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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 Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Oil Drilling on Horizon

    Has "Jeb!" lost his mind?
    In the lurching, on-again, off-again campaign to allow more oil and gas drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the march is on again.

    With the backing of Gov. Jeb Bush, the U.S. House Resources Committee on Wednesday will consider a sweeping compromise that would allow drilling as close as 125 miles off Florida's coast in exchange for giving the Legislature and governor control of waters much closer to shore.
    "Gulf oil drilling plan gains steam". And try not to laugh too hard at this attempt to assuage the doubters:
    "It puts the future of Florida's waters squarely in the hands of Florida's elected officials," [State Environmental Protection Secretary Colleen] Castille said.
    The fight is on:
    Bush's support could make it harder for Florida lawmakers to block the opening of new drilling in the eastern Gulf, said Rep. Jim Davis, D-Tampa.

    "I'm speechless," said Davis, a candidate for governor. "This is outrageous to put a provision this dramatic and harmful to Florida into a spending bill."

    Environmentalists also are unhappy with the Pombo legislation. Mark Ferrulo of Florida PIRG (Public Interest Research Group) said the billions in royalties and heavy lobbying and campaign donations from energy companies might sway future state legislators to allow drilling. It "creates long-term incentives and momentum to drill in our near-shore waters," he said.
    But most GOoPers fall into line and do precisely what "Jeb!" says:
    Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Oviedo, said he was leaning toward voting for the bill. ... Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, will support the bill, according to his staff. And staff for Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Chumuckla, and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Miami, said their bosses were favorably disposed toward it. But Rep. Mark Foley, R-Jupiter, and Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fort Myers, oppose the idea.
    "Gov. Bush backs deal that allows more Gulf drilling".

8:31 AM

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