Monthly Archives: August 2014
Legislative Malpractice: Redistricting Special Session
I feel to a certain extent that my arguments about the Florida Legislature and Reapportionment are going in circles. For the last week, it has been abundantly clear to regular readers of this site where we stand on this matter. This is not about partisanship but about fundamental fairness and honoring the will of Florida’s […]
Monday Musings: Redistricting, Darren Soto and the Democrats, Anti-Crist Robocall, Rick Scott and Education Funding, Media Failure on ISIS Bombings (UPDATED)
The Democrats are failing on reapportionment unless things change dramatically in the next 18 hours. With the opportunity of the decade in front of legislators, no coordinated House/Senate strategy has been implemented. Instead the GOP is likely to get away with another partisan gerrymander that breaks up communities of interest and once again strategically splits […]
Some Democrats Need to Stop Lobbing Bombs at Activists
For many months now the tension around activists involved the Gubernatorial Primary has reached a fever pitch. The name calling which has dominated social media in recent weeks reached a new level in the past seven days with the temperature rising seemingly on a daily basis. The willingness of some Nan Rich supporters to attack […]
Guest Column: Local elections are more important than you may think
By Debbie Simmons, owner of Shelbie Print & Copy, Inc. Presidential elections get a lot of attention here in the I-4 corridor, but despite having major implications for local business owners, workers and their families, local elections are all too often ignored by voters. It’s time to change that. As owner of Shelbie Press Print & […]
The GOP and Central Florida: Mapping out a Decade of Partisan Gerrymandering
Al Gore’s 2000 victory in Orange County, the first in the county by a Democratic Presidential candidate since 1944 sent shockwaves through the consulting class of Florida’s GOP. Having just captured complete control of state government in 1998, Central Florida was thought of as a reliable Republican area, the top of the “Republican Horseshoe” that […]
GOP Arrogance on Redistricting Continues in Special Session
This morning Florida House and Senate committees have been hard at work on Redistricting. The GOP has submitted maps which are likely to pass given the partisan conformity of the legislature. These maps submitted by the majority party reflect the arrogance and recklessness of the current leadership of the Legislature. Having failed to deliver constitutionally […]
Do Isolated State Capital’s Like Tallahassee Impact Corruption?
Interesting nugget today in the Buzz blog. Something I have theorized for years appears to now have empirical evidence to back it up. From Adam Smith in the St Pete Times today: For those of you who haven’t yet finished the latest edition of The American Economic Review, Profs. Filipe R. Campante and Quoc-Anh Do […]
Florida Republicans Walking a Tightrope on Redistricting By Putting Politics Over Florida’s Citizens
Florida Republicans seem self-assured entering the Reapportionment Special Session which begins Thursday in Tallahassee. Having been rebuked for drawing unconstitutional districts, the leadership of the legislature seems to have no problem crying that a minor disruption to the election cycle is somehow worse than the citizens of the state being denied fair representation in unconstitutional […]
Medicare: Then and Now
By the Old Guy Sitting on the Green Bench Florida’s population is constantly growing and changing. Our state’s population is aging faster many other states. In 1960 roughly 11% of Florida’s population was over age 65 in 2010 the same age group comprised slightly more that 17% of the population which put us about 2% […]
Monday Musings – Charlie Crist v Nan Rich, Putin a Threat to Liberalism, Rick Scott’s Environmentalism, Possible Soccer Attendance Record for Florida and Lots of Redistricting
As it becomes clear that Crist has the nomination in the bag (cue 50 Nan Rich comments), there are real questions if the party is going to come together after August 26. With rumors abound of Jacksonville labor halls refusing to campaign for Crist and Progressive Choice insulting black voters around the state, the way […]
The Florida Squeeze 