I've been paying attention to a blog by Dr. Samantha Joye, a marine scientist who has been in the midst of evaluating water quality science in the Gulf at a time when vast quantities of oil have catastrophically impacted local economies and wilderness values. Dr. Joye, as a result of the catastrophe, has been propelled from the bench lab and research ship to the halls of Congress where she has provided expert testimony. The following notes were provided by an Eyeonmiami reader who attended a lecture by Dr. Joye at UGA yesterday:
This afternoon, I attended an hour presentation and Q/A session by UGA scientist, Dr. Joye, (that lasted 3 hours) about the research she and her colleagues have been conducting related to the BP "Blowout" (she does NOT believe that "spill" is an appropriate adjective).
She came directly from the WEEKLY press conference she has been hosting on the disaster.
In addition to her detailed scientific insights into the cause of the disaster and current, grossly inadequate efforts to control it, she confirmed that the newly passed law banning the public and media from ALL associated contamination sites also includes all researchers.
She also confirmed that the daily/nightly "burns" BP is conducting of all fossil fuels within boomed areas has NO agency oversight and includes all live animals in the area, such as sea turtles, marine mammals and birds.
She also confirmed that the lease process REQUIRES that if any malfunction occurs that results in the un-captured discharge of oil and gas, that the company is REQUIRED to complete a form DAILY to submit to the feds providing the amount of oil and gas that has discharged illegally.
Apparently they have to pay the US royalties on every barrel that discharges from the well(s).
BP had not submitted a SINGLE form for a SINGLE DAY to the feds. Dr. Joye brought this to the attention of key members of Congress who are intervening and requiring that the documents be completed and submitted. Of course the toxic dispersants BP are using make it impossible determine the true volume of discharge from the destroyed well and surrounding formation.
Wish I could enlighten you about everything else she covered. Unfortunately, the best I can do is to refer you to her blog site, which includes far less information than she provided this afternoon: http://gulfblog.uga.edu/
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
Marco Rubio, have you seen Pensacola Beach this morning? By Geniusofdespair
Pensacola beach at 9 am today. Wonder what the Anti-Crist, Drill-Baby-Drill Marco Rubio would say about this surf on one of the country's top beaches. He has been staying clear of Pensacola Beach for some reason.
Gregg Hall, the videographer, says that they are dumping rock pit sand on the pure white beach at Pensacola. There are dump trucks in this video. Are they taking sand away or covering up the mess? Gregg seems to think they are ADDING sand.
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
We Do Not Support Lynda Bell For District 8 County Commission Seat. By Geniusofdespair & Gimleteye
Lynda is the President of the Miami Chapter of Florida Right To Life, Inc. and she is a candidate for Katy Sorenson's Commission seat. As you can see in the press release above, when Lynda Bell was President of the entire Florida Right to Life, Inc. group she was advocating for judges friendly to her cause in a Feb. 5, 2009 press release, all the while she was Mayor of Homestead. That does not sit well with us.
FURTHER:
The Political Action Committee mentioned in the graphic above (from the Florida Right to Life website) was dissolved in 1982 yet they are still doing political activism (hit read more to see all the recent activity in Florida).
In this graphic from the Florida Right To Life website it says:
"When you vote pro-life you are not a "single-issue" voter, you just will not consider someone who is not qualified! Any candidate who says abortion should be kept legal disqualifies him/herself from public service."
It cuts both ways Lynda Bell: We feel that - in your case we will invoke the single issue as your group does - we say that "Any candidate who says abortion should NOT be kept legal disqualifies herself from public service."
Applying YOUR standards: We hereby disqualify you from consideration because you are "not qualified for public service".
Lynda Bell, you are NOT ENDORSED FOR DISTRICT 8 BY EYE ON MIAMI. We recommend that voters not vote for you.
What FRTL has been up to:
6/11/10 Charlie Crist Vetoes Bill to Opt Out of Health Care Abortion Funding, for Ultrasound
6/10/10 Florida Women Who Have Experienced Abortion Call on Gov. Crist to Sign HB 1143
6/10/10 Florida Right to Life Announces Legislator Awards
6/7/10 We need a STRONG FINAL PUSH OF SUPPORT for HB1143, Prohibition on Taxpayers Funding of Abortion & the Ultrasound before Abortion Bill
5/28/10 We will remember - Memorial Day 2010
5/25/10 Myth vs. Fact: The Truth about HB 1143 - PLEASE PRINT OUT AND SHARE
5/24/10 May 2010 Newsletter: Letter to Gov Crist from FRTL President, What will Charlie do?, Hello Baby - new iPad app
5/21/10 Countdown to the Convention! June 24, 25, & 26, 2010 in Pittsburgh!
5/10/10 National Right to Life Comments on Elena Kagan Nomination to Supreme Court
5/9/10 Thanks to all Moms for Life!
5/7/10 May 2010 Newsletter: Woman Killed For Refusing Abortion, Urge Gov. Crist to Sign HB 1143
5/6/10 Your call is needed today! Urge Governor Crist to Sign HB 1143. 80% of 6,300 Calls to Gov. Crist are asking for a VETO! PLEASE CALL NOW!
5/4/10 Urge Governor Crist to Sign HB 1143, Prohibition on Taxpayers Funding for Abortion and the Ultrasound Before Abortion Bill
4/28/10 ACTION ALERT: FRTL Needs Your Help to Pass Ultrasound in the House
4/7/10 April 2010 Newsletter: Abortion Stats
3/19/10 Unborn Child Bill Wins Senate Panel OK
3/15/10 House Democratic Leadership will force a vote on Health Reform this week. Pelosi says, "The fact is ... it's going to be the law of the land."
3/13/10 March 2010 Newsletter: FRTL Supports Pro-Life Bills filed in Florida's 2010 State Legislative Session, Pro-lifers Bring End to PP Funding, Website Highlights!
3/9/10 PLEASE ACT IMMEDIATELY ON THIS ALERT: Tell Lawmakers: Reject Obama's Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill!
3/5/10 The House vote on the Senate Health Bill IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT!
2/27/10 CODE RED ACTION ALERT! Obama's FORCEFUL Attempt to Push HIS Health Care Bill into Law - Expansive Abortion funding into Community Health Centers and LIMITS American's Opportunity to SPEND THEIR OWN MONEY to Improve the Chances of Saving Their OWN Family's Lives through Reconciliation Ploy!
2/2/10 February 2010 Newsletter: Celebrate Life Day, Tebow Super Bowl Ad, PP Director becomes pro-life, Over-Population Myth, Abortion: the ultimate abuse of women, ...
1/28/10 Florida Right to Life Cheers Tebow Ad to Air on CBS During Super Bowl
1/21/10 January 2010 Newsletter: March for Life Events in Florida and Tell Lawmakers to Reject Obama's Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill!
12/24/09 A Special Christmas Message For You
11/10/09 NRLC Responds to Obama Statement on Stupak-Pitts Amendment
11/6/09 URGENT: Call Congress again - "Rule" vote expected on Health Reform Bill today or tomorrow!
11/5/09 Condition Red! Call Congress Again! Vote Friday!
10/26/09 Pelosi wants to ram pro-abortion health care bill through the House! Call your representative ASAP!
10/13/09 October 2009 Newsletter: Health Reform MUST EXCLUDE ABORTION and Gonzalez Trial for Botched Abortion Case Begins
10/8/09 NRLC: White House Press Secretary's Remarks Show White House Still Engaged in Smuggling Operation for Government Funding of Abortion
9/30/09 URGENT - New Events In Congress Further Uncover Pro-Abortion Agenda In Health Care Bills
9/25/09 Member Notes: IRS to Imprison Those Who Can't Pay IRS fines for Not Complying With ObamaCare
9/23/09 40 Days for Life - Mission and Prayers
9/16/09 Life Chain Will Present Pro-Woman, Pro-Life Message to Millions in October
9/10/09 Sept 2009 Newsletter: Health Care Reform Action Alert and Tribute to Robert Schindler, Sr., father of Terri Schindler Schiavo
9/10/09 National Right to Life calls out President Obama for misleading remarks in joint session address
8/31/09 Member Notes: Florida Right to Life P.A.C. Endorses John Thrasher in Special Election
8/11/09 Member Notes: Florida Right to Life is proud to partner with 16 year old Lauren Eddy, who is working with Florida's youth to identify our pro-life students and to have their voices heard on life issues. The results of this petition will be sent to President Barack Obama and members of Congress.
8/10/09 August 2009 Newsletter: Adult Stem Cells become vision cells, Health Reform bills greatly expand abortion
8/5/09 AP confirms: Obama plan would allow abortion coverage
7/31/09 Member Notes: 2008 Abortion Statistics
7/13/09 July 2009 Newsletter: Fla Abortionist Loses Court Appeal, ACTION ALERT: Health Reform Bill Promotes Abortions Allowing Federal Funding Of Abortions
6/12/09 June 2009 Newsletter: MS Patients Benefit from ASC, Assisted Suicide Endangers All, FRTL`09 Oratory Winner
6/1/09 National Right To Life Condemns The Killing Of Dr. George Tiller
5/26/09 National Right to Life Responds To Sotomayor Nomination
5/22/09 May 2009 Newsletter: Baby Samuel 10 yrs later, Respect or Revulsion, NRLC Convention
5/7/09 National Right to Life Slams Obama White House for Urging Repeal of Ban on Tax-Funded Abortion-on-Demand in Nation's Capital
5/5/09 Please thank President Jeff Atwater and Speaker Larry Cretul for continuing to fund crisis pregnancy centers
4/24/09 April 2009 Newsletter: Florida Judge Refuses to Seal Evidence in Botched Abortion Case and NRLC 2009 Convention
4/22/09 FRTL Demands Obama End Torture Of Children in Florida
3/31/09 Pro-Cloning Advocates Preparing To Ram House Bill For Federal Funding Of Human Cloning And Human Embryo Farms
3/20/09 Florida Abortion-Ultrasound Bill, Red Envelope Project, National Right to Life Academy
3/11/09 Florida Gov Crist Criticized for Appointing Planned Parenthood-Backed Judge
3/9/09 Obama Order Opens Door to Widespread Killing of Embryonic Humans in Government-Funded Research
2/6/2009 Free-Fire Zone in Florida: Another Day, Another Live-Birth Killing by the Abortion Industry
2/6/2009 House Republican Legislators Call For Murder Charges In Tragic Abortion Case
2/5/2009_Help Needed Now on Appointment of New Florida Supreme Court Judge
1/28/09_Governor's veto helps CPC's
1/23/09 Obama Rescinds Reagan Mexico City Policy
1/22/2009_House Republicans Ask Obama To Withdraw Pledge to Sign FOCA
1/16/09 FOCA, March For Life, Tim Tebow, More ...
Marco Rubio US Senate bid washes up on Gulf Coast beaches ... by gimleteye
The Miami Herald picks up the theme I wrote, last week: Marco Rubio's bid to be the next US Senator from Florida is washing up on Gulf Coast beaches. The Herald puts its own reverse spin on the same story: "The oil spill in the Gulf tains whatever it touches -- except Gov. Charlie Crist's political fortunes."
Like G.O.D., I read radar scatter of anti-Crist bias in the Miami Herald. I don't imagine these things. For many years I read the Herald bias toward Big Sugar in its news reports. Sugar's litigation through the 1980's and 1990's fueled many downtown law firms and partners' vacations and college educations and braces. Sugar hired as public relations consultant, Joanna Wragg, the associate editor of the paper. (How many stories have you read in the Herald about the reversal and its consequences by a federal judge of the 2003 Jeb Bush initiative, widely reported in the Herald at the time, of his new law amending the Everglades Forever Act?) The pro-Rubio slant I attribute to the Greenberg Traurig wing of the Herald, whose lobbyists and affiliated clients obtained special access to the Herald during the building boom and afterwards, ties back to enormous mistakes supporting massive overdevelopment that none can acknowledge until the players have all faded from the scene, and institutional memory supplanted with new speculators.
Along this line, there is a detectible sense of sour grapes in the way the Gulf oil catastrophe has damaged the "drill here, drill now" fortunes of Rubio. Herald brass have always shown a strong deference to former governor Jeb Bush, along lines of the conservative right: that Jeb was good for Florida business when he was governor and he, not W., should have been president. They are now thinking: is Charlie Crist going to be Marco Rubio's Lawton Chiles. (Chiles spoiled Bush's first bid to be governor, in 1994.)
The broad brush strokes of Herald-world view Crist as shallow, vain, and changeable as the weather. Bush/Rubio is sober, business-like, and committed to conservative principles. I don't believe either characterization is true, but in any case I would take Charlie Crist as US Senate over a Bush proxy any day of the week. The conservative principles that Jeb! represented were at the center of a grand experiment for the nation where Florida was the guinea pig-- along the lines of the Karl Rove/Grover Norquist formula-- that failed spectacularly.
In this bill of particulars, the housing boom, bubble and implosion were manufactured by production homebuilders, lobbyists, and land speculators who needed and funded anti-regulatory zealots in high political office. The speculators were constituted from the lobbying corps of the builders trade associations. They supported Bush. Their miscalculations of risk manifest as gears in the machine powering the greatest shift of wealth in US economic history. You don't reward the team that drove the economy off the rails by awarding it a US Senate seat.
Charlie Crist may be many things, but he does not bear the stamp of responsibility for these grievous errors of judgment; scarcely reported, by the Miami Herald. (How far, for example, did the Allen Stanford ponzi scheme reach into the Jeb Bush governor's office?)
The Relative Costs of Monarchy: Support Amendment 4! ... by gimleteye
We have royalty in Florida. It is roughly defined by the economic elites who dominate local government and the state legislature tied to speculative real estate development. Let's imagine these elites are responsible for creating our budget deficit. So if the budget deficit for 2011 -- for the state-- is $1.3 billion, and the population of Florida is 18.5 million, then the cost of maintaining Florida's royalty is roughly $70 per person. According to a recent analysis, the costs per person in England of maintaining the British Royal House is $.95 per person, per year. Compared to us in Florida, the British are getting a bargain for their royalty. We pay too much!
Monday, July 05, 2010
Social Networking Challenged or Am I Challenged Overall? By Geniusofdespair
UPDATE: My twitter account is somehow updating with blog feed - the only problem - it is doing it twice. But I am happy just the same. Thanks Michael and Rick it worked.
I am at the point of overload with the social media stuff. I have to sign in and out from the blog accounts and my private accounts for YouTube, Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, Gmail and Yahoo every time I go on. I have so many passwords and names, I can't keep track of them all and forget about all the phony birth dates I have concocted. There is no hope of ever remembering them. I signed onto a lot of pages yesterday and now can't get back into them because I can't remember what I signed on with.
This weekend I was trying to put a feed from the blog onto the Facebook page and the Twitter page. Damn, nothing worked for me. Hopefully, Gimleteye will do it because I am giving up. I had two helpers with links -- Michael and Rick thank you -- but I just had to open more accounts at new sites that I can't even recall. My frustration level is at maximum.
Is all this necessary? Does anyone really read Twitter crap? Do any of our readers take their Facebook page seriously? I only go on to my page when I get a link to it in my email, otherwise it is a dead issue for me. I am still dealing with my IPhone and working on a MAC and a Dell at the same time, both with dozens of different programs with even more different commands. This is too much memory for this creaky brain. Am I alone or are you also technologically challenged?
I am at the point of overload with the social media stuff. I have to sign in and out from the blog accounts and my private accounts for YouTube, Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, Gmail and Yahoo every time I go on. I have so many passwords and names, I can't keep track of them all and forget about all the phony birth dates I have concocted. There is no hope of ever remembering them. I signed onto a lot of pages yesterday and now can't get back into them because I can't remember what I signed on with.
This weekend I was trying to put a feed from the blog onto the Facebook page and the Twitter page. Damn, nothing worked for me. Hopefully, Gimleteye will do it because I am giving up. I had two helpers with links -- Michael and Rick thank you -- but I just had to open more accounts at new sites that I can't even recall. My frustration level is at maximum.
Is all this necessary? Does anyone really read Twitter crap? Do any of our readers take their Facebook page seriously? I only go on to my page when I get a link to it in my email, otherwise it is a dead issue for me. I am still dealing with my IPhone and working on a MAC and a Dell at the same time, both with dozens of different programs with even more different commands. This is too much memory for this creaky brain. Am I alone or are you also technologically challenged?
No, on 4 campaign closely tied to developers, Republicans By Gimleteye
The following article by Dan Sweeney is from The Florida Independent, a new online news resource for Florida:
"To hear them tell it, the forces arrayed against Amendment 4 represent a broad coalition - Republicans and Democrats, environmentalists and developers, average citizens and the local governments that represent them. But an investigation of the staff and funding behind Citizens for Lower Taxes and a Stronger Economy, the main group opposing the amendment, reveals instead an organization so deeply tied to developers and the Republican Party that it simply cannot be extricated from those interests. (for rest of article, click 'read more')
Amendment 4, which would give citizens an up-or-down vote on changes to their local government’s comprehensive land use plan after those changes have been reviewed by the city or county commission, is universally opposed by developers in the state. It was originally to have been on the ballot in 2008.
“We were derailed by the Chamber [of Commerce] boys,” says Lesley Blackner, president of Florida Hometown Democracy. “Basically, they came up with a petition of their own, bought off all our petition collectors and paid a fortune for people to collect their petitions, and then dumped some 75,000 petitions on Jan. 2, 2008, knowing that on Dec. 31, the Division of Elections had directed all supervisors of elections around the state to validate petitions on a first-come-first-serve basis. So they dump all these petitions on the supervisors knowing that these would tie them up. They spent $6 or $7 million getting this off the ballot, and they say they’ll spend $15 million this time in the fall.”
Blackner, a lawyer by trade who has been trying to get the Hometown Democracy amendment on the ballot for more than six years, has been opposed by developers, and by extension the Republican Party, every step of the way. “If it’s true that the heart of our opposition is real estate developers, well, that’s the heart of the Republican Party in Florida,” Blackner says. “We’ve been opposed by John Thrasher, who ran a revocation effort against us and lied through his teeth saying it was developers who were behind the Hometown Democracy amendment.”
“The funding source of the Florida Republican Party is real estate, and they are very threatened by Hometown Democracy,” Blackner continues. “A Mason-Dixon poll taken last month showed that a majority of Republicans actually support Hometown Democracy. So the leadership is against Hometown Democracy, but not the rank and file. Once again, the elite are at odds with the people.”
The poll Blackner cites was conducted at the beginning of May, and showed that 61 percent of Floridians, including 54 percent of Republicans, supported Amendment 4. To pass, the amendment needs the approval of 60 percent of voters this November.
Even Ryan Houck, the executive director of the organization spearheading the opposition to Amendment 4, Citizens for Lower Taxes and a Stronger Economy, concedes the numbers in that recent poll. But he does not concede that it means the people are on Blackner’s side. “Colorado and Arizona both defeated measures like Amendment 4 in 2000,” he says. “They started with 80 percent support and ended with 70 percent opposition. … What remains ahead of us is a very long, very robust education campaign. With very few exceptions, those on the right, the left and anywhere else have opposed this amendment.”
Several anti-Amendment 4 organizations have cited a fundraising target of $15 million in newsletters to their memberships, including the Florida chapter of the Certified Commercial Investors Membership Institute and the Florida Chamber of Commerce.
That a majority of Republicans support the amendment leaves one wondering: Who exactly is Citizens for Lower Taxes and a Stronger Economy fighting for? As Houck explains, the organization is essentially a rebranding of Floridians for Smarter Growth, which led the fight against Amendment 4 in 2008, and of which Houck was also the executive director. That organization, in turn, was established by the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the like-minded business group Associated Industries of Florida. Then-lobbyist and current state Sen. and Republican Party of Florida chair John Thrasher lobbied for AIF, and thus Citizens’ predecessor Floridians for Smarter Growth, to kill the Hometown Democracy Amendment in 2008.
But the Citizens group maintains that its mission is of interest to all. “We don’t view this as a partisan issue,” says Houck, himself a former staffer for Republican Sen. Mel Martinez. “Take a look at our board of directors. Our president is the president of the Chamber of Commerce. But it also includes South Bay Mayor Clarence Anthony, a Democrat.”
But Houck doesn’t mention the job Anthony took upon leaving political office in 2008 — executive vice president and chief marketing officer of PBSJ, one of the largest developers in the state. The mirage of broad support plays itself out throughout Citizens’ endorsement list. For example, the environmental groups 1000 Friends of Florida (sponsored by, among others, the massive land-development company St. Joe) and the Florida Forestry Association (whose website discusses wood pulp and lumber as much as it does forest conservation) are highly touted. In all, the website lists more than 300 groups, nearly all of them city governments, chambers of commerce, developers, contractors and realtor associations.
Along with those endorsements, Citizens’ website, florida2010.org, also shows some downright scary numbers, including an estimate that the amendment would cause the loss of 267,000 jobs. This number, and the other job-killing evidence cited by Houck’s organization, come from a study by the Washington Economics Group, a consulting group that promises to “meet client objectives … through customized economic and business consulting services for corporations and institutions based in Florida and in the global economy.” The client in this case, the entity that paid for the study, was the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the same business group behind Citizens for Lower Taxes and a Stronger Economy, a fact even Houck acknowledges. Houck calls the WEG experts in their field. Blackner calls them “bought-and-paid-for hacks.”
And so it goes, down Citizens’ website, all the way down to the address at the bottom, which is that of campaign treasurer Nancy Watkins, who has been a go-to financial consultant for Florida Republicans for about a quarter of a century. She served first as a campaign treasurer for Connie Mack and then for dozens of Republican campaigns and PACs, including the Connie and Prescilla Mack Foundation and state Sen. Jeff Atwater’s Preserve the American Dream PAC.
The American Issues Project, a group funded by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth money man Harold Simmons, which ran anti-Obama ads in 2008 with murky claims about Obama’s ties to Bill Ayers, also lists Watkins’ Tampa address. “The breadth of opposition saying we need to stop Amendment 4 to save Florida’s economy is like almost no other issue I’ve seen,” Houck says. But upon closer inspection, No on 4 Democrats are developers, No on 4 environmental groups are greenwashes and No on 4 studies are produced by the very groups opposing the amendment."
"To hear them tell it, the forces arrayed against Amendment 4 represent a broad coalition - Republicans and Democrats, environmentalists and developers, average citizens and the local governments that represent them. But an investigation of the staff and funding behind Citizens for Lower Taxes and a Stronger Economy, the main group opposing the amendment, reveals instead an organization so deeply tied to developers and the Republican Party that it simply cannot be extricated from those interests. (for rest of article, click 'read more')
Amendment 4, which would give citizens an up-or-down vote on changes to their local government’s comprehensive land use plan after those changes have been reviewed by the city or county commission, is universally opposed by developers in the state. It was originally to have been on the ballot in 2008.
“We were derailed by the Chamber [of Commerce] boys,” says Lesley Blackner, president of Florida Hometown Democracy. “Basically, they came up with a petition of their own, bought off all our petition collectors and paid a fortune for people to collect their petitions, and then dumped some 75,000 petitions on Jan. 2, 2008, knowing that on Dec. 31, the Division of Elections had directed all supervisors of elections around the state to validate petitions on a first-come-first-serve basis. So they dump all these petitions on the supervisors knowing that these would tie them up. They spent $6 or $7 million getting this off the ballot, and they say they’ll spend $15 million this time in the fall.”
Blackner, a lawyer by trade who has been trying to get the Hometown Democracy amendment on the ballot for more than six years, has been opposed by developers, and by extension the Republican Party, every step of the way. “If it’s true that the heart of our opposition is real estate developers, well, that’s the heart of the Republican Party in Florida,” Blackner says. “We’ve been opposed by John Thrasher, who ran a revocation effort against us and lied through his teeth saying it was developers who were behind the Hometown Democracy amendment.”
“The funding source of the Florida Republican Party is real estate, and they are very threatened by Hometown Democracy,” Blackner continues. “A Mason-Dixon poll taken last month showed that a majority of Republicans actually support Hometown Democracy. So the leadership is against Hometown Democracy, but not the rank and file. Once again, the elite are at odds with the people.”
The poll Blackner cites was conducted at the beginning of May, and showed that 61 percent of Floridians, including 54 percent of Republicans, supported Amendment 4. To pass, the amendment needs the approval of 60 percent of voters this November.
Even Ryan Houck, the executive director of the organization spearheading the opposition to Amendment 4, Citizens for Lower Taxes and a Stronger Economy, concedes the numbers in that recent poll. But he does not concede that it means the people are on Blackner’s side. “Colorado and Arizona both defeated measures like Amendment 4 in 2000,” he says. “They started with 80 percent support and ended with 70 percent opposition. … What remains ahead of us is a very long, very robust education campaign. With very few exceptions, those on the right, the left and anywhere else have opposed this amendment.”
Several anti-Amendment 4 organizations have cited a fundraising target of $15 million in newsletters to their memberships, including the Florida chapter of the Certified Commercial Investors Membership Institute and the Florida Chamber of Commerce.
That a majority of Republicans support the amendment leaves one wondering: Who exactly is Citizens for Lower Taxes and a Stronger Economy fighting for? As Houck explains, the organization is essentially a rebranding of Floridians for Smarter Growth, which led the fight against Amendment 4 in 2008, and of which Houck was also the executive director. That organization, in turn, was established by the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the like-minded business group Associated Industries of Florida. Then-lobbyist and current state Sen. and Republican Party of Florida chair John Thrasher lobbied for AIF, and thus Citizens’ predecessor Floridians for Smarter Growth, to kill the Hometown Democracy Amendment in 2008.
But the Citizens group maintains that its mission is of interest to all. “We don’t view this as a partisan issue,” says Houck, himself a former staffer for Republican Sen. Mel Martinez. “Take a look at our board of directors. Our president is the president of the Chamber of Commerce. But it also includes South Bay Mayor Clarence Anthony, a Democrat.”
But Houck doesn’t mention the job Anthony took upon leaving political office in 2008 — executive vice president and chief marketing officer of PBSJ, one of the largest developers in the state. The mirage of broad support plays itself out throughout Citizens’ endorsement list. For example, the environmental groups 1000 Friends of Florida (sponsored by, among others, the massive land-development company St. Joe) and the Florida Forestry Association (whose website discusses wood pulp and lumber as much as it does forest conservation) are highly touted. In all, the website lists more than 300 groups, nearly all of them city governments, chambers of commerce, developers, contractors and realtor associations.
Along with those endorsements, Citizens’ website, florida2010.org, also shows some downright scary numbers, including an estimate that the amendment would cause the loss of 267,000 jobs. This number, and the other job-killing evidence cited by Houck’s organization, come from a study by the Washington Economics Group, a consulting group that promises to “meet client objectives … through customized economic and business consulting services for corporations and institutions based in Florida and in the global economy.” The client in this case, the entity that paid for the study, was the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the same business group behind Citizens for Lower Taxes and a Stronger Economy, a fact even Houck acknowledges. Houck calls the WEG experts in their field. Blackner calls them “bought-and-paid-for hacks.”
And so it goes, down Citizens’ website, all the way down to the address at the bottom, which is that of campaign treasurer Nancy Watkins, who has been a go-to financial consultant for Florida Republicans for about a quarter of a century. She served first as a campaign treasurer for Connie Mack and then for dozens of Republican campaigns and PACs, including the Connie and Prescilla Mack Foundation and state Sen. Jeff Atwater’s Preserve the American Dream PAC.
The American Issues Project, a group funded by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth money man Harold Simmons, which ran anti-Obama ads in 2008 with murky claims about Obama’s ties to Bill Ayers, also lists Watkins’ Tampa address. “The breadth of opposition saying we need to stop Amendment 4 to save Florida’s economy is like almost no other issue I’ve seen,” Houck says. But upon closer inspection, No on 4 Democrats are developers, No on 4 environmental groups are greenwashes and No on 4 studies are produced by the very groups opposing the amendment."
Sunday, July 04, 2010
The New Dead Sea, this Fourth of July ... by gimleteye
In the New Dead Sea, no one is punished and lying is mandatory behavior. I would much rather read the story of oil executives and lobbyists being dragged behind skimmer ships in harnesses through the oil slicks gathered in the Gulf of Mexico than "gee, here is a glimmer of hope" in a 1000 foot tanker that will not make a dent in the Gulf yet makes headlines because there is no good news to report. No one notes the calamity of a ship converted to an oil skimmer because it is more profitable to clean water than transport what contaminated it.
That dissonance is multiplying within the national psyche, and the pollsters know it. Americans are battered by three years of recession and nine years of war. You only have to drag your heel through the sand to find on a layer underneath the tar streaks of persistent malaise. In Florida, chatter about a double-dip recession controversy is drowned out by a steady drip. There is a growing sense and an accurate one, that nothing we do is going to make a difference to Gulf coast tourism economies and coastal communities fortified by commercial fisheries. One oil well blowout, five thousand feet under the surface of the Gulf, and it is all gone. This news will take a years to unfold, because even though it is logical that few tourists and no fish will populate places gone toxic, many people will just have to see it with their own eyes.
This lack of resolve and absence of wisdom is a national disease our forefathers would not have recognized. They were readers and thinkers who didn't have a 24/7 news cycle slathering themselves like oil. Today's lawyers and jurists, by contrast, are like alchemists in a tizzy, preoccupied with mixing formulas based on arcane ingredients and potions and arguing their efficacy relative to precedent and the laws of the land, as though they could recreate the taste and visionaries of 18th century Virginia. Then, too, the complexities of a post-industrial, global economy are fundamentally different influences than those propelling from the Declaration of Independence to the US Constitution. We are hard-wired to get through to the next day, free, never mind threats in the future. Beyond the New Dead Sea, we cannot agree on a direction for the economy or the environment to be more than the work product of a 15th century cartographer from Spain. It should make you wonder, this Fourth of July.
Meet Gregg from Pensacola. by Geniusofdespair
This was taken this morning of Gregg Hall by another videographer. I feel like I know Gregg as I have watched almost all of his daily videos of the Gulf spill on Pensecola Beach. He almost always starts out with: "Okay guys"...and then the awful report follows.
Saturday, July 03, 2010
Will County Commissioner Carlos Gimenez be Running for Mayor in 2012? By Geniusofdespair
First Carlos, you need better photos on your website if you are looking to run, check out Rebeca Sosa's album (readers: see blog below). I couldn't find any interesting new photos in Gimenez's album.Commissioner Gimenez is getting positive press (not just feel-good) for instance for the plan he facilitated for the Causeway, featured in the Miami Herald today, "Miami-Dade has come up with a comprehensive plan to make the Rickenbacker Causeway safer for cyclists and pedestrians":
The thousands of cyclists, runners and pedestrians who uneasily share the Rickenbacker Causeway with fast-moving automobiles could enjoy a significantly improved margin of safety under a proposed $4.5 million plan designed to calm speeding traffic along the roadway.
The plan would set aside 25 cents from each Rickenbacker toll over the next five years to pay for widening and creating better on-road bike lanes while narrowing car lanes, installing electronic speeding warning signs, and creating a new shared bike and pedestrian path along the north side of Virginia Key, among other contemplated improvements. And:
Miami-Dade Commissioner Carlos Gimenez, who sponsored the plan, said it responds to an increasing call for safety measures given the gradual transformation of the Rickenbacker -- which connects mainland Miami to Virginia Key and Key Biscayne -- from a conduit for cars into one of the county's premier recreational areas.
Will Rebeca Sosa be running for Mayor in 2012? By Geniusofdespair
I think County Commissioner Rebeca Sosa will be running, I have been reading a lot of feel-good stuff she is doing. One new thing she would bring to the Mayor's office is her penchant for bright colors and bold prints. I am getting tired of seeing guayaberas and suits. Another positive, she is not one of the hated unreformable majority. Who is she? Here is some info from her website, besides the County Commission stuff:Commissioner Sosa graduated summa cum laude from Biscayne College, now Saint Thomas University, with a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education; and from the University of Puerto Rico, with a bachelor's degree in Secondary Education. She is both a certified elementary education teacher and an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) instructor. She has been an educator for more than 23 years and is currently a teacher-trainer for Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
Born in Camaguey, Cuba, Commissioner Sosa has been happily married to her husband, Armando for the past 30 years, and is the proud mother of Armando, Jr. (wife Janice) and Veronica and grandson Alexander.
Prior to joining Miami-Dade County, Commissioner Sosa served as mayor of the City of West Miami for seven years where her leadership resulted in the city's recovery from a 52% budget deficit, thus removing it from the State Governor's Emergency list. During her tenure, she was able to secure more than $5 million in grants for capital improvement projects for the City as well as improving its drainage and parks systems. Her civic activities include: serving as the first vice president of the Miami-Dade League of Cities, Chairing the West Miami Financial and Budget Committee, the Miami-Dade Coalition for Community Education Committee, and the West Miami Hurricane Preparedness Committee. In addition, she has been a member of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools Bilingual Task Force, the Governor's Commission for the Everglades Restoration, the Revision Committee for the Miami-Dade County Executive Mayor Form of Government, the Legislative Committee of the Miami-Dade County Public School System, the Hispanic Women Chamber of Commerce, Hands in Action, Women in Government (WIG), Anti-Graffiti Task Force, and the National Association of Latino Elected Officials.
Friday, July 02, 2010
Reverse Incorporation in Miami-Dade's future? ... by gimleteye
The article begins, "Tiny Maywood, CA laid off every single one of its city employees on Wednesday." It is an interesting article on two key points in context of the drive to incorporations in Miami-Dade. For nearly fifteen years, areas of unincorporated Miami-Dade have made a point of carving out political identities-- mostly in response to the size of Miami-Dade county government and the inability of county bureaucrats to be responsive to neighborhood scale needs. Whether the results of incorporation are good or bad for citizens and taxpayers (often, incorporations have been used by developers and insiders to lay claim to local zoning and permitting preferences, especially in rural and semi-rural areas like the Redland near the Everglades), what incorporations inevitably do is create fiefdoms for political insiders including unions representing the employees of the newly incorporated. In Maywood, this can be teased out: as local revenues came under stress from falling real estate markets, members of the police union began filing workers' compensation claims that were, for one reason or another, deemed so spurious by the insurance carrier that the city could no longer obtain or afford liability coverage.
In Florida budgets everywhere are under the same kinds of severe stress from collapsed housing markets. The boom in housing and construction was championed by lobbyists and speculators as "paying its own way". It didn't. The costs of government soared. Now that governments have to cut back employment, unions who may not be able to save member jobs may be turning a blind eye-- or even encouraging tacitly--some to fraudulently drop off into covered insurance claims. In Maywood, it is notable that most if not all employees were "outsourced" or shifted to employment within a larger governmental entity.
Government can become a shape shifter like humans who morph into animals scurrying through the woods in the HBO vampire series,"Trueblood", but it never goes away. I'm curious if insurance claim abuses within government and service unions are going on in Miami-Dade County as a way to keep members' income though jobs are "cut". Given that fraud is just a nephew or uncle or aunt away within Miami's economy and culture, it wouldn't surprise me a bit to learn that what is good for Maywood's union members is also good for their Miami relatives. (click 'more' to read the Maywood story)
Maywood, California, lays off all employees
Tami Luhby, senior writer, On Thursday July 1, 2010, 8:00 am EDT
Tiny Maywood, Calif., laid off every single one of its city employees on Wednesday.
CNNMoney.com
But that doesn't mean the city is closing up shop. City Hall will still be open, as will Maywood's park and recreation center. Police will continue to patrol the streets.
They just won't be staffed by Maywood employees. The city can't have any staff because it can't get liability or worker's compensation insurance for them. Maywood's carrier, the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority, dropped it earlier this month in part because of several police-related claims.
Instead of declaring bankruptcy, Maywood officials decided to outsource all city functions. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department will patrol the streets, while the neighboring city of Bell will cover other city functions, such as staffing City Hall.
Maywood already relies on contract workers and outsources many city services. The director of parks and recreation, for instance, is a contractor, and the city's lights, landscaping and street sweeping are handled by private companies. Los Angeles County maintains the library and fire department.
Some of Maywood's 96 employees -- which include 41 police officers -- will also continue as contract workers. Elected officials, such as the city council and the city clerk, will remain on the job in the 1.5-square-mile municipality, which has about 45,000 residents.
"Odds are residents will see the same faces as in years past, just under a different administrative process," said Magdalena Prado, the city's community relations director, who is a contract worker and is keeping her post.
Maywood is billing itself as the first American city to outsource all of its city services. In an odd twist, officials say it can provide even better services because the shift will help it save money and close a $450,000 shortfall in its $10 million general fund budget.
For instance, the contract with the sheriff's department costs about half of the more than $7 million spent annually to maintain the Maywood police department, Prado said. And patrols will be increased.
"Our community will continue to receive quality services," Mayor Ana Rosa Riso said in a statement. "Maywood's streets will continue to be swept, our summer park programs will continue to operate and our waste will be collected and hauled as scheduled."
Stressed cities
A growing number of cities are looking to contract out or share services regionally as the economic downturn takes its toll on municipal budgets.
"Everything is on the table," said Chris Hoene, research director at the National League of Cities. "The fiscal stress cities are feeling mean they are looking for alternative options to deliver services that cost less money."
Some 7 in 10 city officials said they are cutting personnel to balances their budgets, while another 68% are holding off on capital projects, according to a survey the league did in May. More than half of respondents say they will make to further slash city services next year if taxes or fees are not raised.
Not everyone is distressed by Maywood's unusual plan for providing city services. While Jesus Padilla feels sorry for the workers being affected, he thinks things might improve. He's made lots of calls to the county sheriff's department when he worked as a security guard and said officers always responded promptly.
"The council made the best decision it could," said Padilla, a local activist who has lived in Maywood for more than 30 years. "It's going to be good for the city and the citizens."
In Florida budgets everywhere are under the same kinds of severe stress from collapsed housing markets. The boom in housing and construction was championed by lobbyists and speculators as "paying its own way". It didn't. The costs of government soared. Now that governments have to cut back employment, unions who may not be able to save member jobs may be turning a blind eye-- or even encouraging tacitly--some to fraudulently drop off into covered insurance claims. In Maywood, it is notable that most if not all employees were "outsourced" or shifted to employment within a larger governmental entity.
Government can become a shape shifter like humans who morph into animals scurrying through the woods in the HBO vampire series,"Trueblood", but it never goes away. I'm curious if insurance claim abuses within government and service unions are going on in Miami-Dade County as a way to keep members' income though jobs are "cut". Given that fraud is just a nephew or uncle or aunt away within Miami's economy and culture, it wouldn't surprise me a bit to learn that what is good for Maywood's union members is also good for their Miami relatives. (click 'more' to read the Maywood story)
Maywood, California, lays off all employees
Tami Luhby, senior writer, On Thursday July 1, 2010, 8:00 am EDT
Tiny Maywood, Calif., laid off every single one of its city employees on Wednesday.
CNNMoney.com
But that doesn't mean the city is closing up shop. City Hall will still be open, as will Maywood's park and recreation center. Police will continue to patrol the streets.
They just won't be staffed by Maywood employees. The city can't have any staff because it can't get liability or worker's compensation insurance for them. Maywood's carrier, the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority, dropped it earlier this month in part because of several police-related claims.
Instead of declaring bankruptcy, Maywood officials decided to outsource all city functions. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department will patrol the streets, while the neighboring city of Bell will cover other city functions, such as staffing City Hall.
Maywood already relies on contract workers and outsources many city services. The director of parks and recreation, for instance, is a contractor, and the city's lights, landscaping and street sweeping are handled by private companies. Los Angeles County maintains the library and fire department.
Some of Maywood's 96 employees -- which include 41 police officers -- will also continue as contract workers. Elected officials, such as the city council and the city clerk, will remain on the job in the 1.5-square-mile municipality, which has about 45,000 residents.
"Odds are residents will see the same faces as in years past, just under a different administrative process," said Magdalena Prado, the city's community relations director, who is a contract worker and is keeping her post.
Maywood is billing itself as the first American city to outsource all of its city services. In an odd twist, officials say it can provide even better services because the shift will help it save money and close a $450,000 shortfall in its $10 million general fund budget.
For instance, the contract with the sheriff's department costs about half of the more than $7 million spent annually to maintain the Maywood police department, Prado said. And patrols will be increased.
"Our community will continue to receive quality services," Mayor Ana Rosa Riso said in a statement. "Maywood's streets will continue to be swept, our summer park programs will continue to operate and our waste will be collected and hauled as scheduled."
Stressed cities
A growing number of cities are looking to contract out or share services regionally as the economic downturn takes its toll on municipal budgets.
"Everything is on the table," said Chris Hoene, research director at the National League of Cities. "The fiscal stress cities are feeling mean they are looking for alternative options to deliver services that cost less money."
Some 7 in 10 city officials said they are cutting personnel to balances their budgets, while another 68% are holding off on capital projects, according to a survey the league did in May. More than half of respondents say they will make to further slash city services next year if taxes or fees are not raised.
Not everyone is distressed by Maywood's unusual plan for providing city services. While Jesus Padilla feels sorry for the workers being affected, he thinks things might improve. He's made lots of calls to the county sheriff's department when he worked as a security guard and said officers always responded promptly.
"The council made the best decision it could," said Padilla, a local activist who has lived in Maywood for more than 30 years. "It's going to be good for the city and the citizens."
District 8 Candidate: Is this scissors worthy? By Geniusofdespair
To find a pair of scissors in my house is a chore. I decided this collage-photo wasn't worth the trouble but I figured it was still worth noting that, District 8 candidate, Obdulio Piedra likes his lunch with the Latin Builder's Association. Here is a link video of him talking at a candidates forum hosted by the Christian Coalition of South Florida. Candidate Lynda Bell, of course, was also there.
Meanwhile back at the District 8 ranch Annette Taddeo is raking in endorsements:
AFL-CIO, SEIU, UTD, United Faculty of Miami Dade College and Equality Florida.
President of the South Florida AFL CIO, Fred Frost is almost always on the wrong side of my issues. Speaking of wrong side, rumor has that Annette Taddeo and Eugene Flinn were co-endorsed by the Builders Association of South Florida. Hmmm. Wonder why they didn't endorse Piedra. This District 8 election has my head spinning. Here is what I think:
Steve Marin is running the Taddeo campaign-usual, working on endorsements from business and labor. I think that Katy, when she had Marin run her campaign, called the shots. I see Marin as calling the shots with Taddeo's campaign as these endorsements are not particularly helpful to her. In fact, they are turning me off to her, and if the rumor is true about the BASF, to Gene.
The labor endorsements translate to supporting beneficial contracts for unions to most people which translates in the voter's mind to his/her tax dollars. How do these union endorsements help the voters decide, unless the voter is in the union? Marin also trumped up Taddeo's Chamber of Commerce ties early in the campaign which I also though was a miss-step for this particular district. But, what do I know. If I were Taddeo I would take a firmer hand in the campaign. Katy-Lite is not going to do it.
I am still undecided, but damn these candidates are stepping in the mud in my view. There are things I don't like about every single one of them. So, in the end, I will have to weigh all the good and all the bad to make a choice. And, I am strongly pro-choice.
One last thing, I don't think having some developers on a campaign report (they will be coming out soon) is shocking. You need money to run a campaign and that is a reality. Taking their money is okay. Listening to them is the problem. In a campaign report you have to weigh the whole report and see which particular developers are on there. Some are worse than others - and some are actually okay. For example if I saw Brown on a report (especially with multiple donations which I see as a very bad sign) I would be very disappointed. If I saw a developer like Pinnacle, I wouldn't care.
And, finally, this is not a post about Albert. Anytime I mention District 8 that seems to be where you all go. DON'T! I look forward to hearing your insightful comments on this election -- about who you support and why -- I don't look forward to endless candidate bashing.
Did you all know this was the warmest month (June) in South Florida that was ever recorded?
Thursday, July 01, 2010
In Florida, police and FBI piled into mortgage fraud ... by gimleteye
There is an idea, afield, that the US economy faces no risk of a "double dip recession". But if you live in South Florida with an economy tied to real estate speculation like chain to an anchor, the idea of a "double dip" threatening from some kind of recovery seems conjured from a voodoo priest. Despite interest rates dragging along the bottom of historic trends, there has been no recovery in Miami real estate markets, unless measured by vulture investors. The recent Case Shiller index showed that in the last quarter Miami was the only city, except for New York, that failed to show any positive upswing in housing values. But that is not news, here.
What is news is that "a network of Broward County attorneys, law enforcement officers and mortgage brokers" has been indicted by federal prosectors for participating in a $16.5 million scam involving 38 condos and homes in South Florida from 2004 to 2007. (The final paragraph of The Miami Herald report notes that the attorney responsible for the closings is well-known in prominent Republican fundraising circles.) The indicted include a FBI officer. The report reminds of a 2009 Palm Beach Post report of a $41 million mortgage fraud in a wealthy Palm Beach enclave by "investors" from one of the poorest cities in Florida, Opalacka: "Cosmetologist, barber, dental technician, seniors: A cluster of 25 South Florida buyers living within 15 miles of Opa-Locka all picked up millions of dollars in loans, drove 60 miles north, bought a slice of ornate paradise in Versailles, and then defaulted." ("Cluster of buyers from Opa-Locka spike foreclosures of million-dollar mansions in Wellington gated community", Sept 26, 2009, Palm Beach Post)
The "all-in" nature of the housing asset bubble accounts for the miserable difficulty of extracting the economy from the Great Recession (that New York Times journalist Paul Krugman is calling, the Third Depression). How else to interpret what is likely to happen to the economy, except through the failed expectations of the recent past? The top of the real estate market was 2005, and yet the alleged fraudsters in today's report continued for another two years. Indeed, the prevailing notion for the most recent two years-- since the stock market collapse-- is that the economy will return to the "normal" of that was expected in 2005, when even speculators from law enforcement backgrounds believed that fudging documents to qualify for more loans was no greater error of judgment than playing a few more hands at the blackjack table.
Bloomberg reports on the recent Case Shiller analysis: "... Case said, home building, which has driven the economy during past economic expansions, “is dead flat in the mud.” Housing starts have been at 15-year lows for the past 18 months, and vacancy rates are increasing, he said. “The unwritten story here is what’s going on with household formations and the pattern of them,” the Wellesley College economics professor said today in an interview with Tom Keene on Bloomberg Surveillance. “The census is telling us that households are being formed, but they don’t seem to be showing up.” Case attributed this disconnect to fewer immigrants and more emigrants, as well as the “doubling-up phenomenon” where more people choose to live together or reside with their parents."
Fictions piled on fictions. Incredible.
Posted on Wed, Jun. 30, 2010
Feds: Mortgage fraud ring included cops
BY JAY WEAVER, JAMES H. BURNETT III AND AMY SHERMAN
jweaver@MiamiHerald.com
A network of Broward County attorneys, law enforcement officers and mortgage brokers are accused of falsifying a slew of documents to obtain $16.5 million in loans that they used to buy and flip properties during the real estate boom, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday.
Federal prosecutors said the Broward-based group was organized by ex-Plantation police officer Joseph Guaracino, who recruited five other current and former cops in that city as well as a Lauderhill officer and an FBI agent. They allegedly posed as "straw'' buyers who pledged to buy and live in 38 condos and homes in Broward and Palm Beach counties.
The defendants, arrested Wednesday, are accused of conspiring to submit false income records, job descriptions, bank statements and loan applications to dupe lenders in South Florida and elsewhere from 2004 to 2007.
But their real goal -- disguised by the false paperwork -- was to rent the properties and then sell them, thereby "realizing substantial profit,'' according to the indictment.
Without working together as "straw'' buyers looking for primary residences, the individuals would never have been able to quality for so many mortgages and generate handsome profits, the indictment says. Some of the profits were used to purchase even more homes.
The real estate closings were handled by prominent Fort Lauderdale attorney Steven Stoll, who owned a title company, and Boca Raton lawyer Stephen Orchard, who worked with Stoll. The title attorneys falsely represented to the mortgage lenders the source of the down payments from borrowers needed to close the transactions, according to the indictment returned Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Fort Lauderdale.
Stoll's attorney Robert Nicholson on Wednesday defended his client, saying, ``Steve Stoll is very disappointed the government has decided to ignore the substantial evidence of his innocence.''
Two other mortgage brokers and a processor who worked for Stoll were also charged.
Although the law enforcement officers didn't use their positions to carry out the alleged mortgage scheme, their case stands out amid a recent flurry of federal loan fraud prosecutions because it involves eight current and former law enforcement officers. The 13 defendants named in the indictment will have their first appearances in federal court Thursday.
`BETRAYED'
``This indictment charges a group of individuals who conspired to enrich themselves by committing mortgage fraud,'' said U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer. ``It includes a number of professionals who betrayed their profession for greed, and in the process, undermined the integrity of the mortgage marketplace on which we all rely.''
Among others named in the indictment: Joseph Guaracino's brother, Dennis Guaracino Jr., and John Velez, both former Plantation police officers. Velez, a former SWAT team and Street Crimes Unit member, was named Plantation Police Department officer of the year in December 2004.
Also charged: current Plantation officers Daryl Radziwon, Casey Mittauer and Joseph DeRosa, along with Lauderhill officer Joseph LaGrasta.
FBI agent Robert DePriest, of Plantation, was also arrested. An FBI spokeswoman declined to comment.
In a statement, the Plantation Police Department said that in June 2007 it became aware that several of its officers were possibly involved in mortgage fraud and requested the assistance of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate.
FDLE, along with the U.S. attorney's office, notified the department in January that three of its officers were targets of a probe. They were immediately placed on administrative leave with pay. On Wednesday, their status was changed to unpaid leave.
One of the officers, Mittauer, used to be a volunteer assistant baseball pitching coach at Dade Christian School, his alma mater.
Lauderhill Police said Wednesday that LaGrasta was placed on paid administrative leave, but declined further comment.
The two mortgage brokers charged in the indictment were Matthew Gulla and Rene Rodriguez Jr.
Jacqueline Trumbore, who worked for Stoll's company, TurnKey Title Corp., was also named in the indictment. She handled real estate closings and later became another straw buyer in the alleged real estate scam, the charges state.
WELL-KNOWN
Steven Stoll and wife Rebecca are well known in Republican and philanthropic circles in Broward.
Stoll let Republican activists use his mortgage company office to phone bank for Republican candidates, and the Stolls sometimes attended fundraisers, said Bob Wolfe, a Broward Republican activist.
Stoll was one of the lawyers who fought with Broward's canvassing board about the 2000 presidential recount.
He has given to a handful of federal Republican candidates since 2000 -- including $4,800 to Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running for U.S. Senate.
© 2010 Miami Herald Media Company. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.miamiherald.com
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/06/30/v-print/1709699/feds-mortgage-fraud-ring-included.html#ixzz0sQPODtBq
What is news is that "a network of Broward County attorneys, law enforcement officers and mortgage brokers" has been indicted by federal prosectors for participating in a $16.5 million scam involving 38 condos and homes in South Florida from 2004 to 2007. (The final paragraph of The Miami Herald report notes that the attorney responsible for the closings is well-known in prominent Republican fundraising circles.) The indicted include a FBI officer. The report reminds of a 2009 Palm Beach Post report of a $41 million mortgage fraud in a wealthy Palm Beach enclave by "investors" from one of the poorest cities in Florida, Opalacka: "Cosmetologist, barber, dental technician, seniors: A cluster of 25 South Florida buyers living within 15 miles of Opa-Locka all picked up millions of dollars in loans, drove 60 miles north, bought a slice of ornate paradise in Versailles, and then defaulted." ("Cluster of buyers from Opa-Locka spike foreclosures of million-dollar mansions in Wellington gated community", Sept 26, 2009, Palm Beach Post)
The "all-in" nature of the housing asset bubble accounts for the miserable difficulty of extracting the economy from the Great Recession (that New York Times journalist Paul Krugman is calling, the Third Depression). How else to interpret what is likely to happen to the economy, except through the failed expectations of the recent past? The top of the real estate market was 2005, and yet the alleged fraudsters in today's report continued for another two years. Indeed, the prevailing notion for the most recent two years-- since the stock market collapse-- is that the economy will return to the "normal" of that was expected in 2005, when even speculators from law enforcement backgrounds believed that fudging documents to qualify for more loans was no greater error of judgment than playing a few more hands at the blackjack table.
Bloomberg reports on the recent Case Shiller analysis: "... Case said, home building, which has driven the economy during past economic expansions, “is dead flat in the mud.” Housing starts have been at 15-year lows for the past 18 months, and vacancy rates are increasing, he said. “The unwritten story here is what’s going on with household formations and the pattern of them,” the Wellesley College economics professor said today in an interview with Tom Keene on Bloomberg Surveillance. “The census is telling us that households are being formed, but they don’t seem to be showing up.” Case attributed this disconnect to fewer immigrants and more emigrants, as well as the “doubling-up phenomenon” where more people choose to live together or reside with their parents."
Fictions piled on fictions. Incredible.
Posted on Wed, Jun. 30, 2010
Feds: Mortgage fraud ring included cops
BY JAY WEAVER, JAMES H. BURNETT III AND AMY SHERMAN
jweaver@MiamiHerald.com
A network of Broward County attorneys, law enforcement officers and mortgage brokers are accused of falsifying a slew of documents to obtain $16.5 million in loans that they used to buy and flip properties during the real estate boom, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday.
Federal prosecutors said the Broward-based group was organized by ex-Plantation police officer Joseph Guaracino, who recruited five other current and former cops in that city as well as a Lauderhill officer and an FBI agent. They allegedly posed as "straw'' buyers who pledged to buy and live in 38 condos and homes in Broward and Palm Beach counties.
The defendants, arrested Wednesday, are accused of conspiring to submit false income records, job descriptions, bank statements and loan applications to dupe lenders in South Florida and elsewhere from 2004 to 2007.
But their real goal -- disguised by the false paperwork -- was to rent the properties and then sell them, thereby "realizing substantial profit,'' according to the indictment.
Without working together as "straw'' buyers looking for primary residences, the individuals would never have been able to quality for so many mortgages and generate handsome profits, the indictment says. Some of the profits were used to purchase even more homes.
The real estate closings were handled by prominent Fort Lauderdale attorney Steven Stoll, who owned a title company, and Boca Raton lawyer Stephen Orchard, who worked with Stoll. The title attorneys falsely represented to the mortgage lenders the source of the down payments from borrowers needed to close the transactions, according to the indictment returned Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Fort Lauderdale.
Stoll's attorney Robert Nicholson on Wednesday defended his client, saying, ``Steve Stoll is very disappointed the government has decided to ignore the substantial evidence of his innocence.''
Two other mortgage brokers and a processor who worked for Stoll were also charged.
Although the law enforcement officers didn't use their positions to carry out the alleged mortgage scheme, their case stands out amid a recent flurry of federal loan fraud prosecutions because it involves eight current and former law enforcement officers. The 13 defendants named in the indictment will have their first appearances in federal court Thursday.
`BETRAYED'
``This indictment charges a group of individuals who conspired to enrich themselves by committing mortgage fraud,'' said U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer. ``It includes a number of professionals who betrayed their profession for greed, and in the process, undermined the integrity of the mortgage marketplace on which we all rely.''
Among others named in the indictment: Joseph Guaracino's brother, Dennis Guaracino Jr., and John Velez, both former Plantation police officers. Velez, a former SWAT team and Street Crimes Unit member, was named Plantation Police Department officer of the year in December 2004.
Also charged: current Plantation officers Daryl Radziwon, Casey Mittauer and Joseph DeRosa, along with Lauderhill officer Joseph LaGrasta.
FBI agent Robert DePriest, of Plantation, was also arrested. An FBI spokeswoman declined to comment.
In a statement, the Plantation Police Department said that in June 2007 it became aware that several of its officers were possibly involved in mortgage fraud and requested the assistance of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate.
FDLE, along with the U.S. attorney's office, notified the department in January that three of its officers were targets of a probe. They were immediately placed on administrative leave with pay. On Wednesday, their status was changed to unpaid leave.
One of the officers, Mittauer, used to be a volunteer assistant baseball pitching coach at Dade Christian School, his alma mater.
Lauderhill Police said Wednesday that LaGrasta was placed on paid administrative leave, but declined further comment.
The two mortgage brokers charged in the indictment were Matthew Gulla and Rene Rodriguez Jr.
Jacqueline Trumbore, who worked for Stoll's company, TurnKey Title Corp., was also named in the indictment. She handled real estate closings and later became another straw buyer in the alleged real estate scam, the charges state.
WELL-KNOWN
Steven Stoll and wife Rebecca are well known in Republican and philanthropic circles in Broward.
Stoll let Republican activists use his mortgage company office to phone bank for Republican candidates, and the Stolls sometimes attended fundraisers, said Bob Wolfe, a Broward Republican activist.
Stoll was one of the lawyers who fought with Broward's canvassing board about the 2000 presidential recount.
He has given to a handful of federal Republican candidates since 2000 -- including $4,800 to Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running for U.S. Senate.
© 2010 Miami Herald Media Company. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.miamiherald.com
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/06/30/v-print/1709699/feds-mortgage-fraud-ring-included.html#ixzz0sQPODtBq
How Much Is Everybody Making or How Much Are They Worth? by Geniusofdespair
Running for U.S. Senator
Charlie Crist is making $211,419 as Governor.
Marco Rubio made $363,693 total.
Kendrick Meek's financial report was actually John Mica's finance report. Odd. Will have to give them a call. I found Meek's report under Mica. I didn't see any income. I guess there is just his salary as a Congressman and some small interest payments.
Greene didn't file the papers or they haven't been posted yet.
Running for Governor:
Ira William 'Bill' McCollum is worth $1,329,353. His report says he makes $138,607 as the Attorney General. And what is with the name Ira?
Adelaide Alex Sink is worth $9,228,503. Same name as my mother, now I will have to vote for her. She paid $45,504 in taxes. Her adjusted gross income was $274,341.
Bud Chiles is worth $1,270,221. He gets $82,500 from the Lawton Chiles Foundation. He also makes $43,458 on a rental property.
Richard Lynn Scott is worth $218,589,004, yet he only has household goods worth $180,360.
Running for Attorney General:
Dave Aronberg is worth $586,577.
Dan Gelber, running against Dave, is worth $990,066. His salary at Akerman Senterfitt was $225,000.
Jeff Kottkamp, the pub, is worth $1,451,736. His State salary is $126,148.
Just Running:
Senator Gwen Margolis (former County Commission Chair) is worth a cool $5,088,110. She is running for State Senator again.
Julio Robaina is worth $645,180 thanks in part to a shitload of AT&T Stock. He is running for State Senator.
Miguel Diaz de la Portilla is making $435,235 working as a lawyer/lobbyist for Becker & Poliakoff. He is running against Julio.
Katie Edwards running as a Representative is worth -$67,200. She is/was being paid $65,423 by the Farm Bureau (only reason I looked her up).
Charlie Crist is making $211,419 as Governor.
Marco Rubio made $363,693 total.
Kendrick Meek's financial report was actually John Mica's finance report. Odd. Will have to give them a call. I found Meek's report under Mica. I didn't see any income. I guess there is just his salary as a Congressman and some small interest payments.
Greene didn't file the papers or they haven't been posted yet.
Running for Governor:
Ira William 'Bill' McCollum is worth $1,329,353. His report says he makes $138,607 as the Attorney General. And what is with the name Ira?
Adelaide Alex Sink is worth $9,228,503. Same name as my mother, now I will have to vote for her. She paid $45,504 in taxes. Her adjusted gross income was $274,341.
Bud Chiles is worth $1,270,221. He gets $82,500 from the Lawton Chiles Foundation. He also makes $43,458 on a rental property.
Richard Lynn Scott is worth $218,589,004, yet he only has household goods worth $180,360.
Running for Attorney General:
Dave Aronberg is worth $586,577.
Dan Gelber, running against Dave, is worth $990,066. His salary at Akerman Senterfitt was $225,000.
Jeff Kottkamp, the pub, is worth $1,451,736. His State salary is $126,148.
Just Running:
Senator Gwen Margolis (former County Commission Chair) is worth a cool $5,088,110. She is running for State Senator again.
Julio Robaina is worth $645,180 thanks in part to a shitload of AT&T Stock. He is running for State Senator.
Miguel Diaz de la Portilla is making $435,235 working as a lawyer/lobbyist for Becker & Poliakoff. He is running against Julio.
Katie Edwards running as a Representative is worth -$67,200. She is/was being paid $65,423 by the Farm Bureau (only reason I looked her up).
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