Bondi

Bill Wohlsifer Will Declare War on Corruption and Cronyism

Rick Scott may be the Governor of Florida, but it can be questioned whether he acts in the best interest of the voters, or those who have given money to him and his cronies. In a completely in-your-face

governorship, where cronyism runs rampant, it is apparent that being friends, financiers, and former co-workers of Rick Scott is the best position to be in if you are a Floridian.

This is apparent by his recent approval of two nuclear power plants being erected in South Florida, even though the residents of Miami-Dade vehemently opposed the proposal. Even though the voters were against the construction of the two plants, the Governor sided with his friends at Florida Power and Light and green lit the project. It would be good to think that Gov. Scott did this with the best interest of Floridians in mind, but the fact that over the last 18 months FPL has donated a half a million dollars and Duke Energy donated $150,000 to his campaign definitely raises some eyebrows about the decision.

Of course, that could have been a coincidence. Unless of course one were to look at the FPL pipeline deal that was approved by the Republican Governor’s appointees. The Florida Public Service Commission, in which all of the members were appointed by Gov. Scott, approved the construction of the Sabal Trail as the state’s third major natural gas pipeline. Florida Power and Light had a natural gas pipeline they were in control of, which makes sense, being that they are a power company. What does make the rest of the eyebrows raise is that FPL chose Spectra Energy to build and operate the $3 billion project. Unbeknownst to the voters, Governor Scott possessed a stake in Spectra Energy at the time of the deal.

Although, he does claim that it was owned as part of a blind trust and he had no knowledge of the contents of the investment. Maybe we can give him the benefit of the doubt. Although, when one is reminded of the now-defunct Crystal River nuclear plant, and the canceled Levy County nuclear project and how Duke Energy customers are still taking on the $3.2 billion burden of these projects, one should probably question why the burden of failed proposals is still being passed on to the citizens of Florida, at the average cost of $9.00 a month.

One should also remember how he gallantly rejected $2.4 billion in federal dollars to build a railway that would eventually connect Miami, Orlando and Tampa, due to the eventual tax burden it would impose on Floridians. This appeared to be a case that Gov. Scott was looking out for his constituents, until he came out in support of the Orlando to Miami rail system known as All Aboard Florida. Not surprisingly, Scott’s Chief of Staff, Adam Hollingsworth, has ties to one of the companies involved in the project, and when asked if Mr. Hollingsworth had input concerning the project, Scott declined to answer.

It is also impossible to forget how in his first year in office Scott passed a bill requiring all state employees, and cash welfare recipients to pass a drug test. The U.S. Supreme Court recently rejected Scott’s petition to review a ruling that his bill is unconstitutional, but has to wonder whether or not Gov. Scott would have even passed such a bill if he hadn’t recently given his controlling portion of stock in one of the state’s largest drug testing companies over to his wife.

This sort of cronyism and corruption occurs all across Florida every day, Rick Scott just being the easiest of targets. The person elected to keep this kind of corruption in check is the Attorney General, Pam Bondi, who has done nothing to rein in Gov. Scott and his cronies. The state of Florida needs someone in office who will stop this sort of collusion between state officials and the guys with whom they swap locker room tales. 

Bill Wohlsifer (LPF) is the candidate for Attorney General who vows to declare war on these highly unethical and potentially illegal actions. He promises to investigate any allegation into corruption in the state government in order to ensure that the “little guys,” or “underdogs” get equal protection under the law. Protect the future of Floridians by making sure that the state government doesn’t become just another hot bed of patronization for the friends of whatever “family” happens to be in charge of the state, vote for Bill Wohlsifer.  

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Matt Wright is a writer and political activist living in south Florida. He has a BS in communications and is currently working for the Bill Wohlsifer for Attorney General campaign. To hear more from Matt you can follow him on Twitter at @mrwright79 or Like him on Facebook.

Bondi targeted for her defense of Florida’s same-sex marriage ban

Bondi targeted for her defense of Florida’s same-sex marriage ban

By John Kennedy of the Palm Beach Post

Wohlsifer is quoted as saying, “She’s playing to what she thinks is her conservative base,” Wohlsifer said. “But even that base is changing. An attorney general is supposed to defend the law, but the law has to be constitutional and the U.S. Supreme Court says this isn’t.”

Pam Bondi’s Views on “Timely Justice Act” Only Valid When Her Schedule Allows

On the morning of September 8th, 2013, an Ohioan mother who had been dealt the worst blow any parent could have lived through, woke up knowing that her daughter’s murder would finally be vindicated. This knowledge would quickly get dashed though. Soon she would get word that the execution of her daughter’s killer would be stayed for the, now, third time. Heartbroken and confused, she asked what the reason behind the next in a series of postponements, which had only gone on to increase her stress and remind her of the terrible pain she had endured and been living with since she heard the news of her daughter’s vicious murder. Certainly this was another legal issue. Another lawyer had put into question the sanity of the murderer, or something along those lines, just as with the other delays. Not this time, though. This time it was for another reason. This time was for a reason that made less sense than any of the other excuses she had heard leading up to the day. She had no idea what to say when she was told that the Attorney General had requested for the Governor to stay the execution so she could attend a fundraising event meant to fund her reelection campaign…in November of 2014.

This woman, who had supported the so-called “Timely Justice Act” intended to accelerate the death penalty process in Florida, had just added another level stress to the victim’s mother. Not only had she selfishly moved a state event to allow her to attend a personal fundraising event, but she did so at the cost of the tax-payers who had already been burdened with paying for the accused’s room, board, and appeals process. Luckily, she was able to raise over $166,000 at the event. All of this only cost the Florida taxpayers an additional $1,000 to the department of corrections (the amount that it costs the tax-payers in public finance contributions would end up being an additional $200,000).

The $1,000 was a drop in the bucket compared to what Floridian’s had already payed to house and feed a serial rapist, and murderer. After all, they only pushed the execution back 21 days, which was a minute amount of time since his conviction had occurred over two decades prior. It was also 21 extra days the victim’s mother had to live with knowledge that her daughter’s killer was still alive…while her daughter wasn’t. Americans are protected from cruel and unusual punishment. To extend one mother’s uncertainty and stress by any amount of time because one person wanted to add more money to her already over a half a million in savings is the cruelest punishment a government can dole out to someone who had lived through the cruelest punishment the universe can dole out. It is no wonder the victim’s mother’s only response to the news was, “It’s ridiculous.”

 

Matt Wright is a writer and political activist living in south Florida. He has a BS in communications and is currently working for the Bill Wohlsifer for Attorney General campaign. To hear more from Matt you can follow him on Twitter at @mrwright79 or Like him on Facebook.

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