FLORIDA POLITICS
Since 2002, daily Florida political news and commentary

 

UPDATE: Every morning we review and individually digest Florida political news articles, editorials and punditry. Our sister site, FLA Politics was selected by Campaigns & Elections as one of only ten state blogs in the nation
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Welcome To Florida Politics

Thanks for visiting. On a semi-daily basis we scan Florida's major daily newspapers for significant Florida political news and punditry. We also review the editorial pages and political columnists/pundits for Florida political commentary. The papers we review include: the Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Naples News, Sarasota Herald Tribune, St Pete Times, Tampa Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Tallahassee Democrat, and, occasionally, the Florida Times Union; we also review the political news blogs associated with these newspapers.

For each story, column, article or editorial we deem significant, we post at least the headline and link to the piece; the linked headline always appears in quotes. We quote the headline for two reasons: first, to allow researchers looking for the cited piece to find it (if the link has expired) by searching for the original title/headline via a commercial research service. Second, quotation of the original headline permits readers to appreciate the spin from the original piece, as opposed to our spin.

Not that we don't provide spin; we do, and plenty of it. Our perspective appears in post headlines, the subtitles within the post (in bold), and the excerpts from the linked stories we select to quote; we also occasionally provide other links and commentary about certain stories. While our bias should be immediately apparent to any reader, we nevertheless attempt to link to every article, column or editorial about Florida politics in every major online Florida newspaper.

 

Older posts [back to 2002]

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The Blog for Friday, July 15, 2011

"Tea party lemmings ... a cabal of dim-witted, extremist malcontents"

    One of Florida's best writes that "Edna Mattos, who leads the Citrus County Tea Party Patriots, railed against the proposed manatee protections, arguing they violated the tenets of the Bible and the Bill of Rights, which taken to its ridiculous extreme (and why not?) would probably make St. Francis of Assisi a Marxist tool of the Trilateral Commission."
    The Madame Defarge of Citrus County fretted the Fish and Wildlife Service's proposed manatee protections are a capitulation to the United Nations' Agenda 21 conspiracy http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifto impose a world government on the populace under the duplicitous guise of trying to protect nature.

    You never know. Once you start safeguarding a rain forest or two, can Fidel Castro lighting up a Cohiba in the Oval Office be that far behind?

    Who would have guessed James Bond nemesis Ernst Blofeld was sitting over in the Fish and Wildlife offices, stroking his cat and conspiring to rule the world through a 1,200-pound pile of floating blubber?

    The notion the U.N.'s Agenda 21 environmental program is really a dark, treacherous confederacy to bring America under the thumb of Dr. No has been a pet fantasy of Glenn Beck and his hand-wringing fellow travelers for quite a while. Mattos and her tea party lemmings have fallen for the talk show weeper's unhinged theory that there is a black helicopter hovering behind every water hyacinth-chewing manatee in Kings Bay.

    If Citrus County residents feel the proposed federal rules protecting the beasts are unfair, or too broadly drawn, or too much of an imposition on those who want to boat in Kings Bay, fine. That's why socialist/Marxist/despotic agencies like the Fish and Wildlife Service solicit public input regarding proposed rule changes and regulations on matters like trying to spare manatees from being run over by idiots in speedboats.

    Tea party acolytes frequently whine that their views are not taken seriously and that they are unfairly dismissed as a cabal of dim-witted, extremist malcontents. Gee, why would anyone arrive at that conclusion?
    "The slow-moving vs. the slow-witted".


    "Marco Rubio named as vice presidential contender"

    Jeremy Wallace: "Remember back in February when new U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio was keeping a low profile after his big election victory in 2010 and staying away from national interviews."

    Scratch that.

    In the last week, Rubio, the Miami Republican, has been anything but quiet as he has inserted himself into the debate over the debt ceiling and made waves for his strong criticism of President Barack Obama.

    On Monday night, Rubio was on Sean Hannity’s television program. The next day it was Rush Limbaugh’s radio program and a quick appearance on the FOX News morning show Fox and Friends. On the same day he squeezed in an interview on the Hugh Hewitt radio show, another conservative program. The appearances came just a few days after Rubio penned an essay for the conservative National Review. ...

    Rubio’s elevating his profile just at a time that his name is being kicked around as a vice presidential contender. Rubio has stated he is not running for vice president in 2012, but still a buzz persists over how his being a young Cuban American could be a draw for whoever the GOP nominates for president in 2012. Just before Rubio was on Hannity’s program, FOX political analyst Dick Morris declared Rubio should be the GOP vice presidential candidate. Hannity says on his show that he too has been saying that for months.
    "Marco Rubio is everywhere".


    Gouging public employees

    "Miami budget proposal: 22 furlough days, citywide".


    Not a peep about Legislators cashing in while in office

    "Orlando lawmaker wants to ban jurors from cashing in immediately after trials".


    Hispanic U.S. births will have a "transformative effect"

    "A Pew Hispanic Center study released Thursday ... shows that for the first time since the 1970s, Mexican immigration has sharply declined, and births have become the main driver of growth among Mexican-Americans."

    The lack of jobs here, combined with increased border security, has slowed the flow of new arrivals. Births accounted for 63 percent of the 11.4-million-person increase during the past decade, as Mexican women had more children than other women, including other Latinas.

    When the Mexican births are combined with those of other Hispanic groups, the results are striking: One of every four children born in the U.S. is of Hispanic heritage, according to the study, which did not provide state-by-state data.

    Co-author Mark López, associate director of the center, said that although the study did not focus on the implications of the numbers, they will have a transformative effect.
    "Births exceed immigration as Mexican-American population grows".


    "Scott slightly more popular than a hemorrhoid"

    Scott Maxwell: "just when you thought Gov. Rick Scott's popularity couldn't sink any lower, here comes another anchor.

    The first-time governor — less than a year into his term, typically a honeymoon period for newly electeds — now has an approval rating of 27 percent.

    That makes him one of the least popular politicians in the United States and only slightly more popular than a hemorrhoid.

    And keep in mind: These poll results come from Sunshine State News, a proudly conservative and pro-business outfit."
    "Cop talk: Good, bad and just plain weird".


    Water Management District jobs slashed

    "Water management districts moving ahead with layoffs". More: "Between 80 and 100 workers of the South Florida Water Management District's 1,723 employees will be laid off before Aug." "S. Fla. water managers to cut 80-100 jobs".


    Deference to corruption required

    "The list of applicants to take over the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability includes the current interim head of the office and the Secretary of the Senate. This marks the first time that the head of OPPAGA will be decided by just legislative leaders. Lawmakers earlier this year changed the law to make it easier to hire and fire the person running the watchdog agency." "Thirty people apply to take over watchdog agency".


    "Scott quick to initiate haphazard changes"

    The Tampa Tribune editorial board: "Scott's professed priority is to create jobs and make Florida more business-friendly."

    So far, the results have been modest. A few mid-size relocations have been announced with great fanfare, but virtually all were in the works before Scott became governor. There is no questioning the governor's determination to lure companies, but many in the business world believe that Scott, despite his corporate background, may be doing more harm than good.

    Corporations are not likely to commit to a state that is in upheaval — as Florida seems to be as Scott seeks to eliminate longstanding policies with little thought about the consequences. ...

    Yet Scott has been quick to initiate haphazard changes — jettisoning development policies, revamping water controls — that leave the state's future standards uncertain.
    "Scott's lack of business appeal".


    "Sargeant blistered at the suggestion that there was anything improper"

    "A former CIA agent was put on the hot seat Thursday, forced to explain why he wired $9 million to Jordanian leaders who controlled whether his generous new employer would keep a multi-billion-dollar contract to provide fuel to troops in Iraq. Former agent Martin Marty, who works for Gulf Stream billionaire Harry Sargeant, blistered at the suggestion that there was anything improper about the payments from Sargeant's Boca Raton-based company." "At billionaire's fraud trial, former CIA agent denies anything improper about $9 million payment to Jordan".


    "Use of prisons in partisan gerrymandering"

    "The strategic use of prisons in partisan gerrymandering". More on gerrymandering: "Round-up of media coverage of redistricting for 7/15", "Northeast Florida voters want to stick together" and "‘The Villages’ want to be kept together".


    Wingnuts run wild

    The wingnuts are running wild at the new "Florida Political Press".


    "Florida pipeline sale ignites antitrust concerns"

    "Consolidating ownership raises specter of less competition and higher prices for consumers". "Proposed Sale of Florida Gas Pipeline Ignites Antitrust Concerns".


    "From negative to stable"

    "Budget belt-tightening and frugality has prompted rating agency Standard & Poor’s to boost its Florida credit outlook from negative to stable, an upgrade that will translate into more favorable interest rates. The rating agency touted recent legislative actions to both reduce spending and hold some revenue back for a rainier day." "Scott on S&P Upgrade: 'That's Good ... That's Great'".


    Ander who?

    "From his perch on the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw looked to reduce the size and scope of the federal government this week by trimming some fat from Congress itself. Crenshaw, a former president of the Florida Senate who has represented parts of the First Coast and the northern part of the state since first being elected to Congress back in 2000, used his position as chairman of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee to cut congressional expenses." "Ander Crenshaw Looks to Cut Congressional Fat".


    Tort deform

    Gary Fineout: "A Senate panel plans to look into whether additional medical malpractice changes are needed in Florida law. Sen. Garrett Richter, chairman of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee, says his committee is looking at important issues that were not addressed during the 2011 session." "Senate turns its attention to medical malpractice".


    Koch krap

    "Progress Florida, petitioners call for cancellation of FSU/Koch deal".


    Speaking of crap

    "The Caloosahatchee River is in trouble — and with it, the residents and businesses that line its banks. The river, like many Florida waterways, has been inundated with large-scale algal blooms, likely brought on by an abundance of nutrients found in failing septic tanks, home fertilizers and industry runoff." "Nutrient runoff and algal blooms hurt the bottom line along the Caloosahatchee".


    Stail waitin' on them jobs, Ricky

    "Scott faces tough task meeting jobs pledge, official says".


    "Florida's sordid reputation"

    "Sarasota family's tragedy becomes potent symbol in the war on prescription drug abuse".


    Book burning next?

    "Proposal to shutter Miami-Dade libraries draws fire".


    "Young stays feisty"

    "Young stays feisty and motivated".


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