The only counterweight to special interest money in politics is public participation. I would be honored if you would become a supporter. But even if you don't support me, please, get involved in the process. It's your country - take it back!
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Wall PhotosUpdated about 4 months ago
Cruising the St. JohnsCreated about 5 months ago
Events
4 past eventsSee All
- Youth Substance Abuse ... Reha...
Sergio's Italian Resturaunt, 2895 S...
Thursday, October 15 at 11:30am - Blue Gold: World Water Wars
Gallery at Avalon Island
Wednesday, September 16 at 5:30pm - Healthcare Rally
Lake Eola
Wednesday, September 2 at 7:00pm - Collecting school supplies and...
Eastmonte Park
Thursday, August 27 at 7:00pm
Steve Barnes
Today in My Florida River:
- Hundreds take the plunge on New Years Day
- #Chattahoochee focusing on #eco-tourism in 2010
- DEP releases action plan for Lower St. Johns River tributaries
www.MyFloridaRiver.com
My Florida River is your source for breaking environmental news as well as a hub for environmental advocates from around the state. Free link exchanges for environmental groups.
Steve Barnes
Rep. Cannon's "bold ideas" are just more of the same bad medicine that crippled Florida's economy in the first place.
This past year, the Republican-run Legislature gutted growth-management laws and shifted the costs of new roads from developers onto existing homeowners. The idea was that making it cheaper and easier t...o build new subdivisions would stimulate the economy. Unfortunately, Representatives Cannon, Dorworth, etc., overlooked the obvious: No one is going to buy those homes at a time when unemployment and foreclosure rates are the highest in the nation. Instead, the new rules have lowered existing home values (supply and demand) and shifted more taxes onto working families by forcing them to subsidize development special interests. Now they want to move even further in that direction.
If you think more of the same is going to rescue Florida's economy then by all means vote for Cannon and his cohorts. If you think we can do better, please visit Amy Mercado's website AmyMercado.com to learn more about her plan to bring good-paying jobs to Florida.
Florida state Rep. Dean Cannon: Set to become Florida House speaker, 'We need to be bold,' he says -
www.orlandosentinel.com
TALLAHASSEE — Dean Cannon was fresh out of law school and burned out on politics.As student-body president at the University of Florida, the kid from Polk County had been a self-described "nerdy guy who liked reading the Federalist Papers" and a devout disciple of limited government. ...
Steve Barnes Top #Republican #fundraisers call for #Florida Republican Party #Chairman Jim #Greer to resign - or else.
www.postonpolitics.com
A dozen of Florida’s top Republican fund-raisers called for the resignation of their state party chairman in a letter late Tuesday, saying without his
Steve Barnes The future of the #Florida #Republican Party: Who will win, the establishment types led by Gov. #Crist, party chief Jim #Greer and his protoge Rep. Chris #Dorworth or the Tea Party types, including Marco #Rubio and Ax the Tax leader Doug #Guetzloe? What do you think and what would a shake-up mean to Florida's political scene?
www.orlandosentinel.com
TALLAHASSEE - Embattled Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer will grant his critics a hearing next month to discuss his performance -- but they won't be able to vote him out of the job just yet.Under ...
Steve Barnes American #heroes, even when they aren't American! Thank you Jasper Schuringa for saving the lives of so many when a #terrorist tried to blow up the #Northwest Airlines flight from #Amsterdam to Detroit.
www.cnn.com
Passenger Jasper Schuringa told CNN that with the aid of the cabin crew, he helped subdue and isolate Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the suspect in Friday's attempted terrorist attack on a Northwest Airlines jet.
Steve Barnes
#Jobs summit to focus on incentives for #developers? Now is not the time to shift development costs onto local taxpayers.
Sen. #Haridopolos and Rep. #Cannon will be "focusing on economic incentives that would try to address the construction and real-estate market failures plaguing Florida’s economy"
Sounds like more of ...the same. This year, the Republican-led legislature shifted the costs of building new roads from developers onto local taxpayers in an effort to spur more growth.
Unfortunately, the problem is not that it costs too much to build, but that people don't have jobs or job security and are therefore unable or unwilling to invest in a new home. Cutting impact fees and offering other sweetheart deals to developers not only shifts the tax burden onto working families, it also reduces the value of existing homes in a market that is saturated by foreclosures.
If we want to stimulate real growth in Florida, tax incentives need to be targeted toward those industries that create high-wage jobs and products and services that can be exported. America was at her strongest when we had an economy based on manufacturing items that were in demand around the world. As the economy became more global, we lost our competitive edge as developing countries began producing the same items less expensively.
To regain our edge, we need to invest in new technologies related to medicine, renewable energy, communication and other fields where we can be leaders and where we can't be undercut by developing nations where unskilled laborers work for pennies on the dollar.
Make it easier for creative entrepreneurs to develop the next internet or vaccine or plug-in vehicle and we will have plenty of good jobs. Once that happens, the real estate market will come back on its own. Trying to recreate the real estate bubble by shifting costs onto already-strapped local taxpayers is not going to solve our problems.
Orlando Sentinel - Central Florida Political Pulse – Haridopolos and Cannon call a jobs summit, won’
blogs.orlandosentinel.com
TALLAHASSEE -- The next two presiding officers in the Florida Legislature, Sen. Mike Haridopolos and Rep. Dean Cannon, flew into town this morning to announce
Steve Barnes As we approach the end of the first #decade of a new #millenium, what are your thoughts about the past 10 years and your hopes for the next decade?
Steve Barnes St. Johns River withdrawals: Interim report from the #National #Academies, which is reviewing the science on the impacts of withdrawing millions of gallons of water per day from the river.
www8.nationalacademies.org
Steve Barnes If we are going to "crack down" on #illegal #immigration, it makes no sense to excempt private industries like agriculture and construction, which tend to employ some of the highest numbers of these workers. Sorry Senator #Baker, but you can't have it both ways.
Illegal immigration: State Sen. Carey Baker would exempt private sector from verifying immigration s
www.orlandosentinel.com
There are just too many political shenanigans afoot to stick with one topic. We're talking secret e-mails, taxpayer-funded mailings and mounting coups.But first we take a look at a strange new immigration ...
Steve Barnes
This type of collaboration is critical. #Florida has always relied too heavily on tourism, agriculture and population growth. If we want good-paying jobs in #high-tech fields to come to Florida, we need a workforce - and a quality of life - that will attract good employers.
Unfortunately, increasing tuition rates and cu...ts in Bright Futures and other #scholarship programs are making it more difficult for our students to attend #college. Today, a four-year degree is roughly equivalent to a high school diploma 20 years ago. For many careers, especially those that pay good wages, a BA degree is considered a basic, entry-level requirement.
We live in a #global economy in which our students and our state must compete against places like India and China, which each produce more engineering graduates than the United States. In order to be competitive, we must invest more in our educational system. While costly, failure to invest in the future will ensure that our economy will continue to struggle and that good-paying jobs will continue to be outsourced to other nations.
By focusing on areas like #engineering, #medicine and clean #energy technologies, Florida could become a a high-tech hub that would provide good-paying jobs while creating products and services for export, something we must achieve to balance our trade deficit and regain our leadership in the world.
www.orlandosentinel.com
A.J. Jeromin, a motion-capture engineer with the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (FIEA), works with motion-graphics instructor Shaun Wightman on the motion-capture stage at the University of Central Florida's Center for Emerging Media in downtown Orlando. ...
Steve Barnes
Florida's #unemployment rate is at its highest point since May 1975:
We need to diversify #Florida's #economy by focusing on high-tech jobs, clean energy production and the creation of products and services that will be in demand in the future and that can't be provided by children working in a third-world country for p...ennies on the dollar. The US has always been a leader in innovation, from the creation of the automobile to computers to the space industry. Now is the time to refocus our efforts on building a 21st Century economy instead of clinging to the failed policies of the past.
www.orlandosentinel.com
Young people seek jobs at Workforce Central Florida's Summer Job Connection Summit earlier this year in Orlando. (TOM BENITEZ, ORLANDO SENTINEL FILE / June 18, 2009)
Susan I support you Steve and would be glad to have you in the race, but I understand that you need to make a good decision for you and the party. Best wishes. Let me know how I can help.
Steve Barnes #Credit card charges 79.9 percent #interest: This is nothing short of scandelous. I'm not an expert, but I'd be willing to bet folks could get a better deal from the #Mafia.
www.orlandosentinel.com
It's no mistake. This credit card's interest rate is 79.9 percent.The bloated APR is how First Premier Bank, a subprime credit card issuer, is skirting new regulations intended to curb abusive practices in the industry. ...
Steve Barnes Had a great time at the recent #League of Women Voters Soiree. Check out the link below for pictures and announcements of upcoming events, including a presentation in January by Beth Davolos, who works to help #homeless students in #Seminole County.
www.lwvseminole.org
RECENT ACTIVITY
Steve Barnes commented on Cecil Herring's photo.
