Florida – Page 17

Why Meek won’t win FL-SEN next year.

Nobody has much use for an equivocator. From the Politico’s article on Rangel’s ever-so-slowly increased isolation from House Democrats

Also on Wednesday night, Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Fla., who is running for the Senate, chose not to sign a Black Caucus letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in support of Rangel.

Meek told POLITICO that his vote to refer the Rangel matter to the ethics panel was enough of a statement of his position.

“I’m not on every letter that the Black Caucus puts out,” Meek said. “I didn’t feel that it was something I had to break my neck on.”

This could have been Meek’s moment to shine. It was a chance for him to do something that might have caused a splash outside of his district; something that would have given him a couple of days’ worth of press for the novelty… and opportunities to fix his rather anemic poll standings right now. But no: he went for the ‘safe’ choice of not signing the letter, then downplaying it with a, well, meek murmur when the situation called for a loud roar.

This is the problem with inheriting your seat from your mother: it doesn’t teach you proper electoral instincts. Which is precisely what I like to see in candidates from political parties that aren’t mine.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

Did Grayson lie to the ADL? Did he not lie?

I’m not sure which would be worse.

Rep. Alan Grayson (D, FL-08) has finally found a line beyond which he is personally not prepared to cross. While the Congressman may be prepared to lie about Republican intentions on health care, he at least knows enough to realize when he’s gone too far, as his respectful letter describing his ‘regrets’ to the Anti-Defamation League indicates. Via FoxNews:

Florida Rep. Alan Grayson, who has drawn fire for saying Republicans want Americans to “die quickly” if they get sick, expressed regret Friday for comparing the health care crisis to a “holocaust.”

Grayson vowed not to use the term again in a letter he sent Friday to the Andrew Rosenkranz, Florida regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, a prominent Jewish organization that fights anti-Semitism.

[snip]

“In no way did I mean to minimize the Holocaust,” Grayson wrote in the letter obtained by FOXNews.com. “I regret the choice of words, and I will not repeat it.”

Again: note how respectful Grayson is being towards the ADL, there. That’s because he has staff to handle being disrespectful to them. Continue reading Did Grayson lie to the ADL? Did he *not* lie?

Marco Rubio scores 1.5 endorsements.

The full endorsement for Marco Rubio is from Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R, FL-05):

Brown-Waite, who has been critical of what she has said is Crist’s attempts “to be all things to all people,” said Monday she thinks the GOP tide is turning in favor of Rubio.

“He is picking up a lot of steam with the recent victories from the straw polls. It is great to see momentum building for him,” she said.

Rep. Brown-Waite joins Rep Jeff Miller (R, FL-01) in endorsing Rubio over Crist. Continue reading Marco Rubio scores 1.5 endorsements.

Tea Partiers get apology for insult by town.

Hey, guess what? This show up en masse stuff works!

PORT ST. LUCIE — After a week of complaints about a sign at Freedomfest on July 4, city officials apologized to the Treasure Coast Tea Party.

“It was not our intent to interfere or cast dispersions on the tea party,” said City Manager Don Cooper, who took responsibility for what he called a “bone-head decision.”

About 75 members of the anti-tax group attended the City Council’s Monday night meeting looking for an apology.

Via Instapundit. I have to say, this ‘getting out and marching’ thing is jolly good fun, isn’t it? We should do it more often. As in, ‘whenever we get annoyed at something.’ It certainly seems to get results.

Moe Lane

PS: Still think that it was a good idea to give the American Right a taste for activism, kids? – because ‘high inertia’ is a double-edged sword.

Please, by all means: laugh.

Crossposted to RedState.

Rep Alan Grayson (D, FL-08) scammed, 2000-2005.

How professionally embarrassing:

Freshman Rep. Grayson Taken to Cleaners in Ponzi Scheme

Freshman Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) lost $3 million in a stock swindle between 2000 and 2005, a Florida television station reported this week.

According to Orlando’s Local 6, Grayson was an investor in a Ponzi scheme run by the company Derivium Capital.

The usual too-good-to-be-true-and-it-was kind of situation; not to imply anything about the Congressman’s mental prowess, of course. Or judgment. Or even native good sense. Still, good thing that he’s no longer in a position where he’s obliged to play with money, huh?

[Grayson] is a member of the Financial Services Committee.

…Never mind.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

Meet Representative Alan Grayson (D, FL-08).

[UPDATE]: Welcome, Instapundit readers. Have you seen the latest from Grassley on the IG firings?

He has difficulty keeping his hands to himself.

Literally.

I’ve read the Constitution several times, but I’ve never seen the part that says that elected officials are allowed to physically assault people who’d like to ask questions. Like, say, about his questionable earmark habits:

Congressman Alan Grayson has had a close relationship with the civil rights group for which he tried to get hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars. As WDBO first reported, the freshman Representative requested $350,000 for the Florida Civil Rights Association, despite its history of controversy, and being run by a man the state says is not trustworthy enough to be a bail bondsman.
(H/T: the NRCC)

Finding the constraints demanded by the dignity of the office too much to bear, Rep. Grayson? Because that’s easily fixed.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

Rep Alan Grayson (D-FL), Freshman Congressional Idiot.

And I want a pony.

The moral of this story?

Rep. Alan Grayson was standing in the middle of Disney World when it hit him: What Americans really need is a week of paid vacation.

So on Thursday, the Florida Democrat will introduce the Paid Vacation Act — legislation that would be the first to make paid vacation time a requirement under federal law.

Don’t let Congressmen go to Disney World. As Allahpundit put it, “One fun ride on the teacups and they’re ready to lay down a mandate for 300 million people.” Particularly when we’re in the middle of an economic downturn and a rising unemployment rate – and if you don’t get why either’s important in this context, I suggest that you give Rep. Grayson’s office a call; he may be hiring.

Moe Lane

PS: You know how you know when you’ve said something dumb in this business? When even a reliably Democrat-friendly media entity like Politico can’t help but snark. From later on:

So far, no group has come out in opposition of the bill. Nor has anyone announced opposition to roller coaster rides, cookouts on the beach or salt-water taffy on the boardwalk.

You can almost see the Politico ruffling Grayson’s hair and telling him what a big Congressman he’s getting to be, there.

Crossposted to RedState.

‘Watchmen on the wall of world freedom.’

A quote from Kennedy’s last, undelivered speech – and one quoted by Florida Senatorial candidate Marco Rubio as part of his farewell speech to the Florida legislature.

Via And So it Goes in Shreveport. No transcript yet, sorry.

I’ve been personally staying out of the entire Crist/Rubio NRSC endorsement brouhaha, mostly because we’re going to have Senatorial candidates that are going to need the NRSC’s help – but I do have to ask: does Charlie have anything that can beat that?

Seriously. Does Crist play at that level? – Because if he doesn’t, this is going to be an interesting primary.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

Billionaire NY Independence Party founder fleeing Democrat NY for GOP Florida.

How did that third-party thing work out for you, Mr. Golisano?

Apparently, $1 million more a year was $1 million too much:

BILLIONAIRE GOLISANO FLEES NY OVER TAX

ALBANY — New York billionaire Tom Golisano is taking his big bucks elsewhere.

Furious over a new “millionaire’s tax” that could cost him an extra $1 million this year, the Rochester-area resident and three-time gubernatorial candidate says he’s fleeing the state for Florida’s Gulf Coast.

Golisano called it a “quick decision” to switch his legal address to his $13 million waterfront mansion in Naples, Fla., after Gov. Paterson and lawmakers agreed to a record-breaking $4 billion income-tax hike last month.

[snip]

The millionaire’s tax — which hiked the income tax rate to 8.97 percent from 6.85 percent on those making over $500,000 a year — would force Golisano to pay $13,000 a day in state income taxes. That’s $4.7 million a year, up from $3.6 million.

Via Say Anything, which helpfully notes that Golisano is one of the founding members of the Independence Party of New York, which apparently exists more or less to remind the rest of the country why having multiple meaningful political parties is such a massive headache. I’m sure that Florida will welcome the attention and philanthropic zeal of Mr. Golisano, just as long as he controls his political enthusiasms properly. After all, there’s a reason why he felt the need to flee from a Democratic-controlled state to a Republican-controlled one…

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

’43 stun-gunned at prisons’ Take Your Kids to Work Day’

I can’t believe that this isn’t up on Fark yet: this is why they invented the Florida tag.

43 stun-gunned at prisons’ Take Your Kids to Work Day

TALLAHASSEE — A total of 43 children were directly and indirectly shocked by electric stun guns during simultaneous ”Take Your Sons and Daughters to Work Day” events gone wrong at three state prisons, according to new information provided Friday by the Florida Department of Corrections.

Via Instapundit and AoSHQ: this also reminded me of this Onion video, which is sufficiently lacking in good taste that I’ll just link to it.

Other than that, I got nothing.