Rick Scott boasts about his poor background and look how rich he got! But this doesn't mean that being poor is an advantage for young people. Fighting POVERTY does not mean fighting POOR PEOPLE! Denying Medicaid to over 1.1 million Floridians while helping his cronies get billions in state contracts to exploit the poor is not fighting poverty, it's fighting poor people.
The media gush about Florida Governor Rick Scott's rags-to-riches story as if it were admirable. Scott rose from humble beginnings to make hundreds of millions of dollars the old-fashioned way--by raiding ailing hospitals and using them to exploit Medicare and Medicaid. They made so much money that they could afford to pay $1.7 billion in fines for Medicare fraud. That's the way to overcome poverty!
How stupid do Rick Scott and Charlie Crist think we are? They think that spending over $100 million in special interest campaign money will make us forget our own interests. Florida's Republican governor Rick Scott panders to big money special interests, screwing all of us, especially the poor--AND EVERYONE KNOWS IT. Charlie Crist was elected as our Republican governor in 2006, and after doing nothing about the worst financial crisis in Florida's history, he decided to run for the U.S. Senate. Now he wants to be governor again, as a Democrat, backed by big-money trial lawyers and other special interests. These two are like streetwalkers fighting over a prime corner.
Florida's Republican governor Rick Scott said it before and he's saying it again: "Let's Get to Work". At least 600,000 Floridians would love to get to work, but can't find jobs. One of Scott's contributors, Bill Edwards, laid off 476 people at the same time he gave Scott $500,000. Edwards' company Mortgage Investment Corp. telemarketed rip-off mortgages to veterans and paid a $7.5 million fine. Charlie Crist, the previous Republican governor, now running as a Democrat, was never shy about associating with questionable characters, either, as long as they have big checkbooks. He got plenty of checks and hugs from his buddy Scott Rothstein, who is now serving 50 years for a billion-dollar Ponzi scheme. Crist did nothing to create jobs while the state faced 12% unemployment and our pension funds lost 40% of their value. Instead he ran for the U.S. Senate.
Yesterday I compared Rick Scott and Charlie Crist to two streetwalkers fighting over a profitable street corner. Today, I must apologize to streetwalkers everywhere. They are only trying to do an honest business, even if it is illegal. Crist and Scott are collecting millions of dollars from special interests, each trying to sell out the people in favor of special interests--a repugnant and dishonest business, even if it is legal.
Everyone knows that lobbyists for special interests write most of the bills in the Florida legislature and that most legislators just take the money and do what they are told. Rick Scott and Charlie Crist are both taking millions from special interests for their campaigns. Each wants to be the guy who delivers the goods to the big money interests by being the governor who signs the corrupt legislation. The only way to stop corrupt legislation is by veto, and only an independent governor can do that. Big party politics plays for big money donors. Why else would the big donors pay all that money?
Rick Scott is devoted to holding down the minimum wage. Charlie Crist says "we need to do more" but as usual, he doesn't say what. Actually, raising the minimum wage will boost Florida's economy, create more jobs and reduce government social costs. This has happened wherever the minimum wage has been raised. Scott and Crist have no understanding of basic economics, only how to be lapdogs for big money special interests. No wonder Florida's economy is in the doghouse!
Rick Scott hates socialism so he laid off over 6,000 state workers. But he loves "corporate socialism" as he desperately tries to give away hundreds of millions of tax dollars to bring a few jobs to Florida. Everyone understands that creating one good job eventually results in more jobs being created. What Scott doesn't realize is that eliminating one good job soon eliminates several more--that's what has been happening since 2008. Scott is trying to "create jobs" the wrong way. Subsidies and tax giveaways never work, only demand creates jobs. Charlie Crist doesn't say much about job creation--he is just trying to create a job for himself. One candidate for Florida governor knows how to create jobs the right way, without corporate socialism or tax giveaways.Rick Scott started his term in office by laying off over 6,000 state workers. By now the ripple effect of that has cost Florida 20,000 jobs. Higher unemployment helps keep wages down, just the way Scott's big money backers like it. Charlie Crist played for the big money interests in his term as a Republican governor. Will he be any different as a Democrat? A governor with the courage to work for the people instead of big money special interests could have created a different kind of crisis in Florida--too many jobs and not enough workers!
We CAN end the corruption in Tallahassee if we have an INDEPENDENT governor who will veto all legislation that is written by Big Money Special Interests and passed by their pet legislators. Rick Scott and Charlie Crist never vetoed a bill that served their special interest cronies and neither one of them as governor ever will.
If you think corruption in our state government doesn't affect you, think again. You are paying thousands per year for it.
Insurance companies are sucking the life out of Florida, thanks to governors like Rick Scott and Charlie Crist who sell out the people to insurance companies and every other big money special interest. Rates go up by 20% or more every year, and the people are getting ripped off for billions thanks to corrupt governors.One candidate has a plan that will save everyone 30%, create 280,000 jobs, and make money for the state, too. Everyone loves it, except for the predatory insurance companies.
Khavari for Governor, Florida 2014
1
