House Republicans Vote to Increase Class Sizes

Martin Kiar:

“House Republicans and their public relations’ operatives proved with great fanfare today that they don’t fully grasp their own members’ legislation.

“Representative Anitere Flores should be allowed to have a meeting with Representative Will Weatherford, the sponsor of House Joint Resolution 919, so that she can better understand his proposal.

“What Representative Weatherford should explain to Representative Flores is that under HJR 919, Republicans voted in lock-step today to increase class sizes from 18 to 21 for kindergarten through third grade, from 22 to 27 for fourth through eighth grade, and from 25 to 30 for high school.

“House Democrats proposed major changes to the misguided Republican plan that would have required the state to complete the last---and most crucial---step toward phasing in the Class Size Amendment in 2010.

“Democrats sought to give school districts greater flexibility while also continuing the effort to ease crowding in public school classrooms and provide needed funding to our children’s education.

“In contrast, the Republican plan could hinder the goals of the voter-approved Class Size Amendment. The Republican plan would increase class sizes, potentially kill future funding for improving the teaching environment, and stall student learning gains.”

Hothead Hasner Gets Heated; Plays Partisan Politics With Florida's Paychecks

FDP:

epublican House Leader Adam Hasner, once again showing that he puts partisan politics above the people of Florida, is ready to reject $1.1 billion in federal recovery aid to help Floridians that have fallen on hard times during this economic slump.

As the Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau reported today, "Florida is on the verge of forfeiting more than $1 billion in federal stimulus funds that could help 250,000 Floridians whose unemployment benefits are running out."

"Adam Hasner doesn't get it. With the Florida Agency for Workforce Investment reporting that our state's unemployment is at 8.6 percent, Florida's families are struggling to pay the bills. Rather than working to ease the pain of Floridians, who have lost their jobs in this economic crisis, Hasner is pushing his extremist agenda, gambling with Florida's economy and hurting families across the Sunshine State. Instead of playing partisan politics with Floridians' paychecks, hotheaded Hasner and his House Republicans need to immediately stop their posturing and join the bi-partisan efforts to help over 250,000 Floridians whose unemployment benefits are running out," said Eric Jotkoff, Florida Democratic Party spokesman.

From the Blogs

The latest stories from the Florida blogs...

Fried Gator - Atwater and Cretul: Dancing like They just Don't Care

madfloridian - As Florida economy crumbles the religious right files ultrasound bill again

madfloridian - Florida Republicans might reject stimulus cash for jobless

madfloridian - Florida House committee oks bill to further deregulate telecoms, allow steeper rates.

FLA Politics (FDP) - Hothead Hasner Gets Heated; Plays Partisan Politics With Florida's Paychecks

Call on Committee Chairs to Agenda the Prevention First Act in Florida!

On March 18th, the House Health Regulation Committee heard HB 983, the mandatory ultrasound bill by Rep. Flores (R-114) and Rep. Burgin (R-56). HB 983 passed out of the Committee by a 5-2 vote. Representative Jimmy Patronis (R-6), chair of the Health Care Regulation Policy Committee, gave a hearing to HB 983, yet has not given a hearing to the Prevention First Act (HB 129)!

The Prevention First Act increases access to birth control and helps to reduce unintended pregnancies by guaranteeing access to emergency contraception for rape survivors, protecting the right to birth control for all women, and protecting the right to have lawful and valid prescriptions filled at the pharmacy.

TAKE ACTION:

Contact Chair of the House Health Regulation Committee, Representative Jimmy Patronis (R-6) at (850) 488-9696.

Simply say:

• I am disappointed that Rep. Patronis voted for HB 983, a bill that ties the hands of doctors and interferes with the doctor-patient relationship.
• I urge Rep. Patronis to support commonsense policies that will prevent unintended pregnancy and reduce the need for abortion and agenda HB 129 the Prevention First Act as soon as possible.
• During this economic crisis, the Florida legislature should be spending it’s time on the budget, not on divisive abortion bills.

Then, Call or email Chair Don Gaetz (R-4) at (850) 487-5009

When Calling Chair Gaetz, simply say: Please put prevention first and give SB 310, the Prevention First Act, a fair hearing.

Additional comments to include when calling Senator Gaetz:

• The Prevention First Act is a commonsense measure which reduces unintended pregnancy by increasing access to birth control.
• Expanding access to birth control is the best way to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and the need for abortion.
• Preventing unintended pregnancy and reducing the need for abortion is something we can all agree on.

Please contact us at info@floridachoice.org to tell us the results of your call. Thank you.

Anti-Union Lies From Florida Republicans

Instead of dealing with actual problems, here's how our legislators are wasting their times:

FLORIDA LEGISLATURE POP QUIZ

How does HJR1013 (THE ANTI-WORKER PLAN) MISLEAD THE PUBLIC?

ANSWER: The right to cast a secret ballot in federal, state and local elections is already guaranteed and protected in the Florida Constitution.

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA, ARTICLE VI, SECTION 1. Regulation of elections. All elections by the people shall be by direct and secret vote.

· Under Article VI, Section 1, the right to cast a secret ballot in federal, state and local elections is already guaranteed and protected.

· House Republican Leader Adam Hasner’s House Joint Resolution 1013 is not about the protection of secret ballots at the voting booth.

· Floridians cherish their right to cast their vote in secret. That’s why the Constitution preserves and protects Floridians privacy to cast their vote by a secret ballot.

· HJR 1013 distracts from the Legislature’s biggest task: improving the state’s economy, protecting school children and teachers from funding cares, and ensuring better health care for more Floridians.

Hasner Was Right

Okay, I admit it, Adam Hasner was correct about Muslim Day at the capitol. When I thought about it before, I didn't really do my reading up on the people involved and their well-documented problems. I should've done my homework and I'm sorry that I didn't. I apologize.

How could I have guessed that when the Muslims showed up, they'd resort to just the type of tactics that Hasner suggested they might?

Like when everyone showed up, all the women were in burqas? And all the men wore Arab headgear, even the Iranians?

Or when the Muslim speakers began talking and they denounced America as the big Satan and called for the destruction of Israel? Hasner said they'd come to complain about his meaningless resolution of support for Israel, and he wasn't wrong? Like when Ahmed Bedier called for a Jihad against all Florida legislators who support Isreal?

How could I have imagined that the Muslim activists would've broken into impromptu madrassah for individual legislators, attempting to indoctrinate them into extremist Islam? Who knew that Ray Sansom would fall for it?

Or when the Muslims forced Larry Cretul to propose a bill to make Shariah the official law of the land in Florida? Who would've thought that Bedier and friends would've been so convincing that seven committees would've fast-tracked the bill and passed it on the same day, that the bill would've gone to the floor of both houses and passed unanimously, and that it would become the law?

And how about the budget that Bedier convinced Gov. Crist and the legislature to pass? I'm surprised that they legislators signed on to sending the entire Florida budget for the next year to Hamas. Who would've saw that one coming?

But that wasn't enough for Bedier and friends, was it? When they set up bombs at the old capitol, the new capitol, the Vietnam memorial, the Museum of Natural History, the Black History Archives, the County Courthouse, Andrew's and Paradigm, I was shocked. The fact that Bedier was able to convince TPD, the sheriff's department and the capitol police to ignore the whole thing and let it happen was the day's big surprise.

Oh, wait, none of that happened, did it? That means Hasner is still just a hatemonger and a moron.

Legislative Round-up

Pushing Rope: Compassionate Conservatism: Making the Unemployed Pay to Be Drug Tested

Pushing Rope: The Impact Fees Tax Shift

Blast Off!: The obligatory blog post about bestiality

Blast Off!: Haridopolos panders again

Florida Citizens for Science: Letter in the Ledger

Progress Florida (Ray Seaman): Stop Trying To Undermine The People's Government

Evers Hates Women

State Rep. Greg Evers respects professional women so much he calls them "sugar" during public events. Shameful.

From the Blogs

The latest stories from the Florida blogs...

Fried Gator: Add another name to the list of corrupt Republicans in Tallahassee: Charlie Dean

Sunshine Statements: Hasner's Actions Smack Of Bigotry

Fried Gator: Miami Herald, Buzz, Hasner, and Greer prefer corrupt Sansom to low key Sands

Blast Off!: If they can't have Sansom, they don't want anyone

Progress Florida (Ray Seaman): Ending Pay-to-Play Politics In Counties

Fun With Conservatives

Something I've not done much of in recent years is engage in debate with conservatives. My plan is to start doing that a lot more, particularly when someone goes after me directly. Like our first example, a guy whose name I'll let you figure out for yourself (don't want to promote him), who took umbrage at my recent post on Adam Hasner. A new wrinkle in this argument is that this guy actually is debating me via Twitter @ replies, which is a new one for me.

The gist of the post was that, well, State Rep. Adam Hasner is a hate-monger. My evidence? Three things:

1. He opposes Muslims lobbying the legislature.
2. He supports batshit-crazy anti-Muslim films obsession and The Third Jihad.
3. He was quoted as saying that he didn't care if innocent people were hurt as part of the backlash those films seeks to promote.

None of these are things that Hasner refutes or has every said he disagrees with. And, clearly, if you agree with these things, then you are a hate-monger. That point is not debateable.

My conservative critic doesn't care about things like facts or anything like that. He goes, instead, with the same old conservative arguments.

Youre so quick to paint a good man a hatemonger without fully understanding the man he criticizes. Read up on Mr Bedier.

I did paint Hasner as a hatemonger and that stands fully independently of whether or not Bedier is a terrorist or not. We have no evidence that Bedier is a terrorist. If we did, he'd have been prosecuted and convicted long ago. That hasn't happened. Why? That evidence doesn't exist. Besides, like my original post says, Hasner doesn't just oppose Bedier's rights to free speech and petition, he actively promotes hate-films like Obsession. Even if that weren't true, which is is, he has a 100% rating from the Christian Coalition. By definition, anyone with a 100% from the religious right is a hatemonger. There are no exceptions to this and no possible exceptions to this. The Christian Coalition is a hate group, pure and simple. Beyond that, Hasner hates workers (he's a union buster), he hates free and fair elections (he opposes publicly-financed elections) and he hates pretty much all Floridians (he's an anti-tax crusader). It's clear the amount of his hate knows no bounds, he just has a special hatred for Muslims.

I assume you have seen both award winning documentaries about radical islam, not all muslims. Radical Islam is a threat

Everyone agrees that radical Islam is a threat, just like radical Christianity is. Just like any radicals who promote violence are. And these "documentaries" (read: propaganda films) haven't won awards from any legitimate sources. Anyone can make up a series of awards and give them to anyone they wish. Heck, I've been voted into to halls of fame. I originally created both of them (although I had no hand in voting myself into them), so I don't tout them as proof of my quality as a person. One does not need to see propaganda and hate speech personally to know that it is such, particularly when there are numerous other reliable sources that tell the truth about these films. I have never seen one bit of propaganda from the Ku Klux Klan, yet I know they are wrong. I've only read one statement that Osama Bin Laden has put out, something from 1996, yet I know that everything he has sent out since then is hate-filled propaganda. Same thing with Obsession and anything from the same people. And anyone who defends those films is, by definition, a hate-monger.

Hasner is speaking out against Bedier's ties to radical Islam. Also, where did the "I don't care" quote came from?

He's actually speaking out against Bedier's rights to free speech and to petition the government for the redress of greivances, things protected in the First Amendment. And the "proof" of Bedier's ties to radical Islam is that he was the leader of a local branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. There's no evidence that this chapter had any ties to radical Islam and there's actually no evidence that the national CAIR organization has ties to radical Islam, either, beyond hearsay from right-wing critics.

Are you kidding me? You got the quote from a blog post by John Brown on Topix? You are a joke

No. Don't know who John Brown is, haven't visited Topix. When in doubt, though, fall back on the traditional conservative mode of attack -- ad hominem insults.

There is no evidence of this incident even occurring. Quit sipping the Kool-Aid my friend. It will lead you no where.

Of course there is evidence. There is an eye-witness account that no one denies happened. When it doubt, though, fall back on direct insults and aspersions about my intelligence.

He has neither denied it nor confirmed it, but using hearsay to smear someone is despicable and should not be the "key" to a post.

This isn't hearsay, this is direct witness testimony.

Here's a question. As a professor, would you allow a student to hinge their paper on an unverifiable source from a blog?

As a historian, I'd point out the obvious fact that almost all historical evidence is from unverifiable sources. Secondly, I'd point out that a blog is not a paper. Thirdly, I'd point out that blogs cite other blogs all the time. Fourthly, I'd mention that conservative blogs (and legislators) almost always rely upon such unverifiable sources (like say, when making a film like Obsession).

I'm complaining about a person who takes someone's opinion, and calls it fact. He doesn't need to deny such a ridiculous claim.

I didn't take someone's opinion and report it as a fact. I reported the fact that an eyewitness claimed something happened. And it is clear that conservatives frequently say nonsense like this at public events (see: Tramm Hudson, George Allen, etc.) and if Hasner doesn't want people to think he's a hate-monger, then he should respond to the claim. Especially when he promotes a movie that agrees with the claim that he's accused of making. And if he didn't make the claim, he should certainly repudiate it and tell us how he really feels about the innocent people who can and will be harmed by the promotion of such a horrible series of propaganda films.

As a professor, your posts are held by some to a certain academic standard. I guess they set the bar pretty low at TCC.

Complete and utter nonsense. There is no professional or ethical standard that applies here. Besides, any teacher I've ever had would allow someone to include eyewitness testimony as a bit of valid evidence in a paper (or a blog post). They would have a problem if an entire case was made on one bit of evidence, but that's not what I did. I said it was part of a pattern and provided other examples to support the claim. But, when in doubt, fall back on the old conservative argument of insulting not only me, but an entire educational institution.

The point of the whole thing is, of course, that this guy likes Hasner because both he and Hasner are conservatives. And he doesn't want to believe that conservatism promotes extreme viewpoints. But it does. And, by definition, conservatives are extremists. Hating people because of their religion or party or race is part and parcel of the conservative tradition in the United States and Hasner (and my commenter) proudly defend that tradition.

Adam Hasner Is A Hate-Monger

Rep. Adam Hasner apparently opposes freedom of speech for Muslims. A group of Florida Muslims wants to go to the capitol during the session and lobby on behalf of education, healthcare and the economy. He automatically assumes they are terrorists and that they hate Jews.

His evidence? The leader of the group, Ahmed Bedier, once worked in a local office for the Council of American-Islamic Relations. The right wing has an extreme grudge against CAIR, which they claim is a front organization for Hamas because, well, they're Muslims.

His problem with them? He's afraid that if they lobby the legislature, then maybe legislators will turn anti-Isreal? I'm not sure about that one, his logic is a bit crazy.

His solution? Frantic e-mails to lobbyists and calling together the non-existent Jewish caucus in the legislature.

This could be just a bit of run-of-the-mill prejudice and ignorance, but it isn't, it's part of a bigger pattern on Hasner's part. Hasner is a promoter of batshit-crazy anti-Muslim films Obsession and The Third Jihad. These films effectively portray all Muslims as potential terrorists and call for the West to "wake up" and do something about the problem. In that way, they directly influence Americans to engage in discrimination, and potentially violence, against peaceful, law-abiding Muslims.

Hasner was confronted about this:

Immediately following the film, Florida’s State Majority Leader, Rep. Adam Hasner of Delray Beach, Fl, gave a brief presentation to the audience where he praised and gave support for the film. He was then asked by a gentleman from the audience how he felt about the backlash that might occur towards peaceful Muslims as a result of the film. After pausing for a moment, he boldly proclaimed, “I don’t care.”

Get that? Hasner doesn't care if law-abiding, peaceful Muslims are harmed by anti-Muslim propaganda -- a backlash that could potentially include violence. Hasner doesn't care. He has his prejudices and he's sticking to them.

From the Blogs

Progressive Pensacola: Grand jury: investigate Sansom

Re-Creating Tampa: SansomWatch - The Gift that Keeps on Giving

Blast Off!: Today's Daily Schadenfreude: Ray Sansom

Progressive Pensacola: Sansom: A failed Speaker

Pushing Rope: The Ray Sansom Scandals

Franklin Sands' Remarks on Speaker-Designate Dean Cannon

“On behalf of the House Democratic Caucus, I offer warm congratulations to Representative Cannon. We look forward to serious discussions with him and his colleagues about the people’s business and how the Legislature should combat the economic challenges facing Floridians.

“As Representative Cannon and his Republican colleagues surely know, Florida is in a serious economic crisis. Our people are deeply worried about their jobs, their financial future, and their children’s education. Today should be a day to begin the healing in a bipartisan manner.

“Like Governor Charlie Crist, Florida House Democrats believe it is vital to use the federal economic recovery funds to resolve our current state budget crisis. We are hopeful that the governor’s wisdom on this matter reaches Representative Cannon and his colleagues in the House Republican Conference.

“It wasn’t ‘borrowing and rampant spending by the private sector’ that created this crisis. Rather, Florida is suffering significantly because of many factors, including the significant tax giveaways under Republican Jeb Bush’s administration.

“The impact of the Bush-era tax cuts is costing the state an estimated $3-billion or more annually. Failure to close loopholes that favor the very rich and special interests are the real culprits. These are the issues that we hope Representative Cannon and his colleagues show the courage to address in the upcoming legislative session.”

Clearly, there are two ways to balance a budget -- cutting spending and raising taxes. We've tried cutting things. It doesn't work and it has many other negative effects. It's time to raise taxes on those who use more government resources than anyone else -- the rich.