There is a daily news clipping service in Florida, by Cate Communications. An industry coalition has taken out a banner ad that's appeared for the past month or so, "The Florida Senate: Courage Under Crisis". Courage? That's the laugh of the century in Florida.
As the legislative session stumbles to an end, the House and Senate have succeeded in distorting the will of the people beyond recognition. What these Republicans leaders have proven -- just look at their failing to enact what the people expressed through Amendment 1 (that 1/3 of the documentary stamp tax on real estate transactions should be used for environmental purposes) is that they are only concerned about their own security.
Your state legislature interprets security to depend, absolutely, on cultivated favor with powerful special interests like US Sugar and the Banjul billionaires who pull their strings. That is the bitter fruit of a campaign finance system that is destroying democracy. Here is how it happened.
First, they killed Growth Management in Florida; the accomplishment of bipartisan consensus over decades. "They", being business interests who are determined to plow condos and suburban subdivisions into every available parcel in Florida. Growth Management had gradually turned into piñata for special interests. Instead of fixing Growth Management, to make it serve the intent of voters, it was dismantled: either by inattention (Lawton Chiles and Charlie Crist) or outright acts of sabotage (Jeb Bush and Rick Scott).
So the people decided if the legislature wouldn't protect their communities from -- say -- water pollution caused by powerful Big Ag interests, they would authorize the creation of a dedicated source of funding, safe from its grubby little hands, to fund land acquisition to use as cleansing marshes for industry's pollution. 75 percent of Floridians approved, last November, exactly this provision; a funding source to -- say -- complete the land acquisition of Big Sugar lands agreed to in 2010 by US Sugar. But no. Your "courageous" elected legislature is in the process of stealing all that money, nearly a billion dollars, for their own projects.
Now that "anything goes", it is clear that everything in Florida is for sale; even values and principles that were once nailed down. They call it "COURAGE".
Listen to what is happening in the St. Lucie River right this second and watch the toxic algae that is coating the dreams and hopes for a good quality of life, even for ordinary Republicans. Then read the report from the Tampa Bay Times how US Sugar and its Big Sugar friends have utterly taken over the Florida legislature.
Who is standing up for the people? NO ONE in elected office who takes money from Big Sugar. Voters are going to have to dig deep in their pockets and invest in candidates who will take the "no money from Big Sugar" pledge. They are also going to have to invest in a lawsuit by citizens against their own government in order to establish that the Florida legislature has violated the intent of Amendment 1.
Who is culpable? Every incumbent in office who sinks deep in his or her plush chair in the House or Senate while letting the predatory practices of special interests tighten their grip on taxpayers' throats. That is what they call, "COURAGE".
For more:
As U.S. Sugar flexes muscle, environmentalists fret about Amendment 1
Michael Van SicklerMichael Van Sickler, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Thursday, April 23, 2015 1:05pm
Read more »As the legislative session stumbles to an end, the House and Senate have succeeded in distorting the will of the people beyond recognition. What these Republicans leaders have proven -- just look at their failing to enact what the people expressed through Amendment 1 (that 1/3 of the documentary stamp tax on real estate transactions should be used for environmental purposes) is that they are only concerned about their own security.
Your state legislature interprets security to depend, absolutely, on cultivated favor with powerful special interests like US Sugar and the Banjul billionaires who pull their strings. That is the bitter fruit of a campaign finance system that is destroying democracy. Here is how it happened.
First, they killed Growth Management in Florida; the accomplishment of bipartisan consensus over decades. "They", being business interests who are determined to plow condos and suburban subdivisions into every available parcel in Florida. Growth Management had gradually turned into piñata for special interests. Instead of fixing Growth Management, to make it serve the intent of voters, it was dismantled: either by inattention (Lawton Chiles and Charlie Crist) or outright acts of sabotage (Jeb Bush and Rick Scott).
So the people decided if the legislature wouldn't protect their communities from -- say -- water pollution caused by powerful Big Ag interests, they would authorize the creation of a dedicated source of funding, safe from its grubby little hands, to fund land acquisition to use as cleansing marshes for industry's pollution. 75 percent of Floridians approved, last November, exactly this provision; a funding source to -- say -- complete the land acquisition of Big Sugar lands agreed to in 2010 by US Sugar. But no. Your "courageous" elected legislature is in the process of stealing all that money, nearly a billion dollars, for their own projects.
Now that "anything goes", it is clear that everything in Florida is for sale; even values and principles that were once nailed down. They call it "COURAGE".
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| Toxic algae, last week in St. Lucie estuary |
Listen to what is happening in the St. Lucie River right this second and watch the toxic algae that is coating the dreams and hopes for a good quality of life, even for ordinary Republicans. Then read the report from the Tampa Bay Times how US Sugar and its Big Sugar friends have utterly taken over the Florida legislature.
Who is standing up for the people? NO ONE in elected office who takes money from Big Sugar. Voters are going to have to dig deep in their pockets and invest in candidates who will take the "no money from Big Sugar" pledge. They are also going to have to invest in a lawsuit by citizens against their own government in order to establish that the Florida legislature has violated the intent of Amendment 1.
Who is culpable? Every incumbent in office who sinks deep in his or her plush chair in the House or Senate while letting the predatory practices of special interests tighten their grip on taxpayers' throats. That is what they call, "COURAGE".
For more:
As U.S. Sugar flexes muscle, environmentalists fret about Amendment 1
Michael Van SicklerMichael Van Sickler, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Thursday, April 23, 2015 1:05pm
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