This year's easiest decision

Yours truly has been a fan of Marco Rubio for quite some time, since he was Florida's Speaker of the House.

Since that time, he has matured into a political force of national stature and is running to become our state's next United States Senator.

As has been noted (ad nauseum?) in this and other outlets, he was thumping our illustrious governor in the Republican primary.

Charlie Crist wouldn't take the hint, so is now running as an "independent." In truth, anyone who has lived in this little corner of heaven for any length of time knows that he is nothing more than an "opportunist." His record of flitting about from one elective office to another is the stuff of legend. He has no clear vision, except to continue drawing a government salary.

Kendrick Meek, the Democrat in the race, stands by his liberal convictions. I actually respect him for that. They just don't resonate in 2010.

I encourage all of ye socks who are registered to vote in Florida to join me in supporting Marco Rubio for U.S. Senate.

Retain the Chief

Florida's state supreme court is led by Chief Justice Charles T. Canady, who is up for a merit retention vote this year.

Canady is a native Floridian who earned a law degree from Yale University.

He returned to this little corner of heaven to establish his law practice and quickly entered the political arena . . . as a Democrat, no less.

Unfortunately, as many conservative Democrats would eventually discover, the national party left him a long time before he felt compelled to switch his registration.

He ran for U.S. Congress as a Republican in 1992, and won narrowly. In DC, he distinguished himself as a leading opponent of partial-birth abortions.

After a self-imposed term limit, Canady returned to Florida and served as general counsel to Governor Jeb Bush for a time before accepting a judicial appointment.

He was named Chief Justice by our current illustrious governor in 2008, but don't hold that against him. He deserves retention.

Vot YES to retain Chief Justice Charles T. Canady on the November ballot.

Exercise your discretion in considering Labarga

Justice Jorge Labarga is another candidate for the state supreme court that our illustrious governor placed on the bench ahead of more qualified jurists.

In fact, he helped him pad his resume during the process by appointing him to a seat on the 4th District Court of Appeal . . . where he served for ONE WHOLE DAY!

Labarga may be better remembered for his role in the disputed 2000 presidential election when, as a Palm Beach County judge he rejected the idea of a re-vote down there.

But attorneys who had to defend their clients against criminal charges in his courtroom remember him better for being overly anxious to crank thru his cases. Speed trumped justice in Labarga's courtroom.

A case in point was the first degree murder charge against one Mark Barrow. Despite requests to the contrary, Labarga would not allow the jury access to transcripts of testimony during their deliberations. Re-reads take too much time, he explained.

It is true the question of re-reads are completely up to the discretion of each judge. But, an appeals court subsequently slammed Labarga for proclaiming a blanket policy in lieu of actually exercising the discretion on a case-by-case basis.

Did I mention said slam was issued by the same 4th DCA on which Labarga had served for that very lengthy term of JUST ONE DAY?!

Since making the move up to Tallahassee, Justice Labarga has further distinguished himself by siding with the previously profiled Justice Perry to throw judicial roadblocks in the way of those trying to exempt Florida from ObamaCare.

Yeah, this guy is a real winner. Not.

Vote NO on retaining Labarga.

Dump Judge Perry

One of the first things Governor Charlie Crist did last year after literally embracing The ObamaNation's agenda at a pro-stimulus rally was to appoint a Democrat to the state supreme court.

Said Democrat is James Perry, who lives in nearby Longwood but is a native of North Carolina and passed the bar in neighboring Georgia before moving to this little corner of heaven.

Perry was suggested to Crist as a candidate for the high court by the Orlando NAACP.

Since taking his seat on the bench up in Tallahassee, Justice Perry has distinguished himself by throwing judicial roadblocks in the way of ongoing efforts to exempt Florida from ObamaCare.

Way to go, Charlie!

The bad news is, while we know Crist is leaving Tallahassee in January, in this case the results of his maladministration will linger unless the voters of the state VOTE NO on the question of Perry's merit retention.

Retain Judge Torpy . . . while you still can

Yet another judge ye socks in this little corner of heaven shall be asked to consider for merit retention on the November ballot is Vincent Torpy.

Judge Torpy is a graduate of the University of Central Florida. Though he earned his law degree from another institution which shall forever go nameless in this blog, he worked as a police officer and established a law practice over in Brevard County. Before he was elevated to the bench, he returned to UCF as an adjunct law professor. So, he knows a little something about law and order.

Torpy's name was recently on the short list of candidates our illustrious governor was asked to consider for nomination to the Florida Supreme Court. Unfortunately, as is his way, he decided to go in another direction.

It is likely Governor Q-Tip's successor (whoever that may be!) won't make that mistake. In the mean time, vote yes to retain Judge Vincent Torpy on our 5th District Court of Appeals.

Primary endorsements - part 5

This one should come as no surprise to ye socks.

Marco Rubio is my pick in the GOP primary for U.S. Senate.

A lot of us around this little corner of heaven were relishing the thought of his trouncing Charlie Crist, but I guess Governor Q-Tip will have to wait til November . . .

The two remaining opponents on the ballot (Billy Kogut and William Esoffery) stand no chance.

To find out more about this rising star, check out his website: http://www.marcorubio.com

I thought he left the party a long time ago . . .

There has only ever been one conservative in the U.S. Senate race in this little corner of heaven, and it's never been our illustrious governor . . .

Crist campaign is toast

Our illustrious governor was twice burned yesterday.

And, that's not a tasteless reference to his famously perennial suntan.

Ye socks who have followed his inexplicable career to date have no doubt noticed his predilection for hitching his wagon to greater stars in the political universe.

Remember in the rosy days following the dawn of the ObamaNation how he gleefully embraced the disaster-in-waiting otherwise known as "the stimulus plan?!"

More recently, he's been pimping whatever conservative credentials he thought he had left by invoking the name of his supposed-mentor Connie Mack.

I can only imagine how he felt when his hug buddy paid a whopping 27 minutes of lip service to the future of Florida's Space Coast. It was painfully clear the real presidential focus was on getting away from Cape Canaveral as quickly as possible to attend a big Democratic fundraiser down in Miami. His announced policy shift essentially left the country's space program in shambles, and thousands more Floridians worrying about their jobs.

And, as for Mack, he walked away from Crist's senate campaign in the wake of his veto of the education bill.

Whispers abound this morning that Mitt Romney will soon be joining Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani in endorsing Crist's primary opponent Marco Rubio.

Methinks in the past 24 hours or so that Charlie may have discovered just how few real allies he has.

So, could he seriously be considering a run as an independent?!

Stranger things have happened, I suppose. I mean, this IS Florida, after all!!

Crist statements smell fishy

Yours truly has never been a big fan of our too-tan governor. And, his stock dropped precipitously in this little corner of heaven when he embraced TheObamaNation's wreckless "stimulus" plans to rob future generations. The image of that embrace will always be on my mind when I see his name, particularly on a ballot.

Recently, however, we Floridians have further been shamed by our illustrious chief executive. And, not just by his Q-tip hair.

Now, I don't expect him to stay in Tallahassee 24/7. Wouldn't wish that on anybody. A chill just ran down my spine thinking about it. But, with all this great state has to offer, it is really perplexing why our governor is perpetually traipsing around the other 49 states and the District of Columbia. I guess he's more interested in building a national profile than actually doing the job he was elected to do . . .

This past weekend found him up in Michigan, lying to the GOP faithful. Ok, maybe "lying" is too strong a word. But, he was certainly stretching the truth beyond the point of decency when he claimed credit for cutting Florida's budget from $73 to $66 billion. Ummmm . . . . Last I recall, the budget numbers are smaller because the recession has caused tax revenues to plummet. And, I also recall how Crist actually vetoed a trimmer budget passed by the state legislature in January.

Even more galling, Crist spent today making the rounds of the cable news networks. I guess he'd rather lie to the talking heads than to his actual constituents. Ok, again, maybe "lie" is too strong a word. But, I saw at least two interviews that made me want to retch.

The first was on MSNBC's Morning Joe, where he nearly dislocated his shoulder trying to pat himself on the back for improving Florida's public school system. I'm pretty sure all the accountability measures created by his predecessor (Jeb Bush) deserve the actual credit. But, I guess that's one of those inconvenient truths he'd rather ignore. Any efforts Crist may have made have been completely overshadowed by his out-of-state travels, tv appearances, and presidential hugs.

The second was with John Roberts on CNN, during which he sounded like a only-slightly-less-socialist version of the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. He was practically crowing about his version of a "public option" for health insurance: CoverFlorida. What a pathetic joke that has turned out to be. With premiums in the $150/month range, the governor has persuaded a whopping 4,129 people to sign-up since he took office. (We have a population of more than 18 million the last time I checked . . .)

I don't care how many dollars Charlie Crist raises from his out-of-state buddies, or how many times his grinning mug graces the airwaves. I'm just not buying his brand of politics any more. And, I definitely don't want to see it transplanted from Tallahassee to Washington, DC.

Sorry, Charlie.

Adios, Mel!

No doubt in response to the withering criticism in yesterday's post in the dryer, Florida's most beloved spineless RINO announced his resignation at Orlando International Airport at 3pm today.

Senator Mel Martinez once inspired great confidence in these parts, and even succeeded in getting yours truly off his wallet to make a campaign contribution back in 2004.

All I can say now is that he hosed me. He hosed us all.

After taking his senate seat, Mel fell into some bad company. Supporting the ObamaNation's recent Supreme Court nominee was only the latest example. The most egregious was his partnership with Ted Kennedy back in 2006, when they crafted a bill that would have granted amnesty to ten million illegal aliens.

Ironically, despite his affinity for Democrats and their policies, the Republican National Committee made Mel their chairman about the same time. And, it was under his "leadership" that the party lost its majority in Congress.

So, goodbye, Mel. I wish you well in your future as a private citizen, but can't say I'll miss your style of "public service." I only hope your departure hasn't opened the door to 6 years of Charlie Crist warming your seat on the left of the aisle in the senate chambers . . .

Q-tip head makes it official

For ye socks who noticed the thunderous lack of enthusiasm in Tallahassee and elsewhere across the Sunshine State this morning, I am pretty sure that was just our collective gut reaction to Charlie Crist's announcement that he will be abandoning his post at the governor's mansion in a pathetic attempt to become our next junior U.S. Senator.

You know what they say, when the going gets tough, Charlie gets going.

Since the oh-so-tan Crist took office, we've seen unemployment skyrocket to nearly 10%; our taxes hiked to the tune of $2 billion; and state services cut across the board.

And, now, he wants to take that level of achievement to DC, huh?

Well, in addition to his lousy performance to date, Crist has apparently forgotten the very large number of Republican voters who were disgusted by the way he embraced the ObamaNation's "stimulus" plan and its huge price tag . . . going so far as to welcome the Idiot-in-Chief in person at an appearance in Fort Myers. You can bet that picture is going to get some serious play over the next 18 months when the only "stimulus" we get out of that little plan is going to be runaway inflation . . .

Personally, I'm hoping former state house leader Marco Rubio is able to thwart Crist's further ambitions.

Otherwise, that goober is likely to go down in flames against the Democratic nominee the way he did back in '98 when he foolishly tried to unseat Bob Graham.

Will the madness never end?!?

Charlie Crist's plan to stick it to Florida homeowners

Any of ye socks who own a home in this little corner of heaven should be pretty steamed about a new property tax proposal that our illustrious tanned governor is trying to push thru the state legislature.

He wants to give an unfair tax break to first time buyers. Anyone who has never qualified for a homestead exemption before in the State of Florida would get an immediate 50% reduction in their assessment.

If passed, more of the tax burden will be shifted to existing home owners.

How fair is that?

Who elected this clown, anyway? It wasn't the unknown numbers of potential first home buyers out there who might take him up on this tax break. No, it was--by and large--the state's existing home owners.

And, now he wants to give us all the shaft.

But, despair not. Even if Snarlie Charlie's willing handmaidens in the legislature do succeed in getting this tripe passed thru both houses, it still must get voter approval as a constitutional amendment.

Time to contact ye olde state reps and senators and let them know what we think about the governor's plan . . .

Governor, or Media Whore?

Yesterday, the Florida cabinet was scheduled to meet up in Tallahassee to address (among other things) two huge issues facing our great state.

First, they were to consider how to handle State Farm's plan to leave 700,000 or so households without homeowner insurance.

Second, they needed to decide what to do about our bankrupt catastrophe fund before hurricane season begins.

But, despite the pressing need to do the people's business, our illustrious governor was AWOL.

Instead of doing the job he was elected to do, he was chasing the spotlight down in Fort Myers and pimping The ObamaNation's socialist agenda.

This might have gotten his overly-tan face and Q-tip hair on all the cable news networks. But, someone should have told him that all publicity is NOT good publicity. This stunt will be remembered when/if he ever has the nerve to seek public office in this state again.

What a tool!

Of land deals and road construction

Finally, a little fiscal responsibility in this little corner of heaven.

Unfortunately, it wasn't the homegrown variety and had to come by way of Tallahassee. But, we'll take what we can get when it comes to saving tax dollars.

This photo shows what the final stretch of State Road 429 currently looks like just a hop, skip, and a jump from ye olde Lake Hammer chalet. But, the lovely toll collectors over at the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority are salivating over a two billion dollar scheme to ram the so-called "Wekiva Parkway" even further north--about 25 miles through some very environmentally-sensitive land.

The only thing stopping them were legislative mandates that two chunks of undeveloped property be purchased from the existing owners and set aside as state conservation lands:

Tract #1: "Neighborhood Lakes" encompassed 1,600 acres, and was successfully acquired by the state for $74 million in March of last year. ($46,250 per acre).

Tract #2: "Pine Plantation" is much smaller at "only" 385 acres, but owner Jim Palmer (an Orlando attorney) wants $37.5 million for it. ($97,402 per acre--more than twice as much as tract #1).

I was impressed that our illustrious governor was willing to nix the deal yesterday (and thus delay the road construction plans). Mr. Palmer has been one of his biggest supporters in this part of the Sunshine State, and was only recently rewarded by the governor with an appointment to the board of the Orlando International Airport. So, to see him draw the line at this outrageous asking price was refreshing. I know some yayhoos on the Orlando City Council would have simply gone along with it and raised our taxes to pay for it.

The reason this was a bad deal transcends politics (and environmental considerations, for that matter). I absolutely HATE to quote Bill Clinton, but "It's the economy, stupid."

Land values across Central Florida have decreased substantially over the last year and a half, not more than doubled. Even using the out-of-date sale price per acre of tract #1, the state could not in good conscience offer more than $17.8 million.

Also, as more and more people are staying home or carpooling, there are fewer and fewer vehicles on the roads and thus less and less need for expensive toll roads. And, since there is less driving going on across the state, there's less gas tax revenue to finance them anyway.

As someone whose family has lived here for 9 generations, I am all for preserving as much of our region's natural beauty while we strengthen our infrastructure. But, a bad deal is a bad deal, and that's not worthy of posterity.

Slightly-reluctant kudos to Governor Crist.

Your Florida Dream Home for only $100?!?

Well, that's how the "Sons of Toil" are advertising the 4,700 square foot, 5 bedroom, 3.5 bathroom chalet they built southwest of Little Lake Harris in the tiny Lake County town of Howie-in-the-Hills.

They are raffling it for $100 per chance. And, if you buy 5 tickets, they'll give you 5 more at no additional charge. Tickets may be purchased from now thru September 30th, with the drawing scheduled for October 14th at 2pm.

Ye socks may check out complete details at this website:

http://www.2008dreamhome.org

Sounds like a great opportunity, and the house is pretty awesome. But, the cynic in me always makes me look a gift horse in the mouth. Here's why:

If the house is legitimately worth $1,000,000, then the IRS is going to come knocking on the winner's door looking for up to $350,000 in income tax.

And, if you can swing that hefty sum, you will also owe about $17,000 per year to the friendly government of Lake County for property taxes.

I shudder to think about homeowner insurance (thank, Governor Crist).

So, it might be better for those who buy these raffle tickets to hope to win the second or third prizes: a '08 Dodge Ram Truck and $10,000 in cash.

But, don't let my cynicism get in the way of your dreams if you've got $100 to burn . . .

Stop with the phone calls, already!

The incessant ringing of the telephone around the chalet this weekend must mean we have a primary election coming up!! It used to be they'd just fill your snail mail box with brochures. Now, they want to call you up and talk to you.

Some of the campaigns are downright annoying, to the detriment of their candidates/causes:

1. Charlie Crist and his ilk can quit pimping their property tax "reform" plan. It's not going to fly.

2. The McCainiacs shouldn't be so proud of Crist's endorsements, for reasons only briefly alluded to in #1. Also, we remember Mel Martinez working with you and Ted Kennedy in the (thankfully unsuccessful) attempt to grant amnesty to 10 million illegal aliens. So, no surprise he's in your camp, too.

3. Love ya, Rudy. Really. But, FLA is not NYC . . . at least not that part of the peninsula beyond Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.

4. Will someone tell John Edwards that I am not, nor will I ever be, a registered Democrat?! This is a closed primary. Registered Republicans can't vote for you on Tuesday.

5. Will someone tell Buddy Dyer I don't live in Orlando any more, so couldn't vote for him even if I wanted to?!

6. How many times do I have to ask all of you to remove my number from your calling list?!

I will be so glad on Tuesday evening when we can finally get a respite . . . but, November is only a few months away, and I imagine they'll be back in gear again real soon.

ARGGHHH!

Isn't it still 2007?!

I don't know why so many people are already talking about the 2008 elections, but it seems to be infectious.

How much longer must the City of Orlando endure Mayor Buddy's focus on entertainment venues at the expense of fighting crime?

Will a credible Republican emerge to oppose Ric Keller in the primary? How 'bout Orange County Chairman Rich Crotty?

What's Jeb Bush up to? He's been keeping a low profile since he left office in January, but surely he's not completely done with politics . . .

Is our new governor Charlie Crist really aspiring to become Vice President?!

And, of course, who to support for President?

Each party has its stars. But, in my opinion, none of them shine very brightly when it comes to the practical aspects of the job.

Sure, their faces might look good on the cover of newspapers. And, some of them are even good at dazzling broadcasters with their simplistic one-liners about complicated issues.

But, is that what we should really be looking for in a president?

Not in my opinion.

That's why I'm leaning toward Mike Huckabee, the former Governor of Arkansas.

I know. Who'd a thought I'd support a former Arkansas governor for President?!

So far, he's my favorite. But, in retrospect, we're not very far along in this process at all, are we?!?

Opinion subject to change.