Florida Netroots

Like many of you, I have been transfixed by what is going in Iran in the last couple weeks.  It seems regardless of whatever crisis is at hand the Republicans have nothing constructive to add.

Apparently it wasn’t enough that Pete Hoekstra (R) Michigan said last week:

“Iranian twitter activity similar to what we did in House last year when Republicans were shut down in the House.”

Now we have Marco Rubio (R) candidate for Florida Senator tweeting:

I have a feeling the situation in Iran would be a little different if they had a 2nd amendment like ours. #sayfie #tcot #nra
 

Do you seriously not understand peaceful protest? It is actually quite effective. Surely you’ve heard of Mahatma Ghandi or Martin Luther King . And, of the list of things Iran needs, Jason Linkins of Huffington Post put it this way:

I’m nobody’s idea of an anti-gun crusader. But when I consider the sorts of things the Iranians could stand to borrow from America, a poorly worded amendment dealing with gun ownership rights and militias is way down the list. I think that maybe Iran could stand to have some separation of powers, a line between church and state, a free press, freedom to worship, the right to assemble, the right to speak freely, a freedom from unlawful searches, due process of law, womens’ suffrage, and a government that doesn’t terrorize its citizens with armed thugs or threaten its neighbors through terrorist proxies. In short, there’s all kinds of stuff I’d commend to Iran from our own body of work. But, yeah, after all that, some guns maybe.

But hey, never let any opportunity to pander your base go by. Geez. More guns, yeah, that’s exactly what we need in the Middle East.

BTW, some of the best coverage of Iran is by Nico Pitney and Andrew Sullivan.

• Kos finds the Republican race for Florida Senate humorous.
• Sink leads in Early Polling - Quinnipiac puts Sink ahead of McColllum 38-34 in Governor’s Race.
• Vern’s Legal Woes - Representative Vern Buchanan (R, FL13) has 14 lawsuits against him accusing his auto stores of shady dealings.
• Drill Nuts Back At It - conservative activists are trying get constitutional amendment to overturn 20 year offshore oil ban. Sigh.
• Growth Management - the good and the bad about the new law.
• Redistricting - A petition drive for two constitutional amendments - one for state legislative districts and one for Florida congressional districts - now has about 450,000 of the 635,000 signatures needed for each amendment to get on the 2010 election ballot, organizers say. Sign the Petition.
• Bloggers and Personality - it seems we’re open to new experience and highly neurotic.
• Is the Progressive Netroots in Trouble - Ken Quinnell ponders the future of the Netroots.
• Not safe for pooties - in Broward County, apparently, it is literally a dog eat cat world. Please support your local animal shelter.

I like them both..

Dan Gelber

Today I announce that I am running for Attorney General of Florida.

More than two decades ago, at the age of 25, I stood in a small federal courtroom in Miami and said for the first time “My name is Dan Gelber and I represent the United States of America.”  It was at that precise moment – filled with a mix of pride and humility – that I knew pubic service would be my path.

That is exactly the path I have followed – as a federal prosecutor for nearly a decade, as the chief counsel of the U.S. Senate’s investigations committee, as a big brother in the Big Brothers program for 25 years and, most recently, as a member of the Florida legislature.  Each of these roles has reaffirmed that my decision in that small federal courtroom decades ago was the right one for me.

Governor Crist’s announcement that he would not seek reelection but rather a seat in the U.S. Senate, resulted in vacancies in all the offices of the cabinet.  At a time when our state is facing its greatest challenges, ironically, we have our greatest uncertainty and dislocation. But out of this turmoil we can also find opportunity –the chance to set a new course that avoids the mistakes of the past and tracks a better future for our families.

I want to serve and believe I can best support our state’s renewal as Florida’s next Attorney General.

My years in the Florida legislature have demonstrated to me that Tallahassee too often turns its back on the people, opting instead to carry out the narrow agenda of a few special interests. The Attorney General is not merely Florida’s top cop, but must also be the strongest advocate that every day Floridians have in government – the person they know is worried about their safety and the security of their children, and the person who makes sure that their rights are not being trampled upon.  I believe my background prepares me for this task, and it is a job I’d be privileged to assume.

So that’s it. I’m running for Attorney General, and I hope I can count on your continued support.

Dan

PS. Check out the re-branded DanGelber.com.

Dave Aronberg

Dear Friends,

By now you may have heard the exciting news about my announcement to seek the office of Attorney General for the State of Florida.

Let me tell you why I am doing so.

Floridians - all Floridians - need a champion, a strong voice, someone who will look out for them.  In these difficult economic times, the people of our State need someone who will stand up for their interests, someone who will not be afraid to take on those who prey on the unwary.

Whether it’s protecting our privacy from identity theft or cracking down on those who prey on our children, I have a deep and abiding passion to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves.

And my track record proves it.

Newspapers on both coasts of Florida have called me “the strongest consumer advocate in Florida,” and that was not by accident.  I have worked hard to return millions to consumers who were scammed by deceptive business practices; I fought to keep an historic Florida roadway out of the hands of private foreign investors; and I changed the insurance laws to prevent policyholders who travel from unfair rate increases.

But as a State Senator I am able to only do so much.

With the Attorney General’s seat now being vacated, I have the experience to make the Attorney General the people’s lawyer once again.  I have fought economic crime as an Assistant Attorney General, investigated international money laundering as an Assistant to the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury Department, and led a top consumer protection project as a State Senator.  

Of all those who have even been mentioned running for this seat, I am the only one to have actually worked in the office I seek.  To me, being Attorney General is not just a job, but a passion.  

I humbly ask that you allow me to return to my old office, only this time as your Attorney General.

Please consider making a donation to our effort.  You can send a check to P.O. Box 540872, Greenacres, Florida 33454 or click here to make an online donation.

Dear Florida Animal Advocates,

In 2007, Tampa became a partner community in ASPCA® Mission: Orange™, a program committed to increasing adoptions of shelter animals and eliminating the euthanasia of healthy, adoptable pets due to lack of homes or resources. With the proactive work of Hillsborough County Animal Services (HCAS) and the other local partners, Tampa has been an ASPCA Mission: Orange success story—for example, adoptions increased by a staggering 48% over 2007, and 1,588 more lost companions were reunited with their loving pet parents.

Now, however, our coalition’s ability to continue saving animals is threatened by Hillsborough County’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2010 (Oct. 1, 2009 to Sept. 30, 2010). Unveiled on June 3, this budget will eliminate 26 positions at HCAS, including animal caretakers, cruelty investigators and customer service representatives. The elimination of these positions will have a major impact on enforcement capabilities, adoption programs, disaster relief and other efforts that are currently saving animal lives in the Tampa area.

The passage of the budget as written will likely reverse the progress we’ve made in the past few years—meaning more animals will die needlessly. Please help the ASPCA and our Tampa partners by urging Hillsborough’s Board of County Commissioners, which approves the county’s budget, to reject these severe cuts to animal control staff and programs.

What You Can Do

Call and email the members of the Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners to protest the proposed budget cuts to HCAS. The board’s contact information may be found here:
https://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/bocc/about/contactus.cfm

A series of public hearings on the 2010 budget has been scheduled—the first is tomorrow. Please attend if you can.

Budget Public Hearing Dates:
June 9, 6:00 P.M. to 8:00PM
July 16, 6:00 P.M. to 8:00PM
September 8, 6:00 P.M. to 8:00PM
September 17, 6:00 P.M. to 8:00PM

Location:
County Center
601 E. Kennedy Blvd.
Tampa, Florida 33602

Alex Sink for Governor

Floridians from Pensacola over to Jacksonville and all the way down to Key West are facing enormous challenges. Each and every day, the global financial crisis tests our families, our economy and our resolve. In unique and challenging times like these, our state needs a new and different kind of leadership.

Thousands of Floridians have told me they need leaders committed to protecting the middle class, strengthening our economy and giving our families a fighting chance. As a businesswoman and working mom, I couldn’t agree more.

Before the people of Florida elected me their CFO, I spent nearly three decades in business creating jobs and economic opportunity in communities all across our state. During my short time in state government, a couple of things have become crystal clear: Tallahassee’s tired, old ways of doing business just aren’t enough to answer the urgent, new challenges we face. And a state government influenced by narrow special interests cannot put the best interests of everyday Floridians first.

Today, I’m announcing I will be a candidate for governor of Florida in the November 2010 election, and put my business experience and knowhow to work restoring our economy.

And as Florida’s CFO, I’ll continue using my business experience to cut wasteful spending, crack down on financial fraud and reform state contracts.

For too long, we’ve had to tolerate a state government that puts playing politics ahead of helping families. Together, we can change all that, and give our state a fresh start.

Props to my fellow bloggers, I don’t know how you do it every day. Between working 8-10 hours a day and caring for a diabetic cat, I’m lucky if I can get something up here once a week, let alone daily. Plus, since I work on a computer for a living, I’m not exactly eager to get back on the computer during my spare time.

Anyway, here’s a few things I found that are worth knowing about:

• Budget: State Budget: Hanging on | Florida Legislature finds a way to balance budget . Unfortunately without doing the hard work of actual tax reform.
• Education Stimulus: Florida gets addtional $1.8 billion in stimulus funds for education.
• Leadership: What we think: Leadership, not smiles and Despite 2010, Florida needs leaders now
• 538: Nate Silver asks Should Democrats Be Rooting for Charlie Crist? –

Reading the divining rods, my guess is that the key policy debates during this interval will involve environmental policy (since cap-and-trade may lack the momentum to pass in a down economy), the tax code (since there will be increasing pressure on the Administration to pare down the deficit), and perhaps immigration reform (where Democrats may dare Republicans to further alienate Hispanic voters in advance of the 2012 elections). Democrats are likely to have Crist’s support on two of these three issues; that might be a bit better for them than flipping a coin between zero and three.

• Florida’s IT Infrastructure: State’s computers about to crash –

“It is time to hit the delete button on the state’s Band-Aid approach to its information technology systems. Our state agencies are hampered with old, worn-out computer systems. Many of these legacy systems are maintained by long-time staffers who are the only ones who know how to maintain and run these computers. When they retire, there will be no one to run these outdated systems.

For example, the Agency for Workforce Innovation’s Unemployment Compensation mainframe is officially ancient. It has broken down and been temporarily fixed, yet unemployed citizens are increasing at an incredible rate. The Department of Revenue — the agency responsible for the intake of monthly sales-tax receipts — would like to move into the state’s secure-data center, but doesn’t have the state funds to do so. What happens if these departments’ computers are damaged or destroyed? What about other agencies that have life/safety responsibilities and old computer systems?”

• Nice Zinger: Zing! gives legislators the business – “The Legislature’s Republicans have fulfilled their longtime promise to run government like a business. State government now resembles a mix of Chrysler, Lehman Brothers and Bernie Madoff.”  Also: Zing!ing the newest candidate – “May we at last see the light and elect neither Mr. Crist nor Mr. Rubio to be our next U.S. senator.”