1 Day, 5 More Blistering Stories For Rick Scott

He’s “treated the office as his personal ATM,” made the state  “less prepared” for Hurricanes, GOP fears Florida “wipeout”  

Since you woke up today, Rick Scott has suffered five more blisteringly bad stories about his self-serving politics. They highlight how he’s “essentially treated the office as his personal ATM,” made the state more vulnerable to hurricanes, and that Republicans are openly fretting about a Florida “wipeout.” These reports add to the more than 600 bad stories Scott’s suffered since launching his campaign, see for yourself:

Tampa Bay Times, Ruth: Scott investments are hardly blind.

Daniel Ruth

• Really now, is there any conflict of interest that Gov. Rick “Sticky Fingers” Scott isn’t willing to accept in the ethics-challenged trough that is Tallahassee? Since the state’s official hologram entered the Governor’s Mansion nearly eight years ago, Scott has essentially treated the office as his personal ATM.

• What has emerged from those federal filings is an uncanny pattern showing investments by Scott family members which closely mirror the very same investments being made in health care, rail, a natural gas pipeline, prescription drug manufacturers, mosquito control and oil services companies by the governor’s blind trust the governor is supposed to know nothing about.
• Scott came into office already stained by his history of running Columbia HCA, which paid a record $1.7 billion fine for Medicare fraud. Part of his personal wealth came from the millions Scott received from the for-profit hospital company to just please, please, please go away.
• The governorship offered Scott the opportunity to rehabilitate his image as an honest steward overseeing the state’s affairs. Instead, we’ve learned it is awfully hard to teach new scruples.

GateHouse Media: Rick Scott could profit from helping Chinese firm move to Florida.

John Kennedy

• Scott has been dogged by questions stemming from recently revealed details of his financial holdings, which he was forced to disclose at length as a Senate candidate […] Scott’s Senate disclosure shows the governor and his wife, Ann, have a number of investments — some disclosed for the first time — that could be affected by his administration’s policies.

• Earlier this year, GateHouse Florida newspapers reported on the couple’s holdings in Gilead Sciences, a pharmaceutical company whose drugs are widely used to combat Hepatitis C cases, which have swelled with the opioid crisis. The state has spent millions of taxpayer dollars in Medicaid costs to buy Gilead drugs.
• The Miami Herald also reported that the Scotts have invested in a credit fund run by the parent company of All Aboard Florida, which is building the Brightline railroad from Miami to Orlando.
• In the case of JinkoSolar, the governor played a very public role in bringing the company to Jacksonville. According to the Senate disclosure of his investments, Scott owns as much as $250,000 in NextEra Partners stock, and his wife has holdings up to $500,000.

Tampa Bay Times: Rick Scott is running on his hurricane record. But has he left Florida more vulnerable to the big one?

Steve Contorno

• As Michael grew into the most destructive storm to ever hit the Panhandle, the Florida Building Commission discussed the new way it would write construction regulations. No longer would the state automatically adopt the most stringent home building codes available. Gov. Rick Scott signed these changes into law in 2017.
• After eight years of Scott in office, some say that Florida is less prepared to brace for a future of rising tides and stronger winds that will accompany climate change.

• A dozen people died last year at a South Florida nursing home that lost power from Hurricane Irma. The nursing home owners said Scott didn’t answer a personal cell phone number he distributed before the storm […] Though the generator requirement was touted as the most visible reform after Irma, it was put on hold for 254 nursing homes and 313 assisted living facilities. […] In one of his first officials acts as governor in 2011, Scott dissolved the Department of Community Affairs, then known as a check on developers, but it also oversaw local planning for disasters.
• Then there’s climate change, two words Scott won’t even say, Democrats often point out. How can the state prepare for a crisis that may bring stronger storms and deadlier surge to Florida if this administration won’t publicly acknowledge it?

Associated Press: In crucial US Senate race, Scott balances storm and politics.

Gary Fineout

• Scott had been walking a tight-rope: Ignore the Panhandle counties in a moment of need and risk criticism, but at the same time news about the storm and Scott’s efforts have been fading in areas not dealing with the daily grind of rebuilding and recovery.
• He’s been put on the defense over the algae and red tide that have plagued both coasts, cuts to education funding he pursued in first year as governor and his relative silence over Florida being part of a an ongoing lawsuit to undermine the Affordable Care Act.

Politico: Trump fears Florida wipeout.

Alex Isenstadt

• The White House is planning a political rescue mission in Florida, fearing a wipeout […] people close to the president concede that they are worried.”

 

 

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