By Jerry Waxman

There’s something different happening in the State of Florida, something unique. After almost thirteen years of Republican rule (certainly not governance) ordinary Floridians, you know, the people that our governors and legislators refer to as “The taxpayers” that they claim to represent are beginning to awaken from their corporately induced stupor to the realization that something is very wrong in this state. After Rick Scott’s inauguration (for which he invested $73,000,000.00 in his election) groups like Progress Florida, Florida Watch Action and America votes (just to name a few) started up a Facebook page called Awake the State which quickly grew in large numbers to people across the state. If Rick Scott invested that kind of money in his election, it’s because as a CEO he expects a good return on his investment. He doesn’t give a damn about ordinary people-only what their tax money can do for him. Anyone want to bet that Scott leaves office at least $100,000,000.00 richer than the day he took the oath? That’s what CEOs care about.

A March 8 date was set for rallies throughout the state to protest Rick Scott’s and his veto proof majority’s budget cutting agenda. On their Facebook pages there were over 30 rallies scheduled and probably a few more that did not make the pages. Reports of large crowds started to filter in from across the state, not just in the major cities but in the outlying and rural districts as well. The message was clear:  “Your actions are hurting all but the wealthiest Floridians.  We deserve better”! Reports of 100 or 200 and more people came from counties not necessarily known for their progressive views. Osceola County reported a crowd of over 120 people which is a huge number. In perspective that’s like filling the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day. The health care rallies of 2009 paled by comparison. In Orlando there was definitely a shift in the atmosphere. There was something real, something palpable and visceral about what was happening. It evoked memories from the first season of Miami Vice, with Don Johnson tearing through the Miami streets in his replica Ferrari Daytona Spyder 365 GTS with Phil Collins’s mysterioso hit In the Air Tonight playing as background music.

The Orlando rally was organized early on and a crowd of over 300 marchers started out at 4:30 PM from the IBEW hall and marched to the Orlando Chamber of Commerce, about a mile away. There was a crowd of at least 200 waiting for them when they arrived led by bagpipers to the tune of God Bless America. By the time the rally was in full swing there were well over 600 people taking part; ordinary people from all walks of life, not just public employees but small merchants, lawyers, doctors, regular working people, or, again, as our politicians like to call them, “The Taxpayers,” the people they claim to represent.  The Orlando sentinel actually covered the event and gave it a small amount of front page space, which is more than they did for what is going on in Wisconsin. Sentinel political columnist Scott Maxwell (of Jeopardy fame) wrote favorably on the rally in his Wednesday column in section B.

Denise Diaz of Jobs With Justice acted as host for the event, introducing several speakers, including ex congressman from Orlando, Alan Grayson, who said that Florida is going to look more like Somalia than a state in our union. Grayson was well received with huge cheers by the crowd before, during and after his speech. Isabel Chipungu, a teacher at Ocoee Elementary school and an avowed conservative gave an impassioned speech defending teachers. Wayne Bernoska, an Orlando fire fighter/paramedic spoke solidly in favor of standing up to Republican politicians. Adding a little humor to the proceedings Bernoska added that the Tea Party rally in Tallahassee was rained on and they blamed all of the assembled for it. Gracie Fowler, a young single mother who is graduating college this year spoke up about the much needed public parks for her children to play in. Host Diaz agreed citing that the Chamber of Commerce, which pays no taxes, has a nice clean well maintained park next door, yet the neighborhoods where people do pay taxes have poorly maintained parks, some of which may close due to budget cuts. By far, the most dramatic speaker was Antonio Austin who is severely handicapped. This is not an easy video to watch, but it is extremely rewarding to hear Austin’s struggle to lead a normal life. Budget cuts would severely limit his ability to function.

The rally broke up around 6:30 PM and everyone left in an orderly fashion. Most of the union heads attending stated that this is only the first of many demonstrations throughout the state. The next big demonstration planned is for April 7. Several community activists in attendance said that there is a real charged energy in the air that they haven’t felt since the 2008 election.  The key to success is to keep that energy going. After all, “The Taxpayers” deserve nothing less. On March 8 the people started to wake up. Let’s see what happens when they’re fully awake.

By Jerry Waxman

At 5:15 PM on March 7 the Orange County Florida CTA president, Mike Cahill opened his hastily put together rally with those words, referring to the Florida Legislature opening session on March 8. Today’s rally was a precursor to a statewide “Awake The State” series of demonstrations taking place that day to protest the Legislature’s and Governor Rick Scott’s draconian budget measures for the next fiscal year. Today’s rally at CTA’s headquarters was strictly about the difficulties that teachers and their unions all over the state will face.

“They told us that this was about the children yet they cut $700.00 per child out of the budget for this year” said Cahill. He added that Florida teachers on average are paid $9000.00 less than the national average. “They’re going the wrong way!” Cahill concluded with a call for everyone to support the Wisconsin unions and 14 senators who are challenging the governor and legislature in that state.

Other speakers included Grace Cabrera who told the crowd “We proved them wrong on SB 6 last year and we must do it again” referring to Governor Crist’s veto of last year’s controversial teacher evaluation bill. Crist vetoed the bill after pressure from both teacher and community groups. Barbara Wright stressed the point that testing is not teaching and that students need caring qualified teachers to help them achieve their maximum potential, and that legislators in Tallahassee are far more responsible for student failures than teachers are. Referring to SB 736, this year’s version of SB 6 Wright said “What they call their staff research is pure propaganda”.

Legislators were challenged by Jennifer Summers to spend one week in a classroom to see what teachers are up against. She surmised that none of them could handle it, yet they want to control what teachers do. Retired teacher Ulysses Floyd wondered if these legislators were paying any attention when they were students in his and other retired teachers’ classes. “What did we do wrong?” he said, referring to their complete lack of understanding of what schools need.

Chris Shirk cited a recent Vanderbilt University study among others that show merit pay for teachers just doesn’t work even when the stakes are as high as $15,000.00 per teacher, yet these studies are disregarded in the legislature. She also cited USDE statistics that show no changes in student gains because of testing, but the legislature pays no attention. CTA VP Diana Moore explained that teacher pensions are actually deferred compensation for work that has already been performed in lieu of salary. Elton Wright brought the crowd to its feet by citing the phrase “more perfect union” from the preamble to the US Constitution, by asking legislators “Why are you trying to tear down this union?”

Tomorrow the CTA will be one of many Central Florida unions that will be demonstrating their solidarity at the Awake the State rally at the Orlando Chamber of Commerce in Senator Beth Johnson Park 59 South Ivanhoe Blvd. The rally begins at 5:30 PM.

By Jerry Waxman

“Nah, he’s a toon. You can drop anything you want on his head, he’ll shake it off.”

Those were the words spoken by R.K. Maroon, the studio head in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.? This is exactly the feeling I’m getting, not just from the goings on in Wisconsin, but in too many states where the same mantra is being played out by Republicans as well as in the U.S. House of Representatives. I feel we’re living in a cartoon world where you can substitute people like Scott Walker or Chris Christie for Judge Doom using funding and weapons from The Koch Brothers (Substitutes for Marvin Acme) to get rid of the toons and Toon Town for their own greedy purposes.

What has been happening is that ordinary citizens have been getting together to push back on these villainous types, but they are resilient and they never stop coming back at you. We need a bunch of our own rapid response people to meet these challenges.  Let’s go back to that old 1980’s TV series The A-Team, basically a live action cartoon, which in its first season was loads of fun to watch. They were four renegade former military special ops misfits with various and sundry skills who are pitted against the bad guys at least twice in each episode.  In their first encounter they completely defeat the half dozen or so bad guys with a force that would at least break bones or cause concussions. Cars and buildings blow up and all sorts of mayhem happens, yet fifteen minutes later they’re at it again sans bruises or bandages. More mayhem and at the end of each episode the bad guys and their bosses are sent off to jail, at least until the next episode begins.

This is a formula which has worked well for at least a thousand years. The whole Robin Hood legend is a fiction that was generated during the reign of Richard the Lion Hearted. Richard himself was a valiant warrior who spent hardly any time in England and actually spoke very little English. Every society had their legends as well. Cervantes publication of Don Quixote was a push back against governmental abuse, and of course in Mexico and Southern California we have the still popular legend of Zorro. In the twentieth century popular newspaper serial cartoons featuring Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon eventually became movie serials. Rogers and Gordon were constantly fighting Killer Kane and Ming the Merciless whose sole aims were galaxy and universal domination. Let’s not forget that the nineteenth century detective Sherlock Holmes was always struggling to defeat his arch nemesis Professor Moriarty.

Cartoons and the cartoon mentality have become part of our culture. Who can forget the newsreel photos of Mayor LaGuardia reading the comic pages to New York’s children during the 1945 newspaper strike? My generation grew up on them. In Philadelphia back in the 1950’s when we went to the Saturday matinees our heroes were (in no particular order) Popeye, Woody Woodpecker, Mighty Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Daffy Duck, Tweety Bird, Road Runner  and lots of others. They also had their nemeses (again in no particular order) Bluto (also known as Brutus), Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Marvin the Martian, Black Pete, Sylvester the cat, Wile E. Coyote et al. Each week one of these characters would be facing their arch foe and would narrowly pluck out a victory after some very frantic and violent escapades in which the villain gets clobbered by dynamite or an anvil or falling off a cliff, yet in the next frame they’re back at their pursuits. Those cartoons are still running on cable television. The local CBS affiliate featured a puppet named Willie the Worm who featured Farmer Alfalfa and Toonerville Trolley cartoons from the silent era with Willie’s narration. The local NBC affiliate had a commercial artist named “Chuckwagon” Pete (father of actor Peter Boyle) who introduced us to cartoons as well as Hopalong Cassidy, John Wayne, Hoot Gibson, Tom Mix and Bob Steele westerns on Frontier Playhouse. Those westerns were basically live action cartoon variations on the Robin Hood legend. In the mid fifties we were introduced to the Mouseketeers. Warner Bros and Walter Lantz quickly followed suit with shows of their own.

In 1957 Hanna Barbera introduced Huckleberry Hound and a whole host of characters including Yogi Bear. Most of the character voices and actions lampooned personalities of the day. Jay Ward took it a step further in 1959 when he introduced Rocket J Squirrel and Bullwinkle the Moose who caused a sensation fighting the evil Boris Badenov, Natasha and Fearless Leader. Ward added satire to the mix which came at the height of the Cold War. He also introduced Mr. Peabody and his boy, Sherman, Dudley Do Right, George of the Jungle and reinvigorated Edward Everett Horton’s career. Hanna Barbera quickly responded with two satiric series of their own: The Flintstones and The Jetsons. Cartoon characters were used in many commercials, notably Bert and Harry Piel for Piel’s Beer.  You have to go some to remember Crusader Rabbit and his companion, Rags the Tiger, or Johnny Quest, but they were all part of our growing up. In the 60’s Japanese animation brought us Speed Racer, Astro Boy and Gigantor. Who can forget Josie and the Pussycats or Scooby-Doo? William Windom starred in a series called My World and Welcome to it based on the stories and cartoons of James Thurber. Many people today still buy newspapers mainly for the comic section. God forbid they should miss reading Doonesbury or Dilbert or Blondie or Beetle Bailey. Even eleven years after his death Charles Schulz Peanuts is still a highly popular comic strip. Lest we forget, I haven’t even mentioned Dr. Seuss and his impact on children, or any of Walt Disney’s animated full length movies, which my three year old granddaughter adores. Superman, Batman, Green Hornet, Wonder Woman, Spider Man and The Hulk had their own series on TV. Superman, Batman, and Spiderman became movie franchises along with scores of other superheroes that got their start on the comic pages of newspapers or in comic books. When we became adults we never quite gave up the altruistic goodness of our heroes, nor the dastardly deeds of their arch foes. So, it might be a good exercise to view today’s politicians through a cartoon character’s lens.

Just imagine that today’s generic Republican politician is a combination of Snidely Whiplash, The Brain and Judge Doom. Compare that to the generic Democratic mix of Dudley Do Right and Ferdinand the Bull. Outrageous?  I don’t think so. Just take a look at today’s senators and reps and see for yourselves. We know what the Republicans are about, but what are the Democrats about? It’s okay to be well intentioned but it is NOT okay to be inept and impotent in the way you handle it, which is why the Democrats took such a bad beating in November. Our A Team needs to be Bugs Bunny to their Elmer Fudd, Popeye to their Bluto or Rocky to their Boris. The people of Wisconsin need our A Team more than ever in their valiant fight to beat back the regressive forces of Snidely Whiplash and company. This is not a time to shy away from the fight because they are not going to stop. After all, they’re drawn that way (I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist it.) There is no choice here-we either beat them or we get The Dip.

By Jerry Waxman

The real drama being played out in Wisconsin and Indiana, and several states to come has been in the planning stages for decades. As long as the economy had the illusion of being healthy and politics had not yet degenerated to the radical ends it now occupies, we were not aware of it being more than just a loony fringe faction. FDR had the luxury that President Obama has never enjoyed; he had more than three years of the Great Depression to welcome him into the White House, which made passage of his economic reforms easier in a country in much more desperate shape. Many of those reforms formed the safety net we still enjoy that kept us from similar devastation. That era also marked the rise of the labor unions and the Great American Middle Class.

Many wealthy and powerful people tried to overthrow the Roosevelt Administration, Including Prescott Bush (father of GHWB and Grandfather of GWB), the Du Ponts and others. It is possible that they could have succeeded but their plans were thwarted by Marine Corps General Smedley Butler who had actually been approached to lead the rebellion. Butler blew the whistle and took a lot of ridicule for it, yet a congressional committee accepted Butler’s report and claimed the charges to be accurate however, no action was ever taken.

World War II brought almost full employment either in uniform or in defense plants and after the war the greatest period of expansion and prosperity in American history went forward well into the 1980’s. People like the Du Pont and Bush families were always against New Deal Politics and never forgot what happened in 1934, and along the way gathered other wealthy and powerful allies. The conservatives in congress passed the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947 (over President Truman’s veto) which limited the unions’ striking power. The first signs of social unrest happened with Earl Warren’s appointment to the Supreme Court as Chief Justice. President Eisenhower appointed him in 1953 and shortly afterward the Warren Court handed down a series of progressive decisions that no one expected from Earl Warren. Most notable was the groundbreaking Brown v Board of Education in 1954 which ended segregation in the public schools, but was also the launching pad for the ultra conservative movement.

Within one year Professor Milton Friedman of the University of Chicago was not only espousing his supply side economic theories, he was also advocating school choice and school vouchers. Historically, the John Birch Society was founded in 1958, but founder Robert Welch and another founding member, Fred Koch had been fighting against the kind of social justice and commercial regulation that was happening in this country as we enjoyed our great prosperity. Once the John Birch Society was formed it immediately went to work against our participation in the UN, fighting communism, working against civil rights as well as asking the congress to impeach Earl Warren. Both Welch and Koch were successful businessmen with highly conservative views. Welch made his money in the candy business, his greatest marketing success being the “Sugar Daddy”. Koch was a chemical engineer who had the entrepreneurial spirit to build his own refineries. Because of certain domestic conflicts Koch decided to work in Russia and several other countries during the 1930’s. When he returned to the US his company finally became Koch Industries.  His experiences with Russia and Stalin made him a staunch anti-communist.

The John Birch Society was considered way too radical for mainstream Republicans of the time, and they were denounced regularly by top conservatives led by William Buckley. They worked mainly under the radar for many years but the next opportunity came in 1964 when Barry Goldwater’s “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice” speech gave them the impetus to set up a framework for establishing “Think Tanks” which would foster the conservative point of view to a place of prominence. These men had the money and the resolve and the patience necessary to grow the movement, in small incremental steps. Along the way they picked up other allies like Richard Mellon Scaife and Joe Coors who likewise funded their share of conservative think tanks. At this point in history David Koch became president of Koch Industries following the retirement of his father in 1966. Koch and his brother Charles were raised on the principles which they still espouse.

Add to this mixture a Virginia tobacco lawyer named Lewis Powell. Although he personally was not involved in Brown v Board of Education, his firm represented some Virginia districts that came under the umbrella of the Brown case. Being essentially a tobacco lobbyist Powell was very familiar with the workings of the legal system dealing with governments and their regulating agencies. Two months prior to Richard Nixon nominating him to the Supreme Court in 1971 he issued what has become known as the “Powell Memorandum” (also known as the Powell Manifesto) which is the founding document for the current conservative movement, to the US Chamber of Commerce. The Memorandum attacked recent government regulations and showed how to lobby against them. It called for corporations to get active politically to fight for lower taxes, less regulation as well as attacking public education and union involvement in politics. The Powell memorandum showed the Chamber what steps it could take in shaping public opinion.

It didn’t happen overnight, but by 1980 all the elements were in place for Ronald Reagan’s election to the presidency. Many of Milton Friedman’s radical economic policies were starting to take hold. Jimmy Carter gave the impression of being weak and the Iranian hostage crisis was not going well. It was Carter’s undoing. Once Reagan became president he started putting much of Powell’s suggestions to work, as well as giving Friedman’s destructive policies legitimacy. Reagan, citing Carter’s weaker points drove home the idea that Government was too big and didn’t work well. The statements were untrue but Reagan framed his argument well and nobody on the left did anything serious to challenge him.

Reagan had had a checkered career, actually starting out as a staunch supporter of FDR and the New Deal. That started to change, however, after WW II and especially after his being elected as president of the Screen Actors Guild. Lew Wasserman, president of MCA and Hollywood’s biggest power broker, saw something in Reagan other than his mediocre acting talents because he became Reagan’s personal agent and kept him alive during his declining acting years. Wasserman basically engineered the SAG election because he needed a compliant accomplice in building his entertainment empire. During the Red Scare Reagan testified in front of HUAC, named names and as SAG president never lifted a finger to defend any of his members. He also as president of SAG sold out his members on several occasions, most notably the “Great Giveaway” which denied residuals to actors on any films produced before 1960. Reagan also sold out his union when AFTRA was formed resulting in a much weaker union, a real benefit to MCA which owned Revue Productions, a major TV producer of series and sitcoms. Wasserman rewarded him by making him host of The General Electric Theater at a base salary of $125,000.00 per year plus other perks. During his tenure as SAG president he bent and stretched the rules blatantly in favor of his corporate masters. Sag was named a co-conspirator in the 1962 Justice Dept investigation of MCA due to Reagan’s rules violations.  When the Federal Government forced the MCA breakup Reagan avoided prosecution as part of the deal, but the experience changed him to become a small government Republican, mentored by ex MCA and GE executives. Reagan’s complete capitulation to Wasserman served him well in his political career and helped him win his bid for Governor of California in 1966. Once he became president it was time for his real trickery. By now all of the right wing think tankers and funders had gotten his ear and he took full advantage of it. The time line between the relative wealth of the middle class now and then starts with his election. His firing of the PATCO air traffic controllers set the stage for the coming assault on unions over the next 30 years.

If you check the rise of the corporate oligarchy in this country this is where it also begins. In the 1970’s and early 1980’s there was still a vibrant textile and garment industry in this country. Garment manufacturers were major employers in the large cities and since the Triangle Fire in 1911 they were for the most part unionized by either the Amalgamated Clothing Workers or the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. In cities like Philadelphia the garment industry was the second largest employer in the city. As manufacturers looked for cheaper labor they moved south taking advantage of local communities tax breaks. The unions followed and there was a large participation although not as complete as in the north. For many years ownership management and labor got along, working out their problems together. The proliferation of the automobile fostered the UAW and as an off-shoot the Teamsters. The Longshoremen, Steelworkers Railroad Workers and lots of other unions proliferated. Of course, there were also problems with certain unions and their organized crime affiliations. Jimmy Hoffa became a household name as a symbol of union corruption. The United Mine Workers were also plagued with corruption. United Mine Workers President, W.A.”Tony” Boyle, was eventually convicted of the 1969 murder of his arch rival Jock Yablonski and his wife and daughter during a bitter campaign. For all the good the UMW did in its history this was a terrible black mark. Union membership is at an all time low because of all the job losses in these industries due to the lack of an industrial base. Careers that used to be in this country are now in emerging third world countries, careers that used to raise families here.

Public employee unions gained prominence starting in the late 50’s when Mayor Wagner of New York allowed them to organize. JFK expanded that to federal employees and today public employee unions outnumber their private counterparts. Conservatives in general would love to see the end of unions altogether but specifically the end of public employee unions. Their arguments always state that government can’t afford them and it is always about the money they cost. That doesn’t make a lot of sense, since all unions ask for is a negotiated fair share. Unions have no say in any management decisions. They do not create or implement policy. Basically public employee union members do what they are told to do. In many cases they sacrifice money that they could make in the private sector for the job and pension security of working for the people. Retirement pension is actually deferred compensation for that which they have already earned. If there is a financial crisis it was caused by their employers, the politicians who passed bad financial laws, or didn’t invest in infrastructure, or used public money to finance private sports complexes, or lowered taxes on people who don’t deserve those breaks, or put us into two financially draining meaningless wars, or didn’t prosecute Wall Street thieves, etc….etc…..etc. Another bad argument is that public unions are unnecessary since those employees work for the public. They may be public employees, but so are their bosses and elected officials who in an ideal world may treat them fairly, but this is not an ideal world. Who protects a teacher from a bad principal or school administrator? Who protects any employee from unfair discrimination by a superior?  No one in that chain of command would dare. Only a union can protect a rank and file employee from administrative abuse.

So, this brings us to the present. The title of this essay is actually a pun of the very successful 1963 slogan for Coca Cola. When we refer to the Kochs from here on we’re referring to all the conservative billionaires (including Rupert Murdoch) the same way we would refer to Kleenex as all tissues. We’re all well aware that the purpose of Scott Walker’s initiative is to break the power of and neutralize public employee unions, and that this would also be the beginning of the end of any union’s ability to spend money on Democratic candidates. It would also allow the systematic rape of the state’s assets for the benefit of people like the Kochs, who could purchase at bargain prices any utility and charge dearly for the service.The kind of money that the Kochs have through their various PACs, foundations and such is so enormous that there’s no way the average citizen or combined strength of all the unions can come even close, so how do we counter?

It is happening in Madison right now. It’s not an infection; it’s a spirit and it needs to embrace every one of us. If we all don’t stand up for Wisconsin’s brave senators and public employees now there may never be another time. Pastor Martin Niemoller spoke of it in his famous “First They Came” statement about Nazi Germany where because he failed to act and speak out about the persecution of Communists, Trade Unionists and Jews there was no one left to speak out when they came for him. This is the time to break Scott Walker and absolutely no mercy should be shown. The twelve senators, whom Walker is vilifying for not doing their jobs, are doing precisely that. They owe him nothing. They represent constituents in their individual districts who so far have supported them. They must stand firm and not give an inch and we must support them in this.

Another way to support them is to boycott any products made by Georgia Pacific, a flagship industry of Koch Industries. GP markets paper products in every supermarket under brands Brawny, Angel Soft, Quilted Northern, Dixie Cups, Sparkle, Vanity Fair and Mardi Gras. GP papers are in ever office supply store, but there are other brands you can buy. At Home Depot and Lowe’s GP is a major supplier of plywoods, but you can tell the store managers that you would prefer someone else’s products. If we do that with enough supermarkets and home improvement stores they might make some changes. We can’t possibly put GP out of business but it is one way we can voice our displeasure, and if enough of us do it their P&L statements will reflect that.

We must be as staunch and resolute in our opposition to these policies, to these tactics and strategies as they are in promoting them. There are many millions of us against relatively few of them. If we stand together and back the people of Wisconsin we will win this first battle in breaking the power of their money. There will be other battles in other states and we must be ready to fight them, but if we beat them in Wisconsin we’ll win everywhere. If there is to be a bitter pill to be taken, then it’s time for the Kochs to take it.

By

Jerry Waxman

Jeff                 “I’ve made a haul in all the mortgage rackets, from which rip-roaring rich I happen to be.

                        I’ll create jobs in all the income brackets. Vote for me, vote for me, vote for me…….”

Marco             “My purse has yet to know a silver lining. My credit card will fix that just wait and see.

                        I’m in foreclosure but I’ll not be whining. Vote for me, vote for me, vote for me…….”

Charlie           “A mediocre white haired politician, with no distinguished record for you to see.

                        My marriage gave a goose to my position. Vote for me, vote for me, vote for me….”

I can’t help it. Cole Porter’s wickedly witty Tom, Dick and Harry from his musical, Kiss Me Kate, always comes to mind when The Silly Season takes over and candidates come a’ courting. On any given day candidates are appearing at Hob Nobs, PAC meetings, religious services Chamber of Commerce events, homeowner associations and professional association meetings. They are hosting fund raising parties in local restaurants, bowling alleys, house parties and charter boats. Some run legitimate campaigns and some become more outrageous with each new day. I call it The Silly Season but it is dead serious business, and the future of Florida lies in the balance.

There’s no sillier matchup in the Governor’s race than the one between Bill McCollum and Rick Scott to see who can be more macho. Neither of them have a stellar record to run on. Scott is a member of that new political phenomenon of super wealthy individuals who think they know how to run the government because they achieved a measure of success in business. McCollum made his reputation by exploiting wedge and divisive issues without tackling any of Florida’s real problems. McCollum is a known political quantity and Scott isn’t, however Scott’s company and several of his executives were prosecuted in the largest Medicare fraud ever. Scott wasn’t implicated, but you have to wonder that as CEO if a fraud that large escaped his attention how is he ever going to handle that Tallahassee mob? Why should the public trust a guy who didn’t know what was going on in his own company?

Most of the buzz in Florida’s US Senate race is concentrated on Marco Rubio and Charlie Crist, but the more interesting race is for the Democratic Party’s nominee between Kendrick Meek and Jeff Greene. Both men claim to be progressive and they are from two different backgrounds. Meek’s Mother, Carrie Meek, was an educator who came to Miami in 1961 to assist in the desegregation of Miami-Dade Community College. Her community activism led her into politics and in 1978 she was elected to the Florida House of Representatives. She became a state senator in 1982 and in 1992 she was elected to congress as the first African American from Florida since Reconstruction.

Kendrick Meek was born in Miami and graduated from Florida A&M. He joined the Florida Highway Patrol and eventually became the first African American captain on the force. Up until this time Meek has run almost unopposed for every elective office, however, he has a solid record of legislative accomplishment. He doesn’t boast about his record either-he leaves that to his wife, Leslie, who constantly regales audiences about his classic sit-in with Jeb Bush over Bush’s efforts to do away with Affirmative Action and substitute his One Florida Initiative (by executive Order). Meek and another legislator, Tony Hill, actually forced Bush’s hand and stood him down-the only legislators to do so. Meek also was the driving force behind the Florida Class size amendment, amassing more than 500,000 signatures to get it on the 2002 ballot. The full effect of the amendment will be activated this year.

To hear the Florida Democratic establishment talk of Jeff Greene one would think he was Benedict Arnold, Simon Legree, Boris Badenov, Torquemada, Filthy McNasty and Mr. Applegate all rolled into one entity. Greene has had a credibility and ethics problem because of his past lifestyle and investment portfolio. He ran for office as a Republican in California. Greene’s people refute this, citing that as a private citizen he has the right to associate with whomever he pleases and that none of his investments were illegal, immoral or unethical despite the Democrats allegations about profiting on the backs of unfortunate people. Green himself states that his investments were a hedge to protect his business from the impending real estate bubble. “I never imagined that it would go so far” said Greene. Greene also says that his flirtation with being a Republican was almost thirty years ago and mostly due to his youthful naivete’.

His parents were Democrats from New England and moved to Florida in 1970 as the New England Textile industry started to decline and his father’s business failed. His mother is still a Palm Beach County resident. Greene helped support himself through various menial jobs at area hotels like The Breakers in Palm Beach. His higher education includes Johns Hopkins and Harvard Business School. Greene built a successful real estate business in California and was wealthy prior to the housing and foreclosure crisis. He was a lifelong bachelor until he wed in 2007. He and his wife, Mei Sze, have an infant son, Malcolm, who is almost eleven months old.

The race is causing consternation in Central Florida Democratic circles. Greene has the money to hire people and some early Meek supporters are now on the Greene Payroll. The Greene people are being treated like pariahs at Democratic functions, yet they gamely show up and at times are not allowed to speak up for their candidate. Meek has the solid support of the Central Florida labor unions and Democratic clubs, yet Greene continues to make inroads through his targeted advertising and mass mailings. The Tallahassee Democrat actually endorsed Greene over Meek citing Greene for his “edge and an energy that make him want to push beyond the usual talking points”, remarking, “We like the toughness he would bring to the office.”  On the stump Greene is personable, relaxed and willing to submit to tough questioning. He did make a recent gaffe regarding his trip that ended up in Cuba, however in subsequent meetings with the press he explained his misspeaking satisfactorily.

The two candidates are very close on most of the issues. When asked by reporters last week at the Beardall Senior Center in Orlando Greene replied that he and Meek are both Democrats and that they should be close on them. He continues to claim that Meek is a failed career politician, which is an unfair statement as Meek has never lost an election and has an extremely progressive voting record and is as tough a fighter as the Democrats have in Congress. Meek sees his career as one of a public servant and not a politician. His supporters agree with this assessment. Meek has started to fight back citing Green’s questionable real estate deals in California, and his twisting of the facts about Meek’s mother’s consulting rewards. The negativity serves neither of them well. Both men have strong enough assets to campaign on their merits alone. Both are likeable and engaging and they both have strong ideas. Meek’s campaign is more people oriented, while Greene focuses on economic issues and job creation. If either candidate has any stump weakness it is that Greene doesn’t spend enough time on people issues and Meek doesn’t spend enough time on economic and job issues. Greene consented to a short interview in which he attempted to outline the way he would create jobs. He admits that government must play a role in helping the process.

Greene has the kind of drive it takes to both get known and influence people. He claims that he cannot be bought by any special interest and that he will change the way business is done in Washington. That is ambitious, yet way too optimistic. As a freshman senator he’s low man on the totem pole and if the Establishment Democrats hold any grudge he’s not going to get any choice committee assignments. His best option would be to use his money and start his own lobbying firm to influence every other politician. That could change things, except that’s becoming what he says he’s against. Meek, on the other hand, despite his solid record of progressive legislation has a name recognition factor among Democrats. His victory over Jeb Bush and the class size amendment alone should have made him a household name in Florida. His historic petition drive (over 112,000 signatures statewide) to get on the ballot is the first time in Florida history that anyone has qualified in that manner. It would have been a lot cheaper to just pay the qualifying fee but Meek is determined to stay grass roots and identify with the people, and that’s how he runs his campaign.

On Tuesday, August 10 Meek and Greene met for another debate in Orlando. The taping took place at 2:00 PM for later broadcast throughout the state. The press room was full of reporters from all over the state. The result was more of the same. More time was spent attacking each other or defending themselves that the issues were left out to dry. Greene kept hammering away at Meek, blaming him as the personification of a Washington establishment that doesn’t work. Meek kept referring to Greene’s past colorful relationships and allegedly questionable real estate transactions. Staff members on both sides claimed victory, with Greene’s staffers actually handing out victory press releases before the debate was over. The only loser in this debate is the voting public, who, once again, has been denied a robust debate on the real issues and could wind up electing any Tom, Harry or Dick.

By

Jerry Waxman

All during the mid 1960’s through the early 1970’s life was pretty carefree in this country. We had a thriving economy and the Cold War kept our military machinery humming right along. Our investment in NASA was paying off handsomely and our exports were outperforming our imports. Occasionally there were protests about Vietnam or nuclear weapons though they were not given serious treatment until the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago.  We thrilled at Israel’s victories because we had both Saudi Arabia and Iran in our back pockets and nobody else in the Middle East mattered. We twenty-somethings had graduated high school and college during the conformist years of the Eisenhower Administration and on into the Camelot years of JFK.  We knew all about “Duck and Cover”, teenage drinking, R&B, The Blackboard Jungle and other cultural things because we had experienced it firsthand. Sputnik was launched when I was in 10^th grade. Francis Gary Powers U-2 spy plane was shot down when I was a senior. In college we witnessed The Berlin Wall, The Bay of Pigs fiasco and The Cuban Missile Crisis. If we couldn’t avoid the draft we joined the Reserves or the National Guard.

None of this made a huge impact on my crowd. It was just Cold War business as usual. We were all working and making (for that time) good money. On the summer weekends we travelled to Atlantic City and nearby environs (Somers Point, NJ a la “Eddie and the Cruisers”) for lots of fun in the sun. The Harlem Club on Kentucky Avenue in Atlantic City was the midnight starting point of our revelry which ended at around 7:00 AM at the Dunes in Somers Point. In between there were lots of other bars. If we were hungry (and sober) enough it was back to The Harlem Club for its Breakfast Show. Drummer Chris Columbo’s quintet was the popular band and drew the biggest crowd. The one number that drove the crowd wild was the Len Barry and the Dovells hit “You Can’t Sit Down”, which Columbo retitled NAACP (this was during the height of the Civil Rights movement). In this case the acronym was not for the organization; Columbo explained, it stood for “Never Antagonize Adam Clayton Powell”.

Okay, it’s a long prologue but I think you might be getting the point. Powell was the charismatic and controversial US Congressman from New York City whose district included Harlem. He was first elected to congress in 1944 and served until 1970 with a little time off for being expelled. He became chairman of the powerful Education and Labor Committee and used his power to enact social legislation in large numbers. In one legislative session alone he steered 50 bills out of committee to final passage. This was during JFK’s New Frontier and LBJ’s Great Society days. He was a force to be dealt with.

He was expelled from congress in March 1967 for allegations of corruption. Not to be taken lightly he won reelection in 1968. He did pay a fine and he lost his seniority but he was reseated in congress and he is still regarded as a hero in New York. I could give you dozens of footnotes on him and his career but I’m not going to. Your homework is to research him yourself. His declining health after 1968 affected his attendance and in 1970 he was no longer the force he had been. He lost in the primary to a Korean War veteran named Charles Rangel.

No matter what congress did to Powell he ultimately prevailed. The same will happen with Rangel. If he chooses to run again he will win because he’s loved in his district and he’s still an effective legislator. Over a forty year period there’s bound to be several incidents in his career that could be questionable, and yes they should be fully investigated. Charlie Rangel will ultimately come out on top, and the members of the House need to be reminded of Adam Clayton Powell’s legacy because it will surely come back to haunt them.

All of a sudden prominent conservatives like William Kristol and Mitch McConnell are advising their minions to keep quiet about this and let the process wind its way to completion. They know that their side has a much more serious ethics problem and they surely don’t want to completely open that Pandora’s Box.

By Jerry Waxman

as reported to The Huffington Post

“….I had that feeling of self pity…..what to do, what to do, what to do…The outlook was decidedly blue…”

Ira Gershwin’s very introspective and timeless lyric comes to mind when I think of the future consequences of the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Today is World Ocean Day and as part of that observance The Huffington Post is reporting on meetups from all over the world. The Orlando meetup was held at the Stardust Video and Coffee, a popular gathering place that has all kinds of nooks and crannies to use your wireless laptop or notebook and browse the thousands of videos, CDs and books that lines its walls. One room has a small bandstand while the other has a sort of stage, so poetry readings, meetings of this type and bands of all stripes use this place on a very frequent basis. There is a limited menu and they serve all kinds of coffee and other drinks. The atmosphere is very friendly, and conducive to people just hanging out and having a good time. This meeting attracted a very diverse group.

The meeting organizer, Kia Misowitz, who works in video production, and her husband, Michael hosted this event. Attendees were:  Ed Ronsani, a computer programmer and data maven; Ken Montgomery, an associate of Kia’s; Cathy Hettinger, a chemical engineer; Vickie Carlie, an architect and full time activist; Connie Graham, a zoologist who works for Save the Manatee Club; Mary Cecelia, owner of a graphic design firm working in Advertising and Marketing; Tobias and Tammie Hassberger, distributors of a non-toxic cleanup product; Lawrence Hefler, Marketing Director for a solar energy company; Ashley Hooper, a graduate student in Behavior Analysis  and Lisa Manzo, a community activist. This was the first time that any of these people met, yet they all had the same purpose for meeting-“What can we do about it?”

Ideas and opinions came fast and furious and the assembled agreed that positive action is what’s needed and that the focus should be on educating the public. Ideas were offered to grow the group from fourteen activists, plan fund-raising events, take part in cleanup efforts, lobby legislators in Florida to add a non drilling amendment on the November ballot, lobby the federal government to come up with a clean energy policy with definite time goals to stop using oil and implement solar, wind and other renewable forms of energy. Discussions varied on the finer points. Cathy Hettinger opined that just enforcing existing regulations would go a long way to getting the oil companies and other industries to clean up their act, and that thirty years of deregulation has left the federal government in a position where it has no expertise when it comes to this kind of disaster. The Bush administration staffed all of its departments with industry friendly people that threw regulations out the window and in too many cases got into bed with the industries that they were supposed to regulate.

The meeting ended around 10:00 PM and everyone felt some positive energy from the evening’s discussion. Kia promised to mail us her notes on the evening and set an agenda for a future one. That positive feeling lasted for me until I got home and learned that Bill Halter had narrowly lost in the Arkansas primary. The White House also OK’d off-shore drilling in the shallow waters of the Gulf. Stricter regulation, Yes, but still it is the wrong message to send, despite the pressure from legislators in the Gulf states. Their claims that thousands of jobs are at stake should have fallen on deaf ears, since those thousands of people could be learning a new trade in solar energy. Change, the way we want it to happen, the way we need it to happen, and the way it must happen is going to be a slow, slow process. I hope I live to see it.

“I hope my children live to see….a land like my country used to be”—Dave Frishberg

By Jerry Waxman

As Submitted to the Huffington Post

When Florida Governor Charlie Crist vetoed the controversial merit pay and tenure bill SB 6 last week it was only round one of a war that’s going to be fought over who controls education in the state which could last several years. Jeb Bush and his brainchild, the Foundation for Florida’s Future are going to continue to push for their way, backed by the Chamber of Commerce, the Council of 100 and enough conservative Republican legislators to get legislation to the governor’s desk. The question being will he sign it? Forget last week; that was like seeing Halley’s Comet for the only time in your life. It’s likely not to happen again. This week he signed into law SB 4 which raises standards for high school students and requires them to take math courses and science courses that had heretofore not been required for graduation, unless the student intended to go to college. Now, it doesn’t matter-as a certain local auto dealer advertises “Everybody rides”.

No one can deny that Florida’s standards have got to be made higher and that Florida has got to get off the bottom rung of the ladder if it is going to attract new high tech corporate business to the state. Major companies place a high regard for quality education when looking to relocate their executives. Unless they are looking for low end labor there’s nothing here to attract them. Until the building trades in Florida get busy, the job market here is going to remain static. Retail and Hospitality are major employers here and they are not known for paying high salaries. Members of the Council of 100 like Publix are so stingy they won’t even consent to a penny a pound price increase on tomatoes for the farm workers of Immokalee, so I find it fascinating that all of these corporate types are pushing higher standards. That is…..unless this latest bill is really designed to cause more kids to drop out, which I fear is more than likely since those children not destined for higher learning are going to have a more difficult time, and this new law allows no funding for putting these courses into action. Again, the legislature leapt before it looked in its headlong rush to put Jeb Bush’s stamp on the state.

The main goal is to privatize as much public education in this state as possible. New laws being debated now are designed to do just that. Bills like SB 2126 which will grant corporations huge tax cuts for producing vouchers for students who want to go to private schools, or SJR 2550 which will allow public money to fund religious schools. Assaults on the teachers continue with HB 5701 which reduces teacher health insurance subsidies and reduces retirement contributions by as much as $1800.00 per year.  SB 2 will put an amendment on the ballot that will attempt to weaken or do away with the hard won class size amendment that reduces classes to acceptable levels. One veto is all we’re going to get this round. Governor Crist has already started putting together a team to try and access the second round of Race To The Top (RTTT) funds which could put $900,000,000.00 into education……or would it?

This is a bad move. RTTT is nothing more than manipulated scoring. The kids learn nothing, but they score well. Basically it is like lighting a match under a thermometer to get a desired result. NCLB was an abject failure and the charter school movement has not proven itself, however, many of Jeb’s connected friends own these schools and are making their money from public funding while giving a lot less to the kids. I also believe that to get the award we are going to have to jump through some unattractive hoops. That money doesn’t come without some very heavy strings attached. I resent my tax dollars going to any religious institution for any reason, not just education. I resent my tax dollars going to any private company to educate students who would otherwise be in a public school, using more of those dollars on the students. As far as I’m concerned the battle over the current legislation is just as important as the battle over SB6. Some of this legislation deals with cuts in retirement for all public employees including police, firefighters, city and state workers and the like. If that sleeping giant wakes up a real battle could ensue, with major casualties going into this November.

Well, I somehow managed to veer off on a different tangent, so allow me a slight course correction; none of these initiatives are going to help get our schools out of the cellar. Letting teachers teach the proper curriculum, with support from their boards, administrations, parents and the surrounding neighborhoods will go a long way to achieving this. I just read an interesting article by noted leadership trainer Stephen R. Covey who helped turn an F school in North Carolina into an A school simply by training teachers, parents and administrators in some very simple techniques and exercises. He has done this in over 200 schools worldwide and neither accountability nor rigid testing was necessary. Here’s further evidence from the California Council on Teacher Education confirming the shortcomings of RTTT.

There are mountains of fact based evidence that RTTT type accountability and               that standardized testing are least likely to help children achieve their potential. There has yet to be a conclusive study that shows that these methods improve knowledge and every study conducted about charter schools and state funded religious schools has shown them yet to prove their value against the public school system. Why then are we still pursuing it? Because, it’s what Jeb wants. Here’s an interesting article by Bill Nye, the Science Guy from the time of the inauguration pleading with the President to elevate all schools to the level of Sidwell, rather than dumb us down even further. Yet the Florida legislature and the governor continue to pursue the wrong course. Yesterday’s Orlando Sentinel had a column by conservative author Mike Thomas extolling the virtues of the way Tennessee handled their problem and won RTTT funding. Teachers, parents, civic groups and everyone else need to let Tallahassee know that they are against this as much as they were against SB6. Let’s not allow Jeb Bush and the Council of 100 to turn our kids into undereducated robots. We deserve much better than that.

By Jerry Waxman
As submitted to the Huffington Post

The day didn’t start out so great. We found out that my wife’s gynecologist doesn’t accept Medicare (more on that in tomorrow’s story) and I had a problem at the bank that took a couple of hours to straighten out to my satisfaction. Those couple hours were not necessary if the tellers did their jobs properly, and I can’t get those hours back. I figure that my time wasted there was worth at least $75.00 per hour, so I should charge them for it. Fat chance I’ll ever collect. So, you can figure that I wasn’t in the best of moods to go to cover Marco Rubio’s kickoff campaign. P.S. I will definitely move my money at some future date.
The notification came Monday evening that both Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio were going to be at the Marks Street Senior Center in Orlando, FL. at 12:30 PM to kick off Rubio’s barnstorming campaign. They were to speak of the virtues of the current legislation (SB 6/HB 7189) awaiting Governor Charlie Crist’s signature. This legislation, among other restrictive measures, would sharply curtail local control of public schools and eliminate collective bargaining for teachers as well as nullifying their advanced degrees for salary consideration. Now, the first question I ask is “Why discuss education at a senior center?”  Well, the answer is pretty clear- Florida seniors are a large part of the population and they vote in higher proportions than younger people. They also have no direct connection with public education so it’s easy for unscrupulous politicians to tell them that these reforms will save them tax money and improve education, without offering valid proof of their claims. When seniors realize that they have as much of a stake in public education as the rest of us it may be too late. In 10 years these kids are going to be our police, firefighters, store employees, transportation workers. If they’re not adequately prepared to serve in the work force it’s not only seniors who will feel the effects, so it’s important that seniors be properly educated as well. Also, it’s pretty tough to get teachers out to protest in the middle of a school day.

Some members of the unions showed up to protest and urge the governor to veto the bill. One surprise was a group of Charlie Crist supporters protesting in another area also urging the governor to veto the bill. Lisa Burk, a Volusia county Crist supporter said that she and her group are opposed to the legislation and want the governor to dismiss both Rubio’s and Bush’s pressuring. Burk feels that Bush’s meddling has made things worse.

I got inside after Rubio had started so I didn‘t hear the first part of the speech. I was standing next to PBS anchor Judy Woodruff and casually asked her if he had mentioned the education bills. She replied that he hadn’t. I took a quick headcount and figured that there were perhaps twenty actual seniors in the crowd of about 170.The rest of the group were all members of his entourage, with a half dozen shills who led the applause after every statement. The speech was pure Marco, berating the President for his handling of the nuclear reduction talks and for not taking a stronger stand on terrorism. He also took the administration to task for its economic policies. His favorite expression was “American Exceptionalism” and he used it frequently to point out why this country has to lead, conveniently forgetting that that very same exceptionalism in the wrong hands brought us to where we are now over an eight year period during the Bush Administration, an administration he supported fully. He also said that he knew how to fix Social Security and Medicare, which seems odd in a senior center….oh wait! There were only twenty seniors there; well, if you include me there were twenty one.
We found out later that Rubio altered his plans due to his father’s lung cancer diagnosis. Frankly, I don’t buy it. Not that his father isn’t ill; I ‘m sure that is true and I wish him both effective treatment and a speedy and complete recovery. What I don’t buy is Marco’s reasoning because this tour is only for four days. Tending to a sick parent plays well with his base so he uses it, but I suspect that his practiced stump speech has a few holes being blown through it by the President. At the same time Rubio was speaking events were taking place in Washington that completely negated Rubio’s nuclear scare tactics. Also, all the news magazines and the economic press are claiming that things are beginning to turn around, including the fact that the Dow is now 3000 points higher than a year ago, so there’s another talking point that needs a radical makeover. What I believe is that Rubio will emerge from his caretaker mode in a couple of days with a different speech than the one he’s been using, however, it will be as jingoistic and substance free as the old one.
Outside the center we received word that Congressman Kendrick Meek (D FL 17) had written to the governor to veto the legislation. Meek recently made history by being the first person in Florida to qualify for U.S. Senate by petition. He will face either Crist or Rubio in November. Meek was also the driving force behind the Florida class size amendment, and he also has the distinction of being one of the very few people ever who stood up to and stood down Jeb Bush. Here’s a link to Meek’s letter to Crist, urging him to veto the bill.
My day ended at the Orange County School Board meeting where the board actually did the right thing. They voted unanimously to add a quarter mil tax to the budget which will raise an additional twenty two million dollars to make up for drastic budget cuts from the state. No matter how I felt this morning, I felt better tonight. Going home I thought “I think good things were accomplished today.”