Rep. Tom Rooney, please reconsider your last opportunity to support reform in the upcoming final House vote. I have a friend who has unbearable back pain and has been given powerful narcotics but no other treatment for it because she is not old enough for Medicare, is unsure of what her work record is and so is not eligible for SSDI (disability,) was helped to get on Medicaid but since it is share of cost she can neither see a doctor in his office nor be admitted to a hospital for any effective length of time. She has a hole in her esophagus and has been told to just "watch it." She can hardly swallow anything and has somehow not qualified for tests for this situation. The only way she can be seen in a medical setting is in the ER where they have to treat her but they count the minutes before they send he back out to bear her pain alone. ...more

November 15, 2009

In the 16th District money race for the U.S. House of Representatives, Chris Craft already has fallen far behind incumbent Tom Rooney. ...more

November 2, 2009

If you're thinking of buying a house, run, don't walk, to the nearest real estate office. Time is running out for first-time homebuyers to get an $8,000 tax credit. ...more

October 25, 2009

Regarding J. Ron Smith's letter in the Sept. 4 issue. Mr. Smith is concerned because "Rep. Rooney had already made up his mind to vote against the health care reform bill, no matter the content." Well, from what I have read in this newspaper, Rep. Tom Rooney has done something that virtually no Democrat congressperson has done so far; he actually read the bill (HR 3200.) ...more

September 11, 2009

After reading the letter from Ms. Fredlake, I was left in dismay by her summation of the Tom Rooney meeting. The 500-plus people in attendance were soundly behind what Rep. Rooney had to say about the health care bill and the excessive debt proposed by the current administration. ...more

September 4, 2009

None of them voted in support of the $787 billion economic stimulus package. ...more

February 20, 2009

Buoyed by Barack Obama's victory in Florida last month, state Democratic Party Chairman Karen Thurman on Saturday took aim at one of her next targets: Gov. Charlie Crist. ...more

December 20, 2008

Lifting the country out of its economic woes won't be easy or quick, but it can be done with bipartisan cooperation in Washington, Congressman-elect Tom Rooney said as he visited the Highlands County commissioners meeting Tuesday morning. ...more

December 17, 2008

It happens in every election; the candidates spend eye-popping amounts of money to get in - or remain in - an office that pays a relatively small salary. ...more

November 23, 2008

Before Congressman Tim Mahoney lost his Nov. 4 re-election race, he was working on grants, earmarks and other projects in Highlands County. ...more

November 16, 2008