By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog ORLANDO — Frustrated with accounts of voter fraud and ineligible voters statewide, residents of Orange County undertook their own investigation to reveal whether noncitizens were present on the county voter rolls. Kelli McNair-Lee and Bill Barnett, members of the East Side Tea Party andEastern Orlando Tea Party,petitioned Orange County Jury Services for the list of people exempt […]
FL: Lawmaker’s term-limit pledge comes back to haunt him—24 years later
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog ST PETERSBURG — A GOP representative who promised to push for term-limits in his initial congressional campaign run is again seeking office, hoping to claim victory for a 13th term in the nation’s capital. U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns of the 6th District, composed of north-central Florida, made limiting the amount of time […]
FL: State expects to save millions by outsourcing prison health services
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog TAMPA — Overcoming the efforts of several public-sector unions, Florida plans to hire more private health vendors in its correctional instutitions. “This step will allow us to provide the same services we currently have, which meet state and federal standards, while saving money for the taxpayers,” Corrections Secretary Ken Tucker said […]
FL: Economist says federal temp job programs only hurt workers
By Marianela Toledo and Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog MIAMI — Are direct government incentives for job creation the path to prosperity? Not a chance, says oneFlorida economist. Jorge Salazar-Carrillo, professor of economics atFlorida International University in Miami, points to the misdirected aims of temporary jobs programs introduced en masse in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed into law […]
FL: Tea party groups steer clear of GOP branded candidates
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog TAMPA — With the election season intensifying, candidates are looking to the mass collection of tea party groups statewide for support and endorsements. In nearly all of Florida’s 67 counties, there are more than 100 tea party groups, among other concerned citizen groups, according to FloridaTeaParty.net, which bills itself as […]
FL: Bill Young, the GOP’s longest serving rep, won’t talk about earmarks or connections to defense contractors
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog ST PETERSBURG — Imagine a congressman who has been in Washington, D.C,. long enough to witness the drawing down of theVietnam War, the shake-up of Watergate, the perilous Iran hostage situation, and the fall of the Berlin Wall — not to mention every significant political event of the 1990s and 2000s. Republican U.S. Rep. Bill Young, of […]
FL: State employees get huge payout by swapping sick time for cash
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog TAMPA— Ever thought of taking all those saved sick days and vacation days and exchanging them for some cold, hard cash? That’s the promotional offer being handed out to Florida state employees when they retire, resign or receive their pink slip, as enshrined in state law. Public sector employees were awarded $51.7 […]
OSSOWSKI: So goes Florida: Bellwether bias in the battleground state
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog TAMPA — It is a standard claim that has become irrefutable mantra in Sunshine State politics. “As goes the Tampa media market so goes Florida,”Tallahassee-based Democratic strategist Steve Schaletold the New York Times during the Republican presidential primary in January. “As I4 corridor goes, so goes Florida,” wrote theWashington Times editorial board at the beginning of the 2008 presidential cycle. […]
FL: Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s missteps on the national stage trouble re-election bid at home
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog TAMPA — Often seen brandishing party talking points on national television and defending the president’s economic record in campaign speeches across the country, there are growing indications that U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, moonlighting as the Democratic National Committee chair, may need to begin defending her own record to keep her job come election […]
FL: Dem firebrand Grayson picks up old tactics in race for new House seat
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog TAMPA — The congressman with a knack for colorful hyperbole and an audible distaste for Republicans is back After losing District 8 to Republican Daniel Webster in the 2010 midterm elections, former Democratic U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson now is aiming for the newly configured and Democratic-friendly 9th Congressional District, south of Orlando. […]