million-- but that same amount went to subsidize gun manufacturer Colt to bring us 63 jobs. (At that rate, since Rick Scott promised us 7 million jobs when elected, I guess we can expect to pony up $182 billion?)
Then we gave taxpayer money to a gun parts maker and to Kel Tec (which manufactured the gun used to kill Trayvon along with several assault rifles used in recent mass shootings). We also generously ensured they had plenty of customers due to the dozens of gun-friendly laws passed, which allowed us to become the first state in the nation to pass 1 million concealed weapons users. (Yay us!)
Adam Putnam, our Agriculture Commissioner, was beaming with pride about that statistic and even held a press conference when we hit the millionth concealed weapons' permit holder.
He'd still be talking about that if a certain incident didn't overshadow that two days later on December 14th.
The GOP legislators who are desperately trying to shield guns from any responsibility in gun violence are trying to lay blame on video game and film manufacturers. Since tens of millions of Florida taxpayer incentive money went to entertainment companies that make violent films and games, that rings hollow as well. At the very least, since Rick Scott has no trouble handing our money over to these characters, he could at least expand Medicaid coverage and give desperately needed help to thousands of Floridians suffering mental health disorders under his regime. But don't expect that anytime soon. Our GOP lawmakers can just retreat to their gated communities and let everyone else deal with their consequences. Oh, we are number one in gated communities as well.
Yay us!!
Florida now ranks 49th in mental health care funding, mostly due to multi-million dollar line-item cuts last year that targeted the mentally ill. (For cripes sakes, even though we are the fourth largest state, Mississippi now spends three times as much in mental health than we do!)
But we rank #1 in gun ownership! Yay us!
I have mentioned in previous posts how the NRA writes legislation and gets an average of one new gun-friendly law passed every year. The laws get wackier and wackier as it gets easier and easier to buy weapons; but it has gotten damn near impossible to get any help obtaining mental health care in Florida.
Well done, Rick Scott:
In 2012, a tough budget year when the Legislature cut funding for school safety by $1.8 million and Gov. Rick Scott vetoed $5.7 million for mental health programs, lawmakers were able to find more than $10 million for economic incentives that went to violent film productions, bloody video games and gun manufacturers.
Our Central Florida Recovery House and Mental Health Center were cut by $1.6 million-- but that same amount went to subsidize gun manufacturer Colt to bring us 63 jobs. (At that rate, since Rick Scott promised us 7 million jobs when elected, I guess we can expect to pony up $182 billion?)
Then we gave taxpayer money to a gun parts maker and to Kel Tec (which manufactured the gun used to kill Trayvon along with several assault rifles used in recent mass shootings). We also generously ensured they had plenty of customers due to the dozens of gun-friendly laws passed, which allowed us to become the first state in the nation to pass 1 million concealed weapons users. (Yay us!)
Adam Putnam, our Agriculture Commissioner, was beaming with pride about that statistic and even held a press conference when we hit the millionth concealed weapons' permit holder.
He'd still be talking about that if a certain incident didn't overshadow that two days later on December 14th.
The GOP legislators who are desperately trying to shield guns from any responsibility in gun violence are trying to lay blame on video game and film manufacturers. Since tens of millions of Florida taxpayer incentive money went to entertainment companies that make violent films and games, that rings hollow as well. At the very least, since Rick Scott has no trouble handing our money over to these characters, he could at least expand Medicaid coverage and give desperately needed help to thousands of Floridians suffering mental health disorders under his regime. But don't expect that anytime soon. Our GOP lawmakers can just retreat to their gated communities and let everyone else deal with their consequences. Oh, we are number one in gated communities as well.
Yay us!!
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
The Cruel Tale of Rick Scott's Rescue Puppy
I've said this before, I'll say it again.
Rick Scott is a fucking ASS-HOLE!
Backing up....
Right after Rick Scott defeated perennial loser Bill McCollum to win the GOP nomination for governor in 2010, apparently some highly-paid consultant said he needed to look a lot less like the evil man that he truly is and adopt a rescue pet.
So it came to be. Rick Scott made a HUGE deal on his candidate Facebook page that he had rescued a puppy Labrador Retriever. Bastard even scarred it by naming it Reagan (after holding a "fun" contest): "The Scott family is proud to announce that the name (chosen by you) for their newly adopted pup is Reagan! Thanks to everyone who participated in the fun contest".
YAY! What fun!
Florida teabag wingnuts took to the comments page praising him for naming him after their conserva-demigod. Others took the mandatory practice of slamming Obama for some crap like Bo being an elitist puppy. (Yeah! That fucking Obama and his dog that everyone still knows is alive, safe and cared for!)
The puppy was in the newspapers up till the day before Scott's swearing-in ceremony.
That was the last time people saw him.
He then disappeared.
When the Tampa Bay Times dared to ask where the dog was, they got dodge after dodge. Burgess first said he was desperately "working on an answer". OH...not because they gave a shit about what happened to the dog but because of the "potential PR nightmare if the Tampa Bay Times doesn't receive a photo of Reagan next to the today's copy of the Tampa Bay Times."
Yes. He wrote that. I don't know what's worse. That he expects us to believe he had to "research" that he was missing? Or that he was less worried about the poor dog being gone than he was about this turning into "Seamus II". (Or Pam Bondi's "puppygate" all over again. Our rightwing AG was in hot water for stealing a dog from a Katrina family.)
Burgess tried and tried but just couldn't determine if the dog was really missing or just playing a 2 year-long game of hide and seek or had somehow buried himself after accidentally murdering himself. Failing any good spin, he referred all questions to a new comm director, Melissa Sellers.
She brilliantly answered that she was "far too busy" to answer any questions about some dumb dog. (After which she assuredly must have said something like "And that's the end of that chapter!").
Then another spokesman took the prize by pretending Rick Scott had only ever had the one dog, Tallee.
Fed up with the embarrassing fiasco that is Scott's communications team, the Tampa Bay Times bypassed them all and just decided to ask the fucking governor himself, whom none of these redstate geniuses ever bothered to brief with their spin.
Essentially, Rick Scott said the dog was a terror (he liked to bark a lot) and that he just had to get rid of him.
Another GOP politician treating a dog the same way he treats people.
SO to sum up, Scott needed a campaign prop. He didn't need it after the election. Almost immediately after he was elected, he got rid of him. And everyone on his team thought everyone was too dumb to notice. (They have a point... we did elect this asshat to our highest office.)
It's a sad story in many ways, but don't feel too bad. At least the poor thing isn't with Rick Scott anymore.
Rick Scott is a fucking ASS-HOLE!
Asked last week what had happened to [Rick Scott's adopted rescue dog], Scott's current and former communications director refused to answer...
But he wouldn't say where the dog was and accused reporters of "surfing some old Facebook or website pages.'' At one point an exasperated reporter asked Burgess if he had killed the dog, and Burgess denied ever killing a dog, but still wouldn't say where Reagan was.
Backing up....
Right after Rick Scott defeated perennial loser Bill McCollum to win the GOP nomination for governor in 2010, apparently some highly-paid consultant said he needed to look a lot less like the evil man that he truly is and adopt a rescue pet.
So it came to be. Rick Scott made a HUGE deal on his candidate Facebook page that he had rescued a puppy Labrador Retriever. Bastard even scarred it by naming it Reagan (after holding a "fun" contest): "The Scott family is proud to announce that the name (chosen by you) for their newly adopted pup is Reagan! Thanks to everyone who participated in the fun contest".
YAY! What fun!
Florida teabag wingnuts took to the comments page praising him for naming him after their conserva-demigod. Others took the mandatory practice of slamming Obama for some crap like Bo being an elitist puppy. (Yeah! That fucking Obama and his dog that everyone still knows is alive, safe and cared for!)
The puppy was in the newspapers up till the day before Scott's swearing-in ceremony.
That was the last time people saw him.
He then disappeared.
When the Tampa Bay Times dared to ask where the dog was, they got dodge after dodge. Burgess first said he was desperately "working on an answer". OH...not because they gave a shit about what happened to the dog but because of the "potential PR nightmare if the Tampa Bay Times doesn't receive a photo of Reagan next to the today's copy of the Tampa Bay Times."
Yes. He wrote that. I don't know what's worse. That he expects us to believe he had to "research" that he was missing? Or that he was less worried about the poor dog being gone than he was about this turning into "Seamus II". (Or Pam Bondi's "puppygate" all over again. Our rightwing AG was in hot water for stealing a dog from a Katrina family.)
Burgess tried and tried but just couldn't determine if the dog was really missing or just playing a 2 year-long game of hide and seek or had somehow buried himself after accidentally murdering himself. Failing any good spin, he referred all questions to a new comm director, Melissa Sellers.
She brilliantly answered that she was "far too busy" to answer any questions about some dumb dog. (After which she assuredly must have said something like "And that's the end of that chapter!").
Then another spokesman took the prize by pretending Rick Scott had only ever had the one dog, Tallee.
Fed up with the embarrassing fiasco that is Scott's communications team, the Tampa Bay Times bypassed them all and just decided to ask the fucking governor himself, whom none of these redstate geniuses ever bothered to brief with their spin.
Essentially, Rick Scott said the dog was a terror (he liked to bark a lot) and that he just had to get rid of him.
Another GOP politician treating a dog the same way he treats people.
SO to sum up, Scott needed a campaign prop. He didn't need it after the election. Almost immediately after he was elected, he got rid of him. And everyone on his team thought everyone was too dumb to notice. (They have a point... we did elect this asshat to our highest office.)
It's a sad story in many ways, but don't feel too bad. At least the poor thing isn't with Rick Scott anymore.
2:56 PM PT: So where is the dog now? Depends on who you believe. According to Fox News, Rick Scott gave the dog to back to his former owner. The Raw Story says he went back to the rescue shelter. The Times article reports he went to a private business in Naples called All Pets Grooming and Boarding. And the Jacksonville paper just admitted they don't know where the hell the dog is. No one does. I just hope he's okay.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Satan Worshippers Hold Rally for Rick Scott
Just in case you had any doubts about Rick Scott, Here you go
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
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.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
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:
Rep. Alcee Hastings also jumped in:
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.
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.
Monday, November 05, 2012
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:
Former Governor Crist:
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.
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.
Saturday, November 03, 2012
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.
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.
Friday, October 26, 2012
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:
Specific to my own Seminole County:
Printable Voter Guide to take to the polls!
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!
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Monday, October 22, 2012
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!!
Monday, October 08, 2012
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:
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:
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.
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.
Thursday, October 04, 2012
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?
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?
Monday, October 01, 2012
Help Me Fight 3rd ATTEMPT by Rick Scott to Replace Supreme Court Justices
Crossposted as an Election Diary Rescue on DKOS.
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:
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!
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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!
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