A lot of people have said a lot of inaccuracies about the Affordable Care Act over the years, but Rick Scott stands out. The Governor has been busted for saying at various times that the ACA was not the law of the land, that it will be a jobs-killer and the biggest tax increase in the history of the U.S. All untrue statements.
There was no such talk yesterday out in the eastern part of Tampa, however, where Governor Scott was sharing the exciting news that a Hillsborough County company called HealthPlan Services intends to hire more than 1,000 people in the Tampa Bay area in the coming years.
According to HeatlhPlan Services CEO Jeff Bak, the company is hiring "partly because it expects to pick up a significant number of customers from the new federal Affordable Care Act," according to the Tampa Tribune's Michael Sasso.
Can you say hypocrisy? Look, let's give credit where it's due. Earlier this week the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce's CEO Bob Rohrlack stood with members of the Florida League of Women Voters to support Medicaid expansion, saying it would add tens of thousands of jobs in Florida over the next decade. He said that though maybe not every Chamber member was in agreement with the support, his board was because it was a net plus for businesses.
Lord knows the ACA has its issues, but the unrelenting hyperbolic statements made by Governor Scott and others need to be held up in the sunlight, especially when they're celebrating a positive byproduct.
There are a number of other outrages we noticed while reading the morning paper (such as how Jeb Bush continues to alienate himself from the Tea Party crowd that dominate his party vis a vis Common Core), but we'll cease and desist for now.
In other news, the Tampa Bay Timeseditorial page once again blasts St. Pete Mayor Bill Foster, essentially accusing him of lying regarding negotiations with the Tampa Bay Rays. On Tuesday I asked the mayor to explain his late conversion regarding allowing the Rays to speak with officials in Hillsborough County, which had been his position, though I guess it isn't any longer.
Rick Kriseman continues his momentum in that campaign, incidentally. His team announced that he's raised over $50,000 in the past 17 days.
And over in Tampa yesterday, Hillsborough County Commissioners moved forward on bringing a referendum to the public whose ultimate goal of creating a Latino-leaning district may be one step closer to fruition.