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Gov. Rick Scott Allocates $370 Million of Stimulus "Disaster" Money Into State Budget

Remember that campaign talking point Gov. Rick Scott had about President Barack Obama's stimulus package being a "disaster," when Scott said he would endlessly fight the stimulus money?Well, he managed to leave $370 million of that federal "disaster" cash in the state's budget he signed last week.So who's selling the...
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Remember that campaign talking point Gov. Rick Scott had about President Barack Obama's stimulus package being a "disaster," when Scott said he would endlessly fight the stimulus money?

Well, he managed to leave $370 million of that federal "disaster" cash in the state's budget he signed last week.

So who's selling the Rick Scott flip-flops?

The governor was asked several times by reporters why he included the stimulus money he so decried into the budget, but he was apparently too busy flipping and flopping to answer their questions.

And lest we forget that freakin' train.

That $2.4 billion from the stimulus package for the high-speed train between Tampa and Orlando that Scott shooed away comes from the same exact stimulus package that he just let in to the budget.

Still, Scott called the stimulus a "mistake" in response to questions about why he kept the federal funds in the budget.

"It's a mistake. That's taxpayer money," Scott told the Miami Herald. "And I think
we have to watch how we spend all that money, both at the state level and at
the federal level."


Here's how the federal stimulus money is allocated into Florida's budget, according to the Herald: $290 million to improve electronic medical records, $4.2 million to aid disadvantaged children, $3.2 million for fighting wildfires, $12.5 million for drug courts, $8.6 million for county health departments, $1 million to fight infectious diseases, and $4.4 million to help public defenders and prosecutors.


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