Crist wants federal government to run high risk health insurance pool

Gov. Charlie Crist will leave it to the Obama administration to run the federally subsidized high-risk health insurance plan that is to cover people unable to buy such insurance in the private market due to preexisting conditions such as cancer or diabetes.

In a letter late Friday to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Crist said he agreed that states and the federal government must cooperate in expanding healthcare for Americans but said ``unfortunately Florida is not in a position to authorize new financial obligations.''

``We are in the process of balancing our budget on the final day of the 2010 legislative session,'' he wrote. ``As governor of Florida, I cannot commit any state resources to participate in the federal temporary high-risk health insurance program.''

``However, I understand you can . . . create a new high-risk pool at the federal level, where eligible Floridians can participate. We stand ready to assist you,'' he added.

Regardless of who runs the pools, the Obama administration has promised a $5 billion one-time subsidy to help make the insurance affordable. Each state's share would be based on population and need, not on who would run the pools, an HHS spokeswoman said Friday.

Florida's share of the $5 billion is $351 million.

Analysis: Congressional earmarks to colleges $2 billion

Colleges, universities and other academic organizations received just shy of $2 billion in grants directed to them by individual members of Congress in the 2010 fiscal year, an Inside Higher Ed analysis shows.

A review of appropriations bills, Congressionally mandated disclosure forms and lawmakers' news releases revealed grants to 875 institutions, totaling $1,982,532,150. (That total may be incomplete; while required disclosure of earmarks has been strengthened under federal law, and many lawmakers like to boast about the money they bring home to their local colleges and other constituents, it is still difficult to follow the flow of money with perfect precision.) That's roughly one-eighth of the overall amount of $16.5 billion earmarked by Congress in 2010, according to an estimate by Citizens Against Government Waste.

Zillow: Homebuyers fail to adequately research loans

Americans spend more time researching which car to buy than they do researching options for a home loan, according to a survey released Thursday by Zillow.

The Seattle-based online mortgage marketplace found that borrowers who obtained a home loan in the past five years spent just five hours reviewing their options and got just three quotes. Thirty-one percent spent two hours or less, despite the fact that a home is one of the largest investments people make in a lifetime, Zillow pointed out.

Suspended Drivers Continue to Drive

Authorities say the number of people who drive with a suspended license, or with no license at all, is growing. One judge says offenders do not take the law seriously.

Four days a week at Duval County Traffic Court on Beach Boulevard, offenders step before a judge to enter a plea for driving with a suspended or revoked license.

They are people from all walks of life who authorities pulled over for one reason or another only to find the drivers had no valid license.

For three days, First Coast News observed traffic court proceedings and witnessed 49 people go before two different judges:

An unemployed woman who did not have car insurance and could not pay for a citation; an undocumented worker caught speeding who never could obtain a license to begin with; a man with a number of past of traffic violations which led to his driver's license being taken away.

Each sentencing carried a message from the judge:

"No driving means no driving!" said Circuit Court Judge James Ruth. "If you have a bad record, you could face jail time."

The penalties for driving with a suspended or revoked license range from a $200 to $300 fine to jail time and felony conviction.

Many of the offenders were accompanied by drivers and others stopped to call for a ride. Others never left court: the judges sentenced several to serve jail time.

Despite the potential consequences, of the 49 drivers First Coast News saw go before the judges, three walked out of the courtroom and into their cars and drove away.

In 2008, Florida law enforcement agencies cited 226,560 people for driving with a suspended or revoked license. More than 25,000 of those people were cited on the First Coast.

Navy to Allow Women to Serve on Submarines

The first U.S. women allowed to serve aboard submarines will be reporting for duty by 2012, the Navy said Thursday as the military ordered an end to one of its few remaining gender barriers.

The cramped quarters and scant privacy aboard submarines, combined with long tours of up to 90 days at sea, kept them off-limits to female sailors for 16 years after the Navy began allowing women to serve on all its surface ships in 1994.

Crist Makes it Official: No Party Affiliation

Gov. Charlie Crist made it official this afternoon: He is leaving the Republican Party and running for the U.S. Senate as an independent.

By doing so, he will bypass the Republican primary, where polls have shown he trails Marco Rubio by a large margin.

"It's the right thing for America; it's the right thing for Florida," said Crist, defending his decision in a speech in his hometown of St. Petersburg.

Sheriff John Rutherford Approves of Red Light Camera Bill

The sheriff is pleased that the state senate passed the bill allowing cameras at intersections to catch drivers running red lights.

Sheriff John Rutherford released the following statement this afternoon in response to the bill that awaits Gov. Charlie Crist's signature after being passed by the senate overwhelmingly Tuesday:

"I am very pleased about the Legislature's passage of the bill allowing red light cameras to be installed in Florida, and look forward to the Governor signing it into law.

"I've stated publicly that my support for red light cameras includes the use of 'crash avoidance' technology. It gauges or detects when a driver is coming into an intersection at a high rate of speed (when the light is changing to red) and
then delays the other traffic signal(s) from changing to green, for just a few seconds, thereby preventing a crash.

"We will support the Department of Transportation as they develop the specifications for the approved traffic control systems and camera devices, and hope that this life saving technology is allowed for or incorporated into their rules.

"Once the Department of Transportation has developed these rules, we will review our most current crash data and other factors and determine exactly which intersections will be outfitted with the devices. These intersections will be
identified publicly and we will educate the public.

"Regardless of where the cameras are installed in Jacksonville, it is my hope that drivers will treat all intersections as if they are outfitted with a camera, and drive defensively and carefully. We'd like to see the number of traffic fatalities continue to decline."

Sheriff John H. Rutherford

Good Samaritan Left for Dead on City Sidewalk

A psychologist believes there could be several reasons why people didn't offer to help Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax, 31 -- whose fate was captured on a grainy surveillance video -- perhaps including our culture's desensitization to violence from so much exposure in movies, video games and music.

"We love violence in this culture," said the psychologist, Michael Bradley. "We have this kind of 24/7 pounding of violence. We now know that that pounding of violence actually causes brain changes where people start to not distinguish between real violence and cyberviolence. We're actually rewiring our brains to not react to violence and pain the way we should."

Bradley said there are several explanations for why passersby may not have taken action.

For one thing, he said, people tend to copy the behavior of others, so if one person ignored the injured man, then others were likely to do the same thing.

People also think it's someone else's responsibility to intervene, so they won't do anything because they assume another person will call for help.

Scouts must pay man $18.5M

An Oregon jury's decision to award a man $18.5 million in punitive damages in his case against the Boy Scouts of America will likely be the first of many financial hits the Scouts will take as it prepares to defend itself against a series of sex abuse lawsuits.

The jury on Friday ordered the Scouts to make the payment to Kerry Lewis, the victim of sex abuse by a former assistant Scoutmaster in Portland in the early 1980s.

The case was the first of six filed against the Boy Scouts in the same court in Oregon, with at least one other separate case pending. If mediation fails to settle the other cases, they also could go to trial.

Florida stimulus saved 33,000+ paychecks

The federal stimulus package created or saved roughly 33,200 Florida jobs in the first quarter of 2010, Governor Charlie Crist’s office reported.

Aside from the full-time jobs saved and created, the federal program also helped nearly 74,700 people who didn’t work the full three months or were paid partly through other sources, according to state statistics.

The state said about 153,000 jobs were created or saved in Florida since February 2009 through stimulus spending. Of the $19.5 billion Florida expects to receive in stimulus funding, about $13.5 billion has awarded, About $8.8 billion has been spent of that.

Key Vote: Continuing Extension Act of 2010

Continuing Extension Act of 2010

- Vote Passed (59-38, 3 Not Voting)

The Senate passed this measure that would extend for two months federal unemployment benefits, flood insurance programs, increased payment rates to Medicare providers and COBRA health care premium assistance. It was then sent to the House.

Sen. Bill Nelson voted Not Voting......send e-mail

or see bio

Sen. George LeMieux voted NO......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: Clean Estuaries Act of 2010

Clean Estuaries Act of 2010

- Vote Passed (278-128, 24 Not Voting)

The House approved this bill that would authorize $50 million annually through fiscal 2016 for the EPA's National Estuary Program and would require the EPA to evaluate estuary management plans every four years. The bill now goes to the Senate.

Rep. Ander Crenshaw voted YES......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: Continuing Extension Act of 2010

Continuing Extension Act of 2010

- Vote Passed (289-112, 29 Not Voting)

On Thursday, the House passed this legislation that would extend for two months federal unemployment benefits, flood insurance programs, increased payment rates to Medicare providers and COBRA health care premium assistance. It was then sent to the President, who signed it into law later that night.

Rep. Ander Crenshaw voted YES......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010

Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010

- Vote Passed (56-43, 1 Not Voting)

The Senate approved this bill that would make changes to the 2010 health care overhaul law and revise student loan procedures. The Senate made minor changes to the bill, sending it back to the House.

Sen. Bill Nelson voted YES......send e-mail

or see bio

Sen. George LeMieux voted NO......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act

FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act

- Vote Passed (93-0, 7 Not Voting)

The Senate passed this measure to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration through FY 2011 and expedite the transition to a new air traffic control system. The bill was sent to the House.

Sen. Bill Nelson voted YES......send e-mail

or see bio

Sen. George LeMieux voted YES......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: Small Business and Infrastructure Jobs Tax Act

Small Business and Infrastructure Jobs Tax Act

- Vote Passed (246-178, 5 Not Voting)

The House passed this legislation to provide tax incentives for small business job creation, extend the Build America Bonds program, and provide other infrastructure job creation tax incentives. It now goes to the Senate.

Rep. Ander Crenshaw voted NO......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: Disaster Relief and Summer Jobs Act of 2010

Disaster Relief and Summer Jobs Act of 2010

- Vote Passed (239-175, 1 Present, 14 Not Voting)

The House approved this measure that would provide funding for disaster relief, summer jobs and small business programs. The bill now goes to the Senate.

Rep. Ander Crenshaw voted NO......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act

FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act

- Vote Passed (276-145, 8 Not Voting)

The House passed this bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration through FY 2011 and expedite the transition to a new air traffic control system. The bill now heads to the White House for the President’s signature.

Rep. Ander Crenshaw voted NO......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010

Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010

- Vote Passed (220-207, 3 Not Voting)

On Thursday night, the House agreed to Senate amendments to this legislation that would make changes to the 2010 health care overhaul law and revise student loan procedures. It now goes to President Obama, who is expected to sign it on Tuesday.

Rep. Ander Crenshaw voted NO......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act

Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act

- Vote Agreed to (68-29, 3 Not Voting)

On Wednesday the Senate passed this job creation bill, which would provide tax relief to businesses hiring unemployed workers. The President signed it into law the next day.

Sen. Bill Nelson voted YES......send e-mail

or see bio

Sen. George LeMieux voted YES......send e-mail

or see bio