Rich Crotty

Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty said Wednesday that he has avoided working with the anti-poverty group ACORN on a housing foreclosure campaign, and does not expect to work with them in obtaining an accurate 2010 headcount for the U.S. Census effort he’s helping lead in Florida.

The advocacy group, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, is in hot water because ofsecretly-taped interviews appearing to show multiple organizers condoning or encouraging prostitution and the laundering of earnings from it. The group responded with reform proposals today.

Crotty said he specifically made it clear during a senior staff meeting months ago that the group should not be included in any plans Orange crafted to spend $28 million in neighborhood stabilization funds to deal with foreclosures. “In a very out-loud voice, I said I didn’t want that word [ACORN] to come up,” Crotty said.

Crotty also discussed the fact that U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson has been one of the group’s most prominent supporters, and that any Republican who ran against the freshman Democrat next year could point out that Grayson is often referred to as the “Congressman from ACORN.”

“It’s always been an arrow in the quiver,” said Crotty, who for several months has flirted with the possibility of challenging Grayson. To that question, Crotty said an answer should come soon.

Crotty pointed to the start of the next federal campaign donation reporting period, which begins in October, and said “that’s when serious candidates get serious.”

So is he the one?

“I’m not saying anything,” Crotty said. “But I expect Congressman Grayson to have a Republican opponent in the next fund raising period, and a strong one at that.”

Original Post

Alan Grayson

WASHINGTON — As a member of Congress, U.S. Rep. Alan Graysonalready is among exclusive company. But the Orlando Democrat ranks high in those ranks too, as the 12th-richest member of the U.S. House and Senate, according to a new Roll Call analysis of financial disclosureforms.

The freshman lawmaker listed $31 million in assets, not a surprise given that Grayson spent at least $2.5 million of his fortune during the 2008 campaign. So far, his personal stash has helped keep high-profile Republican challengers at bay for the 2010 election, as Grayson likely would outspend any challenger.

Here’s what Roll Call had to say (analysis here):

“The Florida lawmaker’s largest asset stems from an apparent financial mistake. Grayson lists a claim valued at $25 million to $50 million against Derivium Capital.

The now-bankrupt firm managed a Ponzi scheme in which investors, including Grayson, could turn over stock to Derivium in exchange for cash loans and redeem the value later if the stock prices increased. A South Carolina court ruled earlier this year that Derivium shareholders were collectively owed about $270 million in lost profits and that Grayson’s share would be about $34 million.

In addition to that claim, Grayson, an attorney who founded the telecommunications company IDT Corp. in 1990, lists a trust valued at $5 million to $25 million. The same trust was previously Grayson’s largest asset, with a value of $25 million to $50 million when he filed a candidate disclosure form in November 2008.”

Alan Grayson

More than 400 people showed up at the Central Florida Fairgrounds to rally in support of health care reform

The rally was part of a cross-country “Health Insurance Reform Now” bus tour put on by the National Democratic Committee.

Representative Alan Grayson greeted the crowd and introduced guest speakers to talk about their struggles with health care. Many in attendance had their own stories to share.

“For the first time in my life I actually fall into that category of being unemployed” said Melinda Gordon.

Gordon, a Lake Minneola resident, says since losing her job she is unable to afford healthcare for herself and her daughter.

The rally lasted just about one hour. The bus is now on its way to Tampa where a similar rally will be held.

The following is a statement from Congressman Alan Grayson in response to President Barack Obama’s speech tonight to a Joint Session of Congress regarding health care reform:

Alan Grayson

“Tonight, the President laid out his plan for health care reform that will bring stability and security to health care in America.  He and I both want it to deliver peace of mind for everyone.  If you change jobs, lose your job, or lose your health, you should be able to get affordable health insurance. Under the President’s plan, you will be able to.

Recently, I held four “town hall”-type meetings and a telephone town hall meeting during eight days in August alone.  Health care questions dominated these forums.  During those events, I corrected many misconceptions about health care reform.  Tonight, President Obama likewise dispelled the countless myths spread by those bent on defeating this reform at all costs.  People need to judge health care reform on the facts, not on fears stemming from something that is nowhere in the bill.

Clearly, the need for health care reform is on the minds of the people I proudly represent. According to the Marist Poll last month, only six percent of America favors doing nothing.  Doing nothing is not an option.  As we move forward, I look forward to working with all sides to ensure the best ideas become part of this essential reform.

Finally, I often get asked if I will support a bill that does not include one provision or another.  My answer is simple:  I will support any bill that saves money and saves lives.”

Roughly 100 projects in Central Florida would get funding next year under spending legislation that passed the U.S. House this summer, including $700,000 to study solar power at the University of Central Florida and $1 million to find jobs for Space Coast workers.

These earmarks, worth as much as $124 million, were inserted into appropriations bills by six Central Florida House members. Pending U.S. Senate approval, the federal dollars would fund projects from roads to research and — sometimes — steer lucrative contracts to political supporters.

About a third of the earmarks were requested by nine-term U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville, whose campaign slogan “Corrine Delivers” underscores that one of her top goals is bringing federal dollars to her district, which stretches from Jacksonville to Orlando.

Her $54.7 million in earmarks includes several projects that would benefit current or former clients of the Virginia lobbying firm Alcalde & Fay, which employs her daughter, Shantrel Brown Fields.

For example, Brown steered more than $8 million to the Jacksonville Port Authority for dredging and other maintenance projects. The port authority paid $40,000 to Alcalde & Fay this year, according to lobbyist records.

Lake County officials paid the firm at least $40,000 this year to help get federal funding for an emergency-operations center, among other projects. Brown netted an $800,000 earmark for the center, as well as $500,000 for Edward Waters College, a former Alcalde & Fay client.

Neither the firm nor Brown’s daughter returned calls. Fields is not listed as a lobbyist for the Jacksonville Port Authority or Lake County, but she did represent Edward Waters College in 2006, records show.

In a statement, Brown said, “I have not sought money for any project that was not requested by a state or local governmental entity, service provider or business in my district or the state of Florida. I am fully confident that each of the projects will provide critically needed services and create jobs.”

Still, one Washington watchdog questioned the connection. “At the very least, it creates appearance problems,” said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “There may be an innocent explanation … but there are always questions when the kids of members become lobbyists.”

Brown’s earmarks aren’t the only ones that have raised eyebrows. U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D- Orlando, was criticized this spring for trying to direct $350,000 to the Florida Civil Rights Association, run by controversial activist J. Willie David.

The earmark was aimed at helping local homeowners avoid foreclosure proceedings but ran into problems because of David’s past — he once demanded a cut of a $1.75 million judgment for two orphans whose parents were killed when a suspect fleeing police hit their car — and a “humanitarian” award the group gave Grayson.

That project did not survive a vote. Grayson did manage to get approval for several other earmarks, including $500,000 to buy library books to help Spanish speakers learn English and $3.4 million for a “study of sugar cane as a viable alternative and reliable form of energy.”

Grayson, who could not be reached for comment, counts sugar producer Florida Crystals as one of his top contributors, with total contributions of $9,200, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. He also received $1,000 from the Florida Sugar Cane League in March.

Most of the earmarks requested by Central Florida lawmakers were bread-and-butter projects, such as $400,000 to upgrade police technology in Maitland or $250,000 to assist a youth community center in DeLand. Most were steered toward municipalities, schools or nonprofits.

The trend reflects changes in recent years to make the earmark system more transparent — a response to the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal in which congressional officials were bribed to get earmarks inserted.

Earmarks also aren’t the only avenue to secure federal funding for projects. U.S. Rep. John Mica, R- Winter Park, snagged $40 million for Central Florida commuter rail in the transportation-spending bill, a project also supported by the White House.

One trend that has continued, however, is that the most expensive items generally were for defense spending.

Brown earmarked $5 million for Lockheed Martin to build an anti-tank missile. She has received $5,000 from the company’s political action committee since 2007.

And U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, D- New Smyrna Beach, inserted a $1.2 million request to develop “soldier personal cooling systems.” The earmark is tailor-made for RINI technologies in Oviedo; its founder, Dan Rini, contributed $1,000 to Kosmas’ campaign in April.

“We will definitely be submitting a proposal,” said Rini, who added that Kosmas’ staff alerted him to the earmark when the House passed its spending measure.

Kosmas said the earmark was made to “protect our brave men and women in uniform” and had nothing to do with the campaign contribution: “There is no connection between the two. The request was made upon a need.”

Alan Grayson

Grayson will hold a major forum, but will not talk health care reform.

The forum is open to the public, but its about housing. There will be a panel to give homeowners help on how to get foreclosure help and how to buy foreclosed homes.

“In Orlando, we have the highest home vacancy rate in the entire country. 10 percent of our homes are vacant.”

The forum is from 6 to 9 this evening at the Hunter’s Creek Town Hall, but he won’t take your questions on health care.

“I think there is such a thing as Florida nice, and Florida respect. We’re doing this for the sake of having people keep their homes. I think other people will understand that and respect it.”

Grayson and Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas will also meet with business leaders this morning, holding a panel on the so called “stimulus money” for the Chamber of Commerce.

Then at 11am Congressman Grayson will be back at his office on Garland at the Lynx office to introduce his Women’s Advisory Board.

A group of Central and South Florida business, political and civic leaders are banding together to lobby the federal government for $2.5 billion to build a high-speed train linking Orlando with Tampa.

The message of the organization, which conducted news conferences Tuesday in Orlando, Lakeland and Tampa, is that a fast train would create jobs, encourage quality development around the stations and help the environment by moving people out of cars and onto a train.

“This is the future, and this is what we need to fight for,” U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Orlando, said during the event at Orlando International Airport.

Grayson spoke before a gathering of high-speed supporters who’ve created a group called ConnectUs. It is run by Ed Turanchik, a developer and former Hillsborough County commissioner who led Central Florida’s unsuccessful attempt to host the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Turanchik said ConnectUs is a nonprofit formed about two months ago with $50,000 donated by a variety of businesses and individuals.

The group is seeking additional contributions of up to $5,000 apiece to launch an advertising campaign, according to Turanchik, who is working for free but could be compensated in the future.

The main form of communication the group has now is a Web site called FastRail ConnectUs.com. It asks people to sign up and pledge their support for a train that could go as fast as 150 mph on the 90-mile route largely along Interstate 4, starting at Orlando International Airport and ending in downtown Tampa.

Eventually, a Miami leg could be added as well.

“Trains are very cool things,” Turanchik said. “What’s cool about them is they connect us.”

Turanchik said businesses and government agencies in Miami, Orlando and Tampa all support the state’s bid for the train.

That cooperation is significant, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said.

“We have to get away from competing with ourselves. … We’re Florida against the world,” Dyer said.

The federal Department of Transportation is planning to announce its first round of high-speed rail winners by mid-October.

Ten corridors are being considered, including Orlando to Tampa; Boston to Washington; Portland to Seattle; and San Diego to San Francisco.

If Florida is picked, construction could begin almost immediately, with service starting in 2014, the state’s pre-application says. Supporters say the train could create 25,000 jobs.

Only three of the 27 largest metropolitan areas in the country are without a fixed rail system. Orlando and Tampa are two of those, and Cincinnati-Louisville is the third.

Dyer is hoping support for a high-speed train will help SunRail, a planned, slower-running commuter train that would connect DeLand in Volusia County with downtown Orlando and Poinciana in Osceola. It could link with the fast train at a stop near OIA.

SunRail would cost $1.2billion, with $500 million or more possibly coming from the federal government. The first 31 miles, from south Volusia County to Sand Lake Road in Orange, could be up and running in 2012, with the remainder in 2014.

Suzanne Kosmas

In the first of a twin-bill fundraising appearance in Orlando today, Vice President Joe Biden praised “moderate” U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas for her independence and courage to vote for the Recovery Act, which he said helped America come back from the precipice of a depression.

“She played a pivotal role,” Biden said, “and the payoff was real.”

Later, he added, “We are no longer looking over the precipice.”

Biden also touted Kosmas’ efforts to secure funding for a veterans hospital complex in Orlando and in helping deal with layoffs around the NASA program at the heart of her Space Coast district.

“This is a one person chamber of commerce,” Biden said, at one point embracing the congresswoman. “She’s not just fit in, she’s stood out.”

The event precedes another fund raiser for fellow Central Florida lawmaker Alan Grayson, D-Orlando. The event for Kosmas, D-New Smyrna Beach, was attended by 70 people, including Mears executive Roger Chapin, former Orange County Commissioner Fran Pignone and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer.

The $1,000-per-person affair was expected to raise at least $70,000, though some donors were expected to give more than the minimum.

Biden gave a wide-ranging defense of Kosmas and Democrats, pointing to major initiatives in health care, energy and education reforms under way.

“We’re trying to move the needle here, not just hold the status quo,” Biden said.

The protesters outside the Marriott Hotel downtown only numbered in the two- to three-dozen range, with a few more opponents than Obama-Biden supporters on hand.

Biden stressed that Central Florida has become the “fulcrum” of political power not only in Florida, but also in presidential politics. “How goes Central Florida,” Biden said, so goes the country.

“This woman produces,” Biden said. “It’s really important she be re-elected.”

The menu for the Kosmas event was a cheese and vegetable tray and chicken and pork tray.

Kosmas decisively beat scantal-tinged incumbent U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Oviedo, last year. But her district — which includes parts of Orange, Seminole, Volusia and Brevard counties — leans Republican, and she’s already drawn opposition from two veteran GOP legislators — state Reps. Sandy Adams of Orlando and Dorothy Hukill of Port Orange — and Winter park Commissioner Beth Diebel.

Alan Grayson

With hundreds of vocal health care reform critics and supporters lining the streets outside, U.S. Rep Alan Grayson, D-Orlando, held a spirited but civil town hall meeting Monday night inside a union hall where his supporters outnumbered critics, but questions initially came from all sides of the debate.

In the first hour, debate centered on how issues such as pre-existing medical conditions would be handled and if the reform would allow people to hold current health plans. Grayson at one point went through the exact language of a pending bill and argued the wording of it posted on an overhead projector detailed that it would protect a citizen’s right to keep the health insurance they already have.

At another point, a woman critical of the pending reform said prostate and breast cancer were treated differently in the reform bill. Grayson challenged that, but said if true, he would offer an amendment to change it.

However, Grayson told a handful of critics that they were raising issues — dealing with tort reform or Medicare fraud — that were not included in bills pending before him in the House.

“I think you’re concerns are well founded,” Grayson said. “But that’s not this bill.”

The hastily-called meeting was held in a relatively small union hall which limited attendance to about 120 or so members of the public. But it was held just after a regular meeting of local Democrats, some of whom stayed behind for the town hall in the scarce seats.

Outside the union hall, a frustrated crowd of hundreds of people who could not get into the hall waved signs and chanted simultaneously for and against health care.

There were so many different chants that they were unintelligible. At one point, Andy Showen, 49, of Orlando, angry he couldn’t get in, pulled on a side door until police officers stopped him.

“You’re a real hero,” he told an officer. “You just stopped me from talking to my congressman.”

He put up his wrists, asking officers to arrest him. They walked him away instead.

Police cars blocked off the streets in an attempt to calm protesters  And overall the event was peaceful.

Despite all the shouting, some voters actually talked to each other. Earlier, Showen, who describes himself as a “libertarian capitalist,” talked with a woman who said capitalism was immoral, he said. They never agreed on health care, but shared similar views on executive compensation.

Others were more frustrated.

“I’ve given up,” said Carmen Simeone, a 60-year old general contractor, who opted just to protest outside. “I understand what’s going  on. He’s stacked the deck.”

Simeone said he’s troubled that health reform will usher in “socialism,” expose his bank accounts to government scrutiny, and limit access to doctors.

Inside, Jim Panetta said he feared the reform would encourage everyone to drop coverage they pay for and get free care from the government.

Grayson said only people with lower incomes would get government aid to buy insurance. But he said pharmaceutical companies are also agreeing to receive less money for drugs purchased by public health programs, and that $80 billion savings could be used to offset any new costs.

“This is not free health care for everybody,” Grayson said. “It’s not close to it.”

Grayson also said he would back including a public option in any final plan, mainly because there are so few private insurance options available in most metropolitan areas of the country. A public option is likely to take the form of a government-run provider network that could possibly resemble Medicare.

“There is a profound lack of competition, that is only getting worse,” Grayson said. But, he added, “no one would be required to be in the public option.”

Inside, both sides cheered comments to their liking, and only a few times did Grayson ask the crowd to stay under control. At one point, he asked a man to “knock off the bull,” because his three children were in the room.

“I’m not saying I know everything,” Grayson said. “But I’m pretty familiar with this bill. Let’s be respectful.”

The line that drew the most spirited response: “This bill cost half what the war in Iraq cost,” Grayson said.