The Political Whore

A friend tipped me to the blog of Former state House Speaker Johnnie Byrd, a Plant City Republican, this morning. Johnnie Byrd Weekend is part of his Saturday radio talk show, on WGUL-AM 860 at 11 each weekend. I haven’t heard the show, so I can’t give you a review at this time. (As many no doubt recall, I worked as political consultant for Byrd in his state House and U.S. Senate campaigns.)

The blog has posts criticizing those who believe in climate change and blaming the oil crisis on the Democrats. Here’s a sample:

The July 11, 2008, Tampa Tribune editorial entitled “Floridians Should Not Be Panicked Into Sacrificing Their Coast” shows the Tribune’s true elitist, anti-fossil fuel, ‘protect Cathy Castor at all costs’ colors. They throw every baseless argument, and several ‘pants on fire’ falsehoods, into their anti-drilling rant. In essence, the Tribune is firmly behind the Nancy Pelosi mantra that, “We can’t drill our way out of the problem.” - whatever that means.

Thank goodness, two out of three Floridians know better.

The editorial rant basically repeats a recent speech on the floor of the U.S. House by Rep. Castor where she parroted the hard left fantasy that Katrina was an offshore oil spill of biblical proportions.

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Rep. CW Bill Young’s 38-year tenure in the Congressional District 10 seat centered in St. Petersburg will be a tough one to follow. That is if he ever retires or, even more unlikely, gets kicked out of office.

Despite that, on Thursday night three Democratic candidates vying for the chance to run against Young tried to persuade a room full of Pinellas Democrats that they could be the one to replace a career politician with a “citizen legislator.”

Grandmother and self-proclaimed “true patriot” Samm Simpson, Dunedin Mayor Bob Hackworth and millionaire Max Linn answered questions from the Greater Pinellas Democratic Club, which hosted the debate. Although the three are in line with one another on the length of Young’s term and most of the issues, they do have their differences. How to address the nation’s health care dilemma is one, for instance: Linn and Simpson support the single-payer plan, while Hackworth cited a lack of cooperation and said that he would “work across the aisle to fix a system riddled with inefficiency.”

The candidates also butted heads about the economy: Hackworth called for ending the war in Iraq and investing in the infrastructure, while Simpson somehow wandered from fundamental monetary reform to sending people to jail. Linn, who spoke last and proclaimed that neither of his opponents knew what they were talking about, called for reforming NAFTA  — “fair trade, not free trade,” he said — and implementing real estate incentives to get the market going again.

Hackworth, the only one of the three who has been elected to office before, said that it’s going to take bipartisan appeal to beat Young.  “It’s not about winning the room tonight. It’s about proving you can beat Bill Young,” Hackworth said. “That’s the point, and it isn’t going to be easy.”

Linn, who fought for more than a decade to establish term limits and ran for governor on the Reform Party ticket in 2006, said he is the only one who can realistically beat the incumbent. “I will squash Bill Young like a tomato,” he said.

Simpson refers to her campaign as a calling, not a career choice. She stayed late not to shake hands but to hug everyone who approached her, and her compassion seems to work, considering the number of people who came up to speak with her afterward. “I want my country back,” she said.

(Photos by Amelia Harnish)

debate-002.jpg

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Getting ready to be hitched has done very little to endear Charlie Crist to conservatives. Today’s thumping comes courtesy of the Washington Times. In an op-ed, Burnie Thompson writes of Crist:

Mr. McCain would be hard pressed to make a worse choice.

True, Mr. McCain won Florida’s primary on the wave of Mr. Crist’s late endorsement, which Mr. McCain rode to shore as the Republican presidential candidate. The Florida governor is especially popular in the state’s liberal precincts, and he likely would deliver the Sunshine State in November.

But this would spell victory for big-government Republicanism, and a definitive departure from the virtues of small government and personal responsibility. Mr. Crist and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are the bookend faces of the new Republican Party. Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater’s pictures on the grand old mantle have been turned to the wall.

Mr. Crist is the RINO poster boy. He’s a Republican in name only. He’s as politically calculating as the Clintons, and equally enamored of power. That explains why he’s been flying around the country on the Arizona senator’s left wing, vying for the vice presidency as his state’s economy sinks.

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It started at noon Monday and ends at noon on Friday, but it is the biennial spectacle of Qualifying Week, during which campaigns for local and state offices (minus the judicials; they’re already qualified) must officially put their candidates on the ballot in a process called qualifying.

The dailies don’t cover this stuff much any more; plus, with state candidates qualifying in Tallahassee and locals qualifying in their respective counties, you have to have several reporters making the rounds, and there just aren’t that many political writers left ’round these parts.

Locally, The State of Sunshine has a good wrap-up of Tampa Bay legislative seats and who is (and isn’t) qualified so far. The only surprise so far is to see local Democratic and Obama activists and fundraiser Yvonne Yolie Capin throwing herself into a race against the practically unbeatable Faye Culp, a Republican who represents a South Tampa district in the Florida House. It won’t help that Capin didn’t open a campaign account and fundraise early — unless she has a wad of personal fortune she wants to throw into the race.

In Hillsborough County, the following incumbents have qualified: Property Appraiser Rob Turner, Tax Collector Doug Belden, County Commissioners Al Higginbotham and Brian Blair, and School Board Members Susan Valdes, Jack Lamb and Doretha Wynn Edgecomb.

In Pinellas, the following incumbents qualified: Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark, Clerk of the Courts Ken Burke, County Commissioner Karen Williams Seel, School Board Member Carol Cook and Sheriff Jim Coats. The following challengers have qualified: For Elections Supervisor, Democrat Jack Killingsworth; for County Commission, Democrat Paul Matton; for School Boar, Jennifer S. Crockett, Nina Hayden, Ken Peluso, Robin Wikle, and Chris Hardman.

We’ll keep our eyes peeled for any more last-minute challengers or dropouts.

Bonus cuts: Qualifying elsewhere in the state, in Orlando and  West Palm Beach.

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Courtesy of the funny-as-hell snarksters at St. Petersblog, this is one scary-as-shit mash-up:

Do me a solid and click on the picture and go to their website and give them a page view, since I normally dislike linking to others’ images without them getting some benefit.

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Florida Sen. J.D. Alexander, cousin of Katherine Harris and central Florida power broker behind the Heartland Expressway and the planned USF campus in Lakeland and the sweetheart CSX rail deal, might just seek another term in office despite appearing headed for political retirement. This from the Ledger’s political blog:

Florida Sen. J.D. Alexander, still has one four-year term to go before he would be prevented by term limits from running again, but he was tired of all the hours and the need to attend his business.

In fact other potential candidates had been waiting in line to see if he would decide not to run this year.

But Alexander is running again and he quipped at a recent Lakeland Chamber breakfast that it was the Tampa Tribune’s editorial stance that convinced him.

“Actually I wouldn’t be true to my promises to the constituents of my district if I didn’t continue on, but clearly there are some unfounded criticisms of USF Polytechnic that I feel must be addressed,” Alexander said.

Bonus cut: here’s the Trib editorial that so angered J.D. that he decided to stay in public service.

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Last week, we wrote about the incredibly stupid bills that often preoccupied the — and we’re quoting the Gainesville Sun’s editorial page here — “political romper room” that is the Florida Legislature this year. The session (mercifully) ended last week, and here is a follow-up on which bills we wrote about passed and which (for the most part) died a lonely and deserved death:

Passed
HB 1363 Salvia Divinorum is criminalized, and possession or sale becomes a felony with a five-year prison sentence. Only four legislators in the entire Legislature had the guts to vote against this silly and unnecessary addition to our “War on Drugs.” They included two Bay area lawmakers: Rep. Rick Kriseman of St. Peteresburg and Rep. Keith Fitzgerald of Sarasota. Bravo, guys.

Failed
SB 1992 Anti-Truck Nutz provision in a larger transportation bill. It passed 37-2 in the Senate, but House members took out the Nutz in the bill they passed, leaving the ban dead.

SB 744 Sexual Activities Involving Animals. This bill criminalized bestiality, which is not a crime in Florida. The bill, backed by animal rights groups and St. Pete Rep. Bill Heller, failed.

HB 257 Ultrasounds before abortions. By Rep. Trey Traviesa of Tampa. This thinly veiled attempt to stop women from having legal abortions passed the House 70-45 but died in the Senate on a rare 20-20 tie vote.

SB 302 “The Saggy Pants Bill.” Would have forced schools to ban the exposure of your boxers or bloomers. It failed in the House after passing the Senate 28-11.

HB 401/SB 2010 “I Believe,” Christian license plate. Failed despite several attempts to, ahem, resurrect it by Sen. Ronda Storms.

SB 2692 Academic Freedom bill (allows alternative theories to evolution)
Sen. Storms bill passed the Senate but failed after the House adopted an altered version that was unacceptable to her and hard-liners in the Legislature.

HB 73 Immigration. This bill — a wide-ranging crackdown on undocumented workers similar to an Oklahoma law — failed, along with 10 other immigration-related pieces of legislation. That includes SB 1118, which would have banned the use of the term “illegal aliens.”

SB 1354 Florida Commercial Anti-Pornography Act.
Didn’t even get a hearing in committee.

HB 977 Public Transit Safety. Requiring more frequent bathroom breaks for bus drivers. Went nowhere, unlike the drivers, who need somewhere to go.

SB 386/HB 437 Food Service Restroom Inspections. The “I can’t spare a square” bill by Tampa’s Sen. Victor Crist would require toilet paper and clean restaurant bathrooms. It was flushed down the drain.

SB 2464 Implanted Microchips. Making it a felony to implant microchips in someone without their consent. This sci-fi plot device is safe in Florida; the bill failed.

SB 504/HB 193 (and four others) Cell phone prohibitions. Bills cracking down on under-18s, prohibiting texting while driving and requiring hands-free headsets all failed.

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Today was supposed to mark yet another black day for Florida voters and democracy in this important swing state; Secretary of State Kurt Browning had announced that he would begin enforcing a controversial “third-party registrant” law that has the effect of shutting down voter registration drives like those done by the League of Women Voters.

Now, we all know what a commie organization the LWV is, so of course, we’re grateful for this Republican-led crackdown that amounts to, at best, a solution in search of a problem and, at worst, totalitarian control of the ballot box. After all, we have only about 50 percent of the eligible voters in the state actually registered to vote, and in many elections, fewer than one-third of those who are registered actually vote.

The law was passed first in 2006 and again, with changes, in 2007. But the LWV of Florida sued to stop the 2006 law and won a temporary injunction and an agreement from Browning not to enforce that law. But the Legislature reconstituted the law, which includes possibly hefty fines for making mistakes while getting folks registered to vote, in 2007 and the process begins anew.

The LWV has won another reprieve, until July of this year at least, according to an announcement on its website. It filed a lawsuit against the 2007 law on Monday.

Florida already has among the most restrictive voter registration procedures in the nation, including long lead times to register for an election and no ability for same-day registering on Election Day.

Good story on WMNF Evening News on this earlier this week. You can download the entire newscast here.

(photo by Jonas Luster) 

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My cover story on the stands today is a mock GOP election strategy memo outlining the many wedge-issue bills in the session this year, plus a sidebar by Alex Pickett on 10 outrageous bills offered by goofballs in both parties.

Read the cover stories here and here.

And here is an update on the various pieces of legislation we wrote about, as of today’s session (most notably, the ultrasounds for abortions bill was killed on a tie Senate vote):

SB 744 Sexual Activities Involving Animals.
Co-sponsor Rep. Bill Heller.
Senate bill stuck in Judiciary committee; in several House committees going nowhere

SB 302 “The Saggy Pants Bill.”
Democratic Senator Gary Siplin of Orlando
Passed Senate 28-11; in House council with iffy chances

HB 257 “Ultrasounds before abortions”
– Rep. Trey Traviesa of Tampa
Passed House 70-45; died in Senate on 20-20 vote this afternoon

SB 1992 Anti-Truck Nutz bill/Banning gonads on vehicles.
Sen. Carey Baker of Eustis
Passed Senate 37-2; passed House this morning 112-2

HB 371 I Believe, Chrisitan license plate –
On third reading calendar in the House; Senate passed a specialty plate bill without it, with In God We Trust instead (Senate voted down an amendment from Sen. Ronda Storms of Valrico to add it)

SB 2692 Academic Freedom bill (teaching creationism)
Sen. Ronda Storms
Passed House 71-43 with language that tones down the bill’s impact; passed Senate 21-17; must go to a conference committee to iron out differences.

HB 73 – Immigration
Wide-ranging crackdown on undocumented workers similar to Oklahoma bill
Rep. Don Brown of DeFuniak Springs
Going nowhere in committee

SB 1354 Florida Commercial Anti-Pornography Act.
Sen. Siplin
Going nowhere in committee

SB 1118 Illegal Aliens.
Senator Frederica Wilson of Miami
Prohibiting the term “illegal alien” from appearing in state documents,
Going nowhere in committee

SB 340 Salvia Divinorum ban.
Sen. Paula Dockery of Lakeland
Passed, 109-4 in House; 39-0 in Senate
possession or sale of salvia a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.

HB 977 Public Transit Safety/bathroom breaks for drivers
Rep. Geraldine Thompson
Going nowhere in the House

SB 386 “I can’t spare a square” bill
Food Service Restroom Inspections/
requires toilet paper in clean restaurant bathrooms
Sen. Victor Crist
Stuck on second reading calendar in Senate and passage is unlikely

SB 2464 Implanted Microchips.
Central Florida Senator Bill Posey
Making it a felony to implant microchips in someone without their consent.
Dead, went nowhere in committee

Cell phone prohibitions
HB 175 – on first reading calendar
HB 357– on first reading calendar
SB 1266 – going nowhere in committee
SB 1314 – going nowhere in committee

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