Florida inauguration: Goodbye, Charlie … hello, Crooky …
And so it’s done. Florida has officially inaugurated … ugh … sorry … Gollum as governor, and waved goodbye to the tan man. God … help … us … all ….
From Health News Florida — the most appropriate place to go for this I think …
In 1997, Rick Scott was pushed out of the top job at Columbia/HCA in a Medicare fraud scandal that ultimately forced the hospital company to pay $1.7 billion in fines. At 11:56 a.m. today, he became Florida governor.
Call it a resurrection. Call it focus and brains. Call it taking advantage of angry political times.
But whatever happened during the past nine months, Scott started out as a virtual unknown and proceeded to beat Republican establishment candidate Bill McCollum and the Democrats’ only hope, Alex Sink.
During his inaugural address after being sworn in by Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Canady, Scott focused on the same message as during his campaign: Create jobs and bring about conservative change.
“Prosperity comes from the private sector — only the private sector,” Scott told a crowd fanned out in front of the Old Capitol. “The only path to better days is paved with private-sector jobs.”
Scott did not offer detailed health-care plans during the speech but said he wants to take a “fresh look” at the state’s health and education systems and offer more choices in the services that people receive. He also criticized “top-down” health programs — a message that could dovetail with his support for expanding the use of managed care in the Medicaid program and his opposition to the federal health overhaul.
Senate Democratic Leader Nan Rich, D-Weston, issued a statement after the speech that took note of Scott’s opposition to the Obama administration, which has been most visible in his criticism of the federal health law. Rich said she hopes the “personal war he has declared on Washington doesn’t adversely affect the essential services Florida provides, from public education to health care.”
Yeah. Good luck with that.
The inaugural, which Peter Schorsch covered, so I could thankfully ignore it, was heavily financed by the lobbyists and special interests who now officially own the Sunshine State, thanks to our new fraud-certified CEO.
Gollum “got to work” after the … um … “festivities…” ahem … issuing a string of executive orders sure to please the tea party faithful, by attempting to scare the brown people away. From the in-box:
Tallahassee, Fla.—Immediately after being sworn-in as Florida’s 45th governor, Gov. Rick Scott fulfilled campaign promises by signing executive orders to freeze job-killing regulations and require state agencies to verify legal immigration status. He also established a tough new ethics policy and affirmed his commitment to diversity in employment.
Executive Order No. 11-01 freezes all new regulations and establishes the Office of Fiscal Accountability and Regulatory Reform, which will review all rules prior to promulgation as well as agency practices and contracts.
- Immediately suspends rulemaking for all agencies under the direction of the Governor.
- Establishes the Office of Fiscal Accountability and Regulatory Reform to review all rules (including those suspended by the Order) prior to promulgation and to review agency practices and contracts.
- Imposes 90-day suspension on execution of any contracts with a value in excess of $1 million, without prior approval from the Office.
- Prohibits agencies from promulgating rules unless they obtain prior approval from the Office.
Executive Order No. 11-02 requires state agencies to use the E-Verify system verify employment eligibility of state employees and contractors.
- All state agencies under the direction of the Governor must use E-Verify system to check employment eligibility of their current and prospective employees.
- Requires state agencies under the direction of the Governor to include in all state contracts a requirement that contractors utilize the E-Verify system to verify the employment eligibility of:
- all persons employed during the contract term by the contractor to perform employment duties within Florida; and
- all persons (including subcontractors) assigned by the contractor to perform work pursuant to the contract with the state agency.
Executive Order No. 11-03 establishes the Governor’s policy on ethics and open government.
- Orders the adoption and implementation of a revised, stronger, code of ethics in the Governor’s office, and directs agencies under the direction of the Governor to revise their codes of ethics accordingly.
- Recognizes work of 19th Statewide Grand Jury and directs Governor’s Special Counsel and Chief Ethics Officer to review their Report and recommend a plan for implementation of all or certain, as advisable, of the Grand Jury Recommendations.
- Reaffirms commitment to Office of Open Government and calls for establishment of new Web site providing access to accountability information.
Executive Order No. 11-04 reaffirms the Governor’s commitment to diversity in government.
- Reaffirms prohibition on discrimination in employment based on race, gender, creed, color, or national origin, and affirms commitment to hiring, retaining and promoting the highest quality candidates regardless of the above.
- Reaffirms policy of non-discrimination in state contracting without regard for race, gender, creed, color, or national origin.
To view a copy of each Executive Order and the Code of Ethics, please visit these links:
Wait — isn’t a Scott “code of ethics” kind of an oxymoron? Just sayin … and about when does the new corporate overlord plan to post the salaries of his new hires? Or should we just sit back and wait for the deportations and house to house raids to begin…?
Meanwhile, totally coincidentally — Broward and my city of Pembroke Pines plans to begin injecting sewage into the drinking water. Oh yeah, we’re doomed.
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6 Responses to “Florida inauguration: Goodbye, Charlie … hello, Crooky …”
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New governor Rick Scott stated that ” prosperity comes from the private sector” Well correct me if I am wrong new governor elected Mr.Scott wasn’t it the private sector greed that got us in this mess!!!!
Wait…I thought Scott’s prosperity came from stealing Medicare blind. I mean that WAS public money, wasn’t it?
Rick Scott, if you want to create jobs and jobs only come from the private sector, why did you just run for governor?
How are you going to create jobs IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR?
Go back to the private sector and do all the job creating you want – get the fuck out of my statehouse.
Hilarious.
We Americans must be the dumbest people on Earth. We elect crooks to office, and buy into his peddling of the same stale old bullshit about “prosperity only comes from the private sector,” even though the last two years has shown that’s demonstrably untrue…
Yes, it’s true: in America, “you can’t keep a good crook down.” Especially when there are rubes dumb enough to trust him with public office.
YOU SAID A MOUTHFUL, BUT TRUE.
O’Bama said to forget the past and concentrate on the future, so he let all the criminals in Gov. get free ride. Including Cheney who told Air Force to stand down on 9-11. Plus all the financial Criminals. Who is worse Criminals or the ones who let them go free?