The Latest from the Giant Phallus (UPDATED)

That's also known as the Florida Capitol Building, in Tallahassee.

Earlier this week the State Senate, but a 2-vote margin, showed Governor Scott's whore mouth the backs of their pimp hands by voting down the scheme to privatize a good portion of the state's prison system. What this would have done was put a small county-sized lump of cash into the pockets of private prison companies (like Corrections Corporation of America) while enabling them to fire all the state corrections officers.

Oh, they'd hire them back, of course, but at lower pay and (much lower) benefits, while sacrificing things like training, safety and ethics on the altar of the bottom line. So congratulations to the State Senate! You finally did something right for a change.

Which leads me to the next bit out of Tallahassee.

Namely, State Senator JD Alexander (R-Lake Wales).

Alexander had wanted to see the University of South Florida's adjunct campus in his neck of the woods split off from the main university. The school, named USF Polytechnic, would be independent. University President Genshaft said no.

In a fit of mean-spiritedness worthy of Newt Gingrich's shutdown of the Federal Government after having to sit in the rear of Air Force One in the Clinton Administration, Alexander put forth a proposal to cut USF's budget by 58%. Naturally, he says it was not a retaliatory measure.

Come on, JD. Not all of us watch Fox News.

Naturally the teachers are up in arms about this, as are the students. Important things like tuition, salaries, facility upkeep and the university's hospital are at stake here.

At a public hearing up in the capital today a well-groomed and politely attentive group of students from USF watched as the State Senator from Tampa vainly tried to get the chairwoman of the committee to listen to him, at one point throwing his pen on the table in frustration.

One can only hope that the rest of the Senate will see Alexander's move for what it truly is, and bring out the pimp hands again. The man needs to be slapped, hard and frequently, by people who know how.

UPDATE: Yeah, the State Senate decided to go pimp hand on Alexander. The 58% budget slash will not be considered.