This is our regular feature where every day I do a quick post with the top posts/stories that I think people should read from the previous day.
1. Dan Gelber – The TBRC: The Bad and the Ugly: “Today the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission went further off the tracks and voted out various proposals it had no business addressing. It both was bad and ugly.”
2. The Hate Amendment: Florida Progressive Coalition – James Lawson Gets It, Incertus (Brian) – Quote of the Day, and The Spencerian – With Apologies to Timothy.
3. Eye on Miami (gimleteye) – News flash: Court strikes down petition law used against Florida Hometown Democracy…: “The ruling raises fresh questions about the decision to deny Hometown Democracy a place on the ballot since thousands of the signatures gathered by the group were in fact revoked.”
4. Congressional Races: Discourse.net – Great Ad by Joe Garcia, Robert Wexler – Rep. Wexler Diary: FBI Torture Cover-Up? Hotlist, FLA Politics (Progressive Florida) – FL-25: “Nasty fight”, Miami-Dade Dems – Diaz-Balart brothers get laughs on their energy bill, Grassroots Supporters for Joe Garcia – Who’s the one-trick pony?, Grassroots Supporters for Joe Garcia – Who doesn’t vote for children’s health care?, Grassroots Supporters for Joe Garcia – If manufactured issues got results…, Interstate4Jamming2 – ENDORSEMENT: Doug Tudor (D) For 12th Congressional District, Miami-Dade Dems – One of the most corrupt: Tom Feeney, FL-24, Annette Taddeo for Congress – There’s a Real Race in Florida-18 Hotlist, and Ybor City Stogie – My Dinner with Joe Garcia.
5. Flablog – Fix is in for privatizing ed: “Well, at the Tax and Budget, Education, Religion, Life the Universe and Everything Commission, the deal’s been made, the fix is in — trade vouchers and the 65 percent rule for the tax swap. Tax swap-proponent John McKay has seen the light…”
6. Incertus (Brian) – A State Income Tax is Coming: “Not this year, and not next year, but if the current trend in property tax cuts continues, we’ll have a state income tax here in Florida. We’ll have to–the current plan is unsustainable.”
7. FPC (Ray Seaman) – Take That Democracy Haters!: “Despite this truly crappy legislative session were going through right now, there is one small ray of hope coming from our state’s still somewhat sane judiciary…”
8. Pensito Review (Trish) – Racism Best Explanation for Wesley Snipes’ Sentence: “I’m no great legal scholar but come on. Prosecutors in the Wesley Snipes tax evasion case are overstepping their bounds to make an example out of the actor.”
9. Pushing Rope – Charlie Crist: The Undecider: “Florida Governor Charlie Crist can’t seem to make up his mind about issues that might affect his approval rating.”
10. the 13th juror – With no direction home: “The deadline has been extended since this notice was posted. Homeless people have lived in woods on the west side of Orlando for as long as anyone can remember, surviving on disability checks, military pensions or odd jobs. Now at least 60 homeless people will have to find another place. They are being offered services like housing assistance and health care, but many of them will chose to find another spot in another wooded area.”
11. The Creationism Bill: Flablog – Creationists win Senate vote, Flablog – House won’t evolve, Florida Citizens for Science – Early news reports, Florida Citizens for Science – Release: Response to today’s vote, Florida Citizens for Science – Final week, Florida Citizens for Science – Reaction sent to media, Florida Citizens for Science – What happened in the House today, Florida Citizens for Science – Yet more amendment action, Florida Citizens for Science – Amendments are flying, Florida Citizens for Science – News roundup, and Florida Citizens for Science – What happened today in the Senate.
12. Discourse.net – Crawford v. Marion County Election Board: An Electoral, But Not Doctrinal, Nightmare: “My first reaction to today’s decision in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board is that it is not as bad as it could be. But then, my expectations for this Supreme Court are pretty low.”
13. FPC (Ray Seaman) – Jeb Bush: All Around Idiot and Defender of Small Dogs: “First off, as many of you know, Jeb Bush is a pretty smart guy who used his smarts for evil, but he’s an absolute idiot on global warming…”
14. Incertus (Brian) – Erring on the side of caution: “People who defend the police in the Sean Bell case will no doubt say that the policemen involved felt they were in danger and reacted with necessary, though possibly excessive force. They are wrong.”
15. the 13th juror – Gainesville’s homeless services center on hold again: “Gainesville commissioners voted to rezone a warehouse to allow a homeless services center, which would provide meals, counseling, job training, housing assistance, showers and limited medical services” and the 13th juror – St. Pete shelter for homeless to stay open: “A temporary shelter and assistance center for homeless people in St. Petersburg that was scheduled to close at the end of the month will remain open through the summer, but on a smaller scale.”
16. Eye on Miami (Gimleteye) – Wreck the Economy, Suppress the Vote: “I am for a new legal threshold to qualify to vote in Florida. To register, you must check off a box as follows, ‘I do hereby certify that I have never paid dues to the Chamber of Commerce, Associated Industries, or the Florida Builders Association.’”
17. FPC (Ray Seaman) – The Sky Is Not Falling: “Most Florida Democrats I talk to these days are a rather irritated and worrisome bunch. The Jan. 29th fiasco, combined with decent (but not great) Republican poll numbers in the state, and the ongoing presidential primary has almost everyone in a tizzy. While I want our party to have a nominee soon, I really don’t mind the primary having gone on this long. This whole process has been the best thing that has happened to the Democratic Party in decades in terms of fundraising, party building, and voter registration. And guess what? Despite the fact that no Democrat has truly campaigned here in the Sunshine State at all over the last year and a half, our numbers are improving right where we need them…”
18. the 13th juror – I gotta ask …: “Why is the Florida Department of Transportation paying to be a sponsor of the Orlando Magic playoff games?”
19. Florida Progressive Coalition – Leon County Candidate Forum Liveblogging: “Tonights Leon DEC meeting is a candidate forum for any candidates whose districts touch upon Leon County. I came in late, and missed the beginning of the candidate forum. Each candidate is getting three minutes to speak.”
20. Adam4PD – Campaigning on Planet Earth, and Adam4PD – Veterans, a Lighthouse and a Parade.
21. Eye on Miami – Our Header Has Changed: “Our argument is with editors and executives. The Herald is full of writers whose work we value, respect, and need. A good example of what we mean is in coverage of the battle to protect the Urban Development Boundary. We have written about this from all angles; some, like the Growth Machine’s role in destroying our quality of life, have not been reported by The Herald at all.”
22. Man or Maniac? – Commissioners Demonstrate their SLEAZE: “The Miami-Dade County Commission is seriously considering allowing skank developers to destroy more of the Everglades because, apparently, they can’t see any reason not to.”
23. Tallahassee Leaders Forum (Florizel) – Rules for joining a Florida Democratic Executive Committee: “Interested in having a vote in who runs your local Democratic or Republican Executive Committee? Here is a little bit of the laws that help make that happen.”
24. Interstate4Jamming2 – Whose The Best Judge, Or Who Do Lawyers Like The Best?: “The Lakeland Ledger publishes the results of it’s biannual poll of attorneys in the Tenth Judicial District, which includes Polk, Highlands, and Hardee counties. Actually, the results regarding circuit judges appear today, with the results regarding county judges for Polk appearing in Monday’s edition.”
25. FPC (Ray Seaman) – Enjoying Florida: “One of the reasons why I’ve grown to like Florida so much over the years is my slow, decade long discovery of the Florida environment. I was re-reminded of this when stumbling upon the blog Walkin’ Lawton, which has some truly great shots of some cool nature spots in North Florida.”
26. Ron Levitt – Disenfranchised Florida Voters To Confront DNC Leaders: “Buoyed by the results in Pennsylvania, bus loads of Floridians — mostly backers of Sen. Hillary Clinton — will head to Washington for an April 30th rally before the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters. The group is looking to confront party leaders and argue that the Sunshine State’s disqualified January primary results should be counted.”
27. Also check out CG Radio and Situation Awareness radio.
28. For more, as always, go to the FLA Politics daily round-up, Political Newsclippings from The Spencerian and The Sift from South Florida Daily Blog.
29. Finally, check out our national coverage at our new blog, Florida Speaks.
