Fanjuls, big Republican donors in Congressional District 25 ... by gimleteye

Flo Sun Inc., entity of the Fanjul family sugar barons, shows up on the NY Times elections blog as a big donor to the Rivera campaign in Congressional District 25, that stretches across the Everglades from Miami Dade into Collier County. US taxpayers create breaks for billionaires like the Fanjuls so growing sugar cane profitably is not much more complicated than turning on the kitchen faucet. With lots of free time-- and lobbyists covering every single base in Tallahassee and DC-- the Fanjiuls are free to rain donations strategically; from local county commission races to the White House. The one thing they do better than grow sugar is influence politicians. Rain or shine. It is just so much easier to control the flow of money into campaigns than water in canals. The point of nailing down the US Senate seat, through Marco Rubio, and the Congressional seat that is being contested by Democratic candidate Joe Garcia, is simply to keep the farm policies and subsidies and regulations intact. The way things are, the Everglades will never be protected until the Fanjuls wring the last penny from lands in the Everglades Agricultural Area. The world is awash in sugar production, yet the Everglades is hostage to sugar and voters are clueless as clucking chickens.