Yesterday we put up a post informing you, the discriminating CL reader, that if you’ve got a couple of hours to spare this Saturday, you can check out talk show host/author/ Glenn Beck at Borders on South Dale Mabry near I-275 from 12 noon to 2 p.m.

However, you’re reading it here first: The self proclaimed “rodeo clown” will be back in his former stomping grounds early next year, and will be appearing with none other than Bill O’Reilly.

The Fox twins will be at the Sun Dome on the USF Tampa campus on Friday, January 29th.  It’s part of their Bold and Fresh 2010 Tour

As a regular viewer of at least the first portion of The Factor over the years,  CL has observed a noticeable calm in the demeanor of cable news’s current king (ratings wise I’m talking about).  O’Reilly admitted as much last night.

In discussing media sensation Sarah Palin and her new book with media critic Bernard Goldberg, Bill-O admitted that he no longer gets that enraged about critics taking him apart.  He said it’s something that he’s learned to control.  I think there’s something to that.  O’Reilly has always carried a tremendous chip on his shoulder, but he’s incredibly successful, and frankly, with Glenn Beck now  airing before him on Fox, and Sean Hannity following him, he’s become, well, a more moderate voice – maybe because it was simply too embarrassing  seeing him in action in filmmaker Robert Greenwald film “Outfoxed” (which memorably showed one sequence where Bill-O is yelling at guests to just “Shut up!”)

Or how could we forget O’Reilly getting into it on one his bugaboo’s:  Illegal immigration.

Here’s the Fox News host with correspondent Geraldo Rivera:

Glenn Beck is blowing up in 2009.  The former talk show host on Tampa Clear Channel station 970 WFLA was growing in popularity in recent years, but his television persona has blossomed after joining Fox News.  Get your tickets now!

Graphic credit: George Niemann

I attended what I hope was the last meeting of the Cone Ranch Advisory Panel (not so affectionately known as C.R.A.P. by some activists) Monday morning. Recall the panel was set up by our County Commission ( BOCC ) at the request of Chairman Ken Hagan to recommend how best to preserve Cone Ranch and save it from development ( by entertaining the notion of  letting brokers sell it to private investors so they could subdivide it and develop it into six smaller parcels) uh-huh. In case you are just tuning in, Cone Ranch was already owned by the public (under the water utility) and it is already listed on our Comprehensive Plan as PRESERVATION (details, details). Those pitching the idea to Hagan and the rest of the BOCC were big time Republican donors (uh-huh).

After five meetings of the panel, the citizens and even some of the panelists were calling bullshit on this idea. The brokers (FCEG) abrubtly exited stage right citing what appears to be a water grab by Commissioner Jim Norman but let’s save that potential scandal for another day. Read the rest of this entry »

Last night, three of Hillsborough County’s representatives in Tallahassee addressed the County’s Democratic Executive Committee, about their legislative goals for the 2010 session.

However, what was painfully obvious is that those legislators – State Senator Charlie Justice, and State Representatives Betty Reed and Mike Scionti, are handicapped, particularly in the House, by being the minority party.

Senator Justice took to the stage first inside Fletcher Lounge on the University of Tampa campus, where he discussed a possible special session next month, and some of the bills he has filed for 2010.  Among the bills include several that attempt to address campaign finance irregularities, such as trying to cap contributions made by third party “527″ type groups, which the Hillsborough/Pinellas legislator decried as “groups making a mockery of campaign finance caps”.  Another bill would ban corporations from giving more than $500 to a candidate, the same limit that individuals currently have imposed on them in Florida.

And with news of another lawsuit being filed in St. Petersburg regarding a toxic plume that originated some 17 years ago, Justice says he will introduce legislation that would simply inform residents that such a problem exists.

Before his address, Justice spoke with CL about the possible upcoming special session that has been rumored will take place next month.  One of the potential issues on the agenda would be to approve the controversial SunRail proposal.

With Florida eagerly hoping to be approved nearly $2.6 billion in stimulus money to build a high-speed train between Tampa and Orlando, many state and federal legislators have said that it’s important for state lawmakers to demonstrate their sincerity in wanting the project by approving SunRail.

A key hold up has been liability for CSX trains – one reason why Lakeland State Senator Paula Dockery has held the deal up the past two years.  But Justice said yesterday that “lawyers are telling me” that the liability issue may be fading.  What’s certain, Justice says, is that “we have to show some mechanism, show something to the feds,” that the state has funding available for their share of money up front for high speed rail.

Justice might be referring to this development, reported last month in the Orlando Sentinel:

CSX has indicated it might be willing to compromise on liability by mirroring a deal it recently reached in Massachusetts, which purchased tracks from the company for a commuter train.

CSX agreed to help defray the cost of the liability insurance that the state’s transit authority has to carry.

And, if an accident occurs between a commuter train and freight train and CSX is clearly at fault because of willful misconduct, the railroad will be responsible to pay the deductible on that policy, up to a maximum of $7.5 million per incident.

Read the rest of this entry »

This Thursday in downtown Tampa, America’s Second Harvest of Tampa Bay is staging its 15th annual Empty Bowls Thanksgiving Luncheon in Lykes Gaslight Square.  Last year’s event raised more than $50,000 for the organization’s food bank and Kids Cafe Programs.

It’s always around the holidays when the issue of the less fortunate get more play in the media, but so should statistics unveiled yesterday by the Department of Agriculture, who announced  that the number of Americans who lived in households that lacked consistent access to adequate food soared last year, to 49 million.  That’s the highest since the government began tracking what it calls “food insecurity” 14 years ago.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack attributed the rise to the unemployment rate in the U.S., at its highest levels since the early 1980’s.

The Wall Street Journal does report one caveat that might make the news less depressing:

But the way USDA economists measure food worries in the U.S. is far more liberal than their gauge for other nations, where people are labeled food insecure only if they consume fewer than 2,100 calories a day. Few of the U.S. households labeled as food insecure by the USDA have it that tough.

Instead, the USDA’s domestic survey tries to quantify the number of households that have difficulty providing enough food at some time during the year. Many of these families are able to avoid hunger by participating in such federal nutrition programs as food stamps, or by having their children participate in a free school-lunch program.

With the economy continuing to founder (Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said yesterday that “Some important headwinds-in particular constrained bank lending and a weak job market-likely will prevent the expansion from being as robust as we would hope”) some of President Obama’s allies intend to call him out today on the weak job market.

The NY Times reports that the NAACP and the National Council of La Raza will be amongst some of the groups calling on the President to do more to create jobs.

They will call for increased spending for schools and roads, billions of dollars in fiscal relief to state and local governments to forestall more layoffs and a direct government jobs program, “especially in distressed communities facing severe unemployment.”

This is just more incentive for the President to hope that the Senate can get their act together and try to begin debating a health care bill soon – Obama’s poll numbers remain solid ( a new ABC News/Washington Post poll released today shows him with a 56% approval rating), but he has got to start focusing in “like a laser beam” as the saying goes, or else those poll numbers will go south in a hurry.

Conservative radio and television talk show Glenn Beck is coming to Tampa this weekend.

According to the web site of Tampa 9-12 The former 970 WFLA talk show host, whose career has blown up in ‘09, will be appearing in Tampa this Saturday at Borders on South Dale Mabry Highway. Beck will be signing copies of his NY Times best-seller Arguing with Idiots.

Yesterday Beck’s  latest book, The Christmas Sweater: A Picture Book, debuted at #1 on the Times children’s picture book bestseller list, prompting his publisher last week to declare that that gave Beck 5 consecutive #1 NYT bestsellers.

I’m not sure if that’s correct or not, but the man is selling loads of  books, and getting ratings on the radio, and on his Fox News show.

Beck has taken pride this in publicizing and mobilizing opposition to Van Jones, President Obama’s original green jobs czar who ended up resigning in early September after taking a pounding by the talk show host for his ‘radical’ past.

Today the Huffington Post is reporting that on Beck’s guest list of late have been “white supremacists and other extremists.”

Beck’s comment earlier that President Obama was racist led to over 30 advertisers leaving his Fox News program.  However, Fox didn’t lose any revenue as most of those companies ended up advertising on other Fox programs.

After all the efforts from people around the globe to get our world leaders to listen up and take action against climate change in December in Copenhagen, it looks like things aren’t going to be changing any time soon.

Yesterday, President Obama and leaders from the rest of the world’s top economic powers finally fessed up that they don’t believe major progress concerning climate change can be achieved by the end of the year.
Read the rest of this entry »

Big news in CL’s world.  Former St. Pete Times Publisher Marty Petty has been hired as the CEO of Creative Loafing.

Florida CFO and Democratic candidate for Governor Alex Sink has been criticized by some analysts for being too cautious.   So last night she made news by announcing she’s against Florida’s ban on gay adoptions.
President Obama’s decision to prosecute alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed brought out Rudy Guiliani and other Republicans yesterday on some of the Sunday morning  talk shows yesterday.

And just for fun, we look back yesterday at the day of televised pro football action, including the instant classic in Indianapolis between the Colts and the New England Patriots.

Download the report here.

Creative Loafing, Inc. announced today that Marty Petty, the former publisher of the St. Petersburg Times and Hartford Courant, has been named chief executive officer for the alternative newspaper weekly chain.

The announcement was made this morning by interim CEO Richard Gilbert at the Tampa paper’s headquarters in Ybor City.   In a press release, Gilbert called Petty’s experience “an unique mix seldom found in one publishing executive.  She has solid journalistic values honed from her early career in the newsroom and her long-standing commitment to hard-hitting journalism.  All three of her last papers earned Pulitzer Prizes during her leadership.   As publisher of two of the nation’s most highly respected newspapers, she has also earned a reputation as a skilled and creative marketing and sales executive who knows how to build strategic alliances to ensure success.”

Petty will be working on a part-time basis until January as she gets up to speed on what is happening with the six-paper chain.  Speaking to the staff this morning, she said, “I love this business.  It’s about great stories — and making the money to pay for them.”

When asked what she thinks of the quality of Creative Loafing’s papers, which include the Washington City Paper and Chicago Reader as well as the CL papers in Tampa, Atlanta, Charlotte and Sarasota, she said she could not give a full evaluation until she is looking at them on a regular basis.  “I have not gone deep yet,” she said to the assembled staff. Read the rest of this entry »

Last week the St. Petersburg Times’ Michael Kruse and Eric Deggans wrote about how in this era of lower ratings for television programs due to  splintered audiences, the  National Football League’s ratings have ascended in recent years.

Days like yesterday demonstrate why pro football has such a grip on the mass public’s attention.

In a triple header for viewers in the Tampa Bay area, the hometown Buccaneers, who have struggled mightily all season long and seen home attendance plummet in recent weeks, suffered a heartbreaking last second loss to the Miami Dolphins yesterday, 25-23.

The loss occurred despite field goal kicker Conner Barth’s record tying three field goals of 50 yards or longer, as well as a spirited effort by number one draft choice, quarterback Josh Freeman, who was lauded today by Times columnist Gary  Sheldon as giving Buc fans now “a reason to believe” (also depressing some who are hoping the team continues to falter to be in position to have the number one draft choice in 2010).

But speaking as a fan of two teams who in recent years spent boatloads of money on the number one selection in the draft, it sometimes ain’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Because of TV and NFL scheduling, viewers in the Tampa market were treated to a game between two of the worst teams in the league, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders, at 4:05 p.m. on the local CBS affiliate, WTSP.  (Channel 10 had only one game to show yesterday, and wisely programmed that at 4 p.m., so as not to run head to head against Tampa/Miami).

Being a native of the San Francisco Bay Area and a passionate fan of both the 49ers and Oakland Raiders, I was happy not to have to go to a local tavern to watch the game.  But I suppose in retrospect that the only benefit of watching from home  was that at least I could hear the  home town boos.

The Oakland Raiders committed over $25 million in guaranteed money a couple of years ago to JaMarcus Russell, their number one quarterback selection from LSU.  The problem is: he’s terrible, and doesn’t appear to be working very hard at geting better.

A good friend of mine has season tickets to the Raiders, but informed me that not only would be not be attending yesterday’s game, but also made sure not to give them away to friends.  He wanted to make a statement by having tv cameras glide over his empty seats.

While those 2 games featured some lackluster play, they still had some drama, particularly in Miami.

But the big event of the day (and of the season) took place in Indianapolis, where the New England Patriots/Indianapolis Colts have developed the fiercest rivalry in all of sports, and as great as the Dallas/SF rivalry of the 90’s (and yes, go ahead and invoke Al-Frazier for the ultimate rivalry).

The Colts won in stunning, dramatic, last second fashion last night, 35-34, but the big news today is the radical move by Pats head coach Bill Belichick not to eschew a punt and go for a first down on his own 28 yard line with just over two minutes to go.

The Pats failed to get the first, and Peyton Manning soon had the Colts in the end zone.

The call will be debated for time immemorial, but one thing is for certain: Outside of New England and other spots on the globe were Patriot Nation dominates, fans across the country are reveling in Belichick’s faulty move this morning.

Although Belichick’s decision will be debated until the next time the clubs meet, Peyton Manning’s brilliance in the 4th quarter demonstrates why he may soon win an unprecedented 4th MVP later this year.

Florida is the only state in the country with a blanket ban on gay adoptions.

Throughout the years there has been attempts through the courts and in the legislature to change that.

Yesterday in Fort Lauderdale,  Chief Financial Officer and Democratic candidate for Governor Alex Sink said that has to change.

Speaking at a fundraiser hosted by Equality Florida, Sink told the crowd that it should be up to a Judge to decide on whether it would be in a child’s best interest to be adopted, saying:

“We need a system in which all of our children are assured that they live in a healthy, loving home — a home that’s determined not by any law.” According to the Miami Herald, she added,  “The decision has to be made by the judge, in consultation with the experts, to determine what is the best for that individual child.”

Although hardly a radical call (again, Florida stands by itself on its policy regarding gays and adoptions), it’s something that has hardly been a staple of previous Democrats in Florida running for high office.  And it didn’t go for what gay rights groups have been calling for : an outright repeal of the state law.

South Florida Democratic Senator Nan Rich proposed a bill in last year’s legislative session that would overturn the state’s 1977 ban on gay adoption – it went nowhere.  But with Sink’s support…..well, it’s still a dominant Republican legislature in Tallahassee.

Last month, San Francisco Bay Area  Congressman Pete Stark  introduced the  Every Child Deserves a Family Act, which would deny funding to states that ban gay, lesbian, transgender and unmarried people from adoption or foster programs.

While no state is as strict or repressive as Florida when it comes to not allowing gays and lesbians to adopt, other states forbid unmarried couples from adoption in states that outlaw gay marriage.

For the reticent Sink, getting the LGBT crowd to enthusiastically support her candidacy can only be a boost;  As the Herald reports, top GOP opponent Bill McCollum’s Attorney General’s office is defending the state’s ban on gay adoption in a current court case that many analysts expect to see the Florida Supreme Court weigh in on.

McCollum does support the inclusion of gays and lesbians in federal hate crime legislation.  That support led supporters of former Florida U.S. Senator Mel Martinez to label McCollum “the new darling of the extreme homosexuals”, a despicable act that saw the St. Pete Times withdraw their support for Martinez in that August of 2004 GOP Primary (won by Martinez, incidentally).

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Although he hasn’t held elective office in over 8 years and has had multiple setbacks professionally since then (none worse than his embarrassing performance in running for President two years ago), former New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani will always have the goodwill amongst New Yorkers and Americans for his performance as Mayor in the days and weeks after the 9/11 attacks.

Couple that with his former time as a Federal Prosecutor, and it was no shock that three Sunday morning public affairs programs featured him to comment on Attorney General’s Eric Holder announcement last Friday that that alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed would be tried alongside four accused Sept. 11 co-conspirators in a Manhattan federal court “just blocks away” from ground zero.

“Why? We generally don’t bring people back to the scene of the crime for justice,” Giuliani argued. “What the Obama administration is telling us loud and clear is that…the war on terror is over.”

Giuliani countered that the man known as KSM should have a trial by military tribunal, a stricter process than civilian court that has tried a series of other foreign terrorists.

But the hosts of all three programs he was on all queried Guiliani for seeming to now have a different perspective than in the 1990’s, when he applauded the fact that the 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center was handled in federal court in New York.

“I’ve already said in retrospect, as many have, that that was a mistake,” the former mayor responded. “Basically the Obama administration is repeating the mistake of history…It’s part of Barack Obama deciding that we’re not at war with terrorism any more….The terrorists haven’t stopped goaing to war with us.”

On ABC, Guiliani said Friday’s decision by Holder is “part of a whole package of the way the President looks at the war on terror….the delay in Afghanistan is a political strategy, on (Major Nidal Malik)Hasan, he doesn’t get it. ..”

Being equally critical on CBS’ Face The Nation was Michigan Republican Congressman Peter Hoekstra, who dubbed the Holder plan to try KSM in NYC “ideology run wild.”

But Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy from Vermont followed up the Representative on Face, and said that Holder is right.  Leahy added that the trial(s) will show the  “rest of the world that the U.S. acts out of strength, not out of fear,” and compared KSM to Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.

But host Bob Schieffer replied that McVeigh was not classified as  an enemy combatant – but Leahy interjected,”If someone murders Americans in America, they should be convicted in America.”

And back on Fox, Rhode Island Democratic Senator Jack Reed tried to bring some sanity to the debate, saying that the Obama Administration is simply following upon the same logic that the Bush Administration employed in prosecuting Zacharias Mousawi in civilian court. “What was a statesmans-like decision on the part of the Bush administration can’t be a political decision from the Obama administration, ” the Senator said.

The consensus: There isn’t any, other than this:  Whatever critics want to call Obama (and they’ve called him pretty much everything under the sun in less than a year ), this move was not done for political expediency.  Nor would sending any prisoners from Gitmo into a facility in the U.S., which his administration is considering doing in Illinois.

Back to Guiliani-Time; He said earlier this year that he was thinking of running for Governor of New York, which NY GOPers desperately want him to do.  But some analysts have suggested Guiliani made those hints when he saw incumbent David Patterson’s poll number falter.  But now that there is serious belief that NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo may get in the race (with considerably higher poll numbers than the  beleagured Patterson), the former mayor continues to equivocate.  He had said he would make up his mind after the elections held two weeks ago.  Now he simply says he’s still considering a run.

I hate to derail this vision of a choo choo in Hillsborough before the tracks are even subsidized but somebody besides the anti-rail crowd has to ask the tough questions. The MSM sure don’t seem to be asking many.

Peeling another layer off this proposed tax to help developers pay for roads pay for rail is disturbing. Recall my earlier concerns that this 1% sales tax (which is a 14% increase)  for “rail” was going in part to fund road widening projects that were already supposed to be paid for by developers. Our county government do something that sneaky, something that dirty, something that underhanded? We are in Hillsborough.

That gravy train list of “non-transit” projects to be funded by the proposed tax not only included one very controversial and not yet approved project, it also contained six roads already on the books to be widened by developers for their DRI approvals. DRI stands for development of regional impact or in simpler terms a big ass subdivision. Here is the stinky part: all six of them are from the same developer, Newland Communities. Of the six road projects, two are associated with Lake Hutto, two with Southbend and two with Waterset and all of these are from Newland! In case that doesn’t smell bad enough for you, one of the members of the Transportation Task Force (TTF) [ the group that came up with the non-rail gravy train list of recommendations for the referendum] is none other than Scott Jones, Vice President of Operations-you can see this one coming can’t you……..of Newland Communities! Yes, as a matter of fact, County Center always has that fishy smell.

Terry Flott, Chair of U-CAN, brought up this little detail (about the six DRIs) during public comment at the last BOCC meeting and when the board had the discussion on the referendum for more developer welfare oops I mean “rail”, Commissioner Kevin Beckner asked staff member Lucia Garsys about it. She tried, quite unconvincingly I might add, to assure Beckner that developers would still have to pay their share. It just begs the question though: if developers are still to be held to their agreements then why put these projects on a list you are asking taxpayers to fund via a NEW TAX in the first place? And when pressed about the DRIs she relayed this to Beckner on the record: (my thoughts are in red)

>>LUCIA GARSYS: THE DEVELOPER PROJECTS WITHOUT THE –
GETTING TOO FAR IN THE WEEDS, DEVELOPER PROJECTS OFTENTIMES
PROVIDE MORE CAPACITY THAN THAT PROJECT CONSUMES, SO THE
BALANCE OF THAT IS PROVIDED IN IMPACT FEE CREDITS. (They get impact fee credits? If they “oftentimes provide more capacity” than needed then why are we billions behind in roads? Looks to me like just another form of developer welfare via the back door!)

Recall the current meager impact fees developers do pay puts taxpayers in the hole over $11,000 with every new rooftop that the Gang of Four approves. Yes, I told you it always smells that bad when you start sniffing around Hillsborough County government.

Also raising an eyebrow was the issue that Commissioner Higginbotham brought up about transparency during the rail discussion. The St. Petersburg Times mentions those shadows with this article. Higginbotham’s exchange during that meeting with County attorney Renee Lee (who CL contributor George Niemann has filed an ethic complaint against) is below:

AGAIN, IF WE’RE GOING TO DO THIS, WE NEED TO BE OPEN, WE
NEED TO BE TRANSPARENT, AND UNLESS THE COUNSELOR HAS
CHANGED HER MIND SINCE YESTERDAY MORNING, THE RESOLUTION OF
INTENT PROVIDES THAT CLOAK OF SECRECY AND DOES NOT ALLOW
THE PUBLIC TO SEE WHO WILL SUPPORT FINANCIALLY THIS EFFORT.
>>RENEE LEE: COMMISSIONER, THE RESOLUTION OF INTENT
EXPRESSES TO THE PUBLIC THAT IT’S THE INTENTION OF THE
BOARD TO PUT THE REFERENDUM ON THE BALLOT IN 2010.
>>AL HIGGINBOTHAM: RIGHT.
BUT MY QUESTION ASKED YESTERDAY, YES OR NO.
>>RENEE LEE: IT DOES NOT BECOME AN ISSUE UNDER THE
ELECTION LAW UNTIL THE BOARD PASSES THAT FORMAL LANGUAGE.
>>AL HIGGINBOTHAM: RIGHT.
>>RENEE LEE: SO THAT THERE ARE — THERE ARE ORGANIZATIONS
OR PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO MIGHT WANT TO SUPPORT THIS WHO HAVE
NO REPORTING REQUIREMENTS AT THIS TIME. (like who I wonder……maybe people or companies that stand to make a lot of money in county contracts if this is approved? And why not just word the motion differently to eliminate this? I don’t often get a chance to say this but it looks like Higginbotham was right on the money!)

A Daily Loaf reader brought to my attention that PB and HDR could be some of the silent backers of this proposal (Hat tip to David Boyett of Lithia for all the research he provided for this post) and also mentioned that HDR is responsible for doing a recent study with HART. Hmmmm, combine that with the fact that according to this article Mayor Iorio feels it is time for HART to take the lead on this plus the suggestion in that same article that says that HART will run the mass transit network and things start to take shape. According to this article PB Americas (who also seem to be know as Parsons Brinckerhoff) is also already involved in a study with HART on rail that looks like it is costing at least 2 million! Uh-huh, just wait and we will take a look at both HDR and PB and it isn’t pretty. Read the rest of this entry »

For your Friday the 13th editions, two people prominently mentioned as possible 2012 GOP Presidential candidates will be visiting Florida in the next few weeks. Minnesota’s Tim Pawlenty tonight, and Sarah Palin later this month.

Some say Charlie Crist could be considered Presidential material (now that he’s married).  But will he even make it to the Senate?  The Tampa Tribune says the Governor is coming off looking weak recently.

And Harry Reid is contemplating taxing wealthy seniors on Medicare to help pay for more low-and-middle income people on the health care issue- but Tampa area Congresswoman Kathy Castor and the AARP says the just passed bill in the House will be extremely beneficial for Florida seniors.

Download
the report here.

The mainstream media is about to have a collective orgasm as Sarah Palin hits the circuit with the publication of her book Going Rogue.

The book will be published on Tuesday, and the former Alaska governor’s literary itinerary  conspicuously eschews many major American (i.e. Democratic-oriented) cities, with neither L.A., San Francisco, Philadelphia nor Seattle making the cut (neither does the Tampa Bay region).

However, Palin fans should hop in the car, ’cause the  former VP nominee will be making three stops in Florida, including Orlando on November 24th.

Of course, for many observers, Palin’s disastrous interview with CBS News anchor Katie Couric was the beginning of the end of the instant love affair, in the immediate wake of the sensational reaction she received when she was named VP, and of course, her speech at the Republican National Convention.

Previously, Palin has blamed Couric for her own egregious problems in the interview.  No excerpts are available yet on what will undoubtedly be another blast at Couric, but the Drudge Report today does contain a passage that is supposed to make one of her media handlers, Nicolle Wallace (who previously worked at CBS News as a commentator) look bad. Read the rest of this entry »

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is considering a proposal to raise Medicare payroll taxes on couples who make more than $250,000 a year.

The Nevada Democrat needs to find a way to find more money to pay for health care reform in the Senate bill, and he reportedley would rather do that than put a 40% tax on high-value insurance plans, which organized labor strongly opposes.

Reid also wants to find money to provide more extensive subsidies to help low- and moderate-income people.

Yesterday, Tampa area Congresswoman Kathy Castor and Florida AARP head Lori Parham spoke on a conference call about what the recently passed health care reform bill in the House will do for seniors.

The advocacy group for seniors has endorsed the House bill, though their support has cost them tens of thousands of members in 2009.

Castor said the new legislation would lower drug costs for seniors on Medicare by immediately getting rid of the so-called “donut hole.”

She also said that the legislation would bolster oversight when it comes to the ‘”egregious selling of Medicare Advantage Plans.” She said the bill would take on “unscrupulous” insurance salesmen who go into senior centers to sign up seniors for more expensive Medicare Advantage plans, and stressed that that aspect of the legislation would take effect immediately if it’s included in the final bill that’s signed by the president.

Lori Parham with AARP Florida said that there has been a lot of misinformation spread about what will happen to Medicare under Obamacare.  She said that there are more than 600,000 uninsured people in Florida between the ages of 50 and 64 who are “counting the days until Medicare kicks in.”

Both Parham and Castor reacted edgily to news that a conservative seniors group called The 60 Plus Association has announced that they intend to spend $1.5 million targeting 15 House Democrats who voted for health care reform, including Castor’s colleague, Ron Klein from South Florida.

Read the rest of this entry »

No, this is not the latest email salvo from the Marco Rubio camp (though if you’re on the list, you might think so).

Today the Tampa Tribune blasts our governor in their lead editorial, titled “Crist has lost his invincible touch.”

The op-ed chronicles his recent comedy of errors, in which the man famously known for never letting them see him sweat (because he always has a fan blowing on his face in public appearances) has acted completely unnerved in recent weeks, even though he still holds a solid 15-point lead over his GOP Senate challenger in the most recent Quinnipiac Poll.

As the Trib writes, a lot of Crist’s problems come from his inability to man up on supporting Barack Obama’s $787 billion stimulus plan, which has been derided not just in conservative circles, but more and more in some parts of the mainstream press as ill-advised.

Crist seems to have grown weary of trying to defend his indefensible statement on CNN a week ago that he did not endorse the stimulus, telling the Palm Beach Post yesterday that:

“I support it. I think it was important to take it. All of my fellow governors did so….

“We would have had to let go 20,000 school teachers if we didn’t have that. My belief always has been that Florida deserves her fair share. And it’s helping our economy. Without those additional funds we would have a much more difficult time maintaining not only our economy but job growth and job retention.”

Asked if he would have voted for the stimulus bill if he were a senator, Crist replied: “I would have voted for a different form. But I think it’s pretty clear I supported the concept.”

Obviously in a fight with the conservative wing of the Florida GOP, which despises the fact that Crist appeared with Obama in Fort Myers in February, Crist has been playing politics of the worst kind: the kind that shows that you’re acting political.  The stimulus has best worked in this withering economy as a social safety net for a host of services, and that certainly includes education.  Obviously the support of the stimulus will not be as huge a factor if Crist can survive his primary and face (probably) Kendrick Meek next November.    It’s obvious that he’s not confident he can do that, thus the pandering on the issue.

Meanwhile, political reporters from across the state today are reporting  on Crist’s good buddy, GOP State Chair Jim Greer, and the conference call he held yesterday to try to stem off calls for his head. The story in the St. Pete Times/Miami Herald includes this money quote on why issues with Greer matter:

“I think it’s already having an impact on Bill McCollum and the governor’s race, because it’s becoming impossible to raise money with all these things hanging over your head,” National Committeewoman Sharon Day said of the assorted controversies under Greer’s leadership. “He’s traveling to every fundraiser with the governor and traveling all over the country. … He should be here at the helm of the party getting our candidates elected.”

In our current story on Paula Dockery , the Lakeland State Senator told CL that part of her impetus in running was essentially as a retort to Greer, who tried to clear the field in the primaries for both Crist and Attorney General Bill McCollum, to an extremely negative reaction by the GOP base.

The St. Petersburg Times reported on their web site this afternoon that Florida Conservation & Environment Group, or FC&EG, have written to the Hillsborough County Commission that they want to delay the negotiations between them and the County because of Commissioner Jim Norman’s recent call to look at consolidating the water departments of the County with the three municipalities inside the County: Tampa, Temple Terrace and Plant City.

Last week the BOCC voted to authorize County Attorney Pat Bean to dig up $400,000 for a study.

Of course, there was one little problem with that:  Mayor Pam Iorio of Tampa hadn’t been consulted about it.

A group of activists have been concerned allowing FC&EG to broker to sell Cone Ranch for the last year since the idea was first discussed . They’re simple in their demands:  They want the County’s Environmental Lands Acquisition and Preservation Program to purchase the property.

CL spoke this afternoon with one of the leading activists on wanting to save Cone Ranch, Kent Bailey. He said ” these guys haven’t gone away (referring to FC&EG).  They’ve just slipped over to one side.  Until we get Cone Ranch over to ELAPP, we’re still going to have to fight the battle.”

Bailey didn’t want to comment directly on Commissioner Norman’s request to study consolidating the water departments of the three cities with the County, other than to suggest that “the timing is very interesting.”

In the letter written to the County’s Edith Stewart,  Ken Jones with FC&EG writes:

As you know, FCEG began its discussions with the county regarding Cone Ranch in mid-2008 and
we continue to believe strongly in the possibilities of public/private partnerships and in the
preservation of environmentally sensitive land.  However, and disappointingly, FCEG is notifying
you and the Panel that while it will continue monitoring matters related to the preservation of Cone
Ranch (and remains highly interested and available to participate in its preservation and
restoration) it will be difficult to properly engage in any course of action until Hillsborough
County has completed its evaluation of the potential water system consolidation.

Once every three months, the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce hosts a luncheon with members of the Hillsborough County Commission and the Tampa City Council.

CL attended the most recent gathering, in which the discussion of where the Chamber was philosophically in relations to the light rail proposal in Hillsborough was debated.

Now Tampa City Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena wants to have another local body represented: The Hillsborough County School District.

In a letter sent to Chamber Chairman Henry Gonzalez, Saul-Sena writes that

Since we all recognize the central role of education in Hillsborough County I think that the Chamber should consider including the School Board members and the Superintendent in these quarterly meetings.

We all understand that with the limited resources and signficant challenges facing us that increasing opportunities for collaboration benefits our entire community.

CL spoke with an official with the Chamber who could not provide an official response, but said that it would probably be looked on favorably, as the meetings are intended to foster dialogue between government agencies and the busines community.

• A coalition of progressive groups will hold a news conference in support of Tampa Congresswoman Kathy Castor, as the Democrat continues to say she won’t support a final health care reform bill if restrictions on abortion rights are in it.

•  A new report on the economic conditions of the various states of the union lists the Sunshine State as having a bleak future.

• And in the wake of the Tampa City Council’s unanimous vote last week to add gender identity and protections to its human rights ordinance,  the local religious right is none too pleased.

Download the report here.

Last week, the Tampa City Council voted to include gender identity and expression in the city’s human rights law, which would effectively prohibit workplace discrimination against people who change genders.

The discussion was relatively non-controversial, with some humorous quips made during the debate by Council members Mary Mulhern and Charlie Miranda, who said at one point, “Is it today that I’m sitting next to Albert and tomorrow I’m sitting next to Alice?”

But even though Tampa is a relative beacon for gay rights in comparison to Hillsborough County, there are some in the community who aren’t happy about the Council’s move. Read the rest of this entry »

A report issued yesterday by the Pew Center on the States finds Florida to be among the worst states in the nation in terms of its economy.

The report, called “Beyond California: States in Fiscal Peril,” notes that what many of us have been recognizing day by day, month by month — Florida is not the state it was just a few years ago.

Among the lowlights:

- In 2006 the state’s job market was one  of the strongest — now it’s the 8th worst.

-  Population.  For the first part of this decade, we all heard the statistics (wasn’t it, “There’s a thousand new people a day  moving to Florida”?).  Now deal with these stats:  From April of ‘08 to April of ‘09, the state’s population dropped by 58,00o.

- And in ‘05 Florida ranked 2nd in economic growth. In ‘08?  48th.

And though a lot of folks (particularly Republicans) love to bash California and its fiscal problems, Moody’s Economy.com says that Florida’s housing market is in worse shape than the Golden State’s.

I would link to the report (pewcenterforthestates.org), but unfortunately the site isn’t coming up at all this morning, for whatever reason.  You can find a solid report on it in today’s Tampa Tribune.

A variety of progressive activist groups, such as MoveOn, OFA, the SEIU and the Florida Health Care For America Now Coalition plan to present Tampa Congresswoman Kathy Castor with a pair of boxing gloves today at a news conference, urging her to keep fighting for health care reform legislation.

The event takes place just days after Castor joined up with 40 other House Democrats in sending a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, vowing to strip a controversial amendment included in the health care bill passed last week that  bars federal funding from subsidizing abortions.

CL reported exclusively on Wednesday that Representative Castor was one of the signatories to the letter.  That’s significant in that there have been reports in the past couple of days of some Democrats not wanting that list of signatories to be released.

Representative Castor also told CL yesterday that a second letter had been drafted to President Obama asking for a meeting to figure out how abortion funding can be restored.

Republicans are loving how the the issue is blowing up the Democratic Party. Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier this week a group of House Democrats who supported the health care reform bill over the weekend contacted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that they will not vote for a final bill that contains language restricting a woman’s right to choose further than current law.  CL has been informed that among the signatories was Tampa’s Kathy Castor;

Today is Veterans Day, and as activities take place across the country and the Bay area, questions persist about who knew what and when about alleged Fort Hood killer Major Nidal Malik Hasan;

And Pinellas County School Board member Nina Hayden is running for the state senate in a district that encompasses both Hillsborough and Pinellas.  She made just her second campaign appearance on the Hillsborough side last night.

Download the report here.

The evolving story of the Greek Orthodox priest and the tire iron-wielding Marine keeps getting more interesting, including the news that the Marine was a model for AllAmericanGuys.com. And nowhere are the theories more interesting than in the gay blogosphere, where questions are being raised about what exactly happened in that there parking garage.

To recap: Marine reservist Jasen Bruce, approached for directions on Monday night by  a Greek Orthodox priest in a Channelside condo garage, beat the priest with a tire iron and chased him three blocks. Bruce first said that he’d assumed the priest was a terrorist. (Father Alexios Marakis, who is studying in the U.S., speaks little English and has a beard.) Bruce also claimed Marakis shouted “Allahu Akbar!”  — a neat trick, since the priest does not speak Arabic. Then the Marine added a new detail: he said Marakis had grabbed at his naughty bits, which, of course, just screams for a tire-iron response.

Fox 13 revealed Bruce’s modeling sideline last night. The website, which is devoted to hunky young men wearing little or no clothing, is not a gay site per se; as Alex Pickett reported in Creative Loafing in 2006, the owner of the site says that its audience, and its models, are largely heterosexual. But the pics are pretty damn homo-erotic just the same. And the gayosphere has seized on this additional information with relish — postulating gay-for-pay and/or gay panic — and they’ve added links so that interested parties can see just how, um, All American, this guy really is. Video and a typical pic after the break. Read the rest of this entry »

As has been widely reported, the health care legislation that barely squeaked through the House by a 5 vote margin last Saturday night happened only after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi allowed for an amendment that would sharply curtail the availability of abortions in health care coverage.

That amendment, introduced by Michigan Representative Bart Stupak, has proven to be extremely controversial, and on Monday, 41 House Democrats – including Tampa area Representative Kathy Castor -  wrote a letter Speaker Nancy Pelosi pledging to vote against the bill in its final form if it contains that anti-abortion rights amendment.

As published on the blog the Plumline earlier this week, the letter says:

As Members of Congress we believe that women should have access to a full range of reproductive health care. Health care reform must not be misused as an opportunity to restrict women’s access to reproductive health services.

The Stupak-Pitts amendment to H.R. 3962, The Affordable Healthcare for America Act, represents an unprecedented and unacceptable restriction on women’s ability to access the full range of reproductive health services to which they are lawfully entitled. We will not vote for a conference report that contains language that restricts women’s right to choose any further than current law.

CL spoke with Congresswoman Castor late Wednesday afternoon, where she confirmed that she had signed the letter to Speaker Pelosi.  She said she was very upset about how the Stupak Amendment was added to the bill on Friday, just a day before the House voted on it.

In the Senate, there is considerable work being done right now to try to have a ‘compromise’ on the Stupak Amendment.

According to the New York Times

On Tuesday, several women in the Senate, including Barbara A. Mikulski of Maryland and Dianne Feinstein of California, both Democrats, met to come up with a strategy for resisting major new restrictions on abortion.

In a statement, Senator Claire McCaskill, Democrat of Missouri, expressed opposition to restrictions like those adopted by the House. Ms. McCaskill said Congress should not “change current law, which is no public money for abortions.” And she said the House bill “goes too far limiting private funds, too.”

Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California said she believed that a compromise could be reached but that the restrictions included in the House bill were unacceptable.

“This amendment is unfair and discriminatory toward women,” Ms. Boxer said. “It singles them out as a group and would deny women access to a legal medical procedure by dictating what a woman can do with her own private funds. We’ve had a compromise in place for decades that has been fair. Anything that disrupts that compromise is a huge step back for women.”

Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa and chairman of the health committee, also said the House had gone too far. “I fear that the House-passed language,” Mr. Harkin said, “will effectively prevent women from receiving abortion coverage under the new health exchanges, even if they are using their own money to buy insurance.”

Last night at Streetcar Charlie’s in Ybor City, the Young Democrats of Hillsborough County held an event that featured former Congressman Jim Davis and State Senate candidate Nina Hayden.

Hayden, elected last year to the Pinellas County School District, is a young woman in a hurry (she’s 35).  She’s now running for the State Senate seat currently held by Charlie Justice, who is leaving the seat to run for Congress next year.

She also continues to work in the Pinellas County Public Defenders Office.

Speaking to CL last night, we asked her about the thoughts of some political analysts that she’s aiming her sights for Tallahassee perhaps a bit too soon?

“A lot of people have said that,” she said last night when asked about her ambitions.

Hayden is currently unopposed in the Democratic race for the Senate seat in District 16.  On the GOP side,  Jack Latvala has announced his candidacy.  Latvala previously served in the Senate from 1994 to 2002, and would become the first Floridian to return back to the Senate after previously having been term limited out.

In her feisty speech to the Young Democrats, Hayden said, “There was a lot of talk about who was going to step up to the plate (after Justice said he was running for Congress).  No one was willing to step up…because they’re scared to death because of the Republican opponent…I’ve heard  ‘there’s no way you’re going to beat him’ …I’m going to get into the fight…even though I may be the new kid on the block, but I’m doing this because I’m passionate about our kids, about education, ” she said to applause.

The Senate seat encompasses both Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.  Hayden said it was only her 2nd campaign appearance on the east side of the Howard Franklin.

Also at last night’s event was former Tampa Congressman Jim Davis, who two months ago told CL that he wasn’t rejecting the idea of running for Mayor of Tampa in 2011.  We didn’t speak to him about that, but instead enjoyed the former Democratic gubernatorial candidate appear as relaxed as we’ve ever seen him in a public setting, as he addressed the youth group (the Hillsborough Young Dems says they represent folks under 40).

In his speech, Davis several times referred to politics as a ‘crazy’ business.  He gave anecdotes to illustrate that sometimes in politics you must talk about what the voters want to talk about, not what the candidate does.

He also said politics was about respect, and respecting Republicans.  He spoke in strong support of health care reform legislation now to be debated in the Senate, and stressed how critical it was not to get cynical about the political process.

Nina  Hayden in her speech –

tThis is my 2^nd event in Hillsborough….I came down here about 10 years ago to go to law school at Stetson university….went to work at public defenders office immediately afterwars…she represents juveniles charged as adults…Really enjoy the fight for the underdog.  We came from a family that raised us to be involved in the community.  We volunteered at the Mitch Synder shelters.  We spent Thanskgiving and Christmas. We learned the value of giving to the community.  I wanted to get involved, fight for the underdog.

There are various events commemorating Veterans Day today, with one of the biggest surely to be at Bay Pines Medical Center in St. Petersburg at 10 a.m.  House Representative Bill Heller will be the keynote speaker.  In Tampa, thee was a parade that was to conclude with ceremonies at James A. Haley  VA Medical Center, also at 10 a.m.  And there will also be an event in Largo’s Central Park tonight at 7 p.m.

The federal holiday takes place less than a week after Major Nidal Malik Hasan went on his mad killing spree, where 13 people were shot dead at Fort Hood in Texas.  And there are more media reports that indicate that officials had some inkling that things were not all right with the Major, and yet little was done about that.

From today’s Washington Post:

Hasan, a psychiatrist who had worked at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, came to the attention of two Joint Terrorism Task Forces in December, as he corresponded by e-mail as many as 20 times with radical imam Anwar al-Aulaqi, who has exhorted followers in the United States, Britain and elsewhere to pursue violent jihad, or holy war. The task of vetting Hasan fell to a Defense Department analyst on the D.C.-area task force, who searched the doctor’s background, employment records and other paperwork. The analyst concluded that the chatter was innocent, in keeping with Hasan’s research interests, and that he did not have links to terrorism, two government officials said Tuesday.

Authorities closed the matter this spring, opting against a full-blown investigation.

And then there is this from the Wall Street Journal:

In this case, the Pentagon worker, an employee from the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, helped make the assessment that Maj. Hasan wasn’t a threat, and the FBI’s “procedures for sharing the information were never used,” said the person familiar with the matter.

A person familiar with the matter said a Pentagon worker on a terrorism task force overseen by the Federal Bureau of Investigation was told about the intercepted emails several months ago. But members of terror task forces aren’t allowed to share such information with their agencies, unless they get permission from the FBI, which leads the task forces.

These events are eerily reminiscent of what happened after the 9/11 attacks, which led to the creation of the Homeland Security Department (to better coordinate between intelligence agencies) and a full blown investigation.

On Capitol Hill, there are Congressional committees ready to jump in as well , with some Committee leaders a little less gung ho than others.

It’s been 20 years since the Berlin Wall came down.  The wall was up for almost 30 years, cutting off West Berlin from all of East Germany.  Soviet-controlled zones were disconnected from the American, French and British, making not only geographical divisions but, more importantly, human divisions.  The wall severed families, friends and lovers.  It cut off workers from their jobs.  It divided a people.

Over 100 people were killed trying to cross over the wall.  Some estimate as high as 200 people were killed.  The wall had barbed wire, guard towers, guard dogs, anti-vehicle trenches and more; it became a symbol of oppression and intimidation.

Most walls throughout human history have served similar roles. Read the rest of this entry »

Bud Chiles is about a third of the way done in his “One Million Steps For Florida’s Kids” state wide walking campaign.

The campaign is to build grassroots demand for more state spending on programs for children, and he’s attempting to get a million people to sign on to his web site to make that happen.

Speaking to CL on the telephone (where he had originally hoped to be in Ybor City today), Chiles says the 1-4 corridor portion of his walk is soon to commence.

“This is about a million steps to engage a million Floridians on how we prioritize family values, education, and health care in this state.  We’ve gone bad to horrible,” Chiles said.  He defined his journey as a way to build awareness and encourage people to get involved in their community.

Any resemblance between Chiles walk today and his late father Lawton’s journey  in 1970 (where he walked over 1,000 miles to introduce himself to Florida voters in his successful bid to become a U.S. Senator) is absolutely intentional.

Perpetually described as a political hopeful, specifically for Governor (which his father became in 1990 until his death in 1998), Chiles did not back away when asked if he has political aspirations.

“I’m willing to do whatever I can,” he says.  “I could be a candidate.  People in Florida are so desperate to believe in something…they’ve seen so much lying and rhetoric.  We’ve gotta legislature that responds to money.  They’re focused on casino gambling, offshore drilling.”

When asked if he’s been impressed by the candidacies of Alex Sink for Governor and Kendrick Meek for U.S. Senate, Chiles said he really wasn’t, saying specifically he hadn’t heard them talk about reforming the job market or about reforming health care (Meek has been a strong supporter of health care reform, while Sink has taken a wait and see attitude about the public option).

Chiles began his journey on September 1st, and says people are excited about it.  “When you walk 600 miles (his goal), people are inspired by it.  They know that you’re motives are right and that we want to make a difference.”

In today’s report:

• There has been much written about Florida’s legislative leaders in 2010 (Dean Cannon and Mike Haridopolus) being advocates of offshore drilling, and how a repeal of the 1990 ban in Florida is only a matter of time.

Perhaps, but those officials aren’t completely in control right now.  Jeff Atwater is in control of the Florida Senate, and he is in no rush to bring up the issue anytime soon.

• Although Paula Dockery filed paperwork last week declaring her candidacy for governor, the Lakeland Republican makes it official in Lakeland this afternoon.

• And health care. Yes, the House passed a bill over the weekend, but there are a number of critics who favor reform who say the bill does virtually nothing to contain costs.

Download the report here.

Florida Senate President Jeff Atwater announced yesterday that he wants to see reports from a number of different organizations before having serious discussions about offshore drilling.

It is not the first time that Atwater, running for the GOP nomination for CEO, has made less than enthusiastic remarks about offshore drilling, which certainly puts him in a different camp than the man set to replace him as Senate leader, Mike Haridopolous.

According to the Tallahassee Democrat:

Atwater killed the proposal this spring when (House Speaker-designate Dean) Cannon pushed it in the waning days of the legislative session. He went a step further on Monday, saying that he was in no hurry to bring the issue up in the next legislative session that begins in March.

Naturally, drilling opponents were thrilled to hear the news.  Audubon of Florida’s Eric Draper told the Democrat:

“Finally, we’ve got a grown up in the process who is saying that this is a major proposed change in state policy and that we should take our time and maybe not do it at all.”

Senator Bill Nelson, who described himself yesterday as “on a one man crusade on offshore drilling” discussed both the federal and state initiatives to try to bring offshore drilling to Florida’s shores – in the case of the state proposal, as close as 3 miles.

However, props to the Tampa Tribune’s William March, who called out Nelson in his article today for using incorrect figures when discussing potential negative effects on tourism that could be created due to an oil spill.

In his address yesterday, Nelson said that an oil tanker spill in 1992 off of Pinellas County resulted in 2 years of 45 percent declines in tourism revenue.

But as March reports:

In fact, no such declines occurred. The figures, from a Sierra Club report in August, are hypothetical figures on the possible effects of a severe spill. The Sierra Club incorrectly cited the figures as actual but then acknowledged the error.

Nelson spokesman Dan McLaughlin said Nelson “had not been made aware of the Sierra Club’s clarification, but it doesn’t change the point of fact he was making: Oil drilling off the coast of Florida will damage the state’s economy and environment.”

Despite the hyperbole, Nelson is the best friend that environmentalists and others who hope on a federal level that offshore drilling won’t be happening anytime soon in the Sunshine State.  He also dismissed claims by the industry that drilling techniques are much more sophisticated now, saying such ’sophisticated’ techniques were used by those operating the deep water rig that has led to an environmental catastrophe in Australia right now.

A new Gallup poll released today shows the American public basically divided in half on whether or not the health care reforms are what this country needs.  41% support changes to the system, while 40% believe that reforms will make things worse.

The problem for President Obama and Congressional Democrats all year long in their fight to reform health care has been that for those who do have health insurance, a great deal of those people like what they have and are fearful that changes will make things worse for them.

In politics, legislators like to campaign on things they can do for people.  In the case of health care reform, it’s been about changing the system, making it more cost effective (’bending the curve’ as they say), as well as on a more altruistic level, insuring as many of the 47 million or so people in this country without insurance.

The House bill roughly will cover 36 million more people, which is a major achievement.  Whether it actually brings down total costs is something that, unfortunately, may not be the case.

The NY Times reports today that there are serious concerns that the legislation doesn’t do nearly enough to do that:

some experts would like to see such changes adopted more quickly, and senators of both parties say they will press for more aggressive cost-cutting measures when the bill comes up for debate. But drastic changes in the health care reimbursement system could cost the White House the support of doctors and hospital groups, who have signed onto the legislation and are lobbying hard to keep the current fee-for-service system from being phased out too quickly.

Yesterday Florida U.S. Senate Democrat Bill Nelson was in Ybor City, where he shared some of his thoughts on what will now happen in the Senate.

He said what is pretty much considered conventional wisdom in the days after Saturday night’s dramatic cliff hanger of a vote – that the  Senate bill will be different.  Specifically, more centrist, as referred to the House bill as “tilted a bit to the left.”

The House and Senate bills are different in several ways.

1) Senate needs to figure out if there will be a public option of some sort

2) House bill strictly limits coverage of abortion

3) mandating employers to provide coverage to employees

4) Whether to tax high income people or those with high cost insurance plans (”Cadillac Plans”)

The Senate’s out this week for Veterans Day (In the rest of the world of course, most people get a day off for a Holiday, though most don’t get Veterans Day off.  In Congress, it’s always at least a week).  But when they return, the negotiations will get hot and heavy.

This afternoon in Lakeland, State Senator Paula Dockery “officially” announces her candidacy for the Republican nomination for Governor.  (We put officially in quotation marks since she filed the paperwork to run a week ago).

The event begins at 5:30 p.m.at Munn park.

On Sunday, Dockery’s hometown newspaper, The Lakeland Ledger, hailed her entrance into the race with an editorial titled, “Dockery a Convincing Leader”.

The editorial hailed what she has become perhaps best known for in the past couple of years, her battle with CSX rail:

During the past two sessions, Dockery has shown just how effective she can be. She led the effort to defeat a move to provide the CSX railroad with millions of dollars in state money, in exchange for use of 61 miles of rail lines in Orange County for a commuter-rail system. The deal-breaker Dockery found was this: The taxpayers would assume full liability for all accidents on the rail line, even if CSX equipment or employees were negligent.

Yesterday Florida U.S. Senator Bill Nelson was in Tampa, where he urged lawmakers to get a deal finished up  with SunRail and CSX in a special session next month, saying it will pave the way to make it easier for the federal government to award monies to Florida for a Tampa to Orlando high speed rail line.

But Dockery says there’s no need for that special session, telling the Ledger last week that “There has been no change in the very bad terms that the Florida Department of Transportation and CSX agreed upon many years ago in a back-room deal.”

Her steadfast position has been consistent, and is one of the reasons she has garnered enough grass roots support to think she has a fighter’s chance in her uphill battle against Bill McCollum.  However, it will be interesting to see how that plays out in the coming weeks, with so much of the political establishment desperately hoping for the light rail proposal to come to fruition, and thinking that the only way that might happen is if the state is able to make a deal the SunRail proposal back on track.

CL interviewed Dockery briefly last week for our upcoming story on her getting into the race for Governor.  In that interview, she stressed that she is a passionate supporter of all forms of rail (light, commuter, high speed) but that she believes the CSX deal is a loser for the taxpayers in the state.

Florida U.S. Senator Bill Nelson said today that the Tampa Bay area has taken a big leap in attempting to get high-speed rail to the region, and he placed great hopes on the Florida Legislature conducting a special session on rail issues  next month to show Washington that it means business about a a $2.5 billion federal stimulus request for high speed rail.

Speaking at the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City, at an event hastily put together by the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, Florida’s senior Senator said that the state’s chances of acquiring the funding “improve enormously”  if it can successfully deal with the issues with SunRail and TriRail, which the legislature has contended with for the past couple of years, but has never reached a deal.

Nelson gave a shout-out to former Hillsborough County Commissioner Ed Turanchik and his ConnectUs organization that has been formed to try to bring a Tampa-to-Orlando high speed rail line to Florida (though he did mispronounce Turanchik’s name).

Read the rest of this entry »