Rick Scott, the Lord Voldemort of Florida
02/15/2011
You have to give Florida's new governor credit - no one has scared the hell out of state workers more than Rick Scott.
With his promises to cut thousands of government jobs - and eliminate some agencies - Scott has become the dark lord to those who fear the spell of unemployment.
And Scott is not hiding.
He met with workers at the Department of Community Affairs - an agency that Scott wants to largely eliminate, costing hundreds of jobs.
Clearly, they were not thrilled to see him. Reports from the Buzz and AP suggest that Scott pulled no punches. He told the workers that his first priority is creating private sector jobs not protecting government jobs.
The fact is that Scott has little choice but to take the drastic steps he promised he would take during the campaign. After years of Republican and Democratic state leaders enjoying the benefits of overflowing state coffers, the state is now facing a more than $3.6 billion budget gap.
Any new governor was going to be forced to clean up the mess that previous governors and legislators left because of their inability to say "no" to ever increasing spending.
Plus, Scott has to deal with his friends in the Tea Party who are looking over his shoulder. They would cut even more from the state budget.
Scott's deal is a simple one: getting rid of state jobs and burdensome regulations will result in a surge of new business and new jobs - even for those unemployed state workers.
Some believe Scott is right. Others think he is wrong.
The unemployed will be among the first to find out.
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Public Sector unemployment = 10-20% depending on source.
Public Sector unemployment = 0%
Time to cut back. We can't afford you. Not that we ever could.
Posted by: HoundOfDoom | 02/16/2011 at 04:59 PM