But this first. Senate Republicans, following the lead of the teapot crackpot, Ted Cruz, have blocked President Obama's nomination of Dr. Vivek Murthy as the country's Surgeon General.
Why would they do that? The reasoning is so specious it boggles the mind and it also clarifies how much power the NRA has in this country.
Cruz, believing that his interpretation of the 2nd Amendment trumps all other concerns we might have as a nation, including the Ebola crisis, said he and other Republicans in the Senate could not support Dr. Murthy because the doctor at one time backed a ban on military-stye assault weapons.
So, our Republican senators, who take an oath to serve the entire country and all the people, have abrogated their responsibility to protect the health of our citizens because they are afraid of the National Rifle Association.
Now these same Republicans are blaming President Obama for the fact we don't have a Surgeon General!
I don't believe in hell, but that is where these clowns belong!
The governor's race in Florida is relatively close, although the latest polls show Crist leading by several points. We've talked about the criminal that is Rick Scott many times and we've dealt in detail with his scumbag ways.
To be fair I should mention that, in the past, I've gone after Charlie Crist because of his support for school vouchers (which by any measure is blatantly unconstitutional!) and his ties to the religious right. But in his first go around as Florida's chief executive, he did quite well and over the years his position on many issues has become more progressive. The difference between Charlie and Rick is the different between night and day, to use an old cliche.
From the beginning, Scott has turned away from the people of the state to feather his own nest. He proposed a draconian drug-testing law for civil servants which would, initially at least, have been a financial boon for a company run by his wife and in which he had an interest.
Scott has yet to disclose his 2013 tax returns and has neglected to fully disclose all of his financial interests basically telling the people of Florida it's none of their business.
He famously turned down Obamacare Medicaid, which would have helped millions of Florida's elderly and would have cost the state nothing for the first three years and not much more than nothing in the years following.
Scott has enacted 12 pro-gun laws. Is it any wonder that folks who walk around packing heat in Florida suddenly shoot someone and then claim that was their "right" under Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law because they felt threatened as the other person had big, fearsome ears?
Scott has cut funding for public schools and pushed private and charter schools. He has cut taxes for the rich which means that those with less financial resources are impacted more by various fees and taxes.
But when it comes to the environment - protecting the land and the sea that gives us life - Scott has been an unmitigated disaster. He'll talk about his multi-billion dollar environment initiative but it's all smoke and mirrors - there's no money appropriated or in place to carry out these plans.
He's done nothing to counter the effects of global warming which will soon become Florida's greatest nemesis! The seas are rising and as they rise, Florida's beaches are going to be washed away. The highest point in southeast Florida is Pine Island Ridge at 12 feet above sea level. Areas of downtown Miami are underwater every day now at high tide.
The Florida chapter of the Sierra Club has done an excellent job profiling Scott's utter failure in dealing with environmental issues. The Florida Sierra Club's newsletter, "The Pelican," points out a few of these failures:
1) Scott eliminated the Department of Community Affairs which means that developers can pretty much do whatever they want with no government oversight.
2) When the EPA proposed rules to stop pollution of Florida's waters, Scott fought the agency all the way!
3) Scott cut funding for Florida's water management districts which led to reducing environmental staff and programs. These districts are absolutely critical to the ongoing environmental health of the state!
4) "Crippled enforcement of environmental rules and appointed industry officials in top regulatory positions."
5) Scott is pushing to build "several new transportation corridors that would create new cities with millions of people and would eliminate much of Florida's rural farmland," destroying many wildlife habitats and threatening the state's water supply in the process.
And there's much more. We haven't even touched on his criminal actions in masterminding the most massive Medicare fraud in history!
Crist, on the other hand, has a good environmental record.
When governor, Crist's advice to reject new coal plants in Florida was followed and six massive plants were never built. He recognized the challenge of climate change and got the state going on ways to develop renewable energy (this was reversed by Republicans in the state legislature).
As governor, Crist will work to protect our beaches, the Everglades, wildlife habitats, and reduce algae pollution. Charlie is opposed to fracking for natural gas and off-shore oil drilling. He is a strong proponent of solar energy. Crist believes we must build more mass transit and supports electric vehicles.
It couldn't be any clearer. Florida's future is at stake. And that's why Charlie Crist has been endorsed by many, if not most, of the state's major newspapers, including the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Tampa Bay/St. Pete Times, the Miami Herald, and the Orlando Sentinel.
1 comment:
The NRA and the politicians they have by the pubic hairs, so to speak, love to go on and on about the second amendment, while completely ignoring the "well regulated" aspect of it. The Founding Fathers would be disgusted by them.
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