Sansom Quits Northwest Florida State College

Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom resigned from his $110,000-a-year job at Northwest Florida State College.

"This has not been an easy decision for me to make," Sansom said, reading from a prepared statement at the outset of a two-week special session to cut $2.3-billion from the budget. "I accepted my position at the college with pure intentions and for good reasons."

It should have been an easy decision. Sanson should have put his responsibility as Florida Speaker above a outragiously paid part-time position. What exactly was Sansom's intentions? Conservative pundit Joe Scarborough pointed out: "(Sansom) tacked on an additional $25 million for his future employer and funded a program that would pay his salary." Sansom created his own position and was hired the day he became Speaker. If Sansom feels misunderstood then he should explain why in greater details. Otherwise, Sansom's statements doesn't pass the laugh test.

I have questions about how does Florida benefit from $6 million spent to make a hanger hurricane-proof. Sanson's loyal campaign contributor Jay Odom will use the hanger to park his person aircraft. The City of Destin turned down Odom and insurance companies didn't want to provide coverage, because of the coastal location. That didn't stop Odom and Sanson from pitching the hanger as a hurricane shelter. I really like to know what Sansom felt was his intentions behind this project. I will never know since Sanson will not do a Q and A with the media. Fellow Gop state legislators greeted Sansom's public statement of resigning from NFSC as "statesmanlike" and with applause. That is a telltale sign the Republican Party of Florida is in trouble. FDP Chairwoman Karen Thurman has noticed the Party's silence on Sansom.

"While Sansom's ethical lapse is glaring, Floridians should be especially disappointed in Governor Charlie Crist, Attorney General Bill McCollum, and other Republican leaders, who have done nothing to end the corrosive corruption that has been festering in the Republican Party. Because they don't have the courage to stand up and root out corruption in their party, the Florida Democratic Party will continue aggressively holding the Republicans accountable for their corrupt and out-of-touch ways."