The Need to Get Democratic Voters Excited

New Florida Senate Minority Leader Arthenia Joyner gave a fiery speech on income inequality ans the lack of Medicaid coverage for many Floridians.

"There's no freedom for the more than one million Floridians with no access to a family doctor so long as Medicaid expansion is blocked," Joyner said after being unanimously elected by her Democratic colleagues. "If your family's sick and you cannot get access to a doctor, you are not free."

"When most of the gains are going to the very top, bypassing the ones who have helped to get that success, working people are not free,'' she said. "There's no freedom when tens of thousands of Floridians are locked up for minor drug possessions and their civil rights are not restored because of some arbitrary waiting period.

"There's no freedom when a judge's discretion in sentencing is removed and prison times become mandated by lawmakers far removed from the court rooms.

"There's no freedom when our lakes and rivers and streams slowly suffocate and we cannot drink or swim or boat or fish in our waters. There's no freedom when our homes and businesses and our farms and orchards are under threat because of rising sea levels aimed at Florida's coast line. And there is no freedom when our kids can't get ahead in an education system based on punishment rather than excellence. There's no freedom when unaccountable private schools become more attractive because government has failed the accountable public ones.

"All of these issues individually and collectively can break people already stretched to the breaking point to the edge of being durable. But it doesn't need to be that way. As a woman, especially as a black woman, I learned many years ago what it meant to be on the outside looking in. I remember what it was like when fears of one group trumped the fair treatment of many and denied those willing to work hard the right to the success they had earned.

"I learned deep down in my heart the constant ache for freedom that some enjoyed but many more were denied. When hard working people are blocked from basic health care because one ideology is against it. When they are shunned from sharing in the success they helped a company achieve, when they are struggling to pay the bills in a system stacked against them, when they have erred in some minor crime and their sentence is unchallengable, that is the edge of the undurable. As the incoming leader, I pledge to you that like I did a quarter century ago, this wall erected in the name of politics to curb the freedom of the people, will also fall,'' she said to applause.

"In grateful acknowledgement of the trust you have placed in me, I will do everything in my power to make it happen -- together we will. he 14 members of this Democratic caucus have a proud tradition for standing for -- as one of my Republican senator once said, the little guy and little girl -- that's who we stand for.

"The 14 of us believe that moderate minds and willing hearts will embrace what is right for the people over the greed of any one party and the people of Florida will be better for it."

A good reason many Democrats lost during the midterms is because they refused to define what they stand for. Alison Lundergan Grimes told everyone how awesome coal is and she lost. Mary Landrieu has sponsored a bill for thew Keystone pipeline. Judging by the polls, Landrieu will lose her runoff election to Bill Cassidy. Democratic voters aren't going to get excited and come out for candidates like Grimes and Landrieu when Obama is not on the ballot. These establishment Democrats fail to understand that they need to throw red meat to the base.

Arthenia Joyner Honored for Civil Rights Work

Florida Senate Democrats honored Sen. Arthenia Joyner for her part in the civil rights movement. Fifty years ago, Joyner was arrested for protesting the segregation policy of the whites-only Florida Theater. Joyner gives an emotional speech about how difficult it was for blacks in a segregated Florida in 1963.

High-Speed Lawsuit Against Rick Scott

Sen. Thad Altman (R-Melbourne) and state Sen. Arthenia Joyner (D-Tampa) are are preparing for a possible lawsuit against Gov> Rick Scott. Altman told the Miami Herald that Scott did not have to authority to turn down federal rail money. The Orlando to Tampa high-speed rail project had already been approved by former Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida legislature.

“I believe that he exceeded his executive authority and in a very strong sense we have a Constitutional crisis on our hands,” Altman said. Senate Republican leader Andy Gardiner acknowledged there are concerns about the “parameters” of the governor’s use of his executive power. He did not reject the possibility that a fellow caucus member would have a legitimate basis for suing the Republican governor. Altman noted that the Legislature voted to accept the federal money and build high-speed rail in a special session.

“We have a law on the books,” he said, and quoted the portion of the Florida Constitution that reads: “The Governor shall take care that the laws of Florida are faithfully executed.”

“The governor has completely ignored that,” Altman said.

Scott Randolph shared Altman's view that Scott is acting without legislative approval.

"It's time to play hardball," said state Rep. Scott Randolph, D-Orlando. "It's a tough situation for the legislature but I think at some point in members of his own party, are going to have to stand up, and say that we are an independent branch of government and you're going to respect us."

I wouldn't be surprised if Scott reacts to losing the lawsuit by throwing a hissy fit and going back to the private sector. We now have a Governor who is creating a state constitutional crisis by failing to legally honor laws. This isn't governing. This is the reckless behavior of a man too immature to govern.

SB 1458

Arthenia Joyner is pushing SB 1458. The bill would make attacks on the homeless a hate crime.

An act relating to assault or battery on homeless persons; amending s. 775.085, F.S.; reclassifying offenses evidencing prejudice based on the homeless status of the victim; providing a definition; creating s. 784.0815, F.S.; providing a definition; providing a minimum sentence and other penalties for a person convicted of an aggravated assault or aggravated battery upon a homeless person; providing an effective date.

I'm skeptical the bill will go very far in the conseevative Senate. Republicans shy away from hate crime legislation. Which is amusing. Considering they make Draconian laws for nonviolent offenses.

The real reason Republicans don't support hate crime legislation is it goes counter to their Southern strategy. The GOP base is strongly xenophobic. Republicans are against gay marriage and affirmative action because it keeps their base happy. The problem is xenaphobia doesn't have the punch it once did. Immigration was an issue that siphoned voters away from Republicans during the midterms.

The bill would require proof that prejudice was the cause of the assault against a homeless person. Physically beating another person is still a crime. Regardless of whether the bill is passed. What would happen if the bill became law is that homeless assaults would carry a stiffer penalty. A National Coalition for the Homeless report ranked Florida as the most dangerous state for homeless people to live.