CNN Slams Republican for 'Racist Roast,' But Ignores Democrat's Racial Gaffe

In a clear double standard, CNN was in an uproar on Thursday and Friday over an Arizona GOP legislator's racist jokes about Latinos but has yet to report a Florida Democrat's gaffe about immigrants.

"As if lawmakers in the state of Arizona didn't already have enough negative national attention, there is this," Anderson Cooper piled on. He played state representative John Kavanagh's "racist roast" of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and added that his jokes "set off a firestorm in the Latino community." Yet a few days ago, Florida Democrat Alex Sink emphasized the importance of immigration reform because of the need for landscapers and hotel workers and CNN has said nothing.

Below is a transcript of Sink's remark:

"Immigration reform is important in our country. It's one of the main agenda items of the beach's chamber of commerce, for obvious reasons. Because we have a lot of employers over in the beaches that rely upon workers, and especially in this high-growth environment, where are you going to get people to work to clean our hotel rooms or do our landscaping? And we don't need to put those employers in a position of hiring undocumented and illegal workers."

Sink lost to Republican Rick Scott in the 2010 gubernatorial election and is now running in a special election in Florida's 13th congressional district. Yet for a politician of her profile, CNN didn't deem her gaffe newsworthy.

Yet CNN reported Kavanagh's comments on Thursday's 2 p.m. ET of Newsroom, Thursday's Anderson Cooper 360, and Friday's 8 a.m. ET hour of New Day.

Below is a transcript of Thursday's Anderson Cooper 360 segment:

CNN
ANDERSON COOPER 360
2/28/14
[8:42 a.m. EST]

ANDERSON COOPER: Welcome back. As if lawmakers in the state of Arizona didn't already have enough negative national attention, there is this. It comes from Arizona Republican state's representative John Kavanagh. He is actually one of the leading defenders of the now-vetoed SB 1062, and took great care to say it was really no big deal.

This weekend, as the controversy over 1062 was heating up Mr. Kavanagh spoke at a roast for Phoenix's controversial Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the guy who was at the center of Arizona's last controversy over SB 1070, the so-called "papers please" immigration law. Here is part of what the state representative said at this roast.

(Video Clip)

JOHN KAVANAGH (R), Arizona state legislature: I'm not the federal monitor. How many Hispanics did you pull over on the way over here, Arpaio, huh?

Via: Newsbusters.com

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Crist Files as Democrat to Run for Florida Governor

Former Florida Governor Charlie Crist, a Republican-turned Democrat, filed paperwork on Friday to run next year for his old job, according to the state's Division of Elections website.

Crist, who served as Florida's governor from 2007 to 2011, could not be immediately reached for comment. He has scheduled an event on Monday to announce his plans.

Florida Republican Governor Rick Scott will seek reelection in 2014 in what is expected to be one of the most expensive governor's races in the country.

With Republicans controlling every state house across the South, a Democratic gubernatorial win in Florida - the first in two decades - could significantly alter the political landscape in the run-up to the 2016 presidential race.

Crist, who abandoned the Republican Party after losing a U.S. Senate primary to Marco Rubio in 2010, has repeatedly criticized Scott, who opinion polls show ranks among the nation's most unpopular governors.

A Quinnipiac poll in June measuring a potential Scott-Crist match-up gave the newly minted Democrat a commanding lead over Scott, a wealthy former healthcare executive.

In recent weeks, Florida Republicans have kept up a daily drumbeat of Internet and media attacks on Crist, calling him untrustworthy and citing his change from a conservative Republican to a moderate Democrat.

On Friday, Florida Republican Party Chairman Lenny Curry criticized Crist, who after his first time as governor decided to make his Senate bid.

"Charlie Crist has now officially filed to run for the position he once abandoned," Curry said in a statement. "When Florida needed Charlie Crist the most during difficult economic times, he ran away. If he really wants to be governor now, why did he quit the first time?"

Via: Newsmax

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House Oversight Committee Finds “Fraud and Abuse Risks” Within Obamacare

Florida Governor Rick Scott is doing the “I-told-you-so” dance after having his concerns about the Obamacare “Navigators” program validated by the findings from an investigation conducted by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. 

The House committee report found that “scam artists” are already trying to infiltrate the navigator program. The report also found that Health and Human Resource (HHS) officials “conceded” that there was “no way to identify authenticity of certified navigators.” 

Scott expressed his concern that these so-called “Navigators,” who will not have any insurance background, be collecting massive amounts of personal information for the federal government, such as tax information and Social Security numbers. 

Democrats like Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz have called Scott’s Obamacare concerns excuses because she believes ” he has been hell-bent on obstructing the smooth implementation of ObamaCare,” adding that he has also “done everything he can to block it and impede its implementation.”

 Here are the key points of the committee’s findings after looking into how HHS was going about implementing Obamacare. “In May 2013, top HHS officials… expressed concern about the ‘ability of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services staff to authenticate, register, and certify everyone who will be involved in the consumer assistance process.’” 

“One CMS whistleblower warned that because it may not be possible to track every computer and hard drive used by Navigators to gather applicants’ personally identifiable information (PII), the sensitive information is vulnerable. 

The CMS whistleblower also warned that the devices used to scan supporting documents may store and save the images containing sensitive PII.” “With an influx of Navigators, Assisters, and individuals employed by non-governmental organizations like Enroll America engaging in ObamaCare outreach, it will be very difficult for consumers to differentiate between a scam artist and a legitimate source of information.” 

Via: The Shark Tank

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