la liberté avant tout
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog TAMPA— Ceding to the hot temptations of democracy, three Florida judges will shed their traditional black robes for chance to enter the political boxing ring of merit retention elections this November, putting their records on the bench up for popular scrutiny at the ballot box. The measure, adopted by…
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog CORAL GABLES—It took only a margin of a few hundred votes to topple a powerful 24-year incumbent of Capitol Hill. That was the fate of U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns, of District 6, by political newcomer and large-animal veterinarian Ted Yoho ofGainesville on Tuesday night in the 3rd district’s GOP primary. The latest returns showed Yoho…
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog CORAL GABLES — As the words of praise and accomplishment were handed down from the podium, expectations rose at Connie Mack IV’s campaign headquarters in Coral Gables on Tuesday night. The four-term Republican congressman from Naples, fresh off his easy victory in the GOP U.S. Senate primary win over three…
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog TAMPA— Consider the large grassroots movements of the past four years—including the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street—and you’re likely to conclude countless Americans believe the country is moving in wrong direction. That’s backed up by the latest Ramussen poll from Aug. 8. It reveals that only 27 percent of likely U.S. voters say the country is…
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog TALLAHASSEE— On Aug. 7, Florida Watchdog Bureau Chief Yaël Ossowski, joined Capitol Vanguard reporter Will Patrick for a discussion about Florida’s top news stories. Topics covered in the podcast include attempts to overcome voter fraud, the growing absentee ballot scandal in Miami-Dade County, politicians protesting military sequestration cuts, and the newly upheld health care reform known as ‘Obamacare’ and its…
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog ST PETERSBURG — A trait that is often regrettably lost when a politician takes office is consistency in both rhetoric and action. The rhetoric that fiscal conservatives in Florida and across the country have been successful in conveying and repeating is the idea that the federal government cannot create…
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog ST PETERSBURG — Democratic leaders in the U.S. Senate are blasting private colleges for high tuition rates and uncertain job prospects for students, but some researchers have countered that the problems are emblematic of all higher education, a result of virtuously limitless federal subsidies. A report by the Senate Committee on Health, Education,…
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog TAMPA— In the decades following World War I, a widespread consensus existed in the United States that armed conflicts were not pursued for defense, protection or necessity, but rather for the opportunity of profitable investment enjoyed by the captains of industry. According to the Senate Historical Office, the 1920s and…
TAMPA — If the proposed cuts to the military budget are not stopped immediately, the United States would be unprepared and unequipped to fight any future wars — despite the growing danger of a deepening national debt. That was the message delivered Monday at a town hall event downtown, where U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., spoke…
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…