Hey Mel, it's your party

"U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, one of only a handful of Republicans supporting Sonia Sotomayor, took to the Senate floor Thursday to admonish fellow lawmakers who have politicized the confirmation process for the Supreme Court nominee." "Sen. Martinez admonishes fellow lawmakers on Sotomayor votes".

This might explain why Mel's getting all sensitive on us: "Orlando Hispanics to celebrate Sotomayor".

Boyd's "political theater"

Bill Cotterell: Congressman Allen Boyd,

who came home to his district this week to talk about health care. Both sides in Congress are using the August recess for tactical advantage, and Boyd, one of the 51 "Blue Dog" Democrats considered swing votes in the House, is right in the middle of it.

Republican radio ads attack him and Reps. Suzanne Kosmas, D-New Smyrna Beach, and Alan Grayson, D-Orlando, on this touchy topic. The Democrats have countered with their own ads, praising them. Both sides send carefully prepared questioners — or hecklers — to "town hall meetings" and other forums the Congress members will hold during the recess.

Sink

"Harlow Hyde of Deland is just another ordinary citizen with a few ideas about how government should save money -- except that his suggestions have gotten attention."

State Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink on Wednesday scolded the head of the Florida Department of Transportation for brushing off Hyde's ideas as having "no merit'' -- including one suggesting the agency stop awarding automatic pay increases to contractors.

Then she asked Secretary Stephanie Kopelousos to take another look and report back.

He wrote it on his last day on the job in February and blasted the agency for wasting "several hundred millions of dollars a year on these consultants.''

"I just was at the point where I said I can't continue to write these contracts with all these escalations,'' Hyde told the Herald/Times.

"When we're in the middle of the greatest recession since the 1930s and these gold-plated prima donnas need automatic price increases, it's wrong.''

He also suggested that consultants bid on a price before they are selected, that DOT reduce unnecessary contract increases and extensions and that the agency hire consultants only when they are less costly than using state employees.

Kopelousos' staff dismissed Hyde's suggestions on June 12 in a prepared form that allowed room for a limited answer.

Staffer Brian Blanchard wrote: "Suggestion has no merit.''

By July 28, state Sen. Dave Aronberg, a Palm Beach County Democrat, had called attention to the escalation clauses awarding automatic salary increases for DOT contracts.

Kopelousos wrote him saying she had "instituted a statewide policy'' halting the practice -- a move that has saved at least $10 million.

It was exactly what Hyde had called for. And Sink was not pleased.

"When a citizen takes the time to suggest efficiencies that can save taxpayers money or help eliminate waste, fraud and abuse, it is incumbent upon all of us to give these ideas the acknowledgement and consideration they deserve,'' Sink wrote in her letter to Kopelousos on Wednesday.

She asked Kopelousos to respond to Hyde's six other suggestions. "I look forward to hearing back from you in the next 30 days,'' Sink wrote.

"Back-to-the-moon loons"

Mike Thomas: "Back-to-the-moon loons divert cash from better mission".

Wingnuts gone wild

"Judging from the wave of public anger and outrage that has hit Clearwater government this week, one might think the very fabric of democracy is being undone by a city proposal to take down 13 of the 59 American flags flying on city properties."

City officials have been staggered by the name-calling, demands for them to be fired, and accusations that they are unpatriotic or even promoting a socialist agenda. That kind of vitriol and its damage to civic discourse is the real threat, not whether the city flies four dozen flags instead of five dozen.

"The silliness remains unchallenged"

The Tallahassee Democrat editorial board: "A Florida lobbyist association has gone to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking for a review of Florida's ban on gifts — not even a free cup of coffee is OK — to legislators. But the appeal is really about the law's requirement that lobbyists broadly report their compensation."

But as with all ethics legislation, the appearance of propriety is very important and a deterrent to blatant behaviors that turn voters into lifelong cynics. ...

The ban is extreme in its prohibition of even a cup of coffee, but the message it sends is important for public trust, which is not exactly at a pinnacle. And it also has the virtue of freeing lobbyists from the grasp of legislators who are perhaps more than ready to be the recipient of any and all largess regardless of the perceptions that leaves behind.

No one knows if there is a direct quid pro quo between a fancy dinner and a vote, but unfettered coziness leaves plenty of room for speculation, just or unjust. A gift ban law is a sound idea and, despite this last-ditch challenge to get it turned around, lobbyists, legislators and businesses have learned to live with it. To overturn it now would send a message that, in Florida, anything goes.

'Glades

"Closing arguments begin today in a lawsuit that could undo Florida's historic planned $536 million deal to buy land from U.S. Sugar Corp. for Everglades restoration." "Closing arguments set in lawsuit against Everglades land deal".

Sentinel editors embarrass themselves yet again ...

The editors at the newspaper that is rapidly becoming the Washingtin Times, Southern edition, foams at the mouth about those horrible "unions" and "union jobs" again this morning:

[T]he key to SunRail's future likely rests with Democratic lawmakers representing South Florida districts. Most of them fought it because they're beholden to unions who oppose SunRail because they fear losing union jobs.

But they're also desperate to secure funding for Tri-Rail, Florida's sole commuter rail system, hobbled by inadequate funding. The SunRail bill last session would have given South Florida the chance to raise millions through a rental-car surcharge. But that region's lawmakers spurned it, thinking they could later secure the money on their own.

Wrong. But this time it may be too hard for some of them to refuse, even with the unions opposing it.

Desperate to remain in the headlines

"Jeb Bush and Steve Uhlfelder preach mentoring".

Doggin' the watchdogs

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "When those being watched by a government watchdog threaten to fire the watchdog, the natural suspicion is that the watchdog is sniffing out something that the government wants to keep buried." "Give watchdogs room to run".

Charlie's raw political courage

Charlie shows us he's no empty-suit governor, as he strides up to the dais and"calls attention to Florida's python problem". Is that what they mean by "Republican Party Reptile"?

Background: "Ban on reptiles being considered".

"Once was the huntress"

"Suzanne Kosmas once was the huntress,"

stalking Florida's 24th congressional district against incumbent Tom Feeney.That changed in November after the New Smyrna Beach Democrat unseated Feeney, the Republican.Kosmas has been targeted by criticism from Republicans and at least three credible Republican candidates are competing to unseat her in 2010. A fourth potential candidate, former Notre Dame football coach and ESPN commentator Lou Holtz, is also considering a run.

"Drilling fever"

The Miami Herald editors fear that "drilling fever is spreading in Florida -- to the state's peril." "Stop drillmania".

Negron wins

"Negron Republican former state Rep. Joe Negron won the special election to succeed Ken Pruitt in the state senate [last night]. No big surprise that he beat a perennial candidate, Bill Ramos, whom he outspent at least 14-to-one, but a win is a win and this district did not have to be a GOP lock." "Congrats to state Sen. Joe Negron".

"Slow start" for Sansom

"Legislators probing former House Speaker Ray Sansom's dealings with a Panhandle college and a wealthy developer voted Tuesday to hire an outside lawyer, then recessed until after the scheduled start of the his criminal trial." "Sansom hearing recesses on search for outside lawyer". See also: "Legislators' look at Ray Sansom's dealings off to slow start". Related: "Legislature On Trial Along With Ex-House Speaker".

Meantime, it seems "Northwest Florida State College officials began devising an educational purpose for aircraft space secured through funding from Rep. Ray Sansom only after The Miami Herald and the St. Petersburg Times began asking questions, according to investigative files released Tuesday." "Northwest Florida State College made educational plans for hangar funded by Rep. Ray Sansom only after newspapers' scrutiny".

"New extension on unemployment benefits critical"

Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board: "More than 25,000 Floridians have been filing claims for unemployment compensation every week since January."

If there is any improving trend, it's not showing yet. And unemployment money is beginning to run out. In Florida, 14,000 people have already run out of benefits eligibility. By next month, 1.5 million people across the country will have exhausted their benefits despite an extension Congress approved this year. By year's end, a quarter of Florida's unemployed will be out of benefits. ...

Fiscal conservatives oppose the extension, saying it's more deficit spending. They're right. But domestic deficit spending in a recession beats the alternative. The deficit-spending claim is less convincing when the same fiscal conservatives, judging from the near unanimity of the approving vote in the House, didn't hesitate to approve the latest spending bill for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- $126 billion, part of a $636 billion defense bill for 2010. The appropriation sends total war spending past the $1 trillion mark, with little to show for it.

If there's any doubt about the value of extending unemployment compensation, look around. In Florida especially ... it could be the difference between life and foreclosure for the house next door. Or your own.

Lobbyists go to court

"Florida lobbyists asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to review the state's ban on lobbyists buying gifts and meals for legislators in light of the high court's review of a similar case." "Florida lobbyists urge U.S. Supreme Court to overturn state's ban on gifts to lawmakers".

5th DCA appointment finally made

"Crist bowed to the state's high court and filled a judicial post Tuesday, nearly a year after the job opening set off a constitutional test over the governor's power to put more diversity on the courts. Crist appointed Circuit Judge Bruce Waldron Jacobus, 65, of Indialantic, to fill the opening on the 10-member Daytona Beach-based Fifth District Court of Appeal ...". "After constitutional struggle, Crist fills Central Florida appeals court post". See also "Crist names judge from Indialantic to district court of appeal" and "Gov. Crist names new judge to appeals court".

The best they can do?

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board: "St. Petersburg's mayoral race has degenerated into a contest to see who can be more punitive toward panhandlers." "Stop the pandering on panhandling".

"On the brink of collapse"

"Florida Bay's ecology on the brink of collapse".

"More than a chip shot away from vindication"

The Orlando Sentinel editorial board:"Now that the U.S. Department of Justice has dropped its investigation into former U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney's 2003 golf junket to Scotland on the tab of crooked lobbyist Jack Abramoff, some of the ex-congressman's supporters talk as if he deserves a mulligan after losing last year's election."

But the Justice Department's action is more than a chip shot away from vindication for the Republican from Oviedo, who served three terms in the U.S. House.

Last week the department ended its investigation just weeks after a federal appeals court blocked prosecutors from access to statements that Mr. Feeney had made to the House ethics committee on the matter. Prosecutors reportedly tried to subpoena the information after Mr. Feeney refused to talk to federal investigators. The court ruled that the statements were off-limits to prosecutors under the Constitution's separation-of-powers principle. ...

Last year, Mr. Abramoff was sentenced to four years in federal prison for swapping gifts for political favors. A former member of Congress, Republican Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio, and several former congressional staffers were convicted on corruption charges connected to their dealings with Mr. Abramoff.

The House ethics committee, whose members seemed to sleep through most other scandals, concluded in 2007 that Mr. Feeney's Scotland trip violated the chamber's rules against travel for members financed by lobbyists. Mr. Feeney said he had been duped by Mr. Abramoff into believing the cost of the trip had been covered by a public-policy research organization. ...

Voters didn't buy what Mr. Feeney was selling. He lost to Ms. Kosmas by 16 points. It was a remarkable deficit for an incumbent in a Republican district tailor-made for him while he was still Florida House speaker.

There were other factors working against Mr. Feeney last year besides the ongoing federal investigation. He never tried to play down his strong conservative positions in an election year that turned out to be disastrous for Republicans.

"'White House Boys'"

"Open-ended claims have been filed to pay damages in the slaying of an informant killed during a botched drug sting last year and hundreds of 'White House Boys' who endured abuse as juveniles in state custody." "Lawson files compensation bills in Hoffman, Darling deaths".

Florida presidential election maps

From dKos: "For your enjoyment, a few maps of Florida's presidential elections (taken from the New York Times) are posted [here]" ... Barack Obama beats John McCain, 50.91% to 48.10%. Notice how well he does in Jacksonville, Orlando, and Miami. On the other hand, John McCain is absolutely dominating the north, where he improved on Bush in a number of smaller counties." "Maps of Florida Elections".

The problem with "For-profit prison systems"

The Miami Herald editorial board: "At the heart of the problem is the network of federal detention centers -- including the Krome Service Processing Center in Miami-Dade -- and local and state jails and other facilities run by for-profit prison systems." "Abusive jails".

Water war

"Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue is heading to Columbus and Albany to discuss the latest developments in Georgia's ongoing fight with Alabama and Florida over federal water rights." "Perdue heads to south Ga. to discuss water".

The RPOF wants you to know it ain't a "tax"

"Florida angers amateur anglers with new fees".

The famed skipper and ESPN analyst met with top Republicans here last week and said he was interested in challenging first-term U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, D- New Smyrna Beach, according to four GOP officials who did not speak on-the-record because they don't know if Holtz actually will run.

Lou Holtz could not be reached for comment. An associate said he was flying to the West Coast for a meeting. Holtz has been one of ESPN's premier college-football analysts since 2005.

Mike Humes, a spokesman for ESPN, said Holtz "told us [today] that he is committed to ESPN." He would not comment on the length of Holtz's contract and did not immediately know if the network had rules covering employees who run for office.

Developer rebate

"It wasn't long ago that Transeastern Properties Inc. had future U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez on its lobbyist roster. The company donated thousands of dollars to local politicians and paid millions in advance fees to build homes in Orange County."

Now the phone lines are dead, its parent corporation is in bankruptcy, and the company wants those fees – totaling $3 million – back.

And it looks like the company – or its creditors – will soon get a check.

That's because the Orange County Commission, at the urging of Mayor Rich Crotty, has voted to refund as much as $8.9 million this year to developers who paid advance fees intended to ensure their projects got built despite nearby clogged roads.

Over five years, the refund total could soar to as much as $35 million, though county officials so far are budgeting just $20.5 million.

Meeks

"Victims of abuse at the Florida Reform School for Boys should be compensated for their injuries at the hands of school staff during the 1940s, '50s and '60s, a Tampa state senator said in a bill filed on Friday." "Bill seeks compensation for 'White House Boys'".

Sansom ethical charges to be heard today

"A special House committee meets for the first time at 9 a.m. today to consider charges of ethical misconduct that a special investigator has made against former House Speaker Ray Sansom." "Special House committee meets today on Sansom case". See also "Will House committee postpone Sansom inquiry?".

Howard Troxler: "Today's hearing will deal mostly with preliminaries. Sansom has asked the House to wait for his criminal trial, scheduled for September."

The delay is fair. Sansom is a citizen accused of a crime. The government should not be able to drag him first through a political proceeding in the House and then use whatever he might say there at his criminal trial.

Sooner or later, though, the House is going to have to judge its own — and by extension, judge itself.

SunRail

Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board: "SunRail, the ambitious commuter-rail line that could eventually be part of a network linking Florida's east and west coasts, keeps coming back from the dead."

There's still a lot of work to be done to strike a fair deal. Extra federal stimulus money could shift more of the projected $432 million purchase price away from state coffers, but that price tag is steep, especially if it comes bundled with $200 million worth of liability protection for CSX. (The total cost of the project is $2.7 billion, over 30 years.) The state also should back away from any hint that it intends to use the deal to bust up railworkers' labor unions.

Florida case tests online political advertising

"An online twist in a hotly contested race for mayor of St. Petersburg, Fla., could signal trouble for local politicians advertising on popular Web sites like Google, Facebook and Twitter."

The Florida Elections Commission has decided a mayoral candidate's ads on Google and Facebook appear to violate the state's election law because they don't include a disclaimer that indicates who bought them. Many other states, including Texas, Alaska, Connecticut and Ohio, also require similar disclaimers.

The candidate's campaign, however, argues that the messages in question aren't technically ads, but rather links to ads, and that it doesn't pay for them unless a Web user clicks on them. When that happens, it says, the person is taken to a Web site that provides the appropriate disclosures. ...

[A]nalysts say online ads could become a more crucial part of political campaigns, and the Florida dispute is likely to set a precedent for how state and local politicians advertise on the Web.

From the "values" crowd

"State parks feeling budget cuts".

Kudos to all three of them

"Thanks to Gov. Crist and the Florida Cabinet, Virgil McCranie no longer has to wear the scarlet letter of a sex offender."

Last week, the governor, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, Attorney General Bill McCollum and Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson, who comprise the state's clemency board, looked past the politics of next year's election and saw the bigger picture of a man paying an unfair price for youthful mistakes. Mr. McCranie had sex with a 14-year-old girl when he was 19. That girl became his wife, and they are raising four children in Panama City. Before that walk down the aisle, however, a scorned Misty McCranie and her father had pressed charges after learning that Virgil had impregnated another woman. ...

Crist is running for the U.S. Senate next year. Ms. Sink and Mr. McCollum are running for governor. They could have worried more about potential attack ads - "Soft on sex offenders!" - but they didn't let Mr. McCranie and his family become political casualties. Anyone who raises the issue against these three candidates doesn't deserve the office.

Herald Kerfuffle

"A Miami Herald review has exonerated reporter Carol Rosenberg of sexual-harassment and verbal-abuse allegations." "Review clears Herald's military affairs writer".

Background: "It's all a big left wing conspiracy" (scroll down)

Boyd speaks

"A leader of the congressional Blue Dog coalition, targeted by Republicans on national health care, said Monday nothing can be accomplished unless both parties quit partisan 'sniping' on the issue." "Boyd: Parties' 'sniping' a hindrance to health-care plan".

"One of the great understatements in Florida histor"

Dan Moffett: "State Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson, who started out as a Kissimmee rancher and still sounds like one, uttered one of the great understatements in Florida history after he watched gasoline prices spike to stratospheric heights last year:"

"It was very obvious that something was going on."

Floridians found out some of that something last month, when Commissioner Bronson's office and the state attorney general settled a lawsuit against Morgan Stanley Capital Group and a subsidiary, Trans Montaigne Product Services. The companies agreed to give the state $2.3 million to end an investigation into their behavior after Hurricane Ike. Naturally, they admitted no wrongdoing, but something definitely was going on. ...

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs each received $10 billion in bailout money from the government in October. Whether it's from the world's oil market or from Washington, torrents of money just keep gushing to these two corporate behemoths no matter how irresponsibly they behave.

State officials such as Commissioner Bronson can only do so much to divert the flow. At least Florida consumers know enough now to think twice before investing with Morgan Stanley.

Panhandle blues

"As state stabilizes, region still losing more homes to foreclosure".

Mike Thomas

"High school graduation rates would improve if disruptive students didn't have to stay in classrooms" "Go ahead: Leave classroom troublemakers behind".

"Sweeping overhaul"

"State Attorney General Bill McCollum is advocating a sweeping overhaul of local ordinances that ban sex offenders and predators from living within 2,500 feet of schools." "McCollum: Sex-offender bans faulty".

He appeals to the base of the party with solid conservative positions on social issues, government spending and taxes. While he doesn't attack Crist while campaigning, he clearly sets himself up as the alternative for Republicans who believe Crist has gone too far toward the political middle, particularly by promoting President Barack Obama's $787 billion stimulus package.

The question is whether that will be enough to seriously compete with Crist in the Aug. 24, 2010, primary.

Even Rubio acknowledges the conventional wisdom that he can't beat Crist, and then he'll express confidence that he will prevail if voters have a chance to compare the two candidates.

While Crist avoids talking about federal issues or gives essentially non-answers to questions about health care and other topics being debated in Washington, Rubio talks to anyone he can - and spending as little money as he can doing it.

"The bump was barely a blip"

"Even as Americans suffer rising unemployment, foreclosure rates in three states hit hardest by the housing bust - California, Arizona and Florida - stabilized in June, offering hope that the worst of the real estate crisis is over, according to The Associated Press' monthly analysis of economic stress in more than 3,100 U.S. counties." "Foreclosures stabilize in key states".

Bill Cotterell:

At last week's Cabinet meeting, Department of Revenue Director Lisa Echeverri said tax collections for the last quarter of the past fiscal year are slightly ahead of estimates. She was cautious and hesitant, emphasizing that the bump was barely a blip on a budget of $66 billion, but Governor and U.S. Senate candidate Charlie Crist coaxed her to repeat that it was the first good news in nearly three years.

"The Help Louisiana and Alaska at the Expense of Florida Act"

The Palm Beach Post editors:

The bill is labeled "The Domestic Energy Security Act of 2009," but the more accurate name would be "The Help Louisiana and Alaska at the Expense of Florida Act of 2009."

Filed last week, the bill from Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is the latest attempt to move oil and natural gas drilling closer to Florida's west coast. In June, Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., proposed an amendment to the energy bill that would end the moratorium - negotiated in 2006 by Florida's senators, Democrat Bill Nelson and Republican Mel Martinez - that keeps drilling at least 125 miles from the Gulf Coast. The Landrieu-Murkowski bill would go further than the Dorgan amendment. ...

Whenever Florida politicians warn that closer drilling would threaten the state's beaches, energy industry lobbyists respond that Florida would make lots of money. In fact, just because drilling would take place near Florida doesn't mean that Florida would get most of the money. The Landrieu-Murkowski bill includes the four other Gulf states - Louisiana, Alabama, Texas and Mississippi. Also, states can use federal drilling revenue for limited purposes, primarily to restore coastline damage caused by drilling.

"In a big way"

"Florida's halfhearted effort to recycle cans, bottles, paper and other salvageable garbage could change soon -- and in a big way." "Care to triple your recycling? Florida wants to reduce refuse".

Blame the workers and their unions

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board: "Just say no to pay raise".

Sansom becoming a political liability

"Florida House Speaker-designate Dean Cannon is already drawing some fire from an upstart Democratic challenger for his legislative seat. Amy Mercado, a Democratic activist and president of the Orange County Democratic Hispanic Caucus, has filed to run for Cannon's District 35 seat next year, and put out a press release Monday calling on the Winter Park Republican to call on former House Speaker Ray Sansom to resign." "Cannon's 2010 challenger takes a shot over Sansom".

More: "History shows such events can be tense and embarrassing as lawmakers judge a colleague's conduct under the glare of TV camera lights, while facing possible criticism that they went soft on a friend and colleague." "State House's history shows a reluctance to punish one of their own". Related: "Hangar not Sansom's only problem".

Entrepreneurs in action

"State insurance regulators are looking into whether some Florida health plans have been using a flawed fee schedule to pay out-of-network doctors for their members' treatments. If so, patients have been shouldering more than their fair share of the bill for more than a decade." "Florida regulators investigate health plans for possible overcharges".

"Immigration reform"

Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board: "Immigration reform is important for Florida and the nation. The state's population of illegal immigrants is estimated at close to 1 million, the nation's at 10 million to 12 million. A Zogby International poll in April found that 84 percent of Florida voters believe that illegal immigrants have a negative impact on the state budget." "Administration shifts tactics on volatile immigration issue".

"A big deal"

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "Crist's office said he 'does support using all of the federal stimulus money allocated to Florida for as many projects as possible.' If Tallahassee can make that happen, more good projects could be completed and the number of jobs created could exceed the original estimate - all for the original total price. For such a big number and such a big need, that would be a big deal." "Keep the stimulus savings".

"State Farm and Citizens face months of scrutiny"

"Heading into the most active months of the hurricane season, upcoming regulatory decisions will radically change Florida's property-insurance market and determine the future for millions of consumers. Pending before Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty are negotiations and decisions about the state's two largest property insurers, State Farm Florida and government-run Citizens Property Insurance. The two are separate but inextricably entwined." "Changing winds aim at insurance".

LOL

"Is there a reason so many South Florida drivers are texting behind the wheel? Lawmakers are pushing to break the bad habit." "Texting while driving gets attention in Florida".

Crist was gathering tens of thousands of dollars at a fundraiser for his U.S. Senate campaign. ...

In the past few months, Crist raised more than $4 million around the country. He is spending this weekend in Aspen, Colo., at yet another fundraiser. ...

The difference between the dismal state of Florida's economy and the success Crist is having raising campaign cash has created unusual alliances, with people who are usually political foes uniting to attack the governor.

Says Alex Burgos, a spokesman for Crist's GOP primary opponent Marco Rubio: "While Charlie Crist audaciously claims he is busy 'governing' in Aspen, Floridians await his substantial answers on how to address double-digit unemployment and a stimulus that has yet to stimulate the state's economy."

Says Eric Jotkoff, a spokesman for the Florida Democratic Party: "As governor, Crist has had time to jet-set around on his cronies' private jets, attend cocktail parties in Washington, D.C., and hobnob with celebrities, yet he continues doing nothing to create jobs."

"The last Gladesmen"

"The last Gladesmen: Survival, they say, hinges on historical, recreational renewal" "Everglades outposts struggle to keep 'swamp culture' alive".

22 minutes

"A legislative panel will begin investigating Tuesday whether ex-House Speaker Sansom damaged public confidence in his dealings with a North Florida college."

Winning the support of state Rep. Ray Sansom to use more than $8 million in taxpayer money on a "leadership institute'' at his hometown college took only 22 minutes.

The formal proposal arrived in his e-mail box at 10:33 a.m. on Aug. 21, 2007, and after trading e-mails with college president Bob Richburg, Sansom pledged at 10:55 a.m. to "get to work on funds.''

Richburg counseled that getting the money would ``involve some special legislative strategy,'' and Sansom quietly delivered for his future boss at Northwest Florida State College.

The Legislature seldom turns its attention to punishing one of its own. The dethroned speaker from Destin is believed to be a first in the annals of the Legislature, too, as a presiding officer being investigated by his peers. History shows such events can be tense and embarrassing as lawmakers judge a colleague's conduct under the glare of TV cameras, while facing possible criticism that they went soft on a friend and colleague."

Entrepreneurs in action

Randy Schultz: "Yes, there were victims".

"Simple-minded battle cry"

Scott Maxwell: "Government-bashing has become quite the rage lately. We hear it when one political party wants to trash the other's plans. We hear it from corporate America when profit margins are threatened. We even have candidates essentially basing their entire campaigns on it. They want you to let them head government — so they can dismantle it. The problem is that many of those who trumpet this simple-minded battle cry aren't consistent." See what he means here: "Dismantle government? Not so fast".

What's wrong with Tampa?

The laff riot never ends - William March:

The accusations come fast and furious on Web sites and talk radio: President Barack Obama is a socialist, a communist.

Is he? Is his health care proposal socialist?

"Yes. Next question," said Michael Steele, chairman of the national Republican Party, speaking to reporters in Washington on Monday.

"He has surrounded himself with people that have been for the redistribution of wealth. That's part of the communist mindset," said Ted Webb, a rightist Tampa radio commentator.

"'Communist' is not the correct word, and 'socialist' is debatable - the correct word is 'Marxist,'" said Rick Klepal, a Tampa commercial investment manager with an interest in politics.

"Red tape"

"The federal stimulus package promised a massive infusion of jobs and money. But so far in South Florida, the aid has formed a trickle, not a gush." "Florida's federal stimulus cash caught up in red tape".

Yee haw!

Aaron Deslatte:

Congress is offering Florida potentially billions of dollars in royalties if the state bows to the growing clamor to expand oil and natural gas exploration in the Gulf of Mexico. The new guard of leadership in the Legislature is more than willing to play.

Future state House Speaker Dean Cannon, R- Winter Park, and Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Indialantic, plan to co-sponsor legislation in the 2010 session to allow the Cabinet to issue more offshore leases to oil companies.

The idea's political supporters — mostly Republicans — argue they're reflecting a tidal shift in public support for oil drilling.

With the Legislature possibly ready to endorse drilling, all eyes will be on Cabinet members who would have the final say-so.

Last summer, Attorney General Bill McCollum actually hardened his position against drilling, even as Gov. Charlie Crist and presidential wannabe John McCain were embracing the "Drill, baby, drill" movement. ...

Chief Financial Officer — and Democratic gubernatorial candidate — Alex Sink called last session's House push to drill "unconscionable" without "significant debate, serious study or real time to hear from Florida's citizens." But like her rival [McCollum], she has said nothing recently. ...

Crist, who shocked environmentalists last year by flip-flopping to endorse drilling (once polls started showing voters supported it), will also have a vote next summer, when he would be in the heat of his U.S. Senate race.

Adventures in Neo-Babbittry

The Tampa Tribune editorial board: "Nearly two years ago, a headline in the Wall Street Journal asked ominously,"

"Is Florida over?"

The answer then was no and still is. Florida in many ways is just getting started in a new direction. Unfortunately, many of its leaders have been slow to discover the new course.

The real-estate troubles anticipated in 2007 have hit harder and longer than almost anyone expected, and the political response has been disappointing.

But had we known then what we know now, our editorial response would be the same. Seeing our state described as a "less-appealing destination," we said, true enough, but "if you're looking for a cut-rate retirement haven and are happy with mediocre education and environmental degradation, go somewhere else."

[That boosterism would make George Babbitt proud]

The over-selling of Florida is largely responsible for diminishing the state's appeal and overwhelming its resources. We said two years ago that Florida is determined to better manage its growth, improve its public schools and universities, build better transit systems and attract the best jobs. We still believe that's what most Florida residents want, but wish we had more evidence to show that's what state leaders are trying to give us.

"The group with perhaps the most on the line"

"They're an invisible force in the high-stakes Seminole gambling talks, but they're the group with perhaps the most on the line: the pari-mutuel gambling industry, which has deep roots in South Florida." "Pari-mutuels have much riding on gambling negotiations".

Travel time

"Legislators’ travel proves costly".

"Ignorant and offensive"

Mike Thomas: "The advertisement stunned readers of the Florida Bar News."

The headline reads: "What's so gay about it?"

What follows is every vicious stereotype known to homophobia, portraying gays as little better than wharf rats: filthy, diseased and promiscuous.

Leesburg attorney George Metcalfe placed the ad but politely declined to talk about it. Apparently it was in response to the Bar Association's implicit support of a gay foster parent who wants to adopt two children rescued from a crack house.

This has upset a handful of socially conservative attorneys. Those in the Liberty Counsel, a socially conservative law center in Maitland, have filed a legal brief in opposition to the adoption.

In many ways, the brief is more ignorant and offensive than Metcalfe's ad.

Times are tuff

"Florida highrise has 32 stories, but just 1 tenant".

"A chance to stay"?

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "Immigration law might not let Fredy Avellaneda stay in the United States."

A judge will determine that. But immigration law ought to give people like him a chance to stay.

As John Lantigua reported last week in The Post, Mr. Avellaneda was detained July 16 by Customs and Border Protection agents who stopped the van in which he was riding to work. Mr. Avellaneda, 27, came to this country illegally with his parents when he was 10. He graduated from Pahokee High School and has worked in construction, agriculture and landscaping. According to his mother, his status kept him from attending college. He has not been in trouble with police.

Lowest bidder

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board doesn't want the citizens of Hillsborough County to be deprived of the opportunity to have public projects built by itinerant South Carolinian scab construction workers who sleep in their trucks and obtain their health care from local hospital emergency rooms. See "Local preference is bad policy".

Bought and paid for

"Senate money blowout: Negron has 12-to-1 edge for Tuesday’s special election to replace Pruitt".

RPOFer base luvs Rubio

Adam C. Smith: "If local Republican executive committees decided statewide primary elections, Charlie Crist's Senate campaign would be in big trouble."

"People were very conservative, and they don't like what's going on. They're just upset with the way things are going with Crist. They think he's abandoned us," said [RPOF] state committeeman Chuck Oakes, noting Crist's support for President Barack Obama's stimulus plan, among other issues.

Cuba

"Raul Castro announced [yesterday] that Cuba will cut spending on education and health care, potentially weakening the building blocks of its communist system in a bid to revive a floundering economy." "Raul Castro: Cuba won't undo communist system".