We generally like Martin Dyckman, but to make a point about Bush playing "dumb" on an issue Dyckman wrote that "The governor knows better. He did not earn a Phi Beta Kappa key or build a successful real estate business without learning to respect the difference between those terms." Until we learn more about how any member of the Bush family actually earned anything, we are going to assume that it - whatever it is - was handed to them due to family connections (e.g., Dubya getting into Yale as a "legacy"), even a Phi Beta Kappa key; as for "build[ing] a successful real estate business", Dyckman just has his facts wrong there, and is falling for the political spin that Bush is a smart, hard working guy who pulled himself up by his own bootstraps. The truth is "In 1980 A wealthy Republican Party contributor and friend of his father offered Bush a stake in a booming South Florida real estate business and the young family moved to Miami" where he, diespite the business being handed to him, was only "moderately successful". And let's not forget "Jeb!"'s tenure as a failed water pump salesman in league with partner who the Justice Department sued in 2002 for allegedly defrauding the U.S. government of more than $74-million. It is disturbing that people who should know better repeat myths about "Jeb!"'s background.
Will Christmas Come Early For Democrats? Orlando Sentinel political editor Mark Silva practically begs Harris to run for Senate: "Harris Almighty? She could have Senate power". This is just what the Dems need to make Florida competitive in 2004; no doubt about it. According to Silva, Harris says "'It is not something I am clawing to do,'" honest, those were her words.
That About Sums It Up - "After months of rancorous debate, the 2003 Florida Legislature's accomplishments add up to big rewards for the Republican Party's major donors, including the sugar and insurance industries; a trampling of the Democratic Party's most loyal supporters, such as teacher unions and trial lawyers; and no improvements, according to pollsters, in the public's dim view of state legislators." See "Florida's legislative session leaves anger in wake". See also "Lawmakers try to dodge but can't escape blame". See also "Legislature in review: We laughed, we cried". Maybe this explains it.
Playing Politics With Florida's Future - "Nearly $1 billion in federal money, part of President Bush's tax cut, is on its way to Florida to help relieve the state's budget crunch. But a battle already is brewing between Gov. Jeb Bush and legislators over whether to spend the money to ease this year's cuts. The governor wants to put the federal money in the bank and use it to avoid tax increases and further state budget cuts in 2004, a year when the state's finances are likely to be in even worse shape. But 2004 is also a presidential election year, and Florida is likely to be a key state in President Bush's re-election plans. Some Democrats charge that Gov. Bush is playing election-year politics by holding the money until 2004 and using it to forestall any tax increases. But even some Republicans are arguing that the money should be spent in 2003 to help restore services that are being cut." See "Save the $1 billion, or spend it?"
A piece in the Miami Herald makes a similar point: "By stalling on spending the money, Republicans will be able to spend it all in 2004-05, a presidential election year when state economists have predicted the state's fiscal outlook is even more grim and even Bush has suggested tax hikes might be required. Such a fact prompted Democrats to charge Friday that Bush and House leaders were putting election-year politics before the people who will be hurt most by next year's budget, including Medicaid recipients who for the first time will be subject to co-pays for prescription drugs and emergency room visits for non-life-threatening care."
In the Dyckman column mentioned above, he observes that "Congress meant the money to help states get through their present hard times. But Gov. Bush says Florida's share should be "reserved," not spent. Meanwhile, he's unresponsive to questions about new taxes. He apparently intends to use the windfall to postpone until 2005 - the day of reckoning with new taxes that might inconvenience his brother's quest for Florida's electoral votes in 2004. The state windfalls, by the way, come at the expense of low-income working families whose additional child-care credits were cut out of the tax bill to help it fit within the Congress' phony cost estimates. Is there no shame in politics?"
Election Schedule - "The 2000 presidential election recount battle prompted legislators to cancel the second primary, or runoff election, for last year's elections. But the runoff automatically returns next year if legislators take no action. Elections officials contend its return could lead to the same kinds of problems that figured prominently during the recount dispute. Senate Republicans want to cancel the runoff - which features the top two vote-getters from the primary - for 2004." See "Election schedule still debated".
"Opening A Path For Alcee Hastings" - Jim DeFede writes: "When the Legislature reconvenes for yet another special session later this month, one of the issues lawmakers are expected to take up is whether to hold a runoff election as part of the 2004 primary. Nobody is more interested in that decision than Alcee Hastings, the Fort Lauderdale Democratic congressman. 'If they eliminate the runoff then it is more than likely I would run for the United States Senate, because in a four- or five-person race I could easily win the Democratic nomination,' he says. `In a winner-take-all primary, I would beat the living daylights out of all of them. I wouldn't need but $100,000.'"