Member Posts
The following posts were created from our member blogs.
 By Jim Morin, Miami Herald BONUS CARTOON  By Jeff Parker, Florida Today The Big Oil roundup: news and information about Big Oil’s push to rig Florida’s coastline for the period ending 2-5-10:  Save the Date: Hands Across the Sand Happens on February 13th, 2010 The Audubon of Florida Advocate More info at HandsAcrosstheSand.org.Thousands of Floridians from all walks of life will gather on beaches from Pensacola to Key West and Miami to Jacksonville Feb. 13, 2010, in a statewide coastal protest against legislative proposals to open Florida's waters to offshore oil drilling. Candidates for governor agree offshore oil drilling a threat By Bill Cotterell Florida TodayCompeting candidates for governor agreed today that proposed offshore oil drilling is a threat to Florida's beaches but took sharply differing positions on national health care. Florida CFO Alex Sink opposed to offshore drilling By Abel Harding Florida Times-UnionSink says the biggest question surrounding the offshore drilling debate is knowing who is actually behind it. Gov. candidates cold toward drilling -- but not Crist, Rubio By Bruce Ritchie FloridaEnvironments.comThe three major candidates for governor on Wednesday largely rejected the idea of allowing drilling off Florida's Gulf coast during remarks at the 2010 Associated Press Legislative Planning Session at the Capitol. Candidates Cold to Near-Shore Drilling By Lloyd Dunkelberger Lakeland LedgerAlthough they may differ on other issues, Florida's top three contenders for governor appear united in their skepticism over plans to bring oil drilling rigs close to the state's beaches. McCollum says oil drilling could 'terrorize our beaches' By Mary Ellen Klas Miami HeraldAttorney General Bill McCollum told reporters that oil drilling three to 10 miles out "is very close,'' could interfere with the tourism economy, "It would just completely terrorize our beaches.….That’s a risk I would not be willing to take.'' Researchers warn of drilling dangers at symposium By Jim Ash Tallahassee DemocratSeismic testing associated with offshore oil and gas drilling could harm Florida's $6 billion commercial and recreational fishing industry, a Florida State University researcher warned on Monday. Understanding of Gulf ecology lacking in drilling debate By Bruce Ritchie FloridaEnvironments.comScientists' lack of understanding about the complex relationships between marine organisms should be considered in the debate about oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, Florida State University researchers said today. Cannon says oil lobby group's funding unimportant By Bruce Ritchie FloridaEnvironments.comRep. Dean Cannon, chairman of a House council that is holding hearings on whether to allow oil drilling within 10 miles of Florida's Gulf coast, said today that he isn't interested in who's behind the firm that's been pushing for drilling legislation. Sub-sea drilling technology shown to House By Bruce Ritchie FloridaEnvironments.comMembers of a House panel today were told that oil and gas production platforms built more than 13 miles offshore would not be visible from the coast. Offshore drilling could hurt military operations in Florida, group says By Judson Parker Tallahassee Environmental News ExaminerThe risk offshore drilling poses to Eglin Air Force Base Ranges is real enough to warrant careful consideration. When that risk is paired with the meager reward that exists off Florida’s shores, the idea of even potentially impairing military exercises in the Gulf becomes completely unthinkable Offshore drilling resolution delayed again By Drew Harwell St. Petersburg TimesCity commissioners Thursday night discussed for the second time their position on offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, a proposal opposed last year by nearly every coastal city across Tampa Bay. Crews try to protect wildlife from Texas oil spill By Schuyler Dixon The Associated PressCrews worked Sunday to protect two sensitive wildlife areas after a crude oil spill shut down parts of a major southeast Texas port, state Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson said. Oil drilling: Protect state's beaches, economy By Sarah Owen Gledhill Florida Times-UnionFlorida's beaches and coastlines define and unite us as Floridians. They are what brought us here and they are what keep us here. Oil drilling bill must balance our interests Editorial Ft. Myers News-PressLegislators have been moving forward with hearings on the costs and benefits of lifting the 20-year-old ban on oil drilling off Florida’s coast and a bill could be filed this year.  Big Oil’s idea of job creation? TAKE ACTION NOW
Write Your State Senator: Big Oil's Promises Are "Empty" Big Oil and their hired hands in Tallahassee have sworn that drilling Florida’s coast would be “invisible” – that there would be no unsightly rigs just a few miles off our coast. We know different – and a recent eye opening story in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune has proven Big Oil’s promises completely “empty.” Click the picture above – keeping the pressure on by letting our State Senators know people like you are paying attention is how we’ll beat Big Oil.MORE ONLINE ACTIONS Tell Obama: Offshore Drilling is NOT the Answer to Energy Crisis, via Oceana. Help Drill for Solutions Not for Oil, via Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.Let us decide! Petition to Governor Charlie Crist, Senate President Jeff Atwater, and House Speaker Larry Cretul, via Civic Concern. Contact Your Officials About New Drilling Off Florida's Coasts, via Civic Concern.Ask your state legislators to keep the rigs out, via Save the Manatee Club. Write a letter to the editor, via Audubon of Florida.Write your state legislators, via Audubon of Florida. Urge Senate President Jeff Atwater to oppose offshore oil drilling, via Progress Florida.Tell Sen. Atwater Not To Allow Oil Drilling In Special Session, via Audubon of Florida. Sign the petition against oil drilling, via Protect Florida’s Beaches.Tell Salazar: No drilling off Florida's Coast, via Environment Florida. Tell new Senator LeMieux to Repower America, via Environment Florida.\Related action: Don't go drill crazy in the Everglades, via Center for Biological Diversity. Related action: Keep oil drilling out of climate change legislation, via Oceana.ADDITIONAL RESOURCES OF NOTE Hands Across The Sand website; their Twitter page is here.Protect Florida’s Beaches, recently launched coalition website. Protect Florida’s Beaches on Facebook.Think, Baby, Think blog via Protect Florida’s Beaches. Don’t Drill Florida website.Don’t Drill Florida Facebook page. Save Our Shores Florida website; their Twitter page is here.Save Our Shores Florida Facebook page. Environment Florida offshore drilling page.Southern Alliance for Clean Energy offshore drilling page. Skytruth blog, an excellent source of info.Not the Answer blog, courtesy Surfrider Foundation. Eye-opening map of oil and gas leases and infrastructure in Gulf of Mexico, via MMS.EnergyFLA.com, online hub of drilling proponents; their Twitter page is here. Progress Florida's Best of the Blogs for the week ending 1-22-10 What's Crist to do (besides dropping out and endorsing Kendrick Meek)? By Geniusofdespair Eye on Miami The only person who signed the Corporate papers (filed January 21st) for this 501c4 is Richard E. Coates, a Tallahassee lobbyist, who also happens to have as a client Barney Bishop's "Associated Industries of Florida".CBS Tainting Super Bowl Broadcast By Daniel Tilson Progress Florida In rolling out what they claim is a new policy to begin broadcasting "approved" paid advocacy group advertisements, the CBS TV network is clearly taking the sensitive, low-key high road - airing the first such spot during Super Bowl 44, being played Sunday in our South Florida backyard, with a few additional folks tuning in from around the globe.Six amendments make the ballot By Bill Newton FCAN Blog It will be another busy year for voters. The Legislature wants us to give up public campaign finance, and we have a chance to make Florida's election districts more fair and eliminate gerrymandering. In rolling out what they claim is a new policy to begin broadcasting "approved" paid advocacy group advertisements, the CBS TV network is clearly taking the sensitive, low-key high road - airing the first such spot during Super Bowl 44, being played Sunday in our South Florida backyard, with a few additional folks tuning in from around the globe.
First one out of the box is an Anti-Choice propaganda spot from the Christian Right group, Focus On The Family. They have paid CBS 3-million dollars for 30 seconds of access to untold millions of viewers worldwide. Their ad features Florida college football star quarterback, Tim Tebow, telling a very personal story about his own family, a story I won't go into detail about here - but one that is already being questioned (rightly or wrongly I cannot say) all over the Internet for its full factual veracity. Read More »  By Jeff Parker, Florida Today BONUS CARTOON  By Jim Morin, Miami Herald Progress Florida's Best of the Blogs for the week ending 1-22-10 The myth of limited government By Peter Schorsch St. Petersblog 2.0 First of all, to the anonymous bloggers who attempted to discredit the good name of one of Tampa's finest families, you should be ashamed of yourselves. I'm not bothering to send this through LeMieux' webform. My previous post about him hit Google rapidly.
LeMieux' immediately sending me yet another Newsletter was likely high humor to him, right up there with moving a blind guy's chair just before he sits down. As he's likely going to claim a glitch rather than taking responsibility, it's worth noting that the constituent computerized communications system was working when LeMieux got to Washington; I easily unsubscribed from Sen. Martinez' equally unoriginal obstructionist spin. "You break it, you buy it," is a reasonable taxpayer protection. LeMieux needs to get his checkbook out and pay to get the system working again. For anyone else experiencing difficulty with LeMieux in need of substantiating his callousness, incompetence or dereliction, pdf copies of all six documented attempts to unsubscribe are available to readers by putting "pdf please" in the subject line of an email to studio8@infionline.net. I've three broken teeth, a pain in the neck and no interest in dying, so even though I wrote poorly when I'm this stressed, today was the day to ask Sen. Lemieux to leave me alone, at length, and then post the request here so that his specious rhetoric never hits my Inbox again. Using his website contact form, I sent the following:
"Sir, you are in Congress by the combined whims of former Sen. Martinez and Gov. Crist; your prior position made you aware that Martinez was complacent with Crist being a Paper Tiger, providing a projected image of toughness on crime via affixing his signature to death warrants while deliberately overlooking public misconduct that resulted in wrongful convictions in Brevard, Polk and other counties. The knowledge that Crist has no intention of addressing scores of clouded convictions made it incumbent upon you to ask the FBI to investigate the public corruption. The failure to do so puts you in league with prosecutors who coached jailhouse informants to credibly provide false testimony. My interest in you is therefore limited to your being prosecuted along with the other villains that continue to trample the likes of James Bain, Juan Melendez, Wilton Dedge, William Dillon and Juan Ramos while allowing rapists and murderers to find additional victims. Because of my very limited [interest] in you, I unsubscribed to the first Newsletter I received from you and every one since, documenting the last five times with pdf copies. I will save a copy of this submission for use in a Petition for a Writ of Mandamus to request that the Supreme Court compel the FBI to adhere to their mandate to address public corruption that affected trial and election outcomes. As you likely know from you association with Crist, I have "standing" and your persistence in resubscribing me each time I unsubscribe will let me speak directly to your behaviors in the Petition. Your closeness to Crist that likely acquainted you with my years of request for consequences for the culpable would also have made you aware of my disabilities. Many persons with epilepsy have stress-engendered seizures; I'm one such person. My medication is proving effective in preventing all but nocturnal seizures, which put me at risk of dying in my sleep due to my heart defect. These nocturnal seizures are often apparent upon awakening by noting another broken tooth, neck and back pain and more difficulty with my memory than the medication causes. I have many other medical conditions aside from epilepsy. I will use this analogy in the Petition - deliberately slipping a regular Coke to a person with volatile diabetes is attempted homicide, so is directing stress at a person with volatile epilepsy. I ask that you not resubscribe me to your newsletter yet again to lessen the likelihood that another communication will cause me another broken tooth or worse. In evaluating your choices hereinafter, it would likely do you well to recall that the FBI investigated dogfighting rings in several states last year while ignoring roughly 5,000 clouded criminal investigations tainted by debunked bullet-matching and DNA-discredited dog handlers. They put man's best friend ahead of men; not even the five most disingenuous Justices ever seated can spin their way around that simple statement of fact. The foreign press will have a field day, making it impossible for even Fox not to get on board. Don't write to me of a unsubscribe glitch; in the absence of a copy of your letter to FBI Director Mueller asking that he put men ahead of dogs this year, all that a reasonable person could construe from the communication is that your behaviors are self-serving, constituents be damned." The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) and Democracy for America (DFA) released a poll yesterday which shows voters in selected freshmen Democratic districts supporting progressive views. In addition, voters are ready to punish Democratic members of Congress that go conservative and corporate. One of the districts polled was Suzanne Kosmas' 24th district (North Brevard, most of Volusia, west Seminole, west and north Orange counties.) Here are the poll findings from Kosmas' district: 1.) Are Democrats in Washington more on the side of the lobbyists and special interests or on the side of people like you? Lobbyists: 45% 2.) Are Democrats in Washington doing too much to fight corporate America or should they do more to fight big corporations? Do More: 51% 3.) What comes closer to the lesson you think Democrats should learn from the recent Senate election in Massachusetts, where the seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy was won by a Republican: Voters want Democrats to slow down and try to do less, OR Voters are upset about the slow pace of change – and will hold Democrats accountable if they refuse to use their power to fight special interests on behalf of regular people? More Change: 39% 4.) Generally speaking do you think Barack Obama and Democrats in Washington, DC are delivering enough on the change Obama promised to bring to America during the campaign? No: 56% 5.) Is the issue of national health care reform very important, somewhat important, or not important when deciding how to vote in congressional elections? Very + Somewhat: 65% Very: 30% 6.) Would you favor or oppose the national government offering everyone the choice of a government administered health insurance plan -- something like the Medicare coverage that people 65 and older get -- that would compete with private health insurance plans? Favor: 64% 7.) Would you be more likely to vote for the re-election of your local Democratic member of Congress if they worked to kill the current health care reform effort in Congress or if they worked to add a public health insurance option that competes head-to-head with private insurance? Public Option: 42% 8.) Would you be more likely to vote for the re-election of your local Democratic House member if they worked to pass the Senate’s version of health care reform with minimal changes, if any – OR if they worked to add a public health insurance option to the bill that competes head-to-head with private insurance? Public Option: 33% 9.) If Congress does not pass a public health insurance option as part of health care reform, will that make you more likely or less likely to vote for Democrats in the 2010 general election or would it have no real effect on your vote? More: 14% 10.) If Congress does not pass a public option as part of health care reform, will that make you more likely or less likely to vote in the 2010 general election, or no effect? More: 12% 11.) [DEMOCRATS ONLY] If a Democratic member of Congress does not work to pass a public health insurance option that competes head-to-head with private insurance, would you want a more progressive candidate to run against them in a Democratic primary? Yes: 56% Most of these numbers are scary for Kosmas. She voted against the health care reform package last year, but voted for the financial reform bill. Her record is mixed. It's also worth noting that of all the freshmen Democratic districts polled, Kosmas' district often had the most conservative-leaning results. So numbers elsewhere are just as significant or more so. These numbers paint, imo, a clear picture for the Congresswoman: vote against health care, don't work for a public option, or just passing the Senate health care bill as is would be a disaster. A third of Democrats and overall voters will be less inclined to vote. Kosmas' districts is an R+4 district according to Charlie Cook's Partisan Voting Index (PVI), so Kosmas needs as many Democrats and favorable independents as possible. Being weak by not taking on the health insurance companies and greedy corporations will endanger Kosmas (and plenty of other Democrats) in the 2010 midterm elections. Be bold and progressive, or go home. With fundraising totals for 2009 now having been reported, let's examine how the major candidates for statewide office fundraising efforts compare with their internet and social networking footprints entering 2010 (a similar earlier comparison courtesy Progress Florida’s summer 2009 intern Joe Eagleton may be found here). In addition to providing a snapshot of the internet presence for the leading 2010 candidates, this post provides links to easily find and follow their web and social networking activity. Feel free to comment with your own thoughts or analysis. Notes on the below information: Gubernatorial race The judge that initially tried Tommy Zeigler 35 years ago had a prior contentious relationship with him. In states that give a damn about justice, Tommy would have been granted a new trial on his first appeal.
Scripps Treasure Coast Palm publications granted me an opportunity to appear before their Board and pitch my case to have one of their reporters accept my research on wrongful convictions and do a story. They didn't find the horror and heartbreak compelling. They still don't. Below is the second Press Release I've sent them about Tommy; it'll probably be deleted, too. From: Susan Chandler Date: January 26, 2010 12:24:52 PM EST To: Larry Reisman , Ken Ward Subject: Fwd: Integrity of Judge in Death Row Case Compromised Dear Mr. Reisman and Mr. Ward: Please forward Ray McEachern's press release to the News Editor along with the following: In considering the Release's newsworthiness: James Bain ringing the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia on Martin Luther King Day reminded the nation that Florida indeed will persecute innocents for as long as 35 years; Zeigler's time behind bars isn't an indication of guilt. Bain's exoneration was not Polk's first - Juan Melendez is now working to help others and is aware of Leo Schofield's likely innocence. Polk's attempted, nearly successfully, to get Gov. Crist to execute Paul Beasley Johnson before the Supreme Court could discover the rampant prosecutorial misconduct in his case. Johnson's likely guilt made the misconduct all the more inexcusable. Gary Bennett's Brevard case in now in Lawson Lamar's unclean hands via Crist's Execute Order. Unless there was a John Preston-tainted conviction resulting in an execution in every Florida county, of itself the Order substantiates Crist's, Lamar's and Norm Wolfinger's moral bankruptcy in light of Linroy Bottoson's Orange County Preston-tainted conviction and subsequent execution. There appears to have been untoward cooperation between Orange and Brevard in locating "new witness" Sandra Weeks, who was set to testify against now exonerated Bill Dillon until Wolfinger was asked to confirm or deny that Weeks was a felon likely in need of prosecutorial favors, like James E. Gilmore, Clarence Zacke and Roger Dale Chapman. There appears to have been untoward cooperation between the DOC and Brevard in securing yet another early release for Chapman and discrepancies in Chapman's testimony at Dillon's exoneration compensation hearing that he would not have been available to offer without early release. Chapman's release without parole supervision allows the DOC to lawfully deny requests for information on his release. Brevard Sheriff Parker seems intent on keeping the public from knowing that Pauline Scandale's 1988 Canova Beach homicide was strikingly similar to the 1981 Canova Beach homicide Dillon was framed for. Mrs. Scandale was an 82-year-old widowed kindergarten teacher who likely deserved to be able to pass peacefully in her sleep. She died in terror, enduring blows that crushed her skull, just like James Dvorak died seven years earlier. John Preston had been discredited by Geraldo Rivera on ABC's "20/20" four years prior to Mrs. Scandale's murder; every investigation Preston participated in nationwide, including Dillon's, should have been reopened. John Walsh was provided confirmation that Ottis Toole was indeed his son Adam's slayer within a week of charges being dropped against Dillon. Adam was killed in the same timeframe as Dvorak and was spotted in Brevard with Toole; you know where Adam's head was found. Our government is so broken that activists free innocents and incidentally find actual perpetrators while public servants who are being paid to protect rights and liberties obstruct rather than assist, serving only themselves. Mrs. Scandale's murder was one of two within a week of an elderly woman home alone in Brevard. The second woman is not on the Sheriff's Unsolved Homicides webpage, which may be only a tip-off to another frame-up. Taxpayers paid for faux criminal investigations that incarcerated the wrong men for decades while the guilty found new victims, with Jeff Abramowski's Brevard frame-up proving that this century is no different than the prior; it's newsworthy that the media hasn't found it newsworthy. Thank you. Regards, Susan Chandler 3008 N 25th St Ft Pierce, FL 34946 772-466-9874 For Release Monday, January 25, 2010 Integrity of Judge in Death Row Case Compromised by Failure to Disclose Spouse is State Employee Contact: Ray McEachern, 813-294-6772 The Code of Judicial Conduct sternly warns judges not to allow even the "appearance of impropriety." In apparent disregard of this clear rule, Judge Reginald Whitehead of the Ninth Judicial Circuit assumed responsibility for the case of 33 year death row inmate William Thomas Zeigler in 2003 after another judge had authorized DNA testing in 2001. Zeigler’s attorneys were so confident that the results of the testing would prove his complete innocence that they immediately moved to have his sentence vacated. In 2004, Judge Whitehead, who, for unknown reasons, took over the case from Judge Grincewicz who had ordered the testing, denied Zeigler’s demand for a new trial. Five years later, Zeigler’s pro bono New York attorneys asked the court to test the DNA of the stains which were not tested in 2001. Judge Whitehead had ruled before the 2004 hearing that only evidence which had been a part of the trial record in 1976 would be allowed to be considered, effectively blocking Zeigler from proffering other exculpatory evidence which the state had withheld from defense at trial. The untested stains had not been a part of the trial in 1976, yet Whitehead allowed the state to use them to imply that the untested stains might prove Zeigler’s guilt. The new petition was assigned originally to Judge F. Rand Wallis, but, inexplicably, was taken over by Judge Whitehead. In a letter faxed to Chief Judge Belvin Perry, Jr., Ray McEachern, Citizen Advocate for Tommy Zeigler, asked that the case be re-assigned to a different judge. In the letter, McEachern said that he verified with Chief Assistant State Attorney William Vose that ASA Esther Marie Whitehead was in fact the spouse of Judge Reginald Whitehead and that she was an employee of the state in 2004 when Judge Whitehead denied Zeigler’s petition for a new trial. In the letter McEachern states that the "integrity of the court has already been compromised by Judge Whitehead’s failure to disclose a relationship that can be exploited to the advantage of the state." An online petition to Florida Governor Charles Crist, which has garnered 400 names, points out that the 1976 trial judge, Maurice Paul, now a federal judge, refused to step aside even though he had been an opposing character witness to Zeigler in a racially charged trial four months before the murders for which Zeigler was convicted. Zeigler was shot in the abdomen during those murders but survived to call police. Zeigler was charged with the murders three days later while he was in hospital intensive care. For more information see www.freetommyz.com . Our Editorial Cartoon of the Week feature is part of Progress Florida's popular FREE Daily Clips service:
More than a decade ago, Jeb Bush fundamentally altered our state's education policy: a single, high stakes standardized test (FCAT) that would act as a universal standard of measurement for schools; taking on the teacher's union; and attempting to start a private school vouchers system.
At the same time, our GOP-dominated legislature kept education funding embarrassingly low compared to other states. They fought Florida voters' attempt to reduce class size by holding back funding needed to implement the class size amendment. Jeb Bush and the legislature's high stakes, low funding education policy naturally produced some crappy results. Today, Florida ranks 43rd in SAT scores, 48th in ACT scores according to the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC.) The LeRoy Collins Institute has shown our dropout rate to be one of the worst. We're 50 out of 50 states and Washington DC in per capita funding in education. And ignore the recent finding by Education Week that we're 8th best in the nation - we're not. Florida's education system has been struggling mightily with Jeb Bush and the GOP's "reforms." So now what are they proposing? A lot more of the same: more FCAT, less funding, more demonization of teachers. The definition of insanity is trying to do the same thing and expecting a different result: The GOP-controlled Legislature - heeding critics that the state needs to graduate students better prepared to compete for jobs - is poised to toughen graduation standards, link student performance to teacher pay and make it easier to fire teachers. ...just don't ask them or the big business allies backing these "reforms" to actually pay for any of this. This leads us to the major problem facing Florida's public education system: we've been trying to educate the next generation of Floridians on the cheap, and (surprise!) it hasn't worked at all. You can't educate 2.5 million kids (the fourth largest student population int the country) with piecemeal funding. Not gonna work. I'll be the first to admit funding isn't everything, but you have to have a strong base of funding with which to work with and build off of. As I said in a previous post: With current funding, Florida can't even meet minimum obligations to its students, like having enough teachers in order to ensure necessary individual attention via small class sizes. Want to hire more teachers? Sorry, no funding. Want to build new schools? Sorry, no funding. Want to set up teacher incentives? Sorry, no funding. Want to try out new programs or test new ideas? Sorry, no funding. And linking teacher pay to student performance? It's a great way to divide teachers against each other and continue to punish schools and staff that need more resources, not less. Ending teacher tenure? That's taking an axe to a situation which needs a scalpel. We should be reforming "tenure" (which is kind of a misnomer - it's not the same tenure professors at universities receive), so teachers are protected from overzealous principals while "bad apples" are shown the door. Education should be reformed, but doing more of the same isn't what's needed. Let's give our schools the funding and resources they need to do their job. Let's pay teachers better. Let's make teachers unions part of the accountability process rather than demonizing them. Let's provide students with small class sizes, a healthy learning environment, and a multitude of class options beyond just math and reading. We can do better for Florida's children and our state's future. First things first: Unlike 24 other states across America that limit “independent” organizational advertising and media spending in support of, or in opposition to political candidates’ and issues advocacy campaigns at the state level - note that Florida has no limits on such spending.
So the Supreme Court ruling handed down in a contentious 5-4 vote (Thank Bush for the conservative majority), an ideologically extremist vote overturning long-standing limits on special interest campaign spending on U.S. congressional and presidential campaigns, will not have any impact on Florida’s 2010 state-level campaigns. That’s the “good” news. The bad news is, the bottomless pit of special interest money that has been used so many times in Florida to defeat local candidates and state initiatives that dare tamper with freewheeling corporate profits and business practices at the local and state levels (see Florida’s insurance, real estate development, and financial industries, for starters) has now been unleashed for use on federal campaigns as well. Read More » The mayors are right:
More than 230 mayors are in Washington for the winter meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors, and many said they had been forced to impose layoffs, furloughs, service reductions and fee increases to deal with falling municipal revenue. The next fiscal year looks even worse, they said. Indeed, the first stimulus passed by Congress last year was too small. Obama's chair of the council of economic advisers, Christina Romer, had said the stimulus needed to be around $1.2 trillion or more to be most effective, rather than the compromised $700 billion package that was eventually passed. With that said, the first stimulus wasn't useless. It bailed out Florida from incompetent Republican legislative "leadersihp", and saved countless jobs, particularly teachers. However, according to a recent report (.pdf) from the National League of Cities a $56 to $83 billion deficit is facing our cities. States, including our own, are facing down their own deficits. While progressives are urging Florida legislators to find new sources of revenue to overcome our latest $3 billion deficit, we could use one more package from the feds. This need becomes more clear as people like future House Speaker and Senate President Dean Cannon and Mike Haridopolos go around crowing about how "the government doesn't create wealth." Anyone who has a casual relationship with reality knows different. In fact, just 5 minutes with an American history book debunks Cannon and Haridopolos' far right pablum. The government (federal, state, local) employs millions of people, provides them benefits and discretionary income. This generates a great deal of economic prosperity boosting the private sector, and through an effective regulatory framework, can build shared prosperity. Duh. So with Cannon and Haridopolos continuing the same failed economic policies of the Jeb Bush/Charlie Crist eras, we clearly need some responsible adults to step in. Whether it's a second stimulus or reforms making our state and local tax systems more productive and more progressive, our cities and states simply can't afford to shed jobs and programs in this recession. The Big Oil roundup: news and information about Big Oil’s push to rig Florida’s coastline for the period ending 1-22-10:
 Eglin commander: Offshore drilling could affect bases By Jim Ash Tallahassee Democrat In an unusually candid acknowledgement, the commander of Eglin Air Force Base told lawmakers Wednesday that oil and gas drilling in Florida waters could pose a threat to military operations. Florida oil drilling opponents challenge report By Mary Ellen Klas Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau Related: Nelson: Oil drilling is incompatible with military training Oil drilling opponents attempted to refute one of the most potent arguments against drilling off Florida shores Tuesday with a new report that suggests that weapons testing and pilot training is compatible with oil rigs and pipelines. Is oil drilling safe in the Gulf of Mexico? SAFE says so – or do they? By Cathy Harrelson Creative Loafing Tampa On January 19th, a report was issued by a corporation called SAFE (Securing America’s Future Energy)…They are not energy specialists but have military backgrounds. Military Is ‘No Go’ on Oil Drilling By Mark Pafford YouTube video January 13, 2010 testimony before the Florida Legislature’s Military and Local Affairs Policy Committee by Eglin Air Force Base Col. Bruce McClintock regarding what impact oil drilling and exploration off Florida’s Gulf Coast would have on United States Air Force operations in Florida. Drilling bad for Eglin Editorial Pensacola News-Journal It's about time that area military leaders realized that many Panhandle legislators are simply looking for an excuse to vote in favor of putting drilling rigs off Northwest Florida's coast. Oil lobby scaling back its presence in Tally *see lobbyist roster at end of this post By John Kennedy The News Service of Florida via Orlando Sentinel Florida Energy Associates, the group spearheading the effort to open the state’s Gulf waters to offshore oil-drilling, is scaling back its once dominant presence at the state Capitol. House panel debates offshore drilling By Jim Ash Tallahassee Democrat A House panel took up offshore drilling on Thursday at a time when supporters are scaling back their legislative push and opponents are building momentum. Join the ‘Hands Across the Sand’ event to help protect Florida’s coast against oil drilling By Cathy Harrelson Creative Loafing Tampa On Saturday February 13, 2010, Florida residents and tourists will be going to a number of beaches across the state to do a beach clean up and hold hands to show a united front to protect Florida’s beaches against oil drilling during the ‘Hands Across the Sand’ event. Offshore drilling remains hot topic at Tallahassee debate By Paul Flemming Tallahassee Democrat The proposal to drill for oil or natural gas in Florida state waters may be on simmer, but debate remains heated. House panel working on new state energy policy By Bruce Ritchie FloridaEnvironments.com The House Energy & Utilities Policy Committee Wednesday heard from speakers on what a new state energy policy should include. Why Offshore Drilling is a Bad Idea for Florida Interview with John Jelks Not the Answer John is a marine geologist who spent over 10 years in the 1980s and early 1990s working as a Houston-based contractor for major oil companies on oil drilling platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil Drilling Debate Has Begun Again By John Kennedy News Service of Florida Officials from the federal Interior Department, Shell Oil Co. and an industry association touted the technology and safety history of offshore oil-drilling last week before a panel in the drill-friendly House. Forum to discuss oil, gas drilling in Gulf Staff Report Pensacola News Journal The E. O. Wilson Biophilia Center will be sponsoring a public forum on the proposal to allow oil and gas drilling in Florida state waters. A message on drilling Editorial Pensacola News Journal Northwest Florida's Legislative Delegation got a clear message last week from the area's business community: protecting tourism and — especially — the mission of Panhandle military bases far outweighs the value of offshore drilling. Capping offshore drilling Editorial Orlando Sentinel Offshore drilling may not be coming to Florida's Gulf Coast, thanks, it appears, to Senate President Jeff Atwater.  TAKE ACTION NOW  Write Your State Senator: Big Oil's Promises Are "Empty" Big Oil and their hired hands in Tallahassee have sworn that drilling Florida’s coast would be “invisible” – that there would be no unsightly rigs just a few miles off our coast. We know different – and a recent eye opening story in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune has proven Big Oil’s promises completely “empty.” Click the picture above – keeping the pressure on by letting our State Senators know people like you are paying attention is how we’ll beat Big Oil. MORE ONLINE ACTIONS Help Drill for Solutions Not for Oil, via Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. Let us decide! Petition to Governor Charlie Crist, Senate President Jeff Atwater, and House Speaker Larry Cretul, via Civic Concern. Contact Your Officials About New Drilling Off Florida's Coasts, via Civic Concern. Ask your state legislators to keep the rigs out, via Save the Manatee Club. Write a letter to the editor, via Audubon of Florida. Write your state legislators, via Audubon of Florida. Urge Senate President Jeff Atwater to oppose offshore oil drilling, via Progress Florida. Tell Sen. Atwater Not To Allow Oil Drilling In Special Session, via Audubon of Florida. Sign the petition against oil drilling, via Protect Florida’s Beaches. Tell Salazar: No drilling off Florida's Coast, via Environment Florida. Tell new Senator LeMieux to Repower America, via Environment Florida. Related action: Don't go drill crazy in the Everglades, via Center for Biological Diversity. Related action: Keep oil drilling out of climate change legislation, via Oceana. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES OF NOTE Hands Across The Sand website; their Twitter page is here. Protect Florida’s Beaches, recently launched coalition website. Protect Florida’s Beaches on Facebook. Think, Baby, Think blog via Protect Florida’s Beaches. Don’t Drill Florida website. Don’t Drill Florida Facebook page. Save Our Shores Florida website; their Twitter page is here. Save Our Shores Florida Facebook page. Environment Florida offshore drilling page. Southern Alliance for Clean Energy offshore drilling page. Skytruth blog, an excellent source of info. Not the Answer blog, courtesy Surfrider Foundation. Eye-opening map of oil and gas leases and infrastructure in Gulf of Mexico, via MMS. EnergyFLA.com, online hub of drilling proponents; their Twitter page is here. *LOBBYIST ROSTER Below information per The Florida Legislature official website: Florida Energy Associates, LLC 2010 lobbyist registry (as of 1/21/10): Bradshaw, Paul R. Dudley, Christopher F. Madden, Steven J. Mitchell, R. Paul Montgomery, Matthew R. Webb, Stacey S. Florida Energy Associates, LLC 2009 lobbyist registry Anderson, George Oscar Barnett, Martha W. —WD— 09/21/2009 Benford, Brady J. Bibeau, Brian H. Bradshaw, Paul R. Brown, Monesia T. Castro, Edgar O. Cohen, Kelly Daniels, Doug Daniels, Douglas A. Diaz de la Portilla, Claudia Diaz, Nelson D. Dudley, Christopher F. Dudley, Fred R. Fraser, Towson Friedman, Bernie J. Gosnell, Beth Greene, Patricia B. Hopping, Wade L. Jaber, Lila A. Jackson, Yolanda Cash Madden, Steven J. Matthews, Frank E. Mitchell, R. Paul Montgomery, Matthew R. Moore, James T. (Tim) —WD— 11/02/2009 Phillips, Lance —WD— 08/10/2009 Pittman, Sean A. Rancourt, David A. Sessions, Lewis —WD— 10/23/2009 Smith, Jim Stengle, Dan R. Thrasher, John E. —WD— 05/01/2009 Webb, Stacey S. Williams, J. Larry Progress Florida's Best of the Blogs for the week ending 1-22-10 Representative Janet Long pushes bill for stronger early-education Standards By Steve Schale Steve Schale Earlier this week, I took a look at macro-level Florida voter registration trends, which showed that despite a difficult political climate, Democrats are continuing to grow their advantage over Republicans in statewide voter registration. Want to know where Paula Dockery, Bill McCollum, and Alex Sink stand on major issues facing Florida: education, health care, the environment? Good luck.
Take a look at any of the major candidate websites, and you'll find that Dockery and McCollum have no issue page. Alex Sink, to her credit, has an issues page, but only addresses issues she's tackled as CFO, not what she would do as governor. I'm sure issue stances will be added in the future, we're more than 9 months away from the election, but our state faces huge challenges right now. As people who want to lead the fourth largest state in the country, it would be great to know how they would deal with our state's $3 billion budget deficit, woefully underfunded education system, broken health care system, threatened environment, and the overpowering influence of corporate special interests. Furthermore, I'm really surprised the press hasn't caught this. Yes, they have been trying to corner the candidates on some issue questions (particularly Alex Sink on health care lately), but that's it. The press should call the major party candidates on the fact none of them have any kind of significant issue stances. I'm not asking for or expecting vast policy tracts on every conceivable issue Florida faces. For now, at least a few cogent sentences on a handful of key issues would be nice. Is that really too much to ask?  By Andy Marlette, Pensacola News Journal BONUS CARTOONS  By Jim Morin, Miami Herald  By Chan Lowe, South Florida Sun-Sentinel Read the artist’s commentary here. Progress Florida's Best of the Blogs for week ending 1-15-10 Thinking about Kendrick Meek, the Myth of Sisyphus and whether Dan Gelber regrets dropping out of the US Senate race By Steve Schale Steve Schale This is the first of many posts I am going to write about the state of the battlefield in Florida and the forward trajectory of the state's politics.Rigged-bid county government By Beach Blogger Pensacola Beach Blog It's bad enough that promises Escambia County Government made to beach residents decades ago are intentionally broken by county commissioners. Posts By Month
|
Recent CommentsBlogrollFlorida BlogsAikane LeoAvery Voice Bark Bark Woof Woof Bartlett Park Blast Off! Bob McKnight's Blog Change In Tallahassee Can't Keep Quiet! Conniption Fit Eye on Miami FCAN Blog Florida Kossacks FLA Politics Florida Progressive Coalition Blog Florida Netroots Florida House Watch Florida Senate Watch The Hate Amendment Incertus Interstate4Jamming2 Local Politics Is All Miami Progressive Pensacola Beach Blog Pensito Review Pushing Rope Saint Petersblog 2.0 Smashed Frog Space Coast Rising South of the Suwannee Talk to Me The Spencerian Tampa's Back Door Ways Tampa Bay Blue thefos The 13th Juror Truman's Conscience Wildwood Preservation Society Ybor City Stogie National BlogsAfrospearAmericablog Crooks and Liars Daily Kos Democratic Underground Eschaton Feministe Firedoglake Gristmill Huffington Post Hulaballoo MyDD Open Left Pam's House Blend Progressive States Network Blog Shakesville Talk Left Talking Points Memo Unapologetic Mexican 
|
Posts
Progress Florida - Progressive Solutions for Florida
© 2008-2010 Progress Florida
1010 Central Ave #209 St. Petersburg, FL 33705 | (727)-289-2612 | info@progressflorida.org
Terms of Service | Fair Use Statement | Privacy Policy | Contribute
