Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Guest AuthorDecember 15, 2013

You have to admire the profile in courage that Florida Republicans are setting. Florida is standing up to all those whiny kids, pregnant women and disabled people and rejecting $51 billion in extra Medicaid funding over the next 10 years. “We don’t need no stinkin’ $5 billion a year for health care,” say the Republicans. […]

Dominic CalabroDecember 15, 2013

With only three months before the legislative session starts, lawmakers are gearing up to help frustrated cities whose pension obligations are eating up larger portions of their municipal budgets. Last month, Sen. Robert Bradley and Sen. Jeremy Ring filed the first 2014 bill addressing local pension legislation, at the behest of many Florida cities that […]

Guest AuthorDecember 13, 2013

Senator Marco Rubio’s endorsement of Obamacare for his own family should end the rhetoric coming from Governor Rick Scott and other tea party groups. As many news outlets reported recently, in addition to enrolling his family through the new exchange, Rubio is also receiving federal subsidies – this is good news for his family. The […]

Dominic CalabroDecember 12, 2013

Florida’s congressional delegation has launched an effort to amend every bill they can before the end of December in an attempt to delay premium increases for flood insurance policyholders across Florida. If they are successful, they would protect hundreds of thousands of Floridians from unaffordable rate increases, preventing serious repercussions in the state economy. Florida […]

Guest AuthorDecember 12, 2013

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It’s never a good idea to take on an issue after Jon Stewart has had his way with it, but you know what they say about fools. The subject, in case you missed it, was the Obama-Castro handshake at the Nelson Mandela funeral celebration. Fox and CNN went gaga with speculation and condemnation over the […]

Martin DyckmanDecember 12, 2013

At Tallahassee, in 1959, four hoodlums accosted a young couple at gunpoint and took the woman away to rape her seven times. The criminals were white. The victims, students at Florida A & M University, were black. The perpetrators were tried, convicted and imprisoned. This made news worldwide; whites who raped blacks were rarely arrested, […]

Guest AuthorDecember 12, 2013

The reaction to President Barack Obama’s handshake with Cuban President Raúl Castro this week is an accurate reflection of the wacky Cold War-era relationship between their two neighboring countries. As he walked up to the podium to eulogize former South African President Nelson Mandela Tuesday, President Obama shook hands and exchanged words with Castro. Even […]

Guest AuthorDecember 11, 2013

I wonder how my mother’s past year may have gone differently had telemedicine been an option for her care. Following the resection of the lower lobe of her lung due to cancer, she developed an inability to swallow properly. She was diagnosed with aspiration pneumonia, and after multiple hospitalizations, she was fitted with a feeding […]

Guest AuthorDecember 11, 2013

I made the mistake of telling Emeline, the 3-year-old, what we were getting her mother for Christmas. “Earrings. But don’t tell her. It’s a surprise,” I said, naively. “Okay, Dad. But I’m not such a good secret-keeper.” This, unfortunately, turned out to be true. An hour after dinner, she couldn’t contain herself. The beans were […]

Guest AuthorDecember 11, 2013

In Northwest Florida, politics is a blood sport. There is one brewing now that deserves statewide attention. On one side is Mayor Ashton Hayward, who was elected three years ago as Pensacola’s first strong mayor. He’s a handsome, likeable person with a big bright smile and who likes to speak of big ideas. Hayward has […]

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Image via AP.

Mark O’Brien: Florida is a Medicaid Santa — for other states

Dominic Calabro: Legislators must help cities with pensions burden

Charlie Crist: Rubio endorsement of ACA should end Scott’s criticism

Dominic Calabro: Applaud efforts to delay flood insurance premium hikes

Doug Clifton: Breathless talk of Obama-Castro handshake ignored crucial issue

Martin Dyckman: Sentencing inequalities point to need to re-establish parole

Andrew Skerritt: U.S. foreign policy on Cuba has outlived its usefulness

Karen Cyphers: More ‘telemedicine’ would reduce costs, suffering

Ben Kirby: For more and more Americans, it’s homeless for the holidays

Rick Outzen: A Panhandle political battle is brewing