An online constituent initiative currently being forwarded by two independent candidates for State Senate in Vermont and US Congress in Florida.

Jeremy Hansen and Phil Dodds are two men with a dream of allowing more government accountability and citizen control through the use of the internet. Both are running for political office and offering a hybrid version of direct democracy through the net as their main selling point.

Read more about their initiative later today on Florida Watchdog.

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Could Amtrak be on its way out? A new private passenger railway is being proposed between Orlando and Miami.

A new private railway line planned from Orlando to Miami could spell the end of Amtrak

The line would be the first non-subsidized passenger train between two major American cities and will take an estimated 4 hours less time to make its destination than Amtrak.

What makes such a project significant is the departure from the standard model of securing public funding before committing to such a large infrastructure and transportation plan.

What could this mean for travel across the country?

Read more at the Chicago Tribune.

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Critics of Super PACs are quick to demonize such large outside spending, but the numbers show that the biggest benefactors are television networks swamped with the advertising revenue

Ah yes, the dreaded Super PACs. No matter what the message or the aim of these third-party outside spending advertisers, they have become magnets for criticism both in politics itself and in the broader context of the media.

But could the biggest advantage of having such large ‘spending entities’ be a media sector flushed with cash after years of hardships and uncertain affects of advertising?

Could the effect of these ads be overstated to fit the interests of the television networks who constantly replay the latest ads to generate more interest and charge more to potential Super PACers?

Find out later today on Florida Watchdog.