Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Guest AuthorOctober 7, 2014

Florida Gov. Rick Scott is the reincarnation of Richard Nixon. “Tricky Dick,” the 37th U.S. president, was a walking thesaurus of negatives: imperious, secretive, draconian, paranoid, duplicitous, underhanded, and insincere — for starters. The committee formed to re-elect him — and that got him into Watergate trouble that led to his resignation — aptly went […]

Guest AuthorOctober 5, 2014

The Institute of Medicine’s recent report “Dying in America: Improving Quality and Honoring Individual Preferences Near the End of Life” has rekindled an important conversation about what’s covered in the Medicare program’s benefits package. Each year, more than 80 percent of Americans who die are insured by Medicare. But many are not happy with the […]

Guest AuthorJuly 6, 2014

Driving across Alabama the other day, I heard a political candidate on the car radio proudly declaring that, if elected, he will oppose Obamacare. Really, Alabama? You’re a state that’s above average in only two ways – college football and payments from Uncle Sam. Alabama is No. 11 when it comes to total federal spending […]

Guest AuthorJune 22, 2014

Thanks to modern pharmacology, to the eternal relief of couples everywhere, his erectile dysfunction may be due to decreased blood flow, not age, and treatable — or so the advertising claims. And, happily, with judicious pill-popping they may be back in the sack to marital (or whatever) bliss, their only major fear being that an […]

Marc YachtJune 1, 2014

The American tragedy continues with six collegians killed in the sleepy college town of Isla Vista, Calif. The deranged murderer then took his own life after a shooting and stabbing rampage. The father of one of the victims lashed out at the NRA, politicians and all those who impede gun restrictions. In Florida, bullets sent […]

Marc YachtMay 20, 2014

After 753 failed votes to defund Obamacare, weary Republicans have rolled out their long-awaited health plan. Entitled “Perfect Health for All Americans Act,” the House Speaker raised the one-page document above his head to cheering supporters. The logo on the plan showed an eagle perched on a red cross between two American flags. “In God […]

Martin DyckmanMay 8, 2014

There has been some good news and bad news on the health-care front. The funny thing is, it’s the same news. A study reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that the death rate in Massachusetts among people 20 to 64 dropped dramatically after it adopted the nation’s first universal health care law in […]

Bob SparksMay 6, 2014

Another legislative session is behind us. A host of bills, some more significant than others, await a signature and possibly a made-for-media signing ceremony by Gov. Rick Scott. With one party leading two branches of government, the governor’s veto pen will require precious little ink. A surge in “member projects” (some say pork, some say […]

Guest AuthorMay 4, 2014

There are 2,700 pages of the Affordable Care Act that can be condensed into one word:   Obamacare. To insure the uninsured, we first make some of the insured uninsured and then make them pay more to be insured again. In some cases, people have had to buy a policy they can’t afford despite the subsidies […]

Martin DyckmanFebruary 4, 2014

If there’s one rule that really matters in politics, it’s this: Don’t let best be the enemy of good. Otherwise, both are likely to lose. For people who favor universal health insurance — as I do — Obamacare was a hard swallow. It falls far short of covering everybody. It’s too complex, guaranteeing that there […]

Tag: Medicare

Stephen Goldstein: Florida’s Richard Nixon: “Tricky” Rick Scott

Donald H. Taylor, Jr.: We need to listen to dying people about the care they want

Mark O’Brien: Nation’s sad new motto: Yes, we can’t

Stephen Goldstein: Boycotts are the cure for Florida’s Electoral Dysfunction

Marc Yacht: Blame mass killings on lax gun laws, poor mental-health care

Marc Yacht: Republican one-page plan solves the health-care conundrum!!

Martin Dyckman: Drop in death rate is good news (or bad), depending on one’s politics

Bob Sparks: Real people must trump ideology

John Grant: Obamacare is ineffective and needs to be repealed

Martin Dyckman: Compromise appears possible on immigration reform