Wednesday, April 23, 2014

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Charlie’s latest tag line is that Governor Scott’s leadership of Florida is a nightmare. We all know that a nightmare is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong emotional response from the mind, typically fear or horror but also despair, anxiety and great sadness. Deer Friends, I don’t doubt for an instant that Charlie fervently believes that he is living a nightmare caused by Republican Governor Rick Scott.  Charlie probably tosses and turns all night long, waking up with the sweats.

Why? Let’s look over our shoulder and think about Charlie’s governance of Florida.  While our entire nation was suffering from the Democrat caused recession, Florida actually fell into more dire straits that did the rest of the nation. Under Charlie’s leadership, Florida’s recovery lagged after the end of the recession in June 2009. During the recession the unemployed rate was much higher than the national average, our debt grew as if it were on steroids. It was Charlie’s job to protect Florida and it’s economy, then to grow it. He failed.

Even though he claimed to be a Republican, his goofy response to the recession was to increase spending and raise taxes and fees. He did that by aggressive arm twisting of our Legislature. Thanks to Charlie, Florida’s economy tanked.

Thanks in large part, to Governor Scott’s leadership, now it’s an entirely different picture. The Ft. Lauderdale SunSentinel is published in Broward, a bastion of liberality. It is a liberal slanted newspaper. Broward is home base for the Chair of the National Democrat Party, Representative Debby Wasserman Schultz. It is overwhelming Democrat.   Charlie has set up his H.Q. in Broward because, he is convinced that Broward is vital to his campaign.

The other day, Charlie’s nightmare deepened. What follows is an article, a news article that appeared in the SS the other day. The article was news, not opinion. I imagine Charlie woke up screaming.

The article reads:  “Florida’s economy in 2014 is leading the nation in job growth and the overall recovery, despite once being a straggler, said University of Central Florida economist Sean Snaith in his first quarter economic forecast released Tuesday.

Florida was one of the first states to feel the effect of a national recession with job losses starting in April 2007, several months before other states. When the national recovery began in June 2009, Florida was slow to join in and for several years lagged behind the pace of the U.S. economic recovery.

But now Florida is the front-runner, he says, pointing to the declining unemployment rate, payroll job creation and overall economic activity.

“This has been no small accomplishment,” said Snaith, the director of UCF’s Institute for Economic Competitiveness.

In South Florida, employment is expected to grow 2.3 percent each year and unemployment to moderate to an average of 5.7 percent. The average annual wage is forecast to grow by 2.9 percent to $55,200, he said.

Snaith said he expects the Florida economy to continue to outpace the nation as a whole over the next several years.

Unemployment rates have fallen from their peaks, and they will continue to decline through 2017, he said. The pace of decline in unemployment will slow as labor-force growth picks up. Despite this, the state’s unemployment rate — currently  6.1 percent — should hit 5.4 percent by the end of 2017, Snaith said. Link

Deer Friends, Republican governance, with Governor Scott at the helm is the reason that Florida leads the nation.

So there you have it, Charlie’s nightmare is just beginning.  Sorry Charlie, only the best get to be Sunshine state kissed.

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A POSTER WROTE: What in the world is “Your” Governor (that I voted for) thinking; when he supports “in-state” tuition for illegal immigrants ??

FTR’S RESPONSE:  At first glance it sure looks like a lousy idea, but there’s a lot more to it. What follows is only one of the arguments for enabling undocumented immigrant youths to pay in-state tuition. Many, Republicans and Democrats believe it is a smart investment. First of all, it would only apply to students who graduate from Florida high schools. Taxpayers already have underwritten their public education and helping them to afford college would enable them to get better jobs and contribute more to their adopted home. Former Florida state governors, Bush and Martinez support Scott on this matter.

Personally, I’m still undecided on the matter, but I do know that even if you oppose Scott on this issue, it shouldn’t be a poison pill. I know it won’t be for me.  After all, I still love my wife even though she’s a lousy cook.

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A BIG PINE POSTER WROTE:  “Dear FTR,

It is amazing how easily you dismiss the possibility of a spill involving the Keystone pipeline by saying that it different than a spill such as Deep Water Horizon .Your logic is not quite right. A spill is a spill whether from a pipeline a tanker or a train car or tractor trailer. With logic such as yours I’m sure that there is a difference between Deep Water Horizon and say the Exon Valdez because one was in Alaska and one was in the Gulf of Mexico.

With logic from as you have exhibited it is no wonder that some right wingers are just wing nuts  After all I’m sure that you

can get some statistics that show that day is night and up is down. I’ll end by saying thank God that our President is trying to help those who need it. I know the Affordable Care Act  is flawed but it’s miles better than anything that the republicans have proposed.

Charlie Barker (obviously a pinko, fellow traveler, godless heathen, Kenyan socialist) Big Piner” (The foregoing was cut and pasted into my Word program exactly as it was received.  ~FTR)

FTR’S RESPONSE:   Ohh Kaay!  It never ceases to amaze me that our left wingers seem to be absolutely unable to make a posting without being insulting.

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Part 2) It is truly painful to report what follows.  The New York Times has just revealed that the American middle class, long the most affluent in the world, has lost that distinction.  I beg you to think about the results of Democrat leadership since 2007.  Now the poor in Europe earn much more than in the US. Link
It’s way past time for a change.

THANKS FOR STOPPING BY  ~FTR