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

Guest AuthorOctober 21, 2013

Gambling interests say they will create thousands of jobs in Florida if we legalize Vegas-style casinos. When Bugsy Siegel essentially created Las Vegas by building casinos in a barren desert in Nevada, his enterprise did create jobs – because virtually nothing existed before the casinos. The problem is that when casinos are introduced into an […]

Guest AuthorOctober 18, 2013

The October 2013 Special Election for House District 36 showcased the great turnout operation of Republican volunteers and the campaign, shed light on just how tarnished the Republican “brand” is among independent voters and measured the influence of Mike Fasano. The General Election in 2010 was a wave year for Republicans. It featured an excited […]

Guest AuthorOctober 17, 2013

When it comes to law enforcement agencies, Polk County and its largest city, Lakeland, offer a study in contrasts. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd – despite his flair for publicity-seeking – is generally regarded as running a model department. The Lakeland Police Department hasn’t had the benefit of leadership of Judd’s caliber. Several years ago, […]

Guest AuthorOctober 17, 2013

Facebook is a minefield for me these days. Most of the time I just scroll along peaceably through updates from family and friends and others whom I really don’t know but I’m afraid to delete because they might be people I should know but forgot. Every now and then, though, BAM! I read something that […]

Guest AuthorOctober 16, 2013

On behalf of rational thinking people everywhere, I would like to call for a formal and official end to the news media and societal malpractice of false equivalence. The government shutdown was never about two equally aggrieved sides trying to find common ground. Certainly this is evident as the bipartisan Senate accord to reopen the […]

Guest AuthorOctober 16, 2013

President Barack Obama promised that his administration would be the most open and transparent in history. With the nation coming out of the super-secretive Bush years, the news media and watchdog groups welcomed the change. His Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government, issued on Jan. 21, 2009, directed federal agencies to implement the principles of […]

Guest AuthorOctober 16, 2013

“I’m from the government and I’m here to help,” is sadly not a phrase that inspires confidence. In fact, since the people of Florida’s 18th state Senate district elected me to serve them, I’ve jokingly used Ronald Reagan’s line at town halls and small business tours to get people smiling. I’d like to think they’re […]

Guest AuthorOctober 15, 2013

For the Nobel Peace Prize this year, I was rooting for Malala Yousafzai, the 16-year-old Pakistani girl who a year ago was shot in the head by a shaking, demented terrorist whose allegiance to the Taliban tells us all we need to know about the lethality of religious fundamentalism. Any kind of fundamentalism, really. It […]

Guest AuthorOctober 15, 2013

As a dog owner I was alarmed to discover that first-term Republican Congressman Ted Yoho, who hails from Gainesville, is a veterinarian. I had always assumed that veterinarians, with all those years of schooling, were pretty sharp folks. Yoho, though, was just honored by the Business Insider for uttering “The #1 Stupidest Comment on the […]

Guest AuthorOctober 15, 2013

Ominous headlines on federal cuts to biomedical research are not exaggerating the consequences. These cuts mean tangible damage to fruitful research programs, laboratories and discoveries. It takes forever (OK, only a decade or two) for most drugs to progress from basic discovery through trials to federal approval. Seemingly small delays now translate into a loss […]

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Carol Dover: Destination resorts will cannibalize industry

Anthony Pedicini: Deep-dive into the numbers behind Amanda Murphy’s win in HD 36

Cary McMullen: Lakeland police chief on the firing line

Jim McClellan: Don’t chill debate over climate change

Ben Kirby: The shutdown debate that wasn’t: This was not about two sides

Rick Outzen: President Obama’s veneer of openness

Wilton Simpson: Washington, D.C., could learn a lot from Florida

Pierre Tristam: Why Malala Yousafzai should have won the Nobel Peace Prize

Steve Robinson: Congressman Yoho and House extremists

Karen Cyphers: Federal research slump is Florida’s opportunity