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Jeb Bush touts consensus-builder style, but many point to discordant Florida record
AP
This is not news to Floridians. But we aim to let everyone else know about this dude.
Jeb Bush says he’s the man to fix the partisan gridlock and dysfunction in Washington. It just takes a willingness to find common ground and reach across the aisle to work with people who may often disagree with you.
“I don’t assume it’s my way or the highway,” Florida’s former governor recently told a woman who asked at the Iowa State Fair how his style differs from Donald Trump’s.
Jeb Bush, consensus-builder? That’s not the leadership style most people remember from his eight years as governor.
“His style is my way or the highway,” said former Florida House Speaker Johnnie Byrd, a Republican who supported most of Bush’s agenda but is undecided for 2016. “The whole time I worked with him, he never listened to me or anybody else in the process. If Mitch McConnell and John Boehner think they’re going to have a great relationship with President Jeb Bush, they better watch out.”
Former Republican state Sen. Nancy Argenziano, who several times opposed pieces of Bush’s agenda, recalled little appetite for compromise or negotiation from the governor: “If you don’t agree with him on something, there is no making it better. It’s my way or hit the highway.”
“I don’t assume it’s my way or the highway,” Florida’s former governor recently told a woman who asked at the Iowa State Fair how his style differs from Donald Trump’s.
Jeb Bush, consensus-builder? That’s not the leadership style most people remember from his eight years as governor.
“His style is my way or the highway,” said former Florida House Speaker Johnnie Byrd, a Republican who supported most of Bush’s agenda but is undecided for 2016. “The whole time I worked with him, he never listened to me or anybody else in the process. If Mitch McConnell and John Boehner think they’re going to have a great relationship with President Jeb Bush, they better watch out.”
Former Republican state Sen. Nancy Argenziano, who several times opposed pieces of Bush’s agenda, recalled little appetite for compromise or negotiation from the governor: “If you don’t agree with him on something, there is no making it better. It’s my way or hit the highway.”
“It wasn’t like he was dealing with a Democratic Legislature and he had to forge consensus to get things done,” said Ron Klein, a former congressman and state Senate Democratic leader from Boca Raton. “He was the first Republican governor to have a totally Republican Legislature. It was very compliant with him because generally they were on the same page with a lot of his very Republican views, and also they wanted to make the first Republican governor in a long time look good.”
......said former Florida House Democratic Leader Dan Gelber, who served in the Legislature for six of Bush’s eight years in office.
“What he did with the Legislature is say, 'I’m going to take these big audacious ideas and push them through.’ He did not have an offense filled with trick plays,” Gelber continued. “His offense was, 'We’re going to have bigger linemen, we’re going to run the ball up the middle, and we’re going to just plow the other team over.’ ”
“What he did with the Legislature is say, 'I’m going to take these big audacious ideas and push them through.’ He did not have an offense filled with trick plays,” Gelber continued. “His offense was, 'We’re going to have bigger linemen, we’re going to run the ball up the middle, and we’re going to just plow the other team over.’ ”
That's EXACTLY how Jeb Bush thought his "shock and awe" SuperPAC
More:
Many of the signature elements of Bush’s record — high-stakes testing in public schools, overhauling Florida’s higher education system to put more control under the governor, privatizing government services, abolishing affirmative action, restricting lawsuits, trying to overrule court rulings to keep Terri Schiavo alive — had little or nothing to do with building consensus. They were examples of Bush doing what he thought was right regardless of public opinion or political backlash.
Darryl Paulson, professor emeritus of government at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, called Bush a “highly successful” governor who was more likely to get his way through strong-arming than persuading Republicans and Democrats to find common ground.
In 2005, Paulson interviewed Tom Slade, the legendary, late Florida GOP chairman, about the history of the Republican Party in Florida. Slade died in 2014, but Paulson provided the Tampa Bay Times with notes from that interview. Slade’s descriptions of Bush 10 years ago:
“Bright.”
“Principled.”
“Uncompromisingly steadfast, without tolerance for any advice.”
“Dictatorial.”
“Doesn’t seek advice well.”
“Lacks maturity to be president of the United States.”
“Arrogant as hell, but so is George.”
In 2005, Paulson interviewed Tom Slade, the legendary, late Florida GOP chairman, about the history of the Republican Party in Florida. Slade died in 2014, but Paulson provided the Tampa Bay Times with notes from that interview. Slade’s descriptions of Bush 10 years ago:
“Bright.”
“Principled.”
“Uncompromisingly steadfast, without tolerance for any advice.”
“Dictatorial.”
“Doesn’t seek advice well.”
“Lacks maturity to be president of the United States.”
“Arrogant as hell, but so is George.”
We watched a simmering feud in 2006 between former Republican state senator Nancy Argenziano and Governor (cough) Jeb Bush, when Jeb tried to oust another Republican state senator Alex Villalobos--- (Villalobos had DARED to vote against two of Jeb's signature issues: expanding school vouchers and weakening a class-size mandate).
When state Sen. Alex Villalobos, the Florida Senate majority leader, voted against two top Bush priorities in 2006 — expanding school vouchers and watering down a popular class-size mandate — Bush helped lead a multimillion-dollar campaign to oust the Miami Republican. It failed.
“I walked for him, I supported him, I raised money for him, I voted with him probably 99 percent of the time,” recounted Villalobos, who was in line to become Florida’s first Cuban-American Senate president until he crossed Bush.
“Jeb Bush definitely has the authority, the temperament, the skills to govern. His problem is that his idea of governing is you have to agree with him 100 percent of the time,” Villalobos said, chuckling at Bush’s claim to be a consensus-seeker.
“I walked for him, I supported him, I raised money for him, I voted with him probably 99 percent of the time,” recounted Villalobos, who was in line to become Florida’s first Cuban-American Senate president until he crossed Bush.
“Jeb Bush definitely has the authority, the temperament, the skills to govern. His problem is that his idea of governing is you have to agree with him 100 percent of the time,” Villalobos said, chuckling at Bush’s claim to be a consensus-seeker.
More from former Florida Republican State Senator Nancy Argenziano, recently:
"If you don't agree with Jeb on something you're sh-- out of luck. If you don't agree with him on something, there is no making it better. It's my way or hit the highway," said Argenziano when asked about Bush's constant talk on the campaign trail about his record of forging consensus and finding common ground with people who might disagree.
Argenziano quit the GOP in 2011, saying her lifelong party had been hijacked by extremists and special interests, and ran unsuccessfully for the state House in 2012 as an independent candidate. Her preferred presidential candidate? Bernie Sanders, because he's talking about tackling the influence of big money in politics.
.....
"But (Jeb Bush) is still part of a party that does not care about science, that does not care about the environment, that does not care about women's rights," Argenziano said. "And if any damn Republican tells me there's not a war on women, then come and talk and sit and debate with me because there certainly is, and I can tell you as a woman who was inside the Republican party, they are not very friendly to women. And the women that they do have probably are just puppet heads with two brain cells."
Argenziano quit the GOP in 2011, saying her lifelong party had been hijacked by extremists and special interests, and ran unsuccessfully for the state House in 2012 as an independent candidate. Her preferred presidential candidate? Bernie Sanders, because he's talking about tackling the influence of big money in politics.
.....
"But (Jeb Bush) is still part of a party that does not care about science, that does not care about the environment, that does not care about women's rights," Argenziano said. "And if any damn Republican tells me there's not a war on women, then come and talk and sit and debate with me because there certainly is, and I can tell you as a woman who was inside the Republican party, they are not very friendly to women. And the women that they do have probably are just puppet heads with two brain cells."
Also from that epic 2006 feud between Argenziano and Bush:
Argenziano: Gov. Jeb Bush "prefers dictatorship to democracy", August 29, 2006
"I am appalled by the governor's disingenuous letter, an unusually public gubernatorial tantrum occasioned because he couldn't intimidate a member of the Senate," wrote Argenziano, whose district extends into Leon County.
Villalobos was stripped of the Senate majority leader's job late in the session for not supporting Bush in his efforts to relax the class-size constitutional amendment and restore tuition vouchers for students. Argenziano joined the handful of Republicans voting with the Democrats to block the governor, saying she could not "drink the Kool Aid" on those issues - an often-used legislative reference to the cult poisonings in Guyana in 1978.
In his fund-raising letter, Bush said Bolanos supported "Republican principles," while Villalobos "has abandoned our party's principles and lost his way." Argenziano bounced the letter back to Bolanos, saying the governor has it precisely backward.
"You are grossly in error in presuming to send me this garbage, especially through my legislative e-mail," she started. She called it "hypocritical and bizarre" for Bush to speak of influence by special interests.
"The governor has a history reflecting accommodation of special interests as evidenced by his agencies' contracts," she said, "and his flexible Republicanism is at odds with both America and actual Republican principles. In his heart of hearts, the governor prefers dictatorship to Democracy."
As head of the Senate Governmental Oversight and Productivity Committee, Argenziano has investigated several privatization deals of the Bush administration. She forwarded a copy of her e-mail to the Tallahassee Democrat.
//snip
In her blunt note to Bolanos, Argenziano said Villalobos is no liberal, citing his support of crime legislation she sponsored.
"Sen. Villalobos has always been for less government and less taxes," she wrote to Bolanos, "so cut the bull."
Villalobos was stripped of the Senate majority leader's job late in the session for not supporting Bush in his efforts to relax the class-size constitutional amendment and restore tuition vouchers for students. Argenziano joined the handful of Republicans voting with the Democrats to block the governor, saying she could not "drink the Kool Aid" on those issues - an often-used legislative reference to the cult poisonings in Guyana in 1978.
In his fund-raising letter, Bush said Bolanos supported "Republican principles," while Villalobos "has abandoned our party's principles and lost his way." Argenziano bounced the letter back to Bolanos, saying the governor has it precisely backward.
"You are grossly in error in presuming to send me this garbage, especially through my legislative e-mail," she started. She called it "hypocritical and bizarre" for Bush to speak of influence by special interests.
"The governor has a history reflecting accommodation of special interests as evidenced by his agencies' contracts," she said, "and his flexible Republicanism is at odds with both America and actual Republican principles. In his heart of hearts, the governor prefers dictatorship to Democracy."
As head of the Senate Governmental Oversight and Productivity Committee, Argenziano has investigated several privatization deals of the Bush administration. She forwarded a copy of her e-mail to the Tallahassee Democrat.
//snip
In her blunt note to Bolanos, Argenziano said Villalobos is no liberal, citing his support of crime legislation she sponsored.
"Sen. Villalobos has always been for less government and less taxes," she wrote to Bolanos, "so cut the bull."
You go, girl!
We have got to get the word out to everyone on the real Jeb Bush.
By the way, George W. Bush danced the day away in New Orleans yesterday, on the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The Bushes always return to the scene of their crimes.
It is time to end the catastrophic Bush era.