But Martinez isn't sure he'll endorse him now because he feels badly for McCain's opponent, Rudy Giuliani -- who also thought he had a shot at Martinez's support, according to two sources familiar with the endorsement discussions.

With his loyalties divided, Martinez, known as a pleaser to his political friends, froze Friday.

The 7,000 congregants liked having Rudy Giuliani with them, and the Republican presidential candidate, swaying and clapping to the music, seemed happy to be their guest.

It was a solid start to a statewide tour, one the Giuliani campaign hoped would build momentum and nudge aside news about Giuliani's sagging poll numbers and the campaign's possible money problems.

Then someone spotted her. A few seats from Giuliani sat Katherine Harris, the former congresswoman whose disastrous 2006 Senate run made her an outcast within the GOP.

Instead of focusing on Giuliani, reporters asked about Harris, wondering whether she was stumping for the former New York mayor.

Bill Nelson AWOL

"Four U.S. Senators [Ted Kennedy and fellow Democrats Dick Durbin of Illinois and Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Vermont Independent Bernie Sanders] on Friday joined advocates to urge Burger King Corp. and Florida tomato growers to help boost farm worker wages." "U.S. Sens. urge BK and tomato growers to boost farmworker wages".

Slots

"When Miami-Dade voters go to the polls Jan. 29 to make a decision on slot machines, the immediate upshot will be the future of three struggling pari-mutuel operations in dire need of customers, revenue and makeovers."

But larger questions that could be answered are whether residents are ready to follow Broward County's lead, expand local wagering opportunities and potentially propel South Florida toward becoming a gambling destination that could one day rival Las Vegas or Atlantic City.

Sound far-fetched?

What's next? Droopy pants?

"Florida banks urged to disallow caps, sunglasses to deter crime".

Hiker's surprise

"Eight people whose skeletal remains were discovered last year in a wooded area just outside downtown Fort Myers were the victims of homicide, police said Friday." "Case of 8 skeletons now officially ruled homicides".

Withdrawal

"Local governments pulled $1.1 billion from the state-run investment pool on Friday after managers of the fund raised the amount of money that cities, counties, school districts and others can withdraw." "$1.1 billion taken from investment pool funds".

Forget those ABs

The Palm Beach Post editors: "Absentee voting is not a requirement. Voters who are able should go to the polls. They won't have to worry about how many stamps go on the envelope. They won't have to worry about making mistakes that void their ballots. But because going to the polls requires trust of voting systems, political parties urge their voters to cast a ballot from home. They don't tell voters that more absentee ballots are disqualified than ballots cast on electronic machines. That's because there are more ways to screw up an absentee ballot, and voters are notorious for finding them." "Avoid absentee problems by going to the polls".

High tech

"Floating desalination factory possible solution to water woes".

'Ya think?

The Orlando Sentinel editorial board: "Our position: Tallahassee leaders, including Crist, need to make good on schools".

Windy

"Fortunately, Florida Power & Light Co. has withdrawn plans to build 400-foot windmills on two oceanfront parks in St. Lucie County. Unfortunately, moving three of the wind turbines to other public land bought for conservation would be no improvement. It would be the same problem in a new location." "New FPL plan no better".

"A small property tax break"

"Florida homeowners would get a small property tax break for energy efficiency and hurricane protection improvements if voters adopt a proposed state constitutional amendment approved Friday for the November ballot. The measure would exempt storm shutters and hurricane-resistant shingles, doors and windows from being included in property tax assessments. It also would exempt solar water heating systems and other energy-saving improvements." "Storm, energy tax breaks on ballot". See also "Reform panel puts 2 items on ballot".

Empty suit meets Bushco poodle

"Crist talks environment with Tony Blair".

"Allstate has turned the tables"

"Allstate has turned the tables on Florida regulators, forcing the state to prove why failure to produce confidential records warrants a statewide policy freeze." "Court of appeal lifts Allstate's suspension; state has 10 days to justify freeze".

Jerk alert

"Bald eagle shot; killer is sought".

GOPers runnin' government like a business

"Florida's insurance program for children will spend $250,000 this year to pay two executive directors due to a generous clause in a five-year-old contract." "Agency ex-director still gets full salary".

Charlie's "mystery money"

Those who are chortling over the $900-million in mystery money that fuels Gov. Charlie Crist's public schools budget request for next year are missing an even more entertaining feature.

He also has served up a plan that would increase property taxes in order to reduce them.

Honestly.

In fact, he actually inserted a budget line item straight from the campaign trail. Under the heading of "categorical programs," a new one appears: Hold Education Harmless.

The attached amount, $138-million, was not pulled out of the air. It reflects the projected first-year loss to schools from the property tax exemptions that would be increased under Amendment 1. But here's the kicker: He would pay for it by increasing what is known as the "required local effort" by $338-million. "Local effort" means local property taxes.

In other words, Crist would increase property taxes to reduce them.

"Tens of thousands of Floridians will be barred from voting"

"Tens of thousands of Floridians will be barred from voting in the 2008 national election if a state voter registration law is allowed to go back into effect, lawyers for minority groups said Friday."

In a hearing before a panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, lawyers for the Florida NAACP and other groups asked that a temporary injunction against the 2005 law stay in place.

The law requires that information on voter applications match driver's license or Social Security card databases. Florida officials -- still haunted by the election of 2000 -- say the law is a centerpiece of their efforts to prevent fraud and restore public confidence in the electoral process.

But the law created a system in which a simple mistake on a voter registration application can knock would-be voters out of an election, even if they present a valid driver's license or passport.

"Little hope"

"Can $800 in your pocket bail out the economy?" "President Bush, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and members of Congress seem to think so. Washington is talking about issuing tax-rebate checks in hopes of staving off a recession." See also "President Bush's plans stir little hope of aiding South Florida economy".

Amendment 1

Shocking news:

Florida's Save Our Homes amendment has helped the state's wealthiest homeowners the most, and voter approval of a property tax amendment on Jan. 29 would magnify the benefits for owners of expensive homes, two university professors conclude in a new study.

They wrote it

You can't make up headlines like this:

State educators set to vote on evolution

Young wants to get old on our nickel

"Republican Party officials in Washington and at home confirmed that U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young, 77, has told them he will run for re-election." "Young To Seek 20th Term" ("As of Thursday, no Democratic challenger has filed to run for the office.") See also "Young to seek a 20th term".

Charlie's smoke and mirrors

Here's a brilliant idea*, cut taxes via amendment 1 and at the same time increase spending on schools: "Crist wants more money for schools".

Well, there's a catch: you see, "the spending package relies on local school districts to collect an additional $337.8 million in property taxes next year to pay for the hikes. Under that plan, if property values continue to decline as they have the past couple of years, school boards might have to raise their tax rates." See also "Crist hopes new education spending will boost support of tax measure".

How long are Floridians going to put up with Charlie's smoke and mirrors? See also "Crist proposes $33.5 billion for education" and "Crist proposes spending increases for education".
----------
Sounds a lot like the GOPer's silly "Laffer Curve", referred to in this New York Review of Books piece by Jason Epstein as "the crackpot theory that led Ronald Reagan to believe that huge tax cuts in federal taxes would lead to federal surpluses, when the actual outcome proved to be a cumulative deficit of $3.5 trillion." More "Marco's Muse".

The Florida RPOF's "K Street project"

"State Senate Democrats say some GOP members are threatening lobbyists":"The Democratic leader of the Florida Senate on Thursday accused unnamed Republicans of threatening political reprisals against lobbyists who back the wrong man in a hot Senate race, but the GOP's incoming Senate president called the charge "utter nonsense" and challenged the Democrats to prove it"

Sen. Steve Geller, D-Cooper City, said he and Sen. Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee, have been told by lobbyists that they were bluntly warned not to support former Sen. Walter "Skip" Campbell, D-Fort Lauderdale, in his race against Senate President-designate Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach. Campbell, who lost a 2006 bid for attorney general, announced his candidacy in the Palm Beach-Broward district this week.

Whatever

"Confusion is swirling around the upcoming vote on property tax relief over whether the proposal would end the state's coveted Save Our Homes exemption. The answer is Save Our Homes remains unchanged. " "Tax referendum won't affect home exemption".

Rudy scrambling in Tally

Rudy loves to wave the 9-11 flag, but

there's one key detail [Rudy] won't clearly explain: Why firefighters on 9/11 had the same faulty radios that failed them in 1993, when the World Trade Center was first attacked. ['The 9/11 Commission noted the radio issue, but said the system's failure wasn't total and was a contributing -- but not the only -- cause of firefighter deaths.']

When asked about the issue Thursday at an Associated Press appearance, Giuliani suggested it was an insurmountable technological hurdle that couldn't be cleared in his eight years in office that began Jan. 1, 1994, and ended just after 9/11.

Giuliani also scuttled his usual references to himself and ''my city'' in his answer, and shifted the focus to his successors, suggesting ''they'' in ''the city'' failed.

''A new [radio] system was purchased. And they tried to put the new system in. And they weren't able to accomplish it. That happened about five or six months before Sept. 11. It took them another three or four years to accomplish it,'' Giuliani said. ``But the point that I'm making is: I could not have gotten it done in six months. The city wasn't able to get it done in a three- or four-year period after that.''

The issue has begun to dog Giuliani on the campaign trail as the Democratic-leaning International Association of Fire Fighters dispatches 9/11 firefighters and families of victims to Florida events to highlight what they say is Giuliani's poor and distorted record on 9/11.

I missed that concert

"Lieberman a rock star at Dade deli".

Making a "mess"

The Tampa Trib editors: "The Florida Legislature has made a mess of the citizens' initiative process. The system is now more burdensome for citizens groups seeking to change the state constitution and more chaotic for local elections supervisors." "Lawmakers Need To Reform Citizens' Initiative Process".

'Ya think?

The Sun-Sentinel editors argue that South Florida Water Management District officials "flying from Fort Lauderdale to West Palm Beach? Flying from one Miami airport to another just 20 miles away? Jumping on a helicopter to attend a Women's History Month event or a barbecue?" "Water Management District flights too excessive".

Reimbursement

"Election jurisdictions such as Palm Beach County that have switched from electronic to voter-verifiable paper ballots in the past year would be eligible for full federal reimbursement of their costs under a bill introduced Thursday in Congress." "Bill would reimburse counties for switching to paper ballots". See also "Paper ballots could pay off for counties, states".

Jebbie lifts his nose from the trough

"The debate over Miami-Dade County's slot machine proposal grew from a whisper to a shout this week, with pro-slots ads hitting the airwaves and the staunchly anti-slots former governor, Jeb Bush, finally stepping into the fray."

''As I did two years ago when I was governor, I am urging all of my fellow Miami-Dade residents to join me in voting no on Jan. 29 so that we may continue to protect our community and our families,'' Bush wrote. ``Expanded gambling will only serve to erode our traditional industries, the industries we aspire to have and our very social fabric.''

The former governor, largely credited with defeating the same issue in 2005 with a weeklong blitz of his home turf, will once again fight the measure, according to Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina. Robaina said Bush will be filming ads and making calls, among other anti-slots efforts.

What's next? Company script?

"Florida's median wage is $28,570, or about $3,000 less than the national average. In contrast, the median price of a home is about $222,100, or about $14,000 more than the comparable national figure."

What that means is that the dream of owning a home is out of reach for many Floridians ...

most homes were far out of the price range of 75 percent of all Orange County residents.

School districts are not alone in their search for homes employees can afford. Municipal leaders, too, have been trying to figure out how to make it easier to keep police, firefighters, nurses and others from fleeing to cheaper locations.

thinks the officials are making a mistake. The school district[s] shouldn't be using taxpayer money to subsidize housing, he said.

"Educate my children; don't house teachers," he said. "Let the market take care of that."

Howard bristles at the idea of subsidized housing.

"We should not have to live in dorms," the Orange teacher said. "Just put it all in a good solid base [salary] package instead of nickel-and-diming us to death," he said.

Alternative

"Petitions for the 1.35 percent tax cap plan, modeled after California's Proposition 13, are rolling in and emboldening supporters who think the proposal on the Jan. 29 ballot is weak in comparison. ... It would take a miracle to get the 611,000 petitions (and they can't all come from Miami-Dade) by the end of the month. But the group is going to try. Volunteers will fan out across the state on primary day to gather more support." "Alternative tax plan gains support".

As news networks began declaring Mitt Romney the winner among the Republicans in that state, the three leading Democrats sat at a table 1,800 miles away in Las Vegas, debating race and nuclear waste disposal. The network carrying the debate, MSNBC, did not even mention the result in Michigan, which saw Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York take 55 percent of the vote.

The ho-hum reaction was predicted by Kirk Wagar, Sen. Barack Obama's Florida finance chairman, who believes a similar response awaits the Florida Democratic results on Jan. 29.

"It's about seeing how people who respond to the different messages when people compete head to head," Wagar said. "We have not been able to talk directly to the Florida voters since August."

Clinton supporters point out a major difference between the two states' Democratic primary ballots: Obama, of Illinois, and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina withdrew their names from the ballot in Michigan, whereas Florida law allows only those candidates who have dropped out of the race entirely to take their names off the ballot.

Bushco's pool boy is at it again

Florida's "snarling right-winger" is not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, after all he's not done "anything worth remembering"; yesterday, he shared his military expertise with a tuff audience of fellow country clubbers: "Speaking to about 200 people at Tampa Bay Golf & Country Club, Martinez said things have changed dramatically for the better, thanks largely to the leadership of Gen. David Petraeus, who commands the multinational forces in Iraq."

During a roughly one-hour talk at a Pasco County Council of Chambers leadership luncheon, Martinez also spoke about a national catastrophic fund, electronic surveillance of terrorists and presidential campaign issues, among other topics.

"Gen. Petraeus has engineered one of the most brilliant turnarounds in military history," said the senator, a former trial lawyer, Orange County GOP chairman and Cuban immigrant who fled the Castro regime at 15. "People can see that we're winning - even in Hillary Clinton's mind. It's still complicated and difficult, but U.S. casualties in December were the lowest in four years.

"We can leave Iraq, not as defeated but as a nation that helped stabilize Iraq. Think of the difference in saying, 'We defeated al-Qaida in Iraq' or 'We were defeated by al-Qaida in Iraq.'

They should start in Tally

"Florida needs to pursue others' example on wind farms".

Amendment 1

"Passion is evident in competing campaigns over the proposed amendment." "Competing campaigns over tax amendment both draw passionate crowds".

"Crist, entering his second year as governor, has put passage of the constitutional amendment squarely on his own shoulders - his face graces all of the green, yellow and orange campaign literature and at least three 'Yes On 1' billboards along the Interstate 4 corridor. He's donated $10 to the campaign and helped raise $3.3 million more." "Crist cheerleader-in-chief for property tax amendment". See also "Crist rallies for property tax amendment".

If you can get past Mike Thomas' semi-weekly Jeb-worship, he makes some good points on the effects of amendment 1:

The most recent projection is that schools would lose about $1.6 billion statewide in the next five years. ...

State lawmakers say they would protect education from cuts, which is laughable.

To do that, they would either have to raise the taxes that were just cut, or pour a lot more money into education from the general budget.

The general budget is primarily funded by sales taxes, which are plunging along with the economy.

Last year lawmakers had to cut $1 billion from the budget, including $290 million from education. This year they will have to cut at least another $2 billion.

There is no way to spare education. During the 2001 recession, schools took a $639 million hit.

So schools will get slammed, even if the amendment doesn't pass. It simply inflicts another wound in an already bleeding budget.

Does it include bloggers?

"The Senate should follow House in approving shield law that helps watchdogs".

Killing trees

"This summer's switch from touch-screen voting machines to computer-scanned paper ballots means printing four million sheets of paper before each major election, [SOE] Sola said." "Millions ride on minor ballot issue".

Those "special sales-tax exemptions" under review

Scott Maxwell writes that "The Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission is slated to meet today in Tallahassee." He notes that "if members of this group have our best interests in mind, they may just finally stand up to special interests. You see, for too long, there have been special sales-tax exemptions on way too many things -- everything from limousine rides and bottled water to dry-cleaning and lawyer bills. From newspaper ads and accounting fees to ostrich feed and even space satellites."

Geller

"Term-limited Sen. Geller eyes Broward Commission".

Allstate[s] except Florida

"Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty says he will stop Allstate from selling new car insurance in Florida in reprisal for the company failing to hand over records subpoenaed three months ago." "State may freeze insurance sales". See also "Florida hits Allstate in the moneymaker: Auto policies", "Florida suspends Allstate from writing new auto policies" and "Allstate surprised after Florida suspends license on auto policies".

The Miami Herald editors: "State insurance regulators and lawmakers are sticking up for Florida consumers, who are long overdue for a break. Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty's slap at Allstate on Wednesday was an appropriate response to the insurer's lack of cooperation. Regulators and consumers deserve to know why some insurers want to raise rates after participating in a state program that should have lowered, not raised, premiums." "Enough is enough".

The News-Journal editors: "Administering a stinging wrist slap to the 'good hands people,' state Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty told Allstate that it must stop issuing new automobile-insurance policies in Florida. The rebuke should be felt by other insurers in the state, many of which seem to be acting in concert and in defiance of a state law requiring lower rates for property owners." "A little less talk, a lot more . . .".

Pahokee, Belle Glade and South Bay

"Takeover? Make the case".

At campaign event after campaign event, Rudy Giuliani slams Democrats' health care mandate proposals as a big-government intrusion into private health care — an idea he tags "Hillarycare."

On the Florida campaign trail, the dig is a reliable applause line. Yet when it comes to government intervention in homeowners' insurance, Giuliani is advocating a "federal backstop" to spread risks associated with hurricanes and other disasters as he crisscrosses the state looking to rebuild momentum before the Jan. 29 primary.

Perhaps Florida should layoff all those firefighters with ""outlandish benefits" and "sweet pay plans" as ...

... "Florida warns of wildfire threat as drought persists".

Supply and demand for investment bankers ...

"In an effort to attract someone with professional investment experience, the next head of the state agency that invests billions for Florida may get paid as much as $350,000 a year." "Board: Up pay for state investment fund chief".

... but not farm workers: "Why not try old fashioned supply and demand?"

Speaking of farmworkers:

Burger King is telling suppliers it may stop buying tomatoes from southwestern Florida, where farmworkers have fought to get the second-largest hamburger chain to pay more for its produce and help boost field worker wages, The Associated Press has learned.

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers has tried for more than a year to get Burger King Corp. to join deals signed by rivals McDonald's Corp. and Taco Bell owner Yum Brands Inc.

Those agreements require the companies pay a penny more per pound for the tomatoes they buy from Florida farms. The farmers then agree to pass along the extra money to the workers, although the agreements are on hold after growers balked at participating this year.

Burger King has adamantly refused to join and repeatedly insinuated the coalition was taking the extra money, even after Yum Brands and several human rights groups dismissed the allegations. ...

The Tomato Exchange has long opposed the penny deal. Earlier this season, the group, which represents nearly all tomato farms, threatened to levy $100,000 fines on members who participated in the McDonald's and Yum Brands deals. The growers say the deal may violate antitrust laws. As a result, no Florida growers are participating in the deals this year.

Some antitrust experts have said the growers may be the ones violating such laws.

U.S. Sen. Bernard Sanders, a Vermont independent who usually sides with the Democrats, said he planned to tour the Immokalee region Friday to learn more about the worker situation.

"The Peoples' Governor"

"Crist's campaign for the Jan. 29 property tax amendment has been made possible with the help of corporate contributions. ... Crist hits the road Wednesday to push his property tax amendment with the help of some of the state's largest industries that have a stake in earning the governor's favor in the months ahead." "Big business aids Crist on tax cut vote".

Unfortunately, Florida's farmworkers were unable to chip in, even though they, too "have a stake in earning the governor's favor in the months ahead." Well, at keast they can rely on a politician from Vermont (see above) to take a look at their plight.

Ed. Note: Have we missed the editorial comment on the farmworker issue? We can't recall the cocktail swilling set spouting off on this issue. Surely the editors can break away from the club to at least pretend to give a damn about some of the most exploited members of Florida society. Then again, getting a tee time has been tough in recent weeks, with the warm weather and all. That said, we can probably expect an editorial chastising Bernie Sanders for sticking his big Vermont nose into Florida's business. See also "The Theory of the Leisure Class", by Thorstein Veblen, one of the early University of Chicago economists.

Laff riot

Jebbie won't go away and play with his corrupt new band, "'Jeb!' and the Fraudsters". Instead we get junk like this:

Bush announced the formation Tuesday of a second organization to advance his education policy goals, including school accountability, teacher merit pay and vouchers that allow children to attend private schools at public expense.

The new Foundation for Excellence in Education will focus on carrying out programs to demonstrate such policies including cash awards of at least $2,500 for up to 100 of Florida's top teachers and their classrooms. Selection will be based on how much their students have improved on standardized reading and math tests.

Unlike Bush's Foundation for Florida's Future, which advocates education policy, the new organization will qualify for tax-free contributions, said Tiffany Koenigkramer, a spokeswoman for both groups.

Bush is board chairman for both foundations. The other two board members also are the same: Dr. Zach Zachariah, a cardiologist and member of the Board of Governors, which oversees the State University System, and Brian Yablonski, a former Bush staffer now vice president of public affairs for The St. Joe Co., a major land developer.

Patricia Levesque serves as executive director of both foundations. She and Yablonski also are members of the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission, which can put proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot and make recommendations to the Legislature.

Oops!

"A proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Florida may not make it to voters this year, after organizers -- who proclaimed a month ago they had gotten it on the November ballot -- found out Monday they haven't collected enough signatures after all." "Same-sex marriage ban may not make ballot". See also "Recount knocks gay marriage ban off ballot" and "Signature drives for constitutional amendments falling short".

Where's the beef?

Tom Blackburn the other day: "Many states, including Florida, now require photo ID for voting. It seems reasonable. What Indiana did goes further. Hoosiers have to have a current, government ID - driver license or a passport - not just anything with your photo, such as your company's employee ID or an expired driver license." "Picture this: Real voters, fake fraud".

Allen update

"The term in office might be short, but the list of candidates certainly isn't. Four Republicans and two Democrats will face off in the Jan. 29 special primary election for a chance to serve the last eight months of disgraced state Rep. Bob Allen's stint in the Florida House." "Numerous candidates seek to fill the Florida House seat vacated by Bob Allen".

Insurers "flogged" ... "they didn't make it through lunch"

"Allstate Insurance Co. executives showed up at 9:30 Tuesday morning for what they thought would be two days of Tallahassee hearings on how the insurer calculates rates. They didn't make it through lunch." "Allstate hearing is short, not sweet". More: "Allstate frustrates state regulators", "Regulators flog Allstate in public hearing", "Allstate backpedals on rate hike during angry session with state regulators" and "Allstate feels the squeeze".

Foley

"Any American suspected of committing a crime has constitutional rights. But any American who also happens to be a member of Congress has extra constitutional rights. That fact should not prevent Florida investigators from having a look at former Rep. Mark Foley's congressional computers." "Let investigators check Mark Foley's computers". See also "FDLE request to examine Foley computers again denied".

Department of Corrections

"Crist on Tuesday appointed Department of Juvenile Justice Secretary Walt McNeil to take over the Department of Corrections and oversee a burgeoning prison system with a population of inmates approaching 100,000." "Crist picks corrections secretary". See also "Answering the call" and "McNeil named head of prisons".

About amendment 1

"In the Jan. 29 election, Florida voters will decide on a new tax plan. The Tribune explains conflicting views on the plan." "Understanding Amendment 1".

Defenders

"A judge's ruling that struck down five new state legal offices created to represent poor defendants in special cases went to the Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday." "State justices take on new defenders appeal".

Florida's booming economy

It seems "lower interest rates are not reversing the slump in home sales, and 2008 is still shaping up as a weak year for both sales and construction, industry specialists said this week amid a continuing stream of weak economic news." "Lower rates fail to reverse slump in home sales".

Whoopee

"Officials agree to new oversight of state's investment risks".".

Open for business

"Florida polls are open -- for early birds". See also: "Early voting starts for Jan. 29 presidential primary".

Not everybody is interested: "the number of Florida voters registered for the state election in two weeks is 2.2 percent less than voter rolls showed in November 2006, marking the first time this decade that registration for a presidential primary declined from the previous general election. The decrease was blamed on declining growth in Florida and a requirement that county elections supervisors remove inactive voters from registration lists in odd-numbered years." "Voter registration falls 2.2% statewide since '06".

"Florida Republicans won seven out of eight special elections and collected about $3 for every dollar Democrats raised last year, but off-year voter-registration trends favor the Democrats." "Voter registration favors Dems".

"Alice in Wonderland"

Bill Cotterell the other day: "Marco Rubio won't mind being compared to Reagan. But"

the speaker of the Florida House sounded a little more like the queen in "Alice in Wonderland" last week, as he waxed enthusiastic about abolishing some state agencies.

Rubio, R-Coral Gables, showed due deference to legislative committees conducting sunset reviews on different departments. But his "off with their heads" approach to meeting a state budget crisis showed a willingness to start the trial with the verdict, then gather evidence to support what he's already decided to do. ...

"I think there's an opportunity for agency eliminations," Rubio said. "I think there's an opportunity for consolidation. I think there's an opportunity to go into our base budget and find things that were put there 30 years ago by legislators who aren't even around any more, and remove them."

Having larded the House staff with a $10,000-a-month consultant on fiscal restraint, a $133,000 parliamentarian and an ex-member who got a $100,000 gig helping new members learn the process, Rubio knows a thing or two about overstaffing. But he may have picked a poor example when he said an aide recently told him the state has a "Metrics Commission" to help with conversion to the metric system, which we abandoned 30 years ago.

What's unsettling is Rubio's blithe confidence that Florida has this big, bloated, duplicative, unresponsive bureaucracy and that, if a scalpel is good, then a chain saw is better. ...

Any agency abolition will face a tough time in the Senate, but Rubio is ready to rumble.

"If they come back to me and tell me, 'You know what? We've found there's no inefficiencies in state government, there's no duplication of effort, there's no overlap, there's no redundancy,' I would look at them and say, 'I don't believe you,'" Rubio said of the sunset committees. "But we all know they're not going to say that, because we all know that's not the case in any endeavor, even the private sector."

The new DMS Annual Workforce Report ranked Florida last in its per-capita cost of state personnel, at $36 a year. We're third from the bottom in the ratio of state employees to population, at 106 per 10,000 residents.

Slots

"The political committee promoting Miami-Dade County's slot machine referendum released a list Monday of prominent backers. The list includes Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, County Commissioner Sally Heyman and state Rep. David Rivera, a Miami Republican who has been chief deputy to House Speaker Marco Rubio, an outspoken foe of gambling." "28 Dade political leaders on pro-slots list".

A legal thing

"Lawyer Willie Gary goes before court over child support".