Economic Stimulus

Farmers' market fiasco: Miami-Dade Health Department squanders $15 million

Miami-Dade Health Squanders $15 Million From Feds Meant to Bring Farmers' Markets to Town

The First Lady has made healthy eating her priority, but her husband's stimulus package hasn't helped as much as hoped​Remember President Obama's stimulus package? The $787 billion bill was supposed to goose this country's ailing economy like a line of premium yeyo. Here in Miami, it was also book ... More >>

Dummies Guide To Trashing Taxpayers: The Port Tunnel

​This week, Miami New Times published a guide to the eight of the worst public works projects in Miami-Dade, where bureaucrats and elected officials take pride in wasting millions in taxpayer dollars on crap residents have little-to-no use for. As we reveal each one of these boondoggles on Riptide ... More >>

President Obama and Jeb Bush to Make Joint Appearance at Miami High School

​Politics and publicity opportunities make strange bedfellows. President Barack Obama and former Gov. Jeb Bush will appear together this Friday at Miami Central High School. Obama will be in town for a Democratic fundraiser but will swing by the school with Bush to address ways to turn around low- ... More >>

Peep J Nics's "Road to Riches" Debut Video Off Champion Rizla, Directed by UnkleLuc

via polarbearmack.comJ Nics lighting it up in the "Road to Riches" vid. ​Straight outta the 305, J Nics has spent the last few years honing his style in semi-private while constantly rising through the MC ranks. Back in September, he dropped his debut slab, The Stimulus Package, one of Crossfade ... More >>

Miami's best albums, EPs, and, mixtapes of 2010

via polarbearmack.comJ Nics lighting it up in the "Road to Riches" vid. ​Straight outta the 305, J Nics has spent the last few years honing his style in semi-private while constantly rising through the MC ranks. Back in September, he dropped his debut slab, The Stimulus Package, one of Crossfade ... More >>

J. Nics's Stimulus Package EP

​To close out the year, Crossfade is picking out its favorite albums by 305 artists. Read the full list of Miami's Best Albums of 2010 here.J. NicsStimulus Package (Self-Released)J. Nics has risen tremendously since releasing his first collection of tracks in December 2009. His very first release ... More >>

Five SoFla projects that have snorted our taxes

​To close out the year, Crossfade is picking out its favorite albums by 305 artists. Read the full list of Miami's Best Albums of 2010 here.J. NicsStimulus Package (Self-Released)J. Nics has risen tremendously since releasing his first collection of tracks in December 2009. His very first release ... 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 >>

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 >>

Rubio and Crist Trade Barbs While Speaking at Same Event

​Republican Senate opponents Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio spoke one after another this morning at the Associated Press legislative planning session, and while they avoided a face-to-face meeting, they took swipes at one another. It must have been uncomfortable for the two, considering yesterday's ... More >>

Crist Looking to Bolster Conservative Credentials: Maybe Should Concentrate on Being a Good Governor Instead

In an interview with Time, Charlie Crist and his senate campaign manager Eric Eikenberg say that in the face of Marco Rubio's right-wing threat, the Governor new tactic will be to bolster his conservative credentials while casting doubts on Rubio's. [Crist and Eikenberg] described a counterattack fo ... More >>

Marco Rubio May Not Have Hugged Obama, but He Would Have Taken His Stimulus Money

The most effective and frequent bit in Marco Rubio's senate campaign ads: that picture of Republican rival Charlie Crist embracing Barack Obama at a rally for the president's stimulus plan. Of course, every Republican Governor ended up accepting money from the stimulus plan, including your mor ... 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 >>

FPL Gets An Obama Stroke Job As Company Sets Out to Destroy National Park

Alex Izaguirre​Could there have been a more ruthless, diabolical, state utility monopolizer to receive $200 million in federal stimulus money than Florida Power & Light? I'm not the only one questioning the federal government's decision either.President Barack Obama announced FPL's stimulus bo ... More >>

Maurice Ferre Officially Enters Senate Race

If you asked us a few months ago which Miami mayor would make a Senate run, we would have guessed Manny Diaz. Boy, would we have been wrong. Maurice Ferre, who was mayor from 1973 to 1985, has officially thrown his hat into the ring to challenge Kendrick Meek in the Democratic primary.Ferre promised ... More >>

Rubio Web Ad Takes Crist out of Context

Hey, look, it's another Marco Rubio web ad. This one starts out well, listing all the problems Florida's economy faces and prepares to point the finger squarely at the governor, who's Goliath to Rubio's David in the Florida Republican Senate primary. But then the Rubio team relies on a bit of dirty ... More >>

Volusia County GOP Censures Charlie Crist

​Some of the county-level Repulican party organizations have been mumbling not-so-nice things about Gov. Charlie Crist, but yesterday the Volusia County GOP passed a motion censuring him. Among Crist's crimes: Appointing Democrats to political positions, appointing so-called liberal ... More >>

Mike Huckabee Endorses Marco Rubio

  Word that this endorsement might be coming has been in the pipeline for weeks, but now it's official: Former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate and current Fox News host Mike Huckabee has endorsed Marco Rubio in the Republican primary for Senate. Huckabee's endorsement is as much a c ... More >>

Manny Diaz Endorses Kendrick Meek for Senate

Rep. Kendrick Meek added another impressive entry to his list of endorsement of US Senate today as City of Miami Mayor, and president of the US Conference of Mayor, Manny Diaz announced his endorsement. The press release came with equal amounts of back patting on the part of both men. ... More >>

Rubio's First Attack Ad: Look, Here's A Picture of Crist with Obama

Yesterday, Marco Rubio unveiled the first attack ad on his Republican primary opponent, Charlie Crist. The imagery is a slow, trippy reveal of a picture of Crist with President Obama, while an ominous narrator straight out of a dark fairy-tale movie paints the stimulus package that Crist supported i ... More >>

Obama's First 100 Days and Barely Any Action on HIV/AIDS

Wednesday will mark the culmination of President Obama's first 100 days in office, and he's done a lot: passed a massive stimulus package, ordered the closure of Gitmo, made a momentous change in travel policy to Cuba, had some pirates shot, and got a dog named Bo. Though, one area where he's moved ... More >>

News Roundup

LocalVice President Biden tried to butter up reps from the biggest union in all the land, AFL-CIO, so they'd support the stimulus bill during a meeting in Miami Beach yesterday. [AP]He also announced $8.4 billion from the stimulus package will benefit transportation, and called the Miami Intermodal ... More >>

UM Addresses The Impact of Econ Crisis

Nothing is immune to the economic crisis, not even the palm tree'd oasis in Coral Gables known as the University of Miami. After many alumnus expressed their concern, president Donna Shalala sent out a letter to all alum today addressing the impact on UM. Here's the highlights: UM has made a lot of ... More >>

News Roundup

LocalThree years later, Belkis Gonzalez, the owner of an abortion clinic who put a live baby in a bag after a botched abortion, is arrested. [NBC6] The original building that housed Miami Senior High has been repurposed as a community center. [Herald]The half-penny tax for transit will now be allow ... More >>

Manny Diaz is Deeply Disappointed by Bobby Jindal, Too

via Urban BrownWould Chuck Strouse have better luck selling these in Miami parking lots? Poor Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal can not catch a break. Everyone from freebase-Twitter addict Rick Sanchez to semi-Conservative Columnist David Brooks is criticizing his speech on Tuesday night, in which he ... More >>

Every Wingnut Hates Crist

Charlie Crist, our new official Republican Boyfriend, was on Meet The Press this weekend carrying on his love affair with the stimulus package. Meanwhile, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, also known as 1/3 of Ronald Reagan's soul-equivalent (Reagan, as most historians agrees, was indeed soulless) re ... More >>

Dade Tries Out Jail/Hospital Combo for Mentally Ill

In an attempt to fix a broken system, Judge Steve Leifman announced plans this morning for a first-of-its-kind "pilot facility" to house mentally ill individuals with criminal charges in Miami-Dade. Leifman -- an articulate, bespectacled advisor to the Supreme Court on mental health issues -- expl ... More >>

Crist's Admirable Stim Support Makes 2012 Prez Run Unlikely

The economic stimulus is likely to be one of the defining actions of President Obama's first term. If it's perceived to be successful by November 2012, we're more than likely looking at four more years. But if, even as Obama himself admitted last week in Fort Myers, it's not, we might just have ours ... More >>

Newt Gingrich Makes First Florida Stop in His 2012 Presidential Campaign?

Remember this Newt Gingrich fellow? I know he's been pretty much irrelevant for the past ten years, but he used to be speaker of the house until he ran his public image into the ground by getting caught up in a few games of ethical limbo and becoming a polarizing figure in the public eye. Now he has ... More >>

News Roundup

City and county commissions are castng their final vote on the Marlins ballpark today. [CBS4]Charlie Crist is pleased as punch about the new version of the Stimulus Bill. [JustNews]Apparently, before a certain celebrity incident, people didn't know that domestic abuse in younger relationships is a s ... More >>

Live From The Barack Obama Stimulus Tour

Riptide is live today from Ft. Myers, Florida for Barack Obama's first visit to Florida as President of the United States of America. He'll be continuing the themes from his stop in Elkhart, Indiana and his first press conference last night, talking up the need for a stimulus package. The event ... More >>

The Excited Kid At the Obama Rally. There is a Video of Him.

The stimulus package Barack Obama is pushing will be a defining part of his presidency, and these events that he's held the past couple of days should be treated as sort of historic. Yet, at the end of the day all we care about is that Obama said some funny thing about Charlie Crist and a hose and ... More >>

Manny and His Marry Band of Mayors Get Snubbed by Obama

Mayor Manny Diaz is in D.C. exercising his duties as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and hoped to get some face time with another president. You know, that President Obama one. Flanked by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and others, Diaz is running around our nation's capital in su ... More >>

Democrats Already Targeting Diaz-Balarts for 2010

Republican Congressmen Mario and Lincoln Diaz-Balart seem dead set against voting for Washington Democrat's proposed $825 billion stimulus plan, even as the popular Republican Governor Charlie Crist is lobbying for the plan. In the first sign that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committe may b ... More >>

News Roundup

Oh, look, an update from our old friends the sex offenders under the bridge. It's nice to hear from them every once in a while. [NBC6]It is going to get really, really cold this weekend. [CBS4]Fidel Castro wants Obama to give back Guantánamo Bay. [NBC6]Some dumb kid accidentally shot his friend in ... More >>

News Roundup

Hey, why not? Hair Gelz Carvalho thinks that while all this bail-out stuff is going, the public schools should be bailed out too. [Herald]Manny Diaz would also like some sort of Federal stimulus package that would make his job a lot easier, too. [Reuters]Charlie Crist is considering a moratorium on ... More >>

What's Going On? Oh, McCain is Just Being A Dick

Hey, why not? Hair Gelz Carvalho thinks that while all this bail-out stuff is going, the public schools should be bailed out too. [Herald]Manny Diaz would also like some sort of Federal stimulus package that would make his job a lot easier, too. [Reuters]Charlie Crist is considering a moratorium on ... More >>

No-Budget Beauty

And no fruits or berries are involved.

Pretty in the City – Blow Your Tax Rebate Out With a Bang

And no fruits or berries are involved.