[Pear Martini]

Originally Posted by mango23

Your job is safe if you are a dealer for street drugs. The Governor has made sure he protected his buddies in the pill dispensing business. Almost all the drugs dispensed through pain clinics go to the street, that is just a fact. One of the guys arrested yesterday who owns a chain of these clinics does over a $100,000 a day in the business. Want to bet who he voted for. Scott is in a fact complicit in the murder of US citizens. I can't say it any more plain. This man is just as much a criminal today just as he has always been.

He said the reason they won't track who is getting what and how much of it at pain clinics is for privacy purposes? I call BULL****. Privacy is the worst excuse in the corrupt politician book. An innocent cancer patient or a person with a painful injury won't care if they are taking his name down and how many pills are dolled out to him. Thats how they do it EVERY-FCKING*WHERE ELSE. Its such malarky and an insult to every law-abiding Floridian's intelligence. I want to protest this, this is part of the reason there is a huge epidemic of people hooked on painkillers (synthetic heroin) down here. Drug dealers drive from all over the country to collect pain killers to sell to poor junkies back home. This is only protecting them. After my midterms on Wednesday, I'm finding a way to protest.

"The opposite of love is not hate, its indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, its indifference. The opposite of life is not death, its indifference" ~Elie Weisel

[bbronston]

Originally Posted by Pear Martini

The public schools here are inferior to other countries, but people are more concearned with not paying taxes. Has any Florida tax payer ever had some sympathy for the Florida child that has go through this poor quality school system?

It is possible to be concerned about paying too much in taxes AND be concerned about school quality. We've already proven that throwing more money at schools does not equate to better outcomes. We also know that better parenting, regardless of educational budgets, leads to better outcomes. Neither have anything to do with the rail question.

There is a bottom line here that all of the pro-rail people just don't seem to grasp. The issue is NOT pro-rail vs anti-rail or preparing for the future vs. sitting back with the status quo in tact. It is the economy. It is the budget. It is the debt. It is the fact that the federal government is flat, busted, broke. It is the fact that the states and the federal government have to get their finances in order before they can hand out large sums of borrowed money for large public works projects that are not immediately needed. The time for pretending that our country's debt costs will somehow work out is long past, yet there are some who either can't see this truth, won't see this truth, or insist on ignoring this truth.

I know I am beating a dead horse but I believe this issue, more than any other, will have such a huge impact on us all that it must be repeated over and over until we come to grips with it. Wisconsin, New Jersey and Ohio are giving us just a glimpse of our future and, if you don't know what I am talking about, you need to do some reading because you are looking at your own personal future..

[MiamiRob]

Originally Posted by BucFan

Let Disney pay for it - since they'll benefit most from the rail.

We as a nation can't afford the rail system. We already have a huge deficit.

That doesn't matter since the money was already allocated in the previous budget and is already sitting in the hands of the Federal Rail Administration. Think of it this way, there is a check already in the bank for you for $2.4 billion and you decide to donate it to somebody else.
That is basically what Scott has done and there is no way that money can be returned to the Feds to cut back on the defecit.That money instead will go to California. What Scott has done is assinine to the detriment of our state and killed 24,000 construction jobs in the process.

[bbronston]

Originally Posted by MiamiRob

That doesn't matter since the money was already allocated in the previous budget and is already sitting in the hands of the Federal Rail Administration. Think of it this way, there is a check already in the bank for you for $2.4 billion and you decide to donate it to somebody else.

Think of it this way: you are standing at the bottom of a very deep hole (that you know you have to fill back in) with a shovel full of dirt from a previous scoop. Does it make sense to toss the dirt out of the hole since you've already scooped it up, or would it probably make more sense to replace the dirt?

[ferret111]

Originally Posted by bbronston

Think of it this way: you are standing at the bottom of a very deep hole (that you know you have to fill back in) with a shovel full of dirt from a previous scoop. Does it make sense to toss the dirt out of the hole since you've already scooped it up, or would it probably make more sense to replace the dirt?

Yes. We all know this. Just because Florida turned down the money doesn't mean that the Feds are just going to put it back in the bank. They have to unload this money and they'll give it to whichever state wants it enough. It doesn't matter how noble or fiscally-minded Rick Scott's decision might come off as, since it's not really making a difference in the long run. That money will just go to New York or Maryland or wherever.

Do you ever wonder why states embark on seemingly ridiculous projects just to blow money? It's because if they ever end the fiscal year with a big enough surplus, they will get less money from the Feds over the next couple of years.

[bbronston]

You are absolutely right but the bleeding needs to stop at some point and it won't stop until leaders start owning up to the fiscal responsibilities. I don't pretend to know what Scott's motivation was but I know his actions were the right first step. Now it is up to responsible leaders to continue the movement. There are people who get it in every state. The question is will they exert enough influence on their leaders?
Sometimes being principled and responsible is difficult. Certainly it is for politicians. But the argument that we should continue screwing ourselves because if we don't someone else will is a facetious one. Personally, I think most people have had enough of the irresponsibility. That is not to say that they want to accept the consequences but they understand that the long term (and maybe not-so-long term) consequences will be even worse. Spending money (by any state) that we, the US, don't have and can't afford to borrow is a predictor of very, very bad things and it has finally gotten to the point where even the politicians are starting to say enough is enough.

[UB50]

Originally Posted by MiamiRob

That is basically what Scott has done and there is no way that money can be returned to the Feds to cut back on the defecit.That money instead will go to California. What Scott has done is assinine to the detriment of our state and killed 24,000 construction jobs in the process.

I'm in California and I'd like to say "Thank you!" Scott is the best politician California ever had! Can't wait to see what he turns down next!

[TriMT7]

Originally Posted by UB50

I'm in California and I'd like to say "Thank you!" Scott is the best politician California ever had! Can't wait to see what he turns down next!

Well we KNOW he's not against government spending, seeing as how he grew rich off federal government entitlement programs. As a less than 10 year resident of Florida who lives in the retirement snowbird sprawl capital of Florida, he's just a bit out of touch.

[bbronston]

Originally Posted by UB50

I'm in California and I'd like to say "Thank you!" Scott is the best politician California ever had! Can't wait to see what he turns down next!

Oh yah, that's rich...isn't CA something like $25B in the hole and trying to claim bankruptcy? Heck, you guys are the prototype state for spending yourselves into oblivion. Here's your shovel...keep digging...

[gypsychic]

Feds give Florida 1 more week to come up with rail plan - Breaking Newsletter - BradentonHerald.com