Beach Peanuts

Could Some Floridians Still Face Voter "Stop And Frisk" Despite Halted Purge?

If you're one of those who are waiting for the other voter suppression shoe to drop even though Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner halted Rick Scott's most recent voter purge, this could be it:

A victory in the civil rights battle for voting was registered in Florida last week over those with an agenda to purge voters from rolls. The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruledon April 2 that when Congress declared in the National Voter Registration Act that voters’ names could not be systematically removed from rolls within 90 days of a federal election, that that’s exactly what they meant. Therefore, the voter purging program that Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Secretary of State Ken Detzner have insisted on carrying out for years is no longer valid, or at least, not so close to an election. Despite this quiet victory, there’s a good chance that purging will resume.

Since 2012, Gov. Scott and Sec. Detzner have been trying to enforce a scheme they cooked up for supposedly identifying “non-citizens” on voter rolls and then deleting them in broad swoops. If you can imagine, it’s like a police task force sweeping an entire neighborhood street corner in search of gang members, arresting everybody on the block in the process—maybe they collect one or two of their intended targets, but a bunch more innocent bystanders get caught up in the process. 

This is exactly what happened when Sec. Detzner rolled the purge program out in 2012.

The article goes on to say how use of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database that Detzner and Rick Scott wanted to use in their latest purge is so problematic that many states have pulled out their SAVE requests. Detzner and Scott also pulled out and halted the purge in Florida.

However, that may not be the end of it:

"I don't know why some states have been pulling out of their SAVE requests, but I think it's because many of them have realized that there's not a big problem with non-citizen voting,"  Katherine Culliton-Gonzalez, director of voter protection for Advancement Project, told me in a conversation about purging last year. “And, also that this is not the way to solve even potential problems with that because [SAVE] is not a definitive database for that."

Still, states have been granted approval by the federal government to use them. Pennsylvania is one of the most recent states to do so. Attorneys with the state ACLU chapter said that they will be closely monitoring Pennsylvania’s use of it to make sure it’s not being weaponized as a way to unlawfully purge voters. 

Judge Martin made clear in her ruling that Florida could still seek ways to ensure that ineligible voters don’t end up on the voter rolls, but only “on the basis of individualized information.” Meaning, they can’t sweep a whole block, they can only pursue certain people based off valid tips. What we hope this does not mean, is a regime of Latino Americans being “stopped and frisked” for their voting papers. 

Read more here.

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Campaign Reality Flashback: Rick Scott Cut $12 Million From Homeless Veterans In 2011

As Rick Scott touts his support for tuition breaks for veterans and unveils a new campaign video to tell how lucky he was to get ahead in life thanks to a GI bill, his new found support for veterans just ahead of the election isn't really all that surprising. He's suddenly interested in a lot of things he couldn't care less about after he won in 2010. (Sadly for Floridians, Medicaid still isn't one of them.) 

Aside from throwing an eligible 91-year-old decorated World War II Veteran off the voter rolls in 2012, let's revisit something else he did to veterans back in 2011, just a few months after he became Governor:

He cut $12 million from the budget for the National Veterans Homeless Support Groups. On the eve of Memorial Day weekend, no less, as he sent out an "honor the veterans" message. How thoughtful of him:

Watchdog Group Urges Rick Scott To Veto "Warning Shot" Bill

The bill not only would expand the Stand Your Ground law in Florida to include firing warning shots, but would allow those who have used SYG to expunge their records if they're later found innocent:

An open government watchdog is asking Gov. Rick Scott to veto a bill that would change the state’s “stand your ground” law.

The measure (HB 89) decriminalizes “warning shots” as well as the act of simply brandishing a weapon in self-defense.

The First Amendment Foundation on Monday wrote to Scott, asking for his veto, specifically objecting to a section of the bill allowing for secrecy of court records.

The expungement provision “not only limits public oversight, but potentially could serve as a tool for obscuring law enforcement and prosecutorial misconduct,” foundation president Barbara A. Petersen wrote.

Scott spokesman John Tupps reports: “Gov. Scott supports the Second Amendment and Florida’s self-defense laws. He looks forward to reviewing this legislation in its entirety now that it has been approved by both the House and the Senate.”

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Family Values Crowd Fears Republicans Will Get Caught Being Republicans In Vegas

Who Are You Going To Believe, The GOP Or Your Lying Eyes?

Oh the hypocrisy.

The religious right and their wing-nut pals are afraid the GOP will be powerless to resist the pull of Sheldon Adelson’s deep pockets and hold their 2016 convention in Las Vegas, but all that money isn’t what they're afraid of. They’re afraid Republicans will get caught being themselves while they’re there.

NRA Trumps The Police In Florida

“To allow people to go into a riot while concealing a gun without a permit is the definition of insanity,” said Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri. “The bill is crazy. It’s absurd.”

And yet the Florida House approved a bill to do just that. Because what Florida law enforcement wants no longer matters when the NRA holds the puppet strings in Tallahassee. It's not enough that they demanded people be allowed to arm themselves during emergencies like hurricanes, so they expanded it to include riots:

HB 209 would allow people with clean criminal backgrounds to conceal firearms without a permit during emergencies — including riots and civil unrest like the 1996 racial disturbances that rocked St. Petersburg — declared by the governor or local officials.

Supporters of the bill say it's intended to give gun owners the opportunity to protect their property while they are evacuating from a disaster or crisis, such as hurricanes, floods or worse.

Lots of people have "clean criminal records" until they don't. Allowing people to carry weapons into emergency and heated situations like hurricanes and riots would be a real good way to acquire a criminal record, but by then it's a little late to say "You know, we probably shouldn't have let that guy carry a gun." But then I suppose the bigger picture is that the more laws like this the NRA can shove through, the easier it will be to get away with just about whatever you want. 

By the way, for those of you keeping score, carrying a gun during a hurricane was the premise for the Florida  Stand Your Ground laws in the first place.  So I guess the legislature is making sure the Stand Your Ground Laws have their own Stand Your Ground Laws just in case there's any confusion about just legally shooting away when weather turns ugly. 

When the Florida legislature's day job has pretty much become taking away people's rights that have historically led to things like civil unrest, I suppose this kind of thing shouldn't surprise anyone.

But it should alarm everyone.

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Miami-Dade Voters: You Can Vote Or Use The Restroom, But Not Both

If you've paid attention to the new and improved voter suppression tactics in Florida, especially since Rick Scott bought the governors office, you probably remained skeptical when his beer lobbyist turned Secretary of State Ken Detzner halted the second voter purge recently, after the first one managed to remove legitimate voters, a veteran among them, and was ruled illegal after the fact. I was certainly skeptical. After all, there are lots of other ways to bend the rules and make it harder to vote without an all out purge of the voter rolls, but I have to say this one would have never occurred to me:

"Are you a voter in Miami Dade County? Were you aware that as a matter of policy, voters are prohibited from using restrooms at polling places? Hard to believe, especially in light of the extraordinary lines, but rather than making the restrooms accessible, the County has decided to make all restrooms off limits to voters.

That's right. Even if you're an eligible voter in Miami-Dade, you can vote, or use the restroom, but you can't do both and expect to keep your place in those long lines. Because those long lines weren't enough of a deterrence on their own, as we saw when voters waited hours in line in 2012 even after the election was called.

Worse, this policy didn't even exist until the Miami-Dade Elections Department received an inquiry about the availability of restrooms for those with disabilities from disability rights lawyer Marc Dubin:

Earlier this year, the Miami-Dade County Elections Department quietly implemented a policy to close the bathrooms at all polling facilities, according to disability rights lawyer Marc Dubin. Dubin said the policy change was in “direct response” to an inquiry to the Elections Department about whether they had assessed accessibility of polling place bathrooms to those with disabilities.

“I was expecting them to say either yes we have or yes we will,” Dubin said.

Instead, the response was that all restrooms would be closed to voters in order to make sure those with disabilities weren't treated unfairly:

"Please note State statute does not mandate that the rest rooms in the polling location be ADA compliant.  As we discussed at the meeting in order to ensure that individuals with disabilities are not treated unfairly, the use of rest rooms by the Voters is not allowed on election day."

Simply close restrooms to everybody, and therefore eliminate that whole "reasonable accommodations for the disabled" issue altogether. After getting beyond the ugliness of that idea, there's more:

But those with disabilities are not the only ones who would suffer disproportionately from this policy. A Massachusetts Institute of Technology analysis found that blacks and Hispanics waited almost twice as long to vote as whites in the 2012 presidential election. Another analysis found that this “time tax” also impacted young voters. And this would be one of a number Florida voter suppression policies that have a particular impact on the elderly.

There are so many ways to make sure that those less inclined to vote for you aren't able to vote at all, and just when you think Rick Scott and his beer buddy have thought of them all, they surprise you with a new one.

What kind of person has a light bulb go off in their head for a new way to keep people from voting as a result of an inquiry over accessibility to restrooms for the disabled? It doesn't get much uglier than this.

Another day in Rick Scott's version of paradise.

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What War On Women? Republicans Ask As They Block The Paycheck Fairness Act

Republicans continued to claim they aren't conducting a War On Women by blocking even a debate on the Paycheck Fairness Act in the Senate.

Senate Republicans voted unanimously on Wednesday to block debate from beginning on Democratic-led legislation aimed at narrowing the pay gap between men and women.

The motion to proceed to the Paycheck Fairness Act received 53 votes for, and 44 against, falling short of the 60 needed to defeat a filibuster.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), is backed by President Barack Obama. It would make it easier for a woman to sue an employer if she's getting paid less than a male counterpart for doing the same work. It would also prohibit employer retaliation against workers for talking about how much they earn.

"For reasons known only to them, Senate Republicans don't appear to be interested in closing the wage gap for working women," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV).

Reid switched his vote to 'no' at the last minute, a procedural maneuver to preserve his right to bring up the bill again.

Putting A Face On Florida's Medicaid "Scott Gap" Statistics

 

Charlene Dill 1981-2014

Six people in Florida will die every day while state Republicans refuse to expand Medicaid. Above is one of those who died on March 21, 2014.

"Peter lost his battle with cancer, and my father found himself with a mountain of medical bills that he could never afford to pay. It was the safety net that picked my father up. It was the safety net that picked my family up."

This is from a speech made last year in the Florida House during the debate over expanding Medicaid. It was made by the man who followed up on that speech by blocking Medicaid expansion: House Speaker Will Weatherford. What he neglected to mention was that the "safety net" that picked his family and father up was Medicaid.

The federal-state health care program for the poor covered more than $100,000 in Peter's medical costs, Weatherford's father told the Times/Herald.

"There was no way I could pay that," said Bill Weatherford, 62, when reached by phone in Odessa.

Thanks to Weatherford and Rick Scott, who has also said no to Medicaid, other Floridians in similar circumstances to Weatherford's family will be on their own. It's estimated that as many as six people will die DAILY in Florida because they refused to expand Medicaid.

Six. Per. Day.

Now there's another face to put on those statistics that Scott and Weatherford ignore: Charlene Dill. She wasn't the type of person that Republicans or Conservatives love to compartmentalize when they speak of welfare, or food stamps or Medicaid recipients, the kind who they demonize as "lazy" or call "takers." Charlene Dill was none of those. In fact, she worked three jobs to make ends meet for herself and her three children but couldn't afford health insurance. She would have been able to get coverage under Medicaid, but she was also a resident of Florida, and because Weatherford and Scott refused expansion, she fell instead into that coverage gap. The "Scott Gap."

Charlene Dill died while working one of those three jobs. Her death was preventable. Because she was uninsured, she went years without the care she needed to address her chronic conditions because she couldn’t afford it. Even though she worked three jobs, she made only about $9,000 a year.

Unlike Weatherford's family, there were no medical bills to be picked up by a safety net because one didn't exist. She couldn't afford to see a doctor, period, and she died because of it.

When she died her friends had to ask for help to pay for her funeral.

Charlene Dill has put a human face on Florida's Medicaid "Scott Gap." Unfortunately, she won't be the last. Rick Scott and Will Weatherford should be ashamed, but instead, they're proud to have blocked Medicaid from people like Charlene Dill.

You can read more of her story here, here, and here. 

(Photo: gofundme)

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As Elections Go, Florida Remains The Joke Of The Nation

A new nonpartisan study by Pew Charitable Trusts has concluded that states generally did a better job managing the 2012 election than in 2008.

There was, however, one exception. Florida:

The notable exception was Florida, which had the nation's 49th-longest wait times to vote. Average wait times swelled by 16 minutes in Florida and decreased an average of three minutes elsewhere.

"Florida is neither a high- nor low-performing state," Pew said. "Florida was held back to a large degree by dramatic spikes in average wait time to vote and rejected registrations."

The state ranked higher than most states in voter turnout (15th), data completeness (18th) and in rejection rates for provisional ballots (19th).

This should be a surprise to no one given that the state, thanks to Rick Scott and the Republicans efforts to block the vote in 2012, was once again a national joke. The state held the national spotlight as people remained waiting in line to vote even as the election was called for President Obama.

This brought a laughable response from Rick Scott's beer lobbyist turned Secretary of State, Ken Detzner:

Koch Industries Reap the Benefits Of ACA While Campaigning Against it

There's no bigger force on the right campaigning against the Affordable Care Act than Koch Industries and their counterparts, Americans For Prosperity, who have spent millions in a barrage against its implementation.

So The Kochs and AFP would be the last people you would imagine taking advantage of the new law, right? Yet they're doing just that:

Several big corporations have reaped millions of dollars from "Obamacare" even as they support GOP candidates who vow to repeal the law. This condemn-while-benefiting strategy angers Democrats, who see some of their top congressional candidates struggling against waves of anti-Obamacare ads partly funded by these companies.

Among the corporations is a familiar Democratic nemesis, Koch Industries, the giant conglomerate headed by the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch. They and some conservative allies are spending millions of dollars to hammer Democratic senators in North Carolina, Alaska, Colorado, Iowa and elsewhere, chiefly for backing President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.