Campaign

On Friday I had the opportunity to return to Santa Rosa Island for a day long tour of the island with representatives from the National Park Service.

Santa Rosa has been in the news a lot lately because it is threatened by a controversial proposal by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) to continue indefinitely a lucrative private trophy hunting operation set to shut down in 2011. This hunting operation currently closes off public access to 90% of the island for up to 5 months a year. Once hunting permanently ends the Park Service can complete its plans to restore the island, improve visitor facilities and promote year-round access to the park.

Santa Rosa Island, purchased by taxpayers for $30 million in 1986, is part of a unique National Park that is fairly close to large populations but is still very remote and rustic, with only a few buildings and rough dirt roads. The isolated nature of Santa Rosa is part of its appeal and once I set foot on the island I felt I had been transported to another world far away from the complicated trappings of modern life. Read more...

If there was any doubt that the angry, fringe left has taken over the Democrat Party, yesterday’s ousting of Joe Lieberman puts the issue to rest.  Lieberman was the Party’s co-standard bearer in 2000, and just six years later, Democrat leaders are issuing press releases explaining why they have abandoned him.  Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid should take a good, long look at what their Party has become: a hostage of the ultra-liberal, pacifist movement that is using the internet as a clubhouse, and which was fathered by Howard Dean during his presidential bid.

The Democrat Party that once stood for strength in the international arena is officially dead.  The new retreat and defeat Democrats are firmly in control, and with Lieberman’s defeat have removed the last vestiges of reason from within their ranks.  Lieberman’s loss will send shockwaves across the nation, and will make mainstream Democrats across the nation fully aware of what has happened to their Party.

For the next Congress, once we get back here in January, we need an energy bill that moves us rapidly toward energy independence.  The tax incentives in the energy bill from last summer are for only two years.

Job 1 in the next Congress is Phase 2 of the energy bill that includes new fuels and flexible fuel vehicles.  We need competitive forces to drive down the cost of gasoline.

This week’s announcement by Bob Ney that he will not stand for re-election adds yet another casualty to the ethics and bribery scandals engulfing Washington.

The departures of the likes of Ney and Tom DeLay are undoubtedly welcomed by anybody who has the better interests of the country at heart.  Who could really fret about losing a Texan who used his “hammer Read more...

I think it's very important that we pass the video franchising bill.  That is necessary to facilitate the entry of telephone companies to cable television businesses in a way that would benefit consumers with lower prices and more varied television offerings.  The bill will enable local governments to offer telecomm services, particularly broadband.

The President’s recent veto of legislation to update outdated stem cell policy in the light of scientific advances, supported by 193 Representatives and 37 Senators, not only hurts research at the federal level, but also impairs state research as well. Federal funding is currently restricted to research using 21 old, contaminated stem cell lines. Meanwhile, scientists have developed techniques to derive more efficacious, uncontaminated lines that have proven three times as popular among scientists over the last three years, despite the absence of federal money to conduct research on them. State stem cell initiatives have attempted to fund research using the newer lines, but federal policy has once again gotten in the way.

Because of the restrictive federal policy, states cannot use facilities or equipment purchased with federal funds to conduct research on stem cell lines that are ineligible for federal funding. This has forced states and universities to spend large sums of money on redundant equipment and laboratories, as well as create expensive bureaucracies to track which costs can be paid with federal funds. New Jersey is spending 75% of its money for stem cell research on new equipment and a stem cell research institute. The University of California-San Francisco is spending $6 million to remake a lab for stem cell research. In a recent report entitled “Too Much to Ask

The University of Miami Hurricanes are not the only hurricanes frequenting Florida recently.  In just the last two years, Florida has had to endure the devastation from eight hurricanes that severely impacted families, farmers, homes, businesses and schools.



This year, we already had one storm become a hurricane, though Hurricane Chris thankfully dissipated without causing any damage.  While hurricanes are an unfortunate reality, better preparation for natural disasters can help communities rebound quicker.



To help people prepare for this year's hurricane season, I sent a hurricane preparedness checklist to those in the communities I represent.



The effects of a natural disaster can be reduced if you are aware of the steps families should take before, during, and after any natural disaster.  It is also important that every family member know the local emergency phone numbers.



Ultimately, the federal government can only do so much. Florida is blessed to have local and state authorities who understand their roles and respond quickly.  By taking personal responsibility, individuals can better ensure that their families and neighbors are protected during natural disasters.

The hearings on Immigration Reform, which the House Republican leadership
has been conducting, are a farce.

The purpose is not to seek compromise or common ground on immigration
reform or security.  The hearings are a political show road to divide this
Nation and try to maintain an inept Republican majority in Congress.

As cynical as this is, it just confirms that the Republican majority does
not want solutions, it prefers to do nothing.

Start with an overwhelming majority of Senators in favor of extending the R&D tax credit. Add a healthy majority who support a permanent solution to the death tax. And then add another majority of those who favor increasing the minimum wage.

And the sum is… well, not 60 votes, unfortunately.

Election-year politics was apparently the variable yesterday that led to the Senate’s regrettable inability to invoke cloture on H.R. 5970, the Estate Tax and Extension of Tax Relief Act. Read more...

As the drug and insurance industries rake in tens of billions of dollars in profits, Ohio seniors and people with disabilities are being forced to pay full price for their prescription drugs as they hit gaps in coverage. This Medicare drug plan has provided windfall profits to the drug companies at the expense of Ohio seniors.

While seniors and people with disabilities continue to express frustration with the Part D disaster, Senator Mike DeWine continues to tout his vote in favor of the drug plans. The legislation included a $100 billion subsidy for the pharmaceutical industry, and has allowed the industry to earn tens of billions more off of the backs of the poorest seniors and taxpayers.

After taking $300,000 in campaign contributions from the drug industry over the course of his career, Senator DeWine voted to prohibit Medicare from negotiating for lower drug prices. Mike DeWine can try to distort his record, but the truth is that the price of prescription drugs has gone up under Medicare Part D. Part D has provided a boon to the drug and insurance industry but has saddled Ohio seniors with higher costs and gaps in coverage. Read more...