DeSantis Spite Making Florida Less Livable

It gets frustrating living in a hell hole where the political leadership WANTS to keep the state a hell hole out of partisan spite.

Evidence: The recent report out of the Tampa Bay Times about how the Florida Republicans rejected federal funding to fight automobile emissions and create cleaner air for the state residents (via Jack Prator and Max Chesnes).

Congress in 2021 provided $6.4 billion to states to curb tailpipe emissions and reduce the effects of climate change.

Florida was set to receive $320 million, the third most of any state.

The state Department of Transportation began drafting a plan to add trucker parking at rest stops, which staff said could fix the statewide shortage that kept drivers on the road longer, polluting more, as they searched for a place to stop.

The plan also suggested spending the money on things like electric buses and roundabouts, which reduce the amount of time idling cars sputter out climate-warming emissions at traffic lights.

But last month, the department secretary, Jared Perdue, sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation declining participation in the federal program.

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK.

Perdue said in the letter that the program was an example of government overreach that was “the continued politicization of our roadways,” echoing statements made by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has said that climate change is “politicization of the weather.”

To my knowledge, the federal funding didn't include any requirements for state Republican officials to make acts of public fealty to our Democratic overlords. The only ones making this a partisan politicized controversy are DeSantis and his GOP lackeys!

Florida now stands alone as the only state to say it would turn down the money, federal officials told the Tampa Bay Times. Any mention of the plan was wiped from the state’s website...

Even Texas, whose governor often tries to outshine DeSantis on conservative credentials, plans to take its share of $641 million, officials there told the Times...

Do you see that, DeSantis? Even your fellow Red State governors are taking the federal money, you know why? 'CAUSE IT'S MONEY YOU FOOL, ALREADY PAID FOR BY TAXPAYERS, AND THEY NEED IT TO BALANCE THEIR STATE BUDGETS!

The stupid, it's choking us...

This isn't happening in other GOP-controlled states because those states are not led by an overly ambitious trump-wannabe moron campaigning for the 2024 Presidential nomination. But this is all happening as DeSantis' own campaign is falling apart with more advisors fleeing a sinking ship of a shoddy effort (via Tom Boggioni at Raw Story):

Strategist Jeff Roe walked away on Saturday night, dealing yet another blow to the DeSantis campaign that has been plagued by firings and layoffs as the Florida governor's attempt to displace Donald Trump as the face of the Republican party went nowhere with conservative voters.

According to a report from Politico, the Washington Post report on backbiting and finger-pointing in the PAC led Roe to call it quits, issuing a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, where he claimed that he, "cannot in good conscience stay affiliated with Never Back Down given the statements in the Washington Post today. They are not true and an unwanted distraction at a critical time for Governor DeSantis.”

The implication being that yeah it's probably even worse behind closed doors.

It's not helping DeSantis any better that the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) - a relatively toothless oversight committee - is filing an investigation over complaints that DeSantis is improperly coordinating with what are supposed to be independent PAC groups.

All this wasted effort, and yet DeSantis still has to preen and pose and pander to the Far Right - anti-government, anti-regulatory, anti-community - by pulling these self-spiting stunts denying much-needed funding for eco-friendly efforts that could well improve the quality of life for Florida residents.

This reminds me of the time Rick "Medicare Fraud" Scott as Florida Governor refused federal funding for high-speed rail between Tampa and Orlando - something that would have eased the insane traffic woes of I-4, and improved tourism between Disney World and the beaches - out of partisan anti-Obama spite - even as state Republicans were begging for the money going to their constituents - and then turning around like an idiot asking the feds if he could have the money instead for "more highways" (NO, the money was meant for rail you moron!)

The Republican leadership of Florida would rather let the environment turn toxic on their own voting residents than let the Democratic-controlled federal government send one penny for saving our health and livelihoods.

We are one Category 5 super-hurricane away from Mother Nature washing the Sunshine State into the Gulf of Mexico, but DeSantis and his wingnut handlers wouldn't give a rat's ass if that happened.

Gods help us.