There were 2.4 million Floridians living in poverty in 2008, a definition that depends on family size. For a family of four with two children, for instance, it was income below $21,834 last year.

Statewide, 18.4 percent of children 18 years old and younger were impoverished, a 6-percent jump from the 2007 estimate. Very nearly one in five children is poor.

The Gospel writer Matthew has Jesus tell his apostles, "For ye have the poor always with you."

I've heard lawmakers quote this Scripture to oppose increased social spending. But I've always taken it as an admonishment to be vigilant in our care, not because we can fix things but because it's important to lend a helping hand. Neither interpretation passes textual muster. Jesus was asking his friends to cut a friendly woman some slack as his crucifixion loomed.

LeMieux won't go away

"As Crist rival Marco Rubio has gained ground, LeMieux has quietly stepped up on behalf of his former boss. He co-headlined a Washington fundraiser for the governor last week and set up a political action committee, Protect America's Future, to funnel money to Crist and other political allies."

After Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe bucked the Republican establishment last month and endorsed Rubio, LeMieux sought to root out other potential defectors. At a private Capitol Hill luncheon with other Republican senators, LeMieux urged them to talk to him first before taking sides in the race. ...

Two people familiar with LeMieux's politicking for Crist said he privately told some senators that a "shoe was about to drop'' in the race against Rubio.

Days after the Washington luncheon, Tallahassee lobbyist Rich Heffley launched an anti-Rubio website and the Crist campaign began attacking Rubio's claim that he never raised taxes.

Asked what he told his colleagues, LeMieux said, "I don't want to go into personal conversations that I've had with other senators.'' ...

His decision to open a political action committee has heightened expectations that he will challenge Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012.

"For those who thought George LeMieux was going to be passed by in the Senate and not be noticed by many people, the exact opposite is the truth,'' said U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, who toured the Ryder Trauma Center in Miami Tuesday with LeMieux. "He's an extraordinary public servant.''

The best we can do?

"'We’ve talked about it a little bit,' says Gov. Charlie Crist". "Future in politics for Tim Tebow?".

Entrepreneurs in action

"Orlando-based ABC Liquors still expanding".

Oil drilling update

Scott Maxwell gives readers "an update on one of the biggest controversies facing the Sunshine State: oil drilling."

Earlier this year, it looked like the oil guys had lubed up the Legislature and drilling was on its way. House Speaker-designate Dean Cannon had heart-shaped oil slicks in his eyes and was trying to jam a bill through in a surprise campaign.

But now that the Senate has gotten involved, the urgency seems to have faded.

In fact, "deliberative" was the first word Altamonte Springs Republican Sen. Lee Constantine used to describe the expected debate. The second was "prudent."

Neither one sounds like a synonym for "speedy."

State sanctioned union busting

"A bill that would help create a commuter rail system in parts of Florida is being challenged by union leaders who call the proposal an attack on organized labor."

Florida AFL-CIO President Mike Williams said the Florida Department of Transportation, the Crist administration and Florida House want to allow the state to replace protected railroad workers with less qualified, less experienced non-union transit employees.

"That threatens vital protections for thousands of workers and, by extension, the safety of the riding public,'' Williams said.

Flippery floppery

"Since he launched his bid for a U.S. Senate seat this year, Crist has left environmentalists feeling jilted. He canceled his climate summit. He didn't fight the Legislature's move to end funding for the popular Florida Forever environmental land-buying program. He signed a controversial bill changing the state's growth management law. And he has all but endorsed a proposal to allow drilling for oil near Florida's gulf beaches." "Crist losing green reputation".

"No thanks"

"Stung by criticism of his extensive taxpayer-funded travel, Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp offered to repay the state when a Florida Highway Patrol trooper escorts him to and from political events in a state car."

The state's response: No thanks. Keep your money.

Kottkamp, a Republican candidate for attorney general, is frequently on the road on official business.

"Palsy-walsy"

The Miami Herald editorial board: "Beset by allegations of being too palsy-walsy with the industries it regulates, Florida's Public Service Commission should finally adopt reforms first recommended by a grand jury probing similar charges in 1992." "Let the sun shine on PSC business".

Florida "badly burned by mortgage-backed securities"

The Saint Petersburg Times editors: "Ohio's attorney general is suing the top three credit rating agencies for the loss of nearly $500 million in the state's retirement and pension funds. Florida should consider a similar action."

Florida also was badly burned by mortgage-backed securities. The state's investment pool for about 1,000 local governments bought at least $2.1 billion of these securities into 2007. The rating agencies vouched for them as being as safe as U.S. Treasury bonds. But in November 2007, the securities became toxic and the pool lost billions of dollars in paper value.

Florida was duped just as Ohio and so many other investors who thought they were being prudent by socking money in triple-A securities. A lawsuit is more than justified.

Accusing the Florida Legislature of doing a lousy job

Howard Troxler: "Can you win a lawsuit that accuses the Florida Legislature of doing a lousy job? Just such a claim was filed last week in Tallahassee by citizens unhappy with Florida's education system. ... The suit quotes many figures and claims:"

• The state has cut its share of school spending for years, forcing counties to raise their own taxes to keep up.

• We rank low in per-student spending and in teacher salaries.

• We rank high in assaults, bullying, threats on teachers, drug use and weapons on campus.

• We rank low in graduation rates, test scores and the performance of minority, low-income and disabled students.

• We abuse standardized tests such as the FCAT to the point of hurting education instead of helping.

But this will require an extraordinary act of judicial activism. Writing the school budget each year could become a two-step process: The Legislature passes it; the courts review it to make sure it is "high quality.''

If our Legislature is hostile to education, it is still the Legislature elected by the people of Florida. To be sure, our election system is biased by campaign-money loopholes and rigged voting districts. If we addressed those factors, we might have a different Legislature.

But that is hard. To an extent, filing a lawsuit like this is asking the courts to do the work of democracy for us.

"You should start"

The Orlando Sentinel editorial board: "If you're like us, or, we'd wager, most any of your neighbors, you probably spend little if any time thinking about where the waste goes every time your sink drains or your toilet flushes. But if you care about the health of the Kissimmee River, Osceola County's lakes, Lake Okeechobee, the Everglades and the coastal estuaries of South Florida, you should start." "Preserve the watersheds".

"Democratic challengers have failed to bring it"

"As epic battles go, U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite's Democratic challengers have failed to bring it in general elections."

The state and national Democratic parties, in turn, have failed to show up with cash and resources to help unseat Brown-Waite, a Brooksville Republican who has handily won re-election three times in a sprawling district drawn to favor the GOP.

Tom Doolan, a 44-year-old Mascotte lawyer and one of three Democrats who have filed papers to run next year, says that at least three things are working in the blue party's favor this time around.

"Largely untapped"

"The Sunshine State receives enough rays to power every home from Key West to Pensacola. It sits close to a powerful ocean current, which could generate electricity. And it could draw on the winds to light up homes. Yet these sources of green energy are largely untapped." "Plentiful, green energy goes untapped in Florida".

That's it?

"As state legislators engage in fall committee meetings, they have also started to propose resolutions and bills for the 2010 session."

Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, is seeking a state Constitutional amendment that would repeal the class size limits passed in 2002, while others are seeking to ask voters to add into the state Constitution a law that allows people to opt out of any pending national health care system.

Rep. Ron Saunders, D-Tavernier, is seeking to roll back the motor vehicle license and registration rate increases that went into place this past summer.

And 13 bills have been filed, each slightly different, to ban texting and cell phone use by motor vehicle drivers.

Beach renourishment

"The nine Supreme Court justices will hear oral arguments by Stop the Beach Renourishment Inc. and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection on Wednesday in a case that could determine the fate of beach renourishment projects nationwide." "The Supreme Court will take up area restoration battle on Wednesday".

Want another slice?

Tab for lunches leaves bitter taste "It would be interesting to learn how a $9 slice of cheesecake helps someone find a job. That's one of the questions the Tampa Bay Workforce Alliance faces after WFLA-Ch. 8 investigated the alliance's records and discovered it spent more than $20,000 on food in just over a year.".

Transgenders

"Orlando may include transgenders in anti-bias law".

RPOFers don't like this, why? ...

... some gibberish 'bout the tenth amendment.

"Under reform in Florida:"

• 4 million residents who do not currently have insurance and 1.1 million residents who have nongroup insurance could get affordable coverage through the health insurance exchange.

• 2.5 million residents could qualify for premium tax credits to help them purchase health coverage.

• 3.2 million seniors would receive free preventive services.

• 565,000 seniors would have their brand-name drug costs in the Medicare Part D "doughnut hole'' halved.

• 216,000 small businesses could be helped by a small business tax credit to make premiums more affordable.

• Ensures consumer protections in the insurance market. Insurance companies will no longer be able to place lifetime limits on the coverage they provide, use of annual limits will be restricted, and they will not be able to arbitrarily drop coverage.

• Creates immediate options for people who can't get insurance today. Ten percent of people in Florida have diabetes, and 28 percent have high blood pressure -- two conditions that insurance companies could use as a reason to deny health insurance coverage. Reform will establish a high-risk pool to enable people who cannot get insurance today to find an affordable health plan.

• Ensures free preventive services. 36 percent of Florida residents have not had a colorectal cancer screening, and 18 percent of women over 50 have not had a mammogram in the past two years. ...

• Supports health coverage for early retirees. ...

Florida's 3.2 billion Medicare beneficiaries will benefit as reform lowers premiums by reducing Medicare's overpayments to private plans.

All Medicare beneficiaries pay the price of excessive overpayments through higher premiums -- even the 72 percent of seniors in Florida who are not enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan.

Petitions

Bill Cotterell: "Some county elections supervisors are being swamped with voter petitions for twin constitutional amendments that would fundamentally change Florida politics." "Supervisor of Elections offices in Leon, other counties swamped with voter petitions".

"Early mediation"

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board: "Early mediation between lenders and homeowners shows promise in stemming the foreclosure filings flooding trial courts. Having the two parties discuss loan modification before a judge gets involved saves time, court resources and, ideally, a homeowner's residence. It's encouraging to see Pinellas-Pasco Chief Judge Thomas McGrady join this wave of commonsense policy. The rest of Florida needs to follow." "Foreclosure help".

Mack draws opponent

"A new opponent is in the wings for U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV, R-Fort Myers, as Cape Coral Democrat Jim Roach says he plans to enter the race. Roach, 57, who runs a computer consulting business, said his struggles with health insurance, and Mack’s seeming lack of awareness of how difficult attaining coverage for health care can be, are key reasons behind his decision to run."

Awarded the Bronze Star for his service as a helicopter tail gunner in Vietnam, Roach said he realizes running against Mack in this GOP-majority district can be "an uphill battle…but I think we need someone who can do a better job of representing the many, many interests we have in this area.”

Class-size limits

Mike Thomas: "If at first you don't succeed, keep screwing up."

That seems to be the mantra of some Republican legislators as they gear up once again to overturn the class-size amendment.

If this sounds familiar, it is. They have been at this since the amendment passed in 2002. It is a holy quest to undo that which people don't want undone.

Repeal would first require that two-thirds of legislators vote to put the measure back on the ballot. That will be hard enough.

Even if they succeed, the odds that 60 percent of voters then will agree that we should cram more kids into classrooms are about equal to the odds that the Florida State Seminoles will win in The Swamp on Saturday.

A 2006 poll by the St. Petersburg Times showed that 70 percent of voters are happy with smaller classes. If anything, the amendment is growing in popularity. Parents may not be up on teacher certifications and educational assessments, but they can count the number of students in their kids' classes. And they can calculate that more bodies means less attention for junior.

I've seen nothing to indicate that this sentiment has changed because of budget problems, the excuse given for this latest attempt to toss it.

If anything, there is a growing backlash against the ongoing cuts in education. The Legislature has spent this decade reducing its commitment to funding public schools, passing that burden to school districts and property taxes. This move only reinforces the perception that lawmakers are determined to shortchange education.

"Dark-horse"

"Dark-horse DeLand candidate for governor has eye on reform".

Daily Rothstein

Randy Schulz: "Not many who worked at the firm are talking, but Mr. Berger, who was a judge in Palm Beach County from 2002 until 2008, vented two weeks ago to The Post's Susan Spencer-Wendel."

Rothstein, Mr. Berger fumed, "really does deserve to be shot like a rabid dog."

Apparently, the firm had just two equity partners — those who shared in the profits and supplied the management: Rothstein and Stuart Rosenfeldt, who has claimed that he didn't know about his partner's scam. All of the other lawyers, who included Palm Beach County Commissioner Steven Abrams, had the title "shareholder" (Mr. Berger) or "partner" (Mr. Abrams) but received a salary only.

Lawyers have theorized to me that anyone who had such titles could be liable for the investors' money, even though Mr. Berger said that he and others were "just employees." Let's assume that the law is murky, and that the issue will take years to sort out, providing steady work for still more lawyers.

What is clear, though, is that before joining the firm few, if any of those "partners" asked themselves questions that I'd heard from curious lawyers in Palm Beach County. How could two men who specialized in labor law — not a top-tier income branch of the profession — create a firm that grew so fast? Who were the clients? Where was all that money coming from? How did Rothstein start living so flamboyantly after such a short time?

"There were no red flags," Mr. Berger said last week. "I go by personal relationships." He had known Mr. Rosenfeldt as a neighbor and friend. He was impressed by a lecture Rothstein gave. A law firm he respected was a client "When I was hired, (Rothstein) hadn't started on all the 'bling' stuff."

In fact, two months before Berger's hiring, Rothstein had treated himself to a three-day wedding at the Versace mansion on South Beach. In 2007, he had flashed $1 million worth of watches at a jewelry store. "I didn't know that," Mr. Berger said. "And what the hell would it have mattered? It tells me that he's a highly successful businessman."

But look who the politically minded Rothstein hired for the Palm Beach County office: a judge (Mr. Berger), the former mayor of Boca Raton (Mr. Abrams) and a Republican committeeman (Peter Feaman.) He hired other ex-judges. All came with résumés that bolstered the firm's credibility. Some would show up for an interview and be hired on the spot. Commissioner Abrams was making $204,000 a year, even though his elected office is a full-time position. How much did Mr. Berger make? "More than that."

Mr. Berger did acknowledge that Rothstein's bunker was "unusual" and "puzzling." But once in that office, Mr. Berger says, he found Rothstein "davening," the Hebrew term for praying. A rabbi came by the office once a week. "What was he doing?" Mr. Berger asked. "Conning God? To do that, and then do what he did at the firm, he's just an evil person. Pure evil."

Maybe he is. Still, Rothstein's employees and investors wanted to believe in the good pay and the big returns, even though a hard look probably would have given them less reason to believe. Rothstein had a lot of enablers, and some were happy to play the role.

"We understand that the shortage is now 300m which is still manageable if we have your cooperation," the Banyon investment group's chief operating officer, Frank J. Prevé, wrote to Rothstein on Oct. 31. "Let me know."

Rothstein's response: "That is not the shortage … that is the amount of money needed to give the investors back their money. I really just need to end it frank. It will make it easier for everyone."

The e-mail exchange suggests that Rothstein, who returned from Morocco in early November to face a federal investigation into his massive Ponzi scheme, may have conspired with Prevé to bilk hundreds of millions of dollars out of investors, according to an amended lawsuit filed Wednesday.

Brogan

"The first step on Brogan's to-do list: resolve a 2007 lawsuit in which the Board of Governors joined former Gov. Bob Graham to challenge the Legislature over its tuition-setting authority." "New state universities chancellor Brogan tries to mend ties with Legislature".

Hialeah Park

"Thousands expected to watch horse racing at Hialeah Park's grand reopening".

More than 1,000 people stood in line for hours at the Barnes & Noble at Colonial Plaza Market Center in Orlando for the chance to meet Palin. Many camped out the night before to get a wristband that, along with a book receipt, would guarantee a spot in line.

Palin's Orlando visit was part of a 31-city national tour that is largely avoiding big urban centers that voted for Barack Obama in 2008 in favor of more conservative communities. Orlando was one of only 11 scheduled stops in cities where a majority voted for Obama.

Limbaugh, Palin, Rubio and Crist

"Rush Limbaugh says Gov. Charlie Crist ought to take a lesson from Sarah Palin's popularity."

Limbaugh said he hasn't met Crist or former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio. He didn't make a formal endorsement but said "I like Rubio." He said Crist has lately been promoting his own conservative credentials, on issues such as guns and abortion. ...

Those are the voters Crist and Rubio will need to galvanize in the U.S. Senate primary next August.

"Republicans, the only chance they have to win a national election is to go conservative," said Limbaugh. He said the Crist-Rubio campaigns offer "a pretty stark contrast" of conservative values.

Limbaugh's praise is another conservative boost for Rubio, who recently made the cover of National Review magazine and has drawn endorsements from some of the more conservative members of Congress.

"A high-profile, politically-charged spectacle"

"Former House Speaker Marco Rubio and ex-Senate President Ken Pruitt could be called as witnesses in the House case against Rep. Ray Sansom, according to new documents that foreshadow a high-profile, politically-charged spectacle."

The names -- and many others -- were presented to Sansom's attorney by House prosecutor Melanie Hines. Sansom lawyer Richard Coates offered his own preliminary witness list that includes developer Jay Odom and former Northwest Florida State College president Bob Richburg. ...

The potential inclusion of Rubio in particular will attract attention as he's running for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate against Gov. Charlie Crist. Rubio was speaker during the two years that Sansom funneled millions to the college.

The Miami Republican has said he delegated responsibility to his top budget chief, and there is no evidence Rubio knew a $6 million airport building could have benefited Odom's corporate-jet business.

Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, was Senate president during the same time Rubio led the House.

Treating public education "like a hemorrhoid"

Scott Maxwell: "Florida politicians are among the least sympathetic creatures to inhabit the Sunshine State."

As I've said before, legislators and the governor of this state have long treated public education like a hemorrhoid — more of an annoyance they are forced to deal with than anything they truly care about.

They run campaigns vowing to be the public schools' best friend. Then, after getting elected, they become more concerned with steering money into their campaign accounts and toward special interests than they are with your children.

That's not anecdotal populist rage. It's fact.

We have low graduation rates, classrooms that have more kids than parents want, below-average teacher salaries and per-pupil spending that lags most states in America.

Despite legislators' vows to increase school budgets, state funding is lower this year than it was in 2003.

Yet during those years, Florida politicians found money to pay for things they truly wanted — like renovating the state House dining room and paying for planes to fly themselves all over the state and the globe.

While legislators were crying poor-mouth to our schools, they were defending tax breaks for everyone from lawyers to bottled-water companies — and handing out new breaks to out-of-state homeowners.

Even when voters try to help schools by passing the lottery and a class-size amendment to the state Constitution, lawmakers simply responded with shell games and loopholes.

How many years were we going to let these guys renege on their promises before calling them on the carpet?

Or better yet, summoning them to the courtroom.

Nelson wows Chamber crowd

"Senator Nelson slams Obama, Gulf drilling".

Tri-Rail

The Miami Herald editors: "Finally, some forward movement on securing the future of Tri-Rail and establishing SunRail, a commuter service in Orlando. Accomplishing these would keep Florida in the running for $2.5 billion in federal stimulus money for a Tampa-Orlando-Miami bullet train route."

Federal transportation officials have made it clear that Florida won't get a share of the $8 billion, which dozens of states are vying for, to build its bullet train unless the state first shows a commitment to mass transit. Specifically, finding a permanent funding source for Tri-Rail and giving SunRail the go ahead. Time's running short, because the federal money will be awarded early next year, well before the state Legislature meets in March.

That leaves just one possibility: a special session in December. Gov. Charlie Crist on Monday said he wanted to call the session. He should do so, now.

The other encouraging sign is that legislative leaders appear to be serious about solving Tri-Rail's chronic deficit and contributing to SunRail's start-up. They may even have found a funding source that's more palatable to some lawmakers than a proposed $2 surcharge on rental cars in the counties the train serves.

LeMieux Laff riot

If this isn't the pot calling the kettle black:

A slew of South Florida political scandals have uncovered "a culture of corruption'' that must be stamped out, freshman Florida Sen. George LeMieux said Tuesday. ...

In the past decade, Rothstein -- a Broward lawyer who allegedly bilked investors over bogus legal settlements -- helped steer about $2 million in campaign contributions to political causes, committees and candidates, including Gov. Charlie Crist. ...

Crist appointed LeMieux, his former chief of staff, to the Senate seat for which the governor is now a candidate in an increasingly competitive Republican primary. Rothstein attended LeMieux's swearing-in ceremony in September.

While lawyers in Broward's legal community whispered about Rothstein's source of seemingly inexhaustible funds, politicians and charities tooks loads of his money. ...

Crist has downplayed his relationship with Rothstein, though each attended the other's wedding reception.

"Florida's historic ... shady real estate practices"

The Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board: "When a borrower can no longer afford a mortgage, the lender holding the mortgage has several choices. One is to negotiate new terms directly or through a mediator with the borrower. That's usually to the seller's and borrower's best advantage. Another is to foreclose the property. That's expensive, time-consuming and costly to all parties. The lender takes a considerable loss. The borrower's credit is crippled for years."

A third choice is to execute a short sale. The property is not yet in foreclosure; the lender agrees to sell it at a loss, calculating that the loss would not be as steep as the costs of foreclosure. The borrower also escapes with fewer losses. The practice is legal. It helps sell some properties that otherwise would not sell. And it ensures some return to lenders. There's also such a thing as short-sale flipping. Whoever buys the property in a short sale fixes it up or improves it, then puts it on the market again, usually for a higher price. If the market can bear the price, the new seller makes a profit. All of that is legal as long as the transactions are conducted on good faith.

Here's where it gets murky, and where Florida's historic reputation for exploiting shady real estate practices flames on. In hundreds of cases documented by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune just in Sarasota and Manatee counties, short-sale flipping is taking place within days or hours of the initial short sale. Real estate analysts don't have to look too far for an explanation. People buying a property off a short sale are doing so with another buyer already lined up. It's been dubbed "flopping." In many cases, the same property is sold repeatedly, creating a Ponzi scheme in which the ultimate buyer is left holding the bag. Along the way, middlemen have made money but the original lender has been cheated of some profits through deceptive means.

Here's how it works. ...

National Haitian American Elected Officials NetworkPublic Service Commission reviews old grand jury recommendations

"The National Haitian American Elected Officials Network, formed by 22 elected officials from Florida to New Hampshire, met for the first time last month in Washington to discuss immigration legislation and U.S. policy and aid toward Haiti."

Despite its fledgling status and size, the group of state lawmakers, mayors and city-council members managed to attract a handful of power players -- including officials with U.S. aid agencies and Obama's Haiti-born political director, Patrick Gaspard -- to its two-day conference.

"You stay persistent,'' urged Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar, one of several members of Congress who addressed the group. "Remember, it's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.''

Observers and politicians involved in the effort to launch the network suggest its formation could mark a new chapter for an often fractious community that has not wielded significant political clout, particularly at the national level.

"PSC makes moves"

"After 17 years and another black eye, the PSC makes moves to adopt 1992 grand jury report." "Public Service Commission reviews old grand jury recommendations". Related: "Workshop on PSC brings renewed calls for openness".

Not enough troopers? Wonder why?

The Tampa Tribune editorial board: "Florida, along with a dozen other states, has reduced the size of its highway patrol since 1995 while population and traffic have increased."

Holding the line on spending in recent years has been essential because of the recessionary drop in state income, but skimping on traffic enforcement has been a consistent trend through Florida's good times and bad.

Next year lawmakers should reverse the trend.

An analysis by USA Today found that in the past 13 years, Florida's population increased by 28.8 percent and the number of troopers fell by 4.6 percent.

With heavy traffic expected over the long Thanksgiving weekend, the Florida patrol is wisely sending supervisors and administrators out of the office and onto the highways to beef up its presence.

The patrol has not been required to lay off troopers, but strength has fallen as vacancies have gone unfilled, says FHP Capt. Mark Welch.

"Spending habits of work force boards"

"State Sen. Mike Fasano wants to know why the Tampa Bay Workforce Alliance isn't answering questions about how it is spending taxpayer dollars on lunches and food. He also plans to launch a Senate investigation into the spending habits of work force boards across the state."

One of the many meals delivered to the Net Park Corporate office cost taxpayers $155. It included two appetizers, three entrees, and three slices of cheesecake for which the agency paid roughly $9 a slice.

Daily Rothstein

"George Levin, a wealthy Fort Lauderdale investor with Wall Street connections, thought Scott Rothstein's confidential legal-settlement deals were a sure thing. So much so that Levin invested as much as $125 million of his own money, and hundreds of millions more from other investors through his group of Banyon hedge funds." "Investor pumped millions into Rothstein's scheme". Related: "4 Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler lawyers probed by Florida Bar", "Hedge fund was doing $75 million per month with Rothstein", "Weeks later, Crist boots Rothstein from judicial commish", "Crist suspends Rothstein from judicial panel", "The good ole days with Alex Sink and Scott Rothstein" and "Prosecutors: Rothstein covered payroll using scheme".

Whatever the TaxWatch wingers want ...

... The Orlando Sentinel editorial board is happy to pass it along: "TaxWatch was right in calling the [school size] amendment a blunder. Refusing to calm the financial storm it has created, and will continue to create, would be an even bigger mistake." "Revisit class-size limits".

In a widely anticipated speech to the Broward Republican Party, Gov. Charlie Crist sought to regain momentum in the U.S. Senate race Monday by portraying his surging Republican competitor as all talk and no action.

Crist addressed roughly 300 activists at the same Fort Lauderdale hotel where former House Speaker Marco Rubio spoke last month as part of a statewide offensive to show up the governor at Republican clubs across Florida. ...

Crist, who used to act like the inevitable nominee for the Senate, no longer sounded like someone taking anything for granted. He seemed instead like a candidate who, after months of steady criticism from conservative activists and from Rubio, is eager to engage and peel away the veneer on the former state House speaker. ...

The Rubio campaign brushed off Crist's hints that he would paint Rubio as a phony.

Maddox goes after RPOFers on drilling

Catherine Dolinski: "Democrat Scott Maddox said today that he wants to make the debate over offshore oil drilling a major issue in his 2010 race for the office of state agriculture commissioner."

That shouldn't be hard, since the next commissioner may have a key vote on drilling. It's also an issue that sharply divides Maddox from both GOP candidates: U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam and state Sen. Carey Baker.

Maddox, a lawyer in Tallahassee and former chairman of the state Democratic Party, is one of four Democrats running for commissioner of agriculture and consumer services. Maddox is leading the pack comfortably, having raised more than $170,000 by the end of September, or nearly $150,000 than all of the other Democratic contenders combined.

"Ridiculous"

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board: "State officials should be embarrassed for sticking by such major polluters as paper, pulp and phosphate manufacturers and for tarring the cleanup as a back-door tax."

Predictably, the polluters [including their Chamber and AIF shills] and the state bureaucracy that enables them oppose the EPA's involvement, saying it will lead to arbitrary pollution limits and require a back-door "federal water tax" to clean up what's now flowing into public waterways. Both arguments are ridiculous. The pollution limits are arbitrary now; if anything, quantifying the pollution caps into actual levels for specific waterways will give industrial polluters more clarity. And industries have no way of knowing what costs consumers might face until the EPA establishes the pollution limits. That process will continue through October. The opponents, including two former state environmental secretaries, are seeking a reprieve from Congress. That shouldn't happen.

"Jeb!" tries to make himself relevant

Mike Thomas: "Gone, but not about to be forgotten, Jeb Bush loaded up his musket and once again took aim at that rascally varmint — Charlie Crist."

The volley came in a Sunday column Jeb wrote, in which he said "populist'' power politics will doom us to a future of huddling around candles in the living room.

"Populist'' is code for Charlie.

Jeb has no qualms about making people unhappy now because he's all about consequences. ...

Jeb would force you to eat broccoli because you'll be healthier for it 30 years from now.

Villages idiots

"Sarah Palin's 'Going Rogue' book tour is heading to the retirement community where she attracted a crowd of tens of thousands as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate." "Palin book tour stops at Fla. retirement community".

Bring him on

Today we read in the The Palm Beach Post that "U.S. Sen. George LeMieux ruled out a run for attorney general next year but was less definitive when asked today about challenging Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012." "LeMieux: no run for AG in 2010; possibilities open for 2012".

Just yesterday, The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board pointed out that LeMieux "appears more interested in laying the groundwork for a future political campaign. Florida voters should remember that when he needs their support — and not just support from his old boss — to win his next job." "Partisan politics isn't service".

Who elected this dope?

LeMieux on HCR: "What I fear is down the road all we're going to have is Medicaid for the masses.'" "GOP Sen. LeMieux says Democratic health bill will likely pass but calls it 'bad for America'". See also "GOP Sen. LeMieux says Democratic health bill will likely pass but calls it 'bad for America'".

Daily Rothstein

"Attorney Scott Rothstein had his fingers – and maybe his toes too – in a lot more business pies than was evident when the $1 billion Ponzi scandal surrounding him first broke three weeks ago, according to new documents filed in federal court Monday. Rothstein's tentacles extended into nearly 100 corporations and businesses, according to federal prosecutors, from a California software company to a Pembroke Pines night club, as well as equity interests in two banks, a chain of fancy restaurants, a luxury watch business, a mortgage company and an alternative biofuel company." "Feds seizing even more Rothstein assets".

"A dry hole"?

"The push for the Florida Legislature to approve near-shore Gulf Coast drilling in its 2010 session is like oil exploration itself — surveys and projections, expert opinions, test wells to take the political pulse and throwing around plenty of money in search of a gusher that ends in a positive vote."

As things stand now, it's likely proponents will hit a dry hole, at least in the immediate future. But, as with wildcatting, a surprise strike is always possible.

The House earlier this year voted 70-43, almost precisely on party lines, to explore drilling in state waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Senate President Jeff Atwater then refused to take up the matter.

Four months out from the start of next spring's regular legislative session, it appears drilling legislation would still pass in the House. And Atwater still appears unlikely to move the legislation through the Senate.

In 2011, the situation could be different because two main proponents will lead the House and Senate.

In the 2008 presidential campaign, Gov. Charlie Crist startled environmentalists who had supported him by echoing Sen. John McCain's "drill here, drill now" call, but he's backtracked as a U.S. Senate candidate.

Heaven help us

"10 North Naples Middle students suspended for taking part in 'kick a Jew day'".

"A tsunami of South Florida foreclosures in the pipeline"

"A tsunami of South Florida foreclosures in the pipeline is dampening hopes for a housing recovery, despite an optimistic report Monday on home sales and prices." "Looming foreclosures threaten housing rebound".

"A fool's errand"

Pam Hasterok: "Giving public money to private businessmen to do the public's good is a fool's errand."

Look at [Volusia] county's former economic development partnership with private industry, the Volusia County Business Development Corporation. Its staff was arrogant, its enterprises often misguided -- some businesses it helped had to return the money for not creating the promised jobs -- and it utterly failed to lift the local wage.

The interests of government and the interests of business generally aren't the same.

Tri-Rail

"Lawmakers closed in on winning votes for a special session on high-speed and commuter rail funding. Tri-Rail could be among the beneficiaries. " "Tri-Rail fund shortfall could be ended soon". Related: "Unexpected tax dollars could clear way for SunRail".

Federal judicial vacancies

The Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board: "Earlier this month, the U.S. Senate confirmed Judge Charlene Edwards-Honeywell as the 15th federal judge for the Middle District of Florida, which includes Volusia and Flagler counties. Edwards-Honeywell, a graduate of the University of Florida School of Law and of Howard University, is President Obama's first confirmed appointment to Florida's Middle District. That's the good news."

Here's the bad news. The Obama administration is doing a poor job of nominating and winning confirmation to the federal bench, especially when compared with previous presidents.

The federal bench, heavily stocked by Ronald Reagan and the two Bushes but comparatively much less so by Bill Clinton (who also did not make judicial nominations a priority), has tilted decisively in favor of conservative social and business causes. It could scuttle Obama's agenda just as a conservative judiciary scuttled Franklin Roosevelt's in his first four years. ...

There are 98 vacancies in the federal judiciary -- 78 in district courts and 20 in appeal courts. Obama has pending nominations for just 19 of those seats (including Beverly Baldwin Martin for the 11th Circuit, the court of appeals with jurisdiction over Florida).

Enough already

"Apopka's longtime mayor ponders his, and city's, future".

But could Crist's prodigious fund raising, which strategists agree has been a key to his decade of electoral success, prove to be the Achilles' heel of his 2010 U.S. Senate campaign?

Three of Crist's top fund-raisers have been hamstrung by federal investigations in the past nine months, and a fourth, Jupiter sports agent and real estate investor Marc Roberts, is facing a federal lawsuit alleging he defrauded a business partner out of $100 million to support his own "lavish personal lifestyle."

Crist has "never discriminated" in whom he takes money from, said a former state Republican Party staffer with knowledge of Crist's fund raising. "Now he's facing the consequences of not being careful. And it raises questions about his judgment." ...

But some political strategists say that as pocketbook issues such as the state's 11 percent unemployment rate take center stage in political debates, the questions surrounding Crist's fund-raisers give his opponents a line of attack to build on.

"The problem for Crist is that he's already a guy perceived within much of his party as having no principles," Democratic strategist Steve Schale said. "So that narrative becomes easier to write, whether it's factual or not."

Daily Rothstein

"Complete coverage".

Council on Efficient Government kaput

Bill Cotterell: "Consider Florida's Council on Efficient Government. That's a seven-member panel of state officials and business experts set up in 2006 in response to then-Gov. Jeb Bush's privatization binge, some of which (think People First) wasn't working out so well."

With only four staff members (including a vacant executive director post, to be discussed shortly), the council has done a remarkably efficient job of tracking state "outsourcing" projects. It also provides consultation and training to agencies in developing "business cases" for major privatization plans, to help the taxpayers get their money's worth.

So now, to save money, the Department of Management Services proposes to shut down the efficient-government council. Actually, DMS doesn't want to, but all state agencies had to go through a fiscal "exercise" to show how — if they were forced to — they would live on 10 percent less than their current budgets.

"In the budget exercise that the departments are required to go through, the council is once again on our cut list," DMS Secretary Linda South, who chairs the council, said at its meeting last week. "That's disturbing for the council staff and the work being done by the council."

Well, yes. That's why the executive director position is vacant. South said he quit recently, and there's no point recruiting a new captain of a possibly sinking ship.

LeMieux's wingnut folly

The Miami Herald editorial board: "When George LeMieux was appointed three months ago to replace retiring U.S. Senator Mel Martinez, the 40-year-old former chief of staff to Gov. Charlie Crist vowed to focus on making government more efficient and effective. He has a strange way of going about it."

In his first foray into foreign affairs, Sen. LeMieux has placed a "hold'' on the nomination of President Obama's choice to become ambassador to Brazil, putting a freeze on the Senate confirmation process. This ensures that U.S. relations with the largest country in Latin America are neither efficient nor effective. ...

He told The Herald's Washington Bureau that he has heard concerns about the nominee's record from constituents and fellow members of Congress, including Cuban-American members of the House.

When LeMieux runs for office ...

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board writes that LeMieux's manuvering "appears to be about scoring political points with a vocal Republican constituency upset about the Obama administration's relaxing of relations with Cuba and the role the president's nominee played in that. It's the second time LeMieux has used a hold to affect anti-Castro interests."

LeMieux — who opened a political action committee last week that suggests a future run for office — isn't just currying favor with a group that gives generously to political campaigns. His moves help his political benefactor and former boss, Gov. Charlie Crist. The governor faces a Cuban-American, former state House Speaker Marco Rubio, in the 2010 Republican primary for the Senate seat LeMieux is keeping warm. ...

LeMieux isn't big on nuance. He prefers the blunt instrument of partisan politics to the finesse of bipartisan compromise. He intended to vote against taking up health care reform in the Senate. And earlier he claimed an independent federal panel's new mammogram guidelines were the Democratic-led government's first attempt to force "rationing" — ignoring that the guidelines were based on new research reviewed by a panel of doctors and scientists who were all appointed when Bush was president.

LeMieux was given a rare opportunity. Without having to pander to special interests or raise a single campaign dollar, he entered the Senate when Crist appointed him to fill the vacancy left by Mel Martinez, who resigned. And he won't be staying long. Yet rather than use this freedom to make hard decisions, he appears more interested in laying the groundwork for a future political campaign. Florida voters should remember that when he needs their support — and not just support from his old boss — to win his next job.

Haridopolos suggests Medicaid is a "failure"

Aaron Deslatte reports that

Two of the most powerful men in the Florida Senate took a trip to Washington last week that could foretell the state's eventual response to the federal health-care debate.

Sens. Mike Haridopolos, the Merritt Island Republican next in line to lead the chamber, and Don Gaetz, a Niceville Republican who co-founded a national hospice company, met with anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist, the Heritage Foundation and other conservative actors critical of the Democratic health-care reform plans.

They came home with a radical – if still embryonic – idea: blowing up Medicaid, the federal-state program that provides health coverage to the poor and elderly.

All Washington does is set rules for Florida's $18 billion-and-growing program; the state is left to figure out how to run it. That led the two lawmakers, flabbergasted with its spiraling costs, to pose a question: What would happen without all the federal red tape?

"It's not like this is a great program. It's been called by many a failure," says Haridopolos, slated to become Senate president next November.

Hometown Democracy

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "If Floridians approve a constitutional amendment on the November 2010 ballot, local voters would have to vote on every change to a city or county comprehensive plan — the blueprint for development — no matter how innocuous. Ballots would be full of items that have little impact on, and make little sense to, the average voter." "The town that saved Florida".

"Conservative, right-wing politicians"

"All along, everyone involved in Martin Gill's adoption of two foster boys agreed that the best possible home for the children was with Gill and his partner."

Everyone, that is, except the lawyers hired by the Department of Children and Families who asked an appeals court to reverse the adoption and "make the children available" for adoption to someone else.

"There was an audible gasp in the packed courtroom when the attorney general's lawyer said that," said ACLU Florida spokesman Brandon Hensler, one of the dozens of attendees during oral arguments before the 3rd District Court of Appeal in Miami in August.

"My recollection was that he seemed uncomfortable saying it, but felt compelled to and the words flowed painfully and quietly from his mouth," Hensler said. ...

Deputy Solicitor General Tim Osterhaus, who works for McCollum and made the oral argument on Aug. 26, was asked by Judge Vance Salter what relief the agency was seeking from the court.

Osterhaus asked the three-judge panel to reverse the adoption and "make the children available for adoption."

"It's a contradiction," said DCF spokeswoman Flora Beal. "We have no intention of removing the children from the Gill's custody."

Osterhaus' response was the first mention that Gill's adopted children could be taken away, said Gill's ACLU attorney, Rob Rosenwald Jr. of Miami. ...

"The child welfare professionals at DCF are firmly opposed to the ban. They testified at the trial that it gets in the way of them doing their job," Rosenwald said. "However, there are politicians and other people in the executive branch who are conservative, right-wing politicians who also drive policy."

"Lawsuits forcing state to reassess education "

The Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board: "'The education of children is a fundamental value of the people of the State of Florida.'"

Except when it's not. Over the 10 years since Florida voters wrote that requirement into the state constitution, the Legislature has reduced state funding for education dramatically, shifting the burden of public schools to local taxpayers and reducing overall per-student funding. Between 2006 and the current school year, per-pupil funding dropped by nearly $1,700. ...

[One] suit points out that Florida has an abysmally low graduation rate, even using its own calculation method (which the U.S. Department of Education took exception to, leading the state to abandon it for next year). ...

[T]he average teacher salary in the state is $5,400 below the national average. ...

A final point worth nothing -- both lawsuits take issue with Florida's consistent reliance on high-stakes testing to prove educational achievement. They assert that the use of the FCAT and other standardized tests to make decisions affecting school funding and student advancement has endangered the state's ability to provide high-quality education. It's the same argument educational experts have made from the beginning -- standardized tests are useful when measuring individual student achievement, but dangerous when used to assess the quality of an educational system. Florida's poor performance on other key measures -- such as graduation rate -- demonstrate the folly of depending on standardized tests for definitive assessments of schools.

Not that long ago

"The Civil Rights-Era Cold Case Initiative began in 2006 with a solemn charge: Reopen long dormant cases from a period in America's history when blacks and whites were killed in the South's bloody fight to maintain a segregated society." "FBI wants public's help in civil rights killings".

Remember "Willis V. McCall"? "To the "good people'' of Lake County - bankers, grove owners, white people in general - Sheriff Willis V. McCall was the law. The rest of the people were on their own." "A Southern sheriff's law and disorder".

Precisely what is Charlie's "day job"?

Adam Smith on Crist's "bad imagery:"

As Florida's unemployment rate ticked up to 11.2 percent, Charlie Crist was focused again on political business. On Thursday, he skipped a board meeting of the economic development group Enterprise Florida so he could attend a Republican Governors Association conference in Texas. On Friday, he was out of state raising money for his Senate campaign.

"I just think it's so important to stay focused on jobs, jobs, jobs," Crist said before heading into a Washington, D.C., fundraiser co-hosted by his U.S. Senate appointee George LeMieux.

Before heading to New York for another fundraiser, Crist said he didn't expect to debate his Republican rival Marco Rubio any time soon because he was too busy with his "day job."

Class size

"Senate looking at class-size change".

Dreamy

"To lawmakers staring down the barrel of a $2.6 billion budget deficit next year, the prediction of $2.3 billion a year in direct revenue from oil and gas drilling in Florida waters may sound like a dream come true." "Some leery of revenue promised by oil". Related: "Military bases could feel drilling's impact" and "Money speaks and the energy industry has contributed a lot".

Florida "out of the legal mainstream"

The Sun-Sentinel editorial board: "Florida is ground zero for a question that the U.S. Supreme Court is pondering: Is it constitutional for judges to send children to prison for the rest of their lives for crimes other than murder? The case before the high court demonstrates how far out of the legal mainstream Florida is on this issue." "Florida stands alone in putting away juveniles".

"None of them existed when McCollum first took office"

Adam Smith: "Republicans won widely watched governor's races in Virginia and New Jersey this month. How those results are interpreted has a lot to do with how one sees Florida's 2010 gubernatorial race that's expected to pit Democratic Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, above right, against Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum."

If you're on Sink's team, those results point less to partisan preferences than a deep anti-incumbent sentiment across the country. You try to portray McCollum, first elected to Congress in 1981 and now in his 14th election, as a lifelong politician and poster boy for status quo politics.

Dozens of Democratic fundraisers, including a representative from the national group Emily's List, gathered Thursday night at Sink's Thonotosassa home for a pep talk and strategy session with senior campaign aides. They saw a screen featuring several iconic logos — including Nintendo, the A-Team, MTV and Microsoft Windows — and were asked what they all had in common.

The answer? None of them existed when McCollum first took office.

"Nanny whips us into shape"

The Tallahassee Democrat editorial board:

Florida has become a "primary" seat belt state, allowing cops to stop people just for driving or riding unbuckled, after years of resistance. Federal financial pressure and the state budget crunch played a role there, but so did the idea that we all pay, through insurance premiums and taxes, for the extra deaths and injuries suffered by people who refuse to buckle up.

Same for those who won't quit smoking, or lose weight, or who insist on cell-phone use behind the wheel (despite evidence that cell phone distraction is rivaling or replacing alcohol as a factor in traffic fatalities.)

They are driving up the costs, suffering and grief for everybody through conduct they could control.

But get ready. Laws, insurance premiums, regulations that marginalize the offending conduct — all will be brought to bear as Nanny whips us into shape.

Unemployment

"Jobless rates soar for immigrants".

"A small army" of workers about to lose their jobs

The Orlando Sentinel editors: "Unfortunately, the economic turmoil for Florida's Space Coast is just getting started. Shuttle contractors for NASA already have begun cutting jobs there in anticipation of the program's end. Last month, more than 250 positions were eliminated."

If shuttles are retired as planned, a small army of highly skilled, well-paid workers on the Space Coast will lose their jobs; NASA has put the number at 7,000. Thousands more jobs that depend on them also will disappear. It could be five years or more before the next manned space program, Constellation, is ready to launch from Kennedy Space Center.

With such a disaster looming for the region's economy, it's imperative for federal, state and local officials together to explore every reasonable opportunity to keep this work force employed and productive.

"Discounts being slashed or eliminated"

"Homeowners who got insurance discounts after fortifying their homes with shutters are facing new inspections that could lead to their discounts being slashed or eliminated." "Insurers reducing, eliminating discounts for storm fortifications".

The target: A settlement a federal judge in Tallahassee approved last week in a lawsuit brought by five environmental groups against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

It requires that federal regulators, for the first time, step in and set a state's water quality standards for nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus that flow into waterways from fertilized lawns, sewage plants, farms fields, cattle pastures and a host of other sources.

Opponents -- Associated Industries of Florida, Florida Farm Bureau, Florida Chamber of Commerce, Florida Stormwater Association, Florida Tax Watch, Sugarcane Growers Cooperative of Florida and some 60 other organizations that collectively wield considerable political clout -- argue the economic impacts could be staggering and far outweigh the environmental benefits.

They've called on state congressional leaders to block the EPA action, enlisted two former state environmental secretaries, Virginia Wetherell and Colleen Castille, and created a website branding the EPA rules a federal "water tax.'' Their projections for the cost to local and state governments for the cleanup: As much as $50 billion -- and that's just for overhauling the state's sewage systems, a price tag that could double customer's bills.

Wetherell and Castille -- who led the DEP when state lawmakers overhauled Everglades pollution regulations, essentially pushing deadlines back a decade -- defended state oversight, calling Florida a national leader in water quality. Both became lobbyists after leaving the state but said they weren't representing clients in joining the fight against numeric standards they and other critics call "scientifically unsound.'' ...

Environmentalists counter that foes are ignoring the long-term impact of stagnant lakes and estuaries and rotting fish on beaches to an economy that more than ever needs to draw visitors and home buyers.

They contend opponents are primarily looking to preserve revenue streams and profit margins protected by the vague "narrative'' state standards that allow the continued release of high volumes of nutrients. The St. Johns, for instance, remains periodically under health advisories despite the state cleanup plan, they said.

"Asking for clean water is not a stretch,'' said St. Johns Riverkeeper Neil Armingeon. "There are algae blooms even today in the St. Johns River. Moving forward quickly is an imperative.''

Entrepreneurs in action

The wingnuts on the The Tampa Tribune editorial board point out that the bottom feeders in Florida's "private industries and businesses have phased out pensions because of the risks." So, it only make sense that Florida "taxpayers, through their elected Legislature, should" eliminate public sector pensions.

The audacity of teachers, firefighters and cops - and most unionized private sector employees - expecting a retirement plan that actually, get this

rewards employees for years of service when they retire

Private university push

"In an economy where money is tight and everyone's looking for a bargain, Florida's most expensive universities are attracting more students than expected. The state's private universities, while battling decreased endowments and budget cuts, have been aggressively recruiting students this past year, even those who might think a $22,000-a-year price tag is out of reach." "Fla.'s private colleges beef up recruiting".

Developers rushing in advance of Hometown Democracy

There have been "stealthy moves to prepare for another Florida building boom. Even as the construction industry remains stalled by the recession, developers are lining up at unprecedented rates to secure approval for big projects that could add hundreds of thousands of new buildings to the Florida market." "Growth Rush of 2009".

"Think again"

Jane Healy: "Anyone who thinks that Florida is getting better when it comes to addressing growth problems might want to think again. On two fronts, things are now looking worse." "Getting bamboozled on growth concerns".

Who elected this LeMieux guy anyway?

"With Nelson on board and LeMieux against, U.S. Senate votes to advance health care bill".

"The $1-per-pack tax"

The Tallahassee Democrat editors write that "the $1-per-pack tax has worked the way its most optimistic supporters predicted. Sales of cigarettes have decreased — and by a substantial 27 percent — suggesting smokers are continuing to back off from the habit. But the revenues from the tax that has been in effect since July 1 are exceeding even the estimated the amount of revenue lost by the fewer sales." "Tobacco tax".

Laff riot

Jebbie - the man who made Boss Tweed and Mark Hanna look like "pikers", and turned influence peddling into an art form - now says "Keep politics out of power decisions".

"Public officials in denial"

The Miami Herald editorial board: "As corruption scandals mount involving city commissioners, county officials and school board members in Broward and Miami-Dade, loopholes in state and local ethics laws have finally come into focus for public officials in denial." "Enough stalling: Toughen ethics rules".

Daily Rothstein:

"Scope of scandal emerges".

"Get ready for more"

"On April 21, a tremor hit Florida’s political landscape."

On that day, with less than two weeks left in a tense, budget-constrained legislative session, Rep. Dean Cannon took the wraps off a then-startling proposal: An amendment offered by the Winter Park Republican would grant the state’s Cabinet power to lease sovereign Florida waters — roughly between 3 and 10 miles off the coast — for oil and natural-gas exploration. ...

Cannon’s proposal passed the House 70-43 a week after it was introduced last spring. Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, then refused to take it up in the waning days of the session.

But get ready for more.

In 2010, the dynamic is set to repeat itself, with a willing House pressing a reluctant Senate to act.

And in 2011, with the two men who will preside over the House and Senate ardent proponents of drilling exploration, the issue is almost sure to be a key issue.

Where's Charlie?

Lloyd Dunkelberger: "As state officials anticipated new unemployment numbers that were the worst in more than three decades, Crist skipped the Thursday board meeting of Enterprise Florida, the state's major economic development group, where the governor serves as board chairman. Instead of using that opportunity to deliver an economic message, Crist was focused on politics, attending the Republican Governors Association in Texas and then heading to Washington, D.C., for a campaign fundraiser." "Crist faces 2010 challenges".

Doctors rally

"As U.S. senators prepared for a critical vote on the healthcare bill Saturday morning, dozens of dissenting physicians and nurses protested at the Freedom Tower in one of 24 rallies staged nationwide." "Doctors' group blasts Senate healthcare bill in front of Freedom Tower".

Bank closures

"Since Oct. 23, regulators have closed four banks in Naples and Fort Myers, leaving many to wonder which local bank might be next." "Banks on the brink: Several in Collier, Lee have closed. Which ones are next?".

Unemployment eases in Southwest Florida

"Unemployment eased in Southwest Florida in October, though it remains at a collective 12.3 percent in Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte counties -- a level not seen since the mid-1970s." "Jobs picture slightly better in Southwest Florida".

Whatever

The Orlando Sentinel editorial board: "Crist added his voice last week to the growing chorus calling for a ban on the tremendously risky and often lethal practice of texting while driving." "A capitol message".

A botella

Carl Hiaasen: "Angel Gonzalez quit the Miami City Commission and pleaded guilty to a corruption charge, all because he did something extra nice for his daughter."

He got her a job, but she never bothered to show up.

For those unfamiliar with the concept, a no-show job is one that pays you for staying away and doing absolutely nothing. In Miami it's known as a botella.

At Gonzalez's urging, a politically connected company called Delant Construction generously put his daughter Elizabeth on the payroll for $500 a week.

The commissioner repaid the gesture by pressing officials to give Delant more city building projects, and by robotically voting yes for any Delant contract that came before the commission.

Rail wars

"Fates of SunRail, South Florida's Tri-Rail run on parallel tracks".

Jeb apologists gettin' defensive

Mike Thomas thinks the "lawsuit that accuses Florida of running shoddy schools is a half-baked, politically motivated crock."

Thomas - a charter member of the Willard Fair "In my judgment, there is no greater person on this Earth than you. I love you" Jeb Club - believes the lawsuit

veers sharply off course, becoming a broad ideological attack on school reforms. It looks like an attempt to get a court-ordered removal of education policies long opposed by many liberals.

Same old, same old ...

Speaking of Marquez, she continues to live in the past when it comes to Cuba: "Cultural exchange a one-way policy".

"Army of zombies"

Mark Lane: "It seems long, long ago that people were worrying about Daytona Beach developing its peninsula into kind of a tunnel -- a wall of motels and condos along the ocean; a condo fence along the river. If the Great Florida Land Bubble had churned too much longer and all those imagined megaprojects had actually been built, the army of zombies left behind could have left the whole area economy undead." "Be afraid! Zombie motels are threatening the beachside".