GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich (Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Gage Skidmore)

GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich today announced campaign chairs and co-chairs for all of Florida’s 67 counties.

The Miami Herald reports that GOP state Reps. Michael Bileca and Carlos Trujillo will chair and co-chair (respectively) Gingrich’s campaign committee in Miami-Dade County, and Rep. Debbie Mayfield will chair the Indian River County committee.

Gingrich hired Jose Mallea, former campaign chief for U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, as his Florida campaign director last week.

The Herald cites a Newt 2012 press release issued today that includes other Republicans close to Rubio: Monica Rodriguez, a former aide to Rubio in the Florida House; Karin Hoffman; Sam Rashid, chairman of the Rubio for Senate campaign in Hillsborough County; Dr. Miguel Fana, finance chair for Rubio for Senate; and Tony DiMatteo, the county chair for Rubio in Pinellas County.

The Herald adds that more than 20 “Gingrich backers were on Herman Cain’s team until his campaign fell apart.”

The release adds: “‘Campaigns are won on the ground and through the hard work of grassroots activists such as those who have joined Newt Gingrich’s team in Florida,’ said Deborah Cox Roush, Florida State Director of County Chairs.”

The list of Gingrich supporters in Florida brings together GOP members who in the past have supported among others John McCain and Sarah Palin, former President George W. Bush, Jeb Bush, Charlie Crist, Bill McCollum, Gov. Rick Scott, Rep. Allen West and Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Mack will face fellow GOP candidates Adam Hasner, George LeMieux, Mike McCallister and Craig Miller.

The Miami Herald reports:

“Connie Mack is running for the U.S. Senate. He is making calls. He is assembling a team. And he will have more to announce about the run in the weeks ahead,” said David James, a senior adviser.”

The Herald adds that “Mack has more of the establishment Republican feel to him, having endorsed [Mike] Haridopolos in the Senate race, Mitt Romney in the presidential race and Charlie Crist –a friend of his father’s — in the Republican race against Marco Rubio,” and points to his background — “his father was a U.S. Senator from Florida” — as well as his fundraising resources.

The Herald and the St. Petersburg Times highlight Mack’s pros and cons in the GOP primary.

The Times writes that Mack

voted against the bank bailout and the stim­ulus. But he also supported funding for embryonic stem cell research and was a vocal critic of Arizona’s immigration law, which would have required people to carry immigration papers and present them to police. Mack called it an affront to the freedom of U.S. citizens who may get confused for illegal immigrants.

“In a partisan Republican primary, taking anything but a hardline stance on immigration could be toxic, as Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry has discovered,” the Herald writes.

Mack’s website states, “We are a nation of laws, and those who come to America need to do so legally.  That’s why I oppose amnesty for illegal immigrants and why I support efforts to reduce and eliminate illegal immigration.”

Despite his statements about the Arizona immigration enforcement bill, Numbers USA — which advocates for “lower immigration levels” and attrition through enforcement immigration policies — gives Mack an A- average on their “immigration reduction report card” from 2005 through 2011.

Florida’s state legislature passed five bills this year limiting access to abortions in the state, as well as bills aimed at making exclusively social conservatives happy. #

The group cited the parental rights memorial bill, the public-funding-for-abortions amendment, the ultrasound bill and the parental -notice-of-abortion bill as legislation that is “restoring common-sense values to our culture.” #

While this may be a good time for socially conservative groups to do their victory laps, reproductive rights advocates such as Planned Parenthood are rallying in opposition. #

The Christian Family Coalition courts many conservative lawmakers in South Florida. According to The Palm Beach Post, the group hosted 2010 senate candidates Marco Rubio and Gov. Charlie Crist during a very contentious election. #

Plakon, a vocal supporter of the crisis pregnancy network, tells The Florida Independent that the state’s Pregnancy Support Services Program is fully funded under Scott’s budget proposal. He says the program would be transferred out of the Department of Health and into the Department of Children and Families. #

Plakon emphasizes that he neither endorses nor opposes Scott’s proposal to transfer the program, saying that the state House — which has historically been supportive of the program — is currently developing its own budget. #

The program was created by an executive order under then-Gov. Jeb Bush in 2005 and currently supports about 70 pregnancy centers located throughout the state. According to then-Gov. Charlie Crist’s 2009 budget, the program exists to provide counseling, support services and accurate medical information to women in crisis pregnancies. #

In October 2010, the Independent obtained Department of Health records that show that oversight of the state-funded and often faith-based crisis pregnancy clinic chain mainly rests in the hands of the two organizations contracted by the state to run those clinics — the nonprofit Florida Pregnancy Care Network and the for-profit Uzzell Group. #

The Independent documented at length that pregnancy centers supported by taxpayer dollars distribute information that links abortion to grave mental health consequences like clinical depression, suicide, alcoholism and drug abuse — information that has been disputed by scientific organizations. #

The Department of Health documents show that Pregnancy Care Network site reviews for 2009-2010 indicated that 27 pregnancy centers needed to develop a procedure for reviewing and verifying the accuracy of materials and information given to clients. #

Department officials, in charge of the Pregnancy Support Services Program, never responded to various requests from the Independent to discuss the agency’s oversight of the accuracy of information given out at the centers. #

“There is ongoing oversight of this program,” Plakon says when asked about that point. “It sounds like ongoing improvement of the program.” He says that crisis pregnancy centers are “allowed in their non-governmental section to put out literature that is paid separately from the government funds to talk about faith-based ideas.” #

When asked how the Department of Health verifies that state money isn’t spent on religious information or practice Plakon says, “In my meetings with them they are very, very careful.” #

“They are fully aware there has to be segmentation between the faith-based component and the government component,” he says. “They understand the importance of segmenting those two approaches in their facilities and their activities. Now, if there is an occasional lapse, I’m sure that [the Department of Health], the Pregnancy Care Network and Uzzell would be all over that.” #

It’s not entirely unheard of. Members of the press corps who have been around for awhile are noting that this practice was common under Jeb Bush, though it was reduced considerably under Charlie Crist, whose staff would sometimes go out of their way to process requests quickly at no charge. #

The release notes that “recently, processing a tremendous increase in public records requests has taken a great toll on existing information technology and other labor resources.” #

Here’s the full text: #

Governor Rick Scott is committed to providing Floridians with access to information with which they can hold government accountable.  To provide full and expeditious compliance with Florida’s open government and public records laws, Governor Scott issued Executive Order 11-03, re-establishing the Office of Open Government. #

Recently, processing a tremendous increase in public records requests has taken a great toll on existing information technology and other labor resources.  The nature and volume of requests and a need for legal review of certain documents and files, combined with duplicating and other material costs, significantly increase the cost to the taxpayer. #

Under these circumstances and in recognition of our need for fiscal restraint, taxpayers can no longer absorb all of these costs. #

Therefore, in accordance with section 119.07, Florida Statutes, the Executive Office of the Governor has adopted a cost recovery policy, effective immediately.  This policy will enable the office to properly respond to all requests while remaining accountable to taxpayers. #

Cost Recovery Charges #

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Estimates: #

Upon receiving requests for public records, the Office of Open Government will provide an itemized estimate to the person initiating the request. The estimate will include the hours required, the estimated service charge for extensive labor, and actual duplicating or other material costs. #

If upon receiving an initial estimate of charges a request is changed or otherwise limited in scope (limiting individuals or agency divisions, for example), the person initiating the request will be provided with a new estimate of charges. #

Fee Guidelines – Special Service Charge: #

The Executive Office of the Governor is committed to being as accessible as possible while remaining accountable to taxpayers. Therefore, the following cost recovery policy has been established: #

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• A special service charge will be imposed if the nature or volume of public records requested to be inspected or copied is such as to require extensive use of information technology resources or extensive clerical or supervisory assistance by personnel of the agency involved, or both.
• Clerical or supervisory assistance includes searching for and or locating the requested record, reviewing for statutorily exempt information, deletion of statutorily exempt information, and preparing, copying, and re-filing of the requested record.
• Such charge is in addition to the actual cost of duplication.

o   A special service charge will be warranted if the nature or volume of the public records requested to be inspected or copied requires more than 30 minutes of agency resources. #

o   If multiple agency divisions are involved, the special service charge will be based on the aggregate amount of time expended by all personnel and information technology resources, if applicable. #

o   The charge for clerical or supervisory resources will be no greater than the hourly rate, including benefits, of the lowest paid personnel capable of providing such services. #

o   In those cases where legal review is necessary, the charge will be at the lowest attorney rate (salary and benefits) in the Office of General Counsel. #

o   The Office of Open Government will not pass along its costs for processing and facilitating requests. #

• When documents can be sent by email, we will do so in the interest of efficiency and to minimize costs.  In these cases we will only charge a service charge for extensive time.  However, when a large volume of documents is requested and must therefore be placed on a CD or DVD, the costs of those materials will be recovered.
• If the record is in electronic form, then we will copy onto CD or DVD, as needed.  You will be charged for the actual costs of the disk, not for the time to copy the documents onto the media.
• If the cost for providing paper or electronic copies of records is less than $5.00, including postage and special service charges, the records will be provided at no charge as long as it is not cost-effective to collect such fees.

Collecting Recovered Costs: #

• If fees are imposed for copies and/or the special service imposed, the requestor will be advised of estimated costs.
• Payment will be collected before documents are copied, reviewed, redacted, or otherwise processed for release if their production meets the threshold for extensive time or material costs.
• If the actual costs incurred are less than such payment as estimated, the overpayment will be refunded to the requestor. The requestor will be required to remit additional monies upon release of the documents to pay for any costs in excess of the estimate.
• In the event the requestor fails to remit additional monies to cover costs in excess of the deposit, the requested public records will not be released.

Material Costs: #

One-sided Copy:	$ 0.15 per page of not more than 8½ x 14 inches
Double-sided copy:	$ 0.20 per page of not more than 8½ x 14 inches
All other copies	Actual cost of duplication (material and supplies, not labor)
CD-ROM:	$0.85 each
DVD:	$1.15 each
Certified Copies:	$1.00 per page
Packaging and shipping charges:	Estimated costs may be changed to reflect actual cost incurred.

Reducing Costs and Limiting Charges: #

• Labor costs can be reduced significantly if requests include keywords as opposed to “all documents or emails.”  Similarly, narrowing a request to certain individuals or divisions can greatly reduce the use of extensive labor.
• Many easily accessible records are available online for no charge.  We will continue to add documents and information as we identify some of the most frequently requested public records.
• We will help direct you to free, online sources whenever possible.
• Consider refining your requests for documents to provide better results and reduce unnecessary or duplicative costs.

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In a single sentence, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger found a way Monday both to congratulate the Giants and to throw a political jab at Proposition 23, which would suspend the state’s landmark greenhouse gas emissions law.

“The San Francisco Giants defeated the Texas Rangers tonight, just like California voters are going to defeat the attempts of dirty Texas oil companies to undo our clean energy laws at the polls tomorrow,” he said in a written statement.

Schwarzenegger has remained pretty firm in his environmental beliefs amid a growing wave of GOP climate skepticism, making him something of an endangered species among Republican politicians these days. Like Gov. Charlie Crist (R/I-Fla.), he’ll soon be out of office, and the number of Republicans who believe in and care about climate change will receive yet another significant blow.

He traces the oil spill narrative roughly like this: Outcry about the environmental effects of the spill turned into concerns about the moratorium on drilling, which, when the moratorium was lifted, turned into everybody moving on to something else.

At first, it seemed like an inevitability that the oil spill would become a major issue in the midterm elections. And in some cases it was — Grimm points to Florida Gov. Charlie Crist’s early Senate campaign rhetoric on the environmental impacts of the spill, and I’ve written before about how Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) and Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.) zeroed in on the drilling moratorium.

But oil spill rhetoric has faded significantly for a number of reasons. The first is time. It’s been more than six months since the spill, and the incident rarely gets front-page billing these days. The second, as Grimm points out, is the administration’s decision to overturn the moratorium. The decision took some of the wind out of arguments that the administration was destroying the Gulf economy, though Sens. Vitter and Mary Landrieu (D-La.) have both raised concerns that new drilling rules will slow the pace of new drilling.

The third is a little more complicated. On the one hand, many Democrats seem reluctant to make the oil spill an election issue, because in doing so, they would have to acknowledge one embarrassing little detail: The Senate has failed to pass an oil spill response bill. On the other hand, many Republicans would have to reconcile their support for expanded offshore drilling with the obvious safety concerns. At the end of the day, it’s a thorny issue for both sides of the aisle.

After the midterms, once our elected officials trek back to D.C. to do the less glamorous job of legislating, the big question is this: How will Congress deal with offshore drilling? Right now, it’s unclear. The momentum to pass an oil spill response bill is gone, and with it go the prospects that we’ll see stand-alone legislation on the issue. While it could come up in the lame-duck session, it seems more likely that oil spill response provisions will make their way into a broader energy bill next year that will focus on low-hanging fruit issues like electric vehicles and efficiency, possibly paired with a renewable energy standard. Of course, the outcome of the midterm elections will likely determine the lame-duck agenda.

Just how stringent oil spill response provisions will be depends largely on the outcome of behind-the-scenes liability negotiations between, among others, Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), who would prefer unlimited liability on any company responsible for a spill, and Sens. Landrieu and Mark Begich (D-Alaska), who are trying to devise a mechanism by which companies can pool their liability in the event of a large disaster.

Sink, who is in a very tight race with Republican Rick Scott — polls show her either three points up or three points down — may lose votes from African-Americans energized by Meek’s candidacy.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said in a statement that Clinton’s actions were “chilling” African-American voters. He added, “One can only imagine the response if Republican leadership tried to force out of the race – in the 11th hour – a qualified black candidate like Kendrick Meek.”

Meek is the only African-American Senate candidate this cycle; that Clinton (with awareness from the White House) almost persuaded Meek to drop out may well depress Democratic turnout that Sink needs to overcome Republican voters who are expected to turn out enthusiastically to vote for Senate candidate Marco Rubio.

At the same time, 1.7 million voters have already voted, so the effect of the report might be dampened.

The Meek campaign strenuously denies that he considered dropping out after talks with Clinton, a staunch Meek ally. “Kendrick Meek was not ever dropping out of this race and will not ever drop out of this race,” Meek campaign manager Abe Dyk said in a statement.

Luke Johnson writes for The American Independent.

However, most ignored whether it was a practical possibility or not.

According to Florida election law, after the primary, names cannot be removed from the ballot. However, if Meek were to remove himself from the race, the party could decide to place his votes for another candidate of the party’s choosing. But it does not appear that Crist could even be eligible to receive Meek’s votes. Law requires that “the person is not a registered member of any other political party and has not been a candidate for nomination for any other political party for a period of 6 months preceding the general election for which the person seeks to qualify” (emphasis added). Crist was a Republican until May 12 — five and half months ago — when he changed his voter registration to run as an independent.

Anyway, such a move is unlikely to happen so late in the election, since early voting in Florida begins in just six days. The Florida Democratic Party also ran a tough ad in the strategic I-4 corridor and other markets against Crist, highlighting his conservative positions. James Carville and the Florida Democratic Party chairwoman Karen Thurman spoke to reporters Tuesday on a conference call, reaffirming that Meek would stay in.

Crist tried to get more Democratic voters on his side Tuesday when he agreed with a reporter’s suggestion that a vote for Meek was a vote for Rubio. Meek, on MSNBC Monday, said, “I am nominated by hundreds of thousands of voters in this state. … Charlie Crist walked down to the supervisor of elections office, became an independent because he wanted to get out of the kitchen with Marco Rubio. He had his chance to win.”

Both candidates have declined on whether the other should drop out, saying it’s their decision.

The story does not cite any named sources, and contains no comment from either Meek’s or Crist’s campaign.

So our sister site, The Florida Independent, asked for a response. Here is a statement from the Meek camp:

When told The Wall Street Journal had published a rumor he would drop out of the Florida senate race, Kendrick Meek laughed out loud.

“I’m taking a stand against the radical right. Marco Rubio has always been the Tea Party candidate and yesterday Charlie Crist says he wants to crash the Tea Party, too. I’m the only candidate who’s fighting for the middle class and I’m not going anywhere except the United States Senate,” Meek said. “If you want to stop the privatization of Social Security and Medicare, stop more tax cuts for the wealthy, stop more special interest tax breaks, stop more environmental destruction and stop more jobs being shipped overseas, I’m asking you to take a stand with me.

“Because if they want to go back to the Bush years, they’re going to have to go through this six foot three inch former state trooper.”

Tristram Korten reports for The Florida Independent