Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Martin DyckmanJanuary 11, 2015

In a column several months ago I deplored the outcomes of two election cases that brought to mind Charles Dickens’s famous phrase, “If the law says that, the law is a ass, an idiot.” In one, the First District Court of Appeal refused to reinstate a legislative candidate who had been kicked off the ballot […]

Martin DyckmanJanuary 11, 2015

In a column several months ago I deplored the outcomes of two election cases that brought to mind Charles Dickens’s famous phrase, “If the law says that, the law is a ass, an idiot.” In one, the First District Court of Appeal refused to reinstate a legislative candidate who had been kicked off the ballot […]

Marc YachtDecember 31, 2014

In spite of massive conservative efforts to derail the Affordable Care Act, the train continues to lumber down the track. The Washington Post writes that at least 7.1 million people thus far have enrolled in 2015 health plans. Somewhat short of projected enrollment with many states such as Florida instituting effective sign-up obstacles, the plan […]

Martin DyckmanDecember 17, 2014

We Americans owe our civil liberties not only to the statesmen such as James Madison who wrote them into the Constitution or to the lawyers and judges who have upheld them. We also have people to thank who we wouldn’t necessarily want as friends or neighbors. They’re the ones accused of crimes – and sometimes […]

Daniel TilsonDecember 16, 2014

Attention, knee-jerk opponents of Obamacare: Be careful what you wish for. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear the King vs. Burwell case in March 2015. It pits some sloppy statutory language in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) about who is or isn’t eligible for subsidies, against the obvious intent to offer subsidies to all uninsured […]

Christine Jordan SextonNovember 5, 2014

The Florida Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case today that asks the justices to decide whether the fee caps in the state’s workers compensation laws are legal. The high-profile case is Castellanos v. Next Door Company and it is slated to be heard at 9 a.m. in the Supreme Court building in […]

Martin DyckmanOctober 20, 2014

The title of the Florida Public Service Commission is about as relevant to reality as that of the People’s Republic of China. In each case, the true constituency is a narrow group of self-perpetuating special interests. Making the public interest the true constituency of the PSC ought to be high on the agenda of the […]

Martin DyckmanOctober 8, 2014

The campaign for governor strikes many Floridians as all sound and fury, signifying nothing but that too much money is being put to too little good. Some are even questioning why they should bother to vote. The answer is elemental. If they don’t, other people will be voting for them. At the end of the […]

Martin DyckmanJuly 13, 2014

Amidst the national obsession over whether a hugely overpaid athlete is returning to a city he once deserted, something immensely more important happened in Washington Thursday. Scarcely anyone noticed. You most likely did not see it in your newspaper or hear it on TV. It was reported by the “Voice of Russia” but not by […]

Martin DyckmanJuly 7, 2014

No matter that the U.S. Supreme Court had ordered it, the state Supreme Court wasn’t going to let a black man attend the University of Florida law school. Writing in 1955, Justice W. Glenn Terrell claimed that Florida’s defiance in support of segregation fulfilled divine intent. “When God created man,” Terrell said, “he allotted each […]

Tag: Supreme Court

Martin Dyckman: Write-ins waste money, disenfranchise voters

Martin Dyckman: Write-ins waste money, disenfranchise voters

Marc Yacht: A happy new year for the Affordable Care Act

Martin Dyckman: Bad people who helped make good law

Daniel Tilson: Beware of what would replace Obamacare

Are fee caps legal? Supreme Court hears workers comp case today

Martin Dyckman: If you want the PSC to protect customers, vote for Crist

Martin Dyckman: Two huge reasons to vote — the courts, the state constitution

Martin Dyckman: Vote to curb political contributions didn’t get proper coverage

Martin Dyckman: Has the Court created a religious-freedom ‘slippery slope’?