Commentary on Wall Street Journal Editorial "Waiting for Hurricane Charlie (Crist)"

The Wall Street Journal gets it absolutely right in its February 23, 2011 editorial titled “Waiting for Hurricane Charlie (Crist).”

Before discussing some of the points made in the editorial, it is necessary to present a background.

In 2007, newly-elected governor Charlie Crist embarked on a crusade against the free market when he decided to foist a socialist experiment on Florida that included a property insurance version of the “public option.”

Many critics of the “public option” portion of President Obama’s health care reform package insisted that enacting such a proposal would drive private health insurance companies unable to compete with the government out of the market or out of business altogether. Little did they know that their hypothesis was being tested and proven down in Florida with Governor Charlie Crist’s property insurance experiment.

This is how it worked: Charlie Crist converted Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, the state-run “insurer of last resort” into an active competitor in the market. Before this ill-conceived change, only consumers legitimately unable to obtain coverage in the private market were eligible for coverage through Citizens. Crist made it so anyone who received a single quote 15% above Citizens’ rates was now eligible for coverage through Citizens—AND he arbitrarily and artificially reduced Citizens’ rates through legislation and against all tenets of actuarial science. This essentially translated into a price control.

The result: private insurance companies could no longer compete. Several reduced policies or left Florida altogether, and in a matter of a few years, Citizens became the largest property insurer in the state controlling 25% of the Florida market, and one of the largest insurers in the country.

If the unfair competitive advantage of a government-owned company over private companies and the resultant lack of choice for consumers was not enough cause for outrage, then the enormous risk forced upon taxpayers should be.

As the Wall Street Journal editorial points out,

Citizens assured the state legislature last month that it is in "its best financial position ever," with "pre-event liquidity" of over $14.6 billion. That may sound hefty. But some of that money is borrowed, and the insurer itself estimates a once-in-a-100-year storm could cost upward of $22 billion. Its total liabilities are $451 billion. No storm would hit every insured house, but the possibility of a more than $22 billion event is there.

So how would Citizens pay its claims? It has three sources of primary income: premiums from policy holders, coverage from its reinsurer (more on that later) and the ability to levy "assessments," or taxes, on policy holders and every other Floridian. It's the latter ability that Citizens counts on to top up its coffers, and that's what makes it different from a private insurer, which lives and dies by its actuarial estimates before the storm hits.

Assessments. That’s bureaucratspeak for taxes. To make up any deficit that it may incur following a hurricane or series of hurricanes, Citizens has the legal authority to impose a tax not just on its own policyholders, but on just about every insurance policy issued in Florida—including homeowners policies, renters policies, auto policies, and boaters policies. Those taxes could dramatically increase the cost of those policies for many years. Everyone from millionaires to your neighbor’s 16 year-old kid who drives a clunker to school will be impacted. A typical middle-class family that owns a home and two cars may wind up paying several extra thousand dollars a year for up to 30 years for the very same coverage they receive today.

And it doesn’t end there. Florida also has a state-run reinsurer (reinsurance, essentially, is insurance for insurance companies. An insurance company will pay for a house that burns down; reinsurance kicks in if, say, a wildfire destroys an entire neighborhood). Florida’s reinsurance company, the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (or Cat Fund for short) covers only catastrophic wind damage, and it also has the ability to levy taxes to pay off the bonds it would have to issue to raise the money it needs to pay claims after a hurricane. The editorial accurately states:

Last October, the Cat Fund said there's still "significant uncertainty" about how much money it can raise after a hurricane. The fund has about $6 billion of cash on hand. Anything above that would have to be raised in the bond markets. Imagine if the Cat Fund had to go cap in hand for $20 billion or $30 billion, all at once. Citizens, by the way, counts on the Cat Fund for $6.4 billion worth of coverage.

Mr. Crist's unstated answer to all this was that when the big one does hit again, Washington will ride to the rescue. In other words, the real insurers of last resort for Florida beachfront property are taxpayers in Waterloo and Denver.

So that, in a nutshell, was Crist’s entire hurricane catastrophe policy: reliance on Washington to bail Florida out of the bind he got the state in.

Now that the adults have regained control of the state’s affairs, tough decisions lie ahead. Unfortunately, the clock is ticking, and every hurricane season that goes by without the right reforms in place is another blank fired in the game of Russian Roulette that Florida was thrown into.

[The] politics will not be easy to navigate because any reform will have to reinsert price signals into the market—meaning higher premiums for Floridians, at least in the short term, given that Florida is so often hit by hurricanes. Some Republicans may resist spending political capital to fix a problem they may not get credit for tackling if a hurricane doesn't hit on their watch. Many Democrats will oppose any changes. Then again, Republicans will surely get blamed for premium and tax increases when a big hurricane hits.

Florida voters did the country a favor when they refused to send Mr. Crist to the Senate. Now Republicans have an obligation to clean up the looming fiscal catastrophe his policies have left behind.

Luckily, Governor Scott and the new Legislature are showing signs of willingness to tackle this difficult issue, but Floridians should insist that changes to the system be made sooner rather than later. Free-market reforms that level the playing field and shift hurricane risk away from taxpayers onto private companies may produce a short-term, methodical increase in property insurance rates. But that is a heck of a lot better than the alternative, which assures massive, disproportionate rate hikes for every Floridian for decades.

Hurricane season begins June 1. The clock is ticking.

(Full text of WSJ editorial may be found here)

Epilogue to my struggle against Charlie Crist

Florida has had to deal with many crises in the last several decades--everything from catastrophic hurricanes and refugee influxes to the crippling economic effects of the terrorist attacks of September 11th. Florida has been lucky to have had adults at the helm to steer her through those turbulent waters. For example, Governor Jeb Bush immediately convened a special session after the attacks on 9/11 to deal with the impending economic effects on the state. Targeted tax cuts and other measures were taken to offset the expected drop in tourism, revenue and the resultant economic slowdown, and Florida weathered that crisis relatively unscathed.

These past four years, on the other hand, paint a totally different picture. Florida was led by a blindly ambitious career politician who has never stuck with any of his several statewide political positions for more than one term. Instead of tackling the issues he was entrusted to confront by the people he professes ad nauseum to represent, Charlie Crist treated each and every position he has ever held as just another step in his perpetual career climb, leaving those tough decisions to others or subsequent officeholders. These past four years prove that Charlie Crist treated the honor of Florida's Governorship no differently. Proof of his dereliction can be found by merely comparing the state's current economic, unemployment, and even population statistics with those four short years ago.

So as Florida elevates Rick Scott as its 45th Governor this week, and in celebration of the fact that the adults have regained control of Florida's affairs, I wish to take the opportunity to explain my years-long contempt for outgoing governor Charlie Crist and why I felt it was necessary to expose him and hold him accountable the way I have these past several years.

CHARLIE FOR GOVERNOR!

Ironically, I was one of the first in Miami-Dade County to sport a "Charlie Crist for Governor" sticker on my car in 2005. I had the opportunity to meet with then-Attorney General Crist on several occasions at Republican gatherings and events. In 2004, I even drove Crist to the airport in the car that today dons a "See Ya Charlie" sticker. I always found him to be an extremely warm, friendly guy and one who made people feel important, especially when he remembered their names. As for his primary opponent, Tom Gallagher, I did not have much interaction with him. I did not dislike him, but found him to be a bit standoffish. Because I considered both men philosophical equals and I had a better personal rapport with Charlie, he initially became my choice for Governor in 2006.

That all changed, however, when I became a Legislative Aide to a state representative. That gig landed me in Tallahassee during the 60-day legislative session in 2006. During that time, I witnessed the divide between conservatives and RINOs in the Legislature. The conservatives were essentially all with Gallagher and the RINOs with Crist. Although I'm not necessarily one to condemn someone for their associations alone, I witnessed firsthand how Crist's allies derailed good legislation or otherwise stood in the way of good legislation. One such Crist ally was Senator Alex Villalobos, who last year flaunted his true colors by endorsing Crist for Senate and Sink for Governor. I became concerned these characters would be empowered during a Crist administration... but I digress.

That, coupled with other things I experienced and witnessed made me reconsider my support for Crist, and so I switched over to Gallagher.

As we all know, Crist went on to win the primary and general elections. At that point, I took a step back and gave him a chance, as he was, after all, a "Republican." But that didn't last very long.

JIM GREER

The act that sealed Crist's fate in my eyes was his selection of Jim Greer as Chairman of the RPOF. As someone who was a grassroots volunteer since his teenage years who later worked for the RPOF, I had institutional knowledge of the party and took offense that the incoming governor would have the hubris to appoint someone whose only qualification was being a crony of his (seems this would be an ongoing theme in the Crist administration).

I had no problem with previous governors "tapping" someone to be chairman, since they traditionally respected party leaders enough to choose someone from among the committee who was trusted by its members. Jim Greer had never served on the committee he was selected by Crist to lead, and the State Committeeman from his county even had to resign his post so Greer could qualify to run. I was there when the state committeeman from his county begrudgingly announced to the State Committeeman's Caucus in December of 2006 that the governor had asked him to step down so Greer could be the next chairman.

The election took place in January 2007 at the Annual Meeting. At that point, I did not have anything against Jim Greer personally, other than being party to the entire process by which he was being "selected" by Crist and company to head the RPOF. But at the Annual Meeting, Greer began to show symptoms of what would eventually be his downfall.

The money Greer raised for his chairman's race was seemingly spent almost entirely on a reception the night before the election. After a gaggle of politicians and Republican Club presidents gave their rousing endorsement speeches, Greer gave a speech of his own followed by a buffoonish performance of Elvis songs with the hired band. The lack of class and elegance made me wonder to what depths the Republican Party of Florida had sunk.

Apparently I wasn't the only one who shared that view since incumbent Chairman, Carole-Jean Jordan felt it was necessary to stand up to this madness and run for reelection. Despite raising and spending no money for her reelection effort and having the new governor literally endorse her opponent from the floor, she came within 7 votes of defeating Crist's sideshow court jester Jim Greer. I have always said that Carole-Jean Jordan deserves our respect and admiration for having the courage to challenge Crist, Greer and their enablers.

Greer moved quickly to change things at the party. He fired many staffers and replaced them with Crist loyalists. He also canceled the straw poll scheduled to take place at the RPOF Convention later that year. I personally believe he did it so John McCain--the one candidate RINO enough and unprincipled enough to consider Crist as his VP choice--wouldn't suffer an embarrassing, and potentially game-changing defeat, since many grassroots Republican activists were upset at him over his amnesty proposal at the time.

Additionally, Crist got the Legislature to insert language into an election bill that pads the RPOF State Committee with additional members appointed by the governor, thus diluting county grassroots power and safeguarding against future close chairman races. The bill also included language that would allow a state politician to run for federal office without having to resign his state position. This change in law would have come especially handy for Crist had he been--oh, I don't know--tapped for VP, maybe?

GOVERNOR BACK-STABBER

To say that Crist went on to embrace or otherwise support an anti-conservative agenda would be a gross understatement. In addition to the fact that many of us who were early Rubio supporters were exiled from our own party by Crist, Greer, and their enablers--and mocked for supporting a candidate "with no chance" at winning--these are some of the things Crist did to earn the ire of many conservatives and the praise of Democratic State Senator David Aronberg as "one of the best Democratic Governors Florida has ever had":

• Socializing Florida's property insurance system by making the state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corporation a "public option" for people to choose instead of private coverage. This not only violates every free market principle, but it also places the state one hurricane away from bankruptcy because Crist also forced Citizens to lower its rates artificially and against all tenets of actuarial soundness. If Citizens goes broke, Florida taxpayers will have to bail it out. But this doesn't matter to a politician who never sticks around for more than one term


• Restoring felons voting rights, which dramatically increased Democrat voters in swing-state Florida.


• Pulling RPOF funding from the campaign to ban Same-Sex Marriage after he signed the petition supporting the same-sex marriage ban amendmen


• Campaigning against gambling expansion, yet expanded gambling dramatically. I'm not debating the merits of gambling, but rather exposing and condemning yet another one of Crist's lies.


• Sucking up to leftist enviros like Sheryl Crow, Robert Kennedy and Castro sympathizer actor Robert Redford to Advance their leftwing global warming hysteria; Publicly crediting Al Gore and his discredited movie with raising his own global warming awareness; implementing through executive order California-style emissions standards and a Cap-and-Trade scheme that will only serve to exacerbate Florida's economic problems. All this made him the Trotskyite Left's favorite pet Republican, but then he backstabbed even them in an attempt to fool Republican primary voters with short memory spans.


• Lying to Giuliani when he told him he'd endorse him for president, instead endorsing John McCain the weekend before the presidential primary in Florida. Considering Romney and McCain were in a statistical dead heat in the polls leading up to the election, Crist's endorsement of McCain essentially handed the Republican nomination to the most liberal Republican in the field of contenders.


• Sitting on his hands after he was not chosen for VP and allowing the state to go for Obama. In fact, after consulting with the DEMOCRAT leader of the Florida House--not the Republican Speaker or Senate President, mind you--Crist extended early voting hours, which clearly helped the Democrats throughout the ticket.


• Squandering the opportunity to tilt the Supreme Court to the right, and instead appointing liberal supreme court justices such as James Perry and Jorge Labarga, who both later voted to strike Amendment 9 relating to ObamaCare off the ballot.


• Figuratively and literally embracing the phony Obama Stimulus, which conferred it the false illusion of bipartisan support. Some perspective: had Crist been a U.S. representative, he would have been the ONLY Republican to have voted for the stimulus and only one of four in the Senate (along with Snowe, Collins, and Specter, who at the time was still a "Republican").
  
  SIDE NOTE: When then-Attorney General Crist was campaigning for governor in 2006, he and his campaign manager George LeMieux decided to snub the sitting Republican President by not joining him and other statewide Republican candidates for a rally in Pensacola. Yet, while Republicans nationwide were fighting Obama and his stimulus proposal, Crist came out to support Obama and his stimulus proposal.


• Permitting Jim Greer to run amok. Despite countless Republican activists, party officers (and more party officers), donors, (and more donors), elected officials, and concerned Republicans calling for his resignation, Jim Greer dug in his heels and defiantly refused to go for months. Jim Greer himself validated my belief when he confirmed that Crist had instructed him not to resign. Let's be clear: if it was up to Crist and his enablers, Greer would STILL be there destroying the RPOF. Why? because it's about them and not about anyone else.

So if it was always about them to the detriment of the party, its candidates, and its principles, why should the rest of us follow them off the cliff like a bunch of lemmings?

IN CONCLUSION

These are all acts of treachery that Charlie Crist committed BEFORE he switched parties. This is why I reject the notion that Charlie Crist suddenly became a traitor to the Republican Party the day he switched to a No-Party-Affiliation candidate and that everyone who supported him up until that moment had no idea he would do such a thing.

Can anyone really claim deception? Anyone?

Senator LeMieux, put your hand down. That was a rhetorical question.

Anyway, the answer is no. No one can claim deception. All the signs were there. Charlie Crist was a back-stabber opportunist long before April 29, 2010.

A true philosophical conservative could NEVER support a candidate who did even half of the things that Charlie Crist did prior to his party switch--much less in a Republican primary that provides a clear alternative.

Moreover, no Republican--conservative, moderate, or otherwise--with the party's best interests at heart could nor should support a candidate who would allow his own handpicked chairman to continue humiliating the party and living high off its coffers merely to continue having one of his cronies in such a position.

These are some of the reasons I have utter contempt for the back-stabber Charlie Crist and a select few who enabled him to undermine the principles that I hold dear and destroy the party that I have given so much of my time and energy to since I was 17 years-old.

Courage is rarely convenient. "Abandoning" Crist once he explicitly and literally abandoned the Republican Party on April 29, 2010 is hardly the definition of courage. That was the convenient, politically expedient thing to do.

On the other hand, putting ones self in political harm's way and denouncing Crist and Greer while they were both still in power and in a position to continue damaging our party: that's courage.

This is why I will continue to support candidates for public and party offices that have a proven record of commitment to the party under whose banner they run and the principles that unite us under that banner--courageous candidates who have a record of doing what's right for the party, including challenging and standing up to the kind of destructive and oftentimes treacherous behavior I have outlined here--not those who "toted the party [boss's] line" when the party was hijacked by a bunch of traitors and criminals with no sense of principle.

I salute those party leaders and elected officials who had the courage to stand up to Crist and Greer early on. The party and its members throughout Florida owe them a debt of gratitude.

As for Charlie Crist, Jim Greer, and his enablers, they leave their high positions of power worse off and in some cases disgraced. May they serve as a lasting example of what not to do--or tolerate--in politics.

Remembering the Great Olga Guillot, una gloria de Cuba

Olga Guillot
1922-2010

When I was sixteen years old, I was talked into "dancing" a "quinces," which to those of you non-Cubans reading this, is the equivalent of a sweet sixteens, but for a fifteen year-old and much, much tackier. The dancing part of it is a uniquely tacky (again) Cuban tradition where thirty of the birthday girl's closest friends (15 guys and 15 girls) do a few routines to usher in her grand entrance. The choreographer hired to put this hilarious production together is usually a recently-arrived flamboyant middle-aged Cuban who at one point or another claims to have danced for the famous Havana Tropicana Night Club before emigrating.

But I digress.

So, I was talked into making a royal fool of myself by a high school friend of mine way back in the day because I figured that every good Cuban teenager should be subjected to this unique form of humiliation. The last few weeks before the party, the rehearsals were held at the venue where the party was slated to take place: the Four Ambassadors Hotel ballroom. Next door to the ballroom was an upscale dinner club called Scala.

During one of our long, annoying rehearsals, I snuck out to take a break and heard singing coming from the Club next door. It was Olga Guillot.

Most 16 year-olds wouldn't know who Olga Guillot was, much less sounded like, but I knew. I've always been an old soul, as most of my friends would attest. So I peaked into the front door of the club, and apparently the crack of the door threw Olga off, she stopped, and said, "eh, pero quien esta ahi?" (who's there?)

So I came in, introduced myself, and she asked me to stay for the remaining minutes of her rehearsal because she wanted to talk to me afterward. So I did. Meanwhile, the rehearsal for the "quinces" was going on next door, sans me, which I'm sure relieved the choreographer I made a habit of publicly mocking.

After Olga finished rehearsing, she sat with me, asked me who I was and how a sixteen year-old like me would know who she was. So I explained that I have always held Cuban tradition and culture close to my heart, grew up listening to her music, was essentially raised by my grandparents, etc.

The result: we stayed there talking for nearly two hours, and the only reason I cut it short was because my ride was there to pick me up at a time certain.

We talked about everything from my family, her story, to even politcs. Back then, Bill Clinton was president, and she had very few nice things to say about him. She said she loved and missed the great Ronald Reagan and lamented the fact that we would never see another one like him. Not only was she a Cuban patriot, but she was also a solid, bedrock conservative who was able to articulate conservative principles better than most politicians.

My favorite story she shared that day was how she was performing in some Latin-American country, and thinking that she would be honored with his presence, the owner of the place she was performing at excitedly told her that the ambassador of Cuba was in the audience. Upon hearing this, she informed him in no uncertain terms that she would not perform so long has he was in the audience. Mind you, this was in the early days of her exile from Cuba when she was not exactly financially set and every gig was vital to make ends meet. But she would not relent. The result: staff had to ask the communist ambassador to leave so Olga could perform.

There were similar stories to that, including ones where agents of the Castro dictatorship actually plotted to assasinate her several times unsuccesfully, of course.

I saw Olga socially several other times after our initial meeting at the Four Ambassadors, including at Republican fundraisers and patriotic rallies, but mainly at Versailles Restaurant in Miami, where she was a regular patron.

If you were ever having a meal at Versailles and all of a sudden the entire restaurant burst into applause, it is very likely because Olga Guillot walked in. I have eaten there more times than I care to recount, and have seen everyone from politicians and prominent journalists, to Grammy Award-winning superstars (i.e., Gloria Estefan). The only person whose entrance would provoke spontaneous applause in that Miami landmark was Olga Guillot.

And every time, I would go up to her, I would say hello, and she would remember me.

***

There are going to be countless obituaries and honors written to this grande dame of song, about how she was a pioneer at a time when no female artist could sell records in Latin-America, about how she was and always will be the queen of Bolero, and how she was a stalwart Cuban patriot and defender of America, which is all an understatement.

I just wanted to honor her in my own way by sharing my personal story about this great lady. May the Lord bless her soul, and may her music and love for liberty endure forever.

Someone tuggin' at Charlie?

Since realizing that his US Senate opponent Marco Rubio would attack him from the right, Charlie Crist has had numerous opportunities to govern like a Republican. Bizarrely, he instead proposed a budget that increases spending, returned to embracing the Obama stimulus, gave a State of the State Address that only Democrats loved, and has recently run a gutter dirty trick campaign against Rubio by leaking his private credit card statements and creeping people out by randomly accusing Rubio of waxing his back using Republican Party of Florida donor money.

In short, he could have tried to move to the right as so many predicted, but instead has stridently moved to the left.

Is there something afoot? Are the Democrats tugging at him to join their ranks? Are the White House and Democrat Senate campaign apparatus assisting in an effort to cut Rubio off before he stands up to them in Washington? If Crist loses anyway, will the administration offer a cabinet position to Crist to guarantee him a major position no matter what in 2011?

Is Crist setting up a move? If he is, expect him to empty his campaign coffers over the next four weeks with scathing negative attacks against Rubio using Republican primary money. If the polls do not strongly reverse themselves, he may very well switch parties, and just tell angry donors that all their money's been spent when they ask for it back.

Then, Crist can start over with the Democrats after bloodying the Republican nominee with Republican donor money

If recent polls are to be believed, Charlie Crist, who has a pattern of putting his political career above all other considerations, would have nothing to lose.

Under Florida law, Crist would have to change parties by the April 30 qualifying deadline, so he only has until then to make what will probably be the most important decision of his political career.

Maybe another breakfast with Joe Biden might help him make up his mind.

Republican response to Gov. Crist's State of the State Address

TO BE GIVEN FOLLOWING JOINT SESSION OF FLORIDA LEGISLATURE

MARCH 2, 2010, 6:45 pm (approx)

Good evening fellow Floridians,

We meet during unique times, the second year of the deepest recession in generations. It is anticipated that this week, the unemployment rate in Florida will be the highest ever recorded. Record numbers of Floridians left the state last year. Property values are down, way down. Taxes and fees are up. Our reserves are drained. As bad as things are, next year things will be will be even more challenging. Florida is facing a $3.2 billion deficit for fiscal year 2010-11.

In this difficult environment, our lame duck governor has told us that ideology is wrong and that we should seek pragmatic solutions to our problems... like gambling.

Yes, gambling.

Governor Crist's state of the state address this year, which ran more than twice as long as years past, offered no solutions--just hollow platitudes and vague allusions about how he is a problem solver. Given the fact that he is governor and that Florida has problems, one should be safe in assuming that he has solved our problems?

Um, perhaps made a dent in our problems?

No, our putative Republican governor, Charlie Crist, has caused our problems. He has been asleep at the ship of state.

You may recall that following 9/11, Florida's last Republican governor to date, Jeb Bush, convened a special session to tackle the economic effects of the attack. The tax cuts and other policy objectives that then-Governor Bush actively pushed through the legislature allowed Florida to weather the aftermath of 9/11. Why did putative Republican Governor Crist not call the legislature back into session this past summer to cut unnecessary regulations? To cut taxes and improve the environment for businesses? Where has he been? Does he have no ideas?

Instead of steady conservative leadership for the last three years, we have had an absentee governor who hasn't been to work on a Friday in who knows when. He has abused the office we have entrusted him to by neglecting its duties and distracting himself with running for Vice President and now US Senate. He has been by all accounts, the worst governor in America.

Gov. Crist's idea of solving problems involves offering politically expedient, poll-driven short-term solutions that will cost the state in the long run well after he's no longer around to deal with the mess. He would allow Florida to wallow in a morass of red tape while he is off gallivanting in Washington, pining for the next political office.

And when anyone has the temerity to call him on this, well, of course, they speak from the cheap seats, "where wisdom is not required and nothing is either risked or gained," according to the putative Republican governor.

Well, the good news is that the end is near. Finally people are standing up to putative Republican Charlie Crist and saying, "Enough!" Standing against the stimulus package does not make you an ideologue. If it did, every Republican in the United States congress, sans three notoriously disloyal Republicans, would be ideologues.

Republicans deserve better; Florida deserves better. Republicans are sick and tired of politicians with no guiding principles, no ideas, no solutions but lots of talk about problem solving when problems abound.

A great Republican, Barry Goldwater, once said, "Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice...and moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue." Well, defense of the stimulus is not a virtue, it is unforgivable.

Putative Republican Gov. Crist derides all Republicans who stood on principle by saying, "...a few governors may have rather loudly condemned the stimulus money, but that did not stop them from quietly accepting it."

The debt of the United States represents a clear and present danger to our children, our nation's stability, and the world's economy. If Crist wins election to the Senate, he will continue to support policies that will harm America. As Republicans, we must stand up to this, otherwise these "compromises" will be the standard for years to come and our "Shining City on the Hill" as described by our great president and mentor Ronald Reagan will stand less secure, less prosperous and more vulnerable than ever before.

See, putative Republicans like Charlie Crist called Ronald Reagan an ideologue and an extremist. But to that, Reagan said: "You and I have the courage to say to our enemies, 'There is a price we will not pay.' There is a point beyond which they must not advance."

The Republicans in the Florida Legislature now know for certain that the Emperor has no clothes and we stand ready to pass our agenda and formally dare the governor to veto our cuts in taxes, fees and regulations, and our market-freeing reforms to the property insurance system he socialized.

Crist is wrong. Thankfully, he is almost gone, and if Republicans across Florida stand up and make it so, he will really be a lame duck in about five months.

Thank you for watching. God bless Florida.


****UPDATE 3/4/10 2:10pm****

Here is an excellent editorial by the Panama City News Herald that discusses Crist's State of the State address titled "The Cost of Crist."

Cool it with the Marco for VP, Prez, or whatever...

I've been noticing some premature chatter on Twitter and elsewhere about Marco Rubio joining up with Jim DeMint for a possible 2012 presidential ticket, as well as other unfounded rumors.

As cool as it would be to imagine Marco Rubio as the Republican nominee for vice president in 2012, the presidential nominee in 2016, or King of Narnia in 2020, remember that he has to defeat a hack politician (and formidable adversary) this year to capture the GOP nomination for US Senate.

One of the many arguments those of us critical of Charlie Crist have used against him is his perpetual candidate status. First, he was State Senator, then unsuccessful candidate for US Senate, then education commissioner, then attorney general, then governor, then vice-presidential candidate (in his mind), and now US Senate candidate again. Except when he was State Senator many years ago, Crist has never sought reelection for any office he has held, nor accrued a list of accomplishments in any of those positions. Instead, he has used those offices as a springboard to the next higher office, neglecting the duties and responsibilities he was entrusted to.

Nothing's changed, I know.

So to all of you who are touting Marco Rubio as our party's next nominee for this or that with the best of intentions because you truly admire him, please consider the implications. You don't want to give the Crist campaign any fodder to say that Rubio is planning to use the US Senate to jump to another position, even though Crist's career is one long pattern of doing exactly that.

Let's keep our eye on the ball, get Marco Rubio elected to the US Senate, and give him a chance to work for and represent the people of Florida.

And if God opens other doors for him down the road, he can proudly run on his record of accomplishments as a Florida legislator and a US Senator as well.

Mark Levin chimes in on the Florida US Senate race in his notoriously hilarious way

Here is a hilarious collection of sound clips where syndicated conservative radio talk show host Mark Levin rips into Charlie Crist and endorses Marco Rubio for US Senator from Florida. Enjoy!

Here, Mark rips into John McCain and other RINOs for supporting the consummate RINO, Charlie Crist; endorses Rubio:


Marco Rubio on the Mark Levin Show:


Mark Levin comments on Rubio's surge in the polls:


Mark Levin reacts to Charlie Crist calling Ronald Reagan a RINO (yes, you read correctly!):

Florida Republicans Take Back the Fort

Today the Republican Party of Florida elected a new Chairman in Senator John Thrasher, at long last bringing to an end the disgraceful 3-year administration (a term I use lightly) of Crist's hand-picked chairman, Jim Greer.

But his departure was anything but smooth. Despite countless Republican activists, party officers (and more party officers), donors, (and more donors), elected officials, and concerned Republicans calling for his resignation, Jim Greer dug in his heels and defiantly refused to go for months. He declared he was being set up by people intent on destroying the party, and even had his minions publicly blame the Marco Rubio campaign. Despite all the intra-party division, negative press, and fundraising paralysis generated, Crist's handpicked Chairman wouldn't budge. He had no qualms about extending his cancerous presence even if it meant the destruction of the party.

But why? Why was Greer so willing to oversee the destruction of the RPOF after his predecessors had struggled to build what was once a nearly nonexistent minority party into the most powerful state party operation in the country?

Those of us critical of Jim Greer knew all along that it was his blind devotion and commitment to promoting Charlie Crist, and Crist's need to control the party to benefit his campaign. Jim Greer himself validated our belief when he confirmed that Crist had instructed him not to resign.

They inherited a strong party from leaders with a vision toward the future. For Crist and his handpicked chairman, the party was merely a vehicle to advance Crist, enrich his cronies, and toss aside once it was no longer useful.

Thankfully, legislative leaders and the candidate with the most to lose by a fractured party--Bill McCollum--stepped in and forced Greer to resign. Even then, he could not go gracefully, so he took the opportunity to blame others for his downfall.

With Greer expelled and today's elections of Senator John Thrasher as chairman and Deborah Cox-Roush as vice chairman, it seems the fort may have been recaptured just in time for it to be rebuilt before the battle in November.

Crist responds to Rubio's CPAC speech

REMARKS BY GOV. CHARLIE CRIST IN RESPONSE TO FORMER SPEAKER MARCO RUBIO'S SPEECH BEFORE THE CONSERVATIVE POLITICAL ACTION CONFERENCE (CPAC)

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2010 -- TALLAHASSEE, FL

***Not prepared for Delivery, Not Embargoed Until Delivery***

It's great to be here in beautiful Florida. Isn't she great, folks? We have such a lovely state, and we are all so very blessed to have her. (wait for applause)

I know many of you are thinking about that CPAC meeting going on up in our nation's capital, and while I love Washington and can't wait to get up there to represent (pointing) you, and you, and you, and all the great people of this beautiful state, I have to admit that our state is much more beautiful than Washington, isn't she? (wait for applause)

So I wanted to talk with you today about the so-called CPAC meeting. I really wish I was there to speak to our nation's conservatives, but I was not invited after I was booed last year and came in dead last in a straw poll. I desperately wanted to go this year, but by them not inviting me, I guess they were saving me from a terribly embarrassing situation. So instead, I am here with you today sharing this beautiful, crisp, February north Florida weather in this, our Republican Party of Florida Headquarters parking lot to address all of you loyal supporters on our brand of "conservatism." On what it means to be a Charlie Crist Republican.

Can you all hear me okay? I'm sorry if you can't. Since we weren't sure whether or not the Republican Party of Florida headquarters would have its power cut off, we decided against renting a sound system for today's event. Speaking of which, let's all give my friend and soon to be former hand-picked RPOF Chairman Jim Greer a round of applause (point to JG, wait for applause). Hey Jim, thanks for everything you tried to do for my US Senate campaign as RPOF chairman. I'm proud to have stood by you despite everything you did to the party as a result of helping my campaign. Hopefully next time, if we have a sound system, you can serenade us! (wait for laughter)

Well my friends, I know I am not as popular as I used to be, which is surprising given that the only time I ever took a stand on anything meaningful was when President Obama came down to our beautiful state to promote a trillion dollar spending bill called the "stimulus." I always knew that all the darned thing would do is stimulate our national debt, but hey, Obama and I were pretty popular back then, and I sure as heck wasn't about to put my approval numbers in jeopardy by cutting state spending to what I should have. I can't stand having people angry at me over a tough decision like that, you know.

So yes, I courageously went against every Republican in the country and campaigned for the stimulus so the federal government would give Florida some borrowed money from China to make my last two years as your governor a little easier on me. That helped me keep my focus on raising money for my Senate race instead of all that governing stuff. I know the stimulus money runs out after I leave the governorship, but I'm fully prepared to let Bill McCollum deal with it. I have full confidence in him. Or Alex Sink. Or whomever.

So while people are in Washington yapping about what it means to be a conservative, I would rather talk about what it means to be a Charlie Crist Republican.

And what, you may ask, is a Charlie Crist Republican?

A Charlie Crist Republican cares about today and not about tomorrow, when he will be in Washington and not have to deal with the consequences. A Charlie Crist Republican fights against tax increases, but supports fee increases. A Charlie Crist Republican acts tough on corruption, unless the corrupt happen to donate to, or run the RPOF. A Charlie Crist Republican appoints liberal, anti-gun, ACLU-backed justices to the Florida Supreme Court, but talks tough on crime.

Caputo, thanks for coming out today with your camera. Good to see you.

A Charlie Crist Republican criticizes socialist policies, except when it comes to property insurance. A Charlie Crist Republican is willing to reach across the aisle--often--and is proud to put on the other team's jersey. A Charlie Crist Republican hosts global warming conferences--on non-primary election years. A Charlie Crist Repub... Gary! Great to see you! Thanks for your RT the other day!

As I was saying, a Charlie Crist Republican thinks cap and trade is great, unless he has a primary challenger who puts the breaks on it. A Charlie Crist Republican chooses good Republicans to fill vacancies around the state--only during primary election years. A Charlie Crist Republican embaces and welcomes the President of the United States, unless the president happens to be a Republican. A Charlie Crist Republican says he's against the expansion of gambling until he's for it. A Charlie Crist Republican is pro-life, but is against enacting laws that protect the sanctity of human life. A Charlie Crist Republican is for traditional marriage, but is against the Republican Party funding any marriage amendment campaigns. Lastly, a Charlie Crist Republican campaigns for his party's nominee for president, unless passed over for vice president.

In short, on a host of issues, a Charlie Crist Republican says one thing and does another--and accuses his opponents of the same thing, even when he knows it isn't true.

In conclusion, I want to thank all seven or eight of you for showing up here today. Even though there are several thousand people up there in Washington, please don't believe the cockamamie stuff coming out of that phony conservative get-together. We're the real conservatives gathered here today, and Marco Rubio is a lousy human being for having the audacity to run against me. So please, vote for me, a Charlie Crist Republican--for the future of our party!

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Of course, this speech is a parody.