Scott, Rick Gov FLA

see senator 420

CAPT, see links below

MEDICARE FRAUD?

DENIER

KOCH FREEDOMWORKS

CFG

GEO GP

LOBBYISTS BALLARD // BONDI WILES

DRUCKER LEADERSHIP PACS

VOTER SUPPRESS

https://www.alternet.org/2022/02/rick-scott-dark-rigthwing-agenda/

NO LNX

GOP Senator introduces dark right-wing blueprint for the future

[Florida paper blasts GOP Sen. Rick Scott’s 'full partisan' defense of Trump in scathing editorial

NBC News]

Brandon Gage February 22, 2022

Beginning in 2016 and continuing into 2020, the Republican Party’s platform has essentially parroted whatever former President Donald Trump has wanted. United States Senator Rick Scott (R-Florida), the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is trying to change that.

Scott, who was among the cohort of lawmakers who objected to President Joe Biden's 2020 Electoral College victory in Pennsylvania, has introduced an “11 Point Plan to Rescue America,” a draconian 31-page manifesto spelling out how he envisions the GOP governing if it retakes control of Congress in November.

“Hopefully, by doing this, we’ll have more of a conversation about what Republicans are going to get done. Because when we get the majority, I want to get something done,” Scott said in an interview with Politico. “There’s things that people would rather not talk about. I’m willing to say exactly what I’m going to do. I think it’s fair to the voter.”

He also acknowledged that Democrats would probably never agree to any of his terms and that his plan may even “strike fear in the heart of some Republicans.”

Indeed, Scott’s proposal is replete with extreme right-wing priorities:

Our kids will say the pledge of allegiance, salute the Flag, learn that America is a great country, and choose the school that best fits them. We will inspire patriotism and stop teaching the revisionist history of the radical left; our kids will learn about the wisdom of the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the founding fathers. Public schools will focus on the 3 R’s, not indoctrinate children with critical race theory or any other political ideology.

Government will never again ask American citizens to disclose their race, ethnicity, or skin color on any government forms. We are going to eliminate racial politics in America. No government policy will be based on race. People “will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” We are all made in the image of God; to judge a person on the color of their epidermis is immoral.

The soft-on-crime days of coddling criminal behavior will end. We will re-fund and respect the police because they, not the criminals, are the good guys. We will enforce our laws, all of them, and increase penalties for theft and violent crime. We will clean up our cities and stop pretending that crime is OK. We have zero-tolerance for “mostly peaceful protests” that attack police officers, loot businesses, and burn down our cities.

We will secure our border, finish building the wall, and name it after President Donald Trump. Nations have borders. We should give that a try. President Trump’s plan to build a wall was right. We welcome those who want to join us in building the American dream, immigrants who want to be Americans, not change America. We are a stronger nation because we are a nation of immigrants; but immigration without assimilation makes us weaker. Politicians from both parties talk big about border security and do nothing. We are done with that.

We will grow America’s economy, starve Washington’s economy, and stop Socialism. Socialism is un-American and always leads to poverty and oppression. We will stop it. We will shrink the federal government, reduce the government work force by 25% in 5 years, sell government buildings and assets, and get rid of the old, slow, closed, top-down, government-run-everything system we have today

We will eliminate all federal programs that can be done locally, and enact term limits for federal bureaucrats and Congress. Many government agencies should be either moved out of Washington or shuttered entirely. Yesterday’s old government is fundamentally incompatible with the digital era. The permanent ruling class in Washington is bankrupting us with inflation and debt, so they must be removed. For you to have more, Washington must have less.

We will protect the integrity of American Democracy and stop left-wing efforts to rig elections. Today’s Democrat Party is trying to rig elections and pack the courts because they have given up on Democracy. They don’t believe they can win based on their ideas, so they want to game the system and legalize voter fraud to stay in power. In true Orwellian fashion, Democrats refer to their election rigging plans as “voting rights”. We won’t allow the radical left to destroy our democracy by institutionalizing dishonesty and fraud.

We will protect, defend, and promote the American Family at all costs. The nuclear family is crucial to civilization, it is God’s design for humanity, and it must be protected and celebrated. To say otherwise is to deny science. The fanatical left seeks to devalue and redefine the traditional family, as they undermine parents and attempt to replace them with government programs. We will not allow Socialism to place the needs of the state ahead of the family.

Men are men, women are women, and unborn babies are babies. We believe in science: Men and women are biologically different, ‘male and female He created them.’Modern technology has confirmed that abortion takes a human life. Facts are facts, the earth is round, the sun is hot, there are two genders, and abortion stops a beating heart. To say otherwise is to deny science.

Americans will be free to welcome God into all aspects of our lives, and we will stop all government efforts to deny our religious freedom and freedom of speech. The Democrat Party and their Big Tech allies are not merely secular; they have virtually created a new religion of wokeness that is increasingly hostile toward people of faith, particularly Christians and Jews. They are determined to drive all mention of God out of public view. We will not be silenced, canceled, or told what words to use by the politically correct crowd.

We are Americans, not globalists. America will be dependent on NO other country. We will conduct no trade that takes away jobs or displaces American workers. Countries who oppose us at the UN will get zero financial help from us. We will be energy independent and build supply chains that never rely on our adversaries. We will only help countries that are willing to defend themselves, like Israel.

Each topic contains a trove of bullet points ranging from the ridiculous – like naming a border wall with Mexico after Trump – to mirroring the plot of a dystopian horror film, such as punishing single mothers for not having a spouse.

“Even though many single moms heroically do the job of raising a family (as my mom often had to) children need and deserve both parents – and government should not be shy about saying so,” Scott writes.

Scott’s plan also includes language that encourages discrimination against individuals who do not conform to the arcane conservative heteronormative standard.

“Humans are born male and female, there are two genders, and to deny that is to deny science,” Scott writes. This is false and it leads to harm among LGBTQIA Americans.

Scott later adds that “no tax dollars will be used to pay for any diversity training or other woke indoctrination that is hostile to faith.” In other words, programs that are not in line with personal religious convictions will be banned.

He even suggests raising taxes on millions of low-income Americans.

“All Americans should pay some income tax to have skin in the game, even if a small amount. Currently over half of Americans pay no income tax,” Scott, who is a billionaire, declares.

The Washington Post noted on Tuesday that “in the Tax Foundation’s estimate, as many as 75 million people who paid no such taxes after deductions and credits in 2020” would see their tax obligations jump. “If you include the 32 million who didn’t file returns, such as retirees, the number climbs well over 100 million Americans.”

That is unlikely to go over well with most voters.

Nevertheless, despite the extraordinary diversion from mainstream American values, Scott maintains that his message is a winning one.

“As a general rule, you know, probably this year’s election is going to be a lot about the Biden agenda. But I do believe we’re going to win,” Scott told Politico. “We ought to have a plan and what we’re trying to get done when we get the majority.”

an 521 R Reich

At the risk of being the skunk at the picnic, I feel compelled to warn you that if we forget and move on from the tragedies of this past year, we're setting ourselves on a dangerous path. Of course I understand the desire to forget all the unpleasantness and start a new chapter. But if we do, we're inviting greater tragedies in the future.

Let me remind you: Donald Trump lied about the results of the last election. And then – you remember, don't you? – he tried to overturn the results.

Trump twisted the arms of state election officials. He held a rally to stop Congress from certifying the election, followed by the violent attack on the Capitol. Five people died. Senators and representatives could have been slaughtered.

Several Republican members of Congress encouraged the attempted coup by joining him in the big lie and refusing to certify the election — even after the mob desecrated the halls of our democracy.

This was in January of this year, yet we seem to be doing everything we can to blot it out of our memory. Meanwhile, those responsible for instigating the attack haven't been held accountable in any respect — including by the media.

The Washington Post hosted a live video chat with Missouri Republican senator Josh Hawley, a ringleader in the attempt to overturn the results of the election. Hawley had even made a fist-pump gesture toward the mob at the Capitol before the attack.

But the Post billed the interview as being about Hawley's new book on big tech. It even posted a biography of Hawley that made no mention of Hawley's sedition,referring instead to his supposed reputation "for taking on the big and the powerful to protect Missouri workers" and as "a fierce defender of the Constitution."

CBS This Morning interviewed Florida Republican Rick Scott, another senator who tried to overturn the election by not certifying the results. But there was no mention of his sedition, either. The CBS interviewer confined his questions to Biden's spending plans, which Scott unsurprisingly opposed.

Senators Ted Cruz and Ron Johnson and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy also repeatedly appear on major news programs without being questioned about their attempts to undo the results of the election, or their continued promotion of Trump's lies.

The media is supposed to serve as a crucial check on those in power. But in its breathless desire to cover the "news" it is failing to remind us of our recent past.

The consequences of this failure are dire.

Trump's big lie that the 2020 election was stolen, and that President Biden is not legitimate, is not disappearing. A majority of Republican voters believe him.

That big lie is being used by Republican state legislatures to justify an all-out assault on the right to vote.

Hours after Florida enacted new voting restrictions, Texas's Republican-led legislature pushed ahead with its own bill that would make it one of the hardest states in which to cast a ballot.

The Republican-controlled Arizona Senate launched a private recount of the 2020 presidential election results in Maricopa County – farming out 2.1 million ballots to GOP partisans with no experience in ballot counting or election monitoring. At least one person involved in the recount participated in the Capitol attack.

The Republican Party even purged one of its leaders, Wyoming representative Liz Cheney, for telling the truth about the election.

Meanwhile, Republican state legislatures are muscling their way into election administration, as they attempt to dislodge or bully local election officials who have always run our voting systems.

Trump's big lie will continue to flourish unless the lawmakers who went along with it and have failed to renounce it face real consequences.

That means no book promotions, no cushy interviews, no guest op-eds in the Sunday paper.

What possible excuse is there for booking them if they have not publicly retracted their election lies? If they must appear, they should be asked if they continue to deny the election results and precisely why.

It also means a thorough independent 9-11 type inquiry into what happened, whether members of Congress were involved, how Donald Trump and others were involved.

Republican leaders must not duck this. History is watching.

They must be held accountable to the truth. Otherwise the trauma of 2020 will return — perhaps in even more terrifying form.

https://www.alternet.org/2020/10/proud-boys-try-to-assimilate-into-florida-gop-as-trump-denies-knowing-extremist-group/

Donald Trump isn’t alone in distancing himself from the Proud Boys. Florida Republicans who’ve snapped photos with the group’s members say they don’t know much about the self-described militia group either.About 48 hours after the president told the organization to “stand back, and stand by” during the first presidential debate, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott condemned “all forms of racism, violence, or discrimination, including the Proud Boys” when asked about a picture he took two years ago with the group’s Miami-based chairman. Also Thursday, a spokeswoman for Miami Congressman Mario Diaz-Bal...miami herald

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Scott

Richard Lynn Scott (né Myers, December 1, 1952) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Florida since 2019.^[5][6] A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 45th governor of Florida from 2011 to 2019.

Scott is a graduate of the University of Missouri, Kansas City and of Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law. In 1987, after serving in the United States Navy and becoming a law firm partner, he co-founded Columbia Hospital Corporation. Columbia later merged with another corporation to form Columbia/HCA, which eventually became the largest private for-profit health care company in the United States.^[7] Scott was pressured to resign as chief executive of Columbia/HCA in 1997. During his tenure as chief executive, the company defrauded Medicare, Medicaid and other federal programs. The Department of Justice ultimately fined the company $1.7 billion in what was at the time the largest health care fraud settlement in U.S. history.^[8] Scott was not charged with a crime.^[9] Following his departure from Columbia/HCA, Scott became a venture capitalist and pursued other business interests.

Scott ran for governor of Florida in 2010. He defeated Bill McCollum in a vigorously contested Republican primary election, and then narrowly defeated Democratic nominee Alex Sink in the general election.^[10] Scott was re-elected in 2014, defeating former governor Charlie Crist. He was barred by term limits from running for re-election in 2018, and instead ran for the United States Senate that year.

Scott won the 2018 Florida Senate election, defeating Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson. The initial election results were so close that they triggered a mandatory recount. The recount showed that Scott had won by 10,033 votes; Nelson then conceded the race. Scott took office following the expiration of his term as governor of Florida on January 8, 2019.

Early life

...

COVID IS A STRESS TEST WE FAIL:

aha soc safe net is a buffer, adds resilience, includes unemployment insurance that keeps workers alive when they get fired (slowly in case of "creative destruction" mkt shifts, or more sudden recession / pandemic); so it enables capitalism, basically a subsidy to corps?!

https://www.alternet.org/2020/04/this-is-horrible-florida-republicans-furious-after-unemployment-system-they-mangled-puts-trumps-re-election-in-jeopardy/

no lnx

‘This is horrible’: Florida Republicans furious after unemployment system they mangled puts Trump’s re-election in jeopardy

https://www.alternet.org/2019/05/disgusting-chat-log-with-photos-show-alleged-tampering-with-absentee-ballots-in-miami/

most of the chat log for a group, which named itself after the candidate they served, seemed to be the typical dry canvassing discussion you’d expect between campaign workers: coordinating lunch plans, meeting points, talking strategy, etc.

Until, that is, it suddenly wasn’t.

Alex Diaz de la Portilla used to be a GOP Florida Senator for 10 years. He ran in last year’s election against Zaraida Barreiro for Miami-Dade County Commissioner. Although the election is nominally nonpartisan, Barreiro is a Democrat, and Diaz de la Portilla is Republican.

The chat log was leaked to the *Miami New Times*. The chat showed pictures of absentee ballots accompanied by disturbing texts. These were first posted by a Miami blogger that I have linked to, but you can also see the photos on the main MNT story.

One showed a photo of an absentee ballot marked for Zoraida Barreiro with the text “*Byebye*.”

Another person in the group posted a different ballot and wrote “Stolen, hahahaa. I did not give it to the lady but what do we do if she voted for Zoraida????"

Below is a discussion between five people in the group:

:{Person 1: Tear up the ballot good.

Person 2: Are you sure?

Person 1: Take it to [NAME REDACTED].

Person 2: Take it better.

Person 3: She will know what to do.

Person 3: Okay, perfect!

Person 4: [Thumbs up and happy-face emojis]

Person 5: Take it to [TOWING COMPANY] at the end. Make sure that nobody sees it please.

Person 2: Nooo

Person 2: I already have it super hidden.

Person 5: [Thumbs-up emoji]

Person 2: Ready!

Person 2: Thank God we took away votes from two democrats, hahaha}:

Alex Diaz de la Portilla responded to the paper’s story by saying “None of this is from my campaign or my campaign workers,” he said. “Your article is libelous.”

As a reminder, the group called itself “Alex Diaz de la Portilla” and had 150 pages of political chat discussion that included photos of absentee ballots they acquired. I should also mention that Diaz de la Portilla was once fined $311,000 for 311 campaign violations. Moving on.

Zoraido Barreior responded as well:

“Proof they will do anything to steal an election!”

Diaz de la Portilla is currently running for the city of Miami’s commission, and is far ahead in the money game, as you can see.

This speaks to a wider issue. Absentee ballot fraud has been rampant in Miami for decades. Way back in 1997, the Miami mayor’s racewas overturnedbecause of more than 5,000 fraudulent absentee ballots. “Boleteros”, or ballot brokers, who can have large teams of people working for them, get paid for collecting absentee ballots. This has beenproblematic. Rick Scott paid thousands to a shady boletero for his 2010 election, and despite losing with early and Election Day voting in liberal Miami-Dade, Scott suddenly surged there with thousands of absentee ballots.

Surprisingly, Scott always targeted the non-existent “in-person” voting fraud as governor; yet he never addressed the massive actual fraud with absentee ballots.

Odd that.

https://www.alternet.org/election-03918/rick-scott-blind-trust-new-york-times

as reporters have uncovered a steady stream of ethically questionable investment holdings by Florida governor and GOP Senate candidate Rick Scott that appear to have been affected by decisions made by the state government, he has stuck to a singular refrain: there is no conflict of interest because his investments are in a "blind trust."

The New York Times, however, points out that Scott's "blind trust" is in fact full of loopholes that would, if he wanted, have allowed him to be aware of his holdings:

To shield himself from future conflict charges, Mr. Scott, who is now running to unseat the incumbent senator Bill Nelson, created a $73.8 million investment account that he called a blind trust. But an examination of Mr. Scott’s finances shows that his trust has been blind in name only. There have been numerous ways for him to have knowledge about his holdings: Among other things, he transferred many assets to his wife and neither "blinded" nor disclosed them. And their investments have included corporations, partnerships and funds that stood to benefit from his administration's actions.

Only in late July, when compelled by ethics rules for Senate candidates, did Mr. Scott disclose his wife's holdings. That report revealed that his wife, Ann Scott, an interior decorator by trade, controlled accounts that might exceed the value of her husband's. Their equity investments largely mirrored each other, meaning that Mr. Scott could, if he wanted, track his own holdings by following his wife's.

Among the suspect assets owned by Scott and his wife include $3 million in a credit fund for an investment group that owns All Aboard Florida, a private rail company that Scott supported as governor while rejecting a federal high-speed rail project along the same corridor. He also has holdings in Gilead Sciences, a pharmaceutical manufacturer that overcharged Florida Medicaid for drugs to treat hepatitis C, although state health officials deny that they or Scott had any role in forcing doctors to prescribe Gilead's products to beneficiaries.

Scott's financial arrangement has been considered suspect for months. He is also facing a lawsuit that alleges his trust does not comply with financial disclosure laws.

The Times further notes that, with assets between himself and his wife estimated to be worth anywhere from $254-510 million, should he win, "Mr. Scott could well become the richest member of the next Congress. His broad menu of investments might regularly present conflicts that require recusal. He has declined to say whether he would use a blind trust in the Senate, where the rules controlling them are far more stringent."

The Florida Senate race is one of the most competitive in the country, and early voting has begun with three weeks left until Election Day.

same time as WVa crisis

Rick Scott Has an Insane Plan to Pack the Florida Supreme Court on His Last Day of Office

Florida Supreme Court Just Thwarted the Republican Governor's Underhanded and Desperate Plot to Grab Power

https://www.alternet.org/election-03918/florida-supreme-court-rick-scott-appointments

This year, Florida hasvery good oddsof electing Andrew Gillum, the charismatic, progressive Tallahassee mayor, as their next governor. But outgoing GOP governor Rick Scott thought he had a perfect plan to ensure that even if Gillum won, the state courts would remain in solid Republican control for years to come.

On Monday, however, the Florida Supreme Court put a stop to his scheme.

Scott's idea was that on his last day in office, he would appoint three Republicans to the Florida Supreme Court. The state consitution says that three existing Democratic-appointed justices on the court would hit mandatory retirement on the same date he would exit the governor's mansion: January 8. Scott twisted the meaning of this to interpret it as, the justices would be out of office at midnight on January 8, but he would still be governor until the moment the next governor is sworn in — meaning he would have a window of a few hours to jam his own cronies onto the court instead of the next governor. Last month, in anticipation of this, Scott ordered the judicial nominating commission — whose members he himself appointed — to give him a list of candidates to pick from on January 8.

Had Scott gone through with this scheme, the Florida Supreme Court would have gone from 4-3 Republican appointees to 7-0, all but ensuring the state courts would become a rubber stamp for the GOP regardless of who won the governor's race.

spooked by lil old ladies

https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/rick-scott-campaign-event-public-beach-access

https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/gop-governor-declares-state-emergency-over-algae-pollution-after-cutting-700

GOP Governor Declares State of Emergency Over Algae Pollution After Cutting $700 Million From Agencies That Control It

https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/rick-scott-gave-600k-tax-break-child-detention-camp-engaged-fraud

Scott Has Personal Investments in Private Rail Company He is Championing in Florida

NRA’s Nutty Florida Questionnaire Suggests Gun Lobby’s Power May Be Slipping

Is God against gun control? Unhinged Florida questionnaire suggests the NRA may be in a downward spiral

By Amanda Marcotte / Salon June 12, 2018, 2:32 AM GMT

The National Rifle Association (NRA) in Florida, under the state leadership of long-time lobbyist Marion Hammer, has had a death grip on power in state politics for years, even decades. But after two of the most high-profile mass shootings in American history, the Orlando nightclub shooting two years ago this week and the Parkland high school shooting in February — which collectively led to the deaths of 66 people and injured another 70 — the political tide may be turning against America's biggest gun lobby.

In March the nearly unthinkable happened when Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, signed a bill passed by the Republican-controlled Florida legislature that actually bucked the NRA by passing a modest set of restrictions on gun sales in the state, including raising the minimum age on gun purchases to 21, banning bump stocks, and creating a three-day waiting period for gun buyers.

Even this small show of defiance from state Republicans appears to have infuriated the local Hammer-controlled NRA, which sent out a questionnaire to 2018 candidates in Florida that had questions so aggressively worded that they went viral on Sunshine State social media and even got a comedy segmenton "The Opposition w/ Jordan Klepper."

Two questions on the questionnaire strongly suggest that by supporting gun safety regulation, a candidate is opposed to God and religious freedom. One question notes that the "oath of office requires you to place a hand on the Bible and swear to support" the Constitution, which, the questionnaire clearly suggests, can only be supported correctly by adhering to the NRA's fundamentalist interpretation of the Second Amendment.

When the questionnaire asks whether a candidate will oppose a ban on guns in churches, the only two available answers are, "Yes. Churches have a right to make security decisions on their private property," and "No. Despite private property rights and constitutional rights, I believe the State should regulate churches."

Much of the questionnaire is focused on obtaining a promise to repeal the gun regulations signed into law by Scott in March, again with questions worded in such a way that the "correct" answer in the NRA's eyes is unmistakable. The question about the age limit on firearm purchases, for instance, notes that people over 18 "can vote, sign contracts, become law enforcement officers and join the military" but avoids mentioning that they cannot legally drink alcohol until age 21. The question about the waiting period openly denies "empirical evidence" that it protects public safety, an assertion that is flat-out untrue.

"I find nothing at all 'aggressive' about the framing of the questions," Hammer said when asked about the four-page questionnaire. "The fact that some legislators voted in a manner contrary to how they answered questions in previous questionnaires resulted in an effort to be more clear about the importance of being honest with their answers so their constituents are not deceived."

Hammer also indicated the she, personally, had "a significant influence in the preparation of the questions and the questionnaire."

“This is just an attempt to suss which candidate's as extreme" as the NRA's agenda is, Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, told Salon. “The NRA clearly has a litmus test very much in keeping with its agenda, which is to make absolutely no attempts to pass stronger guns laws and, in fact, to make sure that lawmakers who are beholden to them align with their agenda of guns for anyone, anywhere, anytime, no questions asked.”

While the main purpose of this mailer appears to be to intimidate Republican politicians who have signed onto even modest gun reforms, Democratic candidates quickly repurposed it for themselves — to show how eager they are to tell the NRA off. State legislature candidate Anna Eskamani kicked off the trend by posting photos of the questionnaire on Twitter and writing, "Hard pass, and heading to the recycle bin."

Gubernatorial candidate Gwen Graham soon followedwith a video of herself writing, "NO NRA MONEY" on the questionnaire. One of her primary opponents for the Democratic nomination, Philip Levine, posted a video of himself writingNRA-unfriendly answers on a whiteboard. Another state house nominee, Tracy Pratt, also posted a photo of the questionnaire and tweeted, "I will proudly NOT be seeking their support or endorsement! #neveragain."

"Since the Parkland shooting, everyone who is opposed to the NRA agenda feels comfortable coming out against it, and I think that shows that it’s not a third-rail issue anymore," Watts said. "Lawmakers are looking at the polls and they know they can get elected by opposing the NRA, not by being silenced or even pretending to tolerate their extremist agenda.”

The issue of NRA influence over politics only grew more pronounced over the weekend, after the Tampa Bay Times published an exposé about the way state agriculture commissioner Adam Putnam, a Republican candidate for governor, handled the concealed-carry background check system that his office controls.

For more than a year, the office simply "stopped using the results from an FBI crime database" to run background checks, the paper reported, because the "employee in charge of the background checks could not log into the system." In other words, "applications got approved without the required background check."

A story about incompetence, however, quickly became politicized. Putnam has bragged about being an "#NRASellout" on Twitter and has bragged about how he sped up concealed-carry permit approvals in his time as commissioner. Putnam has decried the employee who spent a year not running proper background checks, but it's still a bad look for someone to tout his speed in issuing licenses, in light of the fact that they weren't being processed correctly at all.

Over the weekend, the four Democrats running for governor issued statements denouncing Putnam and suggesting that this failure shows he is unqualified to be governor.

Because of the NRA and Hammer's leadership over the decades, Florida has become one of the easiest states for people to buy and wield firearms. Unsurprisingly, it ranks 18th among states in violent crime, and research links the loosening of gun laws in the state, especially the "stand your ground" law that broadly defines legal self-defense, to an escalation of murder.

But now the tide may be starting to turn in Florida against the NRA. Democrats are campaigning hard against lax gun laws, Republicans are getting wobbly in some cases and there's a level of passion among gun-control advocates that previously only existed on the pro-gun side. Under the circumstances, this NRA questionnaire seems like a panic reaction, an effort to double down from a group whose previously unquestioned power is starting to crumble

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/367442-floridas-gop-governor-opposes-trump-move-to-expand-offshore-oil

also rubio, rick scott

no link

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/09/here-is-how-florida-gov-rick-scott-escalated-the-potential-for-catastrophic-flooding-from-hurricane-irma/

Development policies enacted by Florida Governor Rick Scott have exacerbated the potential for catastrophic flooding from Hurricane Irma, The Intercept reports.

“The Republican governor prioritized development over ecological restoration of wetlands. Scott cut funding for the state’s water management districts in 2011, leading to staff reductions and less funding for ecosystem restoration projects,” The Intercept explained. “Around the same time, Scott signed the state legislature’s repeal of the state’s 1985 growth management law, leading to a spike in development.”

The outer bands of Hurricane Harvey are already reaching South Florida.

“As Hurricane Harvey demonstrated in Houston, however, development from depleted wetlands can exacerbate the effects of storms: Water from rain and storm surges will have fewer places to go when the storm makes landfall, creating a greater potential for catastrophic flooding,” The Intercept noted. “Wetlands act as barriers to the destructiveness of hurricanes. Both coastal and inland wetlands perform different functions to slow the impact of the storms by absorbing storm surge and soaking up rainfall, respectively.”

Professor William J. Mitsch, the director of the Everglades Wetland Research Park, described a “double whammy” of Scott’s $700 million cut to Florida’s water management districts and replacement of scientists with development-friendly lawyers.

“In addition to cutting funding,” said Mitsch, “I saw a change in the agency where they were less working for water quality, wetlands, and nature; and more working for industries. They are serving [industry] more than the people of Florida.”

Prioritizing development has left Florida less prepared for Hurricane Irma.

“Open land in Florida, with its porous terrain, can suck up the energy of the storm,” The Intercept reminded. “But when passing over developed land, a storm can retain more of its power.”

The Associated Press ? @AP

BREAKING: Florida Gov. Rick Scott warns residents that storm surge up to 12 feet in some areas `will cover your house'

...

With the passage of this budget and the privatization proviso, the Florida legislature initiated one of the largest prison privatization plans in the history of the nation (comparable efforts had previously been attempted in Tennessee and Arizona). Nevertheless, in July of 2011, the Florida Police Benevolent Association (FPBA) -- the union then representing the bulk of the state's prison guards -- filed suit to enjoin the privatization plan. Essentially, FPBA argued that the privatization plan violated extant state law governing prison privatization in that the privatization mandate had been passed as a budgetary proviso -- not as a stand-alone bill.

In September, 2011, Leon County Circuit Court Judge Jackie Fullford ruled in favor of FPBA.

"This Court concludes that if it is the will of the Legislature to itself initiate privatization of Florida prisons, as opposed to [FDOC], the Legislature must do so by general law, rather than 'using the hidden recesses of the General Appropriations Act,'" opined Fullford in her ruling.

While the Scott administration had stated it would not appeal the ruling, in October, 2011, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi filed an appeal to the Fullford ruling. In July, 2012, the appeals court struct down Bondi's appeal, ruling that the Attorney General did not have standing in the case, as Bondi was not a party listed in the original circuit court case.

In January, 2012, lawmakers championing the prison privatization agenda, led by Senate President Mike Haridopolos (R-Melbourne) and Alexander, introduced SB 2038, which -- like the budget proviso before it -- called for the privatization of the entire southern FDOC region.

Despite intensive partisan and industry lobbying on behalf of the bill, SB 2038 was defeated in the Florida Senate on February 14, 2012 (dubbed the "St. Valentine's Massacre" by opponents of the privatization plan). Interestingly enough, though many Republican senators had broken party ranks and joined with the Senate's 12 Democrats in voting the bill down, Sen. Don Gaetz (who had been a staunch supporter, along with former Rep. Sansom, of Blackwater River CF and "Project Justice"), Sen. John Thrasher (who had introduced the Senate counterpart to 2011's anti-public-emplyee-union "Paycheck Protection" bill -- a bill with ALEC roots, heavily touted by such Koch-backed public policy groups as Americans for Prosperity) and Senate President Mike Haridopolos (whose "special counsel" Andy Bardos had worked closely with the Florida Chamber of Commerce in drafting the 2011 "Paycheck Protection" bill) all joined Alexander in voting for the bill. And, as in the death of the "Paycheck Protection" bill, a handful of moderate Republicans led opposition within the state's GOP ranks. Namely, in the case of SB 2038, the Republican privatization resistance was led by Sen. Mike Fasano (R-New Port Richey), Sen. Paula Dockery (R-Lakeland -- Dockery had been an outspoken critic of Blackwater River CF as well) and Sen. Jack Latvala (R-Clearwater).

http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/08/11591/marco-rubio-geo-group-and-legacy-corruption

Gov. Rick Scott: The second-term Florida governor built and ran the biggest hospital empire in the United States until 1997 when he resigned amid a criminal inquiry of the company.

Investigations revealed that Columbia/HCA (Hospital Corporation of America) had been systematically overcharging the government for reimbursements, filing false reports, making illegal deals with heath care agencies and providing doctors with illegal loans. In 2002, the government reached a settlement with HCA and its subsidiaries totaling $1.7 billion, the largest amount ever paid to the feds in a health care investigation.

Scott played an essential part in the president-elect’s victory by running one of the biggest pro-Trump super PACs, Rebuilding America Now. Backed by Californian real estate developer Geoffrey Palmer and coal mining giant Murray Energy Corporation, this outside group spent over $19 million on ads attacking Hillary Clinton and supporting Trump this cycle.

According to campaign finance data compiled by the National Institute on Money in State Politics, Scott has raised $84.4 million in campaign contributions since 2010, 71.4 percent of which came from his own pocket.

Scott wrote checks totaling $60.3 million to his own campaign in his first gubernatorial race six years ago. Outside of that, he managed to raise only about $7.1 million for his campaign, while his Democratic opponent raised $17.5 million.

His rival also got more financial support from individuals and PACs in the health sector that election, receiving $626,112 when Scott only received $125,537 from the sector.

Overall, though, the health sector’s gifts to the governor over the years total up to $666,381, the second biggest sum after the finance sector’s $1.8 million.

Scott himself has donated $160,000 to the Republican party and candidates over the years, including $10,000 to GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney in 2012. And he maxed out at $5,400 to Florida Rep. Francis Rooney (R), who won Florida’s 19th Congressional District last week.

The former healthcare mogul has long been an ardent opponent of the Affordable Care Act, so much that he started a 501(c)(4) social welfare nonprofit in 2009 called Conservatives for Patients’ Rights, which spent over $10 million in two years to rally against the overhaul.

http://www.alternet.org/environment/guacamole-thick-algae-takes-over-floridas-atlantic-coast

Waterways and beaches along Florida’s Atlantic coast have been taken over by thick, blue-green algae blooms, prompting Florida Gov. Rick Scott to declare local states of emergency in St. Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach and Lee counties.

Residents have described the foul-smelling algae as “guacamole-thick,” “god-awful” and “a festering infected creepy mess.” One resident has complained of health problems, telling Reuters, “It is affecting all of us as far as red eyes, runny nose and the ‘in the throat’ feeling.”

...

ThinkProgress reported in February that local industries have long dumped an assortment of chemicals, fertilizers and cattle manure into the lake. David Guest, managing attorney of the Florida branch of the environmental law group Earthjustice, described the lake as a “toilet.”

The Guardian reported that algae samples from the lake taken earlier this month found levels of toxins 20 times higher than a safety threshold set by the World Health Organization.

The officials who regulate the toxic, overflowing lake are in an unenviable position. To prevent flooding, water gets flushed from the lake into the St. Lucie River that flows to the ocean via Martin County. They can’t just leave the water there either; high water levels have added stress to the aging Herbert Hoover Dike, a 143-mile levee that surrounds the lake. Florida’s high rainfall only makes matters worse.

fang mach

ACA: see toxic sludge bk: rush jail ppl and bankrupt usa; harry & l: diss Moore as entertainer; APCO

Creative Concepts rick scottHCA, w/ APCO 3.8M$ 2009 142 CoC 10m$; industry 107M$ neg ads

1/2 AMA for ACA 1st x, so bogus CPPR, DCI; porter novelli ...

http://ecowatch.com/2015/03/24/bryan-koon-refuses-to-say-climate-change

The saga of Florida’s ban of the “C-words” climate change is just getting ridiculous. “Even as Florida Governor Rick Scott denies reports of an unwritten policy banning administration officials from using the term ‘climate change,’ an employee of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection says he was suspended for expressing his views on climate change,” reports MSNBC’s Chris Hayes. The Florida official, Bart Bibler, joins Hayes on his show *All In With Chris Hayes* to tell his story. suspended and ordered to get psychiatric clearance to return

Also included in the segment, Gov. Rick Scott’s chief of emergency management, Bryan Koon, testified before the state legislature and refused to say the “C-words” during a state Senate hearing last week. State Sen. Jeff Clemens (D) asked Koon about FEMA requirements, which mandate that states have a “climate change plan” in order to receive preparedness dollars—a totally reasonable thing to talk about with the state’s chief of emergency management given theexpected impacts on Florida from climate change. The interaction at the Senate hearing is a bit like watching the older kid trying to get the younger kid to say a bad word. Watch as lawmakers and the audience actually laugh out loud at the Scott administration official who just refuses to say that naughty term:

Florida Department of Environmental Protection land manager says he was sent home and formally reprimanded for speaking about climate change and the Keystone XL pipeline at an inter-agency meeting last month.

The Tallahassee Democrat reported on the disciplinary measures Thursday, following a complaint filed on the employee's behalf by the Florida chapter of the group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, or PEER.

Bart Bibler, a land management plan coordinator, was served with an official reprimand "concerning his discussion of climate change, together with his position that the Keystone XL Pipeline would further aggravate this environmental problem," according to the complaint filed with the DEP inspector general. Bibler was placed on personal leave, was told to stay out of the office for two days, and was "directed to seek what appears to be a mental health evaluation from his doctor to verify his 'fitness for duty,'" the PEER complaint says.....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/19/florida-climate-change-scott_n_6905852.html

lorida's ban on using the words "climate change" and "global warming" in official communications goes beyond just the state's Department of Environmental Protection to other government agencies under Gov. Rick Scott (R), according to a new report by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting.

FCIR previously reported that four former DEP officials had come forward about the unwritten policy.

Now, employees who worked at other government agencies are speaking out, as well.

Until last year, Bill Taylor was a manager at the Florida Department of Transportation's office in Fort Lauderdale. He said that at a meeting in 2012 or 2013 -- Scott took office in 2011 -- "it was mentioned very casually that in our future dealings with the public, we were not to use the terms ‘climate change’ or ‘global warming.’ But it was OK to talk about sea-level rise, because for some projects that had to be taken into consideration.”

A former employee at the South Florida Water Management District had a similar story.

“It was widely known that you couldn't put those words into a report," the former employee told FCIR. "They just wouldn't make it through the editing process."

A Florida scientist who co-authored a study about how climate change affects a certain marine food-borne illness told The Washington Post that the state Department of Health told her to excise every mention of "climate change" from her paper.

Florida officials, including Scott, have denied that there's any policy banning these words. The governor told reporters Monday that the FCIR report was "not true" although he refused to say whether he believes man-made global warming is a problem.

Scott has been an outspoken skeptic of global warming, despite the fact that his state is at risk of losing its coastal communities to rising sea levels. A Southeast Florida Regional Climate Compact paper has warned that water in the area could rise by as much as 2 feet by the year 2060.

Last year, a reporter asked Scott whether man-made climate change "is significantly affecting the weather, the climate." Scott tried to change the subject and replied, "Well, I'm not a scientist."

When asked by the Tampa Bay Times in 2010 whether he believed in climate change, Scott simply replied, "No."

FCIR noted that although the words "climate change" and "global warming" still slip through and make their way into government reports, there has been a "steep decline" in their use since Scott came into office.

The state's senior Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson has a very different take on what climate change means for his state:

3/15

Officials in Florida have reportedly banned the terms "climate change" and "global warming," despite the disproportionate impacts of climate change in the coastal state. According to the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, under the tenure of Republican Gov. Rick Scott, officials at the Department of Environmental Protection have been ordered not to refer to climate change or global warming in official reports or communications. ThinkProgress notes at least two other states, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, have been accused of similar bans. DN NB secession from fla

rickscott 10/14

Inmates Die in Droves After Governor Rick Scott Outsources Prison Healthcare

Suffering from lung cancer? Here’s a Tylenol and some warm compresses. Are your intestines escaping? Not to worry; here’s some K-Y Jelly to shove them back in. An investigation reveals that Florida inmates have been dying in droves since the state privatized prison health care.

Governor Snyder Stands Behind Prison Privatization, Even After Maggots and Murder for Hire

Ideological slogans often trump facts when it comes to the outsourcing of public services. When independent studies are commissioned, the conclusions are often disregarded. In some cases, however, there seems to be solid research supporting the cost-efficiency of privatization. Such was the case in Michigan – at least at first glance.

http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20140827/tight-floridas-governors-race-climate-change-central-issue

The increasingly visible effects of climate change in Florida are putting Republican Gov. Rick Scott in a bind as he seeks re-election this November.

With rising water already eating away at the coastline and threatening cities, Florida is largely considered ground zero for climate change in the United States. Increased flooding in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, disappearing beaches and endangered fresh water supplies are making climate change a top issue in the governor's race, opinion polling shows.

Scott spent much of his first term dismantling the climate-change initiatives of his predecessor, Charlie Crist, who's now his Democratic opponent in the November election. Both men won nomination in Tuesday's primary. Voters, environmentalists, scientists and the media are joining Crist in pressing Scott to acknowledge the threat that climate change poses to the state. But if he does, he risks alienating the far right wing of the Republican Party, which helped elect him in 2010.

"He's caught in the crosshairs," said Frank Jackalone, the senior organizing manager for the Florida chapter of the Sierra Club.

The contrast between Scott and Crist on the climate issue may help decide one of the most heated gubernatorial races this year. Coming out of the primary, the race in the nation's third-most populous state is a dead heat, polls show. Political analysts predict it will be one of the most expensive contests this year. NextGen Climate, a super PAC created by billionaire investor-turned-activist Tom Steyer, is spending millions to spotlight Scott’s record on climate change.

Scott has begun sending mixed signals on his stance as Crist and environmental advocates turn up the heat. Generally he has dealt with conflicting pressures by avoiding the issue. That's become increasingly difficult as the smallest storms swamp city streets and salt water creeps into aquifers, threatening the drinking supply for millions of Floridians.

By contrast, Crist made the climate a priority when he was Florida's Republican governor from 2007 to 2011. Now running as a Democrat to win back the seat, he is using global warming as a cornerstone of his campaign.

Scott spokeswoman Jackie Schutz said in email that "during Governor Scott's first term, Florida has spent more than $350 million on flood mitigation projects and over $120 million to support beach renourishment projects, a 45 percent increase from the last administration."

The Crist campaign did not respond to a request for comment before deadline.

Since taking office four years ago, Scott has unraveled Crist's statewide climate adaptation plan, his mandates for renewable energy and programs to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Scott managed never to discuss his climate views in detail. The closest he came was in 2011 when he told a reporter he had "not been convinced" that climate change was happening or was caused by humans.

When boxed into dealing with climate questions during the campaign this year, Scott has come down on both sides. He told reporters he didn't know whether climate change was dangerously affecting Florida because he's "not a scientist." His $1 billion environmental proposal doesn't mention climate change. On the other hand, he bucked dozens of other Republican governors by staying silent on the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan to cut carbon emissions.

For years, scientists have been trying to brief Scott on the scientific evidence for global warming and the risks for Florida. This month, after 10 researchers sent a letter renewing their offer, Scott agreed.

The meeting took place Aug. 19. Scott spent 10 of the allotted 30 minutes on small talk, ended the meeting a few minutes early and left without asking a single question.

"We didn't actually make that much progress," said Ben Kirtman, a climate scientist at the University of Miami who participated in the meeting. Kirtman is also a lead author of the latest assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's. "It was frustrating."

Kirtman noted that the room was packed with members of the media that were granted access by the governor's office, which could have made Scott wary of asking questions. He wondered if Scott would have been more responsive if the meeting took place behind closed doors.

Jackalone of the Sierra Club said Scott seems to be moderating his position on some climate issues. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, may be part of the reason why, Jackalone said. After Rubio argued that President Obama's adaptation and mitigation proposals could put the U.S. back in a recession, the Florida press and public blasted Rubio.

"Scott is still answering questions by being evasive," Jackalone said. "But he at least seems willing to listen now. That's a shift."

Inmates Die in Droves After Governor Rick Scott Outsources Prison Healthcare

Governor Snyder Stands Behind Prison Privatization, Even After Maggots and Murder for Hire

http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20140827/tight-floridas-governors-race-climate-change-central-issue

The increasingly visible effects of climate change in Florida are putting Republican Gov. Rick Scott in a bind as he seeks re-election this November.

"He's caught in the crosshairs," said Frank Jackalone, the senior organizing manager for the Florida chapter of the Sierra Club.

The Crist campaign did not respond to a request for comment before deadline.

The meeting took place Aug. 19. Scott spent 10 of the allotted 30 minutes on small talk, ended the meeting a few minutes early and left without asking a single question.

"Scott is still answering questions by being evasive," Jackalone said. "But he at least seems willing to listen now. That's a shift."

wonk room: FLORIDA: Alex Sink v. Rick Scott

538 estimate: 43 percent chance of Democratic pickup

Scott is a signatory of the Americans for Prosperity “No Climate Tax” pledge and the FreedomWorks Contract From America, and was endorsed by the FreedomWorks PAC.

Rick Scott, Florida

Governor Scott, who reigns over the state synonymous with voter suppression and rigged elections in the minds of many Americans, is doing his best to live up to Florida tradition.

AlterNet's Steven Rosenfeld explained:

The Chief of Staff to Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) resigned amid allegations of improper influence peddling and steering of no-bid contracts to friends.

Contents

[hide]

1 Overview

2 Fighting healthcare reform

3 Fraud controversy

4 Attempting to coordinate other anti-health care reform groups against the "public option"

5 2010 elections

6 Resources and articles

6.1 Related SourceWatch articles

6.2 References

6.3 External articles

6.4 External resources

Overview

Video about Rick Scott's past in the health care industry.

Fighting healthcare reform

According to the Politico news site, Scott has raised $20 million to fight health care reform.[2]

Fraud controversy

the FBI swooped down on HCA hospitals in five states. Within weeks, three executives were indicted on charges of Medicare fraud, and the board had ousted Scott.

Scott believes that free market principles are the solution to the U.S. health care problems.[7][8]

Attempting to coordinate other anti-health care reform groups against the "public option"

2010 elections

Resources and articles

Overview

Rick Scott is a multimillionaire former hospital CEO who, in 2009, emerged as a prominent leader of the opposition to U.S. President Barack Obama's healthcare reform plans. Scott founded a group called Conservatives for Patients' Rights and put $5 million of his own money towards a television advertising campaign aimed at trying to build resistance to any proposal for a government-run health insurance program. Scott's ad campaign is being coordinated by **CRC Public Relations**, the group that masterminded the "**Swift Boat Veterans for Truth**" attacks against 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry. In the ads, Scott argues that whatever effort Obama likely puts forth to change the health-care system, it will put the country on a slippery slope toward a bureaucratic, British-style national health service.

Video about Rick Scott's past in the health care industry.

Fighting healthcare reform

According to the Politico news site, Scott has raised $20 million to fight health care reform.^[2]

Fraud controversy

Maggie Mahar at the Century Foundation's Health Beat blog has written about Scott in her book, Money-Driven Medicine: The Real Reason Healthcare Costs So Much. She reports that Scott previously started a for-profit hospital chain in 1987 that later became the $23 billion Columbia/HCA. He was ousted from this post in 1997 after:

- the FBI swooped down on HCA hospitals in five states. Within weeks, three executives were indicted on charges of Medicare fraud, and the board had ousted Scott.

- The investigation revealed that the hospital chain had been bilking Medicare while simultaneously handing over kickbacks and perks to physicians who steered patients to its hospitals. ... The company did not fight the charges. In 2000, HCA (which by then had expunged “Columbia” from its name) pleaded guilty to no fewer than 14 felonies. Over the next two years, it would pay a total of $1.7 billion in criminal and civil fines.^[3]

Scott was also once a partner in the Texas Rangers sports team with George W. Bush.[citation ^needed]^ He now runs an investment firm and owns a chain of walk-in urgent-care clinics in Florida called Solantic, which serves people who would benefit from having a "public option" for health insurance.^[6]

Scott believes that free market principles are the solution to the U.S. health care problems.^[7][8]

Attempting to coordinate other anti-health care reform groups against the "public option"

2010 elections

Resources and articles

References

↑ ^1.0^ ^1.1^ Rick Scott profile, The Washington Post, accessed January 2011.
↑ Jonathan Martin, "Group launches health care offensive", Politico.com, March 3, 2009.
↑ Maggie Mahar, "Who Is Richard Scott -- and Why Is He Saying These Things about Health Care Reform?", Health Beat, March 3, 2009.
↑ url = http://www.casewatch.org/doj/hca/schilling.pdf
↑ url = http://www.casewatch.org/doj/hca/thompson.pdf
↑ Zachary Roth Health-Reform Foe Runs Firm Serving Patients Who Would Benefit From Public Option TPM Muckraker, September 30, 2009
↑ Dan Eggen, Washington Post Ex-Hospital CEO Battles Reform Effort: Ads Cite Long Waits In Canada and Britain May 11, 2009
↑ Jeff Woods Health Care Enemy No. 1: Rick Scott Leads Fight Against Obama Reforms The Nashville Scene (blog), May 11, 2009
↑ Pete Hamby Health care critic advises 'divide and conquer' strategy CNN Political Ticker. October 19, 2009

External articles

Joe Flower Rick Scott and the Columbia/HCA Healthcare System: Icon of Greed or Prophet of True Reform? Healthcare Forum Journal, March-April 1995, Vol. 38 #2
Stephen Barrett, MD A Skeptical Look at Rick Sott and His Conservatives for Patients' Rights Propaganda Machine. Insurance Reform Watch, August 14, 2009.
Greg Allen, "Gov. Scott, Ex-CEO, Aims To Run Fla. Like A Business", NPR, January 6, 2011.

External resources

Website, Rick Scott governor, accessed January 2011.

Florida Governor Rick Scott Names Super-Lobbyist As State Attorney

Zaid Jilani 3.9.2012

Why is Rick Scott installing lobbyists into so many governmen

Here’s some (but not all) of Antonacci’s former clients:

- Fairmont Special Insurance Company: Antonacci was listed as a lobbyist for this New Hampshire-based company this year.

- Meadowbrook Insurance Group: Antonacci represented this Massachussetts-based insurer this year.

- The cities of Key West and Hollywood: Antonacci represented both of these Florida cities this year.

- Cash America International: This pawn loan provider got Antonacci’s representation in 2004

Conservatives for Patients Rights coored w/ Freedomworks

Industry-Backed Anti-Health Care Reform Group: Yeah, We're Packing And Disrupting The Health Care Town Halls

By Brian Beutler - August 4, 2009, 12:59PM

Yesterday, I reported that the anti-health care reform group Conservatives for Patients Rights was enlisting tea party protesters to attend and disrupt health care town halls hosted by members of Congress in their regions.

Today, CPR--which is headed by disgraced hospital executive Rick Scott, and has enlisted the message men behind the Swift Boat campaign--has acknowledged their behind-the-scenes role in the outbursts.

Spokesman Brian Burgess tells Greg Sargent that CPR is distributing "town hall alert" flyers to people on its mailing lists and is reaching out to third party groups via online list serv.

Perhaps the most significant of these discussion groups is the called Tea Party Patriots, which is managed by Tom Gaitens, a field organizer for the industry-funded lobbying organization FreedomWorks. Members of this list serve were not only supplied with list of town hall forums, but with a strategy document outlining the same disruptive techniques we're seeing play out at health care public forums around the country.

Scott, Rick Gov FLA

Early life

Rick Scott Has an Insane Plan to Pack the Florida Supreme Court on His Last Day of Office

Florida Supreme Court Just Thwarted the Republican Governor's Underhanded and Desperate Plot to Grab Power

GOP Governor Declares State of Emergency Over Algae Pollution After Cutting $700 Million From Agencies That Control It

Scott Has Personal Investments in Private Rail Company He is Championing in Florida

Inmates Die in Droves After Governor Rick Scott Outsources Prison Healthcare

Governor Snyder Stands Behind Prison Privatization, Even After Maggots and Murder for Hire

Overview

Fighting healthcare reform

Fraud controversy

Attempting to coordinate other anti-health care reform groups against the "public option"

2010 elections

Resources and articles

Related SourceWatch articles

References

External articles

External resources

Florida Governor Rick Scott Names Super-Lobbyist As State Attorney

Industry-Backed Anti-Health Care Reform Group: Yeah, We're Packing And Disrupting The Health Care Town Halls

Attachments