FLORIDA POLITICS
Since 2002, daily Florida political news and commentary

 

UPDATE: Every morning we review and individually digest Florida political news articles, editorials and punditry. Our sister site, FLA Politics was selected by Campaigns & Elections as one of only ten state blogs in the nation
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Welcome To Florida Politics

Thanks for visiting. On a semi-daily basis we scan Florida's major daily newspapers for significant Florida political news and punditry. We also review the editorial pages and political columnists/pundits for Florida political commentary. The papers we review include: the Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Naples News, Sarasota Herald Tribune, St Pete Times, Tampa Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Tallahassee Democrat, and, occasionally, the Florida Times Union; we also review the political news blogs associated with these newspapers.

For each story, column, article or editorial we deem significant, we post at least the headline and link to the piece; the linked headline always appears in quotes. We quote the headline for two reasons: first, to allow researchers looking for the cited piece to find it (if the link has expired) by searching for the original title/headline via a commercial research service. Second, quotation of the original headline permits readers to appreciate the spin from the original piece, as opposed to our spin.

Not that we don't provide spin; we do, and plenty of it. Our perspective appears in post headlines, the subtitles within the post (in bold), and the excerpts from the linked stories we select to quote; we also occasionally provide other links and commentary about certain stories. While our bias should be immediately apparent to any reader, we nevertheless attempt to link to every article, column or editorial about Florida politics in every major online Florida newspaper.

 

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The Blog for Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Voucher Litigation

    "Rather than concentrating on an amendment to the state constitution that prohibits public money going to religious institutions, as trial and appellate courts had done in ruling the state's Opportunity vouchers unconstitutional, the justices' questions mostly were about an article of the constitution that requires lawmakers to pay for a "uniform, efficient, safe, secure, and high quality system of free public schools."" "Justices question legislators' authority".

    If there is any doubt about how extreme the Florida GOP is, consider this exchange between Chief Justice Barbara Pariente and Barry Richard, the state's lead attorney (presumably retained by Crist):
    "So wait," said Chief Justice Barbara Pariente. If the Legislature spent 90 percent of the state education budget on private schools, that would be okay?

    "Yes your honor," Richard said.
    "State high court has tough questions about vouchers".

    This nuttiness - which is on video - whould make a great television ad. Moreover, Gallagher, Crist and Harris ought to be asked whether they agree with the attorney for the State of Florida's contention that it would be OK if the Legislature spent 90 percent of the state education budget on private schools.

    See also "Justices Hear Voucher Case", "Court hears challenge to statewide school vouchers" and "Justices take on voucher argument".

    An overview of the issue: "For voucher program, a historic time".

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