As you enter through the gate and drive toward the clubhouse entrance, there’s an instant where you can imagine Hialeah as it once was. The palm trees and shrubs still line the grand entranceway, just as they did when Winston Churchill, Jackie Kennedy, the Vanderbilts, Palm Beach society and every notable trainer and owner in the East made their way toward a racetrack that typified beauty, class, history and great racing.
We are now in day two of a three-day special session called by Governor Scott, Speaker Corcoran and Senate President Negron. The special session was called after Governor Scott and Speaker Corcoran along with President Negron agreed to increase the per-student spending in the education budget and to increase funding for Visit Florida from $25 million to $76 million as well as create a new economic incentive program called the “Florida Job Growth Grant Fund”.
In recent months, we have seen Venezuela slip into complete chaos. Under the brutal and oppressive dictatorship of Nicolas Maduro, we have seen things go from bad to worse. Food and medicine shortages, violence on the streets and economic uncertainty.
Vero Beach High School on Florida's east coast, has failed to respect the First Amendment.
And now a student --J.P. Krause, a top student, rising senior, our client, and the young man who should serve as VBHS senior class president in the coming school year -- understands better why the Constitution requires public institutions, like his school, to respect the constitutional rights of its students.
For years I’ve traveled back and forth to Tallahassee attempting to have an impact on the legislative process. I’ve watched the way things have worked in Tallahassee and have become disgusted by it. The people of Florida have been shut out of the process. We have had our voices muffled and silenced. As one back room deal paves the way for the next back room deal, the people of Florida have continually footed the bill for pet projects, higher regulations (that we then have to live under), corporate welfare schemes and crony capitalism projects.
Under the leadership of Gov. Rick Scott, the revival of the Florida economy has been marked by annual job growth and tourism rates that outpace the national average. The inextricable link between Florida’s investment in its tourism industry and this economic recovery is affirmed by the statistics.
Individuals, small business-owners and corporate professionals are aware of the crushing burden represented by our outdated federal tax code, unchanged since 1986. It has been an issue throughout my career at Associated Industries of Florida, and as a third-time business-creator, I am personally dealing with an exceedingly high tax rate, and an onerous regulatory framework that discourage investment and expansion.
The current tax code is bad for working families and bad for the businesses that would like to employ them. Consequently, America is suffering.
“I like working for Uncle Sam. Lets me know just who I am.”---By Bob Dvorchak
Last week, Gov. Rick Scott announced record-breaking tourism numbers in the Sunshine State. It may be the last time for a while. Ignoring extensive research, case studies and pleas from travel industry constituents across the state, the Florida Legislature slashed funding for Visit Florida by a crippling 67 percent -- recklessly jeopardizing the tourism industry’s leading role as a generator of jobs and government revenues.
In 1984, the movie “Red Dawn” depicted a Russian invasion of the U.S. Tensions were high during the Cold War. The Defense Intelligence Agency’s annual publication "Soviet Military Power" depicted the awesome threat posed by the Evil Empire’s superpower status. However, as I recall, the “mainstream” media was more worried about the threat of American weapons. The Nuclear Freeze movement was popular.
