In 2010 Florida voters went to the polls and elected Republicans despite evidence of serious mismanagement of party finances by its state leaders. The GOP backers, mainly large corporations, seemed to shrug and plug the holes without comment. Now that the GOP controls the House, and in Florida-- the Governor's Mansion (occupied by a multi-centimillionaire who spent his equity to victory), it is possible that the most egregious of the corrupt may be held to account: Congressman David Rivera.
The GOP are masterful at exploiting visceral reactions of voters; having shown that the simple voter simply tunes out any effort to hear more than the highest notes and pitches. But trying to regain the perch and prerequisites of power the party held during the Bush years will require finesse. This week, we learned that state attorney general Pam Bondi hired a former Jeb! and Marco Rubio staffer, to be her chief of staff and that Rubio hired, to be his chief of staff, the former top domestic policy advisor of former vice president DIck Cheney. As the former GOP players and policies that created the biggest economic collapse since the depression rotate back into place, it will be necessary to throw at least a few sacrificial lambs to the crowd. The first could be David Rivera, who turns out to be as ethically challenged as his Democratic opponent, Joe Garcia, claimed him to be. Here's a post from earlier this week that was widely read and distributed. (for those who didn't catch it, click 'read more')
My ears perked up hearing House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) on President Obama's State of the Union speech, "Actions speak louder than words." On that front, Cantor should also be judged by his actions on his "zero-tolerance policy" for GOP lawmakers caught up in corruption. It has been weeks since GOP Congressman David Rivera has been under investigation and months since The Miami Herald raised corruption allegations of Rivera. Not a word from GOP leader Cantor. Is the problem that Rivera leads to Rubio and Rubio leads to Jeb!?
Now the question arises, once you pull back the layers of the corruption "onion", where does it lead? And another: will Governor Rick Scott and the Florida legislature act to revise laws that make the state, the number 1 in political corruption? In December, " The 19th State Grand Jury Report on Public Corruption was released. The report illustrates how the rush to privatize government services lead to corruption in Florida. The Grand Jury then urges action. "In order for government to function, the people must have faith in their elected officials. Unfortunately, one only needs to read the newspaper headlines across the State of Florida realize that public corruption is pervasive at all levels of government."
The Florida Independent reports, "Miami Beach Democrat and former state Sen. Dan Gelber, who lost the attorney general’s race to Bondi last month and is a well-known advocate for tougher ethics rules, acknowledges that the grand jury recommendations may be well intentioned, but ultimately lie at the mercy of a legislature weary of reform. “The problem has not been the ideas. It’s been the unwillingness of the Legislature to really reform itself and public offices around the state,” [Gelber] said. “The Legislature refuses to seriously address public corruption."
According to the St. Pete Times, "The grand jury used the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to underscore the depth of the problem. In that agency, supervisors flagrantly circumvented purchasing rules, a practice that become common knowledge and prompted other employees to act unethically, the panel says. "We were told employees would steal items such as flat screen televisions from the office. Depending upon the position of the employee, the supervisor often took no action," the report says. "Due to the unethical conduct at the supervisory level, a systemic acceptance of corruption was born." The report does not identify the leadership of the FWC, Rodney Barreto, who is a close confidante of Jeb!
In a 2004 report by AFCME, "Shady Deals in the Sunshine State: the Florida Model of Privatization sounded an alarm. In 2005 the Florida legislature passed SB 1146. Although the bill prohibited lobbyists from becoming members of the state's ethics commission and clamped down on former state employees who want to lobby state government, it was vetoed by then Governor Jeb Bush in June 2005. Jeb! claimed, "This legislation could have a Draconian impact on the ability of the state to recruit employees who eventually aspire to return to the private sector."
State attorney general Pam Bondi did not include public corruption among her top priorities. Bondi "Ideologically and philosophically ... stands with Florida's business community" according to Associated Industries' jackass-in-chief, Barney Bishop. One of Bondi's first hires was Chief of Staff Carlos Muniz, a protege of Senator Marco Rubio. Muniz was a deputy general counsel for former Governor Jeb Bush and later a partner for GrayRobinson. As to GrayRobinson, according to a St. Pete Times report, in 2006 GrayRobinson received a lucrative contract for legal services from the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority. Bondi was a county prosecutor in Hillsborough. The Authority's board ignored a selection committee recommendation to re-hire the authority's legal counsel. The contract was awarded to Gray Robinson, with all four of Bush's appointees voting to over-ride the selection committee's recommendation. "Gray Robinson ... has links to Bush. Karen Unger, who is married to Gray Robinson partner Jason Unger, served as Bush's campaign manager in 2004." ("Road Agency Under Fire Again", Sept. 2, 2006, St. Pete Times)
Florida led the nation in the number of public officials convicted in federal corruption cases from 1998 to 2007. Counting from 2000 forward, Florida still had more federal corruption convictions than any other state. "We're number 1", St. Pete Times columnist Howard Troxler crows.
If actions speak louder than words, the Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida legislature will quickly move to embrace the recommendations of the Florida Grand Jury Report on Public Corruption, including criminalizing offenses by public officials and eliminating loopholes. If actions speak louder than words, then Congressman David Rivera will be the shortest serving member of Congress in US history. Tea Partiers, hold your party leaders accountable?
6 comments:
I say "Drain the Swam" Oh, The other party tried that and we got Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters among others.
Corruption in Congress, Shocked I tell you, Shocked!!!!
Cantor is following the lead of Speaker Boehner, who is waiting until the investigations reveal enough facts to base some conclusions. Plus the House Ethics Committee CANNOT hold hearings on a member until the local law enforcement investigations are done, PLUS the committee can't sit until the Democrats nominate their members. So, all Cantor can do is wait. Sorry, but it isn't partisan stonewalling or hypocrisy, yet. Let's see what they do AFTER the indictments come down!
The way I see it, there are two good excuses for being a Republican. Being very wealthy, or being a Jew -- and I say this, precisely, for those "children of Israel" like Norman Braman. I understand that the wealthy ones want to keep more of their money, so being a Republican is understandable; now for the Jews, they all believe that this protection came strictly because the "born again," like Geroge W., believe that the "second coming o Jesus will happen in Israel," so this land needs to be protected. For the non-believers, study the senior Bush policies towards Israel and you will all see that they bear no relationship to those of his son. So, if you're not very wealthy, or Jewish, and you're a Republican, sorry to tell you that you're out of step with the what's going on in the world! In other words, you're full of crap!
Check the Herald's archive. Stephen Cody was the attorney who kicked Joe Garcia's case to toss Rivera off the ballot out of court. He's the attorney trying to stop the recall. What if he represents Rivera again? He has to be stopped!
Sorry gim, the system is no longer able to prosecute fraud and corruption because that would bring it down. This scumbag Rivera will never be touched.
I am just giggling about the "odor shield" garbage bags. A picture is worth a thousand words, or in your case, Gimleteye, perhaps 10,000 words!
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