Hasner said the policy to automatically restore some civil rights to most felons should be suspended after learning mistakes were made, and pointed out embattled community organizing group ACORN supports the program. He also cast blame on Democrat Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink for voting for the policy when it was put in place in 2007.

The statement came a day after Sink raised concerns about an audit that showed 13 felons had their rights restored even though they shouldn't have. She said at a Clemency Board meeting Thursday that rights should be rescinded in at least three cases because they involved convictions for aggravated or sexual battery.

The board, which is made up of Crist and the three Cabinet members, will review the cases in December. Crist, Sink and Republican Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson voted for the automatic restoration of voting rights for most felons. Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum voted against it. Sink and McCollum are candidates for governor in the 2010 election.

The headline on Hasner's press release read "Felons owe thank you to Alex Sink, ACORN." Reached later Friday, Hasner said he was only trying to point out that Sink supported the rights restoration policy and is now seeking to rescind rights.

"Anyone who voted in favor of that policy should be held accountable regardless of their political party, and Bill McCollum was wise in voting against it," Hasner said.

Self-styled "journalist" at work

"A measure backed by one of Washington's oddest couples — libertarian Republican Ron Paul of Texas and self-styled progressive Democrat[*] Alan Grayson of Orlando — took another step toward becoming law Friday." "Alan Grayson, Ron Paul join for push to audit Fed".

- - - - - - - - - -
*Why is the "progressive Democrat" label prefaced with "self-styled" by the dear "reporter", one "Mark K. Matthews", self-styled, "Washington Bureau" reporter.

"Things can't get much worse"

Steve Bousquet: "Things can't get much worse for the trial bar and its statewide lobbying arm, the Florida Justice Association." "Things can't get much worse for trial lawyers in Florida".

"After months of remaining tight-lipped ..."

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board: "After months of remaining tight-lipped about health care reform, Sen. Bill Nelson jumped into the debate with both feet this week. The Florida Democrat made national news with two proposed amendments to the legislation being debated by the Senate Finance Committee. One was well-intentioned; the other was more about good politics than good policy. " "Nelson's health care stumble"..

The latest from Zell: Dubya victim of "scurrilous attacks"?

The The Orlando Sentinel editorial board laments:

Former President George W. Bush also knows a thing or two about scurrilous attacks from political enemies.

RPOFers desperate to attack Sink ...

... and some of Florida's newspaper companies eat it up.

This apparently qualifies as news: "Alex Sink is Twitter pal with ACORN".

That so-called "news" should be leavened with a bit 'o this, courtesy of the The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "Thank goodness that Congress cut off money to an organization that works for poor people. We can't have too much of that in Washington when the wealthy need so much help."

In one way, we're thrilled that Republicans now are so worried about money going to a "corrupt" organization, as they call ACORN. Obviously, the GOP now will get tough on the private companies that get tens of billions each year in contracts, compared with the $53 million ACORN has received over the last decade.

The real disappointment about what those ACORN employees did is that their actions will result in less advocacy for the poor, who have enough trouble getting attention from a Congress where the social schedule revolves around fund-raisers. The story now will be ACORN's response and the attempt by Republicans to tag anyone who has had contact with the group. The real story should be those overlooked Americans.

'Glades

"The legal fight over Gov. Charlie Crist's half-billion-dollar Everglades restoration land deal now moves to Florida's highest court. Opponents trying to torpedo the deal for 73,000 acres of U.S. Sugar Corp. farmland this week filed their anticipated notices to appeal, which puts the case in the hands of the Florida Supreme Court."

Crist proposes that South Florida taxpayers pay $536 million to buy land that could be used to build reservoirs and treatment areas to restore water flows from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades.

The Miccosukee Tribe and sugar producer Florida Crystals are fighting the deal, arguing it costs taxpayers too much with no guaranteed results and that it takes money away from other stalled Everglades restoration projects.

The legal fight centers on the South Florida Water Management District's ability to borrow the money to pay for the land. The district leads Everglades restoration and South Florida property taxpayers would end up paying off the long-term debt.

George Will writes that Rubio "probably will" win

George Will: "Leading national Republicans rushed to endorse Crist. In tennis, such decisions are called unforced errors."

Because so many companies do business with state governments, governors are fundraising dynamos, so a Crist nomination would not burden the national party, which helps explain why party leaders like him. But that is myopic reasoning.

Crist expanded, and vetoed reform of, the state's reckless version of a property insurance "public option." It is government-run insurance that, by offering rates lower than rational assessments of risk would dictate, has driven private insurers to limit their business or even stop doing business in the state. When a huge hurricane hits, Florida -- and U.S. -- taxpayers might have to foot the bill, by which time Crist plans to be in Washington.

Crist, says Rubio, "never thought he'd have to run in a Republican primary again." Probably only about 20 percent of Florida's 4 million registered Republicans will vote in the closed primary in late August in a nonpresidential year. So, about 450,000 votes might win it. That many can come from Republicans who are attentive to politics even in late summer because they are ideologically driven.

As is Rubio, which is why National Review, the bimonthly encyclical of the church of conservatism, had him on a recent cover and why the Club for Growth, a group that contributes to Republicans friendly to free markets, should support him. Crist has a large lead in name recognition, and hence in polls. But where Rubio and he are both known, they are neck and neck. ...

In January 2011, one Floridian will leave for the U.S. Senate. He is unlikely to be a former governor at odds with his party's nominating electorate, or the probable Democratic nominee, Kendrick Meek, a hyper-liberal congressman. Rubio intends to prove that "in the most important swing state, you can run successfully as a principled conservative." He probably will.

$1.588 billion of construction work on the horizon

"Florida Power & Light's proposal to build a $1.588 billion natural-gas pipeline through 14 counties will be discussed at a public meeting Monday in Volusia County." "FPL natural-gas pipeline would run through 14 Florida counties".

I am shocked, shocked ...

"State House Rules Committee Chairman Bill Galvano Thursday dismissed a complaint filed by Rep. J.C. Planas, R-Miami, earlier this month alleging that House Speaker Larry Cretul broke House rules by reshuffling committees without a vote of the full chamber." "Complaint against Florida House speaker dismissed".

Another Chiles

"Ledger: Bud Chiles May Seek CFO Post".

"Dirt cheap prices"

The Miami Herald editorial board: "Three Broward County public figures -- two office holders and one former elected official -- are charged with engaging in fraudulent acts, apparently with such minuscule rewards that it makes you wonder:"

Is this just the tip of the iceberg for their alleged kickbacks and other illegal activity -- or did they think so little of their public jobs that they sold them out for dirt cheap prices? What are Broward voters to make of such casual disregard for the law, for the public trust, for the oath of office these three took?

County Commissioner Josephus Eggelletion Jr. laundered money collected from a Ponzi scheme that netted him all of $15,000, according to acting U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Sloman.

School Board member Beverly Gallagher allegedly agreed to secure a $71 million contract for a school construction project in exchange for a $12,500 payoff from the would-be bidder.

Former Miramar city commissioner Fitzroy Salesman, according to a federal indictment, collected $5,840 for helping contractors bid for city projects.

"WWMD?!" What would Marco do?

The question now looms large, stretching all the way from the seat once held by now-suspended Broward County Commissioner Josephus Eggelletion to the governor's mansion in Tallahassee. Who would have imagined that a conservative Republican from West Miami would have such an impact on the politics of Florida's biggest Democratic stronghold?

That's the harsh reality, though, as the dust settles from this week's arrests of Eggelletion, Broward County School Board member Beverly Gallagher and former Miramar City Commissioner Fitzroy Salesman. What would have been a simple matter of selecting the best candidate now becomes a potential political risk.

Clearly, no one knows that better than Gov. Charlie Crist, who finds himself embroiled in a real fight in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate against former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio.

PSC

"Although Public Service Commissioner Lisa Edgar was cleared of ethics charges that she improperly communicated with a utility lobbyist about a pending case, the man who filed the complaint says her recollection doesn't match the audiotape and transcript of the hearing." "Probe of cleared PSC commissioner called incomplete".

Related: "FPL to implement $900 million rate hike before PSC vote".

The incredible rigors of working at least three days a week in Washington, sitting through the back-breaking stress of committee meetings, the slave labor demands of making his way to the Senate floor to vote on stuff, the draconian imposition of delivering the odd speech now and then, was simply too much to expect of one man — all for a lousy, stinking, measly $174,000 a year in chump change.

Too much, too much.

And thus, Mel Martinez decided to follow in the footsteps of that other renowned quitter, Sarah Palin, and run away from the public responsibilities his constituents, his supporters, his donors, his state and his party helped elect him to fulfill. ...

Spared the prospect of spending too much time with his children and grandchildren, Martinez has landed a gig with the mega-law firm DLA Piper, which is crawling with 3,500 mouthpieces, spanning 29 countries in 67 offices. Chances are, if Martinez never darkens the firm's doorway, no one will hardly notice — just like his Senate service*.

At the time Martinez announced his wish to stiff the people of Florida by surrendering faster than a Dale Mabry floozie, the senator insisted he had absolutely nothing on his platter, no future plans, no aspirations beyond reading Dr. Seuss to his grand tots, To Whom It May Concern and Occupant.

The reality is despite the two-year [lobbying] ban, Martinez most certainly is joining DLA Piper not because of his keen, Matlockesque legal acumen**, but as a de facto lobbyist. Or put another way, his all too brief time in the U.S. Senate was little more than a four-year, taxpayer-funded master class on how to succeed at influence peddling.

This much is pretty certain. One area Martinez, who beat a hastier retreat from his public vows than Britney Spears from Kevin Federline, won't be consulting clients on is contract law — you know, irritating legal concepts such as when someone hires you for a job for a specific period of time, you are expected to honor your word even if a better deal comes along.

Nelson speaks

"This week Sen. Bill Nelson has thrust himself into the health care debate with a controversial plan to protect seniors covered by Medicare Advantage, a plan some fellow Florida Democrats oppose." "Nelson seeks to save Medicare Advantage".

"Charlie is ... never really completely there"

Scott Maxwell: "Just like Casper [the Friendly Ghost], Charlie is always smiling, always friendly — and yet never really completely there."

Both are incurably optimistic.

Neither one ever wants to make any enemies.

And both are quite transparent.

Heck, even when our governor decided to up and marry someone just in time to raise his national profile, he was basically taking a page from Casper — Volume 20, when the ghost spiced up his story line by introducing a gal pal, Wendy the Good Little Witch.

The only thing unsettling about this analogy is that Casper did have one pseudo-nemesis — which leads us to the visually disturbing image of the diaper-clad devil baby ... Marco "Hot Stuff" Rubio.

Fess'n up

"Trial lawyers fess up to racial mailer in Senate race".

Get this ...

... from the fellow Mel Martinez called the "anti-family" "darling of homosexual extremists". "McCollum: Trial lawyers apology 'too little, too late'".

George Crist supports drilling closer to the state of Florida

"On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate voted against an attempt to keep in place a plan by the Bush administration to allow oil and gas drilling along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts."

The 56-42 vote killed a proposal by Sen. David ["in the ho's black book" Vitter, R-La., that would have blocked the Obama administration from pursuing its own policy on offshore drilling.

And the Florida Legislature, most agree, will consider legislation when it reconvenes to lift at least part of the ban on drilling in the Gulf .

Florida Energy Associates contends that the two sides debating drilling in the Gulf are more interested in the politics than in solving the nation’s energy needs. The group’s financial backers are a "group of American patriots [sic] who would not be doing anything that would damage our environment," said David Rancourt, a lobbyist with the Southern Strategy Group who also represents Florida Energy Associates*.

At the federal level, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., has been fighting for years to keep drilling off Florida shores, especially in the Gulf.

In Wednesday’s vote, Nelson sided with the majority, and "viewed the vote as an attempt to bring drilling closer to the state of Florida," said Bryan Gulley, spokesman for Nelson. Newly appointed Sen. George LeMieux, R-Fla., voted for the amendment.

Record enrollment

"Recession fuels Florida college enrollment: 8 state universities hit records".

Florida parole board incompetence

"Audit blasts Florida parole board's performance".

"It's a made-up quote"

Congressman Kendrick Meek's U.S. Senate campaign was stunned to hear that St. Petersburg City Council candidate Vel Thompson has a campaign flier including a photo of her and Meek with this quote:

"As a home-grown boy from St. Petersburg I hope you will vote for Vel to represent District 6 this November and vote for me for U.S. Senate next November."

It's a made-up quote, said Ana Cruz, senior adviser to the Meek campaign.

Crist's "shadow panels"

In an obvious attempt to keep his wingnuts under wraps, "Crist has created shadow panels that include lawmakers, a retired Supreme Court justice and other outside advisers to help him make court appointments."

That's drawn criticism from a political opponent who says Crist may be trying to circumvent nominating commissions set up by the Florida Constitution. The commissions, designed to take some of the politics out of the appointments, vet applicants and submit a list of finalists to the governor.

Shadow panelists have been asked to interview applicants for judgeships in Hillsborough, Miami-Dade and Pinellas counties and the 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee over the past year, according to records obtained by the Daily Business Review, based in Miami.

They don't indicate how extensive the practice is but show that panelists usually got the same information given to nominating commissions.

Former state House Speaker Marco Rubio, who is opposing Crist for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination next year, said the panels operate "outside the public light" and have politicized the process.

Meggs says he has the goods on Sansom

"State Attorney Willie Meggs"

told Leon County Judge Terry Lewis on Wednesday morning that he will soon submit discovery evidence showing that e-mails sent to former House Speaker Ray Sansom regarding the $6 million airport hangar sought by developer Jay Odom were in fact opened.

"We keep hearing them say there is no evidence Sansom received those e-mails from (former Northwest Florida State College president) Bob Richburg, but our IT people say they can tell they were received and opened," Meggs said.

Meggs and Dobson appeared before Lewis on Dobson's motion to have the perjury charge against Sansom dismissed. Sansom also faces an official misconduct charge in the case, in which he is accused of working with Richburg and Odom to get money for the building that Odom would partly use for his corporate jet business. Odom and Richburg also face felony official misconduct charges.

Lewis heard from the two attorneys for about 45 minutes as Sansom looked on, but he made no promises as to when he might rule on the dismissal motion.

Florida Parole Commission's backlog of 33,000

"A state audit criticizes the parole commission for errors and a backlog of 33,000 felons whose applications for civil rights restoration were ignored." "As the governor and Cabinet today consider requests from 99 ex-felons seeking to regain civil rights, the Florida Parole Commission is again fending off criticism about its performance.".

"A pernicious wrinkle in the election law"

Bill Cotterell thinks the Legislature "ought to make quick work of eliminating a pernicious wrinkle in the election law that wastes money and makes elections un-democratic."

We'll see an illustration of this next month, as five Northeast counties spend almost $700,000 installing former House Speaker John Thrasher in the Florida Senate.

Thrasher polled nearly 40 percent of the vote in a Republican primary this month, besting three GOP competitors, and no Democrats ran for the seat of the late Sen. Jim King. But election officials will have to open the polls Oct. 6 and print ballots containing only Thrasher's name and space for voters to write in one of three men who signed up for the race.

Only 22 percent of eligible Republicans voted in the primary. Duval County Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland told the Florida Times-Union he expects turnout of 4 percent to 6 percent in the finale next month.

But the counties will still have to operate scores of polling places, all day, paying staff and providing security. The Times-Union said cost estimates range from $38,000 in little Nassau County to $300,000 in Duval.

With all due respect to people who offer the voters an alternative, write-ins are not serious candidates. But law and custom require the state to provide a method for people to put themselves out there when they can't or won't pay the qualifying fee.

"Rubio is the most confounding of foes"

Mike Thomas: "Marco isn't dead."

In fact, he was on the cover of National Review last week, looking very much alive.

And the longer he lives, the greater the threat he poses to Charlie Crist's plan to ascend to the U.S. Senate.

Rubio is the most confounding of foes.

He should be in the attorney general's race, where there is no serious Republican opposition. That could give him a statewide win, and unlimited time and opportunity to seek higher office.

If he followed the playbook, he would be a good team player, pay his dues and wait his turn.

Yet he remains fixated on the seemingly impossible task of taking out Crist. This raises a disturbing possibility for the governor's campaign.

Crist gutted the state's growth-management laws, then ran off to a Colorado fundraiser put on by developers, where seats went for $2,400.

SunRail

The Orlando Sentinel editorial board: "SunRail's supporters have been handed more time to convince the Legislature of the project's worthiness. " "Still time for SunRail".

Lake O

"An EPA memo documents a troubling trend of nutrient pollution in Lake Okeechobee, which is at the heart of South Florida's water supply system." "Polluted Lake Okeechobee getting dirtier".

Who writes these headlines?

"Citing 'mistakes' by the Florida Parole Commission, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink tried Thursday to revoke the unauthorized restoration of civil rights to 13 people, including a man who raped a minor."

But her colleagues on the state Board of Clemency, including Gov. Charlie Crist and Attorney General Bill McCollum, Sink's opponent in the 2010 governor's race, opted for a more deliberative approach and agreed to consider the cases at their next meeting in December.

State auditors uncovered the 13 cases last week in a report that faulted the Parole Commission for lapses in processing civil rights restoration requests.

"We probably ought to rescind those rights that were awarded,'' Sink said. In addition to a case of statutory rape that was not eligible for automatic restoration under the new rules, she said two other cases involved aggravated battery and that four ex-felons failed to make financial restitution to their victims.

"We should look at them,'' McCollum agreed. "I don't think a decision needs to be made today but it needs to be looked at.'' Added Crist: "I agree.''

Traffic

Paul Flemming: "Let's take a (legal) drive down Statistics Lane".

Safety-netters

"The president of Jackson Health System -- Miami-Dade's government safety net for healthcare -- cautioned members of Congress on Thursday that some healthcare-reform efforts could penalize the state's largest Medicaid provider."

Eneida Roldan, president and CEO of Jackson, said proposals to cut the disproportionate-share program, designed to protect hospitals that provide significant uncompensated care, would be devastating to the healthcare system that already faces a $168 million shortfall.

"We are supportive of healthcare reform, but we'd like it to enhance, not detract from the safety-net providers,'' she told members of the Florida Congressional delegation during a meeting with Florida hospital and insurance executives.

Some of the proposals to pay for universal healthcare would involve gradually reducing payments to hospitals that handle more than their share of uninsured patients. Roldan said one Senate proposal would reduce the funds by $20 billion nationwide. In House proposals, the number is closer to $10 billion.

Proponents argue that the reductions would be phased in and that when more people have health insurance, they won't need to seek out emergency-room care.

But Roldan said the safety-net hospitals are worried that people won't be fully covered. And she noted that though some people might be covered, they might not seek out primary or preventive care -- and still show up in the emergency room.

"A monopoly that's bad for democracy"

"The nation's largest election company is purchasing a rival in a major deal that will make it the sole provider of voting machines in 65 of Florida's 67 counties and much of the nation."

Election Systems & Software's $5 million acquisition of Diebold Inc.'s voting company has prompted fears that the private company will become a monopoly that's bad for democracy.

Last week, another voting company, Hart InterCivic, asked a federal court to declare the transaction an illegal monopoly. A U.S. senator also asked the Department of Justice's antitrust division for a review. ...

Announced Sept. 2, the deal worries election supervisors and reform advocates in Florida, the nation's largest swing state and a proving-ground for election controversies since the disputed 2000 presidential election.

"ES&S acted like a monopoly even before it decided to become a monopoly,'' Sancho said, calling the purchase ``deleterious to democracy.''

Sancho said the company once attempted to pressure him into signing a contract that would have forced his staff to rely on ES&S to lay out ballot designs, supply the ballot paper and print the ballots. ...

ES&S made the touch-screen voting machines that had a disproportionately high number of non-votes in the 2006 congressional race to replace Rep. Katherine Harris. She was the secretary of state during the 2000 elections crisis that led to the banning of punch card machines in Florida, some of which ES&S supplied.

Mel missed his Orlando family so much ... he moved to Tampa.

Mel missed his Orlando family so much, he quit his job in DC ... and he moved to Tampa.

"Legal Times, which covers legal and lobbying issues in Washington, reported late Tuesday that Florida's former senator will become a partner in the Washington and Tampa offices of the DLA Piper law firm. DLA Piper's law firm says the company has 3,500 lawyers in 29 countries throughout the United States, Asia, Europe and the Middle East." "Report: Mel Martinez will join law firm in Tampa". See also "Mel Martinez headed to lobbying job?".

Entrepreneurs in action

"Two prominent GOP donors from Tampa Bay, James MacDougald of St. Petersburg and Greg Capello of Tampa have launched The Free Enterprise Nation, to combat excessive government spending and bureaucracy." "Tampa Bay businessmen launch free enterprise foundation".

You know it'll be a regular RPOFer laff riot when the website opens with a quote from that intellectual giant, Lou Dobbs.

The first three (of five) goals in the group's "statement of purpose" mimic the boring right-wing attacks on public education, police and firefighter wages, and public sector defined benefit retirement plans (which have largely been replaced in the private sector with cheap defined contribution plans)*:

- Educate businesses and workers in the private sector of the American economy about the true costs of government and public education.

- Disclose the pay and benefits disparities that exist between public sector and private sector workers.

- Consolidate and summarize information concerning the enormous and unsustainable costs to private sector taxpayers for the maintenance of public sector pre-age 65 retirements.

More entrepreneurs in action

"Eglin contractor sentenced in fraud scheme".

As Charlie campaigns ...

... "millions of Floridians are without health insurance". "Floridians marching out of state, lack health care".

More: "Florida health care costs soar, report says", "One-fourth of Brevard's working-age adults uninsured" and "Florida ranks 4th worst in U.S. on medical insurance".

And then there's this: "Are you drinking dirty water? Florida among 10 worst states for tap water".

"Coming to an Elks' lodge near you."

"Republican youth outreach. Coming to an Elks' lodge near you." A nice turn of a phrase, courtesy of a Buzz commenter.

"Florida behind Georgia, Alabama and even Mississippi"

Paul Cottle, a professor and undergraduate director in the Department of Physics at Florida State University, and a member of the committee that drafted Florida's new science standards:

Florida House Republican and speaker hopeful Erik Fresen of Miami has filed a bill for next spring's legislative session that is being touted as a way to raise standards for high-school graduation. But in science, Fresen's bill would leave Florida behind Georgia, Alabama and even Mississippi.

PSC stories

Maxwell: The first PSC story

involved a top PSC staffer who was caught partying with his wife at the home of an FP&L executive during the Kentucky Derby.

These publicly paid employees are supposed to regulate the utilities — not down mint juleps with them.

But it turned out that was just the beginning.

Next came news that other PSC staffers had been giving utility execs special access codes to their BlackBerrys. That meant they could swap secret messages — without leaving a paper trail.

State officials said they would check to see whether the messages can be recovered and whether any public-records laws were broken. But the utility execs probably needn't sweat. After all, this is Florida — where politicians are more likely to summon special interests to a fundraiser than a grand jury.

And if all that wasn't enough, one of the few outspoken members of the PSC — Commissioner Nancy Argenziano — says some of Tallahassee's veteran politicians have gotten so used to sucking up campaign cash from the utility companies that they'd sooner coronate than regulate them.

Two PSC staffers have resigned. Others were admonished or put on administrative leave. An investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is under way. And Argenziano has talked about involving either a state attorney or the FBI.

More PSC stories

"A state utility regulator who resigned this month after his bosses learned he partied with a Florida Power & Light official exchanged dozens of phone calls with FPL executives over five months, according to state records." "PSC regulator exchanged calls with FPL execs".

Where's Charlie?

"Rules too lax to prevent spread of exotic reptiles in Florida"

Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board: "Stricter about constrictors".

Utility and franchise taxe boost

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board: "If the PSC approves Progress Energy’s request for a base rate increase of about 30 percent, local governments that charge utility and franchise taxes will get an unexpected boost in their tax collections next year." "Utility tax could help save energy".

Luv 4 sale

"To solidify his grip on the Florida Senate presidency following the 2010 election, Sen. Mike Haridopolos, R-Melbourne, is walking a familiar path: He is collecting as much money as possible from special interests to make sure his allies win elections."

Since May, a newly formed political committee that Haridopolos controls raked in $1.1 million. That's an average of $44,000 on each of the 26 days the committee reported getting checks, or slightly less than the median household income of a Florida family.

The largest check, for $225,000, came from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington. Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Florida, based in Jacksonville, sent a check for $100,000 to Haridopolos' committee, as did the Petway Co., a Jacksonville insurance firm. Other donors ran the gamut of capital lobbying interests: agriculture, alcoholic beverages, hospitals and real estate development. ...

Asked whether special-interest money pollutes policymaking in Tallahassee, Haridopolos cited the millions of dollars that President Barack Obama received from labor unions in 2008.

Special risk politics

A Bill Cotterell column we missed: "Using the state's retirement fund to reward friends and make themselves popular is nothing new for Florida legislators."

But one of these days — certainly not in the 2010 session, but eventually — somebody is going to do right by the hospital attendants over in Chattahoochee. The "unit training and rehabilitation" workers, better known as UTRs, have been trying to get special-risk retirement benefits for decades.

But the Legislature never does anything about it because it doesn't have to.

Special risk retirement was originally intended for police, prison officers, firefighters and other employees whose jobs have just what the term implies — a special risk. Instead of the standard 1.6-percent pension credit that all Career Service workers accrue, those in high-hazard jobs get their pensions calculated at 3 percent of their average salaries for each year's service.

The idea is not only to compensate them for the dangers of their jobs, although that would be reason enough to give them higher pensions. But special risk also allows them to retire younger, so agencies don't have cops and guards [note to Bill: they prefer to be called 'corrections officers'] who are well past their prime — hanging in there because they can't afford to quit.

Bounced

"A Miami Beach mayoral candidate has been disqualified from the race for bouncing a check. ... LaRose said he will remain in the 2010 race for governor and the 2012 race for U.S. Senate as a Republican." "Miami Beach mayoral candidate bounced for check".

As Charlie raises campaign cash ...

The Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board: "Three years ago, the American Bar Association released a Florida Death Penalty Assessment Team report that raised serious concerns about the state's death penalty process. Since then, neither state government nor The Florida Bar has done much to remedy the problems."

Among the report's findings was that legal representation of death penalty defendants in post-conviction proceedings, particularly by certain private registry counsel, is often abysmal. The report makes several related recommendations, including reinstating the capital collateral regional counsel office, or CCRC, in the Northern Region of Florida. That office was disbanded as part of a still-ongoing pilot project launched during Jeb Bush's tenure as governor. ...

Another one of the report's recommendations embraces a Florida Supreme Court opinion that unanimously called upon the Legislature to revisit the death penalty statute. The report, like the opinion, observed that Florida is the only one of 35 death penalty states that allows a jury to decide that aggravating factors exist and to recommend a sentence of death by a majority vote. Despite the court's strongly worded opinion, the Legislature has been unresponsive.

It was reported that Gov. Bush said that the issue was "definitely worth consideration" and cautioned legislators not to ignore the court. Gov. Crist has voiced opposition to the recommendation.

Another alarming problem with Florida's death penalty is the number of defendants on death row who have been exonerated. The Death Penalty Information Center, a Washington-based nonprofit organization that provides independent analysis on issues concerning capital punishment, advises that Florida has exonerated more death-sentenced inmates than any other state since 1973. One inmate was exonerated after he died of cancer on death row.

Charlie's idea of a good job

While crucial issues of public policy languish, like flaws in Florida's death penalty (see above), Charlie campaigns in South Florida:

Said Burger King CEO John Chidsey: "We love having you in South Florida.''

Crist noted that Burger King employs about 20,000 people. Roughly 700 are at the corporate offices, while the rest are mostly lower-paid restaurant employees.

"They provide an awful lot of jobs for people in Florida and that's really the point,'' Crist said after meeting with top executives. "It's the economy, economy, economy, and any time I have the opportunity to visit a great Florida company that's international in scope and that really represents Miami and provides jobs . . . I'm very grateful.''

Asked about his fundraiser, Crist quipped, "Isn't that convenient?''

As Charlie rolls in campaign cash ...

... The Miami Herald editorial board reports that Florida's "the system for insuring homes and businesses against disaster remains badly flawed." "Storm warning: Prop up insurance".

He's baaack!

"Former US Rep. Foley to make talk radio show debut".

Special session?

"South Florida pari-mutuels want a November special session of their own, whether or not a gambling deal with the Seminole tribe comes together." "Tracks and frontons seek special session".

"Some fared better"

"For the most part, Florida's elected officials suffered through the economic downturn like the rest of us. But some fared better." "Report: Net worth of your politicians".

Nelson on HCR

"Florida Sen. Bill Nelson said he is prepared to offer 14 amendments, including one to protect proposed cuts to Medicare Advantage. Nelson wants to effectively phase out the extra benefits - which include vision and hearing care -- but help those that currently enjoy them." "Bill Nelson preps for health care debate".

A Florida story

"Rifqa Bary's family files complaint against pastors".

"An exodus"

"Reflecting hard economic times, census figures released today show that there's an exodus of people leaving Florida, that a sizable segment of the state's population lacks health insurance and that many families live in multigenerational households." "We're struggling -- and fleeing Florida".

NRA goes local

The Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board: "What part of illegal does the National Rifle Association not understand?"

In April 2006, the mayors of New York City and Boston hosted a summit for about a dozen of their peers to discuss ways to stem the trafficking of illegal guns in their cities. (Guns are involved in the deaths of 30,000 people a year in the country.) Mayors Against Illegal Guns then grew into a coalition of 450 mayors, 40 of them representing Florida cities -- including Miami, Tampa, Jacksonville, Orlando, West Palm Beach, Tallahassee, Oak Hill and Ormond Beach.

This month, the coalition lost more than 50 members. The number of its participating mayors is down to 393 following a bullying campaign by the National Rifle Association to target participating mayors as "anti-gun" and equating all gun-control measures, including those targeting criminals, as infringing upon Second Amendment rights.

The NRA's claims are bogus. Its methods aren't. One of its targets is Ormond Beach Mayor Fred Costello, an avowed gun advocate who nevertheless sees the clear line between legal and illegal gun ownership -- as the NRA refuses to. ...

It's a testament to the NRA's power that some elected mayors are begging it to clarify their status in the public's mind. It's also a testament to the NRA's power of misinformation that its fanatical distortion of reasonable and necessary gun laws (or proposed gun laws) still drives lawmakers' agenda. ...

The Second Amendment isn't in danger from any of these proposals. People's lives will continue to be, however, as the NRA does its part to make criminals' trades easier.

Your electric bills at work

"FPL goes to court to keep salaries secret". See also "FPL goes to court to keep salaries secret".

Speaking of utility bills ...

"With nearly $2 billion of combined electricity rate hike proposals, ethical scandals and election-year politics at stake, the Public Service Commission has almost replaced football as the talk of Tallahassee. " "PSC scandals, rate-hike proposals draw scrutiny".

Capitalism in the classroom

The Orlando Sentinel editorial board: "Desperate to patch yawning budget holes, school officials strongly are considering the noxious notion of throwing students to the marketing wolves by selling ad space on everything from gymnasiums to school Web sites. They should scrap those plans." "School ads: No sale".

ACORN follies

The Tampa Tribune editorial board wants you to see its right-wing stripes this morning: "ACORN smears itself".

SoFla "immigrant population dropped slightly"

"In both Miami-Dade and Broward counties, the immigrant population dropped slightly between 2007 and 2008, according to new data from the Census Bureau." "Foreign-born population dips in South Florida".

As Florida led the nation this summer in foreclosures and jobs lost, Crist raised an average of $86,000 a day. He partied with billionaire Donald Trump at the home of Jill Zarin, one of the reality TV stars of The Real Housewives of New York City, at a Tampa developer's Colorado vacation home, and at exclusive Washington addresses.

But critics say the governor's fervid fundraising -- which began just 17 months after his inauguration -- has gotten in the way of his day job.

"You've got the highest unemployment rate in Florida since 1975. It's fair to ask, 'Who is in charge? Who is working on these things?' '' said Rubio, who has challenged Crist to a series of debates. "When your campaign is 100 percent fundraising and 0 percent public policy, I think voters should be asking questions.''

Back at the ranch ...

... "Straw polls show GOP base not with Crist".

Alleged Dems

Alleged Dems pony up for Crist:

Orlando trial lawyer John Morgan remembers walking through the mall on a weekday afternoon when a familiar name popped up on his cellphone: Charlie Crist. ...

Florida's governor wanted to talk logistics about a fundraiser for his U.S. Senate campaign. Morgan offered to host a series of events, but Crist preferred a single blowout.

"What's our target?'' Morgan asked.

"Let's do a million,'' Crist replied.

Morgan reeled. "One thing I love about Charlie Crist,'' he said later, "he never gives you the opportunity to underperform.'' ...

Democrats get the same treatment, earning Crist raves for bipartisanship while quietly swelling his fundraising pool.

The day after Democrat Rod Smith lost the 2006 gubernatorial primary, Crist placed a sympathetic call to one of the campaign's top money men, attorney Danny Ponce. Crist was also one of the first to call Ponce after his father died.

Last January, the governor appointed the diehard Gator fan to the University of Florida's Board of Trustees.

"He practices politics in a very personal way, and it's hard to say no,'' said Ponce. His fundraiser for Crist last week in Gainesville was the first he ever hosted for a Republican.

Crist's most successful campaign event so far was hosted by some of the state's best-known Democratic trial lawyers, including Morgan.

More alleged Dems

"The only way Floridians will ever learn who's behind Florida Energy Associates is if the Legislature approves letting the company drill near the state's gulf beaches."

We're not shadowy, or we don't want to be,'' said Doug Daniels, a Daytona Beach attorney touring the state for Florida Energy Associates to promote overturning the drilling ban. Once the law is changed, he said, the process for applying for the leases will require making their names public.

For now, the only oilman identified as a principal is M. Lance Phillips, 49, who boasts that his family has been involved in drilling ``since there's been oil in Texas.''

When Tampa Bay's Agency on Bay Management put on a forum about overturning the drilling ban last week, Daniels showed up in person while Phillips listened on a speakerphone. The oilman said little, but chuckled loudly at the arguments put forward by drilling opponents.

"He's from a good Texas family,'' Daniels said afterward. "He's a third generation oilman. I'm a Democrat but he's a big Republican. He's friends with George W. Bush. He's somebody you'd instantly like.''

PSC

"An embattled Public Service Commission is beginning hearings in another major electric rate case." "Fla. panel hearing Progress Energy rate request". See also "PSC scandals, rate-hike proposals draw scrutiny".

"A loopy attempt at carnival sideshow"

Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board is less than happy this morning: "You may not have heard about the Florida Health Care Freedom Act, a loopy attempt at carnival sideshow by state Sen. Carey Baker, R-Eustis, and a score of his "line in the sand against socialized medicine" (Baker's words) cohorts over in the state House. They propose an amendment to the state constitution to exempt Florida employers and individuals from federal requirements to participate in any health care system should Congress enact them. And no you shouldn't take them seriously."

Baker et al are pitching this partisan twaddle knowing full well, though, that federal law's primacy would invalidate the state act. Not that it's likely three-fifths of the Legislature would approve the amendment for the November 2010 ballot or that 60 percent of Florida voters would be duped into passing it anyway. Make no mistake: This is mischief orchestrated to scare off support for the Democrats' reform effort and distract public attention from the hard work of overhauling a broken health care system. The Baker cabal's effort mirrors those in more than a dozen other states, ostensibly as a principled states' rights defense. They also want Congress to think Floridians oppose a health care overhaul that assures universal coverage, that we're all happy with the status quo and that these state legislators can be trusted to fix any problems with health care in Florida.

But what have Baker and the Legislature's Republican majority accomplished to that purpose? Let's see, these free-marketers pushed Florida Healthy Choices last year as panacea for the state's high rate of uninsured residents, now numbering some 3.6 million. So far, it's a bust, no insurers and no employers have signed up. There's little incentive for either to do so.

Absolutely nothing.

Nor would it advance any kind of reform.

Perhaps that is why it's becoming so popular.

In modern politics, doing little with great fanfare often scores more points than substance without it.

Even to describe this act as "doing little" might be generous — since many legal experts say that portions of it would almost certainly be deemed unconstitutional ... and consequently wouldn't do anything at all. ...

The act — a proposed amendment championed by state Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, and state Sen. Carey Baker, R-Eustis — essentially says that Floridians would not have to abide by all of the provisions in whatever reform Congress may pass.

Specifically, Plakon, Baker and their 27 GOP peers specifically want to allow Florida businesses and residents to be exempted from any requirement to carry insurance or pay penalties.

It is important to protect businesses' right not to offer insurance for their employees, they say.

after all, Article. VI. of the U.S. Constitution, that pesky "Supremacy Clause", is pretty clear that "... the Laws of the United States ... shall be the supreme Law of the Land ... any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding."

More preemption follies

The hullabaloo about federal preemption was indirectly at issue in the SD 8 election. Aaron Deslatte wrote:

The trial bar used organizations called 527s — named after a section of the IRS code and off limits to state regulators thanks to a recent federal court ruling — to buy TV ads to blast accusations about Thrasher's past.

Public records suggest the FJA also ran an absentee-ballot operation to identify GOP voters and push them to vote for one of the other three Republicans in the race.

Most politicos think the trial bar was behind the Conservative Voters' Coalition, a group that sent out thousands of direct-mail pieces warning that Black Panthers and "armed thugs" could try to intimidate voters. The mail bore an elephant graphic and used the word "Republican," leading voters to conclude it was a GOP-leaning group.

The mail pieces asked voters to request absentee ballots — but instead of sending them to an elections supervisor for processing, voters were asked to mail them to a post-office box in Jacksonville. That meant the group got the first crack at influencing those voters — with calls or more direct mail — before it turned in the ballot requests.

Of the 2,600 absentee ballots cast in Duval County, the heart of the senate district, roughly 1,900 were the result of requests dropped off by the Conservative Voters' Coalition. In Volusia, 478 of the nearly 800 absentee ballots cast came from the group.

Of the 33,771 total votes cast in the race, about 4,500 were absentee. Since Thrasher beat second-place finisher Dan Quiggle by only about 4,000 votes, those absentee voters could have been hugely influential.

Good little RPOFer Hasner jumps ...

... on an opportunity to suppress voting: "ACORN video scandal fallout: Hasner eyes elections law changes".

Tom Blackburn: "Congress sank to steamy levels of hypocrisy in de-funding ACORN, the community-organizing group that we have been carefully taught to vilify. A body that has never been able to condemn torture was able, in the end, to condemn what it saw on a made-for-propaganda video."

When ACORN, which began as a housing advocacy group, got into voter registration, its doom was as good as sealed. It could not afford to screw up. One of our major parties [(guess which one)]opposes voter registration.

The last straw - or so ACORN's enemies pretend - was a video showing a hooker and her pimp (played by amateur actors) getting housing advice from ACORN functionaries. For the sins of the functionaries, Congress pulled the plug.

"Unclear how much of that time is spent together"

"Nine months after Carole Rome married Gov. Charlie Crist before hundreds of guests in downtown St. Petersburg, the woman once so visible in the Hamptons now cautiously tiptoes around the limelight."

She has joined the Republican governor at several fundraisers for his U.S. Senate campaign, including Friday at the Gainesville home of Democratic lawyer Danny Ponce[*], whom Crist appointed to the UF board of trustees. But she has not hosted a state event since April, when she and the governor invited foster children to the mansion for an annual Easter egg hunt. ...

Gov. and Mrs. Crist say they divide their time between his rented condo in downtown St. Petersburg, her home on tony Fisher Island in Miami, and the Governor's Mansion in Tallahassee, where he typically lives during the week. It's unclear how much of that time is spent together.

Text messages

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board: "Text messages are public records too".

"Backroom budgeting invites mischief"

The Orlando Sentinel editorial board on the Tally budget process:

Legislators vote on the final document after a 72-hour waiting period. While they may debate its main issues in public, they often work out the details in private — sometimes in one-on-one bargaining sessions.

Deals involving millions of public dollars get cut behind closed doors by a handful of powerful politicians. It makes a mockery of Florida's Government-in-the-Sunshine laws and its constitutional guarantee of open government.

Backroom budgeting invites mischief. Consider the case pending against ex-House Speaker Ray Sansom. The Destin Republican has been indicted on charges that he used his former post as his chamber's budget chairman to secretly line up $6 million for an airplane hangar sought by a friend and political contributor. Mr. Sansom also steered millions of extra dollars to a college in his district, which then gave him a six-figure job on the day he became speaker.

The grand jury that returned the indictment against Mr. Sansom blasted the Legislature's budget process as giving "unbridled discretion" to the Senate president, House speaker and the budget chairmen in the two chambers. It "allows taxpayer money to be budgeted for special purposes by those few legislators who happen to be in a position of power."

"Not a particularly wise way to spend scarce tax dollars"

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board: "Florida recently announced it will shower more than $122 million on schools that earned an A or improved a letter grade under the state's ranking system. It might as well hand-deliver checks to teachers — some of whom just happen to be in the right place at the right time. The School Recognition Program is not a particularly wise way to spend scarce tax dollars, and the money could be redirected to better uses." "Florida's flawed school bonus plan".

FHP crackdown

The Sun-Sentinel editorial board: "FHP crackdown on unlicensed drivers a welcome relief".

Whoopee!

The Tampa Tribune editorial board: "Crist and the Cabinet correctly defended the state's growth management laws in a crucial ruling last week that also reminds all communities of their duty to protect the general public."

The ruling led to a rare land-use appeal before Crist and Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, Attorney General Bill McCollum and Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles Bronson. At the urging of DCA Secretary Tom Pelham, and despite pressure from the development lobby, they upheld the ruling.

The decision reinforces sound growth management at a critical time. Communities are being inundated with developer-backed land-use amendments, and governments are rushing to get state approval ahead of the controversial Hometown Democracy amendment set for a vote in November 2010. Should Hometown Democracy, also known as Amendment 4, pass, voters would have the final say on any amendment approved by local governments.

Had Crist and the Cabinet sided with Marion County and the developers, it would have opened floodgates that could have proven disastrous for growth management in Florida, where development interests have been getting most of what they want at local and state levels.

"Furious doofuses"

Mark Lane: "The past two weeks have been a setback for those who think of their nation as populated by rational, self-governing adults who aren't poised to turn into furious doofuses at a moment's notice."

It's sad, then, to see a serious [sic], longtime member of Congress like this area's Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, stand behind Wilson's flouting of House rules by voting against any disapproval of his actions.

All of this makes one nostalgic for the days when Democrats were always scolded for rolling their eyes when President George W. Bush had the lectern.

If you didn't know any better — judging from all the conspiracy theories, propaganda campaigns, and a grasp of history that on a Florida social studies FCAT test would score somewhere between Augusto Pinochet's body temperature and Mel Martinez's final poll numbers — you might well conclude last weekend's rally was being produced by Oliver Stone, who never met a grassy knoll he didn't love.

"Allegations of creating a hostile workplace"

"The president of the Florida Keys Community College has shaken the cobwebs out of the sleepy institution, but she could be fired due to allegations of creating a hostile workplace." "Florida Keys Community College president's job on the line".

Rosenberg

"Chancellor departs; a look back on Rosenberg's term".

Our python problems

"Wildlife officials keeping eye on new pythons". See also "New, nastier python enters Everglades fray".