ROMNEY TAX PLAN “CRUNCHES MIDDLE CLASS” Romney’s tax plan crunches middle class [Tampa Bay Times editorial] “Lower taxes on the rich and higher taxes on the middle class is how a nonpartisan analysis summed up Mitt Romney’s tax plan.”
Numbers on health act debunk GOP claims [Tampa Bay Times editorial] “One of the chief Republican objections to health care reform is that it will add too much to the deficit and the nation can’t afford it. The problem with this claim is that it’s wrong. The Congressional Budget Office has consistently maintained that the Affordable Care Act reduces the deficit by tens of billions of dollars even as it extends health coverage to millions of Americans. Those who are calling for its repeal on the grounds of fiscal responsibility need to explain how they would do better.”
DEMOCRATS HAPPY TO WELCOME SCOTT TO CAMPAIGN TRAIL Democrats happy to welcome Scott to the campaign trail and convention [Tampa Bay Times] “Democrats want to tie Scott and Romney together in the minds of Florida voters. In an appearance Sunday on Bay News 9’s Political Connections, state Democratic Party executive director Scott Arceneaux called Scott ‘the most unpopular governor in the country.’ ‘He lacks any political skills, and that’s the Republicans saying that, not me,’ Arceneaux said. ‘We’re certainly going to make an issue of him. And we think the fact that people just don’t like him, that’ll help really define the Republican brand in Florida by Rick Scott. If you don’t like what Rick Scott’s doing in Tallahassee, which we don’t think people do, if you don’t like the Republican governor, you’re not going to like Mitt Romney.'”
Welcome to the Campaign Trail, Gov. Scott [FDP] “‘With 52-percent of Floridians disapproving of the job Rick Scott has done, we are happy to welcome the Governor to the campaign trail. We can only hope that Governor Scott will join Mitt Romney and Republicans up and down the ballot to campaign across the state as Scott explains how these GOP candidates share his Tea Party vision for Florida.'”
Loser of the week: Rick Scott [Tampa Bay Times] “Sometimes it seems the Scott administration views Floridians as saps. He hailed his “Project Sunburst” program as giving the public easy access to his administration emails. But he basically opened only his fan mail to public view. Sounds more like Project Smokescreen”
An uncensored peek at Gov. Scott’s e-mail [Miami Herald column] “An absolutely true news item: To erase the perception that it was censoring public records, the office of Gov. Rick Scott has announced it will no longer delete unflattering correspondence from the governor’s official email account.”
GOP’s lopsided priorities hurt kids, working families [Miami Herald Guest Column by Sen. Nan Rich] “In one of those classic “what were they thinking?” moments, Republican Gov. Rick Scott earlier this year signed off on a budget that left Florida’s subsidized childcare programs — once again — woefully underfunded while shoring up — once again — high-end welfare for some of the world’s biggest corporations.”
MEET CONNIE MACK IV Nelson debuts attack on Mack [Tampa Tribune] “It comes off a series of news stories from the past few months that document problems in Mack’s personal history, including bar fights and road rage incidents when he was younger, financial problems he incurred around the time of his 2005 divorce and missed votes in Congress while he’s been campaigning for himself and for Mitt Romney.” WATCH “MEET CONNIE” HERE.
TAMPA BAY AREA RACES HEAT UP: FITZ OUT-RAISES BUCHANAN (3 PERIODS IN A ROW), YOUNG IN TORCH SCANDAL, DUDLEY HITS FARKAS
Buchanan, others make Florida’s GOP look like a bunch of Wile E. Coyotes [Examiner] “The Republican Party of Florida, once considered the unstoppable force of the GOP and the model by which all state parties should be run, appears to be plummeting to the ground faster than an ACME Anvil. Despite the national convention being held in Tampa this month, Mitt Romney may want to make like the Road Runner afterwards, and tear away from this collection of political Wile E. Coyotes.”
Attorney seeks court to hold Rep. Buchanan in contempt [Bradenton Herald] “Attorneys representing a former business partner of U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan filed a motion Friday seeking a contempt-of-court order citation against the Sarasota Republican in a business dispute.”
Fitzgerald outraises Buchanan in July [Bradenton Herald] “Keith Fitzgerald, who is trying to oust U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan from Congress, has raised about $22,000 more than Buchanan in campaign contributions since July 1, according to recent reports filed with the Federal Elections Committee.”
Democrats On Romney Torchgate: ‘We’re Gonna Find This Torch’ [Huffington Post] “Young is one of a handful of Republican politicians Romney met with following the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002, presenting each with a replica Olympic torch. Since the souvenir torches now sell on eBay for hundreds, or thousands of dollars, it is possible that such a gift could potentially run afoul of congressional rules barring members from accepting gifts worth more than $50…When HuffPost asked Young about the torch, he acknowledged receiving it, indicating that he still had the torch in his possession. When asked about House gift rules, Young changed his story.”
Dwight Dudley hits Frank Farkas over utility vote [Tampa Bay Times] “Farkas was a legislator in 2006 and voted for SB 888, allowing utility companies like Progress Energy to charge ratepayers for construction costs of nuclear plants regardless of their completion. ‘This outrageous fee will cost Floridians more than one billion dollars – for something that may never be built,’ said Dudley.”
OTHER NEWS WE THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Analysis: Rubio wins few Latins for Romney [Tampa Tribune] “Casey A. Klofstad, an associate professor of politics at the University of Miami, makes the case that whatever else it accomplishes, selecting Marco Rubio as a running mate won’t do much to swing Latino voters to Mitt Romney.”
What gives with Fla. Republicans? [Florida Today LTE] “This is just a taste of hypocrisy dished out to all Floridians by the so called conservative republican party of Florida.”
Another ‘F’ for those overseeing Florida’s public schools [Palm Beach Post column] “Florida’s standardized-test-based education system, and with it a Board of Education that has supported that system and hired commissioners based on politics rather than knowledge of education. Certainly, neither would be missed.”
Controversial Florida wetlands project hired lobbyist with DEP connection to push permit [Tampa Bay Times] “They hired Jacksonville lobbyist Edward “Ward” Blakely Jr. and took their case to the state Department of Environmental Protection — an agency headed by someone Blakely knew well: former Jacksonville business executive Herschel Vinyard.”
Belated tuberculosis plan comes with questions [Palm Beach Post editorial] “For the past month, the Florida Department of Health has scrambled the PR jets to fight embarrassing disclosures by The Post of the state’s secrecy and indifference about tuberculosis patients. First, The Post reported how the state played down an outbreak among homeless people in Jacksonville, a response that respected public health officials called reckless. Last Sunday, The Post reported how tuberculosis patients were housed at a cheap Jacksonville motel.”