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
"every political insider should be reading right now."

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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.

 

Older posts [back to 2002]

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The Blog for Monday, February 20, 2006

Same Old Right Wing Agenda

    "In many ways, Bush's agenda for the 2006 session will be a collage of his first seven years in office. He'll try to: get around a state Supreme Court ruling that the vouchers were unconstitutional; push through massive tax cuts; work to better prepare the state for hurricanes; and boost minority university enrollment, something he also set out to do six years ago." "Gov. Bush's final session looks a lot like past efforts". Jebbie is set on ignoring pleas from his allies in the media to "Forget vouchers".


    Davis Handicapped

    Federal campaign laws have handicapped Davis' fundraising:

    Membership in Congress has had its privileges for the gubernatorial campaign of Jim Davis: The Tampa Democrat has swept up endorsements from popular Washington colleagues who have introduced him around the state, and Congress has given him a high-profile platform to take on issues like offshore drilling.

    But a campaign finance wrinkle that is surfacing for the first time in a statewide Florida campaign could make Davis' federal office more of a hindrance than help.

    Federal campaign laws impose on Davis a fundraising restriction that does not apply to the two Republican gubernatorial candidates or to state Sen. Rod Smith, Davis' Democratic rival. Because Davis holds a federal office and is seeking a state office, federal law limits how much he can raise for the state Democratic Party.

    The three other candidates can raise unlimited amounts of so-called soft money for their state parties while Davis can't ask someone to write a check for more than $10,000 to the state Democratic Party. Nor can he solicit money from corporations or labor unions.
    "Federal law adds crimp to campaign".


    Smarmy

    "For more than a year, Florida taxpayers have been paying for legislative office space that Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff also uses for her private consulting firm, her law practice and a charity chaired by incoming Senate President Ken Pruitt. Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, owns the building through her Enterprising Businesses Strategies firm and rents it to the state for her legislative office — even though it is not in her district." "Business, charity share house state rents as lawmaker's office".


    Harris

    "Harris Upbeat on Iraq, Loyal to DeLay".


    Here's An Idea. Why Not Grade The Prisons ...

    you know, like we grade schools; best graded prisons get more money; prisoners at low graded prisons get vouchers. That ought to be an "easy solution". "Florida's prison ills defy easy solution". More seriously, "Reduce jail population".


    Education Agenda

    "Vouchers, class sizes at the top of lawmakers' education agenda".


    "Stop starving anti-tobacco ad campaign"

    "Frustrated by the Legislature's refusal to fund the program, a coalition of groups including the American Lung Association and the American Cancer Society sponsored a petition drive to create a proposed constitutional amendment for the November ballot. If approved, that amendment would force the Legislature to adequately fund the anti-smoking campaign. They gathered enough signatures and are awaiting review by the state Supreme Court." "'Truth' up in smoke".


    Good Luck

    FRS "Retirees could use benefits help".


    Silly Headline

    Yesterday, an Orlando Sentinel headline read "GOP, businesses seek housing solutions", for this story:

    Fed by a tax on real-estate transactions, the affordable-housing trust fund has helped cities and counties provide housing assistance to more than 150,000 families. But when the state economy nose-dived after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, lawmakers began raiding the fund, shortchanging affordable-housing programs by more than $600 million in the past three years.

    House Republicans even voted to kill the fund altogether and, at Gov. Jeb Bush's urging, joined the Senate in capping trust-fund spending at $243 million a year beginning in 2007 -- less than half of what was originally intended.
    Only after gutting a system to create affordable housing, and exacerbating the problem, is the Florida GOP (in another flip-flop) now trying to "seek housing solutions"; you wouldn't know that from the headline, though.


    Kreegel Lawsuit Update

    "One Florida legislator [Rep. Paige Kreegel], targeted when he first ran in the 2004 election, filed a defamation suit against the powerful special-interest group behind the attacks and its prominent political consultant. The depositions make for interesting reading, and the case is raising questions over the role special interests play in leadership races in the Legislature." "Special interests wield much influence".

    Last week we posted about the Kreegel lawsuit which seems to be blowing 527 world wide open. See "Hell to Pay". An update today in the Tallahassee Democrat, including a reminder that "Sen. Ken Pruitt, a Port St. Lucie Republican slated to become the next Senate president, has been subpoenaed to testify as a witness in Kreegel's case - because he has paid Nielsen and his consulting firm at least $232,000 for ''electioneering'' activities in the past." "Interest groups outed by lawsuit".


    Privatization Follies

    "In the past two years, the sheriff's office has had to hire three companies to provide medical services for jail inmates." "Fourth time a charm?"


    Term Limits

    From the Miami Herald yesterday

    When Florida voters enacted term limits 12 years ago, the prevailing opinion was that by limiting the length of time legislators were in office, voters would rid the Legislature of arrogant career politicians who directed more energy into the pursuit of power and job preservation than into addressing concerns of constituents.

    By condensing their time in Tallahassee to eight years, proponents argued, legislators would shorten their stay and short-circuit the temptation to make politics a career.

    How wrong they were.
    "Term limits can't stop power play".

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