BlogWood: MT Archives

Why does Jeb! hate democracy?

Jeb! and the rest of the state GOP really hate citizen initiatives.

Critics of proposals to make it harder for voters to change the Florida Constitution said Tuesday they'll fight to protect the citizen initiative process that brought class size reduction, a bullet train project and universal pre-kindergarten to the ballot - and into law. ......

Groups wanting to change the state Constitution by petition drive must limit the scope of their proposal to a single subject, clearly explain it in a ballot title and summary, and collect about 500,000 validated signatures. Under the proposals, they would also need a supermajority (60 percent) for passage and have their subject matter restricted to constitutional issues.

"The legislators are not serious about reform," said Charlene Walker of the League of the Women Voters, one of numerous groups opposed to changing the petition-drive process. "This is an attack on voters."

The cost of the class size reduction ballot proposal approved by voters in 2002 and the high-speed train project approved by voters in 2000 have fueled the push to change the process.

Gov. Jeb Bush, a vocal opponent of both measures, is still working to repeal the train project but has, for now, backed off his efforts to repeal class size. Business groups actively support the legislative proposals. Senate President Jim King, R-Jacksonville, said making constitutional change harder is a top priority.

You might wonder how Jeb! is going about repealing the train project. Well, even as Jeb! encourages his Republican cronies in the Leg to strip basic democratic rights from the people, he sees no problem with using the same process he is attacking to derail high speed trains:

Gov. Jeb Bush and chief Florida financial officer Tom Gallagher brought their criticism of a proposed bullet train to Central Florida on Tuesday, using a Capitol for a Day meeting to again decry its multibillion-dollar cost.

The two are leading a petition drive to give voters a chance to repeal a constitutional amendment approved in 2000 for a high-speed rail system.

“Give voters a chance”? Give me a break. Note to AP: perhaps you could at least pretend to rewrite Jeb!’s next press release before you present his spin as fact. You might also not want to gloss over the fact that Jeb! is using State money (Capitol for a Day) to quash democracy.