On immigration, Marco Rubio bashes "dysfunctional Congress" in Harry Reid's home paper

As he pushes for an immigration compromise plan, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has also been criticizing Senate leader Harry Reid as of late.

Now the Nevada Democratic boss can read all about Rubio's immigration principles in a new editorial in the Las Vegas Review Journal in which the Republican senator omits Reid's name but takes on the "dysfunctional Congress." Hmmmm, now who's a leader of that institution.....?

Here's Rubio:

As a nation of immigrants, Americans know how important immigration has been throughout our history. It's an indispensable part of our future.

Sadly, our immigration system is broken, and our dysfunctional Congress has been unable to put in place a new legal immigration system that honors our heritage as both a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws. To do this, we need to address three key areas.

First, we need a modern legal immigration system with an application and compliance system that relies on new technology to simplify the process of coming and staying here legally.

We need an agricultural workers program that allows us to bring in seasonal and long-term laborers to provide our agricultural industries with the workers they need.

Editorial here

Despite dismal poll numbers, Rick Scott still a challenge for Democrats

by MarcACaputo

Rick Scott’s poll numbers look dismal. His finances don’t.

"One number should worry you: $70 million. That’s how much Rick Scott spent in 2010," Annette Taddeo-Goldstein, Miami-Dade’s new Democratic chairwoman, told Democrats this weekend.

To be clear, she was referring to Scott’s personal money. And it was actually closer to $75.1 million.

Include the Republican Party, and Scott probably spent just under $100 million. He was worth at least $218 million at the time, but reports he lost net worth after becoming governor. His wife has millions more.

Scott is prepared to spend as much or more in 2014.

The money race is on. And Democrats are losing it. But they know it.

Ballot irregularities, conspiracies dog FL Democratic chair election

Uncounted votes. A spoiled ballot. A Democrat who signed a proxy vote-form with an X. Conspiracy theories.

Elections just aren't easy in Florida, especially when it comes to Democrats -- even when they vote for their own during the Florida Democratic Party Chair race. At the very least, it's a cautionary tale about how losers cry foul after elections and how voters themselves can be to blame for election problems.

Initially on Saturday, Allison Tant was elected chair Saturday over Alan Clendenin by a vote of 587 to 448.

Turns out, that first tally missed a block of 59 votes cast by Bret Berlin, a Miami-Dade state committeeman.

"They said my ballot was stuck to another person's ballot and it didn't get counted," said Berlin, who voted for Clendenin. "I didn't eat anything in the voting room. My fingers didn't have anything sticky on them."

On a second pass, Berlin's vote was counted. Final tally: 587-507.

A Tant voter, Palm Beach County's John Ramos, didn't have his ballot counted at all. He signed on the wrong line.

"I have cataracts. I don't see so well," Ramos said. "What matters is the outcome."

Some saw conspiracy. Ramos initially pledged his votes to Clendenin. Then he was pressured by party insiders to vote for Tant, the favored of Sen. Bill Nelson and Democratic National Committee chair and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. His ballot was worth 41 votes (the votes are apportioned to give more weight to voters from Democrat-heavy counties).