May 10: Florida Legislature (and Governor) - Is There Any Grade Lower Than "F"?

By Sylvia Gurinsky

So, how's that "Let's Get To Work" thingy working out for you, Florida?

Or at least for the (almost) half of Florida voters who chose the current government last November?

For everyone else, it stinks.

Not only did Florida Legislature session 2011 give no sign that the state would get needed high-end jobs, but it catered repeatedly to the extreme right-wingers who don't come anywhere near making up a majority of the state's population.

The Tallahassee cadre of lawmakers and Rick Scott have managed to surpass some historical government lowlifes, including segregationists and elected officials bankrolled by the mob, to produce possibly the worst collection of laws this state has seen in recent memory.

From schools to the environment to the ill and elderly to - yes - job holders, there practically isn't a corner of the state this gang left undamaged. There are only a couple of instances in which things could have been worse, including immigration reform.

Organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union will be busy fighting the erosion by the legislature and Scott on Floridians' voting, privacy and other rights.

Every other Floridian should be fighting them, too. Every Floridian who got angry every day during this session at yet another harebrained - and often ideological - bill being considered and approved.

For anyone who genuinely loves Florida and cares for its future, this session was, by every stretch, a failure.

In the past, many media outlets have given state lawmakers and the governor grades for their actions during and after the legislative session. A lot of them skipped that this year.

That's probably because they're trying to find a grade worse than F.