The political news of the last few days has been dominated by details of a scandal involving senior members of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s Republican administration. Recently uncovered emails revealed a plot among senior members of the governor’s staff to cause major traffic jams in Fort Lee.
Members of Christie’s staff conspired with employees of the New Jersey Port Authority to close access lanes to the George Washington Bridge as retribution for Mayor Mark Sokolich’s refusal to endorse Christie for re-election.
Although no evidence has been presented directly implicating the governor in the alleged scandal, the thuggish behavior of his staff members could seriously damage Christie’s hopes for a presidential run in 2016.
None of these troubling developments seems to have left an impression on Florida’s own Gov. Rick Scott.
The National Journal reports that Christie is expected to attend fundraising events for Scott in Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Orlando on Saturday.
These fundraiser events are part of Scott’s reported goal of raising $100 million for his re-election bid this year.
It is understandable that Scott would want to align himself as closely to Christie as possible. Despite the Fort Lee scandal, details of which are still emerging, Christie remains quite popular. A recent survey found that 55 percent of voters still hold a favorable opinion of Christie, compared with 44 percent who view him unfavorably.
In contrast, Scott remains one of the least popular political figures in the United States, with an abysmal approval rating of 33 percent.
A recent poll from Public Policy Polling found that the governor trails presumptive Democratic nominee and former Gov. Charlie Crist by 12 points, 50 percent for Crist to 38 percent for Scott.
Scott’s unpopularity stems largely from several policy decisions made by his administration, including rejections of federal funding for a high-speed rail system and an expansion of Medicaid.
Scott has also been criticized for supporting a bill that would require all beneficiaries of welfare programs in the state of Florida to undergo random drug screening. Scott touted the initiative as a way of saving money and reducing abuse of the welfare system.
Of the 4,086 people required to take drug tests as a result of the new policy, only 108 — about 2.5 percent — failed. In addition, the Miami Herald found that the program, rather than having a positive impact on the state budget, actually resulted in a net cost to the state of about $45,000.
It seems unlikely that Scott is concerned about his popularity ratings or his reputation as an enemy of Florida’s middle- and working-class families.
After all, Scott used $73 million of his own money during his first election bid in 2010 to erase his unseemly past from the public discourse.
Scott resigned as CEO of Columbia/HCA, a large health care provider, just before the company agreed to the largest Medicare fraud settlement in the history of the program. Under Scott’s watch, Columbia/HCA billed Medicare for non-prescribed treatments, claimed advertising costs as ‘community education’ expenses and engaged in a number of other fraudulent moneymaking tactics.
The company eventually settled with the federal government and repaid over $1.7 billion in fines. Scott was able to avoid criminal fraud charges and jail time, instead using his vast and ill-gotten fortune to launch his successful gubernatorial bid.
Scott’s crusade against nonexistent fraud in the Florida welfare system after overseeing one of the largest private-sector fraud schemes in recent memory is the pinnacle of hypocrisy.
Rick Scott has demonstrated his brazen lack of integrity and concern for the well-being of Floridians during his tenure in both the private sector and as governor of Florida.
His willingness to associate with a fellow governor currently under investigation by the FBI in order to raise more money from wealthy donors underscores the misplaced priorities of the governor and his administration. In November, Floridians will have the opportunity to reject Scott’s anti-middle-and-working-class agenda by voting him out of office.
If the actions of the governor during the past several years generate the outrage they deserve, no sum of money will be enough to ensure his political survival.
Elliot Levy is a UF political science and public relations junior. His column runs on Wednesdays. A version of this column ran on page 7 on 1/15/2014 under the headline "Gov. Rick Scott’s Christie-headlined fundraisers yet another questionable antic"
