For the past several years, elected officials around the nation have been seeking ways to stimulate job growth as our nation’s economy continues to recover. While economic development incentives, a lower tax burden and business-friendly regulatory system are helpful; there is perhaps no more effective tool in a state’s economic toolbox than a quality education.
In today’s economy, the greatest predictor of whether you can get a job is your level of education. Our nation’s unemployment rate for Americans...MORE
Education has to be one of our top priorities. If we get education right, almost everything else takes care of itself. One grant program we helped expand was our state’s low-income scholarships.
As of today, over 38,400 low-income students in approximately 1,200 schools throughout Florida are receiving this scholarship. This is an extremely popular program as over 13,000 students are currently on the waiting list to receive this scholarship for this school year alone. Additionally, 61,000 student applications...MORE
I never complain about the big paychecks earned by successful people, whether they're business leaders, college presidents, entertainers, or star athletes such as the college football players taken during the recent pro football draft.
So when I hear Occupy Wall Street protestors and other green-with-envy leftists complain, I say, "Let the market work." After all, athletes and entertainers - rarely the object of the protestors' scorn -- put spectators in the seats and draw eyeballs to the...MORE
Our culture has been advocating for a college education for Americans since the open admission policies of the 1960s. The present administration is turning this goal up a notch. President Obama stated: “Every American will need to get more than a high school diploma.” He wants the USA to have the highest percentage of college graduates in the world.
To reach this dubious goal, many students are assuming large financial burdens. Even though colleges use partial scholarships to seduce enrolling in their programs, the average...MORE
Wake up, Florida. We have been sold a pig in the poke. If what we got is not totally defective, it is redundant and far less satisfactory than a comparable product that is efficient and cost effective.
I am, of course, talking about the death penalty and why it should be abolished.
It should be acknowledged that we have two death sentences in Florida; death by execution and death by prison. Both accomplish the same purpose: the condemned will never leave prison alive. Further, it is far from certain which sentence will be carried out first...MORE
Recently there has been a great deal of discussion about the lack of ethical conduct in Tallahassee and specifically, the Florida Legislature.
Outgoing Florida Sen. Paula Dockery courageously led an ill-fated attempt to bring additional accountability to the smoke-filled rooms of political power in a series of legislative efforts that were firmly stopped by those that wield the powers of governmental process.
Beyond the legislature, the governor’s office has now become the cause de jour with insider lobbyist-turned-gubernatorial chief...MORE
As the nation moves closer to becoming a society in which people of color are the majority, systemic discrimination continues to curtail the housing choice of millions of people because of illegal bias based on race, national origin, color, disability, sex, familial status, religion, sexual orientation, source of income and other protected classes.
In 2011, the largest share of housing discrimination cases, about 44 percent, involved discrimination against people with disabilities. Discrimination involving race accounted for about 19...MORE
On Sunday, François Hollande grabbed victory in the French presidential election defeating Nicolas Sarkozy, who helped partner the European bailouts that included "austerity measures." The 57-year-old Socialist leader said his election signalled a hope for Europe that “austerity does not have to be inevitable.” Greece had elections again, with the Nazi's gaining a foothold. I was not surprised and have predicted the fall of Europe for some time. America will soon follow France if we allow the Federal Reserve to...MORE
Politics is a contact sport. A bloody and brutal one. But it doesn’t always have to happen that way and two recent examples remind us of why politics can still be a noble profession.
Redistricting is the bane of any legislator’s dreams because whenever you move the lines of a district you are playing with their ability to get re-elected. Survive it and you can have a new lease on public life. But if the lines go the wrong way, you have a tough choice to make.
Twice within recent months, we have witnessed the personal...MORE
BRADENTON -- West/Central Florida is carving out a niche of visitors that enjoy a slightly different vacation flavor than most of the state is accustomed to, and vacationers are migrating here in growing numbers. The area used to advertise to compete with the rest of Florida, but the Manasota region is finding sports and nature to be powerful economic engines.
On Tuesday's Sarasota/Manatee BOCC joint session, some goals for the future direction of tourism became slightly more apparent. Taking care of their crown jewel attraction for...MORE
The image of the blindfolded Lady Justice holding her scales represents more than an ideal. It communicates the guarantees that are critical to democracy:
Justice is fair – the scales held high, in plain sight.
Justice is impartial – her eyes wrapped tight, disallowing bias.
Justice is certain – a sword at the ready, ensuring true justice to all.
Fair and impartial administration of justice is a difficult and delicate balancing act. It is one that the seven members of the Florida Supreme Court...MORE
Florida's waterways are being wrapped in a bright green blanket of summer slime, and what's underneath isn't pretty. It is becoming so common in Florida, we now call this time of year "slime season." You won't see it on a postcard or in some glossy brochure, and it probably didn't make this year's calendar, but come-on-down: it's in the lakes and rivers for everyone to see.
This isn't a case of life imitating art. It doesn't have anything to do with the green slime in the Dungeon and Dragons...MORE
For the past five years, the State of Florida has reduced appropriations to the State University System by roughly 25 percent. The reductions have necessitated a 75 percent increase in tuition in that same five-year period. The University System was cut $300 million in the 2012 legislative session, and the state's higher education budget expects a 15 percent in-state tuition increase in addition to an 8 percent out-of-state tuition increase.
To an extent, the Board of Governors doesn't really have a choice.
If we don't...MORE
Many politicos and folks that follow politics have been watching the trial of former Democratic Presidential candidate John Edwards in North Carolina.
Edwards’ once-promising career as a popular U.S. Senator and vice presidential nominee have been irrevocably shattered with the exposure of the sordid manner in which he treated his now deceased wife, Elizabeth Edwards, the mother of most of his children.
I doubt that Edwards would get much of an approval rating for anything, whether it be public office or husband of the year. However,...MORE
Recently I visited the University of Florida and had the opportunity to tour the Computer Science Department as well as the Innovation Center where they have great plans to foster entrepreneurship. I left deeply impressed by the strides they had made and somewhat depressed about how far I felt we needed to go in Tampa to match them. On my tour of the Career Resource Center they told me that each student that graduates with a computer science degree has 3-4 job offers and companies start recruiting students as early as their...MORE
