Will Weatherford ready to lead "innovative conservative" Florida House

RedState's Erick Erickson and Will Weatherford

Speaker-designate of the Florida House Will Weatherford stopped by the RedState Gathering in Jacksonville last Friday to chat with the conservative activists and bloggers who were attending the conference. 

What I like about Weatherford is that he isn't just a proud Republican, but that he is consistently cheerful and positive about it, treating politics as a method for finding solutions. He truly believes that conservative principles are the best way to provide the most opportunities for success for the most people, and is dedicated to the idea of making government as simple and streamlined as possible.

While Weatherford was at the Gathering, he was nice enough to chat with me for a few minutes. Here is a video of the interview:

Why is the Florida Legislature playing Russian Roulette with our property insurance?

Our luck won't last forever.

Smart people don't play Russian Roulette. 

They definitely don't consider playing it repeatedly, knowing that every turn they take would increase the chances of catastrophe.

So why is the Florida Legislature using Russian Roulette as a model for our property insurance?

Another hurricane season ends and Florida keeps playing Russian Roulette

November 30 was the official end of the 2011 Hurricane Season, marking the sixth consecutive year that Florida has dodged a bullet:

Worried about Hurricane Irene? Here's the REAL disaster.

Hurricane Irene is spinning its way through the Atlantic and could impact the Central Florida area by Friday. The storm is currently a Category 2.

With the first major storm of the season heading our way, it's a painful reminder of how very vulnerable Florida's property insurance system is. The James Madison Institute published a comprehensive study on this topic, and suggested changes to the Florida Citizens Property Insurance Corporation ("Citizens") and the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (the "Cat Fund"):

James Madison Institute | Backgrounder February 2011 | Solutions to Restore Florida's Property Insurance Marketplace to Protect Taxpayers and the Insured

This study presents data demonstrating that Florida’s property insurance system is seriously broken and needs significant changes, some of which may be somewhat painful to — or unwelcomed by — those who benefit from the status quo. Yet those changes must be enacted if the Legislature hopes to protect the state against the risks inherent in crowding 18 million people onto a low-lying peninsula that juts out into one of the most hurricane-prone areas on Earth. For the past several years Florida has placed its public safety and fiscal health at risk, and the state has — against the odds — won each time. That winning streak cannot continue forever. Therefore, change must come because the risks are simply too great.

Some important facts and comments from the report: