FLORIDA News:

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"I am appalled by Senator John McCain's reaffirmation of support for the use of warrantless wiretapping on American citizens. Senator McCain has once again chosen to align himself with President George Bush, whose reprehensible spying program on Americans is a grave threat to our Constitutions guarantees of privacy and limited executive power. It is clear that Senator McCain, President Bush, and their Republican allies in Congress will continue to use scare tactics and fear mongering to claim that a president can simply chose to ignore America's laws... Senator McCain opposes a bipartisan House compromise bill that preserves appropriate court review of all surveillance of US citizens and gives judges the discretion to review all the necessary documents related to telecom lawsuits without offering blanket immunity."

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Home - Prices - Nevada - Florida - Phoenix - Arizona - NC - "S&P: US home prices tumble a record 14.1 pct in 1Q." ... "Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller said its national home price index fell 14.1 percent in the first quarter compared with a year earlier, the lowest since its inception in 1988." ... "However, the index is still up 60 percent versus 2000." ... "Nineteen of the 20 metro areas reported annual declines, with 15 of them posting record lows. Six metro areas lost more than 20 percent." ... "Las Vegas [Nevada] had the worst performance in March, falling 25.9 percent from a year earlier, followed by Miami [Florida] and Phoenix [Arizona]. Only Charlotte, N.C. [North Carolina], stayed above water, gaining less than 1 percent over the previous year." -By J.W. Elphinstone -AP via -SFGate.com

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Alphonso Jackson - Criminal - Corporate - Government - Housing - Politics - Texas - Florida - "HUD Repeatedly Dismissed Staff Concerns About Contracts." ... "The small Texas property-management company had no experience overseeing hundreds of defaulted homes across the country. It did have two former [Republican President] Reagan administration officials at the helm and warm relations with senior Republican appointees at the federal housing agency." ... "During a few weeks in 2004, the three-employee company, Harrington, Moran and Barksdale Inc. [Incorporated] (HMBI), went from no government work to landing $71 million in contracts with the U.S. [United States] Department of Housing and Urban Development to oversee the upkeep and sale of defaulted homes. It had previously managed a handful of apartment buildings and development projects." ... "The company's meteoric rise -- and HUD's willingness to bend the rules to accommodate it -- surprised veteran agency contracting specialist Gloria Freeman." ... ""After you've been in the business awhile, you get to know the signs -- 'This is a friend; let's help him out,' " she said in an interview. Not long after Freeman complained to her supervisors, she was asked to return to her previous policy job." ... "Federal investigators are still sorting through HUD contract awards to friends of [Republican President Bush's Housing & Urban Development] Secretary Alphonso Jackson, who resigned last month amid a criminal probe. But some career staff members and agency observers say problems in the agency's contracting process run much deeper than Jackson and involve officials who promoted certain companies while rebuffing concerns about their performance and qualifications." ... "A Washington Post examination of HUD's contracts shows that HMBI and two other companies won hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts under Jackson while career contracting staff repeatedly raised questions." ... "A Miami [Florida] property-management company, National Housing Group, which contributed to President Bush's reelection and other Republican campaigns, won $50 million in contracts from 2003 to 2007. Now, its second in command [Wynee Joyner] has been indicted for allegedly falsifying reimbursement requests to HUD. Regional staff members at the agency had expressed concern about the company's small size and inexperience." ... "Jackson faced criticism in 2006 after acknowledging that he took note of political loyalties. He bragged in a Dallas [Texas] speech that he had canceled a contract with a business owner who said he didn't like [Republican President] Bush. "Why should I reward someone who doesn't like the president, so they can use funds to try to campaign against the president?" Jackson said. "Logic says they don't get the contract."" ... "Federal procurement laws forbid basing decisions on political views." (1, 2, 3) -By Carol D. Leonnig with contributions by Alice Crites and Julie Tate -WashingtonPost

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Mother's-Day - Politics - Women - Parents - Legislation - Kan - Fla - "Republicans Vote Against Moms; No Word Yet on Puppies, Kittens." ... "It was already shaping up to be a difficult year for congressional Republicans. Now, on the cusp of Mother's Day, comes this: A majority of the House GOP has voted against motherhood." ... "On Wednesday afternoon, the House had just voted, 412 to 0, to pass H. Res. 1113, "Celebrating the role of mothers in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals of Mother's Day," when [Kansas Republican Representative] Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), rose in protest." ... ""Mr. Speaker, I move to reconsider the vote," he announced." ... "[Florida Democratic Representative] Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), who has two young daughters, moved to table Tiahrt's request, setting up a revote. This time, 178 Republicans cast their votes against mothers." ... "It has long been the custom to compare a popular piece of legislation to motherhood and apple pie. Evidently, that is no longer the standard. Worse, Republicans are now confronted with a John Kerry-esque predicament: They actually voted for motherhood before they voted against it. " (1, 2) -By Dana Milbank -WashingtonPost

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Don Young - Connie Mack - Money - Investigation - Road - Construction - Florida - Alaska - Federal - Law - "‘Liar’ comment cranks up Coconut Road earmark controversy." ... "Two U.S. [United States] congressmen who spent a day touring Southwest Florida roads three years ago — sharing the same car for a drive up Interstate 75, attending the same town hall meeting at Florida Gulf Coast University and going to the same fund raising party in Estero [Florida] — are now trading insults." ... "At issue is who deserves the blame for how and why $10 million in a 2005 federal highway bill got assigned to a Coconut Road [Fort Myers, Florida] interchange study after the $286.4 billion bill passed Congress, but before the president signed it into law." ... "There’s now a dispute over who’s telling the truth and who’s ducking between [Florida Republican Representative] Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fort Myers, the congressman who had invited a more senior house colleague to visit Lee County in February of 2005, and [Alaska Republican Representative] Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, who took the floor of the House on Wednesday to defend his support for the Coconut Road interchange study." ... "Young said he backed the project because it was what people from the area told him they wanted, and those were views he heard at Mack’s invitation." ... "“It was supported by the congressman from that district,” Young said of the $10 million earmark to study a new place to access the interstate. “And there’s letters to back that up.”" -By Elizabeth Wright -NaplesNews.com 

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Randall Tobias - David Vitter - Louisiana - Florida - Law - "D.C. Madam Found Dead of Apparent Suicide." ... "Florida police are investigating the apparent suicide of the so-called D.C. Madam, who was found dead in the Florida mobile home of the madam's mother Thursday." ... "The madam, Deborah Jeane Palfrey, was recently convicted on federal charges stemming from operating a prostitution service in the Washington, D.C. area with a number of high-profile clients. She was scheduled to be sentenced July 24." ... "Several well-known men were reportedly clients of her service, including former U.S. [United States] Agency for International Development chief Randall Tobias and [Louisiana Republican Senator] Sen. David Vitter, R-La[Republican-Louisiana]. Neither man was among the clients called to testify at Palfrey's trial." (1, 2) -By Justin Rood -ABCNEWS.com 

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Don Young - Connie Mack - Money - Politics - Law - Alaska - Michigan - Florida - Road - Real Estate - "Young blasts Mack over Coconut Rd.." ... "[Alaska Republican Representative] Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) on Wednesday defended changes his staffers made to the notorious Coconut Road [in Florida] earmark, the third time in a year he took to the House floor in an attempt to justify one of his suspect pet projects." ... "Young also accused his GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] colleague, [Florida Republican Representative] Rep. Connie Mack (Fla.[Florida]), of first supporting the earmark in 2005, and then distancing himself from it once watchdogs and the media began raising concerns." ... "Ethics watchdogs have raised red flags over the Lee County, Fla., road project, the language of which was changed after that measure passed the House and the Senate but before it reached the president’s desk. Such a change may have violated House rules, which prohibit substantive alterations to bills during the enrollment process, the formal procedure in which a measure is recorded before it moves on to be signed by the president." ... "The earmark has been tainted by controversy. Lobbyist Rick Alcalde represented both FGSU [Florida Gulf State University] as well as the company owned by Daniel Aronoff, a real estate developer who owned 4,000 acres along Coconut Road and helped organize a fundraiser for Young during one of his visits to the area in 2005. Both entities requested the Coconut Road earmark." ... "Young flew to FGSU for a town hall meeting in 2005 on a chartered plane owned by a Michigan company; the owner told the Naples Daily News that the Aronoffs were among his biggest clients." ... "After the town hall, Young went directly to a fundraiser at the Hyatt Coconut Point, which Aronoff helped organize." ... "Young said Mack invited him to the town hall meeting." ... "Young also posted documents and photos on his website in an effort to demonstrate that Mack was deeply involved in the earmark. In one letter in March 2006 to FGSU’s president, Mack supported it." -By Susan Crabtree -TheHill.com

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Don Young - Connie Mack - Money - Politics - Real Estate - Transportation - Construction - Florida - Alaska - History - Federal - Law - Investigation - "Q&A: Don Young and the Coconut Road controversy: EARMARK: $10 million put in 2005 highway spending bill is coming back to haunt him." ... "Last week, the U.S. [United States] Senate voted to ask the Justice Department to look into what happened in 2005 when Alaska's sole congressman earmarked $10 million in unasked-for money to study a highway interchange in southwest Florida." ... "The 64 to 28 vote was an unprecedented request on the part of the Senate for a federal inquiry into the actions of a member of the House of Representatives." ... "At the center of it all: Alaska [Republican Representative] Rep. Don Young, who acknowledged responsibility last week for the 2005 earmark, which shifted $10 million pledged to help widen Interstate 75 to the interchange study. If built, the interchange promised to benefit one of Young's campaign donors, a family friend whose real estate company owned property nearby. The earmark was one of thousands overseen by Young when he was responsible for pushing a multiyear highway spending bill through Congress." ... "Young has maintained that there was nothing wrong with what he did, and that the earmark was requested by the community." ... "But Young is already the subject of a federal investigation, and many questions remain about how the earmark showed up in the spending bill -- after the House and Senate had already voted on an alternative proposal." ... "The obscure Coconut Road earmark first came to the attention of transportation planners in Lee County, Fla. [Florida], in 2006, when they tried to figure out why they had received $10 million in federal money for a study of an intersection that wasn't on their list of transportation priorities." ... "The transportation board thought it was getting a $10 million earmark to go toward widening of Interstate 75. Instead, the money was earmarked to the study of an interchange that improves freeway access to land owned by real estate developer Daniel Aronoff." ... "In 2005, the Alaska Republican oversaw the multiyear transportation bill, a $286.4 billion spending plan for some of the biggest infrastructure projects across the U.S. (The bill also included $452 million for the Gravina Island and Knik Arm spans that came to be known as the bridges-to-nowhere.)" ... "Local newspapers, including the Naples Daily News, picked up on the controversy, and posed the question to Young, at the time the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. In 2005, the Alaska Republican oversaw the multiyear transportation bill, a $286.4 billion spending plan for some of the biggest infrastructure projects across the U.S. (The bill also included $452 million for the Gravina Island and Knik Arm spans that came to be known as the bridges-to-nowhere.)" ... "Young refused to address the issue. The story failed to draw national attention until The New York Times wrote about it last spring. The article elaborated on the connections between the developers seeking the earmark and a 2005 campaign fundraiser Young attended in Bonita Springs, Fla., at the invitation of a local congressman, [Florida Republican Representative] Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fla[Republican-Florida]. (The article also reported that when a Times reporter approached Young to speak to him about it, the congressman "responded with an obscene gesture.")" ... "Those donating money -- about $40,000 total -- to Young included Aronoff, whose family has long been friendly with Young. The earmark for the interchange study showed up not long after the fundraiser." -By Erika Bolstad -McClatchy via -ADN.com

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Consumer - Economy - Nevada - California - Florida - "Foreclosures jump 57 percent in last 12 months." ... "Home foreclosure filings surged 57 percent in the 12 month-period ended in March and bank repossessions soared 129 percent from a year ago, as homeowners struggled to make mortgage payments, real estate data firm RealtyTrac said on Tuesday." ... "For the month of March, foreclosure filings, default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions rose 5 percent, led by Nevada, California and Florida, RealtyTrac said." ... "The rise in March to filings on a total of 234,685 properties followed a 4 percent decline in February, RealtyTrac reported." ... "RealtyTrac said the peak has yet to be reached." (1, 2, 3) -By Lynn Adler with contributions by Leslie Adler -Reuters

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American - Women - KBR - Corporate - Government - Criminal - Politics - Military - Iraq - Afghanistan - Florida - Ohio - Texas - "U.S. fails to move on Iraq sexual assault complaints." ... "While working in Iraq as a ''morale coordinator'' for a U.S. [United States] government contractor, a Tampa [Florida] woman says, she was raped by a drunken colleague who secured a key to her apartment from an unlocked storage box." ... "That was in December 2005, and her attorney said he's unaware of any criminal charges in the case." ... "The U.S. Justice Department has the authority to prosecute, but she and at least three other women who say they were assaulted complain of being trapped in legal limbo between a military system that doesn't oversee the private contractors and a justice system that appears unwilling to do so." ... "''American women are vulnerable not only to assault, but to achieving justice,'' said [Florida Democratic Senator] Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat who since December has been pressing the [Republican President] Bush administration for answers over the treatment of U.S. citizens sexually assaulted by contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan." ... "''I'm in a war zone, and I have to worry about my co-workers,'' said Mary Beth Kineston, an Ohio woman who drove a truck in Iraq for Houston[Texas]-based military contractor KBR and said she was raped by another driver." -By Lesley Clark-MiamiHerald via -McClatchyDC.com

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Home-Prices - History - Seattle - Washington - Portland- Ore - Nevada - Florida - Phoenix - Arizona - San Diego - California - Michigan - NC - "U.S. home prices fall 10.7% in January, Seattle's drop 1.3%." ... "U.S. [United States] home prices fell 10.7 percent in January from the same month last year, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home-price index of 20 cities, which saw the steepest decline in the two-decade history of the index." ... "Seattle[Washington]-area home prices were among the decliners, although the annual drop was a slight 1.3 percent. Only Portland, Ore. [Oregon], posted a smaller annual decline, 0.5 percent." ... "Worst hit were Las Vegas [Nevada] and Miami [Florida], both reporting 19.3 percent drops, as the regions are still paying the price for rampant speculation and overbuilding during the boom years. Those cities and 14 others — including Phoenix [Arizona], San Diego [California] and Detroit [Michigan] — posted record lows." ... "Only Charlotte, N.C. [North Carolina], squeaked by as a gainer in the Case-Shiller index, with a 1.8 percent increase in January compared with a year earlier." -By Vinnee Tong with contributions by Dan Caterinicchia -AP via -SeattleTimes

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2008 Election - Florida - Michigan - Colorado - "Choice of Democratic nominee may rest with panel: Convention's Credentials Commitee could have to decide on Fla., Mich. delegates." ... "There are 186 people in this country who ultimately could select the Democratic presidential nominee." ... "Most of them do not know they'll soon wield such power. They will be picked by their state parties or by the party's national chairman to be on the Credentials Committee to the Democratic National Convention. It's normally a political reward, but this year the job could seem more like punishment." ... "If the dispute over what to do about Florida and Michigan — whose Democratic primary results have not been recognized by the party — is not settled by the time Democrats gather in August in Denver [Colorado], the Credentials Committee will probably make the call on what to do about delegates from the rogue states, which defied the party by moving up their primary dates." ... "The committee could decide whether those delegates are seated at the convention, and to which candidate they are pledged." ... "The ultimate winner of the nomination could ride on the outcome." ... "The 186 Democrats that will form the committee will be chosen during the next several months. DNC Chairman Howard Dean appoints 25 of them, which he has already done." ... "The others are elected by the state parties, based on population." -By Aaron Gould Sheinin -AJC

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John McCain - Corporate - Government- Politician - Arizona - Pennsylvania - Ohio - Florida - Miss - Trent Lott - 2008 Election - "Lobbyist to run McCain's Hill effort." ... "Presumptive [2008 Election] Republican presidential candidate [and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain has engaged a leading GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] lobbyist to coordinate his message and travel schedule with congressional Republicans —the most concrete sign yet that the biggest battleground in the 2008 presidential race may not be Pennsylvania or Ohio or Florida’s I-4 corridor but rather the floor of the United States Senate." ... "John Green, a founding partner of what is now Ogilvy Government Relations, will soon take a leave of absence from that firm to work as a full-time liaison between McCain’s presidential campaign and Republicans in the House and the Senate, according to GOP aides on Capitol Hill and McCain surrogates downtown. Green, a Mississippi native, has strong ties in the Senate after his years of work for [Mississippi Republican Senator and] former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss. [Republican-Mississippi]), a vocal McCain supporter who left Congress late last year to set up his own lobbying shop." ... "Green is part of a small cadre of lobbyists who have met regularly to help build support for McCain on Capitol Hill. The group, which includes fellow Ogilvy partner [lobbyist] Wayne Berman, has been helping the senator secure congressional endorsements in recent weeks to ensure he solidifies his status as the GOP front-runner." -By Martin Kady II and Patrick O'Connor -Politico.com

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