la liberté avant tout
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog TAMPA — More than 3 ½ years after the president’s celebrated signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the program remains a hot target for critics, who view the billions in federal spending as ripe for waste, fraud and abuse. And now, a new report is confirming that very fact, demonstrating…
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog TAMPA — In a rebuke of the nation’s central bank on Wednesday, 327 House members approved a bill requiring an extensive audit of the Federal Reserve, a long-awaited triumph for the original sponsor of the legislation, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas. Paul, a three-time presidential candidate, has spent his 22 years…
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog TAMPA — Creating jobs in the bus sector has taken a new front seat in the priorities of the federal government. Municipalities and counties nationwide are set to a receive $787 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation to build, modernize and replace buses and bus facilities — hoping, at the…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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….
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…
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….
Far removed from the sandy beaches and tropical wonders of Florida, I have explored and enjoyed the wonders of Vienna and the outlaying region for the past 12 days. While markedly shorter than my six month educational séjour in 2011, this trip was meant for a renewal of sorts—an opportunity to both reset my intellectual curiosity and embrace…
Considering my free time and my new found allegiance to autonomous servers and websites, I have created my own travel website while I am on the European continent. Appropriately, I have titled my site Leben un Lieben in Wien, or Living and Loving in Vienna. The site is hosted through World Outline program and the OPML server mastered by podcasting pioneer Dave Winer,…
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 —…
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…
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…
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…
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…