I know I shouldn’t gloat but it’s hard to feel sorry for my neighbors here in Central Florida. Just a few months ago, Sandra and I went to the church next door to vote and I’ll bet we were the only ones there filling in those little ovals next to the names of Democratic candidates. It seems everybody around here is a Republican.
So they voted in a bunch of Republicans and a governor named Rick Scott.
Well, who’s sorry now?
Look, it ain’t me. I am retired and they’re not talking about cutting my Social Security and Medicare. It’s yours they’re after, buddy. You forty-somethings and fifty-somethings. You’re the ones with your retirement on the chopping block.
And all of you out there still trying to make a living, how do you like those empty want-ad pages? And, how does it feel to have your unemployment insurance shredded?
Yep. That’s the latest from your Republican overlords. Lose your job and look out. They’re slashing the number of weeks you can be on unemployment compensation.
And all you schoolteachers and other public employees who have lost – or are losing –Â your jobs, what were you thinking when you voted for the GOP?
How about you businessmen (and women) who were counting on that high-speed train stopping here in Lakeland on its way between Orlando and Tampa?
You were thinking maybe that the project would bring you some new business? Not to mention hundreds of new jobs that would inject some badly needed cash into the local economy?
Well, there’s none of that federal cash coming now, pal, Governor Scott turned it down.
Read this McClatchy Newspapers report and weep:
Washington – The Obama administration parceled out $2 billion Monday for high-speed rail projects in the Northeast, Midwest and California, repurposing a pot of funds rejected in February by Florida’s Republican governor.
Amtrak’s Washington-Boston Northeast Corridor is the biggest winner, getting nearly $800 million of the funds; followed by the Midwest, with $400 million going toward Chicago-Detroit and Chicago-St. Louis routes; and California, with $300 million for the state’s planned San Francisco-Los Angeles high-speed route. An additional $336 million is designated for new locomotives and passenger cars for the Midwest and California.
“These projects will put thousands of Americans to work, save hundreds of thousands of hours for American travelers every year, and boost U.S. manufacturing by investing hundreds of millions of dollars in next-generation, American-made locomotives and railcars,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement.
The Florida project was supposed to be a showcase of President Barack Obama’s $10 billion high-speed rail initiative, but Gov. Rick Scott canceled the project, saying he didn’t want the state’s taxpayers to be on the hook for future operating costs.
You say you wanted a bunch of anti-choice guys running the state? Well, that’s what you got. They’re busy trying to make it as hard as possible for a woman to get an abortion in Florida.
You say you wanted “small government”? Well, that ain’t happening. The state government – and state spending – is ballooning to police the anti-abortion laws and enact the rest of their ideological agenda.
Meanwhile, don’t expect to get a job anytime soon. You know that is the last thing on their minds.
Unemployment in this state is above 11 percent, and that’s the way they like it.
They’re all right, Jack. There’s not a legislator in Tallahassee who is hurting for cash. And as for Scott, he did pretty well peddling health care, so well, in fact, that he ended up paying more than a billion dollars in fines for Medicare fraud.
So, my friends and neighbors, go get yourself another Confederate flag for your pick-up truck, and don’t forget those racist bumper stickers insulting the president of your country.
Better get them now – while you can still afford it.
