'Don Jeb' makes legislators an offer they can't refuse

[Dirty Hippie]

...

Waking from his slumber, he discovers a gruesome sight: a horse's head, severed and lying next to him. He cries out in terror, "Governor, please forgive me! I will never go against the family again!"

This isn't a scene from the movie "The Godfather," but the political equivalent of it.

...

Florida has a governor and a Legislature with two chambers. Each of these has a responsibility to deliberate policy in the best interest of Florida's citizens. But recent behavior by Florida's godfather ... er, governor ... suggests that his insistence on a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages has less to do with good policy than rewarding his insurance industry contributors and getting even with his enemies. At a recent luncheon in Orlando, the governor claimed that those who represent Floridians in malpractice cases were "the No. 1 interest group in the country that is opposed to the president ... and Republican principles."

Even many Republicans agree that the governor's motives are suspect. Sen. Tom Lee, R-Brandon, said, "It led some of us to believe this is a very personal vendetta for those of us who don't make policy decisions that way."

And Republicans are questioning Bush's strong-arm tactics. Sen. Nancy Argenziano, R-Dunnellon, said, "even though he's in my party, he is not King Jeb the First."


http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/news/opinion/6335656.htm

[teryang]

1. Re: Prince John Ellis Bush

<But it gets worse. The governor's position on medical malpractice is based on erroneous data. Under oath during last week's Senate Judiciary Committee hearings, insurance company president Robert White admitted that Florida is one of his company's most profitable states, and would remain profitable even without caps on noneconomic damages. He also conceded that, due to statutes enacted in 1988, frivolous lawsuits in Florida are a thing of the past. White's sworn testimony is in stark contrast to the insurance industry's cries that frivolous lawsuits are driving them out of business.>