See also: Former Broward Teachers Union President Patrick Santeramo Arrested, Faces 200 Years in Prison.Former Broward Teachers Union President Patrick Santeramo turned himself in today after being charged with 20 counts of various racketeering, theft, and money-laundering charges. There are dozens of pages of accusations to wade through, but one…
UPDATE, 11:45: Documents show Santeramo allegedly steered BTU funds to the political campaigns of both Hillary Clinton and Alex Sink.Original post, 10:59:Prosecutors announced last November that they were investigating Patrick Santeramo, who was then president of the Broward Teachers Union. Now, the shoe hath dropped: Squarely onto Santeramo’s ass.He turned…
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 are looking for an operating…
You may be under the impression that our congressmen disagree with one another because they’ve reviewed the evidence about a given topic, searched themselves for the right thing to do, and simply come to different conclusions.A video posted earlier this week, however, shows something different: Sometimes, congressmen are opposed to…
It’s a small bill, but we’ve finally got a hint of bipartisanship in Florida.Lawrence Davis was a World War II veteran who died without any family, any money — or any casket. He was buried in a Florida national cemetery in 2004 in a cardboard box. His body was discovered…
Cops Say South Florida Protesters Busted in Chicago Are Terrorists; Friends Call Bullshit Three men formerly associated with Occupy Fort Lauderdale were charged today in Chicago with 11 counts, including conspiracy to commit terrorism, possession of explosives, and attempted arson. Each is being held on a $1.5 million bond awaiting…
Gov. Rick Scott was a guest on CNBC’s Squawk Box program this morning, answering questions about everything from Mitt Romney to Florida’s unemployment rate. The most interesting discussion, however, occurred when he was asked by the hosts about his announcement that Florida was not going to comply with the health-care…
See also Connie Mack Continues Stupid Health Care Posturing. We’ve seen plenty of posturing already from Republican U.S. Rep. Connie Mack — now a candidate for Senate — about the Affordable Care Act — even last week, he was slamming his opponent, Bill Nelson, for supporting it.This came into particular…
It’s an election year, and something good happened to the incumbent president. You know what that means: The opposition party is about to do a lot of yelling.We’re dealing, of course, with the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to knock down Obamacare’s individual mandate — you know, the one that we’re…
People are always whining about how Congress doesn’t do anything, pointing out annoying “statistics” like that its approval rating is at negative 3 percent or whatever. But Republican Rep. Bill Posey and Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson are doing something, don’t you worry. They’re taking a noble stand in the 2013…
Patrick Murphy has a great campaign tactic to use in the District 18 race against Rep. Allen West — he can always point out that he isn’t Allen West.Murphy followed West to District 18 after the congressman announced he wouldn’t be running in his home district, ol’ number 22. Murphy’s…
We had a four-story package a few weeks ago that looked at Arizona’s SB 1070, the controversial law that would turn local law enforcement into immigration officials — the controversial law that was just gutted by the U.S. Supreme Court.The court said this morning that Arizona was not allowed to…
Former Deerfield Beach Commissioner Sylvia Poitier doesn’t want anyone to think she “doesn’t respect government.” It’s important that she pointed that out, because you might mistakenly come to some other conclusion when you heard about she polluted land with dry-cleaning chemicals, then wouldn’t submit the government-required report about the pollution, then…
Bloomberg had an interesting scoop yesterday: The Mitt Romney campaign asked Gov. Rick Scott to tone down his bragging about Florida’s economy because it was interfering with Romney’s message of economic apocalypse under Barack Obama. The report also said Scott “was asked to say that the state’s jobless rate could…
Mitt Romney wants people to think everything stinks and the world is falling apart. But Gov. Rick Scott, with all his talk about Florida improving, is getting in the way.According to a story from Bloomberg today, “Scott, a Republican, was asked to say that the state’s jobless rate could improve…
Despite widespread debate over both the state’s voter purge and its “Stand Your Ground” law, a Q poll released this morning shows both are overwhelmingly supported by the state’s wide Republican base.Of Republicans polled, 90 percent they said they approved the voter purges, despite claims from the U.S. Department of…
UPDATE: George LeMieux announced this morning that he’s dropping out of the race.A Las Vegas billionaire who has said he could dump as much as $100 million into the 2012 elections has donated $1 million of that chump change to a super PAC backing Republican Rep. Connie Mack in his…
The Miami Herald had a story over the weekend outlining some of the contents of Sen. Marco Rubio’s autobiography, An American Son, due to come out tomorrow. It included a tidbit about Rubio’s drinking habits:Where President Obama, for instance, admitted drug use in his first autobiography, Rubio is silent about…
Remember 2010, when the Medicare scooter-riding lunatic fringe of the Republican Party swept to power? Two years later, the people who gave you Allen West and Michele Bachman have stopped making daily headlines, but their influence is still strong.Billionaire oil barons Charles and David Koch, the sugar daddies behind the…
Gov. Rick Scott spent $73 million of his own money in the 2010 governor’s race. When asked in April if he’d be cutting more checks for reelection in 2014, he responded, simply, “I won’t have to… I don’t know what it will cost, but we’ll have the money to win.”And…
Last month, MAOS blogger (and new Sunshine Brigade member) Chaz Stevens submitted a complaint to the Federal Election Commission after we questioned whether Rep. Connie Mack’s $18,000 postcard “mistake” actually constituted an illegal campaign contribution.Mack, who today announced an endorsement from Attorney General Pam Bondi, says it was a mistake that…
A year ago, a local union did what public employees across the state and the nation would have liked to do: stood up and declared its disgust with the Republican Party, encouraging its Republican members to drop their affiliation.This was the Broward County Police Benevolent Association, which held a “Party…
