Politics

The proposal to build mega-casinos in South Florida never made it to a final vote in the last session of the Florida Legislature. Now it looks like the issue may not be coming up again for at least another year.

Senate President Don Gaetz is setting up a new committee to examine Florida gambling which he says is both over- and under-regulated. But Gaetz is considered an opponent of gambling and he's in no hurry to pass a casino gambling bill.

Former Gov. Charlie Crist is taking fire from the Republican press release machine now that speculation is growing that he'll challenge Gov. Rick Scott as a Democrat in 2014.

The AP and Sarasota Herald-Tribune suggest there's an angry personal element to this that transcends ordinary politics, probably because Crist was once a Republican governor and the darling of his party. But now he's a cheating rat.

Florida Senate President Don Gaetz was sworn in Tuesday along with his plans to move ethics reform forward in the  Legislature this year.

Gaetz has said in the past that he will make anti-corruption measures for state lawmakers a focus of his leadership in the Senate. In the past, bills aimed at passing ethics reform have failed in the Florida Senate.

Howevever, Gaetz has already made good on his promise to change ethics rules by changing some Florida Senate rules.

A non-profit investigative news site found an interesting link between whom a state voted for in this election and the rate of traffic deaths there.

According to FairWarning, a state that voted for President Obama in this past election (a blue state) is likely to have fewer deathly traffic accidents compared with  a state that went for Mitt Romney in November (a red state).

The news outlet also reports that there is really no concrete explanation as to why there is this red state-blue state divide when it comes to traffic deaths.

The shrieks of horror and howls of grief are dying away on Capitol Hill as defeated representatives and senators accept their fates and pack for the long ride home to find real jobs.

Even though activists were sure earned sick pay would be an easy fight in Miami-Dade, a proposal that required employers to give earned sick pay to all workers died on first reading in a county commission meeting Tuesday.

The Miami Herald's Patricia Mazzei tweeted the vote count:

Earned sick time legislation at Miami-Dade commission failed 8-4. In favor: Edmonson, Jordan, Monestime, Suarez.

The Marlins latest fire sale is official: Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig approved the trade of 5 of the team’s top players.  

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, R-FL, gave reporters some details about what the GOP version of the Dream Act might look like recently.

Florida's Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that five of the country's biggest mortgage companies are forking over $3.6 billion dollars for "foreclosure abuses and unacceptable mortgage servicing practices," which spurred the state's foreclosure crisis.

Congressman Allen West has given up. According to an early post from Politico, the one-term Tea Party favorite from South Florida has acknowledged there's no way he can overcome Democratic opponent Patrick Murphy's 1,904-vote victory margin in District 18, which spreads over St. Lucie, Martin and Palm Beach counties.