Rick Scott's plan to cut jail budget called unrealistic

TALLAHASSEE -- Rick Scott's plan to curtail state spending and create 700,000 new jobs includes slashing $1 billion from the prison budget by cutting salaries, reducing health care costs and expanding inmate-run vegetable farms.

But people who know how the corrections system works call the Republican candidate for governor's plan a ``hoax'' and a ``shell game.'' The Florida Department of Corrections is the nation's third-largest prison system with more than 100,000 inmates in 139 facilities.

Scott's proposed cut represents more than a third of the agency's $2.4 billion budget.

Experts who dissected Scott's plan for the Times/Herald include James McDonough, a former corrections secretary under a Republican governor; state Sen. Victor Crist, R-Tampa, who for years helped craft prison budgets, and David Murrell, leader of the statewide prison guards' union. The union supports Scott's Democratic opponent, Alex Sink.

``We're going to benchmark what other states are doing,'' Scott said Wednesday in Tampa.

``There's things such as what Texas does. They have the prisoners grow their own food. You just look at the layers of management and things like that . . . We shouldn't be more extensive than other states.''

The Republican candidate's cost-cutting ideas have sent shock waves through the prison work force at a time of near-record unemployment in Florida, especially for lower-income families who represent the vast majority of prison employees.

``It would be devastating,'' said Gretl Plessinger, a spokeswoman for the prison system. ``You would have to close prisons.''

Scott's plan has angered the politically influential union that represents correctional officers. The Police Benevolent Association months ago backed Sink and now has another reason to try to keep Scott from winning.

``It's a total hoax,'' PBA executive director Murrell said of Scott's plan. ``There's no way he can do that unless he lets a whole bunch of prisoners out of prisons.''

In his campaign literature, Scott proposes to model Florida after Texas by ``reducing per-prisoner costs to Texas' level.''

That worries the PBA, because Texas pays a first-year prison guard about $3,000 a year less than Florida's starting salary of $31,000.

In its zeal to bash Scott, the PBA issued misleading information about the candidate. In a lengthy e-mail to members, a union leader said Scott wants to cut pension benefits and stop tying raises to inflation. It's not true, and even Murrell acknowledged that some of the e-mail's language was unsubstantiated or poorly worded.

Still, the union said Scott has emphasized cutting state jobs so much that its fears are well-grounded.

Scott promises voters he will cut the state work force by 5 percent and one of every four state employees works in corrections. Even the suggestion of closing a prison sets off economic fears because many prisons are in small towns where they are a major employer.

Scott's plan also would require prisons to grow more of their own food for inmates to eat, but prison officials say that would provide minor savings.

The agency fired two private food service vendors two years ago and now cooks all prison meals in house to save money.

``I think he's off base,'' said former corrections secretary James McDonough, who served for two years under Republican Gov. Jeb Bush.

Calling Scott's set of numbers ``a shell game,'' McDonough said the daily meal cost per inmate is now $2.27 and he can't see it getting much lower.

Scott's top economic advisor, who helped write the prison plan, noted that Scott does not have the resources to assemble a comprehensive budget plan.

``These are ways of highlighting the beginning of an accountability budget review,'' said advisor Donna Arduin, who served as Jeb Bush's budget director. ``This is the beginning of a process, not the end.''

Florida officials say the agency's per diem cost has risen 5.7 percent over the past decade, a period in which the total inmate population rose 46 percent.

Corrections officials point out that they have had to withstand several rounds of cuts in recent years due to revenue shortfalls, including a $68 million cut this year from 2009. But the inmate population continues to grow.

State Sen. Victor Crist, a Tampa Republican who for years has been in charge of crafting the prison budget, says further cuts in prison spending could pose safety hazards.

``It's a very lofty plan. I would like to see how it would work,'' Crist said. ``I would be concerned about public risks. At this point, we have made the cuts that are possible without putting the public at risk.''

Union head Murrell said Scott is playing fast and loose with numbers, and people's lives.

``The way he uses figures is like what George Bush Sr. used to call voodoo economics,'' Murrell said. ``He thinks if he runs enough ads he can convince people that's the truth.''

Steve Bousquet can be reached at bousquet@sptimes.com or (850) 224-7263.

Panel puts spotlight on Florida investment debacle

A congressional commission investigating the nation's financial crisis has demanded ``responses and documents'' from Florida about an investment debacle three years ago that could cost local governments hundreds of millions of dollars. The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission wants to interview managers from the State Board of Administration about risky securities they bought before the financial meltdown.

The bipartisan panel, appointed by Congress last year, is seeking detailed information not only about those investments but answers to questions including: Why did the SBA invest in exotic, mortgage-backed securities for the local government pool? Was it to boost the fund's return on investment? In nine months of hearings, document gathering and interviews, a 10-member commission has been examining the causes of the country's financial crisis and how to avoid another one.

The commission's focus has been Wall Street and agencies that regulate it, but in recent days, the panel has zeroed in on the financial meltdown's impact on Main Street, notably in hard-hit California, Nevada and Florida. On Tuesday, commissioners were in Miami, where they heard five hours of testimony about regulatory lapses and financial incentives that fueled mortgage fraud.

The panel's letter to SBA executive director Ashbel C. Williams Jr. came a day after the St. Petersburg Times reported on e-mails and internal memos that show state money managers tried to get around rules restricting the investment of local government funds in risky securities. Those documents are at odds with statements state leaders and the SBA made almost three years ago that contended that Wall Street investment firms misled the agency into buying the risky securities.

Commission spokesman Tucker Warren said the panel's staff became aware of the Times' story after it sent the letter.

Hundreds of cities, counties and school districts use the local pool as a place to park their money until they need it to pay bills. In 2007, many of them withdrew billions after Bloomberg News reported that some of the investments were downgraded to junk status. The run shrank the local government pool from $31 billion to less than $6 billion.

The SBA is overseen by a three-member board of trustees: Gov. Charlie Crist, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and Attorney General Bill McCollum.

In the letter demanding documents from Florida, the commission's general counsel, Gary J. Cohen, asked that the SBA produce the information by Oct. 1. Cohen described the panel's letter as a ``demand for responses and documents. . . . We may have additional requests upon our review of the information.''

A spokeswoman for McCollum did not respond to a request for comment. Sink's spokeswoman said the office had no comment.

Gov. Crist was asked about the SBA at an unrelated public event in Tallahassee Wednesday. Considering the efforts that money managers went to make questionable investments and a consultant's report faulting the SBA for lax oversight, could Crist have done a better job?

``We can always all do better, whether you're a journalist or whatever your endeavor in life might be,'' Crist said. ``And I think that one thing that's important to recognize is that we have been struggling through the toughest economic meltdown since the Great Depression. And I think that the work that's been accomplished there and the protection of the assets has been pretty good.''

The SBA posted a one-paragraph note on its local government website about the congressional inquiry, saying that the agency intended to cooperate fully.

The congressional commission is chaired by Phil Angelides, the former California treasurer. Its vice chair is former Rep. Bill Thomas, who represented California for 28 years in Congress. It is scheduled to deliver its report to Congress and the president on Dec. 15.

Herald/Times Staff Writer Marc Caputo contributed to this report.

Judge blocks GOP quest for Charlie Crist refunds

A Florida judge has rejected a legal maneuver that could have enabled thousands of Republican contributors to seek refunds of up to $7.5 million they gave to support a GOP Senate candidacy by Gov. Charlie Crist. Circuit Judge Jack Schoonover in Naples refused Thursday to certify a lawsuit brought by two GOP donors as a class action covering at least 2,000 similar contributors. The decision means donors would have to sue individually for refunds.

The two contributors gave money to Crist when he was campaigning for U.S. Senate as a Republican. They sued in Collier County, claiming Crist broke a contract when he abandoned the GOP earlier to run as an independent.

The case cast doubt on Crist's ability to finance his Senate race. Crist is running against Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Kendrick Meek in the Nov. 2 election.

-- THE ASSOCIATED

PRESS

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GOP claims over Alex Sink role in investments weighed

Millions of Americans had that stomach-churning feeling when headlines announced another bad day on Wall Street as stock and bond markets plunged in value. People watched helplessly as investment nest eggs cracked, leaving many -- particularly seniors -- worried they would never recover what they had dutifully built up in savings.

That raw fear is exploited in a new statewide television ad paid for by the Republican Party of Florida on behalf of the Rick Scott for governor campaign and against Democrat Alex Sink. The 30-second ad began airing on Sept. 21, 2010. It opens with black and white photos of older people as a narrator says: ``You worked your whole life. You saved. It's your pension. You earned it. But with Alex Sink in charge, Florida's pension fund has lost 24 billion dollars. That's not a typo. $24 billion -- gone.''

The ad continues: ``Experts even warned Sink she was making risky investments. Sink gave bonuses to staffers. They were hired to invest our seniors' money. Lost billions. Then Sink gave them bonuses. And now she wants a promotion?''

The television airwaves are loaded with ads that take facts or issues out of context. The Associated Press labeled the RPOF ad ``deceptive.'' The Sink campaign immediately sent out an e-mail statement firing back.

To get to the truth and put the GOP ad in perspective, there are questions to probe here. One is: Did the Florida pension fund lose $24 billion and is it ``gone?'' Did experts warn her ``she was making risky investments?'' And, did Sink give ``bonuses to staffers'' who lost billions?

Let's start with some background. Sink is Florida's chief financial officer and is required by law to sit on the three-member Board of Trustees, State Board of Administration. The board has oversight authority over the state's largest pension fund, the Florida Retirement System Trust Fund. The other board members: Gov. Charlie Crist and Attorney General Bill McCollum.

LOSSES

The trust fund is a massive investment account, today worth about $117 billion and holding the retirement assets of about 1 million current and retired state employees, as well as some local police and firefighters. It's one of the nation's largest retirement funds. According to the last actuarial report done in 2009, the fund is 88.5 percent funded -- meaning if every employee retired today, they would get 88.5 percent of their benefits; 80 percent is considered healthy.

So when Wall Street melted down, and stocks, bonds, real estate and other assets began their steep decline in 2008, the value of Florida's retirement fund fell too. Did the retirement fund lose $24 billion? RPOF does the math this way: On June 30, 2007, the fund was at its peak at $138.4 billion and by June 30, 2010, the value had declined to $109.34 billion, a $29 billion drop in value. The RPOF cites the $4.5 billion paid out to retirees in 2009-10 and concludes the net investment loss is $24.56 billion. Their number is wrong for these reasons: First, the value of the fund was $136.4 billion, not $138.4 billion, in June 2007. And second, the party subtracted the 2009-2010 payments to retirees from that three-year loss, but failed to subtract the payments to retirees in the other two years as well. Those payments were $3.4 billion in 2007-2008 and $3.2 billion in 2008-2009. If they had subtracted all three years, the drop in value since 2007, then, is $15.96 billion.

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Consultant: Marco Rubio charged $4K in home remodeling work on GOP credit card

Marco Rubio had hoped that months ago he'd put behind him the controversy over questionable personal spending on his Republican Party credit card.

But now a Republican political consultant and former vocal Rubio supporter says Rubio told him he had charged thousands of dollars in home remodeling expenses on his state GOP American Express card.

``I raised the issue very casually, `Are there any issues you need to worry about that could cause you a problem?' The biggest concern of his was this charge of $4,000 to $5,000 for a kitchen flooring renovation in his house that he said somehow wound up on his (party) credit card,'' said Chris Ingram of Tampa, adding that Rubio assured him he had paid for that charge.

The Rubio campaign dismissed Ingram as a petty campaign operative who wanted to get a job with Rubio. However, a spokesman declined to say whether Ingram's recollection was inaccurate.

``None of it is even worth me or anyone from our campaign commenting about because this is a guy who is clearly disgruntled who has a history of making accusations like this against people he's worked for,'' senior advisor Todd Harris said, noting that Ingram has criticized former employers, including 2006 Senate candidate Katherine Harris.

`THE BOTTOM LINE'

``The bottom line is that it is absolutely untrue that party money was ever used to pay for something like this,'' Harris said.

The Times/Herald earlier this year obtained Rubio's party credit card statement from 2006 and 2007. It showed he routinely charged personal expenses on the party credit card, from groceries to family reunion expenses. He said he paid off those expenses directly, though after the Times/Herald made those records public Rubio had to pay the state GOP $2,400 for double-billed plane flights.

Former state House Speaker Rubio of Miami is the front-runner in the U.S. Senate race against Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running as an independent, and Democratic U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek of Miami.

The Crist campaign has called for greater disclosure by Rubio, such as releasing tax returns and all party credit card statements.

``Rubio already admitted to using his party credit card to the tune of $16,000 in just two years for meals, trips, car repairs and family reunions. If Rubio wasn't using political contributions as his own personal ATM for longer than that, why not release all of the credit card records?'' Crist campaign spokesman Danny Kanner said.

Harris of the Rubio campaign said no further credit card records would be released.

``We would be spending the rest of the campaign answering ridiculous charges if we jumped to action every time a disgruntled political consultant made some accusation,'' he said. ``Our campaign is going to stay 100 percent focused on the issues that got us where we are today. If Charlie Crist or Chris Ingram want to create a sideshow they can do it together.''

Ingram also writes biting commentary about politics on his website, IrreverentView.com . He was a critic of Gov. Crist well before his popularity sunk in the GOP, and for months Ingram touted Rubio's campaign.

E-MAIL EXCHANGES

He provided the Times/Herald with e-mail exchanges where he urged Rubio to release any negative information about his credit card to minimize damage.

``This has been addressed. There is no issues (sic) with my card. (I spent less in 4 years than Sansom did in 2.),'' Rubio e-mailed on Dec. 23, referring to indicted former House Speaker Ray Sansom. ``If there was an issue they would have released them long ago.''

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Florida Cabinet contests close, poll shows

The Republican candidates in the three races for Florida Cabinet are gaining traction with independent voters and slightly leading their Democratic rivals, according to a new poll that suggests 2010 is shaping up to be a good year for conservatives.

But it's not a cakewalk.

The leads of Pam Bondi for attorney general, Adam Putnam for agriculture commissioner and Jeff Atwater for chief financial officer are well within the 4-percentage point error margin of the Mason-Dixon Research & Associates survey of likely Florida voters.

The poll shows far clearer results when it comes to the Legislature's plan to scale back a constitutional limit on classroom sizes. It appears headed for certain defeat at the Nov. 2 polls. Another proposed constitutional amendment, which would give citizens a vote in growth management plans, has a fair chance of passing.

While the Cabinet races are far tougher to predict, the poll indicates Republicans are enjoying the support of voters with no party affiliation -- the crucial swing vote in Florida.

``It's a subtle sign that this is looking like a Republican year,'' said Brad Coker, Mason-Dixon pollster. ``I don't think there's a Democratic pollster out there who isn't seeing this and who isn't worried about it.''

Still, a Mason-Dixon poll Thursday showed Democrat Alex Sink leading Republican Rick Scott in the governor's race by 7 percentage points, but a rival Rasmussen Reports survey Friday said Scott leads by 6.

Though their numbers differ, both pollsters' surveys indicate that conservative voters are far more fired up this election season than liberals, many of whom are dispirited as the approval ratings fall for the Democratic Congress and President Barack Obama, who won Florida in 2008 in a Democratic landslide year.

But Coker cautions that at least a fourth of the electorate is undecided in the Cabinet races, so the races could go either way.

That's not the case when it comes to Amendment 8, the Legislature's proposal to save money by preventing the so-called ``hard caps'' of the constitutional class-size law from taking effect.

Only 35 percent of likely voters said they'll support Amendment 8. A majority of voters, 53 percent, oppose changing the class-size limitations, which were enshrined in the Florida Constitution by voters in 2002.

It takes 60 percent of the vote to amend the Florida Constitution -- a provision added to the Constitution by voters at the urging of the Republican-led Legislature.

One initiative has proved particularly threatening to the business interests that help fund the races of state and local lawmakers: The so-called ``Hometown Democracy'' plan that appears on Amendment 4.

Funded by liberal-leaning interests concerned with urban sprawl, Amendment 4 would require a vote of local citizens when their cities or counties seek to change their growth plan, which are often amended to approve new developments and construction.

If the election were held now, Amendment 4 would lose -- but only because of the 60 percent limitation on constitutional changes, according to the poll, which shows 53 percent of voters favor the amendment and only 26 percent oppose it.

With the Nov. 2 elections so close, Coker said, the fact that more than half of the electorate likes the amendment bodes well for its passage.

Support is particularly strong among Democrats, in part because of the backing of liberal-leaning environmentalists.

But Republicans back the measure as well, ``perhaps because many have an anti-bureaucrat or anti-politician mind-set and believe that more control for citizens is a better thing,'' Coker said.

In the Cabinet races, Bondi appears to be the best-known candidate and garners the most votes in her race against Democratic state Sen. Dan Gelber of Miami Beach. Coker said Bondi's stint as a telegenic Fox News personality, her home base of Tampa Bay -- the state's swing-vote region -- and her more contested primary race helps push her past Gelber.

Bondi leads Gelber 38-34.

In the race for agriculture commissioner, former U.S. Rep. Putnam leads former Tallahassee Mayor and Democratic Party chief Scott Maddox 36-32.

The state CFO race is the closest, with Republican Senate President Atwater of North Palm Beach leading former Democratic Rep. Loranne Ausley of Tallahassee by a 29-27 ratio. Nearly 4 in 10 voters are undecided in that race.

Coker said the CFO race has echoes of the 2006 contest in which former Senate President Tom Lee lost to Alex Sink.

``Once again, you have a Senate president and a female candidate who's giving him a run,'' Coker said.

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Annual reports warned of trouble at firm Rick Scott ran

Rick Scott has said he would have immediately stopped his former hospital company from committing Medicare fraud -- if only ``somebody told me something was wrong.''

But he was cautioned year after year that the financial incentives Columbia/HCA offered doctors could run afoul of a federal anti-kickback law that seeks to limit conflicts of interest in Medicare and Medicaid.

The warnings were contained in the company's annual public reports to stockholders that Scott, now the Republican candidate for Florida governor, signed as Columbia/HCA's president and chief executive officer.

The reports said the company believed it was complying with the spirit of the law. But as far back as 1994 -- three years before the FBI began scrutinizing the company -- Columbia/HCA acknowledged that it might not be following the letter of complex healthcare rules.

``Certain of the Company's current arrangements with physicians . . . risk scrutiny'' from investigators and ``may be subject to enforcement action,'' the 1994 report said -- a precaution echoed over the years in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Scott today says he doesn't remember the reports he signed, but that the warning language sounded like ``boilerplate, written by SEC lawyers just to cover all bases.'' Indeed, the precautions mirrored those issued by some other healthcare companies.

Before Columbia merged with Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), Columbia executives were warned as early as May 1988 that the payments to doctors may be illegal, according to a 2001 Justice Department lawsuit against Columbia/HCA.

When the corporate brass asked for a legal opinion, a lawyer said the payments could violate anti-kickback laws, according to the DOJ lawsuit.

``HCA executives, however, ignored counsel's advice and structured the transaction exactly as the lawyer warned them not to do,'' the suit says.

NEVER CHARGED

Asked about that warning this past week, Scott said: ``I don't know what the document said. I'm sure they used boilerplate that said something about they used all their efforts to comply with all the laws.''

Scott signed his last SEC report as a hospital executive on March 27, 1997 -- eight days after the FBI raided two El Paso, Texas, hospitals in what became the largest Medicare fraud case in U.S. history, spanning six states during a seven-year criminal probe. Scott resigned from Columbia/HCA four months later and he was never charged with a crime.

In the end, Columbia/HCA paid a record $1.7 billion in fines and pleaded guilty to 14 felony charges for a variety of transgressions. About $30 million in fines stemmed from illegal payments to doctors, a practice federal investigators traced back to El Paso, where Scott and a partner began Columbia in 1987 with the purchase of two distressed hospitals.

The payments in question -- alleged sham loans and stock deals -- are largely forbidden by federal anti-kickback laws, because the financial incentives can tempt doctors to refer Medicare patients to their own hospitals and labs. That can potentially stick taxpayers with bills for unnecessary treatment.

RAPID GROWTH

As part of its business strategy, Columbia offered ownership shares and other inducements to local doctors, hoping physicians would in turn send more patients to Columbia hospitals. This became one of Columbia's hallmarks, helping the company grow rapidly and ultimately take over the larger HCA in 1994.

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Florida losing millions on risky investments

Three years ago, the state of Florida made bad investments that lost hundreds of millions in value. State leaders blamed the sharks of Wall Street, who they said duped Florida money managers into buying way-too-risky securities.

Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink pushed the state to sue big banks, which she said dumped tainted investments on Florida.

Gov. Charlie Crist demanded a no-holds-barred investigation and named four Wall Street firms that he suspected took advantage of the state.

Attorney General Bill McCollum wondered if there had been fraud and promised help with an investigation.

But no bank was prosecuted, no lawsuit was filed and there was never a full accounting of a financial debacle that could cost Florida governments and taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

Now the St. Petersburg Times has obtained e-mails and internal memos that document a story at odds with the one told by Crist, Sink and McCollum, the elected officials responsible for oversight of the state's money managers.

The securities Wall Street ``dumped'' on Florida? The records show the state was anything but an innocent dupe; it was an eager partner.

Going back at least seven years, state money managers had been trying to find a way around rules that restricted them from buying certain risky securities. Time and again they asked, time and again lawyers told them no.

But so eager were Florida's money managers for higher yields, they bought them anyway. In two months at the brink of the housing market meltdown in 2007, the state invested at least $9.5 billion in securities it was not authorized to buy, a review of confidential memos shows.

``Florida can't say it got snookered,'' said Peter Henning, a Wayne State University law professor and securities law expert, when told what the documents said.

``They were chomping at the bit to buy risky securities. These weren't lambs being led to the slaughter. They weren't fooled. They seemed to go along quite happily.''

What happened?

The State Board of Administration invests more than $140 billion of public money, most of it for the state retirement system. It also manages a fund that pools money from hundreds of Florida towns, counties and school districts.

As of June 30, 2007, the local pool totaled $31 billion, making Florida's the country's largest such fund.

But with the collapse of financial markets and revelations of troubled investments, hundreds of the local clients withdrew billions from the pool. Today it holds less than $6 billion.

Beyond the lost dollars, beyond eroding trust in government, the state's perilous investing aggravated already-strained budgets and put holds on construction of schools, roads, sewers and firehouses across the state. It forced school districts to take out loans to pay teachers.

``I would never invest in the SBA again,'' said Marcia Dedert, finance director of Port St. Lucie, which had to borrow money to finish some roads. ``In my mind, they robbed the citizens of my city.''

It's hard to calculate the costs of the risky deals that went awry. The SBA refuses to recognize any loss for local governments. The agency says it has made many positive changes and its goal is to make its clients ``whole.'' But if the bad securities were sold today, taxpayers could be out more than $300 million.

Ashbel C. Williams Jr., who replaced the SBA director who presided over the fiasco, said the agency and its employees did not violate federal securities laws.

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Tax cuts carving a divide in Florida

WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama's push to let tax cuts for the richest Americans expire is emerging as a campaign issue in Florida, putting some Democrats in tight reelection races at odds with the president.

Democratic Reps. Ron Klein, Suzanne Kosmas and Allen Boyd are calling for all of the Bush-era tax cuts to be temporarily extended -- disputing Obama's assertion that tax cuts for the ``very wealthiest Americans'' are too costly and would ``do little to add momentum to our economy.''

Obama wants to extend tax breaks only to individuals making less than $200,000, and married couples making less than $250,000, who represent an estimated 98 percent of all taxpayers. But the trio -- top targets of Republicans hoping to regain control of the House in November -- have joined a number of moderate Democrats urging House leaders to extend all the cuts, which expire at the end of the year if Congress does not act.

It's unclear when and if a vote will be held; Congress will soon head home to campaign.

Klein is asking for a year extension; Kosmas, too, backs at least a one-year extension. Both said they believe the country's fragile economy should have more time to recover before any taxes are raised.

``As we get out of the recession, I want to do everything we can to encourage people to start businesses, create jobs and I think that's where our tax policy needs to go,'' Klein said.

Republicans have seized the issue, accusing Obama of pushing a ``job-killing tax hike,'' but Klein rejected suggestions that his position is an attempt to blunt attacks from his GOP opponent, Allen West, who has accused Obama of ``fomenting'' an ``insidious class warfare'' by seeking to raise taxes on the wealthy.

``I'm reflecting my district,'' said Klein, who will appear with Obama at a Coral Gables fundraiser next month. Asked whether he was uncomfortable opposing the president, the Boca Raton Democrat said, ``I've taken a stance contrary to him on oil drilling. . . . When I agree with him, I'll say I agree with him. When I disagree, I'll say I disagree.''

Klein and Boyd, a leader in the House's conservative Blue Dog caucus, were among 31 Democrats writing this week to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, urging her to extend all the tax cuts because ``in times of economic recovery it makes good sense to maintain things as they are in the short term.'' Kosmas sent her own letter in July.

The move puts them at odds with Democrats like Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Orlando, who is also facing a tough reelection campaign, but contends the tax cuts -- enacted by the George W. Bush administration in 2001 and 2003 -- ``eviscerated an unprecedented budget surplus and weakened our nation's fiscal health.

``It is critical that we pass the Obama middle-class tax cuts -- not providing an even greater lift for the wealthiest Americans who don't need it,'' Grayson said in a letter to House leaders, noting the money instead should be used to close the gaping budget deficit.

Republicans are less divided -- and Democrats accuse them of looking to hold the middle class tax cuts ``hostage.'' Nearly every member argues that raising taxes during a recession would hurt the economy. House Minority John Boehner this week backtracked from remarks he had made earlier in the week suggesting he could support extending the cuts only for those making less than $250,000.

The GOP is looking to make it an issue in the Florida Senate race, knocking Rep. Kendrick Meek for backing Obama's plan, with the National Republican Senatorial Committee accusing the Miami Democrat of ``standing with his out-of-touch party leaders in Washington instead of taxpayers in Florida.''

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Black detention deputies bear brunt of proposed BSO pay cuts

Although the Broward Sheriff's Office has averted major layoffs, the county government's largest public agency will still be reducing expenses, with a disproportionate number of blacks bearing the brunt of pay cuts.

About 250 detention deputies who work in the county's jail system face being reclassified, meaning they will see their annual salaries slashed by about $11,000, effective Sept. 25. Nearly three of four of those deputies are black.

A few black politicians -- when informed by the media about the racial impact of the layoffs in May -- voiced concern. But so far there has been little other public response from black leaders.

``People have not been asleep on this one, it's just that it's difficult times all around and we are hoping the leadership at the sheriff's office will do the right thing,'' said Democratic state Rep. Perry Thurston, a black attorney who lives in Plantation.

The full picture of BSO's budget cuts remain unclear less than three weeks before the start of the next fiscal year Oct. 1. Sheriff Al Lamberti had proposed cutting $23 million but on Tuesday night county commissioners rejected the proposed tax rate which means additional cuts -- county spokeswoman Kimberly Maroe said BSO will be asked to cut an extra $21.8 million.

The pay cuts -- a result of county-imposed budget cuts -- have led to the union filing a grievance. The union also filed a charge of disparate treatment with the Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission, which is being handled by W. George Allen, a well-known civil rights attorney in Broward.

Members of the jail workers' union, the Federation of Public Employees, packed into a Plantation union hall Monday to raise questions and plot strategy about the pay cuts. The union has until Friday to tell BSO whether it will drop the grievance and accept the pay cuts. The EEOC case would move forward.

The Herald obtained a memo that shows the annual salaries of detention deputies being reclassified as technicians dropping significantly. For example, the salary of a first-year detention deputy earning about $39,477 will fall to $28,600 -- about a 28 percent drop.

BSO spokesman Jim Leljedal would not confirm the figures, saying they are still being negotiated. But Sheriff Al Lamberti in an interview described the reclassification as about a $10,000 a year pay cut.

Workers facing the pay cuts include many men and women in their 20s and 30s who say they may be unable to pay rent or lose their homes.

``I won't be able to afford my apartment,'' said Fred Livingston, 24, who said his $45,700 salary helps him afford $1,300 monthly rent in Miramar where he lives with his two children and his pregnant wife who is a state correctional officer. ``I don't know what Plan B is.''

Jennifer Mackey, 36, a single mother of two children worries about paying her household bills. ``I'm going to have to cut the AC off,'' said the Tamarac homeowner. ``I won't be able to buy my kids school clothing.

Due to plummeting property values, county commissioners called for steep budget cuts including from BSO, which provides police or fire services to several cities and operates the jail. Lamberti has proposed cutting about $23 million from an approximately $425 million general fund budget. The reclassifications add up to savings of about $5 million. Lamberti initially proposed more than 100 layoffs, but he recently scrapped a plan to close a jail tower because it would have led to overcrowding.

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Candidate has ties to rival's manager

He has no campaign website yet. He has not reported raising a dime from any apparent donors. And his Tea Party affiliation is news to Tea Party activists in Florida who say they've never heard of him.

But Roly Arrojo says he's serious about his run for the 25th Congressional District. And he says he's absolutely not a ringer in the race that features heavyweights state Rep. David Rivera, a Republican, and Joe Garcia, a Democrat -- despite ties to Garcia's campaign manager.

Rivera's campaign has raised questions about whether Arrojo is being planted by Garcia to ride the tea party-movement wave and siphon Republican votes in the November election, which also has a fourth candidate, the Whig Party's Craig Porter, and is expected to be tight. Garcia's campaign denies any connection.

In an e-mail to the Miami Herald, Arrojo, whose full name is Jose Rolando Arrojo Jr., called the notion ``nonsense.''

``No one asked me to run for Congress, but hundreds of people have sent me emails of support,'' he wrote. ``I am running for Congress because voters deserve an alternative to the same ol' same ol' from career politicians.''

The contest for the district, which stretches from Homestead to Doral and west to near Naples, is key for both national parties: The Democrats have targeted the seat as a potential pickup, while Republicans aim to hold on to it in their bid to wrest control of the House.

In a review of public records, The Herald found Arrojo and Jeffrey Garcia, Joe Garcia's campaign manager, listed as managing members of Project Mercury, a Miami Beach-based real estate management and procurement company registered in Florida in 2005. Jeffrey Garcia, who is not related to his boss, resigned from Project Mercury.

Miami-Dade County records also show Garcia owned property in Miami's Upper Eastside with Arrojo and his wife, Michelle. The trio purchased the property for $775,000 in 2005 and sold it for $256,750 in May.

Garcia said he and Arrojo know each other from their days at Belen Jesuit Preparatory School and that, along with other classmates, they took part in Project Mercury to invest in real estate -- a costly venture that did not end well.

``We're friends, but I wouldn't say we're best friends,'' Garcia said. ``Joe knows we're friends. Joe has never met him before in his life.''

Jeffrey Garcia added that he has not spoken with Arrojo about the congressional race: ``I've not put him up to this,'' Garcia said. ``I've not asked him to do this.'

SIMILAR ACCOUNT

Arrojo gave a similar account of his relationship to Garcia.

``Jeffrey is a friend and we were part of an investment that went sour when the housing market crashed,'' Arrojo wrote. ``We have been trying for sometime to terminate and close out that deal. I have not spoken to him about my campaign as he is on the left and would not likely support me.''

He has not done much campaigning, Arrojo said, because he has been traveling. ``I hope to have a website soon and will reach out to voters in the coming months,'' he wrote.

Liliana Ros, a Republican state committeewoman, filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission arguing that Arrojo has not submitted periodic campaign finance reports, as required when a candidate spends more than $5,000. She said she feared Democrats recruited Arrojo to run in the race. ``That's the way it looks,'' she said.

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Carter says Kennedy delayed health care

WASHINGTON -- Jimmy Carter says Americans could have had comprehensive health care coverage decades ago if Edward Kennedy hadn't blocked a plan Carter proposed while in the White House.

The former president made the comment in an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes" to be aired Sunday. Parts of the interview were posted on the show's website Thursday.

In the interview, Carter accuses Kennedy of "deliberating blocking" comprehensive health care legislation Carter proposed.

Kennedy, who made health care reform a prized cause, died in August 2009 from brain cancer. The Massachusetts senator challenged Carter for the 1980 Democratic presidential nomination, but fell short. Kennedy and Carter had competing health care reform plans.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Jimmy Carter says Americans could have had comprehensive health care coverage decades ago if the Edward Kennedy hadn't blocked a plan Carter proposed while in the White House.

The former president made the comment in an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes" to be aired Sunday. Parts of the interview were posted on the show's website Thursday.

In the interview, Carter accuses Kennedy of "deliberating blocking" comprehensive health care legislation Carter proposed.

Kennedy, who made health care reform a prized cause, died in August 2009 from brain cancer. The Massachusetts senator challenged Carter for the 1980 Democratic presidential nomination, but fell short. Kennedy and Carter had competing health care reform plans.

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Oral arguments begin in federal healthcare law case

TALLAHASSEE -- Florida takes center stage this week in the fight over the federal health care law that consumed Congress for the better part of a year, and along with it, so will a Pensacola judge who is no stranger to hot button issues.

U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson, a Reagan nominee to the bench who presided over two high profile abortion clinic violence cases in the 1980s and 1990s, will hear oral arguments on the U.S. Department of Justice's motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed against the health care law by Florida and 18 other states on Tuesday.

The plaintiffs, the states, argue that the health care law illegally requires all citizens and legal residents to have health care coverage or pay a tax penalty, which they say is a violation the U.S. Constitution's Commerce Clause. The plaintiffs also say the law runs afoul of the states' rights guarantee in the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Also joining the suit: the National Federation of Independent Business and Florida residents Mary Brown and Kaj Ahlburg.

The defendant, the U.S. Justice Department, counters that overturning the health care law would unduly expand judicial review of Congress and other government branches. More specially, the DOJ argues that Congress has the power to determine how federal money appropriated for Medicaid may be spent and can give states an option of setting up their own health exchanges or having the federal government do so.

Sorting it all out will be Vinson, a senior judge at the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida in Pensacola.

Vinson, who was nominated to the federal bench in 1983 by President Ronald Reagan, has indicated he knows the legal world will be waiting for his verdict, but that it will almost certainly be immediately appealed no matter which way he comes down. The case is widely expected to end up at the U.S. Supreme Court, which means a final legal decision could take years.

Other than the timing and allowing the arguments on the merits of the case to be heard, Vinson has not said much about the nonjury proceeding. But Ben Gordon, a Fort Walton Beach lawyer who clerked for him from 2000-02, said Vinson will likely keep the lawyers from both sides on their toes.

``He will be a very intelligent judge who does a lot of his own work,'' Gordon said, which made clerking for Vinson ``interesting because he wouldn't just rely on what I and other clerks told him.''

``He'll educate himself and have read all the key cases,'' Gordon said. ``I anticipate he'll ask probing questions on both sides. It'll be interesting to watch. I believe he will have some questions the lawyers might not anticipate. He'll be that engaged in this.''

Vinson, 70, is no stranger to cases involving issues at the center of national debates. In 1985, Vinson sentenced two men, Matt Goldsby and James Simmons, to 10 years in prison for their role in bombing an abortion clinic, though he made them eligible for early parole and gave Goldsby's fiancée and Simmons' wife, who were convicted of conspiracy, to five years probation. Nobody died in the bombing.

Vinson also presided over the federal trial of Paul Hill, who was convicted and later executed for the 1994 murders of a Pensacola abortion provider and a volunteer escort at an abortion clinic. Hill was sentenced to death in state court, but Vinson sentenced him to two additional life terms for violating the federal clinic access law. Hill was executed in 2003.

In 1988, Vinson also made news when he overturned an Escambia County ban on the film ``The Last Temptation of Christ.''

Vinson also dismissed a case in 1998 that was brought by Medal of Honor winner Bud Day of Fort Walton Beach, who sued the government on behalf of military retirees who said they weren't getting promised adequate medical care.

More recently, Vinson has been a visiting judge in Texas, where he has heard the case of a federal judge in Houston who was charged with sexually harassing female court employees.

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Rubio pulls out of `Meet the Press' debate, cites ill father

WASHINGTON -- Marco Rubio postponed Sunday's nationally televised U.S. Senate debate with Kendrick Meek, citing his ailing father.

A spokesman for the Miami Republican said Friday that 83-year-old Mario Rubio's health had ``significantly deteriorated in the last 48 hours'' and that Rubio planned to stay with his father and family and wouldn't be able to participate in the Meet the Press debate.

The elder Rubio -- whom Rubio often invokes on the campaign trail -- suffers from emphysema and lung cancer.

The campaign informed NBC and Meek, ``and appreciate their understanding and kind words for the Rubio family during this difficult period,'' spokesman Alex Burgos said.

NBC said in a statement that its ``thoughts and prayers go out to Mr. Rubio and his family during this time and we look forward to rescheduling the debate at a later date to be announced.''

Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running as an independent candidate, had turned down the invitation to join the debate -- the first post-primary encounter for the candidates.

Rubio and Meek, who sealed a hotly contested Democratic primary win two weeks ago, have agreed to at least five Senate debates. Crist, who appeared with Rubio on a Fox News face-off in April when he was running as a Republican -- has agreed to just one debate.

Rubio had cut short a four-day bus tour last April to 1 ½ days after his father was diagnosed with a recurrence of lung cancer.

Rubio's parents are part of Rubio's Senate campaign narrative. He frequently notes that they came to the United States after escaping Cuba with ``virtually nothing, no English, no money, no friends. Only the strong determination to provide their children all the opportunities they never had.''

``As the son of exiles I know firsthand that it is possible to lose your country because my parents lost theirs,'' he said last week in the weekly Republican radio address.

``My mom worked as a factory worker, a maid and a stock clerk at K-Mart,'' he said. ``My Dad was a bartender. They made many sacrifices so we would know opportunities they never did.''

In February, Rubio told a crowd at the Conservative Political Action Committee conference that his father's mother had died when he was six, ``and the day after her funeral, he went to work selling coffee in the streets of Havana with his father and as best as I can tell, he worked from then on for 70 years.

``Both of my parents worked jobs so their children could have careers and their lives were never easy,'' he said. ``How many nights did I hear the keys of my 70-year-old father at the door as he came home after another 16-hour day?''

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One more time: The GOP vs tea party challengers

WASHINGTON -- The Republican establishment confronts a final round of challenges from tea party activists Tuesday in Delaware, New Hampshire and New York, the end of a tumultuous primary season dominated by voter anger at government-as-usual.

Even before the campaigning ends, Republicans argue that their spirited primaries portend big gains this fall when they hope to win control of the House and Senate as well as gain several governorships now in Democratic hands.

So far this year, "roughly four million more Republicans than Democrats have gone to the polls in primary elections which lends more evidence to the enthusiasm gap between the two parties and which should be of deep concern for Democrat leaders as we move towards November," said Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who heads the Republican Senate campaign effort.

But as in previous primaries, Democrats will be watching Tuesday's GOP contests closely, hoping for additional upsets that - they say - will saddle Republicans with unelectable candidates this fall.

"The messes created by these primaries have given Democrats a more competitive edge in a handful of key races," said Eric Schultz, a spokesman for the Senate Democratic campaign committee.

In all, seven states and the District of Columbia are holding primaries this week, and some offer races of both local and broader interest.

In Rhode Island, Mayor David Cicilline of Providence is seeking the Democratic nomination for an open House seat. If elected this fall - he is favored to win the primary in the heavily Democratic district - he would become the fourth openly gay member of Congress.

In the nation's capital, Mayor Adrian Fenty faces a strong primary challenge and has spent weeks apologizing to his constituents for behaving arrogantly during his four years in office.

Yet the races drawing the most national interest are for statewide office and along the Eastern Seaboard, an area not generally associated with the tea party movement that has achieved its most notable victories so far in Western and Southern states such as Nevada, Colorado, Utah, South Carolina and Kentucky.

The recession has not hit Delaware, with 8.4 percent unemployment, or New Hampshire, 6 percent joblessness, as hard as many other states. But the insurgent challengers seek to tap into the same voter anger that has been evident elsewhere.

"We are the king of our country," New Hampshire Senate contender Ovide Lamontagne told a small group of supporters during the day as he labored to defeat front-runner Kelly Ayotte in the Republican primary. "They are not serving us. They are ruling us."

In Delaware, Rep. Mike Castle, 71 and a fixture in state politics for more than a generation, faces a threat from Christine O'Donnell, supported by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and the Tea Party Express, which has reported spending more than $200,000 on her behalf in recent days.

Republican officials disclosed Monday they had contacted the Justice Department after state party chairman Tom Ross received a death threat. Ross has been among Castle's most outspoken supporters, saying at one point that O'Donnell "could not be elected dog catcher" in Delaware.

In contrast to Castle, who is a former two-term governor and has held the state's lone House seat for nine terms, O'Donnell has never been elected to public office.

For most of the campaign, Castle seemed content to ignore her, but when Sen. Lisa Murkowski was unexpectedly defeated for renomination in Alaska two weeks ago, he and the party abruptly switched course.

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Fla. Republican Party weighs suing Crist, ousted leaders Greer, Johnson

LAKE BUENA VISTA -- In a move denounced as ``the same old political game,'' the Republican Party of Florida accused Gov. Charlie Crist and two former party bosses of misspending hundreds of thousands of dollars but declined to offer proof Saturday by releasing a long-awaited audit of the party's finances.

The party's executive board decided to ``request additional information regarding inappropriate expenses'' as it considers suing Crist, former party chairman Jim Greer and former executive director Delmar Johnson. Greer already faces fraud and money laundering charges related to party spending. A decision to sue may take up to 10 days.

After emerging from Saturday's three-hour, closed-door meeting at Disney's Boardwalk hotel, the current chairman, John Thrasher, cited party-paid trips that Crist, Greer and Johnson took to Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Greer raised no money for the party on those trips, but has said he was meeting with donors.

Thrasher also pointed to more than $300,000 in consulting fees paid to a longtime Crist ally from Tampa Bay, Jay Burmer. Thrasher said he didn't see the ``value'' of the deal orchestrated by Crist.

``When you go out and spend money on behalf of this organization it ought to have a distinct purpose, it ought to be directly related to business of this organization,'' Thrasher, a state senator from St. Augustine, told reporters in the hotel hallway. ``And the days of those kind of cavalier, extravagant expenses being charged to the party by those individuals are over.''

OPEN TO ATTACK

Greer's attorney, Damon Chase, noted that Thrasher and other party leaders had previously approved of party spending under Greer as part of the severance deal to get him out of office.

``I'd like to ask John Thrasher, `Were you lying then, or are you lying now?' '' Chase demanded.

By refusing to open the books and by raising red flags so close to the Nov. 2 election, the party left its motives open to attack.

Widely viewed as a turncoat among Republican activists, Crist is running for the U.S. Senate as an independent against the party's most celebrated candidate in 2010, former House Speaker Marco Rubio. U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek of Miami is the Democratic nominee for the open seat.

``They're destroying the party with their personal vendettas and blatant political grandstanding in an attempt to discredit Crist immediately before the November election,'' Chase said.

Delaying the audit's release also means Florida Republicans failed to closed the door on one of the most contentious periods in its history. A new lawsuit could reopen questions about spending with party-issued American Express cards by Rubio and other party leaders. The Miami Herald and The St. Petersburg Times found that Rubio charged thousands of dollars in personal expenses to his party credit card.

``It's probably best that the party bosses stop playing the same old political games and take a hard look at their own nominee before attacking the one truly independent candidate for U.S. Senate,'' said Crist's campaign spokesman, Danny Kanner.

COVERED EXPENSES

Rubio has said he covered all personal expenses charged to the credit card, which included more than $10,000 in hotel rooms for a family reunion, a $133.75 at Churchill's barber in Miami, $181.56 at the Museum of Natural History in New York and a $10.50 movie ticket.

Thrasher said the audit revealed no wrongdoing by Rubio, Senate President Jeff Atwater and other current party leaders. He noted that Rubio already reimbursed the party for more than $2,400 for plane trips he also charged to state taxpayers.

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GOP strategy: Link Florida races to Obama

Glance at the website for Republican Attorney General candidate Pam Bondi and you might think she's running for Congress. ``Bondi vs. Pelosi,'' it declares, promising she will ``stand up to Washington.''

Likewise the Florida GOP TV ads almost sound like Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink must be running for office in Washington instead of Tallahassee: footage of President Barack Obama urging people to do ``whatever it takes'' to elect Sink and a grave narrator noting that Sink supported Obama's healthcare overhaul and stimulus package.

And Republican gubernatorial nominee Rick Scott rarely misses a chance to accuse Sink of supporting Obama's ``big government'' agenda.

With most signs pointing to big Republican gains in the fall midterm elections, Republican strategists are determined to turn even local and state races into referendums on Obama and the Democratic party nationally. But one of the key questions is whether the Republican tide will rise to the level of a tsunami that not only changes control over the U.S. House and Senate, but sweeps Republicans into offices up and down the ticket in Florida and across the country.

A recent Quinnipiac University poll found 47 percent of Florida voters approved of Obama's performance and 47 percent disapproved, but Obama critics appear much more energized.

``He is a single radioactive boat anchor, to mix metaphors, for every Democrat candidate,'' said Republican consultant Rick Wilson. ``Welcome to our party circa 2008 when every word out of the Democrats' mouth was George W. Bush.''

University of Florida political scientist Daniel Smith said well-funded, high-profile candidates like Sink may be able to avoid being pulled down by the national Democratic image, but it may be harder for lesser-known Democrats. He noted that nearly 400,000 more Republicans turned out in the Aug. 24 primary than Democrats, another ominous sign for down-ballot Democrats.

Keeping those Republicans fired up is a big reason to keep hammering on Obama and Washington.

``My opponent shares Obama's vision for the future, whereas I think the people of this state do not,'' Bondi said of her Democratic rival for attorney general, state Sen. Dan Gelber of Miami Beach.

Noting that Republicans in Florida and across the country appear much more energized to turn out than Democrats, Republican consultant David Johnson of Tallahassee said, ``To keep the intensity level strong you focus on those issues people are angry about and it's, `Look, you've got the keys to the car and we don't like the way you're driving right now.' ''

Democrats, though, say it's Republicans, not Democrats, who have been in the driver's seat in Florida and who will insulate Democrats running for state office.

``It's hard to be anti-incumbent in a state where Republicans are incumbents,'' said Democrat Gelber, noting that Bondi has featured Pelosi and Sarah Palin on her campaign website. ``It's almost like she's creating an alternative election where it's Sarah Palin versus Nancy Pelosi instead of talking about our visions.''

Sink has done her own nationalizing of the race, accusing Scott of years ago hinting that he would support privatizing Medicare and Medicaid. She is scoffing at efforts to wrap Obama around her neck.

``Unfortunately, Rick Scott seems to think that running for governor is all about President Obama,'' Sink says in a new TV spot. ``While Rick Scott is focused on Obama, I'm focused on creating jobs.''

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As Senate campaign shifts into high gear, Crist spending less time as governor

D

TALLAHASSEE - In his final months as governor, Charlie Crist is phoning it in -- literally.

As his U.S. Senate campaign shifts into high gear, Crist's official daily work schedule shows him spending less and less time as governor, and more and more time checking in with his aides from the campaign trail.

Crist's schedule for the past month shows no official events on 11 weekdays and only one event on six other days.

A day-by-day review shows that even on most days his schedule showed him working, he did not have a crowded calendar.

On Aug. 3, he attended one event, a tourism roundtable in Fort Lauderdale -- one of only two events in the past six weeks focusing on Florida's economic problems.

The next day, Crist's sole public event was a visit to Miami Jewish Health Systems. The day after that, he conducted site visits of two facilities in St. Petersburg and Sarasota, and the following day, Aug. 6, his only official event was a press conference in Orlando.

On 11 days, the only item of official business was a telephone call to Shane Strum, his chief of staff. He met with heads of executive branch agencies on Sept. 2, the first such meeting since July 21.

This from a governor who four years ago used an empty chair to symbolize missed votes in Congress by his Democratic opponent, Jim Davis. In that 2006 campaign, Crist promised Floridians: ``I'll work for you every day.''

Despite the light schedule lately, Crist says he has kept that commitment, through the use of his cell phone.

``I've been in constant touch with the office every day, several times a day. That's my duty and my obligation to the people of Florida,'' he said. ``As long as I've got my phone with me, I'm never not governor.''

Crist has been using that line ever since the news media began questioning the amount of time he has scheduled off since he was sworn into office on Jan. 2, 2007. Three days later -- a Friday -- he took the day off.

A St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald analysis of his daily work schedule shows he has scheduled no work for 123 days -- a number that excludes weekends but includes conventional holiday time. On 238 other days, Crist worked half days or less -- equal to an additional 164 days off.

Added together, Crist's schedule indicates he has taken off an average of more than 14 weeks annually over four years, though his term isn't finished. Crist has worked some weekends -- often attending luncheons or parades -- and has put in days where he has worked more than 8 hours. But that overtime work is eclipsed by the equivalent time off he took on 250 other days in which he worked less than 8 hours but slightly more than a half day.

On Tuesday, a typical day of late, Crist had no events on his official schedule. He met with members of a pipe fitters' and plumbers' union in Miami-Dade and spoke to a group of retired New York City police officers in Margate.

On Wednesday, Crist had one official event: a speech to hotel owners in Palm Beach County.

Florida's economy remains deep in the doldrums, and Crist has come under fire from legislative leaders for not advancing more specific steps to help Panhandle-area businesses and residents recover from the oil spill. Both political parties have ripped Crist for campaigning too much.

Both of Crist's U.S. Senate rivals, former state Rep. Marco Rubio and U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, criticized his slack schedule. Recalling Crist's pledge in 2006 to ``come to work every day,'' Rubio campaign spokesman Alex Burgos said: ``It's clear that was just another thing he was willing to say to get elected.''

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McCollum, Meek stay ahead of primary rivals, poll shows

TALLAHASSEE -- Despite dumping record-breaking dollars into their maverick political campaigns, self-financed candidates Rick Scott and Jeff Greene trail their opponents heading into Tuesday's primary, according to a new Mason-Dixon poll released late Saturday.

Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum now leads Scott 45-36 percent in the survey of likely Republican voters, reversing numbers that had him trailing the former hospital chain executive.

Democrat Kendrick Meek, the congressman from Miami, has opened up a 42-30 percent lead over Greene, the independently wealthy real estate mogul. Fresh off visits from President Obama and Bill Clinton this week, Meek shows strong support among the most reliable Democrats: African American voters, said Mason-Dixon pollster Brad Coker.

``Wealth helps, but it can only get you so far,'' Coker said. ``I still think a wealthy businessperson can win in Florida, but they have to have had strong ties to their local communities and charities.''

He said that neither Scott nor Greene brought those characteristics, relied too much on television and were shrouded by questions over the way they became wealthy. Scott was CEO of the hospital chain Columbia/HCA before it was fined $1.7 bill for Medicare fraud. Greene made hundreds of millions of dollars from the nationwide housing bust.

``Both appeared to have profited heavily upon the misery of others and/or at the expense of taxpayers,'' Coker said in his written analysis. ``Greene's situation was further complicated by some questionable personal behavior.''

McCollum's recovery appears to have been helped by a heavy ad campaign mounted in the last two week by Republican-led political committees aiding his campaign. Although Scott has spent $38.9 million of his own fortune to fund a summer-long barrage of television ads, it doesn't appear to be enough to sustain him in the final days of the primary. Only 15 percent of the voters in the gubernatorial race are still undecided.

McCollum's surge, however, has not been without injury, Coker said. The percent of voters who think favorably of McCollum has risen to 43 percent, the poll shows, nearly matching his 46 percent he had in May. But Scott's negative ads have hurt: McCollum's unfavorable rating has climbed from 4 percent in March to its current 32 percent.

McCollum's lead, however, extends to every area of the state, with the exception of Scott's home region in Southwest Florida. His strongest showing is in Southeast Florida, where he holds a strong advantage among Hispanic, mostly Cuban, Republican voters in Miami-Dade County.

Republican women are also helping McCollum, supporting him over Scott by 47-33 percent compared to just 44-39 percent among GOP men.

Coker said that Scott and Greene erred by dependence on television ads. He noted that Scott was hurt by his decision to duck debates and party forums, and by his failure to appear before newspaper editorial boards to tell his story.

``Personal impressions and character are very important for a `fresh face' outsider to be successful in traditionally low-turnout primaries, where those who vote are more knowledgeable and politically active,'' he said.

Using his deep pockets in an unprecedented ad war, Scott may have over-saturated the television markets, Coker said.

When he first launched his ad campaign in May, Scott's favorable rating shot to 28 percent ``almost overnight,'' he said. Four months later, more voters view Scott negatively than positively -- 40 percent ot 33 percent.

Greene, who has dumped $23 million into his own campaign, has outspent Meek four to one. Meek, who had been trailing in several polls over the summer, can attribute his surge to the African-American Democrats, who will cast 20-25 percent of the vote in the primary and the ground organizations of unions and other Democratic Party constituency groups, Coker said.

Greene holds a 37-32 percent lead over Meek among white voters, but the Miami congressman is draws 72 percent of the black vote ``and is likely to build that even further by primary day,'' Coker said.

The Mason-Dixon poll surveyed 500 likely Democratic voters and 500 likely Republican voters. It was conducted by telephone, Aug. 17-19, and has a margin of error of +/- 4.5 percentage points.

Mary Ellen Klas can be reached at meklas@MiamiHerald.com

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Dog flap comes back to bite Florida attorney general candidate

TAMPA -- Before she became the Republican nominee for Florida attorney general, Pam Bondi was a familiar face as a legal analyst on CNN and the Fox News Channel.

But Bondi may be best known for a custody battle over a Saint Bernard.

Her 16-month fight with the Louisiana family who lost the dog after Hurricane Katrina played out on CNN, Fox News and the pages of People magazine. As a Hillsborough prosecutor at the time, she accused the family of neglecting the dog. Steve and Dorreen Couture and their two grandchildren wanted their dog back and resented Bondi for keeping him.

Both sides settled the case just before it went to trial. The terms were confidential, but reports at the time said Bondi offered to provide the Saint Bernard food and medication for life and to visit occasionally. The Coutures said they would keep in touch and send photos.

It seemed like an amicable ending. But three years later, the Coutures have little good to say about their former foe. Moreover, they say, she never kept her promise.

``She was going to take care of him for the rest of his life and supply him with food and medicine,'' Dorreen Couture said recently from her rebuilt home in New Orleans. ``She did for the first few months. After that, she was supposed to have her first visitation that September and she canceled.''

Contact dwindled after that, Couture said. And the Coutures didn't reach out to Bondi, either.

``Why should I?'' Couture said. ``She stole my dog.''

In the 2005 Katrina aftermath, the Pinellas County Humane Society rescued hundreds of dogs, including the Coutures' dog, Master Tank. They thought he would be returned.

But Bondi adopted the dog from the Humane Society days after her own Saint Bernard died of cancer. She named her new dog Noah.

In January 2006, the Coutures traced Master Tank to the Tampa Bay area. Bondi didn't want to give up the dog, arguing that it had heartworms and other health problems that were ignored before Katrina.

The Coutures sued and a trial date was set before Bondi finally agreed to settle the case. The settlement terms were confidential.

Bondi said she sent the dog home with food and medication and kept in touch for ``less than a year.'' She had nothing bad to say about the Coutures, she said, and dismissed the dog battle as a closed case.

``I just wanted them to keep the dog indoors, which they agreed to do,'' she said.

In 2008, Bondi adopted a new Saint Bernard puppy, named Luke.

She moved on.

But in this age of negative campaigning and personal attacks, will Bondi have to address the dog custody issue again? Does she worry too many Floridians know her as the woman who ultimately lost her own personal legal spat with a New Orleans family?

``Not at all,'' Bondi said. ``I've received a tremendous amount of support from people and animal rights activists, and no criticism at all. Really, it has not been an issue.'' She said she does not expect Democrat opponent Dan Gelber ``to bring it up at all.''

She said her campaign advisors have not discussed the Coutures or the dog case with her.

Beyond Florida, though, some bitterness lingers.

``I feel for the state of Florida if they elect her,'' Dorreen Couture said. ``She has no compassion at all.''

Tank, by the way, is now 10 years old and doing well, she said.

Emily Nipps can be reached at nipps@sptimes.com .

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A look at Rick Scott's choice for GOP ticket, Jennifer Carroll

Trying to keep the outsider label that propelled him to victory in the Republican primary for governor, millionaire businessman Rick Scott announced last week that he had picked a fellow outsider for lieutenant governor in Jennifer Carroll.

``We have similar backgrounds,'' Scott said in a press conference in Brandon to announce Carroll's selection. ``She's smart, she wants to work hard. She's got experience in the Legislature. She's an outsider like I am.''

Carroll, who was considered a potential running mate for Charlie Crist in 2006, has an interesting story. Let's see if it adds up to being an outsider.

Carroll, 51, was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, but was brought to the United States by her family at a young age.

She joined the U.S. Navy and rose from jet mechanic to become the top aide to an admiral. In 1999, she retired from the Navy as a lieutenant colonel and started a public relations firm, 3N. & J.C. Corp. She moved to northeast Florida in 1986.

We've already ruled that Carroll would be the second woman and first African-American woman elected lieutenant governor. That certainly puts her outside the norms of politics, as does her being born in Trinidad.

But Carroll's life after the Navy seems pretty political insider to us.

Consider: Carroll ran for Congress in 2000 as a political newcomer. She lost to Democratic Rep. Corrine Brown despite outspending Brown 2-to-1.

In 2001, Carroll said she talked with Vice President Dick Cheney about a job on his staff.

Later that year, Carroll was nominated by Gov. Jeb Bush to run Florida's Department of Veterans Affairs. Her nomination was confirmed. She resigned about a year later to run again for Congress. She lost.

In 2003, she was elected to the state House in District 13, where she has served ever since. She was appointed deputy majority leader by Speaker Johnnie Byrd in 2003 and served as a majority whip from 2004-2006.

Carroll's state House biography also includes these highlights -- Republican Club of Clay County, ``Top 10'' Republican Award 1999, 2002; appointed by President George W. Bush to the White House Presidential Scholars Commission, 2001-2004; appointed by President George W. Bush to the Veterans' Disability Benefits Commission, 2004-2007; Black Political Action Committee's 2005 Vikki Buckley Political Leadership Award.

What Is ‘Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World’ All About?Rick Scott’s likely No. 2: Navy vet

Governor candidates' job plans fuzzy on details

TALLAHASSEE -- Republican Rick Scott and Democrat Alex Sink are both former business executives duking it out in an increasingly hostile race to be Florida's governor, but they agree on one thing: more jobs are needed.

In television ads and web sites, with promises and slogans, they want Florida voters to know that creating jobs is the No. 1 issue in the Nov. 2 gubernatorial election.

But while the dueling CEOs-turned-politicians agree that Florida needs to revamp economic incentives, provide tax breaks, and streamline regulations, they fundamentally disagree on how to do it.

Sink, the former head of Bank of America's Florida operation, spent 25 years in the banking industry before she was elected Florida's chief financial officer in 2006. Her ``Business Plan to Revitalize Our Economy and Put Floridians Back to Work'' proposes to diversify the economy, nurture small businesses and provide access to investment capital.

She proposes no tax increases and pays for the plan through unspecified spending cuts and a reliance on rising tax revenues from an improved economy.

``Economic growth doesn't come from government -- it comes from business,'' states the plan Sink released in March, a month before Scott entered the race. ``But good government must help the private sector drive growth. It must create a climate of confidence by getting our own financial house in order and holding the state's politicians accountable for the economic development we create and the direction we're headed.''

Scott, the former CEO of Columbia/HCA, the for-profit hospital chain, wants to stimulate the economy with a seven-point plan built around cutting government. Called ``7-7-7'' (referring to seven steps to create 700,000 jobs over seven years) his plan proposes reducing unemployment benefits, restricting lawsuits, eliminating expensive regulations and cutting billions in state spending.

If enacted, his plan promises that ``total job growth in Florida will accelerate, the number of new business start-ups will increase, wages and salaries will grow, and the productivity and vitality of Florida's economy will soar.''

His plan also includes no tax increases, relies on tax and spending cuts to stimulate job growth -- and pays for it with rising tax revenues spawned by an improved economy.

``Regulatory reform, coupled with budget reductions will see job generation start -- which means more taxes coming into the state,'' said Donna Arduin, Scott's chief economic advisor who was budget chief for former Gov. Jeb Bush.

All these claims come against a backdrop of the worst economy in recent Florida history. The state's unemployment rate is hovering around 11.5 percent, tax revenues are in tatters from the oil-scarred beaches of the Panhandle to the collapsed real estate markets of South Florida, and the state faces a $6 billion budget deficit that must be closed by next year.

Dominic Calabro, president of Florida TaxWatch the non-profit, business-backed tax watchdog group, says there's a lot for voters to like in Scott and Sink's plans. Both of them bring the ``street smarts'' of an executive who has met a payroll, he said.

But, Calabro added that voters could use more details. ``They're a good start but you need to get more specific.''

Although Scott pledges to create 700,000 jobs in seven years, he admits the number is rounded up from his estimate of 662,000. That's lower than that of the state's economists who project the anticipated economic recovery would create 775,000 new jobs within the next four years and one million in seven years, regardless of who is elected governor -- prompting even Sink to agree that Scott's projections are possible.

What Is ‘Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World’ All About?Rick Scott, running mate Jennifer Carroll debut as team

Sheer number, sour economy favor GOP in govs races

WASHINGTON -- Never before have so many governorships been up for grabs - and with so much at stake.

The races come just ahead of once-in-a-decade congressional and legislative redistricting to reflect the U.S. population of the 2010 census, a process in which governors will play a central role. Of the 37 governorships on the ballot, more than half are open seats. And many of the contests are in prime 2012 presidential battleground states.

Democrats control 26 governorships and must defend 19 in November. Sheer math, the sour economy and historical trends favoring the out-of-power party in midterm elections suggest big Republican statehouse gains.

"We are now tasked with remaking the political map," proclaims the website of the Republican Governors Association, headed by Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a potential presidential candidate.

Republicans are hoping for eight or more pickups. "We can't wait until 2012 to start taking our country back," says Barbour.

Democrats are striving to minimize losses and pull off some upsets.

"We knew it was going to be a tough year just by virtue of the fact that we elected a Democrat to the White House in 2008," said Nathan Daschle, executive director of the Democratic Governors Association. "History shows the president's party loses 5.5 governors seats in midterm elections."

Furthermore, the poor economy and growing tea-party activism are weighing on all incumbents and those perceived as establishment candidates.

"In a year like this, no one is safe," Daschle said.

Underscoring the high stakes: The GOP governors association is poised to spend up to $65 million on the races; its Democratic counterpart, about $50 million.

Republicans' best shot for pickups may be a string of governorships now held by Democrats across Great Lakes and upper Midwestern states, including Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa as well as Pennsylvania.

Democrats have fewer opportunities for gains, although they appear on track to pick up Republican governorships in Hawaii, Connecticut and possibly Minnesota.

Both parties were pumping resources into high-profile campaigns in populous California, Texas and Florida, all won by Republicans four years ago. Democrats hope to add at least one of those big three to their column.

These have been particularly trying times for governors.

On the front line of the economic crisis, many have been forced to cut services or raise taxes - or both. And they've been bloodied by voter anger and the tea party movement sweeping the nation. Unlike the federal government, governors can't print money and many are barred from deficit spending.

That, along with term limits in some states, is why so few sitting governors are running. Only 13 incumbents are on the ballot.

And some standing for re-election are in close races, including Democratic Govs. Chet Culver in Iowa, Ted Strickland in Ohio, Martin O'Malley in Maryland, even Deval Patrick in Massachusetts.

Governors in 31 of the 37 states on the ballot will have a pivotal role in redrawing congressional and legislative district lines. Whichever party has more control over the process is likely to get a larger number of favorable districts.

Rust Belt and upper Midwestern states are among the hardest hit by the Great Recession and provide some of the best hunting grounds for Republicans.

President Barack Obama recently campaigned for Ohio's endangered Strickland in his race against Republican John Kasich, a former chairman of the House Budget Committee. Obama also stumped for Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, who is struggling to keep the Wisconsin post in Democratic hands and faces the winner of a Sept. 14 GOP primary.

Consistent theme lacking in primariesJ.J. Abrams Developing ‘7 Minutes In Heaven’

Rick Scott's likely No. 2: Navy vet

TALLAHASSEE -- Rick Scott's running mate on the Republican ticket for governor is expected to be state Rep. Jennifer Carroll, a U.S. Navy veteran and mother of three who, if elected, would be Florida's first black lieutenant governor.

Scott will unveil his pick Thursday in a campaign fly-around beginning in Jacksonville, a major hub of Republican voters near Carroll's home in Fleming Island.

In choosing Carroll, Scott, himself a Navy veteran, would get a woman with a distinctive personal story who could neutralize the gender appeal of his Democratic opponent, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink:

• In a state where one in every seven voters is black -- and nearly all are Democrats -- Carroll is a black Republican.

• As a native of Trinidad, Carroll is an immigrant who could help soften Scott's hard-line image on an issue that cuts both ways in a state with a large immigrant population.

• She packs a celebrity punch: Her son, Nolan II, is a rookie cornerback and kick returner for the Miami Dolphins, drafted out of the University of Maryland.

``She's an immigrant and she worked her way up and she did everything through hard work. That's very similar to Rick's background. There's a lot of similarities between the two of them,'' said Jen Baker, Scott's campaign spokesman.

Carroll, 51, made Gov. Charlie Crist's short list of possible running mates in 2006, and she was among those listed as possible successors to Mel Martinez, who resigned his U.S. Senate seat last year.

Scott's camp is aggressive in challenging what it considers off-base speculation on political blogs. When blogs named Carroll as his pick Wednesday, the campaign raised no objection.

Lieutenant governors in Florida share one common trait: obscurity. The office did not exist before 1968 and it is unique in that no job description for it exists in state law.

Strategists agree that the selection of a running mate is largely a media fixation that matters little to rank-and-file voters, unless the choice backfires.

``The first rule of a lieutenant governor candidate is to not get in trouble,'' said GOP strategist and lobbyist J.M. ``Mac'' Stipanovich. ``As a candidate for governor your choice of a lieutenant governor does little for you, but this one is intriguing.''

`A GREAT MESH'

Leslie Dougher, county GOP chairwoman in Carroll's home of Clay County, praised the choice as ``far-reaching.''

``It would be a great mesh,'' Dougher said. ``Mr. Scott is from South Florida and Jennifer is from North Florida.''

Sink's running mate is Rod Smith, 60, a former state senator and elected state attorney from Alachua County who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2006.

``I don't have time to speculate, really,'' Sink said in Miami Wednesday. ``I'm just waiting to see what his announcement is.''

BACKGROUND

Carroll moved to Florida in 1986. She and her husband, Nolan, have three children.

She became the first black Republican woman elected to the Legislature in a special election in 2003.

She retired after 20 years in the Navy, where she rose to the rank of lieutenant commander aviation maintenance officer.

She has a bachelor's degree from the University of New Mexico and a master's degree in business administration from St. Leo University in Pasco County.

Her official legislative biography notes that she is a life member of both the NAACP and the National Rifle Association.

What Is ‘Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World’ All About?Rick Scott, running mate Jennifer Carroll debut as team

Rick Scott, running mate Jennifer Carroll debut as team

JACKSONVILLE -- Rick Scott and Jennifer Carroll made their debut as the Republican gubernatorial ticket Thursday and met small but enthusiastic crowds on a three-city fly-around.

In Brandon, Orlando and Jacksonville, Scott and Carroll talked up the importance of creating jobs in a struggling Sunshine State and Scott criticized Democratic rival Alex Sink for supporting ``the socialist policies of President Obama.''

Carroll -- an African-American state representative, Navy veteran, small business owner and immigrant from Trinidad -- brings gender balance as Scott's running mate and offers a sharp visual contrast to the lanky Midwesterner who presided over the expansion of the Columbia/HCA hospital network.

``Working together, we will broaden the base of our party, reaching out to every Floridian who wants a better future for their families,'' Scott said as he introduced Carroll to TV cameras for the first time near her Fleming Island home. The site was the entrance of Naval Air Station Jacksonville, with a sleek-looking Blue Angel jet in the background. In attendance was U.S. Navy Adm. Kevin Delaney, Carroll's former boss.

In Carroll, Scott gets an experienced legislator who can help guide him through Tallahassee, still a strange world to him. And already she's creating enthusiasm among Republican activists eager for something positive after the bitter primary between Scott and Bill McCollum.

``It's awesome. It's nice to have new blood,'' said Michelle Beaudoin of Brandon at the day's last stop at a party headquarters in Hillsborough. ``It will be two people who haven't been career politicians.''

Mary Ellen Ludeking, who owns a Jacksonville small business, called Carroll an asset to the GOP ticket. ``Jennifer is a very good person with high morals and a high work ethic who served our country,'' Ludeking said.

At a storefront GOP office in Jacksonville, Scott was flanked by Carroll on his left and his wife, Ann, on his right. Most of the senior advisors on Scott's campaign are women as well.

Sink, the Democratic nominee, said Carroll's race and gender will not matter to Florida voters.

``We're going to be focused over the next weeks on the vision for Florida,'' Sink said. ``And I think people when they go to vote, they're past all these gender and racial issues. They're really looking at the candidates and the messages and the commitments that the candidates have to changing the future of Florida.''

As for Scott's reference to socialism, Sink said: ``He obviously doesn't know a thing about me, does he?''

Carroll said she supports Scott's hard-line views on illegal immigration and in support of a state law similar to one adopted earlier this year in Arizona.

``The bottom line is legal immigration. We cannot reward people for their illegal acts in coming to this country,'' Carroll said.

In the Republican primary, Carroll supported McCollum and chaired a statewide African Americans for McCollum group. Explaining that decision, she said: ``Bill McCollum came into the race early . . . I was loyal to my word. At the end of the day, a man's word and a woman's word have to be their bond.''

Times political editor Adam C. Smith and Times/Herald staff writer Lee Logan contributed to this report. Steve Bousquet can be reached at bousquet@sptimes.com or 850-224-7263.

Fla. governor candidates campaign at churchesWhat Is ‘Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World’ All About?