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Hernando Today

Voting For Dummies

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By FRANCES EARL, Call To Patriots

Hernando Today

Published: January 22, 2009

Too many of us are letting the Bush family of corruption off the hook, attributing the dire circumstances our nation and, in fact, the world now find ourselves in, to ineptness, lack of competency and "faulty intelligence". In fact, they have done exactly what they set out to do — create a super wealthy elite society carried on the backs of the middle class. Their agenda, and this includes the ever "popular" Jeb Bush, was to create the widest gap in history between the wealthy and well-educated class and the ever poorer and less well-educated middle class, disappearing as I write.
Did you vote for Jeb because he was a "good guy to have a beer with," just like Dubya? Well, now you can no longer afford the beer, so what do you think now guys? Have we in Florida been condemned to never notice that while education (where is the lotto money gone to?) is cut to the bone, creating a totally unprepared citizenry to deal with job requirements of the present and the future, places our state in a position to attract no good-paying jobs and no major companies who will insist on a high-tech work force before they will even consider a move to our state? Have you made any phone calls lately to your credit card company and not heard a voice from India? Is this another job "Americans don't want to do"?
The corruption Jeb Bush created in Florida is alive and well. How about Speaker of the House Sansom? If I got caught robbing a bank, then gave the money back, would that mean I was told to go home and "sin no more," or would I be charged with a crime? Because he resigned his "pay to play" position at the college he so regally gave our money to, the Republican Party Chair in Florida says "The speaker has resolved the questions relating to the issue." Oh yeah?! Not in my book, fellas. Resolving the issue means he is charged with a crime and removed from office! You know, like you and I would be charged and fired??
Then we have Buddy Johnson, former SOE of Hillsborough County, also being described as incompetent, instead of being investigated for missing votes, missing money and unsubstantiated charges he claims of unanticipated costs from the November election. Auditors apparently can only verify about $336,000 in overtime costs and do not know what he did with the other $1.7 million he wanted to replace and a failure of his staff to cooperate in any way. Phyllis Busansky, who defeated incumbent Johnson in November, is trying to figure out why suppliers of the new voting machines claim they were not paid $2.1 million they are still owed. Where is the money, show us the money! Does nobody pay for this corruption? Anyone checking for offshore accounts?
And now we come to the ever-popular Charlie Crist! He has not delivered on any of the promises he has made. He has made no suggestion to take back any of the tax breaks our Jeb administration handed out to corporate donors, totaling $20 billion dollars, but is busy making killer cuts to the education of our children and the care of the elderly. In July of 2006, then Gov. Bush signed legislation eliminating the state's tax on investments, the intangibles tax. This removed $131 million from the state treasury in 2006, with another $161 million expected in 2007. The average individual taxpayer helped by this bill has $1.6 million in taxable assets (per State Revenue Dept.) and faces an average tax burden of $700. This was Jeb's reward for those wealthy enough to have huge savings toward their retirement and, maybe, a yacht or two on the way. How many reading this column are in this illustrious category — not me I can tell you!
Someone should write a book, to be titled "Voting for Dummies in Florida." Our state, more than any other I know about, was the first to be told we are in a recession (though we had already been in the recession category for more than a year when we were officially awarded the title) and yet we continue to keep the Neocenes who are raping us in office. Is someone putting stupid pills in our food or are genetically impaired voters the folks moving to Florida? As I've asked in a previous column, how many times do you have to get hit in the head before you figure out who's doing it to you?
Cleanup is far from finished — demand removal from office of Sansom, investigate Buddy Johnson and stop making the middle class carry the burdens for the wealthy elite!

Frances Earl, former vice chairwoman of the Hernando County Democratic Executive Committee, may be contacted at fearl@tampabay.rr.com.

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