News & Public Affairs
McCain's plan to eliminate deficit in 2013 draws support listen
07/08/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: John McCain, Steve Forbes, Deficit
In discussing his economic plan yesterday, John McCain said he’s going to cut the deficit out entirely in his term in office- and says he’ll do it by ending the war in Iraq and Afghanistan or "by winning it." The conflicts have cost U.S. taxpayers $100 billion a year.
Steve Forbes is editor in chief of Forbes magazine and an economic advisor to John McCain. We asked him if what McCain is proposing is possible.
Be the first to commentReport card: Florida has more A and B schools listen
07/08/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Florida schools posted a record number of A's and B's this year in school grades that were announced today, but a majority of them also failed to meet federal standards under the No Child Left Behind Act.
The number of failing schools in the state dropped from 302 to 199; but 76% failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress under the Federal education law, up from 67 percent last year.
Last week, Department of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings included Florida in a group of six states i...
Be the first to commentDemocratic group angry at Obama listen
07/08/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: FISA, Barack Obama
Debate on amending the controversial FISA bill in the Senate began today, though votes on the bill and three different amendments won’t happen until tomorrow.
Presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama has angered some of his supporters in recent weeks by agreeing to vote for the GOP-sponsored amendments to FISA, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
On Obama's own social networking website, a group of supporters lobbying the senator for a "no" vote on the FISA amendments have ama...
Be the first to commentThe impending collapse of the middle class
07/08/08 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Tuesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Middle class, credit crisis, debt, social safety net
Good afternoon, welcome to Radioactivity, I’m Rob Lorei.
Coming up today a powerful talk by Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren about the financial risks facing America’s middle class. But first a listener comment about last Thursday’s program. We got into another discussion about a possible attack by the U.S. against Iran. Here’s what one listener had to say.
Coming up next a speech by Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard professor. Warren writes that “the American middle-class family that on...
Be the first to commentDisney considers itself exempt from gun law listen
07/07/08 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Walt Disney World, firearms
Last week, Florida’s guns-at-work law went into effect. This means that in most cases, employers can’t forbid their employees with concealed-weapons permits to keep guns locked in their cars at work. But Walt Disney World claims that it is exempt from the law.
A late amendment to the bill exempts employers that hold a federal permit to import, manufacture, or deal in explosive materials on their property. Walt Disney World is claiming that it fits into that exemption category.
Republic...
Be the first to commentMeeting could decide whether Red Sox come to Sarasota listen
07/07/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Boston Red Sox, Spring Training, Sarasota
The move by Sarasota public officials to woo the Boston Red Sox could face a decisive moment next week when the board members of the Sarasota County Agricultural Fair Association meet about a potential land swap.
Sarasota city and county officials want to acquire 66 acres the Fair Board owns for a potential stadium. The land is at Fruitvale Road and Tuttle Avenue. The question is what the Fair Board thinks is an equitable tradeoff.
The Red Sox currently conduct spring training in For...
Be the first to commentRedner tries for elective office for a 7th time listen
07/07/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Hillsborough County Commissioner Brian Blair finds himself a marked man this year. The former professional wrestler turned GOP local legislator faces Don Kruse in the August primary – and there are three Democrats who’d love the opportunity to face him in November.
Evironmentalist Dee Layne, financial planner Kevin Beckner, and entrepreneur Joe Redner are also vying for the position. For Redner, it’s his seventh bid for office.
He came closest a year ago, when he lost in a run-off ...
Be the first to commentWomen on Independence Day
07/05/08 Mary GlenneyFrom A Woman's Point of View Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Independence Day, Women
History of women in relation to independence.
Be the first to commentFriendship and the pursuit of happiness
07/05/08 Mary GlenneyFrom A Woman's Point of View Listen to this entire show:
Mary Glenney talks about the impact the economy is having on "little people" and the impact on family and friends.
Be the first to commentAre Democrats pushing us to war with Iran?
07/05/08 Mary GlenneyFrom A Woman's Point of View Listen to this entire show:
Tags: U.S. Foreign Policy, Iran
Sarah van Gelder, editor of Yes! magazine talks about our actions in Iran and the state of nuclear disarmament.
Be the first to commentCourt rejects pact with Seminole Tribe listen
07/03/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Charlie Crist, Seminole Indians, Gambling
The Florida Supreme Court has ruled against Gov. Charlie Crist in the Seminole gaming contract, saying he had no authority "to change or amend state law."
Last November, Crist signed the 25-year deal that gave the tribe exclusive statewide rights to offer games like blackjack and baccarat and the only Las Vegas-style slots outside of South Florida. In return, the state was to receive a portion of at least $100 million in the first year.
Senate President Ken Pruitt said today that the ...
Be the first to commentCFO Sink criticizes hurricane bond deal listen
07/03/08 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Catastrophe fund, insurance, hurricanes
Last year, Florida shifted much of the financial risks associated with hurricanes from private insurance companies to the state’s government, in an effort to reduce property insurance rates. Yesterday the state’s Board of Administration voted to take a gamble to spend nearly a quarter-billion dollars in exchange for up to $4 billion in bonds in the event that the state endures a catastrophic hurricane season this year.
One member of the Board of Administration, the state’s Chief Financial ...
2 commentsMarines to stay in Afghanistan a month longer listen
07/03/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: U.S. foreign policy, Afghanistan
The Pentagon has extended the tour of 2,200 U.S. Marines in Afghanistan, after insisting for months the unit would come home on time.
The Marines said the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is doing combat operations in the volatile south, will stay an extra 30 days and come home in early November rather than October.
The news comes a day after Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that more troops were needed in Afghanistan, but the Pentagon did not h...
Be the first to commentHurricane home fortification program ending listen
07/03/08 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Hurricanes, hurricane protection
Today in Pinellas Park, Florida’s Chief Financial Officer and a state senator announced that a program that helps Florida’s residents to fortify their homes against hurricanes is coming to an end. CFO Alex Sink and Sen. Charlie Justice were touting the My Safe Florida Home Program and asking for people to support its continuation.
Sink oversees the Florida Department of Financial Services, which includes the My Safe Florida Home program. She said the program is so popular that there are on...
Be the first to commentBiographer on Roger Ailes - Part II listen
07/03/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Media
The Fox News channel made news yesterday for airing photos of two New York Times staffers that appear to have been doctored to portray the reporters in an unflattering light.
The liberal media watch dog group Media Matters said the photos depicted New York Times reporter Jacques Steinberg with yellowed teeth, "his nose and chin widened, and his ears made to protrude further." The other image, of Times television editor Steven Reddicliffe, had similar yellow teeth as well as "dark ci...
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