The Whore Of Babylon... Florida?

Florida's 3-headed dog of dysfunction & corruption

Maybe they figured with all the heat on the execrable Governor Rick Scott and his own detested clown show, Florida voters wouldn't notice if the legislature did something as bad as anything the fake parliaments in Egypt, Tunisia or Libya ever did. Really. Howard Troxler explained in the Miami Herald how the Florida legislature just disgraced itself beyond repair, actually legalizing bribery even beyond the pretense of innocence that shrouds it in most of the rest of the states-- as well as nationally.

Originally passed in 2010, the Florida Bribe Your Legslator Bill, was vetoed by increasingly popular then-Governor Charlie Crist. Now that they've got one of their own with the signing pen, they went for it again:

There is no state, no nation, no planet and no universe where it should be legal to pay off a Legislature directly.

There is no government in which a sworn lawmaker should be able to take unlimited payoffs from those seeking favorable treatment.

And yet this is now precisely the law of Florida.

In an earlier column I called the Florida Legislature “the Whore of Babylon” for passing a law last week that legalizes its own bribery.

But the topic cries out not to be forgotten-- because this is a turning point in the state of Florida’s history.

It is now legal in Florida for the leaders of our House and Senate, of both the Republican and Democratic parties, to operate what are laughably called “leadership funds.”

If you are an interest group in Florida, a corporation, a lobbyist seeking favor, you go to these “leadership” funds run by lawmakers.

And you pay them.

They will launder the money into local elections around the state, to keep electing more obedient followers.

This is so astonishing a corruption that it defies belief.

And Florida state legislative leaders Mike Haridopolos and Adam Hasner want to run against U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, who isn't very popular or well liked but absolutely kicks their asses.