A Miami federal judge has struck down the new law prohibiting Florida doctors from discussing gun ownership with their patients. The ruling extends the legal losing streak of Gov. Rick Scott and right-wing lawmakers, who have set a pathetic record for unconstitutional bills.

Written by the National Rifle Association, the so-called Firearm Owners’ Privacy Act would have prevented concerned physicians from asking patients about guns kept in their houses. It’s a reasonable query in domestic situations in which children might be at risk.

But the GOP-controlled Legislature wants doctors to shut up about guns and stick to lecturing women about their abortion decisions. So much for privacy.

By necessity, doctors ask lots of personal questions. Are you using any illegal drugs? How much alcohol do you drink in a week? Do you smoke cigarettes? Do you suffer from depression?

We’ve all filled out the checklists while sitting in the waiting room. And, on the examination table, we’ve all heard doctors and nurses ask things we wouldn’t post on Facebook.

Say, have you noticed if your urine is changing color?

Uh, no.

Most of us have never been asked by our health-care providers whether we have a gun, or where on the premises we keep it. However, most of us don’t have bullet scars, needle tracks or booze on our breath when showing up for a medical appointment.

Some people do, and too often they have kids. Doctors who ask questions are usually just doctors who care, and the best doctors have more questions than others.

Cue the NRA, which had no trouble finding a stooge in the Legislature [(that would be, Rep. Jason Brodeur)]to sponsor a bill that effectively prohibited physicians from raising the subject.

Republican supporters claimed that merely by inquiring about firearms in the house, doctors are infringing on a patient’s Second Amendment rights. The argument is embarrassingly lame. Suggesting that someone put a trigger lock on their handgun is not quite the same as confiscating it.

Extending the Legislature’s knothead logic, a doctor who promotes the safe use of condoms is violating your constitutional right to accidentally impregnate whomever you want.

The gun law was doomed in the courts from the day the NRA hacks delivered it. Still, it passed last year and was proudly signed by Scott, generating a swift legal challenge from the Florida Pediatric Society, the Florida Academy of Family Physicians and other groups.

In the media, the battle became known as “Docs vs. Glocks,” and on June 29 the docs won. ...

You certainly can’t be forced to answer those questions, just as your doctor can’t be forced to keep you as a patient. Take your funny-colored pee and move on.

"Scott says no"

"Scott continues to argue against setting up exchanges to help people find health insurance, saying they won't make coverage cheaper. Florida could influence the design of the exchange if it were to do its own, but Scott says no." "Scott: A 'no' on exchanges". See also "Gov. Rick Scott repeats that Florida will not implement health care exchanges".

Good luck with that

"Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson asks Tampa supporters to help him get on presidential polls".

Florida's wages have dropped more than in other states

"Floridians are earning less and taking more low-wage jobs than they were a year ago, with pay rates dropping more than almost anywhere in the country."

Scott spokesman Lane Wright said the governor welcomes all jobs.

"Gov. Scott has put a lot of focus on the high-tech sector, but he is not limiting Florida's growth to just that," Wright said. "We're not going to reject jobs just because they don't pay as high of a wage as they might in other sectors."

Why have Florida's wages dropped more than in other states?

Several factors may contribute, said Merrill Matthews, a resident scholar at the Institute for Policy Innovation.

Among them, Florida has made it more difficult for people to apply and retain unemployment benefits, which can shove more low-wage earners into the workforce and lower wages, Matthews said.

Michelle Obama to speak at UCF

"First lady Michelle Obama to speak at UCF".

<Wait till "Jeb!" hears this

"This spring’s uproar over the FCAT has apparently reached Gov. Rick Scott’s ears. The governor on Friday said he is talking with state education leaders, district superintendents and teachers about possibly changing the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, saying schools might be doing too much of a good thing when it comes to student testing." "Gov. Rick Scott appears to give support to chorus of criticism about too much emphasis on FCAT".

Uninspired

Frank Cerabino: "New state law meant to skirt rules against school prayer not very inspiring".

Red Dawn overdose

Nancy Smith: "Rick Scott should appeal U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke's permanent injunction against Florida's Firearms Owners' Privacy Act."

If he doesn't, doctors will have a right to refuse to treat you if you own a gun.

They will have a right to grill you about your gun and enter your answers into their medical records, including where the firearm is stored.

They will have a right to press your children on whether you own a gun.

"Now we've got Obamacare, the government owns our health care," Molly Johanssen, a 58-year-old Tallahassee business owner, told Sunshine State News. "They can coerce the names and habits of gun owners out of doctors' medical records, that's what scares me most. Maybe it won't happen today or tomorrow, but the ability to do it is there."

KGB Major: Do you want to see me?

Colonel Ernesto Bella: Yes... yes. Go to the sporting goods store. From the files obtain forms 4473. These will contain descriptions of weapons, and lists of private ownership.

"A tale of two stimulus acts"

Aaron Deslatte: "It's a tale of two stimulus acts, and reality depends on who's telling it. After the 2001 terrorist attacks, Congress and President George W. Bush passed a stimulus plan to provide money to bail out state-government budget deficits." "'Stimulus' is in the eye of the beholder".

The 8 Million Dollar Cabinet

"Florida’s three Cabinet members -- Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam -- are worth a collective $8,846,996, according to recently filed financial disclosure reports."

The overall mark is slightly down from the prior year, 2010, with Putnam, the wealthiest, dropping $300,000. Bondi has the least but now is able to report an income, showing the largest single-year gain at $200,000.

The annual disclosure reports require descriptions of assets, liabilities topping $1,000 and for sources of income. But other than to say the source of the asset or liability, little disclosure is really required.

Putman, who has been the focus of recent reports for a 2005 deal in which the South Florida Water Management District paid $25.5 million for 2,042 acres of his family’s ranch, saw his net worth drop from $6.8 million in 2010 to $6.49 million last year.

SunshineStatutes.com

"A more user-friendly way to read and understand Florida’s complicated law books just launched online. SunshineStatutes.com has features that the state’s official website, Online Sunshine at leg.state.fl.us, does not. For example, there is an easy-to-understand description of each law’s history and hyperlinked text that shows the definitions of terms in other parts of the law." "Website sheds more light on Florida’s laws".

"Industry lapdogs in Tallahassee"

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board: "It comes at a steep price, but finally someone appears to have been held accountable for the mismanagement of Progress Energy and its nuclear power debacles. Duke Energy abruptly parted ways this week with Bill Johnson, the former Progress Energy chief executive who was supposed to be the top official for the merged companies. If the Florida Public Service Commission and the Legislature had been similarly aggressive, ratepayers would not be on the hook for billions in costs tied to one nuclear plant that's broken and another that may never be built."

Compare Duke's decisionmaking with the failure to grasp reality in Tallahassee. In February the PSC approved a limp deal with Progress Energy that provided a modest refund but still raised rates and let customers continue to be billed in advance for the Levy project for the next five years. And the Legislature has not lifted a finger to repeal the 2006 law that foolishly allowed electric utilities to bill customers for these advance nuclear construction costs even if the plant is never built.

This is what it has come to in the Sunshine State: The best hope utility customers have to protect their wallets comes not from regulators or legislators but from the new CEO of the nation's largest electric company. That speaks well of the highly regarded management from the old Duke Energy, but it reaffirms the toothlessness of the industry lapdogs in Tallahassee.

Crazy

"Rep. Jason Brodeur is a 37-year-old first-term legislator who drew national headlines and punch-lines passing a court-blocked 'Docs vs. Glocks' bill. Fellow Republican John F. Bush, 70, is a former Winter Springs mayor who says the incumbent hasn't been visible in the district and unfairly tried to punish Seminole's prized but financially challenged schools this year." "Brodeur-Bush race features rivals who once supported each other".

Conservative groups align in Dade

"Two of Miami-Dade County’s best-known conservative groups have launched an alliance to elect like-minded candidates this fall."

“If any candidate wants to get elected to public office in Miami-Dade County and all of South Florida, then they need to work with fair-minded, pro-life, pro-family citizens of this community,” said Anthony Verdugo, executive director of the Christian Family Coalition, which has united with the Catholic Cultural Fund for the 2012 election cycle.

Flanked by a half-dozen endorsed candidates, Verdugo and Eladio José Armesto of the Catholic Cultural Fund announced the pact at a news conference on Friday.

The coalition came together “through tedious planning and hard work,” Armesto told The Miami Herald. “There’s a great need to share with the electorate the fact that their right to vote is more than a right. It’s an obligation. It’s a duty. It’s a responsibility to our community and to future generations.”

Armesto, also director of the conservative Florida Democratic League, said the Christian Family Coalition and Catholic Cultural Fund “are going to be mobilizing churches and parishes and organizations within the county to ensure the widest participation possible.”

Verdugo says his group represents 100,000 voters and that 29 percent of CFC members say they voted in the 2011 elections.

Things happen ... without union contracts

The Tampa Bay Times editors: "Lifeguards, like other first responders, are trained to react to life-threatening situations within a moment's notice rather than consult a corporate handbook on rules and regulations. So when Tomas Lopez, a 21-year-old lifeguard on duty at Hallandale Beach, saw a swimmer in distress he raced 1,500 feet to the man's aid. For doing his job, Lopez was fired by a private contractor because he went beyond the perimeter of his assigned lifeguard zone." "Living up to the name 'lifeguard'".

The private contractor's misconduct is entirely lawful under Florida's "employment-at-will" doctrine. That arcane legal doctrine that permits Florida's employers (without contracts) to abuse their employees.

The solution, of course, is for employees (here, lifeguards) to insist on a contract with their employers; a contract with language prohibiting discharges unless they are for "just cause".

The problem with that, however, is that if a Florida employee merely asks her employer for a contract - but fails to make such request together with her fellow employees (what the law calls "collective" or "concerted activity"), she can be fired for simply asking. You read that right, employers are entitled under Florida's employment-at-will doctrine to terminate lone employees who ask for a contract. Indeed, Florida employers don't need to have any reason at all to fire an employee.

You would think Florida's "librul" newspaper company editorial boards would be clamoring against the injustices of employment-at-will. Of course they don't, because, after all, they work for newspaper "companies".

While Scott has spent much of the last week on national television and radio attacking the federal health-care program recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, Florida Senate leaders have been working on a plan to not only implement the exchanges but to expand Medicaid, which Scott also said the state will refuse to do.

But Florida lawmakers have done nothing to authorize the executive branch to set up exchanges under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, and states have only until Nov. 16 to submit a comprehensive blueprint to the federal government outlining their plans for an exchange.

It all adds up to confusion over what Florida will do and, at least for now, points to likely federal control.

The federal government gave states a blueprint for the exchanges in May. According to those federal documents, the exchanges are meant to provide access to health insurance and subsidies for small businesses, and low- and moderate-income individuals. They must establish the minimum benefits packages insurers must offer, certify “qualified health plans” and provide a marketplace where individuals and small businesses can shop for plans.

If the states don’t do those things, the federal government will, according to documents. States have three options for setting up exchanges — a state-based exchange, a state partnership exchange in which the federal government operates the exchange but the state retains some regulatory functions, or a federal facilitated exchange in which the feds control virtually all aspects. States can also join the federal exchanges later.

DEP retaliates

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board:

In recent weeks, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has emphatically denied that the suspension of its top wetlands expert was triggered by her refusal to approve a mitigation permit for a well-connected landowner. Now it looks like the real sin in her superiors' eyes stemmed from their belief she might have leaked this public information to — gasp — the public. Now the state inspector general is investigating, and it appears the DEP is more interested in controlling the flow of public information than in protecting Florida's natural resources.

An attorney for the mitigation bank — which had already failed to win more credits through an administrative law court or the Legislature — wrote the proposed new policy. Upon review, Bersok concluded that the plan would not comply with state law because it lacked assurances that any wetland restoration work would actually be done.

Agency officials denied that Bersok's suspension had anything to do with her decision about the permit. But newly released documents show that her bosses feared she had told outsiders about her decision — even though her memo explaining her refusal is a public record available to anyone under Florida law. Bersok's superiors asked whether she had contacted specific people, including the media and environmental advocates. Ultimately she was cleared, and it's worth noting that Bersok — whose travails were first reported in the Times — has repeatedly declined to speak to the Times without permission of her superiors.

Presumably, Bersok's bosses were hoping they could quietly persuade the scientist to reverse her decision or mitigate it in some other way. That's a far cry from the goal DEP Secretary Herschel Vinyard espoused in May in a meeting with the Times editorial board: efficient and consistent regulation that followed the science.

Scott on another junket

"A group of Floridians and aerospace proponents, headed by Gov. Rick Scott, will jet across the pond this weekend to showcase the Sunshine State at one of the largest aviation industry trade events in the world." "Rick Scott, Enterprise Florida Off to Scout Up Business at English Airshow".

Rejecting Medicaid expansion would cost Floridians tens of thousands of new jobs

The Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy's latest report: "Although Florida's elected leaders may have the political option of rejecting Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, actually doing so would cause serious harm to the state and its economy. Rejecting Medicaid expansion would cost Floridians $20 billion in unused federal dollars and tens of thousands of new jobs, while denying the lowest-income workers and families much-needed coverage." "Rejecting Medicaid Expansion Not a Sensible Option for Florida".

"A blow to the insurance industry and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater"

"A 2008 Florida law establishing a 48-hour moratorium on public adjusters was ruled unconstitutional Thursday by the Florida Supreme Court on grounds that it restricted commercial speech."

The decision was a blow to the insurance industry and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, who appealed a lower court ruling that was unanimously upheld by the state's highest court. Public adjusters serve as advocates for policyholders while negotiating insurance claims. The overturned law had prevented them from getting involved in insurance cases for at least 48 hours after the occurrence of an event.

Charter madness

"An appeals court on Thursday struck down a decision by the state Board of Education that had given a troubled Florida City charter school the power to open its doors again after being shut down by the Miami-Dade School District."

In 2010, Miami-Dade school officials closed the Rise Academy after finding a litany of problems at the charter school: unsanitary bathrooms and food storage, a shortage of textbooks, and questionable spending by administrators. The school had no science, social studies, art or writing programs, no student computers, no library — and recess was held on an asphalt parking lot, Miami-Dade officials found.

"The school was a dump," school district lawyer Mindy McNichols told state officials at a 2010 hearing. “They refused to follow any of the requirements.”

The charter school’s lawyers appealed to the state Board of Education, which reversed the Miami-Dade district’s decision — and a recommendation of the state Charter School Appeals Commission — in a 4-3 vote and restored Rise’s charter. Despite the lifeline, the school never re-opened.

But on Thursday, a three-judge panel of the Third District Court of Appeal reversed the Board of Education’s decision, and found that Miami-Dade school officials had sufficient grounds to close the school "under any standard of review."

Lefties "swarming through Orange County"

"In what may be the biggest political campaign in Central Florida right now, an army of paid and volunteer petition workers is swarming through Orange County. They aren't pushing a candidate. Rather, they are trying to earn a spot on the November ballot for an initiative that would require businesses to offer their employees sick time. It's a daunting task: So many petition signatures are required that no citizen initiative has ever made it on the ballot in Orange County." "Orange mandatory-sick-time initiative gains steam".

Legislation-by-anecdote

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "Florida Republicans who led the unsuccessful attempt to have the Affordable Care Act declared unconstitutional regularly claimed it amounted to 'government-run health care.' But for an actual attempt at government-run health care, consider Florida lawmakers’ attempt last year to stop doctors from asking their patients about gun ownership."

As the doctors pointed out, they have legitimate reasons for asking. Chilren regularly die or are injured in gun-related accidents. Doctors who know there’s a gun in the home can provide life-saving advice.

But the Legislature and Gov. Scott decided that a doctor counseling his patients on gun safety somehow was an infringement of the patient’s Second Amendment rights. That never made much sense, since the amendment stops governments from placing burdensome restrictions on gun ownership but is irrelevant to doctor-patient conversations about gun ownership.

In fact, the real constitutional issue arose when lawmakers decided that the government should regulate those conversations. That, as they should have known, really does interfere with the First Amendment’s free speech guarantees. So it is no surprise that last week U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke, a George W. Bush appointee, threw out the law.

The judge noted in her ruling that lawmakers had no actual evidence that doctors asking about gun ownership infringed on the rights of gun owners. But when enacting laws to please the National Rifle Association, facts and actual examples are not necessary.

The same kind of legislation-by-anecdote was at work previously when the Legislature enacted Florida’s stand-your-ground law. There had been no evidence of a legitimate exercise of self-defense being successfully prosecuted.

Tourists catch a break, at locals' expense

"Judge's ruling on tourist tax worries Orange leaders".

Cash-strapped courts

"Justice denied in cash-strapped courts".

Judges in the clear

"Prosecutor: No charges against 3 Fla. justices". Ricky ain't happy: "Rick Scott: Courts Must Decide if Justices’ ‘Common Practice’ is Legal".

The project is Future Corridors, a series of at least four toll roads that would crisscross the state's rural areas to spur economic growth, create jobs and birth another generation of suburban communities.

Billy Buzzett and Chris Corr were hired in March to conduct up to 20 interviews with major landowners who own large tracts where the roads could go. After interviewing the landowners, the two would come up with a strategic memo based on the discussions. The contract is worth $106,000; potential land deals could be worth much more.

Both Buzzett and Corr have close ties to Gov. Rick Scott's administration.

Scott then appointed Corr to the Florida Board of Governors, the board that oversees the state's public universities. In that role, Corr voted to approve the creation of the state's 12th university, Florida Polytechnic in Polk County, which is near the northern end of one of the proposed corridors, the Heartland Parkway. This year, that project was awarded $34.1 million for its design.

Corr has since been appointed by Scott to the board of trustees at the University of Florida.

Corr is getting paid $15,204 to work on Future Corridors. It's unclear if steps have been taken by Corr to avoid conflicts with landowners who may eventually hire AECOM to develop their property around Future Corridors. Corr couldn't be reached, and an AECOM spokesman referred all questions to the state Transportation Department.

Buzzett, who is getting paid $45,724 by the state, works at a law firm that represents developers but said he likely would refuse to represent landowners he and Corr interview.

"The answer would probably be no," Buzzett told the Times. "I wouldn't do anything that would be perceived as unethical. All these landowners, frankly, I'll say, 'no.' I won't work for them. How about that?"

Transportation Secretary Ananth Prasad said he's not concerned about potential conflicts because the road projects will take too long to build to benefit anyone working now. "If they represent them later, that would be a problem for us," Prasad said. "But (the road projects) are too far off to pose a conflict with any private-sector work."

Buzzett and Prasad say the idea behind Future Corridors isn't to favor developers, but to do things differently than before, when projects were done in a piecemeal fashion. The state needs to better control large tracts of land before it can approve plans that will guide growth in those areas, Buzzett said, and to do that, it needs to work with large landowners sooner.

The corridors would go through the undeveloped parts of the state. Toll roads, paid for by riders and private companies, would be the major transportation mode.

Tom Pelham, when he led the Department of Community Affairs before Buzzett, raised concerns that the project put roads before land use planning and would steer resources into unpopulated areas and away from areas where growth is more likely.

"Mass arrests and downtown chaos"

"[A] post-mortem of what was planned in St. Paul and what actually happened could provide valuable lessons for Tampa as its prepares for its Aug. 27-30 event. Few problems were anticipated at the Minnesota convention, but the event now is widely remembered for mass arrests and downtown chaos." "Tampa could learn lessons from 2008 RNC mistakes".

Raw political courage

The wingers on the Daytona Beach editorial board think "Gov. Scott makes tough, necessary call on Medicaid".

Cop endorsements

"Law enforcement groups split on district attorney candidate endorsements".

"Florida counties are missing out on millions"

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "Florida counties are missing out on millions of dollars and homeowners are being kept in the dark about who owns their loans because the state does not require that mortgage assignments be recorded. It’s a problem the Legislature can and should fix during its next session. A federal judge last week dismissed a lawsuit by the Duval County Clerk of Court alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration System deprived the county of recording fees because the state has no statute that requires lenders to publicly note when they transfer mortgages. Banks created the MERS database to avoid recording fees." "Fix mortgage flaw that enabled robo-signing in Florida".

Tilting at windmills

"Gary Johnson presents radical platform to South Floridians".

"Rubio did his state a disservice"

The Tampa Bay Times editors: "The transportation bill that Congress approved last week is far from ideal. It provides only a two-year window for highway spending, suspends or fast-tracks some environmental reviews, and shifts money away from bike paths, pedestrian trails and other alternative transit projects. But it was the best the public could expect given the partisanship in Washington this election year."

Rubio did his state a disservice by being one of only two gulf-state senators to vote against the bill. Rubio complained that the bill had too many tradeoffs and was too costly. This sounds more like an excuse to have it both ways on a bill that had overwhelming support than a principled stand against the usual lawmaking process. At least the bill gets the nation through the election with the least damage to its highway system as possible while setting the stage for states like Florida to further rebound from the spill.

"Internet Freedom" Movement

Nancy Smith: "The nonpartisan movement to keep the Internet free and unfettered gained striking momentum this week, as an Internet-rights petition called the Declaration of Internet Freedom gathered more than 20,000 signatures on Monday, its first day." "'Internet Freedom' Movement Gears up a Notch With Petition Drive".

"Five of the most competitive congressional races in the nation"

Jeremy Wallace: "Florida has five of the most competitive congressional races in the nation. The state has two new (and competitive) seats thanks to redistricting, two seats held by Republicans that Democrats are counting on winning, and a pair of scandals that could affect the outcome of two others. " "Top 5 congressional races in Florida".

"Court system overburdened with too many cases and too few dollars"

The Miami Herald editorial board: "Florida’s court system is overburdened with too many cases and too few dollars. The state’s DNA lab is close to running dry without proper funding, leaving many defendants at risk of having justice denied."

In its final report released last week, the Florida Innocence Commission addressed the issues of eyewitness misidentification, false confessions and the lack of evidence preservation, among other mishaps that can wrongfully convict innocent people. Among the recommendations:

• Having photos be shown to a witness one at a time, instead of a “six-pack” lineup, and shown by someone who does not know which photo is the suspect.

• A law requiring police to record all in-custody interrogations.

• Letting juries know when a witness in a trial is a jailhouse informant to be rewarded with a shorter sentence for testifying.

All are solid reforms, but without adequate financial support to the courts all of the commission’s work will end up on a shelf. The courts, the panel reminded Floridians, are strapped. After more than half a decade of Tallahassee cutting court budgets, the plea for money keeps falling on deaf ears.

"But one day after having several statements deemed 'False' or 'Pants on Fire' by PolitiFact Florida, the governor has changed his tune in some ways." "Scott tweaks health law barbs".Meanwhile, "What does Scott's health care stance mean for Floridians?"

"Progressives" attack Rubio

"An interesting UPS delivery to the Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau".

A hard copy of Sen. Marco Rubio's newly released memoir, An American Son, wrapped in a pink book jacket. The front of the jacket is plastered with Rubio's picture, above the word "TRAITOR."The attack jacket, which comes as Rubio tours Florida to promote the book, contains an unflattering picture of a wild-haired, pasty-faced Rubio. In English and in Spanish, Rubio is portrayed as a traitor to Hispanics, the middle class, women and seniors.The "about the author" description rehashes accusations that Rubio took improper contributions during his campaign for U.S. Senate, and that he "billed more than $100,000 in personal expenses such as groceries, minivan repairs and plane tickets for his wife" to a Republican Party of Florida credit card.The inside cover points readers to a Rubio attack website, wrongwayrubio.com.

"One of the most conservative unemployment programs in the country"

"The next three months will determine just how long thousands of unemployed people will receive state jobless benefits next year. Jobless rates from July, August and September will determine the maximum number of weeks people can collect unemployment payments in 2013. Officials will calculate average statewide unemployment for those three months and use the figure to set limits for next year."

A lower average means fewer weeks of benefits. A higher average means more weeks.The change would apply to workers laid off after the first of the year. It would not affect those already receiving benefits.The provision was part of package passed in 2011, making Florida the first state to put its maximum weeks of benefits on a sliding scale. The same bill cut total weeks available in the state unemployment program from 26 to 23.The measure, pushed by Gov. Rick Scott and Republican lawmakers, was an effort to reduce the cost of jobless benefits in Florida. Those had ballooned during the recession, draining the state's unemployment trust fund and forcing the state to borrow more than $2 billion in federal money.In response, officials trimmed total weeks available and tied available weeks to the average statewide unemployment rate during the third quarter of the year. The formula works like this:For each half a percent decline in the third-quarter average, a week is cut from the maximum weeks available. If the third-quarter average drops to 5 percent or less — not likely this year — the total number of weeks is capped at 12. ...Florida historically has had one of the most conservative unemployment programs in the country. Its eligibility requirements are stricter and its benefits less generous.In 2011, for example, 17 percent of the unemployed here received benefits. Nationally, the figure was 27 percent. Florida's average weekly payment is $232 a week, 48th lowest in the nation.In May, NELP called for a federal investigation into the state's rules, saying they are designed to prevent laid-off workers from collecting benefits. The Labor Department is reviewing the law.

Bondi "should stand with Floridians, not polluters"

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board: "A federal appeals court has struck a commanding blow for public health, science and the rule of law, sending a sharp rebuke to states like Florida that continue to side with big polluters. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia last week upheld efforts by the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate the emissions of greenhouse gases. The ruling is a big step toward controlling the impact of global warming."

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has intervened in several cases to challenge the EPA's clean air rules, arguing that the moves are based on flawed science or bad economics. She should accept the court's finding that the federal government is acting properly to safeguard Americans against the danger of global warming and dirty air. She should stand with Floridians, not polluters.

Congress asked to restore voting rights of Florida ex-felons

"Hundreds of thousands of Florida ex-felons who have completed their sentences still can’t vote, a prohibition that is hindering their re-entry into society, a group of voting rights advocates said Tuesday as they urged Congress to step in." "Ex-felons need voting rights restored, group says".

"Dueling endorsements"

"Congressional candidate Kristin Jacobs said Monday she was humbled. Her opponent Lois Frankel described herself as honored. The Democratic competitors' reactions were the predictable responses to a day of endorsements, tit for tat. It started with Jacobs scoring a big announcement of support from the Service Employees International Union. Hours later, Frankel responded in kind, rolling out her own high-profile statement of backing from U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton." "Jacobs, Frankel roll out dueling endorsements".

"State tossing millions of dollars to businesses with little oversight or restraint"

The Tampa Tribune editors point out that "the state is tossing tens of millions of dollars to select businesses with little oversight or restraint. A three-month investigation by the Tribune's Michael Sasso found that at least four in every 10 companies that won grants from the state's Quick Action Closing Fund incentive program failed to meet job-creating goals."

The finding was difficult to make because Enterprise Florida, the economic development agency that oversees the grants, didn't include failing projects in its report.Moreover, under current policy, it is impossible to determine if the companies receiving the incentives would have expanded or located here without the incentives. Provisions to reclaim tax dollars when projects fail to achieve goals are inconsistently enforced.

Florida would lose billions for health insurance to hundreds of thousands of uninsured Floridians

"Two studies from Washington healthcare researchers project that Gov. Rick Scott’s decision not to expand Medicaid as provided by the healthcare reform law could mean Florida losing billions of dollars in federal funding — money that could have been used to bring health insurance to hundreds of thousands of uninsured Floridians."

A 2010 state-by-state study by the Urban Institute and financed by the Kaiser Family Foundation projected that the Affordable Care Act would provide $20 billion in federal funds to Florida between 2014 and 2019 to expand Medicaid coverage to 951,622 new enrollees, including 683,477 that had been previously uninsured.Over those same five years, Florida would need to come up with $1.2 billion to fund the expanded coverage, according to the 2010 study.An updated analysis from the Urban Institute last week made no funding estimates but, using different assumptions, estimated that as many as 1.8 million uninsured Floridians — 45 percent of the state’s uninsured total of 3.94 million — could have been moved to Medicaid under healthcare reform.The new analysis was based on Census data of uninsured people below 138 percent of the federal poverty level, the cut-off point for Medicaid coverage under the reform act.On Friday night, the governor estimated on Fox News that expanding Medicaid will cost the state about $1.9 billion a year, Associated Press reported, but Scott didn’t say how he had arrived at that figure.

Scott to resume voter purge

"The next step in Florida’s struggle with the federal government over how to find non-U.S. citizens among the list of registered voters will come out later this week. And that could mean the effort to check for noncitizens is restarted. But don’t expect county elections officials to immediately go along -- at least, not until the state can do a better job of backing up claims that an individual shouldn’t be registered as a voter." "Florida May Restart Search for Noncitizen Voters".

Docs vs. Glocks

"U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke, who had already issued a preliminary injunction last September, made her decision permanent late Friday when she ruled in favor of groups of physicians who asserted the state violated their free speech rights. She said the law was so 'vague' that it violated the First Amendment rights of doctors, noting the legislation’s privacy provisions 'fail to provide any standards for practitioners to follow.'"

The physicians’ lawsuit, an ideological battle between advocates of free speech and the right to bear arms, has been dubbed “Docs vs. Glocks.” The state Department of Health could appeal her summary judgment, which addressed legislation signed into law last year by Gov. Rick Scott.In her 25-page ruling, Cooke clearly sided with the physicians, saying evidence showed that physicians began “self-censoring” because of the “chilling” effect of the legislation.“What is curious about this law — and what makes it different from so many other laws involving practitioners’ speech — is that it aims to restrict a practitioner’s ability to provide truthful, non-misleading information to a patient, whether relevant or not at the time of the consult with the patient,” Cooke wrote, citing the benefit of such “preventive medicine.”“The state asserts that it has an interest in protecting the exercise of the fundamental right to keep and bear arms,” Cooke wrote in another section about the Second Amendment issue. “I do not disagree that the government has such an interest in protecting its citizens’ fundamental rights. The Firearm Owners’ Privacy Act, however, simply does not interfere with the right to keep and bear arms.”

The state’s latest legal loss follows a series of other recent setbacks in the courts, including healthcare reform, privatization of prisons, drug testing of welfare recipients, drug testing of state workers, and the shifting of pension costs onto state workers.

"Closer to zero"

"When former State Sen. Mike Bennett estimated his net wealth for the Florida Commission on Ethics in 2011, he omitted reference to one of his loans — a $744,000 mortgage on his house at 7056 Hawks Harbor Circle in South Manatee." "Former Sen. Bennett's net wealth may be closer to zero".

Rubio luv

"Marco Rubio 'fans' line up for Orlando book signing".

I-4 war

"Voters along Interstate 4, which stretches from Tampa Bay to Daytona Beach, will determine the outcome if the race remains close into the fall, as expected. About 45 percent of the state's voters live in that 17-county area." "In Florida fight, Obama and Romney scrap along I-4".

"Orlando has 2nd highest Hispanic jobless rate"

"Orlando has 2nd highest Hispanic jobless rate, study finds".

Administrative Challenge to Voting Rules"Sen. Arthenia Joyner and a pair of voting-rights organizations have filed an administrative challenge to the state's decision to push ahead with a new elections law in 62 of Florida's 67 counties."

The filing, which the groups announced Monday, is the latest chapter in an ongoing legal saga over who will be allowed to vote in the state's elections and what the rules will be for casting ballots.Florida's electoral votes could decide whether President Barack Obama is re-elected in November, while a number of competitive congressional races are unfolding and all 160 seats in the Legislature are up for election.The newest challenge specifically addresses the state's decision to allow the portions of the new elections law, passed in 2011, to take effect in all but five counties covered by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.Any changes to voting procedures in those counties have to be approved by the Department of Justice or a three-judge federal panel because of a history of racial or language discrimination.Exempting five counties from some of the law's most controversial provisions -- including a reduction in early-voting days and limits on when voters can change their addresses at the polling place -- creates a two-tiered system and violates state law requiring elections rules to be uniform across the state, the challenge says.

"A knife from the kitchenware department"

Daniel Ruth writes that, "just be sure I understand the clipboard of apparatchiks running Walmart:"

If a customer were to punch an employee in the mouth just for the fun of it, the bleeding hourly-wage minion would be expected to respond by saying: "Thanks so much for patronizing our lovely store and that, by the way, was a rather well-delivered right cross. I enjoyed it immensely. Have a nice day and could you also please deck me again?"Apparently so.Memo to former Walmart worker 73-year-old Jan Sullivan: It's your own fault you are out of a job for not more thoroughly reading the company employee handbook, which says you are obligated to accept with a smile being treated by customers as boorishly as the human resources department is indifferent to you.As the Tampa Bay Times' John Woodrow Cox explained the other day, Sullivan was given the bum's rush out the door by Walmart after 22 1/2 years of loyal service simply because she was on the wrong end of a confrontation with a hideous customer last Black Friday. ...But after Sullivan, as she was instructed, confronted a 40ish woman in jeans and a baggy sweater trying to leave the store through the wrong door, the dreadful customer shoved her. As Sullivan fell, she instinctively reached out and briefly clutched the woman's sweater. After she let go, the woman disappeared into the night. And so did Sullivan's job.Even though Sullivan was the victim of a battery, even though Sullivan was the aggrieved party in the confrontation — even though Sullivan was simply doing the job she was assigned to do — Walmart fired her.Her crime? According the company's factotums of forms in triplicate, under no circumstance is an employee permitted to touch a customer, which, it seems, extends to A) trying to defend oneself and/or B) attempting to keep one's balance after being shoved by a loutish patron.You can't say Walmart didn't have Sullivan's back — with a knife from the kitchenware department.

If only Sullivan simply had been more ambitious. Had she been higher up the Walmart corporate food chain, it seems there is no price to pay for allegedly spreading around millions of dollars in bribes to Mexican government officials to cut through red tape to build more stores in possible violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.Indeed, once company investigators unearthed the Mexican bribery operation, Walmart's higher-ups shut down an internal investigation of the corruption. Nor did Walmart see any reason to bother to alert either U.S. or Mexican law enforcement agencies of all the palm-greasing. And Walmart's top executive in Mexico who oversaw the bribery? He won a promotion.

"Scott ignores every viewpoint that does not agree with his"

John Romano: "Rick Scott knows best."

It doesn't matter what the president says. It doesn't matter what laws Congress passes. It doesn't matter how the U.S. Supreme Court rules. Rick Scott knows best. It doesn't matter how many millions of Floridians are without health insurance. It doesn't matter how high your insurance premiums climb. It doesn't matter that emergency rooms have been turned into standing-room-only free clinics. Rick Scott still knows best. Haven't you figured that out yet? Florida's governor is a one-man think tank. He is a walking legal precedent. He is going to tell you what is best for you even if you didn't bother to ask.

Rick Scott is so danged smart, he is willing to play with people's lives. He is telling Florida's most desperate citizens that he's not going to expand health insurance through Medicaid even though the federal government is paying almost entirely for the plan. Sadly, this has become a problem in Florida. Not the idea that people may have differing opinions, but the idea that Scott ignores every viewpoint that does not agree with his. We saw it with drug testing. With light rail. With voter registration. With corporate tax cuts. And now, most conspicuously of all, with health care. ... Go back and look at Scott's complaints about the Affordable Care Act. He makes outlandish statements, and offers zero evidence to back them up. Instead, he cites vague conversations with business leaders. No names. No details. Just poppycock generalizations meant to scare the middle class. Meanwhile, Florida suffers.

Obamanomics

"Florida's banking industry is showing significant signs of recovery as the nation's financial system continues to strengthen. Profits are up, failures are down and more Florida banks are earning higher health ratings from analysts." "Southwest Florida banking's mixed bag".

Vern's "Shocked"

Jeremy Wallace: "Hours after the ruling, Democratic and Republican candidates for office were sending fundraising appeals tapping into the joy or outrage of the moment, depending on their viewpoint. U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, issued an appeal with the subject line 'Shocked' telling supporters he’d fight to repeal Obamacare regardless of the decision." "Health Care Ruling jump-starts campaign fundraising".

Obama floods Orlando TV market

"President Barack Obama's re-election campaign is already dropping millions of dollars in Orlando as it floods the TV market with attack ads against Mitt Romney, grabbing the early summer momentum. ... The ads appear to be working — at least for the moment. Most recent polls show Obama pulling ahead and Romney's 'favorable' ratings declining." "Obama floods Orlando airwaves with attack ads". At the same time, "Romney ads targeting Florida voters more than ever".

"Frankel hasn't been pitching an electoral shutout"

"Frankel hasn't been pitching an electoral shutout. Though the former West Palm Beach mayor and onetime top Democrat in the Florida House is still considered the favorite with six weeks to go until the Democratic primary in Broward and Palm Beach counties, her opponent Kristin Jacobs, a Broward commissioner, has managed to stay competitive." "Jacobs offering formidable challenge to Frankel for U.S. House seat".

"Florida's economic future looks a lot like its past"

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board: "Rick Scott's vision of Florida's economic future looks a lot like its past: heavily dependent on grand-scale development that creates sprawl and environmental damage but comes with no money to pay for the consequences." "Scott road map to damaging sprawl".

Privatization follies

"Change never comes easily to Florida’s prison system."

It has been more than a year since the Legislature ordered the agency to privatize inmate healthcare to save money, the largest project of its kind ever attempted in the U.S. It still hasn’t happened, leaving unfulfilled Gov. Rick Scott’s campaign promise to “competitively bid healthcare contracts” to cut costs. In the past year, Scott ousted the corrections secretary who initiated the project, and two unions filed suit to derail the outsourcing. ... Lawyers for unions challenging privatization argue that the project is dead, because it was created with fine-print language in a budget that expired Saturday. The state counters that it has the authority to privatize healthcare on its own, but that action would likely trigger more legal problems.

The state has not made the privatization plan public. The prison system says it has the authority under state law, but the Teamsters Union that represents state correctional officers is threatening a lawsuit. Ken Wood, acting president of Teamsters Local 2011 in Tampa, calls the latest venture “highly suspect” and says: “We’re reviewing our legal options.” Hundreds of nonviolent, well-behaved inmates approaching the end of their sentences live in small work release centers and earn money working jobs in the community to ease their return to society. Private companies now run 13 of the 33 centers, and about 330 government employees work at the 20 state-run centers.

West "tossup"

"The Rothenberg Political Report -- brainchild of political analyst Stuart Rothenberg -- found 201 safe Republican seats and 161 secure Democratic seats across the nation."

Rothenberg maintained there are less than 75 competitive House seats across the nation with 29 tossups, 25 races where the Republican starts off ahead and 19 seats where the Democrats have the advantage. Rothenberg insisted there would be no “wave” resulting in a dramatic shift in the House with various projections showing Democrats gaining, at most, six seats -- far from what they need to take back the House. According to Rothenberg, West, who is picking up a large portion of the area currently represented by U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Fla., after redistricting, is in a tossup district with a Republican tilt. West faces an August primary challenge from Martin County Sheriff Bob Crowder, still unpopular with some Republicans for backing Democrat Alex Sink in the 2010 gubernatorial race. Democrats have high hopes for businessman Patrick Murphy, who is expected to emerge from their primary contest. Looking at other races, Rothenberg found only six competitive races in Florida, while he did not expect the other 20 congressional contests to be close.

"Rubio can't avoid politics"

"Rubio can't avoid politics during crowded Tampa book signing".

"Funny-named political slush funds magically appearing"

Aaron Deslatte: "It's that time of the election cycle when funny-named political slush funds magically appear in the IRS records, and we start to brace for a war of deceptive fliers and ads."

The Seminole Tribe of Florida has created a fund. Former state Sen. Alex Villalobos, R-Miami -- who is leading an organization defending the merit-retention this fall of three Florida Supreme Court justices – has created a new committee called, simply, "The People." So has incoming House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel. Although he's raised nearly $1.3 million through another fund called "the Committee for a Conservative House" to support legislative candidates, last week he also created a new one called Citizens for Conservative Leadership to buy ads. Democratic uber-lawyer Mark Herron has created "Invest in Our Future" to collect big checks from donors and funnel them into Democratic causes. Last cycle, he was the de-facto fundraising arm of the Florida Democratic Party. He also represents a lot of politicians before the state Ethics and Elections commissions, which makes him virtually indispensable to modern-day, money-addicted candidates. No one can hold a candle to Alachua Republican Chairman Stafford Jones. The political operative who has been a consultant to both Senate President Mike Haridopolos and House Speaker Dean Cannon has filed paperwork for more than two dozen committees. Among them: the Florida Liberty Foundation, Truth Matters, Liberty 4 Florida, Americans for Liberty and Prosperity, and Proven Leadership for Miami Beach. Michael Carlson, executive director of the industry-backed Personal Insurance Federation of Florida, has set one up called "Insuring Florida's Future." Wade Vose, the Winter Park attorney who represented tea party activists in 2010 who tried to prove collusion between then-Democratic U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson and political activist Doug Guetzloe, has created a new committee called Citizens for a Safer Central Florida. He says it's for playing in local races. The trial bar lobby has created regional "Justice" committees throughout the state, with the "Central Florida Citizens for Justice" headed by Orlando personal-injury lawyer Todd Copeland. Still waiting for the good news? In a couple weeks, we'll start seeing which companies, interest groups, unions and individuals are doling out dollars to these groups to have their voices heard.

After a year in the U.S. Senate, the 41-year-old decided to publish his memoirs — and launch a 24-stop book-signing tour that next heads to Georgia and the Carolinas.

He's got the hype.

Now what he needs is the heft.

This has always been Marco's problem.

Take his recent exchange with Charlie Rose, for example.

Rubio had been waxing eloquently about the need for bipartisan solutions to immigration. He words sounded pretty. But Charlie wanted to know the specifics.

"Well, I don't have an answer to that right now," Rubio said. "I mean … it's not easy to deal with it."

This from a man who had ordained himself a leader on this very topic — and who promised two years ago that, if voters would just send him to Washington, he would find a solution. So Rose followed up.

"Why shouldn't we expect more from you?" the host asked, "…Why shouldn't you have an answer? Why shouldn't a man who began to speak out because he is on foreign affairs and other committees, intelligence committee speak out on this very important issue?"

"Because," Rubio responded, "it's a complicated issue."

He had a more painful exchange with Gregory on NBC.

Gregory played a clip from one of Rubio's previous visits on the show — one where Rubio emphatically vowed that he would not be considered as Mitt Romney's running mate. "I won't consider it," Rubio vowed in the clip. "Under no circumstances."

Flash forward to this month when Romney declared: "Marco Rubio is being thoroughly vetted."

When Gregory asked Rubio to explain, he declined.

It's one thing to slink past Florida's local-yokel press. The national media spotlight burns brighter. And with Rubio, there is a lot of baggage to highlight.

There was the unadvertised teaching gig he snagged at Florida International University after he steered money to the school as state House speaker.

And the tax money he spent renovating the legislative dining room and on sky-high salaries for his staffers — including a chief of staff who made more than then-Gov. Jeb Bush.

Most damning, though, were revelations of the $100,000 worth of charges that Rubio and his aides racked up on the state GOP's special-interest-funded credit cards — everything from plane trips to $1,800 limousine rides. At least once, he was caught double-billing things to both the party and taxpayers. When caught, he repaid the party.

He was a man who benefited from largesse while railing against it.

"An embarrassment to the Republican Party"

"Usually lawmakers designated as future leaders get all but a free pass in election years."

But [Rep. Chris Dorworth] Dorworth has proved a political lightning rod – drawing the wrath of his opponents, who also have begun shading his candidacy with dark moments from recent Florida GOP history.

“He’s an embarrassment to the Republican Party,” said John Moffitt, treasurer of the Seminole County GOP, who is challenging the two-term incumbent. “His personal life also is a train wreck. We don’t need someone like this again.”

Moffitt and fellow Republican challenger Jeffrey Onest say Dorworth helped then-Gov. Charlie Crist install former Jim Greer on the Seminole County Republican Executive Committee, shortly before Greer was elected Florida Republican Party chairman in 2007. Greer faces trial July 30 in Orlando, charged with money laundering, grand theft and fraud for steering $200,000 of party money to a fundraising firm he formed with a top aide, keeping his control of the company a secret.

Dorworth’s critics even say his finances pose enough potential trouble that they draw comparisons with former House Speaker Ray Sansom, a Destin Republican who resigned two months after his election. Sansom was engulfed in scandal and faced criminal charges, later dropped, that accused him of steering state money to a college which gave him a six-figure job.

Dorworth dismisses such attacks. He acknowledges being a Seminole GOP committee member when Greer was named – but denies playing a role in the disgraced Greer’s ascension. Dorworth also shrugs off his challengers as little more than pawns of local political rivals, driven by intra-party bad blood.

A former vice-chairman of the Seminole REC, Jim Bomford, is a steady Dorworth critic who is prodding his opponents to attack, the incumbent said.

“I enjoy a whole lot of support in Seminole County, and I don’t think you’ll find one member of the Republican caucus in the Legislature who is against me,” Dorworth said. “Aside from local gadflies, I don’t think you’ll find anyone who doesn’t think I’m going to become speaker.”

Scott gets a "D" in Con Law

"Scott says Florida will not begin implementing the federal health care law because he believes it is bad policy and too costly. Scott told Fox News he believes the law should be repealed, hopefully by a new president elected in November. But even if that doesn’t happen, he said, Florida will not set up a health-insurance exchange or participate in an expansion of Medicaid." "Scott vows he won’t implement Affordable Care Act".

The Miami Herald editorial board: "Scott should read the handwriting on the wall. The Affordable Care Act is the law of the land. It’s far better for the state to set up its own exchange than to allow the feds to do it. Ultimately, the expansion will have a cost, but for the first three years the federal government would pick up 100 percent of the additional outlays. Expanding Medicaid to the working poor is a matter of fairness." "The law of the land".

"Ideology ain’t cheap"

Fred Grimm: "The current regime in Tallahassee, for example, has been spending a considerable chunk of taxpayer money on loser lawsuits of the ideological kind."

Of course, there have been costs beyond all those appellate lawyers. Gov. Rick Scott refused to accept $106 million in federal grants tied to the health care act — a rather pricey bit of quixotic politics in a state so strapped for money. But the legal fees Florida has run up in this particular lawsuit? Just a piddling amount compared to the bucks we’ve spent in court on behalf of other constitutionally questionable causes.

Any teenager, after a few hours in a high school American government class, would know enough about the First Amendment to knock down Docs versus Glocks in federal court. U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke, of course, sided with the docs in September. But the gang in Tallahassee, who see themselves as the elected representatives of the National Rifle Association, decided to appeal. Daniel Vice, an attorney for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, told reporters that the state, defending such an obviously unconstitutional loser of a law, would also be stuck with the plaintiff attorneys’ fees. The final bill for Docs Versus Glocks, he predicted, would be in the millions.

The state also hired outside help to defend radical changes to the state voter laws. The hired guns were of no help in fighting off the challenge to the sharp new restrictions on voter registration. U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle blocked enforcement of the law, calling it “harsh and impractical.”

Judge Hinkle did side with Gov. Scott last week, refusing to issue an injunction before the federal challenge to his voter purge goes to trial — though the judge warned that if state officials try to revive the purge using inaccurate information, “I’m still here.”

And so, too, are our lawyers.

The state spent about $39,000 in legal fees last fall unsuccessfully fending off a challenge to another new state law — supposed to be a big money saver — that required recipients of welfare to undergo drug tests. No luck.

Campaign Roundup

"Campaign Roundup: Campaigns hope health care decision means cash".

Briefs are in

"The lawyer leading a lawsuit challenging a 2011 retirement law says in court papers that a budget shortfall does not necessarily justify reducing cost-of-living increases for public pensions or requiring employees to contribute a portion of their salaries to their retirement." "Attorneys: Budget shortfall not enough justify changes to retirement benefits".

Weekly Roundup

Michael Peltier: "Weekly Roundup: Roberts' Rules of Order".

"Rubio faces Latino dilemma"

William March: "Treading the path between tea party-style Republicans and the Florida Hispanic community has forced Rubio into awkward positions before, when he was in the state Legislature. Now he faces the same conflict on the national stage." "Rubio faces Latino dilemma with his immigation stance".

"Dark time for the environmental movement in Florida"

The Orlando Sentinel editorial board: "These are perilous times for public land in Florida."

This is an age of ideas that would turn state parks into golf courses, post advertisements on nature trails and purposely introduce a noxious weed like hydrilla into Lake Apopka. ...

About a year ago the Department of Environmental Protection, at Gov. Rick Scott's behest, ordered Florida's water districts to evaluate their holdings for land that does "not meet your agency's core functions."

Sounds reasonable. It's hard to argue against good financial stewardship. Maybe there are instances where a hard-nosed seller cornered the district into buying a small parcel of little value as part of a larger purchase.

But as we mentioned at the start, this assessment comes at a dark time for the environmental movement in Florida.

The current Legislature is either ambivalent or outright hostile to conservation causes, gleefully dismantling the state's growth management laws, dozing off while Florida's springs decline, and doing the bidding of their chamber of commerce masters.

Gov. Rick Scott is no better. His environmental agenda so far has been pathetic, characterized primarily by a few outdoor photo ops. But he generally views environmental regulations as merely impediments to business.

It's hard to swallow the notion that Scott's goal truly is an objective assessment of public lands. It wouldn't stretch the imagination to envision scenic tracts coveted by private interests being deemed as surplus and sold off.

Harassing employees for contributions

"Though state lawmakers have repeatedly rejected a push to bring large-scale resort casinos to Florida, the king of the state’s current gambling landscape — the Seminole Tribe — is bracing for another battle over the issue when the Legislature reconvenes next year. In fact, the tribe is calling in the reinforcements, asking its nearly 10,000 gaming employees to contribute to a recently formed political action committee that will push the tribe’s agenda in Tallahassee." "Seminoles ask employees to contribute to PAC".

"Thomas Pynchon School of Campaigning"

Daniel Ruth: "To capture the Republican nod for the U.S. Senate, one must merely call one's self Connie Mack IV (Roman numeral optional) and — poof! — as if by magic the nomination is assured. No muss. No fuss. How cool is that?"

Being Connie Mack means that while all the other candidates race all over the state having to talk to those icky constituents, Connie Mack can spend less time on the hustings than Queen Elizabeth. ...

Sorta makes you want to change your name to Connie Mack, too, doesn't it? But I have the homestead rights on the V. Get your own number.

It is probably an unfortunate commentary that many people who believe Connie Mack is the cat's pajamas think they are supporting his father, who by a strange coincidence happens to be named former Florida Sen. Connie Mack III.

But that was a whole Roman numeral ago.

This probably explains why Connie Mack IV has avoided the stump, shunned debates with his opponents and only occasionally appeared in public on the odd double date with Mitt Romney.

Why bother to leave California and actually go out on the campaign trail when you could possibly get elected to the Senate by voters who think they are casting a ballot for daddy?

Imagine if Mack the lesser actually showed up at a political event? People might start to ask: "Wait a minute. Who's that guy?" This could get confusing.

That's not to say Connie Mack IV, who represents the Fort Myers area in Congress when he has a few spare moments, is entirely absent from the political fray.

Why, there was the disembodied voice of Mack IV Thursday on a conference call after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act, calling the ruling "un-American" and a threat to our "freedoms and liberties."

Who knew a Supreme Court decision on health care could be equated with the annexation of the Sudetenland?

Thanks for clearing that up.

Inspired by the younger Mack, who has adopted the Thomas Pynchon School of Campaigning, my plan is to change my name to Connie Mack V and immediately go into seclusion for the duration of the campaign unless I have to cash a check from Sheldon Adelson.

Of course, from time to time I will emerge telephonically to accuse incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson of being in cahoots with Moscow Center and the rest of those Obamacare commies in the White House.

"Tax deals going to companies that are already here"

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board: "Oops. Gov. Rick Scott's administration late last month inadvertently gave Floridians a more complete picture of how their tax money is being given away to corporations in an expensive attempt to create jobs. It's not a pretty sight, and it raises more questions about corporate welfare, secrecy and whether the money would be better spent investing in the state."

Here's a question: Why is the state handing out tax breaks to large companies such as Raymond James, Darden Restaurants, Publix Super Markets and Winn-Dixie that already have a large presence in Florida? While Scott has talked about calling CEOs himself and luring companies from out of state, an Orlando Sentinel analysis shows most of tax incentive deals under his administration are going to companies that are already here.

All the way to Tampa

"RNC host committee considers staging a public event". See also "Ron Paul Campaign and Supporters Ready for Dueling Events in Tampa".

Gimenez names gambling lobbyist as campaign manager

"Less than two months before the Miami-Dade mayoral election, Carlos Gimenez has finally named a reelection campaign manager. Jesse Manzano-Plaza, 35, assumed the role two weeks ago after stepping down as a lobbyist for Genting, the Malaysian company that plans to build a huge casino complex in Miami. Inside Gimenez’s campaign, some key advisers have privately expressed their discomfort with the choice, given the controversy caused by the Genting project." "Miami-Dade mayor names ex-Genting lobbyist as campaign manager".

More Giminez: "Banners bash Miami-Dade mayor at Miami Heat parade".