Throw The Bums Out

If the judges keep insisting on following the Florida Constitution, throw the bums out:

A key architect of Florida's education policy on Tuesday said he wants to oust the Supreme Court justices who declared the state's private school voucher law unconstitutional.

The high court last week threw out the voucher program, a cornerstone of Republican Gov. Jeb Bush's education reforms, in a 5-2 vote.

Three who voted in the majority -- Chief Justice Barbara Pariente and Justices R. Fred Lewis and Peggy Quince -- are up for merit retention this fall. Pariente and Lewis were appointed to the court by former Democratic Gov. Lawton Chiles. Quince was appointed jointly by Chiles and Bush.

"I'm against all three of them. Get me their names so I can start a political action committee against them," said Rep. Ralph Arza, R-Hialeah, chairman of the House Pre-K-12 Committee.

"Late Start

"A deluge of constituent e-mail favoring a late August start for the school year prompted members of a House committee to throw aside their usual support for local control and approve the legislation Tuesday." "House panel OKs bill to delay school starting dates". See also "Do school years start too soon?"

"Closed to the Public"

"President Bush will travel to West Palm Beach on Thursday to speak at a Republican National Committee fund-raising reception. The event, to be held at a private home in Palm Beach, is closed to the public." "President Raising FL Money".

"Florida graded F"

"Florida graded F for anti-smoking programs".

Strange

"A spokeswoman for state CFO Tom Gallagher might have broken Florida law when she failed to tell her boss and a Miami Herald reporter that she was recording an interview." "Secret recording upsets Gallagher".

School Districts

"Bush on Tuesday said the idea of splitting up large school districts is worth considering, and a House committee approved a bill that would give voters the right to do that after a Tampa Bay area mayor spoke in favor of the concept." "School Districts May Split".

A Bit Much ...

don't you think: "Florida An Ethical Example For GOP".

No Show

"Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, drew criticism from a Senate committee Tuesday after being a no-show for the second month in a row on legislation he filed to prohibit police from using stun guns on children." "Bill's sponsor a no-show -- again".

Natural Gas

"If Florida hopes to wean itself off of pricey natural gas, the legislature will have to create an energy policy that both encourages conservation and provides incentives for alternatives such as solar roof panels, utilities industry and regulatory officials told a Senate panel Tuesday." "Florida focuses on reducing natural gas dependance".

Finding His Religion

"While most Florida voters spent last year ignoring the looming 2006 race, Gallagher - a longtime moderate Republican who used to call himself 'pro-choice' on abortion - has quietly been winning over leader after leader among Florida's increasingly important Christian conservative activists." "Gallagher fast making inroads with the religious right".

State House District 70

"He's lived in Sarasota County for less than a year, yet real estate broker Doug Holder says that's long enough to know he wants to represent the county in the state Legislature. A month after he moved to Sarasota in August, the Republican filed to run for the District 70 seat. Holder, who has already put $50,000 of his own money into the race, said he knows the other three GOP candidates in the race will try to make an issue of his short tenure in Sarasota, but he says it shouldn't be an issue for the voters." "Newcomer pursues seat for District 70".

Big Plans

"South Florida's Democratic legislators have plans for how the state can spend almost half a billion dollars in extra sales taxes from consumer spending after last year's hurricanes." "S. Florida legislators have plans for sales tax revenue".

Abramoff Money

"The biggest Florida political check was written in 2003 after SunCruz had entered bankruptcy. It went to the Florida Leadership Association, a political action committee created by Rep. Bob Allen, R-Merritt Island, to promote his aborted run for House speaker." "Abramoff's SunCruz money becomes political liability".

"C-minus"

"A national physicians' group issued a scathing report Tuesday on the state of U.S. emergency care, giving Florida a C-minus grade for not ensuring that residents have adequate access to hospital emergency rooms." "Report raps Florida hospitals for lapses in emergency care".

Our Education Governor

"Gov. Jeb Bush appointed Kathleen Shanahan, his former chief of staff, to the Florida Board of Education and reappointed two other members Tuesday." That makes a lot of sense, inasmuch as she is an expert in educational issues: "Shanahan, 46, of Tampa, now is chief executive officer of WRS Infrastructure & Environment Inc., an environmental consulting, engineering and remediation company." "Bush names Shanahan to state Board of Education".

Feeney

"When Tom Feeney got to Washington in 2003, he knew right where to get his ticket punched. Feeney made a beeline for then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and jumped on his leg like a year-old Labrador in need of neutering. The liberal Public Campaign Action Fund once ranked Feeney as the nation's lawmaker most in the 'pocket' of DeLay. It was a proud day for the Oviedo Republican." "Tangled webs may catch up with Feeney".

Revisit Law

"Sen. Al Lawson is so very right that lawmakers ought not run from their own shadows. They certainly should step up and revisit the inscrutable ethics legislation that was signed into law last month to keep lobbyists from feeding the bears - that is, lawmakers." "Revisit new law".

Davis Gets Boost

"Miami lawyer Kirk Wagar, one of John Kerry's top Florida fundraisers in 2004, is jumping aboard the Jim Davis ship." "Wagar Backs Davis".

Pay Up

"State Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla should pay $8,750 in fines related to campaign law violations that occurred during a 1999 special election, a judge has ruled." "Judge: Fine senator $8,750".

Good Luck

"Members of a legislative committee tackling migrant labor issues outlined Monday what they believe are the most pressing issues to the migrant community." "Group outlines most pressing issues for migrants".

Since We're "Grading" Everything These Days

"Florida ranked C- in national report on emergency medical care" "In its "National Report Card on the State of Emergency Medicine," to be released today, the group also said Florida needs to add emergency rooms because it ranks near the bottom nationally in the number of emergency departments and trauma centers per 1 million people." And isn't this the cat's meow: " Alan Levine, secretary of Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration, said the report oversimplifies a complicated problem, and said the state has some of the country's best emergency care providers." "Physicians group gives low grade to our ER's". See also "Emergency room crisis diagnosed; now treat it".

Early Start

"An effort to restore a more-traditional calendar will get a hearing in Tallahassee this week." "House to begin talks on bill to ban early start of school". See also "Mom and lawmaker leading fight to delay school start dates".

Troxler

"Next governor should be ready to make tough choices".

"Wasserman Schultz And Alito"

"Democrats have added first term U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, to their list of witnesses to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Supreme Court nonmination of Samuel Alito." "Wasserman Schultz And Alito".

"Jeb!" Money To Gallagher?

"While Charlie Crist has been outraising Gallagher, Zachariah's addition to the Gallagher camp is a giant coup. Not only is he a fundraising titan, but his close ties to the Bushes will have tea leave readers seeing a signal of Jeb Bush's preference in the race." "Zachariah Joins Gallagher Team".

Boyd

"Boyd concerned about nation's budget".

A number of studies have been conducted of the "spoiled ballots" in Florida. The most thorough was by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago. It examined all of the 175,010 spoiled ballots that were excluded from the vote tabulations in Florida in 2000. Ballots were examined by multiple coders to assure reliability, and a dataset (available on NORC's website) was constructed that included each coder's judgment on each ballot. NORC also provided a program for applying different criteria and calculating the results. If the most restrictive criteria are used, Gore's margin of victory is 158 votes. By "most restrictive," I mean ballots are counted only if the voter's intention is totally unambiguous (no partially punched chads, no unclear write-ins, etc.).

Please note that this estimate of Gore's margin is very conservative. It only counts ballots that are totally unambiguous. Also, it deals only with votes as they were actually cast - it does not address the votes lost by Gore because of the butterfly ballot in Palm Beach County or the faulty ballot instructions in Duval and Gadsden Counties. Nor does it take into account the effects of Florida's flawed program of felon disenfranchisement, which excluded many eligible voters from casting ballots and also created delays and confusion at polling places. During the election controversy, most observers acknowledged that more voters had gone to the polls to vote for Gore than for Bush, but it was unclear whether Gore had actually received more legally valid votes. We now know that he did.

Today, this would be widely recognized if NORC had published a report on its findings, but instead it chose simply to release the data and let everyone make sense of it on their own. My assumption is that NORC and the research sponsors did not issue a report because they did not want to embarrass President Bush. The study was concluded just after 9-11-01.

Moreover, the official counting of these ballots during the recount was truncated by the SCOTUS stay order.

Bottom line: these "spoiled ballots" which for the most part clearly showed what the voter intended (e.g., Gore's name on the ballot might have been circled on a optical scan ballot instead of the small circle being filled in, or the ballot might have double marked, or overvoted (e.g., one mark properly placed next to Gore's name and the "write in" also marked with Gore's name, etc.) were never included in the vote totals because they did not register on the vote tabulating equipment in the initial count and the requisite hand review of these so-called spoiled ballots" was never undertaken (except in a handful of Florida counties).

"Preserv[ing] his Legacy"?

"Bush has an ambitious agenda for his final year in office, but he may wind up spending time and energy trying to preserve his legacy." "Bush sets ambitious agenda for final year".

Corporate Precincts

"Sometimes good intentions can have unintended consequences. This may be one of those times." "Corporations will be invited to "adopt" election precincts"

Gift Ban

"House members will undergo a training session Tuesday regarding a new law prohibiting gifts from lobbyists to lawmakers. Today, legislators begin a week of committee meetings in Tallahassee, their first official gathering since the law went into effect on Jan. 1." "Legislators to learn ins and outs of ban on lobbyists' gifts". See also "Registration clause stymies lobbyists".

"Where's GOP outrage"?

"[I]t's odd that [the Bush] administration seems blithely unconcerned about state personnel information that might be floating around cyberspace." Bill Cotterell says it makes "you wonder whether they [Crist and Gallagher] fear being too inquisitive about the popular governor's biggest "outsourcing" initiative would alienate legions of his fans, who vote in Republican primaries." "Where's GOP outrage over floating data?"

Harris - Where's the National Support?

"It's now been seven months since Katherine Harris, R-Longboat Key, announced she would run for the U.S. Senate. Still, national Republican Party groups still aren't embracing her, as apparent by the National Republican Senatorial Committee - a group charged with helping Republicans win Senate seats." "Will National Support Come?".

House Races

There are only a few competitive U.S. House races.

Only one of those [truly competitive races according to "experts"], the district of Fort Lauderdale Republican Rep. Clay Shaw, is in Florida.

Shaw, just released from the hospital after undergoing surgery for lung cancer, faces Democratic state Sen. Ron Klein in November. Klein has raised more money than Shaw, and both parties have made the district, which votes for Democrats in presidential campaigns, a priority.

Feeney is being opposed by Andy Michaud, a 47-year-old Democrat who says he doesn't plan to raise the issue of Feeney's dealings with Abramoff and his golfing trip to Scotland with the lobbyist. And while the Democratic Party decries what it calls a "culture of corruption in the GOP," Michaud said he would rather talk about Social Security, health care and Feeney's vote to allow some oil drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. ...

Democrat Charlie Stuart, who wants to run against Orlando Republican Rep. Ric Keller, wasted no time after Abramoff's guilty plea in criticizing Keller for taking money from Abramoff and others tied to the scandal.

Orlando Sentinel Hearts "Jeb!"

"More good grades for A-Plus".

Cabinet Races

"The race to replace Gov. Jeb Bush, who must leave office because of term limits, and Republican U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris' attempt to oust Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson from office have grabbed most of the headlines leading into the 2006 election. Further down the ballot, though, are some races well worth watching that could have a profound effect on the state." "Florida's Cabinet races well worth watching".

Abramoff's "Tampa Tangle"

"A trip by congressional staffers to the 2001 Super Bowl in Tampa has emerged as a key part of the federal investigation into the scandal involving Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff and members of the House and Senate." "Lobbyist case has Tampa tangle".

Good Question

In connection with the Abramoff thing, Steve Otto asks: "Well, didn't the Republicans come to power by getting all huffy about morals and ethics and sucking up to the likes of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and James Dobson, the Larry, Curly and Moe of the New Testament?"

Where's Jack When You Need Him?

"There are still many hurdles ahead for the Seminole Tribe of Florida in its quest to offer Las Vegas-style slot machines." "Slots deal faces tough road". See also "Gambling" ("Even though Gov. Jeb Bush has finally signed long-overdue legislation permitting slot machine gambling in Broward County, there's still much work to be done before Florida's schools see any benefit.")

FCAT Foolishness

"Racial Stereotypes May Affect Test Scores".

Alito

"The Florida Coalition for an Independent Judiciary plans to speak out Monday in Tallahassee against confirmation of U.S. Appeals Court Judge Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court." "Critics to rally against Alito".

"Jeb!" Is Simply Amazing!

Just ask Mike Thomas: "Jeb Bush knows everything but his next move".

Wouldn't Wanna be "Sore Loserman"

"It is not possible that one simply lost. The judges must have been "activist." They were using "ideology" instead of 'just following the law.'" "Crying out against the justices isn't answer"

"Gallagher ... called the ruling 'judicial activism based on ideology and not the law.' Gallagher added that if he gets to be governor, he will name Supreme Court justices who 'follow the rule of law as opposed to legislating from the bench.'" Id.

As for Jebbie's response, well ...

One of the best scenes in the hilarious movie Wedding Crashers shows Isla Fisher, in the role of the treasury secretary's daughter, throwing a temper tantrum. She scrunches up her face, swings her arms and stomps her feet. It's funny because she's a grown woman acting like a little kid.

Gov. Bush acted much the same way on Thursday after the Florida Supreme Court, in a decision that everyone but he and his delusional aides saw coming, ruled that Gov. Bush's system of vouchers is unconstitutional. He fumed about the public school "monopoly." He railed against the court — except, of course, the two justices he appointed. They backed the illegal voucher program.

It was familiar petulance. The governor shows it each time he is challenged. He blew up six years ago when two African-American legislators staged a sit-in to protest his policies toward minorities. He pouted when court after court ruled against him in the Terri Schiavo case. When environmental groups sued to block the Mecca Farms site for The Scripps Research Institute, the governor called them "legal terrorists." It is the arrogance of an ideologue who thinks he's never wrong.

Earth to "Jeb!"

The Buzz reports that

Jeb Bush says Florida Republicans don't have to worry about a voter backlash from a rising tide of special-interest slime emanating from the Jack Abramoff scandal and other ethical lapses in Washington. Why? Because they've taken steps to inoculate themselves from the sleaze factor by outlawing free meals, drinks and gifts from lobbyists.

As members of Congress scramble to give away campaign money they have received from Jack Abramoff, a lobbyist who pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe members of Congress and evading taxes, watchdog organizations say they're not fooling the public.

"A National Joke"

Scott Maxwell:

Depending on which study you read, Florida ranks as low as 47th among the states (there are 50 of them, for those of you who attended our schools) when it comes to per-pupil spending.

So Florida politicians continue to invest as little as possible on education and then scratch their heads in gee-willikers fashion, trying to figure out why our school system is a national joke.

None of this should surprise anyone. Back in 2002, when the class-size amendment was on the ballot, Gov. Jeb Bush was caught on tape saying he had "devious plans" to fight back the class-size amendment if voters passed it. Bush -- who was in the throes of a feisty campaign at the time -- quickly back-pedaled. He said he was being sarcastic. And yet, here we are, witnessing yet another attempt by Bush and other leaders to keep classrooms overloaded.

The irony here is that you essentially have politicians trying to make the case that voters were too uninformed to cast logical ballots on this issue -- while choosing to believe it was a well-versed electorate that voted them into office. None of them, after all, are pushing for similar do-overs for their own elections.

Martin Dyckman

"His passion and fearlessness made Florida a better place".

It's A Start, But ...

"The Florida Legislature scrubbed some of its darker corners by banning gifts from lobbyists and their clients, then let in some welcome sunshine by requiring lobbyists to disclose their fees. But those reforms that were approved last month should be just the start of the housecleaning, for a bigger job awaits. Now is the time to rein in the slush funds legislators have created that make limits on campaign contributions meaningless and pose a greater threat of corruption and influence peddling than free dinners or football tickets." "Rein in the slush funds".

The Problem With Term Limits ...

or, who is Dean Cannon?

Those "Enviromental Wackos"

"Environmentalists are pushing two bills in Congress that call for research and protection of corals and deep sea communities." "Hidden treasure lies off our coasts, full of life and needing protection". See also "Keeping growth at bay".

"Diminishing public oversight"

"Sunshine Law experts fear that using e-mail and cell phones to conduct government business is diminishing public oversight." "Technology is testing open-government laws".

Like A Bad Penny

"With George LeMieux leaving his post as Attorney General Charlie Crist's top deputy for a new role as chief of staff of Crist's gubernatorial campaign, a few more office changes have swiftly followed. Clay Roberts was named deputy attorney general last week, moving from an executive deputy post. Roberts was the state's elections director during the 2000 presidential recount and recently was edged out in a bid for a Tallahassee-area judgeship." Capitol View.

Redistricting

"A lot of Democrats like the idea of amending the state Constitution to make the drawing of political districts less partisan and more competitive by having it done by a commission rather than directly by state lawmakers. But Democratic state Rep. Frank Peterman says he won't vote for the ballot initiative until he's more assured it won't dilute the strength of districts drawn to ensure minorities are elected." "Persuading Peterman".

Weeks before the Bush administration releases a new offshore drilling plan for the Gulf of Mexico, a federal agency has given Louisiana authority over waters as close as 100 miles from Florida's coastline.

While the full impact isn't yet clear, the new boundaries position Louisiana as the primary stakeholder over millions of acres of waters Florida has historically controlled in the eastern Gulf, including an area south of the Panhandle, that is not currently protected from drilling.

Voucher Madness

"The Florida Supreme Court ruling that struck down the state's oldest voucher program was clear that the use of tax dollars to pay private school tuition is unconstitutional, but it left loopholes that allow other programs to continue to spend public money at private preschools and colleges." "Voucher ruling doesn't stop state money flowing to private schools". See also "Some vouchers out, but the rest?" ("Legal experts for and against school vouchers say the ruling against one program could be used to knock out two others.")

A good review of how we got to this point: "Governor's power can't save vouchers". This piece by Bousquet is good as well: "Vouchers loss tough and ironic for Bush".

This could be where we may be going next: "A day after the Florida Supreme Court struck down one of Gov. Jeb Bush's private school voucher programs, a two-pronged strategy to save it began emerging in the Republican-led state Legislature." "Legislature crafts plan to keep school vouchers". See also "Legislators want private option" ("State leaders on Friday vowed to find a way to revive a private school voucher program ").

Also, you guessed it ... an amendment: "A day after the Florida Supreme Court struck down a key part of Gov. Jeb Bush's school-voucher program, Bush said Friday that he would support a constitutional amendment to salvage the plan that gives tax money to students attending private schools." "Governor sticks by vouchers".

Twist

"A reinvestigation finds no reason to press new charges, but Bush names a special prosecutor.". "A new twist in '64 racial slaying case".

Tribune Company Loves Vouchers

Like the Tampa Trib yesterday, the Sun Sentinel editorial board laments the Florida Supreme Court's decision striking down the voucher program. "Education".

Money Race

Dems: "On the Democratic side, U.S. Rep. Jim Davis of Tampa estimates raising more than $505,000 in the final quarter of 2005, nearly doubling the $264,000 reported for state Sen. Rod Smith. All told, Davis estimates raising more than $1.6-million and Smith more than $1.3-million."

Repubs: " Republican Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher reportedFriday raising about $770,000 in the final three months of the year, bringing his combined total to about $5.29-million raised. Crist nearly doubled him in the last quarter, with $1.5-million, bringing the attorney general's overall total to $6.86-million. That's about $30,000 a day in contributions of up to $500.". "Crist surges ahead in fundraising". See also "Crist's latest fund-raising outstrips GOP rival's".

Whatever

"League of Mayors opens with excitement".

Isn't it Sad ...

that we have to hope the Florida GOP will "avoid retribution":

Tallahasseeans working in the state court system here can attest that the Florida Legislature has been known to take out its frustration over certain court rulings with passive-aggressive enthusiasm. When considering the state's budget, lawmakers find ways to withhold or delay judicial requests for additional funding for clerks, equipment, physical space or more judges.

Thursday's Florida Supreme Court 5-2 declaration of the unconstitutionality of Opportunity Scholarships - a 6-year-old "choice" program that has been used by about 700 students out of the state's 2.6 million public school students - brought about quick accusations of "activist" judges and the politicization of the court.

Dirty Money

"Add the Republican Party of Florida to the list of politicians and groups distancing themselves from Jack Abramoff. The RPOF in 2002 received $5,000 from SuncCruz Casino, formerly owned by Abramoff." "FL GOP Sheds SunCruz Money".

Baptists and Catholics

"[R]epresentatives of the Florida Catholic Conference and Florida Baptist Convention made clear their organizations don't endorse political candidates." But they do seem to like the reformed Mr. Gallagher. "Don't Let the Candidate Upstage You".

Vouchers Declared Unconstitutional

"The Florida Supreme Court tossed out the state's tuition voucher program that allows public money to go to private schools." "Court orders tuition vouchers halted". See also "High court stamps out vouchers", "State high court rejects voucher program", "Florida Supreme Court declares vouchers unconstitutional", "Florida's top court bars vouchers for F schools", "Court throws out vouchers" and "Court Rejects School Vouchers".

"Jeb!" is unrepentant about his violation of the Florida Constitution: "Bush vows to revive school vouchers after Fla. Supreme Court kills program".

A copy of the decision is here. (.pdf format). We're discussing it at FLA Politics here.

Editorial roundup: "Court backs the schools, but Jeb won't turn page", "Let state live up to its mandates for schools" and "Stop the voucher fight" ("Now that the state Supreme Court has ruled vouchers unconstitutional, it's time for lawmakers to get back to fixing public schools."). The Tampa Trib has this gem: "A Disappointing Voucher Ruling".

The "Jeb!" is the educashun guvner folks say this: "Vouchers serve purpose -- but need has passed".

More: "Ruling elicits mixed reviews locally".

Stormproofing

"Gov. Jeb Bush will call on Florida lawmakers to spend nearly $600 million to help prepare homes, shelters, and a response plan for hurricanes." "Gov. Bush wants $600M to stormproof state".

No Smoking

"Amendment to require anti-smoking spending closer to ballot". See also "Time runs out for activists seeking amendment ballots"

Harris

Harris on the hustings: "Controversial underdog Harris optimistic about bid for U.S. Senate".

Slots

"Negotiations between the state and tribes over an expansion of Indian gaming rights will soon take on new urgency, Gov. Jeb Bush said." "Bush pushes for tribe compact".

Klein Raises More than Shaw (Again)

"For the third quarter in a row, state Sen. Ron Klein raised more money than incumbent Rep. Clay Shaw in a congressional race that is shaping up to be among the most expensive in the nation." "Klein's fund-raising tops Shaw in U.S. House race".

No Sympathy Here

"The firm that helped ensure George Bush won the 2000 recount legal battle in Florida, that hired Antonin Scalia's son and produced Jeb Bush's general counsel, Raquel Rodriguez, is even getting bashed by some Republicans in the wake of the Abramoff controversy." " Greenberg Traurig's Black Eye".

The "Values" Crowd

"A proposal to prevent public universities and community colleges from using state dollars to benefit unmarried couples and domestic partners was introduced Wednesday by a Central Florida [state Rep. Larry Cretul, an Ocala Republican]." "Domestic partner benefits opposed".

"GOP Politicians Dump Abramoff Donations"

Politicians from Florida to the White House on Wednesday rushed to give away the money they had received from lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his clients as the high-rolling lobbyist pleaded guilty in a Miami federal court to felony charges.
...

Reps. Tom Feeney, R-Oviedo; Ric Keller, R-Orlando; and Katherine Harris, R-Longboat Key, were among numerous GOP lawmakers who said Wednesday that they, too, will get rid of money linked to Abramoff.

[A]t least nine members of Florida's congressional delegation have received contributions tied to Abramoff since 1999, according to a study by the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based research group. Among the Floridians are Republican Reps. C.W. Bill Young of Indian Shores, who received $1,000 in 2002 from one of Abramoff's Indian tribe clients, the Mississippi Band of Choctow Indians, and Ginny Brown-Waite of Brooksville, who in 2002 received $500 from the Saginaw Chippewa Indian tribe.

State Sen. Ron Klein, a Boca Raton Democrat running to unseat U.S. Rep. Clay Shaw, in 2001, received $500 from SunCruz and $500 from Kidan, Abramoff's partner on the SunCruz deal who also pleaded guilty. On Wednesday, Klein said he had nothing to do with Abramoff or SunCruz but would donate those contributions to a hurricane relief charity.

No Florida politician is more bruised by the Abramoff scandal than Rep. Tom Feeney, the Orlando area Republican and former state House speaker.

Feeney took a trip with Abramoff to Scotland, where he golfed at the Royal & Ancient Golf Club at St. Andrews and attended the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, an annual parade of soldiers and bands.

Abramoff asked Feeney to join him on the trip in 2003, one year after a similar trip Abramoff took with Rep. Bob Ney, an Ohio Republican, which is now under investigation.

Slots

"Bush signed into law Wednesday a bill expanding gambling in Broward County, despite his desire to rid the state of slot machines as early as November." "Bush signs slots bill, frets on deadline". See also "Bush signs bill regulating Broward County slot machines" and "Despite opposition, slots move closer to fruition".

Cotterell

"Hate-crime laws: admirable, imperfect".

Davis

"Jim Davis met the press Wednesday, having just visited his 67th and final county on a tour of the state. The Democratic congressman from Tampa and candidate for governor seemed genuinely surprised that a dozen reporters were waiting to ask him questions." "Sitting Around with Jim Davis".

School Grades

"The state received an A for standards and accountability, the same as last year, and a B minus in resource equity, a new category that shows Florida has relatively little disparity in spending per student among districts. National averages in those categories were B minus and C plus. ... Florida was slightly below the national average of C plus in two other subjects, posting C's in teacher quality improvement and school climate." "Florida Public Schools Score Above Average In Report" (" Florida earned a C for its efforts to improve teacher quality, putting it among the lowest 25 percent of the states, and a C for its "school climate," which was judged as lacking in part because of its large schools and larger-than-average class sizes.")

"100 percent GOP assault on public schools "

"This so-called solution won't do a thing to improve education, and it won't increase the overall funding for education. It will undermine public schools and take away local control. It could lead to further privatization of education -- such as vouchers for schools that are not held to the same accountability standards as public schools." "'65 Percent Solution'".

Shaw

"U.S. Rep. Clay Shaw underwent successful surgery Wednesday for a tumor in his left lung, his spokeswoman said." "Congressman's surgery a success".

Troxler

"Longer term limit for legislators would really mean longer term".

Party Cards

"State Democrats file report for '05 credit card charges" ("Republican Party of Florida spokeswoman Camille Anderson said the party is still compiling its credit card expenditure information to be reported to the state Division of Elections.")