19 thoughts on “The Banana Republic of Florida”

  1. Hang onto your hats, Florida! You’re in for a rough ride. But I don’t feel the least bit bad about it because you knew he was a thief before you took him in. Enjoy the fruits of your stupidity my fellow Floridians…And remember what the bible says…you can’t repentance without confession.. and Rick Scott says he did no wrong in spite of having to pay the largest fine for fraud in American history.

  4. The conversation around the lunch table last week was about some of the new Gov.’s ideas. The boys were supporting Rick Scott’s idea to drug test State employees and those on welfare and unemployment insurance.

    None of the group has ever needed either welfare or unemployment insurance, except for a very short period of time.
    Times have changed, but the boys don’t seem to notice.

    They also thought eliminating tenure for teachers and slashing teacher pay is a good idea.

    “I’ve got mine, screw you” seems to be the new rule.

    I see there is a new bill about recall introduced in Tallahassee.
    I hope it is passed quickly so the games can begin.

  5. By comparison Scooter Walker looks almost, sane? Walker’s just an opportunistic ideologue who hasn’t been paying attention the last 30 that the right wing ideas don’t work when put into practice. This guy in Florida seriously looks nuts.

  6. I’ll be traveling to the “Sunshne State” shortly to visit friends and family. One of my closest friends is president of his union local chapter and there is a family member who is a constitutionl lawyer. I am sure we will have a lot of interesting conversations. All of our friends are at least considering leaving the state, but many are state employees and are looking at having their pockets picked just before retirement.

    I guess the message is clear, some people matter and some don’t, if you’re a worker, you’re either a loser or soon to be one. Oh, and the most important message, “I can steal anything I want.”

    I guess as losers, we can’t “go Galt” but, if we’re lucky, we might just “go”.

  7. I don’t “get” Florida. Scott was in a 3 way race- the Democrat was kind of a last minute choice, but the other guy was Crist, a known quantity, and somewhat moderate. I thought Scott, with his criminal rap sheet didn’t stand a CHANCE. But, frightening things happen in extreme low-turnout midterms.

  8. Tom B,
    Crist, the former Governor, was running for the Senate against Rubio. And he lost to that Teabagging skunk.

    Now, on to my point:
    As for Florida – well, you’ve earned this. I feel sorry for the more progressive residents. But, I hope, if a Governor’s going to do some nasty shit, he does it to the older imbeciles who voted for him. Am I evil? Maybe. But, there’s got to be some state that’s the bellweather for disasterous Republican leadership. And I can’t think of a better state than the one who sort of gave us Little Boots.

    Sorry, but you really have earned any and all of the bad Karma you’re about to get. If you even bothered to look up his name, you’d know he was fortunate to not be doing 20 to life in a Fed Max prison. But, you elected him Governor anyway. And now he’s trying to enrich the company he led, and himself throught the stocks he transferred to his wife. What a shock, eh? How this isn’t a prosecutable conflict of interest, I’m looking forward to having someone explain to me? But, he’s a wealthy and powerful SOB, so I’m sure nothing will even mar a pedicured cuticle on his little toe.
    I can almost excuse WI, OH, MI, NJ, and ME, but not Florida. Those newby skunks may have fooled voters. But voting for Scott was like voting for a Willie Sutton who had an epiphany that the real money isn’t in banks, but in government.
    On the plus side, residents of FL, due to increased global warming, your state may become the a “Blue-haired Atlantis,” within a short period of time.
    I hope our Federal Goverment doesn’t spend much, if any, money to save that state. The rich residents don’t deserve it. And the ones who aren’t, but vote for Republicans, are too stupid to save and throw their imbecile genes back into the pool of human genomes. The entire state of Florida has earned a “Darwin Award.”

    http://www.darwinawards.com/

  9. Actually, Gulag, most of the blue hairs really missed Jeb, who was replaced by Charlie Christ. Charlie was not conservative enough for them, and when he ran back to the center for his shot at being a senator, Rubio kicked his ass, er, rather, the conservatives turned out in great numbers to spank any and all moderates and liberals.
    The dipshit strong hold is up around Lady lake and “the Villiages”, where I have some acres I’ll turn into a DFH commune in the next few years just to screw with them in their “golden years”.

    This will swing back to the center, Scott is too extreme, and it won’t stand. You can’t rape the commoners like that and escape the gallows for long.
    When the Tea Baggers in the “Villiages” have to give their scooters and o2 tanks back, and they see how much they’ll have to bail out their own kids, the light bulbs will come on.

  11. Every now and then I think about moving to Florida – I just like its charms; then an article like this comes along and wakes me up.

  14. Does the drug-testing scheme for state employees include the governor and state representatives?

  15. I’m here in Florida on my annual get away from the cold and snow back in Southern Ontario. Reading comments in the on-line version of the Miami Herald that cover news stories on Scott’s “legislative priorities” have been quite an eye opener. Miami Dade is more liberal and progressive than counties up in central and northern Florida which many deride as been populated by “right-wingers and teabaggers”…”the folks who elected the worst governor in Flori-duh history”. Comments routinely are anti-Scott with the odd teabagger chiming in and getting slapped down. People who leave comments have names for the governor such as “bald apocalypse” and “skeletor” and “the medicaid fraudster who pleaded the 5th a hundred times”. Lots of conspiracy theories that Scott’s private companies will profit from the drug testing of state employees as well as the pill mills. Not sure if he has bothered to put these in a blind trust but who knows as the attitude seems to be IOKIYAR. When Scott turned down high speed rail money, people went ballistic… “he sneered at 25,000 good paying jobs!!” I heard on the radio the other day that the Florida economy is barely breathing. Areas where the tourists are or where the rich hangout appear to be doing OK but if you get off the beaten path there’s lots of foreclosure notices on houses, for sale signs and shuttered stores and crime. Talking to the locals there’s a lot of joblessness and frustration. Scott has “promised” to create 500,000 jobs in the next three years. The feeling is these will be restaurant servers and hotel maids if they materialize at all. College grads leave comments in the paper expressing frustration on the state of the economy while some state they’re giving up their dream to be a teacher because of low pay, vanishing benefits and lack of respect. Scott is liked by the evangelicals and they are confident they can pick up any slack with more home and church-based schoolin’. People are railing against his decision to shut down the prescription drug data base. Interstate 75 and the airport at Ft Lauderdale is “chock full of hillbillies from up north” coming down to buy their oxy (hillbilly heroin). Interesting but depressing times here in Florida but its just as crazy back in Ohio and Wisconsin from what I can tell. All pretty shocking for a gullible Canadian.

  16. Lots of conspiracy theories that Scott’s private companies will profit from the drug testing of state employees as well as the pill mills.

    Steve, That’s not a conspiracy theory…That an absolute fact! The only theory is that Scott’s wife controls his former business interests and he has no knowledge of what Solantic is even doing. You can’t get more obvious in feathering your own nest than Scott has. But being true to the capitalist creed, Scott dropped millions on buying the governorship so he’s rightfully entitled to recoup his expenditure and to take a generous profit for his risk incurred.

  17. Mr.Scott has said several times that he will create thousands of jobs, but after he rejected the high speed rail project and the federal grant to fund it, I don’t see how.
    He has signed a deal to dredge the Port of Miami in hopes that Florida will get business from the expansion of the Panama canal.It ain’t enough.

    There have been some noises from Scott about relaxing license rules and regulations for various business, perhaps he has a vision of everyone being an independent contractor. I worked for a contractor at the “happiest place on Earth” a number of years ago with that vision. he ran off with the tenderloin and left the hooves and snouts for the workers.

    To answer Candide’s question, certainly you jest.
    Some animals are more equal than others.

    Mr. Scott is about to begin a self guided tour through Jurassic Park, and the raptors are very hungry.

    • Mr.Scott has said several times that he will create thousands of jobs, but after he rejected the high speed rail project and the federal grant to fund it, I don’t see how.

      The thing is, with Scott, I question whether he has any real experience at creating jobs. He is a merger and acquisitions lawyer who made a ton of money buying up hospitals and maximizing profits through fraud. Another one of his tricks was to buy competing hospitals and close them, thereby eliminating the competition. He was also known for downsizing staff, often at the expense of patient care. I suspect that if somebody looked real hard, they’d find that as a medical mogul Scott actually eliminated more jobs than he created. I also question whether he has any real understanding of business management or even basic economics. He mostly just knows how to make himself a lot of money.

      However, if he’s like other big shot CEOs I’ve met, he probably considers himself to be brilliant at business and the only one on the block who knows how to get things done.

      His standard bio says that he “built a chain of hospitals,” which makes it sound as if he built hospitals. But as I remember from the research I did on him awhile back, he didn’t build hospitals. He took over existing hospitals. What he built was a financial entity; he doesn’t do the bricks-and-mortar stuff. His is not the kind of experience that translates well into running governments. Good luck, Florida.

      And this reminds me a bit of Dubya, who passed himself off to voters as a successful businessman, when even a quick glance at his record showed that he ran every one of his businesses into the ground and time and time again was saved from ruin by family connections.

  18. Swami, thanks- I just read Steve Benen’s piece in the Washington Monthly confirming Scott’s conflicted business interests. The teabaggers should be proud for unleashing this fraud on the State of Florida.

    http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2011_03/028644.php

    I’m reading Chris Hedges 2007 book: “American Fascists:The Christian Right and the War on America”. Hedges book focuses on the alliance between the super wealthy, large godless corporations and the evangelicals and their stealth program to seize power. Four years on this book is prophetic in describing whats happening now. It’s a good read that I’d recommend for background on whats happening.

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