To start
this post, let me reveal the 147th reason I’ve added to my list of
reasons Rick Scott doesn’t deserve re-election:
Rick Scott is oblivious to the
difficulties an average unemployed person has in finding a job.
I won’t
formally post this one in the list on my blog (Rick Scott Must Go) until I get
enough to reach 150. But it does raise a question. First, though, let me
explain the background.
When asked
what he planned to do about the dysfunctional CONNECT (DEO) website, Scott offered a
clueless reply, which reads as follows:
"The
state's unemployment website has been a disaster, what are you doing to make
sure this gets solved?" Brown asked Scott.
"First
off, the most important thing we can do is help people get jobs," said
Scott.
"What
do you want to say to the people who can't pay their bills right now because of
this?" Brown asked.
"Again, my biggest job is to make
sure people can get a job. We have 279,000 job openings in the state. We're
recouping money, holding money back from Deloitte to make sure it gets better
quickly," said Scott.
My analysis for the
listing is:
"Scott answers as
though all one of the unemployed has to do, is walk outside and snag one of
those 279,000 open jobs. He does not even consider the fact that many of those
jobs have literally hundreds of applicants, dozens of them qualified. He also
does not consider that the unemployed are competing for jobs with others who
are still employed, but are looking for a new job because they don’t like their
current one. Finally, it is a point of fact that there are still at least three
unemployed people in Florida for every job available. Even if all 279,000 of
those jobs were filled, we’d have about 550,000 unemployed people left who
would need unemployment benefits. Scott clearly has lost touch with what it is
like to have to beat the path to look for work."
This made me
wonder, in fact, when the last time was that Rick Scott did have to look for a
job the way most of us do. By that I mean, searching listings, filling out
applications, and interviewing.
Actually,
that’s hard to say.
As a kid, he
had some nasty jobs as a fry cook, selling TV Guides, and as a phone booth
cleaner. He enlisted in the Navy after high school, back in 1970. While in the
Navy he and his wife saved money so they could buy a donut shop. The donut
revenues paid his way through law school, and he became an attorney. In 1987, he
and a partner had enough money to buy a hospital. That was the start of HCA.
And then we know about Solantic, which he also started. (I got all this information from this article.)
So…when was
the last time Rick Scott actually had to look for, and interview for, a job?
Possibly, he
may have interviewed to join a law firm at some point. But if he didn’t, it
looks like he hasn’t been through the process since…what? Did he interview for
that phone booth cleaner job, maybe? Or, the one selling TV Guides? (I’d like
to have heard his answers to, “Why should we hire you?” on that one.)
Bottom line,
Rick Scott hasn’t walked the job search trail most of us walk, since at least
the mid-80s. He has no idea what it’s like to check the want ads, to fill out
applications, to pound the streets and work the phones and be rejected
repeatedly.
And this is
someone who touts himself as a “jobs governor”?
No, he’s out
of touch. And that’s yet one more reason Rick Scott must go.
**
As a bonus,
here’s a comment on the latest effort by Florida Republican Party honcho Lenny
Curry to insult the intelligence of Florida voters, which will also make my
list as the 148th reason.
Curry, said "As Congress
votes today to address cybersecurity concerns with Obamacare, Governor Rick
Scott was right from the beginning when he raised privacy and security problems
over aspects of this health care bill…Yet, Charlie Crist has dismissed these
problems, embracing a bill that puts the privacy of Floridians' personal
information at risk."
Wait a
minute.
First of
all, Scott formerly opposed the "pill mill" database for the same
reasons -- then flip flopped and supported it.
Second,
Scott didn't seem too concerned about such problems when he hired Deliotte (with
its proven bad track record) for the DEO website, which had randomly handed out
people’s Social Security numbers. Whoops.
And where,
may I ask, has Crist "dismissed" these problems? Can we have a quote?
Curry didn’t seem to have one.
No, the bill
in question (the Affordable Care Act) hasn’t put the privacy of people at risk;
at worst, the troubled implementation of it has, same as with the DEO website. But with that DEO website
spitting out people’s Social Security numbers, Scott and Curry had best stop
throwing rocks in their house before they break the walls.
