Florida has been hit especially hard by the recession, shedding the highest number of jobs across the country – nearly 17,000 – last November, making it one of the worst-hit states in the nation.
Many were surprised when Speaker-Designate Dean Cannon (R., Winter Park) proposed legislation to look at oil drilling in Florida, as the 2009 Session was winding down. It had the appearance of a clandestine move orchestrated by "big oil", but now that the sponsor has asked for public hearings around Florida, the tendency to is give Cannon the benefit of the doubt. But one cannot help but ask the question, why the move to oil drilling now? Some possible answers:
1. The anemic economy forces us to look at all options for relief, even something that has been sacrosanct.
2. The public is growing weary of "wars" in the Middle East (our current one is starting a new decade), which are, at least partially based on our need for oil.
3. The spike in gas prices during the 2008 campaign drew out many converts to switch on the issue, like Gov. Charlie Crist. More converts are expected with the next spike.
4. The introduction of alternatives to gasoline powered vehicles is real--from ethanol to hybrids, to power cells, the demand is off the charts. The Feds have put the 'pedal to the metal' on alternative subsidies. Arguably, the demand for oil will wane with the growth of alternatives, and perhaps the drill proponets know that--they see it as Now or Never.
Keep in mind the lengthy time from concept to product--pro-drillers know that a political fight in 2010 is really looking at yield at least 10 years away. Will there still be the voracious appetite for oil then? Broke the code?
Over 100 Diverse Women to Attend Award-Winning Political Leadership Training September 25th – 27th in Orlando
Orlando– Beginning Friday, September 25th over 100 diverse women from across Florida will take the next step in their leadership by attending The White House Project’s award-winning Go Run political training program for women.Democrats, Republicans, and Independents; black, white, Latina, Asian, and Native American, will come together for three days of intensive training that will propel them into the local, statewide, and national political arena.
The goal of The White House Project’s Florida Go Run—a multi-day workshop led by state and national experts—is to create a permanent, nonpartisan pipeline to women’s political leadership throughout the state.Across the U.S., the innovative Go Run program has been instrumental in propelling a diverse group of women into positions of political leadership, having trained over 8,000 women since its creation in 2004.
"Women remain Florida’s greatest untapped natural resource,” said Marie C. Wilson, President of The White House Project.“When women sit fully at the tables of power, we create stronger governments, from the school board to the city council to the senate, and compelling solutions to our nation’s most pressing problems.”
Among the diverse women who will attend next week’s training are:
·Heather Beaven, current candidate for Congress, Palm Coast: "Sharing experiences and expertise with each other makes us stronger. Successful women should make it their mission to grow new female leadership. The White House Project does that for female public servants, and I couldn't be more proud to be a part of it."
·Michelle Fernandez, Windermere: “As a Hispanic woman, I believe there is a lack of diversity in public service.For many Hispanic women there is simply not enough encouragement to purse leadership roles in politics.It is crucial for this attitude to change; young Hispanic women need to see role models in politics encouraging them to participate and paving the way.”
·Joy Solomon, political activist and community volunteer, Boynton Beach: “In recent years, I have come to recognize the important positive contributions women are making in positions of political leadership.I have decided to focus my experience and skills on ensuring that talented and smart women get a chance to make a difference in our communities and country. With the professional training of Florida Go Run I hope to advance my own leadership skills and to inspire other women to do the same.”
·Martha Ayerdis, Human Resources Director, Miami: "The participation of Latinas in Florida Go Run will provide us with an amazing opportunity to learn new strategies in order to develop a process aimed at achieving political leadership in our society. It is time for a change and Latinas are determined to influence and inspire other women in their community to be part of that success."
·Sandra Urquiza, political coordinator, Naples: “Across diverse cultures, women are regarded as the nuclei of the very families that are the base of their societies. Women have the aptitude, skills, strength, and intelligence to endure difficult circumstances, overcome challenging situations, and accomplish any task at hand. The White House Project honors women's strength and gives us tools to become leaders within leading roles, taking us to become role models throughout all echelons of society.”
These participants will join an impressive group of alumnae who have gone on to break barriers in the political arena across the U.S.Through its regional offices across the country, The White House Project trains some of the most underrepresented women in our political system: 41% of its alumnae are women of color; 46% earn less than $30,000 a year; and 50% are under the age of 35.
Florida Go Run will feature Founder and President of The White House Project Marie C. Wilson; U.S. Representatives Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Suzanne Kosmas; State Senator Arthenia Joyner (invited); State Representative Kelly Skidmore (invited); and other prominent women leaders from across the state.
Florida Go Run will take place at The Sheraton Orlando Downtown Hotel from September 25th – 27th, and was made possible with the support of the Florida Association of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, the Dickler Foundation, and the University of Central Florida.
The White House Project, a national, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) organization, works to advance a richly diverse, critical mass of women into leadership. For more information, please visit: http://www.thewhitehouseproject.org, or contact Kristina Goodman at kgoodman@thewhitehouseproject.org / 212.261.4346.
I work for a company named Sallie Mae. Sallie Mae is a lender and processor of student loans located in Lynn Haven, Florida and employes up to 700 people. Lynn Haven is a moderately small town with a population of approximately 15,300. Congress is currently considering a law that would take away those jobs by having the Federal Government take over the student lending process. There is an alternative to Congress wiping out the livelihoods of so many families in a small Florida town. A petition is being put forth to the Florida representatives at http://www.protectfloridajobs.com in an effort to try to save Florida jobs. The alternative plan proposed would not only save jobs for hundreds of families but would also create a more competitive marketplace for loans.
We need your help. Please take a moment and sign the petition. It is critical that we express to our elected officials the need to keep Florida jobs in Florida.
DEMOCRAT GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE MICHAEL E. ARTH FILES GRIEVANCES AGAINST FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC PARTY
Tallahassee, FL: August 25, 2009: Democrat gubernatorial candidate Michael E. Arth filed a set of grievances and proposals to the Rules Committee and Judicial Council of the Florida Democratic Party (FDP) today. The four page list of grievances, titled "The Democratic Party is Not Being Democratic," include complaints regarding Arth being frozen out by the party leadership, the party's breaking of neutrality in violation of democratic principles, and the PDP's blatant support of another candidate long before the primary election, even while enforcing non-endorsement laws on their Democratic Executive Committees. The grievance also lists various proposed changes that would make the Democratic Party democratic. The original grievance and proposals follow in the extended text:
I was born and raised in Florida my entire life, and although I'm still in High School, I keep up with the news and politics as much as, or perhaps more than, your average college-educated adult.
The political machine in Tallahassee never ceases to amaze me. From attempting to privatize Alligator Alley, to rewarding private contractors with automatic pay raises, many Floridians have given up on the idea of public servants actually standing up for their rights and being the voice of the ever increasingly “voiceless” consumer.
But not so fast! There’s a rising star in Florida, and he’s standing with everyday Floridians no matter what. State Senator Dave Aronberg, a Democrat representing Green Acres, has continually fought for the little guy in his 10 plus years of public service. And Dave wants to continue his record of protecting the interests of everyday Floridians to the Attorney General’s Office.
As a candidate running to represent Florida in the U.S. Senate and as a four-term member of Congress with a 15-year public service record, I have taken great pride in representing my constituents to the best of my ability. In recent years, there has been an explosion of new technologies that help elected officials stay more in touch with their constituents. Later this week, in Pittsburgh, the top people behind the creation of that technology and the best practitioners of this new media will be gathered at Netroots Nation. I'll be there with them learning from the best.
Netroots Nation is one of the most important annual events in the progressive movement and it is both a place where I can reach out to some of the key opinion leaders in the online world and, hopefully, a place where I can learn how to more effectively use new media tools. I tweet, and maintain a fan page and personal page on Facebook, but new media is not only about the latest social networking sites online or applications on my iPhone. It’s about issues and public policy, and finding ways to help our economy move from recession to recovery and the men and women who attend Netroots Nation have critical ideas on how we move our country forward.
Post-JJ Rhetorical Poll Question #1: Whether you're talking Alex Sink or Kendrick Meek, is it possible -- through the lack of intramural ideological debate and challenge, through the absence of constructive internal competition -- that the Florida Democratic Party risks both the alienation of some younger and more Liberal voters, and the absence of the kind of battle-honed sharp edges these campaigns will need heading into the general election?
If you already know about Annette and agree, go sign the petition and encourage her to jump into the race.
Taddeo ran a strong campaign against Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in Florida's 18th District. Despite widespread support and much excitement generated by her candidacy, she was unable to overcome the popularity of the incubment, who had the vast resources of her office and long career in politics to hold off the newcomer. Taddeo did establish herself as a progressive politician to keep an eye on, though.
For far too many Americans, this awful, endless Recession is the critical turning point after which the very foundation and future of family life are thrown into doubt, disarray, or worse. In Florida, the virtual epicenter of the mortgage and foreclosure crisis, the twists and turns of economic convulsion continue to cause a tragic fracturing of lives already being lived too close to hopelessly narrow margins. May there be hope for The Fractured.
Flip that Florida coin of fate and fortune, and you’ll find plenty of upper middle class professionals and retirees out of whom this financial crisis has taken big, painful bites – but for whom the overall comfort, quality and stability of daily life has remained reasonably steady. Let compassion grace The Comfortable.
And then, often in real danger of joining the ranks of The Fractured, there is the mass of marginalized middle class working families living in fear, in “quiet desperation”, just barely getting by. This is the vast group that doesn’t get the kind of attention or emergency assistance that The Fractured do. Nor do they have the kind of resources and influence that The Comfortable do. They are the all too unseen and unassisted victims of this manmade socioeconomic disaster. Let us not overlook The Marginalized.
From the insularity of gated and association communities that so dominate the landscape in much of Florida, it can be hard to grasp the “real feel” impact this disaster is having on many families in our very own midst. We follow media and Internet coverage of The Crisis -- how can you miss it? But many of us may need to take a longer, closer look at who and how we can help in real life, in real time, while there still is time. It’s a lesson I learned the hard way recently.
In announcing his candidacy for Governor of Florida on Monday, Bill McCollum described how if elected his administration would demonstrate "a renewed commitment to our environment." It sure better be "renewed", given that in McCollum's last year in the U.S. House of Representatives, the estimable League of Conservation Voters gave him a dismal 26% lifetime environmental rating, gaining him infamous addition to their "Dirty Dozen" list of the most anti-environment members of Congress -- see http://tinyurl.com/q6aymn).
But that's not the only "Dirty Dozen" list that McCollum has been named to. No, in fact the venerable Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence put the then-congressman in its own hall of shame, citing him as having one of the "worst records on the issue of guns" of anyone in Congress -- see http://tinyurl.com/o5tybz. Of course, McCollum describes that status as nothing more than support of the constitutional right to bear arms.
What chilling examples these are of the kind of Herculean makeover campaign the McCollum team has already begun to mount, in hopes of finally getting him the kind of high profile statewide gig he has so longed for. His 2006 election as Attorney General just doesn't seem to have done enough to heal the wounds of unsuccessful U.S. Senate runs in 2000 and 2004. He is an ever-ambitious lifer in the grimy game of electoral politics, which usually means prioritizing one's own advancement over and above the positive impact one can have at any particular level of achievement, or responsibility.
I'm tired of hearing Florida Democrats tell me how much they like Governor Crist, now an official candidate for the U.S. Senate seat soon to be vacated by Mel Martinez. "He’s such an improvement over Bush.” they say, or ”He's not a real Republican." Really? Okay, maybe Charlie Crist is the Florida Republican version of Miller Lite Beer -- you know, “Tastes Great!” -- compared to the bad taste Jeb left on our political palates. No, wait; make that “Less Filling!” -- of our heads with empty Republican rhetoric. But that's not good enough for me, and it shouldn't be good enough for any self-respecting Florida Democrat.
I was really saddened to learn that Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio would not be running for Chief Financial Officer in 2010. But you have to respect someone who says the following:
While political pundits turn their -- and the public's -- attention to Charlie Crist's U.S. Senate run and a series of chain reaction announcements to follow from Florida pols like Alex Sink and Bill McCollum, it's worth taking one more look at what the state's Republican leadership "accomplished" by the time they finally passed a budget and adjourned last Friday.
Forget the spin coming out of self-congratulatory press conferences like the one on Friday afternoon that featured Crist, Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottcamp, Senate President Jeff Atwater and House Speaker Larry Cretul patting one another on the back for reaching compromise "agreements" and making "tough choices". The Governor's office immediately issued a long list of accomplishments in the new budget. Atwater and other Republican leaders went on their own media tour, desperately trying to re-frame the legislative session as some kind of a mixed-bag success. The economic crisis, of course, became the be-all, end-all explanation for their more glaring slaps across the faces of Florida's already reeling Middle Class and working families.
Prosecutors are rarely held accountable for acts of misconduct or abuses of power in our country. Yet another example of this reality comes from a case out of Florida, where prosecutors engaged in egregious, intentional courtroom misconduct throughout the trial. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals ultimately upheld the conviction in the case because they found that the misconduct did not affect the outcome of the trial.
The law provides judges with tools that guide them to weigh prosecutorial misconduct against the facts of a case to determine whether the misconduct was severe enough to affect the outcome of the trial. Regardless of what appellate courts decide (i.e., to uphold the conviction or remand it for retrial), the simple truth is that misconduct has occurred. Unfortunately, the system does not provide judges with tools to guide them on how to address acts of prosecutorial misconduct. While defense attorneys, fellow prosecutors, and judges are ethically obligated to report acts of misconduct by prosecutors to the proper disciplinary authority, this reporting rarely happens. When prosecutors do face disciplinary proceedings, meaningful sanctions are uncommon and rarely go further than a public censure.
As a result, prosecutors can predict how much misconduct will be tolerated by the system before a case even goes to trial. As long as the misconduct doesn’t prejudice the outcome of a trial to the point that a conviction is reversed, the misconduct will slip through the cracks and the prosecutor will not face any consequences.
May 1st marked the official end of the 60-day legislative session in Tallahassee. No balloons or ticker tape. No, you see, the one and only task that the legislature was actually required to accomplish by May Day was to pass the state budget for the next fiscal year, which starts July 1st. They couldn’t get it done. So now House and Senate “leaders”, Republicans like House Speaker Larry Cretul and Senate President Jeff Atwater, huddle over the weekend and try to come up with a final budget that the entire legislature can vote on next week. These are the same Republicans who had promised an open budget process last week -- just before making a mad dash for closed-door budget negotiations amongst themselves. Talk about an economic strategy echo chamber. After their secret meetings, they refused to reveal any details of what they’d discussed. But they did want to make an announcement: that the budget negotiation “will be an open process…a very, very open process.” Does that sound more than a little like the twisted double-talk that came out of the Bush administration for eight long years?
This, after weeks and weeks of the usual Florida legislative war dance -- the overwhelmingly Republican House vs. the less-overwhelmingly Republican Senate. How about a couple of examples? Well, Florida homeowners’ “insurer of last resort”, government-backed Citizens Insurance, wanted a rate hike. The state Senate approved a 5% hike. Then the House said no, that’s not enough. They wanted to give them increases of up to 20%. That's called chutzpah in Yiddish, cujones in Spanish, shameless in any language. Then there’s the Clean Energy bill, intended to force electric utilities to use more renewable energy sources, like wind and solar. Even our Republican Lite governor, Charlie Crist, is a big advocate of the legislation. But House Republicans blocked the bill throughout the session.
What are badly outnumbered Democrats to do? Some continue to fight for what's right. Others are just desperate for a win. In the case of the Clean Energy bill, at the last minute the Senate tacked on a ridiculous new feature that would allow nuclear power to also be classified as a renewable energy source. And that, folks, is the kind of wrong-headed cave-in that leaves so many principled citizens disgusted or disengaged with politics, and politicians.
However, it is important to note that there are in fact some hard-working, ethical, progressive Democrats in the state legislature, fighting the good fight against all odds -- people like Dan Gelber, Ted Deutch, Dave Aronberg, and others. But far too often, their hands are tied. There just aren’t enough of them. And that’s because of how successfully the Republicans have gerrymandered our legislative districts. The good news is, there's hope on the horizon. A vitally important new ballot referendum initiative called Fair District Florida may just be the beginning of a new day in state politics. Stay tuned for an upcoming article on this potentially game-changing new initiative.
Why are some Florida Democrats depressed that Gov. Charlie Crist is almost certainly going to run for US Senate? Don't they understand that such a scenario would be the best of all possible worlds for the party?
Boy, I'm so senile I just realized the bottom half of this never printed because of some issues I had with embedding the video. (I'm not exactly a programmer.)
This is what was supposed to continue under the video!
The other night, Keith Olbermann walked his viewers through how the health care smear that's been floating around the media occured, from the serial liar Betsy McCaughey on up to Fox News and the Wall Street Journal. Check it out, it's a great watch:
"I think the president looks forward to getting out of town for a few hours and talk directly with people that are affected. Given today’s numbers its important to go directly to where people are hurting and discuss directly with them the price of inaction and what he thinks we can do to put people back to work and invest long-term."
Like he did in the campaign, President Obama is traveling deep into the heart of right-wing territory: Elkhart, Indiana on Monday and in Fort Myers, Florida on Tuesday, both of which are blood red Republican districts, for town halls.
The campaign web sites of select candidates; click on "FB" to check them out on FaceBook, "T" to follow them on twitter, and "$" to donate. These are not paid ads.
- At "After All, He Is Black", we look at the inability of Florida "conservatives" to deal with racial issues.
- "Take this job ..." is a compendium of some of the things Florida employers are permitted to do to their employees.
Please leave comments or e-mail us with additional material for these projects.
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