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Jac VerSteeg - page 2

Today on Context Florida: Donald Trump and Marco Rubio, Hispanics and tax reform

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Today on Context Florida: While stopping Donald Trump may be a noble motivation, Jac VerSteeg says it probably isn’t sufficient. Voters judging incumbents – and that’s what Marco Rubio is in Florida – want to know what the incumbent has done for them while in office. In Rubio’s case, that’s close to nothing. In 2010, he was elected to the Senate with almost 49 percent of the vote. Independent Charlie Crist got nearly 30 percent and Democrat Kendrick Meek about 20. …

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Today on Context Florida: Slinging mud, Full Sail, constitutional liberty, doing things differently and taking the stage

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Today on Context Florida: Marco Rubio and Donald Trump are slinging mud by spraying water. Jac VerSteeg suggests this may be from the unconscious influence of their ties to Florida, a vast peninsula surrounded by the sparkling aqua stuff. Trump himself is master of an estate whose name – Mar-a-Lago – derives from its proximity to two bodies of water. Rubio’s persona is shaped by the 90 miles of Florida Straits separating his family’s adopted country from Cuba’s tyranny. It is…

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Today on Context Florida: Marco Rubio, education bang-for-buck, unlikely alliances, OMG moments and the Salt Shaker Test

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Today on Context Florida: Marco Rubio poses as a national security expert. Perhaps among the Republican contenders, he’s the closest thing they’ve got. In which case, Jac VerSteeg says, God help us all. A Washington Post story over the weekend indicates that Rubio’s interest in national security was just a pose from the beginning. As a rising star in the Florida House, Rubio lobbied hard for a spot on an elite committee to frame the state’s response to 9/11. Then, “He…

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Today on Context Florida: Office of Amusement, drug misuse, outsourcing, Michael Bloomberg and Jeffersonian ideals

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Today on Context Florida: Sen. Joe Negron’s SB 832 declares that “fantasy contests” – meaning endeavors such as DraftKings and FanDuel – “involve the skill of contest participants and do not constitute gambling, gaming or games of chance.” Jac VerSteeg says that Negron would regulate this nongambling via a newly created Office of Amusement. It’s not “gambling,” it’s an “amusement.” Which is amusing, VerSteeg says, given that Florida’s most established amusements are the amusement parks in Orlando and Tampa. They have bitterly…

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Today on Context Florida: Single-payer health care, inspirational eloquence, sports magnet schools and John Haddox

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Today on Context Florida: According to Dr. Marc Yacht, the Affordable Care Act 2010 – popularly known as Obamacare – has allowed about 18 million uninsured people to acquire health coverage so far. About 33 million remain uncovered and the bulk of those live in states that rejected ACA Medicaid expansion dollars. The numbers are confusing, Yacht says, but overall the uninsured rate nationwide has dropped from 18 percent to 13 percent. Adults and children have benefited as uninsured rates decrease.…

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Jac VerSteeg: Sen. Joe Abruzzo’s ‘wide open’ alternative to the Seminole Compact

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What happens if the Florida Legislature refuses to ratify the Seminole Compact that Gov. Rick Scott negotiated with the Tribe? No one really knows, of course, but state Sen. Joe Abruzzo, a Boynton Beach Democrat, offered a tantalizing hint toward the end of a recent workshop by the Senate’s Regulated Industries Committee. Addressing Jim Allen, the CEO of Seminole Gaming, Sen. Abruzzo said: “In looking at this and all the moving parts and how difficult this issue is, we hear…

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Today on Context Florida: Seminole Compact, fee-for-service, off island in Key West and LIFO ban

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Today on Context Florida: Jac VerSteeg talks about state Sen. Joe Abruzzo’s ‘wide open’ alternative to the Seminole Compact, which may be under consideration if the Legislature refuses to ratify Rick Scott’s deal with the Tribe. Abruzzo says: “In looking at this and all the moving parts and how difficult this issue is, we hear a lot about the compact and a lot about parity and things of that nature …What if we just looked at giving parity to all the…

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