It’s good to have friends in high places.  Just ask Governor Rick Scott and Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross.   Each man has a problem.   Each man wants something from the other.  And they’ve got a plan to get it.

Unfortunately, you’re going to be paying for it.

Rick Scott wants to be re-elected as Governor of Florida.  The price tag for his re-elections is $100 million.  Like any slick politician, he’s looking for someone else to pay for it.  He tried to get the people of Florida to pay for it, but according to polls, the people seem to be saying “no.”

Stephen Ross wants to renovate Sun Life Stadium in Miami.  The price tag on the renovation is $350 million.  Like any shrewd businessman, he’s looking for someone else to pay for it.   He tried to get the people of Florida to pay for it, but the state legislature said “no.”

These two men seemed to find each other quicker than you can say “graft and kickbacks.”  It’s amazing that with both of them scratching each others’ back, they still have a free hand to reach into your wallet.  But, they managed to find a way.

In April of this year, Rick Scott began hinting that he likes the idea of using taxpayer money subsidizing the Sun Life Stadium renovation.   Today, Stephen Ross announced the creation Florida Jobs First, a Super PAC (political action committee) that will be able to raise an unlimited amount of funds for Rick Scott’s re-election.

It doesn’t take clairvoyance to predict what will happen next.

Florida Jobs First will begin raising obscene amounts of money.  Much of which likely will come directly from Stephen Ross.  This money will be used to run print, TV and radio ads in support of Rick Scott, and his plan to create jobs.  I’m sure that Florida Jobs First will also have some money left over to finance the campaigns of state legislators who warm to the Sun Life renovation project, and to attack those state legislators who oppose it.

Then, Rick Scott will begin touting the benefits of spending your tax dollars on renovating Sun Life Stadium.  Rick will talk about how many jobs it will create, as well as the “intangible” economic benefits.  He will tell Floridians about the great “return on investment” that they’ll see.  And, he will pressure Florida Legislators to follow his lead.

Would anyone like to bet that I’m wrong?

This is how politics works in Florida.  This is what you tacitly support every time that you vote for a Republican or Democrat candidate.   This is why we need a 180-degree political course correction.  This is why we need to elect Libertarians.

(Tea Party Miami) Apple Computer Corporation CEO Tim Cook and the Dolphins football franchise owner Stephen Ross are colluding to disrupt the operations of Miami TEA Party activists, and disable the website and e-mailing capabilities of South Florida’s largest TEA Party group - after the non-profit organization released a report criticizing a proposed taxpayer-funded “billionaires bailout” scheme to subsidize costly and unneeded renovations to the Miami Dolphins Sun-Life Stadium for Ross and his team.

Soon after Florida state lawmakers said NO to billionaire Steve Ross’s request for almost $200 million in taxpayer funding for a new Miami Dolphins football stadium, the New York city real estate mogul threatened to "take-down" certain state senators and legislators who he believes prevented him from getting his hands on the money.
Steve Ross formed and funded the “Florida Jobs First” SuperPAC with the intended purpose of defeating the re-election of the most vocal opponents of a Bill he sponsored, and then lobbied state representatives to pass - to have Florida residents and vacationers pay for upgrades for his Sun-Life stadium.
Ross failed in his quest to gain taxpayer funding for his football stadium mainly due to the outcries and objections by Bill Weatherford, Carlos Trujillio, Michael Bileca, Jose Felix Diaz and a few other state lawmakers who oposed the “billionaire welfare.” The Steve Ross funded political action committee then began a public relations campaign to slander and discredit those representatives that he felt were responsible for his defeat.