Two Republican Bay area members of the U.S. House have said they would support giving up their annual, automatic, $4,700 pay raise this year because of the country's struggling economy. Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor of Tampa said today she probably would support a vote to take back the pay raise, which went into effect Thursday. ...more

January 5, 2009 |

Florida has outgrown the concept of the casual lawmaker. If the job is to be done right, that is, as righteously as humanly practical, serving in the Legislature should be a full-time job with one boss: the public. ...more

January 4, 2009 |

With the economy teetering and thousands of Floridians and other Americans losing their jobs, three Florida members of Congress say they would vote to give up their automatic $4,700 pay raise next year. ...more

December 25, 2008 |

Florida House Democratic Leader Franklin Sands says he and his wife have a significant loss from what authorities say was a $50 billion pyramid scheme run by Wall Street money manager Bernard Madoff. ...more

December 22, 2008 |

While I'm no fan of Barack Obama, it's hard to not be proud of the fact that Americans have shed enough of their prejudices to elect a black man president. ...more

November 19, 2008 |

While I'm no fan of Barack Obama, it's hard to not be proud of the fact that Americans have shed enough of their prejudices to elect a black man president. As a nation we're not that far removed from segregated classrooms, separate drinking fountains and other racist policies, but we have progressed mightily very quickly. ...more

November 19, 2008 |

A Nebraska lawmaker with an important role in changing the state's safe-haven statute says the Legislature might be asked to do more than put an age limit in the law that has led to the abandonment of nearly three dozen children. ...more

November 17, 2008 |

It's a rare day in Washington when a lawmaker voluntarily relinquishes power to his party's faithful. But that is what Bartow congressman Adam Putnam has done. He has given up his third-ranking position as conference chairman, a post that gave him national exposure and raised his stature as a voice for the future of the party and conservatism. ...more

November 16, 2008 |

Italy's highest court ruled Thursday in favor of a man's request to disconnect his daughter's feeding tube and allow her to die after 16 years in a vegetative state. ...more

November 14, 2008 |

Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor are among Florida members of Congress being inundated with requests for tickets to Barack Obama's inauguration in Washington on Jan. 20. ...more

November 10, 2008 |