... worthless GOP debates move to Florida tonight.
NETWORK: NBC News
CO-SPONSORS: National Journal and the Tampa Bay Times
MODERATOR: Brian Williams
PANELISTS: Beth Reinhard (see below) and Adam Smith (from the TB Times)
WHERE: University of South Florida in Tampa
PARTICIPANTS: Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, and Rick Santorum.
TRANSCRIPT: When available.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR: For a preview of...
... are possible good signs from Florida (link), what Obama would never, ever mention are things like the chart here showing high school dropout rates by country. The OECD average is 20%, and the U.S. is currently at 23.3%. The rate in Mexico is 56%. And, he'd certainly never mention the "controversial" IQ chart at:
en.wikipedia . org/wiki/IQ_and_the_Wealth_of_Nations (remove the spaces). If we...
... court and is joined by Alabama, Florida, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas and Virginia, as well as the Northern Mariana Islands...
"By lawsuit, rather than by legislation, the federal government seeks to negate this preexisting power of the states to verify a person's immigration status and similarly seeks to reject the assistance that the states can lawfully provide...
... seats: Texas (+4), Arizona (+2), Florida (+1), Georgia (+1), Nevada (+1), Oregon (+1), South Carolina (+1), and Utah (+1).
States losing House seats: Ohio (-2), Illinois (-1), Iowa (-1), Louisiana (-1), Massachusetts (-1), Michigan (-1), Minnesota (-1), Missouri (-1), New Jersey (-1), New York (-1), and Pennsylvania (-1).
If you're located in one of the states in the latter group, that means you...
Speaking earlier today, Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio supported attrition (enforcing our immigration laws in order to encourage illegal aliens to leave on their own) and made statements that seemed to indicate that he opposes amnesty (aka comprehensive immigration reform). That's definitely a far better position than that of those in his general network, such as Karl Rove and Jeb Bush. And...
... this:
Over the past few weeks, Florida GOP Gov. Charlie Crist has found himself being put on the defensive more and more in the primary thanks to the challenge by ex-state House Speaker Marco Rubio. While Crist has financially overwhelmed Rubio to date, there are many Republicans -- particularly those in Flordia that are close to former GOP Gov. Jeb Bush -- who have publicly become more...
... immigration activists throughout South Florida.
In a letter last week addressed to a top federal immigration official, Nelson praised Walter Lara, a 23-year-old who is to be deported July 6. He called him ''exactly the type of person'' a new immigration bill is ''trying to help.'' Lara's story ''vividly illustrates'' the need for Congress to pass the DREAM Act, Nelson, a Democrat, said.
Now, for...
... Republican former Speaker of the Florida Assembly who - together with fellow Republican Charlie Crist - will be running for Senate; Rubio is running as a conservative against the more RINO Crist. Rubio's immigration stance isn't entirely clear; some have claimed that he helped block some anti-illegal immigration bills in Florida. See the statement from Floridians for Immigration Enforcement...
... Odom (taxdayteaparty.com/2009/03/florida-gov-shuts-down-tea-party), and some others try to make a big deal about Cape Coral, Florida cancelling a planned event. Many of them link to this which they apparently didn't read:
WINK News spoke to the director of parks for Cape Coral. He says that even now if [the original organizer] is willing to get insurance for the event he'll likely re-authorize...
... received approval from the state of Florida and the Bush Labor Department for visas to bring in foreign workers for seasonal work. But the visas are supposed to be granted only if there are no Americans available to do the job.
They also provide this Solis quote from a meeting she conducted with the AFL-CIO:
We are going to have to take a look at it and, hopefully, work closely with [Homeland...
From this:
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush - the younger brother of the president - is weighing a run for the Senate seat currently held by Republican Mel Martinez.
...A source close to Bush said he'll be thoughtful and methodical about the decision-making process. He will consider the impact a race would have on his family and his business and whether or not the U.S. Senate is the best forum...
Senator Mel Martinez will not seek re-election in 2010, and might even leave before his term is up, according to this. According to this, a Jeb Bush spokesman says that Governor Bush has not given serious consideration to running for the U.S. Senate, or any other office at this point, which probably means the opposite.
As for Martinez, despite being from Cuba he was a strong supporter of...
... in Texas, Tennessee, Arkansas, Florida, and West Virginia (link). The company participated in the E-Verify program and cooperated with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The arrests were for identity theft and document fraud in addition to being illegal aliens and/or criminal aliens.
There were also smaller, unconnected raids at Shipley Donuts in Houston (a local chain, report link) and...
... Committee
NALAAC-National NGO Florida Convention
New England Human Rights Organization for Haiti
Northern California May 1 Coalition
Puerto Rican Alliance
San Romero de Las Americas Church-UCC
Sindicato Mexicano de Electricistas-SME (Mexican Electrical Workers Union)
South Asian Network
Southwest Workers Union-San Antonio
Troops Out Now Coalition
Union de Juristas de Mexico
Union de...
Some Florida orange growers are getting smart and using machines rather than foreign serf labor. From the NYT:
IMMOKALEE, Fla. - Chugging down a row of trees, the pair of canopy shakers in Paul Meador's orange grove here seem like a cross between a bulldozer and a hairbrush, their hungry steel bristles working through the tree crowns as if untangling colossal heads of hair.
In under 15 minutes,...