Bradenton Times News Articles

Florida closed out 2012 distinguishing itself in several categories that when looked at together paint a pretty clear picture of the priorities our state leaders have embraced. From license to carry permits to educational achievement to environmental standards and prison statistics, most of us can guess where Florida stands on most issues. Taken in context, one can clearly see the dramatic influence of special interests who've targeted our state as easy prey, achieving a policy agenda that's deeply out of step with the interests of most residents.

Politicians routinely try to equate the federal budget to a household one when explaining that the answers to solving our fiscal problems lie solely in cutting spending – just like you can't spend more than you take in without going bankrupt, neither can the government. But this flawed logic ignores an important reality: unlike an individual's paycheck, the revenue the government “takes in” is directly related to the money that it spends and the economic activity which results from it. Reducing the latter can also shrink the former. When it comes to our current federal budget, growing revenues is ultimately more important than cutting spending.

Is Florida next? The deep-pocket lingo that preempts fracking's arrival might suggest so. Just southwest of Lake Okeechobee, the Big Cypress National Preserve is said to be prime territory to start blasting away. Trouble is, now that Florida is on the radar for fracking, oil companies are suiting up to romance its anti-regulation state government, with hopes to make Florida the next fracking frontier.

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.

My maternal grandfather is a member of the generation that helped put this country on a path to prosperity. A child of the depression, he served his country and raised his family on a modest middle-class income, and without a high school education. He was a man of enormous strength and to see him slip into the feeble grip of the wretchedly-unforgiving plague we call Alzheimer’s is a fate that no individual should suffer and no family should have to endure. My thoughts are with him on this Father's Day. 

Palmetto Mayor Shirley Groover Bryant has been as patient as a mayor can be. But the City of Palmetto continues to register as an afterthought to Manatee County Commissioners, who have once again made major decisions regarding resources related to the municipality without discussing the potential impacts with city officials. From the Little League fiasco to renaming the Civic Center, to last week's decision to downgrade the DeSoto Bridge project into oblivion, the BOCC continues to show little regard for the city north of the river.

There is an easy emotional response to tap into via the privatization argument. We all have a certain degree of frustration with government, especially at a time when it is so fractious that even the simplest accomplishments seem impossible. It goes like this: If government and those who run it can't even perform their main function – governing – how on earth can they outperform industries that specialize in particular services? If only it were that simple.

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.

Former Sarasota County GOP chairman Bob Waechter was arrested this month on charges related to the criminal use of a stolen identity. Waechter, a politically-powerful front man for local developers, is a poster boy for all that is wrong with modern politics and to finally see his deeds result in a mug shot is somewhat satisfying. But charging Mr. Waechter is only the first step. Until the highly-political process of the justice system plays out, it remains to be seen whether a man that has made many friends in high places receives equal treatment under the law.

The door of the financial mess at the Manatee County School District has been cracked open and thus far revealed unbudgeted funds were spent without board approval. Doing something dishonest the first time is the hardest. Once that first decision has been made, the following decisions are generally easier because they are just a continuation of the first. Soon, you have a slippery slope and most anything goes. We need to know what happened.