Let’s all pause for a moment to thank the democrat who refused to bow out of the governor’s race, basically putting this douche in office by splitting the vote. Way to go man, whatever your name is. You’ll be remembered, sort of.

But private companies stated publicly that they would partner with the state and pay for any overruns, eliminating the possibility of it falling on the government.

I find it hard to believe private contractors would agree to assume all cost overrruns potentially in the billions of dollars. Let’s see a contract.

I’ll bet you anything Mica voted for Voldemort Rick Scott.

I wish Ca would get some of that money for high speed rail from SF to LA. We could use it.

Such buyer’s remorse! Less than 2 months into their terms. Floridians are in for a long hurricane.
We have it in our state too

Zero chance of success is my guess since the right of way is owned by the state and the state must sign off on its money going to an agency.

So it needs a change of mind by the Gov of Florida – and if he changes his mind it allows him to say he hasn’t.

Better to use the money in the NorthEast corridor or on a East Coast to Chicago line.

What are you talking about? Voldemort Rick Scott beat Bill McCollum in the Republican primary and went on to defeat Alex Sink in the general. Are you saying Sink should have thrown up her hands and walked away from the general election? What difference would that have made? I think you’re confusing the governors race with the Senatorial. which was Charlie Crist vs Marco Rubio vs Kendrick Meek.

I’m not sure about the county lines, but I am DAMN positive about the toll roads. You can’t hardly travel without paying a toll 5 times, especially the roads to Orlando and Disney. It is a freaking mind blowing headache.

Now, if you think about the loss of revenue for the privateers on those toll roads you might have one reason why he is against the rail. On the other hand, the jobs and the station areas that could rise with shops is too much of a good thing to pass up.

Rick Scott era as something like a hurricane or other natural disaster, just hunkering down until it blows over. This would be one example.

Recall? I’ll ask SD when I see him online.

Yep. It looks like there are a lot of states that may wish to do that recall program. ;-)

Just flipped over to the Ed show in an act of solidarity with WI.

He is telling about the Fitz family and how they are connected.

*heh* I rather enjoy having a real Progressive Guv, with Dem majorities in both state houses…! Their first significant act was to pass a civil unions bill…!

“With support for the bill in both chambers again this year, lawmakers sought to take advantage of the consensus and fast-track the bill to the governor and move on to more pressing matters.”

Dick Scott intends to Help Obama Fail. (Obama has proven that he loves Republicans, Reagan and bipartisanship at any and all costs. Obama doesn’t mind failing. See: midterm elections and current polls.)

Dick Scott loves Big Oil. Big Oil hates mass transit of any kind.

Dick Scott Loves private toll collectors. (HT Peasant Party)

Dick Scott intends to pick the carcass of Florida thru Private Prisons and Private (Charter) Schools. Dick and all his buds are going to clean up! By Funnelling Public Funds to Private John Galt Entrepreneurs (themselves).

Dick Scott did not intend to waste millions $$ he stole from Medicare on tv ads to get elected if he could not indeed get elected to get that money back tenfold.

PS. Commuter Rail Systems would only be used by Latinos and Black People. See: NPR.

Uh-Oh! Ed just asked, “Where are you Mr. President?”

Hmmm. Sounds like it might be a FDL project, to put together recall packets for the voters in diff states.

I mentioned earlier that I got an email from Gov Cuomo (DINO-NY) which sounded identical to Gov Christ (Rcrazy-NJ).

Recall packets could be useful in 50/50 states the way things are going.

Looks like he’ll be hiding out in the UK next week. Profiles in courage…

Great idea! I know my state could use one. It could have used one the past few years on Mr. Argentina.

Oh Lordy! Rushing off to see the Queen just after all the WMD and Powell demanding facts comes out.

Right? When all he has to do to see the Queen is walk over to the Senate and knock on Lindsey’s door…
On edit: How much you wanna bet they’ve got to put their stories together in an untraceable way? This is all very sudden.

He’d asked yesterday, ‘Where’s the (national) Democratic Leaders…?’

Rissert now talking. His state was the first to sign up for collective bargaining and the first to sign up for social security insurance.

By the time Obama is finished he won’t be able to travel abroad, just like Bush.

LOL. Yeppers.

LOL! I can’t wait for those deep secrets to come on out in the open. I know we discussed them here. I think they are waiting for the 2012 campaigns to get going good.

I saw somebody on Twitter say today that Floridians are treating the Rick Scott era as something like a hurricane or other natural disaster, just hunkering down until it blows over.

Does Florida have the ability to start a recall petition? That would be one way of dealing with the prick. Might even start a trend, given the number of assholes who currently occupy governorships across the country.

AFSCME was founded in Wisconsin…! ;-)

Ed has a poll on the site asking if you feel the Democrats are doing the right thing by not voting.

I’m pretty sure I owe you the beverage of your choice.

Are you making martinis tonight? I’ll take one.

Didn’t the dems in Texas do the same thing a couple of years ago? Or was it New Mexico?

Here ya go…

I see nothing. I know nothing.

It was in Texas in 2004 or 2005. Then a few let themselves be bullied into coming back. A quorum was achieved and the Repugs pushed their illegal redistricting plan through. Spineless jerks.

Yes, it was Texas. Margaret can give you more detail on it.

Drinking bourbon tonight. Hick.

WOW! Thanks! Just what I needed.

It was Tejas and Tom Delay sent the Texas Rangers out looking for them, and, even had the FAA involved (illegally, I might add) in the search effort…

I posted that on my FB, noting that Indiana elected officials are busily working to pass an amendment banning same-sex marriage, while Hawai’i is getting civil rights RIGHT.

Good Golly, MsMolly! You are on it today. You even caught a rat by the tail this afternoon!

I think the legislators did the right thing by leaving. We wouldn’t have seen that great video of the firefighters band marching into the WI capital if they had not left.

Floridians are in shock. Even among some of the reactionaries, there is a sense of disbelief that Scott turned down the money and kissed off the jobs. There’s almost a hangdog sense of rueful apology, like voting for Scott was something they did drunk and now regret. Reactions among the rest of us, who at least suspected how bad it might get, range from furious to hunkering down as described.

That looks so good. But I don’t care for them. How about a nice Manhattan with Canadian Club?

Finally finished a grout-staining project and I’m looking for a libation to ease me off to beddy bye…

Interestingly, I’ve met a disproportionate amount of Indiana ex-pats here in the Isles…! Hmmm…

Two Americas.

John Nichols of the Nation confirming that Dick Armey and the Koch Bros. and their types behind the Walker program. He says it is big money and pressure to get rid of labor.

Who coulda guessed.

Reflexive voting has consequences. The only reason the voters here keep Goodhair in office is because he has no real power.

Hey, I like that CC too. Splash of cranberry juice and Chambord makes a super smooth relaxor.

Right. Who could have predicted?

Isn’t that true of any TX gov?

Good Golly, MsMolly! You are on it today. You even caught a rat by the tail this afternoon!

Actually, I wouldn’t characterize mikefromArlington as a “rat” exactly. He is a reasonable commenter at Plum Line (if I recall correctly), not a troll at all, although I’m not sure why he suddenly showed up here. That blog leans “Obamabot” but isn’t DKos by any means.

I went back tonight and was reminded why I left a few months ago. About half of the comment thread is commenters insulting each other, not much real discussion like what happens here, even if we disagree.

If we could entice mikefromArlington to participate in discussions without firing into the crowd, he might add something. He was gonna come back, but I didn’t see his footprints.

Ed is showing the crowds and some of the signs. Thank goodness somebody is there with cameras to cover it. I don’t really care for Ed, but I have to give him creds for tonight.

I would like to be an Indiana ex-pat. It got “warm” today (for February) but the piles of melting dirty snow are a downer. You gotz sun!!

I do characterize him that way after seeing what he ran back over there and posted. He may be alright, but that did not sit well with me, especially after he badgered my buds.

Hmmm. Haven’t tried that, will have to sometime. I’m mostly a red wine drinker, Manhattans are about my only (very rare) hard liquor drink. But Chambord? Hmmmm…

Yep. The office of governor in Texas is the least powerful of any state.

Oh it is soooo good. Almost like syrup, but not. It makes the drink so smooth.

What did Floridians expect when they voted for Rick Scott?

Yeah, I agree. I just thought it was interesting that he “ran back over there and posted” anything about us at all. And it was dishonest. But I won’t call him a troll, at least in my definition of the word.

Wander on over there and read the comment thread of one of the posts. You’ll see what I mean. The discussion is puerile and lots of spitwads are thrown. I like Greg Sargent, but couldn’t stay with his commenter crowd.

Marcy’s SEIU post is up above. David has put in a lot of work to keep up with this stuff though.

Oh good! Ed is talking to the people. Teachers, firefighters, and all of them.

High speed rail has generally been a money sink — expensive to build and too expensive for riders to travel.

He’s an idiot. Nothing but insults.

One specific example. He did not know Juan Cole, a level of ignorance you would never find here. Rather than castigate him for his ignorance, I merely linked him to Cole’s website. His response: “So he has a blog. So does everyone else.”

So he was not only ignorant, he was unwilling to learn anything by reading even when it was made easy peasy for him.

We can do without the likes of him. There is nothing he can add to the discussion. And if he ever comes back, should be treated with the contempt he deserves.

I definitely will keep it in mind. I do know that I prefer Canadian whiskey (instead of American). You have to be clear when ordering in a bar or restaurant, or they use American whiskey. Much smoother drink with CC or a premium Canadian — or actually, with any Canadian whiskey.

Good choice. Here ya go…

It’s great that the police and firefighters unions have stood up to this because they were intentionally exempted in order to divide the people. I guess you don’t need to be Martin Niemoller to realize that if it’s some state workers today, it will be the rest tomorrow.

Hi.

I live in Orlando.

Rick Scott is a douche.

I don’t have much use for that network anymore.

What did Floridians expect when they voted for Rick Scott?

I think most Scott voters voted either as a protest against the status quo, or in the mistaken belief that as a non-beholden outsider, he would reign in the rampant corruption, or because they think it’s a game, the consequences of which are now becoming clear.

Public transport like high-speed rail, is a perfect example of a positive externality, in the sense that it saves all kinds of money that are not seen in the revenues, like lessened congestion. So it is a classic case where an enlightened govt would use tax revenues to pay for expenditures.

Thanks. I’ll be working my way thru the offerings. *g*

I can’t disagree too much. BUT compared to some of the other trolls we’ve seen lately, he doesn’t make the grade.

I’m still wondering why he showed up to comment, and when he first came here. I didn’t like his insulting tone, that’s for sure. He threatened to come back when he got home from work. Did he? (I don’t really care, actually.)

Voting for Rick Scott as a protest against the status quo is like shooting yourself in both feet as a protest against walking. Effective, but stupid.

He did not know Juan Cole, a level of ignorance you would never find here.

Keep in mind (as I know you DO) that this is not a typical blog, and that the awareness of commenters is much different here than on other blogs. I didn’t know who Juan Cole was either, the first time I saw his name. At FDL, unlike other blogs, we know who the respected players are at other blogs. His dismissive comment about Juan Cole was an attempt to cover up his lack of awareness.

Ed is pointing out that Ohio is having the same Governor problem as WI.

You gotz sun!!

*heh* We’re the other ‘Sunshine State’…! ;-)

:fume:

I have no idea what other blogs are like, as this is the only one I’ve ever hung out at. I do remember that the first time I ever asked a Q here about something everyone but I knew, another commenter responded: There is this thing called teh google. So I learned to learn PDQ if I wanted to stay here. Which suits me just dandy.

Besides, he didn’t even have to google Juan Cole, as I provided the link. More than his ignorance was his resistance to actually learning anything. And it went well beyond resistance to learning. He has an outright contempt for it.

Well, I’m surmising, since I worked and voted against Scott, but among low-information or disengaged voters, Scott was a strong, attractive candidate. A lot of the scandal stuff was dismissed: “If it was all that bad, he would have gone to jail…” He had both Tea Party and anti-incumbent sympathies, and benefitted from the widespread perception that all politicians are the same, and that, after he won, it would be business as usual.

Does he have his hands in the toll roads as I suspect? I’m telling you, when I was there three years ago I had to travel from Melborne to Orlando and back and it was horrible. I had to go through a toll at every direction ramp and that was more than frustrating. I had no idea I needed so many ones to ride two miles at a time.

Well, I did go mano a mano a couple of nights ago, with a really intransigent troll. Devil made me do it, against my better judgment. Was incredibly personally insulting to me, despite my (abnormally) polite responses to him (don’t actually know his gender, but assuming male for ease of explication). For example, when I said (in the context of denigrating Wall St) that I’d worked there 30 years, he responded: Shining shoes? I pulled rank in the sense of revealing I’d been in weekly standing meetings of high level ‘risk’ committee meetings and he finally came around.

Mikefromarlington shows no tendency to listen to anything from anyone. A pox on his house. With no mezuzah to save him from the wrath he deserves.

And the voting machines were fixed, no doubt.

The sad truth is, I believe Scott really did well and truly win. I wish I could say I thought it was stolen, but I can’t. This state has a long history of electing thieves, con men, grifters, smugglers, and so on-which in a sad way, makes Scott one of our own. He couldn’t have found another place more suited to his needs.

You have my sympathies.

I don’t know much about NYS politics, despite having lived here most of my life. I hear all the usual stuff about dyfunctional legislature, worst-in-the-nation kinda stuff, but have no basis of comparison. (3 men in a room is the usual description of the budget process, which is always, but for one year, late: guv, head of state senate, head of state assembly.) But as I learn more about other states, NYS does not seem extreme. Au contraire.

FL has been the destination of choice for rogues of every sort for 400 years, since until recently, the climate was so miserable that no one would stick around long enough to catch you (the only Floridian in Statuary Hall, DC, is Dr. John Gorrie, one of the inventors of AC). There is a fundamental attitude of forgetfulness here, sorta like: “Well, you’re on the run, or you wouldn’t be here…so we don’t really care what you did before. What you do now is be a good neighbor, and if you do that well enough, we won’t see a thing.”
The law…it’s more like guidelines, you see.

Very funny.

My NYCer’s impression of FL is Jews who go there for the winter and retirement. So I have been much enlightened/shocked to find out how wrong I was.

“go there for the winter and retirement”

That is indeed a major part of Florida – when I am down there (in North Florida down to St Pete and Tampa) it is not uncommon for a Church discussion or snack sitting table for 8 having all eight folks from the north – including Canada. And I am told there is a Jewish population of old folks around Miami.

Very much a state of folks from other states.

Very much a state of folks from other states.

Well…yes and no. There is all that you say. But there is another Florida, that those from elsewhere never see, or fail to recognize when they do. It is far deeper than that seen in short residences (or media coverage). It is the best and worst, the most noble and profane, the most lovely and brutal place I’ve ever been. It is difficult for me to imagine living anywhere else.

Wasn’t Lawton Chiles Jr running as an indie? Or did he drop out before the ballots were printed?

Really?

Tell that to the Japanese, French, and Germans.

TGV in Europe is not that expensive and faster than flying. As high speed rail will be in the US under a 400 mile trip.

And really, a high speed rail line is just a fast toll road – you know it certainly won’t be free. And I expect it will be in the jurisdiction of the Florida dept of transportation, just like the toll roads.
Still, I think you’re on to Scott’s angle—he just doesn’t like the companies that will get a slice of the pie because they don’t share it with him.

That seems somehow familiar…oh yeah, it reminds me of me, and how I feel about having voted for Obama!

I asked. There’s no recall process for the governor in Florida. On behalf of all the people who voted for Alex Sink, I’m sorry.

Wouldn’t be the first case of hiding in Buckingham Palace! In a way it reminds me of “the Queen recalling how she and her father George VI hid from General Eisenhower under a table”.

Except this time around it won’t be the Queen hiding from a US President but rather a US President joining the Queen under the table.

Rail and light rail really starts to shine once they become a replacement for the automobile. At that point, it’s replacing the cost of your car, car insurance and gas. Not to mention the reduced need to always be adding extra lanes to our existing roadways. And of course, the reduced need to invade other nations to liberate ever increasing quantities of oil.

And given that the exponential growth of oil extraction is reaching it’s limits, the automobile economy can no longer support growth. So rail it is!