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FLORIDA LEGISLATURE: BY THE NUMBERS
Florida Senate
28 Republicans
12 Democrats
24 votes required to propose amendments to the state Constitution
27 votes required for two-thirds super majority to override a veto, limit debate or expel a member. (Some votes require two-thirds of senators present)
Florida House
80 Republicans
39 Democrats
1 vacant
60 votes required to limit debate
72 votes required to propose a constitutional amendment
80 votes required to create public records exemptions, override a veto, impeach officers.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/10/2159558_p2/tallahassee-a-lonely-place-for.html#ixzz1J8iUXHVa
One pint of swill, coming up!
I didn't see a single fact other than senatorial demographics presented in the entire article.
Hard to see any other point than "woe is me" from the Dems.
Quote from: buckethead on April 10, 2011, 01:04:56 PM
One pint of swill, coming up!
I didn't see a single fact other than senatorial demographics presented in the entire article.
Hard to see any other point than "woe is me" from the Dems.
Oh, I guess you don't consider the Republican attack on women ( 18 anti-women bills currently going through "our" state legislature), and the attack on our middle class while giving corporations that set up shop in FL FREE Electricity, and an elimination of all corporate taxes, bad legislation.
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“Week One: Florida House passes Unemployment Compensation legislation punishing out of work employees by rewarding Wall Street’s Corporations ... Pafford, recorded vote â€" Against.â€
The bill passed 81-38.
“Week Three: Florida House approves the slush funds which decreases transparency in the process and revives pay to play politics ... Pafford, recorded vote â€" Against.â€
The bill passed 81-39.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/10/2159558_p2/tallahassee-a-lonely-place-for.html#ixzz1J8te0ArV
Can Democrats do ANYTHING to stop any of this nonsense?
NO
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The silver lining, Democrats hope, is that Republicans anger enough people (including Republicans in the middle class) to swing the 2012 legislative elections, when all 160 seats will be in contention.
“They are the best (thing for) Democrats right now, because they’re going so far, so fast,†said Dwayne Taylor, D-Daytona Beach. “It’s going to be easy for a lot of them to be replaced.â€
That, and when a small victory goes viral â€" like saying “uterus†on the House floor.
The story, how Rep. Scott Randolph, D-Orlando, said his wife should incorporate “her uterus†to avoid regulation, and how Republicans said he shouldn’t say the word “uterus,†went all the way to Rachel Maddow’s MSNBC show.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/10/2159558_p2/tallahassee-a-lonely-place-for.html#ixzz1J8u07DEn
Not that I don't trust the Miami Herald as a reliable source of information, but the language of the bill might lend a bit of credibility to the claims.
QuoteCan Democrats do ANYTHING to stop any of this nonsense?
Not until they actually show up to vote...
In Faye's defence... plenty of republicans felt the same way when Mr Obama swept into office along with majorities in the house and senate.
Elections have consequences Faye... That's why we have em. :)
Quote from: buckethead on April 10, 2011, 01:40:15 PM
Not that I don't trust the Miami Herald as a reliable source of information, but the language of the bill might lend a bit of credibility to the claims.
buckethead, go at it and do some research............then try to summarize it in a short article.
Find some positives to say about the Republican "Slash and Burn" of our Middle Class.
Remember:
QuoteOf the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%
http://www.vanityfair.com/society/features/2011/05/top-one-percent-201105
Quote from: BridgeTroll on April 10, 2011, 01:45:32 PM
QuoteCan Democrats do ANYTHING to stop any of this nonsense?
Not until they actually show up to vote...
In Faye's defence... plenty of republicans felt the same way when Mr Obama swept into office along with majorities in the house and senate.
Elections have consequences Faye... That's why we have em. :)
Gerry-mandered distrcts make it that elections don't matter in Floriduh
They aren't my claims to research... That would fall to the Miami Herald, or anyone who would forward these claims as fact.
Not that I don't believe Republicans wish to further subjugate women and minorities. :)
Quote from: FayeforCure on April 10, 2011, 01:48:10 PM
Quote from: BridgeTroll on April 10, 2011, 01:45:32 PM
QuoteCan Democrats do ANYTHING to stop any of this nonsense?
Not until they actually show up to vote...
In Faye's defence... plenty of republicans felt the same way when Mr Obama swept into office along with majorities in the house and senate.
Elections have consequences Faye... That's why we have em. :)
Gerry-mandered distrcts make it that elections don't matter in Floriduh
Sure thing Faye...
I think that this legislative session is a serious lesson to voters that elections do have serious consequences. If voters do not show up in 2012, we get the state government that we deserve.
Quote from: BridgeTroll on April 10, 2011, 01:50:27 PM
Quote from: FayeforCure on April 10, 2011, 01:48:10 PM
Quote from: BridgeTroll on April 10, 2011, 01:45:32 PM
QuoteCan Democrats do ANYTHING to stop any of this nonsense?
Not until they actually show up to vote...
In Faye's defence... plenty of republicans felt the same way when Mr Obama swept into office along with majorities in the house and senate.
Elections have consequences Faye... That's why we have em. :)
Gerry-mandered distrcts make it that elections don't matter in Floriduh
Sure thing Faye...
Oh I bet you are one of those Republicans who LOVES to rail against Corinne Brown's district...........!
Corinne's district serves 2 purposes for Republicans:
1. It gives them something to rail against
while distracting from the fact that:
2. by creating her district (80% Dems-20% Rep), they were able to create 5 solidly Republican districts (60% Rep-40% Dem)
Her district snakes alongside John Mica's solidly Republican, all the way from Jacksonville way into Orlando!!
QuoteGerrymanders: Brown's district a GOP creation
Source URL: http://jacksonville.com/opinion/letters_from_readers/2010-03-16/story/gerrymanders_browns_district_a_gop_creation
The front page article about Rep. Corrine Brown being "unbeatable" was factual, but misleading.
The reader is left with the impression that Democrats are responsible for her gerrymandered district.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Gerrymanders created by the Republican Party of Florida are keeping every North Florida incumbent "safe" from upstart challengers.
After the 2000 census, the Republican leadership in the Florida Legislature loaded District 3 with Democrats to ensure that four other North Florida congressional districts would be "safe" for Republicans.
In other words, Republican strategists picked their voters.
Tea party activists take note: Conservative Republicans created this polarized, partisan mess, not liberal Democrats.
Conservative Republicans stacked the deck against mainstream Democratic candidates from Jacksonville to Gainesville to Ocala to Brooksville.
Republican strategists gerrymandered 240,655 Democrats, but only 72,282 Republicans into District 3.
They cherry-picked Democratic precincts in downtown Jacksonville, Gainesville, Ocala and Orlando to create the oddly shaped district.
They ensured that Republicans would enjoy significant numerical advantages in congressional districts occupied by Rep. Cliff Stearns (8,701 in District 6), Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (District 5), Rep. Ander Crenshaw (15,279 in District 4) and John Mica (22,394 in District 7).
Stearns was given the smallest margin. He has the biggest standing balance in his campaign account, more than $2.3 million, and he makes effective use of his franking (free mail) privilege.
Had the 168,373 Democratic majority in District 3 been distributed fairly according to geography rather than political party, the face of the Florida's congressional delegation would be very different than it is today.
Maybe every representative would deliver.
These good old boys should be more concerned about representative and functional government and less concerned about staying in power.
DAVID E. BRUDERLY
Gainesville
The same is true of state districts, that have the same disasterous UNDEMOCRATIC consequences at the state legislature level.
Hence voters overwhelmingly passed Fair Districting amendments by a vote of 60%. Yet Rick Scott has the gall to single-handedly putting a halt to the voter's expressed election results, similar to how he handled HSR!!
Quote from: BridgeTroll on April 10, 2011, 01:45:32 PM
QuoteCan Democrats do ANYTHING to stop any of this nonsense?
Not until they actually show up to vote...
In Faye's defence... plenty of republicans felt the same way when Mr Obama swept into office along with majorities in the house and senate.
Not at all true. Republicans were in fact very successful obstructionists and ended up watering down and delaying ANYTHING Obama wanted to get through congress.
(http://www.aclockworkobama.com/wp-content/uploads/republican%20filibusters_2.jpg)
They successfully obstructed using: The Fillibuster
(http://conservationreport.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/filibuster1.jpg?w=396&h=261)
(http://media.mcclatchydc.com/smedia/2010/02/12/17/20100212_FILIBUSTER.wide_photo.prod_affiliate)
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"Republicans have ratcheted use of the filibuster up to completely unheard of levels. Look at the things that the House (of Representatives) has passed that can't make it through the Senate. The list just keeps growing," said Norman Ornstein, an expert on Congress at the American Enterprise Institute, a center-right policy organization.
The list includes legislation to overhaul health care, which has stalled and isn't a good bet to be revived; global warming legislation; and a bill to overhaul financial regulation. Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada scaled back a bipartisan jobs bill, fearing that a larger package would get tied up in a filibuster.
Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/02/12/84487/senate-republicans-filibuster.html
Democrats in the Florida Legislature CANNOT do anything at all:
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Rep. Jeff Clemens, a freshman Democrat from Palm Beach County, walks into the state Capitol each day, waits for an elevator to his barren 14th floor office, and over the hum of his minifridge thinks:
Who are we sticking it to today?
“The list gets longer every week,†he says. Unions, teachers, cops, firefighters, the middle class.
Clemens would love to stop it. Stop something. Slow it down even.
He can’t.
Life in the minority party in government is always challenging. But for Democrats in Florida this year, it’s oppressive.
Of the 164 people elected to serve in state government, less than one-third â€" 51 â€" are Democrats. And one Democrat has missed most of the session because of health issues.
The result is predictable. As the Republican-dominated Legislature and Gov. Rick Scott accelerate through an agenda filled with controversial and sweeping changes to what seems like every crevice of government, Democrats can only sit in the back of the room, watch and shrug.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/10/2159558/tallahassee-a-lonely-place-for.html#ixzz1J9iSsifB
They have absolutely no tool at their disposal to obstruct the killing of our middle class!
The republicans have no modern credibility...they'be taken our state to the brink of poverty and this idiot leader wants to end all corporate taxes in our state...what are we going to do? I just cant understand how the republicans are to blame for all of this shit and they walk away smelling like roses...it sickens me...
Most Politicians sicken me. If they don't enter office crooked, somehow they end up that way. :/
It's the damn EGO....it'll get you everytime i guess...
Quote from: Garden guy on April 10, 2011, 06:36:23 PM
It's the damn EGO....it'll get you everytime i guess...
No, Republicans hate government so much, they join it to kill it from the inside.
What did Reagan say again?
"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'"
Part of their strategy has involved hiring the most inexperienced staffers.
We all remember FEMA director Brownie, who did something with horses before he became FEMA Director.
Saxby Chambliss who used to be a veterinarian before he became a GA Senator did something equally seemingly rediculus:
QuoteChambliss puts Agriculture Committee staffer in top intelligence role
Posted By Josh Rogin Friday, April 1, 2011 - 4:18 PM Share
Upon taking over as the ranking Republican on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) brought on a new staff director with no direct experience working on intelligence matters.
Martha Scott Poindexter has served on Capitol Hill for over 10 years. She has worked as the Republican staff director on the Agriculture Committee since 2005, and before that as legislative director in Chambliss's personal office. Previously, according to her LinkedIn profile, Poindexter was the director of government affairs at Monsanto, the agribusiness giant. She studied nutrition at Salem College and holds a Bachelors degree from the Mississippi State University College of Agriculture.
On Capitol Hill, a senior staffer's effectiveness is measured several factors: by their subject matter expertise, by their ability to get things done, and by their close personal relationship with the boss.
Chambliss, in a brief interview with The Cable, defended his selection of Poindexter based on the latter two considerations. He said there was plenty of intelligence expertise on the professional staff and that Poindexter brought management prowess the committee needed.
Rick Scott:
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Governor Scott's plan is a simple one carried out in a few easy steps. The was plan was developed and perfected by the late Lee Atwater. It failed on a national level but has now been dusted off and implemented at the state level. Watch for it, because it's being played in Florida right now.
First demonize state employees. We are all aware of the latest call to war on state employees. There has been an endless litany of their abuses, their pensions, and their pay. The administration will pick a few state employees that have gamed the system or have gotten over due to some family or political connection. Those few individuals will be made to represent all state employees. There will be no mention of what the average state employee makes or what they will have as a pension. Just endless stories of the few that have abused the system.
Step two demands that funding to state agencies be cut to level to where they will be unable to be effective. Since you have already paved the road by having people believe that state employees holding these positions are dumb, lazy, and over paid. Now you make them look incompetent by neutering their agency financially but making sure that they have the same responsibilities and duties. If possible consolidate agencies and cut man power at the same time. To ensure his plan's success, inexperienced individuals will be named to head these agencies. You've already seen evidence of this in the recent Miami Herald article criticizing Gov. Scott's selection of individuals to run key state agencies. Many of them in their twenties and had work field offices during the election campaign. Notice how the choices to head these positions coincide with the agencies on the financial chopping block.
Once the Governor has made these state agencies ineffective and incompetent he will began to preach the blessing of the private sector and how much better they can do the job and fix all of the problems caused by state employees. The administration will claim job creation and cost reduction. These private sector corporations will enter with awesome contract deals that will under cut every state employee salary. Thus creating jobs and saving the government money. These contract will remain in place until the agency that they replaced has been completely dismantled. After that the cost over runs begin to appear, along with contract disputes.
The last step for Gov. Scott is to ensure that he is out of office before the short-term gains of privatization turn into long-term problems. This played out well for former Gov. Jeb Bush who privatized the medical and food services within the Florida prison system. All was great while he was in office. However, during the tenure of former Gov. Crist, the Food Service Companies walked away from their contract and medical services were returned to state employees. Jeb Bush is now being courted as a 2012 presidential candidate. Rumor has it that Gov. Scott also has his eye on higher office.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5963215