Sexy students don't need to know no stinkin' economics, they go straight from Mommy and Daddy's dime to the government's dime.
The young girls with the "sexy students" signs were among the about three dozen supporters of high speed rally that gathered in downtown Tampa today. You would never know it from reading the rally coverage at
TBO.com but those of us who stand with Gov. Rick Scott in opposition to high speed rail outnumbered the pro rail forces about four to one.
For those of you who are unaware of the controversy here, the voters have repeated voted against funding high speed rail in Florida. Gov. Scott, acting on the will of the people and with the state's long term fiscal health in mind,
turned down 2.4 billion federal dollars for high speed rail in Florida. Sen. Bill Nelson (D FL) and
Rep. Kathy Castor (D FL11), two people who have never given a rat's ass about the will of the people let alone the fiscal health of this state and nation, are trying to do an end run around our governor and force the people of Florida to accept the federal dollars. Both Castor and Nelson are heavily beholden to the unions and the jobs that proponents of rail keep touting would be taxpayer funded union jobs not private sector jobs.
What we are experiencing in Florida is not unlike what is happening in Wisconsin, only on a smaller (for now) scale. Special interest groups are trying to dictate policy-taxpayers and our future be damned. Gov. Scott has been the subject of vicious attacks since he took a principled stand against the waste of taxpayer money. Please stand with Gov. Rick Scott and
send him a word of support.
I would like to send a special thank you to the deputy in this picture. Several proponents of rail tried to tell us that we were not allowed to protest on "their" side of the street. When one of them approached this deputy and asked him to make us move he explained to her that we were well within our rights. Yes, we were loud and yes, we were passionate but at no point were we out of bounds. The Left needs to understand that the days of the "quiet conservative" are long gone. We will defend our rights in the voting booth and we will defend them in the street. It is a brand new day. My advice to Lefties-get used to it.
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9 comments:
Thanks for being in the arena, Carol
You're welcome, timothy! My first protest was in 1974 when I was a wet behind the ears sixteen year old. I'm glad I grew up and saw the light!
Hi Carol,
I am not one to surf different wing-nut blogs, but a friend of mine directed my attention to this particular post. As one of the PROUD sexy students in attendance at the event, I can tell you that we are not ignorant to economic implications of this high speed rail. It is an investment in the community and in our future. A counter-protester like yourself asked me if I was planning to get one of the 20,000 jobs the rail would bring to our community. I answered that I was planning to get one of the many future jobs brought to Tampa by the resulting economic development of this project.
Anyways, I am not interested in getting in a petty political blog fight. I just felt that you and your readers should know that not all of my generation is ignorant to the issues. The main reason the teabaggers outnumbered the supporters and students is not because we don't care, but because many of us actually have shit to do. I was personally there to learn something, not just shout nonsense. The facts are out there: our community needs this. I understand if you delete this comment. Logic has never really appealed to you people.
Sincerely,
Jessica M.
Damn Proud Sexy Student
The cop not letting you on the other side of the protest has nothing to do with a leftist conspiracy.
For rallies and protests it is standard to keep people of opposing views in different areas. It for the safety of all parties involved.
Hey Carol,
I am one of those "sexy" students and I am currently double majoring in chemistry and political science at the University of Tampa. I do not rely on "daddy's" money as you said but earned my way here through hard work and by joining ROTC.
I think it is you who does not understand the economic implications of a 21st century mass transit system. You are completely ignorant to the challenges that we face not only as a state but as a country. Instead of attacking students who are voicing their American rights to say whatever they want why don't you educate yourself on this issue instead of being a completely useless airbag.
Tampa ranks among the highest cities in the rate of pedestrian and bicyclist deaths and lowest in commuter friendly cities. Why would anyone want to live in a city where everyone must drive to even go 2 blocks down the road? I have been to plenty of cities where you don't need a car and can get straight from the airport to anywhere in the city utilizing efficient mass transit. As a state dependent on tourism doesn't this make sense that tourists want to avoid having the added expense of a car rental and instead rely on mass transit?
As for the funding issue this money is already spent either way and if we refuse it, it will go to California to build a high speed rail line from L.A. to San Francisco. Many of the private companies who want to build the line have already stated that they will absorb all cost overruns and the state will only pay a minuscule amount for the overall rail line.
I don't know about you but if I were the CEO of a company and looking to move towards another state I would not just look at tax rates and regulations but also the education and technical skills of the population and the quality of the infrastructure. Why do you think California, Illinois, and New York still retain and attract a significant amount of corporations despite having much higher taxes and a regulatory burden? It's because those states have better infrastructure and a better educated populace.
So maybe if you would actually go to college and expand your thinking you won't be such a close minded, ignorant, teabagger.
When you turn 65, I hope you enjoy your socialist social security payments and that socialized medicine program called Medicare.
Hi, Carol. I disagree with almost everything you said in your screed, but I thought I would let you know who that sexy student talking to the police officer is. She is Linda Saul-Sena who served on the Tampa City Council for 20 years. Yes, she's sexy, and she is a life-long student of good government working for the people's long-term interests, not short-sighted budget gimmickery.
Wow, where to start. I don't normally respond to negative comments, and no, Jessica, I don't delete comments unless they are particularly vulgar. People have a right to disagree and that includes disagreeing with me in the comments of my own blog.
Tampa Officer, please re-read that paragraph. I neither spoke of or eluded to a "left wing conspiracy". I thanked the officer for allowing to stay on the same side of the street as the pro forces when they were claiming, falsely, that we were not allowed to be there. We were not separated, we were not moved. Reading comprehension is a valuable tool.
Alex, I too graduated with a double major (economics and business) and applaud your dedication and applaud you for participating in ROTC. Military service in honorable and I sincerely thank you. Why do you need a car to walk a mere two blocks?
California is hoping that they will get "our" 2.4 billion dollars. Why? Because their rail project has already run up serious unplanned costs. That is what passenger rail does. These projects are also well known for over projecting ridership and for operating in the red and thus needing ongoing taxpayer subsidies. Look at Amtrak. It is a fiscal basket case.
That 2.4 billion dollars is not free money. It is taxpayer money. It should be used to pay down the debt which your generation, not mine, will bear the brunt of. If we don't get our fiscal house in order your generation will have bigger things than rail to worry about.
I am not sexy and not a student, except of the powers of persuasion and obfuscation. Car travel causes climate change. Rail travel is more efficient in absolute dollars as well as carbon footprint. The reason people who value the status quo can make it look like rail is expensive is because of decades long build-up of infrastructure for automobiles and tax breaks for oil companies who already make billions of dollars of profit.
Build for the future.
I am also one of those "sexy students" in which you chose to use address negatively in your blog in regards to your views on high speed rail. My fellow "sexy students" responded to your ignorant blog in a respectful manner sharing strong opinions that I proudly support!
You wrote that you "don't normally respond to negative comments". These are not negative comments, but strong young voices of our country. We are students who are choosing to lead the way and represent the voices of generation. You are negatively portraying the very population of our country that lacks representation in the political world. In the 2007 city elections, less than 3% of registered voters from 18 to 30 years old voted. This is also the population of our country who will will be most affected by the progression of our countries future. I am disgusted that you would use us "sexy students" in this way to express your opposing view on the issue of high speed rail.
I hope that negative blogs like yours end, and a new revolution of inspirational, educated voices with a fresh vision for the future be heard!
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