Go vote…

 

…even though you probably do not have any real choices to pick from. this has been a lousy campaign season for the voters of this country because some of our selections I am sure that we would rather do without.

    In Nevada, Harry Reid does need to be put out to pasture but his opponent would be a real bad move for the state if she wins his Senate seat. Nevada has enough problems as it is, as I am sure that the state in which you reside does also.

   If you are one of those Tea Party candidate supporters, I hope that you can live with yourself if that group makes any inroads today. Nothing but disaster awaits us if that happens.

   Anyway,go vote even if it is for “none of the above.”

Technorati Tags: Mid-Term,Elections,2010 Elections,Tea Party,Republicans,Democrats,Current Events

Rick Scott or Alex Sink For Governor Of Florida?

 

    This is another one of those “lesser evils” pick so far as I am concerned. Both of them claim that they will bring more jobs to Florida but between the two of them, they are responsible for nearly 6.000 lost jobs in the state.

    Rick Scott ® was the CEO of Hospital giant Columbia/HCA back in the 90’s and Alex Sink  (D) was the head honcho of Bank of America’s Florida Division, also in the 90’s.

   They are both talking up job creation in the state as a way to jump-start the Florida economy and,surprisingly, neither is speaking about the others job cuts while running their respective organizations. To much dirt to be flinging at each other I guess.

   Rick Scott was told to leave Columbia after the F.B.I. started an investigation into the company’s Medicare billing practices. Though Scott never admitted to anything (plead 5th amendment rights 75 times) he was forced out and the company paid a $1.75 BILLION Medicare fraud fine.

   Alex Sink:

As president of Florida operations for NationsBank as it gobbled up state banking giant Barnett Bank, Sink presided over the postmerger bank, which was expected to eliminate 6,000 posts to streamline operations, closing 200 branches in Florida.                     Source

    The thing which the Republican Party fails to mention in their television ads is the fact that Alex Sink was told what to do by her higher ups, this was not something that she just went ahead and did on her own.

   Rick Scott, on the other hand, was the frog at the top and the Columbia layoffs were by his doing.

    Alex Sink made no profit from the layoffs at BofA,but, Scott did from his ousters.

When Sink left the company, she had earned $8.8 million in the last three years, a combination of her salary and cashing in 26 years of accumulated stock options, pension and deferred compensation, but it was not a bonus or tied to the job losses.

Scott, though, benefitted financially from the Columbia/HCA job cuts because it helped boost the company's stock, which was a darling on Wall Street until the federal government launched a FBI probe….

   Once again, I have to vote for “none of the above” even though I think that Sink is the lesser of the two evils. Scott still will not discuss his testimony over Columbia’s Medicare dealings, and if you plead the 5th 75 times,voters have the right to know why.

Technorati Tags: Alex Sink,Rick Scott,Governor,Florida,Mid-Term,Elections,Clumbia/HCA.Bank of America,Republicans,Democrat,Politics,News,Current Events,Unemployment

Mid-Term Election Lies Part 2

 

   We all know that this election season has brought out the worst television attack ads as far back as many of us can remember. One would think that this is just something that is going on in our respective states in which we live but that is not the case. It is as though everyone on the Republican side of the aisle have all been reading from the same playbook as have the Democrats who have come up with a few of their own truth exaggerations.  Difference is that the Republicans are in lock-step with each other (as always) while the Democrats have only mixed pages of their playbook and they do not know what to do next. This has always been a problem for this party. No one wants to cooperate with the other and they end up in the mess in which they now find themselves in. Republicans lie in their attack ads and the Democrats have not enough brains in their heads to bring up the untruths so they eat the dust come election time.

   Republican lie: Democrats are cutting Medicare.

   While this is not an entirely untrue statement, the GOP just flat out forgets to tell viewers the whole story.

   PolitiFact

We lost count of the Republican ads telling seniors to worry because Democrats had slashed $500 billion from Medicare, the government-run health insurance program for seniors. But each time, we've rated it a significant exaggeration. Democrats did vote to reduce spending as part of the health care reform law, and it does sound like a humongous amount -- until you learn that the cuts are spread out over the next decade and aimed at parts of Medicare that are considered wasteful or ineffective.

   So what about the lies from the Democrats? The GOP wants to privatize Social Security!

PolitiFact

Social Security is basically a pension program paid for with payroll taxes from today's workers. But some lawmakers, primarily Republicans, would like to reduce the future burden on the government by letting younger workers set aside part of their payroll taxes into individual retirement accounts. The attack ads leave out that Republicans who support such a plan -- which they call "personal" accounts -- don't want to change benefits for current retirees or those who are near retirement.

• We fact-checked an attack ad from Rep. Steve Kagen, D-Wisc., that his Republican opponent Reid Ribble "wants to phase out Social Security, forcing Wisconsin seniors to fend for themselves." We rated that Pants on Fire.
• We looked at a statement by Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., that her Republican opponent Rep. John Boozman wants to privatize Social Security. We rated that Barely True.
• And in Colorado, we looked at Sen. Michael Bennet's charge that Republican Ken Buck wants to privatize Social Security. That got a Half True.

 

  Tough election year for the politicians and it is even tougher this time around for the voters. Do you thing people and get out to the polls on Tuesday. If you do not like your choices then vote “none of the above.”  You cannot do any worse.

Technorati Tags: Mid-Term,Elections,Republicans,Democrats,Tea Party,Senate,TV Ads,PolitiFact,News,Current Events

Mid-Term Election Falsehoods…

 

…are at an all-time high this mid-term election season with flat out lies and half-truths coming from both sides of the political spectrum. It has been really interesting to watch the attack ads that run on television down here in the state of Florida,but we have all seen this kind of crap in just about all of the states. So what’s new?  The main problem here in Florida is that we really do not have anyone on either side of the equation that is worth voting for.

    The race for the Senate is pretty much a given that it will be either Charlie Christ who has changed his clothing from the Republican rack and who is now claiming to be an Independent while railing against GOP issues that he has supported for all of his life. He is/was a staunch George Bush Supporter and he has always been a Republican and he will continue to be a Republican. He is counting on the stupidity of the Florida voter in order to stay in political office.

  Charlie Christ has been on television talking about reducing taxes for business in order to garner more jobs for Florida and he’s been saying the GOP thing about less government, but wait, what’s this?

Crist Ad Statement: “And the best ideas from Republicans, like cutting waste, so we can hold down taxes.” (Crist TV Ad, “Line In The Sand,” 9/13/10)

FACT: In 2009, Charlie Crist Broke His Pledge Against Raising Taxes By Signing A Budget That “Includes $2.2 Billion In New Fees And Taxes.” “Breaking a pledge against raising taxes, Gov. Charlie Crist signed Florida’s $66.5 billion budget into law Wednesday and barely used his veto pen. … Also, the budget includes $2.2 billion in new fees and taxes. … By not vetoing the new taxes, Crist violated a no-new-taxes pledge he made on the campaign trail in 2006.” (Marc Caputo, “Gov. Crist Signs $66.5 Billion Budget, Breaks Tax Pledge,” St. Petersburg Times, 5/28/09)

FACT: Crist Increased The State Workforce For the First Time Since Lawton Chiles, a Liberal Democrat, Was Governor. “The annual report indicates that Crist has presided over the first growth in total state government employment since the late Gov. Lawton Chiles started the decline in his last year – a reduction that Bush accelerated with privatization and computerization.” (Bill Cotterell, “State Jobs On Rise Again,” The News-Press, 12/30/07)

FACT: Under Crist, The Number Of State Government Employees Has Grown Nearly 13%. (The People’s Budget Website, http://www.thepeoplesbudget.state.fl.us/bdagencies.aspx?full=1, Accessed 3/27/10)

FACT: Under Crist, “Florida’s State Government Is Cresting On Its Biggest Tide Of Red Ink In History.” “Even as talk of deficits and debt seem focused largely on Washington, Florida’s state government is cresting on its biggest tide of red ink in history. Now, the $26.4 billion owed by state taxpayers may threaten several environmental, transportation and classroom spending commitments in the upcoming legislative session.” (John Kennedy, “State Debt Could Threaten Fla. Government Programs,” The Ledger, 2/7/10)                      Source

    I should note that the source for this info comes from his maim opponent, Republican Mark Rubio, who I’ll be posting on next.

   Christ is just one of the many Republicans in Independent clothing trying to keep his scam going against the people of Florida. There is no real choice when having to pick between Christ,Rubio,or Democrat Meeks.

Technorati Tags: Florida,Senate,Mid-Term,Elections,Charlie Christ,Mark Rubio,Republicans,Independent,FactCheck,News,Current Events,An American Gothic