by Tampa Bay Times’ Daniel Ruth

June 7, 2017

Next year when the Florida Legislature once again meets for its 60-day session of engaging in less productivity than the Nepalese navy, both Florida Gov. Rick Scott and House Speaker Richard Corcoran will deliver stirring hypocritical speeches pledging pure, open government in the full flower of the sunshine.

And then their britches will explode into a volcanic eruption of flames.

For in Tallahassee, when chaps like Scott and Corcoran promise transparency they are — in a word — not being honest. Too nuanced?

As a Floridian you have every right to be offended over being treated like a chump. If you are a member of the Florida Legislature, especially a Republican, you have to feel more rudely dissed than Montenegran President Dusko Markovic, who was brusquely shoved aside when he found himself stuck between President Donald Trump and a camera at a recent NATO summit.

The 120 members of the Florida House and the current 39 members of the Florida Senate are formally charged with completing a single task — to approve the state’s budget. Everything else is mere make-work to satisfy the interests of the lobbying corps.

But as it turned out 157 Florida legislators were completely unnecessary to crafting the budget. [READ MORE]