The Austerity That's Killing Florida

As we contemplate the racist hellhole that is the "state" of Florida, let's keep in mind that any attempt by rational residents to restore civilization and the rule of law is undermined at the start by the radical budget austerity established by the fanatic repug regime in Tallahassee.

Digby:

From Jacobin Magazine:

The Left should be paying attention to Florida. If you’ve ever desired a nightmarish vision of the legislature-driven austerity measures as what we’ve seen in Madison and Zucotti Park. I don’t want to downplay the noble efforts of the Floridian Occupiers (yes, they exist) but the state’s overwhelmingly suburban geography, its lack of density and dearth of prominent public space, prevents the sort of spectacular urban reclamation that made Occupy so compelling. And unionized public workers, the warp and woof of the Madison eruption, are a tiny minority of Florida’s total employed. Fittingly, the 2012 budget disproportionately harms university students and state workers, the two groups actively resisting the descent into austerity.

One might also wonder about the Florida Democratic Party, but they are not present either. It's the same everywhere. The Party looked at its massive losses in the 2010 elections and decided its only hope was to support austerity and elect more conservatives. After all, they lost to Republicans who ran on that platform, right? It must be what the people want. That's just where their logic naturally takes them when they lose.

It's a truly harrowing tale of a descent into fiscal and social madness, with no end in sight. It turns out that America hasn't been spared the European style austerity after all. It's just happening in the states.

What's being sacrificed to austerity in your state's budget? Trust me, something is. And it's something society needs.