Good Crist

Wow, Crist loves the trial lawyers, doesn't he? Good for him. It's a good thing to sue people who do bad things:

Gov. Charlie Crist has asked three trial lawyers to build a case for a possible class-action lawsuit against property insurers, alleging that the industry hasn't passed on savings to consumers as required by a new Florida law...

"I would give the insurance industry an F, a dead F, because I think they have failed not only what the law requires, I think they have morally failed the people of Florida."

Good Crist

Gov. Crist is right on the money on this one:

Gov. Charlie Crist joined a chorus of colleagues across the nation today in condemning a decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to block them from imposing tougher auto emission rules than the EPA requires.

He needs to follow through on this one to the highest levels. It's ridiculous for the Republicans in Washington to violate their own "states' rights" beliefs in order to provide corporate welfare to their buddies in the auto industry. This policy is so extreme that Republican governors are opposing it.

Crist and Browning Hate Democracy, Fair Elections, Reality

Pursuing the bogus voter fraud problem at the expense of people's constitutional rights:

Tuesday, a federal court blocked Florida's "no match, no vote" law after finding it violated voting rights, just six weeks before the state's presidential primary. The so-called "common-sense anti-fraud measure" required election officials to match voter registration application information - including names, birthdays, driver's license and Social Security numbers - against federal databases before registering a person to vote. Although the error-prone procedure put hundreds of thousands of Floridian registrants at risk of disenfranchisement each year and a federal court struck down a similar Washington law for the very same reason, Secretary of State Kurt Browning said he would "immediately appeal," according to the Associated Press.

I've yet to see any legitimate evidence showing that there is any significant incidence of voter fraud anywhere in America. There are individuals who engage in voter fraud, but it doesn't change the outcome of any elections and it isn't widespread enough to need any new solutions, especially ones this draconian. The logical thing to do would be to go with the old Republican standby of "enforcing the laws already on the books" since they seem to already have solved the problem.

Crist Hates Rule of Law, the State Constitution

Naked Politics:

Judge Kevin Davey on Thursday week struck down as unconstitutional a new system of public defenders to handle conflict cases that can't be handled by elected public defenders. The GOP-controlled Legislature during the 2007 session created a system of regional conflict counsels as a way to cut down on the costs of hiring private outside attorneys.

But the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers sued and Davey ruled that the Legislature exceeded its authority by requiring the new offices and that Gov. Charlie Crist exceeded his by appointing the five special public defenders. The court also quashed the appointments of the five attorneys who were tasked with setting up law offices.

Republicans don't have the power to do something like this. They don't care, they think that the rules don't apply to them, that they are allowed to do whatever it is they want to do. They're wrong.

McCollum Hates Reality, Science, Earth

The Buzz:

Attorney General Bill McCollum isn't buying Gov. Charlie Crist's belief that global warming is a threat to Florida and the world. Shortly before Christmas, McCollum sent a memo to Crist and the other Cabinet members, advising them that "the science is not all in" on the subject and urging them to view the enclosed DVD, a British television documentary called The Great Global Warming Swindle.

The science is all in. Global warming is a fact. It is a threat. The chief cause of it is human activity. To believe otherwise is to be willfully ignorant at best. Scientists, by the way, never use words like "swindle," so you can safely assume that any DVD with that word in the title is nonscientific. McCollum is pandering to the worst elements of civil society.

Crist Loves Flip-flopping. And...

Blast Off:

Despite having signed a petition in favor of a gay marriage ban during his gubernatorial campaign, Florida governor and "confirmed bachelor" Charlie Crist (R) won't be actively supporting the anti-gay marriage amendment.