We live in Florida, the sunshine state with lovely weather, plenty of Solivita opportunities to reinvent oneself and stay healthy, meet new friends and enjoy a good life.
What’s wrong with this picture? Florida, the 4th highest in population among the states, has a political climate that is toxic to 99% of its nearly 19 million citizens. Led by a governor who has only a 31% approval rating from voters (Quinnipiac), Scott has tried to sell the state to private interests since day one of his tenure. Florida has not had a friendly climate for the majority.
A few facts about Governor Rick Scott:
- While CEO of Columbia/HCA in the 1990’s, Rick Scott presided over the largest Medicare fraud case in US history, $1.7 Billion. When asked to assist the federal government in their inquiries into the allegations, Scott took the 5th amendment 75 times.
- His first words at the podium when making his acceptance speech were: “Florida is open for business,” (source: Herald Tribune 11-4-10) after spending $73 million to purchase the election, one third of his $218 personal wealth. No one realized that he meant to sell off the state to private interests a piece at a time.
- Shortly after being elected, Scott tried to privatize the state prison system, seeking to turn over tax payer purchased prisons to his friends, by awarding contracts to campaign contributor GEO. He was defeated in that by a campaign of heavy citizen lobbying against the measure. The list of reasons why this is a bad idea is very long.
- He’s a big fan of privatizing schools and deregulating industry at every turn.
- He promised to bring 700,000 jobs to Florida in seven years but one of his early budget proposals was to lay off 8,000 state workers, an interesting contrast from his campaign pledge. He has made every attempt to purge the jobs of state and local workers.
- Florida was one of the nation’s most severe election law violators during the 2012 presidential elections and Governor Scott worked with the Republican legislature to suppress voters at every turn. Once again, Florida was embarrassed in a national election.
One goal of the Solivita Democratic Club is to replace Governor Rick Scott in 2014 along with as many Republican legislators as possible. We believe we need a governor who works for the people of Florida, not just the 1%.
Help now to change the state of Florida for the benefit of the 99%! Please donate or join the Solivita Democratic Club today.
