Vote for the Worst Governor Ever!

[FayeforCure]

Across the country extremist governors have launched coordinated attacks against the middle class by decimating public services and failing to create jobs, all while giving handouts to the wealthy.

With so many reactionary governors it is hard to tell which one is the worst! Cast your vote for the Worst Governor Ever in our special summer election.

Stay tuned to follow the action and watch for the fall election results when we appoint the Worst Governor Ever.

http://worstgovernorever.com/index.php?p=1

[FayeforCure]

Rick Scott on the Ballot for "Worst Governor Ever"
By Matthew Hendley
published: Tue., Aug. 9 2011 @ 7:32AM

​Here's a new election where people may actually want to vote for Gov. Rick Scott again -- the race for the "Worst Governor Ever."

As part of an online campaign by the Transport Workers Union of America, Scott joins Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Maine Gov. Paul LePage, and Arizona's lovely Gov. Jan Brewer as candidates for the worst of the worst governor.

Around 11 p.m. yesterday, Scott was in fourth place, although the website says it's not announcing the results of the election until fall.

If you decide to vote for the Florida governor, you also have the option of sending him an email and letting him know you've done so. Here's what it says:


Dear Gov. Rick Scott,

I just voted for you in the Worst Governor Ever contest at www.worstgovernorever.com because of your blatant disregard for the well being of middle-class people in Florida and your attempts to weaken the rights and services that have made our society strong.

I am fed up with being told that we can't afford basic things like education and transportation while the wealthy get handouts. I've heard enough of the attacks on hard-working public employees who, unlike the bankers and Wall Street investors, did nothing to hurt the economy. Let's not attack the teachers but build an education system that works for everyone.

What we need are jobs, quality healthcare, good education and solid retirement. That means funding infrastructure and public programs and making sure people have a voice at work and at the ballot box.

The people of Florida will hold you accountable and we will make sure everyone understands the dire impacts of your misguided policies.


If the worst governor competition isn't your cup of tea, Pink Slip Rick is back with another anti-Scott tactic -- this time in the form of robocalls.


He's interrupted you during dinner. He's interrupted you when you're getting the kids ready for bed. He's interrupted us. Dozens of times. For months. Each time with those annoying recorded message phone calls.

It's time for us to get our revenge!


You can phone in your robocall to Pink Slip Rick, and on August 15, they'll start sending the robocalls over to the governor's office every few minutes.

http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2011/08/rick_scott_worst_governor_ever.php

[BridgeTroll]

  How very high schoolish Faye!  How about ... Which teacher do you hate the most?  Or... who is the hunkiest guy in school??   

Brought to you by the afl-cio...

[Jaxson]

For a man who won the election in a squeaker, Governor Scott seems to be running the state like he won in an epic landslide.  Furthermore, I believe that the governor and the state legislature are not listening to those Floridians who do not agree with them, lest these folks impede the agenda that is being forced on us by Tallahassee.  This, unfortunately, has been the trend in other states.  I believe that it is about time that people are speaking out about these policies that are not just short-sighted, but only serve to advance a political agenda. 

[FayeforCure]

For a man who won the election in a squeaker, Governor Scott seems to be running the state like he won in an epic landslide.  Furthermore, I believe that the governor and the state legislature are not listening to those Floridians who do not agree with them, lest these folks impede the agenda that is being forced on us by Tallahassee.  This, unfortunately, has been the trend in other states.  I believe that it is about time that people are speaking out about these policies that are not just short-sighted, but only serve to advance a political agenda.

Yeah, a trend dictated by ALEC..........the union that Bridgetroll loves!

Hey, 8 governors are hard at work for ALEC, but the transportation workers have to be silent 

ALEC Model Bills Create Hardship for Average Americans


Submitted by Eric Carlson on August 4, 2011 - 8:33am

On Wednesday morning, a group of Americans from across the political spectrum, and the country, held a press conference in New Orleans to highlight the devastating impact of the "model" legislation voted on by corporations through the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

Lisa Graves moderated the discussionThe event, hosted by People for the American Way and moderated by Center for Media and Democracy Executive Director Lisa Graves, was held directly across the street from ALEC's 38th annual meeting, where corporate lobbyists and state legislators gathered to attend Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindall's PhRMA-sponsored keynote address.

Graves began the conference by telling reporters that in looking at ALEC's model legislation she was "shocked and appalled to learn that corporations were actually voting as equals with politicians behind closed doors on legislation to change our rights." She cited the outrage leveled at the multinational, global companies who, as members of ALEC, have wielded an enormous amount of influence in changing the law through ALEC bills.

Other panelists â€" a New Orleans English teacher, a local reverend, a Republican school board member, a Wisconsin mom, and a small business owner â€" echoed Graves' sentiment with anecdotes describing their struggle to cope with the consequences of ALEC model legislation that had become law.

Voter ID Bill Burdens Voters in Wisconsin

Nicole Schulte from Wisconsin spoke of her harrowing experience trying to secure a free voter ID for her recently disenfranchised 19-year-old son. Because of Wisconsin's new voter restrictions, Schulte had to take him to a DMV for an approved form of photo identification.

When Schulte handed the DMV clerk her son's bank statement as proof of residency, the clerk asserted that there was not enough bank activity on the account to legitimize the document. After a bit of haggling, Schulte was allowed to proceed, but not before discovering an unknown aspect of the Republican-passed bill in Wisconsin.

"The next clerk tried to charge my son $28 for his voter ID card. Then he noticed that my son checked a box allowing him to get the ID for free. Apparently the person getting the card has to request that he be given the card for free," said Schulte.

Lone Republican Protests School Privatization

Local Republican Brett Bonin railed against ALEC's Louisiana influenceA pair of local community leaders passionately detailed how New Orleans' schools and hospitals have deteriorated due to the implementation of ALEC's free-market, privatization agenda. According to Brett Bonin, a New Orleans Parish School Board Member for District 3 and local Republican leader, the Louisiana Department of Education has advocated siphoning off nearly $100 million in school vouchers and tax credits, despite teacher layoffs and funding cuts.

"The data does not support school privatization," said Bonin. "I can tell you this crosses party lines, this crosses a lot of different ideologies. For us, it's about children. We're basically selling out our children. Everybody needs to know about [ALEC], and understand that we need to get back to accountability, transparency, and democracy. We shouldn't be relying on some behind the scenes group to decided where to spend money on our kids."

It's because of ALEC, Bonin added, that politicians at the lowest rung of the political ladder are feeling the harmful effects of model legislation.

Reverend Dr. Willie Gable Sr., a member of the African American Ministers Leadership Council, pointed to the injustice of Louisiana's recently-passed bill targeting health-care reform, which he said was "put together by [ALEC] and pushed through this legislature."

"It is almost unimaginable that this bill would be passed in a state that ranks last in nearly all areas of health care," said Gable Sr.

"We'd Like to Have Our Voices Heard Again"

The notion that ALEC's model legislation ignores the economic realities and unique circumstances of different states resonated with the testimony of Todd Landfried, a partner at a regional policy consulting firm, and member of Arizona Employers for Immigration Reform. The enforcement of anti-immigrant laws, such as the controversial Senate Bill 1070 in Arizona, hurts farmers who lose labor, and profits.

After a round of questions, panelists were given the opportunity to offer closing statements. The resounding theme of these final speeches was that ALEC is a group people everywhere need to know about. As Todd Landfried said, "We'd like to have our voices heard again."

http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/08/10934/alec-model-bills-create-hardship-average-americans

RickScott signs election bill



Gov. RickScott today signed the controversial elections bill, HB 1355. The press release did not offer an explanation or reasoning about why Scott supports the bill.

The bill has generated thousands of phone calls and e-mails to Scott's office, nearly all in opposition. It's inspired one lawsuit in Miami and could bring another from Democrats in Congress.

Meanwhile, here are some of the key items in the new law, which takes effect today:

* Early voting is reduced from 15 days to eight days, but the total number of early voting hours will stay at 96; no additional early voting sites.
* Voters who have moved or changed their name since the last election can only update their status at the polls if they have moved within the same county. All others must cast provisional ballots.
* Third-party groups that register new voters must submit forms within 48 hours or face fines of up to $1,000.
* A nine-member panel will choose the date of Florida’s 2012 presidential preference primary to maximize the state’s influence in selecting the Republican nominee.
* The 2012 primary election will be on Aug. 14, two weeks earlier than usual.

No explanation offered by Scott, because he probably thinks everyone is already familiar with the ALEC model legislation being pushed nationally by GOP governors (WI, IN, NH, FL, TX, TN, OH).



Read more: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2011/05/rick-scott-signs-election-bill.html

[FayeforCure]

08/05/2011


ALEC And The Florida Legislature: They Write The Laws, You Foot The Bill



But shh! They don't want you to know.

As I wrote a couple weeks ago, this week the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC as it's more commonly known, is holding their annual meeting in New Orleans. ALEC is the corporate funded group who work with lobbyists and conservative politicians to the write "model legislation" that legislators then bring home to their states and pass into law. ALEC, which is largely funded by the Koch brothers among others, are responsible for much of what's happened in Wisconsin with the union busting and election laws there. This "model legislation" has surfaced in at least 13 states involving everything from privatized education to tax laws to health care, to name just a few. In other words, corporations and their lobbyists decide what laws will benefit them the most, write the legislation, and pass them along to willing and enabled conservative Republicans and Tea Party members (and an occasional conservative Democrat or two) who make the laws "happen" on your behalf. Better yet, as Wisconsin State Rep. Mark Pocan who is in New Orleans for the ALEC meeting overheard a attendee describe it:


“Yah, I’m down in New Orleans for the American Legislative Exchange Council meeting. We write legislation, and they pass our ideas. It’s the free market.”

(Pocan is writing special reports from the ALEC meeting for The Progressive, which you can read here.)

Ah yes, the "free market," or as some might call it, a corporate free for all. (If you're not familiar with ALEC, its corporate ties, and its vast "catalog" of model legislation, take a look at the website ALEC Exposed for more information.)

Not to be left out, Florida legislators are also in New Orleans this week. According to the St. Petersburg Times, "dozens" of Florida members are attending the ALEC meeting. Not only are your elected officials meeting behind closed doors with corporations, law firms, think tanks and trade group members of ALEC (and potential donors) and writing legislation that will become the laws that affect you, but in many cases, you, the taxpayer, are also footing part of the bill.


Nearly 50 legislators, all Republicans, have signed up and can pay for part or all of the conference with public money from their district office accounts. They also are using excess campaign money, and many are bringing spouses at personal expense.

In a perfect world, one might expect to have a say in what laws did or didn't get passed regardless who was picking up the tab, but this is no perfect world. This is Florida, where the governor and the legislature do the bidding for corporations, the religious right, and the new crazy wing of the Republican Party, the Tea Nuts.

Worse still, they're bragging about it as if they didn't know that groups like Koch Industries and ALEC prefer to do their manipulating in the shadows.

To these legislators it seems it's just another day at the office to ignore the constituents in favor of corporations. If any of those below represent you, this might be a good time to give them a call and share your thoughts. I've added their phone numbers below:


"I decided to go because I'm going to learn. I'm a geek in that way," said first-term Rep. Dana Young, R-Tampa.

Young said she will use district office money and possibly ALEC scholarship money to pay her registration fee. She's paying for her travel and hotel personally.

Yes, because nothing says "geeky" like cut and paste legislation. (Rep. Dana Young: R-Tampa 57,  (850) 488-2770)


Rep. Jeanette Nunez, R-Miami, is covering conference expenses with campaign money, and will hold a campaign fundraiser today in New Orleans.

"Obviously there are going to be lobbyists there, and I figure it would be an easy place, if they have checks, to come by," Nunez said.

How convenient for Rep. Show-Me-The-Money Nunez! Pay your way to one fundraiser with funds from another. Maybe the lobbyist could stop by with the check while the two have dinner at one of New Orleans finest restaurants? I'm sure voters won't mind. What's another couple hundred? (Rep. Jeanette Nunez R-Miami 112, (850) 488-7897)


Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, says this is his fourth or fifth ALEC event.

"It's a great place to share model legislation and a great place to learn what's going on in other parts of the country," said Baxley, who sponsored a major rewrite of Florida's election laws that's under challenge in court.

Baxley said his so-called 2005 castle doctrine bill, which allows people in Florida to use deadly force to defend themselves in their homes or cars, became a model for other states.

"A lot of ideas get shared and aired there," Baxley said. "It's a very collaborative process."

"The rewrite of Florida's election laws that's under challenge in court." As you'll recall, the election laws that you, the voters wanted weren't to the Republicans liking, in that they might have meant fair elections. Voters paid for the rewrite, are now paying for the court challenge, and hey, look! They're likely paying for an all expense paid trip to New Orleans so Baxley can pick up some new form laws. Bet constituents can hardly wait to see what he comes up with next! (Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala-24 (850) 488-0335)


Rep. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, is at his first ALEC conference.

"I don't buy any legislation off the shelf," Brandes said. "We like to tweak it here and there and make it our own. But it's a good starting point to have legislation that's already been somewhat vetted."

Well, I suppose it would just be crass if you could run out and pick it up at the local Legislation Depot or use an "Easy" button. Much classier this way. Plus, why actually read a bill or even try to understand a law when you can just "tweak" it here and there? (Rep. Jeff Brandes R-St. Petersburg-52 (850) 488-5719)

These legislators don't care what's best for the state, have no respect for the voters, and don't know anything about legislation either, apparently. Even if they do, so what? There's lots of "incentives" for them not to. Corporations with deep pockets are only too happy to do all the work for them while you foot the bill, never mind that most of these laws will benefit them, not you. Your health and safety are of no consequence to them or your elected officials.

Add to that, a governor who is cutting everything to the bone, and loves big business and doesn't try to hide it. For example, yesterday he met with lawmakers, and had this conversation with Democrat Darryl Rouson:


Rouson told the governor: "You've done well on some things in my book." But, the St. Petersburg representative said, he'd like to see the governor "soften" on middle and working class folks. "They are feeling a disconnect," he said. "They feel there's been an emphasis on corporations corporations corporations to the exclusion of the worker bees."

Scott said his focus on corporations will, ultimately, help working people: "If we get more corporations to do well, they'll hire more people."

Did someone say "disconnect?"

Also during that conversation, upcoming legislation was discussed, and among the subjects? Prison reform. It's well known that prison privatization is one of the next things on Rick Scott and the legislature's "to do" list. Scott's interest in privatizing prisons is shared not just by the legislature, but another group: ALEC. They've had lots of experience privatizing prisons in Arizona.

ALEC has plenty of models for privatizing prisons, which can be found on the ALEC Exposed website under "Efforts to Rewrite Americans' Rights; Changes That Imprison More People For Longer And Make More Money." There's an entire list of bills here.

http://www.alecexposed.org/wiki/Bills_related_to_Guns,_Prisons,_Crime,_and_Immigration

Bills that just need "a tweak here and there to make them Florida's own."

http://www.beachpeanuts.com/2011/08/as-i-wrote-a-couple-weeks-ago-this-week-theamerican-legislative-exchange-council-or-alecas-its-more-commonly-known-is-hold.html

[FayeforCure]

Inside ALEC, The Koch-Funded Group Behind Right-Wing State Laws
How ALEC, the Koch brothers and their corporate allies plan to privatize government.

An exhaustive analysis of thousands of pages of documents obtained through public records requests from six states, as well as tax filings, lobby reports, legislative drafts and court records, reveal that these suddenly popular anti-public employee bills, while taking different forms from state to state, were indeed disseminated as "model legislation" by ALEC.

Not coincidentally, bills similar to those in Florida and Wisconsin have been introduced in Arizona, California, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Vermont.

The purported goal of this nationwide movement has been to reduce the budgetary burden posed by public employee salaries by limiting the right of public employees to collectively bargain for pay and other benefits. These restrictions, along with "paycheck protection" laws, curtail the political power of public employee unions by cutting off funds for political campaign and lobbying expenditures. These measures would effectively thwart attempts by public employee unions to resist privatization of government functions and to support candidates opposing elected officials who vote for corporate giveaways of public resources.



'Publicopoly' in play


ALEC contends that government agencies have an unfair monopoly on public goods and services.

To change that situation, it has created a policy initiative to counter what it calls "Publicopoly." ALEC's stated aim is to provide "more effective, efficient government" via privatization--that is, the shifting of government functions to the private sector. ALEC lists its initiatives on its website (alec.org/publicopoly).

Though the specifics are secret and "restricted to members," ALEC openly advocates privatizing public education, transportation and the regulation of public health, consumer safety and environmental quality including bringing in corporations to administer:

• Foster care, adoption services and child support payment processing.

• School support services such as cafeteria meals, custodial staff and transportation.

• Highway systems, with toll roads presented as a shining example.

• Surveiling and detaining convicted criminals.

• Ensuring the quality of wastewater treatment, drinking water, and solid waste services and facilities. (After all, when someone mentions a safe and secure public water supply, the voter's next immediate thought is: "Only if it's cost-effective!")

To accomplish these initiatives, ALEC contends that "state governments can take an active role in determining which products and services should be privatized." ALEC advocates three reforms: creating a "Private Enterprise Advisory Committee" to review if government agencies unfairly compete with the private sector; creating a special council that would contract with private vendors if they can "reduce the cost of government"; and creating legislation that would require government agencies to demonstrate "compelling public interest" in order to continue as public agencies. (Who then oversees these committees to ensure the private sector doesn't unfairly profit by monopolizing public goods and services? One can only assume it is the same "Private Enterprise Advisory Committee.")

http://www.alternet.org/investigations/151627/inside_alec,_the_koch-funded_group_behind_right-wing_state_laws?page=2