Broward's News Beat- Fighting Fake News One Story At A Time

The End Of Florida No-Fault

Special Session Could Save No-Fault Auto Insurance System

Florida's 37-year-old no-fault auto insurance system is scheduled to expire Oct. 1 because state lawmakers failed to reach agreement on how to change the system before the end of the regular legislative session Friday.
But no-fault, or some version of it, could still be revived.

GOP Gov. Charlie Crist said he was disappointed that the law would end and that it was likely no-fault would be taken up at a special legislative session on property tax reform that starts June 12.

The end of no-fault would mean lower auto insurance rates for many drivers because they would no longer be required to buy $10,000 worth of personal injury protection, or PIP, which pays the medical bills and lost wages of people injured in auto accidents and funeral costs for those killed.

The system's demise also would end restrictions that now prevent injured motorists from filing pain-and-suffering lawsuits against the at-fault driver unless a doctor or chiropractor certifies that the injury is permanent.

"This is a victory for consumers," said Chris Neal, a spokesman for State Farm Mutual Insurance Co., Florida's largest auto insurer.
But the Florida Hospital Association warned Friday evening that emergency-room trauma care could be jeopardized.

"The seriousness of this issue cannot be ignored," Wayne NeSmith, the association's president, said in a statement. ''Some hospitals may have to reconsider whether they can continue to operate their trauma centers, and that would be a tragic loss for the people of Florida.'' Hospitals are heavily dependent on reimbursements paid by auto insurers. Without no-fault, a person's health insurance would replace PIP as the primary payer of auto-accident medical treatment.
Auto insurers say they also plan to offer new optional medical coverage.

The legislature has been divided over what to do with no-fault and have heard conflicting views from dozens of lobbyists representing auto insurers, health insurers, medical groups and trial lawyers.

The Senate this week passed a bill that would extend the no-fault law until 2012 and would tell the state's Financial Services Department and Office of Insurance Regulation to use the extension to review the no-fault system and assess how it affects insurance rates, consumers, health-care providers and the trial court system.

The House made major changes to the Senate proposal, including limiting medical care to $10,000 for emergency care and $3,000 for outpatient care. But a divided House failed to take up the issue.
In 2000, a statewide grand jury concluded that the no-fault system was full of fraud and that a cottage industry of auto-accident medical clinics had developed.

After several years of debate, the legislature agreed in 2003 to let no-fault expire this year, with the idea that the pending disappearance would force legislators to write a new law. But even that threat was not enough to bring lawmakers together.

"We had been working for a number of weeks, trying to get everyone to buy into real reform, and there were some special-interest groups blocking it in the Senate," said Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale.

"We'll see what happens when it sunsets. Maybe nothing happens," she said. "Maybe we can save Floridians a lot of money on their car insurance, and we can do our own Geico commercial." Sen. Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, predicted that the issue would be addressed during the special session.

"It allows everyone to take a deep breath, and allows the presiding officers to perhaps revisit the issue," he said.
By The Palm Beach Post, Fla.

Overall, not a good week for issues critical to Democracy and the voters of Florida

PAPER TRAIL LEGISLATION AND ANTI CITIZEN INITIATIVE BILLS MERGED AS
TWO BILLS PASS THE LEGISLATURE, SENT TO GOVERNOR

HB537 Paper Ballots mixed with initiative deforms and SB 900 citizen
initiative deforms and SB1920 Property Rights allows a Publix to pick
who is allowed to set up for signature gatherings; these bills passed during
the final two days of floor action by the Florida Legislature May 3-4.
SB1920 passed 4/30/07.

            On Thursday 5/3, the House unanimously accepted the
"Election Reform" train which included the HB537 Paper Trail reforms and SB900
restrictions against citizens' initiatives.    On the last day of session,
the House backed down from its even more anti-citizen version of
Initiative Reforms and accepted the Senate's version, and both bills are heading
for the Governor's desk.    At first glance, the two so-called "good
government" bills are opposites, with the latter bill including changes to only a
single statute and the former boasting comprehensive (and expensive) reforms
to a variety of elections related subjects:

a.. "Paper Trail" voting machines; funding and requirement of optical
scan machines and marksense technology replacing touchscreens in the fifteen
counties where they currently exist (and twenty-nine counties authorized for
ballot-on-demand for early voting sites); CONGRATULATIONS TO SO MANY
ALLIES ON THE ONGOING VOTING MACHINES' PAPER TRAIL!!
b.. Third party Voter Registration Organizations (similar to the
legislation declared unconstitutional previously);
c.. Citizens' Initiative restrictions against petition drives,
including an onerous and expensive, new process for gathering signatures AGAINST
petitions signed by citizens who would be singled out and lobbied to
subsequently "Revoke" the original petition signature;
d.. The earlier Presidential Primary date for the last Tuesday in January
2008;
e.. various Elections Commission changes, including weakening
citizen's complaints against possible violators;
f.. internal changes for political parties;
g.. changes in campaign contribution restrictions;
h.. streamlining the transfer of campaign contributions for political
committees and "committees of continuous existence," but also requiring
unions to list all dues-paying members in their reports;
i.. changes in eligibility and timing for different levels of
political candidates, including municipal, special district and federal
candidates;
j.. changes in early registration for young voters;
k.. removal of two of the identification documents to allow voters to
vote;
l.. NO Severability Clause, which appeared in earlier versions, and
which usually are necessary in legislative "trains" in order to protect the
other provisions if one or more sections of the bill are later found to be
Unconstitutional.    This decision was deliberate to intimidate
supporters of Paper Trail legislation from participating in ANY legal challenge to
the remaining anti-citizen provisions of the bill.
m.. Effective date of January 1, 2008, unless otherwise indicated in
specific sections.

So, is this 80-page bill a Legislative TRAIN?    You betcha.      Parts of
this bill (there are 57 "sections") came from various bills and
amendments from both the Senate and House; the final bill looks very little like
the original HB 537 which passed the House floor on March 21 by a vote of
115-1; and, for example, when the bill was substituted for SB 960, which had
already become a train in the Senate, the legislation faced 20 floor
amendments during the last six days of session. The bill now changes
or creates 52 sections of Florida Statutes, ranging across 13 different
Chapters of Florida law.

This bill makes all future initiative campaigns very difficult to even
put new changes on the ballot anywhere in Florida (besides proposed
constitutional amendments).     This restrictive new structure will
apply to Florida Hometown Democracy, as well as any future reemergence of
Redistricting Initiatives, or clarifications or strengthening of
Constitutional Rights, citizen-sponsored proposals for changes in
government financing or election opportunities, etc. The so called good
government bill changed dramatically for the worse on a 3-2 vote on April 24 when
Senators Fasano, Diaz de la Portilla and Webster voted to use the paper
trail bill against citizen initiatives.

SB 900 ANTI-CITIZEN INITIATIVE BILL PASSED ON FINAL DAY OF LEGISLATIVE
SESSION

This bill was stripped of several Bad provisions which had been passed
by the House.   Since sponsor Joe Pickens and other supporters knew the
session was winding down, they chose to accept the Senate version rather than
get only the provisions in the HB 537 Elections Train which already passed
the previous day. Under statutory construction rules, the later-passed
bill supersedes, so the language in SB 900 would replace the new sections in
Florida Statute 100.371 as changed in HB 537.    Significantly, the new
language in SB900 would go into effect on August 1, 2007 (as opposed
to 1/1/08 in HB537).

         (SB 900 and HB 7009) did record opposition votes in both chambers:
SB900
passed the Senate 27-9 on 4/27, 82-35 on the House floor 5/2, and
again
96-22 on 5/4. HB 7009 came out of its Council of origin March 8
(Economic

SB 1920 SENT TO GOVERNOR MONDAY April 30

After the Senate passed the Publix/ Chamber's so-called private
property rights bill allowing mall owners to prohibit citizen petitioners on
4/27 , the House unanimously sent the bill on to the
Governor at the beginning of Week 9 by a vote of 119-0.

Overall, not a good week for issues critical to Democracy and the
Environment.

HB. 537- The Bill Is 80 Pages Long Read It HERE

FOR MORE INFO ON SB. 900 AND SB. 1920 CLICK HERE

For More Go To: http://www.ChangeInTallahassee.com

Bogdanoff's Latest "Stealth Tactic"

for more see: http://chiari08.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Christian Chiari at 954-803-4844

Bogdanoff's Latest "Stealth Tactic" Puts Insurance Companies before Taxpayers

Latest in Series of Sneaky Moves Smacks of Payback to Biggest Donor

Ft. Lauderdale—Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff has once again demonstrated that she favors a government in the dark on behalf of special interests and ideologues over open government on behalf of the people. This time her champion is none other than the insurance industry and its desire to do away with personal injury protection insurance (also known as PIP).

As highlighted in an editorial in today's edition of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel , Rep. Bogdanoff's latest maneuver, designed to stall any attempts to renew the state's no-fault insurance law, will result in increased insurance company profits at the expense of taxpayer dollars.

"For months now, I have been talking about Rep. Bogdanoff's preference for government in the dark on behalf of the special interests," Christian Chiari, Democratic challenger to Rep. Bogdanoff in Florida's 91 ^st House District said, "And I am encouraged by the fact that such abuse of our government will not go unnoticed or unchallenged.

"I would call this a Bogdanoff 'triple play,'" Chiari said. "She is managing to help big insurance, hurt average Floridians and pursue her policy of government in the dark all at the same time. For her and her insurance company friends, it's a good day. For the rest of us it's trouble. "

Chiari said that Bogdanoff's latest trick demonstrates her allegiance to the insurance industry and echoed the sentiments of the Sentinel editorial which blasted Bogdanoff for "carrying water for the special interests."

"This is a deceitful legislative tactic that seeks simply to ensure the death of no-fault insurance and personal injury protection insurance in the state," Chiari said. "There is no genuine solution being put forward here. It's just a sneaky way to give the insurance companies what they want.

"It's shameful and tragic that with so many other legislative priorities Rep. Bogdanoff chooses to spend her time further obstructing the legislative process," Chiari said.

Chiari said that with the 2008 election a year and a half away that it is important for her constituents to keep Rep. Bogdanoff in check.

"The bottom line is that we know Representative Bogdanoff is for a government in the dark on behalf of the insurance industry," Chiari said. "And no matter what happens she still has another year and another session. And I intend to work night and day to make sure that is all she has."

###

-- for more see: http://chiari08.com

TRUTH WINS OUT CELEBRATES THE CLOSING OF CORAL RIDGE MINISTRIES

TRUTH WINS OUT CELEBRATES THE CLOSING OF CORAL RIDGE MINISTRIES' CENTER FOR RECLAIMING AMERICA FOR CHRIST

(Janet Folger Never Reclaimed America For Christ)

Failed 'Ex-Gay' Poster Boy Michael Johnston Helped Lead to Theocratic Center's Demise

MIAMI BEACH - Truth Wins Out today rejoiced over the downfall of the Center for Reclaiming America for Christ, a political arm of theocratic-leaning Coral Ridge Ministries. In 1998, the Center, which was then led by anti-gay activist Janet Folger, gained notoriety by leading a divisive national advertising campaign that featured so-called "ex-gays." The Center's influence quickly declined after its "ex-gay" poster boy Michael Johnston was caught in a 2003 sex scandal.

"Today we celebrate the demise of one of the most insidious anti-gay groups in America that incited intolerance by pumping out virulently anti-gay propaganda," said Truth Wins Out's Executive Director Wayne Besen. "The Center for Reclaiming America for Christ bet the bank on the 'ex-gay' message, and by doing so, bankrupted their credibility after their rising 'ex-gay' star crashed and burned."

The Center for Reclaiming America for Christ featured Michael Johnston, an HIV+ "ex-gay" leader in a million dollar print and television advertising campaign in 1998. In the notorious TV ad, Johnston's mother, Frances, used convoluted logic to explain how homosexuality led to her son contracting HIV. In a full-page print version that ran in national newspapers, Johnston is shown as a young boy blowing out birthday candles under the headline, "From Innocence to AIDS."

In August 2003, Johnston's claims at sexual conversion collapsed. Michael Hamar, a Virginia attorney, contacted Besen to say he had a client who had been having an affair with Johnston, not realizing, at first, Johnston's true identity as a prominent ex-gay figure. Besen was also introduced to another young man who claimed to have had unprotected sex with the ex-gay leader. While in Virginia, Besen was shown a video of a man that looked eerily similar to Johnston having unprotected sex with several men. Hamar's client signed an affidavit swearing the man was Michael Johnston.

The news broke in Southern Voice, a respected gay publication in Atlanta. Johnston resigned his ministry in disgrace and fled to a sex addiction facility in Kentucky, Pure Life Ministries, where he sought counseling. The Center for Reclaiming America for Christ never recovered from this scandal and lost much of its self-proclaimed moral authority on gay issues.

"This is a cautionary tale for right wing organizations that think jumping on the 'ex-gay' bandwagon is good politics," said TWO's Besen. "In the short term, it might cause some opponents to shudder, but in the end, it may lead to the shuttering of windows and doors with a sign that reads, 'Out of Business.'"

Truth Wins OUT is a non-profit organization that counters right wing propaganda, exposes the "ex-gay" myth and educates America about gay life. For more information, visit www.TruthWinsOut.org.

- 30 -

A Tree Grows on Las Olas Boulevard

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Christian Chiari at 954-803-4844

A Tree Grows on Las Olas Boulevard

Chiari blasts Rep. Bogdanoff's $1.3 million Palm Tree Boondoggle

Ft. Lauderdale— Describing her request as a "fiscal insult" in the middle of both a funding and water shortage, Christian Chiari, Democratic candidate for State House in District 91, called on incumbent Representative Ellyn Bogdanoff to withdraw her budget request of $1.3 million for planting palm trees along Las Olas Boulevard in Ft. Lauderdale.

"You've heard of the bridge to nowhere, well these are the trees to nowhere," Chiari said. "With this budget request, Rep. Bogdanoff is demonstrating to the people of Florida that she is completely unable to consider the seriousness of the budget or water crisis here in the state. This is a fiscal insult to all taxpayers."

Chiari said that he is urging Bogdanoff to withdraw her request for the $1.3 million as a show of good faith that she is serious about the budget crisis now raging in Tallahassee . The House is expected to vote on the budget tomorrow.

"As a member of the House negotiating team that is blindly fighting for the largest sales tax increase in Florida 's history, it is Rep. Bogdanoff's obligation to demonstrate that she has at least a shred of fiscal responsibility," Chiari said. "Pushing for $1.3 million for trees in the middle of what is shaping up to be one of the worst droughts in our state's history is simply ridiculous. She should drop this nonsense now."

"Local governments are being forced to get their spending under control and rightfully so," Chiari said. "But meanwhile the state budget has ballooned from $50 billion in 2000 to nearly $72 billion today. This is not what I would call practicing what you preach.

"Beautifying our neighborhoods is always an important goal, but right now we need to be considering our priorities," Chiari said.

for more see: http://chiari08.com

Support House Bill 537 and pass a "clean" voting reform bill

In the next few days, the Florida legislature will decide if our flawed electronic voting systems will be backed up by a paper record - or if we'll let another election be tarnished by unreliable results.

What good is the right to vote if your vote is lost or miscounted?

We need your help.

We need you to call you legislator today - the session ends on Friday.

Click here to find the contact information for your legislators.

Tell them to support House Bill 537 and pass a "clean" voting reform bill that gives Floridians paper ballots and doesn't include the Senate amendments that will undermine the bill.

The House bill was passed by the Senate last Friday and is now awaiting action by the Florida House again. The bill provides funding to replace the touchscreen electronic voting machines in Florida with optical scan machines capable of producing a paper, voter verifiable ballot.

But Senators have also added a number of bad amendments that would weaken the enforcement of election laws in Florida, restrict third party voter registration efforts and make it more difficult for citizens to use the initiative process to propose needed reforms.

Please call your legislators today and tell them to pass a strong voting reform bill.

Click here to find the contact information for your legislators.

Tell your legislators to oppose efforts to:

Make it harder for citizens to file complaints alleging a violation of the state's election laws.

Place burdens on the petition gathering process.

Create harassment of voters who have signed petitions by allowing moneyed interests to pressure them to revoke their signatures.

Put a band-aid on the unconstitutional third party voter registration law passed in 2005.

Property-tax session set for June

Session set for June

The leaders of the Legislature can't agree on property taxes and must come back for a special lawmaking session.

Support Governor Crist’s plan

Governor Crist has a good plan to replace Florida's voting machines with PAPER BALLOTS. Now, the Florida Legislature must pass the Governor's plan. That's where you come in. Take instant action to let Florida officials know you want the Governor's plan passed NOW.

Then visit the articles here at to learn more about this important initiative.

TAKE ACTION NOW!! Please use the EZ-auto-eMail form to send a message to the Florida Legislature to encourage them to fully support Governor Crist's plan.

More Feeney News

"Tom Feeney Writes Op/Ed on Scotland Golf Junket with Jack ...

Tom Feeney (R-Abramoff) writes an op/ed headlined "Let me clarify facts about trip" in which he speaks about some mysterious trip to Scotland with some ...

Rep. Feeney Letter Tied to Abramoff
Lakeland Ledger, FL
Tom Feeney insists he never helped convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, but in 2003 Feeney was among several lawmakers who wrote to the Energy Department ...
Clear the air Fort Wayne News Sentinel

State Owes Counties $40,000,000.00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Sandy Wayland
swayland@mindspring .com
305-297-9921

MDERC DEMANDS THAT FLORIDA SECRETARY OF STATE ACCOUNT FOR HAVA FUNDS GIVEN
TO STATE IN 2003

The Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition is demanding that Secretary of
State Kurt Browning to account for millions of dollars given to the State of
Florida in 2003, under the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA).

"Those funds were supposed to have been distributed 100% to Florida's
counties to reimburse them for replacing of their outdated punch card
systems. Now we find out that according to the Secretary of State in his
testimony before the Elections Assistance Commission that only 20% of the
funds were given out to the counties and that the Secretary of State's
Office secreted away the remaining 80%," stated Sandy Wayland, President of
MDERC.

According to Wayland, the issue of the withheld funds came to light during a
hearing held earlier today before the U.S. Election Assistance Commission in
Washington, D.C. "The purpose of the hearing was for the EAC to determine
whether the State of Florida could use "HAVA funds" to purchase the new
optical scan voting systems being proposed by the Governor and the Florida
legislature, stated Wayland. "But lo' and behold, it comes out for the
first time that the Secretary of State's Office intentionally withheld funds
that were supposed to reimburse the counties for getting rid of punch cards,
and it put away that money without anyone knowing," Wayland concluded.

According to MDERC, the secreted funds appear to exceed $40,000,000. "We
are calling on Secretary of State Kurt Browning to publicly account for the
monies in question and to fully reimburse the counties for the replacement
of their punch card systems because that's what that money is for," demanded
Wayland.

Florida Paper Charges Feeney 'Owes Public Answers, Now' Concerning Abramoff Dealings

St. Petersberg Times Editorializes That Corrupt Congressman 'Looks Complicit', Has 'Cloud Over His Head'

Sun-Sentinel Says 'Smart, Thorough, Careful' People Like Feeney Not Easily 'Duped'...

St. Petersburg Times, which hasn't historically been an anti-Feeney paper, calls on him to come clean. Now.

When asked to explain the similarity [between the cost of his trip to play golf in Scotland with Abramoff and the amount which Abramoff's office told him to report, despite claims by Feeney that he didn't know Abramoff had paid for the trip] his press secretary would say only that: "Representative Feeney is anxious to discuss this matter further when the time is appropriate."

If the congressman believes his constituents and a public fed up with scandal can wait until "the time is appropriate, " he is mistaken. Eleven people now have been convicted in the Abramoff investigation, and Feeney is being labeled in court records as "Representative #3." He has said he was "duped and lied to, " but these records make his office look complicit.

Feeney's attorney may be urging him to keep quiet, but his legal tactic is at odds with his official responsibilities. He is a congressman with a cloud over his head, and the public is owed some answers.

While over at the Sun-Sentinel, Scott Maxwell --- who has historically been far too kind to Feeney in light of his storied transgressions --- is still being very kind. Even if he's finally beginning to show some doubts as of yesterday:

Tom Feeney is smart, thorough and careful.

Smart, thorough and careful people don't usually get duped --- which is essentially Feeney's defense in this whole mess.

Terry Schiavo case still hurting Republicans

Terry Schiavo case still hurting Bush and The GOP in '08

http://www.nysun.com/article/53420?page_no=2

Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2007

H.R.811

Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2007 (Introduced in House)

Beginning
February 5, 2007

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

SEC. 2. PROMOTING ACCURACY, INTEGRITY, AND SECURITY THROUGH VOTER-VERIFIED PERMANENT PAPER BALLOT.

`SEC. 247. STUDY AND REPORT ON ACCESSIBLE BALLOT VERIFICATION MECHANISMS.

SEC. 3. ENHANCEMENT OF ENFORCEMENT OF HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 2002.

SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF AUTHORIZATION OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION.

SEC. 5. REQUIREMENT FOR MANDATORY MANUAL AUDITS BY HAND COUNT.

`SEC. 321. ESTABLISHMENT OF ELECTION AUDIT BOARDS.

`SEC. 322. NUMBER OF BALLOTS COUNTED UNDER AUDIT.

`SEC. 323. PROCESS FOR ADMINISTERING AUDITS.

`SEC. 324. SELECTION OF PRECINCTS.

`SEC. 325. PUBLICATION OF RESULTS.

`SEC. 326. PAYMENTS TO STATES.

`SEC. 327. EXCEPTION FOR ELECTIONS SUBJECT TO AUTOMATIC RECOUNT UNDER STATE LAW.

`SEC. 328. EFFECTIVE DATE.`Subtitle C--Mandatory Manual Audits by Election Audit Boards

SEC. 6. REPEAL OF EXEMPTION OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION FROM CERTAIN GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS.

SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE.

What Tallahassee Is Up to

Florida House of Representatives

Among the many bills on today's Special Order Calendar are:
HB 289 by Rep. Antiere Flores, which would prohibit community college and university professors from accepting kickbacks from textbook publishers in exchange for selecting their book and require the posting of the required textbook list on the Internet at least 30 days before the start of the semester (so students can shop around for their book);
Two bills relating to petition gathering for citizen initiatives: HB 559 by Rep. Don Brown would allow private property owners the right to determine whether or not petition gatherers could obtain signatures on their property and HB 7009 by Rep. Dean Cannon revises the regulations for the petition gathering process, including requiring the name and address of the petition gatherer to be on the form, requiring those who are paid to wear a badge saying they are being paid and prohibiting the payment of gatherers on a per-signature basis;
HB 323 by Rep. Carlos Lopez-Cantera would provide a tax rebate for the Florida Marlins to build a new stadium and for the Miami Dolphins to retrofit Dolphin Stadium to undo the baseball renovations (Note: A similar bill is effectively dead in the Senate); and
HB 1497 by Rep. Trey Traviesa which requires a 24-hour waiting period before undergoing an abortion and provides that minors seeking to waive the parental notification requirement will have a guardian ad litem appointed for them;

Florida Senate

Today's Senate Special Order Calendar includes SB 2334 by Sen. Steven Geller would allow video lottery terminals at parimutuel facilities;
SB 752 by Sens. Geller and Mike Fasano would revise the rules for parimutuel cardrooms, allowing video poker machines and high stakes poker tournaments;
SB 134 by Sen. Larcenia Bullard would allow cardrooms to offer gambling on dominoes;
SB 998 by Sen. Mike Bennett would remove the local cable franchise process and replace it with a statewide process, a provision requiring service in low-income areas was stricken from the bill at its last committee stop;
SB 960 by Sen. Lee Constantine would change the date of Florida's presidential preference primary to the last Tuesday in January and require the use of optical scan voting equipment; the bill is controversial now because of additional election provisions added on in its last committee;
SB 900 by Sen. Bill Posey allows voters who sign an initiative petition to official revoke their signature at a later date, it was similar to HB 7009, but much of the language was removed in committee;
SB 1920 by Sen. Fasano would allow private property owners the right to determine whether or not petition gatherers could obtain signatures on their property; and
SB 1710 by Sen. Steven Oelrich would allow the University of Florida, Florida State University, and the University of South Florida to assess a 'differential tuition' to bolster undergraduate teaching;

Bill Moyers and the Failure of America's Media

A new documentary by Bill Moyers examines the failure of the American press and media to alert the public about the deceptive propaganda used by the Bush administration to initiate the Iraq invasion, says John Nichols.

Bill Moyers is not the first American to ask with regard media coverage of the run-up to the invasion of Iraq: "How did the mainstream press get it so wrong?"

The man who has been a White House press secretary, newspaper publisher, author and television news program host is not alone in wondering: "How did the evidence disputing (Bush administration claims and intimations regarding) the existence of weapons of mass destruction and the link between Saddam Hussein to 9-11 continue to go largely unreported?"

But Moyers has done something that most Americans have not had the time, the resources or the contacts to do, and that is answer the fundamental questions about the failure of print, broadcast and cable news outlets to cut through the spin and give the American people the truth about the Bush administration's unwarranted rush to war.

"What the conservative media did was easy to fathom; they had been cheerleaders for the White House from the beginning and were simply continuing to rally the public behind the President -- no questions asked," explains Moyers. "How mainstream journalists suspended skepticism and scrutiny remains an issue of significance that the media has not satisfactorily explored. How the administration marketed the war to the American people has been well covered, but critical questions remain: How and why did the press buy it, and what does it say about the role of journalists in helping the public sort out fact from propaganda?"

These and the premises and purposes of a remarkable new documentary, "Buying the War," which explores the role of the press in the lead-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The 90-minute production, which airs this week beginning April 25, on the Public Broadcasting Service channels across the country, is the special premiere of a new weekly series, "Bill Moyers Journal."

After Wednesday night's premiere, Moyers will return to PBS on the Friday night schedule where he was resident for a number of years as the host of "NOW with Bill Moyers." And, just as he did before leaving "NOW" several years ago, at a time when President Bush's allies and appointees were attacking him for giving air time to administration critics -- including Republicans such as Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel -- Moyers is still practicing the craft of journalism in the manner intended by the rebels against empire who wrote a "freedom of the press" protection into America's founding document.

In other words, he is refusing to be a stenographer for the powerful.

"Buying the War" highlights that refusal.

In the documentary, Moyers interviews former CBS news anchor Dan Rather, NBC's "Meet the Press" host Tim Russert, former CNN president Walter Isaacson, and many of the top American print and broadcast reporters. He challenges them. He presses them. He gets them to acknowledge not just the drastic flaws in the reporting before and immediately after the invasion of Iraq but also the extent to which those flaws illustrate the deeper crisis of today's "on-bended-knee" media.

The veteran CBS Middle East correspondent, Bob Simon, sums up that crisis when he refers to the Washington press corps as operating "in a bubble" shaped by the Bush administration.

"Buying the War" is not a polemic. Rather, it is an aggressively and thoroughly reported critique of pre-war media coverage, which celebrates the handful of journalists -- particularly those with the old Knight-Ridder Washington bureau -- who asked the right questions, while solemnly detailing the reality that most media merely repeated administration claims as if they were truths that could not be debated.

Remarkably, and importantly, Moyers gets journalists who are still in the game to explain where things went wrong. For instance, Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz notes, "From August 2002 until the war was launched in March of 2003 there were about 140 front page pieces in the Washington Post making the administration's case for war. But there was only a handful of stories that ran on the front page that made the opposite case. Or, if not making the opposite case, raised questions."

What Moyers has produced is a chilling account of what happens in a republic where the media, for the most part, becomes a mouthpiece for the government. As Walter Pincus, one of the last of the great Washington reporters, explains to Moyers, "More and more the media become, I think, common carriers of administration statements and critics of the administration. We've sort of given up being independent on our own."

That surrender of independence destroys the whole matter of a free press, just as it prevents citizens from gaining the information and insight needed to be functional players in America's democratic experiment. But even in this dark interregnum, there is hope for freedom of the press -- and for the democracy it sustains. Bill Moyers is back on the air.

John Nichols is the Washington correspondent forThe Nation magazine.

Florida is next to last in amount of young people who volunteer

Florida is next to last in amount of young people who volunteer, study says

Politically Motivated "Voting Fraud" Claims

The more we learn about the White House's purge of United States attorneys, the more a single thread runs through it: the Bush administration's campaign to transform the minor problem of voter fraud into a supposed national scourge.

When the public first learned about the firing of eight United States attorneys, administration officials piously declared that many of the prosecutors had ill served the public by failing to aggressively pursue voter fraud cases (against Democrats, naturally). But the more we examine this issue, the more ludicrous those claims seem.

Last week, we learned that the administration edited a government-ordered report on voter fraud to support its fantasy. The original version concluded that among experts "there is widespread but not unanimous agreement that there is little polling place fraud." But the publicly released version said, "There is a great deal of debate on the pervasiveness of fraud." It's hard to see that as anything but a deliberate effort to mislead the public.

Sound familiar? In President Bush's first term, a White House official, who had been the oil industry's front man in trying to discredit the science of global warming, repeatedly edited government reports to play down links between climate change and greenhouse gases. And then there was the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq, which turned reports on old, dubious and false tales about weapons of mass destruction into warnings of clear, present and supposedly mortal dangers.

It's obvious why the Bush administration would edit those documents, but why the voting report? Because charges of voter fraud are a key component of the Republican electoral strategy. If the public believes there are rampant efforts to vote fraudulently, or to register voters improperly, it increases support for measures like special voter ID's, which work against the poor, the elderly, minorities and other disenfranchised groups that tend to support Democrats. Claims of rampant voter fraud also give the administration an excuse to cut back prosecutions of the real problem: officials who block voters' access to the polls.

There is one big catch, as Eric Lipton and Ian Urbina reported in The Times last week. After a five-year crackdown, the Justice Department has not turned up any evidence that voter fraud actually is a problem. Only 86 people were convicted of voter fraud crimes as of last year — most of them Democrats and many on trivial, trumped-up charges.

The Bush administration was so determined to pursue this phantom scourge that it deported a legal Florida resident back to his native Pakistan for mistakenly filling out a voter registration card when he renewed his driver's license. And it may well have decided to fire most of the eight federal prosecutors because they would not play along.

It is vital that Congress get to the truth about these firings. Last week, the Republican National Committee threw up another roadblock, claiming it had lost four years' worth of e-mail messages by Karl Rove that were sent on a Republican Party account. Those messages, officials admitted, could include some about the United States attorneys. It is virtually impossible to erase e-mail messages fully, and the claims that they are gone are not credible.

The only solution is to get these issues out into the open. It is good that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will finally testify in the Senate this week. But Mr. Rove, who seems to be at the heart of this affair, should also be required to testify under oath — and in public. Even the Wizard of Oz eventually came out from behind the curtain.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE STORY ONLINE

Take to the Streets

Take to the Streets April 28th to Change America!

The days of a do-nothing Republican Congress are over, but the days of a disastrous Republican Presidency aren't quite over yet. The Democratic majority in the US House and Senate stood with the American people, passing a bill that would both fund our troops and begin the process to bring them home. President Bush's impending veto of the Iraq War supplemental bill is an insult to the majority of Americans who voted for change in November and to the brave men and women who risk their lives everyday for our country. It's clear that President Bush sees no end in sight. America needs to elect a Democratic president in 2008 so we can bring our troops home. It's time to take action now. Sign up to take part in the Democratic National Organizing Day on April 28 at www.democrats.org/50StateCanvass. Our regional directors will help to organize events in the coming weeks to get the Democratic message out across the state.

Republican Leader Shows Integrity

Knew that headline would get your attention. We speak here of Florida Governor Charlie Crist, who last Thursday approved a measure to restore voting rights to an estimated 950,000 Floridian ex-felons, about 9 percent of the voting-age population of the Sunshine State. Crist's initiative has political observers scratching their heads. How much of a political impact could it have?

Read on...

'Surge' Against the Democrats

The Corporate-Owned Media 'Surge' Against the Democrats

A. Alexander,

The 'surge' is on! And, how! During Mister Bush's latest hissy-fit passed off as press conference, he claimed that HIS surge -- the one in Iraq -- was only 40 percent operational. That could be true, but it wouldn't be wise for anyone to bet their child's life on anything George W. Bush says. After all, there is no proof whatsoever that the man has ever uttered a truthful word in the past six-years. Besides, since Mister Bush's 'surge' began, regardless of operational proportionality, more Iraqi civilians have been killed than before it started...not hardly a success, is it?

No, Mister Bush's 'surge' isn't exactly building toward a tsunami of achievement, but the corporate-owned media 'surge' against the Democrats is certainly building toward a Hurricane Katrina-like destructive force.

Goodness gracious! The corporate-owned press has been banging on Pelosi's visit to Syria, like a Republican evangelical preacher locked in a love embrace with a gay male prostitute. The press has pounded away, verbatim, on the White House's Pelosi talking points...only grudgingly and belatedly bothering to mention that the Bush administration had helped arrange a Syrian visit by Congressional Republicans.

Actually, it wasn't the Republican-shilling corporate-owned media that reported the truth regarding the White House playing travel agent for the Republican visit to Syria, but the tiny Lancaster, Pennsylvania Intelligencer Journal did:

"Gabe Neville, [Republican Congressman] Pitts' chief of staff, said Monday the conference between Assad and the three Republicans was intended to be 'low profile...It was done in cooperation with the administration,' he said."

But the corporate-owned press' Pelosi political gangbang isn't the only front in their 'surge' against Democrats.

The administration and the corporate-owned media have decided to try and resurrect Mister Bush's dead Presidency. They have seemingly colluded and concluded that George W. Bush can drive up his poll numbers, as Clinton had in the 90's, by confronting Congress. They keep telling the people over and again, that the parallels between Mister Bush's current troubles and President Clinton's are 'remarkable'. Only, that is a completely false narrative.

In the 90's, people were upset at Clinton's policies and because of that his poll numbers suffered. Loony Newt Gingrich tried to exploit Clinton's poor political standing by forcing a governmental shut-down. President Clinton called his bluff and the American people saw through Gingrich's blatantly partisan motivations and punished the Republicans accordingly. Regardless of how much the corporate-owned press tries to spin it, Mister Bush's political situation is nothing like President Clintons.

The biggest difference -- the only difference that matters -- is that on a very visceral level, the American people distrust and dislike George W. Bush. They see in him an extremely corrupted man, who has lied to them one too many times. In a very real sense, Mister Bush makes a vast majority of the peoples' skin crawl. The American people NEVER felt that way toward President Clinton (extremist evangelical Tom DeLay-loving Republicans excluded). And despite the corporate-owned presses best efforts, there is a huge difference between being upset at a President over his policies and having a President who makes the peoples' skin crawl.

In the corporate-owned media mind, however, Mister Bush's problem isn't that he is deeply distrusted and disliked...only that he needs to turn around the failed Iraq War. The corporate-owned press' narrative goes like this: If George W. Bush turns around the war, his Presidency is saved. And to that end, they've made themselves busy almost ignoring Iraq entirely.

A recent review revealed that ABC and NBC evening news programs spent 14 minutes per-week reporting on the Iraq War and CBS dedicated only four minutes. Yet, official government reports showed Iraqi civilian deaths had increased by 13 percent in March. An interesting, but very real part of the corporate-owned media 'surge' strategy appears to be not reporting what is actually happening in Iraq. Contrary to Crazy Train McCain's claims, it isn't that the press isn't reporting "the good news" coming out of Iraq; since Mister Bush's 'surge' has started, they've simply decided to ignore the war completely. Out of site, out of the American peoples' minds...don't tell the people that since the 'surge' began things have only gotten worse and, perhaps, they'll think it's going well and approve of Mister Bush's Presidency.

That's the corporate-owned media narrative anyway, but it is as fictional as were the reasons George W. Bush gave for invading Iraq in the first place. Mister Bush's problems aren't the war's status and his policies...his problems are that the American people really don't like him as a person and they trust him even less. But the corporate-owned press will continue to ignore those inconvenient facts, while continuing to implement their 'surge' against the Democrats.

Should anyone doubt the reality of this corporate-owned media 'surge' against the Democrats, consider Mister Bush's latest Rose Garden press conference. For the third or fourth time in the past two weeks, George W. Bush promised to veto the Democratic Congress' war-funding bill. The press spun it as a great victory for Mister Bush. He was 'decisive' and 'threw down the gauntlet' against the Democrats. But it isn't so much how the corporate-owned media spun the White House talking points that highlight the depths of their 'surge' against the Democrats, it is the fact that they pretended his regurgitated veto threat was newsworthy and covered it, AGAIN.

Make no mistake about it...the corporate-owned media 'surge' against the Democrats is on. And, how!

Quotes Of The Week

The Bush Administration's Epic Collapse "And it is increasingly difficult to imagine yet another two years of slow bleed with a leader so clearly unfit to lead." ...more	Cheney Busted for Lying...by Pentagon "Cheney repeated his assertions of al-Qaida links to [Saddam's] Iraq...as the Defense Department released a report citing more evidence that the prewar government did not cooperate with the terrorist group." ...more	U.S. Protecting Terrorists in Iraq "[A]...group based in Iraq, despite being considered terrorists by the United States, continues to receive protection from the American military" ...more	Experts Say Bush is Exaggerating Threat of Iraq's Insurgents 'Following us home' "The war in Iraq isn't preventing terrorist attacks on America. If anything, that - along with the way [we treat] suspects - [might cause]...Muslims to think of us as the enemy." ...more

DNC Shuts Out Fox

Fox News may have landed a Democratic debate, but the Democratic Party is refusing to give its formal stamp of approval to the September event, which will be co-sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus Institute.

"The DNC sanctioned debates will not include Fox," says DNC Communications Director Karen Finney in an e-mail.

The Democratic National Committee announced today that it would sanction six debates, starting in July. In 2005, DNC Chairman Howard Dean called Fox "a propaganda outlet of the Republican Party," but has occasionally since then struck slightly more conciliatory notes.

The refusal of the party to consider sanctioning the Detroit debate, however, is a mark of an increasingly unified Democratic effort to marginalize the network.

Fox spokesman Michael Murphy had no immediate comment on the DNC's plan.

UPDATE: An unusually mild response from Fox, in a statement from Marty Ryan, the channel's executive producer of political programming: "We are continuing to move forward with all our debate partners – what Karen Finney expressed has no bearing on our course of action."

For more on Fox News Viewers being the most ignorant of all Americans SEE:
http://65.109.167.118/pipa/pdf/oct03/IraqMedia_Oct03_rpt.pdf

Questions On Propery Taxes

Property taxes: a guide for our readers

BY MARY ELLEN KLAS

One of the most important issues the state Legislature is considering this session is cutting property taxes.

After two weeks of debate over how to do it, lawmakers have proposed four solutions, and one more, from the Florida Senate, is expected to roll out this week.

But with every new idea, the issue gets murkier and the explanations more confusing. Even House Speaker Marco Rubio, the West Miami legislator who launched the House's controversial plan, concedes much of the confusion stems from the reality that ``it is a very difficult issue to report and explain.''

To cut through the clutter, here is a Miami Herald property tax primer, with answers to some of the most commonly asked questions. The accompanying chart compares the four proposals moving through the Legislature.

Q.What is the problem with the property tax system in Florida?

A. Supporters of overhauling the system -- Gov. Charlie Crist among them -- say that property taxes have become onerous for many Floridians. They say:

• Property taxes have risen faster than people's ability to pay. For example, property taxes rose 100 percent for the average Floridian in the past six years, while personal income rose 44 percent.

• The real-estate boom filled local government coffers with extra cash, more than they need to meet reasonable expenses.

• The Save Our Homes tax cap has created inequities that allow for neighbors with similar homes to pay vastly different tax rates.

Q.What is Save Our Homes?

A. A constitutional amendment passed by Florida voters that took effect in 1995. It basically says that local governments can assess a residence at market value when it is sold, but after that, the assessed value of the home, for tax purposes, can only rise a maximum of 3 percent each year, even if the market value of your home rises much more. Local governments are allowed to reassess at full value again when a home is sold.

Q.What's wrong with that?

A. It benefits some homeowners, but hurts others.

Let's say you bought a $100,000 home 15 years ago. Your property taxes have increased slowly since then because of the Save Our Homes cap.

But your neighbor next door bought an identical house three years ago -- and it cost him $400,000. He is paying much more in property taxes, because local government reassessed the property at market value when he bought it.

Also, Save Our Homes affects only residential properties that have homestead exemptions. It doesn't cover other real estate, such as rental property, second homes or commercial property.

Many homeowners say they are afraid to move because they will lose the tax savings they now enjoy from their current home. Many older couples say the provision has locked them into their current homes, when they would like to move to a smaller house. Younger couples say the inequities make it harder for them to buy a first home.

Q.How are property-tax rates determined?

A. There is no set rate governments must charge. Counties and cities decide the amount of money they need to collect to pay for their needs each year. Then they set the tax rate, also known as the millage rate, to bring in the money.

Q. What is millage?

A. One mill is equal to $1 for every $1,000 in assessed value. For example, if you have a home valued at $200,000 for tax purposes, and the county's millage rate is one mill, you pay $200 in property tax. If the rate is eight mills -- a little closer to reality -- then you would pay $1,600. Of course, you actually pay a little less because of your homestead exemption.

Q.What is a homestead exemption?

A. The Florida Constitution entitles every person who owns a permanent primary residence in Florida to a reduction of $25,000 off the taxable value of their home. So if your home has an assessed value of $200,000 and you have a homestead exemption, you actually pay taxes on $175,000.

Q.My house is valued at $200,000 and my millage rate is eight. But my taxes are a lot higher than $1,600. Why?

A.Because the county is not the only agency taxing you. Your municipality, school district, water and sewer district and, in some areas, special taxing districts, are also allowed to charge property taxes.

Each sets its own millage rate, and you pay according to the assessed value of your property.

Q.My county has lowered the millage rate. Why are my taxes still going up?

A. Because property values throughout much of Florida rose dramatically over the past few years, property taxes also rose even if millage rates remained stable or went down. State economists say that the median house price in Florida increased 90 percent from July 2001 to July 2006.

While most counties reduced their millage rates during those years, soaring property values allowed them to collect more tax revenue than the year before.

Q.How much money will the tax reform proposals save me?

A. It all depends on which plan ultimately passes. Homeowners would save the most under either of the House Republicans' two plans. One reduces taxes across the state $3.9 billion by eliminating all property taxes on primary homes, requiring counties to roll back their taxes based on the 2003-04 budget year, and raising sales taxes 2 ½ cents. The other does not eliminate property taxes but saves taxpayers $5.8 billion by requiring counties to roll back their taxes based on the 2000-01 budget year.

House Democrats propose giving a $3.8 billion tax break by sharply increasing tax exemptions on homeowners and businesses and making up the money lost with a one-cent increase in the sales tax.

The plan that saves homeowners the least is the governor's, which doubles the homestead exemption to $50,000.

Expect a compromise somewhere in between.

Q.Why are counties and cities opposed to the House Republican plan?

A. They don't oppose changing the property tax structure, but they say the cuts required would be too deep and would require eliminating services.

Q.How likely is it that we would do away with property taxes?

A. Hard to say. Even if the Legislature were to pass the proposal, it would take a constitutional amendment approved by voters to eliminate property taxes.

The governor is noncommittal on the idea. Early indications are that most of the Senate does not want to raise the sales tax and prefers a combination of rollbacks and changes to the tax system.

Q.Why does it take a constitutional amendment?

A. The state Constitution establishes the tax structure, so any change to it must be approved by voters. If the plan includes an increase in the sales tax, the Constitution requires that it must be approved by 66 percent of voters in order to pass.

Q.School districts rely on property taxes. What impact would the House sales tax plan have on schools?

A.Property taxes would continue to be collected from businesses and owners of second homes to pay for schools, but going forward those collections would be limited by an index based on inflation and population growth. This will put more pressure on the state to find new sources of money to improve schools.

Q.I have seen figures that show commercial property owners benefit the most under some plans. Why?

A.Individual owners of commercial property are not getting a bigger break, but there is so much commercial property in the state and its value is so high that the total amount of savings statewide would be much larger than to homeowners.

Q.What impact does the House Republican plan have on snowbirds and owners of second homes?

A.Property taxes would still be collected, but they would be scaled back, to an undetermined amount, and capped at the rate of inflation in the future.

Q.Will local governments increase other taxes and fees to make up for the lost tax revenues?

A.Probably. They could increase non-property tax revenues such as impact fees and other special assessments.

Q.What does the governor think about all this?

A. The governor said he wants property taxes to come down and proposed his own plan, but has said he is not bound by his own idea and is open to others'.

Q.Why doesn't the Senate have a plan?

A. Senate leaders are expected to come forward this week with some ideas. Among those they are considering: expanding the homestead exemption, raising the cap on the Save Our Homes assessment but allowing homeowners to carry their savings with them when they move, and changing the way property is assessed.

Q.What about the proposal to make the Save Our Homes savings portable to another home?

A.Legislators are struggling to find a way to make it possible for people to take the tax savings from Save Our Homes with them when they move. Some legal experts say allowing portability is unconstitutional and could jeopardize the constitutional footing of the current Save Our Homes cap. The only idea that appears to be likely is to allow people to keep their Save Our Homes savings when they move within a county.

LEGISLATURE TAKING PUBLIC COMMENTS ON PROPERTY TAX REFORM

E-mail the Joint Senate and House Tax Panel at propertytaxreform@flsenate.gov.

Whether you believe our focus should be on "Save Our Homes" Tax Portability, a proposal to help first time home buyers, the capping of tax increases on non-homesteaded properties, all of the above, or creating an entirely new tax system, now is the time to speak out. To be effective, please be clear and concise about your ideas. You may have some very specific ideas you are willing to share, but, if not, simply pasting the two below points into an email of your own will also be helpful.

We need the Legislature to act this year on significant and broad tax reform, including, but certainly not limited to tax portability. We need reform that helps all, including first time homebuyers, primary residents, second homeowners, and businesses alike. People are leaving Florida, and businesses will shy away until we solve this crisis.

Not only must the Governor and the Legislature act this year on the general issue of reform, they must approve a Special Election to be held in 2007, so voters do not have to wait another year to finalize any reform passed by the Legislature. As proud Realtors, we will not rest until this issue is solved.

E-mail the joint Senate and House Tax Panel at propertytaxreform@flsenate.gov.

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