For eight long years the United States, under the mis-guided leadership of George Bush, took the wrong turn at every fork in the road.  Whether the issue involved stem-cell research, the war and occupation of Iraq, de-regulation/lack of oversite of vital financial institutions, lack of preparation and response to federal emergency situations ie. Katrina, the environment and global warming, spying on American citizens, torturing prisoners, etc…, you could always count on George Bush to do the wrong thing.  His inability to solve problems in a reasonable and intelligent way and his devotion to the interests of big business and the wealthiest few will be his legacy.  Bush himself said it best when speaking at a fund raiser “This is an impressive crowd: the Have’s and Have-more’s.  Some people call you the elites.  I call you my base”. 

Although George Bush is gone from the political scene, many who think like him are still members of the Florida Legislature.  Individuals such as Anitere Flores, a Republican member of the House of Representatives for District 114 in Miami, Seth  McKeel, Republican member for District 63 in Lakeland,  Dave  Murzin, Republican member for District 2 in Pensacola, Trudi  K.  Williams,Republican member for District 75 in Ft. Myers are just a few of the examples of  Florida’ lack of intellectual leadership.

These individuals sponsored HB 903, a piece of legislation whose sole purpose is to remove the word “reasonable” from a law designed to protect injured workers.  The law in question is the Florida Workers’ Compensation Act and the part that will be affected by HB 903 is the part that allows an injured worker whose benefits are being wrongfully withheld by the insurance company to hire an attorney to help them get those benefits.  Under the current law, the insurance company has to pay a “reasonable” attorney fee to the attorney representing an injured worker only when it is determined that the insurance company wrongfully withheld benefits and the workers attorney was successful in obtaining those benefits.  If the insurance company provides the injured worker with the benefits that the law requires when they are supposed to,  they never owe any attorney fees or costs to the injured worker or their attorney.  But of course, the wealthy and powerful business and insurance lobby has descended upon Tallahassee once again seeking out politicians who are willing to serve the interests of the haves and have-more’s like Flores, McKeel, Murzin, and Williams.

These politicians know that if they can succeed in removing the word “reasonable” from the law then employers and their insurance companies can do what ever they wish to injured workers and not worry about the consequences.  There are almost 16 million people who live in this state and each year approximately 70,000 are involved in work accidents.  Bills like HB 903 are a complete disgrace to the citizens of Florida as are intellectually dishonest legislators who sponsor them pretending that they need to reduce costs to keep insurance affordable (without mentioning that the insurance companies do not have to pay any fees or costs if they simply follow the law).  For ignoring those minor distractions like common sense, honesty and decency, and for sponsoring a law designed to protect only the wealthy and powerful interests in this state, the fine group of legislators named herein (and many others in the House and Senate) have earned a big congratulatory thumbs up from their hero and mentor, George W. Bush!