Author of Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill pleads guilty

[CWSmith]

Why am I not more surprised?

Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' bill author facing up to 35 years in prison

Joe Harding, the now-former Florida Republican lawmaker who authored the extremist "Don't Say Gay" bill could face up to 35 years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday afternoon to federal felony fraud charges in a scheme to obtain $150,000 in COVID-19 relief funds, according to Florida Politics‘ publisher Peter Scorsch.

Harding, 35, was a construction project manager who started his own lawn care company. He quickly became a right-wing darling after his anti-LGBTQ legislation, officially the Parental Rights in Education Act, was embraced by Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis, who signed it into law.

Harding was charged in a December federal indictment with six counts of wire fraud, money laundering, and making false statements in his plot to obtain $150,000 in COVID funds. He resigned from the legislature the following day. He originally pled not guilty.

After Harding was charged and resigned, Nadine Smith, the executive director of Equality Florida, responded via social media, saying: "So much harm to students, parents and teachers because of his raw political ambitions. He slandered entire communities and trafficked in lie after lie that has emboldened violent bigotry. He will have his day in court but his legacy is already a despicable one."

Harding is not the only family member accused of criminal acts.

"Harding's indictment follows a September guilty plea from his brother-in-law, Patrick Walsh," Florida Politics reported in December. "As reported by Fresh Take Florida, Walsh pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering charges connected to his receipt of nearly $8 million in disaster relief loans."

Unrepentant to the harm many feel he has done to children and the LGBTQ community, in a statement Tuesday Harding said: "During the past legislative session I have felt the support of millions of Americans while fighting for our shared concerns and for the rights of parents. I will never forget the support I received from every corner of this great country."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/fl...037637ea&ei=19

This story is also covered elsewhere:

https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/21/polit...aud/index.html

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florid...igned-charges/

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl/pr...d-making-false

https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/d...elief-fraud-2/

Even Fox News covered it:

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/for...5-years-prison

[TomF]

A data point towards proving the existence of a just God? Who's tired of this crap and isn't gonna take it anymore?

[L.W. Baxter]

a data point illustrating that intolerance is the projection of one's own perfidy.

[CWSmith]

Personally, I view it as a data point in demonstrating the lack of morality and "anything that promotes me" mentality of some people, but I'll go along with you both.

[Yeadon]

$150k stolen / 35 years jail = about $4285.71 annually.

[CWSmith]

$150k stolen / 35 years jail = about $4285.71 annually.

Yes, but you need to factor in room & board.

It hardly seems worth it, does it?

[LeeG]

Is there a song about Florida Man? brb

[AlanMc]

leading off with the lie i see.

[Jimmy W]

leading off with the lie i see.

What lie would that be? Did he not plead quilty?

[David G]

a data point illustrating that intolerance is the projection of one's own perfidy.

Almost every attack or accusion from one of today's Republicans... is a confession.

[CWSmith]

^ True. Good observations.

[LeeG]

What lie would that be? Did he not plead quilty?

A drive-by. Short attention span. Can’t stay to chat. So many nuts so little time.

[sonofswen]

leading off with the lie i see.

What? He took more than $150K?

[Chip-skiff]

The phrase that comes to mind: Tripping over your own dick.

[CWSmith]

The phrase that comes to mind: Tripping over your own dick.

Then I'm imagining very short legs.

[Nicholas Carey]

$150k stolen / 35 years jail = about $4285.71 annually.

Criminals tend not to be too S.M.A.R.T. Steven Levitt's paper, "An Economic Analysis of a Drug-Selling Gang's Finances", published in June 2000 Quarterly Journal of Economic is relevant here.

TL;DR — Low-rent crime doesn't pay [well]. Low-level drug dealers could make better money with less risk slinging burgers at McDonald's.]

The original abstract from the working paper in 1998:

We analyze a unique data set detailing the financial activities of a drug-selling street gang on a monthly basis over a four-year period in the recent past. The data, originally compiled by the gang leader to aid in managing the organization, contain detailed information on both the sources of revenues (e.g. drug sales, extortion) and expenditrues (e.g. costs of drugs sold, weapons, tribute to the central gang organization, wages paid to various levels of the gang). Street-level drug dealing appears to be less lucrative than is generally though. We estimate the average wage in the organization to rise from roughly $6 per hour to $11 per hour over the time period studied. The distribution of wages, however, is extremely skewed. Gang leaders earn far more than they could in the legitimate sector, but the actual street-level dealers appear to earn less than the minimum wage throughout most of our sample, in spite of the substantial risks associated with such activities (the annual violent death rate in our sample is 0.07), There is some evidence consistent both with compensating differentials and efficiency wages. The markup on drugs suggests that the gang has substantial local market power. Gang wars appear to have an important strategic component: violence on another gang's turf shifts demand away from that area. The gang we observe responds to such attacks by pricing below marginal cost, suggesting either economic punishment for the rival gang or the presence of switching for users that makes market share maintenance valuable. We investigate a range of alternative methods for estimating the willingness of gang members to accept risks of death, all of which suggest that the implicit value that gang members place on their own lives is very low.

The as-published abstract:

An Economic Analysis of a Drug-Selling Gang's Finances

Steven D. Levitt and Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh

We use a unique data set detailing the Financial activities of a drug-selling street gang to analyze gang economics. On average, earnings in the gang are somewhat above the legitimate labor market alternative. The enormous risks of drug selling, however, more than offset this small wage premium. Compensation within the gang is highly skewed, and the prospect of future riches, not current wages, is the primary economic motivation. The gang engages in repeated gang wars and sometimes prices below marginal cost. Our results suggest that economic factors alone are unlikely to adequately explain individual participation in thegang or gang behavior.

Full paper at https://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/lev...alysis2000.pdf

[David G]

"When there is an accumulation of money and power into fewer and fewer hands, people with the mentality of gangsters come to the fore. Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" -- Lord Acton

[robm]

Low-rent crime doesn't pay [well]. Low-level drug dealers could make better money with less risk slinging burgers at McDonald's.]

But the perq they are after is drugs, not burgers...

[gypsie]

......

Okay, let me rephrase it. This news makes me feel very happy.