(Continued from page 1)
 theft and fraud could be a huge em-
 barrassment to former GOP leaders
 like Crist. The potential witness list
 reads like a who's who of the Florida
 Republican Party and includes
 former Governor Crist, former U.S.
 Senator George LeMieux, former
-Attorney General Bill McCollum,
former Senate President Mike
Haridopolos and former House
Speaker Dean Cannon.
 Crist could be waiting to see how
 he and his reputation fare during
 the trial. Every time his name
 comes up in the Orlando court,
 it will be bad for him. It would.
 be worse if the news addressed
 him during the February trial as
 Democratic candidate for governor
 Charlie Crist.
 Coy Charlie is most likely cau-
 tious Charlie. The question to run
 or not could be answered in an Or-
 lando courtroom in February.

 The Governor's Day Luncheon
 will be held during the Florida
 State Fair at its fairgrounds on
 Thursday, February 7. The hand-
 shaking will start at 11:15 a.m. The
 program will begin at noon.
 Call 627-4216 if you'd like to
 attend. Cost is $25 per person and
 a table for 10 can be reserved for
 $250.
 ***** *
 U.S. Senator Marco Rubio told
 Fox News talkintghead Greta Van
 Susteren on Wednesday, "I'm not
 going to accuse Secretary Hillary
 Clinton of lying, but I am concerned
 with her answers."
 It seemed Rubio accused Clinton
 of lying.
 Hillsborough County is consid-
 ering a domestic partner, registry
 similar to the one the City of Tampa
 -has had since June (The commis-
 sion voted after this column was
 written). The registry is for un-
 married couples, heterosexual and
 homosexual. It enables a domestic
 partner to have some rights when it
 comes to information and decisions
 regarding his or her loved one.
 It creates official documentation
 for hospitals and funeral homes to
 recognize a partner's rights to visit
 and make arrangements.
 As a married man of 30 years,
 I've had these rights regarding
 responsibilities to my wife, my
 partner for the majority of my life,
 so it's easy to forget how big a deal
 this is to people who love and care
 for each other, but don't or can't get
 a piece of paper to recognize their
 relationship.
 We were reminded very recently
 of the importance when we got an
 invitation to the 35th anniversary
 of Carrie West and Mark Bias. The
 two are partners in life and busi-
 ness. They are also the founders
 GaYBOR District Coalition.
 To celebrate 35 years, they are
 going to file for the City of Tampa
 Domestic Partnership Registry and
 are asking their friends to witness
 the event.
 This is a very meaningful mo-
 ment for them.
 ******
 The Cuban Club will host a
 fundraising bocce ball tournament
 and pig roast on the historic club's
 patio on Saturday, February 2, from
 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
 Four-person teams cost $500 and
 will receive free food, libations and
 cigars.
 tihe public is invited to 6come out
 and food: uilli cost $10- for a meal


with soda. There will be a cash bar.
 Call Gene at 248-3921 if you'd
like to enter a team.

 University Press of Florida sent
us. a catalog of new and recently-
published books for spring and
summer. Here are some of the of-
ferings that drew our interest:
 Alligators in B-Flat by Jeff
Klinkenberg Weird, interesting.
and fun stories of Florida by a very
talented writer.
 Red Pepper and Gorgeous
George by James Clark The
story of one of the nastiest political
campaigns in Florida's history: The
defeat of Congressman Claude Pep-
per in 1950 by George Smathers.
 Inside Bush v. Gore by retired
Chief Justice Charley Wells This
book gives an inside account of the
Florida Supreme Court during the
Greek tragedy of the 2000 presiden-
tial election in Florida.
 Fernando Alonso, The Father
 of Cuban Ballet by Toba Singer -
 This book profiles the 97-year-old
 Cuban ballet master, Fernando
 Alonso. It revels in the Cuban ballet
 miracle and gives insight into the
 making of a great ballet style.
 To review all of the University
 Press of Florida titles and descrip-
 tions, go to www.upf.com. Books
 can be ordered by calling 1-800-
 226-3822.
 It always fascinates us just how
 South Tampa-oriented Tampa's
 major daily newspaper is. On Sun-
 day, the Tribune published a story
 entitled, "South Tampa Residents
 Vexed by Night Train Horns." It
 concerned CSX freight trains regu-
 lar nighttime hours disturbing the
 sleep of Tampa's elite and hoity-
 toities in hallowed neighborhoods of
 South Tampa. One line read, "Five
 days a. week, the rail line's freight
 train makes late-night runs along
 Polk Street for seven blocks and
 continues another eight miles into
 South Tampa." The Trib makes
 it seem like the freight train only
 runs between Downtown and South
 Tampa..
 We're sure this same freight
 -train blows its horn through Ybor
 City and East Tampa. Does Mother
 Trib think residents in these neigh-
 borhoods aren't disturbed by loud
 train whistles, since they can't hear
 'em over the sounds of gunshots
 and sirens? How 'bout Plant City,
 Dover, Seffner and Gibsonton?
 Does the sound of trains fail to out-
 decibel the constant mooing or the
 sound of meth factories?
 At the very end of a long article,
 the writer tossed a small whisper-
 out to the rest of the world: "County
 residents in recent years also have
 had complaints about horns.",
 This for-the-good-of-South-Tam-
 pa-only article even drew the at-
 tention of another Tribune writer,
 Joe Henderson, who wrote a couple
 of days later, "I have news for the
 good people of South Tampa: It's not
 just about you...My house in that
 beautiful oasis known as Brandon
 is bracketed by tracks...It's not un-
 usual to hear trains at any hour."
 Funny how some people's sleep is
 more important than others.
 The U.S. Treasury will no longer
 offer paper checks by mail for Social
 Security or disability payments. It's
 going all electronic in March. All
 recipients will need to sign up for.
 direct deposit or a Treasury-issued
 debit card.
 Electronic filing and debit cards


have been a boon to criminals want-
ing to defraud the government of
tax returns. Billions are being lost
and the IRS has been slow to get
control over the situation.
 Here's another move to electronic
payments, this time mandatory,
and we wonder if it will lead to more
fraud and theft. Washington, D.C.
should get its security systems bet-
ter perfected before continuing its
paperless campaign.

 We had a great time with fellow
Democrats at the Pinellas County
Democratic Party's inaugural ball
at the Gulfport Casino on Monday
night. The crowd numbered 200
to 300-at the black-tie, $100-per-
person party. We continue to be
impressed with that county's lead-
ership. The chair, Mark Hanisee, is
doing a wonderful job. Photos from
the event are on page 18.

 The vote on an $8.25 million tax-
payer gift to enable Bass Pro Shops
to sell crank baits, spinner baits
and Sassy Sally Swimbaits will
come up before the Board of County
Commissioners of February 6.
 The money would be used for
 road improvements that would
 have, normally been funded by
 the developer. All of this to lure
 minimum wage jobs that offer no
 benefits or useful experience.
 The problem with helping one
 business over another with public
 dollars is that many in the public
 expect more than just business-as-
 usual from the recipient.
 St. Petersburg gave money to
 help Sweetbay build a store in
 Midtown. Now Sweetbay is closing
 it down. Plant City gave incentive
 money to the Smithfield Plant.
 Later, the corporation refused to
 give its union workers at the plant
 a dime raise. The plant closed in
 2009.
 So what are we going to get out
 of Bass Pro? Will they close this
 location in a few years because of
 the economy or their own bad busi-
 ness decisions? Will they refuse to
 hire local union labor when building
 their store? Will they refuse to hire
 non-white workers, as they have
 been accused in Houston's courts?'
 They have already sued a local busi-
 ness for trademark infringement.
 What's next?
 Whatever it is, we're sure they
 will disappoint.

 U.S. Senator Marco Rubio has
 been receiving a lot of praise and
 press for his changing position on
 immigration..
 Excuse us if we don't jump for
 joy. Rubio's sudden embrace of the


iv- 1^ fy

immigration issue isn't driven by
soul-searching; it's driven by poll-
ing. If he wants to be president, he
has to get past this immigration
dilemma.
 There is no good path to the
 presidency for Republicans if they
 continue to perform so poorly with
 Hispanics, and certainly a Hispanic
 Republican who fails with that
 group outside of Florida is doomed.
 Rubio thinks his latest effort will
 help him, but he still has a big prob-
 lem with his immigration policy. It's
 called hypocrisy.
 He wants the system to favor
 new immigrants because of their
 skills and not their blood relations.
 He believes this country currently
 favors allowing an unskilled grand-
 mother to emigrate here to be with
 her children and grandchildren
 than a computer-savvy young man
 or woman without U.S. relations.
 The problem is he only wants to
 apply this standard to Mexicans,
 Colombians and Venezuelans. For
 his own Cuban family, Cuban close
 friends and Cuban community;
 the only qualification is to have
 a professed hatred of the Castro
 brothers.
 Rubio also dreamed up a new
 pathway to citizenship for illegals
 you know, these foreigners who
 just show up and won't go home.
 His vision is to make them pay
 a fine, learn. English and clear a
 criminal background check just to
 earn some sort of yet-to-be-defined
 interim legal status. They would
 then have to apply for a green card
 and work their way to citizenship.
 This could mean some who have
 been here for 10 years illegally
 might face another 10 years at the
 minimum to become a member of
 the Promised Land:
 This process is very deliberate
 and doesn't allow illegals to jump
 ahead of the current immigrants
 legally in line.
 Once again, his plan is for every-
 one but Cubans. They don't have to
 pay a fine for just showing up here.
 Instead they get a $300 stipend and
 become instantly eligible for Medic-
 aid, Medicare and Social Security.
 Cubans don't have to learn English
 for a green card. Also, they will get
 to jump ahead of everyone in the
 immigration line.
 If Rubio wants to be President
 of the United States, he's going to
 have to learn to represent everyone.
 Right now, he's just the U.S. sena-
 tor for the odd combination of the
 Cuban-American exile community
 and Tea Party extremists.
 Read about Vincent Genovese, a
 champion of Italian-Americans, in
 Silhouettes on page 10.


Page 12/LA GACETA/Friday, January 25,2013


 by PATRICK
JAS WE HEARD IT MANTEIJGA