FEATURED
STORIES
Fla. foes greet Romney with wave of '47 percent' ads
By William March
Tampa Tribune
Related: Polls, housing data boost Obama campaign
As Mitt Romney arrived in Florida and President Barack Obama prepared for a visit to Tampa, state Democrats orchestrated a major publicity effort blasting Romney's controversial "47 percent" comments.
Mitt Romney in Miami: ’My campaign is about the 100 percent’
By Marc Caputo and Patricia Mazzei
Miami Herald
Mitt Romney had no time to warm up Wednesday night before he was asked onstage in Coral Gables about his hidden-video remarks where he suggested that 47 percent of taxpayers were moochers.
Romney's Video-Debunking Claim Is…Debunked
By David Corn
Mother Jones
Related: Full Transcript of the Mitt Romney Secret Video
After Mother Jones posted video of Mitt Romney sharing remarks with millionaire donors that he would never express to voters—noting that nearly half of the American electorate are moochers and that Romney doesn't believe a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is feasible—Romney did not deny he said what he said.
Sunburn for 9/20 — A morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics
By Peter Schorsch
Saint Petersblog
Excerpt: TWEET, TWEET: @AdamSmithTimes: Weird. Romney’s 47% comments all over Fla front pages, but @JustinSayfie couldn’t find a single one to share w readers #Sayfie
Federal judge in Jacksonville hears arguments to decide on state's early voting law
By Charles Broward
Florida Times-Union
A federal judge in Jacksonville will soon decide if he will prevent election supervisors across the state from operating on shortened early voting periods.
FLORIDA
POLITICS
State political funds created to make contributions more transparent sit unused
By Matt Dixon
Florida Times-Union
Trumpeting the need for more transparency, Republican lawmakers pushed through an election law change in 2011 that gave the top brass of both political parties their own campaign accounts.
Robbed of Representation by a Rubber Stamp
By Paula Dockery
Florida Voices
Just 10 of Florida’s 160 legislators voted recently on a $58-million budget amendment that carries large policy implications for citizens across the state.
A First For Fla. Lobbyist Conference: A Governor's Top Aide Gives Input
By Sascha Cordner
WFSU Tallahassee
Lobbyists from all over the state are gathering in Jacksonville over the next few days for the Florida Association of Professional Lobbyists 8th annual conference.
Fox Poll: Scott still underwater by 10 points in voter disapproval rating
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald
The Fox News Poll of Florida voters released tonight not only shows President Obama ahead of Mitt Romney 49-44 percent, and Connie Mack IV trailing Bill Nelson 35-49 percent but it has Gov. Rick Scott with more voters unhappy with his job performance than satisfied with it.
Fighting ballot fraud
Editorial
Miami Herald
Hialeah, Miami Lakes and now Miami-Dade County have all moved to stamp out absentee ballot fraud with, well, a stamp.
POLITICAL
RACES
Hispanics the focus as Romney pushes ahead
By Steve Peoples ad Ken Thomas
Associated Press
Hispanics are the focus as the race for the White House moves to Florida, a presidential battleground where a charged immigration debate is under way as President Barack Obama seeks to keep Republican challenger Mitt Romney on the defensive.
Behind the big-ticket political fundraisers
By Ann Gerhart and Jason Horowitz
Washington Post
It doesn’t look all that swanky, the chamber of secrets in the Boca Raton mansion where Mitt Romney spilled about what wasn’t his job — to worry about the 47 percent of people who were, he said, victims and dependents.
BALLOT
INITIATIVES
Religious groups go after Amendment 6
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
With Catholic organizations from around the state cashing in to pass the anti-abortion Amendment 6 headed to voters in November, a coalition of religious groups is decrying the measure as a state-imposition of religious dogma.
Amendment opposing health-care law likely will have little effect
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
It might sound like an initiative straight from the Department of Government Redundancy: a constitutional change that Florida lawmakers labored for two years to place on this fall's statewide ballot even though it will have little real-world impact.
Orange GOP party chief came up with sick-time delay plan
By David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
Related editorial: Orange leaders need to heal rift over sick leave
The architect of a maneuver that kept a sick-time ballot measure off the Nov. 6 ballot turns out to be Lew Oliver, the head of Orange County's Republican Party.
ENVIRONMENT
AND ENERGY
Former water leaders call on governor to restore $210 million collectively slashed from budgets
By Bill Thompson
Ocala Star-Banner
Twenty former leading water managers from across Florida are calling on Gov. Rick Scott to restore the funding slashed from the budgets of the water management districts.
Scott must decide whether to bring in new blood or keep utility board static
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Gov. Rick Scott has until Sunday to decide whether to reappoint the longest serving member of the powerful state utility board, eight-year veteran Lisa Edgar, or go in a new direction.
In the dark on solar
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
There's been a lot of coverage about the sun in The Sun of late.
LGBT
Chick-fil-A says it will no longer fund organizations against gay marriage
Associated Press
Miami Herald
A Georgia-based restaurant chain that drew national attention when its owner reaffirmed his opposition to same-sex marriage says it's leaving the debate to politicians in the future.
EDUCATION
Gov. Scott helps for-profit company launch charter school
By Dave Heller
WTSP Tampa Bay
Gov. Rick Scott continues his push to help more charter schools operate in Florida.
Gov. Scott names seven superintendents to red-tape panel
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Seven county school superintendents have been named to the committee that is being asked to recommend ways Florida can cut red-tape and reduce paperwork for teachers and administrators.
USF sends a message to capital
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
University of South Florida president Judy Genshaft's upbeat "state of the university address'' on Wednesday served as a powerful reminder to Tampa Bay of the impact a major university makes on an urban community.
JOBS,
BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Florida Governor Blows Off Questions About His State’s Lackluster Job Creation
By Amanda Peterson Beadle
Think Progress
Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) has been touting his state’s dropping unemployment rate, which is down to 8.8 percent from a high of 11.1 percent in December 2010.
Census: Florida incomes keep slipping
By Doug Sword
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Incomes continued to slip in Southwest Florida last year and the gap between the wealthiest households and the poorest ones widened.
Scott walks fine line on Citizens position
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Gov. Rick Scott wants Citizens Property Insurance Corp. to be able to pay its customers’ claims in a worst-case-scenario hurricane without resorting to after-the-fact assessments on all policyholders in the state.
State transportation corridor initiative moves forward
By James Call
Florida Current
Transportation planners working on a Future Corridors initiative were asked Wednesday not to forget Northwest Florida.
HEALTH
AND SENIORS
Lawsuit challenges state on nursing home residents' income
By News Service of Florida
Ft. Myers News-Press
In what could become a class-action lawsuit, attorneys for a disabled Tallahassee woman allege that many nursing-home residents are required to turn over too much income when they enter Florida's Medicaid program.
Dropout Nation: Kids as caregivers
By Sarah Pusateri
Health News Florida
Why do students drop out of high school?
Massage therapist suspensions tied to human trafficking
By Jerome R. Stockfisch
Tampa Tribune
The state today suspended the licenses of 81 massage therapists with fraudulent Florida licenses in what officials from Gov. Rick Scott on down are billing as a fight against human trafficking.
USF, Lakeland Reg. to be partners
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
University of South Florida has invited Lakeland Regional Medical Center to become the first member of what would become a multi-hospital system, USF President Judy Genshaft announced Wednesday.
CIVIL
RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Voting a focus of NAACP state convention
By Eileen Zaffiro-Kean
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Dozens of visitors will arrive in the city Thursday morning for the annual Florida State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People over the next three days to talk about everything from voting to affordable health care.
No comments:
Post a Comment