In a unanimous decision, the court validated the redrawn 40-member Senate map and rejected opponents’ claims that it violates the new constitutional ban on political gerrymandering.

“We conclude that the opponents have failed to demonstrate that the revised Senate plan as a whole or with respect to any individual district violates Florida‘s constitutional requirements,’’ the court said in its 33-page opinion.

It’s unclear if opponents, including the Florida Democratic party, the NAACP and others, would challenge the court’s ruling.

Said Democratic Party of Florida spokeswoman Brannon Jordan in a statement: “While today’s ruling raises serious concerns, we will continue our efforts to hold this Republican-led legislature accountable to the will of the people — something they have consistently ignored throughout this process.”

The ruling now sets the stage for candidates for both the House and Senate to proceed with the districts as drawn. Some candidates used the ruling as their starting gate to launch their campaigns.

Scott's solution? Do nothing

"Scott vetoed a bill that would have allowed the University of Florida and Florida State University to increase tuition by virtually unlimited amounts. ... Had Scott signed HB 7129, universities that met 11 of 14 performance-based benchmarks would have been allowed to ask the Florida Board of Governors for hikes beyond a current 15 percent cap. The criteria included high GPAs of incoming freshmen and a high amount of research activity, for example. Only the University of Florida and Florida State University would have qualified." "Bill to increase tuition at UF, FSU vetoed by Gov. Rick Scott".

Scott strides world stage

"Scott said on Friday that he intends to sign contentious legislation that would ban the state and local governments from hiring companies with business ties to Cuba and Syria."

In throwing his support behind the bill, Scott sided with the nearly-unanimous Legislature. The legislation was authored by Miami-Dade Republicans who argued taxpayer dollars should not fund companies connected to oppressive regimes in Cuba and Syria.

Influential business interests, including the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the governments of Florida's top two trading partners, Brazil and Canada, have warned the law would discourage investment from foreign firms. It is unclear which, or how many, companies would be affected by the legislation.

Nominations for fed judge vacancy expected

"Two Palm Beach County judges interviewed for vacancy on federal bench".

Gun nuts stand their ground

"Don’t expect an overhaul of the task force looking at state self-defense laws. Anti-gun proponents are not going to replace those already named to the [other than] diverse panel on the eve of the group’s first meeting." "No Overhaul of Stand Your Ground Task Force Expected on Eve of First Meeting".

Actually, he's not "the GOP vice presidential pick that Democrats fear most"

Those unfamiliar with Jebbie's record blithley say silly things "He's the GOP vice presidential pick that Democrats fear most — a brassy choice who would likely deliver his crucial home state, boost the ticket with Hispanics and Catholics and appeal to both conservatives and independents."

The problem: Jeb Bush apparently doesn't want the job. ...

"It would be a phenomenal ticket," said [his son,] George P. Bush.

Scott silent as Florida gets another federal handout

"Announced in February 2010, the program has allocated $7.6 billion to 17 states and the District of Columbia to help home­owners while they look for a better job, or any job at all." "Florida's ‘Hardest-hit’ homeowners are eligible for more aid".

"CEO of State University System is a born-rich state senator"

Randy Schultz: "The CEO of the State University System is a born-rich state senator from phosphate and citrus territory east of Tampa. At least, he's CEO this year. Unless things change, it always will be someone from the Legislature, as it has been for 12 years."

To satisfy his ego, Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, just persuaded Gov. Scott to devalue every degree from a state university and mock Florida's boast of "world-class" higher education. It happened when Gov. Scott signed a bill creating a new university in the senator's Polk County, a university the state needs the way the Secret Service needs a thank-you note from the ladies of Cartagena.

Sen. Alexander is a grandson of Ben Hill Griffin, who made enough money in citrus to have the University of Florida football stadium named for him. For the past two years, Sen. Alexander has been budget chairman. Anyone who wanted money had to get his blessing. So when he insisted on a bill that would split the Lakeland branch polytechnic campus from the University of South Florida in Tampa, all of 50 miles away, he got what he wanted. Even every Democrat but one voted with him, and that senator is from Tampa.

Rubio's flop

William March: "Rubio pursues DREAM, but immigration bill is a risk".

Goin' slow in SW Florida

"Southwest Florida business growth slows".

Rasmussen has Romney ahead in Florida 46-45

"Likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney now runs even with President Obama in the key swing state of Florida."

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the Sunshine State finds Romney with 46% of the vote, while Obama earns 45% support. Six percent (6%) prefer some other candidate, and another three percent (3%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

The survey of 500 Likely Voters in Florida was conducted on April 25, 2012 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.

Even the Trib gets it

The Tampa Tribune editorial board: "Scott must not randomly inspect the bodily fluids of state workers to see if anyone has been ingesting illegal drugs, a federal judge has correctly ruled. Evidence indicates so broad a search without suspicion of drug use serves no useful purpose. Scott should not appeal the quashing of his executive order, nor should he try to preserve a state law that takes effect in July that would do essentially the same thing." "Drug test needs purpose".

Battle for White House could hinge Florida registration effort

"In a nondescript store front next to a Pembroke Pines gym, Florida Democrats launched a major offensive this week to boost their ranks despite a Republican law that makes the voter-registration push harder than ever."

President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign has closely studied the registration-crackdown law for months and devised a step-by-step quality-control process and is ready this weekend to train hundreds of volunteers at its 24 offices throughout the state.

The battle for the White House could literally hinge on the effort in a state where President George W. Bush won his first term in 2000 thanks to a margin of 537 votes in Florida.

But long before Election Day, Democrats will gather in meetings much like the one led Wednesdayby Organizing for America Florida activist Meghan Hardy. Bearing a chipper attitude and a Power Point presentation, Hardy taught about a dozen volunteers the dos and don’ts of voter registration. She gave a six-question quiz at the end.

“When we just register someone to vote, we don’t just register them and then stop,” Hardy said.

“We think about it as the beginning of a conversation that we’re going to be having with voters between now and Election Day.”

Once new voters are registered, the campaign will call and mail them to get them to the polls. As a result of their efforts, Hardy says, voters signed up in 2008 by the campaign were up to 20 percent more likely to vote when compared with voters signed up by other registration groups.

The new voter drive comes not a moment too soon for Democrats.

Since 2008, Democrats have lost 172,000 active voters — a roughly 4 percent decline — while Republicans have quietly launched a modest registration campaign of their own that has increased their ranks by almost 1 percent, or nearly 37,000.

The latest Florida poll shows Republican Mitt Romney ahead of Obama, 47 percent to 45 percent — an inside-the-error-margin lead. Obama won Florida by less than 3 percentage points four years ago. In 2010, Republicans swept the state.

That makes every new voter count all the more heading into November.

Ricky wants another term

Scott thinks he deserves another term:

After Gov. Rick Scott replaced Rod Jones on the Board of Chiropractic Medicine this week, his father Sen. Dennis Jones, R-Seminole, who has clashed with Gov. Rick Scott over prison privatization, made it patently clear that he would be willing to campaign for another Republican in 2014.

Jones said he expects a primary challenger to arise because of Scott’s low approval ratings.

“If his numbers don’t go any higher, I can’t image he’d run anyway,” Jones speculated.

But Scott has said he loves his job and intends to run. Only a single Democrat has announced plans to challenge the governor. And political experts say that despite the public opinion polling results, his critics shouldn’t be overly optimistic about pushing him back into the business world in two years.

University of Florida political science professor Daniel Smith said Scott, by announcing Tuesday that he isn’t concerned about re-election expenses, sent a strong message to challengers in both parties.

"Political and exploitative and ugly"

"Penny Mecklenburg — the deputy's widow and the person largely responsible for the bill's passage — wasn't there."

The ceremonial signing was once meant to honor her husband's memory and her efforts to change a flawed state statute. At least she thought so. Without her knowledge, she said Thursday, the event turned into something much different in recent days.

Something political and exploitative and ugly.

'Glades

The Miami Herald editorial board: "The Everglades, our life-sustaining River of Grass, needs every friend it can get. And it’s getting a real whopper of an advocate in Erik Eikenberg, who was named chief executive of the Everglades Foundation this week." "A voice for the ’Glades".

Gambling

"State's top court empowers lawmakers to expand gambling anywhere in Florida". See also "Court clears way for PB County slot-machine vote".

"Everyone responsible"

"In addition to imposing fines on universities, the bill increases from a misdemeanor to a third-degree felony the penalties for those who knowingly fail to report child abuse. In addition, it raises the prison sentence from one year to up to 15 years and increases potential fines from a maximum of $1,000 to a maximum of $5,000." "Governor signs bill to make everyone responsible for reporting child sex abuse".

The rebates come from health insurers that spent more on administrative expenses and profits than allowed under health-care overhaul laws that took effect last year.

In the Sunshine State, 1.75 million enrollees will divvy up the rebates. Among those who pay for their own health insurance without the help of an employer, 38 percent should get some money back, an average of $153 per covered member, according to the Kaiser analysis.

That means, in a family of four where everyone is covered, the rebate could exceed $600, said Gary Claxton, co-author of the Kaiser report.

Scott considers FDLE investigation of Florida Justices

"Scott is considering calling for an investigation into whether or not three Supreme Court justices are guilty of a misdemeanor in their scramble to get papers filed last week in their merit retention races. ... The controversy is another signal that the normally mundane issue of judicial retention could become a blistering political battle as a Tea Party-backed conservative group called Restore Justice 2012 mounts a campaign to oust the three sitting justices, who were appointed by former Gov. Lawton Chiles, a Democrat." "Gov. Rick Scott weighs investigation of Supreme Court justices for misdemeanors".

"Rep. Scott Plakon, a Longwood Republican, sent a letter to Scott Thursday alleging that the use of court employees to help three justices -- Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente and Peggy Quince, who all must stand for retention votes this year -- violated state election law."

The court was in the middle of hearing a two-hour redistricting argument when Chief Justice Charles Canady was handed a note by the court clerk. The note was prompted by a last-minute realization by Dan Stengle, the legal counsel for the judges' merit retention campaign, that the justices hadn't filed their financial disclosure forms, and asked for a recess.

Canady said the court would stand in recess for 10 minutes, but the break lasted longer than an hour as the three justices rushed to finish the paperwork before the noon Friday deadline to qualify to run. Had they missed the deadline, Scott would have been able to appoint three new justices.

Plakon's letter cites media reports that three court employees notarized the documents, which Plakon says violates the state prohibition on using state employees for campaign activities. ...

Plakon is one of many House Republicans who blasted the court over its decisions to remove several legislatively drafted constitutional amendments from the 2010 election ballot. Plakon sponsored one of them, the so-called "health care freedom act" that would negate any federal requirement that individuals carry health insurance, and lawmakers again placed it on the 2012 ballot. Several groups, including one called Restore Justice 2012, have already begun organizing to try and defeat the three justices this fall.

The Restore Justice group sent out a fundraising solicitation Thursday referencing Plakon's letter. The group is led by Jesse Phillips, a friend of Plakon's. The Orlando-based organization incorporated in the state as a non-profit, and with the feds as a so-called 527 organization. It won't have to file state financial-disclosure reports until closer to when it actually engages in electioneering activities.

Its most recent federal quarterly filing states it raised $41,500 over the first three months of 2012 from a Miami Beach doctor named Allan Jacob.

Plakon said he "doubted" he would be working with the group to oust the judges.

What's wrong with Hillsborough?

"Foes of the Council on American Islamic Relations turned out again at Thursday's Hillsborough County School Board meeting, this time to protest the lack of action by board members earlier this month."

"We don't want an organization in our classrooms that has been linked to the funding of terrorism. It's as simple as that," said Kathy Brown of Valrico. "It's not about religion. It's not about teachers. It's about the security and safety of our children and our country. If students aren't your top priority, what is?" ...The board has sought to move on from the controversy over CAIR and guest speakers in the classroom. For the last several meetings, community members have stood to raise concerns about the appearance of Hassan Shibly, executive director of the Tampa chapter of CAIR, in a Steinbrenner High School classroom last year.

More than a dozen speakers, many wearing red shirts as they have done in the past, showed up to blast the board for not enacting strict guidelines that would keep CAIR out of the classroom in the future.

Wendy Tai wore a red shirt that read "I Won't Be Deceived" on the front and "Infidel" on the back. She spoke of her love of God and recited a biblical verse as others in the crowd joined her saying the words. "Satan is in charge right now," she told board members.

Terry Kemple, a candidate for a countywide school board seat and the leader of the effort, referred to the local group as "Hamas Tampa."

Rivera's "dizzying maze of questionable practices"

The Miami Herald editorial board: "After an 18-month investigation of U.S. Rep. David Rivera’s political finances, frustrated prosecutors have concluded that they can’t justify charging him despite uncovering a dizzying maze of questionable practices. It brings to mind an old adage about political scandals: The outrage is not the violation of law, but what’s (apparently) legal."

The 16-page “close-out memorandum” prepared by the office of Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle after an investigation with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement delved into various areas involving payments and reimbursements to Mr. Rivera. It said he “essentially live[d] off” campaign contributions for almost a decade.

During that time, most of which he served in the Florida Legislature as a part-time lawmaker, Mr. Rivera never held a full-time job or earned more than $28,000 a year. Yet he managed to pay mortgages on four different properties and led a peripatetic life attending entertainment events and shows that he insisted were campaign-related, according to FDLE.

“Essentially, he was campaigning every day for years,” the prosecutors said, and even paid for travel by girlfriends. Mr. Rivera has disputed charges of wrongdoing and blasted FDLE for “dishonest and unprofessional behavior.”

The state attorney’s report says that he justified paying for expenses connected to girlfriends because “as a single man running as a political conservative it was necessary for him to appear at campaign related events with a female escort.” Mr. Rivera called that a “libelous statement and fabrication” and insisted he had never said that.

Mr. Rivera, the investigation found, was working as a “political strategist” for a Miami-Dade gambling initiative when he was in the Legislature, but his work was not disclosed at the time.

Gambling interests gave a company created by his mother over $500,000. At least $100,000 was traced back to Mr. Rivera. In amended filings, he later called it a loan, and prosecutors said they could not determine whether the “backdating” was falsified.

For nearly a decade, prosecutors said, Mr. Rivera claimed to be “campaigning for public office as well as campaigning for committeeman; moving from one task to another seamlessly, on a daily basis.”

"Another abortion skirmish"

"This fall Florida voters will be asked to take sides in the seemingly perennial battle in the state capital over abortion rights. They'll be presented with Amendment 6, which has two elements."

One element would take a current federal and state ban on using public funds to pay for abortions and enshrine it as part of the Florida Constitution. That would make the ban much harder to repeal.

The other element would exempt abortion from the state constitution's privacy clause. In 1989 and 2003 rulings, the Florida Supreme Court cited that clause in striking down laws requiring parental consent and parental notification for minors seeking abortions.

FlaBagger battles country clubber

Scott Maxwell goes with the country clubber: "Adams' tactics smack of desperation. And probably for good reason. Because while she's long on criticisms of Mica, she's short on positive things to say about herself. Quite simply, Adams hasn't accomplished much." "In John Mica vs. Sandy Adams, it's record vs. rhetoric".

"Illegal, in Florida, depends on geography"

Fred Grimm writes that "illegal, in Florida, depends on geography. We’re using the old Mississippi bootlegger ethic to decide whether to pretend illegal gambling joints aren’t illegal. Just depends on where you are." "In Florida, gambling is gambling, except when it’s not".

"Republican leaders need to abandon Big Brother obsession"

The Tampa Bay Times editors: "It's bad enough that Gov. Rick Scott insists on infringing on Floridians' personal liberty. But he even expects taxpayers to pick up the tab."

On Thursday, a federal judge became the second in a year to deem one of Scott's drug testing schemes an unreasonable search and seizure. And just like before, Scott promised to appeal, proving to be more interested in political posturing than in respecting the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Republican leaders need to abandon this Big Brother obsession and respect Floridians' privacy. ...

If only this bad idea could die now. But Scott's insistence on appealing just means more taxpayer money will be wasted on defending a scheme that is clearly unconstitutional in a nation that prizes personal liberty. Scott swore to uphold the entire U.S. Constitution when he became governor 15 months ago. It's time to start.

"Glaring, potentially multimillion-dollar pothole"

"In their haste to meet one of Gov. Rick Scott's top priorities, Florida lawmakers left a glaring, potentially multimillion-dollar pothole in legislation revamping the state's no-fault auto insurance." "No-fault auto insurance bill has major gap".

Scott proves "he can be just as big a hypocritical phony as JD Alexander"

The Tampa Bay Times editors write that Rick Scott has "embraced the fantasies of the egomaniac who championed this foolishness and stands accused of fostering a hostile work environment at the University of South Florida Polytechnic in Lakeland. Former USF Poly chancellor Marshall Goodman locked arms with Sen. JD Alexander to insist that USF Poly become an independent university, and the Legislature and the governor meekly met their demands. The more the spotlight shines on Goodman's little fiefdom, the worse the governor's judgment of people and policy looks."

USF's two-month ethics review of USF Poly reveals an arrogant operation with no regard for purchasing rules or respect for taxpayers. ...

USF's investigation was triggered by an anonymous complaint from the Lakeland campus about Goodman and the business incubator. The more investigators looked, the more irregularities they found and the more USF Poly employees came forward to describe Goodman's intimidation and culture of fear. The report reveals how the former chancellor ran the campus like his personal playground, spending freely, hiring his son for a job he was unqualified to perform and bullying anyone who dared to complain. No wonder Goodman and Alexander were outraged when USF president Judy Genshaft removed Goodman in December and replaced him with accountant David Touchton, who had sought to slow down the rush to independence for USF Poly. The last thing they wanted was a fresh look from someone who would play by the rules and could be trusted by USF Poly employees to listen to them.

Goodman's supporters complain about the timing of the release of the report, just days after Scott signed into law the creation of Florida Polytechnic University. They're right. It should have become public during the legislative session. Perhaps then a few more legislators would have stood up to Alexander, the powerful chairman of the Senate Budget Committee who muscled millions into the state budget for the new university and was not going to leave Tallahassee without it.

Instead, generations of Florida taxpayers will be paying for a new university the state cannot afford. Two high-ranking USF Poly administrators who worked under Goodman face being fired. Goodman, who should be under further investigation, has more explaining to do. So does the governor. Scott met privately with Goodman and Alexander before he signed the bill into law that creates the new university. Now he shares their boondoggle and their baggage.

During his run for the Governor's Mansion, Scott touted his keen business credentials, his aversion to politics as usual and his pride in being an outsider above the nasty partisan infighting and dealmaking of Tallahassee. Phftt!

Now, less than two years into the job, he has proven he can be just as big a hypocritical phony as his new best buddy JD Alexander, the Little Lord Fauntleroy of Lake Wales.

Scott to ink tuition increases

"Scott must decide whether he wants to let two major universities raise tuition higher than what is currently allowed. Scott is expected on Friday to either sign or veto a bill that would let the University of Florida and Florida State University increase tuition rates above the current 15 percent a year cap. Scott earlier this week said he remained undecided on the bill (HB 7129)." "Scott to sign or veto bill allowing FSU, UF to raise tuition". See also "Rick Scott Studying Unlimited Tuition Increases for STEM-Degree Programs".

Scott dithers on Cuba

"Rick Scott Reviewing Bill to Prohibit Contracts with Businesses Trading in Cuba".

Alleged harasser entertains USF College Republicans

"Former presidential contender Herman Cain told a group of University of South Florida students Thursday they should be conservatives because 'the alternative is the destruction of this country.'"

Conservatives, he said, believe in "less taxes, less government and more individual responsibility. Liberals believe in more taxes, more government and less individual responsibility. It's just that clear."

Speaking to a gathering of USF College Republicans, Cain vehemently denied what he called the "false charges" of sexual harassment that led to the end of his presidential campaign in December. ...

Asked whether the group considered whether it should invite someone accused of sexual harassment as speaker for the dinner, organizer April Schiff said, "What we considered was that he's a national figure and executing a new campaign, and willing to come here. We've got a good crowd."

"Buzz increasing that Rubio could end up on ticket"

"With buzz increasing that U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio could end up on the Republican presidential ticket, the junior senator from Florida looked to highlight his conservative credentials this week on foreign and domestic policy, even as a prominent figure from Florida politics [Joe Scarborough] said he did not have the necessary experience to be vice president." "As VP Buzz Continues, Marco Rubio Pushes Conservative Legislation in Senate".

Counties Challenge Medicaid Funding

"47 Counties Challenge Medicaid Funding Law".

The GOP should embrace this ermeging plan. It’s a stop-gap, to be sure, but it would lift hundreds of thousands — as many as one million — young people from the shadows of immigration law, particularly if they pursue college or want to enroll in the U.S. military.

FlaDem push?

"Is Buchanan worried about push by Democrats?".

Rubio's grandfather ordered deported

"Another chapter in Sen. Marco Rubio’s family history publicly unfolded Wednesday when reporters unearthed the story of his grandfather’s flight from Castro’s Cuba and his near-deportation from the United States."

The reports from the Associated Press, Politico and the Washington Post underscored the intense national scrutiny of the potential Republican vice-presidential candidate.

In a rush to tell his story before others do this election year, Rubio is writing an autobiography, “An American Son: A Memoir.” It’s scheduled to be published in June. About the same time, Washington Post writer Manuel Roig-Franzia publishes “The Rise of Marco Rubio,” an unauthorized biography of Rubio.

On Wednesday, Roig-Franzia had excerpts of his book published in Politico that mentioned the plight of Rubio’s maternal grandfather, Pedro Victor García. Simultaneously, the Associated Press chronicled parts of García’s story.

García immigrated to the United States three years before Fidel Castro took power Jan. 1, 1959. Two weeks later, García returned to Cuba hoping the island had changed for the better. It hadn’t. It replaced one dictator with another.

By the summer of 1962, he fled the country for the United States. García was allowed entry even though an immigration officer signed a form that said “you do not appear to me to be clearly and beyond a doubt entitled to enter the United States,” Roig-Franzia reported.

The Associated Press reported that an Aug. 31, 1962 interagency immigration memo said that García "returned to the U.S. only because his family is here, no family in Cuba." That admission, the AP said, suggested Garcia was not seeking political asylum.

Just what happened to García is unclear — records are incomplete — but on Oct. 4, 1962 an immigration hearing officer ordered the Rubio’s grandfather “be excluded and deported from the United States.”

But he wasn’t because, by then, the United States had a de facto policy of not returning people to Communist dictators, according to Cuban and immigration experts.

The Washington Post writer says that García’s travails then are similar to those experienced now by immigrants from Mexican and other Latin American countries.

"The law can be daunting"

"Since passage last year of a new Republican-sponsored election-law rewrite, fierce debate has raged over whether new rules make it tougher for people to register and vote this election year. Among other changes, new law requires groups and individuals to turn in voter forms within 48 hours – they previously had 10 days – or face fines of $50 per late application, up to a maximum of $1,000 per organization per year."

The debate has a partisan tone. Republicans say the changes, which include other new regulations such as using tracking numbers to tie voter applications to the organizations responsible for generating them, are reasonable attempts to curb fraud. Democrats call them "voter suppression," contending they are intended to curb registration and voting, especially by traditionally Democratic minority, disabled and poor residents.

The changes are also opposed by several nonprofit groups that conduct high-profile voter-registration drives. The League of Women Voters, Rock the Vote and others sued in federal court in Tallahassee to overturn the new law, which took effect last July 1; a ruling is expected soon. Meanwhile, they halted their registration drives.

"We've made such important and remarkable progress since the year 2000 which helped restore voter confidence," said Deirdre Macnab, president of the League of Women Voters of Florida. "So to see the Legislature take these backward, regressive steps … is appalling."

The law can be daunting. Case in point: LaVon Bracy, a longtime voter-registration volunteer, wife of the Rev. Randolph Bracy Jr., pastor of New Covenant Baptist Church in Orlando, said she felt the pressure when she collected about 15 applications at church on Easter Sunday and then had to go to Gainesville the next day. She hustled back to Orlando that afternoon.

"I had to come by the church, pick up the voter registrations and get to the voter registration office before 5. I mean, ooooh, it was a rush," she said.

Still, the Florida Secretary of State's Office reports that 269 groups -- ranging from minority-rights organizations such as La Raza and the NAACP to the Christian group Florida Family Action, to the state Democratic and Republican parties -- are signed up to register voters. There are no comparable numbers from past elections, because groups were not required to register.

But most of them are inactive, according to state Division of Elections data. The five busiest groups – including both political parties – are responsible for more than 90 percent of the 56,529 applications turned in.

"Purchased for $50,000 a pop"

"A state organization that funnels millions of dollars in taxpayer money to private businesses has a high risk for corruption due to a lack of transparency, according to a new report from a good governance group."

Enterprise Florida, a public-private partnership tasked with engaging the private sector to create jobs, conducts much of its business using exemptions from Florida's open government Sunshine Law, concluded the Integrity Florida report released Wednesday.

Highlighting the importance of confidentiality in the competitive business arena, Enterprise Florida has lobbied for continued secrecy, and has already given out more than $1.5 million in incentives awards for companies that sit on its board.

Those board seats — many occupied by the state's largest companies — can be purchased for $50,000 a pop, said Dan Krassner, executive director of Integrity Florida.

"Enterprise Florida is most likely scaring off (out-of-state) capital and jobs by giving incentives to their board members," he said, adding that companies like Publix and Lockheed Martin have benefited from large incentive packages while sitting on the organization's 61-member board. ...

Enterprise Florida received $16 million for next year's budget, beginning July 1, and has doled out hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars for business incentives since it was created in 1996.

Those incentives go to companies looking to relocate to or expand in Florida. Incentives come in the form of tax breaks, infrastructure money or cash grants that can run into the millions of dollars.

Rubio flubs audition for new job

"It was a 30-minute, detailed speech that cast a hawkish but bipartisan tone. Rubio praised and criticized President Barack Obama, and distanced himself from the growing isolationist streak in his own party." He closed by revealing

he had misplaced the final page of his speech [which he was blithley reading], grinning awkwardly as he looked for help, the crowd laughing.

There were subtler signs. Rubio is receiving police protection in Washington and home in Miami after being subject to a threat. U.S. Capitol police confirmed an investigation but did not comment further.

Rubio has pursued an interest in foreign policy since being elected in 2010, and he told the audience he had been heavily influenced by a new book, The World America Made, by neoconservative historian Robert Kagan. Rubio met Kagan a few months ago and said he wanted to give a speech expanding on his views, and Kagan, a senior fellow at the Brookings think tank, helped arrange one.

Ex-GOP fundraiser loses appeal

"Alan Mendelsohn, the Hollywood physician and ex-GOP fundraiser imprisoned for four years on a tax-related fraud conviction, has lost his federal appeal to reduce his sentence." "Broward doctor Mendelsohn loses appeal to reduce four-year prison sentence".

Romney's Florida spending knocks Gingrich out

George Bennett: "Florida and its rogue early primary did not clinch the Republican presidential nomination for Mitt Romney. But the Sunshine State probably dealt the decisive blow to Newt Gingrich's chances."

[I]n the first nominating contest where expensive media buys really mattered, Romney bombarded Gingrich with negative ads highlighting his ties to failed mortgage giant Freddie Mac.

Romney won the Florida primary by 14.5 percentage points.

After Gingrich's Sunshine State swoon, Rick Santorum emerged as the leading contender to Romney, before ending his campaign this month. Gingrich didn't win another primary except for a March 6 contest in his home state of Georgia.

Tampa struggles with that first amendment thing

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board: "Tampa's revised approach for handling protests and assemblies at this summer's Republican National Convention offers significant improvements over an earlier draft."

The proposal relaxes a number of over-the-top security precautions, and it makes it easier and cheaper for groups to gather and march on public property. The measure still needs work; the security perimeter is still too large and law enforcement would still have too much latitude to make arrests in questionable circumstances. But this is a reasonable starting point for the Tampa City Council, which takes up the ordinance on May 3.

"Textbook example of a bad bill"

The Tampa Tribune editorial board: "The Legislature's attempt to force a few companies to stop doing business in Cuba is a textbook example of a bad bill. Gov. Rick Scott should veto it." "Don't hit Cuba with city hall".

"Hey, whomever, you’re a liberal"

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "Connie Mack's Senate campaign is so obsessed with 'liberals' that the definition extends to any Republican who doesn't love Connie Mack." "Mack's problem isn't liberals". Like father, like son. Remember how mini Mack's daddy won in 1988 with the help of an ad charging, "Hey, Buddy, you’re a liberal".

"Concerns about environmental permitting bill"

"HB 503 prohibits state and local permitting agencies from requiring that other local, state or federal permits be issued first. Also Wednesday, groups who filed a legal challenge against the port of Miami dredging permit announced they had reached a settlement agreement. A bill signed by Gov. Rick Scott last week provided for an expedited hearing process in the legal challenge." "U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service joins FEMA in raising concerns about environmental permitting bill".

Citizens

"Under a new proposal to be considered Thursday, new Citizens policyholders could be charged initial rates far more than similar customers who have already been in the pool." "Citizens Insurance board to weigh higher rates for new policies". See also "Insurance forces poised to clash again over Citizens' plan to exceed rate hike cap for new business".

From all the swooning and fawning among Republicans over who would be the ideal running mate for Mitt Romney, you would think young master Rubio was a political hybrid of Marc Anthony meets Ronald Reagan meets José Martí.

Let us count the ways.

First, history. Before Rubio starts humming the vice presidential anthem, which happens to be I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry, the senator should know that with one exception — Franklin Roosevelt in 1920 — no vice presidential candidate on a losing ticket has later been elected president. ...

Being the second banana on a losing presidential campaign has proven to be a career Bermuda Triangle. And Marco Rubio is no FDR.

Second, age and experience. The knock on Barack Obama in 2008 was that he was too inexperienced to be president and indeed only used his Senate seat to position himself to run for the White House. Probably so.

But Obama at least had served in the Senate for four years. The 40-year-old Rubio has served in the Senate for less than two years and already he is being touted by the same people critical of Obama's ambition as possessing heartbeat away material.

Vice president? Jeepers, this chap is still trying to find the Senate men's room.

Third, the Hispanic thing. Some myopic Mr. Magoo Republicans are acting as if Rubio's Hispanic surname on the ballot will result in one big fat Cinco de Mayo love-in from the Latin community.

In fact, Rubio is hardly wildly popular among the diverse Hispanic voters across the country who oppose his conservative views on immigration. Rubio's Dream Act 2.0 is a feckless effort to appeal to Hispanic voters by creating a second-class form of residency while denying a path to citizenship. There's a winning issue for you among Hispanics in Florida, Arizona and California. This would be like assuming an Irish candidate who opposed drinking and Catholicism would ride a shamrock wave into office.

Then there is that little problem with Univision, the leading Spanish-language television network in the country, which has been feuding with the senator for years. Think of this as a pol getting crossways with a Hispanic version of Rupert Murdoch. No good will come from this.

Fourth, Jim Greer — oops. The trial of former Florida Republican Party chairman Greer on fraud, money laundering and grand theft charges is set to begin on the eve of the Republican National Convention in Tampa. Testimony is sure to include the former Florida House speaker's financial relationship with Greer, which will hardly help burnish the senator's squeaky-clean Boy Scout image.

Bondi goes Arizona-style, drags Florida with her

"Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is standing firmly behind Arizona as the state heads to the U.S. Supreme Court over its controversial immigration law."

The ACLU of Florida was quick to criticize Bondi’s stance

“By adding her name to the Supreme Court brief, Attorney General Bondi has symbolically given the blessing of all Floridians to laws that threaten people’s rights and make law enforcement more difficult," Howard Simon, executive director of ACLU Florida, stated in a release.

“Focusing on race or national origin in policing sends a chilling message to certain groups -- in this case, Latino and Hispanic families -- that they are under increased suspicion.”

Scott expects Florida Republicans to buy this time

"Scott said Tuesday that not only will he seek a second term in 2014 — as most everyone expected — but he predicted that he won't have to reach into his own pocket to pay for a re-election campaign like he did the first time. Scott, who spent more than $73 million of his own money to win in 2010, made the announcement in a matter-of-fact way during a 25-minute question-and-answer session with reporters in his office." "Gov. Rick Scott won't dump his fortune into re-election". See also: "Rick Scott on Re-election: 'We’ll Have the Money to Win'".

Publicity stunt

"With the General Services Administration under fire for a costly event held at the M Resort in Las Vegas back in 2010 on the taxpayers’ dime, a congressman from Florida introduced a measure on Tuesday to slash federal travel funds." "In Aftermath of GSA's Vegas Event, Dennis Ross Looks to Rein in Federal Travel Costs".

"Scapegoating"

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board: "The scapegoating of illegal immigrants by state legislatures in Florida and elsewhere would be quieted if the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Arizona's controversial immigration law intrudes on federal authority."

The Florida Legislature was more focused on redistricting this session, but in 2011 it grappled with Arizona-style bills before dropping the issue for the time being. Gov. Rick Scott made a campaign pledge to bring an anti-immigration law like Arizona's to Florida, and the issue is a centerpiece cause for tea party activists. Whether the pernicious issue will reappear with added momentum depends on what happens in Arizona vs. United States. The challenge focuses on key parts of the 2010 Arizona law, which transforms local law enforcement into immigration police to scare illegal immigrants into leaving the state.

"Pandering to the suckers — while taking orders from their donors"

Scott Maxwell: when running for office, "Rick was a full of tough talk and big promises. He wanted to be the new sheriff in town, rooting out illegal immigrants and anyone who harbored them."

Rick simply amped up the immigration rhetoric and beat Bill McCollum senseless with planks from the border fence he wanted to build.

If you thought Arizona's law was tough on immigrants and employers, just wait until Sheriff Rick took office.

"Rick Scott backs Arizona's law. He'll bring it to Florida …" boasted one ad.

"Rick will require all Florida employers to use the free E-Verify system to ensure that their workers are legal," said another.

Now for the reality check: He has done neither of those things. ...

cheap and illegal labor is good for the bottom line. So Big Business has mounted a vigorous campaign against mandatory E-Verify, predicting all sorts of doomsday scenarios if forced to use it.

Their complaints are largely malarkey. A growing number of states — including neighboring states of Alabama and Georgia — have already passed laws to require employers to use the system.

Old Rick promised to do the same in Florida. Yet it has not happened.

New Rick blames this on the Legislature, which is run my members of his own party who also claim to support E-Verify.

Essentially, Florida is a state run by politicians who claim to want E-Verify, but refuse to make it happen.

They want it both ways — demagoguing the issue for the immigrant-obsessed crowds while also sating the business execs who fill their campaign coffers.

I recently had lunch with a fellow pushing serious reform efforts who predicted Scott wouldn't be able to dodge this issue forever — that his red-meat base would force him to take action.

Hogwash, I responded. Where else are they going to go? Besides, some like the fist-pounding more than serious reform. It won't matter if Scott fails to deliver. As long as he screams about immigrants in the next election, they'll be right back beside him.

The politicians will keep pandering to the suckers — while taking orders from their donors.

"Throwing money at business interests"

The Orlando Sentinel editorial board: "Florida has fared poorly in a new Pew Center on the States study, 'Evidence Counts,' which ranks how well states evaluate and account for their economic development tax incentives. In fact, Florida placed in the bottom tier of states for not reviewing all major tax incentives or failing to use key data to make informed policy choices. The poor ranking at best undermines Florida's efforts to promote corporate recruitment as an antidote for anemic job growth. At worst, Florida's lax accountability ought to raise suspicion the state is wasting tax revenues by throwing money at business interests without following up to make sure what was promised was indeed delivered." "For taxpayers' sake keep eye on business breaks".

Ink by the barrel

"Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene’s libel suit against Times Publishing Co., publisher of the Tampa Bay Times, was dismissed by a judge on Monday."

Greene, who lost the 2010 Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate, filed suit against the Times, then known as the St. Petersburg Times, and the Miami Herald.

He alleged that three articles written by Times reporters that also appeared in the Herald cost him the primary and defamed his reputation. But Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Valerie Manno-Schurr decided otherwise in Monday’s ruling. ...

Greene sued over an Aug. 8, 2010, article and Aug. 9 editorial about his role in the 2006 sale of La Mirage, a 300-unit condominium complex fashioned from old military housing in the Mohave Desert.

The deal involved inflated sales prices to straw buyers that cost banks and taxpayers millions, according to the Times. Greene’s company sold the units to a man who was later indicted by a federal grand jury for fraud and money laundering in connection with La Mirage and other real estate transactions.

An Aug. 13 story in the Times detailed reports of partying on Greene’s 145-foot yacht, the Summerwind.

Not only did Greene fail to “properly allege” that the Times was “reckless,” according to the judge, but “the plaintiff is asking the Court to engage in a post election analysis and to award damages against the defendants for a lost election.”

Greene’s attorney, Atlanta lawyer L. Lin Wood, released this statement to the Times: “The order ignores established First Amendment law and either ignores or contradicts the facts. To validate the false accusations made by these newspapers against Jeff Greene, threatens not only the reputations of candidates for political office, but also places the reputation of every citizen of the State of Florida at risk. Rich or poor, or somewhere in between, every person’s reputation is invaluable. We will appeal.”

MacNamara's "horse trading"

"Scott has sacked two people from state boards with close ties to a Pinellas County senator who antagonized Scott and his top aide on a key issue in the recent legislative session. ... Sen. Jones, the current dean of the Legislature and in the last year of a 28-year career, was a vocal critic of privatizing South Florida prisons, a project Scott supported."

When [Scott’s chief of staff, Steve] MacNamara summoned Jones to the governor’s office to hear Scott’s pitch, Jones refused.

Jones had earlier asked the governor to reappoint his son and Burke to their voluntary posts, and MacNamara has said he hoped Jones would be open to “horse trading.”

"Wasserman Schultz Challengers Fight Over War Chests"

"Two GOP candidates vying to take on Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fort Lauderdale, are taking potshots at each other's war chests while the national Republican Party has them both 'on the radar.'" "Debbie Wasserman Schultz Challengers Fight Over War Chests as GOP Tracks Race".

The best they can do?

"The two leading Republicans aiming to challenge Democrat incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in November looked to advance their campaigns on Tuesday in very different ways."

Congressman Connie Mack, whose father held the Senate seat for 12 years before stepping down in 2000 when Nelson won it, released a radio ad on Tuesday that will run across the Sunshine State.

In the ad, Mack takes aim at President Barack Obama and Nelson on gas prices, slamming the two Democrats for opposing the Keystone XL Pipeline which would bring oil into America from Canada. ...

Also on Tuesday, Mack’s chief primary rival, former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, trotted out a different tactic. While Mack is hitting the airwaves, LeMieux is looking to hone his ground game. LeMieux, who served 16 months in the Senate after being appointed to it by then-Gov. Charlie Crist before he left the GOP to run for the Senate seat with no party affiliation, unveiled his grassroots team with leaders named for all 67 counties in the Sunshine State.

Florida's consumer confidence falls again

"Floridians' consumer confidence fell again in April, marking three straight months of decline, according to a monthly University of Florida survey." "Infographic: Florida consumer confidence continues slide".

Don't you dare call it a "tax"

"Tolls set to rise by on central Florida expressway".

Wildfire risk

"The governor and Cabinet included a Florida Forever interim work plan with 14 projects, some of them providing buffers around military bases. The Cabinet also was told that more acres have burned in wildfires this year than at the same time last year." "Cabinet approves work plan for purchasing state lands, hears about wildfire risk".

"Legislature has aroused a sleeping giant"

"By passing a bill that could hit some consumers’ pocketbooks and potentially run afoul of the state’s Constitution, the Florida Legislature has aroused a sleeping giant: Florida’s fed-up homeowners associations."

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Frank Artiles, R-Miami, stems from an ongoing court case in which a Central Florida homeowners’ association is suing a developer for the neighborhood’s poorly built drainage pipes and pothole-ridden roads.

The case is before the Florida Supreme Court, and the homeowners are trying to recover more than $600,000 for repairs. The decision is expected to have a major impact on homeowners, developers and neighborhood associations.

The case centers on the concept of “implied warranty,” which protects homeowners who buy a property and later find out that it was poorly constructed. Lower courts disagreed about whether that warranty extends beyond the four walls of a structure to include things like driveways, and the court is set to make a landmark, precedent-setting decision soon.

But before the court could make the potentially groundbreaking ruling, the Legislature stepped in with HB 1013, which clearly states that implied warranty does not apply to “offsite improvements.”

Artiles, the Miami lawmaker, claimed his bill — which passed with bipartisan support — was a response to “activist judges,” and would prevent trial lawyers from exploiting home builders.

'Glades

"Eric Eikenberg, chief of staff to former Gov. Charlie Crist and a seasoned Republican strategist, has landed one of the state’s most influential environmental advocacy jobs. The Everglades Foundation, a Palmetto Bay-based group whose membership boasts deep pockets and political clout, will announce Wednesday that Eikenberg will become its new chief executive." "Former Charlie Crist aide lands Everglades job".

Smith, Gaetz, "each suggests the other is misrepresenting"

"Slapped down by one court and facing years of partisan legal wrangling over the Legislature’s redistricting plans, the Senate’s top Republican quietly met with the head of the Florida Democratic Party last month to discuss a deal that could end the lawsuits."

It didn’t work. Now, while both sides agree the meetings took place, each suggests the other is misrepresenting why the deal failed.

Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, the Senate Redistricting Committee chair, told the Herald/Times Monday that he was approached repeatedly by former state Sen. Steve Geller, D-Hallandale Beach, who served as an intermediary for Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith.

Gaetz said he agreed to meet with Smith “because I will meet with anybody” but when Smith asked to meet him away from the Capitol, Gaetz said he refused.

“I told him I didn’t have the authority to negotiate a deal,’’ Gaetz said. “I felt it was inappropriate and I felt it was unethical.”

Smith confirmed Monday that he met with Gaetz “two or three times” to find a way “to move the process forward more quickly, and get more finality.” ...

Smith told the Herald/Times that if Gaetz thought the entreaties were unethical, “he didn’t raise that point with me. If fact, quite the contrary, he said, ‘let’s keep talking.’”

Scott reappoints 344

"Gov. Rick Scott has reappointed 344 people to state panels and positions because the Florida Senate failed to take confirmation votes. About 50 people, though, did not get reappointed to such positions as college and university boards of trustees." "Gov. Scott reappoints 344 to state panels". See also "Scott appoints 344 to state boards, but leaves several vacancies".

Good luck with that

"The International Panel on Climate Change estimates that the global average sea level will rise 0.6 to 2 feet in the next century. Some members of the state Acquisition and Restoration Council suggested that sea level rise should be considered when the looks at buying land or deciding where to locate park facilities." "Some advisory council members want DEP to consider effects of sea level rise on state parks".

Love 4 sale

"Haridopolos Still Atop GOP Senate Field in Donations".

"Easy way to score political points"

The Miami Herald editorial board: "It’s no secret that Florida legislators are ever eager to take a strong stand against the Castro regime. It’s an easy way to score political points against a detested foe and, by the way, distract voters from the Legislature’s failure to fix windstorm insurance, improve funding for education or otherwise deal with real and vexing problems."

They did it again this year, adopting a measure of dubious legality to restrict trade with Cuba and Syria that has alarmed at least two of Florida’s most important trade partners, Canada and Brazil, not to mention the president of the Florida Chamber of Commerce. ...

Federal law preempts the states on foreign trade. Besides the legal issue, it makes no sense for the governor to lead a trade and investment mission to Brazil, as he has, only to turn around and sign a measure that cripples the operations of a top Brazilian company in Florida. Signing it would contradict the governor’s claim that “Florida is open for business.”

Ponzi scheme

"Former U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson has won $852,000 in a federal securities case he claimed involved a 'Ponzi scheme' that defrauded him and other investors of up to $1 billion." "Grayson wins $852,000 in stock case".

"Election law review will extend into July"

"A federal court review of Florida's new election law will extend into July, just a month before the Aug. 14 primary."

A Department of State spokesman on Monday said Florida is prepared to use two election laws if the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., doesn't rule before the primary.

A judge last week issued a schedule that doesn't require final briefs to be filed until July 9.

The court is reviewing provisions that restrict voter registration drives, reduce early voting days and require provisional ballots for voters who change out-of-county addresses on Election Day.

"From Plant City to St. Pete Beach"

"About 50,000 people are expected to attend the Republican National Convention in Tampa this August, and they all can't stay in downtown Tampa. RNC convention spokesman, James Davis, said the committee has 16,000 rooms booked from Plant City to St. Pete Beach." "RNC delegations to be housed from Plant City to St. Pete".

Marco's trial run

"Sen. Marco Rubio joins Mitt Romney on campaign trail in Pa., shuns VP talk — again". See also "Vice president audition? Rubio stumps with Romney in Pennsylvania".

Fall from grace

"Former Fort Lauderdale legislator Mandy Dawson pleads guilty to tax evasion".

Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Rubio, as has been the case since Romney all but locked up the GOP presidential nomination, was asked about the vice presidency by host Candy Crowley.

“I’m not going to even discuss the process anymore,” the Republican senator from Florida said. “I’m going to be respectful of the process he’s (Romney) put in place.”

That answer differed from Rubio’s previous remarks. On April 15, when he told CNN en Espanol’s Ismael Cala “I’m not going to be the vice president. I’m not,” and on April 4, Rubio said, “I’m not going to be the vice president.”

For one thing, Rubio is Cuban American and, as such, he represents around 5 percent of America’s Latino population, fully two thirds of which is Mexican American. The experiences of those two communities could not be more different. Republicans (and the media) may not see the geographic, ethnic and cultural distinctions, but Latinos do. And in the case of illegal immigration, there is no “wet foot, dry foot” policy for Mexican, Honduran or other economic migrants, leading to a sense among many, fair or not, that Cuban Americans are afforded an unfair advantage.

Likewise, Cuban Americans are a predominantly conservative constituency, while the majority of Hispanics tend to be more liberal. They favor social programs, public education and healthcare reform, by wide margins.

More fundamentally, the notion that simply dangling a person with an Hispanic surname will negate the feeling among many Hispanics, based on the coarseness of the illegal-immigration debate, that one political party doesn’t much like them, is simplistic at best, insulting at worst. It would be like saying that adding Rep. Allen West to Romney’s ticket would win over African Americans. That theory was tested in 2010, when adding Jennifer Carroll, who is black, to Rick Scott’s ticket yielded the governor exactly 3 percent of the African-American vote — the same percentage of black Floridians who were already members of the GOP.

The latest polling indicates that adding Rubio to the ticket wouldn’t help Romney win Florida. He does no better in a Public Policy poll against Obama and Vice President Joe Biden with Rubio by his side as he does without him.

Brilliant mistake

"Florida's top two foreign trading partners and the Florida Chamber of Commerce are sounding alarms about a new state law banning governments from hiring companies with business ties to Cuba. The warnings from economic powerhouses Canada and Brazil pit mighty business interests against the Miami-Dade lawmakers who authored the bill and the near-majority of legislators who voted for it, placing Florida's pro-business governor in a political bind."

Canada is one of Florida's largest trading partners, second only to Brazil -- whose similar complaints about the law have gone all the way to Washington.

Brazilian Minister of Trade and Industry Fernando Pimentel brought up Florida House Bill 959 earlier this month with U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson, who told him the administration could not do anything until the state legislation becomes law, according to a Brazilian official.

The legislation, which prohibits state and local governments from hiring companies that work in Cuba or Syria for contracts worth at least $1 million, appears to target Odebrecht, a Brazilian engineering and construction conglomerate. Odebrecht USA has long been based in Coral Gables. A separate subsidiary in Cuba is making major upgrades to the Port of Mariel.

Gov. Scott, accompanied by Chamber of Commerce delegates, traveled to Brazil earlier this year on a trade mission. Last year, Brazilian tourists became Miami-Dade's first $1 billion vacation market.

"As state university coffers are drained by hundreds of millions"

"As other state universities are about to see their coffers drained by hundreds of millions of dollars, Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill creating Florida Polytechnic University." "Gov. Rick Scott approves bill creating new state university".

"Nervousness of Florida Republicans"

"Jeff Atwater’s just-ended flirtation with a U.S. Senate bid speaks volumes about the nervousness of Florida Republicans these days." "Looking beyond Connie Mack and U.S. Senate race".

"Court clerks hit hard"

Zac Anderson: "Despite some of the highest fees in the nation for everything from adoptions to foreclosures, Florida’s court system faces another big budget cut that threatens to jeopardize timely access to vital government services." "Court clerks hit hard by state cuts".

Casino fight continues

Jeremy Wallace: "Chamber vows aggressive fight against casinos".

Legal aid for poor slashed

"Legal aid lawyers say the veto from Florida's $70 billion budget will cut a quarter of their staff around the state next year." "Lawyers for the needy decry Florida budget veto".

Wingnuts want their Marco

Good little Jebbite, Myriam Marquez, actually blames Democrats for, in her words, "holding hostage young, talented immigrants for the sake of scoring points on a political wedge issue."

She whines that "Democrats don’t want to hand a compromise win to Rubio and the GOP before the White House race is settled in November." "Marco Rubio, Dreamers and political calculations".

"One of Rick Scott's Young Guns"

"Jon Costello: One of Rick Scott's Young Guns".

West, a soft target

"Although U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, is no longer running in Palm Beach-Broward congressional District 22, he remains a big part of District 22 Democratic candidate Lois Frankel's campaign strategy." "Frankel no longer running for Congress against West, but her ads still target him".

Tampa braces itself for Convention

"Hillsborough public defender preps for RNC workload". See also "New technology strengthens monitoring for RNC".

"PolitiFact ruling: False"

"The ad is right that gas prices have doubled (more than doubled, in fact) since Obama took office in 2009, but we decided to look at the ad's larger point — that Obama's policies on Alaska, Solyndra and Keystone are contributing to those higher gas prices."

The statement

Gas prices have doubled because "Obama opposed exploring for energy in Alaska. He gave millions of tax dollars to Solyndra, which then went bankrupt. And he blocked the Keystone pipeline. So we will all pay more at the pump."

The ruling

PolitiFact ruling: False

Gas prices are higher now, but there's no evidence that Obama's policies on Alaska, Solyndra or the Keystone XL caused the higher prices. We rate the statement False.

Indeed, a recent New York Times analysis of registration data — while not providing undeniable connection — suggests Florida's regressive "reforms" have left behind many voters. Since May, when the law kicked in, nearly 82,000 fewer voters have registered, compared with the same stretch during the 2008 presidential campaign.

Lest cynics solely pin the erosion on withered political enthusiasm or shifting demographics and the void of a viable Democratic primary this year, the Times cited appreciable dips in areas enjoying upticks in citizens of voting-age. In Orange County, registrations dropped more than 20 percent; Miami's tally plunged 39 percent.

Casual link or not, Ann McFall, supervisor of elections in Volusia, where new registrations fell nearly 20 percent, fingered the law: "The drop-off is our League of Women Voters, our five universities in Volusia County, none of which are making a concentrated effort this year," she told the Times.

In fact, the League of Women Voters, cowed by the oppressive fines, bailed out early. And Rock the Vote opted to skip the Sunshine State on its national barnstorming to sign up young voters.

That the GOP-backed law has delivered the desired effect is bad enough. But the law gives the disenfranchised an extra poke in the eye. Research by Daniel Smith, a University of Florida political scientist, suggests that the law purportedly needed to stem voter fraud has created more. In December 2007, he found, nearly 91 percent of the 77,299 applications the Division of Elections processed were valid. Last December, only 89.6 percent of the 45,026 applications were deemed valid.

D'oh!

The League of Women Voters and other civic groups have challenged the law in court. And rightfully so. Any law that mocks democracy and makes a problem worse should be scrapped.

Rivera, "how did he do it?"

The Miami Herald's Scott Hiaasen and Patricia Mazzei try to unravel "the financial maze the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office encountered in their 18-month investigation of the congressman's finances. The agencies closed their investigation of Rivera last week without filing criminal charges against him."

In a memo wrapping up their case, Miami-Dade prosecutors said Rivera "essentially live(d) off" campaign contributions for almost a decade while serving as a part-time state lawmaker, paying mortgages on four different properties and jetting around the globe though he never held a full-time job or earned more than $28,000 a year.

Newly released FDLE investigative reports show that Rivera used back-dated campaign records, a web of bank accounts and undisclosed loans, a batch of credit cards and misleading disclosure forms to disguise his finances from the public eye during much of his eight-year tenure in the Florida Legislature.

Rivera, once the powerful budget chief in the state House of Representatives, also collected at least $175,000 in undisclosed donations for a perpetual campaign as a Miami-Dade committeeman with the state Republican Party — money Rivera frequently used to pay for meals and travel, including plane tickets for his then-girlfriend, the records show.

Other expenses Rivera called "campaign related," the records show, included $105 for show tickets at a medieval-themed casino in Las Vegas, and $360 for tickets to an off-Broadway show in New York. The title: Perfect Crime.

The FDLE also suspected that Rivera billed both his campaign account and his legislative travel account for the same expense — an accusation of double-billing that Rivera strongly denies. Rivera and his attorney, Michael Band, gave investigators records they said showed that Rivera did not double-bill.

Rivera received another $132,000 from a company he asked his mother and her partner to set up as part of a consulting deal with a Miami-Dade dog track — money Rivera never disclosed until after he left state office, records show. Rivera has described these payments as loans — and he borrowed money from his mother and her partner to repay the debts to the very company they ran, investigators found.

Miami-Dade prosecutors concluded that they could not file criminal charges against Rivera, citing a truncated statute of limitations for misspent travel expenses — preventing prosecution for any activities after two years — and holes and ambiguities in the state's campaign-finance laws.

In a statement issued through his campaign, Rivera lambasted the FDLE probe as "fabricated lies."

"Nelson the luckiest man in Washington"

"For years, Florida Republicans have called Sen. Bill Nelson 'vulnerable,' as the only Democrat holding a statewide elected office in Florida."

They said it again at the outset of this election cycle, based largely on Nelson's comparatively low public profile for a two-term senator and less-than-overwhelming job approval numbers.

But in a parallel to the presidential race, a scrambled, drawn-out Republican primary and questions about the quality of GOP candidates have left Nelson in what looks — for the moment — like a comfortable position.

"We've experienced a smaller but similar flavor-of-the-month, like in the presidential primary," said Republican political consultant Chris Ingram of Tampa. "Nelson remains the luckiest man in Washington, and we'll probably be calling him 'Senator Nelson' for another six years."

Republicans contend Nelson has been lucky in facing weak GOP opponents — an uncharismatic Bill McCollum in 2000 and the erratic Katherine Harris in 2006.

"Transportation projects could inject $4 billion into Metro Orlando's slowly recovering economy"

The Teabaggers are sure to hate this, but "SunRail is one of three massive transportation projects that could inject $4 billion into Metro Orlando's slowly recovering economy in the years ahead. Officials say the projects could create as many as 100,000 jobs for an industry and region that desperately needs them." "SunRail, road work could create 100,000 jobs over time".

"Babes on his arm were legitimate campaign expenditures"

Fred Grimm urges readers to "consider David Rivera’s dilemma. As he explained to investigators, he was only a hapless bachelor trying to burnish his right-wing political image down here in an alligator swamp of sexual innuendo. So, you see, the babes on his arm were legitimate campaign expenditures."

The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office paraphrased Rivera’s novel rationalization for the use of campaign funds to cover his girlfriends’ travel costs. “That as a single man running as a political conservative, it was necessary for him to appear at campaign-related events with a female escort.”

Otherwise . . . well . . . you know. South Florida’s free-spending bachelor would have faced the same discomfiting rumors that dogged Jerry Seinfeld in one of the old sitcom’s most quoted episodes. Perhaps Congressman Rivera could adopt Jerry’s refrain as a motto in his 2012 re-election campaign. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that.”

“According to the subject’s broad interpretation of the law, it was appropriate and permissible to pay for his female companion’s expenditures, as well, as they were essential to his election campaigns,” the State Attorney’s Office noted.

“Broad interpretation,” was a monumental understatement.

“Essentially, the subject’s position is that he was for a period of almost a decade, continuously and simultaneously engaging in official business, campaigning for public office, as well as campaigning for committeeman; moving from one task to another seamlessly on a daily basis.”

Rivera apparently concluded, in his rather self-serving interpretation of state law, that “virtually every travel-related expenditure: airfare, automobile costs, lodging, meals and related miscellaneous expenses for personal items and entertainment were indeed permissible campaign-related expenditures.” ...

Rivera’s various shenanigans seemed to be at odds with both state financial disclosure requirements and laws governing use of campaign fund. But — lucky him — the Florida Legislature had enacted a very convenient two-year statute of limitations for transgressions involving the misuse of political funds. Such legislation made the looting of campaign funds the perfect crime. ...

But look at the bright side. What’s important here is that David Rivera, at last, has an actual full-time job, making $174,000 a year as a U.S. congressman, and no longer needs to pay the bills via way of surreptitious fees routed through his momma’s shell company. And he can stop dipping into campaign funds to buy theater tickets.

Best of all, Rivera finally earns enough of his own money to pay the travel expenses of that very essential campaign fixture, a girlfriend, so that voters won’t come up with the wrong idea about their bachelor congressman. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Your tax dollars at work: Florida has filed a Supreme Court brief in support of Arizona

"On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear the state of Arizona argue that it has a right to enforce its own immigration laws."

While Florida has not passed its own immigration legislation, such bills have bounced around the state legislature the past two years and the Arizona ruling could affect future Florida law. Florida and 15 other states filed a brief with the court in support of Arizona.

"Housing discrimination may be distressingly common in Sarasota County"

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune editorial board: "A new report's conclusion that illegal housing discrimination may be distressingly common in Sarasota County should spur local governments to take action." "A history of housing discrimination".

Florida is super PAC territory

"Florida's swing-state voters have already had a taste of the changing campaign landscape. Come this summer, the airwaves will be jammed in a way never seen before with a presidential election on the horizon and a new kind of political action committee that can dump unlimited sums into influencing voters." "Critics say super PACs 'drowning out everyday Americans'".

"Norquist's mindless anti-tax pledge"

Beth Kassab: "Look no further than state Rep. Steve Precourt of Orlando to see just how fickle politicians can be."

Precourt was a big supporter of SunRail when it passed the Legislature in 2009, but now has a Republican primary opponent who loathes rail.

Precourt's response? He's ready to throw SunRail under the bus. ...

Local leaders have always understood that the state would be off the hook on SunRail after the first seven years.

But where is the leadership from the lawmakers who fought tooth and nail to get SunRail rolling in the first place?

They can't just make a $1.2 billion investment and then wash their hands of it.

Precourt, who has signed Grover Norquist's mindless anti-tax pledge, said, "There are any number of ways the locals could fund SunRail if they feel it is necessary, and I believe they already have the tools and funds in their control as needed."

If they feel it is necessary?

What happened to the unified community resolve to see this thing through?

Not enough

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "The South Florida Water Management District correctly revised its policy to require competitive bidding and public notice before leasing district land, but the policy change doesn't go far enough." "Keep the public dealt in".

"This is the Florida Lottery scam all over again"

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board writes that "Florida's retreat on investing in public higher education is now crystal clear:"

For the first time, students at the University of South Florida and other public universities are expected to pay more than half the cost of their education due to shrinking state support. A carte blanche tuition bill sitting on Gov. Rick Scott's desk that would grant the University of Florida and Florida State University — and eventually more universities — the autonomy to raise tuition undercuts even the pretense of an accessible, coordinated higher education system. It's understandable why universities tired of lawmakers' broken promises would seek more autonomy to raise money, but that would only let the Legislature off the hook and unfairly burden families. Florida's students deserve better, and the governor should veto HB 7129.

Entrepreneurs in action

"Tampa strip clubs preparing for GOP convention bonanza". Related, from The Tampa Tribune editorial board: "Tampa's zone for safety".

"No shortage of gasbags"

Carl Hiaasen thinks "It will be astonishing if George Zimmerman is convicted of second-degree murder for shooting 17-year-old Trayvon Martin."

Long before the trial begins, the media fibrillation is underway, with no shortage of gasbags on both sides. Predictably, some gun nuts and racist droolers are trying to make a hero of Zimmerman and a street thug of Martin (who had no criminal record).

"Florida Supreme Court has gone too far"

The Tampa Bay Times editors: "In an effort to avoid another situation where a renegade judge lobbies the Legislature for an opulent new courthouse or other special treatment, the Florida Supreme Court has gone too far in limiting the ability of state judges to talk with lawmakers and the governor."

It's understandable that a court system stung by the misdeeds of former appellate Judge Paul Hawkes in securing a lavish $50 million courthouse would look for ways to prevent another embarrassment. But the Supreme Court has imposed a rule so stringent that it will cut off valuable conversations between local judges and area legislators, and the rule should be rescinded or modified to keep lines of communication with the judicial branch open.

"Economy is swinging the pendulum in Obama's favor"

"The improving economy is swinging the pendulum in President Barack Obama's favor in the 14 states where the presidential election will likely be decided."

Recent polls have shown Obama gaining an edge over his likely Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, in several so-called swing states - those that are considered up for grabs.

What's made the difference is that unemployment has dropped more sharply in several swing states than in the nation as a whole. A resurgence in manufacturing is helping the economy - and Obama's chances - in the industrial Midwestern states of Ohio and Michigan.

And Arizona, Nevada and Florida, where unemployment remains high, are getting some relief from an uptick in tourism.

"The biggest reason for the president's improving prospects probably is the economy," says Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

The Great Recession of 2007-2009 hit several swing states particularly hard. Unemployment peaked at 14.2 percent in Michigan, where the auto industry faced ruin. It also hit double digits in Arizona, Nevada and Florida, which were at the center of the housing bust, and in North Carolina, which lost jobs in textile and furniture plants.

In 2010, the economic misery helped Republicans retake control of the House and gain seats in the Senate. But the GOP can't count on a repeat when voters return to the polls - with much more at stake - on Nov. 6.

In Florida, unemployment tumbled to 9 percent in March from 10.7 percent a year earlier. That was more than twice the nationwide drop of 0.7 percentage point (from 8.9 percent to 8.2 percent) over the same period. A rise in tourism is helping. "People who put off vacations or a trip to Disney World for two or three years got to the point where they feel safe in terms of financial security to finally take those trips," says Sean Snaith, director of the University of Central Florida's Institute for Economic Competitiveness.

In February, foreclosures surged more in Florida's two biggest cities - Miami and Tampa - from February 2011 than anywhere else, according to RealtyTrac. Foreclosures are up partly because they were delayed last year by a legal fight over lenders that processed foreclosures without verifying documents.

Now, foreclosures are rising again in places like Florida where the housing bust did the most damage. That is worrisome for Obama, whose housing policies haven't made much of a dent in the crisis, says Susan MacManus, a government professor at the University of South Florida.

"Jeb!" now say's he won't "consider" VP

"Jeb Bush: I won't be the vice presidential nominee". Background: "Jebbie sniffs around VP slot, though he wouldn't help Romney much in Florida".

"What's next? Naming Polk Sen. JD Alexander chancellor?"

The Tampa Tribune editors "can't imagine any recent governor, Republican or Democrat, who would be so reckless."

None would have allowed the creation of a university that has never undergone a cost-benefit analysis, and at a time when the existing 11 universities are being forced to slash their budgets.

Yet Scott Friday announced he would allow the Florida Polytechnic travesty to proceed.

What's next? Naming Polk Sen. JD Alexander chancellor?

Spotlight on Baxley

"Dennis Baxley, the state representative who championed the self-defense law at the heart of the Trayvon Martin case, is back in the national spotlight." "A ‘committed conservative’ back in spotlight over Stand Your Ground". Meanwhile, "Controversial pastor weighs in on Trayvon Martin case".