Drilling, SB 6 (Merit pay bill for teachers) and a bold statement from the Senator

[Dave Rauschkolb]

Help me elect Alex Sink Governor this year. Alex promised at Bud & Alley's last week to veto any near shore drilling proposals in the future. Alex also created a huge effort to stop Senate Bill #6 "merit pay/teachers bill"

Don Gaetz in a recent Pensacola News Journal article vowed the Merit Pay bill will be back:

Sen. Don Gaetz, a Republican from Niceville and a former head of Okaloosa County schools, also vowed that the legislation will be back next year.

"I think recognizing and rewarding Florida's outstanding teachers is a moral imperative," he said. "This is an issue that won't go away."

Gaetz also said lawmakers are not likely to come back with a different version this year. Crist is leaving office after one term and is trailing in his race for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. Attorney General Bill McCollum, a Republican, is leading Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, a Democrat, in the race to replace Crist.

"It won't be Gov. Crist who signs this bill next year, it will be Gov. McCollum," Gaetz said.


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I strongly disagree with Senator Gaetz. It is my hope Alex Sink will be elected our next Governor. Just last week at my Restaurant Alex pledged to veto any bill on near shore drilling and she championed a petition against SB 6, the most draconian legislation for our education system imaginable. Bill McCollum was in favor of SB 6 and I don't hear him saying he would veto any near shore drilling bill.

Please donate to Alex Sink's campaign and vote for her in the November election. Alex Sink is our last line of defense against future attempts to pass the near shore drilling bill. Alex is our last line of defense against a certain attempts to bring back SB 6.

Dave Rauschkolb

 

[Jdarg]

Lots of emails and FB statuses went around about the SB6- I received impassioned pleas to sign petitions and make phone calls from people I would never have imagined would vocally and publicly oppose any Republican backed legislation. Between this and the oil drilling issue, it gives me hope that maybe, just maybe, people in this area might really be looking at issues sometimes instead of political party.

 

[Miss Critter]

You are so right, jdarg. I'm a registered independent for that reason. Both parties have serious problems. I'm concerned about the issues that affect me, my family, my job and my home.

 

[GoodWitch58]

I agree with Jdarg and Miss Critter...and, I am so glad to see people like Dave R and others standing up to speak truth to power.

Regardless of which political party an elected official belongs to, the act of governing is supposed to rise above the politics and do what is best for the country or state or county.

His party is different from mine, but throughout his political career (in the state legislature, as Commissioner of Education, and as Governor) Gov Crist has often governed from a point above the political fray.

He did this again when he vetoed SB 6. For that, he has my appreciation.

We all need to speak up when the issues at play affect our lives; the elected officials are there to work for us--the people they are supposed to represent. And, once they are elected to office, they are supposed to represent us whether we are of their party or not.

Many in DC and TLH and WalCo seem to have forgotten this. We must remind them--every day. If we do not, then, we deserve what we get and even more than that, we are part of the problems that result when elected officials are allowed to put politics above governance.

So, keep those phone calls, emails, petitions, trips to the Capitol, letters to the editors, and contributions to the cause coming--involvement in our government is one of the most important things citizens can do.

 

[AlphaCrab]

Charlie Crist will always have my vote and campaign donations...no matter what party he ends up in, as long as it is not the Tea Party. Did I just say that?

 

[30ashopper]

New rumors floating around that Crist might drop out completely, throw his support behind Rubio, and then run against Nelson for the Senate in two years.

 

[GoodWitch58]

New rumors floating around that Crist might drop out completely, throw his support behind Rubio, and then run against Nelson for the Senate in two years.

The way I heard the "rumor" is that is what some political operatives are wanting him to do...

 

[AlphaCrab]

The way I heard the "rumor" is that is what some political operatives are wanting him to do...

Yep..funny how that works.
Rubio will be toast!

 

[Dave Rauschkolb]

Go to Alex Sink's website and donate!

A note from Alex Sink

It's been one heck of a week!

Late last week, the legislature passed Senate Bill 6 -- the bad-for-schools, bad-for-teachers, bad-for-students, cram-down education bill. And by Wednesday afternoon, we had delivered an online petition to Governor Crist signed by you and 13,688 Floridians, urging him to veto this harmful bill. Yesterday, the governor did just that.

This was a huge win for Florida -- and a big loss for my opponent, Bill McCollum, and the rest of the political insiders in Tallahassee who wanted to put the special interests ahead of the people's interests.

But it's not going to stop Bill McCollum, who said yesterday after Governor Crist's veto that if he was elected he would "lead the charge" to pass SB 6. We can't let that happen.

Please contribute to my campaign today -- so I can keep fighting for our students, our teachers and our families as Florida's next governor!



In the hours after the veto, I asked you to help us meet a short-term goal of raising $5,000 -- one dollar for each signature we got on our petition in the last 72 hours -- to keep up our momentum.

Pitch in just $5 now to help us reach our goal of $5,000 -- and stand with us for the next big fight ahead.

This week, Floridians learned what we can do if we join together to make our voices heard. We also saw once again just how important that veto pen can be to stop the out-of-control special interests in Tallahassee.

Thank you again for your support and enthusiasm this week. I'm proud, and grateful, to be on your side in this fight and in the ones ahead.

Sincerely,

Alex Sink
Florida CFO

 

[robertsondavies]

I take it the Teacher's Unions are agaainst Merit Pay legislation, or anything that takes them out of the comfort zone of lockstep pay raises [the rest of us don't get], and the insane job security provided by the current system?

That Crist vetoes it makes it more confusing politically though. Obviuosly Sink is playing strictly by the Dem playbook here... oppose it, and hope single issue voter/teachers care more about this, than everyone else.

:roll: