"Worse Than Taxes" - "The next time your state legislators say they held the line on taxes and protected your pocketbook, tell them this: Baloney! Remember the legislative rallying cry that we must 'live within our means'? Phooey!" According to the St Pete Times, "While they brag about not raising your taxes, lawmakers sneakily approved expensive new fees, including a big giveaway to the insurance industry". See "Worse than taxes".
What Did They Expect? - The Orlando Sentinel argues in a brief editorial that "[c]utting Florida taxes at a time of dwindling services doesn't make sense. How much is enough?" See "Stop the bleeding". The Sentinel, after endorsing "Jeb!", is hardly in a position to be surprised or disappointed that tax cuts for the wealthy is the essence of our Governor's agenda. How about an admission that the endorsement was wrong and endorsing "Jeb!" was a mistake?
This Is When The Bad Stuff Happens - "Stung by a failure to produce a budget in a regular 60-day legislative session, and the angry response from voters that followed, House and Senate leaders reached a series of compromises on Thursday in a flurry of dealmaking. On the fourth day of a $40,000-a-day special session, the House tentatively approved sweeping measures to reduce class size and reform workers compensation and no-fault automobile insurance laws. The Senate is expected soon to follow suit. 'It may be the most productive three days that the legislature has had,' said House Majority Leader Marco Rubio, R-Miami. 'I think people may be tired of being up here.'" "Legislature pushes through flurry of bills".
In "Lawmakers scramble to crack stalemate", we read that "Democrats [have] lashed out at the Legislature's GOP leadership for trying to push too many issues through in too little time. 'It's a rush to pass bills, rather than bills to solve Florida's problems,' said Senate Democratic Leader Ron Klein of Boca Raton".
Looks Like Smoke And Mirrors - "Six months after Florida voters endorsed a statewide mandate to shrink public school class sizes, state lawmakers have reached an agreement on how to put it in place. House legislators are expected to approve a measure today that gives local school districts several options to shrink class sizes, including shifting staffers, reshuffling class scheduling, reconfiguring school attendance zones and accelerating some high school students' graduation." See "Plan set to cut class sizes in state".
"Trust Big Sugar" - "The Everglades restoration is in jeopardy of losing needed funding because of a bill going through the Legislature. The Florida Legislature's bill sent to Gov. Jeb Bush revising the state's commitment to help restore the Everglades won't affect billions of dollars in federal money. How do we know that? A sugar lobbyist says so. And if this Legislature can't trust a sugar lobbyist to advise it what to do about the Everglades - well, who can you trust?" See "Trust Big Sugar".
Bush Accuses FCAT Opponents Of Being "Politically Motivated" - "Gov. Jeb Bush lashed out Thursday at critics who are threatening a boycott over the standardized tests that could keep hundreds of black students from graduating from high school this year, calling the effort `politically motivated.'" See "Gov. Bush calls FCAT protest `flawed'". This, from a man whose every move is part and parcel of a political script.
Jax Mayoral Race - Ron Littlepage asks: "Is it normal for 'true conservative Republicans' to buddy up with labor unions?"
Up In Smoke - "After wrapping up one of the most unproductive sessions in recent memory, the House and Senate returned to the capital Monday to try to resolve their differences over the state budget. So far, the results are uninspiring -- and downright wasteful." See "Snuffing out an asset Anti-smoking campaign, unlike Legislature, is highly effective".
Workers' Comp - "Bush added workers' compensation reform to the special session agenda Thursday, saying he was encouraged by progress that legislative leaders were making on the issue. . . . Bush's statement came shortly after House leaders shut down attempts to make the workers' compensation reform bill more favorable to injured employees, cutting off a series of pending changes to the legislation." See "House cuts off proposed workers' compensation amendments".
Chain Gang Charlie Wants To Be A Civil Rights Lawyer - "Broad new civil rights powers sought by Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist were revived in the Senate on Thursday, nearly two weeks after the proposed law died during the regular legislative session. The measure would allow Crist to sue businesses that discriminate. It died in the Senate on the last day of the regular session, but Crist and others fought during the break to bring it back. 'Everybody wanted to do the right thing from the beginning,' he said.Crist also was assured by Gov. Jeb Bush at a Cabinet meeting this week that the governor is willing to sign the bill after the the House and the Senate pass it." See "New life for broad civil rights bill".
Easy Solution: Have Him Stay In Tallahassee And Do His Job - "A day after a state plane carrying Gov. Jeb Bush lost communication with air traffic controllers on approach to Washington, D.C., Florida and federal authorities were still trying to determine the cause." See "Gov. Bush's plane mishap investigated".
While "Jeb!" Presides Over Tallahassee Meltdown, Adults In Rest Of State Carry The Water - "When Republican business leaders in one of Florida's most conservative counties push a tax increase, it's time to take notice." See "Another county comes through".
Off Topic - Ya Gotta Do What Ya Gotta Do - "Runaway Democrats boarded two buses and returned home to Texas, destined for the state capital early Friday after their self-imposed weeklong exile in Oklahoma that succeeded in killing a redistricting bill they opposed." See "Texas Dems End Exile, Declare Victory".
Ashcroft Can't Appeal This One - "A driver whose suspended license was discovered when he was stopped because his temporary license tag was unreadable shouldn't have been detained after an officer verified the tag's validity, the Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday. The court ruled that the deputy who charged Johnny Diaz with felony driving with a suspended license violated the man's constitutional rights. The Hillsborough County sheriff's deputy pulled Diaz over because he could not read the temporary license tag in the car's back window. But as he approached Diaz's car, he could clearly read the tag and found nothing improper. The deputy then asked for more information from Diaz, which resulted in the charges."
"'It would be a dangerous precedent to allow overzealous law enforcement officers to place in peril the principles of a free society by disregarding the protections afforded by the Fourth Amendment,' the court wrote." See "State high court sides with driver". The Bush appointees did not participate in the decision, but one suspects that if they had they would have joined the lone dissenter and upheld the police stop. 4:41 AM
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