Time To Tame The Real Beast
While you were no doubt following breaking news over warnings of wild boars, escaped kangaroos, and police tasering llamas in Tallahassee over the weekend, here's some of what you may have missed on that other species running wild and destroying things in Florida, Republicans:
Because he assumes he's doing such an awesome job all by himself, or more likely because he's trying to find someone who will throw him a bone with voters, and who isn't afraid of his toxicity, Rick Scott hasn't bothered to name anyone to replace his Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll who was forced to resign last March.
And speaking of Carroll, guess who never spoke to her at all when he demanded her resignation, nor since? Why, that would be Rick Scott, and Carroll is still not happy about it.
Carroll was asked if she felt she had been treated fairly by the governor.
“Anyone in my shoes would probably say no. I would have preferred to have a conversation directly with the governor, but I can’t bring back the past,” said Carroll. She said the last conversation she had with Scott was before her resignation.
In spite of that, Carroll says she still plans on supporting Scott's reelection, although if I were Scott, I wouldn't exactly hold my breath on that promise.
Rick Scott's latest gift to corporate welfare at the expense of Floridians over his "deal" with Heritage Property and Casualty Insurance, and their hefty donation to him just prior to the deal which he claims had nothing to do with it, of course, gained him well earned attention in the national spotlight last Thursday. If you missed it, see Kurt Eichenwald's scathing article in Vanity Fair, "How Tea Party Favorite Rick Scott Helped Cook Up A Sweetheart Deal For His Florida Friends" here.
In other "sweetheart deal" news, Rick Scott also signed a bill into law giving health insurance companies free reign to charge Floridians whatever they want, and allowing them to falsely blame the hikes on ObamaCare. Yes, thanks to Republicans in the legislature and Scott, it's essentially legal to raise your premiums, and blame it on the Affordable Care Act, when in fact the law is lowering costs and increasing competition. At the same time, the poor and uninsured can continue to die without health insurance as they've been doing up until now, as Scott has ignored calls for a special session on Medicaid.
So far Scott is also ignoring demands to veto the pending paid sick time bill currently awaiting his signature.
You may not be able to afford a vacation this year as you look for those jobs he claims he's creating everywhere, but Rick Scott can, since he's jetting off to Japan now and calling it another "trade mission." Add this to his list of similar trips to Chile, Spain, the UK, Brazil, Colombia, and France. While he maintains that he pays his own way, taxpayers are still on the hook for many of his traveling entourage, and you won't even get a lousy t-shirt.
And Scott wonders why he's unpopular.
Young conservatives are calling on Marco Rubio to deal with climate change. Good luck with that. As a member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, Rubio feels the "science" of climate change being caused by humans is debatable, and he's in no hurry to debate it at this time, but thanks for all your hard work writing that essay kids! Get back to him when you can compete with donations from the oil companies.
Do you miss Connie Mack? Well, neither does anyone else, including his wife Mary Bono Mack, who he split up with after they both lost their elections. But never fear, the grifter is still here. As usual, there are no losers in Congress when there are lobbying jobs to be had. Ka-ching.
Republicans in Tallahassee feel it's none of your business how they came up with their redistricting plans, they just want to make sure you vote accordingly, or don't get to vote, depending on where you fall on the political spectrum. Sunshine is selective in the Capitol.
He hasn't entered the race yet, but Republicans can hardly wait to get their Mean Girls act up and running against Charlie Crist. In fact, they aren't waiting at all. They've set up a website and everything, bless their little misguided hearts. Sadly, every time they take a shot at Crist, they inadvertently hit themselves. Walking away from Charlie won't be nearly as easy as they think.
Rick Scott's DEP Secretary Herschel Vinyard is quietly doing everything he can to kill what's left of the environment in Florida.
Finally, Hurricane season began on Saturday, but sadly the sequester cuts forced by Republicans, all but one of them in Florida, will make forecasting and protecting the public's safety a little more difficult as the National Hurricane Center and the National Weather Service will be forced to begin furloughs. This year the NOAA has predicted above average activity with 13 to 20 named storms. Your safety can't compare to tax cuts for the wealthy that those Republicans will protect at all costs. Unfortunately those costs may be yours.
