According to a wages study done by law firm Bisnar Chase, the average Florida employee in the private sector worked about 2.5 hours of “unpaid overtime” per week during 2022. The national average for unpaid OT is 2.1 hours. When this figure is applied to the number of exempt workers in the Sunshine State (and based on the median wage), and then annualized, Florida workers are collectively owed about $11.4 billion in backpay, researchers said.
A new Mason-Dixon poll in Florida finds 46% of voters think Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) should be reelected in 2022, while 40% don’t. No major Democrat has emerged to run against him, so the poll could only cite “a Democrat” as an alternative.
“Mike Bloomberg plans to spend at least $100 million in Florida to help elect Democrat Joe Biden, a massive late-stage infusion of cash that could reshape the presidential contest in a costly toss-up state central to President Trump’s reelection hopes,” the Washington Post reports.
“During his final two years in office and for several months afterward, former Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) paid a Miami dentist and childhood friend with no political experience nearly $400,000 for political consulting,” the Miami Herald reports. … And since losing his seat last November, he’s spent thousands of dollars from his leadership PAC — called ‘What a Country!’ — on wine and high-end restaurants. … Now, Curbelo’s friend, JP Chavez, is his business partner in a communications and public affairs startup venture called Vocero LLC.”
A new Mason-Dixon poll in Florida finds voters are nearly evenly divided on if President Trump should be re-elected, with 46% saying he should be replaced, 45% saying he should be re-elected and the remainder unsure.
“Tuesday is a historic day in Florida. Under an amendment passed by the voters in November, as many as 1.4 million former felons are regaining the right to vote. The referendum overturned a 150-year-old law that permanently disenfranchised people with felony convictions,” NPR reports.
A new CNN/SRSS poll in Florida finds Andrew Gillum (D) holds a wide 12-point edge over Rep. Ron DeSantis (R) in the race for governor, 54% to 42%. In the U.S. Senate race, Sen. Bill Nelson (D) leads Gov. Rick Scott (R) by five points, 50% to 45%.
“He’s easily dislikable. I don’t think anybody could spend a lot of time with him and walk away feeling inspired or encouraged or believe that he in some way knows what it means to to live their life. They realize they can’t package him in that way.”
— Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum (D), telling the Tampa Bay Times that rival Ron DeSantis (R) is “a uniquely unlikeable candidate.”
To hear Trump talk, he’s the only one
Who’s ever stood trial for crimes he’s done.
But instead of courtroom drama,
We get Trump in his pajamas,
That’s how he earned his new nickname: Don Snoreleone.
“I am not resigning. And it is, in my view, an absurd notion that someone would bring a vacate motion when we are simply here trying to do our jobs. It is not helpful to the cause, it is not helpful to the country, it does not help the House Republicans advance our agenda, which is in the best interest of the American people here — a secure border, sound governance – and it’s not helpful to the unity that we have in the body.”
— Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) on the “resign or be fired” ultimatum from the GOP’s Freedom Caucus just 174 days into his tenure as sp[eaker, reported by Punchbowl News.
“Trump’s head slowly dropped, his eyes closed. It jerked back upward. He adjusts himself. Then, his head droops again. He straightens up, leaning back. His head droops for a third time, he shakes his shoulders. Eyes closed still. His head drops. Finally, he pops his eyes open.”
— Law360 reports from the second day of Donald Trump’s “hush money” criminal trial.
“Functionally, Chris Sununu is as active a part of Trump’s campaign as Matt Gaetz or MTG, or any of the other MAGA freaks. And it seems not to bother him that these people would poleaxe him if given a second’s chance. It seems not to bother him that his political career is over. He’s not just willing to exit public life on his knees—he’s eager to do it. … In the end, it doesn’t matter if Sununu is a mountebank, a coward, or a fool. Those three characters are equally pernicious. … What matters is that the rest of us understand that it is the Chris Sununus of the world who make this ongoing authoritarian attempt possible.”
“He’s f**king crazy! The press often will ask me if I think Donald Trump is crazy. And I’ll say it this way: I don’t think he’s so crazy that you could put him in a mental institution. But I think if he were in one, he ain’t getting out!”
— New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R), quoted by the Associated Press two years ago. Sununu is now backing Trump for president.
“We have perverted the word love. We don’t understand the word love. We don’t understand what love really is. We think love is sunshine and rainbows, and put your arms around somebody saying ‘I love you, brother’ — certainly that’s a form of love. … But how many of y’all know when you hold your young’un by one arm and beat them in a circle, because they were bad — how many of you know that’s love too?”
— North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R) described his loving approach to disciplining misbehaving children, WUNC reports.
New York Times: “Of the 96 possible jurors brought into the room, more than 50 raised their hands to say they couldn’t be fair. They were immediately excused.”
“Nationwide, homicides dropped around 20% in 133 cities from the beginning of the year through the end of March compared with the same period in 2023. … Homicides in American cities are falling at the fastest pace in decades, bringing them close to levels they were at before a pandemic-era jump,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
The Washington Post notes that supporters of Donald Trump “investing in Truth Social is less a business calculation than a statement of faith in the former president and the business traded under his initials, DJT. … Even the company’s plunging stock price — and the chance their investments could get mostly wiped out — doesn’t seem to have shaken that faith. The company has lost $3.5 billion in value since its public debut last month.”
“In the latest quarterly survey by The Wall Street Journal, business and academic economists lowered the chances of a recession within the next year to 29% from 39% in the January survey. That was the lowest probability since April 2022, when the chances of a recession were set at 28%.”… “Economists, in fact, don’t think the economy will get even close to a recession.”
Punchbowl News: “Congress approved more than $71 million in earmarks for lawmakers who voted against the most recent minibus spending bill, according to a Punchbowl News analysis. This is a prime example of what former Speaker Nancy Pelosi says: They voted no but took the dough. We have a simple spreadsheet of the lawmakers who landed projects and then voted against the $1.2 trillion spending package.”