Illegal Aliens and school grades

Orlando Sentinel (Florida)
June 21, 2009 Sunday
FINAL EDITORIAL; FLORIDA

Here are some excerpts from the Sentinel Editorial Board's blog for Central Florida newsmakers:

A new Zogby International poll shows that Florida voters think that illegal immigration is hurting the Sunshine State. . . . A new FAIR study confirms the poll, finding that illegal immigration costs Florida taxpayers $3.8 billion annually, which is double from 2005. . . . There are additional fiscal costs associated with illegal immigration . . . that should be recognized by policymakers when they focus on combating the problem.

Lou Treadway Think: What areas of our government in Florida provide citizens with an annual report card? Schools are the only ones that come to mind, and perhaps their progress should serve as a discussion point for the need for more accountability for other areas of government.

Reggie Williams Florida's senior U.S. senator, Bill Nelson, sent out a doozy of a press release this week. Nelson, along with fellow Senate Democrats John Kerry of Massachusetts and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, called on Senate Finance Committee leaders to fill the "doughnut hole" in the Medicare prescription drug benefit as they craft a health-care reform plan. The doughnut hole is the gap in which seniors' drug expenses aren't covered under Medicare Part D.

Filling the hole would cost another $134 billion over the next decade . . . . You know, ten billion here, ten billion there, pretty soon you're talkin' real money.

Paul Owens

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