BY HOWARD TROXLER

Yachts! The Florida Legislature is going to pass a new tax break for buying luxury yachts and private airplanes.

Let’s hope this passes in the same year that the Legislature hurts the K-12 schools, guts the universities, makes it harder for Floridians to vote, drains the Lawton Chiles tobacco trust, kills Florida Forever, weakens wetlands protection, repeals a quarter-century of growth management law, deregulates the telephone companies and tries to paper over the indictment of the immediate past speaker of the House of Representatives and a damning grand jury investigation.

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From the Institute for Southern Studies

Voting rights advocates were shocked after a Republican-dominated committee in the Florida House passed sweeping new election rules after allowing only six minutes of debate last Friday. 
The 81-page bill, which among other things eliminates two forms of ID used mostly by elderly voters and restricts third-party voter registration, now moves to the House floor without any chance for public testimony. 
A similar bill is on its way to the Senate after passing an elections committee on a 5-3 vote on party lines after being introduced for the first time despite only two weeks remaining in the state’s legislative session.

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By BRENT KALLESTAD

ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

TALLAHASSEE – An elections bill introduced by Republicans that could make it more difficult for thousands of Floridians to vote was condemned Monday by public interest groups and legislative Democrats who decried the measure as “draconian” and “unconscionable.”

Democrats were further angered by how the House version zipped through its first committee stop on Friday, only hours after it was written and without any public scrutiny.

“I look at it as group of folks who do not want to accept the fact that a Democratic president won the election in Florida,” said Rep. Audrey Gibson, D-Jacksonville. “That is the bottom line. Get over it. Get over it.”

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This photo was taken in 1918. See the details below the photo. You’ll be amazed.

FACTS: Base to Shoulder: 150 feet Right Arm: 340 feet Widest part of arm 
Holding torch: 12 1/2 feet Right thumb: 35 feet  Thickest part of body: 29 
Feet Left hand length: 30 feet Face: 60 feet Nose: 21 feet Longest spike of 
Head piece: 70 feet Torch and flame combined: 980 feet Number of men in 
Flame of torch: 12,000 Number of men in torch: 2,800 Number of men in right 
Arm: 1,200 Number of men in body, head and balance of figure only: 2,000

Total men: 18,000

Examiner.com writer Derek Newton blasted the Legislature’s attitude about a grand jury’s presentment criticizing the way Tallahassee handles budget proposals. Here is what he said:

Yesterday I wrote about the indictment of Republican former Speaker of the Florida House, Ray Sansom and how newer, greener Republican Legislators are already following his example. 

Today, two leading Republicans offered comments about the scandal in their house. Did they express regret? Outrage at the culture of corruption in their party? Optimism for a better, more ethical future?

Um, no.

Representatives David Rivera (Miami) and Kevin Ambler (Tampa) blamed us – Florida’s citizens and taxpayers who patriotically serve on grand juries – for not understanding the way they do things in Tallahassee.

Click here for the reset of the story.

St. Pete Times columnist Howard Troxler added his comments to this sorry state of affairs on Sunday, saying, “This is the Legislature that the people of Florida want?” Read more of his criticism of the Legislature by clicking here.

Thanks to Linda for sending these in. Some old, some new but all worth reading.

1. She was in the bathroom, putting on her makeup, under the watchful eyes of her young granddaughter, as she’d done many times before.  After she applied her lipstick and started to leave, the little one said, ‘But Gramma, you forgot to kiss the toilet paper good-bye!’ I will  probably never put lipstick on again without thinking about kissing the toilet paper good-bye…

2. My young grandson called the other day to wish me Happy Birthday.  He asked me how old I was, and I told him, ‘62′. My grandson was quiet for a moment, and then he asked, ‘Did you start at  1?’

3. After putting her grandchildren to bed, a grandmother changed into old slacks and a droopy blouse and proceeded to wash her hair. As she heard the children getting more and more rambunctious, her patience grew thin. Finally, she threw a towel around her head and stormed into their room, putting them back to bed with stern warnings.  As she left the  room, she  heard the three-year-old say with a trembling voice, ‘Who was THAT?’ Read the rest of this entry »

(This letter appeared in The Ledger, Lakeland, Fl., April 14.)

By MICHAEL DOBSON

President and CEO

Florida Renewable Energy Producers Association

Florida has a chance to lead, but not today. In 2008, the Florida Legislature directed the Florida Public Service Commission to develop rules for a Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard for passage during the 2009 legislative session. An RPS is a policy that requires power generated by Florida investor-owned utilities to include a certain amount of renewable-energy resources by a certain date.

The PSC has asked that 20 percent of all electric generation be from renewable-energy resources by 2020. This standard allows us to take our abundant sun and robust agricultural industry to create energy. Simply establishing an RPS will make Florida the renewable-energy leader in Southeast. Currently, the Southeast is not on the map when it comes to a reliable renewable-energy policy.

A vibrant renewable-energy industry – and a green jobs revolution – are, without exception, already unde rway in the 28 states that have adopted an RPS. Meeting energy needs with native renewables instead of conventional fuels from out-of-state keeps jobs and dollars in-state and strengthens Florida’s economy. Read the rest of this entry »

This letter to the editor appeared on tcpalm.com

Michael Lannon, superintendant of St. Lucie County Schools, stated recently, “We’re going to become a Third World country here in Florida. People should consider leaving Florida for their children.”

I was appalled that I, a native Floridian and a Realtor welcoming people to our beautiful state, should even consider fleeing. This statement sends the message that the leader of our schools has given up hope on our kids, our schools and our state.

It is typical politics to blame others for our messes, but we have to stop shifting the blame. To point at the Florida Legislature as the sole source of our problems is not acceptable.

Yes, it is very true that the education system is well underfunded here in Florida, but we also are undertaxed, and we cannot have it both ways. We have to stop equating more dollars to better education. Read the rest of this entry »

• G-20 calls for more regulation; pledges $1T+ in emergency aid
• Oil tops $53 per barrel
• U.S. unemployment hits 25-year high
• FASB votes to relax mark-to-market rules
• ECB cuts rates
• Emerging markets rally on Mexico bid for IMF loan

U.S. stocks rose this week, buoyed by signs that the economic slowing may be abating and by efforts of world leaders to end the global crisis. News this week was dominated by a meeting in London of the Group of 20 policymakers, who called for stricter limits on hedge funds, executive pay, credit rating firms, and on risk taking by banks. In addition, the group tripled the lending power of the International Monetary Fund, expanded its reserves, and offered cash to revive trade to help governments weather the turmoil resulting from the surge in unemployment. Altogether, leaders pledged more than $1 trillion in emergency aid to lessen the economic fallout. Read the rest of this entry »

Democrats and Republicans are at it again in Tallahassee concerning taxes. Democrats want to tax everything but the air we breathe while Republicans are OK with new revenue sources as long as they can call it a fee instead of a tax increase. 

As an example, House Republicans last week sought $700 million in new fees on Florida motorists but all five Democrats on a committee “screamed bloody murder and said no,” according to an opinion piece by Steve Bousquet on tampabay.com. Click here to read the story.