Post-taser, UF postpones Kevorkian appearance

The University of Florida has decided to postpone an appearance by famed assisted suicide advocate Dr. Jack Kevorkian in the aftermath of the recent Taser incident there during a speech by Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.).

School officials said they need more time to address security and events management policies and procedures. They cited the Taser incident involving 21-year-old student Andrew Meyer as the reason for the change, according to a news release.

“While we would like to see these matters resolved sooner rather than later, I believe we should allow adequate time to make any policy or protocol changes needed to ensure a safe and civil environment for full, free, diverse and lively discourse,” President Bernie Machen said.

Kevorkian’s visit, which will include a panel discussion on assisted suicide with professors in law, medicine and philosophy, had been scheduled for Oct. 11, but was postponed until Jan. 15.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has not completed an independent review of the Taser incident. The university is also assembling a nine-member task force of students and faculty to review university security and events management procedures to develop a series of recommendations.

Shorter Machen: We don’t want to have to Taser another DFH right away, so let’s wait until January.

Today’s Daily Schadenfreude: Rudy Giuliani

I hate to say I told you so, but …

Okay, I also hate to link to the batshit crazy WorldNetDaily, but I’ve been saying all along that the fundies would never stand for Rudy Giuliani as the GOP presidential nominee. And it looks like I’m right, at least in part (that part being the wild-eyed batshit crazy fundies, as opposed to the merely batshit crazy fundies):

Some of the top leaders in Christian pro-family activism – including James Dobson of Focus on the Family – met in Salt Lake City yesterday to plot a strategy should Rudy Giuliani or another supporter of legalized abortion be nominated by the Republican Party as its presidential candidate.

Not only was there a consensus among activists to withhold support for the Republican nominee, there was even discussion about supporting the entry of a new candidate to challenge the frontrunners.

It’s no secret that Dobson, founder of one of the largest Christian ministries in the country, has no use for Giuliani.

In June, he said: “I cannot, and will not, vote for Rudy Giuliani in 2008. It is an irrevocable decision. If given a Hobson’s – Dobson’s? – choice between him and Sens. Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, I will either cast my ballot for an also-ran – or if worse comes to worst – not vote in a presidential election for the first time in my adult life. My conscience and my moral convictions will allow me to do nothing else.”

This is really not good news for Rudy. On the one hand, he obviously wants to win the GOP nomination. On the other hand, he knows full well that he can’t win the White House without the batshit crazy fundie vote, and if the King of the Batshit Crazy Fundies says he won’t support Rudy, none of them will.

And so Rudy once again takes home the coveted DS award … and a well-deserved one, as all the money and work and plaintive bleats of “9/11! 9/11!” ultimately will lead to nothing … other than this: congratulations, Rudy! Today’s Blast Off! Daily Schadenfreude is for you!

An expert looks at Florida’s fiscal fracas

The expert is none other than former governor and U.S. senator Bob Graham, whose op-ed in the St. Petersburg Times yesterday reminds us that Florida has far to go in fixing the current budget crisis, and short-term solutions are only going to make it worse.

With vital needs escalating but revenues falling, legislators should take several steps in the special session to protect Florida from future economic storms.

The first is to heed the adage that when you’re in a hole, stop digging. Earlier this year, the Legislature put a proposed constitutional amendment to slash local property taxes. That may look good on the surface, but consider the fine print. Under that amendment, Florida public schools would lose $7-billion over the next five years.Last week, teachers and students won a reprieve when a Florida circuit court struck the amendment from the ballot. Rather than spending more taxpayer dollars to appeal the decision or using valuable time in the October special session to revise the amendment, the Legislature should defer it to a better fiscal climate or at least develop a credible plan to hold public schools harmless from its impacts.

Second, we must jump start long-term economic growth. From 1985 to 1990, Florida’s average per capita income was 100.3 percent of the national average. By the 2000 to 2005 period, our average was only 96.4 percent. Had we not experienced that drop, Florida families would have earned, on average, almost $4,000 more each year. The governor and Legislature should commit to policies designed to return Florida families to an above national average per capita income – and the best way to do that is to provide our public schools and universities with the financial support they need.

Third, we must evaluate past revenue reductions. Many of the tax breaks enacted over the last decade were justified as necessary to stimulate economic growth. Those particular cuts cost the state $2.5-billion last year alone. Given the current state of Florida’s economy and the slide in relative per capita income, the Legislature should repeal any tax cuts which do not more than pay their way in verifiable economic growth.

I’ve been saying for quite some time now that Florida is just one bad hurricane or other disaster away from bankruptcy. Some have said I’m too pessimistic, but I continue to believe that the Republicans in charge of the state’s pursestrings will stop at nothing to prove that they’re all for tax cuts … even if that means killing the state economically.

When you read “tax cuts,” think “service cuts,” and think about what a Florida without municipal services (for the municipalities are the ones who end up bearing the brunt of the Legislature’s “generosity”) might look like. In short, tax cuts for their own sake will strangle us. And we’ll only have the Republicans to thank for that.

Legislature opens "secret" session

Looks like our Republican overlords in Tallahassee are at it again …

[T]his week, lawmakers will begin a 10-day budget-cutting session without much of a road map. The fate of most top issues has turned into one big secret — still to be decided behind closed doors.

Efforts to overhaul property taxes, continue no-fault auto insurance and even authorize Las Vegas-style gambling on Indian reservations may muscle their way on stage — or not — even as legislators prepare to make the state’s deepest budget cuts in six years.

Many lawmakers are openly critical of the unprecedented number of closed-door attempts at deal making that will ultimately determine what they vote on. Indeed, leaders didn’t even announce the agenda for the session until Friday — a task usually completed weeks in advance.

[...]

House Democratic Leader Dan Gelber of Miami Beach was sharply critical of House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-West Miami, and Senate President Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, who last week agreed to $790 million in budget cuts in a pact most lawmakers first learned about via e-mail.

Among the proposed cuts in the $71 billion state budget are $138 million for public schools; $185 million for hospitals, nursing homes and other health-care providers; and $103 million in law-enforcement and prison spending.

“I know it’s easier to have a meeting when the public isn’t there and when all the legislators who might disagree aren’t there,” Gelber said. “But, candidly, it’s not better. It’s not fair.”

You’re kidding me, right? In a state where the “Sunshine Law,” requiring openness in government, rules everything from school boards to state universities, the Legislature can come to an agreement on more than three-quarters of a billon dollars in budget cuts without even including all the legislators?

Something is rotten in the state of Florida. And, as usual, it’s coming from the red side of the aisle.

Back at the blog

Yes, I basically took the weekend off from blogging. Didja miss me?

I watched a good bit of football, saw In the Valley of Elah on Friday night (it was terrific — poignant, emotional, and thought-provoking), and generally relaxed. Just didn’t feel like getting online, you know? Every so often, escaping from the disasters of the Bush crime syndicate is therapeutic.

So, what did I miss over the weekend?

Blast Off! Radio: join the fun today at 2:00 Eastern

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