Beach Peanuts

Leftovers: Disney Sickos, Clowns VS Cardboard, Slackers, Grifters And Profiteers

Florida Shortens Yellow Traffic Lights For Profit: Florida is "tweaking" the rules on time intervals for yellow traffic lights, and ignoring national standards, which means big profits for some, at the expense of unsuspecting ticketed motorists, who may face an even bigger fine if they contest their citations. There's also the potential for danger when the lights are shortened in some cases. You can thank the Legislature, The FDOT and lobbyists for camera companies. See the full story here.

How The Other Half Does Disney: Sing along with me, won't you? "It's A Sick World After All" and no, I'm not talking about Disney's "no sick pay" gift from the Florida legislature, but this will indeed make you ill. Wealthy mothers are foregoing FastPasses and hiring disabled tour guides so their families can skip long lines at Disney World.

Forget That Empty Chair, The RPOF Will Now Run Against Cardboard: Apparently Lenny Curry, the not so bright driver of the Republican Party of Florida's clown car, thinks that's the only way to win. Actually, he's fixated on Nancy Pelosi and Appalachian Trail enthusiast and former absentee Governor Mark Sanford's recent win over Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch. Curry seems to be under the illusion that because Sanford "debated" a cardboard cutout of Pelosi, that caused Colbert Busch's loss, so he's going to drive that narrative right off a cliff. Never mind that it would be difficult for any Democrat to win in the Red state, nor that Pelosi isn't nearly as scary to voters as he thinks she is. Let him have his dreams...

Rep. Frederica Wilson Saves A Dad From Deportation: During an immigration forum yesterday with Congressional Democrats in Florida, Rep. Wilson made a difference for an 18 year-old who said his father would be deported the next morning. Meanwhile, Sen. Immigration, Marco Rubio was busy obstructing elsewhere, demanding that another empty chair, this time at the IRS, be fired, trying to make it a crime for the IRS to do its job, and then fund-raising off of it. In other words, it was Monday. 

Rick Scott Continues His "Aren't I Just Awesome?" Tour: Rick Scott continues to ignore Medicaid inaction and other items piling up on his desk like the budget and bills he should veto, and instead continues to celebrate the only real thing that matters to him: More tax cuts for big business.

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The Florida GOP And Sick-Time: "Small Government" Hypocrites

Leftovers: Florida Turns 500, Or Not, Sugar Or Not, Scott Blunder, Legislative Re-Do, Election Laws, Nelson, Graham, Crist, West, BP, ObamaCare, And More...

Action: Tell Rick Scott To Veto "Paid Sick Days" Bill

GOP Intolerance Alienates Their Own Florida Hispanic Outreach Director

Pablo Pantoja

(Photo: Kevin Cate, The Florida Nation)

How badly is the Republican Party's so-called project on "outreach" to Hispanics going?

This badly:  Citing the "culture of intolerance surrounding the Republican Party," and the recent report from the Heritage Foundation, and one of it's now former members, Jason Richwine's views, the State Director of Florida Hispanic Outreach for the Republican National Committee, Pablo Pantoja, has now become a Democrat. 

It's understandable, given that their so-called savior on immigration, Marco Rubio, seems to set up more roadblocks on immigration reform than actual solutions, like warning that green cards for gay couples is a deal breaker, and saying the only reason he's jumped into immigration reform in the first place is because "the President and the Democrats who control the Senate were going to bring this issue up" anyway. (Although he may have other reasons entirely.) He's also said that he will "strongly oppose" the confirmation of President Obama's Hispanic labor secretary nominee Thomas Perez, merely because he's a "liberal" Democrat.

But it goes much deeper than just Marco Rubio's numerous immigration barriers, and the Republican Party seems to have little interest in really reaching out to Hispanics. (Beyond window dressing, re-branding, and voter suppression.) As the director of their outreach in Florida, Pablo Pantoja's reasons for becoming a Democrat couldn't make that more clear.

It also goes beyond just immigration, as the GOP is alienating more voters every day. 

Here is Pantoja's letter in full, from Kevin Cate at The Florida Nation:

Friend,

Yes, I have changed my political affiliation to the Democratic Party.

It doesn’t take much to see the culture of intolerance surrounding the Republican Party today. I have wondered before about the seemingly harsh undertones about immigrants and others. Look no further; a well-known organization recently confirms the intolerance of that which seems different or strange to them.

Studies geared towards making – human beings – viewed as less because of their immigrant status to outright unacceptable claims, are at the center of the immigration debate. Without going too deep on everything surrounding immigration today, the more resounding example this past week was reported by several media outlets.

A researcher included as part of a past dissertation his theory that “the totality of the evidence suggests a genetic component to group differences in IQ.” The researcher reinforces these views by saying “No one knows whether Hispanics will ever reach IQ parity with whites, but the prediction that new Hispanic immigrants will have low-IQ children and grandchildren is difficult to argue against.”

Although the organization distanced themselves from those assertions, other immigration-related research is still padded with the same racist and eugenics-based innuendo. Some Republican leaders have blandly (if at all) denied and distanced themselves from this but it doesn’t take away from the culture within the ranks of intolerance. The pseudo-apologies appear to be a quick fix to deep-rooted issues in the Republican Party in hopes that it will soon pass and be forgotten.

The complete disregard of those who are in disadvantage is also palpable. We are not looking at an isolated incident of rhetoric or research. Others subscribe to motivating people to action by stating, “In California, a majority of all Hispanic births are illegitimate. That’s a lot of Democratic voters coming.” The discourse that moves the Republican Party is filled with this anti-immigrant movement and overall radicalization that is far removed from reality.  Another quick example beyond the immigration debate happened during CPAC this year when a supporter shouted ““For giving him shelter and food for all those years?” while a moderator explained how Frederick Douglass had written a letter to his slave master saying that he forgave him for “all the things you did to me.” I think you get the idea.

When the political discourse resorts to intolerance and hate, we all lose in what makes America great and the progress made in society.

Although I was born an American citizen, I feel that my experience, and that of many from Puerto Rico, is intertwined with those who are referred to as illegal. My grandfather served in an all-Puerto Rican segregated Army unit, the 65^thInfantry Regiment. He then helped, along my grandmother, shatter glass ceilings for Puerto Rican women raising my aunt to become the first Puerto Rican woman astronomer with a PhD in astrophysics (an IQ of a genius as far as I’m concerned). Puerto Ricans, as many other Americans still today have to face issues of discrimination in voting and civil rights.

Regardless of what political affiliation people choose, my respect for some remains. I don’t expect all Hispanics to do the same (although I would hope so) but I’m taking a stand against this culture of intolerance.

I am also making a modest contribution (here: http://bit.ly/12uf3g8) to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for the efforts in helping protect the rights of immigrants and civil liberties in general.

With warm regards,

-pablo

Pablo Pantoja should be commended for taking a stand.

Too bad the rest of the GOP can't do the same.

 

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From The Department Of "No, He Really Can't Make This Stuff Up," Marco Rubio

Immigration Hypocrisy, Rubio Style

From The Department Of "No, He Really Can't Make This Stuff Up," Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio, Pausing To Insert His Political Agenda

Today Marco Rubio "took a stand" and said he will "strongly oppose" the confirmation of President Obama's Hispanic labor secretary nominee Thomas Perez, even though he acknowledges his "sharp intellect:"

...Rubio acknowledged the politics of opposing a fellow son of immigrants, complimenting Perez's "sharp intellect" even as he trashed him as a liberal.

In a news conference yesterday, Hispanic lawmakers warned Republicans not to block Perez. “Tom Perez is eminently qualified for this job,” freshman Rep. Joe Garcia, a Florida Democrat, said in an interview with McClatchy. “If Republicans wanted to show an understanding of the Hispanic electorate or sympathy for the Hispanic electorate, they picked the wrong guy to make a scapegoat.”

Unfortunately the particular goat in question is a Democrat, a sin that far outweighs intellect, or the lack thereof, to Marco Rubio. After all, Rubio's own mentor is, of course, former Sen. and Republican Jim DeMint. DeMint is now the head of the Heritage Foundation, a "think tank" which is big on "tank" but small on "think." They recently hired Jason Richwine, who wrote: 

‘No one knows whether Hispanics will ever reach IQ parity with whites, but the prediction that new Hispanic immigrants will have low-IQ children and grandchildren is difficult to argue against.‘

Of course Jim DeMint's "brilliance" is another subject entirely, but I digress. Getting back to Rubio's opposition to Perez:

“Before joining the Obama Administration, Mr. Perez built a long record as a committed liberal activist and politician, particularly in the areas of labor and immigration.  It was that record that gave many senators pause over his initial nomination to be Assistant U.S. Attorney General. 

Oh my, sounds so scary! After you pause for a refreshment, please continue Senator....

Those who voted against his confirmation then feared that he lacked the capacity to put his political agenda aside when he became a federal official tasked with enforcing the law. Unfortunately, his record as Assistant U.S. Attorney General confirmed those fears," Rubio said in a statement. 

“During his tenure at the Justice Department, Mr. Perez has been associated with some of the Department’s most controversial decisions and appears to have engaged in selective and politically motivated applications of the law.

Again, sounds so ominous. I'm sure Rubio will get to those "controversial decisions" in detail sooner or later...

“As the son of immigrants, Mr. Perez rose from modest beginnings to the highest levels of government through his obviously sharp intellect and impressive work ethic.  Many Americans, especially those of us of Hispanic descent, celebrate his success and his personal story as yet another example of all that’s possible in America no matter where you or your family came from.

So far so good. Sounds like a ringing endorsement. Also, most of it sounds oddly familiar. Son of immigrants, rose from modest beginnings, smart man, good work ethic, seems to have overcome that old Heritage Foundation low IQ standard. So what's the problem? 

Unfortunately, intellect and work ethic are not sufficient qualifications for a cabinet secretary.

“Mr. Perez’s far left views and troubling record at the Justice Department simply do not qualify him to lead the Labor Department, and I will strongly oppose his confirmation.”

It all just comes down to the "being a Democrat" problem? "Being a liberal?" Is that really the best Rubio can do? He can't support Perez because "he lacked the capacity to put his political agenda aside when he became a federal official tasked with enforcing the law?"

By those standards, I wonder if Marco Rubio would also oppose this guy, who lacked the capacity to put his political agenda aside when it came to voting to block the Violence Against Women Act? Twice. Or this one, who opposes gun laws because of his political agenda? Or the one who blocks student loan rate extensions for others? What about the guy who draws the line between those who shouldn't get Social Security and Medicare and his own family? 

How would Rubio feel about this guy, who only jumped in to the immigration debate in the first place  "because with or without us, the president and the Democrats who control the Senate were going to bring this issue up?"

Saying "no" to anyone simply because they're a Democrat? No political agenda to be found there, no sir! When it comes to making an "intellectual argument" you sure fooled us, Marco!

If there's one thing we know about Marco Rubio, it's that he ALWAYS "puts his own political agenda aside" when tasked with legislating and making decisions on the behalf of others.

Right?

 

 

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Immigration Hypocrisy, Rubio Style

Marco Rubio To 91% Of Americans: Take Your Freedom Of Speech And Shove It

If Dems Try To Give Gay Couples Green Cards, Marco Rubio Will Take His Immigration Bill And Go Home

 "Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Huddled Masses (Of Heterosexuals ONLY) Yearning To Breathe Free"

It's been speculated that Marco Rubio may seek to find a way to shelve any immigration reform in order to appeal to his Tea Party anti-immigration base, while at the same time appearing to be in favor of reform in order to appeal to his establishment Republican base. In other words, he's trying to play both sides of the fence.

Now it appears he's found another potential off-ramp on the road to reform and a couple of new scapegoats: Democrats and gay Americans.

According to Politico, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is planning to offer an amendment that would allow gay Americans to sponsor their foreign-born partners for green cards, just as heterosexual couples can:

The measure is likely to pass because Democrats face pressure from gay rights advocates to deal with it in committee, rather than on the Senate floor, where the odds of passage are far less favorable.

Rushing in to warn that this will kill the entire immigration bill, Rubio says that allowing yet another equal right for gay Americans will not stand. In sum "C'mon, we're Republicans and discriminating against 'the gay' is in our official platform! That is a line we will not cross."

“It will virtually guarantee that it won’t pass,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a member of the Gang of Eight negotiating group, told POLITICO in a brief interview. “This issue is a difficult enough issue as it is. I respect everyone’s views on it. But ultimately, if that issue is injected into this bill, the bill will fail and the coalition that helped put it together will fall apart.”

Because nothing says "I respect everyone's views" like also saying that if you dare to use those views as an excuse to push equal rights, I will turn this car around right now, take my immigration bill, and go home!

I suppose the list of six "triggers" that Rubio says must be achieved before the newly legalized are allowed to apply for a green card actually includes a seventh which is not mentioned in his plan: 

Must Be Heterosexual.

Just one more blatant Rubio hypocrisy to add to the list.

He would have voted for the Violence Against Women Act if it hadn't included gay, or native American women. His heart goes out to victims of gun violence and their families, but his heart actually belongs to the NRA and gun manufacturers, therefore no gun regulations or laws that might cut into profits from gun sales. He favors Medicare and Social Security for the Rubio family, but the rest of Americans must do without, and the list goes on.

Rubio is indeed a man ofprinciple. He believes in freedom for all as long as you meet his criteria, and no exceptions will be made if you're gay.

(Photo: Marco Rubio, U.S. Senate)

Medicaid Stall Day Two, Plus, Weatherford's New Behind-Closed-Doors Tax Giveaway Would Cost Floridians $100,000

 

U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Photo: Martha Jackovics)

For the second day in a row, Democrats in Florida are forcing the House to read bills in full in protest over Republicans inaction on Medicaid expansion, debating the expansion in between the readings, which Republicans in turn limited to three minutes.

Democrats argued that House Republicans are ignoring the will of Florida voters while sending their tax dollars elsewhere in rejecting expansion. House speaker Will Weatherford, whose own family benefited from Medicaid when his brother needed medical care, which he is denying to others, said the stall tactics were "dissappointing" and "unbecoming." Weatherford recently said that if Medicaid wasn't dealt with this year "that doesn't mean that the world comes to an end." Those being denied health care might disagree on that. Weatherford and the rest of the legislators pay only $8 a month for health care, while the GOP House version of Medicaid would have those with low incomes paying three times that amount through private insurance, rather than accepting federal dollars as the Senate plan would.

In other developments per the Medicaid dispute:

Democratic National Chairman and U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz traveled to Tallahassee to praise Democrats for standing up for Medicaid expansion, and to criticize both Republican lawmakers and Rick Scott. She said that by claiming he wants the expansion but not pushing the GOP to act, Scott was having his cake and eating it too. As for the Republicans:

"It's important and the right thing to do," she said. Democrats' delay tactics are preventing Republicans from "just ramming through what their tea party extremist agenda thinks is important."

In retaliation against Democrats, the Republicans began killing Democratic bills, while still pushing through bills for special interest groups and lobbyists. 

While claiming there isn't enough time to debate over Medicaid, and in doing so, sending Florida taxpayers money elsewhere, lawmakers still found time to meet privately overnight to give a special tax break to a California company that was recently hired by a Tallahassee lobbying firm. The tax break was personally requested by Will Weatherford. The tax break was never discussed publicly and would cost approximately $100,000 per year.

Also coming to light: The fact that by not expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, not-yet-naturalized immigrants may be able to get benefits that American citizens in their states can't get.

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Immigration Hypocrisy, Rubio Style

Taking On Water: Enough Hypocrisy To Sink A Ship

As Tea Party members, Conservatives, and members of his own party have begun pushing back at him from all directions, Marco Rubio's little experiment at furthering his own political ambitions with immigration seems on the verge of implosion.

And he thought all it would take to "reach out" to Latinos and Hispanics was having the last name "Rubio."

As his little rescue boat appears on the verge of sinking, he's penned a little gem of appeal to his base, FOX News, and something tells me his arguments are only going to create another hole in it, or perhaps damage the rudder for good.

Here's the part where he explains why he's jumped into the immigration issue in the first place:

I thought long and hard before taking on this issue. I understand how divisive it can be. I’ve seen how the left has used it to accuse opponents of their version of reform of being bigots and racists. 

Oh my, someone, quick, get a faint Sen. Rubio a fan and a bottle of water! That someone might see a party who has members that recommend controlling immigration by using gunmen to shoot illegal immigrants like feral pigs from helicopters, or forcing them to self-deport, for God's sake, as racist or bigots has caused him a case of the vapors! But please, do go on:

And I would much rather be having a debate on the more fundamental ways we can grow our economy and get our debt and spending under control. But with or without us, the president and the Democrats who control the Senate were going to bring this issue up.

Sure. "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free....because we're going to be forced to deal with you anyway" is really the Republican outreach re-branding that will appeal to Latinos, Hispanics and other minorities. That should bring new minority voters in droves! Marco Rubio. What a charmer.

It's almost as if Rubio doesn't think that anyone who will be impacted by his proposed immigration policies will read columns designed only for FOX News viewers and readers, or they're too stupid to actually understand what he's proposing. Because this is what he's proposing:

And that is why I support a process to identify and register those who are here illegally. They will have to submit biometric data in order to pass multiple national security and criminal background checks, pay $2,000 in fines, pay taxes, and learn English and American civics. They won’t be able to get any federal benefits like welfare or ObamaCare.

Before they can even apply to become permanent residents, they will have to wait at least ten years. They will have to get in line behind those who are trying to come the right way.

They will have to wait until we have a system in place to prevent illegal immigrants from being hired.

They will have to wait until we have a system in place to track people who overstay their visas.

And they will have to wait until we implement plans to spend at least $5.5 billion dollars to secure the border through more border patrol officers, more technology and more fencing.

Sure. And if you don't mind spending most of your natural life jumping through all those hoops, and prefer pipe dreams to an actual DREAM Act, Marco Rubio is your man! What's not to love?

And if that's not enough, here's a bit of immigration trivia for you: Who didn't have to get in line and wait like the rest, as Rubio will demand of those in the future? Why, that would be the Rubio family. As we've heard, they were also big fans of Medicare and Social Security, but I guess those details got overlooked in this little Rubio FOX essay.

There's also one other thing to point out. While Rubio will demand that anyone coming into this country will have to submit to multiple national security and criminal background checks, there's another background check he missed.

A background check to obtain a gun.

If he's prepared to ignore one for getting a gun, we can hardly take his other proposals very serious. If you can get a gun that easy, what better way to get whatever else you want while you're at it regardless of what politicians like Rubio propose?

With that little bit of hypocrisy, Rubio's shot a few more holes in his little Republican rescue dinghy. Add that to the others, and as we've seen in the last few days, it doesn't look like conservatives, or anyone from the Tea Party or the Republican Party are going to throw him a life preserver.

It sure looks like the U.S.S. Rubio may be going down. 

 

 

Wednesday Leftovers: Follow Scott's Money, Medicaid, Oil, Lizard People, Bongs, Bans and Bonuses

Did you know that  4% of voters say they believe “lizard people” control our societies by gaining political power, 5% of voters believe that Paul McCartney actually died in 1966, and that 5% believe exhaust seen in the sky behind airplanes is actually chemicals sprayed by the government for sinister reasons? They do. Scary, huh?

Those, and more conspiracy poll results are here, along with a few more Wednesday leftover news items:

If you want a clue as to what a second term for Rick Scott would look like for Florida's future, you can get some idea by following the money. During the first three months of 2013, Scott's "Let's Get To Work" fund brought in $4.6 million. Some of his biggest donors so far this year: Bill Edwards $500,000, Blue Cross Blue Shield $237,500, Florida Power & Light $250,000, H. Wayne Huizenga $250,000, Sheldon Adelson $250,000, and Donald Trump $50,000. If you have the stomach for it, the entire list is here.

Hillsborough County votes to look at banning assault weapons sales.

The House’s budget-writing committee passed its $74.4 billion spending plan by a 14-9, party line vote Wednesday, over Democratic objections to the refusal of ruling Republicans to include a federally funded Medicaid expansion.

Race and gender based abortion bills that failed last year are back again with no basis in fact to back them.

Another fake fiscal conservative: U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland, a Republican from Panama City, gave $26,000 in taxpayer money for bonuses to 16 of his staffers as he told the Panama City newspaper that the federal government is “spending money we don’t have.”

A renowned Canadian scientist says there appear to be similarities between fish deformities found downstream from Alberta's oil sands and those observed after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska and Florida's Deepwater Horizon disaster.

The Colbert Report highlights Florida's Bong law.

Voter Restriction Bills so far in 2013, by the numbers from The Brennan Center.

Action:

Organizing For Action Immigration rallies planned for Thursday at the offices of John Mica and Marco Rubio. Details here.

In case you missed them:

Hutchinson's Claims Don't Add Up On NRA's "School Shield" Report

While Making Health Care Hard To Come By, Florida Lawmakers Would Provide Vaccinations For Creeping Sharia

It's Official, The Inmates Have Taken Over The Asylum

No More Restraints For The GOP

While we're only months into President Obama's second term, the last thing I want to write about at the moment is the next Presidential election, but it's hard to pass up a chance to point out that two of the 2016 hopefuls from the shrinking Stupid Party (not my words, branding from one of their own) seem to be in a battle to appeal to the craziest of crazies in their party.

There's Marco Rubio, the so-called "rising star" who so far is more of a flame out (gulp), and then there's the recently resurfaced Jeb Bush, who for no apparent reason, they refer to as the "smart one" of the Bush clan. As they both jumped into the Presidential hopeful spotlight in recent days and weeks, things haven't gone too well for either of them.

During the 2012 campaign, Jeb sat on the sidelines while critiquing Mitt Romney and the others, and for most of that time, he echoed the conventional wisdom that the GOP had turned into a clown competition, and that they would never get anywhere unless they started acting civilized.

Yeah, that didn't last long.

Jeb entered the spotlight again this week to try and sell his new book. The only problem is that it's a book about immigration, and as everyone now knows, he's taken about three or four (I've lost count) different positions in the space of two days. That's a record, even beating Mitt Romney's flip-flop on positions that differed with the ones he wrote about in his book on health care. No doubt Jeb took a hard right turn off the road of his faux sensible Republican act in order to play to a base that's not just anti-immigration, but anti-anything but white folks (and women) altogether. Now Jeb has been invited to speak at the annual Take Off Your Straightjacket weekend or CPAC, so it's anyone's guess what hoops he'll be jumping through at that little hate-fest. 

Since Jeb conveniently popped up with a book on immigration just as Rubio was crowning himself the king of an immigration policy that the GOP is crowing about, but no one has actually seen yet, I suppose it's only natural that Rubio would try and go even lower, after a six pack or two of bottled water.

Rubio, not one to disappoint did just that. He headed to right wing radio to revive the old Kill ObamaCare act. Once again, not only does he want to take away grandma's Social Security and Medicare, but is threatening to take her entire family's access to good health care with it as he pushes them and the entire country off a cliff. He's demanding that a continuing resolution to fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year include provisions to defund Obamacare in its entirety.

Also from that same interview, he threw in a veiled threat at possibly blocking yet another nominee, this time for the Environmental Protection Agency, because enforcing regulations that would keep the big polluters from killing us all must not stand as far as Rubio and his donors are concerned. You know the argument, no regulations, free market, big government, and so on.

Who really knows if there's a rivalry between these two, or if at the moment they're just camera ready attention hogs. For all we know, they may think that a double dose of crazy would be just the thing for a two man ticket in 2016, although I'm not sure either of their egos could stand the competition. 

Either way, it's going to be interesting to watch them race to the bottom.

On a more serious side however, in the meantime Rubio still wants to take the entire country hostage over the protection of tax cuts for the wealthy while trying to kill the ACA, and anything else that will benefit the country as a whole, while he uses every crisis as an opportunity to raise money from the rich folks he actually works for.

It's going to be a long, ugly four years.

(Photos, graphics: Wikimedia Commons, Beach Peanuts)

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Marco Rubio, Immigration, And His For-Profit Prison Campaign Cash

Is Rubio Mending Fences, Or Building Prison Walls?

Last year, there was a vigorous effort to privatize prisons in Florida that failed. It was a top priority in which a Republican Senator who opposed it was even stripped of a chairmanship, and when that bill ultimately failed, Governor Rick Scott talked of looking into finding a way to move ahead with privatization on his own.  At the time, Sen. Mike Fasano, (R-New Port Richey) spoke out to Democracy Now! about his objections and fears if privatization were to move forward. 

Rick Scott received an inaugural donation of $25,000 from one of the largest private prison companies: The Geo Group, Inc.

Another politician from Florida joins the rest of those who were recipients of campaign cash from Geo, Marco Rubio. He's received at least $27,300 from them. In addition to those from Florida, he joins another list of Republicans that get donations from the private prison industry, among them the group who are working with Rubio on so-called immigration reform. Rubio has been "talking" about his big immigration ideas for over a year now, but they've yet to be seen.

Some of those Republicans listed have put forth legislation in the past to the benefit of the prison privatization industry and which dealt with immigration. Another company, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), has also provided large donations to the group.

From The Columbia Journalism Review:

Among members of Congress, the top two recipients of contributions from CCA are its home-state senators, Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker of Tennessee. The Republican lawmakers, each of whom has received more than $50,000 from CCA according to data compiled by the Sunlight Foundation, represent important swing votes for advancing a reform bill through the Senate. Another top CCA recipient is Arizona Republican John McCain, who has gotten $32,146 from CCA and is a member of the bipartisan “Gang of Eight” that is working to draft legislation. His fellow Gang of Eight member, Marco Rubio, ranks among the top recipients of contributions from the Florida-based GEO Group, receiving $27,300 in donations over the course of his career.

In recent years, each of these senators has sponsored bills that would have increased the detention and incarceration of immigrants. Legislation put forward by Alexander in 2009, for example, would have provided for “increased alien detention facilities.” And a 2011 bill cosponsored by McCain and Rubio sought to expand Operation Streamline, a federal enforcement program that makes illegal entry a criminal offense in some jurisdictions.

Although there are few specific details of reform from the Republican side yet, there are differences between what they, and Rubio claim to want, and what President Obama's plan would do. As CJR points out, some of Rubio's ideas would also have potential benefits for private prison companies who provide him with those big donations:

While the companies insist that they do not seek to shape immigration policy, the private prison industry has at times acknowledged its business could be affected by the reform debate. “Immigration reform laws which are currently a focus for legislators and politicians at the federal, state and local level also could materially adversely impact us,” the GEO Group declared in a 2011 SEC filing. And with the White House saying its goals for reform include “expanding alternatives to detention and reducing overall detention costs,” the limited media coverage so far has focused on potential losses for the industry. “Private prisons will get totally slammed by immigration reform,” read the headline on a Feb. 2 Business Insider piece.

But any immigration reform bill will be shaped by Congress—and the impact of reform on detention and incarceration still hangs in the balance. Divisions have already emerged between the White House and the Senate’s bipartisan Gang of Eight about the crucial path to citizenship. One key difference is that the Gang of Eight—which includes McCain and Rubio—has proposed that the Homeland Security department must certify that the border is secure before any undocumented immigrants can get green cards.

There's much more to the article beyond this, which you can read here.

CCA famously worked with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to pass SB1070, the "papers please" anti-immigration law in Arizona.

Geo has it's own controversies, some that came to light all over again earlier this week when Florida Atlantic University announced that in exchange for $6 million dollars, the FAU football stadium would be named for the company. It's bad enough that a university would want the name of a prison company on its stadium. It hardly compares to other sponsors that do, like Raymond James, Heinz, or Papa John's, to name a few. It's a prison, not a fast food drive through.

Putting that aside, the name Geo itself is associated with the deaths of prisoners, uprisings, squalid conditions, and worse. Lawsuits, some stating that prison guards engaged in sexual intercourse with prisoners, smuggled illegal drugs into facilities, and that prison authorities denied education and medical care, in a prison that held 1,200 prisoners from ages 13–22. All things that Geo well understands wouldn't bode well with "feel good" college sporting events. When the news of the naming went public, Geo tried to scrub the controversial incidents from their Wikipedia page. (Wikipedia caught them however, and those details and many more are still there.) 

Given all these Republican's associations with the prison companies, ALEC, and the upcoming immigration reform, not to mention the generous donations they've received from CCA and Geo, it's no easier to imagine anyone would just brush that aside as easily as some  tried to do over naming a stadium for a prison. 

The Republicans know they have a problem with Hispanic and minority voters. Some also hoped by putting Marco Rubio out there, he would bring some of them into the party. Part of their reasoning was placing him front and center on immigration reform. (It might have looked a little more convincing if Rubio had bothered to put immigration as an issue front and center on his website. He didn't.) 

Better for those with a stake in the details to be worked out on immigration to know that Rubio's taken campaign cash from prison for-profit companies who have more of an incentive for locking up and detaining people, and at times under "less than ideal conditions."  So far, Rubio isn't making any promises for a path to citizenship. While vague, he's stated that his "plan" on that subject is conditional. It's part of Obama's plan that Rubio adamantly criticizes.

Perhaps now we see more clearly why.

Here's Some "Impolite Straight Talk" For John McCain

"Here's A Banana"

John McCain's self-indulgent branding of himself as a "Maverick," campaigning on the "Straight Talk Express" and his 2008 slogan "Country First" were deemed laughable long ago, but his heights of hypocrisy of late have reached new, disgusting lows.

Never mind his lack of self-awareness when he called a man at an immigration town hall a jerk after complaining that people attending his town halls used to be "polite." Add to that, the man was repeating something that Republicans like John McCain have been feeding them in order to fearmonger on the issue of immigration. It was similar to what he faced in 2008 when a woman did the same thing. He walked it back then, but he fails to own statements he makes now that pose potentially dangerous consequences.

The nerve of his constituent to believe what McCain actually said when he was desperate for votes! Jerk, I say!

But what he said to the mother of a victim from the Aurora, Colo. movie theater massacre yesterday on her wishes to ban assault weapons was truly appalling:

"My 24-year-old son Alex was murdered in a movie theater in Colorado," Caren Teves said, according to KTVK. "These assault rifles allow the shooter to fire many rounds without having to reload. These weapons do not belong on our streets." 

McCain responded: “I can tell you right now you need some straight talk. That assault weapons ban will not pass the Congress of the United States." McCain added that he is working on legislation that would keep guns out of the wrong hands while preserving the Second Amendment. 

"You need some straight talk." Wow. 

What McCain said was not only disingenuous, but revolting considering that he had the nerve to say it to a woman whose son was so brutally murdered. 

"Lecturing" the victim's mother with straight talk? No. Far from it.

For one thing, McCain has said in the past that banning assault weapons wouldn't change anything, and he would have to see proof that it would before considering a ban. If he hasn't seen anything resembling "proof" (which I sincerely doubt) than he's merely refused to look for the evidence, because it's out there.

In just one example, a graph from  Dr. A. Charles Catania, a behavioral and experimental psychologist, shows an increase of mass shootings over time since the assault weapons ban in 1994. According to The Maddow Blog, he wrote:

"After the ban ended the rate became steeper still. If it keeps going that way, 2013 will not be a good year."

You can see the chart here. No, that may not be "proof" by itself, but it's not exactly a coincidence either.

That being said, McCain says that "he can tell you right now that a ban will not pass in Congress." He would know, because he has plenty of good reasons for that statement:

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, John McCain is–by far–the recipient of the most generous donations from “gun rights” organizations. He receives about $400,000 more than John Thune (R-SD), who received the second highest total amount of monetary gifts from pro-gun groups.

There's a handy chart for that too.

So if John McCain were to be honest, his "straight talk" answer concerning his views on the assault weapons ban would probably have been more like this:

"I may say that I'm working on legislation that would keep guns out of the wrong hands, but then I say a lot of things. Give me some "proof" that an assault weapons ban might have meant your son would still be alive today! I've got all the proof I need, and at least 400,000 reasons why the ban will never pass. No life is worth the price of my vote. Now if you'll excuse me, I have more important things to do, like making jokes about bombing other countries, holding up the appointment of a Secretary Of Defense for being honest about the Iraq war and the senseless deaths it caused, and politicizing the deaths in Benghazi to help my little buddy Lindsey Graham keep his Senate seat. After all, I'm a war "hero," a Maverick, and I have a country first to put at risk. Again."

I would add that John McCain is a "jerk," but that's being much too kind.

(Photo: Martha Jackovics)