It generated one of the most controversial and heated debates of the legislative session and is a key agenda item for Governor Rick Scott, but it seems likely that conservatives’ efforts to pass an Arizona-style immigration bill in Florida is dead, despite the fact both houses are controlled by Republicans…
When Carlos Alvarez was booted from office on March 15, the largest local recall election in U.S. history sent a clear message to the Miami establishment: no more inside-the-beltway politics. Six weeks later, however, that lesson seems already forgotten.Yesterday, the Miami Foundation held a debate at UM between those vying…
The right to blast your crappy music through your car stereo at top volume while driving down the road with minimal repercussions is a right that many Miamians hold dear and regularly exercise. But recently some politicians in Tallahassee wanted to strip us of this basic freedom. Thankfully, the Florida…
Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, the two most high-profile Republicans in the state, both got elected on the backs of campaigns that never skimped on criticizing Barack Obama, but the two have nothing but praise for the president after he announced the death of Osama bin Laden…
We’re a year from the new Marlins Stadium opening, but it’s already one of the most hated edifices ever built in Miami. (Just ask Carlos Alvarez). So while we spend the next 40 years paying down the $2.4 billion in interest on this elephant we never wanted and didn’t get…
Red light cameras are the absolute worst. Defenders says they make intersections safer, though study after study shows that lengthening yellow lights is actually much more effective. Though, yellow lights don’t bring in money. (And lets be honest, for many local governments the red light cameras are all about the…
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has said time and time again he won’t run for president in 2012, and while he hadn’t exactly been stoking the flames, he had left the door just a crack open that he’d perhaps consider running for vice president. Well, yesterday he shut that door, announcing…
There have been several endorsements thrown around in the race for Miami-Dade’s next mayor, but few national figures have weighted in. Today former Gov. Jeb Bush, a Miami-Dade resident, put his support behind former Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina. Though county politics is nonpartisan, it comes as little surprise that Robaina…
Just hours before arriving in Miami to deliver a commencement address at Miami Dade College, President Barack Obama gave what will likely be one of the most important directives of his presidency. After months of planning and gathering intelligence, the president gave direct orders for American operatives to carry out…
Miami-Dade mayoral candidate Carlos Gimenez’s campaign has released a pretty flawed poll, and even that show’s he’s trailing former Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina. Though, the poll does show that Gimenez is losing ground. The major problem here is that this is an eight-person race, and the survey only asked about…
President Barack Obama will be in town today to deliver the commencement address to Miami Dade College’s North Campus graduates at the James L. Knight Center. Which is great, but unless you’re graduating from Miami Dade, there’s nothing really in it for you except maybe some bad traffic…
“Are there things we don’t want you to know? Yes,” Brian Burgess, Rick Scott’s communication director (or misdirector in many cases) tells the Times/Herald’s Tallahassee Bureau. “There are things we don’t want to broadcast to our opponents.”Florida’s Sunshine Laws are supposed to foster an open and transparent government, but time and…
Lynn Dannheisser, the royally paid Surfside town attorney who has declared a bizarre war on bloggers — comparing them to the KKK at a recent commission meeting — is fast becoming Riptide’s favorite public official. It’s her unhinged quality that makes her so entertaining. Surfside is like her very own…
The major issue of the 2010 election was the economy, and Florida voters chose to further entrench Republican power in Tallahassee. Of course, you can’t put a bunch of Republicans in a legislative chamber and not expect them to pass a bunch of anti-abortion, anti-woman legislation. It’s just what they…
News flash: Old white guy confuses KKK with NAACP.So, is veteran TV reporter Michael Putney uncomfortable with the sight of two black candidates running for Miami-Dade County mayor?A factual error made by the newsman while serving as moderator at a political debate suggests that possibility.While rephrasing a comment made by…
Just days after news that Gov. Rick Scott’s push to eliminate corporate income tax would end in failure, another big item on Scott’s agenda now looks it’s headed for defeat. Scott and Sen. John Thrasher, the former chair of the state GOP, made it a top priority to pass a…
Despite little evidence to the contrary, President Barack Obama offered further proof today that he is in fact a natural-born American citizen by producing his long-form birth certificate. With that issue sorted out, we now call on the American media to investigate the circumstances of Rick Scott’s birth. Riptide has…
Gov. Rick Scott has denied a report in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune that his administration aims to kill Citizens Property Insurance during his first term. Scott claims he’s merely sticking to his campaign promise to reduce the state-run home insurer and return it to its original intent as the insurer of last resort…
Remember that time a superideological politician held a town hall and a lot of people from the other end of the political spectrum showed up and yelled not such nice things at him and he decided to completely change his political outlook overnight and everything worked out in the end?…
Add the position of Miami-Dade Transit director to the increasing number of county jobs the new mayor will have to fill when he replaces recently recalled Carlos Alvarez. Harpal Kapoor, the current director of Miami-Dade Transit who was appointed by Alvarez in 2007, has decided to step down from the…
For the past four years, Edgard Dixon has patrolled Dinner Key, catching bike thieves, protecting Miami City Hall, and even helping to nab a fugitive who was hiding out near the docks. But despite a promotion to captain, the 61-year-old private security guard says his employer, Kent Security, pays him…
Oh, how we long for the loss of former Congressman Alan Grayson. He was the best source in Florida politics for “Wait, did that really just come out of his crazy mouth?” stories.Luckily, Rep. Allen West has picked up the slack in that department. The loudmouthed Tea Party Republican from…
