Dolphins stadium owner loser lashes out at House Speaker

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With the Miami Dolphins performance, you’d think he would be used to it.

But Dolphins and SunLife Stadium owner Stephen Ross, who just lost his blatant grab at public dollars when the Florida House of Representatives closed the session without bringing the bill up, seems like a sore loser.

He lashed out at House Speaker Will Weatherford, who did not buckle under intense pressure, in a statement with a veiled threat at the end issued to the media.

“Tonight, Speaker Weatherford did far more than just deny the people of Miami Dade the right to vote on an issue critical to the future of our local economy. The Speaker singlehandedly put the future of Super Bowls and other big events at risk for Miami Dade and for all of Florida,” Ross said.

“He put politics before the people and the 4,000 jobs this project would have created for Miami Dade, and that is just wrong,” Ross added, even though many, including the Miami Herald’s Politifact have found that job estimate to be an exaggeration (read: sales pitch).

Then Ross indicated that Weatherford did not keep a promise.

“I am deeply disappointed by the Speaker’s decision. He gave me and many others his word that this legislation would go to the floor of the House for a vote, where I know, and he knows, we had the votes to win by a margin as large as we did in the Senate,” Ross said.

But no, it would not have passed that large. It would have been more than half, but not the overwhelming 35-4 ratio he got in the Senate Monday.

“It’s hard to understand why he would stop an election already in process and disenfranchise the 40,000 people who have already voted. I can only assume he felt it was in his political interest to do so,” Ross said, not knowing, perhaps, that more than 52,000 people had already voted and that he and his henchmen were so sure of a win in Tallahassee that they were okay with putting the cart before the horse.

Then comes the veiled threat, or maybe it’s just a warning.

“Time will tell if that is the case, but I am certain this decision will follow Speaker Weatherford for many years to come…  In the future, I will look to play an important role in fixing the dysfunction in Tallahassee,” he wrote.

Which means, roughly translated: Watch out, Will. You too, State Reps. Carlos Trujillo (R-Doral), Michael Bileca (R-Pinecrest) and Jose Javier Rodriguez (D-Miami). I have a feeling there are already candidates being lined up against you for 2014.