March 27: Some "Nos" Needed in Tallahassee

*Say no to guns at workplace

If the Florida Senate and Gov. Charlie Crist agree with the Florida House, we may soon be seeing new versions of what happened at Virginia Tech at various businesses:

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/state/epaper/2008/03/27/a14a_xgr_guns_0327.html

Shame on the three Democrats - Debbie Boyd of Newberry, Tony Sasso of Cocoa Beach and especially Ron Saunders of Key West, who lives in South Florida and has heard about local police officers murdered over the past year - who have followed the national party's lead in caving in to the National Rifle Association just to get a few more votes. Is it worth it to sell your souls? To sell the souls and lives of your children, or your co-workers?

Credit to Republicans Jim Frishe of St. Petersburg, Ed Hooper of Clearwater, Juan Carlos Planas of Miami and Dennis Ross of Lakeland for bucking their party leaders and the NRA and voting against this bill.

Never mind what's happened at two college campuses over the last year. Does anyone remember the gunman who went into the U.S. Capitol building - one of this country's seats of power - 10 years ago and killed two police officers?

The next step is the Florida Senate, which will consider SB 1130. To paraphrase Nancy Reagan: Just say no.

*Voters should say no to reversal of ban

``Individuals or entities may not be barred from participating in public programs because of religion.''

It sounds innocuous enough, but it will open up a set of constitutional problems if Florida voters approve it in November. That's because it will reverse a 140-year-0ld state ban on public money being spent on religious institutions.

Florida's Taxation and Budget Reform Commission has placed it on the November ballot:

http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/story/471730.html

Roberto Martinez' argument just doesn't make sense......The First Amendment and the U.S. Constitution are actually reasons not to support this.

Here's a link to a column my friend and former colleague Michael Putney wrote for the Miami Herald earlier this week. Michael also had his "Putney Perspective" about it on his weekly program, "This Week in South Florida," on WPLG-Channel 10:

http://www.miamiherald.com/851/story/469063.html

He says it a lot better than I do.



*Florida apologizes for slavery

And it only took almost a century and a half:

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/state/article432823.ece

Where's the next step - reparations?