Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Palm Harbor, says he is "outraged" over the apparent use of taxpayer money to provide Guantanamo Bay detainees with a "state of the art" soccer field and exercise facilities.
America is in a fiscal crisis and this is a time in which every taxpayer dollar must be used efficiently and effectively. This certainly is not the best use of those dollars, said Bilirakis, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee.
Department of Defense dollars should be used to protect our nation, not to entertain detainees.
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With Mitt Romney winning primaries in Michigan and Arizona on Tuesday night, the race for the Republican presidential nomination shifted to states that hold contests in the days to come -- including the 10 primaries and caucuses held on Super Tuesday next week.
Proposed Senate districts came under fire at the Florida Supreme Court Wednesday as critics sought to overturn the Legislature's reappointment plans.
Some justices appeared receptive to the arguments, but Chief Justice Charles Canady expressed skepticism during the hearing that ran more than three hours.
See full story upcoming at Sunshine State News.
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Gov. Rick Scott has reappointed Alia Faraj and appointed Sean S. Hall to the Florida Elections Commission.
According to a release from the governors office:
Faraj, 47, of Tallahassee, has been a partner and executive vice president of Ron Sachs Communications since 2007.
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Jackie Fulford, the judge who ruled unconstitutional the prison privatization measure approved by the Legislature last year and is now deciding whether state employees can be forced to contribute to their retirement, stirs strong feelings in Florida legal and political circles.
To some she's a hard-working judge who keeps politics out of her opinions.
To others, though, -- such as Senate President Mike Haridopolos and Gov. Rick Scott -- her privatization ruling was an example of overreach by Florida's judiciary.
It's not often you find Republicans and environmental groups working for the same goal, but as that noted conservative Bob Dylan once said, "Money doesn't talk, it screams."
And in this case, it's screaming about the aftermath of BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
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Newly approved Senate district maps came under fire at the Florida Supreme Court Wednesday as critics sought to overturn the Legislature's reappointment plans.
Attorneys representing the League of Women Voters, Common Cause, the National Council of LaRaza and the city of Lakeland argued that the Senate maps violated the voter-approved Fair Districts amendments to the state Constitution.
Paul Smith called the Senate lines "clear violations" that favor incumbents and "build in significant advantages for the Republican Party."
Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, just completed his farewell address on the Senate floor, advising senators that his future will be back on the citrus groves and not in the state university he has pushed to create in Lakeland.
Im going to go home and raise oranges, as I know how to do, Alexander said.
Alexander, who heads the powerful Senate Budget Committee, will be term-limited from office this year.
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Mary McLeod Bethune, Claude Denson Pepper and Charles Kenzie Steele were all posthumouslyinducted into the Florida Civil Rights Hall of Fame in the first floor rotunda of the Florida Capitol on Wednesday.
The hall is located on the inside wall immediately to the left of the Capitol's eastern entry, as one walks toward the governor's office.
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Ron Paul has drawn heat in recent days for attacking Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich -- while giving Mitt Romney the kid gloves treatment. Pauls team unveiled a new ad which attacks all three candidates, hitting Gingirch as a serial hypocrite, Santorum as a counterfeit conservative and Romney gets labeled as a flip-flopper.
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