GOP U.S. Senate candidate and former House Speaker Marco Rubio doesn't flat out oppose SunRail but throws up caution (he has to in order to remain consistent with overall criticism of stimulus) and takes a jab at Gov. Charlie Crist in a statement today.
"We should be wary of all the [...]
TALLAHASSEE — A bitter and personal war of words is dominating the search for a new U.S. Attorney for Florida's Middle District, which stretches across 34 counties, including the Tampa Bay area.
At the center of the battle is veteran Jacksonville prosecutor Harry Shorstein, one of three nominees submitted to President [...]
Struggling to raise money in Florida for his fledgling U.S. Senate campaign, former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferré is looking out of state — to Puerto Rico.
Ferré, 74, who was born on the island and stayed involved in politics there, has already attended one reception in Puerto Rico and said he [...]
U.S. Sens. George LeMieux and Bill Nelson are planning a trip to Tallahassee on Monday to rally support for SunRail. The visit would depend on the U.S. Senate schedule, which could have lawmakers in Washington throughout the weekend to debate health care.
LeMieux, in an interview, said he also offered to Senate President [...]
UPDATE: 9:51 p.m.. Rubio camp questions: Is Crist defending Obama again? See the jump.
Rival GOP candidates for U.S. Senate Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio today offer views on the health care legislation winding through Congress. Crist urged support for an amendment by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to block cuts to [...]
Florida's real estate market is crumbling so badly that the taxable property value for schools statewide will tumble 9.5 percent next year, state economists forecast Wednesday.
The plummeting property values pose problems for lawmakers, taxpayers and the school system: If the Legislature keeps the schools tax rate the same during the [...]
Twice in two years, proposed commuter rail in Central Florida died despite backing from powerful political and business leaders. Both times, Lakeland Sen. Paula Dockery engineered the train wreck.
Today, as the Legislature convenes in a special session to consider commuter rail legislation for a third time, Dockery is once again [...]
WASHINGTON — The highest court in the land heard a lot about Florida beach sand today: Where it comes from. Where it goes. Where spring breakers go to party.
But the big question, the one the U.S. Supreme Court must settle, is: When the government builds a wider beach, who owns [...]
Fort Lauderdale lawyer Scott Rothstein doled out large bonuses to his firm's lawyers, purportedly for exemplary work — but they would receive the awards only after they made fat campaign contributions in their names to political candidates of Rothstein's choice.
That allegation, tucked into federal racketeering charges filed Tuesday against Rothstein, [...]
"I think the president has a sensible plan, both short- and- long term, to empower [...]
The Florida National Organization for Women will protest Saturday against an anti-abortion measure in the House health care bill. The demonstration will be held Saturday morning outside Sen. Bill Nelson's office in West Palm Beach.
The House added the amendment barring funding for abortions as a way to appease reluctant Democrats, [...]
U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, is the headliner for a Dec. 5 fundraiser for Charlie Justice in Tampa. The event is being held at the home of Lisa and Mike Trentalange.
Braley picked up an open seat in 2006 that had been held by a Republican and went on [...]
Gov. Charlie Crist and top lawmakers think they have a rock solid argument for pursuing the SunRail project: Failing to do so could mean Florida would lose out on billions in federal funding for high speed rail.
Setting aside a critical examination of that claim (a big state like Florida would [...]
The state's response: no thanks. Keep your money.
Kottkamp, a Republican candidate for attorney general, [...]
Trying to convey broad support for President Obama's decision to vow greenhouse emissions cuts in an upcoming visit to Denmark, the White House tonight released statements from a host of prominent officials. Among them: Lew Hay, CEO of Florida Power & Light.
"We commend the president for his efforts and [...]
With U.S. Senate Democrats just barely scrounging up the 60 votes to avoid a GOP filibuster on health care, Orlando congressman Alan Grayson is trying to gain public support for a proposal to drop the threshold to 55 votes. "We've got a problem with democracy," Grayson said on MSNBC. Below' [...]
Former House Speaker Marco Rubio, ex-Senate President Ken Pruitt and Senate budget writer Lisa Carlton are potential witnesses in the House investigation of Rep. Ray Sansom, according to new documents that portend a high profile, politically-charged spectacle.
The names, [...]
Former House Speaker Marco Rubio, ex-Senate President Ken Pruitt and Senate budget writer Lisa Carlton are potential witnesses in the House investigation of Rep. Ray Sansom, according to new documents that portend a high profile, [...]
Sen. George LeMieux said he long wondered how disgraced lawyer Scott Rothstein was so successful but never acted on it because he's not "the kind of person to try to pull down others."
"I’ve talked to him and know him," LeMieux, who ran a competing law firm, said last week. "I [...]
U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wisc., is taking aim at Radio and TV Martí, calling it a $300 million "relic of the Cold War ... that virtually no one tunes in to."
"Government studies show that Radio and TV Martí are riddled with problems, and fall short of journalistic standards," Feingold [...]
Lori Edwards' campaign for Florida's 12th Congressional district released a poll today boasting she's got the lead "despite the challenging political environment for Democrats going into 2010."
In a recent survey conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, Edwards holds a 4-point edge over Republican challenger Dennis Ross, 46 – 42 percent. [...]
TAMPA — About 1,000 people lined up along Dale Mabry Highway for the chance to meet conservative pundit Glenn Beck, who visited a Borders bookstore as part of his whirlwind tour through Florida on Saturday to promote his latest book, Arguing with Idiots.
His [...]
The U.S. Senate just voted 60-39 to advance the health care bill, exposing deep division that will continue to play out during debate after Thanksgiving. Florida Senators reflected the party line vote.
"This is a debate that we must have. It is a debate that we cannot afford not to have," [...]
WASHINGTON — George LeMieux has been a member of the U.S. Senate only two months but has managed to jam up legislation on oil drilling, a bill cutting funding for Radio Marti and he is blocking President Barack Obama's nominee for ambassador to Brazil.
But what [...]
Attorney General Bill McCollum says there is reason to appeal a circuit court ruling dismissing part of the criminal case against dethroned House Speaker Ray Sansom.
A motion motion filed today with the First District Court of Appeal, lays out several technical arguments why the appeal is justified and asks the appellate court [...]
A motion motion filed today with the First District Court of Appeal, lays out several technical arguments why the appeal is justified and asks the appellate court [...]
UPDATE: Florida's Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson will vote to move the bill forward. Listen to his floor speech
Sen. George LeMieux said he will vote against moving the health care bill to the floor, contending it is still an unfinished product. "It's out for six weeks in Harry Reid's conference [...]Gov. Charlie Crist is in D.C. today raising money at Holland & Knight but insisted he is also focused on the dreadful state of the Florida economy, reinforced by a fresh report about 11.2 percent unemployment.
"I just think it's so important to stay focused on jobs, jobs, jobs," the [...]
Cigarettes sales are down 27 percent in Florida during the past four months, thanks to a new $1-a-pack tax designed to balance the budget and cut down on smoking.
But despite the drop in sales, tobacco tax collections in Florida are high and holding steady. That's because state economists accurately factored [...]
A Tampa company got a $900,000 Air Force contract through a program benefiting veteran-owned businesses but funneled the job to another firm, according to a new report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
The GAO report on fraud and abuse cites 10 examples in which firms obtained $100 million in contracts [...]
On the heels of Sen. George LeMieux's active use of "holds" to block legislation and the U.S. ambassador to Brazil comes word that he has been reviewing U.S. attorney recommendations suggested to the White House by Sen. Bill Nelson and former Sen. Mel Martinez.
LeMieux met with White House counsel Greg [...]
The Center for Public Integrity today is criticizing a bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek that would get rid of a competitive bidding program for Medicare.
"The dispute concerns so-called durable medical equipment — items like power wheelchairs and oxygen supplies. Federal investigators have long complained that the equipment business [...]
Florida Sen. George LeMieux is setting up a political action committee -- Protect America's Future -- and signaling he's likely going to pursue elective office after his temporary gig is up next year.
"The goal is to use it as a vehicle to promote the ideas he believes in: Reducing the [...]
U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite said today that she called a hotline for Recovery.org, the Web site that tracks stimulus spending, and lodged a complaint against the site itself.
"I’m startled by the amount of misinformation on the website and how much money is being wasted at the taxpayer’s expense," she [...]
Marco Rubio really wants to debate Charlie Crist. He has been asking for months. Now again in a letter:
Dear Eric (Eikenberg):
Unfortunately, Governor Crist has shown no interest in debating Marco thus far. Instead, the media has widely reported on behind-the-scenes maneuvering by your campaign to attack Marco and [...]
New federal guidelines that women should get mammograms starting at age 50, not 40, have provoked a spirited debate, and one prominent critic is Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who battled breast cancer herself.
"I am very concerned that these guidelines conflict with many of the well-established recommendations from the [...]
The Buzz caught up with Sen. George LeMieux today and he talked about various issues (see jump) before the topic turned to Gov. Charlie Crist's campaign problems, chiefly his association with President Obama's stimulus bailout. But LeMieux promptly turned it into a critique of Marco Rubio.
"Being governor means you have [...]
Ex-House Speaker Ray Sansom today denied any wrongdoing in his dealings with a Panhandle college where he would later work, and said the budgets that included millions for the school were signed off by many lawmakers.
"Final passage of a budget is the collective work of the legislative body and not that of a single" [...]
Former House Speaker Ray Sansom says it was all there for any member of the Legislature to review: Millions in taxpayer dollars stuck in the state budget for a Panhandle college.
On Monday, Sansom offered that up as his defense against allegations that he damaged public faith in the House through [...]
Democrats have targeted U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young in a new radio ad that continues an effort against 32 House Republicans who opposed the health care bill but represent districts won by Barack Obama.
"In last year's historic election, voters in Florida's 10th Congressional District supported President Obama and his [...]
Steve Bousquet: For nearly four years, Erin Isaac was a constant, hard-working presence at the side of Charlie Crist, loyally serving spin and positive imagery for a governor who until recently performed capably as his own best spokesman.
It was Isaac who could be heard on TV shouting "Last question!" in [...]
State Sen. Al Lawson had some tough words today for his Democratic primary rival, U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd, who voted last week against the House health care bill.
"In my opinion, he's in the pocket of the health care industry," the Tallahassee lawmaker said in an interview, charging his opponent with [...]
The White House today named Tim Manning as Florida state executive director for the Farm Service Agency at the USDA.
“Tim Manning has a solid understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing our rural communities and will help build on the Obama Administration’s efforts to rebuild and revitalize rural America,” said [...]
The Food and Drug Administration has backed off a plan to ban the sale of raw oysters collected along the Gulf Coast during warm months -- a victory to a signature Florida industry.
"Since making its initial announcement, the FDA has heard from Gulf Coast oyster [...]
Howard Troxler: Imagine trying to explain the Florida Legislature to the proverbial visitor from Mars. "Okay, we have this thing called committee week," we say. "The members of our Legislature go up to Tallahassee now and then, supposedly to work on laws in advance."
"That is very commendable," our Martian [...]
Rep. Sandy Adams of Orlando got a boost today in her bid to be the Republican to take on U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, D-New Smyrna Beach. Endorsements came from House Speaker Larry Cretul and Reps. Adam Hasner, Carlos Lopez-Cantera and Will Weatherford.
Adams faces Winter Park [...]
