By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog TAMPA— Honoring years of legal precedence, a federal judge has ruled that maintaining fair and legitimate voter registration rolls is probably a good idea, especially in the vote-challenged state of Florida. Previous examinations by the state yielded a list of over 200,000 suspected ineligible voters still on the registration lists across the Sunshine State — […]
FL: Officials decry ‘health tax’ mandated by upheld ACA
By Marianela Toledo and Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog MIAMI— After the Supreme Court‘s 5-4 ruling upholding the mandatory purchase of health insurance, much concern has been raised about the now-constitutional ‘health tax’ that Americans will be required to be pay. Florida officials were quick to point to the “ultimate deception” of President Barack Obama and the Democratic Congress that passed […]
FL: Court’s decision ‘vindication’ of Obama?
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog TAMPA— The kindling that has been fueling partisan debates and sparking protests during the past three years has finally met its fate in the Supreme Court. All measures adopted by the Congress were upheld by the court, including the provision requiring insurance coverage and the expansion of Medicaid. The Patient Protection […]
FL: Could the next ‘Big One’ ruin the GOP’s $123 million coronation?
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog TAMPA — If this past week in the Tampa Bay area is any indication, attendees of the 2012 Republican National Convention should prepare themselves for a week of proposed reforms, party platforms — and tropical storms. He said it’s impossible to predict if the ‘Big One’ will be headed Tampa’s way […]
FL: Is Rick Scott bucking the party line on immigration or faced with realities of office?
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog TAMPA— It seems that after 17 months in office, Gov. Rick Scott is ready to change his mind as to what constitutes immigration reform. Surrounded by reporters after addressing the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials inOrlando on June 22, Scottexpressed a much more pragmatic approach to dealing with immigration than was heard in […]
FL: As hurricane season begins, lawmakers look to phase out state-subsidized insurance
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog TAMPA— Ravaging Florida’s Gulf Coast on Sunday and Monday, the rains and winds brought by Tropical Storm Debby made quite an indelible mark on the Sunshine State. Not just because it was the fourth named tropical system of the official hurricane season and brought on record rainfall totals and wind damage in such a […]
FL: As nation awaits court ruling on health care, Sunshine State in spotlight
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog TAMPA— As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares its decision on the national health-care law, it is no mistake that President Barack Obama and presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney are sweeping across the Sunshine State in a campaigning frenzy. Romney is speaking Thursday in Orlando at the annual conference of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed […]
UKIP Leader Nigel Farage on Fox News: “The EU is run by a bunch of old communists”
FL: Removing non-U.S. citizens from voter rolls has majority support in Sunshine State
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog TAMPA— Sixty percent of Florida voters support Gov. Rick Scott‘s efforts to remove non- U.S. citizens from county voter registration rolls, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll. The release of the poll on Wednesday coincides with the myriad of lawsuits filed against and on behalf of the governor’s campaign to enact […]
FL: As state appeals pension decision, cities driven to reform
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog TAMPA—In the Supreme Court of Florida on June 11, attorneys for Gov. Rick Scott filed the first brief in their appeal against a lower court’s ruling barring mandatory pension contributions from state employees. A 2011 National Bureau of Economic Research study first alarmed state officials to the magnitude of the pension problem, calculating that yearly contributions to […]