The Mel Martinez Bulletin

Farewell

2009-10-22T21:04:00.000-07:00

This blog is being closed and further updates will be featured on Florida Congress Watch. Check us out over there.

From the Blogs

2009-09-26T19:14:00.001-07:00

The latest stories from the Florida blogs...

The Reid Report: Melly Mel with the clientele...

Why Now?: What A Surprise

Blog to 2010 & Beyond: Mel slides out of office in his own slime

Pensito Review (Trish): Which of These Stories Will Get the Most Play? We’re Betting on the Third One

From the Blogs

2009-09-03T21:03:00.000-07:00

The latest stories from the Florida blogs...

Bark Bark Woof Woof: Behind Closed Doors

Sunshine Statements: Where's Charlie, and There Goes Mel

FLA Politics: Mel Martinez: "Karl Rove's Florida Frankenstein"

Pushing Rope: Quote of the Day

Capitol Offense: Where Is Congress on the Public Option

2009-06-17T08:39:00.000-07:00

Today, I'm joining with Democracy for America, Health Care for America Now and Open Left in supporting the Stand With Dr. Dean Campaign. The idea is to put pressure on our members of Congress to find out where they stand on health care reform and whether or not they support Dr. Howard Dean's call for a reform that includes a public option. See Dean's statement here:

Chris Bowers has suggested that we use crowdsourcing techniques to find out where everyone in Congress stands, which also helps pressure them to take the right stand. So here's the plan:

1. Contact your member of Congress via e-mail and ask them the following questions:

1--Do you support a public healthcare option as part of healthcare reform?
2--If so, do you support a public healthcare option that is available on day one?
3--Do you support a public healthcare option that is national, available everywhere, and accountable to Congress?
4--Do you support a public healthcare option that can bargain for rates from providers and big drug companies?

Don't call, do this via e-mail because we want a written response. If they are vague in answering these questions, contact them again and ask for clarification. If they don't answer you, keep contacting them (and have your friends and family contact them) until they do give you the answers.

2. Forward the responses to me at quinnelk@hotmail.com. We're going to publish an official response from as many of our members as possible so we know where everyone is. And we'll keep a track of who isn't responding so we know who to put pressure on. Similarly, once we find out who is on board and who isn't, we know who to put further pressure on down the road.

3. If you have your own blog, post the responses there, too. The more public pressure we can put on Congress, the easier we make it for them to do the right thing.

Here is the public contact info for each of our Florida members of Congress:

Rep Gus Bilirakis R FL-9 http://bilirakis.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=212&Itemid=44

Rep Allen Boyd D FL-2 http://www.house.gov/boyd/zip_authen.html

Rep Corrine Brown D FL-3 http://www.house.gov/corrinebrown/IMA/issue.shtml

Rep Virginia Brown-Waite R FL-5 https://forms.house.gov/brown-waite/IMA/issue_subscribe.htm

Rep Vern Buchanan R FL-13 http://buchanan.house.gov/contact.shtml

Rep Kathy Castor D FL-11 https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml

Rep Ander Crenshaw R FL-4 https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml

Rep Lincoln Diaz-Balart R FL-21 http://diaz-balart.house.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Offices.Contact

Rep Mario Diaz-Balart R FL-25 http://www.house.gov/formmariodiaz-balart/ic_zip_auth.htm

Rep Alan Grayson D FL-8 https://forms.house.gov/grayson/contact-form.shtml

Rep Alcee Hastings D FL-23 http://www.alceehastings.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=104&Itemid=

Rep Ron Klein D FL-22 klein.ron.web@flsenate.gov

Rep Suzanne Kosmas D FL-24 https://forms.house.gov/kosmas/contact-form.shtml

Rep Connie Mack R FL-14 http://mack.house.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactConnie.ContactForm

Sen Melquiades Martinez R FL http://martinez.senate.gov/public/?p=EmailSenatorMartinez

Rep Kendrick Meek D FL-17 http://kendrickmeek.house.gov/contact1.shtml

Rep John Mica R FL-7 http://www.house.gov/mica/messageform.shtml

Rep Jeff Miller R FL-1 http://jeffmiller.house.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home

Sen Bill Nelson D FL http://billnelson.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm

Rep Bill Posey R FL-15 http://posey.house.gov/Contact/

Rep Adam Putnam R FL-12 http://adamputnam.house.gov/contact.shtml

Rep Tom Rooney R FL-16 https://forms.house.gov/rooney/contact-form.shtml

Rep Ileana Ros-Lehtinen R FL-18 http://www.house.gov/writerep

Rep Clifford Stearns R FL-6 http://www.house.gov/writerep

Rep Debbie Wasserman Schultz D FL-20 schultz.debbie.web@flsenate.gov

Rep Robert Wexler D FL-19 http://wexler.house.gov/email.shtml

Rep C. W. Bill Young R FL-10 bill.young@mail.house.gov

We'll also post the results of these at the WatchBlogs dedicated to each Republican member and at the Florida Democratic News blog.

You can also sign the petition on health care here.

I'm Kenneth Quinnell and I approve this message.

Read more on Florida politics at the Florida Progressive Coalition blog (http://flaprogressives.org) and the Florida Progressive Coalition Wiki (http://quinnell.us/sspb/wiki/).

MARTINEZ: JUDICIAL NOMINEES DESERVE AN UP OR DOWN VOTE

2009-05-28T19:24:00.000-07:00

From Mel Martinez:

U.S. Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) today said he was hopeful the Senate could find a way to work together to give judicial nominees an up-or-down vote and end the unprecedented filibusters of nominees.

At a press conference today with other freshman Senators to urge that judicial nominees be given an up or down vote, Martinez said:

“On January 4th, I was sworn in as Florida’s 33rd Senator, and I am so proud to be able to represent Floridians in the U.S. Senate.

“As part of my duties as Senator, according to the Constitution, I have the obligation to provide ‘advise and consent’ on judicial nominees. I am unable to fulfill this duty when qualified judicial nominees are denied the opportunity for an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor.

“I have not been a part of the partisan struggles of the last 12 years, and I know there is a lot of water under the bridge on both sides regarding judicial nominees. But I think we need to put the partisanship behind us and look at ways to resolve this in a way that doesn’t exacerbate the partisan atmosphere of the Senate even further. We need to do a better job of working together to do the people’s business.

“However, as I traveled the highways and byways of Florida, one of the issues I heard about time and time again was that people wanted to see judges confirmed. I promised I would fight for up-or-down votes for all judicial nominees. I am still hopeful that we can come together, but I will vote if necessary to end the unprecedented filibustering of judicial nominees from having their vote on the Senate floor.

“It is an integral part of maintaining a high-caliber judiciary that nominees are treated fairly and with respect. If we continue down this path and leave nominees in limbo for years – as has become common practice – we will be unable to recruit high-level attorneys to leave private practice and serve our federal judiciary. These people deserve their vote on the Senate floor.”

Tell the Party of No - "Yes We Can"

2009-04-07T17:22:00.000-07:00

From the Blogs

2009-03-29T18:57:00.000-07:00

The latest stories from the Florida blogs...

Fried Gator: Arne: The new 'Decider,' at least for Florida education

It's Official -- Meek Is In

2009-01-13T11:07:00.001-08:00

From the press release:

Congressman Kendrick B. Meek (D-FL) announced this morning that he is running for Florida’s open U.S. Senate seat in 2010.

Joined by his family outside his home in North Miami-Dade County, Congressman Meek laid out his vision for the future of Florida by emphasizing his commitment to alleviating current problems such as the increase of foreclosures throughout Florida, rising unemployment rates, the loss of senior citizens’ retirement funds, ending the war in Iraq, and resolving healthcare inequalities.

“Public service and a commitment to make a better life for the people of Florida has been my mission. I've given Florida a strong voice on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and was appointed by the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives to the House Leadership,” said Congressman Kendrick Meek. “But never in my
lifetime have the people of Florida been faced with so many big problems. Our state needs bold leadership at every level, and that is why I've made the decision to run as a candidate for the United States Senate. This race is not about me -- it is about Floridians. I am running for Florida, and I am asking Floridians to run with us in this race.”

“Thanks to the leadership of President-Elect Obama, change has come to Washington. But it won’t be easy. There will be opposition from many powerful forces who have stopped us before. We cannot let obstructionists stand in the way of helping the people of Florida,” Congressman Meek added. “I want to be a fighter for Florida with a
strong voice that won’t let the special interests stand in the way of what’s right. Too many in our country are hurting. Too much is at stake. We have no time to waste.”

Congressman Meek was first elected to public office at the age of 27. He is currently serving in his fourth term in the U.S. House of Representatives. Congressman Meek is the lone Democratic Floridian sitting on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, is a member of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, and also serves on
the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Congressman Meek is the Co-Chair of Speaker Pelosi’s “30-Something” Working Group, which articulates Democratic positions to the public on critical issues before the U.S. Congress.

Prior to his election to the U.S. Congress, Congressman Meek served eight years in the Florida House and Senate and was a captain in the Florida Highway Patrol. He graduated from the Miami-Dade Public School System and received his bachelor’s degree from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University.

Congressman Meek is married to the former Leslie Dixon of Brooklyn, New York for seventeen years, and they have two children, Lauren and Kendrick Jr. Congressman Meek is the son of former Congresswoman Carrie P. Meek.

The complete text of Congressman Meek’s statement appears below. Remarks of Congressman Kendrick Meek (as prepared for delivery):

Thank you everyone for coming here today. This is a day of great joy and emotion for my entire family.

Earlier this morning, pastors and faith leaders gathered here in our Florida home to pray and reflect on this momentous occasion, and more
importantly, for those who are hurting in our state and country.

Today I stand before you…

• A son of Florida, born and raised in Miami
• Educated in our public schools and a graduate of Florida A & M University
• Who proudly wore the uniform of the Florida Highway Patrol
• Who served in both the state House and Senate
• And for the last six years served the people of this 17th District in Congress

Public service and a commitment to make a better life for the people of Florida has been my mission. I've given Florida a strong voice on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and was appointed by the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives to the House Leadership.

But never in my lifetime have the people of Florida been faced with so many big problems. Our state needs bold leadership at every level, and that and it is why I've made the decision to run as a candidate for the United States Senate.

This race is not about me -- it is about Floridians. I am running for Florida, and I am asking Floridians to run with us in this race.

Around our dinner table, we gather to bless our food, give thanks to this country, and hold conversations like every family does who see an uncertain future

We know that so many Floridians don't know who to turn to for answers.

The high school senior who asks their principal, how can I afford college tuition?

The service industry worker who asks their union leadership, can I ever rebuild my retirement account?

The senior on a fixed income who asks their doctor, how can I afford my health care coverage and the medications I need to get healthy?

The father and mother who asks their lender, how can we save our home and avoid foreclosure?

In the last eight years, we have seen incompetence and bad decision-making by too many in Washington. We have sacrificed our children and grandchildren's future by saddling them with unprecedented deficits. We borrow money from foreign countries in order to give tax breaks to the wealthiest people. And now we have
corporate bailouts with some CEOs abusing tax-payer dollars, continuing with their multi-million dollar salaries, bonuses, corporate jets – and yet they refuse to be accountable to how OUR tax dollars are being used to bail them out.

Today, I call on those corporate leaders to not take one dime in salary or bonus until their business is back on solid ground and they have paid the government back every dollar.

As we vote on public policy in the Congress, I have always put the public first. And as we set forward on a course for change, so ably lead by our new President-elect, all of us who serve this country need to set our own agendas aside, work together, and make bold decisions that help everyday Americans.

We must work quickly to see that no more Florida families are the victims of foreclosure. We must create good paying jobs and put people back to work. And we have to stop the bleeding as millions of people have seen their hard-earned retirement funds take a disturbing hit.

These have to be the guiding principals in any stimulus plan that we pass in Congress.

I'm anxious to work closely with Senator Daschle to finally achieve access to health care for all Americans.

We must work urgently to solve the increasing problem of Climate Change – before it's too late.

Immigration reform must be handled appropriately and compassionately.

And as soon as it is safe to do so, we must bring our soldiers home from Iraq. And we must pay close attention to the unrest that we see
in Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Middle East.

Thanks to the leadership of President-Elect Obama, change has come to Washington. But it won't be easy. There will be opposition from many powerful forces who have stopped us before. We cannot let obstructionists stand in the way of helping the people of Florida.

This is why I've decided to run for the U.S. Senate – to be a fighter for Florida with a strong voice that won't let the special interests stand in the way of what's right.

I stand here today, with my wife Leslie, our children Lauren and Kendrick Jr., my mother Carrie Meek, my sister Lucia Raiford and mother-in-law Lois Johnson.

We gather here as a family because public service is our family's calling.

So, after extensive conversations with Floridians all across our state, I am running for the U.S. Senate.

Too many in our country are hurting. Too much is at stake. And we have no time to waste.

Thank you.

From the Blogs

2009-01-11T13:23:00.000-08:00

Clean Up City of St. Augustine, Florida: Florida Likely to Elect Democratic United States Senator in Place of Homophobic Senator Mel Martinez

From the Blogs

2009-01-03T20:14:00.000-08:00

Pensacola Beach Blog: Mulling Over Mel

Clean Up the City of St. Augustine, Florida: Many eye Senate race after Martinez says he won't run for re-election

Clean Up the City of St. Augustine, Florida: Good riddance to bad rubbish

Clean Up the City of St. Augustine, Florida: Mel Martinez will not seek re-election in '10

Bark Bark Woof Woof: Did Martinez Do Florida GOP a Favor?

boiling mad: Florida Senator Mel Martinez will not seek re-election in 2010

Interstate4Jamming2: The Mel Martinez Decision...So What Now?

Daily Kos: FL-Sen: Open seat in Florida

Eye on Miami (Gimleteye): Who will not replace US Senator Mel Martinez: Jeb Bush

Talk to Me: Mel Packs It Up

Pushing Rope: Why Mel Martinez Is Out

ReidBlog: Martinez says 'no mas'

Seminole County Democrats: Open Florida U.S. Senate seat in 2010!

Progress Florida (Ray Seaman): Mel Martinez's Hypocrisy on Housing

Progress Florida (Ray Seaman): Sen. Martinez: Kid's Health Insurance "Divisive"

Clean Up the City of St. Augustine, Florida: FEDERAL ELECTIONS COMMISSION FINES SENATOR MEL MARTINEZ $99,000FOR FEDERAL ELECTIONS CAMPAIGN ACT VIOLATIONS

Clean Up the City of St. Augustine, Florida: Senator Mel Martinez Leaving Senate Because He's Been Fined By FEC and Smells Like a Loser

Martinez Hates Children

2008-11-12T10:08:00.000-08:00

His latest outrage:

"I mean, this is precisely what we should not be doing. SCHIP was one of the most divisive issues of the last Congress...We cannot deal with health care in the current crisis mode that we're in."

Seriously, "precisely" what we shouldn't be doing is insuring children?

Sign Progress Florida's petition telling Martinez and Congress to fix health care.

Fla. Dems Good on Environment, Reps Not So Much

2008-10-18T21:49:00.000-07:00

The League of Conservation Voters released their scorecards for Congress. Can you guess what the pattern is? Of Florida Republicans, only Ileana Ros-Lehtinen does as good as any Democrat and that's only one person. Beyond that, all Democrats do way better than all Republicans. No shocker there.

Alcee Hastings (D), 92%
Ron Klein (D), 92%
Timothy Mahoney (D), 92%
Kendrick Meek (D), 92%
Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D), 92%
Bill Nelson (D), 91%
F. Allen Boyd (D), 85%
Corrine Brown (D), 85%
Kathy Castor (D), 85%
Robert Wexler (D), 69%
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R), 69%
Vern Buchanan (R), 62%
Gus Bilirakis (R), 38%
Ginny Brown-Waite (R), 38%
Mario Diaz-Balart (R), 38%
C.W. Bill Young (R), 38%
Mel Martinez (R), 36%
Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R), 31%
Ander Crenshaw (R), 15%
Ric Keller (R), 15%
Connie Mack (R), 8%
John Mica (R), 8%
Adam Putnam (R), 8%
Dave Weldon (R), 8%
Tom Feeney (R), 0%
Jeff Miller (R), 0%
Cliff Stearns (R), 0%

Republicans Don't Support Troops As Well As Dems

2008-10-12T17:29:00.000-07:00

Check out the latest scorecards from Disabled American Veterans and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America...

DAV:

Bill Nelson, 100
Allen Boyd, 100
Corrine Brown, 100
Kendrick Meek, 100
Robert Wexler, 100
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, 100
Alcee Hastings, 100

Mel Martinez, 60
Jeff Miller, 66
Ander Crenshaw, 66
Ginny Brown-Waite, 66
Cliff Stearns, 66
John Mica, 66
Ric Keller, 50
C.W. Bill Young, 66
Adam Putnam, 66
Connie Mack, 66
David Weldon, 66
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, 66
Lincoln Diaz-Balart, 66
Tom Feeney, 66
Mario Diaz-Balart, 66

Notice a pattern here? All of the Dems have 100%, while none of the Republicans has anything better than a mid-range "D." So much for supporting disabled troops.

IAVA:

Bill Nelson, A+
Allen Boyd, A
Corrine Brown, A
Kathy Castor, A
Timothy Mahoney, A
Kendrick Meek, B
Robert Wexler, A
D. Wasserman Schultz, A+
Ron Klein, A+
Alcee Hastings, A

Mel Martinez, B
Jeff Miller, B
Ander Crenshaw, B
G. Brown-Waite, B
Cliff Stearns, B
John Mica, B
Ric Keller, A
Gus Bilirakis, A
C.W. Bill Young, B
Adam Putnam, C
Vern Buchanan, B
Connie Mack, B
Dave Weldon, C
I. Ros-Lehtinen, A
L. Diaz-Balart, B
Tom Feeney, B
M. Diaz-Balart, B

Republicans do a little better on this one, with Keller, Bilirakis and Ros-Lehtinen all getting an "A." Dems still do better, Meek has the lowest grade on our side of the aisle, and he still has a "B." The only "A+" grades amongst Florida's delegation are Dems and the only grades below "B" are all Republicans. Again, which party actually supports the troops?

From the Blogs

2008-09-08T22:37:00.000-07:00

FLA Politics: That's our Mel

Mel Hates America and Its Values

2008-06-26T11:51:00.000-07:00

It's clear that Americans generally favor more progressive values most of the time. Not Mel. With a lifetime Progressive Punch voting score of 11.9%, it's clear he hates Americans and their values.

Mel is Wasting Your Time in Washington

2008-06-26T11:33:00.000-07:00

According to Congress.org, Mel is the 88th most powerful member of the Senate and as part of the hugely ineffectual Florida Republican delegation in Washington, helps make Florida one of the least powerful states in Congress. Thanks for the great work!

Mel Martinez Hates Florida

2008-04-30T20:18:00.000-07:00

As a member of the Senate Banking Committee, Mel has a chance to move the National Catastrophic Fund legislation sponsored by Ron Klein and Tim Mahoney forward. Despite the bill passing with bipartisan support in the House, it is stalled in the committee Martinez is a member of. He's been saying one thing and doing, well, nothing.

Mel Hates Florida Voters

2008-03-27T18:41:00.000-07:00

When asked about Bill Nelson's proposal to fix the election process, here's what Mel had to say:

I will be thinking about it and coming up with ideas.

It's like he's never even heard of the whole controversy. We've been talking about it around FPC for eight months. Maybe Mel should be reading the site and learning a bit.

Mel Hates the Environment

2008-02-24T19:11:00.002-08:00

The League of Conservation Voters recently released scorecards for Congress. How did Mel do? Poorly:

Mel Martinez (REP), 13%

Not only did all of the Democrats do better than all of the Republicans, With one exception, all of the Democrats did more than twice as good as all the Republicans. And most of the Democrats voted in favor of the environment more than four times as frequently as most of the Republicans.

I wonder how many of these Republicans own property that will be beachfront property when most of Florida is under water because of global warming? I'm just saying...

Good Mel

2007-11-27T22:23:00.003-08:00

Wow, Florida Republicans are fighting some of President Bush's dumber policies. Blast Off!:

Following a similar move by the House on Tuesday, the U.S. Senate voted a short time ago to override Drunky McStagger's veto of a water resources bill with crucial benefits to Florida. To achieve the first override of Drunky's presidency, quite a few Republicans had to support the bill, and they actually did.

"Rep. John Mica, a Winter Park conservative who votes with the president about 90 percent of the time, led the charge in the House, which voted 223-138 on Tuesday for override. Sen. Mel Martinez, who was the president's hand-picked chairman of the national GOP until recently, voted to override. And Republican Florida Gov. Charlie Crist took time out from a trip to Brazil to lobby Florida lawmakers to split with the president. All the Florida Democrats and 12 of 17 House Republicans voted to override Bush."

If they keep doing things like this, we might have to start thinking that some of these people are actually sane. Naaahhh, that won't happen.

Traviesa Hates Personal Responsibility, Grammar, Spelling; Loves the "Mel Martinez Rule"

2007-11-27T22:23:00.001-08:00

Trey sent this lovely e-mail out:

"Our Community is previaleged to have the CNN YouTube Republican Preseidential Debate this week in down town St. Petersburg. As your State Representative I would be remissed if I didnt formally invite all of you to attend these events.

Wednesday Noverber 28th at 11:00am - FLORA WHYLIE PARK"

When people complained about the, you know, general idiocy of the e-mail, what did Trey do? Did he live up to the Republican "value" of taking personal responsibility? No. He invoked the "Mel Martinez Rule":

When you screw up, blame an anonymous staffer

Very effective approach to avoiding personal responsibility. Well-played, Traviesa, well-played.

The scariest part of the e-mail? It was an invitation to a party for Mitt Romney.

Mel Loves Segregation

2007-11-27T21:13:00.000-08:00

What else explains his love for admitted segregationist Trent Lott. Very shameful, Mel.

Door’s still open for Draft Joe Garcia – Raul Martinez, too

2007-11-18T16:02:00.000-08:00

The headline doesn't refer to an electoral challenge to Mel Martinez, but we wouldn't want to neglect him. He's on the list, too, though for a more distant future. This is what's in store for him.

For those not on the email list of the Miami-Dade County Democratic Party, here’s what Joe Garcia said in response to the rush of interest in drafting him for Congress: “While I am still far from making a decision, I do want to say that your kindness and support are very humbling and much appreciated!”

Regarding the on-line mention of his name having appeared in the Cuban regime newspaper Granma, he said, “Let me be clear that this paper is the communist propaganda newspaper and it makes assertions about the community and Congresspeople that are slanderous. And, although I may completely disagree with the Republican congressional delegation, these assertions by Granma are patently false.”

Granma had written an article about U.S. news reports on the South Florida congressional races and used its normal “Mafia” terminology in referring to the South Florida Republicans in Congress, This caused a little eruption of injured pride among some Cuban Americans. Garcia -- of Cuban background himself -- called one who protested, and issued his statement to make sure his distance from Havana was clear.

Garcia’s email concluded with mention of the new web site draftgarcia.com, so I think it’s safe to say he’s not against running against Mario Diaz-Balart in District 25. In an interview Friday with Nicole Sandler on WINZ AM940, he said it was a matter of convincing his wife and young daughter that it was right for the family.

Expect a decision by the second half of January, he said.

Uh, Joe, isn’t that when we’ll be in the thick of the runup to the Jan. 29 Florida presidential primary? Well, at least people will be thinking about politics.

Meanwhile, it’s heartening to hear enthusiasm for the Garcia candidacy. Nicole Sandler said on WINZ, “How awesome it would be to have Joe Garcia in the House of Representatives.”

On Stuck on the Palmetto, blogger Rick said he liked the way Joe debates the hardliners on the radio and provided a link to one of the best examples. I’ll repeat it here, along with Rick’s advice to let the link download, and then advance the slider to about 19:00. It runs for about a half-hour until the host, Henry Gomez, is so thoroughly defeated that he mutes Joe Garcia.

Rick concluded: “Joe has said he would run if he was asked. Let’s ask. Let’s start tossing out relics of the past and start looking forward.”

Meanwhile, there’s a growing web site to draft Raul Martinez, former mayor of Hialeah, to run for Congressional District 21, the seat held by Lincoln Diaz-Balart. You can hear Joe Garcia encouraging Martinez to run, in that clip on WINZ. Again, a decision likely in January.

Garcia said he knows of a handful of possible candidates to run against Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in Congressional District 18, and he’s encouraging them to consider it strongly.

What’s needed is a super majority in Congress to end the war and deal with health care – all the reverses needed after two terms of George W. Bush – and we should not shrink from thinking landslide Democratic victory in this supposed Republican stronghold.

Sweet dreams, everyone – five Democrats in the U.S. House from Miami-Dade.

We’re not the only ones thinking about it. From farther afield, hope springs from the Swing State Project, with a post that went up on Friday noting the moves to draft Garcia and Martinez. Read through the long string of comments to see how other races in Florida would be affected, and how progressives around the country will be encouraged to help us sweep the Republicans out in South Florida.

In case you forget how to get the links to draft Garcia and Martinez, they are on the main page of Miami-Dade Dems, in the Links section down in the right-hand column. Don't just sit there -- go to the sites and sign up!

Draft Joe Garcia – great idea!

2007-11-15T20:59:00.000-08:00

It’s tempting to think that this is emerging now via the “Cuban newspapers” because the mails are so slow between Washington and Havana. Ha ha. Actually, the Cuban Interests section in Washington was hot on the Internet as soon as The Hill published this topic back on Oct. 18, and Havana learned in a microsecond that Joe Garcia was tempted enough to be saying to The Hill he’d run for Congress if the party asked him.

“Ouch!” They said there in Havana. (What’s Espanol for Ouch?) “Bad for us if Joe Garcia takes over in the House of Representatives from one of those shirt-tail relatives of our Leader.” So they probably said in Havana.

And then it took them almost a month to figure out how to say it in their press.

So here’s the way I imagine their triple-twist thinking went:

“The Diaz-Balart brothers and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen – don’t forget Mel Martinez! – are so useful to keeping us Communists in power that we can’t imagine life without their neo-con faces in the House and Senate.” [This occupied them for a week.]
“But if we came out and said we favor their being re-elected in 2008, the voters there would think it was a trick, and then Joe Garcia and Raul Martinez would run and be elected.” [This took two more weeks of deep thought.]
“So we’ll publish a subtle analysis of the Miami political situation in Granma, our party organ, and appear to approve the likely challenges by Joe Garcia and Raul Martinez against the Diaz-Balarts, whom we’ll label as ‘Batista supporters,’ and, Voila! The Diaz-Balarts and their gang will be elected again as the voters react against what we endorse.” [Another week passed working this up.]

Here in peaceful South Florida, we raise our heads from the newspapers and TV screens full of news of police and criminals killing each other, and realize slowly that Cuba is messing around in our politics. Damn! That’s what they’re trying, is it? We’ll show them! Let’s Draft Joe Garcia and show them they can’t discourage us with their triple-twist trick!

Well, this may – or may not – be what happened, but in any case it’s a good idea. The Florida Politics blog has a diary up since last night with that goal – Draft Joe Garcia – and it’s also up on DailyKos with a way to vote and say whether you’d be willing to donate $5 to get him to run. Check it out. All the links are therein.

Good Martinez

2007-11-05T20:19:00.000-08:00

Contrary to popular belief, the point of this blog is not to make Mel Martinez look bad. The point is to draw an accurate picture of Mel and let him make himself look bad. That means from time to time, he might actually look good on certain issues:

Sen. Mel Martinez, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Lincoln Diaz-Balart say they're ready to vote to override the presidential veto. The Water Resources Development Act HR 1495 contains more than $2 billion for Everglades restoration efforts.

Martinez said "at the end of the day, as a Floridian, Everglades restoration is such an integral part of this WRDA bill we have to take the good with the bad."

Rep. Connie Mack, R-Cape Coral, assailed the presidential veto. "I'm confident that both the House and Senate can override his veto," Mack said. "And I hope we do so without delay."

Mel Martinez in our thoughts at the FDP convention

2007-10-29T06:59:00.001-07:00

This blog got some mention at the Netroots working sessions at the Florida Democratic Party convention in Orlando this past weekend. The concept of the watch blog is fairly new, so this one was brought up along with those watching the Diaz-Balarts (FL-21 and FL-25), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL-18), Gus Bilirakis (FL-9).

And since my roundup of convention mood and events included mention of a possible opponent for Mel Martinez in 2010, I'll repeat it here. Down toward the bottom is where Mel lives in this post.

And here's the full text.

My convention was fun and interesting. Not like my first, two years ago, when Howard Dean, John Edwards, Barack Obama, Mark Warner and Tom Vilsack were strong orators, stirring the crowd and displaying the strength that the Democrats would present for the 2008 election. It was still only 2005 then, but it was already clear how badly the Republicans were leading this beloved country, and what an opportunity it was for us in the ’06 midterms and the ’08 presidential elections.

I made up my mind then as to who was the best presidential candidate. This blog, however, is neutral, and you have to know me personally to see whose button is on my shirt. I haven’t changed my mind. I’m laying this out so the reader will understand why I’m not upset that the Democratic candidates are staying away from Florida. I don’t need any more information to make up my mind. Those who gnash their teeth about the supposed lack of attention paid to Florida are wasting their dental enamel. Florida will NOT be ignored. Its needs WILL be met. Even if the candidates stay away right up until November 2008, Florida is too important to be left out of the federal budget or limelight. Squealing and wailing is, to me, a sign of insecurity.

The Florida delegation at the Denver nominating convention will be seated, one way or another, and their votes and our votes in the primary will count. I confess to feeling annoyed when the media report that the Florida primary will all be in vain, or votes won’t count, or even that they won’t be counted.

Sorry, this is a Rovian conspiracy to keep Democrats from voting. The Republicans always are trying to get Democrats to stay away, and this entire affair has been a Karlish trick to drive down Democratic participation in the Jan. 29 election. For a while, they were trying to slip some wild property tax change through as a referendum, but now it looks as if they have screwed it up too badly for that to happen. We’ll know for certain about this by Monday night, when the legislature must pass something to get it on the ballot by Jan. 29.

That area (the budget and taxation) needs more careful consideration than something slammed together behind closed doors and presented at the deadline – though that’s the way the Jebbian party operated for eight years, so we must be careful that it doesn’t happen again.

So my appeal goes like this: Please, stop suing others in the Democratic Party. Please, stop shooting ourselves in the foot. Instead, be united as Democrats. Concentrate our fire on Republicans.

A little ridicule is good. Here I’m taking Dan Gelber as my model, and I see that his raking comments at the convention were picked up by the media. Let the Republican candidates campaign in Florida as much as they like, the leader of the state House minority Democrats said.

“The truth is, the Republicans are here almost in excess,” the Orlando Sentinel quoted him as saying in his Saturday speech. “You see these Republican candidates everywhere. And the more you hear about them and see them, the less you like them.”

The Miami Herald picked out a different line from Gelber’s speech: “All they do is trash our candidates and pander to their base,” he was quoted as saying. “I think we should keep them in the state of Florida as much as possible.”

The Herald also opined that the posters distributed for Gelber's speech were “deliberately ambiguous” in that they said he was running “for Senate” without saying exactly that he is running for the state Senate. Wow, it could also mean the U.S. Senate, and the bumbler incumbent, Mel Martinez, will be up in 2010.

The plot thickens. And lengthens.

As we speculate on that, let’s follow Karen Thurman’s admonition. Concentrate on building the grass roots, the state party chair said.

And we have the wisdom of our own Miami-Dade County veteran, Maria Roberts: “I feel very positive about building the Democratic Party, and that’s what this convention is all about,” the Herald quoted her as saying.

To that end, the netroots gang showed up 60 strong for a series of workships Saturday afternoon on how to do a better blog, a better website, how to organize an on-line community, how to be a candidate with an on-line presence. We're at the heart of the Florida Democratic Party now, and we need to continue getting ready to we can pounce into action when the nominee becomes known -- February, shall we say?

UPDATE: This post vaulted to the front page of the Florida Politics blog Monday morning. Check it out at this link. And read on there, too. Florida Politics performs a valuable service in summarizing what's happening, what's reported, in our political scene.

Mel Martinez out as "general chair"

2007-10-19T12:51:00.001-07:00

Mel Martinez is out as so-called “general chairman” of the Republican Party. I have a little comment up on DailyKos pointing out the announcement, and also asking whether this can be taken as confirmation that the Republicans are shifting further racist on immigration. Can’t stand having a Hispanic on top? Is that right, fellows? He must have shrunk in his guayabera a year ago when the Republicans were running a TV ad making Hispanics out to be potential terrorists. That's your party, Mel. Were you no longer willing to be their front man? Or did they give you the boot?

Which to hope for? I'd like the Republicans to be an honorable opposition. Hard to see honorable in this.

Defining the senator's job

2007-10-05T19:27:00.000-07:00

Open Letter to Senator Martinez

Senator Martinez,

I think it is high time that someone define the function of your job as Senator of the United States from the State of Florida. (Mr. Nelson you could stand to take a lesson here as well so pay attention. Close attention.)

Your job is to represent the will of the people, the will of your constituents, the will of the voting public. Your job is to uphold the Constitution of the United States. Technically, I am your boss. You work for me.

You do not work for the President. In fact, your job is to keep him in line and in check. You do not work for a political party. You work for the citizens of your State. Even the ones who don't have a right to vote or are not old enough.

Your performance thus far as my employee has been woefully lacking. Not only do you not listen, it appears that you do not care the slightest for the voting citizens back home.

If you did, you would stop hiding behind rhetoric and talking points and you would stop perpetuating flat out lies. You would fight tooth and nail to restore the Constitution. A Constitution that your parents prayed to be protected by and believed in so fiercely they sent you here for a better life.

Instead, you have turned your back on Floridians who want Habeas Corpus restored, Floridians that know the real body count in Iraq, Floridians who care more about our troops than your voting record reflects, Floridians that risked their lives for a Freedom you are not fighting to protect.

I honestly don't think you consider the will of the people, Mr. Senator. I think you are more concerned with raising money and raising fear. In fact, when I called your office about the Petraeus Report and asked your staffer if you were OK with lying to the American public as long as it served the needs of this Administration she said, "Yes." And I asked it twice.

Stop turning your back on the Constitution. Stop turning your back on the will of the people you are supposed to represent. Stop turning your back on our burned-out troops. And stop turning your back on the millions of Iraqi lives this country is responsible for taking.

The fact that the Senate wasted so much time over a print advertisement in the New York Times is infuriating. Shame on you all.

This is not what I am paying you for. Stop wasting my money, my time and my freedom.

Jody Finver
Miami, Florida

Mel Loves Bush

2007-10-05T12:45:00.000-07:00

Pushing Rope notes the percentage of the time Florida Republicans vote in line with President Bush, one of the worst presidents in American history. Not surprisingly, Mel loves Bush:

2007 - 90%
2006 - 92%

Mel Lives in Fantasyland

2007-10-05T11:19:00.000-07:00

...in addition to living in Florida and Washington. On Iraq:

Florida’s GOP Sen. Mel Martinez has just taken the U.S. Senate floor to declare that he believes the U.S. troop buildup in Iraq has been succeeding.

Then again, maybe he does live in the real world:

“There’s no question that the (Iraq Prime Minister) Maliki government has not delivered as hoped,” said Martinez.

Martinez added: “There’s no question that the political progress has lagged behind the military progress.”

Nope, Fantasyland:

In fact, Martinez said he believes enough progress is being made in Iraq for Americans to understand “the way forward” is for U.S. troops to continue in Iraq.

I Love All This Republican In-Fighting

2007-08-23T11:26:00.001-07:00

The latest target is Mel, who is being attacked by the conservative nutjob Washington Times:

The Washington Times, never a big fan of Sen. Mel Martinez's ascension to national Republican party chair, is scolding the Florida senator for criticizing the immigration stance of the GOP's leading presidential candidates.

Echoing comments he made after the collapse of an immigration package, Martinez at an appearance this week in St. Petersburg suggested the candidates were only offering criticism, not solutions.

"The junior senator from Florida is wrong on more than the substance," the newspaper's editorial board opines. "This is a case of Mr. Martinez putting his own personal views and his loyalty to President Bush above the serious responsibilities of his chairmanship. He has just driven a wedge between himself and the two men most likely at this point to contend for the Republican presidential nomination. To what end? He is at odds with his party. He sounds bitter. He isn't going to change minds. And he may have just undercut the man for whom Mr. Martinez's job requires a vigorous defense next year."

It's actually a case of Martinez doing the right thing and fighting against racism, which is wrong, even if the majority of the members of a particular party favor it.

Mel Martinez Resources

2007-08-19T07:02:00.000-07:00

For those interested in learning more about Mel, here are a list of relevant resources:

FPC Wiki Page

Official Senate Site

Official Campaign Site

Wikipedia Page

Congresspedia Page

WaPo Voting Database

FEC Report

On the Issues

Open Secrets.org

Project Vote Smart

Internet Hotseat

Welcome

2007-08-05T08:01:00.000-07:00

This is a new local blog for Florida's junior Senator and watching the actions Mel Martinez, the Republican Senator who misserves us in Washington.

If you are interested in posting at The Mel Martinez Bulletin, drop me a line at quinnelk@hotmail.com with some idea of your Democratic and/or progressive credentials and I'll add you as a blogger.