The Everglades Bill

The Everglades bill speeding through the Legislature is not the sweeping victory that the unusual alliance behind it — the governor, his fellow Republicans, farmers and environmentalists — would have Floridians believe. The legislation awaiting Senate approval is better than a terrible version that sailed through the House, but it still unfairly shifts the costs for cleaning up the Everglades from the agriculture industry to the taxpayers. This is a handout to those who are causing the problem, and it violates the voters' intent behind the "Polluter Pays" protection in the Florida Constitution.
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DFA Launches the Purple to Blue Project

Contact DFA and tell them we need help in Florida

Forget John Boehner and Paul Ryan -- Republicans don't need Congress to push their radical right-wing agenda. They're doing it right now, state by state: That's why DFA is launching the Purple to Blue Project, a new multi-year effort dedicated to winning state House and Senate chambers across the country.

here

Why Won't Florida's Goverment Protect Our Water

Billboard greeting tourists on I-75 in Columbia County.
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Florida Water Coalition

Florida Students for Equal Funding of Education

After attending the Hillsborough County School Board Student Forum, it came to our attention that Florida's lack of funding for education comes from our very own state legislators' inability to make our public schools a priority. Currently each student in Florida receives $3,000 less in education funds than the national average. As a sophomore at Freedom High School in Tampa, I am directly affected. I've witnessed firsthand the pressure both teachers and students are placed under when students of various academic abilities are placed in a single classroom. In addition, public schools are unable to expand and update programs in the areas of arts and technology.

That's why I created a petition on SignOn.org to the Florida State Legislature and Governor Rick Scott, which says:

Click Here

Stop Parent Trigger Legislation in Florida

A quality public education is the foundation of a bright future -- for our children, our state and our nation. But in Florida, a bill entitled “Parent Empowerment” will do the exact opposite. This bill, also know as the Parent Trigger bill, will take away our rights as parents and concerned community members to have a say in our children's education, and will empower for-profit management corporations to put profits first. Sign the Petition 
here

Stop Florida Parent Trigger Legislation

Florida's Culture Of Corruption Ccorporate Power Grab

To the dismay of parents, the Florida PTA, other parents groups and their supporters, the Parent Empowerment in Education Bill, a.k.a Florida’s “Parent Trigger” bill, has once again been introduced into the Florida House of Representatives and Senate. After failing last year due to the concerted efforts of parents and parent groups, legislators saw fit to reintroduce the bill once again to see if Florida parents and their supporters had changed their minds regarding this issue. Such insistence on a “parent trigger” bill in Florida can only be described in the manner that Diane Ravitch, the former Secretary of Education, describes “parent trigger” policy in general:

"It is the quintessence of a corporate power grab.”

Florida Legislators: I urge you to deny the passing of the Parent Empowerment in Education bill (HB 867 or SB 862) so that the public education system remains a corporation-free, public institution in the hands and power of the parents, educators, community groups, and taxpayers that support and nurture it.
Sign The Petition - Parents Across America

 Why would legislators reintroduce a bill that was vehemently opposed by
a significant number of parent groups?.....Florida PTA

HB 7065: Florida's Culture Of Corruption

An Outright Sellout
One of the broadest assaults on the Everglades cleanup effort is speeding toward passage in the Florida House. The measure would put the state's taxpayers on the hook for pollution caused by the agriculture industry — and open an avenue for even more environmental damage down the road. Shifting cleanup costs from Big Sugar to those who are downstream from its dirty fields is Robin Hood in reverse and undermines the intent of a voters' mandate to have polluters pay.

 Gov. Rick Scott and the Senate need to stop it.

here

The Paul Ryan of Florida

Will Weatherford
This post is not about cronyism, $2,005 monthly mortgages, his troubles in Ybor City, his beautiful family or his parents giving him a fundamentalist education steeped in Scripture. 
(See How Can You Love Jesus And Be A Republican?)
This post is about Democrats. When i said the other day that the reason people like Mr.Weatherford get elected is becouse people don't get out and vote, i was wrong. According to the Times
When he first ran in 2006 Weatherford faced someone his own age: 26-year-old Donovan Brown, a Zephyrhills insurance agent who, during the home stretch of the campaign, was hospitalized for a bipolar disorder. While Democrats didn't give Brown any money, Republicans contributed $70,000 to Weatherford. He outraised Brown 575-to-1. His campaign mailers highlighted Brown's opposition to jail time for people caught possessing small amounts of marijuana."Don't let our values go to pot," the mailer stated, with Brown's face printed on a marijuana leaf.
Democrats didn't oppose Weatherford's re-election in 2008, and he still raised $214,000. When he did face opposition in 2010, he raised nearly $1 million. Weatherford won 66 percent of the vote.
Last year, he was re-elected without opposition while sitting on a war chest of $427,000.
"I've never been ashamed to ask people for big checks," he said
My point is where are the Democratic candidates, where are Libertarians, the Greens. Having a two party system is bad enough but when it becomes one well we have a
problem.Don't you think?
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No Strip Clubs, Casinos or Liquor, Guns ok.

Florida lawmakers are considering legislation that would ban those receiving government assistance from using their electronic benefits (EBT) cards at strip clubs, casinos and liquor stores. The provision banning EBT use in gun shops was stripped out in committee.

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Pic Thanks To World Of Wonder

Thank you for being a decent human being

"To everyone who signed our petition, thank you. Thank you for helping to protect the lives and wellbeing of old people — and old, sick people — and poor, sick people. Thank you for being an active citizen. Thank you for caring about others.".....Alan Grayson

Committee to Elect Alan Grayson
Register to Vote

Empty Chair Charlie Holds Feeney Fundraiser

Crist will be holding a fundraiser for Representative Tom Feeney on Tuesday. Not only is Feeney currently under investigation by the FBI for his connection to corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff, but Feeney was named one of the

Most Corrupt Members of Congress four years in a row..........here

Most Corrupt' List: Rep. Vern Buchanan

A report by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a very reputable and unbiased D.C.- based research outfit. CREW has named Buchanan as the only freshman to be included in its list of the 20 most corrupt U.S. congressmen.......here

Vote Christine Jennings

Florida Ranks 50th In The Nation For Children's Health Care

Thank you JEB

And special recognition to his outstanding supporting cast of Florida Legislators. You've managed to undo a decade of advances in Florida's child health care. Now we're at the bottom of the pile in a nation that lags behind most other major nations in the world. Aim low and it's easy to succeed.......here

Speeders In Florida Beware

As of October 1st, anyone caught doing 30mph over the speed limit in Florida faces vehicle confiscation, five to ten years in prison and a ten-year license suspension. Bill HB 137, which was signed into law earlier today, was originally targeted at motorcyclists, but was amended at the last minute to include all vehicles.........here

Florida Forever Funding Approved Unanimously

Environmental groups throughout the state are delighted with the approval of funding for the land acquisition and protection program Florida Forever - or at least for the next 10 years...........here

No Serious Problems In The State Of Florida

It's Nice To Know

There are no serious problems in the state of Florida. Evidently they have eliminated poverty, covered all their citizens with health insurance, created jobs for the unemployed, eliminated gas and food inflation, assured all workers a decent wage, made sure

All students will graduate high school and provided funding for everyone who wants to go to college........here

Florida Bans Truck Nutz

Seems that paragon of jurisprudence and rational thought, Florida, thinks that having a pair of these on the hitch of your truck is a bad idea. As a matter of fact, if you scoff at this law, and continue to display your Truck Nutz, the state now sees fit to ticket you for $60.........here

Florida Lawmakers Busy With Menus

Troubled by restaurants that don't disclose the price of their specials, Aventura Commissioner Bob Diamond is pushing the county to adopt a law requiring eateries to, at the very least, tell diners how much each special costs.......here

Florida Legislators Busy With Testicles

A discussion in the Florida Legislature on Thursday turned a bit awkward Thursday.
The subject? Replicas of bull testicles hanging from vehicles. In some parts of Florida, it has become fashionable to attach the reproductions to the back of pickup trucks........here

What Florida Republicans Want

Now the Republican politicians in Tallahassee want to squeeze the people of Florida even more - including the most vulnerable among us. I'm always amazed by how heartless and self-serving Republicans in power are, but the proposed state budgets from the House and Senate mark a new low........here