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SP Times gives undeserved credence to Baxley’s unverified claims

Thin skinned Rep. Dennis Baxley has been in the news lately as a pro-feeding tube, anti-family GOP thug. He's also been acting as a water boy for David Horowitz's dishonest drive to fix liberal bias in the nation's colleges.

Like Horowitz, Baxley is short on actual facts and big on unverifiable anecdotes that he says prove that conservatives face 4 years of bias and ridicule simply for matriculating at a state university.

A few weeks ago, some Baxley claims were shown to be, uh, just a little exaggerated. Actually, the professor who was mentioned came out and called the allegations against him nonsense, but that is not enough, apparently, to stop the SP Times from producing a puff piece that cites many other flimsy and unproven stories straight from the vaults of David Horowitz.

From his seat on a key education committee, Rep. Dennis Baxley helps shape the budget of every public university in Florida.

But when he appeared Thursday before the state's university presidents, Baxley portrayed himself as a victim.

"I have not come with a set of demands," he said in a soft voice. "I have come with a burden."

The Ocala Republican told the presidents he has been humiliated for his conservative views. He showed them a cartoon published in the University of Florida student newspaper that depicted a naked Baxley crawling behind a monkey in the evolutionary chain.

Baxley's request: Protect conservatives like him from ridicule by the "liberal elite" on Florida campuses.

The presidents nodded politely, but didn't agree to do anything specific. Instead, they told Baxley about policies already in place to protect students treated unfairly for any reason.

"It's our job to make sure that those policies work," said University of West Florida president John Cavanaugh, who chairs the state association of university presidents.

The compromise seemed to satisfy Baxley, who is pushing legislation that would give students the right to object if professors repeatedly discuss controversial issues irrelevant to a class.

The compromise should also satisfy professors, many of whom saw Baxley's bill as a threat to academic freedom and their control of the classroom.

Though he got no specific concessions, Baxley said after the meeting that he thinks the presidents "have embraced my intentions."

His conciliatory stance also reflects political reality: His bill is on life support. Gov. Bush doesn't support it, and it has made no progress in the Senate.
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Baxley's bill has become a part of a national debate over whether university faculties are hotbeds of radicalism. Before filing his bill, Baxley consulted conservative activist David Horowitz, who is pushing similar legislation in other states.

A former Marxist turned conservative, Horowitz has traveled the nation speaking about bias on college campus, he is author of Hating Whitey: And Other Progressive Causes and How to Beat the Democrats: and Other Subversive Ideas.

Horowitz argues that at many universities, conservative thinkers are shut out of tenure, graduate programs and classroom discussions.

A recent study published in The Forum, a political journal, supports that view. The survey of 1,643 professors at 183 institutions found that academics do appear tilted toward liberal positions. It also acknowledged that many complaints are based on student perceptions of their own grades and views.
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Baxley brought up a complaint of his own Thursday, about an FSU professor who supposedly told a Tallahassee police officer taking a graduate course: "I don't give Republicans A's."

Wetherell, the FSU president, pressed for details, including a name.

"I have not seen many tentative Tallahassee police officers that don't speak up," he said.

No name, no proof of bias, just whining, disgruntled former students trying to get back at professors whose views they refuse to acknowledge as legitimate.

Oh, and “The Forum,” cited as a definitive source of proof of campus bias?

First, the study appears in the March issue of the Forum, an online political science journal funded by the Randolph Foundation, a right-wing group that has given grants to such ultra-conservative organizations as the Independent Women's Forum and Americans for Tax Reform.

The leading researcher of the study, Robert Lichter of George Mason University, used to work for the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute and has a long history of calling things "liberally biased."

Between 1986 and 1988, Lichter held the DeWitt Wallace Chair in Mass Communications at the American Enterprise Institute. Also, at a conference sponsored by the right-wing group Accuracy In Media after the first Gulf War, Lichter was reported by The Associated Press to have said that he was "disappointed in statements by (Peter) Arnett upon his return from Baghdad that he was in the enemy capital on behalf of all CNN viewers, not just Americans.

"I see a trend toward journalists seeing themselves as citizens of the world rather than patriotic Americans," Lichter said.

The study has also been debunked by Media Matters.

Furthermore, the study does not even show, much less "prove," that conservatives have been discriminated against in hiring and promotion. Few would doubt that liberals outnumber conservatives among university faculty. But justifying claims about hiring and promotion would require data on the number of conservatives and liberals who applied for various positions or came up for tenure review. Despite Lichter's comments, the study's authors present no data addressing the issue. (Academic promotion is extraordinarily complex; in such a study, researchers would have to determine, for instance, which respondents were denied tenure at a first-tier institution, then received tenure at a second-tier institution, then decide how such a person should be classified.)
The conservative claim of bias (as opposed to mere underrepresentation) rests on the idea that there are significant numbers of conservative Ph.D.s who have been denied faculty positions or tenure because of their political views. Lichter, Rothman, and Nevitte provide no evidence to support this assumption.

Educators don’t make way for lame duckling

Our lame duck Gov. is starting to meet some resistance from those whom he would fuck. These are groups who might have historically simply rolled over and shut their eyes, gritting their teeth and taking it like a man as Jeb! moved in and violated their most intimate values. But now, Jeb!'s power is on the wane, and former victims are turning on their attacker with growing confidence. Is it time to change Jeb!'s trademark punctuation? Hmmm... “Jeb?”, or maybe “Jeb:-(“?

Bush cancels rally aimed at pushing class-size repeal

Snubbed by the state's leading education groups, Gov. Jeb Bush and the state Department of Education have canceled a rally scheduled for Monday to promote the governor's effort to dilute the class-size amendment approved by voters three years ago.

While the governor's spokeswoman, Alia Faraj, acknowledged Wednesday that some invited groups had decided not to attend the rally, she said it was postponed because of the Passover holiday, which begins Saturday and lasts for eight days, although only the first and seventh days are considered full holidays. No new date has been set for a rally.
"Legislators wouldn't be back in town until late in the afternoon" Monday, Faraj said, even though the Senate has committee meetings scheduled at noon that day.

But opponents of Bush's plan said the rally cancellation could be indicative of what they say is opposition in the state to asking voters to repeal what they approved in 2002.

"I don't think the popular vote is out there and finally the superintendents and school boards are recognizing that his proposal doesn't offer that much, either," Sen. Ron Klein, D-Delray Beach, said. "The governor has been able to pressure those groups in the past, but as he winds down his term, he has less power over them."

GOP knows best – now shut up and do what you’re told

Leading up to last November's election, we were repeatedly reminded that the GOP is well practiced at inventing and exaggerating cases of voter “fraud” in order to gain a tactical advantage. They have used the same methods to push laws demanding multiple forms of ID from voters, to scrub voting rolls, and to place poll watchers in minority precincts, just to name three popular examples.

Now, legislators in Tallahassee are crying “fraud” in order to gain acceptance for their latest attempt at stifling democracy: restrictive rules on the gathering of signatures for petitions backing citizen initiatives.

Supporters say the measures are needed to stop cluttering the Constitution with unnecessary or costly initiatives.

But legislators have no qualms about their own amendments. The first question on the November 2006 ballot will be a legislator-driven proposal to extend term limits from eight years to 12.

Others could follow, including:

A plan to change the Constitution to scale back the voter-mandated class size amendment and add a $35,000 starting teacher salary.

Requiring an election before tax money is used for a professional sports team.

A provision barring local governments from increasing real estate taxes for low-income, elderly residents.

An amendment repealing a measure that would yank a doctor's license after three charges of medical malpractice.

Lawmakers say their own amendments are more carefully analyzed for potential fiscal impact than the citizen initiatives.
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But opponents say the Legislature is trying to deprive citizens of the only available method for circumventing politicians who ignore the public will. Several successful citizen initiatives, such as a ban on smoking in public places, the cap on class sizes and a ban on commercial fishing nets, came only after the Legislature refused to approve similar measures.

"Florida voters are using the amendment process because it's the only way for them to get their voices heard in Tallahassee," said Ben Wilcox, executive director of Common Cause Florida. "It's almost shameful that the Legislature is trying to take that away from them."

Lawmakers could put two of their ideas on the 2006 general election ballot.

One would ask voters to require 60 percent approval for all constitutional amendments, including those proposed by the Legislature, instead of a simple majority. The other would limit citizen petitions to issues affecting basic rights, government structure or items already in the state Constitution.

But citizens groups are most outraged by the bill scheduled to be heard by the House today. It would make it a first-degree misdemeanor for someone to gather petitions without a prominent ID badge. Paying people for each signature collected also would result in a criminal charge.

The bill would require groups to turn in signatures to local elections supervisors every 30 days. Late signatures would be thrown out. Only Florida residents could collect signatures for a petition, excluding college students and seasonal residents.

Supporters say the bill, sponsored by Sen. JD Alexander, R-Winter Haven, and Rep. Dudley Goodlette, R-Naples, will cut down on election fraud by deterring out-of-state organizations from using paid petition gatherers.
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The measure has been approved by several committees in both chambers and is nearing the floor of the Senate.

But at a Senate Republican Caucus meeting last week, several senators worried that the public didn't understand the proposed bill.

"They really believe we are taking away their right to amend," said Sen. Nancy Argenziano, R-Dunnellon.

They asked the majority leader's office to launch a public relations campaign, including talking points for each Republican senator.

Uh, Nancy, despite any focus grouped talking points you might be able to come up with, you are taking away our right to amend. If you don't want us to believe that, then don't vote for the fucking bill that

"Save the Voters Voice," a coalition opposing the changes, contends they would make it virtually impossible for grass roots citizens groups to participate in the initiative process.

"This legislation is a solution looking for a problem," said Rich Templin, spokesman for the Florida AFL-CIO.

ACORN follows through

Last month, there was a real possibility that Florida's cold hearted business oriented low wage Republicans would drastically weaken the new minimum wage amendment that voters mandated last November. Well, ACORN, a key backer of the amendment, went to work and Republicans must have realized that they had no legal ground to stand on, because the bill that's set to make it into law is apparently nowhere near as bad as feared.

Five months after labor advocates trumped the business community and persuaded Florida voters to raise the state's minimum wage, an agreement has been reached on how to implement the plan. The deal, expected to be approved by the Legislature shortly, all but assures that the state's minimum wage will jump $1 to $6.15 on May 2.

The proposal, unanimously approved in its first Senate committee Tuesday, includes little of the business-orientated proposals lobbyists sought this year in the House when they argued the constitutional amendment was so vague it would require significant a new law to implement. They also had pushed to make it harder for hourly workers who were denied the new state minimum wage from pursuing class-action lawsuits.

But such proposals largely fell out of favor last week after a pair of senators - one a Republican citrus grower, the other a Democratic labor organizer - invited business and representatives of ACORN, the worker group that had pushed the minimum wage, to a meeting to hash out a compromise.

The resulting agreement has been embraced in the House, where the measure is ready for a floor vote.

Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, said Tuesday he and Sen. Tony Hill, D-Jacksonville, steered the conversation toward finding common ground. "We make pretty good partners on this kind of thing," he said of Hill. "We wanted to get this done."

ACORN lobbyist Karen Woodall said her group is satisfied that workers won't face undue burden in asserting their right to the state minimum wage. "Our position all along has been this issue was self-implementing. But as long as there is going to be a bill, we can accept this," she said.

Under the plan, workers who are denied the state's minimum wage must complain in writing to a supervisor, outlining about how much money they feel they are owed.

If the employer doesn't respond within 15 days with the unpaid wages, the worker has the right to sue or complain to the Florida Attorney General's Office.

The bill will give the attorney general authority to take civil action against employers who violate the law, including imposing a $1,000 fine for each violation.
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Under the proposed law, the first wage increase will come in less than a year on Jan. 1, 2006.

In November's election, 71 percent of voters approved the measure, despite strong opposition from the Florida Chamber of Commerce, most business groups and most Republican state officials, including Gov. Jeb Bush.

GOP inaction hurts Florida kids

As BlogWood readers know , Florida's GOP dominated legislature managed to discourage so many sick children from enrolling the KidCare health insurance program that millions in unspent federal dollars will probably have to be returned.

Today's SP Times article implies a sense of urgency, but there's been widespread awareness of this problem for at least a month, and no bills have been passed in the meantime. I guess that the GOP just hates poor sick children .

One year ago, Florida legislators faced public pressure to deal with a growing waiting list of children needing subsidized health care.

Their answer was to spend enough money to enroll all the children who were waiting, and then stop keeping the politically charged waiting list.

A year later, they have the opposite problem: 123,000 fewer children have insurance, and more than $100-million remains unspent.

The number of KidCare participants declined from 363,000 last April to 240,000 this month, a one-third decline in a year.

So legislators are trying to avoid further embarrassment by allowing year-round enrollment instead of limiting it to January and September.

The House and Senate are poised to pass legislation as early as this week to make it easier for parents to enroll in the program. But it is possible the state's action will be too little, too late.

"We think we need to encourage as much as we can, more children, and if folks fell through the cracks, I'm sorry. I apologize," said House Speaker Allan Bense, R-Panama City, a member of the House leadership a year ago.

The state now has enough money for an "unprecedented" number of children to enroll, KidCare administrator Rose Naff said. But unless changes are made, Florida could be forced to return more than $100-million in federal money, because the state must give back money it doesn't spend by June 30, the end of the fiscal year.

A waiting list will be needed only if more children enroll than the state can afford, which seems unlikely.

Florida budgeted $531-million for KidCare this year and could end the year with a surplus of $160-million.
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Lawmakers hope to pass the legislation (HB 569 and SB 1324) this week and get it to Gov. Jeb Bush by next week. The law would become effective immediately, allowing open enrollments immediately.

GOP moves to protect sexual predators

That's right: amid all the “get tough” talk emanating from lawmakers' orifices, a bill that would force a victim of incest to go to her father and seek permission to abort his child has strong backing and will probably pass despite its questionable constitutionality.

The SP Times weighs in on the anti-women's rights bills working their way toward passage in Tallahassee .

The measures target about half of Florida's 60 or so abortion clinics that perform second-trimester abortions in an effort to make those abortions too onerous and expensive to perform. This would leave many women without a viable alternative, because going to a hospital would substantially increase the procedure's cost.

The bills outline detailed requirements for those clinics, including their physical facilities, supplies, equipment, staff training, paperwork and postprocedure follow-up. They are rules clearly written by bureaucrats, not health professionals. Stephanie Grutman, executive director of the Florida Association of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, points out that one of the regulations would have clinics perform a post-operative urine pregnancy test within a time frame that would guarantee the test would be positive, since certain hormones would still be present.

The sponsors claim the rules are needed to improve safety, but there is no indication safety is a problem. More than 91,000 abortions took place last year in Florida, yet over the last 10 years there have been fewer than 75 complaints logged with the state against clinics. Only four of those were deemed valid.

As Rep. Nancy Detert, a Venice Republican charged, if the Legislature really wanted to protect women's health it would address plastic surgery centers, not abortion clinics. "We actually have people dying from plastic surgery breast augmentation with the wrong anesthetics," Detert said during a floor debate. "Your bill targets one particular industry."

In the debate over how to implement a parental notice requirement for a minor's abortion, the House is moving in an unconstitutional direction. The U.S. Supreme Court has permitted states to require parental notice as long as girls have the option of going to court to prove they were mature enough to make that choice without parental involvement. Under the House proposal, HB 1659, only girls 16 and older would have a judicial bypass option. That means younger girls, including those who are victims of sexual abuse by their fathers, would have no choice but to inform a parent if they want an abortion.