|
8/15/03
E
Messenger
The
Electronic Newsletter of the
Florida
AFL-CIO
New
Members according to the AFL-CIO Work in Progress
This week's WIP: 7,230
Year to date: 99,356
Katherine
Harris still taking heat over our
Bradenton
Medicare and prescription drug rally.
Katherine Harris/ARA AFL-CIO Medicare Event
The
Washington
Post
8/14/03
Harris
should take some tips from Tip
(08/15/2003 © Bradenton Herald)
Katherine Harris must be familiar with the legacy of Tip O'Neill, the late
U.S. Speaker of the House and an unabashed Irish pol
from Boston whose mantra was 'All politics is local.' Years ago, I watched
O'Neill demonstrate what that means after Mass one Sunday morning in
Boca
Raton
.
The legisl...
New
strategy lessons 101: create a fake crisis, then
pretend to solve it.
Tampa
Tribune: Jury
Cap Bill Draws Bipartisan Skepticism
Published:
Aug
13, 2003
http://tampatrib.com/floridametronews/MGAU72BVAJD.html
Tallahassee
travesty
(
08/15/2003
© Orlando
Sentinel)
Our
position: Lawmakers didn't solve the medical-malpractice problem. Don't be
deceived by the smiles and back slaps among legislative leaders and Gov.
Jeb Bush this week in
Tallahassee
.
The medical-malpractice compromise that lawmakers approved is not a
triumph. It's a travesty. The plan f...
Insurance
Rates May Fall
(
08/15/2003
© Capitol
News Service)
Insurance companies are one of the few groups cheering the medical
malpractice insurance reform bill passed by the legislature yesterday.
Doctors and lawyers fear the bill won't reduce insurance rates or protect
patients.
Florida
's
insurance industry says the bill brings the first ray of hope for st...
A
special session for the record book
(08/15/2003 © Daytona Beach News-Journal)
Because so many people come to Florida from states with year-round
legislative branches, the whole idea of legislative special sessions
sometimes bears explaining.
Florida
works very hard to maintain the fiction that its Legislature is a
part-time body of regular folks who get together just
...
Bush
signs malpractice bill, challenge expected soon
(08/15/2003 © Daytona Beach News-Journal)
TALLAHASSEE -- Florida Gov. Jeb Bush signed a bill Thursday aimed at
reducing medical malpractice insurance costs, drawing a promise from trial
lawyers to challenge a provision that caps some lawsuit damages. The bill
signing brought an end to a months-long dispute among Republicans over
what Bus...
Pain,
suffering award limits for medical malpractice victims will not help,
doctors say
(08/15/2003 © Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel)
The medical malpractice compromise fashioned by Florida's elected leaders
is supposed to avert the 'crisis' of skyrocketing insurance facing
physicians, but many angry doctors said on Thursday that the fix will do
little good. Some doctors said that they will continue to stop performing proce...
Malpractice
Bill: Few or No Winners
(
08/15/2003
© Lakeland
Ledger)
With the possible exception of insurance
companies, it appears there were no winners in the Legislature's medical
malpractice bill. The major element in the compromise bill was a $500,000
cap on noneconomic damages -- commonly known
as 'pain and suffering.' Gov. Jeb Bush had insisted on a $250,000 c...
AFSCME hits
“Service Worst”…hard.
Tallahassee
Democrat:
Service First appeals begin stacking up
Employees union says many workers fear repercussions
http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/local/6519304.htm
Need
quick cash without budget oversight? Create a crisis.
St. Pete Times: Dollars for prison enrollment
A Times Editorial
published
August
13, 2003
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/08/13/Opinion/Dollars_for_prison_en.shtml
The
insti-crisis
(
08/15/2003
© Gainesville
Sun)
So
this is the way public policy-making works in 'conservative'
Tallahassee
.
Lawmakers spend literally months dithering over the fine details of a
medical malpractice 'reform' package that, in the end, may neither lower
malpractice insurance rates nor protect victims of bad medicine. And then
...
Skewed
priorities
(
08/15/2003
© Daytona
Beach News-Journal)
Florida
can't fund state universities adequately. Public-school students are being
crammed into dilapidated portables and teachers are losing their jobs.
Mental-health programs are closing down and seniors who need help paying
for eyeglasses, hearing aids and prescription drugs have been told the
cu...
3rd
graders, parents learn the truth about the FCAT.
The policy is the idea of a “doo doo
head.”
Workers’
Comp.
Will voters
get a shot at tax reform?
Last chance
(
08/15/2003
© Daytona
Beach News-Journal)
Amending
the Florida Constitution is a big deal, one that should be reserved for
fundamental issues of state government. Nuts-and-bolts issues should
properly be the province of the state Legislature. But what do you do when
the Legislature ignores a deeply rooted and ongoing injustice? Former...
A
CALL FOR TAX REFORM
(
08/15/2003
© Miami
Herald)
Two
former Republican state lawmakers have joined forces for a truly honorable
cause: reform of
Florida
's
overly generous list of exemptions from the state sales tax. Former Senate
President John McKay of
Bradenton
and former state Sen. Jack Latvala of
Palm
Harbor
last week announced a campaign t...
Why
Florida
needs a real commitment to education funding.
Palm Beach
Post:
Statistics that boggle scholarly minds
Wednesday,
August 13, 2003
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/auto/epaper/editions/wednesday/local_news_f393ea8f1585d00200df.html
If voters
choose tax reform, will Jeb even listen?
. . . unfinished business
(
08/15/2003
© Orlando
Sentinel)
Our
position: Gov. Bush is not above the law when it comes to the bullet
train. Another legislative session has come and gone -- the fifth time,
and hopefully the last time, lawmakers will convene this year. In their
zeal to leave town, however, lawmakers never even considered a critically
imp...
Election
2004
Cuban-Americans
Warn Bush May Lose Their Vote
(
08/15/2003
© Lakeland
Ledger)
MIAMI
-- For the first time since he became an American citizen decades ago,
Santiago Portal won't vote for a Republican for president. The 62-year-old
Cuban American says he's fed up with President Bush's policy on
Cuba
and is urging other exiles to choose someone else in next year's election.
'...
Candidates
assail trade, labor policies
Boston
Globe
8/14/03
Dean's
rural strategy creates a major player
Atlanta
Journal-Constitution
8/14/03
Dick
Gephardt Seeks to Energize Campaign
Associated Press (AP)
8/14/03
Democrats
talk tough for Iowa union members
Atlanta
Journal-Constitution
8/15/03
CWA,
IBEW’s struggle with Verizon
continues.
Verizon,
unions resume negotiations
USA
Today
8/15/03
Union
May Ask Supporters To Dump Verizon
Service
The
Washington
Post
8/13/03
Unions
May Ask Verizon Customers to Try AT&T
The
New York
Times
8/13/03
Lawmakers
concerned Verizon may move jobs
Boston
Globe
8/13/03
Unions
Urge Customers to Abandon Verizon
AP
8/14/03
11
senators nudge Verizon as labor dispute
continues
Baltimore
Sun 8/14/03
More
protest against Bush Medicare plan
Protesters
Blocked from Kyl's Office
Arizona
Republic
8/15/03
Phoenix
Protests Against Kyl's
Medicare Stance
Tucson Citizen
Could
we see a new Reagan firing of these folks?
Air
Controllers Clash With White House
The
Washington
Post
8/15/03
Don't
Privatize Air Traffic Control
Atlanta
Journal-Constitution
8/15/03
The
California
Coup continues.
Host
of Candidates Poses a Challenge for
California
Republicans
The state's Republicans, who have taken delight in the Democratic
squirming, are facing a monumental predicament of their own.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/15/national/15RECA.html?th
California's
Embattled Governor Gains a New Adviser: Bill Clinton
The
New York
Times
8/13/03
Davis'
Allies Weigh Backup in Bustamante
The LA Times
8/15/03
Davis
losing critical backers
San
Jose
Mercury News
8/15/03
Wal-Mart
watch.
WAL-MART
Muzzling critics
St.
Louis
Post-Dispatch
8/15/03
Wal-Mart
urges five stations to drop union's radio spots
St.
Louis
Post-Dispatch
8/14/03
Wal-Mart
opens wallet in effort to fix its image
San
Francisco
Chronicle
8/14/03
Is
it still the “economy stupid?”
OP-ED COLUMNIST
Twilight
Zone Economics
By PAUL KRUGMAN
The
U.S.
economy has been growing too fast to meet the
classic
definition of a recession, but too slowly to meet
the
usual criteria for economic recovery.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/15/opinion/15KRUG.html?th
Recovery
Without Jobs? No Way
The
New York
Times
8/15/03
If you have
suggestions on how we may improve this online publication or have
information you would like to see posted please contact our communications
director at (850) 224 – 6926 or at rtemplin@flaflcio.org.
SUBSCRIBE
Union members
may subscribe to the E Messenger by visiting our website at www.flaflcio.org.
UNSUBSCRIBE
If you would
not like to receive future copies of this newsletter please let us know at
cbell@flaflcio.org.
Rich Templin
Communications Director
Florida
AFL-CIO |
