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," [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
According to Sen. Bill Nelson, the federal government has agreed to give SunRail $40 million in funding. The House and Senate still has to finalize the deal. The White House supports the SunRail project. [...] 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' [...]
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 [...]
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'' [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
There is no greater political mystery this week than this: Why in the world would Florida's cautious, low-key Bill Nelson be the second-most frequently searched U.S. senator this year on Google, just behind the late Ted Kennedy? Since the New York Times reported that factoid, we've heard all sorts of [...]
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 [...]
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.
' [...]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.'" [...]
"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, [...]
The Florida National Organization for Women will host a protest outside Bill Nelson's West Palm Beach office Saturday to oppose a provision in the House health care bill that restricts abortion coverage. The provision is not in the Senate version and Florida NOW wants to keep it that way.
“We cannot [...]
The 60 Plus Association -- which bills itself as the "conservative alternative" to the AARP -- today announced a new ad campaign targeting senators like Bill Nelson who voted Saturday to keep debating the Senate health care bill.
The $2 million ad buy which begins tomorrow, target centrist Democratic senators in 7 other states – Alaska, [...]
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 [...]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 [...]
