[1.] Democrats will be more focused on keeping the Senate in their hands than trying to take the House from Republicans. But they do have some opportunities to pick up congressional seats and they think they have a chance of taking out Steve Southerland in North Florida. Unlike 2010 and 2012, Southerland won’t have the luxury of Democrats diving in close and ugly primaries. Democrats are high on Gwen Graham, who is trying to identify herself with her father Bob Graham, while Republicans try their best to paint her as a liberal.

AFP is running ads thanking Southerland for taking a tough line with Obamacare, hoping these early efforts will pay off for him in November. It’s not a bad bet, especially as the district is easily the most divided one in the northern part of the state. Graham should be able to count on Tallahassee where state employees will be coming out to vote against Rick Scott in November. She’ll also do fine in Gadsen County which traditionally backs Democrats.

[2.] AFP is also running ads trashing Joe Garcia for backing Obamacare. Democrats are making inroads with Cubans in Miami and South Florida, to be sure, but Garcia hasn’t had much luck taking advantage of it. While he beat scandal-plagued David Rivera in 2012, Garcia had no luck in running for Congress in 2008 and 2010. Without Obama’s and Bill Nelson’s coattails, Garcia should be in for a tough fight in November, especially with scandals of his own making news last year.

[3.] AFP is also running ads against Alan Grayson concerning Obamacare. While Grayson might be the Democrat Republicans love to hate (and the feeling from the congressman certainly seems mutual), he is not exactly a prime target. Sure, Grayson lost to Dan Webster in a blowout in 2010, but he came roaring back with a big win in a new district in 2012. Nor are political experts calling the likes of Jorge Bonilla, Carol Platt and Peter Vivaldi, his Republican opponents, major threats to Grayson.

Rick Scott tiptoes

"With new Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera at his side, Gov. Rick Scott tiptoed around the subject of in-state tuition in a meeting with the Legislature’s Hispanic caucus." "Gov. Rick Scott 'considers’ backing in-state tuition for undocumented students".

Crist calls for lifting Cuba embargo

"Crist calls for lifting of Cuban trade embargo".

Detzner's move to impede voting on UF campus is challenged

"The Democratic member of the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee said it is 'inconceivable' that the Division of Elections used a committee bill to justify rejecting a university student union as an early-voting site." "Clemens calls on Detzner to 're-evaluate unlawful decision'".

Rubio's "fact-free zone"

Dana Milbank: "Sen. Marco Rubio was a day late and $8 billion short."

As part of his political comeback since his lenient position on immigration antagonized the conservative base, the Florida Republican introduced the "Obamacare Taxpayer Bailout Prevention Act."

The idea, a back-door way to repeal the health care law, was to get rid of the "risk corridors" and reinsurance that protect health insurers from big losses. The idea caught on: House Republican leaders floated the possibility of linking it to this month's debt-limit talks (which means they would again threaten a U.S. debt default if Obamacare isn't dismantled), and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee made Rubio the featured witness at a hearing on the matter Wednesday.

But the day before Rubio's star turn, the Congressional Budget Office reported that the "bailout" actually would be a bonanza for the government. In a report that was otherwise unhelpful to the health care law, it said risk corridors would bring the Treasury net proceeds of $8 billion over the three years they are in existence.

Meanwhile, health insurers warned that Rubio's legislation would lead to the government-run health care system that most alarms conservatives. And there was the awkward fact that the risk corridors were the same mechanism Republicans used in the 2006 prescription-drug legislation.

"The most-accomplished liar in South Florida history"

Marc Caputo: "A convicted Ponzi schemer’s court claims that Charlie Crist engaged in a contributions-for-favors 'quid pro quo' has come at a damaging time for the former governor who wants his old job back."

Crist’s campaign and defenders vociferously denied Scott Rothstein’s testimony Wednesday and Thursday as the desperate act of a fraudster seeking to shave time off a 50-year prison sentence for the $1.4 billion Ponzi scheme he masterminded.

But Rothstein’s veracity aside, the political damage is tolling on Crist, who’s also in the midst of a national book tour.

The allegations reverberated in the news media, highlighted past political scandals tied to former Crist donors and put the Democratic candidate on the defensive over making ethics a centerpiece of his campaign against Gov. Rick Scott, who once ran a hospital company socked with a mammoth $1.7 billion fraud fine. . . .

Rothstein rendered his two days of testimony in another unrelated case tied to an associate in his former Fort Lauderdale law firm, which sold bogus legal settlements to investors as part of his mammoth Ponzi scheme.

Under oath, Rothstein portrayed the former Republican governor, Crist, as someone who essentially sold “a few” unspecified Broward County circuit court judicial appointments in return for political contributions. . . .

Asked if he put any of this in writing at the time, Rothstein said he did “to one of his [Crist’s] assistants,” but he didn’t specify who that was.

On Tuesday, Crist sat down with FOX’s Bill O’Reilly to talk about the book and said he was going to make “ethics” a centerpiece of the campaign. The next day, Rothstein appeared in court.

On Thursday, The Republican Party of Florida issued a press release pointing out Crist’s ties to Rothstein, including a photo of the time the two blew out candles on the then-governor’s 52nd birthday cake for which Rothstein donated $52,000 at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach.

The press release made no mention of Rothstein’s past support for Republicans.

"Choices have consequences"

"Choices have consequences. The Miami-Dade County Commission chose to override — again — Mayor Carlos Gimenez’s veto of a plan to restore 5 percent of some county employees’ base pay. The consequences didn’t look pretty when they overrode the mayor’s veto in September, and they don’t look any better now." "Expedient decision, hard choices".

Outcry over the Common Core is not subsiding.

Lloyd Dunkelberger: "Later this month, the Florida Board of Education will take up a revised set of education standards for public schools, eliminating the use of the phrase “Common Core” in the document."

State lawmakers are moving ahead with legislation to increase privacy standards and protect student personal information.

Those moves are designed to quiet the political controversy that broke out when conservative groups attacked the Common Core standards as a sign of federal intrusion into local schools.

But it became clear this week that the outcry over the Common Core standards — which have been adopted in 45 states — is not subsiding.

Gettin' nasty

The Sunshine State News trumpets the GOP claim that "Crist's Assertion That 6 Floridians Die a Day Because of Rick Scott Is Absurd". Meanwhile, "Business, Union Groups Rally Behind Pinellas County Special Election Candidates".

"That smirky grin . . . this time to say she isn’t going to lose"

Steve Otto: "Don’t you wonder what the good folks in Pinellas County who will be voting in the District 13 congressional race next month must be thinking?"

Wasn’t the race supposed to be about them and the person they want to send to Washington to represent them?

If you happened to catch the debate earlier this week, you might have thought the only issue is whether or not Democratic candidate Alex Sink will stay in Pinellas if she loses the election. Her only defense was that smirky grin she uses, this time to say she isn’t going to lose.

Week In Review

"Weekly Roundup: Starting Guns for CLC, the Legislature"; "The Week In Review for Friday, Feb. 7, 2014". See also "Arrivals and Departures for Feb. 7, 2014".

Lopez-Cantera sworn in, pandering begins

"Lopez-Cantera sworn in as Florida lieutenant governor". Meanwhile, "Gov. Rick Scott 'considers’ backing in-state tuition for undocumented students".

Bits and Pieces

Kevin Derby's "Political Bits and Pieces".

"Charlie Crist has suddenly emerged from stealth mode"

"After months of running a largely invisible campaign to regain his old job, former Gov. Charlie Crist has suddenly emerged from stealth mode." "Charlie Crist all over Web and TV as campaign steps up".

"Sink will benefit from the trend to obliterate Election Day"

It is sad to see elderly columnists like George Will slide into obscurity; today he whines about the loss of "election day", which he complains will assist Alex Sink beat David Jolly:

Sink will benefit from the national trend allowing early voting to obliterate Election Day. Any Floridian who has ever requested an absentee ballot henceforth gets one automatically. Seventy-seven percent of the Republican primary votes here were cast by mail in the Jan. 14 primary, and absentee ballots will be mailed on Feb. 7. Furthermore, early voting at polling places begins March 1, so many -- perhaps most -- votes will be cast before Jolly has raised much of the money necessary to communicate his message. Instead of a community deliberation culminating in a shared day of decision, an election like the one here is diffuse and inferior. If Sink wins, Republicans nationally can shrug; if Jolly wins, Democrats should tremble. But no matter who wins, the district loses because it has lost Election Day.

Who writes these headlines?

Who writes these headlines? . . . "Report: Health care law likely to cut labor force" . . . the Tampa Trib, of course.

The reality is quite different than suggested by the headline: "CBO director: Obamacare will reduce unemployment". Sorry Trib, better luck next time.

"Suck It Up, Charlie"

Nancy Smith: "Suck It Up, Charlie: It's Answer Time".

"Another year. Another stadium request. Same Tallahassee"

Aaron Deslatte: "Expect Florida's Major League Soccer dreams to run full-speed into the election-year entanglements of the Legislature."

Last year, it was the Miami Dolphins and their hotheaded billionaire owner. On deck this spring: Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and former soccer superstar David Beckham. Lawmakers this spring are drafting legislation that attempts to reform the sports-incentive process used to award hundreds of millions in sales-tax rebates to NFL, baseball and NBA franchise owners.

The idea was floated last year by future Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando. This year, it's being steered by House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, and will likely engulf current efforts to win tax incentives for Major League Soccer in Orlando and Miami.

Weatherford killed a package last year that would have created a competition for sports-stadium subsidies. The move drew a vitriolic blast from Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, who threatened to get more involved in "fixing the dysfunction in Tallahassee" by defeating incumbents.

Another year. Another stadium request. Same Tallahassee.

Weatherford can't get over it

"Florida’s A-F grading system for schools"

should be simplified, but not suspended, House Speaker Will Weatherford said Thursday.As lawmakers consider wading into the controversy that has ensnared Florida’s system for grading schools, Weatherford is among those saying the formula used to calculate the grades has become unnecessarily complicated.

Killing them softly

"Update: Hearing ordered on state's use of execution drugs".

Poll has Crist lead at 7

A University of Florida poll shows Charlie Crist leading Rick Scott 47-40 percent in the Florida governor’s race. (Survey results are based on data collected from 1,006 telephone surveys of registered voters conducted between Jan. 27 and Feb. 1, with a 3 percent margin of error.)

If it hadn’t been for those two donations -- one from Monte Friedkin and another from the Ferraro personal injury firm – the committee would have raised only $175,000.

Monte Friedkin, incidentally, is best known as a Florida Democratic political bankroller who hands out campaign checks as freely as he does advice on how to govern.

Real Yawner

"Carlos Lopez-Cantera, the first Hispanic to serve as Florida’s lieutenant governor, took the oath of office in a private ceremony." "Lopez-Cantera sworn in as Florida lieutenant governor".

"Shift on gay marriage changing political landscape"

"When the new attorney general in Virginia decided recently to oppose his state’s ban on gay marriage, it might have been dismissed as an isolated move by a Democrat seeking to reverse Republican policy. But it underscored the speed and breadth of a fundamental change in the country." "‘Stunning’ shift on gay marriage is changing political landscape". Related: "Gay couples not waiting around for political, legal changes".

"Florida a low-income state where crime flourishes and education is shortchanged."

Scott Maxwell asks "what if you could actually quantify the state of a state? With numbers. And data. That's what the folks at Politico just did, assembling their inaugural 'State of the States' report."

Florida is a low-income state where crime flourishes and education is shortchanged.

You can't start with worn-out tires and a cheap engine and expect to win the Daytona 500. . . .

[And] we're one of the worst in America (46th) when it comes to income inequality.

We trail most of the U.S. on all three education metrics: 32nd for eighth-grade reading scores and 34th for math scores and graduation rates.

Politicians in this state have to stop feeding the low-wage beast. They have to stop offering incentives to companies that pay below-average wages.

Politicians also have to step it up when it comes to education — because good schools and sound economies go hand in hand.

The best states focus on teachers' needs and student success. Florida politicians too often focus on political games.

While other states make sure students are ready for college and the work force, Florida leaders make excuses for their latest convoluted school-grading system — and why they needed grade inflation to make it work.

"Democrats slam Scott budget"

"Democrats including Rep. Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach, chided Scott proposals, saying more money should be put into education, health care services and environmental programs." "House Democrats slam Scott budget; Republicans supportive but say no 'rubber stamp'".

"Jeb!", a Chamber hack to the end

"Former Gov. Jeb Bush is appearing in a TV ad unveiled Tuesday from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce praising David Jolly, the Republican candidate in the race. Jolly takes on Democratic candidate former state CFO Alex Sink and Libertarian Lucas Overby in the March 11 special election. The U.S. Chamber endorsed Jolly on Monday."

The Sink team pushed back in a message to supporters sent out on Tuesday. “David Jolly is wrong for Pinellas, but he’s got good reason to make his tea party supporters happy,” the Sink campaign insisted. “Super-PAC attacks against Alex are hitting the Pinellas airwaves. Funded by the likes of Karl Rove, these right-wing groups have already purchased millions in TV time to blast their negative ads ... the same forces backing the dysfunction in Washington are lining up against Alex. They’re eager to put their lobbyist friend David Jolly in Congress.”

"Florida loves charter schools"

"Florida loves charter schools. It is not surprising since the charter industry has friends at the top of every key committee in the legislature. In Florida, charters open and close like the flow of waves on the lovely beaches that surround the state. Some make a huge profit, others disappear."

There are now almost 600 charters in the state, so what’s another one, two, ten, or fifty? Many of the charters operate for profit, and make millions. Florida would love vouchers, if the legislature had its way, but the courts struck down a general voucher law as unconstitutional, so the only voucher schools are for students with disabilities (the McKay Scholarship program). There is little supervision of these schools, little regulation, and they have become big business in choice-loving Florida. Actually, Florida voters turned down an effort by the Jeb Bush team to change the Constitution in 2012 to permit vouchers. So, paradoxes abound. The voters don’t like vouchers, but the legislature does.

The voucher industry continues to grow and thrive because the legislature doesn’t like regulation. That has allowed fly-by-night “schools” to prosper, so long as their services are targeted to students with disabilities.

The schools spawned by the McKay Scholarships were the subject of a journalistic expose in 2011, which said the program had created a cottage industry of fraud and chaos (the author Gus Garcia-Roberts won a prestigious journalistic award for this series), but the legislative supporters of the program were undaunted.

And so, here comes another! The sponsors of a voucher school in Milwaukee that closed down decided to move to Florida. And why not?

"Rich Claims Chiles' Legacy"

"Nan Rich Claims Lawton Chiles' Legacy With Buddy MacKay's Endorsement". See also "Nan Rich: I’m the only true Democrat in gubernatorial race".

Lie down with dogs

"After losing out to David Jolly, Kathleen Peters should not expect an easy 2014 as she turns to defending her Florida House seat."

Despite not even spending a year in Tallahassee, with the support of Jack Latvala, Peters ran for the Republican nomination in the special congressional election called after Bill Young’s death. Primary rival David Jolly went after Peters’ conservative credentials from the start and did a good job of painting her as too liberal for many Republican voters and questioning her position on abortion.

Fast-tracking death

"With 132 Death Row Inmates Readied for Execution, Lawyers Contest Fast-Track Law Before Florida Justices".

TV blitz

"Crist starts TV blitz". See also "Charlie Crist all over Web and TV as campaign steps up".

"Graham faces an uphill slog"

"Democratic challenger Gwen Graham is raising more money than GOP incumbent Rep. Steve Southerland, recently released campaign finance records show. Still, political analysts say the former Leon County school administrator faces an uphill slog to oust Southerland in Florida’s Second Congressional District, one of the nation’s most politically polarized." Despite money edge, Graham still faces tough ride to oust Southerlandp>

"Anti-women, anti-immigrant, anti-minority, anti-gay couples, anti-environment, anti-education"

"Jeb Bush said it better than I can say it," Crist told Scarborough on Tuesday:

“He said today’s Republican Party is perceived as being anti-women, anti-immigrant, anti-minority, anti-gay couples, anti-environment, anti-education. I mean, pretty soon, there’s nobody left in the room.”

But Bush is backing Scott in the election, something the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) pointed out on Tuesday.

Scott proposes to screw state workers again

"Gov. Rick Scott has once again proposed paying performance bonuses for state workers, but some lawmakers say they plan to push for pay raises instead."

Scott has proposed setting aside $167 million for bonuses that would be paid to up to 35 percent of employees in September, based on their evaluations for the period between January and June. Workers rated "outstanding" would receive up to $5,000, while those rated "commendable" would receive up to $2,500.

Sink heads to DC

"Republican David Jolly is headed to Tallahassee, where Gov. Rick Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi and other top-tier Florida Republicans will ask donors to pour money into Jolly’s campaign. Democrat Alex Sink, meanwhile, will be in Washington, D.C., for a fundraiser featuring prominent Democrats such as New York Rep. Steve Israel, head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer, the second most powerful Democrat in Congress, as well as members of Florida’s congressional delegation." "District 13 candidates away for fundraisers".

Haters run wild

"School Choice, and Fairness, Growing by Leaps and Bounds".

Scott and Crist couldn’t be more of a contrast

"Even Charlie Crist’s most ardent naysayers concede he’s one of the country’s best retail politicians."

He’s got charm, charisma and a Bill Clintonesque-appeal, they’ll admit. He loves the camera, and the camera, with his shock of white hair and George Hamilton tan, loves him. On the street, at airports or in line at the grocery store, Crist — the self-appointed “People’s Governor” — works the room with relish, shaking hands, patting backs and handing out his cell phone number like candy.

Gov. Rick Scott couldn’t be more of a contrast. He appears awkward on camera and in person. He jets around the country courting corporate honchos to bring their business to the Sunshine State. His staff’s attempts to humanize the former health care executive by dressing him in button-down shirts with the sleeves rolled up failed. Instead, they’ve turned to tweeting pictures of Scott and his wife Ann with their grandsons.

Research shows that the more likeable a candidate is, the better his or her chances of getting elected.

They say medical use of weed is the first step toward Colorado-style legalization, and they might be right. They say that although the proposed constitutional amendment names only nine diseases, lots of people who aren’t really sick will find a way to get marijuana from certain doctors.

That’s probably true, too. This, after all, is the state that made pill mills a roadside tourist attraction. Who can doubt that future pot prescriptions will bear the signatures of a Dr. Cheech or a Dr. Chong?

But guess what — voters know that, and most don’t seem worried. They’ve seen what’s happened in California, where no anarchy materialized after medicinal pot was approved.

Nor has the fabric of society disintegrated in the 20 other states and the District of Columbia, where similar laws are on the books.

This is a thorny problem for conservative Republicans like Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi, who are up for re-election. They now have to sally forth and crusade against a popular cause, trying to stir fear and doubts among a constituency that’s heard it all before. . . .

There’s a political risk if Scott, Bondi and the others fight too hard against marijuana reforms. Public sentiment is strongly against them, and their scare tactics could backfire in November.

Meanwhile, the pundits blather on about whether "Medical marijuana could aid Democrats, hurt Rick Scott".

John Grant whines, "Who funded this move and why? The answer is John (“For the People”) Morgan, head of the largest trial lawyer group in the state, Morgan and Crist, err, I mean Morgan and Morgan."

All the billboards confuse me.

Last year the anti-trial lawyer stars lined up and the business interests in the state got together. With the help of state House Speaker Will Weatherford and Senate President Don Gaetz, and under the leadership of Gov. Rick Scott, there was passed into law major tort reforms that had been defeated in many years gone by. The trial bar was handed its head on a legislative platter.

Morgan says that Scott needs to go, and Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat-turned-Obama-loyalist “Chain Gang” Charlie Crist is the man to do it, according to Morgan.

After all, when Crist left office, Morgan gave him a job, though I understand he has yet to be sighted in court, but his face appears “liberally” on interstate billboards. I guess Morgan needed a really experienced attorney and Charlie had three times more experience taking the Florida Bar Exam than most other attorneys.

So how does that tie in with marijuana? The answer is simple. Without Obama on the ballot, the Democrats need something to flush out their kind of voters and get them to the polls, ostensibly to vote for marijuana, but also for Charlie while they are there.

With the marijuana issue seeing more support from Democrats than Republicans in recent polls, it’s no surprise that Crist, a former governor, would support having a marijuana ballot initiative on the same ticket as his race against the incumbent GOP governor. After all, now that Obama has admitted that he smoked pot, it would only be natural for Charlie to embrace its legalization, like he embraces every other thing Obama does.

The amendment could drive more voter turnout in Crist’s favor. A recent poll shows 87 percent of Democrats supporting the legalization of marijuana. So the Ds are hoping to get an election buzz from the issue, and John Morgan is hoping to keep more anti-trial lawyer legislation from becoming law and thus eating into his “For the People” money machine.

So, at the end of the day, just ask what this marijuana buzz is all about, and when you turn over enough rocks, you will find out that it’s all about Charlie. That’s my opinion, and I am sticking to it.

Free Lolita

"Killer whale activists try again to free Lolita after 43 years at Miami Seaquarium." "Free Lolita supporters won’t end fight".

Scott's "environmental pivot"

"Gov. Rick Scott has trumpeted the environmental initiatives in his new budget, including money for protection of Florida’s increasingly polluted springs and a new initiative for Everglades restoration."

"Some environmental advocates give Scott credit for responding to critical needs, while others say the springs money is a drop in the bucket of what’s needed and that the Everglades initiative is a result of the ongoing litigation in which the state has been found to have violated its agreement to protect the River of Grass." "Experts split on Scott environmental pivot".

"Indian River collapse"

"Manatee deaths unsolved amid effort to reverse Indian River collapse".

"Jeb!" would "immediately be declared the man to beat." Really?

"Of all those being talked about — or talking themselves up — there is only one who could enter the race and immediately be declared the man to beat."

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush has a stature that gives him the luxury of waiting, knowing that he could upend the contest the moment he took the plunge.

“I’m going to think about it later,” Bush said during a school tour Wednesday. “I’m deferring the decision to the right time, which is later this year, and the decision will be based on: Can I do it joyfully? Because I think we need to have candidates lift our spirits — it’s a pretty pessimistic country right now. And is it right for my family? So I don’t even want to think about that till it’s the right time, and that’s later on.”

A high profile can be a dangerous thing in the preseason, as Bush’s fellow Floridian Rubio can attest.

Barely a year ago, the cover of Time magazine hailed Rubio as “The Republican Savior.” But he flubbed his attempt at a star turn delivering the GOP response to the 2013 State of the Union address, and more significantly he enraged some conservatives in his party by lending his wattage to the Senate’s comprehensive immigration overhaul bill.

Rubio subsequently assumed a lower profile, and by November, the cover of Time was proclaiming: “How Chris Christie Can Win Over the GOP.”

"Jeb!" would "immediately be declared the man to beat." Really? Recent polling indicates Jebbie would even lose his home state to Hillary by a 49-to-43 percent margin. And that is without folks being reminded of Jebbie's many failures as governor. And there are many. See, e.g., "The Jeb Bush Era Ends in Florida" ("Bush's back-to-back terms were marred by frequent ethics scandals, official bungling and the inability of the government he downsized to meet growing demands for state services, including education and aid for the infirm and the elderly.")

The Jeb-dead-enders in Florida seem to be relegated to local media types who see a Bush candidacy as their ticket to rubbing shoulders with the national media during the next presidential campaign cycle. To this day they pander the silly notion that "Jeb Bush was considered a cutting-edge conservative when he governed Florida."

For an early discussion of the Florida media's pretensions to national relevancy via another Bush run for something, anything, see "The media ... err, the 'Jeb!' machine cranks up" (scroll down).

More: "'Jeb!' lapdogs unleashed by their owners" (scroll down).

We thought "truth was a defense"?

"The Republican Party of Florida demanded and received an apology from NBC 6 South Florida (WTVJ) and a Tallahassee-based television news service after the station aired a graphic earlier this week that referred to the party as the 'Reprehensive Party of Florida.'" "Florida GOP receives apology over news segment aired on NBC 6 South Florida".

Scott's position on unemployment is "reprehensive"

Fred Grimm writes that Florida acts as "if Florida’s jobless were so many grifters wrangling for free money. As if those weekly benefits, topping out at $275, were paid out of Gov. Rick Scott’s personal bank account." Grimm understandably cannot resist pointing out that the:

state’s pricy website failure came with a big dollop of political irony. CONNECT’s failed launch coincided with the infamous introduction of the Obamacare website, with similar problems fairly celebrated by critics of the Affordable Care Act, including our own governor. But while HealthCare.gov seems to have been repaired, CONNECT remains an ongoing debacle — which might have made for some great smart-ass satire except that the Obamacare problems were abstractions having to do with delays in buying health insurance.

unless the beneficiary documents that he or she has applied for at least five jobs a week, and completes a skills test, creating a volume of paperwork that takes high-powered computing to process. Something CONNECT failed to deliver.

It was stupid. Either that or downright cruel. As [Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau’s Michael] Van Sickler reported last month, when California ran into similar problems last September with its own dodgy unemployment compensation website (built by the same contractor, Deloitte Consulting), state officials there started cutting checks immediately. California, mindful of the dire economic problems facing the jobless, decided to pay claims first, verify them later.

Florida waited until Jan. 18 to adopt that same policy — bowing to pressure from Sen. Bill Nelson and the U.S. Department of Labor, and no doubt embarrassed by Van Sickler’s reporting. For months, DEO had tried to process that giant pile of claims by paying workers overtime and hiring extra clerks and adding 80 operators to man the agency helplines — 80 to handle calls for 235,000 claimants. No wonder so many calls went unanswered. No wonder 10,000 jobless people waited weeks and months for their checks.

But Florida, under Scott, prefers a get-tough attitude. His administration has adopted a default position that the jobless, even in a state still suffering the effects of a recession, are clods, more deserving of a kick to the behind than a 16-week return on their unemployment insurance.

Oh dear,. . . what's a teabagger to do?

"Florida voters favor raising minimum wage, poll finds". Meanwhile, "Minimum wage hike debate roils District 13 race".

"In Miami-Dade County, the uninsured rate an astonishing 34 percent

Jeffrey Young at the Huffington Post writes that, "Thanks to a Supreme Court ruling and staunch Republican resistance, Marc Alphonse, an unemployed 40-year-old Marine veteran who is essentially homeless, cannot get health insurance under Obamacare."

Three years ago, Alphonse learned he has a kidney disorder that will deteriorate into kidney failure, and possibly prove fatal, if left untreated. As it stands now, he suffers from bouts of nausea caused by his dysfunctional kidneys, and he's dogged by an old knee injury that limits his job prospects. He gets by on $400 a month in unemployment benefits, and his family can no longer afford housing in their home city of Miami. Alphonse's 28-year-old wife, Danielle, and three young children are staying with relatives while Alphonse couch surfs. . . .

Alphonse is one of nearly 5 million uninsured Americans caught in a cruel gap that renders some Americans "too poor for Obamacare." . . .

In Alphonse's case, his family is trying to survive on his unemployment insurance. It amounts to $4,800 a year -- far below the poverty level, which is $27,570 for a family of five. Even the unemployment benefits will run out in March.

Now, 764,000 low-income adults in Florida will remain without insurance because of the coverage gap, according to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. And they're beginning to understand the tragic consequences of that public battle. . . .

When the Supreme Court ruled that states could opt out of the Medicaid expansion, Florida, Texas and nearly the entire South turned away billions in federal dollars offered for broadening the program, citing budgetary concerns and resistance to Obamacare itself. The federal government will pay the full cost of the Medicaid expansion through 2016, after which its share will be no less than 90 percent.

These decisions by governors and legislators essentially consigned a huge swath of the very poor to a life of extreme insecurity. . . .

Florida's legislature is poised to take up the Medicaid expansion again during this year's session, but the political dynamics don't appear to have changed much since last year. Meanwhile, one-quarter of Florida's population (under the age of 65) is without health insurance -- the second-highest of all the states behind Texas. In Miami-Dade County, where Alphonse lives, the uninsured rate was an astonishing 34 percent in 2011, the most recent year county-level data were available.

Unpaid medical bills totaled $57.4 billion in 2008 -- and taxpayers picked up about three-quarters of the tab, according to a study published in the journal Health Affairs. Expanding health coverage via Obamacare was supposed to reduce that burden, but the patchwork Medicaid expansion limits the law's reach.

Trib has Scott's back

The Tampa Tribune editors have Scott's back on his budget; they write that, "Critics deride Gov. Rick Scott’s proposed $74.2 billion budget as a pandering re-election bid aimed at making Floridians forget his spending plans that slashed funding for education, social services and the environment."

While they concede, as they must, that "Scott’s budget is hardly perfect," they do their level best to make a silk purse out of a cow's ear, writing that the budget" seems driven by practical concerns for Florida’s needs and finances. When Scott was elected he had a lot to learn about Florida. He still does. But his budget proposal indicates he is learning." "Budget plan shows Scott is learning".

"Legislators worried about unleashing plague of ... festive community events"

Scott Maxwell: "The way the Florida Legislature acts is enough to drive folks to drink. . . . consider the resistance that has surfaced to another proposal of craft-beer sellers."

A bill sponsored by Southwest Florida Republican Nancy Detert would allow stores such as Publix and Costco to hold beer tastings.

Sounds simple enough, right? After all, we're not talking raging keggers. Just samples of beer — the same way these stores already offer wine. (And beanie weenies. And orange juice. And oodles of other things.)

Detert thought allowing in-store samples was a natural way to help Florida's growing craft-beer market show off its goods. Sip a thimble full of Monk in the Trunk amber ale and maybe you decide to purchase a six-pack of the Jupiter-brewed beer for home. Detert's proposal, however, unleashed a torrent of objections.

Among them: Some legislators worried that tastings at Publix might lead to tastings at — gasp! — 7-Eleven.

Then, the unthinkable could happen.

Specifically, the News Service of Florida reported: "Lawmakers worry small convenience stores hosting public beer samplings that could turn into festive community events."

I'm sorry … what?

Legislators are worried about accidentally unleashing a plague of ... festive community events? . . .

The truth is that none of this is about concern over festivities. It's about lobbyists. And big-moneyed interests.

Right now, the current system is very profitable for the big guys. Beer makers, distributors and sellers all get pieces of a very profitable pie.

And they like it that way. They don't need some upstart microbrewery coming along and trying to sell — and offer samples — directly to consumers.