Chan Lowe: Gov. Scott's budget
The release of the state budget is normally pretty dry stuff… little more than bedtime reading for Tallahassee reporters and policy wonks.
Since Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature are all cost-cutting Republicans anyway, we would expect the newly minted governor’s proposed spending plan to glide through the corridors of the state capitol easier than a lobbyist in a new pair of Guccis, right?
Wrong. We must remember that for Scott, this gig is more or less a very expensive hobby, and he may not care whether he gets reelected in four years, having grown weary by that time.
The rest of our public servants do care, and they know that Scott’s draconian cuts aren’t going to go over well with the voting public, who will surely blame them when education and children’s services, for example, begin to shrivel on the vine.
In this environment, tax cuts for big businesses, which Scott also wants, are a non-starter. All that Republican dogma about stimulating growth through lower taxes may look rosy in the long view, but we need to balance the budget right now, not five or ten years from now.
Scott is reminiscent of former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who came into office talking tough, but who was eventually humbled by a recalcitrant legislature and by the sheer magnitude of his state’s problems (Calling them “girly men” didn’t help any). He slunk out with head bowed, leaving a gargantuan mess behind for a grayer and wiser Governor Moonbeam, of all people, to clean up.
Scott, the quintessential outsider, is fond of saying he doesn’t owe anybody anything. Standard-issue politicians like our legislators, who may harbor dreams of higher office someday, read this freewheeling attitude as reckless and potentially dangerous to their careers.
This bronc, they’re probably saying quietly among themselves, has gotta be busted.
CHAN LOWE has been the Sun Sentinel’s first and only editorial cartoonist for the past twenty-six years. Before that, he worked as cartoonist and writer for the Oklahoma City Times and the Shawnee (OK) News-Star.
Comments
Am I (are we) to assume that the guy in the background with the rifle is supposed to represent the Tea Partiers who voted for Scott? If so, highly appropriate. I was wondering how long it would be before the Tea Partiers found out they'd been played for suckers...and what their reaction would be when they did.
Posted by: LRP | February 8, 2011 2:44 PM
Wondered why the Tea Party was so quiet on this blog,until I read that there was a Tea Party Rally in Eustis,Fl. .....
When,(if ever) will the Tea Party realize they're dupes & shills,allowing more corporate powers to take over.? The lobbyists.? Wall Street.? The Bankster's.?
When,(if ever) will they come to the conclusion that they're being treated like mushrooms.? Kept in the dark, and fed a pile of manure.? That it's all a illusion.?
Posted by: Lorraine Wagner | February 8, 2011 5:49 PM
Yes - nationally, the tea party has been punked big time. However, lot's of them still don't know it. I'm waiting for the 'I told you so' moment.
The US is loaded with low information voters so it's no surprise this juicy budget hardly rippled some corners of the state. Like you, I am hoping the state legislature will come to their senses and make the next 4 years a not very fun time for an actual pin-head.
Posted by: MaryTinsa | February 9, 2011 12:03 PM
LRP - Should you assume the guy in the background is supposed to represent the tea party? I think I am to assume you are need get your glasses adjusted. The guy in the background has a broom in his hand, not a rifle!! He is the janitor.
Posted by: flagman23 | May 27, 2011 1:18 PM