Gov. Scott vows not to cut education funding

Minutes after meeting with teachers union representatives for the first time since taking office, Gov. Rick Scott announced tonight that he will not support any cuts in education funding in the next budget.

Scott's office issued a press release that included the new edict shortly after he finished a press conference standing side-by-side with Florida Education Association president Andy Ford. That would be the teachers union that opposed his bid for governor and has several lawsuits pending against the state. Ford and other teachers union leaders had a two-hour dinner with Scott at the governor's mansion, and a follow-up meeting is scheduled for next week.

Scott has spent the week on an educational listening tour, meeting in small groups with teachers, parents and students. He said the school visits were about listening and helping him shape his policy for the spring legislative session, but the statement released at 9:42 p.m. tonight puts a clear line in the sand when it comes to funding.

“In our dinner tonight, I told the FEA that as we continue to develop our education agenda we are going to at a minimum sustain current state funding for education in the next budget and depending on the state’s economic outlook, aim to increase education funding where we can improve student outcomes," the governor said in the news release.

Uninvited guests now welcome at Gov. Scott school visits

Gov. Rick Scott met with a half-dozen parents and four students at Gadsden Elementary Magnet School, also known as GEMS, this afternoon. But the room had many other listening ears, including school and elected officials and members of the media.

This is a marked difference from how Scott began the week, visiting schools in Duval and Pinellas counties in closed-door meetings. Members of the local school boards complained after being told they wouldn't be allowed to sit in; if you weren't among the handful of invited guests you would remain outside the room until the discussion ended.

Things were different today. At GEMS in Quincy, Scott was joined by Gadsden schools Superintendent Reginald James, State Rep. Alan Williams, a Democrat who represents the area, and even Sheriff Morris Young. The media was allowed to listen in and take notes during the entire session, although audio and video recording was limited.

Scott said the complaints earlier in the week didn’t influence his decision to open up access during his schools listening tour, which continues Monday in Fort Walton Beach. He said he wanted the parents, students and teachers he met with to feel free to speak openly, and as they expressed that comfort level he allowed more visitors to attend.

Pro-business groups praise Citizens' $350 million loan program

A plan to loan $350 million of Citizens Property Insurance's surplus to private insurers has garnered praise from several pro-business groups in Florida.

The loan program, which was announced and unveiled last week, could reduce the size of Citizens by up to 300,000 policies and reduce future hurricane taxes if Florida is hit by a big storm.

That's a worthy goal for the state-run insurer of last resort, according to Florida Tax Watch, Americans for Prosperity-Florida, and Associated Industries of Florida.

“On behalf of Associated Industries of Florida, we are pleased the Citizens Property Insurance Corp. governing board is working diligently to reduce the risks posed to our state by the over-exposed, state-backed insurer," said Thomas C. Feeney, III, President of Associated Industries of Florida.

While some have bashed the program as corporate welfare, pro-business groups have come out in strong support.

Statements from AIF, Americans for Prosperity-Florida and Florida Tax Watch are below.

Amid skipped intel. briefs, murdered ambassador and golf, XRoads ad says 'Mr President, it's time to show up or work.'

Karl Rove's American Crossroads SuperPAC, which has bought up loads of TV time in Florida, airs virtually every conservative grievance with President Obama's foreign policy in this new ad: Skipped intelligence briefings and playing 100 rounds of golf; campaign fundraisers after an ambassador is murdered in Libya; cold relations with Israel's conservative leader amid nuclear-arms tensions with Iran; and "celebrity" ties to David Letterman, Beyonce and Jay-Z.

Expect Democrats to go ballistic, noting that Rove was by President Bush's side when 9/11 happened and the controversial invasion of Iraq sidetracked the mission in Afghanistan. The White House says the president reads his briefs, even if he doesn't attend meetings.

“This president is an absolutely responsible and voracious consumer of his presidential daily briefing and of the information provided to him by his national security team,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

The ad, which has dark theme music and has the feel of the trailer to a thriller, ends with the picture of empty oval office chairs (a reference to Clint Eastwood's Republican National Convention speech) and a ringing phone (the 3 am/pm call?).

The ad is so tough and evokes such a visceral response that conservatives are excited. But they also seem let down that Mitt Romney's campaign has been unable to match it.

Consider this exchange on Twitter retweeted by ‏@jimgeraghty: "@freddoso: 'That's too good to be a Romney ad,' remarks @philipaklein. True dat. http://youtu.be/4antn3JatAg  | Empty chair!"

It might be enough to make some independents/undecideds dislike Obama. But is it enough to get them to vote for Mitt Romney?

"Super Sabado" announced by Mitt Romney's Miami team

From a press release:

Tomorrow in Miami, the Romney for President campaign will have volunteers on the ground walking door to door to spread the message of America’s Comeback Team — Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.  Hispanics face a 10.2% unemployment rate and are especially suffering under the Obama economy.  They are not better off after four years of Obama’s failed economic policies and are suffocating under a $16 trillion debt that we cannot afford.  That’s why Hispanics across the Sunshine State are supporting Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan.

The following events are open to the press:

 WHAT:                                   Romney for President Super Sabado

 WHO:                                      Romney for President Volunteers

 WHEN:                                   Saturday, September 15, 2012

 WHERE:                                 10 am ET at 8532 SW 8^th Street, Suite 289, Miami

                                                11:30 am ET at 5600 SW 135^th Avenue, Suite 207, Miami

D.C. analysts: Outlook less favorable for U.S. Rep. David Rivera's reelection

Two well-known Washington D.C. political analysts have updated their ratings of the congressional race between U.S. Rep. David Rivera, a Republican, and Democratic challenger Joe Garcia.

Both changes are less favorable for Rivera, who has been connected to a campaign-finance investigation into one of Garcia's primary opponents, Justin Lamar Sternad. (Here's the latest article on that investigation.) Rivera has accused The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald of being in cahoots with Garcia's campaign.

The Cook Political Report has switched its rating from "Lean Republican" to "Toss Up." The Rothenberg Political Report has moved its rating from "Lean Republican" to "Toss-up/Tilt Republican."

"By the numbers it shouldn't be a competitive district, but with Rivera, with all of his ongoing legal problems and investigations surrounding him, it makes him more vulnerable," Rothenberg senior analyst Jessica Taylor said.

Democrats outnumber GOP in voter registration drive, but NPA beats all

The Florida Democratic Party announced Friday that, for the seventh consecutive month, they have out-registered Republicans, including a 10-point advantage among Hispanics. But if you look a bit farther and compare the registration gains of both parties with the number of voters who register No Party Affiliation, there is no comparison. The NPAs win.

According to the Florida Department of State's election's data, Democrats clearly have been doing better in the last seven months than they did in the first part of the year, when their numbers dropped by 18,000 voters between December 2011 and March 2012. They have since reversed those losses and have now exceeded their December 2011 numbers and seen a net increase of 40,841 voters.

Of the 11.4 million registered voters in Florida, however, there has been a net increase of 247,300 new voters registered between December 2011 and July 2012. Of those, 52 percent -- or 129,456 -- are NPA. Another 16 percent are Democrats and 35 percent are Republican.

Republicans saw a surge in voter registration during the time of the presidential primary when their rolls increased by 40,000 voters. Their numbers dropped by just under 10,000 between February and March but have been steadily increasing since.

From the Democratic Party release:

Guess who's coming to dinner? It's those teachers union types

Gov. Rick Scott has extended the olive branch to the state's largest teachers union and tonight has an closed-door dinner with leaders of the Florida Education Association at the governor's mansion.

Invited from the FEA, according to sources outside the governor's office, are:

Lawmaker slams Citizens' $350 million loan program, seeks audit

Another day, another controversy for Citizens Property Insurance Corp., which has moved aggressively to make itself less attractive ever since Gov. Rick Scott ordered it to downsize last year.

In recent months, the state-run insurer has hiked rates, sidestepped the state Legislature, spent lavishly on executive perks and backed a risky multi-million dollar loan program pushed by an insurance lobbyist. As Citizens plows ahead with its massive overhaul, it is picking up a host of enemies along the way.

This week, Rep. Frank Artiles, R-Miami, sent a sharply-worded letter to Citizens’ regulator, the Office of Insurance Regulation, calling for an official audit into the insurer-of-last-resort’s latest controversy. Citizens’ board approved a plan last week to loan out $350 million in money from its $6.2 billion surplus to private insurers—under very generous terms—to incentivize the companies to take over some of the state’s policies.

The concept of plan was approved less than 48 hours after it was fully unveiled to the public, and there was no opportunity for public input. Artiles is now calling for a full audit of the companies involved, and has requested loads of public records from Citizens.

“It is our hope that the Citizens board can take a step back and allow an audit of these insurers while discussing its plan with its policyholders, the public, the governor, and the Florida Legislature,” Artiles said in a letter. “A decision like this, which affects both taxpayer dollars and the future of property insurance in Florida, deserves to be discussed in a rational public way.”

Florida’s insurance consumer advocate, Robin Westcott, also said last week that the plan—which could result in Citizens losing all or part of the $350 million loan--was being put through “in a hurry.”

Citizens disagrees, saying that it did provide several opportunities for public input, beginning back in June.

“Rep Artiles is misstating the chronology of what has occurred,” said Citizens spokesperson Christine Ashburn, in a statement. “Citizens began public discussions of depopulation proposals at the summit on June 1 which was open to all members of the public and broadcast live by the Florida channel.”

Artiles called the program, which was supported by a lobbyist for a politically-connected insurance company, an “inside deal” and said it made Florida’s $20 million Digital Domain debacle “look like a drop in the bucket.”

Frankel and Hasner to speak at the Forum Club Sept. 24

Two former state legislators battling for the Broward/Palm Beach Congressional 22 seat will speak at the Forum Club in West Palm Beach at 12:15 Sept. 24.

The contest between Democrat Lois Frankel, former mayor of West Palm Beach and former house minority leader, and Adam Hasner, former house Majority leader and Boca Raton Republican is shaping up to be one of the most expensive Congressional contests in Florida. Frankel raised about $2.4 million while Hasner raised about $2.3 million just before the primary.

The only more expensive Congressional race in Florida is the contest between Republican U.S. Rep. Allen West, who raised more than $10.7 million and businessman and Democrat Patrick Murphy, who raised more than $2.3 million, who are running in the Treasure Coast. The West-Murphy race is the third most expensive House contest in the nation, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. West currently represents Congressional District 22 but redistricting transformed the swing district into a left-leaning district so West moved his campaign to the north.

The Cook and Rothenberg political reports both consider the Frankel-Hasner race to be "lean Democratic."

"We think its competitive," said David Wasserman, an editor at Cook. But "the fundamentals of the district favor a Democrat."

Frankel's fate is closely tied with Obama as well as the ability of Hasner to define her negatively. Critics have called her abrasive and criticized her spending decisions at City Hall.

"She has her share of liabilities," Wasserman said. "Republicans need to find a way to capture that and cast her as an unacceptable representative in Washington."

However,  "Democrats will absolutely hammer Hasner as a tea party acolyte who was campaigning for  U.S. Senate as the most conservative person in the race and obviously now he has to posture a little  more to the middle to win the district."

Hasner dropped out of the GOP Senate primary and switched to run in  Congressional  District 22 after West announced he was switching districts.