Democracy For Sale in United States, where independence of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches is only aspirational ... by gimleteye

The subject deserves a book. If it were a book, the destruction of democracy in the United States by special interests could be told through the all-out war by the GOP to stop the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from waking from its decades-long sleep. This federal agency is a regulatory Rip Van Wynkle, jarred from hibernation (imposed by industry lobbyists placed inside the agency as political appointees) to find the world of regulations changed drastically from its formation in the 1970's by a Republican president.

The example I would use, in this book to explain to the American people, is the effort by the US EPA to reign in the ongoing, lethal pollution of Florida waters from nutrients. One of President Obama's greatest achievements-- and least noted-- is his insistence to base environmental policies on science not the marketing budgets of big polluters. In taking this firm stance, he has triggered the fury of funders of the Tea Party like the Koch Brothers; billionaires whose profits are maximized when regulations are lax and unenforced.

Most public attention to the EPA by the mass market media is focused on climate change issues. Big Oil and Big Coal are spending millions against the US EPA intention to regulate carbon dioxide emissions that are turning the atmosphere into an oven. The water quality issue-- pollution as a result of fertilizing farms, lawns, and tolerating unlimited runoff of roadways and from urban areas into canals, streams, rivers and bays-- is under the mass market media radar, but the Florida example proves the point that of all Obama's initiatives, including health care, foreign policy, and taxation, it is the effort to regulate polluters that generates the most instant push back from the big contributors to the conservative, extremist right.

In Florida, the polluters control the legislature through lobbyists. In the current session of the Florida legislature, they are using the economic Depression in Florida to eliminate every regulation that hinders growth, conveniently sliding by the fact that a desperately polluted Florida will be unattractive to any investor, except one who seeks out a state with the least regulations. That's right: the new GOP slogan could be, "Come to Florida, we're too poor to clean ourselves up or even care!"

On the issue of the executive and legislative branches of government taking on the US EPA in Florida, the record is clear: Governor Rick Scott and the GOP legislature have taken every opportunity to express their objection to new EPA nutrient rules. Never mind the fact it took environmentalists more than a decade and important federal litigation to get EPA to face up to its responsibilities under the Clean Water Act to tame the pollution of Florida's waters. We are too poor to be clean is one part of the message, reinforcing a key GOP tenet that you can only protect the environment to the extent that profits from exploiting the environment generate revenues to afford regulation of polluters. It is part of the mad, inchoate logic of the "free market" capacity to regulate itself better than punitive laws and rules.

Now, in Miami-Dade County a new county commissioner-- Lynda Bell-- is picking up the cudgel on behalf of her campaign contributors and lobbyists. On April 4th, she has sponsored a resolution from the County Commission to object to new EPA rules to limit phosphorous pollution. What Bell knows about this issue could fit on the head of a pin. But she is just doing the work of her prophet, Natacha Seijas the former county commissioner disgraced by voters in a recent recall election.

If Bell is the worm's eye view of legislative attack on the EPA, then the bird's eye view would be the organizers of anti-pollution regulation efforts in Florida: Big Sugar. Billionaires like the Fanjuls of Coral Gables and Palm Beach routinely invest tens and hundreds of millions in lobbying against laws that restrict their massive blanketing of the former Everglades, now sugar fields, with nitrogen and phosphorous. The fertilizer is needed to augment land that has been exhausted to the point of disappearance in order to grow one of the most heavily subsidized industrial crops in America: sugar.

You see: Big Sugar is FOR federal regulations that protect its profits, like the Farm Bill, and AGAINST regulations that limit its profits, like the 10 parts per billion nutrient standard; the kernel in the corn of state-wide nutrient standards opposed by the Florida Chamber and Associated Industries. (Let's see the Tea Party take on Big Sugar and Marco Rubio, strongly supported by Big Sugar.) The Florida Independent took a look at the Fanjuls yesterday in a well written if not ground-breaking, "The Fanjuls, the Koch Brothers of South Florida."

How do these predatory practices add up to the federal judiciary is a more complicated point to unwind in a short blog post. Suffice it to say; this is the most important part of the Fanjuls game and one their lobbyists know perfectly well. All the huffing and puffing by the GOP wolves on the EPA water quality issue in Florida take place in the context of twenty years of litigation in federal court on Everglades water quality. Think of the battle to force EPA to regulate pollution in the Everglades-- facts long-ago determined by federal courts-- as a template for state-wide nutrient pollution issues.

Environmental non profit groups (I am conservation chair of Friends of the Everglades) have struggled through this time to raise funds to initiate highly complex litigation against government agencies, including the EPA!, for its failure to enforce pollution limits and remedies against Big Sugar's pollution. Fighting on the other side are law firms founded by Ramon Rasco (Rasco, who is also the chairman of US Century Bank-- the region's zero ranked sprawl advocate also recently hired former Steel Hector's Joe Klock who has represented the Fanjuls for decades) and the State of Florida itself, taking marching orders from Gov. Scott and the legislature, to corner and box any federal judge who gets it in his or her uppity head that they can mess with the prerequisites of the powerful in the world's most outstanding democracy.

The polluters' trump card: GOP presidents who have approved federal judges who pass muster and meet the quality control standards of Big Business. Proxies of the president like Karl Rove understand perfectly well how federal district cases on the environment can be appealed and even end up crashing into the U.S. Supreme Court. It's all about politics.

The so-called judicial conservatives are "activists" on behalf of causes Big Business supports. If somehow a federal budget emerges in the next few weeks, with or without anti-environmental riders including one that would prohibit EPA from imposing pollution standards on Florida waters, no one will cheer the impending gridlock more than Big Sugar and its billionaires who know that for the foreseeable future, there have never been better conditions to buy the legislative and executive branches. Limits on campaign contributions have been thrown to the wind by the US Supreme Court. It's not just political offices that are for sale. In Florida, everything is for sale. Just look at what Miami-Dade's Miguel Diaz de la Portilla is proposing with SB1690 -- to remove limits on state campaign contributions-- for evidence that the doors to the prisons have been thrown open and the keys to the jail thrown down the sewer grate. (Click 'read more', for three important articles including the one on the Fanjuls, "The Koch Brothers of South Florida".)

The Fanjuls: The Koch brothers of South Florida?

By Kyle Daly | 03.31.11 | 10:59 am
The Florida Independent


Following revelations of their involvement in the war on public unions in Wisconsin, the once-anonymous Koch Industries Executive Vice President David and his brother Charles have in a short time become boogeymen of the left, the liberal answer to the man behind many conservative conspiracies: George Soros — something David groused about in a recent, fawning Weekly Standard profile.
Meanwhile, other billionaires and multimillionaires who have used their wealth to fund their agendas have managed to slip under the radar. Among them are the Fanjul family — Florida sugar magnates who also happen to be friends and neighbors of David and Julia Koch.
Like the Kochs, Alfonso “Alfy” and José “Pepe” Fanjul are two of four brothers who inherited a massive conglomerate from their father — in their case, Cuban sugar kingpin Alfonso Fanjul, Sr., who fled Cuba when Fidel Castro came to power. Unlike the Kochs, Alfy and Pepe are by all accounts still on good terms with their brothers, Alexander and Andrés, though Alfy and Pepe are higher profile and are the top executives at Flo-Sun, Inc., the family sugar empire.
Flo-Sun owns resorts in the Dominican Republic but gets most of its revenue through its American Sugar Refining division. American Sugar owns the C&H, Florida Crystals and Redpath Sugar brands, but its largest and best-known subsidiary is Domino Foods, Inc., producer of Domino Sugar. All told, Flo-Sun is estimated to pull in about $2.5 billion annually.
The Fanjuls, however, are not necessarily the easy liberal targets that the Kochs are.
To begin with, Alfy is a devoted Democrat. In the run-up to the 2010 election, he gave $37,230 to nine Democratic candidates for U.S. Congress. The biggest recipients of his largess were Kendrick Meek, who lost his Senate bid to Marco Rubio despite former President Bill Clinton’s vigorous campaigning, and Ted Deutch, the Broward County representative (and, given their Palm Beach headquarters, the Fanjuls’ own congressman) who overwhelmingly defeated Republican Ed Lynch in a special election in April of last year.
Despite Deutch’s party affiliation, based on his policies and his voting record in the Florida Senate prior to becoming a U.S. representative, Associated Industries of Florida gave Deutch an 80 percent “business friendly” rating, the third highest of any Florida Democrat analyzed, and the highest of any Democrat now serving on the national stage. His general voting record in U.S. office, however, has been overwhelmingly along party lines.
Pepe Fanjul, meanwhile, gave $40,100 to nine Republican candidates prior to the 2010 election. He gave the most to U.S. Rep. David Rivera, he of numerous ethics troubles. Should Rivera remain in office, he has pledged (.pdf) to oppose any legislation addressing climate change that would increase any amount of government spending. The pledge he signed was originated by Americans for Prosperity, a limited-government organization funded by the Koch brothers.
The second largest recipient of Pepe Fanjul’s campaign contributions was freshman U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, whose dedication to loosening environmental regulations on corporations like Flo-Sun has previously been reported by The American Independent.
Of course, for mega-corporations like the Fanjuls’, just giving to favored candidates may not represent the best Washington investment for their money. Lobbying is where the Fanjuls put in major cash.
Flo-Sun spent $695,000 (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) in 2010 alone lobbying the House, Senate and the U.S. Department of Agriculture on industrial waste regulations, food safety rules relating to sugar and elements of the Clean Water Act that affect the Florida Everglades.
Neither the Fanjuls nor their lobbying firms are required to disclose exactly what’s discussed in lobbyist meetings or which politicians have agreed to meet with them — though it would certainly strain belief to suggest that they’re spending almost a quarter-million dollars a year to argue in favor of deeper government regulation. Since 2005, Flo-Sun has spent $3.65 million lobbying the federal government.


orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-scott-maxwell-money-politics-0330120110329,0,2725932.column
OrlandoSentinel.com
Just what we need: More big money in politics
Scott Maxwell
TAKING NAMES
March 30, 2011
Florida lawmakers are among the most innovative pimps you'll ever meet.
Just when you think they've exhausted every possible way to prostitute themselves, they come up with something new.
The latest proposals have politicians trying to raise campaign-donation limits — by stratospheric proportions — and setting up political slush funds where they can accept unlimited amounts of cash.
Sure, our state is in a financial crisis. And yes, there's talk of de-funding everyone from veterans to the disabled. But darn it, if legislative leaders can't find an easier way for Big Sugar or the billboard industry to give them $50,000, what's the point of being in office?
We'll start with Senate Bill 1690 — the one to boost maximum contributions from $500 up to $10,000.
That's for the gubernatorial races, anyway. Donations would top out at $5,000 for other statewide candidates; $2,500 for legislative races; and $1,000 for local ones.
The bill's sponsor, Miami Republican Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, says his plan has nothing to do with wanting more money.
Of course it doesn't.
He says he just wants to free up legislators to spend more time with their constituents. If they can take big chunks of cash, they won't have to waste time chasing down all those pesky little $500 ones.
"What you'll see," Diaz de la Portilla told the News Service of Florida, "is candidates being able to spend a lot more time campaigning and being out there with voters…"
I see. You know what else might help you guys save time? If we just let you accept briefcases full of cash. Maybe some cars, boats and jewelry too.
I'm sure there are any number of companies — like a casino giant desperate for you to legalize gambling on South Beach, for instance — that would gladly fork over $250,000 in unmarked bills.
And think of all the extra time you hardworking public servants would have if you didn't have to waste time worrying about silly things like jobs or mortgage payments either.
(More on this bill in the newest installment of the Malarkey Meter at orlandosentinel.com/takingnames
The other big-money idea lawmakers love is leadership slush funds. So they're bringing those back, too.
They voted to do so just last week.
We're talking millions of dollars — unlimited donations to funds controlled by the incoming legislative leaders from each party. Future leaders, like incoming House speakers and Senate presidents, will now be allowed to take big checks from special interests and then redistribute the money to their friends' campaigns — in chunks as big as $50,000 each for legislative races and $250,000 for statewide ones.
How is the average Floridian supposed to compete with that?
You can't. In fact, this toxic combination of money and politics was such an obvious recipe for corruption that Florida lawmakers outlawed leadership slush funds more than 20 years ago.
On the day after the state House took action back in 1989, the Sentinel headline read: "HOUSE CLEANS ITS IMAGE BY PASSING BILL."
But we're now in a new era in Florida — one in which politicians seem to care a lot less about their image.
So I have an idea of my own. If we can't get them to clean up their act, at least we can make the money easier to follow.
My idea: Sponsorship patches.
You know, like NASCAR.
If a corporate interest cuts a sizable check to a politician — be it through increased campaign limits, leadership slush funds, political parties or third-party groups — then that politician would have to wear a patch with the donor's logo.
This way, if a lawmaker tries to ram through some surprise piece of legislation allowing oil drilling in our shallow waters, for instance, you can simply look at his suit jacket and say: "Oh, I get it! Senator Smith is sponsored by the Florida Association of Petroleum Patriarchs!"
Think about how much easier it would be for you to understand why a lawmaker was voting to cut school funding — so that he could give an extra tax break to high-end yachts — if his suit pocket is clearly labeled: "Sponsored in part by the Florida Yacht-Hawkers Association."
We may not be able to stop these guys from acting like prostitutes.
But at least we can make it easier to see who their johns are.
smaxwell@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-6141
Copyright © 2011, Orlando Sentinel


Florida Legislature proves once and for all that it is for sale
By Howard Troxler, Times Columnist
In Print: Sunday, March 27, 2011



These are harsh words for a Sunday morning, but the occasion screams out for them. I take them from the Bible; please forgive me.

The Florida Legislature proved this past week, once and for all, that it is the utter Whore of Babylon.

It is now legal in our state to pay off the Legislature directly. Who says so? The Legislature.

This is not a joke.

This is not satire.

This is Florida — where the laws of our democracy are now openly, officially For Sale.

On Thursday afternoon, with greedy lip-smacking speed, the Legislature voted to relegalize a bygone and corrupt institution, outlawed in this state for more than two decades, known as "leadership funds."

These "leadership funds" are campaign slush funds operated legally and officially by the leaders of the Legislature themselves:

The speaker of the Florida House and his chosen successor, the "speaker designate."

The president of the Florida Senate and his successor.

The leaders of the minority party in the House and Senate.

So now, just as it was in Florida's corrupt past, if you are an interest group that wants a law passed, you simply go to the leaders of the House and Senate …

And you pay them off directly.

I feel the need to repeat: This is not a joke.

This is now the law of Florida, as of Thursday — for they tripped over themselves to make it effective immediately.

And so this is our stewardship of the great nation birthed by Washington and Jefferson and preserved by Lincoln.

This is the American legislative process once practiced by Clay and Webster.

This is what we have come to.

"Lawmakers" walking around with open gunny sacks, selling the democracy, frankly, proudly, wickedly, shamelessly, amorally.

Good God.

• • •

If you tell yourself a lie, and if everybody around you tells the exact same lie, and it is vitally important that all of you believe it — then all of you will believe it.

Especially if you all profit from it.

And so every single person in Tallahassee who voted for this outrageously wicked law on Thursday will tell you exactly the same lie:

It's an improvement.

It's a reform.

Here is Tallahassee thinking. Here is how they rationalize it:

See, it will be better if interest groups can just pay off the Legislature directly. We will list the contributions in a separate report and everybody can see it. This will be more "transparent."

Yes, a nice, separate report! Makes me feel better!

Except for two tiny, teeny things:

1. The money is laundered anyway.

They turn right around and pour their ill-gotten money into local elections around the state to perpetuate their power. Local candidates Smith and Jones are still being bankrolled by corporations, or unions as the case may be, hidden through the leadership funds.

2. The second teeny, tiny problem is, in case I have not adequately mentioned it …

THE LEGISLATURE IS BEING PAID OFF

Good grief! Jehoshaphat! Are you kidding me? Are you kidding?

In what universe should the very writers of law in a democracy operate their own slush funds, into which those seeking favorable treatment can pour money?

Listen:

If you are personal friends with, or a fellow Rotary member of, a Florida legislator who voted for this — heck, if you are married to someone who voted for this — you will want to believe him or her. This is human nature. It is loyalty. It is understandable.

Ed Hooper of Clearwater. Peter Nehr of Tarpon Springs.

Jeff Brandes of St. Petersburg, who promised to take people to the "woodshed." (Did he mean, so they could give money there?)

Jim Frishe of St. Petersburg. Dana Young of Tampa. Will Weatherford of Wesley Chapel, the next speaker, whom I like tremendously.

I am sure that if you are among their friends or family, you will want to believe them. They will speak very smoothly about it.

But here is the reality. Here is the truth.

Legislators. Sworn to the sacred duty of writing the laws of a free people. Taking legal, direct payoffs from those seeking favorable laws.

If you can swallow that, then your moral relativism knows no bounds.

• • •

Here is who voted for this from our part of the state, and who voted against it.

Senators voting yes:

Dennis Jones, R-Treasure Island; Jack Latvala, R-St. Petersburg; Jim Norman, R-Tampa; Ronda Storms, R-Brandon.

Senators voting no:

Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey; Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland; Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa.

House members voting yes:

Larry Ahern, R-Seminole; Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton; Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg; Rachel Burgin, R-Riverview; Richard Corcoran, R-New Port Richey; Jim Frishe, R-St. Petersburg; Rich Glorioso, R-Plant City; James Grant, R-Tampa; Shawn Harrison, R-Tampa; Ed Hooper, R-Clearwater; John Legg, R-New Port Richey; Seth McKeel, R-Lakeland; Peter Nehr, R-Tarpon Springs; Rob Schenck, R-Spring Hill; Jimmie Smith, R-Inverness; Greg Steube, R-Bradenton; Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel; Dana Young, R-Tampa.

House members voting no:

Janet Cruz, D-Tampa; Richard Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg; Betty Reed, D-Tampa; Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg.

Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city!