The Florida legislature arrived in Tallahassee with a historic batch of problems to solve: soaring unemployment, an unstable real estate market, crumbling infrastructure and failing schools. The 2013 session could have been a legendary breath of fresh political initiative. Instead, the Leg punted on medical marijuana, didn’t bother to consider…
Sure, Marco Rubio may have pissed off both sides of the political spectrum as the face of the U.S. Senate’s immigration reform bill, which includes a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants and millions more in border security measures. But as he builds his case as a national political candidate…
The responses to the Supreme Court’s decisions on gay marriage yesterday by Florida’s two senators couldn’t have been more different. Democrat Bill Nelson released a terse 17-word statement supporting the decision, while Marco Rubio spent 482 words explaining why he doesn’t he agree with it…
If Floridians went to the polls today, literally this very day, there’s a pretty good chance at least 50 percent of voters in the state would support gay marriage. Unfortunately, that still wouldn’t mean there’d be gay wedding chapels popping up in Wilton Manors and South Beach by the end…
Rick Scott didn’t have much to say today when asked about the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act aside from correctly noting that nothing is really going to change all that much in Florida. See also: Defense of Marriage Act Is Unconstitutional, Supreme Court Rules…
Everyone already hates Marco Rubio, from Tea Party activists who think his immigration bill is too liberal to LGBT activists who think it’s too conservative. So why not alienate Cuban voters too? This seems like a surefire way to piss off Miami exilios at least. Rubio now says Cubans’ 47-year-old…
Marco Rubio is taking it from all sides this week. Today, LGBT activists are staging a sit-in at Rubio’s Tampa office. Tomorrow, he’ll face protests near the same office from Tea Partiers who claim his stance on immigration is too liberal and pro-immigration reform protestors who think his immigration bill…
When House speaker Will Weatherford last month blocked a bid for taxpayer-supported renovations at Sun Life Stadium, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross all but promised he’d find a way to have the politician’s job, ominously predicting that “this decision will follow Speaker Weatherford for many years to come.” Now it looks…
Florida has been without a lieutenant governor now for 100 days, and Rick Scott has shown no signs that he’s going to pick a replacement anytime soon. Though, an intriguing name has been circulating in political circles: Former Senator George LeMieux. Yes, Charlie Crist’s former best friend and chief of…
What happens when you speak at a Tea Party rally and decide to drop a bit of Spanish into your speech? Like we even have to ask. Obviously, there’ll be at least someone in the crowd who yells, “Learn English,” at you. And that’s exactly what happened to Rep. Mario…
Will Marco Rubio see a surprise primary challenge in 2016 from Allen West? That’s up to God. West was a guest on conservative talker Larry O’Connor’s radio show yesterday, and the host asked West if he would consider challenging Rubio. At first West was pretty blunt, offering a “no,” but…
There was a time when virtually every mention of Florida Democratic congressman Alan Grayson on this blog came with the descriptor “hot liberal mess who is not apologizing for it.” But something funny has happened. After a term-long absence, Grayson returned to the United State House six months ago and…
Has Rick Scott gotten better at being governor, or has he just not been as terrible as usual? According to a new Quinnipiac Poll, Scott has hit his highest job approval rating since taking office. Of course, that approval rating still isn’t very good, and most voters still don’t think…
As the U.S. Senate’s immigration overhaul has inched forward, shepherded by our own Sen. Marco Rubio, South Floridians have hotly debated the most contentious issues: English-speaking requirements for immigrants, long wait periods for citizenship, a ban on LGBT benefits. But it seems we’ve ignored a silent threat tucked into the…
As the Senate wrangles over a compromise immigration reform bill — pushed in large part by our own Marco Rubio — a new poll suggests a huge majority of Floridians are eager to see any path to citizenship opened for immigrants. The poll finds 71 percent of Floridians back the…
Earlier today Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen posed for the NOH8 gay rights campaign. Meanwhile, Sen. Marco Rubio, who as a young man got his political start as an intern in Ros-Lehtinen’s congressional office, made two jaw-dropping statements in which he firmly opposed gay rights…
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen has followed in the footsteps of the likes of the Kardashian sisters and the cast of Glee by getting “NOH8” painted over her face, duct tape placed over her mouth, and a ring flashed for the gay rights campaign. Whiles Ros-Lehtinen isn’t the first member of congress…
Every right-thinking American who’s not a local municipal bean counter knows that red-light cameras are a total scam. Numerous studies have suggested they actually make intersections less safe, and last month a Tampa TV station even found proof that Florida had covertly changed the rules to allow shorter yellow-light times…
Congratulations, Pam Bondi! As far as we can tell, you’re the first state attorney general in history who has ever given an exclusive statement to muckraking gossip website TMZ. Then again, as someone who used to be a Fox News legal analyst, maybe you don’t have high standards about what…
As part of Florida’s efforts to crack down on pill mills, the state initiated an online database in 2009 that tracked the store prescribing and dispensing data for controlled substances. Well, according to the ACLU, the private medical data of more than 3,000 Floridians has now leaked from that database…
Sen. Marco Rubio, the son of pre-Castro Cuban immigrants, has added a new amendment to his immigration bill that strengthens requirements that immigrants be proficient in English before being granted permanent residential status, also known as a green card. “On the day we announced the principles that would shape the…
In 2011, he brought the Sexy Sax Man to a city commission meeting, pot decriminalization to the debate, and a surprising 23 percent of voters to the polls. Steve Berke, a comedian and YouTube marijuana advocate, came in second to incumbent Matti Herrera Bower in that campaign. Now, with Bower…
