Showing posts with label Orlando Sentinel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Orlando Sentinel. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Cold Reality of the Sunshine State: Romney has won 2 small states whose total # of votes cast were less than # of absentee ballots requested in Florida -for an election in 3 weeks!; Romney's glass jaw



Newt Gingrich 2012 campaign video: On Bain Capital: It's a Question of Character, Not Capitalism. January 11, 2012. http://youtu.be/yV6qUI5-ij4


Above, audio of Newt Gingrich's appearance this afternoon on Sean Hannity's nationally-syndicated radio show, where he discussed Mitt Romney's track record with Bain Capital. He's rightly frustrated and at pains to explain the subtle yet important distinction of his having asked hard questions and demanded answers about what Romney actually did for the company, not Gingrich's questioning of the free enterprise system.


Unfortunately, among others, the Mainstream Media's punditocracy of the Left and the Right seem perfectly willing to ignore the clear distinction. 


Even worse for well-informed voters who want someone who will really take the fight to President Obama and make him the focal point of the campaign, that large group ignoring the distinction also includes the sycophantic Republican Party 'Establishment' based in the Beltway and in the state capitols, who favor political coronations, not hard-fought floor fights on public policy issues.


(To figure out who these particular GOP characters are, just picture John Sununu and his small-minded ilk taking up space in the Bush 41 White House, James Baker's State Dept., and carious agencies. Then, think of their many, many younger Gray Flannel suit-wearing underlings, who since then have either made it to Congress or became prominent in D.C. not by solving problems creatively, but rather by promising to finesse people they already know in exchange for money. Yes, lots and lots of smart but philosophically weak and outside-the-box averse guys. As it happens, to be honest, often the type of guys my then-girlfriends had broken-up with in order to be with me. 
The sort of well-educated but oblivious people who in the early Nineties often seemed more afraid of the fact that their whole worldview had been tossed upside-down by the fall of the Berlin Wall, and who DIDN'T want to recognize the bravery of the people in Eastern Europe and reward it by recognizing their independence, but who preferred instead that it stay in the Soviet sphere because that way they didn't have to think about it. 
Brent Scowcroft-types. 
These are THE people whom I most loathed of any I dealt with in the 15 years I lived and worked in Washington. And there are still lots of them who haven't learned a single lesson in twenty years.)


It's the same reason that the GOP establishment was so deathly afraid of the armies of retired accountants, military vets, college students and Libertarian-oriented school teachers interested in financial solvency in Washington who were the vanguard of the Tea Party movement -there was nothing they could offer to appease them.
They didn't want something in return, they wanted concrete results in Congress.


Romney's hyper-sensitive and completely calculated "How dare you criticize free enterprise..." response to Gingrich's probing questions, when that's NOT what's at issue, is also mentioned as part of the larger problem with Romney.


Not just that he is thin-skinned regarding constructive criticism of his own record, per se, but as many surmise, Romney's chiseled jaw is, in fact, a glass jaw.
One that Obama's minions will start jabbing and punching at long before the GOP convention if Romney wins.
Think Chuck Wepner in the 1975 Ali fight.


In short, Romney is being criticized on the specifics of what HE did in specific situations when he was in charge. 
Period


His ability -or inability- to make principled decisions and stick by them is exactly what's being criticized, and his own track record, post-Salt Lake City Olympics, is why that is such a mother lode.   




Newt Gingrich 2012 campaign video: For the dogs. January 11, 2012.
http://youtu.be/x-4bm5NxqPY


Cold Reality of the Sunshine State: Mitt Romney has won two small states whose total # of votes cast were less than the # of absentee ballots already requested by voters in Florida... for an election three weeks from last night.


I had actually heard speculation about the way these numbers would probably sort themselves out last week -ironically, while I was on my way to the Supervisor of Elections office in Broward County HQ's in Ft. Lauderdale- but nothing has changed to make them inaccurate.


If anything, the contrast in numbers will only get exponentially larger, something that national reporters, columnists and anchors will find themselves unable to resist mentioning -over and over again- when Romney supporters crow about what sort of "mandate" they have.
Just saying...


Orlando Sentinel
Central Florida Political Pulse blog 
RPOF: Florida absentee ballot requests now more than Iowa, NH vote totals 
2012 Florida presidential primary, 2012 presidential election — posted by scottpowers on January, 10 2012 11:17 AM
Absentee ballot requests in Florida now are double the total sought for the 2008 presidential primary and are more than all the votes cast in
Iowa and expected today in New Hampshire.
That’s the word from the Republican Party of Florida, which argues there is no voter enthusiasm gap this year.
Read the rest of the post at: http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2012/01/rpof-florida-absentee-ballot-requests-now-more-than-iowa-nh-vote-totals.html


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http://www.newt.org/


http://www.youtube.com/user/ngingrich

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

No Fair Districts here: Surprise! NAACP's proposed 2012 map keeps HB & Hollywood divided: Blacks given to Frederica Wilson, Jews to DWS; told ya!


Above, my screen grab of FL-17 Rep. Frederica Wilson appearing on WPLG-TV/Channel 10's "This Week in South Florida," July 21, 2011, with host Michael Putney. Wilson was only Florida House member to vote YES to increase the U.S. debt limit.

Fair Districts here: Surprise! NAACP's proposed 2012 map keeps Hallandale Beach & Hollywood divided: Blacks given to Frederica Wilson, Jews to Debbie Wasserman-Schultz; told ya!

The Central Florida Political Pulse blog of the Orlando Sentinel, which has been doing an infinitely better job of covering the Florida 2012 redistricting issue than any South Florida newspaper or blog, had the unhappy news yesterday that we were anticipating -despite their previous lip-service, the Florida NAACP was and is the object of the ruling status quo society.

They have zero interest in having this state actually have legislative districts that encourage competitive elections that are based on ideas and public policies.

Here's a question for the NACCP.
Florida is the fourth-largest state in the United States.
Yet the state's Black Democratic politicians are currently so unappealing and ineffective and so lacking in common sense on the issues that most concern Floridians, that in my opinion, not a single one could be elected state-wide.
Not one.

Even while Republican Jennifer Carroll, mother of Dolphin defensive back Nolan Carroll, was elected Lt. Governor as part of Rick Scott's ticket last November.

Compare that to California, Texas, or NY, the three states larger than Florida.
Each one has had African-American Democratic candidates successfully earn the nomination for governor or U.S. Senate based on primary campaigns dealing with ideas and the state's future, and DIDN'T have state Democratic elected officials abandon them and bail in droves like Florida's White Democrats did to Kendrick Meek last year in his third-place U.S. Senate race against Marco Rubio and Gov. Charlie Crist, supporting Crist.

In Florida, though, like a caricature of a cartoon, most of the Black Dems who are best-known to the public throughout the state are known more for negative things than their particular legislative accomplishments or in-depth knowledge of a subject of public policy importance, and the troubling thing is that most reporters and Democratic voters don't seem to care how this looks. Perception becomes reality.
Instead, they just shrug their shoulders.

That means that to the extent they are known at all, they're known and usually reported upon in the state's MSM because of their fashion sense, continuing questions about whether they are STILL breaking state rules on residency, and their unwillingness to engage in a public discussion of ideas other than ones of their own choosing: Frederica Wilson, Joe Gibbons, Corrine Brown.
And there's more where that comes from, like princely State Senator Gary Siplin of Orlando, who, judging from his history, seems to prefer that Florida legislators have as much leeway and as little adult supervision as possible.

See for yourself:
Central Florida Political Pulse blog
Siplin blasts ethics bill, defends Sansom, and Senate committee shoots it down
posted by aaron deslatte on March, 29 2011 5:30 PM
Palm Beach Post
Florida ethics panel drops $200,000 in fines owed by 168 officials after time limit passes
By John Kennedy, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 4:57 p.m. Friday, June 17, 2011

There's your dose of reality, Florida and Florida reporters.
Breaking News! Not!

Rep. Corrine Brown, FL-3, is someone who is literally her own worst enemy, often placing a verbal noose around her own neck, again-and-again, to defend the indefensible: "Look at the South. Nothing has changed.''
Really?

The evidence to the contrary of that is all around us, starting at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but then how do you argue with somone who has made clear for so long that facts have little to do with what she says or does?

See where that quote comes from at the bottom of this post, and see the back story on this perpetually embarrassing woman in the June 12th, 2010 Buzz blog post in the St. Pete Times by Adam C. Smith titled, Corrine Brown and Mr. Gerry Mandering,

To take a look at Rep. Brown's current joke of a congressional district -CD- the Jacksonville-to-Orlando 200-mile absurdity which was highlighted here on my blog and in print ads and TV commercials last year, which helped lead to overwhelming public support among Florida voters for Amendments 5 & 6 last November, see http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd?state=FL&district=3

To see a great video on Corrine Brown's embarrassing CD, see my post of October 25, 2010, titled, New TV ad from FairDistrictsFlorida.org; FL-17 and Corrine Brown's FL-3 are embarrassing embodiment of what unchecked gerrymandering gets you:

Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell spelled it all out very nicely in his Taking Names column of November 8th, saying about her,

If Florida ever stops gerrymandering, Brown's Democrat-loaded district is toast.

There's no way her snake-like district, which covers 200 miles and stretches from Jacksonville to Gainesville and then down to Sanford and Orlando, could survive.


Orlando Sentinel
Corrine Brown, secret interests fight your vote
November 08, 2011
Scott Maxwell, TAKING NAMES

And locally, congrats Hallandale Beach, Liberty City, Overtown and Hollywood!
Like it or not, it's been decided that you voters in FL-17 have an awful lot in common and that you've drawn the short straw and won't be having an actual congressional campaign next year.

Your representative has already been selected for you: globetrotting, do-nothing Frederica Wilson and her far-flung and over-the-top hats.
The woman whom, as I've previously written here, repeatedly said she supported Obama's ill-conceived jobs bill, but who never quite ever managed to find the time to formally sign-up to be a House sponsor herself, behavior that matched FL-20's DWS.
Nope, she was always too busy.
What a hypocrite!

And who locally is laughing about the NAACP's congressional maps?
Residents of Aventura, the Miami-Dade County city south of me by a few blocks, as the NAACP takes the position that Aventura will continue be repped by someone in Washington from Broward County who lives northwest of me, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, while here in the part of Hallandale Beach west of U.S.-1, we get to continue to be represented by someone from Miami-Dade whose district is based far SE from here in Liberty City, Overtown and Opa-Locka.
So whatever happened to the important notion of "compactness'?

Yes, the NAACP will do anything to keep the frequently-absent Frederica Wilson in office, even if it violates the intent and spirit of the two state constitutional Amendments that were overwhelmingly passed last year.
Surprise!

And if that means Wilson never has to have a competitive general election and can take her job for granted...
Right, it's not THEIR problem.

As for FL State House Rep. Joe Gibbons, well as everyone who comes to this blog knows by now, that former HB city commissioner represents a district here in SE Broward County, but it's not where his own wife and children live.

I know, I know, you really thought "home is where the heart is," right?
Not in his case.

Gibbons is an old-fashioned political opportunist and carpet-bagger, and as has been mentioned here numerous times, with the links to articles and post to prove it, Gibbons even tried to claim a Homestead exemption for his so so-called HB home, but the city rejected it because he failed the residency requirements most basic rule -he didn't live there.

Yet what has happened to him?
What has Broward State's Attorney Mike Satz done to show that nobody is above the law, even the low threshold that the Florida Legislature maintains for itself?
Nothing.

When did the august editorial boards of the Miami Herald or South Florida Sun-Sentinel ever write anything about it?
They never have.

When you consider who is on their Editorial Board, it's little wonder -not exactly mental giants!

Some of the folks above are the same people responsible for the endorsement of Anthony A. Sanders for HB City Commission in 2008, despite his disconnectedness from the larger community, a fact which is just as self-evident three years later.
Was it because he was Black and they were suffering pangs of Liberal White Guilt that earned him the nod, when facts seem not to have mattered to the editorial board?

Not that the Herald has ever written a single thing about any of Sanders' actions involving ethics, or the city rushing to purchase his home for more than it was worth, but then renting it out for a dollar a month with no plausible explanation for what the property is intended to be used for. That's still the case.
So why did the city buy it?
No explanation and the Herald doesn't ask.

Meanwhile, his completely unsatisfactory performance as commissioner now enters its fourth year.

Yes, there's your freedom of the press in the year 2011 in South Florida -sleepwalking.

And he talks about running for Congress?
From what state?

And I would know since I've had a Google Alert for Joe Gibbons for years.

Last year I finally subscribed to the Central Florida Political Pulse via my Blogger Reading List, after formally having them Bookmarked for years, since it allows me to receive their posts within seconds of them being posted online, which is fantastic.

NAACP redistricting maps have familiar look
Redistricting NAACP plan with comparison to the current Congressional districts in Central Florida
By Aaron Deslatte, Tallahassee Bureau Chief
10:47 p.m. EST, November 20, 2011

TALLAHASSEE — Republican lawmakers say voters who last year endorsed the anti-gerrymandering Fair Districts constitutional reforms may be in for a rude awakening when the first drafts of congressional and legislative maps are released in the coming weeks.

Something akin to: Meet the new maps, same as the old maps.
Read the rest of the article at:


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Roll Call
Democrats Betting Big on Florida Redistricting
New Fair Districts Law Will Prevent Major GOP Gerrymander, but Huge Gains Are Not Likely
By Joshua Miller, Roll Call Staff
Nov. 8, 2011, Midnight

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WTVY-TV News (Dothan, Alabama) video: Fla. Redistricting Process Getting Heated. Posted: 9:18 PM Nov 21, 2011, Reporter: Troy Kinsey. Updated: 9:21 PM Nov 21, 2011,

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Meanwhile, at Steve Schale's blog...
Story Lines - Florida Congressional Redistricting
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2011 AT 5:54PM

As we near the unveiling of the first official Congressional redistricting maps, here are some of the interesting story lines to keep an eye out for. This list isn't meant to be exhaustive, but more the things that I am watching out for as the reapportionment and redistricting process begins in earnest in early December.
Read the rest of his post at:

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Here's a question: Why is it that all this time after former City of Miami City Manager Tony Crapp, Jr. resigned, that we still don't know for whom -or what group- in the redistricting battle he's working on behalf of?

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*Reminder: Broward County Commission will vote on their own redistricting maps in three weeks on December 13th. More on that as the date approaches.

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Miami Herald http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/20/1834230/congressional-vets-align-with.html

Congressional vets align with business groups to challenge redistricting proposals

By Mary Ellen Klas, Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau

September 20, 2010

As the high stakes battle over drawing political boundaries goes to the November ballot, two veteran Florida congressmen joined with business groups Monday to launch a campaign to defeat the proposals that would upend the way their districts are drawn.

Democratic Rep. Corrine Brown of Jacksonville and Republican Rep. Mario Diaz Balart of Miami, both elected to Congress in 1992, said they will work to defeat Amendments 5 and 6 because they believe the standards will lead to less minority representation, not more.

"These amendments will have the effect of bleaching the state of Florida as it was before 1992 when minorities did not have the ability to elect candidates of their choice,'' said Diaz Balart.

"It's unworkable. It will have a devastating effect on minorities across the state.''

The amendments, pushed by Fair Districts Florida, create new standards that would make it harder for legislators to gerrymander political districts. Proponents say the standards will strengthen the rights of minorities under the 1965 Voting Rights Act by chiseling them into the constitution, not weakening them.

"Rep.'s Diaz Balart and Brown are sadly mistaken about Amendments 5 & 6,'' said Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida. "These constitutional amendments are the most important changes that voters can make right now that will strengthen minority voting rights and protect the right of minorities to elect representatives of their choice.''

The anti-amendment effort, known as the Protect Your Vote campaign, has enlisted the help of former Secretary of State Kurt Browning and the public relations firm of Ron Sachs Communications.

The committee is ready to raise and spend "at least $4 [million] maybe more'' to defeat Amendments 5 and 6, Browning said, and will place ads on television. Associated Industries of Florida and the Florida Chamber of Commerce have lined up in support.

Browning warned the amendments would effectively "give the courts more influence in that process, which is unnecessary.''

Brown and Diaz Balart had hoped that a legislative counter measure would also be on the ballot, but the Florida Supreme Court threw it out two weeks ago. They have also filed their own lawsuit seeking to keep the measure off the ballot, but have lost at every stop.

Florida's once-a-decade redistricting process has been riddled with court fights since 1992, when the court-drawn districts ushered in maps that concentrated minority voters into minority-majority districts. Since then, the state has had three black members and three Hispanics elected to Congress.

That year, the new maps resulted in diluting Democratic congressional districts and the Florida Legislature. It also gradually allowed Republicans to control to the Legislature and assume the majority in Florida's congressional delegation by the mid-1990s.

Supporters of the Fair Districts campaign argue that the amendment will impose new standards that will allow for more geographically compact districts, increase competition for elected office and ensure that minorities are represented when districts are redrawn.

The group has raised $4.2 million to collect enough signatures to get on the ballot and defend the legal challenges. Much of the group's money came from trial lawyers, teachers, unions and out-of-state advocacy organizations.

The amendments are also supported by the NAACP and all but two of Florida's legislative black caucus members, who argued that in the two decades since the 1992 court-drawn districts, minorities have been elected from districts that aren't concentrated and that Florida voters are now more color-blind.

But Brown said Monday she disagrees. "Look at the South. Nothing has changed,'' she said. "You can't take politics out of politics.'' Brad Ashwell of Florida Public Interest Research Group called Brown and Diaz Balart's opposition a self-serving attempt to scare minority voters.

"It's inherently political,'' Ashwell said. ``Reforming the redistricting process is an aggressive assault on whatever party is in power. It's going to radically affect their ability to retain their power. What we want is more competitive elections, more accountability.''

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

"And you thought building roads was all about transportation?" Scott Maxwell asks, "Why won't Rep. Chris Dorworth explain $713,000 in new assets?"

If I didn't know any better -and it wasn't actually mentioned in the spot-on column by Scott Maxwell- I'd have thought that FL State Rep. Chris Dorworth sounded exactly like someone straight out of South Florida's multi-hat wearing, nouveau riche nexus of government, lobbying and politics, someone who got into politics convinced that we just can't live without them, even though we already were. (Yes, the 'Geller Effect.')

But instead, Dorworth is from the Sanford area, home of Amtrak's Auto Train.
More's the pity.

And let's be serious, given their track record in Broward, you simply can't beat the Ash-Britt connection!

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Orlando Sentinel
Why won't Rep. Chris Dorworth explain $713,000 in new assets?
Scott Maxwell, TAKING NAMES
11:18 PM EDT, October 22, 2011

Two years ago, State Rep. Chris Dorworth was in a heap of financial trouble.

His Lake Mary mansion was facing foreclosure. And aside from the stuff in his house, his only other assets were $40,000 in cash and a Chrysler Pacifica.

His sole income — a legislative salary of $2,600 a month — wasn't nearly enough to cover his monthly mortgage payments of about $10,000. Nor had he been able to satisfy a $1.35 million legal judgment against him from a failed business venture.

In short: Things were very bleak for the Republican legislator.

Read the rest of the column at:


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See also:
Florida House candidate Chris Dorworth's divorce records reveal financial problems. State Rep. Chris Dorworth's divorce records estimate his net worth as $3 million in the red

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Florida House votes to repeal red-light camera law, no thanks to wimpy Broward members: 1 for repeal, 16 against HB 4087


I could make this post lengthy and impassioned but I won't.
I'm far too tired and the information below is self-explanatory in the extreme.

If you want to believe the opposite of what you can see right in front of your own eyes, you're entitled to your opinions.
On the other hand, I can use that opinion of yours against you and not think you very credible on other matters in the future based on your lack of seriousness now.
In fact, you can pretty much count on it.


The Pavlovian pro-Nanny State response of the Broward Legislative Delegation Monday explains SO much of what makes this part of the Sunshine State so very unappealing for visitors and depressing for citizen taxpayers.

Those of you living far away have no idea how idea-starved this area is and how myopic Florida legislators vision is.

Speaking of the Broward Legislative Delegation
, I will have a post this coming weekend about them that makes a simple case for ending one of their unfunded mandates that's paid for by Broward taxpayers that the public does NOT benefit from.

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Orlando Sentinel
Central Florida Political Pulse
Red-light repeal lives to fight another day
Posted by Aaron Deslatte on May, 2 2011 4:37 PM

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2011/05/red-light-repeal-lives-to-fight-another-day.html

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BrowardBeat
House Votes To Ban Red Light Cameras!
By Buddy Nevins
May 2, 2011

The Florida House on Monday passed a ban on controversial red light cameras.

The vote was a razor-thin 59 to 57.

Unlike many issues in the Legislature, banning cameras had significant Republican and Democratic support. They fought a small army of lobbyists for the red light camera industry and cities hungry for the revenue the cameras produce.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://www.browardbeat.com/house-votes-to-ban-red-light-cameras/

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So, who voted for the repeal and who voted against?
The Miami Herald's first report on the vote, an AP dispatch, doesn't say.

So what else is new, right?

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/02/2197508/fla-house-votes-to-repeal-red.html

That's been the way things have been there for so long that it's hard to believe that "Once upon a time..."


I cobbled together the information below so that you will know who did what, since neither the Herald or Sun-Sentinel seem too interested in revealing it.



Florida State Representatives that are part of the Broward Legislative Delegation, even if based in another county, and how they voted Monday on HB 4087.
Green is for repeal, red means they love red-light cameras and absolutely believe the Joy Coopers of the world when they say it has nothing to do with revenue.

Just don't ask them if the cameras are deployed first to the areas that received the most red-light running complaints or were the scene s of the most accidents caused by that before their installation.
They really don't want to have to tell the truth on that question since in Hallandale Beach, as is the case with many other cities, they ARE NOT.
The powers that be simply don't want to be bothered with your inconvenient facts.


87 Bill Hager
90 Irving Slosberg

91 George Moraitis, Jr.

92 Gwyn Clarke-Reed

93 Perry Thurston, Jr.

94 Hazel Rogers

95 Jim Waldman

96 Ari Porth

97 Martin Kiar

98 Franklin Sands

99 Elaine Schwartz

100 Evan Jenne

101 Matt Hudson

102 Eduardo Gonzalez

103 Barbara Watson

105 Joe Gibbons

112 Jeanette Nuñez


The voting information above is from the Florida House's own website, but I had to double-check the members House district numbers to put it in some order:
http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Sen. Marco Rubio on NBC's Meet the Press re federal budget, debt ceiling, Medicare, et al; FL U.S. Senate 2012 possibilities



NBC-TV's Meet the Press
video
-Host David Gregory speaks to Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida about the 2012 federal budget, the federal debt ceiling, saving Medicare, the (Paul) 'Ryan Plan,' and U.S. foreign policy, to wit, Libya.

http://youtu.be/GdtR7s-nqcE

If you are someone who considers themselves pretty well-informed and are watching the video of this morning's Meet the Press program from outside of the U.S., and get the distinct impression that Sen. Rubio, who has been in office less than four months, is being asked to explain -and or defend- public policies in more detail than many longstanding members of the U.S. Congress you can name, who get nothing but softball questions... take a bow.
You are correct.


Sen. Rubio's
YouTube Channel is at:
http://www.youtube.com/user/SenatorMarcoRubio

U.S. House Budget Comm. YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/HouseBudgetCommittee

American Roadmap YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/AmericanRoadmap

The other U.S. Senator from Florida is Democratic two-termer Bill Nelson, who is up for re-election in 2012. He's a nice enough guy, but NOT nearly as dynamic, savvy or articulate as what this complex and crazy-quilt of a state demands, Florida being the country's fourth-largest.

Sen. Nelson's YouTube Channel is at http://www.youtube.com/user/SenBillNelson

I won't be voting for Nelson next year and currently have no GOP preference, but I am AGAINST a few GOP candidates for the office, the most prominent being the myopic, ethically-troubled Florida State Senate President, Mike Haridopolos; he's bad news personified!


I'd much prefer Florida State Senator
Paula Dockery or Orange County (Orlando) mayor Teresa Jacobs, both of whom are very smart and articulate people full of ideas who are NOT at all afraid to speak (and vote) against the state political orthodoxy and the establishment of Tallahassee in particular, and Florida in general.
Nor are they afraid to speak against their own party and supporters when they think they're wrong.


For an excellent example of that attitude, read these two Mike Thomas columns from the Orlando Sentinel, since they're positive pieces of a sort that very, very few Florida pols could earn.


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Orlando Sentinel

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/columnists/os-mike-thomas-performing-arts-center20101222,0,3790804.column

Teresa Jacobs has to challenge performing-arts center bailout

By Mike Thomas COMMENTARY
8:50 p.m. EST, December 22, 2010
Orlando is $61 million short in getting the performing-arts center off the ground. So the city and arts supporters are hitting up Teresa Jacobs, Orange County's mayor-elect, for an advance on almost half of it.

She might as well get used to people groveling for money.


I have long supported an arts center. But this is like old Uncle Al, flat broke with holes in his shoes, hitting you up for $500 because he's got a sure thing at the track.


Give it to him and you know he's coming back for more.

None of this is a surprise for those of us who have followed the saga of the three downtown venues — the arts center, the arena and the Citrus Bowl.


The county budget-crunchers knew this day was coming back in 2007 when they negotiated the $1.1 billion venues deal with Orlando. They thought Mayor Buddy Dyer and Co. were out of their fiscal minds for taking on this much risk.


So the county built a firewall.

It would give the city enough resort-tax money to build a new Magic arena for billionaire Rich DeVos.


But the performing-arts center and Citrus Bowl would have to get in line behind a long list of priorities already funded by the resort tax.


If Buddy's gamble failed, the county was protected.


On paper, at least. That doesn't take into account the intangible of political pressure that would accompany the request for a bailout. If you don't give us the money, the project will not get built, and it will be your fault.


Now that we are there, what will Jacobs do?


She is, by nature, a cautious fiscal conservative. In fact, it was Jacobs who put a caveat in the venues deal, requiring that the arts center be fully funded before any debt was issued to waste money on a Citrus Bowl renovation.


During the mayoral campaign, Jacobs was criticized for being too focused on details when the job required a big-picture consensus builder. Being branded as the person who killed the arts center wouldn't help that perception.

But there are so many pitfalls here, she could hardly be blamed for doing so. Here are a few of them:


•The city is broke, which raises the question of where it plans to come up with its half of the shortfall. The county also doesn't have a spare $30 million stuffed in a mattress, meaning it could be forced to raid a reserve fund set aside for the convention center. That would be ill-advised.


•This deal would allow construction of phase one of the arts center — an amplified arena for events such as Broadway shows and a small 300-seat theater. Will the city come back for another cash advance when it comes time to build phase two — a 1,700 seat acoustical hall?


•The county could be the money pile of last resort to cover operating deficits. Some of this tab was going to be paid by leasing property next to the center for a hotel and office building. But the economy put the kibosh on that.


There also are disturbing rumors about donors backing out of their pledges, which could create an even deeper fiscal hole for the county to fill down the road.


The problem in dealing with Orlando is that the city is tapped out. So the minute a bulldozer rolls onto the site, the county could find itself sucked into a black hole, from which there is no politically feasible escape.


At a minimum, Jacobs should insist that the city raise its $31 million share of the shortfall first. She then should demand to see an updated list of all donor pledges and the contracts they signed with the arts center.

The county needs some guarantee it won't bankroll operating expenses.


The city must agree not to spend any more money renovating the Citrus Bowl until the arts center is finished and its operating costs are known and accounted for.

Every dime the city spends on that empty stadium is another dime the county probably will have to make up for at the arts center.

Finally, Jacobs should insist the city contact Magic owner Rich DeVos about providing a loan, which would be repaid as resort-tax funds become available. He could take his interest out of the $10 million he has pledged to the arts center.

Jacobs has a lot of options. The worst one is writing out a check for $30 million with no questions and no demands.
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Orlando Sentinel

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-mike-thomas-jacobs-arts-021311-20110212,0,351626.column

Orange Mayor Jacobs gives Orlando a dose of reality on arts center

Mike Thomas COMMENTARY
5:59 p.m. EST
, February 12, 2011

Business as usual in this town officially ended at noon on Feb. 10.

That's when Orange Mayor Teresa Jacobs hit the send button and delivered a scathing review of the planned performing-arts center to inboxes across Orange County.

Her staff uncovered millions in waste, slipshod construction contracts, double-billings and overall gross mismanagement. Given that Orlando is ultimately in charge of building the center, she left City Hall in pretty much the same shape that the Air Force left Baghdad in 2003.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer emerged from the rubble hours later to answer questions like: "Are you embarrassed?"

You better believe it. He also was livid. This was a major breach of protocol. Proper etiquette requires that mayoral combat be conducted by backstabbing in private.

This all began in December when the city made the big mistake of asking the county for $30 million to help cover a funding shortfall for the arts center.

Normally, the county would have put up token resistance before succumbing to political pressure and writing a check.

The days of normalcy are over.

Jacobs said no. And then she unleashed her advisers and staff on an arts-center cost-cutting mission. Needless to say, mission accomplished.

Normally this would have been handled behind the scenes.

But Jacobs and her people grew suspicious of the city's good intentions as the process dragged on.

She also believes that full public disclosure is in the best interest of the public. Judging by her landslide election victory last November, the public agrees.

And so Jacobs gave the public what it voted for. She publicly nuked Buddy.

Somewhere, former Orange Mayor Rich Crotty is either smiling or wincing. Jacobs used to nuke him all the time when she served on the commission.

But just to be clear, Jacobs does not launch unless the target presents itself.

There are bigger problems with this arts center than mismanagement of planning and construction.

The city's reserve fund to cover its bond debt is underfunded. The endowment fund that will be used to help cover center operations expenses is grossly underfunded.

The city's downtown taxing district is tapped out.

Construction of the acoustical hall — the venue most cherished by local arts groups — has been put off indefinitely. And each year of delay will add an estimated $16 million to the price tag.

And then there are the things not in the report.

Last year, Fitch Ratings downgraded the city's Magic arena bonds to junk status.

Orlando has borrowed $90 million, with the loan based on the value of Centroplex property that's not worth half that much. Dyer has thrown $10 million at sprucing up the FloridaCitrus Bowl and now is aiming money at the "Creative Village.

The city's tab for pension benefits exceeds $50 million a year.

And this was on our front page last April: "For the second year in a row, the city of Orlando faces a staggering deficit of tens of millions of dollars and will look to erase the red ink by paring city staff and cutting services."

Yet in December, Dyer said he could cough up an additional $31 million for the arts center.

Jacobs is rightly concerned that she is doing business with Greece.

And when Dyer can't pull any more money out of his magic hat, the county will be the deep pocket of last resort once construction of the arts center begins. Even more disturbing is that the city and arts supporters are in a mad dash to get construction going. Their theory is that everything will work itself out once the bulldozers arrive.

It's a faith-based initiative, whereas the county administration building is filled with fiscal atheists who don't believe in miracles.

So what happens next?

The prevailing theory is that Dyer and the board running the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts will tell Jacobs to butt out and try to get the project started without any more help from the county. That certainly should scare the bejabbers out of big-money donors and city taxpayers.

A better idea is for Dyer to go to Jacobs, get her terms of surrender for more financial backing, let her more-experienced staff help salvage this mess and worry about revenge some other day.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

BP oil spill remediation funds: Birds gotta fly, fish gotta swim, little towns gotta spend money like crazy like... well, little towns. And South FL?

Entering Miami-Dade County sign on south-bound U.S.-1/Biscayne Blvd., Aventura, coming out of Hallandale Beach. Aventura Hospital on the right. November 16, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier.


Birds gotta fly, fish gotta swim, little towns gotta spend money like crazy like... well, little towns...
Like many of you out there reading this post today, I'm really looking forward to finding out where the
BP remediation funds sent to Miami-Dade and Broward Counties -that saw no oil- actually wind-up being spent.


Given the long and well-chronicled tradition in South Florida of our elected officials and municipal/county leaders' outside-the-box thinking when it comes to ways of treating themselves (and their pals) like kings and queens, with money that's supposed to be spent in very specific ways -for instance, money for environmental code enforcement getting squandered by cocky and patronizing Miami-Dade cops on TVs, see below- I wait with baited breath to see which local print or TV reporters are first to expose how the money was spent down here in ways that only raise more questions about the character and caliber of the people making those decisions.


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St. Petersburg Times
BP buys Gulf Coast millions in gear

By Michael Kunzelman, Mike Schneider and Melinda Deslatte

Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Tasers. Brand-new SUVs. A top-of-the-line iPad. A fully loaded laptop. In the year since the Gulf oil spill, officials along the coast have gone on a spending spree with BP money, dropping tens of millions of dollars on gadgets and other gear - much of which had little to do with the cleanup, an Associated Press investigation shows.

The oil giant opened its checkbook while the crisis was still unfolding last spring and poured hundreds of millions of dollars into Gulf Coast communities with few strings attached.
Read the rest of the article at:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GULF_OIL_SPILL_SPENDING_SPREE?SITE=FLPET&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

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Orlando Sentinel
Central Florida Politcal Pulse
blog

BP gives NW Fla $30 M

Posted by khaughney on April, 11 2011 11:54 AM

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2011/04/bp-gives-nw-fla-30-m.html

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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/01/13/2015129/miami-dade-police-wont-repay-misspent.html

Miami-Dade police won't repay misspent environmental funds

By Matthew Haggman

January 13, 2011

The Miami-Dade Police Department is acknowledging it misspent funds meant to fight environmental crime on flat-screen TVs, SUVs and firearms.

"Clearly inappropriate,'' Police Director James Loftus says.

But putting the money back into the green funds, as the county's inspector general has requested? Not so fast.

"No, we are not,'' county police spokeswoman Nancy Perez said.

Miami-Dade Inspector General Christopher Mazzella said in a recent memo to Mayor Carlos Alvarez that the police have adopted many of his recommended fixes, following a scathing IG audit that found the police used two environmental trust funds as a kitty for pricey purchases with little connection to environmental crime-fighting.

But the police department is flatly rebuffing two IG recommendations: that it stop using green-fund money to pay expenses such as monthly cellphone and aircard bills, and that it repay the misused public dollars.

"We continue to stand by our original recommendations that the Trust Funds be reimbursed,'' Mazzella said in a Dec. 21 memo to Alvarez.

The police department isn't obligated to follow the IG's recommendations, unless the mayor or the county commission act. And there's little push coming from the county executive's office.

Mayoral spokeswoman Victoria Mallette would only say in a statement that "administrative procedures have been strengthened.'' When pressed whether the mayor thinks county police should pay up, she referred questions to Loftus and hung up.

The standoff is the latest chapter in a scandal that erupted last year over county stewardship of funds that were meant to combat polluters. Instead, amid "overall chaotic administration,'' the funds were steered to "excessive, unreasonable, or unnecessary'' purchases, the IG audit found.

The IG's inquiry, following a Miami Herald series last year that detailed dubious spending, focused on nearly $6 million spent from 2000 to 2009 from two funds: the South Florida Environmental Task Force Trust Fund and Florida Environmental Task Force Trust Fund.

More than $1.1 million was spent on vehicle-related expenses, including the purchase of 23 SUVs and trucks that went to top brass rather than environmental investigators working in remote areas. Another $1.1 million went for cellphones used, in many cases, by officials in non-environmental departments.

Three Sharp 52-inch flat screen TVs were snapped up for about $6,000. Nearly $35,000 was spent on 30 Smith & Wesson M&P-15 rifles and holographic sights. Police justified the firearms on the grounds that an environmental investigator might encounter "a wildlife poacher armed with a high-powered rifle.''

Three Segways were bought for $25,000. One was used periodically to patrol MDPD's suburban headquarters, and two were found "sitting unused in a warehouse,'' auditors found.

The episode served as an embarrassment for embattled Mayor Alvarez, who is facing a recall vote on March 15.

Division Chief Frank Vecin, a close ally and supporter of Mayor Alvarez, was in charge of fund spending. At one point, Alvarez was ferried around in a Chevy Tahoe purchased with green-fund money. The county mayor later returned the automobile, saying he didn't know it was bought with funds meant to fight polluters.

The revelations of fund mismanagement prompted the retirement of Vecin.

"The IG believes the funds were managed improperly,'' said C. Michael Cornely, Vecin's attorney. "It was their opinion. To me, the IG justifies its existence by looking for things and making issues out of things that are not really an issue.''

The two environmental funds, created in 2000 by the county commission and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, were established to help fight polluters in South Florida, which the county has called a "drum dump capital.'' Funding sources included fines and court judgments.

Police director Loftus -- named to the top job in February, after spending questions were already being raised -- now says new money will not be accepted into the two funds. The remaining balance in the accounts is $1.5 million.

In defending his position that the police department need not repay the misspent dollars, Loftus contends that over the life of the trust funds, the department paid some $27 million out of its general fund for the salaries and benefits of officers and directors working environmental investigations -- that, in sum, the contribution of personnel costs far offset the questioned expenses.

Mazzella responded that the trust fund money was "to augment, not replace'' general funds.

If they police were to repay for misspending, the precise amount isn't clear, though the August audit provides a road map.

"We left it to the police to determine what was justified, and repay what was not,'' said Mazzella.

Miami Herald staff writer Martha Brannigan contributed to this report.
In case you live outside of South Florida and are reading this and wondering if the sort of inappropriate behavior by law enforcement officials -described above in such great detail by Matthew Haggman- is common, and whether the cumulative effect of such moral and intellectual laxness was a factor in the successful recall from office of former M-D mayor Carlos Alvarez last month, the answer to both questions is YES.

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Not that you asked but the BP station in Aventura on Biscayne Blvd. & N.E. 211th Street, across from Aventura Hospital and near the Venezuelan Target, is my favorite service station in the area to use, as I've probably only used a different operator maybe five times in the past year. They are always clean, efficient and extremely well-lit at night, which is more than I can say for many other service stations in SE Broward/NE Miami-Dade.

Plus, they usually have copies of the NY Times available when other places are already out.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan discuss the federal budget and why they're against 'business as usual' votes in Washington that preserve the status quo

Fox News Channel video: Sen. Marco Rubio on 'Fox News Sunday' with host Chris Wallace - April 3, 2011.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZRDCHGMILs

Speaking of being articulate and specific about what your own personal policy positions are regarding the looming federa
l budget battle and the national debt, so that there's no confusion or misunderstanding, as we were the other day with Marco Rubio, the opposite take on that approach causes me to ask aloud whether Sen. Bill Nelson is still among us.

The South Florida news media seems not to be too keen to actually ask Nelson where he stands on any of these things and what he wants to do or cut or anything.


No, they almost seem to be going out of their way to ignore
Nelson, which causes me to ask whether that's for his lack of a cogent plan, strategy or framework, or whether it's just that they know in advance that, after eleven years in the Senate, he'll say absolutely nothing noteworthy in his usual earnest, plodding style, and they don't want to waste their time doing that, knowing that it's an hour they'll never ever have again.

Which is one of the reasons that while today is April 3rd, you CAN'T find a single story in the Miami Herald this year where Bill Nelson actually talks about the federal budget and the debt ceiling, and what he thinks should be done or how he will vote.
Go ahead, I dare you.

It simply can't be found -there isn't one.


Yes, with every passing day, collectively, the Miami Herald and the rest of the South Florida news media just continue walking deeper-and-deeper into the black hole of utter irrelevancy...





Fox News Channel video: Rep. Paul Ryan, Chairman of U.S. House Budget Comm.: on
Fox News Channel's 'Sean Hannity Show' - March 1, 2011 - "House GOP Will Lead Where the President Has Failed"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-bgVl7EhNI

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Orlando Sentinel

www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/views/os-mike-thomas-medicare-040311-20110402,0,2086543.column

Rubio is right to push for cuts to senior programs

Mike Thomas

COMMENTARY

9:49 PM EDT, April 2, 2011

Marco Rubio says he isn't interested in running for vice president in 2012. And to confirm that, he then said we have to scale back senior entitlement programs.

That got him lots of national attention, and a resounding round of silence from his Republican colleagues in Washington.

They didn't win the U.S. House this year, with an eye on the White House next year, only to risk it all by alienating the people who comprise the biggest voting bloc.


You will not see a Republican pointing to the retirees at a Tea Party gathering and saying, "You're the biggest part of the problem.''

Does anyone remember "A Roadmap for America's Future'' put out by Paul Ryan, the whiz-kid, budget-slashing congressman from Wisconsin who wanted to overhaul Medicare?


Or how about that report by the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform that recommended entitlement cuts?


Associate the word entitlement with the words cut or reform and off you go to the Bermuda Triangle.


I hope Marco fares better.

He says he would keep existing entitlements intact for those older than 55, an attempt to appease what former Sen. Alan Simpson calls the "greediest generation.''


This might work for Social Security, where there is time to fix it.


But Medicare is dragging us off the cliff now. It is so daunting and so complex that Washington is paralyzed.


Tackling Medicare not only means taking on the seniors, but the entire medical industrial complex that depends on Medicare's billions. Sending old folks for body scans is a huge part of the economy.


Taking money away is very hard for a political system designed to give it away.


Making matters worse, many seniors believe that since they have paid into Medicare their entire lives, they have earned their benefits. Reducing benefits equates to theft.


But the cost of medical care has risen so sharply that, on average, seniors now pay for less than half the benefits they receive.


This is what differentiates Medicare from Social Security, where workers indeed have paid for most of their benefits.


With Social Security, they get a single check each month for the same amount. That makes planning relatively easy.


But Medicare is an open checkbook that pays for an unlimited amount of services.


The medical industry has adapted by creating a system based on quantity. More specialists. More tests. More procedures. More medications.


Outcomes and cost-effectiveness do not matter.


This has driven up costs while at the same time we have an exploding population of seniors. Medicare is, by far, the biggest driver of our long-term national debt.


Medicaid, which provides care to the poor, would be right there with it but states share this burden. And a growing percent of the Medicaid budget is directed at nursing-home care.


Sure, we can cut fraud and waste, as the refrain goes. But any savings will be dwarfed by the sheer number of baby boomers entering the system.


During the next 20 years, we will add eight beneficiaries to the Medicare rolls for every new worker. And these seniors will be more obese and laden with more self-inflicted chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Help, we need more immigrants!


I am 56. And as much as I'd like Marco Rubio to include me in the existing system, I don't want to make my kids my indentured servants by having to pay for it.


A worker making $20,000 a year should not have to subsidize health care for snow birds sitting in their Palm Beach condos. We need to adjust premiums, deductibles and co-pays according to income.

People are too disconnected from the cost of their health care. And that encourages abuse of the system.


We need more gatekeepers. We need fewer specialists, and they need to make less money. We need more general practitioners and they need to make more money. We need nurses to diagnose the flu instead of doctors.


We need longer wait times for non-emergency procedures.


We need more docs in Walmart and more Solantic clinics in strip malls.


We need more end-of-life planning to avoid the onslaught of machines that only delay the inevitable.


We need more plans and cheaper options.

We need what we can afford.


We have no choice. The Chinese are going to stop buying our debt.


The longer we put this off, the worse it will be.


It is why Marco Rubio is one of the most important people in Washington right now.

Reader comments at: http://discussions.orlandosentinel.com/20/orlnews/os-mike-thomas-medicare-040311-20110402/10

The Mike Thomas blog: http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_columnist_mikethomas/

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