Poll: Recall Rick Scott? (Orlando: 2013, house, unemployment)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
actually food stamps is Fed dollars adminstered by the state. The only people I know who get cash assistance from the state usually are single parents with children.
What bothers me is the assumption that if you are poor somehow you must be on drugs! As if poverty isn't humiliating enough now this jerk wants to drug test you!
I don't think it is an assumption that they are on drugs. Drug testing would help to eliminate many of those who are abusing the system. If you have nothing to hide, you won't be afraid of a drug test. I know of plenty of people who are abusing the system and sit at home all day not trying to work. Many of these people use drugs. They use our hard earned money to buy these drugs. I disagree with Rick Scott on most things, but this is one thing I am behind 100%.
Regarding drug testing of state employees - this is NUTS. Scott wants to drug-screen employees AT LEAST 4 times a year. Of course you can bet your life that he intends to make the employees pay 100% of the cost of the tests...
Show me the documented data that shows we have a massive problem with drugged up state employees. Yeah, that's what I thought.
I agree...I'm not sure where the need is coming from or why it is important at a time when there are a number of other, more pressing issues. At $35 per test, once every three months, I doubt it will break any state employee's bank acount but it does seem like a wasteful, unneeded fix to a non-problem.
Quote:
Finally, his latest idea is to fire the nursing home ombudsman (a volunteer position) AND to cap wrongful death lawsuits at nursing homes to only $250k. Again, he has personal financial investments in the nursing home business.
I hadn't heard about this one and it does have me scratching my head. I haven't seen anything about him having a financial investment in nursing homes, though. Unless this is one of those deals where it is a duplication of another system or program and eliminating this one gets rid of the redundancy and the costs associated with it, I have to say I don't get it at all.
When Republican Rick Scott won the governorship, the Florida Assisted Living Association sent him a letter recommending that Lee be replaced with someone friendlier to their industry. Scott seems to have listened, although Lee was given no explanation for his removal, according to the Miami Herald.
The ombudsman program was 700 volunteers. They "put the heat" on nursing homes, but literally were powerless to do anything.
Nonetheless, we don't need any obstacles to pure profit and milking those senior citizen cash cows.
Where are the Tea Party members on this one? Probably cheering about the cost savings of cutting 700 volunteers!
At $35 per test, once every three months, I doubt it will break any state employee's bank acount but it does seem like a wasteful, unneeded fix to a non-problem.
Why in the heck should any state employee have to prove themselves innocent on their own dime? The courts have already ruled that drug tests without probable cause are a really bad idea. Doing such tests 4 or even more times per year on every single employee is just idiotic and overkill.
I'm sure we could send them all to Solantic to take the tests - nice profit for Scott. He transferred his massive stock holdings in Solantic to his wife just for the time being, but nobody is fooled.
Shortly before he was inaugurated, Scott's lawyers met with attorneys at the Florida Commission on Ethics. Subsequently, they moved his Solantic holdings into a revocable trust in his wife's name, making her the controlling investor in the privately held company. No public records were created from the ethics meeting.
So Scott wants to drug test all employees, but he is against the "pill mill" database because of privacy concerns?
Moved, I agree that this is an odd move but if they are "literally powerless to do anything" why bother making the move unless it costs the state money to administer the volunteer program? I'm not saying you are on the wrong side or we are on opposite sides. Just saying that something is missing from the story. I expect the answer will be the redundancy thing but I have no idea. As far as the TP goes, I'm pretty sure this is not one of their issues so I wouldn't really expect anyone to weigh in on this one.
Are you referring to the fiscal knee-jerks conservatives or the 15 countries combined we're outspending on military costs?
I was referring to your statement: "I find it interesting that the knee-jerk fiscal conservatives who think the Ol' Rickster is just swell, find indifference in our world-leading military spending" and I was just wondering who it was that you've heard or read that is:
a) a fiscal conservative, and
b) thinks Scott is just swell, and
c) is indifferent in our spending policy regarding the military.
It's your comment. I was just curious who you were talking about. Or, was this just one of those kneejerk comments I was talking about?
According to their website, Solantic has a little over 30 centers. I don't know how many walk-in clinics there are in the state but I doubt that 30 represents a significant proportion of the places state workers could go to be tested. And, if I was a state worker who was not particularly happy about being tested at random, the last clinic I'd go to would be the one owned by the gov. You dissagree? While it would be a very classy move for him to flat out say that his company would not do any state testing (and I assume since it hasn't happened yet it won't), I doubt he had, as you suggest, a personal enrichment motivation for this issue, despite the way it looks. Dude definitely needs a new PR advisor. :-)
As someone who has to take random drug tests (CDL License), I can tell you it's not up to the EMPLOYEE where the drug test is taken, it's up to the EMPLOYER, which in this case is Scott. I can see the headlines now-"Solantic Quietly Set For Expansion." Herr Scott doesn't need a PR adviser- what Herr Scott needs is a crackerjack defense lawyer on retainer.
Seriously, I don't know why you defend this slime bag.
Herr Scott doesn't need a PR adviser- what Herr Scott needs is a crackerjack defense lawyer on retainer.
Although we sometimes have completely opposite points of view, I have to say sometimes you crack me up! I haven't defended him on anything other than the rail thing which we've already beaten to death. I just believe it is incumbent on all political commentators to get to the bottom of each issue rather than taking cheap shots with little knowledge or research. (not saying that is the case here) So, I raise questions for consideration. It's not defending, it's thought. This nursing home thing is a perfect example. If Scott's action with the ombudsman and the proposed laws by the legislators do, in fact, make the elderly less safe, then I'll be right there with you protesting these moves. But, I want to first know for sure that this is not just another one of those news/blog stories that presents one part of the story with the design of presenting the info in the worst possible light without providing the other side of the story. I don't know if there is another side but, for the sake of argument, if there was another state agency with responsibility for making sure that nursing homes are safe, I wouldn't have a problem then with cutting this stuff. I doubt anyone would be shocked to find that there is wasteful redundancy in government and I doubt anyone would support its perpetuation especially in light of the budget crunch. I'm not saying he's not a scumbag--maybe he is. I just want to know all sides before passing judgment and I don't see much of that going on around here.
Scottdaffi! Scottdaffi! Just like the leader in Libya Quaddaffi!
He killed HSR because he is a Tea Party moron & hates Obama, throwing away 25,000 jobs, he wants to privatize Corrections,layoff teachers , make public hospitals in SE Florida "private", want's to drug screen state Employees & Welfare recepients as well! Does this sound familiar? and Republicans hate Government intrusion?
Try Nazi Germany! This man needs to be recalled from office now!
Shame on you for even implying that Scott is like Qaddafi and Nazi Germany, you have no idea what you are saying, shame...
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $53,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I haven't defended him on anything other than the rail thing which we've already beaten to death. I just believe it is incumbent on all political commentators to get to the bottom of each issue rather than taking cheap shots with little knowledge or research. (not saying that is the case here) So, I raise questions for consideration. It's not defending, it's thought. This nursing home thing is a perfect example. If Scott's action with the ombudsman and the proposed laws by the legislators do, in fact, make the elderly less safe, then I'll be right there with you protesting these moves. But, I want to first know for sure that this is not just another one of those news/blog stories that presents one part of the story with the design of presenting the info in the worst possible light without providing the other side of the story. I don't know if there is another side but, for the sake of argument, if there was another state agency with responsibility for making sure that nursing homes are safe, I wouldn't have a problem then with cutting this stuff. I doubt anyone would be shocked to find that there is wasteful redundancy in government and I doubt anyone would support its perpetuation especially in light of the budget crunch. I'm not saying he's not a scumbag--maybe he is. I just want to know all sides before passing judgment and I don't see much of that going on around here.
