News & Public Affairs
The Tax Cut Myth
05/21/08 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Wednesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: budget cuts, budget, debt credit cards, education, taxes
Ever since the Reagan presidency, tax cuts have become an article of faith for conservatives. According to conservative economists, tax cuts, especially for the wealthy, increase the capital available for investment, expand the economy and the benefits eventually reach the wider population.
Our guests have studied the federal tax cuts given to taxpayers during the last 27 years, and they have arrived at some interesting conclusions. One of which is that George Bush’s tax cuts have put the...
Be the first to commentHillsborough looks to expand sex offender laws listen
05/21/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Hillsborough Commissioners supported suggestions made by County Attorneys today on toughening county laws on sexual predators.
The issue resurfaced after an incident in Palm River earlier this year, where protests revealed several sex offenders were living a mobile home park.
Jan McDonald, an attorney with Hillsborough County, said that among those Palm River residents was 34-year-old Mitchell Westerheide, who pleaded guilty to lewd and lascivious assaults and other felonies involving ...
Be the first to commentRobert E. Lee fan bashes commissioners listen
05/21/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
For years, the Hillsborough County Commission has recognized Confederate Memorial Day. But after being criticized last year for honoring Confederate Gen. Robert Lee on the same day they honored a local civil rights leader, the board reversed course.
Commissioners Kevin White, Rose Ferlita, Mark Sharpe and Al Higgenbotham refused to sign the proclamation.
Those four, though not named, were criticized by citizen David McAllister, during the public comment portion of today’s County Co...
Be the first to commentLand acquisition measure gains ground listen
05/21/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Land conservation
The Hillsborough County Commission moved closer toward having voters decide whether to continue the conservation land buying program.
The County’s Environmental Land Acquisition and Protection Program (ELAPP) is set to expire in 2011. Commissioners learned today the results of a public survey conducted last week on the potential support for extending the tax.
Will Abberger is with the Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit that works with local communities around the country t...
Be the first to commentDean in Tampa to heal rift listen
05/21/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday
Tags: Democrats, Politics, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama
With Barack Obama coming to Tampa tomorrow at noon at the *St. Pete Times Forum, Hillary Clinton has decided to spend some quality time in the Sunshine State as well. Clinton will make three appearances in South Florida tomorrow.
Clinton appears in Boca Raton at 1 p.m., in Sunrise at 4 p.m. and at the University of Miami in Coral Gables at 8.
Meanwhile, approximately 50 Florida supporters of both candidates were in the same room last night in Tampa. They appeared at Mise En Place resta...
Be the first to commentBoard of Governors vice chair at Tiger Bay listen
05/20/08 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: higher education, education, budget cuts, Board of Governors, Tiger Bay Club, Legislature
Since voters approved a constitutional amendment creating the body in 2002, the Board of Governors has directed Florida’s eleven public universities. Today at the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club in St. Petersburg, the vice chair of Florida’s Board of Governors, Sheila McDevitt discussed the ways that politics play a role in higher education.
Florida’s state universities are loosing good professors and administrators and are poorly considered by the most respected publication in the field, the Chr...
Be the first to commentJournalist examines youth sports listen
05/20/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
In the book, Game On: The All-American Race to Make Champions of our Children, reporter Tom Farrey writes extensively on youth sports in America in 2008, and the misplaced priorities the country has placed on our children.
One of the things that Farrey writes about is youth soccer leagues, which now allow, and in fact, encourage their players to be in leagues where they travel to other games nationally.
Farrey spoke to us last week from his home in Connecticut.
Be the first to commentProgressive website hopes for statewide success listen
05/20/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
A group of Florida progressives have banded together and formed a new group that they hope will have the same power and influence within the state with progressives as l MoveOn.Org has done nationally.
Called Progress Florida, it’s political director is Damian Filer, who has been involved with various causes over the years, including fighting for small class sizes. Filer says he’s fine with any type of comparison with MoveOn, which was created a decade ago as a response to the impeachment ...
Be the first to commentMcCain blasts Obama on Cuban policy listen
05/20/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: John McCain, Politics, Foreign Policy
John McCain was in Miami today, where he hit Barack Obama hard on foreign policy, this time regarding Cuba.
McCain said he would press the Cuban regime to legitimize all political parties, labor unions and free media, and to schedule an internationally monitored election. He also said it is time for the U.S. to embrace the common geography and destiny that it shares with its neighbors to the south in Latin America.
The Arizona senator extolled the virtues of trade agreements like NAFT...
Be the first to commentEconomic Development Conference held in Tampa listen
05/19/08 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Legislature, 2008 election, CSX, TBARTA, Transportation, budget cuts, commuter rail, marriage amendment
The Florida Economic Development Conference is taking place in Tampa this week. The focus of this gathering of business leaders is “Driving Transformation: Innovations fueling economic development.”
The conference, sponsored by the Florida Economic Development Council, featured a lunchtime panel Monday with current and former Florida lawmakers discussing the legislative session that ended this month. There was optimism about the state’s economy from Sen. Mike Fasano, despite the fact that...
Be the first to commentRuling clears way for Florida executions listen
05/19/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Charlie Crist says he'd like death row inmate Mark Dean Schwab to be executed by July.
Crist made his comments after the U.S. Supreme Court today lifted a stay that blocked Schwab’s execution last November. Schwab faces the death penalty for the 1991 torture, rape and murder of 11-year-old Junny Rios-Martinez.
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum asked the U.S. Supreme Court last month to lift the stay after justices ruled in a Kentucky case that upheld the constitutionality of letha...
Be the first to commentWhat are Obama's chances in Florida in November? listen
05/19/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Election, Politics, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain
The HBO film Recount airs later this week and is a reminder of how Florida used to be the swing state in presidential elections. But in 2004, Ohio was the state that decided the election, as George Bush beat John Kerry by 5 full points here in the Sunshine State.
Florida comes back in the spotlight this week when Barack Obama makes his first appearance in the state this year, including a noontime rally in downtown Tampa on Wednesday. If Obama is the nominee, he will be facing an opponent...
9 commentsWill Crist OK $2M TBARTA budget? listen
05/16/08 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: TBARTA, transit, commuter rail, light rail, Tampa Bay Partnership
This session the Florida Legislature provided the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA) $2 million. But Gov. Charlie Crist could still veto that funding, like he did to the $1 million in startup funds the Legislature attempted to give TBARTA last year.
Pinellas County Commissioner Ronnie Duncan serves as the vice chair of the TBARTA Board. Duncan said TBARTA needs the one-time funding from the Legislature to secure private and government transit money and to finally hir...
Be the first to commentTampa renews focus on reclaimed water listen
05/16/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Last month, an agreement that would have the city of Tampa enter into an agreement with Swiftmud to sell reclaimed water to Polk County was nearly approved without any discussion at the Tampa City Council.
The deal includes Hillsborough County, Tampa Electric and Mosaic Fertilizer, and would be facilitated by a private non-profit called Water Partners.
But earlier this week, Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio pulled back from the deal. The mayor said she’s still interested, but wants to use the city...
Be the first to commentAuthor describes youth athletics in the U.S. listen
05/16/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Youth sports in 2008 are quite difference than in yesteryear. In a new book written by ESPN correspondent Tom Farrey, Game On: The All American Race to Make Champions of Our Children, Farrey writes about the lives of child athletes and the consequences of sorting the strong from the weak at ever earlier ages; fewer active kids, testier sidelines, rising obesity rates, and U.S. national teams that rarely win world titles.
Farrey begins his book by writing about the amazing phenon that is...
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