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
"Housing Market Setback Forecast" the newspaper headline said. A recently released report on housing says that home sales are down more than 25 percent and the inventory of unsold homes is about 50 percent higher than it was the same time last year.
Rick Scott won Florida's governorship as an outsider who took on the state's political establishment. As he takes the oath of office Tuesday, the former health-care executive will have the opportunity to extend his attack to Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON -- New Republican legislators should come down Capitol
Hill to the National Museum of American History, which displays a device that in 1849 was granted U.S. patent 6469. It enabled a boat's "draught of water to be readily lessened" so it could "pass over bars, or through shallow water." The patentee was from Sangamon County, Ill. Across Constitution Avenue, over the Commerce Department's north entrance, are some words of the patentee, Abraham Lincoln:
While Florida is the fourth largest state and a battleground every presidential election, neither of the major parties has ever included a Floridian on its presidential tickets. There are plenty of reasons for this -- Florida was a member of the Solid South after Reconstruction and took decades to develop, for example. But one of those reasons is that rising political stars from the Sunshine State quickly fizzle.
2010 may have been an encouraging year for political conservatives, but it wasn't so rosy for America's culture. The most depressing result was the Second Circuit Court of Appeals granting our television networks the right to employ the nastiest curse words in front of children at any hour of the broadcast day.
According to a George Washington University study published in May 2010, in 2009 the Obama administration cranked out regulations as if regulators were on steroids.
Trending Now
By Kevin Derby
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio R-Fla., has been on the high wire in recent weeks, trying to ensure immigration reform passes Congress while still ensuring conservatives would still be open to backing it -- and, perhaps, Floridas junior senator for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.
Rubios high wire act grew even more dangerous as reports emerged that one of his aides is slamming American workers.
By Kevin Derby
On Monday, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich celebrated his 70th birthday -- and opened the door to a second bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
Gingrichs friends and family threw him a surprise party and, according to National Review, politics was in the air.Jonathan Strong has the details:
Think Newt Gingrich is out of politics?
By Kevin Derby
Still in France for the 50th Annual International Paris Air Show, on Tuesday, Gov. Rick Scott said that Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Diamond Aircraft Industries have reached an agreement which will have the Austrian company establish ties with Embry-Riddles Daytona Beach Campus.
By Kevin Derby
Former Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico, who left the GOP to run as the Libertarian Partys presidential nominee in 2012, shows no signs of leaving the political scene. On Monday, Johnson announced that he would be playing a large part in trying to ensure same-sex marriage in Arizona. Our America Initiative, which has ties to Johnson, will help gather signatures to file a state constitutional amendment to overturn Arizonas ban on same-sex marriage.
By Kevin Derby
Reports emerged on Monday that the federal government is considering reopening direct mail service with Cuba. Officials from the Castro regime will be meeting with the State Department on Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss reestablishing mail services between the two nations for the first time since in more than 50 years.
By Kevin Derby
Gov. Rick Scott is gaining ground according to a poll released by Quinnipiac University on Tuesday morning. The poll finds Scott trailing former Gov. Charlie Crist in a possible 2014 match-up 47 percent to 37 percent. A Quinnipiac poll from March found Crist up by a larger margin, routing Scott 50 percent to 34 percent.
Surprisingly, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, the only Democrat to hold statewide office, leads Scott by the same margin Crist does. Nelson takes 48 percent while Scott gets 38 percent.
By Kevin Derby
Florida teachers are about to learn a great deal more about the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS). On Monday, the state Department of Education announced it will be holding seven events, each lasting two days, at high schools across the state this summer to get educators ready for the new standards.
By
More than half of American voters fear the government will use National Security Agency data to harass political opponents, according to a newly-released Rasmussen Reports poll. Fifty-seven percent of Americans said it was very likely or somewhat likely the NSA data would be used to harass political opponents. Thirty percent said the scenario would be somewhat unlikely or very unlikely.
By Kevin Derby
A new poll confirms Newark Mayor Cory Bookers status as the overwhelming favorite to win an open U.S. Senate seat in New Jersey.
Rasmussen Reports released a poll on Monday showing Booker running away with his partys nomination. Booker takes 54 percent followed by U.S. Rep. Rush Holt with 11 percent, U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone in third with 8 percent and state Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver with 5 percent. Matched against Republican Steve Lonegan, the state director of Americans for Prosperity, Booker leads a potential general election match-up 50 percent to 33 percent.
By Kevin Derby
Rep.? ?Heather Fitzenhagen,? ?R-Fort? ?Myers,? ?was named as a Council of State Governments'? (CSG) ?Henry Toll Fellow on Monday,? ?making her the only state legislator in Florida who received this award.? ?There were? ?34? ?other state legislators who received Toll Fellowships on Monday.?
"Individually,? ?these leaders have a proven track record of accomplishing great things?; ?collectively they represent the future leadership of the states,?" ?said David Adkins,? ?the executive director and CEO of the Council of State Governments.?
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