"Child welfare agencies and authorities in Ohio and Franklin County are fully capable of providing for the security and well-being of Ohio's children," said the statement. "The governor believes this is a family matter and therefore would most appropriately be handled here in Ohio with the assistance of the child welfare and foster care system."

Fathima Rifqa Bary, 17, is currently living with a foster family in the Orlando area. She fled Columbus aboard a Greyhound bus in July, saying her father had threatened to kill her because she had abandoned his faith -- Islam -- and become a Christian.

Her father, Mohamed Bary, a jeweler and Amway distributor, says that never happened. A Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation supports his claim. So does Franklin County Children's Services, the child welfare agency serving Columbus.

Amanda Wurst, a spokeswoman for Strickland, who is an ordained Methodist minister, first issued the statement yesterday. It puts Strickland at odds with Florida's Gov. Charlie Crist.

Three weeks ago, Crist issued a statement, saying he was grateful for a decision by Orange Circuit Judge Daniel Dawson to keep Rifqa in Florida.

Earlier that day, Crist had sent two powerful figures - Rob Wheeler, his top lawyer; and George Sheldon, secretary for the Florida Department of Children and Families to a hearing at which the judge ruled that Rifqa should stay in Florida, at least temporarily.

Stop the madness

Douglas C. Lyons: "Oil and gas rigs off Florida's coast?"

Why not? It may not be the best public policy for a state that's made its reputation, and a considerable tourism industry, from its beaches. But it'll cement Florida's legacy as the laboratory for just about every right-wing political initiative under the sun.

Florida has gone through a revolution the past decade. The state now boasts of [1] tax cuts on just about everything, [2] faith-based prisons, [3] private school vouchers, standardized tests, [4] the elimination of affirmative action and [5] a plethora of privatization efforts to create a new stimulus package. If some state legislators have their way, [6] voters would put a definition that life starts "when biological development begins" into the Florida Constitution along with [7] language to outlaw "Obamacare."

Still, "drill-baby-drill" is the big one.

"Will LeMieux be ready to leave gracefully?"

Steve Bousquet on "what could be the biggest challenge that faces George LeMieux, Florida's so-called placeholder senator, as he keeps the seat warm for (they hope) his patron, Gov. Charlie Crist."

Now that Crist has handed a lifetime of privilege to LeMieux, the new senator will find that Washington can be an extremely intoxicating place.

Right about the time LeMieux will feel truly accustomed to his surroundings, he'll be tapped on the shoulder and told to make room for an elected senator.

Will LeMieux be ready to leave gracefully? There's an undeniable power of the place, the political intrigue, the history that seems to lurk around every corner.

RPOFer pissing match

"Argenziano lashes out at Lopez-Cantera".

Huh?

"Democratic Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink refused to say whether she supports Congressional Democrats’ government-backed health insurance proposal, known as the 'public option,' despite her GOP gubernatorial opponent Attorney General Bill McCollum’s demands. Attorney General Bill McCollum, the presumptive GOP candidate for governor, pilloried President Barack Obama’s and the Democrats’ public option and challenged Sink state her position on the issue." "Sink still mum on public option".

Florida Commission on Ethics gives PSC Commissioner a pass

"In a closed door hearing, the Florida Commission on Ethics Friday dismissed a complaint against Public Service Commissioner Lisa Edgar for using her aide to communicate with a utility executive." "Ethics panel dismisses complaint against PSC member".

The Tampa Tribune editorial board writes that "if PSC is given the benefit of the doubt, these acts reveal an alarming coziness between the regulators and regulated. ... She rightly wants a grand jury to investigate the PSC. It will probably take such high-powered, independent scrutiny to determine whether utilities exercise undue influence. PSC's unseemly links to industry have persisted through numerous reform efforts." "Investigate PSC muddle".

Meantime, "PSC spokeswoman Cynthia Muir got into a physical confrontation with a TV news crew when a reporter attempted to ask Commission Chairman Matthew Carter a question."

But when it comes to Gary Siplin ...

... the regulators are all action: "Sen. Gary Siplin used his position to bully a sheriff's deputy in a dispute over parking at a football game in 2006 and should be disciplined by the full Senate, the state Ethics Commission recommended today." "Panel finds state senator violated ethics". See also "Commission finds Sen. Gary Siplin violated ethics laws".

One in five Floridians may become eligible for Medicaid

"The national healthcare debate misses one key point for Florida and other states: how to handle the cost of Medicaid's likely expansion."

As national politicians feud over "public option'' health insurance, state lawmakers are far more concerned with plans to greatly expand a different government-run healthcare program: Medicaid.

A state-federal program, Medicaid insures poor children, seniors, pregnant women and disabled people -- a total of 2.7 million people in Florida.

And that number could grow by 1.3 million -- at an additional annual cost of $4.3 billion to state and federal government -- if the congressional healthcare bills that call for a massive nationwide expansion of the program win approval.

About one in five Floridians would then be eligible for Medicaid in a state where 20 percent of the population lacks insurance coverage.

Medicaid spending already exceeds undergraduate education funding in Florida. It consumes nearly 27 percent of the state's $66.5 billion budget. Also, the state-funded portion of the program faces a $1.5 billion deficit next year.

Gambling

"Trial lawyers and Big Business don't agree on much, but both are now opposing Gov. Charlie Crist's new Seminole gambling deal."

The Florida Justice Association, the state's trial lawyer group, is strongly against the gambling pact because of provisions that exempt the tribe from most lawsuit liability, said general counsel Paul Jess.

The News Service of Florida reports today that the trial lawyers' frequent foe, the Associated Industries of Florida, also will come out against the gambling deal next week. The business group doesn't like that the Seminole tribe would gain exclusive rights blackjack and slots outside Broward and Miami-Dade counties, shutting pari-mutuels out of the casino business.

Budget threat

Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board: "Attorneys for several Florida counties say these large travel aggregators have been cheating the state (and others) of bed taxes for years. Estimates vary. Steven Wolens, a Texas attorney representing Broward and Orange counties in their lawsuits against the "dot-coms," puts the losses at $200 million statewide, over several years. Pinellas County officials analyzed bookings, and say about $3.5 million in state and local taxes were lost in that county last year."

The losses stem from the way online travel sites do business. Typically, a site will buy blocks of hotel rooms at a deeply discounted rate -- that $250 room booked through the Internet may have netted only $150 for the hotel owner -- then rent the rooms to individual consumers at a markup. Since their inception, dot-coms have insisted that they owe tax only on the wholesale room rates they pay to the hotel owners -- a position that appears to directly contravene Florida law. Sam McClelland, deputy tax collector for tax administration in Pinellas County, says their audit shows that dot-coms are charging their customers tax based on the "retail" price -- but only paying state sales and county tourist-development tax on the "wholesale" price and pocketing the difference.

The dot-coms are pushing for a federal exemption that could wipe away all obligation to pay sales and bed taxes. Earlier this week, they were behind a proposed amendment to the Travel Promotion Act that purported to "clarify" federal law to say that taxes were due only on the wholesale rate. Due to the vagueness of the wording, the amendment would have actually allowed the dot-coms to escape paying taxes altogether, according to several attorneys who have been following the issue.

The potential loss could easily top $1 billion nationwide -- a harsh blow to counties and state governments already struggling in tough economic times, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, a national think tank that looks at state and federal budget issues. Tax expert Michael Mazerov says Florida could lose more than $72 million in state and local taxes if the amendment makes it into federal law -- and it gets worse. If this provision becomes law, it could encourage large hotel chains in Florida to form their own online travel companies, potentially wiping out another $581 million in annual revenue to the state. That would hurt counties that rely on that revenue to promote tourism and build amenities such as convention centers to draw more business into their local economies and fill local hotels and restaurants.

More to go

"History suggests Florida real estate prices haven't yet hit bottom".

What's wrong with Tampa?

"Critics call him a 'toxic asset' for Fox News Channel who "passes off lies as journalism," citing as Exhibit A his claim that President Obama is a racist."

Left-leaning MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann derided him as an "uneducated, imperceptive panicky whack job" after a segment where he misspelled the word "oligarchy" on a chalkboard.

But even during a boycott that has convinced more than 60 advertisers to move their commercials from his show to other spots on the channel, Fox News host Glenn Beck scored important coups this week — watching presidential advisor Van Jones resign after Beck spent weeks assailing his history, political views and public statements on his radio and television shows.

800 other Tampa Bay area 912 Project members online, visiting town hall meetings on health care reform, including the acrimonious Aug. 6 public forum in Ybor City, which drew national attention.

"(Beck) is giving voice to what I have believed my whole life," said Curtis, 52, a Tampa mortgage broker who has listened to Beck since he started his first radio talk show on Tampa talk station WFLA-AM (970) back in January 2000. "For many of us, it's about our core values as Americans ... Beck just has the microphone." ...

Even as critics insist that his emotional and dramatic arguments strain credulity and twist facts, fans like Curtis see a charismatic symbol — an entertaining, conservative champion who articulates the frustration and fear they feel as the country faces daunting challenges.

"Glenn Beck tends to make you think things through on your own," said Jackie Payne, 58, of Palm Harbor, who began listening to Beck on local radio back in 2000, when he focused on the struggle over Florida during the presidential election and hit his stride as a talk show host.

"How many people are reading the constitution for themselves?" said Payne, who distrusts President Obama's plans to overhaul the country's health care system. "He makes people wake up and not just listen to sound bites."

Tampa transit

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board: "The proportion of household incomes spent on transportation by residents in the Tampa Bay area ranks among the highest in the nation. How people here get around directly affects the region's job market, wages, housing and quality of life. The issue is as much about effectively raising personal incomes as it is about giving commuters more options and cutting travel times." "Getting on board for transit".

Domestic partner benefits

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board:

University of South Florida president Judy Genshaft served her institution and her community well last week in announcing that USF would extend benefits to the domestic partners of its employees. The announcement was but a small part of Genshaft's annual "State of the University" address. But it marked a big step forward in social policy — and also for the university's bottom line.

Florida's python problem

"Wildlife officials seize 'monster' 18-foot python in Apopka" ("an 18-foot-long, 400-plus-pound Burmese python who had enjoyed a swell existence in an Apopka-area backyard feeding on rabbits").

"Crist has sent us an inexperienced crony"

Former Miami mayor, Maurice Ferre: "Florida is at the bottom of most national social, health and educational indicators. Yes, we're told, it's cheaper to live in Florida, and taxes are lower in conjunction with a high quality of life. Not true anymore."

In fact, while wages are lower in Florida and solid job opportunities are fewer, now the cost of living here is moving higher. Since Florida is, for the first time since World War II, losing population and our economy has been based on growth, the fact that we have no state income tax puts an unbearable burden on regressive Florida real estate and sales taxes.

I am sure LeMieux is a perfectly nice fellow and I understand he is a formidable fundraiser for the governor. But the idea of appointing a lawyer, whose real avocation is lobbying and ignoring many qualified individuals with real federal or state legislative experience is the wrong choice for our state.

Crist has given us a rookie when we need an experienced hand.

LeMieux's role as the chief negotiator of the recently announced gaming compact with the Seminole Indians, where he served the state on a ``pro-bono'' basis, should be examined in light of the almost $1 million the Seminoles have contributed to the Republican Party of Florida since Crist was nominated for governor, and at least $200,000 the RPOF paid to Mr. LeMieux's law firm. Perhaps this only creates the impression of impropriety, but that alone is enough.

At a time when we truly need Florida's best in Washington, Crist has sent us an inexperienced crony. That is a missed opportunity for Florida.

Ferre may jump into Senate race

More Maurice Ferre: "Leaders in Orlando's Puerto Rican community participated Wednesday afternoon in unpublicized meetings that could be the start of a political campaign to elect one of their own to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Mel Martínez."

Various sources have confirmed that they received invitations to meet with Maurice E. Ferré, a Democrat and former mayor of Miami who in 1973 became the first native of Puerto Rico elected to that position in the states.

Ferré could not be reached for comment Thursday, but sources in Orlando said he was close to making a decision about running for the Senate seat. Another Democrat, Kendrick Meek, is already running. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio are candidates on the Republican side.

Late to the game

"Threats and angry words. Tales of woe and pleas for help on both sides of the issue. That's the message in the steady stream of calls and e-mails that County Council members have been getting for weeks." "Public involvement rises as government funds fall".

The Indian gambling deal seemed on track for approval in an October special session, but Senate President Jeff Atwater, R- North Palm Beach, informed the governor that's now "highly unlikely."

In his letter to the governor, Atwater also expressed concern about adding oil drilling to any special session agenda. An array of oil-industry and business lobbyists have been pressing for quick passage of a measure that would allow drilling within five miles of Florida's beaches – for potential royalty payments of as much as $2.3 billion a year.

And that was before somebody came up with the bright idea of pairing the issue with quick green-lighting of offshore oil drilling.

If you're looking for a fight between gambling supporters and opponents, calm down and find something else to watch. That's not the dispute here.

Nope. It will be strictly racetracks versus Indians. And in the Legislature, as in football, I'm rooting for the Seminoles.

UC benefits runnin' out

"Next month, extended unemployment benefits will end for more than 31,500 unemployed Floridians." "Thousands of unemployed to lose benefits".

Crist opposes oil drilling

"Minutes after he was sworn in Thursday, new Florida Sen. George LeMieux got an earful of advice from Vice President Joe Biden, cast his first vote -- against an Obama administration appointee ['Obama's nomination of Harvard professor Cass Sunstein to head the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs'] -- and threatened to block passage of an energy bill that would put oil drilling rigs near the Florida shore." Get this:

The Republican also sought to tamp down speculation that he would consider taking on Florida's senior senator, Democrat Bill Nelson, in 2012.

BlackBerry boo boo

"Two days after the Public Service Commission banned some BlackBerry messaging in its hearing room, the Florida Commission on Ethics will decide whether e-mails sent by BlackBerry may have snagged Commissioner Lisa Edgar in a potential violation of state law." "Ethics group to look at possible text message between Florida Public Service commissioner and Florida Power official".

Kudos to Chipotle Mexican Grill

"Chipotle Mexican Grill is going directly to one of the Florida tomato growers to improve wages for the migrant workers who harvest the company's tomatoes."

The Denver-based burrito chain announced that it reached an agreement with East Coast Growers and Packers to pay workers an additional penny per pound for all Chipotle tomatoes they pick. The pay will go from 50 cents for a 32-pound bucket to 82 cents per bucket, marking a 64 percent increase.

The deal could mark a major turning point in the long-running efforts by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to improve the wages and working conditions of the migrant workers who pick Florida's tomatoes.

the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, which since 2007 has threatened fines against its members for participating. Two growers participated in the Taco Bell deal for two years, but the rest of the deals were never implemented.

The growers have argued that they can't participate because of legal issues with a third party dictating the terms of its workers' employment [?]. They've also complained about the difficulty of tracking who picks tomatoes that ultimately end up on a Burger King Whopper or a Chipotle burrito.

Rather than fight with the rest of the industry, East Coast Growers decided in the last few weeks to drop out of the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange and strike a deal with Chipotle.

Entrepreneurs in action

"South Florida water managers say they struck a good deal when they agreed to pay a contractor $12 million to walk away from a massive, half-finished reservoir intended to feed water to the parched Everglades. The agreement comes in addition to $13 million the district paid to put the project on hold, bringing the total cost of the cancelled reservoir project to more than $280 million." "Contractor on killed Everglades project to get $12 million for walking away".

Crist's guy at the RPOF "downright kooky"

Scott Maxwell: "It was fascinating to watch Jim Greer step into the national spotlight last week — and then burn up in it."

One day, the leader of Florida's Republican Party was having a blast, accusing the president of trying to "indoctrinate" children with "liberal lies" and a "socialist agenda."

The next, he was a pariah in his own party. Mainstream conservatives were running away from Greer like he was a Code Pink protester at a VFW rally. ...

Former George W. Bush adviser Mark McKinnon was so embarrassed by the antics, he went on a liberal MSNBC show to decry them. "It's insane when a United States president can't deliver a simple speech to the students of this country without everybody going absolutely berserk," said the man who also helped John McCain. "And, you know, I think it's bad for the country. But I also think it's bad for the Republican Party. It just makes us out to be incredibly partisan and out of touch."

Greer still had fans in the echo chamber of talk radio, where Obama is believed to be an illegal immigrant. But most mainstream conservatives seemed to share the opinion of Wall Street Journal columnist James Taranto, who described the protests as "downright kooky."

By the end, Greer was reduced to praising the speech that he criticized before reading and trying to convince a CNN anchor that he'd taught his own children "to have the highest respect for the presidency and this president and all presidents."

So said the guy who had just called the president an indoctrinating, socialist liar.

Here's the kicker though: Later in the week, Greer tried again to offer his opinion on Obama — only no one would listen.

Tallahassee "sunshine"

"In the aftermath of a lawmaker's indictment and a scathing grand jury report, a pair of legislators want voters to amend Florida's Constitution to require more 'sunshine' in the state Capitol. The proposed constitutional amendment by Miami Sen. Dan Gelber and Sarasota Rep. Keith Fitzgerald, both Democrats, would require higher standards for open meetings, budget writing and public records. Florida's open-government laws are known as Sunshine Laws." "Lawmaking duo wants voters to add more 'sunshine'". See also "Gelber pushes constitutional amendment to stop secret budget deals".

"Withering piles of gutless goo"

Daniel Ruth thinks "Marion Hammer, the National Rifle Association's Tugboat Annie of Tallahassee, would be more than in favor of replacing the state bird with the noble, formidable osprey."

After all, with a nearly 6-foot wingspan, it's a bigger target.

Alas, Hammer, one of those powerful capital denizens who attracts fawning pols like Jennifer Aniston collects ex-boyfriends, has weighed in on the debate to name a successor to the current state fowl, the rather nondescript, dull, feathered answer to Alan Greenspan — the mockingbird. ...

Last year, the commission conducted a program to engage elementary school students in the selection of a new state bird, culminating in a vote. Overwhelmingly, nearly 29,000 kiddos picked the robust osprey. But then again ballots often mean precious little in Florida, especially when they have to compete with just one vote — Hammer's backed by the juice, the clout, the checkbook of the NRA.

Simply because the NRA can reduce all these politicians who claim to be bold, independent voices of the people into withering piles of gutless goo, Hammer has insisted her ties to one of the most influential lobbying organizations in Tallahassee has nothing to do with her preference in keeping the flock of Frank Gorshins as the state bird.

Still, you have to suspect if Marion Hammer decided she thought Daffy Duck would do quite nicely as the state bird our august legislators would think nothing of blowing off the will of schoolchildren and (lisp included) vote to appease her.

Never mind

"DNA evidence frees man after 26 years in Broward jail".

Grayson at work

"There have been so many abuses associated with the taxpayer bailouts of the past year — think of the fat bonuses and luxury retreats for executives at rescued companies, the millions spent by the companies to lobby Congress and the billions in dividends paid to their shareholders."

We thought — or hoped — that we had heard it all.

If only we had been so lucky. Recently, U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson of Orlando uncovered yet another outrage. ...

What kind of system leaves taxpayers to cover the legal expenses to defend executives who helped drive their company — and the U.S. economy — into a ditch?

As Mr. Grayson remarked to the Times, "When did Uncle Sam become Uncle Sap?" It's a good question.

"Senate race dominated by special interests gets stranger"

"A special election that features a prominent former House speaker, Jeb Bush, racially tinged mailers warning of Black Panthers at the polls, and million-dollar attack ad campaigns backed by business groups and trial lawyers just got weirder."

The latest twist: a surveillance videotape that shows two prominent trial lawyers leaving the home of the front-running candidate, an anti-tax activist named Dan Quiggle, that's being cited as evidence the trial bar is financing Quiggle's campaign.

Supporters of John Thrasher, a former Speaker turned big-time lobbyist, have been charging for weeks that the trial bar is secretly backing Quiggle in the four-way Republican primary that will decide who replaces the late Sen. Jim King of Jacksonville.

The Thrasher campaign is hoping that likely voters in next Tuesday's primary don't care for trial lawyers, and the mere implication that a candidate is backed by the group will turn them off.

Quiggle has been something of a mystery figure in the seven-week special election for the seat, which extends into northeastern Volusia County. He has refused to return phone calls and e-mails and skipped several recent events attended by the other candidates, who also include Jacksonville City Councilman Art Graham and former Rep. Stan Jordan.

"The point would be to make abortion murder."

For some reason, Paul Flemming thinks this bit 'o wingnuttery is worthy of attention:

Brenda MacMenamin has begun a long, possibly quixotic, journey to amend Florida's constitution.

I hope she succeeds in getting her "personhood" proposal on the ballot, for the basest of reasons. I'd pay to see this fight.

Today, the 49-year-old from Port St. Lucie is set to launch her low-budget signature petition campaign to extend civil rights to fetuses, with a news conference in Tallahassee. Her stated aim is to put her question to Florida voters in November 2010. To do so, she'll need to get 676,811 registered voters to sign petitions before February.

"We'll go for a million" signatures, MacMenamin said.

If she makes it, Floridians will be asked to define a person, with full protections afforded them in the state's constitution, "from the beginning of the biological development of that human being."

The point would be to make abortion murder.

Gay adoption

"As a Miami appeals court ponders the fate of one gay adoptive father, federal child welfare regulators may step in on behalf of another. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services administrators have written an e-mail backing the efforts of Wayne LaRue Smith, the first openly gay person in Florida to legally adopt in decades, who is seeking a federal subsidy given to Floridians who adopt a foster child." "Gay adoptive dad gets help to receive subsidy".

Florida's Republican attorney general Tuesday blasted the idea of a government-run health insurance option and tore a page out of the Washington GOP playbook as he warned of the evils of socialized medicine. If these are the sort of scare tactics McCollum plans to engage in during his run for governor, it's going to be an awfully long campaign with too many slogans and too little serious discussion of the challenges facing this state.

We have a few regrets as well

"Martinez exits Senate -- with some regrets":

Martinez got off to a rocky start in the Senate and often seemed to have trouble finding his footing. During the pitched right-to-life battle over Terri Schiavo in 2005, he drew withering criticism for passing a memo to a fellow senator that suggested Republicans could benefit politically.

And he made an early exit as chairman of the Republican National Committee. But he declared "tremendous progress'' Wednesday on a number of issues, including helping to modernize the military through increased shipbuilding and working to protect home buyers. He noted that the Senate was poised to pass legislation that he had championed to boost tourism to the United States.

And he cited the 2006 compromise that he and Nelson struck with pro-drilling forces to open up millions of acres in the western Gulf of Mexico for oil drilling, while keeping rigs at least 125 miles off the Florida coast.

RPOFer name calling

Comparing House Speaker Larry Cretul to a dictator, a Miami state representative Wednesday filed a formal complaint alleging that his fellow Republican broke House rules by reshuffling committees without a vote of the full chamber.

Rep. J.C. Planas acknowledges that his complaint is rare, ultra-wonky and unpopular with some fellow Republicans. But he said someone needed to stand up and stop current and future leaders of the House from acting like strongmen.

"The fact that Hugo Chávez in Venezuela reshuffles the legislative deck so he can get his items passed is something that's bad enough,'' Planas said.

Another one

"The big cats once roamed by the thousands throughout the southeastern, but there are now just about 100 Florida panthers remaining in the world." "Another Fla. panther found dead on interstate".

Sansom

"Ex-House Speaker Ray Sansom wil be tried on charges of official misconduct alongside former college president Bob Richburg, but the men will be tried separately on perjury charges, a judge ruled." "Judge issues rules for ex-House speaker's trial". See also "Sansom faces joint trial on misconduct charges". See also "Sansom, codefendants to be tried together" and "Ray Sansom, Bob Richburg will be tried together on one charge, separately on another".

Grand jury investigation of the PSC?

The Tallahassee Democrat editorial board: "A former plain-speaking state senator, Nancy Argenziano, who represented parts of the capital city, is taking her refreshing signature indignation to her job as a public service commissioner."

She's asking for a grand jury investigation into what appears to be inappropriate influence on the Public Service Commission process by utility company lobbyists and even the Legislature.

Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, echoed her indignation, calling for a state Senate investigation of this "disaster in the making" at the PSC, which he defines as the "one entity that the utility customer has in place to watch out for their interests." ...

Ms. Argenziano says the Legislature is also too willing to intimidate and influence the PSC, with legislators nominating commissioners — and getting generous campaign contributions from utilities. ...

Ms. Argenziano says the Legislature is also too willing to intimidate and influence the PSC, with legislators nominating commissioners — and getting generous campaign contributions from utilities.

Mr. Fasano has suggested that the Senate investigate the PSC and "make certain that a proper balance between the needs of the business community and the utility customer is maintained" and not be "so obviously skewed towards the utilities."

Such an inquiry, however, would be an opportunity for lawmakers to consider just how hands-off their own relationships with utility lobbyists are. The Legislature is very involved in PSC appointments and confirmations of the governor's picks — though it's never been quite clear if the PSC is a body within the state's legislative branch, or the executive, and thus who really has such powers.

Ms. Argenziano's proposal of a grand jury would lead to a more credible examination of the PSC's apparent indifference to even the appearance of impropriety in multibillion-dollar rate-making decisions that will affect millions of Floridians.

Timing is crucial. The commission scheduled hearings this month on FPL's requested rate increase and nuclear-power surcharges. Progress Energy's similarly large rate increase is pending. Two commissioners' terms expire this year, triggering a decision by Gov. Charlie Crist to reappoint them or choose replacements.

None of these crucial decisions should be made while the agency is under a cloud. The sooner state officials dissipate the suspicions hanging over the commission, the sooner it can get back to its original mission -- protecting Florida consumers while ensuring the safe, reliable and cost-efficient delivery of power across the state.

A new list

"Yet criticism is already brewing over the proposal to revamp the state's listing procedures. Species on the state list that aren't also on the federal roster will be re-evaluated by FWC using its science-based protocols." "Florida wildlife leaders consider using federal standards for imperiled species".

The "socialism" thing

Howard Troxler asks: "Is there anything more "socialist" than a fire truck? " "If we like it, it's not 'socialist'".

Senator LeWho in action

Big of him: "LeMieux also said he is willing to listen and learn as the Senate takes up issues like a major health care overhaul." "LeMieux preparing to be next Florida senator".

"Florida officials" share their deep thoughts

"Some initial reactions to Obama’s health care speech from Florida officials".

Laff riot: "Putnam: Health Speech Broke No New Ground".

ACORN arrests

"At least five ACORN workers are behind bars and law enforcement officials are seeking six others for forging signatures on voter registration applications last year. The workers were turned in by ACORN, Association of Community Organizations for Refom Now, supervisors in June 2008." "ACORN workers busted for fraud".

"Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle praised ACORN. 'We've been very aggressive about a lot of these cases," she said. "But we would not have known about these workers unless ACORN brought it to us.'" "Seven arrested, four still sought, in Miami-Dade voter fraud case".

"Now here is a shocker"

Mike Thomas: "NASA star trek needs extreme makeover".

"Playing it safe"

"President Barack Obama's decision to address a joint session of Congress on health care left little doubt where that issue ranks on the national agenda. "

But for Bill Nelson, Florida's senior U.S. senator — heck, Florida's only senator with any experience — health care has come somewhere behind Burmese pythons and Chinese drywall.

Don't get us wrong — those two issues are important in Florida. Yet they pale next to a potential overhaul of the nation's health-care system, especially for a state with the highest percentage of Medicare recipients.

Mr. Nelson, who should be mixing it up at the center of this historic debate, has been watching from the periphery. Instead of playing a leading role, he's been playing it safe.

Klein and the public option

"Klein’s support for public option grows in anticipation of Obama’s speech".

"Too important for a quickie meeting"

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "The idea that Florida would stop being Florida is too important for a quickie meeting of the Legislature to debate a gambling compact and deal with other unfinished business." "Advice for special session: Don't take up drilling". Related: "Poll: Most Floridians support some offshore drilling".

'Glades

"South Florida water managers Wednesday approved a $1.5 billion budget plan that avoids a property tax increase next year while including a half-billion-dollar Everglades restoration land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp." "South Florida water managers hold the line on taxes, despite U.S. Sugar land deal".

Tri-Rail, Sun-Rail games

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "The agency that operates Tri-Rail will not cut service for the budget year starting Oct. 1, but it will raid reserves. That won't have to happen if the Legislature approves a $2-per-day rental car tax that Tri-Rail supporters have sought since 2003. Trading that tax - not subject to referendum - for South Florida support of SunRail, the Orlando system, wouldn't be the prettiest politics, but after six years, we won't be picky." "More advice for special session: Give Tri-Rail some help".

Special

"Charlie Crist, eager for the state to immediately tap $162 million in gambling proceeds while he campaigns for the U.S. Senate, wants legislators to approve a Seminole gaming compact in an October special session." "Crist wants October special session on Seminole gaming compact, offshore drilling".

Cuba

"Travelers to Cuba swarm Miami airport concourse; 200,000 expected to visit by year's end as result of loosened policies".

"'Ohhh, that Jim Greer!' shouts Obama. 'Foiled again!'"

Bill Cotterell: "By week's end, Greer was explaining to Chris Matthews on 'Hardball' that"

Obama mighthave whipped a little socialism on the kids, if he hadn't called him out. We'll never know if the White House toned down the text before releasing it on Monday.

We can only imagine Obama calling in top staff to say, "Hey, Fidel Castro sent me these neat new guerilla fatigues, William Ayers gave me a Che Guevara poster and Bill Clinton brought back one of those cool North Korean commie hats with the little red star on it. I'm gonna use 'em for my Web cast on Tuesday.""I'm sorry, Comrade President," says an aide, "but the chairman of the Florida Republican Party is onto us. The Kremlin will fax over a new draft that more subtly codes the revolutionary Marxism."

"Ohhh, that Jim Greer!" shouts Obama. "Foiled again!"

Seriously, this week's spectacle could give right-wing fear mongering a bad name. Objecting to a federal stimulus package was one thing, warning against a takeover of auto companies and banks was something else. Challenging Obama on national health care was not only the right but the duty of the loyal opposition.

But worrying that he might brainwash children is beyond the pale. The party of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt apparently yearns to once again be the party of Joe McCarthy and Spiro Agnew.

Them evil union thugs

In The Miami Herald editorial board's blame the unions editorial this morning, "Miami unions must share the pain", overlooks that unions are their employees, not some separate entity from another planet. Second, they overlook that public employers have the right under Florida law to, in the event of a "financial urgency", unilaterally modify existing contracts with labor unions.

Indoctrination, Florida style

Mark Lane on being "indoctrinated":

Not long ago, I came upon a yellowed copy of the Florida government textbook they used back when I was in junior high school.

That was a long time ago. Back when schools had civics classes that included state government. The book opened with a big black-and-white photo of Haydon Burns, the 35th governor of Florida. And even though explaining state government and history is a part of my job description, he is a man whom I would not be able to pick out of a lineup of mid-20th century men in suits. (That's him, the gray-haired guy next to Don Draper. No. Well, maybe one man over.)

Beneath the photo were a few paragraphs from Gov. Burns' office telling the students it's good to study government, Florida is a nice place, and democracy is a very good thing, indeed.

I did not know it, but I was being indoctrinated. If only my parents had signed a permission slip opting me out.

And then there's something called "Deltona"

Pam Hasterok: "For some, service never ends".

Whale wars

"Citing voluminous studies, the Navy concluded that training 58 miles off Jacksonville would rarely, and barely, disturb right whales."

Environmentalists say the Navy has soft-pedaled risks from the 500-square-mile range.

Ship strikes already rank as the top right whale killer. The Navy also intends to heavily employ sonar that can disrupt feeding and communication, cause hearing damage and -- in extreme cases -- trigger mass strandings such as one in the Bahamas that killed six beaked whales in 2000.

"It's one of the worst possible places,'' said Catherine Wannamaker, an attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, one of 21 groups that contested the choice. "It's right next to the calving grounds for one of the rarest whales in the world.''

Charlie's mess

"Critics call the unfinished reservoir -- scuttled after $260 million in construction costs and now slated for redesign at uncertain expense -- the most glaring example of the expensive hidden costs of the governor's sugar deal, which will pay the sugar giant $536 million for 77,000 acres of fields and groves." "Water district taking $25M hit for halted Glades reservoir work".

On this Labor Day, gains made during Florida's boom period have been wiped away by the recession's job losses and increased joblessness, according to an annual report, "State of Working Florida," released today by Florida International University's Center for Labor Research and Studies.

The report also reveals disparities in employment and wages among African American, Hispanic and white workers over the past three decades.

Trends from 1979 to 2008 show decreased employment, especially for construction workers; longer unemployment for Florida's jobless, and slightly higher hourly wages for workers.

"Lawmakers return to Capitol Hill on Tuesday"

"After spending several weeks hearing from constituents on health care reform, lawmakers return to Capitol Hill on Tuesday with their views mostly unchanged but with fresh reminders that they need to pay close attention to the debate."

Some members of Florida's congressional delegation hosted town hall gatherings on health care reform, while others saw constituents pack rallies, chamber meetings and other public forums where health care quickly became the focus.

Sen. Bill Nelson spent the beginning of the August recess in China with members of the Senate intelligence committee as part of a 12-day congressional trip.

"The people's governor" in action

Bill Cotterell: "Crist, of course, has probably added an extra rider on his health insurance in case he dislocates a shoulder, patting himself on the back for being the people's governor. Most of his Senate campaigning now consists of fundraising events, but his official schedule is full of public appearances to show his interest in the economy, schools, energy — you name it." "Running government while running for office".

Goin' back

"Cultural nuances, such as strong family ties that provide a safety net, and a potentially lower cost of living, make it easier to endure hard times." "In hard times, some Puerto Ricans move back to island".

Making the case for "Hometown Democracy"

Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board:

Miami Corp., with the blessings of local bureaucrats in Volusia and Brevard counties (the tract straddles the county line), wants changes approved in local growth blueprints to allow five residential "villages" and three so-called mixed-use commercial and residential areas with the fetching labels "town center," "workplace" and "gateway." Gateway to 29,500 houses and apartments, instead of the 2,287 single family homes allowable under existing rural land use rules. Plus 4 million square feet of shops, offices and industrial space, a hospital and eight schools. It amounts to a city of 50,000, gulping nearly 7 million gallons of water a day. Water coming from where? And arterial roads paid for by whom? Oh, the developer and county officials will work that out, never you mind.

But neither Miami Corp. or any developer who buys its land piecemeal has an inherent right to land use changes allowing higher-density building. The counties should deny them on their face as unwanted, unneeded urban sprawl. The landowner is free to develop the property -- the largest private land holding in Volusia County -- at existing legal densities of one house per 20 acres, or one per five acres (4,692 houses) if clustered for a modest set aside of conservation land. Further subdivision should be denied thereafter.

Entrepreneurs in action

The Saint Petersburg Times editors: "All Hillsborough County public works employee Steve Valdez wanted to do was cash a check written on his wife's Bank of America account. Valdez had two forms of identification, including his driver's license with an address matching his wife's on the check. "

Seems like a simple enough transaction.

But since Valdez was born without arms and uses prosthetic limbs, he obviously could not provide the Bank of America teller with a thumb print to complete the transaction. Even a bank manager refused to honor Valdez's check without the impossible thumbprint.

"But why inch?"

Kingsley Guy: "Slowly, the state has been inching toward approving full-blown casinos."

But why inch? Why should an agreement like the one with the Seminoles allow people to play blackjack and baccarat at a casino, but keep them from playing roulette or craps? And why should the Seminoles receive special status over operators of pari-mutuel facilities, who find themselves at a competitive disadvantage because of restrictions placed on them?

Those restrictions limit their intake, and reduce the taxes they otherwise would be paying to the state.

It's time for the Legislature and voters in Florida to level the playing field. Casino gambling is here to stay because plenty of people enjoy it and want it.

Regulate casino gambling in a rational way, tax it at reasonable levels, and otherwise let people spend their money the way they want to, and where they want to.

Fired!

"Public Service Commissioner Nancy Argenziano, who has criticized her agency for being too close to the utilities it regulates, fired her top aide Sunday after he admitted to giving the private messaging code for his BlackBerry to a Florida Power & Light executive." "Florida Public Service Commissioner Nancy Argenziano fires top aide over BlackBerry access". Related: "Is PSC subverting public records laws by sharing message codes?"

Thank you, Mr. Obama

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board: "The University of Florida is playing it smart in using $10 million in federal stimulus funds to hire up to 100 new professors this year. Normally, it is unwise to spend one-time money on recurring costs such as salaries. But in this case, the federal dollars will serve merely as a bridge until money flows in from the new differential tuition rates, which took effect last week." "Stimulus welcome for UF faculty".

Laff riot

"Putnam: Health-care bill is flawed".

What's the rush?

The Gainesville Sun editorial board: "Today a conglomerate of oil interests, which refuses to identify its members by name, is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to convince Florida politicians to open up the state's coasts to oil and gas drilling. " "The rush job".

"The Annual Labor Day Insult"

Each Labor Day we post something called "The Annual Labor Day Insult" about how Florida's media use Labor Day as the opportunity to either ignore, if not outright bash, organized labor. Here're the 2007 and 2008 editions. We are pleased to report that there have been some cracks - albeit tiny - in the dismissive way Florida's traditional media treats Labor Day.

We'll start with the biggest surprise, The Orlando Sentinel. The reliably anti-union Sentinel has an editorial today that breaks the mold - the editors actually offer presidential quotations from past Labor Day addresses, some actually mentioning the existence of labor unions in a positive light:

The workers of America are witnesses, before the world, of the strength, the pride and the prosperity that alone can be won by free labor. They are strong in their independent unions. ... They are an indestructible bulwark of free government. These witnesses to freedom's blessings give the lie to the sly evil of the promises of totalitarianism.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, Sept. 7, 1953

The history of the United States is in vital respects the history of labor. Free men and women, working for a better life for themselves and their children, settled a continent, built a society, and created and diffused an abundance hitherto unknown to history.

John F. Kennedy, Sept. 2, 1963

Social and economic justice is a basic goal of the Great Society. Working people and their organizations are leaders in the pursuit of this national objective.

Lyndon B. Johnson, Sept. 3, 1966 ...

Despite labor's tremendous contribution to the growth and success of our country, those who worked hard and played by the rules were once frequently unrecognized and exploited. Yet the cause of labor has advanced greatly in this century because of the determined efforts of brave labor leaders who risked their own security to bring about fair working conditions and a decent standard of living for the rank and file ...

Bill Clinton, Sept. 3, 1993

The government also needs to protect those hard-won victories that the American workforce, and especially organized labor, brought to society: the 40-hour work week, job site safety rules, child welfare protection, family leave and medical and pension benefits. These compacts that many take for granted not only enabled generations of families to live dignified lives, they also built the civic fabric of communities that made America the hallmark of democracy and opportunity.

Labor Day is different from what it was 115 years ago, because labor is different. We labor from our homes, we labor abroad, and of course women and minorities hold jobs long forbidden to them — just as the nation now struggles with immigration laws that acknowledge a change in the labor force that's been almost as dramatic as the end of the Industrial Age.

While Labor Day has typically been associated with unions, the majority of construction professionals — more than 84 percent — choose [sic] to work by the merit shop philosophy[*]. These workers place a high premium on the quality of work they produce and believe employment opportunities should be awarded based on qualifications and performance, not labor affiliation. They deserve our praise.

Government workers are nearly five times more likely to belong to a union than private sector employees. This, despite the fact, that union membership has been declining nationally, from 20.1 percent of the workforce in 1983 to 12.4 percent in 2008.

Over 1 in 3 public sector workers are represented by a union; just 7.6 percent of private industry workers.

States with the largest numbers of union members are New York and California.

Among the public employees with the best deal are those working for the U.S. Postal Service, reported The Wall Street Journal.

- Most employees have no-layoff clauses.

- Starting salaries are up to 30 percent higher than comparable skilled private sector workers.

- About $500 million a year could be saved if fringe benefits were brought in line with other federal workers.

The star of the Labor Day parade traditionally has been labor unions, whose leaders emphasize their achievements and solidarity. Yet the overwhelming majority of workers aren't union members, and for them, the day has diminished into a three-day weekend without significance.

But this nation built by workers and supported by workers should use the opportunity to honor the foundation of the American Dream - the good American job.

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. ... Conceived by America's labor unions as a testament to their cause ...

If unions hadn’t done what they did—and continue to do—it’s highly unlikely that anyone outside the executive ranks would be getting a paid holiday on Labor Day, or on any other day. (Or even, of course, that there would be such a holiday as Labor Day.)

Nor is it likely that those who are required to work on such holidays would be getting the pay of two to three times their regular rate that unions have made the standard for holiday work in most areas — or get premium pay for any other work, at any other time.

Holidays meant very little to most working people in the days before unions became effective. They meant only an unwelcome day off and loss of a day’s pay or, at best, a day of work at regular wages.

Those were the days when unions still were struggling primarily for nothing more than legal recognition. It wasn’t until World War II that unions were able to go beyond the fundamentals and make negotiation of paid holidays a common practice, a concession employers made in lieu of the pay raises federal wage controls prohibited during the war.

The paid vacations so many working people took this summer also were very rare until unions demanded and won them. So were employer-financed pensions and medical care and other fringe benefits, health and safety standards, job security and other things now commonly granted to most workers, union and nonunion alike.

Without unions, we should not forget, there would be no paid holidays for most people, no premium or overtime pay, no paid vacations, few fringe benefits and little protection against job-related hazards and arbitrary dismissal. Without unions, as a matter of fact, the standard workday might very well still be 10 to 12 hours, the standard workweek six to seven days, and working people would have few of the rights so many now take for granted. That includes the overriding right of having a genuine voice in determining their pay and working conditions.

The scandal is that a top PSC staffer attended a Kentucky Derby party in May at the home of an executive of Florida Power & Light in Palm Beach Gardens.

Off and on over the past three decades, since the PSC became an appointed instead of elected body, we've had scandal after scandal. This one guy did not drink his mint juleps in a vacuum.

We've had PSC members going skiing with utility executives. PSC members having romances with utility employees. PSC members reading, word for word, opinions supplied to them by utilities.

Let me stress that none of the current commissioners has been linked to such no-nos. The more interesting issue is what's permitted.

Getting ready for Labor Day

Long time readers know that each labor day we post something called "The Annual Labor Day Insult" about how Florida's media use Labor Day as the opportunity to either ignore, if not outright slam, Florida's labor movement. Here're the 2007 and 2008 versions.

We will do the same tomorrow morning, but wanted to give a head's up about a - get this - relatively uninsulting editorial scheduled to be in print tomorrow morning, by the overrated The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board, no less. Here's a taste:

The government also needs to protect those hard-won victories that the American workforce, and especially organized labor, brought to society: the 40-hour work week, job site safety rules, child welfare protection, family leave and medical and pension benefits. These compacts that many take for granted not only enabled generations of families to live dignified lives, they also built the civic fabric of communities that made America the hallmark of democracy and opportunity. In that sense, today's holiday is a day to look forward, to recognize that the American worker has always been industrious enough to grow with the changing times.

Lay down with dogs ...

"When Congress reconvenes Tuesday to consider overhauling the nation's health care system, few states will have more at stake than Florida. And few will have less of a voice."

Despite boasting the nation's fourth-largest population, Florida is suffering a national power failure. While its population has nearly doubled since 1980, Florida's influence in Congress is at a low ebb, ranking beside states such as Nebraska, Idaho and Wyoming.

In the House of Representatives, where constant turnover has depleted the state's seniority, not one of the 25-member Florida delegation is in a major leadership position or chairs a single committee from which legislation such as health care reform is being constructed.

In the Senate, the picture is even bleaker. After Mel Martinez became the first Florida senator in 100 years to voluntarily quit in the middle of his first term, the state is shorthanded with just one elected member.

To replace Martinez, Gov. Charlie Crist chose George LeMieux, who has never served in elected office and will enter the 100-member Senate as the least influential.

Overall, Florida ranks 47th out of 50 states, according to a Herald-Tribune analysis combining seniority in the House and Senate with influence rankings assembled by the nonpartisan Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call.

Florida may have suffered as much as anything by placing its bets on the wrong partisan horse.

Through redistricting, Florida's Republican-dominated Legislature has created Republican districts.

Florida has 15 Republicans in the House to just 10 Democrats, despite the fact there are more registered Democrats than Republicans in Florida.

The state has five Republicans who have been in the House at least 15 years. That paid off when Republicans ruled Washington, but with Democrats now in control the state has far less influence because only two Democrats have more than 15 years of service in Congress.

Let "freedom" ring!

"An analysis of more than 7,000 inspections finds that central Florida's hotels and motels have little to fear from the Florida Division of Hotels and Restaurants, which largely relies on the honor system to get hoteliers to fix problems ranging from mold to falsified rates." "Fla. officials battle over growing bedbug problems".

Thank goodness Florida's entrepreneurs enjoy "freedom" in the form of little government restraint over their endless can do spirit. No Atlases shrugging here in the Sunshine State

"After all, he is black"

"Lake County School Superintendent Susan Moxley has banned broadcast of President Barack Obama's live nationwide address to schoolchildren on Tuesday."

In an e-mail to principals and School Board members, Moxley said parents can find the video online and watch it at home with their children if they want.

In the e-mail, Moxley pointed to a district policy that says cooperation with federal agencies "shall not be at the expense of district level or local school programs." ...

It's the second Central Florida district to ban the president's address to students, in which he is expected to encourage children to stay in school and strive for achievement.

Osceola Superintendent Michael Grego, using almost identical language in a message on the district's Web site, said students will not watch the president's speech live because of "limitations on our bandwith."

"A campaign fueled by deep pockets and simplistic rhetoric"

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board: "In a campaign fueled by deep pockets and simplistic rhetoric, a shadowy business group tied to Texas oilmen is peddling its push to drill off Florida's beaches as a call for patriotism, energy independence and fiscal prudence. Even more depressing, many politicians in Tallahassee are falling for it." "Don't let this come to Florida's shores".

Meantime, "Bob Graham has watched the politics of offshore drilling flip 180 degrees in recent years. Any hint of easing restrictions on drilling off Florida's coast used to be political suicide, but these days Republican leaders in Tallahassee are clamoring to embrace drilling." "Former Florida Gov. Bob Graham tries to chill state GOP's ardor for oil".

SBA asleep at the wheel (again)

"This is the story of how the Florida board that invests public money bet $250 million on a huge Manhattan real estate deal and lost every last penny of it."

On top of the money lost, Florida paid $16 million in fees to real estate developers, bankers and Wall Street money managers who persuaded the state to make the deal.

State elected leaders with potential influence over the pension funds' investments received campaign contributions from some of those same corporate giants. And state pension managers in the real estate unit got performance bonuses. ...

Last Tuesday, Sink brought up the real estate deal at a public meeting in Tallahassee.

Argenziano

"In the dour, self-serious world of the Florida Capitol, Nancy Argenziano has stood out for more than a decade as a cantankerous rebel willing to call her boss a 'lunatic' and send fertilizer to a lobbyist who crossed her. The former lawmaker is making waves again as one of the five members of the Public Service Commission." "Argenziano still ruffling feathers in Tallahassee".

Game over, man

"Florida Power & Light, embroiled in a controversial hearing to raise electric rates, says part of the 30 percent increase would pay for a new $31 million corporate jet to replace a 10-year-old jet in its three-aircraft fleet."

FPL executives hastened to explain that the bill for the new jet would be offset by trading in the old one for $18 million, leaving customers responsible for $13 million of the tab.

A handful of FPL executives are allowed to use the corporate jet for personal use, company officials said. Among them is CEO Armando Olivera, who told regulators that he used the plane for the Tallahassee hearing and often uses the company helicopter to travel between his hometown of Miami and his company's headquarters in Juno Beach.

When asked if he used the company helicopter to get to work, he said, "not all the time, but generally.''

"Freedom Bills" err, fries ... err, fools

Aaron Deslatte: "With state tax revenues stuck in the toilet, the ever more politically charged chore of getting noticed and racking up accomplishments before the next election is set to collide with President Barack Obama's agenda."

Central Florida GOP lawmakers are planning to combine vocal opposition to Obama's health-care initiative with the right's fears that the president is coming after their guns and freedom. They're called the "Freedom Bills."

Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, and state Sen. Carey Baker, R-Eustis, have filed a proposed constitutional amendment (HJR 37) that aims to let Florida businesses and residents opt out of whatever federal health-care plan Congress passes.

Whether a state can legislatively trump a federal mandate like health care is likely something the courts would have to decide, should three-fifths of the Legislature and then 60 percent of voters approve the amendment.

"The most serious fight either party has had in 40 years"

"Marco Rubio needs 600,000 Republican voters, and he thinks he can find a lot of them at the tea-party tax protests and raucous town-hall meetings on national health care."

For an under-funded underdog, running for the U.S. Senate against a popular governor with a track record of three easy statewide wins, Rubio's task is daunting. But experienced political observers see his challenge to Gov. Charlie Crist as the most serious fight either party has had in 40 years — since Gov. Claude Kirk was forced into a runoff and ultimately defeated in 1970.

Redistricting

Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board: "By law, a census is conducted every 10 years, as it will be in 2010. Federal, state and local political districts across the country -- from U.S. Senate and House seats to city councils -- will be redrawn accordingly. Federal and state constitutions, including Florida's, call for electoral districts to be balanced evenly by population and to be contiguous. The directions don't get more specific."

It should be a neutral process. In five states, it is. Independent redistricting commissions draw up boundaries based on population and geography. In a few states, commissions and state legislatures collaborate. In most states, Florida among them, the process is mostly political. The party controlling the state legislature draws up the new map, and usually does so not to reapportion voter populations cohesively but to maximize its electoral advantage for the following 10 years. Gerrymandering by computer models is common. District lines that follow community, city or county contours are not. ...

In Florida, FairDistrictsFlorida.org is leading the drive to put two constitutional amendments on the 2010 ballot. One would forbid the drawing of district lines to protect an incumbent or a political party. Another would require districts to follow geographic and community boundaries. Should the amendments pass, lawmakers would be compelled either to appoint a commission to follow the new rules or to follow them themselves, their gerrymandering impulse neutralized.

With almost 1.5 million petitions in hand, FairDistrictsFlorida has more than twice the necessary signatures (and the Florida Supreme Court's approval) to put the proposals on the ballot. The rest will be up to voters -- as redistricting never has been.

Perhaps the worst U.S. Senator in Florida history

Mel's "circumstances and his own mistakes combined to mark his partial term with much frustration and little accomplishment, experts on Congress say. ... Martinez's good intentions went nowhere, or went awry, in other instances:"

•At Bush's request, he took over as national party chairman in an attempt to heal the party's breach with Hispanics, even though he wasn't fond of the job and received public criticism. He quit after less than a year as the president's and the party's poll numbers plummeted.

•He fought to have the government intervene to force life support for brain-damaged Terri Schiavo of Pinellas County. But he embarrassed himself and undercut his principles by passing along a memo - accidentally, he said - that talked about how Republicans could use the case for political gain.

LeMieux could be worse ...

Randy Schultz: "nine days ago, Gov. Crist named his alter ego to baby-sit the U.S. Senate seat that the governor wants to win next year. His official title will be Sen. LeMieux, R-Fla., but it might as well be Sen. LeMieux, R-Crist."

Every three minutes, Gov. Crist declares that he makes decisions based on what's best "for the people." The implication is that even though he raises small fortunes for his campaigns, that money matters less than "the people." With Mr. LeMieux, however, the governor makes an exception.

The original U.S. Sugar deal was for the South Florida Water Management District to buy the whole company. U.S. Sugar's law firm is Gunster, which represented the company as the deal shrank to buying 73,000 acres of the company's land. The state's top negotiator was Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Sole. He's a Gulf War vet, but he's not a lawyer or a seasoned negotiator. He reports to Gov. Crist, who wanted the deal very badly, even though an outside consultant estimated that in the second deal, to buy all of U.S. Sugar's land, the state would have been overpaying by about $200 million.

There are other exceptions. Former Crist policy aide Chanta Combs is now a lobbyist. One of her clients is the Seminole Tribe. For a year, the governor has been trying to seal a gambling compact that gives the tribe exclusive rights to lucrative high-stakes games. In 2005, Chris Kise, then solicitor general under Attorney General Crist, negotiated with Florida Power & Light a delay of the company's rate request until after Mr. Crist ran for governor. In 2009, lobbyist Chris Kise is a consultant to FPL as the company seeks that rate request.

And now Mr. LeMieux will start the Crist 2010 Senate campaign immediately. Conservative Republicans who dominate GOP primaries regard the sometimes-centrist Gov. Crist suspiciously. So, after Gov. Crist appointed him, Mr. LeMieux declared himself to be "pro-life, pro-gun, pro-family." That mixed metaphor is catnip for the Republican base. ...

These days, though, the ambitions of Charlie Crist and the ambitions of George LeMieux are the same. When it becomes Sen. LeMieux this week, taxpayers will be subsidizing the relationship. We knows what's in it for them. What's in it for Florida?

"Time warp"

The Sun-Sentinel editorial board: "Welcome as it would be, establishing direct mail service between the United States and Cuba speaks to the time warp that is the diplomatic freeze between the adversarial governments. ... Washington and Havana still have a ways to go to catch up with the 20th century, let alone the present." "Direct mail talks with Cuba would have been great — last century".

"The under-employed"

"With long-term unemployment reaching record highs, many South Florida workers are taking jobs for survival, often part-time or outside their field. Many have college degrees but can't find jobs that replace the income and lifestyle they once enjoyed. They are the under-employed, a growing contingent in the state and the nation as the lackluster job market lingers. " "Over-qualified and under-paid: More workers stuck in jobs outside their field".

Enough with the witless, fire breathing prosecutors

Fred Grimm: "The kid they tried to execute was just 15. An IQ of 67."

The Broward prosecutor demanded the death penalty. But the jury, queasy about killing a mentally deficient teenager with no more evidence than a questionable confession, voted to spare Anthony Caravella's life.

Circuit Judge Arthur J. Franza seemed disappointed. "I'll tell you this, Anthony: If the jury had recommended death, I would have had you electrocuted.''

Broward was that close to executing an innocent teenager. ...

Prosecutor Robert Carney, who nailed both Purvis and Carvella, now sits as a Broward circuit judge. William Dimitrouleas, who prosecuted Frank Lee Smith, has a lifetime appointment as a federal judge. Meanwhile, actual killers went free. Eddie Lee Mosley continued his hideous rape and murder spree. Miramar police never bothered to discover who stabbed Ada Jankowski 28 times.

Gambling

Florida "lawmakers may have a tough time swallowing terms that could harm nontribal racetracks and other gambling businesses in some parts of the state, including the Bay area. Already, some parimutuels are leaning hard on lawmakers to reject the deal." "Gaming deal's approval not set in stone".

"Beet-faced droolers who show up at town-hall meetings"

Carl Hiaasen: "It's easy to get distracted by the vaudevillian aspects of the health-care debate."

My favorites are the few beet-faced droolers who show up at town-hall meetings to rail against government involvement, while simultaneously warning President Obama to "keep your hands off my Medicare'' -- the biggest, costliest, most socialistic government program in U.S. history.

As LeMieux picks out Crist's curtains ...

The Tallahassee Democrat editorial board: "No plan — apart from happy-go-lucky Charlie Crist optimism — is in place to help citizens recover from an enormous disaster, the likes of which our state has felt before (Andrew, 1992) and, as a state with more miles of coastline than any other, is almost certain to feel again. There is right now no way for the state's underfunded Citizens Property Insurance Corp. — even coupled with private insurers — to cover losses of $50 billion to $100 billion if a major Florida city is hit." "Hurricane reason".

"It's going to get uglier, folks"

Myriam Marquez: "The lines went out the door and around the block -- residents eager to tell their elected leaders they're not doing their jobs."

Frustrated by job losses, by climbing property tax rates even as their home values drop, by hefty pay raises to an elite group of bureaucrats, the people spoke up for eight hours on Thursday. It was like a full-time job -- and it paid off.

By 4:30 a.m. Friday, Miami-Dade County Commissioners voted 8-5 to keep the tax rate where it is. Not even the small increase that Mayor Carlos Alvarez proposed to help close a $427 million budget hole was granted.

This means the county's hole just grew into a $444 million crater.

Alvarez's proposed 5 percent across-the-board pay cut for the county's 30,000 workers will only close $100 million of that gap. Now that the majority of commissioners said "No!'' to a tax hike, they must say yes to a larger pay cut for employees, starting at the stratospheric top -- at the county manager's job.

It's going to get uglier, folks.

"The special interests and their lackeys"

Scott Maxwell asks, what's the matter with Kansas Tea Baggers? He posits, "If only the facts mattered."

Instead, emotions and talking points prevail.

And the results are surreal — people screaming in town halls, begging to limit their own rights.

We hear from people who claim to revere this country's founding principles and are willing to fight till their dying breath to protect the Second Amendment or the First ... but who seem eager to abandon the Seventh.

And why? Because some talk-show host told them to? Because their chamber of commerce told them it might be good for business?

Certainly the proposals titillate Corporate America.

After all, virtually every proposal that's out there — from capping damages and making it tougher for poor people to file lawsuits to taking juries out of the equation altogether — means less accountability.

And so the special interests and their lackeys portray "tort reform" as some sort of magical elixir that will instantly drive costs way down.

Except it won't.

Medical malpractice litigation is a broken and corrupt system.

It needs to be overhauled for reasons that go well beyond the cost it adds to health care.

Malpractice attorneys would have you believe they bring justice to the injured and improve medical care by policing the doctors and hospitals.

That is nonsense. ...

This is not to say malpractice lawyers are evil. They simply are business people seeking to maximize profits.

Remember that?

"After delaying it this year, lawmakers will again face the quandary of how to implement the final stage of a class-size reduction law that could cost the state upwards of $1 billion." "Class-size reduction a ticking time bomb on horizon for Collier, Lee schools".

Interstate Commerce

"A 15-minute drive from Tallahassee, and a few miles north of the Georgia line, Florida smokers have been crowding the parking lot at Huds III convenience store and Texaco station in tiny Beachton, where cartons of premium cigarettes are $8 to $12 cheaper." "State cigarette sales plunging with new dollar-a-pack tax".

"Which comes first, football or politics?"

"Florida politicians of both stripes will be using luxury boxes at football games to entice check-writing contributors to pony up for the 2010 elections, beginning Monday at the Miami- Florida State showdown in Tallahassee. Besides that game, House Democrats have three other football cash calls this fall: the Nov. 8 Green Bay Packers-Tampa Bay Bucs game at Raymond James Stadium; the Nov. 28 Seminoles- Gators showdown in Gainesville; and the Dec. 6 Houston Texans- Jacksonville Jaguars game." "Football for fundraising".