PSC Chairwoman Nancy Argenziano wanted to serve a second term on the commission that regulate Florida’s electric and telecommunications utilities. But she wasn’t considered for re-appointment. Argenziano talks about why.

By David R. Colburn – Can Floridians really thump our chests and point to South Carolina as the real national embarrassment? Sure South Carolina might have U.S. Senate candidate Alvin Greene, who stands accused of showing pornography to a University of South Carolina student, but we have Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott.

By Brian E. Crowley — It really is kind of a sad year for campaign gimmicks. So far, there is a complete lack of originality among Florida’s statewide candidates. Even Bud Chiles’ “walk” in parts of the state is pale comparison to his dad – the late Gov. Lawton Chiles – who in 1970 walked from the Panhandle town of Century to Key Largo.

By John Kennedy – Florida’s public campaign finance system may be irreparably broken. Want proof? Look at this year’s Republican gubernatorial primary.

By Martha Musgrove — Florida’s Hometown Democracy Amendment has triggered angst among local-government officials and generated discussion about the merits of representative government, property rights and now – in the midst of a recession – Florida’s narrow economic base.

By Carol Saviak — Hometown Democracy is designed to strip Florida citizens of their private property rights. Deceptively promoted as a method of stopping unwanted growth, Amendment 4 on the November election ballot proposes a new layer of regulation across all land in Florida. This would have an extraordinarily negative impact not only on private property rights but Florida’s economy

Lesley Blackner — Reckless changes to growth plans can ruin a community for decades to come. Praying for our commissioners to “do the right thing” has not worked.  Let’s put Amendment 4 in the Florida Constitution for ourselves and future generations.

By Jack E. Davis — University of Florida historian Jack E. Davis sees in the writings of the late John D. MacDonald a link to Florida’s current Hometown Democracy movement.

By John Koenig -Bill McCollum wants to cut state taxes on businesses. Rick Scott does, too. Both Republican gubernatorial candidates tout tax cuts as a way to attract more businesses to the state, create new jobs and revive the economy. Listening to them, you might think Florida is an expensive place in which to do business. But it’s not.

By John Kennedy — Now more than ever television will drive election contests.  With 18.5 million people and 10 media markets in which to buy air time, Florida – like California and New York – could become a place where a robust personal checkbook is more important than a savvy campaign team and message.

By Rebecca Eagan — Overdevelopment is ruining Florida’s quality of life and damaging her unique natural areas. It has occurred too quickly. Speculation fueled the housing bubble, raised our taxes, cost us precious public funds propping up ghost metropolises in the sticks, and then crashed to earth. This November we can put Florida on a brighter path with Hometown Democracy.

By Richard Reep — Amendment 4 capitalizes on short-term voter outrage over everything, but in the long term, if the language is approved by voters, Florida would likely languish in the twilight of missed opportunities as businesses relocate elsewhere to avoid risky, lengthy public campaigns to build their presence in this state.

By John Kennedy – With partisan political fortunes for the next decade at stake, Democrats, Republicans and political-interest groups are battling on the ballot and in court over how Florida’s congressional and legislative district boundaries should be drawn. It’s likely to be a protracted fight, with all of the twists and turns of a gerrymandered district.

By Tom Zucco — A fairly large number of people in Florida, and in the rest of America, want government to play a limited role in our lives. Don’t force us to have health insurance, don’t tell us how to run our schools, don’t meddle in the housing or financial markets. It’s a belief based in the Constitution and the notion of individual freedom. So how then do we explain HB 1143, the “ultrasound bill” now before Gov. Charlie Crist?

If Florida elects Republican-turned-independent Charlie Crist to the U.S. Senate, will he sit in the chamber’s middle aisle or caucus with Democrats or Republicans? Crist is keeping mum. Would he want to follow the example Sen. Wayne Morse, a Republican from Oregon who turned independent, and then sided with the Democrats in the 1954 elections? To read the article (“Crist Secretive on How He’ll Lean if Elected to Senate”) in the St Petersburg Times …