Beach Peanuts

Group Tied To Koch, ALEC, and Rove Pouring Money Into "Jolly Lobbyist" Campaign Against Sink

ALEC vs Alex?

Conservative right-wing groups from outside Florida are desperately pouring money into the race for the late Bill Young's seat, and all that money is to boost Republican lobbyist David Jolly who is running against Democrat Alex Sink, according to an announcement today (Paywall restricted.):

The American Action Network said today that will spend $500,000 in the Florida Congressional District 13 race featuring Democrat Alex Sink and Republican David Jolly.

"The independent expenditures include over $350,000 in broadcast and targeted cable television from February 4 – February 20, 2014, as well as targeted mail and digital advertising," the group said.

Floridians should know where this money is coming from, and who is behind the American Action Network, an organization with ties to ALEC, and Karl Rove's American Crossroads PAC, among others.

Flood Insurance Delay Passes In Senate, But GOP House Vows To Block It

The U.S. Senate passed a delay in flood insurance rate hikes that are posing a real problem for homeowners in Florida and several other states.

In what's perhaps an historic event, Marco Rubio actually voted in Floridian's best interests for once and joined Sen. Bill Nelson to vote for passage of the bill.

Unfortunately, it may mean very little because John Boehner and House Republicans have vowed to skip any action on it there. (But shh, don't tell Rick Scott, because he, ignorantly, really wants to blame it all on the President instead.)

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Waxman's Retirement A Blow To Reality-Based Governing

The announcement from Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) that he won't seek reelection is a blow for a Congress that has been reduced to investigating conspiracy theories and where "public service" has become little more than a talking point.

We don't have "public servants" anymore, we have GOP corporate puppets masquerading as elected officials who act against the interests of their constituents rather than for them, while denying facts like climate change and basic science, and where the only real goal is to enrich themselves at our expense, and to demonize us in the process.

It goes without saying that the media will only seize the opportunity to begin endless speculation on who will get his seat, because to them, elections are a sporting event, the only game in town, and their thumbs are firmly on the scales.

To that end, Waxman said this:  

House Republicans have no compelling vision for the future. 

True that. Waxman will be missed.

(Photo: Martha Jackovics)

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Chart With Actual Facts And Things

Last night after the State of the Union address, Republicans took to their fainting couches with a case of the vapors in response to President Obama's statement that he would use executive orders to accomplish what many Americans want, and what the Republicans continue to block.

It's no surprise that, after tripping over his own feet to touch the President like a teenage girl at a concert, pushing his way to the front of the outrage line was Marco Rubio (R-No) because being against anything the President wants or does is his only accomplishment since he arrived in the Senate.

Scott Fail: The Great And Powerful Oz, Hairless Snake Man, Instagram Edition

I've Got Your Instagram Right Here...

It's been a while since I posted a Scott Fail entry here, but there are only so many hours in a day....

Here are but a few of the latest failings:

The Great And Powerful Oz has apparently decided to use social media in his reelection campaign in order to avoid actual contact with voters and the media, who dare to question him from time to time. The Republicans have already been doing so for quite some time now, with a Twitter feed that sounds at times like an 8 year old bully is behind it, mostly consisting of messages that boil down to "Nah, nah, nah, Charlie Crist, nah, nah, JOBS!"  Scott, for some reason, announced the addition of an Instagram account he'll be using. Expect lots of photos of him shaking hands at photo-ops and ribbon cuttings, you know, the same thing he's been doing since he landed in office, just more of them.

KOCH, AFP SOTU Events: Come For The Freebies, Stay For The Consequences

As the Affordable Care Act was being rolled out last October, a Koch funded group tried (and failed) to derail it by targeting potential young enrollees. That group, called "Generation Opportunity," went to college campuses around the country and plied students with free food and beer at so-called "tailgate parties" in an effort to lure them into events with the sole purpose of scaring them away from signing up for Obamacare. This was on top of the now infamous creepy "Uncle Sam" ads, also designed to provoke fear of "government health care."

Repeated failures like those would stop most groups from doing the same things over and over again, but these groups have boatloads of money from the Koch's fueling them, who stand to profit from all that fear. Now they're back with their next scheme: Trying to tear down the upcoming State Of The Union address.

Mike Huckabee IS Uncle Sugar

Meet Uncle Sugar

By now I'm sure everyone has heard the words of wisdom offered yesterday by Mike Huckabee when he lectured the GOP on how to lecture the womenfolk so as not to appear to be participating in what they've been ever so wrongly accused of doing by the Democrats (and by anyone with an IQ), in conducting a War on Women.

"Just stop listening to the Democrats" Huckabee said, as if they ever did so. Huck went on:

"The fact is the Republicans don’t have a war on women, they have a war for women, to empower them to be something other than victims of their gender.”

Scott's $100 Million 'Florida Families' Giveaway Goes To Attractions Surrounded By Florida's Homeless

 

Creating More Homeless Families Since 2010

Rick Scott recently announced that he wants $100 million set aside for marketing tourism in Florida's budget, taxpayer money that would go to Visit Florida, whose partners and sponsors include Busch Gardens, Sea World, Universal Orlando and Disney World.

Scott wants to take "It's Your Money" as he refers to it, and hand it over to these companies in the promotion of tourism. He says he's doing it for "Florida families" in the name of his similarly named " Florida Families First Budget" as he attempts to phrase it in this statement on his website:  

“Last year, we secured more than $63 million in our ‘Florida Families First Budget,’ for VISIT FLORIDA and we made record gains in tourism. We are on track for another record year, and we hope to build on this incredible momentum and make the Sunshine State the number one travel destination in the world.  To do that, we are going to recommend an historic $100 million in our ‘It’s Your Money Tax Cut Budget’ this year.  Because every 85 visitors to our state supports one Florida job, a growing tourism industry equates to more jobs for Florida families and a stronger economy.”

Think about that for a minute. How many of those taxpayers forced to make this sacrifice can actually afford a ticket to any of these Florida attractions, much less plan a vacation around one? Florida is also "growing" as a home to low wage workers. Forget about vacation time. Many who can't afford one are employed by companies who are big donors to Rick Scott, and those donations pay off when they're allowed to force workers to work even when they're sick, and only then for minimum wage. A very low minimum wage.

Press Shy Rick Scott Gets Some Well Deserved Attention From CNN

 

Rick Scott "Gets To Work" (Screenshot: CNN)

Rick Scott went out of his way to avoid the cameras this past weekend when he and now scandal-ridden New Jersey Governor Chris Christie were fundraising together, although if there were a contest, it would probably be a draw as to whose reputation would be more damaging to the other at this point. A man who was best known prior to elected office as being the man who ran the company that set the record for Medicare fraud fines, or the man who allegedly held Sandy relief funds hostage and allegedly caused traffic tie-ups during the anniversary of 9-11 in New York and New Jersey for four days, contributing to EMS delays for a dying elderly woman and trapping school children on school buses for political reasons? Floridians know all too well that I left out a lot of reasons why the prize might go to Rick Scott, but no doubt they get the point.

Rick Scott, not to mention the Florida GOP, are awful. Worse, they're proud of it. They just try to hide it from the voters around election time.

FL GOP Chair Lenny Curry, With His Hand Out (Screenshot: CNN)

It seems that CNN noticed too, in a report (see the full report here) about money in politics, and highlighted Florida's own governor as a poster boy on how buying influence is perfectly legal. When people scratch their heads in disbelief that someone with Scott's past could get elected in a state where so many rely on Medicare, CNN may offer some answers.

As to how Scott is "getting to work" on his reelection campaign, one need look no further than here.

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Fracking In The Everglades, What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

In Florida we're running out of natural resources as it is, with development unchecked and regulations out the window thanks to "free market" Republicans and a governor who does the bidding of big corporate donors at Floridians' expense. So just when you think there's nothing left to squander, the Florida legislature finds another way to "squeeze" out a profit at the public's expense. Literally.

Fracking.

To anyone still unfamiliar with hydraulic fracturing, it's the process whereby sand and water laden with chemicals are forced by injection into rock way below the surface to "fracture" the rock to release natural gas and oil. Fracking is already destroying resources and the communities where it's practiced, contaminating drinking water, strongly suspected to be causing earthquakes (see Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Ohio for example), some in places where they never occurred before, and reportedly a cause of the now infamous phenomenon of flammable tap water. 

Just try to imagine the devastation this could add to the hazard of sinkholes?

Now the Florida legislature wants to bring fracking to our state even though past efforts have failed. Even worse, one place they want to allow it to go on, unchecked? The Everglades.