Governor & Candidate Rick Scott: Finances, Irma, Pay to Play and More: Another Controversial Week
Posted August 20, 2018 11:00 am
BY Nate Evans
TALLAHASSEE, FL – Governor and U.S. Senate candidate Rick Scott had another controversial week: there was a bombshell about secret financesl; pay to play with official appointments; outstanding questions about Hurricane Irma response; continued attacks on quality affordable healthcare; and blatant lies about water management districts.
This week, new reporting from the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times has revealed that Rick Scott has a financial stake linked to Florida’s high speed rail project he’s backing.
• The
Herald/Times story was followed by reporting by
the Associated Press which detailed how,
"Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who killed a major
publically-financed high-speed rail project
in his first year in office, has invested
with his wife in a fund that has links to a
private company building a new high-speed
rail line."
• The TCPalm and NPR also reported on the
Scott's stake in
the high-speed rail line.
• The next day, a blistering Tampa Bay
Times' editorial, which shined a light on
how Scott has taken actions as governor to
benefit his own bottom line. The editorial
put it bluntly, "Scott is a walking conflict
of interest."
• Last week, Politico released
a report , showing that Ann Scott, Rick
Scott's wife, "gave a six-figure personal
loan to an accountant working at the firm
that manages the blind trust," adding, "The
governor's wife having an active financial
relationship with a staffer at the firm that
manages his blind trust once again raises
the question: How blind is Scott's blind
trust?"
• The same day, the Associated Press reported on
how "a series of news reports in the last
few weeks have raised questions about
Scott's investments, including that his wife
loaned money to an employee of the firm
managing Scott's blind trust."
These are just the latest in a series of reports, all of which raise mounting questions about Rick Scott's secret financial account.
Scott appoints donors to official boards and commissions
A new report from GateHouse Media found that Rick Scott has taken over a million dollars in campaign donations from those who he appointed to state boards and commissions. Here are some key points from the damning report which blanketed front pages around the state on Sunday morning:
• "Scott has
collected close to $1.4 million from 127
appointees, their spouses and children, who
have given either to his Senate campaign or
the New Republican PAC supporting his bid."
• "Some of Scott’s biggest contributors
earlier were handed coveted spots."
• "It shows how the broad reach of the
governor’s power can be used to advance his
political future."
• "Those who give deny that there’s any link
between their appointments and the checks
they cut for Scott’s Senate bid. But the
campaign data shows a remarkable
correlation."
Pay-to-Play
• "It smacks of pay-to-play,” said Ben
Wilcox, research director for Integrity
Florida, a government watchdog
organization."
Sun-Sentinel editorial: Scott still needs to answer for his Hurricane Irma response.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel published a blistering editorial on Rick Scott's response to Hurricane Irma, writing "Scott would like to control the narrative about his performance. But the record is undercutting that attempt... In retrospect, however, Scott wasn’t much of a leader." Here are some other key points from the editorial:
• "I’ll return
your phone calls,” he told supporters at a
rally last month. If that pledge sounds
familiar, it should. We heard it from Scott
before Hurricane Irma. The governor gave out
his cell phone number and promised a quick
response. Yet no help came when the
Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills
called. Irma had knocked out the nursing
home’s power. Without air conditioning,
temperatures were rising. Twelve patients
died."
• "Similarly, he would like to control the
narrative about his performance. But the
record is undercutting that attempt. Let’s
start with calls to that cell phone. Scott’s
office deleted them."
• "Just because they could delete (the
voicemails) doesn’t mean they should delete
them,” said First Amendment Foundation
President Barbara Petersen. “These were
important; people died."
• "Then there is Scott’s action on contracts
for debris removal in Monroe County, where
Irma made landfall." ... "Scott still has
offered no credible explanation for
overriding local officials and approving the
much more expensive contracts." ... "Scott
then enabled price-gouging to occur."
• "Finally, Scott chose as the state’s
emergency management director a former
campaign aide who has just two years of
relevant experience."
Washington Post eviscerates Florida and other states for "running the ‘repeal and replace’ scam all over again."
A column in the Washington Post slammed Rick Scott's administration in Florida for their actions to strip healthcare protections from millions of Floridians, saying "You’d think that after the debacle they suffered last year when Republicans in Congress tried to repeal the ACA, they would have learned their lesson. But they’re storming ahead, and Republicans running for Congress are going to pay the price." Here are some other key points from the column:
• "Polls have
repeatedly shown that when you ask voters
what they care about most in considering
their vote for Congress this fall, the
most-commonly-mentioned issue is health
care."
• "Oral arguments are now scheduled in
federal court for Sept. 10 in a lawsuit
brought by a group of conservative states...
that seeks to strike down the Affordable
Care Act." ... "The lawsuit makes a claim
that could charitably be called audacious."
A Horrible Environmental Record
Rick Scott continues to run away from his horrible environmental record by lying to Floridians. This week, PolitiFact confirmed that Rick Scott did indeed cut $700 million from Florida's water management districts, and that "the governor has the final say to approve or disapprove water management district budgets in whole or in part. So if the governor doesn’t like a specific item in a district’s budget, he or she can veto it."
• Mere hours after PolitiFact's story,
Rick Scott lied to Floridians in a press
gaggle, stating, "water management districts
set their own budgets."
• Scott knew very well he was lying. He personally claimed
responsibility for the water management
district budget cuts in the past, like he
did in a weekly address in 2011, bragging
about taking action on "a reduction of more
than $700 million."
• Last week, Scott also lied to his constituents to avoid discussing how his actions created the current algae crisis. In Stuart, his staff cited "security concerns" to prevent Scott from speaking with reporters or local residents effected by the blooms. Later, his staff admitted there was no security concern, but instead confessed that Scott had to go campaign in Tampa.
Graphic by the Observer; Photo: Gage Skidmore/flickr/cc)
