After 10 Glorious Years, Sunshine State News and I Are Passing the Baton
You probably can't imagine how much fun I've had at Sunshine State News over the last 10 years. I don't think anybody could.
November 1, 2019 - 6:00am
Politics
Columns
In reflecting on relations between the United States and China, Henry Kissinger in his 2011 book, "On China," notes that since he and Richard Nixon ventured to Beijing more than 40 years ago, "Eight American presidents and four generations of Chinese leaders have managed this delicate relationship in an astonishingly consistent manner, considering the difference in starting points."
Here we are again in the second week of "The Dean's List" -- an Ed Dean-style look at who Florida's political achievers were (and weren't) in the last seven days. What you see here is strictly my opinion, not necessarily the editor's or the rest of the staff at Sunshine State News.
Gov. Scott Walker has leapt to the top of polls in Iowa. As day follows night, he has moved to the center of the liberal press's crosshairs. This is the world we inhabit: When a Democrat is perceived as popular, the press discovers layers of humor and elan we never suspected. When a Republican is gaining strength, the press sharpens its bayonets.
WASHINGTON -- A sunset clause?
The news from the nuclear talks with Iran was already troubling. Iran was being granted the "right to enrich." It would be allowed to retain and spin thousands of centrifuges. It could continue construction of the Arak plutonium reactor. Yet so thoroughly was Iran stonewalling International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors that just last Thursday the IAEA reported its concern "about the possible existence in Iran of undisclosed ... development of a nuclear payload for a missile."
CHICAGO -- The most portentous election of 2014, which gave the worst-governed state its first Republican governor in 12 years, has initiated this century's most intriguing political experiment. Illinois has favored Democratic presidential candidates by an average of 16 points in the last six elections. But by electing businessman Bruce Rauner, it initiated a process that might dismantle a form of governance that afflicts many states and municipalities.
Like it or not, the 2016 presidential race is now well under way. Republican candidates are flocking to Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, while Hillary Clinton, in-between $200,000 speeches at universities, is reported to be in seclusion developing her economic policies.
The firestorm of denunciation of former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, for having said that he did not think Barack Obama loved America, is in one sense out of all proportion to that remark -- especially at a time when there are much bigger issues, including wars raging, terrorist atrocities and a nuclear Iran on the horizon.
"Free trade results in giving our money, our manufactures, and our markets to other nations," warned the Republican senator from Ohio and future President William McKinley in 1892."Thank God I am not a free-trader," echoed the rising Empire State Republican and future President Theodore Roosevelt.
Welcome to "The Dean's List" -- first in a weekly look, Ed Dean-style, at who Florida's political achievers were (and weren't) in the last seven days. What you see here is strictly my opinion, not necessarily the editor's or the rest of the staff at Sunshine State News.
Trending Now
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Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal will be making a trip to Florida in September to keynote the Republican Party of Florida's annual Victory Dinner, according to a press release.
Jindal, who has served as governor of the Pelican State since 2008, said he was excited to headline the Sept. 13 event, which will be held atDisneys Grand Floridian in Lake Buena Vista.
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As the battle of the attack ads continues in the Florida governor's race, former Gov. Charlie Crist's campaign released a new ad on Monday accusing Gov. Rick Scott of being "too shady for the Sunshine State."
The 30-second ad spot claims Scott has ducked the truth in every job he's ever had, honing in on the governor's work as founder and CEO of Columbia/HCA amid an investigation of Medicare fraud. The ad also attacks Scott over cuts to education, raising property taxes and for "giving massive tax breaks to corporations."
View the ad below:
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A new ad hitting television airwaves this week is firing back atNextGen Climate over a recentad attackingGov. Rick Scott for ties to an oil drilling company.
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Attorney General Pam Bondi is asking the3rd District Court of Appeals to put a hold on ruling on two gay marriage cases until the U.S. Supreme Court can make a ruling on similar cases in other states.
In a briefing filed with the court late Thursday, Bondi requested a freeze on two cases -- one in Monroe County, the other in Miami-Dade County -- where judges found Florida's 2008 ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional.
By Kevin Derby
On Friday, the two committees charged with drawing up new congressional districts in the Florida Legislature voted to supporta new mapwhich changes the lines in seven congressional districts in the northern part of the state. The House Select Committee on Redistricting voted on party lines while the Senate Select Committee on Redistricting passed the map unanimously.
By Kevin Derby
Jim Martin, the chairman of 60 Plus Association, a national conservative seniors group with 800,000 members in the Sunshine State, jabbed Crist over seniors' issues on Friday.
"By his own words, Charlie Crist thinks that seniors losing their doctors under Medicare Advantage, which was slashed by $300 billion to fund Obamacare, is 'great,' Martin said. He thinks 300,000 Floridians having their health plans canceled by Florida Blue due to Obamacare is just fine. You know what Florida seniors think is great? A governor not named Charlie Crist.
By Kevin Derby
From his seat on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla., said on Friday that he backed airstrikes launched against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) forces in northern Iraq.
But Crenshaw criticized President Barack Obamas handling of ISIL and called for more outreach from the White House about long-range plans in Iraq.
By Kevin Derby
Two years after he was the Libertarian Partys presidential candidate, former Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico is launching a legal challenge to the Commission on Presidential Debates for excluding him from the debates. Johnson is expected to refile his challenge in Washington, D.C., in the coming days and he continues to work with political reform groups like his Our American Initiative and the Free and Equal Elections Foundation.
By Kevin Derby
U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., is one of the leading Republicans in Congress when it comes to international affairs, from her time leading the House Foreign Affairs Committee and now chairing the House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee. Ros-Lehtinen made the media rounds on Thursday night, appearing on CNN and supporting President Barack Obama authorizing airstrikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) forces in northern Iraq.
By Kevin Derby
On Thursday, President Barack Obama signed into law a proposal from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla. -- the chairmen of their respective chambers' Veterans Affairs Committee, reforming the U.S. Veterans Affairs department -- sending $17 billion to help its medical facilities.
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