Independent News‘State & National News’ Archives
Congress likely to be blamed for fall off fiscal cliff.
The latest Pew Research/Washington Post poll shows that the public is still pessimistic over prospects for a deficit agreement between the White House and Congress. However, more will be blame Congress for the failure if it happens. Four-in-ten (40 percent) expect that the president and [...]
Miller retains House chairmanship
Press Release: House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH-08) announced today that Congressman Jeff Miller (R-FL-01) will remain the Chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee for the 113th Congress. “It is certainly a great honor to be able to serve as Chairman of an important committee that [...]
Senate Unanimously Approves Ethics Reform Measures
Press Release: New rules increase transparency, amend conflict of interest disclosure requirements and timeline Tallahassee–The Florida Senate today unanimously adopted 2012-2014 Senate Rules that strengthen the requirement to disclose conflicts of interest, add a voting abstention obligation [...]
Gaetz officially elected Florida Senate president
Press Release: Senator Don Gaetz (R-Niceville) was today elected President of the Florida Senate by his colleagues. Senator Garrett Richter (R-Naples) was elected President Pro Tempore. All 40 Senators, including 15 elected to the Senate for the first time earlier this month, took their oaths of [...]
Hernando Today: Oops, GOP miscalculated who would vote
My Florida Voices column got picked up by the Tampa Tribune's Hernando Today: "The worst thing that happened to the Republican Party and its presidential candidate Mitt Romney in 2012 general election was that the people voted.Before the votes were cast and counted, the Republican strategists, [...]
Survey: Republican Party Can’t Count on Florida Latino Vote
By, Stephanie Carroll Carson, Florida News Connection MIAMI - While the nation waits for Florida's complete election results, there is already an indication that Latinos played a large role in the number of votes received by President Obama in the Sunshine State. A survey released this week [...]
ACLU speaks on defeat of Florida Amendments 5, 6 and 9
The following statement regarding the defeat of proposed constitutional amendments 5 , 6 and 8 may be attributed to Howard Simon, Executive Director of the ACLU of Florida. Note: Amendment 5 would have given the state legislature power of the selection of judges. Amendment 6 would have [...]
Gaetz maintains GOP majority in Florida Senate
Press Release: Strong Republican Majority Elected to the Florida Senate ...GOP Holds 26 of 40 State Senate Seats in First Election with Fair Districts Standards... Tallahassee–Amid historic voter turnout numbers, Floridians elected Republican Senators in 26 of Florida’s 40 new State Senate [...]
League asks Scott to extend early voting through Sunday
The League of Women Voters of Florida has sent the following letter to Governor Rick Scott, urging him to accommodate the needs of early voters by extending the early-voting period until Sunday, November 4. Governor Rick Scott The Capitol 400 S. Monroe St. Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001 [...]
What is our strategic plan for our military bases? Task force has ideas
Gov.Rick Scott’s office release yesterday excerpts from the report produced by The Spectrum Group for the Florida Defense Support Task Force. The 991-page report cost $1.48 million. It was authorized by the state legislature by a bill sponsored by Florida Sen. Don Gaetz (R-Niceville). The task [...]
Chamber, Rove and others spend $9.5M to defeat Nelson
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, NRA, Karl Rove's PAC and others PACs are out to defeat incumbent U.S. Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL). The Democratic PACs are only spending $2.73 million to oppose Connie Mack's bid to unseat Nelson. NELSON, BILL (D) AMERICAN [...]
Engineers give Florida infrastructure in Coastal areas a D-
To balance the state budget over the past few years, the governor and state legislators have raid the state's transportation trust fund. A new report from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Florida Section shows the price of such short-sightedness is that Florida’s infrastructure has [...]