Mike “No Doors” Haridopolos Unhinged: Be Careful What You Wish For

 

Take This Door And Shove It?

 

Well, he DID say “these doors are open.”

Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos, the self-proclaimed “open door policy” man and champion of tightening everyone’s belt but his own, has a brand new website! (And no, I don’t mean the new Mike Haridopolos Fan Site Florida Senate website.) It’s quite fitting for the guy who seems to aspire to personify the smarmiest character ever played by his lookalike William Devane.

No, the website DirtyHari.org is completely devoted to “opening the doors” to Haridopolos in all his hypocritical glory, and chronicles everything from those “silly” overlooked financial disclosures right down to every last measure  he voted to ban and subsequently sidestepped.

The new site was launched yesterday by Progress Florida and Florida Watch Action:

The site serves as an exposé “devoted to holding Senate President Mike Haridopolos accountable to the people of Florida, not just the banks, utilities, oil companies, HMO’s, big developers, and other corporate special interests who bankrolled his state senate campaign and rise to leadership.”

In conjunction with the site release, today at 11:00 AM members of Organize Now delivered hand sanitizer to attendees of a $10,000 a plate “private strategy meeting” in Orlando where Haridopolos was discussing his candidacy for the US Senate election in 2012 with wealthy supporters.  “Our message is simple: Sen. Haridopolos needs to clean up his act,” said Mark Ferrulo, Executive Director of Progress Florida.

That “sanitized” private strategy meeting reportedly raised $1 million for the U. S. Senate campaign that Haridopolos jumped into in less time than it took to remove those office doors after he was sworn in as Florida Senate President, the job which, according to Saint Petersblog,  Haridopolos told the crowd was his “political priority at least through the spring.” Just the type of statement you would expect from one of the elected officials who seek to thwart the will of the Florida voters who have the nerve to demand fair elections. Surely voters didn’t expect him to actually DO the job he was elected to?

If ever we needed to restore a little “Sunshine” to Florida’s ethically challenged backdoor politics it’s now when we have Gov. who ignores the people AND the press, and a Senate President with only part-term priorities who rips down office doors for the cameras, then holds his meetings privately in the president’s box at football games, the Governor’s mansion, and who knows where else?

Haridopolos didn’t want those office doors?

If he wasn’t “unhinged” before, he certainly is now.

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“Oh No, He Di-n’t?”

Allen West (Run-For-Your-Life-FL) actually said these things (From The Sun Sentinel):

On Immigration Reform:

West, unlike most South Florida members of both parties, opposes any path to legal status for those who reside here illegally, including those brought as children. “You’ve got a war going on south of our border. Beheadings. Mass killings. Mexico is starting to resemble Iraq and Afghanistan. And if we don’t secure the boarders and enforce our laws, if we do not make employment verification mandatory all across this country, we will never be serious about tackling the immigration problems we have.”

That’s right. Mexico IS the new Iraq and Afghanistan. Paging Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer: tell us about those headless corpses in the desert again?

On Social Security:

West said Congress should consider further raising the eligibility age for full benefits and possibly apply a means test.“Donald Trump is not going to need Social Security or Medicare in his life,” he said. “We need to make sure that these programs are targeted to people who really do need them, and not just have a blanket policy for everyone.”

Well, if Donald Trump doesn’t need Social Security or Medicare, um, OK. So will Rep. “Bullets for Ballots” West be determining those who are worthy and those who are not?

On Unemployment:

“I don’t believe that unemployment checks are the means by which you stimulate the economy,” he said. “I would say instead of extending unemployment benefits for another 13 months, let’s just extend them through winter. We should take care of the American people through what may be some very hard times in the winter. Coming into the spring, we have got to come up with the right kind of economic policies that spur growth.”

Sing it with me: “The sun will come out tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow…” oh what’s that? You don’t have a bottom dollar? Oh. Bummer.

On Offshore Oil Drilling:

Energy experts say offshore drilling would have little impact on gas prices. But West said more drilling would make the nation less dependent on foreign supplies and no longer compelled to “send money to people [abroad] who want to see us killed.”

He brushed off the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last summer as “an isolated incident.” Rather than push rigs into deeper waters, West wants to bring them close to shore.

“We need to make sure it’s close enough so we don’t have what happened in the Gulf, where [the leaking well] was so deep we couldn’t get out there and take the emergency procedures to rectify that type of spill.”

Yeah! With drilling closer to shore it’s just a matter of a quicker clean-up! That way you can just scrape it off the beach without the wait.

Oh, but wait. If drilling closer to shore makes us less dependent on those who want to see us killed, and those who want to see us killed are now in Mexico as Rep. West now claims, how does that work exactly?

Perhaps these “solutions” of West’s are some of the reason why he is on the list of “vulnerable seats” in the House already after less than one month on the job.

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Rep. Gus Bilirakis: Hypocrisy Much?

Yesterday the U.S. House voted to abolish public financing for presidential campaigns.

Democrat Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL) proposed an amendment to the bill saying “it would have safeguarded our security funds for local law enforcement.” She was referring to the security budget for the upcoming 2012 Republican convention in her city, Tampa, Florida. She went on to say:

“I’m waving some red flags here with the help of my hometown to say this is expensive and we’re going to fight tooth and nail to have it covered,” she told the Buzz. “We’re not going to have the local taxpayers foot that bill.”

Well, her amendment was quickly killed, the voting commenced, and abolished public financing.

Voting in favor of the bill was Rep. Mike Bilirakis (R-FL). Well, later in the day, the following details came out concerning Rep. Bilirakis:

A spokesman for Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Palm Harbor, notes that the lawmaker has been working with the governor’s office to get the convention designated as a National Special Security Event and obtain federal funding that way.

“Rep. Bilirakis is acutely aware of the security needs of the upcoming political conventions, especially in the aftermath of the Rep. (Gabrielle) Giffords shooting,” Creighton Welch said.

So Rep. Bilirakis gets to vote “against the cake” but eat it too.

Sounds like a big old slice of hypocrisy to me. But then Rep. Bilirakis is an old pro in that department. Just check his Twitter feed sometime for starters.

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They Aren’t Congressmen, They Just Play Them On TV. No, Seriously.

Constitution?

What Constitution?

If you needed any more proof that the GOP reading the Constitution aloud in Congress is merely political theater, well, here you go:

Two House Republicans have cast votes as members of the 112th Congress, but were not sworn in on Wednesday, a violation of the Constitution on the same day that the GOP had the document read from the podium.

The Republicans, incumbent Pete Sessions of Texas and freshman Mike Fitzpatrick, missed the swearing-in because they were at a fundraiser in the Capitol Visitors Center. The pair watched the swearing-in on television from the Capitol Visitors Center with their hands raised.

And yes, beyond the obvious problems with this, you read that correctly:

The pair watched the swearing-in on television from the Capitol Visitors Center with their hands raised.

There is no provision in the Constitution for a remote swearing-in by television. On Thursday, Fitzpatrick was one of the members who read the Constitution from the dais.

You can read more of the stupidity and hypocrisy of these two here from the Huffington Post.

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“Let’s Get To Work….” On That Gift Card Scandal?

Governor elect Rick Scott hasn’t been sworn in yet but he already has a scandal on his hands (Well, another one if you don’t count the ones he had before the election).

It seems that when he said “Let’s get to work” to his campaign workers they somehow were under the impression that he would pay them. With money. Silly believers!

He actually paid them with gift cards instead of cash, and that is a no-no.

Part time campaign worker Mark Don Givens was surprised to get the news that instead of getting a paycheck from Scott for his work on the campaign, he would instead receive an American Express gift card. This in turn caused Givens to say he is “going Democrat.”

Scott’s campaign said there were “issues” in getting Givens a paycheck, hence the gift card. They say the card can be reimbursed for cash, minus a surcharge, which the campaign now says they will put on their tab.

Unfortunately the controversy may not go away that quickly:

“This would violate both tax laws and labor laws,” Melanie Sloan, the Executive Director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) told TPMmuckraker in an email. “It looks like the newly elected AG will be investigating the newly elected governor.

So when newly elected Republican Attorney General Pam-Palin-Bondi is sworn in she can investigate the Governor’s gift card scandal, if she can drag herself away from trying to strip Floridians and others of any health care reform benefits long enough to do so, that is. Then I’m sure she’ll get right on it.

Right.

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Ban? What Ban? Meet Haridopolos’ Newly Hired Six-Figure “Double Dippers”

In spite of the state ban on “double dipping” where state employees collect a paycheck while also collecting a state pension, incoming Republican Senate President Mike Haridopolos (R-Drill-Baby) has announced that he has hired three veteran staffers to come on up to Tallahassee and double-dip anyway!

High unemployment rates? Who cares! He’s the Senate President and you the unemployed are not. Just to rub your nose in it, they’ll all be making six figure salaries too.

Oh, and then there’s this, from the Florida Independent:

Criticism has been leveled against Haridopolos before, most notably for working for the University of Florida as a guest lecturer in their Department of Political Science at a starting salary of $75,000, nearly double the $40,000 average for the position. UF faculty and the Democratic Party of Florida cited his lack of academic credentials or input by faculty prior to his hiring, as well as perceived conflict between his obligations as a state senator and an employee of the university.

That seems to be going around. Does the name Marco Rubio ring a bell? How about Florida International University? They should, to the tune of a salary of $69,000.

Haridopolos has been a busy man firing and hiring before he takes over. I would dare say there won’t be a Democrat within spitting distance of the capitol if he has anything to do with it.

Haridopolos has also become Rick Scott’s new BFF along with the rest of the Republican Party of Florida. Do we really want to let the Republicans keep control of the State of Florida? Cause they’ve done a bang-up job so far. Just look at the numbers. Although if you live here, you have no need to look.

Here’s a look at the State’s newest double dippers:

• Terry Rhodes, a 30-year veteran of the Department of Agriculture, who will become a special assistant to the president and staff director of the Committee on Ethics and Elections at a salary of $150,000. She will also collect a state pension of $6,448 a month beginning in April and collected $404,657 in deferred compensation when she retired last April.

• Craig Meyer, a former deputy commissioner of agriculture with 26 years of experience in state government, was hired in June to run a new Senate budget office. Meyer was chief of staff for Senate President Bob Crawford 20 years ago. He’s being paid $155,000 a year. He will also collect a $3,588 pension beginning in April and collected $10,688 in deferred compensation this past April.

• John B. Phelps, former House clerk who retired in 2005 and has been working in the Legislative Research Center and Museum, will become staff director of the Senate Rules Committee. He’ll be paid $139,152, the same salary he has been making doing historical research. He collects a monthly pension of $6,260 and collected deferred compensation totaling $350,482 when he retired in 2005.

Did I mention there’s a state ban on double dipping? Yeah, I thought I had.

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Where Meghan McCain Meets The Elephant In The Room

Meghan McCain appeared this morning on ABC’s “This Week” with Christiane Amanpour. I’m not a fan of Ms. McCain’s and my first instinct when I see her on television is to turn it off. However, something she said actually made sense and I was surprised to find myself in agreement with her.

McCain was criticizing the Republican Senate candidate from Delaware, Christine O’Donnell. She referred to her as a “nut-job,” among other things, in a roundtable discussion on whether O’Donnell is fit to run for office.

“My problem is that, no matter what, Christine O’Donnell is making a mockery of running for public office,” McCain said on Sunday. “She has no real history, no real success in any kind of business.”

Can’t argue with her there. O’Donnell is certainly making a mockery of running for office. She’s also made a mockery of herself. From her past appearances with Bill Maher on “Politically Incorrect” criticizing masturbation and pre-marital sex, her own “experiments” with witchcraft, “dabbling” in Hare Krishna and Buddhism, to her disbelief of evolution, but belief in cloning of mice with human brains.

While she may have no experience in business, she certainly seems to know how to make a quick buck out of being famous for no other reason than being famous for running for office. (Just like Meghan McCain, minus the running for office part.)

Continuing the attack, McCain added that “what [O'Donnell's success] sends to my generation is: one day you can just wake up and run for Senate, no matter how [much of] a lack of experience you have. And it scares for me for a lot of reasons. I just know, in my group of friends, it turns people off because she’s seen as a nutjob.”

A “turn off” in your group. Really Meghan? To the “group” of us living in the real world, it’s a lot more than a “turn off.” It’s a horror show.

About that little matter of “making a mockery of running for public office” McCain speaks of? Yes, that does seem to be the latest trend these days, where one “just wakes up and decides to run for office” and run, they do. No matter that they have absolutely no qualifications and no knowledge of what that office is for, much less how to govern. Just make it up as you go along! Everybody’s doing it!

Let me think, when exactly did this become a trend, or become “vogue” as Meghan might say?

Well, I believe that would have been back when “Daddy” McCain just woke up and decided to pick Sarah Palin as a running mate in a last-ditch effort to save himself while he continued to make a mockery of running for President one last time.

And thanks to John McCain, we’ve been stuck with Palin ever since. Sarah Palin is the gift that keeps on giving. She seems to be the sleeping beast that woke an entire fringe of borderline nuts who think merely breathing or being over 18 is a qualification to run for office.

It’s similar to the old practice of experts as guests on the Sunday news shows that has given way to guests who have an agenda or celebrities who fancy themselves as experts because of who their parents are. “Experts” who find themselves shocked, shocked! that “nut-jobs” like Christine O’Donnell would dare to think they could run, and win a Senate seat.

Does that ring a bell Meghan?

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Activist Blasts Rick Scott Over “Profiting From Porn Industry”

A Florida based conservative group is blasting Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott, calling him a “faux conservative.”

In an e-mail to supporters, David Caton, the executive director of the Florida Family Association raises his objections to Scott’s investment in Quepasa Corp. which owns Quepasa.com, because it holds contests for Playboy and participates in gay “relationship networking.”

“Florida Family Association receives several emails every week from the Rick Scott campaign wherein he calls himself ‘conservative,’” Caton wrote. “ Additionally, his web site claims ‘I’m an across-the-board conservative.  I … support traditional marriage.’ However, his business and campaign practices contradict his self appointment as ‘an across-the-board conservative.’”

The message goes on to detail Caton’s primary objection—that Scott’s family’s invested in Quepasa Corp., owner of Quepasa.com, which holds contests for women to be featured in Playboy (link to company press release about it here) and includes a section for gay “relationship networking,” as Caton puts it.

The email message goes on: “Rick Scott explained in this The Tampa Tribune report regarding his accepting responsibility for HCA’s overbilling of Medicare that resulted in a $1.7 billion fine to his former company. ‘You have to remember, I was an Eagle Scout. … I went to church pretty much every Sunday growing up. Those things get ingrained in you. You learn you’ve got to do the right thing every day.’

“That is what Rick Scott said just three months ago, not ten years ago. So Rick Scott must believe that profiting from his investment in a company that lures women into the porn industry and connects same-sex partners for relationships is also something ingrained in him from the Boy Scouts and church as ‘the right thing to do every day.’”

Too bad Scott is avoiding the media.

But then it looks like he has a few new questions to avoid, so it’s probably not too surprising.

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