Can Floridians believe everything in Scott’s State of the State Address?

Can Floridians believe everything in Scott’s State of the State Address?

By Roger Caldwell

     “I knew that our primary job was to move Florida’s economy out of the red and into the Black. We needed to cut spending, pay down debt and support job creation. What we needed to do was simple and many ways remains the same today,” says Governor Rick Scott, in his 2013 State of the State Address.

    Governor Scott is very proud of his record, and he believes that his platform and plan is working. In the last two years Florida’s unemployment rate has dropped 3 percent down to 7.9 percent, and is nearly down to the national average. There is a surplus in the budget and that is the first time in five years. He has been able to cut taxes and he has been able to invest in education.

    This year the governor will be focused on getting teachers a $2,500 raise, and getting the Florida legislature to remove the sales tax on manufacturing equipment. His goal has always been to increase economic growth and help create jobs for Floridians. Based on the governor’s accountability there is a debate on how to count all the jobs he has created.

    If you close your eyes and listen to Governor Scott everything is running smooth, but the polls tell a different story, and they are terrible. Somehow our governor has forgotten the voting fiasco in November 2012, and Floridians had to wait eight hours to vote. Scott refused calls to extend early voting hours, and I wonder at that time if he was putting Floridians’ first. Everyone in the country was also questioning our governor’s leadership ability when it takes 3 days to count bal-lots.           

    While families are struggling to make ends meet, our governor is slashing unemployment benefits, which is the lowest in the country, and I wonder again if he is putting families first. Governor Scott has also cut penalties for polluters and slashed $700 million in funds for local water management districts. He has also cut more state employees in two years than any other Florida governor.

    Governor Scott has spent millions of taxpayers money to block the Affordable Care Act, and now he has changed his mind and he is moving to implement the law. He continued to waste taxpayers’ money, when he tried to purge legal voters so the Republicans could win the state, but he was wrong and he lost.

    From the very first day Scott took office he only cared about his personal agenda, and many Floridians have forgotten when he refused the high speed rail, and $2.4 billion from the federal government and thousands of jobs. Our governor is concerned with saving and cutting taxes for his millionaire friends and saving taxes for the large corporations. He cut $1.3 billion from the public schools, and now he wants everyone to think that his priority is education.

    Governor Scott’s priority is making money, and he will spend $100 million to get back in office to continue to help the rich get richer. Our governor has the wrong priorities for our state, and it is important to understand how he is devastating and hurting Florida. Ethics reform is a major priority in the legislature this session, because our leaders have been stealing our state blind.