Gov. Charlie Crist received an update this morning from his “stimulus working group” and the news, as usual, was mostly good. The state’s take of stimulus dollars was up to $15.3 billion, according to Crist’s stimulus advisor Don Winstead.
The Democratic National Committee is airing this ad in Florida and seven other states (AR, IN, LA, ME, ND, NE & OH) as the White House makes its push for health care reform.
Republicans say campaign is an attempt to “bulldoze” Democrats like Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, whose support is critical for President Obama’s plan.
But it also touches on a hot issue in Florida’s U.S. Senate race.
Today, the likely Republican candidate Gov. Charlie Crist said he’d like to see “more private sector involvement” in the White House health care plan and suggested Democrats look to Florida as they massage the proposal.
“What we’ve done in Florida can be a pretty good model,” Crist said. “I mean, the real concern here is to make sure people have access to health care that’s affordable. Through our Cover Florida program we’ve shown a way to do it, where you don’t have to increase taxes.”
A python posse armed with clubs and machetes will start combing the Everglades for the supersized serpents this weekend.
Gov. Charlie Crist ordered the python bounty hunt Wednesday at the urging of two Florida congressmen who were in an uproar after one of the exotic snakes strangled a 2-year-old girl July 1 near Ocala.
That python was a pet and didn’t live in the Everglades. But the case called new attention to the plague of the oversized reptiles that have spread throughout South Florida’s marshes, gobbling wading birds and posing a danger to native wildlife.
Estimates of the python population in the Everglades range between 10,000 and 150,000. They can reach up to 20 feet in length and have long, curved teeth, along with the ability to squeeze their prey to death.
The South Florida Water Management District has identified 283,000 acres worth $1.5 billion — including preserve lands, filter marshes and Everglades-area wetlands — that could be used to guarantee some of the $2.2 billion they intend to borrow to buy the U.S. Sugar land and recreate the historic flow of water from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades.
The proposal, which water managers say remains under consideration, emerged in internal agency e-mails and other documents that opponents of the U.S. Sugar deal have cited in their legal battle to block financing for what would be the state’s most expensive conservation land purchase ever.
Find links to this article and other state news and politics stories in the “Today in the Palm Beach Post” box on the right hand side of this page.
Florida Democratic Party Executive Director Joseph Leonard is going to work for President Barack Obama’s administration.
Joseph, 34, is taking over as chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security Office of Policy.
The Dems tapped a Florida outsider, Scott Arcenaux, to replace Joseph as ED and also serve as political director.
Joseph, who also worked on John Kerry’s presidential campaign, has been at the ED post for about three years and first went to work for the state party in 2005.
Arcenaux was also executive director for the Louisiana state party and was U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd’s national political director in his losing presidential bid.
Moody’s Investors Service removed Florida from its list of potential downgrades Tuesday, saving the state hundreds of millions of dollars in potential interest payments.
The company reaffirmed Florida’s top rating, Aa1, citing the state budget that cut $3.6 billion in expenditures while raising $2.4 billion in taxes and fees.
The roughly $1 billion left in reserves gave ratings analysts comfort that the state would not default on its debt.
But the ratings company noted that Florida’s immediate economic future remains bleak.
Analysts said there was little hope the state would turn around its double-digit unemployment rate, struggling housing market and minimal population growth before the end of 2010.
Florida’s bond rating was politicized during a 10-day budget standoff this spring between House and Senate Republicans. Each side claimed its budget would satisfy concerns from the ratings company.
On Tuesday, House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton, said the company’s action reaffirmed his chamber’s position to hold more money in reserves.
U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney has filed a bill to blacklist Burmese pythons and other unwelcome animal immigrants from entering the country.
The Tequesta Republican has joined the movement, led by Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, to rid the River of Grass of the perilous pests after a pet python strangled to death a two-year-old Florida girl.
About 150,000 pythons, not native to Florida, have taken up residence in the Everglades, threatening other endangered wildlife there, including Florida panthers and wood storks.
Rooney’s backing two bills to crack down on bringing invasive animals into the country.
One McCarthy-esque proposal would create a black list of nonnative species would create a black list of nonnative species barred from being brought into the United States and a green list of creatures that would be welcome.
The other would add Burmese pythons to the list of dangerous animals, similar to a measure Nelson filed several months ago.
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson is asking federal officials for a posse.
A python posse, that is.
Nelson sent a letter to U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar asking him to approve a python-kill because the slithering beasts are taking over the River of Grass.
Nelson earlier this year introduced a bill to ban imports of Burmese pythons and classifying them as “injurious animals.”
Two weeks ago, a pet python strangled to death a two-year-old Florida girl, creating an uproar about the invasive predators.
Police remove a Burmese python from a home in Oxford, Fla. on July 1 after it killed a young girl.
Officials “need to get a grip on pythons invading America’s Everglades,” Nelson wrote.
“They are threatening endangered wildlife there – and, Lord forbid, a visitor in the Everglades ever encounters one,” he wrote.
Nelson’s proposing an organized hunt to diminish the ever-growing python population in the ‘Glades. The posse could consist of park rangers or deputies and volunteers, Nelson suggested.
Sounds like Democrats will have a primary to match the Republican duel in Senate District 27, a district that stretches over five counties from Palm Beach to Lee and Charlotte on the state’s west coast currently represented by Democrat Dave Aronberg of Greenacres.
Burkert
Fort Myers attorney Pete Burkert officially announced his candidacy this morning. Meanwhil, state Rep. Kevin Rader, D-Boca Raton, has decided to enter the race as well and will soon make a formal announcement. Palm Beach Democrats make up about 66 percent of the party’s registration in the district, but may account for as much as 75 percent of a primary turnout.
On the Republican side, Wellington Councilwoman Lizbeth Benacquisto and former state Rep. Sharon Merchant of Palm Beach Gardens have both opened up campaigns.
While 128,000 state employees survive a third consecutive year without pay raises, Florida may be giving automatic increases to private companies that contract with the state.
Aronberg
In May, Senate Democratic Leader Al Lawson asked Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, to call for an auditor general investigation to find out how many state contracts have so-called “escalation clauses” for salaries and how much those contracts have cost the state. Democrats say Atwater did not respond to the letter.
On Monday, Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, sent this letter to Florida Transportation Department Secretary Stephanie Kopelousos saying he was aware of at least two contracts that included escalation clauses.
One contract between FDOT and Post, Buckley, Schuh & Jernigan, an engineering consulting firm, was amended to increase salaries just days before lawmakers opened a special session for budget cuts in January.
Former House Speaker Marco Rubio announced an endorsement this morning from former U.S. House Speaker Dick Armey. Rubio is trying to upset Gov. Charlie Crist in a Republican U.S. Senate primary. From Armey:
“Marco Rubio is a champion of freedom and an inspiring leader for the next generation of the conservative movement. His track record and conservative convictions are a breath of fresh air in a party looking for new leaders to advance the principles of limited government, lower taxes and economic liberty.”
Crist, meanwhile, has picked up several endorsements from Rubio’s backyard in Miami. Last week the brothers Diaz-Balart (U.S. Reps. Lincoln and Mario) announced their support for Crist and Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez made his announcement yesterday. From Alvarez:
“Governor Crist has demonstrated his commitment to conservative values that hold government accountable and keep more money in the pockets of hardworking Floridians. He is the common-sense conservative leader we need in Washington, and I am proud to lend my help to his campaign.”
Former County Commissioner Mary McCarty has been transferred to a minimum security prison camp in Bryan, Texas, to serve the remainder of her 3 1/2-year corruption sentence.
McCarty, sentenced June 4, spent her first several days of imprisonment at the Palm Beach County jail, then was moved to Miami’s federal detention center, awaiting a final move by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
For the link to that story and more with state and political interest, see the “Politics in the Palm Beach Post” box on the right hand side of this page.
Florida will receive $2.275 million from a Morgan Stanley subsidiary after reaching a price-gouging settlement with the gas supplier, Attorney General Bill McCollum and Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson said today.
The state opened its investigation after thousands of complaints about gas prices during Hurricane Ike in 2008. The state says that TransMontaigne ordered its retailers to increase gas an additional $1.60 per gallon during the storm.
The settlement marks the first time the state has gone after a supplier. It’s also the largest price gouging settlement in Florida history, McCollum said.
Among the endless ways to slice and dice campaign finance reports, here is the list of top fundraisers of the 2010 election cycle among candidates state legislative office.
These figures include all money raised through June 30 and are largely dependent on the spreadsheet compiled by On3 Public Relations.
A few notes: The top five money raisers in the House and Senate so far are all Republicans and, with the exception of incumbent Dean Cannon, all are chasing open seats. The top Democratic fund-raisers in each chamber are both unopposed incumbents from Weston: Sen. Nan Rich ($185,029) and Rep. Franklin Sands ($53,800).
Republican Bill McCollum and Democrat Alex Sink each collected more than $1 million for their respective gubernatorial campaigns during the second quarter of the year, according to campaign finance reports released Friday.
Campaign officials debated Friday about which report was more impressive. But both candidates could have an uphill climb raising money as the state’s economy shows few signs of rebounding.
The reports due Friday were the first public signs of campaign activity for many state candidates, including McCollum. Some notable reports:
Republican Bill McCollum is expected to report a total of $1.06 million in contributions for the second quarter of fundraising, The Palm Beach Post has learned.
That’s less than the $1.28 million his probable Democratic opponent, Alex Sink, reported earlier today. But McCollum’s haul came in about half the time: he didn’t announce his campaign until May 18th and didn’t hold his first official fundraiser until June.
Democrat Alex Sink said today she raised $1.28 million in the second fundraising quarter, bringing her total to $2.4 million raised for her 2010 campaign. Sink reported that she ended the quarter with over $2.1 million cash on-hand.
“I am overwhelmed by the continued outpouring of support from everyday Floridians who are ready for a new and different kind of leader,” she Sink. “Floridians are coming together to send a clear message that they are tired of politics as usual in Tallahassee.”
Republican Gov. Charlie Crist next week will look to add to his staggering pile of campaign cash by heading the home of Jill & Bobby Zarin to raise money for his U.S. Senate campaign. The fundraiser (read the invite here) was first reported by the Orlando Sentinel this morning.
Crist & Rome
Zarin is one of the stars of the Bravo! show “Real Housewives of New York” and is close friends with Carole Rome Crist, the governor’s wife. Zarin, who was invited to the couple’s wedding in St. Peterburg last year, describes Carole as one her best friends and talks about Carole’s expensive, Hampton society parties in an episode called “Season One: Lost Footage.”
The host committee for Zarin’s fundraiser for Crist is peppered with NYC socialites and also includes Donald Trump and New York Yankee slugger Johnny Damon.
State Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, told supporters today that he collected $173,000 for his primary battle with fellow state Sen. Dan Gelber of Miami Beach. Gelber announced earlier this week that he collected $150,000.
The two Democrats are squaring off in the most closely watched Democratic statewide primary so far in the 2010 election cycle. Their second quarter campaign reports — which are due today — give a indicate that this race is still pretty close. In other words, neither candidate buried the other in money, so both have pretty legitimate claims for staying in the race.
And why that’s good news for the two attorneys, it’s a concern for party leaders, who don’t want to risk a bloody primary – especially when no Democratic candidate has stepped forward in the state CFO race…
Gov. Charlie Crist received an update this morning from his “stimulus working group” and the news, as usual, was mostly good. The state’s take of stimulus dollars was up to $15.3 billion, according to Crist’s stimulus advisor Don Winstead.
Fatal python attack
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