Florida Gov. Rick Scott continues to gleefully display a ruthless heartlessness that would make the Grinch Who Stole Christmas grow greener with envy.
The most recent example of how this callous multi-millionaire has no heart and no concern for middle class workers and values occurred June 22 at the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) headquarters in West Palm Beach when he signed a bill there that will effectively put dozens, if not hundreds, of SFWMD employees out of work. Gov. Scott's already got his, why should he care about these people and their families? Very Tea Party-ish.
This guy, who ran a company that paid a whopping $1.7 billion fine for Medicare fraud and yet walked away with an unconscionable $300 million severance package, doesn't seem to realize adding people to the unemployment rolls is not going to help turn the economy around. He's doing a worse job running our state than he did running his fraudulent company.
Here's an exerpt from a story in the Palm Beach Post by Christine Stapleton about putting SFWMD employees out of work:
Gov. Rick Scott visited the South Florida Water Management District headquarters this morning for the ceremonial signing of a bill that cuts the district's property tax revenue by about $128 million and is expected to cause many of the district's 1,933 workers to lose jobs, salaries or benefits.
Speaking for several minutes before a sparse crowd, the Republican governor said the bill fulfilled his campaign promise to cut taxes, streamline government and hold agencies responsible for their spending.
"The most important thing to creating jobs is lowering taxes," Scott said. "We've had great success in job creation."
Asked if he had any comment for the workers in the district's headquarters who would lose their jobs as a result of the bill, Scott said he was focused on building private sector jobs.
"It is a bit of an insult to the people of South Florida for the Governor to fly down on his private plane to offer the average homeowner a tax cut that amounts to less than 50 cents a week, just as our region is experiencing water supply shortage of such great magnitude," said Kirk Fordham, CEO of the Everglades Foundation.
State Rep. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth, did not attend the signing but issued a statement later saying the governor "behaved insensitively" by appearing at the district to sign the bill on the verge of staff cuts.
"We can agree to disagree on the merits of the bill the governor signed, but to come to Palm Beach County and rub salt in the wounds of people who will soon go home to their families unemployed is insulting and unnecessarily cruel," Clemens said.
Here's link to entire story:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/...
Coupled with all the other ridiculous, in-your-face things this governor has done -- such as refusing funding for high speed rail, it's no wonder many of us here in the Sunshine State are hoping there's a way to get him out of office before he does even more damage. Recalling him isn't possible, although Democratic State Rep. Rick Kriseman introduced HJR 785 -- a bill that could make the Florida governor, lieutenant governor, cabinet members and other legislators subject to recall. Unfortunately, that bill died in a subcommittee May 7, 2011.
We've got revive it. Gov. Scott is beholden to the Tea Baggers and always talking about what Florida can't afford. What we can't afford is three more years of him. If anyone makes a movie called "The Grinch Who Stole Florida's Spirit," Rick Scott could play the starring role without any make-up. Have you seen the wild, blank, crazy look in his eyes?! The guy has no soul.
I struggle to understand how and why the people of my state elected him. We've got to get this anti-union, anti-education, anti-environment, anti-science, anti-conservation dude gone before the 2014 elections. Then again, if he survives, it just might pave the way to President Obama winning Florida in 2012 and a Democrat in Florida's Governor's Mansion in 2014. Interesting quandry...