Posted on 05/27/2011 3:07:19 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
THE VILLAGES — Each detail of Florida Gov. Rick Scott's first budget signing was painstakingly considered.
From the location — a conservative retirement community in Central Florida — to the mini-red "veto" Sharpie pens Scott handed out as keepsakes.
From the music that would announce Scott's arrival to the stage, to, it turns out, who could be there.
At the urging of Scott officials, Sumter County sheriff's deputies escorted a group of more than a dozen Democrats — mainly retirees who live in The Villages — from Thursday's event at the town square.
The reason?
The $69 billion state budget signing ceremony was a "private event."
Staffers and Republican operatives searched the crowd of about 200 looking for people holding anti-Scott signs. They were noted and asked to leave. Those with pro-Scott signs were allowed to stay.
The Republican Party of Florida rented the town square for the ceremony, which gave party officials the right to say who stays and who goes, deputies said.
"We came here to say what we support," said Lawrence Shipley, 68, one of the Democrats removed from the event. Shipley is president of The Villages Democratic Club, which he says has about 275 members.
"We support the police," he said. "We support public education."
Shipley said the group did not intend to heckle or harass Scott, but it did not matter. Deputies moved them across the street.....
Republican Party of Florida chairman David Bitner defended the decision, saying the event was meant to celebrate the 2011-12 state budget.
"The people who protested against this budget are the people whose ox got gored," Bitner said.
Typically, state budgets have been signed in Tallahassee at a low-key ceremony with little pomp. Not this year....
(Excerpt) Read more at tampabay.com ...
So it wouldn’t bother you if President Obama conducted State business at a DNC fundraiser?
No thanks.
"Gov. Rick Scott's $615 million cut through line-item vetoes before signing the 2011-12 budget Thursday is drawing heat from Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike. But budget hawks and fiscal conservatives are praising the governor for his tough decisions....." Scott Line-Item Vetoes Parallel TaxWatch 'Turkeys'
I like Scott’s style.
It’s time to show some spunk.
I did not see anywhere in the article that this was an RNC fundraiser. Just that it was a private event.
Scott wasn’t “conducting state business” at the event.
Removing potential hecklers is pretty typical behavior for either party at a party event.
The comments section reads like the DU Funnies.
I think they chose the wrong venue at which to show ‘backbone’. Since the state's budget is the business of everyone in the state, and since the signing is typically a ‘ceremony’, then in my opinion they should simply have banned ALL signs, placards, etc. (for the sake of the dignity of the event) and antone/everyone who behaved civilly should have been able to attend.
I’m pretty sure there would be quite a bit of uproar/outrage expressed here at FR if some democrat state governor behaved similarly against republicans.
There is a place for partisan politics — and it is NOT at a state budget signing ceremony.
Will you please explain how the signing of the state budget by the governor of the state is NOT ‘state business’?
That's funny. Spell-check evidently changed "poor judgement" into "spunk" in your post.
And Gov. Scott is not the president.
But is the connection difficult to see? Where do you draw the line?
Just that it was a private event. Why is public business conducted at a private event?
If it’s illegal I’m sure there are lots of lap dog liberal lawyers who will sue.
Indeed they do. They better pad the walls and break out the straight jackets.
Grrrrrr!
So, the fact that the crowd was mostly white means WHITE PEOPLE ARE BAD?!!!!! Black people could have shown up, but they chose not to. Couldn't a person look at that and ask "Where are all the black people when it comes to attending rallies?" But, oh no. They conclude that it was a one-dimentional rally due of the lack of diversity. Were the white people at the rally supposed to knock on doors and deliver black people for the sake of pleasing the press?
I am so sick of the left wing media getting to slant everything any way that fits their agenda!
The msm must keep the racism lie alive. It’s their “job.”
Heaven forbid the press come to the conclusion that white people are more responsible citizens! That would be just as fair as it is to assume that the crowd is biased and racist due to the lack of black involvement.
we have an awesome governor is florida
Awesomely clueless and politically tone-deaf, IMO. I was at a conference in Orlando last week where Scott was one of the keynotes. He displayed total ignorance of the group he was speaking to while achieving an “I” rate to match Obama’s. While those we elect may be our political betters, they generally are not “better” as regards knowledge or wisdom. I seem to recall William F. Buckley making a similar remark about governance by the first 535 people in the Manhattan phone book being at least as good as those usually elected to the Congress and Senate.
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