Daily Clips for August 12, 2010

FEATURED STORIES McCollum unveils immigration proposal By Cristina Silva St. Petersburg Times Florida Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill McCollum unveiled a sweeping immigration bill Wednesday that in some ways goes further than Arizona's controversial law to apprehend undocumented workers and residents. Bill McCollum's political career marked by contradictions over gay rights By Steve Bousquet St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau When it comes to homosexuality as a campaign issue, Bill McCollum is a study in contradictions. As attorney general primary intensifies, Dan Gelber and Dave Aronberg reverse course on money in politics By John Frank St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau Democrats Dave Aronberg and Dan Gelber fought against big money in politics as lawmakers but as the two battle in an increasingly negative primary election for attorney general, they are reversing course. Florida lobbies for Race to the Top money By Lesley Clark Miami Herald The competition for more than $3 billion in Race to the Top education dollars is so heated it brought at least two state governors to a city hotel Wednesday — and sparked a bit of good-natured trash talking. FLORIDA POLITICS New cable TV stars: South Florida lawmakers at work? By Lesley Clark Miami Herald To the past episodes of Mad Men and Jersey Shore available via cable on-demand, now add the Capitol Hill and South Florida adventures of Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Republican Party helps tea activist sue 'fake' Tea Party By Mark Schlueb Orlando Sentinel The state Republican Party launched an attack on the Florida Tea Party on Wednesday, paying for lawsuits against several Tea candidates with the hope of ejecting them from races for a congressional seat and three state House seats. POLITICAL RACES For Some Democrats, Clinton Is Campaigner-In-Chief By Scott Horsley NPR Former President Bill Clinton has done a lot more this summer than watch his daughter get married. Kendrick Meek's Primary Vote Missing In Polls? By Mark Blumenthal The Huffington Post Back in April, I asked rhetorically why Florida Senate candidate Kendrick Meek had earned so little respect from analysts and pundits. Meek's "Real Dem Express" passes through Tampa Bay area By Kate Bradshaw WMNF Community Radio Tampa The day after another testy debate with primary opponent Jeff Greene, Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Kendrick Meek was back on the campaign trail. Debunking the Scott campaign’s timeline of Solantic accusations By Cooper Levey-Baker The Florida Independent As Rick Scott held an impromptu press conference yesterday in Tallahassee to defend himself from fresh allegations of improper Medicare billing at a health care company he co-founded, one of the Scott campaign’s websites was updated with a timeline and flow chart that call the accusations a “false story” drummed up by the media and the campaign of Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum. McCollum-Scott ad blitz: Who's picking up tab? By Aaron Deslatte Orlando Sentinel When Attorney General Bill McCollum started getting hammered by a blitz of television ads last April touting Republican gubernatorial primary foe Rick Scott, a powerful Capitol player came to his rescue. Big Sugar. Scott a No-Show at 3rd Debate The Associated Press Lakeland Ledger Republican candidate for governor Bill McCollum got the stage to himself Wednesday at what was supposed to be a third televised debate with opponent Rick Scott, who opted out. McCollum boards bus to make up ground The Associated Press Tampa Tribune Behind in the polls in the Republican governor's contest, Bill McCollum is hoping to make up some ground with a four-day bus tour of parts of north Florida and the Interstate 4 corridor. Crist set to party like a rock star with DC Dems By William Gibson Orlando Sentinel Charlie Crist plans to party with Democrats Wednesday night to raise money for his independent campaign for the Senate. BALLOT INITIATIVES Meek standing firmly behind campaign to defeat amendment 8 By Mitch Perry Creative Loafing Although Jeff Greene has made much in recent days about Kendrick Meek’s lack of productivity in Congress (a press release issued Wednesday blasted Meek for sponsoring 80 bills and not having any become law), one thing that the Miami Democrat has always been proud of is helping to pass the class size amendment back in 2002 when he was still in the Florida Legislature. ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY Gulf of Mexico `Dead Zone' Grows as Spill Impact Is Studied By Leslie Patton Bloomberg The Gulf of Mexico faces a renewed and enlarged threat to marine life: a low-oxygen “dead zone” about the size of Massachusetts, caused by chemical runoff into the Mississippi River that flows into the sea. Greenpeace and Ocean Alliance ships dock in St. Petersburg on separate courses to study gulf oil spill By Craig Pittman St. Petersburg Times The 165-foot ship that docked at the Port of St. Petersburg on Wednesday is not like any other ship that's ever dropped anchor there. Miccosukee ask judge to stop scaled-down Everglades land deal up for vote Thursday By Andy Reid South Florida Sun-Sentinel A new legal fight could swamp Gov. Charlie Crist's Everglades restoration land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp., even before the recently-scaled-down version comes up for a vote on Thursday. LGBT Bill McCollum opposes gay parenting — both adoptions and foster care The Associated Press South Florida Sun-Sentinel Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum says he opposes same-sex couples as parents, but he would wait until a challenge to Florida's ban on gay adoption makes its way to the state's highest court before deciding whether to try to stop gay couples from being foster parents. Bill McCollum on gay adoption Editorial Orlando Sentinel If Bill McCollum hopes to show he's governor material, he'll need a stiffer spine than he had during a recent interview. EDUCATION Longtime FCAT foes renew demand for overhaul By Kathleen McGrory Miami Herald A coalition of Miami-Dade community leaders has renewed its demand that the state overhaul its controversial high-stakes testing program. Hillsborough superintendent: FCAT needs improvement By MaryEllen Elia St. Petersburg Times Opposing view: Florida's system for grading schools is sound For several weeks, superintendents and educators around the state have puzzled over this year's FCAT scores, trying to understand a widespread and dramatic decrease in learning gains. Schools ask: When's our money coming? By Denise-Marie Balona Orlando Sentinel School districts statewide were still wrestling Wednesday with questions about when they can start spending money from the new federal school-stimulus bill approved by Congress on Tuesday. Former Gov. Bush advocates education overhaul The Associated Press Tampa Tribune The number of functionally illiterate fourth-graders in Florida has been cut nearly in half over the past decade, while the figure in Oklahoma remained virtually unchanged, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush told state lawmakers today. JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY The 'subsidized' tourist: Local economist says BP should offset tourists' lodging costs By Matt Algarin Northwest Florida Daily News Local economist Rick Harper says the best way to boost the economy, while efficiently utilizing BP’s money, is to “subsidize tourism” by offering hotel vouchers to visitors. State economists updating Fla. revenue estimate The Associated Press Tampa Tribune State economists are meeting to update their estimate of Florida's general revenue for current and future budget years. Sen. LeMieux comes to Tampa talking about the federal debt By Lukas Pleva St. Petersburg Times Florida's interim U.S. senator, George LeMieux, came to Tampa Wednesday for a forum on the national debt, and said the country needs leaders willing to make painful choices that some voters are not going to like. Florida sales-tax holiday back for this weekend only By Jim Ash Florida Capital News A shadow of its former self and a little tardy, Florida's sales-tax holiday is back, but for this weekend only. Long-feared wave of foreclosures has begun in Sarasota area By Michael Braga Sarasota Herald-Tribune The wave of foreclosure filings that real estate experts had been anticipating all year began in a big way last month. HEALTH AND SENIORS Groups Ask Crist and Lawmakers to Implement Health Reform By Gina Presson Public News Service Florida Thirty-four Florida organizations are calling on Gov. Crist and the legislature to step up to the plate and form a commission to implement the new federal health care law, the Affordable Care Act. Rubio health plan calls for repeal of Obama law The Associated Press Palm Beach Post Senate candidate Marco Rubio is again calling for the repeal of President Obama's health care legislation. CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES McCollum, state Rep. Snyder announce details of Arizona-style immigration law for Florida By Marcos Restrepo The Florida Independent Related: Report: Change to birthright citizenship provision would affect millions Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill McCollum and state Rep. William Snyder, R-Stuart, chairman of the House Criminal and Civil Justice Policy Council released a proposed immigration enforcement bill on Wednesday. For undocumented students, fear of deportation still looms By Alfonso Chardy Miami Herald When Gaby Pacheco and three other South Florida youths walked from Miami to Washington earlier this year in an immigration protest, their message was simple: President Obama, stop deporting foreign undocumented students until Congress approves legislation making them eligible for green cards. Immigration debate sinks to new low Editorial Miami Herald The latest craze in the immigrant-bashing fad is the drive to deny citizenship to U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants -- never mind what the 14th amendment says.