Posted on 01/16/2013 2:25:27 AM PST by SoFloFreeper
Near the beginning of a polite but frank sit-down between Gov. Rick Scott and black state lawmakers, state Sen. Arthenia Joyner cordially told the governor, "We differ on a lot of things."
"You're kidding," Scott replied in mock surprise. As the 23 black House and Senate members laughed, he quickly added, "I care about jobs and education, and I'm sure you do, too."
For the next hour and 10 minutes, the political-philosophy gulf between the wealthy Republican governor and the black Democrats who represent some of the poorest people in Florida was starkly obvious. They aired their differences on health care, schools, sentencing disparities for drug crimes, executive and judicial appointments, election laws, contracting with minority businesses, budget priorities, restoration of voting rights for ex-cons, health care, juvenile justice and pay raises for state employees.
Neither side budged on beliefs, but each agreed to listen.
"Your record of appointments to the judiciary is appalling to us," said Rep. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg. "There's a sentiment in the black legal community that we need not bother to apply because we don't think like you."
Rouson, a lawyer, said that of 91 judicial appointments by Scott, only six went to blacks. He asked for a commitment to diversity in appointments to regulatory boards and commissions throughout state government. Scott replied that he has to choose judges from lists provided by judicial-nominating commissions and that, in his first two years, he has had limited opportunity to fill vacancies as they occur.
"I don't believe in judicial activism," Scott said. "Applicants, I don't care who they are, if they believe in judicial activism, I'm not going to appoint them."
House Minority Leader Perry Thurston of Fort Lauderdale said legislators were "totally embarrassed" two years ago, when Scott and the Cabinet reversed policy and denied restoration of voting rights to convicted felons for five years after they get out of prison. "We'd like to let you know that this is important to us,"
Scott replied that he and the all-Republican Cabinet stand by their decision.
"Once you are out, as a felon, you should spend time making sure you're doing the right thing before you get your rights back," Scott said.
Rep. Mia Jones, D-Jacksonville, scolded Scott for "foot-dragging" on implementation of the national health care act. House and Senate committees are holding hearings on creation of health-care exchanges, but Scott has insisted that the cost of expanding Medicaid from about 3.3 million to 6.1 million Floridians is not known.
"My concern right now with the current health care law is, it does nothing to reduce health-care costs -- nothing," said Scott, a hospital executive before he got into politics. "I have not found a government program that is free. I want to make sure that everybody has access to quality health care … but what I'm extremely worried about is, can the federal government fund their portion of this health-care bill?"
Thurston told the governor that last year's restrictions on voter registration, slow restoration of voting rights for felons, coupled with his support of tax breaks for businesses in the name of job creation illustrate why black voters don't like him.
"That's what the overall perception is," Thurston said. "There are thousands of individuals in our community who are being disenfranchised, who are being denied their medical rights. We're slow about acting on that. We're fast about giving breaks to big businesses, when we already have a business climate."
Sen. Audrey Gibson, D-Jacksonville, urged Scott to make juvenile justice a high priority in the budget he will send to the Legislature in a few weeks. She said juvenile offenders in state custody need education services, or they will go back to public schools woefully behind and primed to drop out -- leading to more crime.
"There is a human factor in budgeting," Gibson said. "There is a human factor in policy."
Rep. Alan Williams, whose Tallahassee-anchored district includes tens of thousands of state workers, told Scott the black caucus wants a 3 to 5 percent pay raise for employees. Scott said he will again propose a "performance pay plan" based on productivity, which the Legislature did not enact last year.
"That's what I believe in," said the governor.
For those who worship at the altar of race, Governor Scott ought to get some praise, but he won't. His running mate and Lieutenant Governor is the SPLENDID Jennifer Carroll, a veteran and lawmaker who ALSO happens, to be a black Republican. She is the first black to ever hold the office.
I hope after two Rick Scott terms we'll have two Jennifer Carroll terms.
Serious question: Do blacks really get short shrift in these issues or are the Dems saying they want more than everybody else’s share of opportunity? You know, are they upset about equal protection under the law, or are they asking for MORE ‘protection’ under the law?
91 appointments and 6 were black....
Okay that is roughly 8% of appointments being black..
I wouldd wager the percentage of black folks in florida is already around that level....
What, they wanted 50% of his judicial appointments to be black for so e reason.....
Dumbass race obsessed libs can’t even run a damned calculator...
Excellent replies, Gov. Scott.
Go into just about any county office and you’ll see their agenda.
I was in the Orlando school district offices and about 90% of the people working were not white or asian.
This column is another reminder of the danger of race based politics. The black legislators were outright demagogues who fire up their ignorant base to the expense of the greater good.
>> 91 appointments and 6 were black....
Don’t forget to factor in qualifications.
See: Gertrude Walker
ASAP, they need to do one of two things: (1) put an end to having the blacks meet separately as a special group, or (2) designate “white only” special groups.
This crap of having black caucus, Hispanic caucus, etc., has got to stop. Ditto for professional organizations like Black Engineers.
Scott should’ve refused to join the mob, saying that he’s an American.
Let the damned blacks start helping themselves - instead of helping themselves to my money!
For an informative chart concerning restoration of voting rights of felons click:
http://felonvoting.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=286
All 50 states have provisions for restoring rights, some tougher than others, many simply that the felon has served his/her time plus any parole term.
Two states, Maine and Vermont allow incarcerated felons to vote.
I suspect black leaders know the political power of their voting block is going to be diluted by the rising Hispanic tide and whites increasingly voting as a block for self preservation in an increasingly racially polarized society. Their power is going to be reduced by the racial identity politics they’ve successfully employed to extract money from the treasury and more than equal protection from white liberals.
Under Obama, they are making a hard push to get as much as they can. By the 2020’s Hispanics will have many more voters and will by vying aggressively for the political offices in poor communities held by blacks. With competition will come conflict. As blacks are voted out of office, and replaced by young Hispanics, the government jobs in the bureaucracy will also go to Hispanics. Black politicians at the local level will lose both the elected positions and patronage jobs that give them power.
Today Hispanic and Hispanic leaders benefit from being on the Democrat plantation and are still content to accept a few crumbs while blacks and liberal whites control the power structure. What will happen when the day comes that Hispanic leaders controlling larger blocks of voters than black leaders demand their fair share of elected positions and patronage jobs. Will liberal whites and blacks in the Democrat power structure willingly give up power to placate Hispanics and keep the coalition together? Will liberal whites, who control the money and therefore the real power, demand blacks give up their positions so Hispanics can share power? If so, what will blacks do? If Hispanic leaders are delivering bloc votes but are being denied power by entrenched liberal white/black power structure, what will they do?
While blacks continue to portray white Republicans as their oppressors, they must be starting to worry about losing power to Hispanics inside their own party. If new Republican leaders, like Governor Scott, continue to hold the line against their unreasonable demands, black politicians are going to have to look within their own party for the pork and positions they need to take back to their constituents. Hopefully Republican leaders are beginning to realize if they refuse to cave to black demands when the racial card is played they are putting pressure on the cohesiveness of the Democrat coalition. It is inevitable Hispanics and blacks will come into conflict competing for political control in poor communities where blacks have wielded power for 50 years. As Hispanics grow in number the intensity of this conflict can only escalate. It has the potential to tear apart the Democrat party.
Political power derives from money and numbers of voters. Since liberal whites have the money, and Hispanics will soon have the numbers, forward thinking black politicians should be starting to realize white Republicans will not be the real threat to their power and position in the future.
I once asked,my now deceased, b-i-l, who was a felon and had served 23 years in prison, about the political leanings of cons. He told me that it was pretty much like in society as a whole, with the older cons tending to be conservative and the younger ones and particularly young blacks being liberals.
Republicans really ought to reach out to Hispanics in a better way....NOT as a welfare state sugar daddy, but as a “achieve your dreams” and “don’t live like your brothers in Venezuela and Cuba!”
LLS
...”This column is another reminder of the danger of race based politics. The black legislators were outright demagogues who fire up their ignorant base to the expense of the greater good”...
What is the percentage of black people in our population? You cannot determine just from looking because it seems they are the majority in almost every public situation..For example, TV ads. Just curious.
I doubt that most Hispanics came to America wanting to live in a Cuba or Venezuela. Many of those people are hard workers who want a better life for their kids and they have lots of kids. The black race will not inherit America. The Hispanics will because of the birth rates. They are basically conservative in their family, religious and political views. I think they voted for Obama because they believed the main stream media. The longer they live here the more they will learn about all that. I believe this will happen only if Obama is not able to become dictator.
Amen Brother.
Come into my district’s central office................I’m sure you would be shocked. Not! Now if it was manned the other way there would be a hue & cry heard throughout thecounty.
Thank you V.
LLS
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