Bush responds to questions about an e-mail from medical (Fla)

[Nambe]

(Tallahassee-AP)

--- An e-mail sent by a representative of the Florida Medical Association says the governor urged business groups to stop giving money to Senate Republicans.

The governor has been at odds with the Senate over its refusal to support his proposal for a strict 250-thousand dollar cap on medical malpractice awards by juries.

The governor says he didn't write the e-mail. But, at the same time, he also didn't back away from it.

Bush says people should be -- in his exact words -- "supporting candidates and parties that share their views."

He went on to say: "When parties and candidates veer off from where people who can freely give to the political process consistently disagree with them, they shouldn't be giving money to them."

Ride Don’t Drive It’s Global Cool

[mistertrickster]

1. Repukes fighting Repukes . . . is there any prettier sight?

Keep it up, Jeb . . . pretty soon you and your brother can do for the Republicans what GW has done to the country.

[GreatAuntK]

2. Repubs eat their own

Is he now saying he didn't intend this? I'm confused, as usual.

Posted on Fri, Jul. 11, 2003

Jeb Bush aide's e-mail targets GOP senators
BY LESLEY CLARK AND PETER WALLSTEN
[e-mail]
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/6277752.htm

TALLAHASSEE - In a move that would pit Republicans against each other in next year's elections, an aide to Gov. Jeb Bush has suggested unseating two GOP senators and aggressively coaxing others who oppose the governor's push for caps in medical malpractice cases.

A memo from Deputy Chief of Staff Alan Levine to a Florida hospital executive describes the governor as ''out on a limb'' on the malpractice issue and uses strong language to suggest punishments for those who stand in the way.

In one case, referring to Bradenton Sen. Mike Bennet, a freshman, Levine writes, ``I think your comment about finding another candidate may not be out of line.''

The memo suggests the same treatment for Senate Majority Leader Dennis Jones of Treasure Island, a close friend of Senate President Jim King and a recent critic of Bush's hard-line stance.

''He's been a real issue,'' Levine wrote in the Tuesday e-mail, which was copied to Bush's personal e-mail account.

The memo, obtained by The Herald late Thursday, was greeted with anger by Senate leaders who have refused to accept Bush's insistence on a strict cap.

Senators said they were stunned by the specter of a powerful Republican governor using his political muscle to threaten members of his own party -- especially so close to a presidential election in which Bush will be counting on party support to help deliver the state for his brother.

''These are clearly efforts to intimidate by threatening,'' said state Sen. Tom Lee, a Brandon Republican who is mentioned in the memo. ``They're on the ballot. You bet it's an attempt to try to intimidate them into doing something they otherwise would not do for fear of their political livelihoods.''

In an e-mail to The Herald late Thursday, Bush called Levine's memo a ''mistake'' but did not close the door on taking aim at GOP senators next year.

''At this time, there are no plans on my office's part to target any senators,'' Bush wrote. ``I believe we can come to a settlement to the med mal crisis by working with the leadership of the House and Senate.''

Bush spokeswoman Jill Bratina said Levine's note was merely a response to complaints from the hospitals frustrated by the Senate's reluctance to back the governor.

''The hospitals feel they're not being represented,'' Bratina said. ``It's their right to back a different candidate and the governor believes Republicans need to stick with their core Republican beliefs, and that's providing access to healthcare.''

Lee said late Thursday that Levine called him to apologize.

The memo is the latest and most jarring development in what has become an all-out ideological war within the GOP over the medical malpractice issue -- a GOP that only eight months ago celebrated its most sweeping electoral success of the modern age.

The governor, backed by insurance companies and doctors, this week endorsed a compromise $1 million cap on noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering that injured patients can win in court.

But King, an ally of the trial lawyers who represent patients and oppose caps, rejects a ''one size fits all'' approach.

Last week, King increased the tension by accusing Bush of pushing for jury award caps as part of a vendetta against the trial lawyers, who poured millions of dollars into campaigns against his brother in 2000 and the governor in 2002.

This week, Bush used a state GOP e-mail list to attack his party comrades in the Senate.

The Tuesday e-mail from Levine illustrates a feverish effort by Bush's office to find votes in the unfriendly Senate. But with the note's disclosure Thursday, the move could backfire and make matters even more treacherous for the governor.

''For the Republican governor who is the titular head of the Republican Party to be engaged in any kind of activity that targets Republicans or works against elected Republican officials is disappointing,'' said Senate President Pro Tempore Alex Diaz de la Portilla, R-Miami. ``I don't think the governor or any Republican has a monopoly on Republicanism or has a monopoly on the truth.''

The e-mail was sent to Dan Miller, a regional executive for HCA in west-central Florida and the incoming chairman of the Florida Hospital Association.

According to Sen. Lee, Levine has close ties to Nashville-based HCA, which as one of the nation's biggest hospital operators has a major stake in the outcome of the malpractice debate.

Before working for Bush, he was the administrator of the HCA hospital in Sun City Center, near Tampa.

Every senator mentioned in Levine's memo represents districts in west-central Florida.

Herald staff writer Douglas Hanks III contributed to this report.