Yesterday, "Bush vetoed a bill (SB 90) that would have protected parents and their children from having to testify against each other in court." The Associated Press story about this and other bills vetoed and signed yesterday. Note how the headline isn't "Bush vetoes bill that would have prevented parents from testifying against their children" but rather: "Bush signs bill cutting fee increase"; the political bent is self-evident. Unfortunately, the real story - courts forcing parents and children to testify against each other, and "Jeb!'s" condonation of the practice by vetoing a bill prohibiting the practice - is buried in the story and obscured by the headline on a different issue.
On a different note, Daniel Ruth has an insightful column on the malpractice mess today. You know its going to be good when it starts with "this will go over at the Bush manse about as well as Columba's latest Neiman-Marcus bill, but if I were king - or even governor - this is how I would deal with the lingering medical malpractice crisis, which seems to have dragged on longer than 'Groundhog Day' meets 'Berlin Alexanderplatz.'''
Trust Us - "This has not been a good week for government oversight."
"First, Gov. Jeb Bush kills monitoring contracts for seven multimillion-dollar, high-tech projects - contracts the Legislature thought essential enough to write into law as "critical information resource management projects." Bush used his line-item veto power Monday to dim the lights on oversight of technology projects. Those projects include new accounting and cash-management systems costing $60.6 million this year alone to the problem-plagued $69 million online licensing and call-center project in the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Even the problematic HomeSafeNet, a Department of Children & Families project that's more than seven years behind schedule and $200 million over budget, will escape the Legislature's added scrutiny. Do you think HomeSafeNet - which was initially supposed to cost just $30 million - might need monitoring? Apparently not." See "Oversight contracts get the ax".
And Good Luck To You - "Come July 1 the state of Florida will cast aside hundreds of its foster-care teenagers unless Gov. Jeb Bush and the Legislature do something about it." See "Protect Foster Teens - Reverse New Law's Cruel Effects".
Unintended Consequences - "Gov. Jeb Bush said Thursday he hopes the state's universities don't resort to freezing fall 2004 enrollment for freshmen at 2003 levels as a response to budget cuts." See "Bush hopes universities don't cap enrollment".
Gallagher AWOL In Malpractice Debate - "Some suggest that Gallagher's aspirations make him wary of jumping into a political issue with no easy, sure-fire cure. He is seen as a Republican contender for governor in 2006." See "Official mum in insurance fight".
Our Green Governor At Work- Our Florida GOP cabinet, led by our self-proclaimed green Governor, approved an easement for a wastewater pipeline into the St. Johns River, even though "[a]n environmental permit issued last year forbids building a pipeline before 2010 -- and even then, only as a last resort. But Georgia-Pacific wanted the easement now . . . ." See "Bush, Cabinet give OK to paper mill pipeline".