Daily News Clips for July 26, 2013

FEATURED STORIES

Obama raises the heat on ‘deadbeat’ Congress
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald
President Barack Obama continued his economics road show on Thursday, coming to the Jacksonville Port Authority to underscore his commitment to infrastructure investment and bash Republicans for delaying progress.

Florida to resume voter roll purge
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Florida’s efforts to screen and remove non-U.S. citizens from the voter rolls will soon be revived.

FL Near Bottom on Federal Grants
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
Since the Affordable Care Act was signed, most state governments have made the most of the federal grants flowing from Washington for health-system reformrong>

Rubio Pushing Gov’t Shutdown To Stop Obamacare
CBS Miami
Florida Senator Marco Rubio and a group of GOP Senators are prepared to bankrupt the United States and possibly plunge the world into a depression if they don’t get their way to defund the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

King of Calypso to join Dream Defenders Capitol takeover
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Support is swelling for the Dream Defenders Florida Capitol sit-in as state and national leaders plan to join in on the protest outside Gov. Rick Scott’s office.

BEST OF THE BLOGS

How an ACLU Report Card Helped Fulfill a 31-Year-Old Promise to Immigrant Students
By Mariel Graeber
Blog Of Rights
Public education “provides the basic tools by which individuals might lead economically productive lives to the benefit of us all."

With Voting Rights Act Gutted, Florida Set To Resume Voter Purge
By Aviva Shen
Think Progress
Florida’s controversial initiative to screen for suspected non-citizens and purge them from the voter rolls is allowed to officially resume, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.

Rick Scott Goes AWOL
By Martha Jackovics
Beach Peanuts
Rick Scott avoided SYG protesters and the capitol as long as he could last week, only to meet with the Dream Defenders to tell them he favors the shoot-to-kill Stand Your Ground law and won't lift a finger to change it by calling a special session.

Greenland and sea level level rise
By Gimleye
Eye On Miami
I understand that Miami readers ... the principal source of readership for this blog ... find it difficult to comment on the impact of climate change.

Remembering Charley Johns and his Committee: Shameful Florida Legislative History
By Kartik Krishnaiyer
The Florida Squeeze
Senator Charley Johns (D-Starke) is one of the best known figures in the Florida Political History for multiple dubious reasons. The leader of the infamous “Pork Chop Gang”.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Democrats ask Fla. Gov. to block voter purge
Palm Beach Post
Two Democratic members of Congress are asking Florida Gov. Rick Scott to call off plans to restart a voter purge.

Americans For Prosperity sets national conference in Orlando
By Scott Powers
Orlando Sentinel
Republican U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, Ted Cruz of Texas and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin are among headline speakers announced for the upcoming "Defending the American Dream Summit" conference the conservative action group Americans for Prosperity Foundation plans for Orlando in late August.

Rand Paul leads GOP 2016 primary poll
By Hada Gold
Politico
Sen. Rand Paul has surged in a poll released Thursday of possible 2016 Republican candidates for president, while Sen. Marco Rubio has dropped to sixth place overall.

Galvano in line for top position -- in 2018
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
One of Southwest Florida's top politicians is in line to assume one of the most powerful posts in state government by 2018, giving the area a leading voice in major public policy decisions.

POLITICAL RACES

Dems seek to expose "the real Rick Scott"
By Kathleen McGrory
Miami Herald
Who is the real Rick Scott?

Attacks begin before gubernatorial candidates declare
By Scott Powers
Orlando Sentinel
Fifteen months before Election Day, the 2014 gubernatorial campaign has begun.

Democrat Rich to join protesters at Capitol
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Democratic gubernatorial contender Nan Rich plans to be the first statewide political candidate to join protesters at the Florida Capitol, saying she shares the concerns of those now in their 10th day outside Gov. Rick Scott’s office.

No love lost between Florida, federal officialdom
By Gray Rohrer
The Florida Current
In gearing up for the 2014 gubernatorial election, the Republican Party of Florida slammed President Barack Obama for another “pivot” to the economy Thursday during his trip to Jacksonville, while the party contends Gov. Rick Scott is adding new jobs to the state.

Fla. Political Experts Advice To GOP, Dems: ‘Don’t Underestimate NPAs In 2014 Race!'
By Sascha Cordner
WFSU
Don’t underestimate the state’s Independent voters! That’s the advice some Florida political experts have for the two main political parties ahead of the 2014 gubernatorial election.

GLBT

Equal Marriage Florida: 'Guaranteed freedom to marry, guaranteed religious freedoms'
By Steve Rothaus
Miami Herald
Equal Marriage Florida, the group seeking to put gay marriage back on the statewide ballot in 2014, has released this video explaining the proposal guarantees 'freedom to marry' and 'religious freedoms.'

EDUCATION

Florida school grades due out Friday
By Jeffrey S. Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
The Florida Department of Education plans to release long awaited and much challenged 2013 school grades on Friday, a half week earlier than commissioner Tony Bennett's self-imposed July 31 deadline.

Leon County Schools seeks 500 new mentors
By Travis Pillow
Tallahassee Democrat
Leon County Schools this morning announced a recruiting blitz to bring at least 500 new mentors to volunteer in the district.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Retailers gear up for sales tax holiday
By Gray Rohrer
The Florida Current
Florida retailers are readying for a three-day back-to-school sales tax holiday which begins Aug. 2, hoping the discounts will drive traffic to their stores and boost their bottom lines.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Opponents urge state to reject Florida Blue plan, say it shows customers overcharged by billions
By Charles Elmore
Palm Beach Post
The proposed reorganization of Florida’s largest health insurer will transfer $1.6 billion of the nonprofit company’s $2.8 billion surplus to a for-profit stock company and should be “rejected by regulators and protested by policyholders and the public,” one group opposing the plan says.

Rubio to Senate: Last best chance to de-fund ObamaCare
By William E. Gibson
Orlando Sentinel
Emerging as one of the leading critics of “ObamaCare,” U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio implored the Senate on Thursday to use the power of the purse to deny funding that would carry out the nation’s new health-care law.

Humana to Buy Eldercare Firm
Health News Florida
American Eldercare Inc., the only statewide winner of Florida Medicaid long-term-care managed-care contracts, is about to become part of Humana, the latter company said in a news release.

IMMIGRATION, CIVIL RIGHTS, AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Congressman’s comments anger South Florida colleagues
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Miami’s three Cuban-American members of Congress have a message for fellow U.S. Rep. Steve King, who said more DREAMer immigrants are drug mules than valedictorians: Be quiet.

Verify accuracy of E-Verify for immigration to work
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
“E-Verify” sounds like an anachronism, a clunky relic haunting some corner of the federal bureaucracy. To an extent, it is. The federal government’s online employee-verification system has been around in some form since 1997, but most businesses still don’t use it. Given the concerns about accuracy, that’s largely a good thing.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Juror says she owes Martin's parents apology
Palm Beach Post
The second juror to speak publicly told ABC News in an interview made available Thursday that she feels George Zimmerman got away with murder for fatally shooting Trayvon Martin, but that there wasn't enough evidence at trial to convict him under Florida law.

Capitol sit-in grows as busloads of supporters arrive
By James Call
The Florida Current
When police officers locked the doors to the state Capitol at the end of business Thursday more than 100 protesters remained inside. Among the group were about 30 high school students and young adults from Philadelphia and at least six pastors from across the state, all planning to spend the night with the Dream Defenders.

Sen. Bill Nelson: change Stand Your Ground, Florida
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Florida Sen. Bill Nelson appeared on MSNBC today and spoke with Andrea Mitchell about the self-defense law connected to Trayvon Martin's shooting last year by George Zimmerman, who was acquitted July 13 of second-degree murder.

Strange reasoning on Dozier School
Editorial
Tampa Tribune
Gov. Rick Scott surely doesn't want his administration entangled in the sordid history of the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in Marianna, where juveniles were abused.