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.

Ad for The Awakening 2012 (Photo: Tea Party Manatee)

The Freedom Federation, a network of conservative faith-based organizations, will host its “Awakening 2012″ event in Orlando next year, featuring a long list of big conservative names as “invited speakers.”

Presidential hopefuls Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Rick Perry have all been invited to Awakening, which will take place April 19-21 at Calvary Assembly in Winter Park. According to the group’s website, Republicans Sen. Marco Rubio, Rep. Allen West and Gov. Rick Scott have also been invited to speak, but have not yet been confirmed.

Other invited speakers include: Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council; Live Action founder Lila Rose, and James “Jim Bob” Duggar, subject of the TLC reality series 19 Kids and Counting.

John Stemberger, president of the Florida Family Policy Council, is a confirmed speaker, along with Frank Gaffney, who penned a controversial op-ed insinuating that President Obama was “America’s first Muslim president.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also been confirmed to address the rally via video feed.

Presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich made an appearance at the 2011 Awakening event, telling more than 100 faith-based leaders that House Republicans should not compromise on fundamentals because the budget is a “moral battle.”

The GOP-sponsored “Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act,” which extends payroll tax cuts and extends but reduces unemployment benefits through 2012, passed in the U.S. House Tuesday night, but it will not pass in the Senate.

The bill — filed by Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., and cosponsored by five other Republicans, including Rep. Ilena Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami — also cuts “$8 billion from the Harkin Prevention Fund“ and reduces “Medicaid spending by more than $4 billion.”

CBS News reports today that the “measure would keep 160 million workers from seeing their payroll tax jump on Jan. 1 from this year’s 4.2 percent back to its normal level of 6.2 percent,” and would “also renew expiring extra benefits for long-term jobless people.”

The National Employment Law Project said Tuesday the House vote, which includes cuts to unemployment insurance, “will hurt millions of unemployed workers and their families and will further damage the economy.”

The Employment Law Project adds that the House GOP bill would:

• Cut federal unemployment benefits by more than half in 2012, eliminating 40 weeks of payments.
• “Allow the last leg of the federal unemployment insurance extension – the 13 to 20 weeks of Extended Benefits (EB) that are available in the hardest-hit states – to expire, mostly over the course of the first half of 2012.”
• Cut extended benefits in states with unemployment rates higher than the national average, which stands at 8.6 percent.

The Law Project report indicates that under the GOP bill approved Tuesday night, Florida’s unemployed workers would see their unemployment benefits cut by 40 weeks.

Politico reports that the bill, which also “calls for construction of the controversial Keystone KL oil pipeline,” “is dead on arrival in the Democratic Senate and faced a veto threat anyway.”

According to The New York Times, “members of both parties said the payroll tax cut would put money in the pockets of consumers, increasing the demand for goods and services and shoring up a weak economy,” adding that the House bill “would extend jobless benefits for some of the unemployed, while reducing the maximum number of weeks of benefits that a worker could receive.”

The Research Institute on Social and Economic Policy at Florida International University said Tuesday that “if congress does not renew the Extended Benefits (EB) and Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) programs by January 1, 2012, tens of thousands of Floridians currently receiving unemployment benefits funded by the federal government will be cut off.”

The Research Institute, known as RISEP, adds that in Florida, “unemployment has been consistently decreasing since the end of 2010, but labor force participation rates have been decreasing as well. At the end of 2010, the labor force participation rate was 62.7%, but by October 2011, the percentage of working-age population in Florida looking for jobs decreased to 61.8%.”

The RISEP report (.pdf) also argues that whatever Congress decides to do, a law signed by Gov. Rick Scott in June, “will further reduce the number of weeks of federally funded benefits that unemployed workers will be eligible for”:

Last spring the Florida legislature reduced the maximum number of weeks of unemployment from 26 weeks to 23 weeks, depending on how high the unemployment rate is. Starting January 1, the approximately 15,000 people per week who file initial claims for unemployment benefits will be eligible for only 23 weeks of benefits. The state estimates this change will save the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund $103 million annually, representing a savings to employers but a loss to families and businesses which depend on UC benefits.

In a ranking of one (best) to 50 (worst), Florida ranks 42nd in the nation. About 84,000 children in Florida were homeless in 2010, a report (PDF) from the group says.

The study, “America’s Youngest Outcasts 2010″ (PDF), also found that “more than 1.6 million children or one in 45 are homeless annually in America [which] represents an increase of 38 percent during the years impacted by the economic recession (2007 to 2010).”

The report is based on 2006-2010 “data and research on the extent of child homelessness, child well-being, risk for homelessness, and state policy and planning efforts.”

According to the report:

Data from the original report showed that more than one in 50 children were homeless annually in America. That dropped to one in 63 in the recovery from Hurricanes Rita and Katrina and has increased since.

“The Recession has been a man-made disaster for vulnerable children,” said Ellen L. Bassuk, MD, President and Founder of The National Center on Family Homelessness and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. “There are more homeless children today than after the natural disasters of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which caused historic levels of homelessness in 2006. The Recession’s economic devastation has left one in 45 children homeless in a year—an increase of 38% from 2007 to 2010.”

The report finds that children experiencing homelessness in America suffer from hunger and poor physical and emotional health as well as limited academic proficiency in reading and math. The constant barrage of stressful and traumatic experiences has profound effects on their development and ability to learn.”

The report also points out that “planning and policy activities to support these vulnerable children remain limited.”

“Sixteen states have done no planning related to child homelessness, and only seven states have extensive plans,” the reports says.

Florida ranked 35th in a 2010 state policy and planning ranking, according to the group’s Florida report. According to that study, the state has just over 4,000 housing units for homeless families — that list includes emergency shelters, transitional housing, HUD homes and permanent supportive housing. Florida also has a state housing trust fund and an active Interagency Council on Homelessness, but fails to have a “state 10-year plan that includes children and families.”

Earlier this year, Gov. Rick Scott vetoed  $12 million dollars from the state’s general revenue fund to the National Veterans’ Homeless Support Group for “homeless housing assistance grants.” The item was one of many public assistance programs Scott vetoed.

Florida faces another revenue shortfall this year, which puts all public assistance programs at risk for more budget reductions.

“In the face of this man-made disaster, there must be no further cuts in federal and state programs that help homeless children and families. Deeper cuts will only create more homelessness that will cost us more to fix in the long run,” Bassuk said in a statement included in the new report. “We can take specific action now in areas of housing, child care, education, domestic violence, and employment and training to stabilize vulnerable families and prevent child homelessness.”

Last month, Florida’s child homelessness epidemic received national attention. 60 Minutes shed light on the issue and took a hard look at a county in Florida that reported 1,100 homeless students in its K-12 schools.

Responding to the broadcast, state legislators announced a bipartisan effort to combat Florida’s homelessness crisis. State Rep. Betty Reed, D-Tampa, and Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Valrico, announced that they “filed legislation for the 2012 Florida legislative session that seeks to raise awareness and funding to help combat homelessness.”

2012 GOP presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (Photo: Flickr/Gage Skidmore)

Jacksonville’s Susie Wiles, the former campaign manager for Gov. Rick Scott, has joined the team of would-be GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Wiles was working closely with Romney opponent Jon Huntsman until July, when she left her position as campaign manager.

At the time, Wiles said “it was just time” to leave the Huntsman campaign, saying she had only signed up “to get [the campaign] started.”

Wiles has now been named as a co-chair of Romney’s Florida advisory council.

Wiles’ husband, veteran Republican advance man Lanny Wiles, remained with Huntsman until August, when he also left the campaign. Though he said at the time that he remained “an avid supporter of Governor Huntsman,” he, too, now appears to be backing Romney.

Via Politico:

Education reform in K through 12 public schools includes efforts to increase graduation rates, college readiness and accountability, and to conduct efficient testing and student evaluation and review teacher effectiveness.

The NEA report (PDF) highlights three areas where the union believes “steps can and should be taken to transform the teaching profession”: raising the bar to entry, ensuring “that those who are in the classroom maintain a high standard of practice” and providing “union leadership to transform the profession.”

Education Week reported Thursday that NEA President Dennis Van Roekel said the “NEA will support national standards for teacher preparation and licensing. All teacher candidates should have one full year of teaching residency, and pass a performance-based assessment before entering the classroom.”

“The NEA has supported teacher residency programs in the past, but has not specifically called for all teacher education programs to embrace them,” Education Week added.

The majority of K through 12 education reform efforts over the last decade have included plans to strengthen charter schools, expand the use of public funds for virtual/private schools and broaden the use of technology in the classroom. Florida has led the way through organizations like Foundation for Excellence in Education and Foundation for Florida’s Future, founded and co-chaired by former Gov. Jeb Bush.

Gov. Rick Scott said at a gathering for conservative politicians and organizations in August that his administration has done four things in education: eliminate more teacher tenure; pay teachers based on standardized test results; support and increase charter schools (which Scott defined as public schools run by a third party); and offer scholarships.

Sheldon Berman — superintendent of the Eugene, Ore., school district — and Arthur Camins —director of the Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education — wrote in November that “the way to turn schools around and transform the education of at-risk students is to invest in the professional ability of the faculty, making its members a mission-driven, skilled force for change.”

They added: “Working from this premise, the Jefferson County, Ky., public school system, which includes the city of Louisville, designed and implemented” the Investment Model, that “invests in the creation of a professionalized teaching culture and represents a conceptual shift in what teaching and learning are all about.”

Berman and Camins wrote that this model works as an alternative to U.S. Department of Education’s four turnaround models that include replacing the principal, rehiring no more than 50 percent of the staff and reopening a school as a charter school (i.e., one that is publicly funded but privately managed).

A screenshot from a broadcast of the Rick Scott event

During the unveiling of his budget recommendations for the upcoming legislative session, Aasif Mandvi of The Daily Show asked Gov. Rick Scott to pee in a cup to prove he is not on drugs.

During the questions portion of the conference, Mandvi asked the governor, “Would you be willing to pee into this cup to prove to Florida taxpayers that you are not on drugs?”

“We can all turn around,” Mandvi continued.

“I have done it plenty of times,” Scott replied.

Mandvi was quickly silenced, but continued to ask that reporters pass a plastic cup up to the governor. Mandvi said, “I hate to keep harping on this,” as he continued to ask that the governor heed his request.

The governor has come under a lot of criticism from civil rights advocates for new laws in the state that require welfare beneficiaries and state employees to take drug tests.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida has challenged both laws.

A U.S. court in Orlando recently granted Luis Lebron and the ACLU of Florida an injunction against the law requiring welfare applicants to be drug tested. A Navy veteran and single father, Lebron was denied temporary assistance benefits he was otherwise qualified for because he refused to waive his Fourth Amendment rights and submit to a drug test. The state has since filed an appeal.

Scott has repeatedly said he champions the welfare drug testing law, in particular, for the “benefit of children.”

Gov. Rick Scott (Photo: flgov.com)

Public Policy Polling released a poll Tuesday showing that Gov. Rick Scott’s approval rate among Florida voters is at an all-time low.

Public Policy Polling, which has worked for businesses, elected officials, unions and Democratic Party organizations, explains (.pdf): “Florida’s Rick Scott has retaken the title of least popular governor in the country among the 36 on which PPP has polled this year. His job performance mark has tanked from 36% approving and 52% disapproving when PPP last polled the state in September to 26-58 now, a decline of 16 points on the margin.”

Scott’s “greatest fall has been with his own party, which stands at 46-31, down 22 points. Independents disapprove by a 30-55 margin,” according to Public Policy.

According to poll results, men had a higher approval rating (30 percent) for Scott than women (22 percent) and Scott’s disapproval rate was higher among women (59 percent) than men (56 percent).

African-Americans voters show an 80 percent disapproval rate for Scott, followed by Hispanics with 66 percent — while 52 percent of white voters disapprove of Scott’s job performance.

When asked if last year’s elections could be repeated, 53 percent of voters polled said they would vote for Democrat Alex Sink, and 37 percent said they would vote for Scott.

Public Policy results released today also show that Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has a 40 percent job performance approval among Florida voters, while 40 percent disapprove and 20 percent are not sure.

Rubio’s “poll numbers have declined every time PPP’s polled Florida this year.” Rubio “began 2011 with a +12 approval spread at 43/31.” Poll results indicate that Florida’s Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson has an approval rating of +1.

Hispanic voters show a 52 percent disapproval rate for Rubio, followed closely by African-Americans at 50 percent, while white voters have a 46 percent approval rate for Rubio.

Public Policy “surveyed 700 Florida voters from November 28th to December 1st.”

Gingrich recently made a slew of appearances in Florida, appearing at a town hall meeting at Jacksonville Landing. Later that evening, Gingrich spoke at a private fundraising dinner in Ponte Vedra that was following by a meet-and-great at the Clubhouse of the Tournament Players Championship.

Though many have questioned whether to take Gingrich’s campaign seriously (some have called it nothing more than a glorified book tour), he has recently surged in the polls, despite garnering little media attention early on in his campaign.

Huntsman hasn’t fared as well. The former U.S. ambassador to China’s campaign manager, Susie Wiles, resigned early on — telling reporters in July that she had only signed up to get the campaign started and it was “just time” for her to go. Wiles, a Floridian, managed successful campaigns for two Jacksonville mayors and for Gov. Rick Scott.

Both Huntsman and Gingrich appeared at the Conservative Political Action Committee event in Florida, which took place in Orlando this September.

In a November appearance on Saturday Night Live, Huntsman poked fun at himself for his constant appearances in New Hampshire and his low numbers. “It is true [that I am polling in the single-digits],” he said. “But only a few months ago, I was polling at ‘margin of error.’ So to have any digit at all is a pretty big deal.”

The debate is set for Mon., Dec. 12 at the Institute of Politics in Manchester, N.H.

In a joint statement, Huntsman campaign manager Matt David and Gingrich campaign director Michael Krull said that the two were looking forward “to debating in a substantive format that will allow both candidates to highlight their experience and view for the country.”

Late last week, national Democrats announced they would be launching a campaign responding to laws across the country that may decrease access to the polls for many for the 2012 election.

U.S. News reports:

DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz accused Republicans of launching a “full-scale attack on the public’s right to vote.” She said that GOP efforts in states to curb instant voter registration and early voting and require photo identification at the polls to fight alleged fraud could push minorities, especially Hispanics and African-Americans, away from voting. She claimed that repeated investigations into voter fraud have found very little evidence that it occurs.

…

The Republican National Committee rejected the charges, however. Officials said there is evidence of voter fraud. In just one popularized case, for example, they note that ACORN—the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now—in 2008 was accused of handling 400,000 fraudulent registrations.

The website, protectingthevote.com, states that “in 2011, a new movement to change the way we vote is under way. Unlike past reforms that sought to expand access to voting, this effort aims to restrict voting purely for partisan gain.”

The website runs through some of the most restrictive new laws in states across the country. The DNC points to laws that “target voter registration drives, cut early voting, repeal election day registration, and create citizen challenges” as the biggest culprits of voter suppression.

The website also has a link to a 73-page report written by the Voting Rights Institute, with help from the DNC. The report singled out Florida as passing some of the most restrictive voting laws, including one law that targets voter-registration drives and another that cuts early voting.

According to the report:

The GOP enacted restrictions on voter registration drives in Florida and Texas, and proposed similar measures in Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, and Mississippi. The new legislation in Florida was by far the GOP’s most extensive effort. In 2010, Republican Governor Rick Scott rode a wave of Tea Party support to victory in the state’s gubernatorial race, joining Republican majorities in the Florida House and Senate. A pinnacle of their collaboration in this year’s legislative session was HB1355, a 158-page omnibus elections overhaul that—in addition to early voting cuts—enacted draconian restrictions on all nongovernmental entities that conduct voter registration.

Under HB1355, any group or individual that conducts voter registration must now (1) register their organization with the Florida Division of Elections prior to conducting registration activities and regularly file onerous reports on all their activities; (2) track and account for voter registration forms using a specially generated number for each document; (3) submit completed voter registration forms to the state within 48 hours (a significant decrease from the previous deadline of 10 days); (4) subject themselves to fines between $50 and $1,000 for registration forms returned to the state after 48 hours; and (5) submit to new enforcement authority from the Florida attorney general.

These restrictions encumber even large and experienced organizations; immediately after HB1355 was passed, the League of Women Voters of Florida suspended its voter registration activities. But these restrictions fall heaviest on small organizations that conduct neighborhood voter registration, lack the capacity to abide by the state’s reporting requirements and tight deadlines, and could be virtually bankrupted under this penalty structure. Already, there are reports of public school teachers who may face huge fines under the new law—all for the supposed offense of helping students register to vote without following each minute requirement of the new law.

Fewer voter registration drives mean fewer voters. But cutting back on voter registration drives does not have the effect of limiting the political participation of all citizens equally. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau demonstrates that African American and Hispanic voters are more than twice as likely to register through voter registration drives as are white voters in Florida.

Democrats have also sought congressional investigations in order to address these laws. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.,requested congressional field hearings into the new laws, asking Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., to schedule them. Nelson also sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder requesting that the Justice Department launch an investigation into whether the “new state voting laws resulted from collusion or an orchestrated effort to limit voter turnout.”

Florida is currently waiting for a ruling on the most controversial aspects of H.B. 1355 from a court in the District of Columbia.

Photo: Flickr/hjl