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
"every political insider should be reading right now."

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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]

Previous Articles by Derek Newton: Ten Things Fox on Line 1 Stem Cells are Intelligent Design Katrina Spin No Can't Win Perhaps the Most Important Race Senate Outlook The Nelson Thing Deep, Dark Secret Smart Boy Bringing Guns to a Knife Fight Playing to our Strength  

The Blog for Saturday, May 26, 2012

"Lobbyists ... Losers Were Winners"

    Jim Turner: "Geo Group spent between $60,000 and $89,997 on three lobbying firms -- Ericks Consultants, Mirabella Smith & McKinnon Inc., and Ronald L. Book PA -- in the first quarter of the year. Geo’s priority was to advance the bidding process to privatize prisons. Another advocate of prison privatization was Corrections Corporation of America, which paid Smith Bryan & Myers Inc., between $10,000 and $19,999 in the quarter. The effort failed to win Senate approval." "Lobbyists in 2012: Winners Were Losers, Losers Were Winners".


    "Useless State" Carl Hiaasen: "At a time when Florida’s 11 state universities are financially gasping, the Legislature and Gov. Rick Scott are throwing $50 million away on a whimsical new school that might as well be called Useless State."

    It’s the work of a Lake Wales Republican named JD Alexander, who — sadly for taxpayers — chaired the powerful Senate Budget Committee. Alexander is leaving the Legislature because of term limits, but as a going-away present he demanded that his colleagues fund a new university in his home district. And then he basically stomped his little feet and held his breath and huffily threatened to gut another school’s budget if he didn’t get his way. And most of his fellow Republicans, including our governor, caved in like the phonies and wimps they are. As a result, Floridians are paying for a new university that we don’t need, and is already millions over budget before the first class meets. It’s a foolhardy and very expensive mistake, and its name is Florida Polytechnic.
    "Only a coldblooded cynic would wonder if Alexander or any of his pals will benefit from the gush of taxpayer funds being used to construct Useless State."
    A court could stop the bleeding, but in the meantime applications are being taken for the make-believe school’s Board of Trustees. Gov. Scott recently sent out an email seeking candidates. He says he’s looking for “talented and visionary individuals.” Of course! He’ll also send his personal unicorn to pick you up and fly you through the fairy dust to Lakeland.
    "Hail to our newest campus: Useless State".


    Storms quits, goes local "State Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Valrico, is dropping her reelection bid and instead will run against embattled Hillsborough County Property Appraiser Rob Turner. Storms, a former Hillsborough County commissioner, had two years left before she was term-limited out of the Senate. But she said Friday that a porn scandal surrounding Turner prompted her to abandon the legislature and instead try to oust her fellow Republican. " "Sen. Storms quits race, seeks Hillsborough County property appraiser seat". See also "Storms, Henriquez to run for Hillsborough property appraiser".


    "The FCAT is here to stay - at least for now, Florida's education commissioner told a group of Palm Beach County community and business leaders."

    "State education boss defends FCAT in talk to business, community leaders".


    "Pick your poll" William March: "Rep. Connie Mack IV has a long lead in the Republican U.S. Senate primary, and is tied with Democratic incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson in a general election matchup, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll. But at the same time, a new NBC/Marist poll showed a different outcome -- Nelson leading Mack. It also showed President Barack Obama leading Mitt Romney in Florida, again contradicting the Quinnipiac poll." "Pick your poll when it comes to Nelson v Mack".


    Campaign Roundup "Campaign Roundup: The Tampa two-step, high stakes in South Florida Senate race and a Charlie Crist sighting".


    "Another agenda, enabled by certain county commissioners, was at work" The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "The offer for Mecca Farms is the best chance Palm Beach County will get to move past a mistake. The county bought the 2,000-acre property for $60 million in 2003, supposedly to make it the home of Scripps Florida. The land, far west of Palm Beach Gardens, never seemed to make sense as the location for a new biotechnology hub. It quickly became clear that another agenda, enabled by certain county commissioners, was at work." "The best deal they'll get".


    Who writes these headlines? This headline in the conservative Sunshine State News - "Florida Rejects Call to Keep Non-Citizens on Voter Rolls" - misrepresents reality. No one, not even those fearsome liberals, wants "non-citizens" to vote. The problem, rather, is with the using a purge list that is riddled with errors: it includes folks who in fact are citizens. Not only that, Rick Scott's purge list - accidentally no doubt - "targets minorities and Democrats while giving white Republicans a pass". By the way, this last quote - about Rick Scott's purge list "giving white Republicans a pass" - is from the notoriously liberal Miami Herald, the same company that overruled its own editorial board and endorsed a notorious right-winger for president. The Herald's publisher was in turn rewarded withan appointment as Ambassador to Spain.


    Week in Review ""The Week in Review for May 21 to May 25".


    Outsourcing litigation "In the coming weeks, Tallahassee judges will hear arguments in two court cases that will test the limits of lawmakers' power to order outsourcing in the state budget." "Judge to hear arguments on prison health care privatization".


    Florida too close to call AP: "If the election were today, Obama would likely win 247 electoral votes to Romney's 206, according to an Associated Press analysis of polls, ad spending and key developments in states, along with interviews with more than a dozen Republican and Democratic strategists both inside and outside of the two campaigns."

    Seven states, offering a combined 85 electoral votes, are viewed as too close to give either candidate a meaningful advantage: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio and Virginia.
    "Romney has tighter state path as Obama takes aim".


    "Freedom" to pollute "Heading into Memorial Day weekend, Florida beach water has less bacteria testing".


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