Looks like all the legislative keister-kissing didn't pay off on commuter rail

Looks like all the legislative keister-kissing didn't pay off on commuter rail Scott Maxwell TAKING NAMES May 7, 2008 If you look behind a state legislator, you'll often find a local politician.That's because legislative keister-kissing is a pretty much standard protocol for local-government types.Mayors and council members love to rave about how lucky we are to have the most powerful delegation in the state -- a rising speaker in Dean Cannon, a former majority leader in Andy Gardiner, a wise veteran in Dan Webster and so on.They hope the flattery will help them get a bill passed -- and maybe an endorsement down the road.But, given our supposedly mighty delegation, doesn't it seem odd that these boys got their tails whipped on commuter rail by some trial lawyers and a couple of their obstinate peers?Makes you wonder if these guys aren't really so powerful, after all.Or maybe they're just less powerful than the special interests.Or maybe, just maybe, these folks never really wanted the commuter-rail project as much as they led their puckered-up friends back home to believe.Mica says Mica's persistentOne guy who definitely has clout is U.S. Rep. John Mica.And the Little Congressman Who Could isn't about to give up on rail.The Winter Park Republican has teamed up with Jacksonville Democrat Corrine Brown to make some good old-fashioned threats.Said Mica: "I don't know if you've ever gotten on the wrong side of Mr. Mica and Ms. Brown. But I'm telling you that you don't want to go there."While Mr. Maxwell thinks it's kind of weird when folks refer to themselves in the third person, Mr. Mica may be speaking the only language his fellow pols really understand.A better deal?While we're in a transit time-out anyway, maybe rail supporters should make sure taxpayers aren't getting a raw deal.We all know rail's not cheap. No transportation project is. And delays will only up the price.But there have been legitimate questions about how much the public is paying for the project -- and, as CFO Alex Sink has stressed, about the cost of providing liability protection for CSX.Yes, mass transit makes sense. But it also makes sense to ensure that taxpayers aren't getting hosed.Hering out before in?Bob Hering may be out of the 8th Congressional District race before he was ever in.The Orlando businessman who wanted to challenge incumbent Ric Keller in the primary -- and has been campaigning heavily for months -- confirmed Tuesday that he had missed a paperwork deadline with elections officials."I'm certainly embarrassed," said the Iraq war veteran and colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve. "I never wanted to embarrass myself or my supporters in any way. I really think we had a chance to pull this off."While Hering said he should've taken the initiative to fill out the Loyalty Oath, he said he never received the form he was told to expect from elections officials and will make "a decision over what we're going to do in the next couple of days."Nice gig if you can get itSo Orlando helped departing City Commissioner Betty Wyman get a $75,000-a-year job at City Hall. And state Sen. Mike Haridopolos has his $75,000-a-year at UF. You know, with the economy tanking and so many people out of work, it's nice to know we're taking extra-good care of our "public servants."Scott Maxwell can be reached at smaxwell@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-6141. Copyright © 2008, Orlando Sentinel