"It's bad government to rule out a tax increase" - Ron Littlepage tells us why.
"Driven by Byrd, House may end up in the ditch" - Lucy Morgan writes that Speaker"Byrd talks about "'a member-driven process' and insists he is spreading power around to include everyone." However, "some House members are quietly grumbling [about Byrd]. The level of fear around the place, however, keeps the grumbling from getting too loud. They say they didn't realize that 'member-driven' meant Byrd would be the only member driving and the rest of the House would be corralled in the back of a moving van unable to see where they were going."
News Flash: "Republican legislators made clear that their first loyalty was to their party and its ideology, not their constituents." See "Politics Derails RTA Funding". Perhaps the Daytona Beach News Journal described the dynamic best in referring to "Gov. Jeb Bush And His Amen Chorus Of Goose-Stepping Legislators". This GOP loyalty dynamic is fueled by a simpleminded "ideology": as columnist Tampa Trib columnist Daniel Ruth put it, "conservatism - insofar that it is supposed to be the prevailing political philosophy over the airwaves - has been reduced to diatribes, bumper sticker slogans and lock-step mutual admiration societies. Anything to the contrary is dismissed as LIB-ER-AL in the absence of a true dialogue."
United Way Embarrasses Itself - "Actress Susan Sarandon said Friday she was disturbed by a charity's decision to cancel her appearance at a fund-raising event because of complaints about her opposition to the Iraq war. The United Way of Tampa Bay was to feature the 56-year-old Academy Award winner as keynote speaker at an April 11 women's leadership event designed to inspire volunteerism in the community." See "Sarandon Calls Cancellation of St. Petersburg Event 'disturbing'". The letters to the editor on this are worth a read.