MSNBC host Dylan Ratigan today apologized for a rather testy interview Friday with Debbie Wasserman Schultz. At one point, the Broward Democrat suggests Ratigan "could be your own guest" as he rattled on, answering his own question.
Gloria Estefan scored a sitdown with President Barack Obama and led off with a hard hitting inquiry.
"I have a very important question to start off this interview, which chimney will Santa be coming down?" the singer asked Obama, according to a Univision transcript of the interview.
Obama replied: "Well, we think that" [...]
Here's what Bill Nelson says about his vote to keep the health care bill moving: "In voting to move a health-care bill forward, my main goal was to help pass legislation that'll make health coverage more affordable and available for everybody. And one of my top priorities remains protecting seniors. Recently,'" [...]
Bill Nelson stuck with his fellow Democrats in voting to move ahead on health care legislation today, earning him plaudits from AARP Florida. The legislation, state director Lori Parham says, will help "protect guaranteed Medicare benefits and help millions of older Americans overcome the challenges of accessing affordable, quality health services."
The group, she says, [...]
Democrats are launching robo-calls against House Republicans -- including Miami Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart -- for voting last week against a bill to regulate Wall Street. He wasn't alone -- every Republican in the House cast a "nay" vote against the bill Democrats say will crack down on financial misdeeds by the' [...]
Rep. John Mica says his words at a transportation meeting today in Orlando were misreported: He didn't say he's heard Florida is definitely in line for a slice of the $8 billion worth of high speed rail dollars in the stimulus package -- he said only said early signals look promising.
He said he' [...]
Florida Sen. George LeMieux has dropped his opposition to the incoming US ambassador to Brazil, saying he got commitments from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on some areas of concern -- including Honduras and Cuba.
For example, LeMieux says that in Honduras, the U.S. "will continue to normalize relations with that country's'" [...]
The state's congressional delegation has penned a letter to federal transportation secretary Ray LaHood, letting him know the state really wants a share of the federal transportation stimulus dollars.
"We are confident," the signers say, "That Florida's application for high speed rail funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act" [...]
Major U.S. travel operators gathered in a downtown Washington hotel Wednesday to listen to a pitch for business from Cuban government officials, who appeared on a giant screen via the Internet from Havana to tout the island.
The meeting — which one of its organizers said was a first — came as travel companies eagerly [...]
A Miami psychiatrist who writes prescriptions for Medicaid patients at a rate of 150 a day, seven days a week, has been targeted by a U.S. senator as an example of why the federal government should do more to investigate over-utilization of healthcare.
A biting letter, from Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, to federal [...]
..one of whom just happens to be a Democrat who works in Miami... Coincidence? The Miami Republican says he filed a bill today to prevent "political consultants or paid campaign staff" from receiving money from the stimulus package. The bill also requires that political consultants or paid campaign staff who have already received such funds [...]
But Maurice Ferre says, Meek's call for war bonds to finance the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan underscores his belief that the war in Afghanistan is "a futile war.
"It's a good gesture, I think if nothing else what it does is put the country on notice that we're at war and we're [...]
Kendrick Meek is proposing to pay for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq through a throwback to prior U.S. wars -- war bonds. Saying it would "promote national shared sacrifice and responsibility,'' Meek Wednesday introduced a bill to authorize the U.S. Treasury to issue and sell war bonds to Americans to fund the" [...]
Last time it was the Miami Herald calling on the Florida senator to release his block on the new U.S. ambassador to Brazil. This time it's the conservative leaning Investor's Business Daily, which says it's time for Tom Shannon to be endorsed.
"The whole thing annoys Brazilians and hurts us," the [...]
Says the 7th annual "Ready or Not? Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism report, released today by theTrust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The report says the H1N1 flu outbreak has exposed "serious underlying gaps in the nation’s ability to respond to public health emergencies [...]
Bill Nelson is asking Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to make the case of a U.S. contractor detained in Cuba a top priority.
The Florida Democrat says Cuban authorities have refused to allow anyone on behalf of the U.S. to visit the man to check on his well being. He says under Cuban law, a citizen [...]
George LeMieux is criticizing Cuba for detaining a U.S. contractor who was distributing cell phones and laptop computers on the island.
"This is clear evidence the Cuba regime continues to stifle dissent and oppress the basic human rights of its people," LeMieux said in a statement over the weekend, adding [...]
The House of Representatives passed legislation Friday designed to bring the most sweeping rewrite of financial regulation since the New Deal era following the Great Depression: "We are sending a clear message to Wall Street: The party is over," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Florida Republicans joined their counterparts in [...]
Environment Florida is panning the approach senators have taken in a new Senate climate control bill, saying it could lead to drilling off the Florida coast.
"Offshore drilling has no place in a climate bill," said Environment Florida's Adam Rivera. "Drilling means more emissions, and more emissions in a bill designed to" [...]
That would be Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, according to this week's National Journal poll of Congressional and political insiders -- who are surveyed on "their favorite members of Congress, the member they'd like most to shut up, the brightest thinkers and strategists in their parties and much more."
Congressional insiders gave [...]
Bill Nelson’s bill to ban giant constrictors cleared a Senate panel today, setting it up for a full Senate vote. His bill would make it illegal to import 9 dangerous snakes, including Burmese pythons, anacondas and boa constrictors.
The green anaconda has been found in the Big Cypress National Preserve in South Florida. And a pet python [...]
A Miami-Dade man who punched a demonstrator at a healthcare rally has reached a plea deal with prosecutors and will take anger management courses and serve 50 hours of community service.
Raul Anasagasti, 56, is scheduled to appear in Miami-Dade Circuit Court Thursday.
Back in September, Anasagasti punched a 65-year-old man [...]
George LeMieux said he had about 50 attendees -- and several who couldn't attend but sent checks -- to a reception and dinner Tuesday night to benefit his new political action committee, Protect America's Future.
The Gov. Charlie Crist appointee brushed off speculation he'll use the committee for a future political bid when he leaves the Senate after' [...]
House and Senate negotiators have apparently reached a deal to keep anti-Castro broadcasters Radio and TV Marti alive. Congressional critics in the Senate had proposed slicing the stations' $34 million budget nearly in half -- but a compromise has been reached, setting the 2010 budget at $30 million.
Florida Sen. George LeMieux, who had threatened' [...]
Bill Nelson's office say commuter rail in Florida has gotten a second big boost -- congressional budget negotiators late last night agreed to spend $40 million to help jumpstart a rail system that will serve
commuters in Central Florida.
There's also $1.7 million for planning for light rail in Tampa and $4 million for expansion of' [...]
Flashing badges, federal agents descended on Florida's Capitol this week questioning senators and staff members about the Legislature, indicted political player Alan Mendelsohn and former Sen. Mandy Dawson.
"`They had pretty basic questions about the legislative process, but they did ask about Alan Mendelsohn,'' said Sen. Dennis Jones, R-Treasure Island.
"`They asked [...]
Republican Senators John McCain and Tom Coburn included a Florida Atlantic University study on mice and alcohol in a report they say flags wasteful spending in the $787 billion federal stimulus project.
They note researchers at the school received $8,408 to study whether mice become disoriented when they consume alcohol.
"The researchers note that" [...]
From the Hill: Freddy Balsera, a former adviser to President Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign received nearly $70,000 from a federal stimulus bill contract to help alert television viewers in difficult-to-reach communities that their TV's would soon no longer receive broadcast signals.
"Republicans on Tuesday criticized the federal spending on the advertising'" [...]
Not surprisingly, Florida's two senators split their votes on an amendment to restrict abortion coverage. Democrat Bill Nelson voted to set aside the provision, while Republican George LeMieux voted to take it up.
The measure, which cleared the House would have put strict limits on federal abortion funding in the Democrats'' [...]
New Sen. George LeMieux says " the Florida Legislature put the interests of Floridians first by supporting
commuter rail in Central and South Florida.
"With support for rail from the state, Florida’s chances of winning federal high-speed rail money greatly
improve," LeMieux says in a statement. "A high-speed rail corridor will [...]
Reuters: "Much of a $6 billion annual tax break for U.S. corporate research is a windfall for companies that would do the research even without such a subsidy, the investigative arm of Congress said on Tuesday.
Use of the tax credit is dominated by large corporations, and half of the 2005" [...]
Politico: The Miami Dolphins corrected Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal for wrongly claiming his 12-0 New Orleans Saints could be the first team in league history to go undefeated and win the Super Bowl.
" 'With all due respect to Governor Jindal, our fans in Louisiana and elsewhere will be disappointed to learn'" [...]
Politico reporter Jon Allen tells friends he's heading to work for Debbie Wasserman Schultz's political action committee, Democrats Win Seats.
Allen, who starts as executive director of the leadership PAC in January, says he's "very excited to work for someone whom I admire and respect."
Wasserman Schultz and two other House Dems are said' [...]
John Kerry, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, opines in today's St. Pete Times in favor of lifting the ban on travel to Cuba.
"Today, we have a choice: seek solace in old rhetoric, ignore change and resist it, or mold it and channel it into a new policy'" [...]
From Twitter and tonight's White House holiday party for members of Congress comes this report from Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen:
"The White House always looks lovely @ Christmas: attended Congressional party 2nite. Hate to be catty but the First Lady looked stunning."
Claws have to be a lot sharper for catty....
[...]A fiery John McCain took to the Senate floor to offer a health care amendment -- and tweaked Bill Nelson in the process. The Arizona Republican said his amendment would send the Senate health care bill back to committee to grandfather in all enrollees in the Medicare Advantage programs -- Nelson and [...]
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen says the trip to Israel that drew scrutiny from the New York Times today was cleared ahead of time by the House ethics committee. Here's the documents from the trip.
The Times wrote this morning that "despite changes intended to curb Congressional junkets, some lawmakers and even their'" [...]
Sens. Bill Nelson and George LeMieux are urging Florida lawmakers to pass the rail bill, arguing in a letter to Gov. Charlie Crist and state legislative leaders that without it, "the prospects for receiving federal high speed rail funding diminish greatly.
"Without statewide support for rail, (Florida) will essentially be sending billions and billions of federal [...]
Hopefully the Senate health care bill will include a dental plan. Seems Florida Sen. George LeMieux has been given the working space on the Senate floor designated as the "Candy Desk." Part of a long Senate tradition involving the chamber's wooden desks, the candy desk inhabitant -- often a new member -- is [...]
The New York Times writes that "Despite changes intended to curb Congressional junkets, some lawmakers and even their families continue to take trips hosted by private groups and companies that revel in their access to Washington power brokers."
Those featured include Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican, who, on a "privately sponsored trip," [...]
The White House is calling on the Iranian government to help find Robert Levinson, a Coral Springs man who went missing 1,000 days ago.
Levinson's family, including his wife, Christine Levinson, met today with National Security Advisor James L. Jones, whom the White House says "reassure(d) them that Bob's case remains" [...]
Florida lawmakers are stepping into the debate over pending federal standards that could force the state to clean up polluted Florida waterways.
After losing on the legal front, a powerful coalition of agriculture and business interests, wastewater utilities, water managers and tax watchdogs last month mounted a lobbying assault on the rules that [...]
Several weeks ago, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Yvonne Colodny accepted a new friend request on the social networking site Facebook -- from Miami Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones.
On Thursday, Spence-Jones was not a pal but a defendant whose criminal case appeared before Colodny for arraignment.
Colodny disclosed the tidbit to lawyers in the case, [...]
Seems the onetime champion of anti-immigration activists -- now mulling a run for office -- has ticked off his one-time allies by suggesting he'd back a pathway to legalization for illegal immigrants.
Americans for Legal Immigration PAC says it's so mad it's withdrawing support for the former CNN anchor, including suspending websites that championed Dobbs [...]
The news that Bill Nelson is the second-most Google'd senator in the country flummoxed the New York Times. But not Nelson.
"I told my wife Grace not to push the refresh button so many times," he just Twittered.
' [...]Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is asking the Senate Select Committee on Ethics to investigate the Senate's failure to follow a 2007 provision that prohibits the use of secret "holds" to block legislation -- and nominees. (Florida Sen. George LeMieux has three holds pending, including a block on the nomination of [...]
The New York Times' political blog notes that Ted Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat who died of brain cancer in August, was the No. 1 most searched senator, according to new figures from search engine Google.
The blog marvels that he was followed by Bill Nelson, "Florida’s senior Democratic senator, and Senator Barbara'" [...]
Some Democrats aren't enthused by President Barack Obama's plan to escalate the war in Afghanistan, but a number of Florida Democrats are standing behind him.
Florida Sen. Bill Nelson: "I think the president has a sensible plan, both short- and- long term, to empower the Afghan people and allow for U.S.'" [...]
The Miami Republican -- the top GOP'er on the House Foreign Affairs committee -- will be among a bipartisan group of lawmakers getting a heads-up from President Barack Obama and veep Joe Biden on the administration's plans to escalate the war in Afghanistan.
The lawmakers will meet with Obama and Biden before Obama boards [...]
There's always a Florida connection. Seems Tareq Salahi -- who along with his wife, Michaele, made it into a state dinner Tuesday night without an invite -- has an estranged brother living in Jacksonville.
"I was just as surprised as everybody else was,' Dr. Ismail Salahi told a local TV station.'" [...]
