Tag: Rick Scott
A Double Blessing
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
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.
Romney on Rick Scott’s Endorsement: ‘I’ll Keep in Touch’
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.
Warning: Rick Scott Ahead
$8,800
Amount spent by Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R/Tea) to add his own name to the 35 highway signs which welcome visitors to the state. No governor has ever placed his name on the signs, but Palm Beach Post columnist Frank Cerabino applauded the move. “When travelers cross into the state and see ‘Governor Rick Scott,’ he wrote, ‘it works on the same level as ‘Low Flying Aircraft,’ ‘Rock Slide Area’ or “Slow: Children Playing.'” Scott slashed other state spending, recently vetoing $615 million from the state budget that included 500 jobs at the Department of Children and Families.
Florida Republican Calls Out Governor on Education Cuts
What is more surprising is the governor’s sudden emphasis on K-12 education. The budget we sent him funds education at a higher level than the governor recommended just a few months ago, when he proposed a 10 percent cut. The governor communicated numerous priorities during session, and we did our best to accommodate him. It would have been helpful if the governor had shared this new-found emphasis with us before the budget was finalized.
Florida House Speaker Dean Cannon (R – Winter Park), reacting to a new strategy crafted by the Republican Party of Florida and Gov. Rick Scott to deflect criticism of the state’s budget. The relationship between the tea party governor and the Republican-controlled legislature continues to erode.
RPOF Talking Points, in Case Scott’s Budget Left You Speechless
If you weren’t among the select few invited to Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s (R/Tea) ceremonial re-enactment of the signing of the hot mess that is this year’s state budget at a gated, tea party haven retirement community in the most land-locked part of Florida, we can help.
There is no reason for anyone to be at a loss for words when it comes to Florida’s new budget, which cuts money for fire protection in a drought-stricken region, law enforcement in the nation’s leading pill mill state, and services that keep the elderly in the community instead of much more expensive nursing homes in the state with the most older residents.
Thanks to the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF), which recently got the message that Floridians care about education, you can simply refer to this handy list of talking points, conveniently located on the Rick Scott for Florida web site. At least, you can access it after you supply your name, email address, and zip code, watch a video in which Scott’s mom says she still loves him, and do a search for “budget talking points.” What could be easier?
But all that work is worth it, when you can get these gems.
Update: Scott Aide Who Barred Dems from Event Is Identified
Part of the series, Assault on Florida.
On Friday, we asked who ordered Sumter County, Fla., deputies to bar Democrats from a town square where Florida Gov. Rick Scott was holding a bill-signing event.
Now, via Jonathan Turley, we know:
Apparently, it was all the work of a poor misguided staffer, Russ Abrams, a $60,000.00 a year special assistant to the Governor who has a serious First Amendment mental block. Despite newspaper notices that the meeting in the conservative retirement community was open to the public, Abrams told Sumter County Sheriff’s deputies that the event was private and that Democrats and liberals were not required. A reluctant deputy informed the banned folks that he was instructed to remove them.
“Not so” says Scott spokesperson, Lane Wright: “This was a public event. It was brought to our attention that the local authorities had removed some. We don’t know first-hand who was removed or why.”
But wait. Was it a public event? A more reliable source said the “public square” at the Villages is private property and that it was leased for the event by the Florida Republican Party:
Did Deputies Bar Dems from Gov’s Budget Signing on Orders from the Florida GOP?
Part of the series, Assault on Florida.
Who ordered Sumter County, Fla., deputies to prevent Democrats from attending GOP Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s budget-signing event in the public square at The Villages, a retirement community, on May 26?
And why did the deputies wade into the crowd assembled at the square and confiscate what a Miami Herald reporter described as “anti-Scott signs and liberal-looking pins” on orders from people the Herald reporter identified as “staffers and Republican operatives?”
Florida Mayor’s Race Could Be Early Indicator of Tea Party Decline
Jacksonville Republicans are reeling because the nightmare they were having when they went to bed last night didn’t slip away as they hoped at today’s dawn. No, Democrat Alvin Brown, a former Clinton administration and Al Gore advisor, African-American, and pro-education candidate (not to be confused with bizarre nobody Alvin Greene of South Carolina) was still 603 votes ahead in the mayor’s race, just like he was last night.
As we speak, absentee and provisional ballots are being counted, so anything could happen in what the elections supervisor is calling the closest mayor’s race in Jacksonville history. Anything could happen, that is, except reinstating the conventional wisdom that a Democrat can’t win in Jacksonville – or in Northeast Florida. Apparently he can.
Brown was one of six candidates in the elimination round in March that was expected to easily pick Republican Audrey Moran, who passes for moderate in these parts, and fellow Republican and incumbent Tax Collector Mike Hogan to face off in the final race. Had that played out, Duval County voters would have the familiar Republican Thing One and Republican Thing Two from which to choose, and First Baptist Church (a Jacksonville institution that pulls most of the power strings), the Chamber of Commerce, Jacksonville Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver, and a few others could resume running things for another four years.
And then something strange happened.
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