Author Archives: Kartik Krishnaiyer
Flashback Friday: The Beatles First Florida Visit
The Beatles – The First U.S. Visit To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Beatles first visit to the US, Apple Corps released a DVD of the the band’s first US visit in February 1964. Today, ten years later we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Beatles arrival in New York. Days later the band […]
Thursday Bookshelf: Civil Rights, Lyndon Johnson, MLK Jr. and Congress
Review of When Freedom Would Triumph: The Civil Rights Struggle in Congress, 1954-1968 and Judgment Days: Lyndon Baines Johnson, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Laws That Changed America While the History of Florida is somewhat different from the rest of the south in the 1960s thanks largely to the efforts in the 1950s of one man, […]
Has Dependence on Sugar Money Made Florida Democrats Soft on Environmental Issues?
Florida’s sugar companies have been waging a public relations campaign that aims to create a perception that sugar is a responsible partner in protecting Florida’s environment. But the truth in the past has been quite different. The Everglades ecosystem is arguably the most important driver of Florida’s sustainability (at least peninsular Florida). The one […]
Former Governor Buddy MacKay Endorses Nan Rich
Just last week Buddy MacKay was one the subjects of our Thursday Bookshelf column describing his courageous fights with reactionary elements in our state. MacKay who was one of the most thoughtful and forward-thinking Florida officeholders from the 1970s to the 1990s today endorsed Nan Rich for Governor of Florida. While I am somewhat surprised […]
Florida Democrats Fundraising Smells of Desperation and Conflict
We know being a Democrat in Florida is tough. Sixteen years of complete Republican rule of State Government which has included maintaining over 70 House seats (out of 120) and 25 Senate seats (our of 40) during the entire period from 1998 to the present will hurt any political party’s efforts at fundraising. However, it […]
TFS Pod 11- Polk, Hillsborough and Pasco House Seats
On this week’s TFS Podcast we discuss a few critical State House seats in Polk, Hillsborough and Pasco counties. We look at multiple seats the Florida Democrats failed to target in 2012 despite a favorable redistricting situation and the strength of the Obama/Biden ticket. We also look ahead to 2014 in the region.
Thursday Bookshelf: The Doghouse Democrats – Bob Graham and Buddy MacKay
A look at How Florida Happened: The Political Education of Buddy MacKay (Florida Government and Politics) and Quiet Passion: A Biography of Bob Graham Once upon a time Florida’s Legislature was an effective body and the State House was largely progressive. Florida moved vastly ahead of other southeastern states thanks to the leadership and vision of those […]
Rick Scott’s Tax Abatement: #itsnotworking
Rick Scott and his Republican allies in the legislature have given tax break after tax break to companies on the premise of bringing new jobs to the state. The companies that get tax breaks are usually the ones that contribute most to political campaigns or that hire the best connected lobbyists in the capital. The […]
Rick Scott’s Florida: #ItsNotWorking – Manufacturing Jobs
During the 2013 Session, Governor Scott decided to make $115 million in manufacturing tax breaks his biggest legislative priority. But for years Republican legislators have naively promised tax breaks for industry and manufacturing and have produced very in little return for the state. Florida ranks 43rd in manufacturing nationally despite having the nation’s 6th biggest […]
Obituary: Patrick Smith Author of “A Land Remembered”
No book describes old Florida and the transformation to modern state quite like A Land Remembered. I was saddened to learn this afternoon of the passing of Patrick Smith, the author of the iconic work of historical fiction. Those who have not read Smith’s ,master work should if they are to truly understand the peninsula’s […]
The Florida Squeeze 