JD Alexander's Legacy

JD Alexander used his position as Florida Senate budget chairman to help his private businesses and enact revenge on the University of South Florida. Alexander's past legislative moves are still costing the Florida taxpayers.

Alexander attempted to move the USF College of Pharmacy to Lakeland. When that failed, Alexander cut 58 percent of the USF budget. Alexander then successfully made USF's Polytechnic school an independent university. The new school would not be accredited, students or a campus. Former State Sen. Paula Dockery summed it up best.

"So there's $10 million for USF students, then $22 million for Polytech, which right now doesn't have any students," Dockery said.

Alexander didn't care about these problems. A new university would forward plans for road construction for Alexander's plans to build a residential community. A nearby university would also increase Alexander's property values. This is nothing more than crony capitalism. TBO.com reports that the taypayers will have to pay for Alexander's real estate ambitions.

As the Tribune's Jerome Stockfisch reports, Florida Polytechnic University's trustees are asking for an additional $25 million this year, though it has about $109 million to get the university running by 2014. Most of that money was left by USF.

But now the trustees of the unaccredited school with no students say they need more for infrastructure, including landscaping, roads and furniture.

If this university does get off the ground; who wants to attend a school that offers a worthless degree?