Thurman: Floridians Going To Send Atwater Into Retirement Coming 2010

From the FDP:

Reacting to Jeff Atwater's announcement that he will run for CFO, Florida Democratic Party Chair Karen Thurman released the following statement:

"When Jeff Atwater's lips are moving during the campaign season, Atwater's nose must be growing since Atwater has made a career of saying one thing on the campaign trail, while doing the opposite in office.

"While Floridians are suffering during these hard times, people across the Sunshine State expected bold leadership to get our state back on track, yet one only has to look at Atwater's time as Senate President to see why Floridians are going to send him into retirement come 2010.

"As Senate President, Atwater broke his promise when he led the Senate to raising taxes and fees by over $2 billion, including hiking Floridians property taxes by over $300 million. Atwater helped craft a fiscally irresponsible budget that taxed Florida's hunters and fishers, as well as forced layoffs of teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other first responders. Rather than cutting government waste in the Senate, Atwater cut off opportunities to Florida's children by cutting funding to our schools.

"Atwater's Republicans obstructed President Obama's efforts to jumpstart Florida's economy by rejecting $444 million from the President's recovery plan and made it harder for working families to send their children to college by diminishing the Bright Futures Scholarship program.

"Even Republicans were calling Atwater's back room dealings 'embarrassing,' when Atwater's failure of leadership forced the Republican Legislature to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to go into overtime.

"During campaign seasons Atwater spends millions of dollars from the special interests that have bankrolled his career to rail against everything he does as an elected official.

"Last fall, Atwater spent over $5 million to convince the voters of his district he would lower insurance rates, after voting in 2006 to raise rates by at least 71.5%.

"Atwater is against restoring the civil rights of Floridians who have paid the price for their sins, yet he voted to cut probation officers who supervise truly dangerous criminals.

"At a time when Florida's Republicans are desperately fighting to give Floridians more of the same in 2010, Democrats are organized and energized to elect proven leaders to bring change to Florida."