Urgent: Tell Charlie Crist to Veto HB 1143

by: EducatedRants

Wed May 12, 2010 at 23:23:04 PM EDT

On the last day of the 2010 Legislative Session, the Florida  Legislature passed HB 1143 - sweeping anti-choice legislation that  restricts women's access to reproductive health care and drastically  chips away at Roe v. Wade.

House Republicans rammed through a measure  to require women seeking  an abortion to pay for an ultrasound and hear a doctor give a  description of the fetus. The cost of an ultrasound exam can vary  between $200 and $1,000.

The bill also restricts businesses that receive tax credits from  providing their employees with health insurance that covers abortion,  even if they don't use federal or state subsidies to purchase their  plans. This goes far beyond the Hyde Amendment by prohibiting abortion  from being covered in private health insurance plans.

This attack on women's health care  by anti-choice Republicans passed  both chambers despite never being vetted through a single  committee, and never allowing for public comment.  Help us urge Governor  Crist to veto HB 1143, which interferes with private health care  decisions and restricts private health insurance from offering abortion  coverage.

HB 1143 currently awaits the Governor's decision.

Women will not stand for legislation that takes away our rights  and leaves us worse off than we are today.

New Members of "Golden Years" Political Quorum Call Announced

by: Robert McKnight

Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 19:09:47 PM EDT

Since my last Diary post, eight new members of my "Golden Years" Quorum Call have been announced.  My book, The Golden Years...The Florida Legislature, '70s and '80s, includes the identification of over 300 legislators, lobbyists, staff and interested individuals involved in the era.  In my Blog, available through my web page at www.goldenyearspoliticalcollection, is a tab called Quorum Call.  It lists, loosely according to their placement in the book (and not necessarily importance), many of the individuals in the book.  The following eight individuals join the previously listed twenty five members of the lQuorum Call as reported in my Florida Politics Diary:

Clerk of the House of Representatives Emiritus John Phelps, Political Consultants George DePontis and Stu Rose, Lobbyist Pat Tornillo, Representative Tom Gallagher, Representative Betty Easley, Representative Maxine Baker, and Speaker of the House of Representatives Don Tucker.

Congratulations all.

Silver Members of "Golden Years" Political Quorum Call

by: Robert McKnight

Fri Jul 31, 2009 at 11:58:44 AM EDT

As reported in my Diary of July 8, 2009, in my book, The Golden Years...The Florida Legislature, '70s and '80s, I identified approximately 300 individuals associated with what Martin Dyckman of The St. Petersburg Times, described as the Golden Era of Florida politics.  I tried to include the people who I felt had an impact on the time, whether it was good or bad, Republican or Democrat, etc.  I have decided to do a small profile of many of the individuals in what I call the "Quorum Call" of my Blog, which can be found at www.goldenyearspoliticalcollection.com.  Rather than try to list the individuals by importance--next to impossible to do--I have listed them in general order as they appeared in the book.  In my July 8th Diary, I listed the first 18 members of the Quorum Call.  Now, I will add 7 more that bring the total to 25, or the Silver Members of the Golden Years Quorum Call.  I will contine to add to the Quorum Call as a part of my Blog, carried here by Florida Politics:

Lobbyist Jim Krog, Senator George Firestone, The Honorable "Mamma" Range, Reporter John McDermott, Developer David Blumberg, U.S. Senator Bob Graham, and Senator Dempsey Barron.

Quorum Call "Hall of Fame" From the Legislative Golden Years

by: Robert McKnight

Wed Jul 08, 2009 at 21:15:11 PM EDT

In my book, The Golden Years...The Florida Legislature, '70s and '80s, I attempted to identify as many participants from the era as possible, including legislators, lobbyists, reporters, and important individuals.  Approximately 300 are listed in the book.  In my new blog, I have attempted to list a number of them, starting with those listed at the beginning of the book.  One observer described the list, called The Quorum Call, as a kind of a political "Hall of Fame" for that time period. 

For those interested, the individuals listed to date are:  Senator Claude Pepper (D., Florida); Senate President Jerry Thomas (R., Tequesta); Congressman Paul Rogers (D., West Palm Beach); Lobbyist Harold Lewis; Governor Claude Kirk (R., Florida); Senator Scott Kelly (D., Lakeland); Speaker Richard Pettigrew (D., Miami); Lobbyist Steve Winn; Reporter Virginia Ellis; Comptroller Gerald Lewis (D., Miami); Congressman Dante Fascell (D., Miami); Congressman Ander Crenshaw (R., Jacksonville); Representative Elaine Gordon (D., Miami Beach); Representative Marshall Harris (D., Miami); Senator Ken Plante (R., Orlando); Supreme Court Justice Fred Lewis; Governor Reubin O'Donovan Askew (D., Florida); and CNN Political Talk Show Host Larry King.

Additions will continue to be made to The Quorum Call at my blog, based on those identified in the book. 

The "Attack on Entebbe"

by: Robert McKnight

Tue Jul 07, 2009 at 00:54:26 AM EDT

The press has described the 1977 clandestine campaign for Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives as the "Attack on Entebbe," based on the actual Israeli attack in Uganda.  The winning candidate in the campaign was Representative Hyatt Brown (D., Daytona Beach), who lead the secret month long preparation for the midnight solicitation of pledges.  The campaign, which started during the annual "Redneck Party" and was complete as the sun rose the next day, with only one vote to spare.  I was a part of a small group that helped organize the campaign and have chronicled details about it in my book, The Golden Years...The Florida Legislature, '70s and '80s, as well as in my blog, which can be found here. 

Historians have said that the "Attack on Entebbe" was the death blow for the demise of the "Pork Choppers," the political power brokers, primarily from rural North Florida, who controlled the Florida Legislature.

Untruth and Consequences

by: dantilson

Tue May 12, 2009 at 15:07:55 PM EDT

While political pundits turn their -- and the public's -- attention to Charlie Crist's U.S. Senate run and a series of chain reaction announcements to follow from Florida pols like Alex Sink and Bill McCollum, it's worth taking one more look at what the state's Republican leadership "accomplished" by the time they finally passed a budget and adjourned last Friday.

Forget the spin coming out of self-congratulatory press conferences like the one on Friday afternoon that featured Crist, Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottcamp, Senate President Jeff Atwater and House Speaker Larry Cretul patting one another on the back for reaching compromise "agreements" and making "tough choices".  The Governor's office immediately issued a long list of accomplishments in the new budget.  Atwater and other Republican leaders went on their own media tour,  desperately trying to re-frame the legislative session as some kind of a mixed-bag success.  The economic crisis, of course, became the be-all, end-all explanation for their more glaring slaps across the faces of Florida's already reeling Middle Class and working families.

Slaps such as...

Read entire article at  http://www.examiner.com/x-9540...

Florida Republicans hold legislature hostage

by: dantilson

Sat May 02, 2009 at 21:44:23 PM EDT

May 1st marked the official end of the 60-day legislative session in Tallahassee. No balloons or ticker tape. No, you see, the one and only task that the legislature was actually required to accomplish by May Day was to pass the state budget for the next fiscal year, which starts July 1st. They couldn’t get it done. So now House and Senate “leaders”, Republicans like House Speaker Larry Cretul and Senate President Jeff Atwater, huddle over the weekend and try to come up with a final budget that the entire legislature can vote on next week. These are the same Republicans who had promised an open budget process last week -- just before making a mad dash for closed-door budget negotiations amongst themselves. Talk about an economic strategy echo chamber. After their secret meetings, they refused to reveal any details of what they’d discussed. But they did want to make an announcement: that the budget negotiation “will be an open process…a very, very open process.” Does that sound more than a little like the twisted double-talk that came out of the Bush administration for eight long years?

This, after weeks and weeks of the usual Florida legislative war dance -- the overwhelmingly Republican House vs. the less-overwhelmingly Republican Senate. How about a couple of examples? Well, Florida homeowners’ “insurer of last resort”, government-backed Citizens Insurance, wanted a rate hike. The state Senate approved a 5% hike. Then the House said no, that’s not enough. They wanted to give them increases of up to 20%. That's called chutzpah in Yiddish, cujones in Spanish, shameless in any language. Then there’s the Clean Energy bill, intended to force electric utilities to use more renewable energy sources, like wind and solar. Even our Republican Lite governor, Charlie Crist, is a big advocate of the legislation. But House Republicans blocked the bill throughout the session.

What are badly outnumbered Democrats to do? Some continue to fight for what's right. Others are just desperate for a win. In the case of the Clean Energy bill, at the last minute the Senate tacked on a ridiculous new feature that would allow nuclear power to also be classified as a renewable energy source. And that, folks, is the kind of wrong-headed cave-in that leaves so many principled citizens disgusted or disengaged with politics, and politicians.

However, it is important to note that there are in fact some hard-working, ethical, progressive Democrats in the state legislature, fighting the good fight against all odds -- people like Dan Gelber, Ted Deutch, Dave Aronberg, and others. But far too often, their hands are tied. There just aren’t enough of them. And that’s because of how successfully the Republicans have gerrymandered our legislative districts. The good news is, there's hope on the horizon. A vitally important new ballot referendum initiative called Fair District Florida may just be the beginning of a new day in state politics. Stay tuned for an upcoming article on this potentially game-changing new initiative.

Florida Republicans: Trying to Restrict Voting Again

by: meowmissy

Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 11:07:13 AM EDT

St. Pete Times writer Steve Bousquet has two must read articles regarding Republican efforts in both the House and Senate in the Florida Legislature to change the rules to restrict voting.  

Sansom Is Sacked

by: Ray_Seaman

Fri Jan 30, 2009 at 13:55:10 PM EST

Besieged by criticism and facing criminal and ethical investigations into his dealings with a state college, House Speaker Ray Sansom resigned his post today. "Effective immediately, I have decided to recuse myself from the exercise of my duties as Speaker of the House of Representatives," Sansom said in a statement.

"This is a perfect example of democracy at work. Engaged and informed citizens, combined with a vigorous and undeterred media, have forced one of Florida's most powerful politicians to answer for his actions.

"For months, Ray Sansom has been a student of the Rod Blagojevich school of denial. In the end, the tide of public opinion trumped personal ego. In December we launched SackSansom.com after our online poll found that 96% of respondents wanted Speaker Sansom held accountable for his 'cash and carry' style of leadership.

"Today Sansom got sacked, and it was long overdue.

"Floridians are tired of hypocrisy and abuse of power in our political system and Ray Sansom is the embodiment of both.

"This is a victory for good government and a testament to the importance of an independent press. From today forward, Florida's elected officials should be on notice - they will be held accountable."

We undoubtedly have big problems to solve in Florida right now, but none of them can truly be addressed with a tainted leader. This is both a testament to how democracy works, and a step forward for Florida.

I also want to thank those of you who participated in all of Progress Florida's Sack Sansom activities - this is your victory, too.

Sansom: I'm Not Talking

by: Ray_Seaman

Tue Jan 13, 2009 at 12:38:33 PM EST

10 Connects is solidifying a strong media narrative against Sansom that he's just another sneaky politician:

Watch the video here

The drumbeat continues as Sansom digs the hole by not answering tough questions, avoiding the public, and writing editorials which very few believe.

Florida: An Economic Overview

by: meowmissy

Thu Dec 18, 2008 at 11:40:57 AM EST

Take Action: We Deserve Honesty (Go Fitz Go!)

by: bkirby816

Mon Oct 27, 2008 at 18:24:18 PM EDT

In 2006, he and his campaign manager, Duncan (my wife), ran one hell of a race, and won in a predominantly Republican district.  He won despite the fact that they ran a very nasty campaign against him, at one point saying he was going to shred the fabric of democracy, or something along those lines.   Keith responded by running a clean campaign, talking about the issues, and about what he was going to do in Tallahassee.    

All Aboard

by: gatordem

Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 17:49:52 PM EDT

The Democratic National Convention has started.  Barack Obama has selected Joe Biden as his running mate.   The Republican National Convention follows next week.  It would seem that these events would be sucking up all the oxygen available.  They mostly are for us political junkies.  But for the majority of Floridians, life goes on as usual.

Floridians are going about their daily business.  They are engaged in their daily commutes and stuck in their normal traffic jams wishing somebody would do something to ease the traffic congestion. Or offer them a viable alternative to driving their cars. The mass transit situation in Florida is so bad that a commuter rail supporter recently included "all of Florida" among places that were "useless holes of car dependence".

Cross Posted from Florida Kossacks

Online Sunshine

by: meowmissy

Fri Jun 13, 2008 at 13:42:57 PM EDT

Democracy is government by the people, for the people and of the people.  It should be open to the people.  The First Amendment Foundation is an organization working to protect and advance free speach and open government in Florida.  Unfortunately, our sunshine laws are still not applied evenly or fairly. Together, we can make a change.

Thoughts on tonight's budget debate (Cross Posted at dangelber.com)

by: DanGelber

Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 23:44:56 PM EDT

After eleven hours of questions and debate today, we managed to get through the first step of approving the State House's version of the budget. It has been a productive day---and a long day, so I am going to keep this update short.

Dems: Don't Team Up With the Forces of Ego

by: gatordem

Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 15:32:38 PM EDT

From the Orlando Sentinel:

Republican Sens. Alex Villalobos of Miami, Charlie Dean of Inverness, and Paula Dockery of Lakeland are joining with Democrats today to try and steer away millions of dollars intended to buy the 61-mile rail line from CSX Corp. for commuter rail.

Rail Road Job in Tallahassee - Forces of Ego Fight Commuter Rail

by: gatordem

Mon Mar 17, 2008 at 13:13:30 PM EDT

This year is a particularly tough year for the Florida Legislature. After failing to actually provide for meaningful property insurance and property tax reform last year, this year they are facing an enormous budget crisis.

So, while talks of budget cuts dominate the agenda, there is another huge battle for Florida's future going on largely in the background. This is a battle over whether Florida will actually move forward with 21st Century smart economic growth initiatives that feature environmentally sound growth management principles, or whether we will continue to follow the old, tired trends that have resulted in the unchecked urban sprawl that has made for fertile ground for the Hometown Democracy initiative. This is a battle that is only lacking the sex angle to put it right up there with Sunshine State as a great candidate for a thought provoking film.

The "Rosa Parks Act" in Florida

by: meowmissy

Tue Feb 12, 2008 at 11:14:38 AM EST

Back in December of 1955, Rosa Parks challeged a city ordinance in Montgomery, Alabama that segregated transit passengers by race in refusing to give up her seat on a bus to make room for a white passenger. This single courageous act of civil disobedience started the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a seminal event in the civil rights movement.

Allen Out: Feb. 15

by: bkirby816

Fri Nov 16, 2007 at 21:44:08 PM EST

The Mess the Legislature Left and Calling All New Ideas on Tax Reform

by: bkirby816

Fri Nov 02, 2007 at 18:01:38 PM EDT