Apr 30 2009
An E-mail From the Florida Democratic Party
Dear Friend,
Republican leaders finally announced that they reached a budget deal and might be able to pass a budget sometime next week, still days after the constitutional deadline. They reached the deal in secret – coming together after a weekend of closed-door meetings and sending our own Representatives home for the weekend.
The announcement also comes just 48 hours after 8,279 Floridians like you stood up to demand they pass an open and honest budget. Thanks to you, we are delivering thousands of petitions demanding that the Republican leaders do their job as our state constitution makes it clear and do it openly. But I know we can do more.
They only way to stop them is for thousands of Floridians like us to demand that the process be brought into the sunshine and pass an open and honest budget that helps Floridians in these tough economic times.
If you haven’t already, please sign up and ask your friends and neighbors to join you – and help us to get thousands more and make our voice heard in Tallahassee:
http://www.fladems.com/page/petition/budget
Just after their closed door negations ended and they announced they had a deal – but no details to show the public – the Republican leadership declared: “This will be an open process” and “This is a very, very open process.”
It is hard to stomach. It is more like a very, very closed process. They made their claims that they would have an “open process” after using the same closed- door meetings that a Grand Jury blasted when indicting Republican Speaker Ray Sansom.
They must think your not paying attention. That’s why they will be very surprised to hear that thousands of us already know what they are up to, and we are fed up. We are demanding that politics as usual stop in Tallahassee and the public get the chance to make their voice heard on the budget, instead of hear about it through rumor and blind quotes.
Please join us and tell your friends and neighbors that the budget needs to not only be on time, but it needs to be open and honest:
http://www.fladems.com/page/petition/budget
Republican leaders may have given up on reaching a budget deal in an open process so that it can truly be called the people’s budget – but we won’t.
They may have given up on taking all the money from President Obama’s recovery plan and obstructed efforts jumpstart our economy – be we won’t.
They may have given up on protecting our schools from cuts, preventing laying off more teachers and keep doors of opportunity open to Florida’s children – but we won’t.
And the Republicans might think that spending their time debating golf carts, creating more license plates, or making it so Floridians can legally shoot eagles with paintball guns is more important than finding solutions to the Sunshine State’s problems – but we don’t.
That is what makes Democratic leaders in Tallahassee different-we want an open process so we can protect critical services from cuts, protect every opportunity to jumpstart our economy, and bring the change to Tallahassee that we need.
Join our call for the Republican leaders to pass a budget that will help Florida and do it in the open:
http://www.fladems.com/page/petition/budget
Over the past several months, the Republicans in Tallahassee have shown that they care more about using their power to stay in power; forgetting that they are here to serve the people not their political ambition.
With your help, Democrats have stopped some of the worst bills of the session. Thanks to you, we stopped a partisan elections bill that would have suppressed the vote and an attempt to ruin our tourism industry and the environment by allowing drilling just three miles off of our coasts.
Thank you for your help and making a difference during this critical legislative session.
Sincerely,
Leonard Joseph
Executive Director
Florida Democratic Party
