Daily Clips for January 14, 2010

FEATURED STORIES Cabinet to Rick Scott: No, you can't veto our regulations By Janet Zink St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau Related: Scott's self-inflicted bottleneck Related: Gov. Scott defends decision to halt new contracts Thirty minutes after taking office last week, Gov. Rick Scott signed an executive order requiring his approval for any new state rules in departments under his purview. Gambling to pay for government: 'Our crutch and our drug' By Howard Troxler St. Petersburg Times You want more casinos in Florida? Fine by me, on one condition: That they not be a source of money for the government. Firearms: Florida lawmaker says local officials should not be able to supersede state gun laws By Jim Turner TC Palm Related: Putnam Orders Concealed Weapons Review State Sen. Joe Negron has filed a bill that would further prohibit elected officials and public entities from unilaterally imposing their own firearm and ammunition regulations to supersede Florida's gun laws. BEST OF THE BLOGS Campaign Diaries: Earn It, Don’t Expect It By Kenneth Quinnell Florida Progressive Coalition This one is directed both at candidates and at activists and the progressive movement in general. It isn’t meant to call anyone one out in particular, but is aimed at any number of individuals and groups who fall into this pattern, which is widespread. So much anger, so little resolution By gimleteye Eye On Miami The chart, entitled “Dan & Teri Securities Transaction Process Reverse Engineered 4.1,” traces the complex and convoluted path that one mortgage took on the path to securitization. UnConventional Wisdom: Looking Back to Win in the Future By Mario Piscatella MPA Political In honor of the FDP’s dentist endorsed sugar coated retrospective of the 2010 election season, a look at how candidates and campaigns should handle the aftermath of a campaign in preparation for a future campaign. Is Jeb Bush stuck in fourth grade? By Sherman Dorn ShermanDorn.com The title above is a bit flippant, but since Jeb Bush's op-ed in the Wall Street Journal yesterday focused (again) on fourth-grade achievement data in reading, it's important to keep in mind that there are students in other grades, too. FLORIDA POLITICS Putting scandal in the past proves tough for GOP By Jeremy Wallace Sarasota Herald-Tribune Turning the page on one of the most scandalous periods in state Republican Party history is becoming an ugly endeavor. Jeb Bush guides Republican outreach to Latinos Associated Press Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush told a Republican gathering Thursday evening that the time is now to connect better with Latino voters, not two months before the general election. Kriseman seeks longer terms for lawmakers By David DeCamp St. Petersburg Times State Rep. Rick Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg, wants to lengthen the terms for lawmakers. Senators would get six years instead of four, and House members would get four years instead of two. Voters would decide in 2012. FL Senate panel grills judges over "Taj Mahal" courthouse By Kate Bradshaw WMNF-FM Some testy exchanges happened over what’s being called the Taj Mahal courthouse in Tallahassee today when a state Senate panel grilled those involved in its construction. POLITICAL RACES State Senate President Haridopolos steps into U.S. Senate race By Adam Smith and Marc Caputo St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau State Senate President Mike Haridopolos has made it official: He's running for U.S. Senate. It's not much of a surprise, but he's already launched a website Mike2012.org, and he has a political committee called Friends of Mike H. Alcee Hastings has no plan to retire, says he’ll seek re-election By Anthony Man South Florida Sun-Sentinel U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar, plans to run for re-election. Hastings, 74, is a week into his 10th term in Congress. He said he’d like to have at least two more terms. ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY Did We Learn Anything From the BP Oil Spill? By Kate Sheppard Mother Jones The National Oil Spill Commission on Tuesday released a voluminous report on the causes of the Deepwater Horizon disaster and its implications for the future of offshore drilling in the United States. Afghanistan’s Green Marines Cut Fuel Use by 90 Percent By Spencer Ackerman Danger Room Helmand Province in Afghanistan isn’t the most obvious proving ground for a green-energy project. Thrasher's clout a big plus in fight for St. Johns River By Ron Littlepage Florida Times-Union Give Sen. John Thrasher credit. During the St. Johns River Summit last September, he promised to be the driving force in focusing the Legislature's attention on the needs of the river. House panel may look at "local sources first" water policy By Bruce Ritchie Florida Tribune The chairman of the new House Select Committee on Water Policy said Thursday that the state's "local sources first" policy that discourages water pipelines will be reviewed along with the role of water-management districts. EDUCATION Making education work for all Floridians Editorial St. Petersburg Times A student graduating from a Florida community college with an associate's degree in science earns an average of $47,708. The Hidden Costs of School Vouchers By Merrill Shapiro Jewish Daily Forward “I support school choice,” said candidate Rick Scott, the former health care magnate and now Florida’s new governor. Is the teacher tenure rhetoric of Rick Scott and others counterproductive? By Jeff Solocheck The Gradebook Florida Gov. Rick Scott isn't the only one employing stark black and white imagery pitting the "good" teachers against the "bad," a la informal education adviser Michelle Rhee. A critical shortage of school counselors By Valerie Strauss The Answer Sheet Look at these statistics on the number of students that counselors in American public schools are expected to help. JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY Migration Policy Institute: Low-skill immigrant workers benefit U.S. consumers By Marcos Restrepo Florida Independent A Migration Policy Institute study released this week concludes that less-educated immigrant workers, both legal and unauthorized, have a quite modest negative impact on the U.S. labor market. Home starts rise but not by much By John McCarthy Florida Today Home construction in Brevard County inched up in 2010 after four years of steep declines. Top genetics lab looks at Sarasota By Doug Sword & Michael Pollick Sarasota Herald-Tribune Sarasota County is getting a second bite at an economic development plum -- a Florida-based personalized medicine institute being set up by Jackson Laboratory, one of world's leading genetic research institutes. HEALTH AND SENIORS State's AIDS drug program now in 'crisis' By David Royse The News Service of Florida State officials are desperately trying to figure out how to keep a program that pays for AIDS drugs going until new federal money comes down in April, caught up in a nationwide problem caused in part by a down economy. Administrative judge OKs Fla. Medicaid contract By Bill Kaczor Associated Press Related: Medicaid Costs Less Than Private Insurance An administrative law judge has approved a proposed three-year, $51 million contract with a new company to manage Florida's Medicaid program even though the current vendor bid $12.2 million less. Nail-biting time for health programs By Jim Saunders Health News Florida Memo to Florida's health and human services programs: Don't expect any crumbs from Sen. Joe Negron. School lunch proposal aims to cut salt and calories By Richard Martin St. Petersburg Times As federal officials on Thursday unveiled plans for the first major nutritional overhaul of school lunches in 15 years, local officials said many of the proposed changes are already in place in Tampa Bay schools. CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE, AND SOCIAL ISSUES New Republican Party of Florida website touts ‘equal opportunity,’ doesn’t mention gays or lesbians By Cooper Levey-Baker Florida Independent The Republican Party of Florida today unveiled its new website, rpof.org, laying out a host of information about the party and its values. JUSTICE AND THE COURTS Foreclosures Still Plague Florida By Gray Rohrer Sunshine State News Despite a drop in foreclosures at the end of the year, Florida was one of the most active states in 2010 for defaulting home loans, with the second-highest number of foreclosed homes and third-highest rate of foreclosure.