Remember how Republicans were in an uproar that Washington Democrats failed to listen to overwhelming taxpaying voter discontent over health care reform? Of course you do!
Every public opinion poll showed that American’s were angry at the out-of-sight, out-of-their-mind, closed-door dealings that eventually ensured the necessary votes to get the legislation passed through the Senate. It gave cause for coast-to-coast protests and a level of social unrest not seen since the Viet Nam War. There have been tints of racism, a clash of the classes and has ultimately taxed the financial future of the young and healthy against the old and infirm.
Americans continue to demonstrate their displeasure at the tactics that led to what will undoubtedly become the largest entitlement program in the history of United States, more so than Social Security and Medicare, both of which will have to be overhauled by raising the eligibility age and reducing current levels of benefits.
As if taken from the same playbook used by the U.S. Congress, the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) sly-dogged a piece of legislation of its own through the Florida Senate that would have made it possible to fire teachers for students’ failing grades, nullifying their earnings potential with decertification, leaving them with little means to repay their student loans and ruining their chosen careers.
The ‘tenure bill’ would have required local school districts to set aside 5 percent of their available funds to cover merit pay, test development and related administrative expenses. There would have been forced participation in the program or resulted in the loss of the funds entirely. It reminds me of the medical coverage ‘option’ as mandated by the federal health care bill.
It’s as though the RPOF expected fellow-Republican Governor Charlie Crist would have done an ‘Obama’ and hailed the bill as a triumph for educators, students, taxpayers, etc. But, contrary to right wing Republican assumptions, Charlie is not a mirror image of Obama’s political makeup. Thank you very much, Charlie.
Speaking of political motives, House Majority Leader Adam Hasner (R-Delray Beach) said, “The governor would still veto it if he thought it would help him get elected.” He added, “The veto was poll-driven, not policy-driven.” And yet, he and every other Republican would have praised President Obama if he had heeded public opinion polls. Ergo, surveys can paint a Mona Lisa smiling or picture a Whoopi Goldberg poised for discharge.
And speaking of discharging, the tenure bill was ballyhooed by former Florida House Member John Thrasher (1992-2000 and House Speaker 1998-2000) who, in 2001, became a partner at Southern Strategy, a lobbyist firm that represented not one, but two, companies that offer educational testing services, including end-of-course assessments tests not unlike those that would have been used to evaluate teacher assessments as provided by Senate Bill 6, the tenure bill, that was introduced by none other than Thrasher himself on March 1.
Thrasher, newly elected Senator from District 8, and dutifully elected Chairman of the Florida Republican Party on February 21, said of a possible conflict of interest, “I never had any connection to (the testing companies). I was bought out last May and don’t even have any connection with them anymore.”
In 2009, Thrasher reported a buyout income of more than $1.5 million from Southern Strategy.
Coming off the heels of the Governor’s veto of HB 1207, which would have created ‘leadership funds’ that could have allowed unlimited ‘soft money’ political contributions, the RPOF has nailed Crist as a Judas to their ultra-conservative edicts. The political crucifixion of Crist has thusly been decreed by the pompous pilots of the Republican Party.
Going as far back as last June, following an early endorsement of Charlie Crist by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) said, “There is no question Marco Rubio will be a big part of the Republican Party’s future… Marco Rubio needs to be a big part of the Republican Party’s present.”
Just this past week, Rob Jesmer, executive director of the NRSC, released the statement, “We believe there is zero chance Governor Crist continues running in the Republican primary. It [is] our view that if Governor Crist believes he cannot win a primary then the proper course of action is he drop out of the race and wait for another day.”
Wait for another day? Unlike many other candidates, Charlie Crist is no political patsy to a Republican Party that is still in denial of the historic losses in the 2008 elections, the very reason it remains constrained as the party of ‘no’, acting much like a child in the midst of a temper tantrum, known in psychiatry as Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD).
Charlie Crist need not ‘wait for another day’ to confirm that he is who he is – a free and willfully independent decision maker.
Showing posts with label John Thrasher. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Thrasher. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Thrash 'Em All
No sooner had John Thrasher won the 8th District Florida Senatorial seat this past November than he’s been catapulted to frontrunner candidate to become the next Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF), enthusiastically supported by a number of state Republican power-takers, including Jeff Atwater, Senate President.
Atwater has rejected any type of tax increases, leaving little hope to solve the projected budget deficit of $3-billion. With federal stimulus funds running out, as many as 20,000 teaching positions could be in jeopardy. Necessitating larger class sizes, compromised learning environments could adversely affect the life-time earnings potential of school children.
Economists don’t foresee a return to pre-recession tax revenues until 2015 – five years of sub-par education would be grossly detrimental to school children of all grade levels.
These dire predictions might be avoided if Atwater and the predominately Republican Legislature were to eliminate various sales tax exemptions. In particular, collecting sales tax from Internet sales would help level the playing field for Florida businesses. Closing corporate tax loopholes would also be helpful. Otherwise, it’s painfully inconsiderate of Atwater to maintain an attitude of playing servitude to special interests.
Another high level supporter of Thrasher is Mike Haridopolos, Senate Finance and Tax Committee Chairperson, set to become the next Senate President as Atwater campaigns to be Florida’s CFO, has said, “The senate will be building a budget on what the actual numbers are. We know that we’re in for a long, difficult road. We’re going to do what we have to do without any new taxes, (and) live within our revenues.”
The few options left for a balanced budget include cuts in social services; initiate layoffs, furloughs and pay cuts to state employees; and borrow money.
Although Thrasher, former Speaker of the House, wasn’t necessarily considered a ‘shoe-in’ candidate for the Senate seat left vacant upon the death of Senator Jim King, the reality of this past November’s special election was evidenced by his campaign funds exceeding $400,000 which was more than the accumulative $376,000 raised by the four challengers. During the campaign, former Governor Jeb Bush appeared in TV ads in support of Thrasher.
Minus the TV ads, Jeb is again giving his political blessing to Thrasher. In a recent letter to the media, Bush gave a two-line appreciation statement for the efforts of challenger Sharon Day, whom he referred to as “a friend”, but…
Bush gave his assurance that Thrasher, “as Chairman, he will be more than just a caretaker or a fundraiser. He will do the hard work that is needed to rebuild our party’s infrastructure and make the state Party more accountable and responsive to the needs and concerns of county parties, more accessible to party members, a more valuable resource for Republican candidates in every region of our state.”
This seems the perfect time for the next probable chairperson to assure the party faithful – voting constituents, not those in the Capitol buddy system – that the inappropriate use of GOP credit cards would be fully investigated to determine the extent to which party members keenly picked the GOP pocketbook. Surely it goes beyond ousted party leader Jim Greer.
Instead, while others such as gubernatorial candidate Senator Paula Dockery and Sharon Day, also a contender to lead the Republican Party, have mentioned the need for an audit, Thrasher commented, “The decision to have these issues aired in the mainstream media will only serve to trap our party in a continual discussion about the past, instead of looking forward to our future, and I will not participate in harming the party that I love.” This comes from the man who chairs the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee. No disclosure. No transparency.
A former lobbyist with Southern Strategy Group, whose clients include the Florida Medical Association and Blue Cross, Thrasher wants to give no-fault status to emergency medical responders, including ER doctors. Thrasher determinedly dislikes trial lawyers but, by his preference, questionable/inadequate medical decisions could put into jeopardy the health and lives of patients.
Another scheme of Thrasher was the September, 2007, deceptive ‘Signature and Petition Revocation Notice’ meant to rescind petitioner support of the Florida Hometown Democracy initiative. A business-backed group, Save Our Constitution, had more than 13,000 petitions revoked but a controversial law passed by the Legislature was ruled unconstitutional by three state appellate court judges.
To further question the choice of Thrasher as headmaster of the RPOF, he was twice cited for ethics violations – once as a House member for illegally representing a client before a state agency and for lobbying the Legislature less than two years after leaving office.
The Florida Republican Executive Committee will thrash it out this coming Saturday. It must choose a leader who will bring the party together as a whole and dig the party out of the deep, dark hole of questionable integrity.
Atwater has rejected any type of tax increases, leaving little hope to solve the projected budget deficit of $3-billion. With federal stimulus funds running out, as many as 20,000 teaching positions could be in jeopardy. Necessitating larger class sizes, compromised learning environments could adversely affect the life-time earnings potential of school children.
Economists don’t foresee a return to pre-recession tax revenues until 2015 – five years of sub-par education would be grossly detrimental to school children of all grade levels.
These dire predictions might be avoided if Atwater and the predominately Republican Legislature were to eliminate various sales tax exemptions. In particular, collecting sales tax from Internet sales would help level the playing field for Florida businesses. Closing corporate tax loopholes would also be helpful. Otherwise, it’s painfully inconsiderate of Atwater to maintain an attitude of playing servitude to special interests.
Another high level supporter of Thrasher is Mike Haridopolos, Senate Finance and Tax Committee Chairperson, set to become the next Senate President as Atwater campaigns to be Florida’s CFO, has said, “The senate will be building a budget on what the actual numbers are. We know that we’re in for a long, difficult road. We’re going to do what we have to do without any new taxes, (and) live within our revenues.”
The few options left for a balanced budget include cuts in social services; initiate layoffs, furloughs and pay cuts to state employees; and borrow money.
Although Thrasher, former Speaker of the House, wasn’t necessarily considered a ‘shoe-in’ candidate for the Senate seat left vacant upon the death of Senator Jim King, the reality of this past November’s special election was evidenced by his campaign funds exceeding $400,000 which was more than the accumulative $376,000 raised by the four challengers. During the campaign, former Governor Jeb Bush appeared in TV ads in support of Thrasher.
Minus the TV ads, Jeb is again giving his political blessing to Thrasher. In a recent letter to the media, Bush gave a two-line appreciation statement for the efforts of challenger Sharon Day, whom he referred to as “a friend”, but…
Bush gave his assurance that Thrasher, “as Chairman, he will be more than just a caretaker or a fundraiser. He will do the hard work that is needed to rebuild our party’s infrastructure and make the state Party more accountable and responsive to the needs and concerns of county parties, more accessible to party members, a more valuable resource for Republican candidates in every region of our state.”
This seems the perfect time for the next probable chairperson to assure the party faithful – voting constituents, not those in the Capitol buddy system – that the inappropriate use of GOP credit cards would be fully investigated to determine the extent to which party members keenly picked the GOP pocketbook. Surely it goes beyond ousted party leader Jim Greer.
Instead, while others such as gubernatorial candidate Senator Paula Dockery and Sharon Day, also a contender to lead the Republican Party, have mentioned the need for an audit, Thrasher commented, “The decision to have these issues aired in the mainstream media will only serve to trap our party in a continual discussion about the past, instead of looking forward to our future, and I will not participate in harming the party that I love.” This comes from the man who chairs the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee. No disclosure. No transparency.
A former lobbyist with Southern Strategy Group, whose clients include the Florida Medical Association and Blue Cross, Thrasher wants to give no-fault status to emergency medical responders, including ER doctors. Thrasher determinedly dislikes trial lawyers but, by his preference, questionable/inadequate medical decisions could put into jeopardy the health and lives of patients.
Another scheme of Thrasher was the September, 2007, deceptive ‘Signature and Petition Revocation Notice’ meant to rescind petitioner support of the Florida Hometown Democracy initiative. A business-backed group, Save Our Constitution, had more than 13,000 petitions revoked but a controversial law passed by the Legislature was ruled unconstitutional by three state appellate court judges.
To further question the choice of Thrasher as headmaster of the RPOF, he was twice cited for ethics violations – once as a House member for illegally representing a client before a state agency and for lobbying the Legislature less than two years after leaving office.
The Florida Republican Executive Committee will thrash it out this coming Saturday. It must choose a leader who will bring the party together as a whole and dig the party out of the deep, dark hole of questionable integrity.
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