The Gainesville Sun get's it right: shame on you, Gov. Bush . . . sanctimony ill fits a shrewd politician who has presided over the slashing of billions of dollars in taxes. "Shameful cuts".
TOP STORY - The buzz continues about Martinez getting into the race: U.S. Housing Secretary Mel Mart?nez, who five months ago ruled out a bid for the U.S. Senate, said Thursday he's now exploring the race amid heavy lobbying from people ''high in the Republican Party'' worried that the GOP lacks a front-runner in the race to replace retiring Democrat Bob Graham. "Housing secretary considers run".
All we can say is "run Bob, run". Fact is Martinez - a middle tier personal injury lawyer who had served only a few months as Orange County Chair (the only elected position in which he has served) before he was selected by Dubya to head HUD (a position for which he was wholly unqualified) - is an empty suit. And a right winger to boot - Martinez' claim to fame is to have run for Lt. Gov on the Ken Connor - Bob Martinez ticket a few years back (a ticket that made "Jeb!" - Feeney look progressive).
HARRIS VERSUS MARTINEZ, LET THE FUN BEGIN -U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris called Mel Martinez a "good candidate" but said Thursday his move toward entering the U.S. Senate race does not end her own thoughts of joining the already crowded field of Republican contenders.
Harris, R-Sarasota, has been considering running since Democratic Sen. Bob Graham said last week that he would not seek election to a fourth term next fall.
"The most important thing to me is that we have a candidate who can deliver Florida," Harris said. "Mel is a good candidate. . . . If it looks like Mel can deliver the state in 2006, that will be great."
However, she later added, "I'm not going to make a snap decision. I will make this decision on my own timetable, not anyone else's."
The jockeying between Harris and Martinez came on a day both accompanied President Bush to an Orlando fund-raiser, the president's 17th visit to Florida since his election as president. "Contenders jockey at president's visit".
And Mike Thomas has these observations (though he is flat out wrong in suggesting that Martinez is remotely "moderate"):
Why is Toni Jennings smiling? Mel Martinez may be running for the Senate, clearing the decks for her to be the next governor. ...
And now for a synopsis of declared and suspected Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate:
Mel Martinez: He is the only one who doesn't want him to run because he wants to be governor.
Johnnie Byrd: The guy would be a disaster in a general election, but Jeb Bush has to humor him because he is speaker of the House.
Katherine Harris: Could she sneak enough of the moderate vote to beat Mel in a crowded primary? The White House doesn't want to find out.
Bill McCollum: He lost to Bill Nelson the last time out. Enough said.
Dan Webster: We all know where nice guys finish. . . .
KINGMAKERS TO RESTRAIN THEMSELVES - "Bushes to stay neutral in Senate primary". One has to ask: why would Martinez give up his easy gig if Dubya won't support him?
GET READY . . . Doctors and trial lawyers scratched and clawed during the past year as the Legislature tried to fix Florida's medical-malpractice insurance system. But that fight could pale compared with the political war that is now brewing.
The powerful interest groups are preparing to ask voters to pass competing constitutional amendments next year that would take dead aim at the wallets of doctors and lawyers throughout the state. "Doctors, lawyers take malpractice fight to public".
FLORIDA SUPREME COURT REINSTATES "ONE FLORIDA" SUIT - The Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the NAACP can challenge rules eliminating racial and gender preferences in university admissions.
The 4-3 ruling overturned a decision by the 1st District Court of Appeal to dismiss the civil rights group's challenge to Gov. Jeb Bush's "One Florida" initiative and his "Talented 20" guarantee. . . . The Florida Conferences of Branches of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People had argued the rules were a startling change in policy that could be made only by the Legislature -- not the governor or an executive agency. In Thursday's majority opinion, Chief Justice Harry Lee Anstead wrote that the appeals court had gone far beyond a 1980 ruling by Florida's high court that spelled out the standard for when groups have the right to challenge the actions of government agencies.
What's more, Anstead wrote, the appeals court had been inconsistent with its own rulings since then because it had allowed environmental groups and professional associations to challenge agency rules.
"In other words … it made little sense to grant standing to persons who had formed associations out of a common interest in protecting wildlife or the environment, and yet deny standing to an association that was formed to protect the rights of minorities and is composed substantially of minorities, when policy concerning the admission of minorities to state universities was changed," Anstead wrote. "High court OK's NAACP challenge".
JEBBITES ON VERGE OF CONTOLLING FLORIDA SUPREME COURT - In the "One Florida" case excerpted above, "Justices Barbara Pariente, R. Fred Lewis, and Peggy Quince joined Anstead in the majority." None were "Jeb!" appointments (though Bush had a role in Quince's selection). However, "Justices Charles Wells, Raoul Cantero, and Kenneth Bell dissented." The latter two were Bush appointees, and Wells, while a Chiles appointee has been reliably in the right wing corner (e.g., Wells dissented in every case that favored Gore in the Florida 2000 litigation that reached the Florida Supreme Court and in most death penalty cases where a new trial/resentencing is ordered). At best, then, the Florida Supreme Court is one vote away from shifting into a right wing majority.
NICE TO KNOW WE'VE SOLVED THE EDUCATION PROBLEM IN FLORIDA - Since "Bush declares A+ plan success", what else is there to do?
WHO CARES -President Bush, sweeping through the Central Florida corridor that will be vital to his re-election next year, raised big money for his campaign Thursday and exerted pressure on Congress to approve prescription drugs for senior citizens. "Quick trip pays off for President Bush".
OUR ENVIROMENTAL GOV AT WORK -Contemplate this: A typical dairy cow creates about 45 pounds of manure every day. And consider this: Only one of Florida's 57 largest commercial dairies has a mandatory waste-discharge permit. "Got pollution? DEP should force dairies to get waste-discharge permits".
COMPANY LAWYER APPOINTED IN 'GLADES CASE - U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno, now supervising the lawsuit under which the state promised to clean up the Everglades, has named a Miami lawyer to be special master in the case . . . John M. Barkett's role will be to see whether the state is meeting its commitments as laid out in an agreement approved by Judge William Hoeveler . . . He knows environmental law from representing companies negotiating with the Justice Department over cleanup of Superfund sites. "Protect the Everglades" 6:42 AM
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