Thursday, March 01, 2007

Needs fixing...and fast!

Part II

So, how do you fix something as broken as Florida seems to be?

You do it the same way everyone else does it - at the local and state level, you elect representatives that you believe will take steps and measures that will strengthen your community. For decades - literally decades - the family's living in Florida couldn't get quantifiable representation to pass any laws or monetary appropriations that deal with children's issues, because the snow-birds would go to the polls in strength and vote any measures down. In fairness to them, they were on a fixed budget and their children and grandchildren were all living in other parts of the country. It took years of teeth-gnashing and fist pounding to finally get the parents to go to the polls and outnumber the snow-birds, and we have accomplished that goal in the past 10 years or so, and we're moving forward with some actual educational and child-care issues that lay dormant while the rest of the country passed us on.

It is the essence of a "representative government" that we pick the correct people to "represent" us. If a man from Kansas is elected state rep to Washington, D.C., he damn sure better be talking about farming and agriculture when he goes there. Detroit? Inner city issues and the auto industry. So on and so forth. It's actually a fairly simple concept. But nothing seems to be simple to the simpleton's in Florida. If you elect the wrong person, you'll get the wrong production. I give you three of Florida's elected State Senators, "distinguished gentlemen" and ladies, all.

Republican State Senator Michael "Mike" Bennett from the southwest coast of Florida, near Ft. Myers and Port Charlotte. He's the doof-ball I spoke of yesterday that wants to make it illegal to obey the law. I've covered him already, so I won't go back over it.








Democrat Frederica Wilson, from the southeast corner of the state, representing the greater Miami area.

Senator Wilson is famous for her groundbreaking education reform, right?
Ummmmm....no.

She's famous for the fair tax resolution, isn't she?
Ummmmmm....no.

Ecology and environment?
Ummmmm....no.

Senator Wilson is famous for wearing hats that match her clothing. What? Who wouldn't want to elect such a brilliant fashion plate as her? Senator Wilson's claim to fame as far as her job is concerned, is to try and pass a law that eliminates grades in schools. FL Proposal 0334.

"Children who achieve C grades and lower are categorized separately from children who are more successful in school."

Duuuuuuuh. That's the idea, Senator. Identify those who need help and those who can press on farther. You do this through testing and assignment of competency statistics, known as "grades".

Her second claim to fame is on-going, where in Fl Proposal 0536, she wants to ban the word "Alien" when talking about citizens from outside this country that are here without proper paperwork or permission. Evidently she thinks...wait...forget it. You get the idea.




Lastly, we have Orlando-based Democrat, Gary Siplin. Gary is currently sponsoring two bills, FL Proposals 0456 and 0466. These proposals have to do with wrongful incrimination lawsuits, and the reestablishment of convicted felon's right to vote.



Why is he sponsoring these two laws?

Because he was recently convicted of Grand Theft, misappropriation of public funds, fraud, and using government employees for improper means. He is free right now because his case is in appeal.

If we keep electing these types of people, Florida's reputation will not get better...it will get WORSE. But that fact notwithstanding, voters have not deterred from going to the polls and letting these morons call the shots for them.

I leave you with a still photo from a local Orlando Television News footage. That is State Senator Gary Siplin - a "distinguished gentleman" - scaling a chain link fence in an expensive suit to keep from being interviewed.










Your Honor...? The prosecution rests.

6 comments:

leelee said...

We moved from New Jersey to South Florida 16 years ago. I love and miss my home state and am always amazed and offended at the bad rap it constantly gets. NJ is one of the most beautiful states and unfortunately only ever seems to be judged by the Turnpike corrider and The Sopranos. But I am Italian too...so I get abused from all corners. As they say in Jersey "Only The Strong Survive"

NOW I can get abuse for living in the Miami area in which you so eloquently wrote: The Miami area - or as I like to call it - "New Jersey South", with it's pink highrise's that look suspiciously like the gray highrise's in Newark. Poor leelee.. obviously she can't make a decent decision on where to live..SUCH WRONG CHOICES...lol...oh well...everyone is entitled to their own opinion (it's getting tough to hang out over here at the blog formerly known as This And That.. I am in a constant state of defense :-))

OK that all being said..you know I had to...lol...all in fun JL4!

You do make good points about the elected officials in your piece. And I do not doubt your accuracy...it's frightening isn't it.. I am happy to say I have not voted for any of them And I suspect you could go to any state or municipality and find similar stories.. Why just look at the numbskull this country voted for TWICE as president. Florida is just keeping up with the country.

However, I would like to give a shout out to a congresswoman that I DID vote for and a few other officials I think are noteworthy:

Debbie Wasserman Schultz D-FL District 20. Working hard on issues like:

Budget
Cuba
Education
Everglades
FL Drilling
Gas Prices/Energy
GI Bill of Rights
Haiti
Israel
Jobs and the Economy
Separation between Church & State
Social Security
Sudan
Violence against Women

I voted for Debbie and I like what she has done for my District.

Former Gov Jeb Bush. I thought overall he did a good job overseeing this State. I didn't agree with him on everything but I'm glad he was around when we got hit with the Hurricanes on '04, '05. It was always my opinion that he would have made a MUCH BETTER choice as a Bush For Pres. But I think they (the powers that be in that group) Knew they wouldn't be able manipulate him so easy. He's on the ball. SIDE NOTE TO Jeb...PLEASE DON'T RUN FOR PRES...WE'VE HAD ENOUGH BUSHS!

I Like Senator Bill Nelson. Think he is a stand up guy and I like Senator Mel Martinez as he responded quickly to a letter I sent him on an immigration issue.

So far I'm liking Newly elected Gov Charlie Crist. He seems to be getting off on the right foot. And the state Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink is doing a good job so far.

I can't site specifics like you can JL4..you are well read in the matters of your state. I'm afraid I pay more attention to my local issues and the overall state issues that make it to the news. But I like living in Florida. It's beautiful where I live. I feel safe, I love the winters. I take advantage of all the great events and culture that there is in my area (just check my blog sometime for my Sunday outings). My husband and I have quite a succesfull business here and yes there is always room for improvement on the issues...which is why I vote religiously in every single election no matter how small or large.

But then again...what could I know...I'm from New Jersey ;-)

Oh and one more intersting tidbit. I read this in my AARP (ok it's my husbands subscription because we all know I am FAR TO YOUNG to be a member...BUT...3 Florida cities made it to a list of 10 nationwide cites that have had a decrease in crime.

#2 Tampa
#7 Miami
#8 Lakeland

So someone must be doing something right! Right??

Thank you :-) for another though provoking post.

(gosh I'm exhausted, time to make an umbrella drink and go sit by my pool with my goombas...lol...I crack myself up)

JL4 said...

And here I was thinking what they say in New Jersey is:

"DO YOU SMELL THAT?"

leelee said...

nice! I type out all that long reply and that's all I get..

HRMPPH!

JL4 said...

It was a great response thank you.

And by now, you haven't noticed that my humor is 100% smart-ass?

Although...there is that issue with the smell...

leelee said...

:-) Oh I hadn't noticed..humor you say??

that smell is just the folks from Mass. driving thru on their way to Fla.

lol

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