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

Guest AuthorOctober 29, 2013

Imagine you are sitting at home watching TV and suddenly the phone rings. You mute the TV and answer the phone. “Mr. _______?” “Yes?” you quizzically reply, as it’s always slightly startling when someone knows your name and phone number without you recognizing his voice. The person on the phone is calling to help you […]

Guest AuthorOctober 28, 2013

Florida started to privatize its economic development functions in 1992 with the enactment of Enterprise Florida Inc. and abolished the Florida Department of Commerce in 1996. In 2011, Gov. Rick Scott and the Legislature created the Department of Economic Opportunity. One of its responsibilities is to manage the state’s contract with Enterprise Florida. The president […]

Guest AuthorOctober 27, 2013

There are any number of things I could have written about on this day: How HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is falling on her sword for her boss, the President, taking the blame for the horrendous debut of the Affordable Care Act website. How Texas Sen. Ted Cruz shouted “it is terrific to be back in […]

Guest AuthorOctober 27, 2013

It is difficult to sit across from Jason A. Tompkins and not feel that he is on an incredible mission. Tompkins, chair of the newly chartered Tampa Bay Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, is passionate about the tragedy of suicide. But he also clearly enjoys organizing people for a cause he cares […]

Guest AuthorOctober 24, 2013

The Florida Legislature is holding hearings with the goal of possibly fixing serious flaws in our state’s Stand Your Ground law. I am encouraged that these important discussions are taking place in Tallahassee, as this is a promising first step. As leader of one of the nation’s largest fully accredited sheriff’s offices, I support the […]

Guest AuthorOctober 24, 2013

It’s hard to believe now, but there was a time when Florida wasn’t governed by ideologues toeing a party line. It was a time when our state was more genuine and less generic, when personalities could still trump politics and candor didn’t kill careers. That time was in the 1990s, and I had the amazing […]

Guest AuthorOctober 24, 2013

The tragedy of Rebecca Ann Sedwick’s suicide continues to be compounded. One young life has been lost and two more are in danger of ruin, and one wonders which was worse, the lack of adult supervision that caused Rebecca’s death or the overabundance of it in the reaction that followed. Rebecca was 12 when she […]

Guest AuthorOctober 24, 2013

It’s time we challenge the popular notion that the purpose of our state government is to create jobs. I realize that what I will write is considered heresy in the hallowed halls of the state Capitol, but the notion of job creation is a whimsical idea that serves the agendas of those trying to profit […]

Guest AuthorOctober 23, 2013

When a man in Revolutionary War garb shows up at your public hearing, you can pretty much count on a downhill slide in the quality of debate. That was surely the case in Davie, Florida the other night when the aforementioned costumed man was abetted by shouts of “Marxism” and “communism” from the audience. Said […]

Guest AuthorOctober 23, 2013

“The absence of articulate political leadership in the country makes us feel that we are floundering,” the great Saul Bellow wrote in a piece for Forbes — in 1972. Richard Nixon was president, a reminder that even in the worst of times, if the nation could survive that knave, it’s not about to be sunk […]

Guest Author
Deegan faces a tough City Council as she prepares to unveil her third budget. Image via WJCT.

Dennis Ross: Your information, your choice, your protections

Dan Krassner: State lawmakers should give Enterprise Florida an overhaul

Steve Robinson: Gun violence continues; where is the outrage?

Ben Kirby: New Tampa area organization works to prevent suicide

Scott Israel: An important first step in fixing Stand Your Ground statute

Jim McClellan: Horse trading for ostrich feed

Cary McMullen: An eye for an eye is not justice for Rebecca

Rick Outzen: State government isn’t about job creation

Doug Clifton: Some Common Core opponents are proof the standards are needed

Pierre Tristam: It’s time to get rid of Florida’s suicide Republicans