Flabaggers in a dither

"U.S. relaxing Cuba restrictions Friday, easing trade and travel."

Florida's lost federal hospital funds

"Florida lawmakers are facing a quandary over the likely annual loss of $1.3 billion in federal funds that compensate hospitals and providers for care of uninsured and Medicaid patients." "How will Florida compensate for lost federal hospital funds?."

"Florida remains dead last in both its per-capita size and cost of state personnel"

Bill Cotterell: "A state report issued this week indicates that positions in Florida’s main personnel systems fell by nearly 11,000 jobs during Gov. Rick Scott’s first term – a faster rate of reduction than any governor has recorded.And Florida remains dead last in both its per-capita size and cost of state personnel."

The annual report, compiled by the Department of Management Services under a legislative mandate, does not guage the transferred costs of jobs privatized with contractors, such as thousands of state prison positions.Automating, consolidating and privatizing government services began in a big way under Gov. Jeb Bush, between 1998 and 2006. General workforce numbers leveled off under Gov. Charlie Crist, but the downward trend resumed – and accelerated – with Scott’s arrival in 2011.The State Personnel System — the Career Service, Selected Exempt and Senior Management jobs – accounts for 61.6 percent of state employment, spread among 36 agencies under Scott, or under him and the Cabinet.

The number of established positions in the personnel system fell by 10,867 in the past five years, which includes the last six months of Crist’s term. The number of employees in those positions fell even more, from 105,031 in mid-2010 to 89,686 as of last June 30.

GOP Generational Battle

Jeff Henderson "GOP Generational Battle Heating Up in Florida House Race."

At the trough

"The path to a $1 billion redevelopment of downtown Tampa likely will go through Tallahassee – and right past the office of super-lobbyist Brian Ballard on its way to the Capitol." "Lobbyists looking for money for Tampa Bay."

"Dead man walking"

Nancy Smith: "Kevin McCarty, appointed insurance commissioner in 2003, apparently tops the prospective 'dead man walking' list -- particularly after the governor's office would not deny the rumor he's up next for the chop." "Who's Next for the Chop? Bet on Insurance Commissioner McCarty."

"Bits and Pieces"

Kevin Derby: "Political Bits and Pieces."

Cozy relationship

The Tampa Trib editors: "Add another bill to the growing pile of legislation aimed at reining in the questionable billing practices by the giant power companies operating in the state, in particular Duke Energy Florida." "Editorial: Targeting the cozy relationship between utilities and regulators."

"Bigots Hide Behind Religious Freedom"

Pierre Tristam: "When Bigots Hide Behind Religious Freedom."

Atwater delays homeless cash

"More than eight months after lawmakers approved millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded homeless grants, the money continues to collect dust and a local state senator is pointing the finger at the office of Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater." "Latvala blasts delay in getting state money to homeless groups."

"Huckabee Kicks Off Book Tour in Destin"

"2016 Buzz Building, Mike Huckabee Kicks Off Book Tour in Destin."

"Attention Florida Pot Growers"

"Attention Florida Pot Growers: State Would Pick 5 Nurseries To Cultivate Marijuana Under New Rule."

Scott’s handling of the ouster of former FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey drew harsh criticism from a fellow Republican.

Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, an independently elected Cabinet member, said Scott’s office mishandled Bailey’s removal and was deliberately vague about plans to force Bailey out.

Putnam, a likely candidate for governor in 2018, said Scott’s aides kept his staff in the dark about his true intentions at FDLE.

FlaBaggers in a dither

"U.S. loosens restrictions on Cuba, making trade and travel easier."

Webster revolt

"U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Winter Garden, is letting constituents know that the reason he ran for Speaker of the House was spelled out in a white paper he circulated challenging Congressional leadership processes as flawed and in need of change." "Webster white paper preceded revolt attempt."

Blind trusts in the spotlight

"A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal heard arguments in a case over the constitutionality of a two-year-old state law allowing politicians and candidates to use blind trusts."

Blind trusts shield their beneficiaries from knowing where money is coming from to avoid conflicts of interest.

Gov. Rick Scott, a multi-millionaire and former head of a for-profit hospital chain, has used a blind trust since becoming governor. He’s the only major public official in the state to do so.

What follows is a taste of Hiaasen's piece, but go read the entire thing, and subscribe to the Miami Herald (journalists and pundits may be self righteous jerks, but we need 'em).

Hiaasen begins with Scott telling Northerners to

Quit your jobs, pack up your families and get down here as fast as you can. Twenty million people aren’t enough — Florida needs more!

And don’t be spooked by the fact that we spend less per pupil on education than 47 other states, because we make up for it in so many other ways.

Low taxes, for example. The governor loves to brag about Florida’s low taxes.

You might think it’s a sore subject among Floridians, this being the time of year when many of us are staring at our property-tax bills and wondering why they keep going up, up, up.

It’s because irresponsibly jamming so many humans together requires somebody (and it’s never the developers!) to pay for the roads, bridges, sewers, fire stations, extra police officers and so on. That somebody who pays is us.

So what’s Gov. Scott really talking about when he says our state has low taxes?

They cut the cost of our vehicle license tags by an average of $25. That’s not a typo, folks. Twenty-five whole buckeroos.

I still haven’t figured out what to do with all of it. Treasury bonds? High-cap stocks?

If a double-digit cut in auto-tag fees isn’t enough to bring caravans of U-Hauls streaming into the Sunshine State, then I don’t know what will.

We’ve probably got enough fish, wildlife and wading birds to last one more generation. What we really need are more subdivisions full of humans flushing toilets.

Please don’t judge by what you read in the papers or see on TV, or by the latest FBI stats, which show Florida has more violent crimes per capita than New York, Illinois, California or Pennsylvania — all the places Gov. Scott is urging people to flee.

True, all types of criminals love it down here because of the climate. But while our prisons have been wretchedly overcrowded, additional cell space has become available under Scott’s administration due to a surge of untimely (and unexplained) inmate deaths.

Promised the governor: “Over the next four years, I will be traveling to your states personally, to recruit you here.”

Go get ’em, you crazy Martian goofball!

Hiaasen is not alone, Scott Maxwell points out that "Florida's entire economy is a Ponzi scheme."

Our main industry is growth. We need a constant influx of people to make it work. And since that's unsustainable, we lumber from boom to bust.

That leads to lots of foreclosures ... which leads to lots of cheap houses ... which (you guessed it) is yet another attraction for folks to move here.

New Yorkers get great deals on houses that former New Yorkers got evicted from.

Our low-level costs also attract some low-level thinkers. (Hence our nickname: Flori-duh.)

Scott "bashed Democratic Gov.-elect Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania, who won't be sworn in till Jan. 20, saying his 'proposed tax increases and mandates on businesses will no doubt be heavy blows to Pennsylvania families.' Wolf spokesman Jeff Sheridan said Scott 'seems to have a very superficial understanding of what's going on in our state.'" "Gov. Scott won't find brotherly love in Philly jobs raid."

"Puppet-masters in the Chamber"

Scott Maxwell: "For more than a year, gobs of people have urged the Florida Legislature to accept expanded Medicaid money from the feds. . . . Legislators may finally do the right thing because their puppet-masters in the Florida Chamber of Commerce seem to be giving them new marching orders. " "Florida's Medicaid expansion may happen ... because chamber wants it."

Kottkamp lobbying

"Jeff Kottkamp, former Republican lieutenant governor of Florida, completed paperwork Monday to begin lobbying on behalf of a new John Morgan-backed medical marijuana bill. It is expected to be a legislative alternative to a 2016 ballot amendment." "Jeff Kottkamp, Former LG, Will Lobby for John Morgan's Medical Marijuana Legislation."

Background: "Florida may expand medical-marijuana law."

Pension haters of the state unite

The Tampa Trib editors join the TaxWatch pension haters in reminding "lawmakers that although nearly all private-sector companies offer only defined contribution plans to employees, the state offers most workers in the Florida Retirement System a defined benefit, which commits it to promised benefits, regardless of its finances. Enrolling new workers in a private sector-like plan would protect workers who have signed up for the defined benefit plan but over time free the state from a pension commitment that has strangled other governments." "Flush with cash, state should invest wisely."

"Atwater Makes Sense"

"Jeff Atwater passed on running for the U.S. Senate in 2012, but he could have opportunities down the road for a Senate bid of his own." "Jeff Atwater Makes Sense for Future GOP Senate Candidate."

Jeb! Live from Greenwich

Kevin Derby: "As he publicly contemplates entering the 2016 presidential race, former Gov. Jeb Bush is wrapping up his vision to renew the American dream and offer more Americans greater opportunity."

But the Democratic National Committee (DNC) came out swinging at Bush, looking to paint the son of one president and the brother of another as incapable of understanding the American dream. Pointing toward Bush’s appearance on Bill O’Reilly’s show on Fox News this week and a fundraiser in Greenwich, Conn., a posh suburb of New York City which was the home base of his grandfather U.S. Sen. Prescott Bush, R-Conn., back in the 1950s, Ian Sams, a spokesman for the DNC, fired away at the former Florida governor.

“Jeb Bush isn’t a different type of Republican,” Sams said on Wednesday. “We can see that in his actions. He’s opened his campaign by cozying up to the same special interest, corporate, Fox News donor set that today’s GOP fights tooth and nail to protect, at the expense of working Americans. We’ve seen this from a Bush presidency before, and the last time we did, it wrecked our economy. We’re just surprised the closest he’s come to talking with everyday voters thus far has been a Facebook post.”

"Among the worst in the country"

"Though jobs are growing in the one-time manufacturing center of Hialeah, the city still ranked among the worst in the country as a place to find work." "Hialeah one of toughest places in U.S. to find a job."

FlaBaggers on fire

"Florida congressmen who opposed keeping U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, in power came out swinging against the speaker in recent days, showing the fight is far from over." "Florida Conservatives Not Backing Down Against John Boehner."

Surely its the Union's fault

"Lake County school officials on Monday defended their decision not to hire more teachers after some class sizes burst over the legal limit even though it could result in a $1.2 million fine." "Lake superintendent responds to class-size debacle, defends district."

Bilirakis' priorities

"Gus Bilirakis Wants to Close Tax Loophole for Illegal Immigrants."

All that’s really in doubt is the year: 2016, 2020, 2024?

And then, if he wins, there’s a good chance Gov. Rubio will run for president — 2020 would be attractive if a beatable Democrat is president. The next presidential year, 2024, an open-seat year, would be more likely. He’ll only be 52."Political players from Tallahassee to Washington want a decision made soon."

Dominoes will start tumbling.

Democrats will see an opportunity for an easier-to-win seat. Washington Republicans will go from protecting an incumbent (relatively easy) to backing a newcomer for an open seat (harder). To give fellow Republicans time to campaign for his seat, there’s pressure on Rubio to make a decision early and stick to it.

There’s more pressure from Rubio’s fellow Republicans because of the Florida GOP’s embarrassment of riches. The governor, lieutenant governor, chief financial officer and agriculture commissioner are all Republicans. All have ambitions for higher or other offices. So do former office holders in Tallahassee and a few less-mentioned members of congress.

♦Attorney General Pam Bondi (R)

♦CFO Jeff Atwater (R)

♦Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam (R)

♦Gov. Rick Scott (R)

♦Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera (R)

♦U.S. Rep Gwen Graham (D)

♦U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D)

♦Bob Buckhorn (D)

♦Former House Speaker Will Weatherford (R)

♦U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R)

♦U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis (R)

♦U.S. Rep. David Jolly (R)

Abortion games begin

"Doctors who perform abortions would be required to have privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of where the abortion is done under the first anti-abortion bill filed in the 2015 legislative session. HB 147 is similar to controversial laws in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma, which have the same 30-mile admitting privilege requirement for abortion providers." "Controversial abortion limits introduced in Fla. bill."

Raw political courage

"Rubio questions US low-profile at French solidarity march."

Florida's next Gub'ner

"With another four years till the next election for governor, it’s a little awkward being a political heir apparent."

Even this early, the guessing game for next governor has begun. Reports already have set up [Adam] Putnam, a former congressman from Polk County, as a potential Republican rival with Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater. Others see Atwater skipping the governor’s race and taking on third-term incumbent Bill Nelson, a Democrat, for his U.S. Senate seat. Still others have Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn running for governor in 2018, framing him as the Democrat most likely to win statewide office. And Buckhorn has publicly suggested he’s interested: “There will be an open seat in four years – I’m just sayin’,” he joked at an apartment tower groundbreaking the morning after Election Day.

not to count out GOP Attorney General Pam Bondi, who’s proven her mettle by raising millions in campaign contributions and running two successful statewide campaigns.

Bondi, a former Hillsborough County prosecutor, also is known for her many appearances as a Fox News guest.

U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, a Tallahassee Democrat, also is being talked about for governor in 2018.

Graham, daughter of former Gov. and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, already is making news. She was one of four Democrats in the U.S. House who voted against Nancy Pelosi for speaker, saying it was time for new leadership.

“She’s got the potential to unite conservative Democrats in north Florida and liberals in South Florida,” said Lance DeHaven-Smith, a public policy professor at Florida State University. “In four years, she could build enough of a reputation to run statewide and possibly win.”

♦ Pasco County’s Will Weatherford, a Republican who ascended to speaker of the Florida House of Representatives before reaching term limits last year.

♦ Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, a Democrat who also served in the state Senate.

♦ Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler, a Democrat who previously represented Broward County in the state House.

Crazies lead to secret GOP meetings

"Broward Republicans limit access in bid to improve image."

Lie down with dogs . . .

The GOP cheerleaders on the Tampa Trib editorial board complain that state Republican "lawmakers are pursuing legislation that would allow the holders of concealed weapons permits to carry their firearms on college campuses." "Leave college presidents in control of guns on campuses."

Moving on

"Familiar faces stayed in the Florida Senate in 2014 but that will change considerably over the next two years. Many of the new senators won’t be strangers to Tallahassee since plenty of them are veterans of the Florida House." "Many Florida House Reps. Want a Senate Move in 2016."

Scott to rely on "more property taxes from local school districts"

"Florida Gov. Rick Scott is moving ahead with a campaign promise to boost the amount of money going to the state's' public schools." But there's a hitch: "the increase would rely on more property taxes from local school districts." "Gov. Scott to propose more cash for public schools."

"FDP's Thorn"

Nancy Smith: "Leslie Wimes, FDP's Thorn, Should Be Its Rose."

"Legislators hold the cards"

"Florida’s budget outlook is so good that legislative leaders have suggested they may not renew a key provision of the gambling agreement — known as the compact — between the state and the Seminole Tribe. Or, they could be just bluffing." "Legislators hold the cards in new casino deal with Seminoles."

Bondi drops out sight

"Attorney General Pam Bondi, who has become the most visible supporter of the gay rights ban, dropped out of public view for much of the week, barring reporters from one inaugural celebration while skipping another event where they awaited her." "Attorney General Pam Bondi elusive as gay marriage becomes legal in Florida."

Castro completes deal; Rubio silent

"Cuba completes release of 53 political prisoners." See also "As part of deal with U.S., Cuba releases political prisoners."

Another day at the office

"Firefighters: Toddler survives fall from 3-story apartment."

New Medical MJ proposal

"The proposed amendment, submitted Thursday to the Florida Secretary of State’s office, closely resembles the 2014 initiative that narrowly failed at the ballot box — however it was rewritten throughout in an attempt to quiet critics who said it had too many loopholes." "Medical marijuana supporters unveil new proposal for 2016." See also "Pot back on the ballot?"

Where's Jeb!?

"In more than a dozen Florida cities, including St. Petersburg and Miami, Catholics this week will urge Gov. Rick Scott to commute the death sentence of a convicted murderer to life in prison without parole." "Florida Catholics plan prayer vigils with hope of blocking execution."