Inspired by the tea-dumping Bostonians of 1773 and the February rant of CNBC’s Rick Santelli, organizers say they will draw at least 1,000 people to a Wednesday “Tea Party” protest of federal spending and deficits in downtown West Palm Beach.

More than 40 such events are planned in Florida on Wednesday and more than 600 across the U.S.

Read about it here.

Well, not really. But they are emptying their closets of “gently used” clothing for domestic violence victims next week. And they want yours, too.

So if you’ve put on a few pounds and those St. John suits are a bit snug, or those Manolo Blahnik’s gave you blisters, bring ‘em down to the 2nd floor rotunda in the Capitol next Monday from noon to 5 or Tuesday from 8 to 5.

The Florida Association of Professional Lobbyists (FAPL) will collect the goods and donate them to the three neediest shelters in the state for victims of domestic violence who need decent threads for job interviews.

Fashion plates Victoria Zepp and Diana Hadi-Padgett are co-chairwomen of the first-ever clothing drive. You’ve got to envy the lucky recipient of their cast-offs…

In his seventh video released in the past two weeks, Sen. Mike Haridopolos takes aim at the federal stimulus package, calling it “something we simply can’t afford.” But Haridopolos and his fellow Republican leaders in the state legislature are planning to use nearly every stimulus dollar available to plug $4 billion of a $6 billion budget hole this year. Both chambers are hoping to approve their competing spending plans this week.

So how is the state going to use the stimulus dollars? Haridopolos offers a preview:

“This stimulus package, sadly, is not going to be helping that many folks,” Haridopolos said. “Instead, it’s just going to grow government programs at your expense.”

State Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, and former Democratic state Sen. Rod Smith are pals who both have shown interest in a possible run for attorney general next year. Read more about it here.

Adam Hasner, left, on the 2002 Vespa he rode door-to-door across the coastal south Palm Beach County House district in his first campaign. Hasner, R-Boca Raton, has risen to House Majority Leader and is among the handful of GOP leaders who will determine the direction of the final three weeks of the legislative session.

Fast forward to 2008, and Hasner ran a $1-million campaign carrying the mantle of change. Listen to him here explain how a leader in the entrenched majority party can claim that image.

Read the profile of Hasner published in Sunday’s paper here.

Due to a short work week at the Capitol, we’re including a few photos from across Florida this week.

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Here are the top fundraisers so far for 2010 state elections (italics notes an incumbent and click here for a collection of all contribution and expenditure totals from On3 Public Relations):

State CFO:

Democrat Alex Sink: $1.12 million

Commissioner of Agriculture:

U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Bartow: $486,458

State Sen. Carey Baker, R-Eustis: $120,655

State Senate

1.) Hillsborough County Commissioner Jim Norman, Republican (SD 12): $250,850

2.) Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami (SD 38): $235,335

3.) Former Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach (SD 8): $220,441

4.) Sen. Mike Haridopolos, R-Indialantic (SD 26): $208,250

5.) Sen. Nan Rich, D-Sunrise (SD 34): $177,554

State House

1.) Miami attorney and former Apprentice contestant Jose “Pepi” Diaz, Republican (HD 115): $112,945

2.) Assistant State Attorney Andrew Jones of Oviedo, Republican (HD 33): $103,306

3.) Republican Italo Andres Zanzi, a 2006 Republican U.S. House candidate in New York (HD 119): $102,085

4.) Rep. Dean Cannon, R-Orlando (HD 35): $99,426
5.) Army JAG Corps Captain and Tampa attorney Greg Stuebe, Republican (HD 67): $61,142

Guess who says Nixon had a pretty decent legacy aside from Watergate? Click here to find out.

In tough economic times, high turnover on the Palm Beach County commission provides a boost to local portrait photographers. Read about it here.

Radio talker Rush Limbaugh won’t be attending the West Palm Beach “tea party” April 15, but the protest will feature several other big deal GOPers.

To find out which ones, click here.

Environmentalists say Gov. Charlie Crist’s latest deal to buy U.S. Sugar land is better than nothing, but Post staff writer Paul Quinlan reports that some South Florida Water District leaders think the latest proposal is still too costly.

So sweeping were today’s criticisms that they provoked a sharp ultimatum from U.S. Sugar Corp.

“This latest rendition is the last and only chance to complete this transaction,” U.S. Sugar senior vice president Robert Coker said in a news release immediately afterward.

Read the rest of the story here.

From The Palm Beach Post editorial board this morning:

In general, the Legislature resembles a homeowner who has known for days that a hurricane is coming but decides to board up after the winds arrive. Legislators knew months ago that this would be a brutal session on the budget that might have to be followed by a special session right after the budget takes effect on July 1.

Former Republican state Rep. Art Argenio on March 31 put $40,000 of his own money into his 2010 campaign for the seat of term-limited state Sen. Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie. Argenio raised $3,050 from other sources. Former Republican state Rep. Joe Negron has raised $63,800 for the race.

First-quarter campaign finance reports are due today. We’ll have more updates throughout the day.

Argenio beat Negron in a bitter 1999 special election runoff to win a state House seat. Negron ousted Argenio in another rough-and-tumble primary the following year.

Gen. David Petraeus stopped mid-anecdote to give a remarkably detailed shout-out during his speech at today’s Forum Club of the Palm Beaches luncheon:

“This country can never have too many Airborne, Air Assault, Pathfinder, Ranger-qualified infantry non-commissioned officers like that man right there,” Petraeus said, singling out retired Army Drill Sgt. Kurt Denmon of Boynton Beach in a crowd of 760.

The two haven’t met. But Denmon, a Desert Storm combat vet who teaches in the ROTC program at Florida Atlantic University, wasn’t surprised that Petraeus sized him up by looking at the various patches and badges on his Class A uniform.

“We can look at our uniforms and we can describe our careers,” Denmon said.

Washington Post political reporter Chris Cillizza included PostonPolitics.com in his roundup Wednesday of the best state political blogs in the country.

Cillizza also picked two other newspaper blogs in Florida: The Buzz from the St. Pete Times and the Miami Herald’s Naked Politics. Other mentions included FLAPolitics.com, a liberal round-up of daily news, and Sayfie Review, a Republican lobbyist’s collection of links to Florida newspaper stories and videos.

FWC workers plucked one man from a tree and scooped up another from his water-surrounded porch in Katrina-style rescues this week.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers in a helicopter spotted a Madison County man waving a white handkerchief. The man, identified only as “Mr. Lee,” had refused to leave his flooded home because he didn’t want to leave his three dogs behind, according to a FWC press release. The flooded Withlacoochee River spurred the rescues.

Click the box below to watch the dramatic rescue video.

“Mr. Lee had two shih tzus and a rottweiler. I didn’t mind the small dogs, but I was a little concerned about the rottweiler,” FWC Lt. Bruce Cooper said in the release. “As we were talking with Mr. Lee about getting him and his dogs out of there, we heard another man yelling for help about a quarter of a mile away from our location.”

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Gov. Charlie Crist will interview four finalists next week to replace Palm Beach County Commissioner Addie Greene, who’s stepping down April 30 for health reasons.

Click here to find out who’s in the running.

The suburban Lantana headquarters for the cash-strapped Palm Beach County Democratic Party has been without phone service this week after the party didn’t pay its latest bill.

“My bad,” Chairman Mark Alan Siegel said this morning, blaming the nonpayment on a “bureaucratic screw-up.”

Siegel said phone service should be restored this afternoon after an unnamed supporter agreed to put the approximately $500 phone bill on his or her credit card.
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A buck-a-pack cigarette tax made it out of the Senate budget committee late this evening over the objections of cigar-makers.

But cigars could get yet be spared from the $1 per ounce “surcharge” on loose tobacco and cigars included in the plan, which would generate about $990 million a year for health care programs.

Sen. Ted Deutch, the bill’s sponsor and vice-chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee that passed the bill today, could not vote on his priority bill because he had to leave Tallahassee suddenly last night due to a death in the family.

“Ironically it was a death related to lung cancer,” said Sen. Thad Altman, R-Melbourne, chairman of the Finance and Tax committee who presented the bill in Deutch’s stead.

Reps of the cigar industry argued that a new federal tax hiked prices on cigars from 700 to more than 2,000 percent and an additional state tax would put about 10,000 workers in Florida out of jobs.

“There are very few businesses that could adapt that quickly and move on,” Richard Coates, lobbyist for the Cigar Association of America, told the panel.

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Tempers flared after about five hours of budget haggling during the Senate Ways and Means Committee meeting this evening.

Senate Democratic Leader Al Lawson lashed out at Sen. Mike Fasano during debate on cutting state lawmakers’ salaries by 6 percent.

Fasano, R-New Port Richey, suggested that any politician who was in it for the money shouldn’t be elected, drawing the wrath of Lawson, who tried to strip the bill of the pay cut.

“I’m really offended by Sen. Fasano’s statement,” the Tallahassee Democrat said, calling Fasano “totally out of touch.”

Sen. Rudy Garcia, R-Miami, tried to quiet Lawson and cautioned him to be respectful of his colleague and not to personalize the debate.

But Lawson didn’t back down.

“He personalized it a lot of the time,” Lawson persisted. “He might bull y’all but he doesn’t bully me.”
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