Crowley Political Report

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.

 
Did Gov. Rick Scott fib to the Tea Party and the rest of us?

It sure looks that way, according to a report this morning by Lloyd Dunkelberger, the long-time Tallahassee reporter for the Sarasota Herald Tribune, Lakeland Ledger and Gainesville Sun.

Apparently,  Scott's $5.2 billion in budget cuts is really only $3.5 billion.  Why? Because Scott wants to shift the $1.3 billion for university tuition and $453 million for county clerks of courts out of the state budget.

As Dunkelberger points out, the money is still collected but from Floridians but it is taken out of the state budget.

When Senate  budget chairman J.D. Alexander of Lake Wales asked the Scott's budget director, Jerry McDaniel, if the real reduction was only $3.5 billion, McDaniel said - "that's correct."

Who in the world thought it was a good idea for Gov. Scott to tell folks he was cutting the budget by more than $5.2 billion when in fact he is not?

 Art by Patrick Crowley