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And thanks to the Orlando Sentinel for this:
The governor deserves no special credit for giving voucher scraps to public schools.
Gov. Jeb Bush and state lawmakers are patting themselves on the back for giving public schools the $38 million left over this year from the state's largest private-school voucher program.
That was obviously the right thing to do, but it doesn't make up for the fact that the state shortchanged public schools in the first place in favor of a poorly designed, poorly regulated program that asked nothing of the private schools that took that money. "Hold the applause".
STRAW BALLOT - Daniel Ruth on the continuing straw vote controversy:
F rom a purely mercenary political point of view, it is probably appropriate the nine Democratic presidential candidates are about as excited at the prospect of a Florida straw poll as Jeb Bush pondering Columba's monthly Nieman Marcus bill. Good grief, this is Florida after all, where there is every possibility that after all the votes are counted, Skippy the Everglades Swamp Ape, could emerge as the winner. "We Can't Have A Straw Vote! Somebody Might Lose!"
WHERE'S OUR ENVIROMENTAL GOVERNOR?Florida ranks among the 10 worst states in the amount of noxious chemicals spewed into the air from power plants, an environmental group said Tuesday while calling for tougher federal clean-air standards. "Group gives Florida low marks for bad air".
DUBYA AND"JEB!", EQUALLY OUT OF TOUCH- From yesterday's press conference with the resident:
Q Sir, in your last campaign, you said that the American public was not ready for a complete ban on abortion. You're about to sign legislation that will ban a certain abortion procedure known as partial birth. Do you believe that the climate has changed since the last campaign and all abortions should be banned? And do you believe your brother made the correct decision in Florida when he intervened in the case of a woman who had been ordered by the courts to be taken off life support?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I believe my brother made the right decision. Yes, I'll sign the ban on partial birth abortion. And, no, I don't think the culture has changed to the extent that the American people or the Congress would totally ban abortions. See also "Reinserting tube called right decision" and "Bush enters `right-to-life' controversy".
"SCANDALOUS" -It was an explosive, headline-grabbing charge: House Speaker Johnnie Byrd forced a company to add an electronic hiding place to the House computer system so he could secretly "keep track of political IOUs."
But the allegation by a computer company suing the House was "scandalous," a judge ruled Tuesday, and he ordered it removed from the court record. "Judge disallows computer firm's claim against Byrd".
DETAILS EMERGING ABOUT SCRIPPS DEAL -[I]n their haste to complete the special session to land the Scripps account, lawmakers passed a bill with virtually no auditing oversight of how that public money is spent. They also allowed a public records loophole they may not have intended. . . . Lawmakers set up the Scripps Florida Funding Corp., the state's pass-through agency in this partnership with the Scripps Research Institute, which is expected to be built with $200 million from Palm Beach County.
The Scripps bill says the public has a right to know about agreements between the funding corporation and the institute, which is as it should be.
But if the funding corporation comes back to the Legislature later and asks for another $100 million in appropriation or grant money, the Scripps law says the public doesn't have a right to know what it would go for. That $100 million could show up as a line item in the state budget, but only the leadership might know about its use.
The lawmakers also deleted a requirement that Scripps be routinely audited and that the audit be made public. So now, there is no oversight language regarding this public expenditure. No agency in the state gets away with that.
The Scripps bill is also vague about what recruitment records - benefits, bonuses and such - are open records, though the public money will pay some institute salaries. "Scripted in haste".
WHY NOT GIVE IT TO SCRIPPS? -Florida's tax amnesty program, which gives people and businesses who haven't paid their taxes a chance to come clean, is pulling in much more money for the state than the $75 million that officials expected. "Tax amnesty income tops state forecast".