Daily Clips for July 6, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

Scott is Supremely miffed with FDLE findings; group accuses him of trying to seize ‘absolute power’
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Florida investigators have cleared three state Supreme Court judges of violating any state law when they used court employees to help prepare election documents for their merit retention votes this fall.

Gov. Scott’s health-care law refusal makes federal control more likely in Florida
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott’s insistence that he will not implement the state health insurance exchanges mandated under the federal health care law doesn’t mean Florida won’t have one.

Sore Loser?
Staff Report
Florida Courier
Gov. Rick Scott says to hell with implementing ‘Obamacare’ in Florida, thus hurting thousands of Black Floridians who would immediately benefit from the legislation.

UFO Sightings Are More Common Than Voter Fraud
By Hamed Aleaziz, Dave Gilson, and Jaeah Lee
Mother Jones
Since 2001, nearly 1,000 bills that would tighten voting laws have been introduced in 46 states.

BEST OF THE BLOGS

Pam Bondi: Turning Law Enforcement Into Petty Partisanship
By Kartik Krishnaiyer
The Political Hurricane
The Republican Party of Florida has waited years to have an Attorney General like this.

America's Day of Independence and Our Natural Dependence on One Another
By Benjamin J. Kirby
The Spencerian
Somewhere in the deep vaults of the Kirby Family Archive are a couple of great pictures of me, my brother and my sister as kids.

Rick Scott Wants Sick, Poor And Uninsured Floridians To Stay That Way, Refuses To Implement "Obamacare"
By Inkberries
Beach Peanuts
Contrary to what he said just days ago, Florida Governor Rick Scott said last night he refuses to comply with President Obama's Affordable Care Act, which was upheld by the Supreme Court this week.

Look to Florida Bay: when forests are destroyed, what happens under conditions of global warming?
By Gimleteye
Eye on Miami
Forest managers say, get ready for more epic fires in the American west.

The efficiencies of publicly provided health care, revisited
By Andrew Fieldhouse
Economic Policy Institute
Following the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) and its lynchpin—the individual mandate—my colleague Josh Bivens noted all the ways conservatives have tried to keep health care from being delivered efficiently, notably by blocking government from using its monopsony power and economies of scale wisely. 

POLITICAL RACES

Dems claim fundraising boost in wake of ACA decision
By William March
Tampa Tribune
In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the Affordable Care Act, Republicans at both the state and national levels said the decision would help them in the 2012 elections by energizing their base voters.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Mandatory-sick-time initiative gains steam
By Mark Schlueb and Sandra Pedicini
Orlando Sentinel
In what may be the biggest political campaign in Central Florida right now, an army of paid and volunteer petition workers is swarming through Orange County.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Corporate Sponsors Coming to a Trail Near You
By Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service
Corporate logos could soon start appearing at a state trail near you. Seven trails from one end of the state will be allowed to accept sponsorships under legislation signed by Governor Rick Scott.

Florida scientists look to get millions from oil spill fine
By Craig Pittman
Tampa Bay Times
When the companies responsible for the Deepwater Horizon disaster pay fines for polluting the Gulf of Mexico, Florida scientists will get millions of dollars to study the continuing impact of the oil spill, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said Thursday.

State hasn't done enough to avert quality, supply crisis
By Jimmy Orth
Orlando Sentinel
The current state of Florida's aquatic resources is unacceptable, and in many cases, simply appalling.

DEP fails to live up to stated goal
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
In recent weeks, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has emphatically denied that the suspension of its top wetlands expert was triggered by her refusal to approve a mitigation permit for a well-connected landowner.

LGBT

Orange domestic partner registry begins Friday
By David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
Orange County's domestic partner registry will take effect Friday, and Comptroller Martha Haynie will commemorate and explain the system at an event at 10:30 a.m. at 301 S. Rosalind Ave. in Orlando.

EDUCATION

Congress Freezes Student Loan Rates
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
There’s some good news tonight for Florida college students.

Appeals court: Miami-Dade school district right to shut down charter
By Scott Hiaasen
Miami Herald
An appeals court on Thursday struck down a decision by the state Board of Education that had given a troubled Florida City charter school the power to open its doors again after being shut down by the Miami-Dade School District.

Scott Begins Interviews for Florida Poly Board
By Mary Toothman
Lakeland Ledger
Gov. Rick Scott interviewed seven applicants for the Florida Polytechnic University's Board of Trustees for 10 minutes each last week, records show.

FAMU grapples with new financial reviews
By Denise-Marie Balona
Orlando Sentinel
Florida A&M University, under fire for a series of financial problems, faces similar criticism in the wake of recent reviews by three separate agencies.

Time to talk
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
School boards and the state Department of Education are not having a healthy conversation about Florida's student-testing regime.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Few Floridians apply for foreclosure compensation
By Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post
Florida residents wronged during a foreclosure could receive up to $125,000 in compensation through a federal program launched in November, but just 3 percent of homeowners contacted statewide have applied to have their cases reviewed.

More cities and counties turn to tax increases to bridge budget shortfalls
By Anna M. Phillips
Tampa Bay Times
As cities and counties throughout the Tampa Bay area face another year of budget shortfalls, many are beginning to find that the risk of cutting deeper into budgets and services, eliminating police officers and park space, is too great.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Scott, opponents at odds over health care law costs
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Ocala Star-Banner
The U.S. Supreme Court has ended its debate over the Affordable Care Act, but the rhetoric over the historic decision is just heating up in Florida.

Advocates call on Florida to implement federal healthcare law; others say 'not so fast'
By Lynn Hatter 
WFSU Tallahassee
Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on the federal healthcare law, several healthcare advocacy groups are calling on Florida officials to implement it in its entirety.

Doctors’ names hijacked in ads
By Carol Gentry and Lottie Watts
Health News Florida
Without their knowledge, Florida's largest insurer and scores of doctors, dentists and lawyers in the state were listed as advertisers on a controversial website promoted by an alleged scam artist who is now behind bars.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

First Amendment Applies to Florida Doctors, Too
By Angel Castillo Jr
Florida Voices
Once again, at taxpayer expense, a judge has been forced to teach Gov. Rick Scott that the U.S. Constitution applies in the state of Florida.

Doctors can talk about guns — and should
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
Florida Republicans who led the unsuccessful attempt to have the Affordable Care Act declared unconstitutional regularly claimed it amounted to “government-run health care.”

Ex-cons shouldn't have to beg
Editorial
Pensacola News Journal
We urge Gov. Rick Scott and the Cabinet to loosen their stranglehold on the voting rights of nonviolent ex-felons who have served their time.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Judge: Zimmerman was going to jump bail with other people’s money
By Frances Robles
Miami Herald
The judge overseeing George Zimmerman’s murder trial wrote a stern eight-page order Thursday that set bail at $1 million and said the former neighborhood watch volunteer thumbed his nose at the judicial system as he plotted a life on the run.

Atwater appeal rejected by Florida Supreme Court
By Brent Kallestad
Associated Press
A 2008 Florida law establishing a 48-hour moratorium on public adjusters was ruled unconstitutional Thursday by the Florida Supreme Court on grounds that it restricted commercial speech.