12 Protestors and Jesse Jackson dog Rick Scott

From: Naked Politics

Protestors in his Tallahassee office, protestors at his Miami-Dade press conferences – Gov. Rick Scott is facing a state of opposition after the George Zimmerman verdict.

On Wednesday, as protestors gathered inside and out, Scott made a quick exit from a Kendall Walmart media event touting new school-supply debit cards of teachers and the upcoming school-supply sales-tax.

The protestors, mostly young Hispanic and African-Americans, want a special legislative session to address the Stand Your Ground self-defense law implicated in Zimmerman’s shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin last year. Zimmerman, acquitted July 13, didn't plead a Stand Your Ground defense, but was covered by its protections, which appeared in the jury instructions.

“Special session! Special session!” a group of 12 chanted from a sidewalk as Scott left out a backdoor.

Earlier, during the press conference, three demonstrators sat down on the floor inside the store. One held up a sign that said “Bad Apples?” In the back of the press conference stood Miami Democratic Sen. Dwight Bullard, who called for the resignation of Florida’s education commissioner in a grade-fixing flap (more here)

Scott has refused.

Meantime, inside the halls of the governor’s office in Tallahassee, a group of college-aged minority students known as the Dream Defenders are calling for a special session as well.

Yesterday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson met with the students, called for a boycott of Florida. He has likened Florida to an Old South-style “apartheid state."

Scott said he was outraged.

“He ought to apologize to every Floridian,” Scott said. “We have nearly 20 million people, we’ve got 5 million multi-lingual speakers, we’re in a 42-year low in our crime rate. We care about people all across our state.”

Scott said he wants to keep the Stand Your Ground and has noted that a task force he appointed called for the law to largely stay intact.

The task force, though, did recommend that the Legislature consider examining some aspects of self-defense law and recommended that the state fund a study “of the correlation and causation to include variables such as race, ethnicity, gender, application and fairness of the law in regards to the expansion of self defense laws in the State of Florida, including a statistical comparison with other states.”

Asked if the state should heed that finding, Scott didn’t comment, but suggested he was open to the idea.

“As you know, the speaker said he was going to hold hearings during committee week to look into this,” Scott said. 

Contrary to Jackson's claims, a Tampa Bay Times analysis could find no clear racial inequities with the law. It found that those who plead Stand Your Ground in cases where a black person was killed or injured are more likely, by 14 percentage points, to "walk free." But one reason for that: African-Americans who were shot were more likely than Caucasians to be involved with a crime or armed -- thereby lending credence to a self-defense claim by the shooter.

When the victim was black in fatal cases, 22 percent of suspects were convicted while 78 were found to use justifiable force. When the victim was white, 43 percent of suspects were convicted while 57 were found to use justifiable force.

For blacks pleading Stand Your Ground fatality cases, 31 percent were convicted while 69 percent of the killings were found to be justified. For whites pleading Stand Your Ground fatality cases, 38 percent were convicted and 62 percent were justified. The overall conviction rate: 35 percent. Overall justification rate: 65 percent.

But there was no time to get into all that with Scott on Wednesday.

While talking about Stand Your Ground, the protesors found him at a side entrace. They started chanting. At least one person had a bull horn.

Staff hastened to remove Scott, who also took two more questions about another controversy: Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett. When the AP broke the story, Scott didn’t have much to say about it yesterday.

So how about now?

“Everything I wanted to get done this session, Tony Bennett has been a big help getting it done – whether it’s the teacher pay raise, the $1.2 billion for K-12, the performance measurements for state colleges, the debit cards we talked about today,” Scott said. “Tony’s a hard worker. He believes in accountability. He’s a big help.”

Have you spoken to him about the situation in Indiana and what are your thoughts?

“I’m not familiar with the details. Probably the best thing to do is call Tony,” Scott said.

Florida legislature rejects ObamaCare Medicaid expansion

From: Conservative News

Reuters reports a hitch in Governor Rick Scott’s plans to expand Medicaid coverage, as directed by the ObamaCare plan he once vowed to oppose:

On the eve of convening of the 2013 session, the House Select Committee on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act rejected the expansion. A Senate counterpart committee postponed consideration of the issue, which is sure to be one of the biggest controversies of the session.

Scott, a Republican who bitterly fought President Barack Obama’s national healthcare plan as a candidate and in his first two years as governor, stunned conservative supporters on February 20 when he endorsed a three-year expansion of Medicaid, provided the federal government picks up the full cost for the first three years as promised.

“There’s definitely a fight between the governor and the (state) legislature over this. The Republicans in the legislature are much more fiscally conservative than his actions have shown him to be,” said Susan MacManus, a Tampa-based political scientist at the University of South Florida.

Republican legislative leaders have been openly hostile toward the plan, emphasizing that state lawmakers will make the final decision in drawing up a budget for next fiscal year.

The conservative James Madison institute released a statement partly quoted by Reuters, but reproduced here in full:

The House made the right decision today to not draft a committee bill expanding Medicaid under PPACA provisions. Many Members expressed valid concerns that this could hurt the people that it is aimed at helping. State leaders should focus on providing more access to quality care — expanding a program that is inefficient in this effort is not a way to do that.

Additionally, in our recent poll of 600 registered Florida voters more than 63 percent said they are wary that the federal government would keep the funding level promises made, and clearly many House Members share this worry. If history is any indicator, costs of such programs are often underestimated and there has been examples of the federal government going back on their promise before. These issues cannot be ignored.

Well, those issues shouldn’t be ignored, but a lot of people seem intent on doing so, with eyes firmly fixed on that pot of federal subsidy gold.  In a previous policy brief on Medicaid expansion, the James Madison Institute expressed skepticism that promises of 100 percent federal funding for three years, followed by 90 percent indefinitely, will stand the test of time: “Of course, all of these projections are based on the assumption that the federal government — currently plagued by record deficits and alarm over the growing national debt — will keep its pledges with regard to matching funds.”

Fueling this skepticism is the Institute’s description of Medicaid programs across the nation as “plagued by bureaucracy, ballooning expenditures, poor access, and low quality care.”  And that could lead to a pointedly counter-productive outcome:

As Medicaid costs explode, regulators and legislators at- tempt to restrict costs by reimbursing providers less and less. Low reimbursements severely impede the access of Medicaid beneficiaries to timely and appropriate high quality care. Some studies even suggest that Medicaid patients receive worse care than the uninsured.

A costly expansion of means-tested eligibility for Medicaid will not rectify the deeply-rooted problems with the program. In fact expanding the program will not only expand these problems and impact more people, but it will likely put more strain on the system and could very possibly worsen the already grave access problems and poor quality care that Medicaid patients encounter.

That sounds like a much more likely outcome than the government that can’t stand a 2.3 percent spending cut happily ladling out billions of dollars to cover cost overruns, long into a future where mandatory entitlement spending and debt service will soon consume the entire current budget baseline.

Paul Ryan Appears With His Mom In Florida

Taxpayer Funded Group's Lobbying Under Investigation

The Shark Tank has a fine post about an ACORN related group that is taxpayer funded currently under investigation. The video below is from the post. Well worth reviewing. We must stop voter fraud from the start.

Rick Scott Talks Voter Fraud

Feds to Florida: halt non-citizen voter purge

From: Miami Herald.com

The Justice Department ordered Florida’s elections division to halt a systematic effort to find and purge the state’s voter rolls of noncitizen voters.

Florida’s effort appears to violate both the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which protects minorities, and the 1993 National Voter Registration Act – which governs voter purges – T. Christian Herren Jr., the Justice Department’s lead civil rights lawyer, wrote in a detailed two-page letter sent late Thursday night.

State officials said they were reviewing the letter. But they indicated they might fight DOJ over its interpretation of federal law and expressed frustration that President Barack Obama’s administration has stonewalled the state’s noncitizen voter hunt for nine months.

“We are firmly committed to doing the right thing and preventing ineligible voters from being able to cast a ballot,” said Chris Cate, spokesman for Secretary of State Ken Detzner, who was ordered by Gov. Rick Scott to conduct the search for potentially ineligible voters.

DOJ’s written demand came hours after the agency refused to comment on the matter to The Miami Herald. It also followed a federal court ruling Thursday that struck down a Republican voter-registration law that a judge found too onerous.

So far, Florida has flagged 2,700 potential noncitizen voters and sent the list to county elections supervisors, who have found the data and methodology to be flawed and problematic. The list of potential noncitizen voters – many of whom have turned out to be lawful citizens and voters – disproportionately hits minorities, especially Hispanics.

About 58 percent of those flagged as potential noncitizens are Hispanics, Florida’s largest ethnic immigrant population, a Miami Herald analysis found. Hispanics make up 13 percent of the overall 11.3 million active registered voters.

Independent voters and Democrats are the most likely to face being purged from the rolls. Republicans and non-Hispanic whites are the least likely.

Under the Voting Rights Act, Florida needs federal approval before it makes changes to voting because five Florida counties – Monroe, Hillsborough, Collier, Hardee and Hendry – had minority-voting troubles decades ago

"Our records do not reflect that these changes affecting voting have been submitted to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia for judicial review or to the Attorney General for administrative review as required by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act," Herren wrote.

"Accordingly, it is necessary that they either be brought before that court or submitted to the Attorney General for a determination that they neither have the purpose nor will have the effect of discriminating on account of race, color, or membership in a language minority group under Section 5."

He gave the state until next Wednesday to inform the Justice Department of its planned course of action.

“Specifically, please advise whether the State intends to cease the practice discussed above, so that the Department can determine what further action, if any, is necessary,” Herren wrote.

Herren also said that the National Voter Registration Act bans Florida’s effort because it says “a State shall complete, not later than 90 days prior to the date of a primary or general election for Federal office, any program the purpose of which is to systematically remove the names of ineligible voters from the official lists of eligible voters.”

Florida elections officials have repeatedly said that their efforts comply with all federal laws, which aren’t clearly written. The also say there’s nothing discriminatory or partisan about the effort. It’s simply trying to remove ineligible voters: felons, dead people and noncitizens.

To spot noncitizens, though, the state began comparing voter rolls with a Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle database that contains some citizenship information that the agency collects when people get a state ID such as a driver’s license.

But the citizenship data in many cases is out of date. That is, many people become citizens after they get their ID and then register to vote. But the highway safety database isn’t updated.

As a result, the state has performed its own checking and double-checking and winnowed down a pool of 180,000 potential noncitizens to a list of about 2,700. It is asking the counties to contact the voters by mail. Those who don’t respond within about two months of being contacted could be stricken from the rolls.

A coalition of liberal-leaning civil rights groups complained to the Justice Department and the state about the process, pointing out that it burdens citizens instead of the government.

Cate, the state elections spokesman, said the state will have a full response soon. The agency also seemed to express frustration with the lack of help from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which maintains citizenship data but won’t share its database with Florida.

Detzner asked again for DHS help on Thursday.

“We provided information to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security today in hopes that the federal government would help us identify ineligible voters,” Cate said. “While this isn’t a response from DHS as to why they haven’t provided us access to their data, at least we know the federal government knows we take ineligible voters on the voter rolls seriously. We hope the federal government will recognize the importance of accurate voter rolls and support our efforts.”

Herman Cain Surges in Florida Poll

From: Real Clear Politics

Fresh off of his straw poll victory in Florida last weekend, businessman and White House hopeful Herman Cain has surged to second place in the Sunshine State, according to a new SurveyUSA poll released Thursday.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney edges Cain, 27 percent to 25 percent, among likely Republican primary voters in Florida. Texas Gov. Rick Perry lands in third place with 15 percent of the support. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich attracts 6 percent, and U.S. Reps. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Ron Paul of Texas each garners 5 percent. Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman receives 3 percent, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum gets 2 percent. Twelve percent remain undecided.

The most conservative voters are virtually split between Romney and Cain, though Cain holds a 27 percent to 26 percent edge. Romney leads among moderates, 34 percent to 19 percent. Cain fares better than his Republican rivals among Hispanic voters, attracting 22 percent of the support; Bachmann receives 18 percent support and Romney garners 16 percent from that group.

Romney has a high favorability rating in the state: 55 percent like him and 19 percent find him unfavorable. Perry also has a positive rating, with 36 percent finding him favorable and 28 percent finding him unfavorable. None of the remaining candidates were tested on favorability.

Former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was not placed on this hypothetical ballot. However, 76 percent of GOP primary voters say she should stay out of the race while 16 percent would encourage her to jump in. A majority (51 percent) discourages New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie from entering the White House contest, while 25 percent say he should throw his hat into the ring.

The poll surveyed 500 likely Republican primary voters from Sept. 24-27 with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

Six-figure pensions for retired South Florida city employees costing taxpayers millions

From: Sun Sentinel.com

After more than two decades working in Miami Beach's 911 call center, Pamela Kindle wanted her golden parachute.

Her $60,000-a-year job would provide a modest pension for retirement, but Kindle wanted more. So, she launched into a "marathon" of overtime, racking up an extra 50 hours of work a week during her final two years on the job.

When she retired in 2002, Kindle did so with a $150,000 taxpayer-supported pension. Yearly increases have pumped up her pension to more than $182,000.

"I earned my money," said Kindle, 63, who says the city helped create her pension by perennially understaffing the call center. "I worked hard."

By the time she reaches her mid-70s, the city's pension fund will have paid her $4,074,000 in her golden years.

Scores of South Florida city employees, particularly police and firefighters, have recently retired in their mid to late 40s or early 50s with six-figure pensions, the result of generous pay and benefits packages that are now costing taxpayers tens of millions of dollars a year.

The deals were agreed to by elected officials in negotiations with politically potent employee unions -- especially police and fire unions, whose members face the biggest risks but enjoy higher pay and better benefits.

During the real estate boom, there was plenty of money for pay raises and perks, even as employers in the private sector were ratcheting down health benefits and phasing out traditional pensions in favor of self-funded 401(k) plans.

Then it all went sour.

Cities, financially kneecapped by plunging property-tax revenues, stock market reversals and their own generosity, found pension costs eating up a rapidly growing chunk of their operating budgets -- one out of every five dollars in Miami Beach, one out of four in Hollywood.

Those cities and others are now trying to take back what they promised. That has sent employees rushing toward the exits. A year ago, as pay and pension reductions imposed by Miami's elected officials were about to take effect, more than 250 employees retired on the same day. The same thing is happening in Hollywood, where voters last week approved dramatic reductions in employee pensions.

What it really means to retire

Actually, in municipal government-speak, "retiring" doesn't mean leaving the job now. In another perk not enjoyed by private-sector employees, it often means entering a years-long transition phase called the Deferred Retirement Option Program, or DROP, during which the worker remains on the job, earning both a salary and a pension benefit that is held in a savings account.

How generous are city pensions? More generous than pensions paid through the state's retirement system, although the state has hundreds of six-figure pensioners. The Florida Retirement System, likened to a millstone weighing down the state budget, last year paid out an average yearly retirement benefit of $18,000.

By contrast:

• In Miami Beach, of the 38 police and firefighters who began receiving a pension in fiscal year 2009, 26 did so in their 40s with an average retirement benefit of $104,000 -- and a promised annual increase of 2.5 percent.

• In Coral Gables, pension formulas that factor in hundreds of hours of overtime in addition to base pay and bonuses are allowing many to retire, like Kindle, with pensions significantly larger than their base salary. Examples: Fire Lt. Jeffrey Fabyan, 48, whose $106,000 pension dwarfs his $81,000 base salary; fire Lt. Donald Griffiths, 50, whose base pay is $81,720 but whose pension is $108,606; and police Sgt. John McRae, 49, whose salary is $79,414 but who will collect a $99,297 pension.

• Of the 154 Miami police and firefighters who "retired" (actually entered the DROP) on Sept. 26, 2010, 55 have annual pensions in excess of $100,000, 10 of them greater than $150,000. The latter group includes Chief Fire Officer Ronald Khawly, who transitioned into retirement at 52 with a pension of $181,856; Assistant Fire Chief Veldora Arthur (44, with a pension of $166,687) and Chief Fire Officer Joe Burns (54, with a pension of $165,910).