Meek & Rubio Make Crew List For Most Corrupt Candidates

It is a sad day for Florida. Not every state is unfortunate enough to have two Senate candidates make the Citizens For Responsibility and Ethics in Washington list most corrupt candidates.

CREW mentions Meek's questionable earmarks for indicted developer Dennis Stackhouse. The latter was indicted for stealing $1 million from the Poinciana Park development project. Meek twice attempted to place earmarks in for Stackhouse.

Other funs bits of infomation: Stackhouse put down $13,000 to help finance former Meek's Chief of Staff Anthony D. Williams' house. Stackhouse paid Meek's mother Carrie $90,000 in consulting fees and a leased Cadillac Escalade to use for free.

CREW brings up how Meek won his Congressional seat unopposed.

The circumstances surrounding Rep. Meek’s initial election to Congress are questionable. Rep. Carrie Meek, his mother and representative for the 17th district, decided two weeks before the qualifying deadline for the primary election that she wasn’t going to run again, putting potential opponents at a disadvantage. She also announced her son would be running in her stead, essentially bequeathing him the seat.

CREW examines how Rubio's fiscal conservatism does not extend to use of Republican Party of Florida credit cards. The IRS and FBI is investigating the use of nonprofit RPOF money. Rubio has not been able to explain why he and his Chief of Staff charged $60,000 in a two month period on RPOF credit cards. Groceries and repairs on a minivan were charged by Rubio to a RPOF credit card. Rubio also used the party credit card for purchases at Toys "R" Us and Best Buy. Rubio spent a grand total of $458,000.

The party money is only suppose to be used to help get GOP candidates elected. When pressed about his free spending ways Rubio sends out a press release blaming Democrats.

So it’s no surprise that Democrats are now targeting Marco with the first of many political stunts to distract voters’ attention from their flawed ObamaCare plan and the massive, out-of-control spending that has taken place on their watch.

The smears and attacks against Marco get more ridiculous each day. Today’s stunt is to enlist a maxed out Hillary Clinton supporter to file a frivolous complaint against Marco. It’s so frivolous that this individual wasn’t even willing to sign it.

Sadly, these stunts actually cost you, the taxpayer, money because government bureaucrats actually have to waste time on them. But worse, this illustrates the problem with politics today. When people can’t defend their indefensible big government policies, they turn to the same old politics-as-usual playbook of misleading, negative and false personal attacks.

CREW points out Rubio received jobs from institutions he steered taxpayer money towards.

Additionally, Mr. Rubio inserted earmarks into the state budget for his personal financial gain. While preparing to leave his position in the Florida House of Representatives, he accepted a $69,000 per year, part-time, unadvertised professor position with Florida International University (FIU). When he was hired, FIU had a $32 million budget deficit and had cut 23 degree programs and 200 jobs. During his tenure in the House, Mr. Rubio helped steer at least $29 million to the university, leading FIU’s president at the time to say that Mr. Rubio was “worth every penny”.

Similarly, Mr. Rubio was hired as a consultant for Jackson Memorial Hospital after he earmarked $20 million for the facility. Jackson Memorial paid Mr. Rubio’s firm $8,000 per month. The same firm, which also employed Mr. Rubio’s former aide, the wife of fellow Florida House Rep. Esteban Bovo, scored a $102,000 contract with Miami Children’s Hospital. At the time of the contract, Rep. Bovo was the Miami Children’s Hospital in-house lobbyist.

The voters of Florida deserve better than Meek and Rubio. Progressives see me as not being true to the cause for not backing Meek. Conservatives think I am just another progressive looking for an excuse to bash Rubio. My problem is not whether Meek or Rubio meet my ideological standards. (They don't.) I wouldn't hire either of these men if I ran a Fortune 500 company. Meek and Rubio are ethically compromised and unfit for public office. The people of Florida deserve better candidates.

Kendrick Meek Death Watch: Death by TV Ads

Jeff Greene unleashed the second ad linking Kendrick Meek to indicted developer Dennis Stackhouse. Meek responded to the Stackhouse controversy in an op-ed.



Greene is killing Meek with the television ads. The ads are well-made and effective. Greene's media people are defining Meek for Florida voters. Meek has to find a way to counter these attacks.

Kendrick Meek in His Own Words

Kendrick Meek has taken exception with a Mike Thomas op-ed. Meek needed to respond to the allegations that he placed earmarks in the budget, in return for favors developer Dennis Stackhouse did for his mother Carrie Meek and former Chief of Staff Anthony Williams.

Meek does not deny that Stackhouse leased a Cadillac for his mother. Meek said he was unaware.

I am not my mother's accountant. She saved money her entire life, and had leased two Cadillacs previously. Why would I ask her about a third lease?

Meek said he was not aware of Stackhouse helping Williams with his mortgage until recently.

Weeks ago I learned a former member of my staff allowed the same developer to help him get a home loan. He abused the privilege of his position. Had I known about his activities, he would have been fired. He has not worked for me in more than three years.

That is Meek's version of the events.

Kendrick Meek Death Watch: Clueless Edition

The Jeff Greene campaign has released the "Clueless" ad against Kendrick Meek. The ad accurately goes into detail of Kendrick Meek's relationship with Dennis Stackhouse. The Miami Herald reported that Stackhouse paid Meek's mother 90,000 for consulting fees and bought her a Cadillac. Meek said he did not know Stackhouse hired his mom.

Stackhouse gave Meek's former Chief of Staff, Anthony Williams, 13,000 for a down payment on his house. Stackhouse also helped set up Williams' mortgage. Meek said he didn't know about Stackhouse's financial assistance to his then Chief of Staff. Are we seeing a pattern here? Williams may face charges of mortgage fraud.

Meek wrote Stackhouse and his wife a thank you note for their $5,000 campaign contribution and hosting a funraiser party.

"You and others like you are helping to build and strengthen the infrastructure of our campaign."

That thank you note is embarrassing to Meek now. Stackhouse has been indicted for stealing $1 million from the Poinciana Park developmen project. Stackhouse double-billed and created bogus accounting books. Meek earmarks for the project.

The Greene ad is clever, effective and funny. Greene has not really done anything to sell himself as a candidate. I'm the thought of Greene as a U.S. Senator scared the hell out of me. The Greene campaign is doing what Kendrick Meek hasn't been able to do in a year; define Kendrick Meek. This is one of the best political ads I have seen in ages.