'Prison to Nowhere' Leads Loranne Ausley to Attack Jeff Atwater

Former Rep. Loranne Ausley, the Democratic nominee to be the next state CFO, attacked a program backed by her Republican rival, Senate President Jeff Atwater of North Palm Beach, that slashed 71 prison work squads, which she insisted saved Florida taxpayers more than $35 million, and created a new private prison.

Labeling the Blackwater River Correctional Institution the prison to nowhere, Ausley noted that the project had already cost the state more than $110 million and that Atwater was ignoring recommendations made by the Florida Department of Corrections. She also compared the project to a new courthouse in Tallahassee which she labeled the Tallahassee Taj Mahal.

Senate President Jeff Atwaters prison to nowhere is yet another product of the broken system in Tallahassee, and once again Florida taxpayers are stuck with the bill, said Ausley. Floridians are fed up with politicians who play by their own rules with our money. Whether its the Tallahassee Taj Mahal, the Prison to Nowhere or an airport hanger for a political contributor, politicians in Tallahassee need to be held accountable.