Domestic Policy

Reader Mail: Tea Party Leader Is a Fraud and a Kook

Reader Mail: Gun Control Is as Boneheaded as Prohibition

Assault Rifles Are Big Business in Florida as Federal Ban Looms

Miami Rifle-Maker Jorge Corbato Explains Assault Rifles, Breaks Down the Ban Proposal (Video)

For this week's cover story, I dove headfirst into South Florida's gun culture to find out why so many people in the tri-county area -- and the Sunshine State -- are into firearms. While President Barack Obama and other Democratic leaders are pushing to reinstate the federal assault-weapons ban that ... More >>

New Florida Rep. Trey Radel Hints at Obama Impeachment Over Gun Control Executive Orders

Rep. Trey Radel, the former improv actor and conservative radio host who won Connie Mack IV's seat in Southwest Florida, is not impressed with the executive order President Obama unveiled today concerning gun control. In fact, he's already hinting at impeachment.

That Fiscal Cliff Deal Is Going To Cost Florida Billions; Here's How Much More You'll Pay

Chances are, when you heard that the GOP-controlled House had finally relented on a deal that kept the nation from plunging Wile E. Coyote-style off a fiscal cliff, you popped a little mental champagne. But even though the compromise prevents huge tax increases and keeps unemployment benefits in pla ... More >>

Rick Scott Silent on Gun Laws; Marco Rubio Supports Comprehensive Study of Gun Laws

Florida Gov. Rick Scott -- a man who has signed laws forbidding doctors from asking about patients' gun ownership and forcing municipalities to stop enforcing stricter local gun laws  -- was silent today about gun laws when asked about  the Sandy Hook massacre. 

Florida Is Set to Issue Its One Millionth Concealed Carry Permit Next Week

Florida is on pace to become the first state to issue its one millionth active concealed carry permit sometime next week, as more than 167,000 permits are issued each year. Florida has already issued more concealed carry permits than any other state, and is set to become the first to break the one m ... More >>

Two Activists Infiltrate a Center Where Illegal Immigrants Are Held

South Beach-Based Author Michael Grunwald Is Changing D.C.'s Mind About the Stimulus

In our nation's capital, real consensus happens as often as a noncreepy Rick Scott grin. Yet for the past couple of years, everyone in Washington, D.C., has agreed on this: President Obama's mammoth 2009 stimulus was kind of laughable. Green-energy initiatives? Saving America from financial ruin? Ha ... More >>

Mass Shootings Prove Gun Buyers Should Be Drug-Tested

Mass Shootings Prove Gun Buyers Should Be Drug Tested

Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness made the U.S. Supreme Court stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. This week, Luke tackles the touchy subject of gun control.As a responsible gun owner, I am a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment right to b ... More >>

Obama Supports Marco Rubio's "Stop Taxing Olympians" Stand

Marco Rubio introduced the The Olympic Tax Elimination Act, which aims to end the taxing the winnings and medal value of Olympians, with a bit of old fashioned, conservative anti-tax zeal. "Our tax code is a complicated and burdensome mess that too often punishes success, and the tax impos ... More >>

Marco Rubio Wants To Stop Taxing Olympic Medal Winners

Marco Rubio has been studying the American tax code, and at last he's discovered the scourge that's been dragging down the U.S. economy. No, it's not Obama's higher taxes on the top-one percent, and it's not Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy.It's Uncle Sam's tax on Olympic medalists, who, yeah, appa ... More >>

Stand Your Ground Law Shouldn't Be Repealed, Gun Group Tells Rick Scott

In the wake of Trayvon Martin's killing, even Dennis Baxley -- the original sponsor of Florida's Stand Your Ground law and among the most pro-gun legislators in the whole country -- has distanced himself from the law by saying it shouldn't apply to George Zimmerman. Gov. Rick Scott has bowed to popu ... More >>

One in Every 17 Floridians Can Carry a Concealed Gun

Ever casually glance around the supermarket and wonder just how many folks loading milk into their cart are also secretly packing heat? The answer, based on new data from the state, is one in every 17 of them. Or at least that's how many Floridians now have valid concealed carry permits as the state ... More >>

"Obamacare" Has Already Saved Floridians $142 Million

​Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi may be fighting to repeal President Obama's healthcare reform laws in court, but the new laws have already saved Floridians close to $142 million, and most of the laws haven't even gone into effect yet. The savings come from Medicare recipients who now pay l ... More >>

Bringing Guns Into Child Care Centers: Florida Democrat Realizes That's Probably Not a Good Idea

​Earlier this year, the Republican-controlled Florida legislature passed an NRA-backed law that required all municipal governments to abolish their local gun control laws. Problem is, the state of Florida doesn't exactly have that many gun control laws, so now licensed gun owners across the state ... More >>

You Can Take Your Gun to Miami Parks and Government Buildings Starting November 17thq

​Too scared to enter a City of Miami or Miami-Dade park or government building because you can't protect yourself by carrying a licensed concealed weapon? Well, you probably don't exist. But if you do, fear not, starting on November 17th you'll be able to arm yourself in any park and government bu ... More >>

Miami-Dade County Commission Unanimously Asks Florida Legislature to Chill Out on Crazy Immigration Laws

​It's hard to get the Miami-Dade County Commission to agree on anything, but every single member voted today for a resolution that asks the state legislature to cool it on all those crazy conservative immigration bills they've been trying to pass. The Florida Legislature will, more than likely, to ... More >>

Thousands of Florida Doctors Ask Judge to Block New Law Barring Them From Asking About Guns

​The party that supposedly favors deregulation and keeping the government out of people's lives passed a state law this year that barred doctors from asking patients about gun ownership. Republican Gov. Rick Scott signed the bill into law, but now a group of thousands of doctors and gun control gr ... More >>

Bob Graham Thinks Florida Has Lost Its Way

​To talk about respected, legendary Florida politicians is to talk about Bob Graham. The former Governor and Senator was one of the few politicians to manage sustained cross-party popularity and still looms large over the state as an occasional source of wisdom. Yesterday, the retired moderate Dem ... More >>

Tea Party Claims Victory in Alvarez Recall ...Uh, Wait, What?

Fox News declares a Tea Party Revolt​"Tea Party Revolt: Miami Mayor Recalled," proclaims Fox News' Fox Nation website, while other Tea Party segments of the world wide web take glee in the ousting of Carlos Alvarez. True some of the politics involved share similarities: raising property taxes was ... More >>

What would immigration reform look like if the Feds got off their duffs?

FAIR-y tales: The immigration saga continues

Alex Sink Supports Permanent Extension of Bush Tax Cuts, Putting Her At Odds With Obama

via MSNBC​Yesterday we noted Alex Sink's tricky new TV ad that put distance between her campaign and President Obama. Today on MSNBC, she explicitly sided with Republicans against Obama on the issue of permanently extending all of the "Bush Tax Cuts." She claims they help small businesses, but the ... More >>

MP3: J. NiC$ - "Show You The Way"

Photo courtesy of Unkle Luc​J. Nic$ (pronounced jay-nix) has steadily been climbing the ranks of transitioning between being a emerging artist to becoming known as an established one. With a strong foundation, he's poised to build a heavy presence in the hip-hop game in the near future. And with ... More >>

Marco Rubio Calls for More Tax Cuts, But Could That Hurt The Economy More?

​It seems so simple that Republicans have taken it as fact: tax cuts will lead to greater economic strength. Lower taxes mean people have more money to spend, businesses have more payroll to add jobs, and hence our economy should get a jolt, right? It's no surprise that Marco Rubio has now come ou ... More >>

Rick Scott Hates the Stimulus, But Company He Invested in Got $60m in Stim Funds

Billionaire GOP Governor candidate Rick Scott says he has conservative values, but the kind of companies he invests in don't seem to. One company Scott invested in was shown to help send money from illegal immigrants back to Mexico even though he backs Arizona's immigration laws. Another h ... More >>

RPOF Says Alex Sink is Basically Florida's Fidel Castro

​Fidel Castro took some time out of his busy schedule of not dying to pen a piece for a state newspaper that said President Obama and the Democrat's recent passage of health care reform is a "miracle." Well, the Republican Party of Florida took time out of their busy schedule of basically giv ... More >>

When It Comes to Adoption Rights, Florida House More Concerned with Gun Owners than Gays

​The Florida House is looking to finally secure the adoption rights for a discriminated-against group of people. No, not Homosexuals, they're still 100 percent forbidden to adopt children in the Sunshine State. The bill currently cruising through committee is a silly little thing making sure that ... More >>

Crist Denies Endorsing Stimulus Bill; Owns Up to Accepting Reality

Capture of an anti-Crist ad paid for by the Club for Growth​Charlie Crist went on CNN yesterday and said that he didn't endorse the stimulus package. Huh? What? Riptide was there when he appeared with President Obama touting the stimulus in Ft. Myers. Even though the White House is claim ... More >>

Diaz and Mayors Call for Stronger Gun Control in Wake of Shootings

The number of horrible mass shootings nationally in the past few weeks has been astoundingly sad. Incidents in Miami alone have taken the lives of a dozen people in the past few weeks. I don't know if you can explain something like this. Blaming it on the economy, as it appears some might want to do ... More >>

News Roundup

Charlie Crist remembered he's a Republican and is introducing tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts! [Herald]U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is ordering the deportation of 30,000 Cubans. [NBC6]Daequan Cook is the best three-point shooter in the history of the entire world, and for that he was awarde ... More >>

Miami Beach Musician Scores the Most-Played Video On... CNBC?

Normally, posts about locally based musicians gaining national prominence with music videos being played on cable channels go up over on our music blog, CrossFade. But usually, those videos are being played on BET or MTV, not CNBC. Such is the case with Miami Beach resident Bill Zucker, whose "The ... More >>

Budget-Slashing Session Takes Aim at Education

Florida's capitol has been completely controlled by Republicans for the past ten years, and with that regime has come tax cut after tax cut after tax cut. Jeb Bush cut taxes by $12.2 billion during his terms, with half of those savings going toward the wealthiest 4.5 percent. Charlie Crist earlier t ... More >>

Florida is Bottom of the Barrel on Gun Control

Miami: Screwed Again

The legislature helped taxpayers, but not in the Magic City

Letters from the Issue of November 21, 2002

Haitians yearning to breathe free -- in Miami

The Big Cypress Deal

The cover story is conservation, but the Bush boys have their hands in the taxpayers' pockets again

Best Gun Shop

Lou's Gunshop and Police Supply

Wages of Welfare War

Down in the Liberty City projects, a growing number of women's voices are just saying no to workfare as we know it

Pestering the Pirates

The Federal Communications Commission can't seem to keep illegal broadcasters off the air

Making Airwaves

This summer the FCC pulled the plug on the county's most innovative radio stations. Some are already back on the air.

Whichever Way the Wind Blows

Machine Gunners Are People Too

What's a poor automatic-weapons freak to do when his trigger finger gets itchy? Head out to the Dade County range, of course.

That Sinking Feeling

For two weeks something different made waves on local radio. Then the FCC heaved-ho.

Captains Outrageous

The FCC attempts to fend off Dade's motley crew of FM radio pirates

To Have and Have Not

Activists in Miami Beach's north shore neighborhoods say government-subsidized housing is crowding them out

Whoppers!