Tax Policy

Shady For-Profit College Welcomed With $350,000 in Tax Breaks

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 >>

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 >>

Rock the Presidential Debate

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

Mitt Romney Wins Debate by Way of Lies, Lies, and More Lies

Wake up this morning and the consensus is that Mittington Willard Romnom RoboRomney Mittbot won the first presidential debate over Velvet Thunder Barack. Most pundits on Twitter and your mother agree. Romney was feisty, aggressive, kind of a dick, and on the offense. Meanwhile, Obama was a big ... More >>

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 >>

Obama: "We Win Florida, We Win The Election"

President Obama was in Florida yesterday during a bus tour, hitting up Melbourne, West Palm Beach, and inexplicably getting a bear hug from a pizza guy. Obama spoke to roughly 6,000 people at the Palm Beach County Convention Center, telling them that if he can win Florida, he will win the election. ... 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 >>

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 Says He'd Consider Raising Taxes: What's Going On? (Video) (Updated)

Update, 1:17 p.m.: Added comment from Patrick Murphy, his Democratic opponent in the District 18 race.Allen West's unpredictability quotient is through the roof these days. The whole "communists in Congress" thing was off-the-wall, but it was at least in line with the rest of his statement ... 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 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: Where Was Your Leadership in Opposing the Payroll Tax Deal?

Whenever we point out the quirks of Rep. Allen West, there's always some dissent from his fans. In his defense, his supporters typically point out the leadership quality they see in the congressman.West was given a chance to be a leader this past week, as he's opposed the two-month extension of the ... 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 >>

Orange Juice and Taxes Cause State Citrus Department Director to Resign

Blame this guy.​The Ledger is reporting that Ken Keck, the Florida Department of Citrus executive director, will resign next week.That's consistent with the citrus commission's August 3 agenda, which states the third item is to consider "terms of resignation of acting executive director," and the ... More >>

Rick Scott Plays Armchair President on Debt-Ceiling Drama

Gov. Rick Scott is a dreamer​Gov. Rick Scott seems to like the idea of being president of the United States -- he's hinted that he'd make a good president because of the "tough choices" he's made as governor, and now he's playing armchair president from the governor's mansion.Sunshine State News c ... 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 >>

Rick Scott Upset About Minimum Wage Rising 6 Cents but Happy With $30 Million Corporate Tax Cut

​So, our tireless lawmakers finally came to an agreement on the state's budget yesterday. More than anything, it serves as a validation that Gov. Rick Scott is completely clueless. Sen. Mike Fasano actually called Scott clueless a few weeks ago, but he was talking about the governor's plans to eli ... More >>

Rick Scott Property Tax Calculator Ignores Small Fact: Florida Law

​GOP candidate for governor Rick Scott released this pretty snazzy new website on Friday: It's a property tax calculator that figures out a Floridian's tax if Scott gets elected versus Democratic opponent Alex Sink. There's just one problem with his site: It ignores the Florida Constitution.Scott' ... More >>

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 >>

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 >>

Pulp O' The Mornin'

'Broward Health' Czar Levine Sets Pulp Straight

Ellen Dalton Keeps On Ticking

For All You Political Junkies ...

DeGroot DePants DeSentinel

Curious George Sails the River of Red

Following a long tradition, new Fort Lauderdale City Manager George Gretsas tries to tame the big spenders at City Hall

Peddling the Bush Agenda

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

Letters to the Editor

Letters for June 21, 2001

Undercurrents

A new ballgame