Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Martin DyckmanMay 18, 2015

There’s a Republican running for president who promises unequivocally to “protect Social Security and Medicare…to kill anything that poses a threat to the promises we have made to America’s seniors.” But he’s also calling for a “tax reform” that would bleed seniors as they’ve never been bled before. What do you call such a politician? […]

Martin DyckmanMay 18, 2015

There’s a Republican running for president who promises unequivocally to “protect Social Security and Medicare…to kill anything that poses a threat to the promises we have made to America’s seniors.” But he’s also calling for a “tax reform” that would bleed seniors as they’ve never been bled before. What do you call such a politician? […]

Associated PressApril 15, 2015

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio launched his Republican presidential campaign this week with a promise to reject “the leaders and ideas of the past.” It was a not-so-subtle jab from a 43-year-old fresh-faced senator at his likely 2016 competitors, Republican Jeb Bush and Democrat Hillary Clinton, whose families cemented political dynasties in the 1990s. A closer […]

Marc YachtFebruary 2, 2015

When King Arthur is about to marry Guinevere, the song notes, “I wonder what the king is doing tonight.” A good question to those who built their house of cards selling the “Big Government is Bad” idea. This effective anti-government campaign plays on fears that those awful tax-and-spend liberals will reach deeper into voters’ pockets. […]

Janelle Irwin TaylorJanuary 12, 2015

More than 13 million people were the victims of identity theft in 2013 according to Javelin Strategy and Research. And that number is on the rise. In 2012 it was 12.6 million, up one million people from 2011 and more than two million from 2010. That means an American becomes the victim of identity theft […]

Guest AuthorAugust 26, 2014

Opponents of raising the minimum wage should try living on that paltry $7.25 an hour. The experience might change their minds, or at least make them a little less willing to consign people to living on $290 a week. Do the math; you can’t live on $290 a week (before taxes). I had a close […]

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 […]

Guest AuthorFebruary 27, 2014

Now that the grand bargain seems to have foundered on the rocks of political intransigence, perhaps it is time to tackle reform of the basic Social Security program. While a funding crisis is not imminent — the system is sound for well more than the next decade — the sooner corrective action is taken the less drastic […]

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: social security
Image via AP.

Martin Dyckman: Mike Huckabee’s tax plan is a huckster’s scheme that would slam seniors

Martin Dyckman: Mike Huckabee's tax plan is a huckster's scheme that would slam seniors

Marco Rubio draws from past despite future focus

Marc Yacht: I wonder what Republicans are doing tonight

Janelle Irwin: Thieves stole my ID, and it sucks

Mark O’Brien: Do the math: You couldn’t live on minimum wage

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

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

Michael Richardson: Winners and losers of privatized Social Security

Martin Dyckman: Compromise appears possible on immigration reform