Crist trying again to win my love .... come ON, Charlie ...

UPDATE: This is BETTER reading ..... full credit to North Country Gazette

Oh, and a bit of an update: Charlie does not appear to go for sales tax increase.
SO-- I changed the title of the post it used to say Crist Fell Short and Fell short again. I want him to be good.
What isn't good enough for ME: Jeb Bush was an ass. I didn't make him an ass; I TRIED to like and respect him. WTF? I didn't fall out of the box hatin me no Bushes. They taught it with the FCAT and other heinous tools of govt. Such as having teachers filling out forms (200-300 questions long about each child in the class such as are his nails clean? regular haircuts? All kinds of sickening, intrusive, PERSONAL stuff. Took the teachers hours and hours TOO. Sucked all around.)
The point is: As much as I disliked Jeb, I'm not just going to love Charlie cause he set the worst whip down and is somewhat better. I want him to be the Governor I did NOT vote for but wouldn't mind learning to love. He can do that. He can make me love him just like Jeb made me loathe him. It wasn't always that way with me and JEB. We used to email and talk and back and forth. Well, like I said --- Charlie can make me love him. Part of that would be if he would answer his own email but I'll take what I can get as proof that he loves me for the time being.

Charlie --- just do the right thing.

New Florida Felon Voting Rules Fall Short, Critics Sayby Michelle Chen While new rules will make it easier for some felons to regain certain rights they lost when convicted, civil-rights activists say the process is still far from libertarian.Apr. 10 – Florida’s recent voting-policy reforms have been lauded as a breakthrough for people previously barred from the polls due to criminal convictions. But some civil-liberties advocates argue the new re-enfranchisement process merely carves out more exceptions to a fundamentally unjust ban. !

Court Rejects Felon 'Poll Tax' (Mar 31, 2006)
The new rules, published last week by the governor-led Office of Executive Clemency, offer an expedited process for restoring voting rights to some people with criminal convictions. The rules also apply to the right to apply for occupational licenses, serve on a jury and hold public office.

Governor Charlie Crist declared the rule-changes a way to grant ex-offenders "a meaningful way to re-enter society."

While most states impose some restrictions on voting rights for people convicted of felonies, the Florida constitution’s disenfranchisement provisions are among the most severe, indefinitely banning hundreds of thousands from casting ballots even after completing their sentences.

Previously, exceptions were granted through individual reviews or hearings before the Clemency Board. For some lower-level offenders, exceptions came after a conditional waiting period.

According to the Florida Parole Commission, since 1999, the Board restored rights in about one-fifth of clemency applications processed.

The Clemency Office’s reforms purport to streamline re-enfranchisement for certain ex-felons, allowing faster approval under existing review procedures. Yet critics point to lingering bureaucratic impediments.

As under previous laws, re-enfranchisement still depends on completion of parole or other post-release supervision and payment of "restitution" related to the sentence. Some more-serious classes of convictions remain ineligible for expedited re-enfranchisement, including murder, some sex-related crimes, and "facilitating or furthering terrorism."

Civil-liberties groups argue that disenfranchisement laws, which expanded under post-Civil War segregationist policies, hinder reintegration of former prisoners into communities and disproportionately impact black and Latino populations due to their relatively high incarceration rates.

In 2000, an estimated more than 800,000 Florida residents were officially barred from the polls. That was about 7 percent of the state’s total voting-age population, including about 16 percent of blacks of voting age, according to a study by sociologists at Northwestern University and the University of Minnesota.

The American Civil Liberties Union has criticized the reforms as too cumbersome, noting the Clemency Board must still review an ex-felon’s record and issue a certificate for re-enfranchisement. The group is calling for a "paperless" re-enfranchisement process for people with felony convictions, regardless of the nature of the offense or whether restitution has been paid.

Muslima Lewis, director of the Racial Justice and Voting Rights projects of the Florida ACLU, challenged the government’s assertion that the reforms bring "automatic" restoration of rights to some felons.

"It’s really important for folks to realize that it could have been different," she said. Had the governor simply issued an executive order authorizing immediate restoration of voting rights, Lewis said, former convicted felons could have registered to vote instantly, without prior clearance from the state.The only place he really excelled at representing the people was in advocating with the tax breakers. As in: STOP charging us so much for our BIG lot line to lot line BOXES. And everyone knows that is a Republican wet-dream.

Okay, Gov. Crist ---- let me put it straight.

You said you were a Floridian FIRST.

Proof, please.

I would like to see proof.

Prove to us Floridians that you are a Floridian first.

I really want to believe you.


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