Beach Peanuts

Florida College Students Protest "Relentless Attack On Education"

(Illustration credit: Occupy Colleges)

Due to tuition hikes and proposed changes in college programs and curriculum initiated by Gov. Rick Scott recently, students from at least seven colleges in Florida plan protests this week against Scott's "relentless attack on higher education" in the state.

One was to be held today at the University Of South Florida, St. Petersburg as part of a nationwide student strike called for by Occupy Colleges, a protest group started by college students in California. The group called for the strike  "in solidarity with UC Davis , UC Berkeley, CUNY Schools and all students who are defending their right to protest against rising tuition cost and out of control student debt" according to the group's website.

Other local groups involved are Occupy USF and SDS, Students for a Democratic Society, a modern day version of the student protest group from the 1960s.

Most of the Florida protests will take place this Thurs., December 1. 

The rallies, at the University of South Florida, USF St. Petersburg, University of Florida, University of Central Florida Florida International University, Florida Atlantic University and Florida State, are also meant to draw attention to 15 percent tuition hikes okayed by the Legislature a couple years ago, in addition to changes to the Bright Futures Scholarship Program.

Students from Occupy USF held a protest over tuition hikes in Nov. and also met with university administrators.

As part of a probe into college curriculum in relation to jobs, in Oct. Gov. Rick Scott sent a letter to to the presidents of the 11 state universities requesting:

Job descriptions, total wages, number of courses instructed and "measurable goals" for the 50 highest-paid employees at each university for each of the past three years.

Costs and revenues per program from the past decade.

A list of the required classes for undergraduates.

The Gov. also provoked outrage when he questioned the value of students majoring in anthropology, despite the fact that one of his daughters was an anthropology major herself. At the time Scott said of anthropology majors, "We don't need them here." Scott instead wants to promote STEM — science, technology, engineering and math programs.

Those concerns, along with tuition hikes and student debt are the main focus of the protests for students who find themselves unable to keep up with the rising costs.

USF government professor Harry Vanden sees the anger rising on campuses across the country.

"This is a very bad situation for students everywhere," he said. "Student debt is higher than it's ever been. There are no jobs to speak of. These issues affect all of them across the country and it could unite them."

To make a bad situation even worse, there's Florida's high unemployment rates, massive layoffs, and additional cuts to education, thanks to Gov. Scott and the Florida legislature, who no doubt will slash even more in the upcoming legislative session next year.

Scott Says ACA Is "Not The Law Of The Land" And "He Won't Allow Florida To Implement It"

Rick The Dictator: Neither Laws, Nor The Constitution Apply To Him?

It's no secret that Gov. Rick Scott isn't a fan of affordable health care for not just Floridians, but for all Americans. He's spent a great deal of his life, and his millions to prove it. Despite the fact that he ran the company that went down in the record books for Medicare fraud, he hasn't stopped fighting  for the health care industry and against Americans getting a fair shot at it. 

Now that the Affordable Care Act is the law, Scott's latest move in that fight is this: he has no plans to implement it in Florida. Why? Because as far as he's concerned, the Affordable Care Act "isn't the law of the land." Scott says so. He's proven time and time again that laws and the constitution mean one thing to him, and yet another to the rest of the country. Just look at his record.

From the Palm Beach Post:

"It's not the law of the land," said Scott, an attorney and co-founder of the Columbia/HCA hospital chain. "I don't believe it will ever be the law of the land."

Scott's statements, made in West Palm Beach during a Palm Beach Post editorial board meeting on Nov. 17, have caused a stir. While they may resonate with an estimated 47 percent of the U.S. population who tell pollsters the law should be repealed, they put him at odds with the U.S. Constitution, argued Timothy Jost, a law professor at Washington and Lee University.

"If this is his position, then he is violating his oath of office, and that is a serious thing that I think the voters of Florida ought to be concerned about," said Jost, co-author of a widely used health law textbook. "His position is ridiculous and he should (and probably does) know better."

The health law does not force states to do anything but "get out of the way and let the federal government enforce and implement the law," Jost said.

Scott has told state agency heads to return planning grants they received before he became governor, and that they should not apply for tens of millions more.

And so Florida is not preparing to open an insurance exchange in 2014 for individuals and small businesses. He has refused more than $37 million that would have helped pay to keep disabled seniors in their homes and out of nursing homes by paying for support services.

And he has turned away money for monitoring insurance companies.

Furthermore, it's not just Gov. Scott taking that "I will ignore the law" stance.

House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, feels that given the legal and political challenges, there's too much uncertainty to invest precious state resources into implementing the new law now. He's especially concerned that the health law will double the number of Floridians on Medicaid, said Cannon's spokesman, Ryan Duffy.

Florida's insurance commissioner, Kevin McCarty, maintains that his agency cannot enforce any part of the federal law unless the Florida Legislature passes what's called "enabling legislation," because the federal government delegates the power to regulate insurers to the states.

And so Florida consumers can't turn to McCarty's office if their insurer refuses to insure a child under age 19 who has a pre-existing medical condition.

Nor can they turn to him if their insurer says coverage denials cannot be appealed.

Likewise, consumers can't expect help from McCarty's office if their insurance company spends less than 80 percent of their premium on benefits, as opposed to overhead, salaries and administrative costs.

So apparently to Rick Scott and the legislature, even though the Affordable Care Act is a law, they feel that it's not a law they have to enforce because it will soon go before the U.S. Supreme Court in which there are possible conflicts of interests among a few of its justices who may be inclined to rule the law unconstitutional?

It's either that, or it's just that they feel if they dont like a law, they can just ignore it, or they simply won't follow a law because the President who signed it into law happens to be black, and therefore the law doesn't count?

Regrdless of their reasoning, the Affordable Care Act is a law, and Floridians should be able to benefit from it. If Rick Scott and his minions  plan to stand between citizens and what should be their right by law, perhaps they should go and govern in a country that isn't founded on Democracy.

Rick Scott Serves Turkey, Pie, And Jargon Salad To The Homeless

Gov. Rick Scott and his wife Ann turned up at St. Matthews House in East Naples on Thanksgiving to help volunteers serve dinner to what was expected to be over 1,000 homeless and jobless Floridians. 

This would be an honorable thing for most to do, but it's hard to see it as anything more than a shameless photo op typical of Gov. Scott. In fact, I would go as far as saying he was all but rubbing their noses in the unfortunate situation these homeless individuals find themselves in. If that sounds a bit harsh, note what the Naples Daily News reported on what Gov. Scott had to say to those he was serving:

“I care completely about all these programs,” said Scott, whose budget cuts earlier this year slashed funding to some veteran and farm surplus programs that helped the homeless.

“All the programs are very important, but nobody wants their taxes to go up,” Scott explained, noting that businesses also can help spur the economy. “They’ve got to grow. We’ve got to make this a place people can do well.”

That's right, Gov. Scott served up a side of his typical political jargon salad to go with all that turkey. What does that even mean?

Well, I'll offer what I feel is a loose translation:

Scott "cares completely about all these programs" and "all the programs are very important" but big corporations and the rich don't want to see their taxes go up, because Scott, like all Republicans, is out to protect the wealthiest among us and those so called "job creators" (who currently aren't hiring anyone). In other words, these programs don't mean diddly squat to the governor. “They’ve got to grow. We’ve got to make this a place people can do well” really means Scott pretends that all that wealth will "trickle down" so all can do well? Except that this is absolute nonsense, and Scott knows it, but he feels as if it sounds like he cares and hopefully those he's serving will buy it.

To Rick Scott, nothing says "I care" like cutting programs that help the homeless, veterans, and in many cases, homeless veterans.

I can't imagine what pearls of wisdom we can expect from this turkey come Christmas time.

Mitt Romney Unplugged

The DNC has just released a new campaign ad illustrating just a few of Mitt Romney's historic flip flops over the years. The ad is below, entitled:

"Mitt vs. Mitt: The story of two men trapped in one body"

 

While we're on the subject of Mitt's presidential campaign, there's also his last unsuccessful run in 2008 where cameras captured Romney's temper on display on the campaign trail. 

Another video floating around out there today is this one from Politico, when Romney lost his temper over questions about his faith in 2007:

 

The above video reminded me of another video from Romney's 2008 run, where Mittens lost his temper over the semantics of whether or not lobbyists were running his campaign. There WERE lobbyists on his campaign staff, sure, but Romney said "the person running his campaign wasn't a lobbyist." Rather, he pointed out that he had "advisers" on his campaign staff who were lobbyists, but the person actually running his campaign wasn't a lobbyist, no, no, no! 

Talk about splitting finely coiffed hairs.

You can view that video here.

 

Newt Gingrich: First, We Fire All The Janitors!

Newt Gingrich says child labor laws are stupid, and proposes firing school janitors and making all those lazy school students clean the schools themselves. 

I suppose, as he said of the Occupy Wall Street protesters, taking a bath wouldn't hurt either.

This AFSCME ad isn't so far off.

 

New Bill Says Photo ID Still Wouldn't Be Enough To Vote

As if new voting laws in Florida weren't already restrictive, one legislator thinks they still don't go far enough.

Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Shalimar) doesn't think it's quite enough that you're required to show a photo ID in order to vote. He's proposed a bill that would essentially repeal provisions that say poll workers can't ask for additional information beyond a photo ID to vote. 

The bill, filed on November 16, states: 

Repeals a provision that prohibits clerk or inspector from asking elector to provide additional information or recite elector’s home address after presenting picture identification that matches elector’s address in supervisor of elections’ records.

This comes as the U.S. Justice Department plans to examine Florida's already restrictive voting laws, which could disenfranchise voters, much like similar laws in other states passed by Republicans in what seems an organized effort in voter suppression.

With the Gaetz bill, a matching photo ID and signature still would not be enough. The voter could be asked to provide "additional information," which is somewhat vague language beyond reciting a home address.

What's next, finger prints? 

You Didn't Elect Grover Norquist, But He And The GOP Don't Care

Grover Norquist. Leader of the no tax cult driving the GOP, and the country, right into the ground.

 

Lobbyists Seek To Undermine Occupy Wall Street

The 1% v. The 99%

You hear it frequently on FOX-GOP-TV and from Republicans who love to go on camera and condemn the Occupy Wall Street movement as nothing more than lazy, dirty hippies who don't want to work, or try to define them as socialists, commies, you name it. "What do they stand for?" "Get a job!"

From this you might think they've merely dismissed them as a passing trend, nothing to see here, move along.

However, behind the scenes the Occupy Wall Street movement has many worried, for starters, financial institutions. In fact, they are so worried that they fear politicians may be persuaded to turn on them, and not just Democrats, but they fear Republicans could as well. 

If you missed it, over the weekend Chris Hayes from the MSNBC's  "Up w/ Chris Hayes" obtained a memo from a lobbying firm outlining a plan to "smear" the movement. The memo was written in part by two individuals who previously worked for friend of Wall Street, Republican House Speaker John Boehner. Surprise, surprise!

The memo was prepared by the firm Clark Lytle Geduldig & Cranford for the American Bankers Association, and proposed that the ABA pay $850,000 to research the movement and create negative narratives against Occupy Wall Street, some of which which we've already witnessed from Republicans and FOX. (The full memo can be seen here.) The firm has an impressive client list, not just banks. Among them, Koch Industries and the U.S. Chamber Of Commerce. (See the client page here.)

As Mr. Hayes said, this is just one memo from one firm and there are more than likely similar memos circulating out there right now.

This of course indicates that the casual dismissal of the movement by Republicans and the smears on FOX conceal the fact that the banks are indeed concerned that this movement will undermine the control they've maintained over consumers for years, not just the mess that culminated in bailouts 2008. They're fighting financial reform in Congress as Occupy Wall Street gains traction according to the polls. The average American "gets it" and the banks and big corporation powers that be don't like it.

They don't want to lose the fight, and this may be just the beginning.

From Up w/ Chris Hayes:

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

 

 

Farce Of The Month: Cain Picks Up Where Palin Left Off

"Gotcha Herb!"

Yes, it's really come to this. It's silly, it's sad, and it's downright scary, but this is the Republican Party.

Herman Cain may have come to South Florida yesterday to dazzle the crowds, but he came off more like a dim Michele Bachmann "freedom bulb."

If you think after his Libya fail he might have studied up a little on Cuba before this campaign stop, well you would be wrong.

Nope. But he did pronounce foreign policy "foggy," which he says is all President Obama's fault. Yes, it's much easier to blame Obama than to dust off the old cobwebs from your own foggy brain cells and actually learn something about foreign policy.

But this is today's Republican Party, where standards are lower than an oil well. They won't stop digging until they destroy everything in their path. And then some.

What? Presidential candidates should have a good knowledge of foreign policy? Surely you jest?

Reporters tried several times to ask him questions about Cuba, but Cain just pulled a Palin and tried to move on:

"What about Cuba?" he asked. "One of my principles is: Go to the source closest to the problem. You will find the solution ... I want to get from Cuban leaders (in South Florida) a solution of what we should do."

Translation: "I can see Cuba from South Florida. Here I am. Next question?"

After a translator spoke, Cain said, "I don't want to take the pressure off. I want to put more pressure on. ... Viva Cuba libre!"

The crowd roared.

"Pressure! Woo hoo! Put...the......pressure on...........next question?"

His campaign kept reporters at bay, and when he was asked about the Cuban Adjustment Act and the so-called wet-foot/dry-foot policy, Cain seemed stumped. The policy allows Cuban immigrants who have made it to U.S. soil to stay.

"Wet-foot, dry-foot policy?" Cain asked. His press handlers interrupted as Cain diverted his course and ducked back into the building. Later, when he emerged, he was asked again by another reporter. Cain didn't answer.

"Gotta run, gentlemen," he said.

And run he did.

At this point, after ducking the question, you would think that someone in his campaign staff could have at least Googled a quick answer to make it look like he had an idea what they were talking about, but no. This is THE HERMAN CAIN we're talking about. Next question?

A Fox News reporter asked Cain what he thought of President Barack Obama's easing of travel restrictions to Cuba.

Ah but of course, who needs research when you've got FOX news to step in and bail you out of a tough spot, huh?

Cain said that was a "gotcha question."

Ouch. Sorry Herman, but that was more along the lines of a "You really don't have a clue, do you?" question.

To his credit, he did attempt to answer the question later, but the really tough questions came from, well, Herman himself:

At Versailles, Cain sipped a cafecito and munched on croquetas.

"How do you say 'delicious' in Cuban?" he asked.

I'm not so sure that was an improvement over the one he asked earlier in the week:

“Who brought me the water that I did not get?” 

Herman Cain may not be a quick study, but he is persistant when it comes to dreaming up asnwers to cover his missteps, and he's still working on that whole Libya thing. Here's the latest version:

“We need a leader, not a reader.”

Somewhere in Alaska, or Arizona, or wherever she crawled off to, Sarah Palin is probably saying to herself "Oh dang it, naow why the heck didn't I think a' that? TODD!!!!!!!"

Oh well. At least it looks like Cain's covered if Katie Couric ever tries to track him down.

No wonder even Newt Gingrich is starting to look somewhat acceptable to Republicans after all these years. What else have they got left?

On second thought, don't answer that question.

High Priced Firm Defending Rick Scott's Pension Law Has Ties...To Scott

For someone who says we have to be really careful how we spend "our" money, Gov. Rick Scott is running up quite a "bill" for taxpayers who will have to pick up the tab.

We're already on the hook for fighting against our own access to health care, fighting to keep our right to vote from being taken away, not to mention all the legal bills Scott is running up thanks to his being sued for various actions taken since he became the governor.

Now we can add to that $400,000 (so far) which is going to a law firm hired in order to defend a state law that requires Florida state employees to contribute to their own pension funds.

In short, yes, if you're a public employee, in addition to paying more for your own pension, and a smaller paycheck, you now also have to pay a huge, over priced law firm who is defending the right to force you to do just that in the first place. 

If that's not enough, there's more. We're all familiar with Rick Scott's mantra of job creators and his never ending quest to bring jobs to Florida (just don't hold him to those numbers he promised during his campaign!) While you're drumming your fingers waiting for those jobs to materialize, so are some lawyers, because the law firm the state hired doesn't even have offices in Florida.

That's not all. After Scott hired them, he urged Pam Bondi to approve to pay that law firm $300 more an hour than they normally allowed. If you're getting out your calculator, that would be $450 an hour. Now if the name Pam Bondi rings a bell, but you can't quite place it, yes, she's the Attorney General who, when she's not traveling to places like Israel,  or making speeches, she's been busy not doing much about the Gulf oil spill, and firing the investigators who were actually making progress investigating fraudulent foreclosures in Florida, and came highly recommended by that famous mensa member of the North, Sarah Palin, prior to her election. 

But back to that high priced law firm Scott hired. You can't say that it doesn't have any ties to Florida. It does.

From Gary Fineout and the Associated Press:

The Scott administration and Bondi have defended the hiring of the firm, saying it specializes in the kind of litigation that the state is now involved in.

But the firm's roster also includes a one-time business associate of Scott.

While not working directly on the lawsuit, a senior counsel with the firm's Washington D.C. office is Thomas Scully. Scully is also a general partner with the New York investment firm of Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe. That's the investment firm that this June purchased Scott's shares in Solantic, a chain of urgent care clinics the governor started back in 2001.

Scully, who once led the Federation of American Hospitals, was appointed to the board of directors of Solantic back in 2008.

Scott last year valued his shares in Solantic at $62 million. He initially transferred his ownership interest to his wife's revocable trust prior to taking office in January. But then Scott sold the shares amid questions as to whether he could benefit financially from state efforts to privatize Medicaid and require drug testing for welfare recipients. Scott maintained that Solantic would not seek state contracts and said he was just too busy as governor to spend time overseeing business interests.

Scott, the former head of the massive Columbia/HCA hospital chain, said that he has known Scully for 20 years. But he said on Tuesday that he didn't know that Scully worked for Alston and Bird.

"I knew that he was with a firm in D.C. but I didn't know the name of the firm," Scott told The Associated Press.

Really? No idea? To study Scott's short career in the governor's office so far, one can assume he is either:

1. The most clueless public servant in Florida history (and I use the term "public servant" oh so loosely) or,

2. The great and powerful Oz.

Ask him and he'll tell you he's an expert at running the state "like a business," just don't question how he's running it.

The man sees himself as the "Supreme Executive" with powers of knowledge greater than any court, including the Florida Supreme Court in spite of the fact that he's made his living in health care for one company that broke the record in Medicare fraud and landed him in court where he took the fifth 75 times in just one deposition.  Now he's in a position to judge all judges?

Yet the governor, in all his "business expertise" somehow managed to "lose" nearly every email during his transition from several separate accounts. How did that happen? Who knows, certainly not Scott, but he is conducting an investigation. How's that going? 

Now here's man Scott's known for 20 years who was involved with the investment firm that purchased Scott's shares of Solantic after conflicts of interest arose, and who works for the firm Scott hired to defend his new pension law, and yet Scott says he had no idea the man worked for them? Serioulsy?

Watching this man pretend he knows what he's doing while running the state of Florida into the ground and making us all pay for it in one way or another, actually more like several times over, became old long ago. 

You know the old saying: "Believe that and I've got some swampland to sell you?" 

What would the Scott version be? Maybe something like selling you swampland that cost you much more than it was worth, was polluted due to environmental regulations he cut, making you sick but without affordable health insurance, and after he cut your pay and increased your pension contribution, foreclosed on the house you bought there but could no longer make payments on which forced you into the streets, casuing you to loose your job, and then told you "sorry, no unemployment benefits or food stamps for you, the State of Florida simply can't afford it." 

And Scott hasn't even finished his first of four years yet.

Welcome to the Sunshine State.