la liberté avant tout
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog TAMPA— While television viewers recover from last season’s ratings bonanza known as the GOP presidential primary debates, voters in Florida learned this week that the next season’s senatorial debates will be aired without the cameo of one of the most important contestants: Cornelius McGillicuddy IV. Two months to the…
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog TAMPA— In the state of Wisconsin, it took an $80-million recall election to validate Gov. Scott Walker‘s fiscal reforms on public-sector collective bargaining and pension requirements for state employees. In Florida, where similar legislation has been passed and signed into law, the biggest impediment to Gov. Rick Scott‘s agenda has not been…
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog Florida Gov. Rick Scott responds to questions about his voter reforms being blocked by the federal government during an interview Tuesday with Christine Romans, host of CNN’s “Starting Point.” TAMPA— In the past two days, Gov. Rick Scott has been busy on the national airwaves defending his attempts to legitimize voter…
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog TAMPA — Florida‘s political season is ready to move full steam ahead. With the statewide primary for the Democratic and Republican parties set for Aug 14, voters in theSunshine State have been presented with a slate of 120 candidates for27 House congressional seats and 11 for the U.S. Senate. Of those…
By Yaël Ossowski and Marianela Toledo | Florida Watchdog TAMPA— In an interview with Florida Watchdog, congressional candidate Joe Kaufman laid out his case for seeking the GOP nomination in Florida’s 23rd district, the newly-drawn seat held by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston. Kaufman is a journalist and activist, concentrating on “combating bigotry and exposing the activities of radical extremist organizations,” according…
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog TAMPA— The fight to recognize universal suffrage has been bloody, costly and, above all, hard-fought. Though considerations of race, sex, income, literacy and property ownership once barred certain individuals from the polling place, today these distinctions remain rightfully absent when American citizens casts their vote. What remains important, however, is not…
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog MIAMI— Just ignore it, and it will go away. That’s the attitude of U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, who passed a letter to the 24 other members of Florida’s congressional delegation claiming there has been “no history of mass voter fraud” in the Sunshine State and any attempt to…
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog MIAMI — History will be made at 3:47a.m. EST on Thursday in Florida. The Dragon capsule will fly by the International Space Station at 17,500 mph, the minimum speed required to maintain orbit around the planet. What makes the event so noteworthy relies less on the flyby and more on the capsule, the…
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog TAMPA — As Spain faces massive resistance from investors and the unemployed, a delegation of Florida political and business leaders has swept in to sell the economic virtues of the Sunshine State. Gov. Rick Scott is trying to “further cement cultural ties” with Spain and promote Florida as the “ideal location” for both business and tourism, according to his weekly…
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog TAMPA — Even after hours of cramming mathematical formulas, composing rough drafts and tracking down ever-elusive No. 2 pencils, there was no more excruciating experience than having to complete a state-mandated standardized test. The teachers, worn out from their recent intensive lessons on math, reading and writing expected on…