Martin Dyckman writes about the "The Legislature that knows no tomorrows": It is often said of the Florida Legislature that most of them cannot see beyond the next election. The real problem is that they can't see even see that far. Why should they, when they don't have to?
The way the districts are rigged, only one incumbent in 10 - if that many - will have any serious opposition. If they ran horse races that way, the perps would go to jail. . . . Conspiracy theorists could find more than coincidence in the fact that the instigator of term limits, Phil Handy, is now one of the key figures in an administration whose apparent goal is to privatize half the government and neuter what's left. Throughout the country, term limits were the tool of people who wanted to see government weak and special interests strong. A weak Legislature - the predictable consequence of term limits - is exactly the ticket if one's ultimate goal is, as Jeb Bush boasted at his second inauguration, to leave state buildings standing empty.
I have heard some people say that it was remarkable that so shortsighted a Legislature was willing to vote more than $310-million for an investment, the Scripps Institute, that is unlikely to bear measurable fruit (if it ever does) until after these legislators are gone. Can it mean that for once the Legislature did look beyond the next election?
Not necessarily. If the Scripps vote turns out to be worthy of blame, not credit, who'll still be around to bear it? No one. That made what should have been a tough vote an easy one, and what made it even easier was the fear - among those few who might have competitive campaigns - of how Governor Gimmick would bash them in the media, which he commands, if they turned down the glittery prize he had brought back from California. . . . The governor and the House - but to its credit, not the Senate - have opted for budgeting systems that make it nearly impossible to tell how well, or how poorly, the state is caring for its people and managing its finances from one year to the next. Ed Montanaro, who quit as the Legislature's chief economic forecaster before Johnnie Byrd could drag him to the guillotine, brilliantly calls it "faith-based budgeting." It is deficit spending (which the Constitution forbids) by stealth. Florida is by official policy the land of no tomorrows.
DIRTY LAUNDRY - The St Pete Times explains "How Terri's Law came to pass". The bill, voted on and signed in less than 24 hours, brought praise and scorn not seen since the 2000 election.
And the Palm Beach Post explains that . . .
[i]f you listen only to Gov. Bush and the Legislature talk about Terri Schiavo, you might think that the courts have rushed to end the life of a helpless woman. If you read what the courts actually have done and said, you understand that the governor and Legislature are wrong.
The story line from Tallahassee is loving parents vs. scheming husband, aided by reckless, uncaring judges. To the rescue come a compassionate, moral governor and Legislature. In reality, the cast and the roles don't line up quite so perfectly. "Courts gave Schiavo case a full hearing".
THE REAL BARBARA BUSH - As we read about how "Barbara Bush speaks her mind", let's not forget the real - mean spirited and nasty - Barbara; here she is opining about deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq:
''Why should we hear about body bags and deaths and how many, what day it's gonna happen?'' Mrs. Bush declared. ''It's not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?''
SCHOOL BONUSES BOGUS -There's a fundamental flaw in Florida's reward system for high-performing schools, and it doesn't take an A-plus student to see it. "Make bonuses count".
NOW THAT'S POLITICAL PAYBACK - The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights will investigate allegations that [Florida] agencies failed to act when black residents complained about pollution from former garbage dumps, the city's sewage system and phosphate processor Coronet Industries, officials say. "Pollution complaints bring probe".
HOW COMPASSIONATE -Gov. Jeb Bush is backing a proposed plan to track prescriptions in hopes of cutting the number of deaths from the painkiller OxyContin and other drugs likely to be abused. "Governor supports database to monitor prescriptions".
WAL MART DISEASE (OR, THE FLORIDIFICATION) OF THE U.S. ECONOMY - The world's largest retailer and America's largest private employer is spreading its "dead-end jobs" approach throughout the U.S. It would seem, then, that the U.S. is being Floridified - that is an abundance of low paying, part-time jobs without benefits. A Washington Post column in the Bradenton Herald explains that Wal Mart is . . .
[k]nown for its dead-end jobs, Wal- Mart is clearly dragging down pay and benefits for millions of workers. The company does not release figures, but start- up Wal-Mart workers aren't likely to get more than $6.25 to $8 an hour. A big chunk are part-time -- clearly by design -- and an amazing 500,000 quit each year. Nearly half the company's workers make less than $15,300 a year, the federal annual poverty income for a family of three.
Result: Wal-Mart workers often turn to food stamps, apply for the federal government's Earned Income Tax Credit, and turn to states for child support payments. Wal- Mart gets to "sell for less" because it shifts the costs to all taxpayers. When you buy for less at Wal-Mart, you're paying: It's just a question out of which pocket.
Then there's health. Part- time Wal-Mart workers have to wait two years, full-time employees six months, for insurance -- and even then the coverage has high premiums and deductibles. The result, says United Food and Commercial Workers (AFL-CIO), which has been trying to organize Wal-Mart: "Nearly 700,000 Wal-Mart workers are forced to get health insurance from government or through spouses' plans, driving up health costs for all of us." As insurance for all Americans turns into a hot political issue, Wal- Mart's dereliction on health coverage for its army of workers will be hard to ignore.
With assets of about $20.5 billion each, the widow and four children of founder Sam Walton constitute the richest family on Earth, Forbes magazine reports.
We agree that
Not since the 19th century robber barons, whose ruthless bids for monopoly power paved the way for the nation's antitrust laws, has any single firm impacted America quite so deeply.