Republican U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida is in a position to help move along a bill that could lower property insurance rates in disaster-prone states, but hasn't been aggressive enough in doing so, said the two Democratic House members sponsoring the legislation. ...more

April 15, 2008

Regulators are trying to punish Wall Street for mortgage finance practices that not only expanded home ownership and spread risk among a host of new players - but also may have duped borrowers and investors who supplied cash to fuel a housing boom that has turned bust. ...more

February 19, 2008

What if that toll road you often drive on business or vacation was privately owned? How about your state lottery being leased by investors from another state? Would tolls skyrocket? Would you trust the integrity of the lottery? All of these things could happen if the state decides to privatize some of its holdings to make big bucks. It sounds like a bad idea. Gov. Charlie Crist is listening to private investors who want to lease items like the Florida Lottery and toll roads, such as the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, for huge chunks of change. In return for their billions of dollars, they would have the ability to market these things, and possibly raise prices, for decades to come. With Florida's $1.1 billion budget deficit, state leaders are listening to investors who might pay upward of $31 billion for the lottery system. According to an article in The Tampa Tribune, investors would then get something like a 40-year lease of the proceeds. ...more

September 28, 2007

Habana Health Care Center, a 150-bed nursing home in Tampa, was struggling when a group of large private investment firms purchased it and 48 other nursing homes in 2002. ...more

September 23, 2007