New Rule #27

New Rule #27: If you  want to style yourselves as the "responsible" party (as Republicans do) and throw stones at Democrats, labeling them the  party of fiscal impropriety, then clean your own house first.

 

          As a Floridian, I was disgusted when Rick Scott (aka Governor Bat Boy, aka Governor Skeletor) was elected governor. I guess I overestimated the intelligence of the Florida electorate. Here was a man who acknowledged being responsible for the largest Medicare fraud case in history, yet totally avoided being held accountable.  Severing  responsibility from accountability has been generally reserved for people with names like  Reagan,  Nixon and Bush.. That this man was CEO of a corporation guilty of $1.7  billion in deliberate fraudulent accounting should have been enough to kill his career. Not in good ole Fla!. I'm sure it helped that the best the rest of the party could muster in opposition was Bill ("geneteelia") McCollum, a failed congressman.

          Not to be outdone, Republican State Chairman Jim Greer, in pleading guilty to theft and money laundering, took the bullet for the bulk of his partisan spendthrifts. If you think I'm kidding about the spendthrift part, dig a bit and find out about the wretched excesses of our legislators in Tallahassee (of both parties, to be sure). The following is an excerpt  from an article related to Greer and his legal woes. "The criminal trial of former Republican Party of Florida chair Jim Greer had promised to be embarrassing for party leaders, rising Republican star Marco Rubio and former Gov. Charlie Crist, who is contemplating a new political future as a Democrat.   Greer's guilty pleas on Monday to four counts of theft and a single count of money laundering ended the trial before it even started and ensured that some state GOP secrets will remain confidential, at least for the time-being.

"There were a number of people who did not want this trial to go forward and the trial isn't going forward," Damon Chase, Greer's attorney, said after the former chair entered his pleas in court. "Once again, Jim Greer is falling on his sword for a lot of other folks."  Poor Jim.

          But, just like they say in those TV ads, "wait, there's more".  Today, Rick Scott's right hand chick, Lt Gov Jennifer Carroll, resigned hard on the heels of an FDLE and FBI investigation of her involvement with a "Veteran's" organization with ties to the Jacksonville police union as well.  Ms. Carroll, a Navy Veteran has disgraced herself and my service by being intimately involved with "Allied Veterans of the World" a company claiming to serve veterans, but serving investors much better. This sham organization's "fund raising centers" were,  in actuality, little more than internet slot machine sites which violated Florida law. The scam was a described by the Feds as   "A conspiracy and scheme to defraud the public and governmental agencies."  Over five years, the company grossed $290 million, while giving $6 million to veterans. For those of you who are number oriented that means they returned a bit more than .02% to the deserving. Poor Jennifer!

          So in summary, among the Florida's  Republican leaders , who complain about medical care for the needy,  taxes on the wealthy and a litany of other far  right mantras we have money launderers, perpetrators of fraud on a record scale, wire fraud , collusion to commit fraud, and abuse of a veteran affiliated   charity for personal gain. Don't it make you proud?