Daily Clips for July 12, 2011

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

Readers think President Haridopolos should pay back the $152,000 he received for his book
Staff Report
Florida Current
Excerpt: The progressive nonprofit organization Progress Florida recently called for Haridopolos to pay back the money he earned from his book deal -- creating a petition urging him to do so. This past week's Current poll asked readers what Haridopolos should do. A majority of readers (63 percent) agreed with Progress Florida and said that Haridopolos should pay back the money.

FEATURED STORIES

Scott smiles at chump change from oil spill wrongdoers
By Steve Yerrid
St. Petersburg Times
For all the criticisms of former Gov. Charlie Crist, no one can attack how he handled the BP oil spill.

Offshore drilling issue rears its ugly head again
Editorial
Bradenton Herald
Once more into the breech: The battle over oil and gas drilling in Florida state waters looks like a war of attrition.

Connecting the pay-to-play dots on RPOF's $3.4 million quarter
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald
It's no a secret that in this high voltage political finance season of Super-PACs, no limit CCEs and the death of campaign finance limits that if you want the attention of the state's political elites, you write a check.

Ex-US Rep Grayson to run for Congress again
By David Fischer
Associated Press
Ex-U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, who made a name for himself in his one term in Congress with a provocative floor speech attacking the Republican health care plan, said Monday that he will run for Congress again.

Supporters, critics debate process for Florida redistricting plan
By Matt Dixon
Florida Times-Union
The baseline arguments for and against the way the Legislature is handling the once-a-decade task of redrawing political lines were on full display during a set of public hearings Monday in Jacksonville.

Publicopoly Exposed
By Beau Hodai
In These Times
On February 25, 2011, Florida State Representative Chris Dorworth (R-Lake Mary) introduced HB 1021.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Medicare fraud investigators were directed to Rick Scott’s Solantic during his campaign, records show
By Stacey Singer
Palm Beach Post
During the height of the 2010 GOP gubernatorial race, a lawyer for then-Attorney General Bill McCollum’s campaign forwarded an incendiary email to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement concerning the Solantic urgent care business owned by candidate Rick Scott.

Rick Scott's dirtiest deeds
By Lisa Rab
Miami New Times
"I've seen the mountaintop!" shouted a woman blowing a whistle and marching in combat-style boots down Okeechobee Boulevard in West Palm Beach.

Rick Scott’s consultants reeling in big checks from RPOF
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
The political pollsters, consultants, and direct-mail gurus that entered Rick Scott’s campaign orbit last year are reaping the biggest payouts from Republican Party of Florida coffers this year.

Republican Party will try to settle whistleblower lawsuit
By Gary Fineout
Florida Current
The Republican Party of Florida and a former office manager for the party have agreed to try to reach a settlement over a whistleblower lawsuit.

Jacksonville redistricting hearing brings out concerns and, again, a request for maps
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
“Show us the maps.” Much like attendees at Florida’s first public redistricting hearings in Tallahassee, speakers at yesterday’s hearing in Jacksonville argued that lawmakers need to edit their redistricting timeline and release maps soon, so that the public can comment on specific redistricting proposals.

Meek nominated for UN post
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Former Miami U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, who lost a Senate bid last fall to Republican Marco Rubio, was nominated Monday by President Obama to serve as a representative to the U.N. General Assembly.

POLITICAL RACES

Police reports show different side of Michele Bachmann
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
With a penchant for tough talk and polarizing positions, Republican presidential contender Michele Bachmann is a magnet for controversy — and there's a trail of police reports to prove it.

LeMieux makes push in GOP Senate fundraising
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Republican U.S. Senate candidate George LeMieux on Monday became the last of the big three GOP challengers to Democrat Bill Nelson to tout his latest finance total - but he is claiming victory in the dollar race.

1.5 million reasons GOPers wanted Allen West for U.S. Senate
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Broward Republican/tea party sensation Allen West just blew away the fundraising totals in Florida of every major candidate, reporting he raised $1.5 million last quarter.

Val Demings, Alan Grayson plan to run for Congress
By Mark K. Matthews and Bianca Prieto
Orlando Sentinel
Recently retired Orlando police Chief Val Demings and former U.S. Rep Alan Grayson on Monday both announced plans to run for Congress in next year’s elections.

Mystery 'conservative' group fronts $426k of the $1.1 million collected by Fla Dem Party
By Mary Ellen Klas
St. Petersburg Times
In the run up to the upset election in Jacksonville this spring, in which Democrat Alvin Brown defeated Republican Mike Hogan by about 1,500 votes, the Democratic Party collected $426,000 from a political action committee carefully called "Conservatives for a Better Jacksonville."

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Senate to study whether environmental panel still needed
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A Senate committee is going to study the state Environmental Regulation Commission to determine whether the five-member panel still is needed.

Nelson blasts BP for saying that economic losses caused by oil spill are over
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson on Monday criticized BP for saying it should not have to pay claims by businesses and individuals who say the 2010 Gulf oil spill still is causing economic losses or will cause losses in the future.

A fear still flows one year after the BP oil spill
By Lesley Clark
Miami Herald
It was nearing sunset on a muggy night when Debra Bosarge arrived at the State Docks, her daughter, Celia, buckled into the passenger seat.

As water rises, Florida officials sit on their hands
By Kathy Baughman McLeod
St. Petersburg Times
How is it that the government of Florida — the state most vulnerable to rising seas, most exposed to hurricanes, and highly reliant on tourism and agriculture as its economic drivers — is doing nothing to address climate change?

What’s next for privatized camping in state parks?
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection announced over the weekend that plans to privatize portions of Honeymoon Island State Park to turn them into high-impact campsites have been scrapped.

Governor gets message on Honeymoon Island, loud and clear
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
Gov. Rick Scott made the right decision Friday night by dropping a wrongheaded plan to allow overnight camping on Honeymoon Island.

Don't erode nation's national monuments
Editorial
Tampa Tribune
It's difficult to believe, but Congress initially refused to protect the Grand Canyon.

LGBT

9th Circuit orders U.S. to state whether government will continue to defend DADT in court
By Julie Watson
Associated Press
A federal appeals court that has called for the immediate halt of the military's ban on openly gay troops issued an order Monday requiring the U.S. government to state whether it will continue to defend the constitutionality of the policy in court.

EDUCATION

Palm Beach County schools expect bigger budget problems a year from now
By Marc Freeman
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Now that most of the hard work is done for the 2011-12 Palm Beach County schools' budget, officials are looking ahead to 2012-13.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

The GOP’s Debt Ceiling Debacle
By Tanya Somanader
Think Progress
The deadline to raise the debt ceiling is fast approaching. Come Aug. 2, the U.S. economy could face drastic budget cuts, a 2.3 percent drop in GDP, a disruption of Social Security, Medicare and military payments, a “double-dip contraction” in an already fragile housing market, a plummeting credit score, an increase in unemployment, and an overall economic regression if a debt deal isn’t reached.

Field workers get stiffed by employers
By Melissa Sanchez
Miami Herald
During the March green bean harvest, a team of 16 federal investigators visited dozens of farms and packing sheds in Homestead and Florida City to see whether workers were being paid the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

Art in Public Places
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
Art may be on the chopping block to help fill the budget deficits in some Florida cities and counties.

Ideology holds nation hostage
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
President Barack Obama presented a sensible argument Monday for turning a crisis over the federal debt ceiling into an opportunity for significant deficit reduction.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Feds: If Fla. won't run health insurance exchanges, we may
By Frank Gluck
Ft. Myers News-Press
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Monday unveiled preliminary regulations for health insurance exchanges aimed at giving states flexibility in setting them up.

Report: Systems to catch Medicaid fraud inadequate
By Kelli Kennedy
Associated Press
The federal government's systems for analyzing Medicare and Medicaid data for possible fraud are inadequate and underused, making it more difficult to detect the billions of dollars in fraudulent claims paid out each year, according to a report released Tuesday.

Group says ‘abortionists’ use a lack of a parental notification law as ‘selling point’
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
The anti-abortion National Right to Life Committee last week spoke out in support of a new abortion bill filed by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami.

Elton John AIDS Foundation once again urges Scott not to cut AIDS Drug Assistance eligibility
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
The Elton John AIDS Foundation delivered a second letter to Florida Gov. Rick Scott today, expressing the foundation’s concern over the Scott administration’s continued consideration over reducing eligibility for Florida’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

State Rep. Pat Rooney unfazed by Westboro's planned protest at St. Lucie soldier's funeral
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
State Rep. Pat Rooney, R-Palm Beach Gardens, said Monday that an anti-gay, religious organization's planned protest at a St. Lucie County soldier's memorial service has not led him to reconsider legislation he has filed creating a buffer around military funerals.

Mandatory E-Verify opponents say it must be part of comprehensive immigration reform
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
Mandatory E-Verify opponents do not propose eliminating an employee verification program, but say businesses need one that works well for employers — especially small companies — and workers.

Hackers target Catholic Diocese, civic group
By Mark Schlueb
Orlando Sentinel
Computer hackers on Monday took down websites for the Catholic Diocese of Orlando and the Rotary Club as part of their ongoing effort to pressure City Hall to stop arresting anti-poverty activists for distributing food at Lake Eola Park.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Florida police groups adopt standards for eyewitness ID
By Susan Spencer-Wendel
Palm Beach Post
It remains far and away the leading cause of wrongful convictions: eyewitness identification.

Juvenile dies while in detention at West Palm Beach state facility
By Michael LaForgia and Julius Whigham II
Palm Beach Post
Authorities are investigating the death of a juvenile who died on Sunday while in custody at a West Palm Beach detention center.