THE REAL LEGACY OF GOVERNOR JEB BUSH!!!

THE REAL LEGACY OF GOVERNOR JEB BUSH!!!

As Governor Jeb Bush prepares to exit he is desperately trying to establish a record of his legacy. Why is there no rebuttal to his view of the downsizing, out sourcing, dissolution of agencies receive little press coverage
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In the Sunday, December 9, 2006 issue of Tallahassee Democrat he is saying that his outsourcing and downsizing has helped the economy of Tallahassee and his total activities has raised Florida's economy and productivity to unprecedented levels!! (Bill Cotterell , Jeb to Tallahassee: You're welcome, Originally published December 10, 2006, Outgoing governor argues his cuts have helped, not hurt, local economy) But there is another truth to his strong slash, burn and bull dose tactic as governor? Further, Jeb Bush did not see it necessary to set in place mechanisms to evaluate the effectiveness of these outsourcing and downsizing of agencies. Results of state audit inconclusive. Bill Cotterell writes, "Three years into Gov. Jeb Bush's massive privatization of agency personnel services and his online state purchasing service, auditors say it's impossible to document taxpayer savings on the ''People First'' contract with Convergys or the MyFloridaMarketPlace system. (Bill Cotterell, 2006 Results of state audit inconclusive, Originally published December 12, 2006)

Can you remember his investment with his family friend "Kenney Boy" Lay with the company Enron. (Joan Claybrookm Florida Gov. Jeb Bush: About You and Enron, February 14, 2002) This $350 million investment of The Florida Retirement Funds was lost quickly and without any explanation or apology from our governor. Kenneth Lay was later convicted of fraud and sentenced to prison. But low and behold Kenneth was reported to have died before he started to serve his lenient sentence. But rumor has it that Kenney boy and Elvis have been spotted on the beaches of Aruba! Well, what is new Kenneth like most CEOs these days, was conducting business in the criminal lane or out-side-the-box so why not expect him to be "laid to rest" out-side-his casket(box) (Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman, The 10 Worst Corporations of 2004, AlterNet,
December 12, 2006, http://www.alternet.org/story/21088/)

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Then how do you convenience yourself that downsizing with the accompanying loss of thousands of jobs in Tallahassee at about $40,000.00 per position has helped the economy. The number of established positions in the state personnel system has fallen by about 12,000 in Bush's second term. He has aggressively pursued "outsourcing" of what Bush terms "noncore" functions of state agencies, such as personnel services and data management, while increasing the use of computers in government. If there were only one thousand jobs lost that would amount to approximately (Tallahassee Democrat, December 10, 2006) $40 Million dollars to the Tallahassee economy. Can you find in Tallahassee any tangible industries that have replaced this level of permanent income with fringe benefits??

Now there is the matter of the caliber of staff hired by the Governor. Immediately after Gov. Jeb Bush took office in 1999, he announced a code of ethics that he said would raise the state Capitol to a higher standard (Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Scandal adds to list of ethics problems among Bush hires, 08, 2006 ) These expectations haven't been met, and perhaps the worst breach of the standards he set can be seen in the following,
--Secretary James Crosby was charged with taking kickbacks from a company that sells snacks to prison visitors.

-- In 1999, Department of Business and Professional Regulations Secretary Cynthia Henderson said "I didn't use my best judgment" after taking an Outback Steakhouse corporate jet to the Kentucky Derby. She was in charge of regulating restaurants, among other businesses.

-- In 2001, The head of the State Technology Office, Roy Cales, resigned after he was arrested and charged with grand theft.

-- In 2003, investigators found former Lottery Secretary David Griffin broke ethics codes by accepting gifts of food from companies doing business with the department.

-- In 2004, Department of Children & Families Services Secretary Jerry Regier resigned after an investigation showed he took favors from contractors.

-- In 2005, Bush fired Elder Affairs Secretary Terry White after a sexual harassment allegations were made against him.

-- In April, Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Guy Tunnell resigned after accusations that he mishandled the investigation into a death at a juvenile boot camp he created when he served as Bay County sheriff.

-- And while not illegal, two former department heads raised eyebrows when they resigned to take jobs with companies they contracted with or regulated.
Former State Technology Office head Kim Bahrami went to work for BearingPoint, a company she awarded a controversial $126 million contract. Former Department of Environmental Protection Secretary David Struhs took a job with International Paper Co. As the department head, Struhs put together a government-financed project designed largely to help bring the company's Pensacola area mill into compliance with pollution standards it had been violating for years.

-- It is impossible to forget the boondoggle on the vote rigging in the 2000 and 2004 Presidential election-not withstanding that these same problems existed during the elections of Jeb Bush in 1997 and 2002!!

-- Overall, it is going to be most difficult to determine the effectiveness of these outsourced agencies and functions because there is no formal group that is assigned to review and over see their performance. However, things such as the deliberately under-reported rise in the deaths of children under the contracted company responsible Department of Children Services is an indication of these agencies services. A scalding report by the governor's chief inspector general has revealed that high-ranking DCF officials handed out fat and dubious contracts to pals and political cronies, and accepted gifts, favors and lodging from outside contractors. Read Carl Hiaasen. Further, with the object of For Profit added to the equation for human services the Correctional System is profoundly more incineration, control, and punishment than human services and rehabilitation!!

-- Let us not forget the infamous Ms. Katherine Harris, who nearly single handed oversaw an election in Florida so which shall go down as one of Americas’ darkest chapters in Democracy. In 2000 Florida's governor Jeb Bush and Secretary of State Katherine Harris are shown to have reigned over a deliberate effort to disenfranchise black voters and Democratic voters and steal the presidency. They did not simply use a "too close to call" election to squeak by, they created the circumstances for it to be close by targeting voters in the state early and often (Jenny Brown , Documentary exposes Jeb Bush administration subversion of elections October 2002 )

-- In the early 2000 TV cameras caught Governor Jeb Bush telling two Black legislators to, "Get their Black Asses out of his office!!" Now this was only shown about two times to my knowledge. So therefore this TV short must be worth big buck to an industrious American capitalist looking for quick mommy. Find a copy and sell it. In addition, while showing his love for Blacks and their problems in 2000 the Governor was caught again when he told a group of FAMU students who were on the capital grounds protesting the rigged election of his brother G. W. Bush to, "Get their Black asses off on the capital grounds and he would not forget this activities. It may seem that the "Black asses" of Black people and "Black Civil Rights" are totally mutable terms.

-- It seems that it is easy to forget the whispers linking Bush to Cynthia Henderson, secretary of the Department of Management Services, had reached something of a fever pitch thanks to an unsourced item on MediaWhores Online, followed by items in the Tallahassee Democrat and a cryptic reference to Bush's "family troubles" in a column by conservative writer Robert Novak. Two other Florida dailies weighed in with stories about the rumor over the weekend. (Anthony York, Jeb Bush denies affair rumors
Florida's g(governor says stories linking him to a Cabinet secretary are "an outright lie." May 14, 2001)

-- The outsourcing of the jails and outer parts of Florida's Criminal Justice System to for profit companies has created a system where the incineration and punishment has become the highest objective and the Rehabilitation of humans has really no place or investment. These for-profit jails are paid by the full beds! In 2005 a young Black boy was killed by about six officers in a "Boot Camp" located in Pensacola Florida while a Nurse looked on. (MITCH STACY, Prosecutor: Blood Disorder Didn't Kill Boy Mar 14, 2005) This crime was not pursued by the state until December 2006. In contrast Jeb Bush has no problem in signing death warrants for prisoners. In fact he made great publicly of the speed at which he executes this responsibility!! Gov. Jeb Bush, has signed the black-bordered documents resulting in 20 executions, the most of any governor since the state resumed capital punishment in 1979. (Associated Press, Crist plans to continue executions, December 11, 2006)

-- Why has the Democratic candidate for governor of Florida decided to not to look the fact that The Republican party and Governor "Jeb" Bush dissolved the Department of Education in Florida. Florida has the fourth largest state education system in the nation and now there is no institution Department of Education. Further, Governor "Jeb" Bush appointed an educationally Challenged "legally blind" person with only the title of Commissioner of Education!! In addition, Governor "Jeb" Bush states in commercials that he is "The Education Governor" although Florida ranks about twenty-fifth in education among states.

Where did the Bush brothers get this bold attitude, this my way or the highway, this uncontrolled flashing temper??

Picture this.: An evening at the dinner table of the Bush family/clan. Bush senior is at the head of the table telling stories of his exploits and conquests. His dream of the "New World Order" where money is the power even more powerful than governments,

"Money has replaced the Kings, Queens, Monarchs, Tyrants, people power. Where the protection of the dollar and infrastructures are move valuable than the protection of collateral damage -people destruction. Today the family is free to make our profits without fear of the government, FBI, CIA, EPA, IRS or Supreme COURT hounding our asses. Yes, we are more powerful than any government!! We now control the voting process with DiBold and procedures of vote counting so well that even Jesus Christ himself can’t beat us in an election any place in the nation!! In the middle of his monologue little G. W. Bush blurts out where is my beer-bring it on!! Someone says the other brother, what's his name has it. Jeb follows with my bed room is off limits just remember that and keep your asses out of my room. Mother Bush says," They are good boys but watch the language. Father Bush responds, " They have to hear this all this some time. They will have to be button men to make their bones and get to be "Made Men" move on to the great "Deciders!!""

So the history of the legacy of our elected officials is going the same way as truth in politics has gone and the Dodo bird. Our children will be forever functioning in official historical misinformation, plain old lies and ignorance!!

Dr. J. Alva Scruggs, BS. Chemistry, MS. Chemistry,
MA. Urban Planning, Doctorate, Education Administration
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