Sen. John McCain is known as a straight talker but he can dodge with the best of them. Asked if pal Charlie Crist's embrace of the stimulus was a political mistake, McCain demurred.
"I don't know. I haven't kept up enough to really know about that. I can't judge other [...]
Sen. Bill Nelson's office flatly denied today that a deal sparing some Medicare Advantage plans from cuts only applies to three South Florida counties that are heavily Democratic -- a charge being spurred by a controversial St. Petersburg doctor and has taken on life on the Web.
"That is totally false," [...]
Congressman Kendrick Meek, D-Miami, wants war bonds to finance the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, calling it an effort to promote "national shared sacrifice and responsibility." Meek, who is running for Senate, introduced the legislation today, a companion to legislation by Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Nebraska.
“At a time of tremendous [...]
U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio is in Washington today for a fundraiser and sounded a tad underwhelmed. "Look, it's the holidays, it's a tough economy, it's always difficult to raise money," he said as he entered a 3:30 p.m. policy briefing at the Heritage Foundation.
As such, [...]
Outside the U.S. Capitol today, there's a big tea-party style rally against the health care legislation. The scene below stood out amid shouts of "kill the bill" and sharply anti-Obama signs signs. I went up to the man in the grim reaper costume to ask some questions and he [...]
Sen. George LeMieux was hurrying back to his office a short while ago to get a call from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who will presumably ask him to release his hold of the administration's nominee for ambassador to Brazil.
But LeMieux said he first wants a commitment that democratic ideas will [...]
With the Senate health care bill in the final stretch, Democrats plan phone banks across the state tomorrow to urge Sens. Bill Nelson and George LeMieux to support the plan. Organizing for America, the infrastructure of the Obama campaign, said it will set up 28 call centers across the state.
But [...]
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson is pushing for a more urgent U.S. response to the case involving an American citizen arrested in Cuba, and has sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling it an "outrage that the Cuban regime has refused cooperation."
Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fort [...]
A decade after Gov. Jeb Bush announced his controversial plan to end race-based university admissions, the number of minority students statewide has risen, according to a Times/Herald review of enrollment figures.
"That certainly flies in the face of those who were predicting Armageddon all those years [...]
Marco Rubio will be in Washington on Tuesday for a fundraiser hosted by Sen. Jim DeMint, the South Carolina Republican who was among the first to endorse Rubio over rival Charlie Crist.
Crist, meanwhile, has a Wednesday night event at Grey Oaks Country Club in Naples, hosted by Brian and Sharon [...]
Criticized as a toothless tiger, the Commission on Ethics wants more authority to investigate and punish wayward officials in Florida.
The watchdog agency wants to seize the moment at a time when a string of scandals has seized public attention and a statewide grand jury is launching a major public corruption [...]
State GOP Chairman Jim Greer, a magnet for criticism from local party leaders and major donors alike, got an official and overwhelming vote of confidence from board of directors Thursday. But don't think for a moment that means his job is secure.
Key party leaders and activists are racking up votes to rescind [...]
Florida International University leaders were eager for one of their hometown legislators to become speaker of the House, and Marco Rubio delivered. "We had a great year," FIU's lobbyist said of millions in new funding in 2007, crediting Rubio and the Miami-Dade delegation.
The following year, as term limits forced Rubio [...]
Steve Bousquet's weekly column:
Is commuter rail in Florida a bold, progressive and long overdue vision? Or is it a wildly expensive boondoggle -- the ground transportation version of the Cross-Florida Barge Canal?
Time will tell. But if rail becomes a reality, one of the people who deserves [...]
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A year after Wall Street failures plunged the nation into recession, the House on Friday passed the most ambitious restructuring of financial regulation since the New Deal.
The sprawling legislation gives the government new powers to break up companies that threaten the economy, creates a new agency to [...]
Church Service: Thursday, December 10, 2009, 11:00 a.m., Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 45 East Par Street, Orlando, Florida. Friends, public and media are welcome.
Last Journey: 1:00 p.m. Maitland City Hall, a small procession of family will follow the Senator’s hearse from the church to Maitland, with a [...]
Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee and quickly lined up behind Charlie Crist for Senate, acknowledged Marco Rubio is making it a contest.
"He’s gotten quite a bit of traction," Cornyn told the Buzz. "It’s a long time before [...]
The U.S. Senate took on a widening controversy amid the health care debate today by killing a proposal to tighten abortion funding under the bill. Florida's senators followed the party line, with Democrat Bill Nelson joining the majority to table the amendment and George LeMieux in the minority.
Roll call [...]
Respected Capitol Hill reporter Jonathan Allen will head up Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz's political action committee, the Florida congresswoman announced today. Allen, formerly of CQ and briefly POLITICO, will be executive director of the Democrats Win Seats -- DWS -- PAC.
The PAC has contributed nearly $750,000 to Democratic incumbents and challengers [...]
The political transformation of George LeMieux takes another turn today as lobbyists and corporate interests line up to fill his newly created political action committee with donations.
The interim U.S. Senator will attend a fundraiser at Charlie Palmer Steak house in Washington, where guests will [...]
U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is cited in a New York Times report today about questionable, corporate-sponsored trips by members of Congress and now, CNN has amplified the story across cableland.
In an interview on CNN, Times reporter Eric Lichtblau said Ros-Lehtinen's trip to Jerusalem on its face appeared to violate [...]
Their planned visit to Tallahassee was scratched due to the health care debate, but U.S. Sens. Bill Nelson and George LeMieux today sent a letter to legislative leaders urging passage of the rail bill.
"If Florida does not provide a dedicated funding source for [...]
UPDATE: Crist reponds below.
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 [...]
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 [...]
UPDATE FRIDAY: The trip is off, due to Senate schedule.
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 [...]
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 MartÃ, calling it a $300 million "relic of the Cold War ... that virtually no one tunes in to."
"Government studies show that Radio and TV Martà are riddled with problems, and fall short of journalistic standards," Feingold [...]
