Posted on 04/15/2016 12:22:30 PM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
Florida Gov. Rick Scott has vetoed a controversial alimony reform bill, saying in his veto letter the legislation had the potential to put the “wants of a parent before the child’s best interest.”
[snip]
In his veto letter, Scott commended the bill’s sponsors — Sens. Tom Lee and Kelli Stargel, and Reps. Colleen Burton and Ritch Workman — for their efforts to reform the state’s divorce and alimony laws. However, Scott expressed concerns that the legislation would have an adverse effect on children.
(Excerpt) Read more at floridapolitics.com ...
An alimony reform bill (basically doing away with the concept of permanent alimony) passed in Florida two years ago. Scott vetoed it, on the grounds that it was retroactive, and thus would have too adverse a financial impact on those who were already relying on their alimony. He made as statement at that time that if the Legislature sent him a bill that was not retroactive he would sign it.
So this session they did. Over a month ago. He dithered and blithered, stuck his moist finger in the air, went to Starbucks and took a poll before deciding in the end to reneg on the statement he had previously made and veto the bill.
Regardless of your position on this issue, the fact that he would engage in such spineless, self-serving weasel behavior should permanently DISQUALIFY him from ever getting your vote.
If he's THIS bad before ever getting to Washington, can you just imagine??
bump
Only way Scott is getting to DC is if he buys a public conveyance ticket.
Scott is not a RINO and has done a very good job cleaning up after Yeb! and Suntan while standing fairly firm against Obama.
So it’s going to hurt the kids if Mommy has to get a job? Maybe she should remarry.
So...you veto a bill, tell the Legislature very clearly that if they pass it again and make it not-retroactive you’ll sign it. Then when they do, let it sit on your desk for over THIRTY FRICKING DAYS before finally deciding to reneg on your promise?
I’m sorry, we already have too much of that type of behavior in Washington.
I am sure he spent every second of that thirty days pouring over gender-based polling data before making his decision. No principles. Spineless.
I’m not divorced and I don’t live in Florida, so I don’t have a dog in this fight. But it struck me as shamelessly spineless.
I didn’t say the man was perfect.
He has withdrawn Florida from Common Core, rejected the Hi-Speed Rail boondoggle, rejected Medicaid expansion, rejected the Obamacare exchanges, rejected Climate Change, lowered taxes, reduced business regulations, etc.
Scott is the best Governor we have had in decades.
The perfect is the enemy of the good. - Voltaire
It would depend if the bill is a good bill or not.
A promise to pass a bill that wasn’t retroactive was not a promise to pass just anything that wasn’t retroactive.
It still needed to be a good bill.
I can’t address if it was good or not, but that fact is universal.
How does alimony relate to child support in Florida. In most states I think the Alimony or Maintenance is for a set time and meant to adjust the disparity of incomes for a home-maker spouse. The child support is what is meant to take care of the children coming to the custodial parent. The Governor’s logic implies that Florida law confuses the two issues.
If he’s getting rid of alimony, that’s good. It takes a little more than that to make a RINO, an acronym we use to too much and too easily. It is the function of a Republican to attain and operate levers of political power, not be a conservative as such. The phrase as most often used might be better replaced by CINO, since it better describes ideological apostasy.
The bill would have gotten rid of PERMANENT alimony (i.e. paying the ex until one of you dies or she remarries). It would have kept some shorter-term alimony in place. And yes, that is a rational step that needs to be done.
The Florida Bar Association flip-flopped on this as well. They turned around and urged Scott to veto a bill THAT THEY HAD HELPED WRITE!!!
Nothing like marauding hordes of women who realize they are about to lose their ticket on the gravy train to get your mind right I guess.
The family court system is beyond corrupt. I’ve lived it, am still living it and quite honestly, there’s no reason for a guy to ever get married. Sad but true. The lefties have really done a number on the institution of marriage over the years.
The crushing burden of lifetime alimony was a factor in Robin Williams’ suicide. When you think about it, does alimony really have a place in a world where women have equal rights (and at least theoretical responsibilities) to earn their own living? In light of even very measured reforms like this being shot down, I expect the MGTOW phenomenon to continue spreading. Another arrow through the heart of the American family—yay feminism! /s
Scott must be a lawyer.
Another one of my rules....don’t elect lawyers!
Sorry, Ted.
I fully comprehend that my situation was not typical.
That said, the dissolution of a marriage can get very messy and very ugly, and each case will be different.
Wanna get a divorce? Talk to the judge.
Nothing in the law presently stops a judge from setting a time limit for alimony, or denying alimony altogether.
Florida is still the retirement capitol of the USA.
We already have some very iffy blanket laws regarding people retaining “homes” in bankruptcy proceedings.
I don't see any need for us Floridians to also become the go-to state to dump long term spouses who have outlived their usefulness....
NJ is also looking at ending “alimony for life”; I believe that states are exploring their own ways to get white guys to marry/start families again. They are facing the financial reality that most children being born in their states (and I believe across the country) are born into cultures where working/paying taxes is considered “acting white”. They are looking at hordes of non-white children that will require public education, and have no means to pay for them; the normal sap on the hook (the white homeowner with his own children) is going the way of the dodo.
“It’s basically a state-mandated forced subsidy on adultery. And we wonder why marriage and the family are shot to hell.”
Young men don’t wonder; they know the deal, and have no intention of getting caught up in it. It was inevitable; divorce has become so common over the past few decades that few young men haven’t seen the effect on a (male) loved one.
Ideas have consequences...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.