News 16 March 2009

**Special 2009 Session Primer**
To watch the Florida Legislature in action, one would think that the 2008 elections never happened. On November 4, 2008, voters across the country and here in Florida sent a blazingly clear message… that they were tired of the failed economic policies of the past decade. http://www.flaflcio.org/page_files/11_February_09.pdf

Posey: Future presidential candidates should show their birth certificates; won’t say whether he believes Obama is a US citizen by Mark Matthews
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Bill Posey, R-Indialantic, has stirred up the hornet’s nest by filing legislation that would make it mandatory for future presidential candidates to include copies of their birth certificate when filing to run for the White House. http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2009/03/posey-future-presidential-candidates-should-show-their-birth-certificates-wont-say-whether-he-believ.html


Getting lost in Amazon? Obama banters with Lula
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Foreign leaders hoping to have good chemistry with U.S. President Barack Obama may want to take a lesson from Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE52D23N20090314?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

The Culture Warriors Get Laid Off
SOMEDAY we’ll learn the whole story of why George W. Bush brushed off that intelligence briefing of Aug. 6, 2001, “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.” http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/opinion/15rich.html?th&emc=th

Harnessing the Sun, With Help From Cities
PALM DESERT, Calif. — Rick Clark’s garage is loaded with fast toys for playing in the sun. He has a buggy for racing on sand dunes, two sleek power boats for pulling water skiers, and a new favorite: 48 solar panels that send his energy meter whirring backward. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/science/earth/15solar.html?th&emc=th

Administration Is Open to Taxing Health Benefits
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is signaling to Congress that the president could support taxing some employee health benefits, as several influential lawmakers and many economists favor, to help pay for overhauling the health system. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/us/politics/15health.html?th&emc=th

A.I.G. Planning Huge Bonuses After $170 Billion Bailout
WASHINGTON — The American International Group, which has received more than $170 billion in taxpayer bailout money from the Treasury and Federal Reserve, plans to pay about $165 million in bonuses by Sunday to executives in the same business unit that brought the company to the brink of collapse last year. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/business/15AIG.html?th&emc=th

Florida sales tax breaks aren't likely to be dumped
TALLAHASSEE -- For the first time in more than two decades, the Florida Legislature is taking a serious look at eliminating some sales tax exemptions that have been embedded in the state tax code at the request of special interests. http://www.miamiherald.com/business/story/945610.html

A Tsunami of Excuses
IT’S been a year since Bear Stearns collapsed, kicking off Wall Street’s meltdown, and it’s more than time to debunk the myths that many Wall Street executives have perpetrated about what has happened and why.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/12/opinion/12cohan.html?th&emc=th