Florida Political News: March 11, 2010

by: Florida Politics

Thu Mar 11, 2010 at 10:13:24 AM EST

"Shills for business"

The Saint Petersburg Times editors: "Gambling deals with an Indian tribe. Oil drilling rights for mysterious investors. Leasing highways to foreign corporations. Florida legislators will consider selling just about anything to raise money and avoid tax increases. So it’s no wonder that hawking space on license plates is on the agenda in Tallahassee." "License to make a quick buck".

The Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board: "Florida has 12,000 miles of interstate highways, turnpikes and state roads. That's 12,000 miles -- and untold square miles -- of prime advertising space."

Imagine that: Your drive from Daytona Beach to DeLand colored not only by billboards left and right but also by painted billboards on pavement. Imagine the financial benefit to the state. Guard rails, too, could be prime advertising space. The money could help pay for roads.

What about public schoolteachers? Their outer clothing could be emblazoned with ads, and revenue used to offset budget cuts in schools. Students could opt in, too, and sport corporate logos like NASCAR drivers do, with bonus money to schools that convince half or more of their students to sell out.

Obscene? Absurd? Degraded? Yes on all counts, but not much more than Mike Fasano's proposal to turn Floridians' license plates into mini billboards.

Fasano, R-New Port Richey, who chairs the Senate Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations Committee, asked his staff to develop a plan that would emblazon corporate logos on license plates. The aim is to generate revenue for the state, which is facing further budget shortfalls. To sweeten the deal for drivers, Fasano proposes to bribe them. Drivers would get to choose what corporate logo they'd want. In exchange, they'd get a $30 or $35 discount next time they renew their license tag. Fasano isn't clear how much money the scheme would raise, but he thinks the idea has wheels.

It may. But it shouldn't. Count the reasons.

RPOFer test scores

"Florida's unemployment rate reached 11.9 percent in January, tying the highest number on record." "It's not getting any easier for Florida's jobless". See also "Florida jobless rate at 11.9 percent". Related: "Online anonymity frustrates Fla's record jobless".

As Florida burns ...

... the Legislature is hard at work: "Florida bill would curb kids' tanning-salon use"

Tea-baggers in a dither


"Government meetings have to be open to the public, but that doesn't mean citizens have a right to speak at them, a Florida appeals court ruled today." "Court: Citizens don't have right to speak at government meetings".

"Crist's tunnel vision"
The Tallahassee Democrat editorial board: "Charlie Crist, the 'People's Governor,' might also like to be remembered as the 'Insurance Governor.' He proudly proclaims that the average bill for property insurance statewide has dropped 16 percent since he took office three-and-a-half years ago, and no doubt many homeowners are grateful for that."

But Mr. Crist's tunnel vision about keeping insurance rates low led him last year to unwisely veto the Consumer Choice Bill, which would have allowed some of the largest insurers to raise rates without going through the usual regulatory process. The Democrat's editorial board thought that letting the free market work on the state's troubled insurance industry was a good idea last year, and we think it's still a good idea.

The consumer choice concept is back in the Legislature again, with House Bill 447 and Senate Bill 876 (lacking a sexy name this year, the bills are simply called "Residential Property Insurance"). The biggest change this time around, according to House sponsor Rep. Bill Proctor, R-St. Augustine, is that all licensed insurance companies would be covered rather than a couple dozen solid, sound companies.

One thing that has not changed is Mr. Crist's distaste for the idea. He vows another veto.

Now, cheap usually sounds good. But there is nothing usual about property insurance in Florida.

Gambling

"A proposed gambling compact that would give four Seminole casinos exclusive rights to blackjack and other banked card games in Florida continues to hold the state capitol in thrall with the ulimate outcome still unclear. Thursday, a powerful House committee takes up the issue." "Senate Gaming Compact Restrains Governor". Nancy Smith says folks should "Think twice before you bet against the governor's Seminole gambling compact." "It's All About the Money".

Ya reckon?

"Florida Democrats may be gearing up to face Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate race this November, but polls suggest that Gov. Charlie Crist would be a tougher opponent." "Crist Tougher vs. Meek".

"Tempting and easy to blame the teachers"

Bill Cotterell acknowledges that "it's tempting and easy to blame the teachers, but they don't work on assembly lines. They shape what we send them and trying to reach a kid whose home life is chaotic, even dangerous, will probably fail more often than not." Much more here: "Teachers carry on as state, unions battle". Related: "Bill would tie teacher pay to performance, student test scores" ("The question: Should teacher pay — and job security — depend on how students score on standardized tests?")

More: "Teacher merit-pay plan passes key Florida Senate committee" and "Senate panel passes GOP bills requiring teacher merit pay, new grad standards".

It never ends

"Late results, fouled cartridges hampered Tuesday's Palm Beach County election tallies".

"BACK-WAX brouhaha"

"Florida has a long history of dirty politics."

Take the legend of Sen. George Smathers supposedly declaring in North Florida that Claude Pepper was a "shameless extrovert" with a "thespian" sister. Or the Florida GOP sending mailers calling a legislator "Dr. Date Rape." Or even Mel Martinez's campaign calling Bill McCollum "the new darling of the homosexual extremists."

But this week Charlie Crist broke new ground in attack politics in his U.S. Senate campaign. Marco Rubio, he charged, may be a back waxer.

"He's trying to pawn himself off as a fiscal conservative. And yet just in recent weeks, two weeks ago it has come out in news accounts he had a Republican Party of Florida credit card, that he charged a $130 haircut or maybe it was a back wax," the governor of America's fourth-largest state told a startled Greta Van Susteren on Fox News Monday night.

Crist "media blitz"

"Crist used the taxpayer-funded state plane Wednesday for a four-city media blitz that promoted a pro-business initiative but ended with a Miami campaign fundraiser." "Crist combines bill signing tour on state plane with campaign stop".

Meantime, "An independent Charlie Crist bid for the US Senate would work to Marco Rubio's advantage, because Crist would win more Democratic votes than Republican ones. In a hypothetical three way contest Rubio leads with 34% to 27% for Crist and 25% for Kendrick Meek." "Crist's Conundrum".

Run "Jeb!", run!

"The eldest son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said in a North Carolina political appearance that he doesn't expect his father to make a run for president in 2012." "Jeb Bush's son: 2012 run by dad unlikely".

'Glades

The Miami Herald editors: "Like everything involving the Everglades, the state's agreement to purchase 72,800 acres of U.S. Sugar Corp. land for $536 million has its share of champions and critics. But though it's less than perfect, the deal is worth doing." "The eldest son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said in a North Carolina political appearance that he doesn't expect his father to make a run for president in 2012.". Related: "Crist's grand Everglades deal under assault".

McCollum blows his top

George Bennett: "Attorney General and GOP governor candidate Bill McCollum dropped by tonight's Palm Beach County Republican Executive Committee powwow and sounded at first like a federal candidate before throwing his likely Democratic opponent, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, into the mix." "McCollum slams Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Sink, health care overhaul".

DMS on the chopping block

"Senate Looking to Break up DMS, Streamline Data".

"Bad news" for Meek and LeMieux

Kevin Derby writes that "While the recent Public Policy polling numbers are getting a lot of attention for showing Marco Rubio crushing Charlie Crist by 32 points, the poll also offers bad news for U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, the likely Democratic Senate nominee, and U.S. Sen. George LeMieux."

A Fasano special

"The Legislature is staring at a $3.2 billion deficit, but state Sen. Mike Fasano has tentatively lined up $750,000 for a health care clinic in the regional hurricane shelter that bears his name." "Sen. Fasano seeks $750,000 for health care clinic".

"Legislative leaders at least could be honest ..."

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "As the Legislature debates bills that would deal the state in for a piece of the red-light camera action, legislative leaders at least could be honest about their motives."

Sure, the bills most likely to pass have "traffic safety" in their titles. Yes, legislators — like county and city officials — claim that safety is the goal. Still, the Republican-led Legislature claims to worry about the reach of government and to respect the rule of law. Since the bills to authorize red-light cameras violate both of those principles, the real motive can be only one thing: money.

Whatever

"Fingerprint matches increase, but not arrests as Crist claims".

Hillsborough out of control

The Tampa Tribune editorial board: "Put an end to county circus".

911

"A Florida House panel has approved a bill aimed at barring the public from hearing 911 calls, unless a judge rules in favor to make an exception." "House committee passes 911 privacy bill". See also "Bill limiting public access to 911 recordings passes legislative hurdle".

Takes one to know one

"Florida lawmakers push for clampdown on exotic-reptile trade". Related: "Republican party reptile".

Florida Political News: March 9, 2010

by: Florida Politics

Tue Mar 09, 2010 at 09:30:44 AM EST

But their kids passed the FCAT

"2.5 million Floridians on food stamps".

Slashing workers

"Florida taxpayers could save hundreds of millions by severely cutting pension and insurance benefits for state employees, the head of the Legislature's fiscal watchdog agency told House and Senate members Monday." "Lawmakers look at savings possible by slashing state worker benefits".

Sugar scam

"With lawmakers already frustrated over a lack of oversight, recent reports on the state's landmark $536 million Everglades agreement with U.S. Sugar Corp. may add momentum for a legislative response in an attempt to prevent a repeat of the controversial deal, a key House lawmaker said Monday."

Meanwhile, a scheduled meeting of the South Florida Water Management District's Board this week to extend the closing deadline for the contract that ends March 31 is also likely to provide a venue for renewed scrutiny of the May 2009 agreement for the district to purchase nearly 73,000 acres from the sugar company.

The deal originally called for the taxpayers in the water management taxing district's 16-county area across South Florida to spend $1.75 billion for 187,000 acres, about 300 square miles. Facing tough financial times, though, the agreement was renegotiated. If approved, the state will have the option to purchase an additional 107,000 acres.

Recent articles in The Miami Herald and a weekend piece by The New York Times have reignited debate over the already controversial transaction, potentially the most expensive land purchase in state history.

Florida's fiscal outlook

"Many eyes in the Capitol will be focused Tuesday on an obscure team of economists who meet periodically to update Florida's fiscal outlook."

Known formally as the Revenue Estimating Conference, the forecasters will review an array of economic trends to fine-tune a consensus estimate of how much money the state can expect to take in this year from a multitude of tax sources.

The bottom-line estimate is critical: The House and Senate use it to assemble the state budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

Crist gettin' nasty

Michael Bender: "Crist, in his appearance on Fox News last night, insinuated that the $135 Rubio spent at a salon might have been on a back wax. (The initial issue with the expenditure, of course, was that Rubio charged it to his Florida Republican Party credit card.) Crist said Rubio paid the party back 'after he got caught.'" "Crist on back waxing, Everglades restoration and Jeb Bush".

The Florida web takes a right(er) hand turn

"In Florida there are no rules governing who can get press credentials and start writing about state government and its major players in the Capitol. ... Florida the Capitol Police issue credentials after confirming the name of each employer and doing a criminal records check. There are no formal rules defining who can be a member of the press."

As a result, two years after traditional newspapers and television stations started laying off reporters and substantially cutting back on coverage of state news, a virtual herd of newspeople are going to work for Web-only publications. Some of the websites are clear about their ownership and purpose. Others are not.

A couple of the better-financed news Web operations have moved into the Florida Press Center, taking offices once occupied by newspapers that cut staff or eliminated capital bureaus. One of the new groups -- Sunshine State News -- has set up shop in a former Miami Herald suite with new furniture and a staff of about a half dozen reporters and editors who say they plan to emphasize business and politics on a free website.

The folks at Sunshine will not disclose the names of investors who are financing the operation. ...

Sunshine's corporate papers were initially filed by Justin Sayfie, a former communications director for Gov. Jeb Bush.

"Lame excuses"

The Tampa Tribune editors: "If the groundwater around or beneath the homes of Florida lawmakers had been contaminated and they didn't find out about it until nearly two decades later, you can bet they'd quickly pass a law to make sure they'd never be kept in the dark about such things again."

The public deserves the same concern.

The state Department of Environmental Protection discovered a plume of paints and other toxic chemicals from a now-vacant defense plant had contaminated groundwater in an area of St. Petersburg in 1991. But 17 years went by before residents were informed.

Since the discovery, the plume, according to Sen. Charlie Justice's office, has "migrated 200 acres, affecting two apartment complexes, three neighborhoods, community parks, schools and the waters of Tampa Bay."

Such an inexcusable delay should never be tolerated again. When the environment is contaminated, affected residents need to be notified as quickly as possible. It is a matter of public health.

Yet, Justice, a St. Petersburg Democrat whose district includes part of Hillsborough County, and Rep. Rick Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg, have twice had to file bills that would mandate timely disclosure to residents of contamination of groundwater, surface water and soil.

The legislation failed to win passage last year, and this year appears to face tough sledding, too. Concerns have been voiced about compliance costs for companies and the additional expansion of government.

ES&S settlement

"The nation's largest voting-machine company probably won't be called a monopoly for much longer in Florida and other states. Under a proposed settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and nine states that include Florida, Election Systems & Software will divest itself of its hardware, software and other assets it acquired after the $5 million purchase of Premier Election Solutions, a division of Diebold Inc. The state and federal governments released the draft settlement agreement Monday -- on the same day that the Justice Department and a group of attorneys general from states including Florida filed a civil anti-trust suit in Washington federal court." "Lawsuits pull the plug on voting-machine monopoly".

Yesterday's news

"2010 Legislature summary".

Hammering teachers

"The sponsor calls it a 'hammer.' The head of Florida's statewide teachers union says it's more like a 'nuclear weapon.'"

It's a provision in a wide-ranging teacher quality bill penalizing school districts that fail to adopt merit pay plans by cutting part of their state funding and forcing them to make up for it by increasing local property taxes.

The bill (SB 6) sponsored by Sen. John Thrasher, R-Jacksonville, also would reduce teacher job protection and make it easier for school officials to fire teachers. The legislation has drawn union opposition.

Thrasher, who also chairs the Florida Republican Party, said Monday his bill needs the penalty provision as an incentive for districts to adopt performance pay plans.

Only eight of Florida's 67 school districts participate in the current Merit Awards Program. Just five local teachers union leaders support Florida's application for about $1 billion in federal Race to the Top stimulus funding. The application features a pay plan similar to the one in Thrasher's bill.

The penalty provision would cut state funding in an amount equal to 5 percent of what a district spends on salaries for teachers, principals and other school-based administrators. Districts also would have to raise property taxes an equal amount.

That would be a clear violation of the Florida Constitution, which gives school boards the authority to run local schools and determine taxing rates and a provision that guarantees employees the right to collectively bargain, said Ron Meyer, a lawyer for the teachers union. Meyer said several other parts of Thrasher's bill have similar constitutional problems.

"Wily coyotes"

"Though the number of coyote sightings is growing, especially in rural areas, efforts to trap and control the predatory animals remain sporadic and low-tech." "Florida tries to fend off wily coyotes".

Poor kids

" Florida community colleges face crunch, can't meet student demand".

"Partisanship at its most self-defeating, train-wrecking worst"

The Miami Herald editorial board: "At last week's Broward legislative delegation meeting, the majority Democratic members seemed to take umbrage that the sole Republican among them, state Rep. Ellen Bogdanoff, is taking the lead on getting an anti-corruption Broward bill passed in the Legislature. This is partisanship at its most self-defeating, train-wrecking worst." "Skip the partisan sniping".

Rothstein report

"As her husband's billion-dollar fraud scheme was imploding last Halloween, Kim Rothstein went shopping for more shoes at Nordstrom. She liked expensive shoes. And Louis Vuitton handbags. Gucci accessories. Evening dresses by Zola Keller. Shirts, sweaters and jeans from Cache Luxe. She could burn through thousands of dollars on a shopping outing, or drop nearly $5,000 buying from a chic Los Angeles boutique online." "Kim Rothstein shopped so much that it's now all a blur".

Public records

"Open government advocates and a state senator who's had her own problems obtaining public records are backing a sweeping bill making it easier for people to get government records." "Getting public records could be easier under bill developed by Crist panel".

Insolvency

"Several more small startup property insurers in Florida are headed for insolvency, leaving tens of thousands of homeowners looking for a new company as hurricane season approaches June 1." "More new Florida property insurers in trouble".

Going local

"Six Orange County cities will go to the polls on March 9, 2010, to elect representatives and decide charter amendments. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m." "Orange elections: Voters to go to polls in 6 cities". See also "Polls open without problems and with few voters in Broward, Palm Beach counties".

Limit term limits

The Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board points out that "six states have repealed their legislative term limits. Battles or debates are ongoing in nine others to change or repeal term-limit laws, including in Florida, for good reason: Term limits work better in theory than in fact. They diminish voters' say. They reduce elected representatives' influence and accountability when those representatives are in their last term. Term-limited representatives who spend half their time learning the system and the other half racing the clock for influence end up yielding power to lobbyists, who know they'll outlast every term-limited representative. Democracy isn't improved. It's damaged."

The proposal to change Florida's term-limit system would mostly add to the harm.

State Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, is proposing a constitutional amendment that would increase state senators' terms from four years to six years and increase state representative's terms from two years to four years. Senators could then serve two terms for a total of 12 years, increasing their total potential service by four years. House members could serve three consecutive terms, also increasing their potential service to 12 years. (Bennett's proposal is formulated in Senate Bill 598 and House Bill 495.) ...

Extending terms to six years in the Senate and four years in the House diminishes accountability and places bigger distances between the elected and their constituents. ...

Bennett also proposes to impose term limits on county elected officials, including constitutional officers such as sheriffs, tax assessors, clerks of courts and county commissioners. Years of service in those offices would also be limited to 12. That's an overreach. If county voters choose to impose term limits on their own county representatives, that should be up to them.

The best term limits remain in every voter's hands, and they're exercised at the ballot box.

Florida Political News: March 8, 2010

by: Florida Politics

Mon Mar 08, 2010 at 10:16:39 AM EST

Tally update

"In Tallahassee today: recycling, gambling and, of course, the budget". See also "Gambling, budget top priorities for Florida Legislature".

Micky Mouse in, Rent out

"Movie and television productions with gay characters could be ineligible for a tax credit being considered in the state House." "Shows with gays excluded from proposed tax credit". See also "State rep’s proposal would exclude gay-themed productions from tax credit" and "Florida bill to reward 'family-friendly' films is derided as 1950s-style moral censorship".

Nothing conservative about it

The Tampa Tribune editorial board: "There is nothing conservative about allowing out-of-state merchants to escape Florida's sales tax. It shows contempt for the law, increases the need for other fees and taxes and penalizes in-state retailers who create jobs and pay a variety of local taxes." "A proposal to aid state and merchants".

Running government like a business

"The state office charged with ensuring that jobless Floridians get their benefits in a timely way is failing to meet federal performance standards in at least three key areas. The Agency for Workforce Innovation doesn't make enough initial payments quickly enough, takes too long to determine someone's eligibility and too often fails to resolve appeals in the time prescribed by the U.S. Department of Labor." "Office that handles jobless benefits in Florida not meeting standards".

"Modernized immigration policy"

The Sun-Sentinel editorial board: "Florida, U.S. would benefit economically from a modernized immigration policy".

Florida's failed education experiment

The Daytona Beach News Journal editors take down Florida's failed educational experiment: "Ten years into the experiment with high-stakes testing, Florida legislators are rethinking the makeup and reach of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test."

Legislators shouldn't stop there. They should rethink the misguided philosophy that led to the FCAT as the supreme measure of a student's achievement and a school's worth. They should listen to Diane Ravitch. So should anyone enthralled with notions of "accountability" at the expense of genuine learning and opportunities for all.

Ravitch, a close ally of both Bush presidents and a former official in the first Bush's Education Department, spent the past two decades developing and championing education reform by way of market forces. She is at the root of the movement for vouchers, charter schools, school choice, merit pay and high-stakes standardized testing as means to explode the old model of public schooling and replacing it with a more business-like, competitive model. She is also at the root of the movement that culminated in the No Child Left Behind law that encompassed much of that thinking when George W. Bush signed it in 2001. That thinking frames the way Florida did, or thought it did, school reform since 1999 under the leadership of Bush's brother Jeb.

No. Listen to Ravitch, who has turned into the harshest critic of the policies she once inspired and helped write: "I've looked at the evidence and I've concluded they're wrong. They've put us on the wrong track. I feel passionately about the improvement of public education and I don't think any of this is going to improve public education." ...

Florida is still up to its Panhandle in market-based education. Schools are still seen as work-force factories rather than academies. Standardized testing still tyrannizes over all other measures of achievement. "Accountability" is still the favored buzzword, however detached schools' dumbed-down results have become from true accountability. And public schools are still perceived as a business in the employ of business rather than as engines of opportunity in the employ of education. That will change, or should change, if public education in Florida is to regain its original purpose -- so zealously subverted in the past decade -- and live up to its promise first and last to educate students and make better citizens. It can't change soon enough.

Yaaawwwnnn ...

"Crist sits down with The Post's Editorial Board".

Dems have "flimsy evidence"

"The Florida Democratic Party says Attorney General Bill McCollum, a Republican candidate for governor, has targeted a sacred cow: Social Security."

That's a major charge. The Democrats are not simply saying he voted to reduce the program that provides income for millions of senior citizens, but alleging that he sought to tear it apart.

To back up the claim, the Democrats cited nine votes McCollum took related to Social Security in the 1990s. The McCollum campaign doesn't dispute the individual votes but disagrees with how they're being interpreted.

We examined those votes and showed them to experts on Social Security. We then concluded the Democrats are distorting McCollum's votes and making an incorrect claim based on flimsy evidence.

Patricia Dilley, a University of Florida law professor who helped write Social Security legislation in the 1980s, said it was a stretch to describe the votes in such stark terms. "There is not a vote in here directly to dismantle Social Security,'' she said.

Higher prices

"Non-stop cold temperatures in the nation's winter vegetable capital have chilled consumers' wallets." "Florida cold means higher produce prices".

Bad unions

The Miami Herald editorial board: "Mr. Regalado has been too passive with the unions. We expect Mr. Migoya will be fair but act quickly. The longer city officials wait to act, the more they risk layoffs in a city already reeling from a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation on bonds the city is using for major projects. Union pensions aren't the only problem. Their perks in pay for police and firefighters are stratospheric." "Miami's fiscal crisis".

Cash-for-clunkers

"Reservations required for Florida's cash-for-clunker appliance program".

"Unclear"

"Success of rally for college funding unclear".

"'Fair' is not a factor"

Bill Cotterell notes that "considering that state employees haven't had a raise since Jeb Bush lived here, 'fair" is a not much of a factor" when it comes to the proposals to save money by slashing wages and benefits of state employees. "Bill Cotterell: TaxWatch team searches for some savings".

"A bad dream"

Carl Hiaasen on Saturday: "It must be like a bad dream for Marco Rubio. He goes to bed as the golden boy of the New Right, and wakes up as just another phony with a $134 haircut." "GOP offer even a liberal couldn't refuse".

Illegal immigrants

"With a waiting list for Florida mental health facilities, a state debate is emerging on whether illegal immigrants should have the same rights to public healthcare as legal residents." "Crackdown urged on undocumented migrants' mental healthcare".

Next up, cardboard boxes

"Cutting edge: Making cargo containers into homes?".

Florida Political News: March 7, 2010

by: Florida Politics

Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 11:22:03 AM EST

LeMieux preparing to take on Nelson

"Since his appointment to the U.S. Senate, George LeMieux has been tireless in keeping his name before the public."

Though only a temporary lawmaker, filling the final 16 months of retired Sen. Mel Martinez's term, LeMieux has been relentless in trying to generate notice, whether through news releases or Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or extensive travel.

The 40-year-old Republican, a former chairman of the Broward GOP, says he is working hard to represent Florida and communicating in ways that reflect a changing society. But there is a clear end game: The part-time senator wants a full-time gig.

Until recently, LeMieux was someone who was defined by his lack of public persona, the behind-the-scenes conductor of Gov. Charlie Crist's political machine. Since Crist appointed him in September, LeMieux has been rapidly working to transform himself into a viable brand of his own.

For now, that ambition points in a provocative direction: The seat currently held by Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, who is up for reelection in 2012.

Florida's "slavery problem"

"A traveling museum is bringing attention to the slavery problem that still exists in Florida's agricultural industry." "Museum highlights modern-day slavery problem in Florida".

Wingnuttery

"South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, a hard-line conservative who's challenging the national Republican Party leadership, came to Tampa on Saturday backing conservative U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio."

He has friends in Florida. State Rep. Will Weatherford of Wesley Chapel introduced DeMint, calling him "Doctor No to earmarks to nowhere," and county party Chairwoman Debbie Cox-Roush called him "the only senator with a 100 percent conservative ranking."

A hero to the tea party movement, DeMint shook up the GOP by forming the Senate Conservatives Fund, a PAC to back conservative Senate candidates, some of whom were running against Republicans backed by the party.

NASA

"In the latest sign that his NASA vision is in peril, President Barack Obama will announce today his plans to host a space summit in Florida on April 15." "Obama plans space summit in Florida to defend his vision for NASA".

Whatever Jebbie wants ...

Today's Mike Thomas column is a real laffer. He begins with a little background about the latest wingnut crusade in Tally:

Florida legislators' arch-enemies, the teacher unions, are the focus of reforms [sic].

Tallahassee is sticking a load of dynamite under the old schoolhouse.

The public-education model in Florida is about to go ka-boom.

All it will take is for legislators to sign off on some pending bills. That is a given, as conservatives now firmly control the state capital.

And their arch-enemies, the teacher unions, are the focus of the reforms.

Gone will be teacher tenure and the job security it provides. Gone will be across-the-board raises and layoffs based on seniority.

The traditionally moderate Senate has taken a hard turn to the right. The new 500-pound gorilla is Sen. John Thrasher, just appointed as the Republican Party chairman. He is a former speaker of the Florida House, a close ally of Jeb Bush, the man who helped steer Jeb's revolutionary [sic] accountability reforms through the Legislature in 1999. And his fingerprints are all over these new reforms.

Together again: Jeb & John.

For Jeb, it is about finishing the job he started more than 10 years ago, making Florida a national model for 21st century education.

Teachers effectively join most other employees in Florida as at-will workers[*]. That vastly diminishes the power of teachers unions[**]. And don't think that isn't an added perk for Republicans [and their allies like Thomas].

Teachers will be under more pressure. Like an NBA player in the last year of his contract, those who haven't been putting in the effort will have to up their game.

Will the good ones flee? I seriously doubt it. But I also think the state has to put a big chunk of merit pay money on the table to make this work and attract people into the profession.

"Playing it safe"

"As state lawmakers grapple with how to close a $3.2 billion budget gap and shrink unemployment ranks, Florida's leading candidates for governor are playing it safe. Neither Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum nor Democrat Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink has advanced a bold agenda to influence any of the major policies that either could inherit on inauguration day in January." "Leading candidates for Florida governor cautious on issues".

But Jebbie said ...

... he fixed it with the FCAT ...

"Floridians concerned about K-12 education got a sobering, and worrisome, assessment courtesy of a 2009 report from the Florida Reading Council. The study showed that 55 percent of Florida's college freshmen required some sort of remedial class work." "Editorial: Dump FCAT in high school, rely on college placement exams".

Hypocrisy alert

Aaron Deslatte: "On the eve of a budget-balancing session in which they'll have to tap federal stimulus cash for the third year running, Florida's Republican legislative leadership held a press conference to call on Washington to rein in its expanding fiscal waistline." "Partisanship is Legislature’s watchword".

Bought and paid for

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board: "Florida's business community is lobbying the friendly Republican-controlled Legislature for new laws that would make it much harder for injured people to collect damages. Maybe a few legal tweaks are needed, but these bills would tilt the law too heavily toward insulating businesses from liability." "Protect the people".

Bad hair cut

Adam C Smith: "A fired-up Charlie Crist charmed a hometown crowd in St. Petersburg Saturday, and made it abundantly clear we'll be hearing a lot about Marco Rubio's state GOP credit card spending in the coming months. Credit card statements from 2007 show Rubio charged $134.75 at a tony Miami barber shop." "Crist gives Rubio a buzz cut for $135 bill at barbershop".

Never mind

The Tampa Tribune editorial board: "Florida voters thought they had good reasons 18 years ago to limit terms in the Legislature to eight years."

They were striking a blow against arrogant, career politicians whose name recognition and rich campaign coffers empowered them to operate without much fear of losing an election.

A limit on terms was supposed to guarantee a steady stream of new blood. It would force lawmakers to be more accountable. It would weaken and humble them.

Ask a voter today if they're in favor of all that, and the answer will probably be: "You're darn tootin' I am!"

But Florida's experiment with term limits has made clear to careful observers that an arbitrary eight-year limit has very bad side effects. Lobbyists have gained power. Term-limited lawmakers tend to focus on short-term results and ignore long-term consequences. They cater more to the special interests than to the electorate.

Many members do not understand the complexities and history of issues such as growth management, property taxes, water and health care, to name a few.

Unknown, freshly elected representatives immediately begin campaigning for leadership positions. Those who wait get left behind.

"Two ways to test the commitment to democracy"

The Tallahassee Democrat editors: "Florida voters have two ways to test the commitment to democracy of every voting bloc from Tea Party conservatives to "post-racial" liberals. One: Participate in the 2010 Census. Two: Vote in favor the Fair Districts amendment proposals at the state and federal levels." "Our Opinion: A clean slate".

SeaWorld

Pierre Tristam: "Disturbingly recent exceptions aside, civilized nations now agree that burning fellow human beings at the stake, torturing them or enslaving them is inhuman. The day will come when civilized nations will agree that imprisoning wild animals in zoos, whipping them about in circus acts from city to city or forcing them to do tricks for our amusement in such places as SeaWorld, Marineland and Epcot is as cruel to the animals as it is lewd of the people watching them."

This isn't to argue against domestication or even the slaughtering of animals. We are animals and predators. But domesticating an animal for help or companionship and certainly killing an animal for sustenance will always be more morally defensible than taming one for entertainment or "education." (The less defensible gobs of cruelty in the chicken farms and the feedlots of the West, where cattle are turned into walking mummies of drugs and fat, have more to do with a nation's gluttony than sustenance. But that's another story.)

Places like SeaWorld love to claim that their shows give people a close-up of something unique that fosters an appreciation for nature and conservation. Florida residents give the lie to that invention. They've been converging on SeaWorld from subdivisions that have plowed under entire ecosystems and obliterated the habitats of 111 plants and animals (at last count). That's not about to change.

"SunScam State"

The Palm Beach Post's Randy Schultz asks: "Aren't you tired of it? Aren't you tired of Florida in general, and South Florida in particular, being the scam capital of the Southeast?"

We all know about the political corruption. Three former Palm Beach County commissioners are in prison. Two ex-West Palm Beach city commissioners did time and are out. Broward County features Scott Rothstein, the Bernie Madoff Mini-Me, and other political scandals at various levels. Miami-Dade for decades has been known as the county that runs on graft.

But it's so much more. It's Medicare and Medicaid fraud. As a senator, Bob Graham started a whole task force on that 13 years ago. It's auto insurance fraud, which South Florida has exported to Orlando and Tampa Bay. It's boiler-room, white-collar scamming in my hometown of Boca Raton.

And now, it's pain-pill smuggling.

Phony veterans

"Beware the phony veterans. That was the message from some state lawmakers gathered at the VA Primary Care Clinic here on Friday." "New state bills introduced to combat phony veterans". See also "Impersonating military vets for donations would be felony under state rep’s bill".

The RPOFer economy ...

... a house of cards, which is now collapsing: "Foreclosures swamping county, courts".

"Take it or leave it"

"The Florida Senate has come out with a new Seminole Indian gambling deal — and this time, the chamber is telling Gov. Charlie Crist and the tribe: Take it or leave it."

The new Senate bill has the same terms as last year's version. It would give the tribe blackjack at four of its seven resorts, including the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood and the Coconut Creek casino, in exchange for at least $150 million a year.

"A sly way to get around the law"

The Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board: "State law doesn't allow them. Local governments get around the prohibition by treating red-light infractions as code enforcement violations, like overgrown grass, as opposed to moving violations."

It's a sly way to get around the law. Cities have been getting away with it for years, putting up cameras that spy on drivers and snap a digital photo automatically when a vehicle is perceived to have crossed against a red light. It's time for the Legislature to clarify the law. Either cameras are allowed or they're not. There should be no middle ground cities can exploit, as they do now, resulting in a patchwork of rules and penalties from one city, and sometimes one suburb, to the next. A Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge was right when he ruled that traffic laws are state laws, that red-light cameras are a mode of enforcing traffic laws, but that absent a state law allowing traffic cameras, they may not be used. The judge ruled that traffic ticketing may only take place when a live law enforcement officer is present.

"Tough love or political terror"

Mary Ann Lindley: "Week One of the Florida Legislature has wrapped up, and everyone's hands are tied, with instructions to cut and chop and spend no money before its time."

I don't know if it's tough love or political terror that Speaker Larry Crutel has invoked in his long list of ways to say "no," but all House members got the memo Thursday: no new taxes, never, ever.

Likewise, Florida TaxWatch, calling upon its own white-collar task force of prominent Floridians, on Thursday delivered 87 ways to shape up government through "cost savings." ...

The concept of investing in a better state — in our universities, early-learning efforts, preventive health and public safety programs — and getting something valuable back in the long run seems to remain beyond consideration, even though it could be done with a more fair and broad-based tax structure.

Yet while legislators are instructed not to spend a dime or raise a dime of taxpayers' money, that doesn't mean they don't happily collect and spend money to advance their own ambitions.

Right down to the end of the day on Monday, before the session convened on Tuesday morning, lawmakers around town were fundraising at breakfast, lunch and the cocktail hour — and not subtly.

Big spenders

"The top 10 spenders were evenly split among Democrats and Republicans." "Florida Congressmen spend tax money on luxury cars, high salaries and perks".

Walking with the dinosaurs

"Top home-school texts dismiss Darwin, evolution".

Florida Political News: March 5, 2010

by: Florida Politics

Fri Mar 05, 2010 at 08:48:01 AM EST

Sink goes after McCollum

"As Florida hemorrhages as much as $3.2 billion in Medicaid fraud a year, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink proposed reforms Thursday and pinned much of the blame for the problem on her political opponent, Attorney General Bill McCollum."

Sink, a Democrat running for governor, said that since McCollum took office, the number of prosecutions for Medicaid fraud has dropped from 727 in 2004-05 to 372 in 2008-09. Florida has the second highest number of Medicaid recipients in the nation, but ranks 39th in convictions per person in its fraud unit.

From the "values" crowd

"As university students lobbied for more money in Tallahassee, legislative leaders, faced with a deficit, were predicting more budget cuts." "More money for universities called unlikely".

This week in Tally

"Florida legislators began the grim business of budget-cutting on multiple fronts Thursday, with the House leader issuing a spending outline and a grim outlook. " "Florida budget outlook grim".

Paul Flemming on Gov. Crist ... the budget ... the Gun-permit trust fund". "It was a fine week of lame ducks, dollars and guns". Related: "2010 Legislative Session Daily summary".

"State House leaders proposed on Thursday to increase spending on health care and public education - but not enough to meet the rising costs of either of those areas. All told, state health care and education programs may have to shrink by $750 million next fiscal year." "Shortfall chokes House spending".

More: "In Tallahassee today: Medicaid costs, oil drilling and impersonating veterans", "House Speaker Larry Cretul's Budget Proposal Increases School Funds", "Recommendations could save Florida taxpayers $3.2 billion" and "It’s early — but the state budget looks bleak".

If you're bored, you can "Watch live video of the session".

RPOFer laff riot

"An exchange between Gov. Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio in a conservative political journal this week marked the toughest rhetoric so far between the two Republican U.S. Senate primary opponents."

Rubio charged that Crist "cannot be trusted," and Crist shot back that Rubio's claims to conservatism are a "fraud."

They traded hard punches Wednesday and Thursday on the National Review Online Web site, www.nationalreview.com, the online version of a magazine known as an intellectual trendsetter for the right.

In an article Wednesday, Rubio blasted Crist for saying in a news interview that there might be parts of President Barack Obama's health care proposal that are worth saving, and that the nation's health care system needs change.

Crist had told a newspaper editorial board that he wouldn't scrap the Obama administration's health care proposal entirely, and he thinks Americans need better access to health care and lower costs.

"Again and again, from tax hikes to runaway government spending, my opponent has demonstrated he cannot be trusted," Rubio wrote on the site. "His recent comments, in which he broke ranks with Republicans and said he would not scrap the health care bill and process, is just the latest example."

Crist shot back in an interview Thursday, saying Rubio's claim to be a conservative is the "greatest fraud perpetrated on people," and citing recent revelations about Rubio's use of a Republican Party credit card for apparently personal expenses as proof.

Dirty water

"The Environmental Protection Agency agreed Thursday to a extend the public-comment period on proposed water rules that have been blasted by Florida politicians. The decision came after members of the Congressional delegation met with EPA chief Lisa Jackson. Jackson told the lawmakers she would extend the comment period for the proposed rules by 30 days, adding three more public hearings." "EPA to hold more hearings".

Begging for federal dollars

Don't hear much complaining from the tea-baggers about this: "Florida is among 16 finalists in the federal Race to the Top competition, which the state hopes will land it more than $1 billion to use on 'aggressive education reform' in public schools." "Florida a finalist in Race to Top grant".

Class size

"Class size proposal heading to state Senate vote".

Ethics violation

"Ethics Commission: state employee broke 'revolving-door' law".

SBA gets a pass

"A two-sentence letter announced the end of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry into the state agency that manages $138.5 billion in retirement funds."

A two-year federal investigation into possible fraud at the Florida State Board of Administration, which manages $138.5 billion in retirement funds for state and local governments, ended this week with no action taken. ,,,

"This investigation has been completed as to the Florida State Board of Administration, against whom we do not intend to recommend any enforcement action by the commission,'' wrote Eric R. Busto, assistant regional director for the SEC's Miami office.

Busto then attached a copy of a 1972 securities act that indicated the SEC could reactivate the investigation if it deemed necessary and that the termination letter "must in no way be construed as indicating that the party has been exonerated or that no action may ultimately result from the staff's investigation of that particular matter.''

The SBA manages state employee pension funds and dozens of other investments for state and local governments, including 1 million current and future retirees. The SEC had been investigating whether the SBA and three large Wall Street firms had misled the public about the risk and liquidity of securities the state purchased from the firms.

The securities sold to the state by JPMorgan Chase, Credit Suisse and the now-defunct Lehman Brothers plummeted in value in late 2007, leading to the implosion of an SBA-managed local government pool that year.

Gambling

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board: "The Legislature and the Seminole Indian Tribe appear close to striking a deal to finally give Florida a portion of the proceeds from blackjack and other table games added to the Seminoles’ casinos nearly two years ago. The pragmatic negotiations appear headed in the right direction." "Gambling deal looks like good bet".

"Fiscal frauds"

Scott Maxwell offers up "Double-fisted slugs to Marco Rubio and Charlie Crist — a couple of political hypocrites who preach fiscal responsibility to everyone but themselves."

Rubio continues to yammer on about wasteful spending, even as he makes headlines for racking up more than $100,000 worth of credit-card charges on the GOP's American Express — everything from the simply pricey ($600-a-week car rentals, according to The Miami Herald) to the seriously questionable (plane trips for which Rubio double-billed both taxpayers and the Republican Party).

A lot of people can rightfully criticize his spending … but Crist ain't one of 'em. This is the guy, after all, who managed to spend a whopping $430,000 on a European "trade mission," during which his wife helped him rack up $1,300 worth of room-service and mini-bar bills. Yet, in criticizing his opponent in the GOP primary for U.S. Senate, Crist actually had the audacity to claim: "I'm the most frugal, cheap guy you'll ever meet."(Only if Paris Hilton and Donald Trump are the only two people you've ever met.) Basically, what we have here are two so-called "conservatives" accusing each other of being fiscal frauds. How about we find some common ground and agree they're both right?

NASA

The Sun-Sentinel editorial board: "President Obama outlines lackluster, fuzzy NASA mission".

Florida Forever

"Florida Chamber, environmental groups will lobby to revive Florida Forever".

Local traffic cameras

"Bills suggest state should monitor local traffic camera laws".

Entrepreneurs in action

"The federal government has called American Pain a 'pill mill.' But the Lake Worth pain clinic operated more like a factory, churning through 250 patients a day, paying doctors as much as $44,000 a week, and distributing more than two million painkillers in a single year. " "Raided Lake Worth pain clinic handed out 2 million pills in a year".

Florida Political News: March 4, 2010

by: Florida Politics

Thu Mar 04, 2010 at 11:35:22 AM EST

Session update

"2010 Legislative Session daily roundup". From the Sun-Sentinel editorial board: "State lawmakers face a tough legislative session".

More: "In Tallahassee today: class sizes, caps on health care damages, budget workshops" and "Session to examine class size, FCAT".

Voucher madness

"A state-financed program that gives tuition vouchers to thousands of low-income Florida students to attend religious schools may get a boost in funding while cash-strapped public schools face more cuts." "As public schools face cuts, vouchers may get big boost".

RPOFer "bare-faced double-talk"

The Daytona Beach News Journal editors ask: "Can there be such a thing as bare-faced double-talk? Florida legislative leaders apparently don't see a problem with it. Legislative leaders kicked off the opening day of the 2010 legislative session with a rant at Congress for fiscal irresponsibility, and House Speaker Larry Cretul and Senate President Jeff Atwater are backing a resolution that would scold the nation's leaders for deficit spending."

But with the new legislative session only a few hours old, state lawmakers fast-tracked a bill that extends jobless benefits and puts off an increase in the state's unemployment tax, replacing it with massive loans ... from the federal government. Gov. Charlie Crist -- who correctly pointed out that Floridians benefited significantly in the past years from federal stimulus spending -- signed the bill minutes before he made his final State of the State speech Tuesday night.

The Chamber snaps its fingers ...

"Crist signs bill delaying unemployment tax increase".

Charlie's "swan song speech"

Bill Cotterell notes that "We're all pretty much accustomed to governors slipping a few crowd-pleasing applause lines into the annual State of the State speech, or using an eye-catching prop to make a point."

probably no governor has basked in so many broad smiles, or heard such enthusiastic applause, as Gov. Charlie Crist encountered during his swan song speech at a joint legislative session on Tuesday evening. The trouble is, not everybody who was smiling was also applauding — and the members on their feet were almost all Democrats.

The Republican governor made a strong, reasoned defense of his administration's use of federal stimulus money for "problem solving" that he said saved thousands of jobs for teachers and cops, among others. Using stimulus money to balance the current fiscal budget avoided tax increases while maintaining a necessary level of state services.

Crist didn't name former Speaker Marco Rubio, his rival in the GOP primary for the U.S. Senate, or specifically mention the Tea Party voters when he spoke about extremists who are unwilling to compromise. But you'd have had to be napping not to guess whom Crist was talking about when he asked legislators to shun "hollow ideological posturing that achieves nothing."

Charlie's gamble

Mike Thomas:

Charlie Crist could beat Marco Rubio in a general election.

He could beat Kendrick Meek in a general election.

But could he beat Rubio and Meek in a general election?

Judging by his State of the State speech, it seems Crist either is thinking about it or he has taken up smoking hash.

He certainly wasn't trying to endear himself to the conservatives with his Tuesday address to legislators. Here is a guy getting killed by right flight, and he was throwing out red meat to the Democrats. They gave him a standing ovation as he endorsed the stimulus and derided conservative ideologues.

Republicans sat on their hands. The only thing missing was Joe Wilson shouting, "You lie!''

"Chill the coziness"

The Miami Herald editorial board: "Florida legislators are talking more about job creation and budget shortfalls this session than about reforms of any kind -- except when it comes to the Public Service Commission, the state's utility regulator. The PSC is rightly a reform target in Tallahassee after its chummy relations with Florida Power & Light were exposed in 2009. Specifically, lawmakers want to limit communications by PSC commissioners and their staffs with utility officials to on-the-record, open meetings. This is a much-needed fix that should sail through the Legislature." "Reform PSC now".

GOPer games

"Volusia County officials said in a news release this week that some residents thought the GOP's "Congressional District Census" was the real one. The actual Census will be sent to every U.S. household on March 15. Residents are required to return them by April 1. Democrats are criticizing the GOP for printing the words 'Do Not Destroy Official Document' and 'census document' on the envelope." "GOP 'Census' mail confuses some Volusians".

Crist on the attack

"Crist's campaign is openly asking what former House Speaker Marco Rubio knew about Ray Sansom's dealings with a Panhandle college." "Charlie Crist jumps on Marco Rubio, Ray Sansom similarities".

From the "values" crowd

"A group of blind residents is protesting a proposal in the Legislature to delay voting by paper ballot until 2016 for voters with physical disabilities." "Blind decry bid to stall paper ballot".

Veterans benefits

"Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink unveiled an initiative Wednesday aimed at ensuring that the state's 1.7 million veterans tap into all the benefits available to them." "Sink announces push to help veterans with benefits".

Here they come

"Florida's population bounces back - just barely". See also "Population decline is over for Florida, UF study shows".

Gambling compact

Jeremy Wallace: "Less than 24 hours after imploring the Legislature to approve a gambling compact with the Seminole Tribe, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist met with the lead House negotiator to continue to press the issue." "Bradenton's Rep. Galvano and Crist discuss gambling compact".

RPOFers want to "unleash even more special-interest spending"

"Florida legislative leaders are proposing election-law changes that could unleash even more special-interest spending in state elections but require that the millions of dollars pumped into races be fully disclosed to the public." "Election-law change would reopen spending, add full disclosure".

"Allowing them to more quickly raise premiums"

"Florida lawmakers are again seeking to loosen rules on property insurers by allowing them to more quickly raise premiums to recoup the costs of buying reinsurance' and other expenses."

The move is the second act of a push by the Legislature to scale back some of the reforms it rushed to pass in 2007, after property-insurance premiums exploded in the wake of the busy 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons.

But one piece of the legislation unveiled Wednesday drew quick criticism at its first hearing before the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee.

Among other changes, the bill, SB 2044, would allow an insurer to pass along to its customers any losses it suffered from discounts offered to homeowners who hurricane-harden their homes with improvements like storm shutters or new roofs. Insurers who can prove to the state that they suffered financial losses from the discounts could recoup them by raising rates on all homeowners.

Cheap cigarettes

"Big tobacco got its comeuppance in Florida in 1997 when, in an out-of-court settlement, it agreed to pay an estimated $11.3 billion over 25 years to compensate the state for the costs to the public's health from smoking-related illnesses. Tiny Dosal Tobacco, a South Florida company with less than a 1-percent market share at the time, wasn't part of the settlement. Today, Dosal's not so tiny. Its Romy, 305's and other brands make up 20 percent of all cigarettes purchased in Florida. It's the state's third biggest cigarette vendor." "Pay a fair share".

A Republican thing

The Tampa Tribune editorial board neglects to mention which political party was responsible for the delay: "Approve Sanchez promptly for international trade post".

911 bill

"A House member wants to block release of 911 tapes and exempt them as open records to protect victims from further trauma by public release." "House to hear 911 bill: Measure would exempt tapes from open records laws".

Priorities

The Senate yesterday passed

a bill that would put a "lock box" on a trust fund paid for by gun owners to process their concealed weapons permit applications, making it one of a select few trust funds off-limits to lawmakers.

Over the objections of some Democrats, the Senate approved a measure that would bar lawmakers from dipping into the trust fund to spend on anything other than processing concealed weapons permits. The fund is financed by a $117-per-permit fee collected from permit applications.

Only four of the state's 400-plus trust funds are now off limits.

GOPers want federal cash

"Space Coast lawmakers lobby for economic aid as 9,000 aerospace jobs disappear this year". See also "Florida fighting to keep NASA jobs".

Ferre

"Maurice Ferre, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, wants to convince voters that he will be a good steward of their tax dollars. He served as Miami's mayor from 1973 until he lost in 1985 and says that he left the city in good financial shape. That's notable because, these days, the city is plagued with budget shortfalls and under a federal investigation about its finances." "Pot of gold that Maurice Ferre left Miami doesn't add up".

RPOFers want to negotiate teacher contracts

"Two key education bills filed recently in the Florida Senate would lead to dramatic changes in teacher-pay plans and high school graduation requirements, if adopted. The first would force Florida school districts to develop merit-pay plans for teachers -- or risk losing state money." "School bills would lead to dramatic changes".

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board thinks "the Republican-led Legislature needs to tread carefully as it looks to overhaul teacher tenure. An approach that focuses on punitive measures for both districts and teachers, more than on incentives and reasonableness, could easily backfire and drive even good teachers away." "Risks of radical tenure plan".

Meantime, "State economist: School funding down $1 billion for next year".

"State court system is being slammed"

The Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board: "It's that time of year when the Florida Supreme says "Look, we really need more judges," and the state Legislature says 'Hmm, not this year.'"

But the state court system is being slammed. One obvious culprit: Foreclosure cases more than doubled in the period from July 2006 through June 2007, and have climbed precipitously since then. In 2003, virtually all foreclosure cases were resolved within a year, but as of 2008, that clearance rate was down to 48.2 percent.

Most circuits have made changes to ensure that criminal and family-court cases are heard in a timely fashion, but those courts are suffering from the loss of case managers, clerks and other workers who boosted efficiency. Meanwhile, the sheer bulk of foreclosure cases is clogging other pats of the court system, and taking a serious toll on the state's economy. A 2008 study by a Washington think tank pegged Florida's economic loss due to foreclosure delays at $17 billion a year and growing.

The fiscal impact of the cuts runs through the court system. A few years ago, many counties contracted with local attorneys to serve as magistrates for traffic court, handling cases more quickly and less expensively. Now the magistrates are gone -- and county court judges are picking up those duties. In other parts of the court system, high-paid judges are performing clerical duties.

Meanwhile the Legislature has cut court budgets by 10 percent and failed to approve any new judges in the past three fiscal years. Lawmakers did make one smart move in 2008, setting up a trust fund that should eventually provide stable funding for the court system, but it's not producing enough money yet.

Florida Political News: February 28, 2010

by: Florida Politics

Sun Feb 28, 2010 at 11:01:26 AM EST

"Tallahassee could use a good scrubbing"

"Tallahassee could use a good scrubbing."

• A House speaker resigns and is indicted after funneling $6 million in college money to an airport building sought by a campaign contributor

• Cozy relationships between utility officials and Public Service Commission staff members overshadow rate cases

• The arrests of two prolific South Florida campaign fundraisers leads investigators to the capital.

• An explosion of third-party political committees makes it more difficult than ever to track political influence.

When the Florida Legislature opens its annual session Tuesday, it has an opportunity to start cleaning up the mess.

The timing is not coincidental, given it's an election year when voter confidence and trust in politicians is reaching dismal depths.

Sansom is no longer the only poster child.

Consider this string of recent corruption scandals: a guilty plea from Scott Rothstein, a South Florida Ponzi schemer and major political donor; the federal indictment of Alan Mendelsohn, a Capitol power player; an investigation of Harry Sergeant, a Republican money man with ties to Gov. Charlie Crist; and the accusations of misused funds at the state Republican Party.

Double-faced

The Saint Petersburg Times editors: "The two faces of Jeff Atwater".

"An echo of last year"

"Florida will be ringing in a new legislative session Tuesday, but what you hear from Tallahassee may sound like an echo of last year."

With expenses rising faster than revenues, lawmakers are bracing for two months of scrutinizing every agency and program in hopes of finding cuts -- a session that has House Speaker Larry Cretul echoing Yogi Berra when he called it "deja vu all over again."

Sure, there will be other issues. Offshore drilling. Expanded gambling. Property insurance. Texting while driving. And the question of what to do about the final phase of the class-size amendment also will make headlines.

But dominating it all will be questions over how to patch a budget hole as deep as $3 billion.

"Nice talking points"

"Crist wants tax cuts for businesses and consumers, Senate President Jeff Atwater is making government spending more transparent and Sen. Dave Aronberg wants tighter rules for pain management clinics to help ensure they aren't run as pill mills."

And each of the issues will make nice talking points as Crist runs for Senate, Atwater runs for chief financial officer and Aronberg runs for attorney general.

Election years can change the dynamic of a legislative session, especially when so many lawmakers are running for a higher office. Sen. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, is also running for attorney general; Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland is running for governor; Rep. Pat Patterson, R-Deland, is running for CFO; and several lawmakers are seeking seats in the U.S. House. The Legislature's annual two-month session is scheduled to begin Tuesday.

Goin' local

"Broward delegation to prioritize education, health and human services at legislative session" "Miami-Dade lawmakers ready to protect interests at legislative session".

"A tall order"

The Tallahassee Democrat editorial board: "Here in the capital city, many folks zero in on the nuances of the legislative session more than Floridians downstate."

Beyond the county line, "Tallahassee" is commonly used as a noun meaning "place of meddling minds." Or a synonym in the exasperated query, "What will Tallahassee do to us next?"

Will it dictate more, restrict us more, tax us more?

As the 2010 Florida Legislature convenes, we urge leaders to take the high road — a centrist position, abandoning briefly partisan demonizing to reaffirm what most of us know intuitively: that government responsibilities come at some cost.

As lawmakers, their job during the next two months is neither to ease the suffering of the rich nor to enable the slackers. It's to find ways for government to be efficient, reliable and fair, with all citizens sharing the costs, just as all enjoy the benefits of public health, safety, transportation and education.

It's a tall order, loaded with complexities and fraught with election-year digressions that will be many and varied, sometimes comical and outrageous.

In each community, and ours is no exception, we look to lawmakers for wise oversight of things that define our economy and quality of life, and that contribute to the greater good of the state.

RPOF "clamoring to pass ... the business lobby's wish list"

Aaron Deslatte: "The 60-day lawmaking session that starts Tuesday will open with Gov. Charlie Crist and anxious lawmakers poised to swiftly move to delay a massive unemployment-compensation tax increase slated to hit businesses by April 1."

Lawmakers are also clamoring to pass some of the top items on the business lobby's wish list: reducing red tape for development projects, boosting investment in space-related business ventures and extending more tax breaks to companies willing to create or relocate jobs in Florida.

They're eyeing tax credits for aerospace businesses, the film industry and for commercial applications of the research coming out of the state's universities and fledgling high-tech sector. They're studying additional tax credits for any employer who hires a previously unemployed worker. And they're even considering creating a program to provide loans through community banks to businesses employing 50 or fewer people — essentially, taxpayer-funded liquidity for mom-and-pop companies.

But these efforts to kick-start the private sector present Tallahassee's ruling Republicans with a vexing quandary: There's not a whole lot of evidence that the tax-and-spend levers of government can stimulate economic growth — or, at least, stimulate it quickly.

"105,000 Floridians could lose their benefits in March"

"Unemployment benefits for tens of thousands of Floridians will begin to lapse on Monday, labor advocates said Friday, because the U.S. Senate failed to pass an extension that would have kept checks flowing."

about 1.2 million Americans, including 105,000 Floridians, could lose their benefits in March without the reauthorization.

The proposed 30-day extension, part of a larger $10 billion legislative package, would not add time to the total number of weeks anyone would be eligible for unemployment. It was meant to simply prevent a handful of federal benefits programs from expiring on Sunday.

[Judy Conti, federal advocacy coordinator of the National Employment Law Project] said the proposal had broad support but was held up in the Senate by Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky.

"Half True"

"Former House Speaker Marco Rubio, now a candidate for U.S. Senate, says 57 of his famed 100 ideas are now law. But that's high under almost any definition." "100 ideas. 57 laws? Half True".

Speaking of "hacks"

Scott Maxwell is "talking about hacks. Specifically, political hacks -- on both sides of the aisle. Some want to steal your votes. Others want to fool you with fundraising pitches disguised as official government documents."

Tea partiers in a dither

"Dockery, insurgent Republican candidate for governor, is being dragged into a fracas over the Florida Tea Party that illustrates the national questions about what the movement is and its sometimes tense relations with the Republican Party."

The imbroglio involves an actual Florida political party, formed by backers of Dockery, of Lakeland, called the Tea Party.

Some movement activists say it's a bogus attempt to hijack the movement for political gain, and are suing to retain the right to the name Tea Party. Some blame Dockery.

Nationally, many tea partiers say they don't think their movement should form an organized party. Rather, they say, it should be a wave of individuals and informal groups, choosing candidates from existing parties.

However, while it remains structureless, the movement remains vulnerable to being co-opted.

Are Florida tea-partiers just another RPOF front group?

Randy Schultz: "Here's a real test for Tea Party voters in Florida."

The Tea Party has beatified former House Speaker Marco Rubio, who's running an insurgent Senate campaign against supposed Republican apostate Gov. Crist. When questioned, though, many self-proclaimed Tea Party voters claim to be unaligned. Both major parties, these voters say, are stocked with free-spending, self-serving, hypocritical politicians who, if not stopped, will turn the United States into a colony of China.

For weeks, Mr. Rubio has run with the wind at his back. Conservative Republicans called him the future of the party. At this month's Conservative Political Action Committee meeting in Washington, Mr. Rubio had the crowd chanting "Marco! Marco! Marco!" as he proclaimed for the 819th time that the federal government can't go on "spending money we don't have."

Then Marco Rubio got caught spending money he didn't have. ...

Marco Rubio stands exposed as something of a fraud on one of his major campaign issues. If the Tea Party cuts him slack, the party will look just as bad.

"Ethics crackdown should start at home "

The Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board: "It's a word that should describe fuzzy blankets and rose-covered cottages."

But in Florida, "cozy" is the phrase most often applied to the relationship between utilities and the state's Public Service Commission set up to regulate them.

That's not good for Florida consumers, who have seen significant increases in their bills for phones, power and other essentials during the past years. Some of the increases were undoubtedly justified, such as charges to repair the state's tattered electric grid after the 2004 hurricanes. Others, not so much: The 2004 decision that increased bills up to 50 percent for customers of Florida's three largest phone companies comes to mind.

The state Legislature has been complicit in some of the worst decisions.

Race to the edge

"The two men competing for the Republican nomination for Florida's open Senate seat vied for support Saturday from the powerful conservative Christian voting bloc, questioning the anti-abortion credentials and trustworthiness of their opponents. " "Candidates for Senate seat address Christian group".

"In a bid for religious right votes, Marco Rubio told a crowd at a Christian Coalition candidates forum today that Gov. Charlie Crist isn't 'pro-life.'" "Rubio: Crist not "pro-life"". Related: "Crist, Rubio trade swipes at Christian Family Coalition".

"Quirky" rankings

"Castor noted that she was 'the only Democrat who voted against the Wall Street bailout.'"

The rankings do appear quirky in spots.

Castor, for example, got an 93.2 liberal ranking, meaning the magazine rated her more liberal than 93.2 percent of her House colleagues. By comparison, Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, generally considered one of the most liberal Democrats on the national stage, got only a 65.2 ranking, and Alan Grayson of Orlando, who has developed a national reputation for tough liberal rhetoric, got a 62.8 ranking.

"A major step in the right direction"

The Sun-Sentinel editors: "It will take much more than a wide-reaching ethics code to restore voter trust in elected officials. But a proposal unanimously approved by a Broward task force last week is a major step in the right direction." "County should OK ethics proposal, and other public entities should join, too".

Big day for Dems

William March: "Democrats had a big day in St. Petersburg on Saturday, as the party's top candidates pitched campaign themes at the county party's annual fundraising dinner and at a gay-lesbian party caucus."

South Florida state Sens. Dave Aronberg and Dan Gelber, the leading Democratic candidates for attorney general, talked about their records and their commitment to gender equality issues, including adoption by gay couples, to the caucus gathering.

Gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink and senatorial candidate Kendrick Meek headlined the county party's Kennedy King Dinner.

"Democratic hopefuls tout campaign ideas".

Jebbie's dead hand

"Jeb Bush moved out of the Florida Governor's Mansion three years ago. But when it comes to school reform, it's like he never left."  "In education, accountability train is coming".

Florida Political News: February 28, 2010

by: Florida Politics

Sun Feb 28, 2010 at 10:59:19 AM EST

"Tallahassee could use a good scrubbing"

"Tallahassee could use a good scrubbing."

• A House speaker resigns and is indicted after funneling $6 million in college money to an airport building sought by a campaign contributor

• Cozy relationships between utility officials and Public Service Commission staff members overshadow rate cases

• The arrests of two prolific South Florida campaign fundraisers leads investigators to the capital.

• An explosion of third-party political committees makes it more difficult than ever to track political influence.

When the Florida Legislature opens its annual session Tuesday, it has an opportunity to start cleaning up the mess.

The timing is not coincidental, given it's an election year when voter confidence and trust in politicians is reaching dismal depths.

Sansom is no longer the only poster child.

Consider this string of recent corruption scandals: a guilty plea from Scott Rothstein, a South Florida Ponzi schemer and major political donor; the federal indictment of Alan Mendelsohn, a Capitol power player; an investigation of Harry Sergeant, a Republican money man with ties to Gov. Charlie Crist; and the accusations of misused funds at the state Republican Party.

Double-faced

The Saint Petersburg Times editors: "The two faces of Jeff Atwater".

"An echo of last year"

"Florida will be ringing in a new legislative session Tuesday, but what you hear from Tallahassee may sound like an echo of last year."

With expenses rising faster than revenues, lawmakers are bracing for two months of scrutinizing every agency and program in hopes of finding cuts -- a session that has House Speaker Larry Cretul echoing Yogi Berra when he called it "deja vu all over again."

Sure, there will be other issues. Offshore drilling. Expanded gambling. Property insurance. Texting while driving. And the question of what to do about the final phase of the class-size amendment also will make headlines.

But dominating it all will be questions over how to patch a budget hole as deep as $3 billion.

"Nice talking points"

"Crist wants tax cuts for businesses and consumers, Senate President Jeff Atwater is making government spending more transparent and Sen. Dave Aronberg wants tighter rules for pain management clinics to help ensure they aren't run as pill mills."

And each of the issues will make nice talking points as Crist runs for Senate, Atwater runs for chief financial officer and Aronberg runs for attorney general.

Election years can change the dynamic of a legislative session, especially when so many lawmakers are running for a higher office. Sen. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, is also running for attorney general; Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland is running for governor; Rep. Pat Patterson, R-Deland, is running for CFO; and several lawmakers are seeking seats in the U.S. House. The Legislature's annual two-month session is scheduled to begin Tuesday.

Goin' local

"Broward delegation to prioritize education, health and human services at legislative session" "Miami-Dade lawmakers ready to protect interests at legislative session".

"A tall order"

The Tallahassee Democrat editorial board: "Here in the capital city, many folks zero in on the nuances of the legislative session more than Floridians downstate."

Beyond the county line, "Tallahassee" is commonly used as a noun meaning "place of meddling minds." Or a synonym in the exasperated query, "What will Tallahassee do to us next?"

Will it dictate more, restrict us more, tax us more?

As the 2010 Florida Legislature convenes, we urge leaders to take the high road — a centrist position, abandoning briefly partisan demonizing to reaffirm what most of us know intuitively: that government responsibilities come at some cost.

As lawmakers, their job during the next two months is neither to ease the suffering of the rich nor to enable the slackers. It's to find ways for government to be efficient, reliable and fair, with all citizens sharing the costs, just as all enjoy the benefits of public health, safety, transportation and education.

It's a tall order, loaded with complexities and fraught with election-year digressions that will be many and varied, sometimes comical and outrageous.

In each community, and ours is no exception, we look to lawmakers for wise oversight of things that define our economy and quality of life, and that contribute to the greater good of the state.

RPOF "clamoring to pass ... the business lobby's wish list"

Aaron Deslatte: "The 60-day lawmaking session that starts Tuesday will open with Gov. Charlie Crist and anxious lawmakers poised to swiftly move to delay a massive unemployment-compensation tax increase slated to hit businesses by April 1."

Lawmakers are also clamoring to pass some of the top items on the business lobby's wish list: reducing red tape for development projects, boosting investment in space-related business ventures and extending more tax breaks to companies willing to create or relocate jobs in Florida.

They're eyeing tax credits for aerospace businesses, the film industry and for commercial applications of the research coming out of the state's universities and fledgling high-tech sector. They're studying additional tax credits for any employer who hires a previously unemployed worker. And they're even considering creating a program to provide loans through community banks to businesses employing 50 or fewer people — essentially, taxpayer-funded liquidity for mom-and-pop companies.

But these efforts to kick-start the private sector present Tallahassee's ruling Republicans with a vexing quandary: There's not a whole lot of evidence that the tax-and-spend levers of government can stimulate economic growth — or, at least, stimulate it quickly.

"105,000 Floridians could lose their benefits in March"

"Unemployment benefits for tens of thousands of Floridians will begin to lapse on Monday, labor advocates said Friday, because the U.S. Senate failed to pass an extension that would have kept checks flowing."

about 1.2 million Americans, including 105,000 Floridians, could lose their benefits in March without the reauthorization.

The proposed 30-day extension, part of a larger $10 billion legislative package, would not add time to the total number of weeks anyone would be eligible for unemployment. It was meant to simply prevent a handful of federal benefits programs from expiring on Sunday.

[Judy Conti, federal advocacy coordinator of the National Employment Law Project] said the proposal had broad support but was held up in the Senate by Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky.

"Half True"

"Former House Speaker Marco Rubio, now a candidate for U.S. Senate, says 57 of his famed 100 ideas are now law. But that's high under almost any definition." "100 ideas. 57 laws? Half True".

Speaking of "hacks"

Scott Maxwell is "talking about hacks. Specifically, political hacks -- on both sides of the aisle. Some want to steal your votes. Others want to fool you with fundraising pitches disguised as official government documents."

Tea partiers in a dither

"Dockery, insurgent Republican candidate for governor, is being dragged into a fracas over the Florida Tea Party that illustrates the national questions about what the movement is and its sometimes tense relations with the Republican Party."

The imbroglio involves an actual Florida political party, formed by backers of Dockery, of Lakeland, called the Tea Party.

Some movement activists say it's a bogus attempt to hijack the movement for political gain, and are suing to retain the right to the name Tea Party. Some blame Dockery.

Nationally, many tea partiers say they don't think their movement should form an organized party. Rather, they say, it should be a wave of individuals and informal groups, choosing candidates from existing parties.

However, while it remains structureless, the movement remains vulnerable to being co-opted.

Are Florida tea-partiers just another RPOF front group?

Randy Schultz: "Here's a real test for Tea Party voters in Florida."

The Tea Party has beatified former House Speaker Marco Rubio, who's running an insurgent Senate campaign against supposed Republican apostate Gov. Crist. When questioned, though, many self-proclaimed Tea Party voters claim to be unaligned. Both major parties, these voters say, are stocked with free-spending, self-serving, hypocritical politicians who, if not stopped, will turn the United States into a colony of China.

For weeks, Mr. Rubio has run with the wind at his back. Conservative Republicans called him the future of the party. At this month's Conservative Political Action Committee meeting in Washington, Mr. Rubio had the crowd chanting "Marco! Marco! Marco!" as he proclaimed for the 819th time that the federal government can't go on "spending money we don't have."

Then Marco Rubio got caught spending money he didn't have. ...

Marco Rubio stands exposed as something of a fraud on one of his major campaign issues. If the Tea Party cuts him slack, the party will look just as bad.

"Ethics crackdown should start at home "

The Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board: "It's a word that should describe fuzzy blankets and rose-covered cottages."

But in Florida, "cozy" is the phrase most often applied to the relationship between utilities and the state's Public Service Commission set up to regulate them.

That's not good for Florida consumers, who have seen significant increases in their bills for phones, power and other essentials during the past years. Some of the increases were undoubtedly justified, such as charges to repair the state's tattered electric grid after the 2004 hurricanes. Others, not so much: The 2004 decision that increased bills up to 50 percent for customers of Florida's three largest phone companies comes to mind.

The state Legislature has been complicit in some of the worst decisions.

Race to the edge

"The two men competing for the Republican nomination for Florida's open Senate seat vied for support Saturday from the powerful conservative Christian voting bloc, questioning the anti-abortion credentials and trustworthiness of their opponents. " "Candidates for Senate seat address Christian group".

"In a bid for religious right votes, Marco Rubio told a crowd at a Christian Coalition candidates forum today that Gov. Charlie Crist isn't 'pro-life.'" "Rubio: Crist not "pro-life"". Related: "Crist, Rubio trade swipes at Christian Family Coalition".

"Quirky" rankings

"Castor noted that she was 'the only Democrat who voted against the Wall Street bailout.'"

The rankings do appear quirky in spots.

Castor, for example, got an 93.2 liberal ranking, meaning the magazine rated her more liberal than 93.2 percent of her House colleagues. By comparison, Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, generally considered one of the most liberal Democrats on the national stage, got only a 65.2 ranking, and Alan Grayson of Orlando, who has developed a national reputation for tough liberal rhetoric, got a 62.8 ranking.

"A major step in the right direction"

The Sun-Sentinel editors: "It will take much more than a wide-reaching ethics code to restore voter trust in elected officials. But a proposal unanimously approved by a Broward task force last week is a major step in the right direction." "County should OK ethics proposal, and other public entities should join, too".

Big day for Dems

William March: "Democrats had a big day in St. Petersburg on Saturday, as the party's top candidates pitched campaign themes at the county party's annual fundraising dinner and at a gay-lesbian party caucus."

South Florida state Sens. Dave Aronberg and Dan Gelber, the leading Democratic candidates for attorney general, talked about their records and their commitment to gender equality issues, including adoption by gay couples, to the caucus gathering.

Gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink and senatorial candidate Kendrick Meek headlined the county party's Kennedy King Dinner.

Florida Political News: February 26, 2010

by: Florida Politics

Fri Feb 26, 2010 at 08:35:06 AM EST

Rubio story gets curiouser and curiouser

"Why did Ray Sansom go after a $6 million airport building that would ruin his political career?"

Marco Rubio. Or so Sansom says.

Why should a powerful state legislator use political contributions to shop at the neighborhood wine shop, visit a tony Miami barbershop and repair the family minivan? That is the question former House Speaker Marco Rubio should be answering rather than whining about how his profligate spending became public.

Hold on

"The January statistics for Florida were supposed to come out March 5, but on Thursday that was shoved back to March 10." "Florida's new unemployment rate is on hold". Related: "Fla. Gov. Crist: Priority 1 is jobs, jobs, jobs".

"Warmed over"

"Fla. lawmakers dining on warmed over issues".

Rubio vs. Crist "Messier by the day"

"The fight between Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio over the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate promises to get messier by the day." "Rubio's credit card expenses spark latest intra-party barrage".

Rate increase?

"Blue Cross of Florida Asks For Up to 14% Rate Increase".

Scandals in waiting

Mark Lane writes that, "the resignation scrubs Sansom from the daily news cycle while most voters still have no idea who he is. Whew."

But lest everybody put this behind them, the conditions that created the Sansom scandals remain unchanged. It's a situation just waiting for a player with a little more sophistication to repeat it on a grander scale.

"The best Republicans can do?"

Daniel Ruth: "This is the best Republicans can do? Really?"

Speaker-to-be Chris Dorworth's finances are such a mess he makes Ralph Kramden look like Bill Gates. And yet Dorworth's fellow House Republicans recently elected him to be the leader of the chamber come 2014, assuming he isn't living in a box down by the Wakulla River by then.

Or put another way, Republicans in the House have opted to elevate an individual to one of the three most powerful political posts in the state who is facing foreclosure of his $1.2 million home, a $2.7 million legal judgment against him and even had his driver's license temporarily suspended and failed to pay highway tolls.

This is the party of financial restraint, fiduciary responsibility, balanced budgets?

Yee haw!

"Republican officials to visit Tampa convention facilities".

Rivera jumps

"State Rep. David Rivera on Thursday became the first candidate to jump into the District 25 congressional race in Miami to replace U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, who is running for the seat being vacated by his brother, Lincoln. Rivera is expected to be followed by Sen. Alex de la Portilla, a fellow Miami Republican. Four others are considering running, which would make it one of the most crowded contests in the state."

A poll conducted by Hill Research Consulting indicates of 300 people surveyed, Diaz de la Portilla has 67 percent name recognition, whereas Rivera has 41 percent.

However, a poll by Dario Moreno Inc. of 600 likely Republican voters had Rivera with 44 percent name recognition and Diaz de la Portilla with 41 percent.

The Hill poll also tested name recognition of the others who have expressed interest or rumored to be considering running for the seat:

• Miami-Dade Commissioner Joe Martinez, 68 percent (one point higher than Diaz de la Portilla).

• Carlos Curbelo, state director for U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, 32 percent.

• Miami-Dade Commissioner Carlos Gimenez, 29 percent.

• Miami Lakes Mayor Michael Pizzi, 22 percent.

The Moreno poll also asked about state Sen. Alex Villalobos, who was recognized by 31 percent of those surveyed, and Curbelo, recognized by 11 percent.

"If only it were that easy"

"Spurred by state unemployment soon expected to top 12 percent and a political agenda keen on kick-starting a long-stalled economy, Florida lawmakers insist job creation is a priority in this legislative session. If only it were that easy." "Florida struggles to carve out new jobs".

"Republicans want this seat back. Badly"

Scott Maxwell: "Florida Republicans have had a lot of problems lately. But gathered inside a tiny art gallery near Winter Park on Wednesday night was an example of something they got right."

It was an assembly of five conservatives who have stepped up to take on Democrat U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas.

And collectively, they constitute the strongest pack of contenders in quite some time — which is just what this party needs in this high-profile race.

Their candidates' backgrounds are as diverse as their demographics. There's a city commissioner, a state legislator, a former CEO, a general contractor and the profession that seems to be mandatory whenever two or more politicians gather: a lawyer. The group includes two women, one black man and a mix of establishment players and rabble-rousers.

In other words, Republicans will have real choice.

Republicans want this seat back. Badly. They feel as though it was designed for them because, well, it was.

Sink piles on

"Amid a backdrop of recent political scandals, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink on Thursday joined the chorus calling for sweeping ethics reforms in Florida."

Sink, the leading Democratic candidate for governor, outlined an 11-point plan designed to restore trust in government "after a never-ending slew of continued scandals.''

"The people of Florida -- it's easy to see they've lost faith in government, so I believe it's past time to change the rules,'' she said.

The proposals take aim at the culture of corruption on display in the last year -- from the resignation and indictment of former House Speaker Ray Sansom and the financial calamity at the Republican Party of Florida to the guilty plea of Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein, who cut big checks to Sink, the Democratic Party and numerous GOP officials that were later returned.

Seizing on the controversy surrounding the GOP credit cards, Sink called for full disclosure of all party statements. Republican Party officials are refusing to release them.

Texts and tweets

The Tallahassee Democrat editorial board: "As the 2010 Legislature opens for business, the texts and tweets will be flying fast and furiously. And they're not private, regardless of how discreet and personal social-networking seems to be." "Tweet-tweet".

Florida Political News: February 21, 2010

by: Florida Politics

Sun Feb 21, 2010 at 09:47:31 AM EST

RPOF's Sansom and credit card scandals move to front burner

"Republicans are riding high following surprise electoral wins in the Northeast, President Barack Obama's slipping popularity and unexpected retirements in the U.S. Senate that give the GOP new hope of regaining control of Congress."

But in Florida, chaos in the state party is making it difficult for Republican activists to partake in the confidence surge that is sweeping the party nationally.

At a time when Republicans should be preparing for victory in the fall, top activists were being summoned to Orlando for an emergency meeting Saturday to choose a new party leader who will have to manage the GOP through a mindfield of potentially explosive financial and ethical controversies over the next nine months.

Even with John Thrasher chosen as the chairman Saturday, party regulars still face serious inner turmoil, worries about what they will find on secret credit cards the previous chairman handed out and concerns over the list of Republican witnesses former House Speaker and fellow Republican Ray Sansom has threatened to bring before an ethics panel scheduled to start Monday.

Already, the credit cards, which as many as 60 Republican leaders may have had, have shown lavish spending on meals, travel and golf outings. ...

While some GOP activists want all of the credit card statements opened to the public to get to the bottom of the budding crisis, others fear opening them will be embarrassing for elected officials who had the cards.

Baby Jebbie comes to Rubio's rescue

"Jeb Bush Jr. [has written, or has had ghost written (who knows)] a letter to The Miami Herald in response to a biting column by Carl Hiaasen about U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio" "Herald Blog: Jeb Bush Jr. comes to Rubio's defense".

RPOFer head calls Florida's 4.7M Dems "the enemy"

"After weeks of angst over lavish spending and secret deals, Florida Republicans turned to a GOP stalwart [State Sen. John Thrasher, a 66-year-old former House speaker from Clay County ] Saturday to help lift the cloud of financial scandal hanging over the party." "Florida Republicans elect Thrasher to lead state party, root out scandal". See also "Thrasher to lead RPOF" and "State Sen. Thrasher is new state Republican Party chair".

"Our enemy is the liberal media and the Democrats," Thrasher told the committee."

It was a secret ballot, and Thrasher said he would make no effort to find out who supported him, Day or Cross.

"Folks, the fractioning of our party stops today," he said. "There is going to be no more leadership versus membership, no more 'electeds' versus grassroots, no more Legislature versus rank and file."

Lawson issued a statement saying he was "very concerned" by Thrasher's comments.

"In his comments, Sen. Thrasher referred to voters that register with the Democratic Party as his enemy," said Lawson. "John Thrasher's language is beyond the pale and offensive to the nearly 4.7 million voters who identify themselves as Florida Democrats."

Did the Republican Party of Florida just go from bad to worse? When Jim Greer stepped down as chairman amid charges he treated the party’s piggy bank the way the Duvaliers treated Haiti, activists in the GOP base shouted with glee. Greer was not just a guy with caviar tastes and an uncontrollable fear of President Obama’s mesmerizing power over schoolchildren. He was also BFFs with Charlie Crist, the dreaded HUGGER OF OBAMA.

So, the qaida demanded that the party not just anoint another insider fat cat, but rather, that they listen to the voices of "the people" — and choose someone approved of by the grass roots.

Problem: the fat cats, apparently including Jeb Bush, wanted State Sen. John Thrasher (Jebbie helped him win his Senate seat just last year), and so today, it’s Thrasher they got. Funny thing about that though … Thrasher (who was already interim chairman) doesn’t seem like much of an improvement, if by "improvement" you mean the appearance of better ethics.

Sansom

The Palm Beach Post editors: "Former Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom, R-Destin, and two co-defendants face grand theft charges in criminal court. Rep. Sansom has argued that to protect his legal rights, the House should postpone misconduct hearings against him until the criminal cases are finished. That's nonsense. The House Select Committee on Standards of Official Conduct has a duty to proceed." "Start judgment of Sansom: No reason to delay ex-speaker's ethics hearings".

RPOFers called on political stunt

"A back-to-school sales tax holiday supported by the governor and legislative leaders is a bad idea that will have little impact on the state's struggling economy. That's not the opinion of some liberal group bashing the policies of the Republican leadership. Instead it's a tart assessment from the Tax Foundation, a Washington, D.C., research group known for its conservative fiscal policies." "D.C. group blasts Florida sales tax holiday".

Laff riot

Klein can relax if this is the best the GOP can do: "Republican congressional hopeful Allen West makes a splash at CPAC".

Amendment 4

The Orlando Sentinel editorial board doesn't "want to see Amendment 4 pass, which is why it's so mystifying when governments keep repeating the mistakes that gave birth to this bad idea. Defeating Hometown Democracy isn't as hard as they might think. Here are a few suggestions that will go a long way:"

Stop approving the very type of development that residents hate [and] Strengthen growth-management laws instead of gutting them. There's still time in their upcoming session for legislators to pass a bill that requires local officials to muster a voting super-majority to alter their land-use plans. That surely would reduce the 8,000 to 10,000 times that city councils and county commissions now try to modify them.

Big talk ... where's the cash?

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board: "New Florida, which has the backing of the Council of 100 business group, seeks to double the state's university system budget to roughly $4 billion by 2015. The plan calls for investing half the new money in producing degrees and research in the fields most closely associated with knowledge-based economies: science, technology, engineering and mathematics." "'New Florida' offers new hope".

Bad unions

Media company employee Fred Grimm wants you to know that teachers unions (you know, the teachers democratically selected by other teachers teachers, to represent them viz. their employers) are bad: "Teachers union's smear campaign misses target".

Innocence commission neeeded

The Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board observes that, "in recent years, a string of high-profile exonerations -- some sparked by DNA testing, others by dogged investigation -- have forced policymakers to confront the ugly reality."

Innocent people are being sent to prison. Not many, but one is too many -- and Florida has seen 11 cases overturned by DNA evidence, with more in the pipeline. State leaders should ask why. Examining overturned cases reveals common elements. Other states have launched innocence commissions to systematically study wrongful convictions, and suggest changes to the criminal-justice system.

He can't get enuf'

"Young will run again".

Bad company

"Days after his CPAC speech, Rubio will appear with Karl Rove at a dinner Sunday for the Legacy Political Fund, a PAC that supports candidates who 'embrace a compassionate conservative ideology.'" "Rubio and Rove to share stage in D.C.".

Tea-baggers in a dither

"For the first time in years, the nation's 1 million or so farmworkers will get a real measure of fairness in how they are hired, paid and treated on the job."

Last week, U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis outlined new rules for the temporary immigrant farmworkers program known as H-2A for the type of visa that foreign workers are issued. Solis said these changes would boost wages and tighten protections for American and foreign laborers.

With these changes, growers will be required to prove they first tried to find American workers to fill jobs that routinely are given to migrants. In the past, they could claim they looked for American workers. They now must prove they conducted legitimate job searches. To this end, the Labor Department will establish a national electronic registry of farm jobs.

Growers nationwide are fuming over the new rules, calling them cumbersome and costly.

Soft on corruption?

"Critics for years have labeled Broward County State Attorney Mike Satz as soft on public corruption."

"Public corruption is his underbelly, his soft spot," said longtime defense attorney Hilliard Moldof. "It's not on his radar."

But what does the record show?

An extensive public records review by the Sun Sentinel reveals that in the past 10 years, a special anti-corruption unit in Satz's office has filed cases against 218 defendants for alleged acts of official misconduct, bribe-taking, theft and other abuses of positions of trust.

Only 13 of the accused have been sitting politicians. Most of the criminal charges have been against rank-and-file public employees or law enforcement officers, lawyers and other licensed professionals. In some cases, the alleged crimes might seem minor — stolen library DVDs, embezzled turnpike tolls.

Hiaasen on "the party that snuggles up to Big Business"

Carl Hiaasen: "The U.S. Supreme Court has made it infinitely easier for candidates to sell themselves to special interests, who in return will peddle those candidates to voters."

Here in Florida, where oil companies are pushing hard for offshore drilling, the Supreme Court's decision opens bountiful opportunities to incumbent officeholders and newcomers alike.

Although coastal drilling remains an unpopular concept in most beachside communities, any candidate for federal office who supports it could probably count on Exxon-Mobil or Shell to come up with some slick and persuasive commercials, which would be blared over and over and over . . .

The old campaign-finance laws had holes as wide as the Holland Tunnel, but there were limits. Now it's a free-for-all.

The reason is no mystery -- the Republicans have traditionally been the party that snuggles up to Big Business, and they stand to gain the most from this opening of the floodgates. ...

Two Democrats, Sen. Charles Schumer of New York and Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, are leading an effort to pass a new campaign finance law in advance of the November elections.

They want to make corporations tell shareholders what they're spending on political races, and they also want top executives to appear in campaign ads being funded by their companies.

Knowing who paid for political commercials would definitely make them more informative, but neither the corporations nor their stooge candidates will be eager to advertise the cozy relationship. ...

If you thought the airwaves were polluted during the 2008 campaign, just wait until the fall. Political ads will be even more deceptive, nasty, insulting and abundant -- all the free speech that big money can buy.

That's dreary news for voters, but good news for a certain breed of politician.

Grubbing for wingnuts

Scott Maxwell: "Last week, the state stepped up its taxpayer-financed fight to prevent a South Florida woman from adopting one of her own relatives."

It didn't matter to Charlie Crist's Department of Children and Family Services that the 1-year-old boy at the heart of the case is thriving in the home of his 34-year-old cousin, who he calls "Mama."

It didn't matter that everyone who studied the case — from a child psychologist to the state-appointed guardian ad litem — testified that staying with his Mama was "in the best interest" of the child.

All Crist's DCF officials cared about was that Vanessa Alenier was gay.

So last week, they stepped up their efforts to block the adoption, appealing the ruling of a judge who said every single piece of evidence presented suggested the adoption should proceed.

The family is obviously distressed.

But for Crist, the political benefits could be plentiful.

Our governor, after all, is in the midst of a brutal primary race, desperate to prove to his base that he's no namby-pamby social moderate.

Daily Rothstein

"Bankruptcy lawyers handling the financial fallout from Scott Rothstein's mega Ponzi scheme are taking issue with the way federal prosecutors are dealing with the convicted felon's multi-million dollar properties."

Of particular concern: Rothstein's wife Kimberly is still managing some of the houses and is living rent-free in one of them, the attorneys wrote in court filings Friday.

"It has recently come to the attention [of the lawyers] that the government has apparently delegated its duty to properly manage and safeguard certain of the property subject to forfeiture to Scott Rothstein's wife – Kimberly Rothstein," wrote Paul Singerman, one of the attorneys handling the case for the bankruptcy trustee.

"More specifically, the [lawyers] have learned that the government has permitted Kimberly Rothstein to live rent free in one of the forfeited properties and to continue to rent out other properties to tenants," Singerman wrote.

Overpayment?

Mike Mayo: "Did Davie overpay for powerful Forman family’s land?".

"Federal water grab"

Mike Thomas: "The great federal water grab is on."

At stake is the right of states to turn their lakes and rivers into snot.

Florida, which has been doing this for decades, has become the test case for what would be a major expansion of Washington's power as the feds plan a pollution crackdown.

If the intervention here succeeds, the Environmental Protection Agency will invade other states.

This is all part of a pent-up demand for green power from Washington, stifled under George W. Bush and now unleashed by Barack Obama.

The EPA already has moved on air pollution with proposals to regulate carbon dioxide and increase limits on ozone.

It has conquered the air and now comes the water.

Call it socialism.

Call it cleaning up the place.

Call me conflicted.

Florida Political News: February 20, 2010

by: Florida Politics

Sat Feb 20, 2010 at 10:50:19 AM EST

RPOF "mired in infighting, financial scandal and suspicion"

"Florida Republicans will try to turn the page on their state party's embattled chairman and elect a new leader today, but the potentially divisive vote and lingering questions about party spending could make for more drama."

Both leading candidates for chairman — longtime party activist and Republican national committeewoman Sharon Day and state Sen. John Thrasher — voiced confidence they had the votes to win, but in a secret ballot with more than 250 eligible voters, anything can happen.

The once mighty and disciplined Florida GOP has been mired in infighting, financial scandal and suspicion for much of the year. It's unclear whether electing a new leader puts an end to the division, as the race to succeed Jim Greer to a large extent pits the Tallahassee establishment backing Thrasher against the longtime grass roots activists backing Day.

In hindsight, it seems pretty tame.

Since January, the GOP has been rocked by a financial scandal that has stunned its members. Reports of private jets, five-star hotels and secret contracts have tainted the party, delighted Democrats and spurred calls for a criminal investigation.

And as the party meets todayin Orlando to replace ousted Chairman Jim Greer, the revelations threaten anyone tied to the party's establishment.

RPOFer "financial collapse"

"A scandal over alleged misuse of state Republican Party money and credit cards, formerly a tempest in the party teapot, is threatening to boil over and affect the party's 2010 election chances. Republicans statewide are outraged and looking for someone to blame for what appears to be the financial collapse of their party."

"How can we, with any credibility, claim to be the party of fiscal responsibility and standing up against wasteful spending, if we can't do it within our own party?" said Hernando County party chairman Blaise Ingoglia. "We can't earn people's trust without fixing that. The first step on the road to recovery is admitting we had a problem."

But at the same time party leaders and candidates are demanding an open accounting, they're also worried about public relations damage from information that may come out.

Gleeful Democrats as well as some 2010 GOP candidates, are calling for full release of records, including Gov. Charlie Crist, running for U.S. Senate, and state Sen. Paula Dockery, running for governor.

"The party would do itself a great favor if it would just release the information," said Dockery.

"If there's nothing to it, then why don't we come clean and prove there's nothing to it? If there is something, then why don't we come clean and get past it?"

Others are reluctant, including Crist's primary opponent Marco Rubio, and Attorney General Bill McCollum, frontrunner in the primary for governor.

Debate debate

"Rather than actually have a debate with each other, Gov. Charlie Crist and former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio are having a debate about where and when to hold a debate in the Republican U.S. Senate race." "Crist, Rubio debate over debate".

"Crist and Marco Rubio apparently will conduct the first debate of their Senate primary campaign March 28 on Fox News Channel. Republican Party organizations in Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties, however, have also asked the two to hold a debate at Tampa's Pepin Center in May. The campaigns, meanwhile, are trading accusations that each candidate is afraid to debate the other." "Crist, Rubio camps dicker over debates".

Whooppee!!!

"Brown-Waite announces re-election bid".

"What to do next"?

The Tallahassee Democrat editorial board: "The increase in a tax that goes into a trust fund to compensate unemployed workers appears to be on a slow track for the time being. That should be of help to Florida businesses and, indirectly, Florida workers who have been laid off."

House and Senate committees on Wednesday unanimously approved legislation (HB 7033 and SB 1666) that would delay the unemployment compensation tax increase for two years. Notice of the sudden jump for business owners came this winter after the state's fund to pay laid-off workers bottomed out. It went broke last summer as the number of unemployed Floridians hit record highs. The jobless rate in Florida is now approaching 12 percent.

If business owners have to pay substantially more into this trust fund, they'd have to hold off on hiring employees — or possibly even retaining current workers. So the conundrum has been painful on both sides of the fence.

Eventually, the trust fund will have to be replenished — including enough to pay back $1.1 billion borrowed from the federal government to keep the compensation checks coming.

What to do next is the question. And when is "next"?

Sansom

"A spokesman for the Florida Democratic Party helped write a citizen complaint that served as the basis for a House investigation into Republican Rep. Ray Sansom's dealings with a Panhandle college." "Democratic Party helped coordinate Sansom complaint". Related: "Other House speakers brought home bacon, but Sansom brought trouble". See also "Investigating House committee prepared for Sansom hearing".

"Nauseated by politicians' freeloading ways"

The Sun-Sentinel editorial board: "South Floridians nauseated by politicians' freeloading ways will be singing a Hallelujah chorus at the latest silver lining to emerge from local political corruption scandals: Elected officials are getting increasingly gun shy about accepting freebies." "Politicians finally saying no to freebies".

"Staggering unemployment"

"Staggering unemployment during an election year means the pressure on state leaders to spur job growth couldn't be greater." "State leaders limited in ways to create jobs but 'heat is on'".

"An outrage then and now"

The Tampa Tribune editorial board: "A year ago the Florida Legislature made it easier for developers to deplete public water supplies and destroy wetlands. Lawmakers changed the law that gave the state's water management district governing boards the final say in permitting and gave full authority to take final action on permit applications to the districts' executive directors. In effect, they shut the public out of the process. It was an outrage then and now." "Tipping the deck in favor of the public".

HD 58

"3 vie for state House District 58 seat".

Florida first in foreclosures

"The news is not that Florida leads the nation in foreclosures, even though it does. The story now is by how much. And how bad it's gotten. Here goes: The number of home loans in foreclosure in Florida at the end of last year was 44 percent higher than at the end of 2008." "Florida foreclosures soar". See also "HeFlorida (again) leads in foreclosures".

Miami mess

"Miami's top administrator stepped down, leaving his successor to oversee a crippling budget crisis and a widening federal probe into the city's finances." "Miami city manager resigns amid money mess".

Rum war

"At issue is a deal that would bring a rum producer -- and jobs and tax revenue -- to the Virgin Islands."

But Puerto Rico is crying foul, saying the deal represents a taxpayer handout to Diageo, the British liquor giant that owns Captain Morgan, and could cost Puerto Rico as much as $6 billion in lost rum tax revenues over the next three decades.

Florida Sen. Bill Nelson is said to be drafting legislation aimed at blocking the deal, enraging allies of the Virgin Islands, including the National Black Chamber of Commerce, which fired off a letter to Nelson saying his intervention would hurt the only African-American majority territory in the United States.

The group also accuses Florida Sen. George LeMieux of joining the campaign on Puerto Rico's behalf.

A spokesman for Nelson said ``a number of lawmakers question the wisdom of using billions of dollars of American taxpayers' money to build a rum plant in the Virgin Islands for a foreign company.'' ...

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Maurice Ferre, a native of Puerto Rico who is trailing in the polls, has sought to turn the controversy into a campaign issue, estimating there are 750,000 Puerto Ricans in Florida -- a potent voting bloc. Ferre has criticized his primary rival, Rep. Kendrick Meek, for not siding with Puerto Rico.

A spokesman for Meek said he was still reviewing the issue.

"The year for watershed protection?"

The Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board: "State lawmakers say all the right things about protecting the springs, preserving fragile aquatic life, assuring the continued attraction of these natural wonders to tourists. But they just can't seem to bring themselves to restrict development and pollution in spring watersheds." "Clean springs".

Florida Political News: February 19, 2010

by: Florida Politics

Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 07:17:05 AM EST

Rubio embarrasses himself

"The Tea Party's choice in the Florida Republican primary, Marco Rubio, began his address to a crowd of conservative conventioneers by taking a shot at President Obama for reading from a teleprompter."

He did it while standing in front of two easily visible teleprompters.

It was unclear whether the devices were placed there for him or for other speakers at the Conservative Political Action Committee conference, or CPAC, at which he was a keynote speaker. A HuffPost reporter, however, watched his speech from the front row and Rubio could clearly be seen looking intently and repeatedly at the teleprompters. He also had a stack of papers with him at the lectern and flipped through them as the speech progressed, perhaps unwilling to take any chance he would flub the swipe at Obama.

The first major speaker at CPAC -- a mecca of conservative thinkers and activists -- Rubio drew a crowd that packed a hotel ballroom in Washington, each attendee eager to get a glimpse of the man who has come to personify conservative re-ascendance in the age of Obama. The speech itself was a rather standard red meat affair, with the expected swipes at his primary rival, Gov. Charlie Crist, and even more at the president and his administration.

When he spoke about capturing terrorists, one audience member had a suggestion.

"Waterboard them!" the man yelled.

Rubio smiled, and the audience laughed.

Yaaawwwnnn ...

"Jeb Bush Predicts 'Tsunami' For Republicans In November".

"Where's our trusty attorney general? MIA"

Scott Maxwell argues that the RPOF "may want to rethink their decision to pin all their chances on two-time loser Bill McCollum."

This is, after all, a time when residents are sick of the status quo, career politicians and toe-the-line partisanship. McCollum epitomizes all three.

He wants to fix rotten big government — and wants even more for you to ignore the fact that he has been part of said government for 30 years.

Republicans have other options. State Sen. Paula Dockery is a no-nonsense leader who commands respect from both sides of the aisle and makes Democrats nervous.

Or, if the GOP kingmakers are hell-bent on McCollum, they should persuade him at least to act like he gives a flip about good government, transparency, social justice — heck, just about anything other than his 15th campaign for public office.

Most recently, McCollum has come under fire in his current job as attorney general for showing no interest in investigating the credit-card scandals in the Republican Party of Florida.

Basically, public officials are prohibited from taking gifts from special interests. Yet, now it looks as if multiple legislators had Florida GOP-issued American Express cards that special interests were helping pay off.

So where's our trusty attorney general? MIA.

The usual suspects

"Citrus growers, cattle ranchers, sugar farmers and utility operators told federal environmental regulators Thursday that they are all for keeping rivers and lakes clean, but they don't want to go broke doing it."

The overriding fear was cost. A coalition of foes -- including Associated Industries of Florida, Florida Farm Bureau, Florida Chamber of Commerce, Florida Stormwater Association, Florida Tax Watch, Sugarcane Growers Cooperative of Florida and some 60 other organizations that collectively wield considerable political clout -- has put the estimate at $50 billion, a staggering price tag for a state reeling from a collapsed housing market and high unemployment.

The EPA's economic analysis put costs at no more than $140 million a year -- only $5 million to $10 million more than rules proposed by Florida's Department of Environmental Protection.

Entrepreneurs in action

Fred Grimm: "Ghosts don't work cheap in Miami-Dade County."

Wackenhut, according to the county auditor in 2008, had billed the county millions for phantom security guards along the Metrorail line -- "ghosts posts'' they were called, back when naïve taxpayers mistook this practice for scandalous duplicity.

The county even sued, feigning an interest in recovering the ghost money. That suit was in addition to a 2005 whistle-blower lawsuit filed by a Wackenhut sergeant who claimed she was fired for exposing the ethereal nature of her fellow security guards.

Wackenhut, meanwhile, sued the county back, claiming the ghostly allegations had besmirched the company's reputation.

But it looked as if a powerful vendor finally might be made to pay for its sins, despite Wackenhut's cadre of powerful lobbyists (including the conflicted Carrie Meek, the former congresswoman collecting checks from both the county and the company).

Retribution, as it turns out, was just another illusion.

The Miami-Dade Commission will consider a settlement of the Wackenhut imbroglio on Thursday. The headline will say that Wackenhut agreed to pay $7.5 million. A spectral voice in the background whispers, "Beware of the details.''

More entrepreneurs in action

The Orlando Sentinel editorial board: "With her organization under intense scrutiny for sweetheart deals and inflated executive compensation, how did Florida's Blood Centers CEO Anne Chinoda react? She accepted a 13 percent hike in her already bloated pay package last year. Amid the worst recession in decades. And less than two months before the nonprofit decided to lay off 42 employees." "Resign, Ms. Chinoda".

PSC ethics

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board: "It's too early to declare victory for Florida utility consumers. But the state Senate is poised to approve next month the most sweeping ethics reforms in the history of the Public Service Commission. Now House Speaker Larry Cretul just needs to make sure his chamber follows suit." "Reforms at PSC overdue".

No deal for Sansom

"Unable to reach a deal to avert a spectacle that could embarrass some of the state's top politicians, the Florida House plans to begin its disciplinary hearing of Rep. Ray Sansom next week." And

there could be plenty of drama.

Sansom has scheduled as witnesses several current and former lawmakers, including former House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-Miami, and future Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Melboune.

Both men, and others, say they will testify if needed. But the mere fact of being put under oath in a messy ethics investigation could prove uncomfortable, particularly for Rubio, who is surging in his U.S. Senate race against Gov. Charlie Crist.

Among the potential witnesses for House prosecutor Melanie Hines is former Sen. Lisa Carlton, R-Osprey, who worked closely with Sansom in putting together the state budgets in 2007 and 2008. Carlton has told investigators that had she known the $6 million could have benefited Odom's corporate jet business, she would not have signed off on it. Sansom has said the money was solely for an emergency management and training center at the airport.

"Give me Marco Rubio or give me death!"

Joel Engelhardt writes about "how to pull off a good ol' American grass-roots political movement. In the 1960s, drugged-up youths took to the streets, and the FBI feared a Soviet plot. Now, sober-minded Americans take to the streets and deny that they're part of a political plot. Unless you count FreedomWorks."

"Media Matters, a liberal watchdog group, has tracked some FreedomWorks money."

The Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation [DeVos also owns the Orlando Magic], financed by the Amway fortune, gave $100,000 in 2007. The Sarah Scaife Foundation — remember Hillary Clinton and the "vast right-wing conspiracy" that now seems so quaint? — gave $200,000.

On Tuesday, 50 leaders of the supposedly leaderless Tea Party met with Republican National Party Chairman Michael Steele. It was a great chance for Tea Partiers to tell Republicans where to get off. After all, Tea Partiers know that the GOP needs them more than they need the GOP. For Mr. Steele, it was a great chance to link Republicans to the Tea Party.

He should know better. The Tea Party isn't about political parties. It's about do-it-yourself venting. With the help of patriotic organizations — nonpartisan or not — like FreedomWorks, anyone can set the water to boil. I'm hard at work on my slogan — "Give me Marco Rubio or give me death!" — and ready to party.

Nelson speaks to "the cancer cluster in the Acreage"

"U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson called on mustering the 'full research capability of the federal government' to find the cause of the cancer cluster in the Acreage." "Nelson: Acreage cancer cluster deserves federal government's 'full research capability'".

Statewide space symposium

"A statewide space symposium convened by Gov. Charlie Crist in Orlando on Thursday heard repeatedly from industry executives, academics and experts that Florida had to adapt to a new U.S. national space policy that favored commercial rocket companies or give up its ambitions to be a world-class launch center." "At Charlie Crist’s space summit, Florida space backers told to get with Obama's program, let go of the past".

Local election laws

The Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board writes this morning: "Florida's elections system was crafted around local control. State government provides a basic legal framework, but elected supervisors in each county choose the equipment, hire the pollworkers and oversee ballot counts. It's not a perfect system -- but it's better than the alternative of overly politicized management from Tallahassee. The elections debacles of the last decade, and the slowness of the state Legislature to pass meaningful reforms to elections laws, prove the value of local input."

In 2006 -- in the midst of headline-grabbing debates over the accuracy of electronic voting systems -- Sarasota voters decided to exercise that prerogative. They approved a charter amendment that required paper ballots and set up a system of audits and potential recounts in close or disputed elections.

Voters there weren't trying to buck state elections laws; they just wanted more assurance that their votes would be handled accurately. What they got was a lawsuit -- filed by the Florida Division of Elections and Secretary of State Kurt Browning, saying that Sarasotans had been too presumptuous.

Last week, the Florida Supreme Court smacked down that argument, ruling that local voters have the right to demand higher standards of vote integrity and that the bulk of the Sarasota rules posed no conflict with state law. The court did discard one provision, which kept county officials from certifying votes to the state until all challenges had been resolved -- but other than that, Sarasota's elections will be held to a higher standard than those of other counties.

Greer to show at booting out ceremony

"Ousted Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer says he's coming to Saturday's executive committee meeting to preside over the election of his replacement."

But Greer will leave the party with only a handshake.

Party officials acknowledged Wednesday that there were negotiations to continue paying Greer his yearly $130,000 salary and other benefits as severance. But they said the agreement was never formally "executed." Greer's ouster was precipitated by lavish spending, subpar fundraising and a grassroots rebellion.

As recently as last weekend, Greer had been expected to avoid the meeting and the furor over a secret fundraising contract he inked with former Executive Director Delmar Johnson that boosted Johnson's pay last year to at least $408,000. Greer also spent lavishly on charter planes and fancy restaurants. ...

But Greer, who has refused to comment since the Johnson news broke, has told party officials he'll be there. And if he shows, Greer may have to answer a question many RPOF executive committee members have been asking: whether he got any part of the nearly $200,000 in fundraising commissions secretly steered to Johnson last year.

Florida Political News: February 17, 2010

by: Florida Politics

Wed Feb 17, 2010 at 07:55:07 AM EST

What is McCollum hiding?

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board: "Florida Republican leaders are struggling to contain a brewing scandal within the state party by shifting money and dodging questions. "

Too many of them believe stonewalling will silence critics who include many of the party's own grass roots supporters. It's time for state and federal authorities to investigate to determine if campaign finance and tax laws have been broken.

The most obvious question is whether state Republican Party staffers, leaders and elected officials misspent political contributions for personal gain — and should have paid taxes on that compensation. Millions of dollars in soft money has been raised by the party in recent years. Much of it, apparently, went to pay American Express bills that were never fully disclosed in campaign finance reports. While state law requires such transparency, an elections division ruling let the party off the hook.

He's content to let the next state party chairman, due to be elected this weekend, conduct an internal audit before calling the authorities in. Surely many of the entities that the attorney general investigates wish they were given such leeway to clean up their books. McCollum's office is likely not the appropriate state agency to investigate — a state attorney, statewide grand jury or the Florida Department of Law Enforcement would seem more likely — but his answer suggests he's more interested in saving the party embarrassment than getting at the truth.

Setbacks for Sansom

"State Rep. Ray Sansom's attempt to have a fellow lawmaker removed from a panel investigating his ties to a state college has failed, and Sansom's defense was handed two other setbacks late Tuesday."

Sansom argued Monday that Rep. Joe Gibbons, D-Hallandale Beach, had a conflict of interest because he works for the same law firm as the lawyer representing witnesses for Northwest Florida State College.

Sansom, R-Destin, also said Gibbons was biased because he told a reporter that Sansom could be trying to delay the tribunal.

But Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, the chairman of the five-member committee, said Tuesday night that Gibbons could stay because the review was not like a judicial setting, but instead a review by Sansom's colleagues. He added that Gibbons' statements did not rise to the extreme and stressed that any disciplinary action would be voted on by the 120-member House.

As head of the House budget, Sansom steered $35 million in extra or accelerated money to Northwest Florida State College, including $6 million for an airport building that a developer at one point was eyeing for his corporate jet business. He later took a $110,000 job at the school on the same day he was sworn in as speaker of the House.

The tribunal is to begin Monday, and Sansom will be limited by a decision Galvano made Tuesday granting a motion by the House's special prosecutor, Melanie Hines.

PSC ethics

"A bill to raise ethical standards at the Public Service Commission sailed through the Senate Rules Committee on Tuesday, clearing the way for Senate floor debate as early as the first week of the 2010 session next month." "Bill to reform PSC ethics earns quick endorsement".

Sink gets frugal

"Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, a Democratic candidate for governor, continued Tuesday to emphasize the theme of a more-businesslike approach to state government. To save money, the former bank executive is calling on state agencies to eliminate jobs of middle managers as they retire or quit." "Sink emphasizes cost-saving measures for state agencies". See also "Sink wants to thin state's bureaucratic herd".

Meantime, Billy bares his fangs: "It didn’t take long for Attorney General Bill McCollum’s campaign to slap Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink’s proposal to save $10 million a year by leaving her agency’s middle management positions unfilled after workers retire or leave the state. The GOP candidate for governor’s campaign called Sink’s announcement a political publicity stunt by her official state office." "UPDATE: Sink-McCollum smackdown, Part II".

"The right to participate"?

"A Tallahassee appellate court will soon weigh in on whether Florida's Sunshine Law gives citizens the right to be participants, not merely spectators, in government meetings." "Court to decide public's right to speak, be heard".

Entrepreneurs in action

The Miami Herald editorial board: ""

The hotel bellman worked without breaks for a 16-hour shift when he was asked, but didn't get the contracted gratuity in his paycheck.

A landscape subcontractor promised Guatemalan workers $100 a day for a week's work but disappeared on pay day.

People in low-paying jobs -- U.S.-born and migrants alike -- are overly susceptible to unscrupulous employers who exploit them, as the South Florida Wage Theft Task Force has found.

Activists call this "wage theft,'' and they have enlisted Miami-Dade Commissioner Natacha Seijas to their cause. The result is a county ordinance, cosponsored by Commissioners Audrey Edmonson and Jose "Pepe'' Diaz, prohibiting wage theft. The County Commission will consider the ordinance on Thursday. Commissioners should adopt it.

Recovering back wages owed workers will put more money in the local economy, send a message to crooked employers and create a more level playing field for honest employers.

Yaaawwwnnn ...

"Bushes in Naples: George W. and Jeb show personal side in appearance".

Paper or plastic?

"Should plastic shopping bags be banned? A state panel addressed the question, but offered no answer Tuesday." "Report could spur debate on plastic-bag ban in Florida".

Tea partiers in a dither

Jeremy Wallace: "Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele was still at a summit with tea party activists in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, when people connected to the movement hatched plans to protest his arrival in Charlotte County for meetings with top Republican fundraisers later this week." "Tea party to protest Republicans".

Foreclosures

"Hispanics hit hard by foreclosure".

Swine flu

The Sun-Sentinel editorial board: "Swine flu no big deal in Florida thanks to efforts to thwart it".

"Florida hasn't reaped much"

The Orlando Sentinel editorial board: "It's easy to find fault with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act a year after President Obama signed it. Florida hasn't reaped much from it."

The act's worst excesses, its expenditures that have little to do with creating jobs and more to do with letting lawmakers fatten their favorite constituencies, continue to pop up.

Exhibit A: $325,394 in stimulus money for the University of Florida to determine how the environment affects the mating decisions of female cactus-bugs.

The project has created one research technician's job. Defenders of the project say it could uncover a hormone in the insect that may aid medicine. And that would create jobs … how?

We'd also love to hear from anyone who can explain how $59,845 in stimulus money for Florida International University graduate students to analyze an explosion of lawsuits in 17th-century Peru and Mexico is going to put 21st-century Floridians back to work.

Several other handouts from Washington that on the surface might seem to have public value — $34,000 for Oviedo police to buy 42 Tasers, for instance — similarly chafe us because they simply don't do anything to get the state working again. ...

It has, by state and federal accounts, saved or created about 35,000 jobs in Florida.

But in 2009, the state lost 1.1 million jobs and unemployment rose to 11.8 percent from 9.4 percent. Which leads to our greatest frustration with the Recovery Act — the sometimes slow-as-molasses spending of its billions. Florida ranks 47th in spending its federal-stimulus largess.

NASA

"Sometime next month, if all goes well, a 154-foot-tall white rocket will rise from a launchpad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in a crucial test of the ambitions of upstart space company SpaceX —- and of President Barack Obama's new policy for NASA." "SpaceX rocket launch: SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch will be test of commercial space business".

Florida Political News: February 15, 2010

by: Florida Politics

Mon Feb 15, 2010 at 09:36:59 AM EST

RPOFers quaking in their Plus fours

"Tea Partiers could be sliding into an increasingly influential position as their stock as a coveted voter bloc rises, and they know it. Elaine Thompson, head of the Jackson County Tea Party, for instance, says her group’s e-mail list has grown to about 800." "Tea Party influence increasing as membership grows".

CD2

"When it comes to Panhandle politics — in both physical stature and clout — Al Lawson looms large."

A state lawmaker for 27 years, the Tallahassee Democrat is the longest serving member of the state Legislature, having risen through the ranks to Senate minority leader. Lawson is now making a run at the Congressional seat held by another Panhandle stalwart, seven-term incumbent Allen Boyd.

The jump from being a big fish in a small pond, to its cliche opposite, however, could be proving tricky for the unofficial “Dean of the Legislature.” National observers, strategists and some state party members have started taking notice of Lawson’s small fundraising numbers, and of a strategy, they say, that might work when running for a safe state seat but misses the mark when it comes to running for Congress, despite the anti-incumbent fervor roiling the Washington establishment.

Another RPOFer in CFO mix

"Rep. Pat Patterson, R-DeLand, has filed papers to run for state chief financial officer next year, creating a likely primary fight against Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, according to the Florida Division of Elections website." "Patterson ready to run for CFO".

Wingnuts of the world unite

Chris Cillizza: "Former Florida state House speaker Marco Rubio will make a stop in the nation's capital this week to raise money for his Senate primary at an event headlined by, among others, Jeb Bush Jr."

"Jebby," as Bush Jr. is known, is the son of the former Florida governor, who hasn't taken a public position in the GOP primary fight between Rubio and Gov. Charlie Crist, although many of his past aides -- as well as his son! -- are backing the former state legislator.

Among the other boldface names sponsoring the Rubio event on Wednesday night are Bush White House political director Matt Schlapp, former ambassador Mary Ourisman, and former Tom DeLay aides Brett Loper and Drew Maloney.

Millionaires row

"The three running Rooneys are grandsons of late Pittsburgh Steelers founder Art Rooney and sons of Pat Rooney Sr., the longtime Palm Beach Kennel Club president who handed the reins to Pat Rooney Jr. a few years ago." "Tom and Pat aren't the only Rooney candidates".

At the trough

Aaron Deslatte: "House and Senate leaders are pushing an elections bill this year to resurrect what are known as 'leadership funds' — political committees unconstrained by the statutory $500 limit on campaign contributions that thus can enable legislative leaders to collect huge checks from donors."

The funds were once a way for lawmakers to raise huge sums that the leaders could then hand out to pay for polling, campaign staff and other expenses of legislative races. The funds were outlawed in 1989 during a round of "good government" reform. Lawmakers promptly got around the ban by raising gobs of money for the state parties, which then turned around and spent big on legislative races. Though state law prohibits the parties from "earmarking" dollars to be used — or directed — by specific elected leaders, the parties and politicians know who raised what.

The reason "leadership funds" have come back into vogue is that the Republican legislative leadership doesn't trust the Republican Party of Florida to spend its money wisely. That's why incoming House and Senate leaders Dean Cannon and Mike Haridopolos yanked close to $1 million out of RPOF accounts last month after the much-reported scandals — lavish credit-card spending, a secret fundraising deal — surrounding ousted Chairman Jim Greer.

Cannon, R-Winter Park, and Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, are storing the cash in another type of political fund called a "Committee of Continuous Existence." But Florida law limits what the money can be spent on.

Big of 'em

"A Fort Lauderdale man who spent three years and seven months in prison for a robbery he didn't commit will become the first wrongfully convicted person to receive compensation under a new Florida law." "Lauderdale man to get $179K under wrongful conviction law".

Meek

"U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek honored for efforts to get a missions group home from Haiti".

Inappropriate browbeating

The Tampa Tribune editorial board: "There's nothing like a good old-fashioned power-and-turf struggle to kick off another legislative season. Some lawmakers are rattled by the possibility of two citizen-driven amendments that are meant to help take some of the political machinations out of drawing legislative and Congressional districts."

There is no way to take all the politics out; this is about power and it's about people, after all.

But for three hours last week, two powerful lawmakers [Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, and Rep. Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park] inappropriately browbeat Miami attorney Ellen Freidin, chair of the FairDistricts Florida petition campaign that last year the Supreme Court ruled was ready for the ballot this fall.

"Bill would let public involvement flow"

The Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board: "Water is one of Florida's most precious assets -- too often taken for granted. When high-level decisions about water are made behind closed doors, protecting that asset becomes a critical public concern."

But the Legislature closed the doors last year, when it passed a new law taking the authority to grant permits to pull water from the Floridan Aquifer and destroy wetlands away from appointed water-management district boards. Instead, these decisions -- which can involve the use of millions of gallons of water per day -- are made solely by the districts' executive directors. (The new law explicitly bans the water- management district's governing boards, who are appointed by the governor, from "interfering" in permit cases.)

Lawmakers also stripped the public of the right to appeal permits, while preserving developers' ability to appeal denials. It was a fairly blatant attempt to stack the deck in favor of out-of-control growth and reckless use of resources.

The new law went into effect in July, after Gov. Charlie Crist signed it.

FCAT follies

The Orlando Sentinel editorial board: "Done right, end-of-course tests could be a promising tool."

Critics long have assailed Florida's annual test, which assesses student mastery of reading, writing, math and science. They say FCAT, first given in 1998, robs teachers of creativity, forcing them to focus on preparing students to pass the high-stakes test, which holds sway in third-grade promotion, high-school graduation and school accountability grades.

Similar criticism has sparked growing interest since 2002 in end-of-course tests.

Because those tests more narrowly measure how students comprehend content in specific courses, they better align with curriculum standards. That helps teachers zero in on course standards, and frees them to present the material in innovative ways.

Ethics stuff

The Miami Herald editors: "State law requires prosecutors to prove that a bribe or other benefit in exchange for an official's vote or favor actually occured. The prosecutors say this hamstrings attempts to root out public corruption. They propose a looser standard that would require them to prove that a public official failed to disclose a potential benefit or conflict of interest behind a vote -- even if the official didn't actually vote on the issue."

If the benefit wasn't disclosed it would be a criminal offense with tougher penalties than currently apply. [Broward County State Attorney Michae] Satz used the example of an officeholder pushing for approval of a particular contract who "takes a bathroom break just before the vote to avoid declaring a conflict.''

Such a law would make government more transparent and make it easier to prosecute crooked officials. The Legislature should approve this proposal in its upcoming session.

And the, you know ... unionized cops

"Tampa gets what works to fight crime".

From the "values" crowd

Bill Cotterell: "State employees are understandably reluctant to talk on the record about any developments in their offices, especially when the news is bad. There is a widespread fear of getting fired for making even the most mild, accurate comment about what's going on in different agencies." "Closing child-care center devastating for state employees".

Imagine that, ... government programs

"Crist, once known for his support of prison chain gangs, is embracing an inmate rehabilitation effort often seen as 'soft on crime.'" "Crist, others support inmate rehab programs in tight budget".

"The Children in Need of Services/Families in Need of Services, or CINS/FINS, program has drawn national accolades. About 85 percent of those who spend time at a CINS/FINS shelter - typically two weeks - do not commit a crime within six months of being released, according to the state." "Fla. program diverts troubled kids from court".

Florida Political News: February 13, 2010

by: Florida Politics

Sat Feb 13, 2010 at 11:06:43 AM EST

Rubio goes over the edge

The grubbing for RPOF base voters continues apace: "Senate candidate Marco Rubio said Friday that he doesn't accept the scientific evidence for global warming - a stance Rubio has hinted at before, but which the campaign of Gov. Charlie Crist said is a switch for Rubio."

In an interview with the Tribune on that subject Friday, Rubio called Crist "a believer in man-made global warming."

"I don't think there's the scientific evidence to justify it," Rubio said.

Asked whether he accepts the scientific evidence that the global climate is undergoing change, he responded, "The climate is always changing. The climate is never static. The question is whether it's caused by man-made activity and whether it justifies economically destructive government regulation."

Rubio hasn't previously denied global warming outright in published statements on the issue.

Enough to make a RPOFer cry

"Scott Rothstein auction: Next up, the exotic cars and yachts".

"An elephant of an entirely different color"

The Tampa Tribune editors: "Folks who donated to the state Republican Party have reason to wonder how much of their money was used to help defeat Democrats and how much was squandered on personal luxuries for the leadership cabal and favorite friends."

The editors point out that Florida’s Chief Law Enforcement Officer would like to sweep the latest RPOFer scandal under the rug:

Whether to release credit card receipts for everyone who jumped on the gravy train conducted by outgoing party director Jim Greer has divided party leaders. Is a clean sweep worth the probable embarrassment?

Attorney General Bill McCollum appears to think not. The candidate for the Republican nomination for governor says the party's internal financial business is private and should not be shared with a critical press and curious public.

it looks like something might have been going on beyond lax accountability. That's why we believe all party money spent by all elected leaders should be public record.

No one should be ashamed to admit buying a plane ticket at the party's expense to attend a state party function or even charging a cup of coffee to the party while waiting for the flight. That's reasonable.

It would be much harder to explain a weekly massage, regular flowers for your wife or a new TV for your den.

Such expenses suggest payment, probably reportable on your income tax return, for something other than legitimate party business.

Reining in excessive spending by Greer and other party employees is a job for party leaders and one that Gov. Charlie Crist has neglected.

Voters may be appalled by the extravagances, but at least the party spends voluntary donations, not state revenue. Taxpayers needn't lose sleep over the expenses.

But how donations are spent by sitting lawmakers, and why they were given the money, is an elephant of an entirely different color.

Running government like a business

"Florida's state government workforce now includes about 5,500 positions that have been vacant for at least a month – jobs that Floridians pay to keep open even as legislators hit them with billions in fee and tax increases." "Florida taxpayers pay for vacant state government jobs".

From the "values" crowd

"The culprit: State budget cuts rippling through all of Florida government as the 2010 legislative session looms, with revenue shortfalls projected as high as $3 billion." "Child-care center a casualty of budget cuts".

Welcome back, Donna Arduin .

"A hypercautious candidate without a potent message"

Adam C Smith: "Veteran political pros and Democratic party activists across Florida increasingly fret that the woman once viewed as a sure winner for governor is proving to be a hypercautious candidate without a potent message or viable political operation."

Alex Sink is the first Democratic gubernatorial candidate in two decades to raise more money than the leading Republican, and that matters enormously in a state as vast as Florida. But money and a lackluster Republican opponent are about the only things her campaign has going for it at the start of an election year shaping up to be tough for Democrats everywhere.

"There's certainly time to turn it around and get it on the right path," said Democratic consultant Jeff Garcia of Miami, "but the campaign appears to be behind the eight ball and a little bit slow in developing.''

HD 58

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board: "Cruz for state House District 58". The Tampa Tribune editorial board agrees: "For House District 58, Janet Cruz".

For Crist, "three possible political scenarios"

Steve Bousquet asks: "Is it the scary poll numbers? The chorus of critics in the Republican base? The bad-mouthing by columnists and pundits?"

Whatever it is, a subtle but unmistakable shift is evident in the way Gov. Charlie Crist is acting.

Now trailing Marco Rubio in polls for the U.S. Senate Republican primary, the governor seems more focused on his job.

• Crist doesn't know it yet, but the ball game is over. As he sinks in the polls, it's becoming clearer he can't possibly beat Rubio. So he might as well focus on being governor and accept that his political career, for now, is over.

• Rubio is peaking way, way too early. It will eventually dawn on people that he has positioned himself too far to the right to win the November general election.

• The race is still wide open. Republicans may be more likely to "come home" to Crist if he can show them he's serious about moving the state forward.

CD 21 and CD 25 remain "solid Republican"

From The Cook Political Report: "Ever since GOP Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (FL-21) had been under consideration for a Senate appointment last year, rumors swirled that his brother, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25), would run for his seat."

[T]he fact that Lincoln Diaz-Balart's heavily Cuban-American district is slightly safer GOP turf doesn't mean Democrats can make a strong play for Mario Diaz-Balart's district, which stretches from Miami's faster-growing Cuban-American outskirts to more diverse territory around Naples. Both districts voted narrowly for GOP presidential nominee John McCain, and Democrats' blockbuster play for the Diaz-Balarts' seats in 2008 proved a bust. The Diaz-Balarts have picked the best year possible to try this handoff, and look for GOP state Rep. David Rivera to take the inside track for Mario Diaz-Balart's seat. Even if well-connected Democrat Joe Garcia, who took 47 percent against Mario Diaz-Balart in 2008, were to run again, he would have to raise another $2 million to have an outside chance of overcoming the GOP tide in a very expensive media market. For now, both seats remain in the Solid Republican column.

"Florida taxpayers punished by high incarceration rate"

The Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board: "Florida's crime rate dropped by 7.9 percent during the first half of 2009 -- and the declines were across the board, with lower rates of felonies and violations of probation."

But you'd never know that by looking at Florida's prison population, which passed the 100,000 mark last year and is projected to hit 115,000 by June 2015. The state's prison system is near capacity, and new facilities will be needed.

The primary reason for swelling prison populations (and costs) is a brace of policies adopted during the past 12 years by lawmakers seeking to look tough on crime. ...

Those statistics carry a high price tag. Gov. Charlie Crist is recommending a $2.5 billion corrections budget -- $20 million more than last year, and $127 million less than the Department of Corrections says it needs to operate the state's prison and probation systems. ...

In 2008, the Legislature ordered the formation of a commission to investigate the state's sentencing guidelines and policies. But lawmakers didn't fund it, and the commission never met.

For too long, lawmakers have relied on tough-on-crime gimmicks and slogans instead of facing the root causes of crime, and especially recidivism.

Impact fee fuss

The Miami Herald editorial board: "Nine counties and three groups representing local governments filed a court challenge this week of a 2009 law that tipped legal leverage toward developers who fight paying impact fees. Good for the plaintiffs."

The law was one of several the Legislature adopted last year under the guise of easing growth management rules to jump-start the economy. Many of the changes -- deservedly -- have ended up in court.

In 2009, lawmakers ignored the escalating foreclosure crisis, slowed construction and glut of vacant housing stock and claimed easing growth restrictions would spur development. A year later our economy is no better, and unemployed construction workers are filing jobless claims by the thousands.

Now cities are saddled with the onerous new growth rules. In the case of impact fees, levied on new growth to pay for increased demands on services like roads and sewer systems, state law has historically put the burden on developers to prove that local governments miscalculated the price of new infrastructure or applied fees unfairly.

The new law shifted the burden of proof to local governments. It also raised the standard of proof and added limitations on how courts can review a challenged fee.

This will increase impact fee challenges and, thus, cities' litigation costs. It's essentially an unfunded mandate.

RPOFers on a rampage

"Backers of two constitutional changes that would make it harder for Florida lawmakers to gerrymander their political boundaries got a long-anticipated tongue-lashing Thursday from a testy legislative panel charged with overseeing next year's redistricting process."

FairDistrictsFlorida.org collected enough signatures to place Amendments 5 and 6 on the November general election ballot. They would require lawmakers to draw legislative and congressional districts to be more compact, mindful of existing city and county boundaries and not favoring or disfavoring political parties and incumbents. Currently, the maps can look like modern art masterpieces.

The group's chair, Miami lawyer Ellen Freidin, told a joint House-Senate panel Thursday that dozens of other states had rules similar to what the amendments would require for the once-a-decade redistricting process, "and they all manage to get their maps drawn."

Senate President-designate Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, and House Speaker-designate Dean Cannon, R- Winter Park [have] held several hearings keying on whether the amendments would prevent lawmakers from following federal mandates to draw political boundaries that ensure minorities are elected to the Legislature and Congress.

They have also roundly criticized the Fair Districts group for refusing to defend its work.

On Thursday, a succession of GOP lawmakers grilled Freidin on how the amendments would impact the redistricting process, which starts in earnest later this year when new census figures are published.

Rep. Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange, questioned whether the amendment "enshrined" the federal Voting Rights Act protections for minority access or "enhanced" them. She and Frieden engaged in a technical back-and-forth that ultimately saw Hukill accuse her of making conflicting statements.

"I am not going to be badgered by this," Freidin said.

That drew the ire of several lawmakers who told her to "toughen up" and prepare for a "rocky road."

"The Florida Way"

Mark Lane reminds us that "this is Florida, so we take for granted that there's always some big tract of woodland on the far edge of town being sliced, diced, resurveyed, remapped and replatted for the next big new development that's only one business cycle away from being the area's next prestige address."

But what's striking this time around is the certainty on the part of both local government and builders that there will be another Florida land boom. That this boom will happen sooner than you think, and everybody needs to be on the ground floor.

This is an article of faith. It's The Florida Way.

You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who'd say out loud that the state may be in a long-term leveling off of growth that might outlast the Great Recession.

No surprise. A Florida with just-average growth is not the kind of place most people with long memories have ever experienced.

This makes a regular-growth Florida hard to imagine. But that doesn't mean it can't happen. Migration patterns are changing. The Baby Boom generation is getting older and less mobile. Hard times are making people stay put. And Florida's job market is not something anyone wants to experience on purpose.

Yet the push to build and permit continues. Everybody wants to get their plans approved early in case the Hometown Democracy Amendment is passed this November and it will take a political campaign to amend a growth plan.

Now, these are all fine, next-generation, New Urbanism-influenced, conservation-land set-aside-heavy projects. There's not another Deltona in the bunch. But they all are built on a faith that the next boom is inevitable.

A faith that is either inspiring or alarming, depending on your vision for the future here.

Perhaps the SCOTUS will overrule this one too

A major Florida Supreme Court election law case: "Local governments have a right to pass their own laws when it comes to conducting elections as long as there is no conflict with state laws, the Florida Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in connection with a Sarasota County case."

"The ruling stems from the successful effort by the Sarasota Alliance for Fair Elections, or SAFE, to win voter approval that paper ballots be used in Sarasota County elections. The measure passed in November 2006 in the same election featuring the contested Florida 13th Congressional District election that spurred the state to eventually ban touch-screen voting machines in favor of a voting system that used paper ballots."

The high court noted that the main aim of the ballot question requiring paper ballots is now moot, since Florida law has since banned the use of touch-screen machines except for those who cannot use the paper ballot system because of a handicap.

But the court did take the opportunity to overrule a lower court decision that had found against the Sarasota political action committee.

"It's a huge victory for the citizens of Florida," said Tom Shults, the attorney for SAFE. "It confirmed the ability of the people at the county level to enact law that would ensure the accuracy of elections."

While the Legislature does not have an exclusive right to make election laws, state law does trump local law when there is a conflict, the court noted. And there is a conflict between state law and a provision of the charter amendment regarding recounts and certifications of elections. That part of the Sarasota County law was struck down as unconstitutional.

Oops!

"State Rep. Chris Dorworth, R-Lake Mary, who's bucking to become Florida's House Speaker in 2014, had his drivers license suspended in November for failing to have auto insurance, according to state records."

On Thursday, it was reinstated.

Dorworth, 33, a land developer, said Friday that he would never let his auto coverage lapse and the state got it wrong.

"I went down yesterday and showed them I had proof of insurance," he said. "It was wrongly suspended two months ago."

Dorworth said the mix-up may have come when he and his wife, Elizabeth Shale Dorworth, 31, ended their joint auto coverage in September. They now have separate addresses.

Chris Dorworth would not say whether they have separated.

"We seem at best to be treading water or drowning ..."

Stephen Goldstein thinks "something's seriously out-of-whack. In crass terms, we ain't gettin' an adequate return on our investment. Poverty rates, health insurance coverage, educational achievement —none of these and other important indicators are improving at rates that equal all the time, energy, and money invested in them. Year after year, we seem at best to be treading water or drowning in a sea of failed opportunity. Our problems get bigger; our answers, less and less effective at meeting challenges." "Fighting poverty: Florida needs to make better use of resources".

TPS

"A South Florida non-profit group and community volunteers have processed more than 1,000 applications for Haitians seeking Temporary Protected Status since a Jan. 12 earthquake tore apart the Caribbean nation." "More than 1,000 local Haitians file for TPS".

Score one for the entrepreneurs

"In a stunning move, a federal judge on Friday acquitted former Miami drug agent Tom Raffanello of shredding documents to protect now disgraced banker Allen Stanford, saying prosecutors failed to prove their case against the ex-lawman." "Judge acquits both ex-Allen Stanford workers in document shredding case".

"Brian Feldman Marries Anybody"

"It's not hard to get married in Florida. Just ask Brian Feldman and Hannah Miller, two almost-strangers who were wed Friday, two days before Valentine's Day, to make a political point."

Before a crowd of 30-some onlookers, Feldman and Miller took their vows just because they could — and because two people of the same sex cannot.

Feldman saw it as a performance-art piece, Brian Feldman Marries Anybody, devised to protest the fact that, while two strangers can marry in Florida as long as they're of the opposite sex, committed same-sex couples must be turned away.

In fact, visual artists Rachel Gardiner and Nicki Drumb tried to apply for a marriage license Friday just before the Feldman-Miller nuptials at the Orange County Courthouse — and a marriage-license bureau staffer turned them down, just as they had been turned down the year before.

Feldman, a familiar face on the quirky end of Orlando's arts community, chose Miller to marry by spinning an Aquafina water bottle Monday afternoon at the marriage-license bureau, where three young women, all of them more or less strangers, showed up to offer themselves to the project.

No Czar needed

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "State needs no 'Haiti czar'".

Yee haw!

Marco rakes in $860,000 via a money bomb: "The donations were timed to the one-year anniversary Wednesday of Crist appearing at a rally with Democratic President Barack Obama to support the president’s $787 billion stimulus plan." "Rubio’s $860,000 week".

State sanctioned dogfighting

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board: "Mention hunting dogs and you might think of hounds baying in the woods or a retriever diving for a duck. But that image doesn’t fit with the type of dog hunting on the agenda of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. When the agency considers the fate of fox pens, it should ban them. ... These pens are, in essence, dogfighting arenas sanctioned by the state. Operators build a sturdy fence around a tract of land, stock it with foxes, coyotes or both, and turn loose a pack of hunting dogs to chase them down." "Put an end to inhumane hunts".

Florida Political News: February 12, 2010

by: Florida Politics

Fri Feb 12, 2010 at 06:13:38 AM EST

Lincoln Diaz-Balart retires

"Florida Republican Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart will call it quits today, retiring after nine terms representing a heavily Cuban-American district in the Miami area, according to a source briefed on the decision."

Diaz-Balart has held the 21st district since 1992 when it was created in redistricting following the 1990 census. Diaz-Balart had few competitive races but in 2008 Democrats targeted him and former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez raised and spent better than $1 million. Diaz-Balart, however, tripled that spending and won easily 58 percent to 42 percent even as Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was carrying the district by a far more narrow 51 percent to 49 percent margin.

The seat -- thanks to the Republican lean of most Cuban Americans -- favors the GOP. Although McCain won narrowly, George W. Bush carried the district with 57 and 58 percent in 2004 and 2000, respectively.

Mario Diaz-Balart's seat, in turn, quickly piqued the interest of a number of state legislators and Miami-Dade officials.

To the list of marquee statewide contests on the 2010 ballot, add a spirited congressional race in South Florida. At least five of Florida's seats in Congress are expected to change hands.

"Seats are going to be open and that gives a chance to other public servants to run,'' Mario Diaz-Balart said. "It opens the door for new blood.''

Mario Diaz-Balart -- whose anemic fundraising for his reelection had sparked rumors of his retirement -- called his brother's seat a "natural move,'' noting that he has represented many communities in the district and that he would also represent a slice of Broward County, where he was born.

Now she's shy

"Sarah Palin will make two high-profile, big-ticket appearances in Central Florida during the next month — but she doesn't want any media coverage." "Sarah Palin to speak in Daytona Beach, at Orange County GOP event -- but media glare isn't welcome".

"Toughen ethics standards"

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "Clean up Tallahassee, too: Toughen ethics standards for politicians statewide".

Outa here

"The poor economy was cited as the main reason why Florida is the only state with fewer undocumented immigrants now than 10 years ago." "Economy pushing many from Florida".

"e-mail is as dated as Florida's open-record laws"

The Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board: "In the world of electronic communications -- a world of micro-blogs, Twittering, texting, social-networking sites -- it's no longer an exaggeration to say that e-mail is as dated as Florida's open-record laws as they apply to electronic records."

An elected official will readily accept that anything he writes in an e-mail about public policy is a public record. But some officials will bristle at the suggestion that their texts or Facebook postings should be open to public scrutiny, should those contain matters of public concern.

Daily Rothstein

"Lawsuits aim to recover nearly $18 million paid to Rothstein's partners".

Billy sittin' on his hands

"Two Democratic candidates for attorney general are asking the current GOP officeholder to press for a state investigation into the use of credit cards at the Republican Party of Florida."

Specifically, state Sens. Dave Aronberg, D- Greenacres, and Dan Gelber, D- Miami Beach, want the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate whether the state party got around a 2005 ban on gifts to lawmakers by handing out credit cards to them.

The two legislators, each seeking the Democratic nomination for attorney general, sent a letter Thursday to Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum, claiming the weeklong series of media reports about lavish spending and secret fundraising deals by the party's former leaders "demand a criminal investigation" of the state GOP's spending practices.

McCollum has been in the middle of attempts to deal with the party's internal scandals, as a candidate for governor and the de facto head of the party. He was a driving force in ousting former chairman Jim Greer and executive director Delmar Johnson after finding found out last month about a secret fundraising contract between the two.

But on Thursday, he said any talk of an investigation should await the election of a new party chairman on Feb. 20.

Never mind

"Senate leaders backing off effort to replace consumer advocate".

Clean water

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board: "The clean water standards the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed for Florida are good for public health and the state’s economy." "Cleaning up Florida waters can't wait".

Sansom

"A Republican U.S. Senate candidate, a Democratic Palm Beach County Commission candidate and the next Florida Senate President could all be forced to testify if a state House investigation into whether its former leader betrayed the public trust goes forward as scheduled." "Fla. House readies for potentially explosive hearing to decide fate of ex-Speaker".

She's back ...

"Donna Arduin, formerly budget director for ex-Gov. Jeb Bush and adviser to then-House Speaker Marco Rubio, will lead the new Senate Budget Office to shape state spending and economic policy." "Conservative budget adviser for Gov. Bush to head Fla. Senate Budget Office".

Time to attack ...

... public employees. The Zell Corporation employees on The Sun-Sentinel editorial board go at it hard this morning: "Can't give state workers generous benefits while axing important programs for Floridians".

FairDistricts

"Florida's two most powerful legislators challenged the head of the FairDistricts Florida campaign Thursday to draw a legal congressional map under the terms the group's proposed constitutional amendment would require if passed." "Redistricting proposals under fire".

"Nothing criminal"

"Susan Bucher did nothing criminal under Florida's vague standards when she was a state legislator, state attorney's office says." "Supervisor's residency claims questionable".

Voucher madness

The Tampa Tribune editorial board is at it again: "Voucher bill will help kids, taxpayers".

Death by government

Paul Flemming: "Advocacy groups are calling for Gov. Charlie Crist to stay Grossman's execution and allow to be heard what they say is further, compelling evidence that Grossman should be punished with life in prison, not death. Grossman has a low IQ. His supporters say he is mentally ill."

Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty is among those groups. FADP is consistent. With every execution, it raises its objections.

The Florida Catholic Conference and the Roman Catholic Church bishops of the state always, without fail, contact the governor and oppose executions.

Grossman's pending lethal injection is also opposed by The National Council of Young Israel, the Orthodox Union, Agudath Israel of America, the Israel Law Center and Lubavitch International.

"I'm not clear on why this particular execution has brought so many people forward," said Mark Elliott, executive director of FADP. "It's hard to predict which executions are going to provoke an outcry and from whom."

Elliott is not complaining.

Neither am I, not yet.

I've got my own reasons for being against capital punishment, as I'm sure the Jewish groups have theirs for opposing Grossman's execution.

For one thing, I presume, he's Jewish. Representatives for the Jewish groups were set to hold a press conference after my deadline. Calls I made to various contacts for the groups were not immediately returned.

Florida Political News: February 11, 2010

by: Florida Politics

Thu Feb 11, 2010 at 09:47:33 AM EST

Did RPOF secret agreement violate state law?

"A growing number of senior Florida Republican leaders are calling for an outside legal review of the secret fundraising contract that paid former Executive Director Delmar Johnson nearly $200,000 last year."

"And there's a growing disagreement about whether the secrecy of the agreement violated party rules or state law."

Robert Sechen, a Tallahassee lawyer who served as the party's general counsel and chief financial officer from 2002 to 2004, said he would not have signed off on the contract because it required keeping a secret from the party's own governing panels.

"I would never approve that because of the secrecy clause," he said, when contacted by the Sentinel. "Everything the party does is technically secret. But for a document to say, 'You can't share with the RPOF Finance Committee,' that is violative of the constitution of the RPOF itself."

Sechen said it might also run afoul of a state law governing Florida political parties that makes it a third-degree felony for a chairman or treasurer to knowingly make "a false or improper accounting for" political money.

"The issue is the attempt to deceive here," said Sechen. But, he conceded, "There is no case law on any of this stuff."

On Tuesday, McCollum said he asked another former RPOF lawyer, Richard Coates, for a legal opinion and that his first-blush legal take was that the contract appeared legal, if "outrageous." To break the law, the two men concluded, the contract would have had to result in money being diverted without being disclosed, and the payments to Victory Strategies were disclosed in the party's federal election reports.

Rubio tea-party

"Senate candidate Marco Rubio reveled in support from conservatives looking for a voice Wednesday in a part-fundraiser, part-pep rally that brought full circle one of the most stunning reversals in Florida politics."

"From tea parties to marches, from New Jersey to Virginia, from Massachusetts and soon even here in Florida . . . all across this country people are making it very clear,'' Rubio told more than 300 people at the so-called hug rally sponsored by FreedomPAC, a conservative network group led by former U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey. "What they're going to choose in 2010 are leaders who will stand up to this agenda and offer a clear alternative.''

Armey was home sick, and the audience was significantly smaller than the 1,500 people who attended Obama's town hall-style meeting at the same venue last year. Though it was far from a raucous crowd, the mostly white, middle-aged people in the audience showed their enthusiasm, carrying American flags and signs that read "Attention Washington, I am not your ATM'' and "Prescription: Our Gov't Needs A Bi-Partisan Enema.'' ...

Rubio has remained popular among national conservative Republicans who help fund campaigns. He was endorsed this week by U.S. Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana, the No. 3 Republican in the House, and by Republican anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist.

"Florida Republicans slide into credibility gulch"

Bill Cotterell: "Whatever is in the Florida Republican Party's financial records probably can't be as bad as its refusal to, as one candidate for governor put it, 'come clean.'"

For Florida Republicans, the slide into credibility gulch started last August, when Florida GOP Chairman Jim Greer publicly cut his American Express card in half — announcing he had recalled all party-issued charge cards. State Attorney Willie Meggs had subpoenaed records of former House Speaker Ray Sansom, who ran up some $173,000 in tabs during two years as speaker-designate — including some items at Best Buy and Starbucks, along with hotel and airfares that seemed hard to explain as party business.

Greer resisted calls for his ouster, due to the financial quagmire and his decision to take sides in party primaries for governor and the Senate, but finally gave in, effective Feb. 20. It was disclosed this month that Greer signed a secret fund-raising contract that paid nearly $200,000 to Delmar Johnson, the party's former executive director, who drew more than $400,000 in total salary, commissions and expenses.

Then this week, we learned that House speaker-designate Dean Cannon pulled $665,000 out of party coffers at about the time of Greer's resignation and stashed it in a separate political fund. The clear implication was that he didn't want money he'd raised for electing Republicans to be spent on massages, lavish dinners and first-class jet tickets by party officers.

Top foreclosure rate

"Broward has Florida's top foreclosure rate".

Debt settlement vendors

"Three Southwest Florida legislators are aiming to secure the economic climate by empowering a state agency with tighter control over debt settlement vendors and international banks and trusts." "Three Southwest Florida lawmakers seek to rein in financial groups".

Whatever

"Growth expert critical of Amendment 4 on November ballot".

Potential "bombshell"

"It has the potential of a bombshell: Some of the biggest names in Florida politics, including U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio, raising their hands and swearing to tell the truth about what they knew of state Rep. Ray Sansom's dealings with a Panhandle college."

Meantime,

private talks were being held on a settlement in which Sansom could accept some level of responsibility in damaging public trust in the House.

The move would avoid a highly embarrassing trial not just for Sansom, R-Destin, but scores of other officials who would be exposed to intense media coverage.

Lawsuit challenges restrictions on impact fees

"Local governments filed suit to overturn new restrictions on local impact fees Wednesday, saying the Legislature unconstitutionally forced them to prove their fees are accurate." "Local governments file suit over state's new impact-fee law".

Your Chamber dues at work

"Sarah Palin -- who was slated to sign copies of her book "Going Rogue" in Daytona Beach this weekend -- will instead be autographing on Monday morning. There are also more tickets available to hear her speak at a Chamber of Commerce dinner that night." "Palin book signing changed; tickets available for speech".

Related: "Palin Unqualified To Be President, Says Vast Majority Of America".

Trial lawyers hire Schale

"In an effort to regain credibility, the powerful trial lawyer lobby hired one of the state's top Democratic campaign consultants to guide its political strategy. Steve Schale, 35, the Obama campaign's Florida director, will serve as political director for the Florida Justice Association, which is limping into the 2010 legislative session after an embarrassing mea culpa last year." "Trial lawyers hire Obama campaign boss".

Blame the unions

The Miami Herald editorial board does what editors do best - blame the unions:

As it is, only non-union workers -- about 11 percent of the city's employees -- have taken pay cuts since the budget passed last fall. City Manager Pete Hernandez continues to negotiate with the unions for them to take their share of cuts. So far, zilch.

Every day that passes puts Miami in a bigger hole -- projections of a budget shortfall for this year vary from $22 million to $45 million, which would deplete already thin reserves. And another $101 million hole is anticipated for next year.

Fixing this without fundamental changes to the city's pensions and union contracts simply can't be done.

No oil drilling, please

"Beachside communities and environmentalists have planned a statewide protest against offshore oil-drilling for Saturday." "Florida beach towns plan anti-oil drilling protest".

"Spare residents, boards expensive legal battles"

"Many Florida homeowners pay more in homeowners association fees than they do in property taxes to local governments. The associations, set up to preserve community standards and maintain common property, can wield tremendous authority. Like local governments, associations (known as HOAs) have significant power to govern the lives of their members and can levy fines on rulebreakers." "Watching the watchdogs".

Florida Political News: February 10, 2010

by: Florida Politics

Wed Feb 10, 2010 at 10:00:42 AM EST

Back to the future

Beth Reinhard: "In the days after the Florida GOP chairman resigned under mounting criticism of his spending, nearly $1 million in donations was quietly stashed into two little-known committees tied to legislative leaders."

A party spokeswoman said Tuesday that Republican Party of Florida chairman Jim Greer approved the money transfers and one of the lawmakers, incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos, called them "common practice.'' ...

But the size of the money transfers and their timing are the latest signs of disorder in the traditionally united Florida GOP.

The turmoil is prompting some state legislators to reconsider a decades-old law that bans them from earmarking pots of party money they raised for their own use. With the party in disarray, so-called "leadership funds'' would allow top legislators to keep tabs on the donations they collect -- and steer them to their political allies.

Legalizing leadership funds "would legitimize the process by which a few members of the Legislature consolidate power and hold their members in line,'' said Ben Wilcox, a board member of Common Cause Florida.

Outlawed more than 20 years ago, leadership funds are now being cast as campaign finance reform. Instead of legislators quietly tracking the money they raise for the party, proponents say, leadership funds would allow legislators to identify the party donations they collected and direct how they are spent. ...

But Atwater and other Republican leaders are only willing to go so far in the name of transparency. Few are taking up the call from some grass-roots activists for the party to release credit card statements that would expose itemized spending by top staffers and legislators.

Sansom's about to get a pass

"Attorneys have begun settlement negotiations in the House inquiry into former Speaker Ray Sansom to avoid a full trial-like hearing late this month." "'Initial discussions' held in possible Sansom settlement of House inquiry".

"Exhibit 'A'" for the FlaDems

Adam C Smith: "The former executive director of the Florida GOP was known as a charmer, but his generous salary has become an example of state party excesses."

A giant beach ball of a man, Delmar Woodrow Johnson III is boisterous, always gushing with enthusiasm, and treats everybody as a best buddy. It makes perfect sense that such a friendly, outsized personality would be elected president of the student government association at Florida State University.

Or that he would cheerfully don a goofy duck costume to mock Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill McBride in 2002. Or that a few years later Johnson would charm Crist and get hired as one of Crist's first gubernatorial campaign staffers.

It made a lot less sense in January 2009 when state party chairman Jim Greer promoted Johnson, 30, to be executive director of the Florida Republican Party. And it was downright outrageous for party leaders to learn that Greer and Johnson entered into a secret contract that brought Johnson's overall pay from the cash-strapped party to more than $400,000.

Today, fairly or not, Johnson is Exhibit A for how a state Republican Party once widely seen as the strongest in the country could turn into a nearly insolvent mass of dysfunction punctuated by excess spending and misplaced values.

"When he was working in Governor Bush's operation he was a young man with a bright future. I think he's gone astray,'' said Kathleen Shanahan, Bush's former chief of staff who knew Johnson as an enthusiastic junior staffer in his legislative affairs office. "This is where the leadership of the party led a whole group of young people astray with a complete disregard for the value of every donor's hard-earned dollar.''

It hands opponents fodder that has nothing to do with the mission of the GOP; it cedes to its critics the moral high ground.

Cutting up credit cards, as Mr. Greer flamboyantly did last year when the first hints of these excesses were leaked, or even vowing to clean house internally now, will not stop the bleeding or the speculation.

Yes, the credit card bills and party expenses may be "internal matters," but knowledge of their inappropriate use has spread externally to become a major embarrassment and huge contradiction of the conservative fiscal stance.

Fess up. Reform. Move on. Floridians have bigger problems to solve.

High flyer

"Dr. Ana Viamonte Ros, Florida's top health official, has spent nearly $130,000 on taxpayer-funded travel in her first three years on the job and has spent at least a third of her weekends in her hometown of Miami." "Florida surgeon general's travel questioned". See also "Florida's top health official averages $3,600 monthly travel tab".

Malfunction junction

"With opposition mounting to a proposed 1 cent sales tax for transit projects, Hillsborough County commissioners have yet to establish clear guidelines on how the tax money will be administered." "Commissioners to consider transit tax revenue oversight".

Sink's "public scolding of Thomas Cardwell"

"Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink lambasted the state's top financial regulator at the Cabinet meeting Tuesday for not aggressively pursing litigation against Bank of America — her former employer — for its deal with Merrill Lynch."

"I'm not really impressed with the comments you made," Sink said bluntly. "The last commissioner lost his job because he hid behind not having the powers or not having the resources. My main frustration … is the sense of do-nothingness and inaction in the face of all sorts of scams in our state."

The public scolding of Thomas Cardwell, the commissioner of the Office of Financial Regulation, stood in stark contrast to the typical decorum in the Cabinet room, where the state's top four officials meet twice a month. And for another reason: Cardwell was Sink's pick for the job.

And the sponsors are ...

Scott Maxwell writes that "the concept of political sponsorships is an interesting idea. So allow me to suggest a few more advertising deals for the rest of the major players in the two top races."

The candidate: Charlie Crist, Republican for U.S. Senate

His problem: Florida's economy has transformed from robust to apocalyptic under his watch as governor

He should sponsor: ...

The candidate: Marco Rubio, Republican for U.S. Senate

His problem: Although the former state House speaker has the conservative talking points down pat, he doesn't have a track record to back it up.

He should sponsor: ...

The candidate: Alex Sink, Democrat for governor

Her problem: She looks weak — dodging punches from rival Bill McCollum, rather than delivering them. Even some of her supporters have been troubled by her reluctance to answer basic questions about her beliefs.

She should sponsor: ...

The candidate: Bill McCollum, Republican for governor

His problem: He's a two-time loser in statewide elections whose current campaign consists of little more than Republican Party talking points.

He should sponsor: ...

Race to the bottom

"Broward schools brace for possible layoffs, furloughs, fewer electives".

"Atwater...in a sticky spot"

"The bank-backed move to speed up foreclosures has agitated Democrats fighting back in the Legislature."

State Sen. Dave Aronberg and Rep. Darren Soto are proposing a "Foreclosure Bill of Rights" in opposition to a yet-to-be filed measure that would let mortgage lenders get their properties back without giving homeowners their day in court.

And the battle puts Senate President Jeff Atwater, a North Palm Beach banker, and other lawmakers in a sticky spot with more than 500,000 Florida homes now in the foreclosure process.

"Rubio's dilemma" - he's a "darling of the tea-party set"

"Marco Rubio has become a darling of the tea-party set."

With their help he has transformed his insurgent campaign, which once seemed like a fool's errand, into a serious conservative challenge to Florida Gov. Charlie Crist for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate.

When CNBC's Larry Kudlow referred to him as a "tea-party senator" in a recent interview, Rubio responded, "Let me back you up on that for just a second. When you talk about the tea party, remember, I'm a Republican." ...

So far, Rubio has pulled off a neat political trick by capitalizing on the enthusiasm of the tea partiers while also managing to keep some distance. He has attended eight tea parties throughout Florida, hoping to harness the mixture of antigovernment anger and red-blooded patriotism that prevails at such gatherings. ...

Yet when asked directly about his ties to the tea party, Rubio strives to cast the anti-establishment movement as very mainstream. "The tea party is widely misunderstood by the media," he insists, choosing his words as carefully as any standard politician would. It's "an important part of a bigger movement in America united behind the idea that you don't have to get rid of everything that's right about America to fix what is wrong about our country." (Is there anyone who would not unite behind that idea?)

"Definition of 'disingenuous', Tallahassee dialect edition"

A must read editorial from the Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board today: "Here's the Florida definition of disingenuous, Tallahassee dialect edition: Don Gaetz; Will Weatherford."

Sen. Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, and Rep. Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, introduced the proposed "right size class size" amendment to the Florida Constitution last week. The lawmakers say the amendment won't change what voters approved in 2002 -- an amendment to gradually reduce class sizes at all levels in public schools. If Gaetz and Weatherford are right, there'd be no need for another amendment. But they're flat wrong. They're proposing to stop the implementation of the 2002 amendment in its tracks and scrap its third and, to parents and students, most meaningful requirement: classroom-level limits.

A decade of reckless tax cuts and unregulated private sector speculation in the housing market left Florida's budget facing a $2.8 billion deficit last year. That was offset by $5 billion in federal stimulus funds. This year's deficit is projected to be larger, and stimulus money will fall to $4 billion. The state can't count on stimulus money next year, and lawmakers continue to reflexively reject tax increases to pay for voters' mandates and other government services. Stopping the class-size amendment is not wise policy. It's a cop-out.

Instead of couching their proposals in fears and falsehoods, Gaetz and Weatherford should at least be up front with voters: The new amendment is necessary because the state doesn't have the political guts to pay for the original class-size amendment. Instead, the new amendment's advocates are playing up fears and fabrications

Tea-baggers in a dither

"Florida's embattled ban on adoption by gay people suffered another setback Tuesday, when state child welfare administrators agreed to provide health insurance, college tuition and other benefits to the adopted son of a gay Key West man. For more than a year, the Department of Children & Families had refused to provide the adoption subsidy to the adoptive son of Wayne LaRue Smith, a Key West lawyer whose request to adopt a boy he was raising in foster care was approved by a Monroe County judge in the fall of 2008. On Tuesday, DCF lawyers did an about-face". "Adopted son of gay Key West man gets state subsidy".

Entrepreneurs in action

"The shredding reportedly took place last year as Stanford's financial empire was collapsing in what authorities call a $7 billion Ponzi scheme. Stanford is jailed in Houston awaiting trial." "Closes arguments expected in shredding case".

Big of him

"Republican Party of Florida assistant treasurer says he's not resigning".

Sink takes Billy on

"Things got a bit testy at a Florida Cabinet meeting Tuesday as potential gubernatorial rivals Alex Sink and Bill McCollum sparred over whether the state should sue the Bank of America, where Sink was once a top executive."

Moments before the meeting began, Sink responded sharply to a McCollum campaign statement saying that her call last week to sue her old bosses was a public relations stunt.

"That's a bunch of bull," said Sink, the state's chief financial officer.

Chain gang Charlie

"Crist made a lunchtime appearance to address lawmen at the Florida Sheriffs Association 2010 Mid-Winter Conference." "Crist visits Florida sheriffs’ conference".

Chamber of Commerce

"Palin to autograph books Saturday".

Crist's "juvenile references"

The Palm Beach Post editorial board writes this morning that "to please far-right primary voters, Gov. Crist's campaign statements have begun including juvenile references to the "Democrat Party" that are standard on talk radio."

Daily Rothstein

"15 years after Plantation blast, Joe Alu in spotlight as Rothstein bodyguard".

Expect a "Jeb!" endorsement at any moment

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "If Marco Rubio is willing to make his election a higher priority than his state, he isn't qualified to represent Florida in the Senate."

In his attempt to run far to the right of Gov. Crist in the Republican primary, the former Florida House speaker's campaign wheels have left the pavement when it comes to immigration. Last week, Mr. Rubio abandoned his earlier, sensible attitude by shrieking that the census count for Florida should include only those immigrants here legally. The comment may get Mr. Rubio votes from some anti-illegal immigrant conservatives, but his position is irresponsible.

Dead people

"Fla. justices refuse to halt execution".

"A bidding process infested with political influence and lobbyist money"

Fred Grimm: "A year or so back, a cash-strapped school board saying no to $34 million in federal funds would have been only perplexing. Now, with one board member facing trial and a couple of others under investigation, and with the public trust pummeled by scandal, the Broward School Board's rejection of the Race to the Top funds looks more like pathology than sound fiscal policy. Like Broward's race to the bottom."

But this board's credibility has been shattered by scandal and its stubborn reluctance to clean up a bidding process infested with political influence and lobbyist money.

Stop the madness

The Miami Herald editorial board: "Florida is crying out for such reforms, particularly in early-childhood education where state quality-control for day-care workers is less than stellar. With all we know today about the research-based importance of a child's first three years, the move toward more training of childcare workers in an effort to close the achievement gap between rich and poor kids is all the more urgent. Of course, this makes so much sense that it's now imperiled in the U.S. Senate. The banking lobby and Sallie Mae are crying, Job losses! Government takeover! And senators are buying this red herring?" "Remove middle man from college loans".

To replace Wexler

"Three congressional candidates vying to replace Robert Wexler differed on terrorist trials, tax cuts and immigration reform during a debate west of Boca Raton this morning." "Congressional hopefuls differ on terror trials, taxes, immigration at debate".

Texting-while-driving

"After failing for two years, proponents of a state texting-while-driving ban are optimistic a measure will pass this year." "Florida slow to halt texting drivers". See also "State lawmakers propose fine for texting while driving".

Florida Political News: February 9, 2010

by: Florida Politics

Tue Feb 09, 2010 at 09:23:39 AM EST

"Republican Party of Florida's "crisis of confidence"

Beth Reinhard and Adam C Smith: "As a volatile election season gets underway, the Republican Party of Florida is facing its biggest crisis of confidence in decades."

Donors and party activists are livid over newly revealed records that suggest outgoing chairman Jim Greer used the party as a personal slush fund for lavish travel and entertainment.

The records also show that executive director Delmar Johnson padded his $103,000 salary with a secret, $260,000 fundraising contract and another $42,000 for expenses -- at the same time the once mighty Florida GOP was having to lay off employees amid anemic fundraising.

But even the biggest critics of Gov. Charlie Crist's hand-picked chairman were stunned by revelations that he entered into a lucrative secret contract with a stealth company set up by his most loyal aide de camp, 30-year-old Johnson, a former Crist campaign aide. ...

Greer made a show of rescinding the party credit cards of top elected Republican officials and publicly cutting up his American Express card last summer to stem criticism of party spending.

But internal records obtained by the Herald/Times show heavy spending continued -- on Johnson's card: $100 flower arrangement for the wives of Greer and Gov. Crist; thousands of dollars in meals, $15,000 to charter a jet to George LeMieux's swearing in as U.S. senator, and another $1,800 for in-flight catering services.

The spending helped Johnson rack up more than 1 million American Express points. Greer declined to talk about the matter, but said in a message he was proud of his three years of leadership with the state party. ...

Attorney General Bill McCollum, the Republican gubernatorial front-runner, has been deeply involved in the controversy, while trying to keep it quiet.

Public records show the money was transferred into a separate political committee called Florida Liberty Fund created by the Winter Park Republican last November.

The move is yet another example of how Greer's spending, fundraising woes and subsequent ouster have left the party in a financial pickle even as the GOP brand nationally and in Florida is on the upswing.

"Double down on everything that is wrong with Florida"

Mike Thomas: "The newest plan to save Florida involves turning it into Nevada."

Line the state with casinos, rake in the billions and live tax-free ever after. It's enough to make the conservatives in Tallahassee swallow their principles and sit down to deal.

It spares them from making responsible choices about taxes and budgets.

It would double down on everything that is wrong with Florida.

Rep. Alan Hays even wants socialized gambling, with the state owning the casinos. If Charlie Crist loses his U.S. Senate race, I can't think of a better door-greeter.

Hays says we could fund schools — just as we did with the lottery money.

And then in the next recession, we could legalize medical marijuana and Rep. Hays could set up pot clinics next to the casinos. Or do what a leading Nevada lawmaker proposed: slap a $5 tax on all acts of prostitution.

With gambling, Hays says, we could cut taxes. Shrink the tax base even more. Make us even more dependent on tourism. Keep those low-paying jobs flowing in. Make the next budget crisis even worse than this one.

These people are dangerous. There is no light at the end of their tunnel vision.

'Glades

"South Florida's 2,000-mile grid of canals has proven too efficient at draining the landscape. The Everglades is now half its original size. Water is increasingly scarce. Every time it rains, the canals flush billions of gallons into the sea. Now the water that so tormented Florida's early ranchers could become a cash crop for hundreds of Central Florida landowners, if an unlikely alliance of ranchers and environmentalists gets its way" "Farming water: new plan for Everglades restoration would pay ranchers to use land for storing water".

"Hands Across the Sand"

"Black-clad opponents of offshore oil drilling hope to mount the biggest protest in Florida history by joining hands along the coastline Saturday." "Offshore drilling opponents to join hands in protest Saturday".

Pass the tea-bags

The Tampa Tribune editorial board loves their Charlie - heck, according to them, President Obama should be listening to that economic giant, Charlie Crist: "Simply cutting taxes for everyone is the most visible, direct way to encourage more spending and more production."

That's why Gov. Charlie Crist's straightforward proposal to reduce the state corporate income tax is a reasonable, if necessarily small, step in the right direction.

In contrast, several of the job-growth ideas pushed by President Barack Obama are quite complicated and unlikely to help the economy. ...

It would be smarter and simpler to follow Crist's example. Crist is asking the Legislature to cut the state corporate income tax by one percentage point, from 5.5 percent down to 4.5 percent, on the first $1 million of a company's taxable income. It's "a pretty good stimulant," Crist says, with his usual optimism.

Gotta do what you gotta do

"Kendrick Meek hopes to get his name before a new segment of the electorate by paying to have his name splashed on a NASCAR race car Saturday. " "Meek adds name to NASCAR race car".

Florida Political News: February 8, 2010

by: Florida Politics

Mon Feb 08, 2010 at 08:06:20 AM EST

Crist budget "on shaky ground"

The Saint Petersburg Times editors:

Florida lawmakers, facing the onerous task of building a 2010-11 state budget with the glimmer of modestly increasing revenue but fast-growing expenses, have largely dismissed Gov. Charlie Crist's proposed spending plan. They've balked at its $69.2 billion size, roughly 4 percent higher than the current year, and lamented his use of creative financing. Yet Crist is right that the state should start investing again in improving education and protecting the environment — even if he is on shaky ground about paying for it.

FCAT follies

"There are only four weeks left before the reading and math portions of the FCAT — the writing test begins Tuesday — and more than 9,500 struggling students in Palm Beach and Broward counties are each receiving up to $1,500 worth of free tutoring."

That adds up to more than $14 million in federal funds that the school districts pay local tutoring firms.

We agree, "Run, Sarah, Run!"

"'America is ready for another revolution!' she told the gathering. ... All she offered was a smile when a moderator asking her questions used the phrase 'President Palin.' That prompted most in the audience to stand up and chant 'Run, Sarah, Run!'" "Sarah Palin tells 'tea party' crowd that 'America is ready for another revolution'".

Have they "taken leave of their senses?"

Bill Cotterell: "State Sen. Mike Bennett and state Rep. Dwayne Taylor have introduced a bill requiring the state's expert policy analysts to do a study of having a full-time Legislature."

This raises several questions, not the least of which is, "Have state Sen. Mike Bennett and state Rep. Dwayne Taylor taken leave of their senses?" Their bill (SB 1732 and HB 863) is subject to amendment in the committee process and might be broadened to include a study of whether there's a constitutional way to stop those two guys from introducing any more bills.

No, seriously, this is an idea that merits serious study. We're the fourth-largest state, soon to be the third-largest, and the issues our lawmakers deal with are too complex and expensive to cram into a 60-day session. That's especially true the way they do it, using the first five or six weeks on routine matters and committee hearings, then ramrodding the budget and all the mega-issues through in the chaotic final few days.

An election year

"Fewer Florida politicians are flying on the taxpayer's dime, as charges for flights on state planes have dropped 63 percent over two years. In 2007, nearly $1.1 million was spent, compared to $407,420 in 2009." "Fewer politicians flying on Florida's dime".

At the trough

"Lobbyists and legislators munched hors d'oeuvres and sipped scotch in a rooftop ballroom with a nice view of the Capitol last week in an annual ritual as important to Florida politics as mass mailings and attack ads. Forbidden to raise money when the Legislature is in session, members are passing the hat now for a hot summer campaign season costing millions. For all the money that will be spent, Republican control of the House or Senate is unlikely to change." "Lawmakers gear up for fundraising".

LeMieux's good question resonates

"The Senate's lead Toyota investigator, West Virginia Democrat Jay Rockefeller, credits himself with lobbying Toyota to build a factory in his state."

Strickland has such close relationships with Rockefeller and other senators that Republican Sen. George LeMieux of Florida asked Strickland at his confirmation hearing two months ago whether he could disagree with Rockefeller, his former boss: "The oversight for you in your role will be from the committee that you once served on," LeMieux told him.

"I will be honest with you, sir," Strickland answered. "I've had disagreements with the chairman personally. But he signs the paycheck, and he wins. But I will have no problem with that all, sir."

Rockefeller sees no reason to step aside from his committee's investigation. Consumer protection is a cornerstone of his work as chairman and that is reflected in the steps he and the committee are taking, including NHTSA briefings and plans to hold hearings and seek recall-related documents, Rockefeller spokeswoman Jamie Smith said.

"Harder to find fat to trim"

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board: "This is the third year of budget cuts for local governments, so it is harder to find fat to trim."

Voters passed Amendment 1, the Legislature capped allowable increases in local property taxes, and the recession triggered a steep decline in property values. Pinellas city and county officials already have eliminated open positions, laid off employees, reduced library and park hours, canceled programs, frozen salaries, raised health insurance premiums, limited travel and cut energy costs. Still, millions more must be cut before Oct. 1.

With the mission of local governments pared down by economic conditions, state spending limits and voter demands for lower taxes, there are going to be fundamental changes to popular programs that once would have been off-limits.

On the cheap

Here's an idea: why doesn't Florida do everything on the cheap, and when the infrastructure collapses every time it gets a bit chilly, beg the federal government (read: other states) to subsidize our failure to do things properly in the first place.

Consider: "The recent cold snap that resulted in more than a week of below-freezing temperatures took a toll on Tampa's aging infrastructure, and its finances. For the past two weeks, city workers and private contractors [likely without health insurance or retirement plans] have been busy repairing more than 1,600 breaks in water distribution pipes throughout the city." "Cold snap wreaked havoc on Tampa's water pipes".