Daily Clips for April 6, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

Rick Scott's re-election campaign is starting already
By Scott Powers
Orlando Sentinel
With more than 30 months until the next gubernatorial election, Gov. Rick Scott appears to be already campaigning for re-election.

The push to block voter registration
By Sue Sturgis
Facing South
A by-the-numbers look at the effort underway in Florida and other states to set up roadblocks to voter registration drives.

Florida Fair Districts groups release own Senate map
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
The Legislature's revised Senate redistricting plan went to the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday as three nonpartisan groups also released an alternative map because they say the lawmakers' do-over still violates new anti-gerrymandering standards.

Fla. task force told 'stand ground' law confusing
By Curt Anderson
Associated Press
A task force examining Florida's "stand your ground" self-defense law was told Thursday that the Trayvon Martin shooting is one example of the law's ambiguity and the potential unintended consequences it has created.

SeaWorld gets whale-sized tax breaks
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
So SeaWorld posted record earnings last year — yet didn't have to pay a dime in either federal income or state corporate taxes.

BEST OF THE BLOGS

FPL and nuclear energy: cynicism and the bounds of reason
By Gimleteye
Eye on Miami
For nuclear power and other corporate polluters, there is an inherent problem where government policies allow regulated monopolies to charge its rate base -- as in the case of South Florida -- and shift the ultimate costs of pollution to pursue multi-billion dollar profits.

Republican Congressman Tries To Walk Back Calling The House GOP Budget A ‘Joke’
By Alex Seitz-Wald
Think Progress
Rep. Connie Mack IV (R-FL), who is running for the Senate, strongly criticized the House Republican budget authored by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) this weekend.

Finally Friday Rails Edition
By Benjamin J. Kirby
The Spencerian
There's a giant sign on 66th Street not too far from us that says "No Tax for Tracks!" or something like that.

The toll of school reform on public education
By Diane Ravitch
The Answer Sheet
There comes a time when you look at the rug on the floor, the one you've seen many times, and you see a pattern that you had never noticed before.

Rod Smith Has Shaped the Redistricting Fight
By Kartik Krishnaiyer
The Political Hurricane
“We’ll see you in court.” With this one line the Florida Democratic Party fired a salvo at the Senate whose redrawn maps barely passed out of the House on Tuesday.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Scott fundraising event draws supporters, protesters
By Zac Anderson
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Love Gov. Rick Scott or hate him — there was no in-between Thursday as rival groups set up along the bayfront near Marina Jack to greet the second-year governor as he arrived here for a political fundraiser.

In deposition, ex-employee charges Florida congressman with wide variety of misdeeds
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
In a deposition given on Jan. 9 and obtained by The Florida Independent, a former employee of Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, alleges that he reported Buchanan to the U.S. government in 2008 for tax evasion and conspiracy to evade U.S. income tax, and that he has been in contact with federal officials about Buchanan.

Protesters speak out at hearing on Tampa's 'clean zone' for RNC
By Kevin Wiatrowski and Howard Altman
Tampa Tribune
Mayor Bob Buckhorn's proposed "clean zone" for the Republican National Convention gets its first public airing this morning at Tampa City Council.

Scott asks agency heads to stay on the job
By Christine Jordan Sexton
Florida Current
A number of agency heads who were snubbed by the Senate during the 2012 session have been reappointed.

Bondi sends new Florida Senate maps to Supreme Court
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
The revised Florida Senate maps are now in the hands of the Florida Supreme Court after Attorney General Pam Bondi sent them to the high court for review today.

Florida may overturn ban on dyeing bunnies, chicks and other critters
By Susannah Bryan
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Picture your bunnies neon green and your baby chicks a vivid purple.

POLITICAL RACES

Obama heads for FAU to talk up economy
By William Gibson
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Just as South Florida is starting to pull out of its doldrums, President Barack Obama is coming to Florida Atlantic University on Tuesday to take part in “an economic event,” the White House said.

Connie Mack launches pipeline petition, bashes Bill Nelson over gas
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
With a gas pump doubling as a campaign prop, Senate candidate Connie Mack launched a petition drive Thursday at a Miami gas station to call for the building of the politically charged Keystone XL pipeline.

New report finds American Muslims could be key swing vote in upcoming election
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
A new report released this week by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding found that American Muslims could be a key swing vote in the upcoming presidential election — especially in Florida, where community groups have been able to increase voter turnout among Muslims.

Social media as election predictor? Not so fast
By Puja Murgai
Politico
Can social-media tools that help forecast box office returns be used to predict elections?

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Group formed to push Fla. religion amendment
Associated Press
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
A ballot proposal that would repeal Florida's ban on public funding of churches and other religious organizations is getting organized support.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Solar company pushes Gadsden County for tax breaks on project -- or else
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Six months after National Solar Power announced it would build the Southeast's largest solar array in Gadsden County, the company told the county commission this week it would go elsewhere if it doesn't get the local tax breaks it requested.

FPL launches rate hike offensive
By Susan Salisbury
Palm Beach Post
Three years ago, more than 100 people packed the Palm Beach County Commission chambers to speak about Florida Power & Light Co.'s proposed $1.3 billion rate hike.

Federal agency hears concerns about Gulf oil drilling
By Randal Yakey
Panama City News Herald
“Drill, baby, drill” may be coming to a coastal area near you.

LGBT

Tampa council OKs registry for domestic partnerships
By Kevin Wiatrowski
Tampa Tribune
Tampa officially joined the handful of Florida communities that offer protections to unmarried couples Thursday when city council approved the creation of a domestic partnership registry.

EDUCATION

Condoleezza Rice tells First Coast audience breakdowns in K-12 education threaten national security
By Steve Patterson
Florida Times-Union
Failures of America’s K-12 school system represent a threat to national security by undermining the future of struggling young people, former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told an audience Wednesday night at the Florida Forum speakers series in Jacksonville.

Poll shows support for increased education funding
By Jeff Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
The College Board, which runs such programs as Advanced Placement and SAT, has conducted a survey of nearly 1,900 voters from nine swing states including Florida.

Dockery wants Scott to visit USF Poly before making decision on split bill
By Kim Wilmath
Tampa Bay Times
We told you about the hundreds of people lobbying Gov. Rick Scott on the bill to split USF Poly off into the state's 12th university -- with two-thirds against it.

It’s Their Money, Give It Back
By Paula Dockery
Florida Voices
Whenever government considers raising taxes or fees, we as citizens expect those discussions to occur in the Sunshine.

Proctor says Florida universities 'in a desperate situation'
By Peter Guinta
St Augustine Record
State Rep. Bill Proctor, R-St. Augustine, does not normally ring alarm bells, but Thursday he emphatically warned that Florida’s university system is in a crisis mode, badly mismanaging what it charges for college tuition and sinking toward a ranking that is “below Mississippi’s.”

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Forty percent of small business owners plan to hire, Florida Chamber says
By Marcia Heroux Pounds
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Nearly 40 percent of small business owners plan to hire more employees during the next six months, according to a Florida Chamber of Commerce survey released Wednesday.

South Florida tourist season ends on high note
By Emily Roach
Palm Beach Post
A warm Northern winter caused few shivers to local tourism leaders, as visitors continued to come in greater numbers.

Lawmakers slam inaction on reducing CAT fund risk
Associated Press
Bradenton Herald
Two Florida lawmakers are taking their colleagues to task for failing to pass legislation that would have lowered the risk for taxpayers who are the hook for making up losses in the aftermath of a major hurricane or a series of damaging storms.

TARP’s quite success
Editorial
Pensacola News Journal
It was a small headline on Thursday's PNJ Business page, but maybe it should have been played bigger: "Regions Financial repays $3.5B bailout."

HEALTH AND SENIORS

WellCare ready to roll, analysts say
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
WellCare Health Plans has spent the past five years in the doghouse, trying to live down evidence of massive Medicaid fraud against Florida and eight other states.

Veto this unhealthy bill
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
Florida's Republican-controlled Legislature has accomplished at the state level what GOP presidential candidates promise they will do for the country: They have repealed health care.

The Medicaid mess
Editorial
Ocala Star-Banner
When Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill forcing Florida's 67 counties to pay Medicaid bills containing state accounting errors, he knew there would be an uproar, he even acknowledged the unfairness of inaccurate billing.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Students gathering in Daytona Beach to begin racial equality march to Sanford
By Dinah Voyles Pulver
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Scores of college students from around Florida plan to convene in Daytona Beach today to begin a three-day, 41-mile march to Sanford, modeled after the historic 1965 civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala.

Public divided at "Stand Your Ground" gun law sound-off in Fort Lauderdale
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
Members of the public have radically different and emotional opinions on the state's "Stand Your Ground" law.

Coke withdraws from group that backs Stand Your Ground law
By Barbara Liston and Martinne Geller
Reuters
Coca-Cola Co is dropping its membership in a conservative national advocacy group that supports "Stand Your Ground" laws such as the one being used as a defense in the Florida killing of an unarmed black teenager, Trayvon Martin.

Immigration enforcement group rips Rubio over Dream Act alternative
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Sen. Marco Rubio's Dream Act alternative, which would provide legal status but a path to citizenship for some undocumented youth, has drawn sharp complaints from the left.

Reform vs. empty rhetoric
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Two vastly different approaches toward immigration are on display this week, and the contrasts will get sharper as the general election campaign for president unfolds.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Corizon, Wexford first in line for prison health care contracts
By Travis Pillow
Florida Current
The Florida Department of Corrections has chosen two companies that are first in line to take over the state's inmate health care system, which costs more than $400 million annually.