Daniel Tilson: Giving thanks to Florida politicians who make 2014 matter

Looking back at Florida politics in 2013, I’m thankful for memories that will serve as critical reminders heading into the midterm elections.

Thank you, Republican state representatives, for refusing to take $51 billion in federal dollars for Medicaid or some equivalent kind of healthcare expansion in Florida.

Talk about killing two birds! You must’ve been thinking Turkey Day when you not only undermined our state’s ability to help the needy, but also kept a million working poor people from celebrating Thanksgiving with the kind of peace of mind that comes from having health insurance coverage.

And thank you Gov. Rick Scott, for announcing you’ll spend at least $100 million to get re-elected in 2014, and then kick-starting your campaign by using state funds, middle class taxpayer dollars, to mail thousands of rah-rah for Rick letters.

Rare bipartisan thanks to state legislators who passed what was billed as truly meaningful campaign finance reform, the true meaningfulness of which will become clear when the governor’s reign-storm of ad cash floods our TV and computer screens.

Thanks to Republican lawmakers who along with Scott have turned recession-driven budget deficits into surpluses by cutting services and programs that help working families, while leaving their cronies’ corporate tax dodges and loopholes in place.

Kudos to this solid-as-a-rock-for-rich-folks team for ensuring that the state’s largest, most profitable corporations and wealthiest residents continue to pay little or no taxes, while sales taxes from the rest of us account for more than 82 percent of revenue.

The governor also deserves credit for pushing through his “top priority” sales tax cut — not for you or me or other average folks who have to pull our weight and pay our fair share of taxes, (OK, maybe a little more than our fair share), but for big companies buying big, expensive manufacturing equipment.

Speaking of using political power to protect the wealthy at the expense of working people, a big shout-out goes to the Florida GOP for doing the bidding of the likes of Disney and Darden Restaurants by barring counties and municipalities from passing their own mandatory paid sick-leave or minimum-wage ordinances.

Thanks to them, we can also rest easy that no county or municipality will join Miami-Dade in protecting people like those who serve and clean up after the rest of us in restaurants and hotels, by passing local wage theft protection laws.

Scott ranks special thanks for following up on the GOP’s infamous 2012 voter suppression plan by having Secretary of State Ken Detzner go on a statewide apology tour at the very same time a new voter suppression plan targeting Hispanic, Haitian and other traditionally Democratic voters was being cooked up.

Florida seniors, their children and other loved ones will, I’m sure, want to join me in thanking State House and Senate Republicans for bravely beating down Democratic legislators’ attempts to hold nursing homes and assisted living facilities more accountable for negligence and abuse.

And perhaps we should all join Big Oil in being grateful that public health concerns about hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” (drilling deep into the earth and injecting chemicals to extract natural gas) were ignored, as Democratic legislation requiring oil companies to reveal what chemicals are being injected underground was easily defeated.

Goodness gracious, I could go on and on.

But I won’t.

I’ll just say I’m grateful we’ll all have a chance in 2014 to examine these and other issues, and then show our thanks at the polls.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!