$491 Million That Slipped By Under Wraps

$491 Million That Slipped By Under Wraps By DANIEL RUTH Published: Dec 4, 2007 CSX Transportation recently received 491 million reasons to be joyful this holiday season, thanks largely to a former governor who treated his public office as if it were an extension of the Skull and Bones secret society. A few days ago, Florida transportation officials and CSX signed off on a deal, finagled in greater secrecy than the list of covert CIA prisons, that will give the railroad company $491 million in public money to purchase 61 miles of track in the Orlando area. As part of the CSX corporate welfare deal, money also will be provided to upgrade existing rail lines and create a major hub in Polk County, which could effectively reduce Lakeland to a glorified parking lot for the choo-choos. Even though we are in times of economic stress, when teachers, school nurses and other government employees are losing their jobs because of belt-tightening, and though it wreaks of elitist, good ol' boy backroom home cooking to give a private corporation nearly a half-billion dollars of your money, who would be surprised? Royal Me After all, the CSX goody bag began with the handiwork of then-Gov. Jeb Bush, R-The Royal Me, who negotiated the $491 million giveaway in secret, out of the sunshine and without legislative accountability. And why not? This was a governor who always expressed barely disguised disdain for ever having to explain himself, much less to the press and certainly not to those ooey-gooey, icky folks otherwise known as citizens. Or put another way, an almost half-billion-dollar pillaging of the public exchequer somehow managed to pass the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature without most members of that august body having any remote clue what they were voting to approve. Of course, that might have been remedied by reading the appropriations bill beforehand. Due diligence? Let's not get carried away with good government here. No Memory While Bush was serving CSX mimosas on the verandah, the $491 million episode of "Deal or No Deal" was more lost in the halls of the Capitol than Sen. Larry Craig's career. Republican state Sen. Paula Dockery, who represents the Lakeland area, noted the CSX money never came before her committee, which is sort of strange because she serves on the TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE! "Sounds like they were trying to slip something through," surmised Republican state Sen. Alex Villalobos of Miami in an interview with The Tribune's Lindsay Peterson. Gee, senator, do ya think? Indeed, by the reckoning of all of the elected officials who should have known details about forking over $491 million to a private corporation, everybody insists they have no idea how such a massive sellout of the public trust could have occurred. To date, Gov. Charlie Crist has been more shy than a rookie Geisha in weighing in on the CSX windfall. The deal still must pass one more level of Tallahassee scrutiny - that is if anyone bothers to stay awake during next year's legislative session. Wouldn't that be a refreshing development? Keyword: Book of Ruth, to read and comment on Daniel Ruth's blog.