Gov. Rick Scott prays for wisdom, jobs in message for Gov. Rick Perry's day of prayer

[seafan]

We will need more than your pious religious posturing for the fanatical members of your party, Mr. Scott.

In fact, what we Floridians need is an ongoing people's occupation of Tallahassee, until you and your criminal operatives in the Legislature are driven out.



Gov. Rick Scott prays for wisdom, jobs in message for Gov. Rick Perry's day of prayer

From Katie Sanders at Tampa Bay's The Buzz:

AUGUST 08, 2011

Here's the video message we told you Gov. Rick Scott was taping for "The Response," Saturday's Christian prayer event organized by Scott's friendly rival and possible presidential candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry. His remarks are italicized below.

His message was recorded by the Florida Channel, the Capitol-based public broadcasting station Scott spared in his veto of $4.8 million in tax money for public TV and radio stations.


Hi. I’m Rick Scott, Governor of the great state of Florida. I want to thank Governor Perry for setting aside this day to call on god to help our nation. Politics don’t matter, but we can all agree our nation faces tough challenges, and we need god’s help.

I learned to lean on Jesus Christ as a child – thanks to my mother’s lessons. Since then, I have relied on prayer. I am grateful and proud we live in a country that defends our right to live, pray and worship as we choose.

Since my inauguration seven months ago, my prayer has been the same as King Solomon’s – for wisdom.

And that is my prayer request today. I ask you to pray that the leaders of our nation and our states have wisdom in all their decisions.

Join me in praying for job opportunities for those who need work, for the economic well-being of our nation, and for the safety and security of our communities and our men and women in uniform.

On a personal note, my wife and I are praying for our first grandchild, who is on the way in a few months.

We join with you today in calling on god for his guidance and direction, but most of all, we ask him for wisdom for our leaders and the people of our nation

Floridians should pray for more divine wisdom like what you've given us so far, Mr. Scott?




(via St. Petersburg Times)


Rick Scott refuses to accept badly needed health care money, August 2, 2011

Rick Scott refuses federal funds for high-speed railway, February 17, 2011

Republican Fl. Gov. Rick Scott angers Republicans over refusing to accept high speed rail money, February 16, 2011

Gov Rick Scott Refuses To Talk About Stimulus Money In His State Budget , June 2, 2011

After Rejecting Millions In Federal Health Grants, Florida Accepts ACA Money For Abstinence-Only Education, August 3, 2011

Children at risk of abuse, patients in need of long-term care, poor residents eligible for Medicaid — they all could have benefited from greater access to health care if Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) had accepted millions of dollars in grants from the federal government. Instead, he followed the state legislature’s “well-established policy of not implementing any portion of federal heath care reform through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.”

And yet lawmakers were willing to forego that prohibition to accept over $2.5 million in ACA money to fund abstinence-only sex education, even though the program offers students very little by way of health-related information.

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The abstinence program that Scott is willing to support, however, is not working. Florida ranked sixth among states for its teen pregnancy rates in 2009. Among 2008′s teen mothers, 57 percent reported they weren’t using birth control, and 45 percent thought they couldn’t become pregnant. Furthermore, Florida had the fourth largest population of people living with HIV in the nation, with a 2006 HIV-incidence rate of 45.9 among 16-19 year-olds–nearly twice the national rate at that time.

Scott’s refusal to accept most ACA health grants has drawn sharp criticism from Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. As she put it, ”there are some newly elected officials on the Republican side that have decided that their political ideology is more important than anything — more important than the health needs of their citizens, more important than the economic stability of the economy, more important than the future of jobs in America — so I think it is very unfortunate for citizens of Florida,” Sebelius said. “It is very troubling.”

Rick Scott Throws an Anti-Abortion Party at the Governor's Mansion, August 1, 2011

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Gov. Rick Scott held a celebration at the governor's mansion this weekend in honor of the four anti-abortion bills he signed into law.

Partygoers celebrated the new laws requiring ultrasounds, redirecting license-plate funds to anti-abortion groups, blocking state or federal health insurance funds from going toward abortions, and sending letters to parents whose children received abortions. It's not clear whether piñatas were part of the weekend bash.

According to the governor's office, notable attendees included John Stemberger, president of Florida Family Council; Dr. Michael McCarron, executive director of Florida Catholic Conference; Pam Olson of the International House of Prayer in Tallahassee; Bill Bunkley, legislative and government affairs consultant to the Florida Baptist Convention; and Jim Styer, president of Sarasota/Manatee Right to Life.

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Scott also displayed his garbled interpretation of the phrase "pro-choice," telling the Miami Herald, "You should have the opportunity to see an ultrasound of your child. It's your choice. You don't have to. This creates choice. I think it's very positive."

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Gov. Rick Scott signs budget, vetoes $615 million in state spending in ceremony at conservative enclave, The Villages, May 27, 2011, while blocking Democratic taxpayers from viewing the signing ceremony.




Among the budget cuts:

$10 million for the University of South Florida Health School of Pharmacy and $100,000 for the Family Justice Center in Hillsborough County.

The budget, which takes effect July 1, reduces state spending on K-12 public education by $545 per student, eliminates funding for affordable housing and pays hospitals 12 percent less to care for the poor and disabled. Cuts made across state agencies will eliminate 4,500 state jobs.

Thursday's signing, which Scott streamed live on his campaign website, followed TaxWatch's release on Tuesday of a list of 105 budget "turkeys" to amounting $203 million. The business-backed fiscal watchdog calls for vetoes every year of so-called spending turkeys that lawmakers slip quietly into the budget instead of vetting publicly.

Among this year's turkeys was $500,000 for the Interdisciplinary Center for Neuromusculoskeletal Research at the University of South Florida Medical Research Center in Hillsborough. Scott vetoed that item.

Scott's entire budget veto list.


Gov. Rick Scott slashes budget; vetoes hit hard on First Coast , May 26, 2011


Gov. Rick Scott taking the state budget plan to Tea Party in Eustis, February 7, 2011

Seeking a friendly audience, a cadre of supporters and perhaps cred for his outsider image, Gov. Rick Scott is heading for Eustis today to unveil his proposed state budget to Tea Party faithful before anyone in Tallahassee or elsewhere can get a look.

Scott will unveil his spending blueprint at a private luncheon of Tea Party activists, then at a Tea Party rally Monday afternoon in Eustis, a small Central Florida city that’s about 190 miles from his Capitol office in Tallahassee. As many as 7,000 people have indicated they’ll show up, organizers say.

His decision literally puts the Tea Party — and Eustis — on the map. And though Scott has downplayed its significance — “I talk to lots of people,” he said last week — it signals the new governor’s appreciation for the movement’s role in his election and its possible long-term participation in his administration.

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January 4, 2011


(Photo credit: Mark Wallheiser)





A dark, dark day in Florida's history.