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Progress Florida -- Progressive Solutions for Florida

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Daily Clips for April 13, 2010

FEATURED STORIES

Crist says he tries to listen to people, and people are telling him to veto teacher bill

By Michael C. Bender

Palm Beach Post

As Gov. Charlie Crist decides whether to veto perhaps the most divisive education changes considered by Florida in a decade, he's also in a U.S. Senate Republican primary race where the latest poll today showed him down by a 2-1 margin.


Vetoing teacher bill might aid Charlie Crist's Senate bid

By Steve Bousquet

Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau

As leader of a Tea Party group deep in the Florida Panhandle, Henry Kelley would appear to have nothing in common with a teachers union known as a loyal ally of the Democratic Party.


Rubio embarking on statewide bus tour

By Beth Reinhard

Miami Herald via St. Petersburg Times

Related: Crist links Rubio to Sansom in new TV ad

After Twittering, YouTubing and Facebooking his way to near-celebrity status on the national political scene, U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio is going old school this week with a statewide bus tour.


Senate may put redistricting amendment on ballot in addition to FairDistricts group's

By News Service of Florida

Palm Beach Post

Senate Reapportionment Chairman Mike Haridopolos directed staff to begin drafting yet another proposed amendment for the ballot that would change the way Florida handles its once-a-decade redistricting process.


Haridopolos spends less than $2,400 on party credit card amid GOP splurging

By Adam C. Smith

St. Petersburg Times

Amid repeated revelations of massive credit card spending by Florida Republican leaders and party staffers, here's something different: someone who did not ring up six-figure charges on his credit card.

LEGISLATIVE SESSION

Anti-corruption bills get unanimous support in Florida Senate committee

By Mary Ellen Klas

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau

State prosecutors would get new tools to crack down on corrupt government officials who hide financial interests that result in private gain from their public jobs under a bill unanimously passed by a Senate committee Monday.


Florida legislature trying to set guidelines for redlight cameras

By Martin Merzer

Palm Beach Post

Proponents say red-light traffic cameras save lives. Opponents call the devices Orwellian threats to freedom. The Florida Legislature is trying to map a route through the controversy.


Bail bill's critics say sponsors practice legislative legerdemain

By John Frank

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau

A so-called "bailout" for the bail bond industry is dissolving into political gamesmanship as the legislation advances to the House floor.

POLITICAL RACES

U.S. House race in Florida to test GOP's theory on upsets

Staff Report

St. Petersburg Times

The GOP challenger in today's special election to replace former U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler says he's banking on public disdain for President Barack Obama's health care bill and low congressional approval ratings to deliver an upset to his Democratic opponent, widely seen as the front-runner.


Voting time: Sansom's replacement to be decided today

By Tom McLaughlin

Northwest Florida Daily News

A new state representative will be selected today to represent parts of Okaloosa and Santa Rosa counties in House District 4.


Marco Rubio campaigns his way from underdog to front-runner in GOP primary race

By Anthony Man

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Capitalizing on a rapid shift in the nation's political mood and striking an emotional chord with Florida Republicans, Marco Rubio has catapulted from challenger to front-runner in the Republican contest for U.S. Senate.


Obama visits Estefans for fundraiser

The Associated Press

Tampa Tribune

President Barack Obama will cap a visit to the Kennedy Space Center this week with a pair of fundraisers for the Democratic National Committee, one of them at the home of pop stars Gloria and Emilio Estefan.


Grayson has another huge fundraising quarter

By David Damron

Orlando Sentinel

U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson continues to convert his fiery partisan rhetoric and populist political stands into big campaign dollars.


Election groups still need regulation

Editorial

St. Petersburg Times

There are 1.3 million new reasons why Gov. Charlie Crist did the right thing by vetoing a bill that would have allowed legislative leaders to re-establish their own political slush funds.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Repeal of Florida church-state rule goes beyond school vouchers

By Howard Troxler

St. Petersburg Times

Should Florida repeal its long-standing ban on giving public dollars to religious institutions?


Voucher amendment revived in Fla. Legislature

The Associated Press

Tampa Tribune

A school voucher proposal the Florida Supreme Court took off the 2008 ballot has been revived in the Legislature.

EDUCATION

Thousands of Miami-Dade teachers take part in sickout

By Patricia Mazzei, Hannah Sampson and Kathleen McGrory

Miami Herald

Related: Florida teachers union targets education bill

In the most dramatic show of opposition in the state, more than 6,300 of Miami-Dade's 21,260 public-school teachers took a personal or sick day Monday to protest controversial legislation that would overhaul their pay.


Educators tell Crist to veto merit pay

By Iricka Berlinger

Tallahassee Democrat

Before the House and Senate voted to pass the merit pay for teachers bill, SAIL High Principal Rosanne Wood sat in the House committee for six hours, waiting to give testimony about the controversial bill. Her speech was never heard.


Jeb Bush leads move to marginalize teachers union

By William March

Tampa Tribune

The battle over the teacher tenure bill is the latest in a long-running war between the Florida teachers union and conservative Republicans.


One special ed teacher's fears about SB 6

By Rebecca Catalanello

St. Petersburg Times

Liza Johnson sat on the edge of her gallery seat and tried to muffle her gasps.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

OJ rivals Florida, Brazil may team up for global campaign to boost flagging consumption

By Robert Trigaux

St. Petersburg Times

Funny how a common enemy can unite warring rivals.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Fla. House panel approves major Medicaid overhaul

By Jim Ash

Tallahassee Democrat

A House panel voted overwhelmingly Monday to put Medicaid reform on steroids, approving a massive overhaul that over the next five years would force the state's 2.7 million patients into some form of a managed care.


House committee approves Medicaid makeover

By Lloyd Dunkelberger

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

A House committee on Monday endorsed legislation that would dramatically reshape Florida's Medicaid program, moving the 2.7 million residents who rely on the health care program into a managed care system within the next five years.


Miami-Dade clinic operator pleads guilty to Medicare fraud

By Jay Weaver

Miami Herald

Ihosvany Marquez spent his Medicare millions on a fleet of luxury cars, authorities say, including a Lamborghini Murcielago with spaceship-like doors that cost $455,959.


Doctor aborts wrong twin

By Carol Gentry

Health News Florida

A Sarasota OB-GYN who was supposed to abort an abnormal fetus in a twin pregnancy but leave the normal one alone made the worst kind of mistake: He got the twins mixed up and injected a killing chemical into the healthy one.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Delivering on the promise of immigration reform

Editorial

Miami Herald

Since taking office in January of 2009, President Obama has done little to fulfill an explicit campaign promise to reform immigration laws ``in my first year as president.''

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Replacing Justice Stevens

The Progress Report

Think Progress

On Friday, Justice John Paul Stevens, the longest-serving Supreme Court justice on the bench, announced that he would retire at the end of the term.

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