fire the teachers and the secretaries, but increase salaries for political appointee?

Scott's budget shows a 27% increase in positions, and a 116% increase in expense, in the Executive Office of the Governor. I found that disappointing. I expected him to lead by example, but he's asking the rest of the cabinet to do what he's not willing to do.

Silly, it's very logical - you have to pay good money to get good people .................. but only for jobs that are important.

Assisting a politician - important.

Running our financial system into the ground - important (and they need bonuses too or we could lose their great skills).

Educating our children or policing our streets - not so important and an opportunity for savings! :roll:

is this the definition of fiscal conservatism?

Top State Legislators Promise Cuts, But Staff Salaries Remain High - News Story - WFTV Orlando

No it's not. That's the problem with Florida politics, even the repubs in the legislature tend to be big spenders. Jeb Bush used to be a pretty good budget safety valve via vetos. We have yet to see how Scott will handle stuff like this yet.

"I don't pretend these are small salaries, they're not. But we're trying to run a $70 billion organization and we need to find the right people for it," Haridopolos said.

That statement is corporate-speak.

Based on my corp. experiences, that statement translates as follows:

1) Corporate-speak for "RUN" = Grow.

2) Grow is the opposite of (shrink/loss/reduce).

3) A standard corporate philosophy:
"if you're not growing, you're dying".

4) To merely 'maintain' qualifies as death/failure.

5) When the target market is saturated, the only recognized strategy for one's own survival is to eliminate/destroy 100% of the competition.

6) ESSENTIAL to ignore/deny:
(a) Pt.1-5 strategy even eliminates the 'customers'... and ultimately "the $70bil organization" itself.
(b) In any life cycle... death is inevitable.

JMHO, Big-Corporate-Speak is analogous to Big-Anything... be it govt., politics, religion, military, war, addiction, ego, life, consumption, etc. etc.

No it's not. That's the problem with Florida politics, even the repubs in the legislature tend to be big spenders. Jeb Bush used to be a pretty good budget safety valve via vetos. We have yet to see how Scott will handle stuff like this yet.

I would observe that this is not just confined to FLORIDA politics.

I think we know how Scott is handling it already:

The price for Florida?s new governor? One red cent ? Central Florida Political Pulse ? Orlando Sentinel

But not everyone is working for pennies.

New Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll will get $124,851 a year ? the exact same salary LG Jeff Kottkamp drew to cut ribbons and staff the second-tier public events. And at least 10 of Scott?s top aides have been hired on permanently with six-figure salaries. That?s not out-of-the-ordinary pay for the top staff surrounding the governor.

Chief of staff Mike Prendergast is being paid $150,000, as is chief policy advisor Mary Ann Carter and budget director Jerry McDaniel. (That?s a $12,000 raise for McDaniel, who did the same job for the last governor but now also has to head up Scott?s Office of Fiscal Accountability).

Lobbyist Hayden Dempsey is getting paid $140,000 to be Scott?s special counsel for legislative affairs. Erik Figlio is getting $130,000 to serve as general counsel. Brian Burgess, the out-of-state communications consultant who worked for Scott?s campaign, is being paid $110,000 to run his press shop.

Here?s a minor surprise: Spencer Geissinger, the former advance man for President George W. Bush who ensured Scott?s inaugural was a demilitarized zone, is getting $148,000 to serve as ?director of external affairs.? Jenn Ungru, a GOP lawyer, is also coming on board as deputy chief of staff at a salary of $100,000.

Scott has yet to fill the vast majority of the jobs in his office, and the governor is technically being assisted by state workers on ?loan? from other agencies or holdovers from Gov. Charlie Crist?s administration.

Within the office Scott inherited this week, the average salary among the 287 existing EOG employees was $55,027. The median pay was $50,349, which is about $3,000 higher than the median household income overall in Florida.

The highest salary was Crist chief of staff Shane Strum, who was paid $147,000. Fourteen employees were making six-figure salaries ? including Crist?s $130,000 in pay ? and the lowest salary was $18,792 paid to a staff assistant whom we will not embarrass here.

I think we know how Scott is handling it already:

The price for Florida?s new governor? One red cent ? Central Florida Political Pulse ? Orlando Sentinel

Makes me curious as to the salaries of comparable positions at the fed level. I'll have to go check that out.

I think we know how Scott is handling it already:

The price for Florida?s new governor? One red cent ? Central Florida Political Pulse ? Orlando Sentinel

Sounds like he's handling his end of things rather well. Payroll is typical for the office and Scott is paying himself 1 cent a year! :clap:

Sounds like he's handling his end of things rather well. Payroll is typical for the office and Scott is paying himself 1 cent a year! :clap:

So you applaud the idea that Governor Scott is not taking a paycheck, is this the reason he believes he can do the things he is doing even if it is questionable as to its legality. Somewhere along the line he will believe he is entitled to do something he isn't because he has a mandate of 49% who voted for him. I wonder if the mandate attititude brought us Watergate, Iran/ Contra, Whitewater and Iraq/ Afganistan.

Sounds like he's handling his end of things rather well. Payroll is typical for the office and Scott is paying himself 1 cent a year! :clap:

It's typical perhaps for the political appointees--not the career service employees;

but, as we all know, these times are not "typical" so if he can not pay himself, then, why not see if he can get the job done with fewer appointees, or have some of them double up on their assignments; use some private sector "pro bone" for legal work or press work or, God forbid, "External Affairs"...
seems there are many ways to lower the EOG budget;

but, it seems to be business as usual in the Executive Offices.

I agree with FF 2 that it worries me that he is not taking a salary...wonder how much it costs in overhead to process $.01...and if he's not being paid by the people, then is he really accountable to us?

There are more questions than answers here IMO.

Sounds like he's handling his end of things rather well. Payroll is typical for the office and Scott is paying himself 1 cent a year! :clap:

a man who spent 70 plus million in stolen money to become elected goes without pay? how does he do it?

Sounds like he's handling his end of things rather well. Payroll is typical for the office and Scott is paying himself 1 cent a year! :clap:

To borrow a phrase from SWGB, it's a lot like talking to a spam bot. :roll: No matter what facts you present, some people will read into it what they want to see.
There's a reason why I usually stay out of the political forum. :shock:

There's nothing I can say. Regardless of what Scott does, you'll all beat on him for something. What ever happened to that "give the guy a chance" mantra from a couple years ago? 😀

well, iMO there is a huge difference between "give the guy a chance" and what we are seeing here...

To borrow a phrase from SWGB, it's a lot like talking to a spam bot. :roll: No matter what facts you present, some people will read into it what they want to see.
There's a reason why I usually stay out of the political forum. :shock:

well, I understand that but come on in--I could use your expertise😀

Scott tells Department of Corrections what Florida can learn from Walmart | Florida Independent: News. Politics. Media

Customers don?t shop at Walmart because the company has high overhead or because it offers its employees good benefits, he said. They choose it because it offers the products they want at the best price. #

SB44 -- this one's for you!😀 (note the comments at the end!)

I don't want to live in Wal-Mart.

There's nothing I can say. Regardless of what Scott does, you'll all beat on him for something. What ever happened to that "give the guy a chance" mantra from a couple years ago? 😀

not really.
If I had my way?

? Governor Scott would pay himself a salary, say about what a beginning teacher or firefighter makes and live on that for the length of his tenure as governor;
? He would expect his Executive Staff to take the same rate of pay/pension/benefit cuts that everyone else is taking under his administration;
? He would put his own money into a trust that would not be touched as long as he was Governor, so that he could not say at some point: ?I?m not taking a salary, so I don?t have to answer to the citizens, the media, the legislature??
? He would spend a week as a caseworker for the Department of Family and Children; a week as a teacher; a week as a firefighter; a week as traffic engineer with DOT; a week with a bridge maintenance crew; a corrections officer; a maintenance person at a Community College; a retiree on a fixed income?
? He would approach the idea of health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of Florida not from a profit making mindset, but from a quality of life point of view.
? He would trade his arrogance for an ounce of humility; his self-centeredness for some empathy; and his lack of understanding of what government is about, for some education.

If I had my way, our Governor would be a good steward of the land, the people, and the environment of our great state.

Well, that certainly made me pucker - Scott's vision for Florida is to run it like Wal-mart and draw in companies that produce goods like China! 😱

Has he taken a look at Wal-mart's balance sheets and future projections lately?

Glad I voted for his opponent and own Target stock. ;-)

Poor Florida environment - you just got sold down the soon to be more polluted river.

a man who spent 70 plus million in stolen money to become elected goes without pay? how does he do it?

:lolabove: Welcome to the new corporation, FLA. Inc., { D.B.A., Scott Free for a Fee}