Tag: Florida

Rick Scott, Famous Fighter of ‘Obamacare,’ Enrolls Himself and His Wife in Taxpayer-Paid Health Care

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ScottAssinineFlorida’s tea party Republican Gov. Rick Scott has made a point to flaunt the wealth that landed him in office (instead of jail).

One of his first, likely illegal, moves was to sell the state plane that transported his predecessors while on state business. Why? Because Scott didn’t need the taxpayers’ jet, he has his own helicopter and access to his friends’ Lear Jets.

Equally played up was Scott’s decision not to accept a salary. After all, he made so many millions out of defrauding the government on padded Medicare billing in his businesses that he doesn’t need the piddly $130,000 that me and my fellow residents could provide him. Heck, Scott spent $76 million of his “own” money just to buy the office.

But there are some things that even Rick Scott needs help with. Scott, who focused his campaign and every FOX News appearance he’s ever made, on getting rid of the Affordable Healthcare Act which would provide health insurance to millions of uninsured Americans – and Floridians – is accepting our help to pay for his health insurance.

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Rick Scott’s Unintended Consequences

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8,418

Number of Florida public workers filing to enter the five-year phased retirement process known as DROP (Deferred Retirement Option Plan) after Gov. Rick Scott (Tea/GOP) signed a bill requiring them to contribute to their own pension plans. The figure is more than double last year’s, when 4,157 signed up, and means that Florida will lose senior public employees in record amounts in coming years.

A Double Blessing

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Gov. Rick Scott is not only living the idea of being a conservative Republican, but he’s also a blessing to our party.

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, introducing Florida’s governor at planning sessions in Tampa for the 2012 RNC convention. Democrats listening to Priebus call the Republican Florida governor – whose latest approval ratings are at 35% – a blessing for his party immediately thought, “And for ours, too.”

Scott’s Law is Likely to Increase Crime in Florida

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3,406

Number of Florida non-violent felons who re-offended after their rights were automatically restored under a program instituted by former Gov. Charlie Crist. They represent about 11 percent of the 30,672 people whose rights, including the right to vote, were reinstated. Before Crist launched the initiative, about one-third of prisoners released were back in jail within three years. The results lead criminologists and others to conclude that encouraging offenders to reintegrate into society makes them less likely to commit further crimes. Gov. Rick Scott recently signed Republican-drafted legislation overturning this automatic process, and requiring felons who have served their time to wait five years before applying to have their rights restored.

U.S. Representative Tweets About ‘Islamic Terror’ in Norway

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DennisRossTweet

The world is finding out about the man suspected of the worst terror attacks in Norway’s history, in which first a bomb killed at least 30 in Oslo, and then an additional 67 people were gunned down at a nearby youth camp. The suspect is 32-year-old Anders Behring Breivik and it appears he is a rightwing Christian, anti-Muslim extremist who hates Marxists.

He is the very opposite of — as Florida Teapublican U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross tweeted when news broke of the bombing and mass shooting — forces aligned with “Islamic terror.”

It appears Ross wanted to phone in (or in this case, drop a 140-character line) a quick condemnation of the horror and get on with his weekend. His knee-jerk assumption that any act of terror must be perpetuated by Muslim extremists is embarrassing for both his party and his state.

Comments on Facebook, where Progress Florida posted the image of the tweet shown, are not kind to Ross:

  • When Rep. Ross departs the mortal coil, the average IQ of Floridians will skyrocket. How does someone with a Fallwell-Robertson understanding of the world get elected?
  • Dennis is MY Congessman and I cannot tell you how unhappy I am with him. He used to be a smart moderate until he embraced the tea party.
  • Sadly, this kind of crap resonates with a LOT of voters. Never underestimate the combination of stupid + xenophobia x fake patriotism.
  • Maybe he can re-tweet: “We stand with you against right-wing ultra-conservative Christians.”

No word on that last idea but we won’t hold our breath waiting for anyone to step up and condemn Christian violence.

Paul Ryan’s Kill-Medicare Plan Has Republicans on the Run

Jon Ponder

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

And, yes, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin is now the most unpopular Republican holding elected office, according to a Bloomberg poll. Only Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin are less popular.

At about the 3:00 mark, O’Donnell runs a clip from May 31 of a right-wing radio show host based in St. Augustine kicking an establishment Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson off his show after the pol weaseled around and would not come out in support of the Ryan plan. In many states, this politician’s astoundingly bad performance would be a career-ender. Transcript follows:

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Rick Scott in Perpetual Election Mode

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Are there things we don’t want you to know? Yes. There are things we don’t want to broadcast to our opponents.

— Brian J. Burgess, Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s communications director, commenting for a newspaper profile. Burgess did not identify which of the governor’s constituents they consider “opponents,” and does not seem to realize the election is over. Scott, a newcomer to Florida, is widely rumored to be planning a national run.

Romney on Rick Scott’s Endorsement: ‘I’ll Keep in Touch’

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Anybody running for president would like every endorsement that they can get. We have spoken from time to time, I’ll continue to keep in touch, and I have no idea what his plans are in that regard.

— Mitt Romney, Republican candidate for president, commenting in Florida on Gov. Rick Scott’s endorsement. Scott, who squeaked to a slim victory with tea party support, has approval ratings in the 20s and Romney’s answer was taken within Florida to mean he’s not seeking Scott’s help.

U.S. Rep. Releases Pictures of Himself Desecrating the Flag

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WestUnderwater
U.S. Rep. Allen West plants the flag in a South Florida reef

U.S. Rep. Allen West (R-FL22) is at it again. What better way to celebrate Flag Day, and make headlines, than to desecrate the flag? The tea party darling, often held up as proof the movement isn’t racist, posted pictures on Flickr of his recent diving expedition to an artificial reef in his South Florida district.

Title 4, Chapter 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Code, subsection B: ‘The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise’

That got flag purists’ attention. They point to Title 4, Chapter 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Code, subsection B, which states, “The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise.”

But West isn’t known for following the rules. Before moving to Florida to run for Congress, West was discharged from the Army in 2004 after an incident in Taji, Iraq. Four members of a battalion he commanded beat an Iraqi they suspected of plotting to attack them while they interrogated him. To facilitate the questioning, West himself fired his service pistol next to the man’s head, a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. After the rumors of the plot were found to be baseless, West said, “It’s possible that I was wrong about Mr. Hamoodi.” He avoided a court-martial and was subjected to an “Article 15 proceeding,” relieved of his command, and ordered to pay a fine.

And while flag desecration is small potatoes compared to his past exploits, it’s clear that Rep. West hasn’t learned that you don’t honor your country, or its flag, by ignoring core principles.