Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Guest AuthorJanuary 16, 2014

I’m going to be upfront with you. In case you have not been religiously reading my columns for the last few years, I’m a stout, fair, common-sense political man. I’m a fiscal conservative, moderate on family values and immigration, and liberal (that dirty word) on some social issues like women’s rights, GLBT equality, etc. So […]

Guest AuthorJanuary 16, 2014

There is an old saying around Florida that if you don’t like the weather just wait a couple of hours and suddenly it will change. Likewise, there are Florida political suddenlies as well. One day nearly 30 years ago, I rolled out of bed, a satisfied member of the Florida House of Representatives cruising to […]

Guest AuthorJanuary 16, 2014

Though the firearm crime rate in America has steadily decreased since 1993, America remains awash in guns — legally purchased as well as illegally obtained. An estimated 6.6 million guns were transferred in 2012 without a federal background check. The Internet has opened up a vast marketplace of weapons — some from licensed dealers, many […]

Guest AuthorJanuary 15, 2014

As is usually the case in these incidents, the fatal shooting of a man at a movie theater in suburban Tampa this week involved way too many “shouldn’t haves.” Press reports based on police statements and witness interviews sketch the following scenario. Chad Oulson and his wife were sitting in a row in front of […]

Daniel TilsonJanuary 15, 2014

First in a series. Fallacies are falling like raindrops in storm season, facts are being discarded like yesterday’s trash and fairness is a commodity fewer and fewer voters seem to value very much anymore. “Game On!” It’s time for Florida’s 2014 midterm elections!! Don’t all stand and cheer at once. Stand and cheer is what […]

Guest AuthorJanuary 15, 2014

A pair of creative, well-purposed bills have been drafted and filed for at least the fourth time this year. These bills, SB 466 and HB 361, would create a special State Lottery scratch-off ticket for funding breast cancer research. The “Ticket for a Cure” would be available for a limited period of five years, […]

Guest AuthorJanuary 15, 2014

The beginning of a new calendar year is always a good time to reflect on the previous 12 months and set some goals for the future. During this time of the year, I am often reminded of the poem “The Dash” by Linda Ellis. It refers to the dates on a person’s tombstone, the birth […]

Marc YachtJanuary 14, 2014

Upscale people live in Wesley Chapel. On Monday, a moviegoer upset that a man sitting in front of him was texting, shot him dead and wounded his wife. The movie had not started. Another patron, an off duty lawman, held the gunman until his arrest. The gunman is a 71-year-old retired Tampa police captain, according […]

Guest AuthorJanuary 14, 2014

I remember watching video during the war in Bosnia and thinking that I couldn’t tell difference between a Serb and a Croat. How can you fight a war when you don’t know the enemy? Of course those who were fighting did know the difference. But it strikes me that the people criticizing the poor and […]

Guest AuthorJanuary 14, 2014

In 2010 USA Today reported that roughly 30 percent of college freshmen are the first in their family to attend college. Twenty-four percent of college freshmen are first generation and low income. Nationally, a shocking 89 percent of low-income first-generation college students leave school within six years without a degree. They leave for a variety […]

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Steve Kurlander: Crossing the bridge to moderation: The GOP, and some dinosaurs, need Christie to survive Bridgegate

John Grant: Florida’s best spectator sport, hands down

Ben Kirby: Illegal guns are not welcome in St. Pete

Cary McMullen: He shouldn’t have had a gun in a movie theater

Daniel Tilson: Election 2014 Florida: Fallacies, facts and fairness

Karen Cyphers: Don’t ‘scratch’ Lotto bills; work to make them better

Maritza Martinez: Become a volunteer and make this your best year yet

Marc Yacht: Another senseless shooting; we need more gun control

Gary Stein: Conservatives don’t know the enemy in War on Poverty

Jeff Kottkamp: Raising tuition reduces access to higher education