Politicians being accused of stealing money isn't that much of a surprise. But making money under false pretenses for a fund meant to benefit veterans? That's a whole other world of crooked -- not to mention, what these allegations do to tarnish her record as the first black politician elected to state-wide office in Florida:

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll announced her resignation Wednesday, a day after she was questioned by authorities investigating possible illegal gambling at an Internet cafe company that she once represented.

The head of the company, Allied Veterans of the World, has been accused of a using the cafes as an illegal front for veterans' charity and keeping millions of dollars in profits.

Carroll's resignation letter to Gov. Rick Scott, dated Tuesday, offered no details about her reason for leaving. But Scott's chief of staff, Adam Hollingsworth, said she was interviewed by Florida Department of Law Enforcement officers Tuesday regarding her work with Allied Veterans of the World.

She resigned to ensure her ties to the company would not be a distraction for the administration, Hollingsworth said. Carroll, a Navy veteran, had owned a public relations firm that represented Allied Veterans, which operated Internet cafes and purchased software from International Internet Technologies.

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Voters in Florida aren't exactly crazy about Charlie Crist, but now that they've had Rick Scott, Crist may look a lot better in retrospect:

It was just a matter of time. Charlie Crist is becoming a Democrat.

Crist — Florida’s former Republican governor who relished the tough-on-crime nickname “Chain Gang Charlie” and used to describe himself variously as a “Ronald Reagan Republican” and a “Jeb Bush Republican” — on Friday evening signed papers changing his party from independent to Democrat.

He did so during a Christmas reception at the White House, where President Barack Obama greeted the news with a fist bump for the man who had a higher profile campaigning for Obama’s reelection this year than any Florida Democrat.

The widely expected move positions Crist, 56, for another highly anticipated next step: announcing his candidacy for governor, taking on Republican incumbent Gov. Rick Scott and an untold number of Democrats who would challenge him for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

Florida Dems are very unhappy about this. OFA has done an end run around their process without even consulting them, and pretty much sidelined their efforts to get a progressive Democrat back in the state house. Think about all the races that OFA absolutely ignored. Why support Charlie Crist, who has all the integrity of a used car salesman? (Comparing the two is probably an insult to used care salesmen everywhere.)

One Florida activist told me that Morgan & Morgan (the tobacco settlement law firm where Crist is affiliated and one of the biggest funders of the Florida Democratic Party) have put a "no money unless Crist is your candidate for Governor" string, "and everyone at the top has grabbed hold of the string without thinking twice."

And it's also rather widely known that Charlie Crist has a Jim McGreevy problem. I wonder how the Bible thumpers of Florida will react when the Republicans start pushing the story they kept under wraps -- as long as Charlie was a Republican.

Florida has made it very, very difficult to get unemployment benefits. This is a plus to Gov. Rick Scott, who then points to the low numbers of people collecting benefits as "proof" that his policies have improved the Florida economy -- even though they haven't, because the 800,000 unemployed Floridians now have no money to spend in the state, and thus stimulate the economy:

Scott renamed the program the "Reemployment Assistance Program" and cut the tax that funds the program by $800,000. The funding cuts have led to a logjam in the system as the call volume for the staff whose job it is to help applicants through the process is very high. There are numerous reports of people calling for assistance and never getting any help as calls go unanswered for days. Reporters who attempted to call into the system for help said that automated messages told them that there were hundreds of calls ahead of them in the queue and that the system hung up on them without them ever having talked to a human being. The cuts to the tax that funds the program have led to a massive deficit where the state borrowed $2.7 billion from the federal government to cover shortfalls.

Applicants also complain that the state's website contains misinformation about the program and that it is difficult to navigate. Failure to complete any portion of the application or skills test results in delays in compensation or outright rejection of access to the program. Frequently, those who face delays or rejection are not even told that they have failed to complete the full process and they can wait weeks without knowing why they are not being paid. The new rules also allow the state to deny compensation to workers for their actions that take place outside of work and have no connection to any job.

The effect of the new rules has been dramatic—hundreds of thousands of unemployed workers have lost compensation that they have earned at a time when they most need it. Florida now has the lowest rate of unemployed citizens who receive jobless benefits, with a mere 15% of eligible Floridians receiving compensation. That rate is much lower than the national rate of 27%. Only one-third of applicants ever receives any money, despite the fact that the program costs taxpayers no money and unemployment compensation is part of the benefits package that employees receive from their employers. Nationally, 29% of first-time applicants are denied compensation. The rate in Florida is more than 50%.

After a complaint was filed by Florida Legal Services and the National Employment Law Project, the United States Labor Department is investigating the new rules to determine whether or not they are illegal and require an undue burden on the jobless.

“This complaint is not challenging Florida’s right to operate an unemployment insurance program that already pays some of the lowest benefits in the country. Rather, this complaint is saying that no state, including Florida, is free to erect procedural barriers that keep otherwise eligible workers from accessing unemployment insurance,” said George Wentworth, senior staff attorney at the National Employment Law Project.

From September 2011.

See, this is why you simply can't run government like a business. It's not a business. You can't just walk away from a non-profitable division when it's your job to look out for the public's health and well-being. I know that Republicans and their hard-core enablers like to tell themselves these fairy tales, but it just doesn't work. (Are you listening, Gov. Scott?) Via Raw Story:

The state of Florida has been struggling for months with what the Centers for Disease Control describe as the worst tuberculosis outbreak in the United States in twenty years.

Although a CDC report went out to state health officials in April encouraging them to take concerted action, the warning went largely unnoticed and nothing has been done. The public did not even learn of the outbreak until June, after a man with an active case of TB was spotted in a Jacksonville soup kitchen.

The Palm Beach Post has managed to obtain records on the outbreak and the CDC report, though only after weeks of repeated requests. These documents should have been freely available under Florida’s Sunshine Law.

According to the Post, the coverup began as early as last February, “when Duval County Health Department officials felt so overwhelmed by the sudden spike in tuberculosis that they asked the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to become involved. Believing the outbreak affected only their underclass, the health officials made a conscious decision not to not tell the public, repeating a decision they had made in 2008, when the same strain had appeared in an assisted living home for people with schizophrenia.”

That decision now appears to have gone terribly awry, partly because the disease appears 0 but also because just nine days before the CDC warning was issued, Florida Governor Rick Scott had signed a bill downsizing the state’s Department of Health and closing the A.G. Holley State Hospital that had treated the most difficult tuberculosis cases for over 60 years.

With health officials preoccupied by the challenge of restructuring, the CDC report went unseen, and an order even went out for the hospital to be closed immediately, six months ahead of schedule.

According to the Post, by April the outbreak had been linked to thirteen deaths, with 99 individuals infected, including six children. Most of those affected were poor black men, ten of whom simply wasted away from the disease before getting treatment or were not treated in time to stop its progression.

Now it is estimated that as many as 3000 people may have been exposed to the strain over the past two years, mainly in Jacksonville’s homeless shelters, jails, and a mental health clinic. Only 253 of those have been found, of whom one-third have tested positive for TB exposure.

This is good news for Florida, since Gov. Alien Eyes would probably set it up to make his buddies rich, not to help state residents. So having the feds set it up is a boon for poor Floridians:

TALLAHASSEE -- Florida Gov. Rick Scott is saying Florida will do nothing to comply with President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

Scott recently said he would follow the law if it were upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. But he went on national television on Friday night and said Florida will not take any steps to help carry out the overhaul.

Sunday we spoke to Democratic U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, and Congressman John Mica, R-Winter Park.

Senator Nelson and Congressman Mica expressed opposing views on Governor Rick Scott not complying with the Affordable Care Act.

"Florida does have a lot of folks that are uninsured," said Congressman John Mica. "I think what we need to do is repeal Obamacare and I think that will probably be on the first orders of business of the next Congress and hopefully a new President."

Mica went on to say, "We can put in place some measures that do provide access to affordable care and also address some of the needs that we have."

Nelson said, regardless of Governor Rick Scott's input, the Affordable Care Act is about lowering health care costs and the law will be implemented with or without Scott's help.

"The healthcare exchanges are going into effect under the law of this land in 2014. It clearly says if a state won't participate, then the federal goverment will come in and set up the health exchange and that's so you bring the rates down," explained Nelson.

Nelson said that most Americans would rather improve the law than get rid of it.

"Should I repeal it, or should I fix it? The Supreme County said it's constitutional, now let's go on about the process of making it work," Nelson concluded.

One of my family members lives in Florida, and he says that even though he works with a lot of conservatives, he doesn't think there's anyone left who will vote for Rick Scott. In fact, he says, people assume that even if something sounds like a good policy, if Rick Scott proposes something, it's probably a bad idea:

During an appearance on Fox News Monday afternoon, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) announced that the state will sue the Department of Homeland Security to obtain access to a database that it believes will provide more accurate information on the citizenship status of Florida voters.

“The Florida’s Secretary of State office wil be filing a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security to give us that database,” Scott said. “We want to have fair, honest elections in our state and so we have been put in a position that we have to sue the federal government to get this information.” The move comes after Scott disregarded a request from the Department of Justice on Wednesday to abandon efforts to purge eligible voters.
Neil Cavuto, who conducted the interview, pressed Scott on why many of those who objected to the purge were Republican election supervisors. Cavuto also noted that other prominent Florida Republicans, notably Sen. Marco Rubio, were notably silent on the purge.

DHS has expressed skepticism at allowing Scott to use its database — called SAVE or “Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements” — in order to suppress the vote, telling the Orlando Sentinel last week that the data is incomplete and does not provide comprehensive information on all eligible voters:

On Thursday, a senior DHS official, who would speak only on background, said the agency was waiting for Florida and the U.S. Justice Department to settle their dispute on whether Florida’s purge violates federal voter-protection laws before allowing the state access the SAVE database. Only then would DHS consider access legally authorized, the official said.

“Obviously, removing folks from the voter rolls is something we take seriously,” said the official.
The DHS representative also cautioned that even if Florida could use SAVE, it would not paint a complete picture of who is a U.S. citizen — as the list deals largely with green-card holders and naturalized citizens, and is not a comprehensive list of all Americans who have the right to vote.

Wetlands are a vital part of the ecosystem, and there are all sorts of shenanigans that go on with the state mitigation programs - Florida being infamous for all kinds of backchannel practices:

Florida's top state wetlands expert has been suspended after she refused to issue a permit on a controversial project — one that she said her boss was willing to bend the rules to approve.

The project: turning a North Florida pine plantation into a business that attempts to make up for wetlands that are wiped out by new roads and development. At stake: millions of dollars in wetland "credits" that can be sold to government and developers.

The problem, according to a May 9 memo from Department of Environmental Protection wetlands expert Connie Bersok, is that the owners want the DEP to give them lots of wetland credits for land that isn't wet.

After being told by Deputy Secretary Jeff Littlejohn to ignore the rules she had followed on other permits, Bersok wrote, "I hereby state my objection to the intended agency action and refusal to recommend this permit for issuance."

Two days later, Bersok was suspended pending an investigation, her personnel file shows. She declined to comment for this article without DEP permission. DEP officials would not allow a reporter to speak with her. A spokeswoman would not discuss her case.

"It smells really bad to me," said Aliki Moncrief, a former DEP attorney who is now executive director of Environment Florida, an activist group.

The application that led to Bersok's suspension came from the Highlands Ranch Mitigation Bank, which has repeatedly tussled with permitting officials.

"They're scrappy, these guys," said Glenn Lowe, who lost his job with the St. Johns River Water Management District after he refused to give Highlands Ranch what its owners wanted. Former water district executive director Kirby Green said Lowe and other employees lost their jobs because Gov. Rick Scott's pro-business administration didn't like the way they treated Highlands Ranch.

This is the problem with Republicans "running government like a business." You assume budget cuts are little more than numbers on a spreadsheet and don't even bother to find out why the money was requested in the first place. As a politician, it's your job to know that there's a constituency for each and every budget item and to be smart enough not to assume anything. But then again, this is Rick Scott we're talking about:

Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) shocked the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence this week when he vetoed $1.5 million in funding for 30 rape crisis centers in the middle of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. State lawmakers allotted the money to offset an increase in need and a lack of sufficient funding for victim services.

A spokesperson for Scott said he vetoed that particular line item in the state budget because the state already funds sexual violence programs, and nobody was able to make it clear to him why rape crisis centers needed the new funding.

"Governor Scott approved funding for many projects that have statewide impact and do not duplicate programs already funded by the state," Lane Wright, Scott's press secretary, told HuffPost. "This new funding of $1.5 million would have been duplicative, since, as a state, we already fund sexual violence programs. There was no information suggesting any needs in this area weren’t already being met. The state already provides about $6.5 million for rape prevention and sexual assault services. That is in addition to the funds available for domestic violence programs -- $29 million to be specific. Many victims of sexual violence seek refuge at domestic violence shelters."

Jennifer Dritt, the executive director of the Florida Council, said she was "stunned" and "confused" by Scott's move and that she questions his reasoning for slashing the funds.

"We say 'here's the need, here's the need, here's the need,' and frankly, nobody's paying any attention," she told HuffPost. "We gave them information about the number of new survivors we have and we showed them that these rape crisis centers have waiting lists. Survivors are having to wait weeks, sometimes six weeks, in some programs three months to be seen. We included quotes from the programs about the waiting lists and what services they weren't able to offer because of a lack of money. There is clearly an unmet need."

As for the $6.5 million that Scott said the government provides for rape prevention and sexual assault services, a large percentage of that money is distributed to education programs, not actual crisis centers serving the victims.

"He's probably including rape prevention and education money," she said. "You think they would have asked us about that, and we could explain to them very clearly what money is available for our programs. It looks like $1.5 million is a lot of money to ask for, but frankly, when you spread it across six or seven counties, it's not."

Continuing that fine Republican tradition of saying one thing and doing another, Florida Gov. Rick Scott showed his compassion for his state's homeless by slashing the programs that help them. Think Progress has more:

In a state that is near the top of the national chart in food insecurity, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) took time this holiday to pass out Thanksgiving dinner to about 1,000 families at a shelter in East Naples.

The shelter’s program fed about 7,000 families last week, with roughly 200 volunteers packing and distributing meals.“I care completely about all these programs,” said Scott while handing out food.

However, he possesses a singular way of showing it, as his sweeping budget cuts this year “slashed funding to some veteran and farm surplus programs that helped the homeless.” To justify those cuts, Scott simply explained, “all the programs are very important, but nobody wants their taxes to go up”:

“I care completely about all these programs,” said Scott, whose budget cuts earlier this year slashed funding to some veteran and farm surplus programs that helped the homeless.“All the programs are very important, but nobody wants their taxes to go up,” Scott explained, noting that businesses also can help spur the economy. “They’ve got to grow. We’ve got to make this a place people can do well.”

One Jacksonville homeless shelter official noted that Scott “zeroed out all homeless funding” — $7 million worth — in his budget proposal. That funding supported programs dedicated to homelessness prevention, housing initiatives, and programs that “re-house” people once they’re on the street.

“Not only that, he took out the line items so it can never be funded again,” said the official.

Did you know that Florida has the second-highest population of homeless veterans? Seventeen thousand of them, and Scott cut their services, too. I was in Florida last month, and I didn't meet one single person who wants to reelect him, so at least it's likely that he's a one-termer.

Sometimes I have to wonder what Florida Gov. Rick Scott is smoking. Maybe it's time we started drug-testing politicians!

TALLAHASSEE -- Since the state began testing welfare applicants for drugs in July, about 2 percent have tested positive, preliminary data shows.

Ninety-six percent proved to be drug free -- leaving the state on the hook to reimburse the cost of their tests.

The initiative may save the state a few dollars anyway, bearing out one of Gov. Rick Scott's arguments for implementing it. But the low test fail-rate undercuts another of his arguments: that people on welfare are more likely to use drugs.

At Scott's urging, the Legislature implemented the new requirement earlier this year that applicants for temporary cash assistance pass a drug test before collecting any benefits.

The law, which took effect July 1, requires applicants to pay for their own drug tests. Those who test drug-free are reimbursed by the state, and those who fail cannot receive benefits for a year.

[...] Cost of the tests averages about $30. Assuming that 1,000 to 1,500 applicants take the test every month, the state will owe about $28,800-$43,200 monthly in reimbursements to those who test drug-free.

That compares with roughly $32,200-$48,200 the state may save on one month's worth of rejected applicants.

The savings assume that 20 to 30 people -- 2 percent of 1,000 to 1,500 tested -- fail the drug test every month. On average, a welfare recipient costs the state $134 in monthly benefits, which the rejected applicants won't get, saving the state $2,680-$3,350 per month.

But since one failed test disqualifies an applicant for a full year's worth of benefits, the state could save $32,200-$48,200 annually on the applicants rejected in a single month.

Net savings to the state -- $3,400 to $8,200 annually on one month's worth of rejected applicants. Over 12 months, the money saved on all rejected applicants would add up to $40,800-$98,400 for the cash assistance program that state analysts have predicted will cost $178 million this fiscal year.

Actual savings will vary, however, since not all of the applicants denied benefits might have actually collected them for the full year. Under certain circumstances, applicants who failed their drug test can reapply for benefits after six months.

[...] More than once, Scott has said publicly that people on welfare use drugs at a higher rate than the general population. The 2 percent test fail rate seen by DCF, however, does not bear that out.