Florida Political News: June 3, 2012

by: Florida Politics

Sun Jun 03, 2012 at 12:33:01 PM EDT

"The stench of voter suppression"

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board: "It takes the federal courts and the U.S. Justice Department to defend democracy and protect Floridians from their governor and Legislature who are determined to suppress the vote."

Now it should be clear even to Gov. Rick Scott that barriers to voter registration drives and the state's heavy-handed purge of the voter rolls are unconstitutional. The governor should start encouraging all Floridians to vote and quit putting up barriers to the polls that disproportionately affect the poor and minorities.

The federal backlash, coming in separate moves Thursday, is the most powerful rebuke yet of a Republican governor and GOP-controlled Legislature bent on disenfranchising Florida voters by using measures that primarily marginalize African-Americans, Hispanics, poor people and other reliable Democratic constituencies.

U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle threw out restrictions on third-party groups that register voters, calling them "harsh," "impractical" and "plainly" illegal.

The question of whether Scott and his fellow Republicans overreached is not even close. In tossing parts of the 2011 election law, Hinkle sounded incredulous about the lengths that Republicans went to erect new hurdles to voting.

Democrats cry voter suppression. Republicans insist they’re simply trying to prevent voter fraud. Who’s right?

The problem is the way state GOP leaders in Florida (and various other GOP-led states) are going about it. They want to “prevent” a problem that there’s no evidence even exists. It carries the stench of voter suppression in a presidential election year when Florida is among a handful of swing states key to victory for either President Obama or his Republican opponent, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Back in the contentious presidential nail-biter of 2000, the integrity of Florida’s voting system was challenged by butterfly ballots and dimpled chads and a purge of thousands of voters the state deemed to be ineligible felons when, in fact, they were eligible to vote. Those structural problems were fixed years later by federal and state laws, with new ballot scan machines in Florida and rules that made early voting possible days before the official Election Day. The point was to have access to voting and transparency.

But now, Florida seems to be heading back to those “Flori-duh” days of purging voters who have every right to vote and finding ways to limit young people, immigrants and minorities — who typically lean Democrat — from voting with onerous rules on voter-registration drives, restrictions U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle called “risky business” for those groups that faced $1,000 in fines if they submit new voter forms past the 48-hour rule.

Florida's "phantom" votes

"Almost half of Florida's voters will have their ballots counted this November by machines that can malfunction in as little as two hours and start adding votes."

A New York study found that the precinct-based vote counter added votes in some races on a ballot, which can invalidate some or all of the votes.

Although not used in Palm Beach County, Election Systems & Software's DS200 scanner will count votes in some of the most populous counties in Florida, including Miami-Dade, Broward and Orange.

State elections officials stand behind the scanner, which they say has been thoroughly tested.

Even so, the manufacturer issued a nationwide bulletin warning that the scanner needs to be carefully cleaned to avoid adding "phantom" votes.

The addition of extra votes can generate overvoting - instances where two or more candidates are chosen on a ballot in the same race. If a voter doesn't correct the ballot, his or her vote in that race is thrown out. In 2008, overvoting rates were so high in Florida counties using the scanner that an estimated 11,000 people lost their vote for president, an analysis by the nonprofit watchdog group Florida Fair Elections Coalition concluded. Miami-Dade County precincts with large numbers of minority and non-English­-speaking voters were especially hard-hit.

Ballot design was part of the problem, the coalition said. However, the group requested that the state Division of Elections temporarily remove the DS200 from its list of authorized voting equipment.

That didn't happen.

Florida Voter Purge to Continue

"Despite a Justice Department letter, objections from county elections officials and evidence that a disproportionate number are voters of color, Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner's office planned to continue scrubbing the election rolls, a spokesman said Friday. Gov. Rick Scott (R) ordered the search for potentially ineligible voters." "Florida Voter Purge Will Continue, Defying Federal Warning".

"Road to the future of Florida Senate goes through Tampa Bay"

"The road to the future of the Florida Senate goes through Tampa Bay in November."

Some of this year’s fiercest state election fights are likely to occur in the region, mainly because of a job held by someone that’s rarely a household name — the state Senate president.

“After the election this year, you will probably get a sense of the Senate leadership for the next six years,’’ said Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, who is running to be Senate president from 2016-18.

That’s because, due to redistricting, every seat in the 40-member chamber is up for election, and the winners will determine who holds the clout for the next decade.

Latvala, who returned to the Senate in 2010 after being termed out in 2002, wants to make sure that enough returning and newly elected Republican senators support him. He even held a fundraiser to raise money for his political committee, proclaiming the money would go to “the first Senate president from Pinellas County.”

Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, is also lining up support for the 2016-18 presidency, albeit more quietly. And Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, says he, too, remains a candidate.

The men are all Republicans but they differ in philosophy. Thrasher and Negron are conservative; Latvala is a moderate. Thrasher forged his reputation as a dominant House speaker who forcefully pushed through former Gov. Jeb Bush’s agenda. Negron began his career in the House and moved to the Senate where he has become a budget and health care expert. And Latvala is a maverick who relishes challenging leadership and forging consensus on thorny issues.

Latvala helped secure the 2014-16 Senate presidency for Sen. Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, when Thrasher and Negron lost confidence in Gardiner and attempted to hoist Thrasher to power instead. Now Gardiner, and Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, the designated Senate president for 2012-14, can help determine which candidates align with whom in 2016. The battle is fiercest in Tampa Bay.

"Get tough on the unemployed, and go easy on employers"

The Orlando Sentinel editorial board: "If there were any questions about where loyalties lie among Florida lawmakers, consider what they've done to the state's unemployment compensation system: made it harder for the jobless to collect benefits and eased the burden on businesses of paying for them." "Florida's jobless crackdown shows skewed priorities". See also "Workers: State blocks unemployment benefits".

"Time-out-from-testing"

"'I don't agree with the system, and I don't think it's working,' said Terry Andrews, Osceola County's school superintendent, a day after the much-lower-than-expected scores were released."

"I'm not against testing, but when we test kids for 48 days out of the year, there's something wrong," Andrews said, referring to his district's testing calendar. "And when we have five third-graders who are so upset, they throw up on their tests, and we have to put them in plastic bags to grade them, it's time to look at what we're doing."

Even before the writing scores were released, however, there were signs of an increasing frustration with Florida's stable of standardized tests and how the state uses test scores to make promotion, class-assignment and graduation decisions for students, grade schools A to F and, starting this year, help judge teacher quality.

Two Florida school districts have signed a national "time-out-from-testing" resolution. The Central Florida Public School Boards Coalition has put together a white paper on the negative "ramifications" of testing, which in its view dominates too much of public education.

The Florida School Boards Association will take up the paper, and its findings, at a meeting this month.

Those upset with the system argue it puts too much stress on students and teachers, costs too much, eats up too much time and limits creativity in classrooms.

But state education leaders say the accountability plan, adopted in 1999 when Jeb Bush was governor, has improved student achievement, boosting Florida's showing on both state and national tests and increasing the number of students graduating from high school.

Florida has had a "meteoric rise" because its accountability plan measures student achievement and holds schools responsible for improving it, said Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson.

Before then, the state was a bottom feeder on most academic measures.

"Tampa strippers get ready"

"Tampa strippers get ready for a really big party -- the GOP".

Deutch "wants to find out how the purge originated"

William March: "U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch of Boca Raton has filed a public records request for documents related to the state's attempted voter roll purge, which is targeting alleged non-citizens illegally registered to vote. ... Deutch spokeswoman Ashley Mushnick said he wants to find out how the purge originated, and how people's names got on the list. The Associated Press reported that Gov. Rick Scott initiated the purge, despite advice against it by former Secretary of State Kurt Browning." "Deutch seeks records on state voter purge".

"Transferring public education money to private companies"

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is angry that the Legislature forced Florida school districts to keep providing private tutoring for low-performing students at high-poverty schools. "

Mr. Duncan's department just gave Florida a waiver from that and other No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requirements, saying research shows that such tutoring doesn't improve academic performance.

But the required spending does something near and dear to the hearts of Florida legislators: It transfers public education money to private companies. In Palm Beach County last year, roughly 100 outside groups were eligible to provide private tutoring. They billed the district $60 to $70 a session for individual tutoring, and could collect up to $1,254 per student.

"The location is hardly a coincidence"

"Just weeks before the nation's Republicans gather in Tampa to make Mitt Romney their presidential candidate, the state's Democrats are in town to choose delegates for their convention. The location is hardly a coincidence." "State Democrats gather in Tampa to select delegates for convention".

PBC Dems could get whipsawed on immigration

The Palm Beach Post editors: "If Palm Beach County Democrats don't handle complaints about party official Clarence Shahid Freeman carefully, they could get whipsawed on immigration the way Republicans already have been."

Florida's GOP courts Hispanics, particularly Cuban-Americans, but concocted a voter-roll purge that flagged legal Hispanic voters.

As Post reporter John Lantigua revealed in a two-part series [last] week, immigration lawyers Aileen Josephs and Cynthia Arevalo have filed a complaint with the Florida Bar accusing Mr. Freeman of the unlawful practice of law. Mr. Freeman is president of the Boynton Beach Democratic Club, is on Palm Beach County's Democratic Executive Committee and was an officer of the Brazilian American Democratic Club based in Boca Raton.

The lawyers say Mr. Freeman, who is not a lawyer, improperly took money from immigrants to intercede in immigration cases and used his Dem

Florida's "shady officials" leave a cloud of ethical suspicion

The Tampa Tribune editorial board: "Shady officials have, in copious numbers, left a cloud of ethical suspicion over Florida's state and local governments. In the most recent 10-year period for which records are available, Florida leads the nation in corruption convictions by the Public Integrity section of the U.S. Department of Justice. The 781 convictions are averaging more than six each month since 2000." "Please pass the sunshine".

Next time, read up on the First Amendment

The Sarasota Herald Tribune editors: "Next time Florida lawmakers are tempted to meddle with voter registration drives, they might want to read up on the First Amendment and the freedoms it protects. Thursday, a federal judge cited those freedoms as a reason to suspend the state's onerous new restrictions on groups mounting voter registration drives." "Reprieve for voter drives".

Young faces credible Dem challenger

Adam C. Smith: U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young "faces another credible Democratic challenger, St. Petersburg lawyer Jessica Ehrlich, 38, who ... makes clear she will try to wrap the Paul Ryan budget proposal revamping Medicare around Young's neck." "Challenger Jessica Ehrlich criticizes Rep. C.W. Bill Young".

To replace Rod Smith

"Florida Democratic Party chairman Rod Smith has made it clear he will not seek another term as chairman after November's election. So who is his likely replacement? So far, we hear mainly about three contenders for the next party chairman: Hillsborough State Committeeman and Democratic National Committee member Alan Clendenin; Palm Beach Democratic chairman Mark Alan Siegel; and outgoing state Rep. Scott Randolph of Orlando." "For party chairman".

"Assault on state's fragile environment by Scott administration"

Daniel Ruth on the "assaults on our state's fragile environment by the Scott administration."

The Scott administration, with its zeal to give businesses carte blanche in dealing with our natural resources, seems to hold the anachronistic view of wetlands as being peat bogs that breed mosquitoes and other vermin, dirty and dangerous places that should be drained and backfilled for development and agriculture.

The governor and his aides need a primer on the intrinsic value of wetlands. They should log on, for example, to the St. Johns River Water Management website. They would learn that wetlands benefit us by:

• Cleaning, or filtering, pollutants from surface waters.

• Storing water from storms or runoff.

• Preventing flood damage to developed lands.

• Recharging groundwater.

• Serving as nurseries for saltwater and freshwater fish and shellfish that have commercial, recreational and ecological value.

• Providing natural habitat for a variety of fish, wildlife and plants, including rare, threatened, endangered and endemic (native) species.

Why, then, would anyone — especially the state's highest elected official — tolerate dissembling when the welfare of the state's wetlands is at stake? Scott and his DEP appointees should be the lead stewards of our environment, always protecting our treasures from irresponsibility and greed.

The audacity of retirement

"It's actually a better deal for the state to have a retiree return to work since they are not entitled to further retirement benefits whereas a new hire would be."

In any event, "New hires must now work eight years to become vested in the system and will receive a retirement based on their highest eight years of earning instead of five. The new retirement parameters for calculating benefits are now set at age 65 instead of 62, or 33 years of employment instead of 30 if younger and all employees are required to contribute 3 percent of their earnings to the retirement program - although that is being challenged in court." "2nd retirement no more an option for state workers".

Florida to defy federal warning to stop purging

by: Florida Politics

Sat Jun 02, 2012 at 12:29:37 PM EDT

Florida Political News: June 2, 2012

by: Florida Politics

Sat Jun 02, 2012 at 12:12:36 PM EDT

"Few states have done more in recent years to suppress voting ... than Florida"

Charles Blow: "Florida ought to know better. And must do better, particularly on the issue of voting and discrimination."

But, then again, we are talking about Florida, the state of Bush v. Gore infamy and the one that will celebrate the birthday of Jefferson Davis, the only president of the Confederacy, with a statewide holiday on Sunday.

Few states in the union have done more in recent years to restrict and suppress voting — particularly by groups who lean Democratic, such as young people, the poor and minorities — than Florida.

In May 2011, the state’s Republican-led Legislature passed and the Republican governor, Rick Scott, signed a sweeping election law that cut early voting short and imposed onerous burdens on voter registration groups by requiring them to turn in registration applications within 48 hours of the time they are signed or face fines.

The threat of fines has meant that many groups that traditionally registered voters in the state have abandoned the effort, and it appears to be contributing to fewer new registrations. According to a March analysis of registration data by The Times, “in the months since its new law took effect in May, 81,471 fewer Floridians have registered to vote than during the same period before the 2008 presidential election.” ...

Recently, the state announced that it would begin another round of voter purging to ensure that no ineligible voters were mistakenly on the voter rolls. Seems noble enough. But the problem is that Florida is notoriously bad at purging.

As the New York University School of Law’s Brennan Center for Justice pointed out last week: “In 2000, Florida’s efforts to purge persons with criminal convictions from the rolls led to, by conservative estimates, close to 12,000 eligible voters being removed” from the rolls. As most of us remember, George W. Bush beat Al Gore in the state of Florida that year, after the recounts and the Supreme Court stepped in, by 537 votes. ...

“So far, Florida has flagged 2,700 potential noncitizen voters and sent the list to county elections supervisors, who have found the data and methodology to be flawed and problematic. The list of potential noncitizen voters — many of whom have turned out to be lawful citizens and voters — disproportionately hits minorities, especially Hispanics.” ...

Florida has more electoral votes than any other swing state, and the battle to win it — or steal it — will be epic because the election is likely to be another nail-biter, both nationally and in the state.

Weekly Roundup

"Weekly Roundup: Should I Stay or Should I Go?".

"Plenty to bolster talk of voter-suppression conspiracy in Florida"

Fred Grimm: "Dark mutterings about voter suppression and underhanded politics have been dogging Florida’s bungled campaign to excise non-citizens from the voter registration rolls."

Of course, someone — someone in a charitable mood — could shrug off this mess as innocent ineptitude.

While some non-citizens indeed seemed to have cast votes in past elections, a discomfiting percentage of the 2,631 supposedly illicit voters that the Florida Secretary of State told county elections supervisors to zap from their rolls this month turned out to be actual citizens (including a 91-year-old Brooklyn-born veteran of the Battle of the Bulge). Ken Detzner, best known as a beer-industry lobbyist before Gov. Rick Scott picked him to take over as secretary of state in February, admitted Thursday that his office’s “ability to validate a person’s legal status as up-to-date was limited.”

Perhaps his office should have thought of that earlier. The Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections found the discrepancies so disconcerting that it on Friday it advised members to suspend the purge. “We’re erring on the side of voters,” said Associated President Vicki Davis.

And it could have been just another unhappy coincidence that Detzner’s office also forgot about the state’s obligations under the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, before going ahead willy-nilly with his voter purge, particularly a voter purge based on a list that was 58 percent Hispanic. On Thursday, the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division sent their least favorite beer lobbyist a letter, reminding him that federal law requires that major voting changes must first be reviewed by the U.S. Attorney General or a federal judge.

The letter from Justice also warned that the 1993 law requires that a state “shall complete, not later than 90 days prior to the date of a primary or general election for federal office, any program the purpose of which is to systematically remove the names of ineligible voters from the official lists of eligible voters.” With the state’s congressional primary election set for Aug. 14, Florida has blown the deadline. The error-plagued list of potentially illegal voters went out May 8, but the deadline (counting 90 days back from Aug. 14) to finish up Detzner’s purge would have been May 16.

But Detzner was a beer lobbyist (though he did hold this same job briefly, back in 2003), not a math whiz. His office’s flubs might have been utterly innocent. Small beer, as they say in the business.

Someone, feeling charitable, might conclude that none of voter problems necessarily indicate some underhanded plan by Florida Republicans to game the November elections. Except that on the very same day that the letter from the Justice Department showed up in Tallahassee, a federal judge across town issued an injunction against another bit of state meddling with the voter rolls. He said aspects of the state’s controversial 2011 law aimed at voter-registration groups were “harsh and impractical.”

But somebody, feeling charitable, might think that the beer lobbyist charged with safeguarding our elections was only inept. Maybe all he needed was a little civic lesson (along with a federal court injunction) from Judge Hinkle.

"Abortions Tumble in Florida"

"As Year-Old Laws Take Hold, Abortions Tumble in Florida".

"All 5 water management district chiefs gone within 16 months of Scott taking office"

"New Northwest Florida Water Management District Executive Director Jon Steverson on his first day on the new job on Friday said he's heard the "conspiracy theories" about a DEP takeover of the water management districts but they're not true."

Steverson, 36, was special counsel and chief of legislative affairs at DEP before being picked in May to replace Douglas Barr, who was not reappointed by Gov. Rick Scott. Steverson worked closely with the districts during the Legislature's past two regular sessions as key legislation affecting the districts' budgets passed.

An avid hunter with a stuffed duck in his new office along with photos of his family, Steverson is the second DEP official in the past year to lead a water management district after Melissa Meeker's move to the South Florida Water Management District. He will earn $165,000 a year.

"I'm a guy who applied for a job," Steverson said. "I was not put anywhere (by DEP). If you called the secretary (Herschel Vinyard) today, I'm sure he'd say, 'I'd like to have Jon out here still.' At least, I hope that's what he'd say."

Also, Anne Shortelle, director of DEP's Office of Water Policy, is the top pick for a search committee to lead the Suwannee River Water Management District this month following the resignation of executive director David Still in February. With Barr's departure in April, all five water management district chiefs were gone with 16 months of Scott taking office.

Conservatives go after Pariente

Kenric Ward: "Florida Supreme Court Justice Barbara Pariente may have gotten a bit more than she bargained for at Temple Emeth last month."

Taking a rhetorical shot at Gov. Rick Scott, the Lawton Chiles appointee warned the synagogue conclave that a failure to keep her on the bench would "give Governor Scott the right to make his appointments, which will result in partisan political appointments."

Free speech and political differences are great, but in the world of lawyerly canons of ethics and judicial conduct, Pariente sounded like just another partisan tub-thumper -- the kind that high-minded judges typically revile.

Pariente, who has been on the court since 1997, opened herself up to several questions (which deserve forthright consideration):

- After openly impugning Scott's conservative politics, can she reasonably sit on any cases in which the governor is a party?

- Can she fairly rule on any cases involving the Florida Bar now that the Bar has committed an unprecedented $300,000 for a retention "education" campaign that can be perceived as aiding her?

- Amid the political grandstanding, how does Pariente shake the label of being an "activist judge"? Or does she even acknowledge it?

Pariente, along with fellow Justices Fred Lewis and Peggy Quince, already believe they're under political assault; their attorney, Dan Stengle, has stipulated as much to the state.

"Jeb!" has his derrière handed to him

"A top House Democrat slammed Jeb Bush on Friday for criticizing President Obama's economic policies while not condemning those of his brother, former President George W. Bush."

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, noted that hundreds of thousands of Americans were losing their jobs in the months before former President Bush left office in 2009, and said Bush's policies tipped the scales toward the wealthy and Wall Street.

“I’ve searched the record, and as far as I can tell, during that eight-year period you did not challenge the Bush administration’s handling of the economy, criticize the excessive spending or the rising deficits,” Van Hollen told Jeb Bush, a former Florida governor, at a morning hearing.

“It lifted the yachts, but the rest of the boats ran aground,” Van Hollen said about the former president's economic policies during his opening statement.

Van Hollen noted that dozens of Republicans on Capitol Hill supported the Wall Street bailout in 2008, then opposed the stimulus package and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform bills under Obama.

Jeb Bush, who was testifying at a hearing on removing barriers to economic growth, appeared taken aback by Van Hollen’s criticism.

Bad math

"59 percent of Florida algebra students pass state exam". See also "Statewide algebra test trips 52 percent of 9th graders".

"FCAT validity questioned"

"FCAT validity questioned after scoring changes, lowered marks".

Charter madness

The Orlando Sentinel editorial board point out that Florida's legislators "largely have muzzled local districts regarding charter expansion. And state officials routinely overrule school boards' charter rejections — even over shoddy standards." "Charter schools and districts".

"Rivera is playing a dangerous political game"

Fabiola Santiago on "the cultural and political divide between generations of Cuban exiles that has led to the move, once unthinkable, by Miami Republican U.S. Rep. David Rivera to sponsor a bill aimed at curtailing the benefits of the Cuban Adjustment Act."

The adjustment act was enacted to ensure legal status, after one year of living here, to Cubans fleeing the Castro regime. Rivera’s bill would keep Cubans from visiting the island during the first five years of arrival, or risk losing residency.

The change doesn’t sound that ominous, but at a time when anti-immigrant sentiment in this country runs at an all-time high, Rivera is playing a dangerous political game. The entire adjustment act could end up reformed or revoked and the victims of the dictatorship left unprotected.

Recent arrivals don’t want to suffer the family separation that the early exiles endured, so they travel to Cuba to see their relatives as soon as they can, and take with them all the goods and supplies they can legally carry. Whether it helps the regime or not, their motivation is to help family, and that’s not a crime.

Gun-nuts square off against Dyer

"Gun-rights advocates are squaring off against Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer for hiring a new city employee to spearhead the city's fight against illegal guns. Dyer said the city is simply targeting so-called 'crime guns' that end up in the hands of felons. But a gun-rights group argues that public employees shouldn't be trying to erode the Second Amendment right to bear arms." "Gun advocates take aim at Orlando gun-law staffer".

"Shameless hawking of the 'Florida Formula'"

"A Colorado think tank has described the research of former Gov. Jeb Bush’s top education advisor as “nonsensical, confusing and disingenuous.”"

Matthew Ladner received a 2011 Bunkum Award from the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado-Boulder for the research he has published while working as a senior policy and research advisor at Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education, a nonprofit whose mission is to encourage Florida-style education reform in other states.

The National Education Policy Center, a nonprofit that produces peer-reviewed research on education policy, presents the award annually to honor what the center views as shoddy education research.

“We’ve never before found someone with an individual record of Bunkum-worthy accomplishments that just cries out for recognition,” said Kevin G. Welner, director of NEPC. “Dr. Ladner’s body of Bunk-work is focused on his shameless hawking of what he and the governor [Jeb Bush] call the ‘Florida Formula’ for education success.”

Bush couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday because he was traveling.

Ladner, who has a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Houston, mocked the Bunkum Awards last year when a report he co-authored with Lindsey Burke won the honor. He did not respond to an interview request Thursday.

Ladner, who has testified before Congress and state legislatures, previously served as vice president of research at the Goldwater Institute, a conservative think tank that supports school choice. He was also the director of state projects at the Washington, D.C.-based Alliance for School Choice.

Since last year, Ladner and Bush have given a series of presentations around the country using Florida as an example to promote the types of education reforms Bush implemented during his eight years as governor. These reforms include creating and implementing standardized tests, providing greater choice with charter schools, extending vouchers for special-needs programs and offering a tuition tax credit for private schools.

Ladner argues that because Florida students’ test scores have increased during a period of school choice and grade retention, these policies must be responsible for the scores.

However, the National Education Policy Center cites evidence that links grade retention to increased dropout rates, not to improved academic achievement.

While Florida’s recent student test scores are unimpressive, Ladner still supports the education reform policies. He blames the poor scores on a slide in real estate values and other outside factors.

Campaign Roundup

"Campaign Roundup: Feds tell Florida to hold its rolls, more fallout in Tampa Senate races and no echo Chambers in Jacksonville".

Deadline to pay the state

"Next week the Agency for Health Care Administration will wrap up its meetings with the final three of the state's 67 counties, which will also a face a deadline to pay the state for the first round of monthly bills." "State accommodates counties on Medicaid billing, but sticking points remain".

Shrinking Citizens

"Insurance companies think higher rates are necessary to entice the private market to pick up Citizens policies, but Realtors and some lawmakers say it could discourage home buyers and they wonder whether private insurance carriers will swoop in to take on policies from the state-run insurer." "Insurers, agents see rates as key to shrinking Citizens; others wary". See also "Insurers push for higher Citizens rates".

Aaron Deslatte: "It's hurricane season -- and it may cost you".

Jebbie rewrites history

by: Florida Politics

Sat Jun 02, 2012 at 09:29:06 AM EDT

Florida Political News: June 1, 2012

by: Florida Politics

Fri Jun 01, 2012 at 09:33:56 AM EDT

Justice Department demands stop to Florida's voter purge

In the first of two dramatic legal developments concerning alleged voter suppression in Florida, the "Justice Department sent a letter to Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner Thursday evening demanding the state cease purging its voting rolls because the process it is using has not been cleared under the Voting Rights Act".

DOJ also said that Florida’s voter roll purge violated the National Voter Registration Act, which stipulates that voter roll maintenance should have ceased 90 days before an election, which given Florida’s August 14 primary, meant May 16.

Five of Florida’s counties are subject to the Voting Rights Act, but the state never sought permission from either the Justice Department or a federal court to implement its voter roll maintenance program. Florida officials said they were trying to remove non-citizens from the voting rolls, but a flawed process led to several U.S. citizens being asked to prove their citizenship status or be kicked off the rolls.

Detzner blames Obama

"Secretary of State Ken Detzner wrote again to the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday in an attempt to obtain what would be more updated citizenship information than the state currently has. Detzner is trying to remove noncitizens from the list of registered voters." "Ignored by Obama DHS: Florida's Request for Citizenship Database to Review Voting Lists".

Federal judge tosses "unintelligible" suppression scheme

In the second dramatic development regarding alleged voter suppression in Florida, "a federal judge on Thursday blocked a controversial Florida law signed by Gov. Rick Scott that sharply curtailed third-party groups’ ability to register voters and forced many of them to discontinue their voter-registration drives."

In a 27-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle said there was little justification for a “harsh and impractical” 48-hour deadline for organizations to deliver applications to a voter-registration offices. Granting a preliminary injunction, Hinkle said such restrictions “effectively prohibit an organization from mailing applications in” and “impose burdensome record-keeping and reporting requirements that serve little if any purpose.”

“The short deadline, coupled with substantial penalties for noncompliance, make voter-registration drives a risky business,” Hinkle wrote. “If the goal is to discourage voter-registration drives and thus also to make it harder for new voters to register, the 48-hour deadline may succeed. But if the goal is to further the state’s legitimate interests without unduly burdening the rights of voters and voter registration organizations, 48 hours is a bad choice.”

Hinkle said the statute and rules regarding third-party voter registration were “not well crafted” and “virtually unintelligible, close to the point, if not past the point, at which a statute — especially one that regulates First Amendment rights and is accompanied by substantial penalties — becomes void for vagueness.”

Romney faces a daunting reality in must-win Florida

The "after all, he is black" crowd is back in action.

"As Mitt Romney ramps up his campaign in must-win Florida, he faces a daunting reality."

For 10 months, President Barack Obama has been steadily building a voter mobilization army here and now has about 100 paid staffers, 27 field offices and thousands of volunteers working almost every day to deliver Florida’s 29 electoral votes. A click on Romney’s Florida campaign website Thursday found no upcoming events in the state, while Obama’s site showed 121 events within 40 miles of downtown Miami.

Even in the face of that Obama campaign juggernaut, however, optimism abounds among Republicans across Florida. Veteran activists see the start of a Florida campaign operation far more robust than John McCain’s anemic effort four years ago, and they see a Republican electorate fired up to defeat Obama. ...

In a departure from past presidential campaigns in Florida, the Romney campaign and Republican National Committee are basing their headquarters for turning out voters in Tampa, rather than in Tallahassee with the state GOP. The “Victory” headquarters on Harbour Island just opened and is a two-minute drive from the Tampa Bay Times Forum, where Romney will accept the nomination in August. ...

Obama won Florida by less than 3 percentage points in 2008 after mounting the largest statewide campaign operation ever seen here. The effort promises to be even bigger in 2012, but Republicans are banking on a turnout operation more like George W. Bush’s formidable 2004 campaign than McCain’s.

"Mitt Romney campaign ramping up in Florida to enthusiasm of Republicans".

Thrasher has easy path in 2012

"With Easy Path in 2012, John Thrasher Can Focus on Other Races".

No mention of elephants

"Rick Scott Quietly Signs Four Bills for Law Enforcement".

Weldon slams Mack to Villagers

"Former Congressman Dave Weldon says he entered the Senate GOP primary because he doesn't think Rep. Connie Mack IV would be a good senator. He told a small crowd in The Villages retirement community that there were two candidates he liked in the race — Senate President Mike Haridopolos and former state Rep. Adam Hasner — but both dropped out." "Weldon says Mack wouldn't be a good senator".

Insurance industry fantasy

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board: "Another hurricane season starts today, and so do the annual rituals. Floridians check their hurricane supplies and evacuation zones. The governor and state emergency officials offer assurances that they are prepared to respond to a major storm. And legislators and the insurance industry spin the fantasy that the solution to Florida's property insurance crisis is free market competition and drastically higher premiums." "Florida needs bold insurance fixes". Related: "Political storm looms as hurricane season begins Friday" and "Critic: Citizens summit snubs consumers".

Feds investigate Florida's Dickensian unemployment benefit scheme

"Labor Department investigates Florida's tougher unemployment benefit system".

FCAT failing

The Palm Beach Post editors: "Speaking in Palm Beach County last week, Florida Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson was busy defending the FCAT - nearly a full-time job for him these days - when he said that, to him, the letter 'F' stands for 'Future.'"

We're betting that "future" wasn't the first F-related word students and parents thought of when results from this year's Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test starting coming out last month. So many kids got a "Future" on the writing FCAT that the state board of education took a quick trip into the past and reverted to lower standards. Instead of just 27 percent of fourth-graders passing the writing FCAT, the state pretended that 81 percent passed.

Mr. Robinson has been in Florida less than a year. He got his job not because he's familiar with Florida schools but because - like the politicians who dictate state education policy - he believes that charter and voucher schools are the future of education.

Mr. Robinson wasn't around during the past decade while those politicians twisted the FCAT into a tool to bring about a future in which traditional public schools wither. Labeling public schools as "failing" based on FCAT results was a key feature of the strategy. It backfired when parents blamed politicians and education bureaucrats for putting too much weight on standardized testing.

Mr. Robinson insists that the state is sticking with the FCAT-based school grading system. But what good is a standardized test when the education commissioner resorts to platitudes to explain away poor results? If the state doesn't use the FCAT regimen for its original purpose - to identify areas where students need help - it doesn't belong in Florida's future.

"Yes, you need a scorecard"

"With the flurry over a property appraiser porn scandal and an attorney general's wedding-that-wasn't, you might have missed other intriguing political news, about state Sen. Jim Norman and his future in Tallahassee."

You might have thought him unstoppable. He is, after all, the guy who made the leap from the Hillsborough County Commission to the Senate despite all those headlines, despite a federal investigation and ethics questions about that vacation home bankrolled by a businessman friend for Norman's wife.

You might have assumed a smooth ride to a second term with the full support of his party, Florida politics being what they are.

But here's Norman in a real race and a fight for his political future — without, it seems, the full and fierce party backing that incumbents traditionally enjoy.

Who would have thought it? No less than House Speaker Dean Cannon and Sen. Mike Fasano confirmed this week that they are endorsing not Norman but the newcomer to the race, state Rep. John Legg. More endorsements are expected to follow. (Though interestingly, no word from Norman's former commission pal Sen. Ronda Storms, who is running to replace the property appraiser in the porn scandal. Yes, you need a scorecard.)

Crap in the water

"In an issue that pits some environmentalists against industry groups and state officials, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle grants the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency until Nov. 30 to develop new numeric criteria for nitrogen and phosphorus. Environmental groups had objected, and Hinkle warned the EPA not to expect any more extensions." "Judge extends deadline for federal agency to issue new pollution limits".

Empty suit strides world stage

"Marco Rubio Calls for 'Coalition of the Willing' Against Syria".

Secret, secret

"A Florida Department of Environmental Protection wetlands expert wasn’t suspended for refusing to issue a wetlands credit permit as a newspaper contends, the state agency announced Thursday. In fact, the DEP states, the permit application has yet to be completed. However, the reason wetlands expert Connie Bersok has been put on paid leave, with an internal investigation under way, wasn’t revealed." "DEP: Permit Brouhaha Not Why Wetlands Expert is on Paid Leave".

Disbarred attorney files complaint over Justice's remarks at synagogue

"A gadfly, disbarred attorney has filed an official complaint over state Supreme Court Justice Barbara Pariente's partisan remarks at a South Florida synagogue. In a letter to the Judicial Qualifications Commission, Jack Thompson, of Coral Gables, called Pariente's speech 'partisan, issues-related, evocative of her religion, and violative of various judicial canons.'" "Judicial Retention Battle Builds With Complaint Against Barbara Pariente".

GOPer free-for-all

"The business community this week offered a split decision in one of the most competitive and compelling Republican primaries in the Sunshine State -- the battle to replace term-limited state Sen. Steve Wise, R-Jacksonville. With Wise facing term limits, three prominent Republicans -- former Rep. Aaron Bean, Rep. Mike Weinstein, R-Jacksonville, and attorney Wyman Duggan -- are competing to represent parts of Nassau and Duval counties." "Business Community Offers a Split Decision in First Coast Senate Race".

Florida "in 'grumpy voter' territory"

"Of the five states examined by POLITICO, Florida is the only one that Moody’s [Analytics] electoral model currently suggests will flip from Obama to Romney. That’s largely because the state is expected to lag behind the national unemployment rate and remain very much in 'grumpy voter' territory."

The state-wide economy, crushed by the real-estate collapse and a drop in tourism during the recession, is recovering more slowly than the rest of the nation, according to Sean Snaith, director of the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Economic Competitiveness.

“Gross state product grew about 1.4 percent in 2010 and not much more than that in 2011,” Snaith said. “It’s been spotty. We’ve seen some bursts in activity in the labor market in leisure and hospitality that’s been driven by pent-up demand from the recession, people who had been scared to go to Disney or to the beach. But it’s been very intermittent.”

The real-estate market in South Florida has been boosted by international buyers, especially from South America, but it remains deeply depressed.

Still, Romney runs into the awkward problem of having Florida’s Republican governor, Rick Scott, touting the state’s dropping unemployment rate and improved economic conditions. Romney might also boost his prospects by picking GOP Sen. Marco Rubio as his running mate.

Head in the sand

"Sen. Marco Rubio on Thursday sounded a note of confidence on Mitt Romney’s standing with Hispanics, predicting that the Republican candidate’s poor polling among Latinos is 'going to change.'"

A recent Pew Research Center poll gave Obama a large lead over Romney among Hispanics — 67 to 27 percent.

Florida Political News: May 31, 2012

by: Florida Politics

Thu May 31, 2012 at 06:14:54 AM EDT

It’s all over if Romney loses Florida

"The national polls are fascinating, but what really matters is what’s happening in the critical battleground states:"

Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa and Colorado.

Look at that map, and current polling, and it’s clear Obama has far more room for error than Romney.

How so? Obama could lose both mega-battleground states of Florida and Ohio (combined 47 electoral votes) and still have multiple paths to the 270 electoral votes needed to win. And if Romney loses Florida, where polls currently show a dead heat, it’s all over.

Romney, meanwhile, needs to win back three states that Obama won in 2008 and George W. Bush won in 2004: Indiana (which looks safe for Romney), North Carolina (a dead heat) and Virginia (Obama leading slightly). On top of that, he would have to pick off a state in the industrial belt, say Ohio or Pennsylvania. Even then Romney needs to win another state won by Obama four years ago — perhaps New Hampshire or Colorado.

The battleground map is sure to change. But as things stand, the map strongly favors Obama.

"Florida leads the nation in government corruption"

"An upcoming study by the new Integrity Florida watchdog group says Florida leads the nation in government corruption."

The study, to be released in about a week, will show that Florida had 781 federal corruption convictions from 2000 to 2010, the most of any state, executive director Dan Krassner told the Tampa Tribune editorial board.

In five of the last 12 years, the study shows, Florida led all states in at least one category: It had the most criminal convictions among people in government. ... The study looked at convictions won by the Public Integrity section of the U.S. Department of Justice, a data source that allows for state-by-state comparisons.

DEP Secretary under siege

"Some environmentalists are grumbling after the Tampa Bay Times reported that wetlands expert Connie Bersok was suspended with pay after she said her boss was trying to bend the rules to issue a permit for construction in wetlands. And the federal EPA is requesting more information following DEP's denial of accusations that Vinyard isn't qualified under federal law because of his previous employment with a shipyard subsidiary in Jacksonville." "Governor praises DEP Secretary Herschel Vinyard amid controversies, criticism".

Teacher merit pay challenged

"The state's largest teachers union argued before an administrative law judge Wednesday that the state Department of Education has exceeded its authority with the rule it set for how school districts should evaluate teachers for merit pay." "Teachers' challenge of rule implementing Florida merit-pay law goes to judge". See also "Teachers' union spars with state over merit pay rule".

Romney's strategy to win over Latino voters flops

Andres Oppenheimer: "If presumptive Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s first major speech to a Hispanic audience in this campaign was an indication of his strategy to win over Latino voters, he is in big trouble."

During his May 23 speech to the Latino Coalition, a group of Hispanic small businesses owners, Romney didn’t mention even once the word “immigration,” according to his prepared remarks published by The Washington Post’s website. Instead, he devoted his entire speech to his plans to revive the U.S. economy and improve U.S. education standards.

After the speech, Democratic strategists noted that Romney — who clinched the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday after winning the Texas primary — is trying to sidestep the hard-line immigration stands that he took during the primaries. In his quest for conservative Republican votes, Romney alienated many Hispanics by enthusiastically backing Arizona’s draconian immigration law, and by calling for the “self-deportation” of illegal immigrants.” Many Latinos interpret that as making the life of undocumented Hispanic immigrants impossible until they leave the country on their own, which some fear could lead to harassment of all Hispanics regardless of their legal status.

In addition, Romney has opposed the Dream Act, an Obama administration-backed bill that would give a path to large numbers of undocumented college students who were brought to the country as infants by their parents, and who grew up as Americans.

According to a new national NBC/Wall Street Journal/Telemundo poll of Latino voters, 61 percent of Hispanics plan to vote for Obama in November, while only 27 percent plan to vote for Romney. By comparison, former Republican candidate Sen. John McCain won 31 percent of the Hispanic vote in the 2008 election, and former President George W. Bush won 40 percent in 2004.

Most Romney advisers seem to believe that Romney can win in November by sticking to his anti-immigration rhetoric when speaking to conservative audiences, and focusing on the economy and education when speaking to Latino audiences.

"Just another Rivera money mystery"

Fred Grimm: "It seems almost impolite to bring up David Rivera’s orphaned $50,000 — money we’re not sure from where, spent on we’re not sure for what — given the extent of the Miami congressman’s financial shenanigans."

Another 50 grand of peculiar origins on Rivera’s account sheets was like finding loose change under the sofa cushions for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, whose investigators spent 18 months sorting through strange consulting contracts, dummy shell companies, undeclared loans, peculiar campaign expenditures and confounding financial-disclosure declarations.

The FDLE, for example, had to trace some $500,000 back through a “company” that basically consisted of Rivera’s mother, who received the money from a Miami dog track that had hired Rivera in 2008, at the time a state senator, to run its pro-slot machine campaign. The money went to Momma, who, apparently would make David the occasional loan. The FDLE reported that her do-nothing company, Millennium Marketing, once lent him $132,000, a transaction that slipped his mind when the candidate filled out his financial declaration forms.

Before he was elected to Congress, state Sen. Rivera’s haphazard bookkeeping suggested he seemed to live off his campaign contributions, as if his very existence was no more than a perpetual campaign. State law doesn’t seem to endorse such behavior, but state law — lucky for Rivera — has a two-year statute of limitations for prosecuting campaign contributions.

“By the calendar year 2011, the statute of limitations had eliminated the possibility of charging the subject with any violation....” the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s office concluded. “The overwhelming majority of the possible transactions available for prosecution as misdemeanors were barred because of the statute of limitations.”

Except this relatively piddling bit of accounting perfectly illustrated Rivera’s pattern of obscure, downright byzantine financial reporting. Herald reporters Patricia Mazzei and Scott Hiaasen noticed that on the very same day in 2006, a little known organization called Republican National Hispanic Assembly (either the central Florida version or the Miami chapter — it’s hard to tell) paid Rivera’s mother’s company $25,000. Same day again, his very, very close political consultant gets another $25,000. All this on the same day that the Republican Party of Florida transfers $50,000 to an organization called the Republican National Hispanic Assembly. Except the Republican National Hispanic Assembly has no record of receiving the money.

Rivera told Mazzei and Hiaasen that the money financed a voter outreach program in the 2006 elections. He produced some records indicating absentee ballot materials had been mailed to Miami voters. Who knows? Voter outreach, Miami style, doesn’t generate so many receipts.

Charter madness

"SCF trustees want charter school to pay back millions".

"Heavy political clout of investor-owned utilities"

The Sarasota Herald Tribune editorial board hopes "the PSC sides with consumers; it is the Public Service Commission, after all. But a customer-friendly outcome is far from assured, given the heavy political clout of investor-owned utilities, of which FPL is the state's largest." "Keep the 'public' in PSC".

A booming industry with rogue operators

The Orlando Sentinel editors: "Another legislative session has come and gone. And ... still — somehow — nothing was done to beef up safeguards for the more than 80,000 Floridians residing in assisted-living facilities."

Unbelievable.

Well, not really, considering the state's historically poor track record for protecting its most vulnerable citizens. And an equally sorry score card for reacting with all deliberate speed to remedy problems that come to light.

When it comes to strengthening protections for senior citizens from abuse, neglect and sickening or dangerous conditions in the facilities to which families entrust their care, what's it going to take?

Couldn't be that lawmakers are ignorant of the atrocities. The Miami Herald revealed that over the past decade at least 70 assisted-living residents have died as a result of neglect or abuse.

And both a Miami-Dade grand jury and Gov. Rick Scott's Assisted-Living Facilities task force concluded that the state must do a better job overseeing a booming industry in which rogue operators manage their elderly clients with illegal restraints, powerful sedatives and violence.

Yet, after the Senate crafted and overwhelmingly passed a strong plan with regulatory bite and sensible standards for upgrading safety and staff training in assisted-living facilities, the House recklessly let the plan gather dust.

What's next, fluoride?

"Recent efforts by Congress to eliminate a lengthy U.S. census survey — which some lawmakers view as costly and intrusive — have distressed a wide range of Florida researchers who see the comprehensive questionnaire as essential to their work." "Webster's effort to abolish annual census survey draws flak".

The best he could do?

"State Attorney Angela Corey, now in the national spotlight for her role in the Trayvon Martin case, announced that she is backing former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux for the Republican nomination to challenge Nelson." "GOP Senate Candidates Unveil Major Endorsements".

"Rewarding value – good outcomes, cost-effective practices"

"Critics of the Affordable Care Act have focused on the “individual mandate” to buy health coverage. But industry leaders say the most far-reaching and incendiary part of the health law could be its shift in the way Americans pay for health care."

Rewarding value – good outcomes, cost-effective practices – is likely to have the most potential long-term impact, say experts meeting in Orlando this week.

Digital technology will make it possible to track performance and report it to both the payers and the public. Woe be unto those health-care providers who do either too little or too much—their pay will get dinged.

“This is a revolution, not reform,” consultant Michael Millenson said at Tuesday’s opening of the 2012 Florida Health Care Symposium. “This is a complicated future, not an easy one. But it is better for all of us – patients, payers and for our country.”

Because it involves a shift of power and money away from specialists and toward primary-care groups, it will generate a huge backlash and lobbying effort. But those entrenched interests will run into an equally powerful force: the desperate need to cut health-care spending.

"There's only one group bigger and more powerful than the health-care industry," said consultant Brian Klepper of Atlantic Beach. "That's everybody who's not in the health-care industry."

FCAT follies

"The School Board unanimously passed a resolution Wednesday opposing standardized testing as the primary means for evaluating schools, students and teachers. They say there is so much focus on students doing well on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test that it's thwarting teacher creativity and hindering students' ability to learn." "Broward school board passes anti-FCAT resolution".

Welcome to Tampa

"Scott wants a state ethics panel to say it's OK for him to greet visitors with recorded messages at Tampa International Airport." "Gov. Scott seeking OK to greet Tampa airport visitors by tape".

GOPer scramble

Kevin Derby: "With Storms choosing to offer a primary challenge to Hillsborough County Property Appraiser Rob Turner, two prominent Republicans moved quickly to enter the race, while a third is expected to make an announcement later in the week." "GOP Hopefuls Scramble to Run for Ronda Storms' Senate Seat".

Blue Ribbon yawner

"The Blue Ribbon Task Force on Higher Education held its first meeting by telephone Wednesday. The group is charged with suggesting changes to improve the governance and efficiency of the state university system." "Funding a factor as Scott's higher education panel gets to work".

Entrepreneur in action

"A retired Florida businessman has pleaded guilty to filing a false U.S. tax return in a case involving millions of dollars in secret Swiss bank accounts." "Fla. man guilty in tax case with secret accounts".

Florida Political News: May 30, 2012

by: Florida Politics

Wed May 30, 2012 at 19:38:35 PM EDT

Republican Congressman David Rivera's $50,000 mystery

"Buried amid the records compiled in the recently concluded criminal probe of Republican Congressman David Rivera is a $50,000 mystery."

Why did an obscure Republican organization pay $25,000 in 2006 to a defunct company founded by Rivera's mother? Why did a political consultant with close ties to Rivera receive another $25,000 on the very same day? And where did the money come from in the first place?

Further adding to the mystery: The Republican Party of Florida reportedly made a $50,000 payment to a Central Florida nonprofit group — money the group never received — on the same day the payments went to Rivera's mother and consultant. Are the payments connected?

These questions are among many left unanswered after an 18-month investigation of Rivera's finances by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office, a probe prosecutors concluded last month without filing charges against the Miami lawmaker.

Investigators suspected Rivera of misusing campaign funds and concealing money he received while working as a consultant for a dog track seeking voter approval for slot machines in Miami-Dade County. Rivera, who was elected to Congress in 2010 after eight years in the Florida House of Representatives, has denied any wrongdoing, and lambasted the investigation as flawed. He remains under investigation by the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service.

In a statement issued through his campaign, Rivera said the $50,000 was spent on a "voter outreach program" coordinated by the Miami chapter of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, a little-known Hispanic group. Rivera also provided records of absentee-ballot materials mailed to voters under the Hispanic Assembly's name.

However, neither GOP officials nor Hispanic Assembly members recall such a campaign. And Rivera's mother told prosecutors in a sworn statement that her company — described by prosecutors as "non-existent" — never did any work that she could remember.

Never Mind

Update: "False alarm! Jeb Bush still not interested in VP job".

"Jeb Bush has been mostly dismissive to endless questions about him becoming Mitt Romney's vice presidential nominee but in an interview in Italy, he sounded wide open to that prospect. Here's the answer the former Florida governor gave to the online Italian newspaper Linkiesta:"

"If Romney would offer me the post of vice president, I would consider the proposal with great interest. But I don't think he will choose me. I have a lot of respect for Mitt, and it would be a duty to help him defeat (Barack) Obama.

"Landowners make millions at the environment’s expense"

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board: "Wetlands are fragile things, and in recent years Florida has done a horrible job of protecting them. But under Gov. Rick Scott, there are no limits to how far the state will go to change the rules to help big landowners make millions at the environment’s expense." "Failed stewardship puts Florida wetlands at risk".

Yesterday's Tampa Tribune editorial: "Scott's planning decisions invariably show he is a relative newcomer to the state. While he continually lambasts planning rules, he seems unaware that for decades lack of such standards proved costly to taxpayers, harmful to neighborhoods and destructive to the environment. Sensible state planning policies curtailed much of the abuse. The regulations, to be sure, sometimes could be excessive and occasional streamlining was justified, as with any government endeavor. But last year the governor and Legislature essentially abandoned the state's growth management responsibilities." "Scott ignores value of proper planning".

Scott's purge list dominated by Democrats, independents and Hispanics

Florida's "Division of Elections, which initially identified roughly 180,000 potential noncitizens by searching a computer database from the state's Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. But the drivers' license list doesn't automatically update when someone becomes a citizen."

The state whittled that list to more than 2,600 voters and forwarded those names to counties. A Times/Herald analysis of the list found it was dominated by Democrats, independents and Hispanics. The largest number were from Miami-Dade, home to the state's highest foreign-born population.

In Miami-Dade, 359 voters have provided proof that they are citizens. The county determined on its own that an additional 26 were citizens, while 10 others either admitted they were ineligible or requested to be removed.

Voters have 30 days from the receipt of the letter to provide documentation of citizenship or they will be removed from the rolls.

Any effort to remove names from Broward's voting rolls draws particular scrutiny because it is the most Democratic county in the state. It has more than 500,000 registered Democrats and could play a pivotal role in the outcome of a close presidential or U.S. Senate contest in November.

[Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton] and Hastings wrote a letter to Scott Tuesday questioning the timing of the voter roll drive just three months before the primary.

"Providing a list of names of questionable validity — created with absolutely no oversight — to county supervisors and asking that they purge their rolls will create chaotic results and further undermine Floridians' confidence in the integrity of our elections," stated the letter also signed by Florida Democratic Rep.'s Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Frederica Wilson, Corrine Brown and Kathy Castor. They asked Scott to "immediately suspend the purge of voter registration lists" in order to "ensure not one Floridian finds his or her legitimate voting rights callously stripped away."

Chris Cate, a spokesman for the state Division of Elections, defended the state's actions. "It's very important we make sure ineligible voters can't cast a ballot," he said in an email to the Herald on Tuesday.

He said the state continues to identify ineligible voters, saying the state Division of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has agreed to update information using a federal database that the elections division couldn't access directly.

"We won't be sending any new names to supervisors until the information we have is updated, because we always want to make sure we are using the best information available," Cate wrote. "I don't have a timetable on when the next list of names will be sent to supervisors, but there will be more names."

Republican Party of Florida chairman Lenny Curry slammed Nelson for practicing the "worst kind of politics."

"Sen. Nelson not only asks our public servants to ignore the threat to electoral integrity, but he implies those who meet their legal obligation to ensure honest elections are being discriminatory," he said in a statement. "Nelson's distortions and willingness to pit people against each other based on race demonstrates the worst kind of politics."

"First Class" for ever'one

"Charter flights to increase at St. Pete airport during RNC".

Anybody but Scott

"May 23-25 statewide poll of registered voters by Florida Opinion Research, asking about a Charlie Crist vs. Rick Scott gubernatorial matchup in 2014. This assumes the former Florida governor challenges the incumbent Republican by running as a Democrat — and survives a Democratic primary:"

Crist: 48.1 percent

Scott: 34.1 percent

Don't know/Refused: 12.8 percent

Other: 5.0 percent

The poll has a 3.46 percentage point margin of error.

While 60.3 percent of Republicans said they would support Scott, only 21.6 percent of independent voters backed him. Crist won 74.2 percent of Democrats and 52.2 percent of independents.

The former Republican governor-turned unaffiliated personal injury lawyer won support from more than 88 percent of African-Americans surveyed, while Scott and Crist were effectively tied among Hispanics.

Crist led among men, 45 percent to Scott's 39 percent, and among women, 51 percent to Scott's 30 percent. Crist also led among all age groups.

GOPers in a dither

"U.S. and Cuban scientists work to save turtles and sharks".

Privatization follies

"Leon County Circuit Judge Kevin Carroll on Tuesday heard arguments on the Legislature's attempt to order the outsourcing of health care services in the state's prison system in the state budget. He said he intends to rule by next week. Lawyers for the state said Carroll should allow the Department of Corrections to issue the contracts even if he finds the budget language unconstitutional." "Ruling could be imminent on prison health care privatization".

Siplin fined

"State Sen. Gary Siplin has agreed to a $3,000 fine stemming from violations during his 2008 campaign, the News Service of Florida reported. Siplin is accused of leaving out information on campaign-finance reports and accepting an illegal contribution." "Siplin draws $3,000 fine".

The best Mack could do?

"U.S. Rep. Connie Mack announced co-chairs for his U.S. Senate campaign: Allan Bense; Jeb Bush Jr.; Charles Bronson; Dr. Stephanie Haridopolos; Bill McCollum; Miya Burt-Stewart; Stanley Tate; and Sen. John Thrasher." "Mack taps campaign co-chairs".

Frankel v. Jacobs

"With U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, decamping for a different district, the open Broward-Palm Beach county district he's leaving behind is vital to Democrats' hopes of taking control of the House."

U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 Democrat in the House ... wouldn't state, hint or signal who he favors in the primary between former West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel and Broward County Commissioner Kristin Jacobs.

Obamanomics

"Consumer confidence in Florida jumps in May".

Randolph to seek party chair

"Rep. Scott Randolph, an Orlando Democrat who has been an outspoken partisan in his six years in the Legislature, won't seek re-election, he said Tuesday. He said he's leaving the House because his redesigned District 47 is composed mostly of people he has not previously represented. He endorsed fellow Democrat Linda Stewart as his successor." "Randolph is leaving House". See also "Democrat Rep. Randolph announces bid for party chair; rivals say they're focused on 2012".

"Battle royal among East Hillsborough Republicans"

"A battle royal is shaping up among East Hillsborough Republicans as state Rep. Rachel Burgin, and possibly Rep. Rich Glorioso, will challenge former state Senate President Tom Lee for the area's state Senate seat. Some insiders view Lee, probably the biggest name in East Hillsborough GOP circles, as the man to beat in the race, which is likely to be decided by the Republican primary. But both Burgin and Glorioso have substantial support bases and can't be dismissed." "Burgin, possibly others to run against Lee for state Senate".

Florida Political News: May 29, 2012

by: Florida Politics

Tue May 29, 2012 at 09:40:53 AM EDT

Florida GOP "underestimated impact of their anti-union crusade"

Dara Kam: "In Florida, unions representing a broad swath of workers have united for the first time in decades, fired up over what they see as an unprecedented attack by state legislators over the past two years."

New to the table are law enforcement groups, including unions representing firefighters and police officers, who have traditionally backed GOP candidates and enjoyed a comfortable relationship with the Republican-dominated legislature.

The law enforcement unions are now holding hands with historically left-leaning labor organizations, including the AFL-CIO and the Florida Education Association.

"What we weren't able to do among ourselves for many years was facilitated by the Republican leadership in the House and the Senate attacking public employees, which gave us all a common enemy," said Gary Rainey, president of the Florida Professional Firefighters.

Over the past two years, Florida legislators have made dramatic changes to the state pension system affecting all public employees, revamped how teachers are paid and passed a first-in-the-nation law requiring all state workers to submit to random drug tests. That law is on hold pending a court challenge.

The legislature, with Scott's support, also tried to privatize nearly one-fourth of all prison operations and came close to passing a proposal allowing parents to have an unprecedented role in taking over failing schools.

But the turning point for the unions' cohesion was a so-called "paycheck protection" proposal last year that would have barred government unions from collecting dues through automated payroll deductions. The police and firefighters were especially incensed by the proposal because they had helped elect many of the Republican legislators who supported the measure.

That effort pitted the firefighters and cops against the Florida Chamber of Commerce and other business-backed organizations and played out in an expensive ad war. And it built solidarity of law enforcement unions that had, with the exception of the pension overhaul, been spared from other anti-union legislation.

The law enforcement unions this year rejected an attempt to reverse the previous year's pension changes that raised the retirement age of government workers from age 62 to age 65 and special risk workers (including firefighters and police officers) from age 55 to age 60. Firefighters' and police officers' declining the special treatment further cemented the cohesion of the labor union coalition, union leaders said.

"It really enraged the police and the firefighters, because they'd never been treated like this," said Doug Martin, spokesman for the Florida council of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

The unions' cohesion was strengthened by their success in stopping the prison privatization and "parent trigger" bills, with the help of community groups led by parents, including the Florida PTA, in the waning days of this year's legislative session.

The newfound unity indicates that GOP legislators perhaps underestimated the impact of their anti-union crusade. ...

The coalition, motivated by its success and an expected continued onslaught in the next legislative session, is now focused on November. The unions are working to support candidates of both parties who they hope will help them stave off another brutal legislative session next year.

Former legislators - mostly GOPers - want their old jobs back

"The reshaped 2012 political map has drawn at least 17 termed-out, retired or former legislators to make another run for public office."

A lot of former Florida lawmakers want their old jobs back.

With the 2012 political map reshaped by redistricting, at least 17 termed-out, retired or former legislators are on the comeback trail, seeking to extend their political careers.

Most are Republicans.

Obama narrows his focus

Randy Schultz writes that, "where Mr. Obama four years ago used themes of hope and change, he now narrows his focus. College students get messages about interest rates on loans. Gays and lesbians get approval of same-sex marriage. There will be targeted messages for Hispanic voters - especially in Florida - and specific state-by-state appeals. In Michigan, they'll hear about the auto industry bailout. In Florida, we'll hear about the promise of private space travel to replace what NASA won't be doing after the shuttle." "Pitch-perfect Obama of 2008 has gone off-key".

Raw sewage

Florida's next Senate president, Sen. Don "Gaetz basically fought to get rid of a state law [requiring septic tank inspections] that he is partially responsible for. Gaetz says he was misled by 'a fast one,' but we found no evidence of the bill sponsor downplaying the swath of affected homeowners. Plus Gaetz ultimately is responsible to know what is in a bill he voted on. We rate his claim Mostly False." "In TV ad, Don Gaetz distorts debate over septic tank inspections".

"Scheme devised by two term-limited state senators"

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board: "Repairing a golf course in Orlando wasn't exactly what the U.S. Department of Education had in mind in 2010-11 when it sent $867,000 in federal stimulus money to Florida for a program run by Florida A&M University for 'targeted student assistance.'"

But that's what federal and Florida taxpayers got in a scheme devised by two term-limited state senators [Sen. Stephen Wise, R-Jacksonville and Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando] to benefit nonprofits they have ties with. Gov. Rick Scott talks about making the state budget more transparent, and this sham — which initially had ties to FAMU in name only — should be his next target. ...

But more disturbing for Florida taxpayers: The state spent another $5.1 million in general revenue on the program that year and another $5 million a year later. ...

Meanwhile, Wise and Siplin succeeded for a third time this spring in tucking money into the state budget during the final conference committee process. In 2012-13, the state will award $5 million for "targeted students assistance" to still unnamed organizations. Such chicanery has no place in a state budget. At least this coming year, the governor could demand that the money is awarded appropriately, not just to well-connected nonprofits.

Scott doubles down on stupid during Comedy Central mission to Spain

Daniel Ruth on Ricky Scott's "Comedy Central mission to Spain, where the governor managed to double down on stupid", suggests that visiting

dignitaries who pull the short straw and find themselves in Tallahassee should [likewise] not feel constrained.

Feel free when meeting Rick Scott to offer up something along the lines of: "Gov. Scott, I understand you are something of an expert on the American legal system. Could you explain to me how the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination works since you once invoked it 75 times during a deposition?"

Hardy-har-har.

But if an ambassador or head of state really wants to crack up Gov. Bluto Blutarsky, and he's going to love this, make a snarky remark about Rick Scott's leadership of Columbia/HCA, which was later indicted in the largest case of Medicare fraud in U.S. history and paid a record $1.7 billion fine. Just make sure the cameras are rolling.

Upon his return from his court jester tour of Spain, Scott said if he had done anything loopy then he sure was awfully sorry.

If? All Scott did was reaffirm the reputations many Americans traveling abroad have of being more socially tone deaf than Sasquatch.

The next time Rick Scott decides to take a trip, the most important item in his luggage should be a roll of duct tape.

"Falsely accused of not being a U.S. citizen"

"Born in Cleveland, she fled for the warmth of Pasco County. She's a Republican who works in sales, loves fishing and the beach, and she'll turn 49 next month. ... Oh yeah, one more thing: Florida falsely accused her of not being a U.S. citizen."

For reasons she can't fathom, her name got on the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles' list of 2,700 suspected noncitizens who may be voting illegally in Florida.

It was a mistake.

Castro-Williamson is what's known as a "supervoter." She hasn't skipped an election in years. But Pasco Supervisor of Elections Brian Corley, just doing his job, sent her a scary letter warning that she might be breaking the law. ...

Six voter advocacy groups have demanded that Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner stop the purging, calling it not only inaccurate and unfair but illegal, claiming that federal law prohibits any systematic removal of voters less than 90 days before a primary or general election for federal office. (The primary is Aug. 14.)

The groups, including the Fair Elections Legal Network, Advancement Project and Project Vote, also fault Florida's 30-day notice-by-mail rule as "highly flawed."

Detzner has not yet answered the letter, but spokesman Chris Cate says: "We disagree with their interpretation of the law. Not only do we believe it's crucial to have ineligible voters removed from the voter rolls, we're obligated by law to do it."

"Oil dreams"

"It was supposed to be Cuba's economic savior: vast untapped reserves of black gold buried deep under the rocky ocean floor." "Cuba waits anxiously for oil dreams to materialize".

"Conversations with AHCA"

"County officials across Florida say they appreciate a new level of openness with the state regarding a long-running dispute about unpaid Medicaid bills."

But for most it's too little, too late.

Broward County Commissioner Lois Wexler said she spent two years meeting with Agency for Health Care Administration officials about the error-prone billing system that caused the county to question a chunk of the bills it received. But nothing ever got done, and Broward's backlog grew by tens of millions.

When Gov. Rick Scott signed into law new rules that require counties to pay up — to the tune of $325.5 million — he also directed AHCA to meet with counties to determine what they truly owed. Only what is agreed upon will have to be paid, the governor said.

Even with those assurances, 53 counties and the Florida Association of Counties sued the state and asked that the law be declared unconstitutional. Wexler said she isn't convinced that more conversations with AHCA will be enough to solve the problem.

Maglev magic

"Filling a 15-mile gap left by SunRail, a Georgia-based company proposes to connect the Orlando airport, the Orange County Convention Center, Disney World and the Florida Mall with magnet-levitation trains." "Maglev Company Says It Can Fill 15-Mile 'Gap' in SunRail".

Orlando makes it into top four ...

"America's Worst-Dressed People ".

Who said anyone wants inaccurate voter rolls?

Nancy Smith points to a Palm Beach Post headline, "Voting rights groups ask Scott to stop noncitizen voter purge", and asks "why would any voting rights group in America do a thing like that?" "Tell Me Again Why We Shouldn't Want Accurate Voter Rolls".

Curious Smith didn't point to the equally inaccurate headline in her own Sunshine State News, to wit: "Florida Rejects Call to Keep Non-Citizens on Voter Rolls".

With all due respect, no one is "calling" upon anyone "to Keep Non-Citizens on Voter Rolls".

The problem, rather, is with the using a purge list that is riddled with errors: it includes folks who in fact are citizens.

Not only that, Rick Scott's purge list - accidentally no doubt - "targets minorities and Democrats while giving white Republicans a pass". By the way, this last quote - about Rick Scott's purge list "giving white Republicans a pass" - is from the "liberal" Miami Herald, the same company that overruled its own editorial board and endorsed a notorious right-winger for president. The Herald's publisher was in turn rewarded with an appointment as Ambassador to Spain.

"Tell Me Again Why We Shouldn't Want A Purge List That Targets Minorities And Democrats While Giving White Republicans A Pass?"

Scott "unfamiliar with Florida's past ... unconcerned about its future"

The Tampa Tribune editorial board: "Gov. Rick Scott's planning decisions invariably show he is a relative newcomer to the state."

While he continually lambasts planning rules, he seems unaware that for decades lack of such standards proved costly to taxpayers, harmful to neighborhoods and destructive to the environment.

Sensible state planning policies curtailed much of the abuse. The regulations, to be sure, sometimes could be excessive and occasional streamlining was justified, as with any government endeavor.

But last year the governor and Legislature essentially abandoned the state's growth management responsibilities. They decided to ignore the gridlock, overcrowded schools, water shortages and ruined resources that resulted from irresponsible growth.

And Scott still seems indifferent to planning's value. The governor recently vetoed for the second straight year funding for the state's 11 regional planning councils, which address regional issues and coordinate solutions. ...

The governor simply doesn't seem interested in preparing for the growth that forever changes neighborhoods, traffic and the environment.

It's a stance only someone unfamiliar with Florida's past or unconcerned about its future could take.

Atwater Strides National Stage

Kevin Derby: "While he may have passed on jumping into the Republican primary to challenge incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, Florida CFO Jeff Atwater raised his profile last week with a series of national media appearances." "Jeff Atwater Enjoys National Spotlight Discussing Florida's Comeback".

"These are the people in charge of Florida's environment"

John Romano asks you to "Imagine you are the governor of Florida."

It is up to you to put the most qualified people in charge of the most important agencies. It is your responsibility to safeguard the future by appointing a DEP secretary who understands and appreciates the fragility of the environment.

The previous secretary, for instance, had worked for the department for 16 years and had risen to the role of deputy secretary before being tapped by the last governor.

So what do you do?

If you are Gov. Rick Scott, you go outside the environmental community and choose Vinyard, an executive at a Jacksonville shipyard, to be your DEP chief.

Vinyard was also chairman of a shipbuilder's council that lobbied the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to lighten regulations for its members.

These are the people in charge of Florida's environment.

Imagine that.

Women Are Watching

"Faced with what critics call a war on women, Planned Parenthood is launching its own tactical weapon."

Its new website - Women Are Watching - is emblazoned in bright pink, the color associated with women and women's health. It includes a page called "Who we're watching," political figures targeted for their anti­Planned Parenthood views. Prominent on that page is U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, a firebrand for the tea party.

"In January 2011, days after taking office, West teamed up with anti-women's-health leader Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., to propose legislation to eliminate comprehensive private health insurance coverage for women," the website says. "Then, he joined Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., in an attempt to bar Planned Parenthood health centers from providing preventive health care like cancer screenings and birth control through federal programs.

"West's antics, rhetoric and voting record have earned him a zero percent pro-women's-health record from Planned Parenthood Action Fund."

Florida Political News: April 28, 2012

by: Florida Politics

Mon May 28, 2012 at 12:22:17 PM EDT

FlaBaggers in a dither

"U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, raised eyebrows last week when he told constituents it might be OK to "talk about raising taxes" at some point in the future if Congress slashed spending and 'right-sized the federal government' beforehand." "U.S. Rep. Allen West willing to 'talk about raising taxes' if government ever is 'right-sized'".

"Things aren't what they used to be"

"Splashy parties filled with high-end booze and late night revelry is an awkward fit with the austerity message the Romney campaign and congressional Republicans are spreading in their quest to win the White House and control of the Senate. And it's hard to justify spending thousands of dollars on parties when money is tight elsewhere." "Washington lobbyists, trade groups scaling back on Tampa convention".

"Caputo reworks the tired Florida GOP press release"

Marc Caputo reworks the tired Florida GOP press release about Castro being the third rail of Florida politics. He writes that, "Of the simple rules in Florida elections, few stand out like this one: Don’t look wobbly over Castro — especially in an election year."

President Barack Obama’s administration didn’t seem to get the memo.

The administration granted the niece of Fidel Castro a visa to speak at a gay-rights summit in California last week. Mariela Castro repaid the kindness by engaging in the same type of Orwellian and hypocritical doubletalk as her uncle and father, Cuban President Raul Castro.

Then she made sure to bang in the final public-relations coffin nail.

"I would vote for President Obama," she said, according to Agence France-Presse. "I think he’s sincere and speaks from the heart."

Count that de facto endorsement of Obama as an independent expenditure for his challenger, Mitt Romney. The Republican’s campaign made sure to denounce the Castro clan at every turn.

AFP noted that Castro’s trip has been denounced by "opposition Republicans." But it utterly failed to mention that Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Broward congresswoman [*], and [cautious**] Florida Sen. Bill Nelson (the only statewide elected Democrat) also opposed the granting of her visa.

Obama’s defenders are quick to counter with two points: 1) During President George W. Bush’s term, Castro was allowed to travel three times to the United States and 2) Cuban-hardliners who opposed the visa opposed Obama anyway. So it was a wash.

Wrong.

The president doesn’t need more bad headlines. Despite the unemployment rate shrinking, the pool of the unemployed remains staggeringly high. His attacks on Romney’s business background backfired when a campaign surrogate dissed the criticisms. And then Nelson and his DNC chair split with him over Cuba.

Earlier this month, Gov. Rick Scott came to Miami, signed a Cuba crackdown bill favored by the exile community and then undermined it by calling the bill unenforceable. Then he flip-flopped as Cuban-American Republican politicians beat him up on radio.

If Scott were on the ballot this November, his move would cost him dearly. Cuban voters are overwhelmingly Republican, favoring GOP candidates by 15-17 percentage points depending on the presidential election, according to a September 2011 study “The Political Incorporation of Cuban Americans: Why Won’t Little Havana Turn Blue?”

Co-authored by University of Miami political science professor Casey Klofstad, the groundbreaking study showed that the Cuban community’s vote remains largely Republican despite the influx of so-called “economic refugees,” many of whom came during and after the 1980 Mariel boatlift and tend to lean left.

But they don’t really vote in the same high proportions as the right-leaning pre-Mariel voters.

[A]s popular sentiment continued to shift against Republicans in 2008, more Cuban voters started to identify more with the Democratic Party.

The study showed the pre-Mariel voters are more attuned to the Cuban embargo and Cuba-travel restrictions — support for which has plummeted in the Cuban community overall between 1991 and 2008. In the community, strengthening the embargo has more support (45 percent) than continuing the travel ban (34 percent), according to Florida International University polls.

Many Florida politicians are apoplectic over a visa granted to Fidel Castro's niece, but the state's voters don't seem to have the same hard line on Cuba.

Insight into voters' feelings comes from the May Suffolk University/WSVN-Ch. 7 poll. Three of five Florida voters questioned said they'd support trade, travel and diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba — even with the Castro family still in power.

Another 29 percent were opposed, and 13 percent undecided.

"Lack of raises is particularly hard on teachers this year"

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "Lack of raises is particularly hard on teachers this year, because the Legislature for the first time since 1974 required them to contribute to the retirement system. For now, that 3 percent contribution seems like a cut, even if the teachers will get it back."

Ironically, if teachers win their lawsuit to overturn mandatory contributions, all hope for regular raises would be gone, because the district would have to kick in $27 million for teacher retirement.

County teachers got a 2 percent across-the-board raise, which also gives newer teachers a much smaller bump, in 2008-09 and have not had a significant raise since. We believe they should make more. We also suspect that the Legislature enacted an FCAT-based "merit raise" system without providing money for raises.

"Districts look ripe for Democrats, Hispanic candidates"

"Changes create districts that look ripe for Democrats, Hispanic candidates".

"Rubio has been eclipsed in the veepstakes"

"Marco Rubio isn't the only rookie Republican senator from a swing state to generate considerable vice presidential buzz as Mitt Romney looks for a running mate. To some political handicappers, Rubio has been eclipsed in the veepstakes by Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio." "Marco Rubio, Rob Portman offer splashy, safe options for Romney as VP candidates".

"Talk about lack of social graces. Exit Yeehaw Junction"

Myriam Marquez writes that Gov. Rick Scott "was captured on video during an overseas trade mission acting like a blundering Local Yokel before His Majesty of Spain, AKA the hip-impaired Elephant Killer."

For the uninitiated in European scandals that don’t involve Greece’s imminent economic and political collapse or the wardrobe of Britain’s latest princess, King Juan Carlos of Spain became the subject of his subjects’ ire for taking a fancy hunting trip that cost more than an average working stiff’s annual wages, then falling on his tush and breaking a hip, requiring a private jet to take him back for socialized medical care.

“While ordinary Spaniards cope with harsh austerity, recession and soaring unemployment, the country’s royal family has been enjoying expensive hunting trips, one of which resulted in King Juan Carlos ending up in hospital,” reported Britain’s The Guardian in April. The 74-year-old monarch’s 13-year-old grandson shot himself in the foot during one of those trips, raising questions about his age and whether he was illegally handling a powerful weapon.

You would think Spaniards would be proud that the king preferred to get hip surgery in Spain and not Botswana, but that’s not quite how it played out. A contrite Juan Carlos begged forgiveness, apologized for going on a safari when an economic crisis is gripping Spain and vowed no public funds would be used to pay for any of it. Scandal closed, move on.

Still recovering from last month’s harsh headlines, the king greeted Scott, our always smiling albeit socially addled governor, who entered the room with his wife and seemed to think that raising the Botswana trip as a greeting would be the best ice breaker ever:

“I’ve ridden elephants; I’ve never tried to shoot one,” Scott started, hand extended, blue eyes unblinking.

The king — always a class act; that’s what royalty is groomed to be, after all — seemed caught off guard. Scott kept smiling and jabbering about the elephant because he had been to Botswana with his wife, and she, too, wanted to share with the king her wild ride in a jeep.

Talk about lack of social graces. Exit Yeehaw Junction.

"He is a connoisseur of low-hanging fruit"

"During 12 years in the Senate, the Florida Democrat has maintained a tight focus on the state, rarely missing an opportunity to exploit headlines or take up populist causes, whether sounding alarms over Burmese pythons in the Everglades or Chinese drywall or demanding pensions for ex-Negro League ballplayers in Tampa."

"He is a connoisseur of low-hanging fruit," said Florida Republican strategist J.M. "Mac" Stipanovich. "The best way to win elections is to not do anything hard. Take the easy issue of the moment, kind of the effervescence, climb all over it and then wait for the next one. You can always find Bill Nelson on the side of the momentary majority, well down in front near the cameras."

Florida Political News: April 27, 2012

by: Florida Politics

Sun May 27, 2012 at 13:10:09 PM EDT

Florida's "homegrown extremism — and those who export it"

Stephen Goldstein writes that "Apathy is the mother of all extremism. When good, well-intentioned people sit on the sidelines — watching politics as though it were a spectator sport or gullibly believing everything they hear — bad things happen to all of us, everywhere."

So, moderate, reasonable Floridians of all political persuasions — Independents, Republicans, Democrats, splinter groups, you name it--unite and atone for your passivity! Too many of you have not been politically active and have not even bothered to vote. You have been out-to-lunch for too long. You have treated elections as though they don't have consequences. You have allowed extremist candidates to be elected. So, all of you need to work to consign divisive candidates and the groups that support them to the ash heap of history.

In 2010, tea party candidate Rick Scott would never have been elected governor if more centrist-minded voters had understood, or paid attention to, his extremist ideology and what he was really out to accomplish. As a result of their indifference or wilful ignorance, we are now living through the callous dismantling and privatizing of state government. There's no telling where it will lead, what damage it will do, or how we'll be able to recover from it.

Also in 2010, Florida voters elected Marco Rubio a U.S. senator, whose campaign was heavily financed with out-of-state money. Ever since, he has done what Mitch McConnell has told him to do, like abusing the filibuster to block the Obama agenda. Putting party over people, his opposition to the DREAM Act hurts innocent, undocumented Floridians, his own version of it falling far short of the mark.

Also in 2010, voters in South Florida elected tea-party favorite Allen West to Congress. With millions in contributions from people around the country, he hasn't represented the views of the vast majority of his constituents. Instead, he's raised millions — telling Democrats to "get the hell out of the U.S.," likening them to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels, claiming that Congress is full of communists.

Gov. Rick Scott got one thing right when he made "Let's get to work" his campaign theme. In 2012, Floridians need to wake up and save themselves, and the nation, by adopting a two-pronged strategy to move the country back from intransigence and gridlock to bipartisanship and consensus-building. We need to call a halt to our homegrown extremism — and those who export it.

Just politics

There were "some interesting faces last week at a St. Petersburg fundraising reception for former state Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, who is running for state attorney in the Palm Beach area: former Gov. Charlie Crist and Florida GOP finance chairman A.K. Desai. Separately, both explained their presence at the Democratic fundraiser at Cassis American Brasserie the same way: 'He's a friend.'" "Bipartisanship?"

"Flush with profits, FPL wants to increase rates"

"Flush with profits, a rising stock price and escalating dividends, Florida’s largest electric company wants to increase rates on 4.6 million customers next year and raise the cap on its profit margin." "FPL rate increase likely".

"Just what Florida needs — another gun law controversy"

The Sun Sentinel bemoan, "Just what Florida needs — another gun law controversy."

The latest one involves Marissa Alexander, a Jacksonville woman facing a 20-year sentence for firing a gun into a wall during a domestic dispute with her husband. She invoked the "Stand Your Ground" law, but a judge threw the claim out. A jury later found her guilty of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and now Alexander's family, friends and legal advocates are calling attention to her case by pushing Florida's 10-20-Life gun law onto the public's consciousness.

"Bowing down at the almighty altar of FCAT"

Unlike most of Florida's alleged journalists, Scott Maxwell actually has the courage to point out the obvious: "To fully appreciate how deeply flawed Tallahassee's approach to public education is, you must look beyond the recent news of abysmal FCAT scores — and look at how we got here."

You see, FCAT was supposed to be a simple fix for a complicated problem.

If we could just get our students to pass this standardized test, supposedly everything would be swell.

So we cut back everything from science curriculum to art classes to focus on these tests.

And we spent hundreds of millions of tax dollars paying companies to develop and grade them.

Teachers were no longer trusted to teach.

Everyone was made to bow down at the almighty altar of FCAT.

Yet this year — after more than a decade of FCAT obsession — more than 70 percent of our fourth-graders flunked the writing test.

We saw similarly sorry results in eighth and 10th grades. Third-graders posted the lowest reading scores in years. Math scores dropped as well.

This can mean one of only two things:

Either the test-centered method of teaching is a failure.

Or the test itself is a failure.

There really is no option C.

Yet all I'm hearing from state officials is excuses — such as maybe the teachers didn't understand what was expected of them.

Hogwash.

You guys contrived this system.

merit pay is a must.

Charter school investigation

"A charter school in Seminole County is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights after a complaint alleging the school refused to admit a handicapped student." "Office for Civil Rights investigates Seminole charter school".

"America's broken 'machinery of death'"

Robyn E. Blumner writes that,

If you're reading this in a comfortable, middle-class home, what happened to Carlos DeLuna almost certainly could never happen to you. But everyone should care about DeLuna's story because it lays bare America's broken "machinery of death," to quote U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun. After decades on the bench, Blackmun finally stopped upholding death sentences. He said the potential for error is too great in a system "fraught with arbitrariness, discrimination, caprice and mistake.''

DeLuna was a poor, Hispanic "nobody" with a criminal record who was executed in Texas for a crime he didn't commit. Had DeLuna enjoyed some scintilla of status, wealth or power, he likely would have been exonerated and the real murderer charged. But the system in Texas does not go out of its way for people like DeLuna. He was put to death in 1989 for the 1983 knife slaying of Wanda Lopez at a convenience store where she worked in Corpus Christi, Texas.

When DeLuna was arrested a short time after the murder, there wasn't a microscopic drop of blood on his clothes or shoes, despite a crime scene where Lopez's blood was splattered on walls and pooled on the floor. A man's bloody footprint at the scene was never measured by detectives to find a match.

Had police, prosecutors or defense lawyers done their job, they would have quickly uncovered evidence pointing to Carlos Hernandez. Hernandez was a knife-toting violent felon who told multiple witnesses that he had committed the Lopez crime. But no one seriously investigated DeLuna's unflappable protestations of innocence or his later claims that Hernandez was the culprit, leaving Hernandez free to brutalize others. Hernandez eventually died in prison in 1999 of cirrhosis. ...

DeLuna was put to death by a fallible system. Whatever you might think of capital punishment, at least everyone should be on the side of never executing the innocent. DeLuna is but one example of justice gone wrong.

Student loan interest rates to double

"With average student debt in Florida already topping $21,000, moves that Congress and the State University System make, or don't make, in June could go a long way toward deciding the future depth of the red ink."

A doubling of interest rates on federal student loans is slated to occur July 1 unless Congress acts. If Congress doesn't act, it could cost Florida students an additional $443 million annually.

The State University System's Board of Governors also will decide tuition rates for Florida's 11 public universities next month. Gov. Rick Scott has said he opposes tuition hikes, partly out of concern for the IOUs piled up by students.

Taxpayers stuck with lobbying tab

The Orlando Sentinel editorial board: "Taxpayers already are paying for an army to fight for their governments' interests in Tallahassee — their local officials, and their legislators. Every community is represented by at least one representative and one senator. Larger cities and counties have entire delegations to their name. Instead of picking up the five- or six-figure cost of a lobbying contract, mayors, commissioners and council members should pick up the phone and reach out to their elected representatives." "Taxpayers shouldn't get stuck with lobbying tab".

Jebbie laff riot

"Florida insiders name Jeb Bush as Romney's best vice president choice".

"'Hyperventilating' media coverage"?

"Supporters of uncapped rates for new Citizens insurance customers have complained about the 'hyperventilating' media coverage the plan has received, but insist such moves are necessary to protect Floridians from something really bad - assessments." "Citizens has $19.5 billion after six storm-free seasons".

"The petition route"

Anthony Man: "Candidates who go the petition route also tout it as a sign that they have significant grassroots support, giving them an advantage in the election. Political party leaders say it's oversold." "Candidates brag about voter signatures".

"Ethical prosecutors have nothing to fear"

The Tampa Bay Times editors: "Change public records laws so no evidence becomes public until a trial starts would erode public confidence in the criminal justice system and make it more difficult to hold prosecutors accountable for their actions. Ethical prosecutors and police officers have nothing to fear from openness." "Evidence belongs in the sunshine".

Tuff guy

"LeMieux's tough talk".

"Unlawful practice of law"

"Two South Florida immigration attorneys have filed a complaint with the Florida Bar against a prominent Palm Beach County Democratic Party official, charging that he defrauded immigrants by falsely claiming to be working with the two attorneys and collecting fees without their knowledge."

Aileen Josephs of West Palm Beach and Cynthia Arevalo of Aventura have accused Clarence Shahid Freeman, the president of the City of Boynton Beach Democratic Club and a member of the county's Democratic Executive Committee, with unlawful practice of law.

"Florida panther has a more secure path to roam"

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board: "Thanks to a last-minute South Florida land deal, the Florida panther has a more secure path to roam beyond its quickly shrinking home. Conservation easements on 1,270 acres in Glades County provide a crucial link for the official state animal to travel north, away from development. This deal is a model for future efforts to protect Florida wildlife, encouraging private owners to preserve land while costing the state virtually nothing in a time of tightening belts." "Protecting wildlife with clever deals".

"Hypocrisy and Orwellian double-talk"

The Miami Herald editorial board: "Even by the standards of Cuban diplomacy — a web of deceit and cover for espionage — the performance of the Castro representive before the Geneva-based Convention on Torture last week has been a mind-lowing exercise in hypocrisy and Orwellian double-talk." "Lies, damned lies and Cuban ‘diplomacy’".

"Political fallout from sexual discrimination complaint"

William March: "Former state Senate President Tom Lee of Brandon will seek to return to the Senate, running for the seat being vacated by Ronda Storms as she jumps into the property appraiser’s race, Lee announced Friday."

The moves by Lee and Storms were the first political fallout from the sexual discrimination complaint affecting Hillsborough County Property Appraiser Rob Turner, but there could be more.

As rumors flew around the county this week about potential effects from Turner’s dispute, other Republicans were said to be interested in seeking the property appraiser’s office, or in seeking Storms’ Senate seat.

“What’s interesting will be the scramble,” said local Republican political consultant April Schiff.

Schiff noted talk that state Reps. Rachel Burgin and Shawn Harrison might also be interested in the Senate seat, “and that starts dominoes falling.”

However, Lee’s dominant name in eastern Hillsborough County politics could scare off other ambitious Republicans.

"Just another regression to the mean"

Aaron Deslatte counsels our globe trotting Governor that

There needs to be a market for the product you are selling. Ask the real-estate hucksters and politicians who have been selling Florida for a long time.

The United States is saturated right now with places where companies can find cheap, unskilled labor without Florida's regulatory rigmarole necessitated by our dwindling water supplies, imperiled species, polluted estuaries, rivers and springs, and shrinking Everglades.

The governor appears to be on a crash course to use the second half of his first term to slice away at those regulations – his office has targeted 1,100 for repeal – but his ambitions for improving the quality of the labor pool are more limited.

"We have so much to brag about. We need to learn how to brag," Scott told the Enterprise Florida's board of directors earlier this month. "What I want to brag about in the near future is that we are the number one place – not to visit for Disney -- for families to have jobs."

But chest-thumping, however well-intentioned, doesn't help launch Florida into the "knowledge-based economy" politicians have been touting for the last two decades. You don't cut $1.35 billion from public school classrooms, restore roughly $900 million the next year -- and call it even. Not if you want laid-off, high-skilled Hewlett-Packard employees to move here with their families, or if you expect today's students to develop into high-skilled workers.

Although Florida's unemployment rate dropped from 9 percent to 8.7 percent in April, that was largely because approximately 28,000 workers dropped out of the labor force. The state added a whopping 4,000 jobs during April. At the same time, 17,000 working-age people moved into the state.

The state's economists have said for the last three years that Florida would add workers faster than it would add jobs, and that this would slow our return to pre-recession employment levels.

Scott deserves credit for abandoning the politically untenable position he took his first year – slashing public education because school districts and state government had dared to rely on federal stimulus dollars to stay afloat.

But you can't also slash $300 million from an already hamstrung university system and then sell the CEO of Dell on moving his company here. Researchers are leaving Florida's universities for higher-paying gigs elsewhere.

Incoming House Speaker Will Weatherford and Senate President Don Gaetz plan to make higher-education reform a hallmark of their two-year tenure. They're helping Scott now with a 'task force" aimed at "reforming" higher education in Florida. They may want to start by hiring faculty.

House Speaker Dean Cannon, in his session-opening speech last January, warned legislators about a "race to mediocrity" among Florida's universities. Lawmakers then passed a budget that depleted university reserves and created a 12th state university that nobody yet knows how to finance.

Just another regression to the mean.

The rules are different

"When the number of child deaths by abuse and neglect fell dramatically, it looked like Floridians were improving their parenting skills and DCF was doing a better job. But there is another explanation." "Child-neglect deaths fall — as Florida redefines child neglect".

Florida's "motel families"

"In the shadow of the 30,000-acre Walt Disney World Resort, the Hampton family lives in a 300-square-foot motel room packed with possessions left over from a better life." "Osceola motel families: New face of homeless kids in Florida".

Florida Political News: May 26, 2012

by: Florida Politics

Sat May 26, 2012 at 13:15:07 PM EDT

"Lobbyists ... Losers Were Winners"

Jim Turner: "Geo Group spent between $60,000 and $89,997 on three lobbying firms -- Ericks Consultants, Mirabella Smith & McKinnon Inc., and Ronald L. Book PA -- in the first quarter of the year. Geo’s priority was to advance the bidding process to privatize prisons. Another advocate of prison privatization was Corrections Corporation of America, which paid Smith Bryan & Myers Inc., between $10,000 and $19,999 in the quarter. The effort failed to win Senate approval." "Lobbyists in 2012: Winners Were Losers, Losers Were Winners".

"Useless State"

Carl Hiaasen: "At a time when Florida’s 11 state universities are financially gasping, the Legislature and Gov. Rick Scott are throwing $50 million away on a whimsical new school that might as well be called Useless State."

It’s the work of a Lake Wales Republican named JD Alexander, who — sadly for taxpayers — chaired the powerful Senate Budget Committee. Alexander is leaving the Legislature because of term limits, but as a going-away present he demanded that his colleagues fund a new university in his home district. And then he basically stomped his little feet and held his breath and huffily threatened to gut another school’s budget if he didn’t get his way. And most of his fellow Republicans, including our governor, caved in like the phonies and wimps they are. As a result, Floridians are paying for a new university that we don’t need, and is already millions over budget before the first class meets. It’s a foolhardy and very expensive mistake, and its name is Florida Polytechnic.

A court could stop the bleeding, but in the meantime applications are being taken for the make-believe school’s Board of Trustees. Gov. Scott recently sent out an email seeking candidates. He says he’s looking for “talented and visionary individuals.” Of course! He’ll also send his personal unicorn to pick you up and fly you through the fairy dust to Lakeland.

Storms quits, goes local

"State Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Valrico, is dropping her reelection bid and instead will run against embattled Hillsborough County Property Appraiser Rob Turner. Storms, a former Hillsborough County commissioner, had two years left before she was term-limited out of the Senate. But she said Friday that a porn scandal surrounding Turner prompted her to abandon the legislature and instead try to oust her fellow Republican. " "Sen. Storms quits race, seeks Hillsborough County property appraiser seat". See also "Storms, Henriquez to run for Hillsborough property appraiser".

"The FCAT is here to stay - at least for now, Florida's education commissioner told a group of Palm Beach County community and business leaders."

"Pick your poll"

William March: "Rep. Connie Mack IV has a long lead in the Republican U.S. Senate primary, and is tied with Democratic incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson in a general election matchup, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll. But at the same time, a new NBC/Marist poll showed a different outcome -- Nelson leading Mack. It also showed President Barack Obama leading Mitt Romney in Florida, again contradicting the Quinnipiac poll." "Pick your poll when it comes to Nelson v Mack".

Campaign Roundup

"Campaign Roundup: The Tampa two-step, high stakes in South Florida Senate race and a Charlie Crist sighting".

"Another agenda, enabled by certain county commissioners, was at work"

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "The offer for Mecca Farms is the best chance Palm Beach County will get to move past a mistake. The county bought the 2,000-acre property for $60 million in 2003, supposedly to make it the home of Scripps Florida. The land, far west of Palm Beach Gardens, never seemed to make sense as the location for a new biotechnology hub. It quickly became clear that another agenda, enabled by certain county commissioners, was at work." "The best deal they'll get".

Who writes these headlines?

This headline in the conservative Sunshine State News - "Florida Rejects Call to Keep Non-Citizens on Voter Rolls" - misrepresents reality. No one, not even those fearsome liberals, wants "non-citizens" to vote. The problem, rather, is with the using a purge list that is riddled with errors: it includes folks who in fact are citizens. Not only that, Rick Scott's purge list - accidentally no doubt - "targets minorities and Democrats while giving white Republicans a pass". By the way, this last quote - about Rick Scott's purge list "giving white Republicans a pass" - is from the notoriously liberal Miami Herald, the same company that overruled its own editorial board and endorsed a notorious right-winger for president. The Herald's publisher was in turn rewarded withan appointment as Ambassador to Spain.

Week in Review

"The Week in Review for May 21 to May 25".

Outsourcing litigation

"In the coming weeks, Tallahassee judges will hear arguments in two court cases that will test the limits of lawmakers' power to order outsourcing in the state budget." "Judge to hear arguments on prison health care privatization".

Florida too close to call

AP: "If the election were today, Obama would likely win 247 electoral votes to Romney's 206, according to an Associated Press analysis of polls, ad spending and key developments in states, along with interviews with more than a dozen Republican and Democratic strategists both inside and outside of the two campaigns."

Seven states, offering a combined 85 electoral votes, are viewed as too close to give either candidate a meaningful advantage: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio and Virginia.

"Freedom" to pollute

"Heading into Memorial Day weekend, Florida beach water has less bacteria testing".

Scott Strides World Stage

by: Florida Politics

Sat May 26, 2012 at 10:21:21 AM EDT

Where's The Outrage On This One?

by: Robert McKnight

Fri May 25, 2012 at 10:19:28 AM EDT

To my amazement, I listened to public radio yesterday in which the sentencing of a Dr. Shakil Afridi for 33 years in prison was described for what--assisting the U.S. in finding Osama Bin Laden.  What?  Who would do such a thing?  No other than the long time recipient of billions of our hard earned tax dollars, Pakistan!!

So let's make sure we have this right about Pakistan.  They knowingly harbor this mass murder of Americans.  When their citizens, at their own peril help us find the killer, Pakistan hunts them down.  And now after capturing one of our brave supporters, Pakistan tries and convicts Dr. Afridi for 33 years in prison.  This is the same Pakistan that continues to provide safe haven for more of Bin Laden's cronies--the Taliban and other Islamist terrorist groups.

If there ever was a time for a bi-partisan, stern message to be sent to Pakistan, this is it!! 

Florida Political News: May 25, 2012

by: Florida Politics

Fri May 25, 2012 at 09:43:26 AM EDT

First Jeb, now Rick: Another Florida Republican Spanish Fail

Update: Spanish TV lampoons Gov. Scott's small talk with king about elephant expedition. More: "Scott apologizes for elephant remark to king of Spain" and "Gov. Scott talks about awkward faux pas with Spain's king".

The Crowley Political Report: ""Did Rick Scott make a royal oops with the king of Spain? More from The Huffington Post: "Scott met with King Juan Carlos of Spain this week during his economic development mission and immediately managed to bring up the uncomfortable topic of the monarch's disastrous elephant hunting trip to Botswana last month." "Rick Scott Elephant Fail: Florida Governor Steps In It During Meeting With Spanish King Juan Carlos". See also "Scott creates international stir" and "Gov. Rick Scott’s ‘I’ve never shot an elephant’ gaffe with Spanish king caught on video".

Not the First Time: It wasn't so long ago that another Florida Republican Governor embarrassed himself in Spain; this from back in 2003:

Who would have thought that Jeb Bush, the president's brother, was a closet supporter of the leftwingers who fought against Franco in the Spanish civil war? But this week the governor of Florida has caused ripples by referring to Spain as the "republic" it was then rather than as the monarchy it is now.

Mr Bush was in Madrid on a trade mission when, paying tribute to Jose Maria Aznar, the prime minister, he said: "I would like to finish by thanking the president of the Republic of Spain for his friendship with the United States."

But Spain ceased being a republic when General Franco defeated the Republican side and became dictator. The constitutional monarchy was restored under Juan Carlos I in 1975, after Franco's death.

Mr Bush, who owes his office in part to the financial support of rightwing Cuban exiles, would not normally be associated with the Spanish Republican cause.

His elder brother has made notable gaffes when dealing with foreign leaders, getting the name of the Canadian prime minister wrong and referring to Mr Aznar as "Anzar" before his first visit to Spain last year.

"The whole plan is to suppress voter turnout"

Ed Schultz: "Gov. Rick Scott has come up with a list of 180,000 voters who his administration suspects are ineligible to cast ballots in the battleground state. The problem? Florida has cast such a wide net that it seems to have snared many legitimate voters."

"The whole plan is to suppress voter turnout, whether by scrubbing the roles or whether by convincing people it’s just too difficult. That’s what we have to remind them. They can’t give up,” [Congressman Ted Deutch] added, noting that several of his constituents received letters saying they were ineligible to vote — even though they are American citizens.

Rubio's book tour

"Potential vice presidential pick Marco Rubio is planning a swing state book tour that will roll through South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia, the AP reports". "Rubio Plans Swing State Book Tour".

"It's officially aimed at selling books, not winning votes, but the freshman senator and possible vice presidential pick is set to make multiple stops not just in his home state of Florida but also in North Carolina and Virginia, critical presidential battlegrounds this fall."

On the way, he'll make several appearances in South Carolina, where Republicans hold their first-in-the-South presidential primary.

FCAT follies

Another fine Jebacy: "Third-grade reading scores fall for tougher FCAT, worst in 12 years". See also "FCAT reading, math scores released, but change in standards could lead to more confusion". More FCAT from The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "Too many answers missing".

"Livin' Large in LaLaLand"

Nancy Smith: "Livin' Large in LaLaLand; or, the Quackery of Setting a University President's Salary".

Mixed poll results for Obama in Florida

"A poll from NBC News and Marist College of Florida voters released on Thursday shows, in contrast to surveys from Quinnipiac University unveiled this week, President Barack Obama and Democrat incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson are slightly ahead of their Republican challengers in the Sunshine State." "NBC/Marist Survey Shows Dems Slightly Ahead in Florida". From Marist: "5/24: Obama and Romney Competitive in Florida". See also "Romney's support up in Florida's presidential race".

By contrast, "a Quinnipiac University poll shows Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney pulling ahead of President Barack Obama in Florida in what likely will be a close November match-up in the Sunshine State." "New Q Poll shows Romney ahead of Obama in Florida". From Quinnipiac: "Romney Up 6 Points In Florida, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Rubio Has Little Impact As GOP Running Mate".

Florida apoplectic politicians out of touch on Cuba

Anthony Man: "Many Florida politicians are apoplectic over a visa granted to Fidel Castro's niece, but the state's voters don't seem to have the same hard line on Cuba." "Floridians want more travel, trade with Cuba".

Rooney throws a tantrum

"U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, wants to know if White House access to filmmakers has resulted in the release of classified information involving the raid that killed terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden." "Tom Rooney: Did White House Access Compromise Secrets on Bin Laden Mission?".

Grayson raises $2M from 50,000 contributors

"Opening his campaign headquarters in Kissimmee, former U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson says he's confident he will earn a return trip to Capitol Hill. In an exclusive interview with Sunshine State News, the outspoken Democrat said he's raised $2 million from 50,000 contributors since last July. That's 'more than any House challenger in the United States and more than 99 percent of current House members," he reported.' "Alan Grayson Likes His Chances for Return to Capitol Hill".

Scott still upside down

"While Scott is still upside down with voters, the [Quinnipiac] poll shows more than 40 percent approving of his performance in Tallahassee. The poll shows 41 percent of those surveyed approving of Scott while 46 percent disapprove of him. A Quinnipiac poll taken at the end of March found a majority, 52 percent, disapproved of Scott, while only 38 percent approved of his tenure as governor." "Rick Scott Regains Footing". See also "Poll: Scott's ratings improving with Florida voters".

West-baggers in a dither

Kevin Derby: "On Tuesday, the freshman congressman was asked a question at a town hall event in Pompano Beach. It was about balancing the federal budget without raising taxes. West’s answer certainly offers little comfort for conservatives who do not want to see taxes rise -- and certainly not in a struggling economy." "Allen West Touches GOP Third Rail -- Tax Increases".

Charter counties now have power to impose term limits

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board: "Hillsborough and Pinellas County residents just won a little more democracy. The Florida Supreme Court has given citizens in all charter counties the power to impose term limits on county officials. But before the term-limits train picks up too much speed, residents should reflect on how they have worked at the state level." "Term limits legal but still a bad idea".

Braman's bullying

"Norman Braman, the wealthy Miami businessman and civic activist, has completed his slate of Miami-Dade Commission candidates to challenge four powerful incumbents he considers obstacles to government reform." "Shirley Gibson to challenge Barbara Jordan for Miami-Dade Commission seat, as part of Braman slate".

Wingnut holds his breath until Wasserman Schultz cancels

"Miami's Temple Israel on Thursday canceled a program featuring Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz after a high-profile Republican donor quit the congregation to protest the top Democratic congresswoman's speech."

Stanley Tate, a well-known philanthropist and prominent Republican who started Florida's pre-paid college tuition program, resigned from the temple after he learned Wasserman Schultz would be talking about Israel following services on Friday night, and that he wouldn't get an opportunity for rebuttal.

The temple's president, Ben Kuehne, a Miami attorney, said the event was canceled because of security concerns. He said they "certainly embrace the congresswoman's willingness to participate in one of our programs," but decided it was "unwise to proceed with the program tomorrow."

Wasserman Schultz, the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, called it an unusual situation, due in part to the temple's "internal politics." Temple Israel, which invited her to speak, is just outside her congressional district.

"I believe strongly that in a democracy people should be able to hear from and interact with their elected officials, which is why I gladly accepted Temple Israel’s invitation to speak as I have previously to many organizations and religious institutions throughout South Florida," she said. " It is unfortunate that some would allow politics to stand in the way of citizens' ability to interact with their representative."

Tate's resignation came after he asked the temple's leadership to let him speak in response to Wasserman Schultz. When they wouldn't do so, Tate said he would leave the congregation. Tate, 85, is co-chair of Mitt Romney's campaign in Miami-Dade County. He also has a national role in the GOP presidential candidate's campaign.

"'Heartbreaking' algae bloom"

"Environmentalists including the Clean Network of Florida said they will ask the Florida Supreme Court to require Cabinet approval for a pollution "mixing zone" in the St. Johns River created by a Georgia-Pacific pipeline now under construction. Meanwhile, Earthjustice and the Florida Wildlife Federation highlighted what they called a 'heartbreaking' algae bloom on the Santa Fe River." "Environmentalists battle DEP, industries on two fronts".

Siplin slips

"The Orlando Democrat must admit to campaign finance violations stemming from his 2008 reelection campaign. The Florida Elections Commission is poised to vote on the settlement during its August meeting." "Sen. Siplin to admit guilt, pay $3,000 in settlement of campaign violations".

"State projects $1.1 billion cushion"

"Florida lawmakers narrowly hit their target of keeping an extra $1 billion in reserve for the state's general fund, according to a draft fiscal outlook released Wednesday. Going into the session, legislative budget-writers had said they wanted a cushion of at least that amount to absorb any changes in the state's fiscal condition." "State projects $1.1 billion cushion in general fund".

Never mind

"The U.S. Senate campaign of Connie Mack IV issued an incorrect version of an endorsement from Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuño that included statements Fortuño may not have made bashing Democratic incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson."

The news release quoted Fortuño as calling Nelson, President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid "lockstep liberals," a Mack campaign slogan.

That language, contained in a news release sent to reporters by the Mack campaign Tuesday, wasn't included in the version posted Tuesday on the campaign's website.

Late Wednesday, the campaign acknowledged the news release was incorrect and sent out an updated version that also omitted the statements.

"Yesterday, an erroneous working draft of the English version of Gov. Fortuño's endorsement of Connie Mack was issued," said the updated version.

In the original version of the news release, Fortuño was quoted as saying:

"Electing Connie Mack to the U.S. Senate and defeating liberal Senator Bill Nelson will help make sure conservatives have another champion for freedom in the Senate, and that Harry Reid, President Obama, and Washington's other Lockstep Liberals can't inflict any more damage on the nation."

Polls: Mack has edge over LeMieux

"Sustained character attacks from Republican primary rival George LeMieux and hand-wringing by some GOP activists about his prospects in the general election don't appear to have damaged U.S. Rep. Connie Mack's U.S. Senate bid, according to new polls from May 24 Florida poll">Quinnipiac University and NBC News-Marist."

The Quinnipiac poll shows a virtual tie between Mack and Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson while the Marist poll gives Nelson a 4-point lead. ...

The new Senate polls suggest the race has tightened since last month, when a Rasmussen poll gave Nelson an 11-point lead over Mack and the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling showed Nelson up by 10 points. Quinnipiac's last Senate poll in late March had Nelson up by 8 points.

Quinnipiac's Senate poll shows Mack ahead by a 42-41 percent margin that's within the poll's 2.4 percent margin of error.

The Marist poll gives Nelson a 46-42 percent lead over Mack. That poll has a 3 percent margin of error.

The best they could do?

"Before heading overseas, Gov. Scott said that he would like to see some people prosecuted if an arranged effort was made to put on the voter rolls non-Floridians and those ineligible to cast a ballot."

With the Division of Elections undertaking a massive review for potential noncitizens among the registered voters using Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles information, county supervisors of election -- mostly in South Florida -- have been directed to further review 2,600 people for their status to vote.

Three names have so far been referred from the secretary of state to the state attorney’s office for potential prosecution under the Third Party Voter Registration Act, noted agency spokeswoman Jenn Meale.

The actual nature of each of the allegations under investigation was not immediately available.

A spokesman for the state Division of Elections did not immediately return calls for comment.

Citizens blues

"Citizens interim director Tom Grady, an appointee of Gov. Rick Scott, voted in favor of the 10 percent cap on rate increases as a House member in 2009. Now, he wants to surpass that cap for newly written policies. Lt. Gov. Carroll also voted for the cap as a House member." "Citizens considering rate hike on new policies, but director voted for cap".

"Political ads flooding Florida TV"

"Millions of dollars in political ads are flooding Florida TV, including two new spots Wednesday by President Barack Obama’s campaign and an anti-Obama ad from a super PAC, the new breed of political action committee powered by unrestricted donations." "Political ad wars get underway in Florida".

"The gun-shine state"

"Florida is still the gun-shine state. Though much maligned nationally, the state’s Stand Your Ground law at the center of the Trayvon Martin shooting case is well-liked by a majority of Florida voters, according to a new poll conducted by Quinnipiac University." "Poll: Majority of Florida’s registered voters favor Stand Your Ground law". See also "Floridians Back 'Stand Your Ground' and are Wary of More Gun Control".

Meanwhile, "McDonald’s customer accused of pulling gun to cut ahead in drive-through line".

"Florida will become the stingiest state"

"A national workers’ rights group has filed a federal complaint over Florida’s revamped unemployment compensation system, claiming that the Sunshine State has become the most difficult place in the nation for unemployed people seeking benefits. Last year, Florida overhauled its unemployment compensation system, reducing the number of weeks available and enacting several new requirements for those who seek jobless benefits." "Groups claim thousands being denied jobless benefits in Florida". See also and "Florida law thwarts jobless benefits, advocates tell feds".

Related: "Thanks to a pending law, next January Florida will become the stingiest state in America when it comes to unemployment insurance benefits." "For Jobless, Florida Set To Become Stingiest State In America".

Florida Political News: May 23, 2012

by: Florida Politics

Wed May 23, 2012 at 10:15:36 AM EDT

Scott personally initiated voter purge

Gary Fineout: "Florida's quest to identify and remove non-U.S. citizens from the voter rolls was started at the direct urging of Gov. Rick Scott, the state's former top elections official said."

Ex-Secretary of State Kurt Browning, who resigned this year, told The Associated Press that Scott asked him whether or not non-U.S. citizens were registered and if those people were voting. Browning explained to the governor during a face-to-face meeting last year that people who register and falsely claim they are citizens can be charged with a crime.

"He says to me — well, people lie," Browning recalled this week. "Yes, people do. But we have always had to err on the side of the voter."

Browning said the conversation prompted state election officials to begin working to identify non-U.S. citizens. The state's initial list — compiled by comparing driver's licenses with voter registration data — showed that as many as 182,000 registered voters were eligible to be in the country but ineligible to vote.

But Browning said he decided against telling local election supervisors right away because he wanted to make sure the information was accurate in order to avoid a "firestorm of press" and criticism. Florida then spent months trying to get access to a federal database that tracks non-U.S. citizens in the country, but the U.S. Department of Homeland Security would not allow it.

Romney takes Florida lead in Q poll

"Mitt Romney has crept to a 6-percentage point lead over President Barack Obama in Florida, where a new poll shows a majority of registered voters don’t think the incumbent deserves a second term."

Romney’s 47 percent to 41 percent lead over Obama would grow even bigger — to an 8 percentage-point advantage — if the challenger chose Sen. Marco Rubio a running mate, according to Quinnipiac University’s new survey.

The poll also indicates that Romney has closed the so-called “gender gap” among women voters with Obama, who barely leads among Hispanics. And Obama is enjoying almost no advantage for his widely publicized decision to publicly favor same-sex unions, which a majority of Floridians now favor.

But regardless of Rubio or the gay-marriage issue, more voters simply view Romney more favorably than they view Obama, the poll shows.

Romney holds a 47 - 41 percent lead over President Barack Obama in Florida, where 63 percent of voters say the president's support of same-sex marriage will not affect their vote, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Another 25 - 11 percent of voters, including 23 - 9 percent among independent voters, say Obama's support of gay marriage makes them less likely to support his candidacy.

Adding Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio to the GOP ticket would give the Republican Romney/Rubio team a 49 - 41 percent lead over President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

Romney's lead in the horse race compares to a 44 - 43 percent tie in a May 3 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University and a 49 - 42 percent Obama lead March 28.

Florida registered voters say 52 - 44 percent that the president does not deserve a second term in the Oval Office and by 52 - 44 percent give him a thumbs-down on his job approval. ...

From May 15 - 21, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,722 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.4 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones.

Deutch without a challenger

"U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, may get a pass from the Republicans in this year's election. The only Republican who'd expressed an interest in challenging him said Tuesday she was dropping out, and Palm Beach County Republican Chairman Sid Dinerstein said he doesn't know of another candidate who will attempt to topple Deutch." "Republicans can't find challenger to Democratic congressman".

But it is OK if Reagan did it?

"Florida’s top Congressional Democrats broke with President Barack Obama on Tuesday over his administration’s decision to issue Fidel Castro’s niece a visa to attend a conference this week in San Francisco."

The opposition of Sen. Bill Nelson and Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz came just hours after Republicans had blasted away at the visa decision — while failing to acknowledge that Republican President George W. Bush’s administration had allowed Mariela Castro to visit the United States three times a decade ago.

The fact that Republicans had remained silent over Bush’s decision while criticizing Obama gave Wasserman Schultz a measure of political cover in breaking with Obama.

"The Bush Administration set a bad precedent by granting Mariela Castro a waiver in 2001 and 2002 as I believe that such visa requests should not be accepted because of the ongoing human rights abuses in Cuba," she said in a written statement to The Miami Herald. "While I respect my colleagues, it’s important to note they did not criticize President George W. Bush for granting Ms. Castro a waiver in 2002. Politics has no place when we are standing up for human rights."

Nelson was more terse and more concerned with the plight of a jailed American.

"Allowing Raul’s daughter to come to the U.S. when the regime still holds Alan Gross makes no sense," said Nelson, who faces a tough re-election campaign this fall.

"Home sales falter"

"Florida home sales falter, but prices rise in April".

"Just one thing was missing"

Anthony Man: "Just one thing was missing from this designed for TV news event: television cameras. When the four members of Congress toured A&M Tape & Packaging in Sunrise on Monday, the only news media representatives were a reporter, a still picture photographer, and a videographer from the Sun Sentinel. That prompted Hastings to rebuke the local and national media". "Alcee Hastings complains about lack of media attention". Background: "Democratic legislators visit Sunrise company, tout jobs policy".

University construction slowing

"Florida's colleges and universities are being asked to limit the amount of cash they draw from Public Education Capital Outlay to make sure the trust fund stays solvent throughout the fiscal rear." "Colleges, universities asked to hold back some funding for construction projects".

Slots

"Hialeah case could be beginning, not end of slots battles".

"I'm shocked, shocked"

"An upcoming study will show that Republicans lobbyists find more value in face-to-face visits and the counsel of other lobbyists than their Democratic counterparts, according to Politico.com." "Study finds lobbyists' information sources vary by party".

Flaws in PIP bill

"Rep. Kriseman wants Gov. Scott to address flaws in PIP bill".

What's wrong with Hillsborough?

"The three Florida Supreme Court justices seeking to hold onto their seats hit a bump in the road in Hillsborough County last weekend."

In a straw poll conducted by the Hillsborough County Republican Party, none of the justices facing statewide retention votes in November garnered even close to the simple majority required. The results were these:

- Fred Lewis: 34 percent, yes; 68 percent, no.

- Peggy Quince: 28 percent, yes, 72 percent, no.

- Barbara Pariente: 27 percent, yes, 73 percent, no.

Hillsborough County GOP Chairwoman Deborah Cox Roush said 156 party members cast votes in the straw poll conducted Saturday. ...

Lewis and Pariente were appointed by former Democratic Gov. Lawton Chiles; Quince was jointly appointed by Chiles and Republican Gov. Jeb Bush.

"How LeMieux pulled it off"

"George LeMieux is an old hand running political campaigns, but he wound up in the U.S. Senate by ferociously campaigning for just one vote: Gov. Charlie Crist’s."

How LeMieux pulled it off — tapped to serve a vacant Senate seat in 2009 by a governor who had reservations about his former chief of staff — speaks volumes about LeMieux’s ambition, savvy and knack for bare-knuckle politics that’s again playing out as he campaigns to unseat incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.

Transparency in election campaigns

The Orlando Sentinel editorial board: "Federal courts struck two blows last week for more transparency in election campaigns. Voters should be pleased. A federal appeals panel in Washington, D.C., declined to block a lower court ruling that requires tax-exempt organizations running election-related TV ads in federal contests to disclose their donors. And another federal appeals panel in Atlanta rejected a constitutional challenge to a 2010 Florida law that requires outside groups behind political ads or campaign mailers in state elections to register and disclose details about their contributions and spending." "Courts side with voters, not campaign secrecy".

Margaret Diaz appointed Regional Director Florida NLRB Office

"NLRB Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce and Acting General Counsel Lafe E. Solomon have announced the appointment of Margaret J. Diaz as Regional Director in the Tampa Regional Office (Region 12). Ms. Diaz will be responsible for enforcement of the nation’s primary labor law covering private sector employees in the State of Florida (except for 12 western counties) and in 21 counties in southern Georgia. Ms. Diaz replaces Rochelle Kentov, who retired effective the beginning of 2012." "Margaret Diaz appointed Regional Director of NLRB's Tampa, FL Regional Office".

Rubio holds a press conference

"Marco Rubio, Mark Warner, Others Team to Bolster STEM Start-ups".

Obama to speak at Latino conference at Disney in June

"President Barack Obama will be among of the speakers at a Latino leadership conference scheduled for next month at Walt Disney World. The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials announced this week that the president will address the group on June 22." "President Obama to speak at Latino leadership conference at Disney in June".

Gaetz staffs up

"Senate President-designate Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, has already snagged three big names from inside the capital circle to help run his office through the 2013 and 2014 legislative sessions."

Lisa Vickers, who recently stepped down as director of the Florida Department of Revenue, has been hired to be Gaetz’s senior adviser. Carol Gormley, who previously worked for former Gov. Jeb Bush, is coming over from the House where she was staff director for the Health and Human Services Committee. She will serve as senior policy advisory on health care for Gaetz.

And for the media, Katie Betta, the House communications director, will take the same role for the president’s office. Betta will replace Lyndsey Cruley.

“I want to make sure we have very substantive policy-oriented people in the president’s office, not politically oriented people,” Gaetz said. “I’ll take care of the politics; I need deep players, serious players, who can advise me and my fellow senators on policy issues.”

Gaetz still intends to name a deputy chief of staff, senior policy adviser for education, a senior policy adviser for economic issues and a general counsel in the coming weeks.

Campaigning at work?

"Email exchanges concerning congressional candidate Al Lawson's campaign have raised questions about political involvement within the state Senate Minority Office. The April 9 emails from and to staff director Theresa Frederick discussed Lawson and his Democratic and Republican opponents." "Did Senate Staffer's Emails Breach Separation of Campaign and State?".

Mica feeds his campaign contributors

"Mica claims progress in privatizing airport screeners".

"Is Mack the dumbest speaker in Congress?"

"Is Mack the dumbest speaker in Congress? It's complicated".

Republican establishment coalescing behind Mack

"Despite former U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon jumping into the race last week and the continuing efforts of former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, the Republican establishment keeps showing signs of coalescing behind U.S. Rep. Connie Mack’s bid to challenge Nelson. Last week, Mitt Romney and U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross announced they were backing Mack -- and they're now joined by Gov. Luis Fortuño of Puerto Rico who endorsed Mack on Tuesday." "Tug of War Continues over Control of U.S. Senate in Florida Race".

Florida Political News: May 22, 2012

by: Florida Politics

Tue May 22, 2012 at 19:13:10 PM EDT

"Marco Rubio uttering illiterate phooey"

Daniel Ruth: "Marco Rubio uttering illiterate phooey in South Carolina in a craven attempt to goose your vice presidential aspirations."

If anyone needs a cold shower and an American history tutorial, it would certainly be Rubio, who traveled to South Carolina a few days ago to get his freshman beanie in a wad over the presidential campaign.

The vice presidential pick is supposed to be something of an attack dog. But is Mitt Romney seriously thinking about a running mate who can only chase his tail and still thinks he's in the hunt?

Rubio was only getting warmed up, hinting that those who have attended Harvard and Yale are out of touch with the real world. That was a not-too-subtle swipe at Obama, who went to Harvard's law school.

Uh, Sen. Rubio? Mitt Romney, the chap you are fawning over like a Lady Gaga groupie? He went to Harvard. Probably not the brightest move to impugn the nominee's school.

Rubio has inherited Gingrich's rhetorical mantle of grand, absolutist, twaddle-filled statements. When it comes to notoriously divisive figures in American history, he opted to study at the foot of a grandmaster.

Scott cares more about creating election problems than solving them

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "Gov. Scott, his appointed secretary of state and the Legislature care more about creating election problems than solving election problems. Florida's independently elected supervisors of elections correctly have pushed back against Secretary of State Ken Detzner."

First, Mr. Detzner sent the supervisors a survey that he intended to use to grade each of them. He was arrogant to send the survey, and his grading scheme was as bogus as the state's formula for grading schools. Supervisors, for example, were to earn extra points for turning in the survey on time, which has no relation to how well supervisors can do their jobs.

Mr. Detzner, whom Gov. Scott appointed in February, gave up on his silly survey idea. Then his office put together a list of 2,600 registered voters suspected of being non-citizens and told supervisors to write an official letter to each, demanding proof of citizenship. That obvious attempt at voter intimidation fell apart when supervisors pointed out that the list contained errors.

It felt much like 2000, when elected Secretary of State Katherine Harris used another error-riddled list to purge alleged felons from voting rolls. That year, the worry among Republicans like Ms. Harris was that a heavy African-American turnout would give Florida to Al Gore over George W. Bush, the governor's brother. Blacks make up a disproportionate share of Floridians who can't vote because of felony convictions.

This time in Florida, the Obama and Romney campaigns are focused on Hispanic voters. Mr. Detzner's order targets newer Hispanic immigrants, who might be more likely to vote Democratic. Older Hispanic voters are more like the reliably Republican Cuban-Americans. The move also was a reminder that Gov. Scott used immigration fear-mongering to win his primary in 2010.

But for 12 years, the effort in Florida for the most part has been in tilting the elections process to favor Republicans, who never forgave Charlie Crist for extending early voting in 2008. Gov. Scott and Mr. Detzner say they aren't doing the same. Early returns don't provide them with the benefit of the doubt.

We'll go with "dumber"

"The folks at the Sunlight Foundation — best known for its work on campaign finance and lobbying issues in Congress — has done a fascinating new study of the language used by members of Congress. Their conclusion: those of you who think that members of Congress sound less intelligent (and use fewer big words) are right."

"Congress now speaks at almost a full grade level lower than it did just seven years ago, with the most conservative members of Congress speaking on average at the lowest grade level ..."

The most dumbed-down — or plain-spoken — member of the Florida delegation will likely be a surprise to many. It’s U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, someone who by reputation is known as a colorful, clear and effective speaker but whose remarks the study found are pitched at a 9.4 grade level.

"Lobbying on behalf of private businesses worked out swimmingly"

Fred Grimm: "Across the state, 33 counties and 67 cities hired capitol lobbyists. Cities and county officials say that they need their own lobbyists to get heard amid the clamor of 2,000 registered lobbyists representing corporate interests. Oddly enough, they’re often the same lobbyists, representing both private and public clients."

Here’s how that worked out. Gov. Rick Scott vetoed $147 million worth of local earmarks in the state budget, despite all that lobbying power in Tallahassee, zapping courthouse repairs and road projects and seaport renovations and a long list of worthy public projects.

Meanwhile, lobbying on behalf of private businesses worked out swimmingly — with $750 million in tax breaks this year, more than $2.5 billion over the next three years.

With that kind of disparity, it makes you wonder why city and county commissioners bother. Perhaps because the same lobbyists they hire, with such tepid results, to represent them in Tallahassee do a much better job making sure their political sugardaddies back home get re-elected. Lobbyists, along with members of their extended families, perhaps their family dogs, write checks for the maximum legal campaign contributions for their benefactors. They organize fancy fund-raisers that bring in even more money from their corporate clients. Until incumbents amass such formidable campaign accounts that opponents are overwhelmed.

City and county taxpayers may not get much return on the public money spent on lobbyists, but the city and county commissioners who approve the expenditures sure do. It’s as if they’re funding their own campaigns with taxpayer money.

Suddenly, I see the logic.

Orlando gathering of "citizen watchdogs" welcomes O'Keefe

Kenric Ward:

"Your real enemy is the mainstream media," [James O'Keefe] told an Orlando gathering of "citizen watchdogs" hosted by the conservative Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity over the weekend. "The media aren't just biased, they're lying and trying to protect what's going on."

Same-sex classrooms

"ACLU: "Many" same-sex classrooms in Florida may be illegal".

Florida Innocence Commission

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board: "No one wants to see an innocent person wrongfully convicted of a crime, but it happens all too frequently. How to make it happen less often is the charge of the Florida Innocence Commission, which was established by the Florida Supreme Court in 2010. The commission met Monday in Tampa and will continue its hearings today. When the commission wraps up its work at the end of June, it should be prepared to propose serious reforms. Wrongful convictions are finally getting attention, but only bold changes will reduce the number of innocent people going to prison." "Bold change needed to reduce wrongful convictions".

"Public relations extravaganza"

The Miami Herald editorial board: "On Monday, just days after the FCAT writing fiasco that forced state education officials to grade the test on a curve so that almost three-fourths of students who took the exam wouldn’t flunk it, Tallahassee launched a public relations extravaganza." "Getting it right this time". See also "FCAT Writing Solution: Split the Baby".

Mack demands criminal investigation of LeMieux

"The team behind Republican Senate hopeful Connie Mack on Monday continued to drill primary rival for his ties to former Gov. Charlie Crist -- and demanded the U.S. Department of Justice launch a criminal investigation that LeMieux used improper influence to get Crist to appoint him to the Senate." "Connie Mack Calls for Federal Investigation of Charlie Crist Senate Appointment of George LeMieux". See also "Mack wants LeMieux's appointment probed".

"Nothing says 'Elect Romney!' like an unpopular multimillionaire"

"This is unwelcome news for Mitt Romney: Florida Gov. Rick Scott expects a high-profile speaking slot at the Republican National Convention."

Nothing says “Elect Mitt Romney!” like an unpopular multimillionaire awkwardly making the case on national TV.

"Bogdanoff and Sachs appear headed for an expensive clash"

"In their quest to regain relevance in the Florida legislature, Democrats are zeroing in on a newly drawn Palm Beach-Broward Senate district where a pair of incumbent Senators -- Republican Ellyn Bogdanoff and Democrat Maria Sachs -- appear headed for an expensive clash." "Sachs-Bogdanoff state Senate race is No. 1 race for Florida Dems, party chief says".

'Glades

"The South Florida Water Management District wants to swap some its land for Mecca Farms -- the former orange grove that has been sitting idle since Palm Beach County bought it for $60 million as a potential site for The Scripps Research Institute in 2004." "Mecca Farms proposed for Everglades restoration".

"The insurance industry denied it"

"A legislator said a glitch in the car insurance bill could allow companies to deny some claims. The insurance industry denied it." "PIP reform loophole cited".