Subject: Politics

• Early Voting Starts Monday Yo

  October 18, 2006

• Cigar Aficionado Does Cuba. Will the County Ban it Again?

  April 27, 2007

• Seijas-Friendly PAC Returns the Favor

  September 25, 2007

• Election Tip #1: Early Voting is Your Friend

  January 24, 2008

• In Carlos We Trust, Really

  May 6, 2008

• Lappé says, "No Food Shortage"

  July 22, 2008

• Helen Williams Probably Won't Be Our Next Mayor

  August 26, 2008

• Wait. Who's the Boss in the Gables?

  August 28, 2008

• Billboard Verdict: Illegal!

  December 30, 2004

• Up in Flames

  February 10, 2005

• Get It Over With Already, Vote Early

  October 20, 2008

• In Broward: Election, What Election?

  November 5, 2008

• Get Excited! Tomorrow Is Election Day!

  Tomorrow is the day we have been waiting for all year: the runoff election for the county property appraiser! Seriously, though, the Electoral College has made Obama's victory official, and we still have not picked our property appraiser. See, this past November, Gwen Margolis got 72,000 votes more than the next closest guy in the race (that is what, like, the difference between that Minnesota Senate race plus the Bush-Gore Florida debacle times a thousand?), but because she didn't get 50 percen

  December 15, 2008

• 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 this year strongly supported a tax cut amendment that passed. He has also done his best to continue to cut taxes. But tax cuts must come with responsible cuts to government programs and effective stre

  January 6, 2009

• 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 awarded a nice trophy. [AFP]The Canes come devastatingly close but come up short once again. They're now 4-7 in ACC play. [LATimes]

  February 16, 2009

• Sinthyia Darkness Wants to Be Miami's First Goth Mayor

  via Sinthyia's YoutubeWe wanted to find a better picture, but this one is quite paranormal and fitting, no? Last week, a new candidate entered Miami's mayoral race on a platform of health-care reform and mosquito control. Riptide isn't sure if running on those issues alone will win a mayoral race, but they're pretty standard political fair. The lady behind the ideas, though, isn't your standard politician. Coconut Grove resident Sinthyia R. Darkness is a paranormal activity expert, founder of th

  April 13, 2009

• Jaguares

  March 12, 2009

• Hillary Clinton Would Be Prez

  If Florida counted in the primaries.

  December 18, 2008

• Miami-Dade Might Be Asking for Lawsuit over Poll-Watcher Rules

  Ion Sancho, Florida's patron saint of fair voting, is on the case.

  October 30, 2008

• Presidential Election Could Spur Voter Fraud in Miami-Dade

  If you believe Nilo Juri, the eye of Hurricane Ballot Cheat, it could get ugly.

  October 30, 2008

• Coral Gables Muckraker George Volsky Busts City Manager David Brown

  He's going down for wasteful spending.

  August 28, 2008

• War on Hugo Chávez

  October 11, 2007

• Butcher of the Andes

  August 30, 2007

• Miami: Screwed Again

  July 26, 2007

• He’s Gay!

  August 24, 2006

• Diam's

  June 7, 2007

• Camilo's Retreat

  May 3, 2007

• Pearl of the Antilles

  June 8, 2006

• Arriola Resign? Fuhgeddaboutit!

  March 9, 2006

• The Dullness of Being Manny Diaz

  July 14, 2005

• Double Speak

  June 16, 2005

• The Fidel Factor

  December 23, 2004

• If Signs are Outlawed…

  December 9, 2004

• Commission Quest

  November 25, 2004

• Rio de Politico

  May 14, 2009

• Kirby Dick Outs Closeted Pols in Outrage

  May 21, 2009

• Moussavi Supporters Protest Iran Elections in Downtown Miami

  Ann Horwich-ScholefieldProtester at yesterday's Iran protest in downtown Miami.Think all the craziness in Iran is far away and meaningless to you? Think again. For two hours yesterday, from around 6 to 8 p.m., the plaza near The Torch of Friendship was taken over by a crowd of about 200 people waving signs and chanting in Farsi and English. They're on Moussavi's side. Or at least the people's. "We are here to support all the brave brothers and sisters in Iran and just wanted them to know we're

  June 17, 2009

• 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 celebration of all things Rubio as it is a few jabs at Rubio's competitor, Charlie Crist, most specifically his support of President Obama's stimulus plan. Rubio supprted Huckabee in the 2008 preside

  June 23, 2009

• Hey, Here's Another Poll: McCollum Still Leading

  Ron Sachs Communication commissioned Mason-Dixon to do another one of those polls y'all love. Nothing all that exciting, so let's deal it out down and dirty: Gov: Bill McCollum is still leading Alex Sink 41%-35%. At this point, the advantage might be owed to the fact that McCollum, thanks to his three previous statewide campaigns, has 87% name recognition compared to Sink's 61%. 24% remain undecided. McCollum also makes quick work of his possible primary rival, state Sen. Paula Dockery. In a

  June 30, 2009

• Most County Executives Safe from Budget Cuts

  Alex Izaguirre​UPDATE: Earlier this week, Miami-Dade County spokeswoman Vicki Mallette responded to my earlier report regarding executive salaries. I apologize to my readers for not posting her response sooner.She insisted that Alvarez is proposing in the budget a ten percent reduction to the county executive offices, which is not reflected in this post."Your recent column seems to suggest all of the cuts have been identified," she says. "This is not the case. Rest assured, more cuts are comin

  August 14, 2009

• Big Money on Top at Miami-Dade County Hall

  August 13, 2009

• County Execs Drive Expen$ive Car$ on the Taxpayers' Dime

  ​The more Riptide dissects Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez's proposed budget cuts in order to make up a $427 million shortfall, the more we realize el alcalde fuerte is not gonna mess with his executive staff's perks. The mayor's spokeswoman, Vicki Mallette, confirmed Alvarez will not ax the approximately $101,200 a year the county sets aside for car allowances used by him, County Manager George Burgess, his assistant county managers, the assistants to the county manager, the special as

  August 17, 2009

• Ridin' Dirty

  August 20, 2009

• The Return of Loco Joe

  Alex Izaguirre​ The tepid race to replace Miami Mayor Manny Diaz could soon get a shot of Sazon if the chatter emanating from city hall is true. A handful of political consultants said earlier today that former Mayor Joe Carollo is seriously considering jumping into the contest. As of now, it looked like Commissioner Tomas Regalado was going to run over colleague Joe Sanchez.Florida International University political science professor and local election prognosticator Dario Moreno says th

  September 11, 2009

• Millions in Car Allowances and Other Perks Safe From Budget Cuts

  Alex Izaguirre​Tomorrow evening, Miami-Dade County Commissioners will finally set the budget for the upcoming year. We already know that Mayor Carlos Alvarez is proposing some seriously draconian cuts and will make good on his promise to lay of 1,700 employees, which does not bode well for south Florida, where the unemployment rate has soared past ten percent and where we are still seeing a record number of foreclosures take place.And to further close the gap on a $444 million shortfall, the m

  September 16, 2009

• Intelligent Miamians Answer UN Leader's Call to Action

  Alex Izaguirre​Just when I think all is lost in this chaotic, transient subtropical paradise I call home, some of my homies give me hope. They've demonstrated that Miami-Dade does have people who care about the world around them and are willing to raise awareness about making the world a better, safer place for all of us. Hats off to Tim Ronan, Michael and Lucia Landsberg, Diana Patino, Amy Mendizabal, David Saint, Gavin McKenzie, Mark Diaz, Bamboo Barry, Alex Senf, David Muriel, Alicia Triana

  October 8, 2009

• President Obama fails to go after those responsible for the financial meltdown

  October 29, 2009

• Absentee Ballot Voting High in Miami and Hialeah

  Let's hope it's not a '97 repeat, but a large number of absentee ballots have been returned so far in local elections today where polling place turnout has been low. The City of Miami sent out 27,223 absentee ballots, and as of yesterday 15,108 were returned. That's roughly 15 percent of the City's registered voters who could vote by absentee ballot.Hialeah, a city with more than 88,000 registered voters has had 9,500 out of 17,093 ballots sent out. Miami Beach, with more than 46,000 voters

  November 3, 2009

• Miami-based National Circle of Journalists from Cuba can't find a recipient for its award

  November 5, 2009

• Early Reports: Miami Police Chief John Timoney Has Resigned

  City of Miami Police Chief John Timoney has resigned, according to sources. His resignation comes as Tomas Regalado is being sworn in as mayor. Regalado made firing Timoney a frequent point in his campaign. It appears Timoney beat Regalado to the punch before he could pressure the city manager to push through a pink slip for the city's top cop.Calls to the city manager and other city officials weren't returned, probably because most are attending Regalado's inauguration. More informati

  November 11, 2009