Guest Author, Author at Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Guest AuthorNovember 24, 2014

The holidays are upon us and I am related to people who visit. A lot. They bring their kids, their gluten-free attitudes and about 900 hours of political ideas they want to try out on me. I also travel quite a bit, staying with relatives when there isn’t a Hyatt nearby. I bring my kids, […]

Guest AuthorNovember 24, 2014

The information technology field in Florida and across the country has been expanding rapidly with innovative technologies and services hitting the market all the time. Our banks, large retailers and, most importantly, our state government depend on this ever-growing field. And while we will be addressing many issues this legislative session, we need to keep […]

Guest AuthorNovember 20, 2014

We’ve probably all had the song It’s a Small World stuck in our heads after visiting Fantasyland at Walt Disney World. This simple song highlights how we all are connected, and was created to promote the message of international peace and inclusion of diversity. Walt Disney sped up the tempo from the original version and […]

Guest AuthorNovember 19, 2014

Here’s an interesting debate that I would love to see played out in Florida. In their desire to save lives and improve health, some communities elsewhere have raised to 21 the minimum age for anyone to buy tobacco. It’s led to a reduction in teenage smoking, although some folks worry that it’s another case of […]

Guest AuthorNovember 18, 2014

“Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech.” Those sweeping words of the First Amendment are the crown jewels of our Bill of Rights, the equivalent of “Let freedom ring,” the bedrock of our Republic. If Americans cherish anything, it is their constitutional protection to speak their minds. But however […]

Guest AuthorNovember 18, 2014

First impressions matter. It’s one of the truisms we must live with. Unfortunately, that’s a fact seemingly lost on new Florida State University President John Thrasher. Exhibit 1 is the former legislator’s tone-deaf response to last week’s New York Times article highlighting another instance in which an FSU football player not named Winston might have […]

Guest AuthorNovember 18, 2014

Domestic violence is one of the most critical issues affecting Florida’s families and children. You may be surprised to learn that children account for nearly 50 percent of emergency shelter residents at any given time. During the 2013-14 fiscal year, Florida’s 42 certified domestic violence centers provided emergency shelter to 15,611 individuals — 7,219 of […]

Guest AuthorNovember 17, 2014

A funny thing happened in Jan 2013. A Dr. Jonathan Gruber of MIT (now an “unperson” at the White House and Democrats who knew him so well), appeared via Skype at the Florida Senate Select Committee on Patient Protection and the Affordable Care Act committee. I wrote at the time in a Florida Voices column, […]

Guest AuthorNovember 17, 2014

Since its creation in 2000, the U.S. State Department’s Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP) has called out governments for allowing the prostitution of minors, the confinement of domestic workers by employers and the recruitment of child soldiers. It has highlighted governments’ failure to liberate bonded laborers from disadvantaged castes or protect migrant women […]

Guest AuthorNovember 16, 2014

The midterm elections are in the rearview mirror, but Congress still has a lot of important work to take care of before defeated or retired lawmakers go home at year’s end and the newly elected ones take office in January. At the top of the “lame duck” to-do list should be addressing an urgent and […]

Guest Author

Catherine Durkin Robinson: Tips for being a good host and a good guest

Tom Feeney: Florida’s policy for state tech contracts should be reformed

Alaina Bernard: It’s a small world after all – and we’re all connected

Mark O’Brien: Raise smoking age to 21, save lives and money

Stephen Goldstein: Democrats must become better liars than Republicans

Andrew Skerritt: FSU’s president should be tougher on football player misconduct

Columba Bush: Take action to prevent domestic violence

Henry Kelley: Liberals were lied to about the benefits of Obamacare

Kelley and Lagon: A strong voice for the voiceless

Sal Nuzzo: Time for truth in Medicare accounting