Beach Peanuts

Grassroots Meets Astroturf: Netroots Nation And RightOnline

When I set out on my second day at Netroots Nation in Minneapolis last Friday, I never expected to come face to face with the likes of Andrew Breitbart, but unfortunately that's what happened.

Fresh off of his Anthony Weiner cellphone picture exhibition tour, and as always looking like he just woke up from a curb nap somewhere, Breitbart rolled into the conference with a camera crew and an "entourage" (entourage being his description, not mine) in tow. Unfortunately I was on my way to a session when I walked into what later became a confrontation between a couple conference attendees and "Big Blowhard." I snapped a couple pictures on my cellphone as I was coming down an escalator that brought me to where the face-off between Breitbart and a blogger was about to get under way. I avoided the scene and tried to get to into the exhibit hall, but just as I was going in, security was turning Breitbart away from the door due to his lack of credentials, and unfortunately I came briefly face to face with his ugly and angry glare.

Not pretty. 

Later on I read accounts of what was going on at the time, and it was interesting to read what those who weren't there were saying about it, particularly from right wing newspapers and FOX. I read that Breitbart was met by "MOBS OF ANGRY LIBERALS!" That it was pure "MAYHEM!" and that "BEDLAM ENSUED!" This is of course ridiculous but not surprising considering the sources. Sure, there was some yelling from one or two people, and a few more chanting "loser" as they followed him in his cowardly retreat as he fled the building, but "bedlam?" "Mayhem?" Not so much.

Here's one of the pictures I took of Breitbart, who was chatting with Dave Weigel (to his right) just as he was confronted by the blogger. Does this look like "bedlam" to you? 

 

(Photo: BeachPeanuts)

O. M. G.! BEDLAM ENSUED!

Yeah, me neither. It wasn't. I know the picture is poor quality, and I wouldn't even have posted it or given the right-wing bully any more attention, but the exaggerations of angry mobs of marauding "leftists" throwing him out of a conference he had no business being at in the first place are, well, comical. Not to mention the bragging Beitbart did about his little adventure himself later on.

He along with many others from the copycat conference that shadows Netroots Nation every year, RightOnline, were staying in the same hotel that I and many others from Netroots were staying in. RightOnline held their entire conference there as a matter of fact, since their number of attendees are small enough for just a couple of meeting rooms rather than several floors of the convention center. 

The numbers of those in attendance aren't the only big differences between RightOnline and Netroots Nation. RightOnline is "a project of Americans For Prosperity" according to their website, and what a project it is. The speakers and sponsors of this little "project" are quite different from those of Netroots Nation. They come and go via limos and wearing three piece suits and evening gowns and resemble Newt Gingrich and his wife after an afternoon at Tiffany's more than the attendees they seek to prey on, some who look as if they can barely afford to pay the rent, much less the price of a ticket to the conference plus travel expenses and anything left over for a copy of an autographed book by Andrew Breitbart himself.

I say this not to belittle those who attend the RightOnline conference, far from it. I say this because after watching how the right-wing, the Republican Party, and the Tea Party, (pick a name, they're all the same) operate for years and years, it sickens me to see people so manipulated, taken advantage of and lied to.

They seek out the most vulnerable to exploitation, and then exploit them, filling them with fear and the promise that they will be rewarded with "prosperity" if only they believe.

"A project of Americans For Prosperity."

They know what those easily led attendees don't understand: The prosperity goes to the ones stepping out of the limos, not the ones who arrive with their entire family crammed into an old pickup truck, or the retirees helping each other onto an elevator who need the Medicare these organizations want to rob them of. They scare them and then tell them the liberals are the ones responsible for the mess they're in now, (and let's don't forget the added bonus they have to wield since the last election: a black President) rather than their own party and their own agendas. And it works. They've created an angry bunch.

That was evident when people from their respective conferences came together while staying in the same hotel. Like a young and obviously inebriated couple who asked me to take their picture. I obliged, but after some thought, they eyed me suspiciously and then asked which group I was with. Suddenly a picture taken by one who "likes President Obama" would not suffice: "We'll take your picture and show it to Michele Bachmann!" (Not sure what that was supposed to mean exactly.) I can't count the number of people who were nice one minute, but gave me a laser stare the next or made angry comments when they saw what color my lanyard was. 

Then there's the arrogance. "Men in black" four abreast from RightOnline standing guard from who knows what in the hotel lobby.

People like Rep. Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, rushing from the hotel staring and whispering to her companion while keeping a safe distance from anyone of either conference as if she might catch something from "one of the commoners." 

Like any number of people from the Breitbart "entourage" mostly women dressed like, well, like hookers, drinking, laughing, doing a lot of staring and pointing and loudly condemning any Netroots group they came across. 

Then there was James O'Keefe. There's some arrogance. Strutting around as if he were an actual every day "journalist" rather than someone who had to get permission from a judge to go to Minneapolis in the first place. He of ACORN fame who claims "he only seeks the truth" while dressing up like a pimp or a telephone repairman, with cameras and tape recorders and such. I made the mistake of getting into an elevator when he came out of nowhere, stepped in front of me, nearly stepped on me as a matter of fact, as if that elevator should have been his alone. How dare I? I of the so called "angry liberal" crowd?

There were no "angry liberals" at the hotel harassing Muslim women, or shouting "white power" and then punching people in the face for whatever reason. Just anger from the prey of RightOnline. Except for their disdain for absent idols like Laura Ingraham who didn't bother to show up, or Sarah Palin, who was only there on the big screen and missing in action from her latest adventure in quitting: The Bus Tour (they wouldn't vote for her, they just believed she was really "one of them" and would actually be there) the anger and hate was reserved only for those with orange Netroots Nation lanyards.

After two days they knew those wearing the orange ones were "the enemy" because those wearing the green ones told them so.

To associate with them would mean that "BEDLAM WILL ENSUE."

At which time Breitbart, Bachmann, Blackburn, and all the folks from Americans For Prosperity, would flee, waving and laughing at them from their limos, leaving them and their empty wallets behind.

Rick Scott Now Tweeting "Help Wanted" Ads?

When Gov. Rick Scott spouts his famous campaign slogan "Let's Get To Work" the only reaction he gets these days are a lot of eye-rolls. He's killed more jobs than he's created, unless you count the lawyers filing suits against him, of course. That, along with just about everything else he's done since getting into office has earned him a well deserved spot at the bottom of the approval ratings barrel.

He keeps saying Florida is open for business, and yet jobs are scarce. People keep asking "where are the jobs?" since he vowed to create 700,000 of them when he won the Governor's race.

Well, it looks like he may have found at least two job openings in the state. That's great, but you would think he could do a little more about the unemployment problem than Tweeting the help wanted ads from the classified sections:

Wow, so that means when those jobs are filled, Gov. Scott will only have 699,998 jobs to go! 

And he says he doesn't read newspapers....

From The Netroots To Maddow: Rick Scott Makes The Annals Of Republican Failure

(Photo credit: NetrootsNation.org)

I've been absent from blog posting the last few days because I was attending Netroots Nation in Minneapolis, Minn., also the homeland of "The Bachmann." I have some observations that I took away from the conference and will be writing about them in the upcoming days and weeks. 

With politics being what they are now in Florida, I have to confess that I was looking forward to distancing myself from that for a few days. Unfortunately, when you have a governor who is as unpopular as Rick Scott you quickly discover that you can't escape reminders of the man when you're away from our state. Minnesota was no different.

Mr. 29 percent got many a shout out at Netroots Nation, and not the good kind. He was mentioned in several speeches and panels that I attended as a poster child for bad Republican governing and an albatross around the neck of the Republican Party. (My sincere apologies to any albatross I may have offended by grouping it together with Rick Scott.) 

Said albatross, as we all know by now, spends the majority of his time trying to destroy what's left of Florida, and the fact that this is not a popular move in the minds of Floridans has not escaped the governor himself. He knows it. That's why he spends the remainder of his time attempting to boost his bottom feeder image. He, along with the Republican Party of Florida have built Rick Scott websites for the purpose of trying to convince people that he's a great guy, while asking voters to push their legislator to support his slash and burn budget that even Republicans hated. That first website, not surprisingly, was a failure so they tried another one. That one didn't work either, of course. 

Rick Scott is a pretty poor businessman, but he's even worse at PR. We witnessed that again when he signed his budget recently with bused-in prop schoolchildren to surround him with smiles as he signed that budget with customized Rick Scott red Sharpies no doubt purchased with money saved from cutting teachers pay and public school funding outlined in the document itself. (The prop kids were from a charter school.)

While I was away in Minneapolis, Scott tried his hand at PR again.

And failed, again.

This time it was a new scheme to get voters to do his dirty work for him and make him look good. Since he's put so many of them out of work, I can only assume that he thought they would have nothing better to do than send in phony letters to the editor singing his praises.

No. I'm not kidding. From The Orlando Sentinel, which is included in the list of newspapers phony form letters can be sent to:

One of the newest features on www.rickscottforflorida.com is a page where Scott supporters can send pre-written letters of praise for Scott … written by Scott’s campaign team. Just pick the newspaper you want to contact. 

The letter tells you how "refreshing" the Gov. is since he's a businessman and "not a politician." It also claims that "special interests" are attacking him for making tough decisions, which is amusing since the only ones who benefit from his policies are special interests. As for not being a politician, well, nothing says "I'm Apolitical!" like plastering this image all over your website:

"Refreshingly Apolitical!"

Also from the Department of Rick Scott: "NOT A Politician" were his recent PR robo-calls to voters bragging about cutting projects which Scott considers "special interests" like homeless veterans, needy seniors, the disabled, the hungry and the poor. Those backfired too. Who could have seen THAT coming, huh?

No, it's not surprising in the least that Rick Scott has made a name for himself in the annals of Republican failure. He just made it into the books quicker than most and that in part is why he's getting noticed and name dropped at events like Netroots Nation.

He's also getting a lot of well deserved national attention too. As a matter fact, last night he was the headliner on The Rachel Maddow Show, where he was the kickoff point for a report on Republican obstruction, which covered Republican governors fighting for a perch on the bottom rung of the polling ladder (spoiler alert, Rick Scott is the big winner there too!) and moving on into the Republican filibuster of judicial appointments nationwide, in which Maddow interviewed Nan Aron of the Alliance For Justice, and one of the panelists I had the privilege of listening to at Netroots Nation, along with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Eva Paterson of the Equal Justice Society, Carl Pope of the Sierra Club, and Dahlia Lithwick from Slate, on individual rights vs. corporate interests. (The video of that discussion can be viewed here, and it's well worth your while to watch.)

If you missed the Maddow segment on Gov. Voldemort, you can view the video below.  

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 

Those Who Champion Do, Those Who Can't Teach: The Marco Rubio Edition

Well, will you look here who just landed a nice $24,000 teaching job just as his state cuts funding in education faster than you can say "the dog ate my teacher's paycheck?" (No, not Mike Haridopolos, that's another University, but we'll get to that later. )

Why it's Marco Rubio! He just landed a teaching gig at Florida International University. (Again, nope, Haridopolos teaches at the University of Florida.)

For the second time. Now you might say to yourself:

"Hey, how does he do that, what with his new job as U.S. Senator? I'd like a $24,000 job period, forget the moonlighting!"

Sadly though, that's about the only way you can get a paid teaching position in Florida these days. Get elected, sent to Washington, D.C., then we'll talk.

You lose. 

Now to someone like Marco Rubio, $24,000 is just chump change. (Although not nearly as much chump change as the $75,000 Mike Haridopolos gets from his teaching job, but who's counting? Well, besides Marco. After all, he's taking a pay cut from his last FIU teaching job which brought in $69,000. Ouch. That's gotta hurt.) But then those handed a teaching position for no visible reason whatsoever can't be choosers, now can they? 

But getting back to the question of "on what planet is Marco Rubio qualified to teach?" Qualified, schmalified! (Did I Spell that correctly, professor Rubio?) Florida International University explains it this way: 

This Congress, we welcomed our newly elected champions on Capitol Hill: Senator Marco Rubio, Congressman David Rivera (our second alumnus in Congress), and Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, all of which have a history of supporting FIU’s priorities in the State Legislature and saw our own Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, selected to serve as Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Champion on Capitol Hill? Marco Rubio? (And David Rivera for that matter, and by the way, do those two ever do anything independent of one another? From foreclosed upon roomies, to Washington, and now to cushy teaching jobs?) He's been a Senator for all of a few short months, and pardon the question, but what exactly has Rubio "championed" in that short time? Reciting talking points? No doubt he'll "champion the priorities" of and on behalf of FIU, but seriously. After a few months they've declared him a "champion?" Sure. Wink, wink. Whatever. 

Can a poorly written, unpublished manuscript be far behind?

Though I suppose it's cheaper to be a "champion" with a salary, and it sure looks better than say, paying a University $1.5 million to "champion" your priorities, right Koch Industries? 

No matter what the cost, either way, those vested in Florida Universities have got their "priorities" covered.

 

News For Peanuts 6-8-11

From the Department Of Who Can Keep Up? A daily roundup of Florida political news for nothing peanuts:

A Group Of Florida Doctors Sue Over "Docs vs. Glocks" Law

A group of Florida doctors filed a federal lawsuit Monday, pushing back on legislation preventing them from freely discussing gun ownership with their patients.

The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence filed the lawsuit on behalf of three doctors groups: the American Academy of Pediatrics, Florida Chapter; American Academy of Family Physicians, Florida Chapter; and the American College of Physicians, Florida Chapter. They say the bill limits a doctor's free speech rights, because it is unconstitutionally vague. Pediatricians, in particular, often try to talk to parents about guns in the home, and gun safety. The bill does not stop doctors from talking about gun safety.

Read the complaint here. 

Gov. Rick Scott Undermining Water Policy In Florida

Piece by piece, Florida's water policy is being dismantled. First, Gov. Rick Scott and the Legislature forced the state's water management districts to slash property tax collections. Then the Scott administration pressured the Southwest Florida Water Management District to eliminate its local basin boards, and its executive director to resign. Now the administration is overturning decisions by water management districts to buy property to protect water supplies. Such political interference by a governor is unprecedented, and it undermines the professional management of the state's water resources.

To Fight Health Care Law Florida Is Rejecting Millions In Aid

Florida already leads a lawsuit challenging the federal health care law, but state officials are going a step further and ignoring the law almost entirely — rejecting millions of federal dollars to provide health care for retirees, seniors, children and people with disabilities.

So far this year, Gov. Rick Scott and the Republican-led Legislature have returned or refused to spend at least $19 million in federal money associated with implementing the health care law. Scott also has stopped any state planning for the creation of mandated health care exchanges, which will allow consumers to comparison shop for health insurance plans.

What Do Rick Scott's Donors Stand To Gain From New Tax Breaks?

When you follow the money in Florida’s new tax plan, you find that those who benefit most were also top contributors to Governor Rick Scott and the state Republican Party.

Gov. Scott signed SB 2142 last month, cutting property tax collections across the state by $210 million. For the average homeowner, writes the Palm Beach Post, the law means a meager savings of $28 on property taxes, and an erosion of “land, water, and flood protections.” But for giants like Walt Disney World, Florida Power & Light, Bell South Telecom, and Universal, it’s a savings of hundreds of thousands of dollars at least.

Is it a huge coincidence that all those companies gave generously to the Florida Republican Party last year?

Sound Familiar? New Anti-Abortion Group Billboards: “The most dangerous place for a Latino is in the womb.”

The group behind the billboard is the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles. The organization’s billboards are an almost word-for-word copy of a group of billboards from a Texas-based group called Heroic Media that targeted African-American women. Heroic Media’s billboard’s said, “The most dangerous place for an African American is in the womb.”

 Rick Scott At It Again: Taking Credit Where No Credit Is Due Déjà Vu

For  a couple days now, Gov. Rick Scott’s office has hyped a big jobs announcement to be made from his trip this week to Canada. New jobs for Florida? Perhaps Scott’s oft-criticized tax, budget and regulation policies will be vindicated and this will signal the state’s economic recovery shifting to a higher gear?

No, no and definitely not. It turns out Scott didn’t have much new to report after all and, when you consider the facts, he had little to do with it other than being in the right place at the right time.

Rick Scott Claimed Stimulus Money Was A "Disaster" But Kept It Anyway

Chatty Rick and Chatty Cathy

As you'll recall, when Rick Scott was running for Governor, one might have thought he was running for President judging from his ads and his message. (Perhaps Scott thought he was running for President as he often seems a little confused on what his job entails.) He strutted around as if he were running against Barack Obama rather than Alex Sink, and Sink noticed it too, using that observation in some of her own campaign ads.

Whether he was mistaken about a potential job description, or was merely seeking credibility from conservatives to pass a "who hates Obama more" test, it was clear that he was running against all things Obama. Back then he was mainly concerned with "Obamacare." Since the election he added "ObamaRail" and "ObamaTrain" to his list of catch phrases, and of course, he rejected the stimulus money for high-speed rail, and rejected thousands of jobs that came with it in spite of his self-proclaimed title of "Jobs Governor."

A little over a week ago he also signed his hypocritically titled "Jobs Budget" which actually cut thousands more jobs, and then he used his custom made red "Rick Scott" Sharpies (who paid for those customized pens, incidentally?) to veto many, many more jobs in connection with "special interest wasteful spending" on things like health care for the poor, cancer research, education and benefits for homeless veterans, just to name a few.

While he has yet to create a job, he has created a lot of work...for lawyers. Many of his "laws" and policies are in fact constitutionally challenged and will wind up in court, adding costs to taxpayers who are also footing the bill so that he can free them of their health care, among other things.

In other words, Rick Scott is the disaster that ate Florida, and he's just getting started! Speaking of disasters, let's go back to an issue that Rick Scott has himself defined as a disaster: the stimulus. Remember how much he was against the stimulus? Called it the "failed stimulus," said the stimulus was a "disaster!" Also recall this quote from his campaign:

....as he ran for office last summer, Scott said he "would fight all the stimulus money." He also told reporters, "I would have figured out how to balance the budget without it."

We've already witnessed how bad Scott is at his job. We can now add to that "bad at math." You see, he can't figure out how to balance the budget without that stimulus money, and he DIDN'T. He kept nearly $370 million of that same stimulus money in the budget he just signed. Perhaps he thought no one would notice? When he was asked about the money last week he dodged and weaved and as always just refused to answer the question by changing the subject and regurgitating talking points that really had nothing to do with the question, as if someone were pulling the string of a Chatty Cathy doll and Chatty Rick responded with this:

"I think the stimulus was not good for our state, made us more dependent on the federal government," he said, echoing a budget-signing letter he issued last week. "I think that we've got to watch how we spend money. As you know, in the budget, I focused very much on how we spend our money, stopping the growth of debt in our state and making our state less dependent on the federal government."

Cue Rick Scott's talking points

Sorry Rick. If he were being honest, his string-pulling aid would have pulled the one that recites the line that his media coach supplied him with recently: "Just continue to say that's what's best for Florida." But Scott can't do that. He can't be honest, and he certainly can't say that he is wrong and that Obama is right.

So he'll just keep the stimulus money, shuffle it around a little and then pretend that he's a genius who saved the day for Floridians, rather than the guy who cut aid to women, children, the poor, homeless, and the disabled so he could pass it along to the rich and their business interests.

In case you missed it, Rachel Maddow explained Scott's self-serving "hide the stimulus" maneuver brilliantly on her show last Thursday night: 

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

  (If you're having trouble seeing the video, you can view it here.)

What Part Of "Democracy" Does Rick Scott Not Understand?

Florida Inc.? Rick Scott's "Private" Florida Budget Signing

(Photo source: flgov.com)

Last week in a highly choreographed ceremony that he boasted about for days, Gov. Rick Scott vetoed $615 million from the state budget, all things he described as "special interests." The event had all the trappings of a "feel good" photo op to mask what might better be described as a nightmare for the citizens of Florida.

Held at The Villages, the conservative retirement development in Sumter County, Scott was surrounded by Tea Party supporters and Republicans. School children were bused in and used as backdrops and "encouraged" to chant Scott's highly hypocritical slogan "let's get to work" in front of large banners to make it look as if he was a champion of education to combat the bad PR he received after asking the legislature to make severe cuts to education. He suffered blow-back for the cuts, which he tried to blame legislators for and made a very public request that they repair their mistake by putting money back into education at the very same event. In short, the entire public display was to make Rick Scott look like the good guy, a nearly impossible task.

Unfortunately for him, someone with Scott's reputation needs much more than theater to cover it up, and even an Oscar level performance can't hide what's going on right in plain sight. Combine that with Scott's bad planning and his need to control every public situation and you have a wasted effort. Especially when you have those who don't agree with your policies escorted off the premises by armed sheriff's deputies as Scott did at his little veto party.

Now he can add a possible investigation to his growing list of "governing" missteps. If you heard about Democrats and those who "looked liberal" individuals being evicted like I did and wondered to yourself what part of Democracy Rick Scott didn't understand, than you, and I would not be alone. Florida Rep. Mark Pafford (D-West Palm Beach) also wants to know, and he wants answers from Scott.

From the inbox this morning:

Dear Governor Scott: 

Following the state budget signing ceremony on Thursday, May 26, I have been asked numerous times if the event crossed any lines relating to the Florida Constitution, the Sunshine Law or other Florida statutes.

Reports from the press, media and at least one video aired on YouTube suggest that Sheriff’s deputies removed selected attendees from the ceremony, possibly at the request of the Governor’s Office. Those same sources, and my interpretation of the reports and video, indicate that those removed were participants who did not support the budget or who were wearing shirts or holding signs indicating their objection to your administration.

Florida Statute 119.07 permits the request of public records that may assist in resolving the numerous questions that have arisen as a result of the ceremony.  Rather that invoking 119.07, I am requesting that your office simply respond to some specific questions related to the event, and resolve the matter.

Respectfully, I request responses to the following questions:

• Was the event public or private and how was it promoted?
• Who had the authority to direct security and crowd control for the event and who made the decision to remove attendees?
• Which state employees were in attendance and were they reimbursed for travel?
• Were Sumter County Sheriff’s deputies contracted and by whom?
• Were participants removed at the request of the Governor’s Office? If so, why?

Thank you in advance for responding to these questions and providing any other information you or your staff feel is important to better understanding what exactly happened at the budget signing ceremony.

I look forward to your response and appreciate your assistance and cooperation regarding this matter.

Sincerely,

MARK PAFFORD
State Representative, District 88

The sheriff's deputies removed the individuals because it was a "private event." When asked about this last week, Scott's office said that no one from the Governor's office ordered the people removed, but according to a reporter from the St. Petersburg Times who witnessed the incident, that simply wasn't true:

On Friday, Scott spokesman Lane Wright — who did not attend the event at the Villages, a conservative retirement community — told the website Politic365that it was "disappointing to know that anyone who made the effort to be at such an important event wasn't allowed in."

"Gov. Scott did not have these individuals removed," Wright said. "This was a public event. It was brought to our attention that the local authorities had removed some. We don't know first-hand who was removed or why."

The $69.1 billion budget signing took place in a town square owned by the Villages Community Development District, which functions as the community's government. The space, however, is leased to the Village's corporate developer. And in this case, it was subleased by the Republican Party of Florida, said Barbara Vesco, director of entertainment and special events for the Villages.

Scott staffers dressed in dark suits and wearing black ear pieces summoned Sumter County sheriff's deputies. They told the deputies that the state budget signing was a private event and that a group of Democrats standing or sitting in the last two rows of the audience must leave.

You can read a more detailed account about the incident here.

Now, according to reporters Scott is claiming he doesn't know the facts about why Dems were booted from budget signing and that he'll look into why people where removed. 

A video that surfaced last week clearly shows the deputies removing those individuals amid protests that they be allowed at what they were told was a public event. (You can view the video here.)

It should be a public event and taxpayers have every right to be there.

Scott campaigned on the idea that he would "run the state like a business" and he has. He invested a great deal of his own money in order to "win" the office, and he seems to think Florida is his own "investment" and his own business, and he its CEO. He certainly doesn't act in the best interests of Florida's citizens, and it shows with his low approval rating currently hovering at 29 percent. 

Scott also said he doesn't need to be popular, he just wants to do what's best for his business Florida. But Florida is not "his" business and there are no "shareholders" to please. He's a governor, not a CEO, but either way, he's doing a pretty bad job so far.

He needs to learn what the Sunshine Laws are, familiarize himself with the Florida Constitution, and he could use some lessons in democracy as well.

Taxpayers in Florida deserve some answers, and not just the taxpayers who have an "R" on their voter registration cards, or those who wear hats with Tea Bags dangling from the rims. Scott doesn't answer only to those who agree with his policies, and there are less and less of those with every passing day.

It's about time someone stood up for all the people in Florida. It's been a long five months, and things are going to get a lot worse by the time Scott's term is up if no one does.

Rick Scott's Health Care "Special Interest" Cuts: Everything Must Go!

As Gov. Rick Scott cuts taxes for big business, raises the salaries of his staff and spends thousands to put his name on signs welcoming travelers at the state line, here are some of the health related items he vetoed last week, which he claims are "special interests" that "we just can't afford" in this economy.

For the Governor who claims he cares so much about health care in this country (Columbia/HCA-Medicare fraud, Solantic) he has a curious way of showing it. The one health related thing he does favor? Forced drug testing out of pocket for welfare recipients and state employees, which can conveniently be performed at any Solantic clinic location. 

These "special interests" cuts amount to a total of $38.5 million:

$500,000 – Florida A&M Univ.: Public health entomology research and education lab

$10,000,000 – Univ. of South Florida Health School of Pharmacy at Polytechnic

$1,213,765 – Univ. of Miami: Cancer research

$100,000 – Barry Univ.: School of Podiatry

$500,000 – Univ. of South Florida: Neuromusculoskeletal research

$168,300 – Lee Memorial Hospital: Regional perinatal intensive care center

$2,203,000 – Mount Sinai Medical Center

$5,000,000 – Tdap vaccinations

$750,000 – Bob Janes Triage Center

$25,000 – Thelma Gibson Health Initiative

$1,124,801 – Integrated Dental Health Records

$1,000,000 – Lake Wales Dental & Medical

$500,000 – Duval County: AGAPE Community health center

$600,000 – Doctor’s Memorial Hospital (Holmes, Jackson, Walton, Washington)

$250,000 – Gadsden: Mobile health unit

$777,169 – Univ. of Miami: Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis project

$10,000 – South Florida Fragil X Clinic

$500,000 – Health care center for the homeless (Osceola, Orange, Seminole)

$500,000 – Apopka Family Health Center

$500,000 – Miami Project to Cure Paralysis

$200,000 – Healthy Start Coalition of Orange County

$100,000 – La Liga-League Against Cancer

$500,000 – Gadsden Nurse-Family Partnership

$1,952,084 – Newborn screening program for severe combined immunodeficiency disease

$50,000 – Biomedial research in Historically Black Colleges and Universities

$500,000 – McKnight Brain Institute: Statewide brain and tumor registry program

$1,500,000 – To establish a public children’s hospital in southwest Florida

$150,000 – Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Association

$286,668 - Islet Cell Transplantation to Cure Diabetes Project

$5,000,000 – Glades County Emergency Operations Center

$2,000,000 – Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute

$53,204 – Jessie Trice Cancer Center

$34,015 – S.W. Alachua County Primary and Community Health Care Clinic

Mike Haridopolos Falls Through His Own Donut Hole

Mike Haridopolos, the self-proclaimed champion of "health care freedom" is having a little bit of trouble dancing around the issue of his desire to "free you" of your health care, and it shows. His facade is beginning to crack, as evidenced in this video below, when a radio show host tried to pin him down on the Paul Ryan plan to kill Medicare.

Haridopolos couldn't quite bring himself to say if he supported the plan or not, which is a little surprising, as Republicans would have us believe that it's a "bold, fresh, courageous" plan and all. We know this because they, and their "media" enablers have been trying to tell us that ever since Ayn Ryan...I'm sorry, Paul Rand err...Paul Ryan unveiled it. 

The crack forming in the Haridopolos facade grew so big in fact that he nearly fell through it when the radio host got so tired of his waffling that he threw Haridopolos off the air:

 

Shorter Haridopolos: "I....I......I....."

As the day wore on, Haridopolos tried to repair said cracks with a few corrections in 140 characters or less via Twitter, which amounted to trying to have it both ways. More or less a shorter version of his radio remarks without the stammering.

Then he tried his hand at shiny object Tweeting, like "Obama: bad!" and "Hey look over there! It's a tax free holiday!" which only made those cracks a tad bigger.

So he tried again, by issuing this statement, which of course was much too large to fit into a Tweet, while overlooking the familiar rule of quality v. quantity:

I absolutely support the goals of the Ryan Plan to cut federal government deficit spending and applaud Rep. Ryan's bold leadership in putting forth an intelligent and serious plan to tackle the largest issue confronting our nation. Rep. Ryan's leadership in actually putting forth a plan to tackle the deficit is in stark contrast to the irresponsibility demonstrated by President Obama and the Democratic Senate who have failed to pass a budget for over 750 days, adding trillions to the debt during that time. While I support almost every provision of the Ryan Plan, I believe that it must be amended to provided greater protections for Seniors.

Fighting for Seniors is not new to me. One of the main reasons I fought ObamaCare, including passing Florida's Health Care Freedom Act, is because of the devastating cuts it dealt to Seniors, cutting $500 billion from Medicare to fund ObamaCare-Welfare programs.

 Again, I absolutely support the goals of the Ryan Plan and believe in almost all of the provisions to cut federal government deficit spending and address entitlements. As a candidate for the US Senate, I am the only person in this race with a proven record of reforming entitlements [Medicaid, Government Pensions, and Welfare] and a demonstrated commitment to making cuts to balance the budget in the state of Florida without increasing taxes or fees.

In other words, he's got nothin.'

He's fallen through the cracks, right into a self-made donut hole.

At this point,  Mike Haridopolos seems to be relying on an iceberg to keep him afloat towards a U.S. Senate win somewhere on a distant shore. An iceberg that's cracked and perhaps melting a little more each time he's asked the basic question:

"Do you support the Ryan plan to kill Medicare?"

Sorry Hari. You're going to need a bigger boat.

More Budget Blow-Back For Rick Scott

The budget cuts and vetoes made by Rick Scott last week were so bad that it's hard to keep up with all the blow-back. Here are just some of the latest highlights, or rather, low-lights from Scott's war against the poor, or as he calls them, "special interests:" 

ACLU Florida Files Suit Against Scott:

ACLU Florida has filed a lawsuit against Gov. Rick Scott over his executive order to force drug testing on state employees. The suit argues that Scott's order is an unreasonable search of the government that violates the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. (View the complaint here.)

Scott Will "Take The ACLU Lawsuit To The Supreme Court If That’s What It Takes:"

Scott says he's willing to fight back against the ACLU lawsuit even if the fight takes him to the U. S. Supreme Court. (Clarence Thomas, his wife, the Tea Party, health care related lawsuits, and the term "conflict of interest" come to mind here.)

Gov. Rick Scott is willing to take the fight over drug testing state workers all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, his spokeswoman said today in response to a lawsuit filed by the ACLU.

“The Governor is confident the courts will see that this policy makes sense and is legally sound, and he’ll take the law suit to the Supreme Court if that’s what it takes to implement a common sense policy that is appropriate and fair to tax payers. If it makes good business sense for private sector companies to drug test their employees, why wouldn’t it make good business sense for the state?” Scott spokeswoman Amy Graham said in an e-mail.

"If it makes good business sense for private sector companies to drug test their employees, why wouldn’t it make good business sense for the state?” 

Good business sense for companies like, say Scott's former company Solantic, a chain of health care clinics in Florida which provides drug testing services?

Four Lawsuits In Five Months:

The St. Petersburg Times points out this little statistic: Rick Scott has been sued four times during his short five months in office. In addition to the ACLU lawsuit, Flamm v. Scott (above):

• Feb 3: League of Women Voters v Scott. Supporters of a voter-approved constitutional amendment reducing lawmaker's power to draw voting districts sued Scott to force him to ask for federal sign-off on the changes (a requirement for any elections changes in the state). Scott was given extra time to respond to the suit, but then submitted the necessary paperwork before that date.

• March 4: Thad Altman v. Scott. Altman and fellow state Sen Arthenia Joyner sued to stop Scott from declining federal money for a high-speed rail system in Florida. The state Supreme Court ruled in favor of Scott.

• March 28: Rosalie Whiley v. Scott. Whiley, a blind woman from Opa-Locka, sued along with Disability Rights Florida to block Scott's executive order that froze new rules from being implemented. The complaint alleges that Scott's delay puts unreasonable burdens on people with disabilities. The case is being litigated.

War Against Women And Children At Risk:

Gov. Rick Scott cut close to $2 million in health services for at-risk women and children in line-item vetoes to the state budget. Among the projects cut was $200,000 for a pilot program to be carried out by the Healthy Start Coalition of Orange County that would have provided specialized care for high-risk first-time mothers throughout the county.

Healthy Start Coalitions in Florida were created in 1991 by Gov. Lawton Chiles in an effort “to build local coalitions to reduce Florida’s alarmingly high infant mortality rate” at the time. The coalitions focus on making sure that “at- risk mothers receive the care they need for a healthy pregnancy and baby.”

War Against Women, Vaccinations For Postpartum Women On Medicaid:

Add another cut to the already long list of health care services that Gov. Rick Scott vetoed last week: $1.8 million dollars in vaccinations for postpartum women on Medicaid.

According to the recently released Florida “End of Session Report,” a provision in the Agency for Health Care Administration budget would have provided funding for Tdap vaccinations for women who just gave birth and are enrolled in Medicaid. However, this line of the budget was vetoed, along with other health services for mostly low-income women and children.

Scott has called programs he cut “special interest waste” and “short-sighted, frivolous spending programs.”

Elton John Asks Scott To Protect AIDS Drug Assistance Program:

John, founder of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, wrote to Scott Tuesday after hearing the Department of Health was considering changes in income eligibility.

A department spokeswoman said there are no immediate plans to change the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, though it held hearings to discuss the possibility of lowering income requirements to participate.

In their letter, John and foundation Chairman David Furnish said lowering income eligibility could mean 1,600 people will no longer receive help obtaining antiretroviral medication.

Furnish said in a phone interview, "We were horrified when we heard this and we wanted to reach out and make our unhappiness known to the governor."

Scott has called programs he cut “special interest waste” and “short-sighted, frivolous spending programs.”