So Ricky's prison privatization plan
fell short of passage. Not surprisingly, the people just weren't in support of him lining his pockets with crony capitalism money.
A proposed bill to privatize 27 Florida prisons met defeat on the state Senate floor today in a 19-21 vote. The controversial bill has drawn criticism and heated discussion from both Republicans and Democrats in the state Senate. Today membes of the Tea Party, corrections workers, labor groups, the NAACP, as well as members of civil rights groups and faith leaders turned out in Tallahassee to protest the bill. They say privatization would elimiante thousands of state jobs and have a negative impact on public safety. Supporters of the bill maintain privatization would save the state at least $17 million dollars during a time the state is facing a budget shortfall.
So what's King Rick going to do now?
Privatize the prisons, duh!Gov. Rick Scott said he will explore opportunities to privatize state prisons on his own following the Senate's defeat of a bill that would have required some prisons be bid out to private companies.
Speaking to reporters Thursday morning after a public event on insurance fraud, Scott acknowledged that initially he didn't consider privatizing prisons a priority, but was disappointed the Senate voted down a bill that would have done that, and said he'll explore what many backers of the Senate plan said was a possibility – that the governor could order privatization unilaterally.
I hope Obama has lots and lots of ads, print and television, when the real campaign begins (if the pubs can find a candidate to run against him) with pictures of Scott next to the nominee.
