Since assuming office in January, Gov. Rick Scott has taken every step possible to pander to corporate interests at the expense of Florida's working class.
Last week, Rick Scott had SB 408 on his table, a bill benefiting property insurers, which also happened to carry a cost to consumers. State Sen. Mike Fasano, a fellow Republican, urged Scott to veto the legislation because it would "virtually guarantee" a 15 percent premium hike to homeowners.
Following standard, Scott ignored every sense of moral obligation to his constituency and signed the bill in.
This bill is just a small step in Scott's marathon to create an avaricious plutocracy in Florida. Since January, Scott proposed $1.75 billion in education cuts and $1.5 billion in corporate tax cuts over two years. He proposed pension cuts for firefighters, teachers and police officers while nearly doubling his own Executive Office's budget. He rejected $2.4 billion of federal stimulus for a high-speed rail despite widespread bipartisan support, and he signed an election bill designed to benefit Republicans by suppressing low-income Floridian voting.
The rail system? Our governor didn't "see any way anyone [was] going to get a return." The school districts? They're "going to have to figure out how to do better with less."
Rick Scott claims to be against big government, but he signed a bill requiring that pregnant women view an ultrasound before they have an abortion. He has also ordered random drug tests for state employees.
So, does Rick Scott favor small government or not? Yes and no, actually.
Our governor is in favor of small government should it benefit wealthy corporate powers. He is in favor of big government should it push his own personal agenda. Somehow, he believes these two positions can rationally coexist.
I am disgusted by this discord in ideology and how so many Americans thoughtlessly accept it. I am more disgusted that politicians in Tallahassee are deliberating on invasive abortion bills when more than 10 percent of Florida's workers are unemployed.
Rick Scott is using his office to create a desperate workforce with no hope, no protection from their own government and no choice but to accept low wages. He is a man that has been riddled with scandals during his career. He resigned as CEO of Columbia/HCA amid charges of Medicare fraud to which the company pleaded guilty. Even in office, he raised suspicions that his mandatory drug testing order was intended to benefit the company that he co-founded and that his wife currently has stock in, Solantic.
His next plan to aid his wealthy peers is to privatize prisons. Of course, he is unconcerned with the incentives a private prison sector would have to increase the number of prisoners in Florida. Protests will fall on deaf ears because according to our governor, "It's really no different than in business ... everyone doesn't agree with everything you do."
Our CEO-turned-governor is a businessman, and he is using his expertise to serve big business. And now, we all have suffer as our elected plutocrats steal money from the pockets of students, teachers, firefighters and the rest of Florida's working class and put it into the hands of their corporate cohorts.
Abdul Zalikha is an microbiology junior at UF. His column appears on Thursdays.
