Florida Political News: May 16, 2012

by: Florida Politics

Wed May 16, 2012 at 10:25:29 AM EDT

Our digest of, and commentary on today's Florida political news and punditry follows.

"Floridians keep two words in mind: Dade Behring"

"As Mitt Romney returns to Florida on Wednesday for two days of campaigning and money-raising, Democrats are trying to ensure Floridians keep two words in mind: Dade Behring."

It’s the name of a former medical equipment manufacturer in Miami that Romney’s venture capital firm bought and then closed in the late 1990s, walking away with $242 million in profits.

“Obviously you need to make a profit to be successful,” Cindy Hewitt, Dade Behring’s former human resources officer, said Tuesday, at a Miami news conference organized by President Barack Obama’s campaign. “My concern is when businesses are used to generate wealth for a small number of people and businesses are run to the ground and the lifeblood is sucked out of it and all of their employees lose their jobs.”

The case of Dade Behring in Miami, where some 850 jobs were lost while Romney led Bain has been well-documented. But there’s a new wrinkle: The company under Bain’s leadership sought and received millions of dollars in tax breaks for creating jobs in Puerto Rico — shortly before closing its facilities, costing nearly 300 jobs.

At the heart of Romney’s presidential campaign is an argument that his successful business record makes him best equipped to turn around the economy. Democrats are aiming to turn his [claimed] strength into a vulnerability — a strategy that has worked before.

Romney started and led Bain Capital from 1984 to 1999, when he left to lead the Salt Lake City Olympics. He became extremely wealthy in the process, and investors profited mightily. But along with the Bain success stories are multiple examples of businesses that went bust and employees who lost jobs.

No problem: just lower the passing grade

"Shocked by dismal results on this year's writing FCAT, the state decided today to lower its definition of proficiency in order to insulate schools' crucial A-to-F grades from the plunge." "Back to the future: State reverts to old 3.0 grading scale to help bolster FCAT writing scores".

"An emergency meeting of the state Board of Education on Tuesday lowered the passing scores on the 2012 FCAT writing exam in an effort to hold districts 'harmless' over plummeting test performance." "Holding Schools 'Harmless,' State Lowers Bar on FCAT Writing Scores". See also "Florida board lowers FCAT writing test passing score" and "Education board lowers FCAT writing standards after scores plummet". Meanwhile, "Schools won't be held accountable for this year's low FCAT writing scores".

"Public anger at the overuse of high-stakes standardized tests finally boiled over"

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board: "The Florida Board of Education was in crisis mode Tuesday, holding an emergency meeting by telephone to change on the fly the illogical scoring of this year's FCAT writing test. Public anger at the overuse of high-stakes standardized tests finally boiled over, as more than 800 people listened in to the conference call and queued up to question how this mess happened — and what it means for their children and their schools. What it means is that there is too much emphasis on standardized tests and that the state's manipulation of the rules render the test scores meaningless."

The so-called solution? The Board

dropped the passing score to 3 (out of 6) instead of keeping it at a 4. That makes the results look more plausible and avoids the inaccurate perception that student performance dropped off a cliff overnight. But that answer is only a stopgap, and it raises significant issues about the meaning and the value of the FCAT, which affects everything from school grades to teacher bonuses.

Those are issues that the board and Education Commission Gerard Robinson need to revisit if Florida's accountability system is to retain any of its quickly collapsing credibility. Robinson's failure to anticipate this mess also erodes confidence in his ability to chart a clear path for education in this state.

Million dollar babies

"With an early legislative session speeding up action in the Capitol, at least three lobbying firms collected more than $1 million in fees during the first three months of the year, according to new reports."

The reports also show that an additional eight firms raked in between $500,000 and $999,999 for their work in the Legislature. Those totals could grow, as lobbyists faced an 11:59 p.m. deadline Tuesday for filing quarterly compensation reports.

The three firms that topped $1 million were Ballard Partners, Ronald L. Book PA and Southern Strategy Group. The reports don't give the exact totals collected by the firms, but they detail some of the largest payments made by clients.

Ballard Partners, for example, collected $77,000 from Automated HealthCare Solutions Inc., a technology company that opposed bills aimed at limiting how much doctors can charge for dispensing drugs to workers-compensation insurance patients. The bills ultimately died.

Book, meanwhile, collected $50,000 or more from five clients, including $50,000 from Florida Power & Light and $50,000 from West Flagler Kennel Club, a pari-mutuel that was involved in a fierce debate about whether lawmakers should allow up to three resort casinos in the state. The casino proposals failed to pass the House or Senate.

With reports still being filed Tuesday, it is too early to compare lobbyist compensation during the first quarter with the same period in previous years. But a once-a-decade redistricting process caused the 2012 session to begin in January and end in March, squeezing it all into the year's first quarter — unlike typical years when the session starts in March and ends in early May.

The reports list the clients represented by lobbying firms and give broad ranges of the total amounts of money that firms collect. The eight firms that reported receiving between $500,000 and $999,999 were Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky & Abate: Dutko Worldwide; Johnson & Blanton; Foley & Lardner; Fowler White Boggs; Smith, Bryan & Myers; The Rubin Group; and Tsamoutales Strategies.

Among the biggest corporate spenders this year appears to be AT&T, which successfully backed a bill that made changes in the state's communications-services tax. The reports show AT&T paid $50,000 or more to at least seven lobbying firms; paid between $40,000 and $49,999 to seven other firms; and paid $30,000 to $39,999 to five firms.

Well, there are only so many 7-11 jobs

"Public employees constitute the biggest block of workers in 51 of Florida's 67 counties, a new TaxWatch survey shows. And in 40 counties, government workers make up two of the three largest employment groups." "Government Sector Dominates Florida Work Force, Study Finds".

Rubio sets himself up for failure

"The Florida Republican, who is huddling with Senate leaders from both parties this week, is emerging as a prominent player in the contentious debate over immigration. His search for an acceptable compromise on the long-sought DREAM Act has drawn tentative support across the party divide, raising the chances for passage in this election year. Of course, the encouraging words from political adversaries could set up Republicans for blame if his fledgling proposal gets killed by conservatives in the U.S. House. But for the moment, Rubio's plunge into the prickly politics of immigration adds some substance to his rise as a national figure."

Rubio, who plans to unveil his bill in a few weeks, has consulted with opponents and proponents of the DREAM Act. In a videotaped message to Floridians, he said his proposal would provide non-immigrant visas but deny in-state tuition rates and welfare benefits.

He also has consulted with many of the "dreamers" — undocumented children who yearn for a chance to become legal, get drivers' licenses and work permits. They want the full DREAM Act, which would include a path to citizenship. But many would settle for Rubio's more-limited version, a chance to at least live and work here legally.

"These kids have been in legal limbo for far too long, and their lives have been on hold for far too long," said Cheryl Little, executive director of Americans for Immigrant Justice, based in Miami, which represents dreamers and other immigrants. "We need to extend a lifeline to them now. Even if it's temporary relief at this point, I think most of them will go ahead and take it because they need to move on with their lives."

Little, who has talked with Rubio about his as-yet unwritten bill, remains doubtful about its prospects. "While I think there's likely a fair amount of support in the Senate," she said, "I'm very concerned there's not sufficient support in the House."

In fact, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, already has warned that in this "very hostile political environment," chances of passing even a limited version of the DREAM Act "would be difficult at best."

"Tangled in partisan politics"

"A proposed charter amendment that would make Osceola County Commission races nonpartisan has become tangled in partisan politics." "Drive to change Osceola elections mired in partisan disputes".

Just what Florida needs: the "Jacksonville Cavalry"

"Adam Hollingsworth, Jacksonville Cavalry".

Enuf FCAT

"A national resolution to urge education administrators to rely less on standardized testing is gaining a wave of support in South Florida." "Time Out From Testing Resolution To Abandon FCAT Gains Momentum In South Florida".

GOP Candidate Depicts Wasserman Schultz in Dog Collar

"Businessman Ozzie deFaria is running in the GOP primary in Florida's 20th Congressional District for the chance to take on Wasserman Schultz in November. He has launched a website devoted to mocking Wasserman Schultz, saying she is 'Nancy Pelosi's East Coast Twin and Obama's biggest Attack Dog.' At the top of the site is a photo of the congresswoman, manipulated to show her in a dog collar". "Debbie Wasserman Schultz Depicted In Dog Collar On GOP Candidate's Website".

The best the RNC could do?

Kevin Derby: "The flurry of Republican National Committee (RNC) conference calls with the media Tuesday focused on key battleground states in the presidential election -- and in those calls Florida featured an unlikely speaker in U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Fla."

On Tuesday, Ross went to bat for the RNC, attacking President Barack Obama’s managing of the economy and the federal debt in his call with the press. ...

Ross bashed federal spending under Obama’s watch, hitting him on everything from taxpayer dollars going to Solyndra to signing the health-care law back in 2010. The Florida congressman attempted to contrast Obama’s record with that of Republicans in Congress and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, the presumptive Republican candidate who will challenge Obama in November.

Ross said he had high hopes for Romney, saying the former Massachusetts governor would make “one of the strongest presidents fiscally we’ve seen in decades” and insisting that he had “a history of being fiscally prudent.”

47 million gallons of untreated human waste dumped in SoFla

"Miami-Dade County’s antiquated sewer system has ruptured at least 65 times over the past two years, spewing more than 47 million gallons of untreated human waste into waterways and streets from rural South Miami-Dade to the ritzy condos of Brickell Avenue to the Broward County border." "Miami-Dade’s leaky pipes: More than 47 million gallons of waste spilled in past two years".

Greedy teachers

"Seminole teachers get $500 bonus, but no raise".

Government work

"The Florida Department of Education has resolved a contract dispute between companies vying to provide a testing system tied to the state's Race to the Top grant after the company that originally won the bidding agreed to steer some of the business to the company challenging the decision."

The department in April awarded the contract for a computer-based testing system, worth tens of millions of dollars, to NCS Pearson [the same company that graded the controversial FCAT tests].

Another company in the running for the contract, CTB/McGraw-Hill, challenged the decision with the Division of Administrative Hearings and asked an administrative law judge to give the department a chance to resolve the dispute "by mutual agreement."

The case, which had been set for a hearing next week, was officially dismissed on Monday, and the department said in a filing Tuesday that it would award the contract to Pearson.

The companies agreed to a settlement in which CTB will supply some of the test questions to Pearson, which will pay CTB $4.6 million.

"Nelson riled up by a misleading attack ad on Medicare"

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., is riled up by a misleading attack ad on Medicare. Sen. Nelson is so riled up by the ad's claim that his vote for the Affordable Care Act will lead to $500 billion in cuts to seniors that he has asked Florida TV stations to stop running the ad. Sen. Nelson, though, had no problem misleading voters about his attempts to amend the law and score political points."

The latest distortion comes from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, one of a series launched against Democratic candidates in Florida. The ad calls the Affordable Care Act "a nightmare for Florida seniors," and questions whether Sen. Nelson considered "the consequences when he cast the deciding vote for Obamacare," since "seniors will see $500 billion in cuts."

Those supposed cuts are actually needed savings for Medicare. Calling them "cuts" has been a GOP strategy to scare seniors, and the charge has been around since before President Obama signed the law in March 2010.

In fact, the law slows the cost growth of Medicare from nearly 7 percent in 2019 to 5.3 percent, through reductions in provider payments and efforts to reduce waste and fraud. It protects guaranteed benefits and provides new benefits and services. It eliminates over time the "donut hole" for seniors receiving Medicare's prescription drug benefit. The law also eliminates $136 billion in subsidies to insurers that provide benefits through private plans known as Medicare Advantage. ...

Democrats have been just as misleading in their claims about changes to Medicare in the House Republican budget of U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. They claim that the Ryan budget would "end Medicare as we know it." In an ad from the liberal Agenda Project, a Paul Ryan look-alike throws an elderly woman from her wheelchair off a cliff. In fact, Medicare would not die under the Ryan budget, and current beneficiaries and those who join over the next 10 years would not be affected.

A real yawner

"Live Video: Romney speaks at campaign stop in St. Petersburg".

"Controlling protests at the Republican National Convention"

"The Tampa City Council will take a final vote this week on Mayor Bob Buckhorn's 'event zone' proposal aimed at controlling protests at the Republican National Convention. The temporary ordinance spells out the rules that protesters and other downtown visitors must follow during the week-long convention that starts Aug. 27." "RNC 'event zone' goes to final city vote".

This way to the Mons

"RNC media in Tampa for early look at venues".

Palm Beachers don' like unions

"The stagehands union has filed another charge with the National Labor Relations Board in its long-running dispute with the Kravis Center."

The union and the center have been at odds since talks broke down in September 2000 and the Kravis stopped using union stagehands in Dreyfoos Hall.

The union filed its first charge in March 2001. In December 2008, a federal appeals court upheld two lower-court rulings that the center had engaged in unfair labor practices when it ejected the union. The center resumed hiring union workers in March 2009.

The union filed a second charge in March 2011, alleging that the Kravis acted illegally when talks faltered in January 2011 after two years of negotiations and the center imposed its final offer. The board has combined the cases, Diaz said.

The board has not finished computing the amount the Kravis owes workers for back pay for the period when it did not employ union workers. The union and the Kravis disagree on the amount, which the union claims is at least $3.6 million.

Scott: "the most important thing is all the grass roots [sic]"

"Gov. Rick Scott, who spent more than $70 million of his own money to lift himself from political obscurity and win office in 2010, told Republican activists tonight that money won't be the most important factor in America's largest swing state this year."

"It's important to be able to raise the money to be able to run the ads that we need to run to win these races," Scott told a crowd of about 250 at a Boca Raton Republican Club dinner. "But the most important thing is all the grass roots." ...

Scott got a standing ovation from the crowd at the Town Center Marriott and was applauded when he highlighted his conservative fiscal policies. ...

Scott is not scheduled to join presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney when Romney campaigns and raises money in Florida on Wednesday and Thursday.

Romney avoids Scott

"Mitt Romney will make some money stops in Florida on Wednesday and Thursday, including a $50,000-a-plate dinner at private equity mogul Marc Leder's Boca Raton home. Romney visits the Tampa home of Dick and Cornelia Corbett on Wednesday afternoon, then heads to Coral Gables for a reception at the Biltmore and a dinner at the home of Phil and Pat Frost." "Romney's Florida fundraising includes $50,000-a-plate dinner in Boca Raton".

Romney is avoiding Scott: "Scott is not scheduled to join presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney when Romney campaigns and raises money in Florida on Wednesday and Thursday."

Real estate industry is continuing to improve

"A survey of real estate professionals finds sentiment in the industry is continuing to improve, reaching levels not seen since the middle of 2007." "Real estate pros say things are looking up, survey says".

Race to the bottom

"GOP Senate Candidates Continue to Clash Over Conservatism".

Runnin' Citizens like a bidness

"If Citizens Property Insurance Corp. moves forward with a controversial plan to uncap rates for new customers, the price to join state-run insurance will increase by an average of 30 percent next year."

Data prepared for a Citizens committee meeting on Thursday show the plan would lead to significantly higher premiums in most cases and homeowners, in some parts of the state, would pay twice as much as their neighbors for the same coverage.

Florida Political News: May 15, 2012

by: Florida Politics

Tue May 15, 2012 at 09:46:43 AM EDT

"Non-citizen voter database flawed"

The Miami Herald: "Florida election supervisors, at their annual convention in Tampa this week, find themselves focusing once again on a familiar and troubling issue: the accuracy and reliability of the state voter registration database."

It’s not a problem of their making, and that only adds to their frustration.

As the elections officials convene, they are simultaneously seeking to verify the legal status of about 2,700 voters who were red-flagged by the state motor vehicle agency as non-U.S. citizens and thus ineligible to vote. Problem is, some of those can legally vote.

Scott's Spanish junket

"Gov. Rick Scott is off to Spain this weekend, leading a four-day business development mission that will also include a meeting with King Juan Carlos and a whiff of Florida's upcoming quincentennial celebrations. Scott will be joined on the trip by first lady Ann Scott, three staffers from their offices, along with more than 60 officials from various government offices and private businesses on the excursion, focused on increasing opportunities for companies from Spain -- Florida’s 34th largest trading partner -- to invest, grow and create jobs in Florida." "Rick Scott Takes Business Development Road Show to Spain this Weekend".

Hollingsworth - The best Scott could do?

"Sixteen months into the job, Gov. Rick Scott is welcoming his third chief-of-staff in what even allies Monday said began looking like a 'Goldilocks' approach toward running the state's top executive office." "New engineer for Gov. Scott's train; Can Hollingsworth put the gov on track to popularity?"

Bill Cotterell: "Hollingsworth is not a Capitol insider, but knows his way around Tallahassee. He has handled public relations and lobbying for CSX Corp., was appointed by Scott to the Florida Republican Executive Committee and served as staff chief to former Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton. In that role, he oversaw elimination of about 700 non-police jobs and a restructuring of agencies in the big port city."

Hollingsworth heads Parallel Infrastructure LLC, the right-of-way division of the Jacksonville real estate firm Flagler Development Group. As Peyton's right hand, he managed the mayor's daily operations, policy agenda and relations with municipal entities.

He left city hall in 2010 to help in Scott's campaign and was credited with helping the "outsider" patch things up with the Republican Party of Florida leadership, which had backed then-Attorney General Bill McCollum for governor in the primary. Hollingsworth also advised Scott's transition team after the general election.

Asked whether he plans to stay on the GOP state executive committee, Hollingsworth said, "That's a decision the governor will consider."

"Veterans Choose Obama Over Romney"

"The veteran vote in the 2012 election is trending toward Barack Obama. A new Reuters/Ipsos poll found that Obama would beat Mitt Romney by as much as seven percentage points in November." "Here's A Shocker: Veterans Choose Obama Over Romney".

The Week Ahead

"The Week Ahead for May 14 to May 18".

Florida's universities among the best in the nation?

Lloyd Brown - former speech writer for Jeb Bush - writes that former mayor of Jacksonville John Delaney, who is now (miraculously) the University of North Florida president, says that the "United States has the best universities in the world, [and he actually believes that] Florida is among the best in the nation, despite cutbacks and being well below the average in spending per student." "Higher Education Task Force Shouldn't Focus Only on Money".

Made in Florida

"George Zimmerman's gun: 9 mm from Cocoa is small, lethal".

Super PAC hits Florida

"A super PAC supporting President Barack Obama is airing a new ad in five states questioning Republican Mitt Romney's commitment to workers. Priorities USA Action is airing the ad in Colorado, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. It comes a day after the Obama campaign released a similar ad attacking Romney's past role as head of private equity firm Bain Capital." "Pro-Obama ad backs up case against Romney".

Media does "as ordered by" the Chamber of Commerce

"Seeking to extinguish an issue that burned Democrats in the last congressional elections, Sen. Bill Nelson today asked Florida TV stations to stop running a U.S. Chamber of Commerce ad that says Nelson's 2010 vote for the federal health care law will hit seniors with $500 billion in Medicare cuts."

A letter from Nelson attorney Kendall Coffey says the new ads are untrue and stations have "a duty to protect the public from the spread of false information and deliberate deception."

In Palm Beach County, WPTV Channel 5 rejected Nelson's plea.

"We reviewed the content of the letter and determined that we will continue to air the spot as ordered by the client," [(an unfortunate double entendre if there ever was one)] said WPTV Vice President and General Manager Steve Wasserman.

Two-term Democrat Nelson is up for reelection this year. U.S. Rep. Connie Mack and former appointed Sen. George LeMieux are the leading Republican contenders to face him in November.

The health care law is unpopular in Florida, with 53 percent of Sunshine State voters favoring its repeal in a recent Quinnipiac University poll.

Republican claims that the law will cut Medicare have been called "misleading" by the nonpartisan FactCheck.org.

Another fine Jebacy

"Panicked state education officials will hold emergency talks Tuesday after early results show that about two-thirds of Florida students failed this year's tougher new writing portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Locally, at least one superintendent called for an audit of the results and scoring procedures, arguing that it is not possible the scores dropped so precipitously in one year. ... The 45-minute test is scored by two readers from Pearson, a testing firm."

"These results raise serious and important questions about the validity of these scores," [Manatee County Superintendent Tim] McGonegal said. "Why did we have a 54 percent drop? It's not the kid. It's not the teacher. It's something to do with the scoring that Pearson has done."

Here's a solution - lower the passing grade

Michael Peltier: "In the short term, the [State Board of Education] is proposing to lower the passing threshold from 4.0 to 3.5 -- a reduction that would dramatically increase the number of students having passing scores, but the number would still be significantly less than the 2011 scores." "FCAT Writing Scores Plummet, Force Question: What to Do?" See also "State officials rush to change standards for FCAT after writing scores plunge".

Meanwhile, back at the ranch: "State schools chief Gerard Robinson defends FCAT".

Where does mini-Mack live?

"LeMieux supporters in the Legislature, including two state senators who face term limits -- Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, and Steve Wise, R-Jacksonville -- and five Republicans in the Florida House: Dennis Baxley of Ocala, Rachel Burgin of Riverview, Larry Metz of Yalaha, Jimmie Smith of Lecanto and Ritch Workman of Melbourne -- sent a letter to Mack demanding he release his travel records. The LeMieux team has looked to score political points by insisting that Mack has more ties to California -- home of his wife, U.S. Rep. Mary Bono Mack -- than he does with the Sunshine State." "GOP Senate Hopefuls Continue to Clash as Primary Enters Last Three Months". Related: "Water records suggest Mack comes home to Florida — sometimes".

"All about Steve"

Daniel Ruth: "This is always the kiss of death. Just a few days ago, Gov. Rick Scott took time out from his hectic schedule of reducing state government to the size of a food truck to praise his chief of staff, Steve MacNamara, who learned the art of executive management from Tony Soprano."

Scott pledged his unshakable loyalty to MacNamara. He said his bureaucratic knee-capper was doing a great job and lashed out at the Tallahassee press corps for being "mean" to the chief of staff. ...

There is that old adage in journalism about blaming the messenger for the message. The news media didn't hound MacNamara out of office. Reporters merely pointed out that the governor had hired one of Tallahassee's most inside of insiders to provide a tutorial on how to wield power and help lobbyists.

It is always one of the more entertaining Kabuki dances in political life to watch a governor or president confronted with the chicanery of an underling.

Mean? How mean was it for MacNamara to engineer the ouster of the state's film commissioner to make room for the daughter of a friend?

Interfering? How many state agency heads found themselves coming to work and essentially discovering a hologram of MacNamara sitting at their desks?

For a guy who has spent the better part of his adult life manipulating the levers of power in Tallahassee, MacNamara failed to grasp one of politics' most essential truths.

Sooner or later, if you mug enough people, it's all going to come back to haunt you. And when the governor promises he has your back, it's only to better position the knife.

'Ya think?

The Miami Herald editorial board: "Miami-Dade must balance protection of natural resources with economic-development goal". "Don’t abandon the environment".

Miami to Orlando train proposal

"A Coral Gables development company expects to have a study completed next month that could determine whether it builds a privately funded $1 billion train linking Miami with Orlando. If the ridership study finds enough demand, Florida East Coast Industries could begin construction next year, Husein Cumber, executive vice president of Florida East Coast Railway, an affiliate of FECI, said Monday." "Miami to Orlando train proposal rolling down the planning tracks".

"Executive office of the governor is a mess"

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "Rick Scott campaigned as a CEO type who would turn around that floundering enterprise known as state government. After 16 months of Rick Scott, the executive office of the governor is a mess."

On Saturday, chief of staff Steve MacNamara resigned, following multiple reports by Mary Ellen Klas of The Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau that he had used the office to help his friends and punish those who annoyed his friends, while injecting himself into aspects of state government outside of his authority. Mr. MacNamara had been recruited 10 months ago as the Tallahassee insider - staffer to legislative leaders, lobbyist - Gov. Scott needed after first surrounding himself with aides who had worked on his national campaign to oppose President Obama's health care reform but knew nothing about Florida and state issues.

Barely a week ago, Gov. Scott had said Mr. MacNamara was "doing a great job." Now, the governor will start over with a third chief of staff, Adam Hollingsworth. Mr. MacNamara's cover story is that media distractions are forcing him to leave early; he was to depart at the end of the year. No cover story, though, can change the image of a governor who is trying to remake Florida at a time when he can't even manage his own department.

Statewide email consolidation

"Scott vetoed a measure that would have eliminated the statute calling for statewide email consolidation, but there is still language in the budget that blocks new money going to the project. That means the state will either have to work out an arrangement to keep the system in place for more than 5,000 employees who have already been moved into the new system, or begin moving them out." "State may need to start undoing email consolidation".

Is Scott returning to his Fla-Bagger roots?

Lloyd Dunkelberger: "Here are four questions in the wake of the resignation of Gov. Rick Scott’s chief of staff Steve MacNamara, who will step down on July 1. He will be replaced by Adam Hollingsworth, a former chief of staff to a Jacksonville mayor and a key campaign adviser during Scott’s 2010 election."

1. Does this mean Scott is returning to his Tea Party roots, which spurred his run as an outsider lambasting the “dealmakers” of Tallahassee?

MacNamara’s résumé made him the ultimate Tallahassee insider. In fact, MacNamara’s departure was hastened by criticism that his past relationships were unduly influencing administration policy, particularly among the governor’s numerous agencies.

On the surface, the appointment of Hollingsworth, who was part of Scott’s anti-Tallahassee campaign, may signal an effort by Scott to re-center his administration.

But Scott, like all governors, is finding campaign promises are not always so easy to achieve. His record has been a mixed bag when it comes to curbing state government.

He amplified his Tea Party connection last year by killing the federal high-speed rail system for Florida. But at the same time, he approved the SunRail system for Central Florida, which may prove to be a costly venture. ...

2. Will MacNamara’s departure hurt Scott’s relationship with the Legislature?

3. Will Scott take a more contentious stand with the media?

4. How does MacNamara’s departure impact Scott’s re-election plans?

Charter madness

"Manatee approves all-girls charter school".

GOP plan: dumb 'em down and get them to the polls

"Florida is among eight key states targeted by Crossroads Generation, a new venture to sway the youth vote to the GOP."

Crossroads is an effort from the College Republican National Committee, Young Republican National Federation, Republican State Leadership Committee and American Crossroads. ...

In the last three general elections -- 2004, 2006, and 2008 -- young voters have given the Democratic Party a majority of their votes, and for all three cycles they have been the party's most supportive age group, according to the Pew Research Center.

Florida Political News: May 14, 2012

by: Florida Politics

Mon May 14, 2012 at 10:12:16 AM EDT

"Rubio laying the groundwork to blame the White House"

"The Republican Party's attempt to woo Hispanic voters this election year has so far been a rough ride. And last week that journey hit another speed bump."

When Bettina Inclan, the Republican National Committee official in charge of Hispanic outreach, was asked about GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney's hard-line position on immigration enforcement and how it might play with the average Hispanic voter, she became tongue-tied.

"I think as a candidate, to my understanding, that he's still deciding what his position on immigration is," Inclan said. "So I can't talk about what his proposal's going to be, because I don't know what Romney exactly - he's talked about different issues."

During GOP primaries, where many voters were staunch conservatives, Romney said the U.S. needed to enforce its laws to the point that illegal immigrants "self-deport" because they can no longer work and support themselves here. That angered many Hispanics, leaving Inclan a hard job.

But now that Romney appears to have the nomination sewn up, questions arise: Will he soften his stance? And whether he does or not, how important will the immigration issue be, especially to Hispanic voters, and especially in Florida, which Romney almost certainly must win to become president ?

"He was duking it out in the primaries and said those things," said Ana Navarro of Miami, a longtime GOP consultant. "Now he's going to have to make a big effort, especially in Florida, and try to win some of those people back."

Romney's critics on the immigration issue say Inclan may not know what his position is, but Hispanic voters do. They point to a recent Pew Research Center poll that shows President Obama leading Romney 67 percent to 27 percent among registered Hispanic voters nationwide.

Blaming the White House papers over the fact that Republicans have fiercely opposed measures that benefit people living in the country illegally. House Speaker John Boehner has signaled that Rubio’s upcoming proposal won’t change this dynamic. By contrast Democrats voted overwhelmingly in 2010 for the DREAM Act, which unlike Rubio’s alternative includes the promise of citizenship for undocumented people raised in the U.S. who attend college or join the military.

Even so, administration officials and top Democrats may be playing into Rubio’s hands by resisting his effort. Part of the political calculus is that they believe the issue will help energize Hispanic voters for Democrats ahead of the election. Hispanic voters are not happy with President Obama but they prefer him by a huge margin to Republicans, who have repeatedly thwarted efforts to pass comprehensive immigration reform.

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis recently called Rubio’s ideas “half-cooked” and said they don’t go far enough. “His notion of the DREAM Act would only provide you with residency and the ability to stay, go to school but not lead to a path to citizenship,” she told MSNBC.

"Look out Gooberville"

Steve Otto: "What's going to happen when news reporters and others show up and someone tells them their hotel is not in Tampa Bay, but in a community called St. Petersburg or Plant City? Or worse, what if they tell a taxi driver to take them to Tampa Bay? Twenty minutes later they'll find themselves in Port Tampa looking out at the water, with the driver telling there's no community called Tampa Bay. Look out Gooberville." "Tampa fights inner goober as RNC nears".

"Macnamara's manipulations too great to ignore"

The Tampa Bay Times editors: "Macnamara was right to submit his resignation Saturday as chief of staff for Florida Gov. Rick Scott."

His heavy-handed management style and propensity for insider dealing had become a major distraction for a governor who campaigned as a government outsider. MacNamara helped the new governor increase transparency and improve his relationships in the Legislature. But his manipulations were finally too great to ignore.

Cuban-American support for GOP has dropped by nearly 20%

"Obama captured 35 percent of the Cuban-American vote four years ago, more than any Democrat since Bill Clinton in 1996 and 65 percent of support from voters ages 18 to 29. McCain took 66 percent of the vote from Cubans ages 50 to 64 and 79 percent from those 65 to 74."

It used to be enough for Republican politicians to sweep in to Miami, sip Cuban coffee at Versailles restaurant and hammer on Fidel Castro to seal the Cuban vote that makes up about 70 percent of the Republican electorate in Miami-Dade.

But the younger generation is less motivated by those politics, having assimilated into mainstream U.S. culture. ...

The change is also driven by the introduction of Mariel boatlift immigrants into the voting class. Fleeing Cuba en masse in 1980, the refugees were driven more by economic than political reasons. Along with more recent arrivals, they tend to be less against the trade embargo and more in favor of increased travel with Cuba.

Political strategists in Miami caution against drawing too strong a connection to U.S. policy and fading allegiances, but for various reasons, overall GOP support among Cuban-Americans has dropped by nearly 20 percent in since 2000.

Republicans, who face much broader concerns over attracting non-Cuban Hispanics, expect the economy will reverse the trend and pledge an aggressive outreach program in South Florida. Obama's also not the cool new guy, either.

Term limits on elected county officials

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "The Florida Supreme Court last week guaranteed voters a greater say in how they shape their county governments, ruling that imposing term limits on elected county officials is constitutional after all." "Right ruling, but risky".

Not "suppression", but "constraining voter participation"

Marc Caputo says its merely "the Republican Party changing election-year rules to keep the voter-registration rolls from quickly growing more Democratic."

“I don’t see it as voter suppression,” said Daniel A Smith, a University of Florida political scientist who is studying the new law’s effects. “This is more an effort to constrain voter participation under the guise of fighting fraud.”

Smith points out that the data clearly show the elections law disproportionately affects black and Hispanic voters.

Meanwhile, partisan lines are forming over the state’s new effort to identify and remove noncitizen voters from the rolls. The state preliminarily identified 180,000 potential noncitizens — many of them black and Hispanic — but the final number of noncitizens on the voter rolls is likely to be much lower.

But there could be a more subtle problem for Democrats and President Barack Obama. It’s not so much “suppression.” It’s more like psychological “repression.”

Quite simply: Democrats have held themselves back from voting.

"Nelson Looks Solid for Third Term"

Kevin Derby: writes that "Republicans hold the high ground in Florida’s political battles."

They control the governorship and all the state Cabinet offices. Most of the Florida congressional delegation is Republican and they have veto-proof majorities in both chambers of the state Legislature.

But they can’t quite get their act together in taking on Democrat U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, who is seeking a third term in November.

"Rubio's statement False"

Politifact "decided to check out Rubio's claim that the Democrats' plan raised taxes on small businesses."

Rubio's statement gives the impression that all kinds of mom-and-pop operations might be subject to new, additional taxes, when actually the bill is aimed squarely at high-income professionals. The bill's intent was to close a loophole on people who were avoiding payroll taxes, taxes that they're supposed to be paying anyway.

We rate Rubio's statement False.

Murphy says he has West on the run

"Regardless of whether you believe Democrat Patrick Murphy's poll that says he's tied with Republican U.S. Rep. Allen West, there's no disputing the underlying competitiveness of the new Palm Beach-Treasure Coast District 18 congressional seat that emerged in this year's redistricting."

Murphy last week released portions of an internal poll showing him tied with West at 45 percent in District 18. Mitt Romney edges President Obama by a 49-to-46 percent margin in the same district, according to the poll by Democratic pollster Keith Frederick.

West campaign manager Tim Edson called the Murphy poll "pathetic," but declined to reveal the West camp's internal numbers.

"I cannot believe that would be true," U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, said of the Murphy numbers. Rooney's current district includes much of what will be District 18 after the November elections.

While doubting Murphy's poll, Rooney acknowledges the new District 18 is no slam dunk for a Republican. Rooney decided in January to run in a new, more rural and Republican district to the west. Part of the reason, Rooney said, is that staying in District 18 would require raising major money and withstanding a tough Democratic challenge every two years.

"Politics at its worst"

"Miami Beach commissioners wrong to delay real ethics reforms or an audit of agencies." "Politics at its worst". Related: "Controversy led to downfall of Miami Beach manager".

Florida Political News: May 13, 2012

by: Florida Politics

Sun May 13, 2012 at 10:20:35 AM EDT

Florida voter purge "giving white Republicans a pass"

"The state’s quest to get rid of noncitizens voters this election year has turned up 180,000 hits — but it incidentally targets minorities and Democrats while giving white Republicans a pass."

Hispanic, Democratic and independent-minded voters are the most likely to be targeted in a state hunt to remove thousands of noncitizens from Florida’s voting rolls, a Miami Herald computer analysis of elections records has found.

Whites and Republicans are disproportionately the least-likely to face the threat of removal, the analysis of a list of more than 2,600 potential noncitizens shows. The list was first compiled by the state and furnished to county election supervisors and then The Herald.

Florida went looking for potential noncitizen voters, following the lead of Republican secretaries of state in Colorado and New Mexico — two other Hispanic-heavy swing states this election year.

In 2000, the elections division’s move to strip felons from the rolls may have wrongly removed hundreds, if not thousands, of potential voters before the presidential election that Florida voters decided by just 537 votes.

"Based on Florida’s regrettable experience with voter purges," said Howard Simon, ACLU of Florida’s executive director, "it would be a mistake to rely on the accuracy of the state’s data — especially data from the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles that is acknowledged by the DHSMV to be out of date."

Databases are seldom 100 percent accurate. And that makes finding exact matches difficult.

As a result, after receiving the names from the state, county elections officials are now personally contacting potential noncitizens to sort out their voting status. They’ll have about 60 days to prove that they’re citizens.

"To say to already registered voters 'come down and prove who you are,' I’m not sure there’s anything in the law that says that," said Mark Herron, an elections lawyer and expert who primarily represents Democrats. "But I don’t think there’s anything in the law that prohibits this, either."

MacNamara joins parade of Scott's "high-profile departures"

"Steve MacNamara, Gov. Rick Scott’s chief of staff. resigned Saturday afternoon, ending what has been a tumultuous week of news reports about his steering of no-bid contracts to friends and interfering in staffing decisions throughout state government."

After meeting with the governor in his office, MacNamara submitted a two-page resignation letter in which he said the media scrutiny “has begun to interfere with the day-to-day operations of this office.” He said his departure is six months earlier than either of them had planned.

appointed Jacksonville political consultant Adam Hollingsworth, 43, to be his next chief of staff. Hollingsworth worked on Scott’s campaign and was chief of staff to former Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton. The move to bring in Hollingsworth had been discussed since February, sources close to the administration said.

This marks another in a series of high-profile departures for the Scott administration, which is less than 2 years old. MacNamara replaced Mike Prendergast, and Scott has watched as seven of his department heads have resigned.

Adams' didn't pay for the mailers. Taxpayers did

"In the last five weeks, U.S. Rep. Sandy Adams of Orlando has sent voters in her district a pair of two-sided mailers that tout her record on gun rights and fiscal responsibility."

One notes that Adams stood "against the use of earmarks that give your taxpayer dollars to pet projects." The other highlights her "A" rating by the National Rifle Association. Both could help the freshman congresswoman against U.S. Rep. John Mica of Winter Park in a fierce Republican primary this year.

But Adams' campaign didn't pay for the two mailers. Taxpayers did — to the tune of nearly $30,000.

It's the latest example of lawmakers using "franked" mail — legislative updates sent to constituents at taxpayer expense — in order to reach voters with campaign-style messages. A bipartisan congressional committee is supposed to check these mailers for overtly political messages, but critics say the oversight is minimal.

In an interview, Adams pushed back against suggestions that the fliers were campaign pieces and said she was keeping a promise to inform her constituents. ...

Still, the Mica campaign wasted little time in attacking Adams' franking expenses, especially since Mica spent only about $10,000 last year on that type of outreach.

"As a constituent of Congresswoman Adams, personally I was shocked to see one of the most expensive forms of mailing — a four-color glossy oversized postcard — delivered to my mailbox," said Alan Byrd, a Mica spokesman who lives in Apopka. "For someone who espouses government efficiency and eliminating government waste, this sort of mailing is the epitome of waste."

"A district that could go either way"

"With two experienced candidates in a district that could go either way, Florida Republican and Democratic leaders are preparing for a battle in a newly drawn Senate seat that cuts across Volusia and Marion counties. Democrat Frank Bruno, the Volusia County chairman, and Republican state Rep. Dorothy Hukill have already each raised more than $175,000 in contributions, as they seek to replace term-limited Sen. Evelyn Lynn, R-Ormond Beach." "Bruno-Hukill race in Volusia gets state party attention".

"Real agenda is a power-play and a sell-out"

Stephen Goldstein writes that "it was with a mixture of disgust and incredulity that [he] read the news that tea party Gov. Rick Scott has appointed a Blue Ribbon Task Force on State Higher Education Reform as well as his gobbledygook reasons for doing so:"

"The state has a vested interest in ensuring its higher education system produces world-class talent to serve as engaged citizens and meet the demands of Florida's emerging knowledge-based economy. It's time to assess the progress of prior reform efforts and identify strategies to improve efficiencies and enhance the system's effectiveness as an economic catalyst."

The stated purpose of the Task Force is to deal with the relationship between the Board of Governors of the State University System and individual universities. The real agenda is a power-play and a sell-out.

Expect "recommendations" from the politically appointed lapdogs to rubber-stamp the Rick Scott Vision for Higher Education: killing liberal arts and social science programs, turning universities into post-secondary, vocational institutions — curriculum determined by the staffing needs of business and industry, students "produced" efficiently and effectively for their employability, education reduced to the level of widgets and ball bearings.

What Scott knows about education could fit in a thimble. He made millions as a bean-counter, vulture capitalist, and financial bottom-feeder. He cannot see beyond benchmarks of profit-and-loss. He cannot deal with what he can't quantify. He's nervous in the face of nuance. He'll always opt for short-term gain over long-term perspective, because in business he was out to make as fast a buck as he could before bailing. Once a CEO, always a CEO. He will never grow into a governor with true vision. He is beyond being able to learn anything, especially about education.

"Another campaign framed in biblical terms"

Fred Grimm: "In 2008, after another campaign framed in biblical terms, Florida voters approved a similar ban on gay marriage, the so-called Florida Marriage Protection Amendment. As one West Kendall minister told The Herald, 'We’re here to defend marriage according to what the Lord and Bible described from the beginning.'"

Southerners heard such stuff a generation before, in a slightly different context.

It’s jarring to modern sensitivities, but racial bigotry was once defended in religious terms (and with a hell of lot more fervor than these contemporary attacks on gay marriage) by Old South politicians, judges and preachers. They too quoted obscure passages in the Old Testament, except back then it was to justify segregated schools and public accommodations and laws against interracial marriage.

In a 1955 opinion upholding Jim Crow laws, the Florida Supreme Court cast segregation as a divine construct. “When God created man, he allotted each race to his own continent according to color.” (Native Americans might have wondered what happened to their allotment.) ...

A leading Miami minister, Henry Louttit, the Episcopal bishop of South Florida, warned that only “sincere but deluded folk” would use scripture to back up their belief in segregation. But the Old South had damn few like Rev. Louttit in the pulpit.

Florida the epicenter of the national foreclosure crisis

The Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board on the "recent rankings by a number of foreclosure-tracking groups show[ing] the epicenter of the national foreclosure crisis is still in Florida. ... The rankings -- which measure the foreclosure rate, and not the raw numbers -- indicate Florida has a long way to go to get out of the housing-based recession, which caused the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. But there are indications the market in Florida has 'bottomed out.'" "Florida cities still vexed by high foreclosure rate".

"The inevitably imperfect democratic process"

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "For more than a decade, Palm Beach County residents have been all too aware of a hard truth about elections: They are perennially imperfect. Chads hang. Ballots vanish. Elections workers miscount. Voting software goes haywire. What far fewer people know is how difficult Florida law makes it to catch errors when they do occur."

Technology advances have created new ways to double- and triple-check voting results to make sure that human and computer errors do not ravage the democratic process. But state law makes it disturbingly difficult to put them in place. This is a travesty that can be easily fixed with simple changes to state law to allow extra oversight of the voting process.

A chief problem is Florida's restrictions on the audits that county elections offices must conduct after an election. State law requires the audits to be done only after an election is certified, and they limit the amount of ballots and the number of races that can be reexamined. These narrow requirements make it more difficult to root out errors and seem designed in the interest of speed over accuracy. Given Florida's history, this is a misplaced priority.

The worst part is that state law largely prohibits counties from taking their own steps to catch errors. In 2006, Sarasota County voters called for all county elections to undergo broader, more comprehensive audits before elections are certified. When the state Supreme Court allowed the audits to stand after a constitutional challenge, state legislators in 2010 passed a law that appears to outlaw them.

Despite these limitations, a handful of Florida counties are trying a new election safeguard: scanning virtual images of every ballot cast and using separate software to recount them. Doing so, they say, allows a second program to get in on the counting so that an error will be noticed if one program misfires. In California, one county has even put ballot images on the Internet so that members of the public can double-check the tallies.

But as promising as such innovations are, they don't have any official standing in Florida. For now, they are just idle exercises, promising innovations ignored by a Legislature largely disinterested in strengthening confidence in the inevitably imperfect democratic process.

"State’s Republican leaders treat [immigrants] like trash"

Myriam Marquez on Florida's current purging of the voter rolls: "This is all an attempt by the Republican governor’s appointed Secretary of State to flag illegal voting. No voter suppression here, Secretary of State Ken Detzner maintains. Well, that’s a relief, because an initial check by The Miami Herald found several voters on the 'verified non U.S. citizens' list who are indeed alive, living in Miami-Dade and U.S. citizens who have voted in recent elections. What’s up with that, Mr. Secretary?"

Marquez, of all people, argues that

people are right to wonder if this is a plot to suppress rights, especially as Republican elections officials in other swing states with large Hispanic immigrant populations like Colorado and New Mexico are going through this same exercise in the name of cracking down on voter fraud, even though there has been no evidence of fraud.

Florida already has cut back the number of days for early voting, which in the past has brought out more Democrats than Republicans, who are more inclined to use absentee ballots to cast their vote. And it has put extremely burdensome requirements and ridiculous time limits for third-party groups like the nonpartisan League of Women Voters to register new voters, a case now before the courts. And back in 2000, when “Flori-duh” became ground zero for George W. Bush’s 537-vote win over Al Gore, there was the infamous felon purge that kept voters — many of them black men and registered Democrats who had never broken the law or who had had their right to vote restored — from having their votes counted.

Now there’s the “verified non U.S. citizens” hit list with the state looking into about 140,000 “suspect” voters, of which some 2,700 have already been flagged and sent to local election supervisors to check. And surprise, surprise, about 2,000 of those 2,700 are in immigrant-rich Miami-Dade County. Another 260 potential non-citizens are on the list sent to Broward County’s elections office.

Those numbers are a tiny fraction of the state’s 12 million registered voters, and it’s important to purge the names of people who have died or who are now in prison. But how we go about this exercise in combating voter fraud should concern all voters, regardless of party affiliation. ...

This is an election year, so neither party trusts the other’s information. And, there, caught in the political crossfire, are U.S. citizens who came to this country seeking freedom and democracy only to have their state’s Republican leaders treat them like trash.

Justice delayed

"Expect even more delays in pulling court files and other routine transactions if Florida lawmakers refuse to return $31 million in funding." "Cuts would strain South Florida clerk of courts’ offices".

Florida Political News: May 12, 2012

by: Florida Politics

Sat May 12, 2012 at 09:14:36 AM EDT

MacNamara denies he's unethical

Bill Cotterell: "After a week of excruciating news reports about a couple of state contracts, Gov. Rick Scott's chief of staff said Friday he has not violated any laws or rewarded friends with government business."

Steve MacNamara, who was widely credited with helping Scott improve his poll numbers when he joined the administration last July, said Scott has expressed full support for him.

"The governor's been very supportive of me. He's (also) been unfairly attacked himself in the past," MacNamara said.

The Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times last weekend ran a lengthy profile of MacNamara, calling him the Wizard of Oz manipulator behind the governor's throne, followed by a critical column criticizing him as the ultimate insider working for a studiously "outsider" governor.

The complaint comes at a time when MacNamara has drawn media scrutiny for steering contracts to friends or associates and getting involved in personnel matters. He and Scott are scheduled to meet over the weekend to talk about MacNamara’s future. ...

In the past week, the Herald/Times has reported that MacNamara intervened to give a $5.5 million no-bid contract to the business partner of a friend, overruled an agency head to approve travel for the state film commissioner . The Associated Press reported that MacNamara gave a $360,000 no-bid contract to another close acquaintance. ...

MacNamara also challenged the Herald/Times’ account of his decision to overrule the former secretary of the Department of Economic Development, Doug Darling, and allow the film commissioner, Shari Kerrigan, to attend the Sundance film festival in Utah in January. He said that Kerrigan’s trip had been previously approved by the deputy secretary and Darling “unreasonably withheld permission.”

Darling was among several agency heads who — at MacNamara’s request — had agreed to step down at the end of the legislative session in March. But, after receiving a memo from Darling complaining about Kerrigan, MacNamara ordered Darling to leave by Jan. 26.

MacNamara, who considers Kerrigan’s father a friend, also disputed that he acted on her behalf because of his friendship with her family.

Week in Review

"The Week in Review for May 7 to May 11". See also "Weekly Roundup: High Court in High Gear".

"Job changes for state workforce"

Bill Cotterell: "The 2012-13 state budget approved by legislators provides for 4,354 fewer authorized positions as of July 1. But that doesn't mean mass layoffs state employees. Instead, management will be deciding where to cut and employees will be deciding whether to switch jobs or leave state employment." "Spring is in the air, and so are job changes for state workforce".

LeMieux calls it "a coordinated campaign effort"

"Nearly 58,000 pieces of mail touting a key component of U.S. Rep. Connie Mack's Senate campaign were sent to voters outside of his district at taxpayer expense this month -- a violation of congressional rules that Mack blamed on a vendor error but GOP primary rival George LeMieux called 'a coordinated campaign effort.'" "Franking violation a vender error to Mack, 'campaign effort' to LeMieux".

Campaign Roundup

"This week saw the Division of Elections embark on a review of thousands of voter registrants suspected of not being U.S. citizens. There was also the withdrawal of endorsements in one northeast Florida state Senate race, while a candidate in a nearby district dropped out." "Campaign Roundup: Voter registration review, and the endorsement shuffle in NE Florida".

Voters scrutinized in predominately Democratic Miami-Dade

"More than one of every 100 registered voters in Florida, many in predominately Democratic Miami-Dade County, are being scrutinized for their citizenship and eligibility to cast a ballot." "Florida Scanning Driver's License Lists for Possible Ineligible Voters". Background: "State looks to ax non-citizens from voter rolls".

Equal Access to Justice Act

Nancy Smith: "The arrival in Florida earlier in the week of the lawyer-packed environmental group Center for Biological Diversity has renewed a conversation in Washington and elsewhere that it's time to find out exactly how much money the government is forking out to this cottage industry." "How Environmental Lawyers Are Fleecing the Taxpayers and Why Nobody Notices".

"Scary silence"

The Palm Beach Post's Randy Schultz: "Four weeks ago, The Palm Beach Post reported that the campaign to make Dave Aronberg state attorney of Palm Beach County included intimidation of two criminal court judges. Krista Marx heard that if she ran as a Republican against Democrat Aronberg, her husband, Judge Joe Marx, would face a re-election challenge. To drive the point home, Krista Marx would face a trumped-up ethics charge from attorneys to be named later. She probably would have been Mr. Aronberg's toughest opponent."

The story should have outraged Mr. Butterworth, Ms. Bondi and Mr. Krischer. They swore to protect the criminal justice system from such political corruption. Mr. Butterworth showed up when Mr. Aronberg announced his candidacy in January. Ms. Bondi gave Mr. Aronberg the title-heavy, results-light prosecutor's job that he used to give his campaign credibility. Mr. Krischer is a prominent Aronberg supporter.

Yet not one of them has criticized the tactics of the Aronberg conspirators. Not one has criticized Mr. Aronberg for his weasel-wording defense that such "rumors" are part of campaigns, though the facts are clear. Not one has criticized Mr. Aronberg for failing to disavow the sleazy tactics carried out on his behalf. ...

Ms. Bondi won't even talk to The Post about the man for whom she created a $92,000-a-year job to do not much.

Rubio doesn't impress in Iowa

"U.S. Sen Marco Rubio, R-Fla., spoke to business leaders in Iowa Thursday, setting off speculation that he could be angling for a future presidential bid."

But a poll released this week shows that the junior senator from Florida has some major competition in the Hawkeye State. Rubio next week is headed to South Carolina, another early state in the presidential nomination process.

A poll released this week from Public Policy Polling (PPP), a firm with connections to prominent Democrats, shows that Rubio and two other Republicans with ties to the Sunshine State would start off the 2016 presidential contest in solid shape in Iowa, home of the first caucus. The poll finds that Iowa is solidly behind Hillary Clinton if she makes a second bid for the Democratic nomination, while two previous winners in the Hawkeye State -- Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum -- start out ahead on the Republican side.

"Arrivals and Departures"

"David Halstead retires from the Division of Emergency Management", and much more: "Arrivals and Departures".

"If a big storm hits"

Travis Pillow: "Groups calling for changes to the fund that backstops the state's property insurance market have seized on the latest estimates released this week, which show the state may not be able to borrow enough money to meet its obligations if a big storm hits." "Hurricane fund possible shortfall spurs calls for changes".

RX for Disaster 77 Miles From Florida's Coast

by: Robert McKnight

Fri May 11, 2012 at 09:56:29 AM EDT

Somewhat off people's radar are press reports that drilling for oil is under way in the Cuban waters, some 77 miles from Key West.  Since the drilling is occurring in another jurisdiction, it is assumed there can be little done to ensure Florida and the United States interests are protected...unless and until an accident (or otherwise) happens.  It is ironic that this situation is developing while additional press is directed to the increasing threat of terrorists to our country.  BTW, to understand the seriousness of the threat, the BP oil spill was 41 miles off the coast of Louisiana.  BTW #2, it was about 30 years ago that Castro directed an outpouring of prisoners and sick citizens to float into Florida waters, without notice.

Head's up to Florida's political leadership--this is a real threat. 

Florida Political News: May 11, 2012

by: Florida Politics

Fri May 11, 2012 at 09:17:44 AM EDT

Rubio squirming like a worm on a hook

"Rubio sought Thursday to reframe his proposal to give legal status to children of illegal immigrants as a "humanitarian" concern rather than part of the contentious immigration debate."

The rhetorical shift comes while his plan continues to face skepticism from Democrats and as sharper objections are bubbling up in conservative circles. ...

Casting it as humanitarian — he likened it to the special status afforded to "Cuban refugees" — is a newer approach that seems to indicate the difficulty Rubio is facing in pitching his plan, which has still not been officially released. ...

The GOP is trying to seek a more moderate stance on immigration as the Hispanic population grows and the problem at the border subsides. But Rubio's plan has come under fire from the right. Anti-immigration groups have mobilized to call his office in opposition and urge other Republicans against it.

On Tuesday, a group of GOP House members joined with the Federation for American Immigration Reform and conservative radio hosts in an effort to caution the party not to back down on illegal immigration.

"Rubio needs to wake up, or those who follow him are going to fall off a cliff," FAIR spokesman Bob Dane said, according to Congressional Quarterly.

Republican clears Mini-Mack

"The Republican head of the House Franking Commission says 'no further action' will be taken against U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fort Myers, whose mailer this week violated House rules because it was widely distributed beyond his district." "Rep. Connie Mack all clear in mailer violation, official says". See also "Mack defends mass mailing mistake".

CIA had no problem declassifying earlier volume attacking the Kennedy brothers

"A federal judge has ruled that a final volume of the CIA's three-decade-old history on the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba can remain shrouded in secrecy because it is a draft, not a finished product."

The CIA characterized the volume in court papers as "a polemic of recriminations against CIA officers who later criticized the operation."

U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler accepted the CIA's arguments that the fifth volume entitled the "CIA's Internal Investigations of the Bay of Pigs Operations" did not even pass through the first stage of a multilayer review process. The volume represented a proposal by a subordinate member of the history staff that was rejected by the chief historian as containing significant deficiencies, the CIA argued.

The CIA said the volume is protected from disclosure under the deliberative process privilege, an exemption in the Freedom of Information Act.

The National Security Archive, a private group seeking transparency in government, sued the CIA to declassify the volume.

The CIA had no problem declassifying an earlier volume of the history in which the author attacked President Kennedy and Attorney General Robert Kennedy, said Peter Kornbluh, who directs the National Security Archive's Cuba documentation project.

CAT Fund

"CAT Fund Advisers Seek to Add Billion$ to Reserves".

Friends of MacNamara

"When Gov. Rick Scott took office, he adopted a policy for his agencies that required out-of-state travel to be 'cost effective' and 'have a direct and measurable benefit to getting Floridians back to work.'"

It was a point that Scott's chief of staff, Steve MacNamara, hammered home at staff meetings. It prompted the head of the Department of Economic Opportunity, Doug Darling, to compile a list of trips that had "true market impact and the best chance for success" and get MacNamara's approval.

But MacNamara changed the rules for Shari Kerrigan[*], a lawyer and friend of MacNamara's whom the governor appointed the state's film commissioner in December.

A month on the job, she asked MacNamara to let her travel to the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, even though the trip wasn't on the list approved by MacNamara before Kerrigan had the job.

When Darling told Kerrigan she couldn't go, "her reaction was unprofessional and abusive to staff,'' he wrote in a Jan. 24 memo to MacNamara. "Without notifying either her direct supervisor or myself, she attended on her own. Unfortunately she did not notify us that she was attending and, to date, has not called. We only learned this by contacting her staff."

Kerrigan took the trip to the world famous film festival, stayed three nights at the Zermatt Resort in Park City, Utah, and ended with a trip to Miami Beach for a meeting of television executives. ...

MacNamara acknowledged Wednesday that he had approved the trip — over Darling's objections.

"Yes, I did,'' he said. "I'm the chief of staff."

Senate President Mike Haridopolos agreed to [Nan]Rich’s unusual request for a lawyer to advise the Dems.

Rich, D-Weston, made the ask because of Haridopolos’ own unusual move: his chief of staff Steve MacNamara is serving a dual role as the Senate’s general counsel.

Rich objected that MacNamara, who earns $175,000 a year, is, as Haridopolos’ chief, too partisan to provide objective counsel to both sides of the aisle.

“The dual roles assumed under this administration raised fears that that objectivity and legal even-handedness would be compromised. We were left with no choice but to request our own attorney who would fill that critical void. I am pleased that the Senate President agreed,” Rich said in a statement announcing Haridopolos’ approval.

"Miami-Dade wetlands off the trade table"

"Water managers have decided to draw up new plans on how to use a chunk of West Miami-Dade wetlands once sought by Florida International University." "South Florida water district takes Miami-Dade wetlands off the trade table with FIU".

Robo-signing scandal

"A Florida Supreme Court case could have huge national implications on how courts will handle the robo-signing scandal on foreclosures." "Florida foreclosure case could have wide reach".

"One of the most ethically challenged figures on Capitol Hill"

Daniel Ruth: "From the day he arrived in Washington raising one hand to be sworn in as a member of Congress while extending his other outstretched palm, Rep. Vern Buchanan of Sarasota has consistently been considered one of the most ethically challenged figures on Capitol Hill."

How proud the National Republican Congressional Committee must be to have Buchanan, R-Subpoena-in-Waiting, as its leading fundraiser, which has to be a shot in the arm for the brown bag industry.

The investigators found evidence that Buchanan tried to get a former business associate whom he owed a $2.9 million settlement to sign a cooked-up affidavit falsely claiming that the congressman knew nothing about $100,000 in illegal contributions to his 2006 congressional campaign.

For you legally challenged types, like Buchanan, this is a really big naughty no-no.

Buchanan's mouthpieces were shocked, shocked that the ethics committee concluded there was "substantial reason to believe" the congressman knew the affidavit was full of phooey when he pressured the ex-business partner to sign a manifesto of fibs.

Buchanan was more than welcome to testify before the committee, but he chose not to cooperate. That's understandable since he would have been required to tell the truth. Uh-oh. And now he's whining about the results.

The lawyers labeled the report "fundamentally flawed" and "bizarre," just for the flair of it all.

The problem for Buchanan, who makes Crime and Punishment look like a pamphlet, is that the aggrieved business partner, Sam Kazran, was able to provide the sleuths emails and voice mails between the two men that indicate the congressman knew about the hinky campaign contributions and the fraudulent affidavit.

Buchanan left a trail of recordings and documents linking him to the shenanigans? Texas Gov. Rick Perry isn't this dense.

Now the ethics committee, which seems to be enjoying itself immensely investigating Buchanan, R-Tom Delay-lite, has decided to extend the scrutiny.

Well, why not? Everyone else is!

Vern Buchanan has been in Washington for less than six years, yet he has managed to become the target of investigations by the FBI, the IRS, the Federal Elections Commission and the House Committee on Ethics.

Stand 'yer stoopid

"'Stand Your Ground' Remains Popular in Florida After Trayvon Martin Shooting".

Court upholds term limits

"Court upholds term limits for county commissioners". See also "Florida justices uphold term limits in Hillsborough, Polk". More: Jeremy Wallace's "Court ruling reinvents Sarasota County politics".

Enuf "blue ribbons"

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "If Gov. Rick Scott wants to remake Florida's higher education system to meet the demands of a knowledge-based economy, he should start from a personal knowledge base rather than appoint a 'blue ribbon' task force. ... Florida's higher education system doesn't need a task force. It needs informed politicians making wiser decisions." "Scott's task force a waste".

Mack and LeMieux take off the gloves

"The two leading Republican candidates looking to challenge incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson took off the gloves Thursday and ripped into each other on a range of issues." "Connie Mack and George LeMieux Exchange Fire in GOP Senate Primary".

Separation of church and state kerfuffle

"A group that advocates the separation of church and state is accusing Department of Children and Families Secretary David Wilkins of violating the U.S. Constitution by using state e-mail to send a prayer to employees of his department asking God to help them 'find their identity in You.' Wilkins, who also recently became Florida's chief operating officer, sent the email to DCF workers Thursday after offering the prayer at a National Day of Prayer event also attended by his boss, Gov. Rick Scott, in the Capitol." "Group objects to Florida DCF head using state email to send prayer to employees".

"An increasingly partisan dogfight"

Marc Caputo: "Amid an increasingly partisan dogfight, Florida elections officials say the number of potential noncitizens they're examining on the state voter rolls is 180,000, a figure far higher than what was initially reported."

Florida's Division of Elections said Thursday that it's combing through this initial, mammoth list of names — which were flagged during a computer database search — to make sure its list is as clean and as small as possible. The state is then turning over smaller batches of the more-verified names to county elections supervisors, who are contacting the potential noncitizens to see if they can lawfully vote.

By the end of the process, the state could send counties as many as 22,000 names to check, one election source indicated, in a state with more than 12 million total voters.

Right now, local supervisors have been sent nearly 2,700 names, about 2,000 of which are in Miami-Dade, Florida's most-populous and most-immigrant heavy county.

But Detzner's office said he's trying to make sure no unlawful votes are cast — and it indicated that President Barack Obama's administration is stonewalling the effort by refusing to share Department of Homeland Security databases that could more easily show who's a citizen and who's not. ...

The effort in Florida was inspired by Colorado Republican Secretary of State Scott Gessler, who said last year that he initially identified a pool of 16,000 potential noncitizen voters in his state. New Mexico — also run by a Republican secretary of state — searched and found 104.

Florida, Colorado and New Mexico are all immigrant- and Hispanic-heavy swing states that could play a crucial role in this year's presidential election.

"Republican Party on the wrong side of history"

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board: "In a courageous act of moral leadership, President Barack Obama has made civil rights history by announcing his support for same-sex marriage."

Despite the vote Tuesday in North Carolina that amended the state Constitution to bar same-sex marriage and civil unions — like one passed by voters in Florida in 2008 — Romney and the Republican Party are on the wrong side of history. Attitudes are changing quickly, as is evidenced by the noncontroversial nature of the domestic partnership registry passed in Tampa and being considered in St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Gulfport and Pinellas County. The St. Petersburg City Council voted Thursday to direct the legal staff to draft an ordinance creating a domestic registry that the council can adopt within the next month.

Orlando the Smuttiest City in America

Nancy Smith: "Isn't it supposed to be the casinos, not Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, that attract the porn? That's not what happened in Orlando, just named by Men's Health Magazine as the Smuttiest City in America. It's true. Without a roll of the dice or the ka-ching of a single slot machine, Orlando looked up one day and realized it had become Gomorrah."

With apologies to Mickey and Minnie, I think maybe it's time for the folks at www.NoCasinos.org to rethink their motive for keeping casinos out of Florida. That family-friendly postcard they see in their dreams disappeared somewhere between the time Walt Disney World closed down Pleasure Island and grad-trippers discovered they could beer-binge their way around Epcot.

Here's how Men's Health Magazine jumped Orlando over Las Vegas and into the No. 1 spot:

"We peered through a statistical peephole to tabulate the following criteria: the number of DVDs purchased, rented, or streamed (AdultDVDEmpire.com); adult entertainment stores per city (StorErotica.net); rate of porn searches (Google Insights); and, for fans of soft-core, percentage of Cinemax-subscribing households (SimplyMap). Not only were Orlando folks the randiest residents, but Florida was also the most salacious state."

By "most salacious," the magazine editors meant that many states didn't have a single city in the Top 100 Smuttiest. But, besides Orlando, Florida had four -- Tampa at No. 8, Miami at 12, Jacksonville at 52 and St. Petersburg at 60.

Atlantic City, incidentally -- target of an over-the-top, even frightening anti-casinos ad during the last session of the Florida Legislature, didn't even make the magazine's Top 100.

"Embargo of Cuba is getting in the way of safety"

"The 50-year-old U.S. embargo of Cuba is getting in the way of safety when it comes to deepwater drilling in Cuban waters, an expert on the communist country's offshore drilling activity said Thursday." "U.S. embargo of Cuba adds risks to country's deepwater oil drilling, expert says".

Plenty of room (in the rafters) for Florida GOP convention delegates

"Florida Republicans better not count on a lenient national GOP to give them prime floor seats to the Republican National Convention in Tampa after they broke the party’s primary schedule rules."

But RNC chairman Reince Priebus said Thursday that they don’t have to worry about access to the Tampa Bay Times Forum in August.

“The rules committee made a decision that Florida’s going to lose half of its delegates,” Priebus told the Tampa Bay Times and Bay News 9, in taping a local interview to air Sunday in the St. Petersburg-Tampa area. “I have not heard a single person on the rules committee make any movement or request or anyone from any part of this operation to change that.”

Still, Priebus left the door wide open to allowing more state party activists into the Tampa Bay Times Forum for the Aug. 27-30 event, even if they aren’t seated on the floor with the 50 voting delegates.

“We’re talking about 50 seats on the floor. Believe me, we’re going to need a lot of people here in Florida filling that arena. It’s really not something that I think people here in Florida should be obsessing over,” Priebus said.

Florida Political News: May 10, 2012

by: Florida Politics

Thu May 10, 2012 at 09:11:20 AM EDT

Obama takes Florida lead in Suffolk University poll

After trailing in a previous Suffolk University poll, showing Obama down by five points (in January, Romney led Obama 47 percent to 42 percent), "a new poll of Florida from Suffolk University [.pdf link] shows President Obama with a 1 point lead over likely Republican nominee and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, 46 percent to 45 percent, among registered voters [as opposed to likely voters] in the state."

The numbers also show what seems to be an enthusiasm gap for Romney as a candidate – when asked "Is your vote more a vote for Romney or against Democrat Barack Obama," only 51 percent of Romney supporters said they were for the former Gov., with 49 percent saying they were just against the President. The split was 77 percent for Obama and 23 percent against Romney when the question was asked of Obama supporters.

Both Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and former Gov. Jeb Bush could move voters to Romney. A Romney-Bush ticket would lead Obama-Biden by 2 points, and a Romney-Rubio ticket would lead Obama-Biden by 3 points, 47 percent to 44 percent.

Florida's mortgage delinquency rate highest in nation

"Florida's rate of borrowers 60 days or more behind on their mortgage dipped slightly from the fourth quarter of 2011 to the first quarter of 2012, but is still the highest rate in the nation." "Mortgage delinquency down nationally, but Florida rate is highest".

Baxley's "cure worse than the problem"

"Nearly 2,700 potential non-U.S. citizens are registered to vote in Florida and some could have been unlawfully casting ballots for years, according to a Miami Herald-CBS4 analysis of elections data. ... Even if voters are on the list, it doesn’t mean they’re not eligible to cast a ballot.

Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, sponsored the election law and said he feels “validated” by the state’s actions in keeping its voter rolls clean.

But University of Florida political science professor Dan Smith, a critic of Baxley’s law, said the state purges could block eligible voters from casting ballots, thereby making the cure worse than the problem.

"This attests to the fact that there’s very little voter-registration fraud," Smith said. "This purging can be a real problem."

To be eligible to cast a ballot in Florida, a voter must be a state resident and a U.S. citizen with no felony record. Those who have been convicted of felonies can cast ballots if their rights have been restored by the state. It’s a third-degree felony to commit voter fraud in Florida.

Neither the state nor the county’s election office would release all of the suspected names, in part because the list contains personal data such as Social Security and driver-license numbers that are not public record.

Of the partial Miami-Dade list given to the Miami Herald, Tampa Bay Times and CBS 4, less than a third of the potential non citizens had voted, going as far back as 1996. About 39 of them are Democrats, 39 Republicans and 26 are independents or third-party voters.

"Don't wait until 4:30 a.m."

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "One thing is clear from the problem with legislation to reform Florida's no-fault auto insurance system: Don't wait until 4:30 a.m. on the last day to complete a major, complex bill." "PIP bill dinged but fixable".

Whoop-dee-doo

"Jeb or Rubio as VP Would Help Romney Against Obama in Florida".

Vern's newest ethics issue

Jeremy Wallace: "A congressional committee is looking into whether U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, tried to influence a potential witness during a federal investigation into his fundraising practices, new documents released on Wednesday show." "Buchanan is dogged by new ethics issue".

Same-sex marriage likely a "political wash" in Florida

"Social significance aside, President Obama's announcement that he supports same-sex marriage may prove to be a political wash in America's largest swing state, some Florida experts and operatives said Wednesday."

Florida voted 51 percent for Obama and 61.9 percent for a ban on gay marriage in the same 2008 election. Polls point to another close Florida presidential election this year.

Democratic strategist Steve Schale, who ran Obama's Florida campaign in 2008, said he doesn't believe Wednesday's announcement will help or hurt the president in the Sunshine State this year.

"I believe this was a decision beyond politics," Schale said.

"I really don't believe there are any significant electoral implications. Remember, Obama opposed the gay marriage amendment in 2008 and we won Florida while that amendment passed, and certainly the needle on the issue has moved in the last four years. It might motivate some base voters, but I believe that's where the politics ends," Schale said.

Republican pollster Alex Patton agreed.

"I just think President Obama was looking to shore up his base a little bit," Patton said. "I still think that this is an economy election and some of these social issues, they're just not weighing heavily. It's an issue, but it's not a driver."

University of South Florida political scientist Susan MacManus voiced a similar view.

"I still think the economy is the big issue and voters are not going to be as focused on the gay rights issue," MacManus said.

Not a peep about Walmart using Chinese inmate labor

"U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Miami, along with U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, Miami, and U.S. Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami, were among the signers of a letter seeking a prompt meeting over reports that IKEA had teamed with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro in the 1980s to use political prisoners to make some furniture." "South Florida Congressional Members Question if IKEA Had Cuban Prisoners Make Furniture".

And then there's Walmart, but never mind.

Low Income Housing Tax Credits

"Seven companies are disputing the way the Florida Housing Finance Corporation scored their applications for millions of dollars in federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits." "Affordable housing developers challenge state housing group over federal tax credits".

Charter madness

"The move means the Northeast Florida Virtual Charter School and the Central Florida Virtual Charter School can form their schools, but the school boards of Duval and Seminole counties have promised an appeal." "Board of Education vacates stay of two virtual charter schools' appeals". See also "State overrides districts on charter schools".

"Floridians don’t much care if they convict the wrong guy"

Fred Grimm: "Some 14 death row inmates in Florida have been cleared by DNA testing, after spending an average of 20 years on death row. Outside of the old Confederacy, that might be cause enough to reexamine the underlying morality of capital punishment."

Instead, Florida Gov. Rick Scott vetoed funds earmarked for the Florida Innocence Commission, charged with sorting out flaws in the criminal justice system — an embarrassing mess of misidentifications and false confessions and lying jail house informants — that made Florida the national leader in wrongful convictions.

Sadly, DNA samples only show up in a small percentage of cases. A bit of extrapolation indicates a near mathematical certainty that innocents are among the 400 convicts now on Florida’s death row. But I can tell you, based on my own e-mail in-basket, Floridians don’t much care. I’ve done scores of columns about Broward County’s brutal penchant for sending innocent men to death row, but had a stronger reader reaction after a column about a Palmetto Bay teenager wrongfully accused of a cat-killing spree. (Most of those responses were demands that the kid go to jail anyway.)

Floridians don’t much care if they convict the wrong guy. They just want retribution.

"Five of the nation’s greediest banks"

The Miami Herald editorial board: "Advocates of affordable housing in Florida, listen up: You have a chance to weigh in on how the state uses $300 million to ease the pain of the foreclosure crisis, but you must act quickly. The funds were part of a court-approved, $25-billion settlement that Attorney General Pam Bondi and 48 of her counterparts in other states managed to wrest from five of the nation’s greediest banks and mortgage servicers to clean up the robo-signing scandal that delivered grief to tens of thousands of homeowners across the country." "Florida’s $300-million housing bounty".

Mini-Mack mailer "violates House rules"

"A government mailer sent to voters across Florida by U.S. Rep. Connie Mack violates House rules barring distribution outside his district and raises questions about his U.S. Senate campaign, which features the penny pinching plan that was the subject of the mailer."

The color brochure, complete with a photo of Mack, began showing up this week in Hillsborough County, Miami Beach and Sarasota, among other places beyond Mack’s district in southwest Florida.

A mailing list vendor, who has done work for Mack’s Senate campaign, took responsibility for the "mistake" Wednesday and wrote a nearly $18,000 check to the U.S. Treasury to cover postage. Mack, in a letter to House officials Wednesday, said any violation was due to the vendor and was "unintentional."

"Absolutely no taxpayer dollars will be spent on this project," Mack wrote to the chairman of the House Franking Commission.

But as he sought to contain the problem, political opponents pounced. George LeMieux, a rival in the Republican U.S. Senate primary, released a statement calling it an abuse of office. "Voters are fed up with this type of behavior from Washington politicians like Mack and there’s no doubt Floridians will reject his candidacy."

White supremacists in your backyard

"Supporters of suspected members of an Osceola County white supremacist group charged with preparing for a race war have started an online petition calling for their release." "American Front supporters call for release of suspected white supremacists". Background: "11th defendant arrested in Osceola roundup of white supremacists".

Chamber merely a Florida GOP front group

"The U.S. Chamber of Commerce isn’t waiting to find out who will challenge U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Orlando, this November."

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced Wednesday it is pumping big bucks into Florida with its first multimillion-dollar ad blitz of the 2012 cycle, aimed at Nelson and a pair of Democrats running for the U.S. House: former Rep. Alan Grayson and longtime state and local politician Lois Frankel.

Florida Political News: May 9, 2012

by: Florida Politics

Wed May 09, 2012 at 09:44:52 AM EDT

Business partner of MacNamara's close friend gets $5M no-bid deal

"When the Florida Senate was looking for someone to put its budget data online, it set aside $5.5 million and turned to the business partner of a close friend of the Senate's chief of staff at the time, Steve MacNamara."

The developer of the program, Anna Jo Mattson, owns a software company with Tallahassee lawyer and lobbyist Jim Eaton, MacNamara's long-time friend. She also owns Spider Data Services, the company that developed the software program licensed by the Senate. She said Tuesday the companies are not related.

MacNamara did not respond to requests for comment.

MacNamara negotiated the contract with Mattson in February 2011 when he worked for Senate President Mike Haridopolos. He left the Senate to become Gov. Rick Scott's chief of staff in July. To date, Mattson has been paid $5 million for development of the no-bid project. Another $2.5 million has been set aside in the governor's 2012-13 budget to pay for access to her patented program next year.

$148.6 million in rebates for Floridians, courtesy of the Affordable Care Act

"A recent report from the Kaiser Family Foundation, notes that health insurers in Florida are expected to pay out $148.6 million in rebates to consumers because they spent more on administrative costs than allowed by the federal Affordable Care Act." "Report: Florida health insurers owe $148.6 million in rebates".

Republicans fumble Hispanic outreach

"They were supposed to be introducing the team whose savvy grassroots work would sway the nation’s 12 million Hispanic voters to the Republican Party in six battleground states, including Florida."

Instead, the Republican National Committee demonstrated Tuesday just how far behind it is in persuading Latino voters to pick former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney over President Barack Obama.

When asked what they’d tell voters about Romney’s tough immigration talk, Bettina Inclan, the RNC National Hispanic outreach director, replied: He is "still deciding what his position on immigration is."

Oops.

Another top RNC official, Kirsten Kukowski, interrupted the meeting to tell reporters that Romney’s position on immigration is, in fact, very clear. After the meeting, Inclan tweeted that she "misspoke," and posted a link to the immigration policy page on the Romney campaign website.

That includes pledging to veto the DREAM Act and his assertion during a debate in January in Florida that undocumented immigrants should "self-deport." He also called parts of Arizona’s disputed immigration law a model for the nation "and has paraded around the country with the nation’s leading anti-immigrant voices," said Gabriela Domenzain, a spokeswoman for the Obama campaign.

Over the past year, he has "proven time and time again that he is the most extreme presidential candidate in modern history on immigration," she said. "His position may be inconvenient, but it has been clear. Mitt Romney has decided to be the most extreme presidential candidate on immigration; Hispanics and all Americans have heard it loud and clear." ...

Registered Hispanic voters back Obama by a 67-27 percent margin, according to a mid-April poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. Those findings were consistent with a Pew Hispanic Center survey of 557 Latino registered voters in December, when 68 percent backed Obama and 23 percent Romney.

Chamber shills

"The Chamber also recognized 42 House and Senate members as 'distinguished advocates' of business. Recognition was based on voting records reflecting the Chamber positions on bills affecting job creation, economic recovery and Florida's business climate." "Florida Chamber of Commerce commends Cannon, Dorworth for their voting records".

Freedom to pollute

"HB 1263, a Department of Health reorganization bill, repealed a 2010 requirement for septic tank inspections statewide. But the bill still required 19 counties with the largest first-magnitude springs to conduct inspections unless they opt out by Jan. 1, 2013." "Hernando poised to become first county to opt out of septic tank inspections". Meanwhile, "Federal, state negotiators close to deal on Everglades water quality".

Raw political courage

"Jeri Muoio stepped out of her role as non-partisan mayor on Tuesday and into the world of fiery partisan politics. Muoio stumped for President Obama's reelection at a City Center event billed by his campaign as an anti-Mitt Romney speech highlighting the negative side of the presumptive GOP nominee's job creation record. While former Mayor Lois Frankel was identified as a Democrat and served as her party's leader in the State House before being elected mayor, Muoio has never held partisan office." "West Palm's mayor dips toe in partisan waters in speech for Obama".

"It's political prostitution"

Daniel Ruth on when then-Congressman Adam Putnam

recalled a moment when Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke appeared before the Republican caucus to provide a briefing on the spreading financial cancer. Widely regarded as an astute, sober-minded economist, Bernanke was met with ridicule and derision by the Republican House members.

Putnam was flabbergasted by the show of disrespect. "There were guys (in the caucus) who couldn't count the commas in a trillion dollars talking to Bernanke like he was a dog."

Tipping point? Maybe. It's one thing to be designated a leader. It's quite another when you are expected to lead a pitchfork of zealots who are in denial over reality.

As 2010 rolled around, Putnam took a pass on re-election, returned to Florida and won the job as agriculture commissioner, trading in one barnyard substance for another. Indeed Putnam may be the first politician to leave office "to spend more time with the family" who actually spent more time with his family.

Putnam returned to a vastly changed Tallahassee political culture from the one he experienced as a state House member from 1996 to 2000. Unbridled partisanship grips the Florida Legislature, too, Putnam noted.

Stricter ethics laws have made it more difficult for bipartisan collegiality. And term limits make sure members rarely develop any expertise on their assigned committees, only enhancing the influence of lobbyists.

"The eight-year (term limit) time frame virtually guarantees the likelihood of someone spending more than one term as a committee chair is almost nil because it suggests you are ineffective," Putnam said. And so the rush is always on to move up to higher-profile, influential committees that have greater fundraising potential.

That's not governance. It's political prostitution.

Just months shy of 38, Putnam is hardly without a vast array of elective options.

There is a sense that with Rick Scott's approval ratings somewhere between the Taliban and the Greek Parliament, there might be a young, attractive, articulate, popular Republican who isn't crazy lingering in the woodpile willing to take on an incumbent governor in 2014.

Perhaps there is, but it won't be Adam Putnam, who insisted that he's quite content where his political life has taken him these days.

Ah, but 2018 might be an entirely different story. By then the Opie of the Apalachee Parkway will still only be a mere child of 44.

Did Rubio pay his college loans with his GOP credit card?

"Florida senators voted along party lines Tuesday as Republicans blocked a tax-raising Democratic bill that would have driven up Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes for some -- in exchange for keeping interest down on federal student loans. Bad bill, insists Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Miami, who sided with the GOP in the 52-45 vote." "GOP, Marco Rubio Block Democrats' Election-Year Bill on Student Loans".

"The true battleground is Central Florida"

Scott Maxwell: "Politico recently quoted Democratic operatives as saying they have calculated 1,024 possible outcomes among those 10 states. Of those 1,024 scenarios, only 85 allow Romney to win."

Of those 85, all 85 require Romney to win Florida.

If you don't believe the Democratic operatives, listen to the Republicans.

Just this week, the Republican Party of Florida sent members a letter that declared: "Florida isn't just a battleground state. It's THE battleground state which will determine who wins the White House." ...

Everyone agrees: Florida is ground zero.

But it gets more specific than that.

South Florida is full of Democrats. North Florida is full of Republicans.

That means the true battleground is Central Florida — your backyard.

Yes, the part of the country that brought America Casey Anthony will decide who inhabits the Oval Office.

Oh, but it gets even more specific than that.

Survey after survey shows that most people already have their minds made up. A big segment simply won't vote for Obama. Another big chunk won't vote for any Republican.

So now you have the tiniest of slivers — independent-minded voters … in Florida … who live along the Interstate 4 corridor.

If you are one of those folks, you are very powerful this year.

Desperately seeking vote fraud

"Thousands of foreign citizens — particularly in South Florida — might be registered to vote in Florida and could have unlawfully cast ballots in previous elections."

Over the past year, the Florida Division of Elections has begun identifying potential foreigners on the rolls in coordination with the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, Division of Elections spokesman Chris Cate told The Miami Herald. He said the state has forwarded the names to county elections supervisors, who are in charge of the rolls.

One of Scott's top accomplishments flawed

"A state agency issued a memo Tuesday aimed at fixing a flaw in Florida's new auto insurance law, which Gov. Rick Scott has hailed as one of the top accomplishments of the 2012 Florida Legislature. The state's Agency for Health Care Administration said in the three-page memo that it intends to eliminate a six-month gap in eligibility for health care professionals that potentially would allow insurance companies not to pay some personal injury protection (PIP) providers such as doctors, chiropractors, medical schools and dentists." "State issues rule to fix error in new car insurance law".

"May 9 is 'D-Day' for Sarasota Congressman Vern Buchanan"

"May 9 is 'D-Day' for Sarasota Congressman Vern Buchanan. That's the day he finds out if the U.S. House of Representatives Ethics Committee will pursue charges against him. Although the wealthy Republican dodged a bullet on charges he violated federal election laws, regardless of what the Ethics Committee decides, Buchanan faces other severe legal problems."

"We're talking about thousands of fraudulent transactions, thousands," said consumer advocate Duane Overholt.

It's not exactly a glowing endorsement, especially when you're talking about a U.S. representative. Overholt is talking about the car dealerships owned by Buchanan. "How many people would conceive that a U.S. congressman who took an oath to protect the consumer, his voters, would break the law? Well, he had according to the whistle blowers and, according to the documents, he has?"

Overholt has compiled thousands of documents, complaints, and lawsuits filed by former employees and customers. Some of the lawsuits have been settled out of court and some are working their way through the system. Buchanan denies any wrongdoing.

"More political jockeying than a legitimate concern"

The Tampa Bay Times editors: "The dust-up over using state employees to finalize election ballot paperwork for the merit retention of three Florida Supreme Court justices is more political jockeying than a legitimate concern over lawbreaking."

A conservative legislator upset with the court is exploiting the situation by calling for a criminal investigation. In fact, public employees commonly notarize election documents, and a cursory review should suffice. Gov. Rick Scott should not inappropriately politicize the merit retention election in November by overreacting.

The amendment had been sponsored by state Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood. Plakon seized on the notarizing incident to ask Scott for a law enforcement investigation into whether the justices illegally used state employees for electioneering purposes during working hours. Scott is reportedly considering the request, but he should deny it. ...

If the governor ordered the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate, the result could be a long, open investigation that puts the justices under an unnecessary cloud and provides campaign fodder for those looking to oust them for political reasons.

Workers fired after forming a union committee

"Hallandale Beach Police say about 100 protesters blocked the west entrance to keep patrons from entering the casino. Police and casino officials warned them they were trespassing. The protesters who refused to leave were arrested. The Herald reports the 10 former workers are union organizers for a local chapter of UNITE HERE. They were fired in November after forming a union leadership committee. Police say the protesters were arrested peacefully." "Police arrest 23 union protesters at Fla. casino".

Bid challenge upheld

"An administrative law judge is siding with the Florida Department of Health's decision to reject all bids for a contract to provide laboratory services to the state's 67 county health departments. In a 33-page recommended order on Monday, F. Scott Boyd of the Division of Administrative Hearings wrote that Laboratory Corporation of America (aka LabCorp) had not met its burden to prove the department had acted improperly when it decided to reject all the bids and restart the procurement process after finding flaws in its solicitation." "Judge sides with Department of Health in contract dispute".

Florida closely behind Mississippi and Texas

"The number of Floridians who have gone without medical care they needed because they couldn't afford it has increased to 1 in 4 over the past decade, according to a study released today."

Florida — where 25.1 percent of residents said they did not have their medical needs met because of cost — ranked third worst in the nation for that category, following closely behind Mississippi and Texas.

White supremacists

"White supremacists trained with AK-47s, planned for 'inevitable' race war, affidavit says".

Expensive publicity stunts

"Accompanied by staff and security, Gov. Rick Scott and Cabinet members descended on the Florida Keys Monday night, 590 miles from their Tallahassee base. The elected officials are in Marathon, one of the northern Keys, to discuss water quality and emergency management, among other things. It's the second time this year the Cabinet is vacating Tallahassee to interact with citizens around the state, said Lane Wright, a spokesman for the governor's office. These Florida field trips aren't cheap, especially when home is the out-of-the-way Tallahassee, where flights are often expensive and inconvenient." "Florida Cabinet trip to the Keys doesn’t come cheap". Related: "Cabinet in Keys: Gimme shelter plan".

Mini-Mac's "troubling socialite image"?

"In a new attack on his GOP Senate primary opponent, George LeMieux charges — without concrete evidence — that Connie Mack IV doesn't spend much time in Florida and has a 'troubling socialite image.'" "LeMieux lobs unsubstantiated claims at Mack". Related: "GOP Senate Candidates Battle for Position".

"Florida's voter-approved ban in the state Constitution"

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board: "While Vice President Joe Biden made news over the weekend by declaring that he is 'absolutely comfortable' with same-sex marriages, that issue is off the table for now in Florida because of a voter-approved ban in the state Constitution." "Cities and Pinellas should pursue registry for unmarried couples". The Sarasota Herald Tribune editorial board: "States of denial".

Florida Political News: May 7, 2012

by: Florida Politics

Mon May 07, 2012 at 09:40:20 AM EDT

"The FDP couldn’t have picked a better chief of staff for Scott"

Marc Caputo: "Rick Scott’s biggest failure as governor has a name: Steve MacNamara."

An at-times ethically challenged Tallahassee insider, MacNamara was hired by the neophyte governor as his chief of staff to avoid the very type of major embarrassment Scott suffered last week.

Last Tuesday at a Miami Freedom Tower event, Scott ceremonially signed a law cracking down on firms that do business in Cuba and Syria. But he then issued a letter that called the very law he signed unenforceable and unconstitutional because it infringes on foreign trade.

The about-face transformed Scott from the Cuban exiles’ toast of the town into a suspected foe politically undermining their bill to help big business.

The Cuban-American Republican lawmakers at Scott’s side were blindsided by his letter. They wondered whether his office was double-dealing. Even the team supporting Attorney General Pam Bondi — Scott’s most-powerful and helpful elected ally in the state — is suspicious.

The Rick Scott of 2010 could have predicted as much when he campaigned against Tallahassee insiders. But after a few rookie missteps, Scott last year hired MacNamara from the office of the Senate President, who incidentally had one of the most politically embarrassing years under MacNamara’s watch.

In the Senate, the Associated Press reported Friday, MacNamara “helped steer a no-bid consulting contract worth $360,000 to a friend who now leads a task force rooting out state government waste.”

Questions about MacNamara’s integrity go back a decade. In between his stints as staff chief to the Florida House Speaker in 1999 and 2000, MacNamara secretly worked out a lobbying gig to help persuade the state to reverse course and permit a cement plant on the scenic Ichetucknee River. More than two years later, the Commission on Ethics cleared him after another lobbyist and MacNamara ally changed his story.

Once on Scott’s team, MacNamara the insider got to work.

MacNamara walled off the governor from others, played agency heads against each other, hired loyalists at six-figure salaries (paying them more than women in the same jobs), forced out his rivals and helped out his buddies, according to a Herald/Times story published Sunday. ...

The Florida Democratic Party couldn’t have picked a better chief of staff for Scott.

"Accusing lawyers of pandering to the court"

The Sarasota Herald Tribune editors: "Three justices will be up for merit retention in the November general election; two of them face some organized opposition. The opponents also criticized the Florida Bar for its public-awareness campaign, accusing lawyers of pandering to the court." "Editorial: Judging on merit".

"Republicans entering Florida with distinct disadvantage with the Hispanic community"

"The presidential race could come down to this: "

To win in November, President Barack Obama or Mitt Romney needs the biggest swing state: Florida. For that, either man needs Florida's critical swing area: the I-4 corridor. For that, he needs the corridor's swing counties: Orange and Osceola. For that, he needs the emerging Hispanic base.

Exit polls showed that Obama won 57 percent of Florida's Hispanic vote in 2008 and 67 percent in the I-4 corridor, said Florida International University political scientist Dario V. Moreno.

He narrows down this year's race even further than just the I-4 corridor, to voters within Florida's 9th Congressional District, which covers much of the Puerto Rican-heavy areas of south Orange, and all of Osceola. YaYa's is in that district.

"I think it's going to be one of the 'ground zeros' of this presidential election," Moreno said.

Since the 2008 election, he said, Republicans may have put themselves into an even deeper hole, through several partisan battles, most notably over the appointment of Sonia Sotomayor, the first Puerto Rican U.S. Supreme Court justice; strong state enforcement laws against illegal immigration in Arizona and Alabama; and the DREAM Act — Obama's proposal to create a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants.

A Jan. 24 Univision/ABC poll of 517 Hispanic voters in Florida showed 70 percent were more likely to support someone who supported the DREAM Act. Only 45 percent expressed confidence that Democrats could improve the economy, yet an even smaller percentage, 38 percent, expressed confidence in Republicans.

"I think the Republicans are entering Florida with a real, distinct disadvantage with the Hispanic community," Moreno said.

"LeMieux insists that he's feeling the love"

"Republican U.S. Senate candidate George LeMieux insists that he's feeling the love on the campaign trail — despite public-opinion polls and campaign fund-raising that suggest otherwise." "LeMieux struggles in Senate race against Mack — but won't give up".

Surely firefighter pensions are to blame for this

The Miami Herald editorial board: "When does cost-cutting become self-defeating, generating more loss than gain? The answer may well be found in the title of Broward County Independent Auditor Evan Lukic’s interim-report memo to county commissioners: Lack of Fundamental Control over County Disbursements."

Mr. Lukic found that there is such weak oversight over the county’s payment system that he didn’t even wait to complete the audit, instead going straight to the commission a month ago. The situation wasn’t discussed in public, however, until the commission met on Tuesday. Mr. Lukic says that he told commissioners a month ago that, “this has to be remedied quickly, because basically you have little or no control right now.”

What that lack of control means is that the county has paid out an unknown amount of money without proper documentation. Although Mr. Lukic thinks most bills were paid accurately, the situation is serious enough that in his memo, he used alarm-bell phrases such as “absence of management oversight” and “failure to adhere to established policy and procedures” and “duplicate and erroneous payments.”

The problem stems, apparently, from the deep cuts in staff brought on in recent years by the drop in revenue during and after the Great Recession. When the number of employees in the county’s finance and administrative services department were reduced over the past several years, the remaining staff sometimes took shortcuts. Or there simply weren’t enough administrators left to provide adequate oversight. Or a staffer took a supervisor on his or her word, not on the hard numbers. Corners were cut, period. And that meant that checks were written without the paper trail to justify them.

"Mostly True"

From the very generous Politifact: "Scott's claim that 230,000 fewer people are receiving unemployment benefits than when he entered office is pretty close to the actual drop (216,684)."

But the figure is not completely an indicator that the economy is improving, as Scott suggests, and is somewhat the result of a strict new state law. Also, the trend of jobless claims started falling in mid 2009, more than a year before Scott took office. That undercuts, to a point, the suggestion Scott should get the credit.

Scott's statement is accurate but can use some additional information. That's our definition of Mostly True.

Scammers

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board: "The IRS will test a new program in Florida to make it easier for local law enforcement to prosecute income tax fraud. But the IRS cannot let another tax season go by without putting better locks on the federal Treasury and aggressively going after those who try to pick them." "IRS losing fight to scammers".

Next chapter in U.S. space exploration begins

"The next chapter in U.S. space exploration should begin in about a week when a California company becomes the first private firm to send a rocket to the International Space Station." "Florida’s new Space Coast prepares to launch".

Florida Political News: May 6, 2012

by: Florida Politics

Sun May 06, 2012 at 12:38:36 PM EDT

"Scott's approval numbers continue to scrape bottom"

"Despite six weeks of upbeat television ads and a wholesale image makeover, Republican Gov. Rick Scott continues to draw lousy ratings from Floridians, a position Democrats are eager to exploit in the nation's biggest presidential toss up state."

The Republican Party of Florida has paid almost $1 million since March for a TV campaign, promoting the governor's push for $1 billion more for public schools and helping state unemployment fall to a three-year low behind what the ads label Scott's "pro-business initiatives."

But even with the PR offensive, Scott's approval numbers continue to scrape bottom.

Two separate polls late last month showed 54 percent of Floridians dislike what he's done.

"It's clear that the Republican Party sees Rick Scott as a drag on the ticket and is doing everything it can to try to prop him up," said Brannon Jordan, a Florida Democratic Party spokeswoman.

But Republican activists dismiss talk that the governor's poor support among Floridians will hurt the party's political brand in the state. They point out that Scott polls strongly among Republican voters.

A new Rasmussen Reports survey showed 72 percent of Florida Republicans approve of Scott's work, despite his mediocre 43 percent backing from overall voters.

In the presidential contest, Florida Democrats hope to capitalize on their party's almost 500,000-­registered-voter advantage in helping Obama again carry the state. Republican activists, though, say Scott can help counter that by pushing supporters to the polls.

"Aura of 2008"

"Obama kicks off campaign with rallies trying to recapture aura of 2008".

Old man

Randy Schultz: "Gov. Scott may be a contemporary regulation-hater, but when it comes to Cuba, gasoline still sells for about 30 cents a gallon, and The Beatles still are playing Hamburg, West Germany."

Last week, the governor traveled to Miami to sign a bill that supposedly prevents the state or any local government from doing business with a company that does at least $1 million worth of business with Syria or Cuba. Forget that the governor signed House Bill 959 before a delegation that included Syrians. This bill is all about Cuba.

To Gov. Scott, every regulation is a weed to be pulled from the lawn of business. Yet the governor signed a bill that could kill Florida jobs. It is a sop to Cuban exiles and their patrons who have frozen U.S. policy toward the island for 53 years.

The sponsor of HB 559 was Rep. Frank Artiles, R-Miami, whose parents are Cuban exiles. Adding Syria was clever. It probably brought along any reluctant Democrats, many of whom are Jewish and didn't want to vote against legislation that seeks to punish an enemy of Israel.

In 1962, three years after Fidel Castro overthrew Fulgencio Batista [a murdering, torturing dictator if there ever was one], the United States imposed a trade embargo on Cuba, intended to push out the dictator we couldn't dislodge in the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion the year before. Forty-six years later, an ailing Castro turned over power to his brother, Raul. ...

Florida's Hispanics are no longer just Cuban exiles in Miami. Gov. Scott, though, indulged them, like all powerful Florida politicians before him. The exiles, Cuba's monied class, resettled, learned the language and moved back up from working-class jobs. Their descendants keep the failed policy in place. The father of Miami Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart was speaker of the Cuban parliament under Batista. Former Florida Supreme Court Justice Raoul Cantero is Batista's grandson.

To appreciate how incendiary Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen's pro-Castro comments were, the Marlins' stadium displaced the Orange Bowl. In the Orange Bowl on Dec. 29, 1962, President Kennedy held up the flag of Brigade 2506, the Bay of Pigs unit, and proclaimed that the flag "will be returned to this brigade in a free Cuba."

Under Batista, though, Cuba was far from free. During a second stint as president, from his coup in 1952 to his exile in 1959, Batista used repression and terror, closed universities, restricted the press, held two elections that were free in name only, skimmed a fortune from the American mobsters whom he gave free rein and ignored the poor. There was a reason peasants were trading Castro's rebels a gallon of gasoline for a gallon of milk.

Castro, of course, became his own dictator. Cuba boasts of having a literacy rate equal to ours and an infant mortality rate that is lower, but the gulags, political killings and stripping of freedoms that Americans take for granted is not a fair exchange.

Still, HB 959 wrongly equates Cuba with Syria as sponsors of terrorism. So does the State Department, though 14 years ago U.S. intelligence analysts concluded that Cuba posed no threat to American security. ...

It is in Florida's interest to stop pretending that it's 1962.

Mitt moves to Tampa

"Mitt Romney's general election campaign is starting to take shape in Florida."

The campaign is close to leasing space in Tampa for its Florida headquarters — not far from the Barack Obama campaign's state headquarters — and the Florida primary band is getting back together.

Molly Donlin is state director, having led the Florida primary campaign, as well as successful primary campaigns in Ohio, Illinois and Wisconsin. The pride of Xavier University was RNC victory director in Michigan in 2010, field director for the Rudy Giuliani campaign in Florida in 2008 and worked on George W. Bush's Ohio campaign in 2004.

Mini-Mack "flummoxed"

"U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, front-runner for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination, is not keen on questions that veer from his prepared script. A few weeks ago, he appeared on MSNBC and was flummoxed when Chuck Todd tried to get his position on extending low interest rates on student loans." "Mack sticks to script".

Meanwhile, "Mack pounced on a statement by GOP Senate primary opponent George LeMieux that he would have voted for the Restore Act, differing with U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, who voted against it. The issue is complex and ironic, considering that Rubio initially was a sponsor of the Restore Act, intended to make sure that most of the fines paid by BP for the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster go to restoration of Gulf waters." "Mack rips LeMieux for Restore stance".

Wingnuts want it all

"Challengers to the federal health care act have accused the federal government of placing a loaded gun to their heads. They have waved the rattlesnake flag bearing the words Don't Tread on Me, popularized during the Revolutionary War, just below the U.S. Supreme Court steps. And some, including Florida Gov. Rick Scott, have refused to comply with what they say is an unprecedented overreach by the federal government."

The incendiary language, the split-off of 26 states legally challenging the law, and the outright rebellion of some top state officials have drawn parallels to the Civil War. In fact, the struggle encapsulated by the Affordable Care Act harks back to the founding of the republic and the central question considered by its founders: Should power lie in the hands of the federal government or with the states? ...

States opposing the law have accused the federal government of "coercion" because they risk losing all of their Medicaid funding if they do not agree to add thousands of Americans to their rolls.

Or as South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson put it: "States are having a loaded gun put to their heads by the federal government - forcing them to choose between their fiscal and physical health."

If the Court does declare the act unconstitutional, it would have ruled that Congress lacks the power to adopt what it thought the most effective, efficient, fair, and politically workable remedy—not because that national remedy would violate anyone’s rights, or limit anyone’s liberty in ways a state government could not, or be otherwise unfair, but for the sole reason that in the Court’s opinion our constitution is a strict and arbitrary document that denies our national legislature the power to enact the only politically possible national program. If that opinion were right, we would have to accept that our eighteenth- century constitution is not the enduring marvel of statesmanship we suppose but an anachronistic, crippling burden we cannot escape, a straitjacket that makes it impossible for us to achieve a just national society.

The crucial constitutional challenge is to one central provision of the act. The act provides, among other benefits, health care insurance for the 16 percent of citizens who now lack it, and it forbids insurance companies to deny coverage or charge higher premiums to those who have a preexisting illness or risk. These obviously just benefits cannot be provided, however, unless all citizens—the young and healthy as well as the elderly and already sick—join the insurance pool. If only those likely to need treatment seek insurance, the insurance companies would have to charge astronomical premiums that most of those needing coverage could not afford. The premise of all social insurance plans, including the Social Security program, is that inescapable risks should be shared across a political community between those more and those less at risk. The act follows this principle; it provides that with few exceptions Americans who are not insured by their employers or by other government programs must purchase insurance themselves or, if they do not, pay what the act calls a “penalty” on their tax return amounting to the greater of $695 or 2.5 percent of their income. There is no other sanction for a failure to buy.

It is this so-called “mandate” that the plaintiffs in this case—twenty-six states, a group of businesses, and some private citizens—challenge as unconstitutional. They say that although the Constitution gives Congress the power to limit or forbid commercial activity that has a significant impact on the national economy, it denies Congress power to require commercial activity, like buying health insurance, even when that activity is crucial to the national economy. That distinction between negative and positive regulation—between dictating the terms of insurance and requiring people to buy insurance—is the heart of the constitutional challenge. It was treated as potentially decisive by all the conservative justices who spoke—Justice Kennedy, for instance, asked whether the mandate doesn’t “create” commerce rather than regulate it. Why is that difference between restricting and requiring activity so important?

We cannot ignore the political dimensions of this case. The Republican Party and the candidates for its presidential nomination relentlessly denounce the act, perhaps largely because it was one of President Obama’s main domestic achievements during his first term. They hope that the conservative justices will declare the act unconstitutional; they think that will help them defeat the president in November. But the act is plainly constitutional and it will be shaming if, as so many commentators now expect, those justices do what Obama’s enemies hope they will.

Our recent history is marred by a number of very badly reasoned Supreme Court decisions that, deliberately or not, had a distinct partisan flavor: Citizens United, for example, which, most critics agree, has already had a profound and destructive impact on our democratic process. These decisions soiled the Supreme Court’s reputation and they harmed the nation. We must hope, though perhaps against the evidence, that the Court will not now add to that unfortunate list.

Fla-baggers frustrated as lobbyist pulls Scott's strings

"Steve MacNamara has officially become Tallahassee's Wizard of Oz."

The lawyer-lobbyist turned university professor is the brass-knuckles gatekeeper and omnipotent adviser to Gov. Rick Scott.

Since becoming the governor's chief of staff last July, MacNamara has controlled access to the governor and his schedule, assumed authority over appointments and dictated press releases and policy memos. He has directed the governor's message and reached into the bowels of agencies to remove people he doesn't like and install favorites.

His critics call him Florida's "shadow governor," noting that agency contracts have been redirected, gambling allowed to expand, and a policy to privatize state prisons, which Scott didn't focus on during his campaign, has become an administration priority.

"I voted for the outsider and he has hired the consummate insider and he is acting like an insider now,'' said Henry Kelley of the Fort Walton Beach Tea Party. "It's very disappointing."

MacNamara's first orchestrated ouster came with the removal of Department of Corrections Chief Ed Buss. The prisons chief had been lured to Florida from Indiana but, once here, became a vocal critic of a Senate-led effort to privatize 30 South Florida prisons.

The idea was an important one to MacNamara whose close friend, Jim Eaton, is the lead lobbyist for the Geo Group, one of the nation's largest private prison companies which stands to make billions in state business if they win the privatization contracts.

'Glades

"Negotiators are on the verge of a major agreement that would commit Florida to $890 million more for Everglades cleanup." "Settlement close in Glades cleanup suits".

Rubio "trying to rebrand himself"

Andres Oppenheimer: "Sen. Marco Rubio, the 40-year-old rising star of the Republican Party and among top contenders to be Gov. Mitt Romney’s running mate, is trying to rebrand himself from a right-wing Cuban-American politician to a center-right Hispanic one." "New Marco Rubio faces key test".

Fla-GOP's "advantage is the smallest it's been in a decade"

Aaron Deslatte: "Now that the major court challenges to new political districts seem to have ended, politicos can return to their regular campaign-season summer jobs of pleading for checks, promoting themselves and trashing their opponents. But for voters curious whether the 2010 Fair Districts constitutional standards made a difference, the unequivocal answer is — look around."

It's true that the House, Senate and congressional maps all still favor Republicans in a state with a half-million more Democrats — and GOP leaders did manage to protect a few of their friends.

But the advantage is the smallest it's been in a decade, and the ripples from Fair Districts will run all the way to the ballot boxes this fall.

"Modernizing the state's antiquated tax system"

Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy: "The deadline for filing federal income tax returns serves as a reminder of a distinction Florida shares with only six other states: imposing no state personal income tax."

The absence of the tax is appreciated by most Floridians. But it has consequences on Florida's tax structure, affecting who pays for public services and whether the revenue generated by the tax system is adequate to meet state needs.

In summary, Florida is a low-tax state, rated the second-worst in the nation, inadequate to meet the need for public services, and worsened by subsidies and tax breaks to large, profitable corporations. It would be made even worse by elimination of the corporate income tax.

Keeping that tax and modernizing the state's antiquated tax system would best serve Florida.

"'Depopulating' Citizens"

The Miami Herald editorial board: "'Depopulating' Citizens requires careful approach" "Florida’s risky business".

Scott's "way or the highway"

Thomas Tryon: "Rick Scott is driving home this message to trustees of colleges and other board members appointed by the governor: It's my way or the highway."

Dissent and independent thinking -- even in their mildest and most respectable forms -- apparently are considered conduct unbecoming board members appointed by Gov. Scott.

"Pretty, pretty please nominate Marco Rubio"

"Maybe they're whistling past the graveyard, but Florida Democrats say they're not worried about Rubio as Mitt Romney's running mate in the presidential race. A memo from a state Democratic Party official says, 'pretty, pretty please nominate Marco Rubio.'

"In the midst of Veepstakes, Rubio has hit a few speed bumps as questions about whether he is too risky to be on the ticket hit a fever pitch," said Scott Arceneaux, executive director of the Florida Democratic Party.

The memo reflects the second thoughts being voiced by some conservative commentators as well as Democrats about the "Rubio fever" in the running mate race. It lists eight reasons Arceneaux thinks Rubio won't help Romney.

- "Rubio provides Romney no cover in the Sunshine State." True, one poll showed Romney performed no better in Florida with Rubio on the ticket, but that's just one poll — and it didn't measure whether Rubio would create excitement among the Florida GOP base.

- "GOP still have a Hispanic problem." True, but a Hispanic name on the ballot wouldn't hurt.

- "Bio flap still looms large." By misstating when his family came here from Cuba, Rubio appears to have sought to associate them with anti-Castro, anti-communist refugees, when in fact they came here among the economic refugees from the pre-Castro, Fulgencio Batista era. But anti-Castro Cubans still love him, and does it matter to anyone who isn't Cuban?

- "No love from the ladies." Rubio voted against re-authorizing the Violence Against Women Act and favored the Blunt Amendment allowing employers to decline to offer health insurance that covers birth control. That won't help Romney close his gender gap.

"Bumper stickers at the Feather Sound Country Club offered the first clue"

Tim Nickens: "Bumper stickers on the cars and pickups outside the Feather Sound Country Club offered the first clue about the group inside."

Ron Paul for president. Support state Rep. Larry Ahern and Pinellas County Commissioner Nancy Bostock, two of the county's most conservative Republican officeholders. "Fluoride: There is poison in the tap water." Pro oil drilling and anti-Obama.

Inside, Barbara Haselden from the South Pinellas 912 Patriots tea party group stood before an audience of about 60 last Sunday and opened the meeting about light rail. The St. Petersburg insurance company executive said elected officials from throughout Pinellas had been invited, but the only familiar faces I saw were county Commissioners Neil Brickfield and Norm Roche, who are also on the board of the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority. They are no fans of building light rail in Pinellas. They also are half of the Fluoride Four — the county commissioners who voted last year to ignore science and public health and remove fluoride from the county's drinking water.

It would be easy to write off 60 folks listening to rail opponents on a Sunday afternoon more than a year from any referendum. That would be a mistake.

These are the dedicated voters who elected conservatives in 2010 such as Roche to the County Commission and Ahern and Rep. Jeff Brandes to the Legislature. The St. Petersburg Republican lawmakers opposed legislation that would have required the PSTA property tax to be repealed if the voters approve the sales tax increase and the money is used for the project.

These are also the voters and legislators who persuaded Gov. Rick Scott to veto the bill. And Scott relies on voices like O'Toole and the Cato Institute to justify killing high-speed rail and growth management.

Second, the rail opponents are poisoning the Pinellas light rail debate before it starts. Haselden said her group has met with hundreds of businesses along the proposed rail route. A website and yard signs opposing the plan are already up.

Those who believe mass transit and smart growth are essential for Pinellas' future better start moving. Otherwise, this train could run off the tracks pretty fast.

Florida Political News: May 5, 2012

by: Florida Politics

Sat May 05, 2012 at 09:32:29 AM EDT

Romney's weakness among Hispanic voters "spells doom"

Adam C. Smith: "At a private fundraising reception in Palm Beach recently, Mitt Romney was overheard acknowledging his weakness among Hispanic voters."

If it's not turned around, he said, "It spells doom for us."

Take a look at the electoral map, and you'll see why.

President Barack Obama starts the general election with a sizable electoral vote lead over Romney, looking strong in states totaling 247, while Romney has a strong edge in states totaling 191. It takes 270 to win.

And if Romney can't narrow Obama's considerable lead among Latino voters, key battlegrounds including Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado and Florida could be out of reach for the Republican nominee. Even reliably Republican Arizona could wind up in play, and Obama already has five campaign offices there. ...

An April Pew Research Center poll found the president leading Romney among Hispanics 67 percent to 27 percent. That's similar to the 67 percent to 31 percent margin among Hispanic voters that helped Obama handily beat John McCain four years ago.

Romney is coming off a bruising Republican primary where, except in Florida, he did little outreach to Hispanics.

While polls show immigration is not a top issue for Hispanic voters, the former Massachusetts governor did not help himself by positioning as the toughest candidate on illegal immigration and undocumented residents.

He called Arizona's immigration law a national model, and said he would veto a "Dream Act" that provides a pathway to citizenship for children of illegal immigrants if they serve in the military or go to college. He advocates "self-deportation" — essentially making life so difficult for undocumented residents that they see little option except to leave the country.

"We don't have any evidence that [Rubio] would provide any significant boost to Romney if he were on the ticket," said Matt Barreto of Latino Decisions, which in January conducted a widely cited poll of Hispanic voters for Univision and other media outlets.

He noted the survey found Rubio did best in Florida with first- and second-generation Cuban-Americans, but was less popular with Hispanic voters with roots in Puerto Rico, Colombia and Mexico. Voters of Mexican descent are critical because they represent a significant majority of U.S. Hispanic voters.

"He's not going to be the type of candidate who can go out and resonate with the Mexican-American audiences in the Southwest," Barreto said.

They looked at how well a Romney-Rubio ticket would do in Florida, how Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval did with Romney on the ticket in Nevada, and what the outcome would be if they paired Gov. Susana Martinez of New Mexico with Romney. It had negligible effect, Hanauer said. "Hispanic voters are still going to overwhelmingly vote for President Obama," she said. ...

The Florida Democratic Party has been salivating over the possibility of such a high-profile target as Rubio, releasing daily rundowns of media reports about the Florida senator. They include rehashing Rubio's personal use of the Republican Party of Florida's credit card, campaign finance irregularities, and his friendship with U.S. Rep. Florida David Rivera, R-Fla.

Enjoy "Burger King's Springs"

"SB 268, allowing sponsorships of state trails, faced opposition from outdoor enthusiasts who said it would allow the corporate naming of trails and advertising in natural areas. A compromise eliminated the naming and advertising along trails and allowed sponsorship of only seven trails. But the Florida Trail Association requested a veto after the bill was amended on the Senate floor to allow sponsorships on any trails with approval by state park officials. 'The Florida Trail Association does not support this bill as it will promote commercial sponsorship signs at trails where the public goes to enjoy wilderness settings and natural landscape without the intrusion of commercialization,' the group said in a April 25 letter to Scott." "Governor signs bills to streamline environmental permitting, allow sponsorship of trails".

Changes to personal-injury-protection (PIP)

"Scott on Friday signed into law massive changes to the state's auto-insurance laws that he and lawmakers say will stamp out fraud and reduce the cost to motorists of no-fault insurance, which pays medical expenses in an accident regardless of fault. ... The resulting changes to personal-injury-protection (PIP) insurance range from limiting how quickly an injured person must seek treatment to creating an organization to fight insurance fraud." "How will sweeping overhaul of Florida's auto-insurance laws affect you?" See also "Gov. Scott signs PIP fraud bill", "Bill Signed to Put Brakes on No-Fault Insurance Costs" and "Gov. Rick Scott signs law to cut down on no-fault car insurance fraud".

Stand your stoopid

The Palm Beach Post editors: "State Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, sponsored the 'stand your ground' law in 2005. Lobbyists for the National Rifle Association wrote it. Any change, Rep. Baxley said, 'leaves the innocent in danger.' In fact, he and other supporters presented no documentation seven years ago that anyone who had legitimately used deadly force in self-defense had been wrongly charged, let alone prosecuted. Yet self-defense cases have doubled. If there is no clear and convincing evidence that Florida needs this law, the panel should recommend that the Legislature weaken or repeal it." "A double-barreled standard".

But school rankings are OK?

"Florida election supervisors voiced relief Friday after Gov. Rick Scott bowed to their request not to publish online the results of a rating survey elections officials said was badly flawed."

Scott had directed the Department of State to rate all 67 election supervisors in eight areas based on their work in the Jan. 31 presidential preference primary. The supervisors, all elected and many of whom are, like Scott, Republican, were aghast, saying the criteria bore little resemblance to the real work they do.

Scott aides and Secretary of State Ken Detzner decided to pull the plug on the controversial venture at a Wednesday meeting in the governor's office.

"Not every act coming out of the Legislature was a bone-headed one"

The Miami Herald editorial board points out that "not every act coming out of the Legislature was a bone-headed one — even though it might have seemed that way."

But while lawmakers were creating an unneeded 12th public university, cutting $300 million from the rest of the public-university system, shifting Medicaid costs to the counties, forcing welfare applicants to take drug tests and letting us dye our poodles hot pink, they managed to maintain funding for an effective program for seniors. Next time, they should work to expand it.

Running higher ed like a bidness

"The Blue Ribbon Task Force on State Higher Education Reform will focus its attention on the State University System’s governance model, mainly the interaction between the Board of Governors and individual universities. Final recommendations are due October 31. The chair, Dr. Dale A. Brill [president of the Florida Chamber Foundation], will be joined by six members, two selected by Senate President Mike Haridopolos and Senate President Designate Don Gaetz, two selected by House Speaker Dean Cannon and Speaker Designate Will Weatherford and two selected by the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors, Dean Colson and Mori Hosseini." "Scott signs Florida no-fault fraud legislation". See also "Scott creates panel to look at changes to state universities", "Gov. Scott panel to recommend university changes" and "Rick Scott Assigns Blue Ribbon Task Force to Reform Florida's Colleges and Universities".

Weekly Roundup

"Weekly Roundup: Maps, Hazing, Stand Your Ground".

"It makes Florida look like a bumpkin state"

Joe Henderson asks "You want to loosen the restrictions on Cuba?"

Be prepared for charges you're supporting a ruthless dictator. You say continuing economic sanctions that have been in place more than 50 years is a good idea? You are piling misery on the island's neediest people, of which there are many.

[Henderson] asked a couple of people on opposite sides of this emotional and complex issue how they felt about it. Norma Camero Reno, from Temple Terrace, is a lawyer specializing in international law. Al Fox grew up in Ybor City, has made 82 visits to Cuba and has argued for years that we have to open up trade and travel there.

Release the hounds.

"I agree with (Scott) totally," Reno said. "Cuba has been our enemy forever. If there is something they can do to destroy this country, they will. If we stop the embargo, we have to accept all those Cubans who will be coming here.

"These people have been taught their entire lives the United States caused their problems. They think everything bad that has happened to them is because of us."

Fox said the backlash from the law will rally those who say it's time for a change.

"I can tell you that the governor of Florida did a good thing in signing that bill because he didn't have a clue what he was doing," Fox said. "He overplayed his hand. Anyone with a seventh-grade civics class understanding knows this law is a joke, and it makes Florida look like a bumpkin state."

Stop the madness

"Four years ago, former Miami City Attorney Jorge Fernandez pleaded no contest to charges he had misused his personal expense account — and resigned his post. Now, he’s teaching government and civics at a Coconut Grove charter school." "Former Miami attorney teaching civics at Coconut Grove charter school".

Campaign Roundup

"In the latest edition of the Campaign Roundup, some Northeast Florida candidates get major endorsements, a Democratic primary for a South Florida Senate seat heats up, candidates scramble to qualify by petition and a Central Florida lawmaker drops out." "Campaign Roundup: Early endorsements edition".

"Here’s a clue: She was elected with the help of Tea Party voters"

Fabiola Santiago writes that, given Republican freshman member of Congress Sandy Adams'

own experience with abuse, it’s tough to understand why Adams would deny the protections that have existed since 1994 for immigrant survivors of violence and abuse.

But here’s a clue: She was elected with the help of Tea Party voters, notable for blaming America’s problems on immigrants instead of looking inward.

Adams has said that her bill provides equal protection for everyone.

But that’s not true, says the Miami-based non-profit Americans for Immigrant Justice.

As Adams well knows, when it comes to domestic abuse, it’s not easy to rebuild without the help of others. The secrecy of a geographic location is crucial. So is compassion.

Vulnerable victims need Adams’ help, not the additional burdens and disenfranchisement she brings to the table with parts of this bill.

On the dole again

"The state has tapped former state Supreme Court Justice Raoul Cantero to defend last year's pension changes. ... The case was rushed to Supreme Court after Circuit Judge Jackie Fulford struck down the provisions requiring employees to contribute 3 percent of their salaries to their retirements. In a Tuesday court filing, T. Neal McAliley, one of Cantero's colleagues at the law firm White & Case, asked to extend the deadline for filing the first round of briefs, in part because 'the undersigned counsel was hired today to represent Appellants in this matter.'" "Arrivals and Departures".

"A cliched complaint from conservatives"

The Orlando Sentinel editorial board: "Three Florida Supreme Court justices already had been targeted for defeat by conservative activists before they recently handed their opponents some ammunition. Justices Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente and Peggy Quince, up for retention in November's election, got help from court staff in a last-minute scramble to beat the deadline for filing the necessary paperwork. State Rep. Scott Plakon, a Longwood Republican, pounced, asking Gov. Rick Scott for an investigation."

The group leading this year's charge to unseat the three justices, Restore Justice 2012, has accused them of "activism," a cliched complaint from conservatives who object to opinions they consider liberal. The group is spotlighting the three justices' votes to strike from the 2010 ballot a proposed constitutional amendment, sponsored by Plakon, that purported to let Floridians opt out of federal health care reform, including its mandate to buy health insurance.

By a 5-2 vote, the high court upheld a lower court ruling that found the amendment confusing and misleading. Even so, the vote outraged amendment backers.

But bouncing the three justices from the high court as payback for that ruling or others would be an abuse of the retention process. Worse, it could make others still on the bench wary or even unwilling to issue controversial or unpopular rulings for fear of losing their jobs.

"Governor chose to inflame and grandstand"

The Tampa Tribune editorial board: "It's unfortunate, but hardly a disaster, that Gov. Rick Scott did not honor Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn's request to ban guns downtown during the Republican National Convention."

Rather than acknowledge the challenges of protecting the public during a historic national event, the governor chose to inflame and grandstand.

MacNamara buddy feasts on no-bid contract

"Gov. Rick Scott's chief of staff helped steer a no-bid consulting contract worth $360,000 to a friend who now leads a task force rooting out state government waste."

Steve MacNamara was still working for the Florida Senate when he recommended Sarasota business consultant Abraham Uccello for the contract to streamline the Legislature's computer systems.

Their connection remains strong: Uccello said he sometimes stays at MacNamara's house when visiting Tallahassee. After Uccello was tapped by Scott to lead the government efficiency task force, MacNamara let Uccello get a government security badge that gives him access to the governor's office.

Uccello's company, Harvester Consulting, was hired when MacNamara was then chief of staff for Senate President Mike Haridopolos. State corporation records show that Harvester Consulting was formed the month before the contract was awarded.

In an email, MacNamara said Uccello was highly qualified and said that the contract was not required to be put out to bid.

"Cobwebs from a previous campaign"

"Miami-Dade State Attorney candidate Rod Vereen debuted his stump speech last week — but had to shake off some cobwebs from a previous campaign." "Miami-Dade state attorney hopeful slips in campaign kickoff".

"Scott, the Legislature and the PSC have failed to lift a finger"

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board: "Businesses that make big mistakes and force their customers to pay for them can expect a smarter competitor to take away their customers. But Progress Energy is a regulated monopoly, and it announced last week it expects customers to pay to expand a broken nuclear plant and to continue to finance a proposed nuclear plant that may never be built. Yet Gov. Rick Scott, the Florida Legislature and the Public Service Commission have failed to lift a finger to stop this fleecing of the ratepayers." "Stop the fleecing of Progress Energy customers".

But Ricky and Pammy said ...

The Sarasota-Herald Tribune editorial board: "Opponents of the federal Affordable Care Act -- which they ridicule as "Obamacare" -- have warned from the beginning that the law would encourage employers to drop their employee insurance plans."

The critics' rationale was that employers would find it cheaper to pay fines, to be imposed by the ACA starting in 2014, than to provide insurance for their workers.

But opponents needn't worry: A recent report shows that employees lost work-related coverage with no "help" from the ACA. The report found that from 1997 to 2010 -- the year the initial provisions of the ACA took effect -- the percentage of U.S. workers covered by employer health insurance plans fell from 60.3 percent to 56.5 percent.

The ones who should be worried, if the trend continues, are just about everyone else, including:

• Workers for whom employer-provided coverage is increasingly harder to find and increasingly expensive.

• Hospitals and health-care facilities required to treat patients regardless of their ability to pay.

• Citizens and insurance policyholders who pay -- through taxes and higher premiums -- the rising costs of treating the uninsured. So far, 50 million Americans (one-sixth of the U.S. population) lack insurance, but number is sure to rise before 2014.

That's a relief

"Thousands of state's unemployed facing cutoff of benefits".

"Project Sunburst"

The Tampa Bay Times editors: "Scott has taken a significant step forward for government-in-the-sunshine. The governor's unprecedented effort to make his email and the emails of his top staff easily and readily accessible on the Internet reflects the spirit of Florida's public records laws, and other public officials should follow his example." "Scott brings more sunshine into government workings". See also "Rick Scott praised for making emails public" and "Sunburst Offers Public Access to Governor's Email".

Mini-Mack holds a press conference

"Connie Mack Calls for Keystone Pipeline As New Rerouted Application Filed".

Our tax dollars at work

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "Scott's executive order permitting random testing of all state workers - which he suspended last year but signed into law again this year after the Legislature passed a similar bill - was part of a push that included a shortsighted move to screen welfare applicants. Both moves have proved manifestly unnecessary and constitutionally questionable. Both seemed designed more to fire up the Republican base than to address a policy dilemma."

In striking down the governor's drug-testing policy for 85,000 state employees, U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro correctly said Gov. Scott failed to establish sufficient need for the testing. Under Supreme Court precedents, a government agency must show that its drug-testing policy is tailored to address a specific and serious problem, one that is urgent enough to justify the "intrusion on the individual's Fourth Amendment interests." Thus, drug tests have been upheld for train operators, public school students and U.S. Customs agents who handle seized narcotics.

As for Florida's wrongheaded policy, the judge found the drug-testing plan overly broad and underwhelmingly urgent. She wrote that Gov. Scott "shows no evidence of a drug-use problem at the covered agencies." She scoffed at the argument that the prevalence of drug-testing by private firms, which are not bound by this constitutional concern, was sufficient to negate a state employee's reasonable expectation of privacy.

Florida's move to implement mandatory drug tests for welfare recipients also seems doomed. Last year, a federal judge ordered those tests suspended while a legal challenge to their constitutionality moves forward. In halting the tests, a federal judge called the law "likely to be deemed a constitutional infringement."

Deltona

"Former Deltona Mayor Dennis Mulder is dropping plans to run for the Volusia County Council and instead turn his sights to a newly drawn seat in the Florida House that has Deltona at its heart." "Deltona's Mulder to run for new state House seat".

Fla-baggers run wild in Jax

"Gov. Scott to GOP activists: Unite behind Romney".

Entrepreneurs in action

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board: "The Justice Department needs to aggressively pursue the case. Nailing down who knew what and when could factor into whether BP pays a premium for gross negligence on its per-barrel Clean Water Act fines. It also would shed light on the risks of continuing to rely heavily on the oil companies to police themselves." "Getting to bottom of BP spill".

Florida Political News: May 4, 2012

by: Florida Politics

Fri May 04, 2012 at 13:02:29 PM EDT

Our digest of, and commentary on today's Florida political news and punditry follows.

"A feckless and unenforceable political bone"

Florida Political News: May 3, 2012

by: Florida Politics

Thu May 03, 2012 at 09:49:01 AM EDT

Q Poll: Romney Bounces Back In Florida

Today's Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll: "May 3, 2012 - Romney Bounces Back In Two Of Three Key States, Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll Finds; Obama Widens Lead In Pennsylvania; Ohio, Florida Tied"

"Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney could be headed for a photo finish in Florida this November, a poll released Thursday shows."

Forty-four percent of 1,169 Florida voters surveyed by Quinnipiac University between April 25 and May 1 said they'd vote for Romney if the election were now, compared to 43 percent who said they prefer the president. The latest snapshot of voter preferences has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points. The new figures were an improvement for Romney, who trailed Obama by 7 percentage points among Florida voters in late March.

The Connecticut-based polling institute also showed Obama and Romney within the margin of error in Ohio while the president was favored by 47 percent to 39 percent among Pennsylvania voters.

No one has won the presidency since 1960 without carrying two of the three key swing states. ...

The new survey shows the sluggish economy working in Romney's favor at the moment with voters in the Sunshine State. Nearly half, 49 percent, said they believed Romney would do a better job handing the economy while 40 percent said Obama would do better.

And while Obama appears to have strong support among women voters nationally, Quinnipiac's survey showed it much tighter in Florida where the female preferences were almost evenly split.

Roughly two-thirds of the respondents in all three states believe the economy is in a recession although at least 51 percent in each of the states felt a recovery was underway.

The poll showed Florida voters also support repeal of the 2010 health care reform legislation supported by Obama by a 51 to 38 percent margin and oppose the U.S. military's presence in Afghanistan by better than a two-to-one margin although they approved of Obama's handling of the situation and the pace that he has started to withdraw troops from the war-torn central Asian nation.

Scott unsigns his Cuba-crackdown bill "signing statement"

"Scott has started retreating from a controversial statement that a Cuba-crackdown bill he signed the day before was unenforceable."

In a written statement, Scott now acknowledges that the law will go into effect. And he reiterated his support for it — even though he thinks it might not survive a legal challenge.

"Constitutional lawyers have told me that this legislation will be challenged in court. I signed the bill regardless of that fact, and it will become a state law on July 1, 2012," he wrote. "As Governor, it is my sworn duty to uphold the laws of the state and I will meet any challenge to this law in court as necessary."

Scott’s move was a peace offering of sorts to Miami’s Cuban-American lawmakers, who were incensed Tuesday when he signed the bill into law at the Freedom Tower — only to issue a letter afterward that suggested the law is unconstitutional.

blindsided the members of Congress and the state Legislature — all Republicans — who were never told he would espouse that position. They said the state law was fine and that Scott’s letter potentially undermined it because it armed opponents with a potent legal argument if and when they sue.

"It’s unfortunate this very ill-conceived statement muddies the waters," U.S. Rep Mario Diaz-Balart said earlier Wednesday, before Scott’s latest statement came out.

And regardless of what Scott said in his signing statement, Diaz-Balart and others said, the law would go into effect anyway — an opinion Scott confirmed Wednesday. Still, the governor’s letter hurt almost as much as a veto.

But the throng of politicians eager to play up the crackdown law in an election year apparently did not tune into the radio shows. Instead, they saw the governor sign the bill, leave the Freedom Tower, and then blindside them with the fine-print signing statement. ...

Moments after the press conference, Scott issued the signing statement. And then came the anger.

Perplexed state lawmakers who backed the bill went on Spanish-language radio to question the governor’s letter. A frustrated Congressman David Rivera declared himself ready to take the governor to court. One blogger in Washington, D.C., referred to the governor as "slick Rick." Another wrote, in an open letter to Scott on a Miami blog, "You duped us."

On Wednesday, Garcia, the bill’s Senate sponsor, sent state Senate President Mike Haridopolos a letter asking him to "examine the constitutionality" of the governor’s signing statement.

[E]ven some high-profile Cuban-American Republicans, such as J. Antonio "Tony" Villamil, dean of Saint Thomas University’s School of Business and former U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce in the George W. Bush Administration, think that the new law is counter-productive.

Villamil, who also served as Florida director of economic development under former Republican Gov. Jeb Bush, did not mince words: he told me that the new law is "a black eye on Florida."

"First, this law is unconstitutional, because it violates the federal power to conduct foreign policy," he said. "Second, it violates World Trade Organization rules that say that you cannot discriminate against a foreign company, and create second-class companies."

"Third, it hurts Florida’s business climate," Villamil said. After all these "trade missions that Florida and the governor have taken around the world, including to Brazil, telling foreign companies that we welcome them in Florida, we are excluding them from meaningful state and local contracts."

"And it doesn’t do anything to help the freedom of Cuba," he said. "It allows Castro to have a propaganda point and say, 'Look how hostile Cuban exiles are against our country.'"

My opinion: The new Florida state law, if enacted, will boomerang on its sponsors for one additional reason. It would encourage other U.S. states to pass foreign policy and trade laws.

That would not only make U.S. foreign policy even more dependent on local constituencies that push for their own economic agendas ahead of the national interest, but would encourage many U.S. states to pass laws giving tax breaks or other special privileges to firms that have affiliated companies doing business in Cuba.

To score points with Cuba’s regime, Iowa, Kansas and other farm states that are eager to increase their already significant exports to Cuba would try to promote their business ties with companies doing business on the island. Cuba’s octogenarian military rulers would be the biggest winners

"You never know when a citizen might need a concealed handgun amid those pesky protesters"

Fred Grimm: "Don’t come messing around the Republican National Convention with an 'air rifle, air pistol, paintball rifle, explosive blasting cap, switchblade, hatchet, ax, slingshot, blackjack, metal knuckles, nunchakus, mace, iron buckle, ax handle, chain, crowbar, hammer, shovel or any club or bludgeon.'"

All this along with "any other instrumentality used or intended to be used to cause physical or personal damage."

Except, of course, for the most obvious instrument intended to cause physical or personal damage.

The city didn’t prohibit guns.

To update the old Florida promotional slogan, the rules are still different here. But safety during the convention is a serious issue, and political maneuvering by Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn and Gov. Rick Scott has trumped common sense.

Here's the lay of the land: The Secret Service will ban concealed weapons in the secure area it will control around the convention site, the Tampa Bay Times Forum, and nearby hotels. Outside that zone will be a larger downtown area controlled by the city, and the Tampa City Council will consider an ordinance today that would temporarily ban a number of potential weapons — from lumber to string. But state law prevents local governments from imposing any local restrictions on firearms. Buckhorn asked Scott to prohibit guns in that larger area, and the governor refused in a letter that could double as a testimonial for the National Rifle Association.

Concealed firearms legally carried by hundreds of thousands of Floridians? Pack 'em if you've got 'em.

"Water quality controversy"

"With the Legislature having waived approval of rules establishing new phosphorus and nitrogen limits, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection is holding workshops to review rules relating to mercury, dissolved oxygen and chemical exposure through fish consumption. Some environmentalists are concerned that DEP will make it easier to comply with pollution rules by simply changing the standards." "DEP moving into new areas of possible water quality controversy".

Lawmaker warns funding woes could 'erode' quality of state universities

"Florida's university system would 'erode'"

"Outgoing House Education Chairman Bill Proctor warned the Higher Education Coordinating Council on Wednesday that the quality of Florida's university system would "erode" if the state does not come up with a way to shore up its funding. Proctor was an architect of a bill recently vetoed by Gov. Rick Scott that would have allowed the state's top research universities to raise tuition to market levels." "Lawmaker warns funding woes could 'erode' quality of state universities".

Sid's stunt flops

"Palm Beach County's Republican Party, citing an April 15 report in The Palm Beach Post, has asked three agencies to open an investigation into what caused Circuit Judge Krista Marx to decide against running for state attorney. ... The Post's report described how supporters of Democratic state attorney candidate Dave Aronberg had warned Marx she could face ethics allegations and her husband could face a costly re-election fight if she pursued the job. She decided against running. ... Dinerstein said he sent the letter after a vote of the board of the county's Republican Party. Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Bondi also were asked to investigate but have not responded, Dinerstein said." "Probe sought into judge's decision not to run for state attorney".

'Yah got a problem with that?

"Progress Energy wants to nearly double monthly charges for nuclear projects".

"Largest single tranche bond offering"

"Citizens Property Insurance Corp. closed on $750 million in wind risk catastrophe bonds on Tuesday, the largest single tranche bond offering of that type to capital markets." "Citizens closes $750 million reinsurance bond, setting record".

"Mr. Rubio’s plan is creates a kind of permanent second-class status"

The Washington Post editorial board says its "better late than never": "Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), who is Cuban American and a possible running mate for Mitt Romney, has broached the outlines of what would be a Republican version of the Dream Act. It would extend legal status — but no clear path to citizenship, as Democrats have sought — to young illegal immigrants brought to America by their parents."

The details aren’t clear, but the danger in Mr. Rubio’s plan is creation of a kind of permanent second-class status. On the other hand, many young people might welcome a route out of the shadows, and the country would certainly benefit from their contributions.

So far, other Republicans are keeping their distance from Mr. Rubio’s proposal, and the most Mr. Romney has managed is a tepid we'll-think-about-it. Political calculation may push him further. Republican strategists worry that GOP bills designed to hound illegal immigrants in Arizona, Alabama and elsewhere are tilting Hispanics to President Obama in several Western swing states. Mr. Romney himself said as much the other day, fretting that the president’s support among Hispanic voters "spells doom for us."

If so, Mr. Romney has himself partly to blame, having hailed Arizona’s draconian law as a model for the nation, urged similar measures in the hope that undocumented immigrants will "self-deport" and opposed the Dream Act.

"Scott's decision to target the group is puzzling"

"Scott's decision to target the group is puzzling to some legislators because he insisted that the coalition be designated a recipient of state money when he submitted his first budget proposals in 2011. ... The coalition owes its special status largely to former Gov. Jeb Bush, who signed the 2003 law designating it as the sole recipient of state domestic violence money." "Gov. Rick Scott takes aim at domestic violence group salary".

Lobbyist-go-round

"Tallahassee lobbying firm Floridian Partners announced Tuesday that Teye Reeves is returning to the firm after working for Florida Chamber of Commerce through two legislative sessions." "Chamber lobbyist returns to Floridian Partners".

"Anti-freedom travel restrictions that bar most Americans from visiting Cuba"

Tom Lyons: "One reality rarely mentioned here in Florida is that Castro's heinous travel restrictions also helped limit a dicey U.S. problem:"

What to do about so many Cubans wanting to "flee Castro" and come to Florida for economic opportunities, especially with so many U.S. citizens already upset about Mexican immigrants arriving in droves for much the same reason, albeit without the public relations advantages inherent in "seeking freedom."

Even as is, we have the bizarre "wet-foot-dry-foot policy," which applies only to Cubans. It has long had our Coast Guard trying to intercept Cubans at sea to send them back to Cuba before they can set foot on dry U.S. sand, which would entitle them to stay and request permanent resident status.

So, what happens to that game if the doors really open and Cubans don't have to conspire, hire human smugglers or steal boats to get here?

I have no idea, and who knows if Cuba will really make major travel-policy changes that open the door widely and let Cubans come this way, and quite possibly stay, legally or not. I remain skeptical of all such news about alleged changes in Cuba.

If it does happen, I hope the U.S. will take the opportunity to ease our own equally anti-freedom travel restrictions that bar most Americans from visiting Cuba, a ban not imposed on Americans who wanted to visit the former Soviet Union or China.

Yet every U.S. president and presidential candidate seems terrified that promoting any such change will get them a reaction in South Florida like the one Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen got when he expressed heretical admiration of Castro's longevity in power.

And so, predicting that local ports could soon be offering cruises to Havana seems even shakier than forecasts of change in Cuba.

When is enough, enough?

"In the eyes of those who run companies, Florida is now the No. 2 best state in which to do business."

Tom Feeney, Associated Industries of Florida president and CEO, said the state has further to go in reforming personal injury protection auto insurance, even after this year’s successful legislation, and that the tort system remains “too attractive for trial lawyers to go after deep pockets.”

The state also has to continue to block federal efforts to usurp Florida’s status as a “right to work state.”

“The Obama administration is trying to undermine the advantages of open labor practices,” Feeney said. “Every day the National Labor Relations Board and Obama are trying to decrease advantages to business. The consequence there is that if Obama is successful, we will not lose jobs to Georgia and Texas, but all 50 states will lose jobs to Latin America and elsewhere.”

"'Roll your own' loophole"

"Florida loses $63M in tobacco tax with 'roll your own' loophole".

LeMieux grubs for wingnuts

Kevin Derby: "The two leading Republicans looking to take on incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in November -- Connie Mack and George LeMieux -- looked on Wednesday to showcase their conservative credentials and tie themselves to U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, one of the most popular GOP leaders in Florida."

One of the leading conservatives in the Florida Legislature -- Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala -- announced Wednesday that he is backing former U.S. Sen. LeMieux for the Republican nomination.

Baxley, who led the Christian Coalition of Florida and represents parts of Marion County, stressed LeMieux’s conservative credentials in his endorsement and played up the fact that former presidential candidate Herman Cain announced Friday that he is backing LeMieux.

"The appearance — at the very least — of impropriety is inescapable"

The Orlando Sentinel editors point to an Integrity Florida report showing that "Several companies with executives on Enterprise Florida's board have landed millions of dollars in state financial incentives with the help of the agency or been hired as its vendors."

In a rebuttal to the report, Enterprise Florida argued its board members don't have input on incentive packages, and another agency, the Department of Economic Opportunity, gives them final approval.

But those board members govern Enterprise Florida. Its CEO serves at their pleasure. And incentive packages don't get out of the starting gate without the agency's help.

As for awarding contracts to board members' companies, Enterprise Florida says those members excuse themselves from votes and any deals larger than $25,000 are competitively bid. But it's hard to believe personal relationships wouldn't give a board member's company any advantage in winning a contract.

Under Enterprise Florida's public-private funding model, companies get seats on the board by putting up at least $50,000. But when some of those companies get the agency's help in qualifying for incentives or are hired as contractors, the appearance — at the very least — of impropriety is inescapable.

"Candidates scramble for signatures"

"The last day to qualify for the ballot as a legislative candidate is June 8, but House and Senate candidates wishing to qualify via petitions must have them in by noon on Monday." "Candidates scramble for signatures in last week to gather petitions".

State trims rental costs

"As one of his campaign promises, Gov. Rick Scott said the state would cut $24 million office rental costs within two years. It has trimmed two-thirds of that in less than a year, and state facilities agents say they'll find the rest before the deadline." "As state cuts jobs and merges services, it trims $16 million in rental costs".

Mack dissembles

"U.S. Senate candidate Connie Mack, a Republican, says, 'I have always said that I would be for drilling.' PolitiFact Florida reviews his stance over the years." "U.S. Senate candidate Connie Mack’s claim about ‘always’ being for drilling is far from truth".

"Internet cafes continue to pop up across Florida"

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board: "Since the Florida Legislature failed to act this year to clarify the legal status of the state's burgeoning, unregulated Internet cafe industry, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri should continue to crack down on the predatory gambling parlors."

Internet cafes continue to pop up across Florida under the absurd proposition they are not illegal gambling enterprises under current law. Until the Legislature changes the law or regulates Internet cafes, law enforcement officials should continue to enforce the law and not look the other way.

Florida Political News: May 2, 2012

by: Florida Politics

Wed May 02, 2012 at 09:21:14 AM EDT

Scott blindsides Cuban community, Rivera ready to take Scott to court

"Scott began Tuesday morning as the darling of Miami’s Cuban exile community, but by day’s end he was being vilified for the way he handled a bill cracking down on companies that do business with Cuba and Syria."

Shortly after praising their fellow Republican for signing the law at the historic Freedom Tower, Cuban-American lawmakers at the event learned Scott issued a letter that essentially declared the law unenforceable.

The lawmakers — members of Congress, legislators and local commissioners — said Scott blindsided them and undermined the legislation, which prohibits state and local taxpayers from hiring firms that do work in Cuba and Syria. Multi-national firms and the Florida Chamber of Commerce worry about the law’s potential impact.

After a heated telephone conversation with Scott, Congressman David Rivera said he was ready to take the governor to court.

The law prohibits companies that do business in Cuba from securing contracts with state or local governments worth more than $1 million. Any contracts existing before the law takes effect July 1 also could be terminated. ...

In a bill signing Tuesday in Miami, Scott acknowledged the law could cost the state jobs but said standing up for freedom is important because "principles matter." But this law does nothing to end the Castro communist regime. To the contrary, it targets legitimate businesses at home and abroad that operate on an island where federal law already allows at least limited economic activity. ...

Making foreign policy from Tallahassee and signing a law that is constitutionally suspect and impossible to enforce hardly inspires confidence within the business community. Business leaders across the state, along with Florida's top two trading partners, Brazil and Canada, had warned the law could discourage investment from foreign firms. ...

None of this stopped the show Tuesday in Miami. The probusiness governor signed into law a political statement that is bad for business, and it is another example of his failure to understand the diversity of his adopted state.

"RNC insists it wasn't punishing Florida delegation"

"The Republican National Committee insists it wasn't punishing the Florida delegation by putting them so far away. People riding the bus might disagree." "Florida's RNC delegates may face dreary ride to the convention hall".

"If America's economy is in the toilet, Florida's is in the sewer"

Scott Maxwell writes that, "as recent stories about bungled payoffs, unethical arrangements and buddy-buddy deals have revealed, Florida is losing."

We write checks to companies that don't provide jobs. We cut corporate tax breaks galore.

Basically, Florida politicians trip over themselves trying to find ways to give your money to corporate execs.

And it's not working.

Florida's economy is still worse than America's in general.

Our unemployment rate is higher. Our average salary is lower.

More Floridians are uninsured. Our foreclosure rate leads the nation.

If America's economy is in the toilet, Florida's is in the sewer.

Yet all Florida politicians want to do is scream about problems in Washington.

"Changes must be made"

The Miami Herald editorial board: "Justice Barbara Pariente pointed out in a separate, concurring opinion, there wasn’t enough time to deliberate any longer without disrupting the election cycle. After lamenting the time constraints put on the court to review new maps, she added, 'If it is this court’s role to be the guardian of the constitution’s intent, I believe that changes must be made to the process to ensure that the purpose of the [redistricting] amendment — to take politics out of the apportionment equation — can be fully realized.'" "Redistricting — legal, but flawed".

"Rubio can breathe easier"

Adam C. Smith writes that "Marco Rubio can breathe easier."

A soon-to-be released biography of the Republican vice presidential contender turns out to be a nuanced and largely flattering portrait of one of the most exciting figures on the national stage, rather than the hatchet job some Rubio allies had feared. ...

For Americans just getting to know Rubio, there is plenty in the book to raise eyebrows — criticism that he used Republican Party credit cards and political committees for personal expenses, for instance — though most of that has been detailed by the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald. Those allegations did little to damage Rubio's Senate campaign in 2010.

The book recounts his longtime friendship with U.S. Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami, who has been engulfed in assorted investigations into his personal finances and consulting work. And it delves into Rubio having often said or implied that his parents fled Fidel Castro, when in fact they immigrated to Miami before Castro took power.

Roig-Franzia writes: Whether Rubio intended to mislead voters or simply never investigated the circumstances of his family's arrival is a question only he can answer. What is clear is that during his rise he placed great emphasis on his family's narrative, and he was eager to identify himself as the son of exiles.

Likewise, tea party conservatives unfamiliar with Rubio's legislative record may be surprised he often supported big spending, whether it was public money for a new baseball stadium or local projects. ...

Of Rubio's start in Washington, he writes: Power came to those who waited. But Rubio was not one who waited. Validation outside the building — on blogs, among conservative activists, on Twitter and Facebook — gave him more stroke inside it. More stroke inside the building gave him more validation outside it.

He also notes the hardball tactics Rubio's media handlers use to guard his image, including a well-publicized skirmish with Univision when it started to report about an old criminal arrest of Rubio's brother-in-law. Rubio's team argued that the network was going after a private citizen and said Univision offered to spike the story if Rubio agreed to an interview with their star anchor, Jorge Ramos. Univision denies that.

Roig-Franzia recounts a heated conference call about the story between Univision editors and Rubio's staff, including political adviser Todd Harris. Harris, the book says, at one point asked if the editors thought it would be appropriate to "poke into the private life of Jorge Ramos."

Roig-Franzia writes: The Univision staffers heard the question as a threat. For a consultant who represents a senator who sits on committees with subpoena power to make such a suggestion made … those journalists uncomfortable.

Harris called that "insane" and said he never said that.

The book also delves into Rubio's unusual religious journey, which included being baptized as a Mormon at age 8 when his family lived in Las Vegas: He was the little boy who went to Catholic Mass. Then the adolescent who embraced Mormonism. He was the teenager who circled back to Catholicism. Then the thirty-something who defined himself as a Baptist. He was the ascendant politician who wanted to be Catholic again.

"Bring on Rubio"

"Dems: Bring on Rubio".

"The evidence points to boondoggle"

The Sarasota Herald Tribune editorial board writes that, "despite also approving $300 million in budget cuts to the other 11 universities, Scott signed off on the creation of Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland."

As a result, Alexander gets to return home to Polk County as the conquering hero, having delivered a newly independent university -- cut from its previous ties to the University of South Florida. Construction of new facilities on the campus is expected to put $338 million into the local economy over the next 10 years.

As for the rest of the state, we get to pay the tab and wonder whether FPU will be a boon or a boondoggle.

The evidence points to boondoggle.

Perhaps Bondi should do something to stop this

"Community health centers across Florida will share $21.4 million in funding made possible by the Affordable Care Act, even as the state government continues its fight to invalidate the health care overhaul."

Since being elected, Florida Gov. Rick Scott has urged the state to reject millions of dollars in funding tied to the law. Still, money tied to health care reform has found its way to Florida. Earlier this year, a report from the National Conference of State Legislatures noted that Florida had received $119.6 million in Affordable Care Act grants during the first two years under the law.

Putnam won't challenge Scott

"Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam said Tuesday chances are 'nil' that Gov. Rick Scott will face serious opposition within the Republican Party when he seeks a second term in 2014. Such a forecast means that Putnam has again ruled himself out as a candidate for governor in two years." "Putnam declines governor run".

Rubio claims he "just reached for the wrong card"

Rubio, "On his use of Republican Party credit cards while a state legislator: "

"At the end of every month, we would get those statements, we would see what was on there that was party related and the party would pay that. If it wasn't party related, I would pay that directly to American Express. Now, obviously, in hindsight, it looks bad, right? Why are you using a party credit card at all. Well, some of these expenses were because the travel agent had the number … and they billed it to that card instead of the other card. Sometimes it was just a mistake — literally just reached for the wrong card. But it's important to understand I did not bill personal expenses to the Republican Party of Florida. The Republican Party of Florida never paid my personal expenses. Never. But look, I shouldn't have done it that way. It was lesson learned."

Young, Romney's go-to-guy for earmarks

"Needing earmark, Romney went to C.W. Bill Young".

Let the whitewash begin

"A government task force began its review of Florida’s controversial Stand Your Ground law and made plans to travel the state to conduct public hearings." "Stand Your Ground task force to hold public hearings". See also "'Stand Your Ground' Task Force May Need to Widen Focus" and "Florida "Stand Your Ground" panel launches review of self-defense law".

Bondi needs help

"Pam Bondi Asking for Help to Spend $300 Million".

Cain, Bachmann, the best they could do?

"Congressman Connie Mack, whose father held the Senate seat for two terms before not running for a third one in 2000 when Nelson won the seat, unveiled the endorsement of a prominent conservative on Tuesday afternoon -- U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann. ... Over the weekend, businessman and former presidential candidate Herman Cain, another favorite of the tea party, announced that he was backing former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux for the Republican nomination to challenge Nelson." "Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann Back Rival Candidates to Take on Bill Nelson". See also "Ex-GOP hopefuls back Senate rivals".

Florida Political News: May 1, 2012

by: Florida Politics

Tue May 01, 2012 at 09:08:52 AM EDT

"Rubio's past issues could hang over him"

"The widespread attention paid to an $8,000 election fine levied against U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio's campaign underscores heightened scrutiny the star politician is receiving and renewed past issues that could hang over him as he's considered as a vice presidential candidate."

Rubio, who turns 41 later this month, has become one of the most talked about politicians in Washington, even more so now that he's considered as a potential running mate to presumed GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

Where it could hurt Rubio — who insists he's not seeking the VP slot — is by drawing attention to past financial issues at a time when some say he's too inexperienced to be steps away from the presidency.

As a ranking state legislator, Rubio routinely charged personal expenses to his party-issued credit card from 2006 to 2008. Rubio also acknowledged double-billing state taxpayers and the party for eight plane fares to Tallahassee, calling it a mistake. He said he reimbursed personal expenses on the credit card and repaid the party for the flights.

Those issues, first reported by the Times/Herald, were part of a citizen ethics complaint during the 2010 Senate race that Rubio was using political funds to "subsidize his lifestyle."

Before becoming speaker, Rubio started two political committees to support other candidates and raised about $600,000. He failed to disclose tens of thousands of dollars in expenses and concealed others by lumping them in credit card charges.

Rubio this year asked that Florida Ethics Commission to close out its investigation into the matter, contending it would be used against him by Democrats.

Back to court

"The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Rene Garcia of Hialeah and Rep. Michael Bileca of Miami, appears aimed at Odebrecht, the Brazilian giant whose Coral Gables-based, U.S. subsidiary has worked on some of South Florida’s biggest projects, including the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, the American Airlines Arena and the North Terminal at Miami International Airport. A separate subsidiary in Cuba is performing major improvements to the Port of Mariel."

Fourteen laws passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature in the past year have ended up in court, and several others appear headed that way, including the Cuba measure.

"Scott thought that was too generous"

Beth Kassab: "If Florida really wants to help struggling homeowners, the state might as well direct its bureaucrats to stand along I-4 and I-95 and hand out wads of cash during rush-hour traffic jams."

That might be more effective than the Hardest-Hit Fund program, which was supposed to dispense $1 billion to help people avoid foreclosure.

And it would certainly get the money into the hands it's intended for faster.

But don't expect any windfalls next time you're stuck in a bottleneck on your way home.

Instead, Florida is embarking on Hardest-Hit 2.0 — the latest incarnation of a program that, one year after its start, has accomplished very little.

More than 90 percent of the $1 billion in federal funds sits unused while the clock ticks on homeowners who grow closer to losing their homes every day.

This was supposed to be the Average Joe's chance at some TARP money. You know, the bailout dollars that helped the banks when they were down and out.

No such luck for Joe and company.

The program is designed to work in two ways: Help people catch up on their mortgages after they fall behind because they are unemployed or underemployed. And help cover monthly mortgage payments while the homeowner looks for new, or better-paying, work.

The Hardest Hit Fund's requirements are so restrictive that just 5,500 people have qualified so far. The state originally projected the program would help some 40,000 people.

Blame politics — and greed.

Last week, the board of the Florida Housing Finance Corp., which oversees the program, voted to overhaul the rules to get more help to more people.

For example, the program paid for a maximum of six months of mortgage payments, up to a total of $12,000, while a homeowner looked for work. Administrators of the fund originally had asked for nine months, but Gov. Rick Scott thought that was too generous.

"They are not perfect"

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board: "They are not perfect, but the new state Senate districts approved by the Florida Supreme Court are a substantial improvement over both the existing districts and the Legislature's first attempt that was rejected by the court. Credit goes to Florida voters who amended the state Constitution in 2010 to change the redistricting rules, and to the court for defining those rules and forcing the state Senate to redraw the districts. The result should be more competitive districts and a Senate that better represents the state after the November elections."

For now, the new congressional and legislative districts for the 2012 elections appear to be set. The Florida Supreme Court has signed off on the legislative districts. The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday also precleared both the congressional and legislative maps under the Voting Rights Act, finding no concerns in Hillsborough and four other counties with a history of voter discrimination. That is a credit to the Legislature, and it enables candidates and voters to begin focusing on the coming elections.

"Florida will be sent to the convention’s version of Siberia"

"The coveted hotel assignments for the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa are out, and Florida will be sent to the convention’s version of Siberia." "Fla. delegates put in hotels far from GOP convention site". See also "Florida Republicans get long commute to GOP convention".

Daniel Ruth: "The bowler hats of the RNC announced on Monday that Florida's delegates will be staying at the Innisbrook Resort in north Pinellas County. To be sure, Innisbrook isn't exactly the Bates Motel. But it is still some distance away from the epicenter of political life that will be Tampa for a few short days in August. It will take at least 45 minutes to get from Innisbrook to the Forum — assuming U.S. 19 doesn't revert to its usual form as the roadway capital of the international hand gesture for ... have a nice day." "For Florida's GOP, a very humid Siberia".

Joe Henderson: "With any luck, the governor will be assigned to stay with the delegates and share the joy of a drive thousands get to experience here every day." "RNC commute would make Scott support mass transit"

"Will third time be a charm for Garcia?"

"Will the third time be a charm for Joe Garcia? Garcia, a Democrat who has twice run for U.S. Congress and lost, said Monday that he will run again against Republican Rep. David Rivera. ... And following once-a-decade redistricting, the demographics of the district, which stretches from southwest Miami-Dade to Key West, are now slightly less favorable to Republicans. To face Rivera, Garcia would first have to defeat a fellow Democrat: Gloria Romero Roses, a Southwest Ranches businesswoman and first-time candidate." "Joe Garcia to jump into race against U.S. Rep. David Rivera".

Who writes these headlines?

"A visit from first lady Michelle Obama last week raised about $300,000 for her husband's reelection, according to a source close to the campaign. But just as importantly, local backers said it showed there is support for the president and for Democrats in majority-Republican Collier County." "Michelle Obama campaign stop rakes in $300,000, shows Democrat[ic] support in Collier".

Who writes these headlines? It is "Democratic", not "Democrat"

That took, what ... 30 seconds?

"A federal judge in Miami ruled today that Gov. Rick Scott’s executive order mandating that all state workers be randomly drug tested violates the Fourth Amendment rights of people employed by the state." "Federal judge rules that drug testing state workers is unconstitutional".

The Naples Daily News editors: "The federal judge almost effortlessly set aside the order, calling it close to a search without a search warrant for drugs in a home. You simply cannot mandate such an invasive procedure without reasonable cause. The office of the governor has enough other, more worthy work to do and policy to affect than to tempt trouble that ultimately backfires on overall effectiveness." "Use powers wisely for best results".

Shameless

"Scott honors director of rape crisis center after cutting her funding". See also "Scott cuts funding for rape crisis centers during Sexual Assault Awareness Month".

Stand your stoopid

"Lawmaker's panel urges restrictions on Florida's 'Stand Your Ground' self-defense law". See also "Smith's Task Force Seeks 'Stand Your Ground' Tweaks" and "Independent task force wants changes to 'stand your ground' law".

Good riddance: "This House member won't change districts".

Black and overweight need not apply

This is rich: "A Fort Lauderdale company that hires crews for yachts is facing damages after an employee accidentally sent an email to an applicant saying she wasn't hired because she's black and overweight." "Fla. firm faces damages over discriminatory email".

"More Tax-Dollar Disclosures from Enterprise Florida"

"Integrity Florida Pushes for More Tax-Dollar Disclosures from Enterprise Florida".

From abused teenage wife to raging Teabagger

"In 2010, Adams used tea-party support to win a seat in Congress. Her first year saw her backing largely symbolic legislation — banning the use of foreign laws in U.S. courts; long detention for immigrant criminals who can't be deported. She since has become a key Republican voice [token?] in fights over contraception and domestic violence. In recent months, she has attacked Democrats over what she calls their 'faux war on women' as policymakers debated whether faith-based employers and their insurers should be required to provide contraception coverage under the 'Obamacare' health-care legislation." "U.S. Rep. Sandy Adams says her dramatic life story shapes her politics in quest for American dream".

Florida GOPer: "Why do we still have apes if we came from them?"

Fred Grimm reminds us that last year, the not so wise Florida Republican, "Stephen Wise of Jacksonville"

attempted to push an anti-evolution bill through the Florida Legislature, saying, “Why do we still have apes if we came from them?” You can figure creationists will be reprising those Wise words next year. The religious crowd was able to pass the model school prayer bill this session, with language that alludes to student-led “inspirational messages.” The new law, though, makes school prayer a local option, leaving it up to individual school boards whether they want to pay a lawyer to fend off an inevitable constitutional challenge.

The Legislature also added Amendment Eight, dubbed as the “Religious Freedom Amendment,” to the fall ballot, which, with obtuse language, removes the old state constitutional prohibition on giving tax dollars going to “any church, sect, or religious denomination.”

That’s really about state money (think vouchers) going to religious schools, where teachers are already free to ignore Charlie Darwin and all that inconvenient monkey business.

"Byrd plots comeback"

"Johnnie Byrd plots comeback, this time as a judge".