How much is that congressman worth?

The Sunlight Foundation is making it a little easier to find out. The open government advocacy group has launched a new web site Fortune 535 to let constituents see "how much - or how little -" lawmakers' wealth has grown in the last 11 years - the period of time from which lawmakers' personal financial data is available.

The figures carry an asterisk: "Because they are only required to report their assets and liabilities in ranges, the true net worth for lawmakers is not always readily apparent from analyzing the the forms they file...."

"The disclosure system is so flawed that you can't tell whether a member of Congress is a multimillionaire or in debt," said Sunlight director Ellen Miller. "Unfortunately, we learned that it is impossible, given the state of congressional personal financial disclosure practices, to calculate the precise net worth lawmakers."

In Florida, the foundation ranks Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, as the richest with a whopping $191 million. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar, who is still carrying legal bills from his impeachment trial in the 1980s, is ranked last with a negative balance of nearly $5 million.

Martinez rules out veep; Nelson sidesteps

Washington DC's The Hill newspaper surveyed the 97 other senators - those not running for president -to see whether they'd accept an offer to be the vice presidential nominee.

Florida Republican Mel Martinez, who endorsed John McCain, noted he wouldn't be eligible -- as he was born in Cuba and came as to the U.S. as a child.

"I'd say, 'Please read the Constitution,' " Martinez told the newspaper. "I wasn’t born in America; I can’t be VP."

Democrat Bill Nelson, who has endorsed Hillary Clinton, swept aside the question (and conventional wisdom) and suggested a "Dream Team" ticket for the Dems.

"If Hillary’s the nominee, Barack will be the running mate," Nelson said. "If Barack’s the nominee, Hillary will be the running mate. That’s my answer."

Read more here, including Sen. Larry Craig's response and that of the Maryland senator who vows to "rock the Naval Observatory (the vice presidential residence)" And the Senate's newest member, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who notes "the chances of that are so remote that I’m more likely to be hit by an asteroid."

Crist: "I am defeated."

Gov. Charlie Crist said "I am defeated" on Tuesday morning, moments after his two fellow members of the State Board of Administration refused to go along with a Crist suggestion to bar two high-profile investment firms, Lehman Brothers and J.P. Morgan Chase, from joining a financial team being put together by the SBA to obtain backup financing to Florida's Hurricane Catastrophe Fund.

Crist said he was concerned about hiring two companies who right now are under investigation for their role in the near collapse last fall of the Local Government Investment Pool. Both companies sold securities to the SBA for the pool that would up getting downgraded as the credit crisis shook Wall Street.

"I just don't want to be put in a difficult situation,'' said Crist.

But Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and Attorney General Bill McCollum said it would be wrong to target the two companies until there was proof that they may have done something wrong. Sink also said she was concerned that removing Lehman Brothers and J.P. Morgan would leave just two other companies as the leaders of the team that will try to figure out how to secure as much as $2 billion to $3 billion in backup financing for the CAT Fund, the state's large reinsurance program that will be on the hook if another big hurricane hits Florida.

"We're penalizing them today without knowing, I think it's premature,'' said McCollum.

Crist makes it to round 3 in the veep sweepstakes

Subscribers to CQ Politics are handicapping the race for John McCain's vice presidential pick and Charlie Crist is still in the running after two rounds.

CQ says the winner will be revealed on May 22 "giving McCain plenty of time to consider your choice." Dems are up once a nominee is selected.

The latest round has Florida's governor facing off against former White House budget director Rob Portman of that other key swing state, Ohio.

Crist has already (easily) dispatched Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota and former Rep. J.C. Watts, R-Okla.

What say you Naked Politics reader? The Buckeye State pol? or Florida's own?

As Clinton prepares for victory in W.VA., Obama's prepares victory lap

Democrat Hillary Clinton is expecting a big win in tonight's primary in West Virginia, but it's unlikely to improve her increasingly tenuous position in the presidential race.

While rival Barack Obama continues to stump in the states with upcoming primaries, including South Dakota and Oregon, he's embarking on what looks like a general election tour. Over the next week and a half, he's headed to the battleground state of Missouri -- a state whose primary he won three months ago -- as well as to Michigan and Florida -- states he boycotted in the primary.

Details on his trip to Florida are pending, but are expected to include a mix of private fundraisers and public rallies in central and South Florida. Some pointers for Obama's Florida itinerary are here.

McCain races Obama to Florida next week

Republican John McCain likes to walk into a room to the tune of "Johnny Be Good,'' and as far as he's concerned, Democrat Barack Obama is a "Johnny-come-lately" in Florida.

Amid all the hullabaloo about Obama's first campaign visit to Florida next week since August, McCain has apparently decided to stake his claim to the battleground state one day before. Supporters say the Arizona senator will give a speech on Cuba and Latin America at the Sheraton Miami Mart hotel on May 20.

Brace yourself for the first of what could be many Obama-McCain skirmishes over Cuba. Obama advocates talking to the communist regime and allowing Cuban-Americans to freely travel and send money to the island. McCain backs the current hard-line policy established by President Bush.

Emergency powers invoked by Crist

Gov. Charlie Crist on Monday declared a state of emergency for the entire state of Florida due to ongoing wildfire threats, a move that allows the governor to waive certain state laws and requirements for the duration of the emergency or as long as 60 days.

One of the powers that Crist can invoke: The ability to tap into reserves, including the Budget Stabilization Fund, in order to pay for items needed by the state agencies responding to wildfires in Brevard, Volusia and Glades counties. The declaration also calls for the activation of the National Guard, allows the Department of Transportation to waive certain tolls and weight restrictions for emergency vehicles, and state officials to close state buildings and state parks affected by wildfires.

Bush 'pioneer' in FL charged with insider trading

Zachariah Zachariah, the Fort Lauderdale cardiologist and top Republican donor named a "pioneer" for raising at least $100,000 for President Bush in 2004, has been charged with illegally trading IVAX Corp. securities.

More recently, he's backed loser candidates -- Tom Gallagher in the 2006 governor's race and Fred Thompson in the 2007 Republican presidential primary. Zachariah also serves on the Florida Board of Governors and on the board of former Gov. Jeb Bush's educational foundation, the Foundation for Florida's Future.

Story about the SEC charges here.

The KKK-Obama connection

For a sign of Florida Republicans' all-out effort to attract black voters, look no farther than the glossy full-colored The Black Republican magazine that launches broadsides like these:

The KKK was the ''terrorist arm of the Democratic Party.'' Democrats, in addition to waging ''war on God,'' are still mired in sex and financial scandals.

That's all tucked in the back of the Sarasota-based National Black Republican Association's 60-page mag, the first half of which touts Republican Gov. Charlie Crist's civil rights record and the Republican Party of Florida's minority outreach efforts that the association has helped coordinate.

The strident comments and images -- replete with a Ku Klux Klan rally snapshot that notes ''every person in this photo was a Democrat'' -- has outraged Democrats and caught the Republican Party of Florida flat-footed as well.

Story here

South Florida congressional races spur radio spat

The hosts of Radio Mambí's weekday morning drive-time show generally reserve their fiercest attacks for Fidel Castro or his younger brother Raúl.

But these past few days the popular show En Caliente has let callers unleash attacks against another Raúl: Raul Martinez, the former Hialeah mayor, a Democrat running for the seat in the U.S. House of Representatives now held by Republican Lincoln Diaz-Balart -- a favorite of the show's hosts.

The issue has stirred controversy in Miami's exile community, opening a new front in the broader battle between the two politically powerful candidates. The reason: Radio Mambí, WAQI 710 AM, is extremely popular among older Cuban exiles, precisely the demographic Martinez and Diaz-Balart covet because they are loyal voters -- chiefly Republican.

Read more here.