While Romney stumped at an Orlando air filter manufacturing company, Scott was nowhere to be found.

Scott’s obligation, according to his official calender: “staff and call time.” (Romney was introduced at the event by U.S. Reps. Daniel Webster and Connie Mack IV, who is running for U.S. Senate.)

Later that day, Romney attended a luncheon with former Sen. Mel Martinez and Attorney General Bill McCollum at a posh Orlando country club.

As for Scott?

He was at a ceremonial bill signing in Miami.

“Mitt Romney has had 53 events in Florida. @FLGovScott hasn’t attended any of them. #MittLostRicksPhoneNumber?” Eric Jotkoff, a Florida spokesman for President Barack Obama’s campaign, mockingly tweeted.

Given the relative positions of the two politicians in the polls, the estrangement between Scott and Romney isn’t that difficult to understand, said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

“At this point, Scott is probably not an asset for Romney in this state,” Brown said. “Romney is doing OK in the state. He’s certainly more popular in the state than Rick Scott is.”

The no-shows aren’t on purpose, Scott said. They’re coincidence.

“Well, you know, he hasn’t been here a lot,” Scott said this week, adding that he couldn’t meet Romney Tuesday because he had other plans, including the bill signing.

“I’d love to be helpful to him, but I have to make sure that after I commit to people that I’m going to their event, that I do it,” Scott said. “So I do know over time, we’ll probably be better organized.”

Scott is more than just a governor in a swing state, however. He’s the leader of the state that’s hosting the Republican National Convention in Tampa this August. But Scott seems to be backtracking from an earlier statement where he said he hopes to get a prime-time speaking slot at the convention.

"Obama halts deportations of young immigrants"

"Romney says immigration decision complicates issue". See also "U.S. to stop deporting certain younger illegal immigrants", "Romney back to economy after immigration detour" and "In election-year shift, Obama halts deportations of young immigrants, offers work permits".

Scott's "claim Mostly False"

"Gov. Rick Scott inflating Citizens' hurricane liability".

Thanks to HAVA, not Jebbie

Nancy Smith: "Florida's provisional voting law, enacted and signed into law by Gov. Jeb Bush just ahead of the 2004 election, was intended to prevent one of the major embarrassments Florida experienced in 2000, when scores of voters, especially minority voters, were turned away at the polls because their names were not on the rolls." "Voter List Victim? Cool It, Deal With It".

Nancy, although you say provisional balloting was "enacted and signed into law by Gov. Jeb Bush", as if this was some sort of benevolent act by Saint Jeb, you overlook that provisional balloting was required by the feds (via the Help America Vote Act (HAVA)) after the 2000 Florida debacle that Jeb participated in. Hate to break the news to 'ya.

"Audacious display of lobbying clout"

"In an audacious display of lobbying clout, Connected Nation got the Legislature to force the DMS off the contract and steer the second grant to the firm." "Broadband contract at center of state dispute".

Rooney laff riot

"Mainstream media reports parroting the Obama administration and Democratic Party operatives persist in branding the state's efforts as a 'voter purge.'"

"That's absolute hogwash," said Rooney spokesman Michael Mahaffey.

FRS Winners and Losers

The Palm Beach Post editors, wanting to ensure that employees don't get too uppity, write that "the 'winners' under Judge Fulford’s ruling might end up feeling more like losers if the high court upholds her. The state would have to pay back roughly $1 billion it withheld from worker paychecks for the pension contribution, and then the state would have to find another $1 billion a year to cover the lost employee contributions." "Workers lose either way on pension ruling".

Fewer GOPer walk-offs this year

Aaron Deslatte: "For years, the focus at the Florida Democratic Party has been on getting its top-of-the-ticket candidate elected — whether Alex Sink for governor or Barack Obama for president — to the detriment of down-ticket contests. This has translated into poor candidate recruitment for legislative races, lackluster fundraising and organizational support — and a self-reinforcing loop between the two. Would-be Democratic candidates saw the lack of grass-roots focus and didn't bother to run. That's why Central Florida Republican political consultants have admitted for years they have been scoring victories in the region in places where they had no business doing so."

"This year is a deviation from that norm: The Democrats actually fielded candidates in most legislative races. All told, 34 of the 40 Senate districts will have partisan competition." "In new push, Florida Democrats force many Republicans to defend seats".

Poor John

"John Legg Faces a Primary Despite GOP Leadership's Support".

Scott: It weren't Obama, it were me that did it

Gov. Rick Scott credited his efforts to cut taxes, reduce regulations and attract out-of-state businesses to Florida for the continued downward trend."" "Rick Scott on Joblessness Drop: More Businesses Opting for Florida Equals More Jobs".

"The absent are easily refuted"

The Tampa Tribune editors: "Lying low is a poor way to try to generate public enthusiasm for Mack's request to join one the world's most significant venues for political debate."

His stance may not hurt him in the primary, but the congressman will likely need more than a fortunate name and the testimony of others politicians to prevail in November.

As author C.S. Lewis once put it, "The absent are easily refuted."

Weekly Roundup

"Weekly Roundup: Gov. Scott Alive, Well, Able to Vote".

No mention of the death penalty, or economic and social justice

"The seven bishops based in Florida on Thursday called for Catholics in the Sunshine State to pray and ponder the role of religion in the public square. ... In a footnote to their statement, the bishops took aim at both the political left and the right as possible hazards to religion in the public square. While the bishops jabbed the right on abortion, they hammered the left on a number of fronts including abortion and the role of the federal government in services provided by Church-affiliated organizations." "Bishops Call on Florida Catholics to Defend Religious Liberty".

SEIU gets "prized site" during RNC convention

"Tampa officials let Lady Luck decide which group got which downtown park during the Republican National Convention."

With the help of a borrowed Bingo numbers machine, city attorneys chose pingpong balls Friday morning, each one designated to a group requesting park space for their events.

Assistant City Attorney Mauricio Rodriguez said the brief lottery was designed to be as unbiased as possible. The winners have until June 29 to accept or reject their assignment.

The prized site — Lykes Gaslight Square— went to Service Employees International Union for Sunday, Aug. 26. It also has an option for that Monday, with two other groups waiting as runners-up if union members opt out of the second day.

"Paper tiger"

"Lawmakers urged to increase maximum fines, give 'paper tiger' more power." "Florida ethics panel says it needs sharper teeth". See also "Ethics commission admits it needs teeth to enforce laws".

GOPers spill blood in Pinellas County

"The battle between a pair of Pinellas County House members for an open Senate seat is getting mean, and it’s just getting started."

Reps. Jeff Brandes and Jim Frishe both want to be the new senator from District 22, which takes in South Pinellas and a slice of Tampa.

Brandes got a big head start in a way that Frishe calls “unethical” and “gaming the system.” Brandes says he is following the law that applies equally to everybody.

Brandes, 36, a wealthy member of the Cox Lumber family business, raised $143,000 in his bid for re-election to the House, even as he publicly voiced interest in becoming a senator. It all depended on how legislators reshaped district lines in this redistricting year.

On June 1, Brandes withdrew as a House candidate and closed his fundraising account and one minute later became a Senate candidate instead.

Brandes could have transferred all of his unspent House campaign money to his new Senate fund, but that would have required offering all donors pro-rated refunds, a time-consuming burden in the midst of a 10-week sprint to the Aug. 14 primary.

Instead, Brandes must dispose of the unspent House money in other ways.

But what irks Frishe is that Brandes also can legally ask donors for a second contribution of up to $500 for his Senate campaign.

Not a Smart Man

In this week's "Jeb Bush Ready for 2016", Jonathan Chait gives us a brief look at Jeb Bush's recent "effort to position himself as the next leader of the Republican Party." Unfortunately, Chait passes along Bush's well crafted self-portrayal, that of some sort of brilliant policy wonk.

Indeed, Chait begins his piece with the proposition that

one thing everybody agrees about Jeb Bush is that he’s a smart man.

considered two possibilities -- Jeb was either crooked or stupid. At the time, he concluded Jeb was merely stupid.

"Bush Family Value$". Indeed, "basic competence has been an issue for Bush".

It is not so much that Bush is stupid qua stupid. Rather, Jeb is something less than "smart" in the conventional sense, and certainly no "smarter" than his sibling, George. Hence, many of us who have suffered through Jeb's years as a political figure in Florida (including his eight years as governor), find it difficult to square the words "smart" and "Jeb".

A pristine example of this would be Bush's international blunder during a 2003 Gubernatorial visit with the prime minister of Spain. Bush uttered what one Spanish historian called "foolish and grotesque" remarks about Spanish history. See "Jeb Bush slips on Spanish history" and "Spanish sighs at Jeb's royal gaffe".

A gaffe of this magnitude from an elected official might be explained away in the case of someone who wasn't particularly "smart", or interested in Spanish history. However, Bush has been extolled as "smart" by legions of second tier Florida political journalists; further, Bush claims to have a degree in Latin American studies, which suggests he might have some passing familiarity with basic Spanish history.

Deficiencies of this sort are of course typical of leisure class slackers like Jeb. Equally common is the inability to connect with their perceived inferiors. During his first (failed) run for Florida Governor, Bush "famously answered a question on the campaign trail by saying he would do 'probably nothing' for blacks if elected governor". And then there are the Lesbian jokes, which Jeb presumed would go over well in Florida's panhandle. See generally: "When Jeb Bush speaks, people cringe".

Underscoring the inability of the leisure class to connect with their lessers, is their sense of entitlement.  Journalist S.V. Date "rips Bush as a arrogant, power-hungry ruler who acted as if he had been elected king, rather than governor" in his book "Jeb: America's Next Bush". Some Floridians may recall the Palm Beach Post's Tom Blackburn's only half-facetious phrase, the doctrine of "Jebian Supremacy".

We make dredge up these painful memories because, as Bush positions himself to run for president in 2016, it is important to avoid falsehoods from becoming truisms: here, that Jeb, unlike Dubya, is the "smart" one, and for some reason should be given a shot in the Oval Office. Recall that lies repeated long enough - see: John Kerry wasn't a war hero - can help determine the presidency.

Sadly, an accurate picture of Jeb Bush is not likely to come from Florida's largely second tier political journalists: these wretches desperately want to ride in the big bus with the real reporters, and the only way to do that is to have Jeb (the only Floridian on the horizon) as the nominee in 2016.  Telling the hard truths about Jeb Bush will surely keep him off the dais, and Florida's political chatterers off the campaign bus.

Some Government Over-regulation Might Have Prevented this

"Roofer dies after falling through skylight in DeLand".

Must be Obama's fault

"While foreclosures fell slightly nationwide, they rose in Florida." "Florida foreclosures jump in May".

"The advantage of wealth when it comes to running for state office"

"Florida lawmakers like to say that they’re just like the rest of us. And that may be true, except according to financial disclosure forms filed with qualifying officers last week, 21 Senate candidates this year have net worths of more than $1 million — with 13 candidates at more than $3 million."

Add candidates for the House, and nearly 70 of the 400 candidates for the Legislature top the $1 million mark, with 124 reporting net worths of at least $500,000. Some of Tallahassee’s biggest names are also the most affluent, led by incoming Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, a health industry entrepreneur worth $24.9 million. St. Augustine Republican Sen. John Thrasher, an attorney, and Clearwater Sen. Jack Latvala, CEO of a printing company, are worth $6.6 million and $5.7 million, respectively.

Not all candidates are high-rollers. Many have modest incomes, and some have upside-down mortgages that land them in the negative on net worth, calculated by assets minus debt. But for the ultra-rich, thick wallets can offer a leg up on races, which are the most competitive in years because of redistricting.

The numbers also reveal the advantage of wealth when it comes to running for state office.

"It angered him into staying in"

"Rubio was on the verge of dropping out of the 2010 race for Senate, convinced that then-Gov. Charlie Crist's popularity, power and money would be too much to overcome in a Republican primary. He was also afraid any future political ambitions would be crushed by Crist's supporters, Rubio wrote in his autobiography to be released next week."

Rubio said there was a tremendous amount of pressure to quit when he was far behind in the polls and had little money in the bank. He knew Crist would attack him and wondered how he could respond with few resources. He considered running instead for attorney general.

While laying the groundwork to switch races, however, he was asked about a rumor he was dropping out and suspected that Crist's campaign found out about the plans and was pressuring him out before he was ready to make the announcement. It angered him into staying in.

PSC vacancies

"Public Service Commissioner Lisa Edgar and former Rep. Ken Littlefield are among 21 to apply for Edgar's commission seat before the Thursday deadline." "PSC Commissioner Lisa Edgar among 21 to apply for her seat".

"Gun lobby is trying to extend its web of intimidation"

The Sarasota Herald Tribune editors: "For years, the National Rifle Association's lobbyists in Florida have been content to strong-arm legislators to get what they wanted."

And they've been hugely successful: Florida has some of the most lax gun laws in the nation. The "stand your ground" self-defense law, cited in the Sanford shooting death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, is just the most notorious.

But, for the lobby, richly backed by gun manufacturers and merchants as well as NRA members, influence over the Legislature is not enough. It also wants to prevent law enforcement officers from challenging its view of Second Amendment rights.

So now the gun lobby is trying to extend its web of intimidation to take in county sheriffs.

This year, for the first time, the NRA and its Tallahassee lobbyist arm, the Unified Sportsmen of Florida, have sent questionnaires to candidates for sheriff.

Not your basic questionnaire

There's nothing wrong with candidate questionnaires. The Herald-Tribune Editorial Board sends them out, as do many private, civic and religious organizations in Florida and throughout the country.

But the NRA/USF questionnaire, signed by USF executive director and longtime NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer, contains a level of intimidation that you won't find in a list of queries from, say, the League of Women Voters.

In bold letters across the front of the NRA form it says, "No endorsement will be provided to any candidate who fails to return the questionnaire."

Across the last page, also in bold, it states, "Questions that are not answered will be graded as a response against Second Amendment rights."

"Forget protecting liberty. How about preserving some dignity?"

Daniel Ruth: "You can tell a candidate will do just about anything to win an election when he is willing to sell his political soul to the biggest fibber."

Is former Pinellas County Sheriff Everett Rice really trying to get his old job back? Or is he running to become the constable in chief of the planet Doo-Wacka-Doo?

Rice has aligned himself with a Star Wars barroom scene of the lunatic fringe meets the Oliver Stone Society of Paranoid Conspiracy Theory Lemmings. He apparently isn't interested in wearing a badge again. A tinfoil hat will do just fine.

The aspiring Andy of Mars is playing footsie-wootsie with the likes of Richard Mack, the leader of something called the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, which is dedicated to teaching law enforcement officials how to defy the federal government. Mack is also the beefcake boy of the black helicopter crowd of birthers, tax protesters and militia supporters. Think of this as a trifecta of Travis Bickles.

Rice has also blown air kisses in the direction of the Oath Keepers, who believe Barack Obama wants to turn the nation into a totalitarian police state. Who knew the Affordable Health Care Act was written by that scamp, Karl Marx?

"Someone who doesn’t tell the truth "?

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "Should someone who doesn’t tell the truth be Palm Beach County’s next state attorney? That is the question for voters, and especially for supporters of Democrat Dave Aronberg, after Sunday’s story in The Palm Beach Post torpedoed his claim to have had no role in the sleazy threats that forced what could have been Mr. Aronberg’s toughest opponent out of the race." "Editorial: Aronberg’s credibility hits new low".

"Disagreement between African-American civic leaders"

The Tampa Bay Times editors: "A disagreement between two prominent African-American civic leaders in St. Petersburg over the future of the city's annual Martin Luther King Jr. parade is not in keeping with the late civil rights leader's embrace of peaceful discussion." "Find common ground to mark MLK Day".

DJJ issues intent to fire IG over report claiming friend top official misspent funds

"The state’s top juvenile justice investigator, who wrote a scathing report last year accusing one of the agency head’s closest friends of financial wrongdoing, is out of a job after a 25-year career in state government."

Last week, Department of Juvenile Justice Secretary Wansley Walters informed Gov. Rick Scott that she intends to fire her agency’s top watchdog. Inspector General Mary Roe Eubanks had held the job since 2004, and was a nearly 25-year state employee, with 10 years in state agency investigations. Eubanks was placed on administrative leave, with pay, while the termination was being approved.

On Wednesday afternoon, Eubanks ended the suspense: She wrote Walters a short note announcing her resignation, citing her desire to “have more time to spend time with my family.” Walters accepted the resignation, said an agency spokesman.

In a June 4 memo to Eubanks, Walters said the inspector general was being terminated “due to a pending investigation.” She did not elaborate on the nature of the probe. ...

Eubanks’ ouster from the department comes on the heels of one of the agency’s most controversial recent disputes: As DJJ’s top investigator, Eubanks reported that a private company headed by Vicki Lopez Lukis, one of Walters’ closest friends, had misspent more than $111,000 in taxpayer dollars intended for services to delinquent girls in agency lockups. Lopez Lukis strongly objected to the report’s findings, and complained to Gov. Scott that she had not received a copy of it before it was completed.

Under state law, the subjects of such probes are supposed to be given a copy of the agency’s findings in order to respond before the report is finalized.

In November, acting upon Lopez Lukis’ concerns, Scott ordered the DJJ Inspector General investigation withdrawn, calling it a “draft” instead of a final report. Scott’s chief inspector general, Melinda Miguel, has been reinvestigating the entire matter ever since.

Lane Wright, a spokesman for the governor, did not reply to requests from The Herald about the status of that investigation.

Entrepreneurs in action

"Time-share mogul David Siegel resurrects mansion with film release".

How long before they start paying people to "like"?

Bill Cotterell: "As Gov. Rick Scott began a statewide campaign blitz this week to explain the purge of Florida voter rolls in the face of a federal lawsuit and sagging poll numbers, a large red rectangle popped up on Facebook pages with the message 'I stand with Gov. Scott, stop voter fraud.' Within a few hours, the image got more than 700 'shares' and 247 'likes' on the vast social network." "Social media scoring big as campaign tool".

Teabaggers in a dither

Where does it say anything about spending money on transportation projects? Inquiring Teabaggers want to know: "Scott spotlighted the state's committment to spending hundreds of millions of dollars on transportation projects with a ceremonial bill signing at the Port of Miami on Thursday. The package totals more than $450 million and enables the bonding of another $450 million. About $60 million will directly go to improve Florida ports, with another $10 million devoted to strategic transportation planning and most of the rest going to road building, which will help get goods to and from the seaports." "Ports, roads are focus of transportation spending"

Young Republican millionaires form "Brat PAC"

John Ramsey, a

senior at Stephen F. Austin University is the founder of a team of college-age Republicans - liberals have dubbed it the "Brat PAC" - that helped propel one congressional candidate to victory and intends to get involved in other House races.

Ramsey is just the latest wealthy individual to try to influence federal elections in the wake of a series of federal court decisions that deregulated the campaign finance system and dramatically changed the country's political landscape.

It's not just his age - he's 21 - that sets him apart. There's his source of means: He turned $1 million of his inheritance into the Liberty For All Political Action Committee.

Florida to receive $4.9M from the feds in lieu of property taxes

"Florida counties will receive nearly $4.9 million in payments from the federal government in lieu of property taxes on federal lands, U.S. Interior Ken Salazar announced Thursday. ... Environmentalists sometimes point to the payment in lieu of taxes program in response to critics of conservation land-buying who complain that it takes property off the tax rolls." "Feds announce record payments to counties in lieu of paying property taxes".

Mini-Mack endorsed by Bondi

"On Wednesday, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi became the latest high-profile Republican to endorse Mack’s Senate bid." "Connie Mack Reels in the Support of Pam Bondi".

'Glades

The Saint Petersburg Times editors: "The Everglades cleanup plan that state and federal officials agreed to this week is far from perfect. But Gov. Rick Scott has signed on, and now he has the responsibility to carry it out." "Finally, an Everglades cleanup plan".

The Tampa Tribune editorial board: "Everglades progress".

Laff riot

The Koch-connected "political group, Americans for Prosperity, has jumped into the rate case on behalf of consumers." "Americans for Prosperity Rips FPL's $690 Million Rate Request". Related: "FPL's rate hike request panned at hearing".

'Ya gotta draw the line somwhere

"RNC threatens opening of high school football season".

"He didn’t mind"

"Once upon a time, when he was a private citizen, Rick Scott was mistaken for a dead man and got hassled when he tried to cast a ballot. He didn’t mind." "Rick Scott gets a shock at the polls when he’s told: You’re dead". See also "Rick 'Lazarus' Scott Once Arose From the Grave, Voted Provisionally -- and It Counted".

Three months after U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio revealed he was working on an alternative to the Dream Act, triggering a gusher of positive news coverage, he has yet to produce a written proposal.

The delay is raising expectations but also underscores the political challenge facing the Florida Republican and could elevate cynicism that it is an election-year effort to win Hispanic votes. What is certain is time is running out to do something this year, a reality Rubio acknowledged Wednesday.

"He gets all this sweet press and we haven't seen word one. It is getting a little frustrating," said Frank Sharry, executive director of America's Voice, an immigration reform group that has been receptive to the idea, which would grant legal status to some children of illegal immigrants.

A pair of Republican senators, Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas and Jon Kyl of Arizona, were already working on something similar.

But it was Rubio who got the attention, a reflection of the news media's appetite for the hotshot rookie senator and potential Mitt Romney running mate, and national GOP eagerness to see him out front on an issue central to Hispanics.

"I think he's so credible to know the things that need to be done and addressed," Hutchison said.

As the months have gone by, however, the missing details have stood out more prominently.

Scott's voter purge "program could have been massive"

"Gov. Rick Scott often says that no actual citizens have been removed from the voter rolls in his program to make sure noncitizens don’t have the chance to cast ballots."

“Not one person has been taken off the voter rolls that was a resident, a U.S. citizen who has the right to vote,” Scott said Tuesday in Miami.

But that might not be the case.

In two counties — Collier and Lee — at least nine people have been removed from the voter rolls under Scott’s program, and elections officials have no solid proof that those people are noncitizens. More could be purged soon.

It’s that lack of certainty that concerns Democrats, liberals and voting-rights groups, who have sued the state to stop the program. On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Justice also filed suit.

Critics say they worry that the program will spook legitimate voters who are immigrants.

The other major Florida counties stopped the process amid concerns with the accuracy of a list of 2,700 potential noncitizens furnished by the state. The list disproportionately contained the names of actual citizens legally entitled to vote and incidentally [sic] happened to target more minorities than non-Hispanic whites and Republicans.

Had the large counties continued with the program, the controversy and questions would only have grown, judging by what’s happening in the two Southwest Florida counties. The state’s program could have been massive. The state initially identified more than 180,000 potential noncitizens on the rolls.

Tuition battle

"With Scott battling higher rates, schools may be forced to re-work requests to boost fees." "State universities preparing for tuition battle".

From the "values" crowd

A recent report shows that

the poverty rate among Florida’s children has climbed 35 percent between 2006 and 2010, resulting in 1.8 million kids living in low-income households. The state’s rate of low birth-weight infants also is worse than the national average, with 10 percent of Florida children having developmental or behavorial problems.

The number of homeless students in Florida has almost doubled since 2006 and the rate of food insecurity among Florida’s children is worse than the national average, the study found.

Haridopolos "quietly steered $6 million to company"

"When a politically connected company was in danger of losing a $9.4 million no-bid contract with the state, Senate President Mike Haridopolos came to the rescue of the outfit — a firm that employs his good friend and political benefactor as a lobbyist."

Haridopolos staved off the threat to the deal with the Department of Juvenile Justice and quietly steered $6 million in additional dollars to the company, despite the vigorous objections of agency leaders and top Republican senators.

The move allowed Evidence Based Associates, a Washington-based probation program, the exclusive contract to handle the state effort to divert at-risk youth from costly prison beds into community programs. The company kept the business despite recent reports that it had failed to comply with key terms of the agreement —– and to the chagrin of a long list of providers who wanted to compete for the work.

The company’s lobbyist, Frank Tsamoutales, is a Brevard County Republican who has been a financial backer of Haridopolos since the Brevard County legislator was first elected to office in 2000.

Perhaps it can be contracted out?

"State losing dedicated technology agency".

Federal database "would not be the panacea that Scott suggests"

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board: "Scott continues to defend his discredited attempt to remove noncitizens from the voter rolls, and the national media again ridicules Florida's efforts to make it harder to vote. But the governor is right in one respect. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has been stonewalling in responding to a request by state elections officials to use a federal computer program, and it owes the state and its residents a clearer answer."

The editors concede, however, that the

SAVE system would not be the panacea that Scott suggests. It is used by hundreds of federal and state agencies, including Florida's Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, to help determine an immigrant's eligibility for benefits such as a driver's license. But it does not include U.S. citizens born in this country, who have popped up on the state's flawed list of noncitizens. And to produce accurate results, an agency must have access to a noncitizen's specific immigration documents. Florida elections officials do not have those identifying documents, which are necessary to properly use the SAVE system.

'Ya Reckon?

Here's sum raw political courage for 'yer: "Only American Citizens Should Be Allowed to Vote".

"Texting cash to candidates"

"The rule change was sought by advocates who want to harness wireless technology to promote civic engagement. It comes two years after Citizens United v. the Federal Elections Commission." "Texting cash to candidates seen as boon to local campaigns, citizen involvement". The Advisory Opinion is here (.pdf).

"Whoopee — we’re among the best of the worst!"

The Miami Herald editorial board: "Miami-Dade County’s effective wage-theft ordinance emerged safe and sound from this year’s legislative session, despite the best efforts of lawmakers — in the sway of monied special interests — to kill it."

Because the ordinance still stands, it casts Miami-Dade County as a leader in a state that does little to nothing to protect workers from employers who don’t pay up. Better still, Broward and Palm Beach counties are considering their own wage-theft ordinances, joining Miami-Dade at the forefront of protecting workers, helping well-intentioned employers who are in a financial bind and penalizing the bad actors.

A ranking by the Progressive States Network found that “Florida has exactly zero laws on the books that would incentivize employers to stay honest.” And when it comes to holding employees accountable to their employees with such measures as notice of wages and paydays and pay stubs with each pay period, “Florida held the shameful honor of scoring 0, a score that only Alabama and Mississippi — two states that have never had wage and hour laws — can also share.”

Well, whoopee — we’re among the best of the worst!

'Glades

"Environmentalists still have concerns about the plan, particularly a schedule that will push back state cleanup deadlines by a decade and about how the state will finance the deal. But most consider the step a sign of progress after years of stalling on clean up." "EPA approves state Everglades plan". See also "EPA: State's Everglades Plan Meets Federal Approval".

Mini-Mack turns tail

"With former Gov. Jeb Bush and other big-name Republicans backing Rep. Connie Mack’s Senate bid and polls showing Mack with a sizeable lead over his GOP rivals, the Mack campaign says a debate of Republican primary candidates would only help Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson."

So Mack has turned down invitations from The Orlando Sentinel and The Tampa Bay Times to participate in debates with GOP rivals George LeMieux, Mike McCalister and David Weldon. And Mack has effectively said no to an invitation from Leadership Florida to participate in a July 24 Republican primary debate in Tallahassee.

FCAT follies

"Frustrated with the FCAT and a school-accountability system they think tramples educational quality, a key panel of the Florida School Boards Association on Wednesday urged state leaders to scale back Florida's use of standardized tests for important school decisions." "Top education group takes aim at state's FCAT culture".

"Bold conservative"?

"In a ballot initiative that caught the attention of Florida tea party conservatives and low-tax advocates the country over, North Dakota voters on Tuesday said 'no' to making their state the first in the nation to end property taxes."

Nevertheless, some folks in the Sunshine State envied the Peace Garden State the opportunity, and say they hope some bold conservative in the Florida Legislature will take the idea up.

Harold Carmichael, a retired Navy engineer from Miami Lakes who frequents South Florida tea party rallies, claims, "This is just what Florida needs, a initiative like this to get the idea out there. Let's float it and get some conversation about it. If nothing else it might result in a move toward lower property taxes."

Carolyn Crighty, tea party activist in Escambia County, said she's disappointed North Dakota didn't "go for it, show the rest of the nation how a fiscally conservative state gets the job done. Property taxes aren't realistic," she said. "People's homes have risen in value faster than their paychecks and they can't afford to pay it. Property tax is a big part of Florida's foreclosure rate."

Tea party initiatives to consider similar amendments to the state constitutions are also gathering steam in Texas, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

Downsizing Citizens

"Citizens Goes for Downsizing Experience in Picking New President". See also "Citizens Insurance gets new president".

"S-H-*-*-H-E-A-D-S"

"Fed up with the closed-door treatment from Gov. Rick Scott, the Police Benevolent Association sent a nasty gram using a word game in its quarterly newsletter, Roll Call."

The sixth page of the March newsletter notes that the union that represents police departments, sheriffs and other law enforcement officers has repeatedly asked Gov. Rick Scott to submit a guest article to the newsletter as part of its practice offered to every statewide elected official.

"While we know he and/or his staff receives our email requests, we have yet to receive any kind of response from him,’’ the message said.

It urged members to write and call the governor to urge him to write about how he feels about law enforcement officers. Then, it added: "If you would like to know what we really think of the governor and the staff member who refuses our requests, go back to page four and write down the first letter of each paragraph."

A careful reading of Executive Director Matt Puckett’s column provides the answer: "S-H-*-*-H-E-A-D-S."

Reached Wednesday, Puckett had no apologies. "The governor’s office and the governor, since he ran for that office has closed the door to the PBA,’’ he said. "We’ve reached out to him or his staff and we get no response. His policies have a very important effect on our membership and we get a closed door. Quite frankly, I’m tired of it."

"His departure is appropriate if overdue"

The Tampa Tribune editorial board: "Jim Norman's political career appears to be dead — and that's a good thing. He proved himself untrustworthy in a smelly affair where his wife accepted $500,000 from the late political activist Ralph Hughes, who vigorously supported Norman during his 18 years on the Hillsborough County commission. She used it to purchase a house in Arkansas. Norman announced Tuesday he would not run for re-election to the state Senate. His departure from the Legislature is appropriate if overdue." "Jim Norman's sad departure".

"Lamented the death of embarrassment"

Joe Henderson: "Near the end of a chat the other day with Paula Dockery, the Republican state senator from Lakeland, she lamented the death of embarrassment. It was once a powerful tool in keeping our elected officials straight. Not so much lately, though." "Politicians have no shame".

Rubio all for the purge

"Florida Sen. Marco Rubio on Tuesday defended controversial efforts by Florida Gov. Rick Scott to purge the Sunshine State's voter rolls, denying it has targeted Hispanics. ... Hispanics make up 14% of the Florida electorate but are 61% of several thousand registered voters who have been told to provide proof of citizenship or lose their right to vote." "Rubio defends Florida voter roll purge".

Trade group embarrasses Darden

"The world's largest casual-dining company is quietly ending its longtime affiliation with the trade group, which represents hotels and restaurants throughout the state. Industry experts say Darden's departure will cost the association, which lobbies the Legislature and governor on hospitality issues, some of its political clout."

Earlier this year, Darden said publicly the time wasn't right for a bill drafted by the restaurant association that would have slashed the minimum wage for Florida workers who earn tips to $2.13 an hour. ...

The proposed measure, which outraged many Floridians and was lampooned by TV satirist Stephen Colbert, eventually died in committee. The association, meanwhile, was criticized for portraying the bill as a way to ensure "higher, stable wages" for restaurant workers.

The botched attempt to cut restaurant servers' wages likely contributed to Darden's decision to drop its FRLA membership, experts said.

"Decline in incomes was most pronounced among highly educated families"

The Saint Petersburg Times editors write that "it was a hands-off Washington that enabled the mortgage and financial crisis to mushroom. As the Federal Reserve survey makes clear, the decline in incomes was most pronounced among highly educated families, those headed by middle-aged people and those living in the fast-growing South and West — including Florida. States and local governments also can help by not resurrecting the same go-for-broke development policies that encouraged the real estate bubble in the first place. The first step in recovering two decades of household wealth is not repeating the mistakes that caused it to evaporate." "Lost wealth and the long climb back".

Health Care Reform, even over Scott's objections

"At least three of the biggest insurance companies operating in Florida say they will hang on to some popular provisions of the federal health care law even if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes it down, though the state’s largest carrier is holding off."

UnitedHealth, Aetna and Humana said this week they will continue to honor some parts of the law even if it is struck down.

UnitedHealth, the nation’s largest insurer by market value, pledged Monday to keep honoring such provisions as no lifetime limits on benefits, no co-pay on certain preventive services like annual checkups and coverage for dependents on family plans to age 26.

“These provisions make sense for the people we serve and it is important to ensure they know these provisions will continue,” said CEO Stephen Hemsley of the Minnesota-based insurer that covers about 26 million Americans in plans affected by the law.

But returning to Florida for a campaign stop in Orlando on Tuesday, the Republican nominee pressed the case that he, not President Barack Obama, best understands the needs of average Americans and small businesses. ...

But much of Romney’s visit ran counter to his man-of-the-people message.

After the mid-morning speech at Con-Air, Romney attended a $2,500-per-person fundraiser at Isleworth Country Club in suburban Orlando, where he picked up again on his theme that Obama is out of touch with middle-income Americans. Afterward, those who donated at least $50,000 joined Romney for a private lunch at an undisclosed home in Isleworth, exclusive community of Orlando’s rich and famous.

In his speech, Romney repeated many statements that have been deemed inaccurate.

In an anecdote about a furniture store owner in Las Vegas, he said she struggled after Obama told people “don’t come to Las Vegas for your company meetings.”

PolitiFact, the Tampa Bay Times’ fact-checking website, checked that claim and found Obama is on record for saying no such thing. Instead, he has said heads of corporations shouldn’t use taxpayer money for Vegas trips.

Romney also repeated a claim that Obama’s health care plan “would cut $500 billion from Medicare.”

Yet that’s not true, either. PolitiFact points out that Obama’s health care plan doesn’t reduce the Medicare budget but, rather, tries to slow growth (the size of the program will increase dollar-wise), curtailing about $500 billion in projected spending increases over the next decade.

Bragging about gutting police pensions over Piña Coladas

"200 mayors visit Orlando to swap ideas and have fun".

That collective bargaining thing

"The unions contend legislators in 2011 violated the state Constitution, which requires contract changes to be negotiated through collective bargaining." "Florida Disputes Judge Jackie Fulford’s ‘Meat-Cleaver’ Pension Ruling". See also "Scott: Force Florida workers to contribute to pensions" and "State pushes back against lower court ruling on pensions".

Bondi opposes $100 million in rebates for Floridians

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board: "Despite the legal assault on President Barack Obama's health care reform law by Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, one provision of the law is about to pay huge dividends to Florida consumers."

Estimates are that health insurers in the state will owe Floridians more than $100 million in rebates this summer under what is known as the medical loss ratio rule. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule shortly on the effort by Florida and other states to overturn the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and if the entire law goes away, so does this significant consumer protection. ...

The law is doing precisely what it was designed to do: force insurers to use premiums to pay for medical care or reduce rates. But leaders in Tallahassee have been hostile from the start. Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty asked for and was properly denied an exemption to the rule for the state's insurers. He told the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that without an exemption Florida's individual health insurance market would be destabilized. But that chaotic scenario has not happened.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the challenge to the Affordable Care Act any time now. McCarty's office says there is every possibility that insurers will not owe the rebate if the law is struck down. If this valuable benefit for Floridians goes away, people should know who is to blame — and they can look toward Tallahassee.

Millions in Medicaid fraud? No problem

The Miami Herald editors: "A well-connected healthcare firm is poised to get the kind of second chance to prove itself that Florida routinely denies for people who have run afoul of the law. WellCare Health Plans, which provides healthcare and treatment to poor and disabled Floridians, is bidding to re-up its contract with the state. The contract is worth billions, a major piece of the state’s Medicaid reform efforts. The state is pushing more than one million Medicaid patients into privately run HMOs, and WellCare wants to remain a player."

However, WellCare has a troubled past in Florida. Healthcare advocates have every reason to look askance at how the company will conduct business in the future. After all, WellCare agreed to pay a $137.5 million fraud settlement in light of accusations that that company scammed Florida’s Medicaid and Healthy Kids programs and also routinely kicked patients with expensive treatment needs to the curb. That settlement with the federal government is less than half of the estimated $400 million to $600 million the company allegedly skimmed.

Is there reason to be skeptical? You bet. This state has seen more than its share of fraud and waste at taxpayers’ expense, and the state needs to make clear that its priority is protecting vulnerable patients and taxpayers’ money.

PurgeGate: How it all began

"Florida’s noncitizen voter purge began after a small chat between Gov. Rick Scott and the secretary of state. Then it blew up into a major controversy after no one had the ‘Spidey sense’ to delay the effort."

Now, more than a year later, the effort that stemmed from that chat has produced three federal lawsuits, widespread suspicion and bitter partisanship, echoing the recriminations of Florida’s controversial 2000 elections that still haunt the state today.

"Modern-day version of the ugly Southern governor"

Fabiola Santiago: "It goes without saying that only U.S. citizens should vote."

But Scott’s voter purge seems politically motivated, not to mention flawed in process and execution, and unfairly targeted at the poor and minorities.

The governor cares not that practically every supervisor of elections in the state, whose job is to safeguard the legitimacy of the voter rolls, has refused to follow his mandate to proceed with the purge using a citizenship status list from the Florida driver license database. The list has so far yielded about 140 noncitizens on the rolls, and of those, about 50 voted.

The letter demanding proof of citizenship to those 2,700 people, however, has upset legitimate voters, one of them a decorated war veteran who called to task the Republican governor.

The governor cares not that he’s spending taxpayer dollars in a legal fight with the federal government, which has stepped in to stop him from violating the people’s right to vote, first with a letter to cease the purge, and then with a lawsuit.

The federal government is right to challenge Scott. ...

What many of us see in the voter purge is a modern-day version of the ugly Southern governor who stands in the way of people’s rights, this one using the favorite Republican chant of “Fraud!” (a favorite target always being poor-immigrant fraud; it’s seldom white-collar fraud.) This is demagoguery of the worst kind, the kind we’re likely to see more of in elections.

"Soft punchin' over a catered luncheon"

Scott Maxwell: "In the much-ballyhooed debate between John Mica and Sandy Adams Tuesday, no one delivered a knockout. Instead, the two incumbent Republican members delivered a constant barrage of jabs before the Tiger Bay political club at the downtown Sheraton." "Mica vs. Adams: Non-answers reveal a lot".

Norman takes his ball and goes home

"Jim Norman has spent 20 years playing the blood sport of Florida politics, earning a reputation as an advocate for athletics, lower taxes and less regulation. ... On Tuesday, Norman took his ball and went home." "Jim Norman has withdrawn from his state Senate race".

The Tampa Tribune editorial board: "Jim Norman's sad departure". See also "Pasco GOP eyes more seats after Norman quits". See also "Sen. Norman ends his re-election bid" and "Jim Norman Ends Bid for Another Term in State Senate".

RNC blues

"RNC traffic, security concerns may empty downtown Tampa".

Dubious distinction is toxic to public trust

The Orlando Sentinel editorial board: "On his first day as governor, Rick Scott issued an order stating 'a commitment to ethics and integrity in government is essential to maintaining a public trust.' ... Last week, a nonprofit government watchdog, Integrity Florida, reported that the Sunshine State led the nation between 2000 and 2010 in federal court convictions for corruption, with 781. This dubious distinction is not only toxic to public trust; it's bad for business." "State ethics cops need strong reform agenda".

MackBaggers

"FreedomWorks, a national tea party organization, is wading into Florida's U.S. Senate race with a strong call to support U.S. Rep. Connie Mack's bid to knock off Democrat Bill Nelson." "FreedomWorks' Tea Party Stirs Senate Race for Connie Mack".

Scott hits airwaves

"Governor Rick Scott remained on the offensive Tuesday in his effort to purge noncitizens from Florida’s voter registration rolls. Scott appeared on six morning news programs, including cable news networks, national radio programs and a Tampa morning television program." "Scott defends voter purge on national media".

The woman from Thonotosasa

"Lacking the money and the political juice of her primary opponent, state Rep. Rachel Burgin figures she has one advantage in her bid for state Senate: family."

"There are four generations of Burgins in Florida, and they all live in the district," the 29-year-old lawmaker says proudly.

The third of seven children -- all of whom live in the eastern Hillsborough County region -- the Thonotosasa-born Burgin feels right at home in the newly drawn Senate District 24.

Likening herself philosophically to the area's current senator, Ronda Storms, Burgin says she fits in well with the conservative blue-collar and agricultural roots of the region. ...

With Storms leaving early to run for Hillsborough County property appraiser, SD 24 voters will have a distinct choice between Tom Lee, a former Senate president and consummate insider, and Burgin, who has yet to chair a major committee.

But Burgin is not apologetic about her relative inexperience.

Scott should be worried

The Sarasota Herald Tribune editorial board: "Gov. Rick Scott and Florida's legislative leaders have frequently sounded alarms over the potential insolvency of the state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp."

If a catastrophic hurricane hits, they warn, Citizens' reserves will be insufficient to pay the claims and, by law, it will have to assess insurance policies statewide to make up the difference.

We hope that Scott and the Legislature are just as worried -- if not more so -- about a state agency's report that inadequately capitalized private insurers in Florida are more likely than Citizens to fail and force post-hurricane assessments.

Number of public school children expected to decline

"Even though Florida is expected to add an additional 3 million residents by 2020, the number of public school children is expected to start declining this fall." "Education conference expects decline in public school enrollment".

"Scott's Koch Connection"

From Daily Kos: "Rick Scott's Koch Connection".

The Justice Department said it will sue Florida in federal court for violating two federal laws that prevent states from suppressing voters. The state will be subject to "enforcement action," the agency said in a curtly worded letter. Hours earlier, Florida filed a lawsuit of its own against the federal government. Secretary of State Ken Detzner, who oversees elections, sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, accusing the agency of denying access to a federal database with information about immigrants. The lawsuit claims the federal agency forced the state to run afoul of at least one of the two federal voting laws the Justice Department accuses it of flouting.

A good question

When, if ever, will an intrepid political reporter ask Mitt Romney if agrees or disagrees with Rick Scott's voter purge and related actions?

"Florida is defying federal law and jeopardizing the voting rights"

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board says "There is no debate about this:"

The Republican governor appears determined to systematically suppress the vote of Democrats, minorities and low-income Floridians who don't support him or his narrow-minded policies.

Scott whipped up a tea party rally Sunday in Tallahassee and urged supporters to demand that the Obama administration provide access to a Department of Homeland Security program that checks various federal databases. That inspired a tea party leader to warn that Democrats have been known to steal elections. The governor's rhetoric about illegal voting and noncitizens is stirring up his support among conservative, predominately white groups for a purge of voters who are disproportionately minority and poor. Florida deserves better leadership than that.

Despite Scott's attempt to deflect blame for this fiasco from his administration to Obama's, there is no evidence that the Homeland Security system is the magic solution for Florida's problem. ...

The issue is that the governor of Florida is defying federal law and jeopardizing the voting rights of U.S. citizens.

TeaBaggers go for Mini-Mack

"FreedomWorks, a national tea party organization, is wading into Florida's U.S. Senate race with a strong call to support U.S. Rep. Connie Mack's bid to knock off Democrat Bill Nelson."

Oh, the horror:

FreedomWorks found that of 158 bills co-sponsored by LeMieux, 88 were authored by Democrats.

LeMieux even co-sponsored 11 bills with Nelson, and his voting patterns most closely mirrored Graham's, considered, at best, a middle-of-the-road Republican by conservatives, and Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb.

State files brief in FRS case

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "In a brief filed with the Florida Supreme Court, the state's lawyers contend Leon County Circuit Judge Jackie Fulford erred in her interpretation of a 1981 opinion when she struck down 2011 laws that reduced cost-of-living adjustments in the Florida Retirement System and required employees to contribute 3 percent of their salaries toward their retirement." "State pushes back against lower court ruling on pensions".

Rubio drooling for Veep

"Marco Rubio insists that he has no desire to be Mitt Romney’s running mate but he is taking on one of the main roles of the vice presidential candidate -- that of attack dog." "Marco Rubio Shows He Can Fill One VP Role -- Attacking Obama".

GOPers fight to replace Wise

Kevin Derby: "The battle for the Florida state Senate seat currently held by term-limited Sen. Steve Wise, R-Jacksonville, is heating up as the two leading Republicans in the race unveiled major endorsements on Monday." "First Coast Republicans Take Sides in State Senate Primary".

Heck, why not a Beer Lobbyist?

"Frank Brogan: UF Shouldn't Limit President Search to Academic World".

Industry groups insist they have the right to pollute

"The Florida Department of Environmental Protection wrapped up a series of workshops across the state on Monday. Some industry groups are concerned that the sharp reductions to meet a goal for mercury levels in waterways will be applied to industrial pollution permits." "Reducing mercury in fish will require sharp reductions in pollution, DEP says".

The Week Ahead

"The Week Ahead for June 11 to June 15".

Big of 'em

"Don’t expect a state university seeking the maximum 15 percent tuition hike to get the full request, State University System Chancellor Frank Brogan said Monday." "Frank Brogan: Don't Expect Those Big Tuition Hikes". See also "Higher education task force hears raising tuition could be tough".

"Salacious saga of defrocked Florida Republican Party chairman"

Daniel Ruth asks: "Ultimately, brothers and sisters, what should we take away from the salacious saga of defrocked Florida Republican Party chairman Jim Greer — who turned his stewardship of the state GOP into one big, fat Bacchus feast of expense accounts — begging for mercy?"

There are probably many lessons. For example, it is probably a good idea before you hire someone for a fancy-pants political job like state party chairman to subject them to a vetting process more vigorous than holding a mirror under his nose.

Because former Gov. Charlie Crist, along with other party mandarins, asserted less due diligence than picking a head of lettuce before settling on Greer, the former chairman's upcoming corruption trial risks being turned into a Bravo Network reality show.

But what could be viewed as a fairly simple, run-of-the-mill case of greed has evolved into much more. Greer has argued that highly placed party officials such as Crist, state Sen. John Thrasher, House Speaker Dean Cannon, Senate President Mike Haridopolos and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio were all aware of what he was doing and nobody raised a peep of protest.

So Greer's scheduled trial next month could easily result in some potentially embarrassing moments for the state's most prominent politicians. Memo to Greer: Elevator shafts — avoid them.

Virtually no participants would be able to afford the premiums

The Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy: "The Medically Needy component of the Medicaid program provides short-term coverage to Floridians who are over income for regular Medicaid but have catastrophic medical expenses."

On April 26, the state requested federal permission to require, for the first time, that all Medically Needy participants enroll in a managed care plan and pay monthly premiums, purportedly to ensure their access to continuous coverage. However, failure to pay those premiums, which could absorb up to 90 percent of a participant's household income, would end their eligibility for Medicaid altogether.

Virtually no Medically Needy participants would be able to afford the premiums, and the inevitable result would be loss of access to Medicaid and harm to hundreds of thousands of the most vulnerable Floridians.

"Apathy over protecting seniors"

The Sun Sentinel editorial board: "Apathy over protecting seniors has gotten old".

"Plan to grease the wheels for business interests at the expense of wetlands"

"An attempt by investors to start an environmental-land 'bank' in Florida, a business initially valued at more than $100 million that would profit by replacing wetlands destroyed by developers, has left in its wake three state officials forced to resign or suspended after they objected to the project."

Most recently, wetlands expert Connie Bersok at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection was suspended after writing a memo that stated her "refusal to recommend" the project because it could result in a net loss of wetlands statewide and set a harmful precedent.

A DEP spokeswoman denied that Bersok was suspended because of the memo, saying the highly rated veteran was investigated for failing to report for work one day and for leaking information about the project to outsiders. Described in her most-recent job evaluation as "a model representative of the Department," Bersok was cleared of the allegations and returned to her post last week, though the spokeswoman refused to allow her to be interviewed.

Akili Moncrief, a former DEP lawyer who is now director of the Environment Florida Research & Policy Center in Tallahassee, said the suspension, which began two days after Bersok sent her memo, was based on "trumped-up" charges meant to punish her for protecting the environment against the actions of top officials appointed by Gov. Rick Scott.

"This is all part and parcel of their plan to grease the wheels for business interests at the expense of the public and Florida's wetlands," Moncrief said.

The focus of the controversy is 1,575 acres of rural land in Clay County that was acquired in 2008 by investors who paid $15 million for 1,800 acres altogether, according to state records.

"Conspiracy theory"

Joe Henderson: "You may have believed we heard the last of Florida Polytechnic when it was hijacked – uh, given its independence – from the University of South Florida. You may have even wished for that, figuring if an independent Poly was the price for never hearing the name of JD Alexander again, so be it."

Somehow you knew better though, didn't you? And so it is that the state may stop construction on the new Poly campus in Lakeland, which could leave everything about the fledgling university's future in limbo.

So here we go again. The landowner who donated 530 acres in Lakeland to be the site of the Poly campus threw in a surprise caveat. Well, we think it was a surprise, since it only came to light last Friday.

The Williams Acquisition Holding Co. may want a "reverter clause" in the deal that would allow it to retain control of the property if the state builds anything there that isn't university-related. If the Board of Governors finds that too restrictive, and it should, work on the $100 million campus might stop.

Even by the bizarre standards of Poly's twists and turns, you may find yourself at this point mumbling, "Whaaaat?"

If construction in Lakeland stops, where would the campus go? Independent Florida Poly is a reality and needs a home.

At least one conspiracy theory has the campus eventually moving to land south of Lakeland, along the path of the proposed Heartland Parkway, which happens to be a pet project of …

Wait for it …

JD Alexander!

FCAT frenzy

Beth Kassab: "When people talk about the evils of Florida's FCAT, what they're really talking about is the obsessive, over-the-top, irrational focus on the standardized test that's known as 'FCAT frenzy.'" "Obsessive focus on FCAT gives test system a bad name".

"Nearly one in four Florida children lives below the federal poverty line"

"The number of Florida's children living in poverty swelled 35 percent from 2006 to 2010 — an increase that especially hurt black and Hispanic youth — a new report shows. Using the most recent statistics available, the report found that nearly one in every four Florida children, or about 924,000 collectively, now lives below the federal poverty line. Two-thirds of black children live in families classified as low-income, meaning they earn less than $44,100 a year for a family of four." "Poverty, racial divide among Florida children is soaring, study finds".

Agenda 21: This is today's Florida Republican Party

"Demonstrating just how volatile the race to unseat Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson is two months before the Aug. 14 primary, Pinellas County Republicans delivered a surprise straw poll victory to little-known but fiery U.S. Senate candidate Marielena Stuart."

Cuban-born Stuart railed against President Barack Obama, Roe vs. Wade, communism in China and Cuba, and popular tea party targets like Agenda 21 during her 15-minute speech. ...

Stuart, a linguist and conservative online columnist, spoke of an occasion in which she was beaten and abandoned in a field in Cuba by the communists, "and it is America who saved my life." She called herself the daughter of a former political prisoner. She described the country's open borders with Mexico and Canada as the beginnings of a one-world government.

"America has become a socialist nation. And socialism is nothing but phase one of communism," she said.

Her speech brought most of the crowd to its feet. Stuart has no formal campaign staff, relying on her husband Thomas, daughter Elena, 14, and son John Paul, 12, to take pictures and pass out fliers. She said she has been campaigning since the fall.

She's a "female Ronald Reagan," said Kevin Thornhill, a member of the Pinellas Patriots, a 9-12 Project group.

"Legislators across the Old Confederacy show Florida how to cope"

Fred Grimm: "Last year, Florida Atlantic University’s Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions warned that rising sea levels will back up drainage canals, inundate roads, farms and low-lying neighborhoods, cause sewage systems and septic tanks to fail and inject salt water into water wells."

Obviously, something needs to be done. About those damn scientists, of course. Not global warming.

Like-minded legislators and state officials in Texas, Virginia and North Carolina — states with their own coastal vulnerabilities — have shown Florida just how to deal with such annoyances. They erase offending words and passages. They made it flat out illegal for state planners and zoning officials to refer to nettlesome scientific findings that might hurt coastal property values.

Last year the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which had commissioned a scientific study of Galveston Bay, excised references to rising sea levels. “You can debate climate warming, but sea level is going up; it’s measured globally, with satellites,” the study’s lead author, John Anderson of Rice University, told reporters. “For them to be so bold as to remove it — they actually omitted whole sentences that mentioned sea level rise.”

Legislators across the Old Confederacy have shown Florida how to cope with all this annoying talk of global warming, rising seas, coastal flooding and devastating hurricane surges:

Censor the reports. Change the words. Or pass a law that says to hell with science. And never mind the future.

As Florida embarks on its plan to move 1.2 million Medicaid patients into private health plans, WellCare Health Plans of Tampa is widely expected to win state contracts that will shift healthcare for the poor into managed-care programs. The move is an early stage of the Medicaid reforms approved by the Legislature in 2011, pending a green light from the federal government.

WellCare's decision to bid, though not unexpected, has sparked an outcry from critics who say they wonder how badly a company must act before it is banned from government contracts — and from serving the state’s most vulnerable residents.

WellCare officials maintain that the company has changed in the two years since it agreed to pay a $137.5 million fraud settlement amid accusations the company bilked the state’s Medicaid and Healthy Kids programs and that it systematically dumped patients with expensive health needs.

“I think we have a highly competent and ethical group now running the company,” said former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, a paid director on the company’s board and chairman of a committee to ensure the company acts ethically and complies with regulations. “Our service will be our best evidence of our corporate integrity.”

In 2009, WellCare withdrew from a five-county Medicaid pilot program that served as the model for the statewide business that WellCare now seeks.

In some cases WellCare's decision disrupted care for patients with long-term health problems, disabilities and mental illnesses.

Critics also slam the federal settlement, finalized in April, which requires the company to repay less than half of the $400 million to $600 million it allegedly siphoned from taxpayers.

Five former executives — including CEO Todd Farha, CFO Paul Behrens and general counsel Thaddeus Bereday — were indicted in March 2011, and are awaiting trial.

Evidence against them includes taped conversations between executives discussing how they could duplicate their bills to the state. The executives also discussed plans to save money by terminating coverage for neonatal babies and terminally ill patients, and throwing parties to reward employees who ousted expensive enrollees, according to whistle-blower documents. ...

... Sean Hellein, the WellCare financial analyst who blew the whistle on the company’s fraudulent bookkeeping in 2007, said the company previously had no problem evading the state’s effort to audit its activities. During one on-site visit by state officials, Hellein said, “The idea was that as long as we could keep them in the dark, everything would be perfect.” If a particularly smart state worker started asking too many questions, Hellein said, WellCare had a remedy: It would simply hire the person away from the state at a much higher salary.

The strategy worked. It took the agency several years to catch on to the company’s strategy of double-billing the state for patient services.

"Artificial obstacles"

Handing state contracts to fraudsters? No problem. Unemployment benefits for Floridians? Well, that's different.

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board points out that "artificial obstacles, recounted in a complaint by two workers' rights organizations to the U.S. Labor Department, appear designed to suppress the demand for [unemployment] benefits rather than to make it easier for those who need help to get it. ... Florida has the lowest rate of benefits received in the country, with only 17 percent of the unemployed getting state benefits. The national average is 27 percent." "Florida's jobless facing new hurdles".

"Romney wants to have it both ways"

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board: "Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney wants to have it both ways."

Stripping resources from public schools to give vouchers to students to attend private schools is not doing public schools any favors, as Floridians can attest. America needs a president committed to long-term, systemic improvement in public schools rather than one embracing schemes to starve them to death. ...

Romney has embraced the voucher movement, albeit in a limited way. He wants federal money to follow poor and special needs students to any public, charter or private school "where permitted by law" of their choosing, rather than stay with the local public school. But such a system would be fraught with issues — including the separation of church and state — as experiments in Florida and other states have shown. And it comes at a time when pressures on public schools to be accountable for student success through flawed standardized tests make it easier to shift public opinion toward stripping public schools of resources. That might be defensible if private schools were held to the same standards, but they're not.

"So dirty it’s downright whacky"

"From the start, it was clear that the criminal case against former Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer would expose some dirty laundry at the GOP. Now it’s getting so dirty it’s downright whacky."

Greer’s lawyer was prepared to claim that, when he was governor, Charlie Crist made a pass at the former chairman at a Beverly Hills hotel, that he paid two former male lovers to leave the state, and that the governor’s guards covered up numerous drunken “escapades” — including the time the gov allegedly nearly ran over golfers while he drove a golf cart under the influence.

Crist — an abstemious drinker who has fought rumors about his sexuality since and before his 2008 marriage to Carole Oumano — has called the allegations “delusional lies.” Crist reported the matter to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as evidence of “witness tampering” by Greer for allegedly trying to unlawfully pressure the former governor to change his testimony in the fraud case.

The claims from Greer lawyer Damon Chase arose only after the governor refused to recant his previous written testimony in which Crist said he had no idea that his party chairman in 2009 had taken over RPOF fundraising responsibilities for a cut of the profits. Chase wanted Crist to issue a new sworn affidavit that claimed he and party leaders knew about Greer’s secret fundraising arrangement, which is at the heart of the state’s criminal case against Greer.

Crist refused to file the flip-flop of an affidavit. Chase then moved to depose the former governor to ask him about his drinking habits and his sexuality.

“Jim is desperate and using you as a way to extort Charlie with embarrassing questions. Like ‘when was the last time you [expletive] your neighbor’s sheep’ or ‘are you still beating your wife,’” Crist’s boss and attorney, Orlando trial lawyer John Morgan, wrote in a May 14 email to Chase.

Chase responded: “Charlie clearly lied and now one by one his closest friends are coming out against him because what he did to Greer was just wrong. In the event Charlie remains unwilling to clarify his affidavit, I’m left with no other choice than to discredit him. I don’t find that type of practice particularly tasteful, but sometimes I suppose it’s necessary.’’

Chase pointed out that other Republican insiders said in depositions and affidavits that Crist knew of Greer’s fundraising deal or aspects of it.

"Another election tainted by questions of fairness"

The Washington Post's editorial board: "The last thing the state needs is another election tainted by questions of fairness."

Mr. Scott’s move does not appear to be based on any showing of widespread voter fraud. ...

The voter roll effort may be illegal as well as unjustified. Parts of Florida are covered by Section 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which requires it to obtain advance approval from the U.S. Justice Department for such change. In addition, the 1993 National Voter Registration Act prohibits such purges 90 days before a statewide election, such as Florida’s congressional primaries in August. The Justice Department was right to send Florida officials a letter last month questioning whether the state’s actions comply with those laws.

That was not Florida’s only recent brush with voting rights issues. Last month, a federal judge blocked the state from enforcing sections of a new voting law, including one that imposes a 48-hour deadline for voter registration groups to turn in new forms and another requiring volunteer workers to submit sworn statements vowing to obey state registration laws. U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle termed the deadline “harsh and impractical” and found that the requirement of a sworn statement “could have no purpose other than to discourage voluntary participation in legitimate, indeed constitutionally protected, activities.’’

Florida’s action follows efforts to enact stricter voter identification laws in South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. The Justice Department has already blocked the South Carolina and Texas laws from going into effect under the Voting Rights Act. Virginia’s measure, signed by Gov. Robert McDonnell (R) after the legislature rebuffed his efforts to make the identification requirement less burdensome, has yet to be challenged. The voter ID laws and the Florida effort to purge voter rolls represent ill-advised solutions to a largely imaginary problem. Ensuring voter eligibility is a legitimate state concern, but imposing needless barriers to the exercise of citizens’ constitutional right to vote serves only to erode participatory democracy.

"Unlike Florida, Wisconsin has a relevant political opposition"

Tom Tryon guesses that "the impacts of Walker's win will be negligible in Florida, however."

Scott has aggressively promoted changes in state and local governments with the help of a compliant, Republican-dominated Legislature; unlike Florida, Wisconsin has a relevant political opposition.

In short: Scott didn't need Walker to win a recall, in a very different state, to be emboldened and pursue his agenda.

ACLU purge lawsuit

"The American Civil Liberties Union sued Florida on Friday to stop its controversial program designed to purge noncitizen voters from the rolls." "ACLU sues Florida to stop noncitizen voter purge".

"But they'll be back, just watch"

Nancy Smith worries that

In virtually every session there is a bill, or bills introduced that limit our choice in the interest of somehow improving us as human beings. In the 2012 session it was HB 1401 and SB 1658 -- a pair of bills that would have prohibited food stamp recipients from buying all kinds of products with salt and sugar -- from pretzels and cupcakes to ice cream and soda. Sorry kids, no birthday cake for you.

The bills didn't pass. But they'll be back, just watch.

While it's tempting to use public assistance programs to attack childhood obesity, this is the Florida Legislature that back in the 1990s eliminated physical education in public schools and the one in 1998 that voted to let moms and dads decide whether to put their children in a charter school or in a local public school. Does it make sense that we can't trust the same parents to walk down a supermarket aisle and make the right choices to feed their families?

Lee eyes Tally

"Lee is looking to get back into elected office after leaving the Senate in 2006. The Tampa area real estate and development executive said he decided to run after Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Brandon, opted to challenge scandal-scarred Hillsborough County Property Appraiser Rob Turner this fall." "From President to 'Foot Soldier,' Tom Lee Seeks Senate Comeback".