Tampa Bay Times – The best chance to reform immigration
The immigration bill that the Senate Judiciary Committee has passed with bipartisan support and sent to the full Senate still faces many hurdles. But the legislation’s broad goals of bringing nearly all of the 11 million illegal immigrants out of the shadows while strengthening the border and the U.S. economy remain intact. While imperfect, this is the nation’s best chance in a generation to fix its broken immigration system. Republican senators such as Florida’s Marco Rubio need to keep educating their colleagues and constituents about the bill’s provisions and keep broadening support.
The bill is the nation’s most ambitious effort yet to control its borders in a bid to win support from conservatives. It throws too much money and resources toward controlling a flow of illegal immigration that has trended downward for years, but that is the pragmatic trade-off for a path to citizenship. The legislation calls for spending $6.5 billion on new fencing and surveillance, thousands of extra customs agents and additional checkpoints along the border. The security plans would have to be in place before the clock started on legalizing the status of undocumented immigrants.
The Bradenton Herald – Education, constant vigilance to fight scam artists
Scams come in countless forms in this era, moreso than in generations past because of the proliferation of computers, tablets and smart phones. Emails frequently phish for people innocent enough to fall for a bogus pitch. Phone calls lure others into revealing personal information. Identity theft has mushroomed into a global threat.
One U.S. attorney at an Orlando fraud conference this month warned that scams are becoming more and more sophisticated — and thus tougher for unsuspecting people to reject as bogus. The past two years have witnessed sharp increases in the number of elderly fraud cases in Florida.
Manatee County statistics mirror the statewide surge in cases with 1,985 scams reported in 2011 and another 2,208 in 2012 — this just in the unincorporated areas of the county, not in the municipalities.
Daytona Beach News-Journal – IRS official’s evasions exemplify ‘stonewalling’
When the Watergate cover-up began to unravel in 1973, then-President Richard Nixon met with his aides and gave these now-infamous orders. “I want you all to stonewall it, let them plead the Fifth Amendment, cover up or anything else . …,” Nixon said.
This week, the congressional inquiry into the Internal Revenue Service scandal produced one of the most glaring examples of “stonewalling” since Watergate. Lois Lerner, who as IRS director of exempt organizations presided over the targeting of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, appeared before a U.S. House committee and refused to answer questions, invoking her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself.
The Lakeland Ledger – Gov. Scott’s Line-Item Vetoes: Hit or Miss
The Florida Constitution grants to the governor the power of line-item veto. “The governor may veto any specific appropriation in a general appropriation bill,” says the state constitution. In short, within the state budget, the governor chooses which budget items to leave in or pluck out. He removes items by vetoing their lines in the budget.
The U.S. Constitution does not provide the president such a power.
The president may veto an entire bill, but only the whole bill, no matter the type.
Except for budget lines, that is true for Florida’s governor as well. Bills that are not for general appropriations may be vetoed only in full.
The Miami Herald – Drones, Guantánamo prison examples of abuse of power
The best thing about President Obama’s speech on counterterrorism last week was that it revived a long overdue debate over reining in the powers of the presidency in wartime.
The president attempted to strike a balance between the need to use force against persistent threats and the obligation to overhaul the structures put in place to respond to 9/11 — from the use of drones to the creation of the prison at Guantánamo Bay.
It’s about time. In the 12 years since the attack on the Twin Towers, presidential authority has expanded dramatically in response to the threat, but that does not mean it should be that way forever. It offends the constitutional foundation of American democracy for any chief executive to wield permanent, unchecked authority to order drone strikes anywhere in the world beyond our borders against anyone deemed a suitable target — including Americans — and past time to impose effective limits on such power.
Orlando Sentinel – On World Hunger Day, follow givers who’ve gone before us
Several years ago, a dear friend of mine handed me a Time magazine that changed my life. It happened to be an end of the year issue that featured their Person of the Year.
This year they featured not one person but three; the title “The Good Samaritans” caught my attention and captivated me. I was caught off guard by their selection because my initial impression of them didn’t fit my idea of what a true Good Samaritan was. Mother Teresa, a prominent religious leader or a priest fit into my stereotype, but this year’s selection was different and it opened my mind to what and who a Good Samaritan truly was.
Could a Rock star and a computer geek and his wife really typify the role of a Good Samaritan? The past eight years since they were on the cover of Time magazine have proven that Bono, and Bill and Melinda Gates, truly are heroes to the poor.
The Tampa Tribune – Shrinking budget deficit is cause for hope, resolve
The federal budget deficit, that persistent gap between the nation’s current spending and its income, has taken a surprising dip.
Instead of growing by $845 billion this year, as was forecast a few months ago, the national debt is now expected to grow by only $642 billion. And the Congressional Budget Office had more good news. Tax revenue is expected to increase faster than federal spending for the next two years.
What happened to the fiscal cliff the country was supposed to plunge over? It was flattened out by a growing economy, higher tax revenues, stronger than expected performances by mortgage agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, modest federal spending cuts and lower-than-expected spending on interest on the federal debt and on entitlement programs.
The Ocala Star Banner – Weather agencies
The nation’s weather-forecasting agencies, despite being hindered by budget cuts and outmoded technology, performed remarkably well in advance of Oklahoma’s destructive tornado — issuing accurate warnings early and often.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s five-day outlook put Oklahoma and other plains states on notice before the killer twister struck Monday mid-afternoon.
Subsequent forecasts by NOAA became more specific, and worrisome, as Monday drew nearer. At 1:10 p.m. Monday, NOAA declared a tornado watch. Within an hour, the Oklahoma-based station of the National Weather Service — an arm of NOAA — began issuing ominous, detailed warnings.
The Palm Beach Post – Obama administration has four months to sell the Affordable Care Act
The 37th attempt to repeal or defund the Affordable Care Act that passed the U.S. House 10 days ago is the least of many challenges confronting the Obama administration as deadlines near for implementing the health care law.
By Oct. 1, people with incomes below 400 percent of the federal poverty level — $46,000 for individuals — are supposed to be able to buy health insurance on the new exchanges, using federal subsidies. Too many Americans, though, don’t know that they’re eligible and don’t know what the exchanges are — marketplaces designed to offer several policies. Indeed, according to an April survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, only 59 percent of Americans are aware that “Obamacare” is the law of the land.
Republican attacks are one reason for the confusion, but the White House and Democrats who voted for it have done a lousy job of educating the public. Only 35 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of the health care law, according to the Kaiser survey.
