After 10 Glorious Years, Sunshine State News and I Are Passing the Baton

Florida Republican U.S. Rep. John Mica, the new chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said that he had little faith in the Transportation Security Agencys (TSA) plans to reduce its private contracted screeners. Instead, Mica said the TSA needed to reduce the size of its own work force.

State Rep. Ken Roberson's recent e-mail response to a concerned constituent didn't inspire much confidence in the lawmaker's grasp of the state's proposed rail projects. The Port Charlotte Republican's Jan. 28 e-mail attempted to rebut criticism of the multibillion-dollar high-speed rail line that would connect Tampa and Orlando. But conflating that project with the SunRail commuter line in Orlando, Roberson wrote:

MEMO TO: Mike Huckabee, et al. SUBJECT: Mormons running for president News that Jon Huntsman is planning toleave his post as U.S. ambassador to China to explore a bid for the White House sets up an intriguing prospect: Two Mormons battling for the Republican presidential nomination. Huntsman, a wealthy industrialist and former Utah governor, and Mitt Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and head of the Salt Lake City Olympic Games, are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The author of a new book -- "Vote Thieves: Illegal Immigration, Redistricting, and Presidential Elections" -- suggests that Florida's two new congressional seats are due, at least in part, to illegal immigrants. Wait. What? "There is a paradox to redistricting that is not discussed," says Orlando Rodriguez. "Immigrant destination states, such as Florida, may gain additional congressional representation because of their population of undocumented residents."