News & Public Affairs

Tampa MoveOn protesters to Sen. Rubio: "Jobs not cuts" listen

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Tags: jobs, spending, debt, MoveOn, protest, taxes, taxes in countries with universal health care, Civilian Conservation Corps, Marco Rubio

Jobs, not cuts, was the message of protesters today, outside Congressional offices across the country. About two dozen activists protested outside Senator Marco Rubio’s office near USF-Tampa.

The progressive nonprofit advocacy group Moveon.org called on it’s supporters to flood local legislative offices today to ask congressional...

President Obama signs debt ceiling increase passed by Congress listen

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Tags: debt ceiling, debt crisis, Deficit, Barack Obama, spending, taxes

This afternoon President Barack Obama signed legislation to increase the nation's borrowing authority and avert government default. Congress linked the debt ceiling increase to deficit reductions. But they will be only accomplished through spending cuts, not revenue increases. President Obama said that for future deficit reductions, to expect even more cuts, including to Medicare, in addition to higher taxes.

“This compromise guarantees more than $2 trillion in deficit reduction. It’s an...

Rich Templin of the Florida AFL-CIO on the new state budget

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Tags: Rich Templin, Florida AFL-CIO, Rick Scott, Florida budget, unemployment, state pension, privatization, merit pay, education, spending, labor

Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I'm Rob Lorei. Today we'll talk about the new state budget signed last Thursday by Governor Rick Scott. Our guest is Rich Templin, Ph.D., Legislative and Political Director of the Florida AFL-CIO.

The governor signed the state budget last Thursday at a private ceremony in The Villages and we're still kind of going through it and figuring out exactly what the budget means for the future of Florida and here to help us deconstruct the budget is Rich Te...

Mayor proposes budget revisions to address parking debt listen

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Tags: Tampa City Council, Mayor Pam Iorio, budget, spending, economy

Because of declining property tax revenues fueled by depreciating home values, the city of Tampa is projected to bring in $12 million less in property taxes in fiscal year 2010 than the current year. That same year the city’s contribution to its employees’ pension account must increase by $10 million due to declining pension balances caused by the weak stock market.

Today Mayor Pam Iorio proposed meeting those fiscal challenges by refinancing debt on parking structures, limiting employee ...

Economist says hard times still ahead listen

Tags: Economy, Fuel Prices, spending

Sales at U.S. retailers dropped in July for the first time in five months as record gasoline prices and tighter credit reduced automobile purchases.

Labor figures showed that import prices rose 1.7 percent in July from the previous month, more than economists had projected, after a 2.9 percent increase in June. That led one economist to tell Bloomberg media that the U.S. is now in the "midst of a long-term trend in inflation."

Joe Bruseulas from Merk Investments in Palo Alto says, "We...