Beach Peanuts

Tensions Mount In Power Struggle Between Rick Scott And Republicans

Scott and Weatherford: Conflicting Priorities In A Race To The Bottom

Things are getting interesting, and a little heated, between Rick Scott and Republicans in the legislature in a fight over priorities and power struggles. If the problems didn't pose such serious consequences for Floridians who at this point merely pawns to the ruling party, their donors and lobbyists, it would be time to get out the popcorn. Unfortunately, any celebrations will only result from lessening the damage from this year's legislative session.

There have been calls for the Governor to veto the entire budget, from Democrats over the possibility that Republicans will take a pass on Medicaid, and from others over education cuts.

Scott has claimed he prefers the Senate version of Medicaid which would take $50 billion in federal funds, but the House version uses only state funds and the coverage is inadequate and would extend to less people. The Senate passed their version, but the House has so far refused to adopt the bill, which set off a standoff in the House today when Democrats called for the use of their "nuclear option" of reading the bills in full, causing more tension in the chamber between parties.

Scott turned his forced acceptance of Medicaid expansion into a campaign issue hoping that voters would "believe" his flip-flop was genuine, which of course, hasn't worked. Voters haven't forgotten that his entire career before running involved trying to kill off ObamaCare. If the legislature does nothing about Medicaid, which appears to be the likely outcome, they will drag him down with them in defeat. Unfortunately many Floridians will still go without insurance coverage and health care as a result of what House Speaker Will Weatherford says won't be "the end of the world." While his own family benefited from Medicaid, he has denied it to others, and in doing so, it's not a stretch to say people will die without it. For them it will be the "end of the world."

Adding to the tension, Charlie Crist, the potential challenger and spoiler to Scott's reelection pipe dreams, jumped into the fray today with a critical posting on Facebook:

It is really disappointing to watch the Legislature, particularly the Florida House of Representatives put ideology over the health care needs of working uninsured Floridians. The plan the Florida Senate has designed will build on one of the best public private health care partnerships in America, KidCare, and would provide more than 1 million working uninsured Floridians access to real private health insurance.

I know one thing, if this debate had happened during my term as Governor, the Legislature and I would have spent all summer in Tallahassee until we had done the right thing by the people that we all serve.

There has also been disagreement between Republicans and Scott over his education priorities, on everything from teacher raises to tuition hikes, more campaign fodder for Scott. With those in jeopardy thanks to the GOP, Scott has threatened to veto special projects of theirs.

Today Scott issued another warning over what he claimed was an "agreement" with them over sales tax on manufacturing equipment, another priority. Accusing them of stalling on the tax cuts, he said "It would be ridiculous not to cut taxes in a year when we have a budget surplus."

"They have to explain what they meant. I know that we had an agreement, a three-year agreement."

An analysis says repeal of the tax would result in a loss of about $140 million in sales tax revenue to the state, cities and counties. The budget before lawmakers is $74.5 billion, and is about $4 billion higher than current spending.

Scott didn't stop there: He directly criticized the Legislature for writing a budget that includes a 3 percent tuition increase on in-state students. To Scott, raising tuition is the same as raising taxes, which he also called "ridiculous."

"I'm reviewing the bills. I'm going to make the right decision for 19.2 million Floridians," Scott said. "I don't look at this as politics. I look at this as, how do you take care of people in our state?"

Hanging in the balance as leverage for Scott are three GOP legislative priorities, which Scott has to act on by Wednesday, campaign finance "reform," ethics, and in a new twist on the war on women, a law that would end or restrict alimony.

As Scott and Republicans fight it out among themselves, sadly the losers in either battle will be Floridians.

 

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Prison Withdraws Name And (Surprise) "Purely Philanthropic $6 Million Gift" For FAU Stadium

Owlcatraz Won't Fly

Amid criticism, outrage, and protests from students, the GEO Group, Inc. has withdrawn their plan to slap their name on Florida Atlantic University's stadium, and along with it, the $6 million "gift" to the university:

“What was originally intended as a gesture of GEO’s goodwill to financially assist the university’s athletic scholarship program has surprisingly evolved into an on-going controversy and considerable distraction to both of our organizations,” GEO Group chairman and CEO George Zoley wrote in a letter.

"Surprisingly?" Really? Yes, who could have possibly imagined naming a stadium for a prison company with a history of the questionable deaths of prisoners, uprisings, squalid conditions, and worse wouldn't contribute to a "feel good" atmosphere associated with college sports?

After claiming that the name would go up as planned when it first came to light, a student protest yesterday apparently got the message across that the name would continue to be a negative not only for the university, but for GEO.

Along with striking the name idea, the $6 million "gift" that Geo claimed was purely philanthropic has also been withdrawn:

GEO and university officials laughably claim that the deal is strictly philanthropic, and in no way, shape or form a corporate sponsorship, or, worse, a way to recruit new employees and desensitize people to the horrible private of for-profit prisons.

So the claim that the $6 million was merely a "gift" and in no way a coprorate sponsorship has disappeared right along with the "gift" itself.

Go figure.

Welcome To Florida, Where Death Is Certain For Some, But Taxes For Others, Not So Much

The Republican's Vision For Florida: We're All "Villagers" Now

A few days ago, when asked if he would push the reluctant Florida Legislature on Medicaid expansion after accepting it himself, Rick Scott said all he planned to focus on was teachers raises and eliminating sales taxes on the purchase of equipment by manufacturers. Accent on the "teacher raises" which are more of a campaigning for reelection issue than an idea born from his "love" of teachers and education.

Or at least that's what he says his main concern is in front of the cameras. When he's not in public however, it's a different story. Those who were willing to fork over $125 for a ticket to attend the so-called "non-partisan" James Madison Institute’s 25th anniversary gala Wednesday night got a different "pledge" from Scott, along with several other Florida politicians and office holders.

During the event, Scott made no mention of those teachers raises he's laser "focused" on. No, there he made it clear that he's still working for big business, and less concerned about representing the best interests of Floridians.

This is some of what he had to say to the ticket holders at The James Madison Institute:

In a story that highlighted the governor’s preference for unfettered private development that was sure to please the JMI crowd, Scott spoke about meeting with Gary Morse, the developer of The Villages and a major donor to the GOP. Morse showed him an aerial map of his project where more than 80,000 people live in Central Florida. Scott asked him why he couldn’t keep growing because of there was nothing but vacant land around the project. Morse, who is a billionaire and top donor to the governor’s reelection campaign, told Scott he could never afford to pay for the costs of having the project reviewed by state planners. “So with your help,” Scott told the JMI audience, “with the individuals you elected, with your thoughts and your ideas, we cut taxes, we cut 2,300 regulations, we streamlined the permitting process, we got rid of the Department of Community Affairs (which would have been the agency to review the Villages), we streamlined the water management districts, we got the Department of Transportation focused on where they can help us get more jobs.”

Yes, let's let development run wild with no restrictions and pesky regulations, that's just what Florida needs according to Scott. Let's just turn the entire state into a giant version of The Villages! There's a frightful vision.

Of course Scott wasn't the only one there who pictured Florida as a wonderland of businesses gone wild, free from paying taxes, with nothing as restrictive as environmental protections or rules, just leave it to these guys and they'll fix Florida right up:

Adam Putnam: “Private property rights are a bedrock of our constitutional rights.(applause) We spend far too much of our time pushing back against a federal government that tells us how much water they’re going to let flow downstream, what we’re allowed to do with it, what we’re allowed to do with our land. That’s not just an ag issue, it’s a constitutional issue, that’s an American issue. We can never lose sight of protecting our sacred private property rights."

Jeff Atwater: “Right now our choices are to reduce the size of our government, reduce the size of the debt, reduce taxes and reduce regulation. Those are the choices that Florida made because JMI was educating the people of Florida as to the consequences of the choices. In the same period of time we made those decisions, Washington increased the size of our government, increased taxes, increased our debt.”

Adam Putnam isn't the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture, he's the Commisioner Of The Constitution! He just neglected to share the title change with the rest of us. Agriculture, land use, pshaw!

And according to Atwater, we who actually pay taxes need to be educated! Those of us not in the big business world just don't understand how great it is when there are no rules to be governed by. That's what you call "freedom!" Oh, and speaking of freedom:

Will Weatherford: “I believe America is less free today than it was four years ago. We are less free. And I believe, under current trends and the current leadership that we have, we’ll probably be less free three and a half, four years from now than we are today. Now I have no control of that here in Tallahassee. But what I do have control over and what we have an opportunity to do is create a pocket of freedom that is unrivaled by any place in the world. We can do that. Right here. We can create little pockets of prosperity all over the country. I believe that the real battleground is taking place in states all over America. We have an opportunity, right here, to lead that charge.” He said the next two years, the House will focus on making Florida “the most prosperous free state that America has ever seen.” He repeated two of his priorities: closing pensions for new government workers and stopping Medicaid expansion. 

Yes, America is less free now than it was, say back in 1995, when Will Weatherford's family was busy having their medical bills paid by Medicaid. This is America, and Weatherford wants to create those little pockets of freedom and prosperity, you know, what we sickly little outsiders call gated communities for the rich, or for the suckered, like The Villages.

(Photo: Martha Jackovics)

Translating Rick Scott's 2013 State Of The State: You're Not In Kansas Anymore, Dorothy

Rick Scott's 2013 "Reelections First" Budget

Rick Scott gave his third State of the State speech today, which means there's only one more we'll have to endure before he's ousted from office in 2014, if we manage to survive that long during his quest to destroy Florida as we know it.

While Scott, who claims he's no politician, panders with the best of them, he still hasn't found a way to make himself sound or look sincere while he does it. He'll smile and look down his nose at you while handing you a pink slip and telling you it's really for the best that you can't afford meals, much less decent health care. 

Well, now he's trying to remake himself once again.

The Affordable Care Act and Medicaid

After realizing he had no choice but to accept the Affordable Care Act, it being a law and all, and giving in to the Medicaid exchanges last week, he now wants you to believe that he did that out of the goodness of his heart. Really. He said:

"We didn’t win every battle over the last two years. After a long fight, we lost in the Supreme Court over the President’s healthcare law, and we lost a presidential election along with the promise of the law’s full repeal.

Now, our options are either having Floridians pay to fund this program in other states while denying healthcare to our citizens – or – using federal funding to help some of the poorest in our state with the Medicaid program as we explore other healthcare improvements. As I wrestled with this decision, I thought about my Mom and her struggles to get my little brother the care he needed with very little money.

I concluded that for the three years the federal government is committed to paying 100 percent of the cost of new people in Medicaid, I cannot, in good conscience, deny the uninsured access to care."

You see there? After an entire career in health care for profit running a company that broke the record for Medicare fraud, and fighting against President Obama's Affordable Care Act, it's now his "conscience" and of course, Mom, that made him change his mind. If you believe that one, then he's still got that tried and not true line on job creation he'd like to sell you, which brings us to:

Jobs

Scott:

"Of course, the best way for any family to access great health care is to have a great job.

Like my mom, I am an optimist.

I believe in big dreams.

I believe Florida will be the number one place in the world for job creation; the number one place in the world to get a great education; and the number one place in the world where families can afford to live.

I believe that as we all continue to work together, Florida’s job growth will outpace the nation and our unemployment rate will drop below the national average."

Memo to Rick: I'm sure at one time in your life, you also believed in Santa, the tooth fairy, and that your vast fortune meant you could buy virtually anything you wanted, as well. But that doesn't mean you can tap your cowboy boot heels together three times like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, say your new slogan "It's working, it's working, it's working," and jobs will multiply like red ant mounds in your yard when you open your eyes. Sure, your money can buy you a lot of things, but selling that tired, three year old job creation line to Floridians isn't one of them. Nice try.

The reality is that, while over the last three years, you've claimed we can't afford things like education, the ACA, Medicaid, and pensions, among other things, but the one thing we could afford was to hand out tax giveaways to any company that was here, or would come here, and create jobs like nowhere else "in the world?" Except that hasn't happened yet. Sure, some jobs have materialized, but many companies aren't hiring as promised, and some have left altogether, waving good-bye and keeping the money. Others went bankrupt. Of those who do provide jobs, much of those wages are slim, and many don't offer benefits like health care anyway.

Psst, Rick: It's NOT working. And while we're on the subject of corporate tax giveaways:

More Corporate Tax Giveaways

Scott:

"Here in Florida, our work to reduce spending and cut taxes – along with making critical investments in priorities, like education - is working.

Top CEOs now rank Florida the second best state in the nation for business."

Why wouldn't CEO's feel that way? You fling the door wide open, smile, and tell them "No no, you keep those tax dollars!" In return, if they hire workers at all, they don't have to provide benefits if they so choose, don't have to pay a decent wage, and if they happen to build in a "high-crime area" they get yet another tax break, AND they can force workers to stay on the job when they're sick. Some can even charge exorbitant prices to lure the tourists in while they do it. Can you say "Ka-Ching?" So yeah. If you're a CEO, what's not to love about Florida? Unless of course, those CEO's have school age children. Which brings us to your new pet project and so-called priority:

Education

Scott:

"When I first stood before you in 2011, I said, “The single most important factor in student learning is the quality of teaching.”

And then you showed how important "student learning and the quality of teaching" was to you by........cutting education to the bone. But please, do go on....

"Since that time, we eliminated teacher tenure. We signed performance pay into law, and it will take effect in 2014.

Florida’s education system is making tremendous progress, due in large part to our great teachers and the work begun by Gov. Bush and many in this legislature."

Again, Scott slashed education that first year, then threw a bone back into funding it last year. Why the shout out to Jeb Bush? Well, aside from the fact that Bush isn't a fan, and that he's rumored to be working with Republicans in the legislature to undermine Scott's acceptance of Medicaid, one might assume it's a prelude to helping with Bush's plans to privatize education while his foundation profits at the same time. 

But getting back to the teachers:

I'll Take Teacher's Votes, For $2,500, Alex

Scott:

"The best way we can build on this progress is to reward our hard-working teachers with a $2,500 pay raise."]

["The hard work done over the last two years has set us up with a simple formula for success this year. We must remove the sales tax on manufacturers and invest in future generations of Floridians – by investing in Florida teachers."

Scott mentioned "teachers" 14 times in the speech. (And almost every time, he mentioned tax breaks for businesses in the same sentence, because...families first??) I suppose he thinks he gets bonus points for saying "teachers" as many times as possible. Same thing for "It's working." What he didn't say about teachers was "I value your vote, which is worth $2,500 to me."

One doesn't have to have a college education to understand that pulling huge amounts of funding from education one year, putting back a fraction of it in the next, and then tossing a meager pay raise at the teachers you've demonized in the third isn't exactly what you would call "progress."

Sorry Rick. I hate to be the one to burst your "I believe" reelection bubble, but "it's NOT working."

(Photo: Florida Governor's Office)

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Marco Rubio: The Grift Continues....

Marco Rubio just doesn't know when to quit.

Fresh off of his Mitt Romney's so-called response to President Obama's State of the Union address, he's gone on to prove that he's clueless and hasn't learned a thing just like the rest of his party. While everyone was focusing on "guzzle-gate," it briefly distracted from the utter nonsense he was so obviously reading on his teleprompter. ("Note to self: Must. Not. Look. Away.... Gulp.")  He gave a speech that was obviously written ahead of time, as he attributed things to the President that he never actually said.

It seemed as if Rubio was living in a world of his own imagination, talking about a President that he dreamed up who made a speech only he could hear. It was filled with more of the same policies that cost his party the election, again, and it was painfully dishonest. (You're just adorable, GOP. Never change.)

When your entire career and what you're selling is based largely on fantasy, it tends to make one nervous, and thirsty. And, not one to pass up a money making opportunity, Rubio jumped right in with a $25 water bottle as a fundraiser for his Reclaim America PAC. Much of what the PAC spends goes to "political consultants." I would venture to say they're overpaid considering the results.

From there, he moved on from water to Kool-Aid, and did what he does best: Find a camera and keep selling that snake oil. Rubio never lets the facts get in the way of a good story or policy. (See his ever so humble home in the "working class neighborhood" he grew up in, which is currently up for sale for a scant $675,000.)

Some of his latest whoppers are that he really, REALLY supports things that he opposes. For instance, he really supports the Violence Against Women Act, but just couldn't vote for it because it shifted funds from abuse to rape. (Not once, but twice.) I guess "rape" isn't violence in his mind?

His heart goes out to the families of victims of gun violence like the children at Sandy Hook Elementary, but he just can't support any new changes to gun laws. Sorry. He's standing with Wayne LaPierre on that one, which is basically laws don't work, why bother? He's heart broken, and yet not enough to even try doing anything to prevent more children from getting massacred. (You can see more of his ridiculous and absurd excuses for doing nothing in the video below.)

He loves student loans, which he benefited from, but he just can't support them for others.

Feels bad for Hurricane Sandy victims, but aid or relief to him is really just "pork." Sorry, you're on your own.

Loves Social Security and Medicare, his parents benefited from them, but he's ever so sorry, he just can't allow anyone else to.

He's working on an immigration plan that no one has seen for the two years he's been talking about it, but he's already said there are reasons why he might vote no it it doesn't meet his criteria. In other words, he's trying to play both sides of the fence, as it were.

Finally, there was this whopper on minimum wage, which would be great, but to remain consistent, naturally he's against that too:

“I support people making more than $9. I want people to make as much as they can. I don’t think a minimum wage law works,” Rubio told Charlie Rose. ”We all support — I certainly do — having more taxpayers, meaning more people who are employed. And I want people to make a lot more than $9 — $9 is not enough. The problem is you can’t do that by mandating it in the minimum wage laws. Minimum wage laws have never worked in terms of having the middle class attain more prosperity.” What works, he said, is helping the private sector grow." 

Makes you wonder, does Marco Rubio understand what minimum wage means?

Yes, he'd love to be able to pass a bill so that people could earn a living wage and somehow scratch their way out of poverty, but sorry. Raising the minimum wage, much like gun laws, just wouldn't work. So says Marco.

Hard to imagine that his plan that everyone will pay attention to what he says, rather than what he actually does. He's got to keep that up for a few more years, it's a long time until the next election, and from what we saw the other night, he's already starting to sweat under pressure.

Cheers, Marco!

  

 

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Scott Tries To Score Political Points Again With His Favorite Hostage: Education

Here We Go Again

Rick Scott is up to his old tricks again, pulling another 180 with his favorite hostages: teachers and education. This time he's proposing across-the-board pay raises for full-time public school teachers, to the tune of $2,500. No doubt he's haunted by his ever tanking poll numbers and can read the writing on the wall over his hopes for reelection.

Show me a governor professing his love for education by throwing a little money at teachers, and I'll show you a campaign prop.

This wouldn't be the first time he's shown that he thinks educators and parents aren't able do the math.

Let's review: This is the man who ran by touting "school choice" and charter schools. After he won, he cut education to the bone in his first budget. Then after he faced blowback and bad poll numbers for that slash and burn effort, (go figure) he threw education a bone by putting a fraction of that money back. Facing blowback number....(oh who can keep count at this point) for that blunder, he went on a "Not Listening Tour" to get "tips" on improving education, managing to ignore the biggest problem of all: the elephant in the mirror. The overall feedback from educators on that PR stunt was basically that Scott wasn't so much listening, but talking, while informing them that he was listening. Get the press to snap a few pictures of Scott looking concerned as teachers looked on, and then go back to business as usual. And of course, who can forget the teacher pension cut fiasco.

Well, the poll numbers are in on the latest effort, and now we see another so-called "investment" in the hopes of a big payoff.....for Rick Scott.

Good luck with that.

Not only is Scott tanking in the polls, but he's probably gotten an earful from the business community that he's so busy selling the state out to in the form of tax cuts. After all, when you do as much as Scott has done to run the state into the ground, it can't be good for business. Killing not only education, but environmental regulations, health care options, transportation improvement projects like high-speed rail, and let's not forget the governor's biggest claim to fame: jobs. (How's that working out, Gov. 7-7-7? Unemployment is down, but we're still losing jobs, and many we've gained are low pay.) Not just bad for business, but those employers and employees have families who have to live here too. Quality of life is a factor you can't ignore. Sure, the guys at the top of the food chain can afford private schools, but what about the rest? From universities on down, Florida's reputation for a good education isn't getting much help from Rick Scott. Bargain basement degrees may help some, but for everyone who benefits, there's someone else who will say "you get what you pay for."

Add to all that, the money he's proposing to give teachers has to come at the expense of something else that is sorely in need of money. His move has the potential to set up a fight among state employees, not to mention between Scott and Republicans in the legislature who are also no friends of education. They're already sounding the alarm.

Scott's only setting in motion another snowballing disaster in the form of a "quick fix." Most people would have learned that by now from experience. But Rick Scott? Not so much.

You can call Rick Scott a lot of things, but a quick study isn't one of them.

(Photo: Florida Governor's office)

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Scott Pushes Misleading Medicaid Numbers, Hints At Holding Education Funding Hostage?

Governor Rick Scott, the man who shuns nearly all dealings with the media in favor of the one-sided approach, tried it again over the weekend, writing an op-ed for the Tampa Bay Times to push misinformation on the upcoming state Medicaid expansion prior to a meeting with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius.

In his piece, he began with a story of his own family's struggle over caring for one of his brothers, and recounting a Shriners Hospital For Children that "came to the rescue." Probably a hint towards the Republican Party's approach to health care suggesting those in need should rely on some sort of charity as opposed to government programs like Medicaid, of which Scott has made clear he is not a fan.

From that op-ed, Scott wrote the following on Medicaid costs:

There are two key questions driving our consideration of this issue: How will we pay for it, and will it decrease costs and improve quality and access to health care for Florida families?

Today, Florida's Medicaid program provides health care to more than 3.3 million Floridians. That means that one in six Floridians have their health care coverage provided by tax revenues of the remaining Floridians, and Medicaid is approximately 30 percent of our state budget. The cost of Medicaid has been growing at 3 ½ times the growth rate of the state's general revenue for years. This crowds out our ability to invest in K-12 education, state universities and other priorities.

Growing government is never free. Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration recently reported that adding people to Medicaid under the new law would result in a total cost to Florida taxpayers of more than $63 billion over 10 years. The report also pointed out that the federal government has a long history of dramatically underestimating the cost of government programs.

Two things jump out here. The larger one is Scott's claims on the costs to taxpayers: $63 billion over 10 years. The Times wrote a follow up of their own on these claims, and pointed out Scott's fuzzy figures:

This figure is just plain wrong. In August, state economists estimated that Medicaid expansion would cost Florida taxpayers $8 billion over 10 years. It's ridiculous to think that cost estimates have more than tripled since the summer. In fact, Florida legislative staff charged with estimating the cost to the state of the Medicaid expansion question the accuracy of the $26 billion figure. In an email exchange, the budget chief of the House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee and Amy Baker, the Legislature's chief economist, tell a staffer at the Agency for Health Care Administration that the agency's figure makes a faulty assumption that the federal government won't cover the cost of the Medicaid expansion to the extent the law requires.

Scott has his own opinion on the wisdom of government covering health care for the poor, but he doesn't get to make up his own facts on what it would cost. Expanded Medicaid is a bargain for the state. Sebelius should be wary of the governor's inflated numbers, and Scott should use Monday's meeting to get all of his questions answered and find a way to make this work for Florida.

I'm sure no one will ever be able to persuade Rick Scott to use actual facts when it comes to his idea of the government's role in taking care of it's citizens, especially when it comes to health care. After all, his former company holds the record for the largest fines ever for Medicare fraud, a fact Scott has conveniently removed from his bio, not to mention that he took the fifth 75 times in just one deposition in another court action involving the same company. Unfortunately for Scott, as inconvenient as those facts may be, they remain facts. Scott hasn't fooled the Times in this case, and he won't be fooling Secretary Sebelius either.

Nice try.

The other point that jumped out at me had nothing to do directly with Medicaid, but Scott nonetheless managed to slip it in there anyway. It was his mention of the high cost "consequences" of his magical Medicaid numbers:

This crowds out our ability to invest in K-12 education, state universities and other priorities.

As Floridians well know, Scott has done his best to slash education funds beginning with his first budget and continuing with cuts to higher education along with encouraging "bargain basement degrees." Last year he tried to pretend those first budget cuts never happened by putting a fraction of those cuts back in when it proved damaging to his approval ratings, or the lack thereof. He thought no one would notice those facts either.

Again, nice try.

Now that he remains so unpopular, even though it's two years out, Scott is trying to remake his image as he pins his hopes on reelection. It wouldn't be much of a stretch to assume he plans to put more distance between himself and his education gutting history. Not only has he tried to place blame on the Republicans in the legislature for his cuts, do we assume that now he will also use Medicaid funding and the President's health care law as a scapegoat for his incompetence, and that Floridians are stupid and won't notice that as well? Worse yet, does he plan more education cuts if he's forced to follow the law as intended rather than rewriting the rules to suit himself?

If so, good luck with that. Floridians won't forget, and most aren't that naive.

They know the true scapegoat hasn't been banished to the wilderness, it's running for reelection in 2014.

Scott, Lawmakers Living High On The Hog And "Saving Taxpayers" Right Into The Poorhouse

Rick Scott Went To Britain, But All You Got Was The Bill, And This "Postcard" 

Rick Scott just joined several other governors to request more control over how the Affordable Care Act is implemented in the state, along with a request that Florida still receive full federal funding, and allow Scott control over that too. As always, he claims he's "concerned about the costs to taxpayers."

Funny how that works. His concern over all those costs only seems to come up when it involves something that is desperately needed and wanted by those taxpayers, and is something that would improve their lives in some way. Like getting by from day to day. Being able to afford things of the basic American dream.

Things like health care, and education, for example. 

Yet those are the very things he and the legislature will cut to the bone without a moment's hesitation. And they did it with education. Cut it one year, then threw a small bone back this year to appear as if they care about education. Scott "cares so much" about education, in fact, that he's now proposed that state colleges offer bargain basement degrees at $10,000 a pop. As a good education and competitive careers go, I guess he's never heard the phrase "you get what you pay for," nor has he ever been forced to live it.

Now Scott wants to "save taxpayer dollars" as he seeks to control federal funding for Medicaid. As it is now, a family of three with an income of only $11,000 a year makes too much to qualify in Florida. Just try getting an affordable health insurance plan on that kind of money.

$11,000. 

Well, this "save money for thee, but not for me" attitude came to light again this week in a painful way, not once but twice.

When it comes to saving the taxpayer, Scott and the legislature have their priorities, and many who can't afford good health care or an education are still paying a high price for things that have no benefit to them whatsoever. They have to go without so that Scott, his cronies, and lawmakers can have more of what they don't need, and dare I say, don't earn:

Florida’s new legislative leaders handed out hefty raises and salaries to many of their top staff members and newly hired talent even as thousands of state workers went for a sixth year without a bump in pay.

Senate President Don Gaetz and House Speaker Will Weatherford, who were sworn in last month, immediately hired new chiefs of staff and paid them more than taxpayers pay state Cabinet officials. They are paying 62 top policy advisors and staff directors more than $100,000 a year. And they gave salary increases totaling $252,000 to their 17 highest-paid employees.

Giving the most in raises was Gaetz, R-Niceville, who promoted 10 people who were already making more than $100,000 a year in state jobs. The biggest promotion went to his top aide, Chris Clark, whose salary jumped from $77,000 as an aide in Gaetz’s legislative office to $150,000 as the Senate president’s chief of staff. Clark started in the Legislature in 1994, making $12,771 a year. Gaetz said Clark’s salary is commensurate with those of previous chiefs of staff.]

[State workers, by contrast, have not seen a pay raise in six years. Last year, the Legislature also tapped into their take-home pay by deducting 3percent to pay the annual contribution to the Florida Retirement System. The result is a 15 percent drop in earning power for most state workers, labor unions say.

Nice work if you can get it, right? But you can't.

Speaking of jobs, recall that last week Scott went on yet another "trade mission," this time to Colombia, promising jobs, jobs, jobs, and an economic boom for Florida, just as he did on all the other trade missions to Panama, Canada, Brazil, Israel, Spain and Britain. This one to Colombia was by far the largest one yet, and while Scott wants to "save taxpayers" the burden of the high costs that would allow for funding education, health care, and basic necessities that used to be a given for people in the free world, he's not so concerned when it comes to traveling the world in the name of job and economic nirvana:

All told, those trips cost taxpayers more than $332,000, with some travel and lodging donated by hotels and airlines.]

[Security alone for the trip to Brazil totaled $77,000. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement declined to say how many agents are guarding Scott and first lady Ann Scott in Colombia. Also accompanying the governor's party are his traveling press secretary, a travel aide and Mrs. Scott's chief of staff.

The Colombia trip is costing the taxpayers $197,650.

...the governor’s security alone on his six previous international trips costs Florida citizens more than a quarter of a million dollars. That includes almost $77,000 in security for his trip to Brazil, almost $72,000 for the United Kingdom and tens of thousands more for Panama, Canada, Israel and Spain. 

For all he's spent, and all that it's costing the rest of us, one would think that jobs will fall from the sky any day now. I wouldn't recommend holding your breath.

So here we are in Florida which is under the control of a governor and a group of Republicans who are the party of "Pull yourselves up by your own bootstraps," where everyone who expects the basic living necessities that they earned to be there, are considered to be asking for a handout. It's no wonder we can't afford things that used to be there for anyone who worked for it.

Floridians are too busy paying for Rick Scott's boots, and there's nothing left over for straps of their their own.

 

Life On Planet Romney: The Education Edition

Hey kids, here's a quick lesson on what life is like on Planet Romney when it comes to education.

Under the Romney-Ryan budget, college aid would be cut for nearly 10 million students and the tax deduction for college tuition would be eliminated.

But don't worry, Romney has the perfect solution for you. Just borrow the money from your parents to go to college! Or better yet, just ask them for the money to start a business and skip college altogether! It's just that simple.

Of course, if your parents aren't made of money like Mitt Romney is, well I guess you're just out of luck. You see, Mitt wants another tax cut so he can keep making money off of his money, and those cuts have to come from somewhere.

Just a little lesson in math from Mitt Romney.

You're welcome.

 

U.S. Education Secretary Catches Florida Legislators "Leaving Children Behind"

Florida lawmakers just got caught using education money on something that doesn't benefit students.

Or in other words, it's Thursday.

This time they're getting national attention for it:

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan questioned Thursday why the Florida Legislature passed a law requiring districts to continue tutoring services that have not proven effective.

Florida was one of nearly a dozen states that received a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind law earlier this year. That waiver included lifting a requirement for the state to set aside 20 percent of Title I funds for special tutoring services.

In remarks in Washington before the Florida Council of 100, a nonprofit organization, Duncan noted a new study showing the mandated tutoring had no impact on student performance. He said a cottage industry of tutoring companies has emerged around the mandate.

"But there has never been accountability for results," Duncan said. "Districts don't know if individual companies are actually having an impact on student achievement."

The Florida Legislature passed a law that will take effect in July requiring 15 percent of Title I funds be used for supplemental education services in the upcoming school year. Title I funds are provided to schools with large numbers of low-income students, and the tutoring program is designed to offer extra help to students at schools deemed in need of improvement.

As part of the Florida law, districts must contract with state Department of Education approved tutoring providers. 

"I find it ironic that Washington is offering flexibility but Tallahassee is taking it away," Duncan said.

Ironic? Yes. Almost as ironic as having Rick Scott hold himself out as the "Education Governor" as he cuts funds out from under K-12, right on up to State Universities and expects praise for doing so. Those of us in Florida are used to this kind of thing. Leaving the children behind is just par for the course down here.

A U.S. Department of Education study released in early May analyzed results from No Child Left Behind tutoring programs in six districts in Connecticut, Ohio and Florida. It found that for students in grades three through eight, there was "no statistically significant impact" on performance in reading or math.

"Why is Florida keeping the set-aside for tutoring that is showing little or no impact on children?" Duncan asked. "Is it because of pressure from the industry?"

Funny Sec. Duncan should ask. This is an open question lots of us have asked, although we're pretty sure we know what the answer is.