"Last month, Congress rained money down on cash-strapped states to ease the burdens of Medicaid and cover the cost of "essential government services." The last time we looked, 'getting your brother re-elected' was not an essential government service. Yet Gov. Jeb Bush wants to bank the money for next year, saving it to camouflage Florida's truly desperate financial situation in the months leading up to the 2004 election." Read "Loosen strings to largesse".
Whatever - "New laws set to take effect on Tuesday". Here is a list of the new laws, and it ain't impressive. We especially like the new law to "Allow the governor to award a medal of heroism to any firefighter, paramedic, or law enforcement or corrections officer for gallantry beyond the call of duty"; really, how about a new law requiring the state to pay its firefighters , law enforcement officers and corrections officers decent wages and benefits.
Yet Another Sell-Out - As explained in "Drug industry, lobbyists bullied state into ignoring fake drug law", the "Jeb!" Bush "administration caved in to pressure from the pharmaceutical industry, which contributed more than $750,000 to state election campaigns last year, records show. . . . 'What happens in a bureaucracy is, higher-ups tend to look at who's giving money to campaigns and then decide what the state can and can't do.'"