Notes For Monday, December 30, 2002

THE FLORIDA TIMES UNION ACTUALLY PRINTED THIS LETTER:

"In recent years, Florida's Legislature has pursued an agenda that is patently at odds with the interests of the average voter. Tax cuts for wealthy corporations have been paid for with cuts in education funding, student scholarship programs, and assistance to the poor and the elderly. Do Florida's voters really support these policies? If not, why do we keep electing politicians who vote against our own interests and core values? The answer is simple, dollars.

A majority of the public has been seduced by slick political campaigns funded with special interest money. Progressive issues like adequate education funding are overwhelmed with empty slogans (''fiscal conservatism" vs. ''bleeding-heart liberalism"). Real commitment to hot-button issues is only cosmetic; politicians and their big-money supporters care far more about tax breaks and regulatory relief. How else to explain a $200 million tax cut for corporations after Sept. 11, 2001, devastated Florida's sales tax - dependent budget?"

Entire letter.
6:39 AM [Go to current Florida Politics site (no popup ads)]

MY, WHAT DOES ONE WEAR IN TALLAHASSEE IN JANUARY? A casual inagural, we're all just regular folk in the Bush family. 6:32 AM [Go to current Florida Politics site (no popup ads)]

FLORIDA NATURAL GAS PIPELINE STREAMLINE. A plan to build a 162-mile natural gas pipeline from the Bahamas to Palm Beach and Martin counties is beginning to receive public scrutiny. The state, however - consistent with its "we love business, come here and you will not be bothered with pesky regulations and unions philosophy - is contemplating limiting public involvement in the permit process. Limiting public involvement is what happens when a politician says (s)he wants to "streamline the permit process". Enviromental groups obviously need and want access to the process, and labor organizations frequently use the permitting process to put pressure on nonunion companies (consider the recent BE&K litigation where California unions allegedly lobbied for an emission standard to delay a ninunion construction project).

The Palm Beach Post reports that limiting public participation is problematic because "many questions remain about safety and potential environmental damage, as well as future plans for the $260 million pipeline and at least 60 unregulated power plants also proposed for the state." 6:14 AM [Go to current Florida Politics site (no popup ads)]

SHOULD WE KEEP THE CHADS? "Florida delays decision on preserving 2000 presidential ballots." 6:01 AM [Go to current Florida Politics site (no popup ads)]