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I feel like this article is more relevant than it was before given our current state of affairs
This was written back in 2018. I posted it on DU around that time and I couldn't help but think about it considering the fuckery that's happening. It's gotten worse than it was when this was written. This was written right after the 2018 midterms and Amendment 4 was approved, getting about 65% of the vote, giving former felons their voting rights back. I don't know if we have any remedy for the nonsense. How do you fix an unresponsive legislature when it's near impossible to vote them out?
Orlando — Florida legislators have a clear track record when it comes to doing what voters tell them.
They don’t.
You passed the “education lottery.”
They turned the funding into a shell game and left Florida schools among the worst funded in America.
You passed Fair Districts.
They spent more than $10 million of your taxes on lawyers, trying to fight your will.
You passed an environmental amendment.
They ignored you again — and then acted surprised when toxic green algae choked the state’s waterways.
You passed a medical marijuana amendment.
Yet two years later, you have a better chance of scoring a dime bag at any local high school than a chronic-pain sufferer has of getting smokable weed at a legitimate pharmacy.
Basically, Florida legislators follow orders about as well as a pet rock.
They don’t care what voters say. They don’t care about the Constitution. They just do as they please … and usually get re-elected.
So it’s not surprising that, on the heels of yet another voter mandate — to restore voting rights to former felons — there’s concern that lawmakers are once again dragging their feet.
They don’t.
You passed the “education lottery.”
They turned the funding into a shell game and left Florida schools among the worst funded in America.
You passed Fair Districts.
They spent more than $10 million of your taxes on lawyers, trying to fight your will.
You passed an environmental amendment.
They ignored you again — and then acted surprised when toxic green algae choked the state’s waterways.
You passed a medical marijuana amendment.
Yet two years later, you have a better chance of scoring a dime bag at any local high school than a chronic-pain sufferer has of getting smokable weed at a legitimate pharmacy.
Basically, Florida legislators follow orders about as well as a pet rock.
They don’t care what voters say. They don’t care about the Constitution. They just do as they please … and usually get re-elected.
So it’s not surprising that, on the heels of yet another voter mandate — to restore voting rights to former felons — there’s concern that lawmakers are once again dragging their feet.
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/os-ne-amendment-4-florida-felons-voting-scott-maxwell-20181210-story.html
5 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Thanks for reposting. 
