Cash-strapped Florida could lose out on millions of dollars if Congress' final version of a massive economic stimulus bill ends up reflecting the $838 billion Senate bill passed Tuesday, rather than one the House approved last week. ...more

February 11, 2009

With the Senate expected to narrowly approve its version of an economic stimulus bill, lawmakers from the House and Senate will face difficult negotiations over spending for tax cuts, education and aid for local governments. ...more

February 8, 2009

Carol Carter, a veteran official of the Hillsborough County Republican Party, is resigning her post as result of a flap over a seemingly racist email joke she forwarded to friends. Carter is the third prominent local Republican in four months to be stung by controversy over emails with racial overtones. ...more

February 5, 2009

Florida Republicans from the Tampa Bay area and elsewhere are questioning whether the state would get its fair share of the $819 billion stimulus package the House passed Wednesday. ...more

January 30, 2009

Like most of their House colleagues, Tampa Bay lawmakers split along party lines Wednesday on the economic stimulus package. ...more

January 29, 2009

House Republicans are stiffening their resistance to the magnitude of spending in the plan developed by House Democrats on Obama's behalf to create or save more than 3 million jobs. In the Republican response to the president's address, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the House minority leader, called for deeper tax cuts instead. ...more

January 25, 2009

President Barack Obama sought to dampen Republicans' complaints about the Democrats' massive economic revival package Friday with an offer to listen carefully to their ideas, too. ...more

January 24, 2009

A new poll shows that Gov. Charlie Crist hasn't lost popularity despite the state's budget difficulties and that state Attorney General Bill McCollum and U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV, R-Fort Myers, would be early leaders in a Republican primary to replace outgoing U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez. ...more

January 22, 2009

This letter is to Abie, the person who was disgusted with conservatives. I understand the frustration. Conservatives were extremely slow to realize that the Bush Administration was bad for America. In November, the majority finally opened their eyes, but why did it take so long? Because the GOP's leader Karl Rove knew he could "manipulate" conservatives with a constant stream of "fear" about gays, terrorists, immigration, environmentalists, Roe-Wade, religion and taxes. These extremists knew they could create enough smoke to keep the average conservative distracted from what was really going on in Washington. Conservatives failed to see the dismantling of the Bill of Rights, the industrial war machine's take over of our military and the almost daily immoral or illegal activities of their own party members. Yet, about 11 percent of the conservatives are still so extreme in their views that they never will see the truth. So Abie, don't fear the conservative, fear the extreme 11 percent who say "my party right or wrong." They are not good for America. Let's hope that the future proves "we the people" have learned our lesson. ...more

January 20, 2009

Lorne H. Spence of Hudson says people need to vote in the 2010 mid-term elections in a way that will help President Barack Obama solve the nation's problems despite resistance from Republicans. ...more

January 10, 2009