Apologies for the brief unnanounced absence. While gone, we ran across a couple of interesting columns. The first, by Howard Troxler, hits a theme that has always bothered us - The mantra of the "Jeb!" cult, "one of the essential rules of Jeb Bush's Florida, which is this: Everything Is Fine. Everything Is Always Fine. The state is not in a budget crisis, no sir. We don't need no dang money to have good universities. What are you, a liberal?"
You get what you pay for - "Governor Jeb Bush backing his brother -- despite backlash from the Cuban-American community. Several Cuban-American state legislators firing off a letter to the president-- demanding he toughen up his policy on Cuba or lose their votes. Governor Bush, however, agrees with his brother-- and says the policies are fine as they are." See "Governor Jeb Bush Backing His Brother".
"Mr. Horne and Gov. Bush claim that the rising number of A schools proves the success of their 4-year-old FCAT-driven school grading system. 'Since 1999,' according to the Florida Department of Education, 'the number of A's has increased from 202 to 1,230.'
"Then how does Mr. Horne explain last week's news that 88 percent of Florida schools -- including 78 percent of those A schools he and the governor have touted -- are on academic probation after failing standards set under President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act?
"'The two plans work in tandem,' Mr. Horne extemporized. 'The A+ Plan is like a report card, and students can get an A on a report card and still need improvement in certain areas.' Uh-huh. And how many A students get put on probation?
They Almost Got Away With It - "A South Florida technology company founded by a former drug smuggler no longer has a lock on a $1.6-million contract to develop an antiterrorism network." See "Troubled business may lose contract with state".
So Bad, Even Bush Could See It - "The state Senate and Gov. Jeb Bush turned back efforts Tuesday to add an abortion measure to this week's special session calendar, despite House Speaker Johnnie Byrd's desire to take on the issue." See "Bush, Senate reject abortion proposal". But "Byrd wants abortion issue put on ballot".
As for using the amendment process on the seat belt issue) the Gainesville Sun has these thoughts. And the Tallahassee Democrat has this on amending the constitution to bypass the GOP's refusal to deal with the sales tax.
Fail The FCAT And . . . Advance To The Next Grade?! - "A spokeswoman for the state Department of Education said the state doesn't yet have a statewide figure for the number of third-graders who are being promoted despite failing the reading portion of the FCAT. But preliminary figures from the school districts vary widely, Frances Marine added. For example, 15 percent of the FCAT-failing third-graders in Orange County will be promoted versus 35 percent of comparable students in Palm Beach and about 50 percent in Broward, Marine said." See "Bush Meets With Chanting FCAT Protesters".
'Glades - "Land doesn't meet Glades' cleanup limits". And our green governor is at it again: "Despite pleas from an environmentalist, Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet voted Tuesday to approve a 15-year extension of a lease of farmland in the Everglades. Nearly 6,000 acres of state-owned land in Palm Beach County have been leased to A. Duda & Sons, one of Florida's largest agriculture businesses, since 1963." See "State approves extension of Everglades farming lease".