Add On: Katherine Harris For Senate?! - The Grapefruit reports that "the big money in Florida is whispering about a Katherine Harris bid for Senate. The Republican big money people have yet to jump in behind either Foley or McCollum. Maybe it's because of Foley's rumored non-traditional lifestyle or McCollum's previous U.S. Senate bid which blew big dollars and big hopes for many of the Republican faithful."
"Either way, Harris has name identification, the ability to raise huge dollars both in and out of the state and a national following of Republican faithful from the 2000 elections. If Bush looks strong in Florida in 2004 and Graham resigns to run for President, word on the street is that Katherine Harris will be in the race."
All we can say is Run Katherine, Run!
Thanks to FlaBlog for letting us know that The Grapefruit is posting again.
More on the "FCAT Backlash" - Brian Gleason writes that,"[j]ust as reckless tax-cutting by Bush and his lock step legislative cronies caused this year's budget crisis, they are finding that implementing an ideological education agenda has led him into dangerous territory. Parents across Florida are awakening to the prospect their children will be held back and even denied diplomas for failing the infamous FCAT. (Ironically, private schools that are so beloved by the right-wing voucher crowd don't have to administer the FCAT.)" See "Look for the FCAT backlash".
And the St Pete Times asserts that the backlash is bona fide in "The FCAT showdown".
Promise-Breaking - Those who would raid state trust funds are "Promise-breakers"
"Is Jeb Bush getting a Learjet?" "That's the question in Tallahassee, just two weeks after the Kansas-based luxury plane manufacturer flew one of its pricey corporate jets to the local airport for perusal by state officials -- including the governor." See "Bush ponders upgrading his plane". In the meantime, as put yesterday in the Daytona Beach News-Journal, "If the Florida Legislature doesn't restore a program that supplies prescription drugs and medical care to the desperately ill, people will die. It's just that simple. Children will die. Elderly people will die. Transplant patients will die. There is no "maybe" about it."
Governor Bush, Please Call "Dubya" About This - "The [federal] goal is to weaken protection for America's 155 national forests.
"There are three in Florida -- the Apalachicola National Forest in the Panhandle, the Osceola National Forest, west of Jacksonville, and the Ocala National Forest, between Daytona Beach and Ocala. The proposed rules changes would eliminate a requirement to maintain native wildlife species, exempt forest management plans from environmental analysis and allow projects such as timber sales -- even if such sales violate management plans. The changes also would cut opportunities for the public to participate in forest planning and eliminate input and monitoring by scientists."
On another note,"Florida's ambitious program to buy conservation land has prompted a backlash in the state capital." See "Bill would force surplus land sales".
What Goes Around . . . - "The nation's leading telecommunications firms and their lobbyists poured more than $5 million into Florida campaigns and political parties as they prepared to ask for what could be the biggest increase in the price of home telephone service in state history. The vast majority of the money went to Republicans, helping Gov. Jeb Bush win reelection and the GOP's legislative leadership solidify their control, according to an analysis done by The Herald." See "Millions spent in quest for phone rate hikes".
The Miami Herald editorial board argues that Floridians do not need "another sweetheart deal to subsidize phone companies at consumers' expense. Lawmakers would never pass this bill in an election year. They shouldn't now, either."
What Goes Around . . . Part Two - Could it be that some are seeing the hipocrisy of corporate flag waving? "Florida's phosphate industry found itself in the unusual position of defending its patriotism last week at a Hardee County Commission meeting. The criticism was largely off the mark, but the subject of the commission's ire -- the sale of phosphate to China -- warrants far more attention than it currently gets." See "The phosphate drain Depletion of Florida resource jeopardizes nation's future needs".
When Insurance Companies Speak . . . The Florida Times Union listens and slavishly publishes.
On Vouchers - "A bad idea by any other name is still a bad idea. Call them tuition tax credits, opportunity scholarships, the driving force behind public school improvement, or any number of other euphemisms, vouchers are the logical outcome of right-wing political demagoguery and religious bigotry and are based on the myth of a failed American education system. It appears the central purpose has been for many years and continues to be the creation of a system for providing public money for private, for profit and religious purposes." See "Voucher expansion in education reform", a guest commentary in the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Gossip Alert - Bush Tell All Book In Works - "In her book, Ms. [Neil] Bush wants to detail her disillusionment with the family. According to her associates, she has grown despondent about her treatment at the hands of the Bushes. She said family members have turned their backs on her ever since last year, when she learned that her husband wanted to end their marriage after carrying on an extramarital affair with one of Barbara Bush’s former assistants."
"In her book, sources said, Ms. Bush hopes to show that Barbara Bush has exercised a good deal more control over the family than previously revealed. She also wants to show that the relationship between the Bush brothers, as well as relations between the President and former President, have been more fraught and complex than previously known, her associates say."
"She believes, and is prepared to reveal in her book, that the Bushes are far more pragmatic and calculating than has ever been seen before. She will show that the family orchestrates its public image from top to bottom. She will reveal that the family is in essence a political operation."
"Mrs. Bush insists she has a good story to tell. She had a seat at the kitchen table as the family twice reached the pinnacle of American politics and power. She married Neil Bush in 1980, the year Mr. Bush’s father, George H.W. Bush, was elected Vice President. During her 23-year marriage, the elder Mr. Bush and his eldest son, George W. Bush, were both elected President, while another member of the family, Jeb, was elected governor of Florida."