Enterprise Florida, Our Job...Is To Spend Your Money!
Yesterday we heard of yet another potential waste and abuse scandal involving an agency under the direction of Rick Scott. This time it's once again Enterprise Florida, the public-private agency charged with recruiting business and jobs to Florida. Turns out, in exchange for less than half of the jobs promised by Scott and crew, millions of taxpayer dollars are being spent by the agency on things like luxury hotels and restaurants, sky boxes, limos and some mighty eye-popping charges on the Enterprise Florida American Express cards. In other words, when Rick Scott said he would run Florida like a business, he neglected to mention that includes a limitless "company expense account" on your dime.
At the time of the CBS 12 report, Scott issued this response:
"Look, any time there's any government money, you want to spend it well, so with Enterprise Florida's job is to you know, recruit companies and expand here to move here. Gray Swoope and his team are doing a good job," Governor Scott said.
Yes, they "spend well." We got that part on our own, but thanks.
Most of the time when Scott says someone is "doing a good job" they end up losing that job soon after. However, that doesn't appear likely in this case. Yesterday Scott released another statement, and this one provided even less of an explanation for why millions of your dollars should be wasted on not creating those painfully needed jobs:
Wednesday night, the Governor's office responded to our report with a statement, "Governor Scott is laser focused on creating job opportunities so that every family can pursue their dreams in the sunshine state."
Thanks for clearing that up!
Laser Focused!
As if that wasn't enough, Enterprise Florida is making no apologies, and says this spending is "key to building relationships with corporate decision makers while promoting Florida as a premier state for business." And the cherry on top of that flip o' the bird to you and your tax dollars? Well, they added this kicker:
The release went on to point out that "There is no legislatively mandated job creation goal."
Clearly their only goal is to break government waste records and see who can burn the most of your cash before they and Scott are shown the door in November? But job creation? Surely you jest!
Next on the shameless response tour:
Legalized Discrimination.
Yesterday, while the country watched and waited to see if Arizona's equally horrible governor would point her bony finger at the gay community and sign a bill into law allowing businesses to discriminate against them in the name of "religious beliefs," Scott refused to say whether or not he supported such a bill, not once, but three times. I'll sum up the short non-answer version for you:
Haven't read it, meh, jobs!
Seriously. Three times. How hard can it be to simply say if you're opposed to discrimination or not?
Naturally, Scott was publicly criticized for being unable to take a stand on what should be a pretty easy issue, given that even members of his own party were running away from Jan Brewer faster than you can say "papers please!" Of course, the Republicans were only willing to give on this one because things like Super Bowl profits might have been at risk. They feel it's ok to discriminate against people and lifestyles they don't care for except for when it might hurt their bottom line. So it was a little surprising that Governor "Run-Florida-Like-A-Business" hadn't gotten the "Excuse me, Jan....who?" memo. (Or maybe he got it, but like the Arizona bill, just didn't care enough to read it.)
So after all the criticism that came his way, Scott finally got around to putting out a statement that amounted to "Ok, ok, fine! Veto!"
Read his entire response at your own risk if you're prone to the gag reflex:
“I don’t want to tell Governor Brewer what to do, she can do what’s best for her state. From my understanding of that bill, I would veto it in Florida because it seems unnecessary. In Florida we are focused on economic growth, and not on things that divide us. We are for freedom here in Florida. And we want everyone to come here, create jobs, and live in freedom, and that includes religious liberty. I am very much opposed to forcing anyone to violate their conscience or their religious beliefs, and of course, I’m very much opposed to discrimination. As a society, we need to spend more time learning to love and tolerate each other, and less time trying to win arguments in courts of law. Other states can spend their time fighting over issues like this, but in Florida we are laser focused on creating jobs and opportunities. It’s working, and we need to keep it going and will not get distracted by this or anything else.”
Scott never disappoints. There's absolutely no opportunity he won't use to work a plug for his campaign into.
But on a serious note, putting aside his baseless "laser focus" and "It's Working" jargon, this statement is phony beyond even Scott's usual threshold. It's not merely knee deep. He's in up to his head on this one.
He says he's focused on economic growth and not things that divide us. Wow. Never mind that, on the contrary, he's doing as much as he can to divide Floridans, mainly giving to the rich and cutting off the poor, which is hurting the very economic growth he claims to be focused on. He goes on to say he's for "freedom." By Scott's own standards, freedom does not include voting, access to health care, a woman's right to choose, and yes, a gay couple's right to marry.
He says we need to spend more time loving each other? Is that why he demands welfare recipients submit to urine samples before they can feed their children? Out of love? Are we to assume that he loves the poor, the elderly, the sick, veterans, and the homeless so much that he cuts the safety net right out from under them?
He says we need to spend "less time trying to win arguments in courts of law." This from the man who spends more of Floridians tax dollars in court fighting to take things away from them, including their rights, than any elected official in recent memory, unless you count AG Pam Bondi. Among their greatest hits: again, drug testing for food stamps, blocking health care, blocking contraception, blocking the vote, and recently, fighting in favor of water pollution, not just in Florida, but other states, and so many more.
Finally, he ends by saying he's so "very much opposed to discrimination" that he "will not get distracted by" wasting any more time discussing it!
How's that for tolerance?
