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Progress Florida -- Progressive Solutions for Florida

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Daily Clips for February 10, 2009

FEATURED STORIES

Crist, McCollum split on release of GOP credit card spending

The Associated Press

Tampa Tribune

Republican Gov. Charlie Crist said today that the state GOP should release records of credit cards used by party leaders amid complaints of lavish spending, but Attorney General Bill McCollum, who wants Crist's job, said that's party -- not public -- business.


Delmar Johnson: Exhibit A for Republican Party of Florida mess

By Adam C. Smith

St. Petersburg Times

Related editorial: Come clean, state GOP

"If you don't love Delmar, you don't love life," Charlie Crist was fond of saying about campaign aide Delmar Johnson, and he had a point.


Florida GOP money transfers raise questions

By Beth Reinhard

Miami Herald

In the days after the Florida GOP chairman resigned under mounting criticism of his spending, nearly $1 million in donations was quietly stashed into two little-known committees tied to legislative leaders.


Portrait of a Tepid Tea Partier

By Arian Campo-Flores

Newsweek

Marco Rubio has become a darling of the tea-party set.


A year later, 'The Hug' returns to spotlight in Florida Senate battle

By Peter Hamby

CNN

Fort Myers, Florida, is home to nearby beach resorts, exotic birds and the spring training facility for the Boston Red Sox.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Crist calls for full disclosure of GOP finances

By Bill Cotterell

Tallahassee Democrat

Related editorial: Just do it

Gov. Charlie Crist hedged his call for full disclosure of Florida Republican Party finances Tuesday, saying it's a tough decision the next state GOP chairman will have to make.


Lawmakers pulled nearly $1 million from Republican Party of Florida

By Aaron Deslatte

Orlando Sentinel

A handful of state Senate Republicans withdrew $294,000 from the Republican Party of Florida last month in the midst of a rushed effort to install a new party chairman and stabilize a revolt among grassroots party leaders.


Legal questions swirl around Cannon fundraising account

By Gary Fineout

The Fine Print

The news that $665,000 was transferred from the coffers of the Republican Party of Florida to the account of a political organization controlled by Rep. Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, raises several legal questions.


Republican Party of Florida assistant treasurer says he's not resigning

By Jim Turner

TC Palm

Allen Miller, a financial specialist from Fort Pierce, said he's not resigning his post of assistant treasurer of the Republican Party of Florida.


Sink takes on state's top financial regulator at contentious Cabinet meeting

By John Frank

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau

Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink lambasted the state's top financial regulator at the Cabinet meeting Tuesday for not aggressively pursing litigation against Bank of America -- her former employer -- for its deal with Merrill Lynch.


Crist would sign texting ban

By Bill Cotterell

Tallahassee Democrat

The nationwide movement to curb texting and driving got another bump Tuesday as state lawmakers proposed a fine for the offense, one of several such proposals before the Legislature.


Graham offers dire predictions about terrorism

By Kristin Murray

Tallahassee Democrat

If people attending a Tuesday lecture by former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham were waiting for positive news on the battle against terrorism, they didn't get it.

POLITICAL RACES

Politics dominates Florida Cabinet meeting

By Bill Kaczor

The Associated Press

Things got a bit testy at a Florida Cabinet meeting Tuesday as potential gubernatorial rivals Alex Sink and Bill McCollum sparred over whether the state should sue the Bank of America, where Sink was once a top executive.


The race for campaign money cranks up

By Bill Cotterell

Pensacola News Journal

Lobbyists and legislators munched hors d'oeuvres and sipped scotch in a rooftop ballroom with a nice view of the Capitol last week in an annual ritual as important to Florida politics as mass mailings and attack ads.


One year later: A lot has happened since Obama visited Southwest Florida

By Matt Clark

Naples News

It has been one year since President Barack Obama paid a visit intended to stimulate Southwest Florida and the nation into supporting the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.


Kendrick Meek campaigns for Senate with Jim Davis in Tampa

By Sean Kinane

WMNF Community Radio Tampa

The race for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by George LeMieux won't be settled until November, but it is already heating up.


Gov candidate Dockery stops in Panama City

By Matt Dixon

Panama City News Herald

Seated in a plush brown leather chair, within reach of the warmth emanating from the fire place at St. Andrew's Yacht Club, gubernatorial candidate Paula Dockery made a few things clear.


Count legals and illegals: Crist responsible on census; Rubio just the opposite

Editorial

Palm Beach Post

If Marco Rubio is willing to make his election a higher priority than his state, he isn't qualified to represent Florida in the Senate.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Adopted son of gay Key West man gets state subsidy

By Carol Marbin Miller

Miami Herald

Florida's embattled ban on adoption by gay people suffered another setback Tuesday, when state child welfare administrators agreed to provide health insurance, college tuition and other benefits to the adopted son of a gay Key West man.


Changing attitudes

Editorial

Gainesville Sun

Colin Powell, who earned four general's stars and served both conservative and liberal presidents at the highest levels, provided valuable support last week for allowing openly gay Americans to serve in the U.S. military.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

A Line in the Florida Sand

By Glen Gardner

Public News Service Florida

On Saturday, thousands of Floridians will literally draw a line in the sand to fight near-shore oil and gas drilling.


Florida Cabinet approves 2,800-acre land buy

By Bruce Ritchie

FloridaEnvironments.com

The governor and Cabinet today approved the state purchase of 2,849 acres in Jefferson County.


Hurricanes, sea level rise and creating sustainable communities

By Matthew Cimitile

WMNF Community Radio Tampa

As a peninsula surrounded by water and prone to extreme storms, Florida is one of the states with the most to lose if sea levels rise to the degree experts predict.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Sen. Aronberg, other lawmakers fire back at bank-backed foreclosure proposal

By Dara Kam

Palm Beach Post

The bank-backed move to speed up foreclosures has agitated Democrats fighting back in the Legislature.


State Plans Trust Fund Raids

By Lynn Hatter

WFSU Public Radio Tallahassee

Florida's economic slump has lawmakers eying Florida's trust funds again.


Florida House panel passes unemployment tax fix

By Brandon Larrabee

Florida Times-Union

A bill holding down increases in unemployment tax rates for businesses sailed through a House panel Tuesday , setting the stage for early action on what lawmakers say is a job-saving measure when the legislative session begins in March.

EDUCATION

Schools cited for missing Fla. class size limits

The Associated Press

Tampa Tribune

Sixteen schools in eight districts and on a university campus have been cited for failing to comply with Florida's class size limits.


'Right size' deceit

Editorial

Daytona Beach News-Journal

Here's the definition of disingenuous: "Not straightforward; not candid or frank; insincere." Here's the Florida definition of disingenuous, Tallahassee dialect edition: Don Gaetz; Will Weatherford.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Florida's top health official averages $3,600 monthly travel tab

By Steve Bousquet and Lee Logan

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau

Dr. Ana Viamonte Ros, Florida's top health official, has spent nearly $130,000 on taxpayer-funded travel in her first three years on the job and has spent at least a third of her weekends in her hometown of Miami.


State agencies on trial today

By Sammy Mack

Health News Florida

A landmark lawsuit that seeks to rewrite Florida's Medicaid policy resumed today in Miami, with plaintiffs charging that state agencies' tendency to switch plans without notice often leaves children with no access to care.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

A cruel cut to volunteerism

Editorial

Tampa Tribune

The Guardian ad Litem program protects endangered children, provides critical assistance to Florida's courts and, thanks to its largely volunteer workforce, saves taxpayers millions of dollars.

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