Today, we have items on the return of Matt Gaetz, some odd choices for a time capsule and more debate-dodging in Florida.
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But first, let’s look at the latest developments in what increasingly looks like one of the biggest boondoggles taxpayers have ever financed in Florida — “Alligator Alcatraz.”
We already know this hastily assembled, short-lived endeavor cost taxpayers $1 billion, according to multiple estimates, with much of the money doled out in no-bid contracts to firms with political connections. (The contract for just one porta-potty company, “Doodie Calls,” was originally estimated at $92 million.)
But the story and spending don’t end there.
Now that the feds say they’re emptying out this $1 million-a-day facility, it’s worth noting why they say they’re doing so and how shuttering the facility may cost taxpayers even more.
New reports show Florida gave $92 million to a single porta-potty company involved with ‘Alligator Alcatraz.’
Yet the state has yet to produce a single audit – audits required by law – about all this “emergency” spending.https://t.co/tFq1tc1pfX
— Scott Maxwell (@Scott_Maxwell) February 17, 2026
First, there’s the new rationale. While the exorbitant cost was widely reported as a big reason, a spokesperson for ICE told the Florida Phoenix and Fox News that another reason was the risk of impending hurricanes.
Specifically, ICE said it wanted to remove detainees from the “soft-sided facility,” saying: “For the safety of the illegal alien detainees, we transferred them to other facilities.”
In other words, they admitted what virtually everybody with a working brain said long before the state started dumping money into this popsicle-stick installation — that trying to build a temporary prison out of tents and cages in hurricane country was a spectacularly dumb idea.
Yet the boondoggling doesn’t stop there.
CBS Miami reported this week that vendors, who are being told to pack it up, may get extra money for doing so. Specifically, the station cited a provision in their contracts that “allows the companies to charge the state a ‘demobilization fee’ that will likely run into tens of millions of dollars.”
In other words, putting an end to this financial fiasco may cost taxpayers even more.
You’ll notice Florida’s tough-talking CFO, Blaise Ingoglia, isn’t saying squat about any of this. He and his office have refused to answer questions about audits for any of the “emergency” immigration spending that I started posing last year. And WKMG recently reported that when their viewers started asking “What about Alligator Alcatraz?” his office deflected, saying it had “full confidence in the Trump Administration’s financial review of Alligator Alcatraz.”
Apparently, Blaise is too busy screaming about a $6,000 annual stipend for Orlando’s poet laureate to focus on $1 billion being blown on no-bid contracts down in the Everglades.
Remember: The Sentinel revealed that the state hasn’t yet produced a single audit on all this “emergency” immigration spending — audits that state statutes say are required.
So we’re missing both audits and competitively bid contracts while reading one report after another about bloated spending. Gee, you think there might be a connection?
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Florida auditor general failed to review illegal immigration expenditures
Gaetz is back
Did you see that Matt Gaetz is back? State House Speaker Daniel Perez decided to appoint the controversial former congressman to the state nonprofit that oversees spending of the settlement money from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Gaetz, as you may recall, was forced to withdraw his nomination for attorney general, meaning he was one of the few people too toxic for even swampy D.C. — but apparently a perfect fit for Florida.
Encapsulating
To celebrate the nation’s semiquincentennial, a national nonprofit called America 250 is putting together a time capsule with items meant to represent the uniqueness of every state.
Would you like to know what items Florida decided to contribute as representative of all this state’s distinctive traditions, industries and offerings?
A set of four challenge coins representing the governor, attorney general, agriculture commissioner and CFO.
Nothing about the space industry, tourism or even orange juice. Just homages to current politicians, along with a pin, a letter from the Florida House Speaker and a booklet on the Florida Senate.
It’s like these folks decided to stage a competition between dullness and vanity, and both won.
Compare that to the capsule that the Middle District of Florida division of the federal court system is putting together for its early celebration of the 250th next week. (More info at www.flmd.uscourts.gov)
Bankruptcy Judge Lori V. Vaughan reports that the district’s capsule will contain oodles of interesting things representative of both the time and place, including an ad with current grocery store prices, a local newspaper (yay), restaurant menus, a gas receipt, sports memorabilia and more.
Yes, there will also be a photo of the current judges. But it’s generally an interesting collection of items that represent Central Florida in 2026.
That’s how you do a time capsule.
Debate dodging
Last week, Byron Donalds made news for refusing to debate his Republican opponents in Florida’s gubernatorial primary. Now, in the U.S. Senate race, the Democrats are making similarly unimpressive headlines with the Florida Phoenix reporting: “Alex Vindman not ready to reveal if he’ll debate Angie Nixon in Senate race.”
This is all pretty pathetic. The Vindman campaign at least sounded like it was still open to the possibility of a debate. But none of this should be optional for any serious candidate.
Debate-dodging is pitiful, no matter the party or person. And voters have the ultimate say about whether it’s acceptable.
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