| Our digest and commentary on today's Florida political news and punditry follows.
Rasmussen: McCollum 42%, Sink 34%
"From Rasmussen Reports today: Bill McCollum 42%, Alex Sink 34%, undecided 18%." "Poll: McCollum (R) leads Sink (D) in race for Florida governor".
Arrest somebody
"Florida Republicans have been zealously trying to cut into the voter-registration lead Democrats have amassed thanks to the Barack Obama campaign." Maybe a little overzealously, it turns out.
The Republican Party of Florida hasn't registered with the state as a "third-party" voter-registration group, a requirement that went into effect in February after a court fight stemming from a 2007 elections-law amendment passed by GOP legislators. The Florida League of Women Voters sued but failed to block its implementation.
Under the law, any group collecting voter registrations -- other than official voter-registration agencies such as the state's drivers-license agency -- is required to fill out a form listing an agent and individuals responsible for "day-to-day operations." It was designed to try to restrict groups such as ACORN, which has been accused of voter-registration abuses around the country.
Now the law seems to have ensnared Republicans. "GOP conducts voter drives before registering with state".
Is Wrongwood Bill up to the task of enforcing this law? Privatization follies
"A judge slammed Florida's prison system during a hearing on a continuing dispute over prison medical services." An ''appalled'' state judge said Thursday that Florida's prison system ''blatantly violated the public trust'' by secretly negotiating with a new firm to provide for inmates' mental health.
Leon County Circuit Judge Frank Sheffield said the actions of the Department of Corrections in its secret dealings with Correctional Medical Services of St. Louis were ``at best, offensive, and at worst, illegal.''
But the judge denied the request by MHM Correctional Services for a temporary injunction. MHM wanted to block the award of a five-year contract to CMS through a 120-day purchase order that starts July 1. "Judge slams Florida prison system's secret talks". Federal handout please
The Tampa Tribune editorial board: "Protect military bases and state's economy". "A flaw in a system"
Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board: "Wild statistical fluctuations are the first sign of a flaw in a system. The system, in this case, is the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test." [D]ramatic fluctuations apply across Florida, where A-rated high schools dropped from 120 last year to 68 this year, and A schools overall (including middle and elementary schools) dropped by half, from 30.5 percent of the total to 16.7 percent.
Does any of this make sense? It shouldn't. For all the attrition and graduations in each school, the large staffs and larger student bodies that make up each high school don't suddenly go from excellent to dismal or vice-versa. From year to year, it's mostly the same teachers using the same methods to teach students whose relative collective brightness doesn't increase or decrease as dramatically as the grades suggest. The problem isn't teachers or schools or students.
The problem is the FCAT test, especially in high school, where the 10th grade class alone overwhelmingly defines an entire school's grade (after 10th grade, only 11th grade science factors into a school's overall score). So any school's grade is, essentially, the verdict on a single class. "Florida's flawed testing system cheats students". Blue Boyd "uncommitted"
The Tallahassee Democrat editorial board: "Congressman Allen Boyd, D-Monticello, has remained uncommitted on an important climate bill expected to be voted on in Washington immediately, perhaps today." "Vote 'yes' on climate bill". See also "Handful of Democrats will decide fate of climate bill". The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board: "Climate bill vital for Florida". Thank 'ye Charlie
The Tampa Tribune editorial board: "Shortly before Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed the Consumer Choice Bill on Wednesday, state Rep. Bill Proctor finally obtained a list of the 40 companies the Department of Insurance brags it has attracted to Florida in the last three years to build a market for windstorm coverage." "Crist lets down property owners". Charlie luv
Scott Maxwell: "As other stars dim, Charmed Charlie's gets brighter". Good luck with that
The Orlando Sentinel editorial board: "Criminal-justice reform has long been a cause championed by civil libertarians. Now that business leaders, taxpayer watchdogs and law-enforcement veterans in Florida have joined in, Gov. Charlie Crist and legislators have no good excuse for ignoring this imperative." "Reform justice system". NASA bucks
"Senate panel approves White House version of NASA budget". FYI
"South Carolina governor grew up in Fort Lauderdale". Time for a tax cut
The Sun-Sentinel editorial board: "It wasn't that long ago when the Florida Department of Children & Families was seen as a hapless bureaucracy. Whether it was their seeking to incarcerate an 8 year-old to ensure he received proper care, or simply losing youngsters supposedly under its care, it didn't take much for DCF to make a mockery of its role in child welfare." "Child's death exposes a big problem in foster-care reform". Have another Oxy ...
"The national Democratic Party has come up with five ideas for needling Rush Limbaugh on a West Palm Beach billboard, and is asking Democrats to vote for their favorite." Out of "tens of thousands of submissions," party leaders have picked these five top contenders, Jen O'Malley Dillon, Democratic National Committee executive director, said in an email sent today to supporters.
* "Americans didn't vote for a Rush to failure"
* "Hope and change cannot be Rush'd"
* "Failure is not an option for America's future"
* "We can fix America, just don't Rush it"
* "Rush: Say yes to America"
Votes can be cast through the DNC web site. "How to razz Rush Limbaugh? Democrats have five ways". SunRail
"Just days before facing a potentially crushing deadline, the SunRail commuter train proposed for Central Florida might be chugging along again." "SunRail commuter train might be back from brink". Duh?
"Visiting Tampa on Thursday, Gov. Charlie Crist revealed little about a possible replacement for Phyllis Busansky as Hillsborough County's supervisor of elections." "Crist mum on who might fill elections supervisor position". "It's shaping up to be a royal mess"
Paul Flemming: "Without legislative action this spring, policyholders of Citizens Property Insurance Corp., faced a Jan. 1 end to their three-year rate freeze and the reckoning that the state-run insurer-of-last-resort would start charging 'actuarially sound' rates. There were doomsday predictions of rates doubling if the Legislature didn't do something." "Don't spend that rate cut Citizens owes you". Raw political courage
"Senate budget chairman JD Alexander says it's time to unload one of the two remaining state airplanes, if only to eliminate the temptation to misuse them." "Lawmaker wants to eliminate 1 state plane". |
