The Fine Print

Who's responsible for the hike in Florida tolls?

Over the last few weeks there have been reminders that the tolls are going up on some 585 miles worth of roads.

Back when it appeared that Adam Hasner and George LeMieux were in the U.S. Senate race with Connie Mack I wrote a piece pointing out how Mack called tolls a tax and has been sharply critical of them.

Of course Hasner is now running for U.S. Congress and LeMieux this past week dropped out of the race.

But just a reminder about the origins of the latest rate hike:

This toll hike was authorized by HB 985, a major transportation bill that was approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature during the 2007 session. It mandates that the tolls be raised at least once every five years to keep pace with inflation. The money coming from this latest set of toll hikes will be used to push up the construction date of various road projects.

The bill since then has also become known as the legislation that authorized the millions used to construct the controversial First District Court of Appeal or the "Tallahassee Taj Mahal."

The vote was contentious in the Florida House where the final margin was 68-49 in favor of the bill and the roster of no votes included some Republicans.

Among the yes votes at the time: Hasner, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, U.S. Rep. David Rivera, State Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, Aaron Bean, and Rep. Will Weatherford.

The no votes in the House at the time: State Sen. Andy Gardiner, Sen. Maria Sachs (who is running against Bogdanoff), Keith Fitzgerald, Sen. Rene Garcia, and current U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross.

The vote was much more overwhelming in the Florida Senate where the legislation passed by a 37-2 margin.

The two no votes were two South Florida Republicans. The yes votes include then-Sen. Al Lawson (a candidate for Congress), Sen. Steve Oelrich (now a candidate for Congress), Sen. Ronda Storms (now running for Hillsborough County Property Appraiser), U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster, as well as Sen. Mike Bennett, then-Sen. Dave Aronberg and Sen. Mike Fasano.

And as former U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson has shown: Toll hikes can sometimes show up in campaign ads.

 

The LeMieux-Rubio lovefest

Something worth noting:

When George LeMieux was appointed to the U.S. Senate last August, this was how he articulated his political philosophy:

 "I describe myself as a Charlie Crist Republican," LeMieux said at the time.

When asked what that meant, LeMieux said he planned to back the principles of his party, including lower spending, but that he would "work with anyone" who wanted to solve problems. He also said last year that "my view is that we are all Americans first and Floridians first and then comes party."

Flash forward to this year.

Crist bolted the Republican Party after it became apparent that he could not win the GOP primary for U.S. Senate against Marco Rubio. Despite LeMieux's deep ties with Crist - campaign manager, chief of staff and architect of some of Crist's policy initiatives - he opted against backing Crist in the race.

When LeMieux appeared at the quarterly meeting of the Republican Party of Florida earlier this month, he went even further and urged GOP leaders to "work hard" to elect Rubio and praised him for the "courage of his convictions."

LeMieux said he wouldn't "say anything bad about my friend the governor," but he then proceeded to explain that Rubio was needed in the U.S. Senate because he is a "principled conservative."

"Marco is a principled conservative and I have been there and I have seen what it takes, we cannot have people who are going to just go along and get along,'' LeMieux said. (This of course echoes one of the constant criticisms of Crist, which is that he changes his policy positions based on the prevailing mood of the moment.)

LeMieux then added this about Rubio: "He will be a great senator and he will not only be a solid conservative vote but he will be a solid conservative idea person."

LeMieux's statements are even more interesting given what Rubio said about him some 10 months ago:

"This is a disappointing appointment for Florida,'' Rubio said in a statement. "George LeMieux is a talented political operative and the governor’s best friend, but that doesn’t make him the right choice to represent Florida in the Senate."

So then what did Rubio say about LeMieux at a Tampa breakfast earlier this month with the GOP faithful?

"He has done more in the last 9 months in the U.S. Senate that some people do in six years,'' Rubio told the GOP faithful.

Rubio added that he was "grateful for his service."

House Republicans ask Florida senators to vote no on health care reform

Republicans in the Florida House, citing concerns that Medicaid costs are “unsustainable,” will ask the state’s two U.S senators to vote against health reform legislation pending in Congress.
 
House Majority Leader Adam Hasner asked Republicans to sign letters to Sens. George LeMieux and Bill Nelson during a late Tuesday afternoon briefing, where Republicans were warned about the ongoing surge in Medicaid enrollment and costs. Medicaid is the state and federal health care program that covers low-income families, the elderly and the disabled. 

House budget staff showed projections that Medicaid could increase from a 26 percent share of the state’s overall budget to as much as 36 percent in the next decade if trends from the past 12 years continue.

“What we are seeing here is unsustainable for the state,’’ said Rep. Denise Grimsley, R-Lake Placid, a registered nurse who is in charge of the House budget committee on health care spending. 

The 10-percent increase over a decade assumes that underlying medical costs, a driver in the Medicaid program, aren’t addressed. More here.

Mendelsohn case could reverberate throughout Tallahassee

The arrest of prominent opthalmologist Alan Mendelsohn could have reverberations throughout Tallahassee because of his connections to both Democratic and Republican politicians.

Much of the initial focus has been on his connections to Gov. Charlie Crist, but Mendelsohn's reach doesn't just end there.

For example, consider the list of lobbyists employed by Mutual Benefits - the company at the center of the probe that triggered Mendelsohn's arrest - at the time period cited in news accounts.

In 2004, the roster of lobbyists include Pete Antonacci, James Blosser, former Republican Party of Florida chairman Van Poole and Russ Klenet, the husband to Broward Mayor Stacy Ritter. Antonacci is a well-known attorney and former deputy Attorney General who represented Noelle Bush during his legal troubles. Blosser is a well-known Fort Lauderdale attorney and a one-time pioneer for President George Bush.

Reporter and blogger Bob Norman has written extensively about the Mutual Benefits case for several months now and has raised questions about Crist's actions as Attorney General. The feds, however, have told the Miami Herald that an investigation has cleared both Crist and current U.S. Sen. George LeMieux.

Mendelsohn was deeply involved in a notable 2001 fight over legislation that would have barred the use of optometrists in post-operative care. That bill was sponsored in the Florida House by then Rep. Mike Haridopolos as well as Rep. Jeff Atwater and Rep. Marco Rubio. In the Senate it was sponsored by Sen. Dan Webster and cosponsored by Sens. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and Bill Posey (who are both now in Congress.)

Part of Mendelsohn's supposed pull was his ability to raise large amounts of money for politicians, as noted here when he helped raise money for State Sen. Eleanor Sobel last year in her primary fight with two other Broward County Democrats.

Mendelsohn has pleaded not guilty to charges, but this ongoing case could prove problematic for a lot of people.

LeMieux: America and Florida first, party second

George LeMieux - Florida's newest United States Senator - says he's a "Charlie Crist Republican."

So what exactly does that mean? LeMieux says it means he's a "common sense conservative" and a "problem solver" who still believes in limited government, less spending and lower taxes. Some of his critics suggest that this means that LeMieux will be willing to vote across party lines at a time when there are controversial and critical issues confronting the Senate.

But given LeMieux's history it could also mean that he will act cautiously and pragmatic in his new position of power.

When asked about it on Saturday, LeMieux said  "my view is that we are all Americans first and Floridians first and then comes party.''

LeMieux added that he would stick to his "principles" once he goes to Washington D.C. but that would he "work with anyone" to solve the many problems confronting the nation.

More here.