David Rivera wastes time regulating Cuba travel while Florida sinks

By Weekly Archive On Apr 15, 2008

David
Rivera wastes time regulating Cuba travel while Florida sinks

By
Alvaro F. Fernandez
alfernandez@the-beach.net

Mankind
is composed of two sorts of men — those who love and create, and
those who hate and destroy. —
Jose Marti

Florida
State Rep. David Rivera is reckless, ruthless and calculating. I
would bet that Rivera, born in New York, has never shed a tear for
Cuba. He probably cares little, if at all, for the island nation. He
sees it as a place 90 miles from Key West; a communist boogeyman that
helps get one elected in Miami.

Along
with our members of Congress and a few other Cuba haters in the Bush
Administration, Rivera is also in the group I blame for the
anti-Cuban family restrictions that went into effect in 2004 limiting
travel to Cuba and remittances to family members while defining who
those members are. Think back to the fall of 2003. Presidential
elections were nearing. Things did not look good for President Bush
at the time. Rivera and his ilk decided to rattle the Calle
Ocho
cages in Miami. They accused the president of not doing enough
against the Cuban government. They threatened to make him pay during
the presidential election of 2004.

Some
may disagree that one of the results of Rivera’s pandering were the
stricter travel regulations of the 2004 summer. I would argue against
that.

Now
compare the similarities. It is 2008. There is a strong chance
republicans may lose the White House. Florida will again play a big
role in deciding the election. But there’s more. Now the three
Cuban American republican members of Congress from South Florida are
also being challenged. Chances are one, two or all three may lose.
Suddenly …David Rivera rears his head again with a new plan —
Florida House Bill 671.

Rivera
may be ineffective when it comes to his constituent responsibilities.
But he’s very good at spinning hate and destruction as symbols of a
false patriotism used for electoral ends. The Cuban family and his
District 112 constituents would pay the price.

Tallahassee
$$ tight

Any
Floridian knows money coming from Tallahassee has been tight the past
few years. This year should see even greater cuts for education,
health care, the elderly and a slew of much needed projects and
social services. Miami schools expect major reductions — more than
$50 million — knocking out classes, summer schools, special
education courses and much more. Teachers can kiss the possibility of
any significant raises goodbye. More and more people are falling into
the no-health-insurance column. The real market value of our homes
has dropped but the county has upped their value — a neat trick that
allows them to collect more taxes while claiming to lower them.
Property insurance companies also rape us. All the while, politicians
turn a blind eye on the abuse while accepting political contributions
from the abusers.

But
politicians like Rivera, who should
be dealing with these issues, seem only interested in fulfilling a
very narrow agenda — forgetting the many and varied needs of Florida
residents while lining the pockets of their friends. With HB 671,
malevolent David would fulfill his quota for 2008 by proposing to tax
and regulate Cuba travel companies right out of business. And if HB
671 does pass, I can predict that most of the already over-regulated
(by the federal government) travel to Cuba businesses will close
their doors leaving hundreds unemployed and Florida with even less
tax dollars to collect. By chance, if any company survives, the cost
of travel will shoot up, again (or have we forgotten that the price
of doing business is paid for by the consumer?). Thanks David…

Of
course, the other option will be to travel illegally — something
that is already happening. (Thanks again, David, for helping to
create a new kind of criminal: one who values family ties more than
arbitrary laws.)

But
Rivera’s not alone. Greed, recklessness and inefficiency are
defining characteristics of our legislative leaders. While Floridians
suffer, our Cuban American Speaker of the Florida House, boss Marco
Rubio, was busy assuring himself a sweetheart deal on a mortgage for
his underpriced new home during the 2008 session. He recently scored
a six-figure equity windfall just months after the phantom purchase.
Hmmm! I wonder who helped him land that. On another front, Miami
Beach democrat Luis Garcia passed a useless bill urging the U.S.
government to put pressure on Cuba to hold free and fair elections.
Great job Luis! I wonder how that will help with my daughter’s
education…

No
wonder the business of the people is left up to the special interest
groups in Florida. Legislators don’t seem to care much. There must
be a pot of gold at the end of the Tallahassee rainbow — for our
legislative leaders. As for paying good teachers what they are worth
and offering our children the type of education they deserve — our
leaders take to the TV, look down sadly, sigh, shrug and give
Floridians the bad news: “There’s not enough money to afford it.
It’s a year to tighten our belts.” Magically, though, they come
up with a quarter billion to help a poor billionaire baseball team
owner build a stadium on donated public land in the middle of Miami.

Global
warming should sink Florida underwater in less than 100 years. Heck,
with the help of legislators like David Rivera, Marco Rubio and Luis
Garcia, Florida may not have to wait that long.