She's the only Democrat elected statewide, Alex Sink, our Florida chief financial officer. Today she announced for the governor's office to be vacated by the upward-striving Charlie Crist, and I wish her well.
How's she going to do well? Since her business experience is in banking and that's the "industry" that joined with real estate to lead us to the edge of the cliff of financial crisis, she should lay out everything in her business background relevant to the financial crisis and explain that she's had nothing -- absolutely nothing -- to do with the march to the cliff.
Her notes and emails should be laid out for the public to see how she warned against irrational exuberance, against excessive leverage, against over-development.
She did, didn't she?
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Pretty crazy: Get the Club for Growth to take out Crist
They're watching Florida again already.
On Daily Kos Monday evening Markos himself has a post urging the Club for Growth to descend upon us and take down any viable Republican candidate for the soon-to-be-vacant U.S. Senate seat now held by Mel Martinez (who, like Arlen Specter of PA, maybe couldn't win a Republican primary).
Remember how Specter blames the Club for Growth for wrecking moderate Republicanism? Let's do it in Florida, too.
And in addition, the photo of Obama and Crist should be displayed all the time to make the Republicans start cheering ABC, ABC, ABC. Anyone But Crist. So says Markos.
That's a Getty Images photo.
Oh, by the way, Crist is supposed to announce on Tuesday. Into the fray with Marco Rubio, for the Republican nomination.
UPDATE: Karen Thurman, chair of the Florida Democratic Party, neatly summarizes all the opportunity that lies in Crist's decision to bail out of Tallahassee and try for the Senate:
In other words: Democrats, it's time to concentrate on how to win a ton of open seats in November 2010. We can take Florida back.His decision creates a once in a generation opportunity for change in Florida and ensures that nothing will be the same after 2010.
In the next 20 months, there will be a fight for the Governor’s mansion, a United States Senate seat, three other statewide offices up for grabs, a number of seats in Congress to fight for, and with at least 9 open State Senate seats and 22 open State House seats that are currently held by Republicans, there will be other legislative races across the Sunshine State – and Floridians will cast their ballots and change the face of our state.
And in Washington, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee throws cold water on the notion that Crist might be a popular governor because he and his gerrymandering party have done such a good job. Where do we stand after 30 months of Crist?
Florida Has Second Highest Foreclosure Rate. Florida is currently ranked second in home foreclosure activity. Florida recorded 18,946 foreclosures in March, a 33 percent increase from February. [Orlando Business Journal, 4/15/09]
Floridians Facing Job Losses, Foreclosures, Dwindling Bank Accounts. Crist is presiding over a historic collapse of the state's housing market, banking sector and construction industry, and a slowdown in tourism. Floridians struggle with job reductions, home foreclosures and dwindling bank accounts. [South Florida Sun Sentinel, 4/17/09]
Budget Hikes Taxes, Fees, Tuition While Cutting Spending, Including Elderly Care and State Workers’ Pay. Lawmakers in Tallahassee have been wrestling with a $6 billion budget gap. The budget recently passed by lawmakers includes $2 billion in new fees and taxes, pay cuts for state workers, tuition hikes, and cuts to elderly healthcare. [Ledger, 5/04/09; News Herald, 5/08/09]
Monday, May 11, 2009
CALL and E-MAIL our Miami South Florida Water Management District Governing Board members Tuesday and express your support for the U.S. Sugar Purchase
----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Jonathan Ullman
Sent: Monday, May 11, 2009 7:54:08 PM
Subject: Testing Time for the Everglades. Make the call and send the email.
Dear Everglades ally:
With a YES vote on Wednesday, the state of Florida will soon be holding the deed to land more than double the total mass of the City of Miami to help restore the Everglades and keep our water wells flowing with fresh water instead of salt water.
The purchase means we will be much closer to restoring the Everglades without having to spend tens of billions of dollars on dangerous and unreliable deep water wells. It means that we will have more land to clean up Everglades-toxic Phosphorus before it heads south. It means we’re closer to an end to fish kills in the Caloosahatchee basin and Indian River Lagoon. It means we’re closer to a day when fires won’t ravish Shark River Slough and erode the organic peat that keeps the Everglades out of the sea. It means everything is possible.
But if we do nothing, we will simply return to the box we’ve created, and the death of the Everglades continues.
I ask you to CALL and E-MAIL your South Florida Water Management District Governing Board member(s) Today and Tuesday and express your support for the U.S. Sugar Purchase. We are one vote away. Their info is below. [Miami-Dade County SFWMD Governing Board members:]
Eric Buermann: (561) 682-6433, ebuermann@sfwmd.gov
Michael Collins: (561) 236-5304, mcollins@sfwmd.gov
Melissa Meeker: (772) 323-6468, mmeeker@sfwmd.gov
Sincerely,
Jonathan Ullman
South Florida/Everglades Senior Organizer
Sierra Club
(305) 860-9888
For more information, visit: http://www.evergladesfoundation.org/index_ussugar.php
https://my.sfwmd.gov/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/COMMON/NEWSR/ROG_APR09/jtf_rog_2009_05.pdf
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Friday, May 08, 2009
Thursday, May 07, 2009
White House blog has more detail on budget cuts
Click on this link to find out more about what's being trimmed in the $17 billion haircut.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Determining-What-Works-Line-by-Line/
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Determining-What-Works-Line-by-Line/
Who's after our banks? "Lowlife grave dancers."
It was one of those below-the-fold stories on the front page of the NY Times about some unfathomable business thing, but the time was late and I decided to read it anyway. Despite the headline: "As Investors Circle Ailing Banks, Fed Sets Limits." And despite the dateline: "Cainsville, Mo."
Good decision. There about in the middle of the story was a note that the same business vulture was circling Florida's own BankUnited, which is in deep trouble.
Even better was to plow to the end of the story and get the kicker (we old hacks know the last lines often are the second-best thing in a long story): It quoted J. Christopher Flowers, who's desperately rich and desperate to get much richer:
Suddenly, I'm dubious that this is going to turn out well for the rest of us. A few of the super-rich of the world will do great for themselves, and we will think that we're doing better as the stock markets claw back a fair amount of what they've lost, and we'll lose resolve to make our economic system work better. And in a decade or so J. Christopher Flowers and his gang of hedgers will be too big to fail but failing anyway, and there we go again.
That story was on p. 1 of Wednesday's Times. On Thursday the Times had an editorial on the same topic, urging the Obama administration and the Fed not to relax rules about who can run banks. The editorial also said:
When they're bold enough to call themselves lowlife grave dancers, I'd say, Yes, raw deal for us.
Here are some more links on this topic, some rather technical.
Source: Two main bidding groups for BankUnited - South Florida Business Journal:
Confessing here that I hadn't paid much attention to BankUnited. I note now that its shares go for about a quarter these days. There's a commenter after the SoFla Business Journal article who says, "Folks in South Florida are so asleep there has not even been a run on the bank deposits."
Next is a newswire item from March 10 when BankUnited didn't file its reports to the SEC as required, and NASDAQ said it wasn't in compliance with rules to be listed.
Now excuse me please. The secretary of the treasury has an op-ed in the Times, and I'm going to read it to stave off the nightmares that otherwise would be disturbing my rest.
Good decision. There about in the middle of the story was a note that the same business vulture was circling Florida's own BankUnited, which is in deep trouble.
Even better was to plow to the end of the story and get the kicker (we old hacks know the last lines often are the second-best thing in a long story): It quoted J. Christopher Flowers, who's desperately rich and desperate to get much richer:
He has estimated his banking empire will one day earn at least a 35 percent return on banks it has bought in the United States. “I find it to be an extraordinary time to invest,” he said.
He was even more blunt when he spoke to an industry group in New York earlier this year. “Lowlife grave dancers like me will make a fortune,” he predicted.
Suddenly, I'm dubious that this is going to turn out well for the rest of us. A few of the super-rich of the world will do great for themselves, and we will think that we're doing better as the stock markets claw back a fair amount of what they've lost, and we'll lose resolve to make our economic system work better. And in a decade or so J. Christopher Flowers and his gang of hedgers will be too big to fail but failing anyway, and there we go again.
That story was on p. 1 of Wednesday's Times. On Thursday the Times had an editorial on the same topic, urging the Obama administration and the Fed not to relax rules about who can run banks. The editorial also said:
If you’ve had a nagging feeling that the banking mess is a colossal raw deal for taxpayers, consider the suspicion confirmed.
When they're bold enough to call themselves lowlife grave dancers, I'd say, Yes, raw deal for us.
Here are some more links on this topic, some rather technical.
Source: Two main bidding groups for BankUnited - South Florida Business Journal:
Confessing here that I hadn't paid much attention to BankUnited. I note now that its shares go for about a quarter these days. There's a commenter after the SoFla Business Journal article who says, "Folks in South Florida are so asleep there has not even been a run on the bank deposits."
Next is a newswire item from March 10 when BankUnited didn't file its reports to the SEC as required, and NASDAQ said it wasn't in compliance with rules to be listed.
Now excuse me please. The secretary of the treasury has an op-ed in the Times, and I'm going to read it to stave off the nightmares that otherwise would be disturbing my rest.
Who gets kicked off Elephant Island?
Thanks to Franco Caliz, the almost 20-year-old president of Democracy for America-Miami-Dade, for the tip on this one. Franco thinks he's young but he's really quite old.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Tim Geithner and Jeb Bush in the same scandal-plagued blog post
Is there a label for “read this and weep?” That’s the category for this Truthdig story about a scandal reported in the Wall Street Journal. It’s about the NY Federal Reserve Bank and the crony way they do business with a wink at the rules.
As the piece asks, where is the outcry? Is there silence because Timothy Geithner is one of the actors in this scandal and it’s not PC to tarnish his name? The reason given for his falling in line was that it would help find a successor for him at the New York Federal Reserve as he became secretary of the treasury. Pretty lame.
If this isn’t rolled out and fixed somehow, a few years down the line we’ll see how rich Geithner gets when he leaves government work and returns to the world of private finance. This falls into a category I call the delayed bribe.
And speaking of that, there’s an article on the bottom of p. 1 of the Miami Herald business section today that got my steam up.
Faithful readers will recognize one of my hobbyhorses – the role that Jeb Bush played in the ripoff of Florida’s money-market fund when Lehman Brothers went bankrupt. To summarize, while he was governor Lehman was permitted to sell its junk to the money-market-like fund where local governments can park money until needed to pay police, fire, schools, staff, construction – you know, all the stuff we expect from government.
According to the Herald article, it cost Florida $300 million when Lehman went south. By then, Jeb Bush was a consultant to Lehman raking in an amount I’d like to hear from his lips or accountants.
Here's a link to one of my early posts on this, with numerous links therein to background on this little-known fiasco. Well, it's about only a couple hundred millions of dollars -- not the billions and trillions that we're used to.
If you look down into the comments of the Herald story you’ll find what I posted there this afternoon. I reproduce below in case it’s been whited out.
LarryThorson wrote on 05/06/2009 04:05:53 PM:
I'd appreciate this article more if it pointed out that former Gov. Jeb Bush became a consultant to Lehman brothers after leaving office. And that he had ushered Lehman's junk into the Florida state money-market fund when he was governor. I call his lucrative employment with Lehman a delayed bribe. If Jeb came to a pizza parlor in my town on a listening tour, and I got to the microphone, I'd ask how much Lehman paid him, and when he's giving it to the ripped-off Florida treasury.
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Rubio in US Senate race, reaction from FlaDems, Meek, Gelber
Marco Rubio announced his decision to run for the US Senate on Tuesday, prompting a Tweet from Dan Gelber and a plea for money from Kendrick Meek, two Democrats in the good-guys race for the seat held now by Mel Martinez.
UPDATE: Over at Generation Miami, Giancarlo Sopo enlightens us on Rubio by reporting on how he says one thing in English and the other in Spanish. Good work, Giancarlo. Keep it up. (This will be a long slog.)
UPDATE II: And on Huffington Post, the fine blogger Howie Klein (Down with Tyranny) has another rendition of this story. My original version is also cross-posted on Florida Progressive Coalition blog.
Still to be heard from are two more Republicans, Charlie Crist and maybe US Rep. Vern Buchanan, who’s said to be waiting to decide whether to run for the US Senate or for governor, if Crist is leaving that office.
Also, Democrat Kevin Burns, mayor of North Miami, is in the Democratic contest, and may raise his voice at news that Rubio has made up his mind to try for Washington.
Tweeted Gelber, who is in the Florida state Senate now after eight years in the Florida House of Representatives:
I make it that he could have risked another 20 or so characters in filling that 140-character-max Twitter message window. Wasn’t there more to say about Rubio?
Wait, it's there on Gelber's blog, where he makes a good point that only a small percentage of Floridians are likely to follow Rubio. "Wrongheaded" is another fine characterization of Rubio. Gelber says:
That statement:
Websites of the three Democratic candidates can be found in a box on the right-hand column of this blog.
The Florida Democratic Party spokesman, Eric Jotkoff, pointed out that Rubio led the way in turning budget grants to state universities into lucrative part-time posts for himself – the sort of trick that cost Ray Sansom his post as speaker of the House.
Jotkoff also said that Rubio is in the Rush Limbaugh wing of the Republicans. Ugh is the last part of Rush’s name, and that’s my reaction to his voice, though I feel duty-bound to keep listening to know where he’s leading his dittoheads.
Jotkoff's statement:
UPDATE: Over at Generation Miami, Giancarlo Sopo enlightens us on Rubio by reporting on how he says one thing in English and the other in Spanish. Good work, Giancarlo. Keep it up. (This will be a long slog.)
UPDATE II: And on Huffington Post, the fine blogger Howie Klein (Down with Tyranny) has another rendition of this story. My original version is also cross-posted on Florida Progressive Coalition blog.
Still to be heard from are two more Republicans, Charlie Crist and maybe US Rep. Vern Buchanan, who’s said to be waiting to decide whether to run for the US Senate or for governor, if Crist is leaving that office.
Also, Democrat Kevin Burns, mayor of North Miami, is in the Democratic contest, and may raise his voice at news that Rubio has made up his mind to try for Washington.
Tweeted Gelber, who is in the Florida state Senate now after eight years in the Florida House of Representatives:
Rubio announced. I was the Dem Leader when he was Speaker. An unapologetic ultra conservative, he will make the R primary worth watching.You can read it at http://twitter.com/dangelber
I make it that he could have risked another 20 or so characters in filling that 140-character-max Twitter message window. Wasn’t there more to say about Rubio?
Wait, it's there on Gelber's blog, where he makes a good point that only a small percentage of Floridians are likely to follow Rubio. "Wrongheaded" is another fine characterization of Rubio. Gelber says:
US Rep. Kendrick Meek (FL-17), who also must know Rubio from service in the state legislature, said in a message to supporters that he needs their financial support to help defend against the Republican attack machine.
"I have a lot of respect for Marco Rubio having served with him when he was Speaker and I was the Democratic Leader. He has never broken away from his very conservative principles, even after the course of history has proven many of their ideas to be wrongheaded. The GOP is in the midst of a fight for its basic heart and soul, not to mention its very relevance in the American political discussion, and I know Marco will be a loud and effective voice for those who believe that the direction of the last eight years was the correct one and for the small percentage of Floridians and Americans who believe that a massive shift to the right is the best medicine for America's ails."
That statement:
While their candidates will be battling each other, the Republican Party in Washington, DC and the Republican Party of Florida in Tallahassee will continue to target my record and our campaign by sending out misleading press releases as they've done for the past few months.
Republicans have no intention of giving up this critical U.S. Senate seat and their attack machine has already revved up. We will not allow the other side to define us with their negative messaging and your financial help will make all the difference. This campaign will tell our story on our terms and with our narrative. They are not sitting on the sidelines watching how this race unfolds and neither should you.
That is why the $20 for 2010 campaign is so critical. By making a recurring contribution of $20 every month through Election Day, you will be sending a definitive message that we will walk together on this long and winding campaign road from today through victory day.
After years of Democratic gains in Florida, we will not cede an inch of territory to our opponents. Now is the time to build upon our gains by picking up this seat that belongs to Democrats, Independents and fed-up Republicans who want their voices heard in the U.S. Senate.
Websites of the three Democratic candidates can be found in a box on the right-hand column of this blog.
The Florida Democratic Party spokesman, Eric Jotkoff, pointed out that Rubio led the way in turning budget grants to state universities into lucrative part-time posts for himself – the sort of trick that cost Ray Sansom his post as speaker of the House.
Jotkoff also said that Rubio is in the Rush Limbaugh wing of the Republicans. Ugh is the last part of Rush’s name, and that’s my reaction to his voice, though I feel duty-bound to keep listening to know where he’s leading his dittoheads.
Jotkoff's statement:
"At a time when Florida needs real leadership, Marco Rubio is just following George W. Bush and Republicans in Washington, offering only more of the same stale politics and failed polices.And here’s a snip on Vern Buchanan from the political blog of the Herald Tribune written by Jeremy Wallace:
"In announcing his candidacy, Rubio made it clear that his entire agenda if elected is to just say no - no to President Obama's efforts to jumpstart Florida's economy and create jobs, no to allowing Cuban-Americans to visit their families, and no to any solutions aimed at solving the many problems facing the Sunshine State and our nation.
"While Rubio has recently joined the Rush Limbaugh wing of the Republican Party in just saying no, as the sponsor of the largest sales tax increase in Florida's history, Rubio's recent rhetoric on taxes doesn't fit his record.
"Rubio is the Godfather of Tallahassee's Republican culture of corruption. As disgraced former Speaker Ray Sansom's mentor, Rubio taught Sansom how to personally benefit from bringing home the bacon. After delivering millions of tax dollars for Florida International University, Rubio turned around and got a $69,000 per year part-time job at the school... sound familiar?
Unfortunately, that is only the tip of the iceberg to Rubio's ethics problems. As Speaker, Rubio was involved in countless ethics scandals revolving around sweetheart mortgages, legislative favors for big donors, highway contracts, and other shady dealings.
"Democrats are organized and energized to bring change to Florida in 2010. We look forward to a strong Democrat winning this Senate seat to help implement President Barack Obama vision of change and join Sen. Bill Nelson in representing Florida in the tradition of Bob Graham and Lawton Chiles."
Don’t expect to hear much from U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan about running for the Senate or for governor until after May 10.
Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, told me earlier today that he is hearing Gov. Charlie Crist could make a decision around that day. Buchanan is among a group of Republicans said to be in the mix to run for either the U.S. Senate or for governor depending on what Crist runs for.
If Crist runs for re-election, Buchanan would be in the mix to run for the Senate. If Crist runs for the Senate, Buchanan said he is being encouraged by some supporters to run for governor.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Technology Thursday. Stuff to blow minds
This blog doesn’t often devote itself to technology. I’m interested but way behind the times and figure anything I say would be old hat. Nonetheless …
Last night, thanks to a chance meeting the day before with Alex de Carvalho
Look at this: Something better than Google, and coming soon. It’s called Wolfram Alpha.
Now, I remember having had a change to invest in Google at the beginning and passing it up. Will the same thing happen with Wolfram Alpha? Yes, I had more money then.
A few clicks further, and I’ve been captured by yet another microblogging service that promises to hit close to home. Take a look at flaprogressives.com. Here’s a rundown by the creator of it all ( think), Dave Harper.
This could speed up our campaigning in ’10, which brings me back to earth.
UPDATE: Thanks to Alex and Twitter for letting me know about this link to a slide show of pix from the Refresh Miami event Wednesday night. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wQ8lafzqc8
Your blogger can be seen in several pix wearing a long-sleeved white T-shirt, with Flip camera in hand.
Crist will face this and worse
The Democrats are getting ready for Charlie Crist to go in either direction.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
A US death from swine flu
It has been announced today. Not a good development. Advice on what to do comes from the Department of Health and Human Services, which is telling me to stock up on supplies in case it’s not safe to go out. I read this on Daily Kos this morning, clicked on the link, and yes, there it was on the government website, the following script for a public service announcement:
Health officials are concerned about a new influenza virus of swine origin that’s spreading from person to person. Officials are acting to combat this threat, but the outbreak might grow. So be prepared.
Store a two-week supply of food and water. Have two weeks of your regular prescription drugs at home. Keep health supplies on hand, including pain relievers and cold medicines.
For more details, visit www.cdc.gov/swineflu or call 1-800-CDC-INFO.
A message from HHS.
Have you heard it on your favorite radio station?
By coincidence I’m seeing one of my doctors this afternoon and will be asking for his input.
Stray thought intrudes: It’s great to see the powers rise up all over the world to deal with this public health threat. Would that we’d decide to tackle gun violence with equal resolve.
As in an anti-flu campaign, we’d acknowledge at the start that people will die of this because it’s a tough bug and some people are old and weak and some are young and weak. That still leaves us responsible to try to reduce the danger as much as possible. It is costly in human life, thwarted hopes and economic stability. Aren’t guns and flu similar?
Read some of the costs in Bob Herbert’s recent column on our culture of blood: 30,000 dead a year in this beloved country (gun suicides included), and non-fatal gunshot wounds are said to be the biggest uninsured cost for emergency rooms. Now, there's a way to try to reduce unproductive health spending.
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