Economic Policy

Allen West Getting His Very Own Lighted Holiday Sign on Saturday

As you may have heard, Allen West lost his election battle with Patrick Murphy, as well as math. But the fine folks at Stand Up Florida want to remind West not to lose his battle with common sense. On Saturday, local constituents will be putting up a lighted message at Cultural Plaza in downtown L ... More >>

Federal Tax Loopholes: They're Like a Mafia Protection Scheme Where Big Corporations Profit

Debate 2012: Romney and Obama Attack; Jim Lehrer Loses Control -- the Media Room View

Editor's note: This piece was originally published by our sister paper's news blog Latest Word on Denver Westword. It's written by Sam Levin, an editorial fellow who's been keeping tabs on both candidates in the swing state of Colorado for the past few months. President Barack Obama and former Mass ... More >>

Marco Rubio Gets After Joe Biden's Latest Gaffe

Crazy Uncle Joe was campaigning in Charlotte on Tuesday and did that thing where he said stuff that makes Democrats smack themselves on the forehead. Speaking of Mitt Romney and how he and Paul Ryan would raise taxes on the middle class, Biden said, "How they can justify... raising taxes on the mid ... More >>

Joe Biden Tells Florida Seniors Romney's Plan Will Tax Their Social Security

Joe Biden got medieval on Romney and Ryan's asses over the weekend. Biden rallied supporters at his events in Boca Raton and Tamarac over the weekend, which were filled with Florida seniors. Biden went around telling the many, many seniors who attended his rallies that Romney's economic plan coul ... More >>

Rubio's Wrong: Tax the Olympians

La-dee-dah, Sen. Marco Rubio doesn't think the money Olympians get paid for winning should be taxed. As our colleagues in Miami point out this morning, Rubio has proposed that the prize money ($25,000 for gold, less for silver and bronze) given to winning athletes should be exempt from taxation. It ... More >>

Allen West Aimlessly Blubbering, Lying About How Obama Is Incompetent and Hates Free Enterprise

In a move I wish was slightly more surprising, Congressman Allen West has posted another petulant Facebook message that includes an entire Wall Street Journal column he didn't write."It seems the inept community organizer has failed. A second term? One must be stuck on stupid!" he wrote. "It is ... More >>

Connie Mack Writes Letter to Obama: Everyone Hates You, You Ruin Everything

How mad is Rep. Connie Mack at Barack Obama? So mad. And Big Socialist Barry is going to be on a tour of Florida in the next few days, so it looks like Mack decided to get all hopped up on scotch and 5-Hour Energy drinks and write a really mean letter to him in the newspaper.Can't confirm the scotch ... More >>

Obamacare Individual Mandate Upheld; Take That Florida Republicans

A lot has been said about the Supreme Court challenge to "Obamacare," the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. One thing, though, that's gotten lost in the shuffle is that the case is called Health and Human Services v. Florida -- it was filed by Florida's then-attorney general Bill McCollum, ... More >>

Allen West Launches First Attack on Patrick Murphy

The ugliness has started. Sort of.Until now, Congressman Allen West has remained almost silent when it came to actually having an opponent in the race for the District 19 congressional seat -- though Democrat Patrick Murphy followed him up there after West bailed on District 22 for friendlier demogr ... More >>

Allen West Blames Obama for Results of 2007 Housing Crash

​Welcome to another post in our Allen West Fact Party series, in which we take claims made by the District 22 Republican and attempt to figure out whether they have a basis in reality. In case you were wondering, they usually don't.President Obama came to South Florida on Tuesday, giving Congressm ... More >>

Connie Mack Says Bill Nelson Voted for Getting Monkeys High on Coke (VIDEO)

We're a little more than six months away from Election Day, and you know what that means -- it's time to brace yourself for attack-ad season.Florida Republican Rep. Cornelius "Connie Mack" McGillicuddy sent one out on the airwaves yesterday that didn't have very much content in its 30 seconds, but w ... More >>

Allen West Tells Obama to Get Out of South Florida, Fudges "Obamanomics" Numbers

​Welcome to another post in our Allen West Fact Party series, in which we take claims made by the District 22 Republican and attempt to figure out whether they have a basis in reality. In case you were wondering, they usually don't. Today's fact-check comes from not one but two Facebook accounts o ... More >>

Lake Worth Gun Shop and Shooting Range Gets $500K Stimulus Loan

Flickr user: kevitivityYour stimulus dollars at work.​Buying guns and shooting targets in Lake Worth is officially part of the economic recovery effort.According to data compiled by the nonprofit journalism website ProPublica, the Palm Beach Shooting Center in Lake Worth received a $550,000 loan ... More >>

Allen West Goes on CBS to Criticize Bill He Didn't Fight Against

​CBS News had a story today about a fee built into the two-month payroll tax cut extension approved by the House just before Christmas -- to help pay for the cut, legislators added a tenth of a percent fee to loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.Rep. Allen West was featured in the piece as " ... More >>

Allen West Thinks a Lobbying Organization Is a Government Agency

​Rep. Allen West is looking for cuts to make in the federal government to spare the defense budget, so he thinks there's no reason for the Department of Commerce to exist since there's a lobbying group with a similar name.West seems a bit confused on this one.He says we need to take a hard look at ... More >>

Florida Unemployment Rate Finally Decreases Back to May Level

stuffunemployedpeoplelike.com​Florida's unemployment rate decreased .1 percent to 10.6 percent in the month of September after three months of no change, putting the state back to the same rate it was at in May.According to the numbers released this morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the n ... More >>

Democratic National Committee: Florida Would Lose 473,000 Jobs Under Tea Party Economics

​In advance of tonight's GOP presidential debate, the Democratic National Committee has released a report claiming that 9.5 million American jobs would be lost if a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution were implemented by next year -- including the loss of 473,000 jobs in Florida.The reas ... More >>

Allen West Back to Insults and Ignoring Facts About the Economy

Rep. Allen West, who thinks Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is a refrigerator.​Rep. Allen West seems to be the gift that keeps on giving to the world of misinformation.West went on Fox & Friends this morning, and let everyone know that he was still playing the blame game and made it clear he h ... More >>

Rick Scott Approval Rating Climbing Out of the Toilet; Voters Don't Know if He Raised Taxes

​Gov. Rick Scott received his highest approval rating and lowest disapproval since April, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.The new survey shows 35 percent of respondents approved of the way the governor is handling his job, compared to 52 percent who said they disapproved." ... More >>

Allen West on NPR: Do We Really Need the Justice Department?

How important is the Justice Department, really?​Yesterday, NPR host Robert Siegel interviewed U.S. Rep. Allen West about the federal debt fight. West, a member of the House Tea Party caucus, is adamantly opposed to raising the debt limit. He doesn't want the U.S. government to borrow any more mon ... More >>

Rick Scott's Flak Provides "Proof" of Job Creation

bc.edu​Gov. Rick Scott keeps talking about how he's creating jobs left and right, but the evidence has been a little hard to come across.Good thing we came across a tweet from the governor's Twitter account that claimed his office has proof he's been getting Florida back to work:"Passed this s ... More >>

Gov. Rick Scott Allocates $370 Million of Stimulus "Disaster" Money Into State Budget

tolivetolaughtolove.comFlip flops: The official footwear of Gov. Rick Scott​Remember that campaign talking point Gov. Rick Scott had about President Barack Obama's stimulus package being a "disaster," when Scott said he would endlessly fight the stimulus money?Well, he managed to leave $370 millio ... More >>

Allen West Interview: Florida Tea Party Favorite Talks About Islam and Donald Trump (Part 2)

​Read the first installment of the Allen West interview here.New Times: Let's talk about the Ryan budget [introduced by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin)], which you supported in the House. [This proposal was passed by the House and at presstime was awaiting a vote in the Senate, although House leader ... More >>

Florida's Loss: Rick Scott's High-Speed Rail Shoot-Down

Art Seitz Wild Art: Congressman Allen West joins a motley collection of local politicians (including fellow Republican Chip LaMarca, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler, Charlotte Rodstrom, and Romney Rogers) in Fort Lauderdale for yesterday's St. Patrick's Day festivities. (Photo by Art  ... More >>

At Speech in West Palm Beach, Attorney General Eric Holder Touts Fraud Task Force

Flickr: MainJusticeEric Holder​What better place to promote a new Justice Department task force against financial fraud than South Florida? Specifically, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder gave his speech this afternoon at the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches, which staged a luncheon in his honor at ... More >>

Oh, Snap! George LeMieux Compares Marco Rubio's Campaign to Obama's (Which Was Victorious)

lemieux.senate.govGeorge LeMieux​In Washington, D.C., the St. Petersburg Times politics blog Buzz button-holed Sen. George LeMieux, who's holding that seat for his benefactor, Charlie Crist. Here's what LeMieux had to say about young, handsome, impeccably conservative Marco Rubio, who's been hamme ... More >>

Morning Juice: Candid Camera at Cheetah; Glamorous Performer Loses Dignity in West Palm Nursing Home

​On this chilly, spooky Friday the 13th, let's see what's in the news:Scott Rothstein alleged fraud may have been in the neighborhood of $1 billion. Special Agent in Charge John Gillies says there are "tentacles" and wants our help identifying them. So keep your eyes out for that. [WPLG]Eww. Halla ... More >>

President Obama Fails to Go After Those Responsible for Financial Meltdown

Bueller? Pines Leaders Fumble Tax Calculations

Flickr user: HeneghanCan you calculate your tax hike?​Pack City Hall with more than 150 angry citizens and any governing body would get a bit anxious. But at Wednesday night's budget hearing, the Pembroke Pines city commissioners appeared to be auditioning for Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? An ... More >>

Stimulated Yet? Tiny Boca Airport Gets Millions From Feds

Flickr user: youngwarriorBoca's corporate jets will get a runway upgrade.​Millions of dollars for police officers, schools, roads, bridges -- no one's going to argue with most of these federally funded stimulus projects. In tough times, people want cops, teachers, and construction crews to stay on ... More >>

Local Video That Lowers Blood Pressure

If you're dreading this week to come, you need to begin by watching this hypnotically relaxing 2-minute video from this past weekend of the sun rising over Fort Lauderdale Beach. Jack up the volume and bask in the soothing crash of the surf. Aaaaah! Feel better? Good. Because tomorrow Fed Chairman B ... More >>

Girls and Gadgets

Children With No Financial Future To Be Jailed

Hopefully the cops won't mistake the protesters for real criminals.If you have children, and you'd like to exploit those children for your political gains, and if you have the money to rent those children prison uniforms, you should totally bring them to downtown West Palm Beach on Wednesday. That's ... More >>

Legislators Pay Lip Service to Dreaded Compromise

FLHouse.govHasnerCompromise is what distinguishes the effective, conscientious governments from the dysfunctional ones, and the lack of it has been a drag on the Florida Legislature for some time. One would think that this year's gaping, $6 billion budget hole would make compromisers out of the stub ... More >>

Schoolkids, State Workers: You're All Under the Bus for Tax-Shy Legislature

Our Florida legislators have some budget-cutting to do, but they also need to improve the state's education system, which is fast becoming a national embarrassment. This will take some creativity. Republicans, as the majority party, you're up.flhouse.govAdam HasnerAdam Hasner, Republican from Delray ... More >>

West Palm Mayor Forgets to Ask Obama to Fix City; Mice Apparently Do Frankel's Bidding

Frankel's got moves on the dance floor. In city hall, not so much.West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel met with President Obama to talk about how she'd like to spend the stimulus money. Frankel, if you haven't been following things, is the mayor who broke a bunch of shit, like downtown and city roads ... More >>

Recap: Crist on Meet the Press

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist faced off with David Gregory on NBC's Meet the Press a few minutes ago. Crist started by stressing the importance of bipartisan support for President Obama's stimulus package, then ended by... well... essentially withdrawing his own support for the package.Host Gregory beg ... More >>

Pembroke Pines Mayor Has Most Boring Stimulus Wish List Ever

Broward CountyOrtisWith its 150,000 population, Pembroke Pines stands to get a nice, fat slice of the $10-12 billion coming to Florida from the economic stimulus package Obama will sign into law today. How will Mayor Frank Ortis spend his Obama bills? Not on hookers nor cocaine. Not on a U2 performa ... More >>

Collapsible Financial Icons: A Product That Might Actually Sell

Personally, I blame former Chairman of the US Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan for much of our current economic stress. His decision to keep interest rates ridiculously low all those years ticked me off then and now. With all that cheap credit, it's no wonder Wall Street worshiped him. Maybe you' ... More >>

Bust Your Gut

And the recession will follow.

The Good Depression?

Bailout Is Vile But Necessary

Confirmed: Worst President Ever

Pulp O' The Mornin'

'Broward Health' Czar Levine Sets Pulp Straight

Ellen Dalton Keeps On Ticking

For All You Political Junkies ...

DeGroot DePants DeSentinel

Peddling the Bush Agenda

Ideas? The Bush boys have 'em. And are they whoppers!