Trial and mass tort lawyer Mike Papantonio of the Levin-Papantonion law firm in Pensacola, FL was inducted into the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame in Las Vegas last week. The Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame is hosted by Temple University School of Law in Philadelphia, PA.
Next on his plate must be to replace Rush Limbaugh as the most listened to talk-radio show in the country, and winner of the 2014 National Association of Broadcasters Marconi Award.
The people who voted yesterday sent a clear message to Washington. STOP! Turn this ship around. Republicans did not win because they ran on a platform of issues, because they didn’t. Republicans won last night, big time, because Americans (from all parties) don’t like (66% of all Americans) the consequences of liberalism and the transformation Barack Obama is committed to. Still, the day after, committed to. They don’t like the flagrant violation of the Constitution. The Republican victory last night was to stop Obama. It was a rejection of Democrat incumbents. It was, to stop Democrats.
Pardon me while I gloat.
Other notable victories last night . . .
The mandate is clear, should the Republicans decide to accept it. Turn this ship around. Do what the people elected you to do. The stakes could not be any higher. The question is not what part of Obama’s agenda you will accept. The election wasn’t about walking across the aisle to Obama’s side. It was 180 degrees from that. The question is what part of your agenda the loser will accept. And keep in mind, there’s nothing wrong with gridlock if that’s what it takes to keep the country from going over the cliff. Use your power of the purse to do what you can. It’s a tool, and responsibility, that the Constitution gave you. Use it.
One of life’s truisms is, we’re all going to die. Another one is, there is no such thing as a temporary tax. Escambia County residents today voted for a 1.5% tax increase. Only they don’t call it that. They call it a half-cent and a one-cent tax. With that kind of deception, I’ll make a deal. I’ll go to the tax collector’s office and give them a nickel. Then don’t ask for another cent. People of Escambia County, learn how to live with what you have.
We already know that the Obama administration has illegally delayed the open enrollment period until two weeks after the mid-term elections. And, with the exemptions, delays, low new enrollment, dependent-heavy enrollment, and elimination of major funding streams for Obamacare, we now know that premiums will be going up. Not down as promised. What we in Florida didn’t know is by how much.
Here’s how much, over and above the outrageous increase an individual got last year. The surprise for businesses will come next year, after the government stops bailing out the insurance companies for their losses.
From my congressman Jeff Miller (R-FL1) . . .
In August, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation reported that premiums for insurance plans available in Florida are set to rise by an average of 13.2 percent next year, based on rate proposals filed by Florida’s health insurance providers. Yet, many Floridians will have to wait another month to see just how much their premiums will change thanks to a decision by the Administration to delay enrollment for 2015 Obamacare plans until November 15, nearly two weeks after the midterm elections.
Here is a case where youth violence, youth gun violence specifically, has been a growing concern in the Pensacola area. One way to reach the kids, it was thought, was to give them something to do and try to teach them to behave responsibly.
An altercation early Sunday morning that led to a 16-year-old being shot and a 15-year-old being knocked unconscious occurred right after a Stop the Violence concert, according to an event organizer. A co-organizer of the concert, Bill Marshall, said the concert had been a free event where local music artists performed and spoke to the youths about ending violence in their communities.
So much for that idea. The Pensacola News Journal reporter does not say, but from the address of the place where the free concert was, it seems to be in a predominately Black neighborhood. I could be wrong in assuming that the youths involved were Black, but I doubt it. The reporter could clear this doubt up with just a little more information.
You can’t fix the out-of-control youth issue when you don’t know what the problem is. The problem is that Black youth unemployment is 33.4 percent nationally. That’s almost criminal to have a figure that high. I don’t know if it is better or worse in Pensacola. It is almost twice that of White youth unemployment at 18.9 percent. Which is still way too high. Either way, for all races, youth unemployment is unacceptably high. This makes for trouble the likes of which occurred over the weekend.
The answer obviously is not free concerts. And it isn’t a higher minimum wage. The answer is in a growing economy. Not a contracting economy like we have now. Contrary to what President Obama thinks (and economist he is not), raising the minimum wage (which is where youths always start) will create less opportunities for them. Not more.
Link: Pensacola American Legion shooting occurred after concert.
Dr. Thomas Lynch, United States Department of Veterans Affairs Assistant Deputy USH for Clinical Operations and Management, says the VA “is a good system.” For this statement, Dr. Lynch wins the M.R.I.O.T.D. Award. That would be the Most Ridiculous Item Of The Day Award.
Weekly update from Congressman Jeff Miller (R-FL1) and Chairman House Veteran’s Affairs Committee.
Received this press release from Raymond Guillory, candidate for Escambia County Commissioner District 2.
Today Ray Guillory, Candidate for Escambia County Commissioner in District 2, becomes the first declared candidate to openly endorse the Medical Marijuana initiative on this Novembers ballot.Use of Marijuana for Certain Medical ConditionsAllows the medical use of marijuana for individuals with debilitating diseases as determined by a licensed Florida physician. Allows caregivers to assist patients’ medical use of marijuana. The Department of Health shall register and regulate centers that produce and distribute marijuana for medical purposes and shall issue identification cards to patients and caregivers. Applies only to Florida law. Does not authorize violations of federal law or any non-medical use, possession or production of marijuana.Ray Guillory fully supports making medical marijuana available for the treatment of chronic debilitating disease.With the recent ruling of the V.A. accepting marijuana as treatment for PTSD , Traumatic Brain Injuries and other problems that plaque our veterans, it is unconscionable that we would withhold beneficial treatments.As a member of a family that has been hit hard by cancer,I wants anyone who suffers from this disease to have any medication that eases their sufferings and works against the debilitating side effects of both the disease and the cures.On the county level we must set the standards for which this industry will be regulated. We must insure that this law doesn’t make it easier for this drug to get in the hands of minors. We should also ensure that any economic windfall has lasting benefits for Escambia County. With the passage of this amendment we should set up a tax structure to directly benefit drug prevention and policing programs.Ray Guillory, Democratic candidate for Escambia County Commissioner Dist.2
A sign of the times? Yes. Backed by medical research? Yes. Implications of things to come? Probably so. Like the decriminalization of pot altogether for people over 21.
Kudo’s to Ray for taking a stand on this controversial subject. This is an issue that, I think, spans political party. An issue for which, the time has come.
One Associated Press piece in the local paper titled Fla. House race could be warning for Democrats was all there was in the news media about the republican win in a district that voted for Obama in 2008 and 2012. In a contest that was described as a bellwether for the midterm elections in November, where Obamacare was the focus on both sides.
NBC’s Chuck Todd said . . .
Tomorrow’s race in Florida will tell us a lot about the power of the Republican Party’s health-care attacks on Democrats could have in 2014.
Jolly campaigned on a conservative platform; cutting government spending, balanced budgets and repealing Obamacare. Sink tried a new version of offense with Obamacare; mend it, don’t end it. She followed the President’s agenda with a pro-illegal alien agenda, and more government spending. ‘Cutting spending’ and ‘balanced budget’ as an objective never crossed her lips.
Republican David Jolly beat Democrat Alex Sink with 48.5 percent of the vote to Sink’s 46.7 percent. Before the returns were in, Democrats began downplaying the importance of this contest. When the results were final, DNC Chair Debbie Was-a-man Shultz tried explaining away their loss, saying “the GOP fell short of its traditional margin” in a Republican-leaning district (but trending Democrat) packed with older voters.
She’s right about that. And the mainstream media carried her message. Missing in that fact is a little perspective. What she and the news media won’t say is that in all seven of Rep. Young’s elections, he ran unopposed. In this election, Jolly had two challengers. Sink a Democrat, and Libertarian candidate Lucas Overby.
Speaking of traditional margins. Third parties traditionally have given Democrats the win by siphoning off Republican party votes. Ralph Nader and Ross Perot come to mind. But this time, the nearly 5% that Overby got wasn’t enough to hand Sink a win. Also not mentioned was the fact that Jolly’s candidacy was not taken seriously by the establishment Republicans, allowing Jolly to be outspend by Democrats 3 to 1.
On the day before the election, Todd also said this . . .
Conversely, a Jolly win on Tuesday would signal that it’s open hunting season on Democrats — even in places where Obama has been a strength for Democrats in past elections.
It’s also open season on the establishment Republicans if they don’t stand on the principles that got them elected, and if they refuse to understand that running on conservative principles, compared with the status quo of the last 6 years, is how you win elections.
The 2013 Report Cards are out for all members of Congress, and our representative Jeff Miller (R) rated #1 in three categories Cosponsors, Leadership, and Committee Positions. Follow this LINK to see the rest.
Kudos to Jeff for his representation of Florida District 1.
For a listing of all members of Congress, click HERE.
Never ceases to amaze the hubris of some who assume the role of our Maker. Some command to lower sea level and adjust the world’s thermostat, others, like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, refuse to take NO for an answer where rodents are concerned.
The Perdido Key beach mouse, was wiped out naturally and was “re-introduced” in 1987. And again, it was wiped out naturally by hurricane Ivan. Not to be outdone by mother nature, the mouse has been captive bred since then. And people who are supposed to be environmentalists are about to infest the environment, Perdido Key, with a rodent that has twice proven it can not sustain itself, its survival rate is zero, in an environment where people have a survival rate of 100 percent.
And this makes sense to who? For this reason the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wins the Most Ridiculous Item Of The Day award.
