Parochial, stupid and selfish Republican politicians lose thousands of Jobs and help destroy America

www.huffingtonpost.com...

The Assault on the American job scene by selfish, short sighted Republican politicians is again being demonstrated by the actions of Republican Governor Scott in Florida, who refuses funds from the federal government to produce thousands of jobs and elevate American technology to world-wide standards with the building of high-speed rail in the state.

Similar, to the short sighted actions of Governor Christie of New Jersey, where earlier this year he eliminated thousands of Jobs in New Jersey and halted another infrastructure upgrade, in order to impress the ignorant populace that he is a budget cutter in the national wave of budget cutting frenzy, the Florida Republican Governor like Christie, is being short-sided and playing politics that will eventually not only add to unemployment but also to the problem of the American crumbling infrastructure.

Indeed, in Florida the Governors claim that the high-speed rail will cause the deficit to rise is in contradiction to facts and studies:

“

However, the Florida Department of Transportation on Wednesday released a study showing the line connecting Tampa to Orlando would have had an operating surplus in 2015, its first year of operation.”

www.huffingtonpost.com...

This trend of Republican Governors halting infrastructure projects is a dangerous one and prevents technological progress that modern countries such as Japan and Germany are getting far ahead of America on such technologies as high-speed rail.

“Scott is the third Republican governor elected in November to kill rail projects approved by his predecessor. Governors in Wisconsin and Ohio also turned down funds previously agreed to by their Democratic predecessors. In Florida, the money had been accepted by Republican-turned-independent Charlie Crist, who lost a Senate race last year.”

These ignorant hypocritical dangerous shortsighted Republican politicians will not only hurt the American economy, with their budget cuts and tax cuts for the rich, but will assist in the criminal negligence of the national infrastructure with acts like described above.

Imagine if we had the same mentality during the great wave in the 50’s when the nation built the national highway structure, and many of the bridges that we all use to get around this great country.
Those massive projects were built with—not money growing off trees—but with tax money from the American people that allowed for the progress of the nation in the 50’s and 60’s.

These same group of Republican clowns so obsessed with a balanced budget never do what they are doing when there is a Republican president in office. They stood quiet in the 80's while Ronald Reagan ballooned the budget more THAN ALL IN HISTORY COMBINED, and again stood mute and did and said NOTHING when the same thing was done by the Republican George Bush, whose illegal and murderous Iraq war and 2008 bailout of the banks are responsible for the present budget mess NOT Barack Obama.

These Republican politicians and their national obsession with cutting everything of value and at the same time cutting taxes for the rich, will assist in the ruination of America and soon this country WILL BE A THIRD WORLD STATE!

If you are still seeing the world through Red vs. Blue glasses you're still trapped in the matrix. They each further the agenda against the people in their own ways. This time it's the Reds...I hear the Blues want to take our guns...Oh, and the Reds cause racial divisions through racist exclusionary immigration policy while the Blues want to bankrupt the country providing support for anything with a pulse that makes it in.

It's all staged, it's all corrupt, and it all plays to the end-game of the little people trapped without rights, without voices, without freedom.

Yeah, how dare they refuse a federal bribe!

Just because they are sovereign, doesn't give the states the right to refuse a government boondoggle like the "train to nowhere".

While the "government gravy-train" might have only represented a few thousand jobs for a decade, it was potentially a chance for Obama to siphon billions into the coffers of GE, GM and General Dynamics and of course Goldman Sachs to print the checks.

How dare a few republicans stand in the way of progress....er, congress. Oh yeah, congress never supported the gravy train. It was the spender-in-chief.

reply to post by blamethegreys


I wonder what those thousands of layed off workers in NJ are saying to that, or those in Florida who wont have jobs.
Of course if the Democrats won the election they would have jobs.

Your point on a certain level has merit, but you have still to eat and make a living while you fight the NWO.

reply to post by dr_strangecraft


Would you feel the same way if you were one of those layed off?
We have to live in the real world, bro, until we all can become dragon slayers like you and beat up the corporations and don’t have to depend on a regular job to survive.

reply to post by inforeal


A hefty chunk of the GOP are already wealthy businessmen in their own right. Since the 70's previous administrations have begun chipping away at banking and corporate regulations to make it easier for the wealthy business OWNER to do better than any or all of his employees. An upper tier of CEO's and Administrators are paid to think of ways to keep costs down and quiet the lower tier of WORKERS.

Many of the regulations that were cast aside made it easier for businesses to exploit poor people in other countries to perform labor.
This cut out the American worker and American jobs and at the same time made the business owner very rich and very powerful.
Because the product was much cheaper although the workers were disenfranchised and jobless their sounding the alarm bell was drowned out by American CONSUMERS UNAWARE OF THE IMPLICATIONS of what buying everything from countries like China would do to us and to them.

Now these same corporations have gone GLOBAL thanks to the hard working American workers and consumers that got them their start in the first place.
Now these same corporations ELECT POLITICIANS who will make decisions that keep their profit margins as large as possible and we already know the American citizen is a casualty in this tactic.

Now with all this deregulation a company like Monsanto has more power and more control over our lives than our elected representatives. Monsanto tells us what to eat and what passes for food. Exxon tells us where we can drive and how often. Walmarts lets us keep China thriving.

The thing is that so called Liberal Democrats and often Independents have no clear strategy.
They want the best for everyone and try to hammer that out.
Conversely the GOP, whether all individual members are intimately aware or not, has a strategy.
They know their goals.
One of them is to put a GOP friendly Governor in each State who can over ride and actually FIRE elected officials who do not go along with their master plan.

They have a lot of wealthy business owners, maneuvering to get the most WORK for the LEAST COMPENSATION from their employees (Americans and foreign)...on their side.

In Florida Rick Scott is against high speed rail because the rich are not going to benefit from this project one bit.
The rich are not going to ride the rail. The wealthy do not have to worry about the price of gas or even the environment. The wealthy do not need the jobs this project would bring to Florida.

High speed rail is not a good idea?
But yet another Marina for the rich... is approved.

The wealthy would like to steal a little bit more of the seacoast from the public access and build a water polluting Marina that will exploit the Ocean and allow the filthy rich to dock, store and fuel up their yachts.
How many poor people do you suppose will be employed in this 5 million dollar project that has been given the go ahead? Not many. Boat engineers and sport fisherman.

If you stand back and look at what's happening you can see behind the curtain. If you do not look there and stop this impending takeover I almost think you deserve what you get.

Fortunately we have a system of government that can change according to the will of the people. People do not yet recognize exactly how much power they have, but they will and they will use it and defeat this dastardly and despicable Republican Plan for the enslavement and poverty of most of America. They will be OUTED and halted in their tracks.

Unfortunately we have lost a lot of ground.
I wish there were a way to "restore original settings" and put back the Constitutional and legal
de-regulations in the banking and corporate world that allowed this catastrophe to occur in the first place.

Originally posted by blamethegreys
If you are still seeing the world through Red vs. Blue glasses you're still trapped in the matrix. They each further the agenda against the people in their own ways. This time it's the Reds...I hear the Blues want to take our guns...Oh, and the Reds cause racial divisions through racist exclusionary immigration policy while the Blues want to bankrupt the country providing support for anything with a pulse that makes it in.

It's all staged, it's all corrupt, and it all plays to the end-game of the little people trapped without rights, without voices, without freedom.

Actually it is just made to look that way to fool you.
There are people PAID TO BE on the sidelines screaming "LOOK at what this crazy liberal Democrat is doing - taking your guns away, promoting abortion for underage girls, teaching sex to kindergartners" (or some other hyperbolic distraction)....so you do not see what is taking place under the table and in the back rooms.
Seems like it is working.
You cannot say there is no "enemy of the people" at work here.
There is, and eventually everyone will catch on to the intricate, complicated and diabolical scam working against us.

I am not saying there are not some unscrupulous characters on the Blue Team. I am saying the Red Team is out to enslave you and your children for very low wages and without any consideration for your welfare at all.
They only care what it WILL COST THEM [make no mistake they are (or will be) running your life]...to feed you and keep you healthy enough to be ABLE to work - and quiet or CONTENT enough to WANT to.

The "Red Team" is nothing more than a conglomeration of the banks and corporations that want to employ you - hold your money or have you as a "junkie" - consumer who is hooked on their product.

If left to the powers vested in them
BY THE GOP - BY REPUBLICANS
these corporations and banks
under the leadership of the GOP
WILL eventually OWN
and have incredible power
over us all.

Is that what you want?
That IS where this is going.
You are just a deer in the headlights.

The thing that baffles my mind is even though these govenours are turning down this federal money out of principle. The taxpayers in both NJ and FL will still be paying higher federal taxes to pay off the debt the federal gov borrowed for these projects. Sure you may not like the system but turning down federal funds that you'll be paying for anyway is foolish. You can count on any number of states spending this money and trust me it will be spent, the only people i see losing are the taxpayers in FL and NJ.

reply to post by lokdog


It is senseless to turn down the government money only if the your goal is to maintain the status quo. IF, on the other hand, the long-term goal is to quit letting the federals blow money like drunken sailors, then refusing is a first step to ending their control.

This year's episode is part of a much larger trend: curbing the blackmail congress and any president can use on the states. Back in the 1990's, there was a movement to increase the speed limits in the west above 55 mph. In that case, the government threatened to "withhold highway investment" from any state that didn't comply with federal orders about speed limits and drinking ages.

Enough states refused the federal money that the speed limit was raised in the west, even on federally-funded interstate highways.

That struggle marked a turning point in the modern relationship between DC and the several states.

Someone else asked how I'd feel if I was one of the people laid off. I'd feel like it was time to go out and find a real job in another industry, or else I'd go hide out in the university until economic conditions improve. If my only skill was building passenger trains that won't run on time and will be empty, I'd think about going to a technical school as a diesel mechanic or welder, both of which can pay $50 and hour.

reply to post by inforeal


This is part of the Republican strategy to defeat Obama in 2012 at any cost, including the future of the US. They know that Obama will get the blame or credit for whatever the employment situation looks like between now and the 2012 election.

And the Republicans want the unemployment rate to be as high as they can possibly get it, so what Obama gets will be blame.

In the meantime, and subsequently for that matter, the Republicans won't want to spend money on anything that is not a war or corporate welfare for their masters.

And the side-effect benefit to them for further ruining the economy is that in a poor economy, there will be more bodies for their cannon-fodder, as military service looms higher and higher as the only viable income choice for increasing numbers of what were formerly middle-class Americans. Anything to keep the wars going, and continue the padding of their masters' pockets.

reply to post by Open_Minded Skeptic


So, your hope for the economy, for getting america moving again, is....big government make-work projects?

Do you honestly imagine prosperity for all generated by taking tax money and expanding america's rail network?

I mean, sure it's great if you are Chesapeake or Burlington Northern; but how will this create prosperity? The companies and workers that get income will be taking it right out of the federal budget, thereby increasing the debt. And Americans don't currently use rails to travel. Why would they suddenly start? Mass transit loses money in the US because we are so spread out and such a big country. How will it magically be more lucrative than Amtrak is right now?

IF government makework projects are the answer, why not make a million jobs, instead of a few thousands? Why not build some pyramids out in nebraska? That will create trucking jobs moving the stone out there. Why don't we END UNEMPLOYMENT for all time by just having people dig a giant hole under Boston? Oh, we've already got that, and the unemployment rate in Massachussetts is ..... 9%, just like the rest of the country.

Oh, but the gravy train will be different......

Like any other loan or money from the federal government, it would have to be paid back, and ultimately that money comes from somewhere, namely the taxpayer. Perhaps the republican governors are doing what should have been done all along, living within a means and budget, only spending money when it is necessary and not passing the buck to the next generation to make themselves look good. While it may seem like a bad thing that the Governor of Florida turned down the money, the flip side, is that money can be spent else where, such as paying off the national debt, or even keeping the federal government and the country running. While many people are upset, cause of the economy, many of those elected now, are having to clean up the messes made by the person who once sat in that seat, that means in the cases of all of the governors of the different states, it is to clean up the bad decisions made by the prior governors. Reality is that they are having to make hard decisions, and tough choices, cuts have to be made, as the money is not there, there are way too many people out of work, so raising taxes, will not do, nor will continuing on the same track. It boils down to a matter of numbers, and all of them are having to crunch the numbers hard. Unlike you, me, a business, city or county, a state or country can not declare bankruptcy, they have to pay the debts. Many of them are having to figure out how to make ends meet, and the problems in the money area just keeps growing. No one should ever trust a government study as it has been shown that the government picks and chooses their numbers from those reports, and if it does not match their conclusion, then there is political pressure put on the scientist to make it so. This was best seen during the entire climate warming debate. While having a high speed rail may seem like good idea, no where in the article does it show what the costs for repairs, operating or how it would handle a hurricane and the constant upkeep of the line to operate safely on a year to year basis. Make no mistake these are all of the different things that should be looked at. The report did not look or even investigate this, nor did they look at the environmental impact studies, and possible flags that the EPA could come in and shut it down, after all if it endangers an animal, then the entire billions that are spent are lost. So is this a risk to the countries money that is worth it, or is it far better right now to play it safe?

Well,why is Indiana with a Republican Governor gaining jobs and had a surplus and not a deficit?

Why is Texas with a Republican Governor gaining jobs and has a surplus and not a deficit?

Your theory does not even hold water.

Christie laid off state workers because he did not have the budget to pay them.

Florida did not want that STUPID high speed rail system because it would take land and NOT create lasting employment.

That whole thing is a waste that should not proceed.

The ignorance of Obama even understanding that simple fact is even becoming obvious to the most stupid American voter.

He has no real understanding of America or Americans.

Growing up in Hawaii playing basketball and not even coming to the mainland until he was grown it is becoming apparent to even black Americans he does not even know what being a real black American is.

Find the comments Cornell West said about him in the Boston Globe.

I do not like Cornell West because he is a racist but I do know he is one of the smartest men in this country and a very eloquent scholar.

I actually like listening to hear him speak and have listened to his lectures many times.

He said today that Obama is black only in color,and he even vote for him.

The Governors are only doing what the people of their states want them to do.

That is what any person in a position of authority should do if they have any experience of serving the populace.

They remember who put them in the position they are in.

You do not govern for the present, you govern for the future.

That is what all four of the Republican Governors mentioned are trying to do.

And that is what they are trying to do.

A true Democrat. Blame their woes on the GOP because they are too lazy to make their own way. They want everyone else to pay for them. Our country was founded on capitalism. To deny it to work you grind the economy to a halt. Government spending is what got us into this mess to begin with. NAFTA, high gas prices also contributed. Quit blaming everything on the GOP...they were not in control when this started, the liberals were. Hopefully the GOP and Tea partiers in office will make the needed changes.

reply to post by inforeal


Florida had spent about 6 million in 1994-1995 to study and plan for a high speed rail service between Tampa and Orlando and Orlando and Miami. Over six million had gone into engineering, planning, etc.
Imagine being able to fly into Tampa, take a monorail to a high speed rail station and be in Orlando in half an hour.

This rail would have saved:

1. Lives.
The Tampa to Orlando highway Interstate 4 was loaded with tourists, commuters, senior snowbirds and of course all the Semi traffic. It was considered one of the deadliest freeways (going to two lanes in some areas in the 90's) in the US. I have seen 2 horrific deadly wrecks on the two occasions I drove it. Helluva road to put tourists full of families on.

2. Millions in infrastructure costs.
The road was under constant repair because of the massive weight of constant traffic.

And it would have created over 3,000 jobs- permanent jobs. Over double that during the building process. And it would have nearly tripled tourist dollars being spent in the state because of ease of access to all three tourist spots. That also would have brought more jobs.

It was a total win-win-win for everyone. Residents, snowbirds, tourists, businesses.

The only bottom line that would be hurt would be the petroleum companies who had been enjoying the massive profits from all of those millions of single car tourists who had to drive all over hell just to get from one destination to another. The petroleum companies who had damn near single-handedly paid for Jeb Bush election campaign.

And so Jeb Bush threw away 6 million in tax dollars and scrapped the plan as one of his first acts in office as Governor of Florida.

The petroleum companies know the first time we get real high speed rail here - as they do in asia and europe- it will be all over with. People love their trains in other countries. So no more sitting trapped in hours long commutes and traffic jams - and that will cut into the petroleum companies obscene profits.

reply to post by Stratus9


Well said.
To keep to the status quo and us depending on these big oil tycoons is only part of their Grand Ole Plan.
It's too bad that all American's can't see clearly through the murky waters.
American values? please wake up America...