Public Finance

Forget Taxes; File Laughter

Marco Rubio to Say a Whole Lotta Nothing Tonight

As we told you last week, Marco Rubio will be performing the GOP Feats! Of! Strength! as he delivers the State of the Union address response tonight. And, in a shocking twist, he plans on painting President Obama as a Big Government Spender Who Is Just a Socialist Spending Guy Who Spends Big Agenda ... More >>

Broward Commissioners Debate Tax Hike That Would Save Stray Animals

You could be deciding whether cats and dogs live or die come November 2014. On Tuesday, Broward County commissioners debated an initiative that would let voters decide if taxes should be raised to prevent thousands of feral animals and unwanted pets from being put to sleep. So far, three of the ni ... More >>

Marco Rubio Voted No on Fiscal Cliff Bill

On the first ay of the brand new year, the House voted 257-167 to approve the Senate bill that would avoid major tax hikes and spending cuts and keep us all from falling over the so-called "fiscal cliff," which would've been a terrible way to start 2013. The GOPers wanted to amend the Senate's bill ... More >>

The Fiscal Cliff Cookbook: Cooking On a Ledge

Just at the last possible minute, the House pulled the United States back from the brink of the dreaded fiscal cliff.During a vote late Tuesday, 172 Democrats and 85 Republicans voted for the bill, while 16 Democrats and 151 Republicans opposed it,  raising taxes for the wealthiest Americans, w ... 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 >>

Mandy Dawson Gets Six Months for Tax Evasion

Though former Fort Lauderdale legislator Mandy Dawson said in April that "no different than any other person walking the streets of America" with tax problems, she's certainly different from people walking the streets now: She'll be locked up.Dawson was sentenced to six months in prison today a ... More >>

Allen West Not Paying Payroll Taxes on Campaign Workers

Congressman Allen West's campaign isn't paying its taxes.The question, however, is if it owes any. A review of campaign finance disclosure documents shows West has spent well over $300,000 since the beginning of 2012 on consulting, staffers, and costs directly associated with his staff. But, while D ... More >>

Broward Woman Steals Identities of Active U.S. Marines, Nearly Scams $50K

As far as identity thieves go, Coral Springs resident Dorothy Boulin is among the scummiest.Last week, Boulin was sentenced to five years in prison and three years probation for running a scam that pilfered the social security numbers of U.S. Marines and filed fraudulent tax claims in their names.Co ... More >>

Fort Lauderdale Proposes 2013 Budget; City Hall's $300,000 Paint Job and Five Other Talking Points

While most of us were basking in freedom hangovers and post-Fourth laziness, Fort Lauderdale officials released their proposed 2013 budget.Overall, the city plans to encounter $470 million in expenditures, including $300,000 for a few coats of paint on the revoltingly bland City Hall. City officials ... More >>

West Palm Beach Cracks Down on Food Trucks

​It seems that the honeymoon phase between the City of West Palm Beach and food trucks is coming to an end. Palm Beach County is behind Miami in food trucks, but certain owners, most notably the Fire Within and Curbside Gourmet, have risen to the challenge of bringing the mobile eateries to the no ... More >>

Mandy Dawson to Plead Guilty to Tax Evasion as Soon as She Figures Out How Much She Evaded

​Former Fort Lauderdale state Sen. Mandy Dawson will plead guilty to two counts of tax evasion and three counts of failure to file a tax return, according to documents filed yesterday in federal court. She faces up to 13 years in prison.Dawson was indicted last year after authorities say she faile ... More >>

Seven People Charged in Tax Fraud Case Based on Secret Bank-Account Conspiracy Theory

ambienceofmedia.com​Get this: The government creates a secret bank account for every person issued a birth certificate in the United States -- and has been doing so since the enactment of the 1936 Social Security Act -- that holds $630,000. Through a series of IRS filings, people can become entitl ... More >>

Two of South Florida's Fortune 500 Companies Land on List of "Corporate Tax Dodgers"

Good one, Mr. Moneybags.​Out of the five Fortune 500 companies based in South Florida, two of them managed to bank on a negative tax rate over the past three years, earning them a spot on a list of the country's "corporate tax dodgers."Citizens for Tax Justice issued the report evaluating 280 comp ... More >>

Florida Power & Light Rebukes Report on "Corporate Tax Dodgers"

​NextEra Energy -- which owns Florida Power & Light Co. -- ain't too happy about being placed on a list of "corporate tax dodgers," which we wrote about earlier today.A group that calls itself Citizens for Tax Justice issued the report evaluating 280 companies nationwide, and named 78 of t ... More >>

GOP Intentionally Sabotaging Economy to Boot Obama? Only 39 Percent of Floridians Say No

wildmanhangout.com​Old news: Floridians think Gov. Rick Scott sucks. New news: Nearly half of Florida thinks Republicans are intentionally sabotaging the economy to prevent the reelection of President Obama.It's not just those damned liberals either -- 24 percent of Republicans agree, according to ... 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 >>

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 >>

Palm Beach County Housing Authority Workers Arrested, Assistant Director Charged Eightfold

PBSOKechevella Wallace​Kechevella Wallace, assistant director of the Palm Beach County Housing Authority, has been arrested along with three other housing authority employees on fraud-related charges in an alleged apartment-renting scheme, the Palm Beach Post reports.Wallace, 26, was supposed to m ... More >>

Tax Day Deals

Grab a bite before Uncle Sam bites you!​The IRS was nice enough to give us a whopping two-day extention on filing our taxes. That's all well and good, but you still might come out feeling a little poorer if you have to write a check to Uncle Sam today. Fret not, because there are a lot of ... More >>

Rick Scott Takes Credit For Solving Budget Crisis By Rejecting High-Speed Rail

Thanks, Governor, for saving us all from helpful public transport.​Remember that high-speed rail project that Governor Rick Scott rejected? The bullet train between Tampa and Orlando would've been the first of its kind in the country, made possible by $2.4 million in federal funds.But Scott return ... More >>

Tea Party? Try Tea Puppets

I wonder if the nonsense-spewing Tea Partiers are really paying attention -- because if they are they'll know they're just puppets for war profiteers and the oil industry, which are one and the same. ​Case in point: A federal audit just found that former Florida Republican Party fin ... More >>

FEMA Bombshell: School Board Can't Account For $15 million In Post-Wilma Spending

FEMA conducted an audit of Broward School Board spending of federal funds after hurricanes Katrina and Wilma and found the school board may have squandered millions of dollars, according to a report issued by the Department of Homeland Security this week.. "The School Board did not account for FEMA ... More >>

Broward Health Commissioner Says System Will Be Less Political as a Nonprofit

browardhealth.orgCommissioner Richard Paul-Hus​If the North Broward Hospital District follows through on plans to lease its assets to a nonprofit organization, then it will "take the politics out" of managing that public hospital district, according to Commissioner Richard Paul-Hus, who responded ... More >>

[UPDATED] Charity Linked to Deerfield Commissioner Took Out 10 Percent Loan With Relative

deerfield-beach.comSylvia Poitier​A charity under investigation by Deerfield Beach took out a high-interest loan from a brother of Commissioner Sylvia Poitier in hopes of paying taxes on property it owned in the city. The charity then listed that liability in a financial statement to the city, rai ... More >>

Charity President Says Agency Isn't Ducking Investigator

Flickr: itbe-GregDid Deerfield Beach's housing dollars go down the drain?​Felecia Poitier, president of a charity being investigated by Deerfield Beach for its management of housing funds, denied allegations that her agency has not cooperated fully with auditors, blaming delays on the time-consumi ... More >>

Palm Beach Billionaire Koch Likes Tax Subsidies, Too

Flickr user: andjohan​One of Palm Beach billionaire Bill Koch's main objections to a proposed offshore wind farm in Nantucket Sound -- which he has spent millions of dollars fighting -- is that it will require tax breaks to succeed. As the Juice reported earlier today, Koch has claimed that the an ... More >>

Planned Parenthood Opens Two New Clinics in Broward to Meet Growing Demand

Photo by Judith Selzer Planned Parenthood CEO Lillian Tamayo makes it official in Pembroke Pines​Douglas Marshall, director of business development for Planned Parenthood of South Florida and the Treasure Coast, has no shortage of distressing accounts of patients he has helped. After the ri ... More >>

Crooked Courthouse

The Broward Commission will build a courthouse, even if voters don't want it and there's no good way to pay for it.

Cigarette Smokers Burned By New Tax; Cigar Aficionados Blow Celebratory Rings

flickr.com While cigarette smokers will now pay a dollar per pack more, the legislature gave the cigar industry a break. A new state-wide dollar-per-pack tax on cigarettes and smokeless and pipe tobacco starts today. The stated goal from the legislature is to encourage smokers to stop. If ... More >>

Folk You

House Owned By Tally Power Players Under Homestead Investigation

Arduin and Ericks with Jeb BushOne of the GOP's top tax experts is under investigation for her own homestead tax exemption.   The Pulp has learned that the Broward Property Appraisers Office is investigating the homestead exemption on a Fort Lauderdale home owned ... More >>

State Republican Does Not Want A Billion Dollars

Rep. Anitere Flores should be grateful that only dorks like me watch Issues, the Sunday political program on our local public television station WPBT. I can't imagine she'd have wanted her constituents in Kendall / University Park / Westwood Lakes to watch her appearance this past Sunday.Here's a li ... More >>

Beach Bummed: Big Bills Are Sinking Hollywood's Small Hotels

For decades Hollywood Beach has been the only one in South Florida that could offer tourists an array of small, independent hotels at low nightly rates. That gave the neighborhood a distinct slow-tempo style, and it gave the South Florida's hospitality industry a bit of variety.But the small Hollywo ... More >>

Haunted House

A priceless Fort Lauderdale property is sold on the cheap, and it's not the economy, stupid

Beenie Man

Why Americans Get Their News From Jon Stewart

DeGroot On The Big Pump Thump

Freeloaders Who Don't Freeload

Can you count to $16 billion, gabacho?

The Tightest Slots in Town

Aren't you happy you get to shovel money into the shiny new machines?

Hooray for Hollywood

Even with a housing bust and bad court verdicts, the show goes on.

Condo Siege

From peaceful American dreaming comes a rude awakening

Best Local Girl Gone Bad

Elizabeth Fago

Overheard

Indian War

A Hollywood man has spent the past decade trying to pry open the Seminoles' accounting books -- without much success

One Strike and You're Out on the Street

If one family member gets in trouble, the Broward County Housing Authority evicts everyone. That policy forced Dorothy Springer out of her home.

Burning Down the House

After the closing of an apartment building for AIDS victims in Fort Lauderdale, the city's ability to oversee a multimillion-dollar, federally funded program is called into question

The People's Republic of Area A

A group of neighborhood leaders prepares to declare independence and start Broward's first black-majority city

The Straight Dope