"It’s a very strange recovery"

"U.S. economic growth slowed to a crawl in the second quarter, a tepid showing that doesn’t bode well for Florida’s recovery. Gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced in the nation, rose at a 1.5 percent annual rate in the second quarter, the Commerce Department said Friday. That followed a 2 percent gain in the first quarter and a 3 percent jump in the fourth quarter."

Household purchases, which make up about 70 percent of the U.S. economy, grew at the weakest pace in a year. With the economy stalled, job growth has been sluggish. Economists say the economy needs to grow at a pace of about 2.5 percent for unemployment to go down.

Typically, Florida’s economy creates jobs at a pace of 200,000 a year after a recession, said economist Tony Villamil, dean of the business school at St. Thomas University in Miami. But in the aftermath of the Great Recession, job creation has been much slower than in the past.

“It’s a very strange recovery,” Villamil said. “It’s not what we’re used to.”

"The well-being of Florida’s children is among the worst in the nation"

"The well-being of Florida’s children is among the worst in the nation, according to a report released Wednesday by the Annie E. Casey Foundation."

The annual Kids Count report ranked the state 44th in the economic well-being of it’s children, 38th in their health outcomes and 35th in educational performance. Overall, the state ranked 38th, down from last year’s ranking of 36.

In addition, the study said, the number of Florida children in poverty increased 28 percent from 2005 to 2010. The study considered factors such as whether a child’s parents are employed or can pay for housing.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation is a nonprofit focused on disadvantaged children.

In 2010, 23 percent of children statewide lived in poverty. More than 30 percent of them had parents who lacked secure employment, up from 28 percent in 2008. In addition, 49 percent of Floridians saw their housing costs increase to 30 percent or more, up from 42 percent of Floridians in 2005.

4,000 officials have failed to file financial disclosures

"The Florida Commission on Ethics said Friday it was stepping-up its efforts to pursue more than 4,000 public officials who have failed to file annual financial disclosures. Virlindia Doss, the commission’s executive director, told the panel that staff will be making phone calls to 4,284 officials who have not submitted their 2012 disclosure forms by the July 1 deadline. A grace period gives officials until Sept. 4 to turn in the reports, but after that, fines may be coming." "Florida steps up efforts to make 4,000 officials file disclosures".

"Scott filled most of the seats with ALF industry insiders"

Fred Grimm: "The Assisted Living Workforce was born out of a scandal of such unspeakable neglect that it made for a startling juxtaposition against the emptiness of this bunch’s notion of a fix."

Plainly, regulatory torpor contributed to brutal living circumstances among Florida’s most vulnerable citizens. Great investigative work by The Herald’s Carol Marbin Miller, Mike Sallah and Rob Barry seemed to have provoked considerable anger across the state. So the governor appointed this task force.

It was stacked. Gov. Rick Scott filled most of the seats with ALF industry insiders and advocates and two legislators, Republican Sen. Rene Garcia of Hialeah and Republican Rep. Matt Hudson of Naples, both famously cozy with ALF owners. Former Secretary of Elder Affairs Bentley Lipscomb warned The Herald last year that the workgroup would hardly do much that might inconvenience ALF operators. “Based on what I’ve seen so far, I don’t expect much out of any of this,” he said.

Friday’s meeting made Lipscomb look like a prophet. Only one voice, among the 14, was an actual resident and he didn’t say much. On the other hand, Hollywood ALF operator Larry Sherberg was hardly shy about talking down new regulations he considered onerous. He called a proposal to require some new but rather tepid qualifications for ALF administrators an “unfunded mandate.”

Sherberg read from a U.S. News and World Report guest column by Gov. Rick Scott, explaining why he rejected an expansion of Medicaid under the affordable health care act, citing the potential for future costs for the state. “Substitute this for Medicaid,” Sherberg said. “The state can’t afford it. We can’t afford it,” he said. “We’ve got to look at this from a realistic standpoint.”

It might have been shocking enough, given that the regulations he dismissed were designed to rid the state of shoddy ALF operators who’ve left a trail of real human suffering and death in their wake. To equate the scandal to market forces might indeed represent a brutally realistic assessment for how Florida got itself into this mess, but market forces sure as hell aren’t going to fix the problem. The “consumers” here were not of the kind able to pick and choose among providers. Industry reps even objected to a proposal to protect resident whistle-blowers from being tossed out onto the street by ALFs.

Weekly Roundup

"Campaign Roundup: Of errant mailers and replacement candidates". See also "Weekly Roundup: Election Time A'Comin', But When?"

"The reality is different"

The Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy: "In June, the U.S. Supreme Court June decision upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in full, but nevertheless held that states could not lose funding for their existing Medicaid programs if they rejected the ACA’s Medicaid expansion, which would extend coverage to more than a million of the lowest-income, uninsured Floridians."

Since then, Florida Governor Rick Scott and other ACA opponents have argued that expansion is in fact unnecessary because the needs of low-income Floridians are already being met through Florida’s existing Medicaid program. The reality, however, is different.

Committee spending dwarfs spending by candidates

"Political spending by committees continues to dwarf spending by candidates, according to campaign finance reports released Friday. Since July 6, candidates have spent $2,463,182.15 while committees governed by less strict disclosure laws have spent $8,067,231.93. Figures are of 6:45 p.m. Friday." "Committees outspend candidates 3-to-1 in latest campaign reports".

Competitive Democratic elections

"Conspicuously absent from the 2012 state Senate primary match-ups are ample instances of competitive Democratic elections. Only three out of forty Senate seats appear to present Senate Democrats with viable primary contests. That’s because Democrats only occupied 12 seats during the 2012 legislative session – a misproportion the redistricting process is said to fix – and the remaining incumbents have huge wealth and name recognition advantages."

But within these three races, outcomes appear entirely unpredictable.

Central Florida District 12, newly redrawn and formerly represented in part by outgoing two-term Senator Gary Siplin, will now be the constituency of either Rep. Geraldine Thompson or Victoria Siplin, Senator Siplin’s wife. Both women are African-American and have nearly same total campaign contributions to spend.

District 27 is set to be a Democratic barnburner as well. Rep. Mack Bernard of West Palm Beach is squaring off against Rep. Jeff Clemens in what looks to be an uncontested general election for the winner. While Clemens, a former mayor of Lake Worth, has out raised Mack, he hasn’t nearly the reported net worth – an advantage that could tip the scales if the race comes down to the wire.

Finally, in what looks to be the most wide open primary race of either party, District 39 is embroiled with five Democratic contestants.

HD 20

"HD 20: Two Alachua County Dems Battle in Primary for Open House Seat".

Layoffs

"Oshkosh Corp.'s Pierce Manufacturing division intends to exit the ambulance business and lay off 325 Manatee County workers by January." "Pierce ending ambulance line and will lay off 325".

Audubon takes on big sugar

"The Florida Audubon Society took on the state’s largest sugar producers on Friday, challenging recently issued permits that allow the pollution control practices the companies use on 234,932 acres of farmland in the Everglades." "Audubon demands hearing over sugar producers’ Everglades pollution". See also "Audubon Florida files legal challenge against sugar farms' permits".

"Interesting battle is developing in HD 27"

"With Rep. Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange, facing term limits and running for a seat in the Florida Senate, an interesting battle is developing to see who will represent the southern part of Volusia County in the Florida House of Representatives."

Two candidates are battling for the Republican nomination in the Aug. 14 primary in HD 27 and David Santiago, an Army veteran and a former Deltona city commissioner, has a solid lead in the money chase. ...

Whoever emerges from the Republican primary will face a major Democratic opponent in November who has been building a solid war chest and has kept most of his campaign money -- most of which came from loans -- in the bank.

Dennis Mulder, who served as mayor of Deltona from 2005 until 2010, jumped in the race back in early May and he faces no opposition for the Democratic nomination. Mulder has won the backing of many government employees’ organizations and organized labor, including the AFL-CIO, the FEA and the Fraternal Order of Police.

Raw political courage

"Florida’s 3-day back-to-school sales tax 'holiday' starts Aug. 3".

Huckabee endorses Mica ... yaaawwwnnn

"Though he got involved this week in a rare primary battle between two incumbent congressmen, former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas is playing less of a role in the 2012 election cycle than he did in 2012 in Florida -- where he moved after his bid for the Republican presidential nomination."

But Huckabee shows no signs of playing less of a role on the national stage.

Late Wednesday, he announced that he was backing U.S. Rep. John Mica who is facing U.S. Rep. Sandy Adams in the Aug. 14 Republican primary.

“John Mica is a proven leader who doesn’t just talk; he achieves sound conservative results,” Huckabee said. “Congressman Mica's 100 percent pro-life, pro-family, and pro-Second Amendment record is one I commend and salute! He’s voted against every bailout and Obama stimulus plan, is an original co-sponsor of the Fair Tax. He joins me in sheer determination to repeal Obamacare. If conservatives want a man of action and a man we can count on, I urge my fellow Floridians in Central Florida to join me in supporting John Mica.”

"A small rebellion is brewing"

"With Rep. Connie Mack IV all but assured the U.S. Senate Republican nomination, a small rebellion is brewing in the conservative wing of the party, particularly social and religious conservatives, in favor of his dark-horse opponent Dave Weldon." "Some conservatives turn to Mack's rival Weldon".

"Rooney often feels like a political rookie"

"Two-term Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney has quietly climbed the status ladder in Washington, getting tapped as a House deputy whip, landing an Agriculture subcommittee chairmanship and winning a high-profile appropriations showdown with Speaker John Boehner."

But Rooney says he often feels like a political rookie these days as he pursues a third term by introducing himself to new voters in freshly drawn congressional District 17. A product of this year’s redistricting, the largely rural seat is generally north and west of Lake Okeechobee and extends to Punta Gorda, eastern Hillsborough County and part of Polk County.

About 63 percent of the voters in District 17 are new to Rooney, while the other 37 percent are from his old District 16.

New Dem in HD 89

"One-time House Speaker Tom Gustafson will be Palm Beach County Democrats’ choice in the state House District 89 race, against incumbent state Rep. Bill Hager, R-Boca Raton, according to county party leader leader Mark Alan Siegel. Gustafson, who lives in Wellington adn not yet in the coastal district, will replace Pamela Goodman, who withdrew from the race earlier this week because of her husband’s health problems. The county Democratic Party executive committee will meet Tuesday to vote on the selection, Siegel said." "Democrats pick former House Speaker Gustafson to challenge state Rep. Hager in District 89". See also "Florida Economists: Revenue Up, Forecast Remains Weak".

Lawsuit over reduced early voting

"Days before early voting begins in Florida, a Democratic member of Congress wants a federal court to block the state from what she calls a racially motivated reduction in the days of early voting. U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown of Jacksonville filed suit Friday in U.S. District Court along with the Duval County Democratic Party, several residents and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference." "Democratic lawmaker files suit over reduced early voting period".

But you probably figured that out by now.

For but the pettiness of stiffing a former party chairman out of $130,000 to shut up and go far away, the GOP brain trust has found itself in the crosshairs of Jim Greer's campaign for revenge.

It's isn't pretty. But it sure makes for some swell reading.

Greer was the hand-picked coat holder for Gov. Charlie Crist to oversee the affairs of the state party. And it is probably true it didn't take long for Greer to see himself as Caesar as he gallivanted about on private planes, stayed in swanky hotels and treated the post as his own personal ATM.

But as the now-disgraced Greer faces criminal fraud charges stemming from the time of his rule, the former chairman is lashing out at those he accuses of plotting against him. The list of usual suspects is impressive: outgoing Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos, state Sen. John Thrasher, party counsel Jason Gonzalez and even Crist's former chief of staff, Eric Eikenberg.

in a lengthy deposition in the civil case, the chatty Greer unloaded on his former party brethren as liars, crazy nuts, brigands and connivers hatching schemes to suppress the voting rights of black Florida voters.

And all this was going on while everyone was conspiring to stab each other in the back. There is something to be said for multitasking. Was this the inner workings of a political party, or Tallahassee's answer to Macbeth meets The Departed?

With Greer's allegation of racially motivated GOP shenanigans to suppress black voter turnout, it is little wonder in an election year the party would welcome any effort to postpone the defrocked chairman's criminal trial until 2112. ...

But considering Gov. Rick Scott and the rest of the Tallahassee Republican establishment embraced other voter suppression efforts such as reducing the number of early voting days and scrubbing of voter rolls, it would be reasonable to conclude where there's smoke, there's an elephant.

The litany of self-indulgence Greer alleges makes The Jersey Shore look like The Waltons, although it's hard to envision Thrasher as Tallahassee's answer to Snooki.

Greer suggests things began to go south when Crist, forgetting he was supposed to be a Republican, greeted President Barack Obama with a warm embrace rather than tossing him the keys to park the car. It is was bad enough the governor wanted to let "those people" vote. Avert your eyes!

In Greer's view, the state GOP allowed itself to be hijacked by "whack-a-do, right-wing crazies," who wanted him to "censure" Crist for palling around with a Democratic president. Let's not forget Greer was sworn to tell the truth.

Mini-Mack courts one percenters

"Connie Mack’s Senate campaign sent out a fundraising email to tell supporters about Sen. Bill Nelson’s vote to raise taxes on those earning more than $250,000 a year." "Bill Nelson's tax vote could help the budget — of Connie Mack's campaign".

"Latest investigation of potential absentee ballot fraud in Miami-Dade"

"The latest investigation of potential absentee ballot fraud in Miami-Dade County was triggered by a private investigator who went to police with his suspicions that a woman active in Hialeah politics was illegally collecting absentee ballots from voters."

Miami private investigator Joe Carrillo said he first went to Miami-Dade public corruption detectives last week about Daisy Cabrera, who Carrillo said had been handing out business cards to voters offering assistance with their ballots.

Carrillo obtained a copy of one of Cabrera’s cards, decorated with the stars and stripes and a handwritten message in Spanish on the back: “When the ballot arrives you call me. I work every election.”

Then, on Tuesday, Carrillo said he observed Cabrera knocking on doors in a Hialeah neighborhood before visiting the Hialeah campaign office of Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, who is seeking re-election Aug. 14. Cabrera then went to the Miami-Dade Elections office, and finally the post office, he said. Carrillo videotaped some of Cabrera’s travels.

Cabrera was questioned Wednesday by detectives who found her in possession of several absentee ballots, sources said. Under a new county ordinance, it is a misdemeanor for anyone to possess more than two ballots belonging to other voters.

A second woman, Matilde Martinez, is also being investigated by police and the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, the sources said.

Delmar Johnson wore a wire

In the Greer case, "new evidence being released by prosecutors shows it wasn't that long ago that he was secretly bragging about the money he got from state party coffers."

In a recent deposition in which the indicted former Republican Party of Florida chairman calls Republican higher-ups "whack-a-dos" and "crazies," in elaborating on the party rebellion that led to his resignation in 2010. But the statewide prosecutor's office also released other documents this week, including a March 2010 recording of former executive director-turned-prosecution witness Delmar Johnson wearing a wire in Greer's Oviedo home. ...

[In] a tantalizing, two-day deposition of Greer taken in May, the former chairman derides the RPOF board as being disinterested in party management and "more interested in whether we were having shrimp at the quarterly meeting coming up versus anything substantive."

He says RPOF consultants and political staff held meetings where they "talked about voter suppression and keeping blacks from voting."

House race turns nastier

"The GOP race for House District seat 112 is vicious, with both candidates leveling attacks on each other’s moral character." "Nasty state House race turns nastier".

HD 116

"Rep. Ana Rivas Logan and Rep. Jose Felix Diaz, both with Cuban-American roots, face off in House District 116. Campaign fliers have questioned Logan's background while Diaz said her supporters are claiming he's gay." "Primary Profile: 2 Republican House incumbents pitted in vicious Miami race".

Florida's ALEC shills outed

"A new report criticizes Florida lawmakers’ ties to a corporate-sponsored group that advocates for laws it says are 'harming the rights and opportunities of everyday citizens.'"

The study by Progress Florida, Common Cause and the Center for Media and Democracy says the group -- American Legislative Exchange Council -- furthers its agenda by wining and dining lawmakers at resort settings. ALEC is a 501c organization so contributions to it are tax-deductible, but as a nonprofit there are limits on its political activities. One critic suggests that ALEC should lose its nonprofit status.

“They clearly state they are not a lobbying organization,” said Damien Filer of Progress Florida while discussing the report Thursday. “We’ll leave that up to the IRS to look into.”

ALEC is an organization made up of lawmakers from various states, businesses and corporations. It serves as a networking organization for advocates of limited government and promotes “best practices” to implement public policy. Members gather at annual meetings and collaborate on drafting legislation that lawmakers then take to their statehouses and submit as proposed legislation. The report says often the legislation provides benefits for ALEC corporate members.

“I have never been to an ALEC event and as far as I know I’ve never filed any legislation from them,” said Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, listed in the report as a dues-paying member. He denied being a member of the group as far he knows. The only way it could have happened, he said, is that a staff member may have inadvertently sent money to the organization without his knowledge. ...

“(ALEC) is Republican leaning and Republicans control the Legislature; I would definitely say ALEC has influence in the Legislature,” said House Democratic Leader Ron Saunders, D-Key West, who disputed the report's listing him as a member. He echoed Plakon's explanation. “Heck, one legislator filed a bill and left ALEC’s name in the legislation.”

Saunders was referring to HB 685, a proposal urging Congress to cut the federal corporate tax rate. Rep. Rachel Burgin, R-Riverview, withdrew it and replaced it with HB 717, which died in the Senate Commerce Committee.

"Rooney a Heavy Favorite"

"CD 17: Tom Rooney a Heavy Favorite to Win a 3rd Term".

Flobama

"President Barack Obama campaigns in Jacksonville and West Palm Beach, but he faces a more pessimistic electorate than in 2008 and he’s grappling with tougher opponent in Mitt Romney." "As thrill fades, President Barack Obama fires up supporters on Medicare, tax cuts".

"Wrong and inexcusable"

"After an online petition drive garnered hundreds of signatures demanding her apology, Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll on Thursday apologized to the head of an advocacy group saying that her anti-gay comment two weeks ago was 'wrong and inexcusable.'" "Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll apologizes for anti-gay remark". See also "Fla. Lt. Gov. apologizes for remark about lesbians", "Lt. Gov. Carroll apologizes for comment that offended gay activists" and "Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll apologizes for anti-gay remark".

"Politically Perfect Anti-Casino Strategy"

Nancy Smith: "Historic Preservation for the Miami Herald? It's a Politically Perfect Anti-Casino Strategy".

HD 88 "fight for survival"

"While all four Democratic candidates for the newly drawn state House District 88 want to talk about community service, public education and unemployment, the race has instead turned into a fight for survival for a few of them." "Winner of 4-person Democratic primary will take House District 88".

"Lice and scabies"

"A key member of the governor’s panel looking to improve ALFs owns a home that was fined after a resident was found with lice and scabies." "ALF task force includes owner of home fined for neglect".

"Atwater, DMS at Odds"

"Jeff Atwater, DMS at Odds Over Paying for Appeals Court Art".

Mini-Mack missed work 28.6% of the time, not 50% as Weldon claims

"The Weldon robocall said that Connie Mack "missed almost half of his votes" this year. Actually, Mack missed about 28.6 percent of votes this year, which is significantly less than the robocall claimed. The Weldon campaign conceded that they relied on out-of-date information for their attack." "PolitiFact: Dave Weldon wrongly claims Connie Mack IV this year missed ‘almost half’ of his votes in Congress.".

"Private insurance companies want to get their hands on it"

"After six years without a hurricane, Citizens Property Insurance Corp. has built up a massive cash surplus of about $6.1 billion. And private insurance companies want to get their hands on it." "Citizens’ cash eyed by private insurers".

A related issue - from the Palm Beach Post editorial board: "Editorial: Higher insurances rates would hurt Florida’s economy".

Greer said some GOP leaders were meeting to discuss ways they could suppress black votes while others were constantly scheming against each other.

He blamed criminal fraud charges filed against him in 2010 on legislative leaders and other party officials who he says orchestrated an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the statewide grand jury to avoid paying him money he was due.

His statements were in response to questions from lawyers for the party, Senate President Mike Haridopolos and Sen. John Thrasher. Greer has filed a civil suit against the party and the two officials in an attempt to collect $130,000 he was promised in a written agreement shortly before he resigned. The civil suit, pending in Leon County, is unlikely to be resolved until after a criminal trial scheduled for mid November.

Copies of the 630-page deposition and other documents were released by statewide prosecutors Wednesday.

Farm Bill Settlement

"Adam Putnam Expects Farm Bill Settlement in Lame Duck Session".

Obama's new TV ad in Florida and other swing states

"Republican criticism and mockery of President Obama for his 'you didn't build that' remark about businesses has clearly struck a nerve."

The Obama campaign responded this week with a new TV ad in Florida and other swing states in which the president, speaking directly to the camera from the White House, accuses Mitt Romney and the GOP of twisting his words about individual initiative and public infrastructure.

Both the Romney and Obama campaigns lined up small business owners on Wednesday to denounce or defend the president.

In West Palm Beach, registered Democrat Kevin Ressler, who owns a marble restoration and maintenance business in Boca Raton, said he “took offense” to the president’s remarks and won’t be voting for him this year after doing so in 2008.

“I’ve got tons of business friends that own their own companies and they’re all up in arms over this comment,” said Ressler. He appeared at one of two dozen “We Did Build That” events scheduled by the Romney campaign in 12 battleground states.

Democrats countered by setting up a national conference call in which a pair of small business owners praised Obama’s business record and blasted Romney.

Florida's $7.6 billion foreclosure program flops

"A federal inspector general report critical of a $7.6 billion foreclosure prevention plan specifically mentions Florida as failing to set measurable goals for its Hardest Hit program." "Report criticizes Florida for no measurable goals in program meant to help people in foreclosure".

Florida one of the nation’s largest gambling states

"There is little concern that Florida is in danger of shedding its label as one of the nation’s largest gambling states. Revenue jumped 15.1 percent from the prior year at Florida’s six gaming facilities in the recently completed 2011-2012 fiscal year. The casinos reported a net revenue of $411.3 million to the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering." "Casinos' Revenue Hard Count Hits $411 Million in Florida".

HD 21

"HD 21: Keith Perry Could Face Well-Funded Democrat in November".

Ghost writers duke it out

"Gov. Rick Scott and state Rep. Scott Randolph, D-Orlando, wrote columns for U.S. World and News Reports’ 'Debate Club' series arguing for and against Medicaid expansion in Florida." "Rick Scott Pens Opposition to Medicaid Expansion".

PIP changes

"Nearly 90 insurers have been approved for changes related to the new personal injury protection law, but only six have filed for rate adjustments for a law that is designed to provide cost savings." "Insurers line up for PIP changes, but not rate changes".

Goodman leaves Florida House race

"Citing her husband’s health, former League of Women Voters vice president Pamela Goodman is ending her campaign for the District 89 Florida House seat against incumbent Rep. Bill Hager, R-Boca Raton." "Boca Raton Democrat Goodman leaves Florida House race; party to seek replacement".

'Glades

"Everglades restoration plan evokes concerns at public hearing".

"Smoking guns or partisan nonsense"?

"Since she became President Barack Obama's handpicked chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee in May 2011, Republicans have been sifting thorough whatever data they can find, hoping they'll turn up something that could embarrass her or the president — an effort that's intensifying as the political season heats up. Whether this involves smoking guns or partisan nonsense is in the eye of the beholder." "Republicans take magnifying glass to Wasserman Schultz".

Florida falls short when it comes to auditing ballots

"Florida fares well in election technology thanks to paper ballots; falls short when it comes to auditing those ballots".

HD 112

"Primary Profile: Familiar names running in HD 112 race".

Brains not required

"'Brainstorming' is on the agenda for Gov. Rick Scott's Florida Blue Ribbon Task Force on State Higher Education Reform." "Fla. higher education task force to 'brainstorm'".

Broward gadfly

Fred Grimm: "Broward gadfly showed how it’s done".

HD 3

"HD 3: Doug Broxson Faces GOP Primary Challenge from Santa Rosa Political Scion Jayer Williamson".

Underrating Romney's strength in swing states?

Matt Towery: "As one who polled the 2008 presidential race extensively, it dawned on me, looking at the various 'swing state' surveys taken recently, that many pollsters might be making a significant error that results in President Barack Obama with a lead, when perhaps the lead in reality belongs to Mitt Romney."

Towery has in his

gut a belief that the polls we are seeing now underrate Romney's strength. For example, we saw a hugely enthusiastic young voter turnout for Obama in 2008. As a result, polls were weighted to give more voter strength to the category of 18- to 29-year-olds than in past years. In general, younger voters just do not turn out to vote.

Nearly 1 million Florida concealed weapons permits

"Florida nears 1 million concealed weapons permits".

Allegation that Mack's campaign violated election law

"A Jacksonville lawyer has filed an FEC complaint against Connie Mack's Senate campaign for allegedly violating federal election law through the purchase of Brooks Brothers clothing. The purchases, about $470, were reported last week by the Buzz. Mack's campaign has blamed it on an unnamed staffer and said the charge was taken care of." "Connie Mack's campaign violated election law, filing says".

"Each accuses the other of lacking moral character"

"Florida’s most-brutal state House race is unfolding in Miami amid vicious attack mailers, phone calls and a whisper campaign involving pornography, divorce, a stalking claim, an arrest warrant and a reference to the recent Colorado shootings. The District 112 campaign pits two well-known former Republican legislators and one-time allies against each other: former state Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla and state Rep. Gus Barreiro. Each accuses the other of lacking moral character." "Nasty state House race turns nastier".

Say it ain't so, Joe

Joe Henderson: "Charlie Crist isn't saying he plans to run for governor in 2014, but he isn't saying he won't. Read into that what you will."

In the ever-nuanced world of political speak, saying he doesn't have an idea could be a clue. His stock response in the past has simply been to say how much he likes life as Charlie The Lawyer for the Morgan & Morgan firm. He hasn't added the caveat about having no idea, which means he has thought of running.

Maybe.

We play these games because there is elevated interest in Crist's future plans. He wrote an op-ed piece Sunday in the Washington Post, criticizing the purge of illegal voters initiated by Scott.

Crist, a registered independent, used words like "un-American" to describe the governor's push to remove would-be voters who can't prove their citizenship. He called it "mean-spirited."

That prompted a counter-punch by Florida's Republican Party, with a news release titled "The Two Faces of Charlie Crist," pointing out differences between his rhetoric and his record.

"I must have struck a nerve," Crist said.

"Romney campaign couldn’t have picked more puzzling examples"

"The Mitt Romney campaign offered up an inspirational tale of two local companies Wednesday as a way to cast President Barack Obama as an out-of-touch, big government apologist who doesn’t understand how business works."

One problem: The facts about the companies in many ways contradicted Romney’s point.

The campaign held a morning event to highlight A.D. Morgan Corporation and Value Enterprise Solutions as Florida small businesses that became successful because of the pluck of their owners and the benefits of the free enterprise system.

Government, in other words, had nothing to do with it.

But the Romney campaign couldn’t have picked more puzzling examples. Far from not needing big government, the Tampa companies have embraced government and benefited from it.

According to its website, A.D. Morgan — a construction firm — has received at least $150 million since 1999 for work on government buildings, prisons, schools and libraries. The figure represents only the total from the fraction of news releases that included a dollar figure. The company lists more than 130 projects that it has completed; nearly all of them are in the public sector.

Value Enterprise Solutions —an information technology company — boasts strong government bona fides, as well. Its Facebook page describes the company as “providing value added service/education to business, local government, federal government, Department of Defense and industry contract organizations.” The Facebook page also describes the company as a “minority/service disabled veteran owned small disadvantaged business.” That’s a designation that gives companies a special status, so in some cases they can be a lone bidder on a project. But that designation is recognized by government, not the private sector.

Also in these swing states, Romney’s favorability numbers have dropped, possibly reflecting the toll the negative Obama TV advertisements are having on the former Massachusetts governor in these battlegrounds.

A month ago, Romney’s favorable/unfavorable score stood at 34-38 percent nationally and 36-36 percent in the 12 swing states.

But in this latest survey, his national fav/unfav score is 33-39 percent and 30-41 percent in the swing states.

In addition, the poll shows that attitudes about Romney’s business background – a frequent target in Obama ads – also are more unfavorable in these battlegrounds.

Another privatization scam

"Signaling a major difference in philosophy from his predecessor, Sarasota County Administrator Randall Reid now blames a rush to privatize government services for last year’s purchasing scandal. Reid said that an increased reliance on contracts for goods and services — Sarasota County spends about $300 million a year on such contracts — was typical in many other governments as the Great Recession forced hard looks at spending. Compounding the poorly executed attempt to push more government services into the private sector was a reluctance to acknowledge the problems that started arising, Reid said." "New county administrator says privatization fed purchasing scandal".

"Fissures in party ranks, corporate boards and political families"

Aaron Deslatte and Jason Garcia: "With the once-a-decade legislative-redistricting process creating more-competitive primaries, business groups, individual companies and lobbyists are directing an extraordinary amount of cash into attacks on candidates in a handful of Republican and Democratic contests from Orlando to Tampa to Miami in the weeks leading up to the Aug. 14 elections."

Their goal: capitalize on a rare opportunity to tip the ideological balance of the state Senate, historically a moderate body that in recent years has blocked some key policy goals sought by the business lobby and conservative activists.

In a pair of South Florida Democratic primaries, for instance, groups such as the Florida Chamber of Commerce and corporations such as Walt Disney World are sinking money into a pair of preferred candidates: Reps. Mack Bernard, D-West Palm Beach, and Ron Saunders, D-Key West. More typical Democratic donors, such as unions and trial lawyers, are lining up behind Bernard's rival, Rep. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth; and Saunders' top opponent, Rep. Dwight Bullard, D-Miami.

Bernard, who is vying with Clemens for Palm Beach-based District 27, has drawn support from a group called Florida Federation for Children, created by the architect of the state's largest school-voucher program and financed in part by $100,000 from the state's most profitable charter-school company, Miami-based Academica Management.

"I support trying to create jobs for all businesses," said Bernard, who has been labeled an ally of "Rick Scott Republicans" by Clemens.

Saunders and Bullard, meanwhile, are part of a five-way Democratic primary for Senate District 39, which stretches from Key West through Miami-Dade to Hendry counties.

The Florida Chamber, Boca Raton-based private-prison company GEO Group, and U.S. Sugar Corp. have all decided to back Saunders and have poured $165,000 during the past two weeks into a fund he helps control called Putting Florida First. ...

The Chamber is also supporting Victoria Siplin, wife of outgoing Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, in a Senate District 12 showdown with Orlando Rep. Geraldine Thompson, who accuses the Siplin family of being a "sellout" to the GOP and business interests in the state Capitol.

The business lobby's interest in Democratic primaries is a matter of simple math.

Republicans hold a 28-12 majority in the chamber, but that edge is expected to shrink thanks to redistricting, which could allow Democrats to take back a handful of those seats.

A number of lobbyists and companies, including Disney, have bundled checks to Rep. Rachel Burgin, R-Riverview, in a nasty primary fight for a Tampa Senate seat with former Senate President Tom Lee, who is unpopular among the Tallahassee lobbying corps for passing a law requiring them to disclose details about their income. But Senate Republican leaders have all endorsed Lee.

The race has turned into a political stink fest. Lee was targeted by Tallahassee lobbyists Jack and Keyna Cory with potentially illegal attack fliers that took shots at his past divorce. Yet Keyna Cory lobbies on behalf of another major business organization, Associated Industries of Florida, which on Friday endorsed Lee.

Burgin has said she had no knowledge of the mailer. Sen. Don Gaetz, incoming Senate president and a Lee supporter, denounced it.

Garcia and Romero-Roses tussle over labor issues

"The Democrats running to unseat Republican Congressman David Rivera ripped the scandal-plagued incumbent on Tuesday."

But they also turned on each other.

Candidate Gustavo Marin, of Perrine, suggested that fellow Democrats Joe Garcia and Gloria Romero-Roses were “butterflies and carpetbaggers” because they didn’t live in the newly drawn Kendall-to-Key West district.

But the real tensions came at the end of the Miami Herald editorial board interview Tuesday when Garcia and Romero-Roses rehashed the substance of their attack-ad mailers.

Garcia, a lawyer, suggested Romero-Roses, a businesswoman, was anti-labor. He pointed out that she worked for a company that managed employees at Miami Beach’s Sunset Harbor South condominium, which was at the center of a Services Employee International Union dispute.

“When you have a woman that has three children, is making minimum wage and asks for healthcare and can’t get it and gets fired because of it, that’s not right,” Garcia said. “And that is a place where we disagree. We have serious value differences.”

Romero-Roses shot back that Garcia had “mischaracterized” her actions and took a “cheap shot.” She said she had nothing to do with the dispute in which the National Labor Relations Board rapped the company for violating the National Labor Relations Act.

FCAT follies

"A top lawmaker wants to call a time-out on statewide testing of Florida’s students and grading of public schools." "Senator wants a time-out on statewide tests".

Meanwhile, Scott Maxwell writes that "once again, the Florida Department of Education has fouled up on a grand scale — this time handing out the wrong grades to 213 different schools."

And once again, it's making excuses and trying to downplay the goofs.

It's quite a strategy for an agency that constantly preaches accountability ... for everyone else, anyway.

Think about it. The politicians and bureaucrats have no problem threatening teachers and schools with everything from their paychecks to their autonomy — all in the name of accountability.

But when they mess up — repeatedly and in big ways — all that chest-thumping about holding people responsible suddenly disappears.

Florida GOP has paid $260,000 to lawyers in Greer case

"It has been two years since officials at the Republican Party of Florida signed a controversial agreement to pay ousted chairman Jim Greer the remainder of his 2010 salary."

It would have cost the party about $124,000.

Instead, the party has already paid more than $260,000 to three Tallahassee lawyers who are defending the party, former chairman John Thrasher, Senate President Mike Haridopolos and House Speaker Dean Cannon against a civil suit brought by Greer over the agreement.

And there is no end in sight.

A campaign finance report filed earlier this month indicates the party has paid Stephen Dobson $88,276, Steven R. Andrews $101,509 and Dean R. LeBoeuf $70,299. Dobson and Andrews are lawyers representing the party. Andrews also represented Cannon, but is now representing Brian Ballard, a lobbyist and fundraiser who is a witness in the case. LeBoeuf represents Haridopolos.

The report does not yet include payment of fees to lawyer Kenneth Sukhia, who is representing Thrasher.

"Rubio and Jeb Bush are near the back of the pack for 2016"

"Left-leaning polling firm Public Policy Polling releases a survey of likely Iowa caucus-goers' preferences for the 2016 presidential election. Sen. Marco Rubio and former Gov. Jeb Bush are near the back of the pack for the GOP, assuming President Obama wins re-election." "Had enough of the 2012 election cycle? How about 2016?".

Aronberg punches back

"In a debate Tuesday, no-party candidate Robert Gershman and Republican Dina Keever slammed Democrat Dave Aronberg, their opponent for Palm Beach County state attorney. Both questioned Aronberg’s ethics as they criticized him for a series of actions exposed by The Palm Beach Post." "Aronberg’s opponents in state attorney race slam him for secret campaign".

GOPers run gub'ment like a bidness

"From 2008 to 2011, as officials struggled to handle Florida's ballooning jobless rate, the state overpaid unemployment recipients by $486 million, according to a new analysis by the U.S. Department of Labor. During the same time, the state's error rate — which includes underpayments and overpayments — climbed from 4.5 percent to 8.4 percent."

The rising error rate was not driven by people scamming the system, experts say, but by the crush of new claims that accompanied a deteriorating job market. Like other states, Florida took workers responsible for verifying the accuracy of unemployment payments and moved them into claims processing.

"Agencies didn't have the staff they needed, and they were under great stress to make payments," said Wayne Vroman, a senior fellow with the Urban Institute. "And one of the ways that manifested itself was in payment errors."

More from the "values" crowd

"Thousands in Miami-Dade face loss of child-care subsidies".

Florida's sloppy handling of federal stim dollars

"Florida received the third-highest amount of energy-related stimulus money in the nation but ranks nearly last in the amount spent thus far on the programs, according to an audit released by Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam’s office Tuesday."

The stimulus money — nearly $176 million for projects to encourage energy efficiency and alternative fuel use — was meant to jump-start the economy and put Floridians back to work. But nearly three years later, the state has distributed just 60 percent of that, the audit found.

The audit revealed little or no oversight of the five grant programs and four rebate programs once managed by the governor’s office and shifted by lawmakers to Putnam’s purview last year. The grants include university-based research, rebates for homeowners who bought solar panels and air conditioning systems and incentives for government agencies to make public buildings more energy-efficient.

HD 107

"House Republicans wishing to tout their impartial redistricting process pointed to several new districts that pitted incumbents against each other. But although GOP incumbents in most cases generally dropped out in favor of another, Democrats are fighting it out over one South Florida seat. The new House District 107 drew Rep. John Patrick Julien, D-North Miami Beach, and Rep. Barbara Watson, D-Miami Gardens, in the same district." "Primary Profile: Redistricting pits Democratic incumbents against each other in HD 107".

T-shirt shops in a dither

"The imminent debt troubles of Greece and Spain will keep the euro weak and the U.S. dollar strong, making U.S. exports less desirable to Europe but also making it more expensive to travel to Florida. That led economists to lower their previous forecast of a 2.1 percent increase in overall tourists for the current fiscal year to 1.7 percent." "Global factors to weigh Florida economy down in coming years, state economists say".

Ander who?

"CD 4: Ander Crenshaw a Strong Favorite to Win a Seventh Term in Congress".

"Judge warns attorneys to watch what they say"

"As the state prepares to interview witnesses in the case against a former aide to Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, a judge has warned attorneys to watch what they say."

Circuit Court Judge Frank Sheffield declined Assistant State Attorney John Hutchins’ attempt to seal the case file and prevent lawyers representing former aide Carletha Cole from making statements to the media. ...

Cole is accused of sharing an illegal recording of Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll with the Florida Times-Union newspaper. The case also involves a mysterious fire that Cole found burning in a trash can in her office, which she believed was arson.

Cole was later fired. In court documents, she said she fell out of favor with Carroll after encountering the lieutenant governor in a “compromising position” with travel aide Beatriz Ramos. ...

Both the defense and the state attorney’s office have named the people they may interview as part of the case.

Among potential witnesses for the state: Brian Burgess, Gov. Rick Scott’s director of communications; John Konkus, Carroll’s chief of staff and the person who’s voice is on the illegally taped conversation; Dawn Hanson, Scott’s director of administration; and Matt Dixon, the Times-Union reporter who received the recording.

13 million gallons per day

"Members of the Florida Conservation Alliance on Tuesday gave Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Herschel T. Vinyard Jr. petitions they said were signed by more than 15,000 people calling for more protection for Silver and Rainbow springs in Marion County."

The petition, prompted by a water-use permit application for more than 13 million gallons per day in Marion County, calls on Gov. Rick Scott to create a resource management planning committee.

The petition drive, launched last month at a rally in Ocala headlined by former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, also coincided with a drought across North Central Florida and algae blooms that highlight ongoing threats to Florida's springs and groundwater.

"There is great public interest in this matter," Florida Wildlife President Manley Fuller told Vinyard in the Capitol entrance to the governor's office. "We want to work with you to help wrestle with these different problems."

Vinyard told the environmental group representatives that he shares their concerns and provided them with a three-page letter. He also said, however, he still has the misgivings he expressed last month to The Florida Current about creating delays through establishing a new planning process.

Entrepreneurs in action

"An audit report released by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services's inspector general identified possible fraud among energy grant recipients and halted $2.5 million in payments to two companies. Putnam said two-Florida based companies were involved in complicated schemes to defraud taxpayers and the cases have been turned over to law enforcement agencies." "Putnam cites "rudderless" state energy office for audit findings of mismanagement".

CD 24

"CD 24: Frederica Wilson Faces a Dem Primary Rematch Against Rudy Moise".

Except for the mass murderers

One of the less thoughtful remarks of the week: "Putnam: Vast Majority of Concealed Weapons Permit-Holders Law-Abiding".

Jeb Bush's former speech writer chimes in with this wisdom: "An Armed Citizen Might Have Made a Difference in Aurora".

Clueless in Tally

"The state of Florida on Tuesday appealed a Miami federal judge’s decision to block the implementation of a new state law prohibiting governments from hiring companies with business ties to Cuba. Gov. Rick Scott announced the appeal in a statement Tuesday. Last month, U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore issued a temporary injunction against the law, which would ban state and local governments from awarding future contracts worth at least $1 million to companies whose parent or sister firms work in Cuba or Syria." "Florida appeals Miami federal judge ruling blocking law prohibiting hiring of companies tied to Cuba". See also "Florida Appeals Ruling on Blockade of Embargo on Business Contracts with Cuba".

More on the legal loss front: "An appeals court Tuesday ruled against Attorney General Pam Bondi in a long-running battle about the Legislature's attempt last year to privatize prisons across southern Florida. ... The decision was a victory for the Florida Police Benevolent Association, which filed the lawsuit last year after lawmakers included the privatization plan in budget fine print, known as 'proviso language.' Leon County Circuit Judge Jackie Fulford ruled that it was unconstitutional to use proviso language to direct the changes, which would have privatized 29 prison facilities." "State Prison Privatization Appeal Rejected". See also "Florida prison privatization appeal rejected" and "Appeal court rebuffs Bondi on prison privatization".

Gov. Rick Scott.

Hobbled by weak poll numbers, awkward on the stump and still somewhat estranged from the party establishment that shunned him in 2010, Scott is invisible on the campaign trail across Florida.

He also has steadfastly avoided taking sides in party primaries to a greater extent than either of his two predecessors, Charlie Crist and Jeb Bush.

Colorful images of Bush and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio can be seen everywhere in GOP circles. But candidates sometimes appear to go out of their way to avoid showing Scott's picture.

Next step in Affordable Care Act litigation: birth control

"Florida led the challenge against the Affordable Care Act, and now that the U.S. Supreme has upheld the law, a small Catholic university on the state’s southwest coast is picking up the charge. Ave Maria University in Naples is asking a judge to throw out the portion of the law that requires an employer offering health insurance to provide free birth control and morning-after drugs." "Contraception suit next step in health care law fight".

Federal Judge to address controversial "write-in" interpretation

"As 'write-in' candidates for Miami-Dade State Attorney, lawyers Michele Samaroo and T. Omar Malone won’t appear on any ballots this fall — voters who want to select them will need to pen their names into a blank space. So do they count as legitimate opposition to the Democratic party?"

That’s the question a federal judge will answer Monday as he decides whether to open up the Aug. 14 Democratic primary election to voters of all stripes.

U.S. Judge William Zloch will hear arguments Monday in a federal lawsuit brought by two voters — one Republican, the other independent — who say that a controversial interpretation of state law is excluding over 700,000 non-Democrats from voting for the county’s top law enforcement officer.

Longtime incumbent Katherine Fernandez Rundle is squaring off against fellow Democrat Rod Vereen. Under a 1998 voter-approved amendment to the state constitution, the race would have been open to all 1.3 million Miami-Dade voters because no Republican or independent filed to run.

But at the last minute in April, Samaroo and Malone filed to run as write-in candidates, which served to close the primary to just 525,890 Democratic voters, making the election the defacto winner-take-race. No write-in candidate in Florida has ever come close to winning an election in Florida, and critics say they are almost always run by political operatives seeking to limit the numbers of voters who can cast ballots.

SD 14

"In what is shaping up as one of the more intriguing legislative contests in November, Rep. Darren Soto, D-Orlando, is matched against Republican Will McBride in a contest for the SD 14 open seat in Central Florida that represents parts of Orange County. Both candidates have open shots at their party’s nominations with no opponents in the Aug. 14 primary election." "SD 14: Darren Soto Pitted Against Will McBride in Contest for Open Seat".

"Five key primary races"

Steve Bousquet: "If you're like a lot of voters in Florida, you'll blissfully ignore the Aug. 14 primary election, having convinced yourself that because a primary is sort of a preliminary round, your one vote just isn't very important. In fact, the opposite is true:"

The fewer votes that are cast in a low-turnout election, the greater the power of each vote.

That's why, if you have a track record of voting in primaries, you're being flooded with mailers and phone calls. You're a "super voter," and the political pros who run local elections know who you are.

With that in mind, here's a look at five key primary races for the Legislature on next month's ballot.

"Gaming regulation on center stage"

"With Florida emerging as one of the largest gambling states in the nation, legislative leaders are prepared to put gaming regulation on center stage in the next two years and renegotiate the revenue-sharing compact with the Seminole Tribe at least a year early." "Lawmakers looking to tackle gaming regulation".

Aronberg imbroglio

"Aronberg claims he paid for ride on O’Boyle plane". Background: "Did Aronberg violate campaign law?"

"Florida jobless rate to remain bleak"

"Trouble in the housing market and uncertainty in Europe could keep Florida’s jobless rate high through 2016, a group of state economists said Monday." "Economists: Florida jobless rate to remain bleak". See also "Foreign Tourism Slowdown Could Add to Florida's Economic Woes".

Florida's "bewildering intramural Hispanic rivalries"

Marc Caputo: "Rep. Ana Rivas Logan’s opponents call her loads of names on the campaign trail."

But one seemed to bother her more than others: “Nicaraguan.”

“They’re making calls to the little old Cubans, telling them, ‘Don’t vote for her. She’s a Nicaraguan. Your commitment is with the Cuban vote,’” a choked-up Logan said last week about her bare-knuckle race against fellow Republican Rep. Jose Felix “Pepe” Diaz.

Welcome to Miami.

This is a place where calling the daughter of Cuban parents a “Nicaraguan” is a slur even though she was born in Nicaragua and says so on her website. Diaz denies participating in or authorizing the attack.

The fact that it was 1) used against the Cuban-American lawmaker and 2) worked enough to deeply unsettle her is a sign of the hardball politics in Miami-Dade. And it stands as a clear sign that Florida’s Hispanic vote is anything but monolithic.

Just beyond the Spanish-English language barrier is a not-so-brave world of ethnic tensions, borderline racism and nationalistic pride that will subtly play out this election season — from the Rivas Logan-Diaz state House District 116 race to the top of the presidential ticket.

In the presidential race, Puerto Ricans are overwhelmingly Democratic and are expected to vote heavily for President Obama in Central Florida. Cuban voters, overwhelmingly Republican, are largely Romney supporters in South Florida. Nationally, the majority of Hispanic voters have ties to Mexico and vote for Democrats.

Pollsters beware. Sample Hispanics in one Florida region and you’ll often get different survey results than if you polled Hispanics in another part of the state.

The intramural Hispanic rivalries are bewildering to anyone from outside the state.

But these handouts are OK?

"Florida landed more than $50 million of the $787 million that the federal government doled out Monday for bus line and transportation repair and construction projects." "Feds Roll Out the Bucks for Florida Transit Projects".

I hate when that happens

"Obama flubs name of West Palm Beach mayor's city".

Bus operator on road to Tally as lawmaker

"The sun wasn't even close to rising when Victor Torres pulled his Lynx bus onto the road, starting a route on which he would pick up at least 70 people and drop them off at hotels and Downtown Disney. Almost certainly, the riders didn't know their driver is about to become a member of the Florida Legislature as the representative of newly created District 48 in southeast Orlando and northern Osceola County."

Torres, 64, is apparently the first Lynx bus driver — and possibly the first bus driver, period — to become a state representative, at least in recent memory, officials said.

A lifelong Democrat, Torres ran unopposed in his Democratic-leaning district, where more than half of the 156,456 residents are Hispanic. He'll take office in January.

That means Torres really could take his constituents for a ride, though his routes are nowhere near his home.

A quiet man whose accent attests to his Bronx heritage, Torres often drives a bus packed with service workers, such as maids, landscapers and cooks. One recent morning, his 43-seat bus was filled to capacity, with riders standing front to back in the middle aisle.

Lynx passengers are one of the primary reasons Torres decided to run. He said he wants to stand up in Tallahassee for the men and women who typically ride his buses, the ones who earn an hourly wage and often get by paycheck to paycheck.

Thats a lot of T-shirt shops

"Florida vaulted higher in the venture-capital rankings of U.S. states during the second quarter, as nearly a dozen companies received a combined $95 million from wealthy investment firms — a 163 percent increase from the previous quarter, according to a new survey." "Florida breaks top 10 in venture capital deals in 2nd quarter".

SD 7 and SD 18

"SD 7 and SD 18: Republicans Rob Bradley and Wilton Simpson Have Edge for Open Seats".

Campaign Roundup

"This week in the roundup, Republican leaders try to tone down a Tampa-area Senate race, and Democrats sharpen their knives for three fierce campaign battles in the upper chamber." "Campaign Roundup: Tampa Senate race intrigue; Dems home in on 3 Senate races".

3 Diaz de la Portilla brothers in Legislature at once?

"Depending on the outcome of the House District 103 race, three Diaz de la Portilla brothers could be in the Legislature at once, or Manny Diaz -- not the one you know -- could be coming to the Capitol." "Primary Profile: Familiar names lead Northwest Dade House race".

SLAPP suits

"The American Planning Association's Florida chapter says a 1st District Court of Appeal ruling against environmental groups in 2010 would have a chilling effect on public participation in planning if it's allowed to stand." "Planning group files Florida Supreme Court brief warning against discouraging public participation".

"The biggest spenders"

"The biggest spenders so far in the 2012 campaign for the Florida Legislature are committees set up by politicians and others wanting to influence the outcome of the elections. So far this year, groups called Electioneering Communications Organizations and Committees of Continuous Existence have spent more than $29 million in Florida political campaigns." "Political committees' spending dwarfs traditional sources".

"Specter of 'earmarking' hangs over the campaign trail"

"It's been a couple of years since Congress banned lawmakers from "earmarking" federal money to pay for pet projects, but the specter of the once-popular practice still hangs over the campaign trail. Nowhere in Florida is that more evident than in the fierce Republican primary between U.S. Rep. Sandy Adams of Orlando and U.S. Rep. John Mica of Winter Park for the redrawn Seminole County-based Seventh Congressional District." "Rivals Mica, Adams both sought 'earmarks' for local projects".

Department of Education acknowledges it miscalculated school grades

"The Florida Department of Education on Monday acknowledged that it miscalculated school grades across Florida while local education officials said the mistake will fuel more public distrust in the state's student-accountability system that has been under increasing attack in recent months." "DOE acknowledges, explains mistake in school grades across Florida".

Questions for McDonough

"James R. McDonough was the secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections from 2006 to 2008. He was tapped by Gov. Jeb Bush, for whom he'd worked as Florida's drug czar since 1999. McDonough moved to DOC after Bush fired Secretary James Crosby, who later went to prison for taking kickbacks. His no-nonsense style proved the antidote to scandal at DOC. He fired or demoted dozens of prison officials and instituted random drug tests and mandatory fitness programs for employees. He angered many, but is widely credited for cleaning up the place." "Five Questions for Jim McDonough".

SD 13

"Senate Majority Leader Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, is in line to become Senate president after the 2014 elections and he has the edge in SD 13 over a Democratic opponent as he looks for a second term in the upper chamber." "SD 13: Andy Gardiner a Heavy Favorite to Keep Seat and Senate President Plans Alive".

"You never, ever want to piss off a federal judge"

Carl Hiaasen: "Politicians in both parties have resumed rhapsodizing about the magnificence of the Everglades, a phenomenon that occurs every four years with varying degrees of sincerity."

Polls show that most Floridians want the Everglades restored and preserved. This requires candidates to show some love. Neither Democrats nor Republicans want to look like obstructionists on this issue in an election year.

That’s one reason why the Obama administration and the state have reached an agreement tentatively resolving 20 years’ worth of lawsuits that have hobbled efforts to clean the polluted water being pumped into the Everglades.

It’s true that under Obama, funding for Everglades restoration is way up from the Bush years. It’s also true that Gov. Rick Scott pushed for the recent settlement with Washington, which should restart some projects that will help the cleanup.

However, the semi-miraculous truce between Florida and the feds wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for a fellow named Alan Gold. He’s a U.S. district judge in Miami who got so fed up with the stalling of both sides that he gave them a glorious reaming two years ago.

You couldn’t blame the man for being ticked off.

Gold was presiding over drawn-out litigation that was holding up some of the Everglades projects. The Miccosukee tribe had sued because phosphorus pollution from farms, ranches and subdivisions was being flushed into the reservation.

In the summer of 2008, Gold had ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection to start enforcing clean-water standards that had been set to take effect back in 2006.

But in the face of heavy lobbying, the feds and the state decided on a 10-year extension — a nice break for the polluters. That didn’t sit well with the Miccosukees, most environmental groups or the judge.

In 2010, Gold issued a ruling that scalded the EPA and the DEP for showing “glacial slowness” in cleaning up the flow into Everglades. He characterized the restoration plan as “rudderless.”

“The hard reality,” he wrote, “is that ongoing destruction due to pollution within the Everglades Protection Area continues to this day at an alarming rate.”

Here’s what else Gold did, which got all sides scrambling:

He threatened to hold state and federal administrators in civil contempt if they didn’t comply with the court. Then he ordered the head of the Environmental Protection Agency to personally appear in front of him and answer some questions.

This is why you never, ever want to piss off a federal judge.

Small

"Two small business owners are competing in the Republican primary for Hillsborough County Commission District 5." "Small business owners face off to contest Beckner".

Sorry Rick, "Government jobs prop up the employment picture"

"As Florida’s unemployment mark has slowly ticked down the last year and a half, two tracks have remained in place among the counties: Walton, Monroe, Okaloosa, and Franklin counties, predominately rural communities that have a large dependence upon government -- have held the lowest monthly marks. Why? A little because of tourism jobs, but the greater factor is that Eglin Air Force Base aids both Okaloosa and Walton. Government jobs prop up the employment picture." "Government Still King Job Maker in Counties With Lowest Unemployment".

RNC fears needs for military protection at convention

"Military stands ready if needed at RNC, other conventions".

"Local party had no problem tossing him aside"

"Martin County Sheriff Robert Crowder, one of the most popular lawmen in county history -- with a 47-year history of serving his community and the Republican Party -- looks around today at his lonely campaign for U.S. Congress, knows it's a long shot at best and admits he knows why."

He backed Democrat Alex Sink in the 2010 gubernatorial election. No -- he did more than that. He campaigned for her, on national television and in high-profile TV spots.

Nevertheless, the affable sheriff holds out hope that he can pull out a victory in the GOP primary for the new District 18 -- or at least be close to his opulently financed and better-supported opponent -- when the final ballots are tallied Aug. 14.

The local party had no problem tossing him aside and district polls show a wide gap between him and the incumbent forced to run in the new district, flame thrower U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, who is looking to represent the Northern Palm Beach County and Treasure Coast market.

"Genting downscales in Miami"

"Malaysian casino giant Genting says it will move forward with more modest plans for its downtown Miami site. Globally, the company is seeking to expand." "Genting downscales in Miami as it seeks to expand its global brand".

• By most measures, Florida has a thrifty Medicaid program, with a per-person spending rate far below the national average.

• Medicaid spending has gone up primarily because more people have signed up for the program since the beginning of the Great Recession.

• The expansion under the reform law would bring millions in federal dollars to help people who are now uninsured. The federal government foots the entire bill for expanded coverage during the first three years, and 90 percent or more of it until 2020.

In fact, health experts warn that not expanding Medicaid could cost Floridians, because many of the state’s 3.8 million uninsured residents will continue to receive care they can’t pay for in hospital ERs. Those costs ultimately are passed down in the form of higher insurance premiums for everyone else.

His decision was politically inspired, and his facts have been called into question. For Floridians desperate to get basic healthcare the consequences could be dire. Train wreck, perfect storm, falling off the cliff — all of these phrases have been used to describe the impact of Mr. Scott’s decision unless the Legislature takes a more thoughtful approach.

The law upheld by the court expands Medicaid to cover those at or under 133 percent of the federal poverty level. Currently, Florida has a much stricter threshold. (The undocumented are not covered under any scenario.)

The court held that states could not be punished if they opted out of expanded coverage, but there’s a catch: The law also mandates some $18 billion in Medicaid payment cuts nationwide. That was written into the bill on the assumption they’d be offset by a lower burden of caring for the uninsured.

If Florida continues to ignore the “working poor” who can’t afford health insurance, these patients will have no recourse except to continue relying on public hospitals for unreimbursed care.

But they will do so without the increased funding that the new law guarantees as compensation for the states, placing the burden on local taxpayers.

"Most Floridians still oppose federal Affordable Care Act health reform law." A recent opinion poll indicated that only 43 percent of Florida voters support the health care reform law while 52 percent oppose it. For those who feel like I do that when the law is fully implemented in 2014 it will add significantly to the security of America's middle class, the poll was a real downer.

But as I examined the results more closely, one detail was particularly infuriating: The group most vehemently opposed to the reforms are folks 65 and older. Only 39 percent of this group support the law, compared with 57 percent support from voters ages 18-34. What that means is that seniors on Medicare, a taxpayer-funded program that provides secure health insurance and is a European-style single-payer system, are the ones most interested in denying medical security to younger generations.

My mom would call that being selfish.

"He always leaves more popular than he was before"

"Practically every week, Floridians receive visits from the president, the vice president, the first lady or some other top surrogate for the administration. ... 'When he shows up somewhere, he always leaves more popular than he was before he showed up. It really is the power of incumbency,' said Democratic pollster Dave Beattie." "Presidential campaign pauses for now, but Florida remains major stop".

"Ayn Rand didn’t make West turn yellow. It was Big Pork"

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "Either pork tops poultry in Washington, or U.S. Rep. Allen West is a small-government chickenhawk. How else to explain his about-face on legislating hens?"

After promising to support a proposal that would prevent egg producers from cramming hens too tightly into cages, Rep. West this month withdrew support, calling the proposal anti-business, even though the egg industry supports it as way to improve its image after years of bad publicity and to preempt state regulations. ...

Really? The federal government has no business regulating business? No business writing child-labor laws? Passing the Civil Rights Act? Monitoring nuclear reactors?

Rep. West can’t possibly believe that. In fact, we know he doesn’t. If he did, he never would have supported hen regulations in the first place. Ayn Rand didn’t make him turn yellow. It was Big Pork.

Mini-Mack double-dips

"When he decided at the end of November to run for the U.S. Senate, Rep. Connie Mack IV turned to people close at hand to assemble a campaign quickly."

His longtime aide and political operative, Jeff Cohen, returned from a high-paying public relations job to take over as both chief of staff of Mack's congressional office, a tax-paid job, and Mack's campaign manager.

But Cohen, a Mack loyalist who once worked for the lawmaker's father, former Sen. Connie Mack III, already had been working to boost his boss's political profile, perhaps in anticipation of a Senate race.

In August 2010, when Mack had been talking for months about the possibility of running for the Senate but had not made a decision, Cohen set up a nonprofit charitable committee, the Committee to Free Venezuela, linked to the public relations firm for which he then worked.

Its stated mission was to publicize the threat of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez.

Judging from its IRS filings, the committee appeared to consist almost solely of Cohen and a handful of other Mack loyalists, including Craig Engle, Mack's longtime campaign treasurer, and another former House office staffer, Scott Henderson.

It quickly raised $150,000 from sources it won't reveal. As a nonprofit organized under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue code, it doesn't have to.

The main use of that money apparently was to make what it called a documentary film that consists almost solely of video of Mack giving an anti-Chavez speech to a conservative political group.

The committee also named Mack its honorary chairman.

Everybody is above average!

"Some school grades bumped up".

Desperate

"John Stemberger, one of Florida’s best known anti-abortion and religious conservative activists, has endorsed the underdog, former Congressman Dave Weldon, over Rep. Connie Mack IV in the Republican U.S. Senate primary. The endorsement doesn’t seem likely to change the outcome of the primary race—Mack is far ahead in polling and has a famous name inherited from his father, former Sen. Connie Mack III, and has endorsements from many of the state’s most prominent Republicans." "Stemberger backs Weldon".

1.4 million unregistered Latino adults in Florida

"Right now in 10 battleground states -- places where both the Obama and Romney campaigns say victory is feasible -- there are 12.1 million unregistered, but potentially eligible, Latino adults, according to new data released late Thursday by the Center for American Progress, a Washington, D.C., think tank. In uber-important Florida, the state's 1.4 million unregistered, potentially eligible Latino adults represent a group of voters five times larger than Obama’s margin of victory in 2008." "Number Of Unregistered Latino Voters Large Enough To Transform Red States Into Swing States".

DWS says "no"

"Gov. Wasserman Schultz? She says no".

"Bizarre, if not insulting, remark"

"In an attempt to defend herself against allegations of an improper relationship with a female staff member, Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll made bizarre, if not insulting, remark." "Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll’s Comment Offends Gay Community".

"Knuckle-dragging Neanderthals"

"The congressman with a knack for colorful hyperbole and an audible distaste for Republicans is back."

After losing District 8 to Republican Daniel Webster in the 2010 midterm elections, former Democratic U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson now is aiming for the newly configured and Democratic-friendly 9th Congressional District, south of Orlando.

Grayson first came to prominence in the U.S. House floor debates over health-care reform in September 2009. He summarized the Republicans’ plan for health care as “don’t get sick, and if you do get sick, die quickly,” drawing ire from many of his GOP colleagues.

He stoked further controversy when he described the nation’s current health-care regime as a “Holocaust in America,” and described those opposed to President Barack Obama‘s proposed reform as “foot-dragging, knuckle-dragging Neanderthals.”

A "party planner" protest

"Waving handmade signs and grasping yellow balloons, a small group marched last fall outside State Attorney Michael McAuliffe’s office, angrily calling for him to resign. McAuliffe had just negotiated a plea deal that meant Paul Michael Merhige, who killed four relatives on Thanksgiving Day 2009, would escape the death penalty."

But most of the protesters weren’t there out of outrage. They were there because they were getting paid.

They were getting paid because the man who wanted McAuliffe’s job, Dave Aronberg, wanted a protest, but didn’t want his name linked to it. Since he could not deliver enough protesters himself, he asked a newfound ally, Gulf Stream millionaire Marty O’Boyle, to help.

An O’Boyle assistant lined up a party planner. And that’s how a protest trumpeted on the nightly news as an outpouring of community anger actually starred a half-dozen actors more accustomed to playing princesses, clowns and dinosaurs.

That was only the start. Over four months, Aronberg and O’Boyle teamed up for a campaign of attacks against McAuliffe, cautiously skirting Florida laws designed to assure transparency in elections, according to interviews and documents obtained by The Palm Beach Post.

They worked in strict secrecy. Aronberg — now the front-runner for state attorney — had not yet declared himself a candidate, so he took help from O’Boyle without disclosing to the public what otherwise would have amounted to donations.

For O’Boyle, it was just one act in his relentless quest to wipe a DUI conviction off his daughter’s record. For Aronberg, it was an opportunity to take advantage of a millionaire’s displeasure to undermine a rival. They moved assertively, running advertisements, paying protesters and digging up dirt.

Aronberg miscalculated. After months together, O’Boyle turned on him, releasing to The Post hundreds of emails — including about 100 written by Aronberg — documenting their contacts in the time before Aronberg announced his candidacy.

Ultimately, O’Boyle would turn on The Post as well.

"Never have so many Floridians relied on food stamps"

"Never have so many Floridians relied on food stamps: 3.47 million as of June, nearly triple the number since the Great Recession began and still growing even as the economy recovers. But under cost-cutting legislation moving through Congress, an estimated 234,100 could lose their eligibility as early as this fall." "Ever more Floridians rely on food stamps, may lose them".

"Jeb!" will grace Convention with his presence

"But former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will be there, and you can be sure plenty of Florida delegates will be wishing he were the one accepting the nomination inside the Tampa Bay Times Forum." "George W. Bush will skip GOP convention in Tampa, but Jeb will be there". More: "Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio as Romney's VP Choice -- While Hope Fades, the Dream Lives".

Has it come to this?

"Tampa residents will be able to pay water bills at Amscot".

Courtesy of the "values" crowd

"For decades, Florida's public universities were clearly public. Taxpayers covered the majority of education costs, and students and families made up the rest through tuition." "As funding falls, families carry heavier tuition load".

Movin' out

"State Senate candidate Rob Wallace says his opponent in the Republican primary, Rep. John Legg, should resign his House seat. The reason, Wallace says: When he moved into the Senate district, Legg moved out of his House district." "Wallace: Legg no longer lives in district, should resign from House".

ECO-madness

Myriam Marquez wonders "What do a dentist and an attorney from Vero Beach, a landscaping company out of Troy, Mich., and a Pennsylvania treasurer have in common? They’re linked to Conservatives United, one of those stealth 'independent' electioneering communication organizations, or ECO, that drop nasty mailers twisting the facts to attack legislative candidates, freeing the opponents from any responsibility for the dirty tricks."

In this case, the attacks are aimed at state Rep. Ana Rivas Logan, who’s in a bitter Republican primary duke-out with Rep. Jose Feliz Diaz for District 116, where legislative redistricting now pits the two freshman incumbents.

One flier sent to voters accuses Rivas Logan of raising property taxes “by billions” when she was a member of the Miami-Dade School Board in 2005. Who knew? In fact, the Herald story for that budget meeting noted that “the board actually reduced the tax rate, but not enough to compensate for skyrocketing real estate values.” Rivas Logan was among the school board majority that expected to have that money go toward teachers’ salaries — a worthy goal, as teachers are poorly compensated.

But the attacks that really upset Rivas Logan, an educator who was a high school assistant principal when she was first elected to the school board, are robocalls and fliers by Tell the Public the Facts, Inc., another ECO. This one has with a Miami address, with Roberto Novoa as chairman and money coming from various interests, including pari-mutuels. One flier makes it seem as if she embraced the controversial Vamos a Cuba children’s book, with a menacing-looking Rudy Crew staring in the background. In fact, she let the process of book selection by a committee of volunteers play out, but when they didn’t see anything wrong with a book that was pure propaganda about the Cuban dictatorship being paradise for the kiddies, she was among the school board members in 2006 who led the charge against the book (upheld in court) and eventually for Crew’s ouster.

And don’t get her started about her “cubania.” During the heated debate to oust Crew, she challenged those of his supporters who referred to his detractors as a “Cuban mafia” — the same way Fidel Castro has long referred to exiles. So she made the point that she had supported many of Crew’s education initiatives, and that she was born in Nicaragua. Now the abuelitas and abuelitos, the so-called supervoters, are getting robocalls saying Rivas Logan isn’t Cuban, which is partly true and false. She was born in Nicaragua because her pregnant mother fled Cuba to that Central American country with Rivas’ father and sister, later moving to the U.S.

Universal Studios gives to FlaGOPers over Dems by 14 to 1 ratio

"Campaign contributions by supporters and opponents of gambling in Florida in 2011-12."

Genting New York

Republican Party: $486,000
Democratic Party: $111,000
Candidates: $19,500


Seminole Tribe of Florida

Republican Party: $338,000
Democratic Party: $110,000
Candidates: 0


Disney Worldwide Services

Republican Party: $529,000
Democratic Party: $234,000
Candidates: $154,000


Universal Orlando

Republican Party: $387,000
Democratic Party: $27,000
Candidates: $21,500

"We get what we ask for"

Scott Maxwell bemoans that, "This time around, there's no promise of hope or change."

From either side.

Sure, there's the occasional positive ad. And there are the less-visible stump speeches.

But generally, we have a contest between two men who aren't promising to make things better — only that the other guy will make them worse.

In some regards, we get what we ask for.

Pundits turned Obama's "hope and change" into a punch line. Sarah Palin once famously and derisively asked America: "How's that hopey-changey thing working out for ya?" The country ate it up.

So Obama has eschewed the promises of brighter days for warnings about darker ones. The campaign is predicated on the idea that, while we might be short on jobs now, Romney will ship whatever's left over to China.

Meanwhile, Romney is on a never-ending quest to highlight the depressing. And because some indexes have improved, it's an ever-shifting affair, focusing on the horrors of gas prices when they're on the rise, for instance, and ignoring them when they decline. No matter the upticks or changes, Romney is determined to convince you that you're miserable … and that it's all Obama's fault.

Americans are noticing the nonstop negativity. In a recent poll from the global PR firm Weber and Shandwick, 81 percent of respondents believed that "incivility in government is harming America's future."

More specifically, respondents believed political campaigns were the most "uncivil" thing in America.

If there was solace in the poll, it was that 83 percent of respondents also said that a candidate's "tone or level of civility will be an important factor in the 2012 presidential election."

Maybe that will catch the candidates' attention.

Because, while it's human nature to point out flaws, Americans want to vote for someone who has visions of brighter days ahead.

"Casino giant is seeding its bets"

"Genting Group, the Malaysian casino giant, is seeding its bets across Florida’s political spectrum this election year as it continues to secure the foothold it needs to build a Miami casino empire."

The company, which bought the Miami Herald building in downtown Miami with $236 million in cash in 2011 and tried unsuccessfully to get destination resort casinos approved by lawmakers this year, has spent $1.3 million so far in the 2012 election cycle and has embarked on a two-pronged political strategy.

Half of its money has been steered into a petition drive for a pro-casino amendment to the state Constitution that would bypass the Legislature to bring casinos to Florida. The other half of its cash so far — $486,000 to the Republican Party of Florida and $111,000 to the Florida Democratic Party — was primarily given before the legislative session and is being used to back incumbents or political committees, according to a Herald/Times analysis of campaign reports.

The company said it has no direct involvement in any local or legislative races, countering rumors that it has recruited and screened candidates, and says that the cash it has sent to the parties is being steered to the campaigns of casino supporters and opponents alike.