A South Florida Tea Party activist has filed ethics complaints against state Rep. Ron Saunders accusing the Key West Democrat of double-dipping on travel expenses and violating state campaign finance rules.

James K. Barnes of Coral Springs filed complaints with both the state elections and ethics commissions as well as the House of Representatives.

Barnes alleges that Saunders, a veteran lawmaker who returned to the House, charged the state for travel money for trips to Tallahassee from his home in the Florida Keys while also filing for reimbursement for official and campaign work while in his Keys district.

The complaints also allege that Saunders accepted campaign contributions during the legislative session, a violation of state law and that Saunders “requested reimbursement for travel expenses from more than one source for the same travel and has claimed per diem amounts for which he is not entitled.”

“Corruption is running rampant in both Florida parties, from Ray Sansom’s ethical lapses to party credit card abuse to Saunders’ multiple violations,” Barnes said in a press release. “If the Florida Legislature wants to rebuild trust with voters today, Saunders’ apparent violations must also be fully investigated and, if true, punished.”

Read the Barnes ethics complaint here, the elections complaint here, and the House complaint here.

The flame war between GOP operative Michael Caputo and Sen. Paula Dockery (and her campaign for governor) over a Tea Party schism got hotter last night.

Caputo, who’s involved in a federal lawsuit a bunch of Tea Party activists filed against Orlando political gadfly Doug Guetzloe and his brand of Tea Partiers, and Dockery exchanged a rash of e-mails yesterday peppered with questions about their links to Guetzloe in the spirit of “Will the real Tea Party people please stand up?”

Caputo says he is not being paid by Attorney General Bill McCollum, Dockery’s GOP primary opponent in the governor’s race.

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State senator and GOP governor hopeful Paula Dockery blasted Republican operative Michael Caputo for linking her with Orlando politico Doug Guetzloe, the center of a Tea Party turf battle playing out in federal court.

Guetzloe joined forces with Dockery in fighting the SunRail/CSX deal during the special legislative session and has supported her candidacy against Attorney General Bill McCollum in the Republican primary for governor.

Caputo, a Republican operative who has worked on campaigns in and out of the U.S. and who is closely linked with Roger Stone, and a variety of local Tea Party groups filed a lawsuit against Guetzloe and his cohorts accusing them of hijacking the “real” Tea Party and asking the court to order him to stop using the “Tea Party” moniker.

The flame war began when Caputo sent out an e-mail questioning whether Guetzloe is secretly backing Dockery’s campaign and calling the Lakeland Republican a “liberal.”

Dockery responded with an e-mail asking Caputo with some answers plus her own list of questions.

Guetzloe “is not and has not been paid by my campaign or on behalf of my campaign. I am asking you to refrain from making this claim as you have now been formally told there is no truth to your assertion. Please provide your rationale for making these false claims,” she writes.

The exchange also includes a “Who’s the better Republican?” line with Dockery saying she’s a life-long GOP’er who was first elected in 1996.

Caputo one-ups her there: He says he’s been a Republican since he first got into politics in the 1980s when he worked on President Ronald Reagan’s reelection campaign.

Dockery also tries to extricate herself from the Tea Party wars, writing: “I have absolutely nothing to do with the forming of another party and have, in fact, suggested that the formation of a “tea party” will actually harm reform-minded Republican candidates like me.”

Caputo’s snarky response to Dockery also challenges her to distance herself from Guetzloe.

“If you seek Tea Party support for your candidacy, your work with Doug Guetzloe does not endear you to thousands of authentic Florida Tea Party activists who are enflamed by his hijack attempt of their name and cause,” Caputo wrote.

“If what you say is true, it is not enough to stand silently. We ask you to denounce Guetzloe’s Tea Party political party. Please call upon him to disband it immediately and demand he end his personal threats
on true citizen activists in Florida’s Tea Party movement. Our plaintiffs – 34 Tea Party activists and organizations deeply concerned about the damage of Guetzloe’s third party – can help get your message out.”

Read the three messages after the jump.
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Palm Beach County schools Superintendent Arthur Johnson said he is considering a cut of 1,600 non-instructional jobs to deal with an expected “dramatic reduction in stimulus funding at the end of next year.”

In his latest “economic update,” Johnson cites the anti-spending political winds, embodied by the so-called “tea party” movement.”

“There are a growing number of American citizens, via the Tea Party movement, who are committed to cutting government spending and taxes,” wrote in his update.

A discussion of Johnson’s memo is underway here.

Tea Partiers have asked Leon County State Attorney Willie Meggs to convene a grand jury to investigate state transportation officials’ use of code words in e-mails.

Tea Party Chairman Fred O’Neal filed a request with Meggs yesterday asking for a grand jury to look into “deliberate evasion of Florida’s Public Records law” as well as “as an arrogant disregard” of the state constitution’s Sunshine Law guaranteeing access to public records and meetings.

Tea Party activists dubbed the messages “Wafflegate” after The Palm Beach Post reported that Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Stephanie Kopelousos and her deputy Kevin Thibault exchanged three messages last month with the subject lines “pancake,” “pancakes” and “french toast.”

Doug Guetzloe, chairman of “Ax the Tax,” said he plans to file complaints with the ethics commission and Attorney General Bill McCollum’s office and another to Meggs.

“This is a direct violation of public trust,” Guetzloe said. (more…)

STUART — What began as a semi-friendly discussion outside a health care forum tonight quickly turned ugly with nearly a dozen people shouting at each other and one spitting on another.

Everett Wilkinson, chairman of the anti-tax South Florida Tea Party, found himself the unsuspecting victim of a spittle attack just minutes after joining the argument.

The altercation had begun with just two people having a semi-friendly discussion outside tonight’s health care forum at Indian River State College’s Chastain campus on Salerno Road. U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, is holding the forum inside The Wolf High-Technology Center.

Trying to make himself heard as proponents and opponents yelled about socialized medicine, Wilkinson raised his arms over his head and shouted: “It’s a great flight to Cuba!”

He turned then and found himself in the middle of an already heated argument between two men. One of the men questioned whether the second man, who was wearing a camouflage jacket, was a veteran.

The second man stepped up to the first and yelled: “I joined after Sept. 11. Do you remember Sept. 11, you ***?!”

Wilkinson and another man, John Fels, of Port St. Lucie, tried to intervene, fending off shoves from the man in camo. Both turned to leave, but the man followed and spit on Wilkinson’s arm.

Deputies arrived just as the crowd split up.

“It’s pretty sad that we can’t have discussion,” Wilkinson said.

The first television ad in a competitive state Senate special election race in Duval County attempts to capitalize on the energy surrounding the health care debate in Florida and across the country.

In the 30-second spot above, conservative activist Dan Quiggle pulls a clip from his April speech at a local tea party. “We are up against stimulus packages, socialized health care, bailouts. My friends, freedom and liberty are under attack and our politicians are out of control.”

The election, called after the passing of Republican Sen. Jim King, will be worth watching if only for the fact that it is unfolding during such a highly-charged moment in state and national politics. Plus, the GOP primary for this seat in 2010 was already competitive: King’s would-be successors had combined to raise more than $750,000 for the race by June 30.

Now that a special election is needed, the Republican race — featuring Quiggle, former House Speaker John Thrasher, Jacksonville Commissioner Art Graham and former state Rep. Stan Jordan — will be take days, not months, to unfold: The primary is Sept. 15.

Thrasher’s campaign says it will join Quiggle on North Florida airwaves “very shortly.” today.

Meanwhile, Jordan, who only entered the race on Tuesday, said he wasn’t too concerned about the financial gap he faces: His three opponents already have six-figure campaign accounts.

“I’ve done this many times,” he said. “I’m probably the most economical candidate in the state.”

And if you thought the health care battle hasn’t reached North Florida, think again. On Wednesday, 400 people packed into a Live Oak room designed for 136 people. And while there was no violence, it wasn’t pretty: video from ActionNewsJax.com here.

About 50 members of the anti-tax Tea Party movement showed up for this morning’s Palm Beach County Commission meeting after taking umbrage at dismissive remarks by Commissioner Burt Aaronson at a meeting last month.

After a big crowd filled a plaza outside the county government center for an evening rally on April 15, Aaronson noted during a weekday commission meeting in May that Tea Party activists “participated in the tea party, but they couldn’t get here today.”

Aaronson was silent when one activist said she felt Aaronson’s remarks were out of line.

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Inspired by the tax-protesting colonists who dumped tea in Boston Harbor in 1773 and by CNBC editor Rick Santelli’s famous February rant against Obama administration policies, hundreds of “tea party” protests are taking place across the U.S. today to coincide with the deadline for filing federal income tax returns.

At least 40 such protests are planned for Florida, with one scheduled for West Palm Beach today at 5 p.m. at the county Governmental Center.

Organizers of the West Palm Beach rally expect at least 1,000 people to protest growing deficits and “outrageous” federal spending on bailouts and economic stimulus plans.
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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.

Tax Day is going to be a little more colorful in West Palm Beach.

Republican organizers are putting together an April 15 “tea party” at the county government center.

The protest will mirror similar so-called “tea parties” elsewhere in the country, all against Pres. Barack Obama’s economic policies, bailouts and stimulus packages.

The county’s Young Republicans vice president, Everett Wilkinson, says members are trying to convince local Conservative radio talkmeister Rush Limbaugh to be a keynote speaker.

For more, click here.