Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Jennifer Carroll’s resignation amid a racketeering investigation has Patch wondering if this affects your trust in government, Tampa Bay?
Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll has resigned her post as a racketeering investigation into a nonprofit she was once affiliated with continues. That nonprofit, Allied Veterans, is accused of money laundering, siphoning profits and misreporting how much cash actually went to the charity, according to The Washington Post. The organization claims to help “fellow veterans in need,” according to its website. While no charges against Carroll have been filed, several people with connections to Allied Veterans have been arrested. Carroll resigned to prevent her “former affiliation with the company from distracting from the administration’s important work on behalf of Florida families,” a spokesman for Gov. Rick Scott is quoted as saying. The …
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Florida’s governor was adamant in his State of the State address that his policies have put us on the right path. What do you say, Tampa Bay?
Florida Gov. Rick Scott might have a new catchphrase. If his March 5 State of the State address is any indication that phrase is: “It’s working.” The governor gave his address as both the Florida House and Senate officially began their sessions. "We eliminated thousands of regulations on job creators. We paid down state debt for two years in a row," The Tampa Tribune reported him as saying. "We invested in priorities – like education. And, now our economy is on the rebound. It's working." Scott went on to defend his anti-tax and anti-spending policies. He also sent the message that his reforms have improved the state’s public schools. Throughout the address, he repeated the phrase: “It’s working.” Do you agree, Tampa Bay? What are your …
Monday, March 4, 2013
It’s looking like Gov. Rick Scott’s decision to go along this major plank in the Obamacare plan is getting a frigid reception from State lawmakers. What do you think about it Tampa Bay?
Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s recent flip-flop on Obamacare might be a moot point. It looks like the plan to expand the state’s Medicaid coverage to another 1 million or so people is falling flat with other Florida lawmakers. A state House committee recently decided that expanding Medicaid to provide care for the uninsured wasn’t the way to go, according to a report on TBO.com. Committee members, TBO reported, said they were concerned about the quality of care and the costs associated with the proposal. Scott recently said he’d go along with the notion of expanding Medicaid since the federal government would be paying for it for the first three years as part of the Obamacare package, which is more formally known as the Affordable Care Act. The…
Thursday, February 21, 2013
He said he wouldn't, but he did. Gov. Rick Scott announced Wednesday, Feb. 20, that Florida would expand its Medicaid program.
Florida’s Medicaid program is about to get bigger – a lot bigger. In a flip-flop from a previous decision, Gov. Rick Scott has acquiesced to expanding the state’s Medicaid program to provide coverage for an estimated 1.3 million more people. The expansion is a major prong in the Obamacare program that kicks into effect in 2014, according to The Huffington Post. Scott has been an outspoken opponent of Obamacare in the past. His disdain for the concept of government-backed universal healthcare coverage even prompted him to dip into his own fortune. He spent about $5 million of his own cash to prevent President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform legislation from being passed in the first place. Once it did pass – and he became governor – Scott …
Thursday, January 31, 2013
As Florida Gov. Rick Scott calls on state legislators to increase funding for school by $1.2 billion some are skeptical about his intentions. We’d like to get your take on the governor’s proposals, Tampa Bay.
Florida school districts that have struggled with multi-million-dollar budget cuts and teachers who’ve gone years sans raises are being offered some hope courtesy of Florida’s Republican governor. Rick Scott is calling on the state’s legislature to approve a budget that includes an extra $1.2 billion in funding for public schools. Some of that money would help fund across-the-board raises of $2,500 for the state’s teachers. The overall plan would also boost per-student funding by about 6.5 percent, according to TBO.com. "Investing in our teachers and in our education system is the key to our state's continued economic growth," Scott said in the TBO piece. "We made the hard choices to recover and get back on track — now we must make the …
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
The former governor of Florida has announced he’s joined the Democrat Party. Could another run for the governor’s office be far behind?
First he was a Republican. Then he became an Independent. Now, former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has officially joined the ranks of the Democrats. Crist made the announcement of his recent switch to the Democratic Party on his Twitter feed. “Proud and honored to join the Democratic Party in the home of President @Barack Obama,” he tweeted. Crist, a vocal supporter of Obama, is said to have signed the papers to become a Democrat while visiting the White House. The former Republican dropped his affiliation with that party during his 2010 Senate bid against now Sen. Marco Rubio. Crist’s announcement has many wondering if he’s positioning himself for a 2014 run against Gov. Rick Scott. Or, perhaps he has another seat in mind? We’d like to hear…
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
A University of Florida economist warns of massive job loss if a deal is not struck in Washington, D.C.
FISCAL CLIFF POSES DANGERS FOR FLORIDA by William Gibson of the Orlando Sentinel The Orlando Sentinel reported on the economic risks in the Sunshine State, if the budget is not cobbled out in Congress... "Without a deal, the combination of tax hikes and spending cuts would reduce Florida's economic output by $16 billion by the fourth quarter of 2013 and lead to a loss of 130,000 to 140,000 jobs, according to a University of Florida economist. "That's enough to set off a mild recession and an uptick in the state's unemployment rate, said UF's David Denslow, who made the projections after reviewing a Congressional Budget Office assessment of the nationwide impact and applying it to Florida. "On the other hand, he said, averting the cliff …
Monday, August 6, 2012
Arizona Sen. John McCain, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Florida Gov. Rick Scott are among the marquee speakers at the Tampa event.
On Monday, RNC chair Reince Priebus announced the initial list of headlining speakers for the Republican National Convention in Tampa Aug. 27-30. Speakers include Florida Gov. Rick Scott, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Arizona Sen. John McCain, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez. "The Republican National Convention comes at a critical time for determining America's future. Mitt Romney knows that it is the hard-working people of America who build businesses and create jobs - not the government," Scott said in a RNC news release. "We share that same belief here in Florida where we continue our progress in helping to create jobs by …
Florida's governor will pen posts on job creation strategies for a pre-convention blog.
Gov. Rick Scott will contribute to a new Huffington Post blog aimed at spotlighting job creation, Scott’s spokesperson Brian Burgess confirmed via Nora McAlvanah of FLDemocracy2012.com He will write for the pre-convention blog called “Opportunity: What Is Working,” featuring posts from governors, mayors, and other elected officials focused on “coming up with strategies to bring jobs to their constituents.” Arianna Huffington, president and editor-in-chief of Huffington Post Media Group, sent Scott an e-mail this week inviting him to contribute to the blog, which she said was “aimed at highlighting successes in turning around the country’s economic morass.” Florida Recovery Is 'Bumpy, Sluggish' The University of Central Florida's latest …
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Local and state politicians react to today's Supreme Court ruling to uphold the Affordable Care Act.
Today the United States Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act and its individual mandate 5-4. Local and state officials were quick to offer a response to today's historic decision on Facebook, Twitter and traditional media. Gov. Rick Scott: "The Justices have declared that the central provision of ObamaCare is a judicially mandated tax. A new tax pure and simple. This is just another burden the federal government has put on American families and small businesses, while the economy struggles to recover." Sen. Marco Rubio: "Now that we know #Obamacare is indeed a #jobkilling #Tax we should move to #RepealObamacare as soon as possible." Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi told the Miami Herald: "The court did say however, that they …
St.Pete.Resident
2:00 pm on Monday, April 29, 2013
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