Beach Peanuts

If Rick Scott Is Serious About Creating Jobs And Cares About Florida Families, He Should Prove It

If Rick Scott is truly serious about creating jobs in Florida, he should call for a Special Session on Medicaid expansion.

The Florida Hospital Association released a report by the University of Florida that shows extending health care coverage using the $51 billion in federal funds available would create more than 121,000 permanent jobs over the next 10 years.

Not only that, but it makes sense for the self-proclaimed "fiscally conservative" Governor to do so:

There is no valid argument against extending Medicaid.  The federal government will pay 100% of the cost of Medicaid expansion for the first three years, while the state will never be required to pay more than 10% of that cost in any year.  Expansion will cost the state an estimated $2.1 billion over the next 10 years, increasing the state’s share of the Medicaid budget by only 2%, while drawing down $20.3 billion in federal funds.

Most of those who will finally become insured are those just above the current Medicaid thresh hold because they are working but still cannot afford private insurance.  This included individuals earning up to $15,400 and families of three earning up to $26,300.

This means at least one million more uninsured Floridians will get coverage in the next 6 years. More insured Floridians translates to more jobs, less uncompensated care, and a healthier society.

If Florida does nothing, as the Legislature did, all of us will continue to pay more for health care.

In addition to that, if Gov. Scott is serious when he says he cares about Florida families, he should prove it with his veto pen:

HB 655, the earned sick time bill, would strip local communities of the right to even pass earned sick-time policies for working families. This could have serious impacts on Florida's service-driven economy, not to mention the health and well-being of our families. We urge you to protect Florida's families by vetoing HB 655.

With the absence of expanded health care coverage, Florida is at a risk. Right now, Florida's hardworking families cannot afford to get sick because more than a million have been denied access to health care coverage and none of them will have Earned Sick Time protections. 

It's time for Scott to do more for Florida families than merely use them as a campaign slogan. It's also time for him to prove he meant it when he said that expanding Medicaid was "the right thing to do." He needs to do the right thing and call for a Special Session now.

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Marco Rubio Demands That An Empty Chair Resign From The IRS Immediately

Oh my. The GOP's "best and brightest" "golden boy" "Tea Party Darling" and "savior" is at it again, faking outrage and making demands. 

Today, in the wake of the IRS "scandal" Rubio is demanding that the IRS Commissioner resign post haste:

"[I]t is clear the IRS cannot operate with even a shred of the American people’s confidence under the current leadership," Rubio wrote in a letter to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. "Therefore, I strongly urge that you and President Obama demand the IRS Commissioner’s resignation, effectively immediately. No government agency that has behaved in such a manner can possibly instill any faith and respect from the American public."

Had Rubio done a little research and weren't so quick to register his outrage, he may have discovered that there is no IRS Commissioner. There hasn't been one for almost 6 months. Donald Shulman, the Commissioner at the time of the IRS probe, who was a Bush appointee, left last November. There is currently an "acting Commissioner" only.

But whether Rubio bothered with that pesky detail or not, it's really all about the outrage for him and the Republican Party. Not only is this just the latest in scandal fodder to use against President Obama, I'm guessing that it's also a way to try and intimidate the IRS from investigating the activites and qualifications of any 501(c)(4)  in order to determine if they're political in nature, and in order to give them their government subsidy.

It's quite possibly designed after the fake outrage when reports showed that right wing hate groups with the potential for violence were on the rise. Recall back then the GOP was outraged, and forced an apology for the accurate report, as if it weren't true. Those groups are on the rise, and of course there are groups applying as 501(c)(4) which are very much political in nature, but LOOK AWAY! They would also love it if you didn't recall that political targeting done by the Bush Administration was the norm and business as usual. (Did I mention the IRS Commissioner in question at the time of the probe was a Bush appointee?)

It's because of the rise in these groups, thanks to Citizens United, that the IRS was doing its job looking around in the first place:

Lois Lerner, head of the IRS unit that oversees tax-exempt groups, noted that the number of 501(c)(4) group applications doubled between 2010 and 2012. As a result of this influx, she explained, low-level workers at the agency’s Cincinnati office had flagged about 300 applications for additional review based on a keyword search. None had their status revoked or denied and the IRS apologized for the mistake. 

In the meantime, we'll watch to see if Marco Rubio, true to form, uses this as a way to fund raise off of said outrage for his very own Reclaim America PAC.

Ka-Ching!

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Sinking To A New Low To Defend The Indefensible

For a man who "aspires" to be President someday, Marco Rubio sure has a frightening way of twisting that whole "Democracy" thing.

From Think Progress:

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is asking supporters of his Reclaim America PAC to support beleaguered Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) for voting down a bipartisan amendment extending background checks for gun purchases.

Ayotte is the Senator who, after voting against background checks, saw her approval ratings do a nosedive. Having tanked in the polls, she now claims she supports, and in fact voted for background checks. She's so desperate to have constituents believe this that she penned an op-ed at the Bedford Patch, opening with this statement: 

I want to set the record straight: I support effective background checks and in fact voted recently to improve the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).

By "setting the record straight," Ayotte is in fact saying that as long as you ignore her voting record, don't read the fine print on what she actually voted for, and redefine what a background check actually is, then sure, she voted "for background checks." The kind of background checks that are easier to pass.  Because that's what the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), and Amendment, would have done. 

Rubio of course knows this, and while he's not all that sharp in some departments, he knows how to grift. So if he can cash in on ignorance and score political points at the same time, what's not to love? "Freedom" at any price is Rubio's cash cow, and his selling of it has little to do with actual Democracy, or common sense.

This is his argument in support of Ayotte:

Liberals just can’t get over the fact that their most recent attempt to restrict our Second Amendment rights was defeated soundly by the American people.

Whether Rubio can read, or chooses not to, is beside the point here. It's not "liberals" that can't get over the background checks that failed, which in no way would have restricted Rubio's beloved Second Amendment rights. It's the 91% of all "the people" regardless of party affiliation who favored those very same background checks that won't easily get over the fact that Rubio and his "freedom loving" colleagues voted against their will. It wasn't "defeated soundly by the American people," it was defeated by 46 NRA backed Senators, several of which are now seeing their poll numbers plummet. Go figure. If "the people" had soundly defeated it, the NRA would have no need to spend $250,000 to support Ayotte now, and Rubio would have no reason to grift anew. And yet, here he is waving a petition in the face of the gullible as he hands them a pen to sign it with, and while they're at, another check. "Reclaim America" indeed.

No, for the sake of this particular argument, these are a few of the only people that matter in Rubio's world right now. The people who have vowed to break the law by marching into Washington armed on the Fourth of July, and daring any authorities to enforce that law against openly carrying loaded weapons in the subtlest way possible. Nothing says "subtle" like knowingly break the law, then claiming enforcement of that law means "the government chooses to make it violent." 

Beyond that, apparently anyone who doesn't fit into Rubio's minority mold is a "liberal," and I know more than a few Republicans who would be surprised to hear it. (Even if you're of the minority Rubio is using as a political stepladder, no Democrats or liberals need apply.)

Speaking as a "liberal" I would be the first to stand up for, and support anyone, Republican or Democrat, who would be willing do what all of "the people" want, not just the ones who Rubio defines as "Americans." The majority of Americans do, but they have no representation in Marco's world, and he's not being subtle in pointing that out. For those who still need a little convincing, he and Ayotte have to grift their way around reality to get where they want to go. Unfortunately the dishonesty is catching up with them, and their desperation is showing.

Obtaining power by propaganda and force rarely bodes well, but then isn't that the whole idea that Rubio has propped up his history and political ambitions with?

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Don Gaetz's Former Hospice Company Accused Of Medicare Fraud

Club Med-icare

Another company associated with a Florida Republican has been accused of Medicare fraud, but this time it doesn't involve Gov. Rick Scott.

Nope, this time it's not the Governor, it's the Senate President Don Gaetz, whose former company Vitas Hospice Services and Vitas Healthcare Corp.  the U.S. Justice Department alleges “misspent tens of millions of taxpayer dollars from the Medicare program since at least 2002." (Is there a secret club for these guys somewhere that we aren't aware of?)

Gaetz sold the company in 2004 to its current owner, Cincinnati-based Chemed, and reportedly no longer owns any shares or has any affiliation with the company. Chemed operates hospice services in 18 states including Florida.

The suit, filed on the eve of the final day of the legislative session, alleges that the Chemed and its hospice subsidiaries defrauded Medicare by billing Medicare for patients who were not eligible for hospice care, and for charging Medicare for crisis care given to patients who either didn’t need it or never received it.

Gaetz, R-Niceville, who was elected to the Senate in 2006, said through a spokeswoman late Wednesday that the DOJ complaint involves issues that occurred after he left the company.

Rick Scott was never charged with Medicare fraud, but his former company received the largest fine for Medicare fraud in history.

If there is such a club for alleged Medicare fraudsters, they must not only have a secret formula for billing, but they're really bad at math. Last time I checked my calendar, 2002 came before 2004, when Gaetz sold the company. He may claim to have "left" the company before this occurred, but he still owned it during that time.

Charging Medicare for crisis care given to terminally ill patients who either didn’t need it or never received it? Classy!

But then the Gaetz family is nothing but classy. After all, upon passing the “Timely Justice Act,” which makes it even faster and easier to execute prisoners by cutting short the time for death penalty appeals, Don's son, and House Rep. Matt Gaetz had this to say:

“Only God can judge. But we can sure set up the meeting.”

So quick to judge! If these allegations are true, may justice be just as swift in this case, but something tells me Gaetz's lawyers will take all the time they need, and then some, to defend him and the company.

When it comes to Republicans in the alleged Medicare Fraudsters Club, and the Florida Capital, membership has its privileges. 

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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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Florida Legislature "Lets Liberty Ring" With More Gunshots

"Freedom Next Left!"

The 2013 session of the Florida legislature dealt with 15 gun bills. Out of those 15, including five changes to the Stand Your Ground law, only one passed, which was a bill that prevents people voluntarily admitted to a mental institution from possessing a firearm.

None of the Stand Your Ground changes passed. (George Zimmerman also recently passed on a Stand Your Ground hearing.)

Of the others that failed: One that mandated that only licensed dealers could sell guns at gun shows, a bill that would have repealed the "Docs and Glocks" law that banned doctors from asking patients about guns, one that would have given local governments the ability to regulate firearms in public locations, one that would have created firearms sales tax with revenues to be used for school safety, a bill that would have allowed counties and cities to regulate firearms, another to create a tax on guns sales to support mental health treatment, a bill to require anger management classes before ammunition purchases, one that would allow school principals to designate school employees to carry concealed weapons in schools, and one that would require universal background checks.

As the U.S. Senate was voting for strengthening background checks, which ultimately failed, the Legislature passed House Memorial 545, which warned federal officials not to infringe on the rights of gun owners:

One Representative shouted out “Let liberty ring!” before making the sound of loading a gun and asking his colleagues to support the bill. It passed in a lopsided vote that broke down mostly along party lines.

And of course, liberty rings on in Florida. On, and since Friday, the end of the legislative session:

Melbourne police arrested a member of Florida's National Guard on suspicion of threatening a group of women with a smoke grenade and an assault rifle. According to Melbourne police, William Soto Figueroa, 24, entered an apartment on Woodwind Trail—without permission—Wednesday night and scared four women inside with the grenade. The victims thought the smoke bomb was a grenade and ran into different rooms in the apartment, police said. Police say Figueroa left the apartment but later returned with an AR-15-style assault rifle.

A six year old child was shot by her 13 year old brother.

A 3-year-old boy who found a gun in a backpack and shot himself died.

In another location where three women were shot, the carnage took place about 150 feet away from what should be an ideal crime deterrent — a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office substation.

Since Newtown, there have been 253 gun deaths in Florida.

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Bill Nelson Urges Scott To Call Special Session On Medicaid Expansion

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) has written a letter to Governor Rick Scott urging him to call a special session on Medicaid after Republicans in the legislature concluded their 2013 session by killing any chance at expansion. In doing so, Republicans turned away $51 billion in federal funding for coverage to 1 million low income Floridians, sending Florida tax dollars elsewhere, much like Scott did with federal funds for high-speed rail. 

In Florida – a state where roughly one-in-five residents not covered by Medicare lack any health-insurance coverage at all - the consequences of the state Legislature’s recent decision not to expand Medicaid loom large. 

As you know, in passing the Affordable Care Act, Congress fully funded the expansion of Medicaid coverage to an estimated one million Floridians.  And, your announcement last February - when you publicly declared you wouldn’t be the one to “deny” these Floridians this coverage - was seen by many as a “watershed moment” for the nation’s health-care bill.

Now, the Legislature has done exactly what you said you wouldn’t: it has denied these Floridians access to coverage.  And now, only you have the chance to remedy the lawmakers’ failure to expand Medicaid to these needy Floridians.  Therefore, I urge you to call a special session.

As governor, you have a responsibility to the safety and welfare of all Floridians.  And absent further action on your part, hundreds of thousands will continue receiving their medical care in hospital emergency rooms across our state – where the costs are the absolute highest, and taxpayers and policyholders foot-the-bill. 

Not only was this an unconscionable and callous decision by the Legislature – it was also a bad decision for many business owners who could now end up paying tax penalties of $2,000 to $3,000 per employee.  

As a former state treasurer and insurance regulator, I can also tell you one of the ways to curb a rise in premiums is by reducing the high expenses associated with uncompensated and indigent medical care that get passed on to the rest of us.

So, again, I strongly urge you to remedy the Legislature’s inexcusable failure.  I look forward to hearing from you on this issue of special importance and working with you to provide Floridians with this much-needed medical coverage.

In addition, 14 Democratic members of the Florida Senate sent separate letters Monday making the request, following House Democratic leader Perry Thurston's request for one Friday.

House Republicans, led by Speaker Will Weatherford, blocked the effort before closing the session Friday. Weatherford opposed Medicaid expansion even though his own family were once the beneficiaries of Medicaid. Weatherford did so for, what most are saying, purely political purposes to establish himself among extreme right-wing and Tea Party Republicans who oppose anything included in the Affordable Care Act. Weatherford is against the idea of a special session:

"I don't know what it would achieve," Weatherford said. "Unless there was an agreement of what the session would do, calling one doesn't make sense. We would have to have some agreement on policy, other than drawing down on federal funds."

After opposing it himself, Scott changed his tune and said he favored Medicaid expansion when he all but had no choice. Republicans gave him political cover by blocking it, and it remains to be seen if he'll stand by that decision by pushing for a special session.

During the session, Scott did nothing to push Republicans in that direction.

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The Florida Legislature Gets A Little Help From Their Friends: ALEC

Do you like some of the bills that didn't pass in the Florida legislature this year? How about previous years?

The legislators share credit for bad legislation with ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council). After all, ALEC is doing most of the work. Many Florida leaders in turn really "work" for ALEC, not Floridian voters, and they're paid handsomely for it. 

Several bills from this year's session were comprised from ALEC model legislation like the preemption bill, also known as the paid sick-time bill. (See also this article on the Orange County sick pay battle: ALEC Politician Works To "Deliver The Kill Shot" In Florida) ALEC has also led an assault on Medicaid expansion. Of course one of their triumphs in the past was the Stand Your Ground gun law.

You can see examples of much of their model legislation here. If you spend some time there you'll see a lot of bills that will look familiar to you if you've followed the legislature the past few years.

Here is a list of (known) Florida legislators with ties to ALEC.

Here's just another refresher course, ALEC Explained In Five Minutes:

 

(Video h/t: Daily Kos)

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Florida 2013 Legislative Session Ends With No Medicaid Expansion

Reactions from Democrats and Progressives to the 2013 Legislative session:

Statement from Progress Florida executive director Mark Ferrulo:

"In dissecting the 2013 legislative session, one thing is clear, Florida has the wrong leaders with the wrong priorities. Floridians want effective and efficient government that improves our quality of life and protects the middle class. What Republican leadership delivered was a 60 day corporate special interest feeding frenzy.

"Floridians want economic fairness, quality public schools and access to health care. What we got instead was a refusal to expand access to health care, more attacks on our public schools, and hundreds of millions in corporate tax giveaways.

"Not only did Gov. Scott and legislative leaders ignore the priorities of working families, they doubled down on a commitment to govern from the far right and at the beck and call of corporate donors."

 

STATEMENT FROM FL DEMS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SCOTT ARCENEAUX:

"The 2013 legislative session was a loss for Florida's middle class. It will best be remembered for Governor Rick Scott and House Speaker Will Weatherford's complete failure to expand affordable healthcare to 1.2 million Floridians. Weatherford placed such a premium on catering to the Tea Party that he rejected federal funding and the creation of over 120,000 permanent jobs that Medicaid's expansion would have brought to our state. Scott, who reversed his position on expanding Medicaid just before session, proved that when he said he 'cannot, in good conscience, deny the uninsured access to care,' it was nothing more than an electioneering gimmick. Health care costs for every Floridan will now go up as a result. 

"The Governor refused to lead on this issue and sat silently by as Will Weatherford and House Republicans put politics before a morally and economically sensible policy. The GOP-led House instead spent their time on divisive social issues and doling out hundreds of millions in corporate tax giveaways. With thousands of lives on the line, this refusal to act in the best interests of the people of Florida is unconscionable."

 

Democratic Leader Perry Thurston Calls For A Special Session:

THURSTON: ‘Governor Scott, please order the Florida Legislature into special session’

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Legislature adjourned the 2013 regular legislative session Sine Die on May 3 without adequately addressing a crisis of uninsured Floridians. House Democratic Leader Perry Thurston (D-Fort Lauderdale) issued the following statement:

“To save lives and improve health outcomes, to create jobs and grow our economy, Florida House Democratic Caucus members proudly fought throughout the 2013 legislative session, and will continue to fight, for an expansion of health care coverage for working Floridians.

“Unfortunately for our state, the Florida House of Representatives, under Republican leadership, failed to meet the health care needs of our citizens.

“Despite ample opportunities to pass a bipartisan health care solution that enjoys the backing of Republican Governor Rick Scott and the Florida Senate, House Republican leadership dropped the ball.

“By blocking passage this session of a plan that would dramatically help 1.2 million of Florida’s low-income and working families, many Floridians are disappointed and will continue, despite the session’s end, to expect the governor and Legislature to approve a bipartisan health coverage expansion compromise that relies upon available federal funds.

“Therefore, I call on Governor Scott to take prudent action and to please order the Florida Legislature into special session at the earliest convenience to pass a bipartisan health coverage expansion plan for Florida’s working families.”

 

Rep. Mark Pafford (D-West Palm Beach), From the Miami Herald:

Rep. Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach, said it was difficult to address Florida’s needs when more than a third of the budget is tied up in trust funds that restrict spending to specific line items. That millions get reserved for street beautifications while other health care and elderly care needs go unmet is not acceptable, he said.

“The budget is not plugged into the reality of what’s happening outside this chamber,” Pafford said. 

 

From "Protest" To Praise: Florida Democrats Cave To Republicans, Again

“I would like to thank Mr. Speaker for a bipartisan affair,” said state Rep. Irv Slosberg, D-Boca Raton. “Sorry we had a meltdown for a little bit, but we are real happy.”

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Alan Hays' (R-Sharia) Bill For Non-Existent Problem Fails A Second Year In A Row

For the second year in a row, a bill to ban something that doesn't exist in Florida went down in flames in the Senate. 

Sen. Alan Hays (R-Sharia) has worked tirelessly to push for a ban on "creeping Sharia" in Florida that has no basis in fact. After wasting time yesterday arguing that this was of the utmost importance and of great danger to Floridians, today Hays' little experiment in legislating something that lives in his imagination failed to pass:

A bill that would ban Islamic law and other foreign laws from being applied in state courts has died on the last day of Florida's legislative session.

....Sen. Alan Hays sponsored the bill. The Umatilla Republican said he wanted to protect Floridians from foreign law being used against them in state courts.

But there are no reported cases in which a Florida court applied foreign law. That led critics to deride it as a solution to a "phantom menace."

They can't possibly allow Medicaid expansion in Florida, but they can allow this man to argue (for two years) that in passing a bill to ban Sharia law in the state, it would provide "vaccinations" against this imaginary evil.

Even worse, adding insult to stupidity, the House actually approved the legislation last month with 79 votes in favor of the bill.

With so many issues on the table that need attention and action, isn't it comforting to know that Hays and his colleagues are happy to waste money and time on myths and conspiracies?

Your taxpayer dollars at work.

 

 

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