marco rubio bak

=check links on relationships, fundersbak 3/22html $157 =<a href="https://scorecard.lcv.org/moc/marco-rubio">https://scorecard.lcv.org/moc/marco-rubio</a>15* 7%=maduro venezuela=talking tough on jrnl kill saudi=<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://rawstory.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=80b42ecc21f29763320aceb90&id=363671237f&e=4da1f92934" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">CNN's Jake Tapper Confronts Climate Change Skeptic Marco Rubio: What Will You Tell ‘Your Children And My Children?’</a>By Tom Boggioni, Raw StoryJake Tapper pressed Sen. Marco Rubio on whether he believes climate change is man-made. <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://rawstory.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=80b42ecc21f29763320aceb90&id=18dfa6f6e6&e=4da1f92934" class="yiv0231415446readmore" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; letter-spacing: 0.1em;">READ MORE»</a>And then you have, you know, the whole narrative that this has something to do with human rights. So, when Marco Rubio, who’s basically in charge of policy here for the Trump administration, and his Florida crony, who’s the U.S. ambassador to the Organization of American States, and he’s—you know, he goes around to countries there and threatens them and tells them to vote with the U.S. And all this is treated as though they’re trying to promote human rights in Venezuela. And again, the media accepts this narrative. And then you look at the U.S. allies in Latin America, you look at Mexico, where over a hundred journalists have been killed, and in most of those cases there’s government involvement implicated. And you don’t have a single case in Venezuela in the last 20 years of a journalist killed, where the government is implicated. And you look at Guatemala, where most—where, you know, you talk to a human rights defender there, and they don’t expect to be alive a year from now. Again, you don’t have anything near that violent in Venezuela. In Colombia, human rights defenders and activists are being killed every week, as you’ve reported on this show. And again, it’s nowhere near. So, that’s not defending the Venezuelan government; that’s just saying that anyone who states publicly that this intervention by the United States, which is constant, which includes a financial embargo that’s explicitly intended to prevent the economy from recovering—anybody who says that this has something to do with human rights has to be dishonest.AMY GOODMAN: I want to go back to National Security Adviser John Bolton speaking on Fox News Sunday, denying the U.S. was behind the drone blast in Venezuela on Saturday.<blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding-left: 30px; border-left: 3px solid rgb(241, 242, 243); letter-spacing: -0.2px;">JOHN BOLTON: These are things he’s said before, and you have to take them for what they’re worth. If the government of Venezuela has hard information that they want to present to us that would show a potential violation of U.S. criminal law, we’ll take a serious look at it. But in the meantime, I think what we really should focus on is thecorruption and the oppression of the Maduro regime in Venezuela.</blockquote>AMY GOODMAN: Alejandro Velasco, can you respond to what he said? Not only talk about the U.S., but also President Maduro talking about the outgoing president of Colombia being behind this, Santos, who will leave office tomorrow. Tomorrow is Inauguration Day in Colombia.ALEJANDRO VELASCO: Yeah, I mean, interestingly, Colombia, even as the rest of Latin America over the last 20 years, during the so-called left turn or pink tide, most countries in Latin America were electing left-wing governments, Colombia sort of bucked that trend. And so, first with the presidency of Álvaro Uribe, who was Santos’s mentor, and then with Santos to some extent continuing that policy, Colombia really positioned itself as very much against not only Venezuela’s Bolivarian government, but, more broadly, sort of the left in the region. Of course, that relationship has become even more soured of late, since many Venezuelans have flocked to Colombia over the last year, year and a half, as economic conditions have deteriorated there. And not only that, but I think, importantly, it’s worth mentioning that many opposition leaders, including a group that fashions itself the national “Supreme Court in Exile,” actually conducts its business in Colombia, with the support of the Colombian government. And so, there’s sort of a parallel government that’s housed in Colombia. And so, all of this sort of suggests that Colombia really is positioning itself as very much against the Venezuelan government.On the other hand, you know, it’s true that Venezuela and Maduro have consistently sort of blamed Colombia, and Santos in particular, for some of these interventionist moves, and then tying it to the United States and the close relationship between Colombia and the United States. My own sense is that, at least in this case, the very kind of amateurish features of the attack, even though there was sort of the high-tech drone component to it, really suggests that it’s more of a rogue element that’s taken advantage of the sort of wink-and-nod, classic, “Yes, we will publicly condemn or even not say anything against interventionist efforts, but we’re not going to be sad if the Maduro government leaves,” right? And so, my sense is that that’s the nature of the support right now, that it’s sort of cover rather than any technical or material assistance. But, yeah, that’s certainly been the case in the past.180 on tillerson<h1>Team Marco Rubio</h1>Super PAC: Conservative Solutions PAC
Total raised: <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00541292" target="blank">$33 million</a><figure class="embed full-width"> <figcaption>Norman Braman gives a thumbs up to Marco Rubio after announcing his candidacy last April. Joe Raedle/Getty</figcaption></figure>Norman Braman
CarsAge: 83
How much given: <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/donor_detail.php?cycle=2016&id=U0000004559&type=I&super=N&name=Braman%2C+Norman" target="blank">$6 million
</a>Net worth: <a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/norman-braman/" target="blank">$1.8 billion
</a>Where the money comes from: <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1990-10-16/sports/sp-2443_1_philadelphia-eagles" target="blank">The son of a barber</a>, raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Braman is a self-made billionaire. He owns nearly <a href="http://www.bramanmotorcars.com/dealership/normanbraman.htm" target="blank">two dozen auto dealerships</a> in Florida and Colorado, selling everything from downmarket <a href="http://www.thenextmiami.com/inside-bramans-enormous-new-luxury-car-palace-on-biscayne-boulevard/" target="blank">Kias</a> to luxury Bugattis, generating $<a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/norman-braman/" target="blank">1.8 billion in annual sales</a>. A past owner of the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles, for whom he'd been a water boy, Braman sold the team in 1994 for <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/07/sports/pro-football-eagles-purchased-for-record-amount.html" target="blank">$185 million</a>.
How he lives: Braman insists, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/10/us/billionaire-lifts-marco-rubio-politically-and-personally.html?r=0" target="blank">"I don't consider myself a fat cat</a>." But he lives on Indian Creek Island, a hyper-exclusive, one-road development known as Miami's "<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/morganbrennan/2012/08/23/inside-indian-creek-island-miamis-billionaire-bunker/#65a411d2608c" target="blank">billionaire bunker</a>" and "<a href="http://www.zillow.com/blog/most-expensive-streets-173506/" target="blank">the most expensive street in America</a>"; neighbors include Carl Icahn and Julio Iglesias. Braman owns a world-class modern art collection — valued as high as <a href="http://hauteliving.com/2012/10/enviable-collections/321005/" target="blank">$900 million</a> — including works by Jasper Johns, Picasso and Alexander Calder. His yacht is the 174-foot "<a href="http://www.forbes.com/pictures/eiif45kfe/kisses-174-feet/" target="blank">Kisses</a>."
Why he gives: Braman is more than a mega-donor; he's Rubio's <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/10/us/billionaire-lifts-marco-rubio-politically-and-personally.html" target="blank">political patron</a>. Rubio endeared himself to the billionaire as speaker of the Florida House, securing $5 million in state money for Braman's private cancer foundation, over a Jeb Bush veto. ("Marco, strongly wanted the Braman Cancer money," Bush <a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:dEGCgZLr98sJ:https://www.nationaljournal.com/s/70081/what-marco-rubios-biggest-donor-once-wanted-from-jeb-bush&num=1&hl=en&gl=us&strip=1&vwsrc=0" target="blank">memorialized</a> in an email at the time.) Rubio also secured <a href="http://www.med.miami.edu/news/view.asp?id=888" target="blank">$80 million</a> in state funding for a genomics center Braman favored at the private University of Miami. Braman, in turn, boosted the Rubios financially. He employed the politician's wife, Jeanette, at his charitable foundation; he funded a teaching post for Rubio at Florida International University with a $100,000 grant; and he later employed Rubio in a short, lucrative stint as a corporate attorney. Braman believes getting Rubio elected will be part of his "legacy." Rubio has recognized that the billionaire commands his attention: "When Norman Braman brings it [a proposal] to you, you take it seriously." What does Braman want? Israel is a top issue. He is a <a href="http://jewishmiami.org/news/federation/miamians_stand_in_solidarity/" target="blank">past president</a> of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation; his foundation has <a href="http://www.donwheelerconsulting.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Braman-990.pdf" target="blank">supported an Israeli settlement in the West Bank;</a> he gave <a href="https://www.georgetown.edu/georgetown-receives-gift-for-forensic-research-on-holocaust" target="blank">$10 million</a> to Georgetown's Center for Jewish Civilization; and in 2010 he traveled with Sen.-elect Rubio on his <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/election/marco-rubio/article15492971.html" target="blank">first tour of Israel</a>. Braman <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnlzJr1tOf8&feature=youtu.be&t=15m40s" target="blank">believes</a> "a strong America is the greatest factor which insures a great Israel and a sustaining Israel." In his most famous floor speech, Rubio called for "<a href="http://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=4123bbf1-c114-4b4c-9998-421ba6dac2d2" target="blank">unconditional</a>" support of Israel, and he has fiercely criticized the Obama administration for a "foreign policy where we cut deals with our enemies like Iran and we <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/1/15/10775552/iran-republican-debate-boats" target="blank">betray our allies</a> like Israel."<figure class="embed full-width"> <figcaption /></figure>Larry Ellison
TechAge: 71
How much given: <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/donor_detail.php?cycle=2016&id=U0000003787&type=I&super=N&name=Ellison%2C+Lawrence+J." target="blank">$4 million
</a>Net worth: <a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/larry-ellison/" target="blank">$47 billion</a> (making him one of the world's ten richest people)
Where the money comes from: He's the founder and executive chairman of Oracle, the database company that grew out of a project <a href="http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/larry-ellisons-oracle-started-as-a-cia-project-1636592238" target="blank">commissioned by the CIA</a> to become one of Silicon Valley's giants.
How he lives: Ellison owns a 23-acre estate in Woodside, California; his home is modeled after a <a href="http://www.forbes.com/pictures/ekkl45kjl/japanese-palace-woodside-ca/" target="blank">Japanese imperial palace</a>. He owns and flies two former military jets, including a Soviet <a href="http://www.rsvlts.com/2014/08/15/larry-ellison/" target="blank">MiG 29.</a> A former America's Cup sailing victor, Ellison loves megayachts; he sold the 454-foot "<a href="http://www.forbes.com/454-foot%20mega%20yach" target="blank">Rising Sun</a>" to David Geffen, buying the more dockable 288-foot "<a href="http://www.boatinternational.com/yachts/editorial-features/musashi-the-yacht-where-industrial-design-meets-a-japanese-aesthetic--261" target="blank">Musashi</a>," named after a Samurai warrior, replete with a basketball court. In 2014, Ellison abandoned his long pursuit of an NBA franchise, settling instead for purchase of the Hawaiian island of Lanai for <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/28/magazine/larry-ellison-island-hawaii.html" target="blank">$300 million</a>.
Why he gives: Ellison is a staunch Israel supporter; in 2014 he gave <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-11-07/ellison-adelson-donate-to-israeli-soldiers" target="blank">$9 million</a> to <a href="http://www.fidf.org/" target="blank">Friends of the Israel Defense Forces</a>. Rubio's tax proposals favor tech titans, <a href="https://marcorubio.com/issues-2/rubio-tax-plan/" target="blank">ending taxes</a> on capital gains, dividends and estates. Rubio also seeks lower corporate tax rates and to end the IRS's ability to tax overseas profits; Oracle has stockpiled <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-04/u-s-companies-are-stashing-2-1-trillion-overseas-to-avoid-taxes" target="blank">nearly $40 billion</a> offshore.Benjamin Leon Jr.
Health care, horsesAge: 71
How much given: <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/contrib.php?cmte=C00541292&cycle=2016" target="blank">$2.5 million</a> (via Besilu Stables)
Net worth: Undisclosed
Where the money comes from: A Cuban exile, Leon was an HMO pioneer in Florida, later founding Leon Medical Centers, which serves more than 40,000 patients in seven <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article1957810.html" target="blank">Medicare-only facilities in South Florida</a>. Leon also founded (and later spun off) a Medicare Advantage insurance plan specific to his clinics. Medicare Advantage is a private insurance option in the federal entitlement program that costs the government more than traditional Medicare; taxpayers have covered more than <a href="http://www.pnhp.org/sites/default/files/IJHS-Medicare_Overpayments-5.10.13.pdf" target="blank">$120 billion in excess costs since 2004</a>.
How he lives: Son Benjamin Leon III now runs the health business. Leon Jr. focuses on breeding <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paso_Fino" target="blank">Paso Fino</a> and thoroughbred horses at his Besilu Stables. Putting his $2.5 million investment in the GOP horserace in perspective: Leon spent $8.5 million for the racehorse Royal Delta in 2011. Leon is selling his waterfront estate in Coral Gables for <a href="http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/630-Leucadendra-Dr-Coral-Gables-FL-33156/43921013_zpid/" target="blank">$18.9 million.</a> He has a 36-foot yacht called the "<a href="http://www.boatinfoworld.com/registration.asp?vn=145456" target="blank">Luna Rossa</a>."
Why he gives: Rubio is a committed <a href="https://marcorubio.com/issues-2/marco-rubio-social-security-medicare-plan/" target="blank">defender</a> of Medicare Advantage, which has been the target of Obamacare cost-cutting reforms. (Leon Medical Centers has <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=D000027198&year=2010" target="blank">lobbied heavily</a>, including on Medicare issues, spending $690,000 during the Obama years.) Leon has faced other legal problems: In 2013, a whistleblower lawsuit <a href="http://www2.sidley.com/files/upload/Osheroffv.HealthspringMDTenn2013.pdf" target="blank">accused</a> Leon Medical Centers of violating federal anti-kickback laws by offering free luxury transportation and food to lure healthy, high-profit Medicare Advantage patients. (The suit was ultimately dismissed.) Leon and Rubio additionally align on Cuba policy: Leon donates to the <a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/meet-marco-rubios-far-right-neocon-donors/" target="blank">hardline Cuba Democracy Advocates</a>; Rubio <a href="https://marcorubio.com/issues-2/marco-rubio-cuba-policy-proposals-embargo/" target="blank">advocates</a> a Cold War-style approach to Cuban relations, sanctions.<figure class="embed full-width"> <figcaption>Paul Singer at the 2015 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Chris Ratcliffe/Getty</figcaption></figure>Paul Singer
Wall StreetAge: 71
How much given: <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/donor_detail.php?cycle=2016&id=U0000000066&type=I&super=N&name=Singer%2C+Paul+E." target="blank">$2.5 million
</a>Net worth: <a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/paul-singer/" target="blank">$2.2 billion
</a>Where the money comes from: Singer runs <a href="http://www.elliottmgmt.com/" target="blank">Elliott Capital Management</a> — a hedge fund with more than $20 billion in assets. Derided as a "vulture capitalist," Singer's niche is buying the defaulted-on debt of poor countries for pennies on the dollar, and then suing in U.S. courts to exact payment. In 2014, Singer's firm forced Argentina to default — for a second time — over bonds Singer bought on the cheap after the country's earlier default in 2001. In March, Singer settled with Argentina for $2.28 billion — a return of <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-01/singer-makes-369-of-principal-on-argentine-bonds-in-debt-offer" target="blank">at least 369 percent</a> on his original investment. In a similar strategy, Singer's hedge fund took <a href="http://fortune.com/2012/03/26/mitt-romneys-hedge-fund-kingmaker/" target="blank">a huge stake</a> in Lehman Brothers debt at the depths of its wreckage, profiting from federal interventions to halt the nation's economic free-fall. Singer is also invested in oil: One of his funds owns an <a href="http://whalewisdom.com/filer/elliott-management-corp#/tabholdings_tab_link" target="blank">$860 million stake in Hess</a>, which <a href="http://www.hess.com/operations/shale-energy">fracks</a> in North Dakota's Bakken Shale.
How he lives: Lauded by Fortune as "<a href="http://fortune.com/2012/03/26/mitt-romneys-hedge-fund-kingmaker/" target="blank">a passionate defender of the one percent</a>," Singer lives in a luxury apartment at the <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/07/paul-singer-elliott-republican-fundraiser" target="blank">Beresford</a> on Central Park West, and owns <a href="http://aspenjournalism.org/2014/07/28/billionaires-in-aspen-the-aspen-50-in-2014/" target="blank">a pair of ski chalets</a> in Snowmass Village (Aspen) worth a combined $12.7 million.
Why he gives: Singer is one of the GOP's top moneymen. A member of the Koch donor network, Singer is nonetheless a <a href="https://thepesfoundation.org/paul-singer/" target="blank">social liberal on causes like gay marriage</a>. (His son, a Massachusetts doctor, is married to a man.) Singer has long backed establishment candidates including George W. Bush, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney. In a letter to fellow GOP donors, Singer touted Rubio's ability to "<a href="https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2500047/singerletter.pdf" target="blank">navigate this complex primary process</a>, and still be in a position to defeat Secretary Clinton in November 2016." Singer is a member of the <a href="http://capmktsreg.org/about/members/" target="blank">Committee on Capital Markets Regulation</a>, which <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-column-lifting-idUSN1828736720080918" target="blank">fought for Wall Street deregulation</a> in the buildup to the 2008 financial crash. Rubio wants <a href="http://www.americanbanker.com/news/law-regulation/rubio-vows-to-repeal-dodd-frank-1075921-1.html" target="blank">to repeal</a> Dodd-Frank. Singer would benefit extravagantly from Rubio's tax plan (zero tax on capital gains, dividends and estates). Singer is another heavyweight in pro-Israel politics: He serves on the <a href="http://www.rjchq.org/paul_singer" target="blank">Republican Jewish Coalition</a>, traveled with George W. Bush to Israel to celebrate its 60th anniversary, and wrote of Rubio, "He will make it clear to Israel's adversaries that America stands shoulder to shoulder with the Jewish State." In addition, Singer <a href="http://www.manhattan-institute.org/board-of-trustees" target="blank">chairs</a> the Manhattan Institute, which <a href="http://www.manhattan-institute.org/pdf/pgi_01.pdf" target="blank">promotes fossil fuels</a>, <a href="https://www.manhattan-institute.org/pdf/mtc_nlfall2011.pdf" target="blank">contests climate science</a>, and argues that limiting global temperature rise is "<a href="http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/staying-below-2-degrees-hopeless-without-war-8176.html" target="blank">hopeless</a>." Rubio insists action on climate is <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/09/17/gop_debate_marco_rubio_s_terrible_answer_on_climate_change.html" target="blank">not worth the economic cost</a>. <figure class="embed full-width"> <figcaption /></figure>Ken Griffin
Wall StreetAge: 47
How much given: <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/donor_detail.php?cycle=2016&id=U0000003655&type=I&super=N&name=Griffin%2C+Kenneth+C.+%26+Anne+Dias" target="blank">$2.6 million
</a>Net worth: <a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/ken-griffin/" target="blank">$7.6 billion</a> (making him the <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-ken-griffin-hedge-fund-pay-0506-biz-20150505-story.html" target="blank">richest man</a> in Illinois)
Where the money comes from: Griffin runs the massively profitable, <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2015/05/15/king-ken-recovered-citadel-chief-takes-the-hedge-fund-throne.html" target="blank">highly leveraged</a> <a href="https://www.citadel.com/" target="blank">Citadel</a> hedge fund, which he founded straight out of Harvard, where he used to trade bonds from his dorm. Now managing <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/2016/02/24/the-25-highest-earning-hedge-fund-managers-and-traders-2/#58842da2ff30" target="blank">$24 billion</a>, Citadel is a longtime giant in <a href="http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2013/07/05/n-cmr-citadel-trading-high-frequency.cnnmoney/" target="blank">high-frequency trading</a>: According to <a href="https://www.sec.gov/comments/equity-market-structure-2013/equitymarketstructure2013-7.pdf" target="blank">a 2014 SEC filing</a>, "On an average day, Citadel accounts for over 14 percent of U.S. listed equity volume." Citadel recently hired former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke as <a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/hail-ken-griffin-hedge-fund-163022533.html" target="blank">senior adviser</a>.
How he lives: In a 2015 divorce filing, Griffin's now ex-wife, Anne Dias, claimed her husband's monthly after-tax income "<a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2015/03/03/ken-griffin-makes-68m-a-month-after-taxes-ex-wife-says.html" target="blank">averages over $68.5 million</a>"; she reportedly sought $1 million a month in child support. Griffin recently <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2015/10/04/ken-griffin-goes-on-290-million-real-estate-spree.html" target="blank">spent $290 million on a real-estate buying binge</a> that included two floors of the Waldorf Astoria in Chicago. In happier times, Griffin held his wedding reception at <a href="http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/June-2011/The-File-on-Citadels-Ken-Griffin/" target="blank">Versailles</a>, where Donna Summer performed. He once bought a Jasper Johns for <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/12/arts/design/12geff.html?r=0" target="blank">$80 million</a>. He hired Katy Perry to perform at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXur45fnR_Q" target="blank">Citadel's 25th birthday party</a>. Owns a <a href="http://aspenjournalism.org/2014/07/28/billionaires-in-aspen-the-aspen-50-in-2014/" target="blank">ski chalet in Aspen worth $8.5 million</a>.<a href="http://aspenjournalism.org/2014/07/28/billionaires-in-aspen-the-aspen-50-in-2014/" target="blank">
</a>Why he gives: A member of the Koch donor network, Griffin <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-03-11/business/ct-biz-0311-confidential-griffin-web-version-20120311_1_american-crossroads-politics-republicans-and-democrats/3" target="blank">said</a> he shares the brothers' "fundamental belief that economic freedom is core to the ethos of our country." Griffin has declared that the ultra-wealthy have "<a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-03-11/business/ct-biz-0311-confidential-griffin-web-version-20120311_1_american-crossroads-politics-republicans-and-democrats/4" target="blank">insufficient influence</a>" on the American political process. (Griffin reportedly gave <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/03/business/chicagos-odd-couple-mayor-emanuel-and-billionaire-republican-investor.html" target="blank">$13 million</a> to help elect Illinois Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2014 and more than $1 million to support former Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel in his reelection bid as mayor of Chicago.) Like Singer, Griffin is a member of the anti-Dodd-Frank <a href="http://capmktsreg.org/about/members/" target="blank">Committee on Capital Markets Regulation</a>. He <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhUipXkP-6A" target="blank">testified</a> after the 2008 crash, "It is not my belief we need greater government regulation of hedge funds with respect to the systemic risk they create." Since 2010, Citadel has spent <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=D000021912&year=2015" target="blank">more than $2.5 million</a> lobbying the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Congress on financial regulation and tax issues. Griffin and his heirs would reap billions from Rubio's tax plans. Endorsing the Florida senator, Griffin <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/09/politics/ken-griffin-marco-rubio-2016/" target="blank">said</a>, "Marco Rubio has the vision of where America needs to go."Isaac "Ike" Perlmutter
HollywoodAge: 73
How much given: <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/donor_detail.php?cycle=2016&id=U0000004571&type=I&super=N&name=Perlmutter%2C+Laura" target="blank">$2 million</a> (donation is in the name of wife, Laura)
Net worth: <a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/isaac-perlmutter/" target="blank">$3.7 billion
</a>Where the money comes from: He's a self-made billionaire. An Israeli émigré, Perlmutter made profitable bets on struggling brands <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/09/politics/ken-griffin-marco-rubio-2016/" target="blank">Coleco</a> (Cabbage Patch dolls) and Remington (nose-hair trimmers) before seizing control of bankrupt Marvel comics in the late Nineties. He sold to Disney in 2009 for $4 billion, netting <a href="http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/marvels-14-billion-man/" target="blank">$1.4 billion</a> in cash and stock. Notoriously stingy and gruff, Perlmutter reportedly insulted A-list talent with lowball contract offers and clashed with African-American female executives. Perlmutter was <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/09/marvel-studios-ike-perlmutter-kevin-feige" target="blank">sidelined by Disney in 2015</a>.
How he lives: Perlmutter owns luxury residences in Palm Beach (a <a href="http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/news/beyond-the-hedges-perlmutter-trust-pays-32m-for--1/nLh85/" target="blank">$3.2 million condo</a>) and Manhattan. The Perlmutters have been sued repeatedly in <a href="http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/business/marvel-chief-hires-superhero-lawyer-to-fight-lawsu/nj9T9/" target="blank">a bitter dispute over control of the Palm Beach</a> tennis club they're members of. Ike Perlmutter is basically a hermit — the last known photo of the man dates from <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/11560174/isaac-ike-perlmutter-marvel-owner.html" target="blank">1985</a>. He allegedly wore a <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/02/16/meet-the-reclusive-marvel-mogul-who-loves-marco-rubio-and-donald-trump.html" target="blank">false mustache</a> and fake glasses to attend, incognito, the premiere of Iron Man. He reportedly has a concealed-carry permit in Florida.
How he aligns with the candidate: Perlmutter is another strong backer of Israel. He was born in what's now Israel and is a veteran of the Six-Day War.
Read more: <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/meet-the-gop-mega-donors-of-the-2016-election-20160311#ixzz42q4UwcG3" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/meet-the-gop-mega-donors-of-the-2016-election-20160311#ixzz42q4UwcG3</a>
 matrix:  <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/10/ultimate-climate-candidate-matrix">http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/10/ultimate-climate-candidate-matrix</a><a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/03/marco-rubio-had-some-really-dumb-things-say-about-climate-change-last-nigh">http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/03/marco-rubio-had-some-really-dumb-things-say-about-climate-change-last-nigh</a>Marco Rubio seemed surprised he was asked about climate change science at a Republican presidential debate held in Miami, where some <a href="http://sealevel.climatecentral.org/news/floria-and-the-rising-sea" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration-line: none; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(0, 0, 0);">2.4 million people</a> are at risk from rising seas. CNN moderator Jake Tapper asked Rubio to respond to the words of Miami Republican Mayor Tomás Regalado, who acknowledges <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article64940092.html" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration-line: none; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(0, 0, 0);">the human-made threat to his city</a> and wants to hear his state's senator acknowledge it, too: "Will you, as president, acknowledge the reality of the scientific consensus about climate change and, as president, will you pledge to do something about it?"<div class="inline inline-right" style="display: table; float: right; margin: 5px 0px 5px 20px; line-height: 25px; width: 225px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/10/ultimate-climate-candidate-matrix" target="blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration-line: none; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(0, 0, 0);"><img src="/dff89b19-455a-5c0a-88d6-4a2166e167f0.gif"/></a><div class="caption" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 1.4em; margin-top: 3px;"><a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/10/ultimate-climate-candidate-matrix" target="blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration-line: none; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(0, 0, 0);">Check out Climate Desk's ultimate guide to the presidential candidates' positions on climate change.</a></div></div>Rubio responded: "Well, sure, the climate is changing, and one of the reasons why the climate is changing is the climate has always been changing," he said, interrupted by applause. "There's never been a time when the climate has not changed. I think the fundamental question for a policymaker is, is the climate changing because of something we are doing, and if so, is there a law you can pass to fix it?"Rubio blamed Miami flooding on the city's low-lying land and listed a convoluted second reason:"higher sea levels or whatever may be happening." He continued his fact-free musings by dismissing the Environmental Protection Agency's efforts to cut our greenhouse gas emissions. "But as far as a law that we can pass in Washington to change the weather, there's no such thing." The audience laughed.Most of the time, reporters and debate moderators will leave it at that and move on to another topic. But Tapper followed up with the key detail Rubio wanted to skip over. "So just to clarify, Senator Rubio," Tapper said, "Mayor Regalado, when he talks about the reality of the scientific consensus about climate change…he's saying the scientific consensus is that man does contribute to climate change." Tapper asked if Rubio would tell the man he's wrong.In fewer words, Rubio said, yes he would. "If we pass—if you took the gift list of all of these groups that are asking us to pass these laws and did every single one of them, there would be no change in our environment. Sea level would still rise." In a world where we really did enact that wish list, seas would still rise, yes, but the world would be well on its way to a more moderate path of warming.You can watch Rubio's full answer here:=<a href="http://ecowatch.com/2016/01/08/marco-rubio-exxon">http://ecowatch.com/2016/01/08/marco-rubio-exxon</a>When asked by Annika Barth, a New Hampshire resident and freshman at American University, if he would support a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation on all that <a href="http://ecowatch.com/?s=exxon+knew" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; line-height: 25.2px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Exxon knew</a> about <a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; line-height: 25.2px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">climate change</a>, Republican presidential candidate <a href="http://ecowatch.com/?s=rubio" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; line-height: 25.2px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Marco Rubio</a> referred to the investigation as “nothing but a left-wing effort to demonize industries in America.”Contrary to Rubio’s perception, Exxon is not being investigated for their political views, but rather for actively misleading the public and their investors on their extensive knowledge of climate change. A <a href="http://insideclimatenews.org/content/Exxon-The-Road-Not-Taken" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background: transparent;">series</a> of <a href="http://graphics.latimes.com/exxon-research/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background: transparent;">investigative reports</a> revealed that as early as the 1970s, Exxon knew that burning <a href="http://ecowatch.com/news/energy-news/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background: transparent;">fossil fuels</a> caused climate change, but spent millions to sow public doubt around their own research. Just yesterday, in light of these reports, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin called on the state’s pension funds to <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/01/07/huge-ovation-citing-exxonknew-vermont-governor-calls-fossil-fuel-divestment?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=socialnetwork" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background: transparent;">divest their holdings in Exxon</a>.Now, momentum is growing to prosecute Exxon for their climate lies. New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has <a href="http://ecowatch.com/2015/11/06/exxon-climate-scandal-subpoena/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background: transparent;">launched an investigation</a> to uncover all Exxon knew. All three Democratic presidential candidates, as well as <a href="http://350.org/the-department-of-justice-must-investigate-exxonmobil/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background: transparent;">more than 60</a> prominent indigenous peoples, social and environmental organizations, have called on Attorney General Loretta Lynch to launch an investigation. Sec. of State John Kerry has also supported a DOJ investigation, saying Exxon “stands potentially to lose billions of dollars in what I would imagine would be one of the largest class-action lawsuits in history.” Organizers across the country are urging their state Attorney Generals to launch similar investigations.To date, Rubio has accepted more than $13,500 in funding from ExxonMobil according to<a href="http://dirtyenergymoney.org/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background: transparent;">DirtyEnergyMoney.org</a>. That amount doesn’t include donations from Exxon employees, nor any support that the corporation may have already made to Rubio’s presidential campaign or Super PACs supporting his candidacy.Norman Braman5.0 million Billionaire auto dealer in Florida, and a longtime patron of Marco Rubio. 158 famsOut of the $16 million raised by Conservative Solutions PAC, which is supporting Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, $12.5 million came from just four donors, including <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/10/us/billionaire-lifts-marco-rubio-politically-and-personally.html?r=0" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145); line-height: 23px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Norman Braman, a billionaire auto dealer and longtime patron of Mr. Rubio</a>, and the tech investor Larry Ellison. center, which would be built next to the city's airport, is being touted as a job-creator and a source of revenue.Gary mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson estimated that the facility would generate $1 million in annual property taxes. “I can use that,” she noted.Councilwoman Linda Barnes-Caldwell agreed, saying, “I think it is a wonderful idea. It will bring revenue to the city and jobs. And I think it is an ideal location.”GEO Group <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/09/12255/violence-abuse-and-death-profit-prisons-geo-group-rap-sheet" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">has long come under fire</a> for practices within its facilities as well as its profiteering off of the criminal justice system. From 2008 to 2012, CEO George C. Zoley had a compensation of $22,315,704. Because the company largely contracts with the government, almost all of this money came from American taxpayers.The Private Corrections Working Group notes that GEO has faced hundred of lawsuits over conditions within its facilities, with <a href="http://www.privateci.org/private_pics/GEO_suit2.pdf" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">scores being settled</a> before reaching trial. As Brendan Fischer notes, research <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/09/12255/violence-abuse-and-death-profit-prisons-geo-group-rap-sheet#sthash.ma32tVZT.dpuf" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">has shown</a> that “assaults on guards by inmates were 49 percent more frequent in private prisons than in government-run prisons. The same study revealed that assaults on fellow inmates were 65 percent more frequent in for-profit/private prisons.”GEO has steadily expanded its operations due to its <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/28/how-for-profit-prisons-have-become-the-biggest-lobby-no-one-is-talking-about/" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">close political connections</a>. It has close ties to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who has in the past employed several staffers tied to GEO, including a chief of staff who co-founded the same lobbying firm employed by GEO.Some local residents are concerned. Tom Dubois of Concerned Citizens of Hobart, who opposes such detention facilities, <a href="http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/gary/large-immigration-detention-center-proposed-near-gary-airport/article_268f7250-ce9c-57e5-88aa-4ed237c5d420.html?mobile_touch=true" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">said</a>, “It's a moral issue as well as an economic one.”Gary's unemployment rate has been persistently high, and it has been described by some of its residents as a “<a href="http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-05-18-gary-indiana-revival_n.htm" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">ghost town</a>.” In 2011, Gary had to close its main library due to budget cutbacks. Building an economy and tax base based on detaining migrants is probably not the ideal strategy, but in an America where so much of the Midwest has been deindustrialized and left in decay, it's the sort of perverse idea that makes sense to local leaders. denierFor months, a group of high-rolling Republican donors with considerable resources to pour into super PACs or political nonprofits were undecided about which White House candidate to support with their millions. But that’s finally changing, in no small part due to billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Singer‘s announcement last weekend that he’s backing Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

Singer’s decision could bring some unity to the prominent financier class that has already given 39.2 percent of all contributions to outside spending groups like super PACs this cycle. After all, it may have before.

Singer, the founder of Elliot Management, has already given $3.1 million to super PACs and candidates, though none to the presidential hopefuls. That makes him No. 12 on the list of top donors in the 2016 cycle so far. He placed No. 3 overall in the 2014 cycle, giving $10.6 million to conservative candidates and super PACs, and No. 20 in 2012 with $2.8 in contributions. In 2014, he was the top conservative donor overall; the only individuals to give more to super PACs and candidates were investor Tom Steyer and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who both supported liberal candidates.Click <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://opensecrets.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=aa7cf182bf7041258bb250f9d&id=a776c2e8fc&e=44dfb36771" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(62, 114, 181); outline: none; overflow-wrap: break-word; background: transparent;">here t</a><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://opensecrets.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=aa7cf182bf7041258bb250f9d&id=5ba69ad5d8&e=44dfb36771" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(62, 114, 181); outline: none; overflow-wrap: break-word; background: transparent;">o read the full article</a>. http://insideclimatenews.org/news/07082015/where-presidential-candidates-fall-climate-change
 debate...“We received a lot of questions from social media about climate change,” says CNN moderator Jake Tapper. One group, <a href="https://nextgenclimate.org/" target="blank" style="line-height: 25.2px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">NextGen Climate</a> pushed very hard ahead of the debate for the candidates to talk about climate change. They rolled out a three-figure ad campaign ahead of the debate, invoking <a href="http://ecowatch.com/2015/09/16/gop-primary-debate/" style="line-height: 25.2px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Ronald Reagan’s “Common Sense” speech</a> to urge CNN moderator Jake Tapper to ask candidates how they would address climate change—specifically what their plans are to get the country to 5<a href="http://ecowatch.com/2015/07/24/steyer-clean-energy-plan/" style="line-height: 25.2px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">0 percent renewables by 2030</a>.While Tapper failed to ask them about their <a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background: transparent;">renewable energy</a> plan, he did quote Ronald Reagan’s Sec. of State George Schultz in asking the candidates the following question:Schultz reminds us that when Ronald Reagan was president, he faced a similar situation to the one we’re facing now. There were dire warnings from the mass consensus of the scientific community about the ozone layer shrinking. Schultz says Ronald Reagan urged skeptics in industry to come up with a plan. He said do it as an insurance policy in case the scientists are right. The scientists were right. Reagan and his approach worked. Sec. Schultz asks why not take out an insurance policy and approach climate change the Reagan way?Rubio responded first saying, “Because we’re not going to destroy our economy the way the left-wing government that we are under now wants us to do.” Tapper reminded Rubio he’s citing George Schultz, a conservative in the Reagan administration. To which Rubio responded, Schultz “may have lined up with them on this position, but here’s the bottom line: Every proposal they put forward are proposals that will make it harder to do business in America—that will make it harder to create jobs in America.“Single parents are already struggling across this country to provide for their families. Maybe a billionaire here in California can afford an increase in their utility rates, but a working family in Tampa, Florida or anywhere across this country cannot afford it. So, we are not going to destroy our economy, we are not going to make America a harder place to create jobs in order to pursue policies that will do absolutely nothing—nothing—to change our climate, to change our weather because America is a lot of things—the greatest country in the world, absolutely. But America is not a planet. And we are not even the largest carbon producer anymore—China is. And they are drilling a hole and digging anywhere in the world that they can get a hold of. So the bottom line is, I am not in favor of any policies that make America a harder place to live or to work or to raise their families.”<div class="rve" data-content-width="" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: 25.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </div> Tapper then turns to <a href="http://ecowatch.com/2015/09/01/christie-refute-climate-denial/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background: transparent;">Gov. Chris Christie</a>, saying “You have admitted that climate change is real and humans help contribute to it … What do you make of skeptics of climate change such as Sen. Rubio?”“I don’t think Sen. Rubio is a skeptic of climate change. What Sen. Rubio said I agree with,” said Gov. Christie. “That, in fact, we don’t need this massive government intervention to deal with the problem. Look at what we’ve done in New Jersey. We’ve already met our clean air goals for 2020. When I was governor, I pulled out of the regional cap-and-trade deal—the only state in the northeast that did that. And we still reached our goals. Why? Because 53 percent of our electricity comes from nuclear. We use natural gas. We use solar power. We’re the highest using solar power state. You know why? Because we made all of those things economically feasible. I agree with Marco. We shouldn’t be destroying our economy in order to chase some wild left-wing idea that somehow [we] by ourselves [are] going to fix the climate. We can contribute to that and be economically sound. We can do that in New Jersey. <a href="http://ecowatch.com/news/energy-news/nuclear-energy-energy/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background: transparent;">Nuclear</a> needs to be back on the table in a significant way if we want to go after this problem.”Tapper reiterated that he was citing Sec. of State George Schultz. “I don’t think anyone would call him left wing,” said Tapper. Christie rebutted saying, “Listen, everybody makes a mistake once in a while, Jake. Even George Schultz. And if that’s truly a representation of what he believes we should be doing, then with all due respect to the former secretary of state, I disagree with him.”...At that point, Sen. Rubio interjected to take issue with being called a “denier” by Tapper, but Tapper clarifies that he used the term “skeptic.” Rubio said, “You know you can measure the climate. You can measure it. That’s the not issue we’re discussing. I’m skeptical of the decisions that the Left wants us to make because I know the impact that those will have on the economy. They will not do a thing to lower the rise of the sea. They will not do a thing to cure California of the <a href="http://ecowatch.com/?s=drought" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background: transparent;">drought</a>. But what they will do is make America a more expensive place to create jobs and today with millions of Americans watching this broadcast struggling from paycheck to paycheck that do not know how they are going to pay their bills at the end of this month, I am not in favor of anything that is going to make it harder for them to raise their family.”Then, Gov. Scott Walker chimed in, disparaging U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s rules to address climate change. He said the rules would result in the loss of thousands of manufacturing jobs in his state, as well as other states to enforce and would only “have a marginal effect on climate change.”While Rubio at least acknowledges that California is in a drought, he clearly doesn’t take the issue very seriously. At the beginning of the debate, he made light of his “<a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/marco-rubios-water-bottle-gate-moment/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background: transparent;">water-bottle-gate moment</a>” in 2013 when his drinking a glass of water became an <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/marco-rubio-explains-awkward-sip-water-article-1.1262851" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background: transparent;">instant Internet meme</a>. Last night, he joked “I’m aware California has a drought. That’s why I brought my own water bottle.” Nobody appeared to laughed, though.<div class="in-content-ad" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: 25.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div id="div-gpt-ad-1433512244421-0" class="unit" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; height: 90px; width: 728px;"><div id="google_ads_iframe/33540210/EW_ARTICLE_INJECT_0container" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0pt none;">The candidates basically acknowledged that the climate is changing, but they all “objected to federal action to address it,” says ClimateTruth.org. And Rubio and Christie both argue that it’s foolish to think humans can change the climate. Rubio awkwardly declared that “America is not a planet,” which <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/09/17/gop_debate_marco_rubio_s_terrible_answer_on_climate_change.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background: transparent;">Slate‘s Eric Holthaus</a> quips is “the only thing Marco Rubio got right on climate change.” And Christie believes it’s “some wild left-wing idea” to “fix the climate” by ourselves.Needless to say, many were not pleased with the Republican candidates’ responses. “Tonight, Republican presidential candidates got a question on the most critical challenge facing our country and the world—climate change,” said <a href="http://ecowatch.com/author/tom-steyer/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background: transparent;">Tom Steyer</a> of NextGen Climate.“But the candidates got it all wrong: left unchecked, climate change will devastate our economy. <a href="http://ecowatch.com/2015/09/01/wall-street-action-climate-change/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background: transparent;">Citigroup</a> estimates climate change could cost the global economy as much as $44 trillion. We already have the clean energy solutions at hand. Now we need candidates with a plan to accelerate the transition to clean energy, creating millions of jobs and ensuring economic prosperity while preventing climate disaster. It’s irresponsible to do anything less.”Many people are having a field day with Rubio’s <a href="http://www.bustle.com/articles/111124-marco-rubio-said-america-is-not-a-planet-wait-whats-that-now" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">“America is not a planet” gaffe</a>. “So, Rubio’s logic seems to say that since America isn’t a planet, it shouldn’t have to address the global crisis that is climate change,” <a href="http://www.bustle.com/articles/111124-marco-rubio-said-america-is-not-a-planet-wait-whats-that-now" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); background: transparent;">said Bustle’s Josephine Yurcaba</a>. “The U.S. is actually <a href="http://www.statista.com/statistics/271748/the-largest-emitters-of-co2-in-the-world/" title="Link: http://www.statista.com/statistics/271748/the-largest-emitters-of-co2-in-the-world/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); background: transparent;">second in carbon-producing countries</a>, according to Statista, but for some reason Rubio thinks that not being first should mean that we aren’t responsible at all, which just doesn’t make sense.”As for Rubio’s claim that federal action will do “nothing to change our climate,” <a href="http://www.factcheck.org/2015/09/factchecking-the-cnn-republican-debate/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background: transparent;">FactCheck.org takes issue</a>:Rubio is correct that “America is not a planet,” of course, but that does not mean that policies at the national level will have absolutely no effect on the climate. When we <a href="http://www.factcheck.org/2015/01/distorting-climate-change-threats-solutions/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background: transparent;">covered this issue in January</a>, an expert told us that U.S. emissions alone, if left unchanged, would cause about half a degree Celsius of warming by the end of the century. Efforts to cut these emissions, including the recently released <a href="http://www2.epa.gov/cleanpowerplan/clean-power-plan-existing-power-plants" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background: transparent;">Clean Power Plan</a>, which would limit emissions from power plants, and other policies such as <a href="http://www.nhtsa.gov/fuel-economy" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background: transparent;">fuel efficiency standards</a>, will have a small but non-zero effect on that temperature change, and related sea level rise.Furthermore, <a href="http://www.factcheck.org/2015/01/distorting-climate-change-threats-solutions/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; background: transparent;">many experts say</a> that U.S. leadership on climate is important in convincing other nations to also cut their carbon pollution. In both senses, Rubio is wrong that cutting emissions will do “absolutely nothing” to fight climate change.=koch confWhen she wasn’t offering to “throw a punch” at Hillary Clinton, Carly Fiorina a<a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/08/koch-love-fest-in-california-120928.html" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">pplauded the “patriotism”</a> of Charles and David Koch, implying that their neo-libertarian ideology of self-enrichment was a boon to the nation.Marco Rubio, in a smooth performance that likely persuaded some of his electability, took aim at the Obama administration’s new EPA “clean energy” regulations, <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/08/marco-rubio-blasts-hillary-clinton-over-email-practices-120917.html#ixzz3huCmdKim" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">suggesting</a> they would benefit “some billionaire somewhere who is a pro-environmental cap-and-trade person” at the expense of “a single mom in Tampa.”Reminding those assembled that he had actually rolled back environmental regulations in Wisconsin, Scott Walker also brayed about having damaged union rights there.And Ted Cruz flat-out denied the very existence of climate change due to global warming, claiming that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was “cooking the books” when it came to measuring the earth’s temperature.But for all the preening and posturing of the candidates whose interviews preceded his on the conference schedule, the one presidential hopeful who was by far the most awkward—and the most unnatural fit for the neo-libertarian audience at the St. Regis Hotel in Dana Point—was also the one who displayed a superior understanding the Koch network’s donor base. He is widely seen as the “establishment candidate,” a low-charisma campaigner whose views align less closely with those of the Kochs than, say, Walker or Cruz. His name is Jeb Bush.4/15...Rubio Victory Fund filings are a warning to anyone still underestimating the senator’s appeal to big dollar donors.<div class="entry-content" style="margin: 5px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: rgb(33, 43, 74); line-height: 24px;"><div itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Article" itemref="comments" style="margin: 5px 0px;"><div itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 5px 0px;">The biggest name was Adelson — who, according to a <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/marco-rubio-takes-lead-in-sheldon-adelson-primary-117268.html#ixzz3Y87ySPlG" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">new report</a>, indeed may be close to a decision to throw, at a minimum, tens of millions behind Rubio’s White House bid. In 2012, he and his wife, Miriam, donated <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/donor_detail.php?cycle=2012&id=U0000000310&type=I&super=N&name=Adelson%2C+Sheldon+G.+%26+Miriam+O." style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">more than $92 million to conservative super PACs</a>, making them the largest donors in a single cycle in history. Last fall, Adelson’s daughter, Shelly Adelson, and son-in-law Patrick Dumont <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2015/02/paul-and-rubio-make-headway-with-big-donors/" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">both donated</a> to Rubio’s leadership PAC. On Jan. 19, just days before Rubio first signaled he would likely run for president, Sheldon and Miriam Adelson each contributed $10,200 to the Rubio Victory Fund.In all, 51 people gave $10,000 or more to the fund, accounting for $574,000 of the $1.7 million raised from individual donors.Another significant name near the top of that list: Ben Heller, a New York real estate developer who in 2014 donated $365,000 to <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00567982&cycle=2014" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">B-PAC</a>, a super PAC that worked mainly, and unsuccessfully, to defeat Democrat Gary Peters’ bid for Michigan’s open Senate seat. Heller’s <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/contrib_all.php?cmte=C00567982&type=A&cycle=2014" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">fellow donors to B-PAC</a> include some of the most influential and most sought-after names in conservative outside spending: Alticor Inc., owned by the conservative mega-donor family of Richard DeVos, and hedge fund managers Paul Singer (the <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/overview/topindivs.php" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">No. 3 top donor in the 2014 cycle</a>) and Robert Mercer (<a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/overview/topindivs.php" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">No. 4 on the 2014 donor list</a>). Heller also donated heavily to Mitt Romney’s campaign and — to complicate matters — last September made maximum donations to the campaign and leadership PACs of one of Rubio’s biggest rivals for the GOP nomination: Sen. <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00033085&cycle=2014" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Ted Cruz</a> (R-Texas).Another top donor to Rubio Victory Fund — who also appears to be a steal from the Cruz camp — is Stephen Chazen, chief executive officer of Occidental Petroleum, who gave $10,400 to the Rubio team on March 23, the same day that Cruz officially announced his campaign. Chazen has previously been a big supporter of conservative super PACs, including presidential ones. According to disclosure records filed last week by Cruz’s campaign, Chazen did not donate in the first eight days of his campaign.In 2012, Chazen donated $100,000 to <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00499731&cycle=2012" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Make Us Great Again</a>, the super PAC that backed GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry, and $50,000 to <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00510941&cycle=2012" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Texas Conservatives Fund</a>, a super PAC that split from the GOP establishment to back Cruz’ Senate run. Chazen has also donated $200,000 to <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=American+Crossroads/Crossroads+GPS&cycle=2014" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">American Crossroads</a>, and last fall gave $125,000 to <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00564765&cycle=2014" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Freedom Partners Action Fund</a>, the super PAC at the heart of the Koch network of donors, and $100,000 to <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00543256&cycle=2014" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Kentuckians for Strong Leadership</a>, a super PAC that backed Senate Majority Leader <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00003389&cycle=2014" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Mitch McConnell</a> (R-Ky.) in his re-election bid.Rubio Victory Fund also picked up a $10,400 donation from Roger Hertog, a New York philanthropist who has previously served on the board of Club for Growth and the American Enterprise Institute. Hertog has given $550,000 to the American Crossroads super PAC and large donations to both Cruz and his leadership PAC.And that’s just the start — the Rubio Victory Fund also scooped up donations in excess of $10,000 from other prominent donors like Randy and Ken Kendricks, the owners of the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team, and New York grocery magnate Jon Catsimatidis and his wife.All of those donors, notably, are not from Florida, Rubio’s presumed natural base for fundraising. In fact, two-thirds of the money pulled in by his Victory Fund came from other states. A total of $380,000 in donations came from California, not traditionally a big source of votes or donations for GOP candidates, and $150,000 came from donors in New York, which has become the epicenter of Republican presidential fundraising. Rubio pulled in $508,000 from his home state.The Victory Fund money is ostensibly not for Rubio’s presidential run; while these donors clearly like him, their gifts don’t mean they’ll also fork over cash for his White House campaign. But we’ll know soon enough.<div>
</div></div></div></div> 4/14Florida Sen. Marco Rubio once acknowledged that <a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; line-height: 25.2px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">climate change</a> was a serious issue that needed to be addressed. But now he’s <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/14/us/politics/marco-rubio-2016-presidential-campaign.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; line-height: 25.2px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">thrown his hat in the ring</a> for the Republican presidential nomination, <a href="http://ecowatch.com/2015/03/26/climate-denying-republicans-run-president/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; line-height: 25.2px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">a field in which such science-based beliefs are taboo</a>. So now he’s a full-blown<a href="http://ecowatch.com/?s=climate+denier" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(67, 146, 65); transition: color 0.2s linear 0s; line-height: 25.2px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">climate denier</a>, spouting the GOP party line.=In the ongoing scrum that is the GOP presidential money primary, every wealthy donor locked up adds both to a potential candidate’s perceived viability and his credibility with more donors. FEC filings from late last month have <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2015/02/paul-and-rubio-make-headway-with-big-donors/" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background: transparent;">already yielded positive signals</a> for several of the senators who may be angling for the nomination, but the latest batch are even more promising for Sen. <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00030612&cycle=2014" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background: transparent;">Marco Rubio</a> (R-Fla.).Rubio, who may have the steepest hill to climb with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush entering the fray — the two have the same natural base of funders among mainstream Floridian Republicans — reported fourth-quarter 2014 donations to his senatorial campaign from several key names in the world of presidential fundraising. Most prominently, on Dec. 17 he received $5,000 from Annette Simmons, the widow of Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons. Together the couple was the second largest overall donor of traceable money in the 2012 election, contributing more than $27 million to conservative causes. At least <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/donor_detail.php?cycle=2012&id=U0000003273&type=I&super=N&name=Simmons%2C+Harold+C.+%26+Annette" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background: transparent;">$20.5 million of that </a>was given to the Karl Rove-founded <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00487363&cycle=2014" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background: transparent;">American Crossroads</a> super PAC and $2.3 million of it went to the Mitt Romney-backing <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00490045&cycle=2014" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background: transparent;">Restore Our Future</a> super PAC. Simmons was also an early backer of <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00498261&cycle=2012" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background: transparent;">a super PAC</a> supporting Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s 2012 run and <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00503417&cycle=2012" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background: transparent;">the super PAC</a> that kept former Sen. Rick Santorum’s improbable fight going well into the 2012 spring primaries.If Annette Simmons, <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-02-06/hidden-billionaire-daughters-emerge-from-simmons-estate" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background: transparent;">who reportedly was left more than $600 million</a> upon her husband’s death, is as inclined to invest in politics as her late husband was, early financial support from her could be just the spark a candidate like Rubio needs to battle through the first primaries. While Simmons may have donated to other potential presidential candidates in recent weeks — filings for any GOP presidential hopeful who is not a senator won’t be available until later this month — it’s notable that she did not make a similar donation to <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00033085&cycle=2014" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background: transparent;">Ted Cruz</a>, her home state senator and one of Rubio’s rivals, even though 12 of the 14 congressional candidates she contributed to in the last cycle were Texans, plus Rubio, Speaker of the House Rep.<a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00003675&cycle=2014" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background: transparent;">John Boehner</a> (R-Texas) and former House Majority Leader <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00013131&cycle=2014" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background: transparent;">Eric Cantor</a> (R-Va.).  Also, the $5,000 check to Rubio was largest donation Simmons made to any politician in that cycle.Besides Simmons, Rubio also received a big donation, listed at $10,400, from Dian Graves Stai (that’s double the maximum allowed, and at least some of it appears to have been refunded). Stai is not quite on at the donor level of Harold Simmons, but in 2014 she donated $250,000 to <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00564765&cycle=2014" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background: transparent;">Freedom Partners Action Fund</a>, the super PAC affiliated with the network of donors assembled by the libertarian billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch. A <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CC8QFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com%2Fstory%2F2015%2F01%2Fkoch-forum-rand-paul-marco-rubio-ted-cruz-114588.html&ei=K8jTVKLaL9PfsATuw4HgDA&usg=AFQjCNFguoW4PR-gmFe-gA6teq8EtUpA-w&sig2=gUacl8_05RFMd1pWEkZ6KA&bvm=bv.85142067,bs.1,d.ZGU" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background: transparent;">recent gathering of the group</a> included a panel that featured Rubio, Cruz and Sen. <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00030836&cycle=2014" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background: transparent;">Rand Paul</a> (R-Ky.), seen as an early opportunity for the network’s large donors to size up potential candidates. Stai also donated $50,000 to <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00543256&cycle=2014" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background: transparent;">Kentuckians for Strong Leadership</a>, a super PAC with Rove connections that backed Sen. <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/usearch/index.php?q=mcconnell&cx=010677907462955562473%3Anlldkv0jvam&cof=FORID%3A11&siteurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.opensecrets.org%2Fpacs%2Flookup2.php%3FstrID%3DC00498261%26cycle%3D2014#indiv" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background: transparent;">Mitch McConnell</a> (R-Ky.) in his re-election bid.Another potentially symbolic donor to appear on Rubio’s filing was Scott Sperling, a Boston investment banker who in 2012 <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/thestreet/2012/09/26/why-wall-street-loves-mitt-romney/" style="color: rgb(17, 123, 184); text-decoration-line: none; background: transparent;">publicly discussed</a> his decision to stop supporting Barack Obama and start supporting Mitt Romney. Sperling donated $5,200 to Rubio’s campaign in 2014, the only of the three senators vying for the nomination. In 2012, Sperling donated the maximum to Romney’s campaign and $25,000 to Restore Our Future. In 2008, he also donated to Romney’s campaign, but donated to Hillary Clinton’s campaign as well. Sperling could not be reached for comment on his donation to Rubio.<div id="intro" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 18.2px; color: rgb(36, 36, 36); font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal;">Okay, I suspect the headline here is confusing, because how on Earth could it possibly be the case that a United States Senator would clarify his position on climate change by embracing the most hardline anti-choice position out there?Well, it could be the case if the senator in question wants to be the GOP's 2016 nominee.<a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2014/05/marco-rubio-abortion-climate-change-106691.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; color: rgb(124, 71, 12); text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">Proof:</a>  <blockquote style="margin: 1.2em 0px; padding: 20px; line-height: 1.4; background-color: rgb(246, 243, 236); border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(226, 226, 225); border-top: 1px solid rgb(226, 226, 225);">Marco Rubio said his liberal critics show their “hypocrisy” when they cite science and label him a climate-change denier when they decline to embrace the science of human life beginning at conception.</blockquote>And no, that's not just a paraphrase. Here's exactly what he said to Sean Hannity yesterday: <blockquote style="margin: 1.2em 0px; padding: 20px; line-height: 1.4; background-color: rgb(246, 243, 236); border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(226, 226, 225); border-top: 1px solid rgb(226, 226, 225);">“Let me give you a bit of settled science that they’ll never admit to. The science is settled, it’s not even a consensus, it is a unanimity, that human life begins at conception,” Rubio said. “So I hope the next time someone wags their finger about science, they’ll ask one of these leaders on the left: ‘Do you agree with the consensus of science that human life begins at conception?’”</blockquote>The twisted thing here is that even as Rubio as demanding the left agree with him on a policy that wouldn't just ban abortion, but would also ban many forms of contraception, he still isn't addressing his <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/05/13/1299079/-Marco-Rubio-can-t-name-one-source-for-his-claims-climate-scientists-are-wrong-about-climate-science" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; color: rgb(124, 71, 12); text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">misguided rejection of actual science</a> of climate change. He might care enough about the next generation to force women into unwanted pregnancies, but he doesn't care enough to protect the world in which they would live.</div>  immigration and possible 2016 supporters; <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/us/politics/gop-groups-offering-cover-for-lawmakers-on-immigration.html?r=0">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/us/politics/gop-groups-offering-cover-for-lawmakers-on-immigration.html?r=0</a> =gore rebuts rubio <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/28/al-gore-marco-rubio_n_2776988.html?ir=Green">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/28/al-gore-marco-rubio_n_2776988.html?ir=Green</a>
 =4. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)It is no surprise that Rubio received an F from the Secular Coalition. He has stated on many occasions that he governs thinking Bible first.He voted to expand the right for religious institutions to discriminate based on religious beliefs that was hidden under the guise that it was meant to protect workers and religious employers. The bill's main purpose was to protect religious institutions from further discrimination lawsuits.Rubio also sponsored “Freedom to Pray” act that would allow federal funding to go to programs that participate in religious activities.As a senator, Rubio has opposed women’s rights and same-sex rights. While Rubio did come out against a federal bill that would redefine marriage, he does believe states have the right to define marriage on their own and outright ban same-sex marriages.He is a pro-life candidate who supports the notion that life begins at conception saying, “In fact, the people that are really closed minded in American politics are the people that love to preach about the certainty of science in regard to our climate, but ignore the absolute fact that science has proven that life begins at conception.”This shows Rubio’s flawed understanding of science, as science makes no such claim that life begins at conception. He denies the science of anthropogenic global warming, yet turns to science when he claims it proves his stance on abortion is correct.5. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)Taking after his father Ron Paul, Rand Paul has been trying to reenergize a libertarian movement in the Republican Party. Yet like his father, Paul is a staunch creationist, pro-life advocate, and climate change denier.As a libertarian Paul advocates for personal responsibility, except when it comes to women. Women apparently cannot be trusted to make their own decision as individuals, the government should step in and help them, and by help them, he means take away their rights.On his website Paul states:<blockquote style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal;">“I am 100% pro-life. I believe life begins at conception and that abortion takes the life of an innocent human being. It is the duty of our government to protect this life as a right guaranteed under the Constitution. For this reason, I introduced S. 583, the Life at Conception Act on March 14, 2013. This bill would extend the Constitutional protection of life to the unborn from the time of conception.”</blockquote>Again, another Tea Party-backed candidate taking the stance that life begins at conception, regardless of evidence to the contrary. Introducing a bill that would strip away a women’s right to bodily autonomy.Paul counts himself as a fighter for liberty, but will use religion as a way out when the liberty he is fighting for goes against his personal views.While arguing for a smaller government that stays out of peoples lives he says, “Libertarian and liberty doesn’t mean libertine.” This is Paul’s defense of the government being involved in abortion rights, marriage equality, and contraception. Paul is for the government staying out of your life, as long as you lead a life he approves of.Paul has stated that libertarianism does not provide a moral compass, so in order for libertarians to lead moral lives and make moral decisions, it needs Christianity. A rather odd stance for someone to take when Christianity openly supports helping others and bringing an end to poverty. Paul has been quoted as stating he would abolish the minimum wage and let a free-market set pay scales and has took a firm stance against any government assistance in welfare and healthcare programs.
 GW <div id="printArticleBody" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: 17px;"><h2 style="margin: 15px 0px -10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: normal; background-color: transparent;">HEADING FOR THE HILLS</h2>For now, however, no prominent Republican running for office in the next few years will want to get anywhere near a carbon-tax proposal, or even talk about climate change. While the rift in the party over global warming is becoming increasingly evident, most Republicans feel much more secure on the side that denies the problem.That was made abundantly plain during the Conservative Political Action Conference in March, the annual Washington gathering that the GOP base uses to anoint its future leaders. Two leading speakers this year were Sen. Marco Rubio and former Gov. Jeb Bush, both of Florida, the state that scientists such as Kerry Emanuel warn is the most vulnerable to devastation from intensified hurricanes in the coming years.Rubio was the undisputed star attraction, and his keynote speech sparked some of the loudest cheers when he denounced climate science in the context of condemning abortion.“The people who are actually closed-minded in American politics are the people who love to preach about the certainty of science with regards to our climate but ignore the absolute fact that science has proven that life begins at conception,” Rubio said. A month earlier, in his response to President Obama’s State of the Union, Rubio had said, “When we point out that no matter how many job-killing laws we pass, our government can’t control the weather, [Obama] accuses us of wanting dirty water and dirty air.”</div><div id="printArticleBody" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: 17px;">Bush’s CPAC speech had a decidedly different tone. He castigated his party for espousing hard-right views. “Way too many people believe Republicans are anti-immigrant, antiwoman, antiscience, antigay, anti-worker … and the list goes on,” he said. “Many voters are simply unwilling to choose our candidates, because those voters feel unloved, unwanted, and unwelcome in our party.”Bush did not specifically mention climate change, although many on both sides of the aisle interpreted his remark about science as a signal that he’d be open to addressing the issue. Pundits praised the speech, but it was not a hit with his party. Bush spoke to a quiet room with a fair number of empty seats. Many in the audience members were checking their mobile devices. When he finished, Bush was met with a polite, modest smattering of applause. (Another Republican who has signaled support for climate-change legislation, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, wasn’t even invited to CPAC.)At 41, Rubio personifies the next generation of Republican leadership, while Bush represents an older, perhaps out-of-date moderate mind-set—which means the party may very well be heading in the wrong direction when it comes to embracing climate science. Rubio’s view is likely to remain the mainstream one in the party in the short term, thanks to tea-party groups such as Americans for Prosperity, a super PAC founded by David and Charles Koch, the principal owners of Koch Industries, a major U.S. oil conglomerate.Over the last several years, Americans for Prosperity has spearheaded an all-fronts campaign using advertising, social media, and cross-country events aimed at electing lawmakers who will ensure that the fossil-fuel industry won’t have to worry about any new regulations. The group spent $36 million to influence the 2012 elections.“We’ve been having this debate with the Left for 10 years, and we welcome having the debate with these new groups. If there are groups who want to do a niche effort with the Republican electorate, we’ll win that debate,” says the group’s president, Tim Phillips. He’s not worried that organizations such as Combs’s Christian Coalition or economists such as Laffer will influence lawmakers—because AFP would hit any such candidate with an all-out negative campaign. “Let them bring a carbon tax on. They know it’s political death for them to bring this forward on their own.”There’s no denying the political power of groups like Americans for Prosperity. Still, despite its massive wealth, the super PAC failed to achieve either of its two chief political goals of 2012—unseating President Obama and claiming the Senate majority for Republicans.The goal of grassroots efforts is to persuade Republicans that they’ll be rewarded if they take a stand in support of climate action—and that they could doom their party to minority status if they don’t. Advocates in the GOP realize that it’s too early and too fraught for Republicans seeking reelection to sound the alarm over the changing climate.But out of sight on Capitol Hill, staffers say, conversations are taking place about how to go about doing that—eventually. “Most Republicans say the same thing behind closed doors: ‘Of course, I get that the climate is changing, of course I get that we need to do something—but I need to get reelected.’ Somehow they’re going to have to find a safe place on this,” says the Audubon Society’s Yarnold.“We’re trying to get them to come out of the climate closet,” he says. “There’s no question they’re leaving votes on the table because of this. And they know it.”  <a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/the-coming-gop-civil-war-over-climate-change-20130509?print=true">http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/the-coming-gop-civil-war-over-climate-change-20130509?print=true</a></div> =
 state of union rebut
 Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) dismissed the idea that the U.S. government could do anything to combat climate change Wednesday, the day after he gave the Republican response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union."The government can’t change the weather. I said that in the speech. We can pass a bunch of laws that will destroy our economy, but it isn’t going to change the weather," Rubio said on Fox and Friends, as part of a series of interviews on the morning shows following his response Tuesday. "Because, for example, there are other countries that are polluting in the atmosphere much greater than we are at this point -- China, India, all these countries that are still growing. They’re not going to stop doing what they’re doing.""America is a country, it’s not a planet," he continued. "So we can pass a bunch of laws or executive orders that will do nothing to change the climate or the weather but will devastate our economy. Devastate it!"<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/post/around-the-world-cap-and-trade-is-still-alive-and-kicking/2012/06/05/gJQACSKVGV_blog.html" target="hplink">China</a> and <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article1571840.ece" target="hplink">India</a>, in fact, have cap-and-trade systems to control emissions, while the U.S. does not. A proposed system for the U.S. passed the then-Democratic-controlled House in 2010, while it died in the Senate. China is, of course, the <a href="http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/global.html" target="hplink">world's leading emitter</a> of carbon dioxide, but it also has a population over four times the United States.Jonathan <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/02/marco-rubio-still-not-a-scientist-man.html" target="hplink">Chait of New York Magazine</a> breaks down the reasoning behind climate change for Rubio:<blockquote>1. The government has a bunch of rules that control how much coal, oil, and whatnot gets burned. 2. The more greenhouse gasses we burn, the warmer the climate gets. It’s <a href="http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/causes.html" target="hplink">science</a>. 3. The warmer the climate gets, the more frequently we have extreme weather events. This is <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=climate-change-and-extreme-weather" target="hplink">also science</a>.</blockquote>Rubio's climate change skepticism is not newfound. He <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/06/marco-rubio-climate-change_n_2630930.html" target="hplink">said earlier this month</a> that he has heard "reasonable debate" about whether climate change is man-made. In fact, a study, <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2010/06/04/1003187107.abstract" target="hplink">published in 2010</a> in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, surveyed 1,372 climate researchers and found that 97 to 98 percent of them agree that climate change is anthropogenic.=
 <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/06/marco-rubio-climate-change_n_2630930.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/06/marco-rubio-climate-change_n_2630930.html</a> <h1 class="title-news">Marco Rubio Not Convinced Climate Change An Actual Problem (VIDEO)</h1><div class="comments_datetime_new border_none relative v05">The Huffington Post  |  By <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/meredith-bennettsmith" rel="author">Meredith Bennett-Smith</a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/06/marco-rubio-climate-change_n_2630930.html?view=print&comm_ref=false#" class="fb-tooltip" style="display: inline;" /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/06/marco-rubio-climate-change_n_2630930.html?view=print&comm_ref=false#" class="fb-tooltip" style="display: inline;">Posted: 02/06/2013 12:30 pm EST  |  Updated: 02/06/2013 6:46 pm EST</a></div><div class="entry_content"><div class="entry_body_text"><div class="float_left"><div class="articleBody" itemprop="articleBody"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/06/marco-rubio-climate-change_n_2630930.html?view=print&comm_ref=false#" class="fb-tooltip" style="display: inline;">One of the Grand Old Party's brightest young stars claims he's still not convinced climate change is a real problem.</a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/06/marco-rubio-climate-change_n_2630930.html?view=print&comm_ref=false#" class="fb-tooltip" style="display: inline;"> </a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/06/marco-rubio-climate-change_n_2630930.html?view=print&comm_ref=false#" class="fb-tooltip" style="display: inline;">Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R), spoke at the inaugural BuzzFeed Brews event in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday night. The conversation eventually turned to environmental reforms.</a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/06/marco-rubio-climate-change_n_2630930.html?view=print&comm_ref=false#" class="fb-tooltip" style="display: inline;"></a><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/02/sen-marco-rubio-talks-immigration-climate-change-and-tupac-at-buzzfeed-brews/" target="hplink">Speaking with BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith</a>, Rubio said that climate change was not a proven fact, and that even if it was, it would not be cost-effective for the U.S. to take action.Rubio's skepticism contrasts with a study, <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2010/06/04/1003187107.abstract" target="hplink">published in 2010 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>, that surveyed 1,372 climate researchers and found that "97–98 [percent] of the climate researchers most actively publishing in the field support the tenets of [anthropogenic climate change] outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change." Furthermore, several of the world's <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/23/brian-kilmeade-fox-news-host-suggests-corrupt-climate-change-scientists-believe-global-warming_n_2535612.html" target="hplink">most prominent national science academies</a> have acknowledged that the world's climate is changing as a result of man-made causes. Regardless, Rubio mainained that "The U.S. is a country, not a planet. On the other hand if we unilaterally impose these things on the economy it will have a devastating impact. There has to be a cost-benefit analysis to everyone of these principles people are pushing on. The benefit is difficult to justify when it’s only us doing it, no one else is doing it."Rubio added that while the "climate is always changing," he said he is not convinced that it is changing because of man-made activity. "I know people said there’s a significant scientific consensus on that issue, but I’ve actually seen reasonable debate on that principle," Rubio said.The junior Senator was a popular name in the GOP party this year, and was rumored to have been considered for Mitt Romney's running mate in the 2012 presidential election, according to Mother Jones. His <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/04/ten-things-you-need-know-about-marco-rubio" target="hplink">record on environmental issues is complicated</a>, the magazine reports: While still in the state legislature, he helped pass a greenhouse emissions bill; but once he took his current seat in the U.S. Congress, he supported a pro-oil campaign. In February of 2010, Rubio told Florida's Tampa Tribune that there <a href="http://www2.tbo.com/news/metro/2010/feb/13/na-rubio-questions-climate-change-ar-83470/" target="hplink">wasn't "scientific evidence to justify" environmental reforms.</a>ThinkProgress reports that one study in Rubio's home state shows <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/02/06/1547531/gops-future-still-stuck-in-the-past-rubio-claims-theres-reasonable-debate-on-manmade-climate-change/" target="hplink">climate change may cause more economic damage than it would cost</a> to try and cut down on climate change causes.A recent analysis by the World Economic Forum found that <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/21/us-davos-climate-idUSBRE90K0QK20130121" target="hplink">the world must spend an additional $700 billion annually</a> to reduce the use of fossil fuels and curb the effects of climate change. According to a study from the Climate Vulnerable Forum, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/sep/26/climate-change-damaging-global-economy" target="hplink">climate change is already costing the world over $1.2 trillion</a>, or 1.6 percent of global GDP, and contributing to almost 400,000 deaths annually.WATCH:</div></div></div> = <h1 class="headline">Marco Rubio: ‘Changing the weather’ isn’t something government can do</h1>By <a href="http://grist.org/author/philip-bump/" title="Posts by Philip Bump">Philip Bump</a> We got so caught up in our excitement over John Kerry’s <a href="http://grist.org/news/kerry-comes-out-strong-for-clean-energy-in-nomination-hearing/">comments on climate and clean energy</a> last week that we completely missed Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) take on the topic<a title="image credit" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/">kidmore</a><a href="http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=6963B95C-10CB-4FF0-8F61-0E56FDA00C0B">According to Politico</a>, here’s how Rubio responded after Kerry argued at his confirmation hearing that clean energy is a $6 trillion market.<blockquote>That’s too much effort to put on climate change, according to Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a leading early contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.“I don’t think it’s the most pressing foreign policy issue facing America,” Rubio told POLITICO outside Kerry’s confirmation hearing on Thursday. “There’s a lot of things government can do but changing the weather isn’t one of them.” </blockquote>Rubio is a guy who <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/industries.php?cycle=2012&cid=N00030612&type=I">took a quarter of a million dollars from fossil fuel interests</a> for his campaign. A guy who <a href="http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/content/rubio-calls-oil-spill-horrifying-maintains-push-more-offshore-drilling">called for more offshore drilling as he lamented the Gulf oil spill</a>. A guy who shortly after Election Day declared that <a href="http://www.gq.com/news-politics/politics/201212/marco-rubio-interview-gq-december-2012?printable=true">the age of the Earth is “a dispute amongst theologians”</a> and said he couldn’t weigh in because “I’m not a scientist, man.”Rubio wants to run for president. He is savvy enough to <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/28/3204447/rubio-senate-gang-of-eight-unveil.html">spearhead immigration reform</a> after looking at 2012 demographics, but still toes a hard-right line on energy and climate, as he has <a href="http://www2.tbo.com/news/metro/2010/feb/13/na-rubio-questions-climate-change-ar-83470/">since at least 2010</a>. To that end, his statement last week on climate change is cleverly crafted. He rolls two conservative tropes — anti-climate and anti-government — into one sweeping pronouncement. Government can’t fix things, including the weather. Two kisses on the cheeks of Republican primary voters in Iowa.His statement is also deeply ironic. Government isn’t trying to change the weather. Government is hoping to intervene, to make the already-changing climate — and its ancillary weather manifestations — as non-damaging as possible. Rubio and his fossil fuel backers are the advocates for changing the weather, through passivity.Rubio is betting that four years from now voters will be as dispassionate about addressing climate change as they are today. The odds that bet pays off will probably only decline. And Rubio’s embrace of immigration reform should be instructive: Even as recently as the 2012 GOP primaries, candidates were betting that an anti-immigration platform would be a winner. It wasn’t. Things changed. And if attitudes on the climate shift as rapidly, Rubio will lose his bet big.<div id="jp-post-flair" class="sharedaddy"> <section class="author-bio margin-bottom-x4"> <div class="margin-bottom-x2">Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also <a href="http://twitter.com/pbump">uses Twitter</a> a whole lot.</div>--- <table id="topIndus" class="datadisplay"><tbody><tr class="rowTint"><td>Retired</td><td class="number">$2,441,600</td></tr><tr><td>Republican/Conservative</td><td class="number">$980,227</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Securities & Investment</td><td class="number">$935,963</td></tr><tr><td>Real Estate</td><td class="number">$633,318</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Lawyers/Law Firms</td><td class="number">$451,529</td></tr><tr><td>Health Professionals</td><td class="number">$439,855</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Misc Finance</td><td class="number">$385,286</td></tr><tr><td>Insurance</td><td class="number">$378,857</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Leadership PACs</td><td class="number">$346,520</td></tr><tr><td>Misc Business</td><td class="number">$292,590</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>General Contractors</td><td class="number">$249,951</td></tr><tr><td>Oil & Gas</td><td class="number">$249,734</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Business Services</td><td class="number">$220,927</td></tr><tr><td>Lobbyists</td><td class="number">$211,433</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Food & Beverage</td><td class="number">$168,870</td></tr><tr><td>Misc Manufacturing & Distributing</td><td class="number">$145,650</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Foreign & Defense Policy</td><td class="number">$143,201</td></tr><tr><td>Crop Production & Basic Processing</td><td class="number">$136,326</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Computers/Internet</td><td class="number">$120,907</td></tr><tr><td>Education</td><td class="number">$118,298</td></tr></tbody></table>  <table id="topSect" class="datadisplay"><tbody><tr><td>Agribusiness</td><td class="number">$426,382</td><td class="number">$118,000</td><td class="number">$308,382</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Communications/Electronics</td><td class="number">$356,430</td><td class="number">$97,638</td><td class="number">$258,792</td></tr><tr><td>Construction</td><td class="number">$520,729</td><td class="number">$70,000</td><td class="number">$450,729</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Defense</td><td class="number">$66,290</td><td class="number">$49,000</td><td class="number">$17,290</td></tr><tr><td>Energy & Natural Resources</td><td class="number">$492,319</td><td class="number">$136,250</td><td class="number">$356,069</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Finance, Insurance & Real Estate</td><td class="number">$2,541,082</td><td class="number">$267,300</td><td class="number">$2,273,782</td></tr><tr><td>Health</td><td class="number">$700,174</td><td class="number">$146,500</td><td class="number">$553,674</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Lawyers & Lobbyists</td><td class="number">$663,962</td><td class="number">$82,393</td><td class="number">$581,569</td></tr><tr><td>Transportation</td><td class="number">$295,940</td><td class="number">$120,400</td><td class="number">$175,540</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Misc Business</td><td class="number">$1,252,514</td><td class="number">$287,451</td><td class="number">$965,063</td></tr><tr><td>Labor</td><td class="number">$12,000</td><td class="number">$11,000</td><td class="number">$1,000</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>Ideological/Single-Issue</td><td class="number">$1,738,323</td><td class="number">$381,509</td><td class="number">$1,356,814</td></tr><tr><td>Other</td><td class="number">$2,737,778</td><td class="number">$10,800</td><td class="number">$2,726,978</td></tr></tbody></table>  <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/industries.php?cycle=2012&cid=N00030612&type=I">http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/industries.php?cycle=2012&cid=N00030612&type=I</a>=<h1 class="print-title">Marco Rubio, Geo Group, and a Legacy of Corruption</h1><div class="print-content"><div id="node-11591" class="node odd full-node node-type-news_article"><div class="inner"><div class="meta">by <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/users/35302/beau-hodai" title="View user profile.">Beau Hodai</a> [1] — August 29, 2012 - 7:00am</div><div class="terms"><div class="tags-2"><ul><li class="vocabulary-2">Topics: <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/topics/corporations">Corporations</a> [2], <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/topics/politics">Politics</a> [3], <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/topics/us-government">U.S. Government</a> [4]</li></ul></div></div><div class="content clearfix"><a class="da2a_button" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.prwatch.org%2Fnews%2F2012%2F08%2F11591%2Fmarco-rubio-geo-group-and-legacy-corruption&linkname=Marco%20Rubio%2C%20Geo%20Group%2C%20and%20a%20Legacy%20of%20Corruption" id="da2a_1"><img src="/37d1fa2d-b2db-5013-a0ba-56d6a720f449.png"/> Share this</a> [5]This article was published by <a href="http://dbapress.com/archives/655" title="reference on DBA Press" target="blank">DBA Press</a> [6] in January 2011 and has been updated.<hr /><h2>U.S. Senator Marco Rubio’s unsettling history of extremely close ties to private prison operator Geo Group and the possible federal investigation into Florida’s private prison giveaway of more than $120 million.</h2><a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory" title="reference on Jump to source materials directory for this story" target="blank">Jump to source materials directory for this story</a> [7].Newly minted U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) was sworn in on January 5, 2011 with unfinished business back home.Rubio, as former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives (R-Miami, 2006-2008) -- as well as other state GOP lawmakers and party contributors -- have been the subjects of multiple wide-ranging state and federal investigations conducted by the FBI and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) into improper use of credit cards issued by the Republican Party of Florida, as well as tax evasion and improper budgetary appropriations. (Note: The state's prosecution of improper use of Florida Republican Party credit cards eventually focused on former party chairman Jim Greer. While evidence suggested that improper use of these cards may have been made by Rubio, former state representative Ray Sansom and former Rubio/Sansom staffer Melanie Phister, none of these parties were indicted.)One such set of appropriations/legislative actions reportedly investigated by federal authorities are those which led to the development of the state’s largest private prison, the Blackwater River Correctional Facility (CF), which opened its gates for operation in November, 2010. The prison was designed and is operated by Florida-based <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Geo_Group" title="reference on Geo Group" target="self">Geo Group</a> [8], the nation’s second largest private prison operator.Investigations into members of the Florida Republican Party, as well into <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-investigations-into-florida-republican-party-donors" title="reference on party donors" target="blank">party donors</a> [9], have resulted in multiple indictments. And, on November 2, 2010 -- election day -- federal investigators subpoenaed the party’s financial records.Perhaps the most notable individual charged to date is former <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-ray-sansom-criminal-investigationelva-mccaig-letter" title="reference on Rep. Ray Sansom" target="blank">Rep. Ray Sansom</a> [10] (R-Destin), who, while serving as Rubio’s budget chief, inserted language into the state’s 2008-2009 budget for what was to become Blackwater CF.While Sansom has not yet been indicted or officially charged with any wrongdoing in relation to the development of Blackwater CF, in February, 2010, Sansom, while serving as successor to Speaker Rubio, resigned amid criminal and ethics investigations -- chief of which is the allegation that he falsified the 2007-2008 budget by inserting a $6 million appropriation into the state spending bill for the construction of an aircraft hangar for Destin businessman and prominent Florida Republican Party contributor, Jay Odom. (Note: Sansom was indicted on charges of lying to a grand jury, official misconduct, grand theft and conspiracy in relation to the Odom case, but the state of Florida dropped all charges in May 2011. See "subsequent events" section below for more details.)<h2>Cash that Rings the Till</h2>On March 30, 2010, Elva McCaig, a nurse employed at the Florida Department of Corrections’ (FDOC) Santa Rosa Correctional Institute, and treasurer of Nurses Behind the Gate, a prison nurse advocacy group, wrote <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-ray-sansom-criminal-investigationelva-mccaig-letter" title="reference on a letter" target="blank">a letter</a> [10] addressed to both United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida Thomas Kirwin and State Attorney for Florida’s Second Judicial District Willie Meggs.In essence, the letter laid out McCaig’s concerns that the development of Blackwater CF was yet another legislatively-mandated handout to yet another prominent Florida Republican Party contributor, Geo Group. Geo consistently reports annual revenue in excess of one billion dollars -- all of which it earns through state, county and federal contracts for the detention of both criminal offenders and immigrant detainees.And indeed, <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-geo-group-campaign-finance-spending" title="reference on Geo is a top Florida Republican Party contributor" target="blank">Geo is a top Florida Republican Party contributor</a> [11]; through two political action committees (PACs), Florida Geo Group, Inc. PAC and Geo Group, Inc. PAC, the corporation gave $85,000 to the Republican Party of Florida from 2006 through 2009, along with tens of thousands of dollars in additional contributions to other state Republican Party PACs and campaigns of individual Republican candidates.It is also worth noting that from 2005 through 2010, Geo, through its PACs, dispensed an additional $15,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee, an additional $32,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and an additional $10,000 over 2009 and 2010 directly to the Marco Rubio for U.S. Senate PAC.Geo’s PAC spending, however, is not the limit of their appreciation shown to Rubio.On <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-geo-group-campaign-finance-spending" title="reference on September 13, 2010" target="blank">September 13, 2010</a> [11], several top Geo corporate executives, along with Geo lobbyists and subcontractors, gave a total of $33,500 in individual contributions to the Florida Victory Committee, a PAC created for the benefit of three other PACS: Marco Rubio for U.S. Senate, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Republican Party of Florida.All-in-all, the Florida Victory Committee received $113,500 -- all on September 13, 2010 -- during its most active period (August 20 through September 30, 2010). Of this amount, $51,735.90 was disbursed to the National Republican Senatorial Committee (which, in turn, contributed an amazing $2,509,644 to Rubio’s campaign throughout the 2010 election cycle), $13,305 was disbursed to the Republican Party of Florida, and $31,458.15 was disbursed to the Rubio PAC.In addition, Geo Chief Executive Officer and founder George Zoley gave Rubio a further $4,800 in <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-geo-group-campaign-finance-spending" title="reference on personal contributions" target="blank">personal contributions</a> [11] over the course of 2009 and 2010 -- half of which Zoley gave to the Rubio campaign on September 13, 2010 -- putting his own personal disbursements to the Rubio campaign for that single day at $7,400.It is worth noting that Geo was the most generous single-interest/corporate donor to contribute to the Florida Victory Committee during this period. It is also worth noting that, of the $33,500 contributed by Geo and its affiliates to this particular PAC, $10,000 came directly from Guy and Neel White, owners and chief executive officers of <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-florida-department-of-management-services-geo-group-and-team-santa-rosa-related-to-blackwater-cf-development-and-management" title="reference on White Construction Company" target="blank">White Construction Company</a> [12], the Geo subcontractor awarded the $114 million contract for the construction of Blackwater CF.The McCaig letter went on to lay out points of the legislative history and perceived "backroom transactions" behind the development of Blackwater CF, as well as the odd "relationships and conflicts" in the proximity of both Rubio’s economic consultant, Donna Arduin, and former Senate President Jeff Atwater’s Chief of Staff Robert "Budd" Kneip to lawmakers working to push the development of Blackwater CF.Both Arduin and Kneip have deep ties to the Geo Group and its parent, Wackenhut Corporation.Without going into too much detail on the claims and concerns outlined in the McCaig letter (for all the factual background provided in the letter, it contained a number of factual errors -- including erroneous claims that Xe Services, LLC/Blackwater USA were involved in the deal), the point was essentially that budgetary provisos which called for $110 million to be appropriated as a giveaway to the Geo Group were inserted into the state budget under very questionable circumstances.<h3>Federal Investigators on the Trail</h3>In any event, it seems the letter contained enough salient, solid information that it sparked the interest of federal investigators.According to multiple sources in the area, federal investigators began making house calls in and around Santa Rosa County (home of Blackwater CF), and around the capital buildings of Tallahassee, during the summer of 2010, asking questions about the origins of Blackwater.FBI spokesman Special Agent Jeff Westcott declined to either confirm or deny the reports of the bureau’s interest in Blackwater.<h2>The Origins of Blackwater in the Florida House of Representatives</h2>In November 2006, Donna Arduin, president of <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-arduin-laffer-and-moore-alme-arduin-associates-and-laffer-associates" title="reference on Arduin, Laffer and Moore Econometrics" target="blank">Arduin, Laffer and Moore Econometrics</a> [13] (ALME, incorporated in Florida, February, 2005), as well as of <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-arduin-laffer-and-moore-alme-arduin-associates-and-laffer-associates" title="reference on Arduin Associates, Inc" target="blank">Arduin Associates, Inc</a> [13]. (incorporated in Florida, January, 2005), was hired as an economic consultant by former Florida House Speaker Allen Bense (R-Panama City) for work on the 2007-2008 House General Appropriations Bill under incoming Speaker Marco Rubio. (Bense signed this <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-arduins-employment-in-the-florida-house-and-the-florida-senate" title="reference on contract" target="blank">contract</a> [14] in his last days as speaker, while Rubio was speaker-designate). The contract commenced December 1, 2006, and expired in May, 2007, with the finalization of the appropriations bill. Under this contract Arduin’s rate of pay was $10,000 per month.Arduin was <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-arduins-employment-in-the-florida-house-and-the-florida-senate" title="reference on again contracted in September 2007" target="blank">again contracted in September 2007</a> [14], as an economic consultant for work on the <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-2008-legislative-inception-of-blackwater-cf" title="reference on 2008-2009 House General Appropriations Bill" target="blank">2008-2009 House General Appropriations Bill</a> [15] under Speaker Rubio. The contract again ran through May of the following year, terminating with the finalization of the appropriations bill. Her rate of pay was again $10,000 per month.At the time of Arduin’s initial contract under Rubio, as well as during her work over the course of 2006 on the <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-arduins-time-as-an-executive-appointee-under-florida-governor-jeb-bush" title="reference on Florida Property Tax Reform Committee" target="blank">Florida Property Tax Reform Committee</a> [16], she was also a compensated trustee of <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-correctional-properties-trust-centracore-properties-trustgeo-acquisition-ii" title="reference on Correctional Properties Trust" target="blank">Correctional Properties Trust</a> [17] (AKA CentaCore Properties Trust, CPT), a real estate investment trust (REIT) established by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Wackenhut" title="reference on Wackenhut" target="self">Wackenhut</a> [18] Corrections in 1998.Wackenhut Corrections, a subsidiary of Wackenhut Corporation, spun off as a separate entity (Geo Group) following the purchase of Wackenhut by United Kingdom-based Group 4 Falck (currently called "G4S") in 2003.It is worth noting that Arduin’s ALME partners, Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore, were both economic advisors to President Ronald Reagan, Moore serving on Reagan’s Commission on Privatization, which established policy resulting in the rebirth of the American private prison industry in the 1980s. Additionally, both Laffer and Moore are members of the <a href="http://www.alecexposed/" title="reference on American Legislative Exchange" target="blank">American Legislative Exchange</a> [19]’s (ALEC) "board of scholars." Both Geo Group and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Corrections_Corporation_of_America" title="reference on Corrections Corporation of America" target="self">Corrections Corporation of America</a> [20] (CCA, the nation's largest operator of for-profit prisons and immigrant detention centers) are corporations with a history of envolvement in ALEC.On <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-2008-legislative-inception-of-blackwater-cf" title="reference on February 19, 2008" target="blank">February 19, 2008</a> [15], Geo Group Vice Chairman, President and Chief Operating Officer Wayne Calabrese, along with Geo Senior Vice President of North American Operations John Hurley, Geo Vice President of Business Development Cloid Shuler, and Geo lobbyist Damon Smith, delivered a presentation before the Florida Senate Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations.The presentation was straightforward, with two primary objectives: 1) Geo would take on more prisoners and would discount per diem rates of incarceration of state prisoners in exchange for longer contracts with the state, and 2) Geo sought appropriations for two expansions to one of their existing private facilities, Graceville CF, in the form of one 384-bed expansion, coupled with the development of a 1,500-bed "special needs annex" (for the "chronically mentally ill") to the facility.To illustrate the scope of this proposal, the Geo executives were essentially seeking to sell the Florida Legislature on an expansion of the existing Graceville CF (which contained 1,884 "beds" at that time) by up to 1,884 additional beds. In exchange for this concession -- as well as increased contract lengths at other existing facilities -- Geo would offer the state a "discounted rate."<h3>Ray's Trip to Boca</h3>Then-House Policy and Budget Chief Ray Sansom did not seem like a man happy in his work. <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-2008-legislative-inception-of-blackwater-cf" title="reference on Reports" target="blank">Reports</a> [15] filed with the Florida House of Representatives for travel and other expense reimbursement by Sansom during this period are marked at the outset of each legislative session with the foreboding words, "session subsistence begins," scrawled in Sansom's hand over travel reports detailing his commutes from Destin to Tallahassee. A Florida state representative doesn’t make much -- less than $30,000 per year. As such, Sansom filed meticulous reports seeking reimbursement for travel, copier toner and other office expenses.One such report shows Sansom embarking, on March 27, 2008, for a rare trip out of his district in the Florida Panhandle (or outside of the capital) to Boca Raton, nearly 400 miles away at the southern tip of Florida, for "personal business." Boca Raton is home to Geo Group's corporate headquarters.It should be noted that this single trip to Boca Raton is the only one of its kind found on travel reimbursement forms filed by Sansom (for himself or his staff) from 2007 to his resignation in February, 2010.While it is unclear what business Sansom had in Boca Raton (Neither Sansom, nor any representative of Geo Group responded to requests for comment), it is clear that the lawmaker returned to Tallahassee and inserted a <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-2008-legislative-inception-of-blackwater-cf" title="reference on proviso in the initial draft" target="blank">proviso in the initial draft</a> [15] of the 2008-2009 House General Appropriations Bill (filed with Policy and Budget Committee on April 4, 2008) which called for "$110,000,000 in non-recurring general revenue… for the planning, design, permitting, equipping and construction of a state-owned, privately operated 2,000 bed correctional institution… for the housing of 2,000 medium and close custody inmates as a stand-alone annex to the Graceville Correctional Facility in Graceville, Florida."<h3>"Project Justice:" Sansom, Gaetz and TEAM Santa Rosa</h3>On April 7, 2008, following the insertion of this proviso -- which was never run by any committee for approval -- Representative Curtis Richardson (D-Tallahassee) <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-2008-legislative-inception-of-blackwater-cf" title="reference on amended the budget to strike the proviso" target="blank">amended the budget to strike the proviso</a> [15], as it was obviously a legislatively-mandated giveaway to Geo Group.Sansom responded on April 8, 2008 with a <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-2008-legislative-inception-of-blackwater-cf" title="reference on revised proviso" target="blank">revised proviso</a> [15] stripped of all Graceville-specific language. In all other respects the new proviso was identical in that it called for $110 million for a new 2,000-bed private prison to be constructed somewhere in the state.On June 11, 2008, the <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-2008-legislative-inception-of-blackwater-cf" title="reference on budget was approved" target="blank">budget was approved</a> [15] by then-Governor Charlie Crist.On July 15, 2008, the Florida Department of Management Services (DMS) issued an "<a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-florida-department-of-management-services-geo-group-and-team-santa-rosa-related-to-blackwater-cf-development-and-management" title="reference on Invitation to Negotiate" target="blank">Invitation to Negotiate</a> [12]" (ITN) for the development of the proposed private prison. Responses to the ITN were due by September 9, 2008.Interestingly, although no binding agreement had been reached between Geo Group and DMS, on November 26, 2008, <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-florida-department-of-management-services-geo-group-and-team-santa-rosa-related-to-blackwater-cf-development-and-management" title="reference on Geo Group purchased 126 acres of land" target="blank">Geo Group purchased 126 acres of land</a> [12] outside of Milton, Santa Rosa County, for $2.65 million -- <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-florida-department-of-management-services-geo-group-and-team-santa-rosa-related-to-blackwater-cf-development-and-management" title="reference on 59 acres" target="blank">59 acres</a> [12] of which Geo would go on to resell to the state of Florida through the Florida Correctional Finance Corporation (FCFC, an instrumentality of DMS) for $1.6 million on March 24, 2009, as the site of what would become Blackwater CF -- after being awarded the <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-florida-department-of-management-services-geo-group-and-team-santa-rosa-related-to-blackwater-cf-development-and-management" title="reference on development contract" target="blank">development contract</a> [12] by DMS on March 18, 2009.It is worth noting that, while DMS had issued a "notice of intent" to award the development contract to Geo on October 21, 2008, that Geo had apparently selected the prospective Blackwater acreage prior to the issuance of the July 15, 2008 ITN.According to documents submitted to DMS as part of <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-florida-department-of-management-services-geo-group-and-team-santa-rosa-related-to-blackwater-cf-development-and-management" title="reference on Geo’s ITN response" target="blank">Geo’s ITN response</a> [12], the corporation had already assessed the feasibility of using the selected land as early as July 7, 2008. The following month, the Santa Rosa Board of County Commissioners approved a resolution to provide $1.8 million in funding for additional infrastructure to feed the proposed facility.Under the terms of the <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-florida-department-of-management-services-geo-group-and-team-santa-rosa-related-to-blackwater-cf-development-and-management" title="reference on design/build agreement" target="blank">design/build agreement</a> [12] entered into between DMS and Geo, the corporation was awarded $115,364,828 in state project financing, along with another $2,081,984 for payment to Georgia-based "program manager" Carter Goble Lee.Following the contract award to Geo, construction began on the facility -- slated for completion in July, 2010.Further exacerbating the appearance that the Blackwater deal had been sewn up long before the 2008-2009 General Appropriations Bill had been passed -- let alone the issuance of the DMS ITN -- according to documents released by <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-florida-department-of-management-services-geo-group-and-team-santa-rosa-related-to-blackwater-cf-development-and-management" title="reference on TEAM Santa Rosa" target="blank">TEAM Santa Rosa</a> [12], the economic development arm of Santa Rosa County, Sansom and Senator Don Gaetz (R-Destin) had been discussing the idea of a new prison as a means of economic development (code name "Project Justice") with TEAM members as early as February of 2008. Santa Rosa County was partially represented by both Sansom and Gaetz.Strangely, Arduin denies that she ever worked with Sansom or his Policy and Budget Committee staff during the formation of the 2008-2009 budget, insisting that she only worked with Rubio.<a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-arduins-employment-in-the-florida-house-and-the-florida-senate" title="reference on Work invoices" target="blank">Work invoices</a> [14] filed by Arduin pursuant to the terms of her September 2007 through May 2008 contract with the House tell a different story."ALME provided consulting services to the House as directed by the Speaker relating to property tax reform, economic development and budget issues," reads the invoice for April 2008. "Those services included participating in meetings, planning sessions and conferences with Legislators and staff of the Speaker’s Office and Policy and Budget Committee on economic development initiatives, spending reductions and policy development for the 2008 Florida Legislative session… ALME continues to provide ongoing economic and policy advice to the staff of the Speaker’s Office and Policy and Budget Committee on Florida’s budget and economy."Or, as stated by the "scope of services" section of Arduin’s contract with the House: "services include advisory services to the House, as directed by the Speaker of the House, to the Policy and Budget Committee, as directed by the Chairman of the Committee (Sansom), or as directed by the Chief of Staff."Nevertheless, public records requests submitted to the Florida House of Representatives for reports authored or submitted by Arduin, as well as for written communications between Arduin and her employers, Rubio and Sansom, turned up empty.According to then-Florida House of Representatives Communications Director Jill Chamberlin (retired September, 2010), there simply are no records of work performed by Arduin (no reports, no audits, no presentations, no memos… nothing) during her time in the House under Rubio.And Chamberlin, who served as spokeswoman for both Speaker Rubio and later for Speaker Sansom, says that it is not likely Arduin ever filed any reports of any kind-- as she was hired on as a consultant more for her connections in both the public and private sector. As such, said Chamberlin, most of Arduin’s consultations took the form of face time with those in her immediate circle.Rubio did not respond to multiple requests for comment.<h2>Consummating Blackwater in the State Senate in 2010</h2>In early 2010, Arduin was contracted for work as an economic consultant in the Florida Senate under the purview of the office of then-Senate President Jeff Atwater (R-North Palm Beach), tasked with "providing analytical review of state government agency operations, including overlapping agency jurisdictions and functions, the financial structure of agencies, sources and uses of agency revenue, and agency expenditure patterns that will aid in economic and budgetary decisions associated with the development of Florida’s budget."This laundry list was broken down into three key functions (as itemized in <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-arduins-employment-in-the-florida-house-and-the-florida-senate" title="reference on the 2010 contract" target="blank">the 2010 contract</a> [14]): 1) work with and advise the chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee (Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales). 2) to coordinate with staff during development of the budget and during the conference committee on appropriations, and 3) to serve as otherwise directed by Chairman Alexander and Senate President Atwater.As such, Arduin was contracted for employment in the Senate from February 4 through June 30, 2010, not through ALME, but through <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-arduin-laffer-and-moore-alme-arduin-associates-and-laffer-associates" title="reference on Laffer Associates" target="blank">Laffer Associates</a> [13] (a Tennessee corporation founded by partner Arthur Laffer in October, 2006). The rate of pay for the duration of this contract was $7,000 per month.As a private consultant under contract with the office of Senate President Atwater, Arduin worked under Atwater’s Chief of Staff, <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-robert-budd-kneip-and-wackenhutwackenhut-subsidiaries" title="reference on Robert " target="blank">Robert "Budd" Kneip</a> [21].Over the course of the past two decades, prior to becoming a public servant, Kneip served as "senior vice president of corporate planning and development" for Wackenhut Corporation, and as president and chief executive officer of <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-robert-budd-kneip-and-wackenhutwackenhut-subsidiaries" title="reference on several Wackenhut subsidiaries" target="blank">several Wackenhut subsidiaries</a> [21]: Oasis Outsourcing, Oasis Outsourcing II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, and IX, Oasis Outsourcing of Colorado, Oasis Outsourcing of Georgia, Oasis Outsourcing of Ohio, as well as of several other corporations operating under the banners of Oasis Outsourcing Benefits, Workforce Alternative and Wackenhut Resources, Incorporated (WRI).While Kniep had been employed as chief of staff for the Office of the Florida Senate President from 2007 through 2010 (following Atwater’s election to the office of Florida’s Chief Financial Officer in November, 2010, Atwater appointed Kneip as his chief of staff in that office), incorporation papers for Oasis Outsourcing II on file with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission show that Kneip had been acting as president of this Wackenhut subsidiary as recently as December 31, 2005.To further illustrate the cycle of influence between Wackenhut/Geo and the Florida Senate, it is important to note that nearly all of the Wackenhut subsidiary corporations over which Kneip had control were offshoots of King Employee Services, Inc., as well as related companies, King Staffing and King Benefits, which were purchased in 1997 from former Florida Senate President (2002-2004) Jim King by Wackenhut for $16 million -- reportedly King’s cut of this deal was $5 million. King died in July 2009, still serving in the Senate.In May 2010, during the last week of the Florida Legislature’s conference to finalize the <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-2010-blackwater-appropriations" title="reference on state budget bill" target="blank">state budget bill</a> [22], Ways and Means Chair Alexander slipped a proviso into the spending bill's section on criminal justice and corrections appropriations.The proviso called for a cut of over $24 million to FDOC in order to close an unspecified number of state facilities in order to fill and open Blackwater.This $24 million cut to FDOC was essentially written in as compensation, or displacement of funds, for the additional $22 million written into the budget for the sole purpose of "the operation [of] 2,224 adult male beds at Blackwater River Correctional Facility to be operational by November 1, 2010."The state budget bill also called for FDOC to identify some 1,350 male adult custody psychological and medical care "beds" for potential privatization. Additionally, the budget bill stated that FDOC was required to develop a plan to reduce the operating costs of 6,400 additional beds by five percent -- using private beds if necessary.And, just as the 2010-2011 budget bill was generous in its cuts to the state’s public prison system, it was equally generous in handouts for private prison operators.All-in-all the 2010-2011 budget bill contained over $1.2 million in state funds to be paid to local government taxing authorities in lieu of property taxes for the state’s six existing private correctional facilities.As such, the criminal justice corrections section of the 2010-2011 budget bill was met by stiff criticism-- most audibly from FDOC and the Florida Police Benevolent Association (Florida PBA, the state’s prison guard union), and from Sen. Paula Dockery (R-Lakeland), chair of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee.Dockery noted in her criticism of the Blackwater-related provisions that, as was the case with the 2008 Sansom proviso, the appropriations and mandates concerning FDOC and Blackwater had never been discussed or approved in any committee.According to FDOC Communications Director Gretl Plessinger, the issue most difficult to reconcile with the 2010-2011 budget was the fact that the state’s prison system was actually running under capacity. Put simply, there was no need to push through the opening of Blackwater.Whereas state inmate growth projections in 2008 had actually suggested that there may be a need for the facility by 2010, Plessinger said inmate growth had slowed to the point where construction/expansion projects underway on state-owned and operated facilities had ceased.Regardless of the fact that there was no need on the part of the state to open Blackwater at the time, or the fact that by mandating the facility’s opening by November 1 through the closure of existing state facilities, lawmakers were in effect mandating the possible loss of thousands of state jobs, there was a very real need on the part of Geo Group to have Blackwater CF opened as soon as possible.In April 2010, DMS announced that it had awarded contracts for the management of both <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-2010-contract-awards-for-operation-of-graceville-cf-and-moorehaven-cf" title="reference on Moore Haven CF (985-beds)" target="blank">Moore Haven CF (985-beds)</a> [23] and <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-2010-contract-awards-for-operation-of-graceville-cf-and-moorehaven-cf" title="reference on Graceville CF (1,884 beds)" target="blank">Graceville CF (1,884 beds)</a> [23] -- both of which had been operated by Geo up to that point -- to CCA, thereby reducing Geo’s holdings in their home state to 1,861 beds at South Bay CF by the end of the year -- unless Blackwater CF could be filled.For her part, Arduin says that the idea of opening or building a private prison was never run by her in either the House or the Senate in 2008 or 2010.When asked about the facility and the provisions of the 2010-2011 budget bill which called for its immediate opening, Arduin, who was paid $7,000 per month by the Senate as an economic consultant -- who, as stated by the terms of her contract, was to know the business of the state of Florida inside and out, down to the last dime -- responded, "Was that something that was in the 2010 budget?"<h2>Ghosts of Private Prisons Past: Cash That Rings the Till, Part 2</h2>Beginning in <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-arduins-time-as-an-executive-appointee-under-florida-governor-jeb-bush" title="reference on January of 1999 through November, 2003" target="blank">January of 1999 through November, 2003</a> [16], Arduin served as director of the Office of Policy and Budget under Florida Governor Jeb Bush. Prior to her appointment under Bush, Arduin had served in similar roles under Michigan Governor John Engler and New York Governor George Pataki.From <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-arduins-employment-under-california-governor-arnold-schwarzenegger" title="reference on November 17, 2003 through October 15, 2004" target="blank">November 17, 2003 through October 15, 2004</a> [24], Arduin served as director of the California Department of Finance under Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. As director of finance, Arduin was Gov. Shwarzenegger’s chief fiscal advisor -- with purview over 70 state boards and governmental authorities.It is worth noting that, while Arduin has earned a reputation for herself as being a tough opponent of government spending -- even referred to as an "ogre" by a California state lawmaker for her cuts to the state’s public health care system -- this tough posture on governmental spending does not seem to apply to Arduin’s rate of pay.For example, just as Arduin was paid $10,000 per month by both the Florida House under Rubio, and $7,000 per month in the Florida Senate under Atwater, Arduin was paid $10,248 per month at the time she left the administration of Gov. Jeb Bush. What’s more, the state of Florida disbursed an additional $25,913 to Arduin for 438 hours of vacation pay on December 8, 2003 -- at which time she was employed as director of the California Department of Finance.<a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-geo-group-campaign-finance-spending" title="reference on Other sets of monetary disbursements" target="blank">Other sets of monetary disbursements</a> [11] surrounding the commencement of Arduin’s work under Gov. Schwarzenegger are equally interesting.<a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-geo-group-campaign-finance-spending" title="reference on On October 10, 2003" target="blank">On October 10, 2003</a> [11], three days following Schwarzenegger’s election and a little more than a month prior to Arduin’s appointment to the Schwarzenegger administration, Wackenhut Corrections paid out $5,000 to Californians for Schwarzenegger 2003 PAC.On November 17, 2003, Arduin assumed her role as director of finance.<a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-geo-group-campaign-finance-spending" title="reference on On November 20, 2003" target="blank">On November 20, 2003</a> [11], Wackenhut Corrections paid out an additional $16,200 to Californians for Schwarzenegger 2003 PAC. Also on November 20, 2003, Wackenhut Corrections paid out $36,800 to Schwarzenegger’s "Total Recall Committee, Vote Yes to Recall Gray Davis" committee, a PAC established by the Schwarzenegger campaign in 2003 and which remained active through 2005, which was intended to drive the 2003 ballot initiative to recall the election of former California Gray Davis.During Arduin’s tenure as California’s director of finance, two private prisons which had been decommissioned in 2003 by Gov. Davis, McFarland Community Correctional Facility (CF) and Mesa Verde CF, were re-appropriated and reopened -- with no-bid contracts issued to the Geo Group and another private prison operator, Civigenics, for the operation of the facilities.<h3>Arduin Joins Wackenhut/Geo REIT</h3>On October 28, 2004, 13 days after her resignation from the Schwarzenegger administration, Arduin was elected to replace George Wackenhut (co-founder of Wackenhut Corp. and Wackenhut Corrections, who had died earlier that year) on the <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-correctional-properties-trust-centracore-properties-trustgeo-acquisition-ii" title="reference on board of trustees of CentraCore Properties Trust" target="blank">board of trustees of CentraCore Properties Trust</a> [17] (AKA Correctional Properties Trust, CPT), the real estate investment trust (REIT) of Wackenhut/Geo.CPT was founded in 1998 by Richard and George Wackenhut, along with several other Wackenhut Corrections directors and executives, including current Geo Group director and then-mayor of South Bay, Florida (which, incidentally, is the site of one of Geo’s prisons, South Bay CF), Clarence Anthony.Additionally, Geo Group/Wackenhut Corrections president and CEO George Zoley was a founding CPT trustee, holding several tens of thousands of shares of common stock in the company.Over the course of the REIT’s existence, Charles R. Jones served as CPT President and CEO. According to <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-correctional-properties-trust-centracore-properties-trustgeo-acquisition-ii" title="reference on court documents" target="blank">court documents</a> [17], Jones—CPT founding trustee along with Zoley -- was Wackenhut’s "investment banker" at the time of CPT’s inception.As an REIT, CPT was essentially the entity which held all of Wackenhut/Geo’s real estate holdings.While CPT was technically a separate independent entity outside the purview of Wackenhut/Geo, it is important to note that <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-correctional-properties-trust-centracore-properties-trustgeo-acquisition-ii" title="reference on at the time its creation" target="blank">at the time its creation</a> [17], the REIT’s holdings consisted solely of Wackenhut properties. At the time of its eventual <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-correctional-properties-trust-centracore-properties-trustgeo-acquisition-ii" title="reference on merger back into Geo" target="blank">merger back into Geo</a> [17] Group in 2007 (at which time it became Geo Acquisition II, a Delaware corporation governed by Zoley, Calabrese and Geo General Counsel John Bulfin), the REIT owned 13 properties, 11 of which it "leased" to Geo.Due to this extremely close relationship to Wackenhut/Geo, Securities and Exchange Commission <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-correctional-properties-trust-centracore-properties-trustgeo-acquisition-ii" title="reference on (SEC) auditors had questioned" target="blank">(SEC) auditors had questioned</a> [17] on at least one occasion whether CPT was in fact an entity independent of Wackenhut/Geo.In 2006, following the <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-correctional-properties-trust-centracore-properties-trustgeo-acquisition-ii" title="reference on announcement that CPT was set to merge with Geo" target="blank">announcement that CPT was set to merge with Geo</a> [17] (effective January, 2007), CPT shareholders filed <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-correctional-properties-trust-centracore-properties-trustgeo-acquisition-ii" title="reference on class action suits" target="blank">class action suits</a> [17] seeking injunctions against the merger in Maryland and Florida courts, alleging that the merger was an inside deal beneficial to CPT trustees and Geo executives and that there were irreconcilable conflicts of interests between the two. As such, the shareholders alleged that the merger was, in essence, Geo bringing its real estate holdings back in-house -- allegations which Arduin flatly denies.Both cases were settled out of court in 2008 for an undisclosed sum.At the time of Arduin’s appointment to the CPT board, as well as during her service under Schwarzenegger, McFarland CF was owned by CPT and leased to Geo.In January 2006, <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-correctional-properties-trust-centracore-properties-trustgeo-acquisition-ii" title="reference on CPT finalized its purchase of Mesa Verde CF" target="blank">CPT finalized its purchase of Mesa Verde CF</a> [17], operated by Civigenics, another CPT customer, which also operated a CPT-owned minimum security prison in New Jersey.Following Arduin’s appointment to CPT, the California State Auditor launched an investigation into the appearance of conflicts of interest in the McFarland/Mesa Verde deals.According to the <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-arduins-employment-under-california-governor-arnold-schwarzenegger" title="reference on California State Auditor’s investigation report" target="blank">California State Auditor’s investigation report</a> [24], issued on September 13, 2005, the Schwarzenegger administration had relied on misleading cost-benefit analysis which did not factor in other potential cost saving measures in awarding the no-bid contracts to Civigenics and Geo.Additionally, the state found that there were indeed conflicts of interest on the part of Civigenics in that the corporation failed to disclose that two of their employees in the state were former high ranking California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) employees who were still receiving annuities from CDCR.However, the report found no evidence of wrong doing on the part of Arduin, per the odd timing of her appointment to CPT-- because: "since the former Finance director is associated with the trust (CPT) and not with Geo, it does not appear that she has a conflict of interest in regards to the McFarland contract."The report made no mention of the business relationship between CPT and Civigenics, or of the fact that CPT was an offshoot of Geo.What’s more, the report stated that the California State Auditor could find no evidence that Arduin had influenced CDCR’s decision to reopen the facilities.However, the report failed to note that, just prior to her appointment as director of Finance, Arduin had been commissioned by the Schwarzenegger administration to perform an audit of California's government and state finances.Whether or not this audit recommended the reopening of the private facilities is unknown as there are no audit reports authored by Arduin on file with either the Department of Finance or with the Office of Governor Schwarzenegger.While written communications in the form of emails and memos do exist between Arduin and Schwarzenegger, the <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-arduins-employment-under-california-governor-arnold-schwarzenegger" title="reference on administration refused" target="blank">administration refused</a> [24] (in July, 2010) to release any of these documents for public inspection.When asked specifically for any written communications between Arduin and the Governor from the month prior to Arduin’s sudden resignation and appointment to CPT, Deputy Legal Affairs Secretary to the Office of the Governor Dan Maguire responded that, while such documents do exist, any and all communications between Arduin and Schwarzenegger are exempt from public disclosure under California Government Code executive and deliberative process exemptions to the state’s open records laws.When asked that the administration waive their legal right to withhold executive communications between Arduin and Schwarzenegger in the spirit of transparency and open government -- in that there is a definite public interest in documents demonstrating whether or not Arduin advocated for the Mesa Verde or McFarland re-appropriations, or whether Schwarzenegger had knowledge of Arduin’s imminent appointment to CPT-- <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-arduins-employment-under-california-governor-arnold-schwarzenegger" title="reference on the administration refused" target="blank">the administration refused</a> [24], stating: "…there are strong policy reasons to protect the confidentiality of communications to and from the Governor’s Office. Disclosure of such communications could chill the candid discussion of critical issues, and deprive the Governor of information he needs to discharge his duties… Therefore we are not producing these documents to you."<h3>Wackenhut/Geo investments: Corestates, Wachovia, Wells Fargo </h3>It is unclear at what point Arduin became involved in the private prison business.An <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-arduins-time-as-an-executive-appointee-under-florida-governor-jeb-bush" title="reference on Arduin statement of financial interests" target="blank">Arduin statement of financial interests</a> [16] filed with the Florida Commission on Ethics in 2000 may shed some light on this history. The document lists Arduin’s primary source of income as being <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-first-clearing-corporation-corestates-wells-fargo-and-geo-group-ownership" title="reference on First Clearing Corporation" target="blank">First Clearing Corporation</a> [25], simply described as a "brokerage."Documents on file with the Florida Secretary of State, Division of Corporations, reflect that First Clearing Corporation (a North Carolina corporation doing business in Florida) merged into <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-first-clearing-corporation-corestates-wells-fargo-and-geo-group-ownership" title="reference on Corestates Securities Corp" target="blank">Corestates Securities Corp</a> [25] (a Pennsylvania corporation) in 1998.<a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-first-clearing-corporation-corestates-wells-fargo-and-geo-group-ownership" title="reference on SEC documents" target="blank">SEC documents</a> [25] show that in 1996 Corestates Financial Corp (a corporate relative of Corestates Securities Corp) purchased 12,000,200 shares, or 54.7055 percent, of Wackenhut Corrections. Under this ownership class, Corestates was considered to be a "parent holding company" of Wackenhut Corrections.Corestastes subsequently merged with Wachovia, which in 2008 merged with Wells Fargo. As of January 20, 2011, <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-first-clearing-corporation-corestates-wells-fargo-and-geo-group-ownership" title="reference on Wells Fargo and Company" target="blank">Wells Fargo and Company</a> [25] owned 3,623,603 shares, or 5.62 percent of Geo Group.Arduin says she has no knowledge of any personal financial interest in First Clearing Corporation or in Corestates and does not know why that entry was made on her 2000 statement of financial disclosure, outside the possibility of clerical error on the part of her assistant.<h2>Strange Appearances and Strange Bedfellows</h2>On the evening of Monday, <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-florida-department-of-law-enforcement-fdle-investigations-into-james-crosby-allen-clark-and-american-institutional-services-ais" title="reference on August 22, 2005" target="blank">August 22, 2005</a> [26], a party of high ranking Florida Department of Corrections personnel met up at a bar in Tallahassee. The bar was Clyde and Costello’s, an establishment known to cater to the Tallahassee lobbyist/mover-and-shaker crowd. The party that night consisted of FDOC Secretary James Crosby, Washington Correctional Institution (CI) Warden Rick Anglin, Gulf CI Warden Dale Hughes, and FDOC Region 1 Correctional Services Consultant Brad Tunnell.According to <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-florida-department-of-law-enforcement-fdle-investigations-into-james-crosby-allen-clark-and-american-institutional-services-ais" title="reference on documents obtained from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement" target="blank">documents obtained from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement</a> [26] (FDLE), sometime toward the end of the evening, Crosby took Tunnell to the side and told him, "You know, you need to talk to your dad. You need to get him off my boys."Brad Tunnell’s father is Guy Tunnell, who, at that time was FDLE Commissioner.At the time of the August, 2005 meeting at Clyde and Costello’s, FDLE was investigating Crosby, FDOC Region 1 Director Allen Clark, and several other FDOC employees on a wide array of charges including assault, steroids distribution, misappropriation of state funds/resources, and a kickback scheme involving two private prison canteen service providers: Keefe Commissary Network and American Institutional Services (AIS).According to FDLE records, Crosby continued in his threat, putting a fine point on his demands after Tunnell stated that he didn’t understand what Crosby was getting at: "AC (Allen Clark), they need to lay off AC. They need to leave him the fuck alone. You need to tell your dad."Brad Tunnell claimed that he responded by stating that he could not tell his father how to do his job, to which Crosby allegedly responded by threatening to open an administrative investigation into a brawl Tunnell had reportedly been a party to at a FDOC event earlier that year.Subsequent events -- namely the <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-federal-investigationsprosecution-of-james-crosby-allen-clark-ais-and-keefe" title="reference on federal indictments and convictions of both Allen Clark and James Crosby" target="blank">federal indictments and convictions of both Allen Clark and James Crosby</a> [27] in 2006 and 2007 -- shed some light on why Crosby was so eager that the FDLE investigation into Clark end.Both Clark and Crosby had been involved in a kickback scheme in which two Gainesville area businessmen, <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-federal-investigationsprosecution-of-james-crosby-allen-clark-ais-and-keefe" title="reference on Edward Lee Dugger and Joseph Arthur Deese" target="blank">Edward Lee Dugger and Joseph Arthur Deese</a> [27], proprietors of AIS, paid out approximately $130,000 to Clark and Crosby from October, 2003 through February, 2006, in exchange for Crosby and Clark’s facilitating and arranging a partnership between AIS and Keefe Commissary wherein AIS provided visitor canteen services at FDOC Region 1 facilities as a vendor under subcontract with the state through Keefe.<h3>David Ericks and Donna Arduin</h3><a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-florida-department-of-law-enforcement-fdle-investigations-into-james-crosby-allen-clark-and-american-institutional-services-ais" title="reference on Crosby stated under oath" target="blank">Crosby stated under oath</a> [26] to FDLE investigators looking into his alleged threat to Tunnell on the evening of August 22, 2005, that he had gone to Clyde and Costello’s that evening to meet with Clyde and Costello’s owner, David Ericks, and Ericks’ longtime girlfriend, Donna Arduin.Ericks, aside from being the owner of Clyde and Costello’s, is owner of <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-relating-to-david-ericks" title="reference on Ericks Consultants" target="blank">Ericks Consultants</a> [28], a lobbying firm which has represented Wackenhut/Geo Group for over a decade. Ericks was also the chief lobbyist for Keefe Commissary in Florida from March, 2005 through 2009. What’s more, Ericks represented Arduin, Laffer and Moore Econometrics (ALME) in 2005.Additionally, Ericks paid the bar tab of $143.25 for the 31 drinks consumed by the FDOC men that evening. It is important to note that all of the FDOC employees present at Clyde’s that evening, with the exception of Secretary Crosby, were high ranking officials in FDOC Region 1—the region for which all of the AIS/Keefe bribes were intended to facilitate business.Court documents filed with the <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-federal-investigationsprosecution-of-james-crosby-allen-clark-ais-and-keefe" title="reference on mysteriously late indictments" target="blank">mysteriously late indictments</a> [27] (given the fact that both Crosby and Clark had already been convicted and sentenced for their roles in the kickback scheme) of Deese and Dugger in June, 2010, indicate that Keefe was also a recipient of the kickbacks reaped through the AIS/Crosby arrangement in that Deese and Dugger would also pay both monetary and non-monetary bribes to unnamed Keefe executives and representatives—most significantly the payment of a Keefe executive’s $5,000 credit card bill in October, 2005, about a month from the date of the Clyde and Costello’s meeting.Furthermore, a federal civil case (seeking forfeiture of criminally-obtained revenue) based on the <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-federal-investigationsprosecution-of-james-crosby-allen-clark-ais-and-keefe" title="reference on testimony of FBI Special Agent Jannet Pellicciotti" target="blank">testimony of FBI Special Agent Jannet Pellicciotti</a> [27], which is stayed pending the outcome of the Deese and Dugger cases, alleges that Keefe Commissary, along with AIS, Crosby and Clark, is guilty of mail fraud, in that the U.S. Postal Service was used to deliver the criminally-obtained proceeds of the canteen partnership to Keefe’s corporate offices in St. Louis, Missouri.During the FDLE interview following the Clyde’s incident, Crosby stated that he, Ericks and Arduin, had spent a substantial amount of time that evening speaking privately outside Clyde and Costello’s on an undisclosed subject.Oddly enough, while FDLE investigators had interviewed every person, from an off-duty cocktail waitress who had been drinking with the men, to Ericks, on the events of the night of August 22, 2005, they never interviewed Arduin.It also appears that then-Governor Bush recognized the significance of Clyde and Costello’s as the setting for this particular meeting. According to FDLE transcripts, then-Commissioner Tunnell recalled Bush’s dismay during his briefing on the investigation following the threats made by Crosby (click <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-florida-department-of-law-enforcement-fdle-investigations-into-james-crosby-allen-clark-and-american-institutional-services-ais" title="reference on here" target="blank">here</a> [26] to listen to full FDLE interview with Tunnel wherein Tunnell discusses Bush’s concern with Crosby’s activities at Clyde and Costello’s)."The Governor was upset Crosby was back at Clyde’s again," recalled Tunnell to investigators, suggesting that Crosby had ongoing business at Ericks’ bar of which Bush was aware.Tunnell declined repeated requests for an interview, stating only: "I’m not interested in opening that painful chapter of my family’s life again."Bush could not be reached for comment.For her part, Arduin, who was appointed by Bush to the Florida Property Tax Reform Committee the following year (2006, while still serving as a CPT trustee), denies the meeting ever took place, or that she ever had occasion to meet with Crosby outside of her role as an agency head of the Bush administration. Nor, says Arduin, did she ever have any business with Keefe."I never had a meeting with James Crosby. I mean, if he said he went over there to meet us, he might have been -- he and Dave might have had something to talk about, but I never had a meeting with him," said Arduin. "I never had any business with him after I left the state of Florida. We were—we both worked for the same administration for a while. I was consulting for Speaker Rubio, but I never did any work for Speaker Rubio that would have had me have a meeting with a corrections secretary… But obviously, he had reasons to be meeting with Dave."Interestingly, perhaps indicative of some shared business growth strategy, just as <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-relating-to-david-ericks" title="reference on Ericks represented the interests of Keefe, Geo Group, and ALME" target="blank">Ericks represented the interests of Keefe, Geo Group, and ALME</a> [28] (at a time when Arduin was a trustee of CPT) in Florida in 2005, this pattern of mutual lobby representation was replicated the following year in Texas with Keefe, CPT, Atlantic Shores Healthcare (the entity which would become Geo Group’s prison medical service arm, Geo Care), all represented by Texas lobbyist and former chief of staff to Texas State Rep. Ray Allen, <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-relating-to-scott-gilmore" title="reference on Scott Gilmore" target="blank">Scott Gilmore</a> [29].Crosby, who is currently incarcerated at a federal prison camp in Pensacola, turned down a request for an interview.Ericks did not return multiple phone calls and emails requesting comment.It is also worth noting that every single federal campaign contribution -- except for one -- recorded by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for Arduin over the past decade lists her place of residence as being either Ft. Lauderdale or Tallahassee. The exception is a single <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-relating-to-david-ericks" title="reference on $1,000 contribution to then-Missouri Senator James Talent" target="blank">$1,000 contribution to then-Missouri Senator James Talent</a> [28], credited to Arduin in 2005, the record of which lists her place of residence as being St. Louis, Missouri, home of Keefe Commissary and its parent company, Centric Group.Arduin says that she has no recollection of any such contribution or any idea why her address would be listed as being in St. Louis.And while Arduin claims that she never had any involvement with Keefe, <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-relating-to-david-ericks" title="reference on FEC records" target="blank">FEC records</a> [28] show that Talent was the top pick above and beyond all other candidates for Keefe and Centric Group during the 2006 election cycle—with at least $35,950 in campaign contributions from Keefe and Centric Group executives and employees going to Talent from October, 2005 to June, 2006.Of this nearly $36,000 campaign cash influx, $20,000 was paid directly into Talent’s two political action committees ($10,000 to each) by Keefe and Centric Group President Douglas Albrecht. Albrecht retired his post at the helm of Keefe and Centric Group following the Crosby and Clark indictments. He could not be reached for comment.Arduin was not alone in her sudden interest in Missouri lawmakers in 2005. Ericks -- who, according to data compiled by the National Institute on Money in State Politics, has restricted his campaign finance spending solely to Florida lawmakers from 1998 to present -- also broke with his pattern of political largesse in 2005 with a gift of $600 to the campaign of Missouri State Senator Brad Lager.While Ericks and Arduin are no longer romantically involved, it seems that their business relationship is alive and well; Arduin’s <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-relating-to-david-ericks" title="reference on residential property in Ft. Lauderdale" target="blank">residential property in Ft. Lauderdale</a> [28] is jointly owned between herself and Ericks.<a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-arduin-laffer-and-moore-alme-arduin-associates-and-laffer-associates" title="reference on Incorporation papers" target="blank">Incorporation papers</a> [13] on file with the Florida Secretary of State Division of Corporations from 2005 to present for ALME, as well as Arduin Associates, list Arduin’s business address as 205 S. Adams, Tallahassee. 205 S. Adams is also the address for Ericks Consultants. The building located at 205 S. Adams is in fact <a href="http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-relating-to-david-ericks" title="reference on owned by Ericks Consultants" target="blank">owned by Ericks Consultants</a> [28]. In fact, Arduin’s office is the office of Ericks Consultants -- the two share the same phone and fax numbers. The receptionist who answers the phone when you call looking for Arduin says, "Ericks Consultants, how may I help you?"FBI Special Agent Rick Dent declined to confirm or deny whether the FBI is investigating any other parties in conjunction with the June indictments of Deese and Dugger.Steve Cole, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Jacksonville, the office which had prosecuted, and which continues to prosecute all cases involved with the Crosby/AIS kickback scheme, declined to comment on any aspect of any related cases—past or present—or on whether further indictments are forthcoming.As for Arduin, she says she does not know whether or not she currently has any financial interest in the Geo Group, or in any other private corrections interest."My investment guys have me in so many different mutual funds, I can’t… I have no idea," said Arduin. "I don’t know."Over the course of the 2010 midterm election year, Arduin worked as an advisor to the campaign of U.S. Senator Rubio, as well as to the campaign of newly-elected Florida Governor Rick Scott. She currently heads Scott’s budget advisory team.<h2>Subsequent Events: August 2012 Postscript to January 2011 DBA Press publication</h2>The state of Florida dropped its prosecution of former Rep. Ray Sansom in May of 2011. Florida State Attorney Willie Meggs cited the court's refusal to allow the testimony of a key witness as grounds for the dismissal. The state's prosecution stemmed from allegations that Sansom had inserted a $6 million appropriation into the state's 2007-2008 budget for the construction of a private aircraft hangar for GOP donor Jay Odom.Nevertheless, on June 6, 2011, federal investigators subpoenaed records at the Florida House of Representatives pertaining to Sansom's travel and legislative expenses drawn from excess campaign finances. Travel vouchers filed by former Sansom staffers -- Melanie Phister, Eric Edwards, Dort Baltes and Samantha Sullivan -- were also subpoenaed. Sullivan was ordered to appear for testimony before a federal grand jury.It is worth noting that Phister, who had been hired by the office of Speaker Rubio in 2006 to work under Sansom, was hired as a lobbyist by the firm of Johnson and Blanton in January, 2012. Johnson and Blanton's principals, Jon Johnson and Travis Blanton, along with Johnson and Blanton lobbyist Amy Christian, are longtime Geo Group/Geo Care lobbyists. Phister currently lobbies on behalf of both Geo Group and Geo Care, among other clients. (It is also worth noting that, according to Phister's Johnson and Blanton staff biography, Phister had been employed by the firm in the years immediately preceding her work under Sansom. From 2004 through 2006, Phister worked for Johnson and Blanton as a lobbyist, a manager of "projects" and "special assignments," and as a "marketing strategies" researcher.)A month prior to the issuance of the House subpoenas, federal investigators subpoenaed records in the possession of TEAM Santa Rosa. The subpoenas specifically sought records pertaining to Sansom, Geo Group and "Project Justice." (Read more about the June 2011 subpoenas and view subpoenaed House and TEAM records <a href="http://dbapress.com/archives/1892" title="reference on here" target="blank">here</a> [30].)Since the issuance of the June 2011 subpoenas, members of the Florida press have asked Sansom about a March 27, 2008 trip to Boca Raton. This trip, and its proximity to events surrounding the legislative birth of Blackwater River CF were first reported by DBA Press in January of 2011.As reported by DBA Press, House travel records show then-House Budget Chair Sansom taking a trip to Boca Raton, 400 miles from his north Florida district. Sansom reported, at the time, that the trip was conducted for "personal business." Sansom has subsequently stated that the purpose of the trip was to meet with other unnamed lawmakers. The former lawmaker has consistently been unable to state the purpose of the trip or to name other lawmakers present.Boca Raton is the site of Geo Group's corporate headquarters.Interestingly, Sansom returned to Tallahassee and, on April 4, inserted a proviso in the 2008-2009 House General Appropriations Bill calling for the $110 million expansion of a Geo Group facility. This proviso would eventually morph into the creation of Blackwater CF.Subsequent federal grand jury subpoenas issued in August, 2011 in Santa Rosa County, to both TEAM Santa Rosa and to the Santa Rosa County Commission, seem to focus on a Sansom-owned business, Ray Sansom, Inc., as well as Blackwater CF project manager, Georgia-based Carter Goble Lee.Federal investigators also seized a Santa Rosa County Commission computer in August. The computer had formerly been used by former County Commissioner Gordon Goodin. Goodin was a leading proponent of "Project Justice."<h2>Rick Scott, Donna Arduin, and a Historic Privatization Attempt</h2>On February 7, 2011 newly-elected Florida Governor Rick Scott unveiled his budget proposal to cut approximately $5 billion in state spending. The proposal was the actuation of Scott's "7-7-7 Jobs" plan ("seven steps, seven years, 700,000 jobs"), much touted by Scott and supporters over the course of the 2010 campaign as the solution for the state's deep fiscal woes.The plan was Donna Arduin's key contribution to the Scott campaign. And Arduin, as head of Scott's transitional budget advisory team, was tasked with assembling the full budget proposal for presentation to the legislature.According to documents released by the Executive Office of Governor Scott (EOG), this budget team was handpicked and led by Arduin. The team consisted of Tad DeHaven, Talmadge Heflin, Randall Holcombe, Art Laffer and Robert McClure.DeHaven is a budget analyst at the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cato_Institute" title="reference on Cato Institute" target="self">Cato Institute</a> [31]. Heflin is director of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Texas_Public_Policy_Foundation" title="reference on Texas Public Policy Foundation" target="self">Texas Public Policy Foundation</a> [32]'s Center for Fiscal Policy. Arduin is a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Interestingly enough, 2010 Texas Public Policy Foundation tax records list a donation of $15,000 from Geo Group.Laffer is, of course, Arduin's business partner at Arduin, Laffer and Moore (ALME). Laffer and Stephen Moore (of ALME) are also on the American Legislative Exchange Council's (ALEC) <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ALEC_Board_of_Scholars" title="reference on Board of Scholars" target="self">Board of Scholars</a> [33]. Moore had served as director of fiscal policy and as a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and is founder of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Club_for_Growth" title="reference on Club for Growth" target="self">Club for Growth</a> [34] -- yet another limited-government-free-market "conservative" 'think tank.'It is worth noting, given Arduin's advisory role with the Rubio senate campaign, that the Club for Growth Political Action Committee (PAC) committed $10,002.45 in support to Rubio's senate bid in just over two months, from February 12 to April 16, 2010. This support was delivered in the form of independent expenditures for electioneering communications aimed both at supporting Rubio and at criticizing Rubio's chief opponent, Charlie Crist. These expenditures occurred in the heated pre-primary election months leading up to Crist's departure from the Republican Party (Crist announced he would continue to run as an independent on April 29, 2010) .McClure is president and CEO of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=James_Madison_Institute" title="reference on James Madison Institute" target="self">James Madison Institute</a> [35].Holcombe is a senior fellow at the James Madison Institute.The Cato Institute is an offshoot of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Charles_G.Koch_Charitable_Foundation" title="reference on Charles Koch Foundation" target="self">Charles Koch Foundation</a> [36]. Charles and David Koch, the principal shareholders of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Koch_Industries" title="reference on Koch Industries" target="self">Koch Industries</a> [37], are the financiers of a network of "conservative" and "libertarian" not-for-profit organizations. Such Koch-funded groups have included <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Prosperity" title="reference on Americans for Prosperity" target="self">Americans for Prosperity</a> [38], the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Reason_Foundation" title="reference on Reason Foundation" target="self">Reason Foundation</a> [39], ALEC, the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and the James Madison Institute.A staple agenda item for these "think tanks" has been the privatization of public services. And, according to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, Koch Industries was fairly heavily invested in Corrections Corporation of America (CCA)-- owning tens of thousands of shares in the nation's largest private profit prison/immigrant detention center operator-- from 2002 through 2005 (to be fair, Koch Industries held hundreds of thousands of shares in a diverse set of corporate interests during this time). During the 1990s, the private prison industry enjoyed tremendous growth, thanks, in large part, to "tough-on-crime" legislation advanced by ALEC (of which CCA was a part), the National Rifle Association (another longtime ALEC member) and other "conservative" Koch-backed think tanks.Not surprisingly, given the influence of Arduin's budget advisory team, the 2011 Scott budget proposal took heavy aim at the state's prison system and state prison health care.Prior to the unveiling of the full budget proposal, the Arduin/Scott "7-7-7" budget plan advertised a reduction in correctional costs by $1 billion simply by "paying competitive market-based salaries for correction's staff, utilizing inmate labor to grow prison food, and competitively bidding health care contracts resulting in public prison costs that are as low as private prisons…". In reality, as shown with the unveiling of the full budget proposal, the plan called for the elimination of nearly 8,700 state government positions-- 1,690 of which would be eliminated from FDOC through $82 million in budget cuts.Additionally, the proposed budget called for the privatization of all three of the Florida's public mental hospitals-- a gig which seemed ideally suited for Geo Group's correctional/mental health care subsidiary, Geo Care, already the largest private provider of such services in the state.As dramatic as the proposed cuts to FDOC were at the time of the budget's unveiling, a proviso inserted into the budget called for the privatization of a full third of FDOC operations-- 29 facilities in 18 south Florida counties. Not surprisingly, the proviso had been inserted into the budget by Senate budget chair J.D. Alexander (R-Lake Wales). Arduin had worked as a budget consultant to Alexander in 2010. This collaboration resulted in a proviso to that year's budget that called for a $24 million cut to the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) budget in order to close existing state-run facilities so that Blackwater River CF could be filled and opened.And, as was the case in 2010, the 2011 Alexander privatization proviso bore Arduin's stamp. In October of 2011, Alexander told the Tallahassee Democrat that the proviso calling for the privatization of the 29 FDOC facilities had been "suggested" by Arduin.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).These Republican lawmakers, for whatever reason, simply could not be convinced that trading more than 3,500 state jobs for negligible savings though privatization-- at a time when both the state prison population and economy were virtually static-- was a good idea.In a statement to the Miami Herald, one of the GOP senators who voted against the bill summed up what seemed to be the key to dissent on the issue:“What’s wrong with state employees?” said Sen. Dennis Jones (R-Seminole). “We should be taking care of them, rather than kicking them under the bus.”Sen. Fasano, then-chairman of the Senate Civil and Criminal Justice Budget Subcommittee, had been one of the most outspoken legislative critics of the Scott privatization plan, questioning, since the unveiling of the 2011 Scott budget proposal, why the Governor would push for increased spending for prison privatization when existing state-run facilities contained thousands of unoccupied beds.Following the introduction of the budget in 2011, Fasano called for key Scott budget staff to appear before his committee for questioning. Amazingly, members of Scott's budget staff stated publicly that they intended to boycott the subcommittee.For his criticism of the privatization plan, Sen. President Haridopolos removed Fasano as chair of the criminal justice appropriations subcommittee in February of 2012. And Fasano wasn't the only casualty of the Scott privatization plan. In August of 2011, Scott forced the resignation of FDOC Secretary Edwin Buss. Buss, like Fasano, had been an ardent critic of the privatization plan.Those seeking clarity in understanding Florida's unprecedented slide into wholesale prison privatization under the Scott administration may need look no farther than the events of February 6, 2011-- Super Bowl Sunday.As reported by the Orlando Sentinel, Scott was a guest at a Super Bowl party at the home of lobbyist Brian Ballard the day prior to the unveiling of the budget proposal. According to Florida lobby disclosure records, Ballard is a longtime state legislative lobbyist for Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and, as of January 14, 2011, an executive branch lobbyist for Geo Group.According to the Sentinel, Ballard had helped to raise more than $3 million for Scott's inaugural celebration (according to EOG documents, Ballard and his wife Kathryn actually served as "finance chairs" for the inaugural committee). Additionally, as reported by the Sentinel, Geo Group -- in addition to the more than $400,000 in contributions paid out to the Republican Party of Florida during the 2010 election cycle -- contributed $25,000 to the Scott debutante event.It is also worth noting that Carrie O'Rourke is the daughter of former Geo Group Chief Financial Officer John O'Rourke (1991 to August 2009). It should be noted, however, that a Geo Group press release announcing O'Rourke's retirement stated that O'Rourke would likely continue work for the private prison corporation as a "consultant" following his departure as CFO. In keeping with this, O'Rourke founded the consulting firm of J.G. O'Rourke and Associates, LLC. in August 2009), served as finance director of the Scott inaugural committee. It is also worth noting that the Scott gubernatorial campaign employed the services of veteran Florida GOP fundraiser Meredith O'Rourke, Carrie O'Rourke's sister.As such, given these ties, it comes as no surprise that, according to EOG records, the Scott gubernatorial transition team considered and interviewed John O'Rourke for the position of FDOC secretary during these early months of the administration. While O'Rourke did not get the FDOC job, Scott did appoint O'Rourke to the Florida Prepaid College Board (Gubernatorially-appointed administrators of the state secondary education scholarship and savings programs) in February of 2011.As <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/51039.html" title="reference on reported" target="blank">reported</a> [40] by Politico, the Romney presidential campaign retained the fundraising services of Meredith O'Rourke in March of 2011. Senatorial candidate Rubio also retained the fundraising services of O'Rourke's firm, Forward Strategies, during the 2010 election cycle.</div></div></div></div><div class="print-footer">Center for Media and Democracy • 520 University Avenue, Suite 260 • Madison, Wisconsin 53703
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[3] http://www.prwatch.org/topics/politics
[4] http://www.prwatch.org/topics/us-government
[5] http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.prwatch.org%2Fnews%2F2012%2F08%2F11591%2Fmarco-rubio-geo-group-and-legacy-corruption&linkname=Marco%20Rubio%2C%20Geo%20Group%2C%20and%20a%20Legacy%20of%20Corruption
[6] http://dbapress.com/archives/655
[7] http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory
[8] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Geo_Group
[9] http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-investigations-into-florida-republican-party-donors
[10] http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-ray-sansom-criminal-investigationelva-mccaig-letter
[11] http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-geo-group-campaign-finance-spending
[12] http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-florida-department-of-management-services-geo-group-and-team-santa-rosa-related-to-blackwater-cf-development-and-management
[13] http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-arduin-laffer-and-moore-alme-arduin-associates-and-laffer-associates
[14] http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-arduins-employment-in-the-florida-house-and-the-florida-senate
[15] http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-2008-legislative-inception-of-blackwater-cf
[16] http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-arduins-time-as-an-executive-appointee-under-florida-governor-jeb-bush
[17] http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-correctional-properties-trust-centracore-properties-trustgeo-acquisition-ii
[18] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Wackenhut
[19] http://www.ALECexposed
[20] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Corrections_Corporation_of_America
[21] http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-robert-budd-kneip-and-wackenhutwackenhut-subsidiaries
[22] http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-2010-blackwater-appropriations
[23] http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-2010-contract-awards-for-operation-of-graceville-cf-and-moorehaven-cf
[24] http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-arduins-employment-under-california-governor-arnold-schwarzenegger
[25] http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-first-clearing-corporation-corestates-wells-fargo-and-geo-group-ownership
[26] http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-florida-department-of-law-enforcement-fdle-investigations-into-james-crosby-allen-clark-and-american-institutional-services-ais
[27] http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-related-to-federal-investigationsprosecution-of-james-crosby-allen-clark-ais-and-keefe
[28] http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-relating-to-david-ericks
[29] http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/legacy-of-corruption-source-materials-directory/documents-relating-to-scott-gilmore
[30] http://dbapress.com/archives/1892
[31] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cato_Institute
[32] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Texas_Public_Policy_Foundation
[33] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ALEC_Board_of_Scholars
[34] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Club_for_Growth
[35] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=James_Madison_Institute
[36] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Charles_G._Koch_Charitable_Foundation
[37] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Koch_Industries
[38] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Prosperity
[39] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Reason_Foundation
[40] http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/51039.html=Has Koch Industries’ investment in Marco Rubio paid off?By Kyle Daly | 03.14.11 | 1:23 pm http://washingtonindependent.com/106351/has-koch-industries-investment-in-marco-rubio-paid-off On Friday, The American Independent reported that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) received more Koch Industries money than any other candidate for U.S. Senate in the 2010 election, and many of his other major contributors have personal and professional ties to the Koch brothers as well. So how have Rubio’s backers fared so far in terms of getting a return on their investment? As far as introducing new legislation, Rubio has been fairly quiet. So far, he has been responsible for one piece of legislation, an amendment to an air traffic control bill that would prevent the expansion of flight itineraries in countries that sponsor terrorism. Since becoming a senator in January, Rubio has voted in opposition of the implementation of health care reform through a number of resolutions and amendments, and has voted for extending provisions of the PATRIOT Act and blocking Transportation Security Administration employees from collective bargaining (of course, the involvement of the Koch brothers in the national fight over collective bargaining is well documented). That’s the extent of his U.S. Senate voting record, but he’s been vocal about his support for other bills, and it’s there that his benefit to Koch Industries comes into focus. Koch Industries has three major operations in Florida: Georgia-Pacific, Flint Hills Resources and Koch Chemical Technology Group. Of those, the paper company Georgia-Pacific has come into the most heated conflict with environmental regulations. Flint Hills is an oil refinery operation that has been fined by the Environmental Protection Agency for violations of the Clean Air Act in the past, though it was also commended by the EPA in 2005 for cutting emissions. Koch Chemical Technology primarily makes pollution control equipment that can be used to ensure compliance with EPA regulations. Rubio has stated his opposition to cap-and-trade regulations that would reward companies for limiting emissions and tax those that don’t. Cap and trade could have a major impact on the Flint Hills operation in Rubio’s backyard, but it could have even larger repercussions for Koch Industries outfits in other states. Koch Industries has spent hundreds of millions in the past in fines for EPA violations and costs incurred in bringing factories up to emissions standards. And as a pitched battle continues to heat up in Florida over Georgia-Pacific’s objections to EPA water standards, Rubio has made known his opposition to the same. The sugar conglomerate Flo-Sun, another major backer of Rubio’s campaign, has also had its own battles with the EPA over water pollution standards. Rubio has couched his opposition to regulations in terms of job creation, but opponents have argued that failing to enact environment regulations could ultimately cost jobs for Florida in some of its flagship industries (more on that later). It’s unclear how Rubio’s constituents feel about his vigorous opposition to EPA regulation, as no polls have been conducted by an independent body to find out. The only poll available is one showing 68 percent of Floridians and climbing oppose EPA water regulations; however, the poll simply asked if Floridians would oppose water quality regulations if they resulted in a $700 increase in the average home water bill. That number was based on industry estimates of industrial wastewater regulation costs that the EPA has disputed. In November, the Florida Independent obtained an internal email from Phil Coram, a deputy director of water resource management with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Coram stated that industry estimates were overblown because they were based on the wrong assumption that all wastewater sites would have to comply with regulations; that they left out the fact that many companies would have cheaper options than expensive conversions for managing their wastewater; and that “some of their math is wrong.” This is coming from within a state agency that has itself been accused of kowtowing to industry interests. On Rubio’s own site, he uses a Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services figure stating that the wastewater regulations in question would cost over $1.1 billion annually. Such an annual cost, though a great deal higher than EPA estimates, would result in an annual water bill increase of around $157 if divided evenly among all households in Florida — far lower than $700, but even the lower figure doesn’t account for the fact that industrial facilities use a lot more water than individuals, nor does it account for the vast number of seasonal households in Florida whose owners live elsewhere for large parts of the year. Indeed, the EPA figures reported by the St. Johns Riverkeeper may not be far off: an increase more on the order of $40 to $71 a year for the average taxpayer. Meanwhile, the Florida Independent today reports that failing to implement wastewater regulations would result in a proliferation of toxic algae that would have devastating effects. The brunt of these effects would be felt by individuals living near waterways and by small businesses in the food, hospitality and tourism industries that stake their livelihoods on the integrity of Florida’s environment.</section></div></div></div></div></div>