Steve Bousquet awarded Pam Bondi the well-earned title of political loser of the week.
Pam Bondi. The attorney general, who immediately appealed a South Florida court ruling overturning Florida's same-sex marriage ban, is becoming the face of opposition to marriage equality. All signs point to the tide of history rolling over Bondi, who is up for re-election in November.
Hysterical sidenote: Bondi has been divorced twice. I don't think Bondi's divorces are a threat to the institution of marriage. The same holds true for gay people marrying.
University of Florida student Matt Schneider wrote a great op-ed on how Pam Bondi bragged to UF students about all the easy breaks in life. That must make the students working full-time jobs and looking at years of student loan debt feel great.
“When I was in college, I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” she said. “I wasn’t even sure I wanted to practice law … When I was in law school, I did a certified legal internship at the state attorney’s office, and my dad conspired with Bill James, who was the state attorney at the time because my dad was so worried I didn’t want to practice law. And so I did this internship at the state attorney’s office, and when you’re certified, you can try jury trials when you’re in law school, so I had four jury trials when I was in law school. Never wanted to do anything else.”
There is also this comment by Bondi.
"I don’t think I’ve ever made a resume in my life."
That is probably because Bondi never had to.
Read Scheider's piece. It points out how one of the most powerful office holders in Florida is disconnected with the hardships many Floridians have to endure.
Attorney General Pam Bondi is still not fessing up to her mistake of delaying the execution of Marshall Lee Gore. Bondi can't take responsibility and blame her staff for the rescheduling of the execution.
Bondi said the execution delay was done "through staff," and reiterated: "I was wrong. I'm sorry. It will not happen again." Asked if the episode has compromised her public image as a victims' advocate, Bondi said: "I made a mistake. I'm sorry. It won't happen again. I asked that a killer's date be changed and he was given 20 more days. It won't happen again. I'm sorry." Asked who on her staff made the request for the delay in Gore's execution, Bondi referred questions to her press office.
The execution of Gore was rescheduled so Bondi could attend a campaign fundraiser in Tampa. Bondi would have us believe that her staff scheduled the execution and fundraiser without her knowledge. If true then that means Bondi is too incompetent to know when an execution takes place or what is going on with her campaign. Hardly a vote of confidence. Bondi's excuse doesn't pass the laugh test.
Pam Bondi's Willful Ignorance on Navigators and SB 1842
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi went on Fox and Friends and gave false information about Obamacare.
"Now we have navigators coming into our state and they're not doing background checks, they're not doing fingerprints," she said this morning. "Census takers have better background checks than the navigators."
Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty reminded the Florida Cabinet, which Bondi is a member of, that SB 1842 requires navigators to be registered and fingerprinting.
"In Florida, the Legislature has healed those gaps in the federal program by passing Senate Bill 1842, whcih requires navigators to be registered," McCarty said. "The registration process is set up much like agent licensing, except the federal government provides the training. Senate Bill 1842 requires fingerprinting and gives authority to the state to revoke a navigator's registration."
"This is a consumer protection issue. This is an identity theft issue," said Bondi, who sent a letter on Aug. 14 along with 12 other state attorneys general asking Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius about the privacy concerns. They asked for a response by Aug. 28.
As Attorney General, Bondi is sworn to uphold SB 1842. Bondi has never been accused of being a policy wonk. Bondi should start learning policy ASAP. SB 1842 has cunsumor protection written into the bill.
Authorizes the Division of Consumer Services within the Department of Financial Services (DFS) to respond to complaints by consumers relating to requirements of PPACA, by performing its current statutory responsibilities to prepare and disseminate information to consumers as it deems appropriate, provide direct assistance and advocacy to consumers, and require insurers to respond, in writing, to a complaint, and further authorizes the division to report apparent or potential violations to OIR and to HHS.
Temporarily suspends, for 2014 and 2015, the requirement that health insurers and HMOs (insurers) obtain approval from OIR for nongrandfathered health plans which, generally, are plans under which an individual was insured on March 23, 2010, and for which rates must be filed with HHS. Insurers will still be required to file rates and rate changes for such plans with OIR prior to use, but such rates may be used without OIR approval. For this 2-year period, the rates for nongrandfathered plans would be exempt from all rating requirements. These rating law changes are repealed on March 1, 2015. Under PPACA, insurers must file rate changes with HHS for nongrandfathered health plans, subject to review and determination of whether the rate increase is unreasonable. Grandfathered health plans are not subject to PPACA rate filing requirements and remain subject to the current Florida law requirements for filing rates for approval with OIR.
Requires insurers to provide a notice to individual and small group policyholders of nongrandfathered health plans that describes or illustrates the estimated impact of PPACA on monthly premiums. This notice is required one time, when the policy is issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2014. The notice must be in a format established by rule by the Financial Services Commission. The OIR and DFS must develop a summary of the estimated impact of PPACA on monthly premiums as contained in the notices, which must be available on their respective websites by October 1, 2013.
Requires individuals acting as a “navigator” under PPACA to be registered with DFS, beginning August 1, 2013. Under PPACA, beginning on October 1, 2013, individuals and small businesses will be able to purchase private health insurance through Affordable Insurance Exchanges (Exchanges). Exchanges must certify qualified health plans (QHPs) offered by insurers through the Exchange. PPACA directs Exchanges to award grants to “navigators” that will facilitate enrollment in QHPs and exercise certain other duties.
To be registered as a navigator under the bill, an individual must certify completion of federally-required training, submit fingerprints for a criminal background check, and pay a $50 application fee (currently, there is a $50.30 fingerprint processing fee for agents, so the total cost for a navigator would be $100.30). Certain crimes would either permanently bar an individual from registration or disqualify an applicant for specified periods. A navigator will be prohibited from:
Recommending the purchase of a particular health plan or represent that one health plan is preferable over any other;
Recommending or assisting with the cancellation of insurance coverage purchased outside the Exchange;
Receiving compensation or anything of value from an insurer, health plan, business, or consumer in connection with performing activities as a navigator, other than from the Exchange or an entity or individual who has received a navigator grant under the PPACA.
Bondi either is spreading false information about Obamacare or has no reading comprehension skills
I noted that Gov. Rick Scott is usually tongue tied when dealing with tough questions from the media. Scott has had enough of taking hits for Attorney General Pam Bondi. Scott is throwing Bondi under the bus for the delay in the execution of Marshall Lee Gore.
Asked what information he had when he made the decision to postpone the execution and whether it was a proper decision, Scott replied, “My office had a request from the Attorney General’s Office to postpone the execution, and so they made a decision to postpone it, and anything else you’d have to ask the attorney general.”
As governor, Scott is the only state official with the power to move Gore's execution. Scott does bear responsibility but he has figured out that he has his own bad poll numbers to worry about. Scott isn't going to take the hit for Bondi.
Bondi asked that Gore's execution be delayed. Bondi's reason was so she could attend a campaign fundraiser in Tampa. Local and national media came to the realization that many others have. Bondi is unserious about her duties as a public servant.
Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn is no fan of Charlie Crist. Part of Buckhorn's displeasure with Crist is that the former governor used to be a Republican.
"I'm frustrated that our bench is not deeper than it is, the fact that we could conceivably wind up with a candidate who one or two years ago was saying something entirely different than where he is today," Buckhorn said. "Clearly Rick Scott is vulnerable. I wish we had a pro-business Democrat, a centrist, because I think that person could win."
There are many Democrats that doubt Crist's loyalty to the party's core values. If Democratic values are so important to Buckhorn than why he is attending a fundraiser for Republican Attorney General Pam Bondi?
Among the members of the event's host committee are House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, and Sens. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, Tom Lee, R-Brandon, Wilton Simpson, R- Trilby, and Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, and Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn. Gore's death warrant is for the murder of Robyn Novick, whose nude body was found in March 1988 in a rural area of Miami-Dade.
You may notice that Buckhorn is the only Democrat listed as attending the fundraiser for Bondi. In what is now a PR disaster for Bondi, she had the execution of Marshall Lee Gore postponed so she could attend the fundraiser. Does Bondi even take her job seriously.
A spokeswoman for Bondi said Friday that the Sept. 10 fundraiser had been planned before the execution date was set. Scott had scheduled two earlier execution dates for Gore this summer, but both were scuttled because of legal battles about Gore's sanity. Gore was convicted of killing two women in 1988 in Miami-Dade and Columbia counties.
Bob Buckhorn has a problem with his party's likely gubernatorial nominee. Yet, Buckhorn has no problem helping a Republican Attorney General, who blows off her duties, to fundraise. Unbelievable.
I. Robot. Bondi. Prosecute. Prosecute. Prosecute. Robbers. Crooks. Scam Artists. Federal. Government. Health. Care. Takeover. Destroy. Destory. Destroy. End transmission.
Bondi is a talking points machine. I can never recall hearing an insightful word from Bondi that made me rethink my position on an issue. It is not surprising that Bondi went on the comedy show known as Fox and Friends and said she was against a Medicaid expansion for Florida.
"I felt very strongly that we should not participate in the Medicaid expansion, and the House of Representatives agreed," she said. "So, therefore, Florida is not participating in the expansion of Medicaid, and I'm very proud of our state."
Unfortunately for Bondi, she is not an astute politician. The Florida House not expanding Medicaid is unpopular. So unpopular that political reporter Matt Dixon noted that the Republican Party of Florida cut out Robot Bondi's Medicaid talking points from their Youtube clip. Bondi rants on about fraud and limited government. Hitting the usual talking points.
The Fox News website has the full video with Bondi stating she is Medicaid expansion.
Another fun Bondi moment was her saying that the Supreme Court didn't believe that the health insurance mandate penalty was a tax and predicted a repeal.
“They do not believe this is a tax,” Bondi said of the justices.
The mandate will be debated more tomorrow.
“I felt very confident,” Bondi said as she was surrounded by other attorneys general challenging the law.
Bondi's prediction was the absolute opposite of how the Roberts majority ruled.
By a 5-4 vote, the court held the law's mandate requiring Americans to carry health insurance or pay a penalty valid under Congress's constitutional authority to levy taxes. The financial penalty for failing to carry insurance possesses "the essential feature of any tax," producing revenue for the government, Chief Justice Roberts wrote.
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has announced she will run for re-election.
Officially filed for re-elect this morning-looking forward to continuing working hard and serving the people of Florida!
The lowlights of Bondi's tenure is not suing BP for environmental damages done to Florida's coastline. Bondi has been accused by former attorneys in her office of stonewalling an illegal foreclosure investigation. I look forward to her running on the record of being a do nothing Attorney General.
Florida Attorney General unsurprisingly said she will run for re-election. The fun part is when Tia Mitchell asked Bondi about her relationship with Tampa's own Jill Kelley.
"i have been to special events at her house, only at her home, and the only comment I'm going to make is that my heart and concern goes out to Holly Petraeus right now, who I have worked very closely with on the military," Bondi said.
Bondi heart goes out to Holly Petraeus. Mitchell asked Bondi if she tried to reach out to Mrs. Petraeus. Bondi had to give a no. Bondi has been to "events" in plural, at Kelley's home. Of course only at Kelley's home. (Was Kelley gonna hold these parties at a waste management facility.) Bondi had time to go to several parties at Kelley's house. Bondi's heart goes out so much to Holly Petraeus that she didn't bother to pick up the phone to call her. Priorities.
My favorite part of the Bondi quote is the "only comment I'm going to make." Does Bondi knows that makes matters look worse? Taking a photo and going to Jill Kelley's parties are not a crime. Bondi acts like she is going to be indicted if she says too much.
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is going to waste Florida tax dollars by challenging Obama's administration over its contraception mandate in the Affordable Care Act. Previously, Obama proposed having Catholic hospitals carry contraception coverage for its employees. The Obama administration relented after attacks from Republicans and Catholic bishops, on the grounds of religious freedom. Health insurance companies would now offer contraception directly to employees of religious hospitals. Churches would not be mandated to offer contraception. Which leads to what legal grounds does Bondi have to challenge the contraception policy in court.
Not only is the proposed contraceptive coverage mandate for religious employers bad policy, it is unconstitutional. It conflicts with the most basic elements of the freedoms of religion, speech, and association, as provided under the First Amendment. It would compel religious organizations to act, subsidize products, and affirmatively promote a message in contravention with their religious principles, with the sole alternative being to cease activities of incalculable value to their employees, constituents, and, indeed, society as a whole.
We strongly oppose the unconstitutional approach taken by the proposed contraceptive coverage mandate. We believe it represents an impermissible violation of the Constitution’s First Amendment virtually unparalleled in American history.
Accordingly, we urge you in the strongest way possible to refrain from promulgating the proposed regulations.
Sincerely,
Jon Bruning, Attorney General of Nebraska
Greg Abbott, Attorney General of Texas
Alan Wilson, Attorney General of South Carolina
Luther Strange, Attorney General of Alabama
Pam Bondi, Attorney General of Florida
James Caldwell, Attorney General of Louisiana
William Schneide, Attorney General of Maine
Wayne Stenehjem, Attorney General of North Dakota
Mike DeWine, Attorney General of Ohio
Scott Pruitt, Attorney General of Oklahoma
Marty J. Jackley, Attorney General of South Dakota
John W. Suthers, Attorney General of Colorado
If the health insurers are directly offering contraception to women, without involving the church, there is no rationale (however flimsy) of a violation of the First amendment. Catholic hospitals have no problem taking government Medicare and Medicaid dollars. However, Catholic bishops act like the end of days are upon us if the contraception is mentioned.
As for the Republicans, being the anti-birth control and anti-sex party makes them look insane to reasonable Americans. The sad thing is, I am not shocked that Republicans thought being anti-contraception is political gold.
Conservative ideology can explain all economic woes away. Take for instance unemployment. It isn't that companies are cutting costs by laying off or not hiring workers. It is not outsourcing. Nor is it the lack of consumer confidence that causes a lack of spending. According to Sen. Jim DeMint, people don't want to work.
DEMINT: I have talked to a lot of businesses in South Carolina who can't get employees to come back to work because they are getting unemployment and they're getting food stamps and they say call me when unemployment runs out. [...]
There are a lot of people who desperately need it and we need to make sure that we have that safety net in place, but we also have to realize there are a lot of people gaming the system right now. And we need to do better than we have done with just extending benefits, there have to be incentives for people to get back to work. These have to phase out in a way that we haven't done it before.
Another example is the millions of Americans that have had their houses foreclosed upon. It isn't banks getting getting greedy by providing credit to people that weren't financially ready to own a home. Nor is it people losing their jobs or banks illegally foreclosing with robo-signing fraudulent documents. Florida's Attorney General Pam Bondi gave the same lazy people argument.
Bondi spoke out against a proposed national settlement between 50 state attorneys general and lenders that would have cut the principal owed by homeowners. She said she was opposed to any across-the-board reductions because she didn't want to help people "who just don't want to pay their mortgage payments."
If we took DeMint's and Bondi's reasoning to its logical conclusion then President Obama cannot be held accountable for unemployment because people are too lazy to work. This is classic Republican blame the victim argument. What you won't hear is DeMint and Bondi explain how they will solve unemployment and illegal foreclosures in a way that doesn't involve standard talking points.
Assistant attorney general Andrew Spark wrote a letter accusing Pam Bondi's Attorney General's office of having conflicts of interests with the mortgage industry. Bondi has come under sharp criticism after assistant attorney generals Theresa Edwards and June Clarkson were forced to resign. Spark letters details how two attorney in Bondi's office left to work for the mortgage industry.
Florida state Rep. Darren Soto is requesting documents from Attorney General Pam Bondi pertaining to the terminations of assistant attorney generals Theresa Edwards and June Clarkson. Edwards publicly stated that she and Clarkson were fired for foreclosure mills too aggressively. Edwards is suggesting that Bondi places protecting banks and law firms illegally foreclosing on homeowners above protecting consumers.
Office of Attorney General State of Florida The Capitol PL-01 Tallahassee, FL 32399-1050
Re – Public Records Request for Documents Related to Termination of Theresa Edwards and June Clarkson
Dear Madam General,
It has come to my attention that two assistant attorney generals, Theresa Edwards and June Clarkson, were recently terminated by your office for poor performance. However, public records indicate that these terminations occurred while they were in the midst of successful mortgage fraud litigation and in spite of prior successful reviews. As a member who represents an area ravaged by foreclosure fraud, these terminations present an overwhelming public concern.
REQUEST IS HEREBY MADE pursuant to Public Records Act, Chapter 119 of the Florida Statutes that your office provides me with any and all records related to job performance of Theresa Edwards and June Clarkson within the past 3 years. Please also provide a list of all case numbers for all currently active cases managed by Theresa Edwards and June Clarkson for your office as well as the amounts of any settlements occurring within the past 3 years in any cases managed by Theresa Edwards or June Clarkson along with corresponding case number.
If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact my office. Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Darren M. Soto
Progress Florida is running a petition asking for an investigation into the terminations of Edwards and Clarkson.
According to former Assistant Attorney General Theresa Edwards, she was fired from the office for pursuing banks too aggressively. In an interview with the Palm Beach Post, Edwards claims that she and colleague June Clarkson were in the middle of investigating the state’s foreclosure mills when they were fired.
At the time they were let go, Edwards and Clarkson were collecting evidence of legal malpractice and fraud engaged in by banks and loan servicers.
The investigations had originated under Attorney General Bill McCollum. But once Rick Scott and now-Attorney General Pam Bondi were elected, the focus and the spirit of the Attorney General’s Office shifted.
If Edwards' allegations are true then we have an Attorney General who is willing to destroy criminal investigations to protect powerful corporate interests. This is horrifying.
Attorney General Pam Bondi reported zero income on her 2010 financial disclosure form. No bank accounts or checking account listed. Yet Bondi was able to deposit $133,685 from her former job at the state attorney's office.
Gary Fineout reports that Bondi will file a revised disclosure form. My question is how does Bondi forget she earned $133,685 in 2010?
Former President Bill Clinton goes after Gov. Rick Scott for signing the highly restrictive voting bill. Clinton's remarks came during a speech to young progressive activists.
"There has never been in my lifetime, since we got rid of the poll tax and all the Jim Crow burdens of voting, the determined effort to limit the franchise that we see today," Clinton added.
Clinton mentioned Gov. Rick Scott's move in March to overturn past state precedent - including under former GOP governors - that allows convicted felons to vote once they've finished probation periods.
"Why should we disenfranchise people forever once they've paid their price?" Clinton said. "Because most of them in Florida were African Americans and Hispanics who tended to vote for Democrats. That's why."
There absolutely is a racial element in how Florida Republicans deal with felons. Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi rejected Cassandra Jenkins' nomination to the parole commission. Scott and Bondi recited concerns about "safety" that projected prepared talking points. Jenkins had already served on the commission. Neither Scott or Bondi cited one instance where public safety was jeopardized because of Jenkins. It is also worth noting that Jenkins was the only black member of the commission and didn't get reappointed.
State Sen. Mike Bennett said voting should be as tough as it is in Africa. It is impossible to read Bennett's bizarre rant and not think of racism.
BENNETT: Do you read stories about the people of Africa? The people in the desert, who literally walk two or three hundred miles so they can have the opportunity to do what we do what we do, and we want to make it more convenient? How much more convenient do you want to make it? Do we want to go to their house? Take the polling booth with us?
Actually, if the voter is handicapped we do want to go to their house to help provide transportation, so they can vote. Bennett would have a disabled person crawl to a voting precinct.
If you never read stories about Africans walking two or three hundreds miles to vote then don't worry. Neither has Bennett. Politifact rated Bennett's bullshit claim a pants on fire lie. Bennett's nonsense is better suited for the white supremist web site Stormfront.org than for an elected official.
Attorney General Pam Bondi once again politically aligned herself with Gov. Rick Scott. This time they both rejected Cassandra Jenkins from being reappointed to the Parole Commission.
Scott said this about Jenkins.
“We’re trying to make sure that their first priority is public safety,” Scott said. Asked if that was meant to say that that wasn’t Jenkins’ first priority, Scott said Jenkins was welcome to reapply.
“Whoever we pick, their first priority is going to be public safety,” Scott said.
Bondi on Jenkins.
“It’s a public safety issue to me,” Bondi said after the meeting, after listing several criminals to whom Jenkins voted to grant parole even though they’d committed serious crimes. “It’s a serious public safety issue when it involves serial rapists and murderers.”
Scott and Bondi did not cite any evidence against Jenkins fitness to serve on the Parole Commission.
Side note: Jenkins is black and was placed on the Parole Commission with the help of former Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink.
Side note 2: Scott ran an ad titled "Obama's Mosque." Scott falsely labeled Obama a member of the Islamic faith, in order to stoke fear.
Side note 4: A former employeee of Scott's company Solantic told Salon.com that Scott was against the hiring of Hispanics and Muslims because they were not "clean-cut" enough.
Conservative will argue that Scott isn't racist because he has a black Lt. Governor that has no role in formulating policy.
The Florida House caucus wrote a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, asking her to investigate protesters being thrown out of Gov. Rick Scott's budget signing at the Villages. Many were residents of the Villages. Here is what I wrote at the time.
I am not holding out hope for Bondi and Atwater doing a muckraking investigation.
It turns out I am right. Bondi says the Florida constitution forbids the state's attorney general from investigating the governor.
“Throughout my nearly two decades in public service, I have been committed to transparency and open government,” Florida’s top legal officer, a Republican, wrote. “While I do not take lightly the questions you have raised, Florida law does not empower me to investigate your concerns.”
Exactly what part of the law says that Bondi is forbidden from investigating Scott's office? The office of attorney general is not appointed by the governor. Scott can't hire or fire the attorney general. Bondi ran for election and serves the people of Florida. The law set up the attorney general's office to be independent from the governor.
Apparently Scott is rewriting the Florida constitution. Check out the Division of Library and Information Services. The site is run by the state. The site declares the other cabinet members having illegal responsibilities.
The Constitution declares that each Cabinet member "shall exercise such powers and perform such duties as may be prescribed by law." In effect, that gives the Cabinet officers powers equal to the governor. This system violates a basic rule of government. That is, giving an elected official the authority to perform a duty and then be officially fully responsible, for under this system the governor is held responsible but does not have the authority or means to fulfill that responsibility.
Division of Library and Information Services web site also incorrectly states that the cabinet was designed to be like a corporation.
The EXECUTIVE branch is the law-administering and law-enforcing branch of the government. It is patterned along the lines of a large corporation with the governor serving as chairman of the board and the three independently elected cabinet members serving as directors. The governor is elected for a four-year term and may serve two terms in succession. The lieutenant governor is elected as running mate of the governor. Members of the Cabinet are elected to four year terms and may succeed themselves for any number of terms. All of the many agencies and departments that are responsible for programs in Florida State government are also part of the Executive Branch.
Scott and Bondi are literally making up new laws on how Florida's cabinet works. Scott has declared the cabinet has illegal powers. This is amazing.
Florida House DEM Caucus Ask For Investigation of Scott Budget Signing
Florida House Democrats have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater to investigate a Rick Scott staffer throwing protesters out of the budget signing. Below is the letter sent by the Florida House Democratic caucus. Below is the letter.
