Bradenton Times News Articles

Spending a week at the RNC provided a critical preview of the upcoming presidential election. In going first, the Republicans have defined a revolutionary battle aimed at the heart of America's political divide, or better said, the historic political divide of the Western World – capitalistic, market-driven states vs. those with strong central governments and a liberal social safety net. The facts don't bare out any such battle, but there nonetheless seems to be an eager audience on both sides to cheer the rhetoric. 2012's election has all the intellectual honesty of a professional wrestling storyline and is drawing just as much passion from the blood-thirsty fans.

This week's Republican National Convention has so far served to define November's presidential election for both sides. While the GOP primaries seemed to revolve around social issues and an internal battle over whether things like abortion or gay marriage would be a central focus of the party platform, the convention has seen the party pivot away from divisive cultural matters and toward a laser-like focus on fiscal matters that seems much more likely to resonate with independent voters.

This week, I'll be covering the RNC convention in Tampa. National conventions have transformed from the forum in which the party's ticket is actually nominated by its delegates amid fierce debate and multiple votes, to a showcase of the party's biggest names and rising stars, which occurs around a ceremonial nomination that has long since been decided. While I'm sure that talking points and party rhetoric will be in no short supply, I'm sincerely hoping that at least some of the speakers will skip the low hanging fruit and attempt a meaningful dialog with the American people regarding what this ticket is really about.

To save lives and improve health outcomes, Governor Rick Scott and Florida’s Republican legislative leaders should end their demagoguery about the Affordable Care Act. Now is the time to exercise bipartisanship and leadership by expanding Florida’s Medicaid programs to help the middle class and the poor.

Medicare has made its way to the center of the presidential election, though there hasn't been anything approaching an honest debate on the institutional challenges the program faces or possible ways we might address them. Politics aside, the conversation about entitlements in our society really comes down to how to best sell a younger generation on paying for an older one's benefits now, without expecting that someone will do the same for them once they reach the same stage in life.

The city of Bradenton is in a unique position to generate its own economic recovery separate from the national and state efforts. An early, local recovery would require active and energetic leadership at the helm of the city to pursue a multiple-part, visionary plan. My four-part plan to stimulate a local recovery is a coordinated effort to encourage local citizens to shop and buy Bradenton-made products and sample and frequent locally-owned, independent restaurants.

August is National Breastfeeding Awareness Month and as a leading maternal child health organization serving more than 3,000 mothers and infants annually, the Healthy Start Coalition of Manatee County is proud to locally support this national campaign, which was launched by the US Breastfeeding Committee in 2011 to promote the evidence-based benefits of breastfeeding for infants.

While it was suggested that Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney would have been better served going with a game-changer like Marco Rubio or even Pam Bondi, or maybe a Senator from a battleground state, such as Ohio's Rob Portman, there is perhaps no other possible candidate that so thoroughly epitomizes Romney's candidacy as Congressman Paul Ryan.

Tuesday’s District 2 School Board election marked an overwhelming first place victory for Manatee County’s children and those district employees who work closest to our children. I thank all of those who as part of the “Watchdog Nation” gave of their time, energy, passion, treasure, vote, and love to make this campaign such a huge success and extend the promise of a better education for all our children. Thank you again, and let’s all remember to do what needs to be done to reaffirm this victory in November.

It was a dark day in Manatee County, both literally and figuratively, as my son and I headed down Manatee Avenue toward the office this morning, under an oddly uniform black cloud that enveloped the sky above. We were coming from the special preview at the new Fresh Market, where we'd popped in so he could nosh on some breakfast samples, while I guzzled strong coffee after a late night of reporting dismal returns that should have been printed on green paper, as I'm sure they smelled like cash.