Candidates File To Run For Florida Legislature

A flood of campaign filings this week show a number of competitors

drawn to races across the state......more>

District 8

Ramon Alexander

DeWayne Harvey

Clarence Jackson

Brad Johnson

District 35

Rose Rocco

David Welch

  

Florida's Culture Of Corruption

In a major procedural victory

for opponents of Florida's new congressional map, the state Supreme Court ruled that legislators and their staffers can be required to testify about whether they drew the new lines with improper partisan intent. Amendments to the state constitution passed in 2010 now forbid the legislature from creating maps "with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent," but plaintiffs charge that lawmakers did exactly that......more

ALEC Wants To Tax Our Sunshine

If you dare to put solar panels on your home or business

to save energy and the environment at the same time,
ALEC (The American Legislative Exchange Council)
is coming for you. You see, by getting your energy from the sun
You are deemed a
"Free Rider"
 and will be taxed as such
These very policies are being discussed at the ALEC two day meeting
in Washington this week.......more

They of course have been branded.

 Florida Blue Revolution 2014

Come Join Our Party

Florida's Panhandle Big City Homies

North Florida pols (republicans) have packed their state House districts with a particularly low-maintenance category of citizens. The kind who don’t show up at townhall meetings clamoring about too much traffic or lousy parks or crumbling bridges or under-funded schools or the need for more cops on the beat. They never, ever complain about too few cops. Best of all they don’t go around town grumbling that folks should vote for that other candidate. They can’t. They can’t vote. They’re state prisoners.......more

Florida Counties Defy Scott On Affordable Care Act

Individual counties in Florida are resisting Gov. Rick Scott’s ban on a program designed to help Americans better understand their options under the Affordable Care Act. The Republican governor issued an order earlier this month to bar “navigators” trained to help people sign up for health insurance in Florida. Broward County, which contains 31 cities, is just one of the Florida counties defying the governor’s order. Both Pinellas County and Miami-Dade, Florida’s most populous county and the state’s second-highest uninsured population, have also announced they will allow navigators to assist residents in enrolling for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act........more

Where is Hillsborough County? Watch video here. 

Florida's Right Wing Infestation

With Obamacare about to be implemented, Republicans are desperate to deny health care access to the uninsured. The deputy secretary of Florida’s Health Department has now ordered state health facilities to ban federal outreach workers—called “Navigators”—who are trying to sign people up for Obamacare subsidies. That’s right. The Florida Health Department—whose mission is to “protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida”—wants to deny the uninsured access to learning about federal health care subsidies they may be eligible for. Sign our petition, demanding that the Florida Health Department rescind this order—and allow health care Navigators in state health facilities to discuss the Affordable Care Act. here

Grand Theft Tampa Bay

In 2006, the GOP controlled legislature, at the behest of an army of utility lobbyists and their wads of campaign cash, passed a law allowing utility companies to charge customers upfront for the future construction of nuclear plants, even if they don’t actually build one. And get this, now that Duke Energy has finally declared that they won’t be building any new nuclear plants, we don’t get any of our money back. Even more absurd, we’re going to continue to pay Duke Energy $108 million dollars a year for the cancelled nuclear plants. Join us this Saturday, September 28^th at 10:30 am in downtown St. Petersburg in front of Duke Energy of  Florida headquarters and tell them, and the politicians and regulators in their back-pocket, “enough is enough!” It’s time to tell Duke Energy, their bought and paid for elected officials in leadership, and the so called “Public Service Commission” to stop ripping us off.

Who: Everyone! Florida Ratepayers, Small Business Owners, Concerned Citizens
What: Rally for Ratepayer Refund and Teach In
Where: 299 1st Avenue North St. Petersburg, Florida
When: Saturday Sept 28^th @ 10:30am

info

1.2 Million Uninsured Floridians

As you read this, 1.2 million hard-working, uninsured Floridians are one-illness away from bankruptcy, forced to use emergency rooms for primary care and are being refused the benefits of our nation’s new health care law. Why? Because the Florida legislature has refused federal funding to expand health care to these families in dire need.

Call 866-443-1844 today and tell your state representative that it is time to stop playing politics and expand health care for more than one million hard-working Floridians.

Don't Let Rick Scott Fool You, He Has Been A Disaster For Our State

Must Read

Household income remains stagnant in Florida almost five years from the depth of the recession as the state's largest cities rank at the bottom in income levels for the nation's most populous metro areas, according to U.S. Census figures released Thursday. Three Florida metro areas ranked at the bottom of the list for household income in the nation's 25 most populous cities. The Tampa metro area was last with a median household income of about $44,000 -- half that of Washington, D.C., the city at the top of the list. Metro Orlando was the next lowest at $46,000, followed by South Florida -- made up of Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach -- at $46,600. labor activists say Florida's leaders are partially to blame for giving tax breaks to corporations instead of investing more money in education, Medicaid expansion and public transportation. .......more

2014 can't come soon enough!

Florida Dems

Rep. Ricardo Rangel of Kissimmee; Sen. Joe Abruzzo of Wellington, Sen. Darren Soto of Orlando and Rep. Daphne Campbell of Miami did not bother to vote on whether to hold a special session on Stand Your Ground. A non-vote is the same as a “no” vote, so those four lawmakers, by not voting or having their votes recorded, joined seven other Democrats who voted against the special session. Those Democrats who did bother to let their constituents know that they were breaking with their party were: Rep. Mark Danish of Tampa; Rep. Katie Edwards of Plantation; Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda of Tallahassee, Rep. Michelle Rehwinkelof Orlando; Rep. Carl Zimmermann of Palm Harbor; Rep. Mike Clelland of Lake Mary, and Rep. Dwight Dudley of St. Petersburg. That meant that of the 58 Democrats in the Legislature, only 47 voted for a special session to repeal or change a 2005 law that has sparked some protests in the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting......more

Democrat Allie Braswell To Challenge Florida CFO Jeff Atwater

Allie Braswell, a Sanford native is head of the central Florida Urban League. He said,

"I’m not a politician. But what we’re getting out of politician Jeff Atwater is a go-along to get-along style that is hurting Floridians. Under his watch, billions in no-bid contracts have been given away and people with insider connections are getting rich off taxpayer money. We need a leader who will help protect taxpayers by cracking down on huge contracts that politicians are handing over to their supporters and political allies. I’ll be a fiscal watchdog who will hold our government and politicians accountable and fight to shift the focus of our leaders away from helping their friends and back to attracting good jobs to Florida.".....more>

Local Views: The Florida Legislature

The Times continues to publish stories about our Florida Legislature that should make us stand up and take action. Legislators let Progress Energy (now Duke) collect billions of dollars for something that will never be built. These are the same people who scream about taxes. Is this not a tax on the poor to give money to the rich? Then there are the articles about the House speaker. It seems that Will Weatherford has done extremely well on his paltry state salary while denying any income from a myriad of shell companies that he seems to be involved with. Many of these involvements were not disclosed. What do the voters do? Like lemmings they just re-elect these people. It is time to say enough is enough, throw the bums out and start with a new slate of representatives who have morals and standards above reproach and are not "in bed" with big business.
Phil Altus, Tampa
Visit Mr. Weatherford's countdown clock at www.willweatherford.info

It's Time For An Elected Education Commissioner

When Rick Scott came into office he declared war on our local public schools. He cut $1.3 billion from public education and backed legislative schemes to funnel even more of our tax dollars to for-profit private school corporations. He’s done nothing to address the FCAT one-size-fits all grading fiasco and on top of that his hand-picked education commissioner just got caught cheating and resigned in disgrace. It’s time to get Rick Scott’s politics out of our classrooms. It’s time for the people, not politicians, to choose our education commissioner again. 

Send an e-letter to your state representative and senator today and ask them to make this a priority in the upcoming legislative session.

The Real Rick Scott

 

The voting process in Florida last year was a national disgrace, which was unfortunately the result of a deliberate scheme by state Republican policymakers.  In an unfortunate twist, Rick Scott apparently enjoys this disaster so much, he's ready to do it.again.....here.Find out about The Real Rick Scott......here

Pathetic Florida Legislators

Hey, elected clowns! Thanks for passing a law forcing Duke Energy customers to pay up to $1.5 billion in higher rates for a long proposed nuclear power plant in Levy County that will not be built. Customers, you're not getting any of that money back. This borders on fraud. If our elected officials had not rubber-stamped it into law seven years ago, it probably would be. And get this, new Duke CEO Lynn Good says she wants to change the rules in Florida so that any type of big power plant can be charged in advance to its customers. The executive sees gold by stiffing customers instead of shareholders for all mega-projects.......more

Florida To Begin Voter Purge

Will Weatherford's Countdown Clock

www.willweatherford.info

Feds Sue Florida For 'Warehousing' Disabled Kids

It seems our republican led state has relentlessly cut services for families struggling to care for a severely disabled child at home. Three years ago, state lawmakers simply cut $6 million from a program that pays for private-duty nursing care for Floridians who wish to remain outside institutions. One program that is designed to allow parents to care for disabled children at home or in community settings now has a wait list with about 22,000 names. The Feds found the state funding and managing its community programs so poorly that hundreds of children have been forced to live, and sometimes grow up, in institutions for the elderly. A total of five children have died in Florida nursing homes during the last half of 2010 — and 130 have died since January 2006, according to state records.The DOJ is asking a federal judge to declare the state's program for disabled children in violation of federal law and to force the state to cease warehousing children in institutions.......more

AHCA Secretary Liz Dudek said. "Florida has made many improvements in its already strong program of caring for medically complex children and helping their families cope with their everyday challenges." But a Miami civil rights lawyer who has also sued the state over the institutionalization of children called Dudek's actions mere "window dressing."

Got Sinkholes?

The Southwest Florida Water Management District, the agency commonly known as Swiftmud granted the world's largest phosphate mining company a permit to pump up to 70 million gallons of water a day out of the ground for the next 20 years.The water from more than 250 wells in Hillsborough, Manatee, Polk, Hardee and De Soto counties, an area that since 1992 has been under tight restrictions for any new residential and commercial water use. The water is being used by the phosphate giant known as Mosaic to dilute polluted waste so it can be dumped into creeks without violating state regulations.......more

Florida's Castle Doctrine

Rick Scott finally came home from self-exile and met with protesters who are occupying the Capitol to seek repeal of the state's "stand your ground" law. In the end, the protesters made their case, and Scott was insistent that the self-defense law should remain on the books.......here
Stand your ground’ laws not just GOP policy. The Florida House vote was 92-20. Twelve Democrats voted in favor.......here