But many Florida Republicans increasingly see a significant obstacle to success: Jim Greer, the most controversial and polarizing Florida GOP chairman in decades. He has become a lightning rod for infighting, distraction and distrust, and gubernatorial candidate Bill McCollum could be a casualty.

Greer and his main benefactor, Gov. Charlie Crist, are fending off a near-mutiny among party activists, elected officials and fundraisers fed up with what they see as inept political operations, dirty campaign tactics, unfair treatment of candidates like U.S. Senate hopeful Marco Rubio, dubious fundraising practices and lavish spending.

"I sure wish Charlie Crist would pull the trigger and put in someone who is strong and competent,'' said Al Hoffman, a top GOP fundraiser from Fort Myers who thinks Greer has spent money too freely on perks like limos and private planes. "The toughest job of a CEO is to fire somebody who's close to you when he's not performing. It's the toughest job, but he has to do it. Otherwise, we'll be behind the eight ball."

(Story here)

Jim Greer issued a statement: “While these are challenging times within our party, and many have different views about the directions our party should take, I welcomed the opportunity to have a positive  discussion with the board today, which will continue in the future. I was humbled by the support I received for the decisions I have made as Chairman of this Party and while some may wish to continue to promote dissension, I along with the majority of RPOF leaders, am committed to focusing on electing Republicans in 2010 and not participating in the divisiveness that a small minority wishes to promote.”   

Adams faces Winter Park Commissioner Karen Diebel in the GOP primary.

Check it out here:

Dear Senator Fasano:

Thank you for your letter regarding Governor Crist’s strong support for the Obama Stimulus. Or should we say his former support for the Obama Stimulus? Or is he supporting it again today? Regardless, thank you for your letter.

As the St. Petersburg Times has already reported, your letter misrepresents Marco Rubio's position on the Stimulus package. Unless you have followed Gov. Crist’s lead and changed your position, Mr. Rubio agrees with you that Governor Crist was wrong to endorse it (http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2009/02/fasano-vs-crist.html).

Regarding the Obama-Crist Stimulus, we agree that the public deserves to know both candidates' positions - in great detail. While Marco Rubio has been consistent in his opposition to the stimulus, Governor Crist has seemingly been debating himself and taking multiple and contradictory positions. This has only added to the confusion voters have about his beliefs.

This is why, for months, Marco Rubio has been asking for a series of debates with Governor Crist. In addition, one of these debates should be solely about the Stimulus package because Republican primary voters should know where the candidates stand on this important issue.

Thus far, Governor Crist has refused to debate Rubio.

Unless you have recently changed your mind as well, you are both an opponent of the stimulus and a fervent Charlie Crist supporter. Therefore, you are in a unique position to help facilitate these debates. These debates will offer your candidate, Charlie Crist, the opportunity to outline all the benefits that almost $800 billion of deficit spending has brought to Florida and the country.

Thank you once again for taking the time to write. We look forward to your response and assistance in helping make these debates between Marco Rubio and Charlie Crist a reality.

Sincerely,
Alex Burgos
Marco Rubio for U.S. Senate 

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Lewis is a former Republican Party staffer and was part of the campaign team for all three of Bush's campaigns for governor in 1994, 1998 and 2002. The Benson campaign is shopping for campaign office space in Tallahassee, campaign spokeswoman Sarah Bascom said.

"A little over a year ago, the congressional district you live in voted to send Barack Obama to the White House and Rep. (Young) to Congress. The message was clear: Rep. 's constituents want change, and expect Rep. to work with President Obama and reach across the aisle to help deliver it.

Last weekend, Rep. was called upon to do just that, in the historic vote on health reform. The vote offered a clear choice: Support a bill which draws upon ideas from both parties to guarantee 's district residents secure, affordable health coverage without adding a cent to the deficit, or stand with the insurance companies and right wing pundits to put politics above doing the right thing and stand in the way of history. Unfortunately, Rep. made the wrong choice.

Insurance company lobbyists are constantly visiting congressional offices in Washington , and Rep. may be starting to forget the voters back home. There's one last upcoming vote in the House of Representatives before health reform can become law, so there's still time to remind Rep. what your district wants by arranging a visit of your own."

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Here's the letter from Thurman to Chiszar: Download Letters of Removal for Miami-Dade DEC Chair B J Chiszar

"As a sheriff, I have seen politicians who have made empty promises in the past," Adkinson said in a statement released by the campaign. "I trust Kottkamp to be tough on criminals, cracking down on drugs, gangs and Internet predators who present dangers to the citizens of Florida."

Kottkamp earlier announced the support of 14 other sheriffs. He is opposed by former state Rep. Holly Benson of Pensacola, who served as a state agency secretary under Gov. Charlie Crist. Hillsborough Assistant State Attorney Pam Bondi is also considering joining the Republican primary.

A group of big business and anti-tax interests, joined by former state DEP secretaries Virginia Wetherell and Colleen Castille, warned the yet-unannounced regulations would amount to a "federal water tax" that would hurt the economy. They are calling on the state's congressional delegation to stop the EPA from imposing restrictions -- which they argue with questionable math -- would cost Florida utilities $50 billion with consumer footing the bill.

For more, read this piece when the EPA intervened to end a lawsuit filed by environmental groups in 2008. In the meantime, marvel at this great Web site name the group launched: www.donttaxflorida.com. Surprisingly, it wasn't taken until PR guru Ron Sachs bought it Nov. 10.

So state Sen. Mike Fasano didn't like the federal stimulus package before he liked it?

In a letter to former House Speaker Marco Rubio that we posted earlier, Fasano notes that the federal stimulus package was needed in Florida "to protect our seniors, protect our school children, and keep from adding to our struggling resident's tax burden."

Good points.

But would the Sen. Mike Fasano of February agree with the Sen. Mike Fasano of November? In February, our St. Pete Times colleague Adam Smith asked Fasano "Bottom line, do you support Congress passing that stimulus package."

Fasano: "No I do not."

Link to the clip is here.

He'll succeed Sen. Jeff Atwater. The ceremony is in the Senate chamber at the Capitol. A reception will follow at the members-only Governor's Club.

Having been criticized repeatedly for receiving campaign donations from disgraced uber donor Scott Rothstein, the Alex Sink campaign was happy to e-mail this photo of Rothstein and McCollum to supporters. "Curious to see Rothstein and Bill McCollum looking so chummy, isn't it?,'' said the Sink note. " Especially when you consider how often and eagerly McCollum has attacked Alex Sink over contributions from Rothstein -- contributions Sink immediately announced would be returned or donated to charity upon hearing of Rothstein's alleged malfeasance. Now McCollum must answer for his own ties to Scott Rothstein -- and for the hyperactive hypocrisy that continues to drive Bill McCollum's campaign for governor."

 

Marco, you give a great speech that excites many, but you are woefully unable to provide solid solutions to the real problems the citizens of Florida face. It is easy when you are not in office to lob bombs at those who still are, but that my friend, is not statesmanship. While many are ensuring that the most vulnerable of Floridians, our seniors, veterans, children, and consumers are protected and provided for, you continue your political rhetoric.

If you somehow cling to the stance that you would have refused stimulus dollars, my question to you is this: Knowing the state had a 6 billion dollar reduction in revenue, how would you have balanced the state’s budget without hurting our seniors, veterans, children, and consumers?

At issue: Crist's deception that he didn't really endorse the stimulus package that he stumped for with Barack Obama in February. To drive the point home, Rubio tries to make Crist a Bill Clinton/John Kerry clone. The ad plays a clip of Clinton denying something (it's the Lewinksy thing) and John Kerry with his now-infamous "voted for it before I voted against it" reasoning.

Looks like we have a long 10 months to go.

Marc Caputo

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Greer responded with a potentially less confrontational idea: How about a conference call tomorrow and then we can follow up at Dec. 10 quarterly meeting? Don't think that's going to fly but we shall see.

Here's the letter:

We have observed in recent weeks an unprecedented series of reports and events in the media which cast negative perceptions of the Republican Party, both to the public and to our members.  While many factors may be involved in the various circumstances, our members and the public are receiving continuing negative reports about issues involving financing, candidates, political activities and more, concerning the Republican Party.  This has been, and continues to be, extremely damaging to our Party, our candidates, and our members. As Vice Chairman, along with the Executive Board members listed below, urge you to convene a special emergency closed meeting of the Executive Board as expeditiously as possible.  We believe such a closed session, as was held during our retreat last summer, is needed immediately.  The significance of the current events are such that it should not be the focus in an open Executive Board meeting, and cannot be deferred until the December scheduled meeting.  Please convene our Executive Board to meet in Orlando, as a central location, within the coming two weeks, if at all possible.  The need for information, communication, and action by our Executive Board is urgent.

Allen Cox Vice Chairman, RPOF
Peter Feaman, Esq. Chairman, Caucus of State Committeemen and Committeewomen
Bob Starr Chairman, Caucus of County Chairmen
Clyde Simpson, Chairman CD 2
Bob Reid, Chairman CD 3
Thomas Hogan, Chairman CD 5
Jerry Braley, CD 8, Chairman Audit Committee
Bill Bunting, CD 9
Tony DiMatteo, CD 10
A.J. Matthews, Chairman CD 11
Robert Norman, Chairman CD 12
Kathleen King, Chairman CD 13
Gary Lee, Chairman CD 14
Chuck Oates, Chairman CD 16
Debbie Goodman, Chairman CD 18
Ed Kennedy, Chairman CD 20
Ileana Ross, Chairman CD 21
Fran Hancock, CD 22
Sid Dinerstein, CD 23
David Rivera, CD 25

Over the next two days, more calls. "They were persistent," the official told the Buzz.

It's not clear whether Crist ever got Obama on the phone, but the day after the election, he issued a statement praising Obama (no mention of John McCain) and calling on the nation to unite behind him "to strengthen our economy and increase opportunity for all Americans."

A few months later, Crist made his now-famous appearance with Obama in Fort Myers. And months after that, he has changed his tune on the president and his policies, agitating Republicans and Democrats alike for seeming opportunistic.

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"I have no comment,'' Clinger told Buzz.

A party spokeswoman brushed off the request for legal fees: "An RPOF grievance hearing is not a legal procedure. Legal representation is not required, or even necessary,'' said Katie Betta.

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Strum said Isaac yesterday afternoon told him of her "intent to resign." Strum said she will likely submit a formal resignation in the coming days, "and then we'll decide our next steps on communications."

"She's been there for three years, so she's been a big part of the team," Strum said. "She just came to me and said 'Hey, it's time.' I think she probably has a lot of opportunities out there."

Isaac did not return a phone call to the Times/Herald, and it is unclear where her next job will be. When the Times/Herald called former chief of staff Eric Eikenberg on Wednesday morning to ask whether the rumors of her departure are true, he insisted "there is nothing to that." Strum called a few minutes later and said the opposite. 

Isaac was thought to have been a possible campaign communications director for Crist's U.S. Senate campaign, but that job just went to former Sen. Orrin Hatch flak Andrea Sauls. The announcement came amid whispers that Crist's administration was unhappy with Isaac's handling of Crist's public image and press coverage lately.

In terms of press coverage lately, Crist has been having a bad stretch -- largely of his own doing. (The stimulus support he insists he never gave, Obama man-hug tape notwithstanding; his insistence he didn't know Obama's recent Florida itinerary; the uproar over an anti-Rubio Web site that had the participation of an RPOF paid consultant; and public floggings by former press buddies Wolf Blitzer and Chris Matthews, etc.)

Crist also lately has been acting as his own press secretary -- calling the Times' Adam Smith to set up an interview on Political Connections, and arranging the Times' recent interview in Gainesville with himself and first lady Carole Crist. The governor also recently instructed reporters to call his cell phone directly -- rather than using a "go-between" in the press office.

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State Sen. Paula Dockery became the latest to thumb her nose at the party establishment, formally announcing her campaign for governor Tuesday night, five months after a battalion of party leaders gathered alongside Attorney General Bill McCollum in Orlando to anoint him as their gubernatorial standard-bearer. ... With the economy and the multitude of open statewide races making raising money harder than ever, state GOP leaders see an array of potentially tough primaries that could drain campaign accounts by the general election.

"My original hope was that we would be able to focus on the Democrats and the general election, and conserve as much of our financial resources as possible, but that doesn't always happen the way you would like,'' said state Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer, who provoked a grass roots firestorm when he tried to invoke an obscure party rule allowing the state party to unite behind Gov. Charlie Crist for the U.S. Senate.

Look at almost every statewide race, and you'll see contests for the Republican nomination.

 (STORY HERE)

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"I signed the largest single tax cut in the history of Florida, a $25 billion tax cut over five years, directed at property tax cuts," Crist said while speaking to a group of Michigan Republicans in September. "My state goes back to 1845; the largest tax cut since 1845 in the Sunshine State."

Crist touts his tax-cutting record over and over, in news releases, political speeches and in the first radio ad for his U.S. Senate campaign. The line is good politics. But is it true?

(More here)

"Conside the message our state party's sending out: credit card abuse, free trips to Europe on the dime of donors, and a refusal to let Republiucan voters decide their own nominees,'' Dockery said. "People are tired of it. They're beyond cynical and moving toward angry...They want a choice a choice in the Republican primary."

Good speech. Not sure about the wisdom of her thanking controversial Republican operative Doug Guetzloe for helping draft her. "You got me into this,'' she said of Guetzloe.

More Dockery: "Too many people have come to believe that our party – including the leadership of the Republican Party of Florida – is too focused on big-money interests and who gets what share of the goodies. I hate to admit this, but I’ve come to believe they’re right. 

"You know the name Jack Abramoff, the Washington lobbyist who pled guilty to corrupting public officials from the Bush White House to Capitol Hill. Maybe you don’t know the name of Alan Mendelson, but he’s a well-connected Republican lobbyist from Fort Lauderdale who was recently indicted for fraud in campaign fundraising. Or fundraiser Scott Rothstein of Fort Lauderdale who also stands accused of massive financial fraud.  The list goes on.

"And don’t forget Ray Sansom, the former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, who stands accused of violating the public trust by funneling your tax dollars to his friends and business associates. Unfortunately, Speaker Sansom was just doing what is usually done in the State Legislature.  That is why, I believe, reform is needed."

Here's the Full speech as written.

At the urging of Florida Attorney General Bill McCollumn and AARP, the Public Service Commission in January accused Verizon of failing to restore landline phone service to customers in 2007 and 2008 and for failing to provide discounts to customers eligible for the state's Lifeline program, the financial assistance program for the elderly and low income Floridians.

A PSC analysis found that Verizon failed to follow through on repairs on its landline phones, resulting in extended phone service outages for customers. There were 262 apparent violations in 2007 and 194 in 2008. 

The commission agreed to split the $250,000 going to the state, with $125,000 given to promote Lifeline Assistance, the discount telephone program gives eligible customers credits of up to $13.50 per month on local phone bills, and $125,000 given to the state's General Revenue Fund. The money given to Lifeline was sought by the legislature's Hispanic Caucus in a letter to the commission on Monday from caucus chairman Rep. Steve Bovo, R-Hialeah.

Verizon also agreed to provide Lifeline discounts to all eligible customers who request the discount and receive regulated telecommunications service packages.  Verizon had previously denied Lifeline discounts to customers that purchased the company’s bundled packages. Verizon customers eligible for Lifeline service should contact the company, or visit the PSC’s Web site to sign up, www.floridapsc.com.

The panel unanimously agreed to postpone the decision after Commissioners Nathan Skop and Nancy Argenziano chastised the staff for setting the energy goals too low. By law, the commission must set a conservation goal for electric companies to meet each year for the next five years, and then come up with a plan or reward them financially for exceeding the goal or punish them for failing to meet it.

Skop accused the staff of coming up with a plan that tries "to align with everything the utilities wanted.'' He said the conservation goals recommended by PSC staff were so low that companies like Florida Power & Light and Progress Energy could easily meet them and then obtain the financial reward for little effort.

"I'm all about carrots,'' he said. "But I'm not going to set financial rewards so low an ant could climb over it.''

"What I'm afraid of is we're not moving aggressively enough to have meaningful energy conservation goals,'' she said. "We're all very conscious of the financial burdens that are on the consumers but, if we don't move forward and instead keep the status quo, we'll just never get there.''

But Tom Ballinger, a staff director at the PSC's division of economic regulation, vigorously opposed that approach, arguing that if people are given financial incentives to buy energy efficient light bulbs and energy efficient appliances that they would normally buy, then the customers who don't take those steps tion end up subsidizing those that do. The staff called it "free riders.''

The staff plan recommended no free riders be offered incentives, an approach Skop and Argenziano criticized as too limited because it eliminated 80 percent of the potential energy savings that utilities could produce in the next five years. 

Skop said that financial incentives should be considered for a wide variety of programs, even for energy efficient light bulbs, if they could show they can change people's behavior in a favorable way.

As Ballinger shook his head in disagreement, Skop got angry. "Please don't let me see that again. I'm a commissioner and I'm entitled to state my opinion for the record because I'm an appointed state official." He told staff director Mary Bane to "talk to staff and tell them that's inappropriate." 

Read today's story here.

Said the Sink campaign: "These are very serious allegations. The campaign is returning or donating to charity any contributions from Mr. Rothstein, his wife, his law firm and his other corporate entities. If it becomes clear that others were involved in this matter, it’s our intention to return those contributions as well.”

Rothstein, a predominantly Republican fundraiser, decided to switch sides in the governor's race, much to Sink's recent dismay and the joy of Republican Bill McCollum's campaign, which has hammered her over receiving the cash. No mention from the McCollum camp that Republican Gov. Charlie Crist or that Republican CFO candidate and Senate President Jeff Atwater or that Republican Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff or that the Republican Party of Florida got more from Rothstein. All, too, say they're returning cash, as is the Florida Democratic Party.

-- Marc Caputo

Now another witness, Melbourne attorney Richard Torpy, says he also heard Nungesser say Johnson had been aware of the fake account. Torpy said he is a friend of Nungesser's family and of Steele and he offered to informally mediate between Steele Nungesser after the Sheriff's office tracked the fake account to Nungesser.

"There were several admissions (from Nungesser) that the executive director had been aware of the site for a couple months,'' said Torpy. He said he never asked Nungesser whether he had been instructed by anyone else in the party to create the account in Steele's name or what Johson said about the account.

From the state GOP: "When the RPOF became aware of the fake twitter account, our general counsel obtained a statement from Mr. Nungesser detailing his actions surrounding the account. In that statement, Mr. Nungesser confirmed that his activities relating to fake Twitter account were done without the knowledge or approval of the RPOF or any RPOF employees."

An itinerary and invitation was provided by the White House on Oct. 23 -- the Friday before the Monday visit -- and Crist's executive assistant wrote back the same day saying, "Unfortunately, the governor will be unable to attend."

That decision was made without Crist's knowledge? Seems hard to fathom. The e-mails were obtained through a public records request. UPDATE 4:45 p.m.: Crist's office refused further comment.

11/24: Jacksonville, FL - Books-A-Million, 1910 Wells Road, Orange Park, 9 AM
11/24: The Villages, FL - Barnes & Noble, 1055 Old Camp Road, Lake Sumter Mkt Sq, 2:30 PM
11/24: Orlando, FL - Barnes & Noble, Colonial Plaza, 2418 East Colonial Drive, 7:30 PM

One more bombshell. One more delayed revelation. The feds seem to be looking into whether Florida and Wall Street were misleading investors about the risks that were being taken here.

This is what should happen when that kind of letter shows up in Tallahassee:

Alarm bells go off. Air-raid sirens sound. Gov. Charlie Crist, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and Attorney General Bill McCollum — who sit as the board overseeing the investments — hold an emergency joint news conference.

Instead, this became public well more than a year later, only in a response to a public records request from the St. Petersburg Times.

The state's explanation is lame. Hey, it says, this is old news — it disclosed a preliminary SEC inquiry on its Web site, didn't it? The formal letter itself was, you know, confidential. Apparently until it wasn't.

If the people of Florida ever get their arms around this scandal, they might riot.

"You would think a member of Congress should think twice about voting against health insurance reform that their families and small businesses so desperately need and want. But you have to think to vote against health insurance reform in a Congressional District won by President Obama just a year ago could be a political death knell at a time when Americans are clamoring for solutions to vexing issues like health care," said DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan.

The campaign will include news releases, calls for constituents to write letters to the editor and "may also include paid advertising."

One wonders what the DNC thinks of the two Florida Democrats who felt the same as Young and Ros-Lehtinen. Suzanne Kosmas and Allen Boyd were among 39 Democrats to vote no. Both came from districts won by John McCain.

C.W. Bill Young, Charlie Crist's congressman and not-so-short lister for a U.S. Senate appointment, said he steers clear of primary endorsements (though he endorsd Bill McCollum for governor) even in cases like this where a hometown guy is running. But Beverly Young, his wife, offered her own thoughts after Rubio’s rousing speech.

"I love Marco,’’ she gushed.

"She’s not endorsing either," said the congressman, ushering her away.

"I love Marco,’’ she repeated before disappearing out the door.

"You have to satisfy a lot of senators. And it's going to make it more of a political moderate approach, whereas the House bill is tilted a little bit to the left," he said. As an example, Nelson pointed to the House's tax on high income households to fund reform.

"I think it will be high drama for us to get the 60 votes to get it to the floor of the Senate for consideration," he said. "At the end of the day when you get the final bill being passed by the Senate and the House, I bet you it's bipartisan and it's a fairly overwhelming vote. Because those Senators are hearing the same thing that I'm hearing if they're listening to their folks. And that is we desperately want reform of health care."

Nelson said he has received more than 75,000 letters, e-mails and phone calls on health care reform since the summer. One of his own top priorities is controlling the cost of Medicare, in part by having primary care physicians coordinating care of individuals with the help of electronic medical records.

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Saul, 27, is a native of Dalton, Ga., (known as the "Carpet Capital of the World") and a graduate of Vanderbilt University. Here's an interesting feature on Saul from her hometown newspaper, the Dalton Citizen. Crist's campaign, in announcing Saul's hiring, notes that her parents now reside in Palm Beach County.

Tallahassee, FL – Senate President Jeff Atwater (R-Palm Beach) today announced that the staff of the Senate Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee would be conducting a detailed and comprehensive review of the implications of offshore drilling. Describing offshore drilling as one element of the larger energy discussion facing Florida, the President also released the methodology by which the Florida Senate will manage the process.

 “Offshore drilling is a complicated issue with significant ramifications for our State,” said President Atwater.  “The citizens of Florida deserve a thoughtful and deliberative conversation free of rancor or hyperbole, and the Senate intends to provide a structure for that conversation within our body.”

 Recognizing that FSU’s Institute for Energy Systems, Economics and Sustainability (IESES) and the Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida have also initiated similar analyses, the President was pleased to note that these organizations, in conjunction with the resources of the Office of Economic & Demographic Research (EDR), will be sharing data and information. The objective, as described by President Atwater, will be to develop a comprehensive, balanced and unimpeachable analysis of the myriad issues encompassed by offshore drilling. Believing that the best interests of Florida, at this stage, are better served by a reasoned and informed discussion than a hasty call to action, the analysis will not include recommendations for further action.

 “Given the complexity of this issue it is imperative that our partners have the expertise and ability to dispassionately gather and collate the data,” President Atwater said. “These groups represent a wealth of knowledge, information, and above all a commitment to identifying accurate information that is not skewed by personal or political opinion. This collection of data is vital for members of the Senate and the public, and will serve as an unbiased foundation from which individuals can make factually based decisions.”

 "In such an important State of Florida issue, it is crucial to identify facts and information, free of preconceived ideas," said IESES Director Dave Cartes. "The university system of Florida must play this role."

 “The Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida, with the assistance of the Collins Center for Public Policy, looks forward to helping serve the needs of the Legislature and Governor through a transparent fact-finding process that engages the public on this important issue,” said Mayor Rick Baker, Century Commission Chairman.

 President Atwater outlined the methodology that will shape the analysis and create the factual baseline from which further discussions may ensue. While IESES, the Century Commission, and EDR may provide their initial findings prior to the 2010 Legislative Session, this analysis will be driven by the need for a dispassionate review, not timelines or schedules.

 About The Institute for Energy Systems, Economics, and Sustainability

The Institute for Energy Systems, Economics, and Sustainability at FSU is a public resource dedicated to addressing energy alternatives through academic research and analysis in engineering, science, infrastructure, governance, and society. It brings together research individuals with backgrounds in engineering, natural sciences, law, urban and regional planning geography, and economics. The institute is the state’s leading scholarship center looking at the informed governance, economics, and decision making to support a sustainable energy economy.

About The Century Commission

The Century Commission, a 15-member commission, was created by the Florida Legislature in 2005 to develop and recommend long-term policies that will strengthen Florida’s future. It serves as a conduit of nonpartisan, objective information and data and conducts periodic reviews of government processes, statutory provisions and economic trends.

About the Office of Economic & Demographic Research

The Office of Economic & Demographic Research is a research department within the Florida Legislature that provides impartial information to Legislative staff and members regarding policy issues. EDR is also responsible for forecasting economic and social trends as they related to policymaking, revenues, and appropriations.

 Attached is the analytical methodology provided to IESES, the Century Commission, and EDR.

Download PR_Offshore Drilling_11_09

Download Analytical Methodology

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"THE FIGHT ISN'T OVER JUST YET! THE SENATE MUST ACT NOW!

I am instructing everyone of you and your families & friends to place 1 call to Senator Bill Nelson's office in Tallahassee (ask for Pete Mitchell)....850-942-8415 - Tell them that if they want  the Democratic voters in Miami-Dade to vote for him in 2012 and do not want Chairman BJ Chiszar to find a primary opponent, then we expect him to support a Senate Bill with a public option. The Miami office (less effective to call) is 305-536-5999!"

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Plyer says he got a letter from the ethics commission dated Nov. 4 which said in part: "The probable cause hearing [in the Kottkamp complaint] is scheduled for consideration at the Friday, Dec. 4, 2009, Commission meeting. The meeting has been scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. in Room 37S of the Senate Office Building. ... The sole purpose of the probable cause hearing is to evaluate the results of the preliminary investigation." (The staff report will be given to the nine-member commission as a recommendation for further action or dismissal.)

Plyer based his complaint on newspaper stories that said Kottkamp billed taxpayers $425,000 for 365 flights on state planes and an additional $60,000 for ground travel in a state car driven by a Florida Highway Patrol trooper between the state capital and his home in Fort Myers. In July, when he officially entered the race for attorney general, Kottkamp said of the ethics complaint: "I feel confident that's going to come out fine."

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“We are writing to express our support for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which passed last week in the House and is under consideration currently in the Senate.”

Here's the letter: Download Stim

Marc Caputo, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau

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“Marco Rubio is the real deal, one of the brightest young stars in American politics today, and a proven champion of economic liberty,” said Club President Chris Chocola.  “He is a dynamic spokesman for the principles of limited government and economic freedom, and he will make a fantastic Senator.” 

Rubio served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2000-2008, and was elected to the Republican leadership as Majority Whip, Majority Leader, and finally, Speaker of the House.  Rubio is an advocate of lower federal spending, tax relief and tax reform, union members’ right to a secret ballot, and market-driven energy and environmental solutions. 

Rubio’s Republican primary opponent is Florida Governor Charlie Crist, who supported President Obama’s $787 billion stimulus, proposed a state “cap-and-trade” energy program, and this summer broke his pledge not to sign any state tax increases. 

“Charlie Crist has repeatedly joined with big government liberals on major economic issues facing America today, from taxes to spending to cap-and-trade,” Chocola said.  “He represents the wrong direction for our economy and our nation.”
 

“The Club for Growth PAC has spent months studying this race, and we have concluded that either Charlie Crist or Marco Rubio would be heavily favored to win next November against likely Democratic nominee Kendrick Meek,” Chocola said. “The only question now is what kind of Republican will Florida send to Washington next year: a pro-growth Republican with a record of fiscal conservatism or a big-government Republican with a record of tax increases?”

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"Are we going to see Marco Rubio for president in 2016?" BBC correspondent Katty Kay asks Rubio. "I don't know about that," Rubio answers. "This is tough enough."

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Charlie Crist appeared on Political Connections on Bay News 9 on Sunday and talked about his record, political challenges, conservatism, offshore drilling, Scott Rothstein and more. The full interview is available in Tampa Bay on Ch. 342, Bay News 9 on Demand, but here's a clip.

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"I am sitting here smoking cigars with Marc,'' Rothstein said in a brief interview Sunday afternoon with the Miami Herald, referring to his attorney, Marc Nurik. "Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. I'm doing pretty good.''

Rothstein, 47, has been accused by investors in an alleged Ponzi scheme of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars and by his law partners of crippling their firm, Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler.

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