Florida Power & Light backs Obama on greenhouse emission cuts

Trying to convey broad support for President Obama's decision to vow greenhouse emissions cuts in an upcoming visit to Denmark, the White House tonight released statements from a host of prominent officials. Among them: Lew Hay, CEO of Florida Power & Light.

"We commend the president for his efforts and leadership as the world strives for agreement on reducing greenhouse gases," Hay said. "Here at home, it’s critical that Congress act to cap and price carbon emissions while providing financial protection to energy consumers. The U.S. energy sector is ready to lead the world into a low-carbon future, but we need the right price signals to point the way."

From the AP: Cutting U.S. carbon dioxide emissions by one-sixth in just a decade would increase the cost of energy as electric utilities pay for capturing carbon dioxide at coal burning power plants or switch to more expensive alternatives. The price of gasoline likely would increase, and more fuel efficient automobiles - or hybrids that run on gasoline and electricity - likely would be more expensive.

Still, there is widespread disagreement over the cost to consumers.

The hold up on Frank Sanchez's Commerce nomination

Florida Trend: A U.S. Commerce Department spokeswoman told Florida Trend Thursday that the agency is frustrated over the delay in Frank Sanchez’s confirmation to be under secretary of international trade but rejected speculation that the holdup is related to anything other than the fact that the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over his confirmation, is bogged down with healthcare reform.

 

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Tweeting for every vote

U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio is about to go on MSNBC's Morning Joe. Attorney General Bill McCollum, running for governor, updates supporters that he is honored to get the endorsement of Gov. Charlie Crist. And Sen. Dan Gelber, hoping to be Florida's next attorney general, wants you to know he's thankful for America's veterans.

So goes politicking and campaigning in the era of Facebook and Twitter — cyber-mediums that allow users to interact constantly and quickly through updates, Web links, videos and photos that can be viewed via computers, BlackBerrys, and iPhones.

Taking a cue from President Barack Obama's successful campaign, and from their children and grandchildren, elected officials and candidates are increasingly harnessing the popular social networking tools to drive home campaign platforms and reach voters.

(Story here)

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Obama names Florida farm director

The White House today named Tim Manning as Florida state executive director for the Farm Service Agency at the USDA.

“Tim Manning has a solid understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing our rural communities and will help build on the Obama Administration’s efforts to rebuild and revitalize rural America,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

LeMieux, Rooney talking tough on terror

Sen. George LeMieux and U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney have joined the GOP criticism of the Obama administration's decision to put some 9/11 suspects, including alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (pictured) on trial in New York.

"The president's decision to bring terrorists into this country is wrong and against our national security interests," LeMieux said in a news release. "Civilian trials have previously provided terrorists with information that allowed them to evade our intel operations. Military tribunals at Gitmo would both preserve our tradition of justice while protecting our national security."

Rooney: “The decision by the Obama Administration to bring the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks to New York City for trial is unfair to the families of the victims of these horrendous attacks.  Moreover, this action could potentially put New York City at unnecessary risk of further attack.  As a former Army JAG officer and prosecutor I believe this decision undermines our military commission system."

Jim Greer joins Charlie Crist on stimulus contortions

Is it so hard for Charlie Crist to simply say he supported the stimulus package and that while it was far from perfect, he thinks it did a lot of good for the people of Florida? Now, state party chairman Jim Greer is adding to the credibility gap.

"If [Crist] had been a congressman, he has said many times, he would have voted against it," Greer said on Ron Sachs' video show.

Wrong.

"Gov. Charlie Crist, now a U.S. Senate candidate, said Tuesday he would have made the “pragmatic” decision to vote for the $787 billion federal stimulus bill, differentiating himself from fellow-Republican opponent Marco Rubio and the man he is trying to replace — Mel Martinez." (The Orlando Sentinel, 05/10/09)

Charlie Crist wasted no time reaching out to Obama

The Florida headquarters of the Obama campaign were electric on Nov. 4, 2008. In the frenzy, a high-ranking official's cell phone rang. It was Charlie Crist's office. He wanted to arrange a call to the president-elect, who had not yet delivered his victory speech in Chicago.

Over the next two days, more calls. "They were persistent," the official told the Buzz.

It's not clear whether Crist ever got Obama on the phone, but the day after the election, he issued a statement praising Obama (no mention of John McCain) and calling on the nation to unite behind him "to strengthen our economy and increase opportunity for all Americans."

A few months later, Crist made his now-famous appearance with Obama in Fort Myers. And months after that, he has changed his tune on the president and his policies, agitating Republicans and Democrats alike for seeming opportunistic.

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E-mails raise new questions about what Charlie Crist knew about Obama's visit to Florida

Gov. Charlie Crist told reporters late last month that he did not know President Barack Obama was in Jacksonville to visit with U.S. troops. But if the denial didn't strain credulity enough, e-mails show Crist's top aides in Washington and Tallahassee were notified of the trip. (click images below to enlarge)

An itinerary and invitation was provided by the White House on Oct. 23 -- the Friday before the Monday visit -- and Crist's executive assistant wrote back the same day saying, "Unfortunately, the governor will be unable to attend."

That decision was made without Crist's knowledge? Seems hard to fathom. The e-mails were obtained through a public records request. UPDATE 4:45 p.m.: Crist's office refused further comment.

Kendrick Meek's former campaign guru disenfranchised Fla Democrats

It's probably a good thing for Kendrick Meek that Steve Hildebrand is no longer on the campaign. Otherwise this revelation in David Plouffe's book, The Audacity to Win,  about what happened after the DNC stripped away Florida's delegates could be rather awkward:

I asked (Obama deputy campaign manager) Steve Hildebrand to go on a secret diplomatic mission to speak with the four early-state party chairs (Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada), encouraging them to ask all the candidates to sign a pledge stating they would not campaign in any states (Florida and Michigan) that had violated the rules and were threatening the approved early states’ primacy. Yes, this was in our self-interest. But it was also in theirs. If these two big states were penalized as severely as possible, and we all committed not to campaign in them, then the role of the early states was protected with no ambiguity.

From our perspective, this would be the final nail in the coffin. The pledge would make the first four states as sacrosanct, and by signing it the Clinton people would box themselves in; they could not claim at a later date that Michigan and Florida were somehow valid contests.

Democrats 'target' Young and Ros-Lehtinen

The Democratic National Committee said today that it will target "vulnerable" Florida Republicans C.W. Bill Young and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen for voting against the House health care plan despite Barack Obama winning their districts in 2008.

"You would think a member of Congress should think twice about voting against health insurance reform that their families and small businesses so desperately need and want. But you have to think to vote against health insurance reform in a Congressional District won by President Obama just a year ago could be a political death knell at a time when Americans are clamoring for solutions to vexing issues like health care," said DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan.

The campaign will include news releases, calls for constituents to write letters to the editor and "may also include paid advertising."

One wonders what the DNC thinks of the two Florida Democrats who felt the same as Young and Ros-Lehtinen. Suzanne Kosmas and Allen Boyd were among 39 Democrats to vote no. Both came from districts won by John McCain.