In the May 23, 2010 edition of the New York Times Magazine, The Grey Lady questioned what it calls the base of the Democrat base -- teachers' unions -- and their effect on education reform. In one of the story's images, you see the words, "Are Teachers' Unions the Enemy of Reform? Discuss" scrawled across a white board in the front of a classroom. The 12-page article begins with a story about Michael Mulgrew, a Brooklyn vocational high school teacher who also serves as the head of New York City's United Federation of Teachers.

When lawmakers come up with a budget that spends more than Charlie Crist, you better believe there's some fat in it. Sure enough, Florida TaxWatch has zeroed in on $60 million plump "turkeys" that deserve the ax. While accounting for less than 0.1 percent of the $70.4 billion state spending plan, the turkeys are troubling because lawmakers backdoor them into the budget without the benefit of committee hearings or normal due process.

Florida Right To Life President Carrie Eisnaugle sent Gov. Charlie Crist a letter, urging him to support a measure the Legislature passed requiring women considering abortions in the first trimester to have ultrasounds. This bill prevents taxpayer funding of abortion, which is extremely unpopular with the people, wrote Eisnaugle,

Attorney General Bill McCollums gubernatorial campaign team has been hyping their candidates speech in Jacksonville today on economics and job creation -- and with Florida facing 12 percent unemployment, they have reason to. Jobs remain one of the chief issues in the Sunshine State.

The home of Mickey Mouse and Spider-man attracted more tourists than anywhere else in the nation last year -- despite Central Florida's 4.7 percent decrease in tourism. Orlando, home of Walt DIsney World, Universal Studios and virtually no end of whimsical lands, attratcted 46.6 million visitors in 2009, reports tourism statistics company D.K. Shifflet & Associates.

Speculation continues to grow that Bud Chiles, the son of late Gov. Lawton Chiles, will be jumping into the Democratic gubernatorial primary to take on state CFO Alex Sink. That speculation will only increase after a statement that Bud Chiles released today.

Former Mayor Maurice Ferre, currently running for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, took President Barack Obama to task on relations with Israel. His campaign released a position paper on American-Israeli relations. President Obama needs to address Israeli fears, said Ferre. He addressed the fears of the greater Muslim world by going to Cairo. He needs to go to Israel and make a similar sincere gesture of outreach.

CFO Alex Sink, the favorite to win the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, issued a letter to President Barack Obama asking for the federal government to handle claims made by Floridians against BP due to the Gulf oil spill. She is also asking for the federal government to take over the efforts to stop the leak. For too long we have relied on BP and its contractors to staunch the flow of oil, and they have failed us at every turn, said Sink. We are now more than a month out from this disaster, and Floridians want to know: Where is the federal governments leadership?

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek can take some solace in winning the AFL-CIO endorsement this past weekend, but he still has some work to do before winning the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. A recent Miami Herald, St. Petersburg Times, BayNews9 and Central Florida News 13 poll found that Meek garnered only 33 percent support from registered Democrats compared to former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre at 10 percent and billionaire investor Jeff Greene at 9 percent. Forty-one percent of the Democrats in the poll were undecided.

The conservative pundits have it right so far. When Gov. Charlie Crist announced he was taking his U.S. Senate campaign independent, analysts said that was the high point of his candidacy.

Placing a distant third in most polls behind Attorney General Bill McCollum and conservative businessman Rick Scott, and without the financial recourses to launch a comeback, state Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, pulled the plug on her campaign for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.

As could have been predicted, Gov. Charlie Crist's party switcheroo, viewed by him as a blessing, is also quickly turning into his curse. As issues go, this one is tantamount to painting a bullseye on his struggling campaign for U.S. Senate.

Despite an appeal from Gov. Charlie Crist to support his bid for the U.S. Senate, the Florida AFL-CIO endorsed his chief Democratic rival, Congressman Kendrick Meek, on Sunday. Crist had attended the AFL-CIO endorsement convention on Friday and personally asked for their support, saying his campaign needed their backing. Meek gave a rousing speech on Saturday morning, asking for the backing of the AFL-CIO in passionate terms.

Both Kendrick Meek and Charlie Crist will be able to claim a victory this weekend. While the AFL-CIO endorsement will be coming out tomorrow, the Florida Education Association endorsed both men for the U.S. Senate--an interesting development that rewards Crist for vetoing SB6, could help nudge Meek up in the polls where he trails both Crist and Republican Marco Rubio and ties the hands of one of the largest unions in the state.

Florida is poised to extend the life of a program that exempts nearly 171,200 residents from the Medicaid program in favor of giving them greater choice in selecting health care providers,and the Agency for Health Care Administration spent Friday afternoon reviewing the program and seeking input for the program. .