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Progress Florida -- Progressive Solutions for Florida

Monday, July 12, 2010

Daily Clips for July 12, 2010

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

Special session on offshore drilling gets mixed reaction (includes video)

By Dave Heller

WTSP TV 10 Connects Tampa Bay

Excerpt: Progress Florida's Damien Filer: "I think we need to get something accomplished and if we can accomplish a permanent ban on near-shore drilling in Florida, then I think we've accomplished something meaningful."

FEATURED STORIES

Former office manager details Florida GOP's spending scandal

By Marc Caputo

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau

Long before criminal investigations shook the Republican Party of Florida, office manager Susan Wright noticed a problem: Higher-ups were spending party money to help themselves instead of the GOP.


BP `pleased with progress' -- but makes no promises

By Laura Figueroa

Miami Herald

Related: Babies of the oil spill face an uncertain future

Hopes that BP would finally cap the crude oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico by Monday were dashed when company officials announced Sunday that it could take at least six more days to secure a new replacement cap over the spill's source.


Some Florida GOP lawmakers in a tough spot over drilling proposal

By Lee Logan

Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau

Gov. Charlie Crist's call for a special session on oil drilling has put some coastal Republican lawmakers in a tough spot.


Fla. officials ponder Ariz. immigration law

By Bill Cotterell

Florida Capital News

Should Florida copy Arizona's immigration law? Allowing police to check the status of suspects they believe might be in the country illegally will be a hot topic in the 2011 legislature.

EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK

Editorial cartoon of the week

By Jeff Parker

Florida Today

FLORIDA POLITICS

Special session on drilling could tackle other issues

By Brandon Larrabee

Florida Times-Union

When the Legislature adjourned at the end of April, there was already talk of a special session.


Special session could lead to nothing

By C.J. Pruner

Gainesville Sun

While Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's call for a special session on offshore drilling may have fired up partisan politics statewide, one UF expert expects that the session likely will not lead to a constitutional amendment banning oil drilling making it onto the November ballot.


Will House trade new Amend. 7 for drilling ban?

By Lee Logan

St. Petersburg Times

Rep. Ron Schultz has an interesting theory.


Oil Drilling Foes: Constitutional Ban More Reliable Than Law

By Lloyd Dunkelberger

Lakeland Ledger

Critics say Florida doesn't need a constitutional ban on oil drilling near the state's beaches because it is already prohibited by law.


Lawmakers' income far surpasses those they represent

By Matt Dixon

Florida Times-Union

As the cherry end of Stephen Louveau's cigarette quickly crept toward the hand that earlier helped expertly roll it, he peered from under his dingy baseball cap and pondered a just-posed question: Can politicians relate to a guy like him?


Supporters of Fair Elections Bill Make Their Case in FL

By Gina Presson

Public News Service Florida

While Florida gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott is suing to block rivals from using public campaign funds, there's a new campaign to get big, special-interest money out of national politics.

POLITICAL RACES

Campaign funding rules skirted in gubernatorial race

By William March

Tampa Tribune

Conservative Florida Republicans have long opposed the state's public campaign financing program, calling it "welfare for politicians," in the words of its leading opponent, former Gov. Jeb Bush.


Prophet or profiteer? How Senate candidate Jeff Greene made hundreds of millions betting that supbrime mortgages would default

By Jeff Ostrowski

Palm Beach Post

At the peak of the housing frenzy, California landlord Jeff Greene made a shrewd move that countless American investors and homeowners wish they would have mimicked.


Meek promises fight for middle class

By Kristin Wright

WTVT News Tampa Bay

Polls of potential voters in the race for Florida's U.S. Senate seat put former Florida House speaker Marco Rubio in the lead, followed closely by Governor Charlie Crist.


Meek, Greene spar over Medicare costs

By Beth Reinhard

Miami Herald

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek is trying to kill a fledgling program that the federal government claims will deflate Medicare costs by requiring competitive bids from companies that provide medical equipment like oxygen tanks and wheelchairs.


White House isn't backing Crist, party chief says

By Adam C. Smith

St. Petersburg Times

Among the great unanswered questions this year is whether Charlie Crist would caucus with the Democrats or Republicans if he makes it to the Senate.


Marco Rubio's U.S. Senate campaign grew out of his 2007 antitax roots

By Alex Leary

St. Petersburg Times

Daytona Beach, February 2007: 30 people gather at a medical billing office to hear a young Miami politician.


Great Scott! Candidate irks Florida GOP

By Alexander Burns

Politico

Republicans have plunged into a state of all-but-open war with former hospital executive Rick Scott, the wealthy candidate for governor who's threatening to torch the state's political establishment in a self-funded march to the GOP nomination.


Rick Scott's pro-life boasts hinge on Texas family's preemie turmoil

By John Frank

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau

Rick Scott is reaching into his corporate past to woo a key electorate in the Republican primary for governor and bolster his claims as a "pro-life leader."


McCollum, Scott agree to August debates in GOP primary for Fla. Governor

By Keith Laing

The News Service of Florida

Republican gubernatorial candidates Bill McCollum and Rick Scott confirmed on Friday they'll hold at least two debates before their Aug. 24 primary, setting up early August showdowns that could reshape their race for the GOP nomination.


Arizona immigration law an issue in Florida's GOP governor's race

By Catherine Whittenburg

Tampa Tribune

The Obama administration's attempt last week to kill Arizona's tough new immigration law had both of Florida's GOP candidates for governor racing to upstage one other's support for tough enforcement.


Florida's election day becomes election month as absentee voting surges

By Cristina Silva

St. Petersburg Times

Legions of pajama-clad voters could decide Florida's ballot long before the August primary.


Election looming, but campaigns slow to start

By Mark Schlueb and David Damron

Orlando Sentinel

Central Florida voters will decide more than 100 races on the Aug. 24 primary ballot, with candidates fighting for everything from city commission seats to a six-year term in the U.S. Senate.


Florida needs campaign finance option

Editorial

Tampa Tribune

Floridians who doubt the necessity of the state's public campaign finance law should consider the maneuvers of Rick Scott.


Scott's motives

Editorial

Orlando Sentinel

Candidate for governor Rick Scott wants to be seen as a man of the people.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Incumbent losses in Legislature are as rare as Fair Districts Florida says

By Cristina Silva

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Politifact

Underneath the loud tussling over who Florida's next governor and U.S. senator will be runs a quiet political battle that could have far more lasting ramifications.


Redistricting ... kudos to judge for killing a confusing amendment

Editorial

Naples Daily News

Bully for Judge James Shelfer. The Leon County circuit judge swatted down a proposed constitutional amendment that would dictate how new boundary lines are drawn for congressional and other voting districts in Florida.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Crist, locals vent over oil

By Thyrie Bland

Pensacola News Journal

Related: Legal dream team eyed for oil-spill response

Tourism is hurting from BP's oil spill in the Gulf, the company is slow to reimburse expenses and cleanup efforts need to be expanded, Escambia County officials told two members of a national oil-spill commission on Sunday.


Oil's a moving target for no-fishing zones

By Craig Pittman

St. Petersburg Times

One-third of the Gulf of Mexico's federal waters are closed to recreational and commercial fishing because of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.


State bear management plan in works

By Michael Oppermann

Ocala Star-Banner

After three years of research and study, an eight-member team formed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has completed preliminary work on a statewide bear management plan and is seeking public feedback before finalizing its report.

LGBT

Pentagon: It's 'nonsense' that don't ask, don't tell gay survey is biased

The Associated Press

Miami Herald

Related: Servicemembers United: Pentagon survey on don't ask, don't tell 'incredibly biased, derogatory'

The Pentagon is at odds with gay rights groups after sending out a survey asking troops what they would do if gays were allowed to serve openly.

EDUCATION

Merit pay arrives for teachers -- but some aren't happy

By Denise-Marie Balona

Orlando Sentinel

Florida schools struggling to emerge from the bottom of the heap have started offering merit pay to teachers.


FCATs don't add up

Editorial

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

The FCAT scores are in, and there are so many red flags that question the results, it isn't funny.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Home building in Southwest Florida is on the mend

By Michael Braga

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

After the worst year in the home building business since the Great Depression, Southwest Florida builders and their subcontractors are getting busy again.


Kosmas sets shuttle discussion

By Britt Kenerly

Florida Today

Dale Ketcham uses military-style imagery to illustrate what's happening on the Space Coast and beyond with the shuttle retirement.


LeBron James could mean millions for Miami tourism

The Associated Press

Tampa Tribune

Tourism promoters say LeBron James is giving South Florida a boost already.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Quadruple amputee struggles with medical needs

By Anne Geggis

Daytona Beach News-Journal

The antibiotic that would have let Gayle Burnette Monroe keep her arms and legs and spared her from months of hospitalizations is free at local supermarkets.


Double-CT radiation a concern

By Dave Gulliver

Health News Florida

A type of medical scan that delivers a double dose of radiation to the patient is recommended for only a small number of conditions.


Don't let WellCare off lightly for fraud

Editorial

St. Petersburg Times

Wellcare Health Plans Inc. is not fully paying for its sins.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Federal immigration-enforcement provision 'leads to racial profiling,' is a 'civil rights violation'

By Marcos Restrepo

Florida Independent

The Department of Justice last week filed a lawsuit challenging Arizona's controversial immigration-enforcement law S.B. 1070 -- which requires law enforcement officials to "determine the immigration status" of a person if there is a "reasonable suspicion" that the person is an undocumented immigrant.


Push resumes for AgJobs bill to allow farmworker illegals to stay

By Tracy X. Miguel

Naples Daily News

In the heat of immigration debate across the nation, growers and farmworker advocates are pressing for passage of the federal legislation known as Agjobs.

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